They used a tents as overflow areas in the parking lot and placed a screen in the middle of the back patio, but MacArthur insisted both were overwhelmed by eager worshipers. MacArthur said he allowed thousands of Californians to come inside the church so they weren't 'standing outside in a mob.' - John MacArthur
No, but YOU decided to open the church! That is why they showed up! No one is arguing that people want to go to church. I want to go to church. You are supposed to be a pastor! Lead the flock and stop making infantile excuses. The fact that so many showed up only increases the blood on your hands. Either way, stop acting like this was some kind of spontaneous event. You planned it. You orchestrated it. You will answer for it.
'We opened the doors because that's what we are,' he said. 'We're a church and we're going to trust those people to make adult decisions about the reality of their physical and spiritual health and how that balance works for each one of them. 'Nobody's forcing anything, they're here because they want to be here.' - John MacArthur
No John, you are not. If you ran a church you would start by obeying the word of God. You certainly would not stoop so low as to now blame the sheep for where the shepherd has led them. That is what you are doing here. No one forced them? Is that the only defense you have left? They look to you for guidance. They look to you for wisdom. You opened the church and they followed. Stop blaming the sheep for following their shepherd!
"In an interview on The Eric Mextaxes Radio Show, MacArthur said in July that 'essence of worship is being together' and his congregation 'didn't buy the narrative that they were threatening somebody's life if they went to church.'" - John MacArthur
Why are you doing a radio show with such a raging NAR dominionist John? Eric Mextaxes? Really? Putting that curiosity aside, where in the bible do you see that being together is the essence of worship? I expect something that gnostic to be uttered by Bill Johnson. God is the essence of worship and you know that. God is also everywhere. There is no reason we cannot worship in our homes or even virtually with each other. Of course corporate worship is always better and preferred but if by foregoing it now saves lives don't you think God would agree? As for your congregation not believing they would be threatening someone's life by going to church I simply refer you to the news! This is not a point for debate! It has been established! Multiple times! One man went to church with COVID and infected 91 other people! The Virginia pastor who mocked the virus from the pulpit and died a month later from it! The Illinois church that saw 43 contract the virus at a service in March. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion but not their own facts.
'I'm not convinced that what's being propagated is actually reality,' he told CNN. 'Neither are they. That's why they're here. I don't know of anybody in the church - and it's a large church - who's sick at this time. We haven't had anybody in our church in the hospital with it through all these months.' - John MacArthur
Because you had been obeying the rules! So you think that was being reported is false? Los Angeles continues to lead the state in coronavirus cases with 211,542 infections and 509 deaths. Is that false? How false? Cut the numbers in half. Are 250 deaths permissible to God so long as John MacArthur can hold court again? This is part of the problem in the country as a whole. People with no medical or epidemiological training whatsoever are deciding they know better than experts in the field. Perhaps when his sheep start dying Mac might be convinced.