John F. MacArthur was born in Los Angeles, California on June 19, 1939. He was an associate pastor at Calvary Bible Church,Burbank, California, from 1964 to 1966, and he also was a faculty representative for Talbot Theological Seminary, La Mirada, California, from 1966 to 1969. MacArthur studied at Los Angeles Pacific College, and he had seminary training at Talbot Theological Seminary, but he started to study at Bob Jones University, and he spent his first two years there. [1], [2] Now, he is a popular author, a conference speaker, a pastor-teacher of Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California since 1969, president of The Master's College and Seminary in Santa Clarita, California, and a featured teacher with Grace to You. [3]
John MacArthur went to Grace Community Church, in 1969. During his time there, Grace Community Church's seating capacity was filled. At first, when he accepted his position, they had around 450 people, but now, they have more than 12,000 people in the church. [4]
The Los Angeles Baptist College became the Master's College, and John MacArthur eventually became president of this College, which is located in Santa Clarita, California. [5]
John MacArthur works at Grace to You as president and featured teacher. Grace to You is the non-profit organization responsible for developing, producing,and distributing John MacArthur's audio cassettes, DVDs, and books. In American and Canada, more than 700 radio stations air 'Grace to You' messages every day. [6]
John MacArthur's first best-selling book, 'The Gospel According to Jesus,' was written in 1988; he has also written over 150 other books through retail book stores. He also thinks about the other countries, so he makes books on CD-ROM and more than 80 books have been translated into Chinese, French, German, Italian, Korean, Marathi, Polish, Romanian, Russian, Spanish, and other major languages. [7][8]
He has also written best selling books, DVDs, and audios about the Bible, which include 'The MacArthur Study Bible,' 'The Gospel According to Jesus,' 'The New Testament Commentary series,' 'Twelve Ordinary Men,' and 'The Truth War.' [9]
MacArthur takes a strong stand for biblical Young earth creationism in his 2002 book The Battle for the Beginning.
John MacArthur and his wife, Patricia, have four grown children, Matt, Marcy, Mark, and Melinda. They also have thirteen grandchildren, Johnny, Ty, Jessy, KD, Olivia, Susannah, Gracie, Kylee, Andrew, Brooke, Elizabeth, Calvin, and Audrey. They live in Southern California. [10]
| “ | Two kinds of giving are taught consistently throughout Scripture: giving to the government (always compulsory), and giving to God (always voluntary). The issue has been greatly confused, however, by some who misunderstand the nature of the Old Testament tithes. Tithes were not primarily gifts to God, but taxes for funding the national budget in Israel. Because Israel was a theocracy, the Levitical priests acted as the civil government. So THE LEVITE'S TITHE (Leviticus 27:30-33) WAS A PRECURSOR TO TODAY'S INCOME TAX, as was a second annual tithe required by God to fund a national festival (Deuteronomy 14:22-29). Smaller taxes were also imposed on the people by the law (Leviticus 19:9-10; Exodus 23:10-11). So the total giving required of the Israelites was not 10 percent, but well over 20 percent. All that money was used to operate the nation. ALL GIVING APART FROM THAT REQUIRED TO RUN THE GOVERNMENT WAS PURELY VOLUNTARY (cf. Exodus 25:2; 1 Chronicles 29:9). Each person gave whatever was in his heart to give; no percentage or amount was specified. NEW TESTAMENT BELIEVERS ARE NEVER COMMANDED TO TITHE. Matthew 22:15-22 and Romans 13:1-7 tell us about the only required giving in the church age, which is the paying of taxes to the government. Interestingly enough, we in America presently pay between 20 and 30 percent of our income to the government--a figure very similar to the requirement under the theocracy of Israel. The guideline for our giving to God and His work is found in 2 Corinthians 9:6-7: 'Now this I say, he who sows sparingly shall also reap sparingly; and he who sows bountifully shall also reap bountifully. LET EACH ONE DO JUST AS HE HAS PURPOSED IN HIS HEART; NOT GRUDGINGLY OR UNDER COMPULSION; for God loves a cheerful giver.'[11] | ” |
John MacArthur Grace to You |
