Two years ago, a video went viral that featured evangelical ministers Ken Copeland and Jesse Duplantis explaining how communication with The Almighty is much easier in the comfort of a private jet rather then in the confines of flying coach.
Early this year, Copeland’s prayers for his own private jet were answered in the form of a “debt free” Gulfstream V that he purchased from media mogul Tyler Perry — entirely from funds donated by his followers. Now, Duplantis is asking his followers for money to buy a new plane; his fourth plane, to be exact.
During a segment from the May 21 edition of This Week With Jesse, Duplantis informed his followers that God told him he needs a Dassault Falcon 7X which costs about $54 million brand new.
“Now, some people believe that preachers shouldn’t have jets,” Duplantis said in a video posted last week that has since gone viral. “I really believe that preachers ought to … have every available outlet to get this Gospel preached to the world.”
According to Duplantis, if Jesus were alive today “he wouldn’t be riding a donkey,” he’d be jetting around in a Falcon 7X “preaching the Gospel all over the world.”
The founder of Jesse Duplantis Ministries added that God’s message telling him he needed the plane was “one of the ‘greatest statements” the Lord ever bestowed upon him.
“He said, ‘Jesse, you wanna come up where I’m at?'” Duplantis said, recounting his alleged conversation with The Almighty. “And I said, ‘What do you mean?’ He said, ‘I want you to believe in me for a Falcon 7-X.’ So, I said, ‘Okay,’ but the first thing I thought of was, ‘Well, how am I going to pay for it?'”
If history is any indication, the method of payment was already settled long before his little chat with God. The funds will be coming straight out of the pockets of his followers.
Duplantis claimed that the plane won’t belong to him personally but will rather belong to his ministry and will be passed on to whoever takes over his role after his death.
When is comes to spreading the word of Jesus, he explained that he “can’t live long enough to travel by car, or by ship, or by train.”
“But I can do it by an airplane.”
Watch the video below, via USA Today:
Featured image via screen grab/Magellan Jets
