Pastors Chris and Scott Remember John MacArthur

The Christian world lost a giant on July 14, 2025. Beloved author, teacher, pastor, and theologian John MacArthur went to be with the Lord after a long and faithful life of ministry. Two of our own pastors, Chris McKnight and Scott Christensen, were blessed to study under Pastor John at The Master's Seminary. Upon John's passing into Glory, Chris and Scott penned a few words of tribute to the man who meant so much to them.

Chris McKnight

I wouldn’t be at Kerrville Bible Church apart from God using Pastor John. You may be thinking this is because I graduated from TMS (1994) and that would be partly true. Way back in 1999 when I was pursuing a full time pastorate and living in Tennessee, the Kerrville Bible Church (Kerrville, Texas) Search Committee had decided to accept applicants from two seminaries: DTS and TMS. The two previous pastors had both graduated from DTS so I would be breaking some new ground but the reputation of this new seminary and more specifically of Dr. MacArthur’s preaching ministry weighed heavily in my favor. Seventy resumes evaluated and six months later we were on our way to Texas. That was twenty-five years ago this month. GTT.

But that’s only half of the story. Three or four years prior to that I got to have my first casual conversation with Pastor John. We were in Birmingham at a small reception after he had preached a fabulous sermon on God’s love gift to His Son of an elect people (yes, I still remember the sermon). We had a private conversation in the kitchen of the host. He asked how I was doing and where we were living. I explained we had been through some rough waters and explained where we lived outside Nashville and my desires to serve the local church. He said he would do whatever he could to help. It was sincere but I just thought he was trying to encourage me and was way too busy to actually follow up. 

About three weeks later I got a call from his personal assistant at Grace. She was calling to connect me with a small church plant outside Nashville who needed pulpit supply because TMC had just hired their founding pastor for the biblical counseling department! John had remembered our conversation, my location and connected me with this little group of about twenty-five sheep. God used this simple but profound act of kindness to remind me He had not forgotten me or put me on a shelf forever. I was blown away by God’s kindness through this famous preacher who took time to shepherd a hurting shepherd and get me back in the battle. 

Long story short this little church in Joelton, Tennessee (Calvary Bible Church) became the place of healing and recharging for my wife and me. A few years later they sent us off to Kerrville. 

My appreciation for John is like that of many others: a long admirer of his work ethic, longevity, perseverance in the faith, unwavering commitment to God’s Word and sequential exposition. I’m inspired as a 60 year old battle -scarred pastor to press on. I’m inspired by the fact he never retired; he graduated instead. I love that he was fighting hard to be back in the pulpit and at the church he loved. His life was inspiring and challenging to men like me on many levels.

One last comment that I haven’t seen addressed that much. He had a great sense of humor. I remember hard laughter at many a TMS chapel service before he’d unleash another compelling sermon on us. Ditto for many Shepherd’s Conference panel discussions. Whether weary students or weary preachers, he knew laughter was also something we needed.

Scott Christensen

John MacArthur has gone to be with his Lord in glory. It is the end of an era. He will certainly go down as the greatest expositor of the 20th and early 21st century and perhaps one of the greatest expositors of all time. His unwavering fidelity to the truthfulness of Scripture and its forthright proclamation will be his greatest legacy. 

As I began to mature in my faith, like many, I discovered John on the radio. Then I started reading his books. I started with Charismatic Chaos and then moved to Faith Works: The Gospel According to the Apostles. Reading that book confirmed so many disparate thoughts I had about many issues and I began to realize that there was no one else that taught quite like John did with a simple straightforward attention to the plain meaning of Scripture.

When I began sensing God calling me into ministry, my father-in-law took me to a Shepherd’s Conference in 1996. I toured The Master’s Seminary while on campus. Between those two experiences, there was never a thought of attending anywhere else. I would not trade in my training for ministry at TMS for anything. It set my feet upon a solid rock that has anchored my ministry and life ever since, because it tethered my thinking to the careful exegesis and understanding of Scripture. It is the only way John would have it.

When the Lord gave me the opportunity to write books, one of my greatest desires was to secure John’s endorsements. He kindly endorsed all three of my books. I had a few opportunities to meet John in person. One of those encounters will be forever etched in my mind. Shortly after my first book, What about Free Will?, was published, we took my son Andrew to his freshman year at The Master’s University. The Lord arranged a serendipitous meeting with John at one of the north campus courtyards. We had a casual and wide-ranging conversation. When he realized I was the author of the book, he thanked me for writing it and said the book was sitting on his desk as we spoke.

That meeting showed me that this larger than life figure was actually a down to earth pastor who loved the people of God and wanted more than anything to model that for others. I will be forever grateful for his life and ministry. I pray that the next generation of pastors and leaders will produce men of his same resolute faithfulness and concern to proclaim the Bible with accuracy, authority, and practicality for the life of the church—all to the glory of God and his Son Jesus Christ.   

He ended his earthly sojourn well and has received his reward. Thanks be to God for the life and ministry of John MacArthur!

Well done, good and faithful servant.