Kenneth Copeland, a prominent evangelist, revealed he was recently hospitalized for a surgical procedure. He says he’s doing well and expects to live until he is 120 because of a deal he made with God. Speaking to the congregation of Eagle Mountain International Church “I had what some people would call a bad year. No, I’d never had an extended hospital stay. My appendix ruptured. I was in there five days the first time and five more days,” Copeland said.
The 88-year-old minister, who is controversial for his private jets and lavish lifestyle, said “They were just about to roll me in [to surgery] they had me all prepped on the gurney. I said, ‘Hold it, hold it, hold it, hold it, wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute. That doctor said, ‘What?’ I said, ‘What do you call this [procedure]? He said, ‘an appendectomy.’
He added “A merry heart does good like a medicine,” he said before explaining how he used humor to keep himself from getting down throughout his health scare. “I said, ‘What do you call it when you take someone’s tonsils out?’ … ‘a tonsillectomy.’ ‘What do you call it when you take a growth off of your head?’ ‘A haircut.’ And that surgeon said he got me on that one,” Copeland joked.
“I had to keep doing that to keep from getting depressed and down and off my faith in that hospital, but I’ve come out to the end of it in good health,” he explained. “I know as well as I know my name, the Master carried me, watched over me, took care of me, and didn’t let somebody slip up,” Copeland said. “I know a young man […] the neurosurgeon slipped and now he’s in a wheelchair.”
He also noted that another reason he was confident in his recovery was that he made an agreement with God that he would live until 2056. “I have made and entered [into a] covenant with God and on December 6, 2056, I’ll see you all later. I’m out of here, 120 years old,” Copeland claimed, predicting the date of his death. “You take an old worn-out car and you put it in the shop, and you restore it good as new or better. Well, this old 88-year-old worn-out body has been made better. The different parts have been overhauled and now it’s finished,” he claimed. “I am here to give thanks like never before.”
According to Copeland, he has planned out themes for the year through 2029. “I’ve been praying about the years. 2024 was [a] victory, sure. 2025 the nation comes alive. 2026 is the big fix. 2028 we go through the gate. 2029 all things will be divine. I don’t have 2030 yet,” he said to laughs from the congregants. He predicts that 2025 will be less dangerous than 2024.
While he didn’t mention the Democrats specifically, he had this to say: “I know what’s going to happen in 2025,” Copeland declared without mentioning the names of any political party. “More opposition politically than there has ever been because the opposing team is fighting for the life of its party, not the United States people.” He also urged congregants to stay firm.
He exhorted congregants to approach 2025 with “great joy and great faith” but not “let our watch down,” as the “midterms” are important too. “We don’t turn loose and say, ‘Well, we won it what now?’ Midterms, that’s what now,” Rev. Copeland said. “Well, what now about my life? Well, what about your midterm? What are you going to be doing two years from now? You better start right now believing God you’re going to be alive and well two years from now, ‘cause you don’t have any guarantee other than what you believe for,” he said.
Featured image: Kenneth Copeland Ministries, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons