# Jay Bakker



## VirginiaHuguenot (Dec 13, 2006)

Bakker son is 'One Punk Under God'

December 13, 2006 
CNN.com

NEW YORK (AP) -- He was born into the glare of televangelist parents Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker. Then the "Praise the Lord" empire collapsed in scandal. His father went to jail for fraud.

Jay Bakker spent his teens in the darkness, rebelling and bent on self-destruction from alcohol and drugs.

But now, with his 31st birthday next week, this tattooed, multi-pierced pilgrim is on a righteous path: preaching God's grace to a flock of young, downtrodden and disillusioned parishioners most any other church would turn away.

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."

But Jay has other concerns as the six-episode series unfolds.

His mom is gravely ill from cancer; Jay will be traveling to her North Carolina home for tender visits. His dad, now remarried and with a new TV ministry, is estranged from him -- a rift Jay will make great strides repairing. And after several years' devotion to his church, he will be uprooted when wife Amanda, a young woman with fluorescent red hair and a beatific smile, is accepted by New York University for its doctoral program in psychiatry.

In short, 2006 is eventful for Jay Bakker -- far more than he imagined when "One Punk Under God" began filming in February.

He was initially reluctant to sign on, and even camera shy, he insists during a recent interview.

"I feel like I'm just a guy who has a church with 15 people that meets in a bar," says Jay, who left the Atlanta church in another minister's care to start a new branch that meets in a Brooklyn pub.

He has no wish, he adds, to leverage his TV exposure into an ongoing video pulpit, as his parents had on such a grand scale with "The PTL Club," which at its peak reached some 13 million cable households.

"If anything, I'd like to write more books," Jay says.

Five years ago his first book, "Son of a Preacher Man: My Search for Grace in the Shadows," testified to his troubled past and deliverance from it.

Now "One Punk Under God" finds Jay continuing a mini-crusade for an alternative to the God he could never make peace with: a wrathful God who hated him for all the flaws he hated in himself.

"God loves us for who we are," contends Jay, explaining that it comes down to "grace": "God's love for all people, and his unconditional love.

"God isn't counting our sins against us. Yeah, we'll have to pay the consequences; life has consequences. But God isn't keeping a record. 'You better watch out, you better not cry' -- that's not God. That's Santa Claus!"

'Salvation is free. It's a gift'
In defiance of both his billing as "punk" and his calling as preacher, Jay is an affable, unassuming chap who happens to wear a stud in each ear as well as a lip ring. And tattoos: He got the first of many -- it praises Revolution -- at 19 while living in Phoenix, where he helped found the church. In the series' finale, he will get a tattoo in tribute to his mother.

Jay has tattoos because he likes them, simple as that. He never set out to be the punk anti-Bakker for a lost generation. Nor has he disavowed his parents, whose past disgrace could easily fuel skepticism about his own ministry.

"I don't have a strategy like, 'OK, I'm gonna distance myself from them, so I can build a church and be my own man,"' Jay says. "Me and my dad have a hard time getting along, and now, with my mom being as sick as she is, that's hard -- but I love them, and they did a lot of great things, as well as make mistakes."

A mistake of theirs he means to avoid: building a church so big and all-consuming that its own sustenance is its primary cause.

In episode two, Jay will make a tough decision that could threaten his church: Should he declare himself a gay-affirming minister? Over fast food outdoors on a bright Atlanta day, he discusses it with Amanda.

"So speaking out in behalf of the gay community and gay Christians is something I should do?" he asks her.

"Absolutely, without question," she agrees, even as she warns there'll be a backlash.

She's right. A conservative foundation wastes no time pulling thousands in funding.

That's OK. "Salvation is free. It's a gift," Jay tells me in New York months later.

"But if I start to compromise now, where am I gonna be in 20 years? I want to be able to encourage other people not to compromise about their passions, their feelings -- and not to be afraid that, if you share your convictions with the rest of us, you're in danger of being thrown out."

At the end of "One Punk Under God," Jay's life remains full of challenges: his mom's worsening condition; the new city for him and Amanda to navigate; a new congregation to forge. He even speaks hopefully of kicking cigarettes.

Then he shares with me his foolproof plan.

"You put one foot out in front of the other and you say, 'OK, this is what I believe, this is what I'm seeing in the Word.' " He smiles. "It's a struggle. But what have I got to lose?"


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## BobVigneault (Dec 13, 2006)

Brother Richard King linked to that story here. Pretty scary. I wouldn't touch his 'theology' with a 10 foot cattle prod.


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## VirginiaHuguenot (Dec 14, 2006)

Thanks, Bob. I searched for "Jay Bakker" but didn't find that thread. Here is a new op-ed piece by Jay Bakker:

Bakker, Brown: What the hell happened to Christianity?

December 14, 2006 
By Jay Bakker and Marc Brown
Special to CNN

Editor's note: Jay Bakker, son of former Praise The Lord leaders Jim Bakker and Tammy Faye Messner, is minister of Revolution Church and subject of a new documentary series, "One Punk Under God," on Sundance Channel. Marc Brown is a Revolution staff member.

NEW YORK (CNN) -- What the hell happened? Where did we go wrong? How was Christianity co-opted by a political party? Why are Christians supporting laws that force others to live by their standards? The answers to these questions are integral to the survival of Christianity.

While the current state of Christianity might seem normal and business-as-usual to some, most see through the judgment and hypocrisy that has permeated the church for so long. People witness this and say to themselves, "Why would I want to be a part of that?" They are turned off by Christians and eventually, to Christianity altogether. We can't even count the number of times someone has given us a weird stare or completely brushed us off when they discover we work for a church.

So when did the focus of Christianity shift from the unconditional love and acceptance preached by Christ to the hate and condemnation spewed forth by certain groups today? Some say it was during the rise of Conservative Christianity in the early 1980s with political action groups like the Moral Majority. Others say it goes way back to the 300s, when Rome's Christian Emperor Constantine initiated a set of laws limiting the rights of Roman non-Christians. Regardless of the origin, one thing is crystal clear: It's not what Jesus stood for.

His parables and lessons were focused on love and forgiveness, a message of "come as you are, not as you should be." The bulk of his time was spent preaching about helping the poor and those who are unable to help themselves. At the very least, Christians should be counted on to lend a helping hand to the poor and others in need.

This brings us to the big issues of American Christianity: Abortion and gay marriage. These two highly debatable topics will not be going away anytime soon. Obviously, the discussion centers around whether they are right or wrong, but is the screaming really necessary? After years of witnessing the dark side of religion, Marc and I think not. 

Christians should be able to look past their differences and agree to disagree. This allows people to discuss issues with respect for one another. Christians are called to love others just as they are, without an agenda. Only then will Christianity see a return to its roots: Loving God with all of your heart and loving your neighbor as yourself.

The Apostle Paul describes this idea of love beautifully in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7: "Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance." 

But don't take our word for it; look at what Jesus and his followers stood for in his time and what Christianity stands for today. Then come to your own conclusion.


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## BobVigneault (Dec 14, 2006)

> Then come to your own conclusion.



Ahhh, the age and the appeal of individualism. I'm betting they have no creed but Christ. I'm betting their 'church' has no elders. I'm betting MTV is going to make him a regular.


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## VirginiaHuguenot (Dec 14, 2006)

BobVigneault said:


> Ahhh, the age and the appeal of individualism. I'm betting they have no creed but Christ. I'm betting their 'church' has no elders. I'm betting MTV is going to make him a regular.



I'll give you ten to one odds that you can't make me take that bet! 



> Lloyd: I'll bet you twenty dollars I can get you gambling before the day is out!
> Harry: No!
> Lloyd: I'll give you three to one odds.
> Harry: No.
> ...


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