Self-Help Hell? T.D. Jakes Preaches His Weirdest Sermon Ever. Featuring Self-Hugs and Affirmations
And it came to pass, when David and his men were come to Ziklag on the third day, that the Amalekites had invaded the south, and Ziklag, and smitten Ziklag, and burned it with fire; And had taken the women captives, that were therein: they slew not any, either great or small, but carried them away, and went on their way. So David and his men came to the city, and, behold, it was burned with fire; and their wives, and their sons, and their daughters, were taken captives. Then David and the people that were with him lifted up their voice and wept, until they had no more power to weep. And David’s two wives were taken captives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite. And David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters: but David encouraged himself in the LORD his God. 1 Samuel 30:1-6
We’ve recently written about Jakes when we noted how he disgraces his wife with his twerking comments, joined Joel Osteen for a conference where tickets cost $1000.00 , and is known to frequently wear insanely expensive designer shoes, clothes and watches, that cost more than many of his congregants make in a year.
Jakes, who has continued to be platformed and lauded by those at the Christian Post and Charisma News, has gone on record saying he doesn’t believe that Jesus is the second person of the Trinity but rather is just a “manifestation” of God. Even now, his church website reads, “There is one God, Creator of all things, infinitely perfect, and eternally existing in three manifestations: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.”
In a sermon titled “I have Permission” preached on February 13, 2022, the prosperity preacher butchers the notion of what it means to strengthen or encourage oneself in the Lord and then makes things weird.
The courage you need to survive must come from within you. When it doesn’t come from around you, it must come from within you.
You’re not a grown woman until you learn how to encourage yourself. I don’t care how old you are, but until you’ve gone through something that stripped you of all other resources and backed you in a corner where you had to come fighting out of there and say, ‘I will not die today, tell hell you’re a liar, I’m getting back up. If I gotta crawl on my knees, if I got to take one step at a time, if I have to push myself, if I have to roll in a wheelchair, if I have to walk on a walker, if I have to get on crutches and hop, I will not die right here.
This is terrible eisegeses because all these examples are circumstances where one must rely on one’s strength, fortitude and resilience. It’s basically a call to dig deep and power through it via self-affirmation and declarations of never giving up. T.D. Jakes gives some examples of ways to encourage oneself while leaving out the part about “in the Lord your God,” which mainly consists of taking yourself out to dinner and buying things.
I’ll encourage myself, I’m taking myself out to dinner. I’m gonna be my valentine. You’re not going to help me. I’m gonna be my own valentine…If the kids don’t bring you no roses, get yourself some roses. If they don’t send you no card, get yourself a card. Encourage yourself!
It’s worth noting that pretty much every other translation other than the KJV reads vs 6 as “But David found strength in the LORD his God.” Colin Miller, responding to the clip, offers this:
In true prosperity-gospel fashion, he has to make everything materialistic. You could pray, read scripture, or simply trust God to be encouraged in the Lord. That would make sense; that would actually be biblical. But no, according to TD Jakes, apparently you have to order yourself at least 10 things on Amazon and take yourself out to dinner. The problem is that TD Jakes seemingly cannot think in spiritual terms. He’s interpreting everything in terms of money, possessions and physical things. That’s why David’s spiritual encouragement in the passage is changed. It’s manipulated and instead it becomes a consumerist desire to buy yourself tons of stuff.
This is par for the course of the famed heretic, but then Jakes tells congregants to hug themselves and repeat the mantra ‘I got you,’ with the ‘I’ referring to yourself in some self-help trash that has nothing to do with the way we are encouraged in the Lord.
I want you to do something right now. I want you to throw your arms around yourself and hug yourself. I want you to rock from side to side and say ‘I got you’. ‘I got you.”
In the season you’re in in your life, hug yourself and say, ‘I got you. I got you.’ You’re gonna get through this. Your heart is broken but I got you. Your feelings are crushed, but I got you. Your home is in shambles, but I got you. Your house is on fire, but I got you. Squeeze yourself and say I got you.
h/t Fight for Truth Youtube channel.
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