Forgive my cynicism, but there’s going to be quite a scene at the Pearly Gates when the late Jim Bakker tries to con his way in there. I believe in a merciful God. but I don’t believe in a stupid one and once Bakker shows up with his financial and sex scandals, I think Saint Peter will decide to pass. Washington Post:
Mr. Bakker and his first wife were Bible Belt preachers before evangelist Pat Robertson hired them in the mid-1960s as personalities for his new Christian Broadcasting Network. Over several years, they refined their folksy, talk-show style of religious broadcasting with upbeat music, interviews, prayer and relentless fundraising, often punctuated by tearful pleas from one or both of them.
Mr. Bakker broke with Robertson in the early 1970s, establishing a separate broadcast network and a new show, “The PTL Club,” which stood for “Praise the Lord” and later for “People That Love.”
With Mr. Bakker’s boyish charm and his wife’s endless enthusiasm, accentuated by her thick makeup and elaborate wardrobe, “The PTL Club” became a mainstay of evangelical Christian broadcasting. The Bakkers built a ministry and financial juggernaut in Charlotte, and later in Fort Mill, S.C., that lasted from the mid-1970s well into the 1980s.
“The PTL Club” was broadcast each day from a packed 1,600-seat studio. Mr. Bakker’s 24-hour-a-day PTL television network reached 13 million households. Books by the Bakkers and gospel albums recorded by Tammy Faye were hawked on their shows, which also featured fundraising telethons.
Bakker’s second wife, Lori, announced his passing but didn’t specify where Bakker died or what of. My favorite Bakker anecdote (next to the apocalyptic food he sold, turkey tettrazini that would last for 25 years) was the story of his magic blankie that made the bills go away. POOF. Yes, indeed. If you just put your bills under this holy blanket, they would cease to be bills. You would end up with a lot of money on hand and no bills. And since you had money on hand, you could now afford to send it to Jim at the PTL Club. Great how this works, right?
