Ryan Heller

My mind has been filled with so many thoughts today. I am celebrating my 40th birthday. Each time I hit a milestone in my life it makes me reflect on who I am, what I am about and where I am going. Today I have been thanking God for the men of God who have invested in my life. At key times in my spiritual Journey God has used special people to direct me towards the heart of God. Their example, words, and life styles have made a deep and profound impact on my life.
As a high school student I was blessed to be a part of a fantastic student ministry at FBC Dallas. Men of God like Warren Samuels set a godly example of faith, commitment and passion. I didn’t spend a lot of personal time with Warren but I learned so much from him by watching his character and commitment. Under Warren’s leadership I first began to feel the call of God to be a pastor.
As I was finishing my Masters degree I joined the staff at Hyde Park Baptist Church in Austin, TX. I learned many things while working with college students at UT Austin. Dr. Kie Bowman taught me so much about evangelism. Everywhere he went he was leading people to Christ. We literally baptized new believers 7 days a week. One of our church rules was the baptistery always had to be full. I quickly began to follow his example. During my five years in Austin we saw over 500 students follow Jesus. I had never been around an anointed evangelist like Dr. Bowman. Following his lead I began to understand the why’s and the how’s to winning people to Christ. Every week I am still practicing the things he taught me about leading people to faith. As I was leaving Hyde Park I met John Worcester the greatest church planter I have ever known. John has started more churches than I can count. He answered my questions and trained me in church planting. I am so grateful for the time and energy he invested in me. John helped me see what it means to live by faith and to follow the call of God with boldness. God has also used Dr. Claude Thomas, from C3 Global, in my life as well. Several years ago I was going through a trying time in my ministry. He told me I had the makings of a mega church pastor and with a few tweaks I could accomplish amazing things for God’s kingdom. He believed in me when others did not and his vote of confidence helped me forge forward with audacity and vision. More recently Bil Cornelius has played a huge part in my spiritual development. Bil is the pastor of Bay Area Fellowship in Corpus Christi, TX. I was planning to start a church in San Antonio he challenged me not to go to San Antonio but to go outside the Bible belt. One conversation with Bil forever changed my life. He said, “Ryan go to the West or to the North East to start your church—not San Antonio.” I concluded that God was speaking to me through my friend and I scrapped my plans to start a second church in Texas. I’ve loved starting a church in the Western United States. Moving to Aurora, CO is one of the best decisions I have ever made and I can’t imagine being anywhere else. We have already seen more that 250 people give their hearts to Christ in Colorado.
I hope and pray I can inspire others the way that other men have inspired me. God has been good and I can’t wait to see what He does in the next decade of my life.