ANALYSIS

The year was 1991, and the Soviet Union had just collapsed.

It seemed to many like a wonderful new era of freedom — the long-awaited and dreamed-of moment when Russian-speaking people everywhere could finally listen to the Gospel and Bible teaching without fear of the secret police knocking on their door.

But 6,000 miles away in California, the much-beloved and respected Pastor John MacArthur — whose public memorial service takes place on Aug. 23 in Los Angeles — was worried.

If the floodgates were open, just what "gospel" would these spiritually hungry people be exposed to? Suddenly, Russia and the former Soviet republics were open to all manner of religious doctrines, including many different Christian denominations and sects.

Already, some American preachers of the so-call

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