Posted on 02/19/2008 11:58:44 AM PST by Between the Lines
BLUE EYE, MO. • Forgive them for gawking. They were not expecting this.
"It’s a little like Disneyland," one stunned visitor says.
"A miracle," says another. "It is God’s work."
They stand surrounded by a surreal indoor streetscape of Italianate store facades and condo balconies. A grand chapel sits at one end and a portico at the other, the entire color-bursting scene playing out under a ceiling painted like a cloudless blue sky. It looks so real one woman decides to keep her coat on.
This is even more than Jim Bakker promised them. For months they had heard Bakker on his TV show touting his impending move here. Bakker, the disgraced TV minister of PTL-and-Tammy-Faye fame, said the day was coming when he would no longer broadcast his bare-bones show from inside a converted restaurant in nearby Branson, as he had for five years. He talked about moving to a sprawling complex being built for him as the new headquarters for his television ministry, the heart of a 600-acre development named Morningside.
That day is here. The debut of "The Jim Bakker Show" from Morningside is one hour away. Visitors pour in. Construction dust floats in the air. Backstage, Bakker waits. His shot at redemption approaches.
What a stunning reversal of fortune for a man who fell so spectacularly in the late 1980s when his $129 million-a-year religious empire crumbled; prison time and personal shame followed. A return to the airwaves seemed impossible.
Yet no one here tries hiding Bakker's past. They openly acknowledge the striking similarities between Morningside and Heritage USA, the Christian theme park and resort in South Carolina that was the linchpin of the PTL empire. Bakker designed both, giving them the feel of dense European villages. Real estate, once again, is part of the mission.
(Excerpt) Read more at stltoday.com ...
Link: to Morningside's website
For those of you wondering what became of Heritage USA, it now belongs to MorningStar Ministries and is called Heritage International Ministries
I thought Bakker was dead.
You can’t keep a good scam down. ;)
You can fool all of the people some of the time. Some of the people all of the time. But you can’t fool all of the people all of the time.
Jim Bakker is glad there are three lines to that old saying.
There’s a book by the title of “Don’t call me brother”, it is about Bakker and others like him. Well worth the time to read.
Being that he is still alive and out or prison, it seems that Jim would have corrected the spelling of his last name, hooked-up again with that prostitute he had the affair with and moved to a trailer park outside of Reno.
But, Bakker had much bigger plans than your average Ex Con.
Yeah, but, nobody’s tapping into the Zombie market. I need stats, but I think there’s potential there if you’ve been reading some of the undead threads around here.
More importantly, Zombies may still have cash in their wallets and they won’t care if I take it. Cuz they’re Zombies and all.
Tammy Faye died last year. Jim’s still kickin’.
Kicken’ and still Embezzling money from the Blue Hairs.
Oh, I liked your comment and I’m lovin’ your tag line!
Here we go again:
***Crawford estimates he has invested $25 million in the project. The development has its own sewer and water treatment plants. The main building, with the domed sky, is 200,000 square feet of mixed retail and housing. It holds 115 condos, going for $80,000 to $350,000. About 40 condos already have sold, Crawford says. He also is building single-family homes and small apartment buildings nearby; many are near completion. He hopes to have 2,000 families living here one day.
Crawford says the parallels between Morningside and Heritage USA are no accident. “It was modeled a whole lot on that. That model worked.”
Bakker is expected to move into a 2,500-square foot, 3-bedroom condo just behind the portico. Crawford plans to sell it to Bakker at cost: about $250,000. Crawford says he wants the ministry to be supported by donations, paying its own rent on its 40,000 square feet inside the Morningside complex.
“The purpose of this place is to minister to people, to make affordable living for people, for people to come for fellowship and seminars,” Crawford says.
Harriette Hursh, a retired nursing director from Wisconsin, purchased a three-bedroom home at Morningside for $300,000. Hursh, 71, was attracted by the chance to live in a Christian community. She has faith things will work out.
“A lot of people said, ‘Oh, you’re going to lose your money,’” she recalls. “I’ll trust God with that.”***
Tammi divorced Jim Bakker & married the Heritage developer Roe Messner - wonder if Lori will finish up with Crawford????? Mmmmmmmmmmm.
Kind of wish he's sell shoes or something.
Jim Bakker probably thinks that it is a Bible verse.
I think that Jim's son Jay Bakker is in charge of that ministry in his Revolution Church.
He isn't raising the money for the entire project as the article, just for his own ministry. I suppose no one believes in forgiveness. I am certainly thankful that God does.
Frankly, I’m all for the guy. I gave money to him before — and have never regretted it. And I’ll likely support him again. Seems to me he paid a pretty heavy price for having sex with a slut and overbooking his condos. As for Tammy Faye, the woman had a good heart — and lousy make-up.
Also, you were dead until Christ made you alive, so all Christians are zombies, in the esoteric understanding. "It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives within me."
Wait a minute. That makes you a pod person...
No, this is the first I have ever heard of that. I did a search on the web and could found no references of it either. Perhaps you could help me find it?
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