Pastor John MacArthur gives update after July heart surgery

Author and Pastor John MacArthur of Grace Community Church in Southern California earlier this week provided an update on his health after undergoing heart surgery last month.

“One of the things you find out pretty soon when you get into preaching is that if you don’t preach regularly, you kind of lose your voice,” he said. “It’s a muscle that needs to be used. So preach as often as you can. When you don’t, you start sounding like an old man.”

MacArthur, 85, said he realized that his days left on earth may be coming to an end. “I am not under any illusions about my mortality, so I don’t know how much time the Lord is going to give me,” he said, adding that it is “far better to part and be with Christ, but if it’s more needful to be here, I’m incredibly blessed to be here.”

He also provided an update on his physical health. “I just have lost a lot of strength and still having difficulty with my breathing,” he said. “And that’s likely because the rest of my organs aren’t functioning at the level that they should to get rid of fluid.”

MacArthur said doctors twice had to remove more than a liter of fluid from around his lung and kidneys. “It’s all very new to me, like a warhorse, just going without stopping until, really, until this latest procedure,” he said. “A few more weeks, and I hope to return to my beloved Grace Church pulpit and congregation. Thank you for your continued prayers and love.”

Alan Goforth | Metro Voice