Megachurch pastor Creflo Dollar defended his $27 million net worth in a promotional video for an upcoming episode of "Your World With Creflo."
In the clip, the televangelist responded to those who criticise his lavish lifestyle, and refer to him and other megachurch pastors as having "prosperity gospel" ministries.
"When we talk about prosperity, and people say it's the prosperity gospel, there is no such thing as the prosperity gospel, it's the gospel of grace," Dollar told Life Changers International Church Pastor Gregory Dickow.
"The money in my pocket is not mine, it's God's. It came from Him. He is the source behind everything we have that is good."
The New York Times reported that Dollar owns a million-dollar home in the Atlanta area, has a $2.5 million home in Manhattan, and drives a Rolls-Royce.
Dollar also owns a Gulfstream Aerospace G-1159A that has been out of commission for five months due to airframe damage.
A $65 million fundraiser initiated by Dollar to buy a new private jet was cancelled after a large outcry from the public.
Opponents of so-called "prosperity gospel" ministries say that the message is not based on scripture.
"If there is one thing that is just so clear cut and just not open to interpretation at all of any kind when it comes to Jesus' message, it is His condemnation of wealth," religious scholar Reza Aslan said at the 2014 Indian Summer Festival.
"The argument of the prosperity gospel, if I can put it flippantly, is that Jesus wants you to drive a Bentley," he continued. "That is basically what the argument is."
Pastor Dollar insisted that it is poverty, not wealth, that is against God's will.
"Poverty is not the will of God for any believer," he wrote on his website. "Poverty has nothing to do with godliness, or God — likeness. To be poor, or impoverished, means, 'to be without; in lack; deprived.' You and I don't serve a God of lack and insufficiency."
Dollar's World Changers Church International is in College Park, Geogia, which has a median income of $27,152.
