Darwin makes this claim: "[W]e have a signed letter by John MacArthur himself recognizing the ministry at God's Word Fellowship . . ."

A look at the letter itself shows the reality behind this false claim. Darwin wrote to John MacArthur in 1993 suggesting that MacArthur was refusing to work with the underground church (unregistered churches who had met in secret during the Communist era) in the former Soviet Union. Darwin also sent MacArthur some of his material on Christmas, suggesting it is sinful for Christians to observe "pagan holidays" and arguing that Christmas is thoroughly pagan.

John MacArthur's response was simply an extremely courteous reply to a letter many would have thought belligerent and accusatory. In paragraph 1, MacArthur answered Darwin's query about the underground church. In paragraph 2 he very kindly explained that he was too busy to read and respond to Darwin's diatribe against Christmas. (MacArthur also enclosed a copy of his book on Christmas as a gift for Fish.) Then in paragraph 3, he closed with a polite one-sentence signoff: "I pray that the Lord will richly reward your ministry to Him"—the type of standard closing MacArthur always uses with correspondents who identify themseles as pastors or lay ministers. Such an informal blessing is by no means an endorsement or recognition of the validity of all Darwin's activities. At the time, MacArthur knew little or nothing about Darwin Fish. In particular, he had had no exposure to Darwin's factious arrogance. Neither could he foresee that Darwin would abandon biblical Trinitarianism. As far as MacArthur knew, Fish was simply an overzealous but possibly teachable young man leading a home Bible study involving mostly his own family members. So MacArthur had no reason to withhold the standard blessing from the end of his letter.

For Darwin Fish to latch onto that brief closing remark and publish it as a formal endorsement of him as a pastor or suggest that it represents John MacArthur's official "recognition" of his factious ministry style only reveals how far outside the boundaries of truth Darwin is willing to go to establish a false credibility. The fact remains that neither Grace Church nor John MacArthur has ever laid hands on Darwin Fish or endorsed the factious behavior he calls "ministry." Had Darwin pursued pastoral training or sought to minister under the actual oversight of our elders, a man of his character certainly would have been disqualified and removed from any position of leadership very early in the process. Perhaps he understood that, and that may explain why he ultimately entered the "pastorate" with no credentials but his own inflated view of himself—and no accountability to any duly constituted body of elders.