Ryanne Molinari

May 2, 2023

Rejoicing with the Truth: Does Using Music by Bethel and Hillsong Generate Genuine Joy in our Churches?

Writing this article is more difficult than I anticipated. Yesterday, I watched the recently-released 7News documentary on Hillsong. The abuse and arrogance exposed here (and in many other sources) made me physically ill, not to mention spiritually grieved. An exposé like this gives concrete urgency to the question “to sing or not to sing?” Now,…

Fruitful Worship

Bethel, Bethel Hillsong Debate, Bethel Music, Fruitful Worship, Hillsong, Hillsong Music, Hillsong United, Should we sing Bethel and Hillsong?, worship, worship leader, worship leading
April 27, 2023

Is it Loving to Sing Music by Bethel and Hillsong in Our Worship? Reexamining the Debate According to the Fruit of the Spirit Part 1

The fruit of the Spirit is love. Love is not only listed first among the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-23; it is the root of the fruit. For Christians, love is not a stand-alone virtue. Instead, it must contain and convey joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Without these, love…

Fruitful Worship

Bethel, Bethel Music, church music, fruit of the Spirit, Fruitful Worship, Hillsong United, praise, Should we sing Bethel and Hillsong?, worship, worship artist, worship culture, worship leader, worship music, worship songs
April 25, 2023

Sick of Unfruitful Arguing? It’s Time to Reexamine the Bethel-Hillsong Debate According to the Fruit of the Spirit.

I’ve seen countless articles about the Bethel-Hillsong controversy. The debate over whether or not to use music by theologically and/or ethically suspect organizations has become the new “Worship War.” The battle previously waged between staunch traditionalists and contemporary music fans is taking a back seat to this more immediate, heated debate: Can Bible-believing congregations rightly…

Fruitful Worship

author, Bethel Hillsong Debate, Bethel Music, Christianity today, Christianity Todya, church music, fruit of the Spirit, Fruitful Worship, Gospel Coalition, Hillsong Music, Should we sing Bethel and Hillsong?, worship, worship leader, worship music, writer, writing
April 8, 2023

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…

literary living

Christian poetry, easter, good friday, Holy Saturday, holy week, holy week poem, liturgical poetry, poem, poet, poetry, sacred poetry, theology and the arts, Triduum
March 31, 2023

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…

literary living

blogger, cedar rapids, christian blog, iowa tornado, iowa tornado today, reflections, seasons, tornado, tornado warning iowa, tornado watch, weather, writer, writing
March 27, 2023

Sanctified Squirrels

Our basement is weird. Even weirder than the typical Midwestern basement. In one room, a pulpit faces a window looking out on an enormous oak tree. Squirrels dart to and fro as my husband preaches to their twitchy noses and (perhaps after frightening them with difficult theological truth) their bushy tails. Down the hallway lies…

literary living

bible study, church music, ministry, ministry life, Music, music director, music life, pastor, pastor life, pastor's wife, preaching, sermon, theolog, theology, worship, worship director, worship leader, worship music, worshipful
March 16, 2023

Choral Dissonance: Separating Musical and Biblical Literacy

Originally posted on Ryanne Molinari: “Who’s Goliath?” The past week, I’ve entrenched in Christmas concerts and rehearsals with a community college, a public high school, and a community choir. It is the first Christmas in a long time when I have not been busy accompanying a church choir, where the question “Who’s Goliath?” would never…

literary living
March 6, 2023

Doing Death Together

Maybe it’s because it’s Lent or maybe because I played for a funeral on Saturday, but I’ve been thinking a lot about death. Okay, actually, I think that’s just my personality. I’m a joyfully melancholic person with a bent toward the Medieval. Memento mori (“remember that you must die”) has always been more appealing to…

Faith, Grace & Gumption, literary living, Musings

carpe diem, christian, christianity, church life, crucified with Christ, death, death and life, death together, deaths, doing death together, doing life, doing life together, life together, medieval, memento mori, shared death, writer, writer life, writers, writing, you too shall die
March 1, 2023

Reading Roundup: February 2023

I read ten books in February and, as usual, my reading tastes are unpredictable. The genres I enjoyed range from speculative fiction to poetry to journalism and nonfiction to historical biblical fiction. It would be a wild ride if I weren’t, well, sitting comfortably on my couch with a cup of coffee and a blanket.…

A Bit of Light Reading, Bookish Style, Faith, literary living

author, blogger, Book, book recommendations, bookish, books, cs lewis, flowers for algernon, inspiration, literature, mary oliver, novels, poem, poems, poetry, Reading, reading list, reading recommendations, reading roundup, recommendations, writer, writing
March 1, 2023

Make Christian Nonfiction Beautiful Again

Yesterday, several people asked me what I was reading. When I replied, “Abraham Kuyper’s The Work of the Holy Spirit” and showed them this thick treasure-trove of a tome, there were two basic responses: 1) nodding and backing away as though Reformed theology is contagious and 2) an appreciative nod accompanied by some comment that…

culture, Faith, Grace & Gumption, literary living, Literature, Musings

Abraham Kuyper, author, blogger, Book, book review, bookish, books, Christian books, Christian nonfiction, contemporary authors, contemporary publishing, Dutch Reformed, Embodied, literature, new book, new release, nonfiction, publications, the work of the Holy Spirit, theology, writer, writing
February 22, 2023

Ash Wednesday

Speak o’er me those desired and dreaded words:Pronounce my death while I yet live and breathe.Adorn me with the burnt kiss of our Lord,Preparing me for glory—and for grief. Say to me what I most long and fear to hear!Announce my life to be of little worthEven as you declare that I am dearTo the…

Poetry

Ash Wednesday, Ash Wednesday Poem, author, blogger, Christian poetry, lenten poem, lenten reflection, poem, poetry, repentance, sacred sonnet, sonnet, theology and the arts, writer, writing
February 21, 2023

I Envy Batman

My husband and I love Batman. He’s probably the only superhero I can actually stand. However, I envy him this one thing: the simplicity of his double identity. I would love to simply be “reclusive millionaire” by day and “avenger of the city” by night. Really, I just like the idea of having a clear…

Musings

batman, blogger, creative, musician, musician by day, musician by night, my jobs are other people's hobbies, stress, writer, writer by day, writer life, writing