Pastor Needs Money for New Luxury Jet

Before you read: some questions to help you think about the topic and the words you might need.

Do you think it is okay for church ministers or pastors to have a lot of money? Why or why not?

Are churches in your country rich?

A preacher in the U.S.; Creflo Dollar is hoping a few folks will see fit to bless him by helping him to get his hands on a new private jet.

The minister, known for being a prosperity preacher at his Atlanta-area World Changers Church International, is seeking 200,000 people committed to promise $300 or more to help achieve the goal to purchase the airplane.

The numbers were presented Friday in a nearly six-minute video on the Creflo Dollar Ministries website and the total or more than $60 million is needed to buy the Gulfstream G650 private executive jet, which sells for a reported $65 million.

The Gulfstream G650 can fly eight passengers and four crew members some 8,000 miles (13,000km) at a cruising speed of Mach 0.85, according to specifications posted on gulfstream.com.

The project isn't for member only donations, as the site says that "we are asking members, partners and supporters of this church to assist us in acquiring a Gulfstream G650."

The request continues by saying that the luxury jet will transport Pastors Creflo and Taffi Dollar and member of the Dollars' church around the world to help them spread the gospel.

Prosperity gospel is a religious belief system that promises wealth and health to those who give 10% of their income to the church.

The video includes parishioners, a pilot, a project manager and even the President of Liberia, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, advocating on behalf of the pastor.

On the video, the pastor chronicles incidents involving his current jet, which has been used for more than thirty years: The right engine went out en route to Australia, but the plane was able to safely land at its destination thanks to the experience of the pilot and crew. During another trip, mechanical failure caused the jet to skid off a runway in London while Taffi Dollar and their three daughters were aboard.

Dollar attributed his family's safe arrival to "a grace working on that airplane, that brought my girls back home to me, you understand what I am saying?" he said from the pulpit to huge and noisy applause.

Dollar said that after those incidents, he knew that it was time to begin to believe God would provide a new airplane.

The Gulfstream G650 would comfortably allow the ministry to fly around the world. It seats up to 14 passengers with berthing for six, according to gulfstream.com. The jet comes with two Rolls-Royce engines, high-speed Internet and two multichannel satellites and allows for a 2½-hour commute from New York to Los Angeles.

"The G650 is the biggest, fastest, most luxurious, longest range and most technologically advanced jet -- by far," according to the site.

In soliciting the donations, Dollar's site states, "We need your help to continue reaching a lost and dying world for the Lord Jesus Christ. Your love gift of any amount will be greatly appreciated."

 Try to guess the meaning of the words in bold and match them with their closest meaning from the choices in the right. Some of the answers are very close and have similar meaning. The meaning of these words is how they are used in the reading. Some of these words have different meanings in the dictionary depending on how they are used.

 The answers are below the table.