Ray Family Update from October 2015

Dear Praying Friends,

We tend to thank God for things which we deem to be good or strictly positive. Yet, the Bible admonishes us to be thankful “for all things” (Ephesians 5:20). This means we should thank God for blessings and trials; for health and sickness; for gain and loss; for peace and troubles. Additionally, the scripture teaches us to give thanks “in every thing” (1 Thessalonians 5:18). The subtle differences between these two truths turn out to be quite profound. They express two different facets of our call to give thanks: we should give thanks to God for all things, but our thanks should take place in the midst of all things, good and bad.

With that being said, I must confess that this month has been one of the greatest struggles in recent memory. Perhaps only now as I sit to write do I understand the lesson of my struggles. I am not thankful! This month has been seemingly consumed by health troubles and house troubles. Not once have I thanked God for either . . . until now. I regretfully identify with the words of Asaph when he said, “So foolish was I, and ignorant: I was as a beast before thee” (Psalm 73:22).

If I had to guess, I would think that my struggles go back to the fact that my schedule or routine has been constantly interrupted by troubles. To outsiders, this may seem frivolous, but those who know me well will understand. The Lord has lovingly and graciously caused me to spend the month outside of my comfort zone. Maybe His purpose is to remind me how frail I am or maybe His purpose is to remind me how blessed I am to be able to spend my days in His service. Either way, pray that I am a swift learner—especially for my family’s sake!

Speaking of Thankfulness

While we are on the subject of thankfulness, I owe the Lord a great debt of gratitude for the people to whom He allows me to minister on a weekly basis. I remember Pastor Reagan telling me about removing some pews from the auditorium in order to make the auditorium “feel” more full. He did not want the emptiness of a room to discourage the people nor himself. When I became pastor, I was met by an emptying auditorium. No sooner than I had hid some pews in the back, the Lord sent people. It was not long before we had to replace stationary walls in the back with folding walls in order to facilitate the people. Not long ago, we again experienced the loss of some folks and I began closing the back walls to bring people closer together. Once again the Lord has graciously sent folks our way to be an encouragement. Most recently, we were blessed to have the Smiths join our church family. Let us not forget, however, that there has been a solid base of people who have from the beginning put up with my youth, inexperience, and shortcomings. They called me to be their pastor and have unwaveringly stayed by my side all the way. Oh how I treasure their loyalty!!!

Upcoming Publications

In the midst of the chaos of life, I have still had pockets of opportunity to work on some writing. As you already know, our (Brother Stauffer and myself) second devotional book will arrive soon and is presently available for preorder. We hope to get the books paid for and then get them out to as many people as funds allow. As far as current writing, Brother Stauffer and I are working on a booklet dealing with Paul’s epistles to the Thessalonians with an emphasis on the prophetic truths found therein. After this is completed, we will turn our attention to Daily Strength 3 and One Book Rightly Divided. Please pray for the Lord’s leading in this area as we seek to be a blessing and a help to God’s people.

Will You Pray?

One of the great difficulties for me is finding the balance between letting people know our needs and merely trusting that the Lord will put it upon the hearts of His people. In an effort to achieve this balance, let me ask this, will you pray with me that the Lord will both meet the needs of our church and of our family? The Lord knows what those needs are.