One of the hallmarks of true repentance is whether a person volunteers his confession. “Or,” in the words of former Harvest Bible Chapel pastor, James MacDonald, “did he just get caught?” These words of wisdom, which MacDonald uttered in a 2017 sermon, seem ironic given MacDonald’s “Repentance” expressed yesterday in a Facebook post.
MacDonald was fired in February after a vulgar “hot mic” recording of his was aired on Macow Muller’s Chicago radio show. This came after numerous articles alleged that MacDonald bullied his staff, elders and their wives; displayed a pattern of deception; and misused church funds.
MacDonald’s apology came after eight months of silence, which MacDonald said he needed “to see the Lord’s hand, see my sin fully and speak about it non-defensively.”
Below are several clips from MacDonald’s sermon, which have since been removed from the internet.
JAMES MACDONALD: “When the news comes out that Person A has been living differently than everyone thought–they’ve plunged their life and their family into ruin and destruction–this is the first question that everyone wants answered: ‘Now, did she volunteer this? Or did she get found out?'”
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JAMES MACDONALD: “Every time they’re like, ‘Did he come forward with this? Or did he get caught?’ Now, the reason why everyone wants to know this is because the river of, ‘Oh, I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I’m sorry,’ that your ability to discern whether that is God-honoring, ‘I’m sorry for my sin toward God, I’m sorry for how I’ve affected others.’ That’s hard to discern from, the legit from the, ‘I’m sorry I got caught. I’m sorry, I look bad.’ And a lot of times, when you get to the bottom of it, the person would have kept on forever if there hadn’t been some consequences to it.”
James MacDonald: “And many people here, across our church, have made choices that they regret. But the only reason you regret it is because of the fallout that happened from it.”
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39 Responses
Hello Julie I am a Pastor in Chicago for over 28 years. The Pastor of New Life is a dear friend of mine, I have reached out via text to the Senior Pastor and expressed my sincere concerns with Pastor James now being a member of his church – my concern is not him being a member per say, I welcome the fact that he is given an opportunity to be restored, my concern is that he has been allowed to preach so quickly without being given ample time for his charcter issues to be dealt with and examined closely. For him to come into an inner city church and begin where he left off without a time to sit and just receive. sets a wrong precedence for young up and coming leaders.
Hello Daniel Cruz:
Has the Assembly of God national committee and Pastor Choco ever seen and read the following below?
These are public record documentation from multiple witnesses.
Are you concerned that the Pastor of New Life has invited James MacDonald ( what Scripture calls a “Ravenous Wolf” ) inside their church in the role of a Teacher?
http://thewartburgwatch.com/tww2/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Dallas-Jenkins-1.pdf
and
https://wonderingeagle.wordpress.com/2019/03/19/analysis-of-the-dean-butters-statement-what-are-the-lessons-learned/
and
https://wonderingeagle.files.wordpress.com/2019/03/dbutters-hbc-story.pdf
and
https://theelephantsdebt.com/
Julie, you wrote, “The only reason I keep reporting on new developments is because James is relaunching at another megachurch in Chicago (New Life Covenant).”
Can you provide absolute proof that James is or will be in ministry with New Covenant Church? His name is nowhere on their site.
And have you considered asking to speak to New Life from their pulpit in order to be certain everyone at New Life has heard about James from you? I’m sure they would welcome you to speak the truth about JMac to their congregation. After all, no Church wants a wolf in their pulpit.
Just an idea for you to consider.
Mary:
“After all, no Church wants a wolf in their pulpit”.
Mary:
Ummmm….except for Harvest.
HBC had a Ravenous Wolf who fleeced millions from un-suspecting middle class church members who had NO Idea what was going on.
http://thewartburgwatch.com/tww2/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Dallas-Jenkins-1.pdf
and
https://wonderingeagle.wordpress.com/2019/03/19/analysis-of-the-dean-butters-statement-what-are-the-lessons-learned/