T.D. Jakes

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Named as the ‘Next Billy Graham,’ T.D. Jakes certainly lives up to his reputation: he is one of today’s most influential preachers in the world, with his television show being aired daily in more than one hundred countries worldwide, reaching millions of people with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. His church, “The Potter’s House,” a congregation of more than thirty thousand members, is among the ten largest protestant churches in the United States.

Achievements

Why T.D. Jakes is Extraordinary

Thomas Dexter Jakes is a Christian pastor, author, film producer and motivational speaker that has been named as “the next Billy Graham” for his annual Megafest conferences, as well as being one of the most influential and popular American Christian leaders in the world. Throughout his lifetime, T.D. (short for Thomas Dexter) has spoken to more than ten million people around the world, bringing the message of faith, love and forgiveness to the lost, hurting and needy.

It comes to no surprise why T.D. Jakes is one of the leading figures in the Christian faith today. Aside from holding thirteen honorary degrees from various universities, T.D. has received numerous honors and awards for both his ministerial and secular work. He has received the NAACP Award several times, and he is also a recipient of the prestigious Martin Luther King Jr. Award. He was featured several times in various Christian and secular publications, the most prominent being made the cover of TIME Magazine’s 2000 issue with the tagline, “Is This the Next Billy Graham?”

In terms of his work as a pastor, T.D. leads one of the largest protestant churches in the United States, The Potter’s House. With a membership of more than thirty thousand, The Potter’s House is not only known for its growth but also for its cultural and racial diversity, something that breaks the denominational and racial barrier and brings together people from all walks of life.

One of the things that has makes T.D. such a great person is his remarkable ability to connect with people and understand their needs, feelings and perspectives. With a loving and listening heart, T.D. is able to create an atmosphere of comfort that helps the people he counsels to tell everything that they need to tell. This is what T.D. says in an interview:

“I've tried to deal with the entire perspective of the family from the women to the man and vice versa. My ability to connect with men and women has come from being a counselor and a pastor over half of my life, and 27 years have been behind a desk listening to people talk about the deepest issues and area of their lives. That gives you a unique opportunity to hear and to understand and to translate that language into some order.”

Even when he had a problem with speaking, T.D. was nevertheless an excellent communicator, and he utilizes this ability to draw people and catch their interest in listening to what he has to say. Whether in preaching to his congregation, writing a book or producing a story for the big screen, T.D. has always ensured that the message will speak clearly and touch the heart of the person listening or watching.

T.D. makes great emphasis on communication in an interview with him:

“Communication is not complete until the person who hears you is receiving what you have to say. It's not how well you speak; it’s how well they hear what you are trying to say. When you make contact with those persons you want to continue in that lane until there is a feeling of satiety that exists both in their hearts and yours. The Bible said that the word of the Lord would not return unto Him void but it would do that thing where unto it had been sent, so we can't stop that word until it has accomplished that thing where unto God has sent it.”

As reflected in his preaching, T.D. does not allow material things or social statuses to determine the real treasures of life—joy, peace, love, etc. For T.D., it is not so much the physical stuff that brings these things into one’s life, but rather, it is in the personal and spiritual realm where one can find his true worth.

This is what he says when he was asked regarding a certain celebrity, who in spite of having almost everything material one could ask for, was still not happy:

“To think that riches or notoriety or fame brings happiness is an illusion for which the American people have become obsessed. In reality, happiness comes from within—sometimes in the worst of times. We draw warmth and a grace and a peace that transcends our net worth or our value or how many people know us. In fact, those can be complications on the road to happiness. I think it is very much an internal thing and very much a spiritual thing.”

For T.D., it is not just about how hard you work—it is about enjoying what you are called to do. Most often, people get burnt out for trying to accomplish a God-given desire in their heart, not realizing that since it was God who gave them the desire, He would also be the one to provide the necessary resources to put this desire into fruition. This is why while T.D. does not emphasize diligence and hard work, he also tells people that it is more of resting on God’s goodness and timing. When God gives you a dream or passion, He does not want you to strive for it with your own efforts and end up being burnt out in the end. He wants you to enjoy that dream, enjoy life and continue enjoying what you want to do until the dream materializes.

T.D. says in an interview:

“It's one thing to be burned out, but it's another to feel guilty because you're burned out, because you feel like you should be everything to everybody. I remind people that Jesus gave his life for the people so that you don't have to, and to take some time away and refresh yourself. You're better rested than you are tired. You think clearer, you make less mistakes, you're less vulnerable. Find the combination that reinvigorates you so that you can continue to enjoy what you do because the moment you stop enjoying what you're doing, it starts to deteriorate.”

As a writer, T.D. has touched the hearts and lives of many people around the world with his books and novels. T.D. often says that he is very thankful for the privilege of having worked with people from all walks of life because he is able to see life from all these perspectives and write stories or inspirational books that speak to everyone. He stated:

“I'm really drawing from the wealth of experience I've had in my life. One of the greatest privileges of working with people from the crack house to the White House. I've been in and out of the Oval Office for the past—this one being now the third administration. I've seen people on death row and everywhere else. So when I get ready to write, I can draw not only from the 27 years that I've been married, but from everybody I've counseled and all the people I've met, and kind of weave together a story that I think will intrigue and bless a lot of people.”

Ultimately, T.D. Jakes epitomizes the kind of person that really puts faith in action, just like what former President George Bush said of him. A man who practices what he preaches, T.D. is an extraordinary person that will definitely inspire and motivate us to go out and be who God has called out to be. This is his story.

Top Reasons why T.D. Jakes is Extraordinary

T.D. Jakes has been named as the “next Billy Graham” for the amount of influence and fame that he has attained all these years.
He leads one of America’s largest protestant churches, The Potter’s House, with 30,000 members.
His ministry, T.D. Jakes Ministries, not only produces his television shows, but is involved in numerous charitable projects worldwide.
He is one of the most influential Christians in the United States.
He is one of the spiritual advisors of the current president of the United States, Barack Obama.
He went from being a young kid with speech impediment from being one of the foremost Christian speakers in the world.
He has received several NAACP Awards, a Stellar Award and a Grammy Award for his productions such as “Woman, Thou Art Loosed” and “The Storm Is Over”.
He was included in the “50 Most Influential Christians in America” list by The Church Report Magazine.
He is the founder of MegaFest, a revival event that draws more than 100,000 people from all over the country every year.
His is the author of several New York Times Bestsellers such as “Woman, Thou Art Loosed”, “The Greatest Investment” and “Reposition Yourself”.

Biography

Biography of T.D. Jakes

Date of Birth: Sunday, 09 June 1957 | Born in: / Nationality: United States of America

Why He’s a Highly Regarded Preacher

No matter what cultural, denominational or racial background they may be from, people who attend a Sunday service at The Potter’s House cannot seem to resist coming back for more. This is probably because of two factors that grab their interest in T.D. Jakes: the welcoming and loving atmosphere that he brings in the pulpit, and the messages of faith, love and compassion.

Every time Thomas Dexter steps out and preaches to his congregation, he brings with him that demeanour that makes you feel like you are family; when he speaks, he does not just educate his congregation with the doctrines of Christianity on what you should do or not do—rather, he makes the Bible ‘practical’ by sharing it on a level that would speak to the person’s situation.

Ultimate Reliance on God

As a minister, Thomas Dexter never allows himself to think that he knows more than God. Because of this, even though he prepares a lot for what he is going to preach in every Sunday worship service at The Potter’s House, Thomas Dexter always depends on the Holy Spirit for the things that he would say. He states in an interview when he was asked about how the flow of his messages go:

“Stay right in that track and allow God to guide you. The Holy Spirit was given to us to guide us. I think that even as we minister we must be guidable and allow the Holy Spirit to influence. It doesn't matter what I have in my notes to say. It doesn't matter whether I get my favorite point in or not. I matters that I am guided by the Holy Spirit to that precise area of need in the lives of my congregation.”

Ultimately, T.D. never forgets to give glory to God, the one whom he says made every success in his life possible. Whenever he sees all of the things that God has done for him, he never ceases to be amazed because he recognizes that without God, he would never be where he is today. He says:

“It's really indescribable honestly because of where I came from. You would have to see where I came from to see where I am today. And to be blessed of the Lord to have added value to people's lives like that, it's incredibly gratifying. To have contributed something on such a level, that people would dignify your thoughts with their presence, is very gratifying. I never take it for granted and I'm always humbled by them.”

T.D. Jakes Early Biography

The extraordinary life story of T.D. Jakes began on June 9, 1957, when he was born to Ernest Sr. and Odith Jakes in Charleston, West Virginia. As the Jakes family lived during the time of Civil Rights Movements, Ernest Sr. had quite some difficulty in maintaining a good life for his family; in spite of their poor situation, Ernest and Odith never failed to provide for their children all the love and care that later on became significant in the paths that their children took for their own lives, more particularly, Thomas Dexter.

T.D.’s Parents, His Greatest Inspirations

Ernest, Thomas Dexter’s father, was a businessman long before entrepreneurship became a common thing among the African American community. One of the businesses that he established was a janitorial business which, starting out with a mop and a bucket, grew to having forty two employees that covered the entire Charleston area. Thomas Dexter’s mother, Odith, on the other hand, worked as an economics teacher and taught her children early on activities like cooking and sewing.

Ernest and Odith were lifelong heroes to the young Thomas Dexter, who greatly appreciated the sacrifices that his parents went through just so that he and his brothers could have food on their table and clothes on their back. Thomas Dexter also came to value the concepts of hard work and sacrifice, having seen a lot of it on his parents who raised him and his siblings to become productive and significant members of the society.

One of the greatest challenges that Thomas Dexter faced as a young person was the fact that he stuttered, making it difficult for him to properly communicate. And due to his skin color (the fifties were a time when racial discrimination was still at large, as the civil rights movement was still in its infancy), Thomas Dexter also experienced being discriminated by some of the white children in his community. Fortunately for him, however, most of the people in his neighbourhood were very kind and friendly to him, which developed in Thomas Dexter a love for people at an early age.

In spite of not having an ideal childhood, Thomas Dexter was comforted by the love and care that his mother and father showed him. When he felt like fighting back for the discrimination that he received from other white children, Thomas Dexter’s parents would always remind him to never allow what others say about him to determine what he would think of himself. These words stuck to Thomas Dexter, and has since lived his life based on this principle.

Growing up as the “Bible Boy”

Although Thomas Dexter did not have the standard educational requirement of his day (both because racial discrimination and his family’s financial state), he was fairly bright and intelligent, with his only problem being his speech impediment. He also had quite a charisma around him, as he was able to make a lot of friends during his childhood. He was also very opinionated and passionate, something that helped him grow to become a good speaker in spite of his speech impediment.

Thomas Dexter’s Christian background greatly influenced his principles and values in life. Thomas Dexter grew up in a Christian family in a neighbourhood full of believers as well, and got deeply immersed in the teachings of the Christian faith. Thomas Dexter’s faith is what he often cites to have held him together in very difficult situations throughout his life, and because of this as he grew more mature he also deepened his study of the Bible. Eventually, Thomas Dexter’s passion for God’s word would increase to the point that he would be used mightily to share the Gospel in his mid-teens.

Receiving the Call: T.D. Jakes Begins His Ministry

When he was seventeen years old, Thomas Dexter stated to have received a ‘calling’ from God to preach His word to people. It never occurred in Thomas Dexter’s mind how significant his ministry would be to the world later on, as when he first started he was quite nervous due to the problem with his speaking. However, in spite of this challenge, Thomas Dexter never allowed his speech impediment to dissuade him from going into the ministry, believing that since it was God who called him to do it, it was also God who would provide the things necessary for him to accomplish what he was called to do—to preach. And so, Thomas Dexter started preaching in street corners, sharing the Gospel with whomever he would meet. He would also practice speaking in front of crowds by first doing it to an imaginary congregation, which earned him the nickname ‘Bible Boy.’

Prior to going full-time into the ministry, Thomas Dexter worked several jobs to sustain both himself and his career as a minister. Having inspired by his father’s entrepreneurial skills, Thomas Dexter started working at an early age, delivering newspapers, selling Avon products or fresh picks from his mother’s garden. When he was in his early twenties, Thomas Dexter worked in one of Union Carbide’s chemical plants, while at the same time doing part time ministerial work for his local Baptist church as its music director.

In 1982, tragedy befell the Jakes family when Ernest died of a kidney disease. The death of Ernest caused Thomas Dexter to rethink his priorities, realizing that life is short and so many people are dying without knowing the good news (although Ernest died as a believer in Jesus Christ). This strengthened Thomas Dexter’s drive to go full time in preaching, and as such afterwards left his job so he could focus on his ministry.

Going Full-Time as a Minister

Thomas Dexter established the Greater Emmanuel Temple of Faith in 1980, but he did not work full-time on it until two years later. When the church first started, it had ten members from Thomas Dexter’s neighborhood. However, within a span of a few years, the church grew steadily that in five years, it was already around more than a ten times larger than when it started.

One of the greatest contributing factors to the growth of the Greater Emmanuel Temple of Faith was its cultural and racial diversity, something that was not very common in American churches during those times. In a decade where the blacks and whites were separated in church, Thomas Dexter and his congregation at Greater Emmanuel Temple of Faith became a symbol of unity and acceptance, and drew people of all colors in with his messages of equality, faith, and the power of God working in the lives of each and every person.

This is what Thomas Dexter pointed out in an interview made with him many years later:

“God, when He gets ready to minister to us, does it by coming where we are. He came in the person of Jesus Christ to embrace the human experience and then offered the solution, and I think it is critical for Christian leaders that we don't lose touch with the people we serve. We have to do what Christ did. Sit where they sit, feel what they feel and then speak out in a deep sense of compassion because we are one with the people that we seek to minister to.”

In 1990, ten years after it was established, the Greater Emmanuel Temple of Faith grew from one hundred to three hundred members. Three years later, Thomas Dexter, along with his 300-strong congregation, moved into a renovated bank in Cross Lanes, where the church grew further, with the membership rising to over one thousand one hundred members. What was amazing with this church was, considering that their pastor was of African American lineage, the Greater Emmanuel Temple of Faith had a forty percent Caucasian membership, which proved just how the walls of racial discrimination had been toppled in this church.

The following year, in 1994, Thomas Dexter founded “T.D. Jakes Ministries,” a non-profit organization that not only utilized media to expand the reach of the preaching of the Gospel, but also reached out to the people in need and provided material resources for them. Since its establishment, T.D. Jakes Ministries has grown into a worldwide ministry, and has been significant in many African-based charitable projects, giving out millions of dollars every year for the benefit of the poor and the needy.

Establishing the Potter’s House

In 1996, Thomas Dexter once again took a leap to higher ground when he and his family, along with the fifty-member staff of the Greater Emmanuel Temple of Faith and their families, left West Virginia and moved to Dallas, Texas, where Thomas Dexter established The Potter’s House, a multi-racial and non-denominational church. Within two years of its establishment, The Potter’s House grew amazingly; from seven thousand members, by the end of the nineties it grew to over fourteen thousand. To accommodate the growing population of the church, Thomas Dexter and his team at The Potter’s House agreed to build a larger sanctuary. Costing around forty-five million dollars, the 5,000-seat sanctuary was completed in 2000 and began to house the worship services of The Potter’s House.

From then on, The Potter’s House began to explode in growth, expanding to various areas in the Dallas/Fort Worth metropolitan area. Since 2000, The Potter’s House started to establish satellite churches, and by the end of 2010 already had campuses in Fort Worth, North Dallas, and even in Denver, Colorado, with membership sky-rocketing to over thirty thousand. The Potter’s House became one of the most important faculties in the city of Dallas, not only serving the spiritual needs of the people that attend it, but also the physical, intellectual and emotional needs of not just believers but also people from all walks of life.

A Message of Love and Faith: The Reason behind the Amazing Growth of the Potter’s House

Throughout his years in ministry, Thomas Dexter has always focused his efforts to making sure that his church does what it is supposed to be doing—being a home for the hurting and the helpless. In an interview with him, Thomas Dexter said:

“My assignment is to open the door of the Church for hurting people and refocus what the Church was meant to be in our society. The Church has become stereotyped as a 'spiritual club' for elitists and yuppies who portray themselves as persons who 'have arrived.' I believe the Church was meant to be a hospital for hurting people.”

Probably one of the most amazing things that has made Thomas Dexter a very inspiring and influential preacher is his love for people, no matter how good or bad society may see them to be. For Thomas Dexter, Christians should act like Jesus did—loving to the sinner, no matter how bad of a thing they may have done. This is shown in an interview made with Thomas Dexter, when he was asked whether or not he would pray for a criminal who took the life of her own child:

“One thing that is so wonderful about the grace of God is that it does not stop at the doorsteps of the frailties of men. As horrific as circumstances may be in anyone's life—I've worked on death row. I've worked with people who were incarcerated. I've worked with child molesters. I've worked with people who have murdered people and so forth and so on. It's not my right nor my privilege to judge them, but to minister to them where they are and to show them the grace and the love of God, even when they do things that are deplorable or despicable, even when they face things that are horrific.”

T.D. Jakes, the Bestselling Author

Since the early nineties, Thomas Dexter has established himself as one of the bestselling authors of the African American community. He has written around fifty books throughout his lifetime, and together his books have sold more than a million copies; his most popular book, “Woman Thou Art Loosed,” not only sold over eight hundred thousand copies (making it the third best-selling religious book in 1996), but it also spawned a musical album that not only won the Golden Dove Award but was also nominated for a Grammy Award.

T.D. Jakes’ Conferences

Since 1999, Thomas Dexter has annually held “Megafest,” a revival event that draws more than one hundred thousand people every year. The success of Megafest not only spawned a series of annual conferences for men (ManPower), women (Woman Thou Art Loosed), teenagers (MegaYouth) and children (Mega Kidz), but also established Thomas Dexter as one of the most successful preachers in the United States that he was called ‘the next Billy Graham’ in 2000.

When Thomas Dexter was asked in an interview about the beginnings with one of his annual events, Woman Thou Art Loosed, he stated:

“The WTAL started out as a Sunday school class. It was supposed to be one class for about forty women. I was inspired to do it because I had counseled so many women who were going thru similar devastating childhood issues and scars that were affecting them in the current context of their lives. I decided to bring them together in a Sunday school class because I believe that there are Biblical answers to all of the sociological ills that we face today.”

Staying true to his calling as a follower of Jesus Christ, Thomas Dexter has not only preached on pulpits but actively reached out to the troubled and hurting. Since he started in his ministry, Thomas Dexter has been active in joining charitable activities to reach out to various members of his community, such as drug rehabilitations, relief operations and recovery programs. One excellent example of this is in 2005, when he personally accompanied President George W. Bush to Florida to visit the victims of Hurricane Katrina.

In 2009, Thomas Dexter was invited by the then-elected President Barack Obama to lead the early morning-prayer service which was held at St. John’s Church in Washington D.C. Since then, the two men have developed a strong friendly relationship to the point where Thomas Dexter is today one of President Obama’s spiritual advisors.

In 2013, Thomas Dexter came together with very well-known pastors such as Joel Osteen and Creflo Dollar, as well as very famous celebrities such as Oprah Winfrey, Baby Face and Jennifer Hudson in that year’s Megafest conference. While he received criticism from some legalistic Christian churches for having invited ‘secular’ people in a ‘Christian’ event, Thomas Dexter simply defended this action by stating that he would rather have these people attend a Christian conference than somewhere else, where they could receive the love of God and be changed with His transforming power.

Family Life

As much as Thomas Dexter celebrates the successes in his career as a pastor, author and producer, he never once made these things comparable to the success that he has in his family life. Thomas Dexter was married to Serita Ann Jakes (nee Jamison) in 1981, and has since stayed strong in their relationship. And like with every married couple, Thomas Dexter and Serita went through a lot of storms and challenges (such as the car accident that almost killed Serita in 1981 and the surgery she underwent in 2012 to repair a herniated disc) but has remained in love with each other, proving that a Godly marriage does work. Serita bore Thomas Dexter five childen: Jermaine, Jamar, Cora, Sarah, and Thomas Jakes, Jr.

Today, Thomas Dexter continues to do what God has called him to—preach the Good News and love people. Through the ministries that he supports and works with, Thomas Dexter has made a significant and positive contribution to the lives of millions of people around the world, by not only teaching them the word of God but by being an example of a person who through faith, diligence and hard work, became all that God has called him to become.

“Many people who come from different ethnicities have faced hard times before. We don't want to go back to that, but that can be the catalyst of a wellspring of strength whereby we can nestle together, we can strengthen one another, we can get together and build ourselves up. And I really do think that we will survive whatever life throws at us, as long as we stick together and keep our faith in God.”

Films Produced and Starred In

2004: Woman, Thou Art Loosed
2009: Not Easily Broken
2010: Munya
2011: Jumping the Broom
2012: Sparkle

Organizations and Programmes Supported

TD Jakes Ministries
The Potter House and its various ministries
Mega Care

Awards and Achievements

1997: Received the Key to the City of Dallas
1999: Received the Living Legend Award from the National Professional Network
2001: Named America’s Best Preacher by TIME Magazine
2002: Received the Chairman’s Award from The National Religious Broadcasters
2002: Received the NAACP Image Award for Best Gospel Album – Contemporary (The Storm is Over)
2002: Received the Stellar Gospel Award for Best Gospel Album – Contemporary (The Storm is Over)
2004: Received the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Motion Picture (Woman, Thou Art Loosed)
2004: Received the Grammy Award for Best Gospel Choir or Chorus Album (A Wing and a Prayer)
2004: Received the NAACP President’s Award
2005: Received the NAACP Image Award for Best Independent or Foreign Film (Woman, Thou Art Loosed)
2005: Received the Chairman’s Award for Community Empowerment by 100 Black Men of America, Inc.
2005: Received the Trumpet Award
2006: Received the Quill Award in the Religion/Spirituality Category (Mama Made The Difference)
2007: Included in the 50 Most Influential Christians in America by The Church Report Magazine
2008: Received the President’s Award from Essence Magazine
2008: Received the Martin Luther King Jr. Leadership Award
2008: Received the Heroes in the Struggle Award
2009: Inducted into the International Black Gospel Music Hall of Fame & Museum
2013: Received the BET Award for Education