From the Streets to the Pulpit with a New Purpose, with Ryan Lopez

In the inaugural episode of the Living Testimonies Podcast, I engage in a heartfelt conversation with my dear friend and brother in Christ, Pastor Ryan Lopez of Brookpark Community Church. Ryan wears many hats – he's a father, a husband, a deputy commissioner, and a pastor. His transformative journey from a drug dealer to a period of incarceration, and finally to redemption and pastoral ministry is sure to inspire you.

Transcript

Israel Caminero: 0:21

Welcome to the first ever episode of the Living Testimonies Podcast. My name is Israel Camanero, and I'm excited to be here today. I hope everyone listening is doing well. Not only is this my first episode, I'd like to introduce you to a good friend of mine, my first guest ever, and his name is Ryan Lopez. Now let me tell you about Ryan, a little background on him. He's an ex drug dealer, and now he's a pastor and a deputy commissioner with the city of Cleveland. How you doing today, Ryan? I'm doing good. How you doing? I'm doing good. I ain't seen you in a while. So the funny thing about today is that I picked this date because it's our tenth year of knowing each other. I actually met Ryan at uh another friend's wedding, and we were sitting together, and we just got to talking, and when we started talking, it was like we've known each other for years. Like he ran with people that I used to run with. You know, he knows like a lot of people that I used to know. And it's like, how did we not run into each other back then? And that's the story between uh me and Ryan, you know, and and he's been a mentor to me as far as you know my spiritual uh travel with Jesus. You know, he he kind of nudged me that day to go to the church, and I kind of went to the church on a dare, you know, just to like kind of shut him up. Him and his wife, both of them, they kept saying, You need to go to the church, you need to go to church. And uh I was like, you know what, I'm just gonna go just to shut them up. And I'll tell you what, I went to that church and I never stopped going ever since that day. And I just want to say thanks to Ryan for just keep uh keeping on me that day. So um, Ryan, would you like to share anything about you right now before we pray and get into your story?

Ryan Lopez: 2:14

Yeah, um I'm grateful to be here for your first guests. Uh it is our 10-year anniversary of knowing each other. Um I just turned 50 on December 28th. I've been married 20 years. I have three kids, 26 going on 20 and going on 18. Uh, I've been with the city of Cleveland almost 15 years, and I've been pastoring 13 years.

Israel Caminero: 2:42

Amen. Amen. So I'm gonna say a quick prayer for us before we get started with your with your story, and I'll tell you it's a it's an awesome story. Hopefully it'll touch someone out there that's listening. And um, I just want to say uh thank you, Father, for this day. Thank you for all your provision and what you do for us on an everyday basis, Lord, for the grace you give us. Thank you for putting it in my heart to start this podcast and to just being able to touch someone um that may listen to it, Lord. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Amen. So, Ryan, um, you know, like I said before, you you were an ex-drug dealer, now you're a pastor and uh deputy commissioner. So I just want you to tell me a little bit of your story on, you know, where it all started, you know, like back to where you weren't a Christ follower and you were just running the streets and you know what happened and how God shaped your life and all of this and where you're at now.

Ryan Lopez: 3:49

Okay, well, I was born and raised Catholic. I went to Catholic school my whole life. I was uh Catholic almost 20 for 26 years almost. Um I always had this faith in God. I I believed in God. I don't know if it was you want to call it faith or not, but I always had this belief, but I always thought God was away somewhere, like he was up in heaven and he wasn't bothered with us here. Um and so being raised Catholic again had a good foundation of Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and God the Father. Well, I got into selling drugs through running with guys on the streets. Uh, all my friends were public school kids. Uh, not that that makes them bad people, it's just that's what it was in our neighborhood. And um I just uh saw the kind of money they were making, I saw what they were doing. Uh it got to a point I'm the youngest of three. My parents started to have marital issues, and so after going through that with my parents, my they ended up divorcing. I started running the streets more and more and came to a place where I was like, Well, I'm gonna sell drugs to help my mother. Um, my mother at that time, she already had left the Catholic Church. Uh she became born again, um and she started serving Jesus. And so she was always praying for me, she was always talking to me about God, and again, just from that Catholic foundation, I I I didn't not believe in God, I just thought, you know, I'm living my life and I'll make time for God later. So as I was engulfed in that life for several years, probably uh five, six, seven years at this point, um my mother warned me through a dream she had. Uh my sister, I'll never forget being out. My sister was blowing up my pager at the time because cell phones weren't really as they are today, but everyone had pagers. And so I remember being paged probably about a hundred times, and I thought someone died. So when I woke up, I stayed at a friend's house and I called. My mom was a mess. Said the Lord woke her up out of her sleep and told her to tell me that if I didn't stop selling drugs, that I was gonna get caught. And the only reason why I hadn't got caught yet is because was his mercy, because of her prayers for me. And so I always looked at my mom as this, you know, holy person anyway. And so I just thought, well, I better slow down who I mess around with, who I uh sell drugs to, who I run with. And so 30 days later, I got caught in a in a sting in Lakewood, just like my mother told me I was going to, just like the Lord told her. And so I kind of thought, well, was this real or not real? Well, my sister and her husband and kids were transitioning and living with my parents until they got their house. So she woke the whole household up as she was praying for me that morning. So I thought, well, okay, that you know, this is something that happened. But again, yeah, I just thought, well, I better just be careful who I deal with. And it was the guy that I grew up with since I was probably 10 years old, was the guy that we got caught with.

Israel Caminero: 7:28

Isn't it funny how it always works that way? Yeah. The closest person that you're with is the one that you get in trouble with. And uh it's amazing how God used your w your mom, you know, yeah, to reveal this stuff. And as a mother, you know, she was probably hurting when, you know, God revealed this to her, and she was trying to tell you the right thing to do, but of course we are who we are at that time, and we don't listen until it's too late.

Ryan Lopez: 7:59

Yeah, so I I got caught, and so I I remember going to tell my mother, and uh my sister bailed me out. My mother, when I told her, she wept and she wept and she wept, and she's like, I told you God is real. I told you he warned me. Why didn't you listen? And so that was probably in that was in January of '99. So come August of 99, I went to a change of plea hearing, and um I had I had to agree to a plea bargain for one year. Or they were gonna try to knock me with five years. So I took the plea bargain, went away for a year. I went to my change of plea hearing, they took me right there, which I didn't anticipate. So I'm up in prison now, I'm in the county jail. After eight days in the county jail, they ship me to Lorraine Correctional Institute in Grafton, where I received my institution number. And from there, that's a midway point where you know you get your number, and then from there they ship you to your institution where you're gonna do your time. So um I'm working, I was probably at the Lorraine Correctional for 62 days, it was. I remember it clearly because just how my story lines up. I I just remember 62 days. Well, I was married for a short time, and so I remember calling home. Um and you know, I I didn't get married for the right reasons. It was someone I just met. It was just, you know, I got in trouble. It's like, you know, it was more of a an emotional feeling than it was the will of God, let me say that.

Israel Caminero: 9:42

Right, someone to have while you were going through your little crisis in jail to talk to and write to.

Ryan Lopez: 9:47

And they were very supportive of me at the time. But so I remember calling home from Lorraine, and I was a porter, which I helped clean the dorm I was in, and so that that allowed me to use the phone at different times than everyone else could. At that time, you can only use the phone like three times a week and you're locked down 23 hours a day. So I remember calling because I was as a porter, I was allowed out of my cell and doing cleaning, and again, that we were allowed to use the phone at different times. I remember calling and I wasn't there, you know, very long. I wasn't, I probably wasn't even there a month yet. And I just remember, you know, her being upset. We had just bought a house in Lorraine, and she was crying and upset, and we didn't even know what kind of monthly bills we would have as far as um you know, utilities. We knew the mortgage, and and I'm gone, and now she's by herself, she had two kids, and uh she was upset, and rightfully so. So it was that moment that I started to realize how many people's lives I hurt by making the choices I made.

Israel Caminero: 10:52

Okay.

Ryan Lopez: 10:54

So that day I left the phone area, I was a little teary-eyed and I was upset. And I'm like, man, you know, I I didn't mean to hurt people. I was doing it to make money, I was doing it to live a lavish lifestyle, I wasn't doing it to necessarily hurt people, and uh, that wasn't my thinking anyway. So there was a gentleman there who saw me leave the phone area, and this gentleman spoke to me the next morning. He was also a porter, he was a laundry porter, and um he began to minister to me. We went to recreation that Friday morning. It was Friday, September 19th of 1999. We went to recreation that morning for two hours, and all he did was share scriptures with me. Now the ironic thing is he wasn't a Christian, he was a Muslim.

Israel Caminero: 11:46

Wow.

Ryan Lopez: 11:47

So being a Muslim, he was trying to show me hypocrisy of the Bible from Old Testament to New Testament. Well, now being a seasoned man of God, I know that you know the Old Testament is a prophecy of the New Testament and the the New Testament is the fulfillment of the Old Testament. And so but he kept trying to show hypocrisy of the Bible and why um he was trying to, you know, get me to become Muslim. You know, I you know, I just didn't feel that. But every scripture he shared with me just kind of like pricked my heart. It was talking to you, he was speaking to me like and I just couldn't let it go. So we left recreation. And all day I was just like, I just couldn't stop thinking about these scriptures and these verses, and not that I remembered every single one or the location of them, but they were just there, they were like something was changing on the inside of me. And so I remember that night, it was eight o'clock that night, and I went into a bathroom for the porters, which it was a cell, but it was no uh no beds in there, it was just a bathroom for the porters. Went in there and I shut it, and I just remember saying, Lord Jesus, if you are who you say you are, come into my life, come into my heart. And I remember falling to my knees and I began to weep and I began to feel a heat come over me, a warmth. And I heard a voice, and I heard this voice speaking to me, and I just began to say, God, I'm so sorry. I always knew you were real and thought you were real, but I didn't know you were real with us here. And so I had this encounter with the Lord, and I I surrendered my heart to the Lord. And so I didn't know exactly what happened still. I remember going to the next waking up the next morning, and I remember the weights coming off of me. I had a bunch of weight on my back. Uh I I all this weight came off my life. I didn't talk to Sane, cursing was gone. I was one of those guys that every a word out of my mouth was a cuss word. It was gone. I was delivered instantly of that. I remember looking in a uh in a steel plate they used for a mirror in the cell and putting water on my face and saying, What happened to you?

Israel Caminero: 14:01

Amen.

Ryan Lopez: 14:02

And so the next Tuesday I had a visit coming from my mom and my sister, and I couldn't wait to tell her I gave my life to Jesus.

Israel Caminero: 14:11

Wow. So isn't it funny how God uses someone to shape and change you? I mean, this guy was a Muslim and he was trying to become a he was trying to make you become a Muslim and speak against the Bible, and God used that to change you, to change your heart to be the man you are today. Like you just went and looked up the scripture and gave your life to God that night, and like you said, he came down and he delivered you from the sorrow that you were facing for hurting all these people because of the things that you've did, and you know, while you were in the outs. You said your mom came to visit you that day.

Ryan Lopez: 14:55

So the next Tuesday I got a visit from my mom and my sister, and and I couldn't wait to tell her, Hey, I gave my life to Jesus finally. And so I came in there and I said, Mom, I gotta tell you something. And she's like, I already know. Wow, amen. And I'm like, what do you mean? In my mind, I'm like, Yeah, right. How do you know, you know? And she says to me, she looked me square in the eyes and she said, I already know you gave your life to Jesus. And so in my mind, I'm like, How the heck does this woman know that? Well, she said, you know, I I was at a prayer service last Friday, and uh a woman that just joined our church, who didn't know my personal life, walked up to me and told me that uh the Lord told me to tell you to stop worrying about your son in prison, that he just took over his life. Amen. Amen. And so I asked my mom, what time was this at? And she said, at the eight o'clock hour, and that was the hour that I was on my knees accepting Christ. Wow, that just gave me goosebumps. And so that was it for me. That really sold it. That was the I wasn't like doubting Thomas where I said, Lord, I need to see the you know, the bruises, or I need to see the uh the the marks from the from the from the nails, or uh, but I just knew that that that was a God experience and he saved my soul. And from that day on I committed to seek after him no matter what. And so in the process of being gone that year, I got mentored in prison by other inmates. I got discipled, I got uh strong in the word. I just took the days to to take time and study the word daily and to get um knowledge of who he was and seek after him. And you know, he spoke to me that I had a pastor calling, and I still didn't understand all what that meant, but I knew there was something specific he had for me to do. And you know, unfortunately, my wife um served me papers while incarcerated. We didn't stay together. Um I got out and uh I had to go for the divinal final divorce hearing, and and she didn't want to stick it out, and and I had to let it go. And um shortly after that, uh I I made amends with my my first child's mother, uh Michelle, who's today my wife, and and she got saved a couple years after I got out. And uh she's you know, we've been together ever since. We got two more children after that, and God is just taking me through, you know, the Bible says that we go from faith to faith, from glory to glory, and just taking me on this journey with him through different phases of life. Uh when I first got out of prison, I had a lot of debt from a business that I owned. I owned a bar while I was in the world with a friend, and I had all this debt, and slowly but surely God worked it all out. None of my friends that were I ran with were there for me. Right. God showed me who my true friends were, and not that they were bad people, it's just they didn't know any better either.

Israel Caminero: 17:58

Right.

Ryan Lopez: 17:58

Uh so I had to really distance myself. One of my best friends growing up was a youth pastor at the House of Praise International Church in Lorraine, and I immediately got connected there, started going to discipleship classes and uh taking membership classes and getting mentored by the lead pastor, Gilbert Silva, and um just growing in who I was. And again, Michelle and I rectified, got married in 2003, um and it's been a great journey. We helped plant the church in Lakewood, uh New Life Church now. It used to be Lakewood New Life Church in 06. I got ordained in 2010 as one of the pastors, and I got ordained as one of the elders in 2013, and I served there for almost 16 years, um, shepherding, helping shepherd the flock and govern the church. Um and so God's been faithful to us, to me, to my wife, to my children. Um, He showed me what it's like to be a true man, and a true man is someone that uh serves the Lord. It's not afraid to weep, that's not afraid to show what he really is supposed to be like and what a real man was. You know, I had this image of a real man being this hard, tough, rugged thug type of guy that the world paints, right? And God showed me what it was like to become a real man. Not that I was perfect, I had a lot of flaws, I had a lot of things that God is still working on me, were still uh works in progress. Uh but he showed me what it was like to be uh a son and a man of God.

Israel Caminero: 19:40

Yeah, it's funny. Uh, you know, when you're running the streets, you have that Scarface mentality, you know, like first you get the money, then you get the power, then you get the girls. Yeah, you know, and then it's like, then what? Then you're empty, right? Then you're empty on the inside. Yes. You you uh you get caught, where does all that go? It's it's gone. You know, and then you find Jesus and you don't have any of that, you know, but you're full of of joy and you're full of contentment, you know, and that's what God does is he he changes us because he loves us and just we don't need anything. That's all earthly things, you know, and it's it's the way that uh I guess it's the way that America is pretty much where it makes you believe that you need these things, but you know, like it's funny because like you said, you came out and all your friends that were your friends, where were they, right? You know, they they didn't know how to interact with you, like, oh no, no, no, he gave his life to Jesus. Yeah, you know, he's not one of us anymore, pretty much, or we don't, you know, we don't know how to interact with him anymore because he's not like us.

Ryan Lopez: 20:47

Yeah, there was like one or two guys that accepted me for who I was. So the funny part is all those guys, those those who I now know were acquaintances, and some of them were I, you know, I I still have contact with today. I had to separate myself. Right. Because I knew if I didn't separate myself, I knew I had an experience with God. I knew that God saved me. I wasn't mad that none of them were there for me, but I knew that if I didn't grow in my faith that I would end up going back to that life. So I basically separated myself. And so a lot of those people thought that I thought I was better than them because I had Jesus in my life now, and that wasn't the case. I accepted Jesus into my life, so I was I became a God pleaser rather than a man pleaser.

Israel Caminero: 21:38

Amen.

Ryan Lopez: 21:39

So I had to make that distinction because if I didn't, I probably would have end up going back to that life. And I realized that again that God's the one that saved me. None of them saved me. None of them were really there for me. And so God was the only one that was there for me. So I had to put God first in my life. And so in putting God first, um, he put me in a position for him to move in my life and help me get my life back on track and get my life together. I'm 26 years old out of prison. I didn't even have a bank account, Israel. I didn't even know how to manage a bank account. Everything I did was cash. Right. I had no fundamentals of what a person, how a person lives as far as work, um, accountability, um, being coached, being um teachable, uh growing, uh, you know, starting in an entry-level position to, you know, work you know, out of jail. I two months after being released, I got a job working for eight dollars an hour. I mean, I was paying at the time $400 in child support. Like I literally know I lived on pennies.

Israel Caminero: 22:56

And that's a big change coming for where you were, making all that money and then going to $8 an hour, which makes you question like, what am I doing? And you know, like I could be making this much money, but instead you stayed on the right track.

Ryan Lopez: 23:10

So I gotta give sh thanks to my parents. I thank God for my parents. They took me in because if they didn't, I wouldn't have made it. Um I I didn't have to pay any bills, I didn't have to pay for food. Um, they told me to just get my life together, and so I did. And, you know, God took me from glory to glory, you know. God is a God of steps. Amen. You know, sometimes that we take steps. I use this all the time when I'm mentoring or discipling or teaching. You know, it's like the elevator. You get you when you're on the lobby floor, you know, God wants to take us to the tenth floor, but he doesn't want us skipping any floors because on each floor he has something to deposit into us.

Israel Caminero: 23:54

That's some good stuff right now.

Ryan Lopez: 23:55

Because if he doesn't deposit into us on each floor, when we get to floor 10, we won't know how to manage floor 10. And so God is a God of manageability, he's a God of discipleship, he's a God of teaching. And so God took me through all those different steps, which today brings me where I'm at. You know, I'm pastoring here at Brook Park Community Church. I'm the interim pastor, I'm not the lead full-time pastor, I'm the lead interim. I've been doing this since uh full. Well, I'm I'm on a part-time basis, but I preach every week now since November of 2022. Um prior to that, I had been preaching here as a pulpit replacer for almost a year. Um, it was an opportunity for me to come and get full of the word and study. It's I didn't have to do that before at New Life because I didn't preach every Sunday. So now I'm, you know, God has really done a work in me in the last couple of years because now I'm studying, I'm preparing messages every week. I'm, you know, I got to get his direction and his understanding. And then, too, I started off with the city in 09 as a sewer service worker, working in stinkholes, you know, excavating holes, repairing sewer mains, sewer house connections, CB laterals, CBs, manholes, and just grinding, you know, working, I think at the time it was 19 bucks an hour. Um in the union, of course, and and then I, after three years of laboring, I became a foreman. And then after that, I um got asked to come and supervise in customer service. Um, from being the unit supervisor in customer service, I went to the assistant administrator, and then I just recently, in June of last year, got promoted to deputy commissioner, um, which is kind of unheard of from what where I come from. Right. Um so I gotta share this story with it because we're ready to hear it.

Israel Caminero: 26:00

Um I was actually hoping you would share this story because I've heard it before, yeah, and it's a very good story.

Ryan Lopez: 26:07

This is a great story. So after starting this church in Lakewood in 06, God spoke to me about the story of Joseph in the book of Genesis. And if you know the story of Joseph, he was sold in uh into slavery by his brothers and and acted like he was murdered out in the field, and um his father's life was never the same because he was considered the favorite. And um, well, Joseph was in slavery and in prison for 13 years. The man in control of Egypt, he was the king of Egypt, if you will. Yeah. Um he sent some of his uh his baker and one of his uh court jesters into prison. He got angry with them. So here, anyway, two years prior to uh Joseph being released, these guys are in prison with him, and he interprets their dreams and and it comes out the way it says one was killed and one was promoted back to their position. And so God gives dreams to the king of Egypt or the emperor of Egypt, um, and he tells one of his court jesters or or wisdom guy, uh man of wisdom guys he has around him, and he says, Hey, I've had this, been having this dream. I I can't interpret it. Can you interpret it? He couldn't interpret it, and then he remembered, oh, there was this man. There was this man, Joseph, in prison when I when you put us away when you got angry with us a couple years ago. And here he goes in there, he says, Hey, interpret this dream. He interprets the dream. And then after interpreting the dream, the emperor says, Hey, what better man to help be my right-hand man than than you, since God gave you the wisdom to interpret the dream? Right. So I just want to give a little history of the story before I start sharing it. Because everybody might not understand the whole story. So after 06 and being in Lakewood, the Lord told me, in 13 years, study and meditate on the story of Joseph, because in 13 years I'm promoting you to second in command. So I got ordained again in 2010 as a pastor. I got ordained as an elder in 2013. So I became Pastor Bob's right-hand man, and I was kind of running all the Sunday ministries and just doing whatever I had to do, preaching once in a while, you know, teaching classes and you know, membership classes, doing uh baptisms and everything that comes along with being a pastor, and you know, doing hospital visits and home visits. And um, so I thought, you know, for sure, you know, the Lord spoke to me early in prison that I was called to be a pastor. So I thought, well, I'm on my way. I'm gonna become, you know, I'm staff at that at Lakewood New Life Church, and I can walk away from my job, and this will be my job. This will be my vocation. So 2019 comes, it didn't happen. So I remember going 2016 to Jordan with with Pastor Bob, and it was a great time. And we went to the mission field and served. And coming back, I just kind of reflected back several years back and understanding what God was doing now. That I, you know, God showed me all the stuff that was happening at after, because before, you know, you don't always know what God's doing, right? It's all about faith. Right, right. So God doors started closing at church. You know, I stepped down, I took a step back a little bit because my daughter was an area stud softball player and was traveling a lot with her. And I thought, man, God, you told me after 13 years, and I was really unsettled for a couple years. I wasn't angry with God, but I was questioning, like, what the heck's going on? And so I you know, I was uh hurt, I was wounded, I didn't understand it, but again, doors were closing. But here I'm getting promoted at work, doors are opening. So come into last year, 2023, um my old deputy commissioner who left at the December of 22 encouraged me to apply for his position because he was leaving the city and I would have never done it unless he encouraged me to do it. Right because in my mind I thought I I'm not ready for that. So I'm just gonna be content where I'm at and and continue to grow, and I still got several years to work here, so I can go for that later. Right, right. But since he encouraged me, it just well, okay. If you know, God always uses people to say, you know, to speak something into your life or you know, get you to see something that you don't see. So I I end up putting in for it. It was eight people, and out of eight of us, I was the only one without a degree, but I was the only one with the experience by years, you know, they say, you know, a degree or so many years of experience. And I was the only one from water pollution control. So I know our operation. I came for maintenance in the administration. I know our maintenance, I know our operations pretty well.

Israel Caminero: 31:07

Right. You moved up the ladder, so you did every step of it.

Ryan Lopez: 31:10

Yeah, so I put in for it, and so it was our 20-year anniversary last July. So me and my wife decided to go to Aruba for our 20-year anniversary in June. And uh I hadn't gotten word yet uh of the position and uh the the cost to use your phone in Aruba is very expensive. So most of the time we are in airplane mode. Uh and then when we got to our places we were staying, we were able to use Wi-Fi and do texting and um receive emails. So I got a text from my my boss, who's the commissioner, um, one morning saying congratulations with a picture of me that they put on all the TV monitors that were congratulating me on receiving the position.

Israel Caminero: 31:56

You were a big deal that day, I remember.

Ryan Lopez: 31:58

Yeah. And so I told my wife, and we were just both excited, like, oh my god, I can't believe I got it. And so I went into that. We were staying at an Airbnb. I went inside and I used the restroom, and then I went to the end of my bed, and I just got a little overwhelmed, emotional. I was just like, Man, Lord, you have been so good to me. And Izzy, at that moment, I heard the words. I always fulfill my promises. And I'm like, What are you talking about, Lord? He says, Didn't I tell you after 13 years I was putting you second in command?

Israel Caminero: 32:36

Hallelujah.

Ryan Lopez: 32:38

In Israel, I just finished my 13th year at WPC.

Israel Caminero: 32:42

Amen.

Ryan Lopez: 32:43

So although it wasn't where I thought it was gonna be, God's word came true. Right. And so when I I just began to weep and thank God, my wife comes in, she's like, What happened? Did someone die? You know, and I told her the story. I'm like, man, God's been so faithful. Told her about the 13 years, and I always tell her things, but she all, you know, God speaks to me so much, she's like, Oh, I know God spoke so much to you. I said, Well, after 13 years, he told me I was gonna be second in command. And she's looking at me and like, where are you going with this? And I was like, I just finished my 13th year. Right. And she begins to weep and she's overjoyed, she's like, Wow, you know, and and so God has just been faithful to us, man. No matter what the struggle, no matter what the um the obstacle, no matter what the temptation, no matter what the struggle in our uh our relationship with my wife or my children, God has always been faithful. Amen.

Israel Caminero: 33:42

So here's a guy that was a drug dealer, went to jail, got out of, got saved in jail, got out of jail, started going to House of Praise, and I I want to say Mark was the guy you were talking about.

Ryan Lopez: 33:58

Yes, Mark Pastor Mark Pastor Mark.

Israel Caminero: 34:01

Um Mark took him to House of Praise, and then Pastor Gilbert took him under his wing and just started teaching him more than what he already knew. Um, you know, just uh instructing him, and he said he was hard to instruct. I remember you saying that. Yes, and then you know, obviously uh Lake Wa New Life was created by House of Praise, and he went over there and you were Pastor Bob's right-hand man for a long time. I remember because I was attending the church at that time, you know, and um I was doing media and you were, you know, pastoring or whatnot. And then, like you said, things started changing. But at the same time, God has spoken to you that you were gonna be second in command, but in your mind, you kept thinking it was second in command at the church. Yes, you know, and that's why you were feeling down and out because it wasn't happening to the way you envisioned it. But then you kept getting promoted at work, yes, you know, and you weren't even thinking about it, you were just thinking about it as a promotion until you finally got this last promotion as deputy commissioner, and it was your tenth year anniversary, right?

Ryan Lopez: 35:20

No, after 13 years.

Israel Caminero: 35:21

13, I'm sorry, 13-year anniversary, and that's what God was talking to you about being second in command, which you always thought it was being second in command at the church. Yes. And here, you know, see how God works? Like it's so he's so mysterious that he gives you this word and you're focused on one thing, but he already knows the outcome. Yes, you know, he knows the story, the beginning and the end, and that's that's just such a great story. I've heard it before, and I'm glad you shared it again. I was hoping you shared it, like I said, and um I hope someone out there is listening and knows that God has your back. But um, I wanted to ask you a few questions here as far as how your faith is now and how how it has influenced your relationship with other people. You know, how has it influenced other people? People like, for instance, like that you might have ran with back in the day, that you see now where you're at, not when you got out, because obviously you said some of them, you know, but now where you're at in in your day in life, like today, like if you see someone from your past, do you I'm sure as a Christian man you still talk to them or whatever, and you probably pour into them.

Ryan Lopez: 36:43

So that that's a great question, because for years I didn't talk to a lot of them. And and honestly, this is a true story. Uh, one of the guys I said that was accepted me for who I was helped me get this job first out of prison working for eight bucks an hour. Uh he was an assistant manager at at Office Max. His name was Victor. Um great man. We I still see him once in a while today. And um awesome dude. And he he looked out for me and got me a job at Office Max, and in spite of my record, you know, because there was obviously you get flagged everywhere you go when you apply for a job. But he was very one of the very few he accepted me, and I didn't even know Victor that long. I I had just met him several, you know, probably five, six years prior, but me and him just became so close, and he really accepted me for who I was and and helped me and and got me this job. And so the funny part is he he told me at one point that all the guys, there was a whole clique of guys that we all ran with, okay? And so I'm talking about doing everything with watching football games, going to the clubs and going to the bars or going, you know, having backyard parties, whatever it was, we were always together, this group of guys. So comes to find out that these group of guys placed monetary bets on me. Wow. And the monetary bet was how long was it gonna be before I went back to my old self? Because truthfully, most guys that go to prison pick up a Bible when they walk in, and when they leave, they put the Bible back where they picked it up from. Right. So that's a very real statistic. Right. And what they were saying was a real thing. Um, it wasn't made-up stuff, it was genuine because that's really what happened. Um, but the problem with that was is I had an genuine encounter with Jesus. It wasn't just to pick up the Bible because you know, I want to kill time in there. It was a genuine encounter with him that I had. So the funny part is after several years after a lot of these same guys, when I got married, you know, a few years later after being released, they were invited to my wedding. They were invited, I didn't shun them out of my life. But I got to a point where I was strong enough to be who I was, regardless of the situation or the atmosphere I would be in. And so it came a time when most of these guys, after so many years, when they were going through something, guess who they call? You. They were calling me. And it's funny how God kind of worked it out to where I got to meet with some of these guys like one on one, and I got to share with them why I chose to separate from them, why I chose to take that step back, why I chose to surround myself with people of God that was so that I would stay on the right path. And so they understood. And they realized, wow, this guy's really real. He's not just playing church. He's not just playing a Christian holy roller type guy. This guy's really serious about Jesus. And so, even to this day, most of those guys, when I do talk with them, when they're going through something, they call me to pray for them. They send me a text. I get the opportunity to call them and just chop it up with them and catch up with them. And so God is using me to plant seed in their lives. And so, you know, the Bible says one uh one plants, one waters, but God gives the increase. So I've come to learn that I can't save anybody, but what I could do is I could plant seed in their life, and I could water that seed through prayer. And when God allows us to connect, maybe I'll be the one to lead them in the prayer to accept Christ. And so that's what I live my life for now.

Israel Caminero: 41:00

That's that's so great. That's that's I love that. I love that. So uh, you know, I you've been saying a lot of scripture, and I just wanted to ask you, um, you know, is there a particular scripture that you believe encapsulates your journey of your changes?

Ryan Lopez: 41:17

Yes.

Israel Caminero: 41:18

Could you share it?

Ryan Lopez: 41:19

My favorite verse ever, all time, Romans 8 28. And we know that all things work together for the good to them who love God, who have been called according to his purpose. So I realized my life wasn't about me, my life is about him.

Israel Caminero: 41:37

Amen.

Ryan Lopez: 41:38

And so, even in the decisions that I've made, even in all the detours that I decided to take in life, it all worked together for the good. God used it to help form me and shape me when I didn't even know he was doing it. No different than he used a Muslim to minister scripture to me.

Israel Caminero: 42:00

Right.

Ryan Lopez: 42:03

The day I got saved. So, does that not show that God is in control of all things?

Israel Caminero: 42:10

He's in control. God is an awesome God. You know? Um, so looking back, what advice would you give to your past self about the role of God and faith in life?

Ryan Lopez: 42:26

My past self?

Israel Caminero: 42:28

Yeah, like your past self. Like if you were to go back like now, travel back in time and talk to your old self, what advice would you give, you know, to him about the role of God and faith in life?

Ryan Lopez: 42:44

Well, I would go back to my old self and say, stop and listen.

Israel Caminero: 42:52

Stop and listen, but you wouldn't have, would you?

Ryan Lopez: 42:55

Probably not. I didn't. Because I had people in my life that were saved. I talked about Pastor Mark. Pastor Mark was when he got saved, we were best friends from the time I was eight years old. He was 11. Uh, we did all kinds of dirt together. He got saved when I was 17. So nine years after we met and started hanging, he got saved. And he would preach the gospel to me and I wouldn't listen. And there were uh guys that we uh had a basketball league in near my neighborhood at a Salvation Army. The only way we could play in this league at the Salvation Armies was if we participated in a Bible study. And there was men there that poured into our lives. And so I gotta share this story because God. There was a gentleman there named Tom. Uh, you know, he's probably in his 30s then. You know, I'm I'm young, I'm in my teens. And Tom just ministered to us, loved on us, ministered to us, loved on us. And of course, we got to play basketball. That was our intention and our goal. Well, Tom, I remember they were shutting down the program and kind of like they were going, the Salvation Army was going in a different direction with some of their after-school activities. And I remember the last Bible study he had with us. And Tom would look sad. I remember, and I didn't know it then, but I I mean, just reflecting back, I he looked sad. Almost like he failed, type sad. Because he had us for years, you know, three and four years, and had Bible study with us once a week, and none of us gave our life to Jesus. And so I remember that face, and I'll never forget it. I'm I'm out, I'm saved, I'm on fire for Jesus. My nephew's playing for Mid Park High School football. It's his senior year. I'm going to the game. I walk into the stadium at Midpark High School, and guess who I see? Tom. And I look at Tom, I said, Tom, hey, do you remember me? He's like, Ryan, yeah, of course I remember you. And his son was a student there with my nephew, played football, and I got to share with him my story, and I got to share with him that I gave my life to Jesus, and it brought him to tears right there. And at that moment, Tom realized his labor wasn't in vain. Remember, I talked about watering and planting? He planted. Tom was just the planter. God used other people to water, but yet when I was away in prison, I was at my brokenness, lowest point for God to say, now I give the increase. And so I would tell myself listen, obey, and trust what you're being taught not only by these men, but a mother who surrenders her life to Jesus as well.

Israel Caminero: 46:09

Wow. You have so many stories. I know we could talk forever. I mean, there's I've like I said, I've known you for a while, and this is just half of the stories. I'm sure you're gonna be on here once again a different time. But um, before we close this out, I want to ask you one more question, and you can just share whatever you want. There's no time limit here right now. My question is uh, you're a God-fearing man now, but it was there ever a time recent? I guess I should just say, was there any time now that your faith was tested and how you felt about your faith being tested now after you got saved, and how you stayed on track and how it changed you even more.

Ryan Lopez: 47:01

Yeah. I I would say towards the end of my journey at at Lakewood Church, New Life Church, um, when the word didn't come to pass in 2019, that 13th year where I didn't see things happening, and that was probably the biggest test for me, you know, because I questioned, I began to question was the call real? Was all this experience with God real? Was all this serving, because I I didn't serve at New Life or at House of Praise. It was never about money, it was never about accolades, it was for Jesus.

Israel Caminero: 47:43

Amen.

Ryan Lopez: 47:44

I you know, I uh all those years at New Life, I I didn't I wasn't on payroll. I and I I I would give hours and hours, and it's because that's where my heart was, that's where my passion was, that's where my gifting was, that's where my calling was, and that's why I really believe so much that that 13-year word I got was to be in the church because that's my heart. My heart's to preach, my heart, my gifting's to preach and teach, and my gifting is to share and to love and to comfort. God uses me uh prophetically a lot to speak into people's lives. So that was probably the most challenging time for me. And I remember telling my wife shortly before that 2019 year, I just felt empty, I felt lost, I felt confused. I remember weeping. We owned a business for a while where we did bounce houses, and I remember going to a delivery that morning before we got there, uh just breaking down to my wife, and she's looking at me like, what is wrong with you? Because here, my wife is this woman that always felt inferior to me when it came to spiritual things because I was so seeking after Jesus, I was always meditating on his word, I was always studying the word, I was always seeking after him. You know, the theme for this year for me that God gave me, not only for me, but for our local church here, is running after Jesus. Uh I I was just lost. And here she's looking at me and like, this is not the man of faith that I'm used to seeing. So my faith was rocked, it was tested, it was challenged. My love for Jesus never left. But I began to wonder if I really was called. I began to wonder if I really was chosen. Um, and I had to really um step in faith, and I had to trust God more than ever, in spite of my feelings and my emotions, because they were up and down every day, like Lord, I don't know what to do. Right, you know, why do I feel this way? Um, and it was it was a very, very for me it felt dark because I'm as a pastor and as a leader in the church and as a believer, I was always on fire. I was always pouring into people. And I think I just had gotten to a point where I was so um how do I say it? I was so focused on pouring into people that I was kind of leaving myself empty. And so I have learned to make adjustments, if you will, game day adjustments in my walk with God and say, you know what, God, I uh things change. Now I got more kids, uh, jobs change, and you know, times change, and you're you're now you're going through this in life and this journey and this. And so you have to learn to allow Jesus, allow the Holy Spirit to make adjustments in our life so that we can get filled. And so even with the 13-year word, I say this that enjoy each day to the fullest. Amen. Because sometimes we're so focused as a pastor, we're most pastors are visionaries, right? Right they see things ahead because they're shepherds over sheep. And so, but I I even now as a as a shepherd, I'm living each day to the fullest with my walk with Jesus. Because before I'm a shepherd, is he I'm a I'm a I'm a child of God. My calling is a pastor, but my place is a son of God. That's right. And that's first. And so now that I just build on my relationship with Jesus, He fills me to overflowing so that I can manage the life and pastoring, and now leading an organization as second in command and and walking my journey out and and and leading my wife and uh being there for my children is a lot easier when Jesus is at the center of it all.

Israel Caminero: 52:07

That's right. There's uh a pastor retreat, right?

Ryan Lopez: 52:13

Yes, a pastor's conference, yes.

Israel Caminero: 52:15

Pastor's conference that's coming up next Saturday. Uh you want to share more information on that?

Ryan Lopez: 52:19

Yeah, so as we've been praying to close this year out, there's a gentleman, uh Pastor BJ Garcia, who I go back with to House of Praise. We've been friends for 30 years. He um, well, almost 30 years, 25. Me and him have been praying together every month since I came and took this church over as interim because I needed to surround myself with a prayer team. Right. And so obviously, you're one of those people. I have six, five, six guys that are part of my prayer partner team. And so these last few months, BJ and I have been praying and praying and praying, and every Monday we're just lost in God's presence. We're, I like to call it, we're at the we're in the third heaven like like John was, and we're lost in the presence of God, and God begins to prophesy through me and speak things and and starts to speak to me and and BJ and even at separate times, and begins to speak to us about pastors, and we begin to pray and intercede for pastors. And you know, I didn't think nothing of it. I just thought, okay, God's using us to intercede for pastors in this region. And so God continues to speak to us as we continue to get together every Monday, and one day he begins to speak to BJ while he's at work, and then BJ meets with another pastor, Kervin and Lorraine at Vinehope Church, about uh just having a conversation with him, and he kind of starts talking about the same thing, and we're like, man, that's so he calls me and says, Man, God's doing something. We can't sit on this. And so the Lord started speaking to us the next time we got together in prayer. And the Lord said he wanted in 2024 to refresh and recharge pastors, and so we started, you know, going back and forth and conversating and talking, and we went to um decided, let's try to do this, let's try to put this pastor's conference on. Um and there was a few of us that that God put on my heart to use, and there's a scripture that God gave me, and in the scriptures, God will use the foolish to shame the wise. And so then as we started planning this conference and deciding to title it Refresh Recharge 2024, uh, God spoke to me and said, the harvest field is white, and that there were many churches that God was ready to launch sheep into, but he wasn't going to do it until the shepherds got right. And so we felt in our hearts that we need to put on a conference for pastors. Um, at this point, it is a men's pastors' conference, uh, refresh, recharge 2024, a place where pastors can come and get intimate with God again, a place where pastors can come and let their hair down and not feel like they got to you know keep their spiritual head on, if you will, as the shepherd, a place where they can come and worship together, a place where they can come and break bread together, a place where they can come and get fed together, um, so that they can leave their back in love with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. So we got a guest speaker uh is gonna close it out for us. I'm gonna start the conference. Uh we got, I believe, Pastor Kervin is gonna be teaching a lesson. Pastor John Kolesar, Pastor BJ is gonna be teaching a lesson, and then to wrap up the main event is gonna be evangelist Dennis Heber to close out. It's gonna be from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. If you're interested, we are going by RSVP. There is no cost to it this year. There will be a Continental Breakfast and a lunch provided. And um you can reach out to me at 216-240-8122, or you can email me at R Y A N Michael Lopez, L-O-P-E-Z 12 at gmail.com. Let us know, pastors, if you want to come and you want to hear a word in season and you want to get fresh vision. Maybe you're struggling with life, maybe you're struggling uh with or frustrated in ministry, maybe you're ready to throw the towel in. Maybe you've gotten stuck in sin and maybe you've gotten complacent, maybe you are are are are struggling with the vision of what God wants you to do in the church. Whatever it is, this is gonna be a place where you can come and get alone with Jesus and hear a word in season for your lives.

Israel Caminero: 57:00

So not only is he ministering to people, he's gonna they're doing a pastor ministry. You know, they're gonna be ministering to pastors to give pastors a break and get fed. Tell me that's not good. That's a good thing. And that this was in Lorain, Ohio, correct?

Ryan Lopez: 57:18

Yes, I'm getting the address right now.

Israel Caminero: 57:20

I was actually trying to find it, and that's what I was doing, and I couldn't find it.

Ryan Lopez: 57:25

Yes, so the address to the conference is please make sure you RSVP ASAP. We are gonna be ordering the food sometime this week, prepared for lunch. Again, Continental Breakfast. The address of the church is 1310 Colorado Avenue, Lorain, Ohio, 44052. Uh, and it's at Vine Hope Church, is the name of the church. Vine of Hope Church. I'm sorry, Vine of Hope Church.

Israel Caminero: 57:53

And remember, they're picking up the cost for everything. It's free of charge.

Ryan Lopez: 57:57

Free of charge. We're paying for all the food, all the everything, because we believe again that God gave us a vision to minister to local pastors that need a fresh word and a fresh uh direction from the Lord.

Israel Caminero: 58:10

Amen. There's no reason for you not to be there. I'm glad you were here, man. Like I said, we can go on forever. Yes. I'm sure this won't be your last time here. I would like to have you back sometime. Thank you for being my first guest. I really appreciate you. Thank you for having me. I appreciate you even more as my friend. Like I said, this guy's poured into me lots of times. We have an inside joke about answering phones because when I was going through some stuff, he would constantly call me two, three times a day, and I wouldn't answer. And it's not because of him, it's just because the enemy had me at bay at that time. And we constantly joke about that. And I always thank him for not giving up on me. And that's what friends do. They don't give up on people no matter what they're going through. And this guy was there when I was going through a storm. So, like I said, uh, this is my first podcast, living testimonies. We're across every platform: iTunes, Google, Spotify, you name it, we're there. Um, we're gonna continue this with different guests. Hopefully, it inspires someone. But before we leave, I want to know if you could share a prayer for us before we close out.

Ryan Lopez: 59:21

Yes, absolutely. Let's pray. Father, we just thank you for this time. We thank you for this opportunity to share. For Lord, we know that, Lord God, it's the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony that brings you glory. So, Lord, I thank you for the testimony that I was able to share today. Uh uh bits and pieces and nuggets of my life, Lord God, that hopefully someone can hear and listen and be ministered to, Lord, but but ultimately again, Lord God, bringing you glory. Father, I thank you for Israel. I thank you for our friendship. Father, I thank you for this podcast, Lord God. I thank you for allowing me to be the first. And I know I won't be the last, Father God, my last time here, but I thank you, Lord God, that you're going to allow this ministry that you have put in Israel's heart to blossom, to bloom, that you're going to continue to guide him, that you're going to continue to anoint him, that you're going to continue to connect him with other men and women of faith, Lord God, to come on and share their testimonies so that people can hear the truths of what you're doing in their life. Father, I just thank you, Lord, for the opportunity to be here. And I thank you for what you're doing in my life still, God. I thank you for Israel, his family. I thank you for watching over them. I thank you, Father God, for my wife and my children. And most importantly, Lord, we thank you for the listeners, God. We know a podcast requires listeners. And we thank you, Lord God, that there will be an array of listeners, that there will be a big response, Lord God, that there will be likes and people will want to be part of what of what you're doing through Israel in this ministry and this podcast. So Lord, we honor you, we bless you, and we give you all the glory. In Jesus' name we pray.

Israel Caminero: 1:01:08

Amen. Amen. Thank you, everyone that joined us with your listening ears. Hopefully something in his story spoke to you. And like I said, we'll be on Spotify, iTunes, Google, pretty much every platform out there. So if you want to go follow it, it's called Living Testimonies Stories of Faith and Redemption. And I'll be your host, Israel Caminero. I hope you guys all have a good night and may God bless you.