Remembering Pastor John MacArthur

“All death can do to the believer
is deliver him to Jesus.” ~John MacArthur (1939-2025)

I knew this day would come. We all did. As Pastor John MacArthur reminded us so often, our days are numbered. But even with that knowledge, hearing of his passing today still landed hard. I knew Pastor John personally though I was just a child at the time, probably eight or nine years old. He was a real presence in my early church life, but I don’t have many distinct memories of him. What I do have is the unmistakable impression his ministry left on my father… and through him, on me.

It’s July 14, 2025 and Pastor John MacArthur has gone Home. His faith is now sight, and he has entered that perfect fellowship with God forever.

And today of all days, as I write this, is the first day of our church’s Vacation Bible School. A week filled with teaching the Word, sharing the gospel, memorizing Scripture, and telling children about missionaries who gave their lives for Christ. We’re partnering with Child Evangelism Fellowship, whose ministry aligns so closely with what Pastor John championed: clear, bold, Bible-centered truth. I can’t help but see the beauty in this timing. As I share the gospel with little ones today, I do so standing on the shoulders of men like my dad and Pastor John. What a rich heritage. What a fitting day to remember.

A Legacy That Reached My Family

Long before I ever opened a commentary or wrote a Bible study, the MacArthur legacy was already quietly forming the ground I’d stand on.

In the late 1970s, Pastor John’s father, Jack MacArthur, host of Voice of Calvary, served as the interim pastor of our little church, Newbury Park Baptist. He was a kind, dignified man, and I still remember how he encouraged my mom to teach alongside my dad at a time when women weren’t often invited into those spaces.

My father, David Garrett, knew both Pastor Jack and Pastor John. He was deeply influenced by their shared love for Scripture, their clarity of teaching, and their unwavering commitment to truth. My dad’s own teaching style…his calm authority, his Scripture-first approach, his reverence for rightly dividing the Word was shaped, in part, by Pastor John’s example.

And that meant my formation as a teacher, writer, and pastor grew in the soil they had all cultivated. I often feel like I’m standing on the shoulders of three men: my dad, Pastor Jack, and Pastor John and now they are all together in the presence of our Father.

Childhood Memories and Cassette Sermons

My sisters and I have sweet memories of those days. Sitting in the Sunday School rooms or outside on the church campus while Dad taught a college or adult Bible class. Hearing Pastor John’s sermons play on cassette tapes, his steady cadence, his boldness, his laser-focused attention to the text. Even then, as kids, we knew we were listening to something weighty.

That weight would follow me faithfully in the best way.

Now, decades later, as I prepare to teach, I carry that same weight. I don’t take it lightly. I feel the seriousness of standing before a congregation or clicking “record” on a podcast mic. And I know it’s Pastor John’s example that helped form that in me.

Fierce in the Fire: His Boldness During the Lockdowns

One of the most influential moments of his entire ministry, at least for me, came much later during the 2020 lockdowns. While so many were unsure of how to navigate those confusing and chaotic months, Pastor John did what he’d always done: he opened his Bible and obeyed God rather than man.

I’ll never forget his response to the very real threat that pastors might be jailed for refusing to close their churches:

“I’ll have a ministry in jail, then.”

Fierce. That man. Wow.

That one moment strengthened me. It inspired me. And it helped so many other pastors hold the line myself included. Our church stayed open. We continued to gather. Not out of defiance for its own sake, but out of obedience to the God who calls His people together. Pastor John led the way. Unshaken. Unapologetic. Faithful.

The Marks He Left on My Life

There are certain things I now treasure that I know I learned, at least in part, by watching and listening to Pastor John:

A love and reverence for the Word of God
A discipline in personal study
An intense desire to rightly divide the Word of truth (2 Timothy 2:15)
A conviction to bear the weight of teaching with humility and care
A deep joy in letting “the Word of Christ dwell in me richly” (Colossians 3:16—my life verse)
and this quote: “All death can do to the believer is deliver him to Jesus.”

Ironically, one of the biggest differences we held in our view of Scripture was that of the role of women in church leadership. Pastor John was staunchly complementarian—and all that that term conveys. I, on the other hand, am egalitarian in my view and interpretation. That difference is not lost on me. In fact, I smile a little as I write this tribute—knowing that I’m a woman pastor, publicly honoring a man who, by his own convictions, would not have endorsed my role.

But here’s the thing: I still respect him deeply.

Pastor John modeled well what all faithful believers should live for: reverence for the Word, unflinching devotion to truth, faithfulness over popularity.

These are not qualities confined to one theological camp. These are kingdom qualities. And I am a better teacher, preacher, and follower of Christ because of his example

And in a world full of noise and compromise, Pastor John never flinched.

Thank You, Pastor John

Pastor John, thank you. For preaching with boldness. For holding fast to the text. For reminding us that the Word is enough. For enduring faithfully, week after week, year after year. You were a spiritual father to many, and I count myself among those grateful sons and daughters.

Because of your ministry, my dad taught with greater clarity. Because of your example, I now teach with greater reverence.

And because of your faithfulness, generations after you will continue to open their Bibles hungry for the truth, confident in the sufficiency of Scripture, bold in proclaiming the name of Jesus.

All three of the most influential men in my life, my father and two spiritual fathers, are now with their Heavenly Father. And one day, I will be too. Until then, I’ll keep preaching, keep teaching, keep letting the Word of Christ dwell in me richly.

If reading this has stirred something in you, good. Let it. Let the weight of a life lived faithfully press gently but firmly on your heart.

Pastor John MacArthur, his father Jack, and my own father David weren’t perfect men, but they were faithful. They bore the weight of the Word with humility. They lived anchored in truth, not tossed about by trends. They didn’t just believe the Bible. They knew it. They studied it, submitted to it, and taught it boldly.

They lived their lives for an audience of One.

We need more of that today not less.

We need more men and women who are willing to walk the narrow road, to speak truth in love, to open the Bible and say, “Thus says the Lord.” We need more who will pass that legacy on.

So let this be a holy nudge: Live your life in a way that, when you’re gone, someone will say of you what I’ve said of these men, “Because of their faithfulness, I love the Word more deeply, I teach more clearly, I stand more boldly.”

You don’t have to write a commentary or preach to thousands. Just be faithful where you are. Be the real deal. Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly. And when the time comes for your race to end, may you be found like they were…faithful to the finish.

Update: July 15, 2025
There are wonderful tributes being written and shared. I will update here with a few of my favorites as I gather them. Feel free to email me any of your favorites too.
From Ben Shapiro at the Daily Wire

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