We will Glorify our marriage to God :)

At our wedding (our second marriage), we played "We will Glorify", written and sang by Twila Paris. It was the most beautiful song for our wedding. We both want to glorify God with our marriage and we are glorifying wonderfully. God is with us and we both are spiritually, emotionally and mentally happy !!!!

Spiritual Nourishment and Tradition

I have been reading, thinking and wondering about my spiritual relationship with God and my Church. I have been embracing my own spiritual reality. Every Christians who are spiritually well educated know where they stand on such matters as the inspiration of the Scriptures, the deity of Jesus Christ, salvation through the blood of atonement, death and judgment, heaven and hell. The true battle line is elsewhere outside Jesus Christ, the Church and the Bible. There are spiritual leaders and followers who are depending on the Church rather than God to guide them in their traditional religious practices. There's nothing wrong with traditions but I have learned that traditions will not help me spiritually as the Bible can. I realized that if I am stuck (isolated) somewhere around the world and there is no reliable denomination church nearby or any church nearby, where are the Christian traditions if I am out there alone and only have God in my heart and my Bible in my possession? I am part of a body of believers (Church) but I am nowhere near a local assembly (church). What do I do? It is very important to know that God (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) and Bible are the two most important aspects of my life. I cannot carry huge books of traditions with me everywhere I go. I can carry some of the traditions with me from my heart (I have been taught by the Church) but I realized that most of the traditions are mentioned in the Bible. Scriptures clearly states that the purpose of the Bible is to make me know God and His love on a daily basis; to spiritually change me as I read it, believe in God's words and obey God from my heart. When I read my Bible, the Holy Spirit gives me life (see John 6:63). The Bible is Book of Life. Spiritual truth is spiritually discerned. Spiritual wisdom begins by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is not from the Church. The Holy Spirit is directly from God. In 1 Corinthians 2:10, God has revealed it to us by his Spirit. "Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight." Proverbs 3:5-6 Over the years I have learned that there are great truths of God's Word that are joyfully received. The Word of God gave me peace, hope, encouragement and much more. On the other side of the coin, there are also truths that are very painful to me. The Word of God declared to me the condition of loved ones around me who will probably never have (or never had) the experienced the second (spiritual) birth. Traditions do not help in that area. Only God through the Holy Spirit,the Bible and the body of believers can spread the gospel. Traditions do not spread the Gospel since most Church traditions are for members of the Church after they accepted Christ as their savior. When I go to Church one day a week, I worship, learn the teachings of God's Word, fellowship with other Christians, sharing in the Lord's Supper and in Prayer. What do I do with the six (6) other days of the week? Jesus said in Matthew 4:4 "The Scriptures say, 'people need more than bread for their life; they must feed on every Word of God'." Reading 2 Timothy 3:15-17 and 1 Peter 2:2 as well as many other verses in the Bible tells me that the Word of God is very important for my spiritual relationship with God. For six days, I should read my Bible to keep me from sin because if I don't, sin will keep me away from God, the Word of God and in over time, eventually away from my local church. Traditions are important but to me , they are not as important as the Word of God. For six (6) days a week, I have my own traditions in my personal and spiritual relationship with God. Everyone will have their own spiritual traditions. Each families will establish their own Christian spiritual traditions over the years. If the Bible were not written, I would follow the Church's traditions; however God, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit have provided us the Bible. God is telling me that His Word is more important than traditions and that I should rely on the Bible for my own personal spiritual wisdom. If traditions are supported by the Bible, I will follow them. If some of the traditions are not supported by the Bible, I will study further (as Scriptures demands to "test the spirits") to see if they will benefit my spiritual well-being. If they don't, I will not follow them and I will stick with my Bible. There is "personal" reason why I don't support traditions ahead of the Bible and since it is a negative issue, therefore, I would prefer not to mention them specifically. But I can say this: During my younger days, I personally encountered and witnessed the Church's problems. Over the years, I have been watching the Church's handling those problems. In my disappointment, they usually ignore the problems by handling administrative moves rather fixing the core of the problems. The Church stated (my interpretation) that their traditions are important and cannot be changed. To me, this Church views that their traditions are more important than their spiritual members. The members were the ones who got hurt and the Church chose to ignore the problem which translated (to me) "willful ignorance" on their part. Is the Church supposed to spiritually nourish the members and not hurt them? While I am at this, I had my problems with spiritual legalism, which is another form of tradition. That's another story.