Conventional wisdom suggests you shouldn’t discuss religion, so I think I’ve reached my quota for the decade today alone. This morning I wrote about the NFL player who thought Orbitz sending him a fare alert was a “sign from God.”
But that has nothing on this story, about mega-church pastor Creflo Dollar (an ironic name, given the story). At first I actually thought it was a joke. But it’s not.
Long story short, Dollar’s old private jet broke down, and he’s looking for the congregation to fund his new $65 million G650 jet. An effort which he calls “Project G650.”
They are looking for 200,000 people to give contributions of $300 or more to make this a reality. They even created a nearly six minute promotional video trying to convince people to contribute, in the name of God, of course. You have to watch it:
Interestingly they’ve now taken down the video, and also taken down the link to the contribution page on their website. Gee, I wonder why?
Absolutely sickening to try and raise $65 million for a private jet in the name of God, in my opinion.
(Tip of the hat to Dan)
This is really something nice mega pastors quote that believe in the Lord have given everything they have to answer to our Lord someday and using the Lord as a crutch for money God blessing!!!!!!!!!!! Sorry you're not getting a penny from me...........!!!!!!!!!! Shame on you
this doesn't by any means put you off the hook for trying to raise 20k to fly Etihad residence from your innocencent readers when you could have paid for it yourself . We know you are not poor . If only your readers knew in full details of credit card referrals and the low levels travel bloggers yourself included stoop down to get them
I hate the way they're trying to use the safety argument as a reason for giving him more money. They didn't get to Australia with a single engine failure because of the grace of God, you've got ETOPS rules to thank for that. Somehow it just seems to put across the argument that if you don't give money, poor Mr Dollar will end up with his plane crashed in the sea.
Come on, people, why all the hate on the good Pastor Dollar? He is helping his congregation tremendously. Let's look at it logically.
There's a sucker born every day, right? OK, so there are lots of foolish people.
A fool and his money are soon parted, right? OK, so there has to be some force that parts lots of people from their money.
It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of...
Come on, people, why all the hate on the good Pastor Dollar? He is helping his congregation tremendously. Let's look at it logically.
There's a sucker born every day, right? OK, so there are lots of foolish people.
A fool and his money are soon parted, right? OK, so there has to be some force that parts lots of people from their money.
It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God, right? In other words, the poorer you are, the closer you are to God.
Therefore, Pastor Dollar is just bringing lots of people closer to God.
Bless him!
@ snic -- ROFL! Post of the week, and it's only Monday. :D
I think ya'all missed it, but Bill (on 3/15) wins!!
If the congregation members feel the pastor's request is unreasonable, or wasteful, they don't have to give. They can even leave the congregation. Its voluntary, and between the members of the congregation.
This is in contract to government taxes, which are forced under the threat of fines and jail.
Just sayin'....
I know another CommunitybOrganizer that does the same thing and has ask far more from his followers.
I've lived and traveled quite extensively and have come to experience quite a many people and varied cultures. I've come to the understanding the more religious a person, "generally" the more morally corrupt and hypocritical they have been.
I yearn for the day when a video(s) comes out of various mega-church "leaders" of them whoring, drug abusing, or just 'being themselves'. b/c they surely don't follow the word of God...merely the wealth they can...
I've lived and traveled quite extensively and have come to experience quite a many people and varied cultures. I've come to the understanding the more religious a person, "generally" the more morally corrupt and hypocritical they have been.
I yearn for the day when a video(s) comes out of various mega-church "leaders" of them whoring, drug abusing, or just 'being themselves'. b/c they surely don't follow the word of God...merely the wealth they can wring from those sheep of the flock
And if you are dropping mid 20 millions for a plane, why not get your very own BOEING BBJ???
http://www.controller.com/listingsdetail/aircraft-for-sale/BOEING-BBJ/1998-BOEING-BBJ/1340453.htm
Suspect you are getting a serious discount due to the ugly interior, what was the owner thinking
Must say I like this one better a steal at 35M$.
http://www.controller.com/listingsdetail/aircraft-for-sale/BOEING-BBJ/2001-BOEING-BBJ/1264529.htm
Makes the bedroom in Etihad The Residence look small and second class.
And if you are dropping mid 20 millions for a plane, why not get your very own BOEING BBJ???
http://www.controller.com/listingsdetail/aircraft-for-sale/BOEING-BBJ/1998-BOEING-BBJ/1340453.htm
Suspect you are getting a serious discount due to the ugly interior, what was the owner thinking
Must say I like this one better a steal at 35M$.
http://www.controller.com/listingsdetail/aircraft-for-sale/BOEING-BBJ/2001-BOEING-BBJ/1264529.htm
Makes the bedroom in Etihad The Residence look small and second class.
And if this Man of GOD have to be at flight level 510, getting a used G550 will solve that problem. A steal at just 24,5M$
http://www.gulfstream.com/preowned/aircraft/sn5138
Plus plenty of used G550 for sale
http://www.controller.com/list/list.aspx?manu=GULFSTREAM&mdltxt=G550
Sounds like might want to upgrade his maintenance program a bit
http://corporatejetinvestor.com/articles/gulfstream-iii-n103cd-comes-runway-biggin-hill/
http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=20141124-0
Or perhaps get some better trained pilots if the comments from airport employees is true.
http://www.avcanada.ca/forums2/viewtopic.php?f=105&t=100154
And good luck getting a G650 for 65M$
http://www.controller.com/list/list.aspx?catid=3&Manu=GULFSTREAM&Mdltxt=G650&mdlx=exact
Cheapest used for sale is almost 68M$
Or he should just a get a used G450 like Abdel Rahim Abdallah suggests
http://www.gulfstream.com/preowned/aircraft/sn4052
@Abdel Rahim Abdallah
Doubt the Liberian president agreed...
Sounds like might want to upgrade his maintenance program a bit
http://corporatejetinvestor.com/articles/gulfstream-iii-n103cd-comes-runway-biggin-hill/
http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=20141124-0
Or perhaps get some better trained pilots if the comments from airport employees is true.
http://www.avcanada.ca/forums2/viewtopic.php?f=105&t=100154
And good luck getting a G650 for 65M$
http://www.controller.com/list/list.aspx?catid=3&Manu=GULFSTREAM&Mdltxt=G650&mdlx=exact
Cheapest used for sale is almost 68M$
Or he should just a get a used G450 like Abdel Rahim Abdallah suggests
http://www.gulfstream.com/preowned/aircraft/sn4052
@Abdel Rahim Abdallah
Doubt the Liberian president agreed to be in this video, more likely she was quoted out of context. He might have raised some small amount of money to some charity project in her country for PR reasons back home.
Could this be an elaborate prank? I mean freaking unbelievable..
I didn't donate to his cause, but I did send him some "litterchur" to the next FTU and how to MS. :)
I can't believe nobody here remembers the Kickstarter thing... How different was it from this?
@Mike: Preach ;)
Religion is the biggest scam ever.
@Marji Kruger Bless you for what you do. It's wonderful.
I'm not making any judgements on Creflo Dollar. But I know that my calling to meet physical, educational and spiritual needs in South Africa and Lesotho means that I fly the least expensive way to South Africa. Currently, I fly over to SA every other month. Tough on the body and mind? Yes. But with the 200 kids that wait for me to come back and give hope...nothing could mean more. For some, the private...
I'm not making any judgements on Creflo Dollar. But I know that my calling to meet physical, educational and spiritual needs in South Africa and Lesotho means that I fly the least expensive way to South Africa. Currently, I fly over to SA every other month. Tough on the body and mind? Yes. But with the 200 kids that wait for me to come back and give hope...nothing could mean more. For some, the private jet is the necessity, for me it's the time and the means to get over there to offer hope.
In the infamous words of Jonas Nightingale (Steve Martin - Leap Of Faith)
"The more you give the more you live"
Seriously? Get a clue people!
What's the big news here? That he made the headlines? This is all that religion has been doing for thousands of years. Taking advantage of those who don't use any common sense to question the biggest lie ever told. Take a walk around the Vatican. The stuff on the walls of that giant palace could feed every hungry person on earth. Religion is the worse thing that has ever happened to the human race.
It's remarkable that as a pastor, he should know Jesus was not rich either. It's really disgusting that we have people like Pastor Dollar using "God" for his lavish lifestyle. Why would he need a private jet? If he's such a good pastor maybe God would answer his prayers and make him fly.
The G650 has a ceiling of 51.000 feet. Make him closer to God than all other pastors in the sky, so this is a great investment for his church :D
His jacket was emblazoned with the "Official Seal of the Senior Pastor". I guess if you can't get an Air Force One jacket, this is the next best thing!
Church to pay inappropriate to ask charge to pay for a plane, use your own money to buy it
Kind of off topic, but this guy is part of a cult called "Word of Faith" or "Prosperity Gospel". Takes the Bible and flips it every which way he can to get every last penny from those that are desperate for hope. When their hope isn't realized he flips it around and says they didn't believe enough, didn't give enough "seed" (aka money), etc. There are a few dozens of these guys...mostly on TBN (Trinity...
Kind of off topic, but this guy is part of a cult called "Word of Faith" or "Prosperity Gospel". Takes the Bible and flips it every which way he can to get every last penny from those that are desperate for hope. When their hope isn't realized he flips it around and says they didn't believe enough, didn't give enough "seed" (aka money), etc. There are a few dozens of these guys...mostly on TBN (Trinity Broadcasting Network).. Truly sad when a religion gets hijacked and then used for ones own benefit......
If you want a good read, just google Paul Crouch and his granddaughter and you'll see more of this...
Sad........
This is crazy! Get your @ss on commercial flights!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creflo_Dollar
My favorite quotes are: "Thousands of miles each year!", "North America, and United States", "Europe and Ireland", “as airplanes get older they get less reliable”. Also, one of the reasons listed why they need a plane is that television is one of their ministries.
Also I counted how many times they name drop the same countries:
4 Brazil
3 Canada
3 United States
2 North America
5 Australia
3...
My favorite quotes are: "Thousands of miles each year!", "North America, and United States", "Europe and Ireland", “as airplanes get older they get less reliable”. Also, one of the reasons listed why they need a plane is that television is one of their ministries.
Also I counted how many times they name drop the same countries:
4 Brazil
3 Canada
3 United States
2 North America
5 Australia
3 Mexico
3 South Africa
4 India
1 Around this world
1 The world
1 Distant lands
"AUSTRALIA!"
Just a few contradiction in here:
It says reach “thousands of people, millions even”... then later lists “20,000 reached” in text as an amazing fact.
"Thousands of miles" flown and "4 million miles" are quite different.
What's incredible is the story about the engine failure. First Mr. Dollar (hehe) says that he was on his way to Australia. The voice over says "recent trip". Then immediately after the “director” says, “especially on the way to Hawaii, you're risking not being able to get back”. blinks
Wouldn't the trip to Australia be even more time over water, if it's a hypothetical.
Me think the make $h1t up factor is really high.
I also love the fact that the daughters are using it for a trip to London.
What's clear to me is that they talk about the ministry's works and his travels as two different things. This plane is not getting used for all these things, it's getting used for him and his family.
@ D -- Well said!
@jettyboy
His kickstarter wasn't in the name of "God". This guy is a con, tricking people into giving him money to spread "the good news" and he uses it to send his daughters to London. He manipulates them, that if they don't give they won't be blessed. Look him up or read Reine's comments above.
Ben didn't trick/manipulate anyone, he didn't falsely claimed to teach people about the lawd, and he definitely didn't do...
@jettyboy
His kickstarter wasn't in the name of "God". This guy is a con, tricking people into giving him money to spread "the good news" and he uses it to send his daughters to London. He manipulates them, that if they don't give they won't be blessed. Look him up or read Reine's comments above.
Ben didn't trick/manipulate anyone, he didn't falsely claimed to teach people about the lawd, and he definitely didn't do it because god called him too.
The only thing they have in common is raising money for their flights. That alone is not what people find appalling. The sicking part is that Mr. Dollar (hehe) does it in the name of religion.
Religion and graft have been bedfellows since the beginning of time. If you want to put an end to this sort of thing then take away their preferential tax status and watch the rats flee.
Rich C says: "You cannot blame the pastor for asking! You have to blame the knuckleheads who actual donate!"
Keep in mind that many of these folks were indoctrinated to believe in this cult nonsense when they were too young...
Religion and graft have been bedfellows since the beginning of time. If you want to put an end to this sort of thing then take away their preferential tax status and watch the rats flee.
Rich C says: "You cannot blame the pastor for asking! You have to blame the knuckleheads who actual donate!"
Keep in mind that many of these folks were indoctrinated to believe in this cult nonsense when they were too young and naive to know any better. In many ways they are victims of a the ultimate long con.
I can just imagine how DYKWIA his wife and three daughters might have been returning from their London shopping spree on a commercial flight!
My favorite part of the video is when he mentions the "four corners of the Earth". Umm....the Earth is round! No donation for you!
@jettyboy - Apples to oranges comparison, and that's being generous.
Bye.
it is fine and dandy if you want folks on kickstarter to fund your 25,000 dollar flight. But to watch someone else do it is "sickening". Your hypocrisy is what is sickening.
God obviously wants him to have that jet. Who are we to judge?
At least he has good taste. Wonder why he didn't ask for the ER version they just certified in October. Although "Project G650ER" doesn't exactly roll of the tongue as smooth....
In all seriousness he should just get a delta private jets card. It gives you diamond medallion status as well as skybonus points just for purchasing it + 20% of select full fare tickets and the $ can also be used on delta. Plus then you get a choice of jet size/capabilities.
The Pope/Catholic Church doesn't even own or operate their own aircraft. They charter for the use of the Pope. This is stupid that Mr. Dollar thinks he needs an aircraft.
When Matt (6:26) wuz talkin' 'bout birds of the air I don't think he talkin' no preachers ridin' in a G6.
"Popping bottles in the ice, like a blizzard
When we drink we do it right gettin slizzard
Sippin sizzurp in my ride, like Three 6
Now I'm feeling so fly like a G6
Like a G6, Like a G6"
Ol' Creflo Dollar surely has my (Baptist) reverend greatgreatgreatgrandfather spinning in his grave.
He probably should have done a Kickstarter, right?
1- They got the President of Liberia on the damn video?
2- Won't a second-hand G4 do the job?
You cannot blame the pastor for asking! You have to blame the knuckleheads who actual donate!
I grew up going to mega churches and actually went to his church a few times as a kid (it was barely twenty minutes from my childhood home in Atlanta). Now that I've grown up, gotten an education and gained my own agnostic moral compass, he enrages me. They sit up in their arena pulpits, wearing thousand dollar suits, literally telling their parishioners that, if they don't give to "the church" (aka, him) "God" won't...
I grew up going to mega churches and actually went to his church a few times as a kid (it was barely twenty minutes from my childhood home in Atlanta). Now that I've grown up, gotten an education and gained my own agnostic moral compass, he enrages me. They sit up in their arena pulpits, wearing thousand dollar suits, literally telling their parishioners that, if they don't give to "the church" (aka, him) "God" won't bless them or, "you're blocking your own blessing by not tithing". He won't suggest they tithe or give to a local shelter, or give money to non profit organizations. No. Slip ten percent of your paycheck into an envelope and pass it up to him so that he can buy his wife an Hermes bag, or her second Porsche...or his Rolls Royce. The "mega church" pastors are all crooks and they've got plenty of mindless sheep to steadily rob. Sad.
Oh I don't know ... What does one expect following a man named Creflo Dollar!
As a pastor myself, people like this make me quite frustrated - and not because I didn't think of it first! :) seriously, that is not what it is about and to abuse a position of trust like that and take advantage of people that look up to you is just a terrible thing.
Nice work if you can get it.
I always knew that I had picked the wrong career!
65 million dollars but no air conditioning in any of their churches? God has spoken. He wants this con man to fly commercial.
-JRL