Archbishop Gregory Holley

13 Rules for Writers

A whole lot of folks are blogging, writing and a lot of us are reading. So here's  a list of 13 Rules written by the late Ernest Tucker,  a Chicago newspaperman, for those who wish to succeed as  a writer!

1. Don't use no double negatives.
2. Make each pronoun agree with their antecedents.
3. Join clauses good, like a conjunction should.
4. About them sentence fragments.
5. When dangling, watch your participles.
6. Verbs has got to agree with their subjects.
7. Just between you and I, case is important.
8. Don't write run-on sentences when they are hard to read.
9. Don't use commas, which aren't necessary.
10. Try not to split your infinitives.
11. It is important to use your apostrophe's correctly.
12. Proofread your writing to see if you any words out.
13. Corect speling is essentul.

So life is really like the young man who had just received his college degree, rushed out and exclaimed, " Here I am, World - I have my A.B.!"  To which the world replied, "Okay, sit down son, and I'll teach you the rest of the alphabet.!"

Enjoy your family this Christmas Season!

Defining Evil

My good friend, Charles Ruppert of MEITEC,  sent this to me and I knew you would love it! Enjoy!

A science professor begins his school year with a lecture to the students, "Let me explain the problem science has with religion." The atheist professor of philosophy pauses before his class and then asks one of his new students to stand.

"You're a Christian, aren't you, son?"

"Yes sir," the student says.

"So you believe in God?"

"Absolutely."

"Is God good?"

"Sure! God's good."

"Is God all-powerful? Can God do anything?"

"Yes."

"Are you good or evil?"

"The Bible says I'm evil."

The professor grins knowingly. "Aha! The Bible!" He considers for a moment. "Here's one for you. Let's say there's a sick person over here and you can cure him. You can do it. Would you help him? Would you try?"

"Yes sir, I would."

"So you're good...!"

"I wouldn't say that."

"But why not say that? You'd help a sick and maimed person if you could. Most of us would if we could. But God doesn't."

The student does not answer, so the professor continues. "He doesn't, does he? My brother was a Christian who died of cancer, even though he prayed to Jesus to heal him. How is this Jesus good? Hmmm? Can you answer that one?"

The student remains silent.

"No, you can't, can you?" the professor says. He takes a sip of water from a glass on his desk to give the student time to relax.

"Let's start again, young fella. Is God good?"

"Er...yes," the student says.

"Is Satan good?"

The student doesn't hesitate on this one. "No."

"Then where does Satan come from?"

The student falters. "From God"

"That's right. God made Satan, didn't he? Tell me, son. Is there evil in this world?"

"Yes, sir."

"Evil's everywhere, isn't it? And God did make everything, correct?"

"Yes."

"So who created evil?" The professor continued, "If God created everything, then God created evil, since evil exists, and according to the principle that our works define who we are, then God is evil."

Again, the student has no answer. "Is there sickness? Immorality? Hatred? Ugliness? All these terrible things, do they exist in this world?"

The student squirms on his feet. "Yes."

"So who created them?"

The student does not answer again, so the professor repeats his question. "Who created them?" There is still no answer. Suddenly the lecturer breaks away to pace in front of the classroom. The class is mesmerized. "Tell me," he continues onto another student. "Do you believe in Jesus Christ, son?"

The student's voice betrays him and cracks. "Yes, professor, I do."

The old man stops pacing. "Science says you have five senses you use to identify and observe the world around you. Have you ever seen Jesus?"

"No sir. I've never seen Him."

"Then tell us if you've ever heard your Jesus?"

"No, sir, I have not."

"Have you ever felt your Jesus, tasted your Jesus or smelt your Jesus? Have you ever had any sensory perception of Jesus Christ, or God for that matter?"

"No, sir, I'm afraid I haven't."

"Yet you still believe in him?"

"Yes."

"According to the rules of empirical, testable, demonstrable protocol, science says your God doesn't exist. What do you say to that, son?"

"Nothing," the student replies. "I only have my faith."

"Yes, faith," the professor repeats. "And that is the problem science has with God. There is no evidence, only faith."

The student stands quietly for a moment, before asking a question of His own. "Professor, is there such thing as heat?"

"Yes," the professor replies. "There's heat."

"And is there such a thing as cold?"

"Yes, son, there's cold too."

"No sir, there isn't."

The professor turns to face the student, obviously interested. The room suddenly becomes very quiet. The student begins to explain. "You can have lots of heat, even more heat, super-heat, mega-heat, unlimited heat, white heat, a little heat or no heat, but we don't have anything called 'cold'. We can hit up to 458 degrees below zero, which is no heat, but we can't go any further after that. There is no such thing as cold; otherwise we would be able to go colder than the lowest -458 degrees."

"Everybody or object is susceptible to study when it has or transmits energy, and heat is what makes a body or matter have or transmit energy. Absolute zero (-458 F) is the total absence of heat. You see, sir, cold is only a word we use to describe the absence of heat. We cannot measure cold. Heat we can measure in thermal units because heat is energy. Cold is not the opposite of heat, sir, just the absence of it."

Silence across the room. A pen drops somewhere in the classroom, sounding like a hammer.

"What about darkness, professor. Is there such a thing as darkness?"

"Yes," the professor replies without hesitation. "What is night if it isn't darkness?"

"You're wrong again, sir. Darkness is not something; it is the absence of something. You can have low light, normal light, bright light, flashing light, but if you have no light constantly you have nothing and it's called darkness, isn't it? That's the meaning we use to define the word."

"In reality, darkness isn't. If it were, you would be able to make darkness darker, wouldn't you?"

The professor begins to smile at the student in front of him. This will be a good semester. "So what point are you making, young man?"

"Yes, professor. My point is, your philosophical premise is flawed to start with, and so your conclusion must also be flawed."

The professor's face cannot hide his surprise this time. "Flawed? Can you explain how?"

"You are working on the premise of duality," the student explains. "You argue that there is life and then there's death; a good God and a bad God. You are viewing the concept of God as something finite, something we can measure. Sir, science can't even explain a thought."

"It uses electricity and magnetism, but has never seen, much less fully understood either one. To view death as the opposite of life is to be ignorant of the fact that death cannot exist as a substantive thing. Death is not the opposite of life, just the absence of it."

"Now tell me, professor. Do you teach your students that they evolved from a monkey?"

"If you are referring to the natural evolutionary process, young man, yes, of course I do."

"Have you ever observed evolution with your own eyes, sir?"

The professor begins to shake his head, still smiling, as he realizes where the argument is going. A very good semester, indeed.

"Since no one has ever observed the process of evolution at work and cannot even prove that this process is an on-going endeavor, are you not teaching your opinion, sir? Are you now not a scientist, but a preacher?"

The class is in uproar. The student remains silent until the commotion has subsided.

"To continue the point you were making earlier to the other student, let me give you an example of what I mean."

The student looks around the room. "Is there anyone in the class who has ever seen the professor's brain?" The class breaks out into laughter.

"Is there anyone here who has ever heard the professor's brain, felt the professor's brain, touched or smelt the professor's brain? No one appears to have done so. So, according to the established rules of empirical, stable, demonstrable protocol, science says that you have no brain, with all due respect, sir."

"So if science says you have no brain, how can we trust your lectures, sir?"

Now the room is silent. The professor just stares at the student, his face unreadable.

Finally, after what seems an eternity, the old man answers. "I guess you'll have to take them on faith."

"Now, you accept that there is faith, and, in fact, faith exists with life," the student continues. "Now, sir, is there such a thing as evil?"

Now uncertain, the professor responds, "Of course, there is. We see it every day. It is in the daily example of man's inhumanity to man. It is in the multitude of crime and violence everywhere in the world. These manifestations are nothing else but evil."

To this the student replied, "Evil does not exist sir, or at least it does not exist unto itself. Evil is simply the absence of God. It is just like darkness and cold, a word that man has created to describe the absence of God. God did not create evil. Evil is the result of what happens when man does not have God's love present in his heart. It's like the cold that comes when there is no heat or the darkness that comes when there is no light."

The professor sat down.

Life - A Series of Problems

In the interview by Paul Bradshaw with Rick Warren, Rick said:

People ask me, What is the purpose of life? And I respond: In a nutshell, life is preparation for eternity. We were made to last forever, and God wants us to be with Him in Heaven.

One day my heart is going to stop, and that will be the end of my body -- but not the end of me.

I may live 60 to 100 years on earth, but I am going to spend trillions of years in eternity. This is the warm-up act - the dress rehearsal. God wants us to practice on earth what we will do forever in eternity.

We were made by God and for God, and until you figure that out, life isn't going to make sense.

Life is a series of problems: Either you are in one now, you're just coming out of one, or you're getting ready to go into another one.The reason for this is that God is more interested in your character than your comfort.

God is more interested in making your life holy than He is in making your life happy.We can be reasonably happy here on earth, but that's not the goal of life. The goal is to grow in character, in Christ likeness.

This past year has been the greatest year of my life but also the toughest, with my wife, Kay, getting cancer.

I used to think that life was hills and valleys - you go through a dark time, then you go to the mountaintop, back and forth. I don't believe that anymore.

Rather than life being hills and valleys, I believe that it's kind of like two rails on a railroad track, and at all times you have something good and something bad in your life.

No matter how good things are in your life, there is always something bad that needs to be worked on.

And no matter how bad things are in your life, there is always something good you can thank God for.

You can focus on your purposes, or you can focus on your problems.

If you focus on your problems, you're going into self-centeredness,"which is my problem, my issues, my pain." But one of the easiest ways to get rid of pain is to get your focus off yourself and onto God and others.

We discovered quickly that in spite of the prayers of hundreds of thousands of people, God was not going to heal Kay or make it easy for her.

It has been very difficult for her, and yet God has strengthened her character, given her a ministry of helping other people, given her a testimony, drawn her closer to Him and to people.

You have to learn to deal with both the good and the bad of life.

Actually, sometimes learning to deal with the good is harder. For instance, this past year, all of a sudden, when the book sold 15 million copies, it made me instantly very wealthy.

It also brought a lot of notoriety that I had never had to deal with before. I don't think God gives you money or notoriety for your own ego or for you to live a life of ease.

So I began to ask God what He wanted me to do with this money,notoriety and influence. He gave me two different passages that helped me decide what to do, II Corinthians 9 and Psalm 72.

First, in spite of all the money coming in, we would not change our lifestyle one bit. We made no major purchases.

Second, about midway through last year, I stopped taking a salary from the church.

Third, we set up foundations to fund an initiative we call The Peace Plan to plant churches, equip leaders, assist the poor, care for the sick, and educate the next generation.

Fourth, I added up all that the church had paid me in the 24 years since I started the church, and I gave it all back. It was liberating to be able to serve God for free.

We need to ask ourselves: Am I going to live for possessions? Popularity?

Am I going to be driven by pressures? Guilt? Bitterness? Materialism? Or am I going to be driven by God's purposes (for my life)?

When I get up in the morning, I sit on the side of my bed and say, God, if I don't get anything else done today, I want to know You more and love You better. God didn't put me on earth just to fulfill a to-do list. He's more interested in what I am than what I do.
That's why we're called human beings, not human doings.

Happy moments, PRAISE GOD. Difficult moments, SEEK GOD. Quiet moments, WORSHIP GOD. Painful moments, TRUST GOD.Every moment, THANK GOD.

Restoring an Old Friend

In 1992 the Ybarra family bought 3 Isuzu trucks to assist in their new branch of the family business. Tortilla chips were going to be made from scratch and the end result would be delivery.  The identical trucks were brought to the El Matador factory and soon they were on their way to the restaurants bulging with tortilla chips and all kind of sauces. And on and on they went.

Over 300,000 miles later the trucks began to be expensive to maintain. The dad, Eugene Ybarra, is a long time supporter and donor to our projects and suggested to Eric Ybarra that they donate them to New Life.  We were ecstatic. One had already made its way to the junk yard which we, knowing the owner of the yard, retrieved without cost but minus the box.

Brian Philpott, our long time friend and employee, set to work on them .  One he robbed this and that and made it unrecognizable as a vehicle.  Another had a blown engine and tranny so he turned it into a trailer to pull behind the one remaining running Isuzu. We drove it up and down Spencer Avenue on daily runs with a venture out to closer cities with guarded reserve. Soon it proved itself.  It was going to go another 300,000 miles!

Now it was time for paint.  It was amazing to see the restoration. On Saturday I went fuel the Coach at the Bio Diesel Plant set up at the Ybarra's warehouse  and saw the Dad and three of the sons.  I told them that I wanted to show them a new truck that had been donated. Roland said, "Wow, that's great. It looks like one of our old trucks."  And it was.  Now, they were amazed.

Yes, the factory has moved way beyond 3 little trucks into big trucks with big loads.  Yet the restoration of one of the little trucks that brought them to their current state was a welcome sight!  And we are sure that the carcass, the trailer and the runner will be around New Life for a long time. 

Gone are the faded out signs of El Matador chips.  Gone are the pictures of the bull and bullfighter.  Just white paint.  Blank. Kinda like getting saved.

Man is like that old truck. It got you where you are. It's marked up with the slogans and jargon of where you have been and what you were doing. And then you met Jesus.  His blood washed your sins white as snow. Now the yesterdays are gone. The future is a blank page. What will you do with it?

  Even if you have marked up that blank page with the nonsense of a backslidden lifestyle He is waiting like an old friend.  He wants to restore you.  Come on, doesn't a fresh start sound great?  Take a moment and begin the restoration. Your old friend is waiting!

Passion!

Things are great!  Duty called and found me at the Community Center overseeing a new Drive Thru window and it turned out to be a fabulous day! Pastor Sean and Angela were headed to the river for a week.  Grandkids were with the other Grandfolks and the Queen was headed to the Labor Day sale with her Christmas money.  (yes, I know it is August!)  Brian and me were left to the laborious duties of the forward thinker.

A series of friends popped in and made the day a super outcome.  One friend, whom has supported our work here for around 10 years came because of the blog.  He saw I was thinking again.  He knows that could send me soaring or digging and he just didn't want me digging a cave and crawling in. Being a self employed businessman he knows the stress and strategy of moving forward in a never stopping world.

In his business he calls on multiple businesses a day and has a pretty good pulse on the local economy.  Recently he added a provision for helping lower electricity costs to his sales bag and is doing just fine at it. Always looking for a way to serve. Gotta admire him!  Thanks Rudy, for checking on me!

Around 2 pm the Reverend Hoxworth from Mexia came to town and stopped in with his son in love, Wayne Wade and his son, Jeremy. Retiring to the inner office we began to talk about the work of the Lord and soon found encouragement in His goodness. The good Reverend and his wife, Beverly are in town to plan the International Association of Music Ministers convention coming up at New Life in October.  This looks to be a success in the making.

Near the end of our visit we moved to the Prayer Chapel for a time of worship and adoration of our Lord and Savior!  Prayer Cloths were prayed over and sent out.  Requests and petitions prayed over.  And then the Covenant among Brethren renewed by receiving Communion and Faith.

And then at 4 pm Minister David Polydore arrived.  This fantastic man is a joy always. He works for a multi national company that specializes in measuring the flow of oil from the drilling rigs and setting up the platforms.  Weighing in at over 800,000 pounds these big rigs are monitored by a laptop and a human brain.  The success of millions of dollars of engineering, pattern makers, boilermakers and a variety of trades relies on his team to monitor the flow after it is set up.  He leaves tomorrow to go a couple of hundred miles into the gulf and work wonders. That's his day job.

His real life is ministry.  A father of four excellent daughters.  A husband of a songbird and music minister.  He finds the House of God his joy. But he has learned the delicate finesse of being a marketplace minister for his co-workers respect and receive his ministry.

There is one thread of my visits today.  Passion!  All of the men who came today exhibited passion.  The passion of friendship.  The passion of prayer and progress! The passion of marketplace ministry.

Walking through Starbucks to look over the installation of the Drive Thru to head home for a dinner with my love and the Grandkids I was amazed.  Amazed at the passion of the day.  We started and ended with a Drive Thru window installation. But our Passion ruled the day!

PS.  I have combined the two blogs for now. Bit off a bit more than I could chew!  Ha!  Enjoy tomorrow where we will begin to explore Jacob's reunion with Esau!