Ryan Callahan's Blog

I love the truth TobyMac preaches in this song from his new album!  Following Jesus is awesome!  God bless you all!  Be at peace in Jesus!

“You are opening my eyes Lord to brand new possibilities!”

-TMac, Edge Of My Seat

Keep your hope flowin’ brothers and sisters!  My Dad tells me, “God has your back,” and he is right!  God has it all taken care of and He most definitely has us in His hands and nothing can snatch us out of them!

“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Romans 8:38-39

I can testify to the absolute truth of that verse!  Jesus is Lord!  Grace and peace to you all!

This verse in Ephesians is intense!  We are to live our lives wisely and make every opportunity count.  Why?  Because the days are evil!  That gives me serious pause to stop, reflect, and pray whenever I read this!  May the Lord give us wisdom and empower us to make the most of every opportunity that He gives us!  Amen!

I was doing some research this morning on the ancient Roman amphitheater you see above.  It resides in Caesarea, Israel right off the Mediterranean coast.  It is still being used today for concerts.  I would not want to see a concert there though because I know what kinds of evil things were done in that place.  Caesarea was King Herod’s city!

Consider this history lesson from Touryourway.com (Israeli Tour Company):

“Caesarea is the ancient Roman capital of Judaea, housing impressive ruins on a fully-fledged Roman town.  And no Roman town would be complete without an amphitheatre in which to enjoy the sadistic spectacles that were so popular at the time.  The city was built by King Herod in 22 BC, and with it the amphitheatre that served as a venue for a mass execution of Jews who had revolted against the Romans between 66 and 70 AD.  The thousands of captives were taken from Jerusalem where they had unsuccessfully defended the city, and killed en masse in Caesarea for the crowd’s entertainment.  65 years later, 10 sages who had been taken during the famous Bar Kochba revolt were tortured center stage, to the public’s delight.

Every five years, Herod’s port city hosted the gladiatorial games, sporting competitions, and performances.  The amphitheater was the foremost venue of entertainment, and going to see people fight to the death was the equivalent of going to see a movie.

This is the oldest Roman amphitheater still standing east of the Mediterranean.  It measures 100 meters across and seats 4,000 spectators, a huge number for the time.  It is situated by the sea in pride of place in the south of the city.  For 500 years, the amphitheater was the center of entertainment in the region.  It was home to classic Greek & Roman theatre, and later the genre of pantomime developed, and mime plays were performed which made jokes about the local Jews.”

So, that amphitheater was a place of sin, violence, death, arrogance, and mockery.  Yes, the days were indeed evil in their time and they are just as evil in our time!  Have you been on Twitter lately?  It is nuts!  There is so much violence and sin in the world right now most of us believe we are in the end times!  By reading the Scriptures in the Word of God and witnessing so many signs of the times, we might just be!  I don’t know the times or the dates of the end, but I am keeping watch brothers and sisters!

So, the Apostle Paul warns us in his letter to the Ephesians that we need to make the most of every opportunity.  Sometimes opportunities only come once and we never see them again.  When those God given opportunities show up, we should take it and give it everything we’ve got in the Lord!  Of course we always pray about all things and submit to God’s will in everything.  The Lord makes it clear when we are to move and we are to move forward in faith.  When the Lord opens doors it is exciting!

That brings me to something I want to share!  There is a Christian radio station I listen to here in Denver called WAY-FM.  The morning show helped me so much during my suffering with Celiac!  The host Brant Hansen is hilarious and witty and it was always very encouraging to listen to him.  He also has a co-host named Sherri who is also hilarious and their conversations were always uplifting to listen to when I was hurting so badly.

Two years ago in October of 2016 I emailed Brant regarding a question he talked about on his show.  This was back during the political madness of the big Presidential election (that madness is still going on).  He had asked about how people deal with the stress from it at work.  I had seen a funny bumper sticker on a mini van at church, so I bought the same one online.  I had it on my truck leading up to the election.  The photo below is what I emailed to Brant.  I am really not that cynical.  I was just tired of it all back then and I wanted to make people laugh and ease the stress.  I did see a guy laughing one day in my rear view mirror as he leaned forward to read it.  He was laughing hard too!  So funny!  Welcome to my sense of humor.

I never heard back from Brant…until a few days ago!  Yes, he emailed me back exactly two years later!  It was funny because when I got his email it was like I had just emailed him and I remembered the whole thing.  I am really encouraged that he wrote back and what he said was encouraging!  He apologized about the delay and joked about how he had finally gotten help getting organized.  Funny dude!

I did not have a published book or a blog back in 2016, so I told Brant about it in my reply.  Through that, I met his assistant who was a very nice and very helpful sister in Christ!  She was excited to hear about the book and the blog and she also said encouraging words.  I offered to send free copies of my book (you know me, I always do).  She accepted the free offer and gave me the station address where they broadcast out of Florida, so I mailed it this morning!

I don’t know what the Lord is going to do with this.  He has opened a door and created an opportunity out of an email I sent two years ago!  Amazing!  I have been praying daily for the Lord to deliver me from this disease and bless me to be able to provide for my family.  I have asked Him to allow me to earn an income somehow with my writing.  Not through this blog, this will always be free, but somehow.  Maybe the book is just for Brant to encourage and strengthen his faith, or maybe he will talk about it on his show.  I don’t know.  Either way, I am blessed and encouraged right now for just having the opportunity to send it!  Please brothers and sisters pray for me and pray over this opportunity in the power of the Holy Spirit!  May the Lord’s will be done with it!

I want to be even more open with all of you.  The days are evil and I am working for Jesus!  I have prayed that the Lord would use my book (which is my testimony) for His glory!  I have prayed that it would go out into the world and bear fruit!  I will always give away my book for free to anyone who wants one and my purpose in writing it was not to make money.  I hate money and I hate talking about it.  I wrote it and published it on Amazon because that is what the Lord told me to do.  If the Lord wants it talked about on a nationwide radio station and a bunch of people end up buying it, then I will accept that blessing, praise Him for it, and tithe it accordingly.  Then I’m paying some bills and taking my kids out for ice cream!  The most important thing is that people hear the truth God wrote through me!  I preached the truth of the Gospel in love in my book and I testified to the supernatural things God has done in my life with joy!  Again, may His will be done!  Thank you for your prayers and encouragement!

What opportunities has God brought your way?  Let me know if I can pray about anything for you too!  I pray for all of us that whatever the Lord might be doing in our lives, we would be faithful and make the most of every single opportunity He blesses us with!

Grace and peace to you all!

 

I have been reading the Word this morning, as I do every morning, and this is the single verse that the Lord had me focus on.  He gave me the nudge to make a Scripture pin, so I prayed and asked which picture I should use.  That zoom shot of the moon I took last year in June is the one He led me too.  Check that out!  Anything is possible for God!  How does He do that?!  How does the moon just hang there?  Sure all the scientists can give their answers, but it is God who holds the moon in place!  All things are possible with God!

It is God who holds everything in place!  When I look up to where my help comes from, I see a mighty God who can do all things!  Nothing is impossible for God!  He can save any soul and He can perform countless wonders and miracles!  He can send angels to help us, which I have experienced twice!  He can drive out demons, which I have done once through His powerful Holy Spirit!  He can even prevent you from dying and give you your breath back after it has stopped, which I also experienced once!

He is the God of all creation and nothing is too hard for him!  Remember that today!  No matter what you are facing in your life, God is so much bigger and more powerful than anything in this world and He can deliver you from it all!  He has given us access to great love, power, joy, and healing through Jesus Christ!  His Holy Spirit is real on earth and the Lord is moving in power every day!  Jesus is alive and the promise of salvation through Him still exists as much in our time as it did back in Bible times!

“Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: “I am the Lord, the God of all mankind.  Is anything too hard for me?”

Jeremiah 32:26-27

No Lord, nothing is too hard for You and You have proven that to me many times and I will testify!  Jesus Christ is Lord!  God has not given us any other name that can save us.  Only Jesus died for us, so we could be reconciled back into a holy relationship with God!

“Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.”

Acts 4:12

“For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men–the testimony given in its proper time.”

1 Timothy 2:5-6

Wherever you live in this world, go outside and look up today!  You can know the God who made all of this and have a deep personal relationship with Him!  This has been accomplished by God through Jesus Christ.  When you receive Jesus by faith, you enter into a reconciled relationship with your Creator who loves you deeply!  There is nothing you could do to earn this free gift from God.  It is something you must individually choose on your own as an act of your free will.

The God of all creation is offering you grace, mercy, and forgiveness through Jesus!  Will you accept that free gift or reject it?  The choice is yours!  I pray you choose Heaven and turn away from the sin, idolatry, and wickedness of this world!  There are no other gods or lords.  Jesus Christ is God in human form and He is the only One who died to forgive our sins.  Every other religion on earth is based on works and keeps people in bondage to their sin.  Jesus Christ is the only One who can set you free!  There is power in the Name of Jesus and I have witnessed it with my own eyes and experienced it in my very soul!  I hope and pray that the Lord will reveal Himself to you all in mighty and personal ways that are undeniable to your hearts!  The God who created the moon, which hangs in the sky by His great power, knows you intimately and He wants to spend eternity with you in Heaven!  Take that free gift of salvation while you still have breath and let God’s peace wash over your soul!

Grace and peace to you all in the Name above all names, Jesus Christ our Lord!

 

 

That is the very last verse in the book of John and it is incredible to think about!  After everything we know about Jesus from the Bible, there are many other things He did that were never written down.  How many more people did He heal?  How many more demons did He drive out?  How many more people did He raise from the dead?  What other kinds of miracles did He do?  I don’t know, but I know it must have been awesome!  From the time Jesus started His ministry at the age of 30 in 30 A.D. to the time He was crucified in 33 A.D. He accomplished so much that there would not be enough room in the whole world for the books about all of it!  That’s cool!

Here are just a few of the many amazing things that Jesus did!

Jesus changed water into wine (John 2:1-11), which was His first miracle!

Jesus healed the son of a royal official (John 4:43-54), which was His second miracle!

Jesus healed a man who had been unable to walk for 38 years! (John 5:1-15)

Jesus walked on water after performing a miracle of feeding 5,000 people with 5 loaves of bread and 2 small fish! (John 6:1-24)

Jesus healed a man who was born blind! (John 9:1-12)

Jesus raised a man named Lazarus from the dead! (John 11:1-44)

Most of all, Jesus died for all of us for the forgiveness of our sins and He rose back to life three days later defeating sin and death as the King of kings and Lord of lords! (John 19 and 20)

After Jesus rose from the dead and before He ascended into Heaven, He appeared to many of His followers over a period of 40 days!  He even cooked breakfast for them!  Can you imagine having the risen Lord cooking you breakfast just shortly after He was crucified?!  Amazing!  Read John chapter 21 for that.  The Apostle Peter’s reaction to seeing Jesus is great!  May we all run (and even swim) to Jesus just like that!

Check out Acts chapter 1, Mark 16:19, and Luke 24:50-53 to read about Jesus being taken up into Heaven!  Then read about what it was like when Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to earth in Acts chapter 2!  It is incredible!

Jesus did many amazing miracles, but the most amazing miracle of all is that He saved our souls!  That is a free gift from God, so accept it with joy!  God has provided a way out of sin and death and that Way is through faith in Jesus!

“That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”

Romans 10:9

Grace and peace to you all!

 

 

 

 

I am really lovin’ TobyMac’s new album!  Here is another great Holy Spirit filled song from “The Elements” called “It’s You.”  This song is beautiful and this is exactly how I feel about Jesus!  I love Him with all my heart and I pray you do too!  This life doesn’t make any sense without Jesus!  I know, I have lived both ways and I am never going back!  Like TMac says, Lord Jesus, “It’s You, It’s You, then everything else just falls in line and You will always hold this heart of mine!”  Amen!!!  Thank You Jesus!!!

Love you all!  Whatever you are fighting today, run to Jesus!  He will fight for you!  He will protect you!  He will deliver you!  He will save you!  He rescued me from the darkest darkness from the pit of hell and I know with absolutely no doubt in my heart that He can rescue you too!  He loves you and He does not want you to perish!

May He pour out His grace and peace on you always!

Grace and peace friends, flowing from Jesus every day for all eternity!  Amen!!!

 

 

 

 

Good morning everyone!  I had to go to the store this morning, and this was the view of the Rockies as I left our neighborhood!  I took these photos with my Android phone from my truck.  The mountains are covered in a perfect sugar coating of powder!  Not a big snow, but just enough to start the season off right.  It was snowing yesterday and it was 19 degrees all day!  Bye bye summer!

On my way back home, I saw the sunlight shining through the frozen tips of a couple trees.  Check this out!  It looks like they are lit up for Christmas!

God is so cool!  Speaking of Christmas, let’s just skip Halloween and go straight to celebrating Jesus!  I celebrate Christmas in my heart 365 days per year!  How about you?

“For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.”
Philippians 1:21

I am praying we all have a blessed and peaceful Monday as we start this new week full of new opportunities and new possibilities!

Grace and peace to you all!

 

 

 

These are two very important verses that I quote often.  22 years ago I came to a point in my life where I understood that life was all about Jesus and what He did for me.  That realization changed everything for me!  My life is still all about Jesus and it will continue to be all about Him until my very last breath!  Even then His Name will be on my lips as I transition to glory in the power of the Holy Spirit!  Amen!

Wherever you are at in life, please consider these two verses in Romans.  Jesus Christ is the only One who ever died to forgive all of your sins!  No other faith claims such a thing.  That makes a lot of people mad, but it shouldn’t!  Jesus Christ died to save your soul!  There is nothing you could do to earn that free gift from God.  That is great news, so rejoice, don’t be mad!  No amount of meditation or burning of incense or good works or any other religious ceremony is ever going to save your soul.  You might become enlightened in some worldly way from such things, but it does nothing for your soul.  Meditating all day might be great for blood pressure, but it does not get you to Heaven.

Every other faith in the world puts a direct emphasis on what YOU have to do to earn your salvation, and that is not from God.  Salvation is a free gift from God.  It is all about what HE did for us.  There is nothing we can do to get to Heaven on our own.  Christianity is about trusting in Jesus Christ for our salvation through faith.  It is also about making Him Lord of our lives as we follow Him and obey His Word.  He is our Lord and He is our Savior, and there is no other.

“Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.”

Acts 4:12

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith–and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God–not by works, so that no one can boast.”

Ephesians 2:8-9

I gave my life to Jesus because I was coming out of a horrifying supernatural experience that lasted 4 years.  I know most of you who believe did not come to Jesus that way.  I hope and pray that my testimony will help people come to Jesus.  People need to know the spiritual realm is real and they need to know how serious the choice is regarding their eternal souls!  Believers, we need to warn them, so don’t give up!  Keep preaching using the gifts God gave you and in the style and manner He does through you!  Your labor in the Lord is never in vain!  His Word always bears fruit when it is sent out into the world!  Amen Lord Jesus!

“For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile–the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in?  And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard?  And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?  And how can they preach unless they are sent?  As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”

Romans 10:12-15

“Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.”

Romans 10:17

I was having a very hard day today folks.  I have been getting hit with everything from discouragement to depressing thoughts to anxiety, so I did everything I could today to dig in and focus my mind, heart, and soul on Jesus!  After spending the day in prayer and reading His Word, I am doing just fine and I am strong in Him!  Now I am writing this!

I really wish I could convey to every unbeliever just how awesome the Holy Spirit is, but it is something that needs to be experienced to be fully understood!  When you give your life to Jesus, He fills you with His Holy Spirit, which guarantees your inheritance in Heaven!  This is not an analogy or a metaphor.  The Holy Spirit of God is real and God exists on earth by His Spirit, which is inside every believer in Jesus Christ.  It is the Holy Spirit that gives us power to live righteous and holy lives before God!  God also gives us spiritual gifts in the Holy Spirit, which are to be used for His glory as we share the gospel and help people.  The Holy Spirit is the “streams of living water” flowing inside of us that Jesus talked about in John 7:38!

“And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation.  Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession–to the praise of his glory.”

Ephesians 1:13-14

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Acts 1:8

“There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit.  There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord.  There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men.  Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.”

1 Corinthians 12:4-7

All these things are offered to you for free from God!  He is not asking you to do a certain number of chants, or burn incense, or sacrifice animals, and He definitely does not want you doing those things to idols.  Accepting Jesus Christ is a choice of your free will and you must believe in Him to be saved!

“Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father except through me.”

John 14:6

I love you all!  You know I lived in a real haunted house in high school and Jesus saved my family from that demon!  I have told you about God’s mighty and beautiful angels and what God did for me not once, but twice with them!  You also know that the Lord saved me from death in 2012 and that if He had not done that, I would not be here telling you these things!

God gave me my breath back and I am going to use that breath to glorify His Name!  Jesus is still saving souls!  He is alive!  I can testify to that!  He was right there with me when I stopped breathing and He never left my side!  I will never forget the immense love, peace, and painlessness that was all around me and through me!  Please repent and turn to Jesus!  Repent just means change your mind.  Change your mind about living life your own way as if you know better than God.  Turn from your sins and turn to your Creator, be forgiven through Jesus, and live!  He wants to save you from death, which we live in the shadow of every day and which will come for all of us someday!

Let me tell you something!  I already died once and it is beautiful in Jesus and you are going to want to know Him and have a deep relationship with Him at your last breath!  Please trust me in this, I am not messing with you.  The only reason I was safe when I stopped breathing is because of Jesus Christ!  The Holy Spirit of God is powerful and my wife and I were blessed to experience the full measure of that power when the Lord brought me back!  Jesus is the resurrection and the life!

Many people are ashamed of Jesus and they mock Him and His followers.  I am not ashamed!  I love Jesus Christ!  I know Him and He is a close personal friend of mine!  He is still right here with me and He never leaves me!  He is also my Lord and Savior!  I spend my days introducing people to Him because He delivered me from darkness and death and He saved my soul!

He will forgive all of your sins and save your soul too!  He is the only One who can!

Grace and peace to you all!

 

 

I accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior in October of 1996!  I was a Freshman in college.  It was a Friday and although I don’t remember the exact date, I’m pretty sure it was the second week in October, which would have been Friday October 11, 1996.  I have officially been following Jesus for 22 years now and I give absolutely all the glory to Him for that!

Words cannot express just how awesome and powerful it has been following Jesus since I was 18 years old!  If you read my book, then you know just how awesome God really is and that nothing is impossible for Him!  We live in a supernatural world and we are spiritual beings with eternal souls!  If you would like a free copy of my eBook, let me know, and I will hook you up with one!

I can tell you right now that I would not have made it this far without Jesus Christ!  I would not have met my wife.  I would not have kids.  And I definitely would not be out here preaching every day and night!  All the glory goes to Jesus for everything He has done in my life!

Jesus delivered me from a demon after saving me in 1996!  Jesus gave me encounters with angels in 1998!  Jesus saved me by a miracle of the Holy Spirit on 4-28-2012 after I stopped breathing!  Jesus forgave me and saved my soul!  Jesus is Lord and I’m going to testify!  Hallelujah!!!

When I first started this blog at the urging of the Lord, I wrote out my testimony.  I wrote it in two parts on the same day.  If you would like to know about the supernatural way I came to Jesus and how you can be saved too, please read the posts below!  Today is the day of salvation and the month of October is a great month to be saved!

Heart Poured Out

Real Talk

If you would like to know the details of what happened to me when I stopped breathing, please read this:

My Lazarus Moment

I am praying for all of you and I pray the Lord reveals Himself to you all in mighty and powerful ways just like He has for me!  Ask Jesus to reveal Himself to you!  You will be surprised at how awesome His answer will be!

God bless you all in the Name of Jesus!

THANK YOU LORD JESUS, I LOVE YOU!!!

 

 

 

 

TobyMac’s new ablum “The Elements” is so good I had to post another song!  This is called “See The Light” and the Holy Spirit is flowing in it!  I pray the Lord touches your hearts and lifts you up through this song!  Give your burdens to Jesus!  Keep going and don’t give up!  He loves you so much!  We will see His face someday!  We will see His light shining forever!  God bless you all!  Come to Jesus today!

“Lift your hands up to where your help is comin’ from and let your burdens let ’em fade away!” -TobyMac

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

Romans 15:13

Grace and peace to you all!

 

 

Last Friday I talked about TobyMac’s new album!  It came out yesterday and it is awesome!  I highly recommend it!  I have been sending tweets to TMac letting him know I appreciate it and blessing him in the Lord!  Here is a great song called “Overflow” from his new album called “The Elements.”  I pray it is an encouragement to you all!  Have a blessed and peaceful Saturday!

“…You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.”

Psalm 23:5

Grace and peace brothers and sisters!  Grace and peace!