LAYING DOWN

 EXPECTATIONS

Written by

Rev. Canon Robert W. Wills Th.D.

LAYING DOWN EXPECTATIONS

Covenant Relationships

            God's announcement of His plan of salvation and blessing to His people, one of the unifying themes integrating the message and the deeds of the Old and New Testaments. This promise of a fatherly relationship with God was a divine declaration or assurance made at first to Eve, Shem, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and then to the whole nation of Israel. This promise of a relationship had four fundamental components: (1) He would be their God (Father), (2) they would be His covenant people, and (3) He would dwell in their midst, and (4) God would reveal His will to them through his priests and prophets. These four components of God’s divine promise requires God’s people to respond to Him in love, submission, faith, and obedience.

            These same four components are present in every sacramental covenant relationship into which we enter. Thus in Baptism, Holy Matrimony, Confirmation, and Ordination to Holy Orders, we acknowledge God as our Father, agree to submit to Him as His covenant people, and expect the Real Presence of God (through Christ and/or the Holy Spirit) to be with us, and (4) we expect God to reveal His will to us through various means.

            Our relationships within the Church are also predicated upon these four components. (1) There are Spiritual Fathers in the Church to whose authority we submit, (2) we are bound together by covenant relationships, (3) God is present in each of us who are temples of the Holy Spirit, and (4) We should corporately and individually seek the Lord to discern His will. All of our covenant relationships involve loving God and one another, submission to fatherhood ministry, faith in Christ and His Church, and obedience to authority. Unfortunately our covenant relationships are sometimes broken when we stop loving, submitting to, believing in, and obeying either God or those with whom we covenanted.

            In the ICCEC as a denomination and in our individual churches we have seen many people walk away from their covenant relationships. This usually involves a loss of their original love, yielding to self will instead of submitting to fatherhood ministry, a loss of faith in either God or in his leadership, and rebellion. That this loss of love, self will, unbelief, and rebellion sometimes occurs in people who have an obvious anointing of the Holy Spirit and calling of God for ministry should be of great concern to all of us. Why do seemingly strong and knowledgeable Christians walk away from their covenant relationships with God and His Church?

The Danger Of Unfulfilled Expectations

            We all have personal ambitions and expectations, but we must learn to lay these down so that we may embrace God’s will for our lives. Jesus wants to reverse our expectations and curb our ambitions. Cyril of Alexandria wrote: “When he comes and finds us girded, awake and our hearts enlightened, then he immediately will make us blessed. ‘He will gird his loins and serve them.’ By this, we learn that he will reward us proportionately. Since we are weary with toil, he will comfort us, setting before us spiritual banquets and spreading the abundant table of his gifts. [God’s blessing] also belongs to those who hunger for justice, and to the meek and to all these blessed others without exception. For he set his blessing upon all these things to keep you from expecting something belonging to this material world.” ^[1]

God does not want us to have expectations of the material world, and He certainly does not want us to infect the Church with our soulish expectations. Other than the expectation that God will provide us with Fatherhood Ministry, that we will be His covenant people, that God’s presence will never leave us, and that God will show us His will and plan, we should have no other expectations. At Baptism, at Confirmation, at Ordination, and in the Rite of Reconciliation we have the opportunity to lay down and bury our expectations. Unfortunately most of us don’t fully do that. We still expect certain things from God—sometimes things that are outside of the will of God for our lives at this time. Rebellion is the unfortunate fruit of our self-willed expectations.

In our understanding of consensus government we are taught to lay down our agendas and our expectations. This is prerequisite to hearing from God. We have also been told to seek the Lord through prayer and fasting, and we should be seeking direction from God through the study of the scriptures. We must keep further personal expectations in check by frequent confession of our sins. Failure to do these things can lead to the covetousness referred to by St. James.

When God does not seem to be meeting our expectations, we grumble and complain. As time goes on we think more and more about our unfulfilled expectations. As these expectations grow bigger in our thinking, we seek to explain why they are not being fulfilled. Because it is not seemingly spiritual to blame God, and we are obviously too pious to be at fault, we look for someone else to blame for our expectations not being met. The Denomination, the local church, or someone in spiritual authority are likely candidates for us to blame.

Here is an example of how this may unfortunately work. A man is ordained to the priesthood with the expectation that he will someday be ministering to people full-time with God supplying all of his needs. After several years he is ministering quite a bit at his cathedral and has little or no free time. He becomes too busy to continue his full time employment, so he quits his job and increases the amount of time spent in ministry. God is trying to teach this man to live by faith, but the priest holds on to the expectation that the church or church leadership is responsible for his financial welfare. When his money runs out, this priest becomes discontented and fearful. He begins to doubt that God will supply his needs and begins to look to others to meet his needs. So, he approaches his bishop about the church paying him. Although this was never implied or promised by his bishop, this priest has the expectation that the church owes him for his devoted service.

When the bishop is unable to support him at the level he expects, the priest becomes disgruntled, more discontented, and complains to anyone who will listen to him. The more he complains, the more he needs to find someone to blame for the financial position in which he finds himself. This priest will blame the bishop and the church for his financial problems and frustrations. His expectations appear to be unfulfilled. Blaming his bishop leads to a loss of his love for both his bishop and the church.

Self will sets in, bringing to the forefront more unresolved expectations and discontent as the priest thinks about all of the things that he doesn’t have in his life. He begins to covet what others in full-time ministry have that he doesn’t have. Soon he loses faith in the church and in his spiritual authority, although he piously maintains that he is trusting in God—adding that people have let him down. Ultimately, he sees no point in continuing to obey his bishop and looks for ways to discredit him. In the end he openly rebels, first by talking with other rebels, and finally by leaving the ICCEC for the perceived “greener pastures” of another organization. He will do this when his bishop is out of town and otherwise preoccupied. And he will most likely attempt to get other people to go with him in his rebellion.

            Recognizing our failure to lay down our self will and our expectations can be difficult if we are not continually seeking God and making a conscious effort to bring our thoughts in subjection to Christ. St. Paul tells us how to do this in 2 Corinthians chapter 10.

            Here is what some of the fathers of the Church wrote about this scripture.

SELF-WILLED EXPECTATIONS OF THE SONS OF ZEBEDEE

            Jesus was the One the Father sent, but He did not match His disciples’ expectations. James and John at one point allowed self will to give them an expectation of receiving special favor and authority from Jesus. They allowed this to turn into personal ambition and acted very presumptuously in approaching Jesus with their request. They expected Jesus to “do for us whatever we ask.” Then they wanted Jesus to exalt them above all of the other apostles, saying “Grant us that we may sit, one on Your right hand and the other on Your left, in Your glory.” Both of these requests were unrealistic and self-willed expectations that both men would have to learn to lay down.

            Because they recognized that they had a special anointing and calling, and because they had been privileged to be intimate with Jesus, they developed the self-willed expectation that they could get anything they wanted from Him. Many times it is the greatly anointed and favored who develop unreasonable expectations. These expectations can easily turn into rebellion. In this case Jesus recognized the potential problem and addressed it in a homily to His disciples and taught them humility.

            As so often happens, these men had a couple of mistaken premises underlying their expectations. Once again one of the Church Fathers can shed some light on these mistaken premises. Their faulty premises are underscored.

To follow Christ means to obey the Father’s will as Jesus did.^[7] At times it is God’s good pleasure to try a man and to prepare him for greater things. At other times the man himself is the cause of this, having lifted up his soul too highly, having exerted himself too strongly, having been too irreverent, and having had expectations that were too high.^[8] Such expectations lead to discontentment, and that starts us on a road to rebellion.

Discontentment often shows itself in our not liking or not being well pleased with our own present condition; in our murmuring and repining; in our vexing and fretting; in our quarreling and complaining of our condition; in taking no rest nor quiet therein. “And Naboth said to Ahab, The Lord forbid that I should give the inheritance of my fathers unto thee. And Ahab came into his house heavy and displeased; and he laid him down upon his bed, and turned away his face and would eat no bread” (1 Kings 21:3, 4). “Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer” (1 Cor. 10:10).

According to one author, discontentment arises from several factors: ^[9]

1. From our not believing or not trusting the providence of God, who orders every particular circumstance of our estate and condition, and hath promised to order it for the best. “Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? And one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear ye not, therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows” (Matt. 10:29–31).
2. From pride and overvaluing ourselves, as if we had some deserving of our own, and such high thoughts as if it were fit that such worthy persons as we are should be in a better condition than that in which God hath placed us.
3. From a carnal heart, filled with inordinate self-love; which, if God’s providence does not gratify with full provisions for the flesh, it does disturb and grieve and is disquieted. 4. From inordinate affections to and expectations of and from, these outward things, which causes inordinate grief and trouble in the loss of these things, and great discontent in the disappointment of what we expected of them and from them.

We may be cured of discontentment with our own estate, by mourning for it, and application of ourselves unto the Lord Jesus Christ for pardon and healing; and by the diligent use of the means before directed, for the attainment of the grace of true contentment.

Loss Of One’s First Love

            Unless a person is vigilant to lay down expectations, put to death the self will, and put thinking into subjection to Christ there is a risk of falling into trap that leads to rebellion. This downhill spiral can start with unfulfilled expectations. These self-willed, unfulfilled expectations lead to discontent. The next step is often losing the love we once had for our church, our leaders, and even for God. Consider the revelation of Christ given to St. John as an admonition against the Church at Ephesus.

When we first received Christ into our lives our first love was very strong. Likewise, when we first joined the ICCEC or were ordained into Holy Orders, our love was strong and permeated every area of our lives. Unless this love is nurtured by actively working to build strong and vibrant relationships with God, with our Christian family, and with our leaders, our first love may grow cold. True repentance and laying down our expectations is the only way that a love grown cold can be rekindled. Those whose first love has been allowed to grow cold are subject to becoming covetous, unforgiving, self willed, and rebellious. Ultimately our lamp stand—the light of revelation and the anointing of the Holy Spirit are removed from our lives if we don’t repent. This leads to further frustration and a sense of unfulfillment.

Unwillingness To Submit To Authority

            When a person loses his first love, he stops submitting to the one to whom love was formerly given. Failure to submit to God and to his spiritual authority or fatherhood ministry is another step toward rebellion. Once again St. James has the answer.

            When we don’t submit to God and by extension to his delegated authority, we become double minded. Part of the mind still wants to serve God and to fulfill the ministry to which we have been called. But part of the mind dwells upon self will and the unfulfilled expectations to which we have been clinging. We then try to justify our actions (which may be rebellious at this point) to convince others and ourselves that we are doing God’s will. At the same time we continue to blame those in authority for our failures and problems. A person who is going through this process will say that he is hearing from God while acting according to self-will. He will say that he is trusting God while judging a brother. He will say that he is living a holy life while acting in rebellion.

            A further step in this process of rebellion is a loss of faith—the inability or unwillingness to trust and depend upon God for daily needs.

THE IMPORTANCE OF FAITH

Biblical faith is a trusting commitment of one person to another, particularly of a person to God. Faith is the central concept of Christianity. One may be called a Christian only if one has faith.

            Our English word "faith" comes from the Latin fides. "Faith" came to mean "loyalty to a person to whom one is bound by promise or duty." Faith was fidelity. "Belief" came to be distinguished from faith as an intellectual process having to do with the acceptance of a proposition.

The Greek noun, pistis (faith), is related to the verb pisteuo (I have faith, trust, believe). The noun and verb are found virtually everywhere in the New Testament, with the notable exception that the noun is absent altogether from John's Gospel and occurs only once in 1 John. The verb form does not occur in Philemon, 2 Peter, 2 and 3 John, or Revelation.

            Classical Greek used pistis and pisteuo to mean "trust" or "confidence." In this period belief in the existence of the gods of the Greek pantheon would be expressed with the verb nomizo (to think, believe, hold, consider). In the New Testament "faith" is used in a number of ways, but primarily with the meaning "trust" or "confidence" in God.

            The concept of faith is primarily that of a personal relationship with God that determines the priorities of one's life. This relationship is one of love that is built on trust and dependence. When we have unfulfilled and selfish expectations, and when we have lost our first love, we lose the trust and dependence that we should have toward God.

Faith is the basic Christian experience, the decision for Christ Jesus. It is the acceptance of Christ's lordship (i.e., His God-given, absolute authority). In this sense faith is doubly a break from the past: it is one's removal from sin, and it is one's removal from all other religious allegiances (1 Thess. 1:9). If faith is primarily a relationship into which one enters through acceptance of Jesus' authority, it also includes a certain amount of "belief." As a derived use, then, "faith" may also denote the content of what is believed. In this sense faith is the conviction that God acted in the history of Israel and "that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself" (2 Cor. 5:19).

HAVING NO FAITH

            People with no faith desire personal gain. The become consumed by their own self-willed expectations. Greed and hunger for power produces self-reliance. This self-reliance leads to both doubt and putting other things (idols) in place of God. One cannot appreciate faith if one is motivated by greed or the desire for personal gain. Instead, such a person is consumed by that which is vanity.

Idols can be those things that people honor in their lives. And these things are truly vanities. In Jonah we read (Jonah 2:8):  “They that observe lying vanities (worthless idols) forsake their own mercy.” Those who lose their first love, rebel against spiritual authority, and become obsessed with self willed expectations of personal gain have no faith and observe lying vanities.

HAVING LITTLE FAITH

People with little faith are motivated by fear of loss. They cling to their expectations with the fear that those expectations will never be realized, so they look for someone to blame for this fear. Fear is a large barrier to faith. Those who fear loss speak negatively, expect the worst, and have difficulty with depending upon God for their daily needs. They do not trust God or the spiritual authority that God has set over them.

            Peter was affected by the circumstances because he did not fully trust Jesus and because he still had some unfulfilled expectations about the Messiah.

The Pharisees were so legalistic because they did not believe that God could love, accept, or forgive unless they could achieve some sort of human perfection. They did not love or trust God. Instead they feared His wrath. They constantly looked to accuse others to justify their own position. They sought to outwardly obey without inward submission.

THOSE WITH GREAT FAITH

The centurion was willing to lay down his agenda and expectations and to believe that just a word from Jesus could heal his servant. Great faith believes without any hesitation or any stipulations imposed by self will.

            This woman had great faith. She was able to trust Jesus, even when he appeared reluctant to help her. She demonstrated that those who have great faith, neither fear loss, nor desire personal gain. They respond to the authority and sovereignty of God, without regard to the circumstances. People who have lost their faith and dependence upon God will soon move on to disobedience. They are likely to break their vows and promises to God because they no longer trust Him or his Church.

OBEDIENCE OR DISOBEDIENCE

            People who consider themselves “spiritual” do not want to admit that they have lost faith in God so they transfer this loss of faith to either the church (“what a bunch of hypocrites”) or to their spiritual authority (“he doesn’t care anything about me”). They erroneously begin to believe that the church and church leadership have broking promises to them and kept them from experiencing the blessings and promises of the Kingdom of God.

Blessings and promises are obtained through the obedience and submission of God’s people. In the New Testament Jesus submitted to John's baptism, identifying Himself with sinful people, in order "to fulfill all righteous" (Matt. 3:15), that is, to meet God's expectation for His life, and the fulfilling of God’s promises. Jesus described His mission not as coming "to abolish the law or the prophets" but "to fulfill" (Matt. 5:17). The New Testament repeatedly speaks of love as the fulfilling of the law (Rom. 13:8-10; Gal. 5:14; Jas. 2:8).

            In John’s Gospel, the failure of the people to recognize God at work in Jesus’ signs or to accept Jesus’ testimony was explained as fulfillment of Scripture (12:37-41; compare Mark 4:11-12). It is an unfortunate reality of life that even today, people fail to recognize either God’s authority or God’s works. The Pharisees, who were striving to serve God and preserve the Law, missed God’s will because of their rebellion. Even today there are those religious people who rebel against authority, while claiming to be serving God.

            We must remember that God does not look at how fervently we preach the gospel or how willingly we suffer for the sake of God’s Kingdom. He looks to see how obedient we are. God’s Kingdom demands absolute trust and obedience toward God’s will. The Father expects no voicing of our opinions, no presenting of reasoning, no murmuring, no reviling, and no delay in hearing and obeying the Word and Will of God. Wherever there is a church, which will truly obey God’s authority, there is the testimony of the Kingdom and the defeat of satanic influence. Not all churches, however, choose to unreservedly obey God’s authority, and there are always consequences to the decision not to accept the Will of God. Rebellion never avoids the consequences of God’s judgment, as we can see from examining the fate of three Galillean cities that rejected the authority of Christ. Rebellion keeps people from experiencing the fulfillment of the promises of God, by those whom God has chosen to be his people.

Self Will, Disobedience, and Rebellion

            Jude speaks of those who have not followed the revealed truth of the Gospel. Self willed expectations lead people to act out of ignorance or selfishness, rather than being led by the Spirit of God. Jude says (Jude 10-11): “But these speak evil of those things which they know not: but what they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt themselves. Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core (Korah).”

            Self willed and rebellious people speak badly of spiritual things that they don't understand. They corrupt themselves with the things that they have understood or experi­enced. Look at the way Barclay's Translation renders Jude verse 11. “Woe to them because they walk in the way of Cain; they fling themselves into the error of Balaam; they perish in Korah's opposition to God.”

            Jude now goes to Hebrew history for parallels to the men of his own day; and from it he draws the examples of three notorious sinners who rejected the manifestation of the true power of God. They chose to follow a false alterna­tive to what God was trying to do. Many of those who have left the ICCEC have followed a false alternative to the true power and authority of the Spirit of God. These individuals or groups have brought the curse of unbe­lief upon them, as did the cities cited in chapter 10 of Luke's Gospel. Jude sheds light on three types of people or groups who have rejected the true manifestation of the Spirit of God. 

THE WAY OF CAIN

            First, there is Cain, the murderer of his brother Abel (Gen 4:1-15).  In Hebrew tradition Cain stood for two things.             He was the first murderer in the world's history; and, as The Wisdom of Solomon has it, "he himself perished in the fury wherewith he murdered his brother"  (Wisdom of Solomon 10:3).  It may well be that Jude is implying that those who delude or deceive either themselves or others are murderers of souls the spiritual descendants of Cain.

            But in Hebrew tradition Cain came to stand for something more than that. In Philo he stands for selfishness. In the Rabbinical teaching he is the type of the cynical man. In the Jerusalem Targum he is depicted as saying: "There is neither judgment nor judge; there is no other world; no good reward will be given to the good and no vengeance taken on the wicked; nor is there any pity in the creation or the government of the world." To the Hebrew thinkers Cain was the cynical, materialistic unbeliever who believed neither in God nor in the moral order of the world and who, therefore, did exactly as he liked. He had his own expectations and when those differed from the will of God, Cain followed his own course to satisfy his self will.  Jude seems to be charging those who reject the truth because of self-willed expectations with defying God and denying the moral order of the world.  It remains true that the man who chooses to sin has still to reckon with God. People cannot defy the moral order of the world with impunity. There are those churches and communities that have become cynical, materialistic and unbelieving. They are cursed.

THE PATH OF BAALAM

            Second, there is Balaam. In Old Testament thought, in Jewish teaching and even in the New Testament (Rev 2:14) Balaam is the great example of who taught Israel to sin. In the Old Testament there are two stories about him.   One is quite vivid. The other is more shadowy, but much more terrible; and it is it which left its mark on Hebrew thought and teaching.

            The first is in Numbers 22-24. There it is told how Balak attempted to persuade Balaam to curse the people of Israel, for he feared their power, five times offering him large rewards. Balaam refused to be persuaded by Balak, but his covetousness stands out and it is clear that only the fear of what God would do to him kept him from striking a dreadful bargain. He had lost his first love, was not submitted to any spiritual authority, did not trust God, and obeyed only out of fear of judgment. Balaam emerges as a detestable and self-willed character. In Numbers 25 there is the second story. Israel is seduced into the worship of Baal with dreadful and repulsive moral consequences. As we read later (Num. 31:8,16), it was Balaam who was responsi­ble for that seduction. He taught others to sin.

            Balaam stands for two things. He stands for the covetous man who was prepared to sin in order to gain reward. He also stands for the evil man who was guilty of the greatest of all sins--that of teaching others to sin.  So Jude is declaring of the wicked men of his own day that they are ready to leave the way of righteousness to make gain; and that they are teaching others to sin. In our society, rebellious religious leaders have taught others to sin. When a priest or deacon leaves the ICCEC in rebellion, for example, he almost always tries to persuade others to go with him.

THE SIN OF KORAH

            Third, there was Korah. His story is in Num. 16:1-35. The sin of Korah was that he rebelled against the guidance of Moses when the sons of Aaron and the tribe of Levi were made the priests of the nation. Moses was called by God to lead Israel. With God’s permission, Aaron was allowed to assist him. When he cause Aaron’s rod to bud, God was giving a visible manifestation of his election and calling concerning Aaron.

            Moses’ calling and anointing produced numerous miracles, as God provided for the needs of his people through his chosen leader. God developed some very important leadership qualities in Moses that the people of Israel were expected to recognize. Hebrews 11:24-29 reveals six of these qualities. Moses was a man of faith, integrity, vision, decisiveness, obedience, and responsibility. Because he was submitted to authority, and because he had a willingness to hear and obey God, he was given great authority and great responsibility. Others were chosen by God to assist him.

            Moses was the type of leader who thrived on details. He was persistent, thorough, orderly, and organized. When he saw a problem, he looked for God to reveal a creative solution.  He tended to function best as part of a team, as long as he could participate as an individual contributor to the team’s plans. He was cautious of change, and looked to God for confirmation, when change appeared necessary. Moses was a team player, who accepted his role on God’s team, whereas Korah and his fellow conspirators did not accept their roles as team players.

            We must realize that the process of election anoints and blesses the authority given to a person. All of us are as unworthy of our calling as the dried and dead rod, but God establishes offices of authority that have nothing to do with the person. We must learn to rest in our gifting, anointing, and callings. We must also learn to accept the gifting, anointing, and callings that God places upon those around us.

             That was something that Korah was not willing to accept. Although he did not possess the leadership qualities of Moses or Aaron, and although he lacked the calling of God to lead the people, Korah envied their position. He wished to exercise a function that he  had no right to exercise, and when he did so he perished terribly and  all his  companions in wickedness with him. Korah stands for those who refuse to accept authority and reaches out for things he has no right to have. Isn’t it interesting how many deacons who leave the ICCEC in rebellion find someone to ordain them as priests? It is likewise interesting how many priests who have left in rebellion become bishops in some other communion. St. Cyprian wrote about the consequences of such rebellion.

            Jude was charging his opponents with defying the legitimate authority of the church, preferring their own way to the way of God.  There are many men today who hop from one communion to another, having rebelled against God's authority. Let’s examine the sin of Korah.

            Many ministries of “renown” has been guilty of sinning for gain or of teaching others to sin. Look at all of the “famous” ministries that have fallen.  These ministries followed the example of Korah.  They saw the will and authority of God, but did not live in repentance and humility. Often self-styled “church board members” will strive with the “pastor” for control of the congregation, just as did Korah and his associates. Even priests and deacons will strive with their bishops, thinking that they could do a better job if they were in ecclesiastical authority.

Failure to repent of these types of attitudes and actions leads to the rebellion that we see in churches as well as the rebellion in our whole society today. This problem is due to self-willed expectations, the rejec­tion of God’s delegated authority, and a failure to respond to God's Word.  Those who reject God and rebel bring a curse upon themselves, as did Korah in Numbers chapter 16, accounting for the lack of success and negative growth experienced by many churches in this generation.

            God vindicated his leadership and passed judgment on the rebels. (Numbers 16:29-31)  “If these men die the common death of all men, or if they be visited after the visitation of all men; then the LORD hath not sent me. But if the LORD make a new thing, and the earth open her mouth, and swallow them up, with all that appertain unto them, and they go down quick into the pit; then ye shall understand that these men have provoked the LORD. And it came to pass, as he had made an end of speaking all these words, that the ground clave asunder that was under them:”

            God and his delegated authority are inseparable. It is not possible to maintain one attitude toward god and another attitude toward Moses and Aaron. Nobody can reject God’s delegated authority on one hand and receive the blessings and power of God’s Spirit with the other hand. Korah, Dathan, and Abiram rebelled against God’s authority, and the gates of Sheol opened up and swallowed all who followed them. Rebellion is a hellish principle, and the rebels fittingly went down alive into hell.

            The gates of Hell shall not prevail against the Church, but a rebellious spirit can open its gates causing some congregations to be cursed and destroyed. Only obedience can shut the gates of Hell and release life in the earth. Some individuals, churches, and communities have rejected the manifestation of the authority of God. They have failed to repent of their rebellion, even when the Word of God was preached and the signs and wonders of God were present. Worse, they did not teach the Fear of the Lord, spiritual authority, and repentance to the next generation. It is tough to minis­ter to these people, churches, and communities because they are cursed, having rejected God. God’s will is always to bring about reconciliation, but sometimes people develop a reprobate mind from their rebellion and refuse to be reconciled. In those cases, we may need to move onto more fertile ground and begin anew with people who have not committed the sins of Cain, Balaam, and Korah.

PREVENTING REBELLION IN THE CHURCH

            We must teach our parishioners and our clergy to pray and seek God's direction, teaching people to live by faith.  We must instill faithfulness and respect for authority in the people. We must teach people the doctrines of the Bible, educating them in how to live a true Christian life through demonstrating self-denial and submission in today’s society. We must teach them specifi­cally how to deal with the specific problems and pressures of life.  We must show people how to remain morally pure and how to avoid sin. They must come to know and practice who they are in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21). We must teach them to follow the Word of God and not the false teachings of Balaam. Proper authority must be taught and applied in the church, in the home, and in the work place. Through the appli­cation of Godly authority, the sin of Korah can be avoided.

            We must teach people to repent and to teach repentance to the next generation. A repentant person becomes a holy person. This is a person who will respond to the manifested power and authority of God. The holy person is a person of prayer. It has been put this way:  "Real religion means dependence." The essence of religion is the admission of our total dependence on God; and prayer is the acknowledging of that dependence, and the going to God for the help we need. Moffatt has it in a magnificent definition: "Prayer is love in need appealing to love in power." The Christian must be a person of prayer for at least two reasons. He knows that he must test everything by the will of God and, therefore, he must take everything to God for his approval. He knows that of himself he can do nothing but that with God all things are possible and, therefore, he must ever be taking his insuf­ficiency to God's sufficiency.

            Prayer, says Jude, is to be in the Holy Spirit. Our human prayers are often selfish and blind. It is only when the Holy Spirit takes full possession of us, and when our desires are so purified by submission to authority, that our prayers are right. The truth is that as Christians we are bound to pray to God, but he alone can teach us how and for what to pray. God’s people must learn not to ask for lustful and selfish desires (wrong motives) and self-willed expectations.

            A holy person keeps himself in the love of God. What Jude is thinking of here is the covenant relationship between God and his people that we examined at the beginning of this treatise. This covenant relationship is described in Exodus 4:1-8.

God came to his people promising that he would be their God and they would be his people; but that relationship depended on their accepting and obeying the law which he gave them. Peter compares the Christian to a living stone and the church to a living edifice into which he is built (1 Peter 2:4-7). Clearly this means that Christianity is to be a community. The Christian finds his true place and purpose for life, only when he is built into that structure. In this day of individuality and self-sufficiency, we must realize that God’s Kingdom has always operated corporately, first through the nation of Israel and now through the church. The offering of spiritual sacrifices in worship is primarily corporate. The Gifts of the Spirit function through the corporate church body, and believers draw strength and encouragement from each other. As the Hebrew priesthood existed to serve both God and man, so does the Church. We must begin to see ourselves as servants in the Body of Christ. As servants we must lay down our expectations and become content with who we are and where we are. We must continue to love and seek God, submit to God’s authority, have faith that God will meet all of our needs, and live a life of obedience.

            Those who turn to God in obedience, desiring to hear and do God’s will, become the people of God, his holy nation and royal priesthood. They submit to God’s covenant, fellowship with one another, and apply the word of God to their lives. They become the living example of the Kingdom of God and his imputed righteousness. The earth belongs to God and his people-- the Body of Christ. As we learn to submit to authority, we will also learn how to live by and exercise authority over what belongs to God and his people.

CONCLUSIONS AND RESPONSE OF THOSE IN AUTHORITY

            As spiritual leaders we are not doing very well in preventing rebellion from developing in either the lives of our clerics or the lives of our parishioners. Fatherhood ministry must begin to address the issue of personal expectation. It is vitally important that all priests and bishops, who have authority at any level of the church, seek to know their sheep. Those in authority must learn to recognize the signs of rebellion, beginning by learning people’s expectations and defusing them before they lead to discontent. Spiritual fathers must learn to recognize when a person is losing his first love, when a person is having difficulty submitting, when faith is weak or being lost, and when obedience comes out of fear instead of from love and duty. The spiritual father must then address these things with the person. This will necessitate closer relationships within the Body of Christ, and especially closer relationships between bishops and their clergy. The spiritual father must, at every level of ministry, be the one to initiate and take responsibility for maintaining these covenant relationships.

            Here are five recommendations that could prevent some of the problems discussed in this treatise.

1.      We need to be more sensitive to the spiritual state of the people to whom we are ministering and learn how to recognize and diffuse potential rebellion before it occurs.

2.      We must establish stronger and more intimate covenant relationships at every level of the Body of Christ. We must help people feel that they are loved.

3.      We need to set up diocesan level dispute or conflict resolution teams to biblically resolve problems within the clergy and within the churches.

4.      We need to do a better job teaching people (especially the clergy) how to lay down their agendas, expectations, and self-will, and how to live by faith.

5.      We need to improve our communication with others so that all people feel like they are a part of what God is doing through His church. Information about what God is saying and doing needs to be made more accessible in a more timely fashion.

Near the beginning of this treatise, was given the example of how a priest could develop self-willed expectations, and how these could lead him to open rebellion.       To end this treatise, I would like to recount my own story, as an example of how we can avoid the discontent that comes from our self-willed expectations.

Prior to coming into the ICCEC at the beginning of 1996, I had the misfortune of having been both an Independent Charismatic minister and an ordained minister with a Pentecostal denomination. Through various experiences with these churches, I had learned that God was the only one that I could depend upon to meet my needs and to solve my problems. This made it a bit easier for me to lay down my expectations and agendas when I was ordained a priest in 1997.

I was at the synagogue in Capernaum, Israel in 1995 when I encountered Jesus. I didn’t see Him, but knew he was present and heard him speak clearly to me. I went to Israel on a pilgrimage to seek God and to get direction for my life. I had some serious problems, several important decisions to make, and was about to go through two years of financial upheaval in my life. When I encountered Jesus, He told me several things. One of the things He told me was that I would leave the denomination of which I was a part. He described the kind of ministry that he wanted me to have, and he assured me that I was in His will. He told me that I would soon meet a man who would answer all my questions. I was instructed to follow this man, in the same way that Christ told His disciples to “Follow Me.”

Upon my return to the United States, I delivered a message to the leaders of the denomination that God had ordered me to give. That pretty much assured me of being ostracized by that denomination from that point forward. Soon after that unpleasant experience, I met Archbishop Adler. I was working for a TV station and interviewed him for our noon show. I was so impressed with his answers to my difficult questions that I knew this was the fulfillment of God’s Word to me in Capernaum. That interview is the reason that I am in the ICCEC today and why I cannot get mad and leave to pursue some personal agenda.

            Since 1977, when God called me into ministry, I knew that I was to help establish a seminary that would be a radical departure from any denominational seminary in existence. When I became vice-president of El Shaddai Theological Seminary and brought the program to the United States from Central America in 1988, I expected that this was the fulfillment of what God had said was to be my life’s main work in the ministry. When our network of sponsoring independent churches fell apart in 1994, I was greatly disappointed. In 1992 we had 101 students and a staff of 11 instructors in three countries, including five locations in the United States. In 1994, infighting and feuding among the clergy destroyed not only the seminary, but six of our twelve supporting churches as well.

            This experience taught me not to depend upon what I wanted and even to lay down what God had promised. I was reminded that Abraham had to even lay down the promise of God that Isaac would be his heir. He had to lay Isaac on the altar before God with no expectation that Isaac would survive or that God’s promise would be fulfilled.

            When I came into the ICCEC as a priest, I realized that I might never teach seminary again, let alone help to organize or run one in a non-traditional mode. That was the hardest thing for me to lay down because I am most fulfilled and get a great degree of enjoyment from teaching and training people for the ministry. I became a priest with no expectation that I would teach again, but knew that it was God’s will for me to be ordained a priest in the ICCEC under a Patriarch that God had told me to follow.

            In 2000 Bishop Kessler asked me to serve on the Curriculum Committed and be a Mentor for St. Michael’s Seminary. I was happy to do that and have found great fulfillment in once again teaching, and God’s word to me about a non-traditional seminary has been fulfilled. This only happened, however, because I laid down what I wanted and embraced what God wanted without expectation.

            Similarly in 2001, God spoke through Fr. Passinger  that I was to start a church. I had wanted to pastor a church for a long time, but had laid that down. I was a priest at the Cathedral of St. Michael and had no expectation of starting a church until my bishop asked me to do some services in Manchester, Georgia. I began those services with no expectation that either God or the bishop owed me a church. I fully enjoy the ministry to which I am called and have learned that it is much more fulfilling knowing that I did not create it or force it into existence. When God establishes us in a ministry, it is very fulfilling and exciting. We must, however, enter into God’s ministry with no expectations and without a self-willed agenda.

Today, God meets all of my needs. I do not expect to make a living off either the seminary of St. Luke Church, and neither has offered much financial reward. I do expect God to supply all my needs, and He has always been faithful to do that. A few months ago, I needed $640 to pay for some termite treatment that God told me in a dream that I needed to have done on my house. When the man came to talk to me on a Monday morning about the treatment, he asked me how I was going to pay for it. I told him I would write him a check but only had $2.85 in my account at the moment. By Tuesday afternoon, the treatment was done and the man returned for his check. I wrote one for $610, telling him that that was all the money God had given me that day. I said that I would have to owe him $30. He was amazed that God had sent that much to me in the mail in two days. He said: “If that is what God gave you, then that is what I’ll have to charge you.”

It is not easy to live by faith in God but we need to learn how to depend upon Him for all of our needs. Too many of us depend upon our jobs, our churches, our ministries, or our bishops to meet our needs. In reality, these are wrong expectations. We should learn to depend upon God. Yes, he may use jobs, ministries and even bishops to help us financially and in other ways, but our expectation needs to be that God is our Father and will meet all of our needs as we diligently seek a stronger relationship with Him. A strong relationship with God is ultimately the best preventative for discontent and rebellion. Therefore, let us head the words of God’s Prophets Amos and Isaiah—the same words that have been given to us by our bishops since 2003.

APPENDIX 1

HOW TO BIBLICALLY OVERCOME PERSONAL TEMPTATION

(James 4: 7-10)

1. Submit to God

a. submission begins with salvation  (Romans 10:9-13)

b. submission deepens with dedication (Romans 12:1-2)

c. submission is demonstrated under authority (Romans 13:1-6)

d. submission is perfected by God's principles (Romans 16:17-19)

2. Resist the devil and he will flee

a. recognize Satan (Matt. 16:23); impulse is not of God

b. resistance is accomplished by asking God to rebuke Satan (Jude 1:9)

3. Draw near to God

a. cleanse your hands ( 1 Tim. 1:19); clear conscience

b. purify your heart ( James 1:14-15); secret motives and root motives

APPENDIX 2

TECHNIQUES TO USE WHEN A PERSON COMES TO US

WITH A PROBLEM WITH AUTHORITY:

1. Establish who is the person’s spiritual covering  (1 Cor. 11:3). Who did God place over the person’s life? Does a son or a daughter have a father or a mother? Does the woman have a husband?  Is the grandfather living? Are they submitted to proper spiritual authority under the clergy of a Bible believing church?

2. Discern any signs of rebellion (1 Sam. 15:23). Is the person truly submitting to God-given authority? Any rebellion exposes the person to the realm and power of Satan's control and makes any counseling or pastoral care ineffective until this is corrected.

3. Always direct the person back to his or her authorities (1 Cor. 14:35; Gal. 4:2). The most effective counseling usually involves exhorting people to get God's direction through His ordained channels. To bypass these authori­ties is to encourage disloyalty to them. Satan usually tries to cut off communication with the one through whom God wants to work.

4. Realize that the one who comes with the problem is usually the key to the solution (Rom.2:1-3; Luke 12:13-15; 1 Cor. 6:1-10). God often brings pressures into our lives in order to build the character of Christ in us or in others around us. When we react to these reassures, we compound the lack of Godliness with judging, disloyalty, lack of love, impatience, covetousness, and resentment.

            Peter contrasted the purpose of Christ, as the cornerstone of the church, with his function for unbelievers (1 Peter 2:8-10). There are two groups of unbelievers; those who are spiritually ignorant (pagans in Peter’s day), and those who have heard and then rejected the gospel (the Jews of Peter’s day). Disobedience brings about a stumbling; literally, a tripping over the problems and difficulties of life. Those who stumble fall into sin, and they do so because of failure to discover and live according to the principles of the Word of God.

            Those who reject or are disobedient to God’s divine plan, stumble over every difficulty or temptation. In this they begin the steps to their own destruction. As they begin to repeatedly sin (1. lasciviousness), they are troubled by consciousness of that sin, even though they find sin sensually enjoyable (2. concupiscence) and occupying their thoughts (lusts). Finally they either turn from their sin (repent), or harden their hearts against all that is right (3. having a reprobate mind).

APPENDIX 3

A PLAN FOR CHRISTIAN DISPUTE RESOLUTION

            Reconciliation is a doctrine usually ascribed to Paul, although the idea is present wherever estrangement or enmity is overcome and unity restored. Matthew 5:24 says:  “Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.”

            Before bringing a gift to leave at the altar of God, and before participating in worship, forgiveness and reconciliation was to be applied. The root idea of reconciliation (in Greek) is change of attitude or relationship.           

Notice that he is giving the leadership of the church the responsibility of judging whether or not reconciliation can occur. This is clearly pointed out in 1 Corinthians 6:4-5.  To the leaders of the Corinthian Church Paul wrote “If then ye have judgments of things pertaining to this life, set them to judge who are least esteemed in the church. I speak to your shame. Is it so, that there is not a wise man among you? no, not one that shall be able to judge between his brethren?”

            Paul is telling the elders (fathers) at Corinth that reconciliation needs to be applied in all interpersonal relationships within the church. Clearly this was not always being done, because the Apostle goes on to say: “But brother goeth to law with brother, and that before the unbelievers. (7) Now therefore there is utterly a fault among you, because ye go to law one with another. Why do ye not rather take wrong? why do ye not rather suffer yourselves to be defrauded? (8) Nay, ye do wrong, and defraud, and that your brethren.”

            In Matthew 18:15-20, Jesus gave his disciples and those who would become church leaders a plan for resolving disputes and bringing reconciliation to fellow believers. Under the New Covenant, God’s ministers were to mediate disputes.

            Jesus outlined three points for resolving disputes within either the church or the family. (1) Go in private to the person with whom there is a problem and share the hurt, having an attitude of forgiveness. (2) If that person is unreceptive, take two or three others (as witnesses) who will be able to speak the Word of God in order to effect a reconciliation. (3) If the person rejects the word of the witnesses, the matter has now become one of unbelief. This unbelief or apostasy is to be brought before the church, and the offending party is to be regarded as apostate until he or she repents. Unbelief was the only way a covenant relationship could be broken, and then God’s judgment would be upon the unbeliever.

            This was God’s plan to keep strife out of the church and out of Christian families. The church leaders had an important part to play in this process, since they were the ones given the right to judge in disputes between believers. They were to be the witnesses in any dispute. They would encourage believers to settle their disputes in private, and would be on hand to make sure that this was done. They judged according to the principles of God’s Word, and testified to others of the grace and mercy of God. Church leaders were to be God’s witnesses.

            God’s people have been given a ministry of reconciliation, and this ministry should be bringing reconciliation to all areas of life. The Biblically ordained relationship between husband and wife must be honored, and it is in reconciliation of marriages that this generation of ministers must learn to apply covenant relationships. Church leaders can use Parity Covenants to apply the principles of Matthew 18:15-20 to restore damaged marriages.  If both parties can not complete the steps outlined in Matthew 18:15-20, or if one party refuses to proceed; both agreed to immediately call for Church Elders to act as witnesses.

            When those who are in conflict will properly carry out the Matthew 18: 15 step in the process of dispute resolution, they will never reach the Matthew 18: 16 step in the process. Matthew 18:16 invokes Church discipline for disobedience to the principles of God’s Word.

            The Spiritual Leaders in a church have the responsibility to exhort members who are experiencing typical family conflicts and disputes.   In most cases, problems between two people can be worked out without having to resort to formal dispute resolution. If a conflict cannot be resolved by the disputing parties, then the Church must step in and bring reconciliation, with the leaders of the Church acting as Witnesses and Mediators who will lead people to reconciliation and repentance.

            Each parish should have a dispute resolution team that parishioners may call when they have conflicts with one another or within their own families. Each Diocese should have a dispute resolution team to handle conflicts involving clergy, clergy families, or disputes with the diocese or denomination.

            Christian dispute resolution should be based upon Matthew 18:15-20.              

Mat 18:15  "Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother.

Mat 18:16  "But if he will not hear, take with you one or two more, that 'by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.'

Mat 18:17  "And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector.

Mat 18:18  "Assuredly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.

Mat 18:19  "Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven.

Mat 18:20  "For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them."

STEPS TOWARD APPLYING MATTHEW 18:15

Note: These steps may be applied by two parties alone or in the presence of witnesses (mediators of reconciliation) appointed by the Church.

1.  PRAY BY YOURSELF

            When you feel wronged, the first step should be private prayer to God, Matthew 6:6 seeking His wisdom, James 1: 5, and asking Him to work in the heart of the other person.  You need God's healing touch to bind up your wounds.  If you feel unable to even pray, remember this is not an option but a mandate, Luke 7: 28.  If you are so troubled that you are unable to pray, then (solely in obedience) at least pray the Lord's prayer.

2. FORGIVE

            You must decide to forgive the other person before confronting that person. In many cases the other person may not have intended your perceived hurt.  If, as you pray, the Lord heals your wounds and you are restored, then that ends the process, Proverbs 19:11.  Please carefully, consider Matthew 6:14‑15.  However, if you do not receive complete peace, as mandated by Hebrews 12:14, or when the hurts have been brought about by continuing acts or circumstances, then you are required to confront the issue.

Turn bitterness to a forgiving spirit by showing:

            a.  More concern for the offender because of the offense

            b.  Forgiveness (spirit) versus pardon (authority)

            c. Put treasure with God by investing in lives of people to build love.

            d. Don’t cover sin; let it be exposed and confess it to obtain

    forgiveness.

            e. Don't take a Christian brother or sister, or a family member to court

    when it could be submitted to the Church.

3.  PRAY TOGETHER

            When you confront the other person, let that person know that you are coming to him or her because either you are hurting or feel that you may have caused hurt.  Share with the other the scripture that prompts you to deal with the matter.   Let your spouse know that you realize that it is the enemy who is attacking your marriage.  You then need to pray together before commencing any discussion relating to the problem.  In that time of prayer both parties need to seek God's forgiveness for any wrongs they see or the Lord reveals to them as they pray. 

4. FACE THE OTHER PERSON AND SHARE YOUR SPECIFIC FAULT IN THE DISPUTE AND HOW YOU PLAN TO PREVENT SUCH DISPUTES IN THE FUTURE.

            When you confront your spouse (after prayer) first share your own faults relating to the matter or similar areas in your life where you have fallen short of God's perfect will, James 5:16. Tell your offenses (words, attitude, actions). Relive (in your memory) what you said, did, or implied that hurt the  other person.

            Remember, when you confront another person and want reconciliation, your decision that a confrontation is necessary is a judgment that you have made. Therefore, you should first judge yourself, Matthew 7: 1‑5.  Only by proceeding in this manner, are you able to both see clearly the smaller sin in your spouse's life and assist him or her in "overcoming" it, Revelations 12:11.  This approach avoids God having to judge you in the course of the confrontation.

5.FACE THE OTHER PERSON AND SHARE HURTS BEING MOTIVATED BY LOVE RATHER THAN BY ANGER ‑ Romans 14: 9

            You are mandated (after you have gone before the Lord and still have a feeling of being wronged and have not been given peace) to go to the offending person and confront the issue in love, Matthew 18:15; Luke 17:3.  If you feel the other person has something against you, this also must be addressed.  It is essential to understand that God's priority for this reconciliation comes before worship, Matthew 5:23,24. This mandate has nothing to do with who may be right or wrong.  It doesn't matter (whether you were wronged or whether you may have wronged by the other person) the mandate requires confrontation and reconciliation.  When approaching the other do not go in contention, but have a gentle spirit, be willing to see your own fault (if any) and always show patience and meekness, 2 Timothy 2:24‑26.

To deal with hurts in any covenant relationship, you can do the following.

            a.  Tell the offenses against you.

            b.  Offer forgiveness to the one you are confronting for: the basic offense, lack of

                  love, pride, ungratefulness, and selfishness.

            In confronting the other person, please remember that he or she in not the enemy,  Ephesians  6: 12. Anger should not be focused on one who is not the enemy, therefore you should not act in anger toward the person with whom you are having a dispute. Your spouse is flesh and blood and therefore cannot be the cause of the problem.  Either or both of you may have given place to the enemy, Ephesians 4:27; I Peter 5:8.  Stand in the assurance and faith of victory, Luke 10:18‑20, I John 4:4.

            Any time you perceive a person has attacked or slighted you, acknowledge the hurt caused.  This acknowledgment is honoring to God, Psalms 51:17in accordance with His mandate, Joel 2:12‑13.  The natural man responds to a hurt with anger contrary to God's word, Psalms 37: 8.  Therefore, responding in anger is a lie, Proverbs 24:28.  Anger shown to another individual will always produce a predictable response and escalation of the problem (Galatians 6:7).

            Because, some believe that anger should never be displayed they allow what someone has said about them to go into the innermost parts of the belly, Proverbs 26: 22.  Such repressed anger may even bring physical illness unless confronted.  Anger when turned inward will produce the opposite of pleasant words, Proverbs 16: 24. Not only must we not act in anger toward another person, we must let God release us from that anger. It must be put out of us. We must choose to forgive in order to have anger truly removed from our lives. The Lord's wisdom by bringing peace facilitates dispute resolution, James 3:17-18 (hiding our feelings is hypocrisy).  The Lord would have us to be vulnerable to one another and to express our hurts in love one to the other. Once we have determined that the other person is not a swine, we should have no fear of being vulnerable to our spouse who we now know will not trample our pearls of vulnerability into the mud, Matthew 7:6.

6. HEAR EACH OTHER

            Having completed the foregoing steps, you are now ready to hear the other person’s perspective in love. Consider this process as an exciting opportunity to see God work miracles, and for you and your spouse to grow closer. Stand on God's Word!  If you love the Lord and are walking in accordance with his purpose for you, then this whole dispute will work for the good, Romans 8: 28.

Be careful that you don't project blame or pride. Realize the causes of personal emotional breakdown and breakdown in relationships, whether medical or spiritual, can be caused by unforgiveness, guilt or bitterness.

            Listening to the other person is a sign of wisdom (Proverbs 1:5; 8:33; 19:20; 22: 17; Ecc. 7:5).  Most times we do not want to hear correction; yet, the Lord states: that listening to rebuke from the wise is better than the soothing comments from fools, Ecclesiastes 7: 5.  We must be quick to hear, but slow to anger, James 1: 19. After you have really listened to each other, you need to pray together for God's direction in resolving the dispute.  As you hear from the Lord, then together you can appropriate GOD'S SOLUTION.

7. BOTH OF YOU CONFESS YOUR SIN TO GOD THROUGH THE RITE OF RECONCILIATION.

            Psychology is really the study of the soul (psuche in Greek), and the soul is made up of three parts.  The mind (intellect), the will (volition), and the emotions (feelings) are components of the soul-- the permanent, eternal essence of mankind. The church's ministry whereby it seeks to heal, comfort, and direct the wounded souls of its members. It is also called the  "care" of souls. To help priests perform this function, the rite of reconciliation or confession was established where a penitent person confessed his or her sins before the priest and received absolution-- forgiveness from God as declared by God’s representative (the priest). We must realize that people's emotional problems were a part of the SOULISH realm-- the mind, will and emotions.  By seeking and obtaining forgiveness, we are able to prevent bitterness and anger from causing deeper psychological problems.

            If confession of sin is not made unto repentance, then the conse­quences of that sin remain a part of the individual and may even be passed on down to subsequent generations.  This process may continue until someone repents of the sin in question and renounces the sin tendency that was inherited from ancestors. These inherited sin tendencies affect the way people think and respond to the circumstances in which they find them­selves. For dispute resolution to occur, Godly thinking and Godly responses must replace wrong thinking and wrong responses. Confession and absolution removes all unrighteous (1 John 1:8-9) thoughts and acts, replacing them with forgiveness and renewed right relationship with God.

8. GET COUNSEL FROM SOMEONE SPIRITUAL AUTHORITY AND PRAY TOGETHER FOR GOD'S SOLUTION.

            After you have actually heard each other, pray together for God's direction, so that together, you can apply God's solution.

TAKING THE MATTER TO THE CHURCH TO ESTABLISH A COVENANT OF RECONCILIATION IN THE PRESENCE OF WITNESSES

If it is still not possible to apply a solution to the dispute, then this is where Matt. 18:16 should be applied.  At this point, the church elders should be called upon as witnesses as exhorters who can speak God's viewpoint into the situation. There should be two or (preferably) three witnesses, one of whom should be a priest who can grant absolution following confession. If the dispute is between a man and woman (such as a husband and wife), one of the witnesses should be a woman. The witnesses (martyrs) should then arbitrate by speaking God's word into the situation and covering the situation with a covenant. Such a covenant should include stipulations that both parties will be expected to honor and apply with accountability to the Witnesses. As St. Paul told the Church in Corinth (2 Cor 13:1);  “This will be the third time I am coming to you. By the mouth of two or three witnesses every word shall be established."  Failure by both parties to head the witnesses' exhortations to Biblically resolve the dispute, will result in the necessity of applying church discipline according to Matt. 18:17.  In most cases, however, the exhortation of the witnesses will be sufficient to resolve the conflict.

When a conflict has been submitted to the Church for reconciliation, the Witnesses are charged with speaking the Word of God into the situation. They should go through the entire eight steps of this process in the presence of and with all of the individuals involved in the conflict. As they go through each step of the process they will guide and mediate the confrontation between the disputing parties. The Witnesses will then write out stipulations of a covenant agreement that both parties to which both parties must adhere. The Witnesses will set up follow-up appointments to evaluate how the restored relationship is progressing and whether or not the agreed upon covenant is being upheld.. <