On July 14, 2025 John MacArthur entered into eternity with the Lord Jesus. It has been interesting reading the numerous tributes to this man and the ministry (Grace Community Church and Grace to You) through which he served during his 86 years on this earth. His expository Bible preaching has influenced countless men in pulpits and men and women in pews.
I did not know MacArthur on a personal level. In the early 1980’s I began to be learner from both his spoken sermons and his written books.
I have no idea how many John MacArthur sermons I listened to on my cassette players. Yes, you read that correctly. When I began learning from this pastor, I learned primarily by listening to cassette tapes. This all began when I was a college student at Oklahoma Baptist University in Shawnee, Oklahoma. For almost all of my college days I served as a pastor of First Baptist Church in Red Rock, Oklahoma.
Typically, I would drive from Red Rock to Shawnee on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays returning back to Red Rock after my classes on campus. For those not familiar with small Oklahoma towns or roads, that was about 180 miles in the car each day. And it was almost a straight shot. I rarely had to turn my steering wheel to travel north to south and then south to north in my home state.
What to do with those hours on the road? I confess to reading a number of books by holding one on the steering wheel. (I don’t recommend this method of study.) The other option was to listen to cassette tapes. Enter Grace to You ministry. They had a tape ministry in which they would send me a box full of MacArthur’s preaching tapes in the mail at no cost to me. I don’t remember if it was because I was a student or a pastor, but I put those to good use. When I would listen to all of the tapes in the box, I would send them back to California and await the next box which would quickly arrive in my mail box.
I am indebted to that ministry for so enriching my drive times in the early 80’s.
The other method of teaching from MacArthur that aided me was his books. I’m not going to try and list all of his writings which I read, but I do want to mention the ones that seemed the most influential for me at the time of reading them. I have chosen five books that I’m grateful was penned by John MacArthur.
True Worship (1985)
Charismatic Chaos (1993)
Found: God’s Will (2012)
The Prodigal Son (2010)
I would be interested to see what book by John MacArthur that you would recommend. Please comment below with your response.
One final note. I shouldn’t have to say it, but… I did not agree with everything MacArthur taught nor with every decision he made. But I am grateful to the Lord for putting this man and his ministry in the path which I have walked.
what a beautiful way to honor Pastor MacArthur’s legacy. His unwavering commitment to Scripture touched many lives, even across great distances
A life well lived in service to the Word leaves echoes far beyond its years
May his legacy continue to inspire faithful preaching and living
All his sermons and commentaries I found to be very helpful