Televangelist Jim Bakker on Hurricane Harvey: 'Flood is from God,' a 'judgment on America

Jim Bakker, a televangelist who was once caught up in a sex scandal and who spent four years in prison for fraud, said Tuesday on "The Jim Bakker Show" that he believes the real reason behind Hurricane Harvey is because God is unhappy with America.

Bakker and guest Rick Joyner, author and founder/executive director of MorningStar Ministries, discussed the hurricane during a segment on Bakker's show. Although the two agreed mostly on the notion that global warming is "mostly a political agenda," Bakker took it a step further and revealed his thoughts about God's role in the natural disaster.

A theory on Harvey origins

During a segment in which Bakker was selling $175 buckets of his disaster preparedness food, Tasty Pantry, he and Joyner began discussing natural disasters and Hurricane Harvey at large.

After Joyner said he believed that the storm had nothing to do with climate change, he revealed that he felt "the real issue with the weather and everything else on the earth has to do with sin and wickedness."

"The whole earth will cry out because of the shedding of innocent blood," Joyner said. "That’s what throws nature off more than dumping CO2 or anything."

Bakker, clearly encouraged, then told Joyner his thoughts on the flooding as a result of Harvey.

“I have felt ― and I was afraid to share it with anybody ― that this flood is from God," he said.

"It's a judgment on America somehow. Am I off, or do you feel it could be?—" Bakker trailed off.

Joyner agreed with Bakker's assessment and noted that he feels it's "time to step up against the perversion of our times and call it what it is."

"These things don't happen by accident," Joyner said, adding that "if we don't get these clear messages, things are going to get more and more severe."

Bakker added, “Just remember, God gets the last word. God gets the last word. Be not deceived, God is not mocked."

More of Bakker's controversial comments

Bakker in August was adamant in his convictions that if President Donald Trump were to be impeached, America would have a "civil war" on their hands.

"If it happens, there will be a civil war in the United States of America," Bakker said during an airing of his show.

"The Christians will finally come out of the shadows, because we are going to be shut up permanently if we're not careful," he said.

With regard to Christianity in America, Bakker said he believed it was time to amplify the message of God.

"God says faith without works is dead," he said to another pastor who was a guest on his show. "We have to do things, God has been standing with me, and I don't know about you, it's time for preachers like you, you've been doing it, to stand up and shout out."