More than 20 years later, he pastors what Christianity Today calls “one of America’s fastest growing mega-churches.” The Potter’s House, a multiracial nondenominational church with 59 active outreach ministries, has dominated church growth records since 1996. In only eight years since relocating the church from West Virginia to Dallas, The Potter’s House has grown from 50 families to more than 28,000 members to date. Rivaling many corporations, The Potter’s House employs more than 300 staff members including full-time finance, human relations, information technology, materials distribution, public relations and television production departments. The Potter’s House is fiscally sound, having recently paid off its newest $45 million, 191,000 sq. ft. structure that was completed less than four years ago.
Bishop Jakes was born on June 9, 1957 in South Charleston, W.Va. His parents, businessman and entrepreneur Ernest Sr. and educator Odith, were charitable benefactors in their community and to whom their son credits for his own integrity, discipline and selfreliance. Bishop Jakes is the CEO of The Potter’s House, a nonprofit organization that produces three major national conferences – “The Pastor’s and Leadership Conference,” “ManPower” and “Woman, Thou Art Loosed.” WTAL, a powerful and popular symposium, addresses specific needs of all women and has helped many go from welfare to work. The conference has set national indoor attendance records with an average of 84,500 attendees per day at the Georgia Dome in 1999. “ManPower,” equips and encourages men to build strong marriages, increase their confidence and take on more responsibility in their community. “Mega Fest” is a family affair combining “Woman, Thou Art Loosed,” “ManPower” and the “Youth 3-D Experience,” a new youth conference. This summer, Mega Fest attracted more than 140,000 people from 55 countries and set a cumulative record attendance of 560,000 over the four-day period. Through broadcasting efforts, Mega Fest impacted more than 314 million homes in 235 countries and territories outside of the U.S. Mega Fest 2005 is scheduled August 3 – 6 in Atlanta, Georgia.
In addition to the major conferences, Bishop Jakes hosts the God’s Leading Ladies conference, which is designed to help women in leadership positions to develop financial, relationship and balancing skills.
In an effort to remedy social and economic voids in Urban America, Bishop Jakes founded the Metroplex Economic Development Corporation in 1998. The nonprofit 501(c)(3) corporation has sponsored home ownership conferences and youth mentorship programs.Currently, MEDC is developing a job placement center, a skills training center, a small business counseling hotline and a housing development that will include affordable homes for senior citizens and single-parent families.
Additional endeavors to improve society include building two Habitat for Humanity homes in conjunction with the 2003 ManPower conference and making a $107,000 donation to relocate Dallas citizens from an economically and environmentally disadvantaged area. The Potter’s House was also responsible for building a hospital in Belize, Central America, named Belmopan to whom they later sent $400,000 for medical supplies. Bishop Jakes and The Potter’s House invested over $500,000 in outreach to prison inmates. Their “Adopt A Prison” program has impacted inmates giving them a way to reduce the rate of recidivism through spiritual support and a network of churches who have awareness to the plight of
inmates reentering the system.
He is also the founder of T.D. Jakes Enterprises, through which he employs his other aptitudes as author, songwriter and playwright. A renowned religious author with 30 books to his credit; Bishop Jakes’ works have been featured on Christian, secular and business bestseller lists. His top five nonfiction bestsellers are: Maximize the Moment; Woman, Thou Art Loosed; The Lady, Her Lover and Her Lord; The Great Investment: Faith, Family and Finance and God’s Leading Lady, which has peaked at #4 on the New York Times Hardcover Advice List. He released his first novel, Cover Girls, in the summer of 2003, and later that year; he released Follow the Star, a compilation of Bishop Jakes’ personal Christmas stories. His latest book He-Motions, which is currently #10 on the New York Times Bestseller List, is a tool for both men and women written with intimate personal stories and painful lessons he learned through life. His best-selling book, Woman Thou Art Loosed, has finally come to the big screen debuting in 400 theaters across the nation and winning the 2004 Santa Barbara International Film Festival.
Bishop Jakes has developed business partnerships with Sony, EMI, Time Warner, Warner, Rueben Cannon Productions, Clear Channel, Thomas Nelson Publishing and a host of other highly respected companies. His theatre production company, Touchdown Concepts, created and produced the Christian plays “Woman, Thou Art Loosed” and “Behind Closed Doors.” Both became number one gospel plays in the United States. Recently his advocacy for women’s rights enabled him to develop the cinema production “Woman, Thou Art Loosed,” with Rueben Cannon Productions. The movie is based on his book “Woman, Thou Art Loosed,” and speaks out against domestic violence while encouraging women to rise above injustices. Bishop Jakes also operates Dexterity Sounds, a music label in collaboration with EMI Gospel Music that develops music with a divine message. The label has produced eight albums, five of which have received Grammy nominations. The album, “A Wing and a Prayer” featuring Bishop Jakes and The Potter’s House Mass Choir, received a 2004 Grammy award in the “Best Gospel Choir or Chorus Album” category. His album “T.D. Jakes presents Follow the Star” also received a nomination in the category of “Best Contemporary Soul Gospel Album.”
He is also the founder of T.D. Jakes Enterprises, through which he employs his other aptitudes as author, songwriter and playwright. A renowned religious author with 30 books to his credit; Bishop Jakes’ works have been featured on Christian, secular and business bestseller lists. His top five nonfiction bestsellers are: Maximize the Moment; Woman, Thou Art Loosed; The Lady, Her Lover and Her Lord; The Great Investment: Faith, Family and Finance and God’s Leading Lady, which has peaked at #4 on the New York Times Hardcover Advice List. He released his first novel, Cover Girls, in the summer of 2003, and later that year; he released Follow the Star, a compilation of Bishop Jakes’ personal Christmas stories. His latest book He-Motions, which is currently #10 on the New York Times Bestseller List, is a tool for both men and women written with intimate personal stories and painful lessons he learned through life. His best-selling book, Woman Thou Art Loosed, has finally come to the big screen debuting in 400 theaters across the nation and winning the 2004 Santa Barbara International Film Festival.
Bishop Jakes has developed business partnerships with Sony, EMI, Time Warner, Warner, Rueben Cannon Productions, Clear Channel, Thomas Nelson Publishing and a host of other highly respected companies. His theatre production company, Touchdown Concepts, created and produced the Christian plays “Woman, Thou Art Loosed” and “Behind Closed Doors.” Both became number one gospel plays in the United States. Recently his advocacy for women’s rights enabled him to develop the cinema production “Woman, Thou Art Loosed,” with Rueben Cannon Productions. The movie is based on his book “Woman, Thou Art Loosed,” and speaks out against domestic violence while encouraging women to rise above injustices. Bishop Jakes also operates Dexterity Sounds, a music label in collaboration with EMI Gospel Music that develops music with a divine message. The label has produced eight albums, five of which have received Grammy nominations. The album, “A Wing and a Prayer” featuring Bishop Jakes and The Potter’s House Mass Choir, received a 2004 Grammy award in the “Best Gospel Choir or Chorus Album” category.
His album “T.D. Jakes presents Follow the Star” also received a nomination in the category of “Best Contemporary Soul Gospel Album. http://www.godsleadingladies.com/_downloads/bio_td_jakes.pdf
I Honor You
Bishop T.D. Jakes Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Hard to see you with someone else, you still smilin'
Hard to say I'm breakin' up with you, it's perfect timin'
Hard to see you in a better place that I'm in
Guess you win
You know it gets hard sometimes
I'm lookin' at the floor 'cause I can't meet your eyesYou know it gets hard sometimes
'Cause right now fightin' feels better than goodbyes
Don't say what I need you to say
I still love you
I still love you
I guess I have to let it go, I have to let it go
Undo, fallin' for you
I knew I had to let it go, I had to let it go
What am I holdin' on to?
But it's too late to backtrack
Build a new life, from way back
When I look in my own head and I put that on playback
I knew I had to let it go, I had to let it go
I had to let go of you
The lyrics of Bishop T.D. Jakes's song "I Honor You" speak of the challenges and pain of ending a relationship. The first verse expresses the difficulty of moving on from someone and accepting that they have moved on. The pain is so great that it is even harder to meet their eyes or acknowledge the situation. The second verse shows that the decision to end the relationship was not easy but it was necessary. It is a time to reflect and build a new life. However, the singer is still holding on to their love for the other person.
The central message of this song is that letting go of someone you love is one of the hardest things to do, but it is necessary to move on with life. The song talks about the challenges that can come from ending a relationship, such as the temptation to hold on to someone or the difficulty of relinquishing that person to someone else. Although it is a difficult and at times painful process, it is possible to build a new life and move forward. The song speaks to the struggles of love and letting go, and encourages listeners to keep moving forward.
Line by Line Meaning
Harder than the silence
It's really difficult to express the emotions in words and sometimes the silence between people speaks louder than their words.
Hard to see you with someone else, you still smilin'
It's hard to accept that the person you loved is happy with someone else but you still appreciate their happiness.
Hard to say I'm breakin' up with you, it's perfect timin'
Breaking up with someone whom you love is always hard but when the situation demands, it's necessary and perfect timing is a crucial factor.
Hard to see you in a better place that I'm in
It's hard to accept that the person you loved is in a better place than where you currently are, both emotionally and physically.
Guess you win
Congratulations, you've won and I've lost, you've succeeded in moving on and I haven't.
You know it gets hard sometimes
It becomes tough to cope with emotions sometimes and the pain can be overwhelming.
I'm lookin' at the floor 'cause I can't meet your eyes
It's hard to make eye contact with the person you loved because it brings back memories of the past and makes it harder to move on.
'Cause right now fightin' feels better than goodbyes
It's better to hold onto the hurt, keep fighting and stay together rather than say goodbye and completely let go.
Don't say what I need you to say
I need to hear a specific response from you but I can't always get it.
I still love you
Despite everything that has happened, I still have love for you in my heart.
I guess I have to let it go, I have to let it go
The only way to move on is to let go of the past and all the emotions relating to it.
Undo, fallin' for you
I need to undo falling in love with you in order to move on.
What am I holdin' on to?
There's nothing left to hold onto, it's time to let go and move on.
But it's too late to backtrack
It's too late to go back to what we had and there's no point in trying to relive the past.
Build a new life, from way back
It's time to build a new life for yourself starting from where you left off in the past.
When I look in my own head and I put that on playback
When I replay the memories we shared in my mind, it's clear that it's time to move on and start a new chapter in my life.
I knew I had to let it go, I had to let it go
I knew it all along that the only way to move on was to let you go.
I had to let go of you
It's time to finally let you go and move on with my life.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd., Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Sarah Grace McLaughlin
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@sheryle.75
There's people that are missing their blessings right now because they don't recognize who God is! He is worthy of Glory, Honor and praise! His name is Jesus! Name above every name. Hallelujah!
@PastorHooks
Let us pray for these people as God reveals their needs to us. Blessings.
@datharrisboi1
For years ago your comment. And still today there are many that donor understand that the name of GOD IS JESUS.
@amosunbolanle5970
Qqq
@SomXee
I'm just reminded of this beautiful tune. I worship God just because he is God. I'm tired of fighting, calling and asking why my things are not processed by this time. Imagine a masters student not having a place to stay and no funding whatsoever, sleeping in the studio couch. However, God deserves all Glory. Praise the name of Jesus.
@midegm2621
Listening in 2024 😊
@gracefavourlove7563
HALLELUYAH YESHUAH BE PRAISED 🙌🙌🙌 3/9/2025.🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉
@toluolunowo148
Can’t just stop the tears from flowing, this song ministers sooooooo deep into my soul. I’ve had to put it on replay. God bless this anointed choir.
@thatbankergirl
Seemingly simple but very intense worship song
@Zionnaire
The name of the Lord is a strong tower where the righteous run to and are made safe...