Flames baseball player turned inspirational author
Ryan Shieh, a sophomore at Liberty University, plays on Liberty’s baseball team, but the recent release of his new book, “Abiding,” shows that he can play both on the ball field and in the writing field. Shieh’s book explores how he followed his calling, despite the plans he made before attending Liberty.
Shieh grew up in Maryland, and in his sophomore year of high school, he committed to play baseball for the University of Maryland. However, after he visited, he began to feel like something was pulling him away from the university. This tug away from Maryland seemed irrational to Shieh, especially since he was guaranteed to play baseball and had received a scholarship to the university.
“In the moment, the reason (to not go there) was made because something didn’t seem right in my heart, but looking back on it, it was the Holy Spirit all along, leading me elsewhere,” Shieh said.
After many visits to other colleges and baseball camps, his list was narrowed to a few schools, one of them being Liberty. He had never heard of Liberty, nor was he considering it, but after a series of events, he committed to Liberty baseball.
Shieh started to seriously pursue his spiritual life when COVID-19 hit. He used the time in isolation to dig deeper into the Bible and explore his faith because of the global shutdown and the cancelation of the rest of his high school baseball season.
“I had always been a Christian growing up but never could say I really followed Jesus and knew God in an intimate way. So, while we were stuck at home for months on end, I read through the entire Bible,” Shieh explained.
In watching many sermons and reading Christian books, Shieh felt his true calling was not to be a professional baseball player, but to pursue ministry and to become a pastor. The following year, Shieh began his first year at Liberty and found this was God’s plan all along.
Shieh began to explore his desire to share the joy and truth of knowing Christ with others. He self-published two books through Amazon and just released “Abiding,” his third book, through Christian Faith Publishing.
“The main message behind ‘Abiding’ is how to find a true relationship with God and what it means to have an intimate walk with Jesus Christ. ‘Abiding’ throws the religion card out the window and explains how a relationship comes through faith in Christ and a willingness to seek him with all your heart,” Shieh said.
The writing process for “Abiding” was lengthy and took patience as well as prayer. After a yearlong journey, Shieh finally published the book. His book is now available through Barnes and Noble, Amazon, Books-a-Million and even iBooks through Apple.
Ultimately, baseball was merely the means which God used to bring Shieh to Liberty. However, he believes his purpose is to win hearts for Christ.
“God doesn’t want your efforts, appeals or good works. He just wants your heart,” Shieh said.
Ferree is a feature reporter for the Liberty Champion