(RNS) — Bishop T.D. Jakes returned briefly via video to address his Dallas megachurch a week after experiencing a still-undisclosed medical incident that led to surgery.
“Many of you don’t realize that you’re looking at a miracle,” he said in a live video message that was greeted with cheers from the congregation on Sunday (Dec. 1). “I faced a life-threatening calamity, was rushed to the ICU unit. I had emergency surgery. Survived this surgery.”
Jakes, 67, an evangelist, author and business executive, suffered what his church initially called “a slight health incident” during the Nov. 24 worship service at The Potter’s House. At that time, about a dozen people rushed to his side after he lowered his microphone and was shaking in his seat.
In the seven-minute video he said he would be following doctor’s orders to rest.
“I told you last Sunday that I’d see you this Sunday, and so here I am,” he said, even while acknowledging that he wasn’t in the physical condition to do what he typically might do on a Sunday morning.
“Physically, I can’t praise him like I want to, but somebody that’s got the strength and the dexterity and the nimbleness, just give him the glory for me and lift him up and give him a shout of praise and enthusiasm.”
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Jakes, whose remarks were also posted on his Instagram page, said he was not in pain and is in good spirits.
Bishop T.D. Jakes appears to The Potter’s House congregation via video, Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024. (Video screen grab)
“I didn’t want you to be worried about me,” he told his congregation, expressing thanks for their prayers and support. “I’m trying to be obedient to what the doctor said do, in terms of just taking a few weeks to just heal and recover and relax and just reflect.”
He did not describe his specific diagnosis or type of surgery but noted that he had recently undergone “a complete physical and I was fine.”
“Sometimes those of us who are busy taking care of other people neglect ourselves,” he said. “The truth of the matter is, sometimes things happen and they are beyond our control, and sometimes things happen and they’re spiritual warfare. I haven’t deduced the finality of all of that.”
But lawyers for Jakes filed a defamation lawsuit the day after the medical incident, saying another minister, Duane Youngblood of Pennsylvania, had falsely accused him of attempted sexual assault. The suit linked the accusations to Jakes’ health.
“Youngblood’s intentional and malicious lies have taken a substantial emotional and physical toll on Bishop Jakes,” reads the suit. “On November 24—the day before he filed this action—Bishop Jakes suffered a medical crisis on stage in the middle of his Sunday service in front of his entire church.”
Jakes’ Sunday video remarks followed a video posted on his church’s social media on Wednesday along with a statement about the medical episode that he said was not a stroke but “could’ve been fatal if it weren’t for God’s intervention.”
The minister patted his chest and choked up slightly as he expressed his gratitude first to the medical staff surrounding him and then to others. “I’m grateful to ya’ll, all the people who prayed, all the people who texted, all the people who had prayer vigils, all the people who were concerned and sent love and sent notes,” he said in the earlier video.
On Sunday, he also spoke of his gratitude for life.
“One of the reasons I was so emotional was I felt the sun hit my face at the same time that a person down the hallway was being taken to the morgue,” he said. “I need you to help me to praise God that we’re not planning a funeral.”
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