LTRP Note: The following is posted for informational and research purposes.
By Sarah Einselen
The Roys Report
John F. MacArthur Jr., a megachurch pastor, author, and broadcaster revered as a premier expositor but reviled for protecting abusers while punishing their victims, has died. He was 86. . . .
The famed pastor’s church announced Sunday that MacArthur had been hospitalized and might not survive long. On Monday, as the pastor lay in a coma, #PastorJohn was one of the top trending hashtags on X, formerly known as Twitter. . . .
A former president and chancellor of The Master’s University and Seminary (TMUS), MacArthur was also a popular conference speaker and author, headlining GCC conferences and ones hosted by other Reformed [Calvinist] organizations like Ligonier Ministries.
But he has faced criticism in recent years over his handling of sexual abuse cases and other issues. Click here to continue reading.
Related Articles:
John MacArthur, Hamas, and Israel by Jim Fletcher
Calvinism’s “Perseverance of the Saints”—Eternal Security or Anguishing Doubt?
John MacArthur Says Emerging Church in “Disarray and Decline” – Evidence Shows Differently
Jane,
One other thing, if Christian leaders and pastors were doing their job of protecting the church rather than so often exploiting its members or covering up the sexual abuse of its own leaders, then there would be no need for organizations like The Roys Report. We are not defending everything that group does, but it takes a lot of guts and courage to bring to light areas of darkness in the church especially when it has to do with sexual abuse. Our guess is, if The Roys Report was not uncovering such stories, the abuse stories would remain secret. And who gets hurt the most? The victims.
Thank you, Wendy, for your very thoughtful response; I appreciate it. I didn’t dismiss Ms. Roys altogether, I just thought (hoped) she was exaggerating or misleading, but I did assume that there had to be some truth in her accusations. I admit I am very sorry to have her comments validated, but your experiences there are troubling, and I’m sorry those things happened to you. And I have to say I’m impressed with the sensitivity and fairness in your response. I have learned so much from MacArthur over the years, and although I haven’t seen much that he has personally been named or involved with as far as the issues at hand, still, he was ultimately responsible for what happened in his church. And this grieves me.
Thank you for taking the time to respond. Not something I wanted to hear, but needed to know.
I am so blessed that Jesus’ blood on the cross covered my sins and made me right with God. John MacArthur’s statement that the blood isn’t what saves us has bothered me since I first heard it. I was a listener in the early 2000s, but I could not follow his teaching as I learned more about Calvinism and the truth about bible versions. If he used the King James Bible, perhaps he’d have a better understanding. As for Phil Johnson, I was put off several times by his talking. John MacArthur’s exposition was interesting and I liked him, but he was wrong about some points necessary for salvation, and it grieved me. The way election was explained to me, is that God chose me because of his foreknowledge that I would turn to him in repentance and accept his wonderful work on the cross, blood included. And that’s it.
Thank you for sharing Wendy. That took courage.
This is a message for Jane Hodge. I understand your concerns about Julie Roys and it is wise to be on guard. She does seem to go after JMac more than others. Unfortunately, this allows people to dismiss everything she says (especially about JMac) and not consider whether there is merit to some of the criticisms.
I attended GCC for a year while in college. Since that time, I have come across several credible sources that speak the truth in love when speaking out against GCC (in other words there is no vendetta or agenda but just a concern for the spiritual well-being of GCC members). There is a lot of evidence that abuse cases were handled poorly and covered up. One woman was kicked out of the church for not following the church’s reconciliation plan. Her husband was later convicted of child sexual abuse and is in prison right now. (He confessed this sexual abuse to a counselor at Grace.)
Do some research on Hohn Cho who wrote a report about this situation and tried to warn the elders.
Basically the model at GCC is to blame marital problems on the woman (not submitting enough, provoking her husband, etc.). One woman was disciplined for not going back to her husband despite the fact that he had asked for a divorce to be with another woman. I believe in God’s different roles for men and women but GCC did seem to exalt the men at the expense of women. A roommate from college married a GCC man and the way he talked about women was horrendous. I ultimately left the church because of the pride and judgementalism and the worship of JMac, but the male/female attitudes were also concerning.
Take a look at how GCC handled Steve Lawson’s affair. Many at Grace knew or suspected but he was a cash cow in the reformed world. He had a 5 -year “inappropriate relationship” with a woman who was in the college group and attended The Masters University. I am not excusing her. She was an adult and knew what she was doing. But look at the double standard. Cover-up is the norm rather than the exception at GCC. There are also documented cases of pedophiles on staff if you want to go down that rabbit trail.
Just a personal anecdote… I went to a Grace church college retreat during the year I attended that church. Three women, who I had never met before, raked me over the coals for expressing an interest in medical school. They attacked me harshly for wanting to be a working woman. I never said anything about marriage, kids, putting the kids in daycare… I was just a 19-year-old trying to figure out who I was and what I wanted. The whole weekend was ruined and I never should have gone back to Grace but at the time I thought these three women were an exception. Instead, that was par for the course. Later I found out I had three good friends (very solid Christians) who had all been kicked out of their small groups for vague or perceived sins or offenses. That is the fruit of GCC.
Below are added related comments by Wendy B. that she emailed to LT and gave permission for us to post here:
Ironically my time at Grace was helpful in that I was very motivated to study the Bible. And I did appreciate Macarthur’s expository teaching. I should have included some positives but people know JM for his expository preaching but most don’t know about the behind-the-scenes darkness (for lack of a better word).
There is just so much pride for having the right theology and being better than all the other churches. But then when there is a problem they have to deflect or cover up. Phil Johnson (I liken him to a mob boss fixer) blatantly lied on social media about the Steve Lawson scandal to deflect away from Grace. He also mocked some women and their “little discernment ministry” or something to that effect (I cannot remember who the women were). Some of his social media activity is questionable and that mockery always stands out in my mind when I come across his name.
It just seems that Grace Community Church and like-minded ministries point fingers at other churches for scandal but do not examine the wolves in their midst because they assume the men have the “correct” theology. I think this mentality explains how they treat women as well. The man is the spiritual leader and women are easily deceived so clearly a marital problem must be the woman’s responsibility. That is baked into the cake at Grace’s counseling ministry. I just don’t understand the mindset that you are ordained by God to be spiritual leader but somehow that means you do not have to take responsibility for your own shortcomings.
Sorry for the long email… I could go on for days! I just have such conflicted feelings about MacArthur and his ministry. I think there are blots on his legacy and it is fair to examine the teachings and judgmental attitudes and lack of discernment and accountability among leadership.
Dear LHT,
I was very interested in this article and thought I would just focus on this one point that was glaring from The Roys Report.
“In addition, GCC resisted acknowledging the spread of COVID-19 among congregants despite county health orders to report potential outbreaks. Members feared retribution if they revealed anyone was sick, TRR reported. The church finally acknowledged in summer 2021 that the pandemic disease had swept through the church the preceding winter.”
Covid-19 was a cold virus that the global elites used as a test to see if the world could effectively be controlled and shut down. It worked.
God has fearfully and wonderfully made us. We have the ability to become immune by being exposed to viruses. GCC remained open and received persecution by doing God’s will and assembling.
Looking back on the Covid-19 world mass hysteria has opened the eyes of people all over the world to evil. Many pastor’s had to make a decision and will have to make even graver decisions in the future as the End times progress to Jesus Christ’s return.
I think John MacArthur preached and taught the Bible to the best of his ability and always glorified Jesus Christ.
May his memory always be a testimony to the saving grace of our Lord.
LT Editors:
Thank you for your response. It’s been a few years, maybe, since I first read an article about John MacArthur regarding abused women in his church who had come to the elders for help and instead found criticism and condemnation. That article was written by Julie Roys. I was so dismayed to hear this about MacArthur’s church that I did some research to find more information, but it seemed like everything I found was either authored by Ms. Roys, or she was cited as the source in articles written by others. I found several articles by her critical of JM, to the point where I began to wonder if she had some sort of vendetta against him. I never did find any other source to echo or validate the accusations she levelled against him, but she sure brought a lot of his haters out of the woodwork, which also shocked me.
When I read this article in LT yesterday, I visited her website for the first time, which is filled with exposes of fallen Christian leaders, one very recently in my own city. I don’t dispute them and was already aware of most of them, but I wondered if there was anything positive she had to say about any Christian leader anywhere. She struck me as sort of an ‘ambulance chaser’ looking for the next sensational fall. Exposing this kind of abuse and fraud in the church needs to happen; I don’t fault her for that. But it seems to be her life’s passion, and that makes me uncomfortable.
But if there is any other independent source for her accusations about MacArthur, I’d be interested to see them; otherwise, I’m afraid I just see her as someone who wanted to score a really big coup against one of the most respected Christian leaders of our lifetimes. I have heard him preach on abused women who need to get out of their abusive situations, a far cry from telling them they need to be submissive and stay home and allow themselves to keep being abused, as Roys maintains.
If your staff does research her, I would be very interested to hear your conclusions. I’m sure you have access to far more resources than I do.
For the record, I am not a Calvinist, and I do not believe MacArthur was a full-blown Calvinist either. I don’t agree with everything he preached, but I have learned much from him, and have not been misled.
Thank you for…
Jane,
It would be good if you could give some of your reasoning about the Roys Report, particularly about the article we linked to. Please provide some documentation. However, as a side note, Lighthouse Trails does regularly post out-of-house articles from both secular and Christian sources if we believe there is valuable information contained. We always begin those news pieces with the statement: “The following is posted for informational and research purposes.” Such articles/news stories are not to be confused with articles we post by trusted authors and sources. Because we are a research ministry, we include both kinds.
Please look into the veracity of Julie Roys and her Roys Report. I am disappointed that Lighthouse Trails has apparently given her credibility by linking to this article. If I am wrong about her, I am certainly willing to admit it, but the more I research her, the less impressed I am with what I read. I look forward to a future article from the LT writers regarding who they find her to be. Thank you.
Jesus Christ paid the price to become the only existing Eternal High Priest over the House of the God of Israel. He ripped open the veil shrouding the Most Holy Place in God’s Tabernacle separating man from the presence of God the Father when He proclaimed… it is finished—man now has direct access to God. His relationship with God can be healed if he accepts Jesus Christ’s Blood Sacrifice at the Cross that granted the cure.
I can go into the very Throne Room of God in Heaven with my prayer and petition to the Father. I can approach Him in Jesus Christ’s name because He’s seated at the Father’s right hand as my High Priest, Intercessor, and Advocate… the Son of God—He also chose to relate to His creation by being born as a man, the Son of David. I don’t need to be subject to a “secondary human intercessor”… or pray to a “saint or angel in the heavens”… to be reconciled to God—not because I think it’s a good idea… it’s what God’s written Word, the Bible, states.
Is it any different to believe my tongue is parched unless I receive a “drop of favor” from the hand of a “secondary intercessor”? Am I left in the desert to die… “heaven’s door is closed” without “absolution/blessing/permission” from any fallible man claiming he’s my “savior”… he’s God’s “sole spokesman”? A “pope” or catholic priest… Joseph Smith… James or Ellen G. White… John Calvin… Herbert W. Armstrong… a self-appointed unaccountable “apostle/prophet”… a “spiritual” humanistic/ecumenical guru… or a tech/AI oligarch… has no authority, or power, from God to render sentence on my soul.
God uses men, but the man that goes beyond the Holy Spirit is either ignorant, or arrogant. We’re not perfect, but if there’s no change with maturity, the hard heart of pride becomes seated and is revealed.
The problem with Calvinism is not merely wrong theology. The real problem is that they teach the wrong God, and the wrong Savior. The God who sent His Son to die for a relatively few elect, ordaining the rest to hell before any of them were born, is not the same God as we find in the Bible. Calvinism is another gospel — it is good news that applies to only a relatively few of humanity. They also teach that Jesus died to save us from God’s wrath — which again, is a misrepresentation of God. Jesus died to save us from sin.
John MacArthur has been saying “the blood doesn’t save” since 1976. I am making this post because many professing Christians don’t know the truth about MacArthur, whose words are DAMNABLE HERESY.
Pastor Roland Rasmussen rebuked MacArthur in the 1980s. MacArthur stormed into the office of Rasmussen, who mentions their interaction in this 3-minute video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPwiLPJkVkM
King James Bible pastor Donald A. (D.A.) Waite spoke at Rasmussen’s church in the 1980s, exposing MacArthur.
John MacArthur has made the same blasphemous statements as recently as 2022. In this video, he says “the blood doesn’t save.” MacArthur even goes as far to say, “there’s nothing magic in Jesus blood.”
MacArthur’s words are BLASPHEMY! This is from the website Now The End Begins via YouTube:
https://youtu.be/rE6JPy75BmE?si=89ch6ElVsae4BuVt
On Nov. 17, 2008, John MacArthur made this blasphemous comment during an interview on the Grace To You website: “…you have to stop short of saying that we are saved by the blood of Jesus in the sense that there’s some efficacy in the fluid that poured out of His body.”
https://www.gty.org/sermons/GTY116/hotbutton-questions-about-the-bible-and-christian-life
That’s from his own website. MacArthur supporters cannot possibly say that he is being misrepresented or misquoted.
In the 2008 interview, MacArthur heretically says that Christ’s Blood is a mere figure of speech or “metonym.” He calls it a “euphemism.”
The Truth is this: Christ’s Blood is NOT a mere figure of speech or “metonym” to be “equal to death.” The blood of Jesus Christ is LITERAL and it was shed for you!
Also, MacArthur uses the metaphor “bloody death,” which is blasphemy. Why is that? Because the blood is a NOUN. The blood of the Lord Jesus Christ is literal, it is real, and it was shed for you, and it’s still on the mercyseat in heaven today.
Only the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ can forgive your sins (Ephesians 1:7), justify you (Romans 5:9) and redeem you (Revelation 5:9). Your “faith in his blood” will save your soul (Romans 3:24-25).
D.A. Waite’s website (www.biblefortoday.org) correctly states: “The Old Testament sacrifices had two distinct parts: (1) the death of the sacrifice; and (2) the application of the blood of the sacrifice. Death was not sufficient, and the blood had to be applied properly (Exodus 12:6-7; Leviticus 16:6, 14, 15). That it is the blood that makes “atonement for the soul” (Leviticus 17:11).
Christ’s Blood was from God, as to its source, hence, it is Divine (Acts 20:28).
Some of Christ’s Blood was taken by Him to heaven and placed on the heavenly mercy seat thus cleansing the heavenly tabernacle (Hebrews 9:12-14, 18-24; 10:19-22).
Christ’s Blood is now in heaven as the “Blood of sprinkling” (Hebrews 12:22-24).
Christ’s Blood gives us boldness and access to the holiest in heaven (Hebrews 10:19).”
Thank you for speaking up. So many seem to celebrate John MacArthur. I recently left a church that was Reformed Theology. I talked with the pastor and told him my great concerns with calvinism. The pastor told me that they teach the Bible and when the bible teaches election, they teach election, and when the Bible teaches who so ever, we teach who so ever. I also saw the Lordship teaching come through their teaching. It was in the women’s study that I finally heard what they really teach. The woman teaching said that this was very difficult for her but we do not have the ability chose God, God is the One who chooses us. I began to do my research. Thank you for exposing the truth about calvinism. I listened to a message by Dave Hunt exposing John MacArthur explaining what he taught about election. This teaching drains all the good news of the gospel into the pit of despair. I was praying MacArthur would discover our blessed assurance and repent and tell his listeners the truth about the grace of the gospel.
I have tried several versions of his study bibles. I couldn’t get past his notes on submissive wife verses, and his comments on women’s roles in the church. I considered him to be harsh and judgemental towards women in the Bible. I did a few Bible studies guides that he authored. Very thorough and Bible based. The Lord will judge him, better than believers like me. I wasnt a fan of him, is my verdict.
MacArthur wrote a lot of helpful books and his sermons were sometimes quite humorous in places. Although he was a Calvinist he sometimes seemed to say things that weren’t strictly Calvinistic. He was a cessationist too which raises some eyebrows to some extent. For example, he once said, “What is that? I have no idea what the presence of God is”. Yet on another occasion he helped to set free a girl from demon possession, the demon saying something like, “No, not him! Get him out of here”. So he was a bit of a mixed bag perhaps. He did stick to the Bible though and was uncompromising in that in the face of a lot of the present culture’s anti-God positions. May he rest in peace.