About John MacArthur *

By Moderator -
Created Dec 10, 2023
Updated July, 19, 2025

Here is some general info and testimonies about Pastor John MacArthur


The Pastor has preached over 55 years at Grace Community Church. He has preached verse by verse through the NT and verse by verse through important sections and books in the OT, and has selected Scripture messages too. He preaches faithful to the text and does not push into the Bible what God as the Author hasn't intended it to mean. He is the world's top respected and reliable preacher of this generation. 

The info linked here should give you a well rounded picture of this pastor. 

To return to this page open below links in a new browser window. 


Testimonies and life info 

This is Background on his early years as a Pastor includes discussions on Foundations and the Glory of God, as well as his experiences at the Church. 


Interviews on JMac:
* 


Interviews with JMac:
* Justin Peters Interview w JMac 
* Kirk Cameron Interview w JMac 
* Josh Buice Interview w JMac 
* Phil Johnson w JMac Sign of the Times 
* Civil Rights Movement involvement;
John shared his story of his MLK Jr experience and being jailed, Social Justice, & his life path Here  here & here 


Questions & Interviews with John 


Pastor John on TV
Some of the many tv appearances
* Who was Jesus - Larry King 
*What Happens after we die - Larry King 
*God & Good vs Evil - Larry King 
*God vs Science - Larry King 
* a few more here  here & here 

Special stories
 

Legacy of Preaching 
Training up Men 
55 Years - Foundations (for Pastors)

Messages to Churches:

False accusations cleared:

Questions & Answers w the Congregation
Link to many faq by topic and by Q&A session 

Q&A # 1   Q&A # 2  Q&A # 3  Q&A # 4 
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Q&A #37 Q&A # 38. Q&A #39  Q&A #40
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Q&A #65  Q&A #66  Q&A #67 Q&A # 68
Q&A #69  Q&A #70  Q&A #71  Q&A #72
Q&A #73 Q&A #74 Q&A #75 Q&A #76
Q&A #77 Q&A # 78. Q&A #79 Q&A #80


Q&As from Conferences & Events:
💥Soon 
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Sermon Bible studies 
56 years of teaching through the Bible:
*Search by book or book and verse here 
*Study through the Bible with a free Bible app with loads of notes, commentary, links to FAQ and sermon topics related to a passage or verse (*click the verse then click the resources button) to help you. The Pastor had this resource put together and made Free to anyone globally. 


The Right to Church Counseling
Does your Church offer "pastors counsel" to any congregant member or non member?

Why can your church Pastor [or any Church in USA] legally give you counsel on issues you need guidance on, or when you cannot overcome sin or a problem with your limited self counsel from the Word? 
A: Every church in this nation has a right to counsel its congregants and can actually counsel from the Word is thanks to a 1988 SCOTUS case with Pastor John MacArthur. Without him winning that case no churches would be allowed to counsel in truth and in love by the Word (to anyone, in any church). They wouldnt be able to provide any counseling at all. Satan lost that battle. We need to thank God for that win, and it is one which still blesses us to this day, and for all of America's future generations. Praise God.

Professional Counseling
Worldly Therapists do not model their counseling after Jesus Christ, and their theology and methodology are devoid of Christ and His care. Christians need to seek out professional biblical counselors. Our guidance comes from the authority of God thru the Scriptures. If you need professional assistance please go here. Consult a Counselor


The Right to Gather & Worship
In addition, thanks to Pastor John, you have the right to gather to worship when the govt says you can't. Pastor John, during covid pandemic, won a $800k lawsuit (it paid the lawyers fees), to ensure churches in America have the right to gather when govt overeaches. 

During Covid era (2020-2024).
Jihn & GCC went along with the govt at first, believing this was a serious life threatening virus (like the Flu pre vaccine that killed millions). So out of caution and love to one another the church followed the govt plan. But when it became apparent the govt was lying to the people, GCC began defying govt and began meeting, carefully outside, and then if members showed up they let them in the sanctuary. Then openly after govt found out and started highly fining them. They sued the govt and won. Members began returning over time as they felt comfortable, and most if not all [excluding those with serious health issues] were back in church by end of 2024. 
Take a minute to Thank God 🙏 for fighting and winning this case through John MacArthur and GCC. Our freedoms are more secure today.  A Clip prior to case win. A documentary on the defiance; obey God over man, can be found here: The Essential Church. 

On his Admonishing, Exhorting, Correcting, and giving Grace
JMac calling out pastors and others when theyre wrong, was also a godly man who called us to unity and grace. 


Pastor John Singing to the Lord
* Singing, Amen (with Choir and Clayton)
* Varied Songs, (@1:50+)
* Singing, Majesty (@start)
*Montague of singing


Biography
John MacArthur preached for 65 years. Globally known pastor-teacher of Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California, as well as an author, conference speaker, chancellor of The Master’s University & The Master's Seminary, and featured teacher with the Grace to You media ministry.

Pre-GCC Ministry (Before 1969):

Early Ministry Training & Preaching (1960s)
Education: He studied at Talbot Theological Seminary (a part of Biola University in La Mirada, CA) and graduated with a Master of Divinity.

Ordination: He was ordained to ministry in the early 1960s, likely around 1963–64.

Early preaching: He preached regularly as a seminary student, traveling and filling pulpits around Southern California.

First sermons/preaching ministry began ~1960 (as a seminary student; some records suggest he began preaching at revivals and youth events in the late 1950s).

Associate Pastor — Calvary Bible Church, Burbank (1964–1966)

This was one of his first formal ministry positions.

He served under his father, Dr. Jack MacArthur, who was also a pastor and radio preacher.


Faculty & Preaching at Talbot Seminary (1966–1969)

During this time, he:
*Taught at Talbot Seminary.
*Preached at churches, conferences, and youth events.
*Gained a reputation for expository Bible teaching.

In 1963, John recieved a Masters of Divinity from Talbot Theological Seminary with honors. And later recieved Doctor of Divinity in 1977. Interesting fact, he wrote his discertation on Judas. 

Since GCC:
After graduating from Talbot Theological Seminary, John came to Grace Community Church in 1969. The emphasis of his pulpit ministry is the careful study and verse-by-verse exposition of the Bible, with special attention devoted to the historical and grammatical background behind each passage. Under John’s leadership, Grace Community Church’s two morning worship services fill the three-thousand-seat auditorium to capacity, and overflow rooms. Several thousand members participate every week in dozens of fellowship groups and training programs, most led by lay leaders and each dedicated to equipping members for ministry on local, national, and international levels.

In 1985, John became president of The Master’s College (formerly Los Angeles Baptist College; since 2016, The Master’s University). Located in Santa Clarita, California, it is a distinctly Christian, accredited, liberal arts institution offering undergraduate and graduate degree programs. In 1986, John founded The Master’s Seminary, a graduate school dedicated to training men for full-time pastoral and missionary work.

John is also chairman and featured teacher with Grace to You. Founded in 1969, Grace to You is the nonprofit organization responsible for developing, producing, and distributing John’s books, audio resources, and the Grace to You radio and television programs. Grace to You radio airs more than a thousand times daily throughout the English-speaking world, reaching major population centers with biblical truth. It also airs over a thousand times a day in Spanish, reaching twenty-seven countries across Europe and Latin America. Grace to You television airs weekly on DirecTV in the United States, and is available for free on the Internet worldwide. John’s 3,300-plus sermons, spanning more than five decades of ministry, are available for free download on this website.

John has written hundreds of study guides and over 400 books, including The Gospel According to Jesus, Our Sufficiency in Christ, Strange Fire, Ashamed of the Gospel, The Murder of Jesus, The Prodigal Son, Twelve Ordinary Men, The Truth War, The Jesus You Can’t Ignore, Slave, One Perfect Life, The Gospel According to Paul, Parables, and One Faithful Life. John’s books have been translated into more than two dozen languages. The MacArthur Study Bible, which has helped educate millions of believers understand Scripture, is available in English (NKJ, NASB, ESV & the new LSB), Spanish, Russian, German, French, Italian Portuguese, Korean, Arabic, Chinese and more.

In 2015 The MacArthur New Testament Commentary was completed. In thirty-four volumes, John takes you detail by detail, verse by verse, through the entire New Testament.

The Old Testament Commentary is a work in progress. 

John and his wife, Patricia, live in Southern California and have four married children: Matt, Marcy, Mark, and Melinda. They also enjoy the enthusiastic company of their fifteen grandchildren, and nine great grandchildren children.



Fun fact: 
Jmac sports career
 “In his early college career, John’s central passion was athletics. A superb multi-sport competitor, he was considering opportunities for professional sports career. (At one point, he was recruited by the Washington Redskins, who were impressed with his skills as a halfback.)” but he chose to become a Preacher of Jesus Christ instead, and became "America's Pastor" as he is known today. 

https://tms.edu/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/tmsj22b.pdf


On John's free giveaways
John freely gives away what costs money. It is to bless and educate people. 
The current Statistics :

"Sixteen years ago this month, Grace to You opened our online sermon vault, making every sermon of mine available for free, no-strings-attached play or download. Not long after, we also began posting my sermons on our mobile apps and our YouTube channel—again, all at no charge.

The decision to do that was in line with a pattern we had already established of distributing resources without requiring a donation. For years we had been giving away CDs, books, booklets, and study Bibles by mail each month, and of course our radio program reached massive numbers of listeners at no cost. Opening the vault was a revolution for us, in terms of fulfilling our purpose statement.

But there was another urgent factor that moved us to make our online resources available free of charge. As more and more religious leaders and organizations saw the potential of the Internet, the volume of doctrinal error—also often freely available—was multiplying rapidly. Dangerous, damning, destructive teaching was everywhere. We couldn’t ignore that. The only antidote to error is divine truth. Seen through the lens of vital, strategic opportunity, the decision became easy.

A decade and a half later, we continue to reach people through radio, books, booklets, and Bibles distributed free of charge, and the additional reach of our online resources is now staggering. To date, people have streamed or downloaded sermons through our digital platforms more than 330 million times—the current average is more than 100,000 sermons every day. And that doesn’t include the nearly 220 million that have been viewed via our YouTube channel. And that’s just in English. We have translated, voiced, and posted more than a thousand of my sermons in Spanish. Through our ongoing Grace Reaches Out (GRO) project, we are producing hundreds of my key sermons in Arabic, Farsi, French, German, Indonesian, Italian, Korean, Mandarin, Romanian, Russian, and Portuguese. The potential for ministry worldwide is staggering.

Of course, the numbers themselves aren’t paramount—it’s what we are reaching people with that most excites and energizes me. Nothing rivals the need to bring Scripture and its truth to the world. The gospel alone has the power to save

- Dec 2024, From the desk of JMac

*This doesnt include the number of countless cassettes & cds mailed or radio programs that have been played nationally and globally over the years. 

Fun Fact #2 - GTY Radio 
The radio program, "Grace to You," first aired in 1977. It has been broadcasting his verse-by-verse Bible teaching for nearly 40 years. But it wasnt John's idea or doing, that sparked Grace to You. 

The Origin of Grace to You Radio (1977):

In 1977, a man named Rodney (Rod) Hocker, who was involved in radio ministry and  attended Grace Community Church, believed that MacArthur’s verse-by-verse Bible teaching should be heard by a wider audience. He took it upon himself to edit recordings of MacArthur’s Sunday sermons—which were already being recorded for church use—and air them on a local station in Baltimore, Maryland, without John MacArthur’s initial direct involvement or knowledge.

According to MacArthur himself in later interviews, he was surprised to find out that his preaching was being broadcast over the radio. He had not set out to start a national media ministry, and in fact, he only found out after it had already aired and started gaining attention.

🎙️ What Happened Next

After seeing how well the broadcast was received and understanding the potential for reaching people with sound Bible teaching, MacArthur gave his blessing, and the broadcast was formalized under the name “Grace to You.” The program began airing regularly, and its influence expanded quickly. It grew from that single station in Maryland to what would become a global teaching ministry.

📅 Key Timeline

1969: John MacArthur becomes pastor of Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, CA.

1977: Grace to You begins radio broadcasts, initially started by Rod Hocker.

1980s–Present: The ministry expands rapidly, adding radio, cassettes, books, and eventually online resources.

MacArthur has said that if he had planned it, he might have been more cautious—but in hindsight, the unexpected start of Grace to You was God’s providence at work, allowing millions to hear expository preaching that might not otherwise have reached them.


John's published Books
The chronological listing on the site provides a comprehensive overview of John's writing ministry. If you are interested in a particular title, you can order it from the website. 

Friend Tributes:

Nearing the End, Finishing well. 
*While well, John joked about his death 
* Update on his health & age a couple years before he died. 
*Joked about his death being greatly exagerated during the health and surgery 
*Looking older and weaker, he gave update on health. 

After his varied surgeries, hospital stays and working on physical therapy, his desire was to return to the pulpit, even hoped to speak at the 2025 Shepherds conference [but put his message in booklet form instead, to encourage pastors, one last time], and last news was his expectant return in a few months, but then (out of nowhere) he got pneumonia and didn't recover. 

💥Messages during the health and surgery timeframes, showing his perseverance and desire to continue.
* soon
*
*


Last Video of 
Last video of John, (with Burton Michelson), and is a blessing. 

The Last Sermon 
John "describes Heaven" during his last Sermon preached at Grace Church, see clip, (see full sermon "The Unfailing Promises of God"). 

On the Gospel


Legacy Tributes

The Legacy continues 
John and GCC/GTY offer freely a library; the full NT MacArthur commentary series and other books to educate pastors in Africa. You can make an eternal impact by investing into those men (and all who hear and are disciples by them including families and future generations) by donating to this cause, here. 

You can likewise make an eternal impact, by donating to Grace To You to help continue to reach believers and non believers with the legacy teaching content of John MacArthur, (and books freely given away every month). Donate here.

God bless


Of Final Things:  
God glorifying service that closed out John's life of ministry, celebrated at Grace Church
*July 20, 2025 
Morning Service, & special Evening Service. 
*Sat Aug 23, 10:30am
Memorial service 


⭐️In Memorial; Tributes, stories and testimonies of folk who knew JMac, were close to him or who were impacted by him, over his 65 years in ministry. ✝️

We know death is not the end, but the beginning of life in eternity... for every human.

What is yet to come?
On the End Times; the things soon to happen & the closing of history on mankind in this fallen world, the Judgment, and of the world to come.  

GCC church
GCC succession plan- John MacArthur Q&A 

GCC history

GCC milestones
40th Grace to You published "Truth Endures," a commemorative book honoring John MacArthur's 40th year as pastor of Grace Community Church. It includes sermons spanning his ministry and was produced as a surprise tribute. Not sure if a digital ver exists. 

59th Anniversary
60th Anniversary

One Year Later:
Reflections - A year later

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