As the son of famous televangelist parents, you might think Jay Bakker would have no trouble understanding and accepting grace.
But Bakker said it wasn't until he was an adult that he fully understood the meaning of the word.
"It's the realization that you're accepted by a power greater than yourself," said Bakker, whose famous parents, Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker, founded one of the first television ministries, Praise the Lord (PTL). "[Grace is] just a beautiful subject to me. It's allowing yourself to be accepted and loved. It's understanding that God loves you just the way you are and not the way you should be. It's powerful and transformative."
Bakker, 35 and a former Atlantan, will be in town to promote his new book, "Fall to Grace: A Revolution of God, Self & Society," written with co-author Martin Edlund and published by Faith Words, a division of Hachette Book Group Inc. He will sign books at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Borders (650 Ponce de Leon Ave.).
In this, his second book, Bakker, born Jamie Charles Bakker, talks about his parents' ministry, which raised millions of dollars from faithful followers and was later brought down by a sex scandal. Charges of fraud connected with their Heritage USA theme park resulted in prison time for his father.
He also talks about his spiral into substance abuse, holding his own "pity party" and his climb out of his personal and spiritual hole.
Upon the advice of a close friend, he started reading the letters of Paul.
"The book of Galatians really just blew me away," he said. "I realized that everything I heard growing up in church was different from what the Bible was saying to me."
The book, which he dedicates to his mother who died in 2007 from cancer, will also most certainly step on some conservative Christian toes.
Bakker, whose hero is St. Paul, thinks the church should be more accepting of gay, lesbian and transgendered relationships.
When he first started talking about acceptance of homosexuality, Bakker said some of his speaking engagements were canceled.
"There's definitely a price to pay," he said. But "it's worth it if more people will take a stand. I think this is the unfinished business of civil rights."
Bakker now lives in Brooklyn and is co-pastor at Revolution Church, which meets at Pete's Candy Store, a bar in the Williamsburg district.
"It's a great mutual area," he said, laughing. "The church is supposed to be people, not a building. This really creates a safe place of worship."
He said he hasn't gotten feedback on the book yet from his father.
"We're father and son, two grown men who have different opinions," he said. "We do love each other, we talk to each other about theology all the time." Their relationship, he said, "is good."
Event preview
Jay Bakker, 7 p.m. Wednesday. Borders, 650 Ponce de Leon, Ste. 500, Atlanta. 404.607.7903
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