Chamblee54

Jay Bakker was the guest on WTF podcast today. In case you are new here, Jay is the son of Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker. He was a kid when their empire imploded, and had a tough time dealing with it.
After a few years as an alcoholic, among other vices, Mr. Bakker found some scripture that he agreed with. He decided to preach. His view of the bible is different from most mainstream believers, with an emphasis on grace and acceptance. The church is currently in Minnesota. There are plans to maybe have an online based ministry, with no geographic location.
While the teaching of Jay Bakker is different from most churches, some of the basic assumptions are the same. He talks about the teachings of Jesus, who he calls Christ. He finds what he wants to see in the bible. (The be fair, Mr. Bakker said that his view is expanding all the time. He apparently is thinking, and is open to new possibilities.)
To PG, this is mistaken. The bible is a book assembled by man, with all the mistakes that men are capable of making. It is not the complete story about G-d. It is also not the complete story about Jesus. All we know about Jesus is what the Council of Nicea wants to tell us.
In a way, this continues in the Jim and Tammy Faye tradition. The PTL club was basically a friendly place. They were about love, instead of the meanness distributed by so many other Jesus worshipers. These are not the people who taught PG that Jesus hates him. Unfortunately, there was some financial tomfoolery. Maybe money is the root of all evil.
While listening to this show, PG was editing pictures from The Library of Congress. Some of these pictures are posted here today. When WTF was over, PG checked in to see if the latest offering from Matt Walsh was up. Holy synchronicity, Batman.
The story today is a denunciation of Joel Osteen. Mr. Walsh does not think that Mr. Osteen is correct in his approach . Phrases like “wonderful blasphemy” and “indefensible teaching” are tossed around. Scripture is quoted. What you see in the bible says more about you than it does G-d, or Joel Osteen.
Here is a quote. “In more primitive times they burned heretics at the stake. Now we greet the blasphemers with applause and multi-million dollar book deals. I’m not sure if the latter response is any more enlightened than the former, but both are wrong.”
When you go to the Matt Walsh piece, you might get a popup ad (irony alert.) The headline reads Is this the end of Viagra? The product is an ED drug. “… the adult industry so excited about Vydox … to make it a mandatory supplement part of every actors pre filming routine.”
UPDATE: After this feature was published, PG went to Facebook to promote it. He learned of the passing of Joan Rivers. May she rest in peace. There was also a link to something that seems connected with a post, about a Jesus worshiper trashing a wealthier Jesus worshiper over theocratic style. The post is The 30 Harshest Comedian-on-Comedian Insults in History.