Lightning fast update after the conference
Saturday, February 18, 2012 at 03:38PM So, I'm back from the ladies' conference, and I'm having a cup of lemon and ginger tea becuase I have a sore throat. I'm unwinding after a busy day before I go for my birthday dinner.
On the upside, my daughter bought me a gorgeous scarf for a gift, and I wore it. And another upside, I got a new standard zoom for my camera, and I love it! I took a lot of pictures at the conference today and I was so pleased at how it worked. Taking picutres gave me something to do while I was there, wearing my name tag with a peacock feather. Maybe I will put up a picture next week showing the decor.
Sharon Jaynes was the speaker. She was a very nice lady. She was engaging, funny, down to earth, and witty. Honestly, her personality reminded me of Beth Moore except far less shrill. She quoted Beth Moore twice. Anyone who knows me will know my reaction to that. That said, she was a lovely lady.
The topic was Becoming Spiritually Beautiful, and she approached the topic by examining such things as who we are in Christ, leaving the past behind and taking thoughts captive to Christ. The sessions were pleasant and nothing she said was wrong, but there was so much more to be said, for example, more bible. In each 60 minute session, easily 85% of it were personal stories, testimony, and anecdotes. They were interesting, but her explanation of Scripture was lacking. She quoted Scripture, but it seemed to me that her approach was to take circumstances, look at them, and then look to see how Scripture might address them. She had a smattering of places in the Bible that she looked, but none of the contexts of those verses was established. I had no need to open my bible if I had chosen not to.
As with many women speakers, the topics were directed to women's feelings of insecurity, inadequacy, and inferiority. Not once was the flip side of these emotions addressed: pride. Not once was it ever entertained that perhaps our female "feelings" of inadequacy, inferiority, and insecurity could be a manifestation of our own pride. It seems to be popular among women speakers to address all women as victims of some kind. We are victims of bad feelings, bad experiences. There are indeed women who have been victims, but it's been my observation that women who have truly been victimized don't stand around and talk a lot about it. I cannot believe for one minute that in that room of 200+ women today that all women are victims. But that is the way women seem to regard themselves these days.
The things Ms. Jaynes had to say were not wrong, as I said, but they were just done in a way that did not appeal to me. Repeated anectdotes and two clips from the movie The Mission are just not my bag. One thing that happened at the end did concern me, and I hope I explain myself well enough that you'll understand my concern.
The women who led the worship music did a great job. I appreciated their selections. At the end, one of the leaders sang a song called "Press On." It was a beautiful song, and my, that girl could sing. At the end of the song, Jaynes asked the solosit not to sit down. Heading up to the platform, she took one of her own books with her, Your Scars Are Beautiful to God. She asked the person in the sound booth to begin to play the vocal track for "Press On" while she began read a passage of her (written by herself) book. When she stopped reading the passage, the solosit was asked to come in singing again at just the right spot and conclude the song. Of course, this was all done on the spot.
As someone who has sung solos with a track, I can tell you that this was probably stressful for the solosit. It meant that the soloist would have to ignore the speaking and concentrate on the track so she could come in at the right spot. The passage Jaynes read was an account of her, a number of years ago, watching a group of disabled students singing that song, "Press On," using sign language. The song was not chosen by Jaynes prior to the conference. The solosit picked it on her own. The fact that this soloist chose to sing that song today was indeed a nice surprise for Jaynes. As Jaynes read, her voice became overwhelmed with tears and emotion as she read her own words in her book. When she stopped reading the passage, it was exactly at the climax of the song: the key change. The solosit managed to find her way back in to the song, although it took a bar or two. She ended the song -- again -- and at the conclusion, the room was filled with applause and crying women.
What concerned me about the situation was that it clearly appealed to the emotional side of women. Many women's speakers appeal to the emotional side of women. While emotions are God-given, and we should not pretend we don't have them, we must learn to control them and sanctify them to God. I long to do this because I often feel like such a slave to my emotions. How can I, as a woman who wants to learn to look through the lens of Scripture as opposed to my emotions, learn to do that if women's conferences capitalize on this weakness? And I feel like so many of them do exactly that; not all do, but many do. I can say with confidence that last spring when I heard Kathleen Nielson speak, there was none of this. Nielson did not spend twenty minutes talking about her personal testinomy before getting into the teaching and she did not get weepy and cry as she presented her material.
On another positive note, the gospel was fairly well presented there, although the issue of our sin nature was not explained sufficiently to me. She talked about how Satan tells us lies and how he wants to control our thoughts, but she didn't explain why it is so hard to stop listening to him. She didn't explain how sin can actually be at the root of our insecurity and our inadequate feelings. However, there was enough said for an unbeliever to know what she needed to know to respond to the message. The downside is that for someone like me, who wants something a little more meaty, it wasn't there.
Most of the time, I feel like a complete misfit in women's circles, and today confirmed that to me. I went in to it, though, looking to just be positive and encouraging, and I spoke to quite a few women and encouraged them. I monitored the book table while being quite certain that I would never recommend her books. They all sold, too, so she's "resonating" with someone. If I ever have any doubts about my misfit-ness, I will just recall today.
And so, another women's conference gone by. Next year, another conference and another speaker, but as to whether or not I'm there, that's another matter.
Women' Ministries
Reader Comments (1)
Yikes....and a peacock feather to boot! I've done my share of solos also, and can only imagine the stress of having to worry about singing during such an emotional scene. One good thing about visiting a huge church in another town where nobody really knows me is that I don't get any pressure to do the women's stuff :)
Just got my Mac out of the shop where it has been for 13 days....so I am a bit behind!