The OCeeker: Harvest Orange County and Greg Laurie's Plan for World Domination

Aren't we all brothers and sisters for the Kingdom of God?

Hey Josh -- call up Harvest and ask to interview Laurie about his collection of wristwatches.  Like Jesus said, there will always be poor people; so, buy yourself some fancy watches before time's up.

Wow, I thought you were gonna just go around and bash the hell out of every church in OC with the new column. Really great article, as a Christian myself, its awesome to see these events through your eyes. I knew you guys were cool, espically you Gustavo! So CHEERS, and I'll flip you one of my cigars when you come to my church, cus I know you'll be through eventually :-D

p.s. 1 out of 4 is not bad at all,....praying for 2 for you homie.

Laurie is just doing what any good corporation does - expanding his market territory.  

A gradual increase of income over time is essential to the growth of any business, and trust me, this 'church' IS a business.  

Check out the store and terms of use on the Harvest.org website.  Pushing books and other paraphernalia by Laurie at astonishingly high prices.  

The egocentric nature of these books is a bit distressing. Laurie comes off in much the same way as a cult leader, with endless L Ron Hubbard-like personal manifestos and tomes of self aggrandizement designed to elevate him to some supernatural level.  No matter, if the flock of this church wants to buy this stuff, and apparently they do, I say let them.  I wouldn't want to send the authorities in to check on this guy and his practices - we don't want another Jonestown!

The terms of use for the web site are identical to  any other for profit corporation.  Only difference?  HarvestCorp pays NO income or corporate tax.

I was not surprized by the article. It could be about a million churches in OC.

Harvest Cougars rock!

This is a positive review -- what the hell is wrong with you Xians?

josh my boy, why the mocking? did you really think christians would get offended and click on your story?  the gospel is a seed that is thrown to the world and some of them land on ground that wont bear fruit. by your tone, its obvious you are in that category so we arent mad at you.  we just feel sorry that your life is so miserable that you would mock christians who did nothing to offend you.  

Was it really necessary to bash Greg Laurie for starting another church? I really don't feel that he's stealing from other pastors or churches. There are a ton of churches falling apart right now so I'm sure many people feel this is a safe place to go and are thankful for it. And since does oc weekly have a church critic?

I wish for once the tone of an OC Weekly post wasn't so sophomoric, but still this article touches on an issue that every middle class church-goer refuses to confront. That pastors start churches in well-to-do areas of orange county because that's where they can make the most money.

If any of these churches claims to have a heart for the poor, they would have built a church in Santa Ana or West Anaheim to, not only reach out to those communities that need assistance, but also have their members move there to help transform those neighborhoods in trouble. But, I'm not naive, this won't happen because the reality of church and religion is that it's a medium for like-minded individuals to hook up and keep their children in a segregated environment. 

I just hope that one day churches along the Jamboree corridor embrace this fact (like the Buddhist Churches or the Korean Churches) and stop peddling your hypocrisy. Who knows, honestly and greater exclusivity may result in a higher salary (oops, I mean housing allowance) for the pastoral staff.

P.S. 

Note the passive aggressive, parking lot grudge match between Harvest vs. Newsong Church (aka Whites vs. Koreans). What's even more pathetic is that the only true difference between these churches is race. The sermons are interchangeable.

I have lost all respect for OC Weekly after this article. Well done.