Evangelist Jesse Duplantis Under Fire For Asking For Donations For A $54 Million Jet

Evangelist Jesse Duplantis is under fire for asking for donations for a new $54 million jet.

In a video message, he said he needs the Dassault Falcon 7X so he no longer has to stop to refuel while he’s ministering across the world.

“You know I have owned three different jets in my life and I use them and just burning them up for the Lord, Jesus Christ,” Duplantis said.

“Some people believe that preachers shouldn’t have jets. I really believe that preachers ought to be able to go on every available voice, every available outlet to get this gospel preached to the world,” he continued.

He went on to claim that he had been told by God to ‘believe for’ the plane and that others should too because, as he put it, ‘Jesus wouldn’t be traveling on a donkey’ if he were still alive.

‘He’d be in an airplane preaching the gospel all over the world. Let me just say this. We’re believing God for a brand new Falcon 7X, so we can go anywhere in the world in one stop.

‘Now people say, “My lord, can’t you go with this one?”. “Yes, but I can’t go in one stop”.

‘If I can do it for one stop, I can fly it for a lot cheaper because I have my own fuel farm. And that’s a blessing of the lord.

‘This one here I have to stop and then you pay those exorbitant prices for jet fuel all over the world,’ he said.

You can watch the video here.

Here’s the thing. I’m not freaked out by believing God for things. Like…cool. I’m believing God for a house. Judge. I don’t care. I’m not saying I agree with his style, but at least he’s being transparent about what he wants to do with the funds, and he’s not forcing anyone to give. I just feel a tad bit uncomfortable full blown flipping out on him, just because I don’t follow his ministry and am not familiar with his line of thinking, personality or where he goes or how he operates. But clearly, there are people who follow his ministry and support his message, and if they want to give, whatever. I don’t have to, and I’m NOT. I think it’s poor taste and kinda tone deaf on his part.

People in his position really need to be careful. I wrote about about this before after televangelist Kenneth Copeland made a video about his new private jet.

 I absolutely know God blesses His people, but I disagree with Copeland’s emphasis on the importance of material wealth. The heart of God isn’t “I want you all filthy rich.” It’s “I want a relationship with you.” That’s not to say that God wants us all to be poor plebs either. Some Christians take it too far the other way. There’s no glory in being poor either. You shouldn’t seek that. It’s just as ugly as finding all glory and all your worth in riches. All I’m saying is, Copeland’s focus seems to be off. Your focus should always be JESUS. Not wealth. If that happens, awesome. God desires us to prosper, but don’t lose focus. This reminds me of one of my favorite scriptures. It’s one I often cling to. Psalm 37: 3-4:

“Trust in the Lord, and do good;
Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.
Delight yourself also in the Lord,
And He shall give you the desires of your heart.”

Delight yourself in the Lord. Not wealth. It doesn’t mean you can’t be wealthy or enjoy wealth and God’s blessings. (Lord knows I love my slowly growing purse collection.) It simply means, don’t lose your focus.

We’re all flawed. It’s easy for us to fall into a love of riches, but those in positions of power and influence need to constantly check themselves and make sure their heart is right. There’s nothing wrong with Christians or pastors being rich, but it’s easy to see why Copeland bragging about his giant private jet– paid for by the church– is rubbing a lot of people the wrong way.

It could be summed up this way: Don’t be prideful.

Surely, you understand where I’m coming from, right?

Thoughts?

h/t Daily Mail