Thank you for recognizing this. The Spirit of God is not behind every thought we have. And certainly, He doesn't speak to us only through emotional spasms and good feelings. Often times, He speaks to us much more reservedly - as a whisper. It takes proper discernment to figure out His will.
we can receive great assistance via the collective stored wisdom and tradition of the Church.
What is sad is so many people refuse to read or accept their wisdom on Christ, BUT, these same people will say they believe the Nicean Creed, or some of the Councils. There seems to be a disconnect here. It is important that we, as Christians, do not forget our heritage. We receive our paradigm from the teachings passed down from our ancestors. To better understand it, we should not discard all traditions merely because Christ mentions traditions in a negative sense when Pharisees twist traditions away from God.
There is no church-less Christianity with validity. The Lord WANTS us to work through the difficulties of interpersonal conflicts, so we can demonstrate that through His power unity can be achieved. And when the world sees our love for one another, then they will believe that God truly did send Jesus Christ.
Good points. A Church-less Christianity is not Christianity of the Scriptures, nor of our 2000 year heritage. God desired that we come to Him through and with other people. "Jesus and me" alone is not the Gospel message.
Brother in Christ
Brother, we are in solid agreement on these points.