A reverend from Ebenezer Baptist Chapel in Buckey, North Wales, U.K. is currently in hot water after the eye-catching slogans he displayed outside the church have been deemed by the city council as advertising.
Rev. Bob Marshall's slogans carry messages such as "Forgiveness is swallowing when you want to spit" and "Honk if you love Jesus: Text while driving if you want to meet Him," according to the Daily Mail.
The Flintshire council's chief of planning Andrew Farrow told Marshall that he has to apply for advertisement consent for the signs first; otherwise, local authorities would take action against him.
Marshall, who came from Indiana in the United States, has been rotating messages on the church board every couple of weeks for the past few years to make people think and smile. Marshall insisted that the messages are not for advertisement contrary to what the Flintshire council believes.
Marshall received a letter from Farrow on Nov. 14, saying, "I can confirm that advertisement consent would be required and having checked the planning records it would appear no consent has been sought or granted. In the circumstances, you will need to apply for advertisement consent."
He was then ordered to remove the message on the board within seven days of receipt of the letter. For Marshall, it's quite "petty" for the council to be targetting him. He feels like they are trying to show the church who really is in charge.
"They are saying we have to have permission for an advertisement. We are a church, not a business, and these are not adverts and it is on our property," he said. "They are sayings to make people smile and think which I change just about every week. It's a community sign. I've had scores of people come up to me say thanks. I don't understand why the council has asked me to do this now, I have been doing it for a few years."
Meanwhile, a lot of people got upset with his message "Forgiveness is swallowing when you want to spit," alleging that it carries a double meaning about a sexual act.
Marshall apologised for it and said, "The Lord helped me take it down because the wind blew it over."
