Thank you for all you do. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISjXhWUyGi0&list=PLud2nIxx0IAT58I8QPBdfrOz8bFMQQcd6&index=4&t=0s. So are you saying that there is mind control of the underling staff and of the rank and file members going on at 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. Because it is time for this cult to be exposed and she is telling her story. 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. 2023 ChurchLeaders.com, All rights reserved. DONT defend these people in any way!! I am delighted to hear that. Matthew 7:15: Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheeps clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. Anointing: Every believer is a priest in the new covenant. And the truth of many at Harvest. Truth heals. That night changed me. Thank you for your story Dr. Lina, and thank you for shedding light on your fears, and your full confidence in the Lord at the end of the day. Church leadership is urging members to wait for the results of this reviewand the changes that will be implementedbefore making the decision to leave the church. To judge a fellow brother and think you know if he is a believer is dangerous. I simply could not reconcile the lies that were shared from the pulpit with the truths that I knew regarding issues in the church. I see Jesus in youfrom one member of the Body to another. 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. My experience was decades ago and in another state. MacDonald is not being kicked while hes down. Ill let the others fight that fight today. Then came Roys story, MacDonalds decision to sue Roys and the bloggers behind The Elephants Debt (presumably rubber stamped by the current elder board), and the realization that discovery would mean everything coming out. I have always wondered why? I praise your decision to own your ministry outside of James. God bless you. Others have gone before you in challenging HBC to help pave the way and have paid the consequences for their courage. Ive never been able to foster the same level of trust and thats the residual I wrestle with. I appreciate the Biblical distinction you made Sheila, in relation to the Bible calling us to be good ; which doesnt always mean being kind and nice. 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. You have every right to speak up; and I respect you for doing so. Id encourage you to read the prophets again, and ask, what upsets the heart of God? And then maybe its time to ask whether those things should upset you as well. Im disappointed in your timing. Praying for a healing and refocus of all Gods churches, Mary, Oh my how that resonated with me and the experiences my beloved and I have had with churches in the UK. I am no one special here. Thank you for your honesty and your explanation. A friend sent me a link to sermon about this yesterday: https://radical.net/sermon/kingdom-community/. First, they resigned, along with a third elder (who was not excommunicated only because he also left Harvest and was no longer a member), in protest of how the church was being run. Stephanie Martin, a freelance writer and editor in Denver, has spent her entire 30-year journalism career in Christian publishing. Harvest, an off-shoot of an eponymous megachurch in Illinois, was sued for. It was your Study that helped me be obedient to God. I will not blame those who suffer spiritual starvation for wolves like the James McDonalds, Joel Olsteens or Creflo Dollars (to name but a few), however designer churches and their false teachers are the direct results of people who refuse to be obedient and submissive to Gods will. Lina, thank you for your post, and thank you for your honesty and transparency. Truth is truth. Five Uncomfortable Church Documentaries Still Worth Watching, Asbury Announces New Service ScheduleCampus Will Be Closed to the Public After Today, Eight Witnesses Testified Against Hillsong Founder Brian Houston in Court Case. Of course people can join in with instruments too. You can read that article here. 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. Why kick him and the church while their down Lina? Our full Sunday service will be streamed here every week beginning at 9:30am, and will be available throughout the following week. You are Loved I think I am gonna throw up. I was recovering from the deep wounds and hurts from when we left when this all came rushing back in and opening old wounds. I pray your steps continue to be guided by our Lord! Several years went by and one family apologized to us as did another man. Maybe its because youre a doctor and have such a desire to see people healed. Most continue to stay there, as their numbers dwindle. Yes, there are a lot of hurting people at Harvest. James has all the characteristics of a false teacher. Gods hand is on Harvest and the dark is continuing to be shown. I was a woman ruled by fear. We are currently experiencing similar tragedy at HBC-Naples. Both of us were involved in many forms of leadership and had invested for many years in the outreach of the church and all of its fellowship. There are dozens if not hundreds of witnesses against many Elders at Harvest all saying the same thing. Nellie, be very, very careful! I miss that about you. This did not happen to James, he did this, by sinning repeatedly. When is God pleased at his church? He is not being bullied. 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. Jesus desires mercy and not sacrifice. At Camp Harvest in 2009, for example, the pastor shot at a target that contained photos of some elders wives. God loves his Church and we can trust hell do what is necessary to preserve it. is it the pastors doing? Pray for all the lost and unsaved who are not hearing the Gospel and our testimonies right now from our lips because sin has been made the main thing. Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.. How dare you question her about why? Why? or is it the congregations fault for being weak and gullible? Now its a big business with Harvest all over the states. Her princes within her are like wolves tearing the prey, by shedding blood and destroying lives in order to get dishonest gain. I dont really care what someone else thinks. Ross, Ross Blomberg, 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 The Harvest and James MacDonald Controversy Explained, Did Pharaoh Have Free Will? Thats when eight former elders sent a letter to the sitting elder board, warning them that MacDonald was disqualified for office, she said in a response posted Wednesday. perfect response and reminiscent of what scripture teaches. Conversions credited to women evangelists sharing the good news one-on-one in conversations. We warn the people of Harvest Bible Churchto separate themselves from these false messengers. 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!) Show how we come together as one in the body of Christ! Im praying for you. And come together in prayer, fasting and humility before Jesus that He enables us to be the people He died for. 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! Sitting in the pews, I could not see how deep the cancer was at HBC. I share a lot of the same feelings. 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. 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. This post reminds me of something that happened at my former church. Fear that your leaving would damage those you ministered to. You do not know if she fasted or not, nor do you know if the Lord Himself brought her to this revelation. Ross, Ross, I totally agree with you Patti. 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. 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 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. We are wounded and grieving. He spoke highly of you, and since then, I have occasionally prayed for you regarding your time and experience at HBC. I am staying because with all the faults in the organization, the people of Harvest are my family. Thank You for writing your blog. 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. The New Testament model that churches should follow, says Every Believer is a Priest. Harvest launched a radio show; founded a Christian school with over 700 students; built its own retreat center; produced feature-length films; wrote its own worship songs; and created its own. I have 3 small groups now that are like this but we lack music. Lastly, we need to comfort hurting today, she wrote. I do believe you. Thank you for this post. The Bible even says Truth shall set you free. Youre sharing your story and I think those who have been hurt by HBC (including me) needs to hear these stories. This cancer must be excised and as often as is the case in cancer treatment, months of treatment must be involved for health to take place. Otherwise, the church must answer the same question, for that is one of the majors that Jesus gave us. Same as your departure, not a single person reached out to see how I was doing once I left my job. The public scrutiny continued with pushback against MacDonalds decision to preach at a Harvest affiliate in Florida during his sabbatical. I hope they succeed in bringing people back to the church! Soon we must bring those truths to light, but for now we continue under the weight of so much falsehood in hope that the church will themselves initiate the needed steps of public confession, he wrote. He invitedme to go when we first started dating. for what its worth, the timing of the writing is His perfect timing. @Donna Is it possible that it is God Himself who is exposing these misdeeds? On January 16th, MacDonald took an indefinite sabbatical leave. There are questions the leadership at every such megachurch should be asking. It would be endearing to me and honoring to them. 1. Churches should switch to a different model that is biblically aligned. Like in Ezekiel, many people are trying to sound the trumpet of warning!! But wait who is that lurking around the edges, his deeds the center of everyones interest in our church right now, salivating and gleeful that divisiveness and sin is healthy within the body of Christ? So often, you would open your home to us. Voices heard together make a difference. Go to the all church meetings? Thank you for having the courage to write what you did and for your ministry Lina. REALLY !! Prayer works as we understand to be HIS humble servants. Or share it. Even if the criticism in the letter had been unwarranted, this response is a huge red warning sign. It IS her truth Because these leaders will continue this false deceitful way of life that flows from them so seamlessly, so easily, and with such persuasiveness. I dont appreciate you getting political this has nothing to do with it.. 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