The well-publicized sexual and financial shenanigans of Liberty University’s Jerry Falwell Jr. – which led to his dismissal from Liberty in disgrace -- and the release of the 2021 film “The Eyes of Tammy Faye,” which earned Jessica Chastain an academy award for her role as Tammy Faye Bakker, brought Jim Bakker back into the spotlight. Can a disgraced charismatic Christian conservative televangelist -- who plummeted from fame and power – make a comeback by hawking End Times visions, Trumpy conspiracy theories and phony COVID cures? So far, it’s been a bumpy ride!
Bakker tried to rebuild his fortunes during the COVID-19 pandemic by hawking the “silver solution,” which he claimed was a “miracle cure.” Religion Unplugged’s Jillian Cheney reported in October 2021 that “Credit card companies refused to allow those sales, and Bakker begged viewers to send checks instead to keep him from filing for bankruptcy.”
Aiming to stay relevant with the conspiracy crowd, Bakker and his wife Lori, hosts of “The Jim Bakker Show” featured Mike Lindell, the MyPillow CEO, in a three-part telethon. Lindell, an ever loyal Trumper and Stop the Steal proponent, rehashed the same old same old during his appearance, while whining about being “attacked” and “canceled” on the Internet.
Are Christian conservative evangelicals so desperate for attention and an apocalyptic messenger that they’re turning to a disgraced televangelist to carry their End Times message? Can Jim Bakker be their man? This is the Jim Bakker of the discredited PTL Club (Praise the Lord) televangelist, who drove around in Rolls-Royces while buying up vacation homes and building a super-sized Christian theme park, was fleecing his audience. This is the Bakker who was involved in a juicy sex scandal, and eventually served time in prison, found guilty on 24 accounts of mail and wire fraud and conspiracy (http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/bill-berkowitz/86352/jim-bakker-profiteering-from-toxic-garbage-the-shameless-televangelist-slogs-on).
These days, Bakker is still on the televangelical scene, albeit playing to a much smaller audience.
Originally located in Fort Mill, South Carolina. The PTL Television Network was founded by Jim and Tammy Faye (LaValley) Bakker in 1974, and dedicated in April 1977. Over its 14-year run, Jim and Tammy Faye became two of the most powerful and recognizable conservative Christian evangelicals, living the American Dream.
PTL collapsed in 1987 after a former church secretary, Jessica Hahn, accused the evangelist of rape, and later financial scandals purported that the couple had used the nonprofit PTL's donations to fund an opulent personal lifestyle. Bakker went to prison for embezzlement in 1989.
As Wikipedia detailed:
PTL's fund raising activities between 1984 and 1987 underwent scrutiny by The Charlotte Observer, eventually leading to criminal charges against Bakker. From 1984 to 1987, Bakker and his PTL associates sold $1,000 "lifetime memberships," which entitled buyers to a three-night stay annually at a luxury hotel at Heritage USA. According to the prosecution at Bakker's later fraud trial, tens of thousands of memberships had been sold, but only one 500-room hotel was ever completed. Bakker "sold" more "exclusive partnerships" than could be accommodated and raised more than twice the money that was needed to build the actual hotel. Much of the money went into Heritage USA's operating expenses, and Bakker kept $3.4 million in bonuses for himself. The $279,000 payoff for the silence of Jessica Hahn, who was mistakenly supposed to be a Bakker staff member, was paid by Tammy Faye's later husband, Roe Messner. Hahn was actually a onetime acquaintance of Bakker set up by a "friend" in 1980.
[Fun fact: While Bakker served time in the Federal Medical Center, Rochester in Minnesota, he shared a cell with activist Lyndon LaRouche, a prominent conspiracy theorist who founded the U.S. Labor Party in 1973 as the political arm of the National Caucus of Labor Committees(NCLC), and skydiver Roger Nelson, the internationally known champion skydiver who was in prison for tax fraud.]
Now, headquartered in in Blue Eye, Missouri, just above the Arkansas border, Bakker and his wife Lori, host the daily hour-long The Jim Bakker Show, broadcast on Roku, DirecTV, DISH Network and on demand, and sometimes lasting as long as six hours. According to its website, the show featuring “prophetic and Biblical revelations brought to light in today’s world. In these end times God is providing answers and wisdom to be revealed at just the right time. And the time is now!”
“Hosts Jim and Lori Bakker welcome amazing Biblical teachers and prophets to explore and challenge your heart, mind and spirit as they examine the world TODAY, and God’s loving promises! How do we prepare for what is to come? What does God tell us about our future? What is YOUR calling during these times? Join us as we discover the next supernatural piece of the puzzle!”
As Religion Unplugged’s Cheney reported, Bakker “continues his ministry today in relative obscurity, no longer preaching about prosperity but instead about the coming apocalypse.”
Cheney noted that, “Lori and Jim started hosting ‘The Jim Bakker Show’ in 2003 in Branson, Missouri, and moved to Morningside in 2008. According to Buzzfeed, original PTL partner Jerry Crawford offered an investment of $25 million for Morningside and still owns most of the land. ‘The Jim Bakker Show’ has broadcast from the community ever since.”
According to Cheney, “Most of the attendees at the show aren’t visitors but rather members of the Morningside community who are renting or have purchased one of the condos on the property. These condos and other living accommodations are available for overnight stay for visitors, though, and there’s also onsite camping. Morningside amenities also include a chapel, a general store, a cafe, a center for pregnant women and a 15-foot-tall statue of Jesus.”
Baker, who suffered a stroke last Fall, is 83. According to various online resources (Wikipedia, Forbes, Bloomberg), he has an estimated net worth of around $1 Million.
Bakker is hawking Jim Bakker Holy Water Enemas™. He reportedly told supporters that if they truly want to expunge sin from their lives there is no faster method than using his device that’s “fueled by the Holy Spirit.” Sources say he’s sold millions.