Tag: John MacArthur

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Woman Claims Grace Community Church ‘Defamed’ and Inappropriately Put Her Under Church Discipline

(Christian Post) A woman has accused the John MacArthur-led Grace Community Church of Sun Valley, California, of disciplining her when she sought separation from her husband, who has reportedly been abusive to her.

Lorraine Zielinski had her name publicly announced in July during a Grace communion service as someone who has been put under church discipline concerning issues regarding the separation from her husband.

Last month, she said Grace approved her to undergo the fourth step of church discipline, which is “to be ostracized from the fellowship,” according to… to continue reading click here.

This article was written by Michael Gryboski and published at the Christian Post

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Christianity Today Makes Pathetic Attack Against John MacArthur Over MLK Criticism

Justin Giboney is the founder of the AND Campaign, a wishy-washy organization that seeks to strike a middle ground between the democrats and republicans by always leaning toward the former, as well as a prominent The Gospel Coalition (TGC) contributor.

We last wrote about him after he insisted that a rejection of redemptive social justice is a rejection of orthodoxy and when he later claimed that all white Christian churches owe racial reparations, even new ones who weren’t directly involved with it or who have no history with it.

In his ‘Christianity Today article “Why John MacArthur Is Wrong About MLK,” (a publication that recently claimed that Jesus was Asian and suggested there’s nothing wrong with using personal pronouns) Giboney complains that John MacArthur’s recent claims that Martin Luther King Jr. was not a Christian is “not only ahistorical” but that it also “misses God’s heart for justice.”

California pastor and theologian John MacArthur called King “not a Christian at all,” “a nonbeliever who misrepresented everything about Christ and the gospel.” He also called The Gospel Coalition (TGC) “woke” for honoring King in its MLK50 conference in 2018, implying this signaled the end of TGC’s faithfulness and orthodoxy.

MacArthur cast these condemnations casually, with an apparent air of self-righteousness that suggests his theological expertise is paired with an infantile understanding of neighborly love (Heb. 5:11–13). Deep knowledge of systematic theology, unfortunately, can exist alongside a desperate need for remedial instruction on the greatest commandments (Matt. 22:37–39) and a failure “to distinguish good from evil” (Heb. 5:14), including King’s good work of peace and justice informed by Scripture and motivated by the gospel.

What MacArthur is referring to is the fact that Martin Luther King Jr. was a well-documented serial adulterer, sexual deviant and heretic who denied the virgin birth and the literal resurrection of Jesus while also claiming the bible was mythological. (Also here)

Giboney gives no proof or evidence that MacArthur is wrong in his assertions, however. He simply quotes an undocumented assertion by Mika Edmondson, (who recently suggested that Jesus’s sermon on the mount was primarily inspired by, if not directly taught by, his mother, Mary and that Jesus’ turning the water into wine at Cana was a ‘justice situation’) that “King’s early seminary papers don’t reflect his final fully formed theology.”

MacArthur may take issue with some of King’s early theological work, which did question Christian doctrine. However, as Mika Edmondson—himself a pastor and systematic theologian—insightfully explained, “King’s early seminary papers don’t reflect his final fully formed theology.” Not unlike Abraham Kuyper and Dietrich Bonhoeffer, King wrestled with theological liberalism but later seemed to “shift back toward the faith of his conservative Black Baptist upbringing.”

There is no evidence that MLK ever repudiated his former beliefs, either privately or publicly. Blogger Mark Lamprecht helped clarify some of this when he wrote in an article:

As to the question of whether or not King ever repudiated the above theological beliefs, I may have an answer.

In the past few years I was curious about whether or not King ever changed his beliefs. So, I emailed one of King’s biographers who, in turn, forwarded my inquiry to another of his biographers. The reply from both biographers was that they saw no indication that King ever changed his beliefs.“

Failing to offer even a base level of justification for the volleys against MacArthur, Giboney concludes with more baseless assertions befitting a trash article in a trash publication:

Rejecting King is no solution to this problem; he is the model of the unabashedly, unmistakably Christian activism we need—the exact kind of public, Christian faithfulness that the dysfunctional corners of the Left have eschewed. Condemning King and evangelical groups who are trying to show contrition and repentance is a move toward “bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander” (Eph. 4:31), not redemption.

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John MacArthur Rebukes Alistair Begg in New Q&A +’We’ve Been Friends for 45 Years…And Now He’s Going to be Defined By That’

Grace Community Church Pastor John MacArthur has weighed in after longtime friend and prominent pastor Alistair Begg was dropped from his Shepherds Conference, after Begg famously urged a woman to attend an LGBTQ wedding, and then doubled and tripled down with some bible twisting so bad it made children cry and crows scatter.

Begg has been a frequent speaker at Grace Community Church events, including speaking at the Shepherds Conference in 2015 and 2023, and a regular guest lecturer for the Doctor of Ministry program at The Master’s Seminary.

Speaking to his church this past Sunday, MacArthur shared why Begg was so “epically” wrong.

John, I have a question that’s been heavy on my heart about one of our Scottish brothers? Will you comment and guide us as to why Alister Begg is mistaken in advising a member of his flock to attend and solemnize a marriage of her granddaughter to a transgender partner? Can you guide us as to why we should not bend to do this?


Yeah, that question came up and has gotten all over the internet. Let me say first of all, Alastair and I have been friends for well, 45 years. When I was in Scotland 45 years ago, I was pushing his 45 year old son in a pram… So we’ve had a lot of history together, and I have a great affection for him.

I also want to say that you shouldn’t judge a man by his weakest moment. All of us will have a moment of weakness. Having said that, I have to disagree with the answer that he gave to the question.

A believer should not go to a homosexual or transgender wedding, for a lot of reasons. But he was making the argument that you go out of compassion, rather than condemnation, you go to show love to them, as a means to reach them.

My response to that is the most loving thing you could possibly do, would be not to go, and to condemn the relationship. That is loving.

It’s not loving to help somebody celebrate stepping into the fury of God’s judgment. No transgender person, effeminate, homosexual will enter the kingdom of heaven. This is not a time for you to celebrate. Thinking that your affection for somebody is the means of their salvation, that they will come to salvation when the Lord exposes their sin. That’s why the Holy Spirit, John 16 convicts of sin and righteousness and judgment.

And what should be said to somebody is “this is wrong. This is against God’s order. This is not marriage.” It is not a marriage, because you can’t have a marriage between two people of the same sex. It’s not a marriage at all. It is defying God who ordained marriage, ordained male and female and designed procreation. It is a blasphemy against God, as is transgender life and homosexuality as well.

That is the message to give in love. Beyond the theological reasons and the biblical reasons, I couldn’t affirm that. If I went, I would affirm that.

Not only could I not affirm it, I don’t think I could tolerate it. I don’t think I could survive sitting in something like that, and feeling like I was supportive of it. And then to give them a gift. That is to aid and abet the celebration of something that is defying God’s design and the very, very, I would say point of the spear currently of the corruption of this entire culture. So you can’t be a part of that.

He continues:

I don’t understand why you would answer the question that way. I thought if somebody was in that situation and had that view, and you’re on the radio and… you’re recording this, right? So whoever the host is, is going to ask you a question. And the host says “What would you tell this grandma about going to a transgender wedding?”

I would immediately say, “ask me another question,”particularly if I was at all prone to suggest that that might be okay. I would never say that. Because you’d have to calculate the cost of that. And how do you calculate that? I mean the price for that is, is really epic. It’s really epic.

And there’s so much more about him that is wonderful and faithful and his ministry just past 40 years of pastoral ministry in that church, and it was a great celebration. And now he’s going to be defined by that.

I don’t know how you calculate doing that, for that reason, unless there is some very personal relationship with someone you’re trying to win over or protect. But that’s really speculation on my mind.

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John MacArthur Gives Health Update After Heart Surgery + Wife’s Very Dangerous Fall

Pastor John MacArthur of Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California, gave his congregants a health update this morning following several weeks of absences.

Good morning everyone, we’re glad to see you this morning. I missed a couple of weeks. I need to thank Steve Lawson for preaching. I had to go into the hospital for anablation on my heart and it came out great, so it fixed me for the time being. So (I’m) grateful for that.

According to JHM “Ablation is a procedure to treat atrial fibrillation. It uses small burns or freezes to cause some scarring on the inside of the heart to help break up the electrical signals that cause irregular heartbeats. This can help the heart maintain a normal heart rhythm.” MacArthur continues:

So that was a week and a half ago maybe, so I think it was the Thursday I went under anesthetic. They did this procedure and on Saturday my wife Patricia fell and broke her hip so Sunday she was back in the hospital having surgery on her hip.

That’s the second hip she’s broken, that’s all she’s got. There are two other hips in our house- I’ve told the Lord do I need to put blood on the doorpost, in the lintels, the angel of death passes by.

But she’s recovering. In fact she’s on the way home from the hospital even as I speak, so we’re thankful for that. Let’s stand together as we worship the Lord

A Journal of Internal Medicine paper notes: “Hip fracture among older patients is a devastating injury in most cases. It profoundly affects the physical, mental, functional and social balance that patients used to have and, beyond the orthopedic injury, it reflects the aging process and its dire consequences. Some reports show that up to 50% of patients with hip fracture die within six months and many of those who survive do not recover their baseline independence and function.

As per reports from the same journal: “One in three adults aged 50 and over dies within 12 months of suffering a hip fracture. Older adults have a five-to-eight times higher risk of dying within the first three months of a hip fracture compared to those without a hip fracture. This increased risk of death remains for almost ten years.”

Keep John and Patricia in your prayers.

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New Video Ft. John MacArthur Saying Words He’s Never Uttered Before. ‘Your Squad Straight Up Ghosted Me!’

Renowned Christian satire site The Babylon Bee has dropped a gem of a video featuring the chancellor of The Masters Seminary, John MacArthur. Here, MacArthur strings together a sentence he’s never uttered before in his 84 years on earth as he participates in the skewering of woke culture. 

The video takes you on a comedic journey with progressive parents visiting the university with their daughter. The duo grapples with topics such as the linguistic nuances of ‘folks’ vs ‘folx’, the absence of indigenous land acknowledgements in the brochures, the search for safe spaces on campus, and the racial implications of 2+2=4. But the real kicker comes when they meet the university’s chancellor. 

This is where John MacArthur, in an unexpected twist, drops some slang that’s quite…uncharacteristic. He tells the daughter, after the parents leave in a huff, “Your squad straight up ghosted me. Big yikes”. This single line will be clipped and serve as meme fodder for years. 

But it’s not all laughs. The video cleverly incorporates a genuine ad for the university towards the end, making it a perfect blend of humor and promotional content.

Editor’s note. Feel free to download the video below. 😀

https://protestia.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Untitled-video-Made-with-Clipchamp-2023-06-26T003135.965.mp4
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podcast Protestia Tonight Videos

Protestia Tonight: Discern In Context

On this episode of Protestia Tonight for May 9th, 2023, we discuss what John MacArthur meant by claiming he wouldn’t speak alongside women speakers. In the PT VIP segment, we talk about some new changes coming to Protestia and answer a related question about what to do when our pastors are not discerning about their endorsements.

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Rachel Denhollander Latest Tweets About John MacArthur Are Super Dumb, and This is Why

(Midwest OutReach) A little over a week ago (Wednesday, March 8, 2023), Megan Basham asked me a question via text message. I immediately realized it would be difficult to give her an adequate response via text, so I told her I’d respond by email.

As I was working on the email, it took longer than I expected. Along the way, it occurred to me that Don Veinot often asks me if I could write something for the MCOI blog, and the longer I worked on it the more the email was looking like a blog article. After sending it, I asked Megan and Don if it would be alright with both of them if I simply posted the email, as is, as an article. They both agreed.

Some background on Megan’s question is in order here. It was prompted by a series of tweets from Rachael Denhollander in which she referred to a now-deleted article on The Gospel Coalition web site which Denhollander suggested placed husbands “in a priestly or salvific type of role.” She was attempting to show that quotes she provided (in screenshots) from John MacArthur do the same sort of thing. The MacArthur quotes come from a recent question-and-answer session at his church which is available online both in video and transcript form. In the following three paragraphs that I’ve copied from that site, I’ve put the words Denhollander highlighted in bold text and added underlining to the ones I think supply helpful context:

I think you have to look at yourself—and this may help—you have to look at yourself in the way that Paul described marriage in Ephesians 5. He basically says that a husband is like a savior to his wife. That’s essentially what it says. And I think the burden really lies with men to see themselves as those who rescue women from loneliness, who rescue women from being in an unfulfilled—being in a place where they aren’t protected, they aren’t provided for, they aren’t cared for, they aren’t loved, they aren’t given the opportunity to have children. So from what I would experience in our society, it’s the men that have to step up. And I honestly do not know what in the world they are waiting for. I have threatened many times to line up all the single women on one side, all the single men on the other side, and assign you a wife.

But instead of looking for someone who is some kind of trophy, you need to look to someone who loves Christ, that you can be a savior to that person and a protector and a provider and a lover, and be what Christ is to His church—because that’s the picture. And I’d strongly exhort young men to find a wife, because in that finding is God’s greatest gift in this world. And it allows you to raise up children who know and love the Lord; that’s the purpose of marriage: to procreate. And to do so in Christ is the highest calling in life.

I want to do all I can to encourage the men to step up. And I know there have been enough bad marriages in our society that there’s a certain amount of fear and trepidation. But you have to look at marriage as the way the Lord looks at His church. He knows the bride has problems, but He is her redeemer, He is her rescuer. And I think if you can find a godly woman, that reward is the greatest reward that life can offer. Just don’t let the world define what that woman should be. OK? Really good question.

Denhollander has major problems with what MacArthur said here. According to her, MacArthur,

…specifically uses the word “redeem”, which is a reference to Christ’s salvation of His church. He encourages this young man to view himself towards a wife, the way Christ redeems the church. Context also for how he encourages men to view themselves as “a savior”.

This simply restates her view that MacArthur sees husbands in a “salvific” role, that is, a role leading to salvation. Later she wrote,

I do believe, however, that MacArthur did intend to communicate a redemptive and salvific archetype from husband to wife (while yes, affirming eternal salvation by grace through faith.)

But when we read him in context, that’s not what he’s saying at all. Concerning Paul’s teaching in Ephesians 5, MacArthur says: “He basically says that… to continue reading, click here.

Editor’s Note. This article was written by Ron Henzel  and published at MidWest Outreach. Title changed by Protestia.

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After John MacArthur Misses Day 1 of Shepherds Conference, Attendees Pray He Makes an Appearance

Thousands of attendees descending on John MacArthur’s annual Shepherds Conference, March 8-10, were disappointed to discover that the beloved pastor would not be preaching his scheduled sermon that day, and that he may not make an appearance altogether. Grace Community Church elder Tom Patton announced that not only was MacArthur, 83, still recovering from heart surgery months ago, but that he had also broken his wrist days before and was not well enough to attend.

Despite this dispiriting news, many have hope that he may join in the Q&A today or preach one of the final closing sermons, with Steve Lawson noting:

I have been coming to Shepherds conference since 1983. That’s 40 years ago. We met over in the chapel, which was only half-full. And over the years, these last 40 years, there’s been one constant voice in my spiritual life. And that voice is John MacArthur.

And I pray that he can be with us tomorrow. And I think that 5% of John MacArthur is worth more than the whole Evangelical world put together. He is the shepherd of the shepherd’s conference. He has shepherded us for more than four decades. His understanding of the scripture, his convictions, the fidelity of his life, his outspokenness, his pastor’s heart, his prophetic voice, has been really a landmark for us.

And I know that we are gathered here because he has been, really, the anchorman for us. And so I think that we should pray for John, that God will give him a quick recovery, and that he will be here.

Bonus, from #Shepconf

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GCC Elders Respond to Christianity Today Article Accusing John MacArthur of Abuse

The elders of Grace community church in Sun Valley, California, have responded to a story from Christianity Today (CT) accusing Pastor John MacArthur and the elders at GCC of abusive counseling that frequently sides with the abuser rather than the victim.

The story, which has disgraced journalist Julie Roys licking her chops at another opportunity to take a swing at the church leadership, recounts the actions taken by Hohn Cho, an elder at GCC, who resigned last year over actions taken by the church regarding reports on David and Eileen Gray. CT summarizes: 

Last year, Hohn Cho concluded Grace Community Church had made a mistake.

The elders had publicly disciplined a woman for refusing to take back her husband. As it turned out, the woman’s fears proved true, and her husband went to prison for child molestation and abuse. The church never retracted its discipline or apologized in the 20 years since.

As a lawyer and one of four officers on the elder board at Grace Community Church (GCC), Cho was asked to study the case. He tried to convince the church’s leaders to reconsider and at least privately make it right. He said pastor John MacArthur told him to “forget it.” When Cho continued to call the elders to “do justice” on the woman’s behalf, he said he was asked to walk back his conclusions or resign.

The article goes on to recap Julie Roys’ frequently shoddy reporting, which we’ve responded to several times, but in particular:

Judge Julie: Accusing a Shepherd

Roys vs. MacArthur: Anatomy of a Smear

A Brief Example of How Julie Roys Mixes Good Facts with Bad Narrative to Create a Bad Story

The CT article concludes by alleging that eight other anonymous women also received questionable counseling, though none would come forward.

 “(They) recounted how they and others at Grace Community Church had been counseled to avoid reporting their husbands and fathers to authorities, to accept their apologies, and to continue to submit to them…the victims were regularly quoted Scriptures on forgiveness, trust, love, and submission—and were told to reconcile and return home even in cases where they feared for their safety and their children’s safety.”

Christianity Today would surely recognize abuse, given that just last year it was uncovered that sexual harassment and abuse went unchecked at their company for over a decade, coming from the highest levels of management. 

In response to the article, the elders at Grace Church continue their long-standing practice of not commenting on personal issues of counseling and church discipline, writing:

“Grace Church’s elders do not discuss details publicly arising from counseling and discipline cases on social media, nor do we litigate disputes about such matters in online forums. Grace Church deals with accusations personally and privately in accordance with biblical principles. We do not respond to attacks, lies, misrepresentations, and anonymous accusations. Our church’s history and congregation are the testimony. Myriads of Grace Church members who have sought counsel at our church will testify that the counsel they receive is biblical, charitable, supportive, and liberating.”

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John MacArthur Sends Health Update to Congregants

Pastor John MacArthur sent a new health update to Grace Community Church congregants weeks after the venerated elder underwent surgery to clear a blockage in his arteries. At home recovering, he’s been taking a break from preaching duties while others lead in his stead. 

The news was given by pastor Austin Duncan, who preached the sermon today. Austin is one of several pastors who has been mentioned as being a potential successor to MacArthur, and he reveals:

I’m eager to speak to you this morning from Psalm chapter 12. I come with good news and glad tidings from our pastor. I talked to him yesterday and he’s recovering well. He sounded strong as a bull- classic MacArthur.

He’s going to work three times harder when he gets back, I’m sure and continue to outrun us all. So grateful for good progress for his recovery and he’s doing well. He wanted me to let you know. So that’s good news.

While we don’t know MacArthur’s diagnosis, generally speaking, blocked arteries occur when the blood vessels that carry oxygen and nutrients from the heart to the rest of the body become narrowed or blocked by a buildup of plaque. This plaque comprises cholesterol, fat, and other substances in the blood.

Common in people over 60, blocked arteries can lead to serious health problems, such as chest pain, heart attacks and strokes. It is typically treated with lifestyle changes, medication, and surgery, such as:

  • Angioplasty and stenting, which uses a small balloon to open the blocked artery and a stent to keep it open
  • Coronary artery bypass surgery, which uses a blood vessel from another part of the body to bypass the blocked artery

We continue to prray for his swift and sure recovery.

h/t to Bible Thumping Wingnut on YouTube.