10.23-Six years ago today a great man moved to heaven.

10.23-
Today marks six years since Ralph Self moved from earth to be with the Lord. He became a follower of Jesus in 1954 and his life was centered in trying to do the right thing. For him this meant living a life of self-control and discipline. He was a hard worker who stood up for truth regardless of the pain it caused him. He was called the “heel man” at work because he expected all the workers he led to give the company the best effort while working on his team.

He worked for unity among God’s people. For about thirty years he was a member of one congregation. The church had many problems and times of being down and discouraged. He stayed with it and did not quit. He believed in sowing seeds of honesty and hard work and the best outcome would result. He worked hard trying to pass along good news. He published the church bulletin for many years teaching the Bible in articles that he thought would help people to live a better life.

I had a close relationship with him for 44 years. I never heard him use a curse word. I never heard him tell a coarse joke. He did not stretch the truth with empty words. He did not brag on himself and rarely on his family.

He honored his parents. When he went on his vacation to be with them for a week, he helped fix anything around their home that needed repair.

He worked hard and succeeded at his job and lived a frugal lifestyle. For most of his career he had a job in a chemical plant in Port Arthur, Texas, that could be dangerous at times. He was on the safety team that rescued workers who might have been injured in a fire. He was willing to work even when hurricanes were coming. As a plant leader, he set an example day by day of the kind of work he expected of those working under him.

He loved his wife. Ralph and Gladys were the love birds who were together for over sixty years. They were an attractive couple who totally admired each other. I learned a lot from watching these two work hard at their jobs.

I was blessed to marry their daughter, Sheila, and I gained a wonderful brother-in-law, Stan.
In the early morning of October 23rd, 2011, after four hard years of missing Gladys and going through several painful medical situations, he passed from this life. Three weeks earlier he said that he was now ready to go on to the next stage. He finished strong with His hope in Jesus. Jesus promised that His followers deaths are not the end but new beginnings. So we rejoice in our good memories of Ralph today and want to finish our work strong like he did.

Ephesians 6.

6 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. ² “Honor your father and mother”—which is the first commandment with a promise— ³ “so that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.”^[a]

⁴ Fathers,^[b] do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.
⁵ Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ. ⁶ Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart. ⁷ Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not people, ⁸ because you know that the Lord will reward each one for whatever good they do, whether they are slave or free.
⁹ And masters, treat your slaves in the same way. Do not threaten them, since you know that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no favoritism with him.

Larry Wishard