True, there are some that use God's word for their own gain,
but God works all things together for good....

I had one dear friend who was helped by listening to one of
his messages, strangely enough she knew little English at the time, but she knew there was a message for her and she listened. In time she learnt to read the bible in English, by faith. The message is what meant something to her, and for me, when she explained this, that's all that mattered.

On the topic of Jim and Tammy Faye, I think people have it wrong.

There were a lot of lies published about them. Jesus promised that Christians would be lied about, so we shouldn't be surprised. The "air conditioning" in their dog house was an old heater to keep their dog warm. The "gold plating" in their bathroom was brass. The charges against Jim Bakker were dropped on appeal. Jim Bakker's theology was wrong and he didn't read the Bible until he was wrongfully imprisoned, but he has admitted to those wrongs. Everything else they were accused of was false, simply lies put out to destroy their lives.

I wish there was more unity among Christians. When a Christian is truely breaking the law or teaching false theology, we already have steps to take, which are given in the Bible. But with people like the Bakkers, where they have been lied about, Christians should know and admit the truth. Their theology was wrong. Jim Bakker hadn't read the Bible. But when most major Christians were saying that AIDS was a plague from God, Tammy Faye was telling Christians to love and accept their gay children and to pray for and love those who had AIDS. They were flawed people, but I believe there was only one person who wasn't flawed.

Thank you for that. I do know that Tammy was wrongfully accused. She was a true believer. She had no clue to some of the things that Jim did. As for her having expensive things before she died? She married a VERY wealthy man after Jim. She wanted for nothing. She didin't even have anything in her name. Much to her childrens dismay. Her husband loved her very much and gave her whatever she wanted, to which he said she never asked for anything. Because she already had it all. He gave it to her.

Kat

I couldn't say what Tammy knew or didn't know and they may have been lied about but there was plenty of obviously bad truths that no lies were needed. Again, this does not mean all or most or even many christians are greedy or bad. Just that Christianity in this country has been used and misused... Jim and Tammy's PTL club harmed people. Not only the loss of money but the deeper hurt, the loss of trust and faith.

Most of the below is quotes or paraphrases from the Charlotte Observer.

"PTL's fund raising activities between 1984–1987 underwent scrutiny leading to criminal charges against Jim Bakker. From 1984 to 1987, Bakker and his PTL associates had sold "lifetime memberships" for $1,000 or more that 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, while raising more than twice the money needed to build the actual hotel. A good deal of the money went into Heritage USA's operating expenses, and Bakker kept $3.4 million in bonuses for himself, along with the $279,000 payoff for Jessica Hahn's silence.

Bakker kept two sets of books to conceal accounting irregularities. Following a 16-month Federal grand jury probe, Bakker was indicted in 1988 on 8 counts of mail fraud, 15 counts of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy. In 1989, after a five week trial in Charlotte, the jury found him guilty on all 24 counts, and he was sentenced to 45 years in federal prison and a $500,000 fine. He later lost an appeal but his sentence was reconsidered and decreased to 18 years. In 1993, after serving almost five years of his sentence, Bakker was granted parole.

The Charlotte Observer reported that the IRS still holds Bakker and Roe Messner, Tammy Faye's husband from 1993 until her death in 2007, liable for personal income taxes owed from the 1980s when they were building the PTL empire, taxes assessed after the IRS revoked the PTL ministry's nonprofit status. The notices reinstating the liens list "James O. and Tamara F. Bakker" as owing $3,000,000, on which liens the Bakkers still pay.

Bakker has renounced his past teachings on prosperity theology, saying they were wrong. In his 1996 book, I Was Wrong, he admitted that the first time he read the Bible all the way through was in prison."

Sure it's great to admit you were wrong and say you're sorry. But it just seems so much wrong is done in the name of god that cannot be undone. It actually makes me quite suspicious of all organized religions, of all those who are so certain of that which none can really know.

Peace.