Jesus said that His disciples would be known by having love for one another. In order to do this, we must love God by obeying Him and showing mercy to each other. The Pharisees never truly understood this which led Jesus to tell His disciples to "beware the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees", Matthew 16:11. What was this leaven and how do we avoid it?

Matthew McDonald

Elder, United Church of God

Matthew McDonald is an elder with the United Church of God serving in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. He has been part of the Church of God community his entire life. Matthew and his wife Betsy currently reside in McKinney and were married in 1995. They have two children, Avery and Joah.