John MacArthur
WEARY
July 22, 2025 By Leave a Comment
I am increasingly weary of . . .
1 – Man’s words from spiritual “Bible” teachers.
2 – Theological, doctrinal labels.
3 – Words and phrases created, that have to be explained (actually, created SO THAT they have to be explained), proven by dozens of examples, leading to #4.
4 – Dependence on theologians.
5 – Expectation of choosing someone to follow.
6 – Believing them when I don’t understand.
7 – Trusting their teaching when I can’t find out for myself ? ? ?
–
I am increasingly WEARY of . . .
8 – Hearing more man’s words than God’s Words to explain God’s Word, God’s thoughts, God’s plan.
ANOTHER YEAR – – – ADD OR SUBTRACT
July 20, 2025 By Leave a Comment
Another year
Another birthday
What is our focus ?
— add to the number—another year, with more of God’s blessings to thank God for.
“Through many dangers, toils, and snares, I have already come. It’s grace that brought me safe thus far; and grace will lead me home.”
OR
— subtract from the number—another year, with less time to serve Him
“Teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.”
IN THE NAME OF . . .
July 12, 2025 By Leave a Comment
In the name of inclusion,
- You must accept non-christians for leadership in your Christian organization.
In the name of inclusion,
- You must accept lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transgenders, and follow all their wishes on how to treat them.
In the name of inclusion,
- You must declare, in your business statement, in your education statement, in your ministry mission statement, your openness and approval of ideas and people with beliefs contrary to yours.
In the name of inclusion,
- You must include (including approval and support) anybody and anything and everything that comes along— and prove your inclusivity to their satisfaction.
Therefore:
- Without the above by any person or organization, we cannot include you on our campus, in our city, in our culture, in our country.
- If you do not include this and this and this, we cannot include you.
- Our values and our beliefs are now in charge—all others are out, or on the way out.
The Supreme Court of American Culture has issued their edict.
Remember, just like The Supreme Court of The United States issues opinions, not laws of the land, so it is with the Culture Court.
We have become accustomed to, conditioned to view the Supreme Court as the most poweful branch of the government.
That same warp away from our founders’ concept of the Supreme Court as the weakest branch—that has infiltrated our thinking to accept the loudest, prevailing voices of the day to have the last word.
Christians, Patriots, Americans :
You have—We have—the secret, the answers so desperately needed in our country today.
Look at yourself, your values, the source of everything we hold dear—Jesus, The Bible, The Declaration, The Constitution.
Ask yourself, “What can I do ?”
Start by examining your life, and practice exactly what you believe.
Then respond immediately to promptings to action.
TRUMP AND GOD
July 7, 2025 By Leave a Comment
After the successful mission of B-2’s and supportive aircraft over Iran, Trump thanked all the people who were part of it.
And then he paused with emotional meaning, and said, “and I thank God.”
Another brief moment—and unscripted—“I love you, God.”
W O W !
That got to me, and hits me again as I write this.
Have we ever heard that from the President, in all of American history ?
That confirms what Donald Trump already said several times, “God saved me to save America; I believe that.”
Read his two Presidential statements on Palm Sunday (posted on this site).
As this President continues to “acknowledge God’s hand” in America and in his life, “God will direct our paths.”
Every American must do likewise !
IS GOD FAIR AND BALANCED ?
July 6, 2025 By Leave a Comment
Is God fair and balanced ?
You better hope not !
– – –
If God was fair, then we would get what we deserve.
If we got what we deserve, we would be gone instantly.
If God was fair, we would all go to hell right now, because that’s what we deserve for sin, for our sin, for rebellion, refusing what God says in the Bible.
If God was balanced, we wouldn’t fare any better.
God’s balance scales are calibrated by His justice, not our ideas that His judgment should give us a break.
When we see God’s patience, and judgment seems to be deferred, and we think the delay means approval—we don’t see the end of the chapter, the end of the story.
“Do you disregard the riches of His kindness, tolerance, and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness leads you to repentance?”
“God’s mills grind slowly, but they grind exceeding small.
While with patience He may linger,
Yet in justice He grinds all.”
But what about Jesus—wasn’t He the perfect example of fair and balanced ?
NO !
Jesus’ life and death here was anything but fair, especially for Him.
He suffered the worst, the ultimate ‘no fair’, and then offers us the best, the ultimate ‘no fair’—full payment and pardon for our sin and promise to be with Him in Paradise.
That is not fair, but it is glorious, and I heartily accept it—PRAISE GOD ! ! !
Now what about Jesus being balanced, as psychologists and scholars like to suggest ?
He criticized severely, and He forgave compassionately—sounds balanced.
If we had been there, we would have protested His imbalance.
When Jesus called out the top dog religious leaders and raked them over the coals and called them bad names repeatedly, there is not an ounce of compassion recorded.
When Jesus forgave very bad ‘sinners’ on the spot, without (outward) prerequisite conditions, the ‘good guys’ complained to high heaven that Jesus didn’t know anything that God would know, how terrible these people were.
Jesus saw the heart of repentance in these sinners, and their love for Him for great forgiveness—and He sent them on their way with a command and power to stop sinning.
Okay, here is some ‘balance’ from the heart of Jesus, with tears and with judgment.
“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those who are sent to you! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing !”
“Now as He drew near, He saw the city and wept over it, saying, ‘If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes.’ “
“Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for you. And you, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to Hades; for if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I say to you that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for you.”
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”
“All that the Father gives me shall come to me; and he that comes to me I will in no wise cast out.”
OLD TESTAMENT DETAIL – – – NOT FOR NEW TESTAMENT CHRISTIANS ?
July 5, 2025 By Leave a Comment
Read all about it—God prescribed every detail of life for His chosen people, Israel.
Do read all of it, from the beginning of His relationship with them.
Don’t get bogged down or frustrated in Leviticus, and miss seeing the heart of God.
– – –
So, we Christians are relieved to know we are not under all those laborious laws for every day.
We are free—we can eat what we want, wear what we want, do what we want any day of the week.
No one can ‘bring us back under a yoke of bondage” because “Christ has set us free.”
BUT
But wait a minute.
God wanted to be in charge of everything in their lives.
He wanted to be in control.
And He dictated the details.
Does God want any less in His followers today ?
Are we tempted to hold back on relinquishing every detail to God’s control ?
Are there some things we ‘take care of ourselves’ and make our own decisions ?
Do we basically live thinking the God of the New Testament is different than the God of the Old Testament ?
– – –
Jesus kept the rules, and He broke the rules.
He observed the Jewish festivals, and He infuriated the religious leaders when He broke ‘their’ rules.”
Jesus asked them, “Is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath, to heal ?”
No answer, and Jesus healed the man with a shriveled hand.
You see, they took great pride in adding details to the laws of God, because then they were the only ones who could claim to follow all of them.
Church leaders (with authority and power) and church organizations fall into the same patterns today—communicating to the people that adherence to their structure of beliefs and practices makes them right with God.
– – –
Jesus clearly drew the focus away from compliant actions, to repentant hearts.
Jesus fulfilled the expectations of the law, and He completed the promises in every detail by His permanent sacrifice—promises that previous temporary sacrifices left incomplete.
He raised the bar, gave new meaning to the law.
He increased the standards, from outward action compliance, to the heart—the source of evil—the root of evil—where our love is.
“Man looks on the outward appearance; the Lord looks on the heart.”
Jesus said,
“If any man looks at a woman with lust for her, he has committed adultery with her already in his heart.”
“Do not think that I came to destroy the Law. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.”
“The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.”
“What goes in does not defile a man, but what comes out.”
And, further,
Jesus told Peter in a vision of assorted animals (clean and unclean), to kill and eat.
When Peter objected, God said, “What I have made clean, do not call unclean.”
Jesus’ whole mission was to provide and offer salvation to all, even ‘unclean’ Gentiles.
Then Peter was immediately told to share Jesus with Gentiles knocking on his door.
– – –
Let us never become a slave to our freedom, and miss true liberty as a slave to Jesus.
WHEN YOU’VE BLOWN IT . . .
June 25, 2025 By Leave a Comment
Christian,*
“WHEN YOU’VE BLOWN IT, OWN IT.”
– – –
*also,
Preacher,
Politician,
Reporter,
Husband,
Wife,
Mom,
Dad,
“WHEN YOU’VE BLOWN IT, OWN IT.”
SCHEDULING TIME
June 25, 2025 By Leave a Comment
SCHEDULING TIME FOR . . .
OR
SPENDING TIME WITH . . .
Time ?
Time for what we must do !
Time for what’s important to us !
Time for people important to us !
Time for health !
Time for fun !
Time alone !
Time for God !
Time with God !
Time to GO !
Time to STOP !
Schedule time ?
Why do we need to schedule time ?
Can we schedule time ?
Does scheduling time mean we have too much in our day ?
Does scheduling time mean we are better because we get more done ?
Does scheduling time make it go farther ?
Pioneers and Us ?
Seems like they did not have to focus on scheduling like we do.
Seems like they did not try to, or think they could, get more done by scheduling better.
They just worked hard until the day was over.
Always seems to me that we could learn from them, even to counter the expectations of ‘scheduling’.
– – –
Think !
How does it make us feel ?
Is there a difference ?
+ Scheduling time for those closest to us.
+ Spending time with those closest to us.
TO PROPHECY TEACHERS
June 25, 2025 By Leave a Comment
Hmmm — You may be right, about everything you say.
Hmmm — Maybe not so sure, about everything.
– – –
You speak and teach with such confidence and certainty, even in answering questions.
You have to answer with authority, or you would not keep the audience.
My question to all of you prophecy teachers —
If your positions, conclusions, predictions, timelines are so clear, so simple—why can’t you, or why don’t you, lead the rest of us through the incremental Bible steps to arrive at all of your teaching, from the beginning, at our speed, not yours ?
All I hear is these leaps to conclusions, repeated like obvious assumptions, with a few quickly quoted verses to verify.
You lose me every time—too fast.
How did you get there ?
And that makes it become suspect in my perspective.
It seems to fall back on, “Trust me—I studied it thoroughly.”
Has not that been the plague of theology throughout church history ? — highly educated leaders who tell the people how much they know, so the people don’t have to, or can’t, study their own Bibles to “see if those things are so, that they were taught.”
I have never seen this so evident as in the recent emphasis on end-times prophecy teaching.