Appreciating John MacArthur

While at the New Life Bible Conference (which I hope to write more about soon), I picked up a copy of Iain Murray’s new biography,John MacArthur: Servant of the Word and Flock. I enjoy Murray’s biographies and like many others I was eager to get to know John a bit better. So, I figured a biography about MacArthur written by Murray would be win-win.

And I was right! Once again I enjoyed Murray’s uncluttered style, which seemed particularly appropriate for a man whose life has been marked by plainness of speech and love for the truth. The volume reads really smoothly and quickly. I regard myself a slow reader, but I was able to finish all but a few pages on the 4.5 hour plane ride from Chicago back to Cayman. A nice read for a cozy trip home.

Murray is careful to state that this biography is not exhaustive and that another writer (perhaps Phil Johnson) ought to take up a more complete study. So, the book really gives us the “high points” in MacArthur’s life, those moments and eras that were in many ways defining of the man and his ministry. We learn of his parents’ influence, his college years and days at seminary, of his early ministry at Grace Community Church, the development of Master’s and Grace to You, and of a few personal and theological crises that attracted MacArthur’s attention. Murray also gives us a “tour” of MacArthur’s writing along the way, giving particular attention to The Gospel According to Jesus, which sent seismic tremors through much of evangelicalism a couple decades back. Keep Reading...

“Loving Our Pastors”

Pastors are imperfect; that much should be obvious. However, the attitude of some Christians toward their pastors leaves us wondering whether those three words are as plain as one would think. While pastors, like all of us, share in Adam’s fall, they have the particular challenge of having their faults on display week-by-week as they stand in a pulpit or as they minister amongst their flock. Pastors are public people and, sadly, public scrutiny comes easily and regularly. Church members should be particularly sensitive to this when they offer opinions, solicited or otherwise, about their pastor’s ministry.

Regretfully, some pastors make easy targets and bear the brunt of some of the most frivolous criticism. While all pastors should be open to constructive critique—indeed they should welcome it for the ministry’s sake—they are not deserving of the back-biting, nit-picking and any other hyphenated wounding that they regularly undergo. Keep Reading...