E3 Parents

One of my heroes in ministry is Matt Chandler, Lead Pastor at The Village Church in Flower Mound, Texas. Matt has had an incredible spiritual influence in my life and in the lives of thousands of others. On Thanksgiving day Matt had a seizure at his home and was rushed to the hospital. Tests revealed a brain tumor and a week later he underwent brain surgery. The pathology report came back…Matt has Anaplastic oligodendroglioma…brain cancer. Matt is my age. He has a wife and 3 small children.

The phrase that I see and hear often from Matt is this: “Christ is All.” As long as I have known him and listened to his teaching he has spoken and lived this phrase. And now he still speaks and lives it.

Christ is all. I’ve been evaluating my own life in light of this phrase. Is Christ all? Is Christ all in my marriage? Is Christ all in my job? Is Christ all in my day to day tasks? Is Christ all in my free time? Is Christ all in my checkbook? Is Christ all in my words? Is Christ all in my thoughts? Is Christ all in my home? Is Christ all in my attitude? Is Christ all when things are going great? Is Christ all when things seem to be falling apart? Am I living this out? My prayer for myself is that I would be able to say and follow through with my life “Christ is all.”

I also want more than anything for this to be the message we teach and live out in our youth ministry. It doesn’t matter what we do… teach great lessons, play fun games, take exciting trips, build incredible facilities, sing loud songs, build deep friendships…none of it matters if Christ is not all. Would you join me in praying fervently and regularly that Christ would be all in our youth ministry and in the lives of all of our students, parents, and workers?