Monday, January 26, 2026

God and Many-Worlds

 

When I was a teenager in the ’70s, I was an avid reader of comic books. I devoured SpiderMan, Daredevil, Superman, and Batman. They were a great escape. I even collected first editions at one point I probably had around fifty of them. I carried those comics with me for years before finally selling the whole stack for about $25. 

Over the past couple of decades, I’ve watched those same characters come alive on the big screen. The movies are fun, but they’re obviously just that — movies. Fantasy. In those stories, characters come back to life, jump between universes, and sometimes even meet alternate versions of themselves. In one universe a character may be good; in another, evil. Their lives differ, yet somehow remain recognizable. Again, it’s entertaining, but it’s fiction.

The idea of multiple universes makes for easy plot twists, but does it make any sense?

One multiverse theory in quantum mechanics is called the ManyWorlds Interpretation, introduced by physicist Hugh Everett III in 1957. According to this view, every time a situation has multiple possible outcomes, the universe splits into separate branches. If youre deciding whether to eat a piece of candy, the theory says the universe divides: in one branch you eat it, and in another you dont.

My own opinion is that this is a deeply flawed theory. And the challenge is this: if you truly believe it, then moral responsibility disappears. As a Christian, why would you worry about sin if, in some universe, you inevitably commit it anyway? If every possible choice is made somewhere, then right and wrong lose all meaning. Scripture teaches the opposite — that we are accountable for our choices and that God calls us to choose righteousness.

For me, the greatest challenge to this theory is God Himself. I believe God disproves the theory from the very beginning — and I mean the very beginning.

Let’s apply the ManyWorlds Interpretation to the origin of the universe. Some scientists say the universe began with a natural Big Bang. They cannot explain the cause, but the idea is that it simply happened. Christians say that God created the universe. According to ManyWorlds, this moment would be the first branching point: one universe with God, and one without.

Here’s the problem. God is omnipresent and omnipotent. He knows everything. By His very nature, He would know about any “other” universe. That means there would still be only one God over all universes — and God is a God of order, not chaos. Scripture tells us that God sent His one and only Son to save the world. Jesus came, lived, died, and rose again here. He did not come to die repeatedly in countless alternate worlds.

And here is another challenge for the ManyWorlds concept: if the theory were true, it would actually point to the existence of God. At the very beginning, the theory requires two possibilities one universe with God, and one without. But if even one branch contains God, then the Creator exists. And if He exists, He is Lord over all reality, not just one branch of it.

The ManyWorlds Interpretation may make for entertaining stories, but it cannot account for the God who created, sustains, and rules over all things. Scripture teaches that we live in one real world, under one real God, making real choices that truly matter. Instead of imagining infinite versions of ourselves, we are called to live faithfully in the life God has given us trusting His sovereignty, embracing His order, and following Christ with purpose and gratitude.

Granted, this is just my opinion.

I hope you have a blessed day,

Ray

Wednesday, January 14, 2026

1/14/2026 Prayer

January 14th

I PRAISE OUR FATHER IN HEAVEN.  GOD IS HOLY AND HE IS OUR KING.

I thank God for His love. Thanks to our Lord Jesus we are blessed. We can truly say this is a day the Lord has made. Let us be glad and rejoice in it. No matter what happens. As believers we know we have an eternal future with our Lord in Heaven.

As I hear about what is happening in Iran, my heart aches for the people there. I know we have brothers and sisters in the country, and I pray for their safety. I also pray for all of the citizens there who are suffering. Please join me in prayer for them. Let's lift up our voices to our Father in Heaven. If it is within his will, may he protect the people. 

I also pray for Christian men to stand strong for their families. Families need strong loving fathers. We are blessed by a loving eternal Father in Heaven, and that is how we are supposed to be in our families. May God bless and guide all men to walk in the light of Life. May I, as a father, be God's man for them.

I also want to lift up Vivian, John, and Jacque. All three are in the hospital currently. I pray for God to bless them with healing.

Finally, I lift up all of my brothers and sisters in the world. I love them all, even though they do not know me. I love them, because we are family. I know one day we shall meet. What a blessing that will be.

I thank our loving Father in Heaven for listening to this prayer.

Amen.


If you have any prayer needs, please feel free to add them in the comments. 

Your brother in Christ,

Ray

Saturday, January 3, 2026

Prayers: January 3rd, 2026

 Hello, my brother or sister,

As we start the new year, I want to be sure this site is serving the Lord Jesus. I also want to make sure I am serving our Savior in a meaningful way. We all have a duty to glorify our King and Father, and I always feel I can do more for Him. I pray what we do here is a blessing to Him.

I also want this site to a be a blessing for you. I want this to bring comfort and inspire my brothers and sisters in Christ. For those who are not believers, I pray the site at least gets you thinking about Jesus, and I really hope it helps bring you to an understanding of who He is. Knowing Jesus as your Savior is the most important thing any person can do.

With that in mind, I want to invite you to pray for me and my family. We, like most Christians, can always use the blessings of prayer.

Likewise, I want to invite you to send your prayer needs to me. You do not have to send specifics, and you can change the names if that makes you more comfortable or for safety reasons. But please feel free to reach out. I will make sure to lift you and your request to the Lord in prayer. Please put your requests in the comment section.

Today's prayer requests: 

- I feel the need to remember our brothers and sisters in Iran, China, and Nigeria. 

- Darla and Kathy who need healing from Cancer.

- The people of Venezuela. May the Lord's hand protect and guide what comes next for them.

- Pray for the message of Christ's salvation and love to spread across the world.

Thank you, may God bless each of you, and I pray you have a blessed new year.

Ray

Tuesday, December 16, 2025

Joy in Serving

 

Joy in Serving

     Last week Marilyn, my wife, and I volunteered to pack food for an organization called Feed the Hunger. Feed the Hunger is an amazing organization. They send food, hygiene supplies, school supplies, and Bibles to children around the world. These packing events give us a chance to do something for people we will probably never meet this side of heaven.

     As we were getting ready to leave for the event, I started thinking how much of a blessing this was for us, but then it went to the next level. I began thinking of Matthew 26:31 – 46. This section called “The Sheep and the Goats.” In this section Jesus is talking about the end times. It mentions how the people will be divided into two groups. He told those on his right they were to receive their inheritance. When he was hungry and thirsty they fed Him and gave him drink. When He was a stranger, they invited Him in. He was sick and they looked after Him. When He was in prison they visited Him. They asked when did we do this? Then in Matthew 25:40 Jesus responds, “Truly I tell you, whatever you do for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.”

     Ok, when you read this section it can be a little scary. You want to be with the sheep on the right side, because those who did not do the things mentioned above were sent to eternal punishment.

     This time though, I was looking at the JOY in this section. As we were getting ready to go to this packing event that would send food to children around the world, I realized that as we were feeding them, which is a joy in itself, it was as if we were feeding Jesus. Think of it this way. If Jesus knocked on your front door and you answered it, how would you respond. If he asked me for a drink of water, I would look for my best glass and feel it with water with some ice in it. I would then offer him food. I would do these things, because it would be such a joy and honor to serve our Lord, our Savior.

     That is the lesson here. Every time we have an opportunity to serve and help someone else, it is as though that person was Jesus. Serving Jesus would never be a burden. It would be the greatest honor possible. That is how we need to see everyone we have an opportunity to serve. It is a blessing enough to help someone. You become their hero for the moment, but to serve the Lord compounds that joy.  What a blessing that is.

 

Have a blessed day and a blessed Christmas season.

Ray

Layman Ray

Friday, December 5, 2025

The Evangelizing Artist

     In the winter of 1980, a coworker of mine invited me to an art show he was doing. He was displaying and selling the pictures he painted in the walkway of a strip mall. The location was a row of stores located in one big building with a glassed-in walkway in front of them. This was in Casper, Wyoming, in the United States. As it was winter in Wyoming, it was a cold but sunny day out.

     I had no money to buy anything, but I had told him that I would come. So, I arrived there. Walking across the parking lot I could feel the ice crunching under my feet. Once inside the walkway, I could see him sitting in a chair surrounded by his display of art. I quickly saw his pictures were all scenery pictures. Living in Casper at the base of the Rocky Mountains there was plenty of scenery to be painted. His paintings were very good.

     There was no one else around, and I asked him if it had been busy. He told me it hadn’t been. In fact, I am not sure if anyone else was in the shopping center. The place was quiet. We then talked a bit about his artwork. I told him about members of my family who could paint, but I did not have the skills that they had. Then it happened. He skillfully changed the conversation. He started talking to me about God.

     At that time, I would have told you that I was a Christian. I prayed, but I didn’t know much about the Bible, including what God said much about anything. I had seen the movies “The Ten Commandments” and “The Greatest Story Ever Told”, but we were not a church going family. Our family stopped going to church when I was around four years old. I was young. I thought I knew everything about life, and yet, I didn’t know the most important things about life.

    As he began to evangelize, I immediately got defensive. He tried to talk to me about salvation, and I put up a wall of resistance. I remember he was getting very frustrated, because he was trying to reach me with the good news. I continued to resist. By the time I left, I am sure he felt defeated, and he most likely thought that I was lost.

     In 1999, I was baptized and I joined a church. My relationship with God has grown, but 29 years had passed since that conversation with the artist. It was one of many experiences that stuck with me over the years, times when God was reaching out to me through others.  It took a long time for me to catch on. My coworker was disappointed that day, but he was one of the first people to really reach out to me.

     There will be times when you reach out to share the Gospel, and some of those times you will feel like you failed. Remember though it is God’s message, and sharing his message is never wasted. He will do with it as he wills. Our job is simply to share it with others.

     One day, I will meet my coworker in Heaven. That day we will both rejoice, because he was part of my journey to know the Living Savior.

 

For God so loved the world, that He gave His one and only Son! – John 3:16

 

May God Bless You,

Layman Ray


Thursday, November 20, 2025

Jonah Is An Amazing Story

 


     I have always enjoyed the story of Jonah. As a child I was fascinated by him being swallowed by a giant fish. As an adult I have come to realize just how complex the story really is. Here are a few things that have amazed me about the story.

     First, we have this man of God who was respected by the people, and yet, when God told him what he wanted Jonah to do, he ran. He was determined to go as far away as possible. He thought he could leave and be out of God’s sight. We know that God knows everything and he is everywhere. What was Jonah thinking?

     I have to say that I cannot be too hard on Jonah, because I know what God’s word says. Yet, there are times I want to do something else. It may be that I just feel too tired to pray, too lazy to help my neighbor, or to scared to share God’s word. You may be shaking your head right now, but I believe we all have our Jonah moments. Sometimes God steps in and gets our attention.

     A giant fish swallowed Jonah. Jesus said he would make the apostles fishers of men, and he did. They listened to their master. For Jonah, it was the fish that was the fisher of men.

     He was in the belly of the fish for three days. People will tell you the story is not true. How can a man survive in the belly of a fish for three days. Let me tell you. Jesus spoke of Jonah and his experience. I believe Jesus knew what he was talking about. I believe the story.

     The Ninevites repented. The people that Jonah was afraid of did the opposite of what Jonah feared. They repented of their sins, and this irritated Jonah. Too often we have our own expectations of justice. I once had someone tell me she was praying for God to make the workman on her roof fall off the roof. The man didn’t fall. We are called to love and forgive.

   There are other things in the story that amaze me, but these were just a few of them. From this we can learn to respect God’s amazing power, to listen to His commands, and to love and forgive others. The story of Jonah is bigger than the fish that swallowed him.

 

Have a blessed day,

Layman Ray


Wednesday, November 12, 2025

We Are One with Jesus! Follow Up

I originally wrote this as a comment to the article "We Are One with Jesus!", but I wanted to make sure it was easily seen. 

I just wanted to do a quick follow up with an example of what I am talking about. Last night, I attended the prayer meeting at Pleasant Ridge Christian Church, in Greensboro, North Carolina, in the United States. There were seven of us in the prayer meeting. Our prayer focus was for the persecuted church. We prayed for strength and protection for all of our brothers and sisters around the world who are standing strong for Jesus, and we prayed for the church leaders who are risking everything to spread God's message of hope and love. We were a small group gathered together in prayer, but we know that we have a big loving Father who listens to even the smallest of us.

I would love to hear from others who are gathered in prayer for our brothers and sisters in need.

May God Bless You All,

Ray

Layman Ray

A special thanks to Greg, the Prayer Ministry Coordinator for Pleasant Ridge Christian Church, for his leadership and heart for the persecuted church.

God and Many-Worlds

  When I was a teenager in the ’70s, I was an avid reader of comic books. I devoured Spider ‑ Man, Daredevil, Superman, and Batman. They wer...