Pulpit & Pen Covers Up John MacArthur’s Deception

MacArthur’s Deception

It was recently announced that Grace Community Church, headed by the ever Diotrephetic John MacArthur, was slated to host The Gospel Coalition’s West Coast Conference “Enduring Faithfulness” this October. This posed quite the dilemma for popular polemics blog Pulpit & Pen (hereafter referred to as P&P), as they have been outspoken critics of The Gospel Coalition and its unbilblical nature, but have unwaveringly supported John MacArthur in all of his Pharisaical folly by negligence, disregard, and willful blindness. One erroneous stipulation manufactured by the “Hardy boys” at P&P to justify error, was that MacArthur was not hosting conferences with these people at “his church,” despite the fact that he partnered with them elsewhere. This was the last thread of imagined justification they were clinging to and when news broke that MacArthur was hosting The Gospel Coalition (hereafter referred to as TGC) in his own house, as it were, they were in a bit of a predicament. You see, JD Hall of P&P believes that MacArthur will be taken home in, “a fiery chariot.” (he actually said this). He also believes that MacArthur is “venerable…. great… really awesome,” according to his most recent Polemics Report podcast . Given his infatuation with MacArthur and apparent disdain for The Gospel Coalition, it comes as no surprise that he was faced with quite the dilemma, as rebuking MacArthur is simply not an option for him or his underlings.

JD and his team “sent an email” (Presumably to his friend, Phil Johnson) and voiced their concern on the heels of several articles exposing this dilemma, including one written by this author. In the wake of the “concerned” emails and articles about MacArthur’s Partnerships in hosting what JD calls a “Marxist” organization, Grace Community Church decided against hosting the event at their facility. Phil Johnson made the announcement in an April 5, 2018 tweet.

Phil Johnson’s Tweet

One lingering question left conspicuously unasked by the boys at P&P is why the conference was sanctioned there in the first place, because this looks rather like a celebrity “I got caught so I’ll go to rehab” episode. These conferences are planned months and usually over a year in advance which means that TGC didn’t presumptuously announce that the conference would be hosted by Grace Community Church, but they must have already agreed upon it. Given this, John MacArthur’s team principally agreed with TGC and only retracted the agreement due to public relations. This is a stunt.
P&P were quick to point out that the leadership at the church had “concerns” from the moment the announcement was made,

Pulpit & Pen Quote

but this makes no sense. It would be so grossly negligent on the part of an internationally known “ministry” hosting a conference to presume a facility would be available on a specific date without ever inquiring as to be utterly unworthy of a second thought. They had planned with the elders of Grace Community Church to host the conference (A conference at which MacArthur is STILL slated to speak) and only changed plans in an attempt to assuage the frustration of some of their benefactors. Thier conclusion (as you can see) is that MacArthur remains “always-admirable” and they are pleased that he will not be taking part in the conference.
They are pleased because they seem to believe TGC is full of Marxist heretics, but as you’ll shortly see, they either don’t know what they believe or
These men are playing a con game; there is no middle ground. There is ZERO integrity behind the “ministries” of TGC, P&P or Grace to You.

So, what are JD’s thoughts on TGC? He said in his April 6th podcast,

They are not a religious organization, they are, in my opinion, a political organization. They are funded by Marxists; they push Marxist ideology, intersectionality, critical race theory, cultural Marxism and economic Marxism and its leader and founder, Tim Keller is a part of that.”

This is a correct assessment, but the duplicity at P&P knows no bounds. They suffer from trickle-down dereliction it seems; the issue beginning with JD.
From Russel Moore to Tim Keller, TGC is fraught with unbiblical wolves…. But let’s take a closer look at exactly who comprises TGC.
This should go without saying, but understand that organizations stand or fall on the substance of those who comprise them. Without people who espouse certain ideas, TGC would simply be an acronym on an otherwise blank website. This is evident. If there were no people there would be no Gospel Coalition. As the Mormon church is the Mormon church because of its members and their beliefs, so The Gospel Coalition is The Gospel Coalition solely because of its members and their beliefs. THEY are The Gospel Coalition. But who are they?

TGC Council Members

We’ll list the names here so we become familiar with them. Here are some of their “Council”
Ligon Duncan, Thabiti Anyabwile (whom JD calls a racist Marxist), Alistair Begg, H.B. Charles Jr., Mark Dever (partner of Russell Moore), Kevin DeYoung, Tim Keller (the one JD warned about), Albert Mohler (friend of Rick Warren), John Piper (Promoter of Rick Warren, Passion Conference & Carl Lentz), David Platt (Promoter of Francis Chan) & Russell Moore (Whom JD says, “is of the Devil”).

These are core council members of TGC and, therefore, the very heart of all that the Gospel Coalition is and stands for. Given that one of these members is considered to be “of the devil” by JD Hall, I have a question: Is it OK to be in a COALITION or “alliance” with a devil? I’ll defer to 2 Corinthians 6:14, Amos 3:3, and 2 John 1:11. The obvious answer is NO! All of these men endorse each other, obviously, as they are part of a COALITION together. A Marxist organization with devils means everyone who is a part of it is partaking in their sinister ploys. This would explain the concern many people had, including P&P themselves. But as you’re soon going to see, the concern has only just begun.

Please join us for this Dickensian journey of a “Conference Carol.”
Let us go with the Ghost of Conference Past to the 2018 Shepherd’s Conference hosted by John MacArthur himself and Grace Community Church. The conference concluded just one month ago (March 11) and is, perhaps, the “Mecca” of conferences for reformed Calvinists. This year they even gave a fee… I mean… free “Preacher’s Bible” to all who attended… well, “free” if you disregard the $300.00 registration fee. But I digress. You can expect most of the same names from year to year.

Shepherd’s Conference 2018

Do any of these guys look familiar to you? Let’s list them again, just to see if our memories are jogged.
H.B. Charles Jr., Albert Mohler, Ligon Duncan, & Mark Dever.
Do you see what I see? That’s right! FOUR council members of TGC partnered with John MacArthur and spoke at his church a month ago. What about their doctrine or stance has changed in the last month? Answer: NOTHING. These are the same men they have been, promoting the same garbage they have been. It seems Johnny Mac has no problem partnering with The Gospel Coalition whatsoever because, as has been established, the people ARE The Gospel Coalition and he is with those people. John MacArthur’s own partners are members of TGC. Never mind the conference name. We know who these men are; “Marxists.” According to JD Hall, that is.

But let’s continue with the Ghost of Conference Present… (3 days from now, to be exact [4/11/2018]). The “Together for the Gospel” conference, or T4G is hosted by Albert Mohler (TGC member) every year in Louisville, KY. The same people, basically, have been speaking TOGETHER there for the past 12 years, including John MaCarthur.
Let’s see who’s on the roster this year, shall we?

Together for the Gospel 2018

See any familiar TGC names?
David Platt, Albert Mohler, John Piper, Ligon Duncan, Kevin DeYoung, Mark Dever, & Thabiti Anyabwile
Wow! That’s SEVEN council members from TGC that MacArthur is united TOGETHER with at “Together for the Gospel.” Also, Matt Chandler is a recommended author and partner with TGC (as well as other heretical groups such as the Passion Conference with Louie Giglio the Pope-kisser). CJ Mahaney has been accused of covering up child sex abuse at his church in which he and another pastor told the mother of a 3 year old girl who was molested not to call the cops. The boy accused was convicted, and the civil lawsuit against Mahaney was dismissed on a technicality. Due to the bad publicity still rightly haunting him he has withdrawn from this year’s engagement, but NOT ONE of the men pictured has confronted this issue or held him accountable. Why would they? After all, he co-founded this very conference. The business of business produces all manner of evil; the love of money. Are you beginning to see a disgusting pattern here? John MacAthur is entrenched in intimate partnerships with the very same TGC people he and P&P claim he distances himself from. This is an out and out lie. Phil Johnson is complicit in this lie and has borne overt false witness in the matter. If the men that comprise TGC are so bad and worthy of being separated from, why is MacArthur not cancelling his Together for the Gospel engagement? They are nearly all members of TGC as well. Together for the Gospel is simply an alias for the exact same thing. The same council members comprise it.

But wait, there’s more. The Ghost of Conference Future has a woeful vision for us, indeed. This will take us all the way to September of 2018, to the home of the Grand Ole Opry. That’s right; Nashville, Tennessee. This September, The Getty Music Worship Conference better known as “Sing! 2018” will be hosted by Keith and Kristin Getty. Of course, John MacArthur will be there, but who will be joining him. Let’s take a look.

MacArthur at Sing! 2018

What do we have here?
Alistair Begg, John Piper, & Tim Keller (The founder of TGC himself). Ligon Duncan (of TGC) will be there as well. Let’s also mention that Ravi Zacharias has no official position on Catholicism and participates in ecumenical conferences such as “Together 2016” in which Pope Francis gave the opening remarks. The “Christian rap” artist Trip Lee pictured with MacArthur regularly tours with Hillsong and Jesus Culture. That’s right, NAR entrenched Jesus Culture and Word Faith Hillsong. Trip Lee is a staple in their “Outcry” Conferences and there’s John without a care in the world.
It seems John MacArthur has such a habit of partnering with TGC that I fail to see how he’s not a member at this point. JD Hall describes Tim Keller as, “of the Devil,” and here, MacArthur partners with him openly. If we are to take P&P seriously in that we should all be aware of TGC and commend MacArthur for withdrawing the facilities, then they need to urge him to remove himself from Together for the Gospel, as well as the “Sing! Conference” and disinvite several people from the Shepherd’s Conference.
Given that the people that comprise TGC ARE TGC, John MacArthur not only hasn’t dissociated himself from TGC but has been and apparently will continue to partner with and endorse them. Phil Johnson of Grace to You, and his team thought they could get one over on us because they retracted the use of their facilities, but let’s get one thing clear: LOCATION IS IRRELEVANT! Is adultery any less adultery if you commit it at a motel instead of your own home? What an idiotic postulation! But some will still make it. Does God dwell in temples built with hands? (Sola Scriptura, please). NO. God is not at all concerned with location but, rather, substance. Locations sanctify NOTHING. The thing that warranted Moses removing his sandals was not some special plot of land with a special bush in a special location, it was the very presence of God Himself that made that ground Holy. A prison was an awful place to be in the 1st Century, but Paul and Silas were in communion with God there and even the other prisoners were compelled to listen to them (Acts 16:25).
The fact is this: John MacArthur is a partner with The Gospel Coalition and all it stands for. The proverbial wool is being pulled over your eyes, here. JD Hall knows this information and has deliberately chosen to neglect it because he is in the business of business and loves to play games in order to raise his own stock. Next to inventing Straw-man arguments, his favorite game to play is called “Partiality in Judgment.”
JD knows that John MacArthur is doing this because he is on tape saying,

…I have no problem saying, publicly, I think that John MacArthur’s wrong for going to Together for the Gospel… I have said that privately to Phil [Johnson], but I have no problem saying it publicly.”

He says this on tape (@ the 1:17:24 mark), and yet he continues to act as if it never happened as MacArthur continues to partake in Together for the Gospel and JD remains publicly silent. Not only is John MacArthur playing the hypocrite in this absurd scheme, but so are Phil Johnson (his cover-up and PR guy), Todd Friel (his pseudo-comedic promotion man) and JD Hall the self-defeating, shameless, sycophant who sees himself as something of a sentry. The willingness to cover-up what they know to be egregious error, except when they are forced to because it looks so bad that several monetary contributors finally noticed, is a testament to the the fact that they are destitute of integrity. Rather than telling you the whole truth as was just shared here, P&P wrote this garbage “half truth” as if nobility had prevailed, knowing full well that he was wholeheartedly embracing the same people at other conferences. What a joke!

P&P Article

JD followed this article up with a podcast titled, “John MacArthur is STILL the Man.” Behold the fruit of idolatry. While P&P tout themselves as the “Rolex of discernment blogs,” as I’ve said before, this level of negligence ought to be compared to a knock-off Casio from a carnival. I believe we have crossed the line from “negligent” to “fraudulent” at this point. They know exactly what is going on and refuse to accurately and honestly report about it. Hypocrites! The whole lot.

They are willing to carry on the con-game as long as you’ll let them. They will establish confederacies in evil if it means elevating their brand, maintaining the status quo, and garnering followers for their respective “ministries” while maintaining an apparent air of orthodoxy… ah, the modern day Pharisee; filled with hypocrisy and deceit. This self-preserving, self-serving mentality is the antithesis of all things biblical and is emblematic of a complete disregard of Holiness and truth and, therefore, Christ Himself. God help them and all who defend them unabashedly. A more strict judgment awaits those who should have known better. Woe upon woe. God help them.

P.S.
It appears John MacArthur is still slated to speak at the conference despite withdrawing his facilities. But even if he weren’t, MacArthur has been and continues to openly partner with no less than TEN council members from The Gospel Coalition on a regular basis. Wretched Radio, Grace to You and Pulpit & Pen are deceiving the people in order to maintain their sphere of influence as they are dependent upon those who idolize John MacArthur to give them money; they ride his wave. This evidence is overwhelming and undeniable. Anyone who continues to justify this is suffering from a blindness so great that Stevie Wonder would pity them.

John MacArthur Speaking at The Gospel Coalition Conference