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Texas Megachurch Pastor Kirbyjon Caldwell Pleads Guilty to Defrauding Investors of $3.5 Million Dollars, Faces Five to Seven Years in Prison

Church and Ministry

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Texas Megachurch Pastor Kirbyjon Caldwell Pleads Guilty to Defrauding Investors of $3.5 Million Dollars, Faces Five to Seven Years in Prison

A Texas megachurch pastor and former spiritual adviser to two U.S. presidents has pleaded guilty to bilking investors out of millions of dollars alongside a Louisiana investment adviser.

Kirbyjon H. Caldwell pleaded guilty Wednesday to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, news outlets reported. Caldwell was the senior pastor of Windsor Village United Methodist Church in Houston and a spiritual adviser to Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama.

Caldwell’s co-defendant Gregory A. Smith, a Shreveport financial planner, pleaded guilty to the same charge in July 2019.

According to the Department of Justice, Caldwell and Smith used their clout and influence to persuade people to invest about $3.5 million in historical Chinese bonds. The bonds were reportedly issued by the former Republic of China before they lost power to the communist government in 1949. The bonds aren’t recognized by China’s current government and thus have no investment value.

Smith began approaching victims about the investment in 2013 and promised high returns on the investment. In 2013 and 2014, about $3.5 million was “invested” and divided between Caldwell, Smith and others, prosecutors said.

Caldwell used about $900,000 to maintain his lifestyle, and pay down personal loans and mortgages, according to the Justice Department.

Smith and Caldwell face up to five and seven years in prison each. Caldwell has made partial restitution and has agreed to pay the remaining balance of about $2 million before sentencing.

Smith will be sentenced on May 4. Caldwell’s sentencing date is schedule for July 22.

SOURCE: AP

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Trump Says US on 'War-Time Footing' Against Virus, Senate Passes First Economic Aid Bill

Health

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Trump Says US on 'War-Time Footing' Against Virus, Senate Passes First Economic Aid Bill

America is at war with an “invisible enemy.” President Trump said Wednesday that the US is on a war-time footing in the fight against COVID-19.

As economic fears are hitting hard, another stock market free-fall struck Wednesday and a sell-off roller coaster triggered a historic fourth halt in trading.

The Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq closed down by 5 percent or more on Wednesday, erasing Tuesday’s 5 percent comeback.

Senate Passes Economic Aid

The US Congress is striking back against recession fears with a new economic aid package.

Wednesday afternoon, the US Senate passed a multi-billion dollar emergency package to help Americans suffering from the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. The House already approved the measure. It now heads for President Trump’s desk and his signature.

The Senate will now begin work on the third and largest stimulus package that lawmakers hope to pass next week. The bill would infuse almost $1 trillion into the US economy.

At the Capitol on Wednesday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell prepared his colleagues for unprecedented steps to deal with the epidemic’s assault on the economy. “I will not adjourn the Senate until we pass a far bolder package,” McConnell said. “We aren’t leaving until we deliver.”

On another financial note, the Department of Housing and Urban Development is responding to the pandemic by suspending all foreclosures and evictions until the end of April.

US War Footing Against Coronavirus

As part of his war-footing, President Trump announced he’s invoking the Defense Production Act to allow the production of essential equipment to ramp up.

The US-Canadian border is also being closed to all non-essential traffic.

“This does not include essential travel or the transit of goods but it was through mutual discussion that took place between the President and Prime Minister Trudeau and the Department of Homeland Security will be effectuating that decision,” Vice President Mike Pence said in a news briefing Wednesday morning.

There are now 7,600 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the US compared to 600 in Canada. The leaders of both countries say this decision to close the border is a necessary one.

“Travelers will no longer be permitted to cross the border for recreation and tourism in both our countries,” Trudeau said.

Meanwhile, flight operations at Chicago’s Midway Airport are limited. Hundreds of flights were canceled after at least three technicians in the airport’s air traffic control tested positive for COVID-19.

FEMA and US Navy Responding

FEMA, known for responding to natural disasters, is now operating at its highest level to help fight the virus.

Trump said, “This is a very different kind of work for FEMA, but they will come through as they always do.”

Tomorrow, the president will hold a teleconference with all the nation’s governors to help solidify the federal government’s partnership in the crisis with all of the states and US territories.

And the US Navy is preparing to send two hospital ships to New York and Seattle to handle the overflow caused by the epidemic. Each ship can treat up to 1,000 patients.

For now, officials are also asking all other doctors and dentists to postpone elective surgeries for the time being, so all medical resources can be used fighting this pandemic.

International Developments

During Wednesday’s task force briefing, new information was revealed about the potential effect of this disease on young people, who had been thought to be at lower risk.

Dr. Deborah Birx, the coronavirus response coordinator, said, “There are concerning reports coming out of France and Italy about some young people getting seriously ill and very seriously ill in some ICUs. There may be a disproportional number of infections among that group and so even if it’s a rare occurrence it may be seen more frequently in that group and be evident now.”

Meanwhile, President Trump has referred to the disease as “The Chinese virus.” So a reporter asked him Wednesday, “Why do you keep using this? A lot of people say it’s racist?” He replied, “It’s not racist at all, it comes from China.”

Source CBN

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Toilet Paper Stolen from UK Church Amid Coronavirus Panic-Buying

Church and Ministry

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Toilet Paper Stolen from UK Church Amid Coronavirus Panic-Buying

As panic-buying of various products intensifies worldwide because of the global coronavirus pandemic, a church in the U.K. says its toilet paper has been stolen.

The church warden at St. Mary and St. Margaret’s Church in Sprowston, Norwich, said she discovered two Sundays ago all of their paper rolls were gone, according to multiple news reports.

The church restrooms are open to the public every day of the week from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., usually used by those visiting the cemetery and for community group meetings.

“We keep the church open for people to use it. My anxiety is that if anyone needs the loo the facilities are available for them,” the Rev. Canon Simon Stokes, told the Norwich Evening News.

He continued, “It does seem that people are very fearful and frightened and that seems to be catching.”

“People are stockpiling different things. You can put two and two together and make five but my assumption is it is linked to coronavirus, but who knows.”

Despite the theft, the church continues to keep its facilities open to the public.

SOURCE: Christian Post, Brandon Showalter

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‘This Is Not Fake News’: Sandi Patty Reveals She Has Coronavirus

Church and Ministry

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‘This Is Not Fake News’: Sandi Patty Reveals She Has Coronavirus

Christian singer Sandi Patty revealed Monday she has been diagnosed with the novel coronavirus and encouraged her fans to take the pandemic seriously.

“This is not fake news,” she wrote on Facebook. “If you are not already practicing social distancing and STAYING HOME, DO SO NOW! This is what we can all do. This is how we stop the spread. God has given us faith, but he’s also given us wisdom. He has not given us a spirit of fear but of power, love, and of a sound mind. I will keep you posted as I can. (Oh! And cough in your elbow, not your hand).”

Patty, 63, said she received confirmation Monday she tested positive for COVID-19.

“I am at home and Don and I are under quarantine for the next 14 days,” she wrote, referencing her husband, Don Peslis. “I’m so impressed with how our Health Department handled my case and grateful for their attentiveness. They are working so hard right now to keep us all safe. WE MUST DO OUR PART.”

Patty won five Grammy Awards in the 1980s and 1990s and has won 40 Dove Awards during her career. She was the Dove Award Female Vocalist of the Year 11 straight years, from 1982 to 1992.

She said in a Facebook video she hadn’t “felt well for a couple of weeks.” She has been off the road for about 10 days.

“This is real. This is everything they say it is. … When we make the choice to quarantine ourselves, not only are we protecting…

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Members of Congress Demand India Release Tennessee Pastor Bryan Nerren

Church and Ministry

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Members of Congress Demand India Release Tennessee Pastor Bryan Nerren

Members of Congress are demanding that the government of India release a Tennessee pastor who continues to be detained in the country even after he resolved a customs case brought against him for allegedly not paying duty on money he brought into the country.

“We write to bring your attention to the case of Bryan Kevin Nerren Sr. of Shelbyville, Tennessee. We are immediately concerned with the health of the Nerren family, including Mr. Nerren’s daughter with special needs, who has been hospitalized with pneumonia as Mr. Nerren remains in India without a clear point of return,” Sens. James Lankford, R-Okla., and Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., and Reps. Scott DesJarlais, R-Tenn., and Jody Hice, R-Ga., wrote in a letter to the Indian Foreign Secretary last week.

Pastor Nerren, who leads the International House of Prayer Ministries in Shelbyville and operates a nonprofit organization called Asian Children’s Education Fellowship, which has been training Sunday School teachers in India and Nepal for 17 years, was targeted and arrested as he stepped off a flight in Bagdogra, India, last October.

“We request that India uphold their end of the offer, as Mr. Nerren has upheld his, by finalizing the compounding of the offense and allowing him to return to his family,” the letter said.

Before his arrest in Bagdogra, a security agent in New Delhi questioned Nerren about $40,000 he was carrying while traveling with two other pastors from Tennessee. The pastor explained that the funds were to cover two conferences and support a two-week trip for 13 ministers. After about an hour of questioning, he was cleared to fly, but when he arrived in Bagdogra he was arrested for violating the Foreign Exchange Management Act because he didn’t complete a document to account for the funds. But the officials in New Delhi did not provide Nerren with the necessary forms.

Nerren recently accepted an offer to compound his offense. “He submitted an application for compounding, filed an affidavit with the court indicating submission of the application, and compiled $7,000 to be transferred to Customs upon Customs’ finalization of the appropriate paperwork,” the letter explained. “He has completed all of these required actions. However, Customs is now requiring the submission of a waiver of forfeiture for the money lost, a request that was not included in the original conditions – and to our knowledge is not required by Indian law.”

In the letter, the senators and congressmen reminded Indian officials that “the U.S.-India relationship is a vital and healthy one, as exhibited by President Trump’s recent visit to Delhi.”

SOURCE: Christian Post, Anugrah Kumar

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Mohabat TV Director: Millions of Iranians May Perish as Result of Coronavirus, People Not Obeying the Quarantine

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Source CBN

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Religious Leaders Believe Coronavirus Outbreak Is a Sign of the Messiah’s Return

Church and Ministry

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Religious Leaders Believe Coronavirus Outbreak Is a Sign of the Messiah’s Return

Muslim and Jewish leaders from Israel to Iran believe the coronavirus may be a sign that the Messiah is coming soon.

“The Jewish people live, we are waking up, opening our eyes, stopping all the nonsense we do, and really drawing closer to Shabbat,” said Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu in a YouTube video, CBN News reports. “Maybe the Muslims will tell us to build the Temple.” Many Christians and Jews believe this event would bring the Messiah.

A Muslim Iranian cleric, Ali Reza Banahyan also believes that the worldwide pandemic will bring the Shiite messiah named “Mahdi” or “The Twelfth Imam.” Muslim prophecy predicts he would come during a great upheaval of the earth.

Saudi Sheikh Saleh Al-Maghamsi also vocalized a similar belief that the Judgment Day is near in a television program.

Other leaders believe the coronavirus outbreak is God’s judgment on the earth in order to bring the wayward back to Him.

“In our days, man thinks he is God, that he is the master and can decide what is good and bad, something which is called moral relativism or postmodernism,” said Orthodox rabbit Shlomo Aviner. “If this is the case, that mankind is proud, mankind knows everything, understands everything, let us see you fight the smallest of God’s creations. This creation is called corona, a crown.”

The coronavirus is so named because of the fatty outer layer that looks like a crown…

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Trump Says US on 'War-Time Footing' Against Virus, Senate Passes First Economic Aid Bill

Health

-

America is at war with an “invisible enemy.” President Trump said Wednesday that the US is on a war-time footing in the fight against COVID-19.

As economic fears are hitting hard, another stock market free-fall struck Wednesday and a sell-off roller coaster triggered a historic fourth halt in trading.

The Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq closed down by 5 percent or more on Wednesday, erasing Tuesday’s 5 percent comeback.

Senate Passes Economic Aid

The US Congress is striking back against recession fears with a new economic aid package.

Wednesday afternoon, the US Senate passed a multi-billion dollar emergency package to help Americans suffering from the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. The House already approved the measure. It now heads for President Trump’s desk and his signature.

The Senate will now begin work on the third and largest stimulus package that lawmakers hope to pass next week. The bill would infuse almost $1 trillion into the US economy.

At the Capitol on Wednesday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell prepared his colleagues for unprecedented steps to deal with the epidemic’s assault on the economy. “I will not adjourn the Senate until we pass a far bolder package,” McConnell said. “We aren’t leaving until we deliver.”

On another financial note, the Department of Housing and Urban Development is responding to the pandemic by suspending all foreclosures and evictions until the end of April.

US War Footing Against Coronavirus

As part of his war-footing, President Trump announced he’s invoking the Defense Production Act to allow the production of essential equipment to ramp up.

The US-Canadian border is also being closed to all non-essential traffic.

“This does not include essential travel or the transit of goods but it was through mutual discussion that took place between the President and Prime Minister Trudeau and the Department of Homeland Security will be effectuating that decision,” Vice President Mike Pence said in a news briefing Wednesday morning.

There are now 7,600 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the US compared to 600 in Canada. The leaders of both countries say this decision to close the border is a necessary one.

“Travelers will no longer be permitted to cross the border for recreation and tourism in both our countries,” Trudeau said.

Meanwhile, flight operations at Chicago’s Midway Airport are limited. Hundreds of flights were canceled after at least three technicians in the airport’s air traffic control tested positive for COVID-19.

FEMA and US Navy Responding

FEMA, known for responding to natural disasters, is now operating at its highest level to help fight the virus.

Trump said, “This is a very different kind of work for FEMA, but they will come through as they always do.”

Tomorrow, the president will hold a teleconference with all the nation’s governors to help solidify the federal government’s partnership in the crisis with all of the states and US territories.

And the US Navy is preparing to send two hospital ships to New York and Seattle to handle the overflow caused by the epidemic. Each ship can treat up to 1,000 patients.

For now, officials are also asking all other doctors and dentists to postpone elective surgeries for the time being, so all medical resources can be used fighting this pandemic.

International Developments

During Wednesday’s task force briefing, new information was revealed about the potential effect of this disease on young people, who had been thought to be at lower risk.

Dr. Deborah Birx, the coronavirus response coordinator, said, “There are concerning reports coming out of France and Italy about some young people getting seriously ill and very seriously ill in some ICUs. There may be a disproportional number of infections among that group and so even if it’s a rare occurrence it may be seen more frequently in that group and be evident now.”

Meanwhile, President Trump has referred to the disease as “The Chinese virus.” So a reporter asked him Wednesday, “Why do you keep using this? A lot of people say it’s racist?” He replied, “It’s not racist at all, it comes from China.”

Source CBN

All Content & Images are provided by the acknowledged source

PODCAST: The Prayer Motivator Minute #915 with Daniel Whyte III

Church and Ministry

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Prayer Motivator Minute #915

Charles Spurgeon said, “Neglect of private prayer is the locust which devours the strength of the church.”

This is Daniel Whyte III with the Prayer Motivator Minute #915 here to remind you that there is still great power in prayer to God Almighty in the holy Name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Our prayer motivator verse from the Word of God today is Matthew 21:13 which says: “And [he] said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves.”

Our featured prayer motivator quote today is from Oswald Chambers. He said: “To say that ‘prayer changes things’ is not as close to the truth as saying ‘prayer changes me and then I change things.’ God has established things so that prayer, on the basis of redemption, changes the way a person looks at things.”

PRAYER

Now, if you are listening today, and you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ as your Saviour, allow me to show you how.

First, accept the fact that you are a sinner, and that you have broken God’s law. The Bible says in Romans 3:23: “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.”

Second, accept the fact that there is a penalty for sin. The Bible states in Romans 6:23: “For the wages of sin is death…”

Third, accept the fact that you are on the road to hell. Jesus Christ said in Matthew 10:28: “And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” Also, the Bible states in Revelation 21:8: “But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.”

Now this is bad news, but here’s the good news. Jesus Christ said in John 3:16: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Just believe in your heart that Jesus Christ died for your sins, was buried, and rose from the dead by the power of God for you so that you can live eternally with Him. Pray and ask Him to come into your heart today, and He will.

Romans 10:9-13 says, “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

Until next time,

Remember, friend, Pray, Think, Do! God Bless You!