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#Post#: 41--------------------------------------------------
Thomas Dexter Jakes, pastor
By: IMPACT360 Date: June 13, 2015, 4:25 pm
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Birth name
Thomas Dexter Jakes
Born
June 9, 1957 (age 58)
South Charleston, West Virginia, U.S.
Nationality
United States
Spouse
Pastor Serita Ann Jakes
Occupation
Apostle, Prophet, Bishop, and Author
Thomas Dexter "T. D." Jakes, Sr. (born June
9, 1957) is the Apostle/Bishop of The Potter's
House, a non-denominational American
megachurch, with 30,000 members. T. D. Jakes'
church services and evangelistic sermons are
broadcast on The Potter's Touch, which airs on
the Trinity Broadcasting Network, Black
Entertainment Television,[1] the Daystar
Television Network, The Word Network and The
Miracle Channel in Canada. Other aspects of
Jakes' ministry include an annual revival called
"MegaFest" that draws more than 100,000
people, an annual women's conference called
"Woman Thou Art Loosed", and gospel music
recordings.
Early life
TD Jakes grew up in Vandalia, West Virginia,
attending local Baptist churches. He spent his
teenage years caring for his invalid father and
working in local industries. Feeling a call to the
ministry, he enrolled in West Virginia State
University and began preaching part-time in
local churches, but he soon dropped out of the
university. He took a job at the local Union
Carbide and continued preaching part-time.
During this time he met his future wife, Serita
Jamison. The couple married in 1981. In 1982,
Jakes became the pastor of the Greater
Emanuel Temple of Faith, a small,
Montgomery, West Virginia independent
Pentecostal church with about ten members.
Over the next few years, the church grew,
drawing an integrated congregation that helped
increase Jakes' renown as a speaker and pastor.
He moved the church twice - from
Montgomery to Smithers and then to South
Charleston, where the congregation grew from
about 100 members to over 300. During this
time, he began a radio ministry The Master's
Plan that ran from 1982-1985. He also became
acquainted with Bishop Sherman Watkins,
founder of the Higher Ground Always
Abounding Assembly (an association of over
200 Pentecostal churches). Watkins ordained
Jakes as a minister of the Higher Ground
Assembly and encouraged him to start a church
in the Charleston Area. Jakes also used this
time to continue his education by studying
through correspondence courses from Friends
University. Jakes completed a B. A. and M.A. in
1990 and a D. Min. in 1995.
After the 1990 move to Charleston, as his
congregation grew, T. D. Jakes began to focus
on the spiritual needs of the women in his
church who had been abandoned and abused in
their lives. He began a Sunday School class for
them, "Woman, Thou Art Loosed," in which he
encouraged the women to use their past pain
as a foundation for new growth. He later
started a similar class for men, which he called
"Manpower." In 1993, Jakes self-published his
first book, drawing on his experiences working
with the women of his congregation. Woman,
Thou Art Loosed would become Jakes'
signature work and a national religious
bestseller. He also began a new television
ministry, Get Ready, which aired on Black
Entertainment Television and the Trinity
Broadcasting Network. Also in 1993, Jakes
moved his church yet again, to Cross Lanes,
West Virginia.
His ministry continued to expand, prompting
the founding of the T. D. Jakes Ministries
organization to oversee his work beyond the
church itself. He continued to write and to
publish, spreading his message of spiritual
healing to new audiences. In 1994 he held the
first of what would become a series of
conferences for ministers and their spouses,
"When Shepherds Bleed."
In May 1996, Jakes moved his family and his
ministry again, as well as fifty other families
involved in his work, to Dallas, Texas. There he
purchased Eagle's Nest Church, a large Dallas
church. Renaming the church The Potter's
House, Jakes continued his work. The Potter's
House, which was a 5,000 seat auditorium and
a 34-acre campus, had grown to a congregation
of 14,000.
Career
In 1980, at age 23, Jakes became the pastor of
Greater Emanuel Temple of Faith, a storefront
church in Smithers, West Virginia with ten
members. The congregation grew to
encompass 100 members and was notable
because it was racially integrated.
In 1990 Jakes moved to South Charleston, West
Virginia, and his congregation grew again, to
300 members. In 1993 he moved to Cross
Lanes, West Virginia, where the congregation
grew to more than 1,100 people, of whom 60
percent were African American and 40 percent
were Caucasian.
In 1994 T.D. Jakes Ministries was established as
a non-profit organization that produced
televised sermons and conferences. From 1995
to 1996, Jakes hosted "Get Ready," a weekly
radio and television show with national
distribution through syndication.
In 1996 Jakes, his wife, children, and a staff of
50 employees relocated to Dallas, Texas, where
Jakes founded the Potter's House, a non-
denominational megachurch. Located on a 34-
acre hilltop campus, the Potter's House
features a 5,000-seat auditorium, as well as
offices for employees and staff. Between 1996
and 1998, church membership grew from
7,000 congregants to 14,000.
In 2005 Jakes accompanied President George
W. Bush on his visit to the areas devastated by
Hurricane Katrina. In his book Decision Points,
President Bush describes Jakes as "a kind of
man who puts faith into action."
On January 20, 2009, Jakes led the early
morning prayer service for President Barack
Obama at St. John's Church in Washington, D.C.,
according to NBC News.
In the fall of 2009, Jakes planned on launching
a secular daily talk show, syndicated through
the CBS Television Distribution group;
however, economic troubles in the industry
may put his new program into jeopardy.[2]
Beliefs
Although Jakes was converted and ordained
within Oneness Pentecostalism, he revealed in
an interview with Mark Driscoll in 2012 that he
affirms the Trinity, although Jakes did not
affirm the eternality of the individual persons
of the Trinity which is denied by Oneness
churches.[3][4]
Jakes is a strong advocate of abstinence[citation
needed] and has made appearances on the
subject ranging from Good Morning America to
Dr. Phil.
Awards and accomplishments
Jakes has received numerous honors, including
13 honorary degrees and doctorates. He has
also received Grammy and Dove Award
nominations for Gospel album "Live at The
Potter's House." PBS Religion and Ethics
Newsweekly named Jakes among America's
"Top 10 Religious Leaders." Time magazine
featured Jakes on the cover of its September
17, 2001 issue with the provocative question,
"Is This Man the Next Billy Graham?"[5]
Personal life
When he was 24 in 1981, he married Serita
Ann Jamison.[1] They have five children:
Jermaine, Jamar, Cora, Sarah and Thomas
Jakes, Jr.
On the PBS program African American Lives,
Jakes had his DNA analyzed; his Y chromosome
showed that he is descended from the Igbo
people of Nigeria.[6][7] According to his family
history, it was suggested that he is also
descended from them through his
grandmother.[8][9]
Writings
Intimacy With God
Loved by God
Can You Stand To Be Blessed?
Naked And Not Ashamed?
Loose That Man And Let Him Go
Loose That Man And Let Him Go Work Book
Positioning Yourself To Prosper
Reposition Yourself: Living a Life Without
Limits
He-Motions: Even Strong Men Struggle
Help! I'm Raising My Children Alone: A Guide
for Single Ladies and Those Who Sometimes
Feel They Are
Ten Commandments of Working in a Hostile
Environment
Promises From God For Single Women
Woman, Thou Art Loosed: Healing the Wounds
of the Past
Woman, Thou Art Loosed Devotional
The Lady, Her Lover, and Her Lord
Maximize the Moment : God's Action Plan for
Your Life
So You Call Yourself a Man?: Finally… a
Devotional for Ordinary Men with
Extraordinary Potential
God's Leading Lady
His Lady
Jesus Walks (with me)
Lay Aside the Weight
Daddy Loves His Girls
The Greatest Investment
Mama Made the Difference
TD Jakes Speaks to Men
Overcoming the Enemy
From the Cross to Pentecost
Life Overflowing: Six Pillars for Abundant
Living
Not Easily Broken, 2006
Before You Do: Making Great Decisions That
You Won't Regret , Atria Books, 2008. ISBN
978-1-4165-4728-0
The Memory Quilt: A Christmas Story for Our
Times , 2009
Let it Go: Forgive So You Can Be Forgiven ,
2012
Instinct: The Power To Unleash Your Inborn
Drive , 2014, Hachette Book Group. ISBN
1455554049
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