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Receiving One Another: How the Act of Welcome Changes the World
The one who welcomes you welcomes Me, and the one who welcomes Me welcomes Him who sent Me. (Matthew 10:40) This statement comes at the very end of Matthew 10 and its long discussion of the costs and communion of following Jesus. It’s a promise of Jesus’s presence and identity with us, and it gives…
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Radical Identification and the Kingdom of God: Finding God in One Other
The one who welcomes you welcomes Me, and the one who welcomes Me welcomes Him who sent Me. (Matthew 10:40) Up until this point in Matthew 10, we’ve seen Jesus call over and over for radical identification with himself and his mission. But the tables are turned here — this is where Jesus promises to…
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Losing to Find: How Surrender to Jesus Helps Us Discover Ourselves
Anyone finding his life will lose it, and anyone losing his life because of Me will find it. (Matthew 10:39) Like Jesus’s prior statement that he is to be loved above anyone or anything else, including our own lives, this is not the statement of an ordinary human being or teacher. It’s an extraordinary claim.…
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Rise Up and Follow: Loving Jesus for All He Is Worth
The person who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; the person who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And whoever doesn’t take up his cross and follow Me is not worthy of Me. (Matthew 10:37-38) With these words, the commissioning of Matthew 10…
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Peace, Betrayal, and the Faithful Love of a Loyal God
Don’t assume that I came to bring peace on the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I came to turn a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and a man’s enemies will be the members of his household. (Matthew 10:34-36) This…
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A Place Where You Belong: Accessing Heaven through Allegiance to Jesus
Therefore, everyone who will acknowledge Me before men, I will also acknowledge him before My Father in heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father in heaven. (Matthew 10:32-33) With these words, Jesus begins to wrap up the discourse of chapter 10 with a final “therefore.” “Because all…
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The Presence of God and the Value of Sparrows: Why We Don’t Need to Be Afraid
From Rachel: I apologize for the lack of a new blog post last week. Health reasons prevented me from writing, but I’m glad to be back this week! Don’t fear those who kill the body but are not able to kill the soul; rather, fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body…
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Hidden Things: Apocalyptic Living and the Revelatory Kingdom of God
Therefore, don’t be afraid of them, since there is nothing covered that won’t be uncovered, and nothing hidden that won’t be made known. What I tell you in the dark, speak in the light. What you hear in a whisper [lit: in the ear], proclaim on the housetops. (Matthew 10:26-27) As a teacher, there are…
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It Is Enough: Why Being Like Jesus Is All We Need
When they persecute you in one town, escape to another. For I assure you: You will not have covered the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes. A disciple is not above his teacher, or a slave above his master. It is enough for a disciple to become like his teacher and a…
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Changing Loyalties and the New Family of God
Note from Rachel: I’m back! My 3-month blog sabbatical stretched into 3 ½ due mostly to travel, but I’m glad to be home and writing again. Without further ado … Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child. Children will even rise up against their parents and have them put to death.…