Opinion on Swaggart

He ain't so great. I know people in the ministry long before Jimmy got caught with the prostitutes who said they believed Jimmy had a calling for the ministry, like music, but he wasn't called for preaching. Thats my humble opinion.

JeremyGray35 said:

He is definitely called to be a minister. I didn't ask for you to judge him, just to tell me whether you like him or not. Leave it at that.

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You asked for opinions...thats what you got. God bless.

"What are your opinions on the great Jimmy Swaggart?"

I never bother with him, or his ministry.

It appears that HE HAS been "Clean" for some years though - which is a good thing. Back in the '70s he used to be called "the sheriff of the kingdom" for his judgemental attitude against other ministries. And then HIS "Feet of clay" got spotlighted.

Getting knocked off his "Pedestal" appears to have been good for him.

The broader context is if we can find any consensus on pastoral ineligibility:

-If they had sex with a parishioner

-if they had an ongoing affair

-if their spouse left them

-caught with inappropriate content

-gay affair

-stole $ from church

WHO can come back and after how long?

1 Timothy 3
3 This is a true saying, if a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work.

2 A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach;

JeremyGray35 said:

Millions of people who watch Sonlife Broadcasting can't be wrong. You can dislike someone without basically calling them a false teacher. I happen to love him and think that he is the best preacher in the entire universe.

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Jeremy: you asked for opinions, posters gave you their opinions. i am glad Brother Swaggart's preaching and music ministers to you. Jimmy played a very big part in my initial salvation. he taught me a lot. but Jimmy Swaggart also hurt my walk with God. he didn't mean to but he did.

i would encourage you to take a step back from your adulation of Brother Swaggart and take a good look at the attitude that he presents. Jimmy is a very combative, hostile, defensive man. Jimmy displays actual hatred of anyone who disagrees with him. yes, his preaching can really stir your heart - and that very same preaching can stomp your heart. i know cause it happened to me.

i had seen Jimmy on TV a few times in the past 20 years and for awhile, i thought he had mellowed out and changed his approach and truly repented of his hostility. then a year or so ago i saw him again and there he was, on the attack, hatred turned on. i turned him off and most likely won't bother with him again.

and, yes, Jeremy, millions of people can be wrong.


let the Holy Spirit teach you, not a man.

JeremyGray35 said:

He is forgiven of all of that. We all find trouble and get tempted and sometimes we fall. He is no exception. But he has been great for the past 15 or so years and isn't going to do it again.

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Someone can be forgiven but still disqualified from active ministry. We are supposed to hold those who claim to be elders to high moral standards. Why? Because they represent US--the Church--to the world. I hope Jimmy Swaggart has truly repented, and I have no reason to believe he hasn't.

However, that does not mean he is qualified to continue doing what he's doing. I'm not saying that he can't still preach or minister in song. But Jimmy Swaggart hurt the body of Christ. There is not telling how many people were damaged spiritually because of his fall.

It's not Swaggart's detractors who need to defend their suspicions and distrust of Swaggart. It's Swaggart who needs to earn trust.

When Swaggart first fell into sin, he burned a lot of bridges by refusing to face discipline and submit to lawful ecclesiastical authority. He was banned from preaching by the Assemblies of God for 1 year---ONE YEAR---and two years of rehabilitation program oversight. But he couldn't even do that. He couldn't follow through with very light disciplinary action and a simple plan of restoration.

I can't listen to a man preach about obedience and submission to God and the church if the man himself will submit to no one that God places over his life.

JeremyGray35 said:

What are your opinions on the great Jimmy Swaggart?

I love his teaching and church services!

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He's a man, much like any other.

Some time before his fall, I supported his ministry that was supposed to feed starving kids the world over. Some things you never, ever forget.

I never forgot those letters asking always for more and more money, with the implication that if I could give $5,000 dollars as a one-time gift I would be a super-Christian and would need to do no more to assure my entry into Heaven. I also remember those same letters implying that if I didn't give $5,000 dollars that I would have to be an incredibly selfish excuse for a Christian.

I never forgot that letter that stated that if I gave to some ministry, and that ministry mis-used the money I gave them, that God would hold me responsible for mis-giving that money. Then, ironically, Jimmy Swaggart Ministries point-blank refused to give an accounting to anybody about how they used funds given to them by the believers.

I never forgot that letter with the picture of the worn-out shoe, and the question "Who's shoes are these" with the implication that it was my personal fault that some child in a far-off country had poor, if any, shoes while I had shoes.

At the time, I was a factory worker, working short hours and having to live in my parent's house because I couldn't afford my own place. I gave what I could, but instead of anything even approaching thanks for what I could give I got letters designed to produce guilt because I didn't give more. If I had sold everything I had and given it all to Swaggart, it would not have been enough.

I quit giving to JSM. I had to, several months before the dominoes fell. It was apparent even then that something was seriously wrong. I haven't felt "good" about giving to TV or radio ministries since. I tithe to my local church and may give extra when I can, at least as a member I DO get an accounting once a year so I have an answer in case God calls me to account for who I gave the money to (like I said, I never forgot).

Right now, I have to admit to not having watched Jimmy Swaggart in years. I really don't trust him, and what I've heard and read hasn't done much to inspire any trust. I fully expect that if I were to start giving to his ministry again, I would get more of those guilt-inducing letters again. Thanks but no thanks, I have had enough guilt for one lifetime and more than enough reason to be glad Jesus paid the price and took my guilt for me.

OK, I've said my piece on this, expect no more from me on this thread.

Good post, MJM. I've also slowly come to the realization that guilt and fear aren't good motivators.

JeremyGray35 said:

So you're saying that if any preacher sins, they are no longer qualified to be a church leader? That is ridiculous. No sin is bigger than the other besides the unforgivable sin and the sin that Judas committed. You guys have disappointed me with your judgmental attitudes and lack of forgiveness. I hope you repent of this but you are a hard of heart people.

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Who is judging know.......? No one here said they did not forgive, no one passed wrong judgment on him. Have you not read that we as christians are to judge those of our own? Judging by the scriptures is not our judgement, it is Gods. You don't seem to know the difference, but from "your" standard you judge us, and that is wrong, and comes from a self-righteous heart, perhaps full of hate towards any that disagree with you.....I find your statements shameful. People have tried to tell you what you originally asked for, shame on you.

JeremyGray35 said:

So you're saying that if any preacher sins, they are no longer qualified to be a church leader? That is ridiculous. No sin is bigger than the other besides the unforgivable sin and the sin that Judas committed. You guys have disappointed me with your judgmental attitudes and lack of forgiveness. I hope you repent of this but you are a hard of heart people.

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You asked for opinions. You got them. You don't like them. So now you condemn the posters' thoughts that you think are wrong as judgmental. OK. Nice talking to you too. In the future, don't ask questions if you don't want honest answers.

1 Timothy 3:2-7 gives the biblical qualifications for elders:

Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive, for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God's church? He must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil. Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into a snare of the devil.

The truth is, Swaggart is not above reproach or well thought of by outsiders. He's also proven himself to be quarrelsome with other ministers.

If you don't like my conclusions, you are free to disagree. I think its a sin to place any man on a pedestal, especially men like Swaggart because the last thing he needs is to be placed on a pedestal. We've seen what happens already.

JeremyGray35 said:

So you're saying that if any preacher sins, they are no longer qualified to be a church leader? That is ridiculous. No sin is bigger than the other besides the unforgivable sin and the sin that Judas committed. You guys have disappointed me with your judgmental attitudes and lack of forgiveness. I hope you repent of this but you are a hard of heart people.

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I wasn't going to comment any more on this thread, but this post does seem to require it. Jeremy, you weren't there in 1988 when all of the stuff I wrote about in my last post came about. At that time, several big-name TV preachers watched their ministries go down in flames, and the ones that remained were damaged in one way or another by the scandals. Jim and Tammy Bakker lost the PTL Club, Marvin Gorman got into a mess, and I seem to remember one other as well. A common theme in all of it was--- Jimmy Swaggart. Turned out, behind the scenes he was instrumental in bringing down the other ministries so he could build up his own. Lots of money and power were involved, the PTL Club alone was raking in 170 million annually.

Last but not least, Jimmy Swaggart went down. Turned out he had a few skeletons of his own that he'd rather we didn't know about, and once he got the ball rolling to bring down other ministries that ball hit his too. His finances were questionable, and his dating practices-- for a man who was married at the time-- well, let's just say an AofG preacher shouldn't oughta been doing that.

I seem to recall-- somebody here can correct me if I'm wrong-- that Jim Bakker did go through the Assemblies of God procedures for restoration after his fall. Jimmy Swaggart never did, after he fell he rejected church discipline/restoration and is, last I knew, pretty much running his own show. I know from the past that Jimmy can preach it, he was real good back then at being able to walk up and down the stage, preaching the Bible just like Jesus, and getting many people to believe. The danger you have to watch out for is that this is how cults get started. One charismatic leader gets a huge following, and without necessarily realizing it you're following the leader instead of Jesus. Be careful, this can be a serious trap.

Today I for one am a little less inclined to sign on to any big-name preacher. I remember last time. I remember trying to defend my favorites until it became impossible, and I remember, Jeremy, sounding then much like you do now. A word of caution: To my knowledge, Jimmy Swaggart never went through the A of G procedures for being restored after a bad fall-- the Assemblies of God does have procedures for this, based on solid scripture-- so at this point you only have Jimmy's word that he's what he should be. He may be. He may not be. You'll just have to try to learn what you can, but-- it's happened before, and could happen again. Don't be snowed by personality.

""" I hope you repent of this but you are a hard of heart people. """

oh, the irony.

Jeremy, if you keep following Jimmy Swaggart, you'll learn a lot about "hard-heartedness". also "hard-headedness".

as for me, i forgive Brother Swaggart. he's just another man, bumbling along trying to do the best he can - shame on me for ever thinking he was something more than that. but he will never have any type of spiritual leardership in my life again. that's not because i'm bitter and angry at him, no, it's because i'm a little bit (very little) smarter than i used to be. and i've learned not to touch a hot stove a 2d time.

dragongunner said:

He ain't so great. I know people in the ministry long before Jimmy got caught with the prostitutes who said they believed Jimmy had a calling for the ministry, like music, but he wasn't called for preaching. Thats my humble opinion.

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Leaving his past moral failure out of it, to say that the man wasn't called to preach just reveals your total ignorance on the matter of the call to preach.