My Journey with God So Far
I grew up in a Christian home. My mother and father were married for 21 years. They had six children. My father went to be with the Lord in December of 2001. Although my mother loved to frequent the latest revivals in town, we were members at Champion Forest Baptist Church (SBC) for most of my childhood and into my high school years and beyond. I was blessed to see CFBC grow from a smaller church to a multi-campus church, where I participated in its youth camps and, later, served on the young adults’ ministry team. Some of my fondest memories as a youth are from youth camp when we were all crammed in a bunkhouse worshipping to DC Talk and Jars of Clay! However, I still don’t know if the euphoria during those nights were from Skittle sugar highs or from the Lord. Probably both.
I always knew my mother and father loved me and my siblings. However, we had our challenges, and over the years my father was less involved in church than my mother and us children. Somewhere along the way, which I attribute to, in large part, bad influences at school, my heart and behavior drifted from the Lord. Following my father’s death, I especially acted out, and things at home were often chaotic and difficult. I continued on a party path and unhealthy lifestyle for many years. Yet through this time I never completely rejected my faith and I always had a strong sense of the Bible as God’s Word, which I turned to in my weakest and most shameful moments.
There came a point when I was 22 that my choices and lifestyles had finally caught up to me—the years of heartache from not following Jesus came to its head. I was broken. I was tired of living so ashamed and defeated for so long, and my teen years of foolishness finally broke me down. I vividly y remember a time at church. I was standing at the front after an altar call. The pastor’s message was simple. But everything changed when he looked at me with concern and compassion and said, “Ryan, God wants to work in your life.” And that was it. It wasn’t much, but over the next few days God used it in a powerful way. I began to call on the Lord in a way like never before. I remember the next few days, weeks, and even months were marked by tears of repentance and tears of joy. God’s presence was very powerful and real in my life during that first year, and I found myself praising and worshipping the Lord wherever I went: on a run, in the car, at work, i n my home. Friends and family were astonished. And I was overwhelmed with the goodness of God in allowing me to see that Jesus saved me and set my feet upon a rock—something very much needed in my life.
However, over the course of my second year as a believer, I had many questions my current church was not answering. (It was not CFBC at the time.) How did God save me? Why did God save me? What now? Is this pastor’s message from the Bible? I knew part of those answers, but I knew I was missing a lot. Then something changed. I received a copy of Knowing God by JI Packer from my mother. Long story short, that book set me on a path to know God in a deeper way than mere emotion or experience I had really appreciated during that first year as a believer. I wanted to know God through his Word, and chiefly through Jesus, who was revealed in the Word. So, I set out on a relentless path to study the Word, and a huge desire was to study the Word in its original languages in Hebrew and Greek.
During this time, I had a strong sense of a call to ministry, driven by a passion to preach the gospel and expound the scriptures. This call was confirmed by my then church Champion Forest Baptist Church (SBC), of which I was a leader at the time for the young adult’s ministry. I started to look for seminaries. God led me to a small seminary in the Rocky Mountains that prioritized learning the original languages in order to teach and preach expository messages from the Bible. My main concern was to be adept in studying the scriptures to teach and preach the Bible.
I graduated in 2013. Immediately following seminary, I was blessed to serve as the senior pastor of Redeemer Christian Fellowship, a non-denominational church in the alien capital of the world, Roswell, NM. I had the unique experience to begin my pastoral ministry as a single man who was raising and homeschooling my 12-year-old brother. In my last two years of the Master of Divinity program at Sanger de Cristo Seminary, my little brother was having trouble at home, so he came to live with me in the mountains. Following graduation, he came to Roswell, NM. I served at Redeemer for about seven years. In 2014, I met the love of my life—and we met online! Imagine that. Nine months later we were married. In 2019 I became the Dean of Students at my former seminary. I am wrapping up my Doctor of Ministry from Covenant Theological Seminary. And we have five kiddos under eight!
I have been happily married to my wife Emily for 9 years. She is a wonderful person in so many ways. She loves theology, music, kids, and cultivating community in whatever church family she finds herself in. She is a phenomenal pianist and has been teaching piano since college (TCU piano performance degree). She grew up at Trinity Baptist Church, where she stayed through her late twenties, playing in the worship band, leading women’s and teen girls Bible studies, and doing weekly outreach in Louisiana prisons and homeless shelters. She comes from a strong Christian homeschooled family. She is passionate about ministry, growing in her faith, homeschooling our children, and teaching piano. I like to say she is one of my heroes in the faith, and I am overwhelmingly thankful for her loving commitment to our family and our calling in ministry together.
God has blessed us with three boys and two girls so far! We have James (8), Luke (6), Matthew (5), Kate (3), and Emma (7 months). We are enjoying the homeschool experience with them. I am having the time of my life raising my children. (Side note: my kids and I love to cook outside. You can see some of our cooking videos on the Facebook page link below.) We also have two female Dobermans who enjoy chasing unsuspecting cyclists as they zoom along our fence line.
My family plays a huge role in ministry with me. Emily and I have loved doing ministry together and bringing our kids into the process. Besides the fun work of deep Biblical study at my desk, ministry is largely about people and families—people and families coming together and spurring growth as our lives intersect in authentic ways. Because of that, as a family unit we reach out, encourage, and grow with those under our care.
My wife is passionate about theology and ministry, so she sharpens and encourages me in this sphere. I often bring my boys along in visitations or my wife and I encourage them to pray for those around us. We see ministry as an opportunity to pull our kids into the adventure of serving God and his people, to give them a love for it and to include them in as much as possible. Rather than ministry competing with family life, we see ministry as a catalyst to grow us deeper together as a family.
Balancing the demands of ministry and family and personal life can be challenging. Early on in ministry, I did not fully understand this. But after experiencing different ministerial contexts (both church and higher education), I am thankful for the different settings that have allowed me to practice this balancing act. I don’t have it all mastered, but I believe I have made strides in creating a healthy environment for us as a family in full-time ministry. A few things continue to help this delicate dynamic.
One, spiritual self-care is a non-negotiable. The very nature of pastoral ministry demands that I am pursuing the lord with all my heart, soul, and mind so that I can encourage God’s family to do the same.
Two, it has been important that I am gauging and looking after the spiritual health of my wife and kids. Frequently, we watch sermons together from other pastors/churches . We also read books and do devotions together that encourage us to pursue the Lord together and individually.
Three, physical self-care has played a big role for me to balance the demands of ministry and personal life. I have a strict workout and run routine that provides an outlet to relive stress and be connected to God’s world. I have found that taking care of myself physically does wonders to minimize stress and enhance my knowledge work and emotional demands as a pastor.
Four, we make sure we are taking breaks, trips, and regular rest days as a family. We love tent camping, fishing, and sight-seeing. We set aside a day of the week to rest. We love eating out, and we love to spend time with friends. I have found that these things create a balance and harmony in life even in seasons when ministry can threaten to overwhelm.
And five, cultivating my relationship with my wife is crucial for maintaining a healthy life balance. Because we are in ministry together in ways different than a secular job, it is very important we are communicating with each other about our spiritual life, stress level, and kids. So we talk. And we talk. And we talk. And we pursue the Lord together.
God has been very faithful in shepherding our family. We are excited about stepping into this next chapter of life and ministry together.