I had a great lunch with Andy Andrews on Monday. I was at the Perdido Beach Resort to speak for a staff Bible study. Andy lives in the area and I called him for a meal. We had a wonderful seafood meal at Wolf Bay Lodge. His latest book is entitled The Noticer. I know that is not a real word, but as Andy says, “neither was Google until a few years ago!” On Wednesday evening, August 12, Andy is set to be at Olive to speak. Invite everyone you know to join us. It is always inspirational and helpful when he is in the room with a mic turned on. Additional information will be posted on Olive’s website soon.

Today the sod goes down on the athletic fields on the Olive campus. If you have not seen the work, drive the loop road and take a look. It is shaping up as a great place to reach out to the community. Scores of people are helping out. But let me say a special word of thanks to Wesley Jones and Jerry Wood. They have labored for the Lord when few see what they have done. Thank you, Men.

Pastor Ted Traylor

Ed McMahon died. Farrah Fawcett died. Michael Jackson died. It is appointed unto man once to die and following that the judgment. We are all going to die and stand before the Creator. How will you stand?

This week in Louisville the Southern Baptist Convention met. Much of the discussion was on a Great Commission Resurgence. Why? The reason is people die and stand before the Lord. Our task is to present the Good News of Christ to a lost world. As Baptists we have not been doing our best in this endeavor. Our baptisms are in decline. We must do better. The convention asked Dr. Johnny Hunt to appoint a task force to study how Southern Baptists can work more faithfully and effectively together in servicing Christ through the Great Commission. I am one of 18 people on the committee. I ask that you pray for us to have wisdom and heaven’s insight. The assignment is to report our findings next June at the 2010 convention in Orlando. I will be sharing more about this year’s meeting in Olive’s Sunday evening service.

One of the best ways for us to surge as a denomination is for every local church to get serious about evangelism and missions. We must do more at Olive. Remember, every member is a missionary, every home is an outpost for evangelism and fellowship and every church is a mission sending center.

James 4:14 reminds us “…you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away.” For every Ed, Farrah, and Michael, there are countless others each day who cross into eternity. Their deaths may not make headlines but their souls are equally important to God. We must not forget the importance of spreading the Gospel message of hope and life.

Pastor Ted Traylor

Good morning from Louisville, Kentucky. Liz and I are here for the annual Southern Baptist Convention. Last night the Pastors’ Conference concluded and today the meetings are in full swing. Continue to pray for SBC President Johnny Hunt as he leads. I encourage you to watch live streaming of this year’s event by logging on to www.sbc.net. I will write more specifically about the convention on Friday’s blog.

Pray for our high school students as they are attending Student Life camp at Stetson University in Deland, Florida. There is a great spiritual movement occurring in the hearts of our teens. I am asking the Heavenly Father for a life-changing week for them.

Summer is a busy season. Be sure to stay connected. Check out our website for the various ways you can be involved in ministry over the next couple of months and make a Kingdom difference.

Pastor Ted Traylor

Father’s Day is the time for children to pay honor to their dads. It’s also the perfect time for a father to let his children know how much they mean to him. I have two great reasons to celebrate this Sunday. Rachel and Bennett have grown up to be young adults who love God and live their lives for Him. We have been blessed to make many fun memories together. They make their earthly father very proud. Today is also a special day for my daughter. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, RACHEL!

Sunday is going to be a great day at Olive. Join us in the worship center at 9:30 or 11:00am for a message entitled A Father’s First Love (Ephesians 5:25, Galatians 5:22).

Know that your Heavenly Father has much love in his heart for you.

Pastor Ted Traylor

Next week in Louisville Southern Baptists will meet for its annual session. Dr. Johnny Hunt will lead us as our President. He had put forth the idea that we should examine our convention from the front to the back and make certain we are in the missions business. He has not said it that way but those are my words. And that is a great idea. I remember Berta Smith saying when I was at Southwestern Seminary, “When any organization turns 100 years old it should be dismantled and reorganized.” The SBC began in 1845. We have looked at ourselves in the past and have had some major course corrections. However, in light of statistics in recent days it appears we need to reexamine our structure to make sure we are the most effective convention we can be. This year’s meeting is certain to be interesting. Pray much.

We must also remember Olive is also more than 100 years old. We are due some reevaluation in Pensacola. I do not look forward to my annual physical check up, but it is needed. Same for the church and the convention. Let’s put on the hospital gown and get the process started.

Pastor Ted Traylor

Today we end another great Vacation Bible School at Olive. Yesterday I shared the plan of salvation and had scores of children respond. Today we will baptize several. Parents have to give consent for this and we do our best to follow up on each student. These have been good days. Hundreds of volunteers have been involved. Olive is a wonderful place to call home. I love this church family. After eighteen years I think I will stay for a while!

Continue to pray for me as I search out God’s direction for discipleship in 2010. It will be a big task but a wonderful year. God is doing some fresh things among us.

Look forward to seeing many of you on Sunday.

Pastor Ted Traylor

Vacation Bible School is off to a great start at Olive. I have included some pictures of opening day. Pray for Thursday as I make a Gospel presentation to the children.

At 11:00 am I will join Dr. Jerry Passmore in doing the funeral for Gladys Collins. She was a saint at Olive. May God give us many more like her.

Pastor Ted Traylor

On Thursday morning of this week I had the pleasure of attending the Escambia Association for Administrators in Education end of year breakfast and awards ceremony. The EAAE gives an annual scholarship to a graduating senior who is entering the field of education. They also select an outstanding member of the year and recognize the members who are retiring. We had three Olive members on the list. They are Nancy Reese, Pat Reynolds and Denise Chapman.

The EAAE also gives the “Friend of Education” award. This year Olive Baptist Church was the honoree. A year ago some of our team reached out to partner with Ferry Pass Elementary School, located just a stone’s throw from our campus on Davis Highway. In addition to doing a campus clean up and providing back packs and other items to help students, we also got into the reading business. This was to help with FCAT scores. Huey Pearson and Sheila Reed lead out in this project. They enlisted volunteers who listened to students read on Wednesday evenings at the church. We provided a free evening meal and then had an hour of reading. Test scores have shown improvement and we built some great relationships with parents and students. Our goal is to serve in Jesus’ name and then find opportunity to engage families with the Gospel. We are seeing fruit. SERVICE WORKS!

One other thing we do is pray for the teachers by name on the first Tuesday of each month in our staff time. We then send a note of encouragement to a few of the workers. They have been very grateful. Principal Rhonda Shuford has become our good friend. We look forward to the 2009-2010 school year and the opportunity to partner with them once again.

Pastor Ted Traylor

Three weeks from today Southern Baptists will meet for their annual convention. This year the meeting convenes in Louisville, Kentucky. This is the home of our mother seminary at Southern. SBC President Johnny Hunt will preside. He has put forth the need for Southern Baptists to make moves toward a Great Commission Resurgence. His heart is to ask all Baptists to evaluate their actions and priorities to make sure reaching the world is priority #1.

We need every Baptist to examine their lives and commitment.
We need every Baptist association to make certain they are line with the Great Commission.
We need every Southern Baptist agency to do self evaluation.
We need every state convention to examine its work. Dr. John Sullivan has called for a committee of former convention presidents to help in this matter.
We need every church to make sure the Great Commission is front and center.

The national convention cannot take action to evaluate associations, state conventions or churches. However, we can all cooperate with our President and do the self exam. Recent statistics tell us we need renewal. Pray for it to begin in Louisville.

Pastor Ted Traylor