MacDonald Shifts the Blame

Over the past several months, numerous reports have circulated back to us, the authors of The Elephant’s Debt, alleging that MacDonald and the leadership of Harvest Bible Chapel were blaming the former leaders of Harvest for the financial crisis that has threatened to overwhelm the church.  But unfortunately, in most cases, these alleged remarks were not being offered in front of the church congregation as a whole; and thus there was little that we could report.  Over at TED we discuss this attempt to blame shift.

 

 

 

Harvest Bible Chapel Employee Released Over a Simple Question

In October of 2012, we released a website known as The Elephant’s Debt.  During the research and writing phase of this project, an astonishing number of stories began to emerge surrounding what some called “the culture of fear” that exists at Harvest Bible Chapel.  Because we were solely focused upon the issue of pastoral character, particularly as it was revealed through a case study of church finances and compensation, we did not avail ourselves of the opportunity to share many of these stories with our readers.  Nevertheless, this “culture of fear” does exist, at least in the minds of some, and over this past week, we are witnessing yet another example whereby seemingly innocent actions suddenly call the loyalty of an employee into question. 

 

“My Resignation” – The Unofficial First Draft

Earlier this week, Blood Stained Ink received an email from the now former personal secretary to James MacDonald, Senior Pastor of Harvest Bible Chapel.  As per her own testimony to us, she has decided to resign from her position, no longer confident that her former boss is fit to serve as an elder at the church.  Moreover, in light of everything she has seen over the years, she no longer feels as if her silence is serving the church, but rather has come around to the conviction that Leviticus 5:1 compels her to speak:

“‘If anyone sins because they do not speak up when they hear a public charge to testify regarding something they have seen or learned about, they will be held responsible.”

Consequently, as she was preparing to leave Harvest this week, she copied numerous files onto a jump drive for the purpose of passing them along to BSI for publication.  Today, we bring you the first of these files, which is the original rough draft of MacDonald’s infamous “resignation” post from 30 April 2013.

 

The Elephant’s Debt Update

Tim Challies speaks on Vertical Church ; Errant Theology of Money; and the Missing Elder Update.

 

Harvest Bible Chapel: MacDonald Addresses The Elephant’s Debt

At the Saturday night service and the two Sunday services, MacDonald read a prepared statement after the message.  Please click here for updates to The Elephant’s Debt regarding his comments.

 

Harvest Bible Chapel … The Debt … The Salary … The Power … The 5G Campaign … The Hope

Over the past few months, Ryan Mahoney and I have spent a great deal of time researching and writing on the subject of James MacDonald and Harvest Bible Chapel.  During that season, many of you have asked us why we write on this subject.  Tonight, we are prepared to offer you part of our story.  For some of you, this may be painful to read; and it may bring up feelings of anger, resentment, or even doubt.  For others, our story may offer you a sense of release – a sense of finally being able to put a finger on the unease many of you have expressed.  For us, we offer this with mixed emotions, many of which are too personal and complicated to fully explain.  But it should not go without mentioning that in the lectionary reading of October 6th, we find two passages (Psalm 92:1-5 and 2 Samuel 1:1a, 17-19; 23-27) that bring us comfort even as they bring us a measure of sadness and lament.  So without further comment, we offer you The Elephants Debt.

www.theelephantsdebt.com

 

Still Haven’t Found What You Are Looking For

“I wish I could find a small but faithful church to attend.  I’d leave the HBF [Harvest Bible Fellowship] in a flash. So tired of being marketed to as if I were a consumer and the church was Madison Ave.”

This comment, which was recently posted on BSI, taps into a core problem faced by many Evangelicals today.  And lest the reader wonder, this is not an isolated situation.  Over the past several months, Scott and I have been asked on numerous occasions where we attend church and why.  Clearly, many within the body are struggling to find a faithful church home; and thus, we post this today in the hopes of helping anyone who is currently searching.  While we cannot tell you where to go, we can tell you where we have planted our roots.

 

James MacDonald’s Vision of a Vertical Church – Part 1

Earlier this fall, Senior Pastor James MacDonald of Harvest Bible Chapel and Walk in the Word ministries embarked on a 40-city promotional book tour of North America.  The goal?  To teach other churches how to get “vertical” and bring down the “glory of God.”

Over the next few days, we will be posting provocative, and sometimes even controversial, excerpts from the accompanying tour book, Vertical Church.

 

Former Pastor at Harvest Bible Chapel Speaks Out

In the most recent discussion spurred on by the post entitled Harvest Bible Chapel: Establishing the Authority of King James, several questions were raised regarding the validity of anonymous sources.  At different times, the discussion even turned to the question of gossip and whether we, as Christians, have the right to ask questions about significant leaders and/or elders who are no longer present at HBC.  Today, in the interest of continuing the discussion about James MacDonald and the internal workings of Harvest Bible Chapel, I would like to draw your attention to comments made by former pastor Rod Van Solkema, on the 25th of July.

 

Harvest Bible Chapel: Establishing the Authority of “King James” …?

In recent days, I received an email from a trusted source who wishes to remain anonymous at this time.  The email in question, which contained a rather telling account of a 2010 meeting amongst Harvest Bible Fellowship senior pastors, directly relates to many of the concerns that have been raised, both by this blog and by others as well.  Nevertheless, because of the nature of the material enclosed, I took it upon myself to confirm the details of the account with three separate sources.  All three men were present at the meeting and all three men confirmed the validity of the account you are about to read.  [Editor: Subsequent to the initial post, another individual stepped forward to confirm the veracity of the account in question. This brings the total to four men testifying to the truth of the following email.]