US preacher asks followers to fund $54m private jet

Duplantis next to photos of his previous private planes

A US preacher has defended asking his followers
to donate towards buying him a fourth private jet, saying: “if
Jesus were on Earth today, he wouldn’t be riding a
donkey”.

In a video posted to his website last week,
Louisiana televangelist Jesse Duplantis called upon believers to
“pray about becoming a partner” to his mission to purchase a $54m
(£40.6m) Dassault Falcon 7X private plane.

The 68-year-old minister, whose sermons are
broadcast around the world, said God had not only spoken to him but
also specifically identified the three-engine business jet by
name.

“He said, ‘I want you to believe in me for a
Falcon 7-X’,” Duplantis told viewers.

The jet “costs about $54 million new”, says USA Today, “although used ones are listed
online for as little as $20 million”.

The Falcon 7X would be the TV preacher’s fourth
private plane since founding the Jesse Duplantis Ministry in
1978.

“I’ve owned three different jets in my life and
used them and used them and just burning them up for the Lord,” he
said.

Duplantis acknowledged that the fundraising
drive might ruffle feathers. “Some people believe that preachers
shouldn’t have jets,” he said. “I really believe that
preachers ought to go on every available voice, every available
outlet, to get this gospel preached to the world.”

He added: “If the Lord Jesus Christ was
physically on the Earth today, he wouldn’t be riding a donkey –
he’d be in an airplane flying all over the world.”

Duplantis preaches “prosperity gospel”, an
interpretation of Christianity which holds that God rewards the
faithful with material wealth. He has an estimated net worth of
$40m and has previously called God his “sugar daddy”, PJ Media reports.

Fellow prosperity gospel ministers Creflo Dollar
and Kenneth Copeland have also come under fire in recent years for
calling on fellow Christians to fund multi-million dollar private
jets.

In 2015, Duplantis and Copeland, defended their use of
private jets, arguing that “commercial planes were full of ‘a bunch
of demons’ that will bog down their busy schedules with prayer
requests,” the Times-Picayune reports.