Ray Family Update from September 2015

Dear Praying Friends,

It is unfathomable that we are already approaching the end of another year. This brevity of time calls to mind that life “is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away” (James 4:14). As such, my late pastor, David F. Reagan, once admonished, “Try to accomplish at least one thing for God’s eternal good each and every day.” Though I have failed in this area, it is my heart’s desire to serve God acceptably with the small window of opportunity I have.

The month of September was a blessing to our family. We were able to visit some dear friends in Illinois before heading over to Michigan for a conference. We took a few days off and enjoyed the fellowship of some of the dearest saints you would ever meet. Our children especially enjoyed this part of the trip as it was free of the evils of chores and school. Though our time in Illinois was short and it was difficult to leave our friends, we were excited to visit the brethren in Michigan. Pastor Guenther and his flock in Hartland, Michigan, are truly a special people! On the personal side, they treated us as royalty. As far as the services, the people responded graciously to the teaching and preaching of God’s word. It is quite obvious that brother Guenther is doing a “good work” there in Hartland. I am honoured to count him a friend. Lord willing, we will be back with them in April of 2016.

Daily Strength II

The second volume of our devotional book is now available for preorder. It has been a blessing to hear from folks reminding me that they are almost finished with the first volume and are anxiously awaiting the second. This volume covers bitterness, confession, fear, forgiveness, giving, loving, modesty, prayer, and witnessing (among others). To preorder, send a check to Antioch Baptist Church (with Daily Strength 2 in the memo line) or go to www.BibleDoug.com. Locally, we use this book to minister to new parents at a local hospital and the feedback has been quite encouraging. If you would like to help on the printing of this book (totaling just over $14,000) beyond purchasing your own copy, please let me know. If you are interested in purchasing a copy, please see the attached document for pricing. Keep in mind that the first 200 copies preordered will be numbered and signed by both myself and Brother Stauffer.

Construction Progress

Each week it seems that the present wave of construction projects gets closer to completion. It has truly been a blessing to have some men step up and take some of this responsibility off of me so that I could focus on studying, preaching, and writing. Soon, the downstairs bathrooms, nurseries, mother’s room, and kitchen will be complete! In the future, we desire to see the playground area complete for the children, the Madonna Circle parking lot paved, the audio/video equipment updated, as well as some signage and landscaping work done outside. As soon as we have information on those things, we will pass it along.

Even if we can do nothing more than what we have presently done, we are truly a blessed people! Personally, it has been a source of great joy to me to see elderly folks be able to park on a flat surface and go up the elevator to enter the service. I am grateful to the people of God and the God of His people for providing for the work on the house of God.

A Personal Request

A few years back I experienced a time of unique difficulties. I would feel perfectly fine and enjoy soundness of mind until the church service began. Once the service began, I would feel light-headed, weak, and at times, paranoid. I merely figured it was a spiritual battle and did my best to press through and be faithful. God graciously gave the victory and I enjoyed a season free of these oddities. However, it seems the struggle has returned. Perhaps there is something going on with my health, but I tend to believe it is something spiritual. I enjoy nothing more than preaching and teaching God’s word, but sometimes it is a struggle to even get behind the pulpit. Please pray for me in this area!