Are you straining at a gnat but swallowing a camel? Were you bullied by those elders named? There were other things that caused us to leave also. In any case, we had a final meeting with the pastor and his assistant pastor (who was his son-in-law) to tell them that I was leaving their church. What you are talking about is protecting abusers at the expense of those they have abused and betrayed which, unfortunately, happens far too often. Perhaps we can do something like that here in Davenport, too. James biggest issue was his condemnation of other preachers, he never mentioned them by name he knew better, but I knew who he was talking about. Somehow I thought 2500+ members walking out would send the message. This was encouraging to read and I hope others take it to heart. Right. Agreed Sheila. There are people there I thought were my friend and as soon as my life takes a left turn and happens out of order (first came baby then came marriage and then another baby) I get ousted out and judged and hurt. Im one of the people who asked you to share why you left. Pray for the church and the people! I love you and our Lird. Can Bubble Tea Bring Gen Z into the Chinese Church. Yet a week ago I posted on FB an invitation to open my house to anyone who needed to talk about their pain as it related to what was happening at Harvest. Instead, they have chosen to remain on the elder board and continue with the deep-seeded corruption and fraud that has plagued Harvest Bible Chapel for many years. For me, I live with the regret of not taking advantage of the opportunity to come over and get to know you. Shes not the only one there are many. I am sorry for the pain. Do you see any fruit from him of what God speaks of? Will James not wake up and realize that the Church of Jesus Christ is not the organization or nonprofits we create, but the men and women that God calls and saves by the sacrifice of His Son? Of course people can join in with instruments too. Once a preacher condemns other, that is the sign that he is trying to avert attention from what he is doing. We attended Harvest for 16 years before we left little over 4 years ago. Pray and console those whose faith has weakened from this. 12:18) as while working through this year-and-half-long process of transition. The preacher has no support system to fall back on but must find a new church before the new hireling moves in. Ross, The problem was not so much the pastor but the members that lived worldly. Listen, believe, obey, shut up. Lina, Scripture does not say what the mark was, but it was a mark that man knew as a sign to not to kill Cain, as it would end his life, and end the judgement that God had given Cain to live out his life with. I think that was beautifully stated. Dont bad rap other churches? I believe you spoke up now to show how far reaching the powerful words and actions of those in authority goes. Nellie-What you might not know. Good word, my sister. We are satisfied and grateful to our pastor for his Christlike behavior. James could have easily prayed, [] There are a couple of other reads that came to my attention this evening related to Harvest Bible Chapel that I wanted to make people aware. Still, even I knew when enough was enough. When I left my job I stayed at HBC for about another year before leaving entirely. My response, Why? Have you sought the Lord in prayer and fasting?Exposing sin is not hurtful then you would be against every prophet in the Bible. As a former Muslim, I grew in my walk with GOD because Pastor James teachings from the GODs Word. I, too, have friends who have never once asked how I am or why I left. MacDonald was manifestly not okay with the criticism. Did you know that Satan and his minions come to Harvest? This is why Jesus did not come to this present church environment. Such lack of accountability is often a problem at megachurches, which tend to be founded by charismatic individuals who quickly amass a large following. Harvest Bible Chapel of Naples, whose leadership recently turned over after scandal rocked its Chicago parent megachurch, is the most . 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. No matter what everyone else says, it does take courage to say something. That the church went on and did not implode or hemorrhage members right then speaks to the prevalence of harmful ideas about authority and church leadership in evangelical circles. Connect With Us! We continue in prayer for all those affected near and far. I agree with Nellie. So Grace is only for MacDonald and no one else not the elders he excommunicated, not the numerous employees who were fired or kids who were expelled from HCA, not the pastor who was fired in FLORIDA and had his church taken away I would ask you SERIOUSLY??!! Its ironic that you should post this today. for less than $4.25/month. Sheri and her husband Gary attended Cornerstone in the 1980s while attending Azusa Pacific and in their first few years of marriage. Thank you for your response. The good intentions of our ministry partnership with Harvest Chicago have been overshadowed by these developments, he said. I am ashamed to say that after being a member at Harvest for 8 years, that was the first real conversation I had had with an elder about the state of affairs of the church at that time. He just got into the worlds standards for a preacher. Please avoid these former Harvest elders at all cost, lest you incur great detriment to your own soul. We are the Church! Thank you for your courage and for responding. The news came less than a week after another update from Julie Roys, a defendant in the lawsuit and the writer responsible for the World investigation, who has continued to release evidence against MacDonald and call for his resignation. James MacDonald founded Harvest Bible Chapel in 1988. Thank you for speaking out, Lina! Its very important that people share their stories. But if they submit to the Healer, they will come out stronger. Im not on FB, so I didnt see your post where you extended an invitation to us to meet with you again. In our case we have been pulled away from our church as well because of how we have been treated for our daughters actions. Lina, Its hard. I believe you are mistaken. And I find it odd that someone would have an opinion on that. But should never be a pastor again! WHY NOW??? Thanks for sharing Lina. I so agree with your cancer analogy as it relates to Harvest. He is not being bullied. The issue here is not TIMING or kicking someone when theyre down its about exposing ungodly, cowardly behavior and making people aware of its existence. Why do you say you have a lack of music?. A former Harvest staffer was also reported to police last fall after being accused of embezzling $270,000 from the church. James MacDonald, founder of Harvest Bible Chapel in greater Chicago, who was recently fired under a cloud of financial abuse, was allegedly being paid nearly a million dollars per year in regular salary, had access to approximately a million more in discretionary spending, and is currently owed $2.6 million in deferred compensation by the This post drips of mercy. The message we received was they were sorry we felt that way and they were sure it was not his intention. Thank You for writing your blog. Well, that same year, my wife was hired as the childrens pastor at the church we had been volunteering at on Wednesday nights (because our church had nothing going on) and I myself have been ordained as a deacon and have even had the privilege to preach on a Sunday morning. Otherwise, the church must answer the same question, for that is one of the majors that Jesus gave us. I simply could not reconcile the lies that were shared from the pulpit with the truths that I knew regarding issues in the church. see My Dream Church https://sites.google.com/site/mydreamchurch/. In fact, he is the one who is no longer pastoring. The current leadership at Harvest Bible Chapel including Luke and Landon and Rick and Mo and Jeff and the CFO are infected by the cancer of fear and control. (function($) {window.fnames = new Array(); window.ftypes = new Array();fnames[0]='EMAIL';ftypes[0]='email';fnames[1]='FNAME';ftypes[1]='text';fnames[2]='LNAME';ftypes[2]='text';fnames[3]='MMERGE3';ftypes[3]='text';}(jQuery));var $mcj = jQuery.noConflict(true); Copyright 2023 Living With Power. For a great many, it's time for the cult of personality of James MacDonald at Harvest chapter to close and the actual Bible to be opened again., Today on his edgy radio show, Muller said while he felt MacDonalds firing had to happen, he also had wanted nothing to do with any of it and now my part is done., I feel like God was using me in this, he said. However, 2 of the groups meet in Panera Bread. It was both true in a sense and funny. Your realness. see My Dream Church https://sites.google.com/site/mydreamchurch/, I would love to chat and learn more of what you are doing. Also another story emerged on why another person left Harvest Bible Chapel. Were they afraid? Thank you for sharing. After telling us that the elder board always made every decision by full consent, we learned that the former head of the elder board found out about major church initiatives from his seat in the congregation. I never understood why they saw him the way they do. The evil at Harvest is a nasty stage four cancer yet has invaded the entire body. The culture of fear, intimidation, and secrecy has poisoned not just Rolling Meadows and its campuses, but also trickled down through the fellowship. Please support my writing! I am thankful for JESUS that used Pastor James in my life. Yes, there are a lot of hurting people at Harvest. Is it perfect? Careers Workplace and Religion Columnists, Recreation Outdoors and Religion Columnists, Religious Music and Entertainment Columnists, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, revealed material obtained under subpoena, called into Mancow Mullers Chicago-area radio show. Within days of their statement, MacDonald offered a public apology, admitting to careless and hurtful words and a regression into sinful patterns of fleshly anger and self-pity that wounded co-workers and others.. who we really love. We never gave up on God because He never gives up on us. I love Dr. Dobsons admonition that while it is tempting to want to get out of a painful situation, often the only way out is through. She loves the Word and words, is a binge reader and grammar nut, and is fanatic (as her family can attest) about Jeopardy! Lina isnt hanging Harvest Bible Chapel. Thank God the early Christians stood firm and did not run away from troubles. Even people who were very close to us turned silent. The current model for pastor directed churches says that the senior pastor is the priest this is Old Testament. These being the facts of my simple, uncomplicated, and naive experience as an attendee and member of Harvest, the last several weeks of revelations, discoveries, denial, anger, grief, victims, conjecture, embarrassment, hurt, stories, gossip, cover-ups, accusations, defensiveness, lawsuits, maliciousness, divisiveness, blame, threats, and even some name-calling as of late I have begun to realize that those of us who are just the congregation, the blessed and appreciative recipients of the God-given talents of all those involved in running and ministering Harvest, we are now in the painful position reminiscent of children involved in the divorce of parents, both(ALL!) It would be endearing to me and honoring to them. On January 8th, after learning that anything obtained through subpoenas related to the lawsuit could be made public, however, Harvest Bible Chapel dropped the lawsuit. Lina, this took courage and Im glad you said it. Thank you for displaying what an honest and vocal Godly woman can look like. Sign up to get our top five trending stories delivered every weekday! Unhappy to see you did not make the approved list. Harvest Bible Chapel has fired its founder and senior pastor James MacDonald following years of controversial behavior, financial scandal and allegations of bullying and intimidation. The flock are the casualties in all of this. Because ultimately what God wants is not a huge army of women who are nice. I cant imagine a person alive who couldnt look at their life and say the same thing in some area of their dealings with people. 4. This decision was made with heavy hearts and much time spent in earnest prayer, followed by input from various trusted outside advisors.. A former youth pastor for Harvest Bible Chapel in Aurora has been charged with the sexual exploitation of a 16-year-old boy on allegations he sought nude pictures of the boy and repeatedly. But your words affirmed what I suspected. If you like harvest and the culture of hidden abuse and The narcissistic system in order there- by all means, stay! Wake up and take some serious deep reflection you follow a man not Jesus that is extremely dangerous my suggestion to you.., workout your salvation with fear and trembling my sister in Christ. Lina, thank you for your honesty. Ive been where youre at, believing that its godly to keep trying to work it out, like family does. People need to be accountable for their actions. These are the same elders that signed off on James filing the law suit against the Ryan Mahoney and his wife, Scott Bryant and his wife, and Julie Roys! Dont you think this influences decisions made by the leaders, both now and before? All Rights Reserved. The fruit by which JM is to be judged rather is that of his own true m.o. Gosh, so many similarities with the HBC action. This past Sunday, Harvests elders and remaining pastors were in serious damage control mode. For years, they had been made to feel like the outcasts, but finally vindication in its godly form was working its way out. Thank you for taking the time to nurture the HBC flock that Pastor James never cared about! Harvest Bible Chapel has owned its mistakes and endured to become a happier and healthier church, whose members recently pledged financially, in their walk/work for Christ, and in their. We left Harvest for, among other reasons, the bad theology and overall silliness of the womens ministry. Truth is truth. Subscribers receive full access to the archives. 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. Driscoll, now MacDonald. He lists grievances against Harvest including a false narrative in financial matters, a hostile takeover, shunning our family, the wrongful seizure of the ministry assets returned to him in the recent arbitration, and a vicious but unsuccessful strategy to end our ministry permanently.. We are currently experiencing similar tragedy at HBC-Naples. Nothing will change at Harvest if the cancer of fear is not exposed . Humility, repentance, confession, forgiveness, reconciliation, mercy, love, compassion, healing, serious prayer and so much more for and by everyone should be given top priorities on our agendas soon if not now. It, honestly, has been the biggest source of my own sin and self inflicted suffering. 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. Isnt this just what the enemy of our souls would want? 1.) Subscribers receive full access to the archives. 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