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.
Advertisement