Author Ryan Shelton
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Ryan Shelton

Ryan Shelton is a church musician and teacher in Evanston, Illinois, where he serves as worship director of Winnetka Bible Church. He is an alumnus of the worship concentration M.Div. program at Bethlehem College and Seminary.
Article
Are You Leeching the Local Church?

Are You Leeching the Local Church?

Sep 21, 2014
I used to think the local church would cramp my style and build a barrier to authentic spirituality. That idea died when a pastor said something that disturbed me.
Ryan Shelton
Sep 21, 2014
Article
Corporate Worship Is Better Than Your Quiet Time

Corporate Worship Is Better Than Your Quiet Time

Oct 26, 2014
It’s Sunday morning. You finally made it through the one lane of traffic not quarantined by the orange cones that descended overnight like locusts. You carefully maneuver the parking labyrinth as your child kicks the back of your car seat. . . .
Ryan Shelton
Oct 26, 2014
Article
Leave Your Poker Face at the Door

Leave Your Poker Face at the Door

Nov 9, 2014
One of the things we tell our worship team volunteers is that “bad poker players” make great worship leaders...
Ryan Shelton
Nov 9, 2014
Article
Put on Your Priestly Robe

Put on Your Priestly Robe

Nov 30, 2014
God made you a royal priest to proclaim his excellencies. We proclaim him to the nations, but also to our brothers and sisters.
Ryan Shelton
Nov 30, 2014
Article
The Church Is Not Your Frat House

The Church Is Not Your Frat House

Apr 12, 2015
In college, I joined a club that sought to foster a sense of community through secrecy. We sought to build fraternity through exclusivity, private ritual experiences, and of course, password-handshakes.
Ryan Shelton
Apr 12, 2015
Article
You Only Live Once?

You Only Live Once?

Get Free from the Tyranny of YOLO

May 26, 2015
It might surprise some Millennials to hear that one of our generational battle cries is fairly old school. The popular acronym YOLO (you only live once) has captured the hearts of many an emerging hedonist (and not the Christian kind)…
Ryan Shelton
May 26, 2015
Article
Worship Is Our Weekly Detox

Worship Is Our Weekly Detox

Jul 12, 2015
The plans were all set — with no time to wait for the weather to clear up. Five college freshman piled into a silver Saturn Ion to make the drive from Dallas to Chicago as an ice storm stretched across…
Ryan Shelton
Jul 12, 2015
Article
Godward Together on Sunday Morning

Godward Together on Sunday Morning

Oct 18, 2015
Every worship team must decide how much of each Sunday will be vertical, and how much will be horizontal. Much of what we do, though, in the Christian life and in Christian worship cannot be called just one or the other. No, our loves for God and one another are intimately and critically related.
Ryan Shelton
Oct 18, 2015
Article
Seven Reasons to Celebrate Advent

Seven Reasons to Celebrate Advent

Nov 30, 2015
I didn’t grow up with Advent, but I have grown to love it. It is not mandated in Scripture, but there are good reasons to consider making it part of your December.
Ryan Shelton
Nov 30, 2015
Article
What Happens When the Spirit Falls?

What Happens When the Spirit Falls?

Feb 28, 2016
We often pray and ask for the Spirit to fall in corporate worship, but what does that mean? What would it look like for God to answer that prayer this weekend?
Ryan Shelton
Feb 28, 2016
Article
Fight Anxiety Without Fear

Fight Anxiety Without Fear

May 10, 2016
Anxiety is a strong and elusive enemy who buries himself deep inside of us. We need God’s light to see into the darkness and help us fight.
Ryan Shelton
May 10, 2016
Article
Only Our God Speaks

Only Our God Speaks

Sep 25, 2016
The Christian God is a God of promises and demands, of vows and instruction and holy warnings — he is the God who speaks. Only the voice of this God can speak life into our worship.
Ryan Shelton
Sep 25, 2016
Article
Do You Play Hide-and-Seek in Worship?

Do You Play Hide-and-Seek in Worship?

Nov 13, 2016
Christians worship the only God who sees us as we are all the time. So when we come to worship Jesus, we can’t hope to hide, but we can expect to be found.
Ryan Shelton
Nov 13, 2016
Article
Sing Like Men

Sing Like Men

Jan 29, 2017
Heartless masculinity that refuses to express itself in song is a counterfeit. True manhood is too impressed with the glory of God to be emotionless.
Ryan Shelton
Jan 29, 2017
Article
Our Sins Are Many, His Mercy Is More

Our Sins Are Many, His Mercy Is More

May 21, 2017
No sin is so small that we don’t need God’s forgiveness, or so big that we can’t find it in Jesus.
Ryan Shelton
May 21, 2017
Article
The Edible Sermon

The Edible Sermon

Three Reasons We Eat Together

Sep 2, 2017
The Lord’s Supper is not an arbitrary practice for Christians. Eating bread and drinking wine become an edible sermon for those who feast on Christ in faith.
Ryan Shelton
Sep 2, 2017

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