Ray Family Update from August 2016

Dear Praying Friends,

We live in the midst of a perverse and crooked generation and yet we can enjoy God’s peace in our hearts. Regardless of the world’s confusion and instability, we serve the unchanging, unwavering King of Heaven. This truth alone ought to anchor our confidence in a way inexplicable to a lost and dying world. Far too often the world sees in us traits very much comparable to what they view in themselves. Oh, that the world could view something in us that would point them to Christ! Oh, that they could hear something from our lips that would point them to the Bible and the God of the Bible! The silence the world hears from us is certainly not because of a lack of opportunity.

When a Pokémon Provided a Congregation

Each week, we attempt to faithfully man our battle stations on the street corners of our small community with scripture signs and uplifted voices. The number faithfully attending the outreach has grown from five or fewer to anywhere between thirty and fifty. What a tremendous encouragement this has been to me! I can only imagine what it means to the Lord to see His people sacrificially serving Him.

A few weeks back, we had an unexpected ally. What little I know about Pokémon, it is, at best, a distraction from the things of God, and, at worst, straight from the pits of hell. However, for a brief moment one Saturday morning, a Pokémon brought nearly twenty people to hear the word of God. Initially, two young men approached with cell phones out and great hesitancy. They determined we were far too dangerous to risk capturing their Pokémon. In hindsight, the Lord moved the boys on until the rest of the group could gather. After other Pokémons were captured, the boys returned, but this time with a much larger group. Imagine my surprise, or lack thereof, that this particular Pokémon played hard to get ensuring that those searching for him heard a clear gospel message.

Though we have no reason to assume any of these people trusted Christ, the results are not within the realm of our control or responsibility. My job is to preach; the world’s responsibility is to believe! We trust God with the results, but desire to be counted faithful.

Josiah: The Boy Who Would Be King

We near the completion of our first children’s book. The book will be in the final proofing stage soon, hindered only by the need for digital illustrations. We are open to hearing from anyone who can help us with this matter. We would like to have colored illustrations as well as coloring pages and other activities within the book. This work is one of the many reasons we are prayerfully considering the acquisition of a printer, cutter, and folding machine. However, our immediate need is an artist. We strongly believe this book will be a blessing to young children!

Daily Strength 3

The third volume of our devotional series is in the final stages of formatting and will be at the printer soon. These books are a dream come true for me. When I first felt impressed to write the devotions, there was little devotional material that did not either criticize the King James Bible or oppose its doctrines. My desire has always been to make the materials available to God’s people. As such, we have placed a vast amount of the material on the internet free of charge. Likewise, we have given away and continue to give away a good number of books. It has never been about the money!

The truth is, the less we have emphasized the monetary aspect of these books, the more the Lord has provided. With that in mind, Brother Stauffer and I are making a limited time offer on the devotion books. Through September and October, any volume (any quantity) of the Daily Strength series can be purchased at BibleDoug.com for $10.00. All you have to do is enter DS10 as a coupon code at checkout and you will get the book(s) at this discounted rate. Please take advantage of this and get the material into the hands of those who need simple, but thought provoking devotional studies.