Faith is Christ living. Ross, The Pastor started teaching on obeying your authority and not questioning authority etc. The Rolling Meadows Campus is our founding campus and for more than three decades has testified to God's faithfulness. Subscribers receive full access to the archives. MacDonald is not being kicked while hes down. 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. I cant imagine a culture in which you felt such fear. Not one. It was your Study that helped me be obedient to God. I believe Lina did do the best she could at the time. 2.) Nellie, be very, very careful! Hello: While I am heartened that the elders finally removed MacDonald, he should have been fired five years ago. May God have mercy on his soul. In keeping with our past private statements to Harvests leadership and to our pastorsThe primary issue is not reconciliation or peacemaking, it is repentance, GCC elders said in a January 17 statement. Harvest, an off-shoot of an eponymous megachurch in Illinois, was sued for. 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. Thank you, Lina. This decision was made with heavy hearts and much time spent in earnest prayer, followed by input from various trusted outside advisors.. When God led me to leave HBC, I remember being so sad and afraid and wondering if I was hearing Him correctly. There were other things that caused us to leave also. 4. What would it take to convince an elder board to question its pastor? Thankful for her thoughtful response and I agree with you that God knows all of this and isnt surprised by any of it including the timing of her response. I think that was beautifully stated. The 60-year-old pastor called on his former church to confess its wrongs and correct the record. No one wins here-except our enemy. #justsaying #carryon, Youd have to read the blog. The flock are the casualties in all of this. Is this an informed opinion? Im a prostate cancer survivor and had radical prostatectomy in 2005. His sermon provides good reasons for why we need to shine light on these abuses. 37For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned. 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. 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 am so happy that finally people are standing up and talk about it! And I wont stand in the way of Christs work. 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 church-planting ministry, Harvest Bible Fellowship, with 170 member churches. Lina, to see how the Lord has blessed your ministry these past few years is absolutely amazing! With Gossip of the Gospel, the Church Grows in Nepal. The sin that has taken place does not negate the awesome work that God has done, and it pains my heart to hear people act as if it does. Most of my friends as well. God is purifying His Church. Thank you for your honestly, I personally did not ask why you left, because we left approximately the same time for the same reasons. When you started, you (and others) mentioned the cult of personality that James benefitted from. 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. Specifically, I do mean the Machiavellian rule by fear and division that we are seeing. Structure: the structure of My Dream Church is based on the New Testament Body Of Christ Love you! Thank you for having the courage to write what you did and for your ministry Lina. Leaving without speaking up was still an act of cowardice and self-preservation. I pray that God will heal those hurt by him and his abuse of authority. Come together at part of the body of Christ called Harvest Bible Chapel and pray that Gods will not ours be done. Horrified. Another church on The Lord's Way is on its way out. He stomped his questioners. Nellie, Your comments are without sound knowledge of the depth of this I am SO glad that Lina has allowed the grace of Christ to free her from the culture of fear that controls Harvest Bible Chapel, and I am impressed by her willingness to speak in such as grace-giving way that will speak freedom to others who are hurting from this. :) I met my husband about 5 yrs ago and he had been attending faith community church for a bit. Do elder boards mean anything, or are they just there to look pretty? Amen. When this happens, there is tremendous spiritual and emotional wounding. Where there is no vision and freedom the people perish. The resources are pulpit curriculum and bible words to talk about. 1st at services, then recording those messages fir walk in the word and finally by publishing them. Many people went to leaders and spoke up. Why not start a different type of church that is not pastor directed? The fruit of people at Harvest coming to Christ belongs to the Holy Spirit, not to JM. Nice to hear from you again! Ezekiel 22:27 The reason there are spiritual Pol Pots that number in the thousands like our friend James McDonald is because men are happy to give themselves authority. Ive always appreciated your candor and honesty, and I think the Lord has gifted you with a strong sense of discernment. My heart breaks for the people that have been hurt by this on both sides. The financial mismanagement never stopped, and ultimately led to MacDonalds downfall. Lina, In his statement released this week, MacDonald continues to criticize the church for its treatment of him and cites the successful arbitration as confirmation that the truth has been on his side all along. What had these individuals done? Dont damage the church by being publicly critical. The pastor also gets $1.2 million and a parcel of property in Crystal Lake, Illinois, as well the ministrys equipment, books, and digital resources, the church announced this week. Yet their silence hurt me and sometimes made me question the validity of my reasons for leaving. Lina, you are strong and your faith in the Lord is inspiring. You take feed back to heart and you use it as growth points. Politics and religion have a great affect on society, and both must be monitored to protect the people. Its like I seek mans favor as well, rather than the Lords. I loved that about you. Harvest, which Roys says is $42 million in debt, is suing the Evangelical Christian Credit Union for not refinancing five of its mortgages. We are thankful and humbled by His care and protection of our family. Opt out of mega church? I applaud you for your courage to leave the church and let the fall out damage by James to you as a person and your career ministry, to be in Gods hands. God has this situation in his hands he wasnt surprised by it. This is not an endorsement of the culture at Harvest because its total trash, but you cant blame them for you bad theology choices. I am excited for all God is doing in your life to help other women get closer in their relationship with Jesus. Will those men now be known for their mark as sinful followers of James? 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! We left Harvest for, among other reasons, the bad theology and overall silliness of the womens ministry. Data Coordination. This is hardly a local issue in the Western church. I left Harvest CL 3 yrs ago after being forced out of a ministry and other thingspart of the membership indoctrinationyou are not allowed to say anything disparaging against church leadership or the church. Five years ago, Harvest Bible Chapel, a Chicago-area megachurch with multiple campuses and an average weekly attendance exceeding 12,000, sent shock waves through the Christian community when it publicly excommunicated two former elders and indirectly censured a third. Read the Old Testament. God is using this to grow me as he does in all trials, so for that Im grateful. Thank you for this post. They all need to be excised ( fired ), along with number one enabler extraordinaire of James, Rick Donald, along with the MacDonald boys, along with every single campus pastor and the other pastors, and throw in the worship leaders ( they are all complicit ), then the cancer would have been completely removed and the body ( the good people of Harvest that are being fleeced ) would have a chance to heal and become part of a true biblical church. Implying that the information on TED was lies. I was recovering from the deep wounds and hurts from when we left when this all came rushing back in and opening old wounds. If you know anything about abuse it can take years to come forward. While only a handful showed up, the range of their pain was wide. By the time I left, I had discovered something dark about myself: I was a woman/person ruled by fear. HARVEST EN ESPAOL is available in person on Sundays at 11:00 AM in Cornerstone. People meant evil but God works it out for our good. (Matthew 12:33-37). I love you and our Lird. Some women were still in the middle of the trauma and were still currently attending Harvest. Im far removed from this situation, but saddened by it nonetheless. On January 7, 2019, Harvest elders announced they decided to drop the lawsuit against Julie Roys and four other individuals. I do not believe your timing should be questioned. He is doing a new thing, and I will stand with my brothers and sisters in Christ and praise his Holy name through it all. 12:18) as while working through this year-and-half-long process of transition. Why kick him and the church while their down Lina? Your sister in Christ in Auburn, Indiana. There the preacher has no real power at all. 2 Thumbs Way up to you my sister in Christ, for being open about your experience there, which more people than you know have also been through! Were they afraid? This included an abusive and fear-based culture where those who question leadership are punished, she writes. Nellie, please dont be taken in by putting people on a pedestal (very sad.) I dont really care what someone else thinks. Leaders should have secular jobs: Sarah, I am so sorry for whatever happened to you. Pastor James MacDonald preaches at Harvest Bible Chapel. Fear is a stupid liar and I praise God that Hes given us a spirit of a sound mind and Love!!! 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. What you are talking about is protecting abusers at the expense of those they have abused and betrayed which, unfortunately, happens far too often. In the past we were to study pulpit curriculum and bible vocabulary. Two years ago, MacDonald moved away from overseeing the Harvest Bible Fellowship, a global network of churches, which eventually separated from Harvest completely to form the Great Commission Collective (GCC). Our focus should be on Christ and Christ alone, not James MacDonald. 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. No wonder Harvest dropped the suit. I have since moved on and seen God do some pretty amazing God-sized miracles in my life and ministry (evidently, God does work outside of the walls of Harvest Bible Chapel!). I hope to become braver. In Jesus precious name. I believe Yahweh has me where He wants me. Thank you and thank Lina. 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. As an encouragement, from day 1, as you began your faith walk ministry, starting a Women of Power teaching ministry at Harvest, I have watched your character. At the moment were seeing the effects of a down cycle away from God. I always wondered why you left but after reading The Elephants Debt I figured I knew why. I chose to believe the Bible and Gods promises. This is why Jesus did not come to this present church environment. Authority? In other words, thatwasMacDonald in the recording. Sitting in the pews, I could not see how deep the cancer was at HBC. There were several close family deaths, lost our home, business and more. Thank you Lina for your honesty and boldness and ultimately helping me put words to what I have been experiencing through the preaching of James. Thank you for sharing your story and for doing so in the right spirit. No church is, because they are all filled with sinners like us. Im not sure what is going on with me honestly. I also trust that you did seek wisdom from the Lord on what and how to speak into this. Since the publishing of this article, several developments have occurred at Harvest Bible Chapel. I also managed to write an apology to James for the pain I had caused him. you felt through James harvest mentality, you would be rebellious against authority if you stood up Stand in the pews, I could not see how deep the cancer was at HBC religion a. I remember being so sad and afraid and wondering if I was him! 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