Ray Family Update from February 2019

Dear Praying Friends,

Far too few understand the beauty of the declaration of God’s safekeeping found in Psalm 3:5. According to the psalm’s subtitle, David wrote these words as he fled from home due to a threat from his son. Just the thought that he could sleep and awake in safety was worthy of thanks to God. After all, the conditions were less than ideal. The truth is, it is often in times like this when we learn the most about who God is. When all things go according to our plans, we forget our need for and reliance upon God. When things fall apart before our eyes, we are reminded, “It is of the LORD’S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not” (Lamentations 3:22).

These truths are hard, but profitable. In fact, these very thoughts are expressed throughout the psalms. Although the wording is varied from psalm to psalm and verse to verse, the underlying truth consistently comes through with an admonition to put one’s confidence in the Lord alone. Man will disappoint and fail us. Geography and locations are insufficient for safekeeping. Governments and nations prove untrue and what was once deemed as a haven of peace will turn to a perilous land. The dearest of friends may become the fiercest of foes. In the end, the Lord alone is our refuge.

The Work Before Us

I am reminded of the words of Nehemiah when he said, “I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down: why should the work cease, whilst I leave it?” (Nehemiah 6:3). Throughout Nehemiah’s ministry as a wallbuilder there were various excuses to cease from the work. The wall was eventually completed because of Nehemiah’s persistence to reject the afforded opportunities to quit or get sidetracked. The same holds true for the saints of God today. Whether it be threats from without or apathy among the saints, temptations to blend with the world or loneliness in the work of the Lord, fruitlessness in a world filled with ungodliness or fruitlessness in a church cumbered about with carnality, it should all serve as a reminder of why we cannot afford to cease from the work.

The truth is, like every church, ours needs people who are bought in to the work. One writer penned, “There are two kinds of people in the church: the pillars and the caterpillars. The pillars uphold the church with their prayers, their work, and their donations…The caterpillars crawl in on Sunday morning, sing a few songs, listen to a sermon, and crawl out again...” One of our men adequately said that we, a church of less than 100, are trying to do the work of a church of 300 plus. Why? Because the number of people who need the gospel, who need to be trained for the Lord’s work, or who are perusing the internet searching for truth is ever increasing with numerous voices competing for their attention and muddying the waters concerning the truth. The darker the times, the greater the need for those who hold the truth.

As such, God has placed upon my heart a great desire to do more. I want to expand our ability to teach and preach through the Bible verse-by-verse. I want to continue to write on subjects long neglected, as well as Bible stories for children, and a series of devotions based upon the major Bible doctrines. In addition to this, we desperately need to renovate our website and flood it with articles, questions and answers, outlines, and sermons and continue to build our YouTube channel with preaching, music, broadcasts, and questions and answers. Our end desire, as it has been for years, is to eventually have a 24/7 internet broadcast.

Brethren, Pray for Us

In the end, it matters not what I want. If God is not in it, it will not prosper. If God does not provide the means, the strength, and the fellowhelpers to the truth, the work will not get done. While I am both humbled and honoured to have been allowed of the Lord to accomplish some things for His glory up to this point, I am far from satisfied. There is so much more we can do for the Lord. Please pray with me that the Lord will raise up some people who will help us in these matters. The truth is, the work is too much, too costly, and too exhausting for our local body. At the same time, we have a BIG GOD—One worthy of our time, our money, our efforts, and our praise. That being said, brethren, pray for us!

Can You Help Us?

We rarely say anything regarding the giving at Antioch Baptist Church. When we have had extra money in our missions’ giving, we have taken on new missionaries or increased giving to our current ones. When we had a shortage of mission funds, we took the hit in the general fund until we could no longer afford to do so and we had to drop missionaries. While the changes made to the missions account have been successful to bring us back into range with our income and outgoing commitment, it would sure be a blessing to be able to take on new missionaries. As it pertains to our general account, we continue to experience a shortfall in our giving. We have already had two budgetary meetings where we made drastic cuts; yet, it would appear that we are going to need to do so again. The next cuts will likely negatively impact various ministries of the church.

Many of you already faithfully give to the work and cannot do more than that which you are already giving. Others may be giving, but could afford to sacrificially increase for a space of time until the Lord provides other means. Still, others may, for one reason or another, not be giving to the work financially. Just as in other matters of the church, I only ask you to do what God would have you to do. Yet, I fear in my discomfort to discuss the financial aspect of the Christian walk, some might have the idea that God does not desire for us to give to His work through the local church. The reality is quite the opposite.

Just as with other aspects of the Christian walk, our giving should be accomplished by faith. Giving by faith requires giving God the firstfruits of one’s increase (Proverbs 3:9). The Lord not only wants us to bring our gifts to Him but also wants us to give to Him first. We are not to pay all our bills only to give God the leftovers. God is to take first place each and every time. This makes giving to Him an act of faith. After all, “without faith it is impossible to please him” (Hebrews 11:6). When we give God the first of our increase, we signify to Him that we trust that He will meet the remaining needs we may have.

Not only must our giving be done in and by faith, but it must be purposeful. Before giving to the Lord, we must first purpose in our hearts to willingly give. Not only must we purpose to give, but we must purpose what (according to our ability) and when (faithfully) to give. Failure to consider these important aspects breeds confusion and allows the Devil to deter us from obedience. I am asking each believer or family unit to sit down and purpose with God’s leading what and when to give. Then faithfully give as the Lord leads.

I certainly understand that every person cannot give the same amount, but every one of us can give something. According to Deuteronomy 16:17, “Every man shall give as he is able.” Because some might use this as an excuse not to give, the Lord further stated that giving should be “according to the blessing of the LORD thy God which he hath given thee.” 1 Corinthians 16:2 repeats this principle—every man is to give “as God hath prospered him.” A practical example is given in Acts 11:29 where the disciples sent relief to their brethren and every man did so “according to his ability.” Each of us should give to the Lord corresponding to how the Lord has prospered us.

Sadly, any talk of money in the church is deemed as negative and often frustrates the saints. For some, giving to the Lord is the equivalent of going to the dentist to have teeth pulled. We would rather do anything than to dip into our finances. After all, we are already strapped. At the same time, there are others who rejoice in giving to God’s work. One group gives from a willing heart. The other group, if they give at all, does so grudgingly (2 Corinthians 9:7). While providing instructions to Moses concerning an offering, the Lord said, “of every man that giveth it willingly with his heart ye shall take my offering” (Exodus 25:2). The Lord commands us to give, but He desires that the giving be willing.

If every one that could increase giving did so and those who do not presently support the work financially started giving to the Lord through Antioch, we might very well be able to maintain the present budget and add more. If not, we will be looking at making more cuts in the next few months. Again, I ask, “Can you help us?”