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).His dissertation was in the area of increasing self disclosure of sin among men based upon James 5:16. Together, he and his wife, Kathy (married July, 1983), reside in a northwest suburb of Chicago and have three children.

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 frequently exceeding 13000. It is noteworthy that Dr. MacDonald's preaching style is not considered seeker-sensitive. In 2010, Outreach Magazine featured Harvest Bible Chapel as one of the fastest growing churches in America. The same publication annually lists Harvest as one of the largest churches (top 25) in America.

Additionally, Harvest has launched almost 70 churches in the U.S. and abroad through the ministry of Harvest Bible Fellowship which annually holds a spring Pastor's conference called Harvest University.

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 almost 1100 radio stations 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' award for "Best Teaching Program of the Year." The broadcasts can be downloaded as podcasts from iTunes. Additionally the weekly pulpit ministry of Dr. MacDonald can be podcast in its entirety from www.harvestbiblechapel.org under the media tab.

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