The following was reprinted from the Advocate Archives. Jimmy Swaggart describes his house as a modest two bedroom cottage. Here is a link to view his modest cottage. LINK JOHN MCMILLAN
A psychiatrist who teaches at Stanford University said a good laugh can double your heart rate. Boy, mine was racing the other night watching Jimmy Swaggart describe his house during reporter John “The Snake” Camp’s special on him. The part I liked best was the footage taped by a station in California in which Swaggart downplayed the size of his Baton Rouge mansion, saying he only had a little bitty ol’ two-bedroom house. It just looks big, he said, because it has a front porch. A sort of optical illusion house. I guess he meant the porch makes it look like it has more than 10,000 square feet. There’s a valuable message here for homeowners: A porch can really add eye appeal to your cottage
Of course, you’ve got to admit this message goes down better if you’re in California and have never seen Swaggart’s bedroom-deprived shanty. Naturally, we also have to assume he was talking about one of the two edifices in his compound on Highland Road and not the hideaway near Palm Springs, Calif., because that retreat was more or less secret. (It was to me, and I must say I was taken aback to learn about it. Despite what a lot of people might think, I am not a member of Swaggart’s inner circle. Of course, I could be because I am not a snake-like reporters. I am a columnist like Jimmy.)
Look, I don’t want anybody to think I am implying that the rev was stretching (or shrinking) the truth when he described his mansion as a two-bedroom house (with a little ol’ den). The fact that one of the bedrooms reportedly occupies the entire second floor of the 10,000-square-foot home doesn’t change the number of bedrooms. Although you don’t need many bedrooms when you build your only child a million-dollar house, and when you measure the bedrooms you have in acres instead of feet. However, there is a need for big bedrooms if you don’t want to trip over the Jacuzzi or baptistery or whatever it’s called. I’ll say this, if that house only has two normal-sized bedrooms, the closet space must be awesome. To give the man his due, he probably was technically correct in describing his villa. And the Superdome is a one-room building. Al Capone was a tax evader. Charles Manson was a free spirit. Polly Adler ran a boarding house. The Pyramids are a pile of rocks.
On another subject, Swaggart said the only woman he has ever kissed is his wife, Frances. Not just since he’s been married, but ever. The Stanford professor, Dr. William Fry, said, “You can get a really good workout from laughing. The muscle activity involved is the same as is involved in exercising.” Boy, am I sore.
Copyright 1987 Capital City Press, Baton Rouge, La.
Poppy Poppy says
I think Jimmy Swaggart’s home is very humble & it is the first time I see a pastor with a modest home – he should have a nicer place considering he writes many books and has recorded so many songs. Why shouldn’t he have a big home, he has a large family and he has earned it. He is one of the true men of God …… and who hasn’t fallen sometime, somewhere, I know I have, many times. God Bless the Swaggart family. Poppy, United Kingdom, N.E.
Mishel says
I think you missed the whole point here. The point is, he lied. Please research this so called “man of God.” His fall was not a one time event- there have been THREE women and those are only the ones we know about. Do you really think that the three times he was caught were the only three times he ever visited a hooker? Wow, he must be the most unluckiest man in history. Also, there is a history of abuse or employees, lawsuits and crookedness in his ministry. We are not talking about an indiscretion but habitual sin.
joe says
we all have that one sin that’s hard to over come.
joe says
not meaning hooker’s , but meaning whatever your sin is , women, drugs, and so on, the holy spirit will help us over come that sin if we press in to the LORD, preachers are men also not exempt from sin.