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Innovative pastor Jay Bakker thought he knew God: the God who rigorously patrolled every aspect of his life, the God who chose sides, the God who was always disappointed in him. But through the transformative power of grace, he discovered the God who loved and accepted unconditionally, freeing him to ask the hard questions and delve into one of Christianity’s greatest taboos: doubt.

In Faith, Doubt, and Other Lines I’ve Crossed, Jay voices the questions that Christians are thinking but won’t ask as he chronicles his doubt about God, the Bible, heaven and hell, church, society, relationships, grace, and love. In the process he encourages all of us to welcome “the other”, to read the Bible differently but better, to draw together in community, and to seek an unknown God of limitless grace.

Brutally honest but full of grace, Jay invites everyone to cross the line, to dig deeper, and to discover a faith that is beyond belief.

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If anyone ever had a reason to leave the Christian faith, Jay Bakker did.

At the age of only 11 his parents’ global PTL ministry was engulfed by scandal and undermined by Christian backbiting—all of which played out in the 24-hour news media. Disillusioned, Bakker turned to drugs and alcohol and left his childhood beliefs behind. But along the way, an interesting thing happened: Bakker came to understand, through his personal challenges and suffering (as well as the help of some friends), what God’s grace was really all about. In this book Bakker explores the true nature of grace—what it means for everyday living and the hot-button issues of our day. With disarming humility, poignant observations, and spot-on theology, Bakker both challenges Christians to reassess their understanding of salvation and encourages non-believers to see Jesus with fresh eyes.

Buy the book: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

From the opening epigram (a passage from Romans about learning from trials and adversities) to the rousing concluding chapter, this memoir by the son of the scandal-ridden televangelists Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker inspires, captivates and entertains.

Even before his dad was arrested, Jay confesses, family life began to fall apart: Mom was addicted to drugs, and Jay’s 16-year-old sister ran off to marry her beau. And then, in a haze of scandal, his father, whom Jay lionizes, was sentenced in 1989 to 45 years in prison. Jay’s portrait of Papa Bakker is extremely sympathetic—at times, a tad too worshipful. He also includes a touching vignette about Jimmy Swaggart, who agreed to help Jay get his father’s prison sentence reduced when no other big-name pastors dared to intervene. In the years since his father was released from prison, young Jay Bakker has discovered he’s an alcoholic, and gotten sober; fallen in love, and gotten married; and realized he’s a sinner, and gotten right with God. He’s now a pastor—a tattooed, hip pastor—in Atlanta, ministering to street youth on skateboards.

Readers are sure to love Bakker’s delightfully down-to-earth, slightly self-mocking tone (“For a while I thought I was Jim Morrison,” he says about his acid-tripping, cowboy-boot-sporting days in high school), and will hope he’ll somehow carve out time to write more books.

Buy the book: Amazon | Barnes & Noble