Are These the Last Days? - Ray Stedman Sermon Last Days End Times playlist: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?p=PLB227FC75AC58D3E4 Ray Stedman playlist: http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=784E527CB904B4A8 Romans 13 (New King James Version) 11 And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. 12 The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. Raymond Charles Stedman October 5, 1917 - October 7, 1992 Ray was born in Temvik, North Dakota where his father, Charles, worked for the railroads. The family lived for a while in Miles City, Montana, then in Tacoma, Washington and finally settled in Denver, Colorado where his father worked in a Burlington Railroad roundhouse. Ray's mother, Mabel, was asthmatic and developed a heart condition, and after the age of six Ray lived with his aunt. His father abandoned the family, and all efforts to locate him were to no avail. Ray came to know the Lord at a Methodist revival meeting at age of ten and, living on a farm, began to preach to the cows. His dream was to one day become a surgeon, and after high school in Montana he entered a premed course at Whitworth College, Spokane, Washington. Financial difficulties forced him to drop out. After working in Montana, Chicago, Illinois, and Denver, he moved to Hawaii to work for Libby Pineapple when World War II broke out. He enlisted in the Navy there in 1943. During the Hawaii years Ray began to lead Bible studies for both civilian workers and navy personnel as well as preaching on a local radio program. It was during this season that Ray realized the Lord wanted him in full time vocational ministry. Ray met his wife Elaine in Great Falls, Montana, and at the close of the war they were married in Honolulu on October 22, 1945. Upon their return to the mainland in 1946, Ray began a four-year course of study at Dallas Theological Seminary, graduating in l950. Ray and Elaine spent two summers during seminary with Dr. J. Vernon McGee at Lincoln Avenue Presbyterian Church in Pasadena, California doing youth ministry. This was just before Dr. McGee began his long ministry at the Church of the Open Door in Los Angeles. The Stedmans went on to spend one additional summer in Pasadena at Emmanuel Baptist Church. In the fall of 1950, after traveling for several months with Dr. H.A. Ironside, Pastor of Moody Church in Chicago, Ray accepted the call (conveyed to him by Robert W. Smith) to serve on the staff of Peninsula Bible Fellowship in Palo Alto, California. The Stedmans then moved from Great Falls, Montana to the Bay Area with their two young daughters, Sheila and Susan. PBF had begun two years earlier as a small Bible study, prayer, and fellowship group led by a group of lay leaders from several local churches. By l950 it had grown to the point of needing pastoral staff care. Three letters arrived in the PBF mail box on the same day, written by Christian leaders in different parts of the country, with none of them having any knowledge of the other letters. All three encouraged the PBF Elders to consider a young man named Ray Stedman to fill their pastoral need. Based on the strength of those recommendations, a brief meeting with Bob Smith at DTS, and a meeting after graduation in Palo Alto with the directors of PBF resulted in Ray being offered the position without hearing him preach. PBF was to become PBC, and Ray's leadership here was to last 40 years, culminating in his retirement as a Pastor and Elder on April 30, 1990. During those 40 years God blessed Ray and Elaine with two more daughters, Linda and Laurie, and eventually eleven grandchildren. Ray and Elaine have lived in Grants Pass, Oregon since his retirement, surrounded by their daughters, Sheila, Susan, Linda, Laurie, and their families, all of whom live in the Northwest. "End Times" God Book Revelation Antichrist socialism "new world order" Holy Bible religion Satan Lucifer evil 666 beast humanity man sin Lamb spirituality redemption wrath temptation prophecy Romans New King James Version Christianity philosophy inspirational lecture gospel occult nwo Illuminati