This was months months later. I was literally sitting in a hotel lobby waiting for a pickup at one oclock in the morning to catch an overnight flight back from India. But to tell people they have to stay in a situation of violence, trauma and harm, or return to it, this is not a core tenet of Christianity. Toward that end, the site requires that people use their full name when commenting. And that reminded me of something that Dan Marquardt told me. Because Im not a quiet guy in meetings. These were people bringing charges against an elder. How does this relate to his view of women? Thats thats a much harder relaunch. You do that, and hope that the person will repent, and that they will turn and that therell be restoration. Dan, thank you for being a humble man of God. And you know, Rick Donald was one of the people. So if youre listening, you need and you havent read those letters, you need to go back and Dean Butters, I mean that one has to be just the emotional impact of the the bullying and the abuse, and then even a video where he mocked a very well known Christian leader because she was getting married in midlife for the first time and mocking her for never having sex before. And thats got to be a heavy. I had asked one of the one of the people on the reconciliation team earlier that day, I said, Im going to go into a meeting with James McDonald and I need I need to have the letters I need to know. May 19, 2021 10:53 am To some former Harvest Bible Chapel insiders, Rick Donald was not just James MacDonald's right-hand man; he was also his "hatchet man" or "smiling assassin." Load more We all need to do it together, etc, etc. James Macdonald is a wolf and sadly so many have been fooled by this charlatan. In a recent Instagram story, Visconti, pastor of Generation Church in Mesa, claimed abuse is not a biblical justification for divorce. And in an Instagram post on November 21 that received 5,621 likes Visconti wrote: A weak woman with a strong husband will become a strong woman. What is the point of bringing this pastors political views into the story? Gosh she is just filthy with gossip as fact and at very best half the story. I believe the board was deceived by Satan. Thats what meeting and when youre in a conference called and youre making a decision like that, every elder everybody on the meeting on the call had to make right had the voice be asked any question you have. According to anindependent auditof Harvest Bible Chapel, disgraced celebrity pastor, James MacDonald, siphoned off millions in church funds to support his lavish lifestyle. My spouse and I and many others went to college with James in the eighties in Canada. I remember waking up that morning. And whats so tough in this whole thing is that there are wolves among the sheep. She wanted me to look at it. Well, because Scripture says you do it in front of everybody. And I, the next day, I wrote and said, Well, okay, I respect your wishes. Right, so now you have this meeting that ends you know, Tuesday night meeting that ends in the wee hours of the Wednesday, February 6. We dont know what it would look like tomorrow. And then he apologized. But some of these people, for 10 years or more, had been maligned. And there was a group and we had two prayer meetings of people who had been former elders, staff people who have gone on the record with me. And had those letters not reach the board, its hard to say where James McDonald would be today. I just knew the Lord made it clear I had to do it. I agree that its loving to speak the truth, even when its unpopular, but the New Testament also has a lot to say about the way we conduct ourselves and how we should treat each other. This wasnt anything else. I was at work. But I had all I had all the letters by that point. Makes me sad and understand why his life went out of control. And if I would, you know, post some sort of statement. Yeah. 28 Feb 2023 13:40:27 A Christian leader, according to 1 Timothy 3:3, should not be "greedy for filthy lucre.". I followed his ministry for almost 2 decades. Imagine such a thing. *, In an email to TRR, Gregoire claimed that Viscontis view about women does not match the research. And there were several of us saying, you know, looking at I Timothy 5, looking at Hebrews 13:17, which tells us that elders are going to give an account. But again, reading those letters, and it does have a different impact when you read the actual letter than someone summarizes it. Any update on the James MacDonald vs Harvest debacle? I remember praying before the Harvest Elgin campus as a garage, and its a former corporate space. So then James McDonald flies in, right? And theres Ephesians 5 about exposing the unfruitful works of darkness having nothing to do with those. Opinion: What is Revivaland is it Happening at Asbury? So thats, thats February 5, 2019. Yeah, I got sued, but the case got dropped. So the topic of you know, among other things, the topic of the meeting that night on the agenda was to go through the letters to look at the charges and to walk through it and decide, does he meet the qualifications of an elder? I remember talking and saying, guys, were all going to give an account to the Lord one day for what were doing in this meeting. Am I characterizing that correctly? Its almost like he got a bit weird with elephant conference and his new ministry associations as he left the Gospel Coalition and jumped into the Prosperity group. So for Jim McDonald to say that he didnt remember like, Im not buying it, right? Hes not qualified. And my job was to get it to fellow elder board. That was a very common part of how Harvest approached things like that. Longtime leader of the Chicago-area megachurch Harvest Bible Chapel James MacDonald has been ousted as senior pastor in light of unsavory remarks he made on a hot mic that were aired on local media Tuesday. And there was a voicemail from one of the pastors at Harvest, in a really sort of pushing for me to sign that put my name to that. And there were a number in the room who were looking at I Timothy 5, thats for those who persistence sin rebuke them in the presence of all so that the rest may stand in fear. I see that as just simply implicating a larger group and a conspiracy to use church money for stuff that was never intended. pretty rotten.. We see this is the third article this month youve found worth reading. I feel that our beginnings, KJV or influences kept many people locked in to the Old Testament, with all of its Thou Shalt nots. One person suggested reading the New Testament first for a change and then read the Old Testament for the beginnings, the stories and allegories and basically manmade superstitions and misogynies. Whats the point of arguing the point, you know, like, okay, youre gonna say you dont remember that part. Well, maybe it had approval by the executive elders, maybe it had approval by Fred Adams, who was the CFO at the time. The ministry is growing, we should expect to be attacked. And I dont know whether it was Rick Donald, who was was talking at that point about he had the letters, and didnt think that the elders should read all of them. I know its your hope too, Dan, and I just want to thank you. And I thought, Oh, my gosh! Subscribe here for Pastor James' twice-weekly email devotionals straight to you inbox, plus occasional updates regarding his ministries, events, and personal news. My strength is dried up, as by the heat of summer. Hi. According to The Elephant's Debt (TED), a blog critical of MacDonald that launched in the summer of 2012, MacDonald was then taking a salary over $500,000, and living on a $1.9 million estate. The whole crooked machine needs to be brought down. To myself, I said, and do our job. So, Dan, thank you for that. And a few days later James MacDonald's sons, Luke and . I mean, again, it was a meeting into the wee hours of the night, early morning. But this is a story that just is not going away. Get new articles and breaking news delivered to your inbox. Hi. And I said, Listen, I get it. Malachi 2:16 has been harmfully interpreted & practiced based on twisted translations, Malachi 2 clearly talks about husbands dealing treacherously w their wives these husbands are the ones who hate and divorce 16 The man who hates and divorces his wife, says the Lord, the God of Israel, does violence to the one he should protect, says the Lord Almighty. What really caused Harvest Bible Chapel to fire James McDonald? James McDonald recently did a video with Ron Duitsman, as you said, former chairman of the elder board, where he claims this was all part of a campaign by Dallas Jenkins, who's a former executive leadership team member at Harvest. Give a gift of $30 or more to The Roys Report this month, and you will receive Escaping the Maze of Spiritual Abuse by Dr. Lisa Oakley and Justin Humphreys. Not all the elders had physical copies of the letters at that point. Your tax-deductible gift helps our journalists report the truth and hold Christian leaders and organizations accountable. It was demonic. And I got it. No, its not how it went down, Julie. Later that night, or first thing you know, into the wee hours of the next morning, the communication was out to the people of Harvest, and it was over. So Rick had been there 29 plus years. And I remember being in the meeting thinking, I cant believe were arguing about this. And I did it. And he was the elder who insisted that scathing letters written by former and current staff at Harvest actually reached the members of the board. So Rick was in the meeting, as were others, and they were defending saying the elders should not have the letters. I remember saying to the larger board, Guys, it is the grace of God that we have these letters. Gary, Just finished my post on clarifiers that will precede the deception lists. But by the time we were done that night, the decision that night was two things. Patient, kind, not self-seeking. I was thrown out of the church we gave our lives to by a group of rogue leaders, MacDonald writes. So Im deeply grateful for their faithful support. How do spot a safe pastorand can. Its not being nice, polite, or inoffensive. And marital and sexual satisfaction plummet., We are meant to set aside power and authority and serve one another (Matthew 20:25-28) as we are partnered together (Ecclesiastes 4:9-12), Gregoire added. I pray for the man. Im Julie Roys. . And you have James McDonald coming in, from the United States, getting off the plane for a little bit, doing a few meetings, which I guess he complained about doing. Well, and thanks so much for listening to The Roys Report, a podcast dedicated to reporting the truth and restoring the church. And at the end of the night, we looked around the room, we had talked through it. So he was fired. James MacDonald and Harvest: Years of Discord . And I had already written back to Executive Committee Chairman at the time and said, we cannot say unconditional support. And it became so obvious to be like that that was what it was. Would you consider making a tax-deductible donation to help our journalists continue to report the truth and restore the church? Church, Ministry News And we got to a Saturday meeting then on the ninth. Five of the six have been published. Other posts decried abortion, transgenderism, and Christians who are apolitical or nice.. And then immediately after I felt that relief, I thought of Betsy Corning. Christian Rocker Posts Stunning Response to Recent Apostasy of Christian Leaders, Chicago Radio Host & a Former Bodyguard Say James MacDonald Asked Them to Arrange Murders, James MacDonald Took Millions from Harvest & Now Demands Broadcast Ministry, Mancow Airs Shocking Comments By James MacDonald: My Response. Mine havent offered any blessings, but at least they havent eaten my extremities while I sleep. And why do you do it in front of everybody? I called him. Julie, thank you for your excellent work in exposing that which is done in darkness, among the body of Christ. Come out of her, my people. Maybe if the shoe was on the other foot and the men were the ones being abused we might hear them singing a different tune. And when I look back at it, thats what I think. @Cynthia Wright Love your comment. Ive already told you there was consensus from board. Hes talking about James McDonald, but not calling him out by name. Tell Harvest Church board hows the fruit now? Great! And I was just, it was entertaining, you know, on one level, but on the other level, just absolutely tragic. That this was all a plot by him that he was vengeful, towards James McDonald. I remember one other elder leading over to me and said repentant people dont ask for money. There were elders and influential families that spoke against Moses in the desert, God destroyed them and their families. A strong woman with a weak husband will become a toxic woman. Im Julie Roys. year. Voice of James MacDonald Believed to Be Featured in Vulgar Comments. And I gotta tell you, the people of Harvest, the people who were there before, the people who were still there, were so forgiving. And all of the elders should resign and repent for what they did. So if you cant say anything, I mean, again, hes dismissive of the actual letters. Dr. John Street, the head of counseling at MacArthurs The Masters University, takes a harder line. And I hadnt I hadnt signed that yet, I hadnt given a statement yet. If you went back to when the Elephants Debt was launched, I think this is telling. . I dont know how many people had heard of it. There was a whole discussion about whether he was repentant and I said, I dont know, hes not repentant. On January 7, 2019, Harvest elders announced they decided to drop the lawsuit against Julie Roys and four other individuals. He scared me in bible college I wanted nothing to do with him. So that we could live in freedom. And I know its cost you personally. He had joined, I think a year into, into Harvests history. And I sat down on the couch in my office and cried. Tell me about that meeting and what he did. TRR reached out to Visconti numerous times for comment about his partnership with MacDonald and his provocative social media posts, but Visconti did not respond. All my legal fees got paid. And the things that were done to them after they left. Well, you know, we laugh about it. I remember as a young pastor first hearing about James at a 2002 Moody Pastors Conference and reading his well written book on hermeneutics with an apologetic leaning and being blessed from his book. He was in Walk in the Word studios apparently, and said some really vile things, including, you know, joking about putting child porn on a computer, joking about me having an affair with a Christianity Today editor, which has no basis in fact whatsoeve. And they said, I remember Dan telling me that that James slammed his fist on the table. And I just asked the Holy Spirit to show me You have to show me You have to show me whats going on. So what happened? Give a gift of $30 or more to The Roys Report this month, and you will receive Escaping the Maze of Spiritual Abuse by Dr. Lisa Oakley and Justin Humphreys. Thank you for loving the Church and the Lord God Almighty, to take the hard but righteous way rather than the hard way. I said, Sandy, Im so sorry, for what happened on my watch. I encourage you to talk to Christian doctors who are fearful of extreme under no circumstances legislation that now forces molested preteens to give birth, and makes it difficult to treat a septic (Proverbs 27:12). And if he doesnt, what does that mean in terms of employment at Harvest Bible Chapel? But like you do what that says and the people responded as you hope Christians do. I think of a few things Julie. I just know I got them. And we were at an absolute stalemate. The Roys Report seeks to foster thoughtful and respectful dialogue. Pastor Platforming James MacDonald Says Strong Women with Weak Husbands Become 'Toxic' By Julie Roys December 22, 2022 5:39 pm CST 26 Comments Pastor Ryan Visconti of Generation Church in Mesa, Arizona, is attracting attention for his partnership with James MacDonald and provocative social media posts. I totally get the emotion that you must have felt because I felt it, too. Do you expect ANYONE to say yes to your question. Yeah Cynthia. She keeps demanding I tithe to her and she will ask god to bless me. Theres a number of narratives out there right now about how these letters came to the elder board. And then if you could, please share the podcast on social media so more people can hear about this great content. However, there were a number of people in the room who did know him and knew him well. H arvest Bible Chapel and founding pastor James MacDonald have announced that they plan to drop their lawsuit against The Elephant's Debt bloggers and Julie Roys after a court today denied. Were supposed to approve this budget, and we dont even have a line item. We see this is the third article this month youve found worth reading. Is that an accurate representation? Keep in touch with Julie and get updates in your inbox! We will talk through it. Great! It is grounds for separation but not divorce., This view is popular in fundamentalist Christian circles. And I looked at it, and I could not read the whole letter in one sitting. So I mean, again, this was round. If youd like to find me online, just go to Julieroys.com. Yes, I agree. Christian counselor and author, Leslie Vernick, took exception to Viscontis post. And I listened to it. Your tax-deductible gift helps our journalists report the truth and hold Christian leaders and organizations accountable. Rather, its helping those in bondage find freedom. And I want to help people lead the church well. You can imagine it wasnt it wasnt long before the elders were, you know, talking and I dont remember the timing exactly. How come church leaders and male congregants are always beating up the women with this particular Scripture but no one ever (to my knowledge) addresses the husbands responsibility to love their wives as Christ loved the church? So its critically important that the truth be told. Give a gift of $30 or more to The Roys Report this month, and you will receive a copy of "Escaping the Maze of Spiritual Abuse" by Dr. Lisa Oakley and Justin Humphreys. In an email to The Roys Report (TRR), Vernick noted that in the Old Testament, Abigail, the wife of the boorish and immature, Nabal, was a strong woman, married to a weak characterand she wasnt toxic. Your tax-deductible gift helps our journalists report the truth and hold Christian leaders and organizations accountable. And he conspired with these staff to bring these letters because they all just were out to get James. And when I read that, I just shook my head. So this is going to be a fascinating podcast. I mean, even though at this point, your eyes have been opened. I still dont understand all sides of the transgender issue, but can say 2 things: 1. How can a husband love his wife as Christ loved the church when he is emotionally, mentally, physically, and sexually abusive? No, it wasnt edited. Give a gift of $30 or more to The Roys Report this month, and you will receive Escaping the Maze of Spiritual Abuse by Dr. Lisa Oakley and Justin Humphreys. And again, this was on the churchs dime. And she immediately said, Ill write a letter. I remember sitting on my couch waiting to press the button to publish it. The Asbury Revival Is Over. Very sad situation for James and the elders as well. But by the middle of day, right, we were talking about how we were clearly going to have to have an elder board meeting that night. My husband and I pray that anyone who has been hurt or used by Im can heal. And he says he refuses to read it and says hes not going to mislead the congregation. No, Julie Roys did not open the hood on James MacDonald, although she in her own hubris would like her audience to think that. And welcome to the podcast. But its also an important podcast, because as you may know, James McDonald is aggressively trying to rewrite history and relaunch his ministry. . And marital and sexual satisfaction plummet.. So far, I feel the leadership of my current church embodies this well. Its loving to give medicine to a sick patient, and its loving to speak the truth to a deceived person.. For narcissists, attracting attention is the point. "Mancow Airs Shocking Comments By James MacDonald": Julie Roys' Response February 12, 2019 Cherie Vandermillen [Julie Roys] I never thought I would hear an evangelical, mega-church pastor talk about planting child pornography on the computer of an executive at a Christian publication. That would be my word to Ron Duitsman. There were voices raised. Honestly dont to this day. And Dean Butters letter came in that way as well. The only joy in doing this is we would be obeying Gods word. Following allegations of years-long bullying and financial misconduct, the lead pastor and executive team of an Association of Related Churches (ARC) megachurch, Everyone was laughing and goading, like it was a jokeuntil it wasnt. But But I remember saying to the guys, listen, heres the passages Ive been studying. Divorce is a civil remedy that is necessary when there is abuse, physical, emotional, financial, or even when people are incompatible. So were in the meeting. 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