John MacArthur, Pastor, Reformed Theologian, and Cultural and Political Lighting Rod, Dead at 86

Rev. John MacArthur, pastor of Grace Community Church (GCC) in Sun Valley, CA, was no televangelist. In fact, he often criticized his contemporaries: Chuck Smith, Jimmy Swaggart, and Jack Hayford, among them, who fit that mold. Their ministries embodied media aspects and outreach, which he felt were extra-biblical, and he considered some of their associations with other pastors and teachers heretical. MacArthur endorsed Greg Laurie's ("The Jesus Revolution") Harvest Crusades at their inception, but in later years removed himself because of Laurie's partnerships with megachurch pastors Rick Warren and Robert Morris due to their questionable teachings. MacArthur taught and lived adherence to sound doctrine and biblical truth, and rejected what he considered cultural movements and fads, and the people driving them. Over 50 years of ministry, you could easily say these things about John MacArthur: he was comprehensive, he was consequential, and most of all, he was consistent.

In MacArthur's 50 years as pastor, theologian, author, and broadcaster, he pastored GCC, growing the congregation from hundreds to as many as 8,000 on a given Sunday. MacArthur has published nearly 400 study guides, books, and commentaries, and preached more than 3,000 sermons. His media ministry arm, "Grace to You (GTY)", still airs on the radio in at least 14 countries, as well as through streaming and other platforms. He founded The Master’s University and Seminary (TMUS), which are still alive and thriving today, and he has headlined many conferences with GCC and Reformed theology organizations like Ligonier Ministries.

MacArthur has left his mark on the evangelical world, and with his resolute stance against closing GCC's doors during the COVID madness, MacArthur gained an even more significant platform to the world-at-large. MacArthur's steadfast rejection of Governor Gavin Newsom's tyrannical lockdown orders occurred when other pastors or church leaders simply rolled over for the state. I personally changed churches because of this, and so did many others, and GCC's own attendance ballooned once again during that period.

Learn More: IN MY ORBIT: Faith Leaders Who Pushed COVID Policies and Vaccines Should Be the First Ones Held Accountable

The Church Has Spectacularly Failed the COVID Test...and the Faithful

MacArthur chose to do this despite great personal and legal attacks. But these attacks were overcome, and helped to usher in sanity once again. Thanks to their unconstitutional overreach, the city of Los Angeles and the state of California settled with GCC to the tune of $800,000.

By Force: California Government Fines a Determined Church Until It Surrenders

MacArthur has reportedly been ill since before December 2024. According to GCC Facebook posts, he had undergone medical procedures, including a heart-valve replacement, and had been in and out of the hospital for management of these various conditions. In a March "MacArthur Center Podcast," MacArthur, who had not been in his pulpit since early in 2024, revealed that his kidneys were failing and that medical technology was all that was keeping him alive.

Describing his current physical condition, MacArthur said, “The truth is, I went 85 years and then went off a cliff.”
[...]
MacArthur shared that he is being kept “alive by stints,” “a cow valve,” and “dialysis.”
“This will be new to people,” he said. “My kidneys have essentially come down to the final stage.” MacArthur explained that “over the last two months, I’ve been in a long, elongated hospital setting, and I’ve come out of that and entered into the world of dialysis.”
“It keeps me alive,” he added. “Literally dialysis. I can sit in a chair and watch my blood go out and spin through this machine that does what a kidney does.” MacArthur shared that he has to undergo the treatment “three times a week” for “four hours.” MacArthur said that he “can’t live without it.”

Less than a month after his 86th birthday, MacArthur's health took yet another turn; a turn from which he did not recover. MacArthur passed away on Monday at 6:17 p.m. Pacific Time.

The Christian Post reported:

Distantly related to famed five-star World War II United States General Douglas MacArthur, John Fullerton MacArthur Jr. was born on June 19, 1939, in Los Angeles, California.
MacArthur earned a Bachelor of Science degree from what was then called Los Angeles Pacific College and is now Azusa Pacific University, and a Master of Divinity degree from Biola University’s Talbot Theological Seminary.
In 1969, three years after graduating from Talbot, MacArthur became the pastor-teacher for Grace Community Church of Sun Valley, California, where he would serve for over 50 years.
“Under John’s leadership, Grace Community Church’s two morning worship services fill the three-thousand-seat auditorium to capacity,” noted The Master's Seminary, a private Christian school that MacArthur led.
“Several thousand members participate every week in dozens of fellowship groups and training programs, most led by lay leaders and each dedicated to equipping members for ministry on local, national, and international levels.”
A prolific author and speaker, it is estimated that MacArthur has preached at least 3,300 sermons and written more than 400 books and biblical study guides.
In addition to his many books and sermons, MacArthur also hosted a long-running radio program and local television broadcast centered on his Bible studies and preaching.
MacArthur helped to found The Master's University and Seminary in 1986 and served as its president until 2018, when he stepped down amid problems over the school’s accreditation.

What is not given much weight, and should be, is how MacArthur transformed the lives of the physically and developmentally disabled through GCC's Special Ministries, which has been a pivotal part of GCC congregational life for 40 years. When most churches did not even think about accommodating disabled parishioners, MacArthur created an entire ministry around it, treating them with the dignity and respect they deserved.

In an excerpt from his book, "None Other: Discovering the God of the Bible," MacArthur wrote:

The church was not established as a country club or a fraternity house for fit, cool, and stylish people. It is a fellowship of those who recognize their own fallenness and utter helplessness, who have laid hold of Christ for salvation, and whose main business on earth is showing other needy sinners the way of salvation. If we neglect to reach out especially to those who are blind, infirm, or otherwise disabled, then we are simply not being faithful heralds of the tender mercy of Christ.

I lived and attended church in the same area as GCC, and interacted with the physically and developmentally disabled congregants who had been transformed through this arm of his ministry. There was a joy, a light, and a confidence that had been instilled in them, in large part because they were loved, embraced, and incorporated into the faith community, and not ignored, set aside or considered a project. Joni Eareckson Tada, who founded and still runs Joni and Friends, a powerful ministry to the disabled, offered this loving tribute to MacArthur.

John MacArthur has entered heaven and, oh, what a rich welcome he must have received. John spent most of his years studying, proclaiming, and fiercely defending the Word of God… And I’m just one of millions who benefited from his work in the Kingdom. And now? He has heard that precious acclamation from the lips of Jesus himself, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” John’s faith has become sight and what he sees now is more dazzling and breathtaking than he ever imagined.
Ken and I will miss our friend. In 1979, Dr. MacArthur served as a Founding Board member of Joni and Friends, providing wisdom and guidance as we charted the Gospel-distinctives of this new ministry that would quickly have global impact. He faithfully pastored Grace Community Church with its thriving disability ministry – what I learned from John and his congregation gave shape to our early programs at Joni and Friends. John also married Ken and me in 1982 on a sunny July morning at Grace – what an honor to hear him happily announce, “I present to you, Mr. and Mrs. Ken Tada!”
“You don’t have to agree with everything he said to know what he stood for,” wrote Rich Bitterman, “He stood for Scripture. For truth spoken like thunder…clear, costly, and close.” John MacArthur was a prophet for our age. All of us at Joni and Friends pray for his wife Patricia and for his family, including many great grandchildren! “Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints” – Psalm 116:15.

The Reformed and Southern Baptist theology to which MacArthur was an adherent does not recognize the ordination of women or women as biblical teachers. So, much hay was made about MacArthur's 2020 comment regarding evangelist and teacher Beth Moore to "Go Home." MacArthur and GCC have also been accused of covering up abuse of women. But Eareckson Tada, who helms one of the foremost international ministries to the disabled, has acknowledged MacArthur's guiding hand of wisdom and friendship in the launch, shepherding, and enabling of her ministry, Joni and Friends. Eareckson Tada, a disabled woman, teaches and preaches the gospel, often without using words, on a larger pulpit than most evangelical pastors. Something to consider as we acknowledge the passing of a man who sought to live and teach truth, and whose larger-than-life pulpit equipped and encouraged multitudes of others to do the same.

A consequential life leaves a significant mark, but also a significant void. MacArthur leaves behind his wife of over 60 years, Patricia, his children, Matt, Mark, Marcy, and Melinda, 15 grandchildren, nine great-grandchildren, and a congregation that must continue to take on the mantle of living and speaking the truth.

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