It’s been a while since we did a round of the inimitable Instagram pages Preachers N Sneakers and Prophets N Watches, showing the world how celebrity pastors tend to enjoy the finer things in life. One thing that should be obvious to anyone following this series is that the same people show up over and over, as can be seen in our achieves here:
Senior pastor of Union Church based in Maryland, Chandler Moore, wearing an $1800 Louis Vuitton sweater.
Frequent flyer and prosperity Televangelist heretic Jesse Duplantis with a $159,995 Rolex.
Faith healer Cash Luna, pastor of Casa de Dios, a 25,000-member megachurch in Latin America, with a $1,520 Louis Vuitton sweater.
Steven Furtick is a man whose name keeps on popping up over and over. A history of these posts shows he’s perhaps the most prolific wearer of luxury goods, after his mentor T.D. Jakes. Here he has a $605 hoodie, but other things he’s worn in the past have included:
4-Bar Solid RWB Stripe Shirt $450
Farfetch Offwhite Diagonal Arrows Sweatshirt $500
Kingsnake Print GG Supreme Baseball hat $390
Offwhite distressed bleach denim Jacket $750
Saint Laurent men’s brown Boots $1,145
Jordan 6 Retro Shoes $300
Air Presto Off White White Shoes $637
Nike Air Fear of God 1 Triple Black Shoes $610
Nike Dunk Low Off-White Pine Green Shoes $510
Nike Air Fear Of God 1 Oatmeal Shoes $390$
Saint Laurent mens SL10H lace up leather high Top Sneakers $575
Pastrix Kimberly Jones is the Senior Pastor at Limitless Church in Fayetteville, Georgia. Her first appearance on the list, she’s wearing a banger of a $74,875 Rolex.
Five months ago, Steven Furtick’s son released a couple of new songs under his stage name ‘dothedash!’ for the album Teen Machine. One of them proved particularly troubling, with the song ‘No Hook’ featuring a host of references to guns, shooting, and exhaustive references to his wealth and wearing designer clothes and diamonds. The criticism was swift, being described as elite megachurch culture. A rich kid from untouchable celebrity pastors pretending to be hard and gang-affiliated while rapping about his wealth, all the while being endorsed by their parents.
In the mumblecore style with heavy autotune, we see references to his wealth, designer brands, slang for a gun, and unending mentions of ‘drip’ or ‘dripping’, which is a reference to having a confident, expensive, and fashionably sexy look. (Richard Millie is a luxury watch brand, Bentley is a luxury car, Ricky and Fendi are both designer clothing brands, where shirts and jackets can cost over $10,000). He sings:
We see more references to ‘wanting a baddie, his neck being frosty (because it’s full of ice, i.e. diamonds) and then attending a party where everyone is drinking Hennessy, a cognac.
Don’t know what I want I’m too picky
I keep me a baddie like Demi
My neck is frosty like it’s Wendy’s
Just walked in the party they sippin’ on Henny
That’s just a small sample. The rest of the song basically comprises of 15-16 more references to designer clothes, diamonds, dripping, and riches, with another gun reference, as he exclaims, “we lighting your block up like a cigarette.”
Another song called ‘Life is Great’ contained similar themes, declaring that his life is great because of his fortune, money, and wealth.
The week after it dropped, Furtick said nothing about it, having a habit of not responding to his haters. After the controversy died down, it appears he did a post about it, writing on Instagram that he was ‘inspired’ by his son for completing the project and especially inspired by the younger Furtick for “believing in his own voice and lyrics.” He concludes by saying he is “proud” of the project. He says in part:
Dear Elijah, You already know how proud I am of you. But today on the release of TEEN MACHINE I want you to know that you inspire me.
The day you showed me your first Garage Band Mark Ronson rip off beat, I saw the spark. Next came the obsession. You locked yourself away and taught yourself the intricacies of production and the basics of engineering.
…Then came the biggest challenge of all. Believing in your own voice, lyrics and melodies enough to hit record and make your own project. This is the part that inspired me the most.…You had the courage to conceptualize and execute an entire project – every 808, mix, & melody, you meticulously curated and created, selected and perfected.
…I’m proud of your project. I’m inspired by your process. I’m grateful for the person you are, and the potential of who you are becoming.
Run through the jungle TEEN MACHINE™️. The old lion is right behind you.
By way of context, Steven Furtick is the Lead Pastor of Elevation Church. As head of 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.
Much like our recent article about pastors wearing pricey shoes and clothes, we wanted separate posts to showcase pastors wearing very expensive watches, showing the world how celebrity pastors tend to enjoy the finer things in life. Not because it is a sin, perse, but rather to get a better idea of who these people are. In this case, in the form of a roundup from the Instagram page ‘Prophets N Watches’
First off we have Bill Johnson of Bethel Church, anointing some soil in a $15,499 Rolex.
Next is Prophet Passion Java, one of Africa’s richest and well-known prosperity preachers. This devil, along with having horrendous teaching, is worth between 50 and 80 million dollars and makes it a habit of posting videos showing his new purchases, like diamond rings, Lamborghinis, Jaguars and Bugatti cars, arguing that because he was born poor, the Lord told him to show off his wealth.
Rev. Robert Jeffress, the pastor at the SBC Megachurch First Baptist Dallas, with a nearly $12k rolex.
Pastor Ed Young Jr, senior pastor of Fellowship Church, a 30,000 Member multisite megachurch spread across Texas and Florida, and founder of C3. Earlier in the year, he blindsided his church plant by selling the building and abandoning the congregation without warning, with the pastors announcing at the end of the service – ‘today is last service ever’ and telling them they need to figure out what to do next on their own. He has a $700 pen.
And lastly, London prosperity ‘pastor’ Tobi Adegboyega. This guy is a trip. His church purposefully meets in high-end locations and he’s been accused of using extreme coercion to get his congregants, the majority which are under the age of 30, to donate to his ministry, including donating blood and taking out loans against their houses to give to his ministry, openly telling his congregants “I don’t care what you guys have to do to raise your seed – you’re going to raise it.” He has suggested that giving over $1000 a month per person should be the norm. In this case, he’s wearing a $329,000 Richard Mille watch and his jacket is Louis Vutton, which retails for $12,100.
In a move that would have Tetzel spinning in his grave, the Vatican has released their budget, balance sheet, and earnings statement for the first time in nearly 5 years, a move prompted by the insistence on more financial transparency after several high-profile financial scandals.
The Economy Prefect Rev. Juan Antonio Guerrero Alves, commented publicly that faithful Roman Catholics have a right to know they are spending their money and utilizing their vast holdings, quoted Pope Francis that “the economy of Holy See must be as transparent as a glass house,” acknowledging:
It’s possible that in some cases, the Holy See has been not only poorly counseled but also defrauded. I think we’re learning from the errors or imprudent (decisions) of the past.
The move comes as the Roman Curia deals with a major scandal, with the third-highest ranking Cardinal resigning after being accused of spending over $900,000 of Vatican funds to bribe witnesses in a sex abuse case against one of his rivals.
The report shows the Vatican Curia earned more than $360 million in 2019, with an expenditure of almost $374 million, leaving a deficit of about $14 million, which is an improvement from the over $88 million deficit it incurred the previous year.
The net assets reported in the budget amount to more than $1.6 billion (with the vast majority of assets never being appraised – if they were, estimates would add another $7 billion to that number).
The official numbers refer specifically to the Roman Curia, which comprises the 60 institutions and departments charged with administering and enacting Pope Francis’ goals for integral human development, evangelization and education projects.
The figures do not include the budgets of the Vatican Museums, donations to the Peter’s Pence charitable fund, the Vatican bank or numerous other funds and institutions, which together brought in over $4.7 billion in 2019.
The total assets of the Roman Catholic Church, and not just the Vatican, however, has long been considered impossible to assess, though certainly, it would be one of, if not the wealthiest entities on earth.
The Church has an estimated 620,000 sq miles of land that they own, having embassies, convents, churches, cathedrals, monasteries, schools, and other private holdings. They have an estimated 10 billion in investments in foreign companies, have art, gold, statues, priceless books, and enormous funds. The church paid out nearly 3 billion dollars in sex-abuse cases in the United States alone.
