Former Charlotte televangelist Jim Bakker and prosperity gospel preacher Lance Wallnau have teamed up to sell a gold-plated ‘prayer coin’ for $45.
“When I asked the Lord, ‘Why the coin?’ he said ‘Because when you take the coin, it’s a point of contact,’” Wallnau told Bakker on his show.
For $45, Lance Wallnau and Jim Bakker will sell you a Trump/Cyrus coin that you can use as a “point of contact” between you and God as you pray for Trump’s re-election in 2020. pic.twitter.com/EwKgGL7sNp
— Right Wing Watch (@RightWingWatch) May 14, 2019
The coin includes images of Donald Trump and Ancient King Cyrus on the front, with a crest of words reading; “The 70 Year Decree Cyrus – Trump Proclamation”. A Bible passage in Isaiah 45:1 and “The 45th President” are engraved on the back.
Some have compared Donald Trump to King Cyrus after he moved the US Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. People also point out that Donald Trump is the 45th President, and that in Isaiah 45:4, it is written about Cyrus that God will “bestow on you a title of honor, though you do not acknowledge me”, some say that Trump, likewise has been given a title of honor without ever truly acknowledging God.
The coin is being advertised and sold through former Charlotte televangelist Jim Bakker’s ‘The Jim Bakker Show’.
Bakker is most well known for scamming investors out of millions of dollars to build Heritage USA, a sprawling 2,300-acre tv broadcasting, conference, and amusement park complex in Fort Mill.
The complex first opened in 1978, and by 1986 it was attracting nearly 6 million visitors annually and employing about 2,500 people from around the Charlotte region.
Throughout most of the 80s, Jim Bakker was investigated on a slew of embezzlement, fraud, and rape charges.
In 1982 the FCC sent a detailed fraud report to the Justice Department. They decided not to press charges due to insufficient evidence. Bakker then used the controversy to raise even more funds from his audience, branding the investigation as a “witch-hunt”.
In 1988 he was arrested on 8 counts of mail fraud, 15 counts of wire fraud and, 1 count of conspiracy.
A Charlotte jury found Bakker guilty on all 24 counts and he was sentenced to 45 years in federal prison and given a $500,000 fine. His prison sentence was reduced to 8 years in 1992. He was paroled in July of 1994, after serving almost 5 years in jail.
In 2003, he relaunched his televangelism career with a new daily show called The Jim Bakker Show, co-hosted with his second wife, Lori.