When Preaching is more than Talk! (Soul Searching Series)

Bishop T.D. Jakes is among an elite group of preachers who are able to communicate directly from their Souls to Yours! 

Bishop T.D. Jakes heads up The Potter's House," Dallas, TX 

In November 2010, I had the opportunity to sit and chat one-on-one with the master preacher, Bishop T. D. Jakes, for close to two hours. The meeting was held the day before Thanksgiving, so I considered it a Thanksgiving Gift from the Universe. The time spent with Jakes was an extremely soulful period in my life and left an impression on me that there are "preachers," and then there are those who do "preachering."

Bishop T.D. Jakes lights up your life on any given Sunday.

T.D. Jakes, with his fascinating and inspirational style obviously falls into the first category. He is one of those truly gifted speakers, able to talk directly from the Soul and to hit a deep resonance within others. He does it time after time when he speaks at his church, The Potter's House, Dallas, always hittmg a home run with his audience.

Joel Osteen is pastor of  Lakewood Church, a megachurch in Houston, Texas

What is it that preachers like T.D. Jakes and Joel Osteen,  and  another of my favorite preachers, have that others don't? Why is it that some preachers  people inspire others and others have people playing with their iPhones (See July 7, 2013 this blog) or falling asleep, rather than listening?

Jakes and Osteen speak from Truth that they have experienced directly, or seen up close in their interactions with others. Speaking from Truth allows them a level of authenticity and freshness those who do "preachering" don't. Some of those "preachering," too, can't take the success of real preachers! (OUTRAGEOUS ARTICLE: Why I called out Joel Osteen and Joyce Meyer)

Rev. Dr. Michael Beckwith

The key difference with preachers and others is that they may prepare a script before they get up on stage, but you get a sense that they are speaking directly from the heart. So, it doesn't matter if their talk was scripted: They are able to deliver their message from the Soul.

Beckwith, pictured with his wife, Rickie.

Rev. Dr. Michael Beckwith, head of Agape Church, another megachurch in  Culver City, Calif., is also one of those rare and gifted speakers. He can preach for hours, without running out of fuel.

All three men, Jakes, Osteen and Beckwith, preach in completely different styles. Yet, inspiring is too mild a word to use to describe these three guys. (Of course, there are many others whom I have not had the privilege of hearing speak directly, like Rev. Kevin Bacon of San Diego).

The "preacherers," though, quote the bible and reference scripture profusely, using these as their props since there is a void in directly connecting to with the Soul.

When you don't have a divine connection, then props and other materials serve just fine to influence your audience.

Truth needs no props. Truth does not even need the bible.

Truth is from the Spirit and the Soul.

As we traverse various levels in life, we may find the need to have "preacherers" who can guide us through scripture at appropriate times. But to be truly inspired and to walk out of churches feeling transformed, we need honest to goodness "preaching!" We need leadership that brings reason in moments of doubt and crises. See this:  (Black Preachers Wear Hoodies for Trayvon Martin)

Preaching has no educational requirements. If someone is operating from the Soul, then he/she already is doing so from the highest degree of their humanity.No further education is necessary. Some may pursue higher degrees, such as those offered by Sofia University (Mind, Body, Spirit programs offered by Sofia University) and receive Ph.Ds in Divinity and/or Religion at any other. But the education will do very little for them, unless as they connect what they're learning to what's going on inside them. The application of knowledge is what matters in "soul" work.! No one can teach you how to walk through the final road to connecting with your Soul!

Bishop Jakes and his wife, Serita, on a Sunday at Potter's House

The essence of Spirituality can't be taught, only LIVED! If you're not prepared to dig deeply into your Soul, dare to take real risks, then you'll continue to be that much separated from your Soul. It doesn't matter how much reading, studying or listening to "preachering" that you do.

When preachers like T.D. Jakes, Joel Osteen and Michael Beckwith and others of that caliber reach within, they don't talk...they listen. They feel. They touch Truth.

 Photo Credit: Resim & Fotoğraf & Eftelya

When people touch Truth, you can tell this when you're in their presence: they begin to talk less as they become so receptive to what's coming through them.
Words become inadequate to express Truth. In fact, it can't be communicated, only lived and shared..
Truth begins to resonate within these people...in all they say and do.
They begin to be transformed from the essence of being. People see and know this and respond.

The energy of Truth that we see from preachers is palpable. We know and recognize it when we hear it.

Can we now understand now why the sick woman felt that all she needed to do to be healed was to touch the hem of Jesus' garment? (Matthew 9:20 ) So powerful was the energy emanating from Jesus' persona, she knew all she needed was to touch any part of that energy to make it hers!

Energy is substance. Energy is material.
Energy is God in action.

The best way to reach this energy is to dare live life fully... to believe the Spirit within you and stretch beyond the boundaries of where you believe you can go!

That's what authentic preachers do! They have pulled and stretched their insides, until you can feel their inner beings on the outside.

These preachers are resonating at a higher level of frequency, because they have lived authentically from the inside to out for so long.

It's not that preachers don't need to use the Bible for their own inner props and support. But it seems that when it comes to communicating a message, they are able to touch the core of their being to provide a delivery that often, were they to try, could not even be duplicated by themselves.

Each time preachers speak, they are fresh. For each time, something new pops to the surface from their Souls.




I respect the work of the "preacherers," as they, too, work hard. But to reach that higher level of being in the preaching world, aspirants must put down their training and their bibles and start digging deeply within their Souls.

They must DARE to believe what they are preaching, not just mouth it!

I have been witness to many who  fall into their latter category. Truth is...I've just stopped listening.

I can tell when I'm hearing only "words," and when I'm exposed fully to "Truth."

The latter needs no explanation. You feel it, as it resonates deeply within you.

For you readers, who are perhaps more exposed to "preachering" on an ongoing basis  than to preaching and/or preachers, begin to do your own digging and find your own Truth.

When you get a message on a Sunday or any other day that refers to a biblical quote, yes, look it up. But go deeper within your Soul to see if you can apply what was communicated to you in your own life.

If you're reaching from the core of your being, you won't need to sit in bible class to have anyone interpret "Truth" to you.

Like preachers, you will know the Truth of what the bible verse says, as it would resonate fully within your being.

This leads me to our next blog post, "Prayering" vs. Praying or Soul Searching. (Now scheduled for Sept. 1, 2013)

Until then, begin to reach deeply into your Soul, you just might "hear" what preachers like T.D. Jakes, Joel Osteen and Michael Beckwith are communicating.

Joel Osteen and his wife, Victoria  

You will feel your Soul reach out to greet you. 

Indeed... 

 "You shall know the Truth and the Truth shall set you free"- John 8: 32

...and begin to live at a new level of being.

Namaste',

Che'