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Building Your Vision: T.D. Jakes Shows You How to 'Soar!'

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WASHINGTON — His resume includes entrepreneur, Hollywood film producer, and New York Times best-selling author. But his most important title is, "Pastor."

Now, Bishop T.D. Jakes has a new project: helping people make their dreams a reality. He writes about it in a new book, Soar!: Building Your Vision from the Ground Up

Unlike his previous books, this one may surprise people because it's about business and is aimed at entrepreneurs. 

"I don't think that the book is incongruent with who I am," Jakes told CBN News in an exclusive interview. "I think it might be inconsistent with how they define me. I come from generations of entrepreneurs. I wrote this book against the wishes of the publisher. Because this book is primarily focused toward business," he said.

"They wanted me to stay in my sweet spot. It's a bit of me coming out of the closet, so I had a little nervous anxiety to be honest. I've only told you, so this is an exclusive," Jakes joked. "Because I wanted to have a conversation. Sunday morning is great. We get people inspired on Sunday morning. But if we don't balance inspiration with information then it's going to lead to frustration. If somebody keeps inspiring you but they don't instruct, after a while you become frustrated with the inspiration. I chose to get down into the weeds of this is how you build your vision from the ground up so we can stop telling you 'The wealth of the unjust is laid up for the just.' I'm trying to tell you how to pull it down. Christ didn't say 'I've come that you might have church.' He said, 'I've come that you might have life and have that life more abundantly.' And I want to help people have abundant life. I'm not trying to make people rich. This is not a prosperity preaching message. This is about empowering people to accomplish that dream," he said.

Connecting with a Broad Audience, Millennials to Seniors 

With this book, the father, husband, pastor, film producer and best-selling author seems to connect with a broad audience, from Millennials to Seniors.

"When you look at corporations today that are the front end – Facebook and elsewhere – these are young guys who are rising to power," Jakes acknowledged. "So there's no such thing as too young. And then, I certainly want to tell my generation that there's no such thing as too late. Because when you look at Harlan Sanders starting KFC off of Social Security in his sixties when he started. When you look at the current president of the United States, 70 years old and hopping on and off planes and running all over the country like he's a young man. I think sometimes we drink the Kool-Aid of thinking we are too this to have the next level," he said.

The Problem of Christians and Identity Politics

Bishop Jakes not only deals in deep thought subjects. He also talks culture and current events such as Christians and identity politics.
   
"I think that we have in some cases been more loyal to our party than we have to our faith," Jakes said. "And the politicians play us like puppets and hit the hot buttons that get us to the polls and then turn the agenda into whatever they want and I think both sides do it. I'm going to tell you, I have dealt with Republican and Democratic leadership on the highest level of this nation and I have yet to see somebody who came to the White House who in some way didn't do something that compromised my principles. And I find myself between choosing poisons, and I think many Americans feel that same frustration," he continued.

"And so I think we should date all of them. Marry none of them. Interrogate them. Where we have synergy, let's unite, but let's not lose our individuality as a church," he added.

Fighting Deepening Division in the Church

Jakes also offers ideas to fight the division in America that has reached into the Christian church.
   
"I see a deepening divide in the body of Christ. I don't think we can fix the world, because the church is still divided. Our school systems are more integrated than the church. Our night clubs are more integrated than the church. Our armies are more integrated than our churches," Jakes said, "and we have to work harder to remain the church Jesus prayed would be one. The challenge before us today is to answer that age old question: Am I my brother's keeper? And, I think many people would like to say, 'No. My brother is his own keeper.' But in reality, time and history have proven that we do mutually bear some responsibility in the wellbeing of the person who is bleeding on the Jericho Road," he said.

"That is a global discussion. It is the testing of the fibers of our democracy. It is the testing of the integrity of us as Christians. As a pastor, I teach it on the myopic level of 'Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.'"

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About The Author

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John
Jessup

John Jessup serves as the main news anchor for CBN, based at the network's news bureau in Washington, D.C. He joined CBN News in September 2003, starting as a national correspondent and then covering the Pentagon and Capitol Hill. His work in broadcast news has earned him several awards in reporting, producing, and coordinating election coverage. While at CBN, John has reported from several places, including Moore, Oklahoma, after the historic EF5 tornado and parts of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas devastated by Hurricane Katrina. He also traveled to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, during the height