Jimmy Swaggart Hospitalized After Heart Attack: ‘Without a miracle, his time will be short’
Prominent Televangelist Jimmy Swaggart has been hospitalized after having a heart attack in his family home early Sunday morning with his son Donnie Swaggart revealing that without a miracle he is likely to pass away very shortly. Speaking to his congregants during the evening service, his son, Donnie Swaggart, told the gathered body:
This morning at a little after eight, Gabe and I rushed into Mother’s house. Dad had gone into cardiac arrest. He never regained consciousness. We both took turns giving him chest compressions until EMT could get there and they were, I’ve never seen so many people arrive at one time and I want to thank them. But they were able to get a heartbeat back. Right now he is in ICU and without a miracle, without a miracle, his time will be short.
He later added:
But we believe God. We’re not giving up. We’ve already told the doctors we don’t want to hear anything from them. We will make decisions in our own time. But we’re going to give the Lord an opportunity to work.
Swaggart founded the Family Worship Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, in the late 1960s, where he remains the pastor today. A prolific author, he wrote more than 50 books and sold over 15 million gosple records worldwide.
In the 1970s and 1980s, Jimmy Swaggart became a household name through The Jimmy Swaggart Telecast, a globally broadcast program that blended preaching, gospel music, and calls to salvation. At its peak, Jimmy Swaggart Ministries reached an estimated 100 million viewers and he headlined major crusades worldwide, becoming one of the biggest names in the industry. He later launched the SonLife Broadcasting Network. (SBN)
His world imploded in February 1988 when photographs surfaced of him entering and exiting a New Orleans motel with Debra Murphree, a prostitute. Murphree later told reporters that Swaggart had paid her for sexual services. The fallout prompted a widely broadcast confession on February 21, 1988, where Swaggart tearfully acknowledged unspecified “moral failings” and sought forgiveness.
The Assemblies of God, his religious denomination, imposed a three-month suspension. However, after Swaggart rejected additional disciplinary measures and they felt he was unrepentant, they revoked his ministerial credentials.
Despite his now-infamous teary confession, three years later, in 1991, Swaggart was stopped by police in Indio, California with another prostitute in his vehicle. She alleged that Swaggart had propositioned her for sexual acts. This was the final straw, and led many to write him off altogether. Most of his church stood by him, however.
While he apologized for propositioning a prostitute in the first incident, in the second, he told his congregation that God instructed him to keep preaching and that to anyone asking about it: “The Lord told me it’s flat none of your business.”
Since then, although not as popular as he used to be, his ministry has continued unabated. He and his family continue to run all his ministry endeavors, with his wife hosting the television program, Frances and Friends, shown daily on SBN. Swaggart has continued to host the Bible study program, The Message of the Cross, with his son Donnie, a pastor, preaching at Family Worship Center.
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Televangelists are a big reason I became a nonbeliever, the fake smiles and even faker words.
I get your point, and I despise those frauds as well. People like you, whose faith has been shaken to the core by those snakes, are one of the biggest reasons I can’t abide them. But there is obviously more to your story, Greg. Fake smiles and words from fake Christians are not really the only reason you left the faith.
You could have turned them off. You could have admitted the fact that there are hypocrites in every profession. You could have sought out solid Bible preachers instead. You had to have realized at some point that a few snake oil salsemen in our midst do not disprove Jesus’ truth claims. Why did you REALLY stop believing, and what would it take for you to come back?
Miracles should be saved for something more worthy than a 90 year old that has lived a full life. Rev. Swaggart never walk the talk, and his shallow repentance and insincere humbleness made a mockery out of God. He was a contemporary of Baker’s scandal ridden PTL club which was brought down by the same immoral behavior that plagued Swaggart. The 1980’s were the dark years for Christian evagalist; as many preached morality, but failed to live up to the standards of their teachings. I am sure that Rev. Swaggart has made good with God by now and if he thinks he needs more time on earth to redeem himself, he is too late.
I can’t disagree with one word in your post.