John MacArthur (1939-2025)

John MacArthur went home this week and is now with the Lord. He was a faithful minister of God's Word in his preaching and speaking and writing. He was a faithful pastor who cared deeply for his flock. I don't think we can measure his influence: his sermons, books, and conferences have reached incredible numbers of people; the university and seminary have trained up generations; missionaries and training centres around the world have helped train up local men for ministry.

It's the trickle-down effect in practice. John MacArthur taught and preached and trained men; these men to on to teach and preach and train other men; those men.... You get the picture. Churches and families and individuals around the world are taught and changed and sanctified through the on-going influence of his ministry.

In my own life, John MacArthur's influence was mostly indirect. I sat under his preaching one Sunday many years ago, I've read some of his books, and I hear him on the radio sometimes. Mostly, though, his influence on me is seen through the faithful pastors in my life. Many years ago I had pastors who had not been trained in The Master's Seminary, but who had still be taught by him through conferences and books. Now I have pastors who were at the seminary and who learned to faithfully bring the word of God to us every week, so I too am blessed by his ministry.

I am sorrowful that the world has lost John MacArthur. At the same time, his books and sermons will continue to teach and encourage the sheep, and maybe reach more of the lost sheep. And his legacy will continue through the men he trained up to carry on the work.

Sunday Stuff

Summer service timings are a bit different at church. Most of the year we have first service from 9:00-10:30; Sunday School from 11:00-12:00, and second service from 12:30-2:00. During the summer there is no Sunday School and second service starts at 12:00. It's still a good break in between for the people involved in the service (pastor and music team probably need it most), but everyone can get home a bit earlier as well.

I used to be a second service person, but my ride changed and now I'm a first service person (along with probably 2/3 of the church body). That means first service and Sunday School, and home between 1:00 and 1:30, depending on how long we stay to fellowship and visit. Yesterday, I was home before noon, which seemed very early!

Summer Sundays are less busy at church because I'm not taking care of and teaching Sunday School. On the other hand, yesterday I took care of the church library, confirmed the willingness of two more Sunday School teachers, and cleaned off the bulletin boards in my classroom.

Also: I admired babies, talked and laughed with friends, got some hugs, had someone hand me a sandwich (on a cheesy bun) and a baby cheese, and enjoyed some good fellowship.

I worshiped with my church family in song and Scripture and prayer and preaching. I learned and was reminded of truths and was refreshed.

I absolutely love Sundays with my church family.

Audio Books

In the past year or so I've started listening to audio books. I haven't listened to many and I still prefer reading books, but when I'm busy with mindless tasks or handicrafts or can't find the book in paper form at the library, I enjoy listening to books.

I usually enjoy listening. There was one book where the narrator was so boring I gave up. (I really wish the site the library uses would allow a preview of the reader's voice so I don't check it out and waste one of my 5-items-per-month that Hoopla allows).

On the other hand, the others have had great narrators. The ones by Corrie Ten Boom had a narrator with a Dutch accent which was exactly right.

My current listen is a bit more of a mixed bag. The story is read well and the character's voices are distinguishable (and the grandma who was born in Ukraine has an accent). The problem is that I found one character very whiny. Then I listened to her words instead of her voice and determined that I would not likely have read it that way. Her whininess could be read as concern, frustration, or even just normal speech. The narrator chose to have her sound whiny when I would not. And no, I don't know which one of us is correct in our choice.

It's interesting just how much difference the voice makes. And how we different readers can view the characters.

My People

Last week was rough. There's a thing involving church and friends -- people I love -- and it's messy and heartbreaking. I spent a lot of time trying to process events and thoughts and feelings.

But...

1. I have help running Sunday School this year. I've needed it for a while (since the church doubled in size practically overnight), but I didn't really think about it. Mostly, it seemed that everyone expected me to be able to handle everything on my own. Now someone at church has stepped into the role of my assistant (completely unplanned; it just happened). We met to discuss curriculum and memory work, and she will do some of the stuff.

2. I have an Elder of Sunday School who listened to me try to explain how things were and how I want them to be and understood and supported me. And he offered to do some of the tasks that came up in our discussion so I don't have to do all the things. More to the point, I can trust him to do them.

3. While I'm pretty sure he had a lot on his plate already, one of the pastors took the time to answer my emails when I sent him so many questions and thoughts about what was happening as I tried to understand where things go from here.

4. The friends who drive me to church made their decision to not stay for the monthly pot luck based at least in part on their thought that I probably wouldn't want to stay (because long days and large crowds can be a bit much).

5. I have a very good friend that I could also talk things over with and then we could get distracted by other thoughts and I would feel better about life. 

6. While I am not always up for hugs, I needed them more this week and got my entire fill on Sunday. At the same time, when I really, really did not want anyone touching me one week (it had been a very people-filled few days and I just wanted to get home and nap under my weighted blanket), my dear friend who always gets to hug me was willing to back off for one week (and I promised -- and delivered -- two hugs the following Sunday!).

7. I was at a friend's house and there were kittens! The kittens are not actually my people, but the friends who understood my need for kittens are greatly appreciated!

So: A rough week with some messiness, but also filled with the people God has given me. And I am thankful for His blessings.

Curriculum

It is July, so it is time to think about Sunday School curriculum! I continue to be very picky about what we teach and to have issues with every single curriculum I can find, even the good ones. I always want something more or different or better.

This year the plan is to rearrange our current curriculum somewhat. One program (for the 4-7 year old gang) will be reduced in parts, combined in places, and expanded in the final year. We're turning a 3-year curriculum into a 4-year curriculum that meets our needs better. And to be clear, this is a very good program; it's just not entirely right for what I want. The other program (for the 8-10 year old group, which is actually only two classes until we have more room) will be adjusted as well to make things flow more smoothly. And I will be starting on a whole new curriculum for the upper half of Sunday School, trialing it with my 10 and 11 year old class.

And even the new curriculum that I'm writing myself won't be perfect, but it should meet our needs better. Also, once it's done, we won't have to pay licensing fees, and that's always nice.

June

June was supposed to be quiet. All the meetings with work were done, Sunday School was almost done, and life was supposed to quiet down. I was going to start all the "get ready for fall stuff". 

To be fair to June, it wasn't nearly as busy as it could have been. There were some meetings with people from the church, regular tutoring, a birthday party, a concert, two Sunday School parties, new internet, Sunday School wrap-up, and two Sundays of baptisms. It wasn't outrageously busy (except that one week; I'm not sure what happened there). Still, it seemed tiring. I'm not sure why.

Nothing too exciting happened this month. I planted some seeds and things are growing. I'm hoping for flowers and tomatoes before the end of summer; right now it's just all green. We've had some major storms coming through and it's definitely summer.

I started looking at curriculum for Sunday School in the fall, and found some help organizing things, and set up a meeting to make plans and see what needs to be changed and what stays the same.

Someone gave me pizza as a thank you gift and someone else gave me a bag of spring rolls, so my life is pretty happy!

I finished the three books I had planned to finish in June, meaning that my summer reading plan is on-track (there were also other books, of course).

There was some pain as the church had to move to step 3 of church discipline of a good friend. That was very hard and I'm praying so much for him and his family, that it never reaches the fourth (and final) step.

Overall, though, it was a good month. It seemed very short, and summer seems to be zipping past already. July is much quieter (so far) with only a couple meetings and events. It's the month of "get as much work done as possible" to prepare for fall. It's also "relax and enjoy summer". I'm working on how those two work together!

A Couple Books

Earlier this year I came upon 84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff. It was on a book list and it looked interesting and the library had it, so I read it. It's a short book of 20 years worth of letters between Helene, living in New York City and Frank Doel, chief buyer for Marks & Co antiquarian booksellers, located at 84 Charing Cross Road in London. It started as purely business: Helene was looking for various used books and Frank was selling them. Over time, their relationship grew, and others in the store and in Frank's life joined in the letter writing. It's just a simple story of a friendship that grew through letters and shared bits of life. It's also a peek into England post-WW2.

Recently I finished the follow up: The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street. After 84, Charing Cross Road was published in the UK, Helene was finally able to visit London. She met many of the people she had been corresponding with (although sadly not Frank, who died before the book was written) and several of her fans. It is Helene's journal about her fun in London. It's also a short book, but quite interesting.

Neither book is incredibly deep, but I found them to be simple, interesting stories of life.