Rev. John MacArthur, influential evangelical pastor of Grace Community Church, dies at 86
MacArthur's death was announced on the website of Grace Community Church in Sun Valley. He had recently contacted pneumonia, according to the church.
Franklin Graham, president of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Assn., paid tribute to MacArthur on social media, calling him one of 'America's great Bible teachers.'
'He could get more out of a Bible verse than anyone I've ever known,' wrote Graham on X. 'His voice will be greatly missed.'
Though based in Los Angeles — where his faithful filled a 3,500-seat auditorium twice every Sunday for his sermons — MacArthur reached millions of people internationally through his radio and television programs and books, and guided the lives of countless young theologians as president of the Master's University and adjoining seminary in Santa Clarita.
He was known for his fundamentalist biblical standards, strictly focusing on the writings of the Scriptures and eschewing sermons that touched on more modern themes.
Grace Community Church said in a statement on its website this week that his 'ministry was an unwavering commitment to declare God's truth, and Pastor John preached the Word in season and out of season. Even in recent years, though beset with health challenges, he persisted in teaching, leading, and investing in the ministries the Lord had entrusted to him.'
From a family with a long line of pastors, MacArthur said he was always religious and described how a car accident in Alabama that left him in excruciating pain helped push him to the pulpit. As a freshman college student in South Carolina, he was sent for treatment to California, where doctors had to remove road asphalt from his severally damaged back.
'I had to lie in my bed on my stomach for about three months and let that all heal, at the end of which I really was ready to do whatever God wanted me to do,' he said in a 2004 interview posted by his media company. 'And I knew by then I was going to preach and teach.'
MacArthur was born at St. Vincent's Hospital in Los Angeles. His father, Jack, was a pastor of a Baptist church in South L.A. and would would soon branch into evangelism, which would take the family to Chicago and Philadelphia.
He attended Bob Jones University in Greenville, S.C., and then transferred to Los Angeles Pacific College. When he took the pulpit of Grace Community Church in 1969, Sunday attendance averaged about 700 people in the northern San Fernando Valley neighborhood.
His influence expanded as thousands of radio listeners tuned into 'Grace to You,' his syndicated half-hour show, and he would later launch an extensive media outlet that broadcast his teachings to dozens of countries.
He became president of the Master's College in 1985, which later changed its name to the Master's University, and presided over unprecedented growth at the fundamentalist institution, The Times wrote in 1990. He helped oversee a seminary next door.
In 1997, The Times described how McArthur refused to use a typewriter or computer and painstakingly handwrote his Bible studies. 'I don't have time for the learning curve,' he said.
He wrote more than 400 books and study guides, including the'The MacArthur Study Bible,' and appealed to ultraconservative churchgoers by adhering to fundamentalist biblical standards that focused on teaching an 'inerrant' Bible — a dogma that sees the Bible as devoid of mistakes.
At the same time, he rejected the user-friendly sermons, rock music and community outreach that defined some evangelical churches in the 1980s and 1990s and took aim those who he said used gimmicks to attract people to church.
The church 'is not a pub for the neighborhood,' he wrote in his 1993 book, 'Ashamed of the Gospel: When the Church Becomes Like the World.' 'It is not a community center where parties are held. It is not a country club for the masses.'
The Times covered his attacks on fellow clergy, writing in 1991 that MacArthur turned into the 'enfant terrible of conservative Protestantism.'
Over the span of his career, he called Catholicism a 'false religion,' criticized popular religious figures including Joel Osteen and Beth Moore, and called Black Lives Matter 'an organization that is the enemy of God' because of its support of LGBTQ+ equality.
In recent years, at least two media outlets that cover religion — Christianity Today and the Roys Report — reported on allegations that women who sought biblical counseling over abusive marriages were advised by church elders to stay with their husbands and feared church discipline over the matter. The church did not respond to the allegations in the stories.
After the 2020 pandemic left religious institutions reliant on livestreams and outdoor gatherings, Grace Community Church continued to hold indoor services, with MacArthur questioning the existence of the coronavirus and challenging whether the government could restrict prayer practices.
County health inspectors who tried to enter the church where blocked by security guards.
'There is no pandemic,' MacArthur told his followers in August 2020, though later he would acknowledge the virus.
Los Angeles County sued the church but ultimately settled in the face of Supreme Court rulings that sided with religious institutions. In a 2021 letter to supporters, MacArthur announced the church's legal fees would be paid. The church later received $800,000 from the state and county for the fees.
'We know that there is no circumstance that can cause the church to close,' he wrote in the letter. 'The church is not only a building but is the bride of Christ and exists to proclaim the truth.'
MacArthur is survived by his wife, Patricia; four children; fifteen grandchildren; and nine great-grandchildren.
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Hamilton Spectator
2 days ago
- Hamilton Spectator
‘A unicorn': Historic Newcastle estate home set to hit the market this month
The former home of Samuel Wilmot, a critical figure in Clarington history, may stand for another 200 years thanks to a recent restoration. Wilmot's interest in the local salmon population and subsequent experiments helped to save the salmon in the early 1900s. His family home, Belmont House, located at 145 Belmont Dr. in Newcastle, was recently restored as part of larger development surrounding it. 'This is a really important story for this community,' said Matthew Jamieson, president of Manorville Homes, which completed the renovation. 'If not for this house, a lot of that story would have been lost. That's the thing about heritage homes, every home is different, and every home has a story, and with what we've done here, this one will probably last another 200 years.' The Belmont was built by Wilmot's father, Samuel Street Wilmot, in 1815/1816, but burned down in 1896, when it was replaced with the brick structure seen today. A respected major in the War of 1812, the elder Wilmot went on to become the first deputy surveyor of Upper Canada and served as a member in the House of Assembly. Samuel Wilmot Jr., took over the home and farm after the death of his father in 1856 and rose to prominence for his work to reverse the decline of salmon stocks locally and across the province. In 1868, he constructed the first fish hatchery in Upper Canada beside the Belmont property. He later became superintendent of fish culture in Canada and went on to oversee the establishment of 15 more fish hatcheries. The Belmont project is unique for Manorville, which specializes in heritage restorations, given the size of the home and its wealth of historical value. At more than 7,000 square feet plus a three-car garage, the home is significantly larger than the average heritage home and its history required extensive research to ensure renovations and restorations were done correctly. Newcastle's historic Belmont House has been completely renovated and restored and is set to hit the market later this month. 'Just because a house is old doesn't mean it has heritage, but this house has both. This would be a unicorn because, typically, old homes don't have this much provenance,' said J.J. MacLellan, senior project manager for the rebuild, noting the team conducted extensive research into the house and family over the course of the project, which began in 2019, but stalled through COVID. 'We spent four months going backward on this project before we could even start moving forward,' MacLellan said, noting it still required several years of behind the scenes administrative work before shovels could get in the ground. 'Only then did we start developing a game plan for putting it back together. We knew what we wanted at the end, but it was about 'how do we get there?'' When physical work at the site began in 2023, some of the unique elements slated for protection, such as the front bay window and unique front door, were falling apart. Newcastle's historic Belmont House has been completely renovated and restored and is set to hit the market later this month. 'There was a lot of vandalism,' MacLellan said of the state of the house. The decline was especially bad in the back portion of the home, which was a later addition to the original structure. Crews ended up having to disassemble and rebuild that portion of the home. 'It hadn't been built to the same standard as the original house because it was an add-on, so we redid the foundation and painstakingly rebuilt it to the original specs,' MacLellan explained. 'Each brick was taken apart, cleaned and then used to rebuild it.' Throughout the home crews rebuilt using as many original materials as could be salvaged, which included sanding and refinishing the original hardwood floors. Newcastle's historic Belmont House has been completely renovated and restored and is set to hit the market later this month. The home now boasts four bedrooms plus basement bedroom, four full baths and two half baths, a finished loft and basement, wine room and more, on a 1.65 acre lot. 'The front half really didn't change a lot,' MacLellan explained. 'We rebuilt everything to the same footprint.' The project required in-depth research on the home, with very little information on the original wooden structure available aside from a hand-drawn illustration and one family photo from shortly before the home burned. MacLellan was able to learn more about the brick home that replaced the original through letters, photos and even a conversation with Wilmot's great-great-granddaughter, who connected the dots on one of the home's mysteries. Newcastle's historic Belmont House has been completely renovated and restored and is set to hit the market later this month. 'We had to add a second furnace because the house was just too big for one and it would have been absolutely freezing when it was built, very unevenly heated,' said MacLellan. 'I thought that was strange until I was talking to her and she mentioned the family didn't actually live in the home in winter — they had a home in town they moved to during the colder months.' Several unique elements of the structure were mandated for preservation under the home's heritage designation. These included a back-to-back corner fireplace, the distinctive front door, front brick facade and exterior trim facade including porches, millwork and shutters, the main staircase, kitchen pantry with original dumb waiter, brick arches in the basement and a cistern that Wilmot used for his fishery experiments, among others. 'This is where he drove the water for his early fish experiments,' MacLellan said of the concrete cistern, which is in the home's basement, along with unique brick support arches. Newcastle's historic Belmont House has been completely renovated and restored and is set to hit the market later this month. 'These were original to the 1815 construction and we have evidence the bricks used in these arches were made right here in the basement,' said MacLellan. He pointed to pieces of a possible kiln that were recovered during the project, along with a plethora of odds and ends including tools, pieces of pottery and a wealth of glass, much of which is now displayed in the home's wine room. Newcastle's historic Belmont House has been completely renovated and restored and is set to hit the market later this month. The home's distinctive basement arches were one of the elements protected for preservation within the home's heritage designation. 'The wine room originally housed a large furnace, and we thought 'what could we use this room for?'' MacLellan said of the space, which is nestled in one of the brick arches and features ceiling, cabinetry and floorboards made from reclaimed wood salvaged from the home. Now complete, the Belmont House marks a milestone for Jamieson, MacLellan and Manorville, as it gets set to hit the market July 23. 'This is huge, it's very rare that you get a 9,000 square foot heritage structure, so this is definitely a larger scale for us,' said Jamieson. 'It is kind of sad because we've been working on this for so long, I mean J.J has spent practically every day here for more than two years.' A collection of artifacts found during the restoration of Newcastle's historic Belmont House. For MacLellan, the end is bittersweet 'It's not about what we've done, to me it's about the discovery process and finding out everything about the home and its history,' he said. 'Now we move on to the next home and the next exciting story.' It may be the end of the story for Manorville, and current owners Hannu Halminen and Brian Fenton, but the story is just beginning for someone else, with the home scheduled to hit the market July 23 with an asking price of $3.5 million. Co-listing agents Theresa Gibson and Chris Owens say the house is one of a kind, offering a brand-new build inside a heritage frame, on a large lot complete with gated driveway and in a subdivision close to amenities. 'The Belmont House represents a unique opportunity to own a 200-plus year old home with all the modern amenities and conveniences of a brand new build,' said Owens. 'This goes way beyond restoration, it's essentially been rebuilt to a heritage standard. The Belmont House is a house like no other, and the lucky buyer won't just be purchasing a suite of rooms but will become the custodians of a piece of iconic history.' Owens said the home is a great value, with 23 homes currently available in the same price range across Durham. 'We think we're a terrific value in the current market,' Owens said. 'This is a wonderful house, it's one of a kind and a real icon for Newcastle.' For more information visit . Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page .
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Yahoo
How to Be More Charismatic, but Not Too Much More
The Atlantic Daily, a newsletter that guides you through the biggest stories of the day, helps you discover new ideas, and recommends the best in culture. Sign up for it here. Want to stay current with Arthur's writing? Sign up to get an email every time a new column comes out. A special quality sets some people apart from the crowd. They are magnetic to be around, attractive to watch, hypnotic to listen to. They have, in a word, charisma. It seems like a divine grace—indeed, the word derives from the ancient Greek χάρισμα, meaning 'God's gift.' The word appeared in third-century B.C.E. Greek translations of the Hebrew Bible, and early Christians referred to charismata as blessings bestowed on believers such as prophecy, healing, and speaking in tongues. Our modern usage of charisma comes from the early-20th-century sociologist Max Weber, who called it a 'certain quality of an individual personality, by virtue of which he is set apart from ordinary men and treated as endowed with supernatural, superhuman, or at least specifically exceptional powers or qualities.' And today, the concept of charisma is having a moment in the abbreviated slang term rizz, which, in Generation Z vernacular, describes one's ability to charismatically court a romantic partner. It involves a notable power to impress others with smooth talk, confidence, or style—a skill we'd probably all like to have, beyond the domain of romance. Do you have charisma? Would your life be better if you had more? Or is it, like fame, a blessing that hides a curse? The idea of being more charismatic certainly seems appealing, but here's what science can tell you about whether this elusive rizz is a divine gift or a false friend. [From the September 2016 issue: The charisma effect] A number of psychologists have looked for charisma's seemingly magic ingredients. One of the most cited studies on the topic, from the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology in 2018, argues that charisma is actually a combination of two traits: influence (the ability to guide others with confidence and competence) and affability (the ability to make other people feel comfortable and at ease). Influence is judged based on qualities such as one's presence in a room, magnetism, and leadership ability. People see affability in, among other traits, frequency of smiling, approachability, and projection of positive energy. Leaders use their charisma to influence others in very specific ways. By analyzing speeches given by charismatic individuals, one helpful model shows a distinct, three-stage use of emotion. First, the speakers model and amplify the mood prevailing among their audience ('We are angry because those people over there are bad!'). Then they introduce a dissonant emotion that actually confuses people ('But you know what? I don't really care about that.'). Finally, they use that confusion to reframe the emotional environment and win over the audience to their view ('Because we should be happy that we are better people than they are!'). You will not be surprised to learn that charisma and professional success are strongly associated. Researchers following people's careers find that charisma early in life predicts a higher income 15 years later, as well as the managerial level a person achieves and the number of subordinates they have. However, this relationship appears to be curvilinear. Scholars in 2018 showed that people with a more charismatic personality are judged to be a more effective leader, but only up to about the 60th percentile. Beyond that point, perceived leadership effectiveness associated with charisma starts to decline. The authors of that study believed this was because extremely charismatic leaders tend to be strong on imparting a vision but weak on implementing it. Another possible reason why a very high level of charisma may lower the perceived effectiveness of a leader is the possible connection with narcissism. High charisma is specifically associated with people whom psychologists label 'agentic narcissists'; these people are extremely self-assured (whereas 'antagonistic narcissists' are mean and aggressive, and not perceived as charismatic at all). You can probably think of individuals whose charismatic qualities make them an effective leader up to a point, but tip over into being off-putting and arousing suspicion. [Tom F. Wright: The origin of vibes] In short, charisma might be a trait you'd want to increase—within reasonable limits. Of course, if charismatic individuals are simply born with the gift, this is a moot point. Some charisma, no doubt, is innate. We know, say, that attractive people are perceived as more charismatic than unattractive people; the same is true of more intelligent people. Charisma is also strongly correlated with personality traits, which are 40 to 60 percent heritable. Here, extroverts have the advantage because they tend to be high in influence and affability, while introverts score low on both. Yet ample evidence exists that charisma can be cultivated. Last year, three Israeli researchers created a virtual-reality device called the 'Charismulator' to help people develop a more appealing communication style, both verbal and nonverbal. Subjects who trained for only a few minutes with the device were judged by others to have 17 percent more 'general charisma' than they'd had before the intervention. The nonverbal-communication training exposed the participants to emphatic body gestures that conveyed a message, warm facial expressions, and powerful voice inflections—all demonstrated by charismatic speakers. You can re-create this input easily by reading the words of famous orators (think Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King Jr.), and studying videos of great speakers on YouTube. I stumbled on my own version of this method of the Charismulator intervention early in my public-speaking career, by listening to audio recordings of great communicators. I took copious notes on the speakers I admired, and accepted every invitation to talk in order to practice what I was learning. (Your nephew's bar mitzvah in February in Fairbanks, Alaska? I'll be there!) Anyone can improve their charismatic presence by being conscious of using these physical gestures, but it takes practice to make learned charisma stick. The early feedback I got on my public speaking did not include the phrase incredible charisma. The first notes were more like 'paces like a caged animal' and 'terrifying amount of eye contact.' With time, I did get better at it—fortunately. [Read: The perils of charisma] One question I haven't answered yet—and given this column's remit, you might be thinking that was a strange oversight: Does possessing charisma make you happier? I have found no evidence that addresses this topic head-on. Although you might assume that charisma would deliver happiness, one line of research gives me pause. One human capacity that strongly predicts charisma but is most definitely not correlated with higher happiness is self-consciousness—that is, thinking frequently about yourself. Charismatic people do think about themselves a lot—and that characteristic, as I have previously discussed, usually brings unhappiness. When it comes to happiness, much can be said for accepting who you are, rather than constantly worrying about what impression you're making on others. So yes: You probably can get more rizz, but you might want to skip it and have more peace of mind instead. Article originally published at The Atlantic Solve the daily Crossword
Los Angeles Times
2 days ago
- Los Angeles Times
LACMA's great Buddhist art collection, pulled out of storage, is an irresistible force
'Realms of the Dharma: Buddhist Art Across Asia' is a large and engaging presentation that includes some of the most splendid sculptures and paintings in the permanent collection of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. It's great to see these works again. Most of the art was packed up around eight years ago in preparation for the demolition of the museum's original campus and construction of a new permanent collection building. The current offering of around 180 objects, installed in the temporary exhibition spaces of the Resnick Pavilion, is a version of what was then sent on tour, presented in 2018 at Mexico City's incomparable National Museum of Anthropology. (LACMA Deputy Director Diana Magaloni was former director there.) Subsequent planned travel to art museums in Texas and the Pacific Northwest were derailed by the COVID-19 pandemic, so the work went back into storage. It has been unavailable for hometown public viewing for a very long time. Siddhartha Gautama is accepted by most scholars as the historical figure Shakyamuni Buddha, or sage of the Shakya clan, who was born in Nepal and lived in India around the 5th century BCE. Representations of the religious teacher started out as nearly abstract symbols a few thousand years ago — a starburst shape inside a spiraling whorl, for example, which configures an emanation of light within an eternal flow. A Bodhi tree might signal the sacred place where Buddha's deep insight into enlightenment occurred, or a drawn or carved footprint would be suggestive of following a path. But no biographical texts emerged for several hundred years after his death. Legend and religious doctrine intertwined over centuries, splintering and reconfiguring and taking on new dimensions as they encountered scores of established cultures across South and Southeast Asia and beyond — Daoist philosophy in China, say, or Shinto religion in Japan. Eventually, figurative representations took shape. Needless to say, as they proliferated in what are modern Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Myanmar, Thailand, Indonesia, Cambodia, Korea and more, Buddha took on a variety of forms. LACMA has scores of fine examples, large and as in an exquisite 8th century brass and silver cast from Kashmir, just 16 inches tall, he is seated with legs crossed and fingers entwined, counting earthly elements like fire and water being absorbed into the mind. In Tang Dynasty China he sits isolated in regal splendor, like an emperor carved in timeless white stone atop an elegantly draped cushion. In the next room, a sturdy Burmese Buddha wearing a transparent garment of reddish lacquered wood raises an oversize right hand in a jumbo gesture of peace, extending an open left hand that seems caught in mid-motion. (There are scores of symbolic Buddhist hand gestures, called mudras.) A life-size columnar figure carved from sober gray schist, familiar from the Gandhara region of Pakistan, likewise raises a peace mudra, but here the cascading folds of his tunic's drapery signal a military history of Greco-Roman interactions dating to the expansionist conquests of Alexander the Great. Any religion that's thousands of years old and practiced in innumerable places will be beyond complicated in doctrine and nuance, and Buddhism is no exception. Deciphering them here is a scholar's task. The names of individual artists are also mostly lost to us. However, what all these different iterations share stylistically, regardless of whatever embellishments surround the Buddha, is a sense of stable, enduring calm at the core. At all times idealized in his physical features, he's the living embodiment of the irresistible force paradox — an immovable power and an unstoppable object all at once. Also on view are ritual tools, like a jewel-encrusted crown, ceremonial knives and a lovely offering cabinet adorned with paintings of fierce, glowering demons that caution anyone who might dare to disturb whatever the cupboard holds. Back off! Sculptures and paintings of poets, lamas, deities and especially bodhisattvas — earthly helpers who have postponed their own entry into nirvana, where suffering disappears, in order to help others find their way — are nearly as numerous and varied as Buddha Shakyamuni himself. Some are wildly extravagant, proliferating heads and arms into delirious phantasms of multiple personality and manifold astounding 15th century painting on cotton cloth is a fiery image of sexual coupling between deities, a crimson female figure with both legs wrapped around an ashy blue man. He stands on one straight leg with the other athletically bent, forming a robust stance designed to stabilize an ecstatic act of energetic intercourse. Like fluttering wings, his 12 elegantly splayed arms wield an array of esoteric symbols around her excited body, while her single arm raises what appears to be a ritual blade high overhead. His flaming-eyed face is frontal, hers is overlaid in perfect profile. The shrewd composition abuts their lips, so that they are just about to touch in a kiss. Chakrasamvara, the blue-man emblem of compassion, is being embraced by his consort, Vajravarahi, bright red symbol of wisdom, in a spectacularly explosive display whose arrested design seems intended as a spur to deep meditation. They are on the brink, and so, it is to be hoped, are we. The installation of 'Realms of the Dharma' is pretty straightforward. The first section introduces Siddhartha Gautama. A few wall texts outline basic Buddhist principles and the religion's two major forms — Theravada (or monastic) and Mahayana (sort of 'Buddhism for all'). From there, most objects are clustered by simple chronology and the region where they were made. That organizational scheme for such varied works of art is standard for permanent museum collections. It's rather unusual at LACMA, though, given the timing. Earlier this month, previews were held of the empty new building for the permanent collection, the David Geffen Galleries, explicitly designed to replace chronology and geography with art clustered by theme. Press materials for 'Dharma' suggest it's a thematic package, with the exhibition as a means to learn about Buddhism. That reduces art to illustration, but happily the installation doesn't come across that way. Art museums are great places to learn about art — about how it's made, by whom and why — but not so great for religious education. 'Realms of the Dharma: Buddhist Art Across Asia' and its handsome scholarly catalog, written by LACMA curator Stephen Little and former associate curator Tushara Bindu Gude, are good at that. But would an American art museum ever do a show on the theme of, say, 'Transubstantiation: Catholic Art Across Europe and the United States,' in order to teach the diverse subtleties and dynastic refinements of a belief in the conversion of bread and wine into flesh and blood? Probably not. Aside from trying to wedge such wildly disparate Catholic artists as Fra Bartolomeo, Paul Cézanne, Tsuguharu Foujita and Andy Warhol into a single coherent exhibition, reducing art to illustration just undermines it. The temptation to frame Buddhist art that way is surely a function of the religion's unfamiliarity, its 'exoticism,' except in shallow pop culture terms. Of the roughly half-billion Buddhists worldwide, less than 1% of Americans identify with it. According to a fascinating March study from the Pew Research Center, Buddhism is today second only to Christianity in experiencing especially large losses in adherents globally, with former followers switching to other faiths or, more often, now expressing no religious affiliation at all. The majority live in California, a primary entry point for Asian immigration to the United States, but barely 100,000 Buddhists are estimated to practice in Los Angeles. Also useful for museum audiences for a permanent collection show would be some acknowledgment of complex issues around the history of this sacred art's ownership. More than one LACMA work has been contested as stolen, including an impressive 15th century painting from Nepal of an important Buddhist spiritual master named Vanaratna. LACMA bought the painting in 1977, when collecting standards were very different than they are now. The wall label, without making a definitive declaration, would be an ideal place to introduce the important subject of case-by-case provenance research, but the subject is ignored. 'Realms of the Dharma' will remain on view for a year, closing in July 2026. That means LACMA's Buddhist masterworks won't be in the Geffen building when it debuts in April next year, or anytime soon after that. (Architect Peter Zumthor is testing paint glazes for some of the Geffen's all-concrete walls, although a final decision on whether to add color has not been made.) The show is sensitively installed in Resnick. Given the art's nearly decade-long hiatus from L.A., it's worth visiting more than once during the next several months, before it disappears again.
