Feminine Style‖ and the Religious Rhetoric of Joyce Meyer

Feminizing the Pulpit: ―Feminine Style‖ and the Religious Rhetoric of Joyce Meyer

______

Presented to the Faculty

Regent University

School of Communication and the Arts

______

In Partial Fulfillment

of the Requirements for the

Doctor of Philosophy

in Communication

Tracy Hasley Frederick

April 2009

School of Communication and the Arts Regent University This is to certify that the dissertation prepared by: Tracy Hasley Frederick entitled FEMINIZING THE PULPIT: “FEMININE STYLE” AND THE RELIGIOUS RHETORIC OF JOYCE MEYER Has been approved by her committee as satisfactory completion of the dissertation requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy

Michael P. Graves, Ph.D., Chair Date School of Communication and the Arts

Benson P. Fraser, Ph.D., Committee Member Date School of Communication and the Arts

Lorene Wales, Ph.D., Committee Member Date School of Communication and the Arts

Tracy Hasley Frederick

iii

Acknowledgements No journey like this one is made alone, and mine was no exception. It started a long time ago with my parents, Johnnie and Eula Hasley who instilled in me a passion for learning. It continued with undergraduate (Dr. Robert Greenstreet) and graduate (Dr. Susan Schultz

Huxman) professors who saw potential in a small town, scared young woman who did not know her own voice, but who always told me my voice mattered. They gave me the confidence to travel further down the road toward a doctoral degree, Regent University, and ultimately Dr.

Michael Graves. Dr. Graves will never know how a short email on Labor Day 2007: ―is this

Tracy Frederick‘s email?‖ and later a post script in a subsequent email: ―I believe in you,‖ relieved the fears that the road was at an end. The Regent University Communication faculty also contributed to this journey by encouraging me along the way when the road seemed too long or too steep. In particular, I was encouraged by Dr. Lorene Wales‘ academic advice and thoughtful suggestions through the dissertation process. Also, Dr. Benson Fraser‘s excitement and insightful comments made me consider each step carefully along the dissertation path to make sure it was sure and sturdy.

But my deepest thanks goes to my partner in this and every step I take, my best friend and husband, Greg, who never doubted that I would find my way even when I insisted that the road was too rocky, muddy, or steep. He held my hand, never let go, and sometime helped me back up when I stumbled, and dusted me off and sent me on my way again. Also, I owe my gratitude to my daughter, Erin, who never complained about being pulled along a journey that was not of her choosing, and somehow grew up along the way to become the person I wish I was. But, I know the journey, the path, the encouragers and the ―helpers‖ were all a part of the plan that brought me to realize that my Ph.D was never as important as my soul‘s salvation. So, my greatest thanks I owe is to my Lord for giving me the path that led me to both.

Abstract

On February 7, 2005 Time magazine reported Joyce Meyer as one of the 25 most influential Evangelicals in America. It is significant to find a female in this group considering that the public podium and pulpit has been filled almost exclusively by men, allowing a masculine style to set the standard for good public discourse, preaching, and a masculine perspective to serve as the voice for religious doctrine. When women speak, social and rhetorical expectations are different than they are for men. Despite new social opportunities for women, it is Meyer‘s feminine rhetorical style and her feminine worldview, I argue, that is the key to understanding a successful female Evangelical minister in the Evangelical community. In this dissertation I explore Joyce Meyer‘s recent popularity in the Evangelical community as a

―feminine‖ speaker. I argue that Joyce Meyer creates an alternative feminine perspective for the

Evangelical audiences through her use of a feminine style. I use Karlyn Kohrs Campbell‘s theory of a ―feminine style‖ to determine if Joyce Meyer uses a feminine style consistently in her public sermons. Joyce Meyer‘s successful rhetorical style in the Evangelical community points to something more than just a religious community accepting a new preacher. It also indicates the acceptance of a feminine perspective in a traditionally male dominated context. Therefore, I focus on Meyer‘s rhetoric style within the context of social and religious norms that restrict women‘s place in public assemblies. Moreover, this study explores the potential power of the feminine style as a means to create a feminine perspective for audiences toward understanding

Joyce Meyer‘s popularity as an Evangelical pulpit preacher and perhaps an even better understanding of the audiences to whom she speaks.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements ...... iv Abstract ...... v Chapter 1: Introduction ...... 1 The Purpose ...... 3 Methodology ...... 6 Rhetoric ...... 7 Style ...... 10 Feminine Style ...... 12 Introducing Joyce Meyer ...... 20 Significance...... 25 Remaining Chapters ...... 30 Chapter 2: Women as preachers ...... 32 Defining the Evangelical...... 35 Female Evangelists: Historical Context ...... 40 Conclusion ...... 59 Chapter 3: The Feminine Style ...... 63 Justification for Using the Feminine Style...... 64 Characteristics of the Feminine Style ...... 70 Personal Experience ...... 71 Induction ...... 72 Invites the Audience to Participate ...... 73 Addressing the Audience as Peers ...... 73 Identification and Empowerment ...... 75 ―Feminine‖ and Feminine Style is Socially Constructed ...... 78 Masculine Style ...... 79 A Review of Literature Using the Feminine Style...... 82 Conclusion ...... 87 Chapter 4: Joyce Meyer‘s Religious Rhetoric ...... 90 The Feminine Style and the Feminine Perspective ...... 92

Rational for Sermon Selection ...... 96 Femininity in the Religious Context: Establishing Authority ...... 97 Feminine Speakers use the Feminine Style ...... 102 Meyer Values a Feminine Perspective through a Feminine Style ...... 103 Characteristic One: Feminine Speakers Rely on Personal Experience and Extended Narratives ...... 105 Meyer uses Personal Experience and Extended Narratives in her Feminine Style ...... 105 Characteristic Two: Feminine Speakers Speak to their Audiences as Peers ...... 111 Meyer Speaks to Her Audiences as Peers Through her Feminine Style ...... 111 Characteristic Three: A Feminine Perspective Invites others to Participate ...... 113 Meyer Invites her Audience to Participate by Using Rhetorical Questions in her Feminine Style ...... 114 Characteristic Four: A Feminine Perspective Values Induction and Nonlinear Thought ...... 115 Meyer Uses Inductive Reasoning or Nonlinear Thought Through the Feminine Style ....116 Characteristic Five: A Feminine Perspective Creates Identification and Empowers Audiences ...... 120 Meyer Creates Identification and Empowerment Through the Feminine Style ...... 120 Meyer Establishes her Authority Beyond the Feminine ...... 130 Conclusion ...... 134 Chapter 5: Conclusion...... 136 Research Questions ...... 138 Rhetorical Significance ...... 144 Religious Significance ...... 145 Feminist Significance ...... 148 Future Research ...... 149 Closing Thoughts ...... 150 Works Cited ...... 153 Appendix A: Confidence: Freedom to be Yourself ...... 166 Outline of Sermon ...... 166 Sermon Text ...... 168 Appendix B: Grace, Grace and More Grace ...... 199

vii

Outline of Sermon ...... 199 Sermon Text ...... 200 Appendix C: I am Determined ...... 224 Outline of Sermon ...... 224 Sermon Text ...... 226 Appendix D: Enjoying a Life of Freedom ...... 247 Outline of Sermon ...... 247 Sermon Text ...... 249

viii

Chapter 1

Introduction

Francis Wright, a little known Scotswoman, shocked America in 1828 by speaking in public to a ―promiscuous audience.‖1 Not only was it a rarity for a woman to address audiences consisting of both males and females, but she dared to attack their religious doctrines, claiming that they obstructed the emancipation of women she believed was guaranteed in the United

States Constitution. Wright was one of the most radical proponents of the women‘s cause and not well liked, but her passion and controversy drew listeners to her lectures by the thousands.2 Dr.

Samuel Johnson commented on Wright after attending one of her lectures: ―A woman‘s preaching is like a dog‘s walking on his hind legs. It is not done well; but you are surprised to find it done at all.‖3 At the time, the sight of a women speaking in public was shocking to say the least. Although Wright is credited as being ―the first orator among women to appear before the

American Public,‖4 women had already been fighting their way into the pulpit for nearly two hundred years. Michael W. Casey explains that ―When the first important American female secular speakers emerged, they were stepping into almost two-hundred-year-old-tradition of

1 Amy Benson Brown explains in her book, ―‗A System of Complicated Crimes‘: The (Con)fusion of Subjects in Angelina Grimke‘s Public Speeches,‖ Women‘s Studies 27 (Dec. 1997) 31, that the term, ―promiscuous audience‖ referred to audiences consisting of ―sexually and racially mixed audiences, then called promiscuous.‖ It was permissible for women to lecture to groups of their own sex, but against social norms for women to address audiences that included men. The position of the time was linked to the biblical position that women were not to usurp authority over men in any public context even outside of the worship assembly. Therefore, women were not permitted to lecture to audiences that included men.

2 Kathleen Edgerton Kendal and Jeanne Y. Fisher, ―Francis Wright on Women‘s Rights: Eloquence Versus Ethos,‖ Quarterly Journal of Speech 60 (1974) 58.

3 James Boswell, The Life of Samuel Johnson, Ed. Rogert Igpen, I. (Boston: Charles E. Laurant Co., 1925) 280.

4 qtd. in Kathleen Edgerton Kendal and Jeanne Y. Fisher, ―Francis Wright on Women‘s Rights: Eloquence Versus Ethos,‖ Quarterly Journal of Speech 60 (1974) 58. 1 female oratory.‖5 That religious tradition not only paved the way for secular female public speakers, but also questioned church doctrine and the role of women in the religious public pulpit, one that continues to be one of the most controversial doctrinal issues today.

Both popular and scholarly research reference a long list of successful male evangelists such as: Jonathan Edwards, Charles G. Finney, D.L. Moody, Billy Sunday, Oral Roberts, Jerry

Falwell, Pat Robertson and Billy Graham. However, women‘s names are curiously absent from among these lists, leaving the impression that the female voice has not participated in the religious pulpit when, in fact, women have publicly evangelized for centuries despite discouragement and ridicule from doctrinal leaders and their male counterparts.6 However, the contemporary voice of popular Evangelical leadership may be changing. In 1998, Charisma and

Christian Life magazine noted popular female evangelist Joyce Meyer as ―America‘s most popular woman minister.‖7 Moreover, on February 7, 2005 Time magazine went a step further by reporting Joyce Meyer as one of the 25 most influential Evangelicals in America.8 This declaration started a media frenzy around Meyer. Major television networks and noted journalists recognized the significance of Meyer‘s being included among the list of Evangelical male preachers.9 Therefore, a female evangelist rivaling the religious influence of male

5 Michael W. Casey, ―The First Female Public Speakers in America (1630-1840): Searching for Egalitarian Christian Primitivism,‖ The Journal of Communication and Religion 23 (March 2000) 29.

6 Catherine A. Brekus discusses the silencing of women in religious assemblies in her book, Strangers and Pilgrims: Female Preaching in America 1740-1845 ( New York: Oxford University Press, 1986). She notes that although there is significant evidence to suggest that females were very popular in their ministry, church records do not document the role of women in their recorded histories.

7 qtd. in Carolyn Tuft and Bill Smith, ―From Fenton to Fame,‖ St. Louis Post Dispatch (November 13, 2003)

8 Cathy Booth-Thomas, ―Twenty-Five most Influential Evangelicals in America,‖ Time (February 7, 2005) 38.

9 ―Interview with Joyce Meyer‖ Larry King Live, May 19, 2005; Dan Harris, ―Can Pastor come Back after Fall from Grace?‖ abcnews.com, November 2006. 2 evangelists is worthy of study. It is also significant to find a female at the head of the pack, considering that men have been the mainstay for public discourse resulting in the masculine style of public discourse setting the standard, or measure for public speaking, preaching and the voice for religious doctrine.

There are many approaches a scholar could take to explain why a female has become a popular public pulpit preacher given the historical and contemporary social and religious climate.

One approach might look into the changing perceptions of women in the Evangelical community, while another might consider the political landscape in light of the political opportunity afforded women in contemporary society. Although one can argue that society is more accepting of women in leadership roles than in the past, social, religious and political barriers remain. Many of those obstacles are steeped in social perceptions of good discourse, or oratorical bias. When women speak, social and rhetorical expectations are different. Therefore, despite new social opportunities available for women, it is Meyer‘s feminine rhetorical style and her feminine worldview, I argue, that is the key to understanding this new phenomenon, a successful female Evangelical minister in and outside the Evangelical community.

The Purpose

In this dissertation I will explore Joyce Meyer‘s recent popularity in the Evangelical community as a ―feminine‖ speaker. This study tries to answer four simple, yet significant questions: (1) Why has the Evangelical community opened the pulpit to a woman when, historically, they have advocated that women remain silent in the assembly? (2) Why is a female preacher, Joyce Meyer, so popular in a traditionally conservative religious group who has historically excluded women from speaking to mixed audiences in the public pulpit? (3) Does

Joyce Meyer employ a feminine style to engage her audiences? And, if so, (4) How does a

3 feminine speaker using feminine style appeal to a religious audience? These questions guide this investigation toward understanding Joyce Meyer‘s popularity as an Evangelical pulpit preacher and perhaps an even better understanding of the audiences to whom she speaks.

Karlyn Kohrs Campbell concluded after years of studying female rhetors and their discourse that women have created and often used a unique, or different rhetorical style from male speakers. Campbell argues that historically a feminine style has enabled women to overcome restrictive rhetorical barriers and challenges for women in non-traditional contexts.

The questions stated above have guided me to consider Meyer‘s rhetorical style as the reason for her rhetorical success. Therefore, I will use Campbell‘s theory of a feminine style discussed in her book, Man Cannot Speak for Her volume I, to determine if Joyce Meyer uses a feminine style consistently in her public sermons. According to Campbell, hallmarks of feminine speakers are: 1) rely on personal experiences, extended narratives, and other examples; 2) address audience members as peers allowing their experiences to be recognized as authority; 3) invite the audience participation; 4) create arguments inductively that lead to generalizations; and 5) will make an effort to create identification with the experiences of the audience, moving them toward the goal of the feminine speaker, to empower their listeners.10 Campbell stresses that a feminine style as more than a list of rhetorical indicators. She emphasizes that ―The sheer presence of examples, even of details and moving examples is inadequate by itself to feminize the style of a speaker. All effective speakers use examples. Moreover all adapt to their audiences; all attempt to evoke identification, to create common grounds with listeners.‖11 The feminine style goes beyond a few good stories or examples, positioning feminine concerns and a feminine point of

10 Bonnie J. Dow and M.B. Tonn, ―‘Feminine Style‘ and Political Judgment in the Rhetoric of Ann Richards, ―Quarterly Journal of Speech 79 (1993) 288.

11 Karlyn Kohrs Campbell, ―The Discursive Performance of Femininity: Hating Hillary,‖ Rhetoric and Public Affairs 1 (1998) 11.

4 view at the center of the discourse. The feminine style is not a rhetorical style exclusive to women but, as will be explained later in this dissertation, is a rhetorical style that can be, and has been employed by both male and female speakers attempting to engage a hostile or skeptical audiences by creating a nurturing, caring relationship with their audience. Since Meyer claims to speak as a biblical authority, a position typically reserved for males in the Evangelical community, she faces overwhelming rhetorical obstacles as a religious leader before she ever begins to speak, and therefore faces a potentially hostile, or unreceptive audience at the outset.

However, Meyer has managed to overcome the obstacles, and rise to the top of the Evangelical short list. I believe it is her rhetorical style, or her use of the feminine style, which has projected her there.

This study is a rhetorical one in a traditional sense. That is, I will focus on Meyer‘s rhetoric style within the context of social and religious norms that restrict women‘s place in public assemblies. However, this investigation is significant beyond a rhetorical study of a speaker‘s discourse since this study explores the potential power of the feminine style as a means to create a feminine perspective for audiences. The study of Joyce Meyer‘s rhetorical style in the

Evangelical community points to something more than just a religious community accepting a new preacher. It also indicates the acceptance of a feminine perspective in a traditionally male dominated context. Meyer‘s popularity and influence in the Evangelical community as a female voice, and the feminine style as a rhetorical posture, suggest the popularity of the feminine style outside a feminist context. That means this study will not consider Meyer‘s speech as moving forward a feminist agenda, or opening doors for other female evangelists as has been the practice of previous scholars who have studied female evangelists or female secular speakers. Instead, I will contend that rhetorical scholars have ignored the feminine style and the feminine perspective

5 as a real option for their critical tool kit. Rhetorical critics who have used a feminine style as a lens to study public discourse have stopped short of considering the feminine style alongside other rhetorical styles as a critical option for public discourse beyond a feminist agenda or movement discourse. I will argue that Meyer has successfully created an alternative feminine perspective through her use of a feminine style for the Evangelical community. The fact that her fame as an evangelist grew so quickly points to a shift toward an appreciation of, or at the very least an acceptance of a feminine style and a feminine perspective in what has always been a masculine paradigm.

Therefore, to accomplish my goal I will begin in this chapter by describing the methodology I will use to examine Meyer‘s rhetorical style. Next I will explain why this study is rhetorically significant, then give the reader an introduction to Joyce Meyer and finally present an overview of the remaining chapters.

Methodology

In this study I will evaluate four of Joyce Meyer‘s sermons using Campbell‘s theory of a feminine style. Meyers speaks extemporaneously, or without a manuscript, but the audio of some of her sermons have been preserved on CD sets. Since Meyer does not write out her sermons in transcript form, I will transcribe her sermons from CD recordings. At the time of this writing

Joyce Meyer had recorded 628 sermons on 137 CD sets. A case study of this scale warrants narrowing the number of sermons to a reasonable number that can be studied. I chose to transcribe Joyce Meyer‘s earliest recorded sermon at the time of this writing, ―Confidence:

Freedom to be Yourself,‖ as the benchmark for her preaching style and the primary text for this analysis. Three subsequent sermons will also be transcribed and examined to determine if Meyer continued to use a feminine style consistently, or if she abandoned a feminine style as she

6 became more popular and her audiences more diverse. For that purpose I will choose a CD set from the first half of her CD set collection, ―Grace, Grace and More Grace,‖ and one from the last half of her CD set collection, ―I am Determined,‖ and her last recorded sermon at the time of this analysis: ―Enjoying a Life of Freedom.‖ This sampling gives me four representative sermons from different times in her public ministry. In the last recorded sermon, ―Enjoying a Life of

Freedom,‖ Meyer reports that she has been actively preaching for over thirty years.12 Thus, this analysis spans twenty-five years or more of her public preaching.13 But first I will introduce the foundational tenants for this study of rhetoric, style, and the feminine style as the lens for this critical analysis.

Rhetoric

There are probably as many definitions of rhetoric as there are scholars claiming to be rhetorical critics. Many contemporary rhetorical scholars have moved beyond focusing exclusively on public discourse, but include a cultural approach consisting of such media as movies, photographs, statues, and works of art as ―rhetorical.‖14 David Zarefsky argues that ―By embracing a broader conception of public address and not reducing the term to formal oratory, our studies have enhanced the potential for understanding historical or rhetorical situations and for formulating theoretical generalizations.‖15 Martin J. Medhurst adds:

12 Meyer ―Enjoying a Life of Freedom,‖ C 289 (Fenton: Joyce Meyer Ministries).

13 In chapter 4 I will discuss the dates of each sermon.

14see Barry Brummett, Rhetorical Dimensions of Popular Culture (Tuscaloosa: The University of Alabama Press, 1991). Brummett argues ―that rhetoric needs to be conceptualized as the social function that influences and manages meaning [emphasis in original].‖ He maintains this perspective gives ―theoretical flexibility‖ to the study of rhetoric, xii-xiii.

15 David Zarefsky, ―The State of the Art in Public Address Scholarship,‖ in Texts in Context, Ed. Michael C. Leff and Fred J. Kauffeld (Davis: Hermagoras Press, 1989) 3-4.

whether the study of public address encompasses analysis of a single speech, the

speeches given as a part of a public campaign, the various sorts of symbolic

inducement found in social movements, pamphlets, letters, proclamations,

sermons, lectures, or various forms of cinematic or televisual experience, the

effort to understand the artistic, historical, and political dimensions of human

persuasion continues.16

However, Campbell argues that at a fundamental level what makes us human is the capacity to persuade and be persuaded. Thus, Campbell takes a more conventional approach to rhetoric claiming: ―The fundamental assumption underlying traditional theory is that man is capable of and subject to persuasion because he is, by nature, a rational being, and that, as a consequence, rhetoric is the art of reasoned discourse or argumentation.‖17 It is this inherent desire for humans to persuade and to be persuaded that necessitates studying human discourses.

A close study of Campbell‘s rhetorical perspective places this study well within the boundaries of rhetorical criticism. Campbell is very specific as to what rhetorical criticism should do when she contends a symbolic interpretation of discourse emphasizes the outcome, or success of the persuasion. She argues that ―persuasion is a process in which the individual creates his meaning through detecting, identifying, and interpreting the stimuli he receives and which is integrated into and hence influences his perceptual framework.‖18 It is rhetoric, or persuasion, which makes us human and thereby, helps us to create community. Campbell explains:

16 Martin J. Medhurst, ―Introduction: The Academic Study of Public Address: A Tradition in Transition,‖ in Ed. Martin J. Medhurst, Landmark Essays on American Public Address (Davis: Hermagoras Press, 1993) xiiii.

17 Karlyn Kohrs Campbell, ―The Ontological Foundations of Rhetorical Theory,‖ Philosophy and Rhetoric (Spring 1970) 97-98.

18 Campbell ―Ontological‖ 104.

It has been a practical art, one that assesses a persuader‘s efforts in light of

the resources available on a specific occasion in relation to a particular

audience and in order to achieve a certain kind of end. As a result,

rhetorical analysis has focused on invention, the rhetor‘s skill in selecting

and adapting those resources available in language, in cultural values, and

in shared experience to influence others.19

The rhetorical critic recognizes the potential for a rhetor to effect social change with her discourse. That risk, the rhetor‘s willingness to stand against social pressure provides the opportunity for rich rhetorical study.

Campbell is well known as an outstanding rhetorical critic. She is best known for her commitment to archive women‘s rhetoric. However, preserving women‘s voices was not always her professional focus. In fact, she credits her long time friend and colleague, Wil Linkugel, with introducing her to women‘s rights rhetoric. Initially, Campbell studied the role of rhetoric and applied the traditional tenants of an Aristotelian perspective to political discourse. However, it should be noted that the method she used for studying rhetoric did not change when she turned her interest to women‘s texts. The context remained significant, the speaker‘s style and language were considered important to help understand the rhetor‘s agenda, and an investigation of the rhetorical obstacles that had to be overcome by the rhetor all work together to determine the significance and ultimately the success of the discourse. All of these tools helped Campbell discover the differences in the ways by which women create their message. Thus the reoccurring

19 Karlyn Kohrs Campbell, Man Cannot Speak for Her, Volume1 (Westport: Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc., 1989) 2.

9 themes in the rhetorical style of female public speakers led her to discover a common ―style‖ in women‘s rhetoric, one uniquely feminine and distinct from male public discourse.‖20

Style

When Campbell wrote about a feminine style she did not define each word separately other than to give a context to the idea of what ―feminine‖ means in relation to the social obstacles that women faced as public rhetors. She placed feminine discourses within unique feminine experiences that include the subjugation and isolation women experience when they fulfill their prescribed feminine social roles. However, it might be helpful for the reader to have a brief review of ―style‖ as a persuasive strategy before adding ―feminine‖ into the mix. James R.

Andrews, Michael C. Leff and Robert Terrill, noted rhetorical scholars, admit:

Style is the most difficult single constituent of the rhetorical act for the critic. That

is because the way in which a speaker uses language—from word choice to

sentence construction to figurative devices—is so intimately bound up with the

speaker‘s own personality and perspective, the audience‘s experiences and

expectations and the demands and constraints of the time that dictate ―taste.‖ The

analysis of style is also complicated by the fact that it is very difficult to describe

20 Some of the works by Karlyn Kohrs Campbell that are not associated with her work in women‘s rhetoric include: Karlyn Kohrs Campbell ―Criticism, Ephemeral and Enduring,‖ Speech Teacher 23, 1 (January 1974) 9-14; Karlyn Kohrs Campbell, ―The Nature of Criticism in Rhetorical and Communicative Studies,‖ Central States Speech Journal 30, 1 (Spring 1979) 4-13; Karlyn Kohrs Campbell ―The Rhetorical Implications of the axiology of Jean-Paul Sartre,‖ Western Speech 35, 3 (Summer 1971) 155-161; ―The Rhetoric of Black Nationalism: A Case Study in Self Conscious Criticism,‖ Central States Speech Journal 22, 3 (Fall 1971) 151-160; with Kathleen Hall Jamieson, Deeds Done in Words: Presidential Rhetoric and the Genres of Governance (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1990); with Kathleen Hall Jamieson, ―Inaugurating the Presidency,‖ in Form, Genre and the Study of Political Discourse, Ed. Herbert W. Simons and Aram A. Aghazarian (Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1986) 203-25; Kathleen Hall Jamieson and Karlyn Kohrs Campbell, ―Rhetorical Hybrids: Fusions of Generic Influence, Quarterly Journal of Speech 68 ( May 1982)146-157.

in such a way as to identify its unique qualities, and because it is so interwoven

with meaning and argument.21

Roderick P. Hart explains that although it is difficult to define style, it is a critical rhetorical element that distinguishes one speaker from another.22 Even though defining ―style‖ is difficult, scholars admit that it is what establishes the connection and maintains the relationship between the audience and the rhetor. Wayland Maxfield Parrish argues that ―[i]t is style that more than any other factor gives a speaker the uniqueness by which he is distinguished from other speakers.‖ 23 Harold Lasswell notes that ―style is an indispensable feature of every configuration of meaning in any process of communication.‖24 According to Aristotle, a rhetor‘s style is evidenced in the speaker‘s language choice. He highlights the importance of a clear, audience focused style by saying: ―it is not enough to know what we ought to say; we must also say it as we ought.‖25 The stylistic choices of the rhetor are the manifestation of how the speaker understands her role, or place in the world, who her audience is, and their needs. Therefore style cannot be separated from the speaker‘s discourse, since it tells the critic and the audience the viewpoint of the speaker and her relationship with her audience. It is this relationship that is critical to understanding persuasion.

21 James R. Andrews, Michael C. Leff, and Robert Terrill, Reading Rhetorical Texts: An Introduction to Criticism (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1998) 73.

22 Roderick P. Hart. Modern Rhetorical Criticism (Harper Collins Publishers, 1990) 197.

23 Martin J. Medhurst, Ed. Landmark Essays on American Public Address (Davis: Hermagoras Press, 1993) 72.

24 Harold Lasswell, Nathan Leites, and Associates, Language of Politics (New York: George W. Stewart, Publishers, Inc., 1949) 38. qtd. in, Martin J. Medhurst, Ed. Landmark Essays on American Public Addres, (Davis: Hermagoras Press, 1993) 94.

25 Aristotle, Rhetoric, W. Rhys Roberts trans. (New York: McGraw-Hill, Inc. 1984): Book III Chapter 1, 15L.

A speaker‘s rhetorical style does not merely refer to ―language‖ or ―presentational savvy,‖ but it goes beyond the how the message is delivered, and focusing on the rhetorical choices a speaker makes to engage the audience in the essence of the message toward the intended persuasive goal. Dell H. Hymes contends that style is ―a system of coherent ways of doing things.‖26 Richard Ohmann characterizes style as an epistemic stance when he suggested that ―the very many decisions that add up to a style are decisions about what to say, as well as how to say it. They reflect the organization of experience, [the] sense of life.‖27

Feminine Style

Campbell distinguishes male and female rhetorical styles because of the distinctively different social experiences men and women have. It is the socialization that determines how the rhetor views the audience and herself. Michael Leff also contends that the most productive way of interpreting texts is to include the larger historical and social context when considering the exigency of the speaker. He advocates that a ―critical rhetoric,‖ including the social and political forces that surround the discourse is necessary to best understand the rhetorical choices and consequences of the speaker. Therefore, to separate the feminine social experiences from women‘s discourse is to discount the social and historical significance of the rhetorical situation in which women find themselves.28 Carole Spitzack and Kathryn Carter document the difficulty women have had in finding their way through the rhetorical quagmire. When trying to navigate the challenges placed by societal restrictions some women have tried to conform to a male style,

26 Dell H. Hymes, ―Phonological Aspects of Style: Some English Sonnets,‖ In Thomas A. Sebeok Ed. Style in Language, (Cambridge: MIT Press, 1961) 109.

27 Richard M. Ohmann, Shaw: The Style and the Man (Connecticut: Wesleyan University, 1962) xii-xiii.

28 Michael Leff, ―Things made by Words: Reflections on Textual Criticism,‖ Quarterly Journal of Speech, 78, 223, 226.

12 leaving them even further outside the boundaries of ―acceptable discourse.‖ Their other option was to create their own style, feminine style, based on their unique social roles.29

The feminine style arose out of the social roles restricting women from public life, from women‘s roles of caregiver and nurturer and from their traditional social roles created from a kind of craftsmanship. That is, a method of learning is based on passing down information from one individual to another through their own experiences. The ―crafts‖ are watched, observed, and then practiced and learned from others, much in the same way as women were bound to the private sphere and unable to articulate their ideas in the public, women created a place of support and appreciation for the sharing that occurs in conversations. Carol Gilligan supports this contention by describing a ―greater orientation toward relationships and interdependence‖ in feminine discourse.30 Campbell explained further that ―women‘s subculture relies on private, intimate communication based on personal experience. It is both the mode though which women communicate and the means by which change can be affected.‖31 Campbell considers the feminine style as a consciousness raising rhetoric, asserting that ―as a style of communicating and learning [it] is personal, experiential, and participatory, and, hence, emotional and egalitarian.‖32 The social roles of women are such that they serve as support systems for others.

29 Carole Spitzack and Kathryn Carter, ―Women in Communication Studies: A Typology for Revision,‖ Quarterly Journal of Speech, 73 (1987) 401-423. For more discussion about unique ways inn which women communicate see Karen A. Foss and Sonja K. Foss‘s text, Women Speak: The Eloquence of Women‘s Lives (Prospect Heights: Waveland Press, Inc. 1991). Foss and Foss discuss the difficulty women have expressing themselves public for fear of rejection because of their conversational style.

30 Carol Gilligan, In a Different Voice: Psychological Theory and Women‘s Development (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1993) 22.

31 Karyln Kohrs Campbell, ―Femininity and Feminism: To Be or Not to Be a Woman,‖ Communication Quarterly 31 (Spring 1983) 104.

32 Campbell, Women Public xix.

Campbell explains that the social position women are assigned helps them create a rhetorical position that is uniquely based in their realities, experiences, or women‘s ways of knowing. Speakers who employ a feminine style offer ―conversational delivery and extended narrative.‖33 Cindy L. Griffin agrees, especially in the context of women‘s speech saying:

―women listen to their bodies, experiences, marginality, histories and differences and …they build a background of discourse based on these three elements. 34 Women are typically reconciled to speak only about ―issues closely related to what were seen as women‘s concerns— works of benevolence toward the poor and orphaned, and struggles against the moral evils of prostitution, slavery, and alcoholism‖35 These kinds of issues and struggles touch everyone‘s lives and the fact that women are willing to disclose personal lived experiences to an audience creates a rhetorical situation that values personal experience, understanding and a climate of trust and identification. Campbell explains: ―Women‘s subculture relies on private, intimate communication based on personal experience.‖ It is the mode through which women communicate.36 Since women have been relegated to positions that foster conversations about personal experiences, it creates a climate of intimacy for the speaker and the audience. Campbell argues that ―this style of communicating [feminine style] is one with which most women as speakers, writers, and members of audiences are familiar and with which they feel comfortable.‖37 Jane Blankenship and Deborah C. Robson explain further:

33 Karyln Kohrs Campbell, Women Public Speakers in the United States: 1925-1993 (Westport: Greenwood Press, 1994) 390.

34 Cindy L. Griffin, ―Women as Communicators: Mary Daly‘s Hagography as Rhetoric,‖ Communication Monographs, 60 (June 1993) 160.

35 Campbell ‗The Discursive‖ 4.

36 Campbell ―Femininity‖ 104.

37 Campbell Women Public xix-xx.

The Feminine Style…arises from a set of social practices which

provide men and women with daily social experiences that give rise to

drastically different ways of constructing reality. The differentiation

between construction of reality leads to feminine characteristics…center

on a hierarchy of values surrounding roles nurturance and caregiving.38

These values are manifested in the feminine position and expressed in the feminine speaker, and socially ascribed to females. Blankenship and Robinson emphasize using ―the term ‗feminine‘ rather than the alternatives ‗women‘s‘ or ‗female‘ because we are talking about the social construction of gender rather than mere biological difference.‖39

It is the social construction that creates the ―other.‖40 Society expects women to behave in prescribed ways, so as a caregiver or mother, the speaker who employs a feminine style will nurture the audience through their own examples to reach the appropriate conclusions. Thus, the feminine speaker, or speaker employing a feminine style, uses inductive structure, welcoming audience participation, and thus creating identification with the audience.41 Campbell explains that a feminine style ―proceeds inductively, moving from personal experiences toward generalizations that reflect the systemically shaped conditions of women generally.‖42 Shawn J.

Parry-Giles and Trevor Parry-Giles agree that the feminine style serves as a rhetorical framework for persuasion. They contend:

38 Jane Blankenship and Deborah C. Robson, ―A ―Feminine Style‖ in Women‘s Political Discourse: An Exploratory Essay,‖ Communication Quarterly, 43 (Summer 1995) 353-366.

39 Blankenship ―A ―Feminine Style‖ 356.

40 This term refers to those groups who are excluded from dominate power structures. For a more thorough explanation of this concept see Simone de Beauvoir‘s The Second Sex (New York: Knopf, 1953).

41 Campbell Man Cannot 12.

42 Campbell Women Public xix.

This framework defines the ‗feminine‘ style as personal organized in inductive or

non-linear patterns, stylized and ornamental, reliant on anecdotes and examples,

and likely to encourage identification between a speaker and audience.‖

Moreover, they explain that because women use more personal contexts for speeches, their discourse is viewed as using more emotional support, empathy, and concrete reasoning as the

―bridging of life experiences between a rhetor and an audience.43

The feminine style is not new to the rhetorical scene. Women have used a feminine style for centuries primarily so they would not offend their listeners. The improprieties of women speaking publicly were such that each time they tried to step to the podium they were risking far more than their social standing; many risked their lives. Perhaps the best examples of how feminine style helped a rhetor win over hostile audiences were the suffrage orators. The suffragettes were considered ―radical‖ women who were trying to rip apart the social and moral fabric of our nation. They were blamed with female promiscuity and open rebellion against the hierarchies established by God himself. It was a precarious time for any women; however,

Campbell argues that suffragettes like Dr. Anna Howard Shaw and Lecretia Mott were able to convince their audiences of their cause because their rhetorical styles were ―signaled by these three rhetorical elements: personal tone, speaking as a peer, relying on examples, testimony, and enactment as evidence, inductive structure, and efforts to stimulate audience participation.‖ She claims the reason for the success is because: ―such a mode invites audience participation, relies on personal experience, [and] generalizes from examples…‖44 It is this rhetorical position that

Campbell argues allowed those who were without voice to convince thousands to listen.

43 Shawn J. Parry-Giles and Trevor Parry-Giles, ―Gendered Politics and Presidential Image Construction: A Reassessment of Feminine Style,‖ Communication Monographs, 61 (December 1986) 339.

44 Campbell ―Femininity‖ 106. 16

Although Campbell introduced a feminine style from her study of early suffrage rhetoric, the waves of feminism have not changed or shifted the roles of society so much that women find themselves free from the undertow of traditional responsibilities of wife and mother. As Sara

Hayden explained, vocational opportunities and voting rights do not negate the underlying expectation of women to assume roles of service to others.45 Campbell agrees and goes even further by saying: ―Women are not equal to men in the sight of the law.‖46 She backs up her claim by citing marriage laws:

The core of these laws is that spouses have reciprocal-not equal- rights and

duties. The husband must maintain the wife and children, but the amount

of support beyond subsistence is at his discretion. In return, the wife is

legally required to do the domestic chores, provide parital companionship,

and sexual consortium but has no claim for direct compensation for any of

the services rendered.47

The assumption that since women have been given political voting privileges and equal access opportunities in public business, women‘s socially restrictive roles have also changed is just not true. Women are still the primary caregivers, child care providers and are the primary home caretakers. And although many women do not take offense, or resist these traditional roles, the fact that they are consistently maintained in our social expectations, mean that they also permeate the public voice.

45 Sara Hayden, ―Negotiating Femininity and power in the Early Twentieth Century West: Domestic Ideology and Feminine Style in Jeanette Rankin‘s Suffrage Rhetoric,‖ Communication Studies 50 (Summer 1999) 87.

46 Campbell ―Femininity‖ 125.

47 Karyln Kohrs Campbell, ―The Rhetoric of Women‘s Liberation: An Oxymoron,‖ Quarterly Journal of Speech, 59 (1973) 126.

The feminine style has been used successfully by speakers for centuries. Debra Peterson reports that ―Anna Eleanor Roosevelt‘s speaking and writing was replete with characteristics of

Feminine Style. In a motherly manner, she offered listeners and readers advice on personal issues, including family relationships, dating, employment and child-rearing.‖48 For Roosevelt, a feminine style removed the barriers between audience and speaker. Roosevelt saw the value in a feminine style when she commented: ―If you can speak to the mass of people as though you were talking to any one individual in your living room…you will reach their hearts and that is what you have to bother about.‖49 Patricia Scott Schroeder, former congresswoman for the First

District of Colorado, and presidential hopeful, used a feminine style. E. Claire Jerry and Michael

Spangle reported Schroeder‘s appeal was her conversational, confessional rhetorical style that contributed to ―a positive personalized tone.‖ When Schroeder spoke she was willing to disclose her personal experiences by describing difficulties in her pregnancies, personal stories, and self- effacing narratives about her short experience as a presidential candidate. She used analogies, metaphors and examples as the foundation for her engaging rhetorical strategy.50 However, ironically it was her rhetorical style that motivated her to leave the presidential race, citing that she believed her speaking style was too different, or out of the norm, and thus unwelcome in the presidential race.51

48 Debra L. Petersen, ―Anna Eleanor Roosevelt,‖ in Women Public Speakers in the United States, 1925- 1993., Ed. Karlyn Kohrs Campbell. Westport: Greenwood Press, 1994. 389.

49 Debra ―Anna ‖ 389.

50 E. Claire Jerry and Michael Spangle, ―Patricia Scott Schroeder‖ in Women Public Speakers in the United States, 1925-1993, Ed. Karlyn Kohrs Campbell (Westport: Greenwood Press, 1994) 395-406.

51 Jerry ―Patricia‖ 397-398.

Moreover, Bonnie J. Dow‘s analysis of Ann Willis Richards, former governor of Texas, is an excellent example of how the feminine style can contribute to rhetorical criticism.52

Richards‘ political success is attributed to her speaking style. Dow argues: ―Her discourse [was] dominated by the use of inductive and experiential reasoning, folk wisdom, and concrete examples and stories…her accessible style…encourages audience participation and reduces distance between rhetor and audience…‖ 53 The most important characteristic of Richards‘ political discourse, according to Dow, was her ―politics of empowerment and rhetoric of inclusion.‖54 Richards was known for speaking for those who were unable to speak for themselves and evoking times in her life when she was without voice or excluded. Richards‘ rhetorical style also ―allowed her to weave family values, government responsibility, and campaign issues into a coherent whole.‖55 In each of these examples it was the rhetor‘s use of a feminine style that allowed her to present her ideas successful in the public sphere.

A feminine style has been overlooked as a means of rhetorical practice and analysis in public settings other than the political arena. Since men dominated the public sphere, male style and the masculine perspective have served as the standard for good speechmaking leaving no place for the feminine perspective or a feminine style. Barbara Biesecker explains this idea further when she says that the years of ignoring the voices of women in rhetorical study have created a ―myth that ‗Man‘ is Rhetoric‘s hero.‖56 She cautions scholars that just reporting on the

52 Bonnie J. Dow, ―Ann Willis Richards: A Voice for Political Empowerment,‖ in Karlyn Kohrs Campbell Ed., Women Public Speakers in the United States, 1925-1993, (Westport: Greenwood Press, 1994) 452-464.

53 Campbell Women Public 456. See also Bonnie J. Dow and Mari Boor Tonn, ―Feminine Style‘ and Political Judgment in the Rhetoric of Ann Richards,‖ Quarterly Journal of Speech 79 (1993) 286-302.

54 Campbell Women Public 458.

55 Campbell Women Public 458.

56 Barbara Biesecker, ―Coming to Terms with Recent Attempts to Write Women into the History of Rhetoric,‖ Philosophy and Rhetoric 25 (1992) 143. 19 rhetoric of significant women borders on ―tokenism‖ in which a few women are presented as unique and rare, thereby reducing their rhetoric to the unusual. 57 Campbell argues that no matter how seemingly insignificant the female voice is perceived by traditional standards, women‘s discourse is inherently significant when considering the rhetorical obstacles all women face in a masculine social and rhetorical context where their discourse is discounted, not welcomed, and even dismissed.

Introducing Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer never intended to go into public ministry. She claims that she preaches because she is called by God. ―It has been nothing short of a miracle,‖ Meyer explains, ―[h]ere I am, an ex-housewife from Fenton, with a 12-grade education. How could anybody look at this and see anything other than God?‖58 Meyer says her journey began in1952 at age nine when she was ―born again‖ while experiencing what she called a ―glorious cleansing.‖59 She admits that her conversion did not make a marked difference in her life, but she became more religious later when she experienced another revelation while driving to work. It was only after what she claims was a divine revelation that she decided to devote her life to teaching. Later, what started as a 6 a.m. Bible study at Miss Hulling‘s restaurant in downtown St. Louis evolved into the suburban

St. Louis-based Joyce Meyer Ministries.60 In 1982 Meyer left the Lutheran church she and her family attended and began working as an assistant minister at Life Christian Center, a storefront

57 Biesecker ―Coming to Terms‖ 143.

58 Carolyn Tuft and Bill Smith, ―From Fenton to Fame,‖ St. Louis Post Dispatch (November 13, 2003) : .

59 ―Timeline of Joyce Meyer‘s Life,‖ St. Louis Post Dispatch (May 14, 2004) : .

60 Kimberly Hayes Taylor, ―Her Ministry Reaches Millions,‖ The Detroit News (September 12, 2003): http:///www.religionnewsblog.com/4387/JoyceMeyer>.

20 church where she developed, coordinated and taught a weekly meeting called ―Life in the

Word.‖61 After five years she decided to establish her own ministry: ―Life in the Word, Inc.‖

Her traditional ministry became so popular that she was prompted to branch out into radio program and in 1983 it developed into a national and international ministry called Joyce Meyer

Ministries.62

Meyer is not only popular with the public, but is also a leader to other female evangelists.

According to Jennifer Rothschild, founder of WomensMinistry.net, an online service for women in the ministry, ―There are few people who have reached the level of prominence of Joyce

Meyer.‖ 63 Not only does Meyer inspire her listeners, but she also serves as a mentor for other ministers. Kimberly Hayes Taylor, a reporter for the Detroit News, explains her popularity in the

Evangelical community: ―Prophetess Juanita Bynum, who will address 20,000 people at Bishop

Eddie Long‘s Church…counts her as a mentor. So does Rev. Paula White, a Lutz, Florida- based evangelist and minister whose messages are broadcast daily on television.‖64 Taylor reports that

Meyers has been compared to other popular female evangelists of the past such as Kathryn

Kuhlman and Marilyn Hickey. She asserts that even though Kuhlman was popular for conducting miracle services around the county from the early 1950‘s until her death in 1976, and

Hickey has ministered to world leaders, and been admitted to Muslim countries, where no other

Christians have been invited. She argues that Meyer is the most prominent and publicly influential female evangelist to date. Frank Francious, a general manager of three metro Detroit

61 Taylor ―Her Ministry‖ no pag.

62 Tuft ―From Fenton‖ no pag.

63 qtd. in Taylor ―Her Ministry‖ no pag.

64 Taylor ―Her Ministry‖ no pag.

21 radio stations who selects the ministers in his programming lineup is reported as saying: ―Meyer has so much impact she is indispensable to his stations.‖65

Many have written Meyer off as just another televangelist. She is often described as a

―gravely-voiced waitress in a greasy-spoon diner,‖ but her lack of sophistication and polish is what seems to appeal to her followers who refer to her as the ―designer suit-wearing Christian evangelist who dishes out the word like a brassy mother sitting at a kitchen table, often sauntering across the stage with a Bible in her hand.‖66 Mary Warner described Meyer as

―down-home despite her trim purple corporate suit, [a woman who] talks about her listener‘s troubles with the intimacy of a sister sufferer.‖ Her followers explain that part of her appeal is because Meyer has talked openly for 20 years about her difficult childhood, sexual abuse at the hands of her alcoholic father, and subsequent struggle with depression and anger and is known for using her own life stories in her sermons. ―She knows they lose patience with their husbands and kids and feel bad about it; they overeat. She knows they have unresolved pain—from childhood abuse, troubled marriages.‖ 67 Meyer is so popular that it is not uncommon for her to sell out 8,100-seat arenas. Participants explain why she is so appealing by saying: ―she is ‗so real,‘ she‘s a ‗straight-shooter,‘ she‘s not ‗holier than thou.‘ Meyer tells them about her abusive father, her failed first marriage, her past depression.‖68 Taylor explains that ―unlike some ministers who can draw only one type of audience, Meyer‘s messages cross all boundaries and attract people from all denominations, genders, races and income levels. Revealing her own

65 Taylor ―Her Ministry‖ no pag.

66 ―Timeline of Joyce Meyer‘s Life,‖ St.Louis Post Dispatch (May 14, 2004) .

67Mary Warner, ―Preaching Prosperity,‖ Religion News Service (May 15, 2004) .

68 Warner ―Preaching Prosperity.‖

22 struggles appeals to her listeners suffering from their own personal challenges and gives them hope.

Meyer‘s popularity followed years of personal and professional struggle, but her tenacity has placed her among the elite group of evangelists--male or female. In 2000, Meyer became the first woman to be the primary preacher at the TWA Dome in St. Louis.69 On October 11, 2002,

Meyer was the keynote speaker at the Christian Coalition‘s Road to Victory tour in Washington

Convention Center in Washington D.C., a convention for some of the most influential Christian conservative leaders in America.70 Her television shows, conferences and fund raising from her web sites brings in, on average, $8 million a month. Meyer typically draws about 40,000 people during her conferences.‖71 The St. Louis-Post Dispatch reported her appeal reached to other countries saying the ministry receives 15,000 letters a month from India alone. Her 2004 conference at the Polo Grounds in Hyderabad India accommodated 20,000 people and her message was translated into Tamil and Hindi, one Indian official reported.72 In September 2003 an Arabic translation of her program began airing six times a day on the Life Channel network in the Middle East. Meyer hopes to use the network to bring her message to 31 Islamic nations.73

In January of 2008 Meyer‘s presented her ―Festival of Life‖ seminar in Mambia, India.74 A senior official for Joyce Meyer Ministry told the Times of India that her appeal to the Indian

69 ―Timeline.‖

70 Tuft ―From Fenton.‖

71 Taylor ―Her Ministry.‖

72 ―Thousands to Attend Bible Meet,‖ The Times of India (January 13, 2004) http://www.religionnewsblog.com/5646[Joyce Meyer].

73 Tuft ―From Fenton.‖

74 ―Mumbia Awaits,‖ (January 14, 2008) .

23 audience will come from her ―personal experience with the Lord Jesus, and she does not hesitate talking openly about the struggles in her personal life.‖ He is quick to add: ―Joyce is not an evangelist. She is a teacher.‖75 Also, her ―Enjoying Everyday Life‖ program is broadcast five times a week in Iran, a country known for its hostile attitude toward the Christian faith.76

However, Meyer and her ministry are not without controversy. Some have questioned the way Meyer uses her ministry funds. At the time of this writing, Joyce Meyer‘s Ministries has been under investigation for tax fraud. Senator Charles Grassley, the top Republican on the

Senate Finance Committee launched an investigation of Meyer‘s financial practices.77 Her lavish cars, homes, trips and clothes have caused many to doubt her sincerity. In 1999 Meyer‘s Life in the Word Ministry was reported to have collected more than $68 million. However, difficulties with the Internal Revenue Service began with Meyer‘s purchase of homes, cars and a headquarters valued at $12.9 million. In 2003, longtime supporter Larry Rice of KNLC cancelled

Meyer from his programming lineup. Rice remarked that ―Meyer‘s lavish lifestyle‖ and her teachings regarding excess was going ―beyond Scripture‖ moving him to make the decision to cancel Meyer. He cited ―the ministry‘s $2.5 million home in St. Louis Country where Meyer lives, and the $100,000 Mercedes-Benz‖ as the critical issue for the decision to cancel

―prosperity ministers.‖78

75 Tuft ―From Fenton.‖

76 International Antioch Ministries, ―Joyce Meyer Ministries Broadcasts into Iran via International Antioch Ministries Popular Christian Satellite Channel,‖ Press Release Newswire (June 13, 2005) .

77 Gorski, Ron, ―Senator to Question Televangelist Again,‖ ABCNews.com (January 17, 2008). < http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=4151460>.

78 Bill Smith, ―Women Offer Testimonials on How Meyer‘s Preaching Has Helped Them,‖ St. Louis Post Dispatch (November 17, 2003) .

Meyer justifies her financial prosperity as a blessing from God. Carolyn Tuft and Bill

Smith, St. Louis Post Dispatch journalists, reported in 2003, ―Meyer‘s Life in the Word organization expects to take in $95 million.‖ Life in the Word Ministry reports that Meyer defends her wealth as a natural blessing from her ministry. Meyer told a Detroit audience in

September 2003: ―If you stay in your faith, you are going to get paid. I‘m now living in my reward.‖79 Meyer makes no apologies for her lavish lifestyle. In fact, she preaches that she is only living the life that God has given her. Nevertheless, her ―fans‖ seem to approve, saying: ―I feel she deserves it, she‘s not just helping herself.‖ Meyers defended her wealth by saying:―What would make us think that God wants sinners to have everything while his people go around in the worst jobs and the worst cars and the worst houses? Sinners don‘t represent God. We represent God.‖80

Significance

Although women have had the right to speak in public without fear of social rejection or punishment for more than a hundred years, and audiences may recognize the female speaker as a legitimate voice, the reality is that the female voice is rare in the political or religious public arenas. Karlyn Kohrs Campbell and E. Claire Jerry remind us: ―audiences refuse to accept women simply as ‗speakers‘‖81

Studying women‘s public discourse is significant when one considers women have traditionally been excluded from the public podium. Campbell explains that when one speaks of women‘s public discourse, one has to remember that for women, historically, ―To speak in

79 Tuft ―From Fenton.‖

80 Mary Warner, ―Preaching Prosperity,‖ Religion News Service (May 15, 2004) .

81 Karlyn Kohrs Campbell and E. Claire Jerry, ―Woman and Speaker: A Conflict in Roles,‖ Seeing Female Social Reality and Personal Lives, Sharon S. Brehm Ed. (Westport: Greenwood Press, 1988) 125.

25 public or write for a publication was in and of itself a violation of gender norms that called forth severe sanctions. Ostracism by friends and family, expulsion from religious organizations and public censure…were used to enforce conformity to gender norms.‖82 Judith Butler continues to argue that gender is not physical or biological; it is an enacted and performed role, one that is maintained by cultural norms of femininity. The role of ―woman‖ is socially constructed, argues

Judith Butler, noting that: ―Gender norms operate by requiring the embodiment of certain ideas of femininity and masculinity, ones that are almost always related to the idealization of the heterosexual bond.‖83 However, within that idealized feminine role, women were perceived to have specific expertise and talents when it came to domestic and religious roles. The public perception that women hold a spiritual or pious place in the community gives them a legitimate place to voice their concerns regarding morality and the home; however, it also condemned them to silence on matters of larger, political or significant social concerns.84 Campbell explains that from the 1700s through the 1800s, women were believed to be more pious than men and therefore better equipped to minister to the downtrodden with their ―natural capacity for nurturance and spirituality.‖85 But ironically it is in the religious arena that they are silenced.

Sara Hayden discusses the irony in being expert and oppressed at the same time when she says:

―Domestic ideology … had a paradoxical effect on women‘s lives. It was both a means through which women expanded their power and freedom at the same time it was built upon and perpetuated traditional and oppressive gender norms.‖86

82 Campbell ―The Discursive‖ 4.

83 Judith Butler. Bodies the Matter: On the Discursive Limits of ―Sex,‖ (New York: Rutledge, 1993) 352.

84 Campbell ―The Discursive‖ 4.

85 Campbell ―Femininity‖ 102.

86 Hayden ―Negotiating‖ 99. 26

Some scholars have attempted to capture the rhetorical contributions of women historically, but they are few. Campbell asked: ―Why is the omission of works by and about women so damaging to our discipline? Because members of the largely white male political elite face fewer rhetorical challenges, their discourse is a less fertile field for rhetorical research.‖87

She contends that the public discourses of those who have significant social and contextual challenges are more worthy of study and bring more to the understanding of rhetorical criticism.

Feminist scholars have made significant contributions to the study of female speakers.88

However, studies of contemporary female speakers are rare. Perhaps because of the feminist activists‘ success in their efforts to give women more opportunities in the public sphere, the perception might be that women no longer have rhetorical obstacles barring them from the public podium. Spitzack and Carter argues that ―the inventiveness of female speakers offers an enriched understanding of rhetorical strategies…‖89 Peggy McIntosh suggests: ―rhetoric can be studied not by asking if they say anything important, or if there are any great speakers, but by asking, what women say, how women use the public platform, how women speak.‖90

87 Karyln Kohrs Campbell, ―The Sound of Women‘s Voices,‖ Quarterly Journal of Speech, 75 (1989) 212.

88 Jane Blankenship and Deborah C. Robson, ―A ―Feminine Style‖ in Women‘s Political Discourse: An Exploratory Essay,‖ Communication Quarterly, 43 (Summer 1995) 353-366; Shawn J Parry-Giles and Trevor Parry-Giles, ―Gendered Politics and Presidential Image Construction: A Reassessment of the ―Feminine Style,‖ Communication Monographs, 63 (December 1996) 337-353; Bonnie J. Dow and Mari Boor Tonn, ―Feminine Style‖ and Political Judgment in the Rhetoric of Ann Richards,‖ Quarterly Journal of Speech, 79 (1993) 286-302; Theodore Sheckels, ―The Rhetorical Use of Double-Voiced Discourse and Feminine Style: The U.S. Senate Debate over the Impact of Tailhook ‘91 on Admiral Frank B. Kelso II‘s Retirement Rank,‖ The Southern Communication Journal, 63 (Fall 1997) 56-68; Karlyn Kohrs Campbell, ―The Discursive Performance of Femininity: Hating Hillary,‖ Rhetoric and Public Affairs, 1 (1998) 1-19; Karlyn Kohrs Campbell, Women Public Speakers in the United States, 1925-1993 Westport: Greenwood Press, 1994.

89 Carol Spitzack and Katherine Carter, ―Women in Communication Studies: A Typology for Revision,‖ Quarterly Journal of Speech, 73 (1987) 407.

90 qtd. in Spitzack ―Women‖ 407. Emphasis in original.

Campbell asserts the study of the feminine style is ultimately the study of power.91

Hayden agrees: ―A woman‘s choice to utilize the Feminine Style reflects not only issues of appropriate feminine behavior but also power.‖92 However, claiming that a feminine style is used by women because they are in a rhetorically weakened social position limits the critic to viewing the female speaker as inherently ―other,‖ perceiving those who use a ―women‘s‖ style as powerless. Hayden continues her explanation by saying: ―It is a form of public address appropriate for those who seek to petition a more powerful audience.‖93 This perspective condemns ―female‖ as less than or inferior rather than as a legitimate rhetorical perspective.

One of the risks of using a feminine style as a critical lens is to attribute a feminine style as ―natural‖ or ―normal‖ for all women speakers. This perspective labels women who use a rhetorical style other than a feminine style as non-female. The assumption is that women will use a feminine style without cause. Dow speaks from her experience as a journal and conference reviewer in which authors use the feminine style as the standard for ―female‖ when a feminine style is an attractive option for men, oppressed groups and individuals in general with obstacles typically found in the way of female rhetors. She agreed with Judith Butler‘s assessment of gender roles by contending:

―feminine‖ is a cultural descriptor rather than a biological one; to

understand it solely as a reference to females can promote essentialism

rather than counter it. The danger for the critique is to oversimplify the

rhetorical analysis as exemplary of female discourse, in general, rather

91 Campbell ―The Discursive‖ 14.

92 Hayden ―Negotiating Femininity‖ 80.

93 Hayden ―Negotiating Femininity‖ 80.

than a legitimate strategic ploy of a speaker intent on engaging the

audience by creating a common sense of purpose and vision.94

Dow cautions the critic that ―to eschew the study of women‘s public discourse because female rhetors participate in the patriarchal public sphere is to dismiss the importance of the decisions made in that arena as well as to dismiss the impact of those decisions on women‘s lives.‖95

Many who take the time to listen, and discuss the rhetorical significance of a female speaker do so with the hope that it will help to legitimize the feminine perspective and make way for more opportunities for women. Spitzack and Carter adds that the communication discipline has done much to bring women‘s voices forward and recognize the contributions female rhetors have made to the public sphere.96 However, Barbara Beisecker contends that studying the feminine style for the sake of hearing female voice does nothing but highlight differences and called attention to women‘s voice as deviant, or abnormal. Gender has been the focus for many who study a feminine style, female discourse, and female speakers. Although it would be foolish to deny including gender in the discussion of Meyer as a successful female rhetor, focusing exclusively on her gender denies the social significance and detracts from the rhetorical significance of the speaker. The rhetorical choice she‘s made to overcome centuries of prejudice to not only successfully persuade her audience, but create a following, legitimizes the female voice, makes it powerful and no longer ―gendered.‖

When Campbell argued that a feminine style is not uniquely female, she meant that the rhetorical critic must consider the stylistic choices of those who are not speaking for women only

94 Dow ―Feminism‖ 112.

95 Bonnie J. Dow, ―Feminism, Cultural Studies, and Rhetorical Studies,‖ Quarterly Journal of Speech, 83 (1997) 112.

96 Spitzack ―Women in Communication‖ 405.

29 but any speaker engaging an audience and attempting to create social movement. Blankenship and Robson backed Campbell and explained that the feminine style is a way of socially constructing a ―reality‖ for the audience. They pointed out that it is accessible to men, especially those who might find themselves emotionally and physically distanced from their audiences.97

Campbell stresses the importance of using a feminine style as a way to better understand the rhetoric of any speaker, regardless of their gender. She says: ―feminist rhetoric does not necessarily emerge from women, nor is it an inevitable outgrowth of discourse by women activists.‖98 For example, Kathleen Hall Jamieson used former President Ronald Reagan as an example of ―women‘s speech‖ used successfully by a prominent male speaker.99

The political implications of considering the feminine style as the voice of an Evangelical religious movement, one that has traditionally silenced the feminine voice, becomes significant from a rhetorical, religious and feminist perspective. The rhetorical scholar must pay attention at any stage in which the female voice becomes successful, begins to construct a new rhetorical choice for speakers, male and female alike, and create new realities for those who listen.

Remaining Chapters

In this chapter I established the reasons for this study by discussing the research questions framing this study, outlined the purpose for this study, gave a brief overview of rhetoric and style and introduced the reader to Karlyn Kohrs Campbell‘s theory of a feminine style, the critical lens for this rhetorical analysis. Then I introduced the reader to the focus of this study, Joyce Meyer.

Finally, I established the significance of this study by documenting the public perception of the

97 Blankenship ―A Feminine‖ 354-355.

98 Campbell Women Public xx.

99 Kathleen Hall Jamieson, Eloquence in the Electronic Age: The Transformation of Political Speechmaking (New York: Oxford University Press, 1985) 83-89.

30 feminine style within the context of women‘s public voice and the religious obstacles for female

Evangelical preachers.

In chapter two I will give an historical context to this study by discussing the identifying the characteristics of the Evangelical movement and their religious doctrines regarding women speaking from the public pulpit to give the reader a more complete understanding of the rhetorical obstacles Meyer faces. Then I will discuss the role of women, in general, in the contemporary Evangelical movement, the attitudes past and present of Evangelical leaders toward female evangelists, and provide a historical overview of female evangelists who stepped into the public pulpit and preach.

I will introduce the reader to the feminine style and the feminine perspective more clearly in chapter three. I will discuss the identifying characteristics of a feminine style and the feminine perspective. Furthermore, I will also discuss how the feminine style has been used by other scholars to illustrate how speakers have used a feminine style to engage their audiences.

In chapter four I will use the feminine style and the feminine perspective as a rhetorical framework to determine if Joyce Meyer creates a feminine perspective for her audience by employing a feminine style. I will use her earliest recorded sermon as a benchmark for her rhetorical style and also analyze three later recorded sermons from her audio sermon collection to determine if Meyer uses a feminine style consistently throughout her public preaching.

Finally, in chapter five, I will draw conclusions regarding Meyer‘s rhetorical style, the feminine style as a feminine speaker and answer the research questions posed in this chapter.

Furthermore, I will consider the long reaching implications for this study in the context of rhetorical criticism, religious discourse and the feminist agenda.

Chapter 2: Women as Preachers

I had never seen a woman in the pulpit all of my sixteen years of being

involved in that church and all of my role models were men. So when I

came to my aunt and said, God has called me to preach, there was fear on

her face. She let me know that she was glad for me but she was also afraid

and she said, ―Baptists do not believe in women preachers so you better

keep your mouth closed about that.‖100

The personal story Shayne Lee heard from this young woman is similar to confessions made by thousands other women who have tried to find a place in the ministry. In 2004, Time reported that the percentage of female students enrolled in courses to prepare them for the clergy grew from 4.7% in 1972 to 31% in 2003 and continues to accelerate 1 to 2 percentage points a year.101 However, the Evangelical pulpit still remains allusive to many women. Norman

Murdoch reports that ―When the Reverend Julie Pennington-Russell took the pulpit for the first time at Calvary Baptist Church in Waco, Texas, on August 10, 1998, protestors picketed her speaking.‖102 Joe Maxwell explains in Christianity Today that in 1994 the Christian Reformed

Church ruled that ordaining women was against Scripture. The synod also passed, along with the ruling, an edict to release all ordained women from office by June 1, 1995.103 In 2000, Southern

Baptists overwhelmingly passed a revised statement of faith opposing women pastors, saying:

100 Shayne Lee, ―The Structure of a Spiritual Revolution: Black Baptists and Women in Ministry,‖ Journal of Communication Ethnography 37 (2 April 2004) 166.

101 Elisabeth Kauffman, Jeanne McDowell, Marguerite Michaels, Frank Sikora, Deirdre van Dyke, ―Rising above the Stained-Glass Ceiling,‖ Time 163 (June 28, 2004) 58.

102 Norman H. Murdoch, ―Female Ministry in the Thought and Work of Catherin Booth,‖ Church History, 53 (September 1984) 27.

103 qtd. in Joe Maxwell, ―Churches Challenge Synod Ruling,‖ Christianity Today (September 12, 1994) 70.

―While both men and women are gifted for service in the church, the office of pastor is limited to men as qualified by scripture.‖ 104 In 1992, The Christian Century magazine reported that

―roughly 2,700 conservatives in 13 Christian Reformed congregations in the U.S. and Canada have left the denomination, upset over the possibility of female ordination and what they see as other signs of drift toward the theological left.‖105 Shayne Lee reports that ―a prominent Baptist

Pastor in Chicago claimed that he does not even allow women behind his pulpit to clean it.‖106

Kimberly Taylor explains that ―when it comes to Christian evangelists, people tend to think of men: Oral Roberts, Billy Graham and Bishop T.D. Jakes.‖107 Despite the social stigma and religious backlash for women to keep silent in the churches, women have not given up. They continue their struggle to be heard in religious assemblies.

In 2005, Joyce Meyer, a female evangelical minister was identified as a one of the most popular leaders in the Evangelical movement.108 As noted in chapter one, the purpose of this dissertation is to study her rhetorical posture, purposes and success in the context of the

Evangelical movement and the dampening effect of church doctrine. Toward that end, in this chapter I will discuss the doctrinal distinctions of the Evangelical movement, specifically their position regarding female evangelists, and set out a brief historical background of the struggles some prominent female preachers faced to better understand the rhetorical obstacles women must contend with when they step into the public pulpit. First, I will discuss a few widely held

104 Teresa Malcolm, ―Southern Baptists Revise Faith Statement,‖ National Catholic Reporter (June 30, 2000) 6.

105 ―Reformed Women.‖ The Christian Century (July, 1992) 642.

106 Lee ―The Structure‖ 160.

107 Kimberly Hayes Taylor, ―Her Ministry Reaches Millions,‖ The Detroit News (September 12, 2003) .

108 Cathy Booth-Thomas, ―Twenty-Five most Influential Evangelicals in America,‖ Time (February 7, 2005) 38.

33 identifying marks of an Evangelical believer. Second, I will present a short overview of the

Evangelical debate regarding women‘s place in the worship assembly. Third, I will give a brief history of notable female evangelists who preached openly, and trace the issues that moved religious and secular groups to bar them from speaking in public assemblies. Finally, I will discuss their unique rhetorical style that has distinguished them from the male evangelist.

Consequently, the primary focus of this chapter is to discuss the historical successes and struggles of female evangelists, specifically in the Evangelical movement. This will explain the long road women have traveled to stand in the religious public pulpit.

Since it is the cultural context that creates the rhetorical constraints and challenges for the speaker, the historical and cultural context is important in understanding the answers to the critical questions created when doing feminist criticism. The way in which the rhetor is viewed, and the responses to the contextual constraints, determines the feminist focus. E. Michele

Ramsey explains that

When feminist scholars consider an expanded notion of cultural context,

we emerge with a stronger sense of the reasons why women chose and/or

ignored particular rhetorical strategies. Scholars are also better able to

point out the ways that sex and gender discrimination influenced their

public address. In so doing feminist rhetorical scholars address the

pedagogical methodological questions posed above. By studying

representations of ―women‖ in response to larger cultural developments

during a particular time period, feminist rhetorical scholars are better able

to understand the many influences on historical women‘s public address.109

109 E. Michele Ramsey, ―Addressing Issues of Context in Historical Women‘s Public Address,‖ Women‘s Studies in Communication 27.3 (Fall 2004) no pag. 34

Lucy Lind Hogan explains the double bind that many female public speakers find themselves in:

―Persuasion requires not only something to say, but also a place from which to say it.‖ Yet paradoxically, securing that place often requires both status and voice—the very qualities which the persuasive efforts are aimed.110 The social, historical and contemporary cultural context is significant in relation the female voice. Historical traditional church doctrines have dictated the silencing of women in public assemblies for centuries. The entrenched religious belief that women should remain silent in public assemblies has made the female voice odd, or abnormal in religious assemblies.

Defining the Evangelical

C. Norman Kraus explains: ―It should be made clear at the outset that the Evangelical movement is complex and for that reason one is hard pressed to characterize the movement as a whole.‖111 Roger E. Olson agrees: ―It [Evangelical] has no standard meaning but only a semantic range.‖112 However, Olson concedes that there are specific concerns that created the Evangelical perspective. He states that Evangelicalism emerged from a dissatisfaction with the dominant church doctrine in which members were ―determined to create a new coalition of conservative- revivalist Protestants that would be doctrinally orthodox but open to culture, education, technology, modern politics and progressive social involvement.‖113

110Lucy Lind Hogan, ―Negotiating Personhood, Womanhood, and the Spiritual Equality: Phoebe Palmer‘s Defense of the Preaching of Women,‖ The American Transcendence Quarterly 14.3 (September 200) 211.

111 C. Norman Kraus, Ed. Evangelicalism and Anabaptism (Scottsdale: Herald Press, 1979) 24.

112 Roger E. Olson, ―Tensions in Evangelical Theology,‖ Dialog: A Journal of Theology 42 (1 Spring 2003) 77.

113 Olson ―Tensions‖ 78.

Although Evangelicals identify primarily with their individual denominations, ―there are a few benchmarks that can help identify the Evangelical believer. First and foremost, the

Evangelical believes in a strict commitment to the truthfulness of Scripture as the inspired word of God.‖114 Roger E. Olson explains: ―All evangelicals—including those who critically appropriate aspects of postmodern thought—believe in absolute truth.‖115 Furthermore Grenz and Olsen document Carl Henry, arguably the most prominent Evangelical theologian, and referred to as the ―dean of evangelical theology,‖116 as describing the Evangelical commitment to ―God‘s revelation [as] rational communication conveyed in intelligible ideas and meaningful words, that is, in conceptual-verbal form,‖ as the foundation and focus of an Evangelical faith.117

Olson agrees that ―Evangelical theology is by its very nature concerned with faithfulness to

Scripture.‖118 The National Association of Evangelical (NAE) is the largest organization associated with the Evangelical community and is ―anchored in 60 denominations with about

45,000 churches‖ affiliated with ―tens of millions‖ of individuals. They present themselves as the voice for the Evangelical church. 119 Their mission statement explains their position clearly as

―…standing for biblical truth…‖ 120

114 Stanley J. Grenz and Roger E. Olson, 20th Century Theology: God and the World in a Transitional Age (Downers Grove: Intervarsity Press, 1992) 293.

115 Olson ―Tensions‖ 82.

116 Olson ―Tensions‖ 78.

117 qtd. in Stanley J. Grenz and Roger E. Olson 20th Century 292.

118 Olson ―Tensions‖ 82.

119 National Association of Evangelicals (http://www.nae.net).

120 NAE (http://www.nae.net).

For Evangelicals, a personal communion with God is the center of their faith. Donald

Bloesch explains that ―The divine authority to Scripture will always be fundamental in

Evangelical theology, but the formal norm of faith must continually be in subordination to and interpreted by the material norm, the Gospel of reconciliation and redemption.‖121 Henry believed and advocated that man can reason through scripture and create an intimate relationship with God. He contended that God could reveal His plan for an individual‘s life through personal divine revelation. 122 It is the intimate, or personal, relationship with the Divine that distinguishes the Evangelical follower. Evangelicals believe that relationship begins with a confession of personal sinfulness and a need for atonement. It is for them a symbolic rebirth.

Furthermore, Randal Balmer explains that ―part of what defines an Evangelical, however, transcends mere doctrine or belief; in greater or lesser degree, Evangelicals place a good deal of emphasis on spiritual piety.‖123

The search for a closer walk with their savior drives Evangelicals to study, search, and seek truths to reveal a more perfect will of God. Some of the defining marks of an Evangelical are a dedication to ―biblicalism,‖ or a belief in a commitment to the authority of the Bible, conversionism, or a belief in and experience of the transforming work of God in justification and regeneration by grace through faith including repentance, and crucicentrism, or a belief in the atoning death of Jesus Christ as the only means of salvation and the focus of their teaching, and activism in evangelism and social ministry.124

121 Donald G. Bloesch, Essentials of Evangelical Theology (New York: Harper& Row, Publishers, 1978) 4.

122 qtd. in Bloesch ―Essentials‖ 295.

123 Randall Balmer, Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory: A Journey into the Evangelical Subculture in America (New York: Oxford University Press, 1993) xiv.

124 Olson ―Tensions‖ 79. For a more complete discussion of the Evangelical beliefs see David Begginton, Evangelicalism in Modern Britain: A History from the 1730s to the 1980s (London: Taylor and Francis, 1989). 37

Although Evangelicals are united on their unwavering regard for the inspiration of scripture, redemption and spiritual communion, there are also core beliefs that divide them deeply. The division can be described as two schools of thought: the conservative and the progressive. According to Olsen, progressive Evangelicals strive to reject a separatist fundamentalism and are critical of a narrow view of the gospels. They tend to see evangelicalism as ―an open-set, unbounded category with a strong center defined by the gospel of Jesus Christ, the authority of the Bible, salvation by grace through faith at conversion, and an emphasis on the cross of Jesus Christ as the only source of salvation.‖125 Although there might not seem to be a stark difference in the core issues of the progressive and the conservative Evangelical believer, the conservative Evangelicals believe there are additional specific issues that must be adhered to in their commitment to biblical inerrancy. Olsen explains: ―They [conservative Evangelicals] tend to oppose full equality of women with men in family life and ministry; they consider theology‘s constructive task finished and specialize in the critical tasks of theology.‖126 Women in the clergy and their role in the church was one of several issues that created a recent

―convulsion‖ in the Evangelical community. Furthermore, Olsen claims this subject divides the

Evangelical community more than any other: ―More than any other single issue, that of women‘s roles in home, church and society, challenge[s] evangelical thought.‖ 127 The two camps are divided between a traditional, or a conservative perspective, in which followers are asked to adhere to a strict reading of the Scriptures or a post fundamental view in which interpretation and a recreation of the Scriptures are necessary to understand their meaning in the current cultural

125 Olson ―Tensions‖ 78.

126 Olson ―Tensions‖ 78.

127 Olson ―Tensions‖ 81.

38 climate. The statement adopted by the 1995 General Conference of the Free Methodist Church of

North America illustrates the seriousness of this issue for the Evangelical church:

The General Conference of 1974 passed a resolution ―giving women equal

status with men in the ministry of the church.‖ However, outside the

denomination, the voices opposing women in ministry and limiting the

leadership roles of women in the local church have become more

assertive. Some of these voices are respected evangelical leaders… This is

confusing to many. 128

The debate regarding women‘s role in the public pulpit and the church in general continues on popular contemporary Evangelical web sites. Laura Sheahen, a writer for feemethodistchurch.org, interviewed Wayne Grudem, a prominent scholar, author and

Evangelical who denounces women in the public pulpit. In the interview Grudem commented on female evangelists, specifically Joyce Meyer, saying ―I still think that a woman who serves as a pastor, preaching to both men and women, is disobeying the word of God…there will be an erosion of trust in the Bible and obedience to the Bible.‖129 However, Tony Campolo, a leading

Evangelical scholar and writer, sets out a different interpretation of scripture on the same web site. He argues for including women in the Evangelical ministry, advocating that Jesus was a feminist and gave the women who walked with him the opportunity to preach. Campolo contends: ―Women have the same privileges and opportunities as men, given the New

Testament. Relegating women to second-class citizenship was abolished when Jesus died on the

128 ―Statement Adopted by the 1995 General Conference of the Free Methodist Church of North America,‖ freemethodistchurch.org.

129 qtd in Laura Sheahen, ―Women Pastors: Not the ‗Path to Blessing,‘‖ beliefnet.com. .

39 cross.‖ 130 Matt Costella reports that ―within the past 25 years, this issue [the role of women in the local Christian assemblies] has risen to a climax not only in several mainline Protestant and

Orthodox denominations but also in Evangelical churches as well.‖131

In an attempt to bridge the gap between the two camps, some Evangelical churches constructed ―complimentary roles‖ for their female members. This premise was built on the belief that women and men are spiritually equal, but have been given inherently different roles in their work in the church. Grundem, the former president of the Council on Biblical Manhood and

Womanhood, explains this complimentary position by pointing out that women have plenty of opportunities to serve the church and Christian ministry. He argues that ―Paul tells us that all the members of the body are needed…we are not talking about greatness or importance.‖132 The idea of separate but equal roles for men and women in the Evangelical church has been a popular one so that churches felt justified in making policies barring women from their pulpits. Olsen explains: ―Several evangelical denominations altered their statements of faith and bylaws to bar women from ministry… The debate became so acrimonious that evangelicals on both sides could hardly communicate with each other.‖ 133 However, regardless of the debate between the two camps, women persist in their attempt to find their public voice in the Evangelical community just as their sisters did before them.

Female Evangelists: Historical Context

130 qtd. in Laura Sheahen and Patton Dodd, Interview with Tony Campolo, ―Let the Women Preach,‖ beliefnet.com ..

131 Matt Costella, ―The Role of Women in the Local Church: Does God‘s Word allow a Woman to Serve as a Pastor in the Church? A Study in the Pastoral Epistles,‖ Foundation Magazine (July-August 2001) no pag.

132 Wayne Grudem, Countering the Claims of Evangelical Feminism: A Biblical Vision of Manhood and Womanhood in the Church (Multnomah Publishers Inc. 2006) qtd from beliefnet.com ―Which Church Roles should be Open to Women?‖

133 Olson ―Tensions‖ 81.

History gives meaning and significance to the contemporary since it is only by considering the past that we can better understand the present. Diane Helene Miller warns that to best understand a female speaker, the rhetorical critic must begin by

examining the context of social expectations and roles within which they

have spoken. Close reading alone cannot fully account for either the ways

women have been prevented from speaking, or the ways social

expectations shaped their words when they did speak, nor can this critical

approach attend to the surrounding discursive and non-discursive activities

that set the stage for a speech‘s reception.134

Bonnie J. Dow, a noted rhetorical and feminist scholar, argues that historical connections and contexts create contemporary opportunities for discourse. Moreover, she contends that ―all public address is governed by historical contingencies, responsive to situational and institutional demands, and subject to the limits of discourse in representing and altering the realities that audiences perceive.‖135 In other words, it is only by studying the historical background and the social context of the discourse, especially women‘s discourse, that one can appreciate the place from which the rhetor speaks. This is especially critical when studying a female speaker, and even more important when studying a rhetorical rarity, the female evangelist. Next I will give an historical account of those women who confronted the religious teachings that excluded women from the public pulpit. The obstacles faced by female preachers were overwhelming: public persecution, humiliation and even death. For this study, an historical account of women who

134 Diane Helene Miller, ―From One Voice A Chorus: Elizabeth Cady Stanton‘s 1860 Address to the New York State Legislature,‖ Women‘s Studies in Communication 22 (2 Fall 1999) 152-189. no pag.

135Bonnie J. Dow, ―Feminism, Cultural Studies, and Rhetorical Studies,‖ Quarterly Journal of Speech (February 1997) 94.

41 stepped into the public pulpit informs the critic and the reader of the social obstacles embedded in Joyce Meyer‘s public preaching.

Historically women were assigned the role of religious leader in the home. Karlyn Kohrs

Campbell notes that women were assigned the socially constructed role of spiritual minister to the family. The argument that women had a unique connection to the spiritual was never questioned. Reverend John Abbot argues: ―women‘s power lies in her gentleness, in her soft and affectionate voice, in her retiring delicacy, in her unobtrusive readiness to minister to suffering where found.‖136 In fact, it is the role of ―ministering angel,‖ Campbell explains, that narrowed, or limited, women‘s opportunities outside the home in the political and social conversations.

However, although women were afforded the right, and the obligation to conduct themselves as

―pious, pure, submissive and domestic,‖ she was to remain outside the sphere of spiritual leadership in social or religious settings outside the home.137

The religious teachings banning female preaching in the religious assembly spilled over into the political and social arenas and became the argument for silencing women in any assembly. Campbell explains that women who spoke for full suffrage emphasized women‘s natural piety and in many cases, ―While demanding personhood and their full rights as citizens, they extolled women‘s natural capacity for nurturance and spirituality.‖138 It was this distinction that, although it was considered a boost to the women‘s cause, only served to restrict it. The

136 qtd in Barbara Welter, Dimity Convictions: The American Women in the Nineteenth Century,(Athens: Ohio University Press, 1976) 77.

137 Karlyn Kohrs Campbell discusses the critical argument of women‘s piety as an argument in the struggle for women‘s rights in Man Cannot Speak for Her Volume 2 (Praeger: Westport, 1989) 10. For this argument she references Barbara Welter, Dimity Convictions: The American Woman in the Nineteenth Century (Athens: Ohio University Press 1976) 21 and Nancy F. Cott, The Bonds of Womanhood: ―Woman‘s Sphere‖ in New England, 1780-1835, (New Haven: Yale University Press) 120, 146-48, 170.

138 Karyln Kohrs Campbell, ―Femininity and Feminism: To Be or Not to Be a Woman,‖ Communication Quarterly, 31 (Spring 1983) 102.

42 argument that women were inherently spiritually superior was used frequently by religious groups to distinguish women‘s roles, but it also unwittingly gave support to those women who refused to keep silent in the pulpits.

But they did not keep silent. Michael W. Casey claims that when the first American female secular speakers emerged, they were stepping into an almost two-hundred-year-old tradition of female oratory in the ministry.139 However, it was not a tradition without challenges.

Many believed the women were disobeying a direct apostolic commandment to remain silent in the churches, and as a result, women who disagreed and believed they had the authority to speak faced public humiliation and persecution. Since, as was noted earlier, the goal of the Evangelical movement was, and continues to be, to bring a stricter adherence to the word of God; those who were openly rebellious to the doctrinal leaders were teaching and preaching biblical disobedience.

The most significant periods historically for female evangelists occurred during the First

Great Awakening in 1740 and the Second Great Awakening in 1845. These religious revolutions changed the way in which individuals viewed their relationship with God, with the hierarchy in the church, and the customs of worship. Talk of political independence sparked the idea of breaking away from what some considered religious tyranny as well. Religious leaders questioned and reconsidered their religious traditions, allowing for new biblical and doctrinal interpretations. The fight for independence meant economic hardship. The country was torn between a fear that the nation could not survive on its own, and trying to live under Great

Britain‘s oppressive restrictions. In order to survive, everyone had to contribute. Men and women worked side by side, relying on each other for financial and spiritual support. They

139 Casey ―The First Female‖ 23.

43 shared in the planting and harvesting, growing their food together and working inside and outside the home to support their families. It was natural that the role distinctions of support and supporter blurred. As the new nation expanded, women continued to work along side, or even in place of their husbands on the farms clearing land and planting crops.140 Role distinctions became arbitrary. Women took care of the chores that usually fell to men and men had to depend on women to keep the farms and towns running while they looked for work in the cities. Women gained new respect as men and women began to see each other as equal to their tasks.

Creating a strong and independent nation also encouraged people to reconsider or create their own the spiritual traditions. The small rural towns could not afford cathedrals or large meeting houses with established denominational assemblies, but each had to make its own way in finding its religious support. Therefore, people began to rely on their own revelations or scriptural interpretation for guidance rather than on learned denominational clergy. This opened up opportunities for women to take part in all aspects of the worship assembly. With newfound freedoms, people felt liberated to establish their own ordinances and interpretations based on their personal experiences and revelations. It seemed natural for women to speak in the worship assemblies, just as they had stood alongside their men in the fields.141 Catherine A. Brekus notes that ―For the first time in American history, large numbers of evangelical women tried to forge a

140 Patrick G. O‘Brien, ―Expansion of an American Revolutionary Ideal: Women Suffrage in Kansas,‖ Heritage of Kansas 10 (1977) 37. See also Catherin A. Brekus, Female Preaching in America: Strangers and Pilgrims: 1740-1845 (Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 1998).

141 for more discussion concerning what Catherine A. Brekus calls the ―democratization of American Christianity‖ see Catherin A. Brekus, Female Preaching in America: Strangers and Pilgrims: 1740-1845 (Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 1998) 11. Other works consulted concerning how democratization changed gender roles: Nathan O. Hatch, The Democratization of American Christianity (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1989), William G. McLoughlin, Revivals, Awakenings and Reform: An Essay in Religion and Social Change in America, 1607-1977 (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1978), Linda K. Kerber, Nancy F. Cott, Robert Gross, Lynn Hunt, Carrol Smith-Rosenberg, and Christine Stansell, ―Beyond Roles, Beyond Spheres: Thinking about Gender in the Early Republic,‖ William and Mary Quarterly 46 (July 1989) 565-585.

44 lasting tradition of female ministry. Ultimately they failed, but for a few brief years during the

1740s and 1750s, it almost seemed possible to imagine a church where women as well as men would be free to speak in public...‖142 Brekus explains that the liberation did not last long. New laws and regulations were quickly established for public order. Laws restricting and distinguishing roles in government and public assemblies also prohibited women from public exhorting and preaching.143 By the 1770‘s, Evangelical churches who once allowed women to speak from their pulpits no longer supported women preaching and exhorting.144

With the Second Great Awakening in the 1840‘s came economic instability. Once again the barriers between roles became less restrictive as women began to work and people turned to religion for encouragement and comfort. Women stepped up to the pulpit to give reassurance that

God still cared. Casey explains that ―From 1790 to 1840 among the Christian Movement,

Freewill Baptists, and the Methodists, hundreds of women, usually called ‗female laborers,‘ preached.‖145 Once again, just like during the First Great Awakening, distinctive social roles became unimportant, but also denominational boundaries began to blur as well. The Bill of

Rights secured individual religious freedom in all states; consequently citizens were no longer under the religious mandates of a government-sponsored church. Therefore, churches had to complete for followers, creating a new pluralistic religious marketplace and as a result,

142 Brekus Female Preaching 26.

143 qtd. in Brekus, Female Preaching 26-29. Harry S. Stout The New England Soul: Preaching and Religious Culture in Early New England (New York: Oxford University Press, 1986) 20. Stout explains: ―Nevertheless, women were absolutely excluded from holding positions of institutional power in the formal public of the church and the state. In contrast to modern American churches, which have no legal connection to the government, many colonial churches were established by law, and they worked hand-in-hand with the state to enforce religious conformity…With the power to collect state taxes for their support, the [churches] all prided themselves on being the guardians of public order.‖

144 Brekus Female Preaching 59.

145 Casey ―The First Female‖ 22.

45 opportunities opened up for women to participate in religious assemblies. However, since the

United States had no organized established national religion, religious groups became concerned that organized denominations were losing followers. Churches quickly realized they needed to distinguish their doctrines from each other and with the growing turmoil over the question of slavery; hierarchies became important to society and women moved to a lesser place in the religious assemblies.146 Brekus reports that ―Even more than the first Great Awakening, the revivals of the Second Great Awakening splintered American churches into competing sects that battled over the interpretation of the Scripture.‖147

One of the most divisive subjects among church leaders during the Second Great

Awakening in the Evangelical movement was the role of women in worship assemblies. At first it looked like the religious revival would open the pulpit to the female evangelist when, as

Brekus explains: ―for the first time in American history, large numbers of evangelical women spoke publicly in their churches, and for a few brief years, they seemed to stand on the verge of a new era of female religious leadership.‖148 However, as the idea of the emancipation of women became popular, and the suffragettes began their fight for social and political enfranchisement, religious leaders determined to suppress what appeared to be a tide of social unrest among women. Church leaders decided restrictions were necessary to control women, so within a decade most Evangelical churches in New England and the south worked to prevent women from testifying or witnessing, and drew sharper lines between the masculine and the feminine, the public and the private.149 In fact, opposition against the less restrictive religious groups who

146 Brekus Female Preaching 124-126.

147 Brekus Female Preaching 126.

148 Brekus Female Preaching 11.

149 Brekus Female Preaching 11. 46 allowed women to preach publicly became commonplace. Susan Zaeske reports that ―The

Pastoral Letter of the Ministers of Oneida Association, issued in 1827, declared that female prayer and exhortation was permitted only in groups solely composed of women.‖ Furthermore, the letter warned that female church members stepping outside their assigned religious roles in the church would result in ―a great calamity to the church.‖ 150

But women were determined be heard and by 1848 the fight for women‘s rights began.

Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lecretia Mott organized the Seneca Falls convention that started the suffrage movement. Although the suffragettes were best known for helping women secure the right to vote, the movement had a broader vision for women. The Declaration of Sentiments, penned at the first Women‘s Rights Convention in Seneca Falls by Mary Ann McClintock,

Lecretia Coffin Mott, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Martha Coffin Wright, was the foundational document for the suffrage cause. It outlined the resolutions upon which the movement was based. Modeled after the Declaration of Independence, it declared that women had natural rights and accused the government of purposely denying women their basic human rights, among them the right to speak from the religious public pulpit. The Declaration of Sentiments charged: ―He allows her in Church, as well as State, but a subordinate position, claiming Apostolic authority for her exclusion from the ministry, and with some exceptions, from the public participation in the affairs of the Church.‖ 151 The indictment stood as a statement against the oldest and most sacred tradition, the church.

150 Susan Zaeske, ―The ‗Promiscuous Audience‘ Controversy and the Emergence of the Early Woman‘s Rights Movement,‖ Quarterly Journal of Speech 81 (1995) 195-196.

151 Campbell Man Cannot 36.

The public backlash against the suffrage movement added fuel to the argument against female evangelists. The popularity Sarah and Angelina Grimke`, female Quaker speakers for the abolitionist cause, prompted religious groups to adopt strict policies against female evangelists.152 Beverly A. Zink-Sawyer reports that the General Association of Massachusetts

(Orthodox) Clergymen issued a ―‘Pastoral Letter‘ to all Congregational churches denouncing the

Grimke`s and all public speaking and teaching by women.‖ 153 By the 1840s and 1850s evangelical churches that once encouraged women to speak were asking women to undertake activities that were more feminine, such as working in orphanages or busying themselves with their family obligations, but they were not allowed to speak in public.154 Brekus explains that although large crowds would gather to hear women preach, it was often out of curiosity or outrage. Many clergy locked them out of assembly houses, accused them of being ―jezebels or prostitutes‖ or threatened to ―tar and feather them.‖155 Brekus again reports that ―conservative critics claimed that women were too delicate and modest to allow men to stare at them in public, especially in the ‗masculine‘ space of the public pulpit, [and] they were shocked by women

[evangelists]…comparing them to shameless actresses and prostitutes.‖156 The fear for many religious groups was that if women were allowed to speak in public they would become seducers and sway the audience toward promiscuity. To ward off such heresy, some religious groups were determined to make examples out of women who disregarded church teachings restricting

152 Beverly A. Zink-Sawyer, ―From Preachers to Suffragists: Enlisting the Early Movement for Women‘s Rights,‖ American Transcendental Quarterly, 14.3 (September 2000) 195.

153 Zink-Sawyer ―From Preachers‖ 195.

154 Brekus ―Harriet Livermore‖ 400.

155 Brekus Female Preaching 3.

156 Brekus Female Preaching 15.

48 women from preaching publicly. Brekus reports that ―Deborah Wilson was forced to walk half- clothed through the streets pulling a garbage cart, a constable lashing her from behind.‖157 Many female evangelists were labeled as ―crazy‖ or ―lunatic‖ for speaking, or preaching in public.158

Unfortunately the persecution did not end there. Once started, it became common for women to suffer public punishment for preaching. For example, Kathryn Koehler reports that

Sarah Keayne was excommunicated from the Boston Church in 1646 for ―prophesying in mixed assemblies.‖159 Brekus says Margaret Meuse Clay of Virginia, a female evangelist with a reputation as an unusually gifted speaker ―barely escaped public whipping in the mid -1760s for

‗unlicensed preaching.‘‖160 Brekus explains that ―Although Anne Hutchinson never described herself as a minister, she took on a clerical role by holding large religious meetings in her home commenting on the doctrines of the Puritan church.‖ Labeled the ―American Jezebel,‖

Hutchinson was punished for sedition for claiming to have immediate revelation.161 Casey reports that Hutchinson was banished to Rhode Island in 1683 for daring to preach in public.162

Anne Eaton was outspoken regarding a church doctrine and was excommunicated from her church in 1644 along with Sarah Keayne and Lady Deborah Moody.163 David Lovejoy gives the

157 Brekus Female Preaching 30.

158 Brekus ―Harriet Livermore‖ 402.

159 Lyle Koehler, A Search for Power: The ―Weaker Sex‖ in Seventeenth Century New England, (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1980) 70.

160 Brekus Female Preaching 63.

161 Brekus Female Preaching 31-32.

162 Casey ―The First Female‖ 5.

163 Brekus Female Preaching 32.

49 account of Mary Dyer, who preached for twenty-two years until the Boston authorities hanged her and other Quaker preachers in 1661 for expressing their religious beliefs publicly.164

Even though women were banned from speaking publicly, many female evangelists were more popular than male preachers.165 These women viewed the large following as a sign that

God‘s blessings were on them as genuinely inspired women of God.166 Brekus reports that

―Olive Maria Rice estimated that she had lectured to crowds of ‗1000‘ to ‗1400‘ people and

Emily Clemons, Mary Seymour, and Lucy Maria Hersey reportedly preached to more than 4,000 at a camp meeting.‖ Murdoch cites Catherine Booth as ―one of the most popular female ministers in the Salvation Army at a time when women ‗were uncommon in the mid-nineteenth century.‖167 Abigail Roberts accused of subverting Christianity, was also one of the most popular Christian Connection preachers in New York and New Jersey. She drew ―multitudes‖ of listeners and would frequently hold her meetings outdoors to accommodate the crowds.168

Brekus notes Sarah Higgins preached to ―overflowing crowds.‖169 Wayne Warner reports that

Edith Mae Pennington ―could attract the crowds and draw the net for conversions….Many

Pentecostal churches really didn‘t get a good start until Edith Mae Pennington visited their cities.‖170 Warner notes that Carrie Judd Montgomery, Emma Whittmore, Elizabeth Sisson and

164 David Lovejoy, Religious Enthusiasm in the New World: Heresy in Revolution, (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1985) 127-129.

165 Many female evangelists who were rejected by their denominational groups found their way to the Pentecostal church where they discovered their rhetorical style was already used by male and female evangelists.

166 Brekus Female Preaching 319.

167 Murdoch ―Female‖ 348.

168 Brekus Female Preaching 196.

169 Brekus Female Preaching 321

170 Wayne Warner, ―From the Footlights to the Light of the Cross: A Story of Evangelist Edith Mae Pennington,‖ AG Heritage (Summer-Fall 2005) 36. 50

Maria Woodworth-Etter were so popular that they were reported to hold services for up to 8,000- seat audiences.171 Stephen J. Pullum claimed that Aimee Semple McPherson crossed the country

―eight or nine times, holding close to forty revivals in the largest cities‖ before becoming the first evangelist to own and operate her own radio station in 1924.172 In 1944, Time referred to

McPherson as ―the most spectacular U.S. evangelist since Billy Sunday.‖173 Ebling concluded that McPherson was known for her ―simple doctrine to an unsophisticated audience in a direct and simple manner.‖174 McPherson, a member of the hall of fame of evangelists at Wheaton

College, was described as one of the ―most effective women‘s preachers of the twentieth century.‖175 David Harrell said that upon McPherson‘s death, American Pentecostalism had lost its most popular public figure.176 Katherine Leisering reports that Kathryn Kuhlman was

―dynamic, forceful, energetic and magnetic.‖177 But perhaps the highest compliment came from fellow evangelist Oral Roberts. At Kuhlman‘s funeral he praised her as ―the greatest evangelist in the ministry of God‘s miracle power in my lifetime.‖178

171 Barbara Cavaness, ―Spiritual Chain Reactions women Used of God,‖ AG Heritage (Winter 2005-06) 24.

172 Stephen J. Pullum, ―Sisters of the Spirit: The Rhetorical Methods of the Female Faith Healers Aimee Semple McPherson, Kathryn Kuhlman, and Gloria Copeland,‖ The Journal of Communication and Religion 16 (2 September 1993) 113.

173 qtd. in Billie Cheney Speech, ―Women Evangelist Draws 8,000 Here,‖ Atlanta Journal (October 5, 1973) from Time (October 9, 1944) 58, 60.

174 Harry Ebling, ―Aimee S. McPherson: Evangelist of the City,‖ Western Speech, 21 (Summer 1957) 155.

175 Ebling ―Amee S. McPherson‖153.

176 David Edwin Harrell, All Things are Possible: The Healing and Charismatic Revivals in Modern America, (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1975).

177 Katherine Leisering, ―An Historical and Critical Study of the Pittsburgh Preaching Career of Katherine Kuhlman,‖ Ohio University DAI 42 (1982) 2365.

178 qtd. in Pullum ―Sisters‖ 115.

Female evangelists exemplified the redemptive nature of the religious experience in keeping with the Evangelical doctrine. Their personal confessions of living through hardships and tribulations were deeply rooted in Evangelical ideals. Their personal testimonies of their hardships resonated with their listeners. Ebling contends Amee Semple McPherson‘s success came from linking ―various Biblical and contemporary episodes to create a meaningful story.‖179

Known for confessing her personal struggles, McPherson told her audiences that she was a

―farmer‘s daughter‖ raised on ―oatmeal porridge‖ and walked five miles to school each day.

Gloria Copeland told stories of cooking dinner in a coffee pot and an electric skillet while storing food in a box on the front porch to keep it cold.180 Anna B. Lock testified: ―I became a human derelict when 14 years of age and spent 26 years among harlots, dope fiends, murderers and drunkards. I was finally saved…through the power of the blood of Jesus Christ.‖ 181 Their stories of abandonment pain, and despair giving way to hope and salvation were stories they believed would help others to find their way.

It was women‘s unconventional rhetorical style that appealed to Christians who had become disillusioned with conventional worship assemblies. During the Great Awakenings, as discussed earlier, people flocked to the worship assemblies for encouragement and support, and as a result the Evangelical movement thrived. Christian Connection ministers welcomed Rebecca

Miller because they were convinced that she had been genuinely inspired by God. Even though she was young, she was a surprisingly charismatic preacher who often made her audience swoon

179 found in Janice Schuetz, ―Storytelling and Preaching: A Case Study of Aimee Semple McPherson,‖ Religious Communication Today 9 (September 1986) 34.

180 found in Pullum ―Sisters‖ 117.

181 Anna B. Lock, ―From the Underworld to the Upperworld: The Former Derelict Woman Who Became an A/G Evangelist,‖ A/G Heritage (Summer 1994) 19.

52 or cry out.182 Brekus notes that ―instead of speaking on general, abstract themes, they captivated their audiences by describing their own personal doubts and struggles.‖183 Christians found comfort and encouragement from female evangelist like Aimee Semple McPherson, Kathryn

Kuhlman and Gloria Copeland.184 Female evangelists preached their gospel by relating their humble beginnings and stories of their ordinary and often sinful lives before they began their ministries. For example, Kathryn Kuhlman confessed:

I know better than anyone else where I come from -- a little crossroads

town in Missouri with a population of twelve hundred people. I had

nothing. I was born without talent. [I] said to God, if you can take nothing

and use it then here is nothing. Take it.185

She told her listeners that she married her husband at nineteen and slept on a ―rented roll-away bed that sagged in the middle‖ and did her ―cooking in a coffee pot and an electric skillet.‖186

Personal stories of their struggles and hardships built a rapport with the audience and reminded listeners that the women had endured the same kinds of problem as they did. Brekus notes:

―Even though female preachers were exceptional women, most were relatively poor and uneducated, and they shared many of the same values as the countless numbers of anonymous women who sat in the church pews every Sunday.‖187

182 Brekus Female Preaching 142. Christian Connection is described as a sect, not a denomination which were ―small, voluntary associations that prized personal religious experience and lay authority over formal creeds or an educated clergy.‖ in Brekus 132.

183 Brekus Female Preaching 200.

184 Pullum ―Sisters‖ 111.

185 qtd. in Pullum ―Sisters‖117.

186 qtd. in Pullum ―Sisters‖ 117.

187 Brekus Female Preaching 7.

Brekus admits that ―the evidence is thin‖ and only a few clues survived explaining the specifics of women‘s sermons, but what is known is that their ―manner of speaking made them appear particularly deviant.‖188 Barbara Elson Lacey argues that women believed that extemporaneous speech, dramatic and woven with biblical texts, had the best application to the audience. Ebling agrees explaining the differences between Amee Semple McPherson and

Jonathan Edwards, her precursor and a popular male evangelist: ―McPherson‘s fundamentalism was preached purposefully with a positive approach. Her main concern was the enticement of feelings of sympathy, joy, happiness, hope, and security in her audiences. Unlike Jonathan

Edwards, she did not use an appeal to fear as pathetic support.‖189 The difference was also evident in the dramatic way in which they presented their messages, including stories and examples from their personal lives. Women were audience-focused, and their listeners appreciated the fresh perspective. Brekus stresses: ―In general, women‘s descriptions of their sufferings tended to be more detailed and more intimate than men‘s.‖190 Casey reports that

―common people, especially women, flocked to this new primitivist rhetoric. [They] found the rational and literate preaching of the established clergy boring, repetitious, and insipid.‖191

Male and female evangelists also described their relationship with God differently.

Brekus explains: ―Female converts such as Sarah Butler, Elizabeth Marshall, Ester Willi[a]ms, and Sarah Eveleth all described how they were ‗bro‘t to see‘ their sinfulness, while men…described what they ‗saw.‖192 Male evangelists presented themselves as a pure authority,

188 Brekus Female Preaching 55.

189 Ebling ―Amee S. McPherson‖ 155.

190 Brekus Female Preaching 177.

191 Casey ―The First Female‖ 23.

192 Brekus Female Preaching 39. 54 while women presented their personal flaws and their helplessness in their discourse portraying themselves ―as weak, unworthy women who had been miraculously ‗sanctified and ordained‘ by the grace of God.‖193 Women presented themselves as helpless and needing of salvation while men discussed their experiences as less emotional and more rational. Interestingly, a few male evangelists realized the empathy female evangelists created with their audience and the respect and admiration they received from the public moving some of them to consider the more feminine view. Mary Reed was known to ―instruct‖ her pastor, Nathaniel Gilman, who in his sermons, followed her instructions to the letter, even deciding what passages of Scripture he should use in his sermons.194

Female evangelists viewed their public preaching as their sacrifice to God by enduring constant persecution for their public proclamation of God‘s word. Brekus observes that they saw it in the same way as ―Christ‘s sacrifice had been an act of strength as well as submission; they argued that preaching was a cross that both burdened and freed them.‖195 Furthermore, they carried their persecution like a badge of honor. 196 Brekus reports: ―[Bathsheba]

Kingsley…claimed to have received direct revelations from God‖ and communicated with God through visions and dreams. 197 Casey reports that Fanny Newell said: ―Whatever may be said against a female speaking, or praying in public, I care not; for when I feel confident that the Lord calls me to speak, I dare not refuse.‖198 For them, their commitment to their God meant that

193 Brekus Female Preaching 174.

194 Brekus Female Preaching 55.

195 Brekus Female Preaching 192.

196 Casey ―The First Female‖ 2.

197 Brekus Female Preaching 25, 41.

198 qtd. in Casey ―The First Female‖ 33. 55

―many of these women were belittled as eccentric or crazy,‖ but they dared not turn their backs on what they saw was a calling ―to preach the gospel as his ‗laborers in the harvest.‘‖199 Casey explains that these female evangelists claimed ―the higher authority of the Holy Spirit [and] rejected any male who tried to silence them.‖200 Brekus notes that the women evangelists were described by some Evangelicals ―not only as ‗instruments of God who had transcended their gender, but as ‗Mothers in Israel‘ and ‗Sisters in Christ‘ who had been divinely inspired to preach the gospel. Influenced by a new ideology of republican motherhood, they celebrated women‘s natural virtue and morality in the family of God.‖201

Female evangelists saw themselves as the mouthpiece for God. They believed the purest form of preaching came from an intimate relationship that invited God to speak through them.

Since a formal education was not an option for them-- unlike the majority of men who were formally trained in the rhetorical arts-- female evangelists relied on their conviction that they were called from God directly, and so therefore trusted God to inspire their messages. Barbara

Elson explains: ―female preachers opposed classical rhetoric as part of the male elite domain.

Men were allowed access to classical rhetoric instruction through the traditional system for preachers in colleges and seminaries where women were banned.‖202 Pullum also argues that female evangelists appealed to their audiences because of their dynamic personalities and stage presence.203 However, those more familiar and comfortable with traditional conservative

199 Mary Beth Norton, Founding Mothers and Fathers: Gendered Power and the Forming of American Society (New York: Oxford University Press, 1970) 24.

200 Casey ―The First Female‖ 14.

201 Brekus Female Preaching 15.

202 Barbara Elson Lacey, ―Women in the Great Awakening in Connecticut.‖ Diss. Clark U. 1982: 3.

203 Pullum ―Sisters of the Spirit‖ 121.

56 presentations were shocked with the emotional and energetic sermons the women presented.

Audiences were suspicious of a more emotional style. Brekus explains:

female preachers were shunned as enthusiasts and forced out of the pulpit

because of the growing commitment to clerical education. Unlike men,

they lacked institutional authority, and they had been allowed to preach

only because individual clergymen accepted their claims to divine

inspiration. By the 1830s and 1840s, however, most clerical leaders no

longer believed that being called was sufficient preparation for the

ministry, and they sternly warned their congregations not to put their faith

in dreams, visions, or impressions that supposedly had been sent by God.

Instead of welcoming female preachers into the pulpit, they disdained

them as an embarrassing reminder of their anti-intellectual, visionary

past.204

However, since they believed they were called, and divinely inspired, they would not, or could not contain themselves, and therefore, were determined to speak.

Many tried for years to refuse the ―call‖ to speak publicly, but were compelled in the end to proclaim their religion publicly. Therefore, Brekus claims, they worked to transform traditional Christianity to counter church doctrine.205 Brekus also notes that women gave voice to an alternative vision—a vision that, ironically linked Evangelicalism to feminism.206 Most female evangelists belonged to the Evangelical movement and although they insisted on a strict adherence to the biblical texts, they spoke of a revolutionary interpretation when it came to

204 Brekus Female Preaching 288.

205 Casey ―The First‖ 13.

206 Brekus ―Harriet Livermore‖ 389.

57 women. For many female preachers it was a difficult task. Casey reports that ―All of these women pushed for liberation of women and grounded their ‗feminism‘ in their primitivistic

Christianity.‖207 Brekus notes Harriet Livermore‘s struggle with her faith in biblical inerrancy and her commitment to female spiritual equality. 208 Brekus explains further:

Inspired by their religious faith, women such as Eleanor Knight, Sara

Hedges, and Clarissa Danforth challenged proscriptions against female

evangelism by insisting that they had been ―called‖ to preach by God

himself. Few were as eccentric or as flamboyant as Livermore, but most

shared her commitment to ―biblical feminism‖: they based their claims to

female equality on the grounds of scriptural revelation, not natural

rights.209

Female evangelists claimed they receive their authority from God alone saying: ―He had given them an extraordinary call that could not be refused.‖210 This was not surprising since women were denied ―earthly‖ authority; therefore, the only way to proclaim their religion would be to claim divine revelation. Brekus explains that ―[Jemima] Wilkinson proclaimed that God himself had inspired her to preach….she compensated for her exclusion from the ‗masculine‘ authority of ordination by claiming the ‗feminine‘ authority of divine revelation.‖211 Casey says they created a public pulpit for themselves:

207 Casey ―The First‖ 14.

208 Brekus ―Harriet‖ 390.

209 Brekus ―Harriet ‖ 389.

210 Brekus Female Preaching 185.

211 Brekus Female Preaching 82.

First, female preachers created their authority to speak by taking the role

of prophet who received authority to speak from God, not man. Second,

female preachers defended their right to speak from the Bible using

biblical precedents of women leaders and speakers. Third, they attacked

the oppressive practices of patriarchy and racism. Fourth, these female

preachers (using the prophetic role) helped established a vernacular

preaching emphasizing orality in contrast to literate preaching rooted in

classical rhetoric…the male elite domain.‖ 212

There was no higher authority for interpretation of scripture. Casey continues to explain that these women believed they were restoring the apostolic church by preaching directly from God as was done in the first century church. They argued that theirs was the only authority for preaching, counter to the male evangelists who studied scripture for inspiration, practiced their sermons, and used their rhetorical training to craft their presentations.213

The persecution and social criticism women endured when preaching may seem appropriate considering the time period, but even though women have since been given the legal right to speak publicly, they are typically denied the public pulpit especially in the Evangelical worship.

Conclusion

While the Evangelical community continues to debate the biblical authority for female preachers, Costella reports that the numbers of women evangelists are growing even in conservative evangelical churches. Costella explains: ―Not only have denominations and local

212 Casey ―The First‖ 2.

213 Casey ―The First‖ 5.

59 churches advanced the cause of women clergy, but notable religious figures have done their part to popularize this trend as well. Anne Graham Lotz, daughter of evangelist Billy Graham, is now one of the most popular woman preachers in the world. She attributes her father‘s about-face on the stance of women in the ministry when they heard her preach. She says ―they just backed off and could see that God had called me.‖214 Adair T. Lummis and Paula D. Nesbitt contend that the culture is changing. They report: ―Clergy women are becoming a more accepted presence.‖215 Costella asserts that the numbers of women committing themselves to preaching is growing, not only ―within liberal denominations in the United States but also within Evangelical and conservative churches and denominations as well.‖216

However, the battle still rages in churches all across the country as to the legitimacy of female evangelists. In 2006 The Christian Century noted that ―approximately 1,600 women in the U.S. moderate-to progressive Baptist groups have been ordained to the ministry‖ but ―fewer than 10 percent of the 1,600 are in pastoral posts.‖217 Olson, Crawford and Guth explain that ―the de facto minority status of women in the ministry is exacerbated by long-standing religious norms about appropriate gender roles.‖218 John Briggs reports that in the 1980‘s the situation had not improved much. He noted: ―There are still many churches who, in seeking a minister, either stipulate ‗not a woman‘ or who, when offered a list of names including a woman, will decide not

214 Costella ―The Role of Women‖ no pag.

215 Adair T. Lummis and Paula D. Nesbit ―Women Clergy Research and the Sociology of Religion.‖ Sociology of Religion 61 (4 Winter 2000) 452.

216 Costella ―The Role of Women‖ no pag.

217 ―Women‘s Ordination in Baptist Churches,‖ The Christian Century 123 (15 July 25, 2006) 13.

218 Laura R. Olson, Sue S. Crawford, James L. Guth, ―Changing Issues Agendas of Women Clergy,‖ Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 39 (2 June 2000) 142.

60 to consider her on the ground of her sex. Other churches…will not have a woman in the pulpit at all.‖

The conflict regarding the role of women in the church has been a divisive one for the

Evangelical community. As a result, comprehensive histories about these women who challenged the pulpit are absent. Elizabeth Elkin Grammar argues the reason for the lost records is because ―the role of women preachers was purposefully forgotten as once-radical sects became conservative denominations, and because most women preachers were neither licensed nor ordained and were often entirely unaffiliated, [therefore] it has been difficult for historians to identify with them, let alone document their activities.‖219 Brekus agrees, noting that women are written out of religious history. However, she also argues that merely documenting the stories and histories of noted women evangelists is not enough. Likewise, Nathan O. Hatch writes: ―The effort to conceptualize women‘s history as a collection of ‗missing facts and views‘ to be incorporated into the empty spaces of traditional history is too limited, even fallacious.‖220

Collecting the stories of female evangelists calls attention to the fact that they existed, but a larger, more important issue is how and what they contributed to the religious communities.

Their messages and the rhetorical strategies they used were unique to their feminine position that ultimately changed how audiences thought about their worship and their relationship with their

God. Although many stories of women who captivated their audiences from the pulpit have been lost, the impact women had on the religious community cannot be denied both historically and today. It should be noted that the Evangelical community has opened its doors to women in general, but their voices still remain noticeably rare from the public pulpit.

219 Elizabeth Elkin Grammer, Some Wild Visions: Autobiographies by Female Itinerate Evangelists in Nineteenth-Century America (New York: Oxford University Press 2003) 8.

220 Nathan O. Hatch, The Democratization of American Christianity (New Haven: Yale University, 1989) 9.

The battle women faced to speak to their church assemblies would be overwhelming for any public speaker, yet the women discussed, among others not mentioned, were able to win over their audiences by the thousands, convincing them to listen despite dominant doctrinal positions regarding women preachers. The most difficult challenge faced by these female evangelists was to convince others to give them a chance; to listen. There are a number of ways that a speaker might engage an audience, however, these women chose a rhetorical posture that was uniquely feminine, different from their male contemporaries, and that was the risk. In the next chapter I will explore this difference in more detail. I will outline and discuss the distinctions and characteristics of the feminine style and the feminine perspective, and how it has been employed by speakers facing their own unique rhetorical obstacles.

Chapter 3

The Feminine Style

A man came up to the rector after one service when I preached what I

thought was an adequate sermon. ―These women are so dramatic. They

shouldn‘t be gesturing like that from the pulpit.‖ That made him

uncomfortable because usually the men would put their hands on the

pulpit and ―tell us the way it was.‖ I think my style was a departure. You

know what that‘s like, that kind of looking to see if you are good as

measured by certain standards and not realizing that it‘s possible to be

good by being oneself. That‘s really what we‘ve been up against for a long

time: the need to be competent and the need to be able to do what they do

in order to prove ourselves to the world.221

Women talk frequently about feeling inadequate or incompetent when they discuss their public speaking experiences.222 In the case of the young woman in the story above, her rector was ―embarrassed to the point of urging her to visit a speech teacher regularly.‖ 223 The rhetorical obstacles women face when addressing public audiences are unparalleled. Foss and Foss argue that when women are heard, they are ―interpreted within male frameworks or deliberately are distorted in order to preserve those frameworks and the power embedded in them.‖224 Carole Spitzack and Kathryn Carter argue:

221 Virginia Purvis-Smith, ―Gender and the Aesthetic of Preaching,‖ Journal of Women and Religion 11 (Winter 1992) 76.

222 see Foss Women Speak. It should be noted that Foss and Foss focus on women‘s discourse outside the public arena. They discuss diverse ways of communicating that are unique to the female, or muted, perspective including group talks, poetry and art. Their book is concerned with traditional notions of rhetoric from a patriarchal perspective and supports revising that view to include a more feminine notion of rhetoric, one that is less focused on persuasion, and something they believe is inherently focused on power.

223 Purvis-Smith ―Gender‖ 76.

224 Foss Women Speak 1.

The devaluation of women‘s communication rarely evolves by way of

explicit sanctions against female participation. Rather, the logic that

informs dominant world views assumes a basis in neutrality, providing

claims of human truths which, in fact, reflect the interests and predispositions of

privileged groups---namely men.225

Women have historically been excluded from public arenas such as politics and religion and as a result, their discourse is often perceived as inherently unusual or different and therefore considered less- than or sub-par. However, Karlyn Kohrs Campbell, a noted rhetorical scholar, identified a unique style in women‘s discourse that arose out of the female experience. Campbell recognized this rhetorical style, what she calls a feminine style, as the key to women successfully overcoming cultural stereotypes and preconceptions of inferiority in the public arena. One of the purposes of this dissertation is to contribute to the study of the feminine style as a legitimate rhetorical framework and to extend the rhetorical application and implications of the feminine style as a framework for a feminine perspective. Toward that end, in this chapter I will justify using the feminine style as a rhetorical framework for feminine discourse, discuss in depth the hallmarks of the feminine style, establish the feminine style as a product of social norms, outline the distinctions of masculine style in contrast to a feminine style, and finally give examples of how the feminine style has been used to engage audiences in a variety of contexts.

Justification for Using the Feminine Style

Some feminist scholars claim that historically women‘s voices have been excluded, or discounted, from serious rhetorical study. They argue that the absence of women from public speaking texts and rhetorical consideration supports a hegemonic position that male speech is inherently more significant. 226 Dow explains that ―‗feminine‘ rhetoric, beginning with Plato is disparaged in the same

225 Spitzack ―Women in Communication‖ 408. Eemphasis in original

226 See Karlyn Kohrs Campbell, ―The Communication Classroom: A Chilly Climate for Women?‖ Journal of the Association for Communication Administration 51, (1 1985) 68-72; Karlyn Kohrs Campbell, Man Cannot Speak for Her volume 1 (Westport: Praeger, 1989); Karlyn Kohrs Campbell, Women Public Speakers in the United States, 1925-1993 (Westport: Greenwood Press, 1994); Karen A Foss and Sonja K. Foss, Women Speak: The 64 fashion as ‗cookery.‘ The exclusion of female rhetors from the public address canon and the general disparagement of female speech constitute additional obstacles for feminist rhetoricians.‖227 Foss and

Foss agree that women have been excluded and attempt to explain why when they outline assumptions they believe serve as the critical criteria for studying public address texts: ―significant communicators are male,‖ and ―Suitable frameworks for assessing communication are derived from male perspectives.‖228

Therefore, excluding women from rhetorical discussion is entrenched in rhetorical history and as a result, feminine discourse has been dismissed out of hand. Foss and Foss believe the reason that ―women‘s communication tends to be excluded from consideration‖ is on the basis that it is different from a masculine style.229 Moreover, Spitzack and Carter agree, saying that they believe the problem is rooted in the presumption that women‘s speech is different from a masculine style and is therefore substandard.

They explain this position by saying that: ―So long as women‘s speaking is judged according to criteria that exclude women, it will be deemed inconsequential, specialized, or lacking in persuasive appeal.‖230

The standard for good speechmaking has been a masculine paradigm in which women do not always participate. However, Shawn Perry-Giles and Trevor Perry-Giles emphasize that ―Masculinity is a social construction.‖231 These arbitrary social constructions, shaped from the dominant hegemonic paradigm reinforce a masculine model of leadership.232 Therefore, critical focus on male, or masculine, rhetors in

Eloquence of Women‘s Lives (Waveland Press, 1991); Wil A. Linkugel, ―The Rhetoric of American Feminism,‖ Speech Teacher, 23 (2 March) 1974; Molly Meijer Wertheimer, Ed. Listening to Their Voices: The Rhetorical Activities of Historical Women (Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1997). These are only a few articles and texts that discuss the absence of women‘s voices in the scholarly discussion of significant speakers or social movement icons.

227 Bonnie J. Dow, ―Feminism, Cultural Studies, and Rhetorical Studies,‖ Quarterly Journal of Speech 83 (1997) 102.

228 Foss Women Speak 2.

229 Foss Women Speak 17.

230 Spitzack ―Women‖ 406.

231 Parry-Giles ―Gendered‖ 342. Emphasis in original.

232 Perry-Giles ―Gendered Politics‖ 342-343.

65 traditionally male-dominated institutions reinforces the hegemonic positions of those institutions, making the female voice drastically different.

Women are faced with a rhetorical dilemma that they cannot win. Foss and Foss explain that

―women‘s discourse is devalued because it is attached to the private sphere, which has assumed negative connotations because of its connection to women‘s traditional roles. Men‘s operation in the public sphere is seen as superior.‖233 But, when a female public speaker steps outside the private sphere and assumes a male persona, she is rejected for not being feminine. Campbell, once again, argues that audiences may have difficulty accepting the female rhetor because she is perceived to be in ―violation of the female role,‖ presuming qualities of self-reliance and independence, characteristics perceived as being at odds with the concept of womanhood.234 Women‘s traditional roles, those most closely connected with the home, isolate women from public participation and therefore place them in contrast to the dominant masculine speaking style.235 Campbell asserts that this attitude is woven into the cultural perception of the way people hear women speak. She states that ―women were deemed ill-suited to the role of rhetor historically, and when they performed well in that role, they were seen as ‗unsexed,‘ that is, as behaving in masculine ways.‖236 Blankenship and Robson report that today‘s women, specifically those in the public arena, ―face a series of double binds that are deeply entrenched in a set of gender stereotypes of what ‗real men‘ and ‗real women‘ are. What may be ‗forcefulness‘ in a man‘s speech becomes ‗stridency‘ in a woman‘s, and so forth.‖237 Nevertheless, Foss and Foss contend that the traditional masculine

233 Foss Women Speak 14.

234 qtd. in Phyllis M. Japp, ―Esther or Isaiah? The Abolitionist-Feminist Rhetoric of Angelina Grimke,‖ Quarterly Journal of Speech 71 (1985) 344.

235 Foss Women Speak 14. Charis Kramarae claims that the difference in public perceptions of men and women are derived from their traditional, socially assigned roles. Women are given roles outside the public arena and are therefore not heard in public conversations, making women‘s speech abnormal or deviant from the more familiar male style. For more about this discussion see Charis Kramarae, ―Feminist Theories in Communication,‖ in the International Encyclopedia of Communications volume 2, ed. Erik Barnouw (New York: Oxford University Press) 159.

236 Campbell ―Gender‖ 479.

237 Blankenship ―A ―Feminine‖ 354. 66 speaking style is not a ―native‖ form of expression for women; and therefore they must choose between employing the dominant masculine style and risk being perceived as inappropriate and feeling inadequate or speaking from a feminine style and risking public humiliation, or remaining silent. 238 Consequently women are excluded from consideration because they do not fit within rhetorical boundaries of good speechmaking.

Even though women do not always conform to the masculine rhetorical standard, women are evaluated using masculine style as the standard for successful discourse. Foss and Foss argue that a different framework, a feminist framework is more appropriate for assessing women‘s communication than frameworks grounded in a masculine paradigm. They contend that ―gender is a critical component of human social life; it serves as a lens through which all experience is filtered.‖239 Campbell extends this argument further by making a distinction between conventional definitions of persuasion and a feminine position when she says that the traditional views of discourse ―do not satisfactory account for the rhetoric of women‘s liberation.‖ She explains further that ―Rhetoric is usually defined as dealing with public issues, structural analyses and social action, yet women‘s liberation emphasizes acts concerned with personal exigencies and private, concrete experience, and its goal is frequently limited to particular autonomous action by individuals.‖240 Foss and Foss contend that ―Male standards have been used to assess women‘s communication performance and effectiveness, even when such standards are inappropriate for analyzing their communication.‖241 Moreover, Campbell contends that rhetorical genres are also social constructions since they help audiences know appropriate expectations for speakers and

―what kinds of symbolic action are suitable. Like the social roles implied by gender, genres frame symbolic behavior in ways that enable audiences to understand its meaning and to know what kinds of

238 Foss Women Speak 17.

239 Foss Women Speak 20.

240 Karlyn Kohrs Campbell, ―The Rhetoric of Women‘s Liberation: An Oxymoron,‖ Quarterly Journal of Speech 78 (1973) 84-85.

241 Foss Women Speak 20.

67 action to expect and what sorts of responses are appropriate.‖242 Therefore, a traditional, or masculine standard, will always measure the feminine speaker as inadequate, or falling short of meeting the expectations for good discourse.

However, some argue, and rightly so, that attitudes have changed and women have equal opportunity; they are able to leave the laundry room for the board room and therefore a feminine framework is unnecessary. Women are elected to congress and serve as CEOs of large domestic and global corporations, but historical and cultural traditions restricting women‘s place in and outside the home continue to influence public perceptions of appropriate roles for women‘s contemporary public discourse. Campbell explains that although women may be eloquent or capable speakers, ―the qualities associated with successful rhetorical action—cogent argument, expertise, and skill in rebuttal are qualities associated with masculinity, whereas defects in rhetorical presentation sentimentality, weak logic, and timidity—are traits that have stereotypically been linked to femininity.‖ 243 Therefore, the obvious option for women is to speak like men. Spitzack and Carter conclude that ―if women can be taught to communicate like men, they will become equally competent.‖ However, they explain further that ―women who adopt male usage are often evaluated as less successful and less likable than men.‖244 Thus, the dilemma creates a double bind for women. Campbell illustrates this point with reference to the public‘s perception of Hillary Clinton. Campbell concludes that the public disliked Clinton because she was unwilling to adapt to the traditional role of First Lady. Campbell explains that it was ―[b]ecause of her unprecedented public policy role that she became what U.S. News and World Report called ‗a national

Rorschach test‘ of people‘s views of women‘s roles.‖245 Campbell concludes that Clinton‘s rhetorical style was the reason for the overwhelming public ―hating‖ of her. Furthermore Campbell notes that that

242 Karlyn Kohrs Campbell, ―Gender and Genre: Loci of Invention and Contradiction in the Earliest Speeches by U.S. Women,‖ Quarterly Journal of Speech 81(1995) 479.

243 Campbell ―Gender‖ 479.

244 Spitzack ―Women‖ 409.

245 Campbell ―The Discursive‖ 15.

―her limited ability to feminize her rhetorical style, to perform a culturally defined feminine role publicly, is clearly a disadvantage.‖246 Clinton, like other female public figures, is expected to conform to a feminine role. But, ironically, when that happens, women are dismissed as weak or inadequate.

Critical examination of female public speakers offers opportunities to consider alternative rhetorical strategies. Robert L. Ivie suggests that rhetorical criticism ―strategically constructs the interpretive design of speech (and other forms of symbolic action) in order to diminish, bolster, or redirect its significance.‖247 Furthermore, Foss and Foss assert that at the heart of rhetorical criticism ―is the process of analyzing and assessing communication to discover such elements as the context in which it was created; its purpose within that context; its central ideas, structure, and style; and its impact on the communicator and the others who are reached by it.‖248 Therefore, analyzing female rhetoric offers a rich opportunity for a broader understanding of rhetorical constructs created by women. Foss and Foss extend this argument when they say: ―Communication creates our world or our views of reality. Communication is not simply talk about a reality that we already know in some objective way; our very reality is created by our communication about it. How we communicate reflects and encourages particular beliefs about, actions toward, and knowledge of something.‖249

Critical study of female discourse contributes to a better understanding of women‘s perspectives and realities. These realities are especially significant because they reflect centuries of the struggle for a public voice. Campbell states that the fact that: ―women were prohibited from speaking in public or functioning as citizens because of their sex throughout much of human history should alert us to the significance of gender in rhetorical interactions.‖250 She elaborates further explaining that ―hostility

246Campbell ―The Discursive‖ 15.

247 Robert L. Ivie, ―The Social Relevance of Rhetorical Scholarship,‖ Quarterly Journal of Speech 81 (May 1995) no pag.

248 Foss Women Speaking 23.

249 Foss Women Speaking 27.

250 Karlyn Kohrs Campbell, ―Gender and Genre: Loci of Invention and Contradiction in the Earliest Speeches by U.S. Women,‖ Quarterly Journal of Speech 81(1995) 479. 69 encountered by female speakers, since they were entering a domain typically reserved for men, necessitated alternative rhetorical strategies….Thus, analyses of influential women serve two important purposes: a recognition of female influence in public domains and a reevaluation of taken for granted speaking domains and styles.‖251 Furthermore, Spitzack and Carter add that ―the inventiveness of female speaker‘s offers an enriched understanding of rhetorical strategies and relevant historical issues.‖252

―Women have an eloquence of their own,‖ Foss and Foss assert, that is ―manifest in a variety of contexts and forms that permeates worlds of immense richness for them and those around them.‖253 Therefore studying women‘s discourse expands the rhetorical critic‘s understanding of how social roles fit into the rhetorical makeup of the rhetor. Consequently it is these role distinctions that produced women‘s unique discourse.

Characteristics of The Feminine Style

When Campbell introduced a ―feminine style,‖ she recognized the rhetorical value of a feminine approach for any public speaker. According to Campbell male or female speakers who use a feminine style rely primarily on 1) using personal experiences, extended narratives, anecdotes and other examples;

2) creating arguments inductively that lead to generalizations; 3) inviting audience participation; 4) addressing audience members as peers, allowing their experiences to be recognized as authority; and 5 ) creating identification with the experiences of the audience, to accomplish the goal of the feminine speaker: to empower listeners.254 Bonnie J. Dow and Mari Boor Tonn‘s assessment of feminine speakers who use feminine style elaborate on Campbell‘s theory and agree that a feminine speaker uses a personal tone, anecdotes and personal experiences and confirm that these characteristics are hallmarks of a

251 Spitzack ―Women‖ 405.

252 Spitzack ―Women‖ 407.

253 Foss Women Speak 2.

254 Campbell Man Cannot 13.

70 feminine speaker.255 Campbell adds that speakers who employ the feminine style also ―include conversational delivery and extended narrative.‖256 Blankenship and Robson specify that the underlying goal of the feminine speaker is empowerment when they summarize the characteristics of the feminine style as ―basing judgments on concrete, lived experiences; valuing inclusivity and the relational nature of being; conceptualizing the power of public office as a capacity to get things done and to empower others; approaching issues holistically; and moving women‘s issues to the forefront.‖257 Thus, the stylistic choices of the feminine speaker are conscious choices to engage, empower and connect with the audience in a discursive or experiential way.

Personal Experience

Female discourse is couched in a feminine perspective that is characterized by valuing lived experiences. Since women historically were excluded from public education, they developed an appreciation for the lived experiences as a way of knowing. Theodore Sheckles notes this characteristic in his research when he writes that women ―replaced the citing of authorities with concrete narratives.‖258

Furthermore, Parry- Giles and Parry- Giles explain that because women use more personal contexts for speeches, their discourse is viewed as using more emotional support, empathy, and concrete reasoning as the ―bridging of life experiences between a rhetor and an audience.‖259 Self disclosure and the confessional style of the feminine speaker using a feminine style place the rhetor in a personal or intimate relationship with the audience. Not only do they open themselves up to public scrutiny by disclosing personal anecdotes, but they also rely on extended narratives to illustrate their claims. Feminine speakers

255 Dow ―Feminine‖ 288.

256 Campbell Women Public 390.

257 Blankenship ―A ―Feminine‖ 359.

258 Theodore F. Sheckles, ―The Rhetorical Use of Double-Voiced Discourse and Feminine Style: The U.S. Senate Debate over the Impact of Tailhook ‘91 on Admiral Frank B. Kelso II‘s Retirement Rank,‖ The Southern Communication Journal 63 (1 Fall 1997) 62.

259 Parry-Giles ―Gendered Politics‖339.

71 value stories as evidence and support. Campbell argues that speakers who employ a feminine style

―include conversational delivery and extended narrative.‖260

Feminine speakers rely on personal experiences by drawing the audience into the situation allowing for identification to occur; therefore, becoming more persuasive.261 Because those life experience come from the feminine experience, they often rely on homemaking, childrearing and other domesticated tasks; tasks not usually valued by society, but nevertheless, tasks that everyone can relate to since their basis is in the home. The feminine style, then, arises from a set of social practices created through the feminine experience.262 Women value stories and narratives as equally important in proving any premise. Because women were dismissed from the public sphere, they relied on their personal experiences to help them to discern their realities. Blankenship and Robson elaborate further when they explain that this means the speaker who uses a feminine style values inclusivity and the relational nature of being.263 Femininity values lived experiences in order to create a community of support and empathy.

Induction

Speakers, or writers, who use inductive reasoning draw their audiences to their conclusions through a series of arguments, or specific examples, that are less aggressive, or a more humble posture.

These speakers take the time to move the audience along the rhetorical path to the conclusion. Since women are criticized for using too many examples or narratives, it is not surprising that one of the ways in which the feminine perspective is discounted is the way in which women organize or arrange their arguments. Campbell explains that a feminine style ―proceeds inductively, moving from personal experiences toward generalizations that reflect the systematically shaped conditions of women generally.‖264 Since women are moved to speak in ways that do not challenge the masculine position, they

260 Campbell Women Public 390.

261 Campbell Man Cannot 12.

262 Blankenship ―A Feminine‖ 355.

263 Blankenship ―A ―Feminine 359.

264 Campbell Women Public xix. 72 must organize their claims inductively. She later explains that women use inductive reasoning or argumentation for a rhetorical purpose: ―women advocates often structure their arguments inductively to give audiences the impression that the conclusions were their own.‖265 Campbell compares feminine rhetorical style to an apprenticeship, much like when ―crafts are learned bit by bit, instance by instance, from which generalizations emerge.‖266 The way in which crafts persons learn their trade is by watching the technique again and again, learning the different adaptations and variations much like the way feminine speakers relate their arguments to their audiences.

Invites the Audience to Participate

A feminine speaker, or a speaker who uses a feminine style, creates a discursive relationship with an audience. Campbell posits that a feminine speaker ―will invite audience participation, including the process of testing generalizations or principles against the experiences of the audience.‖267 The conversational style of a feminine speaker invites the audience to participate with the speaker in the public discourse. Campbell contends that a feminine style includes elements such as ―using a personal tone, speaking as a peer, relying on examples, testimony, and enactment as evidence, developing inductive structure, and making efforts to stimulate audience participation.‖ 268 It is typical of female speakers to invite audiences to participate in the rhetorical conversation since the private sphere, where women‘s roles are created and nurtured, is where relationships are formed and cultivated. Since women aren‘t allowed to speak from their public expertise, they often chose to invite their audience into a conversation.

Addressing the Audience as Peers

265 Campbell ―Gender‖ 480.

266 Campbell Man Cannot 13.

267 Campbell Man Cannot 13.

268 Campbell Man Cannot 13.

Spitzack and Carter explain that women‘s attitudes toward their relationships are manifested in their rhetoric.269 Foss and Foss agree, saying that women communicate about their relationships: ―how our employers, friends, partners, and children communicate with us; the stories we tell; the clothing we wear; the gardens we grow and the places we live.‖270 Because women are most comfortable talking in a private setting, women tend to communicate in a conversational way publicly. Julie T. Wood argues that this kind of speaking style helps ―cultivate a personal tone in women‘s communication, and they facilitate feelings of closeness by connecting communicators‘ lives.‖271 Women‘s conscious choice to disclose personal experiences or risk showing themselves as vulnerable creates a climate of mutual trust and sharing with an audience. It is the different perspective on reality that creates the way men and women view their experiences, relationships and ultimately themselves, and in turn, each other.

Women‘s realities center on traditional women‘s roles of caregiver and nurturer. Campbell claims that ―as a style of communicating and learning [feminine style] is personal, experiential, and participatory, and, hence, emotional and egalitarian.‖272 Sara Hayden contends ―A rhetor utilizing the feminine style does not assume a position of authority or expertise as is typical of a more traditional speaking style.‖273 Carol Gilligan supports this contention by describing what she identifies as a ―greater orientation toward relationships and interdependence‖ in feminine discourse.274 Furthermore, Campbell explains that ―women‘s subculture relies on private, intimate communication.‖275 The feminine style has the potential to create an intimate relationship with the audience. The feminine experience has been one

269 Spitzack ―Women‖ 412.

270 Foss Women Speak 14.

271 Julie T. Wood, Gendered Lives: Communication Gender and Culture, 2nd ed. (Belmont: Wadsworth, 1997) 142.

272 Campbell Women Public xix.

273 Hayden ―Negotiating‖ 100.

274 Carol Gilligan, In a Different Voice: Psychological Theory and Women‘s Development, (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1993) 22.

275 Campbell ―Femininity‖ 104.

74 outside the context of social or political authority. Women have not held positions of authority traditionally and so the rhetoric reflects a peer, or subordinate position. The feminine relationship is built on the idea of empowering the other to feel confident and strong enough to overcome personal and social obstacles. Women have always faced social obstacles that have also crossed over into their own personal challenges. The feminine speaker understands and empowers the listeners to rise above their challenges, much like women have done for generations as they faced political, social and personal barriers.

Identification and Empowerment

The feminine speaker engages the audience in a mutual appreciation for the struggles each faces and mutual support through empowerment. Patricia S. E. Darlington and Becky Michele Mulvaney posit:

―As the twenty-first century opens with women assuming positions of social leadership, the dynamics of the social construction of power and its relationship to rhetorical style need to be examined. Social science theorists have usually presented power in patriarchal ways, a situation we believe is problematic for women.‖276 These authors introduce a new model of power; one they believe is more sympathetic to a feminine perspective, called ―reciprocal empowerment.‖277 They define reciprocal empowerment ―as a discursive style of interaction grounded in reciprocity which is initiated by people who feel a sense of personal authority. This aspect of reciprocal empowerment provides an individual with a level of knowledge necessary to develop a heightened self-confidence that can then lead to action.‖278 Thus the

276 Patricia S.E. Darlington and Becky Michele Mulvaney, ―Gender, Rhetoric, and Power: Toward a Model of Reciprocal Empowerment,‖ Women‘s Studies in Communication, 25 (2 2002) 139.

277 For a definition of ―empowerment‖ see Jean Baker Miller, Toward a New Psychology of Women (Boston: Bacon, 1997), one of the first theorists to posit that power does have to imply the traditional masculine notions of domination. T.J. Goodrich ―Women, Power and Family Therapy: What‘s Wrong with this Picture? in Thelma Jean Goodrich, Ed. Women and Power: Perspectives for Family Therapy (New York: Norton 1991) 3-35 also describes empowerment as ―… a relational word, a relational action. Frequently heard in the women‘s movement, the term usually designated a benevolent but unilateral transaction in which one person enhances another‘s ability to feel competent and take action. That is, it enhances another‘s power-to.‖ p. 20. Jean Baker Miller ―Women and Power: Reflections Ten Years Later.‖ In T.J. Goodrich, ed. Women and Power: Perspectives for Family Therapy (New York: Norton 1991) 36-47 states that ―usually, without openly talking about it, we women have been most comfortable using our power if we believe we are using them in the service to others…this might be called using one‘s power to empower another-increasing the other‘s resources, capabilities, effectiveness, and ability to act.‖ 38.

278 Darlington ―Gender‖ 140. 75 rhetor that employs a feminine style has identification and audience empowerment as their rhetorical goal.

Darlington and Mulvaney explain:

Reciprocal empowerment combines the attributes of self-determination,

independence, knowledge, choice and action embodied in personal

authority with the early empowerment attributes of compassion,

companionship, collectivity, community, cooperation, communion,

consensus, and competence to enhance oneself and others, thereby

creating an egalitarian environment that fosters equality, mutual respect,

mutual attention, mutual empathy, mutual engagement, and mutual

responsiveness.279

The redefining of power explained above works well with speakers who employ a feminine style. It should be noted that the idea of reciprocal empowerment does not suggest that the speaker does not have power, or is unwilling to assert power, as proposed by other feminist scholars, in regard to the way in which female speakers use or conceive of personal power,280 but is giving, or relinquishing, power to the audience to help the listener achieve their goal, one they hold in common with the speaker.

For feminist scholars like Foss and Griffin who reject the idea that rhetoric is fundamentally one person persuading others to change or agree with their position, the tension in rhetorical study occurs when feminine discourse is placed in a traditional context in which persuasion is the goal. Foss, Griffin and Foss assert that patriarchy views rhetoric as a way in which a speaker ―wins over‖ an audience, in

279 Darlington ―Gender‖ 141.

280 For more discussion of this model of power see Sonja K. Foss and Cindy L. Griffin, ―Beyond Persuasion: A Proposal for an Invitational Rhetoric,‖ Communication Monographs, 62 (1 1995) 2-18. In their article Foss and Griffin propose a new paradigm for considering women‘s rhetoric outside a traditional notion of rhetoric. Foss and Griffin propose that persuasion is not at the heart of women‘s rhetoric, but is contrary to the way in which women communicate. Rather than persuading others to move to their position, or their ―side,‖ women do not consider the power struggles of defining realities from their own perspective by discounting others, but choose to invite others to join them with their own unique perspectives, encouraging their listeners/those with whom they speak, to maintain their individual perspectives, rather than discounting them for a different one/the speaker‘s position.

76 essence, asking the audience to abandon their beliefs and assume the beliefs of the speaker. Foss, Griffin and Foss argue that this competitive position is at odds with the way women view relationships and communication in general.281 Downey, however, argues that gender and rhetoric are reciprocally related.

She points out that communication hinges on a balancing act of both invitation and persuasion.282

Darlington and Mulvaney agree, arguing that ―reciprocal empowerment‖ invites the audience into the rhetor‘s worldview to create a shared understanding, or as the authors put it: ―the result is a kind of persuasion, albeit not a traditional notion of power as domination, but a mutual understanding and movement toward a common goal.‖283 In order for there to be a common position, each person participating must be ―persuaded‖ to move to the shared or common view.

Feminine speakers focus on helping their audiences develop the confidence they need to, as

Blankenship and Robson express it, ―get the job done.‖ They explain that this has to do with the audience believing they have the power to make a difference and to achieve their goals. Blankenship and Robson continue in their discussion of power, to explain that this kind of giving of power to the other is a hallmark characteristic of a speaker who employs a feminine perspective. Feminine speakers think in terms of ―power to‖ rather than ―power over.‖284 Darlington and Mulvaney explain this idea as

―reciprocal empowerment.‖ Their notion of feminine power is one of mutuality in which the speaker and audience share power. This idea of giving away power, or creating energy and power in an audience rather than exerting power over an audience is not consistent with male or masculine perspective.

Campbell recognizes this distinction in feminine speakers and explains that feminine strategies focus primarily on empowering their audiences.

281 Sonja K. Foss, Cindy L. Griffin, Karen A. Foss, ―Transforming Rhetoric through Feminist Reconstruction: A Response to the Gender Diversity Perspective,‖ Women‘s Studies in Communication 10 (2 1997) 117-135.

282 Sharon D. Downey, ―Rhetoric as Balance: A Dialectical Feminist Perspective,‖ Women‘s Studies in Communication 20 (2 1997) 146.

283 Darlington ―Gender‖ 141.

284 Blankenship ―Feminine‖ 361.

“Feminine” and Feminine Style is Socially Constructed

Interestingly, Campbell points out that although the characteristics of a feminine style arise from a ―feminine perspective‖ that includes traditional women‘s roles, it is not the only rhetorical style women use. Blankenship and Robson argue the term ―feminine‖ rather than ―women‖ is more accurate when discussing women‘s speech. They claim that ―feminine‖ denotes ―the social construction of gender rather than mere biological difference(s).‖285 Sara Hayden supports this position when she says a feminine style is ―not a biological exclusive descriptor, but a cultural one.‖286 Judith Butler contends that ―gender norms operate by requiring the embodiment of certain ideals of femininity and masculinity.‖287 More importantly, women do not fall into a feminine style of speaking simply because it is their native style.

For example, Phyllis M. Japp documents the famous female abolitionist, Angelina Grimke, as using both masculine and feminine rhetorical styles. Her stylistic choice depended on her message and the audience to whom she was speaking. Japp reports, ―She assumed a forceful, dynamic, ‗male‘ posture…as one chosen of God to present God‘s message, she admonished the uncommitted, exhorted the faithful, and rebuked the opposition.‖ Grimke presented herself as an authority, assuming a masculine rhetorical posture.288

Depending on the rhetorical constraints, a masculine style can be the best option for the female speaker. Susan Schultz Huxman reports that Mary Wollstonecraft and Angelina Grimke ―became dramatic proof that women are rational and men‘s equal argumentatively, that custom, not nature, inhibited women‘s development.‖ She continues to explain that both Wollstonecraft and Grimke‘s rhetorical choices were the key to ―enacting woman‘s rights: each woman advanced her cause by

285 Blankenship ―A Feminine‖ 356.

286 Sara Hayden, ―Reclaiming Bodies of Knowledge: An Exploration of the Relationship between Feminist Theorizing and Feminine Style in the Rhetoric of the Boston Women‘s Health Book Collective‖ Western Journal of Communication 61 (2 Spring 1997) 130.

287 Judith Butler, Bodies that Matter: On the Discursive Limits of Sex (New York: Taylor and Francis, Inc., 1993) 231-232.

288 Phyllis M. Japp, ―Esther or Isaiah? The Abolitionist-Feminist Rhetoric of Angelina Grimke,― Quarterly Journal of Speech 71 (1985) 335-348.

78 adopting a male persona, and by structuring her discourse in the movement‘s preferred ‗masculine‘ pattern of persuasion.‖289 Huxman argues that by assuming the male persona these women were able to refute stereotypes that women were unable to think logically and make a coherent argument. It was their rhetorical choice to assume the male persona, and successfully convince their male listeners.290

Darlington and Mulvaney also document Clara Booth Luce, a playwright, political writer, congresswoman and U.S. ambassador, as using a masculine style to persuade the men when she fought

―her war of words with men rather than women.‖291 Therefore, a masculine, or traditional rhetorical style, can also serve women well. But in order to distinguish the differences between the two it is important to recognize the distinctions of a masculine rhetorical style.

Masculine Style

Male paradigm, or masculine style, is the imbedded social framework for how society views men, women, their work, socially and politically. It constructs social hierarchies of power and norms and is the foundation for how individuals view their place in the community. Therefore it is difficult to define and tease out the characteristics of a paradigm that is the standard, or norm, for public discourse. However,

Carol Blair, Julie R. Brown and Leslie A. Baxter outline a construct for masculine style that serves as a good contrast to the feminine perspective. They explain that the masculine perspective is characterized by

―impersonal abstraction, disciplinary territoriality, individuation and hierarchy.‖292 Impersonal abstraction in the context of masculine style and male perspective is found in logic and morality in contrast to a female paradigm of contextualization and personalization often found in women‘s discourse

289 Susan Schultz Huxman, ―Mary Wollstonecraft, Margaret Fuller, and Angelina Grimke: Symbolic Convergence and a Nascent Rhetorical Vision,‖ Communication Quarterly 44 (1 Winter 1996) 23.

290 Huxman ―Mary‖ 24.

291 qtd. in Darlington ―Gender‖ 161.

292 Carol Blair, Julie R. Brown, and Leslie A. Baxter, ―Disciplining the Feminine,‖ Quarterly Journal of Speech 80 (4 November 1994) 389.

79 and socialization.293 Furthermore, Blair, Brown, and Baxter assert that the masculine-centered model ―is predicated on the separation of the person from contextual particulars. Thus from the perspective of the

‗male paradigm,‘ judgment should be based on universal principles and abstract laws that are characterized by ‗objectivity.‘‖294 Carol Gilligan explains further that a male emphasis on individuation refers to a set of beliefs ―that revolve around the presumed autonomy for independence of the individual agent, in contrast to a communal view of the individual as embedded in a web of connection with others.‖295 Blair, Brown and Baxter continue the connection between the male emphasis on individuation to include the perspective of individual volition. That is, from the masculine perspective, the individual always has control over opportunities and successes. Thus, the masculine paradigm ignores the structural or social constraints that might hinder an individual‘s success and assumes that individuals have complete control over the outcome.296

Masculine style is consistent with a perspective based in hierarchy in which power is distributed by the speaker, creating a climate of competition and control. Masculine style is based on the perspective that the speaker has authority over listeners ―with some groups or individuals gaining dominance or empowerment through the subordination and disempowerment of others.‖297 Blankenship and Robson point out that the concept of power in the feminine is generally attributed to a different concept of power as ―power to‖ rather than ―power over‖ attributing the gendered idea of power, or the feminine, to

―mother‘s power.‖298 Since the relationship of a mother to child is one of nurturing and encouraging, the

293 See Mary Field Belenky, Blythe McVicker Clinchy, Nancy Rule Goldberger, and Jill Mattuck Tarule, Women‘s Ways of Knowing: The Development of Self, Voice, and Mind. (New York: Basic Books, 1986).

294 Blair ―Disciplining‖ 389.

295 Carol Gilligan, In a Different Voice: Psychological Theory and Women‘s Development, (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1982), qtd. in Blair ―Disciplining‖ 392.

296 See Shirley M. Clark and Mary Corcoran, ―Perspectives on the Professional Socialization of Women Faculty,‖ Journal of Higher Education, 57 (1986) 20-43 and Robert J. Menges and William J. Exum, ―Barriers to the Progress of Women and Minority Faculty, Journal of Higher Education 54 (1983) 123-144.

297 Blair ―Disciplining‖392.

298 Blankenship ―A Feminine‖ 361. 80 same is found in the relationship of the feminine speaker to an audience. Dow explains: ―feminine style is as much a product of power as it is a product of gender ….‖299 For Madeleine Kunin the feminine style moves the audience from a subordinate position to one in which the audience is a partner with the speaker. She explains this phenomenon as the ―nexus between the orderly world of public policy and the real world of human beings.‖300

Masculine style and the male tradition have served as the standard because women have had a public voice for a relatively short period of time. Therefore, a feminine style is always at risk of being perceived as inferior and dismissed as weak and powerless. However, Blankenship and Robson contend:

―it bears repeating that feminine style is also accessible to men.‖301 Campbell posits that although characteristics that identify a speaker as a feminine speaker, or a speaker who employs a feminine style, are usually associated with women‘s discourse, it offers advantages for any speaker. She explains:

There was and is a ―feminine style‖ or a mode of address that is consistent

with traditional norms of femininity. Such a style has certain

characteristics. They include modes of accommodation used by oppressed

groups to adapt to their oppressors and means of persuasion responsive to

the special conditions and experiences of the oppressed.302

Campbell explains further: ―‗feminine style‘ is an adaptation to socialization and oppression, and it is a style equally appropriate for male and females, whether oppressed or not.‖303 Dow adds:

for many, the very label ―feminine style‖ carries essential implications that

limit this rhetorical style to female rhetors. However, it is possible to view

299 Dow ―Feminism‖ 109. Emphasis in original.

300 qtd. in Blankenship ―A Feminine‖ 360.

301 Blankenship ―A Feminine‖ 354

302 Karlyn Kohrs Campbell, ―Style and Content in the Rhetoric of Early Afro-American Feminists,‖ Quarterly Journal of Speech, 32 (1986) 440.

303 Campbell ―The Sound‖ 218.

the term ―feminine‖ in a broader and more metaphorical sense, in which it

can refer to the quality of ―otherness‖ attributed to groups and/or rhetors

excluded from dominant power structures.304

Blankenship and Robson explain that a feminine style becomes more attractive to men as society accepts men as caregivers and their realities become closer to those shared by women.305 Hillary M. Lips explains further ―that there is no magical correctness at all about the masculine way of doing things, that feminine approaches of getting things done are not in any way second-rate, and that men can learn as much or more that is useful from the feminine style as women can from the masculine one.‖306 However, maintaining a position that insists on a masculine standard, labels men who use a feminine style as effeminate and emasculates them.307 Blankenship and Robson report that political candidates ―still face a series of double binds that are deeply entrenched in a set of gender stereotypes of what ‗real men‘ and ‗real women‘ are.‖308

A Review of Literature Using the Feminine Style

In the contemporary political climate men and women continue to battle restrictive social roles especially as they step to the public podium. However, the social and political context in which the suffrage women spoke was arguably one of the most hostile times toward women in history. Campbell explains that women‘s suffragettes like Dr. Anna Howard Shaw and Lecretia Mott eventually won over their audience, convincing them to not only listen to a woman, but join their cause. Their success has been attributed to their rhetorical style. Campbell notes that their oratory was unique and strategic in that it included, ―personal tone, speaking as a peer, relying on examples, testimony, and enactment as evidence,

304 Dow ―Feminism‖ 109.

305 Blankenship ―A Feminine‖ 362.

306 qtd. in Darlington ―Gender‖ 153.

307 Jamieson Eloquence 76.

308 Blankenship ―A Feminine‖ 354

82 inductive structure, and efforts to stimulate audience participation. ―309 She claims that ―[s]uch a mode invites audience participation, relies on personal experience, [and] generalizes from examples…‖ It was their rhetorical style, Campbell argues, that allowed those who were without voice to convince thousands to listen and avoided violating restrictive feminine norms.310

The feminine style has served women well in overcoming political barriers. Debra L. Peterson reported that ―Anna Eleanor Roosevelt one of the most beloved First Ladies, used a feminine style to connect with her audience. For Roosevelt, Peterson explains, speaking and writing was replete with characteristics of the feminine style. ―In a motherly manner, she offered listeners and readers advice on personal issues, including family relationships, dating, employment and child-rearing.‖311 Patterson reports that Roosevelt believed it was her ability to overcome restrictive social rhetorical barriers that allowed her to create sweeping social change. Roosevelt believed that ―[i]f you can speak to the mass of people as though you were talking to any one individual in your living room…you will reach their hearts and that is what you have to bother about.‖312 Likewise, Patricia Scott Schroeder, popular former congresswoman for the First District of Colorado and former presidential hopeful used a feminine style strategically. E. Claire Jerry and Michael Spangle report that Schroeder‘s appeal was her conversational, confessional rhetorical style contributing to ―a positive personalized tone‖ when she described difficulties in her pregnancies, personal stories and self-effacing narratives about her short experience as a presidential candidate using analogies, metaphors and examples as a part of her engaging rhetorical style.313 Dow reviewed the rhetorical style of Ann Willis Richards, former governor of Texas, and the second female keynote speaker for the Democratic National Convention.314 Dow contends that Richard‘s

309 Campbell ―Femininity‖ 106.

310 Campbell Man Cannot 13.

311 Petersen ―Anna‖ 389.

312 Petersen ―Anna‖ 389.

313 Jerry ―Patricia‖ 395-406.

314 Dow ―Ann Willis‖ 452-464. 83 success was attributed to her feminine rhetorical style. Richards was known for her colorful personal anecdotes and ―[h]er discourse [was] dominated by the use of inductive and experiential reasoning, folk wisdom, and concrete examples and stories…her accessible style…encourages audience participation and reduces distance between rhetor and audience…‖315 The most important characteristic in Richard‘s political discourse, according to Dow, was her ―politics of empowerment and rhetoric of inclusion.‖316

Richard‘s use of a feminine style was also exemplified in her frequent narratives in her public speeches that ―allowed her to weave family values, government responsibility, and campaign issues into a coherent whole.‖317

The feminine style is also used to engage public audiences in contexts other than public discourse. Parry-Giles and Parry-Giles considered presidential campaign films that used a feminine perspective, or style. They concluded that Ronald Reagan, George Bush, Michael Dukakis, and Bill

Clinton all employed a feminine style in their campaign films to create identification with the audience, to show themselves as ―real,‖ and refine their political campaign to match a more contemporary style of political discourse. Following their assessment Parry-Giles and Parry-Giles argue that their campaign films show the candidates in a way that contrasts with the masculine perspective found in most political discourse.318 Using a feminine style as a rhetorical posture allowed them to appear more empathetic and connect on a personal level with their audiences. Female members of Congress have been known to employ a feminine style evoke sympathy for those who suffered in the Tailhook scandal and personalize the crime of sexual harassment, according to rhetorical scholar Theodore F. Sheckles.319 He explains that

315 In Dow ―Ann Willis‖ in Campbell Women Public 456. See also Bonnie J. Dow and Mari Boor Tonn, ―Feminine Style‘ and Political Judgment in the Rhetoric of Ann Richards,‖ Quarterly Journal of Speech 79 (1993) 286-302.

316Dow ―Ann Willis‖ in Campbell Women Public 458.

317 Dow ―Ann Willis‖ in Campbell Women Public 458.

318 Parry-Giles ―Gendered Politics‖ 342.

319 Sheckels ―The Rhetorical‖ 56-68.

84 the ―feminizing‖ of the congressional hearings did not happened because women were a part of the discussion, nor did it ―just happen‖ as a result of the televised discussions on C-SPAN, but was a strategic move by the congressional women to shift the conversation away from a superficial look at the evidence and humanize the discussion and the experiences for the victims. They insisted on sharing victim‘s stories and personal narratives of the incident and thus created an empathy with the audience.320

A feminine style, or a personal, relational style of speaking helps men and women to overcome negative preconceptions, find redemption, and motivate the discouraged. Lisa Hogan and J. Michael

Hogan report that when Elizabeth Cady Stanton delivered her ―Our Boys‖ speech she had to ―invent a role for herself‖ as a speaker. That role was outside of the traditional ―legal and constitutional arguments‖ typically found in speeches of the time. Instead she adopted a ―feminine persona….[t]alking about her personal experiences and telling stories about everyday heroes.‖321 It should be noted that this was not

Stanton‘s typical rhetorical style. Stanton was known for her assertive, masculine rhetorical style. She usually framed her speeches in a masculine style as was evidenced in her other suffrage works.322

Therefore, when she spoke, her audience assumed she would speak in her usual rhetorical style and was prepared for what they thought would be another ―Stanton suffrage speech,‖ since she was known for her controversial views and harsh assessment of those opposed to the suffrage cause. Hogan and Hogan explain that in this case, however, her use of a feminine style helped to ―soften her potentially

320 See Sheckles‘ conclusions in ―The Rhetorical‖ 66-67. For a more in-depth discussion of the effect television has on the feminizing of presidential rhetoric, see Kathleen Hall Jamieson, Eloquence in the Electronic Age: The Transformation of Political Speechmaking (New York: Oxford University Press, 1988). In this text Jamieson discusses the natural transition from a masculine style of presidential speechmaking to a more feminine style since presidential speeches have become televised. She also credits presidents employing feminine style in times of political turmoil to engage the television audience and create identification. Her premise is that television has transformed presidential discourse to a more feminine style.

321 Lisa S. Hogan and J. Michael Hogan, ―Feminine Virtue and Practical Wisdom: Elizabeth Cady Stanton‘s ‗Our Boys‘‖ Rhetoric and Public Affairs, 6 (3 2003) 419.

322 See Karlyn Kohrs Campbell‘s assessment of Stanton‘s Solitude of Self Speech in Man Cannot 133-144.

85 controversial views on education and religion,‖323 making this speech one of her most memorable and successful.

Darlington and Mulvaney studied the rhetorical positions of many noted female speakers and found that their use of a feminine style was integral to their success. They note that Margaret Chase

Smith, the first woman to be elected to both houses of Congress and the first woman to run for president, used a distinctive feminine style in her campaign speeches. In these speeches, Chase Smith expressed her concern for her audience and demonstrated her willingness to care for her constituents. She spoke in the feminine persona by including her audience as her partner saying:

I want to win for that Worumbo Mill worker of Lisbon Falls who, in

contributing two dollars to my campaign, reported that her job at the mill

had been placed in jeopardy because she had the courage to openly

support me… I want to win for that housewife of Bath whose integrity

was openly challenged by a committeeman of one of my opponents

merely because she was actively supporting my candidacy…324

Darlington and Mulvaney also include Helen Adams Keller as a feminine speaker, a rhetor who employed a feminine style. A staunch supporter of social causes and particularly the union movement, Keller used narrative as her personal authority when she spoke for social reform:

I have visited sweatshops, factories, crowded slums of New York and

Washington. Of course, I could not see the squalor; but if I could not see it,

I could smell it. With my own hands I could feel pinched, dwarfed

children tending their younger brothers and sisters, while their mothers

323 Hogan ―Feminine Virtue‖ 425.

324 qtd. in Darlington ―Gender‖ 162.

tended machines in nearby factories. Besides the advantages of books and

personal experience, I have the advantages of a mind trained to think.325

Fannie Lou Townsend Hamer, a Mississippi sharecropper‘s wife became a popular and powerful political activist and proponent of the feminine style. Darlington and Mulvaney report how Hamer used her personal experience for her authority. Hamer insisted that all humans are related. This basic premise served as her way of identifying with her listeners. She empowered them by encouraging them to lift themselves out of their plight charging them that she too was in the struggle with them, saying ―Whether you have a PhD, or no D, we‘re in this bag together. And whether you‘re from Morehouse or Nohouse, we‘re still in this bag together.‖326 Her emphasis on the relational created a powerful image of community.

Conclusion

Women face unique rhetorical challenges. The general public perception, based on restrictive gender roles, is that women are inadequate or unable to carry the rhetorical load. Thus, because women must overcome different challenges than men when they step up to the public podium, a unique rhetorical style is called for. However, Darlington and Mulvaney point out that because the stylistic choices of women are ―denied access to the dominant means of interpretation and communication,‖ they are considered inferior. They explain further that because masculine style has dominated public discourse in the public and the private spheres, preference is given those who adhere to the male dominant discourse.327 However, Dow asserts:

A more ―culturalized‖ sense of context for feminist and women‘s rhetoric

would allow us to recognize complexities, particularly those enmeshed in

differing conceptions of ―women‖ and feminist. The intersection of

325 qtd. in Darlington ―Gender‖ 163 from Helen Keller, Socialist Years 266.

326 Bernice Price and Pearle Markham, ―Fannie Lou Townsend Hamer‖ Women Public Speakers in the United States 1925-1993 Karlyn Kohrs Campbell, ed. (Westport: Greenwood Press, 1994) 431.

327 Darlington ―Gender‖ 147.

political cultures, and with issues of race, class, religion and ethnicity, can

easily be made more visible in feminist rhetorical work. This process

would entail attention to absence as well as presence and would require

sensitivity to the strategies of domination and emancipation that co-exist

in both historical and contemporary feminist and women‘s discourse. In

short, such a shift in perspective would encourage us to unpack univocal

interpretations and evaluation of the texts we study, focusing instead on

how those texts reflect and reproduce struggles for meaning that are also

always struggles for power.328

Cindy L. Griffin explains that using a feminine style as a rhetorical framework takes into account the cultural and social differences that call women to use a feminine rhetorical posture. Griffin says: ―A comprehensive theory of women as communicators suggests that women listen to their bodies, experiences, marginality, histories, and differences and that they build a background of discourse based on these elements.‖329 Therefore, once again, when a woman steps to the public podium and is heard, it is noteworthy, but even more so, when she is accepted into the public pulpit something significant has happened and is worthy of rhetorical consideration.

Considering alternative ways to view discourse opens up new and exciting possibilities for considering diverse voices, stylistic choices and rhetorical positions. The notion of an alternate style is difficult for some to grasp since the traditional ideas of rhetoric are so entrenched in the social understanding of what makes a good orator. Enlarging the boundaries of what is acceptable or unacceptable rhetoric invites diverse viewpoints and voices to stretch popular and scholarly notions regarding the different ways people talk to one another and how they overcome rhetorical challenges.

Joyce Meyer is just such a voice. As a popular evangelical preacher, Meyer‘s rhetorical obstacles seem

328 Dow ―Feminism‖ 104.

329 Cindy L. Griffin, ―Women as Communicators: Mary Daly‘s Hagography as Rhetoric.‖ Communication Monographs 60 (June 1993) 160.

88 overwhelming. She faces centuries of church traditions and doctrines that exclude women from the public voice. That is, there is no other institution in which women‘s voice is as different or considered as

―unusual‖ or ―odd.‖ However, Meyer has proven herself to be a dominant voice in the contemporary evangelical movement and therefore is worthy of rhetorical study. The question is then, if historically other women who, when faced with the same rhetorical situations, have used a feminine rhetorical style, might this be the way in which Meyer engages her contemporary audience? Therefore, in the next chapter

I will apply the tenants of the feminine style to four of Joyce Meyer‘s sermons, each from a different time in her public preaching career to determine to what extent she uses a feminine style, and thus a feminine perspective, to open the public pulpit to her evangelical listeners, as her predecessors did. The framework for the analysis will come from Campbell‘s distinctions of in which a rhetor: adopts a personal, self- disclosing tone or assumes a feminine persona, prefers personal experience, anecdotes, and other examples, develops ideas inductively, addresses the audience as peers, creates identification, and empowers their audience for social or personal change.330 These characteristics will serve as the framework for the feminine style in the analysis of four of Joyce Meyer‘s sermons in chapter four.

330Campbell ―Discursive‖ 5.

Chapter 4: Joyce Meyer’s Religious Rhetoric

When a clergywoman preaches from a pulpit, she enters a space which has

particular aesthetic value, for this space has been occupied and its

character defined by male presence for centuries. She faces the double

challenge of establishing her personal style and of confronting any number

of aesthetic expectations which are associated with the pulpit.331

Employers, political offices, institutions of higher education and all public policy organizations are mandated by law to give equal opportunity and equal access to women.

However, religious groups and organizations are not required to adhere to governmental regulations, restrictions or equal opportunity laws. Furthermore, a Christian‘s first loyalty lies not in adhering to secular rules, but in conforming to their understanding of biblical truths and expectations of their God. Therefore, Christian religious groups base their doctrines and practices on their scriptural interpretation, not secular precepts. Strict adherence to scriptural interpretation is the foundation for religious doctrine and sets the boundaries for religious practices and responsibilities such as women‘s role in the church, arguably one of the most controversial church doctrines. In chapter two of this dissertation I explained the divisive doctrinal arguments surrounding women‘s role in the public and private church assemblies that have torn at the

Evangelical church. Although Evangelicals believe that a compromise can be reached by redefining the importance of traditional female roles, the majority of Evangelical believers still adhere to the scriptural precepts dictating that women maintain a subordinate role in the church

331 Smith ―Gender‖ 74.

90 and adhere to strict doctrinal teaching that restricts women‘s roles a place outside the public pulpit.

Standing against centuries of religious traditions and doctrines would be daunting for even the most dedicated female evangelist. Therefore, it is noteworthy that Joyce Meyer has become one of the most influential leaders, male or female, in the contemporary Evangelical movement.332 While scandals surrounding the Evangelical community had many believers turning away from the Evangelical church,333 Meyer has quickly become the leader of one of the largest worldwide ministries authoring more than 80 books, selling more than 12 million books worldwide, conducting more than 15 conferences a year that draw thousands, and hosting a weekly radio and television program that is reported to reach three billion people a day.334 The

Evangelical community‘s acceptance of a female speaker in a traditional male role is significant.

Therefore, her rhetorical practices warrant investigation. Many of her female predecessors who spoke from the public pulpit engaged their audiences in unique ways, typically those built upon a feminine framework. Similarly, secular female speakers have maintained their feminine roles and enticed their audiences to listen by employing what Campbell calls a feminine style, discussed in the previous chapter. Meyer‘s popularity and influence in the Evangelical community as a female evangelist, and the feminine style as a rhetorical posture, suggest the effectiveness of a feminine style in a religious context, something that has not been considered prior to this study.

332 Cathy Booth-Thomas, ―Twenty-Five most Influential Evangelicals in America,‖ Time (February 7, 2005) 38.

333 Lynn Vincent, ―Here We Go Again!‖ World Magazine, 15, 44, November 11, 2000. http://www.worldmag.com/articles/4428.

334 http://www.joycemeyer.org/AboutUs/AboutJoyce/ accessed 2 February 2009.

In this chapter I will use Meyer as a case study to extend the rhetorical application and implications of the feminine style. Initially I will give an overview of the link between the feminine style as a framework for the feminine perspective. Second, I will present a rationale for sermons chosen from Meyer‘s collection used in this study. Third, I will address Meyer‘s greatest rhetorical challenges as a female evangelist speaking to an Evangelical audience. Next, I will discuss how Meyer frames her message in a philosophical feminine perspective by employing a feminine style. For this analysis I will analyze four of Meyer‘s sermons using the feminine style framework. Here I will discuss Meyer‘s use of the following characteristics of a feminine style: 1) her use of personal experiences, extended narratives, anecdotes and other examples; 2) how she addresses her audience as peers; 3) invites her audience to participate; 4) her inductive creation of arguments; and 5) the way she creates identification with her audience leads them to empowerment. Finally, I will discuss how Meyer appears to deviate somewhat from the prescriptive norms of the feminine style and establishes herself as a religious authority.

The Feminine Style and the Feminine Perspective

Campbell is careful to discuss the characteristics of a feminine style in ways that are prescriptive, but are general enough to allow for the speaker‘s unique social lived experiences, thus, also making the critical assessment feminine. Campbell cautions rhetorical critics who study speakers who employ a feminine style that ―[t]he sheer presence of examples, even of details and moving examples is inadequate by itself to feminize the style of a speaker. All effective speakers use examples. Moreover all adapt to their audiences; all attempt to evoke identification, to create common grounds with listeners.‖335 The feminine style goes beyond a

335Campbell ―Discursive‖ 11.

92 few good stories or examples, but puts feminine concerns and a feminine point of view at the center of the discourse.

Employing a critical feminine framework for rhetorical investigation means more than just taking note that a woman has spoken. It means giving recognition to a different rhetorical perspective. Peggy McIntosh observes: ―rhetoric can be studied not by asking if women say anything important, or if there are any great women speakers, but by asking, what women say, how women use the public platform, how women speak.‖336 Foss and Foss suggest that

―[p]erhaps of greater value, though, are studies that link specific women, their work, lives, and discourse to philosophical trends, communication styles, social contexts, and historical periods.‖337 Therefore, close attention to the philosophical rhetorical strategies of women is important, and an appropriate lens is necessary to consider the nuanced ways in which the speaker using a feminine style moves an audience. The feminine style provides a generalized perspective so the critic can see that the choices of the rhetor are situationally based within an epistemic stance.338

The feminine style has been viewed primarily as a tool for feminist reform or for feminists to gain ―access to the existing political system,‖ while many believe it has little application outside the feminist movement or social reform rhetoric.339 According to Dow and

336 qtd. in Spitzack ―Women in Communication‖ 407. Emphasis in original.

337 Karen A. Foss and Sonja K. Foss, ―The Status of Research on Women and Communication,‖ Communication Quarterly 31 (3 Summer 1983) 200.

338 Blankenship ―A ‗Feminine‖ 357.

339 Dow ―Feminine‖ 286. See also: Jane Blankenship and Deborah C. Robson, ―A ―Feminine Style‖ in Women‘s Political Discourse: An Exploratory Essay,‖ Communication Quarterly 43 (Summer 1995) Karlyn Kohrs Campbell, Man Cannot Speak for Her, Volume 1 (Westport: Praeger Publisher, 1989). Bonnie J. Dow, ―Feminism, Cultural Studies, and Rhetorical Studies,‖ Quarterly Journal of Speech 83 (1997); Shawn J. Parry-Giles and Trevor Parry-Giles, ―Gendered Politics and Presidential Image Construction: A Reassessment of Feminine Style,‖ Communication Monographs 61 (December 1986); Sara Hayden, ―Negotiating Femininity and Power in the Early 93

Tonn, a feminine style is traditionally ―the source, form and function of female communicative strategies and their effectiveness in social movements.‖ Hayden depicts the feminine style as best suited for the socially weak and speakers who ―seek to petition a more powerful audience,‖340 while Campbell argues that the feminine style is best suited for the speaker addressing a powerless audience, motivating them toward social movement or change.341 Both of these positions consider the rhetorical style of the speaker as a tactical choice to persuade an audience toward a particular position. While I agree that a speaker may employ a feminine style for the purpose of persuading an audience of a specific position, ultimately, a feminine style will only achieve that goal by asking the listeners to consider a different philosophical perspective or worldview. Thus, the philosophical differences in the way in which women, in general, view themselves and their relationship with audiences has been overlooked as an alternative rhetorical philosophy. Dow and Tonn contend that taking a philosophical, rather than a tactical approach to the feminine style is helpful in ―expanding awareness of the philosophical, as well as the tactical implications of feminine style.‖342 Rita Felski explains that studying the discourse along with analyzing the functions of the discourse creates a discursive space in which a feminine identity is built opposite to the hegemonic ideology allowing for a counter perspective.343

I agree with Dow and Tonn that defining the feminine style exclusively as a rhetorical tactic for a less powerful speaker, or rhetorically and socially weaker orator, does not take into

Twentieth Century West: Domestic ideology and Feminine Style in Jeannette Rankin‘s Suffrage Rhetoric,‖ Communication Studies, 50 (2 Summer 1999).

340 Hayden ―Negotiating‖ 89.

341 Campbell Man Cannot 14.

342 Dow ―Feminine‖ 287.

343 Rita Felski, Beyond Feminist Aesthetics: Feminist Literature and Social Change (Cambridge: Harvard, 1989) 166.

94 account the philosophical nature of a feminine style that overcomes ―the barriers between public and private discourse, illustrating how feminine style can function to offer alternative modes of political reasoning.‖344 When Campbell discovered rhetorical patterns in women‘s speech that led her to determine there was a feminine style, she was reviewing suffrage rhetoric of women who were without public voice. Campbell noted that women were perceived, and continue to be considered less powerful speakers. Advocating that women are inherently socially weaker than men also does not account for contemporary women‘s struggles for a place in the public sphere.

Therefore, categorizing the feminine style as a rhetorical tactic only appropriate for a weaker speaker relegates the feminine position as perpetually and unavoidably ―less than‖ the masculine perspective, instead of considering the powerful opportunities that a feminine speaker has to offer when she or he invites an audience to consider a feminine worldview, especially when the speaker is operating from a position of comparative power. Such is the case with Meyer.

The difference between masculine and feminine style encompasses more than a rhetorical stylistic choice. It is a diverse perspective created in normative social practices that, according to

Sandra Lipsitz Bem provides ―men and women with daily social experiences that…give rise to drastically different ways of construing reality.‖345 Generally speaking female‘s reality reflects traditional female roles nurtured through a feminine social experience. Dow and Tonn maintain that ―while the historical conditions of women have changed in many ways, their primary social roles have not. Women still learn the ‗crafts‘ of housewifery and motherhood. Few women still may make soap or weave cloth; nonetheless the traditionally female crafts of emotional support, nurturance, empathy, and concrete reasoning are still familiar requirements of the female

344 Dow ―Feminine‖ 288.

345 Sandra Lipsitz Bem,. The Lens of Gender: Transforming the Debate on Sexual Inequality (New Haven: Yale University Press) 152.

95 role.‖346 The feminine approach encourages participation and cooperation-and is oriented toward relationships reflective of women‘s social roles as nurturers and care-givers, while the masculine approach reflects the traditionally masculine public role of hierarchy, domination, problem solving and an abstract approach to reasoning.347 Therefore, studying a speaker who employs the feminine style should consider the feminine philosophical perspective rather than mere rhetorical tactics, and this perspective argues that the feminine point of view is a fundamentally different way of reasoning.

Rationale for Sermon Selection

Meyer does not write out her sermons in transcript form, therefore her sermons had to be transcribed from CD recordings. At the time of this writing Meyer has recorded 628 sermons on

137 CD sets. A case study of this scale warranted narrowing the number of sermons to a reasonable number that could be studied. Each sermon CD set is numbered from the earliest to the latest in ascending order. Since it was also not possible to transcribe a significant portion of these sermons because of their large number, I chose four sermons for a representative sample of her religious rhetorical style. I selected Meyer‘s first recorded sermon at the time of this writing,

―Confidence: Freedom to be Yourself,‖ as the benchmark for her preaching style and the primary text for this analysis. In this sermon, Meyer states that it was recorded in the first five years348 of the start of her public ministry. I believe this was the most critical time in Meyer‘s ministry since it was the sermon that had the potential to reach the largest audience in the history of her ministry at that time. This was essentially the sermon that launched Meyer‘s pulpit to a

346 Dow ―Feminine‖ 287.

347 Daniel N. Malz and Ruth A. Borker, ―A Cultural Approach to Male-Female Miscommunication,‖ in John J. Gumperz. Ed. Language and Social Identity (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1982) 197.

348 Joyce Meyer ―Confidence: Freedom to be Yourself,‖ Joyce Meyer Ministries. C69 (Joyce Meyer Ministries: Fenton).

96 worldwide audience. Three other subsequent sermons were also examined to determine if Meyer continued to use a feminine style consistently, or if she abandoned the feminine style as she became more popular and spoke to gender-mixed and international audiences. For that purpose I chose a CD set from the first half of her CD set collection, ―Grace, Grace and More Grace,‖ and one from the last half of her CD set collection, ―I am Determined,‖ along with her last recorded sermon at the time of analysis, ―Enjoying a Life of Freedom.‖ This sampling gave me four representative sermons from different times in her public ministry for this case study to identify her rhetorical style. In this last sermon, Meyer reports that she had been preaching for thirty years.349 Thus, this analysis spans twenty-five years or more of her public preaching.350

Femininity in the Religious Context: Establishing Authority

The first and greatest rhetorical challenge that Meyer, or any speaker-- and especially female speakers-- must overcome is proving their credibility, or in a religious context, establishing their authority. Women who speak to conservative religious assemblies face even greater obstacles than women who speak in the political or secular arenas. Female ministers challenge religious authorities and centuries of church traditions whenever they step into the public pulpit.

Accepting a feminine religious speaker is also risky for the Evangelical believer, or audience member, since it means accepting a religious position that may lead them to reassess

349 Joyce Meyer ―Enjoying a Life of Freedom,‖ Joyce Meyer Ministries. C289 (Joyce Meyer Ministries: Fenton).

350It should be noted that when I began this study, in November of 2007, I contacted Joyce Meyer Ministries and asked for the dates of the CD sermon series to determine which might be useful for this study. At that time, I spoke with several representatives who told me they did not keep those records, but I their best guess was to use the CD numbers since they were cataloged in ascending order. This was the same answer I received when I asked again several times following the initial inquiry. However, in February 2009 I inquired again. This time an individual said he could give me ―approximate dates‖ for the sermons. They are: Confidence to be Yourself C69 (1990). Grace, Grace and More Grace C91 (1992), I am Determined C155 (1997), Enjoying a Life of Freedom C289 (2007). The dates given by Joyce Meyer Ministry are not supported textually in Meyer‘s sermons. She claims in the first sermon series to have started her ministry five years prior. In the last recording, she claims to have preached for more than thirty years. Meyer is also known for giving the same sermon series multiple times over several years. 97 their doctrinal beliefs, and may challenge their preconceived notions about religious authority.

Therefore, women who attempt to break through religious restrictions must speak in a way that will not be rejected out of hand by their listeners and their own denominational leaders. In chapter two, I presented a short overview of the successes and challenges female public preachers‘ experience. These female evangelists believed it was critical for them to speak, but it was a precarious position because they had to remain within the acceptable boundaries of religious and social propriety. By simultaneously maintaining their role of nurturer, mother, sister and caregiver, female preachers did not offend those who held to traditional religious beliefs regarding women‘s roles in a public assembly. This meant that women needed to employ a rhetorical position, a feminine approach that was powerful but appeared submissive at the same time. That was, and continues to be a difficult task for women, since socially restrictive norms and many religious doctrines discount women‘s expertise and authority in anything but their traditional feminine roles, those outside the realm of religious authority. Traditional religious doctrines and teachings are routinely interpreted through a masculine, or male perspective. It is because of these kinds of values that Campbell argues that ―females are defined as ‗other,‘ as domestic, as suited only for a limited repertoire of gender-based roles as wives, mothers, sisters, and daughters, and as a repository for cherished but discarded spiritual and human values.‖351

Therefore, Meyer was entering an arena where divine authority is the only way in which any women could stand against church teachings banning women from the public pulpit, and seeing divine authority as the only way their listeners can justify attending their assemblies without backlash from their own religious organizations. Meyer establishes her authority, by

351 Campbell ―Femininity‖ 101. In this description of feminism, Campbell cites B.J. Berg The Remembered Gate: Origins of American Feminism: The Woman and the City 1800-1860 (New York: Oxford, 1978), N.F. Cott, The Bonds of Womanhood: Woman‘s Sphere in New England 1780-1835. (New Haven: Yale Univ. Press, 1977), B. Welter. Dimity Convictions: The American Woman in the Nineteenth Century. (Athena: Ohio Univ. Press, 1976).

98 claiming she is divinely ―anointed‖ like her female predecessors.352 Brekus explains that

―visionary women asserted that God had educated them; he had told them where to travel, what to say and even who would be saved.‖353 In the same way, Meyer maintains that God speaks to her directing what she says and how to organize and operate her ministry.

Although Meyer holds a Ph.D. in theology from Life Christian University,354 she never refers to her own, or other expertise beyond her personal, lived experience and consistently relies on divine revelation to craft her ideas and give support to the message. Meyer tells her audience eighteen times in her earliest recorded sermon, ―Confidence to be Yourself,‖ that God speaks to her directly. For example, in this sermon she tells her audience: ―God gave me this statement,‖

―God was revealing this to me,‖ ―God opened my eyes to this,‖ ―God gave me a good example today.‖355 She explains: ―And I‘ll be real honest with you, when God put this on my heart I knew what I was gonna teach. I went away about four weeks ago and got all these teachings and man, I tell you, I got such a clear vision of what God is saying….‖ Meyer discusses repeatedly that God helps her prepare and instructs her messages, but she also reveals that God talks to her and guides her as she preaches, directing her message to her audience‘s immediate needs. Again, in ―Confidence: Freedom to be Yourself,‖ she illustrates this immediate revelation when she says: ―There‘s a real lesson in that what we found out is you cannot like somebody, you cannot

352 see Catherin A. Brekus, Female Preaching in America: Strangers and Pilgrims: 1740-1845 (Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 1998). Stephen J. Pullum ―Sisters of the Spirit: The Rhetorical Methods of the Female Faith Healers Aimee Semple McPherson, Kathryn Kuhlman, and Gloria Copeland.‖ The Journal of Communication and Religion 16 (2 September 1993). Wayne Warner, ―From the Footlights to the Light of the Cross: A Story of Evangelist Edith Mae Pennington.‖ AG Heritage (Summer-Fall 2005). Anna B. Lock, ―From the Underworld to the Upperworld: The Former Derelict Woman Who Became an A/G Evangelist,‖ A/G Heritage (Summer 1994).

353 Brekus Female Preaching 54. Emphasis in original.

354 ―About Joyce,‖ Joyce Meyer Ministries http://www.joycemeyer.org/AboutUs/AboutJoyce/ accessed 11 February 2009.

355 Meyer ―Confidence.‖

99 get along with somebody, if you are trying to be like them. It‘s like they become a law to you, is what the Lord‘s saying to me right now.‖356

In ―Grace, Grace and more Grace,‖ another one of Meyer‘s later recorded sermons, she states nineteen times that her message is divinely inspired. More importantly, in this sermon, she justifies her ministry and preaching in general by claiming God called her. For example, here

Meyer stresses that even though she struggled when she began her ministry, divine authority was on her side: ―Do you know how many years I frustrated myself unbearably tryin‘ to make this ministry come to pass, and it was certainly God‘s will. He said it. It was God‘s call; God had anointed me.‖357 Therefore, the message that she gives her audience is that she cannot refuse the

―call‖ and remain silent. By reminding her audiences that each sermon and message is

―anointed,‖ she reaffirms her authority and establishes that she is subject to a higher authority than the doctrinal leaders who might insist she remain silent.

Meyer maintains her divine authority even as her audiences become more diverse and her ministry grows. In her first recorded sermon she refers to revelations from God to help her better understand scripture, such as: ―Oh I got a hold of a scripture. I mean God spoke something to me right before I left my room and I love it. I tell you I have been studying for about three years trying to get a deep revelation on what it means to be one with Christ‖358 These claims of divine inspiration become more personal as Meyer‘s ministry develops. She reveals her personal, intimate conversations with God in the later sermons I transcribed. For example, in ―Enjoying a

Life of Freedom,‖ she refers to God as speaking to her not only about her sermons or scriptural

356 Meyer ―Confidence.‖

357 Joyce Meyer, ―Grace, Grace and More Grace,‖ Joyce Meyer Ministries. C91 (Joyce Meyer Ministries: Fenton).

358 Meyer ―Confidence.‖

100 issues, but also about her personal relationships: ―The last time I was crabbing to God about what Dave hadn‘t done for me, God asked me an interesting question, he said, ‗What are you doing for Dave?‘‖359 This type of revelatory claim is different from claims in her earlier sermons where divine revelation is confined to interpreting the Word of God; or revealing insight into a scriptural passage. For example, Meyer reveals God‘s personal conversations with her by saying:

―God challenged me one time. He said, ‗Well I‘ll tell you I do not want you to ask me for one thing. There is only one thing that I want to hear out of you Joyce Meyer and it is God I need you, I need more of you; I need more of you in my life.‘‖360 Later in claiming divine revelation,

Meyer discloses her relationship as more than just a minister receiving guidance as a prophet or messenger, but exposes the intimate relationship she has with God in all aspects of her life, demonstrating her ultimate authority as a ―friend‖ of God.

Divine authority places the female evangelist outside or beyond male doctrinal authority.

That is, if Meyer‘s calling comes by inspiration, she cannot be held accountable to prescriptive church doctrines regarding a woman‘s place in the public assemblies. Hence, since the highest authority, God, ordained her ministry, she cannot be subject to man‘s doctrinal prescriptions that she remains silent in the church.

As discussed earlier in this dissertation, even though women did speak in public worship assemblies and were occasionally ordained as ministers, it did not mean they were allowed to stray outside their traditional God-given roles of wife, mother, and caregiver. In fact, Campbell noted that it was believed that women‘s authority was limited to a religious context. She explains the pervasive opinion was that ―women‘s power lies in her gentleness, in her soft and

359Meyer ―Enjoying.‖

360 Meyer ―Enjoying.‖

101 affectionate voice, in her retiring delicacy, in her unobtrusive readiness to minister to suffering wherever found.‖361 Women were, and are perceived as having special innate nurturing talents.

These talents and roles are manifested in the feminine style Campbell has identified. They also help constitute the rhetorical style that I argue Meyer uses to engage thousands of listeners every day through her message.

In the next section of this chapter I will discuss how Meyer creates a feminine perspective through the feminine style. I maintain that feminine style is the means by which

Meyer is able to produce or create a feminine world view, one that is based in nurturing, caring and sharing all perspectives created in the private sphere within which women have lived for centuries.

Feminine Speakers Use the Feminine Style

The feminine experience has been solitary and isolating for many women as they find their way in the public sphere while still maintaining their traditional feminine roles of mother, wife, and caregiver. Each of these feminine roles is created in the private sphere where they are learned and maintained through supporting, nurturing, empathizing and being sensitive to the needs of others. Obviously, an appreciation for others‘ lived experiences is the undergirding framework for the feminine perspective. Deborah Jones agrees, saying that private experiences are valued and shared in feminine cultures.362 Dow and Tonn go even further, arguing that women who promote sharing and personal awareness believe it is necessary for the fulfillment of human potential.363 In other words, sharing, supporting and sympathizing is the nature of being

361 Campbell ―Femininity‖ 102.

362 Deborah Jones, ―Gossip: Notes on Women‘s Oral Culture,‖ in Cheris Kramarae Ed. The Voices and Words of Women and Men (New York: Pergamon Press, 1980) 195.

363 Dow ―Feminine‖ 293.

102 human and disclosing private lived experiences of successes, failures, hopes and fears is the means by which humans make connections and move outside their solitary existence. Therefore, the feminine perspective values lived, personal experiences and testimonies as legitimate evidence and support for arguments. Disclosing personal experiences or narratives allows the female to create connections and relationships with others, releasing her from her isolation.

Meyer Values a Feminine Perspective through a Feminine Style

The feminine perspective values relational support and understands the struggles individuals face in their private lives and is based on craft-making and nurturing others toward learning how to navigate the public and private sphere.364 By talking about the struggles individuals face in the private sphere, Meyer moves the private into the public, reconstructing it into a feminine worldview where traditional feminine concerns and roles are no longer hidden, or unusual, but accepted and valued. Even the titles of Meyer‘s sermon series reflect her focus on private struggles: ―Do Yourself a Favor….Forgive,‖ ―Living Without Frustration,‖ ―Birthing your Dreams and your Visions,‖ ―Calm Down and Cheer Up,‖ etc. The majority of Meyer‘s sermon notes, tapes, CDs, books and DVDs are concerned with struggles that typically take place in the private sphere: feelings of frustration and inadequacy, self esteem and personal disappointment. In ―Confidence: Freedom to be Yourself,‖ Meyer speaks to her audience‘s private, personal struggles when she says: ―so many of you are hurt and wounded because people have disappointed you.‖ In bringing their private concerns forward, she creates an atmosphere of support in the public sphere. She comforts them with: ―How many of you know [that] sometimes you don‘t know ‗til later on that some of these things are the best things that ever happened to

364 Campbell Man Cannot 13.

103 you? God‘s got a plan for your life, a good plan.‖365 Later in the same sermon, Meyer expresses her concern for her audience‘s self concept. She moves personal concerns regarding feelings of inadequacy reserved for the private sphere to the public arena when she says: ―The basic root of all of our problems is how we feel about ourselves. I‘m talking way, way, way down deep inside.

Folks if you don‘t like yourself you‘re in big trouble because only to the degree that you like yourself, are you going to have any enjoyment out of life.‖366 In her sermon ―Grace, Grace and

More Grace‖ Meyer discusses private frustrations: ―We yelled at one of the kids, we kicked the cat. [audience laughs] And you know weren‘t nice in the traffic jam. You know it is everything we do wrong, then we think all of the sudden it disqualifies us for any of God‘s blessings.‖ By discussing these personal, private feelings of inadequacy that everyone experiences, but hides,

Meyer validates and values their personal feelings.

A feminine speaker assumes a nurturing rhetorical posture by valuing personal, lived experiences as an extension of traditional female roles. Dow and Tonn contend that by using personal examples, feminine speakers ―create alternative grounds for testing the validity for public knowledge.‖367 Rhetors, like Meyer, use a feminine style to create an alternative means of testing truth based on their own life experiences. Meyer values the feelings usually experienced in private as legitimate and important to her listeners. Since women are limited to the private sphere when fulfilling traditional female roles, personal experiences become the means by which women are expert. Meyer shows her expertise by expressing what her audience feels, but may not be comfortable expressing openly.

365 Meyer ―Confidence.‖

366 Meyer ―Confidence.‖

367 Dow ―Feminine‖ 291.

104

Characteristic One: Feminine Speakers Rely on Personal Experiences and Extended

Narratives

Narratives and stories illustrate vividly the premises for the speaker. Narratives that use everyday situations validate the private experiences as important and worthy. Speakers who use a feminine style draw conclusions based on a series of examples, fictional or real-life stories, and comparisons, which encourage the audience to reason independently, argues Mari Boor Tonn.368

They also are a tested method or proof of a strategy or idea about how to deal with a problem or a difficult situation. Narrative is a way of ―showing‖ techniques of living. The feminine perspective validates the struggles individuals have in their private worlds. Extended narratives, personal stories and anecdotes release listeners from their isolation and help them learn how to overcome the same problems. Campbell claims: ―personal tone and personal disclosure are integrated characteristics of the feminine style. The telling of personal experience presupposes a personal attitude toward the subject.‖ 369 Because women were dismissed from the public sphere, they relied on narratives to help them discern their realities. Although women have access today to the public sphere, they still maintain the private roles, those that are communicated through personal stories and narratives.

Meyer uses Personal Experience and Extended Narratives in her Feminine Style

Meyer draws thousands to her conferences; therefore it can be assumed that most of her listeners are ―fans.‖ That means they have read and heard her personal stories before. They expect the stories. In keeping with a feminine style and her feminine perspective she openly and proudly confesses some of her most private stories to her audiences. In fact, Meyer‘s success has

368 Tonn ―Militant‖ 8.

369 qtd in Dow ―Feminine‖ 292.

105 been attributed to her willingness to allow her personal life to play out in her preaching. Bill

Smith from the St. Louis Post Dispatch reported that Meyer‘s listeners attribute their healing, recoveries and successes to hearing Meyer disclose her personal struggles. Smith says:

Pam Ericson, 37, of Warner Robins, Ga., who said she attempted suicide

17 years ago after she lost her 3-year-old son in a fire at her home, said

she owes everything to the guidance of Meyer and ministers like her.

Many women say that Meyer's autobiographical messages of child abuse,

family estrangement and anguished search for love strike a familiar chord

with what they have faced.370

By disclosing her faults and her successes in her faith to her audience, much like she would a close friend, her audience is drawn into a personal, intimate relationship with her.

Meyer adheres to a feminine style by relying on personal lived experiences as a primary means of proof and support in all of the sermons I transcribed. Relying on personal lived experiences to prove and illustrate biblical arguments is a hallmark of Meyer‘s rhetorical style.

In her first recorded sermon, ―Confidence: Freedom to be Yourself,‖ Meyer discloses twenty personal stories illustrating and supporting her thesis.371 For example, in this sermon, Meyer begins by defining confidence from the Bible and Webster‘s dictionary. However, all of these definitions lead to her personal definition and illustration of confidence:

When I‘m thinking about security, this is just the vision I get: I have a

water bed, and man when I go out on trips and I sleep in hard beds, and I

370 Bill Smith, ―Women Offer Testimonials on how Meyer‘s Preaching has Helped Them,‖ St. Louis Post Dispatch, November 17, 2003. http://www.rickross.com/reference/meyer/meyer15.html.

371 These personal stories range from stories about health problems from stress, hurts from being disappointed, getting her fingernails done, new shoes, her husband enduring public scorn for supporting her, conflict with her children, her personality conflicts with her husband to trying to can vegetables, as well as many others.

106

come back, and sometimes I‘m so tired my bones actually hurt. And oh I

love to get a good hot bath and crawl up in that waterbed and pull my little

covers up around me and hug up next to my husband‘s back and just go

to sleep talkin‘ to Jesus.

By moving her audience from the ―expert‖ definitions to an example of her own experiences,

Meyer supports her premises with experiential evidence, a hallmark of the feminine style and a feminine speaker.

In her other sermons, Meyer also uses her personal experiences as evidence and support.

In ―Grace, Grace and More Grace,‖ the shortest sermon I transcribed, Meyer references her personal experiences fifteen times. In this sermon, Meyer repeats the pattern she used in the sermon discussed above. She defines the focus of her message, ―frustration,‖ with a dictionary definition, then a Biblical definition, but both of these lead to her primary definition, one based on a personal example: ―All I knew anything about was tryin‘ tryin‘ tryin‘ tryin‘ to be good, tryin‘ to read the Bible more, tryin‘ to understand the Bible more when I did read the Bible more, tryin‘ to be a better mother, tryin‘ to be a better wife.‖372 Meyer uses this personal example as her definition of personal frustration. It is only through her claiming personal authority, or experience with frustration that she is able to instruct her audience in now to overcome their own frustrations and difficulties. In ―I am Determined,‖ she uses eight personal stories to prove her biblical points.373 For example, Meyer says:

I cannot tell you what a mess I was personally. I mean you can just forget

every other trial. I mean just what a mess I was personally, my personality

372 Meyer ―Grace.‖

373 In these personal stories Meyer recounts her feelings regarding her abuse, personal disappointments, her husband‘s faith, temptation to give up as well as others.

107

was messed up from the being abused. I had such a judgmental critical

mind; so suspicious. I was so insecure that I was jealous of everybody that

had anything more than me or could do more than me.374

Additionally, in her last and shortest sermon, ―Enjoying a Life of Freedom,‖ she relies on thirteen personal stories as application, illustration, and proof. 375

Meyer‘s confessions show her feminine perspective. A feminine speaker does not position herself as an expert or an authority on her own, but is willing to allow others to learn from her experiences. Meyer‘s sermons argue that she is not ashamed, but proud to share and admit that she makes mistakes and has difficulties in her past. Her audience also seems to appreciate her candid approach and apparently finds comfort in her confessions.

Similar to disclosing personal experiences, feminine speakers also employ extended narratives to illustrate claims. Feminine speakers value stories as evidence and support.

Campbell argues that speakers who employ a feminine style include extended narrative.376

Stories support the feminine perspective because they give the audience a chance to benefit or learn from another‘s experience in a feminine nurturing way. A narrative instructs the listener without telling the listener what to do.

Meyer supports her messages with personal illustrations, examples and extended narratives. In the four sermons I transcribed each sermon consisted of four extended narratives.

However, the subject of her narratives move from the biblical to the personal narrative while

374 Joyce Meyer ―I am Determined,‖ Joyce Meyer Ministries. C155 (Joyce Myer Ministries: Fenton).

375 The personal stories in this sermon recount her struggles with temptations, her marriage, kids, personal struggles with controlling herself, and her dog being disobedient.

376 Campbell Women Public 390.

108 each of the sermons incorporated both. In her first recorded sermon, Meyer gives four extended narratives, one of which is particularly detailed about a time in which she

used to live next door to a girl who was ―Miss Arts and Crafts‖ and she

grew tomatoes and canned tomatoes and wove pot hangers and sewed her

husband‘s clothes and made her kid‘s swimmin‘ suits, and I got to

thinkin‘: something‘s wrong with me because I‘m not that kind of woman

because I don‘t like to do all that stuff, so I‘m going to do that!377

She continues with the details of trying to live up to her neighbor‘s ―craftiness,‖ and, of course, fails miserably. The story, however, is successful because it allows Meyer to prove to her audience that she is real. Meyer confesses in another sermon: ―Do you know how many times I have spent on my face, praying and askin‘ God for me to be gentle and merciful and kind and full of compassion?...it keeps me on my face all the time cryin‘out-- ‗God, oh God, you‘ve got to help me! God you‘ve got to help me!‘‖378 The audience replies back to Meyer‘s confessions with loud applause, ―Amen‖ and even laughter, a typical response from the audience when she recounts her personal stories.

Stories can make a speaker more real to the audience, releasing them from their private experiences to public consideration and examples so listeners learn how to overcome the same kinds of hurdles in their own personal lives. In ―Confidence: Freedom to be Yourself,‖ Meyer relays the story of a young woman who is unable to see herself worthy of redemption:

See and so much of what we read, we take it for somebody else. It‘s easy

to believe it for somebody else. But it‘s hard to say he did it for me. And

377 Meyer ―Confidence.‖

378 Meyer ―Confidence‖.

109

he not only did it for me, but he would have done it if there hadn‘t even

been any of you. Mmmm…that gets really hard to swallow, don‘t it? I had

a girl come to me at the altar Thursday; maybe she‘s here this weekend.

And she said, ―I‘m hearin‘ all this stuff you‘re sayin‘ and I believe it-- I

believe that Jesus did everything you say he did, and I even see God

blessing my life, but,‖ she said, ―I‘ve got some kind of a problem and I

don‘t know what it is, I just can‘t believe it‘s for me.‖

In ―Confidence: Freedom to Be Yourself,‖ Meyer tells the story of a young woman who after attending one of Meyer‘s sermons, took her advice and made changes in her life:

One girl told me a story after seeing me do that. [speaking of an

illustration she used in this sermon] She works in a restaurant

and the waitresses are all jealous of each other. You know if one gets one

table more than the other one gets or you know a big tipper, you know.

She said it is just a mess, and she said she went to work after hearing this

message and she said: ―Ok girls we‘re going to all stop wearing our ring

on our eye.‖

In each of these sermons Meyer presents her message in the form of narratives or stories to give her audience life-skills to deal with their own struggles and personal challenges. She shows them that if they can follow her example and learn from other‘s personal stories, they can overcome similar problems in their own life. Rather than demanding or assuming, Meyer says: ―You know

I‘ve lived this, and I‘ve been on both sides of it...‖379 As a feminine speaker Meyer encourages the audience and gives them the benefit of her lived experiences by constructing her messages in

379 Meyer ―Enjoying.‖

110 a feminine way through her personal examples and narratives. By using a feminine style in which she confesses to her audience her mistakes, they can learn how to avoid the same pitfalls and how to reach their spiritual and life goals.

Characteristic Two: Feminine Speakers Speak to their Audiences as Peers

Feminine speakers talk to their audience as equals, engaging them in a conversational relationship. Using a personal tone, or treating listeners as peers allows women to remain in their socially accepted roles, but also helps their audience appreciate their unique position as credible or valid. Dow and Tonn contend that a feminine speaker‘s personal tone is his or her strength.380

Hayden elaborates further:

Campbell claims that women rhetors spoke to their audiences not as

experts but as peers, recognizing the experiences of their audience

members and inviting their audiences to participate in the creation of

arguments. By utilizing this set of strategies, women rhetors were able to

avoid appearing aggressive or augmentative, and although they spoke

about public issues, they couched their discussions in private terms.

Through the tools of the feminine style, women were able to empower

their female audience members and maintain an appearance of

femininity.381

A personal tone denotes a close relationship, one in which the closest of friends sitting together in private disclosing personal fears, frustration, giving advice, and offer solace and comfort.

Meyer Speaks to her Audience as Peers through the Feminine Style

380 Dow ―Feminine‖ 293.

381 Hayden ―Negotiating Femininity‖ 85.

111

Meyer is popular for her discursive, conversational rhetorical style. She engages her audience in a conversational way throughout her sermon. Her feminine style is evidence by her personal tone and seemingly peer relationship with her listeners. "‘It's like she is talking directly to me,‘ said Rhonda Spidle‖382 For example, in her first recorded sermon, ―Confidence:

Freedom to be Yourself,‖ Meyer says:

As you know now, now every once in a while I‘ll try to pull that pitiful

little scene on God: ―I just can‘t go on. I just quit.‖ The last time I did that

you know what the Lord said to me? ―You know as well as I do that you

ain‘t gonna quit it so let‘s just don‘t go around that mountain one more

time.‖383

In another example, Meyer says to her audience: ―Just relax folks. Who are we tryin‘ to impress anyway? You know what I found out? You‘ve got just as much wrong with you as I have with me. Right?‖ In this type of statement, Meyer presents herself as equal to her listeners.

Throughout this sermon Meyer asks the audience to participate rhetorically. In her sermon, ―I am

Determined,‖ Meyer asks: ―Are you ever tempted to quit?‖ The audience responds loudly ―yes‖ and several people respond with ―Amen,‖ to which Meyer laughs and says: ―Maybe I should say:

How often?‖ The reply from the audience for this follow up question is again loud applause and laughter. The answers to questions like these are obvious, everyone has felt like quitting, but admitting the feelings of being overwhelmed and helpless is not typically acceptable in a masculine culture. Thus, Meyer supports a feminine perspective, one that is based in the private

382Bill Smith, ―Women offer Testimonials on How Meyer‘s Preaching has Helped Them,‖ St. Louis Post Dispatch, November 17, 2003. http://www.rickross.com/reference/meyer/meyer15.html.

383 Meyer ―Determined‖.

112 sphere where nurturing, supportive relationships are created in private conversations between friends, or peers. In the sermon series, ―Grace, Grace and More Grace,‖ Meyer connects with her audience by asking the audience to repeat after her: ―Everybody say: It‘s by Grace through faith

[audience repeats]. And this salvation is not of yourselves, of your own doing, it came not through your own striving, but it is the gift of God. Everybody say ‗gift.‘‖ [audience repeats]384

Meyer‘s casual, personal tone invites her audience to trust her as she discusses her own shortcomings much like trusted friends engaged in a conversation at home. This feminine perspective is reflected in an attitude of nurturing by disclosing personal experiences that help and support listeners craft their lives, a focus and goal of a feminine perspective and an attitude nurtured through Meyer‘s feminine style.

Characteristic Three: A Feminine Perspective Invites Others to Participate

Women have been criticized for using rhetorical questions and other ―powerless language.‖ Lynn H. Turner, Kathryn Dindia and Judy C. Pearson explain that women‘s speech is considered less assertive and ultimately less powerful because research investigating women‘s speech has typically focused on linguistic differences, identifying women as using tag questions, disclaimers, and hedgers, all of which are characteristics of a hesitant, less powerful or assertive speaker.385 However, Kevin L. Blankenship and Traci Y. Criag note that although rhetorical questions were considered weak or ineffective in the past, new research shows that rhetorical questions can be highly persuasive.386 Additionally, rhetorical questions have been effective

384 Meyer ―Grace.‖

385 Lynn H. Turner, Kathryn Dindia and Judy C. Pearson, ―An Investigation of Female/Male Verbal Behaviors in Same-Sex and Mixed-Sex Conversations,‖ Communication Reports, 8 (2 Summer 1995). It should be noted here that the paradigm for powerful language is male, thereby placing feminine language/speech outside of the norm.

386 Kevin L. Blankenship. ―Rhetorical Question Use and Resistance to Persuasion: An Attitudinal Strength Analysis,‖ Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 25 (2 June 2006) 111-128. 113 especially in religious contexts. Michael P. Graves explains in his study of Quaker sermons that the rhetorical questions emphasized the ―Quaker view of communication because it had the real potential to stir responses in the minds of the listeners, thus placing the focus of the communication situation on the listener rather than the preacher.‖387 This kind of focus is feminine in nature. A female speaker does not have the authority to demand, but must be at the mercy of the audience. Perhaps Hayden explains it best when she writes: ―A rhetor using feminine style neither demands nor insists, but instead she suggests, invites and requests.‖388

Campbell reminds us, as discussed above, that a feminine speaker addresses the audience as peers, inviting them to participate in the creation of arguments, recognizing the experiences of their audiences as important.389

Meyer Invites her Audience to Participate by using Rhetorical Questions in her Feminine

Style

Rhetorical questions are pervasive throughout Meyer‘s sermons. In the four sermons I transcribed, she asks her audience more than two hundred rhetorical questions. In the first sermon Meyer asks her audience one hundred and two rhetorical questions such as: ―Why was I frustrated?‖, ―Ever feel like that?‖, ―Isn‘t that interesting?‖, ―Is there any of you that ever felt like you were that bad?‖, ―You know why?‖, ―Make any sense?‖390 Meyer continues to use the same rhetorical questions and conversational style in her other sermons. In ―Confidence to be

387 Michael P. Graves, ―‗Thou art but a Youth‘: Thomas Chalkley Enacts and Defends the Early Quaker Impromptu Sermon.‖ In James R. Andrews, ed., Rhetoric, Religion, and the Roots of Identity in British Colonial America. volume. 1, A Rhetorical History of the United States. Martin J. Medhurst, general ed., East Lansing, MI: Michigan State University Press, 2007, 260-63.

388 Hayden ―Negotiating‖ 89.

389 Campbell Man Cannot 14.

390 Meyer ―Grace.‖

114

Yourself,‖ Meyer asks: ―Security; we all want security don‘t we? We all want to feel comfortable don‘t we?‖, ―I didn‘t have my act together right?‖, ―You know what I found out?‖

The last sermon I transcribed, ―Enjoying a Life of Freedom,‖ included fifty three rhetorical questions such as: ―Everybody got that?‖, ―You know why?‖, ―What exactly is he saying here?‖,

―Amen?‖391 By asking questions Meyer draws the audience into her sermon in a discursive way.

This feminine perspective encourages the audience to participate and draw their own conclusions and thereby, again, nudges them toward confidence in their own abilities to deal with hardships in their own lives.

Characteristic Four: A Feminine Perspective Values Induction and Non-Linear Thought

Given women‘s cultural restrictions, feminine roles are crafted in the private sphere.

Consequently, femininity is reflected in a rhetorical feminine style of submission, passivity, submissiveness and patience. However, the masculine style relies on deduction, decisiveness, assertion and independence.392 Feminine speakers, especially women, must create an alternative viewpoint without overstepping social boundaries of femininity.

Parry-Giles and Parry-Giles explain that ―‗feminine‘ style is personal, organized in inductive or non-linear patterns, stylized and ornamental, reliant on anecdotes and examples, and likely to encourage identification between a speaker and audience.‖393 Furthermore, they explain that each of these characteristics is ―rooted in either the historical derivation of women‘s speech/discourse or the development of women‘s discourse through the socialization processes and lived experiences.394

391 Meyer ―Enjoying.‖

392 See chapter 3 for an extended discussion of masculine, or male, rhetorical style.

393 Parry-Giles ―Gendered Politics‖ 342-343.

394 Parry-Giles ―Gendered‖ 339. 115

Feminine inductive or nonlinear arguments are perceived as inferior by social standards because of the dominance of the popular masculine style. William Benoit argues that although

Aristotle identified induction as a viable form of argument, deduction has been perceived as superior and therefore subjugated the alternative. Interestingly, Benoit quotes Aristotle as saying:

―Induction is more convincing and clear: it is more readily learnt by use of the senses and is applicable generally to the masses of men…‖395 However, since male style has long been the standard for how good public rhetoric is constructed, the public perceives that argument from deduction, or masculine style, is the superior rhetorical style. Benoit again argues: ―Apparently induction is advantageous because it is easily understood, though deduction is more impressive.‖396

Meyer Uses Inductive Reasoning or Nonlinear Thought through the Feminine Style

Like other feminine speakers, Meyer creates her arguments through induction, relying almost exclusively on specific examples and narratives to prove her message. In her first recorded sermon, ―Confidence: Freedom to be Yourself,‖ the title denotes that the subject of this message will inspire her audience to feel more confident and that freedom through confidence will be the thesis of this sermon. However, she begins by discussing personal security: ―Security, we all want security don‘t we? We all want to feel comfortable don‘t we?[…] in a room? We want to be secure about ourselves and secure about our future and secure in the love of our friends and family. Security is a great thing.‖397 She illustrates her argument about security through a series of personal examples. In one of these examples she discusses her own insecurity

395 qtd in William Benoit, ―Aristotle‘s Example: the Rhetorical Induction,‖ Quarterly Journal of Speech 66 (1980) 190.

396 Benoit ―Aristotle‘s‖ 190.

397 Meyer ―Confidence.‖

116 with preaching: ―You know I used to get up and do this, and if I wasn‘t comfortable I was in knots. I‘d be half dead when one of these seminars was over, just from you know, makin‘ sure everything went just right.‖398 Then she moves abruptly to her next topic, self confidence:

―Another synonym is self assurance, self-confidence, faith and reliance. There is a lot of different confidence we could talk about; there‘s confidence in other people.‖399 Again, she proves this through a series of examples and illustrations of her confidence in her husband, other people who have disappointed her, and forgiving those who disappoint us when we have put our confidence in them.

It is almost one third of the way through this sermon before she introduces her keynote scripture: ―I know how to be abased to live humbly and straight in certain circumstances and I also know how to live plenty and in abundance. I have learned in any and all circumstances the secret situation.‖400 This might serve as a thesis except that she moves immediately to a lengthy discussion about a different subject, what it means to be ―in Christ.‖ From this argument she says: ―I am self sufficient in Christ‘s sufficiency. See we can have self confidence, but only in

His confidence.‖401 This statement serves as a thesis for the next section of her sermon.

However, following this statement she repeats much of the same argument she develops in the first half of this sermon and defines ―confidence‖ again: ―The word confidence means bold, open, plain,‖ and then she repeats her first statement, ―confidence is faith.‖402 In the last section of this sermon, Meyer moves completely away from her main idea, confidence, to the topic of

398 Meyer ―Confidence.‖

399 Meyer ―Confidence.‖

400 Meyer ―Confidence‖ Meyer reads from Philippians 4:12.

401 Meyer ―Confidence.‖

402 Meyer ―Confidence.‖

117 personality traits. She uses her husband, children, granddaughter, friends and specific examples in her life to illustrate the different persuasive traits: ―Now obviously I‘m a choleric and my husband is a phlegmatic and I just work, work, work, work, work, work, and Dave watches.

Dave and I will be out on a trip and Dave will like to pull over in a strange town where we don‘t even know anybody and watch this group of kids play ball.‖403 These short personal examples and illustrations prove each personality trait and illustrate how they work together, or cause frustration in relationships. Confidence is no longer mentioned in this last third of her sermon until it is alluded to in last sentence: ―We want to learn to just relax and be ourselves, Amen?‖404

Meyer‘s arguments are woven together in seemingly illogical fashion, but the inductive, personal nature of the style makes her audience energized. She presents her message like a conversation in which she moves easily and quickly from one idea to the next as they come to mind. As she weaves these stories together she invites her audience along with rhetorical questions inviting their participation through personal anecdotes, so they can easily follow her reasoning.

Meyer‘s later sermons are also arranged inductively. Although Meyer‘s later sermons have a clearer thesis and organizational pattern, they all rely on examples and specific illustrations arranged inductively to move the audience toward the main idea. In the second sermon I transcribed, ―Grace, Grace, and more Grace,‖ Meyer focuses on her personal frustrations with trying to do God‘s will by giving what she calls ―practical examples‖ about how she missed the Grace of God. She confesses:

I was trying to be important, it was gonna be secure, I was going to have a

big position, you know flowing the power of God, all these things. So,

403 Meyer ―Confidence.‖

404 Meyer ―Confidence.‖

118

even though it was God‘s will, he couldn‘t give it to me until I let him do

this work in me. So many years I prayed, it was frustrating me because I

prayed and fasted and sought God and did all these different things and

nothing happened.405

In this example, Meyer begins with discussing her frustrations by focusing on the specific problems she had with security and importance. These specific examples illustrate that she was unable to help herself and overcome her personal failings without the help of God. Her details and examples helped her establish her thesis: one must rely on God for help.

In her sermon ―I am Determined,‖ Meyer appears at first to have a more deductive organizational structure than the first sermon, but again it is constructed inductively with a series of personal examples and stories to move the audience to her conclusions. Meyer appears to try to follow a deductive pattern, but as she becomes involved in the message, she shifts to an inductive pattern. Finally, in the last sermon I transcribed, ―Enjoying a Life of Freedom,‖ Meyer is more focused on following a clear organizational plan. However, once again, the more she becomes involved in her message, the more specific examples she uses and the more she moves to an inductive presentation. For example in this last sermon she comes to her conclusion: ―So finally I thought, you‘re right God; I‘ve got a bad attitude. I‘m hard to get along with. I‘m manipulative, I‘m controlling. I‘m wasting day after day in self pity. I faced the truth and I cried for three days because I was a pathetic mess, but that was the beginning of my turn around and I had been a Christian for a lot of years before I reached that place.‖406 Each example builds her argument inductively toward her thesis and conclusion.

405 Meyer ―Grace.‖

406 Meyer ―Enjoying.‖

119

Characteristic Five: A Feminine Perspective Creates Identification and Empowers

Audiences

A feminine perspective arises out of the feminine experience and social roles, norms, and restrictions. Campbell suggests the roles played by each gender entrenched in the subcultures of society make distinctions between a masculine perspective and a feminine perspective. She elaborates further when she says ―man‘s place was public, the world outside the ‗home,‘ the realm of the mechanical and monetary, and his nature was violent, lustful, and competitive.

Woman‘s place was ‗home,‘ a haven from amoral capitalistic competition, where ‗the heart was,‘ and children were met by a ‗ministering angel.‘‖407 Moreover, Nancy Chodorow asserts that since women‘s primary roles are private, relational ones, women have little else to share and draw upon when they attempt to engage the public.408 Therefore, historically women had little choice, since they were resigned to a more private life and traditional roles, but to draw upon those experiences and use them to create a unique feminine connection with their audience.

Campbell explains: ―Whether in a small group, from a podium, or on the page, consciousness- raising [or feminine style] invites audience members to participate in the persuasive process—it empowers them. It is a highly appealing form of discourse, particularly if identification between advocate and audience is facilitated by common values and shared experience.‖409

Meyer Creates Identification and Empowerment through the Feminine Style

Meyers creates identification with her audience in a variety of ways specific to the feminine paradigm. A speaker who employs a feminine style entices the audience by asking the

407 Campbell ―Femininity‖ 101.

408 Nancy Chodorow, The Reproduction of Mothering: Psychoanalysis and the Sociology of Gender. (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1978) 178.

409 Campbell Man Cannot 14.

120 audience to affirm her as a speaker through inviting the audience to participate, asking rhetorical questions of the audience, and asking for their approval. Meyer uses rhetorical questions extensively in her sermons and invites her audience to participate with her in her sermons vocally: ―How many of you want to learn the secret here this weekend of how to face every situation?‖410 ―How many of you have been disappointed in yourself?‖ [audience answers: Oh yeah] ―How many would say that you‘ve ever been thoroughly disappointed by people?‖ 411

―How many of you believe that you can use a much greater revelation on who you are in

Christ?‖ [audience answers: yeah] 412 ―Amen?‖ [audience answers: Amen] 413 ―It‘s not just some little feeling we have, it‘s not just some wild thought that comes into our brains, are you with me tonight?‖ [audience replies: yes]414 In this discursive exchange, Myer creates a nurturing personal relationship with her audience, one that mimics conversations in the private sphere.

Speakers who face seemingly insurmountable rhetorical obstacles that can only be erased by a close relationship with an audience who is empathetic will attempt to create identification with the audience. Meyer explains the frustrations she has experienced in her life that her audience can understand. Her ministry has grown exponentially because she ―talks about her listeners‘ troubles with the intimacy of a sister sufferer‖ reports Mary Warner.415 In her first recorded sermon, ―Confidence to be Yourself,‖ Meyer confesses:

410 Meyer ―Confidence.‖

411 Meyer ―Confidence.‖

412 Meyer ―Confidence.‖

413 Meyer ―Confidence.‖

414 Meyer ―I am Determined.‖

415Mary Warner, ―Preaching Prosperity,‖ Religious News Service, 15, May 2004 accessed 26 July 2008.

121

You know I‘d do this an average of five times a week, sometimes six or

seven but a good average is five and I thought well if I don‘t quit this I

won‘t live very long. You know, I would imagine that some of you are

experiencing health problems just because you don‘t know how to just

relax. Just relax folks, who are we trying to impress anyway?416

In a later sermon, ―Grace, Grace and More Grace,‖ Meyer uses examples of her own struggles when she says: ―Do you know what I was doin‘ in my life at that time? I was tryin‘ to make myself happy. I was tryin‘. I saw all these things that needed to happen in my life and I was tryin‘ to make them happen so I could be happy. Do you know how many years I frustrated myself unbearably tryin‘ to make this ministry come to pass?‖417 Each time Meyer confesses her own struggles she affirms her audience‘s personal fears and struggles, creating identification that she understands and shares the same kind of problems.

Meyer‘s personal confessions illustrate to her audiences that she also faces discouragement and personal challenges and has learned how to overcome those challenges. The feeling of solidarity builds a rapport with her listeners and empowers them that they too can work their way out of their difficulties and overcome them just as she has. In ―I am Determined‖ she confesses:

I cannot tell you what a mess I was personally. I mean you can just forget

every other trial. I mean just what a mess I was personally, my personality

was messed up from being abused. I had such a judgmental critical mind;

so suspicious. I was so insecure that I was jealous of everybody that had

anything more than me or could do more than me. I didn‘t want to be that

416 Meyer ―Confidence.‖

417 Meyer ―Grace.‖ 122

way. But I felt like I was constantly standing against something,

constantly fighting something.418

Meyer uses a feminine style by creating identification with her audience when she shifts references in her sermon from ―you‖ to ―we.‖ This shift in pronoun is critical in creating identification because it reinforces the coalition she has built with her listeners. Tonn explains:

―to create empathy and foster identification, rhetors may move between first, second and third person as they simultaneously participate in and narrate the story.‖419 Meyer uses this technique frequently as she reassures her audience that she shares in their struggles and failings. In her early conference sermon, ―Grace, Grace and More Grace,‖ Meyer says: ―You see sometimes we‘re asking God. The thing we‘re asking for is right, but our reason for wanting it is wrong, and so God can‘t give it to us just yet because he‘s still got some work in us to prepare us for it.‖420

An example of this shift is also heard in her later sermon, ―I am Determined‖ when she moves from discussing her personal condition to her audience and finally to connecting them together:

―If I have not arrived when Jesus comes, he will find me pressing on. And if you don‘t have that attitude you will have one miserable, wretched life…We have another spirit in us than the spirit of the world, a spirit that says I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me and nothing is impossible to those who believe.‖421 She links herself with her audience when she uses ―we.‖

Using this technique reinforces their solidarity in a shared cause. Everyone needs to feel a part of

418 Meyer ―I am Determined.‖

419 Marie Boor Tonn, ―Militant Motherhood: Labor‘s Mary Harris ‗Mother‘ Jones,‖ Quarterly Journal of Speech 82 (1996) 8.

420 Meyer ―Grace.‖

421 Meyer ―Determined.‖

123 the cause in order to also feel they have the power to overcome feelings of helplessness, hopelessness and powerlessness.

One of the unique qualities of the feminine style is openness and willingness to disclose difficulties in one‘s own life for the purpose of empowering the audience. Dow and Tonn argue that ―nurturance is central to the work of empowerment. Through empathy, attentiveness, and inducements to participation, those who nurture constantly negotiate the balance between authority and independence.‖ They continue: ―Such a relationship reduces distance between rhetor and audience and empowers audiences to trust their own perceptions and judgments.‖422

T.J. Goodrich explains that the term ―empowerment,‖ usually designates a benevolent but unilateral transaction in which one person enhances another‘s ability to feel competent and take action.423 That is, it enhances another‘s ―power-to.‖ Campbell admits that this is a risk for many speakers, but sharing vulnerability and personal hardships presents a success story for the audience as they face their own personal struggles, relieving the audience of their feelings of alienation and isolation.424

Dow and Tonn explain that ―the strategy of using concrete examples and personal experience is empowering; it encourages audiences‘ reliance on their own instincts and perceptions of reality, even if these dispute dominant models.‖425 Furthermore, Dow and Tonn also say that this traditionally feminine perspective gives ―the experience in testing generalizations the importance of trusting personal reactions, and the applicability of wisdom

422 Dow ―Feminine‖ 298.

423 Thelma Jean Goodrich, Ed. Women and Power: Perspectives for Family Therapy (New York: Norton 1991) 3-35.

424 Campbell ―The Rhetoric‖ 132.

425 Dow ―Feminine Style‖ 291.

124 from the private sphere of home and family to the public sphere.‖ 426 Campbell says that a feminine style is a consciousness raising rhetoric used to motivate listeners to join or to make changes toward social movement.427 I use ―consciousness raising‖ here in a reciprocal way, applying it much like Darlington did to the speaker empowering the audience to make changes in his or her spiritual and personal life. In this way, the audiences realize their personal authority to make changes on their own, possibly to create or recreate their relationship with their God. Jean

Baker Miller explains: ―This might be called using one‘s power to empower another--increasing the other‘s resources, capabilities, effectiveness, and ability to act.‖428 It is this ability to empower others, asserts Thelma Jean Goodrich, which is inherent within a feminine perspective that values creating an emotional connection and an equitable relationship.429

As has been noted earlier, Meyer confesses her personal struggles often to her audience.

In ―Grace, Grace and More Grace‖ she confesses: ―You see I had a lot of problems when I started getting into the Word, but I didn‘t really know that I had the problems. I thought that all of my problems were caused by somebody else. And that if they would all change and act different then I could finally be happy.‖430 Meyer validates her audience‘s feelings of powerlessness or inadequacy by disclosing her own difficulties. In her sermon, ―Grace, Grace and More Grace,‖ she confesses:

426 Tonn ―Feminine Style‖ 291.

427 Campbell ―Femininity‖ 105.

428 Jean Baker Miller ―Women and Power: Reflections Ten Years Later.‖ in Thelma Jean Goodrich ed. Women and Power: Perspectives for Family Therapy (New York: Norton 1991) 20.

429 Goodrich ―Women, Power‖ 21.

430 Meyer ―Grace.‖

125

Now how did we come to him? Pitiful. I mean, how many of you were just

pretty pitiful by the time you got around to receiving Jesus? I mean you

were just asking for a favor weren‘t ya? You were lookin‘ for mercy and

grace and to get something that you sure didn‘t deserve. I mean you had

tried every which way if you‘re anything like I was to get it all figured out

yourself. You‘d tried every way to try to do it on your own without trying

to bow your knee to God and get him involved. We tried everything

including religion and finally we said, ―Oh God what a mess I am…‖ I

want you to learn throughout this seminar when you get in jams, when you

get in situations when you‘re feeling frustrated to say, ―Oh God give me

grace, God I need grace.‖431

She encourages her audience later in the same sermon by saying: ―Ok he‘s telling you, you‘ve got a problem? Get God involved; ask him. Wait on him, wait on his timing, humble yourselves; don‘t worry about it.‖ 432 In a later sermon, ―I Am Determined,‖ Meyer becomes even more specific with her audience saying: ―Some of you have a dream, a vision, whether it is a dream for your personal life, whether that be a dream to grow up and be like Jesus, maybe you have a dream or a vision from God for a worldwide ministry, maybe it is a dream for your marriage or your children, but we all should have dreams or visions or desires to get beyond where we‘re at.‖433 She assumes another traditional or typical feminine role, one of a teacher, to guide and instruct her audience in how to overcome discouragement and believe in themselves and the

431 Meyer ―Grace.‖

432 Meyer ―Grace.‖

433 Meyer ―Determined.‖

126 power of God to fulfill their personal and spiritual goals and dreams. She continues her message of hope and perseverance by saying:

This message tonight is going to encourage some people not to give up on

maybe your marriage, not to give up on your dreams and your vision. We

have to have the attitude, I am determined to press through to the end and

finish my course and be all God wants me to be and I will never quit, no

matter what it takes, no matter how hard it is, no matter how long it takes,

I will never quit. If I have not arrived when Jesus comes, he will find me

pressing on.434

By asking her audience to let go of their anxieties, she empowers them with a message of hope that they have the answer to all of their problems. In the same sermon, ―I am Determined‖ Meyer comforts her audience with assurance that they can overcome their problems. She says: ―And I can promise you that because I‘ve been around long enough to know that if you just won‘t quit.

Sometimes the best advice that anybody can give you is, just don‘t quit. Just keep on keepin‘ on.

Just keep puttin‘ one foot in front of the other one and even when you don‘t seem to know where you‘re going, do it like this, just keep goin‘.‖ [audience laughs at visual illustration]435 She assumes the role of coach and encourager much like women do every day in their families. By assuming this role, her message assures her audience that when in times of distress, when they believe there is nothing they can do, that they can gain control and make a change.

Arguably, Meyer‘s main goal is to empower her audience. Her sermons are focused on encouraging her listeners. In the following excerpt from her first sermon, ―Confidence: Freedom

434 Meyer ―Determined.‖

435Meyer ―Determined.‖

127 to be Yourself,‖ Meyer asks her audience to repeat several phrases. With each phrase and repetition, she feeds and nourishes their self worth: ―Everybody say: I have the right to peace

[audience repeats] to righteousness [audience repeats] to security [audience repeats] and to triumph over opposition [audience repeats]. Say: It is my heritage in the Lord. [audience repeats]

I like that don‘t you?‖ Later in the same sermon Meyer tells her audience: ―Everyone say:

‗individual.‘ [audience repeats] Now I want you to say this empathetically: ‗I am an individual.‘

[audience repeats] Look at the person on either side of you and say: ‗I am different than you.‘

[audience repeats] …Now tell them this: ‗I‘m different than you are and I like it.‘‖436 In her sermon series, ―I am Determined‖ she is open about her purpose, to empower her audience to continue on in their spiritual battle: ―This message tonight is going to encourage some people not to give up. Not to give up on your children, not to give up on yourself, not to give up on, maybe your marriage, not to give up on your dream and your vision.‖437 By moving the audience‘s private fears to the public sphere, Meyer uses a feminine worldview that gives the listeners the encouragement they need to overcome their fears, the assurance that they are not alone.

In the final sermon I transcribed, ―Enjoying a Life of Freedom,‖ Meyer encourages her audience members by assuring them that they can start over, start moving forward and letting go of their past mistakes. She assures them that change is always possible and forgiveness is assured:

Nobody has to stay stuck in their past. Absolutely nobody has to stay

stuck in their past because no matter how many bad seeds you have sown

if you will start sowing good seeds, good always overcomes evil. You can

436Meyer ―Confidence.‖

437 Meyer ―Determined.‖

128

get out of debt. If you‘ve messed up your health, you can get healthy

again. If you‘ve messed up relationships, those relationships can be

healed.438

Since the public sphere is based on the masculine perspective that values assertion, decisiveness and self assurance, discussing private or personal battles and self doubt is usually considered inappropriate, creating feelings of even deeper isolation and disassociation and powerlessness.

In contrast, Meyer validates her audience‘s self doubt: ―without confidence a door opens for endless torment in these following areas. Such as: self-hatred, condemnation, fear of rejection, fear of failure, perfectionism-boy is that hard work, the fear of man, becoming people pleasers instead of God-pleasers.‖439 Virtually everyone experiences these kinds of fears and concerns, but they are not usually talked about openly in a masculine public sphere. On the other hand, Meyer brings these private issues into the open and encourages her audience in a feminine way by recognizing that all feel isolated and have self doubt: ―We think that God can‘t be good to us because we‘re too bad. We believe God is good to everybody else, but he can‘t be good to me because I‘m too bad. Well, let me tell you something‘, if God had to wait ‗til he found somebody good enough to be good to, he wouldn‘t ever get to do very much. And God‘s goodness is greater than your badness.‖440 By disclosing feelings of self doubt and fear, Meyer empowers her audience to overcome those feelings by acknowledging that everyone experiences them.

Dow and Tonn argue women show themselves in a feminine, nurturing way, to be expert in their personal experiences. In their study of Ann Richard‘s rhetorical style, they determine that

438 Meyer ―Enjoying.‖

439 Meyer ―Confidence.‖

440 Meyer ―Confidence.‖

129 her rhetoric ―reflects the complicated nature of nurturing persona, in which authority is used for the purpose of fostering growth of the other toward the capacity for independent action.‖441

Similarly, Meyer brings into the open the feelings that are usually kept in private reassuring her listeners that they can overcome those fears and see themselves as worthy again.

Meyer Establishes her Authority beyond the Feminine

I discussed earlier in this chapter that Campbell explains the constraints of the feminine style are not limited to the common practice of speakers to engage audiences through identification and examples. She explains that for a speaker to be considered a feminine speaker, the speaker must have a feminine perspective, one that is found in a feminine philosophical position created from traditional female roles. Myer presents herself as a mother, grandmother, or aunt who gives advice based on her life experiences of ―married for forty years‖ or ―having children‖ or dealing with a temper or selfishness or existing as the victim of sexual abuse. Meyer tells her audience that all of these difficulties and obstacles in their lives can be overcome with the help of God. However, Meyer presents herself as an authority figure to them because of her experiences and divine authority. That is, by revealing her experience to her listeners and claiming to be called into the ministry by God, Meyer also sets herself up as an authority figure.

She encourages and empowers her audience, but also chastises and scolds her listeners. For example in ―Confidence: Freedom to be Yourself‖ Meyer chastises her audience for focusing on

―things‖ rather than God when she says: ―You know we‘ve got a bad habit in believing ‗for things,‘ instead of ‗in somebody.‘‖ This small chastisement reminds her audience that if they are unhappy with their situation, their focus is misplaced. However, early in these sermons, Meyer is willing to reveal her own failings. She assures her audience in this first recorded sermon, ―See if

441 Dow ―Feminine‖ 296-297.

130 you put all your confidence in me and you think‖ ‗boy, now, man that Joyce, I mean she‘ll never let you down.‘ Oh yeah, mum hum. You hang around me enough, get a little too much confidence in me and do you know what? God himself will arrange it.‖442 She is humble and willing to confess her shortcomings.

I also discussed earlier in this chapter that Meyer‘s conversations with God become more intimate as her ministry develops. As that intimacy grows and she reveals how God talks to her as a friend, her confidence in her authority also grows. In the latter sermon that I transcribed, ―I am Determined,‖ Meyer explains to her audience her purpose and speaks for God almost as an apostle when she says, ―I‘m prayin‘ that tonight, and by the way God specifically spoke to me to preach this tonight, and I‘m prayin‘ for you tonight you are going to be filled with a Holy determination and some of you that your fire has gone out and I believe I‘m fannin‘ your flames tonight and I want a blazin‘ on the inside of you again.‖443 Later in the same sermon she tells her audience that they must do their part in helping themselves when she admonishes, ―But God is not gonna hold on for us if we have wimpy weak wills and we refuse to do our part to hang in there to the finish.‖ Therefore, although she empowers them to have the courage to persevere, she also holds them responsible for their actions and ultimately their success.

This kind of language and authority becomes the center piece of the last sermon I transcribed. In the final and most recent recording at the time of this study, ―Enjoying a Life of

Freedom,‖ Meyer begins her sermon with establishing her authority. She chastises the viewers who might be substituting watching her on television rather than attending their weekly worship assembly: ―I‘m not on this television to make, to just calm your conscience down. I‘m here to provoke you and stir you up to be radically in love with Jesus and to live for him and his glory.

442 Meyer ―Confidence‖

443 Meyer ―I am Determined.‖ 131

[audience erupts in applause] And that‘s kind of the attitude we get some times, well if I put in my forty-five minutes a week, then God‘s happy, well no he‘s not. He‘s not ever going to be satisfied with anything less than all of you.‖ In this sermon, Meyer also establishes where she stands on issues of opinion. She explains:

If we do what‘s right, we‘re going to get a good result, if we do what‘s wrong;

we‘re going to get a bad result. Now, obviously we can be forgiven for our sins

but we cannot just knowingly, willingly keep doing the same thing over and over,

over and over, thinkin‘, well the grace of God‘s going to cover this because when

somebody does that there‘s really a deeper issue and the Bible actually says, and

this is hard for some people to receive because we like to think that well, you

know, I‘ve just got this thing, you know, just you know, God understands, you

know, God understands that although you know that adultery is wrong, God

understands me doing it because. Well, you see we‘re just fooling ourselves when

we say that kind of stuff, because the word is the word and truth is truth and even

though the world says today that truth is relative to your circumstance, that‘s

nonsense because truth can only be one thing and it‘s this.

In the example above, Meyer takes a different tactic from any in her previous sermons in which she discusses the common mistakes that people make and God‘s willingness to forgive.

However, in this passage, Meyer is not suggesting that God is not forgiving, but she is much less tolerant of the audience‘s excuses for unrighteous living. Probably the most shocking statement

Meyer makes in this sermon is when she says: ―I tell you what you do, you do your homework.

Don‘t be a lazy Christian. Don‘t sit around and wait for somebody else to preach you happy all the time. Amen? I don‘t want to spend my life being a Holy Ghost cheerleader for a bunch of

132

Christians that don‘t want to do anything themselves.‖444 Meyer seems to try to shock her listeners into taking responsibility for their actions. Throughout this sermon Meyer speaks for

God and establishes her authority as a mouthpiece for him: ―Now, come on, I‘m trying to help you. You say, well you‘re hollerin‘ at me! Well God hollers at me!‖445

Earlier in this dissertation I discussed the characteristics of a masculine and a feminine style. In that discussion I established that a masculine style is one that speaks from authority and certainty. Counter to the masculine style, the feminine style is one that is considered nurturing and kind, one that suggests rather than one that speaks from authority. However, although Meyer speaks from her divine authority, she still maintains the feminine characteristics of one who nurtures her audience and offers them advice that will make their lives easier and more productive. Meyer establishes herself as a church or religious authority through her twenty five years of public preaching, the thousands that listen to her tapes, CDs, radio programs, read her books, and tune into her daily and weekly television programs. By maintaining that she has a right to speak as an authority she does not discount her position as a feminine speaker, or the feminine perspective she maintains in this final sermon. Her authority has been carved out through years of experience: ―You know I‘ve lived this, and I‘ve been on both sides of it and I know what‘s going to work. That‘s why the Bible tells you listen to people when they get older because they‘ve been there, done that. I‘m not just guessin‘ I know. I know that I know that I know that I know.‖446 She believes that she is called by God to preach because of the heartache and struggles she has experienced. It is through her professed divine calling, and her experience, that Meyer establishes herself as religious authority to her audiences.

444 Meyer ―Enjoying.‖

445 Meyer ―Enjoying.‖

446 Meyer ―Enjoying.‖

133

Conclusion

When Campbell introduced the feminine style as a stylistic choice for women, women were caught between defying traditional norms and what they saw as their call to speak out against social injustices. When they challenged social norms and spoke publicly, they were speaking against rhetorical constraints built upon centuries of practices that silenced women from the public podium. 447 However, throughout history women felt the need to speak publicly despite social and cultural norms banning them from the doing so. Therefore, women chose a more comfortable place from which to speak, one that validated their perspective, a feminine position. Campbell explains: ―the goal of such rhetoric [feminine style] is empowerment, a term contemporary feminists have used to refer to the process of persuading listeners that they can act effectively in the world, and that they can be ‗agents of change.‘‖448

However, an audience needing motivation to make a positive change in their life is not exclusive to the feminist cause. This goal is also at the center of religious assemblies. Individuals who have a spiritual need gather to hear a religious speaker who can motivate them or give them some kind of hope, insight, or motivation to regain their spiritual center. The stylistic choices of the speaker can determine if the audience will accept or reject the message. Those who attend religious meetings expect to hear some words of wisdom, instruction and motivation that will spark their spiritual faith. This is the situation with those who attend religious conferences at which Meyer is the speaker. Her audiences say ―over and over that they like her because she‘s

‗so real,‘ she‘s a ‗straight-shooter,‘ she‘s not ‗holier than thou.‘ Meyer tells them about her

447 See the discussion in chapter two.

448 Campbell Man Cannot 13. In this passage Campbell refers to Lloyd Bitzer‘s discussion of ―agents of change‖ in his article, ―The Rhetorical Situation,‖ Philosophy and Rhetoric (1 1968) 1-14.

134 abusive father, her failed first marriage, her past depression.‖449 They are looking for a way to strengthen their faith and regain a spiritual compass, or center, for their lives. They are looking for hope and inspiration. Meyer gives them both.

The church has remained the stronghold for the male paradigm, silencing women from the public pulpit. As has been discussed repeatedly in this dissertation, the way in which a feminine speaker approaches an audience is fundamentally different from the way in which a masculine speaker presents a message. Society has been conditioned to hearing male public speakers and male public preachers, leaving little room for a different view, one more feminine.

However, Meyer‘s rhetorical style has persuaded her listeners to jeopardize their doctrinal traditions and take a moment to listen. The arguments presented in this chapter and throughout this dissertation indict traditional Christian preaching. Arguably, Meyer presents a different perspective or worldview to the religious audience. Therefore, in the next chapter, I will consider the consequences and significance posed by the presence of an enormously popular female, and feminine, speaker in the Evangelical public pulpit.

449 Warner ―Preaching‖ no pag. 135

Chapter 5 Conclusion

KING: She‘s included in ―Time‖[sic] magazine‘s recent cover story, the list of the

25 most influential evangelicals in America. ―Time‖ [sic] described her as the

feminine side of evangelism.

KING: Do you know what they meant by the feminine side of evangelism?

MEYER: I guess just that it was, you know, here‘s the women that are doing it.

You know, here‘s the…

KING: Is your appeal mostly to women?

MEYER: I think there‘s [sic] more women that watch me than men, but I don‘t

look at myself as just a minister to women. My ministry began that way, but I

really feel like the word of god [sic] is for everybody. The promises of god [sic]

are for whosoever will, so I hope everybody listens.450

The novelty of a female preacher might draw in the curious audience, but to draw in thousands of listeners consistently time and again points to more than just a curiosity. The popularity of any evangelist can be relatively short-lived. Their challenge is to remain connected to their audiences so they are able to draw crowds necessary to sustain a viable ministry. Joyce

Meyer has done that consistently for thirty years. In this dissertation I explored Meyer‘s popularity in the Evangelical community as a feminine speaker. This study began with four simple, yet significant questions: (1) Why has the Evangelical community opened the pulpit to a woman when, historically, they have advocated that women remain silent in the assembly? (2)

Why is a female preacher, specifically Joyce Meyer, so popular in a traditionally conservative religious group who has historically excluded women from speaking to mixed audiences in the

450 Larry King, ―Interview with Joyce Meyer,‖ Larry King Live, CNN, May 19, 2005. 136 public pulpit? (3) Does Joyce Meyer use a feminine style to engage her audiences as her predecessors did? And if so, (4) How does a feminine speaker using feminine style appeal to a religious audience? These questions guided this investigation toward understanding Meyer‘s popularity as an Evangelical pulpit preacher and perhaps a better understanding of the

Evangelical audiences to whom she speaks. I concluded that Meyer‘s rhetorical stylistic choice, a feminine style, a style used by women historically to engage public audiences usually reserved for men, is the key to understanding Meyer‘s success.

I began this study in chapter one by presenting an overview and justification for this project. I reviewed the concept of rhetorical style and the characteristics of Karlyn Kohrs

Campbell‘s theory of the feminine style. After framing the rhetorical lens for this study, I introduced the reader to Meyer by giving a synopsis of her religious success that led her to be named one of the most influential Evangelical preachers.

In chapter two, I explained the religious and rhetorical obstacles Meyer faces each time she steps into the public pulpit. These religious obstacles are unparalleled since long entrenched church doctrines and traditions date back to the founding of the church and are maintained in the contemporary Evangelical movement‘s attitude toward women public preachers. Therefore, it was necessary to give the reader an overview of the historical and contemporary attitudes toward women in the Evangelical movement, specifically, the underlying doctrinal precepts regarding women‘s place in the public assembly. I concluded that although the Evangelical movement is divided on the issue and the group has made provisions for elevating women‘s traditional roles, a significant portion of the Evangelical church continues to believe that women should remain silent in public worship assemblies. Because this study appropriates ―text in text‖ criticism, I reviewed some of its assumptions. Accordingly, I also gave a brief overview of the struggles and

137 challenges that female evangelists have faced over the last few centuries to give a context to the social obstacles Meyer faces as a female evangelist to give a context to my study.

In chapter three, I constructed a critical framework for the study by presenting a comprehensive discussion of Campbell‘s theory of the feminine style. I began by discussing concerns regarding the state of feminine scholarship and the state of feminist criticism in rhetorical research. Next, I discussed the characteristics and critical identifying markers of a feminine style. Finally, I offered examples of how the feminine style has been used in other rhetorical studies and different social contexts.

In chapter four, I applied the critical perspective of the feminine style to a carefully selected sample of four of Meyer‘s sermons. Each sermon was taken from a different time in her ministry beginning with the first recorded sermon just five years after she began her public ministry. In my discussion of this earliest sermon I determined that Myer used a feminine style.

This sermon was then used as a benchmark for her later preaching style. I also reviewed three other later sermons from different periods of her ministry to determine if she used a feminine style consistently in her public ministry. Based on my close reading of the selected sermons, I concluded that Meyer uses a feminine style consistently in her public sermons to both female and gender-mixed audiences.

In this final chapter, I will attempt to answer the research questions that began this study and summarize the application of Meyer‘s feminine style in a brief overview of the findings from chapter four. I will also suggest the rhetorical, religious and feminist implications of this research. Finally, I will suggest how the feminine style can be used in future rhetorical study.

Research Questions

138

The first research question I used to help frame this study cut to the core of the matter:

Why has the Evangelical community opened the pulpit to a woman when, historically, they have advocated that women remain silent in the assembly?

I have discussed throughout this dissertation that no other social, political, or rhetorical barrier has stood as strong or as long as the barriers facing women in religious organizations.

Despite the popularity of female evangelists historically, as was discussed in chapter two, Susie

Cunningham Stanley explains that the percentage of women clergy in denominations has dwindled today to miniscule proportions.451 Norman Murdoch reported: ―As with other professions, the ministry has a long record of excluding women from its ranks.‖ 452 Since women have been excluded from public arenas, they do not consider themselves part of the public voice and there is no place where that is more apparent than in religious assemblies. By speaking in religious assemblies, Meyer faces a unique paradoxical role. One of the doctrinal rules that Meyer must overcome is the restriction that women should not usurp authority over a male in a religious assembly. Like her predecessors, Meyer proves herself worthy of speaking publicly in worship assemblies by simply assuming her right to speak as an ―anointed‖ minister of God. As was discussed extensively in chapter four, each time Meyer speaks she reminds her audience that she is divinely ―anointed‖--revealing to her audience her daily, and personal scriptural revelations, personal advice, and conversations with God. She claims that the anointing gives her the authority to step outside the restrictive traditional boundaries of the Evangelical church and preach publicly. By claiming direct divine authority, Meyer speaks as a person who has no earthly authority to address a religious audience publicly, but reminds her listeners that

451 Susie Cunningham Stanley, Honoring God‘s Call: A Celebration of Holiness Women Preachers. (Kansas City: Beacon Hill Press of Kansas City, 1996) 10.

452 Murdoch ―Female ‖ 348.

139 she cannot deny her divine calling and reject the voice of God. Therefore, she implies that her only choice is to reject the voices of the Evangelical community that require her to be silent. If her listeners believe that her message is inspired, then they too must reject the gender-restrictive church doctrines and accept her as a minister of God.

I discussed in chapter two how the Evangelical community has lost followers because of public scandals and members disillusioned with feeling the Evangelical church is out of touch with their contemporary needs. Meyer seems to understand the technological savvy her listener‘s posses and tailors her messages to those media. She crosses the boundaries of the religious and the secular by using all media avenues available. Meyer‘s ministry has grown to saturate all media outlets, including radio, television, web and print media. Her books and CDs have been popular best sellers in the secular community. By achieving this prominence, she allows herself to be available to her audience in any form. These media outlets allow her to broaden her audience base and reach out to those who might not be comfortable in a traditional worship assembly. These opportunities that Meyer has taken advantage of make it difficult for the

Evangelical community to reject Meyer since she has become one of their most popular contemporary leaders.

Secondly I asked: Why is a female preacher so popular in a traditionally conservative religious group that has historically excluded women from speaking to mixed audiences from the public pulpit?

Joyce Meyer‘s rhetorical posture helps her to assume an appropriate position with her

Evangelical audience, the majority of who were arguably taught that women should remain silent in the church. I have argued that by assuming a feminine position and using a feminine style,

Meyer remains in a traditional feminine role by giving motherly advice, nurturing her listeners

140 and encouraging them to forgive themselves and press on. Moreover, Meyer‘s religious perspective as presented in a feminine style depicts the Evangelical believer‘s ultimate goal: a personal relationship with God. In chapter two, I linked the critical matter of the personal response to God with Carl F.H.Henry‘s teaching that man can reason through scripture in his search for a closer relationship with God. He contended that the Evangelical believes God can reveal His plan for an individual‘s life through personal divine revelation. 453 In this view it is the intimate, or personal, relationship with the Divine that truly distinguishes the Evangelical follower since it is through a strict adherence and following of scripture that the Evangelical comes to know God more personally and intimately. Evangelicals believe that this relationship begins with a confession of personal sinfulness and a need for atonement. It is for them a symbolic ―rebirth.‖ Meyer operates rhetorically in ways that consistently and constantly reaffirm this precept. By employing a feminine style she frequently makes herself vulnerable, intentionally confessing her sins and personal failings in her sermons, which then stand as advice from a person who has lived through trials and tribulations and come out the other side stronger for it. Meyer creates identification by using personal examples, empowering and encouraging her audience to press forward through their own struggles to have the same kind of relationship with

God that she has created. Arguably, this feminine approach is in keeping with the fundamental goals of the Evangelical movement and a majority of Evangelical believers. Meyer discusses the frustration of dealing with burdens and fears, in essence feelings of inadequacy that women deal with in their everyday lives, and offers her audience comfort by giving them an opportunity to see themselves as imperfect by the world‘s standards, but perfect in the sight of their God.

453 qtd. in Bloesch ―Essentials‖ 295.

141

Through her feminine style, Meyer reinforces the religious needs and central objective of

Evangelicals to bring individuals to a personal relationship with God.

Thirdly, I asked: Does Joyce Meyer use a feminine style to engage her audiences?

When Campbell introduced the concept of the feminine style, she validated the double bind in which women were caught between defying traditional norms and what they saw as their call to speak. The rhetorical constraints that Meyer faces each time she steps into the public pulpit were noted earlier in this chapter and extensively throughout this dissertation. They are daunting. However, through her feminine style Meyer creates identification by referring to her audience as peers, using personal examples and empowering and encouraging her audience to press forward through their own struggles so they can have the same kind of relationship with

God that she has created.

I discuss in chapter four Meyer‘s extensive use of a feminine style as she creates a feminine perspective. In answering my third research question above, I also point to the unique feminine perspective she creates with her audience that serves the needs of the Evangelical believer through identification, use of personal examples and induction, and foremost, empowerment. Campbell noted that a feminine speaker, or one that employs the feminine style, does more than just give a series of examples, but one that speaks from a uniquely feminine, or female, world view. Meyer does just that. Her examples, as was noted in chapter four, are based in the female experiences of being a wife and mother. In keeping with a feminine style and feminine perspective, Meyer reveals her personal struggles with her identity and sense of self worth; those feelings of inadequacy experienced by many women because of their isolation into socially appropriate roles in the private sphere.

142

The fourth question I raised for this study is: How does a feminine speaker using feminine style appeal to a religious audience?

An audience in need of motivation and encouragement to make positive changes in their lives is not exclusive to the secular world. This goal is also at the center of religious assemblies.

Individuals who have a spiritual need gather to hear a religious speaker who can motivate them or give them some kind of hope, insight, or motivation to regain their spiritual center. The stylistic choices of the speaker can determine if the audience will accept or reject the message.

As was discussed throughout this dissertation, a feminine speaker, or a speaker who uses a feminine style, will empower audiences with comfort and encouragement.

Those who attend religious meetings expect to hear some words of wisdom, instruction and motivation that will spark their spiritual faith. This is the situation with those who attend religious conferences at which Meyer is the speaker. Warner observes her audiences say ―over and over that they like her because she‘s ‗so real,‘ she‘s a ‗straight-shooter,‘ she‘s not ‗holier than thou.‘ Meyer tells them about her abusive father, her failed first marriage, her past depression.‖454 The feminine speaker who uses a feminine style creates identification with an audience. Evangelical religious audiences are looking for a way to strengthen their faith and regain a spiritual compass, or center, for their lives. They are looking for hope and inspiration.

Meyer gives them that sense of hope and inspiration through her use of a feminine rhetorical style.

Rhetorical Significance

Although this study focuses on a female evangelist, it also points to something more than just a perspective on a religious community accepting a female preacher. Meyer‘s popularity and

454 Warner ―Preaching Prosperity‖ no pag.

143 influence in the Evangelical community as a female voice, and her use of a feminine style as a rhetorical posture, suggests something about the popularity of a feminine style outside a feminist context. Rhetorical critics who have used the feminine style as a lens through which to study public discourse have stopped short of considering the philosophical implications of a feminine perspective. In fact, feminine speech has traditionally been viewed as inferior, seen as a strategy used by persons with a less extensive vocabulary, by those who employ a style characterized by extensive use of euphemisms, fondness for hyperbole, improper use of grammar, incomplete sentences, and, in general, as a style practiced by speakers not ―having thought out what they are going to say.‖455 These kinds of generalizations continue to perpetuate the myth that women‘s speech is inferior and in some way less effective or valuable than male speech. Removing women from acceptable public voice and ignoring what women say for how women articulate their voice ignores the way in which women create and recreate the public sphere. Ivie appears to agree with this conclusion when he suggests that rhetorical criticism should be ―productive‖ in some corrective way. The result would be [the emergence of] a criticism that ―strategically reconstructs the interpretive design of speech [and other forms of symbolic action] in order to diminish, bolster, or redirect its significance.‖456

Campbell points out that a feminist critique of rhetorical studies is ―a challenge to rethink fundamental assumption in our theory, criticism, and pedagogy.‖ 457 Foss and Foss lay out an even more revolutionary path:

455 Fern L. Johnson, ―Political and Pedagogical Implications of Attitudes Toward Women‘s Language,‖ Communication Quarterly 31 (2 Spring 1983) 134.

456Robert L. Ivie, ― Productive Criticism,‖ Quarterly Journal of Speech, 81 (1995) no pag. Also qtd in Giles ―Gendered Politics‖ 348.

457 Campbell ―The Sound‖ 214.

144

While such approaches have allowed us to begin to resolve some of the

inconsistencies that have plagued research in this area, we need to go

much further—to explore the possibilities for growth by revolution. If we

are serious about research in the area of women and communication, we

need to question our presuppositions, replace them as necessary, and then

create new conceptions of communication that truly incorporate women‘s

perspectives.458

I have shown how Meyer challenges social norms by her rhetorical posture. Her popularity points to a new way in which the public voice is constructed, at least within

Evangelical circles. This study offers insight into the acceptance of a female voice alongside the masculine. The public acceptance of a philosophical reconstruction of social norms, beliefs and values through the feminine perspective calls for the rhetorical critic to reconsider a new way of viewing public discourse. Early in this study I discussed the criticism many scholars have voiced of the traditional vision for good rhetorical practice. Rhetorical scholars have tended to reinforce traditional notions of what is worthy of study by ignoring opportunities to study alternative rhetorical styles. This study argues that there is cause for considering the feminine style as a viable rhetorical posture and the feminine perspective as, arguably, a socially acceptable and successful philosophical worldview, one that the population welcomes and values. One obvious implication of this study is the conclusion that it is time to recognize that feminine style and the fundamental feminine perspective is no longer bound to the private sphere, but has a legitimate place in public discourse.

Religious Significance

458 Karen A. Foss and Sonja K. Foss, ―The Status of Research on Women and Communication‖ 31 (3 Summer 1983) 202.

145

These conclusions also imply important directions for the study of religious rhetoric, particularly contemporary religious rhetoric. The church has remained the stronghold for the male paradigm through silencing women from the public pulpit. The way in which a feminine speaker approaches an audience is characteristically different from the way in which a masculine speaker presents a message. Society, and specifically religious assemblies and organizations, have been conditioned to hear male public speakers, rhetors who leave little room for a more feminine perspective.459 However, Meyer‘s rhetorical style has persuaded her listeners to question their doctrinal traditions when they listen to her. Meyer‘s consistent use of self- exposure is dramatically different from the majority of male pulpit ministers of the past.

I argue that Meyer created a new voice for the Evangelical community with her use of a feminine style. Furthermore, the fact that her fame as an evangelist grew so quickly points to an audience shift toward an appreciation, or at the very least, an acceptance of the feminine style.

Male speech and, therefore, masculine style, is arguably the dominant template for rhetorical eloquence and the stylistic ideal for public speakers. Feminist scholars have typically discussed the feminine style within the context of gendered politics. It is the political arena that is considered the most influential and significant in the arena of public discourse. However, it is the religious realm that draws thousands to it, and it is in the religious context that people make their lifelong decisions and choices in regard to their political party affiliations, for whom they will cast their vote or lobby for or against legislation. Furthermore, it is the religious leaders that

459 It should be noted that just as a feminine style is created from the private sphere where women‘s traditional roles are constructed, male style is also created from the masculine public role and is therefore the typical rhetorical style of males. However, I agree with Jane Blankenship and Deborah C. Robson who contend ―Feminine Style‘…is comprised of the dimensions of discourse which may reveal or point to epistemic stances which we discover in the public political discourse of women. We do not claim that the feminine style is the exclusive domain of women; nor do we claim that the masculine style is the exclusive domain of men‖ in Jane Blankenship and Deborah C. Robson, ―A ‗Feminine Style‘ in Women‘s Political Discourse: An Exploratory Essay,‖ Communication Quarterly 43 (3 Summer 1995) 357.

146 repeatedly draw crowds, more so than any political candidate or public policy speaker. On the other hand, mega-church leaders and scandals have turned people away from the religious community. Perhaps, scholars will need to pay attention to this ironic situation by focusing on the relationship of a feminine style to the growing numbers of people returning to the

Evangelical faith. Perhaps the ironic rhetorical situation calls for a different kind of rhetorical style, one that is best suited to build community and identification with the audience, a style suited to a speaker who is willing to admit wrong and who struggles with and shares private moments of doubt and humiliation with the audience.

As Meyer‘s popularity continues to grow and more women are welcomed into the

Evangelical pulpit, researchers will need to consider if there is a trend toward accepting a feminine style into the pulpit whether practiced by men or women. The latter is extremely significant. Scholars will need to determine if men are taking up a feminine style as they see it reflected in their popular female counterparts. A cursory overview of contemporary popular

Evangelicals like Rick Warren or Joel Olsteen is promising. Both of these enormously popular

Evangelical speakers seem to present a feminine perspective similar to Meyer‘s. Additionally, recent trends have also emerged in religious television, including one that moves away from traditional prophetic pulpit ministry toward a modern servant ministry. Warren, author of the bestselling self-help religious book titled The Purpose Driven Life is said to be among the most

―influential evangelists.‖460 Bob Riha reports that by 2004 about two million people joined in his evangelism campaigns.461 Warren does not fit the typical television evangelist‘s image. He appears in casual dress with no celebrity flash or fuss. Popular secular magazines argue that his

460Cathy Lynn Grossman, ―This Evangelist has a ‗Purpose,‘‖ USA Today, (12 July 2003) no pag.

461 Bob Riha, ―Rev. Rick Warren‘s Single Message is ‗You are here for God,‘‖ USA Today . no pag.

147 style of preaching is the wave of the future and will set the standard for modern Christianity.462

While Warren follows in the popular steps of his male counterparts in the context of converting thousands to his ministry, the style of his message draws less from his religious brothers than from his lesser known evangelistic sisters, like Meyer, who came before him.

In sum, Meyer‘s popularity prompts one to consider the rhetorical styles of the entire range of her contemporary Evangelical preacher counterparts. I suggest it is likely that a study of other equally popular Evangelical leaders‘ rhetorical styles may find evidence of a feminine style expressed in the oratorical choices of both her male and female counterparts.

Feminist Significance

I did not intend to consider Meyer‘s public discourse as moving forward a feminist agenda, or a discussion of how a female evangelist paved the way or opened doors for other female evangelists, as has been the practice of many previous scholars who have studied female evangelists or speakers. So, although my intention in this dissertation was to avoid a directly feminist perspective, I was reluctantly drawn in that direction. The fact that a female Evangelical preacher is counted among the top Evangelical preachers in the nation makes this study ipso facto feminist. Discussing what silences women in the public pulpit makes this study feminist.

Analyzing the rhetorical obstacles of a female preacher makes this study feminist. Similarly, discussing and highlighting the feminine perspective and the feminine style makes this study feminist. Meyer never presents herself as a traditional feminist, or discusses breaking ground for other female evangelists. Therefore, she does not overtly move forward a feminist agenda. She does not discuss issues specific only to women, and does not speak about traditional feminist issues in her sermons. But the fact that she is a female preacher that has built a large Evangelical following consisting of both women and men means that she has moved forward the feminist

462 Booth-Thomas ―The Twenty-Five‖ 34. 148 cause by giving her audience a vision of a religious world in which a female has the authority to speak publicly. Furthermore, she has contributed to and created a feminine perspective in the public sphere.

Joyce Meyer has arguably made her mark on the religious landscape by successfully stepping into the Evangelical public pulpit and offering a possible option for the religious audience. However, other women did the same centuries before her. Meyer was not the first. I discussed in chapter two the popularity of Meyer‘s female predecessors such as: Aimee Semple

McPherson, Anne Hutchinson, Olive Maria Rice, Emily Clemons, Mary Seymour, Lucy Maria

Hersey and others who drew thousands to their assemblies and created followings that were the envy of their male counterparts. The fact that Meyer has established herself as an Evangelical leader like these other female preachers serves the feminist agenda and maintains a feminine perspective in the religious public arena.

Future Research

Restricting the discussion of the feminine style only to feminist contexts limits the opportunity for understanding a potentially powerful style for discourse in the religious and political public arenas, whether employed by women or men and whether or not it is used exclusively or among the choices in the preacher‘s repertoire. Campbell encourages and stresses using the feminine style as a critical lens to better understand speakers who do not adhere to traditional masculine styles of speaking and asks rhetorical scholars to consider the reasons for its use and the potential success of such styles used to overcome certain obstacles. Dow and

Tonn assert that it is only through the ―testing of the implications of the feminine style beyond its original context [that we] can… realize the transformative potential of its use in a variety of

149 situations.‖463 Not addressing the potential of those who might employ speaking styles different from a traditional deductive masculine style means the rhetorical scholar may overlook a social appreciation for a feminine rhetorical style, one that values a more equal and empowering relationship between speaker and audience. It also means that the scholar misses the increased capacity for the audience to engage in an equal relationship with a speaker and thus miss the shifting paradigm of potential equality for all people. Dow and Tonn argue that this kind of analysis may lend itself to the discovery that ―the complexity of women‘s social roles, and their influences on communication, may be an asset in the public sphere, rather than an obstacle.‖464

Considering public discourse from a feminine perspective offers the potential to reconstruct the notion of the public sphere. It allows the critic to reconsider that a feminine perspective is not deviant or unusual, and reconsider using the masculine perspective as the exclusive standard, thus insuring that a feminine speaker will always fall short.

Closing Thoughts

Whether scholars are willing to reconsider the feminine style as a legitimate rhetorical perspective depends on if they are willing to accept the changing rhetorical landscape. It was not so long ago that women were silenced in all public assemblies. Susan Zaeske documents that

―[Thomas] Jefferson classed women with infants and slaves, thereby placing them among elements of the population who had no will and were incapable of forming opinions and of being represented in public assemblies.‖465 Times have changed. However, despite legislation that gives women equal opportunity, women‘s voice is still rare in public discourse, especially in

463 Dow ―Feminine‖ 298.

464 Dow ―Feminine‖ 299.

465 Susan Zaeske, ―The ‗Promiscuous Audience‘ Controversy and the Emergence of the Early Women‘s Rights Movement,‖ Quarterly Journal of Speech, 81 (1995) 193.

150

Evangelical religious assemblies. But that situation may be changing as well. Taylor‘s summary of Meyer‘s style argues that Meyer has already reconstructed the sound of the public pulpit. She writes:

When it comes to Christian evangelists, people tend to think of men: Oral Roberts,

Billy Graham and Bishop T.D. Jakes. However, a throng of women like Meyer

have gained national and international distinction. These female evangelists pack

arenas and attract a following unlike no other women in history. Meyer, for

instance, is expected to draw about 40,000 people during her four-sermon

stint…Unlike some ministers who can draw only one type of audience, Meyer‘s

messages cross all boundaries and attract people from all denominations, genders,

races and income levels.466

Meyer is not the only female evangelist in the Evangelical movement, but there still remain challenges ahead. The deep divide in the Evangelical movement discussed in chapter two explains the differences Evangelical believers still have about the women filling their public pulpit. However, by challenging the traditional roles of women in religious assemblies, women like Joyce Meyer who stand in the public pulpit, create the possibility for different voices, and more importantly a different, more feminine perspective to be manifest.

Although historically women did not have the ―right‖ to speak, nevertheless they did.

Catherine Birney, Debra Gold Hansen and others give the account of the rhetorical significance

Angelina and Sarah Grimke played in the abolition movement, Anne F. Mattina discussed

Leonaro O‘Reilly‘s public speeches in moving forward the labor movement, and Debra L.

Petersen reported on the importance of Eleanor Roosevelt‘s voice in the struggle for world-wide

466 Taylor ―Her Ministry‖ no pag.

151 human rights.467 Feminist scholars have attempted to rewrite history books and insert those feminine voices that were lost and I agree with their efforts. However, by focusing almost exclusively on the contributions made by women historically, I believe we are doing our contemporaries an injustice. Rhetorical studies about contemporary women speakers are still comparatively rare. This situation perpetuates the same perceptions that Campbell, Brekus,

Hayden, Dow and others have struggled to correct, the presumption that there are no effective women speakers. Dow asserts that ―The study of women‘s public address has the fairly radical potential to redefine rhetorical excellence and to recast our understanding of what is worthy of study and why.‖468 Moreover, to avoid the study of women‘s public discourse is to dismiss the importance of women‘s lives and perspectives.

467 See Catherin H. Birney. The Grimke Sisters: Sarah and Angelina Grimke‘: The First American Women Advocates of Abolition and Women‘s Rights, (Westport: Greenwood Press, 1969). Anne F. Mattina, ―Rights as Well as Duties‘: The Rhetoric of Leonora O‘Reilly,‖ Communication Quarterly,42 (Spring 1994) 196-205. Debra L. Petersen, ―Anna Eleanor Roosevelt,‖ in Women Public Speakers in the United States, 1925-1993., Ed. Karlyn Kohrs Campbell. Westport: Greenwood Press, 1994. 378-394.

468 Dow ―Feminism‖ 112.

152

Works Cited

―About Joyce.‖ Joyce Meyer Ministries. 2004. 11 February 2009

Andrews, James R., Michael C. Leff, and Robert Terrill. Reading Rhetorical Texts: An

Introduction to Criticism. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1998.

Aristotle. Rhetoric,.W. Rhys Roberts trans. New York: McGraw-Hill, Inc. 1984.

Balmer, Randall. Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory: A Journey into the Evangelical Subculture in

America. New York: Oxford University Press, 1993.

Begginton, David. Evangelicalism in Modern Britain: A History from the 1730s to the 1980s.

Taylor and Francis, 1989.

Belenky, Mary Field, Blythe McVicker Clinchy, Nancy Rule Goldberger, and Jill Mattuck

Tarule. Women‘s Ways of Knowing: The Development of Self, Voice, and Mind. New

York: Basic Books, 1986.

Benoit, William. ―Aristotle‘s Example: the Rhetorical Induction.‖ Quarterly Journal of Speech

66.2 (1980): 182-193.

Biesecker, Barbara. ―Coming to Terms with Recent Attempts to Write Women into the History

of Rhetoric.‖ Philosophy and Rhetoric 25 (1992): 140-161.

Birney, Catherin H. The Grimke Sisters: Sarah and Angelina Grimke‘: The First American

Women Advocates of Abolition and Women‘s Rights. Westport: Greenwood Press,

1969.

Blair, Carol, Julie R. Brown, and Leslie A. Baxter. ―Disciplining the Feminine,‖ Quarterly

Journal of Speech. 80 (November 1994): 383-409.

153

Blankenship, Jane and Deborah C. Robson. ―A ―Feminine Style‖ in Women‘s Political

Discourse: An Exploratory Essay.‖ Communication Quarterly. 43 (Summer 1995) 353-

366.

Blankenship, Kevin L. ―Rhetorical Question Use and Resistance to Persuasion: An Attitudinal

Strength Analysis.‖ Journal of Language and Social Psychology. 25 (June 2006): 111-

128.

Bloesch, Donald G. Essentials of Evangelical Theology. New York: Harper& Row, Publishers,

1978.

Booth-Thomas, Cathy. ―Twenty-Five most Influential Evangelicals in America.‖ Time (7

February 2005): 34-45.

Boswell, James. The Life of Samuel Johnson, Ed. Rogert Igpen, I. Boston: Charles E. Laurant

Co., 1925.

Brekus, Catherine A. Strangers and Pilgrims: Female Preaching in America 1740-1845. Chapel

Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 1998.

Brown, Amy Benson. ―‘A System of Complicated Crimes‘: The (Con)fusion of Subjects in

Angelina Grimke‘s Public Speeches.‖ Women‘s Studies 27 (December 1997): 31-52.

Brummett, Barry. Rhetorical Dimensions of Popular Culture Tuscaloosa: The University of

Alabama Press, 1991.

Butler, Judith. Bodies the Matter: On the Discursive Limits of ―Sex.‖ New York: Rutledge,

1993.

Campbell, Karyln Kohrs. ―Book Review: The Sound of Women‘s Voices.‖ Quarterly Journal

of Speech 75 (1989): 212-258.

154

---.―The Discursive Performance of Femininity: Hating Hillary.‖ Rhetoric and Public Affairs 1

(1998): 1-19.

--- .―Femininity and Feminism: To Be or Not to Be a Woman,” Communication Quarterly

31 (Spring 1983): 101-108.

--- .―Gender and Genre: Loci of Invention and Contradiction in the Earliest Speeches by U.S.

Women.‖ Quarterly Journal of Speech 81(1995): 479-495.

---. Man Cannot Speak for Her.Vol.1. Westport: Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc., 1989.

---. ―The Ontological Foundations of Rhetorical Theory.‖ Philosophy and Rhetoric (Spring

1970): 97-98.

---. ―The Rhetoric of Women‘s Liberation: An Oxymoron.‖ Quarterly Journal of Speech 59

(1973): 74-86.

---. ―Style and Content in the Rhetoric of Early Afro-American Feminists.‖ Quarterly Journal of

Speech 32 (1986): 434-445.

---. ed. Women Public Speakers in the United States: 1925-1993. Westport: Greenwood Press,

1994.

--- and E. Claire Jerry. ―Woman and Speaker: A Conflict in Roles.‖ Seeing Female Social

Reality and Personal Lives. Ed. Sharon S. Brehm. Westport: Greenwood Press, 1988.

123-13.

Casey, Michael W. ―The First Female Public Speakers in America (1630-1840): Searching for

the Egalitarian Christian Primitivism.‖ The Journal of Communication and Religion 23.1

(2000): 1-28.

Cavaness, Barbara. ―Spiritual Chain Reactions women Used of God.‖ AG Heritage (Winter

2005-06): 24.

155

Chodorow, Nancy. The Reproduction of Mothering: Psychoanalysis and the Sociology of

Gender. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1978.

Clark, Shirley M. and Mary Corcoran. ―Perspectives on the Professional Socialization of Women

Faculty.‖ Journal of Higher Education 57 (1986): 20-43.

Costella, Matt. ―The Role of Women in the Local Church: Does God‘s Word allow a Woman to

Serve as a Pastor in the Church? A Study in the Pastoral Epistles.‖ Foundation Magazine

(July-August 2001): n. pag.

Darlington, Patricia S.E. and Becky Michele Mulvaney. ―Gender, Rhetoric, and Power: Toward

a Model of Reciprocal Empowerment.‖ Women‘s Studies in Communication 25.2

(2002): 139-172.

Dow, Bonnie J. ―Ann Willis Richards: A Voice for Political Empowerment.‖ Ed. Karlyn Kohrs

Campbell. Women Public Speakers in the United States, 1925-1993. Westport:

Greenwood Press, 1994. 452-464.

---. ―Feminism, Cultural Studies, and Rhetorical Studies.‖ Quarterly Journal of Speech 83

(February 1997): 90-131.

--- and Mari Boor Tonn. ―‘Feminine Style‘ and Political Judgment in the Rhetoric of Ann

Richards.‖ Quarterly Journal of Speech 79 (1993): 286-305.

Downey, Sharon D. ―Rhetoric as Balance: A Dialectical Feminist Perspective.‖ Women‘s

Studies in Communication 20 (2 1997): 137-150.

Ebling, Harry. ―Aimee S. McPherson: Evangelist of the City.‖ Western Speech 21 (Summer

1957): 153-159.

Felski, Rita. Beyond Feminist Aesthetics: Feminist Literature and Social Change. Cambridge:

Harvard, 1989.

156

Foss, Karen A. and Sonja K. Foss. ―The Status of Research on Women and Communication.‖

Communication Quarterly 31.3 (Summer 1983): 195-204.

---. Women Speak: The Eloquence of Women‘s Lives. Prospect Heights: Waveland Press,

1991.

Foss, Sonja K. and Cindy L. Griffin. ―Beyond Persuasion: A Proposal for an Invitational

Rhetoric.‖ Communication Monographs 62.1 (1995): 2-18.

--- , Cindy L. Griffin, and Karen A. Foss. ―Transforming Rhetoric through Feminist

Reconstruction: A Response to the Gender Diversity Perspective.‖ Women‘s Studies in

Communication 10.2 (1997): 117-135.

Felski, Rita. Beyond Feminist Aesthetics: Feminist Literature and Social Change. Cambridge:

Harvard, 1989.

Gilligan, Carol. In a Different Voice: Psychological Theory and Women‘s Development.

Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1993.

Goodrich, Thelma Jean. ―Women, Power and Family Therapy: What‘s Wrong with this

Picture?‖ Ed. Thelma Jean Goodrich. Women and Power: Perspectives for Family

Therapy. New York: Norton,1991. 3-35.

Gorski, Ron. ―Senator to Question Televangelist Again.‖ ABCNews.com 17 January 2008.

< http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=4151460>.

Grammer, Elizabeth Elkin. Some Wild Visions: Autobiographies by Female Itinerate Evangelists

in Nineteenth-Century America. New York: Oxford University Press 2003.

Graves, Michael P., ―‗Thou art but a Youth‘: Thomas Chalkley Enacts and Defends the Early

Quaker Impromptu Sermon.‖ In James R. Andrews, ed., Rhetoric, Religion, and the

Roots of Identity in British Colonial America. Vol. 1. A Rhetorical History of the United

157

States. Martin J. Medhurst, general ed., East Lansing, MI: Michigan State University

Press. 2007, 260-63.

Grenz, Stanley J. and Roger E. Olson. 20th Century Theology: God and the World in a

Transitional Age. Downers Grove: Intervarsity Press, 1992.

Griffin, Cindy L. ―Women as Communicators: Mary Daly‘s Hagography as Rhetoric.‖

Communication Monographs 60 (June 1993): 158-176.

Grossman, Cathy Lynn. ―This Evangelist has a ‗Purpose.‘‖ USA Today, (12 July 2003): n. pag.

Grudem, Wayne. Countering the Claims of Evangelical Feminism: A Biblical Vision of

Manhood and Womanhood in the Church . Multnomah Publishers Inc, 2006.

Harrell, David Edwin. All Things are Possible: The Healing and Charismatic Revivals in Modern

America. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1975.

Hayden, Sara. ―Negotiating Femininity and power in the Early Twentieth Century West:

Domestic Ideology and Feminine Style in Jeanette Rankin‘s Suffrage Rhetoric,‖

Communication Studies 50.2 (Summer 1999):83-102.

---. ―Reclaiming Bodies of Knowledge: An Exploration of the Relationship between

Feminist Theorizing and Feminine Style in the Rhetoric of the Boston Women‘s Health

Book Collective.‖ Western Journal of Communication 61 (2 Spring 1997): 127-163.

Hart, Roderick P. Modern Rhetorical Criticism. Harper Collins Publishers, 1990.

Hatch, Nathan O. The Democratization of American Christianity. New Haven: Yale University,

1989.

Hogan, Lisa S. and J. Michael Hogan. ―Feminine Virtue and Practical Wisdom: Elizabeth Cady

Stanton‘s ‗Our Boys.‘‖ Rhetoric and Public Affairs 6.3 (2003): 415-436.

158

Hogan, Lucy Lind. ―Personhood, Womanhood, and the Spiritual Equality: Phoebe

Palmer‘s Defense of the Preaching of Women.‖ The American Transcendental Quarterly

14.3 (September 2000): 211-226.

Huxman, Susan Schultz. ―Mary Wollstonecraft, Margaret Fuller, and Angelina Grimke:

Symbolic Convergence and a Nascent Rhetorical Vision.‖ Communication Quarterly

44.1 ( Winter 1996): 16-23.

Hymes, Dell H. ―Phonological Aspects of Style: Some English Sonnets.‖ Ed. Thomas A. Sebeok

Style in Language Cambridge: MIT Press, 1961.

International Antioch Ministries. ―Joyce Meyer Ministries Broadcasts into Iran via International

Antioch Ministries Popular Christian Satellite Channel.‖ Press Release Newswire. 13

June 2005. .

―Interview with Joyce Meyer.‖ Larry King Live 19 May 2005.

--- ―The Social Relevance of Rhetorical Scholarship,‖ Quarterly Journal of Speech 81 (May

1995) 138.

Jamieson, Kathleen Hall. Eloquence in the Electronic Age: The Transformation of Political

Speechmaking. New York: Oxford University Press, 1985.

Jerry, E. Claire and Michael Spangle. ―Patricia Scott Schroeder‖ in Women Public Speakers in

the United States, 1925-1993. Ed. Karlyn Kohrs Campbell. Westport: Greenwood Press,

1994. 395-406.

Japp, Phyllis M. ―Esther or Isaiah? The Abolitionist-Feminist Rhetoric of Angelina Grimke.‖

Quarterly Journal of Speech. 71 (1985): 335-348.

159

Johnson, Fern L. ―Political and Pedagogical Implications of Attitudes Toward Women‘s

Language,‖ Communication Quarterly 31.2 (Spring 1983): 133-138.

Jones, Deborah, ―Gossip: Notes on Women‘s Oral Culture.‖ Ed. Cheris Kramarae The Voices

and Words of Women and Men. New York: Pergamon Press, 1980. 195.

Kauffman, Elisabeth, Jeanne McDowell, Marguerite Michaels, Frank Sikora, and Deirdre van

Dyke. ―Rising above the Stained-Glass Ceiling.‖ Time 163 (28 June 2004): 58.

Kendal, Edgerton Kathleen and Jeanne Y. Fisher. ―Francis Wright on Women‘s Rights:

Eloquence Versus Ethos.‖ Quarterly Journal of Speech 60 (1974): 58-68.

King, Larry. ―Interview with Joyce Meyer.‖ Larry King Live. CNN 19 May 2005.

Koehler, Lyle. A Search for Power: The ―Weaker Sex‖ in Seventeenth Century New England.

Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1980.

Kraus, C. Norman. ed. Evangelicalism and Anabaptism. Scottsdale: Herald Press, 1979.

Lacey, Barbara Elson,―Women in the Great Awakening in Connecticut.‖ Diss. Clark U. 1982.

Lasswell, Harold, Nathan Leites, and Associates, Language of Politics. New York: George W.

Stewart, Publishers, Inc., 1949.

Lee, Shayne. ―The Structure of a Spiritual Revolution: Black Baptists and Women in Ministry,‖

Journal of Communication Ethnography 37.2 (April 2004): 166.

Leff, Michael. ―Things made by Words: Reflections on Textual Criticism.‖ Quarterly Journal of

Speech 78 (May 1992): 223-231.

Leisering, Katherine, ―An Historical and Critical Study of the Pittsburgh Preaching Career of

Katherine Kuhlman,‖ Ohio University DAI 42, (1982): 2365.

Lipsitz Bem, Sandra. The Lens of Gender: Transforming the Debate on Sexual Inequality. New

Haven: Yale University Press, 1994.

160

Lock, Anna B. ―From the Underworld to the Upperworld: The Former Derelict Woman Who

Became an A/G Evangelist.‖ A/G Heritage (Summer 1994): n. pag.

Lovejoy, David. Religious Enthusiasm in the New World: Heresy in Revolution Cambridge:

Harvard University Press, 1985.

Lummis, Adair T. and Paula D. Nesbit. ―Women Clergy Research and the Sociology of

Religion.‖ Sociology of Religion 61.4 (Winter 2000): 443-453.

Malcolm, Teresa. ―Southern Baptists Revise Faith Statement.‖ National Catholic Reporter, (June

30, 2000): 6.

Malz, Daniel N. and Ruth A. Borker. ―A Cultural Approach to Male-Female

Miscommunication.‖ Ed. John J. Gumperz Language and Social Identity. Cambridge:

Cambridge University Press, 1982.

Mattina, Anne F. ―Rights as Well as Duties‘: The Rhetoric of Leonora O‘Reilly.‖

Communication Quarterly ,42 (Spring 1994): 196-205.

Medhurst, Martin J. ―Introduction: The Academic Study of Public Address: A Tradition in

Transition,‖ Ed. Martin J. Medhurst, Landmark Essays on American Public Address.

(Davis: Hermagoras Press, 1993).

--- ed. Landmark Essays on American Public Address, Davis: Hermagoras Press, 1993.

Menges, Robert J. and William J. Exum, ―Barriers to the Progress of Women and

Minority Faculty.‖ Journal of Higher Education 54 (1983): 123-144.

Miller, Diane Helene. ―From One Voice A Chorus: Elizabeth Cady Stanton‘s 1860 Address

to the New York State Legislature.‖ Women‘s Studies in Communication 22.2 (Fall

1999): 152-189.

Miller, Jean Baker. Toward a New Psychology of Women. Boston: Bacon, 1997.

161

Miller, Jean Baker. ―Women and Power: Reflections Ten Years Later.‖ Ed. T.J. Goodrich.

Women and Power: Perspectives for Family Therapy New York: Norton 1991. 36-47.

―Mumbia Awaits.‖ Joyce Meyer Ministries.14 January 2008.

Murdoch, Norman H. ―Female Ministry in the Thought and Work of Catherin Booth.‖ Church

History, 53 (September 1984): n. pag.

Meyer, Joyce. ―Confidence: Freedom to be Yourself.‖ Joyce Meyer Ministries C69 (Fenton:

Missouri).

--- .―Enjoying a Life of Freedom.‖ Joyce Meyer Ministries C289 (Fenton: Missouri).

---. ―Grace, Grace and More Grace.‖ Joyce Meyer Ministries C91 (Fenton: Missouri).

---. ―I am Determined.‖ Joyce Meyer Ministries. C155. (Fenton: Missouri).

Murdoch, Norman H. ―Female Ministry in the Thought and Work of Catherin Booth.‖ Church

History 53 (September 1984): 348.

National Association of Evangelicals (http://www.nae.net).

Norton, Mary Beth. Founding Mothers and Fathers: Gendered Power and the Forming of

American Society. New York: Oxford University Press, 1970.

O‘Brien, Patrick G. ―Expansion of an American Revolutionary Ideal: Women Suffrage in

Kansas‖ Heritage of Kansas 10 (1977): 37.

Ohmann, Richard M. Shaw: The Style and the Man. Connecticut: Wesleyan University, 1962.

Olson, Laura R., Sue S. Crawford, and James L. Guth. ―Changing Issues Agendas of Women

Clergy.‖ Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 39 (2 June 2000): 142.

Olson, Roger E. ―Tensions in Evangelical Theology.‖ Dialog: A Journal of Theology 42.1

(Spring 2003): 77.

162

Parry-Giles, Shawn J. and Trevor Parry-Giles. ―Gendered Politics and Presidential Image

Construction: A Reassessment of Feminine Style.‖ Communication Monographs 61

(December 1986): 336-353.

Petersen, Debra L. ―Anna Eleanor Roosevelt.‖ in Women Public Speakers in the United States, 1

925-1993., Ed. Karlyn Kohrs Campbell (Westport: Greenwood Press, 1994): 379-394.

Price, Bernice and Pearle Markham, ―Fannie Lou Townsend Hamer‖ Women Public Speakers in

the United States 1925-1993 Ed. Karlyn Kohrs Campbell. Westport: Greenwood Press,

1994.

Pullum, Stephen J. ―Sisters of the Spirit: The Rhetorical Methods of the Female Faith Healers

Aimee Semple McPherson, Kathryn Kuhlman, and Gloria Copeland.‖ The Journal of

Communication and Religion 16.2 (September 1993): 111-125.

Purvis-Smith, Virginia, ―Gender and the Aesthetic of Preaching,‖ Journal of Women and

Religion 11 (Winter 1992): 76.

Ramsey, E. Michele. ―Addressing Issues of Context in Historical Women‘s Public Address.‖

Women‘s Studies in Communication 27.3 (Fall 2004): 252-276.

―Reformed Women.‖ The Christian Century (July 1992): 642.

Riha, Bob. ―Rev. Rick Warren‘s Single Message is ‗You are here for God.‘‖ USA Today. n.

pag.

Smith, Bill. ―Women Offer Testimonials on How Meyer‘s Preaching Has Helped Them.‖ St.

Louis Post Dispatch. 17 November 2005.

Sheahen, Laura. ―Women Pastors: Not the ‗Path to Blessing.‘‖ beliefnet.com. 17 November

2005. .

163

---, and Patton Dodd. Interview with Tony Campolo. ―Let the Women Preach.‖ beliefnet.com

15 November 2005. .

Sheckels, Theodore. ―The Rhetorical Use of Double-Voiced Discourse and Feminine Style: The

U.S. Senate Debate over the Impact of Tailhook ‘91 on Admiral Frank B. Kelso II‘s

Retirement Rank.‖ The Southern Communication Journal 63 (Fall 1997): 56-68.

Schuetz, Janice. ―Storytelling and Preaching: A Case Study of Aimee Semple McPherson.‖

Religious Communication Today 9 (September 1986): 28-36.

Speech, Billie Cheney. ―Women Evangelist Draws 8,000 Here.‖ Atlanta Journal (5 October

1973) from Time (9 October 1944): 58,60.

Spitzack, Carole and Kathryn Carter. ―Women in Communication Studies: A Typology for

Revision.‖ Quarterly Journal of Speech 73 (1987): 401-423.

Stanley, Susie Cunningham. Honoring God‘s Call: A Celebration of Holiness Women Preachers.

Kansas City: Beacon Hill Press of Kansas City, 1996.

―Statement Adopted by the 1995 General Conference of the Free Methodist Church of North

America.‖ freemethodistchurch.org.

Taylor, Kimberly Hayes. ―Her Ministry Reaches Millions.‖ The Detroit News 2003. 15

November 2005. .

―Thousands to Attend Bible Meet.‖ The Times of India. 2004. 15 November 2005

―Timeline of Joyce Meyer‘s Life.‖ St. Louis Post Dispatch 2004. 15 November 2005.

Tonn, Marie Boor. ―Militant Motherhood: Labor‘s Mary Harris ‗Mother‘ Jones.‖ Quarterly

Journal of Speech 82.1 (1996):1-21.

164

Tuft, Carolyn and Bill Smith. ―From Fenton to Fame.‖ St. Louis Post Dispatch. 13 November

2003. .

Turner, Lynn H., Kathryn Dindia and Judy C. Pearson. ―An Investigation of Female/Male

Verbal Behaviors in Same-Sex and Mixed-Sex Conversations.‖ Communication Reports

8 (2 Summer 1995).

Vincent, Lynn. ―Here We Go Again!‖ World Magazine, 15, 44. 11 November 2000.

Warner, Mary. ―Preaching Prosperity.‖ Religion News Service, 15 May 2004.

Warner, Wayne. ―From the Footlights to the Light of the Cross: A Story of Evangelist Edith Mae

Pennington.‖ AG Heritage (Summer-Fall 2005): 36.

Welter, Barbara. Dimity Convictions: The American Women in the Nineteenth Century. Athens:

Ohio University Press, 1976.

―Women‘s Ordination in Baptist Churches,‖ The Christian Century 123.15 (25 July 2006): 13.

Wood, Julie T. Gendered Lives: Communication Gender and Culture, 2nd ed. Belmont:

Wadsworth, 1997.

Zaeske, Susan. ―The ‗Promiscuous Audience‘ Controversy and the Emergence of the Early

Woman‘s Rights Movement.‖ Quarterly Journal of Speech 81 (1995): 195-196.

Zarefsky, David. ―The State of the Art in Public Address Scholarship.‖ in Texts in Context, Ed.

Michael C. Leff and Fred J. Kauffeld Davis: Hermagoras Press, 1989.

Zink-Sawyer, Beverly A. ―From Preachers to Suffragists: Enlisting the Early Movement for

Women‘s Rights.‖ American Transcendental Quarterly 14.3 (September 2000): 193-209.

165

Appendix A Outline of Sermon: Confidence: Freedom to be Yourself C69

I. Definition of Confidence A. Confidence is faith. 1. Hebrews 4:2, defines faith as confidence. 2. Webster says that confidence is trust or faith, a feeling of assurance especially self-assurance. 3. Synonym: The synonyms that are given for the word‖ confidence‖ are: assurance, security. 4. Example: Abraham -Romans 4: he didn‘t doubt because he was fully assured. B. Security 1. We want to be secure about ourselves and secure about our future and secure in the love of our friends and family. 2. Personal Example: home- snuggle with husband/talk to Jesus 3. Comfortable: God wants you to get to the point where you are just…comfortable. 4. Not perfect a. personal example: self/preaching b. all the same/not perfect 5. Another synonym is self-assurance, self confidence, faith, and reliance. 6. You can‘t really put total confidence in any other person. a. Personal example: husband b. Personal example: friend 7. God has a plan folks and it‘s different than ours and his plan is that we have total confidence in only Him.

C. Self confidence. 1. God don‘t want you to feel good in yourself either. 2. Philippians 4 verse 12- I have learned in any and all circumstances the secret situation. 3. Verse 13-―in Christ.‖ 4. See we can have self confidence, but only in his confidence. 5. God spoke something to me/ Lord, I put all my confidence in you 6. Romans 9 verse 33- People will disappoint you, you will disappoint you

D. The word confidence means bold, open, plain 1. Greek definition for confidence says: a quality of confidence that leads one to undertake a thing. 2. So the long and the short of it ladies is that confidence is faith. 3. Hebrews 11:1 E. Right to Confidence 1. Isaiah 54. Isaiah 54:17 Security or confidence is your heritage as a servant of the Lord; it is your right to feel secure and to feel confident.

166

2. I have the right to peace (repeats) to righteousness (repeats) to security (repeats) and to triumph over opposition (repeats). F. Righteousness 1. Isaiah 32: 17- without righteousness, you‘re not going to have that. You‘re not going to have this security, this peace, without righteousness. 2. Righteousness- It‘s knowing you are in Christ. 3. a process first of really finding out by experience 4. We gotta know who we are in Christ.

G. What are some of the problems created when some of the confidence has been stolen? 1. List of reasons why confidence is an issue/problem 2. You cannot have any peace until you have righteousness, you cannot have any joy until you have peace. 3. The basic root of all of our problems is how we feel about ourselves.

H. Confidence to be an individual. 1. I think that we have to get a real revelation that we are all part of a whole and the Holy Spirit indwells the church but also its individual members. 2. We need to get our eyes off of us and onto him. 3. We think that God can‘t be good to us because we‘re too bad. 4. You are what you are. 5. Most people are not satisfied being one thing that God has called them to be 6. God will give you the faith or the confidence to do what he‘s called to do 7. When we try to do something that we are not called to do, then God does not give the grace. 8. And the whole reason we struggle with this is that we do not know we are in Christ and we are trying desperately to be something wonderful in ourselves I. We‘re all different 1. The four basic personality types 2. I thought it wasn‘t ok to be different. 3. Every single one of us come equipped with strengths and weaknesses. 4. God will make use of our strengths and help us to…control our weaknesses 5. See we have to understand we‘re all different.

J. You see all those things can be overcome in the Holy Ghost

K. Now, do me a favor, when you get to study this more on your own try real hard not to be proud of your strengths and real put down by your weaknesses. We want to learn to just relax and be ourselves

167

Appendix A: Sermon Text Confidence: Freedom to be Yourself C69

Really it‘s pretty interesting when you study confidence; I mean I got all kinds of definitions. I‘m gonna give‘em to you. You know what it really comes down to in essence is, confidence is faith. I mean that‘s the long and the short of it: confidence is faith. Later on you can look this up for yourself in the Amplified Bible, Hebrews 4:2, defines faith as confidence.

Webster says that confidence is trust or faith, a feeling of assurance especially self-assurance,

Webster says. The synonyms that are given for the word‖ confidence‖ are: assurance, security.

You know, Abraham was a man who was able to receive quite an outstanding miracle from God and a man who became a father of many nations, and the Bible says in Romans 4 about

Abraham, that even when such unbelievable circumstances were coming against him, that he didn‘t doubt because he was fully assured.

Security. We all want security don‘t we? We all want to feel comfortable don‘t we, in a room? We want to be secure about ourselves and secure about our future and secure in the love of our friends and family. Security is a great thing. You know when I‘m really tired, when I‘m thinking about security, this is just the vision I get: I have a waterbed and man when I go out on trips and I sleep in hard beds and I come back and sometimes I‘m so tired my bones actually hurt. And oh I love to get a good hot bath and crawl up in that waterbed, and pull my little covers up around me, and hug up next to my husband‘s back, and just go to sleep talkin‘ to Jesus. ummm. That feels so good. And you know, security is kinda like that, you know everything is just alright, just comfortable. You see God wants you to get to the point where you are just…comfortable, see, no matter what‘s goin‘. You know I used to get up and do this and if I wasn‘t comfortable, I was in knots. I‘d be half dead when one of these seminars was over, just

168 from, just from, you know, makin‘ sure everything went just right. [audience laughs softly] Boy if you said a wrong, or if you did a wrong thing, or made a wrong move, what is everybody going to think? AAAAHHHH. I didn‘t have my act together right? I wasn‘t perfect. You know the more and the more I got to preachin… You know I‘d do this an average of five times a week, sometimes six or seven, but a good average is five, and I thought well if I don‘t quit this I won‘t live very long, you know? I would imagine that some of you are experiencing health problems just because you don‘t know how to just relax. Just relax folks. Who are we tryin‘ to impress anyway? You know what I found out? You‘ve got just as much wrong with you as I have with me, right? So I don‘t have to try to be perfect. If I was perfect I‘d just make you more nervous anyway.

Security. mm..mmm..mmm. That tastes good don‘t it? Oh taste and see that the Lord is good. Another synonym is self-assurance, self confidence, faith, and reliance. There is a lot of different confidence we could talk about; there‘s confidence in other people. And that means you can have absolute certainty in the trustworthiness of another person. But can I tell you somethin‘ tonight? And boy, I sure don‘t mean this to sound like a downer. Do you know what? You can‘t really put total confidence in any other person. [audience responds- yeah, that‘s right softly] And one of the major reasons why people get hurt is because they keep looking for that perfect person that‘s never gonna hurt them, and folks it‘s a myth. [Meyer laughs softly] Not because they‘re bad, or because they have bad hearts, but just because they got human flesh. And I‘m tellin‘ you what; it has really helped me over the last few years to get that revelation out of the word that any body who is a human being has the capability to hurt me. And see I have stopped lookin‘ for that person that will never hurt me or disappoint me on this earth. There‘s only one person that will never hurt me and never disappoint me and that‘s Jesus. [audience softly- yeah] I love my

169 husband. I respect my husband. He has my utmost respect and I love him, but do you know what? I do not have absolute total confidence in my husband. [audience laughs softly] You know why? He‘s a human being. And you know what that means? He has the human ability to let me down, to disappoint me, to hurt me.

Now you know I feel real strongly that this is a point that needs to be made in this seminar. I feel even stronger about it, standin‘ here talkin‘ about it. You know some of you have false hopes because your tryin‘ to find that person that‘s never gonna hurt you and I‘m tellin‘ you, it don‘t exist. But see here is the key, you‘re the same way, and I‘m the same way. See if you put all your confidence in me and you think ―boy, now, man that Joyce, I mean, she‘ll never let you down.‖ Oh yeah, mum hum. You hang around me enough, get a little too much confidence in me and do you know what? God himself will arrange it. See God has a plan folks, and it‘s different than ours and his plan is that we have total confidence in only him. And God himself will arrange for people around you to disappoint you if you go over that line and you get into any kind of, what can even look like worshiping people. And I tell you God will bring them down right in front of your face. So if you‘re mad at somebody because they let you down, maybe you aughta decide to just let it go right now; not be so mad at them anymore because they disappointed ya. And I realize there are probably some more major issues that a little statement like that don‘t take care of it, then there‘s some more minor things, you know, where we‘re just sorta going around nursing our wounds—well you hurt me, you hurt my feelings, you disappointed me, I had my confidence in you and you let me down. Why don‘t you just say: ―Oh well, you‘re a human being?‖ I‘ll give you a scripture and you can look it up later: John chapter

2 verse 24 is wonderful. It says, about Jesus, that ―Jesus did not trust himself to his disciples

170 because he knew all men.‖ And the Amplified says: ―He knew human nature.‖ Now we just have to realize that human nature has weaknesses built in.

Self confidence. You know it is interesting, you know we talk about this self confidence, we want to have self confidence, but you know what? I have to tell you that that‘s not right either. You know, I want to find the right way to approach this because a lot of you came here thinkin‘, man I‘m going to go and I‘m going to get self confidence, praise God, you know, I‘m gonna feel good about myself and I‘m gonna go out and just tear this world up. [audience laughs]

But see, God don‘t want you to feel good in yourself either, and I‘ll be real honest with you, when God put this on my heart I knew what I was gonna teach. I went away about four weeks ago and got all these teachings and man, I tell you, I got such a clear vision of what God is saying. He don‘t want us to have confidence in a person, it‘s not self confidence that we‘re searching for. God will go out of his way to show you what you can‘t do. [audience- amen]

Go to Philippians 4, this will be our keynote scripture for this weekend. And if you don‘t have an Amplified Bible, I want you to at least copy down, or if you‘re gonna get the tapes you won‘t need to do that. I want you to have the Amplified translation of this scripture, Philippians

4 beginning in verse 12. Paul said: ―I know how to be abased to live humbly and straight in certain circumstances and I also know how to live plenty and in abundance. I have learned in any and all circumstances the secret situation.‖ Wow! Wow! Wow! Wow! Wow! How many of you want to learn the secret here this weekend of how to face every situation? Think about that. No matter what kind of a situation it is, and there is a secret. [Meyer shouts: Wooo! Glory!] He said:

―Whether well fed or going hungry, having a sufficiency, or enough to spare, going without and being in want.‖ Now, he was talking specifically about his circumstances that sometimes he would have more than enough and sometimes he was havin‘ a real hard time. And he said: ―I‘ve

171 learned the secret of how to be satisfied either way.‖ But I don‘t believe we are taking this scripture out of context at all to borrow that little phrase there that he had learned the secret in every kind of a situation.

Verse 13. He said: ―I have strength for all things.‖ Uh oh, here‘s our key- ―in Christ.‖

Now you‘re gonna draw a lot of circles this weekend and if you‘re too religious to write in your

Bible, ask the person next to you to do it for you. [audience laughs loudly] That is just in case somebody thought: ―She wants me to write in my Bible?‖ Circle: ―in Christ.‖ I have strength for all things, not in myself, not in my friends, the only way I‘m ever going to have strength for all things is to get my confidence out of my friends, out of myself, and in Christ. mm..mmmm.mmmmm…I tell you I‘m gonna to have to work at holdin back this stuff that‘s in me, and trying to give you the stuff that I as I‘ve got it planned in each session. ―I have strength for all things.‖ Not some things, all things. In verse 12 he said: ―I have learned how to face every situation, every situation.‖ I have strength for all things in Christ who empowers me. I am ready for anything and equal to anything.‖ There it is again, ―through him,‖ circle: ―through him.‖ ―Who infuses inner strength into me?‖ Now this is it, I love this: ―I am self sufficient in

Christ‘s sufficiency.‖ See we can have self confidence, but only in his confidence.

Oh I got a hold of a scripture. I mean God spoke something to me right before I left my room and I love it. I tell you I have been studying for about three years trying to get a deep revelation on what it means to be one with Christ. And one of the scriptures I‘m familiar with is in John and Jesus said to the Father: ―Father, all things that are mine are yours, and all things that are yours are mine.‖ So see I can say to you tonight, everything that you have that you‘ll give to him, he‘ll give back you what he has in that area. And I was prayin‘, and I just said: ―Lord, I put all my confidence in you.‖ As I was prayin‘ upstairs, I said: ―Lord I put all my confidence in

172 you.‖ And immediately the Holy Ghost spoke back to me and it was just like he said: ―Thank you. Now I give you my confidence.‖ That was a new one; I‘d never heard that before. Think about that. See, what confidence I have in myself, my own ability. In other words, I‘ve done this now thousands of times, but I didn‘t get up here tonight confident that I can do this because I‘ve done it before. See, I try to gather up everything in the flesh that I‘ve got confidence in and I say: now God I take all my confidence and I just put my confidence in you Lord. And when you give him what you‘ve got, then he‘ll give you what he‘s got. So, I came down here and I felt secure, I felt confidence, I felt self sufficient, but it was only in his sufficiency.

Now go to Romans 9 verse 33. People will disappoint you, you will disappoint you. How many of you have been disappointed in yourself? [audience applauds/laughs and Meyer says: oh yeah!] How about a few times every day? How many would say that you‘ve ever been just thoroughly disappointed by people? Ok. ―As it is written, behold I am laying in Zion a stone that will make men stumble, a rock that will make men fall, but he who believes in him, circle it, who adheres to, trusts and relies on him, circle it, shall not be put to shame, nor be disappointed in his expectations.‖ [Meyer: Woooo!] Can anybody shout? My goodness! See people will disappoint you, you will disappoint yourself. But he who puts his confidence in him, who believes in him, who puts his trust on him, will never be disappointed, never be disappointed.

I‘ll just throw this in for free. You know we‘ve got a bad habit in believe ―for things,‖ instead of ―in somebody.‖ I knew you‘d be excited about that. [audience: laughter] You see I don‘t think there‘s a thing wrong in believing ―for things,‖ but I will tell you this, and I mean I can tell you, you are never going to have any peace until you get a revelation on this. You can believe for anything you want to, but you‘ve got to have a higher faith in somebody because if you don‘t happen to get what your believing for, you will get devastated and blown out of the

173 water if your confidence is in that thing instead of in somebody. But when you‘ve got a higher faith that‘s in him, in Christ, in whom, then you can make it through, you‘ll never be disappointed or devastated.

The word confidence means, bold, open, plain. The Greek definition for confidence says: a quality of confidence that leads one to undertake a thing. In other words, we won‘t even undertake to do things if we don‘t have the confidence. But, we make a big mistake when we undertake to do them in our own confidence, and so many times that‘s why we fail because

God‘s wantin‘ us to do something, but he wants us to do it with our confidence in him and we try to do it in our self, and then he has to let us fail because if God lets us succeed in that plan, then we will just be a mess all of our lives always trying to do it in ourselves. So the long and the short of it ladies is that confidence is faith. There‘s a reference given in the Vine‘s Dictionary, which is a Greek dictionary, to Hebrews 11:1 which is of course our scripture about faith. This is what the reference says; it says ―confidence is the substance that leads one to undertake anything.‖ Confidence is that substance that leads you to move out and undertake a thing.

Go to Isaiah 54. Isaiah 54:17. I want to show you here that security or confidence is your heritage as a servant of the Lord; it is your right to feel secure and to feel confident. You should not have to go around all the time being hindered by fear. Verse 17 in Isaiah 54 says that ―no weapon formed against you shall prosper and every tongue that shall rise against you in judgment you shall show to be in the wrong. This peace, righteousness, security, triumph over opposition is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, those in whom the ideal servant of the Lord is reproduced. This is the righteousness or the vindication which they obtained from me. This is that which I impart to them as their justification says the Lord.‖ Everybody say: I have the right to peace [audience repeats] to righteousness [audience repeats] to security [audience repeats] and

174 to triumph over opposition [audience repeats]. Say: It is my heritage in the Lord. [audience repeats] I like that, don‘t you?

We‘re in Isaiah, go to Isaiah 32: 17. Boy this is good, my…my…my…‖And the effect of righteousness will be peace, internal and external. And the result of righteousness will be quietness and confident trust forever.‖ Whew. ―My people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation, in safe dwellings, and in quiet resting places.‖ mm.mmm.mmm. Can‘t you just tell that that‘s from God? See even when you read that, that whole thing just has the flavor of God, doesn‘t it?

What is it really saying? That without righteousness you‘re not going to have that, you‘re not going to have this security, this peace, without righteousness. What is righteousness? In essence, what is it? It‘s knowing you are in Christ. How are you ever going to know who you are in Christ if you don‘t first know who you aren‘t in yourself? See, there‘s a system that God works on you.

You gotta understand the system. It took me a long time to understand his system, but now that I understand it, I‘m able to cooperate with it and so the process goes a whole lot faster. See, you get born again and the first thing you get is righteousness. Well, that‘s yours legally, but then experientially that‘s got to be worked out in your life and the only way that we put all our confidence in God is by going through a process first of really finding out by experience that we can‘t put all of our confidence in other people and we cannot put all of our confidence in our self.

And it‘s just not something that you can get by coming to the alter and gettin‘ hands laid on you.

You‘ve got to get some experience you‘ve got to go through. And see, so many of you are hurt and wounded because people have disappointed you. Can I tell you somethin‘? And I‘m not saying, you know, that some of you that have got real bad wounds and hurts that really done you dirty, that‘s not what I‘m talking about. But can I tell you somethin‘? People disappointing you is one of the best favors that God could ever do you. In the early years of my ministry there were

175 two different times where I got my confidence in a lady friend. Two different ladies at two different times and boy this was going to be my best friend, the one that would never hurt me, the one I could tell everything to, the one that would never let me down, the this, the that, the that, somethin‘ else, and I got too close. See, many times we give an allegiance to people that we owe only to God. And both times I got devastated. I mean devastated. And can I tell you somethin‘? I thought it was horrible, awful, they were horrible, awful. I whined and groaned and cried and carried on. It was the best thing that ever happened to me. How many of you know that sometimes you don‘t know ‗til later on, that some of these things are the best things that ever happened to you? mmm.mmmm God‘s got a good plan for your life, a good plan. He wants to be number one.

Righteousness. We gotta know who we are in Christ. How many of you really believe that you can use a much greater revelation on who you are in Christ? [audience answers- yeah softly…] I tell you that‘s my goal for this week and it amazes me. I tell you I told Roxanne the other day, I said, you know it just absolutely amazes me how long I‘ve been walkin‘ in God and how this thing has just such progressive revelation. I mean God has shown me some things just in the last month, getting ready for this thing, about what it means to be ―in Christ‖ that was just totally goin‘ over my head before. We are so endowed with religious thinking. And God wants to give us so much, but we have such a hard time receiving it because we can‘t get beyond this thing of our earning. Sister I‘m going to say that a lot of times this weekend. See we just don‘t hardly want to take anything that we can‘t earn. And the problem is God is fixed us up in this flesh with so many weaknesses there is no way that we can earn it. We can work and work and work and work until Jesus comes and we can never earn it. So, most people just stay over in the corner actin‘ like beggers all their life. mmm.mmm…mmmm. Oh I‘m glad you‘re here. I just

176 wanted somebody to preach this to so bad. [audience laughs louder] Man I…let‘s just pray,

Father I pray, in Jesus name that you would teach us, really teach us who we are in Christ. And father I pray that one person not sit with a haughty attitude and think: well I already know that, what am I doin‘ here? Father your word says that we should receive the word with meekness.

God I come tonight to you tonight, even though I stand in the position as teacher, I come to you tonight God and I‘m just gonna act like I don‘t know a thing, just teach me everything. Amen.

What are some of the problems created when some of the confidence has been stolen?

Here‘s a list for you: Without confidence, your potential in Christ is never reached, never reached. Number two: without confidence, fear rules and you will live in torment. Number three: without confidence, true joy is never known and experienced. You will never have really true joy. You know why? You can‘t have peace if you don‘t have confidence. See, I finally, I finally understand the Bible says the kingdom of God is not meat and drink but is righteousness, peach and joy. And I can tell you I‘ve walked it out in my life and they come in that order. You cannot have any peace until you have righteousness, you cannot have any joy until you have peace.

You‘ve gotta first know; see, to whatever degree that you really know who you are in Christ is only to that degree that you‘re experiencing peace. However much peace you‘ve got is how much joy you‘ve got. And over the fourteen years I‘ve been walking with God, every time I get a greater revelation of who I am in Christ, the next thing that comes is more peace and right on the tail end of that is more joy. That makes sense, don‘t it? Number four: without confidence, the

Holy Spirit is grieved. It‘s not that you‘re grieving him; he‘s grieved over the lacking in your life of the righteousness, peace and joy and grieved over the abilities that are in you that are lying dormant because of that lack of confidence. And number five: without confidence a door opens for endless torment in these following areas such as: self hatred, condemnation, fear of rejection,

177 fear of failure, perfectionism-boy is that hard work, the fear of man, becoming people pleasers instead of God-pleasers.

Let‘s take one example: fear of failure. You see if I think my worth is in succeeding, then

I‘m going to have a terrible fear of failure, because if I fail, then I‘m worth nothing. You understand that? You see if I think my worth is in my success then I automatically feel like I‘m nothing if I fail. But if I know that my worth is in Christ, really, truly, and I‘m not just talkin‘ confession. I‘m talkin‘ if I got this as a revelation, really got it as a revelation: that my worth is in

Christ. Then I don‘t have to be afraid to step out and try things, because if I succeed it is in

Christ. You know, my worth is in Christ. I‘m not any better if I succeeded and if I fail, I‘m no worse, because my worth is still in Christ. You know I‘ve discovered something in the last year and a half. We had that seminar on emotional healing; we‘re doing this one on confidence. I don‘t know, I think next year I‘m going to do it on building yourself image and self esteem. And you know what? It almost has to be the same kind of teaching, but you know what? I believe that there is such a desperate need for this kind of stuff that once a year is in no way shape or form too often, even if the same people came year after year after year and heard the exact same thing; which it won‘t be the exact same thing because God always gives a new and deeper revelation.

But you know what I‘ve discovered? The basic root of all of our problems is how we feel about ourselves. I‘m talking way, way, way down deep inside. Folks if you don‘t like yourself, you‘re in big trouble because only to the degree that you like yourself are you going to have any enjoyment out of life. My husband is probably one of the happiest people that I know. Dave‘s just been happy all the years that we‘ve been married. He‘s had his ups and downs and part of that is his natural personality, but my husband likes himself. And I don‘t mean in a haughty way, he just satisfied with himself, you know. And when you like yourself, you can also like other

178 people. So often we think our problem is somebody else when really it‘s way down in here. A door opens for endless torment for all of these areas and without confidence. Number six: people lose the right to be themselves. I want to talk to you tonight about confidence to be an individual. I want you to go to I Corinthians chapter 3, verse 16. Confidence to be an individual.

Everyone say ―individual.‖ [audience repeats] Now I want you to say this emphatically: ―I am an individual.‖ [audience repeats] Look at the person on either side of you and say: ―I am different than you.‖ [audience repeats] It don‘t take that long to say that. Now tell them this: ―I‘m different than you are and I like it.‖ [audience repeats] I Corinthians 3:16. mmm.mmm…..mmmm good stuff. I Corinthians 3:16. Aw, I tell you every time I let you guys talk to each other then it takes me a long time to get you back on track. ―Do you not discern and understand that you the whole church at Corinth, are God‘s temple, his sanctuary and that God‘s spirit has his permanent dwelling in you, to be at home in you collectively as a church and also individually. If anyone does hurt to God‘s temple or corrupts it with false doctrine, God will do hurt to him and bring him to the corruption of death and destroy him for the temple of God is holy and sacred and that temple, you the believing church and its individual believers are.‖ I think that we have to get a real revelation that we are all part of a whole and the Holy Spirit indwells the church but also its individual members. For me it was a great revelation when I really got the understanding that yes, Jesus died for the whole world, but he died for me. For me…me…me… That‘s why I got such a charge out of that scripture in John 16:33. When I read it tonight where Jesus said in the world you will have tribulation in the world, but I have overcome the world for you. Man I like that. And see, I would have read that ten years ago and I would have automatically read that, that he overcame the world for all of you. [Meyer laughs]

See and so much of what we read, we take it for somebody else. It‘s easy to believe it for

179 somebody else, but its hard to say he did it for me. And he not only did it for me, but he not only did it for me, but he would have done it if there hadn‘t even been any of you. mmmm…that gets really hard to swallow, don‘t it? I had a girl come to me at the alter Thursday, maybe she‘s here this weekend and she said: ―I‘m hearin‘ all this stuff your sayin‘ and I believe it. I believe that

Jesus did everything you say he did, and I even see God blessing my life. But, she said, I‘ve got some kind of a problem and I don‘t know what it is, I just can‘t believe it‘s for me.‖ And see here is our problem: we don‘t have a problem with him; we‘ve got a problem with us. And this is what the Lord has been saying to me. And this is as simple as I know how to put it, but you‘re going to be hearing a lot of it this weekend. We need to get our eyes off of us and onto him. We need to forget about what we can‘t do and start looking at what he can do. We need to stop looking at who we‘re not, and who he is, and get this one, we need to see how good God is and stop seein‘ how bad we are. [audience claps a bit]

And do you know why you won‘t receive the goodness of God? I just preached this last week, Wednesday and Thursday, I mean God‘s given me this, I preached a message on the goodness of God. It‘s very simple. We think that God can‘t be good to us because we‘re too bad.

We believe God is good to everybody else, but he can‘t be good to me because I‘m too bad.

Well, let me tell you somethin‘ if God had to wait ‗til he found somebody good enough to be good to, he wouldn‘t ever get to do very much. And God‘s goodness is greater than your badness. And all the promises in here are for you, they‘re not for everybody else, they‘re for you.

An individual member, and guess what? You can‘t earn them. That‘s religion. That‘s really what religion is. I think I‘m finally getting‘ a simple definition for it. It‘s a system of earning. You be real good and God will… Let me ask you a question? How many of you have weaknesses? How many of you believe God made you? Created you? Ok, now don‘t you think it is sort of

180 interesting that he‘s equipped everybody with weaknesses? Now come on, there‘s something great in that, you‘ve got to get that. I mean I‘ve got a great deliverance a year and a half ago in my life by getting to the point where I accepted the fact that I had weaknesses and it was ok to be weak. I mean I hated my weakness for years, and I wrestled with them and I fought them. I will not be weak. I mean folks I wouldn‘t even lay down at night and watch a movie on television unless I‘d read my Bible, and I‘d said my prayer, and cleaned my house and done my dishes

‗cause you don‘t deserve to rest if you haven‘t done all your work. [audience laughs] And I always wanted to deserve it you know. And I don‘t think we really even comprehend how much of that junk, and that‘s what it is, is junk. I don‘t think we even realize, that junk is ingrained in us and my prayer for this weekend is that the veil of religiosity be ripped off of our thinking.

Folks we cannot be perfect. I know some of you may be disappointed, [audience laughs] you just have to let go. You‘re just gonna have to let God bless you even though you don‘t deserve it.

Yeah, he just wants to bless you even though you don‘t deserve it. You just never know what

God may do for you. Right while you‘re still being ornery. Some of you are saying, now Joyce you‘re goin‘ off the deep end. Well, just wait.

Go to Romans twelve. I can feel it; you‘re startin‘ to get excited. Yes, I can feel the Holy

Spirit growing. Romans 12: 4 through 6. ―For as in one physical body, the many parts, organs, members, and all of these parts do not have the same function or use.‖ And I know we are familiar with these scriptures, but folks we have a hard time with this. We still have a hard time just being what we are and not trying to be something that we‘re not. So we numerous as we are, we are one body in Christ. What are you supposed to circle? In Christ. After a little while you‘ll get this I won‘t even have to tell you to do it. ―Numerous as we are, we are one body in Christ, and individually,‖ draw a circle around individually, ―individually we are parts one of another,

181 mutually dependent on one another having gifts and faculties and talents that differ.‖ See we‘re different, we‘re all part of one body. Christ is the head, the head gives the orders, one is an eye, ones an ear, ones a mouth, ones a hand, ones an arm ones a leg, ones a foot, ones a toe, the head gives the order. If my toe is going to wiggle, the head says ―toe wiggle‖ and there it goes….and if the head says ―finger point,‖ the finger points, and if the head says ―eyes close,‖ eyes close.

The head gives the orders. Christ is the head. We are the members of the body. And if we can ever learn to just be what we are and stop trying to be something we‘re not, and if we can learn to make use of what we have and stop trying to get something that somebody else has got that we couldn‘t even handle even if we had it; then we might be happy.

See, I‘ve decided that the more than anything else, I‘m after peace. Just forget all the rest of it. I‘m 47 years old, I‘ve raised three and a half kids, I‘ve been married 23 ½ years and I‘ll tell you right now, I don‘t want nothin‘ but peace and rest. Just let me enjoy life until Jesus comes to get me. Forget it; just forget the rest of it. I‘m not trying to impress you, all I want to do is get up in the morning and like myself and just go through the day hummin‘ whistling a little; do what

God‘s called me to do. He says I‘m a mouth so I‘m out here bein‘ a mouth. [audience laughs] I used to look at people like Gayle and say, ―oh I wish I could sing.‖ Well I can‘t sing. I mean

Jesus likes it ok; I sing to him. And I used to look at this and say I wish I looked like that, I wish

I had hair like that, I wish my hair was naturally curly and I didn‘t have to get a permanent every three months, I wish that I was thinner, I wish that this, and I wish that my voice wasn‘t so deep,

I wish this, and I wish something else. And do you know something? That‘s all ungodly. God does not want you wishin‘ for anything that you don‘t have. He wants you to just be what you are. [audience- amen! yeah! applause- loud] And some of you may be screamin‘ inside, ―but I don‘t like what I am.‖ Well it‘s all you got. [audience laughs] For now…Yeah, you‘ll get

182 something better when you get to heaven; you‘ll get a glorified one. But see, what is the sense in that struggle? You are what you are. And struggling with yourself is not going to make you be something else.

Go to John three, twenty seven. Oh I tell you I like this. Let me give you the background of what‘s going on here, in John chapter three. You know John the Baptist had himself a ministry, and he was the forerunner for Jesus, and he‘s got a bunch of disciples following him, and then all the sudden Jesus shows up and John‘s disciples got a little worried and they ran to

Jesus. In verse 26- if you look at it and it says ―and so they came to John and reported to him

Rabbi, the man who was with you on the other side of the Jordan, at the Jordan crossing, and to whom you yourself have born testimony,‖ notice here he is baptizing too and everybody is flocking to him, ―and John answered ―man can receive nothing, he can claim nothing, he can take unto himself nothing, except what has been granted to him from heaven. A man must be content to receive the gift given him from heaven, there is no other source.‖ You can struggle, and struggle, and struggle, and struggle, and you are not going to be anything other than what you are. Now, you know, we can change, God changes us and we can improve and, but the whole lesson that what I‘m trying to say is, if I‘m called to preach. That‘s what I‘m called to do.

How many of you know that I could take singing lessons, piano lessons, [and] guitar lessons? I could take voice lessons. I could stand around and practice. I could make records and tapes. I could do all kinds of stuff and that still wouldn‘t make me a singer because the only thing that‘s going to make me a singer is God. Go back to where we‘re at for a minute: Romans 12, and see there‘s a certain dying to self on this. Because if I‘ve got my sights set on being something else and I have to face the fact that I‘m never going to have that, then there‘s a certain dying that has

183 to come there, but folks after death is resurrection of life, there‘s peace. See, those are all the things I used to struggle with; boy, did I struggle.

Verse 6 says: ―having gifts, faculties, qualities that differ according to the grace given us, let us use them. He, whose gift is prophecy, let him prophecy, according to the proportion of his faith. He who is gift is practical service, let him give himself to serving; he who teaches, to his teaching. He who exhorts and encourages to his exhortation; he who contributes, let him do it in simplicity and liberality. He who gives aid and superintends, let him do it with zeal and singleness of mind. He, who does acts of mercy, let him do it with genuine cheerfulness and joyful eagerness.‖ Do you know what I believe one of our great mistakes are? And I believe this, and I‘m going to tell you what I believe is one of, just one, and I know God is behind it all. I sure ain‘t trying to give the credit to anything else. But I believe what I‘m getting ready to tell you is one of the reasons why our ministry has done so exceptionally well in the five years; that we‘ve been doin‘ what God told us to do and been on the radio. And I believe this is why. And I believe most people are not satisfied being one thing that God has called them to be and really centering in on that and doing that. Most people want to do a little bit of all of it. And I tell you something

God has made it clear to me: I know what I‘m called to do and I stick to that. And you see you‘ve got a grace gift and if you‘ll give yourself to what it is that you‘re called to do, and not try to do this ‗cause somebody else is doing it and you want to feel as good as them and try to do this ‗cause their doin‘ that, try to go over here because somebody else is goin‘ over there and try to do this. People say to me, don‘t you want to try to be on television? I say no. Radio is in my heart. But God uses the television so much today. I say: radio is in my heart. You know a lot of these towns that I go to we have a lot of opportunities to be on television shows, they call us all the time. Do you know unless I‘m absolutely just gonna‘ insult them and hurt their feelings; I

184 don‘t have any desire to do that; don‘t want it. I just don‘t have any desire to do it. We get opportunities all the time to go out of the country. I had a pastor just last week ask me if I would go to France. He said: ―the women in France would just love you.‖ He said: ―the women in

France need you.‖ The women in India need me. The women in Africa need me. People told me:

―they need you Joyce, these women need you.‖ God has told me for now to stay right here. And

I‘m not going to go over there until God tells me to go there. And I really believe that a lot of times people think, well. Do you know a lot people ask me, ―well, is your ministry international yet?‖ See it‘s like there is a certain amount of pride that goes along with that. And do you know what a temptation it is sometimes to just to go, just to say, oh our ministry is international? See we got to get over that stuff of tryin‘ to press everybody or we‘re never gonna be what God wants us to be. Do what you‘re supposed to be doin‘ not what is going to make everybody go

―oh really?‖ Come on now. I mean honestly it is amazing how many people say to me, I get asked this almost everywhere I go, ―well have you ministered out of the country yet?‖ Say- ―no.

I have lots of opportunities, but God hasn‘t told me to go. I have a responsibility here. I have two meetings a week here. I need to be here and take care of what God‘s given me to take care of.‖

Our call is to the believer, we‘re here to build up the body of Christ and train and equip you so you can go out and go over there if that is what God‘s called you to do. [audience laughs and applauds] And I believe way down deep inside that someday we‘ll go. But the time is not now.

And I‘m givin‘ you this testimony so you know that you don‘t have to be pressured into doin‘ somethin‘else that you don‘t feel you ought to be doin‘ either. You ought to do what you know that you are supposed to do. You know what? God will give you the faith or the confidence to do what he‘s called to do, but he won‘t give you the confidence to do a bunch of stuff he hasn‘t called you to do.

185

I think a lot of people lose confidence because they get out and the try to do a whole bunch of stuff they‘re not called to do and they get all confused and mixed up. And we need to stop trying to be who somebody else is doing because all it does is cripple us from being who we are. I want to give you an example. I was in the middle of teaching one day on jealousy and covetousness when God gave me this. And some of you‘ve seen me do it, but for the benefit of those who haven‘t, this is a great example that I got from God that I believe you will never forget and it will help you. I was right in the middle of teaching and all of the sudden God put this in my heart. And this is what he showed me: See, the Bible compares the body of Christ to the physical body, that‘s what its doin‘ there in Romans. Just like my head tells my finger to point.

You know Jesus equips you to do what he wants you to do and you‘re supposed to take direction from the head. But this is how things get messed up. He said now Joyce, for example, he said, you‘re finger has a ring, see I like rings. And when I get my nails done, I really like to look at them. There‘s something about having your nails freshly done and just holding them fingers back and just lookin‘ at those rings…mmm…mmm…mmmm…that looks nice. Now the Lord said to me, ―Now Joyce, your eye enjoys seeing your finger have a ring.‖ But now he said, ―What kind of a mess would we have if your eye looked on the ring on the finger and said, ―The finger has a ring, I want my own ring. If the finger can have a ring, then I ought to have a ring and I‘m not going to be happy‖ the eye says ―until I get my own ring.‖ And God says, ―so what if I gave the eye its way?‖And I said, ―Alrighty, here you are eye, you may have your own ring.‖ Now then, there we are; my eye got its way. There is only one big problem now; I can‘t see where I‘m supposed to be going. So now you have to understand this; I wanted something that I wasn‘t equipped to have. And so if God gave me my way now I have what I wanted alright, but I‘ve crippled my whole body and now nothing functions right but I got my ring. And then he gave me

186 another example. He said, ―Now Joyce,‖ he said ―your hand.‖ You know some times your feet get new shoes. And you know I‘ve had these a while so I get them on easy, but sometimes I get new shoes and you know I can‘t get them on unless I get some help. And the Lord said, ―You know Joyce, you‘re hand is so excited about your foot getting a new shoe that if the foot is having trouble wearing a new shoe your hand says oh let me help you.‖ Do you know that we ought to have this thing down so pat about the different callings and the different gifts? Never ever jealous of each other or trying to be something that someone else is. We should be coming to someone‘s aid, helping each other be all that they can be. I appreciate my husband so much because Dave is not a preacher and he knows it and he‘s not put down by it. He doesn‘t even really enjoy being up here. I try to drag him up here a lot of times and he can‘t hardly wait to get away. And you know he‘s not insecure, he‘s not bashful, he‘s not a fearful person, he just knows what he‘s called to do and he knows what he‘s not called to do, and he decided that his call was to be my covering and so he just helps me be all I can be, and in the midst of that he‘s got so much joy he don‘t hardly know what to do. And what kind of a mess would we have if Dave said, ―Well, there‘s no way I‘m going to follow my wife around all over the country and let her preach, I mean good night. What kind of a man would people think that I am if I just follow around after my wife?‖ I‘d say: ―Dave, he‘s got it down pat.‖ Somebody said to him recently,

Dave said to him, ―uh, So do you travel with Joyce all the time?‖He said: ―No she travels with me.‖ He just comes right back at them because he knows who he is. And you know about the shape the body is in? The hand ain‘t about to help the foot put its shoe on. The hand would be jealous the hand even got the shoe and the hand would say: ―if the foot can have shoes, I want my own shoes. I want a new pair of shoes.‖ And the eye‘s saying: ―I want my own ring.‖ And so what happens if God gives everybody their own way? You want to see what kind of a mess we

187 end up in? Well here we go. The eye gets the ring and the hand gets the shoes and so here we are, you see, going around in life. [audience laughs at a visual] Yeah Glory! One girl told me a story after seeing me do that. She works in a restaurant and the waitresses are all jealous of each other, you know, if one gets one table more than the other one gets, or you know, a big tipper, you know. She said it is just a mess and she said she went to work after hearing this message and she said, ―Ok girls we‘re going to all stop wearing our ring on our eye.‖ [audience laughs] And some of you need to stop wearing your ring on your eye and your shoes on your hands. You need to just be happy what your fingers got. See God builds us to handle what he calls us to do.

And this is where the trouble starts. When we try to do something that we are not called to do, then God does not give the grace. I found a scripture and I‘m going to quote it to you and then give you the reference. Here, this thing is powerful. It says: ―To those who are called, Christ is the power of God.‖ But you know what that says then? Those who are not called, who try to do it anyway, Christ is not to them the power of them, only to those that are called. In other words, if you‘re called to do something then Christ is unto you the power of God in that area.

But if you‘re not called to do it, you might as well forget it; you‘ll run yourself out, wear yourself ragged. How many of you agree with me that the reason a lot of people are very unhappy because they are trying to be something they are no? And folks I‘ll tell you if we can get the revelation this weekend that our worth is not in what we do, not in what we look like, not in any of that, I don‘t want to get into tomorrow‘s message, but it‘s in Christ. And if we really believe that, can I tell you something? It don‘t make any difference what we do. It doesn‘t make any difference what we do if we aren‘t in Christ? What difference does it make? Doesn‘t make one bit of difference what we do. And the whole reason we struggle with this is that we do not

188 know we are in Christ and we are trying desperately to be something wonderful in ourselves. mmmm….well I‘m only about an hour behind time, but we‘re having fun anyway.

Let me give you a little information about the four basic personality types. See we‘re all different. Say, ―We‘re all different.‖ [audience repeats] Now I‘m going to go over this pretty fast and you‘ll find out more about this area later on by yourself when you take those little tests we gave you. The proper names for personality types… and if you want to know the root of this stuff, I‘m going to go all the way back to Socrates. And I‘ll be honest with you, I had somebody come to me recently and say: ―Well you know I heard the root of those personality things is in astrology.‖ So, I checked it out and it is not. This is, this is not something that you can find chapter and verse for in the Bible, but we‘re not making a doctrine out of it. But it‘s just sort of a fun way to find out a little more about yourself. And you know we sure don‘t want to get up into anything wrong, but there‘s nothing wrong with having a little fun trying to find out a little more about yourself. All of you will find out more, most of you at least, will find out that you‘re not one but particular category, but your one majorly, and then blends of others.

But I‘m telling you the truth, if you get a real deep revelation that everybody‘s different.

It will help you majorly to get along with other people. Because no more than you can help being yourself can they help being their self. And see we are, we have a real problem going around trying to make everybody like we are and that is impossible and it gets quite amusing when you really learn the different personalities and you study it enough to stand back and watch how four or five different people will respond totally different to the same situation. And you know years ago I‘d look at people and say, ―What is your problem? Why in the world would you do that?

What is your deal? I mean you are weird.‖ And now I just say: ―You‘re just different than me

189 and that‘s ok.‖ Do you know it is haughtiness and pride to think that everybody has got to be like you?

Four personality types are: Choleric, [laughs] I‘m not going to do this because you‘ll get it later on, those things we gave you. Choleric, Phlegmatic, Melancholy, Sanguine. The Choleric is called rocky. That‘s his nickname, Rocky Choleric. Flip Phlegmatic, Mystro Melancholy and sparky Sanguine. Now, the Cholerics are the workers. They work. They just love to work. They work, work, work. And the phelgmatics are the watchers. Now here‘s where we get our problem: almost always a Choleric marries a Phlegmatic. And so you have a watcher with a worker, and the one works and the other watches, and then the one who works gets mad at the one who watches because they want the one who‘s watching to get up and work with them. [audience laughs] Now obviously I am a Choleric and my husband is a Phlegmatic. And I just work, work, work, work, work, work, work, and Dave watches. Dave and I will be out on a trip and Dave will like to pull over in a strange town where we don‘t even know anybody and watch this group of kids play ball. We don‘t even know where we‘re at let alone know the kids [audience laughs] and he wants to sit there for an hour and watch them play ball. Now you see the whole…each person has a certain motivation in their life, they have a need that they are trying to fulfill. The

Choleric‘s greatest need is accomplishment and appreciation. They are goal oriented. I mean they get up, they have a goal. And they work to meet that goal. But the Phlegmatic doesn‘t have a lot of goals, nor are they going to work a lot. But they‘ll watch you work and they‘ll be happy if you‘ll just leave them alone in peace. Because their great motivation is they want peace. I tell you if I just don‘t pick on my husband, just give him peace, he‘ll just give me about anything, but he‘s a man who wants to dwell in peace. You see I used to like to stir stuff up once in a while

[audience laughs] just get a little excitement in there. And I would say to Dave: ―Why would I

190 want to watch these kids play ball? I do not know these kids.‖ You see the only way that I would want to watch anybody play ball would be if it would be one of my own kids, and even then I‘d probably have to think about it, because I have a goal you see and that‘s to set the captives free and anything that doesn‘t fit into my goal, I‘m not real interested in it. And that‘s not anything bad, that‘s just the way we‘re built. And you see the Cholerics are the born leaders. They‘re the people who get a lot done, they uh…another group, the melancholies get great ideas, but they need the Cholerics to fulfill those ideas, and so you see if we all learn to work together, then everything…you see we need the Phlegmatics cause their the easy going, middle of the road personality that just brings peace into everything. And see all those years I was hanging off the ceiling Dave was somewhere down here saying: ―Don‘t worry about it, there‘s no problem, everything will work out cast your care.‖ And I‘m saying, ―Cast my care!!!!Do you know aaaahhhhh.‖ And he‘s in there, ―Its fine. There‘s no problem.‖ And boy I‘d tell you, we‘d have a rough time without them. The meloncholies are the thinkers; their the deep people, they like to think, they like it quiet. And their greatest need in life is order. They just want it orderly. Just get it in order. Line it up nice. Roxanne, my secretary, she is a Melancholy and when she puts her shoes in the closet she puts the strings inside the shoes. [audience laughs] She does. She puts the strings inside the shoes because she wants them to be neat, in rows. Now see the Cholorics are organized, but they‘re not as organized as the melancholies. I get my shoes to the closet.

[audience laughs] But, see the group that‘s left are the Sanguines, and they never take it to the closet. They walk in the door and here it goes. [audience laughs]

Now what do I end up with? I‘m this strong Choleric and I‘m married to a Phlegmatic and I‘ve got three Sanguine kids and one Choleric kid. And me and him about killed each other

‗til we found out about this stuff. I mean I could not get along with him when he was growing up

191 at all. Why? Because we both had that st..they say a Choleric baby when they‘re in their playpen looking out the bars, their already makin‘ plans on how they can take over. Really. That‘s the truth. They‘re in there already sayin‘: ―I don‘t like the way you‘re doing this.‖ And do you know our granddaughter is only one year old and I want to tell you somethin‘, that kid is independent. I mean if she wants to get on your lap she will, and if she don‘t, forget it. If she wants something you‘re going to know she wants it. You can see these traits in kids when they are little tiny kids.

She would never stay in her playpen; she hated the thing. She wouldn‘t have anything to do with it. She was never cuddly; she was just like… [Meyer makes a visual image- the audience laughs]

I think she‘s got her grandma‘s temperament. Now they say that you get more of your temperament from your grandparents than you do your parents. [audience- wow!,etc.] That‘s what they say. Well, anyway, the Sanguines are called ―sparky‖ and they‘re the talkers, and their motivation is: life is fun. That‘s it, that‘s their motive in life: fun, let‘s all have fun. Now see, here‘s what you get: you get a Melancholy that gets up in the morning and have it quiet and have everything in order. I‘m looking at Cathy and she‘s here, we did some of this at the Couple‘s

Advance, and wave Cathy so they know who you are. And she‘s one of the girls up here singing and Cathy is real strong Melancholy and she said that her husband said to her, ―you know Cathy,

I don‘t mind you being neat, but would you wait until we get out of the bed until you make it.‖

[audience laughs] And she said, ―while we lay in bed, I will actually starting to sleep, I‘m straightening the covers.‖ See you have to understand that a Melancholy wants order and so they marry a Sanguin who don‘t even know how to spell order. And a Melancholoy gets up in the morning and they want quiet so they can think. You see I‘ve got a little bit of that in me too. I like it quiet so I can think. And a Sanquin gets up talkin‘, they go to bed talkin‘, they go all through their day talkin‘, and they don‘t even have to have anything to talk about, just talk and

192 talk and talk. And if they tell you a story, you are going to get every detail. [audience laughs]

And see when a Sanguin tries to tell a Choleric a story, the Choleric gets bored. Amen?

Now see, to show you what a mess this gets to be, you know like Donna Shelton. Ten years ago when I started going to their church, ten years ago, we were both so insecure we didn‘t hardly know what our name was and here I was ―Miss Ministry,‖ you know, I‘m growling at everything that moves and Donna is, she‘s just, you know, little Miss Sweet. You know, blonde hair and blue eyed and here I am growling. She operates under a mercy motive, you know, everything is mercy, mercy, mercy and she‘ll sit and council somebody for two and a half or three hours and oh, really, oh yeah. And see, you give me fifteen minutes and I‘ve got your problems sized up. I know the answer, here it is do it, or forget it. And so here‘s what we try to do. Donna and I were having problems, we couldn‘t get along and we didn‘t know why. We thought we liked each other, but we couldn‘t hardly stand to be around each other and we didn‘t know why, and you know when we finally found out what was going on, I was trying to be like her. I actually went so far as to try to soften my voice and tried to sound a little bit nicer when I talked to people, and people said to me, ―What is your problem?‖ What are you doing?‖ And she was trying to be more bold and straightforward see. And you know what? There‘s a real lesson in that we found out is you cannot like somebody, you cannot get along with somebody, if you are trying to be like them. It‘s like they become a law to you, is what the Lord‘s saying to me right now. It‘s like that person becomes a law to you and you have to be like them to be ok. God told me that one time about physical healing. I said: ―Why is everybody having such a hard time with physical healing?‖ And this has been years ago. He said: ―Healing has become a law to my people and they feel like if they cannot get a miracle that there‘s something wrong with them.‖

And you see, anything that we make a ―law‖ then we can no longer have any joy, or any liberty,

193 or any freedom in that area. And see we‘re all so different. How can I be like Donna? How can she be like me? It‘s impossible, you know. I‘ve told some of these stories before and I don‘t want to bore you, but you know I used to live next door to a girl who was ―Miss Arts and Crafts‖ and she grew tomatoes, and canned tomatoes, and wove pot hangers, and sewed her husband‘s clothes, and made her kids swimmin‘ suits. And I got to thinkin‘, something‘s wrong with me because I‘m not the right kind of woman because I don‘t like to do all that stuff so I‘m going to do that! And we dug us a plot of ground and we grew tomatoes and I got canning jars and the first year the bugs came in and ate all my tomatoes and I thought: ―Well are we having fun yet or what?‖ See, I‘d much rather believe God for your tomatoes and probably I‘d get ‗em too.

[audience laughs] But I was determined that I was going to can those tomatoes so I went down and bought me a couple of bushels of tomatoes at the market and I brought them back. I had those cannin‘ jars and tomatoes were going in them things; I‘m a determined person. And then I found out you gotta boil them, you gotta blanch them, peel them, get them in the jars at just a certain temperature, the lids got to pop a certain way, and then your blessed if they don‘t all blow up, and then you go through all this and clean all those jars, and line all that stuff up on the shelves, and look at it. And then you give it to all your friends, you don‘t even eat it. [audience laughs] Now see here I am, this Choleric that‘s wanting to change the world, and I‘m in there trying to can them tomatoes. And I could go to the store and get them things three cans for a dollar. [audience laughs] But see I‘m going through all that trying to be ―ok.‖ And why was I trying to do that? Because I wasn‘t convinced that I was ok in who I….see I thought it wasn‘t ok to be different; it‘s not ok to be me. I‘ve got to sew because you sew, and can because you can, and be merciful because you are merciful, and talk soft because you talk soft; I mean I had

194 myself so fouled up. And I would expect a few of you are about in the same mess. Amen?

(audience answers-Amen!)

Well, shall I go over this? I‘ll go over this real quick. The Choleric‘s strengths are strong willed. You don‘t have to write this down, you‘ll get it; you‘ll go over it later. Strengths of a

Choleric, that‘s me, strong will-power, practical, born leader. I don‘t have to try to be in charge, you put me around anything and unless there‘s somebody there that‘s a stronger Choleric than me, I will be in charge in two days and I won‘t even try to be. Born leader, optimistic, determined, keen mind for organization. But their weaknesses. Do you know that most of the world, hard core criminals came out of the Choleric personality group? [audience laughs] Their weaknesses are hot tempered, cruel, self sufficient, self reliant, continual motion, they find it hard to sit still or rest, they lack Christian compassion, carry a grudge, revengeful, hard for him to apologize says things without thinking, blunt, cutting remarks are common. Now here‘s the good news, and the reason why I encourage you to get this book: Spirit Filled Temperaments, every single one of us come equipped with strengths and weaknesses, strengths and weakness, and weaknesses, ladies, and weaknesses. And when you go through this stuff, you‘re going to be real proud of yourself to see strengths, for example, the Melancholies. Most of the geniuses in this world, come out of the Melancholy group. So, if you happen to be Melancholy you‘re thinking humm…genius, my, my. Well they also are the group that have a tendency to get depressed. But see here‘s the good news, God will make use of our strengths and help us to overcome, not to overcome, I don‘t think that‘s a good word to use, to control our weaknesses by the power of the Holy Spirit. And one of the things you‘ve got to realize is when you have a weakness, that dude is always there, and every time you get out from under the leadership of the

Holy Spirit its libel to show up. And that‘s what keeps us from leaning on God. See, if you didn‘t

195 have those weaknesses, if I didn‘t have those weaknesses I wouldn‘t lean on God. Do you know how many times I have spent on my face, praying and askin‘ God for me to be gentle and merciful and kind and full of compassion? For me to do what I‘m doing? For me to do what I‘m doin‘, you can‘t be hardened, and do what I‘m doin‘ and see my natural personality is not gentle and humble and kind and meek and lowly. So, I tell you what, it keeps me on my face all the time cryin‘ out to God: ―oh God, you‘ve got to help me! God you‘ve got to help me!‖ And that‘s exactly the place that he wants us to be, cryin‘ out to him for help.

Phlegmatic strengths are dependable, calm, easy going and good listener, rarely does he operate emotionally, dry sense of humor, works well under pressure. But his weaknesses are: he‘s unexcited, uninvolved, slow, lazy, stubborn, and indecisive. [Meyer laughs] Boy, I tell you,

I could stand up and tell stories all day but I don‘t have time. Melancholy strengths are sensitive to other people‘s needs and hurts, genius prone, creative, appreciates the fine arts faithful, loyal, self sacrificing. But, their weaknesses are that they are often referred to the black or the dark temperament because of their moodiness, tendency toward depression, too introspective. They‘re always trying to figure out what‘s wrong with them, negative, self centered, critical, the martyrs come out of that group. They‘ll do a lot for you but they‘ll also be: ―oh poor me, everybody‘s walkin‘ all over me.‖ The Sanguine‘s strengths are: friendly, compassionate, they enjoy life, optimistic, almost always in a lively mood. A Sanguine doesn‘t get out of bed, they bounce out of bed. You know the Sanguines. Like Nancy Lathata. Where are you? I know you‘re in the audience tonight; if you‘re in this room stand up, just stand up. This is a good friend of mine. I just love her. She‘s precious, and I tell you she‘s just Sanguine from the top of her head to the tips of her nose. I don‘t know if she knows it yet. But, Nancy calls you up in the morning. She says: ―Hello! This is Nancy, how are you today?‖ See I‘m like: ―I‘m fine, I think.‖ You can sit

196 down now Nancy. But see she bounces, she‘s just happy, Praise the Lord, sounds like she‘s in some high gear all the time, see, just happy, happy, happy, all the time, see? And I‘m down here wanting to think. Amen?

See we have to understand we‘re all different. They enjoy life; almost always in a good mood. See if everybody was like me, or the Melancholy, think how boring life would be. Boy if we didn‘t have the Sanguines boucin‘ us along, we‘d be in big trouble. Boredom is not part of their makeup because they can easily find something that fascinates them. See Donna can get fascinated over a shoe string. She can. We went one day to spend the day with her and Rick and do you know where Donna spent a good part of the day? Up in the middle of the bed doing something with her kid‘s shoe strings. What were you doing that day? She was inventing something. She played with her kid‘s shoe strings all day. Do you know how long it would take me to get bored with a shoe string? Not very long. They can be fascinated by little things, easily inspired to engage in new plans and projects. But their weaknesses are they have boundless activity which is little more than restless movement. In other words, they‘re doing stuff all the time, but they don‘t accomplish a lot. They easily run off and start things with emotion, but they‘re usually not a good student. They‘re easily distracted, undisciplined; usually get by on the power of their dynamic personality. Everybody loves them because they‘ve got such a great personality see. They don‘t get a lot accomplished. His greatest problem is that he is weak willed and undisciplined, forgets appointments and obligations, cannot be dependent upon to meet deadlines, or to keep time schedules. You see all those things can be overcome in the Holy

Ghost. They can all be controlled and overcome in the Holy Spirit, but those will always be tendencies that that personality has. Now, do me a favor, when you get to study this more on

197 your own try real hard not to be proud of your strengths and real put down by your weaknesses.

We want to learn to just relax and be ourselves, Amen?

198

Appendix B Outline of Sermon: Grace, Grace and More Grace C 91

I. Grace, Grace and more Grace A. we need a revelation on Grace 1. Open up that channel 2. the Word was frustrating 3. the word frustrating means to disappoint

B. you can make a law out of every word 1. Frustrated means to disappoint; to prevent from obtaining a goal or fulfilling a desire. 2. the word try is unscriptural 3. suggest to you tonight that you exchange trying for trusting

C. conflicts within your own self 1. God doesn‘t want us living in conflict and war zones and the middle of strife all the time 2. kingdom is righteousness, peace, peace and joy 3. conflict arises from all the things that we want 4. you can get in conflict over salvation, you can get in war over salvation, you can get in war over the Word 5. covet what others have 6. we spend tryin‘ to make stuff happen 7. The flesh wants to conquer its own problems. The flesh wants credit. D. Receive 1. We‘re gonna try to eradicate the word ―get‖ and learn the word ―receive‖ 2. we can have wrong, evil, selfish motives 3. Ask and leave it alone. Ask and put it in God‘s hands

E. Being the world‘s friend is being God‘s enemy

199

Appendix B Sermon Text: Grace, Grace and More Grace C 91

Well, Grace, Grace and more Grace updated and revised version, and that‘s the title of the first teaching: Grace, Grace and more Grace. I want to talk to you for a little bit first about the condition that my life was in when God first gave began to give me a revelation about what

Grace actually was approximately ten years ago. And I do want to add that I believe we need a revelation on Grace, not just a teaching but a revelation, and I have a certain amount of revelation about the Grace of God. But as I studied today, I was really stirred up in my faith to believe God again for myself, for a greater revelation, and I want to encourage you while we do this seminar to be exercising your faith. Open up that channel for God to give you that revelation about Grace.

When God first began to reveal to me what Grace actually was I was about as frustrated as anybody could be. Why was I frustrated? I was frustrated for many, many reasons but one of the things that was frustrating me, believe it or not was the Word of God. You say, well how can the Word be frustrating you? Well I would imagine there are some of you that the word of God is frustrating you. And it‘s not certainly, not the fault of the Word. It‘s that we try to work the work rather than letting the Word work in us, and the thing that was frustrating me about the Word was the word kept convicting me. You see, I had a lot of problems when I started getting into the

Word, but I didn‘t really know that I had the problems. I thought that all of my problems were caused by somebody else and that if they would all change and act different then I could finally be happy. Well when I started getting into the Word, and the word started convicting me and revealing to me that I had lots of areas in my life that needed to change, every message that I heard, whether it was on television, or radio, or out in a meeting like this, if I bought a book;

200 everything that I read or looked at seemed like I needed it. Is there any of you that ever felt like you were that bad? That everything you looked at you needed? You know? But I didn‘t understand the difference in conviction and condemnation and so the Word would convict me, which it ought to do. But before I would get out of the place I was in, or before an hours worth of time would go by, the devil would take that thing that was intended for my good and he would begin to beat me over the head with it as condemnation. So actually I would read the Word, the

Word would convict me. Then the devil would take the good thing that God was trying to get me and beat me over the head with it and condemn me because now the Word is like a mirror you see, I would look in there and see my needs. But I didn‘t know about the Grace of God to change me, I didn‘t know about the Grace of God would come into my life and cause these things to happen. as I believed him and exercised my faith. I thought I had to do it all‘ I was frustrated, so frustrated; I was trying to change myself. I was trying to make myself what the Word said I was supposed to be. I didn‘t know how to wait on anything; I didn‘t know how to change from

[inaudible] to glory. I didn‘t know about how to conquer my enemies little by little. I was tyrin‘ to change my husband. I was trying to change my kids. I was trying to change all my circumstances. You are looking at a woman that tried. I tried until I almost died, and that is absolutely just about the facts.

The word frustrated in Webster‘s dictionary means to disappoint. Interesting enough the

Bible says in Galatians 3 that all those who follow the law are doomed to disappointment. Isn‘t that interesting? The word ―frustrate‖ means to disappoint. And I was putting myself under the

Law. I was taking this good thing and making a law out of it. Did you know you can make a law out of every word in here if you don‘t know how to approach it? Anytime you put yourself under the Law you are doomed to disappointment. You know why? The Law has the ability to do one

201 thing; actually it has the ability to do two things. If you could follow it, it would have the ability to make you holy. But since no human being can follow it, it has the ability to actually increase sin. Do you know that? How do you take a message and turn it into a law? You hear somebody preach something and you say, ―Well now if I don‘t do that then God‘s not going to love me anymore. If I don‘t do that I‘m goin‘ to lose my salvation. If I don‘t change, I‘m out. And see then you are lookin‘ at it totally wrong from the way God wants you to see it. All he wants you to do is see the truth and say: ―Yeah, your right Lord, I need to do that, you‘re absolutely right.

You know there‘s no sense in me giving you any excuses just what it says here is right. The

Word is right and my life‘s not matching up to it. The Word becomes a mirror to me and I can see I‘m wrong in this area. God I ask you to forgive me and God I‘m asking you to change me by your power and your grace.‖ But see, I didn‘t know how to do that last part. I didn‘t know anything about the power of God and the Grace of God. All I knew anything about was tryin‘, tryin‘, tryin‘, tryin‘, trying to be good, tryin‘ to everything the Word said I was supposed to do.

Tryin‘ to not talk to much, tryin‘ to submit, tryin‘ to be more generous, tryin‘ to operate the fruit of the spirit, tryin‘ to pray more, tryin‘ to read the Bible more, tryin‘ to understand the Bible more when I did read the Bible more, tryin‘ to be a better mother, tryin‘ to be a better wife.

Frustrated means to disappoint; to prevent from obtaining a goal or fulfilling a desire.

See, when you are trying to obtain a goal or fulfill a desire and something is preventing you from doing it, then you‘re frustrated cause your putting all your effort and your energy into this and it‘s not happening, so the only result that can come is frustration. To cause feelings of discouragement or bafflement or to make ineffectual. Well, let me tell you I had many, many, many mountains in my life and I was trying to push every one of them out of the way. Could you use your imagination for one minute? If I had one big boulder up here, let‘s just say half as tall as

202

I am; just a big rock. Did you know even a big rock that size I couldn‘t move out of here by my own effort? I could not push it out of here. And you think of the mountains, any of you pushin‘ against some mountains? [Meyer makes a grrrr sound- effort sound as if pushing] What happens?

I don‘t know about you, but I get frustrated. I‘d get frustrated if I couldn‘t get the lid off a mayonnaise jar. [audience laughter erupts] I was too bullheaded to ask for any help. [audience laughter] Think about those situations. You‘re tryin‘ to get it off and tryin‘ to get it off and you get out somethin‘ to beat on it and bang on it and tryin‘ to get it off, you know you‘re [Meyer- grrrrr]. If we can get that frustrated over a lid on a jar, how frustrated are some of you in this place tonight, and some listening by tape, and some listening by radio? How frustrated are you about the mountains in your life? [audience laughs] I mean I had so many mountains.

Do you know the word try is unscriptural? Before I said that I checked. [audience laughter erupts] I got out my biggest concordance I owned today and I looked up the word ―try‖ and it‘s in there, but not at all in the way that we‘re talking about it here tonight. The only way the word try is used in the Bible is like this: ―the trying of your faith,‖ ―we are to try the spirits,‖ not just believe everything that comes along, but to try them, ―Try me Oh God and know my ways.‖ And the Bible talks about fiery trials which will try our faith, but it‘s a totally different thing. Try in the Bible is like tests that come our way to see what our worth and our value is. It‘s not like we‘re talking about tonight, all this human effort that we put out trying to accomplish what needs to be accomplished in my life. Now am I sayin‘ that we don‘t ever put out any effort?

No I‘m not sayin‘ that. One of the messages will be about the proper effort that we are to put out.

There is an effort that we are to put out, that‘s an effort that‘s made by the Grace of God, an effort that‘s made by the power of God, but there‘s also a carnal, natural trying and effort that‘s

203 all our doing and we‘ve not invited God to get involved in it and it just absolutely wears us out. I want to suggest to you tonight that you exchange trying for trusting. Anybody out there?

Well, I tried as I said earlier until I almost died and God revealed James 4 verse 6 to me.

And a whole new realm opened up to me of learning about the Grace of God and I want to start in verse one, not in verse 6, but we‘ll get to verse 6 shortly, James chapter 4 verse 1. Now you listen to this and see if you can find yourself in here. What leads to strife? Discord and feuds and how to conflicts, anybody got any conflicts goin‘ on? I‘m not talkin‘ about just with other people, what about conflicts within your own self? How do conflicts quarrels and fights originate among you? I mean this is a question that‘s got my attention. Yeah. I thought the first time I read this: how does all this junk get started? We know that‘s not God‘s will for our life is it? God doesn‘t want us living in conflict and war zones and the middle of strife all the time. You know that‘s the nature of the world without Christ, everybody‘s in war. But that‘s not the position or the place for the Christian. We come to Christ because we want to get out of all that mess and he says the kingdom is righteousness, peace, peace and joy; that‘s our inheritance. So, why is it that so many Christians who really love God, who are goin‘ to go to heaven? Why is it that some live their whole existence while they are waiting to get to heaven in the middle of what they‘re trying to come out of? He‘s goin‘ to answer us. How many of you are ready to find the answer tonight?

―Do they not arise from your sensual desires who are ever warring in your bodily members?‖

He‘s sayin‘ that conflict arises from all the things that we want. Now just hang on and let me say this so you understand. You know that you can get in conflict wanting something that is even

God‘s will for your life. But if you go about it trying to get it the wrong way it will still produce strife and war and conflict. Do you know that God can want your spouse to get saved or your children get saved? We know that that‘s his will that every person finds salvation, and yet if you

204 go about trying to get them saved, you can get frustrated about that. You can get miserable about that, you can get in conflict over salvation, you can get in war over salvation, you can get in war over the Word. It‘s certainly God‘s will for us to live holy lives, but I can‘t tell you how much conflict I had in my life trying to be holy. [Meyer laughs] Makin‘ any sense? I wanted the right things, but here he‘s sayin‘ how does it get started? Because of all the stuff; the desires that are warring in your bodily members.

Verse two, ―you covet what others have.‖ People in church get in war over the prophetic gifts, and musical gifts, and jealous of one another because this one sings and I don‘t, oh yeah, that stuff happens. ―You‘re jealous and you covet what other people have. And your desires go unfulfilled so you become murderers to hate is to murder as far as your heart is concerned.‖

Wow! Pretty heavy idn‘t it? What happens if we don‘t love anybody any more? Or we can‘t love somebody anymore because they have something that we don‘t have, and we want it so bad that now we can‘t have right fellowship with them because they‘ve got it and we don‘t. The Bible gets pretty strenuous here. You know what it‘s really sayin‘? If you can‘t love somebody you hate them, and if you hate‘em to God it‘s no different if you murdered them as far as your hearts are concerned. Maybe you didn‘t go out and actually commit murder that you‘d go to jail for, but we‘re to walk in love. Now you‘re all lookin‘ at me kinda wide eyed. ―You burn with envy and anger and you‘re not able to obtain the gratification, the contentment that you seek.‖ Do you know what I was doin‘ in my life at that time? I was tryin‘ to make myself happy. I was tryin‘. I saw all these things that needed to happen in my life and I was tryin‘ to make them happen so I could be happy. Do you know how many years I frustrated myself unbearably tryin‘ to make this ministry come to pass? And it was certainly God‘s will, he said it, it was God‘s call, God had anointed me. Do you know it is interesting, God will call you to somethin‘ but he will not let you

205 make it happen. And I‘ll even go so far as to tell you this until you stop tryin‘ to make it happen, it won‘t. I don‘t know if you believe, and I‘ll prove it to you.

―So, you fight and you war.‖ Now, right here is a sentence, I‘m at the end of verse two,

I‘m in James chapter 4. I know sometimes you have different translations that you might get a little lost. But here comes a sentence that jarred my whole theology when I saw it but I tell you what, this one sentence took me a long way down the road in changing the way I was doin‘ things. And it was part of this Grace thing that God revealed to me. This is the sentence: ―You do not have because you do not ask.‖ Do you know how much time we spend tryin‘ to make stuff happen? Rather than very simply with child-like faith asking God, Father, if this is your will would you bring this to pass? If this is your timing, God, I‘m asking you to do it. God convicted me of various things in this area, but one you all might relate to.

Do you know how much time we sit around and talk about our problems without asking

God to solve them? I‘ll give you an example, one day I had woken up with a headache, and this has been years ago. I woke up with a headache and all day long I talked about that headache. I told everybody I saw, ―Oh man, I really got a bad headache. Wow I wish I didn‘t have a headache. Boy, I wonder why I‘ve got this headache. What do you suppose is making my head hurt so bad?‖ [laughter from audience] ―Boy Dave, have you had a headache like this? I mean it started right back here.‖ [audience laughter] ―Maybe I‘m gettin‘ a cold, I don‘t know. Boy! Man, my head hurts. Wow God my head hurts!‖ And you know I carried on about that for ¾ of one day and finally the Lord said to me: ―Did it ever occur to you to ask me to heal ya?‖ Know you just think about it. You know some times we do it. Even though we know about healing, know about prayer, it‘s like we‘ll talk about the problem and spend ½ of our time to try to figure out what we can do about it, anything other than just asking God. [Meyer laughs] Why are we like

206 that? Because the flesh, everybody say ―the flesh.‖ [audience repeats] When I say the flesh that means mine, yours, everybody‘s; the flesh wants to do it itself. That‘s the nature of the flesh. The flesh wants to conquer its own problems. Why? So it can get the glory. The flesh wants credit.

Verse 3: ―Or you do ask God for them and you fail to receive.‖ Now ―receive‖ is a big word in this seminar so you might as well get used to it. We‘re gonna try to eradicate the word

―get‖ and learn the word ―receive‖ because they‘re two different things. ―You do ask God for them and yet you fail to receive them because you ask with wrong purpose and evil selfish motives. Your intention is when you get what you desire to spend it in sensual pleasures." You see, sometimes we‘re asking God. The thing we‘re asking for is right, but our reason for wanting it is wrong and so God can‘t give it to us just yet because he‘s still got to do some work in us to prepare us for it. For example, it was right for me to seek God about this ministry because God had called it into being, it was God‘s will that it come to pass; however, even though God called me to do it, the first several years my motives for trying to do the very thing God called me to do were wrong. I was trying to be important, I was gonna be secure, I was going to have a big position, you know, flowing the power of God, all these things. So, even though it was God‘s will, he couldn‘t give it to me until I let him do this work in me. So many of the years that I prayed, it was frustrating to me because I prayed, and fasted, and sought God, and did all these different things and nothing happened, or I did all that and just a little teensy tiny bit happened.

A little trickle here and there, just enough to keep me from giving up. Ever feel like that? It‘s like: ―God if you could just leave me totally alone about this, then I could just forget it and go on and do something else.‖ See, but every time you are just ready to totally give it up, he‘ll come in with one little trickle of something that causes you to not be able to let go of it, and you‘re like:

―What are you doing?‖ And sometimes you feel like you‘re about half finished, you know? It‘s

207 like God comes along and starts this thing in your life and he gets you out here somewhere in the middle and he won‘t finish it, and you can‘t finish it, and that‘s where the frustration starts because you‘re tryin‘, and you‘re tryin‘, and you‘re tryin‘, and you‘re tryin‘ you‘re tryin‘ so hard and its like tryin‘ to move that mountain out of the way with physical force and it just won‘t happen and a lot of times its because our motives are wrong.

Do you know that I believe some people even have wrong motives about wanting their loved ones to get saved? The Lord quickened that to me one time, and this is what he told me to tell them. He said: ―If people, tell people, that their motives are wrong.‖ You know, a lot of times we want our loved ones to be saved because it is going to make life easier for us. Then they‘ll go along with our thing, and you know, if you get saved then you‘ll want to go to church with me all the time. My kids get saved, they‘ll treat me better, or they‘ll act better, I won‘t have to put up with all that music, and this that and somethin‘ else see. [audience laughs] Now isn‘t that somethin‘?

You know that was an eye opener for me when God showed me that that we can even want our loved ones to be saved for the wrong reason. We‘ve gotta want them to get saved simply because we care so much about them and not have our eyes on ourselves in it. So we can have wrong, evil, selfish motives. Well I heard a couple of weak ―Amens.‖ out there. Anybody think we can have wrong, selfish, evil motives? [Amen from audience] But you know sometimes God knows that but we don‘t, we don‘t know that. You see all those years when I was doing that heavy prayin‘ all my motives were wrong. I didn‘t understand why these things weren‘t happening, and you know a lot of times the things that we find out about ourselves, it‘s hard to believe ‗em in the beginning; it‘s hard to face ‗em.

208

So, see, you know where I‘ve come to now. I‘ve come to the place now where and I mean this sincerely. I know now that God knows me a whole lot better than I know myself. And

I know that if I‘m asking God for somethin‘ and he‘s not comin‘ through with it right now, it‘s simply because it‘s really not right for me right now. And he put this on my heart one time, he said: ―Joyce, anytime you ask me for somthin‘ and you don‘t get it, I‘m not trying to hold out on you, it‘s not because I‘m tryin‘ to keep you from getting‘ somethin‘ good, its either because I‘ve got somethin‘ better in mind and you just don‘t know to ask me for that yet, so I just make you wait ‗til you catch up with the plan or you‘re just out of my timing.‖ See a lot times it‘s not a matter of being out of the will of God, it‘s a matter of being out of God‘s timing. You have not because you ask not. You know what I‘ve learned? Any time I want something, ask and then leave it alone. Ask and leave it alone. Ask and put it in God‘s hands.

Ok, verse 4. You are like, now get ahold of this, I hope you‘ll like this, ―you are like unfaithful wives having illicit love affairs with the world and breaking your marriage vow to

God.‖ Do you not know that being the world‘s friend is being God‘s enemy? So whoever chooses to be a friend to the world takes his stand as an enemy of God. Now what does that mean? We are like unfaithful wives. I feel like God gave me a good example today. How many times when we should be running to God do we either try to do it ourselves or we run to a friend? And this is the example that God gave me. I can promise you that my husband would not appreciate it, let‘s say for example we‘ve got some windows above our sink. We‘ve got a real deep kitchen sink, real big counter and so I can‘t close them unless I jump up on the counter and really make a big ordeal out of it so, you know most of the time when those windows need to be closed I don‘t struggle and strain and do a bunch of silly stuff to try and do it. I‘ll just say Dave would you come out and close these windows and he‘ll come out and just very simply come out

209 and close the windows because he‘s tall and got these big long arms well you ought to see the ordeal I‘d have to go through to do that. And you know sometimes we are like that. We struggle and strain and wear ourselves trying to do something that if we‘d just ask God, he‘d come and just make it happen, but you know what would really insult my husband? If he was sittin‘ right there and I ran over to the man next door and ask him to close my windows [audience laughs].

See we‘ve gotta just try to come up with practical stuff that makes sense here, and you know what? I was frustrated. I was frustrated until I learned to start running to God with every little thing I was frustrated until I learned to start running to God. Dave don‘t like to see me standing there and struggle tryin‘ to do it myself. That really is an insult too. Because if he is willing to do it and can do it so easy, why should I strain muscles and pull muscles and try to all kinds of things to do it myself. And he certainly would be offended if I ran next door and got the guy next door to come over and do it. Verse 4, you‘re like unfaithful wives.

Verse 5: do you suppose that the scripture is speaking in no purpose that says the spirit whom he has caused to dwell in us yearns over us and he yearns for the spirit to be welcome with a jealous love. Verse 6: when I got to verse 6. Between the end of verse 4, I mean the end of verse 2 where it says you have not because you ask not and verse 6, my eyes started to be opened. But he gives us more and more Grace. Um…um...um. He gives us more and more

Grace. But then the Amplified Bible tells us what Grace is. You see the only definition I had ever really heard of Grace until God opened my eyes to this was that Grace was undeserved favor.

And I mean that‘s good, it is undeserved favor, but it is so much more. The Amplified Bible says that Grace is the power of the Holy Spirit to meet this evil tendency that they‘re talkin‘ about right here to be like, see that‘s an evil tendency to want to do it yourself. That‘s an evil tendency to be an unfaithful wife, to have illicit love affairs of the world. It‘s an evil tendency to not go to

210

God and ask him to meet your needs. That‘s a tendency of the flesh and it‘s not the way God wants us to react so here he‘s laid out this evil tendency that we have. Starting all the way up in verse 1, what causes strife, what causes conflicts, why are we not getting along, so on and so forth, right on down the line and then he says, ―You want to know how to get over it?‖ You see what I would be wantin‘ to do by then? Get five new plans on how I could change. If I read verses one through five without readin‘ 6, I‘ll tell you I‘d have enough to keep me busy for a long time. Well, I‘ll do this and I‘ll do that, and I‘ll do this and I‘ll do that, and I‘ll try this and

I‘ll try that. And I‘d tell God all my promises: ―Oh God I promise from now on I‘ll do this and

I‘ll do that, and I‘ll do that and somethin‘ else and somethin‘ else and I‘ll pray more and I‘ll do this more and that more and I won‘t have these problems anymore.‖ But his answer to all of it in verse six is he gives us more and more Grace, power of the Holy Spirit to meet this evil tendency and all others fully. That is why he says God sets himself against the proud and haughty but gives Grace continually to the lowly; those who are humble enough to receive it. Well, well, well. What‘s he really sayin‘ then? God wants to help us meet every evil tendency that we have.

Are you all out there? God wants to help us. He wants to give us power. He wants to give us the power of the Holy Spirit. It‘s called Grace. He wants to give us Grace to meet our evil tendencies fully but he won‘t force it on us, we‘ve got to be humble enough to ask him, to let him, rather than trying to do it ourselves.

You know the Bible says in Ephesians 2 : 8 and 9. Let‘s go there for a minute. Ephesians

2, 8 and 9. Thank you Jesus for your word. Ephesians 2, 8 and 9 are scriptures about salvation, but the Bible says the same way we received Christ Jesus we have to order and live our lives. Do you know what that means? The same principles that you apply to receiving your salvation, you have to apply to receive every other thing that you received from God. Verse 8 says: It is by free

211

Grace, God‘s unmerited favor that you are saved delivered from judgment and made partakers of

Christ‘s salvation through your faith. Well, by Grace and through your faith; by Grace through faith. The thing that we‘ve got to learn through these six weeks is the difference between by and through; by Grace through faith. We‘ve made so much out of faith these last few years, and particularly when God was revealing this to me, I mean I was real real real heavy into trying to believe God for a lot of things. And see, I thought I was believing God for my ministry to get a breakthrough and believing God for the healing of my back and I was believing God for more prosperity and I was believin‘ God for my husband to change, and I was believin‘ God for my kids, I mean I had my faith out there, so I thought. The only problem was it couldn‘t have really been faith because I didn‘t have any rest. And the Bible says once you really believe God you enter his rest. And see, I was actually, and listen to what I‘m gonna say ‗cause I think this is really important, actually I believe worshiping faith rather than worshiping God. And I believe that we can do that. I thought that faith was the price with which we bought the blessings of God.

But it‘s not. You cannot buy the blessings of God with your faith.

Faith is the hand that receives it but not the price that buys it. The price that buys everything is what Jesus did freely by giving his life and shedding his blood and it‘s called

Grace. So the Bible says, it is by Grace, through faith that you are saved and made partakers of

God‘s blessings. And like I said, the Bible also says. And I‘ll look the scripture up for you and give you the reference sometime throughout this six weeks. But it also says that the same way that you were saved. The same way that you received Christ Jesus now also lives and walks and regulates your lives the very same way. Now how did we come to him? Pitiful. [audience laughter] I mean, how many of you were just pretty pitiful by the time you got around to receiving Jesus? I mean you were just asking for a favor weren‘t ya? You were lookin‘ for mercy

212 and grace and to get something that you sure didn‘t deserve. I mean you had tried every which way if you‘re anything like I was to get it all figured out yourself. You‘d tried every way to try to do it on your own without trying to bow you knee to God and get him involved. We tried everything including religion and finally we said: [Meyer laughs] ―Oh God what a mess I am.

God if you can do anything please do it.‖ And aw, man when Jesus saves us we‘re so grateful.

Why are we grateful? Because we know we don‘t deserve it, but folks from there on we want to deserve everything that he gives us. [audience laughter] I mean from right there on God has just got to practically force every blessing on us or we are not about to take it. Why? Because we didn‘t read the Bible enough today, we didn‘t pray enough today, we didn‘t operate in the fruit of the spirit enough today, we yelled at one of the kids, we kicked the cat. [audience laughter] And you know we weren‘t nice in the traffic jam. You know it is everything we do wrong. Then we think all of the sudden it disqualifies us for any of God‘s blessings. Can I tell you that if God had to find a perfect person to bless he‘d never get to do anything for anybody? Right? [audience responds with ―right‖]

Now, let‘s finish readin‘ this. Verse 8: for it is by free Grace that God‘s unmerited favor that you are saved, delivered from judgment and made partakers Christ‘s salvation through your faith. Everybody say: it‘s by Grace through faith [audience repeats, by Grace through Faith] And this salvation is not of yourselves, of your own doing, it came not through your own striving, but it is the gift of God, everybody say ―gift‖ [audience repeats ―gift‖] Verse 9: Not because of works not the fulfillment of the laws demands, lest any man should boast. It is not the result of what anyone can possibly do so no one can pride himself in it or take glory to himself. God is not going to let us accomplish it our self because he wants the glory.

213

Now go to First Peter chapter 5. Are you all with me so far? Are you understanding why we get frustrated? Let me give you an example, a practical example in your everyday life of how grace can be of benefit to you. I want you to learn throughout this seminar when you get in jams, when you get in situations when you‘re feeling frustrated to say ―oh God give me Grace, God I need grace.‖ See, you faith is the channel through which you receive the grace of God to meet your need, but if you just have faith and you‘re not open to receiving the Grace of God, then no matter how much faith you have, you‘re still not receiving what you need, because grace is the power of God coming through your faith to meet that need. Amen? I wrote on my refrigerator,

God gave me this statement, and I had it up for a long, long, time because I needed to get this down in the inside of me: Works, w-o-r-k-s, not work, but works of the flesh equals frustration.

If you can learn this that every single time you feel frustrated, you have stopped receiving the grace of God and you are in your own effort trying to accomplish it. Every time you feel frustrated it‘s because you have stopped looking to God for the answer and you are trying to make something happen in your life. How many of you‘ve been frustrated? You? ok, this message is for you. [audience laughs] You have been frustrated today, it‘s because you stopped receiving the grace of God. It‘s not because you didn‘t have any faith. It‘s because you stopped receiving the grace of God. I was frustrated about faith because I was trying to get things by faith and not understanding the Grace of god. It was still all over here in this realm of my trying. I really wasn‘t totally leaning on God to do it, I was trying to get it. I have a classic example today. I was studying. I was praying. I really like to be left alone when I study and pray but it doesn‘t always work that way, however, I was down to the wire today. I had a couple of other appointments and I was wanting a little bit of time to pray and just wrap up a few things that were in my heart and I had all the plans made for the day. Danny was going to go swimmin‘ and

214

Dave was gonna do this and Sandy was gonna do somethin‘ else and I was gonna do somethin‘ else and all the sudden I found out that it wasn‘t working out that way. Sandy needed to leave a little earlier than I thought and Danny was gonna be at the pool and nobody was going to be home and I thought he could stay there and Dave said, no he can‘t stay there and Dave wasn‘t there and they were tellin‘ me all this and I was trying to find Dave on the phone to get…you all recognize it right? [audience laughs] Part of everyday life. I started feeling frustrated. [Meyer laughs then the audience laughs] Things are not working the way I want them to work…things are not working the way I want them to work. I don‘t want it to turn out this way. See any time things are not working the way you want them to work, or the way I want them to work here comes the frustration. It‘s that tightness, that tenseness that you feel because you‘re in a jam where you don‘t want it to be this way, but you don‘t know how to change it. So, the more I tried to figure it out… it was a simple household thing, but it was a complicated conglomerate. It was like, we had four different people who wanted to do four different things and I‘m trying to find a way to make all four of us happy and get all four of us what we want. I was wantin‘ Dave to take me somewhere but if he did that then nobody was going to be there for Danny and then Danny didn‘t want to come home from the pool. You get the story? Ok? So, I felt myself get frustrated…ok I‘m studying for Grace. Ok God I must not be receiving your Grace otherwise I wouldn‘t frustrated. Lord give me Grace, God Grace, Grace, Lord I need Grace. Now I said this for just a few minutes and I‘m tellin‘ you the absolute truth, God gave me an answer. And it was so simple. He said, ―just take yourself where you want to go.‖ [audience laughs] ―Don‘t act like a baby and think Dave‘s got to take you, you know, suffer a little and take yourself. And the whole rest of the problem will be solved.‖ ―Oh, thank you Lord.‖ [audience laughs] Do you know why we get frustrated sometimes? Because we want it a certain way. And I mean we‘re rushing

215 around in our thinking trying to get it to work out the way that we want it. All you‘ve gotta do is go back on your own and read James 4 1-6 until you rub the words off the page. [audience laughs] Where does strife come? Where does conflict come from? Why do we have these wars?

Where do they originate? Where does unhappiness come from? Why do we have this upset?

Because all these things that we want. And we‘re trying to make them happen. You have not because you ask not. You‘re like unfaithful wives trying to solve your own problems runnin‘ to other people to get them to solve your problems. You need to come to God, he‘s a jealous God and he wants your first attention and when we do that, see, when we come to him, then he says

Grace. Grace is the power of the Holy Spirit to meet every one of our evil tendencies. Amen?

Now, first Peter 5 verse 5. I‘m gonna to read it to you, I think, out of the [inaudible] New

Testament: ―Likewise you younger be subject to the elder. Yeah all of you gird on the lowly mind to serve the other because God resisteth the proud but he giveth grace to the lowly.‖ Now I want to read it to you in the Amplified. The first part of the Amplified gets pretty lengthy here so just endure this for a minute it‘s the second part of verse 5 that I‘m wantin‘ to bring out. First

Peter five, five: ―Likewise you who are younger and of lesser rank be subject to the elders, the ministers and spiritual guides of the church giving them due respect and yielding to their council.

Clothe yourselves all of you with humility as the garb of a servant so that it‘s covering cannot possibly be stripped from you with freedom from pride and arrogance toward one another.‖ Now watch this: ―For God sets himself against the proud‖. Now, see, even in this instance, I was talking about, as long as I was sitting there trying to figure that out myself I was being proud. Do you know it is pride when we try to figure out our own situations rather than humbling ourselves and asking God what to do and simply doing what he said? And see it didn‘t matter if I liked

God‘s plan or not, the point was, would it work? God himself, God sets himself against the proud

216 the insolent the overbearing the disdainful, the presumptuous, the boastful and he not the devil, see. I use to think when I got frustrated I was rebuking the devil. Auhhh! I rebuke you in the name of Jesus. It wasn‘t the devil that was frustrating me, God was frustrating me and you say

―aw now wait a minute, that‘s unscriptural.‖ It‘s right here. And he opposes, frustrates and defeats them. Them who? Them that are in pride, them that are trying to figure it out themselves, them that are trying to do it their own way, them that are trying to change themselves, them that are trying to get the answers to their own problems. God opposes you frustrates and defeats you.

Why? Because if you do it yourself, you‘ll never learn to lean on him. And so everything that we try to do ourself without getting God involved, he opposes us and does not let it happen. But he gives, what? Grace, favor and blessing to the humble.

Now let‘s just continue on here, verse 6: humble yourselves, demote, lower yourselves in your own estimation under the mighty hand of God that in due time that he may exalt you. Now, do you know what that‘s equivalent to? I wrote it out here in the side of my Bible. Do you know what it means to humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God that in due time he might exalt you? It means wait on God, ask God for what you want, but then wait on God. Know that his timing is right. Be still and know that he is God. Stop trying to make it happen yourself and wait for God to show you what it is that you need to do.

Verse 7: In the meantime casting all of your care on him. See the person that understands the Grace of God won‘t worry. I see one or two of you shaking your head yes out there. This isn‘t over everybody‘s head tonight is it? Are you all with me out there? One of these messages will be on worry because a person who really knows how to receive the Grace of God will not worry. You know why? Worry is our own work. Worry is works of the flesh. What is worry? Is us trying to figure out what to do rather than trusting God for our deliverance. That‘s all worry is.

217

But I suppose none of you ever worry so we‘ll just…[audience laughter]. ‗Cause after all you all look real innocent so we just go on by that. Casting, now stick with me, casing the whole of your care, all of your anxieties, all of your worries, all your concerns, once and for all on him for he cares for you affectionately and cares for you watchfully.

Verse 8. Now you‘re gonna get somethin‘ big if you keep your brain on this. Be well balanced, temperate, sober of mind, vigilant, cautious at all times for that enemy of yours, the devil roams about like a lion roaring in fearce hunger seeking someone whom he may devour.

Ok he‘s telling you, you‘ve got a problem? Get God involved, ask him. Wait on him, wait on his timing; humble yourself. Don‘t worry about it. In the meantime, you‘re gonna have to stand steadfast against the devil. The devil‘s gonna come against you. He‘s gonna try to devour your faith. Verse 9: Withstand him and be firm in faith against his onset, rooted establish strong immovable determined knowing that the same identical sufferings are appointed to the brotherhood, the whole body of Christians throughout the world. Now, God showed me something today that I just gonna try to lay out here. A person has a problem, they open up their channel of faith. They say, ―God I need you to help me. I ‗m leaning on you, I‘m relying on you,

I‘m trusting in you to make it happen.‖ Do you know what faith is? Do you know how faith is defined in the Amplified Bible in Colossians 3? That faith is the leaning of the entire human personality on God and absolute trust and confidence in God‘s power, wisdom and goodness. Do you know what that means to me? That faith is me totally leaning on God taking all the weight off of myself, totally puttin‘ everything over on God and believing in his power number one,

God you‘re mighty enough to do it. His wisdom, you know when to do it and how to do it and his goodness; you want to do it. Faith is the leaning of the entire human personality on God.

Dave would you come here for a minute? I‘ve got to show you what leaning is, otherwise

218 we don‘t understand it. ‗Cause you know what we think leaning is? I‘ll show you right here.

[audience laughter] See this is the way I used to lean. Now I‘d get myself braced real good and

I‘d sort of..this is leaning…now move away [her husband assists her for the illustration]. when he moves, I‘m not going to fall over, you know, because it looked like I was sort of leaning on, we‘re going to pretend that he‘s God, ―God but I‘ve got myself braced real well here.‖ In other words, you know what we do? We say: ―Oh I‘m trustin‘ God.‖ But the same time we‘re trusting

God, we‘re up half the night trying to figure it out. [audience laughter] We say we‘re trusting

God, but calling up, dialing up all of our friends asking, now what would you do if you had this situation? [audience bursts out in laughter]. What does it mean to really trust God? This is the kind of stuff God‘s talking about. See where you just totally [laughter] know you know where people are listening by tape or radio; they don‘t know what‘s going on. The first time I braced myself so if Dave moved I‘d still be safe. See want to trust God, but not totally. Just in case God moves, we want to still be standing. And the second time I just sort of passed out in my husband‘s arms where if Dave would have dropped me, I would have been flat on the floor. That is faith.

And when we have problems, we are supposed to open up our channel of faith and say

―God I‘ll wait on your Grace.‖ But let me tell you something, while you‘re in faith, go to First

Peter 2:23. I want to give you an example of Jesus. ―When he was reviled or insulted he did not revile or insult in return. When he was abused and suffered he made no threat of vengeance, but he trusted himself and everything to him who judges fairly.‖ Now that is faith: when you trust yourself and everything concerning the situation to God. Faith is the committal of yourself and all of your matters entirely to God. Jesus was in faith, but he didn‘t get delivered right away. And while he was waiting he was still going through some things and he was still suffering. Go to

219

Acts chapter 2 verse 27. Jesus, when we see him in First Peter he‘s trusting God, he‘s being reviled and insulted and trusting God. He had faith. But his faith didn‘t get him out of it right away; he went to Gethsemane after that. You know that was a rough time, being there in the garden. His disciples let him down. He knew he was gettin‘ ready to go and suffer unbearably, couldn‘t find anyone to pray with him one hour. The Bible said he was having such agony of mind that he sweat great drops of blood. He still had his faith in his father, his faith in God, no deliverance yet. What about on the road to Calvary? Carried that cross up there. What about on the cross? Still trusting God, still trusting God. Let‘s look at Acts 2: 27. ―For you will not abandon my soul, leaving it helpless in Hades, the place of departed spirits, nor will you let your holy one know decay or destruction after death.‖ Know this is a prophetic utterance that came forth from King David making reference to the messiah and this was Jesus‘ attitude, the attitude of faith carries you through the hard times. But now hang on, you know what your faith is carrying you through the hard times waiting for the Grace of God to show up to deliver you. See, it is actually the Grace of God which is the power of God that brings the deliverance. It‘s your faith that carries you through all the hard times until the Grace shows up. That‘s why if we only believe in God, believe in God, believe in God, we don‘t even know what we‘re believing for.

You know a lot of times we‘re believing for things to happen and really what we need to do is say ―Grace--God I need your Grace, I need your power to show up.‖ I know a lot of times you know I believe God for a healing but it was all between me and my faith and I don‘t know where

God was at in all of it, but I was believing and I was gonna get it by my faith. The power of God had got to come into your circumstance and I‘ve taught a lot about how we can have our eyes on the blessings of God rather than on God and there‘s such a fine line there. It‘s like seekin‘ God, seekin‘ God‘s hand rather than his face. He wants us to seek his face and not what he can do for

220 us. Well see, it‘s the same situation in this thing about faith and grace we can think faith is everything and almost get over here in to worshiping faith rather than seein‘ that really faith is not God, we need to have our eyes on God, we need to look beyond the faith to God and say God

I need you to come through my faith to bring me the thing that I need. You with me? Otherwise see we get all caught up in ―I believe in God, I believe in God, I believe in God,‖ well have you really leaned yourself totally on God and said God if you don‘t show up with your power I‘m finished even my faith can‘t get it? It‘s got to be God that does it.

Ok. Jesus said you will not abandon my soul leaving it in hell, verse 28: ―you have made known to me the ways of life you will enrapture me defusing my soul with joy with and in your presence.‖ Verse 29: ―brethren it is permitted me to tell you confident with freedom concerning the patriarch David that he both died and was buried and his tomb was with us to this day,‖ goes on talking about that and gets down to verse 31: ―and he said for seeing this he spoke by foreknowledge of the resurrection of the Christ the messiah that he was not deserted in death and left in Hades.‖ I can say to you tonight that if you are leaning on God that you will not be deserted in your problem you will not be left but it is not your faith alone that will deliver it is the grace of God that must come into your situation to deliver you it‘s the power of almighty

God that has got to show up to bring you the answer. How many of you are familiar with the scripture that says, ―if that same power that raised Christ from the dead it will quicken our mortal bodies?‖

Now let me give you an example. I brought my little fan over here. Roxanne you look a little hot to me tonight, are you a warm? You‘re really warm? Ok now. There you are there‘s my fan. Do you feeling better? No not really I‘m really hot. You mean this is not helping you? My fan is not helping you? Huh. My. You know why my fan‘s not helping her? It‘s not plugged in.

221

That‘s what I‘m trying to talk about here tonight. We get our eyes on faith and this fan is like faith. And we‘re looking to faith to do everything, but we‘re not looking beyond faith to God to the power of God. You see Jesus had faith all that time, he had faith in Gethsemane, he had faith on the road to Calvary, he had faith when he was on the cross. He had faith in hell that God was not gonna leave him there, but he would raise him up, but you what? But you know nothing happened until Grace showed up. Nothing happened until the power of God came into the place to bring the resurrection. I can have all the faith I want. I mean I can have… my fan is like my faith, I can have faith, have faith, have faith, but that wasn‘t making it any cooler. The only way that she was going to get her need met, yeah, you gotta have faith, see, you gotta have faith, I can go plug this in and if there‘s no fan attached to it she‘s still not gonna get help. So you need both, see, it‘s by Grace through faith. You‘ve got to have both and not just faith. I don‘t know where you‘re at in all this. I know a lot has happened over the last ten years. And when I first taught this message ten years ago everybody was so caught up in faith, faith, faith, faith, faith, and I was about to kill myself trying to believe God for stuff and I didn‘t know nothin‘ about the Grace of

God. I didn‘t know how to lean on God; I didn‘t know how to rely on God. I didn‘t know how to really totally trust him in situations. I was trusting my faith and not trusting God. You want to see the difference. See if we‘re trusting our faith rather than the Grace of God, then it still is putting it in the realm of us trying to make it happen all the time and I was frustrated. I mean I was believing in God for my back to get healed and I was so frustrated because I was believing

God and it wasn‘t happening and I didn‘t understand why it wasn‘t happening. And I was believing for prosperity and I was sowing seeds and I was doing what I was told to do but I wasn‘t prospering and I didn‘t understand because I was believing God so I would just try to believe God more. Oh and I would struggle to believe God and I was believing God. I had faith

222 about this ministry. But see, I never saw anything but faith. It was still all in this realm of my doing, me believing, I‘m going to make it happen by believing God. I‘ll just believe God more.

And I had to get beyond that to see the Grace of God and when I did, all the works left and the frustration left because I realized that no matter how much faith…if God didn‘t come through my faith to bring me those answers I still was never gonna get anything. Does this make sense?

Do you see how even faith can frustrate you when you don‘t know how to look beyond that to the Grace of God.

223

Appendix C Sermon Outline: I am Determined C155

A. Are you ever tempted to quit?‖ 1. Some of you have a dream 2. We all should have dreams or visions or desires to get beyond where we‘re at

B. the foundation laying years are very difficult years 1. We need to see something to keep us encouraged. 2. It‘s difficult to hang on and not quit 3. This desire that you have come on you to quit and give up- Satan brings against people

C. This message tonight is going to encourage some people not to give up 1. I don‘t think there‘s any way a person can be happy if they don‘t have an attitude of being determined to press through to the end 2. Nothing shall be impossible with God. D. Temptation of every kind must be resisted. 1. Luke 22-pray that they would not come into temptation 2. It is opposition that makes us grow 3. Jesus didn‘t feel like going to the cross 4. Pray daily that when temptation comes… that you will not come into the temptation 5. You are gonna be tempted to quit and give up many, many, many times in your walk with God 6. Steadfast

E. Hardening us to difficulties 1. God‘s turning you into a brand new threshing instrument 2. Just don‘t quit 3. We have to turn our will in God‘s direction 4. You‘re never gonna do anything by sheer determination alone

F. The temptation to give up was a temptation from Satan 1. When you feel like that, it‘s the devil 2. Holy determination 3. The spirit of God keeps helping you press on 4. Those who finish get the prize, not those who start, those who finish 5. It will not come to pass without a certain amount of opposition

G. We need to be like a bulldog. 2. I want a blazin‘ on the inside of you again 3. Be determined to do all that God has told you to do 4. God wants you to finish, nobody can do it for you, you have to buckle down and go through it with God and him alone 5. We gotta buckle our seatbelt and say watch out devil I‘m pressing through

224

6. Never again in your life say out of your mouth ―I‘m just gonna give up.‖ 7. Rare individuals that know what they‘ve been called to do and they won‘t quit

H. Don‘t give up 1. Elijah and Elisha 2. He [Elijah] was not easy to follow around 3. I don‘t think we have any idea what we give up when we give up. 4. God did not give us his holy spirit for easy things. But if we learn how to receive the grace of God hard things can be made easy. 5. Many people set out, go somewhere that God told them to go but they settle for something less 6. Here‘s a definition for the word determination, it says it is ―the act of making a decision the quality of being resolute or firm in your purpose.‖

I. Even if we saw not one manifestation here in this earthly realm of anything, it would still be worth it. 1. The prizes and the rewards that are laid up for the faithful 2. You‘ve got to fight 3. Finish the course

J. I believe that we should be so determined to be great for God‘s sake so we can glorify Jesus 1. With God all things are possible 2. Sometimes we do get weary 3. You‘re not alone 4. But the point is, are you going to shake it off? 5. You need to be all that God wants you to be.

225

Appendix C Sermon Text: I am Determined C155

Well, let me ask you a question: ―Are you ever tempted to quit?‖ [audience agrees and

Joyce Meyer laughs] Maybe I should say ―how often?‖ [audience laughs] I mean, you know, let‘s get serious. Somebody recently asked me, as a matter of fact, just last weekend asked me:

―Joyce what has been the hardest things for you in your ministry?‖ And it really kind of provoked some things in me. As a matter of fact, I started writin‘ down some material today on the plane for a special teaching that I want to do for those that are in leadership, about what some of the hardest things have been. Because really, if you know, really by the time you get from where I started to where I am, you‘ve learned some stuff. But one of the things that I told this particular person was it was very difficult, especially in the foundation laying years, to not give up. I want you to think about that.

Some of you have a dream, a vision, whether it is a dream for your personal life, whether that be a dream to grow up and be like Jesus. Maybe you have a dream or a vision from God for a worldwide ministry. Maybe it is a dream for your marriage or your children, but we all should have dreams or visions or desires to get beyond where we‘re at. But those dreams don‘t come to pass immediately. We become pregnant, so to speak, with dreams and visions. God comes and plants a seed in our heart and that seed has to be nurtured and watered and taken care of, and uh…., the foundation laying years are very difficult years. Nobody gets excited about the basement [audience laughs] if somebody is building a new house you don‘t say to somebody:

―Would you like to come out and see my new basement,‖ ―Oh they‘ve dug the basement would you like to come and see my basement?‖ And even if you invited them, they wouldn‘t want to come. The foundation laying years are the things that happen in the ground of your heart, not the

226 things that you or anybody else can necessarily see and we‘re pretty oriented to seeing something. You know, we want to see something. We need to see something to keep us encouraged. And when we go through those silent years and God is not saying very much, he said something three years ago, and we have not heard him say anything since then [audience chuckles and so does Meyer].

It‘s difficult to hang on and not quit. What about it Pastor? Was it difficult in the early years of your ministry to not quit? I want you to understand tonight if you are a new Christian, if you have a new dream a new vision, if God has just really seriously begun to deal with you, this desire that you have come on you to quit and give up is not just something you deal with it is one of the major number one temptations that Satan brings against people. He doesn‘t want you to get started. But if you do get started, he will do everything he possibly can do to oppose your finish. This message tonight is going to encourage some people not to give up; not to give up on your children, not to give up on yourself, not to give up on maybe your marriage, not to give up on your dream and your vision. We have to have the attitude: ― I am determined to press through the end and finish my course and be all God wants me to be and I will never quit, no matter what it takes, no matter how hard it is, no matter how long it takes, I will never quit. If I have not arrived when Jesus comes, he will find me pressing on. [audience- Amen!, Meyer- ―hallelujah!‖]

And if you don‘t have that attitude you will have one miserable, retched life. [Meyer laughs] I don‘t think there‘s any way a person can be happy if they don‘t have an attitude of being determined to press through to the end, because we are not created by God, nor are given the power of the Holy Spirit to be quitters. We have another spirit in us than the spirit of the world, a spirit that says I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me and nothing is impossible to those who believe. Nothing shall be impossible with God.

227

Temptation of every kind must be resisted. In Luke 22 we see Jesus telling his disciples to pray that they would not come into temptation. Oh let‘s see, Verse 46 says: ―He said to them,

‗why do you sleep? Get up and pray that you may not enter at all into temptation.‘‖ Luke 22:40 says: ―And when he came to the place, pray that you may not at all enter into temptation.‖ Then as I said, he says in 46 the same thing. Now you know I got a real major revelation out of that for my own life several years ago. The Bible doesn‘t tell us to pray that we won‘t be tempted; come on now, the Bible does not say pray that you are not tempted. What we all just don‘t want to be tempted. I mean that‘s exactly right. When we‘re trying to get rid of the devil what we‘re trying to do is get rid of the temptation. We don‘t want the pressure of having to press in when we don‘t feel like doing what‘s right, we want to feel like doing what‘s right. [Meyer laughs] And so many times when we are rebuking the devil, we just want to get rid of all of that opposition.

What we all just don‘t want to be tempted. However, it is opposition that makes us grow. We don‘t grow at all by making everything the way we want it. We grow when we do what‘s right when we don‘t feel like doing what‘s right. We grow when somebody mistreats us and God says

―You treat them right anyway then grow.‖ Boy do we grow. [audience says ―yes‖] And we have the growing pains to go with it. But that‘s what makes us like Jesus.

I have a flash for you: Jesus didn‘t feel like going to the cross. [audience- Amen] I would imagine there were times when he would have loved to just yank up those disciples by the hair of the head and said: ―Why did I get stuck with you guys?!‖ [audience laughs] ―You don‘t understand anything I‘m telling you! I tell you what‘s right and you just go act dumb.‖ Listen,

Jesus was son of God but he was also a man. My Bible says in Hebrews 4 [that] he experienced every temptation that I have experienced. And in Hebrews 2 it says that, that he can run to our cry and assist us because he has been tempted in every respect just like we have, but he never

228 sinned. What did he do? He was tempted but he resisted that temptation. We have to grow to the point church, where we are not afraid of temptation. We know we‘ve got what it takes to resist it because we‘ve got the spirit of God in us.

Don‘t pray that you won‘t be tempted, pray and I would even say pray on a regular basis if you can remember to do it, pray daily that when temptation comes, which it will, that you will not give into the temptation. That‘s what he told the disciples, he said there‘s some heavy stuff comin‘ down here I mean the temptation is gonna be great, Peter you‘re gonna be tempted to deny me: ―Oh not me Lord, I‘d never do that.‖ He said, pray, pray, pray, pray that you may come not into temptation. Pray that when the temptation comes that you can resist it. Pray ahead of time that you‘re strong enough to resist it. What did they do? They slept. He told a second time:

―Pray that you may come not into temptation.‖ They slept. You know what a lot of people do when they have problems? They just wanna go to sleep and hope they all go away when they wake up. [audience laughs] That‘s what they were doin‘, ―oh maybe we‘ll just go to sleep here and this will all be gone. [audience laughs] Maybe when I wake up this will all be nice again.‖

Some things you‘ve just gotta confront. Jesus said now we‘re commin‘ into the harder times, times I‘ve been tryin‘ to prepare you for, the times I‘ve been tryin‘ to tell you about. Pray that you do not enter into the temptation that‘s gonna come.

And I‘m gonna tell you tonight that you are gonna be tempted to quit and give up many, many, many times in your walk with God. Satan puts enough pressure on anybody‘s emotions and you just feel like you can‘t go on. I love what I‘m doing and I am called and anointed to do what I am doin‘ I love the travel because that‘s what I‘m called. I mean I don‘t love all the aspects of travel. I love what I‘m doing and so when you have a passion for what you‘re doing; it overrides some of the negative things about it, or some of the more unpleasant things about it.

229

And everything about ministry is not pleasant. Otherwise Paul would not have told Timothy:

―You do what God‘s telling you to do whether it is convenient or inconvenient.‖ And I love it, but I‘m gonna tell you the truth, there are times when I‘m out in my conferences, especially when I start to get tired, by the time I‘ve already done 3 or 4 meetings. And you know we all have a physical body and so you get tired and uh, sometimes I‘ll wake up in the mornings in the hotel and the first thing I‘ll hear is: ―I can‘t do this anymore. I just can‘t keep this up, I just can‘t do this.‖ Now, you know maybe some people may not feel like they can tell you something like that, but that has nothing to do with me not having faith. It has to do with the devil coming again me [audience- Amen]; actually when Satan comes against you it‘s good news. [audience-

Amen] It must mean you‘re bothering him. [audience- loud- Amen…clapping, etc.] I mean I think I‘d be more concerned if he was leavin‘ me alone all the time. [audience- Amen] And I can tell you right now, the things that the devil is bringing against you now are just turning you topsy-turvy. If you stay steadfast, that‘s a Bible word by the way: steadfast. Everybody say:

―steadfast.‖ [audience repeats] Those things that are just drivin‘ you wild right now, two years from now you won‘t even notice them. Satan will do the same thing to you and it will just be, it will just be a nothin‘ thing to you, it won‘t bother you at all. You know why? Because the Bible says in Isaiah 41 that God is hardening us to difficulties.

Hardening us to difficulties. Go over there. Let‘s look at it Isaiah 41, verse 10. Thank you, Jesus. ―Fear not, there‘s nothing to fear.‖ [Meyer laughs] Whooo!-- That‘s anointed. ―For I am with you.‖ Do not look around you in terror and be dismayed, for I am your God.‖ Some of you, your biggest problem is that you‘re lookin‘ around too much at your problem. Bible says in

Hebrews 12: ―looking away from all who will distract us and to Jesus. Do not look around you in terror and be dismayed for I am your God. I will strengthen and harden you to difficulties. Yes, I

230 will help you. Yes, I will hold you up and retain you with my victories right hand of rightness and justice. Behold all those who are enraged and enflamed against you shall be put to shame and confounded.‖ Whoa! Hallelujah. [audience- ―Hallelujah!‖] ―They who strive against you shall be as nothing and they shall perish. You shall seek those who contend with you but you shall not find them. They who war against you shall be as nothing, nothing at all, for I the Lord, I am your God. I hold your right hand. I am the Lord who says to you: ‗fear not for I will help you.‘‖ Verse 14: I love this-- ―Fear not you worm Jacob.‖ [audience laughs] Even when we‘re a little bit wormy he still helps us. [audience laughs]. ―You men of Israel I will help you says the

Lord. Your redeemer is the holy one of Israel.‖ Verse 15: ―Behold I will make you to be a new sharp threshing instrument which has teeth and you shall thresh them out and beat them small, and you shall make the hills like chaff.‖ God‘s turning you into a brand new threshing instrument. [audience- ―Praise God,‖ etc.] And those mountains that seem to be looming so high and seem so ominous in your life, right now those things that Satan frightens you with and brings against you, those challenges and those temptations that just seem to cause you to just sink and go under, the day will come, if you will be steadfast, when those things will be as nothing, as nothing at all…to you; or God will have turned you into a new sharp threshing instrument with teeth. And you will chew those things out, and spit them out, and blow them to the wind.

And I can promise you that because I‘ve been around long enough to know that if you just won‘t quit. Sometimes the best advice that anybody can give you is, just don‘t quit. Just keep on keepin‘ on. Just keep puttin‘ one foot in front of the other one, and even when you don‘t seem to know where you‘re going do it like this, just keep goin‘. [audience laughs at visual illustration] ―God I don‘t know what I‘m doing and I don‘t know if this is doing any good, but

I‘m just gonna keep on keepin‘ on.‖ [audience –applause, Meyer- ―Hallelujah!‖]. There‘s not one

231 of us that can‘t do that. I‘m gonna tell you somethin‘ God will do a tremendous amount in our lives but we have to give him our will. We have to turn our will in God‘s direction. This is not a deal where we can just sorta lay back and become a couch potato and just passively wait for God to come and deliver us by some mighty sweeping of his hand time after time after time.

You‘re never gonna do anything by sheer determination alone. We need the power of

God and the Grace of God in our lives. But we partner together with God, we are partners with

God. We give him what we have: we give him the strength we have, we give him the will we have, we give him the determination we have, and if we‘re givin‘ God all we‘ve got, we‘re refusing to give up. Then he comes in and he makes up the differences and he puts us over.

[audience- applause/Amen] But if I‘m gonna say: ―I just don‘t feel like it, it‘s just too hard God and I just quit.‖ Then I‘m not ever gonna get to the end of where God wants me to be. And I‘m gonna tell you somethin‘ very plainly: it‘s not easy, but it‘s worth it. [audience- Amen] And stickin‘ in with God is a whole lot easier than servin‘ the devil. Amen? [audience- Amen/ applause]

Go to first Thessalonians chapter 3. I mean I‘ve always known that the temptation to give up was a temptation from Satan. I mean, I always knew the temptation to give up was certainly not God. But I don‘t think I ever really realized until I studied for this message just how much

Satan brings that specific temptation and lies to our minds and works against our emotion just to try to get us to back off and not keep pressing in. Verses 3-5, First Thessalonians 3: 3-5: ―That no one of you should be disturbed and beguiled and led astray by these afflictions and difficulties to which I have referred for you yourselves know that this is unavoidable in our position and must be recognized as our appointed lot.‖ Now Paul was saying, ―I don‘t want you to be discouraged by the trials we‘re going through, because to be honest it‘s a part of it.‖ Verse 4:

232

―For even when we were with you, you know we warned you plainly beforehand that we were to be pressed with difficulties and made to suffer affliction just as to your own knowledge. It has since happened. That is the reason that when I could bear the suspense no longer, I sent that I might learn how you were standing the strain and the endurance of your faith, for I was fearful that somehow the tempter had tempted you and our toil among you should prove to be fruitless and to no purpose.‖ What exactly is he saying here? He‘s proven the point in scripture that I‘m trying to make that when we have that sensing of: ―I can‘t go on,‖ ―This is just too hard,‖ ―I‘m gonna give up,‖ ―I‘m not going to make it.‖ That is the tempter tempting us. It‘s not just some little feeling we have, it‘s not just some wild thought that comes into our brains. Are you with me tonight? [audience replies- ―yes!‖] I want to get you realizing that when you feel like that, it‘s the devil. When you think like that, it‘s the devil. It is the tempter tempting you lest you press through to the end of what God has for you. I cannot tell you what a mess I was personally. I mean you can just forget every other trial. I mean just what a mess I was personally, my personality was messed up from being abused. I had such a judgmental critical mind; so suspicious. I was so insecure that I was jealous of everybody that had anything more than me or could do more than me. I didn‘t want to be that way. But I felt like I was constantly standing against something, constantly fighting something. And I cannot tell you how many thousands of times I just thought, there is no way that I am ever gonna change, be like Jesus. HA! I might as well forget it, ‗cause the harder I try the worst I act. [Meyer laughs] And I would give up: ―I just give up. I just can‘t go on, I just give up.‖ Well, I was into a lot of fleshly zeal. And when I‘m talkin‘ about determination, I want you to understand that I‘m not talking about tryin‘ to do something apart from the Grace of God, we can‘t do anything without His help, but I‘m talkin‘ here tonight about a Holy Determination. I‘m talking about somethin‘ that‘s deeper in you than

233 your feelings. And you know as well as I do that when you serve God, the spirit of God gets a hold of you in such a way that even though one part of you cries out to give up if you really listen, there is another part of you deep within your being that won‘t let you give up. [audience-

Yes, Praise the Lord, Amen, etc.] Even when you think you can‘t make it any more, the spirit of

God keeps helping you press on. The Lord asked me… Someone asked me how long I‘d been walkin‘ with the God, and at that time I said ―Oh, about 15 years.‖ And the Holy Ghost said,

―Excuse me!‖ He said: ―You‘ve been walkin‘ five, I drug you the first ten.‖ [audience laughs]

And thank God he did, Amen? And you know now, now every once in a while I‘ll try to pull that pitiful little scene on God: ―I just can‘t go on. I just quit.‖ The last time I did that you know what the Lord said to me? ―You know as well as I do that you ain‘t gonna quit it so let‘s just don‘t go around that mountain one more time.‖ [audience laughs and applauds]. Well, you know those who finish get the prize, not those who start, those who finish.

Go to Ruth chapter one. Oh honey, this is good for us tonight! And I believe all of those watchin‘ by television are just being exhorted and encouraged. I mean, super charged to press on and not quit and not give up. I tell you God‘s spirit is available to you, to fill you with his power that you don‘t have to be a quitter, a loser, but you can press through and be all that God wants you to be. Everyone say: ―Those who finish get the prize. [audience repeats]. All you‘ve got to do is think about a race. You know Paul talked about runnin‘ his race, and he kind of correlates the Christian life and becoming Christ-like to a race. And he said we know that in a race everybody competes but they don‘t all get the prize, only one who gets the prize is the one who finishes the race. And I want to tell you if you listen to your flesh there‘s always gonna be some nice little place along the way for you to park. I‘ve had a lot of nice little places where I could park. Everything was nice. I was behaving so much better than I did before, not what I should be

234 yet, but my God look how I‘d improved. I mean wouldn‘t this be good enough, do I have to keep on going through this? Do I have to keep letting God deal with me? Can‘t we just call it quits here? You know the flesh wants to do that, but there‘s something in us that says, ―No,‖ because you know we‘re gonna be pressin‘ on ‗til Jesus comes back to get us. So you might as well get over bein‘ tired of it because it‘s a never ending thing. [audience- ―Alright!, ―Amen!‖ etc.] If

God came in and fixed everything that you thought was wrong with you right this minute, tomorrow he would reveal a whole batch of fresh stuff that you don‘t know anything about right now. [audience laughs] So we just gotta learn how to deal with it, that‘s all. Amen? [audience answers- ―Amen!‖] It‘s those who finish who win the prize.

Ruth 1 verse 16. Now you know, hopefully, enough about the background there that we don‘t need to go and read it I‘m just gonna kinda put it in a nutshell for ya. There was a woman named Naomi who husband had died and her two sons and she was left with her two daughter- in-laws and, uh, they were really not of her faith and background. And after her sons died, she told the daughter-in-laws that ―You might as well go on back to your old life I have nothing to offer you. You go on back and start your life somewhere else because I‘m not gonna have any more sons and if you stick with me you‘re not gonna end up with much.‖ Well one of them got talked into leavin‘, but not Ruth. Ruth had apparently heard from God. Something had been placed in her heart in such a strong way that she was not going to be deterred by the circumstances. Can I tell you that if you have a vision from God that doesn‘t mean that there won‘t be any circumstances that are gonna make it look to you like it‘s never going to happen?

Matter of fact, you are pretty much promised some of those circumstances. If you remember when Jesus got into the boat with the disciples he said: ―Let us go to the other side.‖ Now he had already said what was going to happen, ―He said let us go to the other side.‖ And when Jesus

235 says we are going to the other side, you can be assured that you are going to end up on the other side. [audience- Amen/applause] Not maybe, could be, hope so, but you will end up on the other side. Now, nobody can tell you what route you‘re gonna take to get there and nobody can tell you how long it‘s gonna take. But we can tell you that you will end up on the other side because if Jesus says let us go to the other side, we will go to the other side. And he wants us to trust his word just that much. Well, they got out in the middle of the lake and a great storm arose.

No matter what God speaks to you or shows you, it will not come to pass without a certain amount of opposition because the devil is alive and well. Amen? People think they want to be in the ministry and then they get in the ministry, then they get the opposition and then they start to thinkin‘ they didn‘t hear from God. It is interesting. We watch people who even come to work for us. They‘ll say: ―I can‘t believe the stuff that‘s happening in my life. It‘s like…,‖ well, yeah, you‘ve taken a big step of faith. You know, you‘re wantin‘ to work in the full time ministry. The devil‘s just not gonna lay down and die because you decided to go into the ministry. It‘s called testing. Amen? But if you can be steadfast and endure, and be diligent, and be loyal, and be faithful… those are such good Bible words and we don‘t hear enough good preaching on those words. I mean who knows anything anymore about loyalty? And that‘s a tremendous thing, character trait of God that we need to have worked in us.

So Ruth in verse 16, Ruth said: ―Urge me not to leave you, or to turn back from following you. For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge, and your people shall be my people, and your God my God. And where you die I will die, and there will I be buried. And the

Lord do so to me and more also if anything parts me from you.‖ Woe, Hallelujah! I think this lady had her mind made up. [audience audibly agrees] Now, I don‘t know about you, but just there‘s somethin‘ in me when I read that, there‘s a strong thing that just says: ―YEAH!‖ And see,

236

I know that I know, that I know that that‘s the way that God wants us to be. You know what we need to be? We need to be like a bulldog. You know how a bulldog is? I mean they get ahold of somethin‘ and honey they are not lettin‘ it go. And we need to be like that. We need to take hold of what God tells us to take hold of and we need to be like a Holy Ghost bulldog and I mean…you..you.. better say: ―Devil you listen you me! God gave it to me and I‘m not givin‘ it to you.‖ [audience- ―Amen!‖/applause] I‘m prayin‘ that tonight. And by the way, God specifically spoke to me to preach this tonight. And I‘m prayin‘ for you tonight; you are going to be filled with a Holy Determination. And some of you, that your fire has gone out, and I believe I‘m fannin‘ your flames tonight, and I want a blazin‘ on the inside of you again, [audience interrupts with shouts and applause] not just a bunch of little smoking embers, but blazing flame!

I‘m just going to read that again. I get a charge out of this. ―Do not urge me to leave you or to turn back from following you. For where you go I will go and where you lodge I will lodge your people shall be my people and your God my God, and where you die I will die, and there will I be buried. And the Lord do so to me, and more also if anything parts me from you.‖ Well that set Ruth, a determined attitude, directly in the path of blessings. Now look what happens. In verse 10 it says she fell on her face bowing to the ground and said to him, now he‘s dealing with

Boas, and we don‘t have time to go through this but, Boaz by the way was the richest man in the county. ―Why have I found favor in your eyes that you should notice me?‖ [Meyer laughs] Do you know that if you will just be determined to do all that God has told you to do, you won‘t have to struggle and finagle, trying to get into a relationship with some person; you need to get into a relationship with. God can give you favor, and God can cause that person to notice you.

[audience interrupts with applause and ―yes ma‘am‖ etc.] We stay so busy trying to get somebody to notice us, and in the process we‘re like: ―Well I just can‘t go it any more. I mean

237

God if they don‘t notice me I‘m going to quit.‖ What we need to do is say: ―I‘m never quitting,

I‘m gonna serve God I hope they notice me, but now here this devil. I‘m servin‘ God, I don‘t care what happens. [audience interrupts with applause] And so I just love this because she found favor and he noticed her, and then look at verse 12. Boaz said to her the Lord will recompense you for what you have done. And a full reward will be given you by the Lord, the God of Israel.

Do you know that when you refuse to give up you will get a reward from God? A full recompense and a full reward will be yours if you just refuse to give up. And she ended up marrying Boaz who was the richest man in the county so I don‘t think that‘s too bad of a prize.

But let‘s look back to the other sister-in-law that was with her, she didn‘t have that determination. When the mother-in-law said, ―You might as well go back to your families,‖ she made one little weak…‖No no I‘ll stay with you.‖ And she said: ―Na, you‘d better leave.‖ And she said: ―Oh, ok.‖ And so she left. It didn‘t take much. You know, that‘s the way some people are. I mean maybe they can resist the devil one round but it don‘t take much for him to talk them out of everything God‘s put in them. And I‘m here to tell you tonight that the kind of people that

I‘m talking about that press through and do all God‘s told them to do, and be all God‘s told them to be, they are rare. I‘m tellin‘ you, they are rare individuals. You know why? Because some of the stuff that you‘ve got to go through to get from where you start to where God wants you to finish, nobody can do it for you, you have to buckle down and go through it with God and him alone. [audience applauds]

1 Kings 19. Whoa! Hallelujah! Sooner or later we gotta buckle our seatbelt and say watch out devil I‘m pressing through. Sometimes you‘ve got to get a little holy anger on ya. You just gotta say: ―I‘ve put up with this junk long enough.‖ You know what I would love? If you would just come to the place tonight where you would just get so full of determination that you would

238 never again in your life say out of your mouth, the devil may put that thought in your mind, but never again in your life say out of your mouth ―I‘m just gonna give up.‖

1 Kings 19 verse 19. ―So Elijah left there and he found Elisha, the son of Shofat, whose plowing was being done by twelve yoke of oxen, and he drove the twelfth. And Elijah crossed over to him, and he cast his mantel upon him.‖ Now, when Elisha had Elijah‘s mantel cast upon him, he was receiving a call from God. He was receiving an anointing from God to do something. And many of you are anointed to do something. God has already, a long time ago, cast a certain mantel upon you for something. ―And he left the oxen and he ran after Elijah and said, ‗Let me kiss my father and my mother and I‘ll follow you.‘‖ But he, Elijah,‖ in the

Amplified says: ―testing Elisha.‖ You know it doesn‘t take very long before the testing starts.

Elijah says to him: ―Oh just go on back where you came from. What have I done to you, just settle it for yourself.‖ In other words, it already looks like Elijah is not going to be a very exciting guy to follow around. As you read through here, you find that he spent more time trying to get rid of Elisha than he did acting like he appreciated what he was doing for him. How would you like to be assigned to follow somebody around as a servant who spent all their time trying to get rid of you? [audience laughs] I think Elijah was a loner, he probably just as soon been by himself. Maybe he was, you know, a little dysfunctional. You say, now don‘t insult the prophet.

I‘m not insulting the prophet. I mean how many people do you think are ministering with strong anointings that are a little bit dysfunctional? God called people back then with a few quirks just like he does today.

Verse 21. ―So Elijah went back from him and then he took a yoke of oxen, slew them, boiled their flesh with the oxen yoke as fuel, and gave to the people and they ate. Then he arose, followed Elijah and served him.‖ And you know, I don‘t know, I haven‘t been able to figure out

239 how many years he served him, but you‘ve gotta understand that he didn‘t just serve him for a week or two. And please understand that while he was serving him, he was carrying this mantle to be a prophet but he wasn‘t released yet to be a prophet, he was released to be a servant. And he was to serve him and he did it faithfully year after year after year, even on the days when

Elijah wasn‘t being real friendly and was trying to get rid of him. Go to… [Meyer laughs] Look at 1 Kings 19 verses three and four. Elijah had another servant. He didn‘t have the determination

Elisha did.

Verse three: ―Then he was afraid and he arose and he went for his life and came to

Beersheba of Judah, over 80 miles out of Jezebel realm, and he left his servant there. See he‘s always trying to get rid of these people. It seemed like especially when he is under pressure, he‘s like: ―leave me alone,‖ see. And we get like that sometimes don‘t we? We get unfriendly with people when you‘re under pressure. Well, you know this servant didn‘t press in like Elisha did, he just disappeared and we never hear about him again. How many people do you think there are that the devil says: ―Oh go on, get out of here,‖ and you never hear from them again. But, those rare individuals that know what they‘ve been called to do and they won‘t quit, and they won‘t give up, even if everything about it doesn‘t sooth their flesh. There‘s not too many people today that would work for somebody for very long that wasn‘t easy to get along with if something wasn‘t suiting their flesh. They‘d say: ―Hey I don‘t have to put up with you, I am out of here.‖

In verse four: ―And then Elijah went a day‘s journey in the wilderness and came down and set down under a lone juniper tree and asked that he might die.‖ You know he was a little up and down, had a few depressed days. I‘m just trying to give you the understanding here that he was not easy to follow around. You know we get ideas about these people that just start kind of, you know, floaty ideas. So, then we go over to Second Kings, chapter two, and you know, I have

240 no idea the time-wise it took to get from First Kings to Second Kings, but I can tell you it took longer than it took for us to turn these pages. There was some time that went by here, I mean we‘re talkin‘ you know, Monday Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday,

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. You with me? And probably he did not get two weeks paid vacation either.

2nd Kings, chapter two, verse one. We‘re gonna read 10 verses. ―When the Lord was about to take Elijah up to heaven by a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were going from Gilgal and

Elijah said to Elisha: ―Tarry here I pray you for the Lord has sent me to Bethel.‖ In other words he said, ―I‘m going to Bethel, you stay here.‖ But Elisha replied: ―As the Lord lives your soul lives, I will not leave you.‖ Oh this is so good church. ―So they went down to Bethel.‖ Now you really know that if Elijah wants to get rid of him, and Elisha says: ―I‘m goin‘.‖ I mean he probably wasn‘t even being too friendly with him. Maybe he wasn‘t talkin‘ to him. I mean, I just kinda get this impression. You know, Elisha‘s just followin‘ this guy around, you know, trying to serve him and help him and bless him, and he probably wasn‘t like that every day. But you know how many of you have been assigned to somebody who wasn‘t very nice to you? I had an assignment like that once in my life and I can‘t tell you how many times I wanted to give up. Oh

I‘m so glad I didn‘t ‗cause, you know, what if I would have? I wouldn‘t be standing here tonight preaching this message. I don‘t think we have any idea what we give up when we give up.

Verse three. ―The prophet‘s sons were at Bethel, who were at Bethel, came to Elisha and said, ‗Do you know that the Lord will take your master away from you today from you?‘ And he said, ‗Yes I know and hold your peace.‖ Elijah said to him, ‗Tarry here I pray you, for the Lord has sent me now to Jericho.‘‖ [Meyer laughs] Every town he went to he tried to get rid of him.

―But he said: ‗As the Lord lives and as your soul lives I will not leave you.‘ So they came to

241

Jericho. The sons of the prophets who were at Jericho said: ‗Do you know that the Lord will take your master away from you today?‘ And he said, ‗Yes, I know, and hold your peace.‘‖ [Meyer laughs] Don‘t try to distract me, I‘ve got something to do here, leave me alone. ―And Elijah said to him.‖ Verse six: ―‘Tarry here I pray you, for the Lord has sent me to Jordan. And he said: As the Lord lives and your soul lives, I will not leave you. And the two of them went on. Fifty men of the sons of the prophets went, and stood to watch a far off, and the two of them stood by the

Jordan. Elijah took his mantel and rolled it up and struck the waters, and they divided this way and that so they stood on dry ground. And when they had gone over, Elijah said to Elisha.‖ Here it comes. ―Ask what I shall do for you or I am taken from you. And Elisha said ‗I pray you let a double portion of your spirit be upon me.‘‖ [audience interrupts with applause] In verse ten he said, ―You have asked a hard thing. However, if you see me when I am taken from you, it shall be so for you, but if not, it shall not be so.‖ Now you know what I get out of that? I believe he was saying, ―If you manage to stick with this thing to the very end, you‘ll get it, but if you give up anywhere from the starting point to the finish, then all your gonna have is a frustrated dream.‖

[Meyer laughs] That never comes to pass. I hope I‘m building a fire in you tonight. God did not give us his holy spirit for easy things, but if we learn how to receive the Grace of God hard things can be made easy, they can be made doable. We cannot do what we‘re doing; we cannot hang on and hold on except by the power of the Holy Ghost in us. But God is not gonna hold on for us if we have wimpy weak wills, and we refuse to do our part to hang in there to the finish.

Wooo; determined!

Go to Genesis 11, verse 31. You know, interesting enough we always talk about Abram and talk about how God called him out of Horan and said, ―Go to a place that I will show you,‖ and then he said: ―I will bless you,‖ and so on and so forth. We‘re gonna read that in a minute.

242

But do you know there was somebody else that had the opportunity before Abram, and he quit before he got to where God told him to go? And do you know who it was? It was Abram‘s father. In Genesis 11 and 31 it says: ―And then Tarra took Abram his son. He took Lot, the son of Horan, his grandson, and Sari his daughter-in-law, his son Abram‘s wife, and they went for together to from Err of the Chaleze into the land of Canaan, but when they came to the land of

Horan, they settled there.‖ Now that grips my heart because I cannot tell you how many people set out, go somewhere that God told them to go but they settle for something less, they settle somewhere else, they don‘t do all that God told them to do, they take a counterfeit, something inferior to the best. Chapter 12 verse 1: ―Now in Horan the Lord said to Abram: ―Go for yourself for you own advantage away from your country, from you relatives to your father‘s house that I will show you, and I will make of you a great nation and I will bless you abundant increase of favors. And I will make your name famous and distinguished and you will be a blessing dispensing good to others. And I will bless those who bless you who confer prosperity or happiness upon you. And I will curse him who curse you or uses insolent language toward you and you will all the families of the kindred of the earth be blessed and by you they will bless themselves. And so Abraham parted as the Lord had directed him.‖ And if you go on you find out that he did exactly what God told him to, went through many things to get there. But this is the kind of man that God can come into covenant with. And he can say: ―If you will do this I will bless you abundantly beyond anything you could every possibly imagine. All you‘ve got to do is not give up, keep putting one foot in front of the other one, don‘t be weary in well doing, in due season you shall reap if…if …if you faint not.‖ [audience- Amen] Hallelujah!

Here‘s a definition for the word determination, it says it is ―the act of making a decision the quality of being resolute or firm in your purpose.‖ Some people don‘t even have a purpose let

243 alone be firm in their purpose. ―The act of settling a dispute‖ and remember your flesh will dispute with your spirit. ―To settle a dispute by an authoritative decision or a pronouncement.‖ In other words, you‘ve gotta get strong about it. ―A fixed movement toward an object or an end.‖ In

Hebrews 12:2 the Bible says that Jesus is the author and finisher, the finisher of our faith. In

Philippians 1:6 it says: ―He who began a good work in you will also complete it and bring it to its finish.‖ In Acts 20:24 Paul said: ―If only I may finish my course with joy.‖ In 2nd Timothy 4:

7-8 he said: ―I have finished the race a reward is waiting for me.‖ He talked about a crown of righteousness that was going to be waiting for him in heaven. He said: ―I have finished my race,

I have done what God has told me to do, I have fought a good fight, I have kept the faith. Now I know that I‘ve got a prize.‖

Let me tell you something Church, even if we saw not one manifestation here in this earthly realm of anything, it would still be worth it because eternity is a long, long time. Even if we lived a hundred years here and never saw one manifestation would still be worth it because of the prizes and the rewards that are laid up for the faithful in the heavenly realm. But you know, that won‘t be the case because we will have prizes and rewards here. We know that, we see that, but I‘m just trying to make a point. But even if you didn‘t, don‘t ever say, ―Well what good is this doing me?‖ Paul said: ―I have kept the faith; I have fought a good fight.‖ He said right there you‘ve got to fight. I have fought a good fight, I have run my race, I have finished my course. In

John chapter 19 on the cross Jesus said ―It is finished.‖ He came to fulfill the law. As the son of man he did it. In the Garden of Gethsemane he had to sweat great drops of blood. The temptation to quit was so strong. And he prayed, and he prayed: ―Help me God not to enter into this temptation.‖ And he told the disciples: ―Pray that you don‘t enter into temptation.‖ We‘re all going to be tempted to quit, but I‘ll tell you somethin‘, there‘s something in me that says I‘ve got

244 to finish my course. And I‘ve prayed to God, and I‘ve prayed a bold prayer and I don‘t know what you‘re going to think of this. God knows my heart, and I mean it in a right way. But I have said this many many times, ―God I want you to do all through me that it is possible to do through a human being.‖ And you might think: ―Well who do you think you are?‖ I‘m not better than anybody else, I‘m no worse than anybody else, I‘m just a person that does all that I want to be.

And I don‘t know what all God can do through me, but I‘ll tell you one thing, I‘m not satisfied where I‘m at. I‘m not content to just say, ―Hey you know, I‘m helping a lot of people.‖ No I‘ve got a cry in my heart: ―God I‘ve got to help more people.‖ I feel sometimes like I‘m not helping anybody at all, and I‘m glad I feel that way; I don‘t want to get satisfied. I don‘t want to get full and say: ―Well you know I‘m doing my part.‖ No, I believe that we should be so determined to be great for God‘s sake so we can glorify Jesus.

Don‘t just be mediocre. Don‘t just get half-way somewhere and park because it is convenient for you. I‘ll never forget when God called us to go on television. Dave and I had been talkin‘. Our radio ministry was doin‘ well, it was payin‘ for itself we were about to have the best year financially that we‘d ever had. We thought we could cut our travel schedule back some.

Man it was like, ok we have worked, and worked, and worked now this year is going to be the easiest year, we‘re going to be able to cut back. It is going to be good, hallelujah. And all of the sudden one mornin‘ when my husband was getting‘ ready to go to work, the Spirit of God fell on him in the bathroom when he was sittin‘ doin his hair and shaving. And he said he just saw the mess the world was in, and he began to weep and weep and weep. And he said God told him, ―I want you to go on television you‘ve got the answer, and not just us, but anybody that‘s got the

Word, the answer.‖ The first thing Dave said he thought of was: ―Where are we going to get the money for that? God that‘s expensive, you know?‖ AAAAhhhh! We didn‘t know how to go on

245 television. We didn‘t have a camera. We didn‘t have a camera man, a producer. I mean it‘s a challenge to do this on the road. It‘s not like having one fixed auditorium where your there week after week and you‘ve got all your equipment there. You wouldn‘t believe the kind of stuff we have to unload and load up to do this on the road. And I‘m telling you it looks impossible. But with God all things are possible. [audience- applause/Amen] But, we couldn‘t be satisfied to say:

―Well no God, we don‘t want to do that, we‘ve worked hard, now we just want to kick back.‖

You‘ve got to have that thing in you that says: ―God, if this is what you want, I want to be all that you want me to be and I want to do all that you want me to do.‖

Let me close with this one scripture. In John chapter 17, verse 4. You can look it up later.

Jesus said, and this just gripped my heart when I read this one time, I sat and just cried. Jesus said: ―Father glorify me now for I have completed the work that you have given me to do.‖ And I thought, ―Wow, how many people complete what God has given them to do?‖ Galatians 6:9:

―Beloved,‖ says, ―be not weary in well doing, for in due season you shall weep if you faint not.‖

You know, just because the Bible tells us not to be weary doesn‘t mean that we don‘t ever get weary, sometimes we do get weary. I‘ve found some scripture where it says: ―Rebekkah wearied of her life.‖ She said: ―God I‘m weary of my life.‖ Rebekkah, she was a great woman of God.

She said: ―I‘m weary of my life.‖ Job said: ―I am weary of my life and I loathe it.‖ [audience laughs] So you get weary of your life sometimes, you‘re not alone; everybody has felt that way at some time or another. But the point is, are you going to shake it off? Come on now, when the serpent attached itself to Paul he shook it off. I did a message last week called ―shaking off serpents.‖ We brought copies of it; it‘s out on the tape table. You need to be all that God wants you to be. Every head bowed, and every eye closed.

246

Appendix D Outline of Sermon: Enjoying a Life of Freedom: Actions and Consequences C 289

I. You will sow what you reap A. Galatians six verse seven through nine. 1. Our words are seeds our thoughts are seeds, our attitude is a seed, how we treat other people is seed. 2. We need to realize that our actions have consequences. 3. Whatever a man sows, that and that only is what he will reap. 4. If you sow to the flesh, you reap ruin, decay and destruction. You sow to the spirit you reap life and everything that involves. 5. Every decision we make is a seed we sow. 6. In the right season we shall reap

B. You know a lot of Christians are like that, they want to make one right choice, and they expect that one right choice to undo all the dumb stuff they‘ve been doing for thirty years. 1. be not weary in doing what is right 2. There is a difference in just going to church and really having a serious relationship with God 3. He‘s not ever going to be satisfied with anything less than all of you.

C. When you receive Christ as your savior, the Holy Spirit comes to dwell in you. 1. a home improvement project 2. things will change 3. You‘re going to have to do what‘s right 4. You‘re going to have to sow and sow and sow and sow, etc.

D. When you sow to the spirit you reap life 1. You‘re going to have to be long suffering and long spirited if you‘re going to walk through this thing with God 2. Do your homework 3. The way you crucify the flesh is you stop feeding it

E. You have to go to the word because there is inherent in the word

F. Responsibility- What is my motive 1. Adam and Eve 2. It‘s always somebody else‘s fault

G. Nobody has to stay stuck in their past 1. I‘m going to start doing what‘s right 2. We can‘t just try something one or two times 3. We do too many things to get something 4. Love has to give.

247

H. if you want free choice, you‘ve got to take responsibility 1. taking responsibility for me/ Stop giving somebody else the responsibility to make you happy 2. do your due diligence

I. righteous anger and declare war on the devil 1. live the kind of live that people can want 2. go out and be lights in a dark world

J. God is not mocked by mere pretensions or professions

K. Focus on God and less on self 1. It‘s got to be all about him and not about us. 2. Free choice 3, God has no access to your life except through your mind. Satan has no access to your life, except through your mind. 4. God‘s plan for man‘s redemption. 5. Our authority 6. Obedient to God, by sowing to the spirit 7. A lot of choices to make in life

L. When you sow to the flesh, the spirit‘s grieved 1. when I have been made in my flesh, and I get my mind off of it for a few minutes, I‘ll be singing. 2. Because my spirit‘s happy, come on, give God praise

248

Appendix D Sermon Text: Enjoying a Life of Freedom: Actions and Consequences C 289

Open your Bible if you will to Galatians chapter six. Father we thank you for the word tonight, we know that your word is just so precious to us and valuable, it‘s what changes our lives and we need it. We also need to understand it, so we pray that your spirit will cause us to understand it. He‘s the teacher, I‘m a teacher, but he‘s the teacher that will take the words that I speak tonight and cause the people to really understand them. Let their minds be renewed and let their hearts be changed. In Jesus name, Amen.

Now, Galatians six verse seven through nine. ―Do not be deceived and deluded and mislead, God will not allow himself to be sneered at, scorned or distained or mocked by mere pretensions or professions or by his precepts being set aside.‖ In other words, you know it‘s foolish to think that we can know what the word says and choose to not do it and get by with it.

That‘s like somebody trying to mock God. It‘s like you can‘t just set aside his precepts and just think that everything in life is just going to work good anyway. ―He inevitably deludes himself who attempts to delude God. For whatever a man sows that and that only is what he will reap.‖

Now, we‘re sowing all day long. Our words are seeds our thoughts are seeds, our attitude is a seed, how we treat other people is seed. The Bible says if you sow mercy, you‘ll reap mercy, if you sow judgment and criticism, then you‘ll reap that back in your life. We need to realize that our actions have consequences. If we do what‘s right, we‘re going to get a good result, if we do what‘s wrong; we‘re going to get a bad result. Now, obviously we can be forgiven for our sins but we cannot just knowingly, willingly keep doing the same thing over and over, over and over, thinkin‘, well the grace of God‘s going to cover this because when somebody does that there‘s really a deeper issue. And the Bible actually says, and this is hard for some people to receive

249 because we like to think that well, you know, I‘ve just got this thing, you know, just you know,

God understand, you know, God understands that although, you know, that adultery is wrong,

God understands me doing it because. Well, you see we‘re just fooling ourselves when we say that kind of stuff, because the word is the word and truth is truth and even thought the world says today that truth is relative to your circumstance, that‘s nonsense because truth can only be one thing and it‘s this. And that‘s not being narrow-minded, that‘s living a safe life.

Whatever a man sows, that and that only is what he will reap. Now if we do good things, we‘re going to get good results, we do wrong things, we‘re going to get bad results. Now, that doesn‘t mean that if we make a mistake that God‘s going to beat us over the head with his little hammer. God forgives us and he gives us mercy. That means he blesses us when we don‘t deserve it. But, we all get a little time to be a baby Christian and then we‘ve got to grow up in the message. We all get the period of time in our life to hear about the mercy and the forgiveness of

God, and the love of God, and how God will just show out in our lives, and he‘ll answer our prayers, and we can act silly and do goofy things and God will bless us anyway, but sooner or later, there always comes a time when you have to leave that baby stage and you have to move on to spiritual maturity. We have to grow up and learn it‘s not all about me. Can you practice and say, ―It‘s not all about me‖? [audience repeats]

Verse eight, ―for he who sows to the flesh, his lower nature, sensuality, will from the flesh reap decay ruin, destruction.‖ Everybody got that? If you sow to the flesh, you reap ruin, decay and destruction. You sow to the spirit you reap life and everything that involves. Wow!

Well, how many Christians have ruin, decay and destruction? ―Well if the devil would just leave me alone.‖ No, if you just sow in the right place. Every decision we make is a seed we sow.

We‘ve just got our little bucket with us everywhere we go and we‘re constantly making a

250 decision, am I going to sow to the spirit and reap life? Or am I going to sow to the flesh and reap ruin decay and destruction? Those seeds will come up, will come up. See, you, you made a decision to come to this conference and you‘re going to reap life. There‘s…if everybody came that God told to come of course they would have been out in the streets, and up and down that streets, and all over the place, and those people will be having a rough time later and they‘ll be blamin‘ the devil and jealous of somebody else who is blessed and they just won‘t understand what‘s wrong, but they sowed to the wrong thing. Amen? [audience repeats-Amen]

If you‘re mad at somebody and you need to forgive them, you might as well sow to the spirit and reap life, because being mad at somebody who‘s out having a good time and doesn‘t care that you‘re upset is just kinda dumb. [audience applauds and laughs softly] Hello?

Now, ―he who sows to the flesh reaps ruin, decay and destruction. He who sows to the spirit will reap life and life eternal, and let‘s not lose heart and grow weary and faint in doing what is right. For in due time and in the right season we shall reap, if we do not loosen and relax our courage and faint.‖ Now, I don‘t think that any farmer, who wants to have, let‘s just say, a crop of corn. I don‘t think he ever goes out and just throws one seed in the ground and then just gets all mad if he doesn‘t get a crop. You know a lot of Christians are like that, they want to make one right choice, and they expect that one right choice to undo all the dumb stuff they‘ve been doing for thirty years. I still remember the woman who came to the alter after a meeting and…[sigh]…I want my money back, she says. I said: ―What do you mean you want your money back?‖ She says: ―I‘ve been doin this stuff two weeks and it don‘t work.‖ I mean, I‘m tellin‘ ya, it was all I could do to keep from laughing out loud in her face. I‘m not going to stand here and tell you that if you do one thing right, that it‘s going to change everything. You‘re going to have to make a decision to do what‘s right, and do what‘s right, and do what‘s right, and do what‘s

251 right, and do what‘s right, and do what‘s right, and do what‘s right, and do what‘s right. and do what‘s right, because we didn‘t get in trouble from doing one thing wrong. [Meyer laughs] You don‘t ruin a relationship because you smart off to somebody one time. You don‘t ruin a relationship because you are selfish one time, but if you stay selfish and you never care about anyone else, and everything‘s got to be about you, and everything‘s got to be your way, sooner or later that person‘s going to get to the point that they just can‘t take it anymore. Amen? Come on now. So the Bible says ―be not weary in doing what is right.‖ I‘ve been a Christian for a lot of years. Dave and I‘ve been married forty years and I‘ve been a Christian all that time. Actually, I accepted the Lord when I was nine years old but I never had any training so I didn‘t grow any that period of time, and then I‘ve been in ministry thirty years, and in those thirty years I‘ve had a, you know, really been pursuing God. You know, ten years prior to that I went to church.

There is a difference in just going to church and really having a serious relationship with

God. And so, a bunch of you watching television, if you just happen to flip this on and I‘m your church for this week because you want to make sure that you can say you went to church this week and, you know. [Meyer laughs] I‘m not on this television to make… to just calm your conscience down. I‘m here to provoke you and stir you up to be radically in love with Jesus and to live for him and his glory. [audience erupts in applause] And that‘s kind of the attitude we get some times: well if I put in my forty-five minutes a week, then God‘s happy; well no he‘s not.

He‘s not ever going to be satisfied with anything less than all of you. Amen? He wants everything to be submitted to him: your thoughts your words, your finances, you body, your attitude, your relationships, what you do with your time, everything. And if you put God first in everything YOU do, then God will put you first in everything HE does. And you will get so happy you won‘t know which end is up. [audience applause]

252

When you receive Christ as your savior, the Holy Spirit comes to dwell in you. And the first thing that he does is to begin a home improvement project. [audience laughs] You are now the home of God and the home is about to get remodeled, some things are going to get ripped out and thrown away, redone and reworked and it‘ll be just like one of those houses you see on television that they redecorate, you know they send the people off somewhere for a while and then they go into their house and they change everything and when the people come back they just can‘t believe it‘s the same house. You know, really, when I look back at the way I was thirty years ago, when I got serious in my walk with God. See, you can go sit in a church for a hundred years and that‘s not necessarily going to change you, if you don‘t do anything with what you hear, that‘s if you‘re hearing anything [audience applauds] good, and you follow what you hear and do it, then little by little from glory to glory to glory, day after day, things will change.

[audience applauds] You know, I‘m almost not like the same person. But we‘ve been on a home improvement project from day one. And it won‘t ever stop. It won‘t ever stop. You know I‘ve been corrected by the Holy Ghost lately about my thoughts and my words. Like haven‘t we done this before? Hello? I think I‘ve been here, done that, got the book, got the t-shirt. Well, it‘s another layer, another layer.

You‘re going to have to do what‘s right. Now listen, you will have to choose to do what‘s right a long time before you start getting right results. Well, that side of the room‘s not happy about it. I‘m going to go over here and talk to you. [audience applauds] Get this figured out early and we‘ll have a good time. I talk to the side that looks happy. [audience laughs] Seriously, we are going to have to choose to do what‘s right a long time before we start. You know, you might have somebody in your life that‘s not treating your right, and you so much want them to treat you right, and maybe you‘ve not been treating them right either, so it‘s been kind of a royal

253 standoff, you know: ―you haven‘t been treating me right so I‘m not going to treat you right….you treat me right, I‘ll treat you right….‖ So God moves into the home and he starts talking to you in a little different way: ―Well you know you‘re the one that knows God and you‘re the one that‘s got the word so why don‘t you take the first steps of faith and start treating this person nice that‘s not treating you right?‖ [audience applauds] ―Ok well, Lord, your right.

I‘m willing to do that.‖ Let‘s see, there. I gave them a compliment. Oh well, I even dropped that one. [audience is laughing] Tried to compliment them; couldn‘t get it out of my mouth, and dropped it on the floor. ―Ok. I was nice. Well, I was nice to them and they still weren‘t nice to me and if you think I‘m just going to…..‖ No you‘re going to have to sow and sow and sow and sow and sow and sow and sow and sow. [audience laughs at a visual] And when you do, eventually you will reap life. Amen? I thought of this one morning sittin‘ in my pajamas. Don‘t you think this was cool?

When you sow to the spirit you reap life. When you sow to the flesh, you reap ruin, decay and destruction, and I‘m going to be doin‘ that all weekend. I‘m going to be sowing these seeds and I‘m going to be walkin‘ back and forth with my bucket trying to make a decision. Well, I don‘t know. I don‘t know if I want to do…I don‘t know…I don‘t know…if I‘m going to ch…am

I going to come tomorrow?....I don‘t know….I‘ll just wait and see how I feel….you know, when

I get up in the morning…well I don‘t know, maybe I‘ll just stay in bed and have donuts…then the Holy Ghost says: ―You better get over to that meeting.‖ ―…well ok, maybe I‘ll go….‖ See if you sow to the flesh you do what‘s comfortable right now and you maybe get a little instant fun.

You know, its like: ―Oh this donuts so good, oh the bed feels so good, oh hallelujah.‖ But then later you‘ve got a big mess in your life and see the flesh is a gambler. The spirit is an investor.

254

[audience applauds] The flesh says, ―I‘m gonna do what I know is not really right, and hope I get by with it because it feels good right now.‖

We live in a society that loves instant gratification right now! Right now! Right now!

But, see, you‘re going to have to be long suffering and long spirited if you‘re going to walk through this thing with God. You know what? My life is so great now, and I am so happy I can‘t hardly stand it, and that doesn‘t mean that I‘ll never have a bad day, and that doesn‘t mean that I never have a problem, but you know what? I mean everything is just good. You know it‘s just, it‘s just good. I‘m bearing good fruit. I‘m helping people. My kids are all saved; been married to the same man for forty years and all. I‘m doing something that I think is worthwhile, but you know what? Man in the beginning. Lord have mercy! I used to have to lock myself up in rooms and stick my face in a bath towel to keep from railing on people. And God would tell me to be nice and shut my mouth and do all these things and I was just….mmmm…uuuu..mmm. And God would be dealing with me…. and then I‘d be over here…. Does anybody in the building know what I‘m talking about? [audience erupts in applause] When I‘m done with you this weekend, you‘re going to think two or three times. The next time you decide to keep a bad attitude for three days and sit around feeling sorry for yourself. Hello?

I tell you I‘m finding out more and more and more the only way to get over it, if you‘re having a battle in your mind, people say ―well, you know I just can‘t, you know, I want to think…I‘m having a hard time with this…what am I supposed to do?‖ I tell you what you do, you do your homework. Don‘t be a lazy Christian. Don‘t sit around and wait for somebody else to preach you happy all the time. Amen? I don‘t want to spend my life being a ―Holy Ghost

Cheerleader‖ for a bunch of Christians that don‘t want to do anything themselves. Come on! I want to stir you up and get you to realize that God‘s no respecter of persons and what he does for

255 one, he‘ll do for you, but we‘ve all got to play by the same rules. So if you‘re mad at somebody, and you know that God wants you to forgive, and you‘re just like: ―It‘s just not fair, it‘s just not right, it‘s just too hard. You don‘t know what they did to me. I just don‘t know if I can, and I don‘t know if I should, but I just don‘t know if I can.‖ Honey God‘s dealing with you. I remember when God used to deal with me. ―You get in that room and you talk to him!‖ Cause I tell you what, when you‘re mad at somebody you go out the front door and walk around to come into the back door to get into the kitchen to keep from going into the room where they‘re at.

[audience laughs and applause] Because there is no way I‘m going to touch you, or talk to you, or be in your space! Right? And God would begin to say: ―Now you get in there and ask him if he wants something to drink.‖ ―I‘m going to give him something, but I‘m not going to give him something to drink!‖ Oh! Then, I‘d be like: ―NO! I‘m not givin‘ him anything to drink! NO! It is not fair! He needs to apologize to me! I apologized the last three times, and I‘m fed up with always being the one that‘s wrong. I‘m just not going to do it Lord.‖ Well you know what? I‘ve learned a secret. I mean, I‘ve learned a secret. If you want to do what‘s right, but your flesh has such a stronghold on you in an area because you haven‘t really crucified the flesh in that area, and the way you crucify the flesh is you stop feeding it. That means that every time you give in to it, it‘s like giving it something else to eat that strengthens it. And you have to go around the same mountain again and go through the same thing again. But every time you say no to yourself and you let the flesh have that screamin‘ fit, it gets a little bit weaker, and a little bit weaker, and a little bit weaker. Well now, it‘s really easy for me to apologize to anybody. I don‘t care whose fault it is because I cannot stand strife, I‘ve got to have peace in my life. But here‘s the secret

I‘ve learned, and it‘s why so many people don‘t have victory, and its‘ because of a spirit of spiritual laziness. Too much we want somebody else to look up our scriptures, somebody else to

256 preach it to us, somebody else to tell us what to do, and my goodness; we‘ve got so many resources today. I mean, if we cannot get help, nobody can get help. And I‘m going to tell you what I‘d do, if I would get in a situation…Let‘s just say something happened in the morning, and

Dave really made me mad. Now, I don‘t expect that to happen, but let‘s just say he did. Well, I am in a pickle now because my emotions are all stirred up. I mean, I am hoppin‘ mad and I‘ve got to come over here and preach. I mean, what am I going to do? Because I certainly cannot get in the pulpit and pretend that everything is ok while I‘ve got this thing going on inside of me, because there is no anointing, and I could be phony, and I could pull it off and you might not know, and I would know and God would know, and I could not stand to do that; so I have to get over it. But what am I going to do, because I am just MAD! Now that‘s just it; I am just mad.

Well I can tell you what I would do. I would get somewhere by myself. I would take my Bible, and I would start looking up scriptures on anger. And I would start looking up scriptures on forgiveness, and I would start looking up scriptures on mercy. And you know what would happen? Every single time that I read one of those, or quoted it out loud, you know what would happen? I‘d be feeding my spirit. Now listen to me, listen. And my spirit would get a little stronger, and a little stronger, and a little stronger, and a little stronger, and it wouldn‘t be very long and I could say: ―Give me that! Now just wait, wait…wait…wait. And I would go where

Dave was at and I would say: ―I love you. If I did anything that hurt your feelings I‘m sorry, I don‘t want us to fight. We can‘t have strife. Give me a kiss and let‘s go to the meetin‘.‖

[audience applause]

You have to go to the word because there is inherent in the word. It‘s just like eating your

Wheaties or your Cheerios. But you know what? God gave me this example this morning: If my stomach is growling, I go get something to eat. And this is what the Lord said, ―When your soul

257 is growling, then you also need to get something to eat. But the word of God is food that nurtures my soul. It will help my personality. It will help me walk in the fruit of the spirit. It will help me be obedient to God. We don‘t have any trouble feeding our belly when they growl. I mean, we would get in the car in the middle of the night and go out and get something to eat, but we don‘t want to walk across the room and get one of the Joyce Meyer tapes out of our library and go stick it in the player because…mmm…nnn… Come on now, I‘m preaching good whether you like it or not. [audience applauds]

I‘m going to tell you a little story here. This is just a little synopsis of the fall of Adam and Eve and where we‘re at today, and kinda how things work, so bear with me a minute and let me be a little doctrinal. God created man in his own image with free choice. That‘s what makes you created in God‘s image. That‘s free choice. Now, having free choice is a tremendous responsibility. It is not just a privilege, it is a tremendous responsibility. When we have free choice, we cannot go around blaming our problems on other people. Well, you don‘t know if you like that or not. You know why? Because we like to blame. Started right in the garden. Eve made a bad choice. Adam made a bad choice. And now all of the sudden, Adam said: ―It‘s your fault

God; it‘s that woman you gave me. If you wouldn‘t have given me the woman I wouldn‘t have a problem.‖ Eve said: ―Oh no, it was the devil.

No one wants to take responsibility. It‘s always somebody else‘s fault. I was sexually abused by my father for many years. I couldn‘t help that, I had an adult authority over my life that was making bad choices. And those bad choices affected me. The Bible tells us that‘s going to happen. It says: ―I set life and death, choose life and death that you and your decedents may live.‖ If you make good choices, your kids are going to have good lives. If you make bad choices, your kids are going to have bad lives. And some of you were hurt by your parents, and

258 you were in situations that you could not do anything about because they had authority over you until you reached a certain age. And whatever decisions they made good or bad, they had authority over you, and they could hurt you or help you. And that may seem really unfair, but that‘s just the way it is. However, the time came when God told me, ―yes you are the way you are because of what was done to you. And it wasn‘t right, that‘s why you are the way you are, but don‘t let it be an excuse to stay that way because now you are free, and you can make your own decisions, and you can make your own choices.‖ Come on now!

Nobody has to stay stuck in their past. Absolutely nobody has to stay stuck in their past because no matter how many bad seeds you have sown, if you will start sowing good seeds, good always overcomes evil. You can get out of debt. If you‘ve messed up your health, you can get healthy again. If you‘ve messed up relationships, those relationships can be healed. All you‘ve got to do is just say: ―You know what? I‘ve been making wrong choices long enough and that‘s it. I‘m going to start doing what‘s right, and I‘m going to do it until Jesus comes back. If I never see one result, I‘m going to do what‘s right just because it‘s right.‖ And the point is that you will see results.

But we can‘t just try something one or two times and if God doesn‘t come across for us, we‘re getting this attitude. You‘ve got to make up your mind that you are going to tithe, and give offerings because the Bible says to do it. We do too many things to get something; which then gets back to: what is my motive? And God is not in the business of blessing impure motives. I think that we should give because the Bible says to give, and because when you have love in you, you have to give. Love has to give. For God so loved the world that he gave. He couldn‘t help himself. He had to do that, and when you have the love of God in you, you‘re not looking for an excuse to get out of giving. You don‘t get mad when somebody talks five minutes longer

259 than you‘d like for them to do about giving. You are happy to learn about giving. [audience applauds] The only people who get mad when people preach about giving are the ones that don‘t want to give. But we‘ve got to blame this one, and blame that one, and blame somebody else, blame, blame, blame.

Well, if you want free choice, you‘ve got to take responsibility. So finally I thought, your right God, I‘ve got a bad attitude. I‘m hard to get along with. I‘m manipulative, I‘m controlling.

I‘m wasting day after day in self-pity. I faced the truth and I cried for three days because I was a pathetic mess, but that was the beginning of my turn around, and I had been a Christian for a lot of years before I reached that place. The truth will make you free. But it‘s not the truth about somebody else that‘s going to make me free, it‘s me that‘s going to make me free. And it‘s not blaming somebody else that going to give me a good life, its taking responsibility for me. Can I tell you a secret? Stop giving somebody else the responsibility to make you happy. Well, you know I was like: ―I‘m not happy because Dave plays too much golf, and I‘m not happy because

Dave watches too much football, and I‘m not happy because you know, my kids are messy, and

I‘m not happy because our house is too little, and because we don‘t have any money, and I‘m not happy because I don‘t feel good.‖ No, I was not happy because I was selfish and self-centered and I had a bad attitude. That‘s why I wasn‘t happy. And no matter what Dave did, or my kids did, or how much money I had, or what anybody did for me, I was not going to be happy until I got a good attitude. [audience applauds] Now, come on, I‘m trying to help you. You say, well you‘re hollerin‘ at me! Well, God hollers at me. [audience laughs] I‘m not really hollerin‘. I just get excited!

You know I‘ve lived this, and I‘ve been on both sides of it and I know what‘s going to work. That‘s why the Bible tells you listen to people when they get older because they‘ve been

260 there, done that. I‘m not just guessin‘ I know. I know that I know that I know that I know. When you get in trouble in your soul if you will do your due diligence and you will get your Bible and you will write scriptures out in long hand and you will…after you will memorize them, after you read them over and over, and over. Make confession lists, and make cards, and write those scriptures on them. And quit callin‘ everything that you‘ve got, that you don‘t like, as if it‘s always going to be there: ―my kids are never going to change, I‘m never going to have money,

I‘m always going to be broke, I‘m never going to have a car, I‘ll never live in a nice house, ya..ya…ya.‖ I mean if you‘re going to use your energy to say somethin‘, why not say something that‘s going to do you some good? But no. [audience applauds] We talk out of the flesh, the flesh, ddddddddddddd. And I just hear people all the time: ―Oh this is killin‘ me. I‘m so sick and tired of this. I‘m so sick and tired of that.‖ Well you know, they are sick and tired, and they die young, and they wonder what the problem is. They‘ve been confessin‘ it for fifty years. I just feel kind of feisty tonight. I don‘t know what it is. [audience applauds]

You know what? The call on my life…I mean, anybody, any Christian, is called to see people reconciled to Christ. But the call on my life as a teacher in the body of Christ is to see people mature. To help people grow up and mature, because the fact is that if we remain a baby

Christians, we are not going to really enjoy the life that Jesus died to give us. We might go to heaven, if you‘re a believer in Christ, and you‘re saved by his grace and you really really believe the gospel, I believe you‘ll go to heave. But, I tell you, I believe there‘s going to be a whole bunch of people that are still in pre-kindergarten when they get there; still got their baby bottles, still in their diapers, still got their pacifiers, still just going around the same mountains over, and over, and over, never learned righteousness, never walked in peace, never had real joy except when their circumstances…[Meyer trails off]

261

You know you‘re going to have to get a holy anger on you. I mean there‘s a wrong anger and there‘s a righteous anger and I think that some of you need to get a little righteous anger and declare war on the devil and say: ―Listen I am not going to live like this. I am going to do what I need to do to have the life that Jesus died to give me.‖ [audience erupts in applause] Sometimes I just wish I could unzip people and just cram them full of what I know, zip them back up and turn them loose. I felt the fire of God in my bones tonight.

If you‘ll just make a decision. It‘s not all going to be easy, and it‘s not all going to happen overnight, but you‘re either going to start going forward or you‘re going to keep going backward. I want to live the kind of live that people can want. I want to live the kind of life that people can, just by being around me. It doesn‘t take long and they realize that something is different. That‘s what God wants from us, to go out and be lights in a dark world. You know when Jesus had what is commonly called the last supper with the disciples, there‘s a little interesting statement there. It says, he blessed the bread, he broke it, and he gave it to them. And

I believe that‘s what God has to do with us. We come into a relationship with God through Christ and he blesses us, but then he wants to break us and then he wants to give us to the world.

Amen? Not just blessed. ―How are you today sister?‖ ―Blessed.‖ That‘s great. Are you going to go beyond that? Amen? Or I love what the prodigal son said. Oh he wanted his money. Oh he wanted to do his own thing; he didn‘t want to come under authority so the father gave him his money. ―Ok son, go find out.‖ His life got so bad that he was a livin‘ with the pigs. Now remember he said: ―Father give me, give me my inheritance.‖ And so often that‘s all we say to

God, ―give me, give me. give me, give me.‖ He lived with the pigs for a while. The Bible said he came back to his right mind. That‘ll help it won‘t it? A little time in the pig pen and you‘re back

262 in your right mind. Are you all with me? [audience answers- ―yes‖] How about upstairs? Are you understanding this up there? [audience applause]

Man, do not be deceived, God is not mocked by mere pretensions and professions. We can talk the talk and it don‘t impress God. We can have the whole back end of our car plastered with bumper stickers [audience laughs] ―honk if you love Jesus,‖ ―wink if you are full of the

Holy Ghost,‖ or, you know. [audience laughs] Whatever‘s out there. We can have the biggest rhinestone Jesus pen, have everybody‘s books and tapes to impress our friends when they come in, but God is not mocked by mere pretensions or professions. Do not be deceived, we cannot set aside God‘s precepts, for whatever a man sows that and that only is what he will reap. If he sows to the flesh he will reap from the flesh ruin decay and destruction. If he sows to the spirit, he will reap from the spirit life and life eternal. And I love the way that‘s put, not just life eternal, but life right here AND eternal life when you leave this earth. Jesus died so you can have the good life. The thief comes only to kill, steal and destroy, but Jesus said I came that you might know your life and have it in abundance. ―Give me, give me, give me. Father I want my money. I want to go out and have a good time.‖ ―Ok son.‖ He ends up in the pig pen. He finally says: ―You know I‘d be better off being a servant in my father‘s house; he treats his slaves better than I‘ve got it now. I think I‘ll go back home.‖ When he saw his father, he‘s talkin‘ different. He didn‘t say ―Give me.‖ He said, ―Make me, make me a servant in your house.‖

When are we going to go from give me to make me? What happens when you give up all the give me‘s in your prayers for about a year? You know, God challenged me one time. He said:

―Well I‘ll tell you, I do not want you to ask me for one thing. There is only one thing that I want to hear out of you Joyce Meyer and it is, God I need you, I need more of you, I need more of you in my life.‖ Maybe I‘d start to say: ―God I just really need you to change Dave. I really need my

263 ministry to grow.‖ And it would just stick in my throat like fish bones. ―Well, never mind God, I just need you.‖ [audience applauds] That was life transforming for me. We gotta go from give me to make me, from blessed to broken and given. It‘s got to be all about him and not about us.

Well I‘m having fun, but I‘m not getting far with my message.

Alright, listen, God created man in his own image, gave him free choice; put him in the garden to tend it, to eat his fruit, to have dominion. Wow! Over all the other works of his hands,

God created man in his own image gave him free choice and his goal was for him to have dominion over everything else that he created. And he wanted the fellowship with him and Eve.

God wants a friend. He wants somebody to talk to, somebody to be with. Well, Adam and Eve could enjoy all the fruit but one tree and so there was one thing that God said: ―leave it alone, lest you die.‖ We‘ve always gotta have something that we can‘t do otherwise there‘s no choice.

And why did God do that? Because he doesn‘t want a bunch of robots that have to serve him, because there is nothing else that he can do. He said: ―I don‘t want you to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil.‖ God‘s original plan for man was that he never knew anything but good. He didn‘t even want him to know about evil and the curse that it would bring into man‘s life. He just wanted him to obey him. As long as you eat of these trees, you can be in here and have dominion and rule, and I‘ll come in the morning and the evening and we‘ll fellowship together. You guys just enjoy each other and just enjoy the beautiful place that I‘ve given you to live in. There‘s only one thing I don‘t want you to do, don‘t eat of that tree. And here comes the devil. Satan tempted Eve through putting wrong thoughts in her head about God and the tree.

And I tell you something. God has no access to your life except through your mind. Satan has no access to your life, except through your mind. And many times when people get divorces, it is not about what that other person done to you; it is what you have cooked up in your head that

264 they have done to you. Or not done for you. Last time I was crabbing to God about what Dave hadn‘t done for me, God asked me an interesting question, he said, ―What are you doing for

Dave?‖ When I really started thinking about it, I couldn‘t think of much. Yeah, but I mean, that‘s the way the devil is. I mean, we‘re thinking all these things that nobody is doing for us. What if we really ask ourselves, it‘s like…Oh don‘t feel sorry for him, he ain‘t got it bad. [audience laughs] But I mean, isn‘t that the truth? We fixate on the three things that we don‘t like about somebody and we totally forget about the hundred and fifty things that are great. The devil cannot get to you except through your mind. You better be careful about our thoughts, because our thoughts can deceive us and all of the sudden that something, that‘s not even a reality, becomes a reality to us because if the devil lies to us and we believe those lies, it becomes our truth. You better buy this tape because I‘m sayin‘ way too much for you to take it all in tonight.

Now listen, Eve disobeyed and she convinced Adam to do the same thing; one of the first examples of female power. They died spiritually, they poisoned the life that was in them, and darkness entered in. Then the great cover up began. We‘re always trying to cover up our sins aren‘t we? They tried leaves and God said, ―Well that won‘t work.‖ So he killed an animal, blood was shed, and he made clothing out of skins. I guess that was the first fur coat, I don‘t know. I thought it was funny. [audience laughs] It was really about the blood, not the fur coat.

The blood had to be shed. It was a type and a symbol way back then. Their works could not cover their sin, God had to do it. God immediately announced his plans for man‘s redemption, and I love it. Genesis 3:14 and 15. I want us to take a minute to look at it.

Genesis 3: 14 and 15. ―And the Lord God said to the serpent, because you have done this, you are cursed above all domestic animals, and above every wild living thing of the field, and upon your belly you shall go. And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between

265 your offspring and her offspring.‖ Her offspring is with a capital O because it is referring to

Jesus Christ. I love this. He will bruise capital ―h‖. ―Jesus will bruise and tread your head under foot and you will lie in wait and you will bruise his heel.‖ The devil is always after the body of

Christ, the feet being on the body. He said, ―I will give the woman an offspring,‖ its talking about Jesus Christ, ―will bruise your head.‖ What he meant was, I‘m going to send you a deliverer who is going to strip the devil‘s authority away from him that I gave to Adam and

Adam gave to the devil. [audience applauds] Now we‘ve got our authority back, but no matter how much authority you have if you don‘t exercise it and walk in it. I am the president of Joyce

Meyer ministries and I have authority, but if I did not exercise authority when I need to, then it wouldn‘t be very long and everybody else would be runnin‘ the place. You have authority over your children as we all know they can run the house. The dog will take over if you let it. I know because I have one. Dave and I were eatin‘ dinner the other night and we went in the other room for something and came back and she‘s sitting in the chair eating Dave‘s dinner. Well we didn‘t just say, ―Oh I just wish you wouldn‘t do that.‖ That‘s the way we are with the devil sometimes

―I just wish the devil wouldn‘t do that‖ …mm..nnn..nnn…nnn. ―I‘m just so discouraged‖

…nnn…nnnn… No we said, ―Dutches! Get off of that table! Get over there! Don‘t you do that again!‖ [audience laughs/applauds] Now if you‘d do that to the devil, he‘d go runnin‘ off with his tail between his legs too.

But before you shout too loud, let me quote you James four, seven, which does not just say resist the devil and he will flee. It says: ―Submit yourselves to God, and resist the devil and he will fee.‖ You know how you stay sharp in your authority? By being obedient to God, by sowing to the spirit, by not grieving the Holy Spirit, by keeping the power that is resident in you stirred up. Stir yourself up with the Holy Ghost, don‘t just wait for somebody else to come along

266 and be a spiritual cheerleader and get you happy. Who do you think cheers me up? Jesus does.

Amen? Ok, what‘s it going to be: the flesh or the spirit? For the law came to show man what was right, just and holy and to show him he couldn‘t keep it and once again he had to have God‘s help. That‘s the only reason that God gave the law, the law was just, right, and holy; do this and you‘ll be holy. Well God knew when he gave it that they couldn‘t keep it, and the only reason he gave it was to show ‗em they needed a savior. And in the mean time he gave them a system, sacrifices, the blood of animals to try to cover their sin, but their sin could never be removed, the consciousness of it was always there, the guilt was always there because it was removed, it was covered, and it had to be done over and over and over and over and over because even the high priest was making the sacrifices was himself a sinner. First he had to get atonement for his own sins before he could offer atonement for the people but we have a high priest. ―Behold the lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world.‖ We have a high priest who entered once and for all the holy of holies with his own blood. Never, ever again do we need another sacrifice because he did it once and for all. And what does the Bible say? Romans ten, nine and ten, ―If you believe in your heart and you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, that he died and rose again, then you can be born again.‖ Any person in this place tonight and hasn‘t been born again, it‘s so simple, so simple. Everything‘s been done, it‘s not about what you can do, it‘s not about you making up for your past sins, any person can leave here tonight knowing that God loves you, knowing that your name is written in the Lamb‘s book of Life, you can leave here tonight completely removed and washed away and a promise that anything that you do wrong in the future. If you are sincerely sorry and you will admit it and repent that God will cleanse you even from that, the Holy Ghost will come to live in you and a home improvement project will start.

And you will start out like all the rest of us, ―oh God give me this and give me this, God give me,

267 give me, give me, give me.‖ And it will be cool, and you will get to do that for a while. Man if you want to get a prayer answered; get you a brand new believer because God just stands on his head to show faithfulness to them to develop a relationship. I mean you can get some of the most awesome stuff it‘s just like…..But you know, you come to the point when you need a word from

God you can‘t do this….Wow! You‘ll get to the point where I did, and you‘ll try that, and God‘s determined that now it‘s time for you to grow up and be lead by the Holy Ghost and get the word and have the word in you, and know what‘s right and know what‘s wrong, not need a prophecy and not need three angels to appear before you give an extra ten bucks. Come on. And you go: ―I don‘t know, I don‘t know, aaaahhhhhhh. I didn‘t feel nothin‘, I didn‘t feel the goose bumps. I just get hot and cold.‖ There ain‘t nothin‘ wrong with you, God‘s just saying, ―Ok baby stage has now come to an end, it‘s time to learn how to walk in Christ. It‘s time to learn how to run your race.

You‘re going to have a lot of choices to make in life, whether you‘ve been born again for thirty years or you‘re just going to accept Christ tonight, you‘re going to have a lot of choices to make in your life. Sure, you‘ve got a flesh your flesh doesn‘t die. The sin principle doesn‘t die; we die to sin, big difference. As long as we‘re alive, we‘re going to be tempted, keep giving the flesh what it wants, after all it feels good right now, instant gratification. We‘ll get around to doing that maybe later, or maybe we‘ll never have to. Maybe we‘ll get by with it; maybe God won‘t notice. Do not be deceived, God is not mocked. We cannot set aside his precepts whatsoever a man sows only… is everybody getting this?

Here‘s what happens folks, it‘s just this simple, when you sow to the flesh, the spirit‘s grieved. We feel it way down deep inside, and we even verbalize it: ―I just don‘t know what‘s wrong.‖ ―I don‘t know what‘s wrong.‖ ―I‘m just not happy.‖ ―I don‘t know what‘s wrong.‖ And

268 then the devil plays that game: ―Well it‘s your job,‖ ―That‘s right, if I just had a better job.‖ And so then you waste three years on that. ―Well I‘m just not happy.‖ The devil says, ―It‘s your husband, you need a new one.‖ [audience laughs] ―You married the wrong guy; you just need somebody to treat you right.‖ Can I tell you something? The grass is not greener on the other side; you have to mow it just like you do every other grass. You might as well learn to get along with the one you‘ve got. I think all the years Dave and I‘ve had together and I think there ain‘t no way I‘d do that again. I mean I have told Dave that if you go to heaven before me, I will be widowed until I come because I am not going to try to get along with another man because it is not easy to do what God tells you to do because your flesh is just—―aaaaahhhhhhh.‖ Well, when you sow to the spirit, oh when you sow to the spirit, the flesh is so stinkin‘ mad. I mean it will pout, but your little spirit man is so happy, it just, you‘re just like…you know I have found myself some times when I have been made in my flesh, and I get my mind off of it for a few minutes, I‘ll be singing. And I‘m like, what? I‘m not happy, why am I singing? I am mad! Come on, give God praise!

269