Bakker’s Pedigree
Posted on December 14th, 2006 by catalyst into the Biblical Parody category
Quite a few readers sent me this article about Jim and Tammy Bakker's son, Jay, who has started a church in a Pub and is currently starring in a reality TV show.
Jay is the focus of "One Punk Under God: The Prodigal Son of Jim & Tammy Faye," a reality series about the back-to-basics church he calls Revolution, which, notwithstanding his decade-long sobriety, holds services in an Atlanta bar.
Keeping the faith while keeping Revolution going will prove to be a challenge for Jay.
"I think Revolution is kind of stuck between a rock and a hard place," he muses in the first episode (airing Wednesday at 9 p.m. EST on Sundance Channel). "With some groups we're too Christian, and with the Christians we're not Christian enough."
While Jim might not be Christian enough for Christians, his parents were wonderful Christians. I mean until Jim Bakker went to jail for Fraud. I love this hypocrisy. If you constantly ask people for money and preach an Unbiblical Prosperity Doctrine, you're fine. However, if you go to church in a Bar, you're a sinner.
Update: Jay Bakker participated in an online chat on Washington Post today.
Best question:
Oxon Hill, Md.: As a Christian I am trying to understand what exactly it is that you are preaching?
What is your mission and purpose for this church?
Jay Bakker: To show people the grace and love of Christ, to let people know that God loves them. So many people today feel like the church has become almost like a private country club based on do's and don't's and we're trying to deconstruct that myth.
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December 14th, 2006 at 10:15 am
I have to admit that I was a little skeptical about Jay Bakker’s ministry when I first heard about it few years ago. I was concerned that he was just going to repackage conservative/fundamentalist Christianity in an “alternative” package.
I was further concerned when he agreed to speak at a national anti-gay/”ex-gay” conservative Christian conference last year. (It was also really surprising that Bakker agreed to speak at the conference because Jerry Falwell was the keynote speaker who, according to the movie Eyes of Tammy Faye, is no friend of the Bakker’s parents.) However, he gave the following interview with David Moore, the editor of a gay newspaper, before the conference:
After the interview was published, Jay Bakker was disinvited to the conference. So, it seems Bakker really is leading a different kind of church and theology.
http://www.exgaywatch.com/blog/archives/2005/07/qnotes_exodus_s.html
December 14th, 2006 at 4:22 pm
I highly recommend that you read Jay Bakker’s autobiography, Son of a Preacher Man. It’s one of my all-time favorite books. Another great read is Jim Bakker’s post-incarceration book, I Was Wrong, which I thought was much appropriately titled and amazingly vulnerable throughout.
If you remember the whole Bakker debacle–Jim’s sleazily exposed tryst with Jessica Hahn (and subsequent SNL Church Lady commentary), the gold plated toilet seat and air-conditioned dog house, Tammy Faye’s tearful last rendition of “You Can Make It” on the PTL program, $25 Heritage USA Christmas ornaments (collect them all, but only through 1987), and Jay’s publicly heralded drug-induced downward spiral–you’ll love these two books. They make no bones about the fact that their family and ministry priorities were more than just a little askew, but also come clean with the truth about what they’ve learned and how gracious God is to restore and renew.
December 15th, 2006 at 11:19 pm
I like that Bloggy. They told their story, got it all out, helped themselves and keep helping others in the process. I’d love to read this book by Jay. My best friend gave us ‘I Was Wrong’ and it really helped us alot. You are right about coming clean with what they’ve learned from their mistakes and how gracious God is in giving them so much to do with the rest of their time on earth. It’s really a story of the hope we have in God. No matter how we self-destruct, God can put us back together again and make us useful.
December 16th, 2006 at 10:13 am
Any one else catch Jay on Larry King last night?