Pulpit Magazine

OUR GOAL: 

Pulpit Magazine began in 2003 as the online magazine of the Shepherds’ Fellowship, a ministry to church leaders who are committed to the purity of the Gospel, the inerrancy of Scripture, and a biblical philosophy of ministry. Initially Pulpit was only published six times a year. Each edition focused on key ministry issues and contemporary evangelical happenings, examining them through the grid of Scripture. The goal was to give pastors and church leaders the information they needed in a way that was both cutting edge and intensely biblical.

That goal remains the same today, even though our format has changed.

Instead of just limiting Pulpit Magazine to pastors, we now want to make the contents of Pulpit accessible to everyone. And, instead of posting a group of articles every eight weeks, we now plan to post one new article every weekday. We also hope that our readers (meaning you) will interact with the articles, and that profitable discussions will result from what is written.

The goal of fellowship is mutual encouragement for the glory of Christ. To that end, through our articles, we seek to “proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ. For this purpose also [we] labor, striving according to His power, which mightily works within [all who are truly His]” (Col. 1:28-29).

OUR STAFF:

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

John MacArthur has been pastor-teacher of Grace Community Church since 1969. He is president of The Master’s College and Seminary, is heard daily on “Grace to You,” a nationally syndicated radio broadcast, and has authored nearly 100 books. He and his wife, Patricia, have four children (Matthew, Marcy, Mark, and Melinda) and fourteen grandchildren.

GENERAL EDITOR

Phil Johnson is the executive director of Grace to You (the Christian tape and radio ministry of John MacArthur) as well as the pastor of the Grace Life fellowship group (a ministry to families at Grace Church). Phil has been closely associated with John MacArthur’s ministry since 1981 and edits most of his major books. Before moving to California, Phil was an associate pastor in Florida and an editor for Moody Press. Phil and his wife Darlene have three sons, Jeremiah, Jedidiah, and Jonathan.

MANAGING EDITOR

Nathan Busenitz serves as the personal assistant to John MacArthur, as well as the director of the Shepherds’ Fellowship. Nathan is also the author of Living a Life of Hope (Barbour Books, 2003), and a co-editor (with both John and Phil) of Fool’s Gold? (Crossway, 2005). He and his wife Bethany have three children, Ashley, Isaac, and Austin.

EDITORIAL ASSISTANT

Nathan Williams serves as the Shepherds’ Fellowship Coordinator, while also finishing his M.Div. work at The Master’s Seminary. Nathan is also highly involved in the high school ministry at Grace Church. Believe it or not, Nathan’s wife is also named Bethany — which can make names around the Shepherds’ Fellowship office very confusing, since there are two Nathans both married to women named Bethany. Thankfully, “Busenitz” and “Williams” are rarely confused.

OTHER CONTRIBUTORS

In edition to our editorial staff, Pulpit publishes select articles from other contributors. These contributors come primarily from the staff of Grace Community Church, Grace to You, and The Master’s College & Seminary; as well as from the alumni of The Master’s Seminary.  

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:

1. Is this a magazine, a blog, or just a case of online identity crisis?

That’s a fair question. We call ourselves Pulpit Magazine, and yet everything about our site looks like and feels a blog.

Well, believe it or not, the reason for this is purposeful. Because Pulpit started in 2003 as a true e-zine (published once every two months), we wanted to carry that identity over to the new site (which is admittedly a weblog). In doing this, our goal is to maintain the quality of a magazine-level publication, while at the same time facilitating the interactivity and daily freshness of a blog.

So we’re hoping for the best of both worlds here… professional content within a less formal structure.
 

2. What’s happening to the old Pulpit Live?

We are still in the process of bringing the archived articles from Pulpit Live over to the new site. But once that is finished, the domain http://www.pulpitlive.com/ will roll over to the new domain http://www.sfpulpit.com/. When complete, this site will simply replace the old one.

Also, for those who were wondering, the URL http://www.pulpitmagazine.com/ also rolls over to the new site.
 

3. Where do most of John MacArthur’s articles come from?

Most of the posts from John come from excerpts of sermons, books, and notes. Because he does not use a computer, John’s involvement and interaction on the website is obviously limited. (John writes all of his sermons out by hand, and relies on his staff to perform any needed computer-related tasks.)

But, rest assured, John is well aware of the articles that are posted here. And we also make sure to print out pertinent comments for him to read. Also, from time to time, we will be posting articles that come directly from John solely for publication on Pulpit. So be looking for those.

In all of this, the goal is to make quality articles available for free on the internet. The ability to discuss those articles, in weblog format, simply makes the whole endeavor that much more fun.