I am a Baptist who believes in the Holy Spirit.

I believe in the mighty power of a Sovereign God.

The Sermon on the Mount is not optional behavior. It is a call to ultimate faith in an all-powerful God.

God is able, and certainly will, intervene in our lives when we have faith in Him and will not compromise in our following of His teachings.

Oh, how we fail when we choose to use the world's weapons to fight God's battles, and the world's ethics to dictate our behavior.

God is Good

I can never get over how absolutely great having a relationship with Jesus Christ really is. He sees me, knows me, and is always right there with the right word and help for whatever situation I am in.

I haven't always known this. I was raised in a Baptist church, and 'accepted Christ' at the age of 7. I thought at the time that I was doing what I needed to to become a Christian. In the succeeding years, I studied my Bible, went to church every time the door opened, did all the 'Christian' young people things. Never found quite what I thought religion was supposed to be. I was always fearful, fretful, and worried about what other people thought---did I fit into the 'Christian' mold. Living to please others is a dead end road.

And eventually I found the dead end. I became cynical, and then finally disgusted at the church life around me. Folks just don't like to do what they say they do. Deacons divorce, church members get arrested, church business meetings turn into arguements with folks just all wanting their own way and pretending to be holier than each other---this is what stood out to me, and just flat turned me off. I saw the same things in my own family, which just made it worse. I just walked away--from God, religion, family, everything.

Then, I guess you could say God found me. I spent so much time looking for Him in other people, and then gave up when I couldn't find what I was looking for---but God wasn't what I had really been looking for, I was trying to justify myself. I wanted other folks to like and accept me...I wanted to be perfect, and became more and more judgmental of others because they weren't. I was so all about ME.

And then, He was there. I don't know how else to explain it. I knew His love, His forgiveness and -- most of all I think -- His mercy. I began to know and follow His leading, His voice. Jesus showed me His reality...that He was really there. He hears me and speaks to me. Jesus loves me...I'm still floored by how real he has made this to me.

God is not a teaching, a philosophy, a system or a happy thought. He is a person.

And the Bible is true. I don't just believe it...I know it, because I know the Author.

Wow, God is really God. And He is good.

Life in the Spirit

I was amazed recently when I read on another (supposedly Christian) site that "what Jesus taught during His earthly ministry was not Christianity."

It really stunned me.

Jesus said..."If you keep my commandments, ye shall abide in My love..." (John 15:10) So how could our Lord not have meant us to live by the tenants of the Sermon on the Mount?

The Sermon on the Mount (Matt 5-7) is a call to a life of extreme faith, extreme reliance on Him as our only Protector, Guide and Sovereign.

God says what He means, and means what He says.

How can folks who say that they believe in the inerrancy of scripture then proceed to throw out whatever they don't agree with?

Either it all stands as effectual for us today, or none of it does.

We are missing the beauty of relying completely upon the Holy Spirit in every aspect of our lives. The Lord lives, He is reliable and true. He calls us, not to book knowledge or to accept a philosophy, but to a relationship with Him!

Seek out the God of the Bible. Let Him guide you. He won't lead you wrong.

Reality Check

You know, we are lacking something in our zealousness for Christ.

Jesus Christ is a real person.

Before you say..."Duh"..think about this....

If we are bickering in our churches or denominations over who's the boss, are we acting as though we know Jesus is alive? (Who's in charge, after all, if not the King?)

If we quarrel over interpretations of scripture, are we acting as though Jesus is in our midst? (Why not just ask Him, didn't He write it?)

If our opinion is so exalted that we must put down others who don't agree with us by the use of personal assaults, judgmentalism, and harsh criticism...where is our fear of being wrong? Don't we fear the King, who said..."Judge not that ye be not judged" and "Vengence is Mine, I will repay"?

We are forgetting one simple fact....

Jesus did not come to us to take sides...but to take charge.

We will be fruitful to the point that we let Him have charge over us. The Lord will speak to those who will listen, He will lead those who will follow, and He will reject those who place themselves on the throne of their own lives-rejecting His leadership. He lives and rules and reigns. He is in charge.

Do you think that He will be slow in punishing those who abuse their brother? Do you think He was bluffing when He said that it would be better for us to have a millstone tied around our neck and be cast into the sea than for us to do harm to the least of His little ones? If you truly fear God, how can you deliberately try to hurt, offend, or degradate the lowest of His children. You are acting as though Jesus does not exist.

Jesus is alive! He is a Person you can know, speak to and hear from. And we need to start doing just that...praying and listening. He said "Be still and know that I am God." Stop your fussing. He is in charge, all things are in His hands. He will not let you fall, just trust in Him. The Holy Spirit does not panic, nor does He need us to fight His battles for Him. He wants us to confess the battle is His and look to Him for the victory. Have faith in God.

After all, He does exist, is exactly Who He says He is, and will do exactly what He says He will do.

Why is that so hard to put into practice?

Personal Responsibility

There's something about sin that we've forgotten about.

It's our fault.

To make this personal...my sins are my fault. I have the responsibility for them. I did it. Yo, me.

Nobody made me do it. I made a deliberate choice to disobey God. I can squeal all I want about its genetics, my upbringing, circumstances, etc. But its still my fault. It may be defensible, understandable, so on and so forth...but sin is still wrong. And its still my responsibility. My fault.

I have a hard time with responsibility. I don't like to be wrong. It makes me look bad, feel bad. I want to be the hero, flawless in every way. I want to be able to say that God is proud of me. When people find fault in me, I want to defend myself, find faults in them. After all they are only saying what they are saying because they are jealous that they can't be as right and as good as me. I can't be wrong.

Oh, yes, I can be. You see, my sin is my fault.

I go to Calvary and look up at the Cross. Hard, rough, blood stained. I lean against it in grief. The cost of my sin. Can I defend myself now? I think of how I have run my mouth, blamed others. More sin on top of sin. I feel the warm, sticky blood run down on my hand. Blood shed for me. I as much as killed Him.

He made me. He loved me. He died for my sin.

Because it was my fault.

Introduction

I'm new to blogging, and it will show as I get started.

I'm Greg Cloud. I live in western Arkansas and am a pastor of a small Southern Baptist Church. Since the church is small, I still have to work for a living. (Ha, Ha)

Looking at other baptist blogs, I have been amazed at the harshness that we can treat each other with.

People are people. We all fail, sin, don't spend as much time thinking our thoughts through before we post them, etc. Don't we realize that? Why do we judge each other more harshly than we are willing to judge ourselves?

Why do we judge each other at all? The only person Jesus authorises us to judge is ourselves. (Judge not that ye be not judged). Take the board out of your own eye before you point out the speck in the eye of your brother. Instead, support him or exhort him for his fruits, not his tree watering technique.

What are your fruits?

Greg