expensive – Protestia

Would you Pay $2480.30 For Tickets to a Steven Furtick/ Elevation Worship Concert?

Last year we criticized the expensive prices that tickets to see Steven Furtick and The Elevation Worship band cost, questioning whether or not it made sense from a financial or spiritual perspective. Individual tickets ranged from about $38 for the nosebleeds, up to $195 for front-row access, with most tickets in the 50-110$ range.

If $100 or $200 for tickets seems like a lot to hear what is ostensibly the house band, don’t forget that Furtick once joined T.D. Jakes for a Christian conference where some tickets were $1000 each.

Well, he’s on tour again this year, and in some cases, tickets have skyrocketed. During his concert earlier in the year, the best seats in the house would cost $1056.70 for two. For this leg, Furtick will be joining the 8-night Elevation Nights tour to give a little sermonette before each performance, and then the band will perform some of their worship hits like “Graves Into Gardens,” “RATTLE!,” “Do It Again,” “The Blessing.”

They’ll be seeing over 100,000 people, from nearly sold-out venues like the 17,500-person Kia Forum in Inglewood, California, to the 20,000-capacity seating at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

While tickets can still be gotten for $34 up in the nosebleeds, many of them cost $100-200, and if you want closer seating to be nearer to the hem of Steven Furtick’s garments, it’ll cost you.

If you want to buy them directly from Ticketmaster- never resold but original platinum seats, they’ll cost you $1085.25. + fees per ticket, or two for $2480.30. If you’re coming in from Canada, that’ll cost you a whopping $3430.34 with the exchange rate. There is no meet-and-greet or extra perks with these tickets, but rather are standalone prices.

I suppose for some, paying this makes all the sense in the world.

Steven Furtick is the Lead Pastor of Elevation Church. As head of a Southern Baptist-associated, 25,000-member multisite campus with 17 locations, he is known for having the term “narcegesis” (narcissistic exegesis) named after him based on his inability to exegete scripture in a way that doesn’t make every story revolve around him, as well as his penchant to wear outfits that cost more than most mortgages and buddying up to Trinity-Denier T.D Jakes.

Last year he replaced Kenneth Copeland at the always-heretical TBN, filling the role of the Innkeeper Monsieur Thénardier from the musical Les Miserables (TBN being the Inn), with these “Masters of the house” doing whatever is the theological equivalent of “Charge ’em for the lice/Extra for the mice/Two percent for looking in the mirror twice” in his efforts to promote his brand of prosperity preaching.

He also recently said that ‘God is a Molecular Structure’, laughed at the notion of ‘Twerking for the Lord?’, went on a Wild, Wild, Willllldd Rant about Betas and Blessings, went on another Rant About Angels that got Weird Quick and screamed ‘I Am God Almighty!’ in a sermon. All that while saying that God Doesn’t Make You into a New Creation.

Trinity-Denying TD Jakes frequently joins heretics of all stripes in a quest to build his own empire. Last year Jakes teamed up with Your Best Life Now author Joel Osteen for a conference that cost $1,000 to attend. Jakes is all about personal kingdom-building and wealth-building, which is why he fits in so well with Osteen. Jakes recently bequeathed his long-running Woman, Thou Art Loose Oneness Pentecostal conference to his daughter, Sarah Jakes Roberts, who he “slayed in the spirit” at the final conference.

While one might hope that a Trinity-denying, prosperity Gospel-preaching money-grubber would hang up his old collection plate, TD Jakes has chosen to join forces with Scientologist entrepreneur Grant Cardone in the Path to Prosperity Mega Conference. The conference seeks to bring together secular business leaders and faith leaders who have bought into the heretical “law of attraction”, that is, the idea that positive thoughts create positive energy, which leads to positive results. This heresy unites prosperity preachers like Jakes with fellow keynote speaker Grant Cardone, a professing Scientologist. The conference’s tagline is “We believe abundance is your birthright.”

Cardone, a well-known motivational speaker and entrepreneur, believes that Scientology is true because it helped him find his “purpose” and “energy”. Contrary to clear Biblical teaching, Cardone also believes that Scientology is just a worldview lens that helps people. According to Cardone, Christians can join Scientology and remain Christians.

The difference in this religion and other religions is it doesn’t impose how you think about God. This is not a Muslim god. This is not a Christian god. This is not…, they leave that alone. okay and like you could be a Catholic, and Scientology would just make you a better Catholic, but what’s that’s really gonna do for you is this is gonna make you a better husband, better father, better leader better mother, better son.

The retail price of the general conference admission is $994, with a current sale price of $497, while the “Diamond Package”, which includes meet and greets with Path to Prosperity Founders and access to the Prosperity Ball and Private Yacht party, has a retail price of $19,997, but a current discounted price of $4,997.

With a bankrupt spiritual philosophy and prices like these, the Path to Prosperity Mega-Conference is sure to attract some of the poorest rich people in the world. Those at this conference who believe that prosperity is a means to godliness would do well to receive the counsel given to the church of Laodicea by Jesus in Revelation 3:17-18.

For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see.