over a small range of mountains, the jolt was nowhere felt more
156 JOHN MacArTHuR: SERVANT OF THE WoRD AND FLOCK
of offices to the next. It was not a very efficient layout, but the
ministry fitted the building perfectly.
The building was hard hit by an earthquake that shook the
entire Los Angeles area early on Tuesday morning, January 17,
1994. Although the epicentre was some fourteen miles away
over a small range of mountains, the jolt was nowhere felt more
strongly than in Santa Clarita. Just a few miles away from Grace
to You several large freeway bridges crumbled and fell, and a
building four blocks away collapsed entirely.' Amazingly, the
Grace to You building withstood serious structural damage
but all was chaos within, furniture and equipment having been
thrown in all directions. When John visited that same morn-
ing, his first response at the sight of the damage was one of
gratitude. "Had the tremor come during working hours with a
full team of staff and volunteers, we could have easily suffered
severe injuries and even fatalities.'
It was not until the year 2000 that Grace to You finally
obtained property and built a more suitable facility, designed
specifically to meet the ministry's needs, in the Valencia district.
Phil Johnson was Executive Director; he was joined by Don
Green as Managing Director in 2004.
By 1998 there was the capacity to produce six hundred cassette
tapes an hour, and eleven million had been sent out. Simultan-
eously sermons, and occasional programs, were provided for more than eight hundred radio stations. That same year the headquar-
ters' staff of Grace to You consisted of fifty-two full-time men and women and 113 volunteer helpers from the Grace Church.
During the 1990s the ministry associated with MacArthur's
books had seen new dimensions. A flow of major titles—drawn
' This was the Northridge Earthquake, already mentioned in chapter 10.
Grace to You 157
from his preaching—had come on to the market: Our Sufficiency
in Christ (1991); The Master's Plan (1991); Charismatic Chaos
(1992); Ashamed of the Gospel (1993); Reckless Faith (1994); The
Vanislung Conscience (1994); The Glory of Heaven (1996); The
Love of God (1996). These books were published by the regular
publishing houses, particularly Moody, Nelson, and Crossway,
but with Grace to You co-operating in a significant way. When
Our Sufficiency in Christ was published in 1991, Grace to You
took a large quantity from the publishers and gave free copies to
all on the mailing list of MacArthur's monthly letter. Recalling
this as a 'key turning-point', MacArthur wrote in 2009,
We believed that even a small fee would limit the reach of
that book for some people. Instead of selling a relatively
small number, we gave away thousands of free copies and
trusted God's people to support what we were doing as
they were led and able. The response and growth we saw
Was amazing.
This same pattern was continued in the following years, both
with books and tapes sent to those who got the newsletter. The
free book was not necessarily one of MacArthur's. In 1994 it
was the Banner of Truth title, The Valley of Vision: A Collection
of Puritan Prayers and Devotions.
There was at first hesitation over whether this procedure
should be followed when the major work, The MacArthur
Study Bible, came out in 1997. It was a title considerably more
expensive than any thus far offered, and free distribution seemed
to represent a substantial risk. The decision was that any 'risk'
was worth it. MacArthur remembers:
We hoped for the best, prepared for the worst, and sent out more than 35,000 Study Bibles. The response was historic
158 JOHN MacArTHuR: SERVANT OF THE WORD AND FLOCK
... Gifts poured in as God's people shouldered the financial weight of our ministry in unprecedented ways.
In the opinion of Lance Quinn, the Study Bible has had 'greater
impact around the world than all your other volumes'. Perhaps
it is too early to make that assessment. We lack the perspective
of time, but I am inclined to think that the most enduring
influence of MacArthur's books may prove to be through the MacArthur New Testament Commentaries of which I will write
in later pages.
By 1999 Grace to You had distributed 3,154,927 copies
of MacArthur's books and study guides. Evidence came back
that the occasional offer of free books was helping numbers
of people with limited means. A cynical critic might think it
was just a means of pressure selling, but evidence from the
track record of Grace to You shows this was not the case. Free
items go out without any strings attached, as can be seen in
the current distribution of MacArthur sermons, which can be downloaded by anyone free of charge from the website. From
1969 to June 13, 2002, 13 million cassette tapes were produced,
a number being sold at a moderate price. Since June 2008 the
same sermons have all been available as MP3s on the internet,
without cost. In the period from 2008 to January 2010, 14.4
million were downloaded in this way, to the great pleasure of
all at Grace to You.
As had happened in America, the tape ministry also led the
way for radio broadcasts overseas. In 1983 a South African named Peter Gruner attended the Shepherds' Conference at Sun
Valley. He went home with a large number of sermon cassettes which he proceeded, on his own initiative, to duplicate and
circulate in his own country. This led to Grace to You going to
Grace to You 159
air with sermons on the SABC Network in South Africa. When
John and Patricia made a first visit to South Africa in 1992,
John was astonished at the number of radio listeners that he
met. He wrote home:
The beauty and majesty of God's creation here—although more breathtaking than I could have ever imagined—pales when compared to the transforming work God is orches-
trating in people's lives. The response I've witnessed to our
radio ministry here is unbelievable.
I am told that in South Africa, more people listen
to Grace to You than any other radio broadcast—that
includes both religious and secular programs. Imagine what would happen to the United States—to our cities,
our families, and our government—if the most popular
radio program in our country was thirty minutes of Bible
teaching!
One of the hearers he met was a thirty-five-year-old man by
the name of Tienie. He had served as an army chaplain during
the war in Angola, and was a minister in the Dutch Reformed
Church, the respected pastor of a large congregation. But then,
while listening to a Grace to You broadcast he was brought to
the discovery that he was not a Christian at all. 'I cannot describe
the joy I felt in meeting this man', said MacArthur, 'knowing
that God had used something as simple as a radio to reach into
his life and save him.'
MacArthur's preaching visits to South Africa in 1992, and
again in 1994, were long to be remembered. Martin Holdt,
veteran pastor in Johannesburg, is not alone in speaking of the
'special impact' of that preaching in the land. Joel James, another
church leader, has written:
160 JOHN MacArTHurR: SERVANT OF THE WORD AND FLOCK
Because of the radio program, one church leader in South
Africa has called John MacArthur 'a pastor to the whole
nation'. That is clearly an exaggeration of monumental proportions; nonetheless, it gives a sense of the impact John's sermons, books, commentaries, and training min-
istry have had on Christians and pastors 1n this country. In
the future, God willing, the impact of John MacArthur's ministry will continue to filter north to other gospel-needy countries. Like a pebble dropped into a duck pond, the ripples of John's ministry are spreading across the continent of Africa. Praise God for choice servants of Christ whom God uses in such special ways!
The first South African visit impressed on MacArthur the
crucial work that can be done through broadcasting across
the world. In 2009 he could speak of 'our daily broadcasts'
as 'the most identifiable aspect of our ministry, bringing our
verse-by-verse teaching to an audience of millions around the
world'. The estimate of numbers was no exaggeration. At that
date he was being heard on 732 outlets in the United States,
and fifty-three outlets in nine other countries. In all these he
was being broadcast in English, but in the year 2000 a Spanish-speaking pastor, Henry Tolopilo, joined Grace to You, and
a Spanish department began. Starting with a broadcast on "The Sufficiency of Scripture' in January 2000, Tolopilo took on the translating and preaching of MacArthur's sermons in Spanish under the title Gracia a Vosotros. These messages were soon to be heard through 716 outlets in twenty-five countries, including the USA where there is a large Spanish-speaking population. With the addition of the Spanish broadcasts, it was true to say that in 2009 John MacArthur could be listened to 1,979 times daily on 1,502 outlets in thirty-four countries.
Grace to You TOL
Figures of this kind of magnitude begin to lose meaning,
but while I was preparing these pages a letter from a friend in
Ecuador made them more significant. Florence Judd is a mis-
sionary nurse in the town of Shell, and has some contact with
the Shuar tribal area of Tsentsak Entsa, two days distant by
foot, canoe, and bus, in the province of Morona Santiago. On
a recent visit to these people, where there are no believers as
yet, she was surprised to find Domingo, the headman, sitting
alone in the radio room listening to John MacArthur in Span-
ish. 'I wouldn't have known it', Florence writes, 'except that I
happened to pass by just as the theme tune for Gracia a Vosotros
was being played and I recognized it.' She added that 'There
are many listeners to the program in the Shell area, Christians
listen more to radio here than they read books—broadcasts are
more readily available and books expensive.'
The ministry of Grace to You, as MacArthur often recalls,
began in 1969 in a shoe box, which kept the names and
addresses of those who could not attend the Sunday services at
Grace Church on account of illness. In a letter of May 2006 he
marvelled at the way, through that ministry,
every day of the year we have the opportunity, on a global scale, to shape the way people think about and study Scripture. The fact that our radio program, CDs,
tapes, books, and website put us within reach of virtually everyone on the planet is staggering. We have a strategic opportunity to teach and equip men and women to study
it for themselves.
wie
162 JOHN MACARTHUR: SERVANT OF THE WORD AND FLOCK
This period saw many more preaching visits overseas. In
1995 MacArthur was to be in Brazil, Italy, and Russia; in 1996
Ireland, Scotland, and New Zealand; in 1997 England, Russia,
France, and Switzerland (Geneva); in 1999 Ukraine, Germany,
and Geneva; in 2000 Italy and Scotland. The many visits to Canada I will not attempt to list.
Before the turn of the century new technologies were bring-
ing developments no one had anticipated. 'Already this year, he
could write in October 1998,
I've had the joy of speaking at pastors' conferences in
India, Russia, Switzerland, and Romania, all without ever leaving Southern California. Using video streaming technology, Pm able to teach, encourage, and fellowship with church leaders virtually anywhere in the world.
This was taken further in 2001 by the first use of video-
teleconferencing, by which he could be both seen and heard live
at a Shepherds' Conference in Berlin. The same means in 2002
brought contact with Victor Ryaguzov and his Transfiguration
Church, in Samara, Russia. The use of this technology was
to be repeated with pastors in a number of places in the years
which followed." Even Question and Answer sessions could be
conducted by this method.
The technology did not mean the end of foreign visits, but it
was well they could begin to be curtailed. The preacher passed
the age of sixty in 1999, and the previous year there had been
a reminder that his strong health might not be permanent. In August 1998 he had routine knee surgery but this was followed by life-threatening complications. Blood clots from his knee
* New Zealand (2002), Samara (2003), Berlin (2004-5, 2007), Zurich (2008), Romania (2008), Pune, India (2008), Italy (2009).
Grace to You 163
passed into his lungs, causing a pulmonary embolism. Prayer
was followed by great thankfulness for his full recovery.
une
What MacArthur's visits to foreign countries meant to Chris-
tians is well stated by Solano Portela, Presbyterian leader and
translator, who heard him at a FIEL Conference in Brazil:3
I was impressed with his knowledge of the Bible. His message was coherent, clear, and proceeded from his
heart. Above all, he would recite different biblical pas-
sages, quoting them from memory, during his message. I was very glad that I was not translating him, for certainly I would need to refer to my Bible constantly during the interpretation.
MacArthur has had a tremendous impact on my life, and
family, not only through his books and sermons, but in
the overall influence of his ministry. We ended up sending
three of our children to study at the Master's College, and have been blessed with the instruction they received ever
since. His vision goes beyond the gates of the church, set-
ting up an institution of Higher Education and a Seminary.
In worldwide TV newscasts and talk shows, we have seen
his steadfast witness to the Christian faith, speaking bibli-
cal truths on all kinds of issues that challenge our values and principles.
The opening in Italy came through another of those unplanned contacts. On a visit with a party from his church to
3 Editora FIEL is an evangelical publishing house, founded by Richard Denham, which has contributed largely to a recovery of the doctrines of grace in Portuguese-speaking countries. An annual conference is held near Sao Paulo and in Portugal.
164 JOHN MacArTHUR: SERVANT OF THE WORD AND FLOCK
Israel in 1995, MacArthur formed a friendship with two of the
party, Joe Aleppo, and his wife Georgia. Mrs Aleppo was the
niece of Anthony Rossi, founder of the Tropicana Orange Juice
Company. After leaving Italy in the 1960s, Rossi had become a
Christian and among the Christian causes to which he devoted
his subsequent wealth was the Aurora Foundation, a mission founded by him to support missionaries and church-planters in
Italy. On the death of Rossi in 1994, Joe and Georgia Aleppo had inherited the responsibility for this mission, and their friendship with MacArthur came exactly at the time when they needed the aid of his leadership. It led to John making a first
visit to Italy in 2000.
Evangelical work in Italy had long been small and fragmented.
One hindrance to growth was an opinion prevailing among
believers that any strong doctrinal preaching would only further
weaken their unity. Joe Aleppo did not share that opinion, and
he urged MacArthur to come and 'preach the doctrines of grace'.
A first visit in 2000, and the first Focus Conference, confirmed
Aleppo's conviction. For several men a new vision for preaching
was born and long-term consequences were to follow. By 2007
MacArthur had led five of these conferences.* On the last visit, when Patricia was with him, they had the happiness of placing
an Italian copy of the MacArthur Study Bible in the hand of an
elderly believer by the name of Christiana. Her testimony was
of special encouragement to them:
Christiana is in her eighties, and for much of her life, she
lived and worked in a Catholic convent as a nun. In fact,
* Other developments in Italy included the start of a radio broadcast of his sermons in Perugia, the English language being useful to numbers who come to that city to study languages.
Grace to You 165
she was Mother Superior, responsible for the spiritual leadership of the nuns in her convent. Christiana was only
recently baptized and was excited to tell me how, so late
in life and in such great darkness, she came to saving faith
in Christ. She explained, through an interpreter, that for many years she and some of the other nuns in her convent had faithfully listened to Bible teaching on radio. It
turns out they were listening to a Bible teacher I know,
an Italian-born evangelist here in the United States who broadcasts his verse-by-verse teaching across Italy.
In an amazing demonstration of divine grace and
patience, the truth triumphed over error and the light of God's Word dawned in the heart and mind of an eightyyear-old woman. Her bondage ended and her burden was
released. I can't help but wonder what kind of ministry Christiana now has in her small corner of the world.
If his first visits to Russia confirmed to MacArthur what was
needed in the United States, it is probable that his familiarity
with religious conditions in Italy strengthened the convictions
that had led him into a controversy at home which began in
the mid-1990s. |
In March 1994 a group consisting of both Roman Catholics
and evangelicals issued a widely reported document entitled,
Evangelicals and Catholics Together: The Christian Mission n
the Third Millennium. It advanced the view that Catholics and
evangelicals are one in Christ, and should work together as such.
Especially startling to John was to find his friend, Jim Packer,
prominent in the endorsements of what became known as ECT.
Dr Packer, in 1988, had contributed the first Foreword to The
Gospel According to Jesus. Packer's books were enthusiastically
reviewed and promoted by Grace Church. In John's opinion,
166 JOHN MacArtTHurR: SERVANT OF THE WORD AND FLOCK
'Few in our generation have been more effective advocates of
Reformation theology than Dr Packer.'
In a Grace to You letter of June 1994, MacArthur expressed
his disagreement with ECT, and set forth the Roman Catholic
teaching clearly. The promoters of ECT proceeded on the basis
that evangelicals and Catholics are equally to be regarded as
Christians, but what makes a person a Christian was necessarily
left unstated—necessarily because, according to Catholic belief,
every baptised person is a Christian. And belief in baptismal
regeneration rested on the foundational Roman Catholic error,
namely that Scripture alone is not to be regarded as the one
source of saving revelation: 'Both Scripture and Tradition must
be accepted and honoured with equal sentiments of devotion
and reverence."
MacArthur concluded, 'While there are some matters of
our faith that are open to discussion—issues that many godly men disagree on—the means of salvation is not one of them.' He was taking this up, he said, 'out of love for Christ and His
church'. No mention was made of Packer. But when later that
year he published Reckless Faith, which contained a lengthy chapter on ECT, brief mention was unavoidable for Packer was continuing to support ECT and wrote in Christianity Today
(Dec. 1994) 'I signed it because those who love the Lord must stand together.'
Along with others, the two men met at a private meeting 1n
Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in January 1995. No accord could
be reached and MacArthur, with R. C. Sproul and D. James
> Catechism of the Catholic Church (London: Chapman, 1994), p. 25. In Reckless Faith: When the Church Loses Its Will to Discern MacArthur addressed
the ECT proposals courteously but firmly. It remains one of his most important books.
Grace to You 167
Kennedy, proceeded to a televised discussion. The discussion
condemned ECT while seeking to present the motives of the
evangelicals with whom they disagreed in the best possible
light. But it was the end of all public co-operation with former
friends. During that broadcast MacArthur said:
I am convinced that this is only the beginning of a rather
large movement which is going to continue to escalate; primarily because of the reigning cry for tolerance, because of the abysmal lack of discernment in the church and because of the tremendous impetus that this unity men-
tality has.°
Once again MacArthur was taking an unpopular position.
In the face of materialistic secularism, the idea had wide sup-
port that it was time to leave aside minor differences and unite
around 'mere Christianity —a phrase used by C. S. Lewis, who
was now becoming almost an evangelical icon.
As John anticipated, opposition would gather around the
charge of lack of love. Under a heading, 'Pastor Blasts Trend of
Goodwill Between Protestants and Catholics', the Los Angeles
Times (March 11, 1995) deplored the position of the pastor of
Grace Church. In the course of the year Grace to You offered
free copies of the two tapes entitled 'Irreconcilable Differences?
and 'Reckless Faith'. In a subsequent newsletter, the preacher
commented, "The response was one of the most striking in the
twenty-five-year history of Grace to You.' While most were
appreciative and thanked him for 'standing firm', several were
not:
6 The program was made available by Grace to You, entitled "Irreconcilable Differences' and has a running time of 135 minutes. I have written more fully of this controversy in Evangelicalism Divided: A Record of Crucial Change in the Years 1950-2000 (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 2000), chapter 8.
168 JOHN MAcArTHUR: SERVANT OF THE WORD AND FLOCK
I was not so much surprised by critical responses as I was saddened. It says volumes about the times in which we live when speaking the truth on an issue as central to our faith
as the means of salvation, is labelled 'bashing' or divisive.
One group of correspondents he found particularly encourag-
ing:
You'll be interested to know many of the positive letters have come from people who were raised Catholic, and were saved only after years of holding to a works-centred system of salvation.
When MacArthur came to have closer contact with Italy, the
country at the centre of Roman Catholicism, his concern over
ecumenical influence at home only deepened.
wie
John MacArthur's many visits overseas in the 1990s promoted
his eagerness to help evangelicals in foreign countries with lit-
erature in their native languages. By 2010 there were few major
language groups into which he had not been translated. Items
were available in Korean (57 titles), Romanian (52), French
(51), Russian (45), German (44), Portuguese (25), Italian CLAS
and Chinese (10). Several lesser-known languages have also seen
translations, from Afrikaans and Albanian to Norwegian and Nepali—the last named having only his Charismatic Chaos ( pos-
sibly the most widely circulated of all his titles). In all, thirty-five
countries have been served with translations, while India and
the Philippines have had special printings in English.
The main translation project in these years was that of the MacArthur Study Bible. In 2002 it came out in Germany;" in
7 Christliche Literatur-Verbreitung.
Grace to You 169
2004 there were editions in Russian® and Spanish;? in 2006 in
Italian'? and French. The launching of the French edition was
particularly memorable. It took place in the twelfth-century
cathedral of St Peter in Geneva, at the end of a Reformation
Tour in September 2006. With others on that tour, MacArthur
had visited Luther's room in the Wartburg Castle, been in the
reformer's pulpit at Wittenberg, and seen Zwingli's Zurich. But
perhaps no sight did he admire more than the Reformation Wall
at Geneva, a monument depicting the figures of Calvin, Farel,
Beza, and Knox, all with their hands clasped to their Bibles. The
publishers of the French MacArthur Study Bible, Société Biblique
de Geneve, had secured Calvin's pulpit for the occasion of the
launching. MacArthur's sermon was from Psalm 19, showing
that the message is to be "God's word alone and nothing 1s to
be mixed with it'. A few of his hearers that day were English-
speaking tourists. Most were French speakers, who listened to
simultaneous translation and, at the end, rushed 'with tears in
their eyes', to purchase the Bibles which were available on the
steps outside. In the words of one observer, Steve Esmond, 'It
was a stunning end to the service.""!
While many other publishers were of course involved in the
program of MacArthur's books in English and in translation, the
involvement of Grace to You, backed by MacArthur, was essen-
tial. It reflected the priority he urged on Christians at home:
8 Slavic Gospel Association.
° Editorial Portavoz.
'0 Societa Biblica di Ginevra. 1 The publishing of a Bible with explanatory notes has a noble tradition going back to the Geneva Bible of 1560; even so, the present writer has misgivings lest the authority of the text of Scripture be confused with that of the notes, however good the latter may be.
170 JOHN MacArTHuR: SERVANT OF THE WORD AND FLOCK
Unlike television, books freeze thoughts on the printed page, forcing us to argue, and judge ideas using our active, engaged minds. Books are permanent, requiring a response from the mind. They help us raise our thoughts and think outside ourselves and our everyday lives. It's no accident God's chosen vehicle for his special revelation was a book!
wie
MacArthur's many overseas visits led to a consequence that
no one had anticipated. We have noted how on his first visits to
Russia he heard pleas for prayer that God would raise up preach-
ers. This call was to be repeated almost wherever he went. The
need was connected with the absence in many places of effective
means for the preparation of students for the gospel ministry.
MacArthur had never doubted that 'preachers need to go to
college as well as to Calvary'. He did not mean college simply
in the academic sense. In the interview with Victor Ryaguzov of
Samara, already quoted, MacArthur was asked: "How important
is theological training?' to which he replied:
It is vitally important, but it must be kept in proper bib-
lical perspective. The right kind of theological training
is applied discipleship, not merely academic classroom
exercises. That is why gur 'seminary is located on our church campus, and I've always sought to keep theologi-
cal training in the context of church life. The purpose of theological training is to make us better disciples and more effective ministers, not to gain academic respectability in the eyes of the world.
Grace to You 171
At this point help from the Master's Seminary came into the
picture. In the twenty years after it's establishment in 1987,
between eight hundred and one thousand men had been trained.
A matter of particular thankfulness was the fact that, while theo-
logical seminaries across the States were said to prepare no more
than fifty per cent of their students for the gospel ministry, in
the first ten years of the Master's Seminary history over ninety
per cent of its men went into pastorates or missionary service.
The discussions which John had with such men as Victor
Ryaguzov led to a vision for training centres in foreign countries.
It came to fulfilment as such agencies came to be established
at Samara, Russia; Acireale in Sicily; Polokwane and Pretoria
(Grace School of Ministry) in South Africa. At all these places
the provision of men from the Master's Seminary played a
necessary part. By 2009 twenty graduates of the Master's Semin-
ary, along with Grace Community Church missionaries, were
ministering 1n South Africa. One of them is Joel James, who
came in 1994 and pastors Grace Fellowship, Pretoria (one of
two congregations formed after John MacArthur's visits). At
Grace School of Ministry in 2009 there were students from
eight different countries, seven of them in Africa. One of the
instructors 1s Dr Wayne Mack who, after teaching at the Master's
Seminary and the Master's College, responded to the need in
Pretoria when he was seventy years of age.
There was one factor in the way that Grace to You carried
the Word of God from Sun Valley across the world in multiple
languages that was not surprising to the preacher. "How do you
translate into other languages and cultures??, MacArthur was
once asked by an interviewer. His reply repeated what lies at
the heart of his ministry:
172 JOHN MACARTHUR: SERVANT OF THE WORD AND FLOCK
That has never been an issue, because if you teach the Bible
it transcends every border, every language, every culture.
It is as relevant today, and will be tomorrow, as in all the
years since God put it down.
A Basket of Letters
W hen visiting Grace to You I have had opportunity to
browse among the many letters which regularly come
in. Often they contain words of personal testimony which are
the more valuable because they were never intended for publi-
cation. They illustrate the truth of what MacArthur wrote in a
letter to supporters in November 2003:
I think you know the heart of Grace to You isn't finances
or impressive statistics. Bible-centred resources change
lives as men and women who use them grow in their understanding of God.
There is no uniformity with regard to the age or background
of the correspondents. A number are young. A thirteen-year-
old girl wrote:
I'm about a two-year-old Christian—still very much a babe
in Christ. But through your book, Drawing Nears, I am growing and understanding the Bible. Reading the Bible
really brings me joy! Through it, Jesus really shows me my
sins, and Pm glad He is merciful to forgive me.