Hier ein (nicht unkritischer) Artikel über Matt Chandler. Joe Maxwell schreibt für CT unter anderem:
For a long time, Chandler had prayed for his dad to know Christ. „I remember being confused with the idea of [Dad having] free will, but then me asking God to save him. To me those two things were incompatible.“
He found the answer in classically Reformed teachings, especially those of John Piper. Chandler embraces the view that God predestines some to heaven and others to hell. Another turning point came at the first Passion conference in 1997—“probably the most delightfully devastating moment of my growth,“ says Chandler. Piper spoke on being a Christian hedonist, and Chandler signed up.
After that, people flocked to his Bible studies, and his itinerant preaching drew thousands. In 2002, Chandler took over First Baptist Church of Highland Village, with about 160 members; today, it is the Village Church, ranked the ninth largest in the SBC.
The high-speed trip hasn’t stopped. Nor has it been easy.
Just as his church was mushrooming in late 2009, Chandler suffered a seizure on Thanksgiving morning and was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor. Bald from chemotherapy, he kept preaching, inviting people to pray for his healing via regular video updates. Eight months later, doctors proclaimed him cured. Chandler says God miraculously healed him. Later that year, Chandler told Justin Taylor of the Gospel Coalition, „I’m not sure how men and women without a strong view of God’s sovereignty and authority over all things handle things like this.“
It was much easier trusting God when „the stakes“ were lower, „when we were a small church with no money, and thousands of people weren’t downloading my sermons every week,“ says Chandler. Today he is familiar with wild rides; perhaps he’s been prepared to lead hundreds of pastors on one doozy of a future spin.
Alex R. hat mich auf Matts Vortrag über persönliche Evangelisation hingewiesen: www.ministrygrid.com.