Jim Bakker Show

My friend and colleague, Dan Betzer, lovingly calls me the “Comeback Kid.” He does this because virtually everyone in the Christian community, save a precious few, had counted me out when I went to prison back in 1989. But God didn’t count me out – He counted me in! And Dan was one of the few friends who didn’t count me out either – he stood closer than a brother.

So, the comeback that I have had in ministry for the Lord is so that others can be encouraged when they have had a setback. I tell people every day “if I can make it, anybody can make it.” And, as another close friend, Bishop Ronnie Webb says, “if you’ve had a setback, get ready for a comeback!” Jesus will use the weak and the downtrodden! (Hebrews 12:1) Bishop Webb also likes to say “don’t quit right before your breakthrough. Right before your breakthrough, there’s a breakdown.” No truer words were ever said!

We need encouragers in the Body of Christ. The power of life and death are in the tongue. (Proverbs 18:21) People have the power to speak life to you, or death… but God is all about life. The prophetic word of encouragement is always about life; life to your vision, life to your spiritual gifts, and life to your ministry and mission.

We are just getting started here at Morningside as a “Comeback Center” for people who have been beaten and bruised. You don’t get disqualified in God’s race! You can come back! That’s why Jesus died for us!

I remember calling out to God in prison and saying “never in my life have I ever had a desire to hurt anybody! How could I be here (in prison) for building something to bless people?” The answer was quick: Jesus said, “they killed me!”

Until we are willing to know Jesus, not just in His resurrection, but in the fellowship of His suffering, we can never minister the resurrection! (Philippians 3:10)

Lori tells of a time when she felt forgotten by God. God sent a prophet to prophesy to her that “God has not forgotten you!” Do you think He cares about us? Do you think He knows what we’re feeling? Many of you know my signoff phrase “God loves you, He really does!” But not many know that this phrase came from a time of ministry to a woman who was told she had sinned so bad that she couldn’t be saved. The prophetic word that God loved her broke the back of that lie and she was delivered!

YOU have not sinned so badly that God can’t forgive you! I didn’t – Lori didn’t – this precious lady didn’t – and YOU didn’t either!

God is close to the brokenhearted. You can come back! Come back today – He is calling you and He will not turn you away. He is waiting with open arms for you to come back to Him – and you will not be disqualified by anything in your past.

And when you come back, remember that there’s a “Comeback Center” in Blue Eye, Missouri called Morningside that will welcome you home!

Love,

Jim

One of the words the Lord gave me for 2011 is that there will be “great betrayal – churches and relationships” this year.  I take no pleasure at all in delivering this word, yet it is an important one.  While some of us have had more experience with betrayal, personal and corporate, others have never had to live through these kinds of assaults on our hearts.

Maybe that’s why the Lord wants me to warn you all about it.  I could be the poster child!  When you have come through something like betrayal, God authorizes and expects you to help others come through it.  Like Rick Joyner told Lori:  you will take the stick the devil beat you with and beat him back!

Your victory is never for you alone.  The Church and the Kingdom of God is a building made of living stones – each one supplying something the other one needs.

In Luke 21, Jesus is telling His disciples what the signs of the end times will be and it is here that He says “Even those closest to you—your parents, brothers, relatives, and friends—will betray you.”

That time is here, folks.

It’s impossible for me to think of any situation that would arise where one family member might betray another, but it will happen – the Bible tells us so.  But even in the Church there is going to be great treachery against one another.  This is exactly the opposite of what the Lord prayed for us before He left this earth.  Jesus prayed in John 17:21 “I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one…”

Bob Hartley is a prophet of HOPE.  When he was here recently, he told us that Hope defends you, fights for you and helps you heal.  He said we would be Hope Craftsmen (and women) here at Morningside.  This is my heart’s desire.  He said people would come in and be healed and then be launched out to help others.

Bob said:  “I saw this Hope in God for Community come forth like in Nehemiah’s day.   Jesus brought me back to my catholic neighborhood where I grew up and showed me how I had 100 families that fought for me on every level:  for my physical, emotional and spiritual well-being, and for my calling.  He shared that this is the type of community that He (Jesus) would restore again, like the early Church in Acts 2:42-47.  This warmed my heart with hope as I reflected on how much the community of my childhood had meant to me and how I had prayed for this same type of community for my children.”

Bob said that we, like Nehemiah, will become “Hope Craftsmen” and direct the people to build right where they live, where their hearts flourish, and people will be strategically placed here.  My vision for Morningside has always been that we would become a “Refuge” and a place of restoration.  Freely I have received, and my desire is to freely give HOPE to others.

Each of us ought to have genuine compassion for others who have spiritual or physical hurts.  We have to move out of the swamps of backbiting and tearing down.

In the Refuge, we will love each other, we will have each other’s backs, and we will care for one another!  God is raising up many places of Refuge for the Times of Trouble ahead.  Betrayal may drive you to one of these Refuges, but HOPE will sustain you through it!

We must purpose in our hearts to become “Hope Craftsmen”!