CRN has warned you about Calvary Chapel rock star Greg Laurie for quite some time (here). Many other discernment bloggers have alerted the evangelical community as well. In a piece over at Pulpit & Pen, Jeff Maples offers numerous reasons why Bible believing Christians must flee from the so-called evangelist. According to Maples, “With Greg Laurie, it isn’t about sound doctrine and a solid Gospel message that saves–it’s about “filling the stadiums with youth” to “bring about revival.” It’s a numbers game. It’s about “uniting denominations” into a single, watered-down, inoffensive, ear-tickling, man-pleasing entertaining religion of harmonious solidarity.” Maples continues:
Greg Laurie has been a prominent figure in Christendom for quite some time. He is the senior pastor of Harvest Christian Fellowship in Riverside, CA, one of the largest churches in America. Many have touted him as being the next Billy Graham. In the likeness of Billy Graham’s crusades, Laurie has invested endless efforts in his Harvest Crusades since the early 1990’s, reaching audiences in the hundreds of thousands at every event. Laurie’s popular style of watered-down preaching and making the adulterated Word of God more palatable to the world has helped his empire grow tremendously, and transform Laurie into a celebrity.