Also, an Instagram comment by a person who appears to be the wife of a well-known Christian figure states that MacDonald is heading to the West Coast.
In a video released on February 14, MacDonald announced that in 40 days, he would have his first “public opportunity to preach,” but did not give any further details.
However, over the weekend, someone with the Instagram account chelseacameron8 commented on a post by MacDonald that she was praying for MacDonald and his wife’s “move.” She added, “Welcome to the West Coast. Can’t wait to see you and to be front and center to receive the gift of your teaching.”
Chelseacameron8 is a private account, but appears to be owned by Chelsea Noble, the wife of popular Christian actor and TV host, Kirk Cameron.
I reached out to Kirk Cameron through multiple avenues to confirm his wife’s account, but he did not respond. However, the Camerons are known to be friends of the MacDonalds and appeared in a picture that Kathy MacDonald posted to Instagram in August of last year.
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Also, an Instagram comment by “ahnacameron,” who appears to be a daughter of Kirk Cameron and Chelsea Noble, states: “love u mom and dad” and tags both Kirk Cameron’s official Instagram account and @Chelseacameron8.
The home that MacDonald just listed is the same one that he claimed in an interview for my 2018 exposé on Harvest was smaller than his previous 6,700-square foot home in Inverness, Illinois. This was significant because in 2014, the elders at Harvest announced that MacDonald had made “several personal lifestyle adjustments,” including “downsizing” from his home in Inverness (which sold for $1.8 million in 2014) to “a smaller home in Elgin.”
Also, during the 2018 interview, MacDonald refuted claims that he had “only pretended to cut back on his lifestyle” in 2014, calling such claims “false.”
The current listing does not give the square footage of the house. However, an appraisal that an attorney for MacDonald submitted to the tax assessor’s office states that the home has 6,891 square feet of gross living area, plus a 2,600 square-foot garage and a more than 2,000-square-foot finished basement.
The listing also notes that the home has “extraordinary finishes throughout,” “custom built cabinetry,” and a “gourmet kitchen with walk-in pantry and top of the lines appliances.” It adds that the “master retreat on the main level features a den, walk in closet, en suite, and workout room.”
The listing says the second floor has a loft, library, three bedrooms and two bathrooms. The home also has a finished basement “perfect for entertaining” and an outdoor in-ground pool.
According to the listing, the home also sits on 10 acres. Presumably, MacDonald bought an adjacent five-acre parcel, which was vacant.
The agent listing MacDonald’s home is Wincy Mathew, a local realtor whose husband, Philip Mathew, serves as the director of information technology at Harvest Bible Chapel.
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131 Responses
So according to your logic when you talk about Hyenas or pharisees on this blog titled…..”James McDonalds home listed for 1.9 million dollars possibly moving to the west coast”…. that you must be talking about James McDonald.
Jessica:
THANK YOU for your research.
May I please ask a question?
Why would you suggest the HBC church possibly might be involved with part-ownership/agreement with the Elgin house?
For many years, James MacDonald earned well over 1.3 million dollars annually through multiple revenue streams.
Is it Not safe to assume that James could easily fork over cash for this property ?
This man has absolutely no shame and I’m certain no conscience either. This palace he and his wife lived in says a lot about the level of selfishness and greed they both immersed themselves in. I hope they are both satisfied with the wake of broken people they have left behind as it relates to the personal finances they stole from so many thousands of people over such an extended period of time. I think I can hear the Lord saying, “you have your reward in full”
And his kids have reaped the benefits too, both landing gigs in CA and AZ.
Dear Jeanine,
I’m not a former or current congregant at HBC. I don’t even live in the same state. What I can say is that Julie has reported FACTS. These are not in dispute. Jessica has also stated a number of irrefutable facts with an interpretation tying those facts together. Could she be wrong on some points? Possibly, but she is left to connect the dots because of the fog of deception emanating from MacDonald et al over the years.
You, however, have not stated any facts nor have you provided an interpretation of facts which would call into question Julie or Jessica’s work. What I’m saying is this: you are simply attacking, throwing mud, and undercutting their character. Those are the gears of gossip lubricated by the froth of your mouth.
Sincerely,
Craig
The comments here are a reason that I think Julie needs to move on from reporting on James MacDonald and his sin. Her reports are looking more and more like revenge for the fact that she was wronged. I am not defending JM at all, but the story has been exposed, so maybe it’s time to move on. I also don’t understand how he has not been charged with a crime in civil courts, but the state of Illinois is known for a less than honest government. What does all the bickering do for the body of Christ? Pray for the situation but constantly being a finger-pointer isn’t helping the church. Distance from JM and move along.
If we’re Christians, I’m not sure exposure is the end of the story. Repentance, accountability and reconciliation are the goal. MacDonald continues to defy church discipline, to deny his wrong, and to libel and defame his detractors; on top of that, he wants to start a new ministry, which will be tainted by his hard-hearted self-service and likely hurt other sheep (and increase JM’s own guilt). How is this story over?
*to deny his wrong-doing
@CarolHubbard is 100% correct & she already stipulated JM should be in jail. I feel the same. He’s dangerous. No one has said he deserves or should be let off. All agree future victims need to be warned. However, how are the personal attacks and digital fisticuffs between former & current members on a blog going to help future victims? The answer is it isn’t. We all love to talk about the Bible having standards for leaders but the truth is the Bible has standards for the body also. God said we are to lay all clamor, envy, anger, wrath, and revenge aside. All of it even if it stems from being misled by a false teacher. You can’t fight sin with more sin. The sad part is that both sides try to weaponize God against each other when the truth is God isn’t in the middle of any of this. God can handle JM and he will. If you believe his word then you should rest in that and let him handle it. JM is on the run. Good. God is long suffering and merciful. It took a long time for JM to reach this point but he’s here, isn’t he? Don’t you think God is on the case? God knew JM would run to Cali and will be right there waiting for him when he gets there. Our arms aren’t as long as God’s and the battle isn’t ours. It’s Gods. The current and former members fighting it out on this blog are disobeying God. Period. Make yourself right and don’t worry about JM. He’s not getting away with anything. It just feels that way right now. God is on top of it. We don’t need to dishonor and disrespect ourselves or the body in some warped attempt to rescue others. That’s God’s job. There is a right way and a wrong way to do everything. This way is wrong. We’ve all experienced “church hurt.” I (and dozens of other people) were ripped off by a professing Christian who claims to be a minister. Paul experienced church hurt. Jesus experienced it! We’re no better than them. Easier said than done but we are to give that hurt to God and walk away from it so that we can heal (easier said than done). You can’t heal if you keep ripping the band aid off. This blog has done a lot of good and can do a lot more. I pray for Julie and her work. I pray for the body. The comment section is lending itself to division and a poor public testimony which is a shame.
Carla ,You have given me alot to think about …thank you.
Carol,
You are incorrect to state that Julie needs to stop reporting on JMac. At least Bill Hybels had the brains to remain silent and stay in hiding. JMac wishes to proceed forward as a false prophet, continue to fool the world as be used as a tool and agent of Satan. A true and sincere Christian Pastor will always put Jesus first and shepherd His flock according to his calling found in Scriptures. JMac left the church with $40M in debt and wishes to profit in his new online business venture. While others go homeless, lives in cars and storage units, two people live in a 7,000 SF $1.9+ million MacMansion. Julie’s reporting is a warning to those who may fall under his spell and to show in detail his corruption which reveals more each and every time. To “finger-point” and make the assumption that “her reports are looking more and more like revenge for the fact that she was wronged” is false and not fact. Putting one’s head in the sand and ignoring the problem allowed him to bullied his way these many years. If you wish this JMac reporting to stop; may I ask that you take the initiative to contact Kim Foxx , the FBI, the IRS and other agencies to press charges for his crimes. Thank You in advance.
I absolutely know that God sees my heart! I know God also sees the misuse of the sheep. I’ll pray God allows you to see the hurt James has caused.
Hey Jeanine (James) you never replied to my offer to meet you in person after you called me a liar from the daily herald comment section. Must take a lot of work to manage all your fake accounts, twitter, Facebook, Instagram and on top of it all keeping up your fake name on every post you comment on regarding yourself lol! Offer still stands to meet in person
If Mrs. Roys got in, I’d be impressed. Typically a visit to a lot of these million dollar plus homes involves more than just “my realtor suggested I look”, as the owners are touchy about who they let in.
So… looking at your remarks and @CarolHubbard’s, is the issue Julie’s updates, the comments section, or both? What is the ‘way’ that is wrong? I’d point out that many of your arguments are applied much earlier in other situations, in an attempt to preclude or prevent initial exposure not only of sin but even of crimes. Who decides when the church ‘lets go and lets God’? Who decides when enough has been said, or what the ‘band-aid’ is, or when it has been adequately applied? Perhaps some of the answers are subjective, because the Holy Spirit works in us in different ways. Some people may not be able to cope spiritually (or physically or emotionally) with continuing controversy, while others are called to keep speaking up. It’s true that sometimes there is nothing more that can be done or said, and I agree it’s not useful to have professing believers hurling insults in the comments section; but I think there is room for even heated discussion, and plenty of room on the internet to keep up with the Rock Star pastors of this age, especially since I don’t read a vengeful or incendiary tone in Julie’s writing. Finally, she is a journalist. Like it or not, some of this stuff is News, and JM evidently wants to remain a public figure. Of course Mrs Roys has a Christian responsibility to be discerning in her work….I guess I’ll just close by saying I disagree, and that God can handle Julie!
Thank you so much for your insights, Carla.
Just had a truly great idea…….saw where crystal lake is demolishing the house where the parents lived and killed their son. SO…….
Harvest needs to buy and demolish jmacs house where he lived and killed his ministry!
Hi David.
Some history might be helpful:
In 2005, in the middle of Harvest’s “Seize the Opportunity” capital campaign, James MacDonald used a land trust to purchase a home in Inverness for ~$1.9 million from Senator Patrick Fitzgerald. The sale is in county records, but at the time was also reported in Chicago Magazine. Many congregants who learned about the purchase expressed concerns to Elders/leaders but were largely ignored. Incredibly, this was during the time that the church was amassing tens of millions in debt, unbeknownst to the Congregation. So, while “Rome was burning,” Nero was laughing. Side note: HBC’s 2005 audited financials remain MIA.
For that purchase, MacDonald (or rather, the trust) took a $1.4 million mortgage, which implies a $500K down payment. In 2008, the trust took a $200K line of credit. Three years later, the $1.4M mortgage was replaced by a $990K mortgage. Then, in 2013, during Harvest’s “5G” capital campaign, a couple interesting things happened: (1) both the $990K mortgage and the $200K line of credit were released, leaving no apparent debt on the property, (2) there was an assignment of beneficial interest from the trust to an undisclosed party/entity. Was that the church? I don’t know. But that possibility works with the relevant numbers in Harvest’s financials from that year.
I put the question of whether the church assumed the debt on the Inverness house, was in that land trust, etc. to the church’s former lawyer this week, and he declined to respond, citing attorney-client privilege.
The Inverness property sold in late 2014, but in February 2014, HBC Elders said that the MacDonald’s had downsized, made lifestyle adjustments, etc. The home they moved to in Elgin (pictures available on The Elephant’s Debt) wasn’t a purchase, but a rental or other temporary agreement. Meanwhile, MacDonald – again via land trust – purchased a 5-acre vacant wooded parcel on a private road elsewhere in Elgin for $220,000. No mortgage recorded. Google Earth photos show the home being built in 2015. A construction loan for $770,000 was taken in 2015. That was replaced with a $990,000 mortgage in 2016, from the bank of which a sitting Elder was President.
The other 5 acres was purchased in 2018 for $200,000. Tax records suggest that one of MacDonald’s LLCs made that purchase. No mortgage taken. The former church lawyer told me this week that no church funds were used in the purchase of the additional 5 acres but said he could not answer questions about the current sale of the property because he isn’t involved.
Yes, Harvest has disclosed that MacDonald was making over a $1 million. But he/the land trusts took mortgages. This is not a man who practiced one set of principles with church finances and a completely different set with his own.
Based on available records and myriad disclosures of financial improprieties, the question is how, not if, James MacDonald worked his housing situation to his advantage. Any reasonable person who has actually looked at the evidence from almost two decades would wonder whether the church is or was involved in the purchase/ownership of MacDonald’s homes. Thus far, Harvest Elders (past and present) have said nothing about the church’s past or current involvement with MacDonald’s residences. Seems like an easy thing to clear up – especially if the church was never involved and isn’t currently.
Obviously, I’m not in the position to get answers from my former church about this. Current Congregants are, if they have concerns based on what I’ve presented. If not, that’s their prerogative.
I personally am glad Julie is staying at this. It really is not about the past, but what he can and will do going forward. Exposing a religious leader that is unrepentant and unwilling to change needs to be exposed if they are seeking to continue to do what is harmful. As an ex-member (20+ years) of that church and one that is personally working through the harm he did to me and my family, it is hard to see this stuff linger, But,continued pressure is needed. ,
Jeaninne…have you listened to the open mic?
Everywhere you use Pharisee insert James MacDonald. FIFY. You’re welcome.
Why did God allow all the sin JMac committed at HBC to go on and on and on and on and on? To continue to expose the depth of his deviance is the very least JMac deserves on this earth.
Because those of us who were sounding the alarms for 20 years were ignored and pushed aside.
Carol, your comment indicates that some facts may bear repeating. James was fired then declared fully disqualified from any form of ministry by his own Elders. Despite this biblical disqualification, the unrepentant MacDonald stubbornly refuses to submit to his biblical Elders, which God installed over him. He is already launching his own new Home Church Network where he intends to be the spiritual authority over thousands of small home churches, for cash. Think of all the ruin that will cause.
James is also trying to relaunch WITW and his Act Like Men events. He is now moving to the West Coast with the promise of launching yet a different major new ministry there, despite telling current donors that his ministry would remain in Illinois. Imagine how they now feel? Is it really better to let them keep donating to something that is a lie?
James is receiving the endorsement of TBN star Kirk Cameron, who has an audience of millions. He continues to file vindictive lawsuits against members of his own flock whom he personally baptized. He used tithes to bribe his way to an OpEd that claimed that all pastors should be able to sue members who speak up. That legacy of horrific abuse now lives on.
James was able to manipulate his flock into giving him over a half a billion dollars in under 12 years. This was done in middle class neighborhoods where tens of thousands gave sacrificially. He personally pocketed over $10M himself, in just the last several years.
If James wants the posts on his ongoing financial misdeeds, lies, deceit and mayhem to go away, he should retire off his tens of millions in tithes or pursue a different line of work. It’s just that simple. JAMES is the one keeping JAMES in the spotlight. Disqualified wolves refusing to leave the pulpits in the pursuit of more millions in donations is what is harming the Body of Christ, not those seeking to warn others.
When you think of all the squandered money and violated trust of all your fellow Christians, why would any believer wish that much betrayal and abuse on more Christians? This attitude of “well, we learned our lesson, the rest of you suckas are on your own” is what is continuing to damage Christianity. Carol, please stop and reflect on how differently you would feel if you and other Harvest members had been more thoroughly warned about what James was up to? What if the books hadn’t been cooked to conceal the enormous personal enrichment of those at the top? Think of all the thousands of sheep who would not be disillusioned and battered right now? Doesn’t at least part of you wish that the Executive Committee had disclosed all of the bad actions that they knew about? Can you not see how much that would have helped the tens of thousands who have come and gone through Harvest?
The Bible charges all of us to be Bereans. As long as James is continuing to fleece more sheep while being biblically disqualified, I pray that all writers with a conscience and compassion will continue to write about this wolf. His future “marks” deserve as much warning as you did, when the Executive Committee failed you. These posts are for them, not the people who were already harmed.
Carla, one of the larger supporters of James right now is the Bartholomew family in Naples, FL. That’s the same family suing Harvest Naples over their lease. They are generous millionaires who do a lot of philanthropy and it’s no surprise that James immediately glommed on to them.
Joyce Bartholomew has personally defended James saying that the rumors of his extravagant living are “fake news”. She claims that his $1.9M mansion on 10 acres is merely a cabin with some added on extensions. A fairly humble abode. I have no idea what pictures of this mansion James and Kathy were showing the Barts, but I’m pretty sure they didn’t look like the above. I think that James’ current donors deserve to see what their donations are paying for.
I can see you have an enormous love for the church. I am guessing that you understand that part of what the church is here to do is to be the “body” of Christ. To literally be His hands and feet. Perhaps you simply haven’t met as many people as I have who have been forever burned off of God due to wolves like this. If we are His hands and feet, why do you think that shining the light of truth isn’t part of that extension of the Lord? I don’t think it is bitter or vengeful to post these pictures when James did lie about downsizing and is continuing to lie to current large donors about his lifestyle.
Some do need to ignore the pain in order to heal. No one should judge them for that. But some are called to be Bereans. Why would we judge those fulfilling a biblical mandate? We should each head the call that God has on our lives.
Jeannine – please….give your pointer finger a moment of rest. You are guilty of every single accusation you make against others in your comments, but you are so busy educating everyone that you aren’t listening to yourself.
JL…
What’s going on, lady?
Why so much bitterness?
Why all these accusations?
Repent? Yes.
That’s all. :)
If a house reveals reveals a heart, the pictures tell a story.
Cold, ostentatious.
James always said
“You are Loved.”
Okay. So why doesn’t he believe it?
“Unless You ravish me, chaste I will never be.”
-John Donne
The interior was done by “Designs by Maida”. She also did the interior remodel for the Camp Harvest Pastors House. As well as JMac’s office remodel that cost around $100,000. To think that snake oil wolf MacDonald was pressing for more offerings while living in that luxury. All the while the Elders knew of this. Priceless. And the farce of their Act Like Men shindigs!
Signed,
Sick to my stomach – yeah ya’ll stole my money
Jeaninne…would love an answer as to whether or not you listened to the open mic…you’ve answered everyone else.
From the Babylon Bee: “Man Led To Christ After Christian In Comments Section Declares Him Total Moron”. https://babylonbee.com/news/man-led-to-christ-after-christian-in-comments-section-declares-him-total-moron
I have shared this before, but this seems to be an appropriate time to share James preaching from pre-2008, listen at 2:47 mark for his opinion on pastors living in million dollar homes
https://youtu.be/opeGjWXi35Q