The Pain Of Leadership
Bishop T.D. Jakes' interview with Steven Furtick on his book, "Crushing: God Turns Pressure Into Power." We continue in our journey through the discussion guide of Andy Stanley's, "Deep and Wide."
Welcome to this edition of the Digital Leadership Development Newsletter!
Join us as we watch Bishop T.D. Jakes' interview with Steven Furtick about his book, "Crushing: God Turns Pressure Into Power." We continue in our journey through the discussion guide of Andy Stanley's, "Deep and Wide." Enjoy!
Your Reading Assignment:
We are continuing with Andy Stanley in the companion guide to DEEP & WIDE.
For your next discussion session, please read pages 61-123. Carefully consider the various questions and write down some notes and observations about your own organization in response to the questions presented. It should make for a very interesting time of discussion with your group.
About Your Leadership Coaches:
Thomas Dexter Jakes Sr. (born June 9, 1957), known as T. D. Jakes, is a pastor, author, and filmmaker. He is the pastor of The Potter's House, a non-denominational American megachurch. Jakes's church services and evangelistic sermons are broadcast on The Potter's Touch, which airs on Lightsource.com, the Trinity Broadcasting Network, Black Entertainment Television, the Daystar Television Network and The Word Network.
Other aspects of Jakes's ministry include the annual festival MegaFest which draws more than 300,000 people, the annual women's conference Woman Thou Art Loosed, and gospel music recordings. He hosted the T.D. Jakes Show, a nationally syndicated talk show produced by Tegna Media and distributed by NBC, until the show's cancellation in March 2017.
Jakes was born in South Charleston, West Virginia, and grew up in Vandalia, 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 factory and continued preaching part-time. During this time he met his future wife, Serita Jamison. The couple married in May 1982. In that same year, Jakes became the pastor of the Greater Emanuel Temple of Faith, a small independent Pentecostal church in Montgomery, West Virginia, with just ten members. Over the next few years, the church grew, drawing an integrated congregation that helped increase Jakes's 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, which ran from 1982 to 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, West Virginia, area. Jakes also used this time to continue his education by studying through correspondence courses from Friends International Christian University, an unaccredited, online university. Jakes completed a B. A. and M.A. in 1990, and a Doctor of Ministry in Religious Studies from Friends International Christian University in 1995.
After the 1990 move to Charleston, as his congregation grew, 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 them 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's 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.
Jakes's 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 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, along with fifty other families involved in his work, to Dallas, Texas. There he purchased the former facilities of Eagle's Nest Church, a large Dallas church pastored by W. V. Grant (who at the time was facing prison time for fraud). Renaming the church The Potter's House, Jakes continued his work. The Potter's House, with a 5,000-seat auditorium and a 34-acre campus, had a congregation of 30,000.
Jakes has received numerous honors, including thirteen honorary degrees and doctorates. His album A Wing and a Prayer won the "Best Gospel or Chorus Album" at the 46th Grammy Awards in 2003. He has also received Grammy and Dove Award nominations for the 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?"
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.[15][16] According to his family history, it was suggested that he is also descended from them through his grandmother. Jakes was selected in Oprah's SuperSoul 100 list of visionaries and influential leaders in 2016.
Steven Furtick Jr. (born February 19, 1980) is a pastor, songwriter, and New York Times best-selling author. As founder and lead pastor, he has helped grow the multi-site Elevation Church into a global ministry through online streaming, television, and the music of Elevation Worship. He holds a Master of Divinity degree from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Crash the Chatterbox, Greater, Sun Stand Still, (Un)Qualified, and Seven-Mile Miracle. Pastor Furtick and his wife Holly live in Charlotte, North Carolina, with their two sons, Elijah and Graham, and daughter, Abbey.
Discussion Questions to Consider As You Learn:
What are some key take-always or “aha,” moments for you from each of these resources?
What are some of the areas addressed that you have not really considered before?
What are some of the insights you are going to share with someone else this next week to help them on their journey at work?