Jim Bakker
Born
James Orsen Bakker

(1940-01-02) January 2, 1940
Muskegon, Michigan, U.S.
Spouses
​
​
(m. 1961; div. 1992)​
    Lori Beth Graham
    ​
    ​
    (m. 1998)​
    Children7, including Jay Bakker
    ChurchAssemblies of God (1960–1988)
    Charismatic (2003–present)
    Congregations served
    		The PTL Club
    Heritage USA
    Heritage Village Church
    Morningside Church

    James Orsen Bakker (/ˈbeɪkər/;[1] born January 2, 1940) is an American televangelist. Between 1974 and 1987, Bakker hosted the television program The PTL Club and its cable television platform, the PTL Satellite Network, with his then wife, Tammy Faye. He also developed Heritage USA, a now-defunct Christian theme park in Fort Mill, South Carolina.

    In the late 1980s, Bakker resigned from the PTL ministry over a cover-up of hush money to church secretary Jessica Hahn for an alleged rape. Subsequent revelations of accounting fraud brought about felony charges, conviction, imprisonment, and divorce. Bakker later remarried and returned to televangelism, founding Morningside Church in Blue Eye, Missouri, and reestablishing the PTL ministry. He currently hosts The Jim Bakker Show, which focuses on the end times and the Second Coming of Christ while promoting emergency survival products. Bakker has written several books, including I Was Wrong and Time Has Come: How to Prepare Now for Epic Events Ahead.

    Personal life

    James Orsen Bakker was born in Muskegon, Michigan, the son of Raleigh Bakker and Furnia Lynette "Furn" Irwin.[2] Bakker attended North Central University, a Minneapolis bible college affiliated with the Assemblies of God, where he met fellow student Tammy Faye LaValley in 1960.[3] Bakker worked at a restaurant in the Young-Quinlan department store in Minneapolis; Tammy Faye worked at the Three Sisters, a nearby boutique.[4]

    The Bakkers married on April 1, 1961, and left college to become itinerant evangelists. They had two children, Tammy Sue "Sissy" Bakker Chapman (born March 2, 1970) and Jamie Charles "Jay" Bakker (born December 18, 1975). The couple divorced on March 13, 1992.[5] On September 4, 1998, Bakker married Lori Beth Graham, a former televangelist, fifty days after they met.[6] In 2002, they adopted five children.[7][8][9]

    Career

    Early career

    In 1966, Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker began working at Pat Robertson's Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) in Portsmouth, Virginia, which had an audience in the low thousands at the time.[10] The Bakkers contributed to the network's growth, hosting a children's variety show called Come On Over that employed comic routines with puppets.[11] Due to the success of Come On Over, Robertson made Bakker the host of a new prime-time talk show, The 700 Club, which gradually became CBN's flagship program.[12] The Bakkers left CBN in 1972 and, the following year, joined with Paul and Jan Crouch to help co-found the Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN) in California. However, this partnership lasted only eight months until a falling-out between Jim Bakker and Paul Crouch caused the Bakkers to leave the new network.

    PTL

    Heritage USA sign in 2007. The site is now mostly demolished.[13]

    After their exit from TBN, the Bakkers moved to Charlotte, North Carolina, where in 1976 they debuted their own late night-style talk show, The PTL Club.[14] Bakker founded the PTL Satellite Network in 1974, which aired The PTL Club and other religious television programs through local affiliates across the U.S.[15]

    Throughout the 1970s, Bakker built a headquarters for PTL in the Carolinas called Heritage Village.[15] Over time, the Bakkers expanded the ministry to include the Heritage USA theme park in Fort Mill, South Carolina, which became the third most successful theme park in the U.S. at the time. Viewer contributions were estimated to exceed $1 million a week, with proceeds to expand the theme park and The PTL Club's mission.[1][16] Bakker responded to inquiries about his use of mass media by saying: "I believe that if Jesus were alive today, he would be on TV".[17]

    Two scandals brought down PTL in 1987: Bakker was accused of sexual misconduct by church secretary Jessica Hahn, which led to his resignation, and his illegal misuse of ministry funds eventually led to his imprisonment.[15] Bakker was dismissed as an Assemblies of God minister on May 6, 1987.[18] In 1990, the biographic television movie Fall from Grace, starring Kevin Spacey as Bakker, depicted his rise and fall.[19] On January 18, 2019, ABC's 20/20 aired a two-hour special, entitled Unfaithfully Yours, about the PTL scandal.[20]

    Early investigations

    In 1979, Bakker and PTL came under investigation by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for allegedly misusing funds raised on the air. The FCC report was finalized in 1982 and found that Bakker had raised $350,000 that he told viewers would go towards funding overseas missions but that was actually used to pay for part of Heritage USA. The report also found that the Bakkers used PTL funds for personal expenses.[21] FCC commissioners voted four to three to drop the investigation, after which they allowed Bakker to sell the only TV station that he owned, therefore bypassing future FCC oversight.[22] The FCC forwarded its report to the U.S. Department of Justice, which declined to press charges, citing insufficient evidence.[21] Bakker used the controversy to raise more funds from his audience, branding the investigation a "witch-hunt" and asking viewers to "give the Devil a black eye".[22]

    A confidential 1985 Internal Revenue Service (IRS) report found that $1.3 million in ministry funds was used for the Bakkers' personal benefit from 1980 to 1983. The report recommended that PTL be stripped of its tax-exempt status, but no action was taken until after the Jessica Hahn scandal broke in 1987. Art Harris and Michael Isikoff wrote in The Washington Post that politics may have played a role in the three government agencies taking no action against PTL despite the evidence against them, as members of the Reagan administration were not eager to go after television ministers whose evangelical followers made up their base.[23]

    Sexual misconduct and resignation

    A $279,000 payoff for the silence of Jessica Hahn, who alleged that Bakker and former PTL Club co-host John Wesley Fletcher drugged and raped her, was paid with PTL funds through Bakker's associate Roe Messner.[24][25] Bakker, who made PTL's financial decisions, allegedly kept two sets of books to conceal accounting irregularities. Reporters for The Charlotte Observer, led by Charles Shepard, investigated PTL's finances and published a series of articles.[26]

    On March 19, 1987, after the disclosure of a payoff to Hahn, Bakker resigned from PTL.[24] Although he acknowledged that he had a sexual encounter with Hahn at a hotel room in Clearwater, Florida, he denied raping her.[27] Bakker was also the subject of homosexual and bisexual allegations made by Fletcher and PTL director Jay Babcock, which Bakker denied under oath.[28][29] Rival televangelist John Ankerberg appeared on Larry King Live and made several allegations of moral impropriety against Bakker, which both Bakkers denied.[30]

    Bakker was succeeded as PTL head by the Rev. Jerry Falwell of Thomas Road Baptist Church in Lynchburg, Virginia.[27] Bakker chose Falwell as his successor because he feared that fellow televangelist Jimmy Swaggart, who had initiated an Assemblies of God investigation into Bakker's sexual misconduct, was attempting to take over his ministry.[31]

    Bakker believed that Falwell would temporarily lead the ministry until the scandal died down,[32] but on April 28, 1987, Falwell barred Bakker from returning to PTL upon hearing of allegations of illicit behavior which went beyond the Hahn allegations.[33] Later that summer, as donations declined sharply in the wake of Bakker's resignation and the end of The PTL Club, Falwell raised $20 million to keep Heritage USA solvent and took a promised water slide ride at the park.[34] Falwell and the remaining members of the PTL board resigned in October 1987, stating that a ruling from a bankruptcy court judge made rebuilding the ministry impossible.[35]

    In response to the scandal, Falwell called Bakker a liar, an embezzler, a sexual deviant, and "the greatest scab and cancer on the face of Christianity in 2,000 years of church history".[36] On CNN, Swaggart stated that Bakker was a "cancer in the body of Christ".[32] In February 1988, Swaggart became involved in a sex scandal of his own after being caught visiting prostitutes in New Orleans.[37] The Bakker and Swaggart scandals had a profound effect on the world of televangelism, causing greater media scrutiny of TV ministers and their finances.[38] Falwell said that the scandals had "strengthened broadcast evangelism and made Christianity stronger, more mature and more committed."[39][40]

    Fraud conviction and imprisonment

    The PTL Club's fundraising activities between 1984 and 1987 were reported by The Charlotte Observer, eventually leading to criminal charges against Bakker.[41] Bakker and his PTL associates sold $1,000 "lifetime memberships", entitling buyers to an annual three-night stay at a luxury hotel at Heritage USA during that period.[42] According to the prosecution at Bakker's fraud trial, tens of thousands of memberships were sold but only one 500-room hotel was ever finished.[43] Bakker sold "exclusive partnerships" which exceeded capacity, raising more than twice the money needed to build the hotel. Much of the money paid Heritage USA's operating expenses, and Bakker kept $3.4 million.[44]

    After a 16-month federal grand jury probe, Bakker was indicted in 1988 on eight counts of mail fraud, 15 counts of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy.[24] In 1989, after a five-week trial which began on August 28 in Charlotte, North Carolina, a jury found him guilty on all 24 counts. Judge Robert Daniel Potter sentenced Bakker to 45 years in federal prison and imposed a $500,000 fine.[45][46][47] At the Federal Medical Center, Rochester in Rochester, Minnesota, he shared a cell with activist Lyndon LaRouche and skydiver Roger Nelson.[48]

    The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit upheld Bakker's conviction on the fraud and conspiracy charges, voided Bakker's 45-year sentence and $500,000 fine and ordered a new sentencing hearing in February 1991.[49] The court ruled that Potter's sentencing statement about Bakker, that "those of us who do have a religion are sick of being saps for money-grubbing preachers and priests",[50] was evidence that the judge had injected his religious beliefs into Bakker's sentence.[49]

    A sentence-reduction hearing was held on November 16, 1992, and Bakker's sentence was reduced to eight years. In August 1993, he was transferred to a minimum-security federal prison in Jesup, Georgia. Bakker was paroled in July 1994, after serving almost five years of his sentence.[51] His son, Jay, spearheaded a letter-writing campaign to the parole board advocating leniency.[52] Celebrity lawyer Alan Dershowitz acted as Bakker's parole attorney, having said that he "would guarantee that Mr. Bakker would never again engage in the blend of religion and commerce that led to his conviction."[53] Bakker was released from Federal Bureau of Prisons custody on December 1, 1994,[54] owing $6 million to the IRS.[55]

    Return to televangelism

    The set of The Jim Bakker Show in Blue Eye, Missouri

    In 2003, Bakker began broadcasting The Jim Bakker Show daily at Studio City Café in Branson, Missouri, with his second wife Lori;[56] it has been carried on CTN, Daystar, Folk TV, Grace Network (Canada), Daystar Television Canada, GEB America, Hope TV (Canada), Impact Network, WGN, WHT, TCT Network, The Word Network, UpliftTV, and ZLiving networks.[57][58][59] Most of Bakker's audience receives his program on DirecTV and Dish Network.[60]

    Bakker condemned the prosperity theology in which he took part earlier in his career, and has embraced apocalypticism.[15] His show has a millennial, survivalist focus and sells buckets of freeze-dried food, such as beans on toast,[61] to his audience in preparation for the end of days.[62] Elspeth Reeve wrote in The Atlantic that Bakker's "doomsday survival gear" is overpriced.[63] A man named Jerry Crawford, who credits Bakker with saving his marriage, invested $25 million in a new ministry for Bakker in Blue Eye, Missouri, named Morningside USA. Production for The Jim Bakker Show moved to Morningside in 2008.[15]

    Prophecies and statements

    In 2013, Bakker wrote Time Has Come: How to Prepare Now for Epic Events Ahead about end-time events.[64] Bakker has changed his views on prosperity theology.[65] In his 1980 book Eight Keys to Success, he stated, "God wants you to be happy, God wants you to be rich, God wants you to prosper."[66][67] In his 1996 book, I Was Wrong, he admitted that the first time he actually read the Bible all the way through was in prison. Bakker also wrote that he realized that he had taken passages out of context and used them as prooftexts to support his prosperity theology.[68]

    Bakker's revived show features a number of ministers who bill themselves as "prophets". He now says that "PTL" stands for "Prophets Talking Loud".[69]

    In an October 2017 video, Bakker said that "God will punish those" who ridicule him;[70] he has said that Hurricane Harvey was a judgment of God, and he blamed Hurricane Matthew on then-President Barack Obama.[71][72] Bakker predicted that if then-President Donald Trump was impeached, Christians would begin a Second American Civil War.[73] He compared the 2017 Washington train derailment to the sinking of the RMS Titanic and stated the Amtrak train derailment was a warning from God.[74] He also claimed that he predicted the September 11 attacks of 2001, stating that he "saw 9/11 in 1999 before New Year's Eve" and that there would "be terrorism" and bombings in New York City and Washington, D.C."[75] A few days after the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting, he stated that "God came to [him] in a dream... and he was wearing camouflage, a hunting vest and had an AR-15 strapped to his back" and that God supported Trump's plan to arm teachers.[76] Following the death of Billy Graham on February 21, 2018, Bakker attended Graham's funeral and paid his respects, stating that Graham was the greatest preacher since Jesus,[77] and also remarking that Graham had visited him in prison.[78]

    On the Stand in the Gap Today radio program, Pennsylvania Pastors Network president Sam Rohrer criticized Bakker's civil-war prediction.[79] Christian Today criticized Bakker's show for preying on "the most vulnerable kinds of people" and claimed that it had "no place on our TV screens."[80]

    COVID-19 misinformation

    Bakker sold colloidal silver supplements that he advertised as a panacea. In March 2020, the office of the Attorney General of New York ordered Bakker to cease making false medicinal claims about his supplements' alleged ability to cure the 2019–2020 strains of coronavirus, and the Federal Trade Commission and the Food and Drug Administration also sent a warning letter to Bakker about his claims regarding the supplements and coronavirus.[81][82]

    Missouri attorney general Eric Schmitt and Arkansas attorney general Leslie Rutledge filed lawsuits against Bakker for allegedly pushing the supplements as a treatment for the virus.[83][84] In the State lawsuit against him, Bakker is represented by former Missouri governor Jay Nixon, who has argued for the suit to be dismissed. Nixon says that the allegations made in the lawsuit are false, stating: "Bakker is being unfairly targeted by those who want to crush his ministry and force his Christian television program off the air."[85]

    In April 2020, prohibited from receiving credit card transactions, Bakker disclosed to his viewers that his ministry was on the brink of filing for bankruptcy and urgently petitioned them for donations.[86]

    The following month, GEB America and World Harvest Television dropped Bakker's program from their networks after DirecTV owner AT&T asked channels to reconsider airing the show. AT&T made the request of its channels in response to a deplatforming campaign from the liberal Christian group Faithful America.[87][88]

    On May 8, 2020, Lori Bakker announced that Jim Bakker had suffered a stroke that his son Jay described as “minor”. Lori stated that he would be taking a sabbatical from the program until he recovers. She blamed the stroke on Bakker's hard work on his show and wrote that he had described the criticism against him as “the most vicious attack that he has ever experienced”.[88] Bakker returned to his program for the first time following his stroke on July 8, 2020.[89]

    On June 23, 2021, Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt announced the settlement of the state's lawsuit against Bakker. Bakker and Morningside Church would be prohibited from saying silver solution could "diagnose, prevent, mitigate, treat, or cure any disease or illness". Restitution of about $157,000 would also be paid to those who bought silver solution between February 12, 2020, and March 10, 2020.[90]

    Works

    • Move That Mountain (1976), ISBN 978-0-88270-164-6
    • Eight Keys to Success (1980), ISBN 978-0-89221-071-8
    • I Was Wrong (1996), ISBN 978-0-7852-7425-4
    • Prosperity and the Coming Apocalypse (1998), ISBN 978-1-4185-5422-4
    • The Refuge: The Joy of Christian Community in a Torn-Apart World (2000), ISBN 978-1-4185-5423-1
    • Time Has Come: How to Prepare Now for Epic Events Ahead (2014), ISBN 978-1-61795-134-3
    • You Can Make It: God's Faithfulness in Dark Times-Past, Present and Future (2021) ISBN 978-1-63641-047-0

    References

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    2. ↑ "Herald-Journal - Google News Archive Search". google.ca. Archived from the original on February 13, 2020. Retrieved September 1, 2017.
    3. ↑ Welch, William M. (July 21, 2007). "Ex-wife of evangelist Jim Bakker dies". USA Today. Archived from the original on May 23, 2011. Retrieved November 29, 2007.
    4. ↑ Sturdevant, Andy (May 28, 2014). "Tammy Faye Bakker's year in Minneapolis: scoping out the sites, from college to marriage and ministry". MinnPost. Archived from the original on February 3, 2017. Retrieved February 2, 2017.
    5. ↑ "Tammy Faye Bakker Gets Divorce, Custody of Son, 16". Los Angeles Times. March 14, 1992. Archived from the original on October 9, 2018. Retrieved February 18, 2020.
    6. ↑ Garfield, Ken (April 1, 2000). "The Preacher's Wife: Lori Beth Bakker says she is her own woman". The Free Lance-Star. Fredericksburg, VA. Archived from the original on April 29, 2016. Retrieved September 1, 2015.
    7. ↑ "About Pastor Jim Bakker | The Jim Bakker Show". The Jim Bakker Show. Archived from the original on October 1, 2018. Retrieved October 1, 2018.
    8. ↑ Lancaster, Jessilyn. "Jim Bakker's Son: The No. 1 Thing to Remember When Dealing With Immigrants". Charisma News. Archived from the original on January 24, 2019. Retrieved January 23, 2019.
    9. ↑ Staff, Charisma. "EXCLUSIVE: Jim Bakker's Son Ricky Believes This Is the Generation That Will See Christ Return". Charisma News. Archived from the original on February 3, 2019. Retrieved March 18, 2019.
    10. ↑ "Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker Lived Here - in a Kit Home!". searshome.org. Sears Home. November 23, 2011. Archived from the original on February 15, 2018. Retrieved February 14, 2018.
    11. ↑ "Tammy Faye Bakker-Messner, "On her first television appearance and creating The Jim and Tammy Show". Television Academy Foundation Interviews. October 23, 2017. Archived from the original on April 8, 2019.
    12. ↑ "Robertson's Bakker Connection". The Washington Post. February 6, 1988. Archived from the original on March 11, 2018. Retrieved February 22, 2018.
    13. ↑ Jarvis, Robin (June 3, 2017). "The Remnants Of This Abandoned Theme Park In South Carolina Are Hauntingly Beautiful". onlyinyourstate.com. onlyinyourstate. Archived from the original on February 13, 2018. Retrieved February 12, 2018.
    14. ↑ "Tammy Faye: Faith & Flamboyance". Biography (TV). August 7, 2000. Archived from the original on February 10, 2017.
    15. 1 2 3 4 5 McKinney, Kelsey (May 19, 2017). "The Second Coming Of Televangelist Jim Bakker". Buzzfeed News. Archived from the original on January 29, 2019. Retrieved January 28, 2019.
    16. ↑ Connelly, Sherryl (August 5, 2017). "Televangelists Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker's fall from grace". New York Daily News. Archived from the original on February 13, 2018. Retrieved February 12, 2018.
    17. ↑ Shepherd, Steve (April 17, 2012). "Submit Yourselves To God". Sermon Central. Archived from the original on February 13, 2018. Retrieved February 13, 2018. I believe that if Jesus were alive today, he would be on TV
    18. ↑ "Assemblies of God defrocks Bakker". United Press International. May 6, 1987. Archived from the original on February 13, 2018. Retrieved February 12, 2018.
    19. ↑ "'Stars of'Fall From Grace' Go Beyond Caricature in Portrayal of the Bakkers". Los Angeles Times. April 23, 1990. Archived from the original on March 5, 2016. Retrieved February 18, 2020.
    20. ↑ "See Exclusive Clip From '20/20' Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker Special". Rolling Stone. January 16, 2019. Archived from the original on January 23, 2019. Retrieved January 23, 2019.
    21. 1 2 "Federal report: PTL president abuses donations". United Press International. January 27, 1986. Archived from the original on January 1, 2019. Retrieved December 31, 2018.
    22. 1 2 Isikoff, Michael; Harris, Art (May 23, 1987). "PTL Fund Raising A Tangled Saga". The Washington Post. Retrieved December 31, 2018.
    23. ↑ Isikoff, Michael; Harris, Art (June 21, 1987). "PTL's Missing Millions". The Washington Post. Retrieved January 12, 2019.
    24. 1 2 3 Ostling, Richard N. (December 19, 1988). "Jim Bakker's Crumbling World". Time. Archived from the original on February 20, 2008. Retrieved December 5, 2007.
    25. ↑ "Larry King Live Interview with Jessica Hahn (rush transcript)". Larry King Live. CNN. July 14, 2005. Archived from the original on August 21, 2007. Retrieved July 29, 2007.
    26. ↑ Ostling, Richard N. (August 3, 1987). "Enterprising Evangelism". Time. Archived from the original on February 12, 2007. Retrieved January 27, 2007.
    27. 1 2 Ostling, Richard N. (May 11, 1987). "Taking Command at Fort Mill". Time. Archived from the original on March 8, 2009. Retrieved November 9, 2008.
    28. ↑ "Report: Former Co-Host Fletcher Says Bakker Bisexual". AP News. December 5, 1988. Archived from the original on January 23, 2019. Retrieved January 23, 2019.
    29. ↑ "Ex PTL Employee Testifies He Had Sex With Bakker". Washington Post. September 22, 1988. Archived from the original on April 19, 2019. Retrieved January 23, 2019.
    30. ↑ "Bakker Issues Denial of Rival TV Minister's New Sex Allegations". Los Angeles Times. April 26, 1987. Archived from the original on May 29, 2016. Retrieved February 18, 2020.
    31. ↑ "Fire-and-brimstone evangelist Jimmy Swaggart admitted today he instigated a..." United Press International. March 24, 1987. Archived from the original on January 1, 2019. Retrieved January 1, 2019.
    32. 1 2 "Son of Jim and Tammy Faye Finds His Own 'Grace'". All Things Considered. NPR. January 15, 2011. Archived from the original on February 13, 2018. Retrieved February 12, 2018. Jim Bakker is a cancer in the body of Christ
    33. ↑ Harris, Art (April 29, 1987). "Falwell Takes Control, Bars Bakker From PTL". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on January 1, 2019. Retrieved January 1, 2019.
    34. ↑ "American Notes: Fund Raising". Time. September 21, 1987. Archived from the original on February 12, 2005. Retrieved November 29, 2007.
    35. ↑ "Falwell Quits, Warning PTL Ministry May End". The New York Times. October 9, 1987. Archived from the original on January 1, 2019. Retrieved January 1, 2019.
    36. ↑ Crouse, Eric R. (2013). The Cross and Reaganomics: Conservative Christians Defending Ronald Reagan. Lexington Books. ISBN 9780739182222 – via Google Books.
    37. ↑ King, Wayne (February 22, 1988). "Swaggart Says He Has Sinned; Will Step Down". The New York Times. Archived from the original on January 1, 2019. Retrieved January 1, 2019.
    38. ↑ Singh, Lisa; Banks, Adelle M. (April 2, 2015). "Crystal Cathedral founder Robert Schuller dies at 88". The New York Times. Archived from the original on April 12, 2019. Retrieved January 1, 2019.
    39. ↑ "Preacher Scandals Strengthen TV Evangelism, Falwell Says". The Washington Post. March 19, 1988. Archived from the original on November 3, 2012. Retrieved December 5, 2007.
    40. ↑ "The Rev. Jerry Falwell, returning to Heritage USA to ..." United Press International. October 9, 1987. Archived from the original on December 3, 2017. Retrieved December 2, 2017.
    41. ↑ Miller, Hunter (September 28, 2017). "How a Sexual Assault Scandal Led to the Uncovering of a $158 Million Crime in a Televangelist Empire". popculture.com. Archived from the original on February 14, 2018. Retrieved February 13, 2018.
    42. ↑ Schmidt, William (May 16, 1987). "For Jim and Tammy Bakker, Excess Wiped Out a Rapid Climb to Success". The New York Times. Archived from the original on February 15, 2018. Retrieved February 21, 2018.
    43. ↑ Harris, David (September 29, 1997). "Former Heritage USA resort is again up for sale". The Business Journals. Archived from the original on May 21, 2004. Retrieved February 14, 2018.
    44. ↑ "Top 20 Church Scandals: #9 Jim Bakker PTL Scandal". PimpPreacher.com. July 1, 2015. Archived from the original on February 15, 2018. Retrieved February 14, 2018. Bakker kept $3.4 million in bonuses for himself
    45. ↑ Applebome, Peter (October 6, 1989). "Bakker Is Convicted on All Counts; First Felon Among TV Evangelists". The New York Times. Archived from the original on December 17, 2019. Retrieved November 23, 2019.
    46. ↑ Applebome, Peter (October 25, 1989). "Bakker Sentenced to 45 Years For Fraud in His TV Ministry". The New York Times. Archived from the original on March 9, 2018. Retrieved March 22, 2018.
    47. ↑ Peifer, Justice Paul E. (April 12, 2000). "Jim Bakker's Federal Court Appeal". Supreme Court of Ohio website. Archived from the original on April 30, 2008. Retrieved November 29, 2007.
    48. ↑ Witt, April (October 24, 2004). "No Joke". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on April 28, 2018. Retrieved March 11, 2018.
    49. 1 2 "U.S. v. Bakker". 1991. Archived from the original on March 12, 2017. Retrieved October 31, 2017.
    50. ↑ "Jim Bakker's Startling Sentence". Opinion. The New York Times. October 29, 1989. Archived from the original on June 13, 2018. Retrieved June 9, 2018.
    51. ↑ "Jim Bakker freed from jail to stay in a halfway house". The New York Times. July 2, 1994. Archived from the original on March 11, 2018. Retrieved March 11, 2018.
    52. ↑ Bakker, Jay (2001). Son of a Preacher Man: My Search for Grace in the Shadows. Harper Collins. ISBN 006251699X.
    53. ↑ Applebome, Peter (August 24, 1991). "Judge cuts Bakker's prison term, making parole possible in 4 years". The New York Times. Archived from the original on May 15, 2020. Retrieved April 15, 2020.
    54. ↑ Smothers, Ronald (December 2, 1994). "Ex-television evangelist Bakker ends prison sentence for fraud". The New York Times. Archived from the original on February 16, 2018. Retrieved February 21, 2018.
    55. ↑ Krotz, Daniel (December 20, 2010). "Jim Bakker and the counterfeit hell robbers". Huffington Post. Archived from the original on February 4, 2017. Retrieved February 18, 2020.
    56. ↑ Murphy, Kevin (July 7, 2006). "Televangelist Rebuilds His Life After Scandal". Daily Press. Archived from the original on August 12, 2019. Retrieved August 12, 2019.
    57. ↑ "'New' Jim Bakker Returns to Christian Television". Charisma News Service. June 2, 2003.
    58. ↑ "Broadcast Listings". The Jim Bakker Show. May 7, 2011. Archived from the original on February 15, 2018. Retrieved April 7, 2019.
    59. ↑ "PTL Shop and The Jim Bakker Show now on ZLiving!". The Jim Bakker Show. July 25, 2019. Archived from the original on July 29, 2019. Retrieved July 29, 2019.
    60. ↑ Bakker, Jim (May 7, 2011). "Broadcast Listings". jimbakkershow.com. The Jim Bakker Show. Archived from the original on February 15, 2018. Retrieved February 15, 2018.
    61. ↑ Mohr, Kylie (December 3, 2015). "Apocalypse Chow: We Tried Televangelist Jim Bakker's "Survival Food"". NPR.
    62. ↑ Mohr, Kylie (December 3, 2015). "Apocalypse Chow: We Tried Televangelist Jim Bakker's 'Survival Food'". NPR. Archived from the original on January 31, 2017. Retrieved February 2, 2017.
    63. ↑ Reeve, Elspeth (May 17, 2012). "Jim Bakker's Doomsday Survival Gear Is Way Overpriced". The Atlantic. Archived from the original on March 6, 2018. Retrieved March 5, 2018.
    64. ↑ "Time Has Come". www.goodreads.com. Retrieved August 12, 2019.
    65. ↑ "Prosperity Gospel Apocalypse: Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker's PTL Empire". Patheos. July 26, 2017. Archived from the original on February 24, 2018. Retrieved February 23, 2018.
    66. ↑ Wigger, John (2017). PTL: The Rise and Fall of Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker's Evangelical Empire. John H. Wigger. p. 7. ISBN 9780199379729.
    67. ↑ "Eight Keys To Success". www.goodreads.com. Archived from the original on May 23, 2018. Retrieved August 12, 2019.
    68. ↑ Bakker, Jim (1996). "I Was Wrong: Excerpt From Jim Bakker's Autobiographical Book. Bakker admits to study the Bible". Spiritwatch Ministries. Archived from the original on February 24, 2018. Retrieved February 21, 2018. The more I studied the Bible
    69. ↑ Bakker, Jim (June 22, 2016). "The 5 Principles of Faith". Archived from the original on July 3, 2019. Retrieved July 2, 2019.
    70. ↑ Mazza, Ed (October 17, 2017). "Jim Bakker Says God Will Punish You For Making Fun Of Him". HuffPost. Archived from the original on January 7, 2018. Retrieved February 11, 2018. Jim Bakker: One day, you're going to shake your fist in God's face. And you're going to say, 'God, why didn't you warn me?' He's gonna say, 'You sat there and you made fun of Jim Bakker all those years. I warned you, but you didn't listen.
    71. ↑ "Disgraced pastor Jim Bakker says Hurricane Harvey was 'judgment' from God while selling his Tasty Pantry bucket for $175". Daily News. New York. September 5, 2017. Archived from the original on February 12, 2018. Retrieved February 11, 2018.
    72. ↑ Tashman, Brian (October 17, 2016). "Jim Bakker Blames Hurricane Matthew On Obama". Right Wing Watch. Archived from the original on February 12, 2018. Retrieved February 11, 2018.
    73. ↑ Delk, Josh (August 29, 2017). "Televangelist Jim Bakker: Christians will start a civil war if Trump is impeached". The Hill. Archived from the original on February 14, 2018. Retrieved February 13, 2018. Jim Bakker: If it happens, there will be a civil war in the United States of America.
    74. ↑ Mantlya, Kyle (January 3, 2018). "Jim Bakker: Washington Train Derailment Was A Warning From God". Right Wing Watch. Archived from the original on February 26, 2018. Retrieved February 25, 2018. Jim Bakker: The great preachers of all times have said the Titanic is God's warning
    75. ↑ "Televangelist Jim Bakker claims he predicted 9/11 disaster". Jolt Left. August 23, 2011. Archived from the original on February 26, 2018. Retrieved February 25, 2018. Jim Bakker: I saw 9/11 in 1999 before New Year's Eve ... I said there's going to be terrorism; there's going to be a bombing in New York and Washington DC. I said it would be at a high defense location in DC ...
    76. ↑ "Jim Bakker Supports Arming Some Teachers: 'Jesus Loves AR-15'". nova-magazine.net. February 22, 2018. Archived from the original on March 6, 2018. Retrieved March 5, 2018. To me, that is a sign that he is against gun control. God ordained Donald Trump and he supports his plan to arm teachers.
    77. ↑ Marusak, Joe; Funk, Tim (February 27, 2018). "Fallen evangelist Jim Bakker and wife pay their respects to Billy Graham in Charlotte". The Charlotte Observer. Archived from the original on February 28, 2018. Retrieved March 5, 2018.
    78. ↑ Dyches, Chris (February 27, 2018). "Fallen PTL pastor Jim Bakker recalls prison visit from Rev. Billy Graham". Charlotte, N.C.: WBTV. Archived from the original on March 6, 2018. Retrieved March 5, 2018.
    79. ↑ Gryboski, Michael (August 31, 2017). "Pastors Network Pres: Jim Bakker Is Wrong, Christians Won't Start 'Civil War' Over Trump Impeachment". The Christian Post. Archived from the original on February 14, 2018. Retrieved February 13, 2018.
    80. ↑ Saunders, Martin (May 1, 2018). "Jim Bakker's TV show amounts to spiritual abuse – so why is he still broadcasting?". Christian Today. Archived from the original on May 2, 2018. Retrieved May 1, 2018.
    81. ↑ "NY AG Letitia James orders televangelist Jim Bakker to quit advertising coronavirus cure". New York Post. March 6, 2020. Archived from the original on March 6, 2020. Retrieved March 6, 2020.
    82. ↑ "FDA, FTC sends warning letter to Jim Bakker Show". Ozarks Independent. March 9, 2020. Archived from the original on April 6, 2020. Retrieved March 9, 2020.
    83. ↑ "Federal government, Missouri AG tell area pastor to stop claiming coronavirus cure". Branson tri-lakes News. Archived from the original on March 11, 2020. Retrieved March 11, 2020.
    84. ↑ "Jim Bakker sued by second state for selling fake coronavirus cure". CBS News. June 17, 2020. Archived from the original on July 17, 2020. Retrieved July 16, 2020.
    85. ↑ Salter, John (May 5, 2020). "Jim Bakker seeks dismissal of suit claiming he touted false virus cure". Star Tribune. Archived from the original on May 7, 2020. Retrieved May 6, 2020.
    86. ↑ Slisco, Aila (April 22, 2020). "Televangelist asks viewers to send checks after credit card companies cut him off for selling fake coronavirus cure". Newsweek. Archived from the original on April 26, 2020. Retrieved April 23, 2020.
    87. ↑ Holman, Gregory J. (May 6, 2020). "Liberal Christian group says TV network tied to Oral Roberts University drops Bakker show". USA Today. Retrieved May 8, 2020.
    88. 1 2 Marusak, Joe (May 8, 2020). "TV pastor Jim Bakker suffers stroke, wife and son confirm. 'Jim will be back!'". The Charlotte Observer. Archived from the original on May 10, 2020. Retrieved May 8, 2020.
    89. ↑ Marusak, Joe (July 8, 2020). "TV pastor Jim Bakker returns to his show for the first time since suffering a stroke". The Charlotte Observer. Archived from the original on July 10, 2020. Retrieved July 16, 2020.
    90. ↑ Wert, Jason (June 23, 2021). "Attorney General settles suit with Jim Bakker". KWTO (AM). Archived from the original on June 23, 2021. Retrieved June 23, 2021.
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