Pastor John MacArthur passed away yesterday and is with the Lord in glory. He is one of the contemporary pastors that I have admired and respected because of his commitment to preaching and teaching the Word of God accurately as possible. To me, he exemplifies what it means to be a Word-centered or Bible-centered leader. When I think of him, I think of Apostle Paul’s words: “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, handling accurately the word of truth” (2 Tim.2:15). I love the video above as it demonstrates his commitment to be accurate to the Word rather than have his ego stroked. The Bible says, “Let another praise you, and not your own mouth” (Prov.27:2). In the video, another prominent pastor and teacher, R.C. Sproul, gives his testimony about what kind of a person John MacArthur was. Pastors like them have challenged and inspired me to be committed to holding forth the Word of God as accurately as possible, and not so much what I want to say or others have said.

Pastor John MacArthur was born in Los Angeles, California on June 1939. Although he was a talented athlete and even had a dream of becoming a professional football player, he followed his father’s footstep of becoming a preacher. He was born into a family of preachers. Around the age of 18, he was in a car accident that changed the direction of his life from wanting to pursue football to wanting to study theology. After earning a Master of Divinity from Talbot Theological Seminary, he became the pastor of Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California. He served faithfully as its pastor for 56 years! Under his leadership, the church grew significantly and became a hub for various ministries. He was the founder of Grace to You, a nationally syndicated radio and television Bible teaching program. He was also the chancellor emeritus of The Master’s University and The Master’s Seminary. He has also authored over 1650 books, including the popular MacArthur Study Bible.

One of the lasting memory of him that made an impact in my life was of his actions during the COVID-19 pandemic. While he had his church closed at the start of the pandemic like every other churches, he began worshiping at church by himself. Soon, his members started coming one by one and joined him in worship. Pastor MacArthur stated that he didn’t have the heart to turn the worshipers away. At that time, I closed my church too, and my wife and I began worship God through their live stream for about a year. It turned out that his church was one of three churches that kept open during the pandemic with almost no one getting seriously ill. Whether God protected them miraculously from the virus, or the government falsely over emphasized it, I do not know for sure. What I do know is that God honored their decision of faith. Even though California government threatened them with many things including lawsuit, the church remained steadfast. The case went all the way to the Supreme Court, and the church won to stay open. Here is the description of the event according to the Wikipedia:

“In 2020 and 2021, during the COVID-19 global crisis, MacArthur contravened orders from Los Angeles County public health officials regarding services at Grace Community Church, and insisted that no one from the church had become seriously ill, despite reports to the contrary. His major contention was that there was no justification for closing down churches over a disease with 94% survival rate according to data from the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Los Angeles County sued the church over its refusal to close down and the church counter-sued, claiming that the County was violating rights to freedom of religion. Eventually, all lawsuits were settled out of court with the County of Los Angeles and the state of California paying $400,000 each to Grace Community Church.”