Kelly Minter
She's an author, songwriter, worship leader, speaker and musician - a list that's likely to keep growing as Kelly Minter continues to discover new talents. In the meantime, she...
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Grief of a Different Kind
I flew in from California last Sunday night just in time to attend a memorial service for a newborn baby. He was the son of two of my friends, whole and perfect. For reasons unknown, except to Elohim (The God who creates), this little baby went to be with Jesus on his third day here on earth. My friends attend a new church that currently meets in a bar, which works well for Sunday morning worship services but not as great for other functions. Since my friends were without a church building to celebrate their son, they chose one of their favorite and frequented spots – Ugly Mugs coffee shop. Up until this past Sunday I had sipped many cups of loose leaf tea and french pressed coffee at many coffee houses in countless cities. But I had never worshiped. I had never sung songs to Jesus or prayed corporately or listened to a pastor say things like, “All things will be made right in the end, and if this is not okay with you, it’s because it’s not the end yet.” Because my friends who lost their child are exceedingly young – 22 – the crowd skewed youthful, and it blessed me. It moved me to see a young generation saddened, confused and grieving, but lifting their hearts and minds to Jesus, the Author of life in a somewhat unconventional spot, yet so perfectly fitting. Why not celebrate life and ask questions and cry with one another – and invite Jesus to reign – in a place that regularly teems with community? It reminded me that Christ is not confined to the brick and mortar buildings we call “church” (though a phenomenal blessing to have a set apart place), but reigns in every crevice of our world. And He is delighted when we bring Him to those nooks and crannies. Above all else, I was proud of my friends who said at such young ages, “We do not grieve as the world grieves” (I Thes 4:13). They had hope that was palpable and impossible to feign. They didn’t merely speak of the fact that God works all things together for good for those who know and love Him, but they hooked that truth with a lasso and tugged it into their breaking hearts. And the church stood around them and agreed with them and God. And drank Americanos. God bless you Ben, Amy and Aiden.
A Few Other Things
It has been a whirlwind summer as I’ve been finishing up a book on the virtues entitled The Fitting Room: Putting On The Character Of Christ. It will be out in April of 2011. I say all this to let you know why I have been terribly absent from the blog. What my excuse will be for the rest of the year, I have no idea. Social media is not my strong suit. A HUGE thank you to Beth Moore and Living Proof Ministries for their enormous blessing of facilitating the Ruth study during the Summer Siesta Bible Study. I love Beth’s teaching and am grateful for real women who live with integrity and love Jesus passionately. You get all of this with Beth and her studies and live events. And, many, many thanks to all of you who participated, as well as for your kind comments. They have been a blessing. Off to water the flowers. They are dying in this Nashville heat!!!!
Kelly Minters New Blog
I have loved leading worship in many environments over the past several years - it has become one of my favorite musical expressions. I think performing is an incredibly moving and impacting experience, but, for me, I found a level of comfort and excitement while leading people in corporate worship that I had rarely experienced in my previous performance settings. My hope is to continue writing and leading worship music for the rest of my life, even if it's just me on the piano by myself one day. (Still have this dream of learning the piano - lessons coming soon...) But as I think of worship - even beyond the musical element of it - I am intrigued by the use of the word 'worship' as found in the book of Exodus. When God appointed Moses to lead the Israelites out of Egypt He said a certain phrase over and over and over again, "Let my people go, so that they may worship me." I've read through the journey of the Israelites' mass exodus out of Egypt countless times, but never remember seeing the so-that part. God delivering His people from Egypt was all about worship. We might expect something more along the lines of "Let my people go, so that they can tithe more, or keep the rules more comprehensively, or go to church every Sunday, or feed the poor, or subscribe to Christian magazines... I don't know, you can fill in the blank, but you get the point. God could have made freedom about anything, but He made it about worship. (Which, by the way, probably does entail some of the aforementioned things, but it all begins with worship). When writing my "No Other Gods" study, I remember my editor saying, "Kelly, good stuff here, but what's the point? Why should women get freed up from their idols?" This was many years ago and I had to step back and think about it. I suppose I sort of thought that getting rid of our false gods was the point, but I realized it's really just the beginning. Getting freed from anything, whether unforgiveness, bitterness, anger, greed, addiction, affairs, too many cookies, is ultimately so we are free to worship. And not just sing songs of praise, but all that worshiping God with our lives entails. (Romans 12:1) I'm pondering the things God has set me free from, but I don't want to stop there. I am thinking about the ways He desires me to worship Him in those newly freed up spaces. Let my people go, so that... So that we can worship, yes, but what does worship look like in your life and mine specifically? Does it look like fasting? Spending time with the marginalized? Dinner with a dear family member? A sacrificial tithe? Prayer? Changing a diaper? Deep laughter? Taking a missions trip? Singing songs of praise at your local church? I wonder, not what you have been set free from, but what you have been set free for? Worship for certain, but what does it look like?
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