Swaggart: God Says `It's None Of Your Business'

BATON ROUGE, La. - One day after Jimmy Swaggart was said to be leaving the pulpit in a scandal involving a streetwalker, the evangelist said he has gone back to preaching because God told him to do so.

"He said, `You tell them that Thursday morning you'll be making television programs,' " Swaggart said last night from the pulpit in his Family Worship Center.

Swaggart refused to talk about an incident last Friday in Indio, Calif., in which he was stopped by police and charged with traffic violations. A woman in the car later said she was a prostitute and that Swaggart had asked for sex.

"The Lord told me it's flat none of your business," Swaggart told the congregation.

Swaggart's son, Donnie, announced yesterday his father was stepping down for an indefinite period to get medical and spiritual help.

Swaggart had to resign in 1988 from the Assemblies of God after preacher Marvin Gorman released photographs of Swaggart with a

prostitute.