‘Why Are People So Afraid of the Bible?’: Billboard Showing Greg Laurie Preaching With Bible Removed Over Complaints, Threat

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. — A billboard advertising the upcoming Southern California Harvest Crusade has been removed from outside a shopping mall after the real estate company that agreed to erect the advertisement said that it had received a number of complaints, as well as a threat, in objection to the religious imagery on the sign.

Harvest Christian Fellowship, led by Greg Laurie, had recently contacted the Irvine Company, which owns the upscale Newport Beach shopping mall known as Fashion Island, to advertise for the upcoming Harvest Crusade. Laurie’s well-known SoCal Harvest has been a regular occurrence for nearly 30 years, attracting tens of thousands of people.

The advertisement simply read “SoCal Harvest, Greg Laurie” and included the date, location, names of musicians appearing and the web address for the event. It also featured an image of Laurie raising a Bible in the air while preaching into a microphone.

However, the Irvine Company soon contacted Laurie’s ministry to advise that there had been multiple complaints and even a threat over the advertisement, which was featured on a billboard near the parking garage. A smaller banner was also displayed at the Irvine Spectrum shopping center.

According to reports, the Irvine Company requested that the advertisements be altered, and Laurie’s staff complied, sending a revised design that did not include the Bible in the graphic. The Irvine Company, however, decided to take the billboard and banner down altogether and refund Harvest’s money.

“We changed it to a more simplified ad that simply said ‘Harvest,’ giving the dates and some of the musical artists that are going to be with us. Then they came back and said they just wanted the ads completely removed and they refunded us,” event Executive Director John Collins told CBN News.

“The thing that goes through my mind, at least, is it’s kind of an indicator of where we are culturally,” he also remarked to The Orange County Register.

Laurie posted about the matter on his blog on Tuesday, asking, “Why are people so frightened of the Bible?”

“If you look closely at the book I am holding up, it does not say ‘Bible.’ There is no cross on it. Yet, the image of someone holding a book up is now offensive to some. (It is indeed a Bible.),” he wrote.

“Everybody needs to just relax a little bit. I see images on billboards and displays in stores that I find offensive all the time. I do not complain or boycott. I just think as Christians we ought to have ‘equal time’ and a voice in the marketplace,” Laurie stated.

As previously reported, in 2013, Laurie also faced pressure from homosexual activists to bow out of leading participants in prayer at a National Day of Prayer event in the nation’s capital since he believes and preaches that homosexual behavior is contrary to the word of God. He refused.

“I won’t back down,” Laurie declared. “They do not want me to pray. They describe me as ‘homophobic’ and so forth. How can you deal with such a situation? We’re in a time in our country now where I’m attacked because I believe what the Bible teaches.”

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