From Yahoo! News
LOS ANGELES - Michael Jackson apparently suffered a heart attack, a person with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press on Friday. Police planned to interview the doctor who was with the pop icon during his last minutes and pumped his chest in a vain attempt to save his life.
As grief for the King of Pop poured out around the world, from the icons of music to heartbroken fans, an autopsy showed no sign of trauma to Jackson, whose death came just weeks before he was to launch an epic comeback bid in a series of 50 concerts in London.
The person, who was not authorized to speak publicly and requested anonymity, said Jackson had suffered a heart attack. Jackson’s brother Jermaine had said the pop singer apparently went into cardiac arrest — which often but not always happens because of a heart attack.
Yes, Michael Jackson was strange. He may or may not have committed some horribly perverse acts - I’m not convinced that he did, though most conservatives disagree with me.
The irony of dying from a heart attack is that Jackson has suffered from a broken heart since childhood. In the words of John Eldredge, his heart was not guarded. The enemy is a thief - Jackson has said in many interviews that he was robbed of his childhood. He created a fantasy world with his wealth so that he could recapture his lost childhood. Because Michael’s heart was broken, his life was destroyed and he was ultimately killed
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. John 10:10 (ESV)
Michael Jackson literally died of a broken heart.
When we become Christians, God creates a new heart in us. That heart is good. However, we are at war with the enemy and with our own flesh. Most of us do not even know we are at war. We wonder why things have gone wrong in our lives and, even though we may be sincere and pure Christians, we are targeted by the enemy to be robbed and killed.
Jackson was brutalized as a child. He was told that he was no good. He was told that he could only be good by succeeding in music. He did not need music, he needed God’s healing.
If Jackson had been surrounded by a loving group of believers, his heart could have been healed. Sometimes God heals parts of the heart immediately, but more often he does it over a period of time and uses other Christians in the process. Michael did not need to recapture his childhood with pet apes, amusement park rides, and sleepovers with children, even if they were non-sexual. He needed to have the broken pieces of his heart healed by Jesus Christ by confronting the ugliness, recognizing how he had been hurt, and renouncing the control it had over him.
When I say that Michael needed to renounce the enemy’s control over his heart, I do not necessarily mean he had to renounce sin, though that often is a part of the process. The enemy can control parts of our heart even though we may not have sinned when we gave him control. The enemy is more ruthless than you can ever imagine and thinks nothing of taking advantage of a young child before the age of accountability.
It is quite possible that the enemy, acting through Jackson’s father, told a 5-year old Michael Jackson that he was a bad person if he did not achieve fame and success. Michael might have agreed by thinking “Yes, you’re right - I am a bad person unless I succeed.” By agreeing to the warped thinking forced upon him, he unknowingly gave the enemy a strong foothold in his life.
We must actively guard our hearts. The enemy and his demon followers will stop at nothing to rob us of our joy, our peace, and our purpose.
It is not for me to judge the state of Michael’s soul. God has mercy “on whom he will” and I expect all of us will be surprised by who is and who is not in heaven. I hope that Michael is in heaven now and that Jesus has already healed him of his broken heart.
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