Bishop T.D. Jakes Update: 3 Things to Know
After a recent health scare that resulted in him being rushed to the hospital, Bishop T.D. Jakes has been in the prayers of many. Here are three updates you need to know concerning Jakes.
1. Jakes revealed that he had an emergency surgery.
In a virtual message to The Potter’s House family that has since been placed on Jakes’ Instagram, he recounts how he went through the surgery, calling his life a ‘miracle.’
“I’m grateful for God’s faithfulness,” Jakes says. “I’m grateful for your faithfulness. I’m grateful for this season in my life…I told you last Sunday that I’d see you this Sunday, and so here I am.
“I am grateful to God for His goodness and His mercy and His grace. Many of you don’t realize that you’re looking at a miracle.”
Jakes says he “faced a life-threatening calamity.”
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“[I] was rushed to the ICU unit. I had emergency surgery. Survived the surgery…I’m back.”
Jakes expressed his heartfelt gratitude for the local and global community that follows The Potter’s House. He also gave a warning to the community of how important it is that they take care of themselves even as they are busy caring for others. He says that he recently had a physical and was found to be healthy, noting that sometimes things simply happen, while at other times we experience spiritual battles.
“What I do know is greater is He that is in us than he that’s in the world,” says Jakes.
Jakes says he felt as though he was being “cradled” throughout the experience.
“It was quiet, and it was peaceful,” says Jakes. “God had me cradled.”
Jakes says he felt emotional during the day he was released from the hospital, knowing the grace and faithfulness of God.
“I felt the sun hit my face at the same time a person down the hallway was being taken to the morgue.”
2. Jakes says he did not suffer from a stroke, but that the results would’ve been fatal without the intervention of God.
In a prior update to the world, Jakes expressed his gratitude to God, thanking Him for His protection.
“I give thanks unto the Lord that I did not have a stroke,” Jakes wrote on X. “However, the event could’ve been fatal if it weren’t for God’s intervention. A special thank you to God and the medical professionals in our city whose speed and expertise were beyond exceptional.”
My job is to recuperate and reflect on God’s protection. I owe it to my amazing family and church members to rest and ruminate as He restores me towards His service. As God calls us to honor the Sabbath, I’m reminded that rest is not a weakness – it is a divine gift.
Serving God’s people is an extraordinary privilege, and Sunday was no exception as I gave my all in delivering the message God placed on my heart. Even when I sensed the weight of my humanity and pushed through nonetheless, I’m reminded that even the strongest must rely on His… pic.twitter.com/ZP76L79nbl
— T.D. Jakes (@BishopJakes) November 27, 2024
3. Jakes’ health scare comes at time when he filed a defamation lawsuit against Duane Youngblood.
According to The Christian Post, Jakes filed the defamation suit against Youngblood, a “former-pastor-turned-registered sex offender.”
Jakes filed the suit after Youngblood alleged that Jakes tried to “groom and sexually abuse him” during a Oct. 28, 2024 interview on Larry Reid Live.
The 20-page lawsuit states, “The interview later turned to Youngblood’s new claim about how the source of his becoming an abuser was his own ‘abuse’ at the hands of pastors and religious figures he encountered in his youth. After detailing instances of his own father sexually abusing his sister and of the abuse at the hands of other church leaders, Youngblood turned his ire on Bishop Jakes.”
The lawsuit claims that the over two-hour long interview started focusing on Jakes around the one-hour mark, to which the majority of the remaining time was spent discussing Jakes.
“Youngblood’s story about Bishop Jakes on the Oct. 28 episode of LRL was that when the now 58-year-old Youngblood was ’18 or 19 years of age,’ Bishop Jakes, after talking to Youngblood for two hours at the home of an elderly clergy woman where Bishop Jakes was staying while supporting a local church’s revival program, wrapped his arms around Youngblood and tried to kiss him…” the lawsuit read.
The suit further describes how Youngblood returned to the Larry Reid Live for a part two on Nov. 3, 2024 to speak more about Jakes.
“From start to finish, Youngblood’s tale of grooming and attempted sexual assault at the hands of Bishop Jakes is patently false. Bishop Jakes never kissed or tried to kiss Youngblood, never cornered him or forced him into any situation (sexual or otherwise),” the suit continued. “The interactions described by Youngblood during his LRL interviews on Oct. 28 and Nov. 3 never happened-period.”
To read the lawsuit in its entirety, you can click here.
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Abby Trivett is content development editor for Charisma Media.
