This past Sunday—June 5, 2011—Pastor John MacArthur accomplished a rather tremendous feat, by God's grace. He completed preaching through the New Testament, an endeavor begun some forty-odd years ago.
In the Christian blogosphere, negative stories get a lot of attention. If an emergent guy sneezes, we take to our blogs and pulpits to discuss the impact on the health of the church. Vigilance is necessary, of course, but it’s sad when important stories fail to receive the attention they deserve.
The reaction to MaArthur’s accomplishment has been surprisingly muted. As of the time I am writing this, I have only seen one announcement on the subject. On Monday morning, a Tweet by Al Mohler simply read:
“Congratulations to my dear friend John MacArthur, who completed a 30 year project of preaching through the New Testament today. Incredible.”
That was it. A Tweet—and one that got the timeline wrong to boot—is all that I’ve seen to commemorate this milestone.
As I think about how God has used John MacArthur, it invigorates me with a renewed passion for expository preaching at our church. The faithful proclamation of His truth through sustained study of it a portion at a time has already yielded spiritual fruit and I am confident it will continue to do so. It encourages me to continue to be faithful to proclaim the whole counsel of God, reproving, rebuking and exhorting with great patience and instruction.
Here is an interview Phil Johnson did with John MacArthur earlier this year in anticipation of what God allowed to come to fruition yesterday: http://www.gty.org/Resources/Sermons/GTY133_Theology-and-Ministry-An-Interview-with-John-MacArthur.
I hope you find it edifying as well as you consider how God will be faithful to our bear fruit through the preaching and teaching minstry at Bethany Community Church.
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