World published Roys' expose on MacDonald and Harvest, outlining an alleged history of financial mismanagement and abusive leadership by the pastor. The church disputed these claims. Outside groups also faced criticism for scheduling MacDonald for conferences and speaking events. In December 2018, it was announced that MacDonald had withdrawn from his speaking slot at the 2019 Southern Baptist Convention Pastors' Conference. On January 16, 2019, MacDonald took an "indefinite sabbatical from all preaching and leadership," saying in a statement that he has "...battled cycles of injustice, hurt, anger, and fear which have wounded others without cause", and that as a result he has "...carried great shame about this pattern in certain relationships that can only be called sin." On January 25, Chicago radio shock jock Mancow Muller, who described himself as a Harvest attendee and a friend of MacDonald, publicly criticized McDonald's leadership, called for the elders of Harvest to be removed, urged church members to stop making financial contributions until needed changes were made, and asserted that an outside group should be brought in to lead the church. On February 13, MacDonald was fired from Harvest by the church's elders after alleged recordings of him making inappropriate comments. In the recordings, MacDonald joked about orchestrating a plot to blackmail Harold Smith, the CEO of Christianity Today magazine, by planting illegal child pornography on Smith's computer. Financial improprieties On April 17, 2019, after years of claims of financial mismanagement, the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA) terminated Harvest's membership due to "significant violations" of four of seven of ECFA's Seven Standards of Responsible Stewardship. Later reports indicated that MacDonald had used funds from the Walk in the Word ministry to purchase a vintage 1971 Volkswagen Beetle (valued at approximately $13,000) for Ed Stetzer, a contributing editor at Christianity Today. Stetzer reimbursed the ministry in full after learning that ministry funds had been used for the gift. MacDonald also reportedly used church funds to purchase Harley-Davidson motorcycles for "people inside and outside the church." Alleged solicitation to commit murder In May 2019, Mancow Muller claimed that MacDonald had, on two different occasions in 2018, asked Muller if he knew of a hitman for hire. Similarly, former Harvest bodyguard Emmanuel Bucur stated that MacDonald had asked him in 2015 to kill MacDonald's former son-in-law. Bucur and Muller reported their allegations to the police of their respective Illinois towns of Bartlett and Wilmette