Isaiah 52:7 "How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!" And, the shoes of the feet of Ray H Hughes, I was not worthy to loose. Yet, I was received of Brother Hughes and treated with much kindness and love. I have never known a more considerate and grateful man.
I was inspired by a sense of frustration and by a calling. I would often search the internet for sermons and clips and writings or anything pertaining to the life and ministry of Brother Hughes, whom I had admired and loved since my childhood. There was a shameful absence of material. I could not understand that. By the estimation of millions, Dr. Hughes was the greatest Pentecostal pulpiteer and Church leader of our generation.
I thought, "Had someone missed their calling? Had someone simply neglected to give proper honor to this giant of the faith on the World Wide Web?" Then I was reminded, "God has a timing all His own."
With inspiration in my heart, and a measure of trepidation, I took a step of faith. I would no longer wait for another to do what had to be done.
My first plan was to seek the approval and authorization of Dr. Hughes. Yet, I did not want to disturb him, or put myself in a position to be rejected. I felt a call; I wanted nothing to hinder me. Dr. Hughes was a very guarded man and I felt he would not approve of my plans. Therefore I pressed on, on my own.
I gathered material and sermon presentations, with a biographical presentation and launched the page. A preacher friend contacted Ray Hughes JR to inform him of the work. Within hours, my phone rang. It was the man himself, Dr. Ray H Hughes. I had been in services and camp meetings with him since my formative years, (my wise dad saw to it, that my siblings and myself were well inspired by the preaching of Brother Hughes), and, I had spoken by phone with him years before concerning a song that he had inspired. Yet, I had never had a personal conversation with him. I was nervous and excited. Actually, I was afraid Dr. Hughes would not approve of the web page.
Yet, to my delight and surprise, Brother Hughes was supportive right away, in fact, thrilled. He would later inform me, to my joy, that the Holy Spirit had confirmed to his heart that I was the man to build the page and represent his life and ministry on the web. That was all I needed.
I launched out by faith. I typed sermons until I was exhausted. I created video presentations and gathered and posted pictures and all you see now on this web page, with the exception of a few items posted by my brother, Daryl Petree, who oversaw the work for a while, during my absence. I must mention here, Daryl built the official Hughes Facebook page.
I became consumed with the labor, and worked once for 24 hours, with few breaks. At one point I actually felt myself giving out with weakness, due to lack of sleep. I was determined, inspired, driven to build the official Ray H Hughes web page.
I was keenly and spiritually aware; this work will represent the life and ministry of the greatest Pentecostal preacher of our time.
Dr. Hughes called me nearly every day. He oversaw the work and approved most every detail, yet, encouraged me to use my own skills and judgment. This great man became a powerful presence in my life . For months I lived and breathed this work as did Brother Hughes.
(I must note here, there is no mystery in my mind why Dr. Hughes rose to the upper Echelons of power in the Church of God and in the Pentecostal world. He was direct and hands-on, a detailed man with a force of presence you could not ignore. Likewise, he walked with God. You could sense the Holy Spirit in his life).
I became acquainted with the man Ray H Hughes. I asked him many questions and he spoke at length concerning the ministry and his life. I was permitted and greatly honored to walk with him through time. I got to know him well.
While I had always believed his preaching gift was his most outstanding quality, I soon learned otherwise. And although it would be nearly impossible to convince those of you who have heard him preach that he did possess a greater quality, it is nonetheless true. His greatest quality was love.
Brother Hughes poured out his love like water, the Love of God manifested in him, upon me and countless others. Brother Hughes knew how to convey love. Yet, he was tough. He was a real man, a man’s man in fact. What a leader. What a powerful statesmen, who took the pulpits of this world with the boldness of a lion. And he held the reigns of the Church of God in his leadership capacities with unwavering boldness and dignity and wisdom.
Yet, although he possessed the courage of a lion, he was gentle as a lamb at times, at least with me and his family. In fact, I felt very much part of the Hughes family. Yet, to honor my vow to God, I never invaded the man’s privacy. I actually kept a healthy distance, for the sake of honor and respect for Brother Hughes.
By the way, Dr. Hughes had a sharp sense of humor, a few times calling my answer machine encouraging me to get out of bed, at 4 in the morning, and he had the greatest mind, even in his late years, that I have ever had the privilege to explorer and test. Any idea that didn't meet with his approval he met with biting humor. He was quick and his mind was active.
He often spoke with me concerning his passion for preaching. He would often preach new sermons over the phone and he was always in the process of building a new sermon, or writing a book or planning a service. And he spoke to me often of his debilitating sickness, Peripheral Neurophathy. I asked him, "Brother Hughes will you describe your pain." He became somber. He said, "It feels like someone pulling on my toes with full strength with pliers". I cried. By the way, Dr. Hughes experienced no pain as he delivered his sermons, even towards the last days of his life. That supernatural power to preach lifted the pain, if only for a little while.
By the way, I was always aware that I could have never gotten this close to the giant of the pulpit, had he been able to travel and preach and had he been well. This Peripheral Neurophathy held him back to a degree. Yes, he would travel and preach some, but now he had some extra time on his hands, which made the idea of a web page possible.
RayHHughes.com brought a new and fresh excitement to Brother Hughes life, and for that, I will always be grateful. He often confirmed to me, I was ordained for this work. And, I must say, although I have written over 50 nationally charting songs, and been nominated for multiple Dove awards and have won songwriter of year awards, my time spent building the web page, is my greatest accomplishment.
Oh, lest I forget. I made it clear to Dr. Hughes that I would not profit from the web page. That displeased him. He desired to help me. I refused his help and did not profit from this divine work. One year, at Christmas, Brother Hughes humorously yet graciously attempted to pull a fast one on me. He and his dear wife Linda sent me a nice card, with a hundred dollar check. I laughed. Yet I was touched. I needed the money, but I refused it. I voided the check and returned it. And, I faced his scolding.
Dr. Hughes spoke of a known preacher, who said, "I must not touch the gold and I must not touch the Glory". That became my theme. I kept my name out of the picture and I refused all gifts.
I do realize, there are others more qualified to build this page than I, after all, I am a songwriter, not a web designer. Yet, no one stepped up to the plate. No one was approved of God and Dr. Hughes for this work. The work was mine to accomplish.
This has been a high honor, yet, a higher honor to know the man. The Prince of Pentecostal Preachers, a man of love.
The story of my life is a story of some success and more failures. And, a thousand times or more, as I felt myself slipping under the tempestuous waves of life to never be seen or heard of again, it was the preaching of Dr. Ray H Hughes that helped save me.
Ray H Hughes was the greatest preacher of this generation.
Please understand, I built this page to preserve the spiritual legacy of Ray H Hughes on the World Wide Web, and to obey the Lord.
Notice please, very reluctantly, I have added a donation tab for those of you who desire to be part of this work and to help preserve this page. I desire for this page to represent the Preacher, until I give account to him for the work, once I see him again in that wonderful city.
Larry