literary living
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7 Similarities Between Christian Encouragement and Spirit-filled Singing
As I’ve plunged into the deep end of exegesis and research this week, I’ve found even more similarities between encouragement and singing than I expected. These are not fully developed premises, but I hope these basic points and scripture citations inspire you to dive in for yourself. Encouragement and singing are both:1. Characteristic of God Continue reading
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A Few Lessons from Pruning My Grape Vines
When we first moved to Iowa, we were met with tremendous fruitfulness—and not just spiritually! Upon moving into our home, we found a young apple tree, a mature cherry tree, and two lush grapevines. I was enchanted. Having grown up in Phoenix, I was used to planting ill-fated gardens each year only to watch my Continue reading
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Johnny Depp v. Amber Heard v. Dietrich Bonhoeffer: “Hate Watching” and Our Cult of Self-Justification
Yesterday night I flipped on the TV (mistake number one) to see that a recap of the Johnny Depp v. Amber Heard trial is already—barely a year later—available for streaming. Not only is it available, it is currently the top trending series on Netflix. I couldn’t help reading the description: Revisit the explosive trial that Continue reading
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Singing Our Way to Gospel Culture: Seven Things We Do When We Sing Hymns Together
I spent the last week studying and discussing gospel culture, which is, most simply, the unity between Christians that flows from union with Christ. The majority of my classmates were pastors, so we spent a lot of time talking about how to foster gospel culture through preaching and shepherding. Naturally, I was concerned with how Continue reading
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Reblog: Accepting Ministry as Ministry
Today I’m attending a class on honor and encouragement, and it reminded me of this post from early in my ministry. Enjoy! Continue reading
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10 Women’s Ministry Events I Would Actually Enjoy
I have a confession: I have never been a big fan of women’s retreats, teas, conferences, and the like. It’s not that I dislike ministry or women or brunch (trust me, I LOVE brunch). Really, I just have a hard time sitting still and talking without a shared activity or passion. I think more women Continue reading
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Coming Back to the Heart of Worship: 5 Facts About Gentleness that Shape How We Discuss and Do Worship Music
Gentleness is a much-abused fruit in our day and age. For the sake of “gentleness,” people are told to abandon doctrinal convictions. For the sake of “gentleness,” people are coerced into disobeying scripture’s command to teach, exhort, and admonish. To use gentleness in such ways is to misapply this powerful fruit. Gentleness, which is perhaps Continue reading
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The Good, The Bad, or the Simply Not Good: Can we Pronounce the Music of Bethel and Hillsong as “Very Good”?
“Kinda weird, but not a sin” has become a common saying in my household. My husband and I say this jokingly about hilarious fail videos or the quirky things we catch each other doing. But when it comes to worship music, this saying hits on an important point: there are more than two black-and-white categories. Continue reading
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Publication Update
ClayJar Review, a Christian literary journal, selected my sonnet, “Ash Wednesday 2023,” and my flash fiction story, “Protocol,” for publication. It is rare to find a Christian journal that values both authenticity and hopefulness, so I am honored to be included. My pieces, along with those by other Christian creatives, can be read here: https://clayjar.review/issues/sorrow-and-joy Continue reading
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Ten Cheap and Instant Ways to Make Your Old-New House Feel Like Home
A lot of my friends are moving into their first homes, and I’m reminiscing about the absolutely chaotic time when Billy and I got engaged, left our jobs, bought a house without seeing it (or each other, as he was quarantined), got married, and moved across the country in three months. It was so stressful Continue reading
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Holy Saturday 2023
I wrote a poem for Holy Saturday 2022 and it was a great creative and spiritual activity, so here’s a poem for this year: The Light of the World has been dimmed but still I rise to switch on the lamp, open the shades, let in the sun —and wait The Bread of Life has Continue reading
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The Midwest and Mortality: Reflections after a Tornado Warning
Continuing my latest string of mildly-morbid posts… When I lived in Arizona, I was invincible. At least, that’s how I felt. Sure, we had the odd monsoon and dust storm, but these rarely did anything more than shuffle our garbage bins down the street and coat our pool floaties in dirt. With only two seasons Continue reading
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Ryanne Molinari 