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Showing posts with label Angola. Show all posts

OPEN HEAVENS DAILY DEVOTIONAL FOR MONDAY 2ND OF NOVEMBER, 2020 : THE SAINTS AND THE WICKED

OPEN HEAVENS DAILY DEVOTIONAL FOR MONDAY 2ND OF NOVEMBER, 2020 : THE SAINTS AND THE WICKED

 THEME: THE SAINTS AND THE WICKED


MEMORISE:

 Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing. 2 Timothy 4:8


READ: 2 Thessalonian 1:5-10

5 Which is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God, that ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which ye also suffer:

6 Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you;

7 And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels,

8 In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ:

9 Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power;

10 When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day.


MESSAGE:



The wicked are people who do not know God and those who probably know Him but do not seek Him (Psalm 10:2-13). Their lifestyle shows that they don’t believe in the gospel of Christ and that they do not have any regard for God. On the other hand, there are saints- the people of God; these are the people who believe. Though they may suffer persecutions and afflictions for the Kingdom, they remain faithful children of God.

Paul assumes the saints who have believed and remain steadfast even in their afflictions that God will grant them relief and their afflictions would come to an end in due course. Christ will be glorified in them, and they in Him (2 Thessalonians 1:12). On the other hand, God will repay the persecutors with affliction; He will mete out justice. He says in 2 Thessalonians 1:9 that the retribution will be:

*“… everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power;”*

The wicked would not cease to exist because of God’s final judgment, rather they would be deprived of being in God’s presence forever.

Daniel also declared:

*“And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.”* Daniel 12:2

Jesus described the judgment thus *“ Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:  And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal."* (Matthew 25: 41, 46). Revelation describes the fate of the wicked thus: *”… and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.”* (Revelation 20:10).

Beloved, a life without Christ is one full of crises – both when the fellow is alive, and even after death. Too many people pay lip service to following Christ but actually do not in the real sense of it. Examine your life and choose to deny yourself and follow Christ daily to escape eternal damnation.


REFLECTION:

Which are you: wicked or saint?


HYMN 8:

1. Have you been to Jesus for the cleansing pow’r?

Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?

Are you fully trusting in His grace this hour?

Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?


Chorus:

Are you washed in the blood,

In the soul-cleansing blood of the Lamb?

Are your garments spotless? Are they white as snow?

Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?


2. Are you walking daily by the Savior’s side?

Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?

Do you rest each moment in the Crucified?

Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?


3. When the Bridegroom cometh will your robes be white?

Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?

Will your soul be ready for the mansions bright,

And be washed in the blood of the Lamb?


4. Lay aside the garments that are stained with sin,

And be washed in the blood of the Lamb;

There’s a fountain flowing for the soul unclean,

Oh, be washed in the blood of the Lamb!


BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:

Mark 11; John 12

AUTHOR: PASTOR E.A.ADEBOYE

 THEME: THE SAINTS AND THE WICKED


MEMORISE:

 Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing. 2 Timothy 4:8


READ: 2 Thessalonian 1:5-10

5 Which is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God, that ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which ye also suffer:

6 Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you;

7 And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels,

8 In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ:

9 Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power;

10 When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day.


MESSAGE:



The wicked are people who do not know God and those who probably know Him but do not seek Him (Psalm 10:2-13). Their lifestyle shows that they don’t believe in the gospel of Christ and that they do not have any regard for God. On the other hand, there are saints- the people of God; these are the people who believe. Though they may suffer persecutions and afflictions for the Kingdom, they remain faithful children of God.

Paul assumes the saints who have believed and remain steadfast even in their afflictions that God will grant them relief and their afflictions would come to an end in due course. Christ will be glorified in them, and they in Him (2 Thessalonians 1:12). On the other hand, God will repay the persecutors with affliction; He will mete out justice. He says in 2 Thessalonians 1:9 that the retribution will be:

*“… everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power;”*

The wicked would not cease to exist because of God’s final judgment, rather they would be deprived of being in God’s presence forever.

Daniel also declared:

*“And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.”* Daniel 12:2

Jesus described the judgment thus *“ Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:  And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal."* (Matthew 25: 41, 46). Revelation describes the fate of the wicked thus: *”… and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.”* (Revelation 20:10).

Beloved, a life without Christ is one full of crises – both when the fellow is alive, and even after death. Too many people pay lip service to following Christ but actually do not in the real sense of it. Examine your life and choose to deny yourself and follow Christ daily to escape eternal damnation.


REFLECTION:

Which are you: wicked or saint?


HYMN 8:

1. Have you been to Jesus for the cleansing pow’r?

Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?

Are you fully trusting in His grace this hour?

Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?


Chorus:

Are you washed in the blood,

In the soul-cleansing blood of the Lamb?

Are your garments spotless? Are they white as snow?

Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?


2. Are you walking daily by the Savior’s side?

Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?

Do you rest each moment in the Crucified?

Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?


3. When the Bridegroom cometh will your robes be white?

Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?

Will your soul be ready for the mansions bright,

And be washed in the blood of the Lamb?


4. Lay aside the garments that are stained with sin,

And be washed in the blood of the Lamb;

There’s a fountain flowing for the soul unclean,

Oh, be washed in the blood of the Lamb!


BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:

Mark 11; John 12

AUTHOR: PASTOR E.A.ADEBOYE

Angolan bank chief named in dos Santos probe announces resignation

Angolan bank chief named in dos Santos probe announces resignation

Angola's Dos Santos vows 'ready to fight' graft claims


Isabel dos Santos
Luanda (AFP) - Isabel dos Santos, the tycoon daughter of Angola's ex-president who is at the centre of an anti-graft investigation, on Thursday vowed she was ready to fight against what she called "misleading and untrue" allegations.

Dos Santos, dubbed 'the princess' in Angola, is accused of using her father's influence to steal millions of dollars from state companies and siphon the funds overseas during his rule.

The allegations stretch across Angola's state oil and diamond industries to Lisbon, where a Portuguese banker tied to the dos Santos probe has been found dead in an apparent suicide.

Angola's prosecutors have accused dos Santos of mismanagement and embezzlement of funds during her tenure at Sonangol, Angola's state-owned oil giant which she once headed during her father's rule.

But Dos Santos on Thursday countered the claims.

"The allegations which have been made against me over the last few days are extremely misleading and untrue," she said in a statement issued through a public relations firm in London.

She said was "ready to fight through the international courts to defend my good name".

Prosecutors want the billionairess and other suspects to return home for questioning.

Most of the ex-president's family have moved abroad since he stepped down in 2017, and are believed to mostly spend time between London and Portugal.

Isabel dos Santos' whereabouts were not clear on Thursday.

The eldest child of ex-president Jose Eduardo dos Santos was already the target of an anti-graft campaign led by her father's successor, Joao Lourenco.

Angola's Prosecutor General Helder Pitta Gros said dos Santos is charged with money laundering, influence peddling, harmful management, forgery of documents among other economic crimes.

Gros said dos Santos was among five named suspects, all of whom were currently residing abroad.

"At the moment, the concern is to notify and get them to voluntarily come to face justice," Gros said.

One of the suspects, a Portuguese banker identified at the weekend in a worldwide media release of documents dubbed the "Luanda Leaks," has been found dead in Lisbon, police there said.

Police said on Thursday Ribeiro da Cunha was found dead at the garage of his house in Lisbon on Wednesday night, after apparently committing suicide by hanging. He had tried to commit suicide earlier this month, police said.

No one at Eurobic was immediately available for comment. Eurobic, in which dos Santos has owned a large stake, said on Thursday she had decided to sell the stake.

Mario Leite da Silva, who resigned as chairman of Banco de Fomento Angola (BFA) on Monday, was also named a formal suspect by Angola's public prosecutors. Silva could not immediately be reached for comment.

'TAKE ACTION'

In his resignation letter, which was seen by Reuters, Silva made no reference to recent events linked to dos Santos, citing instead a December decision by BFA's controlling shareholder Unitel not to name him among board members for the next three years.

Telecoms firm Unitel is part-owned by dos Santos. Portuguese Banco BPI, a unit of Spain's Caixabank, is another major shareholder in BFA.

Separately, auditors PwC said the firm had "taken action to terminate any ongoing work for entities controlled by members of the dos Santos family" following what it said were "very serious and concerning allegations", and had begun an inquiry.

Isabel dos Santos, who amassed her fortune during her father's decades-long presidency, has said allegations against her are politically motivated. She could not immediately be reached for further comment on Thursday.

In Portugal, Angola's former colonial power, dos Santos holds significant stakes in several major firms including NOS and oil firm Galp Energia. Pitta Gros arrived in Lisbon on Thursday to meet his Portuguese counterpart Lucilia Gago.

He told reporters upon arrival he would seek help from the Portuguese prosecutor's office "on many matters", but would not comment specifically on the dos Santos case.

Angolan authorities froze dos Santos' assets there in late December. On Sunday, hundreds of thousands of files about dos Santos that were obtained by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) were released by several news organisations.

The media reports focused on alleged financial schemes used by dos Santos to build her business empire, including transfers between Angola and Dubai. Dos Santos, who has been living abroad, said on Sunday that allegations made against her were "completely unfounded". 

Angola’s attorney general arrived Thursday in Portugal to ask his country’s former colonial ruler for help investigating a major corruption case targeting the billionaire daughter of Angola’s former longtime leader.

late Wednesday in Luanda, Angolan capital, the country's attorney general Helder Pitta Gros announced the that Dos Santos is an official suspect in an investigation into mismanagement at Sonangol and misappropriation of company money.

(Reporting by Andrei Khalip, Sergio Goncalves and Catarina Demony Editing by Ingrid Melander, Peter Graff and Philippa Fletcher)


(AFP / CNBC)

Angola's Dos Santos vows 'ready to fight' graft claims


Isabel dos Santos
Luanda (AFP) - Isabel dos Santos, the tycoon daughter of Angola's ex-president who is at the centre of an anti-graft investigation, on Thursday vowed she was ready to fight against what she called "misleading and untrue" allegations.

Dos Santos, dubbed 'the princess' in Angola, is accused of using her father's influence to steal millions of dollars from state companies and siphon the funds overseas during his rule.

The allegations stretch across Angola's state oil and diamond industries to Lisbon, where a Portuguese banker tied to the dos Santos probe has been found dead in an apparent suicide.

Angola's prosecutors have accused dos Santos of mismanagement and embezzlement of funds during her tenure at Sonangol, Angola's state-owned oil giant which she once headed during her father's rule.

But Dos Santos on Thursday countered the claims.

"The allegations which have been made against me over the last few days are extremely misleading and untrue," she said in a statement issued through a public relations firm in London.

She said was "ready to fight through the international courts to defend my good name".

Prosecutors want the billionairess and other suspects to return home for questioning.

Most of the ex-president's family have moved abroad since he stepped down in 2017, and are believed to mostly spend time between London and Portugal.

Isabel dos Santos' whereabouts were not clear on Thursday.

The eldest child of ex-president Jose Eduardo dos Santos was already the target of an anti-graft campaign led by her father's successor, Joao Lourenco.

Angola's Prosecutor General Helder Pitta Gros said dos Santos is charged with money laundering, influence peddling, harmful management, forgery of documents among other economic crimes.

Gros said dos Santos was among five named suspects, all of whom were currently residing abroad.

"At the moment, the concern is to notify and get them to voluntarily come to face justice," Gros said.

One of the suspects, a Portuguese banker identified at the weekend in a worldwide media release of documents dubbed the "Luanda Leaks," has been found dead in Lisbon, police there said.

Police said on Thursday Ribeiro da Cunha was found dead at the garage of his house in Lisbon on Wednesday night, after apparently committing suicide by hanging. He had tried to commit suicide earlier this month, police said.

No one at Eurobic was immediately available for comment. Eurobic, in which dos Santos has owned a large stake, said on Thursday she had decided to sell the stake.

Mario Leite da Silva, who resigned as chairman of Banco de Fomento Angola (BFA) on Monday, was also named a formal suspect by Angola's public prosecutors. Silva could not immediately be reached for comment.

'TAKE ACTION'

In his resignation letter, which was seen by Reuters, Silva made no reference to recent events linked to dos Santos, citing instead a December decision by BFA's controlling shareholder Unitel not to name him among board members for the next three years.

Telecoms firm Unitel is part-owned by dos Santos. Portuguese Banco BPI, a unit of Spain's Caixabank, is another major shareholder in BFA.

Separately, auditors PwC said the firm had "taken action to terminate any ongoing work for entities controlled by members of the dos Santos family" following what it said were "very serious and concerning allegations", and had begun an inquiry.

Isabel dos Santos, who amassed her fortune during her father's decades-long presidency, has said allegations against her are politically motivated. She could not immediately be reached for further comment on Thursday.

In Portugal, Angola's former colonial power, dos Santos holds significant stakes in several major firms including NOS and oil firm Galp Energia. Pitta Gros arrived in Lisbon on Thursday to meet his Portuguese counterpart Lucilia Gago.

He told reporters upon arrival he would seek help from the Portuguese prosecutor's office "on many matters", but would not comment specifically on the dos Santos case.

Angolan authorities froze dos Santos' assets there in late December. On Sunday, hundreds of thousands of files about dos Santos that were obtained by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) were released by several news organisations.

The media reports focused on alleged financial schemes used by dos Santos to build her business empire, including transfers between Angola and Dubai. Dos Santos, who has been living abroad, said on Sunday that allegations made against her were "completely unfounded". 

Angola’s attorney general arrived Thursday in Portugal to ask his country’s former colonial ruler for help investigating a major corruption case targeting the billionaire daughter of Angola’s former longtime leader.

late Wednesday in Luanda, Angolan capital, the country's attorney general Helder Pitta Gros announced the that Dos Santos is an official suspect in an investigation into mismanagement at Sonangol and misappropriation of company money.

(Reporting by Andrei Khalip, Sergio Goncalves and Catarina Demony Editing by Ingrid Melander, Peter Graff and Philippa Fletcher)


(AFP / CNBC)

Angola prosecutor says will use 'all means' to bring back Isabel dos Santos

Angola prosecutor says will use 'all means' to bring back Isabel dos Santos

LUANDA: Angola’s prosecutor general on Monday vowed to use “all possible” means to bring back Isabel dos Santos, the ex-president’s billionaire daughter who is accused of siphoning off millions of dollars of public money.

“We will use all possible means and activate international mechanisms to bring Isabel dos Santos back to the country,” prosecutor general Helder Pitra Gros told public radio.

Dos Santos left Luanda after her father’s successor President Joao Lourenco came to power in 2017, and now moves mostly between Lisbon and London.

The prosecutor’s remarks came after a trove of 715,000 files dubbed the “Luanda Leaks” was released at the weekend and accused the eldest daughter of former president Jose Eduardo dos Santos of funnelling state funds from the oil-rich country into overseas assets.

Angola's prosecutors last month froze the bank accounts and assets owned by the 46-year-old businesswoman and her Congolese husband Sindika Dokolo, which she described as a groundless political vendetta.

An award-winning investigative team published a trove of files Sunday allegedly showing how Africa's richest woman syphoned hundreds of millions of dollars of public money into offshore accounts.

The New York-based International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) worked with newspapers such as Munich's Suddeutsche Zeitung to reveal the "Panama Papers" tax haven scandal in 2016.

Back home, the 46-year-old Dos Santos is already being probed under an anti-graft campaign launched by Lourenco, who has vowed to root out corruption and rebuild the economy.

The prosecutor general said “it was quite a coincidence that she received our (investigation) notification during the day and at night, she left the country”.

He did not specify when exactly she left the country.

“We have asked for international support from Portugal, Dubai, and other countries,” he said.

Dos Santos has denied any wrongdoing and denounced the investigation as “politically motivated”.

Dos Santos took to Twitter to refute the claims, launching a salvo of around 30 tweets in Portuguese and English, and accusing journalists involved in the investigation of telling "lies".

"My fortune is built on my character, my intelligence, education, capacity for work, perseverance," she wrote.

She also blasted "the racism and prejudice" of SIC-Expresso, a Portuguese TV station and newspaper, and member of the ICIJ, "that recall the colonial era when an African could never be considered equal to a European".

Dos Santos's lawyer dismissed the ICIJ findings as a "highly coordinated attack" orchestrated by Angola's current rulers, in a statement quoted by The Guardian newspaper.

Dos Santos herself told BBC Africa the file dump was part of a "witch hunt" meant to discredit her and her father.


(With AFP and Free Malaysia) 
LUANDA: Angola’s prosecutor general on Monday vowed to use “all possible” means to bring back Isabel dos Santos, the ex-president’s billionaire daughter who is accused of siphoning off millions of dollars of public money.

“We will use all possible means and activate international mechanisms to bring Isabel dos Santos back to the country,” prosecutor general Helder Pitra Gros told public radio.

Dos Santos left Luanda after her father’s successor President Joao Lourenco came to power in 2017, and now moves mostly between Lisbon and London.

The prosecutor’s remarks came after a trove of 715,000 files dubbed the “Luanda Leaks” was released at the weekend and accused the eldest daughter of former president Jose Eduardo dos Santos of funnelling state funds from the oil-rich country into overseas assets.

Angola's prosecutors last month froze the bank accounts and assets owned by the 46-year-old businesswoman and her Congolese husband Sindika Dokolo, which she described as a groundless political vendetta.

An award-winning investigative team published a trove of files Sunday allegedly showing how Africa's richest woman syphoned hundreds of millions of dollars of public money into offshore accounts.

The New York-based International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) worked with newspapers such as Munich's Suddeutsche Zeitung to reveal the "Panama Papers" tax haven scandal in 2016.

Back home, the 46-year-old Dos Santos is already being probed under an anti-graft campaign launched by Lourenco, who has vowed to root out corruption and rebuild the economy.

The prosecutor general said “it was quite a coincidence that she received our (investigation) notification during the day and at night, she left the country”.

He did not specify when exactly she left the country.

“We have asked for international support from Portugal, Dubai, and other countries,” he said.

Dos Santos has denied any wrongdoing and denounced the investigation as “politically motivated”.

Dos Santos took to Twitter to refute the claims, launching a salvo of around 30 tweets in Portuguese and English, and accusing journalists involved in the investigation of telling "lies".

"My fortune is built on my character, my intelligence, education, capacity for work, perseverance," she wrote.

She also blasted "the racism and prejudice" of SIC-Expresso, a Portuguese TV station and newspaper, and member of the ICIJ, "that recall the colonial era when an African could never be considered equal to a European".

Dos Santos's lawyer dismissed the ICIJ findings as a "highly coordinated attack" orchestrated by Angola's current rulers, in a statement quoted by The Guardian newspaper.

Dos Santos herself told BBC Africa the file dump was part of a "witch hunt" meant to discredit her and her father.


(With AFP and Free Malaysia) 

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