By Elizabeth Prata
The post reflects on the recent loss of notable Christian leaders, prompting questions about God’s purpose. While experiencing grief, the author emphasizes the importance of home ministry and discipleship beyond even public ministry. Encouragement in reminding readers of God’s sovereignty and the significance of every believer’s role in spreading light in the world.
Continue reading “Another great preacher passes away?! What is God doing?”By Elizabeth Prata
The memorial service for John MacArthur, held on August 23, 2025, celebrated his impactful 56-year ministry at Grace Community Church. Attendees honored his dedication to preaching and discipleship, reflecting on his friendship, encouragement, and unwavering focus on God. MacArthur’s legacy as a faithful servant will inspire future generations.
Continue reading ““A foretaste of glory divine”… Thoughts and reflections on the John MacArthur Memorial service”By Elizabeth Prata
SYNOPSIS
Dr. John MacArthur’s passing at 86 years old sparked deep sadness. His consistent, steadfast preaching over 56 years provided reassurance and stability in a chaotic world. MacArthur’s dedication to the Gospel and call for faithfulness remains a profound legacy, marking the end of an exceptional era in Christian leadership.
Continue reading “Grieving the Loss of John MacArthur: A Reflection”By Elizabeth Prata
Also: Remembering John MacArthur: A Faithful Servant
At 6:17 pm Pacific time on July 14, 2025, the greatest pastor-teacher of our time was brought home to personally meet the Master he had preached about for so long.
This is my memory:
It was the mid 1990s. My husband and I were unsaved when we took a VW Camper van camping across the country. He loved AM radio talk shows. When we had gotten south, of course mixed in with all the talk were the ‘JAY-sus’ preachers. Both of us, when we heard that we turned the dial immediately.
BUT … when I heard this certain music and then the voice of one certain guy, we’d always listen a minute. Something compelling about the man’s speech, his content. There was something that set him apart from all the other preacher voices we’d heard on the radio. He was mellow, clear, interesting. He was unapologetically proclaiming of the Word of God, though I didn’t know at that unsaved stage there were shepherds who did not accurately preach the word. The word of God startles and draws.
It was John MacArthur of course. In the camper van I wanted to listen more, and we did listen a bit. Then my husband would change the channel. He and I were pagans, and pagans gonna pag. The Word of God also rebuffs.
Yet, 8 years later when the Lord graciously saved me I’d listen to Adrian Rogers on the computer radio. Then one day I heard that same music! I joyfully did NOT turn the dial and I listened. And listened and listened, and never stopped. What a joy to be educated by his exposition.
One of the first series from him I listened to was “Creation: Believe it or Not” later known as “The Battle for the Beginning”, Genesis 1-3. I loved it. And I love John MacArthur.
Well done, good and faithful servant, John MacArthur no doubt heard those words at 6:17pm last night (July 14, 2026) as he translated to heaven
John MacArthur was the Spurgeon of our time. As you read this memorial essay, hopefully you will notice the similarities.
Spurgeon was called the Prince of Preachers. He was a hard working preacher, a seminary president, prolific writer, itinerant preacher, letter-writer, prayer, constant reader, and husband to Susannah, among other things! He was busy, and his packed schedule contributed to his 24 years of ill health and eventual death on January 1, 1892 at age 57. He literally poured himself out for His savior.
He had been preaching since he was 16 years old. Forty-one years of sharing the Gospel multiple times per week made an impact on his city, his nation, and the world. That is the power of the Gospel and the ministry of the Holy Spirit.
On the last day of the same memorable month of January, the dearly-loved speaker, who uttered such wise and weighty words, “fell asleep in Jesus”. During the darkness the news flashed around the world, and when February dawned, millions of hearts were saddened to learn that C.H. Spurgeon lived on earth no more. Source- the book From the Pulpit to the Palm Branch by Arthur Tappan Pierson
Spurgeon had died in Menton, France, where he had often retreated in his later years during winter, finding the balmy, warm breezes and sunny sunshine a succor for his health. He had desired to be buried on English soil, and so 11 days after Charles had passed, the monumental funeral was held. It seemed that all the world had turned out for it.
“Nothing was seen for miles but bared heads, closed blinds, and universal signs of grief and sorrow. It was indeed a memorable scene. What a lesson that Bible-decked coffin preached to its tens of thousands as it passed through their midst!”
From ‘Laying the Warrior to Rest: (An account of the Funeral of Charles Spurgeon)’ by Unknown
What a gift from God to have raised up such a Godly warrior! He had endured all that the Lord had set on the plate before him- tireless toil, endless prayers, sorrow, joy in marriage, poor health and bodily pain; rejection by men, disappointments, Down-grades, and depression. Yet the Lord kindly allowed his contemporaries to understand that his impact for the kingdom was a magnificent and present glory of the Lord’s bountiful care for His people. To have raised up such a man, put in his mouth so many words, sustain such a stalwart without blot of scandal, and then to graciously ease him home…
With hearts bowed with a great grief, with tender and loving hands, is that precious burden born to its last resting-place. Eight students (specially chosen for that last sad duty) from that college of which he had so long been the head and chief, deposit with reverent hands and stricken hearts that prized casket in its last resting-place. They weep. Well they may. Behold how they loved him! Their master is taken from their head today. They shall see his face no more. It is their last act of service; their last tribute of affection to him who had been so much to them. Alas! how much they have lost as yet they know not! Yet they sorrow not as those without hope. Their beloved one only sleeps, he shall rise again. ~Laying the Warrior to Rest
Newspaper telegraphs ticked the news out and it quickly spread around the world. These same newspapers had for years reprinted Spurgeon’s sermons each Monday for eager readers to devour.
The world’s loss is heaven’s gain in both cases, the passage of Charles Spurgeon and of John MacArthur. The Lord gave us a faithful servant in MacArthur who even served longer than Spurgeon’s ministry on earth, and many millions are the better for it. Many are saved and secure, knowing the Lord’s love and salvation, because of one John’s preaching of the doctrines of God. See what the Lord can do? See the Lord’s love for His people? He always leaves a remnant. And He always leaves true shepherds to lead them.
The world had not seen its like, such respect for the man of God and mourning that his time on earth had ended. Though even in Jonathan Edwards’ time as the country’s foremost theologian, his passing had not caused such a stir. Not George Whitefield, either. Spurgeon, Prince of Preachers made an impact. He was well loved by millions. And it is the same with MacArthur.
We mourn the passing of the stalwart soldier John MacArthur today, and we express joy that his labors are complete and he is praising his Lord and resting in his well-earned rest with his beloved Lord.
“Then I will give you shepherds after My own heart, who will shepherd you on knowledge and understanding.” (Jeremiah 3:15).
By Elizabeth Prata
“John Fullerton MacArthur Jr. — pastor, teacher, author, and a strong defender and proclaimer of biblical truth — has entered the presence of his Lord and Savior at 6:17pm PT on July 14th, 2025”.
John Fullerton MacArthur, June 19, 1939 – July 14, 2025
John F. MacArthur was remarkable preacher, a pastor, shepherd, lion of a Godly man, now laid to rest. He was 86.
Dr. John MacArthur had led Grace Community Church since February 1969 as the lead pastor-teacher. He became President of The Master’s University in 1985 and founded The Master’s Seminary in 1986. He was the longest-serving president of the college transitioning to the Chancellor role in 2019.
His media ministry, Grace to You, is a nonprofit organization responsible for distributing John’s books, audio resources and the “Grace to You” radio program to a global audience. More than 3,000 of John’s sermons are available for free on GTY’s website.
He had been married to his wife, Patricia, for almost 62 years, has four married children, 15 grandchildren and 9 great-grandchildren.
“None on earth can estimate his worth. He was the Evangelical Prophet of his age; our modern Isaiah. Like Isaiah, he early saw “the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; ” he had his lips purged with the live coal; and when he heard the call, ” Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?” he gladly answered, “Here I am, send me.” Beholding the Lord in His temple, he laid himself upon the altar, and like Isaiah, he was “very bold” to declare the Word of God.” From the Pulpit to the Palm-branch, a book about Charles Spurgeon’s passing
MacArthur often said he had two goals: to preach faithfully, and raise up men to preach faithfully.
“His light rose in obscurity, and broke forth as the morning. He deliberately set his heart against seeking great things for himself, yet fair and clear he shone undimmed before the world for [sixty] years; shining more and more until the perfect day.” From the Pulpit to the Palm-branch
The similarities between Spurgeon and MacArthur, their stances, their controversies, their ministries, and their ministry output, are remarkable. JMac, as he was affectionately called, was very like like Spurgeon in his time, with ceaseless preaching. His was known for his stalwart promotion of the Gospel even though it fell out of season. Leading his seminary and raising up men of faith in good standing to launch then land in places the Lord wanted, was his Gospel faithfulness. Praying, letter-writing, counseling, leading, defending, faithful loving husband to Patricia for over 60 years, shepherding, expositing, even rebuking… JMac was seemingly tireless in his duties in service to Christ for 60-plus years.
He once said a pastor never retires. His men should take him off the stage when he starts not to make sense. There was no retirement when serving God. He said the following in 1984,
I get weary. There is a tolerance level that all of us have, and I don’t know about you, but I seem to be on the edge of it most of the time. And some people would say to me, “Well, why do you keep taking more projects on? Why don’t you just back away?” Well, I don’t know what you mean by that. There’s nothing I can’t not do because of what God has put in my heart. And in the midst of the doing and looking ahead, you say, “Well, aren’t you looking forward to retirement?” I’ll never retire. From what, the gospel? You may dump me long before I’m ready to go but – I mean, this is a life commitment. As long as I have my senses. And the discipline for this time seems a small thing when you think about the hope of eternity, doesn’t it? John MacArthur, Source.
His ministry’s impact was global. Like Spurgeon, his sermons flung out from the point of origin, Sun Valley, CA, to the ends of the world. To the Faroes at the Arctic Circle, deserts of Africa, behind the Iron Curtain, closed China…
In MacArthur’s time he also endured times of favor within his camp and times of disfavor. He became a lightning rod during several controversies due to his stalwart stand on biblical issues. He did not bend to culture. The Lordship Salvation controversy of the late 1970s through the 1980s (opposing ‘carnal Christianity’), the Strange Fire controversy of the early 2000s (opposing charismaticism), and the Beth Moore “Go Home” controversy of the 2020s (opposing feminism & female preaching) involved much ink spilled as debates raged over these important topics within evangelicalism.
His stances, though biblical, were not always appreciated. Once, during a heavily attended Sunday Service, an intruder wearing a backpack strolled down the aisle of the church while MacArthur was preaching, ascended the pulpit steps, and walked over on the stage to confront JMac on his cessationist stance. More here on that incident.
MacArthur authored more than 150 individual books and monographs, he had also contributed to more than 30 multi-author works. His commentary series covers all of the New Testament and he has published several commentaries on books of the Old Testament as well.
MacArthur said of his desire to be a pastor: “I never wanted to be an itinerant minister, because I always wanted to exposit the Scripture. I mean I had poured – I took a Greek minor in college because I wanted to work in the New Testament. I didn’t want ten suits and ten sermons. I didn’t want to be on the road. I didn’t want to be the out-of-town guy. I wanted to follow what my dad did and my granddad did. I wanted to be in a church, and I wanted to exposit the Word of God.“
MacArthur preached on. He is known for having preached through every verse of the New Testament. It was a 43 year endeavor. He completed it on June 5, 2011. He had been preaching at his church since February of 1969. This accomplishment is considered rare in modern church history.
His long tenure as pastor of Grace Community Church was without any moral failure, without one theological blot, for all these decades, a true testament to God’s faithfulness in raising up lions of the faith.
“Now he has left the pulpit for ever, and he stands amongst the great multitude who are before the throne and before the Lamb, “clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands.” He is not in strange company there, for the song of those who wave the palm-branch was ever his theme as he stood in the pulpit: “Salvation to our God who sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb.” From the Pulpit to the Palm-Branch has been for him a very natural transition. He preached Christ here; he praises Him yonder.”
source “From the Pulpit to the Palm-branch“, a memorial to Charles Spurgeon
We mourn the passing of this stalwart soldier today, and we express joy that his labors are complete and he is enjoying his well-earned rest with his beloved Lord.
I am sure that many will write of Johnny Mac, as he was also affectionately called, in better or more poignant terms. But Susannah Spurgeon’s reflections of her husband’s likely entry into heaven impacted me and I re-state it becuase no doubt, NO doubt in my mind, JMac was greeted in this manner as well:
“His ‘abundant entrance’, the ‘Well done, good and faithful servant!’ of the Master, the great throng of white-robed spirits, who welcomed him as the one who first led them to the Saviour, the admiring, wondering angels, the radiant glory, the surprise of that midnight journey which ended at the throne of God; all this, and much more of blessed reality for him, has lifted our bowed heads, and enabled us to bless the Lord, even though he has taken from us so incomparable a friend and pastor. All that was choice, and generous, and Christlike, seemed gathered together in his character, and lived out in his life. He was pre-eminently ‘the servant of all’; yet he served with such humility and wisdom, that, with him, to serve was to reign.
Dr. John F. MacArthur truly was the Spurgeon of our time:
“Then I will give you shepherds after My own heart, who will shepherd you on knowledge and understanding.” (Jeremiah 3:15).
By Elizabeth Prata
The annual Shepherds Conference held at Grace Community Church, currently pastored by John MacArthur, is a highlight of all the conferences on the Christian circuit. Drawing top-notch speakers from around the world, the sermons are encouraging, deep, and convicting.
The mission of Shepherds Conference is to provide the opportunity for men in church leadership to be challenged in their commitment to biblical ministry. It also aims to refresh men in ministry for the three days through the sermons, songs, and fellowship, and to BE served.
It began over 40 years ago. Thousands of men pour into the campus and overflow rooms are also filled. It has grown from 100 men to this year around 6000 men from all over the world attending.
For all of the ShepCons, as it’s nicknamed, John MacArthur has been the host. He has pastored Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, CA for 56 years and has said ShepCon is the highlight of the year for him. He has always said he has had two goals as a pastor: preach the word and raise up men. In this, he has been faithful.
Of all the 6000 men attending, there is one man who is not attending this year, and that is MacArthur himself. Previously he has opened and closed the conference with a sermon based on the conference’s theme, which this year is “Proclaiming Christ to the ends of the earth”. It is the first time in 40 years he has not been able to attend.
On March 7, 2025 published a video explaining why. In January 2023 he was preaching the first morning service and he became short of breath. “I went on to preach for 50 minutes” he said. But after the service as elders to attended him, “they sidelined me” and he was not allowed to preach the second service, MacArthur said. Doctors later confirmed he’d had a heart episode. Thus began an 18 month journey through numerous heart operations, lung surgeries, and dialysis. He has most recently been in the hospital for 7 weeks straight and was only recently released.
Disappointed he could not deliver his sermon to close out the conference this year, he gave a video message.
Below is a clip from the short published by Grace to You on Youtube, it’s not the entire message, which at present I cannot find online except from Phil Johnson of Grace To You, on Twitter. Watch the entire 2:30 message here if you are on Twitter/X. https://x.com/i/status/1898192033367609452
Or here on Facebook, the John MacArthur Appreciation Page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/MacArthur.111/posts/24010591651863596/
MacArthur said he had his message he’d intended to deliver printed and distributed to the conference attendees. It will also be sent to the people on GTY’s mailing list. Here is the cover:
It hits hard. Here is a transcription of the message from John MacArthur from the video.
I want to say ‘grace to you’, all of you who are at the Shepherds Conference. For me it’s a highlight of the year so you have to know my disappointment in coming to you through video. It really came down to being the only option because I haven’t had such a speedy recovery as I’d hoped to have. I feel great, I just lost a lot of strength by being 7 weeks in the hospital. It’s the hospital that can kill you. You can survive the illness…if you can survive the hospital then you’ve won on every level. It took a toll on me physically, so I’m seeing therapists and trainers trying to get back as soon as possible.
I had this message on my heart and I didn’t want to lose the opportunity to give it to you so we printed it up in a booklet. The good news is, you don’t have to listen to me, you don’t have to take notes because you’re going to get the sermon in a booklet form.
Just know how much I miss being at Shepherds Conference. I love the fellowship, I love the preaching, I especially love the singing…every aspect of it. And the camaraderie and fellowship of meeting people is always a highlight. Thank you for your prayers, thank you for your faithfulness, and being a part of Shepherds Conference. I’ll be praying for you, asking the Lord to bless in an unusual way, and sharpen all of us for whatever the Lord has for us in the future.
I realize I’m on the last lap. That takes on a new meaning when you know you’re on the short end of the candle, but I am all thanks and praise to God for everything He’s allowed me to be a part of and everything He’s accomplished by His word in these years of ministry.
Grace and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
John MacArthur is 85 years old. His acknowledgement of being near the end of his life is not only a statement of the obvious. His great age, shrunken body, tremulous voice, and numerous heavy medical issues all testify to that. But knowing MacArthur’s care for his elders and his people, his statement of being at the short end of the candle was a care in itself- preparing his people and the wider world for his translation in body on this earth to heaven’s glories. This is how a lion of the faith finishes well, indeed.
By Elizabeth Prata
The Bible is disgusted by false teaching and is strong on pure doctrine. Why? The consequences of error are dire.
Scottish Divine James Durham said, “Error destroys the soul (2 Peter 2:1; 2 Thessalonians 2:12). In fact, it brings on swift damnation ( 2 Peter 2:1). It overthrows the faith of many (2 Timothy 2:18), perverts Scripture to people’s destruction (2 Peter 3:16), and deceives many (Matthew 24:11). For this reason, it is also called damnable and pernicious (2 Peter 2:1-2).”
Further, Durham wrote, “No titles carry greater indignation and abomination than the titles given to such people. They are generally called dogs and evil workers (Philippians 3:2); wolves, or rather grievous wolves (Matthew 7:15; Acts 20:29), deceitful workers; ministers of satan, as if they were expressly commissioned by him (2 Corinthians 11″13); deceivers and liars (Revelation 2:2); evil men and seducers, who wax worse and worse (2 Timothy 3:13).“
False teaching is not to be overlooked, dismissed, watered down, or ignored. It is serious, serious business. There is correct doctrine and there is incorrect doctrine. One pleases the Lord. The other provokes His wrath.
The problem is ancient, it began in time immemorial past in heaven when satan, puffed with pride and ambition to unseat God, lied and enticed many holy angels to quit following God and to follow him. They took the swap and thus they fell and became demons. Satan brought the problem to earth in the Garden where he tempted our first parents and they fell, bringing the future entirety of humankind with them. Satan’s deceptions have continued, with warnings and prohibitions to us from God, through the Old Testament to the New, and into this very day.
That’s one path, the wide one. One side of the light vs. dark saga.
Alternately there are those on the narrow path. God raises up ministers for His name in every generation who are stalwart, true, persevering, and edifying. After Jesus came the Apostles, then the church fathers, the medieval men like Wycliffe and Hus, the Reformation men like Luther and to the Puritans and post-Puritans like Edwards, and the mid twentieth century men like Gerstner, Sproul, Lloyd-Jones. Today we have the new men like Riccardi, Pickowitz, Buice, James Coates…
The Lord always raises up good men, and aside from the ones mentioned, there are thousands and millions more He raised up that we never heard of but who labored faithfully to their end, and were brought to the bosom of their Priestly Shepherd to enjoy rest from ministering and to the bliss of being with the leader of the true Church.
This dichotomy of false teaching vs. true was brought to mind this week as I noticed two famous people are having birthdays a few days apart.
John MacArthur and Beth Moore. I have been involved at a distance with both these folks for a long time. I’ve seen the trajectories. I’ve read and listened to their works. And the starkness could not be more clear. Beth Moore’s output has damaged the faith and in many cases brought it into disrepute, while MacArthur’s has strengthened it and honored the Lord’s name.
John MacArthur will turn 85 years old on June 19. He has been ministering as pastor-teacher at Grace Community Church for 56 years. He was ministering 5 years before that as an associate pastor. He has been actively serving the Lord for 61 years. The Lord is gracious to give us all these decades with him, and surely his impact has been great.
He has never wavered on the authority of scripture, cessationism, young earth creationism, complementarianism, dispensationalism, the Lordship of Christ, proper Christology, and gender and sexuality. He has preached through every book of the New Testament verse by verse, which took 45 years to accomplish. He has written over 150 books which have been translated into myriad languages, faithfully shepherded his congregation week after week, withstood the covid closures, led a solid seminary, and has been acknowledged by Christianity Today as one of the most influential preachers of his time. His MacArthur Study Bible has sold more than one million copies, receiving a Gold Medallion Book Award. That Study Bible has been in the hands of pastors from the icy Faroes in the Arctic Circle to dusty back roads in Africa, to the jungles of Peru.
Certainly there are many other private ministrations in Jesus’ name that only MacArthur and the Lord know about between them. He is in a long line of blood-bought pastors who have risen to public knowledge and have edified many who learn from him and watch his godly life as one to imitate. Paul said “Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ”. (1 Corinthians 11:1). This means, “he was instructing us as believers to carefully examine our Savior’s life and the lives of His faithful servants. He gave a similar command earlier in 1 Corinthians 4:16: “Therefore I urge you to imitate me.” In the original Greek, the verb translated as “imitate” in 1 Corinthians 11:1 and 1 Corinthians 4:16 is mimētai and means “become a person who copies the words and behaviors of another.” (Source GotQuestions).
Perhaps the Lord has left MacArthur on earth so long in order to demonstrate His sustaining power in a faithful life that started and so far is ending well. The Lord is good to us.
For 45 years Beth Moore has been speaking here, there, and everywhere she possibly could. Regrettably, her speaking engagements have been laced with error and deception. She began, by her own words, in her early 20s as a “Christian Motivational Speaker”. She never left that profession, really. Then when she was 27 she began teaching a Sunday School class, but she said she was also “learning the scriptures” at that time. It’s a tragedy that they put her into a position where she was simultaneously learning the Bible AND teaching. She wasn’t ready.
Again by her own words, her class was “packed” and they all “had a blast” but “we weren’t really studying the scriptures”. Why? Because Beth said she “just thought up things to talk about and then I got panicked on Saturday because I think where is a scripture to go with it.” She never grew out of that improper hermeneutic even with “the doctrine class” she took. It was still motivational speaking but with with a thin Christian overlay of out of context sprinkled verses.
Did you know that Beth briefly attended seminary but dropped out? Why? She was “reading the environment and coming to the realization of what my opportunities would and would not be.” She chafed against the biblical hierarchy of male led faith, she has been clear about that. She obviously wasn’t in seminary to learn about Jesus and to parse the scriptures correctly. She wanted “opportunities” for herself and quit when she saw she couldn’t go rogue.
Yet she was teaching a packed Sunday School class of 2000, including men. She was preaching Sunday Night at the request of her then-pastor. She’d started teaching ‘Bible classes’ outside of her church interdenominationally. Her first ‘Study’ was published by Lifeway. What other “opportunities” was she looking for? What other “opportunities” remain? I leave it to you to surmise the answer.
Beth Moore will celebrate her 67th birthday on June 16, which at this writing is tomorrow. She has been actively ‘ministering’ for about 44 years. The Lord has His reasons for allowing false teachers to persist, and one of them is in order to see who is approved, and by contrast who is not. (1 Corinthians 11:19). Another reason perhaps is also to demonstrate His grace and mercy and patience in allowing such people to exist on His earth, in order to give opportunity to repent.
Jesus considers false female prophetesses an abomination. See His threatened condemnation to the false prophetess of Thyatira, but consider His grace, as He said He gave her time to repent. (Revelation 2:21). But she did not want to repent. Here, Matthew Henry is commenting on Revelation 2:21, the false prophetess of Thyatira-
They made use of the name of God to oppose the truth of his doctrine and worship; this very much aggravated their sin. They abused the patience of God to harden themselves in their wickedness. God gave them space for repentance, but they repented not. Observe, Repentance is necessary to prevent a sinner’s ruin. Where God gives space for repentance, he expects fruits meet for repentance. Where the space for repentance is lost, the sinner perishes with a double destruction. Source Henry, M. (1994). Matthew Henry’s commentary on the whole Bible (commenting on Revelation 2:21).
The problem with false teachers is that spreading error teaches others to lie. (Matthew 5:19). This is evil because error has its origins in the devil.
Please do not let Beth’s Christianish veneer and firehose gushing about Jesus distract you from the greed and ambition that lies underneath. Just as the Pharisees made a show of prayers on the street corners and attended banquets (so they could be honored for the chief seats), at Beth Moore’s core is a career minded, Jesus-using deceiver on a fast trajectory to hell. (2 Peter 2:1).
Wheat and tares grow together – for a while. Then comes the reaping.
The Lord is good to give us faithful pastors, He is also good to give us faithless wolves. He s always good. We learn who to imitate and who not to. We learn true doctrine and practice discernment by seeing what is false.
Psalm 100:5
For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.
By Elizabeth Prata
This weekend has been a sober one, not sad exactly, but I’ve had a troubled spirit and been in deep ponderings about children.
Sometimes I get that way, maybe it’s the gift of discernment and the Spirit stirring my heart, or maybe it’s just normal observation of the things happening in the world, or maybe both. But it has been a furrowed brow weekend.
As you may know, I work with children. I teach children reading in small groups in levels from kindergarten to third grade, or age 5 to about 9. Because of my job, I’m aware and observant of anything that relates to children in the wider world.
On Friday, I wrote on Twitter,
“IMO you can detect how stable or unstable a society is by how they treat their children. In the US, our society is collapsing.“
My feeling of spiritual concern, my propelling drive to protect and love these children has increased of late. But I feel like the man on the starfish beach, seeing all the thousands of starfish washed up with no way to get to their safe haven of the ocean. The man came across a boy putting the starfish back into the water, one by one. The man scoffed, saying, “What are you doing? You can’t save them all! What you’re doing can’t possibly make a difference!” The boy looked at the starfish in his hand and calmly replied, “Yes, but I can make a difference to this one.”
I just have to keep remembering to be the boy, and make a difference to the ones in my sphere. Who I am able to help, I need to help.
Then in God’s providence, I came across John MacArthur’s latest sermon on Youtube. It was from October 29, 2023 and titled “Grace for the Children.“
MacArthur began the sermon by telling his congregation that the little booklet they received had a note in it about his new upcoming book, which is at the printer’s now and will be available in January: “The War on Children.” It is an apt title and crystallized things for me. Yes, it IS a war on children. I need to be a good soldier and remember that children are both targets in this war and collateral damage. They are helpless, vulnerable, and at-risk every moment. Most children.
“Just Say No” isn’t a motto for being against drugs anymore, it’s a motto for children against their parents’ authority. EPrata
Not like the old days when children were protected and cherished. Even in today’s good families, there is high risk. Just last week Robert Card of Lewiston Maine entered a bowling alley on a Family League night and shot people, one of whom was a 14 year old. The younger children who were present and survived still must deal with the trauma of being involved in such a horrific event.
Next, MacArthur said that he wants the church to renew their commitment to children.
“It was the process of going through that book and taking stock of what is happening to the children of our culture that I felt that we as a church needed to affirm our commitment to children. That is a stewardship, obviously, that God has given to us and we need to take it seriously. … What is happening to the children is horrific and it is disastrous temporally and eternally.” ~John MacArthur
This was good for me to hear. I need to re-affirm my commitment to children.
Then MacArthur launched into the main body of the sermon. He doesn’t whitewash the truth. It is the truth and it needs to be said, whether it’s “good” or “bad”. There are no primrose paths for us to tread in this day and age. Evidenced by how this society is treating its children, it is obvious God has moved in judgment of us. What is the next generation going to be like, we wonder? MacArthur answered,
“Biblically? It’s going to be worse. Because the Bible says evil men grow worse and worse. It doesn’t get better, it gets worse. And that means the people who will make this culture worse are the children of this generation.”
Not the news I wanted to hear, but it’s news that is true and informs my conscience and my behavior. I had also earlier noted on Twitter that it has been getting harder and harder to impress upon children to be responsible for their behavioral choices, to own up to them.
I see a lot of bucking authority and ignoring authority in society today. As I’m out and about I see children ignore or refuse their parents’ directions. “Just Say No” isn’t a motto for being against drugs anymore, it’s a motto for children against their parents’ authority.
I watch Youtube videos of people getting arrested for drunk driving or shoplifting. The younger ones, in their late teens or early 20s who are caught, absolutely refuse the Law Enforcement Officer’s orders. They completely ignore or reject his authority. It’s startling to see this, having grown up in the 1960s where the cultural revolution was happening but people still by and large protested peacefully, or law and order was maintained because of a more widespread acceptance of parental and law enforcement authority.
Then MacArthur spent time in Matthew 11 and exposited the meaning of several verses and parables involving children. He spent about half an hour in different verses. I couldn’t wrap my head around his point. I began wondering, since he is 84 1/2 years old after all, is he losing it? The sermon isn’t coalescing. Is there a point?
And YES of course, toward the end, there was a point that wraps the sermon up into a bow. He isn’t losing it. He came to a crescendo that pierced me. I have exactly seen what he started to talk about as he came to a close.
He said that when children are in their tender years, 5,6,7 they are very receptive to the things of God. They are eager and take them as normal and true. But after a certain point, which some call the Age of Accountability, they close down. They become hostile to the things of God. He said you will know when the child reaches that age,
“because accepting the Gospel is difficult. Submitting to the Law of God, a struggle to confront their sin, turn from their sin and submit their lives to Christ.”
I have seen kids age 5 or 6 burble about Jesus. The excitedly relate what they know and have interpreted. They speak of heaven and the cross. They say things like, “Jesus died on the cross for our sins and then came alive again and then he killed all the dinosaurs.” LOL. But they speak admiringly or positively about Jesus, especially during Thanksgiving time in November when you ask them what they are grateful for.
After about age 10, 11, 12…they don’t.
The point of his sermon is to be aware of this and during the years they are compliant and accepting, “Teach, teach, teach.”
“Because all that you teach them, all that input into their little minds will be available to them when they come to the point when the struggle begins. You want them filled up with the knowledge of scripture. You want them singing songs you heard today…because that truth in their heart is what mitigates against their fallen nature.”
In Literacy Education, we do something called “frontloading.”
Frontloading means punctuating the key learning points before an activity or experience takes place, rather than or in combination with, debriefing it afterwards.” (Source)
Frontload your children with hymns, scripture, God’s holy love, and be persistent in it. For me, working in a secular school, I can’t pointedly teach them about Jesus, but I can behave that way. I can live it. I can love, love, love in His name, and remember they are not the enemy. They are the enemy’s targets. I can counter the devil’s push with patience, love, and kindness acted out and expressed.
“God is watching how we care for children.”
John MacArthur
Here is the sermon. Please consider listening. My discernment radar is telling me things are getting very, very serious out there. I was not off track when I pondered these things on Friday and by Saturday night the Lord graciously led me to this sermon, where it is also obvious that JMac’s discernment radar is also going off.
When JMac’s book “The War on Children” is published in January, I want to buy it immediately.
Sermon audio, no transcript yet, at Grace Church: https://www.gty.org/library/sermons-library/81-161
Sermon on Youtube, with closed captions.
By Elizabeth Prata
Recently, it was shared that Pastor-Teacher John MacArthur of Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, CA became short of breath while ascending to the pulpit during a Sunday sermon, and appeared for several moments to struggle for breath. He later asked the elders if he could rest instead of preach the second service, and these two facts sparked a worldwide concern and prayers for the 83 year old.
Grace Community Church (GCC) elder Tom Patton said at the second service: “Just so you know, Pastor John had a bug this week and preached our first hour but asked if he might be able to take a break for the second hour. So Mike Riccardi is going to be answering the call.“
Since the Pastor usually preaches 2 services and is quite active elsewhere and everywhere, and since MacArthur said he plans to preach and not retire, and is committed to preaching if at all possible, the news that he requested absence from the pulpit that morning sent shock waves around the world.
The incident was reported by news organizations from Fox News, Black Christian news, Christian Post, and many others. The news was tweeted and retweeted, shared on Facebook, and posted on many other social media outlets. It was a big deal.
Why?
Most of the commotion was centered on the fact that MacArthur, or JMac as he is affectionately known, is beloved and/or respected. He has preached through the entire New Testament verse by verse, a feat only completed by John Gill in the 1700s. He has led GCC as its main pastor-teacher faithfully since 1969 – 54 years! He has stood firm on the scriptures without wavering or compromise for 5 decades. He has had a global impact with his study Bibles, his complete New Testament commentary, and ~4000 sermons. His material has been absorbed from north of the Faroes at the Arctic Circle, to rural Nigeria, to the south at Patagonia, and from China in the east to Europe in the west.
His other main commitment after preaching, is to raise up men to preach, and in this, he has led The Master’s Seminary for decades. These are just a few of his accomplishments, ones he’d be the first to attribute to the Holy Spirit’s feeding and sustenance.
In other words, many see him as the Spurgeon of this century and the last, and rightfully so. His positive impact for the kingdom has been tremendous.
Thus the deep concern and prayers for this faithful elder statesman of the faith when people heard he was ill. Fortunately the Grace Church Elders issued a statement to their church members:
Dear Grace Church, Many of you are praying for Pastor John’s health as he felt lightheaded on Sunday morning in the pulpit. We are pleased to report that he is doing well. He was under the weather last week but after seeing a doctor on Sunday and getting much needed rest from a busy holiday week, he is now much improved and feeling fine. We are grateful for your continued prayers for our pastor. The Grace Church Elders.
And another statement was posted for the general public. A great sigh of relief went up along with more prayers in thanks to the Lord for gifting us this solid pastor a while longer.
Yet I’d said at the top that most of the commotion was centered on concern for his health due to this positive contributions to the faith. But not ALL the attention stemmed from that. There are JMac detractors. Vocal ones. Vicious ones. They too flooded social media with their unified scornful chorus: “John MacArthur leads a cult!” “Just look at all the idolatry!” These folks believe that the folks who love JMac are deluded idol worshipers, and they say so at every opportunity. They seized on his absence from the pulpit and subsequent concern, flocked to social media to callously push an agenda so obviously laid upon a foundation of hate.
Due to JMac’s age, one is always concerned that an illness might be the last illness and the man may depart from the earth. Of the detractors, their attitude betrayed a barely veiled glee that this might indeed be the case. They charged his pastorate as a cult, claimed the elders were making up lies, and accused the people praying for him and the church as deceived cultists.
Indeed when the elders did publish the “He’s OK!” post later in the day, they refused to believe it, publicly calling them liars.
During the hubbub, I was asked by a reader if I believed the people spewing such venom against a godly pastor were saved or not. I said probably not, but I can’t be sure of course. Here is why I believe it. Let’s unpack this.
The lesson here when interacting with people who hold a view that seems angry or ‘off somehow’ is to ask one’s self some questions. Listen not only to their words but look at the way they behave- and whether their behavior contradicts their profession of faith.
If they say the church is a cult, and in fact it is NOT a cult, then they are speaking against the Spirit who raised up the church and the man leading it. Would a person with the Spirit in them speak against the Spirit’s work?
I was also asked, “Is it a cult of personality?“
Answer: No. The outpouring of love & respect for JMac is what double honor looks like-1 Timothy 5:17.
The elders who lead well are to be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor at preaching the word and teaching. (1 Timothy 5:17).
“The honour due to those who were not idle, but laborious in this work; they were worthy of double honour, esteem, and maintenance.” Henry, M. (1994). Matthew Henry’s commentary on the whole Bible: complete and unabridged in one volume (p. 2357). Hendrickson.
Double honor exists in many churches, of course, not solely GCC. But not many churches have such a public presence as GCC. So we see it more there. Was Paul nurturing a cult of personality when he prepared to leave Ephesus? Look at the scene when he left and they knew they would likely never see Paul again:
Paul was beloved this way: Acts 20:36-38 “When he had said these things, he knelt down and prayed with them all. And they began to weep aloud and embraced Paul, and repeatedly kissed him, grieving especially over the word which he had spoken, that they would not see his face again.”
Cults of personality is defined as “the result of an effort which is made to create an idealized and heroic image of a leader by a government, often through unquestioning flattery and praise.”
Shepherds are supposed to be humble, teachable, and respond to constructive criticism in a godly way. Cult leaders do not. Are you able to speak with your pastor or deacon or elder genuinely and naturally? Or do you have to pick your words and couch everything in a flattering manner? Is doubt or criticism punished?
Cults do happen in religion, even ones that start out as a normal church or para-church organization. The Pharisees were a cult. They twisted the word, forced people out of the synagogue, made people afraid, punished criticism, centered around one man (Annas), and their views caused them to become twice the sons of hell they themselves were.
Cults of personality occurred too. The Church at Thyatira hosted a woman who prophesied falsely, taught deception, and lured the church members into sexual immorality, and she was tolerated! She must have been a powerful personality to have formed such a cult around her that the church in cowardly manner tolerated all her sins. So ask, is the person being honored luring people into dark sin, or is his/her teaching bringing people to the light of the true Gospel?
People who claim to be Christian yet chortle with glee at a brethren’s potential demise, or who discredit a good church and its people, who call brethren liars in the face of facts, are fighting against the Spirit of Christ. No, these people are aligned with the spirit of the age, and thus most likely, are not saved. Their words betray the darkness of their heart. Anyone who chooses to publicly deride an aged Christian in ill health and wish for their death, instead of praying for their good, betrays the evilness of their heart. If they truly believed GCC was a cult and were truly Christians, would they not instead pray for their deliverance? That is the difference between a heart of light and a sinful heart.
Further Reading
Below are some links to true cults and their leaders. These men were very dangerous. If you believe you are in a cult, please refer to these articles:
“Qualities and Characteristics Associated with Cults“, and
Focus on the Family has an article aimed at family members who have joined a cult: “My Child Has Joined a Cult“
Recent Cults: (Personally, I’ll never forget the shock at the first images emerging on the news from Guyana of the 909 dead in the Peoples’ Temple. They drank cyanide laced Kool-Aid, parents gave it to their children. Heartbreaking. It’s where we get the phrase ‘Don’t drink the Kool-Aid’)
Jim Jones Peoples’ Temple cult (909 died in mass suicide)
David Koresh and the Branch Davidians (ended in FBI siege, suicides, and fire)
Charles Manson and the Manson Family (ended in murder, law enforcement capture, and jail)
Bonnie Nettles and Heaven’s Gate (ended in mass suicide)
By Elizabeth Prata
In reference to the issue of Julie Roys fomenting the current scandal against John MacArthur and Grace Community Church, the GCC elders have written a template reply which is sent out to emailed questioners. Fred Butler (an employee of GCC) confirmed it is from the church. Further, he said that if anyone emails with questions they will receive the same reply. Numerous people have already received this response.
I liked GCC’s response. Not surprising, it is well-written, biblical, and to the point.
I trust the public witness of the elders at GCC and of John MacArthur. Anyone who has spent 52 years week in and week out rightly dividing the truth is someone to trust. This is not my church anyway, and not my personal business. Let profane tongues run to their own pit, while true believers speak of holy and edifying things.
the-end-time.org 