Ray Family Update from March/April 2021

The last few months have been a whirlwind. Between the “normal” ministry, extra chaos in our personal lives, and preparation for this year’s Bible conference, our plates have been more than full. As I write this letter, our family is in Statesville, NC, with me preaching a meeting at Northmont Baptist Church for a dear friend, Pastor Jason Boger. When we return to Knoxville, we “hope” to complete the selling of two homes (my mother’s and ours), find a sufficient place to house our family and my mother, finish the spring semester of our Bible Institute, and turn our focus to the upcoming Bible conference.

In the midst of what feels like chaos to me, I am reminded of the record found in Mark 4:35-41 where Christ entered the ship with His disciples to go across the sea of Galilee and retreated to the hinder part of the ship to rest likely knowing that a storm would come that would test the faith of those skillful seamen. When the storm was at its worst and the waves were beating into the ship filling it with water, the disciples awoke the Master and questioned His care for their condition. With little effort, the Lord rose, rebuked the wind, and called for calm on the sea. Almost immediately, the lesson became clear: the Lord said, “Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith?” (Mark 4:40). Oh, how these words pierce my heart!!! My heart cannot truly be full of faith and fear simultaneously. Whichever is prominent appears to be so because it squeezes the other out of my heart. Oh, that I would yield to God and have much room for faith, but none for fear.