Ryan King
Born: June 30th in Boise, ID
Coby is Ryan's older brother
Verse: Hebrews 12:1-2
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.”
Hero: "Hands down…mom. She has shown me what laying your life down for the sake of others means. I believe much in my life is an answer to her many prayers. "
Coffee: "At Dominican Joe I order an Irish Cream Latte. If I absolutely have to go to Starbucks, then an iced grande white mocha with 3 pumps and no whip… you know… something simple."
Music: U2, Patti Griffin, John Mayer, Chris Tomlin, Green River Ordinance
Movies: Braveheart, Saving Private Ryan, Three Amigos
If Ryan could spend an evening with anyone who lived in the past 1000 years, he'd spend it with Charles Spurgeon. He was an amazing preacher who knew the heights and depths of walking with Christ. He was also pretty fun to be around from what I hear.
Life Story
Like many people who grew up in the “Bible Belt,” I was raised in church. When I was about 5 years old I prayed with my mom to accept Jesus into my heart. Looking back, I would say that I had genuine affections for my idea of who God was, but in my heart, I was still hostile to God. From any outside appearances or actions, it would have been hard to tell. In fact, I was heavily involved in my youth group and participated in many mission trips throughout my junior high years. The hostility was inward, hidden. Secretly, my highest goal was to be liked… more than liked, I wanted to be envied by as many people as possible. It wasn’t until the end of my freshman year of college that God showed me what it meant to surrender my life to Christ. For a long time I thought that if I had prayed ‘the prayer’, or if I told God that I loved him, and even felt guilty about the things that I did that he didn’t ‘approve’ of on a regular basis, then that was evidence of a good relationship with Christ. It wasn’t until the end of my freshman year in college that I was confronted with what God says about having a relationship with him. A friend of mine from home confronted me with the Scriptures and humbly showed me what God said about my life. We looked at several passages together, including 1 Peter 4:1-5 which says,
“Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God. The time that is past suffices for doing what the Gentiles want to do, living in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry. With respect to this they are surprised when you do not join them in the same flood of debauchery, and they malign you; but they will give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.”
I thought that Christians who actually made their decisions based on the Bible were the radicals, but according to 1 Peter, to follow Christ meant to suffer in the flesh with him. If Christ died on the cross to free me from Sin and took the just punishment for sinning against God upon himself, then to follow Christ actually meant that I died to Sin along with Christ. I realized that Christ wanted my whole life, he wanted my thoughts, my actions, my affections, everything.
Since that time, I have attempted to grow in my understanding of what it means to follow Christ. I won’t say that from that moment on life has been perfect. From that moment on, I did not become perfect in my actions and thoughts. I continue to see areas in my life where I actively go against what God desires for me as well as areas where I try to earn approval from him and from others by performing hollow actions that appear spiritual. Thankfully my approval before God doesn’t depend on living a perfect life until the day I die, but my perfection is with Christ who is already at the right hand of the Father in heaven. I hold on to the promise of Christ in John 6:39, “And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day."
I have also seen that the call to die to ‘worldly desires’ doesn’t mean to die to all desires. It is actually the opposite. I have learned by experience that God created these deep, powerful desires to be satisfied in him. Several promises immediately come to mind when I think about this such as Psalm 37:4,”Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart”, and Psalm 34:8, “Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!”
My goal in life is to know Christ as much as I possibly can and to make him known to others. I want as much joy and satisfaction as is possible and I am convinced that Christ is the only source of either that is real.
"…To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!" (Revelation 5:13b)
Vision for The Austin Stone
To see The Stone continue to grow as a body that follows Christ no matter the cost, that holds the value and authority of Scripture high, and that loves one another just as Christ loved us so that the world may see him and give him the worship he deserves.
Anything else people
should know about you?
Right now the hub of my world lies at Congress and Riverside. If I’m not around the office, I’m probably working or studying at Dominican Joe. Stop by and say hey sometime.