Creflo Dollar defends position on $65m jet issues; slams devil, critics for discrediting his church

Creflo Dollar pastors a megachurch in Atlanta, Georgia, but has built up an international following thanks to his regular TV and internet broadcasts.Photo: World Changers Church International

"If I want to believe God for a $65 million plane, you cannot stop me."

This was the adamant message of televangelist and World Changers Church International founder Creflo Dollar to critics of his controversial bid to buy a $65 million Gulfstream G650 for his ministry, reported The Christian Post.

"Let me tell you something about believing God — I can dream as long as I want to. I can believe God as long as I want to. If I want to believe God for a $65 million plane, you cannot stop me. You cannot stop me from dreaming," he said.

In a five minute clip of his message on YouTube, Dollar defended his position and urged his congregation to follow in his example to dream for whatever they want, even if it seems impossible. 

Dollar slammed his critics for painting the jet campaign in a bad light, and said that even the devil himself is using the controversy to discredit what his church stands for. He said that he finally spoke out about the issue because of the Spirit of God pushed him to.

"I wouldn't say this except the Spirit of God led me to say it. Now you see why the devil tried so aggressively to discredit my voice. I'm on my sabbatical and the enemy is trying to discredit me," he said referring to negative news reports about him, as well as the backlash he has received on social media. 

"You cannot stop and you cannot curse what God has blessed. Are you listening to me? Half the people that are commenting on the Internet don't even know me. They don't know this ministry. They don't know what we do. That's why they ask the question: 'What does a preacher need with an airplane? If you knew what we did then you wouldn't ask that question. But you don't know what we do," he continued.

Dollar further denied that he asked the 20,000 members of his congregation to donate $300 each to raise funds for the luxury jet and claimed that people were coming forward to donate.

"'I had a man from the Middle East send a letter to say they cut off my relative's head. We need you in the Middle East, here's a check right here for that plane," he said.