America’s longest-serving TV evangelist Jimmy Lee Swaggart has died at the age of 90.

On June 15th, Swaggart was hospitalized after suffering a cardiac arrest in his home. He never regained consciousness and passed away today.

His official Facebook page announced his passing:

In case that text is a little small, you can read the full statement here:

“I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.”

2 Timothy 4:7-8

Today, our hearts are heavy as we share that Brother Swaggart has finished his earthly race and entered into the presence of His Savior, Jesus Christ. Today was the day he has sung about for decades. He met his beloved Savior and entered the portals of glory. At the same time, we rejoice knowing that we will see him again one day.

For over seven decades, Brother Swaggart poured out his life preaching the gospel, singing songs of the faith, and pointing millions to the saving power of Jesus Christ and the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. His voice echoed through nations, his music softened hearts, and his message never changed: Jesus Christ and Him crucified.

He was not just a preacher—he was a worshiper, a warrior, and a witness to the grace and mercy of God. He was a man whose faith was steadfast and always entered whatever door the Lord opened. And the Lord honored that faith.

Please continue to lift up Sister Frances, Donnie, Debbie, Gabriel, Jill, Jennifer, Clif, Matt, Joanna, Sam, Ryder, Abby, Lola, Harper, Navy, Harrison, Caroline and Mackenzie in your prayers.

The family would like to thank the staff, doctors and nurses at Baton Rouge General Medical Center for their incredible support and care given during this time.

CBS News reported on his legacy as an evangelist:

The founder of his eponymous ministry, Jimmy Swaggart began preaching on the radio in the early 1960s. He founded the Family Worship Center in Baton Rouge, where his family continues to preach, and his ministry also runs the SonLife Broadcasting Network, which broadcasts the Family Worship Center’s services.

Jimmy Swaggart was also blessed with musical talent.

He was the cousin of rock ‘n roll legend Jerry Lee Lewis, as well as country music star Mickey Gilley.

And, he himself, recorded multiple gospel music albums.

Billboard had the following to say about his achievements:

Over the course of his career, Swaggart wrote nearly 50 books and dozens of study guides and commentaries on the Bible.

He also recorded numerous albums. His 1980 album Worship received a Grammy nomination for best gospel performance, traditional. Swaggart placed four albums on Billboard’s Top Christian Albums chart in the mid-1980s: Living Waters (No. 12 in 1984), Jesus Just the Mention of Your Name (No. 32 in 1984), Sweet Anointing (No. 22 in 1985) and It’s Beginning to Rain (No. 13 in 1986).

But Swaggart was not a fan of Christian rock music. In 1987, he co-authored Religious Rock n Roll: A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing with Robert Paul Lamb, in which he argued that the rise of the Contemporary Christian Music is as an extension of “worldly” entertainment interests.

Jimmy Lee Swaggart was born on March 15, 1935, in Ferriday, a small town in northeastern Louisiana. Swaggart had two cousins who made it big in music: rock ’n’ roll legend Jerry Lee Lewis (who was also born in Ferriday) and country music star Mickey Gilley. They were known locally as The Ferriday Three. Lewis, who was in the first class of artists inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1986, and Gilley, who amassed 17 No. 1 hits on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart, both died in 2022 – Gilley in May at age 86; Lewis in October at age 87.

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A fire-and-brimstone Pentecostal preacher, Swaggart began full-time evangelistic work in 1955. In 1960, he began recording gospel music albums and transmitting on Christian radio stations. In 1961, he was ordained by the Assemblies of God. A year later, he began his radio ministry.

In 1971, Swaggart began transmitting a weekly, 30-minute telecast over local TV stations in Baton Rouge. Two years later, he proposed to television producers in Nashville a program including a music segment, a short sermon and time for talking about current ministry projects. Within weeks, The Jimmy Swaggart Telecast was being broadcast around the U.S.

By 1984, Swaggart had overtaken Robert Schuller and Oral Roberts as America’s top televangelist. The Jimmy Swaggart Telecast reached nearly 2 million viewers a week on 500 stations. Swaggart’s monthly magazine, The Evangelist, was distributed to more than 800,000 households.

However, Jimmy Swaggart’s legacy is not without scandal.

He admitted to sleeping with a prostitute in the late ’80s and asked the Lord’s forgiveness before his congregation.

Despite his sins, Swaggart never stepped away from ministry. After he was removed from his denomination, he built an independent platform to continue evangelizing.

The New York Post noted:

The charismatic Pentecostal preacher gained a massive following with his televised sermons in the 1980s before he was notoriously caught on camera with a prostitute in 1988.

Before the scandal, his contriburors propelled Jimmy Swaggart Ministries into a business that raked in an estimated $142 million in 1986.

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Rival televangelist Marvin Gorman had hired a photographer to to snap photos of Swaggart and published the damning photos after Swaggart had accused him of sexual misdeeds.

Prostitute Debra Murphee claimed the pair never had sex and the preacher had just taken naked photos.

He gave a tearful on-air apology for his actions, famously stating, “I have sinned against you” and asked for forgiveness before he was defrocked later that year by the Assemblies of God.

He weathered the controversy, and his TV audience ballooned again to some 800,000 viewers over the next few years.

However, in 1991, he was pulled over in a traffic stop and found to be in the company of another prostitute, leading to several of his contracts being canceled.

President Trump honored Swaggart for the work he did throughout his lifetime spreading the Gospel in a post on Truth Social:

Rest in peace.

Please pray for Swaggart’s family in their time of loss and mourning.

This is a Guest Post from our friends over at WLTReport.

View the original article here.