Episode 1: The Drivetrain

The first episode of season four of The MacArthur Center podcast—titled Influence—answers a crucial question: What is leadership? Countless books have been written on the topic, but few really understand how someone becomes an effective leader. For more than 55 years, John MacArthur has led a church, a media ministry, a university and seminary through extraordinary change. What qualities have made him an effective leader? How did he grow into his role as a leader? Get answers in this episode as we look at the nature of leadership, what Scripture says about the topic, and how pastors can have profound influence for the sake of the gospel.

Since June of 2024, the last time we released an episode, John MacArthur's been in and out of the hospital, dealing with one medical crisis after another. By God's grace, and thanks to the subject of this episode, technology, his health is improving and he is still faithfully pastoring Grace Community Church. As Pastor John recovered at home the weeks before this episode, he spoke to us about the gift of medical technology that preserved his life, and he described how technology has always been part of his ministry. He also offers a series of profound lessons on how every pastor, and every Christian, can extract the most blessing from the technology imbedded in God's creation.

Over the past century, the charismatic movement swept the globe, promising a deeper connection with God, spiritual blessing at every turn, and lots of cash for anyone with enough faith. How did this movement begin? And how has it changed over the decades? This episode answers those questions as it tells the story of one of the movement’s founders and most famous leaders. Then, we’ll tell another story about a woman who rejected the movement and found salvation outside it. Finally, we’ll look at why John MacArthur’s been such a critic of the all the charismatic chaos—even though friends he will one day see in heaven are part of it. John will show us the fatal flaw at the center of the movement and what the true gospel teaches us about faith, revelation from God, and true satisfaction. SHOW NOTES:Aimee Semple McPherson opening Angelus Temple: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2PQZcCXFCMUAimee Semple McPherson: A Biographical Documentary https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=msMJNVC9ABg&t=27sAimee Semple McPherson  enters Vaudeville 1933: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UBcZmDARtQKathryn Kuhlman healing an ear clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bRo9WlvP7QKathryn Kuhlman's program "I Believe in Miracles": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HlOpQPRES9Y&list=PLeFnuFC8ZqJvm98Pta_hI-Asx_xqSF9v6Joni Eareckson Tada's testimony: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVXJ8GyLgt0 John MacArthur Sermons cited in this episode:https://www.gty.org/library/sermons-library/TM13-1https://www.gty.org/library/sermons-library/80-329/jesus-plus-nothing-equals-everything

Of all the theological categories in the Bible, eschatology—the study of things pertaining to the end—may be the most neglected. Otherwise sound and biblical teachers often avoid the topic either because they don’t think the Bible is clear about how the world will end or they don’t think it matters. Through his decades of ministry, John MacArthur has never shied away from teaching the entire Bible, including the prophetic parts. This episode explores what MacArthur actually believes about things to come. We’ll join host Austin Duncan at the porch of the Gloria hotel in Jerusalem where he asks several Bible scholars about Israel's role in the end times. We’ll also see what an Irish theologian named Darby, Kirk Cameron, and the word leaky have to do with the end of the world and your final days. See why Christians can, and must, live with hope.  SHOW NOTESCrawford Gibben on the “Saints & Scholars Podcast” hosted by Andrew Curry https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/saintsandscholars/episodes/What-will-we-do-with-John-Nelson-Darby-evco49/a-a5aqe4m John MacArthur sermons referenced in this episode:https://www.gty.org/library/sermons-library/53-9/the-coming-man-of-sin-part-3https://www.gty.org/library/questions/QA010/with-regard-to-dispensationalism-where-exactly-do-you-standhttps://www.gty.org/library/sermons-library/70-16/bible-questions-and-answers-part-44https://www.gty.org/library/sermons-library/1324/will-the-church-go-through-the-tribulation-part-1“Why Every Self-Respecting Calvinist is a Premillenialist” https://www.gracechurch.org/sermons/332https://www.gracechurch.org/sermons/20910 

Over his 55 years as a pastor—and counting—John MacArthur has ministered to thousands of young people. Today, his ministry continues to provide profound value for teenagers and twenty-somethings. Why is that? What does he understand about reaching the next generation? We'll answer that question in this episode. We'll also take a look at the rampant anxiety and depression among teenagers, and how the church can help teens in crisis. We'll try to understand why churches seem desperate to make everything so juvenile. Finally, we're going to talk about a "weed in the church." At least that's what critics call youth groups. All that and much more in this episode "John MacArthur is my Youth Pastor."  SHOW NOTESEzra Klein interview with Jean Twenge on teen depression: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tra4aUg6f8UDr. Twenge’s book, "iGen: Why Today’s Super-Connected Kids Are Growing up Less Rebellious, More Tolerant, Less Happy—and Completely Unprepared for Adulthood and What That Means for the Rest of Us”https://www.amazon.com/iGen-Super-Connected-Rebellious-Happy-Adulthood/dp/1501151983Thomas Bergler, author of “The Juvenilization of American Christianity”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytIaAlFJaqUThomas Bergler's book, "The Juvenilization of American Christianityhttps://www.amazon.com/Juvenilization-American-Christianity-Thomas-Bergler/dp/0802866840Austin T. Duncan’s Shepherds Conference session on the Family Integrated Movement, “Family Matters: Does the Bible Demand Family Integrated Ministry?”:  https://www.gracechurch.org/sermons/5981Andreas Kostenberger’s, “God, Marriage, Family: Rebuilding the Biblical Foundation (2nd Volume” chapter 13 has a valuable analysis of the Family Integrated Movement: https://www.amazon.com/God-Marriage-Family-Second-Rebuilding/dp/1433503646John MacArthur sermons referenced in this episode:https://www.gty.org/library/sermons-library/80-13/the-masters-college-presidential-inaugurationhttps://www.gracechurch.org/sermons/15943https://www.gty.org/library/sermons-library/55-5/the-elements-of-a-strong-spiritual-life-part-1

After the study of God’s Word, nothing gives John MacArthur more joy in life and ministry than relationships. For him, being with those of like precious faith infuses his days with meaning, encouragement, and the grace of God. All pastors need to prioritize friendships.  This episode looks at the biblical, cosmic scope of friendship, explores the reasons why it has fallen on hard times, and shows why no minister can endure without friends. Along the way, John recounts his unique, life-giving friendship with R.C. Sproul and gives all of us principles for cultivating relationships like that, maintaining them, and responding when friends disappoint.   SHOW NOTESR.C. Sproul's Memorial Service: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Os6BbIwrZR8&t=2789sDrew Hunter's book "Made for Friendship: The Relationship That Halves Our Sorrows and Doubles Our Joys": https://www.amazon.com/Made-Friendship-Relationship-Sorrows-Doubles/dp/143355819XR.C. Sproul's final sermon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0k9kGCmY6Jg John MacArthur Sermons cited in this episode:https://www.gty.org/library/sermons-library/55-27/friends-and-foeshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Os6BbIwrZR8https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEMgmojd9jI

If you’ve been a Christian for any length of time, you probably know someone who used to follow Jesus Christ, but now wants nothing to do with him. Why does that happen? What marks the path from faith to apostasy? John MacArthur started exploring those questions in college, when long-time Christian friends stunned him by walking away from God and into atheism and false religion. What he found is that the path to apostasy is well-trod, dating back to Judas, who rejected Jesus after following him for three years. This episode traces what John learned, then taught for decades, about apostasy, what happens when believers stop believing, and how all of us can be sure that once we are truly saved, God will never let us go.

In 1988, John MacArthur’s book The Gospel According to Jesus stirred no small amount of controversy. By simply looking at what Jesus meant when he said follow me, the book exposed more than one false version of the gospel prominent among evangelicals. This episode takes you back to that pivotal time, a turning point both in John’s ministry and the evangelical church, to show you what it really means to follow Jesus, and why a right understanding of the gospel is essential to an enduring ministry.

If, like John MacArthur, your ministry is going to endure for more than a half-century, you need to know how to navigate doctrinal disagreements within your local congregation and with other pastors, churches, and Christian leaders. To do that well, you have to know how to prioritize doctrine and practice what’s often been called theological triage. See how John MacArthur has practiced this kind of triage and kept his ministry doctrinally pure by focusing on what he calls the Drivetrain. This is episode one of season 3 of the MacArthur Center podcast.

Who will succeed John MacArthur? Who will carry on the God-centered, biblical-grounded, expository ministry that he’s built over the past half-century? John MacArthur has always had a succession plan. For decades, he’s known exactly how he wants the ministry to carry on at Grace Community Church when he’s gone. This episode looks at his succession plan. It also, with the help of John Piper, Sinclair Ferguson, Tony Reinke, David Gibson, and Geoffrey Chang, explores how any of us who love the church can think wisely about passing truth to the next generation.