Dear Friend, After two years of preparation our move and the change of season is upon us. In three days, on 30 April I preach my last message here in Sun Valley and then we drive to Janesville in Wisconsin. While I am retiring from the pastorate after 50 years in the pulpit, I am not retiring from ministry. This is simply a change of direction and location. Some plans for the future are clear but we are waiting on…
I wrote this article in 2014, soon after Strange Fire Conference and the launch of the book. Having recently reviewed the article I realized how relevant it still is almost ten years later. This book has to be one of the saddest books I have ever read. It is heartbreaking to see someone with the training, mind, and commitment to truth like MacArthur, turn his back on everything he believes about hermeneutics, the authority of Scripture and the need for…
This is the only way I can describe the church at the end of 2022. And yes, I know you think this is an overly pessimistic view but I don’t think any of us really understand how dire the situation is. Churches, leaders, and believers are falling on every hand. The chaos of Charismania, its false prophets, and the many heresies of the past decades deceived and deluded many, and yet there was a remnant. Many of those who were…
I have often heard preachers speak disdainfully about Elijah’s depression when he felt that he was the only one left of those who were faithful to the Lord. (1Kings 19:14). Most of these preachers seem to have great difficulty having any sympathy for a man who, a few days before, had called fire down from heaven and who was now fleeing from a woman. Those who look down their noses at this discouraged and dejected prophet seem to pride themselves…
The greatest need among Christians is not for more teaching, even though good teaching is necessary. It is also not for more churches, more fire in the pulpit, or for more programs. What the church needs today, more than ever, is simple obedience. Yes, that’s what you, I, and every Christian, needs more of. If all teaching and all preaching stopped today and we all began to put into practice the things we already know, we would be busy until…
Ebenezer “Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen, and called its name Ebenezer, saying, “Thus far the LORD has helped us.” (1Samuel 7:12). The word “Ebenezer” is from “Eben” which means stone and “Ezer” which means help. So literally a stone of help. But it is not the stone that helped them. As Samuel said: “The Lord has helped us this far”. The stone was simply a memorial to remind them of the Lord’s…
The Lord Jesus Christ must have the preeminence in all things (Colossians 1:18). There is no greater truth than this. He must be the first and last and the all in all. This must not only be true in theory but in practice. He must be the most important in the life of the believer, in the church and in our preaching. I do not hear anyone denying this truth for indeed, to deny it would be the worst form…
There was a time, not so long ago, in western countries, that society was pretty civil, people were basically decent and business could be done on a handshake. Even when people disagreed, they did so with civility and a certain amount of respect for the other person. Christians, churches and pastors were respected by unbelievers and Christians tolerated one another, even if they did not always love one another. But now it seems that not a day goes by without…
AKA Hyperdispensationalism AKA Bullingerism I have been surprised by the extent to which this doctrine has permeated Bible-believing churches on every continent. In some cases the followers of the doctrine prefer to remain within orthodox churches where they quietly and subtly spread their ideas. At the same time there are hundreds of churches that have formed around these teachings. These churches, at first glance, appear to be orthodox and not unlike other fundamentalist, Bible-believing churches. Some of these churches operate…
Prophets being wrong about their predictions is not new, but at no time in history have more prophets been so dramatically wrong about the same thing. The same prophets who all prophesied that 2020 was going to be a great and wonderful year, and who did not see Covid-19 coming, predicted that Donald Trump would be reelected and would have been installed for the second term. Not only was he not reelected, he was not installed and on the contrary,…