Entertainment
Beloved Evangelist Needs ‘Miracle’ To Survive Health Crisis
The longest-serving TV televangelist in U.S. history is fighting for his life, and only a miracle can save him, friends and family say.
Jimmy Swaggart, the evangelical preacher whose U.S. broadcasts have lasted longer than any religious figure in American history, suffered a cardiac episode that’s left him bedridden and hospitalized, according to his son Rev. Donnie Swaggart. He did not specify the cause.
At his church’s service, Donnie Swaggart asked his congregation to pray for his father, adding that he believes only a “miracle” will heal him at this point.
“On this Father’s Day, we urgently ask you to pray for Brother Swaggart. He needs a miracle from heaven right now, this morning. We must have the Lord intervene in this situation, and we need your prayers,” he wrote on Instagram shortly after the Sunday service.
“He’s my rock and my hero and he needs the Lord’s healing power today. If I am able to get away, I will try to be at the service to give everyone an update,” he added.
Family publicist Megan Kelly praised first responders who she credits with saving Swaggart’s life by stabilizing him after his heart scare.
“Ambulances were able to respond very quickly. They gave him CPR, they took turns doing it, and you can imagine how emotional that was and how stressful that was in that moment,” she told the NY Post.
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The Rev. Jimmy Swaggart has preached the word of Jesus Christ on television longer than any other pastor in history, according to his ministry’s website.
Born March 15, 1935, in Ferriday, Louisiana, he serves as head pastor at the Family Worship Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and is the founder of Jimmy Swaggart Ministries. He has been a full-time serving pastor since 1955.
“We ask that you continue to lift him up in prayer and believe God for a miracle — but above all, we trust in the Lord’s perfect will,” his ministry said in a statement to followers on Facebook.
At the height of his popularity, Swaggart commanded millions of viewers each week throughout the 1980s. He was the country’s top-rated preacher and held a regular audience estimated to exceed 2 million weekly.
However, Swaggart experienced a falling out with many fans following a scandal in 1997 that saw him accused of soliciting a prostitute at a sleazy motel in New Orleans, Fox News reported.
Although the televangelist did not admit to wrongdoing, he broadcast his infamous “I have sinned” speech, which many took to be a message of contrition.
Just a few years later, police stopped Swaggart while driving with a prostitute in California.
The later decades of Swaggart’s career were marked by controversy. He made headlines for suggesting in a live TV service that he would kill any gay man who even glanced at him in a romantic way. He later laughed off the ensuing controversy, saying he did not mean to condone violence.
Since 2010, Swaggart has run SonLife Broadcasting Network, an international Christian TV network that aired both live and prerecorded programs.
