James MacDonald (pastor)

Dr. James S. MacDonald is a popular Protestant minister, author, and speaker. He is the founding and senior pastor of Harvest Bible Chapel, which is located in Rolling Meadows, Illinois.

Biography

Dr. MacDonald was born in London, Ontario, Canada October 4, 1960. He received degrees from London Baptist Bible College (B.A. of Theology, 1984), Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (M.A. in Religion, 1988), and Phoenix Seminary (Doctor of Ministry, 1996). Together, he and his wife, Kathy (married July, 1983), reside in a northwest suburb of Chicago and have three children.

Ministry

Dr. MacDonald was ordained at Riverside Baptist Church in Windsor, Ontario in 1985. Since 1988 he has served as senior pastor at Harvest Bible Chapel, which is a church based on the unapologetic proclamation of God's Word, lifting high the name of Jesus Christ in worship, boldness in evangelism, and the priority of prayer. Harvest Bible Chapel has a weekly attendance of more than 11,000. It is noteworthy that Dr. MacDonald's preaching style is not considered seeker-sensitive. In 2008, Outreach Magazine featured Harvest Bible Chapel as one of the fastest growing churches in America.

Additionally, Harvest has launched 40 new churches in the U.S. and abroad.

Since 1997, Dr. MacDonald's daily half-hour radio broadcast, Walk in the Word, has been heard across North America. In addition to being carried by over 860 outlets in the U.S., the broadcast can also be heard in Canada, Guam, South America, Africa, Europe, Asia, Australia, and on XM Satellite Radio. Its mission is to "ignite passion in the people of God through the proclamation of truth." In its tenth year, the program was awarded the National Religious Broadcasters' 2007 award for "Best Teaching Program of the Year." The broadcasts can be downloaded in truncated form as podcasts from iTunes.

A one-minute feature called "Listen Up" is also in syndication on over 1100 radio stations across America.

Bibliography

• "I Really Want to Change . . . So, Help Me God" (Moody, 2000)
• "Lord, Change My Attitude . . . Before It's Too Late" (Moody, 2001)
• "Seven Words to Change Your Family" (Moody, 2002)
• "God Wrote a Book" (Crossway, 2002)
• "Gripped by the Greatness of God" (Moody, 2005)
• "Downpour: He Will Come to Us Like the Rain" (Broadman & Holman, 2006)
• "Ancient Wisdom" (Broadman & Holman, 2007)
• "Way of Wisdom" (Walk in the Word, 2007)
• "Restore My Soul: A Fresh Look at Psalm 23" (Walk in the Word, 2008)
• "10 Choices: A Proven Plan to Change Your Life Forever" (Thomas Nelson, 2008)

Links

• Walk in the Word daily radio program, *audio archives
• Listen Up one minute radio feature
• Harvest Bible Chapel church started by Pastor James MacDonald
• Harvest Bible Fellowship association of churches
• Harvest Christian Academy preschool through high school
• Straight Up Conference Pastors conference
• Downpour Events Conferences
• JamesMacDonald.com Personal site and blog