Category: Lavish Lifestyles

Televangelist Jesse Duplantis: $500 Million Is Not Enough

Barry Bowen

Jesse Duplantis has stage presence. Before he became a preacher, Jesse Duplantis performed in a touring rock band. By combining the prosperity gospel and comedy, televangelist Jesse Duplantis has built a large following.

Early this month Duplantis preached at the annual Southwest Believers Convention hosted in Fort Worth, Texas, by televangelist Kenneth Copeland.

Duplantis has a knack for saying controversial things and telling wild stories. In his sermon Vision Creates Direction, Duplantis preached, “I never ask God for a need. What a waste of spiritual energy. That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard of in my life.”

Duplantis uses a mafia character voice to say, “I know how to get rid of people… You do what you gotta do.” Duplantis would later tell the audience that a mafia boss offered to make him “a made-man”—a fully initiated member of the mafia.

Duplantis enjoys talking about his wealth. “You are looking at one rich puppy here. I’m not being arrogant. I’m telling you one thing. You have no idea.”

During its 43 years of operation, donors have contributed hundreds of millions of dollars to Jesse Duplantis Ministries. Duplantis claims his ministry received $500 million in response to prayers.

“I thought I could save the world with a hundred million dollars. So, I went to the throne of God. He said, ‘What do you want, Jesse?’ He didn’t ask what I need. He’s never asked what I need… ‘I said, Lord, I need a hundred million dollars.’ I said, ‘I can touch the world for a hundred million dollars.’ He said, ‘Done.’ Gave me a hundred million dollars… Well, I ran out of money, so I went back to the throne. I said, ‘Jesus.’ He said, ‘You need another hundred million. I said, ‘Yeah.’ He gave me another hundred million.”

Duplantis says that a third time God gave Duplantis’ ministry $100 million, and it was all spent in nine months. Eventually he would ask five times and God would give his ministry $500 million. It still was “not enough to touch the world.”

The first century Church could teach Duplantis some valuable lessons. With limited financial means and no modern technology, they “turned the world upside down.”  – Acts 17:6 KJV

This amazing church growth happened without the prosperity gospel.

Lawsuit: Religious TV Executive Owes Almost $18 Million in Taxes; Media Misses Bigger Picture

Barry Bowen


(Photo: The Word Network appeals primarily to African American audiences.)

The United States has filed a lawsuit in federal court, attempting to seize  Word Network president Kevin Adell’s $4.4 million Bloomfield Hills, Michigan-home, alleging the radio and TV broadcaster owes almost $18 million in estate and gift taxes, following the death of his father, Franklin Adell in 2006.

The case has received little news coverage outside of Michigan. The Detroit Free Press and Crain’s Detroit Business have covered the story. Journalists reporting on Adell’s legal problems have missed a bigger story: Adell has exploited a loophole in the law, crafted for churches, to avoid disclosing millions of dollars in compensation.

Who is Kevin Adell?


(Screenshot: Kevin Adell being interviewed following Novi city council approval to build the Adell Center.)

Kevin Adell is a broadcaster and serial entrepreneur involved in commercial real estate development. In addition to operating The Word Network, Adell owns talk radio station WFDF and WADL-TV, but not for much longer, as the pending sale of the TV station was announced May 17th  and Wikipedia reports the sale price at $75 million.

Adell constructed the $125 million Adell Center, a business complex in Novi, Michigan, featuring restaurants, shops and indoor skydiving.

Adell also owns a massive car collection. In 2019, Hagerty Media revealed that Adell had a “fleet of 100 or so automobiles—plus one special tractor.”  Adell is reportedly the only American owner of a Lamborghini Nitro 130 T4i tractor.

Adell’s collection features iconic vehicles from TV shows and movies. According to Hagerty, Adell “owns one Batmobile, one Bat motorcycle, the General Lee Dodge Charger from ‘The Dukes of Hazzard’ (minus its rebel flag), Burt Reynolds’ Trans Am from ‘Smokey and the Bandit,’ and the faux Ferrari 250GT California Spyder launched off a balcony in ‘Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.'”

The Lawsuit

The case United States of America v. Adell et al was filed on April 24th. According to the complaint, when Franklin Adell died, he left a “gross estate valued at $32,930,891.”

The lawsuit alleges that Kevin Adell owes $9,775,326.65 in unpaid estate taxes and $8,178,714.47 in unpaid gift taxes. The lawsuit claims, “Kevin Adell dissipated the Adell Estate’s assets and knowingly and willfully failed to pay the estate tax liabilities the Adell Estate owed to the United States.”

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Updated Tax Rates on Televangelists Making Personal Flights on Church Aircraft

Barry Bowen


(Photo: Trinity Broadcasting Network’s Bombardier Global Express)

Twice per year the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) updates the tax rate charged on “non-commercial flights on employer-provided aircraft” which includes personal flights taken on ministry aircraft.

The latest tax update was announced in the April 10, 2023 edition of the Internal Revenue Bulletin and covers personal flights taken between January 1, 2023 and June 30, 2023.

The tax is comprised of a terminal charge of $52.35 along with an additional tax based on miles of the trip known as Standard Industry Fare Level (SIFL).

SIFL Mileage Rates for the first six months of 2023:

Up to 500 miles = $0.2864 per mile
501-1500 miles = $0.2183 per mile
Over 1500 miles = $0.2099 per mile

Only a handful of televangelists disclose their use of private jets on the IRS Form 990, a financial disclosure document which reveals total revenue, total expenses, and compensation of executives. However, most TV preachers claim a church exemption from this disclosure.  This fringe benefit would need to be reported on the televangelist’s personal income tax form 1040 each year.

Schedule J includes a box to checkmark for the use of first-class or charter travel.

Long-Distance Ministry: Pastors Buy Second Homes and Start Churches Hundreds of Miles from Their Base

Barry Bowen

(Photo: In the 1970s, televangelist pioneer Oral Roberts acquired mansions in Beverly Hills and Palm Springs, CA, leading his Tulsa, OK-based ministry from afar.)

Oct. 31 was the day Martin Luther posted the 95 theses on the Wittenberg Church door—October 31, 1517—which began the reformation, also called by some the 2nd wave of Christianity. He critiqued expensive church real estate along with many other practices of the Catholic Church and the Papacy.  Today, Luther’s anger would probably be directed at the aberrant activities of the megachurches.  The reformation is over 500 years old and we still struggle with some of the same problems.

To expand their reach and receive larger donations, televangelists and megachurch pastors are planting churches hundreds and sometimes thousands of miles, from their base of operations. Some pastors appear to be motivated by pursuit of wealth, planting churches in wealthy communities. Others are drawn by the allure of Hollywood, taking up residence in Beverly Hills.

The investment in long distance ministry frequently produces extravagant housing expenses and over-the-top travel costs. Why fly first class when your donors will finance a jet?

The late televangelist Fred Price illustrates the trend of long distance ministry by planting a church in New York City while his home was located over 2100 miles away in California.

In 2007, Business Jet Traveler asked Price, pastor of Crenshaw Christian Center, “How much do you fly for the church?” Price responded, “A couple of years back, when we were first establishing the church in New York, my wife and I flew every single week-52 weeks-Los Angeles to New York and return. Now the least we’d go is once a month and recently we’ve had to go twice a month.”

Joseph Prince, the Singapore-based televangelist, has launched two churches in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and acquired a large plot of land in Colleyville, TX for future expansion. If there is one city in the world that doesn’t need another televangelist, it is Colleyville, the home of Robert Morris, pastor of Gateway Church, James Robison, head of LIFE Outreach International, Matthew Crouch, head of Trinity Broadcasting Network, and Joni Lamb, head of Daystar Television.

Church members and donors to the churches and ministries cited in this article should ponder critical questions. Can a pastor effectively lead his congregation from afar? Are million-dollar mansions good stewardship?

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Nepotism: Ministry Family Members Compensated Over $3 Million

Barry Bowen

Most evangelical Christians have never heard of “prophet” Chuck Pierce and his “family business” Glory of Zion International. Pierce is a widely respected individual among charismatic and Pentecostal Christians who believe that God is raising up a new generation of prophets to guide the church.

This respect is not warranted. Two huge red flags, nepotism and excessive compensation, in Pierce’s ministry should raise important questions for donors.

According to the ministry’s latest Form 990 which recently became public, seven Pierce family members received $3,779,930 in compensation and independent contractor payments from April 1, 2020 to March 31, 2021.


(Photo: Spreadsheet of Pierce Family compensation)

In the past four years, Chuck Pierce has been compensated more than $5 million.

By operating as a ministry, Glory of Zion International exploits a loophole in the tax code. Non-profit executives who serve as ministers or paid as independent contractors are not subject to an excise tax on compensation of more than $1 million.


(Photo: Page 5, Line 15 of 2020-21 Form 990)

Who determined how much each of the Pierces are paid? This information is not disclosed to the IRS. It is possible that Chuck Pierce determines his own salary.

(Photo: Schedule J of 2020-21 Form 990)

Normally, when a non-profit organization pays an executive more than $1 million, the organization would rely upon a compensation study to justify a large salary which would then be approved by the board. Three of eight voting board members are from the Pierce family.

Out of the six highest paid employees, four are family.  Nepotism is a widespread problem in megachurches and religious media ministries. Church members and ministry donors should hold religious leaders to higher ethical standards. Nepotism and excessive compensation  in ministries should serve as red flags for donors to avoid.

 

 

 

Checkbooks, Bank Cards and Bank Statements Reveal Pastor Priorities: Pastor James MacDonald and the Ethics of Gift Giving

Barry Bowen

(Photo: PO Box and bank routing number redacted. Reimbursement check written by James MacDonald’s executive assistant Sharon Kostal.)

Note: This is the first article in a series examining financial records and receipts for pastors and religious organizations. Future articles will explore travel expenses and per diem expenses.

“It has been said, ‘Show me a person’s checkbook and I can tell you what he cares about.'” – Social Action, 1964

James MacDonald, the controversial former pastor of Harvest Bible Chapel (HBC), is attempting to restore his reputation.   In July, MacDonald posted on his website copies of checks as proof that he reimbursed (HBC) for personal expenses incurred during his time as pastor. One reimbursement check, dated December 28, 2018, was for $27,172.39!

The checks challenged a claim that MacDonald failed to reimburse the church.

MacDonald also provided monthly lists of church financial transactions revealing the cost of airline tickets, charter aircraft service and gifts to pastors.

Concerned church donors and religion reporters rarely have access to this kind of financial information.

Monthly statements disclosed that HBC and MacDonald’s media ministry Walk in the Word shared the cost of purchasing more than $1,000 of cufflinks for church employees. Other transactions included the purchase of more than $1,500 in gifts from Bloomingdales for a Greg Laurie marriage conference and $10,683.09 spent on taxidermy in the first half of 2016.

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Televangelist Creflo Dollar Preaches Against Tithing (We’re doing a double take on this one)

Barry Bowen

In two recent Sunday sermons Televangelist Creflo Dollar preached against tithing based on fear and guilt. On July 3rd, Dollar told his congregation, “I would argue that tithing isn’t required or even encouraged for believers in Jesus Christ…”

Instead, Dollar is now preaching that Christian giving should be based on gratitude.

Dollar made a surprising announcement in his June 26th, sermon titled “The Great Misunderstanding” about how his beliefs on tithing changed.

“I want to start off by saying to you that I’m still growing and that the teachings I’ve shared in times past on the subject of tithing were not correct. And today I stand in humility to correct some things I have taught for years and believed for years, but could never understand it clearly because I had not been confronted with the Gospel of grace, which has made the difference.

I won’t apologize ’cause if it wasn’t for me going down that route, I would have never ended up where I am right now. But I will say that I have no shame at all saying to you throw away every book, every tape and every video I did on the subject of tithing, unless it lines up with this.”

While Dollar’s rejection of fear-based giving is welcome, a lot of questions remain, and Trinity Foundation investigators wonder if Dollar is simply changing his message to appeal to a larger audience.

Yes, consider us skeptical. If a preacher is unwilling to apologize for leading people astray, does he really “stand in humility” as Dollar claimed?

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Editorial: When Ministry Mandates Prohibit Helping the Hurting

Pete Evans

As inflation is making homelessness worse, the great divide between the “haves and the have-nots” is now more apparent than ever.

Month after month, we write about the extreme wealth of many of America’s preachers and compare that to the poorer Christians who support them—sometimes surviving off macaroni and cheese to give their last dollars to one “ministry” or another.

Do these large ministries give back?  Do they meet the needs of the poor surrounding them?  Some do, most don’t.  At least not in any significant way, from our vantage point.

One of the religious non-profit ministries we investigate has received over $1 billion in revenue in less than ten years while spending less than 5 percent of its total funding on helping the poor.

Ask one fellow, Larry Fardette, who, in his time of great need for his ailing daughter, contacted dozens of the ministries he supported asking for help.

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Church Purchases $8.3 Million Mansion, Received Tax-Exempt Status After Complaints to IRS

Barry Bowen

(Photo: Mansion and guest house from Realtor.com)

It should surprise no one that televangelist David E. Taylor’s church purchased an $8.3 million mansion and guest house in Tampa, Florida. The church parsonage serves as a palace and Taylor is a king.

Taylor, a proponent of the prosperity gospel, teaches that Christians are supposed to be kings. This teaching is found in Taylor’s book The Kingdom of God – Part 1 which is promoted on Amazon with a fanciful description:

“In this royal revelation, given to David E. Taylor during multiple Face to Face Visitations and trips to Heaven, you will understand the need to reestablish God’s Kingdom order in your life, ministry, and destiny. When you realize your true identity as a king, you will gain all you need to reign!”

In his book Supernatural Marvels: Time Travel, Taylor also teaches that Christians can time travel.

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Million Dollar Homes Become Status Symbols of Televangelists and Pastors

Barry Bowen

By Barry Bowen and Pete Evans, Trinity Foundation


(Photo: Former home of faith healer David Turner, from Realtor.com)

Donors, where is the money going?

When a televangelist’s ministry or pastor’s church owns a private jet, you can almost be certain the leader lives in a mansion. That is one of the lessons Trinity Foundation has learned from investigating religious fraud and excess for more than 30 years.

In April 2021 the Houston Chronicle’s Jay Root asked Trinity Foundation for assistance on an article series about church parsonages in Texas. Trinity Foundation compiled a list of megachurches and large media ministries in the state and then searched for parsonages and homes of pastors and ministry leaders.

Meanwhile, the Houston Chronicle examined the state tax code and filed open records requests with county appraisal districts seeking lists of parsonages.

Root’s thorough investigation uncovered startling evidence of pastors living extravagantly: “A months-long Houston Chronicle investigation of ministers’ tax-free residences found no shortage of extravagant homes in high-dollar locales. At least two dozen were worth over $1 million even using the artificially low values that exempt properties typically carry.”

If you are keeping track, that is at least 24 parsonages in Texas worth more than $1 million.

Trinity Foundation also investigated pastor and ministry housing in other states, discovering multi-million dollar homes of several televangelists and pastors who have received little media scrutiny. It’s time to present some of our findings.

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