My Story

My Story
===

Dr. Ray: Hello, welcome to Self Talk. This is the show where you'll get real answers to tough issues. This is a little different type of a show today. I'm gonna play an interview where I was interviewed about my story on a show called Along the Way, hosted by John Matarazzo. John is a very good friend of mine and a great interviewer, and he really pulled a lot out of me about my salvation, my meeting, and an encounter with the Holy Spirit that changed my life forever, many years later.

Dr. Ray: My dark times, the times of redemption, the times of supernatural. It's my story and it's a very unusual story. I think it'll touch your heart. I think it will bless you and I'm very proud of you, um, and happy for you listening to me today. Thank you so much for that. In my show it really helps me if you go to my podcast website.

Dr. Ray: Now I have two major websites. The first one is my podcast website and my college website. Now, my college website is the International College of Ministry. That is icmcollege.org. icmcollege.org. That's a Holy Spirit filled, accredited online work on your own schedule, affordable seminary, where you can get your college degree, and it's my baby.

Dr. Ray: I've been working that college for over 20 years. We have a website with over 1600 pages, students from all over the United States and the world. Would love to have you as a student getting ready, getting equipped for your call. My other website is my podcast website, Self Talk with Dr. Ray Self. You get to that by going to icmcollege.org/selftalk.

Dr. Ray: That's where you can subscribe. You can uh, rate, you can give us a review. You can also do that on Apple Podcast wherever you listen. This really helps us a lot to reach more people with the healing message of the gospel of Jesus Christ. If you'd like to help us financially, we give a lot of money away.

Dr. Ray: One of the biggest things we do is we give away free education, uh, to a lot of ministers with financial hardships. Uh, we have campuses in India, Liberia, and in Peru. We give free education to them. Free college education. It's very expensive. Also, this show is kind of expensive, so if you'd like to help us, you feel led to help us, that would be terrific.

Dr. Ray: You can go to icmcollege.org/donate. Appreciate that much and thank you for listening to today's show. I'm Dr. Ray Self and welcome to Self Talk.

[Intro plays]

John: Dr. Ray Self has crossed paths with me a number of times, both in Pittsburgh and now in Orlando. From sailboats to business to ministry to college founder. When Dr. Rey Self encountered the Holy Spirit, his life drastically changed and he has never turned back. His wisdom is shared through his Self Talk podcast and the International College of Ministry.

John: This conversation highlights his along the way journey. I'll get to our conversation in just a moment, but as always, I wanna thank you for listening to Along the Way. I hope that you like what you hear and that you subscribe. Please rate and review along the way on Apple Podcast or wherever you're listening.

John: All of my contact information is in the show notes, and you can check out all of my episodes and please join my email list through my website alongtheway.media. I would love to hear from you. Also, I have a Patreon page if you'd like to help me to continue to put out these Along the Way episodes. If you'd like to become a Patreon supporter, simply go to patreon.com/alongtheway to select a level. The link to become a supporter is also in my show notes. And now here's my Along the Way conversation with Dr. Ray Self.

John: Dr. Ray Self. It is great to have you on Along the Way. Dr. Ray is the president of ICM, the International College of Ministry, and uh, he's also one of the podcasters on the Charisma Podcast Network with Self Talk with Dr. Ray Self. 

John: And we go actually way back because he has done a lot of things with the church that I grew up in. Bridge City Church, used to be Word and Worship church. Um, so I've known Dr. Ray for many years, but now our paths have crossed yet again here in Orlando, a place that both of us, actually neither of us thought that we would, that this would be a place that we live now, and we're just literally a few miles away from each other.

John: So it's great to be able to have this conversation, to see, to hear how God has led you along your way. Dr. Ray, thanks for being here. 

Dr. Ray: Thank you for having me, John. I mean, it's so amazing, divine appointments all the way from Pittsburgh...

John: Yeah. 

Dr. Ray: ...to Orlando, Florida. Um, it's incredible. 

John: Yeah. 

Dr. Ray: And, um, so good. It's so good to reconnect with you and, you know, just, uh, amazing how God works things out and there's no distance.

John: Amen. 

Dr. Ray: No distance in the spirit realm. 

John: Amen. And I love the fact that you're a podcaster because that's another thing that we have in common, that, you know, another way that God has brought us together. And you're a podcaster with the Charisma Podcast Network, and I got super excited whenever I saw that your podcast was listed as one of ours.

John: And so I wanted to, you know, connect with you. And I didn't realize that you were literally just a few miles away until we actually reconnected. We spent some time together just talking about podcasting. And I think the first time that we hung out, uh, since I've been down here, we, we were just, we were just talking till like 10 o'clock or later at night.

John: It was just a really good conversation. And that's when I decided I really need to have you on Along the Way because you were telling me some amazing stories. Um, and one of the things was, You had no idea about coming to Orlando. Like that was not a goal, that was not a, a, a dream that you had, but God has used that to launch this ministry that you, that you lead right now.

John: So, um, I do wanna hear your story of how, you know God's brought you to where you are today. So, uh, let's, let's go back to as far back as you want to go, but I wanna hear how you met Jesus first and foremost. 

Dr. Ray: Haha, well, I'll be, I'll be, um, telling my age, I would guess, but I actually met Jesus when I was 10 years old. Uh, I grew up in Memphis, Tennessee. You can probably still hear the accent. Um, actually grew up with Elvis and all that, his gang, and knew some of the folks connected with him. 

Dr. Ray: Uh, grew up in Memphis and then when I was 10 years old in 1961, I was at a large Baptist church in Memphis and they sang to him Just as I Am and on easter Sunday, 1961, I walked down to the altar with my father. 

John: Hmm. 

Dr. Ray: And we both received Christ together actually it did change my life. I mean, I was baptized and I remember a dramatic change in my life in 1961. 

John: Wow. 

Dr. Ray: But there was, that was just the beginning. That was um, that was amazing.

John: Yeah. 

Dr. Ray: And it was a true salvation. But, um, there was so much more. So much more yet to come.

John: You're, you're saying at 10 years old that you had a dramatic salvation experience. Tell me about your life before that then. 

Dr. Ray: Well, you know, that's, I was just a typical kid.

John: Yeah.

Dr. Ray: You know, growing up in a small, well, Memphis was like an overgrown country town back then, so I was just a typical kid. And, um, you know, this neighborhood kids, you know, we, we lived, this was in the sixties, and, uh, you went from neighborhood to neighborhood. There were, there were no seat belts. Then we, we drank water out of the hose. We, uh,

John: I think it somehow tasted better back then. 

Dr. Ray: Yeah, yeah, yeah, it did. And, um, nobody locked their house. You just go from just play til dark, No video games or anything like that. Everything you did was outside and just spent the days playing baseball and basketball and football and running around the neighborhoods, just being a kid. 

John: Mm-hmm. 

Dr. Ray: Just being a kid.

John: Yeah. So, but you said you got, you got saved and then your life changed. How did it change? 

Dr. Ray: Well, this was interesting because to me, I had two major life changes in my life. 

John: Okay. 

Dr. Ray: My salvation, and then when I met the Holy Spirit. 

John: Okay. 

Dr. Ray: So the first change was, was the reason I know that my salvation was real was not just a religious experience. You know, people talk about, well, you think you're saved just cause you went down the aisle and shook hands with a preacher.

Dr. Ray: No, I mean, I really did accept Christ as my savior, I'll never forget, after I accepted Christ as my savior, I remember going home and walking outside and like everything changed. Like the grass looked greener, the sky looked bluer. Uh, everything was more intense. There was more, it was like the world was more vibrant. I'll never forget this. As a kid, it was like things just looked different.

John: Mm. 

Dr. Ray: And I felt different. It was, there was really a, a tremendous change, not- in, in my, in my senses, in what I saw, what I felt. Um, I'll never forget it. I'll never will forget it. So, I mean, I knew something had changed.

John: Yeah.

Dr. Ray: And not only, it's just even just looking at the sky, the sky looked different.

John: Mm-hmm.

Dr. Ray: I mean, the grass looked different. Um, everything just seemed, what I remember most is everything seemed more alive. 

John: Hmm.

Dr. Ray: And I felt more alive than ever before. So it was a true, true experience. 

John: That's awesome. And so you, you also made mention of when you met the Holy Spirit. So how many years had elapsed between you meeting Jesus to then meeting the Holy Spirit?

Dr. Ray: Well, this was, to me, is an amazing part of the story, and I'm very, I will get probably passionate about this. 

John: Good

Dr. Ray: I'm very passionate about this. So, 

John: you're allowed to do that on the podcast, yeah. 

Dr. Ray: So I'm, I'm. Here I am a good old all American Christian kid growing up in Memphis, Tennessee. And, uh, I go to high school and uh, you know, going through my high school and I'm pretty much walking with Christ all, all during high school and not doing anything wrong. And, and then I, I turned 18 years old and, um, when I turned 18 years old, all of a sudden, uh, I started doing things and experiencing things I should not have experienced. Now this is like around 1969.

John: Mm-hmm. 

Dr. Ray: Um, 68, 69, Vietnam War, the hippie movement, uh, you know, the rock and roll movement, all this kind of stuff. Uh, back then it was literally, excuse the expression, but sex, drugs, and a rock and roll... 

John: mm-hmm. 

Dr. Ray: and I fell into that.

John: Hmm.

Dr. Ray: I mean, big time. I mean, just big time. I became a full blown- here I went from this nice clean cut all Ameri- clean cut all-American kid to a full blown hippie and experiencing all of that.

John: Mm-hmm.

Dr. Ray: Uh, I just, I just fell into it. It, it's, it's a, it's a dark road. It really was something that I'm not proud of. It was a dark time in my life. And so I kind of waited through, survived all that. Um, God, the amazing thing to me was in the midst of all this dark stuff I got involved in, I still remember the Lord being with me.

John: Hmm. 

Dr. Ray: I mean, there were times when, I mean, I did some things that I should not have even survived, but God was always with me. He, he just, I remember his still small voice. I remember even in the midst of, and I, you know, I did drugs and I did that stuff.

John: Yeah.

Dr. Ray: Even in the midst of all that. He never let me go. So I rocked along and I, I grew up and got older, got married, had kids, went into business, um, had successful business, worked in a corporate world.

John: What kind of business was that?

Dr. Ray: My first major job was with Frigidaire Corporation. I was a district manager for Frigidaire.

John: Okay. 

Dr. Ray: Um, I was a corporate guy. Great job, company car, um, company car, company credit cards, um, business meetings in Las Vegas, Acapulco Bahamas. 

John: Oh, wow. 

Dr. Ray: Uh, it was, it was, it was a good gig. Now, this was when I was around 30 years old.

John: Mm-hmm.

Dr. Ray: So I kind of come out of the hippie movement and then I became, back then they called us yuppies. 

John: Right. Young urban professionals. 

Dr. Ray: Yeah. Young or I became a young urban professional 

John: Yep. 

Dr. Ray: Living that life. 

John: Mm-hmm

Dr. Ray: um, went from there and decided to start my own business and so I, I set up a company called National Appliance Factory Outlet, a large factory outlet store, which I owned. Um, did that for a while. Then I set up, then I went into computer software, uh, owned a company called Alpha Computer Services, Southern Software Consultants, and was doing everything that I thought I was supposed to do

John: mm-hmm. 

Dr. Ray: to be happy, but I never was. Um, 

John: So you were making pretty good money, but you weren't happy.

Dr. Ray: Something was, was wrong. I was always a square peg in a round hole, and so what I kept doing was I kept thinking if I could just make some more money 

John: mm-hmm. 

Dr. Ray: if I could just start another business, if I could have a bigger car or my big thing was boats.

[both laugh]

Dr. Ray: If I could have a bigger boat, Uhhuh, I mean, I literally went crazy on boats. I started off with a 16 footer and you know, that was okay. Then I went from a 16 footer to a 21 footer and...

John: Okay. 

Dr. Ray: ...that lasted for a few years. Said, no, I need a 26 footer. Then I got me in my 26 foot boat. No, that's not good enough. So I ended up with a 35 foot. Boat. Um, and I said, no, that's too big. So I went back to a 19 footer. But anyway, my big thing was boats. I loved the water and I love boats. And... 

John: Now these were, uh, what kind of boats? 

Dr. Ray: These were sailboats, actually 

John: Sailboats with the big sails and wind powered, Yeah. 

Dr. Ray: Yeah. I was really big into, uh, actually sailboat racing. And uh, I did, I traveled around country racing sailboats and um, very, very unusual for a guy from Memphis. I won over 60 championships actually. 

John: Wow. 

Dr. Ray: Got invited to try out for the Olympics and uh, Olympic, US sailing team. It's kinda a strange life for a guy from Memphis, Tennessee. 

John: Mm-hmm.

Dr. Ray: But in the midst of all this, I was never happy. I was still a square peg in a round hole. I did not know what was wrong. So I kept striving and striving, you know, it's like the carrot on the end of the stick.

John: Mm-hmm. 

Dr. Ray: where you, you, you think, okay, if I can just, if I can just, if I can just get this, if I can just do this, if I can... 

John: Right.

Dr. Ray: I was searching, you know, it's a search that was never enough. 

John: Mm-hmm.

Dr. Ray: um, I used to say, my, my motto was the old, uh, Rolling Stone song, you know, I can't get no satisfaction. 

John: Mm-hmm.

Dr. Ray: But I tried and I tried and I tried, but I can't get no. 

John: Yeah. 

Dr. Ray: That's what I felt like . And so, um, all of a sudden around the- 83, 1983, 84, everything crashed. I mean, I crashed big time. I'm huge. I remember God spoke to me and he gave me this word, um, and he, it was like a vision. And he said, Ray, you have built a house of cards on a base of sand, and I saw these cards, this house built out of playing cards, this really big structure built out playing cards and it was on sand. 

John: Mm-hmm.

Dr. Ray: And I had this vision. I thought, well, that's not very good.

John: Mm-hmm.

Dr. Ray: this doesn't sound very stable at all. And I, I'll never forget that. As long as I get that picture of this house, house built on sand outta cards. And lo and behold, around 83, 84, 85, everything crashed. I mean, I crashed big time. It was horrible. Nightmares. Story of... lost everything. Everything. Money. 

John: What happened? How did that happen? 

Dr. Ray: Just a series of events where like, it was kinda like dominoes.

John: Okay. 

Dr. Ray: It's a series of horrible events. A a business partner stole $35,000 from the business, which back then was a huge amount of money. Took it, ruined, you know, ruined the business. Found out that my secretary, unbeknownst to me, had not made a payroll tax deposit in 18 months. 

John: Oh goodness.

Dr. Ray: And the IRS came after me and held me responsible for that and sued me for it. And then the business partner who stole all the money from the business decided that I had, uh, defrauded him. And, um, he sued me for a million dollars and accused me of racketeering. 

John: Oh goodness. 

Dr. Ray: And it went to federal court. So here I am, I'm accused of racketeering, which to me is just really strange. 

John: Mm-hmm.

Dr. Ray: um, It was all because the business failed after I sold it to him. It's a long story. 

John: Okay. 

Dr. Ray: It wasn't true.

John: Yeah. Mm-hmm. 

Dr. Ray: But anyway, so here I'm defending...

John: so he steals from you and then accuses you of...

Dr. Ray: Yeah. 

John: Okay. Wow.

Dr. Ray: He stole from me. Sold things. It was a very complicated business procedure, but the, the stressful part was, I have to go to federal court and defend a racketeering charge. 

John: Mm-hmm. 

Dr. Ray: And I remember the most thing was I was just highly embarrassed by it. I was completely embarrassed. Long story short, the judge threw it out, eventually called it a frivolous lawsuit, but the stress for about 12 months was unbelievable.

John: Oh, I'm sure.

Dr. Ray: Then I had to deal with the IRS, which was really ugly, and get them all paid back. And then there was marriage issues and other issues. So the beautiful part of the story, this is where God comes in. Here I am, I'm crashing, and I really think God allowed this crash. 

John: Hmm. 

Dr. Ray: I mean, everything crashed. My finances crashed, my, my relationships crashed, my jobs, everything I had worked for, everything I'd strived for. Everything was just in ruins. And then my mother told me one day and said, Ray, I have a friend of mine. His name is John, and I want you to come over to his house. He prays for people in his home, and I've seen some amazing things happen when he prays for people and something just told me, Ray, you need to go see John. So I go, My mother takes me to John's house and here's my life changed. This is, this is the story. This is it.

John: Mm-hmm.

Dr. Ray: And I could, I'll probably cry even talking about it, but 

John: It's all right.

Dr. Ray: I walked into John's house and here I am, this good old boys, good old Baptist, Southern Baptist kid, saved in 1961 who went crazy and then ended up having some worldly success and then loses. It loses at all. I walk into John's house and he says, Hey Ray, my name is John, you ever heard of the baptism of the Holy Spirit? And I looked at John.

John: That's an introduction right there. 

Dr. Ray: Yeah, that's what he said. That's what he said. And I went, uh, John, uh, nice to meet you. I have no idea what you're talking about cause that's not the way I was raised. So John took me to the, the Word of God and he said, Let's look at Acts chapter one. Let me, let me show this to you. I said, Oh. Oh, okay. That's good. 

John: Mm-hmm. 

Dr. Ray: Let me show you Acts chapter eight when Philip went up to Samaria and people received Jesus Christ, the apostles came up and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Ghost. 

John: Mm-hmm.

Dr. Ray: I said, Wow. Well that, that's kind of cool. Let me show you Acts 10, and then let me show you Acts 19. And all of a sudden it's like, John, I, I want that. I mean, I'm not sure what that is, but I, I want that.

Dr. Ray: And he goes, Okay. So then he pulls out the list. I'll never forget the list. So Ray, have you ever done taro cards? You ever done a Ouija board? You ever done a, you ever done psychics? You ever done this? I said, Yep, yep, yep. Done that. Did that You ever did? Yep, yep, yep. So I had to confess, 

John: Uhhuh

Dr. Ray: for this long list of stuff. And the cool thing was, uh, I remember at this time I was depressed. I was nervous, I was stressed. I had lost my business. My marriage was in very, really bad, bad situation. I had just had to fight a court case, uh, defending a federal racketeering charge.

John: Mm-hmm. 

Dr. Ray: And I was involved with the IRS trying to figure out how to pay them back. The IRS was, was, that's another story. But they, they gave me five months to pay 'em back. 

John: Oh, wow. 

Dr. Ray: And they, I said, what happens if I don't pay you back in five months? They said, well, we're gonna back a truck up to your house.

John: Hmm.

Dr. Ray: And take everything you own. They literally told me that. So all this was happening. I meet the Holy Spirit and John put his hands on me. I'll never forget this as long as I live. He just started to pray and he said, Lord, I baptize my brother with the Holy Spirit and in the midst of all this chaos. The Holy Spirit came on me, and I'm sitting in this chair and I really don't understand what's happening. Like, I'm thinking kind of, kind of funny thoughts, like, Okay, who's pouring the oil over me? 

John: Mm-hmm.

Dr. Ray: It feels like somebody's pouring warm oil all over my body. Why is there warm oil being poured on my body? Cause I felt this incredible warm feeling flowing throughout my body. In the midst of all this turmoil all of a sudden I had perfect peace. I was completely at peace. And then I felt this incredible sense of love. Love, like I've never felt in my life. The Father's love. I've never felt so much love. And then I remember feeling this incredible sense of power. And I don't know how long I sat there. It might have been an hour, could have been two hours. I don't know. At one point I heard my mother going, Ray, Ray. Ray, you okay?

John: Mm-hmm.

Dr. Ray: And I'm thinking, shh. Be quiet mom. I don't know what's going on here, but this is really good. 

John: Yeah.

Dr. Ray: I couldn't say anything, but that's what I was thinking. 

John: Yeah. 

Dr. Ray: And that's when my life changed. That's when everything changed. That was the turning point of my life. And so I'm very passionate about the Holy Spirit being filled with the Holy Spirit. And to me it, I was saved, which was a work of the Holy Spirit, but 25 years later saved 1961. But in 1986 I was baptized with the Holy Spirit and it's a whole nother level. 

John: Mm-hmm.

Dr. Ray: And it's, that's what my life, that was the turning point. 

John: So I'm gonna talk about this baptism of the Holy Spirit and specifically how it's, it it affected your life long term. Because I think a lot of times there's a misunderstanding. When people talk about the Holy Spirit, uh, if somebody doesn't have context for a baptism of the Holy Spirit and they don't understand it, they just think this is a one time experience where maybe somebody they saw got knocked over, maybe they're shaken on the floor. Um, I mean, honestly, that just happened to me yesterday at church, but, so I'm, I'm 

Dr. Ray: mm-hmm.

John: I'm in, I, I under, I understand that, but let's just talk a little bit about, about the baptism of Holy Spirit beyond just the initial experience. 

Dr. Ray: Well, to me it's, it's really very simple. The Holy Spirit. It's the spirit of God.

John: Mm-hmm. 

Dr. Ray: It's, he's God. And he does a lot of things. The cool thing is when we're saved, we're regenerated, we're adopted, we're born again. We become a new creation. That's a tremendous work of the Holy Spirit. 

John: Mm-hmm. 

Dr. Ray: But the scripture is, to me, is very clear that there's more that he wants to do. You shall receive power when Holy Spirit's come upon you. That's in Acts one. 

John: Mm-hmm. 

Dr. Ray: And then you'll see time and time again in scripture that there are Christians who were saved, but needed to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Um, Acts eight is the clearest example of it.

John: Mm-hmm. 

Dr. Ray: when Philip, um, Phillip was praying for- Philip, the evangelist went up to Samaria and the Bible says, and many received Christ and were baptized. But then it says, But when the apostles in Jerusalem heard that the Samaritans had received Christ, they went up to see them cause they had not received the Holy Spirit yet. Now here's people who were saved, 

John: mm-hmm.

Dr. Ray: but had not received the Holy Spirit yet. And they prayed for them and they received the Holy Spirit. And sometimes they said they began to speak in tongues, began to prophesy. And then you see in Acts 19 verse one, when Paul met the believers in Ephesus, he said to these believers, Have you received the Holy Spirit since you believe? And they said, Well, no. We don't even know if there is a Holy Spirit. So then Paul lays hands on them, they receive the Holy Spirit, they begin speaking with tongues and prophesy.

John: Mm. 

Dr. Ray: So to me it's pretty simple. Salvation is a work of the Holy Spirit. 

John: Mm-hmm. 

Dr. Ray: But the baptism of the Holy Spirit is an empowering of the Holy Spirit. Because with me, once I was baptized with the Holy Spirit, the man who baptized me, his name was John, he told me some things and he said, Ray, you will lay hands on the sick and you'll see them recover.

John: Mm-hmm. 

Dr. Ray: He said, You'll begin to see things in the word of God you've never seen before. And he, and he said, You may start speaking a funny language, 

John: mm-hmm.

Dr. Ray: hahaha. It's, the devil will tell you it's gibberish. Don't let him tell you it's gibberish. And everything John told me began to happen. All of a sudden I began, the word of God became alive to me.

John: Mm-hmm. 

Dr. Ray: And, and I did lay hands on people who were sick and they did get well, 

John: mm-hmm. 

Dr. Ray: and started casting out demons and just amazing. And then this gift of prophecy came, um, I could go on and on and on, but what, what, I guess what I'm trying to say is I know there's a big argument that says when you're saved, you get it all. That's it. And that's for then and not for now. And maybe the believers, um, and in Samaria that Philip prayed for, they actually weren't saved 'till the apostle laid hands on them, blah, blah, blah. That's not what scripture says. 

John: Mm-hmm. 

Dr. Ray: And it's not what millions of Christians have experienced. 

John: Right. 

Dr. Ray: And so, Lord gave me a, another, a funny word after this happened I guess he just knows how to relate to me. He said, Ray; said, you've been like chocolate cake without the icing. He said, Now you're like, chocolate cake with the icing. I said, Oh, I get that. That's much better.

[Both laugh] 

Dr. Ray: But that's when everything changed. That that's the beginning of my ministry. That's the beginning of my college. That's the beginning of the, all of it, and that's what, that's just, I, it's just when everything started, 

John: Yeah.

Dr. Ray: That's when my life became incredible. 

John: So we've got a ministry and college that we're gonna talk about, not just that you went to college, but you actually started a college, which is really, really cool. Um, We're gonna get to that in a moment, but, uh, you can't leave us hanging, hanging on, on, you know, on by a thread with this story; all these things that have been happening in your life and you're, everything's crashing around you. You get filled with the Holy Spirit. What happens next? Did all, did it all just go away? Or what? What happened? 

Dr. Ray: No, it's, some of, it's pretty hilarious 'cause I do think Christianity is, is Christian- some of it's just really funny. 

John: Uhhuh.

Dr. Ray: So after I was baptized with the Holy Spirit, my friend John, he said, Ray, let me recommend a church for you. You, you need to go to a different church. I said Okay, and so what church is that? He said, Well, it's this church it's called Vineyard Fellowship. I said, Vineyard, What is that? Like a grapevine? Yeah, but it's just called the Vineyard. And he said, I want you to go there, I think. I think that they'll be able to help you understand more what's happened to you. I said, Well, okay. Okay. So next thing you know, I go to this church called The Vineyard.

John: Mm-hmm.

Dr. Ray: And I walk in, I got my suit on, I got my, my sport coat, my tie and everything. And look around. Everybody's in blue jeans, cut off shorts, Hawaiian shirts, T-shirt, barefoot, sandals. I'm going. Wow, this is kind of different. 

[both laugh] 

Dr. Ray: you wouldn't allow that in the church I came from.

John: Uhhuh

Dr. Ray: and then, um, they started to sing these really amazing contemporary songs... 

John: mm-hmm. 

Dr. Ray: I've never heard before. And they sang a song and, um, I couldn't find the hymnal, looked for the hymnals. 

John: Mm-hmm. 

Dr. Ray: Were no hymnals 'cause the words were up on a screen. That was really different. 

John: Mm-hmm.

Dr. Ray: And not only did they sing, but they sang, sang and sang some more and sang some more and I'm thinking, Wow, this church really sings a lot.

John: Mm-hmm.

Dr. Ray: They sing a lot of songs, but I thought, Wow, this is really good. 

John: Yeah. 

Dr. Ray: And I could feel the presence of God. Something else. I could literally sense. When I got baptized with the Holy Spirit, I-I, for the first time in my life, I could literally feel his presence. 

John: Mm-hmm.

Dr. Ray: I could feel his presence in church. Uh, everything was just more alive, more powerful. And I started, I mean, I don't wanna, It's so amazing. It's, it's almost hard to talk about.

John: Yeah. 

Dr. Ray: But like, I can't tell you how many times, like the first ministry the Lord put me in, which I still can't believe he did this to me, was deliverance ministry. 

John: Hmm. 

Dr. Ray: So I go right from this good old traditional Baptist guy filled with the Holy Spirit at a charismatic church doing deliverances, and oh my gosh, that was wild. And this is when I didn't know what I was doing, you know? 

John: Yeah. 

Dr. Ray: And so, worked really hard in deliverance ministry and um 

John: mm-hmm. 

Dr. Ray: Uh, and I saw people healed. I saw people saved. I saw people saw so many supernatural, incredible moves of God. Um, just amazing story. You, I could tell hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of stories on that.

John: Yeah. So the lawsuit was thrown out. What happened with the IRS? What happened with the business?

Dr. Ray: Well, back to that, the lawsuit, the, the worst part of the lawsuit was the stress and worry and strain. Getting up to the court date. Sure. Not knowing what was gonna happen. We finally make it to federal court and the judge threw the suit, threw it out.

John: Mm-hmm.

Dr. Ray: Now, if I had known this, you know, 8, 9, 10 months, you know, ahead of time, probably would've saved me a lot of blood pressure spikes. 

John: Exactly. Yeah. 

Dr. Ray: A lot of stress. So that was worse. The IRS was really supernatural. Um, a funny thing with the IRS, um, I remember when they called me into the office, I'm sitting across the desk with this IRS agent and he told me that, uh, I owed this very large amount of money. And I said, Well, I don't have that kind of money. And he said, Well, you, you have to pay it back. I said, We'll give you to- I never- This was September. 

John: Mm-hmm.

Dr. Ray: He said, We'll give you to December 10th. I'll never forget. We'll give you 'till the December 10th to pay this back. I said, You understand, this is a corporation, sir, you can't, you cannot come after me individually. Oh, yes sir. Federal law allows us to go after the officers of the corporation and we're, we're, we're, we're after you. And I looked at the guy and I said, I don't have this. And you know, my partner took this money from the business and he's the guy that's got it. That didn't matter to him. 

John: Mm-hmm.

Dr. Ray: And so I started to get very, very, very angry. 

John: Yeah. 

Dr. Ray: And I looked at the guy, and this was not my most godly moment, I don't think I was baptized, I wasn't baptized with the Holy Spirit right now. I looked at him, I said, How can you do this? I mean, where's your conscience, dude? How can you, how can you tell me that you're gonna take everything I own? Can you go to sleep at night? So I, I made it personal. 

John: Mm-hmm. 

Dr. Ray: I said what kind of person are you? It's just my job, sir. So you're telling me if I don't pay you back this amount of money by December 10th, you're gonna back a truck up and just take all my furniture, all my possession, everything I own. He goes, Yes, sir. That's what we're gonna do. And I'm thinking, this guy's like a Nazi. I mean, I was really, really angry. So I made a very intelligent decision. Uh, it was about 4:30 in the afternoon when I was meeting with him. I decided to go out in the parking lot and wait for him to come out. 

John: Oh.

Dr. Ray: I was gonna see how tough he was in the parking lot. And then I was gonna deck him. I decided that I was gonna, I was gonna open up a can of Red Neck. 

John: Mm-hmm.

Dr. Ray: And, um, I was gonna take him out. I was just going, I, wasn't really gonna hurt him bad. Just gonna punch him and knock him down. 

John: Exactly. Make him, make him question. 

Dr. Ray: Yeah. I making him question this decision.

John: Mm-hmm. 

Dr. Ray: So I'm in the parking lot and all of a sudden it's like, I got this really strong impression from God. So Ray, you're going to punch a federal agent? Do you think that's wise? And I got, fortunately I got convicted. This was probably one of the dumbest ideas I ever had and I did not do it. 

John: Thank God for that.

Dr. Ray: I did actually wait for him for a while though. Yeah. And I just, um, prayed. I was stressed at this time my life was so hard.

John: Mm-hmm. 

Dr. Ray: I hadn't received the Holy Spirit yet, the baptism of Holy Spirit. But I was desperate for God. God had... God had put me in a place where there was nothing I could do, but just cry out. And cry out and cry out. So I'm crying out to the Lord. So I had this lawsuit, I had some marriage issues, I had issues with my children. I had so much stuff going on that I'm really beginning to seek God, 'cause I, I don't have an answer. 

John: Mm-hmm. 

Dr. Ray: I don't have an answer. And I really, to this day cannot explain how I did it. But by December 10th, I had paid every penny. 

John: Wow.

Dr. Ray: Out of my own pocket. 

John: Wow.

Dr. Ray: And I don't know how I did it, it just, it just came, It's just supernatural. 

John: Wow. God's faithful. 

Dr. Ray: Yeah. And so after all that, and I'm really getting desperate. That's when, you know, I finally meet the Holy Spirit. 

John: Yeah.

Dr. Ray: In, in a very powerful way.

John: Now, it could have been really easy for you to just go back to the things that you had been doing to rebuild your life. You'd lost everything or a lot of things. At least you could have started another business. I mean, it sounds like you already had two at least, but God calls you into ministry. But let, let's talk about that and kind of... so you had to take a different path at that point. You had to say, I'm gonna leave this old life behind and, and start this new thing.

Dr. Ray: Well, here I was an entrepreneur. I had always, I had been a corporate guy. I owned several business and knew how to, 

John: Yeah.

Dr. Ray: Uh, I was making good money and did some amazing stuff. 

John: Mm-hmm. 

Dr. Ray: I mean, not only did I own this big appliance outlet store, but in the software business actually worked with Graceland Estate to set up an inventory control system for all the Elvis stuff.

John: Hmm. 

Dr. Ray: Did a project for Holiday Inns, did a project for, um, a warehouse project for Disney. Did some pretty cool stuff in the midst of all this, but then everything started to crash and burn and crash and burn. And I then I just started, I was so tired and so stressed out that I decided I wanna work for somebody else and just. I wanna recover. 

John: Hmm. 

Dr. Ray: So I started working for Dillard's department store and I did it because I wanted something that was mindless, something where I could make a little money and not have to worry about anything. 

John: Mm-hmm.

Dr. Ray: And so I literally took a mental break, started working for Dillard's. 

John: Hmm. 

Dr. Ray: While I was working for Dillard's, uh, God started blessing me. It was really amazing. I decided to go back to college 'cause I needed another semester to, to graduate college. I quit the second semester of my senior year, which was to go into business. 

John: Hmm. 

Dr. Ray: And I was kind of looking around colleges and I found this college called Memphis Bible College. And why I enrolled in there, I have no idea. But I enrolled in Memphis Bible College. And, turned out that I really, really liked it. 

John: Hmm.

Dr. Ray: I liked it a lot. And so go to class and enjoy it. I'll never forget my first day of class, uh, it was an interesting class and I walked out. The class was over. So I started to walk out the door and the teacher said, Ray, Hey Ray, stop. Where you going? I said, What? I thought I was in trouble. 

John: Mm-hmm.

Dr. Ray: The teacher said, Come here. I said, Okay. I said- His name was Dr. Nielsen. I'll never forget this. Yes sir. I need a hug. And he gives me a hug. This is my first day of Bible college. Make a long story short, I, uh, I finished up my bachelor's at Memphis Bible College and I said, Oh, what the heck? I work on my master's. So, so I finished my ma- got a master's in Christian psychology. 

John: Mm-hmm.

Dr. Ray: I just kept going. I just kept going, finished my masters and I said, Nah, what the heck? I'll just keep on going. So I kept so I moved to the doctoral program, then I got a- a couple things happened that are real pivotal. Pivotal here. 

John: Yeah.

Dr. Ray: While I was, um, at Memphis Bible College, the president of the bible college was doing a revival in Arkansas, a little small town in Arkansas, and is was one of these revivals where you're having church every night for like six weeks. 

John: Mm-hmm. 

Dr. Ray: It's a true move of God. I mean miracles are happening left and right. This revival. Well, one day the president of the bible college came to me and said, Hey Ray, um, I can't do this revival tonight. I want you to go take my place and preach. I said, You want me to do what? He said, I want you to go preach at this revival. I've never preached before. I've never spoken at a church before. Go preach. So I went to preach at this Pentecostal church over in Arkansas, and I started to preach and the spirit of the Lord came and people started shouting as people started praising. And I went, hmm, hmm, 

John: mm-hmm.

Dr. Ray: this is, wow, this is, this is kind of good. 

John: Yeah. 

Dr. Ray: Then I started getting invitations to teach classes, and then the Lord started confirming a call of God in my life.

John: Mm-hmm. 

Dr. Ray: And I was never called to business. I was called to be a teacher. I was called as a prophet. I was called as a pastor. So as I'm working on my doctorate, the Lord, one day he spoke to me and he said, Ray, I'm gonna give you this college. And I went, What? What? 

John: What does that mean? I'm gonna give you this college?

Dr. Ray: I'm gonna give you this college. Yeah. You're thinking you, you know, it's gotta be God, but it's something you would never think about. Never want, but who want- I didn't want a college. I mean, why would I want a college? 

John: Right? 

Dr. Ray: What? What the heck does that mean? Excuse me, God, But God, could you kinda clarify that?

John: Uhhuh. 

Dr. Ray: That's all I heard. So I was able to finish my doctorate degree in Christian psychology. And about a month after my doctorate degree, the president of Memphis Bible College came to me and said, Ray, I've got a job offer for you. I said, What? He said I want you to take this college. 

John: Mm-hmm.

Dr. Ray: I have an offer with ORU and this will be a conflict of interest for me. I want you to take this college. You want me to what? And then I remembered the word of the Lord. 

John: Wow. 

Dr. Ray: And I was literally handed the presidency of Memphis Bible College. And that's kind of where, 

[both laugh]

Dr. Ray: You know what is God, John, when it's just exceedingly, abundantly more than you could ever think or ask for.

John: That's so true

Dr. Ray: And it was nothing that I really ever thought I wanted to do.

John: Yeah. Now were you teaching classes? What were you doing at...

Dr. Ray: Well, after, um, I did some substitute teaching and stuff like that, but uh, when I took over the college, I was doing everything.

John: Right. Right. 

Dr. Ray: Everything. Everything. So, 

John: Wow.

Dr. Ray: It was pretty- and then out of that I planted a school called The School of the Prophets, 

John: mm-hmm.

Dr. Ray: which was a very supernatural school out of Memphis Bible College with the blessing of the covering of the college. Memphis Bible College was a subsidiary or satellite of Jacksonville Theological Seminary of Jacksonville, Florida. It was owned by them, so...

John: Okay. 

Dr. Ray: with their permission, I started another school called School of the Prophets. And the School of the Prophets kept growing and growing and growing and growing and growing. And make a long story short, the School of the Prophets ended up evolving into the International College of Ministry.

John: Oh, okay. 

Dr. Ray: So Memphis Bible College, School of Prophets, International College of Ministry. 

John: Very interesting. And so you started International College of Ministry. Um, how long has that been going?

Dr. Ray: Since about 1998, I think, or so. Yeah.

John: Yeah. And that's, this is an online university. 

Dr. Ray: Yeah. 

John: And so people can take classes from whenever.

Dr. Ray: Yep.

John: Or whenever, wherever. And basically however they can, they can get the classes. Um, and that you don't have to start on a semester schedule. You just told me, uh, you can kind of go at your own pace, which is, which is a really cool thing that you can get an education. But you're not limited to just starting in September or starting in January or whatever. So yeah. What, tell me about some of the favorite, your favorite things about the college. 

Dr. Ray: Well, it's pretty hilarious the students will call me all the time and go, Hey, Dr. Self when's your semester start? Whenever you want. It's like 24 hours a day. 

John: Mm-hmm.

Dr. Ray: The courses are prerecorded. We do have some live courses on Tuesday evening, but 90% of what we have is pre-recorded. So you take it when you want. And, uh, um, are, we have majors in, uh, ministry, we have associates, bachelor's, master's and doctoral programs, in ministry, theology, Christian counseling, and prophetic ministry. 

John: Wow. 

Dr. Ray: Um, and so... The most popular degree is the Christian counseling degree. 

John: Hmm. 

Dr. Ray: And we've graduated quite a few Christian counselors. We're accredited with ACI is Accrediting Commission International. It's the largest private accrediting agency in the world. Um, the Florida Department of Education recognizes us as an Ecclesastical school. So it's a real, it's a real deal. 

John: That's awesome. 

Dr. Ray: And we're affordable. I always, uh, have made it try to make it affordable to reach as many people as possible.

John: Yeah.

Dr. Ray: You know, seminary right now in America, typical seminary degree is 30 to $40,000. And, uh, I hate that because I think you, you, you just, it makes it an exclusive club and so I'm not like that at all. You know, we're very affordable and we also have scholarships. We, we give scholarships to people with financial hardships.

John: Wow. 

Dr. Ray: And, um, we have campuses in, um, Africa and Peru, India.

John: So it's online, but you also have physical campuses too. 

Dr. Ray: We do have some physical campuses. You have, strangely enough, Buffalo, New York, um, Columbia, South Carolina, South Haven, Mississippi, and Orlando, Florida. 

John: Mm-hmm.

Dr. Ray: We do have some physical campuses. I would say 85% of our students at least, are online. 

John: Yeah. Wow. Yeah. So God moved you from Memphis to Orlando? 

Dr. Ray: Yeah. 

John: Okay. And because of what you're doing, you, you weren't limited by, uh, by location. 

Dr. Ray: Right.

John: So I gotta hear this story of how God moved you to Orlando because I've got a story of how God moved me to Orlando too. You know, we're both transplants and uh, but God has been the one that has called us here.

Dr. Ray: Right.

John: So how did God bring you here? 

Dr. Ray: It's, it's something I never would've dreamed of. And I keep going back to Ephesians, to him who was able to exceedingly, abundantly, uh, more than you could ever think of. Also, uh, and Isaiah, my thoughts, not your thoughts,

John: mm-hmm.

Dr. Ray: my ways are not your ways. And so it was a shocker. So here I am in, in Memphis, in the midst of planting a school, out of the school, we planted a church.

John: Hmm.

Dr. Ray: Called Spirit Wind Ministries Church. And that's in a little town called Olive Branch, Mississippi, which is actually a suburb of Memphis. And the church was thriving. I mean, just thriving, growing and growing and growing. And, um, just moves of God. People didn't wanna leave. We couldn't get people, we couldn't get people to go home. 

John: Mm-hmm.

Dr. Ray: You know, it's like, go it's over. No, I don't wanna leave.

John: Uhhuh. 

Dr. Ray: And so in the midst of all this, the Lord calls me to Orlando, Florida. And, um, That's, uh, something that I just would not ever, ever have thought of.

John: Mm-hmm.

Dr. Ray: And, uh, he confirmed it multiple times. Multiple times. He, he kept confirming it. So finally I got up the courage and, um, I laid- I had family there, which you probably had family in Pittsburgh.

John: Mm-hmm. 

Dr. Ray: Had family in the Memphis area. I laid down the church, I laid down. Now the school was mobile. 

John: Right.

Dr. Ray: So that's, no, no problem. As a matter of fact, coming to Florida helped me, cause I've been working with the Florida Department of Education. So Orlando though, Orlando, when you live in Memphis, if you go to Florida, you go to Panama City or Destin. 

John: Okay. 

Dr. Ray: You go to panhandle, nobody from Memphis ever goes to Orlando. You go to what we used to call the Redneck Riviera 

John: Uhhuh. 

Dr. Ray: And that is Pensacola, Fort Walton Beach, Panama City, Destin, that's where you go. So Orlando, that's Disney. And there's no beach in Orlando. 

John: Uhhuh.

Dr. Ray: Why would I go to Florida where there's no beach? Um, When I met, went to Orlando. Uh, immediately I met this guy. Somebody introduced me to a guy, a friend of a friend introduced me to a guy named Joe Warner. I'll never forget it. I met him at a really fancy restaurant, you know, four star restaurant called Red Lobster,

John: With the cheddar biscuits.

Dr. Ray: The cheddar biscuits. Everyone was eating our cheddar biscuits. He invited me to his church. Um, well I won't go to his church. The spirit of the Lord was there. The Lord told me, that's where I want you to be. And all of a sudden, through Joe Warner, doors began to open and he gave me a home, a new home base for our school, which was really amazing. The school was already doing really well, but he gave me a home base for our school and then through Joe Warner, and he started starting in invitations all over the US. I mean like stuff you can't imagine, um, Pittsburgh,

John: Uhhuh,

Dr. Ray: Uh, he'd say, let's go minister in Pittsburgh. I want you to come with me. And then I started getting, because the connections in Pittsburgh, I started being invited to preach in Alabama and Louisiana.

John: Right. 

Dr. Ray: In Pennsylvania, uh, Texas. All these invitations and doors started opening. It- it started with a pastor who understood my gift, 

John: mm-hmm. 

Dr. Ray: and supported my gift and was willing to work with me. And he said something that really changed my life. He said, Ray, I'm not here to be over you. I'm here to work beside you. And that's what he did. And I ended up helping Joe Warner. I ended up helping him and getting him invitations and, and helping him and his ministry.

John: Mm-hmm.

Dr. Ray: He helped me in my ministry. We worked together. And next thing you know, I'm ministering in places I couldn't dream. Like I'm up in the mountains of Guatemala, ministering to Mayan Indians and prophesying to witch doctors- actually did that. Um, then we're in Indonesia in Bali, ministering to the Hindus. Then we go from Bali to, uh, Sumatra, which is 98% Muslim.

John: Right. 

Dr. Ray: Ministering to Muslims in Sumatra and just things, and then Spain and just things you cannot even imagine opened up for me. Um, I think my book really talks about this. Um, it turns out that Orlando was my promise land. 

John: Hmm. 

Dr. Ray: It was the place Lord had called me to be.

John: Hmm. 

Dr. Ray: Doing what God created me to do. And sometimes when you're going, when you need to get into your promised land, you have to, you may ha- it may be a move. 

John: Yeah. 

Dr. Ray: Okay? To me, what Lord was showing was Ray, your promised land was not Memphis. That's where that was. I was, I was blessing you okay. In Memphis. 

John: Mm-hmm.

Dr. Ray: But I have more for you in Orlando. That's your promised land. And literally what's happened to me in Orlando is literally 10 times...

John: hmm. 

Dr. Ray: what happened to me In Memph- 10 times more. 

John: I can relate.

Dr. Ray: Yeah.

John: When you take that step of faith and, and go to the promised land. 

Dr. Ray: Yeah. 

John: Uh, it, it, the, whatever the promised land that God has for you, ours just happens to both be Orlando.

Dr. Ray: Yeah. 

John: Um, it's really, really pretty incredible just to see how God goes above and beyond and he's so abundant. 

Dr. Ray: Yeah.

John: It really, really is. So you also met your wife in this process too. I don't wanna, Don't wanna forget that. 

Dr. Ray: Yeah. We don't wanna leave her out. 

John: Yeah. 

Dr. Ray: Because uh, I'm a single fa- in the midst of all that, when I went back, when I got baptized, in the Holy Spirit

John: mm-hmm.

Dr. Ray: I told you there were marriage issues. 

John: Right.

Dr. Ray: And it was, it was horrible. 

John: Mm-hmm. 

Dr. Ray: So I ended up losing my wife in all this. And, um, I became a single father with two kids. 

John: Wow.

Dr. Ray: And, um, so I'm, I'm building this school and planted a church and doing a School of the Prophets and starting International College of Ministry, and I'm doing all this as a single dad.

John: Wow. That puts a new perspective on the story you just told. 

Dr. Ray: Yeah. Yeah. I just, it's just so much, it's hard to get it all in, but.

John: Wow. 

Dr. Ray: So I'm a single father. And I didn't really like being single, to be honest. I really, 

John: I can relate.

Dr. Ray: I didn't, I wanted to be, I wanted to be married, but I tried, um, different things. And, um, I actually tried eHarmony, 

John: Uhhuh, 

Dr. Ray: and it was crazy because I met so many people. Turned out at one point, I had like 1200 matches on eHarmony when it was like overwhelming. And, and you know, they recommended, well you just meet in a public place, 

John: Uhhuh

Dr. Ray: and have lunch. And I remember meeting young ladies at, at, or a lady at Cracker Barrel or something. And nothing, just, nothing worked. I finally, I was, I made a prayer. 

John: Mm-hmm.

Dr. Ray: I said, Lord- at this time I had a house on a lake in Olive Branch, Mississippi. I said, If you want me just to be a single dad and live here in this house and minister, I give all my desires to you. I just release it all to you. So I decided no more internet stuff. That's not a tool that God will ever use. Like something like eHarmony. I'm literally getting ready to click the cancel button and just as I'm getting ready to press cancellation, Christie's picture pops up. 

John: Mm-hmm. 

Dr. Ray: Now, she right now is my wife. 

John: Mm-hmm.

Dr. Ray: And Christie is standing there. And she's got this beautiful little beach outfit on. It was not risque, it was modest.

John: Mm-hmm.

Dr. Ray: But it was still, she's standing on the beach and the wind is blowing in her hair. She's standing in on the sand dune with the wind blowing in her hair. One of the most gorgeous women I've ever seen, and I'm thinking, and she wants, she sent a friend request to me

John: Uhhuh.

Dr. Ray: I'm thinking, well, maybe I could stay with eHarmony just a minute. 

John: That's great.

Dr. Ray: Yeah. Maybe I can stay in a little bit longer. Okay. Maybe eHarmony is not so bad. 

John: Uhhuh Uhhuh.

Dr. Ray: So we became friends. 

John: Mm-hmm. 

Dr. Ray: And, um, so then she gets, we, we, we started emailing and talking on the phone. She's in Orlando and I'm in, I'm in Memphis. Then she, after about two or three months of talking to her, she tells me the thing that all men want to hear, I'll never forget. She said, Ray, I just want you to know you're just like a big brother to me. 

John: Yeah, that's what you want to hear. 

Dr. Ray: Oh, yeah. 

John: Crash and burn. Yeah. 

Dr. Ray: I'm, oh, God. So I'm a big brother to this beautiful woman in Florida.

John: Mm-hmm.

Dr. Ray: So I said, Okay, that's fine. So we just remain friends. Um, then I got an invitation to preach in Vero Beach, Florida, which is about an hour and a half from Orlando.

John: Okay.

Dr. Ray: And I called Christie to say, she's in Orlando, and I said, Christie, I'm flying into Orlando. I'll be preaching a revival in Vero Beach, Florida. Would you like to come hear me speak? And she said, Sure, that'd be great. Tell you what, I'll even pick you up at the airport. I'll drive you down to Vero. Said, Oh, great. So she comes to the revival with me. 

John: Mm-hmm. 

Dr. Ray: And, uh, things started happening. And at this revival, the spirit of Lord fell upon us. In a huge way.

John: Mm-hmm.

Dr. Ray: I mean, literally every time we got close to each other, we could feel the presence of God follow us. And, uh, a lot of supernatural. I don't wanna get into, this is a long story.

John: Yeah. 

Dr. Ray: But we met at this revival in Vero Beach, Florida. Spent hours walking on the beach, talking. I go back to Memphis, she goes back to Orlando and I'm thinking, something's happening here. She's in Orlando thinking something's happening. 

John: Mm-hmm.

Dr. Ray: So to make a long story short, the Lord put us together. So still though, even after I'm in Memphis, she's in Orlando, Christie says she's willing to move to Memphis. 

John: Wow. 

Dr. Ray: And because I have my church up there, she's willing to come to Memphis. So I'm thinking, Okay, that makes more sense but the Lord said, No, you're to go to Orlando. 

John: And God had been speaking, God had been speaking about Orlando before Christie. 

Dr. Ray: He, he had been letting me know that I was gonna go to Florida. I had been having to sense something about Florida. I never

John: mm-hmm. 

Dr. Ray: pictured Orlando.

John: Hmm. 

Dr. Ray: But, so here I am, I'm in a relationship with Christie. We're talking about marriage, we're talking about where to live. 

John: Mm-hmm. 

Dr. Ray: She's willing to come to Memphis. And I wasn't really willing to go to, I didn't wanna go to Orlando until the Lord told me, the Lord spoke to me. And then he confirmed multiple times through prophetic words that I was to come to Orlando.

John: Wow. 

Dr. Ray: And that's when he did exceedingly, abundantly, more than you could ever think or ask for. 

John: Amen.

Dr. Ray: Yeah. 

John: Amen. I love that you, uh, you know, you've told me that story before. 

Dr. Ray: Yeah.

John: In some of our private conversations. 

Dr. Ray: Yeah. 

John: And it's, it's so encouraging to me because of, you know, the season that I'm in right now, where I'm, I'm 37 and haven't met my wife yet, at least that I'm aware of. Um, God hasn't made that completely clear yet. So, uh, but just knowing that, uh, you know, you, the eHarmony thing worked for you and, uh, praise the Lord that, uh, God even pulled you outta the friend zone, which was a, which is a , you know, that was another issue there.

John: But, you know, Ray, as, as we're talking about your story, you know, I, I've gotta ask these, these questions that are my key podcasts, you know, uh, theme questions, you know, just like the disciples were walking on the road to Amaus 

Dr. Ray: mm-hmm.

John: here comes Jesus, but they don't realize that it's him and he joins them and they talk for hours. You know, the, the road to Amaus from Jerusalem, depending on, depending on what archeologist you listen to, some people say it's seven miles. Some people, people say it's 11 miles, regardless, say it's, it's just several hours that they're walking together and they don't realize that it's Jesus until they invite him in, because he would've kept on going.

John: Uh, but they invite him in and uh, at the table, he sits down, he blesses the food, breaks the bread, their eyes are opened, and then poof, he's gone and they turn to each other and Luke 24:32 and they say, Weren't our hearts burning within us along the way as he was revealing the scriptures to us? You know, I don't wanna miss those moments where our hearts are burning along the way and you know that Jesus really was there, but we didn't realize it in that moment. So can you tell me about a moment where you look back now and you see that Jesus really was there and your heart was burning, you just didn't realize it, Because we wanna learn from those. 

Dr. Ray: Yeah. Um, of course there's, there's many times.

John: Yeah.

Dr. Ray: I think the thing that touches me the most is looking back in the darkest moments of my life, he was there.

John: Mm-hmm.

Dr. Ray: And now I, I feel with me, maybe I could tell you a lot of stories where he was there in some really great moments, but I think the ones that touched my heart is back in the late sixties and seventies when I was in, I call it my dark period 

John: mm-hmm.

Dr. Ray: and I was, um, I was doing drugs and I was living a very ungodly life. I still remember the Holy Spirit convicting me and talking to me in the midst of all that. 

John: Hmm. 

Dr. Ray: And it's just, he was there. He was there. And then when I become a corporate guy and I, I lose everything. I, I mean, I have a tremendous success and then it all, then I lose it all. 

John: Mm-hmm. 

Dr. Ray: And I'm, I'm almost so depressed. I'm almost suicidal. He was there. 

John: Mm-hmm. 

Dr. Ray: He was there, you know, he was there and he said, Not only am I here, Ray, but I've called you into the ministry. 

John: Hmm. 

Dr. Ray: And I'm gonna baptize you with the Holy Spirit and I'm gonna put you in ministry 'cause that's what you were created for. That to me was a road to Amaus experience.

John: Mm-hmm.

Dr. Ray: There he was. Um, and in the natural, everything's horrible. But it, it wasn't horrible. It was, God was there. 

John: Mm-hmm.

Dr. Ray: He was right there. He was right there. When the IRS is after me and 

John: mm-hmm. 

Dr. Ray: I'm, I'm, I'm fighting a lawsuit for against racketeering and federal court and I'm losing my marriage; all this stuff is happening. He was right there the whole time. Uh, I don't know. That's, that just gets me, 'cause sometimes I go, How can you love me that much, God? In the midst of all this, you never left me. You never forsake me. How much love is that? And then when I was doing drugs and, and partying and doing all this stuff, he was still there.

John: Yeah. 

Dr. Ray: And never left me. I would've left me. But he didn't. He was right there. 

John: Hmm.

Dr. Ray: He was right there. Um... 

John: hmm. Amen.

Dr. Ray: And of course he's been there in good times too. 

John: Yeah. So Ray, if you could go back in time like yourself right now, we're recording this in 2022 in June. And if you could go back in time right now, go back in time and visit a young version of yourself. What's, what advice would you want to give yourself? Kinda like what's going on in in that, in that scene right there? What advice would you want to give yourself and what's going on that you would wanna receive that? 

Dr. Ray: That's a really good question because to me it was, there was a question of what I wanted to do and what I was created to do.

John: Mm-hmm. 

Dr. Ray: And the advice I would've given myself was, Ray, find your promise land. Find your creative purpose. You're doing things that you want to do, but you're not doing what God called me to do. So if I could have changed my course, if I could have advised myself when I'm 18 years old, I said, Ray, you're called as a minister.

John: Hmm. 

Dr. Ray: This is who you are. You're not called as a businessman. This is who, who you were created to be. And I believe, It would've changed my, I, I should have gone to ministry when I was 18 years old. 

John: Hmm. 

Dr. Ray: That's what I was called to do. That's what I was created to do. I was created as a minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ with signs and wonders. That's what I was made to do. If somehow I could have directed my young self away from how far I was going, because the scheme of the enemy was to tempt me with money, tempt me with drugs, tempt me with it would be, Ray, you're being tempted. You're trying to play it cool. You're trying to please people. This is not who you are, Ray, 

John: mm-hmm.

Dr. Ray: this is not who you are. That's what I would have told my young self.

John: Wow. This is not who you are. You're created for so much more.

Dr. Ray: Yes. Yeah. That's, that's the big message.

John: And you know, as you've been talking about your story, it seems that the, kind of, the crux of the story was when you met the Holy Spirit or baptized in the Holy Spirit was. Um, I'm gonna just offer you an opportunity right now to talk to the listeners directly. You've been listening this whole time and you're hungry for what Ray's been talking about.

Dr. Ray: Right. 

John: And so, Dr. Ray, would you, would you just lead people in asking the Holy Spirit to come and, and baptize them and kind of give some direction with that? 

Dr. Ray: Yeah. Well folks, if you're listening to me, the Bible's very clear. It said you shall receive power when Holy Spirit's come upon you. Uh, with me. It's just be hungry. Um, this is one of these things. If you're listening to me, you have everything to gain and nothing to lose. So I wanna pray this with you now. 

Dr. Ray: Heavenly Father, I thank you for each person listening to this podcast. Lord, I thank you for each one who is a believer in Jesus Christ, and for you listening to me, your only qualification is to be a believer in Jesus Christ. Lord, I thank you for your sons. I thank you for your daughters. Holy Spirit now in the name of Jesus Christ, fall. Come now, holy Spirit fall upon everyone listening to me who has the desire for you. Who has the desire to be filled and baptized with the Holy Spirit. Fall on them now. Holy Spirit, come. Let your power fall. Fill them up, Father. Touch them Lord. Not just touch them Father, but baptize them. Father.

Dr. Ray: Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, through the power of the media which you created, Father. Let your Holy Spirit fall. Everyone who's here willing to receive, fill them now. Holy Spirit. Fill them now, Holy Spirit. Touch them now. In Jesus name. Touch them now in Jesus name. 

Dr. Ray: Mary, the Lord's changing your life. He's moving it around. He's changing it right now. It is being changed right now. And Ronald, your decision has answered listen to the Lord. The decision is answered for you. You know the decision, it's answered for you or not to take that job. I, this, that's just what I felt the Lord say. Lord, I thank you Jesus. Touch Holy Spirit, touch 'em now. Go deep, Holy Spirit, more of you Lord, baptize for everyone willing to receive, receive now the baptism of the Holy Spirit. In Jesus' name. Amen. 

John: Amen. Amen. Thank you so much. And I, I just wanna say he called out a couple names in this Mary and Ronald. 

Dr. Ray: Yeah.

John: And what was, what he was operating in is words of knowledge right there. God was speaking to Dr. Ray. Somebody's name that if you're listening to this, there's something that God wanted to use him to speak to you directly about that. And if you wanna learn more about how you can operate in that, I know of a great college that can help you kind of understand that and a great resource. And so I want to let people know that you can reach out to me, uh, johnalongtheway@gmail.com. If you're Mary or Ronald, um, or if you just were touched by the Holy Spirit during this, we want to hear, we want to hear this.

John: But also you can go to icmcollege.org to find out more information about the International College of Ministry that Dr. Ray has been talking about. And also his podcast is called Self Talk with Dr. Ray Self, icmcollege.org/selftalk. And you'll be able to get all that information there. You'll be able to hear his regular podcast there. And, um, what, what kind of things can people expect on your podcast? 

Dr. Ray: Well we do what I call, um, you know, real issues, tough talk. 

John: Mm-hmm. 

Dr. Ray: In other words, uh, real answers for tough issues. That's real issue. And we, I've just been doing a series, uh, I've just finished a series on witchcraft, how to deal with the spirit of witchcraft. Uh, I did a couple of shows on, uh, defeating the schemes of the enemy against your life. 

John: Mm-hmm. 

Dr. Ray: Sometimes we will cover really hard topics. We'll cover, uh, depression, we'll cover divorce. Um, it's more just serious issues and obstacles that keep you outta God's best. 

John: Hmm. 

Dr. Ray: That keep you from everything God created you to be. You know, we, we, we, we battle not against flesh and blood, so there's a lot of spiritual warfare and there's a lot of, uh, counseling issues. 

John: Mm-hmm.

Dr. Ray: I mean, heavy, you know, I mean, it's heavy, but it's, but I think it's clear and we always give you an answer and, and a clear path. 

John: Yeah, very good, very good. There's some great resources there. And I know personally I'm really excited about ICM College. Uh, that's something that I'm, uh, going to pursue actually because, um, you have the ability to incorporate some life experience, which I'm excited about, uh, to help towards a degree. And so, uh, that's exciting because what you've done in the past and how God has used you can account towards a degree that can open up some more opportunities for you.

John: And so I know God's already used you to kind of just confirm that those years of ministry that weren't accredited, that were just being out of obedience, that God is using that and that does count for something in heaven, but on earth too. You know, more than just what I did during those, during those eight years in YWAM and stuff like that, so.

Dr. Ray: We, we try to give as much advanced placement as possible. 

John: Yeah.

Dr. Ray: And the Florida Department of Education allows us to give up to 30 credit hours for life experience in ministry experience. So, um, yeah.

John: Wow. 

Dr. Ray: Yeah.

John: There's some, there's some good opportunities there.

Dr. Ray: Yeah. 

John: So if anybody feels that you want to pursue a degree in ministry, I highly recommend checking out icmcollege.org. And I'll make sure to put a link in the show description or the episode description so that people can just click that. And be able to, to go there. Is there anything else that you want to talk about? We wrap up. You mentioned the had a book. 

Dr. Ray: You know, you always have to promote your books.

John: Of course, yeah. This is your opportunity. 

Dr. Ray: The first book I've wrote, it's on amazon.com. 

John: Mm-hmm. 

Dr. Ray: Redeeming Your Past and Finding Your Promise Land. It's my story, but it's also a story of all of us.

John: Mm-hmm. 

Dr. Ray: I believe there are weapons formed against you and the primary purpose of Satan is to keep you away from God's creative purpose for your life.

John: Hmm.

Dr. Ray: Okay. 

John: Say that again. 

Dr. Ray: The primary purpose of Satan's weapons are to keep you away from God's creative purpose for your life. 

John: That's good. 

Dr. Ray: Until you're doing your creative purpose or in your promise land, you're never gonna be content. You'll never be content. And so Redeeming Your Past is how to get over your stuff and these issues, and how to find what you're called to do and what to do when you find it.

John: Mm-hmm. 

Dr. Ray: That's Redeeming Your Past, Finding Your Promise Land, and another book called Hear His Voice Be His Voice is a prophetic book. How do you know when God's speaking? How do you respond to God's voice? How do you, how do you know for sure it's God talking to you? And I even have some really cool things about moving in a prophetic gift. I have one chapter, which I love is called How Not to Be Weird.

John: We can all use that chapter

Dr. Ray: 'cause, you know, a lot of the prophetic people get kinda weird. And so how, how to move into prophetic and not be weird about it. 

John: Mm-hmm.

Dr. Ray: But also it's just hearing God and obeying God. You know, my sheep know me. 

John: Yeah.

Dr. Ray: They know my voice and they follow me. That's what the book's about. 

John: Right. Amen. Amen. Well, Dr. Ray, I am so grateful that our promise land for both of us is Orlando.

Dr. Ray: Yeah. Right.

John: And that God has brought us here and has connected us in many different ways in the past, but is connecting us now. But right now, I want to thank you for allowing me to join you along your way.

[Outro music plays]

Dr. Ray: Thank you for listening to today's show. I hope it's been a blessing to you. We're gonna continue to talk about tough issues and give you real answers by the leading of the Holy Spirit as we continue to reach as many people as possible. Also, a special offer this week, this month actually, we have a course, a college course that we're offering to you, a very important college course called Foundations in Spiritual warfare.

Dr. Ray: Learn how to conduct spiritual warfare, learn the different types of demons you deal with, their powers, their abilities, and what you can do to counter them. Very critical course. Learn the difference between divination and sorcery and witchcraft, and how to counter that in the name of Jesus Christ. This course is $35 for a $35 donation.

Dr. Ray: All you do is click the link, make you a $35 donation, and I will send you a link to download this course, a zip file where you'll get all six lessons of Foundations in Spiritual Warfare. Hope this has been a blessing to you. Thank you so much again for listening to Self Talk. Don't forget to rate us, subscribe, email me with questions, whatever we can do to be a blessing to you.

God bless you. This is Dr. Ray Self.