I am aware that there has been some very good ministry done through this church. During Sunday services, Harvest showed a videoof members of the current elder board explaining why the church was placing the two former elders under church discipline: Church matters are not to be tried in the court of public opinion. He clearly told me that they send out reminders to give. I dont really care what someone else thinks. With so much gaslighting going on and public take-downs of those who would speak truth to power, and your investment in the church industrial complex, I can imagine how difficult it wouldve been to speak out publicly at the time of your leaving. Not just Harvest Bible Chapel. My last complaint. Go to the all church meetings? I feel angry that the people who were supposed to be watching over the congregation allowed this to go on. I am delighted to hear that. While tens of thousands flocked to campus, school officials met in a storage closet to make decisions that would honor what is happening.. We confronted him basically because of the way he had attacked a youth at the time and his mother for bringing up how the pastor was making this youth to feel. But dont shame others who speak up. Lina I couldnt agree more with everything you said and your comment here. OnFebruary 13, the elders announcedJames MacDonald had been fired. Until recently, I thought I had escaped my fear by leaving Harvest, but I was still afraid. I havent seen the video but abuse of power at any level is sickening!! for what its worth, the timing of the writing is His perfect timing. When the Church becomes the organization instead of the people, then it ceases to be the Church. for less than $4.25/month. So here I am, piecing together a years-long scandal for you. God IS in control and knows what he is doing. Well said Lina. Basically hes a figurehead who can be dismissed on the whim of any elder or his wife. I left the church 4 years ago, the week after 3 elders were publiclyex-communicated on a cheap home made movie not worthy of one wasted second of the worship service. This journey has taken me several years. Browse 60+ years of magazine archives and web exclusives. Its hard no impossible- to do everything with the right motivation. Because Jeff is still lying to peoples faces with a smug grin as recently as Saturday night. ! Pray for the church and the people! He has harmed thousands of people. out of fear you complied Good word, my sister. Please anchor in on John 7:24. Secrest, who founded the church in 2016 and affiliated with Harvest last September, said he didnt know at the time about the ongoing concerns raised about MacDonalds leadership and the churchs financial status, which led to Harvests lawsuit last year. * 36But I tell you that every careless word that people speak, they shall give an accounting for it in the day of judgment. Why kick him and the church while their down Lina? I didnt want to upset James. The only hope is to totally exposed and excise it so that all will not be consumed. I thank you for your willingness to risk being misunderstood while offering your experience to help reduce the shame of others, who need a hand to hold, as they work through their own healing. There is no timing to sharing pain. As painful as it is, all that has been hidden must be revealed. Then, a famous friend of his, Chicago shock jock Mancow Muller, spoke out in a local newspaper against the manipulation and ego he observed around MacDonalds cult of personality at Harvest. I miss that about you. Now you can stop going to church altogether and free your mind from religious delusion. []. We believe that disciples of Jesus profess that He is Lord, practice His Ways, and persevere in both their profession and practice. Then, he was fired, according to the Daily Herald, a suburban Chicago newspaper. What does the Bible say about debt? I was recovering from the deep wounds and hurts from when we left when this all came rushing back in and opening old wounds. Thank you for taking the time to nurture the HBC flock that Pastor James never cared about! Looking back over my life I see how all things have led to today. I dont know you personally but appreciate all you continue to teach me and countless others. Thanks for writing it. Nice to hear from you again! I loved that about you. I have a Patreon! James MacDonald was forced out Tuesday night as senior pastor of Harvest Bible Chapel, a church he founded in Rolling Meadows some 30 years ago. Your daily news briefing from the editors of CT. Let us pray God will send His Spirit upon us and cure us of this. Im also going to sign up for LWP. I stay with confidence that God will not be mocked, he knows the perfect balance of justice and mercy, he will redeem this pain and we will witness HIS power in HIS church. Women are not silenced: This model is not original and is old but it is appropriate for the megachurch and also for the persecuted church. While I am heartened that the elders finally removed MacDonald, he should have been fired five years ago. 1 Song. I believe Lina did do the best she could at the time. Nancy You sound like you still attend thereand you seem double minded. *Strong Bad: Just for the record, in all kindness Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. You also restrained and could have said much more and didnt. Todays Christians are weak and show Satan how powerful he is when their own Church is faced with trouble. Every weekday, get RELEVANT's top five articles delivered to your inbox! Ive been asked, what would I do if I were still on staff. I will only say that if it is right and important to address a culture of fear within the church, it is equally important to address the same for our country. Please avoid these former Harvest elders at all cost, lest you incur great detriment to your own soul. Otherwise, the church must answer the same question, for that is one of the majors that Jesus gave us. In a statement, the elders apologized to MacDonald and the congregation for the ways they had failed to live at peace with all men, as far is it depends on you (Rom. Sign up for our newsletter: Like in Ezekiel, many people are trying to sound the trumpet of warning!! Just pray in a prayer closet to be still in the presence of Jesus. We too would pray and fast and seek the Lord as to what it was we could have done wrong as not one person from the church we had attended for years cared to find out where we were at. Our family was kicked out of our church plant campus and everyone at the church was told not to talk to us because we were disobedient by speaking out against the things were were seeing. Like the unsaved around us we fight for positions of prestige to lord it over one another. you managed (a wording that says, you knew it was not right, but did so out of self protection) and humility because as Mancow is now saying, James had alligator tears of his hurt to make you feel guilty. You can read that article here. Hidden things have come to light. He is really great at it I give him that. Following a lengthy season of review, reflection, and prayerful discussion, the Elders of Harvest Bible Chapel had determined that Pastor MacDonald should be removed from his role of Senior Pastor. Bless you! Our GOD is an awesome GOD. I just knew I wasnt supposed to be there anymore. No one knows why. The eight former elders who signed the letter alleged that that Harvest ran a puppet elder board; that a culture of fear and intimidation plagued the church; and that the elder board, which was supposed to be responsible for overseeing the churchs finances, was not granted access to financial information. The Elephants Debt, which had posted criticism of MacDonald, including stories by former Harvest members, elders, pastors, and staff, throughout 2012 and 2013, went on a posting hiatus at around this time. In the midst of efforts to reconcile with longtime critics, Harvest Bible Chapel fired its founder and senior pastor James MacDonald for engaging in conduct contrary and harmful to the best interests of the church.. She has a right to expose. Have you sought the Lord in prayer and fasting?Exposing sin is not hurtful then you would be against every prophet in the Bible. Goodthat you let a toxic place. Can Bubble Tea Bring Gen Z into the Chinese Church. The caller alleged (in vulgar terms) that Roys, the reporter, was having an affair with Christianity Todayseditor-in-chief Mark Galli, andmade a comment about bringing down former Christianity Today CEO down by remotely uploading child pornography onto his computers. I am thankful for JESUS that used Pastor James in my life. It is not with the powerful; it is those whom the powerful make to feel like theyre nothing. Matthew 7:15 Harvest responded by suing both bloggers, their wives, and Julie Roys. In fact, even though there is no patents or rights given to the Bible every man-made church that has plagiarized, promoted or used the Bible without the expressed consent of Jesus Himself or the authority of His church begin their ministries as thieves. Just goes to show, pride goeth before a fall. The controversial founder and former pastor of Harvest Bible Chapel is barred from serving as pastor or elder of the popular evangelical Christian church ever again after an investigation. Even before the 58-year-old pastors sabbatical, MacDonalds role at Harvest had shifted. I was mortified. #justsaying #carryon, Youd have to read the blog. So the Harvest Bible Chapel elders fired him, fired him from pastoring his own church, which of course was no longer his church to make decisions for, but theirs, as a wholly owned subsidiary. No Celebrities Except Jesus: How Asbury Protected the Revival, Southern Baptist Convention Disfellowships Saddleback Church, After Pushing for UMC Unity, Former Bishop Joins New Denomination, After Chaos and Crisis, Beth Moore Still Finds Refuge in the Church, With Gossip of the Gospel, the Church Grows in Nepal. Walked out of that service. For me, I would like to apologize for not reaching out to you when I finally realized that you had left HBC. It is a biblical teaching that unrepentant public sin in a public representative of God ((ie, pastors and elders) must be publicly rebuked for the sake of the church as a whole. Did you see the link to my web page. Witnesses say MacDonald was angry that the photo was still on display. Your two posts make no sense I hope you get some sense and realize people in Church are not infallible only Jesus! The Spirit has shown me that Church, the Body of called out believers are those Christians you meet with. Im one of the people who asked you to share why you left. I pray that the sincere, Christ honoring followers humbly seek Him and His will for them individually in relation to this circumstance, in addition to His will for the church as a whole. That is why we keep talking. The message we received was they were sorry we felt that way and they were sure it was not his intention. I have or attend 3 or more small groups a week now and feel alive. In 2019, Harvest initially did not release these assets, assuring the congregation, none of Harvest Bible Chapels or Walk in the Words donations or assets have gone to James, and we will not be giving him anything in the future since his termination was with cause. The year prior, Walk in the Word brought in close to $8.5 million, with 2,000 stations airing the show. She approached this with sensitivity, wisdom and grace. And where I live that mostly rules out every English speaking church there is! Wow Nancy K, after all that has been said and done, seemingly over many years, it is startling to me that you would make such a commemtWow, Why? http://www.issendai.com/psychology/sick-systems.html. Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheeps clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. All of it. Why now does not matter. If you know anything about abusive relationshipsHBC is in the honeymoon phase right now.look it up!! By then there were so many small things that werent so small and added up to big things that could have explained my leaving, but to me, that video was the tipping point. We are to find our faith and hope in the Message, not the messenger. And this was all the way back in 2012). for less than $4.25/month. Whats also sad is that old witness accounts go to show how truly far reaching and how long this behavior has been going on. 1 Timothy 5:20 We just determined to treat the circumstances as a loving God giving us a different direction. No, I dont as well as many others. The kindest thing one can do is to cut out and expose the cancer to death. In a recorded video message, Bill Sperling, an elder, told the congregation that the elders concluded that there is a sinful pattern of inappropriate language, anger and domineering behavior. Look, Im sorry, but thats a bit late. Im so sorry, and Im sorry for the comments here that are going to be painful for you. It is a cry to the current leadership, to evangelicalism at large that there are some very serious problems that need to be dealt with. Pastor James this and Pastor James that. That timeline accelerated, when on Tuesday morning highly inappropriate recorded comments made by Pastor MacDonald were given to media and reported, they wrote. Pastor James teaching seemed so Biblical. I hate to be James because God judges leadership harsher than the regular sinner. Some women were still in the middle of the trauma and were still currently attending Harvest. Because it is time for this cult to be exposed and she is telling her story. Be blessed dear Sister. Abusers groom their community and a spiritually abusive church grooms its members to not rock the boat, to gaslight themselves, and to leave quietly if they should ever refuse to submit to abuse. Pray for those outside the faith who will never come to salvation because of how this appears to them, Muller wrote in his op-ed. 3. Speaking the truth and not cowering in the corner. But if they submit to the Healer, they will come out stronger. What would Jesus do? this isnt meant to hurt you but to support those who need it. People meant evil but God works it out for our good. Unreal as I went to Harvest for over 7 yrs and this whole situation has hurt so many people. is it the pastors doing? Oh Kristy, Thank you so much for expressing exactly what I am feelingsuch sorrow, such heartbreaking sorrow. People need to be accountable for their actions. Jesus desires mercy and not sacrifice. And in 1 Corinthians 5, we are told to judge those within the Church). As a nation, something painful will bring us back. For years, I kept believing the deception fed to the congregation by the elders. Love for God, relationships, and the church. Leba and Sheila- Keep on being brave- it encourages me to do the same! Get the most recent headlines and stories from Christianity Today delivered to your inbox daily. Check out Moreno website, http://www.godsonlygospel.com. On February 12th, someone who sounded an awful lot like James MacDonald called into Mancow Mullers Chicago-area radio show to cuss out all of his perceived enemies. Not everything needs to be about Polititcs. He ultimately requested that Harvest Naples be released from its relationship with the megachurch. No one wins here-except our enemy. | Photo: Harvest Bible Chapel Facebook The Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability has suspended Chicago-area megachurch Harvest Bible Church following the firing of its longtime pastor James MacDonald and amid ongoing revelations that the ministry had misappropriated funds. Do you realize the elders are already choosing to step down? What are you authorized to do? Instead, it was MacDonald and his inner circle that were making the decisions, unilaterally. I think that was beautifully stated. Mahoney and Bryant shared concerns about Harvests financial dealings, and provided a platform for other former Harvest members, who accused MacDonald of a controlling and abusive leadership style and pointed to an overall lack of accountability for MacDonald at Harvest. Persecution is supposed to come from the world with the devil behind it, as Jesus said. Many people went to leaders and spoke up. From elders (Dave Corning, Jon Gaus, The Elephant Debt etc) to nobodies one by one we were all ignored and in many cases bullied. Also note how the apostle Paul called out Peter publicly when Peter was indulging in hypocrisy! In a statement written by church elders, the Chicago-area megachurch says they fired MacDonald forengaging in conduct contrary and harmful to the best interests of the church., Following a lengthy season of review, reflection, and prayerful discussion, the Elders of Harvest Bible Chapel had determined that Pastor MacDonald should be removed from his role of Senior Pastor. How you hit the nail on the head! James has all the characteristics of a false teacher. Our Elders and Staff are committed to fulfilling our fiduciary duty as the leadership of this congregation, knowing that at times the outcome may be misunderstood or emotionally painful, the elders statement read, promising a more detailed plan for the churchs future in coming weeks. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); LIVING WITH POWER MINISTRIES: 119 S EMERSON ST. #213 | MOUNT PROSPECT, IL 60056 | 224-634-6777 | [emailprotected]. 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