Jim Bakker

James Orson Bakker (born January 2, 1939 in Muskegon, Michigan) is an American televangelist, Assemblies of God preacher, and evangelist beset by scandal, and the former host of The PTL Club (PTL being an acronym for 'Praise the Lord' and 'People That Love') with his then-wife Tammy Faye Bakker.

After prison

In 1993, after serving almost five years of his sentence, Bakker was granted parole for good behavior. Upon his release, the Grahams paid for a house for him and gave him a car. At that point many Christians found themselves able to forgive or at least accept him. In 1995 he addressed a Christian leadership conference where 10,000 clergymen cheered and gave him a fifteen-minute standing ovation. "I thought people would spit on me," he later recalled. "Instead they received me with open arms."

Related Topics:
1993 - Parole - Christians - 1995 - Christian

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On July 23, 1996, a North Carolina jury threw out a class action suit brought on behalf of more than 160,000 onetime believers who contributed as much as $7,000 each to Bakker's coffers in the 1980s.

Related Topics:
North Carolina - Class action suit

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The Charlotte Observer reported that the Internal Revenue Service still holds Bakker and Roe Messner, Tammy Faye's husband since 1993, liable for personal income taxes owed from the 1980s when they were building the Praise The Lord empire, taxes assessed after the IRS revoked the PTL ministry's nonprofit status. Tammy Faye Messner's new husband said Bakker and his former wife didn't want to talk about the tax issues: "We don't want to stir the pot." He also said that the original tax amount was about $500,000, with penalties and interest accounting for the rest. The notices reinstating the liens list "James O. and Tamara F. Bakker" as owing $3 million, on which liens the Bakkers still pay.

Related Topics:
Internal Revenue Service - Roe Messner

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In 1996 Bakker published the book I Was Wrong, describing his rise and fall. In 1998 he released another book, Prosperity And The Coming Apocalypse, and in 2000, The Refuge: The Joy of Christian Community in a Torn-Apart World.

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In January 2003, Bakker began broadcasting the "Jim Bakker Show" with his second wife, Lori Graham Bakker, whom he married in 1998. He denounces his past teachings on prosperity, saying they were wrong.

Related Topics:
January - 2003 - Lori Graham Bakker

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