WHAT HAS GONE WRONG
AT JIMMY SWAGGART MINISTRIES?
24-02-2006
Well here I am again …and guess what we’re going to be writing or discussing today. No, it’s not going to be about ‘Signs of the Times,’ although this has certainly got a lot to do with the title of my message, ‘WHAT HAS GONE WRONG AT JSM.’ And yes, I am going to be writing about the man, so many people [even so called Christians], after nearly some eighteen [18] years, love to hate. The man Jimmy Swaggart!
Whenever the name of Jimmy Swaggart is mentioned, it conjures up immediately the happenings that shocked the [Pentecostal and Charismatic] world. The man who so convincingly and with much conviction and emotion preached about and against the sin of ‘pornography’ during the latter part of the 1980’s. Yet behind all this, and from the public eye [in secret] the good Reverend himself was involved in ‘live pornography’ [prostitutes]. Whereas the man who was at one time spoken of in the like manner as a Billy Graham, or even the ‘Pope’ for that matter; was exposed eventually by the same man [Marvin Gorman], who was a preacher from New Orleans. And this after Jimmy Swaggart himself went and exposed Marvin Gorman [as a cancer in the Body of Christ], for his sexual affairs.
You see folks; the Bible is very clear on the above situation. There is a saying that, ‘don’t dig a hole for someone else to fall in [meaning don’t try and harm others], for you will eventually fall into same hole that you dug]. As stated, the Bible says in Numbers 32v23 that, ‘But if you will not do so, behold you have sinned against the Lord, and be sure your sin will find you out,’ [KJV]. To be blunt about the above situation, Jimmy Swaggart tried to dig a hole for Marvin Gorman, but fell into that hole himself. God Almighty does not sleep nor slumber concerning matters of this nature.
The Lord will not allow men [especially His children] who are called to preach the gospel on such a massive scale like the Jimmy Swaggarts of the world, to preach to the world and then secretly are sinning; the Lord must put a stop to it. Look what happened to King David when he committed adultery with another mans wife, and then had that man murdered. God Almighty had to expose that which David had done. [Read about this in 2 Samuel 11+12].
Wherever Jimmy Swaggart has preached or proclaimed this gospel, this has been his proclamation, ‘I am an Evangelist called by God to preach the Word of God; be instant in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.’ [2Tim 4v2] I have sermons where this is proclaimed by Jimmy Swaggart.
[This is the commentary on verse 2. Refers to the whole body of revealed Truth, which means the entirety of the Word of God; presents the idea of the preacher holding himself in constant readiness to proclaim the Word; the preacher is to deal with sin both in the lives of his unsaved hearers, and in those of the Saints to whom he ministers, and he is to do so in no uncertain tones and terms; a suggestion in some cases of impending penalty; reproving and rebuking must be done with gentleness, as well the longsuffering refers to a gentleness that continues even though/when the Message is met with rejection. The doctrine is not to change even though it is rejected. Comments are from the Expositors New Testament that was written by Jimmy Swaggart] The bottom line on the above commentary’s is, that Jimmy Swaggart was preaching to the world about certain moral issues, yet himself was not living it.
So are you starting to get the meaning of my comment, when you dig a hole for someone else?
Ok folk's lets continue with this message entitled, ‘What has gone wrong at JSM.’ And believe you me there is something wrong. I’m going to be saying some things that will make you think. You be the judge of what you read. I was recently preparing to compose a follow up to ‘Signs of the Times’ when an interesting e-mail was received from the State of Arkansas. Due to a turn of circumstances I have felt to put the above on hold [or when the Lord instructs], and to concentrate on this matter that I strongly feel must be told for the whole wide world to know.
Please understand this is not in any way an attack on the Swaggarts to harm them, but only for them to see that there are a lot of folks out there who love them and only want for them to understand that they are in error. It goes without saying that Satan has infiltrated the Swaggart Ministry.
This is a portion of the e-mail I received a few weeks ago…which I believe to be a prophetic-dream.
‘ now I will tell you about the dream I had. I dreamed that one morning I went to church, and as I was walking to the door I stopped and stood back to watch some old men looking at something over the door. They would look at it, and shake their heads and walk away. Then other old men would walk up and look, shake their head also. I got closer to see what they were looking at. Up over the door was a strange site. A bunch of nails had been driven in the door-facing. Some were driven in straight; and some were driven in crooked; and some were overlapping each other. I asked one of the old timers who was responsible for this and he told me it was Jimmy Swaggart. I went on in the church and when the preacher started to preach it was in such a manner that it brought the people to their feet shouting and praising God. But I sat still and watched the preacher, and while the people were making all the noise, they couldn’t hear him cursing and saying filthy words. That was the end of the dream. Several days went by and I couldn't get that dream out of my mind. So I prayed and asked the Lord to give me some meaning to the dream. A few days later I went to a meeting and a woman was the speaker. When she was closing she said this. ‘And when you drive that nail in make sure you drive it in straight.’ I thought ok, she knows something I don’t. So I asked her what she meant by driving in nails straight. Then she took me to the Book of Ezra 9v8. Well you know the Book Ezra and how it goes. I told her about the dream, and she said she tried to talk to Jimmy, and he wouldn’t listen. Also she said an elderly lady went to him and told him she was praying for him and he flat out told her he didn’t need her prayers, that he could do his own praying. I just don’t know what’s going to become of all this
Alright, what do you make of that? Let me suggest to you the reader to read the whole 9th chapter of Ezra, for a better understanding of the nails spoken of hear. Just in summary, for lack of time this chapter deals with the nation of Israel and its disobedience to God Almighty, and the Lord having to punish Israel time and again by allowing the heathen nations to conquer them. When God gave Israel specific orders they chose to disobey. The result of this was and is always disastrous for anyone who chooses to disobey God, and thereby testing God’s Mercy and Grace and even His patience.
Now let me share with you another e-mail that I received recently from Baton Rouge, that will give insight into the meaning of the straight, crooked and overlapping nails.
For reasons of confidentiality no e-mail address will be given here.
Sent: Wed, 15 Feb 2006 13:40:46 EST
Subject: Re: Prophetic Dream
‘Thank you. Yes, error is mixed in with truth. And the real condition of the heart is hidden from the view of most of the public.
This is what I got out of the dream: The person who sent you the e-mail went to a meeting and the presenter said: ‘When you drive in the nail, make sure you drive it in straight, that is make sure it is the truth. I can’t really get the connection to Ezra 9v8, just that you r friend went to talk to this person upon hearing about the nail.’ What I got was that all of Jim’s ‘nails’ are not straight. Some of his nails are straight—like Salvation, Baptism in the Holy Spirit, but some are not ---no personal fruit of love, lack of prayer, humility, sacrifice, worldliness in the music ministry, and elsewhere, perhaps an unwillingness not to ‘pamper’ his blood relatives.
The part that caught my attention was the preaching that drove people to shouting, but your friend kept quite and saw the preacher [was this Jim] speaking filthy words which I interpret to mean a disconnect between his words and his true heart condition---- really the same things mentioned above---- compromise in the music ministry, prayerlessness; treating his flock and employees unkindly, etc.
Another part that caught my attention was the presenter’s remarks that an elderly woman told him she was praying for him, and he flat out said I don’t need your prayers; I can do my own praying’
WOW! This was very startling; this must have been someone who got on Jim’s nerves, because he has always has at least ‘said’ he believes in prayers; but he has cancelled the prayer meetings for over five years. Some feel it was ‘the Mrs’ who doesn’t want Jim having any fun or even contact with the flock. Who knows? Jim had said starting in ‘1991’ that the Lord told him to have two prayer meetings a day until the Rapture, but Jim has not maintained that schedule. It is a shame. Prayer is needed at FWC/JSM.
A friend told me that just yesterday [I did not hear it myself], that Jim was saying over Sonlife that what he really needed was prayer warriors. Maybe your friend’s info is older and Jim has gotten some humility?
To summarise, [I sure took the long way], the connection to Ezra 9v8 is not that crystal clear, but I believe the dream could be from the Lord for the above two points. Jim is not preaching and teaching complete ‘truth’—some nails are straight, some nails are crooked—and he definitely fixated on just a small portion of the Bible—Romans 6,7, and 8---Sanctification by faith and not by works---many of the nails ‘overlap.’ And the filthy words out of the preachers ‘mouth’ --- which the preachers ‘heart’ and ‘mouth’ are not in agreement. Or was the preacher with the filthy words someone else, like Donnie?
Hope that helps….
So what do you think of these two e-mails. Are you getting the meaning of the title of my sermon, ‘What has gone wrong at JSM’
Let’s go take a look what was meant concerning the worldliness in the ‘music ministry’.
The following singers and musicians are all from the Louisiana club/blues/jazz scene.
1. Tareva Henderson ---http://www.tareva.com
2. Bob Henderson --- http://www,washroommusic.com
Take a look at the brother and sister combination, and click onto their websites to give you an idea of their background in the music industry.
3. Allison Collins Rhys -- club singer
4. Boo Pourciou – drummer
5. Larry Turner –organ player
These three mentioned here are all from the secular music world.
Here is a recent quote concerning the above singers and musicians at FWC. ‘This will give you an up-to-date account of the Worship Team now at FWC. How things have changed, and not for the better.
Let me quote here from Jimmy Swaggart himself, from one of the services I attended at the 4th of July Camp-meetings 2005. I have the following DVD that I bought of the 3rd of July evening service. And this is what Jimmy Swaggart said of the ministry’s singers and musicians.
You’ll have to forgive me, if you…just forgive me if you take exception to what I’m about to do, but those singers and musicians up there are some of the best on the face of the entire earth. I’ll put them up beside anybody, anywhere, anytime, anyhow, umm…and the main thing is they love the Lord…[audience claps]…that is the thing that counts. They’re not playing in dives one night…and Christ the next, it’s strictly for the Lord Jesus Christ. The psalmist says play skilfully on the stringed instruments, because you’re worshipping the Lord…you’re Praising the Lord. I think God ought to have the best of everything..[audience claps]..well come on say something…I think He ought to have the best Christians as well…[audience claps], that’s about all He can have is christians.I think He ought to have the best of everything.
Have another look at the websites of those mentioned above, and see if it coincides with what Jimmy Swaggart says. In all fairness to Curtis and Charmaine Bridgeman, I believe they are called of the Lord to be in the music ministry albeit at JSM. And likewise also Robin Heard.
Look at Lester and Holly Rector’s website at http://www.lesterandholly.com and see for yourself where they’re coming from. I recently heard that Lester and Holly have left JSM to join TBN. Why? Let me continue with some more quotes from e-mails received from a reliable source.
Sent: Mon, 17 Nov 2005 19:54:46 EST
Subject: Your Sermonettes about ‘The Swaggarts’
Dear Bruce:
I have read a few of your sermonettes about the ‘Swaggarts’. I would like to communicate with you more. To prove to you that I am for real, let me say…’You refer to Brother Roy – that is Roy Pettyjohn who has a very serious liver or kidney disease and has been waiting for a transplant for quite some time. I can easily say he [Roy] was called to be an Evangelist and he really has a love for lost souls. Anyway, he is no longer here [at FWC/JSM], having incurred the ‘Wrath of the Queen Bee’, I am sure you know of whom I speak.
I was quite comforted by your recent sermonette; ‘Jimmy Swaggart thinks he has arrived, but God’s got an eraser.’ I really must agree with you that THE MAN’S spiritual condition has greatly deteriorated in recent times. You believe it is because he has refused your correction. I don’t really know. I also have some ‘thoughts’ on the subject. But for sure I can tell you that the THREE are not what they used to be; but this state of rebellion has been going on for a VERY VERY VERY LONG TIME. I’m not sure that he’s lost already, but as stated there is something very very wrong here. The spirit here is not the ‘The Spirit of the Lord.’
Back to Roy Pettyjohn, even if he promised to you that he would deliver your sermon to ‘THE MAN’, and even if he did deliver it, I can guarantee you THE MAN didn’t read it. If he even glanced at it, he would not have read past the first hint of correction. THE MAN and the wife receive absolutely no correction. THE SON is actually a little better off than MAMA and PAPA.
Here, is the current situation: Since THE MAN sold, at one time, 15 million recordings and brought in hundreds of millions of dollars per year for quite a few years, HE IS TO BIG A DEAL, to take correction from anyone who doesn’t have a BIG TV MINISTRY and RAKING IN MILLIONS AND TENS OF MILLIONS, EVEN HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS. On the other hand, all those type of folks are, according to THE MAN preaching FALSE DOCTRINE, so THE MAN won’t listen to them either. It’s Catch -22. If you are BIG, you are on TV, and you are probably preaching false doctrine, so THE MAN can’t listen to your advice. But if you are sound biblically, BUT HAVEN’T COLLECTED MILLIONS OF DOLLARS. Then what do you know to advise ONE SUCH AS JIMMY SWAGGART.
But I have not been instructed by the Lord to bring correction to Jimmy Swaggart. I just believed him to be a MAN of GOD, and supported his ministry heavily for many years [22], also without interruption during both of his notorious sex scandals, and actually still do. But I have been shocked, hurt and saddened by what THE MINISTRY AND THE SWAGGARTS have become, [but as stated, the signs have been there for quite some time, I just chose not to believe them, now it seems , the Lord has rubbed my nose in it, so to speak].
Dear reader, what you have just read by way of these e-mail quotes, received from different individuals, is sound information concerning the current situation within JSM.
We at FMHCCI, are very much aware of people [fellow brothers and sisters in the Lord, also former members from JSM] who are hurting because of the stubborn and arrogant attitude that Jimmy and Frances are displaying. We believe that well meaning and good hearted people, who are concerned and just want to reach out to the Swaggarts and shower them with their love and prayers, have been ill-treated over the years.
Let me share with you another e-mail quote I received just on the 22/02/2006.
…..its almost 12pm Tuesday night here, so that must make it about 9am Wednesday morning there. Well what is going on down at JSM? I have been doing a little research on the internet. I did find something on embers.org. Then I just typed in some keywords like Donnie …Tabitha…divorce. These folks used to attend church there or once did. Out of reading it I found out that some of those singers and people have moved on. I do believe there are a lot hurting people down there, and that God must be holding them there for a reason. You have more insight than I do. After reading all that information I was surprised to find out that Donnie had married some one that is a concerler [phsycologist] and then preaches to stay away from these kinds of people.
We attended a church after we got married [me and bob]. There was some strange stuff going on with the pastor and a lady in the church. He was married and it was nearly killing his wife. He made it so hard for her, and set it up that she was the one to get the divorce. Bob was on the board and also preached some in the church. This man had a wild temper and you couldn’t question him about anything, and if you did about a 3rd of the people would jump you. It was hard to stay, but we couldn’t leave until the Lord said to. So I think that’s what the Lord is doing down at JSM. Well it’s past my bedtime.
Love to you all
Donna and Bob.
This was a long e-mail so I have summarised it some. But this is just Donna and Bob’s concern about JSM.
Dear reader, at this point I feel that I must close off this message/sermon. We have received countless e-mail letters concerning JSM, but feel we will share them at a later stage. There are some new developments down there. I believe enough has been said for now. As I mentioned earlier you be the judge of all you read.
Till next time or as the Lord wills
All for the love of Jesus
William
