On the May 6 episode of The Jim Bakker Show, Bakker warned his viewers that unless they sent him one million dollars, he could lose his ministry. Never shy about fleecing his followers, Bakker once again played the “we’re in the End Times” card as he has many times before.
Bakker, an avid supporter of Donald Trump, bemoaned the fact that contributions to his ministry have dropped, saying “A lot of people have not been giving any more because it’s perilous times.”
“I believe if everyone who watches this program will give a thousand dollars, we’ll be able to pay our bills and stay on the air,” said Bakker. “… Otherwise, we’ve got about another month, I don’t know, to stay on the air. We’re at the end. God doesn’t have an end, He’s the same yesterday, today and forever.”
Bakker, 85, claimed that he doesn’t have any money saying that “For 40 years, I have not made a salary, … What we need is a miracle, and it’s gonna happen if a thousand people give a thousand dollars.” If he doesn’t get the money he could lose his house and be forced out into the street.
“It is hard to prove or disprove Bakker’s assertions, as his organization operates under Morningside Church in Branson, Missouri. Churches do not need to declare their financials or file a 990 tax form,” Liz Lykins pointed out at The Roys Report.
According to Lykins, Bakker’s “$125 million media empire was comprised of the PTL Network, which he ran with his then-spouse Tammy Faye Bakker, and the Christian theme park Heritage USA. …the third most-visited theme park in 1986 with six million visitors, according to the History TV network. It followed behind Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, and Disneyland in Anaheim, California, in terms of attendance.
His empire came crashing down amidst a sex scandal and the fraud convictions.”
The Christian Post noted that “Bakker’s appeal comes against the backdrop of a televangelist career marked by both prominence and controversy. In the 1980s, he built a media empire with the PTL Ministry, including a TV network and the Heritage USA resort. He was indicted in 1988 on eight counts of mail fraud, 15 counts of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy. According to the New York Times, government prosecutors argued that Bakker bilked followers of his PTL Ministry out of $158 million by offering promises of lifetime vacations he could not provide).
“He was also accused of diverting about $3.7 million to support a lavish lifestyle, including an air-conditioned dog house and a fleet of luxury vehicles.
“He was found guilty on all 24 counts on Oct. 5, 1989, and sentenced to 45 years in prison. He was ordered to pay a $500,000 fine. Bakker later filed an appeal. In 1991, an appellate court upheld his conviction. But he was granted a sentence-reduction hearing, during which his sentence was reduced to eight years. He served almost five years before he received parole in 1994.
In 2020, Bakker sold a health supplement dubbed “Silver Solution” that he claimed would cure Covid-19. “A year later,” Liz Lykins noted, “the Missouri attorney general ordered Bakker to pay restitution of $156,000 to settle a false advertising lawsuit.”
Bakker has also been hawking a bevy of survival products, including long-term food buckets, while preaching about the End Times.
The post Disgraced Televangelist Jim Bakker Warns of End Times and Pleads for $1 Million to Survive first appeared on Dissident Voice.
This content originally appeared on Dissident Voice and was authored by Bill Berkowitz.