Ray Family Update from May 2024

Dear Praying Friends,

Well, it is officially conference week. Typically, we do not have to look on a calendar around here to know this to be true; rather, the evidence shows itself in a unique bundle of trials and testings. This year, that has included, but is not limited to, septic troubles ($400 in and maybe fixed), extreme knee pain ($150 still ongoing but on the mend), car issues ($500 and maybe resolved), a decline in faithfulness among some who were at one time more dependable (still ongoing), conference attendees falling by the wayside left and right, etc. If I was new to this, I would be more worried, and perhaps I still should be. I confessed to my wife that I sometimes feel like a man of great faith, but then immediately doubt that to be possible in light of other things that I see pop up in my heart. Regardless, I know that God can and will come through. How? I do not know. When? I do not know. Likely, it will be too late for me, but exactly on time for Him. If I did not believe this wholeheartedly, I would be in a bad place spiritually, mentally, and physically. That being said, this confidence in the Lord has me pretty happy and hopeful.

To further explain and to offer you some insight into my thinking, I often wonder how much Satan can see the big picture clearer and more accurately than we do. I know he is not omnipresent, omniscient, and omnipotent, but surely he can see and grasp more than I can seeing as how I am trapped in this body of flesh. In times like these, I think to myself, “I wonder if Satan sees and understands something that God is doing in my life or some lesson God is trying to teach me and decides to turn up the pressure (personally or through the help of the world and the flesh) in order to discourage me and remove my confidence in God so that I might fail the Lord and miss the better side of the testing or trial.” I would hate to think that I might quit on the Lord just before the finish line or just before a spiritual milestone in my life. What a shame that would be!!!!

As I’m sure it is obvious to you, I am constantly thinking upon, surveying, and contemplating my walk with the Lord (past, present, and prospective). The month of May marked my seventeenth year as pastor at Antioch Baptist Church. Our church has a storied history of being a Bible-believing work from its inception in 1972. It seems so weird to think that I have had the honour of being its pastor for one third of the church’s existence. I do not know how much longer the Lord will let me do this, but it has been both a rewarding and humbling experience up to this point. I could have a long number of years in service ahead of me or the greater number of my years of service could now be in the rearview mirror. Either way, I have some things that I want to accomplish before the Lord calls me home. On the homefront, I want to see some specific things in the lives and hearts of my family members. In the church, I am longing to see some things happen in the hearts of our children, teens, and young adults to ensure that the next generation will love and care for the great treasure and heritage God has given us at Antioch. This treasure is worth dying for, but it is also worth living and fighting for. I want it to mean as much to them as it has to me. I was handed a great and godly heritage by my pastor and mentor, David F. Reagan, and I want the next generation to value it and understand it to the same degree that I value and understand the great gift I was handed.