Well, it has finally happened. My friend, Ray Patterson, left the cares of this life and entered into a great reward in heaven on January 23rd. Ellie and I were at home when Matt called with the news. We sighed together, but there were no tears, for we were happy to hear that his suffering was in the past.
I asked her, \”What was your favorite picture of Ray?\”
\”His face the second time he came to our house to share with us about Jesus.\” Ellie was 16 at the time, and the whole family knelt with Ray and prayed to receive Jesus as Lord of their lives. From 1964 until last Thursday, Ray was our pastor, our mentor, our counselor, and our friend. His memory lives on with us.
Ellie was involved in \”missionary dating\” when we met, and that year I found myself making the transition from the Presbyterian Church to Oakmont Baptist. Ray preached the Bible truth and I loved it. He made sense in the turbulent values swirl of the 60s and I considered him to be my pastor. He filled a void left by the retirement of my family\’s pastor. Soon I was laughing at his crazy jokes and trying to learn the names of his children.
High school graduation and subsequent military service kept us apart for four years, but each time I would come home on leave, we would connect briefly, and he would ask how I was.
On August 15th, 1970, my young bride, filled with joy and excitement, could not recite her wedding vows. I shall never forget the look on Ray\’s face as he and I exchanged the vows. For years we would joke about being married to each other. Ray did not tie \”slip knots,\” and this year, Ellie and I will celebrate our 50th anniversary. It was Ray who ministered to us through those first years of marriage and established us in our Christian walk. I shall never forget the look on his face as I received the baptism in the Holy Spirit in his office, or the joy in his eyes as I emerged from the waters of baptism, or the calming way he spoke as I shared with him my call to preach the gospel to the nations.
We worked together for nine years as Oakmont Baptist became Dayspring Christian Center and moved from Oakmont through Cheswick and on to Tarentum. We did not always agree, and sparks would fly as iron sharpened iron. There were times when we avoided each other until the fire died down, but we were always friends.
Friends are born for adversity, and we certainly shared many challenges, but always came through with the relationship intact. As we paid our respects at the passing of our friend Greg Blythe in 2018, the now much weaker Ray drew me near and whispered, \”We were quite a team.\”
\”We are,\” I responded, looking deep into his eyes.
And now he is reaping the reward for his years of faithful service. I do not know how heaven\’s accounting system works, but, just from our lives, there are souls in many nations who are serving God today because that man knocked on that door so many years ago. The best thing we can do to honor the memory of friends is to take what we have been given by them and multiply the gift. Ray reached out to us and gave himself to us, and we will continue to reach out and give ourselves to others.
Two songs come to mind, though I have no idea why. One lyric is, \”Friends are friends forever when the Lord is Lord of them.\” It is often sung at weddings and seems to fit here. The other came to mind immediately when I heard of his passing, \”Gideon checked out, and he left it, no doubt to help with good Rocky\’s revival.\”
Ray is a friend forever and definitely played a significant part in my revival. Thank you, Brother, for the life you have given.
