Keith and Kristyn Getty · This weekend Kristyn and I had the undeserved privilege to sing at the memorial service of John McArthur. As I write I am flying back from LA to Nashville giving thanks to the Lord for his life and ministry, his kindness and the privilege of allowing our paths to cross for a few brief earthly moments which will have eternal value. We moved from Northern Ireland to America in 2006 and Alistair Begg, our pastor and champion in the cause of hymn writing, wrote to John and asked him to consider what we were doing. I had my fears as John, up until that point, had not been the biggest fan of new hymns and songs for the church! Our first meeting with him was disarmingly personal, talked about home and family and then hymns - it was so encouraging - he really got it. It set the basis for an invaluable and improbable friendship which lasted almost twenty years. John just loved music - especially hymns. Although I probably have more tortured emotions in a day than he seemed to have in a year, music profoundly affected his soul and he loved to listen, and sing, and talk about it. In 2007 he invited us to speak for the first time to his students at Masters college and seminary. Wondering what he would talk about, he began with the comment of how fortunate we were to be born in Ireland. When I asked why, he replied that our folk music was the best for community singing and thus for writing hymns. A new thought. Again, not what I was expecting. I remember going to dinner with him soon after that and saving up a tonne of questions. I asked how to manage a growing organization, when candidly I didn’t have the skill set. He listened to my verbal meanderings, paused and replied “aim for depth”. The second question, a little more succinct, he replied “think more about depth Keith”. Then the third question, the same, and I think I was finally getting the message of what Christian ministry is actually about. At national events we were often paired as speaker/music, affording more time for coffees and meals (he was a tea guy but the chats were unforgettable). We discussed character. He believed a man’s character is revealed first as a husband and father. When I asked him about raising children, he emphasized that the songs we fill our homes with are central to nurturing them in the love and fear of the Lord. We discussed the need for hymnals (he went on to pioneer “Hymns of Grace” and then supported us ten years later with our own “Sing Hymnal”). He believed in getting pastors to step up with regard to sung worship, and so when we began the Sing Conference he threw his weight behind it. He spoke four consecutive years and encouraged many of us. Next week we launch the ninth conference and a new hymnal with key leadership from his team - including John Martin, Bill Brandenstein, Jubilant Sykes, and others who are carrying the baton forward. I recall his advice on issues I feared were controversial (which often he, ironically, didn’t, and he never worried) his excitement the first time he heard “Christus Victor”, his warmth towards our girls and their singing, and of course occasionally popping in to Grace Community on a Sunday evening and accompanying their wonderful worship. Inevitably though the leitmotif of John was that everything came down to that first meal - going deeper - studying God's word, then studying it again, then studying it again. Taking God's truth and planting it deep in us. Knowing God better and then making him known to everyone in one’s orbit, in a way that was as brilliant as it was simple. Please God may something of that be said about us at our own memorials. Watch the Memorial Service: https://getty.pub/macarthur View John MacArthur's Sing Conference Talk: https://getty.pub/macarthur_sing