I see no problem with the televangelist getting everything he can from the suckers who give him money. If people are so stupid that they give this guy money, good for him.
A Louisiana TV evangelist is asking members of his congregation to donate $54million to pay for a new private jet which he claims God told him he needed in order to spread the gospel.
Jesse Duplantis, the founder of the Jesse Duplantis Ministries, made his plea in a five-minute long video posted online last week.
In it, the 68-year-old explains that despite already owning three planes which were paid for in cash with donations, he ‘needs’ the Dassault Falcon 7X, hailed as the ‘benchmark of the 21st Century business jet’, so that he doesn’t have to stop to refuel during missions.
‘You know I have owned three different jets in my life and I use them and just burning them up for the Lord, Jesus Christ.
. He's not the first minister to make a request for a private plane.
Comments
(Old Spike)
I'll donate, provided once he's up in the jet he opens the door and calls upon the heavenly host to save him as he jumps out of the plane.
(Long Spike)
The all-powerful imaginary religious entity will send you to a place of torment and punishment for eternity in the afterlife for that statement.
(Old Spike)
That's okay - the unimaginary one won't so I'm cool. That place doesn't exist.
(Long Spike)
Jesus specifically talks about Hell as though it is a real place quite a few times. He specifically mentions it in the parable of Rich Man and Lazarus in Luke 16:19-31, He alludes directly to it in Matthew 22:1-14, and he names it by the word "Hades" (in the translated text) in Mark 9:43.
I agree with you, though...Hell *shouldn't* exist according to Christians because it is a pagan belief. Before the Greeks invaded the Hebrew lands the texts and generation-to-generation/word-of-mouth stories at the time didn't mention Hades because that was a dirty pagan belief of invaders who believed in false gods such as Zeus. The ancient Hebrews had the much more innocuous version of the afterlife known as "Sheol". Sheol, or "the grave", was a place where everyone went and slept until at the end of time they would eventually be judged by Yahweh. The good, the evil, heroes, cowards, children, and adults all went to Sheol when they died. In the most ancient book of the Bible, the Book of Job, Job begs God to kill him so he can go to Sheol to hide from God's wrath (Job 14:13).
Hell is a Greek pagan invention that replaced the concept of Sheol. Both are absolute bullshit, but Jesus Christ specifically refers to Hades/Hell as though it exists...or at the very least He utilizes it in his parables. Jesus Christ is God, right? How can you discount Hell when Jesus Himself doesn't?