Another One?

It sounds like Creflo Dollar may have started a trend. Preacher Jesse Duplantis has called on his followers to donate $78 million to his ministry for a top-of-the-line Falcon 7X private jet. That's even more expensive than the $65 million Gulfstream G650 that Dollar was trying to raise money to buy.

A gospel preacher in the United States is asking his followers to help him to buy a $78 million Falcon 7X private jet. Jesse Duplantis has owned three private jets throughout his life and says he is "burning them up for the lord" and needs a new one. For the critics who say he has no reason to own a private jet, he says: "I really believe that preachers ought to go on every available voice, every available outlet, to get this gospel preached to the world."

In a video series on his website called This Week With Jesse, the preacher said he needs a jet so that he can be free to preach the gospel all over the world. He said God asked him to believe he would provide the private jet. "Jesse, I didn't ask you to pay for it. I asked you to believe for it," he says God told him. "If Jesus was physically on the earth today, he wouldn't be riding a donkey," Mr Duplantis said.

As I said back when Dollar posted his appeal, it might make sense for a preacher who travels all over the place to have a private jet. I just think it's ridiculous that the only planes these folks will even consider are brand new, top-of-the-line models that are super-expensive. There's a big market for used private jets that can be had for a million dollars or so, and Duplantis is asking for seventy-eight times that much. And even if he has to have a new plane, $78 million is about as expensive as they get. There are a lot of cheaper new models out there - like practically all of them.

I understand that he probably wants to one-up Creflo Dollar, but come on, man. The dude's name is actually Dollar! Duplantis can do everything in his power to be a money-grubbing scumbag and I still really don't see how anybody can compete with that.