The Spark (2004-2008)
The journey began on September 25, 2004, when former radio personality Jay Heilman launched Christian Music Review (CMR). What started as a solo mission to provide news and reviews for Christian music fans quickly evolved. For the first two years, Jay curated the site on his own before enlisting help from family and friends.
The turning point came when the site began covering the Kendrick Brothers’ film Facing the Giants (2006) and the Kirk Cameron hit Fireproof (2008). These pivotal moments garnered national attention for Jay’s work. During this season, Jay conducted high-profile interviews with Mike Nawrocki (VeggieTales), action star Dolph Lundgren, and Brian “Head” Welch (Korn), along with the Kendrick brothers. These conversations, originally meant as simple podcast segments, sparked the creation of Kingdom Builder. Now a 17-year-old outreach platform, Kingdom Builder has amassed nearly 750,000 views across roughly 1,000 videos, recently celebrating 2,000 subscribers.
The Vision & The Valley (2010-2015)
The seeds for Today’s Christian Entertainment (TCE) were planted in the summer of 2010 while Jay was visiting the set of the film Courageous in Albany, GA. However, the path from vision to reality wasn’t a straight line.
“Although the idea for what would eventually become TCE was birthed in late 2010, it wasn’t something I fully realized could be possible until the summer of 2015, when I honestly felt like walking away from CMR,” Heilman recalls. “I went through a season of prayer asking God what it is that He wanted me to do, and I just kept feeling Him push me in the direction of continuing on.”
The Miracle Launch (2016)
Launching a new, expanded brand required resources that simply weren’t there. “I remember Sean (Perry, TCE co-founder) and I looking at the cost of launching this new endeavor and the price tag hovered in the thousands, and I was like ‘how are we going to come up with this kind of money’ to get all of this set into motion?” Jay remembers.
But living by the Kingdom Builder tagline—‘Be sure to put Christ first, and everything else will fall into place’—the team stood in faith. In a miraculous turn of events, donors who believed in the mission stepped in just eight days prior to the launch, allowing everything to fall literally into place. In January 2016, TCE was officially born.
The Future (2025 & Beyond)
For over 21 years, through the combined reach of TCE and Kingdom Builder, we have brought news, reviews, and interviews to hundreds of thousands of fans. Following a phenomenal year of growth in 2025, the mission remains the same.
“I love what we do. I love being able to introduce people to music, films and other entertainment that is not only entertaining – but more importantly points people back to Jesus – Who has made all of this possible. Without Christ and His love, mercy, and forgiveness, TCE/KB would not even be here. I’m beyond grateful and thankful that he continues to use me, Kelly, Mike and our team to further His Kingdom.” — Jay Heilman
The TCE Family
We are proud to have a team that spans 8 states and 3 countries world-wide, as well as a rich legacy of alumni who helped build this ministry.
