BY CLIFF SMELLEY
Telegraph Staff Writer
Think of life as a puzzle — a puzzle that’s being put together by God.
Ryan Begue’s puzzle, at least for this stage of his life, is complete, as he heeded God’s calling and is now the pastor at First Baptist Church of Keystone Heights.
Begue and his wife, Emily, who are Clay County natives, had been living out of the area for 16 years. Begue then felt his family was being called to move back home to be closer to his mother and his wife’s parents.
That was four years ago. Opportunities then began falling into place for Begue, who was serving as the director of missions for a local association for more than a year before being named the pastor at Keystone’s First Baptist approximately four months ago, stepping in for Daniel Findley, who moved to Georgia.
“All the pieces just sort of came together,” Begue said.
What Begue likes about First Baptist is that its congregation has a willingness to think outside the box.
Or, more specifically, travel outside of the box.
As examples, Begue mentioned the church’s clothes-closet ministry as well as its involvement with Lake Area Ministries.
“A lot of older churches that have been around a long time have a stigma of being set in their ways,” Begue said, “but I would say that our church is far from that. I think all of us have things in which we’re set in our ways, but as a whole, this church is very, very open to getting outside the box and engaging the community in fresh, new ways.”
In other words, it’s something more than just gathering at one building for services and events.
“The word of God never changes, but the way that we do life and the way that the culture moves is always changing,” Begue said. “You can never compromise on the gospel, but you can change the approaches that you have in the way you interact with the community.”
You might say that Begue went outside of the box as he took a path into ministry.
‘Craziest thought’ is actually God’s will
Begue said he had a great childhood and is thankful to have had parents who were such a positive influence in his life.
Still, it perhaps wasn’t the environment you’d think of when it comes to someone being led to go into ministry.
“I wasn’t raised in a Christian home,” Begue said, “Both of my parents are now followers of Christ, but I was the first person in my family to really live for Christ.”
The family didn’t go to church, but Begue said he went to a youth group with some friends of his when he was a teenager.
“I remember going home one night from youth group and telling my dad, ‘I had the craziest thought today — that one day I might be a pastor or preacher.’ I can’t remember the verbiage I used,” Begue said, “but I still remember that night.”
It wasn’t until years later, however, when he had the feeling that God was in fact calling him to go into ministry. Begue, who was working at Florida Rock Industries at the time, said his reaction was mixed.
“Excited, but also a little overwhelmed,” Begue said. “It’s still overwhelming, but it’s not something you can or would want to run from.”
Some people may run from what God is calling them to do, but Begue, of course, believes that the will of God will eventually come to fruition. He also believes that even when a person is resisting the call of God, God is preparing that individual for what will ultimately happen.
Sometimes, an individual’s resistance proves to be a blessing for others. Begue likens it to Jonah not immediately going to Nineveh as God wanted him to.
“It’s obvious that Jonah ran from God and went the wrong direction, but while he’s on the ship, all these people who had never heard about the true and living God see the mighty hand of God,” Begue said. “All of a sudden, you see them calling out and worshipping God, making sacrifices to Him.
“God gets Jonah to where Jonah’s supposed to be — on the beaches heading back to Nineveh, which is where he was supposed to go in the first place. God used Jonah despite his disobedience, but he also used Jonah where He wanted him to be.”
Begue, who graduated from the University of North Florida and earned his master’s degree at Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary, pastored a church in Esto and was later on the staff at a church in Central Florida. He also served as a student pastor at Shiloh Baptist Church in Green Cove Springs and served on the staff at Hibernia Baptist Church in Fleming Island.
Besides serving now as pastor at First Baptist of Keystone, Begue is also a board member for Lake Area Ministries and Clay County’s Fellowship of Christian Athletes.
Youth athletics is something Begue is passionate about.
‘A big kid’ with a passion for sports
Begue said he likes to “chunk the ball around” with the football players at Keystone Heights Jr.-Sr. High School. He helps coach that sport at KHHS as well as golf. (His wife, who works in the school’s computer lab, coaches girls tennis and junior high cheerleading.)
“My wife will tell you I’m a big kid,” Begue said.
When he’s not helping coach, athletics is still a part of his life. His two oldest sons — Reid and Will — participate in most of the sports at KHHS, while his youngest son — Cade, who’s in elementary school — is involved in baseball, basketball and golf.
“It never stops,” said Begue, who also has two daughters: Hannah and Megan.
Begue said it’s a sports family — one that was written about eight decades ago by the Florida Times-Union in a story about “the greatest athletic family in Florida.”
“My grandpa and a couple of his brothers won the high school basketball state championship in the early ‘40s in Dixie County,” Begue said.
His father was a “big athlete,” Begue said, but he downplayed his own abilities.
“I’m not very good in any sport, really,” he said. “I was pretty decent in golf growing up. I played four years of varsity golf at Orange Park (High School).”
When he was going to college, Begue helped cover high school football for the Clay Today, which happened to have him writing about the school that’s such a big part of his family today.
“They sent me to Keystone just about every time I covered a game for them,” Begue said. “It was the only school I covered that I remember. I remember coming down and covering a game when they played Interlachen. I believe it was 1993. Coach (Bob) Wright was head coach then. He’s become a friend.”
Begue is a Florida Gators fan, but he was thrilled to be able to have FSU legend Bobby Bowden preach for him twice. In one instance, Begue was involved in a church replanting in the panhandle. He wrote a letter to Bowden and said he’d love to have him come and speak at the church sometime.
A return letter from the school confirmed that Bowden would speak at the church and gave the date that he would do so. Begue made the announcement to the church, when a member pointed out that the date in question was Easter.
Begue said he called FSU, believing that perhaps there had been a mistake, but he was assured that Bowden would be there — that Bowden chose a church to speak at every Easter.
“We were about an hour and 40 minutes west of Tallahassee in a town of 370,” Begue said. “Of all the places, he said he was going to come preach for us. People couldn’t believe it There were people in our community who, when they saw he was coming to preach, thought it was fake. They said, ‘We would’ve come if we thought it was real.’”
Bowden would’ve told you — and Begue will tell you now —there is no “I” in “team.” That doesn’t just apply to athletics.
Just one part of the First Baptist team
Begue’s title at First Baptist Church of Keystone may be “senior pastor,” but he’ll be quick to tell you the church isn’t about him. He references Proverbs 15:22, which in the King James Version reads: “Without counsel purposes are disappointed: but in the multitude of counsellors they are established.”
In other words, it takes a team for a church to be successful. Begue said any pastor who’s honest will say the same.
“I’m thankful for the leadership here at our church,” Begue said. “A church’s strength is built on the spiritual strength of its leaders. No one man is qualified to lead alone.”
A pastor must also always rely upon the guidance of God. Begue said that goes for those who’ve served in the ministry for decades as well as for those who are are just starting out.
“No matter how much you learn, no matter how much seminary you take, you still don’t know everything,” Begue said. “You still deal with challenges you’ve never faced before. I would imagine if any pastor is honest, he would say at 70 years old, you realize no matter how much experience or wisdom that you have, you still are every day relying on God because you can’t do it alone. No one’s that smart. No one’s that wise except God Himself.”
