Readers: Please follow this link to listen to a 3-minute video from Matt Chandler, lead pastor at The Village Church, filmed just days before his brain surgery. On Thanksgiving morning Chandler suffered a seizure and subsquent tests discovered a 2 inch brain tumor on his frontal lobe. The doctors said it required immediate surgery which was done last Friday. This video are his thoughts prior to the surgery and we all can benefit from hearing this Christian who was experiencing much success in his ministry, find out terrible news that might change his life forever, and as he says might cause him to lose it all.
Video from Matt Chandler Days Before Brain Surgery
Last month I put up a post commenting on a sermon preached at SEBTS by Matt. That sermon contains a message that he has been preaching around the country this fall as he has been invited to speak at various venues, including FBC Jax. As you saw in this video, he ties that message into his current illness. His message to pastors has been out of Hebrews 11, where Paul about wrote all the great things that God did through his servants, including "shutting the mouths of lions" and "putting foreign armies to flight". But in this same passage Paul turns it 180 degrees and says that while some people doing God's will enjoy great victories, some do NOT. Paul says some were tortued, stoned, and sawed in two and devoured.
And Matt's message to pastors just a month ago, at least at SEBTS, was he is concerned that young men are going to seminaries these days looking at the successes of the big names in Christianity, and say to themselves something like "Hey, I'm going to be like THAT guy, and have great success in the Lord." And they listen to these men, many of whom are on the podcasts and write books and travel and speak all over, and students desire THEIR success, and think their success will be from emulating some other guy who is "shutting the mouths of lions". But as Paul says, some shut the mouths of lions, some were cut in two and eaten. And in modern Christianity its the guy who is shutting the lions who is getting all the money and glamour and glory, as though he is someone especially holy and annointed. And some ministers, sadly, are yearning for that same success they see and are being taught by those who shut the mouths of lions.
In warning these future preachers, he wrapped up his SEBTS sermon to future preachers with this:
"Are your eyes set on Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith. Look right at me. Or are you a liar, using Jesus to make much of you? You see, I don't think some of you shouldn't be here. I don't know who's who, but some of you should not be here. You do not love him, you do not pursue Him, you do not pray except in public, and need I remind you what Jesus said about that. You have used this as your niche, you have used this as your place, to find what makes much of you. And I would be terrifed that God might grant you Western success and that would damn you for all eternity for the belittlement of His name. You need to quit playing this game. This is not better than Jesus."
Matt is still in the hospital, and the tests are not back on the nature of the tumor, but word should be received soon.
We should all pray for Matt and his family. I hope that he has a full recovery and returns to preaching. He lives what he preaches. His messages are needed in Christianity.
Some pastors have different ideas:
ReplyDeleteRetired Pastor,
now Professor,
sues ....
Here
.
If the accusations are not true, shame on the accuser. If they are true, shame on Sutton and Liberty University.
ReplyDeleteThere seem to be parallels Here
ReplyDeleteNaw now come on...Them pastors are required to turn the other cheek. They would never fight back. That is against the rules.
Here you got a guy that sues the pastor for calling him a "sociopath" while the lawyer that called him a "coward" gets a pass.
Ya ever wonder why? HMMMM. LOL
Off topic ...
ReplyDeleteFormer pastor admits to fathering child
Former Jacksonville pastor Darrell Gilyard has admitted fathering the child of a woman who said he raped and impregnated her during a 2004 counseling session, court documents show.
Watch Dog,
ReplyDeleteInteresting that no one to speak a postive word about Chandler on here, only pointing to the pastors who falter. Maybe his message hit some bloggers as well as future pastors.
And I will say interesting again that Mac Brunson has mentored and encouraged and been such a strong influence on Matt Chandler. But that might actually cast a good light on Mac!
Chandler has always had a way of creating silence - he is the real deal.
Jon
Ya ever wonder why? HMMMM. LOL
ReplyDeleteDecember 10, 2009 9:46 PM
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No. Should I be wondering? One ("sociopath") is a loathsome disease, a clinical diagnosis, that if the allegation is not true, can seriously harm a man's reputation in his church, community and workplace. It should be diagnosed by an expert in the field, only after having examined the patient personally.
The other ("coward") is just an opinion of someone based on their knowledge and is certainly not actionable, whether it was made by a pastor, lawyer or retired judge.
Enlighten us. Are you insinuating that (1) a layperson calling someone a coward is the same as a mega church pastor calling them a sociopath; and (2) are you insinuating that for some reason the WD would not have sued the pastor had he been a lawyer instead and said the same thing?
I think the lawyer was smart enought not to call a man he had never met or spoken with a sociopath in the daily newspaper. My guess is that if any public figure flat out calls the WD a sociopath, they can expect to be a defendant in the lawsuit along with good ole mac.
But you have stated these insinuations before, so I am curious as to your points. Please spell them out.
Ya ever wonder why? HMMMM. LOL
ReplyDeleteDecember 10, 2009 9:46 PM
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Hee Haw - ya right cuz anon. Ole WD is just fraidy cat of lawyers. He only sued the pastor cuz he is a coward afraid to sue the lawyer, LOL.
Oops. WD sued a lawyer! State Attorney Siegel in the federal lawsuit. And sued a JSO detective. And Angela Corey, another lawyer, who is the state attorney. What is your point?
Jon - from what I can tell about Chandler, he seems to be cut from a different mold from the typical mega church pastor. He does not live the life of the rich and famous, he is not into buildings and glitz and glamour and book deals. He has traveled quite a bit this year speaking, but his honoraria or speaking fees don't go to him but to his church directly. He seems to be taking seriously the words of Jesus in the New Testament about helping those truly in need that will never be able to repay us, and that will never join a church and start tithing; but as Jesus said that when we help the least of people and offer a cup of water in his name, we do it to him. I might be wrong about Chandler, and he is still a very young guy who MIGHT become enamored with his success and turn into the jet-setting mega pastor star, but that is precisely what he is preaching AGAINST this year.
ReplyDeleteHe is a Calvinist, and unashamed, his church is elder-led. And codgers in the SBC would consider him over the edge in many ways like some do think of Mark Driscoll.
Now, I'm curious as to why you want to link Brunson so heavily to Chandler.
You said:
"And I will say interesting again that Mac Brunson has mentored and encouraged and been such a strong influence on Matt Chandler. "
Care to elaborate on that? When did Brunson "mentor" Chandler? In what ways is or was Brunson a strong influence? In his Calvinist views? In his manner of living a meager lifestyle and drivng older cars? In Chandler's apparent distaste for people who use Jesus to make much of themselves and promote themselves? I just don't see the marks of Mac Brunson in the life style or doctrine of Matt Chandler. So feel free to elaborate.
And I will say interesting again that Mac Brunson has mentored and encouraged and been such a strong influence on Matt Chandler. But that might actually cast a good light on Mac!
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Jon G - we get it. Mac actually mentors some fine people. And yes, it does cast him in a good light...for a change. The WD has cast Mac in a good light several times before. Does that mean he can't blog about abuses he sees from Mac?
WD has said what a great husband and father mac seems to be. That he admires mac for not being a pretty boy preacher with fake hair but instead is content with being bald and over weight.
We all know Mac has many talents and could cast him in a great light on many issues. However, his nepotism, Danube river cruises, accepting expensive land gifts when his book says not to, playing a commercial for Collins builders (family donated the land) during the a.m. service, million dollar home, speaking gigs, book deals, increased advertising budget while reducing ministry budgeting, abusive teaching on tithing, changed by-laws, banning a faithful lady from the premises for no good reason, etc. need I go on?
Those are the issues the blog was formed over. Not his associations with pastors. Are you one of those who overlooks abuses just because the man has some excellent qualities?
Man, that Tiger Woods mentored a lot of young golfers...what a great guy. And Gilyard really could preach and ministered to so many. Right?
Let's continue to pray for our brother Matt Chandler, and that the sociopaths in the pulpits who regard their exalted positions as little kingdoms will continue to be exposed and deposed.
ReplyDelete