Pastor John Gray publicly praised God in an Instagram post published by his wife Aventer Gray after being released Tuesday from a hospital where he was being treated for a life-threatening saddle pulmonary embolism. He also had additional blood clots in his lungs.
As CBN News reported, Aventer had asked for prayers for her husband in an Instagram post on July 10, writing: “My family and I stand in need of a miracle. Please keep my husband @realjohngray in your prayers.”
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The Greenville church’s co-pastor, went on to explain what happened to Gray.
“After feeling a little different over the past couple weeks, he went to the ER on Thursday evening and was immediately admitted to CCU with a saddle pulmonary embolism in the pulmonary artery and more lung blood clots. The Saddle PE is in a position that could potentially end his life if it shifts at all,” Aventer explained.
In his post about his release, the Relentless Church founder wrote, “Psalms 103:1-3 Bless the LORD, O my soul; And all that is within me, bless His holy name! Bless the LORD, O my soul, And forget not all His benefits: Who forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases…”
Gray, 49, noted the photo in the post was the hospital bed where he had remained since being admitted on July 7.
“The devil wanted me to die in this bed…THIS BED! This bed was supposed to be my end. Pull the sheet over my head and wheel me to the morgue. This bed, where I entertained my deepest fears, regrets, and triumphs, was supposed to be the period – A life ended, but unfinished,” he said.
“But GOD. Glory! Hallelujah!” Gray said.
“Because of God, this bed is now a testimony. As I wave goodbye to this bed, I say GOD THANK YOU FOR SAVING AND SPARING MY LIFE! Yes, I have a long way to go, but I’m not dead – so that’s a great start!” he said.
The Greenville, South Carolina megachurch pastor also thanked the medical teams at the hospitals where he was treated for their “love and care.”
“To the wonderful team of doctors, nurses, cardiologists, and staff at Flowers Hospital in Dothan, Alabama I say thank you. My family and I are indebted to you all for your love and care. To the Northside Hospital Gwinnett team of doctors & staff – I have no words. Y’all did your diligence, imaging, testing, checking that monitor never let me sleep! Lol, but it’s exactly what was needed to preserve my life. Thank you. Because of prayer and an amazing medical team, I am on course for a COMPLETE recovery!” Gray wrote.
The pastor also thanked is church family and everyone who prayed for him during the time he was in the hospital. He reminded them that it was “GOD ALONE” who turned the tide of his illness.
“Finally, to my @relentlessgreenville, @relentlessatlanta family, and Relentless Online, so many pastors, leaders, and praying people around the world who bombarded heaven – I say thank you! It was GOD ALONE that turned the tide of this battle. I can’t respond to every text I’ve received and I still need a ton of rest, a lot of benchmarks to hit, outpatient follow up visits, monitoring, and blah blah blah – but know I’m grateful for every expression, I am getting stronger,” he said.
Gray also had a special note for his wife.
“Aventer – you will have your own post when my words catch up to your supernatural strength & faith during this life or death moment. I love you with all I have – and with all I have left. You and our children made me fight to stay here,” he continued.
“I love y’all, now since I can’t shout. Can y’all help me shout? I’M OUTTTTT!” Gray concluded.
According to Healthline.com, a Saddle PE is a rare kind of PE that gets its name from its position when it gets stuck in the lungs. This clot sits within the main artery of the lungs, where it begins to branch off to either side. For this reason, a saddle PE has a high risk of blocking blood flow to the lungs. The name refers to the fact that the clot “saddles” on top of both branch arteries. If a saddle PE blocks one or more of the pulmonary arteries, this can lead to heart failure and death.
“Doctors, multiple cardiologists, a hematologist … the best, baffled… Only God! We are stable today moving in the right direction,” Aventer wrote last week in a Facebook update. “…The way this SPE was set up, it was trying to destroy, suffocate him. He is being unhooked from supplemental everything, because the timeline of how soon it would take to see these clots dissipate was accelerated by months and the only thing they could attribute this to was prayer. Nothing they did do, was able to do what we now see based on most recent imaging. It was the prayers of the righteous that availed…”
“Thank you all. Everyone across the globe. Let’s finish the miracle and get him back to where he needs to be. Yes we have milestones, benchmarks, and major shifts of lifestyle, but most of all, HE HAS LIFE & God’s breath in his soon to be uninjured lungs!”
As CBN News reported, last Sunday, Aventer credited God’s healing power and the prayers of believers with helping keep her husband alive in the face of life-threatening blood clots.
During Sunday’s church service, she rallied churchgoers to worship and pray while testifying of what God has done so far to preserve Pastor Gray’s life for more than a week.
“Your prayers touched heaven, and God is doing some miraculous things,” she said.
“There’s a long road ahead of us,” she said. “I implore you to please maintain your prayer posture.”
Before moving to Greenville with his wife and two children to form Relentless Church in 2018, Gray served as an associate pastor at Joel Osteen’s Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas. He also had his own reality TV series titled The Book of John Gray which aired on the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN) for three seasons.
Relentless Church has two campuses. One is located in Greenville, SC and the other is located in Powder Springs, GA.
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