Try selling some of those expensive suits maybe?
Pastor Creflo Dollar is the the head of Prosperity Church that follows the
prosperity gospel, as set out by luminaries such as Oral Roberts. Creflo Dollar is a very wealthy man who lives a
very wealthy lifestyle. Prosperity gospel, according to Creflo is what it sounds like,
Exodus 3:17:
And I have said, I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt unto the land of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, unto a land flowing with milk and honey.
So, simply put, Pastor Dollar is living the
milk and honey section of that verse, because that's what God
promised his servants. But milk and honey costs a lot of money and daddy wanted a new private jet because the old one his parish bought for him is like 30 years old! In the fundraiser video, which you can see below the fold, Dollar talks about a recent accident on the runway that damaged the private jet. At the time his wife and children were returning from London. My guess is that they were ministering to people in London. Either way, Creflo makes it pretty clear that God saved them and he needs a new private jet. The uproar around the internet put a lot of pressure on Pastor Dollar to defend his excessive ask.
He opens his con by saying that people criticizing him are a part of the devil's work. This is exactly what he is saying. There is nothing else to infer. Subsequently he uses a classic trick used by con men and liars and politicians (I realize that's a triple redundancy) to throw off allegations of misbehavior—he lies about what others are saying about him to show that they are clearly lying about him.
Heck, I found out last week I was suppose to have been in jail. For stealing the tithes. And the day before yesterday they were transferring me from one county to the other one. I sure wish someone would have told me!
People begin to laugh because that is crazy! He's right here! He isn't in jail. He isn't being transferred anywhere! Of course, he's still asking for $65,000,000.00 for a private jet. He proceeds to use an old oratorical trick of building these small, short sentences into a halting place. Then with a flourish he raises his voice and starts crescendoing his voice in staccato sentences up to this gem:
Because they don't want you to know that you can walk on the water if you look at Jesus!
It's worth watching because, while ridiculous, it is great theater. He ends by talking about ministering to Martians! Seriously.
UPDATE: Sadly, while I was still working on this diary, all of this unwanted social media attention has led to Pastor Dollar canceling his fundraiser.
Dollar's publicist, Juda Engelmayer of 5W Public Relations, confirmed that "there is no campaign right now" in an interview with the Christian Post on Monday.
"He's gonna continue travelling commercial," Engelmayer said. "And if and when he obtains another jet it's gonna be used for ministry purposes, just like the current one."
Commercial? What would Jesus do? Probably wait until things quiet down and then get another Jet, right?
Watch the fundraiser video below the fold.