I go to The Village. And Matt Chandler is our pastor. And as I type this, he is being prepped for brain surgery. And it totally sucks.

You can read his blog from this morning, as well as the progression of the events of the last week here.

It has taken me a while to claim the Village. To admit that I go there, to say that it’s my church. Too many voices in my head. Too much hype. Way too many beautiful people.
But I will claim them today. I will weep and fast and worship and ache and pray with these people. Because I trust that this is where God has us, and I believe in what they’re doing, and where they’re going. And I want to embrace it and plant and build (Jer. 29:5).

I love how they’ve handled this whole situation. Honesty and gratitude, humility and worship. And they’ve continued to remind us that Jesus is all we have. He is all we had last week before we knew about Matt’s tumor, and He is all we have today. And none of us have been promised tomorrow, but if it comes, Jesus will be all we have.

They’ve reminded us that great things have been happening at the Village for the last 7 years because of the mercy and grace of God. Matt is a man and not a savior. They challenged us to repent if we found evidence of anything else in our hearts.

So, Village Church, I am with you. You don’t know me and I don’t know you, but I have joined you in shock and sadness on Thursday, prayer and worship on Wednesday, sleeplessness last night, and I join you in battle today.

Pray for Matt, for his three gorgeous kids, for his wife (who will be sitting in the waiting room for the longest hours of her life), for his surgeon.

These verses have been coming to mind a lot this week…

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Ephesians 6:12

If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire; and He will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But even if He does not, let it be known to you, O king, that we are not going to serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up. Daniel 3:17-18