Mary Had A Little Lamb

It just occurred to us after all these years....that the long beloved children's song "Mary Had A Little Lamb" refers to Mary, the mother of Jesus, and Christ, the spotless sacrifice.

Joh 1:29

The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.

"Mary had a little lamb, whose fleece was white as snow"...

Rev 1:14

His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire;

What is a Protestant

For the full version and more, please click here: http://churchofgodcarmichael.org/content/view/49/33/
...it is referenced here for your convenience.

What is a Protestant?
Many people believe that all non-Catholics are Protestants. But this is not so, as we trust you will see, as you read this article.

The Church... of God
The Church of God is a divine institution and has no relationship with Protestantism. Christ built his church, His body, of which He is the Head, He places the members in the body (church) as it pleases Him, His church is made up of lively stones, saved, born-again people. There are no dead stones (sinners) in the Church of God, for the Church of God is without spot or blemish.
The Church of God was not built upon Peter, and he definitely was not the first Pope, Jesus said He would build His church upon the rock. The Apostle Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 10:4, "And that Rock was Christ." The Church of God is built upon the Rock Christ Jesus. He is also the chief corner stone. In contrast, all Protestant denominations are man made organizations, who elect their heads, make rules, laws, etc.
If members of the Church of God are not Protestants (and they surely are not Roman Catholics) what are they? They are called saints. Members of the Church of God, have always been called saints, Christians, Children of God, etc., but never Protestants. The name Protestant belongs to Babylon, and the true Protestant belongs to Babylon, and the true saints of God have no part of Babylon. Many have come out of Babylon (Protestantism, Catholicism, etc.) into the true light and as they come out, leave the Babylonish garments behind, of which the name Protestant is one.

Believers Fellowship God's Way
To become a member of a Protestant denomination, one must subscribe to a creed or discipline.
By that act, one severs full fellowship with other Christians who do not belong in their sect. Someone may say, that is not true, for we have fellowship with all Christians. They would learn different if they would try to partake of the Lord's Supper in some sects. It would be denied them, because of not being a member of that sect. Or try to find full fellowship in a denomination that one may worship with, and not join. The person would be denied many privileges that their own members have.
Born-again people are not Protestants, unless they join a Protestant sect. If they join a Protestant sect, that makes them Protestants and a part of the Protestant system. But God did not make them Protestants, Man does that. God makes saints out of sinners, but never Protestants.

What is a lie?

Religion today tells us that we should repent of our sins and ask God for forgiveness and we will have eternal life in Heaven with Christ....because Jesus died for our sins. This is true. However, even our law states we should tell "the truth, the WHOLE truth, and nothing but the truth". To leave out a part...is deception...the anatomy of a lie. It is true that we should repent of our sins but the true meaning of repent is to turn away from our sins...to never return to them again. A life free from sin? Is that what that means? Yes.

Christ died for our sins. We cannot hang Him back on the cross again and again...he died only once. That tells us that we should no longer commit sin...because we have no more sacrifice for them. (Hebrews 10:26)

Theories: Evolution vs. Christianity

"So who created evil?" The professor asked, "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."

The student had 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. Every body 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 lessfully 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 professor 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 everyday. 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 bell rang and class was dismissed but not to miss the "power" point worth a ponder, proffer and one professor enlightened.

What are scriptures in a Bible?

The scriptures, the Word of God, the Bible: what are these? More on this topic can be found directly at http://churchofgodcarmichael.org/content/view/19/32/, it has been recorded here for your convenience.

• God’s words are very powerful for even the very creation of all things came into existence by God commanding it to be. He spoke the word, and it was done. (Genesis 1 & Hebrews 11:3)
• Throughout the history of the world God has also at times spoken his word directly to certain men (Genesis 3:15, Exodus 3, Samuel 3:4-14, Jeremiah 30:1-2) – to have them obey his word, and to have some of them write down what he spoke so that others could also read, understand, and obey his word. (Luke 1:1-4 & Acts 1:1-3)
• God has inspired men by his Holy Spirit to speak his word to others (by preaching and teaching), and also to write down his word, and to record the history of what people did when they heard his word (whether they obeyed it or not) – so that others could also read it, learn from the word, and learn from the examples of those who obeyed and did not obey (I Corinthians 10:11-12).
• The actual record of the various written words of God, and what people did with God’s word, is called "the scriptures"
• The collection of all the scriptures into one book is called "the Bible" which is made up of 66 books that are divided into two main sections, the "Old Testament" and the "New Testament."
• God has been particularly careful about the record of his word, and the collection of those records found in the Bible – he wants us to be very particular and careful about it also (Revelations 22:18-19).

The best way to learn more, if you are able, is to be able to ask questions directly...if you have any, feel free to comment below and we will have a minister answer them for you. Please leave a way to contact you so we can respond...or go to the Church of God website for more help.

What is the Bible?

Perhaps, as we are starting our series on the Bible in a Year, it is good to get a better idea of what the Bible, as a Book, itself is. You can go directly to the site that we will reference here, for your convenience.

The Word of God, the Bible, is like no other book:

• It was not authored like other books


• It has been compiled and preserved for accuracy like no other book


• In spite of it's enormous amount of historical content, it has never been refuted by the many archaeological discoveries.


• No other ancient document has been studied and commented on and translated into as many languages as the Bible.


• No other book has been published as much, and in as many far and different places as the Bible.


• No other book is quoted from and referenced as much as is the Bible.


• No other ancient book comes even remotely close to having the number of prophesies that are contained in the Bible, and that have come true.


• No other book contains as many prophesies that have come true concerning one person, that person being: Jesus Christ.


• No other book contains the words so powerful as to transform the lives of even the most wicked despots, into humble, holy, faithful and obedient servants of God.


• No other book requires a person to be truly repentant of sin, with a sincere, broken, humble and contrite spirit to enable them to be able to read its contents and understand the true meaning.


• In the end, at the judgement bar of God where all shall stand - the only word that will matter is the Word of God, and that will be used to judge the lives, hearts, and actions of everyone.

And although many may not have fully comprehended it, they still have had to acknowledge the value, power, authority, and Divine inspiration that has authored and preserved the Bible:

Abraham Lincoln: "I believe the Bible is the best gift God has ever given to man. All the good from the Saviour of the world is communicated to us thru this book."

George Washington: "It is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and the Bible."

Napoleon: "The Bible is no mere book, but a Living Creature, with a power that conquers all that oppose it."

Daniel Webster: "If there is anything in my thoughts or style to commend, the credit is due to my parents for instilling in me an early love of the Scriptures" "If we abide by the principles taught in the Bible our country will go on prospering and to prosper; but if we and our prosperity neglect its instructions and authority, no man can tell how sudden a catastrophe may overwhelm us and bury all our glory in profound obscurity."

John Ruskin: "Whatever merit there is in anything that I have written is simply due to the fact that when I was a child my mother daily read me a part of the Bible and daily made me learn a part of it by heart."

Charles A. Dana: "The grand old Book still stands; and this old earth, the more its leaves are turned and pondered, the more it will sustain and illustrate the pages of the Sacred Word."

Ferrar Fenton: "In the Hebro-Christian Scriptures we have the only key that unlocks the Mystery of the Universe to Man, and the Mystery of Man to Himself."

Thomas Huxley: "The Bible has been the Magna Charta of the poor and oppressed. The human race is not in a position to dispense with it."

W. H. Seward: "The whole hope of human progress is suspended on the ever growing influence of the Bible."

Patrick Henry: "The Bible is worth all other books which have ever been printed."

U.S. Grant: "The Bible is the sheet-anchor of our liberties."

Lord Tennyson: "Bible reading is an education in itself."

Horace Greeley: "It is impossible to enslave mentally or socially a Bible-reading people. The principles of the Bible are the ground-work of human freedom."

John Quincy Adams: "So great is my veneration for the Bible that the earlier my children begin to read it the more confident will be my hope that they will prove useful citizens of their country and respectable members of society." "I have for many years made it a practice to read thru the Bible once every year."

Immanuel Kent: "The existence of the Bible, as a book for the people, is the greatest benefit which the human race has ever experienced. Every attempt to belittle it is a crime against humanity."

Charles Dickens: "The New Testament is the very best book that ever was or ever will be known in the world."

Sir William Herschel: "All human discoveries seem to be made only for the purpose of the confirming more and more strongly the truths contained in the Sacred Scriptures."

Sir Issac Newton: "There are more sure marks of authenticity in the Bible than in any profane history."

Goethe: "Let mental culture go to advancing, let the natural sciences progress in ever greater extent and depth, and the human mind widen itself as much as it desires; beyond the elevation and moral culture of Christianity, as it shines forth in the Gospels, it will not go."

William McGuffey, compiler of the McGuffey's Readers - early American textbooks: "For the copious extracts made from the Sacred Scriptures, he makes no apology. Indeed, upon a review of the work, he is not sure but an apology may be due for his not having still more liberally transferred to his pages the chaste simplicity, the thrilling pathos, the living descriptions, and the overwhelming sublimity of the sacred writings." "The Bible is the only book in the world treating of ethics and religion, which is not sectarian. Every sect claims that book as authority for its peculiar views."

The Bible is not sectarian. It does not belong to any religion. The Bible belongs to God - it is His Word and no one else's. No one has a privilege to modify, take away from or add to it, and all who do bring the judgements within it upon themselves. God's Word never changes, nor does his opinion about how he feels about it. Contained in his Word is a multitude of long-suffering and mercy to change any heart, so there is no excuse for anyone not reading, understanding, and obeying his Word.

Free books online...quick, easy download

I just found these books:

The Sabbath and the Lord's Day, by H. M. Riggle, 1928

Shadows of Good Things, Or The Gospel in Type, by Russell R. Byrum, 1922

Weight of the Word, by Harold Barber, January 3, 1949Reprints: December 1953, December 1978

The Holy Spirit and other spirits, by D. O. Teasley, 1903


Free downloads right to your computer through Adobe Acrobat. Visit http://churchofgodcarmichael.org/component/option,com_wrapper/Itemid,52/ for more books.

Read the Bible in One Year

Today, our Bible Devotion comes from the Church of God website, as we read the Bible in one year.

Genesis 7
Genesis 8
Genesis 9

There are also many tracts and helpful tools that you can find by perusing the Church of God website, that we have found to be of good help, such as this on Repentance.

At a later date, we may even post more about it, as the Lord leads. It is a good Bible study to go over with much prayer.

Read the Bible in One Year

We are marching onward with our goal, to read the Bible in a year. We are reading from the King James Version, and a free online Bible can be found here, or keep this site address for future reference:


Today our reading comes from:
Genesis 4
Genesis 5
Genesis 6

Find us here again tomorrow...

Read the Bible in One Year

We're starting a new series...a goal to read the Bible in One Year. A FREE online Bible can be found here, or keep this address for future reference: http://churchofgodcarmichael.org/bible/. You can also visit: http://churchofgodcarmichael.org/bible/readyear.htm for the scriptures we'll be reading on a day to day basis...or feel free to visit us here as we post them daily for you...you can leave comments or ask questions as well, and we'll have a minister help answer them for you!

Today, our scriptures are:
Genesis 1
Genesis 2
Genesis 3

(Click on the chapters to read today's chapters).

We look forward to tomorrow!!

The Dash

A life is summed up on a gravestone as "1940 - 2005"...but the year of birth and the year of death do not tell of the life lived...it is the Dash between the two years that tell of the person himself. If you've been wondering about your dash, visit this site for help: www.ChurchOfGodCarmichael.org

Here's a quick video about "The Dash", it was beatiful and thought provoking.