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    Tammy Faye (Bakker) Messner Dies at 65

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    She had frequently spoken about her medical problems, saying she hoped to be an inspiration to others. “Don’t let fear rule your life,” she said. “Live one day at a time, and never be afraid.” But she told well-wishers in a note on her Web site in May that the doctors had stopped trying to treat the cancer.

    In an interview with CNN’s Larry King on Thursday, an emaciated Messner – still using her trademark makeup – said, “I believe when I leave this earth, because I love the Lord, I’m going straight to heaven.” Asked if she had any regrets, Messner said: “I don’t think about it, Larry, because it’s a waste of good brain space.”

    The Rev. Robert H. Schuller, who founded the ministry at the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, said that final television appearance was striking.

    “She was very brave. She was conspicuously facing the reality of an ending that could come soon. She weighed only 65 pounds, but she was able to twinkle and smile and be positive,” he said in an interview Saturday.

    Schuller and Messner came from different traditions – she from the Pentecostal movement, he from the Reformed Church of America – so he never knew her well, he said. But he was moved by her spirit, he said.

    “I found her faith very beautiful, and her strength inspirational. I am happy that God has taken her home,” he said.

    Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker helped found Orange County-based Trinity Broadcast Network with friends Paul and Jan Crouch in 1973. Within months, the Bakkers left the TV ministry in a huff. They’d clashed with Paul Crouch over creative direction and control, according to Messner’s book “Telling it My Way.”

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    Todd’s note: The last interview Tammy Faye gave was just two days before her death.  It was an interesting interview; and regardless of how you felt about the PTL / Jim Bakker/ Tammy Faye story over the years, you have to feel for this woman.  Here are some links to the CNN/Larry King interview if you missed it.  Beware… she is just 65 pounds and looks near death.

    Segment 1
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    Tammy Faye Messner, who as Tammy Faye Bakker helped her husband, Jim, build a multimillion-dollar evangelism empire and then saw it collapse in disgrace, has died. She was 65. Messner, who had battled colon cancer since 1996 that more recently spread to her lungs, died at her home Friday, said her booking agent, Joe Spotts. A family service was held Saturday in a private cemetery, where her ashes were interred, he said.

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    1. John Morris on Mon, July 23, 2007

      I hope I end up being half as courageous as Tammy Faye when my time comes.

    2. Brian L on Mon, July 23, 2007

      While I was never a fan of hers, I am thrilled at her testimony about her faith in Christ.

    3. Troy on Mon, July 23, 2007

      Although my theology is a little different from Tammy Faye’s, I love her in the Lord.  When she appeared on “The Surreal World” on TV a few years ago, despite the wicked behavior of the rest of the cast, she always maintained a consistent testimony for the Lord.

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