A Quiet Simple Life | Sallie Borrink

For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Romans 6:23

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John MacArthur

Do Calvinists Lack Compassion?


Peggy made an interesting comment on my last post (Salvation According to Calvinism – in Memes) that is directly related to a few videos I had planned to share at some point. Since she raised the topic, I decided to go ahead and put these in a post. Here is what she said:

I have a theory that most prominent Calvinists today have never spent any time “wandering in the wilderness”, and so they have never developed a close dependence on God. It shows in their lack of compassion to people who are struggling, who they assume to be lacking in election or in works.

Biblically, there are numerous examples of people with spiritually significant wilderness experiences: Abraham, Moses, Jacob, Elijah, Joseph, David, Jonah, Daniel, John the Baptist, Jesus, Paul, those referred to in Hebrews 11:38….

I think there is something to this. When I replied to her comment, I also linked to a video about the types of people attracted to Calvinism which you can see here: Personality Types Drawn to Calvinism.

So let’s look at the two videos I saved to share. 

WARNING: This May Be The CRINGIEST Video You Watch About Calvinism 

The first one has a title that might sound a bit click-baity and over the top. Watch this video and see if you still think that afterwards. 

How do I know if I am saved? | John MacArthur

Next up we have this one. My heart breaks for this woman. 

There is so much that could be said about MacArthur’s answer. The part about her name at the start is just icky. He doesn’t really answer her specific questions. 

All of his answers are based on her feelings, her desires, etc. Nothing about the certainty of God’s word and Jesus’ sacrifice. Why in the world would we tell someone to rely on their feelings? How is this biblical? 

I’ve written recently about the destructiveness of these doctrines in The Destructive Teachings of Lordship Salvation and the Perseverance of the Saints. Here we see it being lived out in real life. The poor woman is clearly emotionally wrecked by these doubts and thoughts. 

The Damage of Lordship Salvation w/ John MacArthur

Here is a short response video that I thought encapsulated why MacArthur’s Calvinistic answer is so sad and lacking. After you watch it, click over and read the comments on YouTube. This teaching is so destructive. It is heart-breaking to see how many people are tormented by these doctrines. 

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The Destructive Teachings of Lordship Salvation and the Perseverance of the Saints


Dear friend, if you struggle with resting in the finished work of Jesus Christ and the security of your salvation then this post is for you. It’s also for you if you know someone who is plagued with fear and doubt about their standing in Christ. Men teach that we can’t know if we are saved. But that’s not what the Bible tells us. It tells us we can know and rest in that knowledge. 

I am very thankful I grew up knowing the simplicity of the Gospel. I’ve heard the Good News of Jesus Christ as long as I can remember and was saved at an early age. I am thankful for the protection those truths gave me over many adult years as David and I struggled to find a theological and church home. 

We spent several years in Calvinist churches (Christian Reformed Church) including being members of two. As I mentioned in Identifying and Working Out My Theological Framework, I have been working to purge the destructive residue that remains from those years. 

While a part of me wishes I could have those years back, I am thankful for them. I know firsthand the destructive nature of these teachings. They aren’t an abstract idea for me. I’ve watched what happens to Christians when they become ensnared by ideas and theologies that strip them of their rest and peace in the work of Jesus Christ. This happens in so many different theological settings. It isn’t unique to Calvinism, but that is my focus here because it is the great burden on my heart as I watch this destructive teaching destroy individuals, families, and churches.

Dr. Thomas Cucuzza of Northland Bible Baptist Church has been a tremendous blessing to me since I found the church’s YouTube channel in the past few years. He put into words what I was struggling to weed out when it came to issues of salvation. I’m sharing several of his videos below. 

As always, the sharing of a resource is not a blanket endorsement. For example, Dr. Cucuzza and I have different views of the last things (eschatology). But he is so solid on the Gospel that it is a joy to share these videos with whoever chooses to watch them. 

I wish everyone reading this would watch or listen to every one of these sermons. I truly do. Even if you have not been impacted by the teachings of Calvinism, it is highly probable someone you know has. In fact, the teachings of Calvinism have become so pervasive in conservative Christianity that you might have absorbed them or even heard them at church and not realized it. 

Here is a story someone shared in the comments of one of the videos. I’ve read and heard many such stories in recent months. This is the reality of Calvinism. 

Every honest Calvinist sleeps with one eye open. Interesting but very sad story. In June of 2001, during his message at a Ligonier’s Conference in Orlando, Fla., the late Dr. R. C. Sproul indicated that Dr. James Boice, a scheduled speaker at the conference, was dying that very night. Then at the end of the message he asked all 5,000 present to pray that Jim “dies in faith”. Dr. Boyce was considered a great pastor, theologian, teacher, and author, yet Sproul was not sure that he was regenerate. Dr. Boyce did die that night. They all hoped he persevered … but they cannot know if that was God’s “gift” to him or not. The real irony lies in their ‘prayer’ that Dr. Boyce would truly be saved. According to “U”conditional Election… God either loved him ‘salvifically’ or he hated him. just like Esau, and literally nothing could ever be done to change his eternal decree. And, if God hated him, why would they run the risk of ‘loving’ him?… They just don’t know, and believe they cannot know, but most won’t admit it, even to themselves.

It is said that Dr. Sproul even wondered out loud near is own death if he had done ‘enough’. Calvinists can have no real personal assurance, they’re only hoping for the best, because they believe they’re either ‘picked’ or they’ll bust Hell wide open without a prayer…. literally. Desperate for ‘evidence’ of salvation, they cling to their ‘works’ as pieces of a broken shipwreck at sea, it’s all they have.

Dear friend, you can know and be confident of your standing before our Heavenly Father. The Bible tells us how. It is simple enough for a child to understand. I hope these video messages are a great blessing to you and set you free from the fear that grips you. 

Trojan Horses in the Church Today – Part 1: Calvinism

Trojan Horses in the Church Today – Part 2: Lordship Salvation

Secure Forever! – Part 8: The False Teaching of Perseverance

Secure Forever! – Part 9: The Danger of the Teaching of Perseverance Part 1

Secure Forever! – Part 10: The Danger of the Teaching of Perseverance Part 2

Secure Forever! – Part 11: The Danger of the Teaching of Perseverance Part 3

Face to Face With “Cheap Grace”

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Stealth Calvinist Pastors Lying to Their Congregations


So I’ve mentioned stealth Calvinism before, but I didn’t have a good example at my fingertips. I know about it because I’ve read too many horror stories of pastors who hide their Calvinism and then bring it out once they get the job. In the process, they break up the church and drive out members who won’t comply with the new theology. It’s basically a high-level institutional form of sheep stealing. 

Not only that, but young men are being instructed in seminary to do this. I don’t have a video of one of these men confessing to this. But I do have a video of one of their theological leaders confessing to it and one of their other heroes approving of it.

Watch the clip they share of John Piper and John MacArthur at the 1:44 mark. (My comments continue under this embed.)

So MacArthur lied to his congregation.

He lied to his church leadership. 

The people in attendance hearing this story laugh.

They laugh.

They think it’s funny a pastor lied to his congregation to accomplish his goals. 

MacArthur had a complete paradigm shift in his theology (dispensationalism to Calvinism) and he didn’t tell the congregation of which he is supposedly the trustworthy shepherd.

Rather than upholding their church’s constitution and doctrinal statement, he went about in a stealth way to cut the cords and lead them along to where he wanted them to be. 

MacArthur lied to his congregants. 

He allowed people to join that church, expecting one thing from the doctrinal statement, while knowing full-well he was working in stealth mode to change it to suit his personal theological preferences. 

So now you know why the young guy who comes to be a candidate at your church will feel completely justified in lying about his theology.

MacArthur already led the way. 

John Piper approved of it.

They gave pastors the green light to take over a church and undermine it to their own ends. 

It’s happened all over and continues to happen. 

Don’t let it happen to your church. 

Make people around you aware of this so it doesn’t happen to their church. 

And shame on men like this who are more concerned with their own ambitions than leaving a church alone to function as a healthy part of the Body of Christ. 

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John MacArthur’s Arrogant Rebuke of Alana Lagares


For some time, I have been collecting resources related to the theological problems of Calvinism as well as the experiences of Christians when leaving such churches. Finally this weekend I started assembling them under Leaving Calvinism. They are all back-dated to when I started collecting them. 

This video, however, is going up new at the top of my blog. Why? Because it encapsulates in just a few minutes so much of what I’ve been observing about the current Reformed and Calvinistic attitude toward women. It provides an excellent launching pad for the content in that category. 

Here’s the brief video and then my comments continue below it.

Someone might wonder why I’ve started sharing more about these topics. It’s because I can see what is coming. We will shortly be leaving the destructive mess of the Fourth Turning. You can already see glimpses of the First Turning starting to develop if you are paying attention. One of the hallmarks of the First Turning is maximum difference between men and women. So simply from a cultural standpoint, this is happening.

But I’ve also pointed out there is a segment of the church in which the men have a seething contempt for feminists that is spilling over into how they view, speak of, and interact with their sisters in Christ. I wrote of this in The Angry Christian Men Who Disdain Women. I’m confident enough that it will be an issue that I started putting posts this weekend in Reformed Patriarchy. 

The contempt John MacArthur showed toward Alana was palpable. He called her a wistful girl. She’s a married homeschooling mother who must be in her mid-thirties. In my post Alana Lagares and Leighton Flowers on John MacArthur Rebuke, Alana and Leighton Flowers have an interesting discussion about MacArthur’s attack on Alana. I agree whole-heartedly with the point Leighton makes at the beginning about what would have happened if the situation had been set up a bit differently in two ways.

Lastly, I find the facial expressions, body language, and vocal inflections during the part about Alana disgusting. Truly disgusting for two men with public ministries to speak about a sister in Christ in such a way. They are setting the example for other Reformed and Calvinist men to treat women with contempt. 

It is the perfect encapsulation of the Reformed and Calvinist movements in America today. 

Edited to add on May 13, 2025:

Just realized this is Josh Buice interviewing MacArthur.

Ironic.

G3 Ministries Cancels Josh Buice 2025 Conference 

Edited to add on September 8, 2025:

The more I think about Josh Buice’s involvement in this interview, the more I realize the absurd irony of it and what it reveals.

Alana had the integrity to make multiple public videos, detailing why she changed her views on Calvinism. She used her own full name and face. 

Josh Buice scampered around Twitter/X behind anonymous accounts, sowing discord and slamming fellow believers.

And yet we are lectured over and over again by the men in these very circles that all the church’s problems would go away if the women would just sit down and shut up.

Women like Alana are not the problem facing the church at large. Women like Alana are the problem of the reformed patriarchy, but not for the reasons those men think.

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