the gate

Back in May, Pablo had posted a clip of Pastor Matt Chandler giving a powerful illustration entitled, “Jesus Wants The Rose.” On November 26, Matt Chandler had a seizure and passed out. He has been diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor. Doctors have removed as much of the tumor as possible and will decide on the future course of treatment in the days ahead. Please pray for Matt and his family and church.

In Matt’s response to his cancer, we see a powerful example of the peace and comfort the true gospel gives. Rather than causing fear, guilt, hopelessness, and condemnation like the false health and wealth gospel, the true gospel of Jesus gives real comfort and hope.

You can sense Matt’s peace in this statement he made before his surgery:

I am thankful that I have deep, real friendships at The Village [his church] . . . They have been such a comfort to me and my family this past week. Pastors should have good friends on their staff. It’s risky but worth the risk.

I am grateful for the men of God in my life, namely John Piper who taught me to hold my life cheap and to join with Paul in saying “I don’t count my life of any value or as precious to myself if only I might finish my course and complete the work that He gave me to do to testify to the Gospel of the grace of God. I’m nothing, I just have a job. God keep me faithful on the job and then let me drop and go to the reward.” Without this strong view of God’s sovereign will, I’m not sure how you don’t despair in circumstances like mine.

Below is the statement the church has issued regarding his pathology report. Again, you can hear the peace and honesty it conveys. They are not playing “name it & claim it” games. They’re not living in fantasy like the proponents of the health and wealth delusion. They are being real, which is what the true gospel of Jesus enables us to do.

Dear church,

In the first chapter of Philippians, the Apostle Paul writes that whatever imprisonments, beatings and trials he may have suffered, they all “serve to advance the gospel” of Jesus Christ. We implore you to keep the gospel of Christ as the main focus as we walk with Matt and Lauren through this trial.

On Tuesday, Dr. Barnett informed Matt and Lauren that the findings of the pathology report revealed a malignant brain tumor that was not encapsulated. The surgery to remove the tumor, the doctor said, was an extremely positive first step; however, because of the nature of the tumor, he was not able to remove all of it.

Matt, who is being released from the hospital today, is meeting with a neuro-oncologist this week to outline the next steps of the recovery process. There is a range of treatment possibilities but the exact course of action has not yet been determined. He will continue outpatient rehab.

The Lord is calling Matt and Lauren and The Village Church body to endure this trial. It will be a challenging road for Matt, his family and our church body. The gospel is our hope and the Lord is our strength. Matt and Lauren continue to find solace and hope in Christ. They weep facing this trial, but not as those without hope and perspective. The gospel clarifies their suffering and promises more of Christ through it all.

You have done a wonderful job respecting the family, and we ask that you continue to do this. They are processing all of this together and need you to give them precious space. Please do not visit them at their house unless personally invited by the Chandlers. The best way to serve the family is to continue to be faithful in prayer. Specifically, pray for the following:

* Wisdom for all the coming decisions
* Strength and peace to endure
* The kids’ (Audrey, Reid and Norah) hearts; pray the Lord is merciful as they process and that their little hearts do not grow embittered
* The Chandlers and The Village would suffer well because of the gospel and for the sake of Christ’s name

As you hurt and weep for the family, do not do it alone. Gather with your home group and with other believers in homes and pray together. This is a time to walk together with others and to endure this trial in community. If you wish, send cards and letters to Matt and Lauren at 2101 Justin Road, Flower Mound, TX 75028.

We will continue to keep you informed as new information is made available. Please be patient with the frequency of the updates. May God strengthen us all and may His glory shine brightly through this.

Two days ago, Matt himself tweeted this:

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.

These posts on illness are not just words to fill space — they are about real life in this world. Only the true Good News of Jesus enables us to deal with the realities of life in this fallen world. I pray that we at Gateway will build our lives and our community according to the true gospel of Jesus. Please pray for those in our fellowship undergoing the trials of illness, and other kinds of trials.

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Related posts:
The Christian and Sickness - Part 1
The Christian and Sickness - Part 2
But How Does It Affect You?

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I pray that you may “know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.” (Ephesians 3:19)

Do you see the stunning implication? Paul assumes that we cannot be as spiritually mature as we ought to be unless we receive power from God to enable us to grasp the limitless dimensions of the love of Christ. We may think we are peculiarly mature Christians because of our theology, our education, our years of experience, our traditions; but Paul knows better. He knows we cannot be as mature as we ought to be until we “know this love that surpasses knowledge.” (Don Carson, A Call To Spiritual Reformation, p. 195)

Sounds like something we should be praying, don’t you agree?

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last night, sonia and i took in our first foster child.  she’s 11 months old and super cute.  it was an emergency placement so we don’t expect her to stay very long with us. 

this morning i woke up and spent some time praying.  i prayed for her and her family, and quickly found myself wondering how to even pray for her.  i don’t even know why she’s in our care, the social workers gave us close to nothing in terms of information.  in fact, we know her name and birthdate and that’s about it.  oh, and a box is checked that tells us she has immunizations…what the heck does that mean?  

of course i prayed for the Gospel to find her when she is ready to hear it.  but beyond that, she’s not only a stanger but doesn’t have complex needs like we have.  she basically only needs food, baby wipes across the booty on occasion, and for her parents to get it together real quick.

i will probably never see her again after she goes back to her folks, and i’ll never know if the Lord answered my prayers for her salvation.  bumbling along i went, not really knowing how to pray for her or what to ask the Lord for.

this morning i came across this post on one of my favorite blogs, the gospel-driven church, and wanted to share it with you guys too.  it was encouraging to me and spoke to me directly, and i hope that it encourages you in your own prayer life.

As a writer and a prideful person, I am always trying to impress people with words. It is a relief, though, that I cannot impress God and that he approves of me in Christ anyway.

“The gospel, God’s free gift of grace in Jesus, only works when we realize we don’t have it all together. The same is true for prayer. The very thing we are allergic to—our helplessness—is what makes prayer work. It works because we are helpless. We can’t do life on our own.

Prayer mirrors the gospel. In the gospel, the Father takes us as we are because of Jesus and gives us his gift of salvation. In prayer, the Father receives us as we are because of Jesus and gives us his gift of help. We look at the inadequacy of our praying and give up, thinking something is wrong with us. God looks as the adequacy of his Son and delights in our sloppy, meandering prayers.”

—Paul Miller, A Praying Life

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