Hey folks, my name is Johnny Yard Avanus and welcome to dial-in.

I wanted to hop on here today and talk about just my gratitude for the life and ministry of John

MacArthur. I loved John MacArthur and he has had probably over anyone other than my dad, the greatest influence on my life.

When I think about his life and ministry,

I think of four words probably in particular,

that he was bold, he was faithful,

he was kind, and he was gracious.

Some of my favorite messages from Pastor John

were on the topic and theme and subject of heaven,

and it's amazing to think that as of yesterday, Pastor John's faith has become sight.

Growing up, my mom used to refer to Pastor John as our spiritual grandfather and that he was trusted and that he taught the word of God.

I knew his voice growing up my entire life and just a little bit of context.

Both my grandparents came to

know the Lord in the early 70s and shortly thereafter started attending Pastor John's church.

My dad came to know the Lord sitting under Pastor John's teaching when my dad was 14 years old.

And then later on was ordained by Pastor John, was installed by Pastor John at my dad's first church.

I remember my dad used to have this suit in this closet, and he said, this is the suit that Pastor John bought me, because J-Mack had found out that my dad only had one suit and would wear that suit all the time, and he said, Scott, you need a nice suit, and he took him out and personally bought him a suit. I had seen him a few times growing up when he would come out and visit and my parents had walked through some difficulty ministerially speaking. He would come

out and encourage and challenge my parents and tell my dad to stay faithful and to press on.

And anyways, I had known his family. John's son Matt is one of my dad's best friend and

I'd been around him a little bit,

but I grew closer with him really six-ish years ago.

I went to Hume Lake in 2017 to work there at the camp, and during 2020, when COVID hit,

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