Meet Jesse Jones | Pastor & Bishop of High Praise Ministries

We had the good fortune of connecting with Jesse Jones and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Jesse, any advice for those thinking about whether to keep going or to give up?
Giving up in my experience has such a negative connotation that the mere mention of it puts people on the defensive. I choose to reword the phrase and not look at it as giving up, but rather look at it as recalibrating or reassessing what is working. Once that mindset has been changed it becomes much easier to recognize whether or not it is time to change course (another good phrasing) or not.

In order to understand when that time has come or if one should keep pushing forward there are to me a few things one must look at:

1. Do you still have a passion and desire for what you are doing?
2. Are you making any progress even if they are baby steps toward a set (realistic) goal?
3. Are you trying to keep pushing because you don’t want to be embarrassed at having to start over or you feel you have invested too much time and resource into whatever you are doing?
4. What is any reason you believe you have to want to keep going/to stop that is reasonable if you heard it from anyone else?

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
Tell you about my work: I am the pastor of High Praise Ministries, a non-denominational church currently located in Decatur, GA. I have been pastoring for 12 years but have been in ministry since I was 12 years old (now going on 32 years consistently). In June of this year I was consecrated and ordained to the office of Bishop (a high title and honor in the Christian Church).

What Sets Me Apart?: One of the things that sets me apart from other pastors and HPM from other ministries is for starters I am younger than most but I have an old soul. I grew up in what is called the old time way in the Church Of God In Christ. At the same time that I have an old soul and have great love for my roots I am also with a young mindset as well as I understand it takes progress and understanding of the generation you are in to continue to reach those who have never been reached before. What sets HPM apart is not only our love for God but it is how what we call Next Level Service is run. We have service every Saturday at 1pm, that alone sets us apart as we are not 7th Day Adventists nor are we Jehovah Witnesses. We are a Christian Church that simply has service on Saturdays because that is what God spoke to me to do. In our service during the message I allow for the people to ask questions if they have any. I do this because I don’t believe in spending time in church and leaving with out an understanding of the word presented. How can one understand if they never are afforded the time to ask a question. That moment between delivery of the word and comprehension and retention of the word is so critical. Jesus was a teacher and He aimed to ensure everyone who heard Him had the opportunity to understand so there would be no excuse that could be given. I believe in teaching the full word of God with revelation and love not compromising the gospel. We do believe you love the sinner and hate the sin but we do not believe in trying to make anyone comfortable in their sin by watering down the word.

How did I get here and was it easy?: I got here through 32 years of consistency in ministry, consistency in study of the word of God, and faithfully serving those who God placed me under to serve. I was taught and trained by some dynamic men and women of God who took the time to allow me to make mistakes and had the grace enough to love me through them.

Was it easy? No not at all. The road God had me travel to get this far was not easy at all nor is the road I still have yet to complete. There was alot of pain, frustration, doubt, loss, etc to get here but I have learned and am still learning how true Romans 8:28 is (and we know all things work together for the good. To them who love the Lord, to them who are called according to His purpose).

How did I overcome the challenges?: I overcame by steadfast prayer, lots of venting to my mentors and leaders, and simply putting in to practice my life long motto “Keep pushing forward.” One of the things life teaches you if you pay attention is that the only way to overcome hard times is to keep pushing forward. Hard times will either make you or break you but they generally only can break you if you let it by stopping because times get hard or the way is a little rough. My late great friend and mentee said something to me her father said to her on his death bed. He said, “The world doesn’t stop for your grief.” That is so true. The reality is however, you can’t afford to stop for grief either. Yes you must deal with it and face it and even take time away for a moment. But you can not let it stop you, you can not let challenges keep you from your goal. Keep pushing forward.

What are lessons I’ve learned along the way. I’ll give you 3 that have stuck with me most of my life. The first lesson was given to me by my good friend the late great Minister Robert Jackson (aka RJ). He said to me “Jesse, God has a unique way of changing your destiny and not touching your personality. God makes originals, people want carbon copies.” Then there was my friend and brother Elder Wayne Cobb. He reminded me that to be a minister of the gospel means you are nothing more than a mail man. Your job is to deliver the right message to the right person at the right time. Once you deliver the message it is their job not yours to deal with that message accordingly. No one ever has had a mail man come to them and ask them if they got the letter the put in the mail box for them. Never. Nor should you be trying to make sure others receive and live the messages that God has you to bring forth.

What do I want the world to know about me?: Simply that I am and endeavor to be servant of the Lord Jesus Christ. I am not perfect, I will make mistakes, but I love Jesus and do my best to always put Him first. I want them to know that High Praise Ministries is a place where we will love you through your mistakes, push you to purpose, help you strengthen your relationship with Jesus, and get you to the place where you will leave better than what you came. I teach, I train, I push and pull to purpose. I am unapologetically a man that stands for Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God no matter if the stance on whatever issue is popular or not. I am not here to be popular. I am here to be effective for Jesus Christ. I want you to know I only exist for the purpose of helping others realize the true and living God is real. It may sound churchy or cliche for me as a disciple of Jesus to say that. But unlike most I truly mean it and live it everyday even though I am flawed as we all are, I still strive to do His will and His will alone.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
That is always a tough one for me because I don’t do much. Not because I don’t like to have fun, but honesty the way my schedule is and how hard I go at my job and in ministry I am often too tired to do much of anything. I would say Battle and Brew is a fun place to go. It has great games (board and entertainment systems) and pretty good food. Another good combo entertainment and food spot is Frozen Notes. It is a karaoke and pizza spot. The food is pretty good and you can have a great time whether you participate in the karaoke or not. You definitely have to check out High Praise Ministries (shameless plug) and get some good word in as well. Other than that if it isn’t going to the movies I defer to my wife Falonda who knows how to find all the fun hidden gems here in the Atlanta area. As far as food this is not going to be a popular statement here but there aren’t many consistently good places to eat here. I am from up north (originally from the Pittsburgh area) and my wife is originally from Chicago (South Side) our pallet is different for food then what I have experienced here in Atlanta and the Atlanta area. So to be honest I can’t strongly recommend any place to eat because it is all hit a d miss depending on the day and time you go. Even fast food chains are hit and miss which is sad because it isn’t like making a big mac changes from state to state ya know.

Now I will say there is always some kind of show here, some concert, or comedy show you can go to and have a genuine good time. So that is a plus. You just have to have the time and energy to get out and explore.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I have a few people:
(The late) Raymond and Sandra Jones (My Father and Mother)
(The late) Bishop Melvin E. Clark, Sr. (Church In The Round)
(My Covering Pastor) Pastor Howard Williams (Victorious Life Christian Center)
(My Mentor) Apostle Romel Johnson (Healing and Deliverance Holy Worship Center)
(My Mentor) Bishop Chris Chamberlin (Greater Love Community Ministries)
(My Wife) Falonda Wright-Jones
(My Daughter) Ashley Wright (aka Gummy Bear)
(My Granddaughter) Layla Eileen Wright-Jones (aka Gummy Worm)
(My Grandson) Jace Mitchell Wright-Carter (aka My Lil Gummy)

Website: https://www.highpraiseministries.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/realhighpraise

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/highpraiseministries

Other: TikTok: www.tiktok.com/@realhpm

We also have an app through Tithely. Once you download the tithely church app search High Praise Ministries Decatur, GA