Thank you for opening up your home so that hurting people could come together and share. Nicole, I am sorry if you are offended. The womans bible study lead by two women who referenced Pastor James constantly are still in charge. I agree with Nellie. You have every right to speak up; and I respect you for doing so. I am excited for all God is doing in your life to help other women get closer in their relationship with Jesus. Well said Lina. Its messy. It never dawned on me that no one from HBC would reach out. God is faithful, and He is doing what needs to be done to protect His bride. I am sure that was very hard for her to share . DIRECTIONS & INFO | . I believe that now IS an appropriate time to share your story. No one knows why. Or is he in effect the church, with an elder board that exists only for show and to rubber stamp his decisions? This is the right time as the judgment of God has come to his people. Lean should read it and reply in kind. Thank you for sharing your story, Lina. The congregation has been deceived, lied to, and hounded to give sacrificially, all the while the senior pastor has been making hundreds of thousands of dollars. Thankful for the freedom you have found and are willing to speak up. Gods hand is on Harvest and the dark is continuing to be shown. The surprise is not Harvest, but that you publicly hung them. Thank you, Lord, for Ephesians 6:13: WORLD Magazine and other evangelical news outlets celebrated this resolution. What Can Christians Do About Climate Change? Thank you for your thoughts and strong, encouraging words. In the arbitration, MacDonald retained the rights to Walk in the Word, a part of the church that had put on his teaching ministry and popular radio broadcast. (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. Hi Sally, 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. | 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. Since I know I am capable of the worst sin, I am choosing to show grace and praying fervently. 15:58 Therefore, my dear (sister) be steadfast,immovable,always excelling in the Lords work, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.. She did a awesome job as the judgment of God has come to his house. I pray others in leadership read your post, check their hearts, and follow suit. Maybe its because youre a doctor and have such a desire to see people healed. The New Testament model that churches should follow, says Every Believer is a Priest. I have found that churches built through a single persons vision are dangerous. I believe you spoke up now to show how far reaching the powerful words and actions of those in authority goes. *Strong Bad: Just for the record, in all kindness Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. My current church I actually joined, unlike Harvest, and have been there five years and counting now. 1 Timothy 5:20 You are being bold and telling the truth and just wanted to encourage you.I always loved your passion for Gods Word and pray Gods blessing as you stand strong Him! Those that have gone through it ask themselves, should I speak up?. Unhappy to see you did not make the approved list. The church has responded by hiring Lawrence Swicegood, the executive director of communications at Gateway Church, who was also hired by Harvest Bible Chapel when facing its scandal involving James MacDonald. He better thank God for Grace and cause he is going to need it. So now, I tell the truth about what happened, and it isnt only a Pastor James problem. You personify a strong, fast talking, intelligent woman, which is a gift by way of your heritage. I didnt want to upset James. Amen sister!! I think that this message has relevance to many situations today, including the present political situation. He stood and told me and my husband he was naive to the Paxton Singer situation. Although I do not want to be a part of this church any more, I strongly feel that God is directing me to continue to obey his direction in this scripture and take their disobedience to another level. []. Harvest responded by suing both bloggers, their wives, and Julie Roys. Life goes on people repent and grace is for everyone. Thank you Lina, for opening the door of your life so that we can understand your experience. While many in the congregation were willing to give it a second chance, some members raised concerns about many of these individuals closeness to MacDonald, and their willingness to cover for him for so long. It is finally the truth coming to light from his own actions and the people who protected him for years. Did you realize the pastors publicly said sorry last weekend? I am aware that there has been some very good ministry done through this church. No shame here for Lina. I chose to believe the Bible and Gods promises. My heart breaks for the people that have been hurt by this on both sides. We are thankful and humbled by His care and protection of our family. Since the publishing of this article, several developments have occurred at Harvest Bible Chapel. Fear is why leaders did not speak up until now. Let this awaken and take down other church leaders that have similar goals. When someone lies with such ease , that is pathological, and they must be removed from their positions!! Praying for this church also that Gods Holy Spirit is cleaning/healing/humbling/teaching his people. I will remember to pray for you and the fallout of this situation each time I see somethyfrom you come across my in box. How long before we wake up and show the world how Christians are not only different from the world but we are not of the world! So I called one of the elders in the video and got his side of the story. Even before the 58-year-old pastors sabbatical, MacDonalds role at Harvest had shifted. now James McDonald. Muller had prematurely announced the pastors departure on Friday morning on his show on WLS 890 AM, going on to declare on Twitter, Conman Boss James Macdonald OUT of Harvest Church!. Then God led him to Harvest Bible Chapel. However, he ultimately agreed with the wave of backlash his pastor-friend now faced, condemning how MacDonalds drama had overshadowed Harvest and threatening a class-action lawsuit yesterday if MacDonald remained its pastor for another week. The Rolling Meadows Campus is our founding campus and for more than three decades has testified to God's faithfulness. No, I dont as well as many others. then the sermons and teaching were getting distorted and weird. The elders ordered church members to separate themselves from dissenters for fear of their souls; called MacDonalds critics behavior satanic to the core; and accused them carrying out an attack by Satan against MacDonald and Harvest. If they built it, it is theirs to destroy. Everything is being talked about at great lengths regarding Harvest except for Who the body of Christ should be praying to, talking about and quoting. Lina is right on. @Ross, Were you able to access it? I was too afraid to ask her why. My blog had indirectly undermined James. The bloggers began posting again, however, in 2017, around the same time that Harvest Bible Fellowship was dissolved in 2017, due in part to concerns by some some member churches about how Harvest was managing the fellowships finances. Ive been blessed by your teaching and Im wondering if I wouldnt have heard your teaching as much had you stayed longer at Harvest. How important it is to pray pray pray and check on our leaders also of their growth in Christ and what our church mission is and to stay biblical, not political but biblical. The Lord knows and he keeps the books. Go figure..Disappointed, Searching for a new study close by. As of November, 2021, HBC is $34,000,000 in debt. Kenny Foreman, Founder of Cathedral of Faith, Passes Away at 88, Millennials Cant Buy MeaningLets Talk the Meaning of Life. Put faith in Gods justice and judgement upon all, now that sin has been exposed. 3. Im so sorry, and Im sorry for the comments here that are going to be painful for you. In my lowly position, I have said, like others, I would have put my head in the sand and continued to do the job God gifted me to do in the interest of the body. When God led me to leave HBC, I remember being so sad and afraid and wondering if I was hearing Him correctly. Even now, many years later, the enemy could still, if I let him, get me questioning my motives and trying to persuade me I was in the wrong not the shepherds. Sign up to get our top five trending stories delivered every weekday! In any case, Im saddened to hear that this happened to James McDonald. Those of us that have experienced spiritual abuse and church hurt personally can truly resonate with your story. After that, I felt like my time was wasted. I do not think the solution is replacing the pastor and associates with a new administration. This isI believewhy the American church has lost its effectiveness. Though MacDonald initially opted to step away from all preaching and leadership roles at the churchs Chicago-area locations, in his January 16 sabbatical announcement he suggested he might still preach at a Harvest congregation in Naples, Florida, which led to another saga. 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. We are satisfied and grateful to our pastor for his Christlike behavior. Church is a small community. The flock are the casualties in all of this. We cant judge the HEART of others, we can judge their actions and behaviors. I was wrong in hindsight. Now he is disillusioned and wants to go back to Catholicism. Perhaps the Holy Spirit prompted Lina to share from the HEART. The day I watched the video, I emailed my campus pastor and asked for an explanation. My daughter was also at that service when they showed the video. 5. Notify me by email when the comment gets approved. Let us pray God will send His Spirit upon us and cure us of this. Opt out of mega church? Because these leaders will continue this false deceitful way of life that flows from them so seamlessly, so easily, and with such persuasiveness. This man is a smooth deceiver and believes his own lies. Thank you for sharing your story and for doing so in the right spirit. Thank you for displaying what an honest and vocal Godly woman can look like. We are currently experiencing similar tragedy at HBC-Naples. I should have walked out but, I too, was afraid. 33Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for the tree is known by its fruit. Plus Lina Abujamra on Why She Left Harvest Bible Chapel | Wondering Eagle, How Christians Care for One Another When Their Leaders Fall BCNN1 WP, How Christians Care for One Another When Their Leaders Fall Urban Christian News, How Christians Care for One Another When Their Leaders Fall BCNN2, How Christians Care for One Another When Their Leaders Fall | BCNN1 Black Christian News Network, From Mars Hill to Harvest: Hope for a Wounded Church Bible Talk. You are a fraud and a liar! 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. If the church treated Lina this way, they will do it to you and others without a second thought. James said it many times himself, chose to sin, The unrest at Harvest began in the fall of 2013, when two elders were excommunicated and another was indirectly censured, Roys writes. On January 16th, MacDonald took an indefinite sabbatical leave. Your mission and your ministry is beautiful and changing lives. I lost the bulk of my community virtually overnight. You can read that story right here. As a result, I was asked to meet with the elders, pull the blog piece and write a new one that James would first approve. I pray that moving forward, His love will control me no matter the consequences. Many were intimidated, called names, called subversives. It was so hard not to be bitter, and it took a long time to want to be part of another church and not be so cautious. Thank you for your response. We warn the people of Harvest Bible Churchto separate themselves from these false messengers. Nellie, You too felt you had to leave Harvest and what was your point of conviction on having to leave the Church ,that we all sacrificed so much for! see My Dream Church https://sites.google.com/site/mydreamchurch/, I would love to chat and learn more of what you are doing. Now that all MacDonald men are gone and the elder board has been cut down to 9 men until a brand spanking new group of men are approved of, I am curious to see where this train goes. 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. He just got into the worlds standards for a preacher. 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. This is an extra difficult time for the members and regular attenders of Harvest Bible Chapel. Ill let the others fight that fight today. Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus, for the law of the spirit of life (in Christ Jesus) has set me free from the law of sin and death.. We sincerely thank you for your prayers, your support, and your patience as we work together to restore a trust in leadership, a humility to surrender to biblical authority, and a firm resolve to move forward as a church family., Subscribe to CT MacDonald is not being kicked while hes down. As a former elder for three years at the Elgin campus ( it wasnt a true elder board then and it still isnt now ), I couldnt agree with you more, that all the infected parts have to excised! I have multiple thoughts. 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. So long that lawyers all wonder why I waited so long- but trauma takes time to recover from. Such a good post Lina. The beloved drink is both an attraction and a generational divide. Superior to whom? Thats what happens when I get older chronologically! I do not believe your timing should be questioned. Opt out of televised preaching? Sheesh. And in 1 Corinthians 5, we are told to judge those within the Church). I regret my own weaknesses, my love for the approval of others. God bless. The more I think about the demise of Harvest Bible Chapel and James MacDonald, the more I believe that fear is the cancer at the root of it all specifically the fear of James MacDonald. The pastor of that church,John Secrest, said he would be uncomfortable with MacDonald preaching at his church and asked Harvest to sever their affiliation. Why not start a different type of church that is not pastor directed? 2023 RELEVANT Media Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved. But a true Christian focuses on Christ and His Word. Lina, To judge a fellow brother and think you know if he is a believer is dangerous. and pro football. I enjoy both of you Christian ladies for the different gifts you both bring. In Christian arbitration, the preacher was granted $1.45 million and the rights to Walk in the Word. Less well known was that these individuals agreed to leave Harvest aloneto stop publicly criticizing the churchin exchange for a promise that the current elder board would enact changes. I am no one special here. I still would like to read the blog on tattoos. What I have realized is the weakness and defeatism of so-called Christians who immediately abandon their Church when trouble comes its way. God is a for-others being he can not lie, therefore, he can not be for Himself. I believe you are mistaken. A new believer has lost faith because of the shameful behavior of HBC leadership and all you can say is question the new believers truthfulness of his account? These are the same elders that approved this same law suit to be dropped when James and co. knew that they would have to open all the books and all the dirt would come out! Your child will experience the life-changing power of Jesus and His Word through worship and story, and age-appropriate learning tools. When one part of the body hurts, we all hurt! I do pray that the entire senior leadership staff and elders who have participated in sheltering the truth for their own gain would be called out by the Lord. School of the Bible at 9:00am Wednesdaysat 7:00pm Give Online Contact Us 10088 N. Highway 99 Stockton, CA 95212 office@hbcstockton.org (209) 931-9548 Copyright 2023, Harvest Bible Church. Check out Moreno website, http://www.godsonlygospel.com. What had these individuals done? Im not sure it is saying tatoos are a sign of a decline in holiness, but the overall impression is any Christian who gets a tatoo wants to be cool and nothing about Jesus or the Gospel is cool. The World article on the topic says that after Secrest was fired, "he was stunned, because his contract stipulated that he could be fired only for . 1 Song. 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. The Pastor started teaching on obeying your authority and not questioning authority etc. Christ alone is to be worshipped. Dont talk to them, or theyll drag you down too. 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. I kept thinking people would wake up and see the truth and understand that my leaving was not a betrayal to James but a stance against his leadership style, and the leadership style of the XLT, and James sons, and most of the remaining elders. 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. It permeates through the woman that you are. Im not sure what is going on with me honestly. Thanks for sharing Lina. If you ever make that offer again, Ill be there, but please post on Twitter. I can see you have regret for not having the courage to do it then but youre working to make up for it by speaking now. Then, not ten minutes later Mike Dunswood told us the Elders were told ( presumably by the XLT, which included Jeff Donaldson) all parents were notified about Paxton Singer and his sexpoitation issue in Jan 2018. For years, they had been made to feel like the outcasts, but finally vindication in its godly form was working its way out. In fact, he is the one who is no longer pastoring. needless to say she did not go back and found a great church she was able to become a part of during her college years. It didnt. Lina, a number of years ago I was reading one of your books while waiting for Gordon Z. to join me for lunch. Its so very difficult but This is Gods battle and I only need to be obedient not the fixer. May God bless you for speaking truth and standing in the gap for those of us who dont have the circle of influence that you have. Lina, thank you for your post, and thank you for your honesty and transparency. Leaving without speaking up was still an act of cowardice and self-preservation. I can think of hundreds of small things, and some rather large ones, that Ive compromised myself for. What is strange about your concern about your own fear is I have been of thee opinion that Pastor James must have been ruled by his own fear-fear of losing influence and the fear of losing his ministry. No wonder Harvest dropped the suit. I believe this is God working to expose sin just as Jesus warned Luke 12:2-3 All I have to say Lina is thank you! They are not calmly declining either. 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. 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