Matt Chandler, suffering well

The AP recently wrote a great article about the recent developments in pastor Matt Chandler's life. On Thanksgiving day 2009, Matt had a seizure and was rushed to the hospital. He was later diagnosed with a grade 3 brain tumor.

Matt pastors a church in the Dallas, TX area and in the last couple years has become one of my favorite pastors to hear preach via podcast. His theology and gifts of communication remind me so much of John Piper. And Matt's experience of his cancer reminds me so much of Piper's struggle with cancer a few years back. I can only hope I can handle suffering like these men.

Here's a quote from the article:

Chandler is trying to suffer well. He would never ask for such a trial, but in some ways he welcomes this cancer. He says he feels grateful that God has counted him worthy to endure it. He has always preached that God will bring both joy and suffering but is only recently learning to experience the latter.

Since all this began on Thanksgiving morning, Chandler says he has asked "why me?" just once, in a moment of weakness.

He is praying that God will heal him. He wants to grow old, to walk his two daughters down the aisle and see his son become a better athlete than he ever was.

Whatever happens, he says, is God's will, and God has his reasons. For Chandler, that does not mean waiting for his fate. It means fighting for his life.

Read the whole thing

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