Pray for Matt Chandler

I have talked about Matt Chandler already here and here.

I have been warned time and time again never to make someone a hero of yours that is still alive.  (By hero, I do not mean Savior.  I love Jesus and worship Him only. A hero is merely a person that God uses to point me to Him more than others.)  I have always been told that if you’re going to have a hero, they need to be dead because you know that they have fought the good fight and finished the race and kept the faith.  The news of one of my heroes, Matt Chandler, has me devastated.

I have been listening to his sermons for about 3 years (and I went and downloaded all of his other sermons from his previous years).  What I have found having listened to him so much is that he believes completely in the sovereignty of God in all things and that God does all things for His glory.  Matt has continually preached to his church that no matter the circumstances, good or bad, that we are called to seek to glorify God in every situation we go through.

Here’s the amazing thing, this isn’t just something he preaches.  HE IS LIVING THIS OUT HIMSELF.

On Thanksgiving day he had a seizure and was rushed to the hospital.  He soon found out that he has a tumor on his frontal lobe and then had it removed.  The pathology came back some days later saying that it is malignant.  He is 35 years old, married with 3 children that are 6yrs, 4 yrs, and a newborn.

I don’t know him personally.  I have no idea how much he has cried with his wife, how much he has cried over his children, if he has asked God, “Why” and I don’t want to pretend I know everything he is thinking.  What I do know are the things he is saying during this are absolutely amazing, and honestly, would be very difficult to say if it were me.

On his twitter, on Dec 1st  he wrote, “I’m overwhelmed by all the prayer and support…1st Doctor today at 12:45…I’ll let you know when we do…Christ is All“.  To say “Christ is All” is awesome. To point us all to Jesus as our only hope we have is great.

He then posted this video (this is a must see) to his church, which is simply amazing.  This is a great example of how a Christian is to choose to suffer well for the glory of God and for a pastor is to truly pastor his church well.

Later he posted this on his twitter while waiting to hear if  the tumor was cancerous, “Path report is 2ndary at best…good report doesn’t mean much, bad report doesn’t mean anything…my days r numbered and nt by ths report“.  To have this kind of perspective on our fragile lives as a 35 year old is rare.  I am challenged to want to live and think this way.

Matt, you are a hero of mine.  You were already before this, not because you preach so well (which you do amazingly), but because the Holy Spirit used you, like few men in my life, to convict me, call me to Christ and to hope in the Gospel, and desire to be a better worshiper of Christ.  But now, you are even more a hero of mine to see you walk through this (from a distance) the way you are.  No doubt, it is very difficult to be able to say in the midst of trial, “For to me to live is Christ and to die is gain“, but you are giving us an incredible example to hope only in Christ and His love and His sufficiency.

Matt, we are praying for you and your family and your church.