If you read the history and understand the public record of offenses at Harvest (with many more than the requisite two or three witnesses), you will understand why this is not only completely justified, but actually necessary to the restoration of healing and good order to Christs Body. He also makes vulgar comments about Wheaton College executive director of the Billy Graham Center Ed Stetzer and repeatedly degrades Julie Roys, the reporter who wrote the World Magazine story. I also managed to write an apology to James for the pain I had caused him. 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. 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. I have multiple thoughts. The New Testament model that churches should follow, says Every Believer is a Priest. I have or attend 3 or more small groups a week now and feel alive. I too had been a part of HBC both as a staff member and member of the church and was there in total over 15 years. They are not calmly declining either. Also, for 2 years I felt my prayers didnt get past the ceiling. 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. Yell and bully and make people feel like second class Christians? The devil may win some battles, but we know God ultimately wins the war. Im one of the people who asked you to share why you left. I was pleasantly surprised to find that you know each other. I think he forgot Whose ministry it was. Basically hes a figurehead who can be dismissed on the whim of any elder or his wife. This did not happen to James, he did this, by sinning repeatedly. 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. Publicizing viewpoints rejected by the elder majority for any reason is satanic to the core. Let us examine ourselves for unconfessed sin and seek to live in fear of the Lord lest bitterness overtake us.. Lina has every right to speak her truth . God loves his Church and we can trust hell do what is necessary to preserve it. I lost the bulk of my community virtually overnight. If you have something to recommend I read that would help me in this area, Lina, I would appreciate it. I pray that God will heal those hurt by him and his abuse of authority. Its so very difficult but This is Gods battle and I only need to be obedient not the fixer. 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. Thank you for being honest and speaking truth. Lina, My wife and I also left our church several years ago. Did you realize elders and pastors are personally apologizing g to people? Thank you for the courage and humility it takes to write a post like this. The problem definitely doesnt end with James. The first one is in the magazine Relevant and looks at the allegations of Anne Green being inappropriately touched by James MacDonald. I can think of hundreds of small things, and some rather large ones, that Ive compromised myself for. Those that havent gone through it ask why would you speak these things? Harvest responded by suing both bloggers, their wives, and Julie Roys. This comment to Harvest and James is your opinion and you have every right to it. As of November, 2021, HBC is $34,000,000 in debt. model and not on the Old Testament hierarchical model. 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? I believe this is God working to expose sin just as Jesus warned Luke 12:2-3 I am sorry that you experienced this fear. Maybe people could handle hearing it better now than then. or is it the congregations fault for being weak and gullible? Another blind believer. No church is, because they are all filled with sinners like us. Superior to whom? Yes, God has this in hand, but that doesnt mean He wont ask His children to do the hard work of calling out sin in unrepentant believers. Hi Hurting in Davenport, @Ross, Were you able to access it? Reflect about yourself and what steps you need to take to be healed and then to help others heal. My heart breaks for the ones who will walk away from church and walk away from God. I dont take joy in this situation, but I rejoice in the truth. This is an extra difficult time for the members and regular attenders of Harvest Bible Chapel. I love this idea! I pray others in leadership read your post, check their hearts, and follow suit. My heart breaks for the people that have been hurt by this on both sides. A peacemaking process, while helpful for personal and relational reconciliation, is not the approach to address failed governance, biblical disqualification, and a toxic leadership environment.. Open your eyes and feel the heat of the refiners fire. chose to suffer. 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. What she shared was the kindest message I have ever seen. Or is he in effect the church, with an elder board that exists only for show and to rubber stamp his decisions? The harsh language of Harvests public excommunication of these individuals did receive pushback, and in 2014, MacDonald expressed regret at the language used, and announced that the church had reconciled with the elders. I should have left that week, but I was too afraid to cause damage to Jesus and His kingdom and the women I was leading at that time. Each weekend, services include live, vertical-focused worship. Praying for a healing and refocus of all Gods churches, Mary, Its been over a year and a lot has changed at Harvest and a lot sill needs to change. It was both true in a sense and funny. Even people who were very close to us turned silent. (images of wife beating and mental control come to mind) , Titus 3:10-11 says as for a person who stirs up division, after warning him once, and then twice, have nothing more to do with him, knowing that such a person is warped and sinful, he is self condemned. Also 1 Timothy 5:20 says as for those who persist in sin, rebuke them in the presence of all, which is what we are doing, so that the rest may stand in fear. , Nothing is covered, nothing is unresolved, nothing is ongoing, only this attack from the enemy. Its who you are! Thank you. Ive been asked, what would I do if I were still on staff. The Scripture that came to me as I read this is I Timothy 1:7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but one of power, love, and sound judgment. Fear is why leaders did not speak up until now. Can you please contact me from the Contact button on my web page here? Until recently, I thought I had escaped my fear by leaving Harvest, but I was still afraid. I was a woman ruled by fear. Well said Lina. When God led me to leave HBC, I remember being so sad and afraid and wondering if I was hearing Him correctly. But thats how it happens at Harvest, right? You are courageous! 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Linas post is still available on other mediums, I imagine if she wanted to link it she would have. Because evangelical megachurches are typically formed around a single charismatic individual, elder boards are generally loathe to consider letting this individual go. Her first year at college and her first visit to Harvest RM. Lina, In Jesus precious name. I am no one special here. All Rights Reserved. Nellie, you know what Lina went through in prep for this how? Torn between right and wrong. Hence the Response Statement Regarding Pastor James and Anne Green yesterday on HBC in the news. 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. The Right's New Lie: The Left Gave Us Toxic Masculinity, The Harvest Bible Chapel Scandal in a Nutshell (And Why You Should Care). 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. When we left, after having posted a letter to the elders, not a single person called us to see how we were doing. And this was all the way back in 2012). This team is to be made up of congregants, staff, professionals, and elders, and will be headed by a church member. 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. Now that these differences with MacDonald have come to resolution, our focus and full attention are on the future of Harvest Bible Chapel, they said. Although he denied stabbing the photo, MacDonald said, I may have put my knife up against it or into it.. Sometimes they will require being nice. You are a fraud and a liar! So are you saying that there is mind control of the underling staff and of the rank and file members going on at HBC? Instead, it was MacDonald and his inner circle that were making the decisions, unilaterally.
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