Evangelist who wants $54M jet says “Jesus wouldn’t be riding donkey”

DESTREHAN, La. — A prosperity gospel televangelist is asking his followers to “pray about becoming a partner” to his mission of obtaining a $54 million private jet. The Louisiana-based ministry of Jesse Duplantis has already paid cash for three other private planes, but he says God told him, “I want you to believe in me for a Falcon 7X.”

NOLA.com/The Times-Picayune reports that Duplantis made the pitch to his followers in the May 21 edition of his weekly video address.

Duplantis says the three-engine plane would allow the ministry to fly “anywhere in the world in one stop,” reducing fuel costs while maintaining a global reach.

“I really believe that if the Lord Jesus Christ was physically on the Earth today, he wouldn’t be riding a donkey,” Duplantis said in the video. “He’d be in an airplane flying all over the world.”