Last week I had the joy of attending the Pisgah Class of 1972 Reunion. It has been 35 years since we graduated. It was a fun night for me. Liz attended with me and reconnected with a few of my old friends she has come to know down through the years.

Teachers certainly play an important role in the shaping of our lives. Mine was no different.

Mrs. Elizabeth Cooley (Left) and Mrs. Loretta Wright (Right) were two who attended our reunion. Mrs. Cooley was the long-term English teacher at Pisgah and wife of our beloved basketball coach, Paul Cooley. Mrs. Wright taught American history and was a first-year teacher just out of college during my senior year. To say we “broke her in” would be an understatement. I thank God for those who currently teach students and stand for Jesus. Be faithful, you are making an impact.

The same evening of our reunion Wallace Tinker (Middle) was honored as one of the top 100 athletes in the history of Auburn University. He was a Pisgah graduate in 1965 and a first-year coach at PHS during my senior year. Alabama Senator Lowell Barron (Right) presented Wallace and recognized the honor given to him by Auburn University.

Good friends were all around at the reunion. Rex Creswell (Left) is a businessman in the north Alabama area. I performed the marriage ceremony for he and his wife, Kim, over 30 years ago. While I was young preacher, Rex would travel with me to my speaking engagements. He is a great Christian layman.

Terry Robertson (Middle) is the Executive Director of Southern Baptist Convention work in the state of New York. He occupies a strategic post in touching America with the Gospel. I am proud of him and the wonderful work he does.

You never know the influence you are going to have on another person. Today your actions will impact someone. Live with integrity. Someone is watching. Become a difference maker. Many have done that for me. Some of them showed up in Pisgah, Alabama last Friday evening.

Pastor Ted Traylor

Last week I announced that we would begin to renovate one of the houses on our property to become a place of ministry for ladies in need.  That house is located on Whitmire Road.  We are going to name it the Charis House. Charis is the Greek word for “grace.”  This will offer a safe and home-style setting for ladies who are at the point in their life’s journey that brings them to our church’s doorstep with needs for shelter, food and rehab.  This is an exciting ministry opportunity in which we all can be a part.

I have enlisted Dennis Wilson as the project coordinator. In just one week, we have had an outpouring of gracious responses to the work of this project.  But we need more.  I am asking you to give your time through volunteering for tasks such as cleaning and landscaping the yard, washing the exterior, and assisting with electrical and plumbing repairs.  The inside floors need refurbishing. We want to install a chain-link fence around the property. Please contact Dennis at 516-3226 or online boaz1940@bellsouth.net.

I am also asking you to donate cash to this project.  You can designate this gift on your offering envelope. Not only do we need to completely furnish this home but we will also have continuing needs to keep this ministry going.  Please pray about what God would have you to do.  Look for updates and workdays to be announced in the Worship Guide each week. God’s blessings come when we are obedient to Him.  We must be faithful to use what God has blessed us with to bless others.

Greetings from Fort Worth, Texas. I am preaching in chapel at Southwestern Seminary this morning at 11 a.m. I ask that you pray. This is the school Liz and I attended in 1979. Seems like a long time ago. So much of who I am today took shape on this campus. Great men taught me and encouraged me. I am indeed thankful.

On Monday afternoon I flew into Dallas and had dinner with some old friends from my days in Garland, Texas where I was the pastor at Orchard Hills Baptist Church. This couple, who are now involved in a growing ministry, were just young and starting out when I first met them. They now have a ranch that in the summer serves as a camp for over 300 teenagers each week. They also have a Cowboy Church with about 100 in attendance on Sunday. They are doing a God-sized work in Jesus’ name. They launched out in faith and God is supplying the way. I was encouraged by their work. 

I was also encouraged Sunday at your response toward the project of refurbishing the Rabone House for ministry to local ladies. We have 75 days left to get things ready for an Easter open house. We can and will do it. Be watching the worship guide and this blog for ways you can help. Don’t miss out on a blessing.

Our ministry evangelism is a part of a great work God has called us all to do.  In those early days of my ministry, even during the time we were at seminary, God was revealing the call of evangelism as part of the work to which He would equip me. Let’s all hang on to the Lord. We are about to launch out into the deep. HE IS ABLE!

Pastor Ted Traylor

Last week former Presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton announced they were joining forces with 40 Baptist organizations to hold a gathering in January 2008. The meeting is called the “Celebration of a New Baptist Covenant.” The dates are January 30 - February 1, 2008. The event is tentatively scheduled for Atlanta. The announced idea is for Baptist leaders to reaffirm their commitments to Baptist values including evangelism, helping the needy and promoting religious freedom.  

While Southern Baptist leaders were not invited to the announcement ceremony, if these three items are the agenda, you can count me in. However, if other agenda items are some kind of political push for a candidate, you can count me out. These stated three items need a recommitment from all of us.    

1. Evangelism - If this is the sharing of Christ as the only sufficient means for salvation and calling men to a decision for Christ, I am in. If Jesus is only preached as one of the ways to God, count me out.   

2. Helping the Needy - Matthew 25 tells that helping others is on the final exam for Christians. If this is a call to help others and use it as a means to share Christ, count me in. If a social agenda with no Gospel is the call, then count me out.   

3. Religious Freedom - Giving every man the right to believe and practice religion as his heart dictates has been a Baptist hallmark. If that is the goal, then count me in. However, if the radical idea of separation of church and state that seeks to silence the Gospel in any public arena is the agenda, then count me out.   

I will be eager to see what the 2008 New Covenant for Baptists is all about. Until then count on me to continue to do work toward these three vital goals. I pray and hope many others will join the team.   

Pastor Ted Traylor        

Greetings from Budapest, Hungary.  

As I write, our team is about to go to bed on Monday night. We catch an early flight on Tuesday morning and are scheduled to arrive in Pensacola around 5:30 p.m. Tuesday afternoon. All of that depends on Air France, Delta and weather. The Lord is in charge of all things and we trust and wait on Him.

The crusade concluded on Sunday evening with standing room only including people in the overflow areas. God moved in the hearts of many. I have several stories to share of God’s grace. One of those is a former Catholic priest that was saved on Sunday evening. He attended the follow-up meeting after the service. Emanuel Baptist Church leadership will continue to counsel with him. The last night 45 people signed up for the baptismal class that begins this week.  Final numbers are not in for the meeting. However, one of the pastors told me he believes approximately 150 people made commitments for salvation in Christ over the week. Praise the name of the Lord! Thank you for your intercessory prayers.

On Saturday morning the students at Emanuel University gathered in the chapel for a special event and our team was invited to attend. I had no idea what was going to take place. Much to my surprise they unveiled the Ted Traylor Chair of Pastoral Leadership plaque. I was speechless. Stan and Robert knew what was going on and did not breathe a word. I was humbled and honored. It will hang on the wall in front of my office in the theology wing of the school’s educational facility. This chair, when fully funded, will provide a full time professor every year in the area of pastoral leadership. Currently there are funds to provide visiting professors at least once a year. One of my life goals is to see that the full amount is in place before I go to heaven.

I am excited to get home to Olive. Don’t miss this Sunday. My heart is full and I look forward to sharing it with you. 

Pastor Ted Traylor
     

As I write to you, we have closed the Thursday evening crusade services. Like every night before many were saved. The church building has been full every evening. We sing and pray for 35 minutes and then I preach for 50-60 minutes. Dr. Negrut then extends the invitation for people to pray and trust Jesus. After each service, the new converts come to the front and talk to a trained lay leader. There they pick up a New Testament and follow-up materials. It is my understanding we will meet with all of the new believers after the concluding Sunday evening crusade service. I was told that we can expect standing room only Sunday night for the last service. Please continue to pray.

This has been an incredible week. The church prayerfully prepared for the meeting. Scores of lost people have been present as guests of church members each night. During the services, the Pastor leads in two extended prayer times. It would warm your heart to hear the people cry out to the Lord for the souls of men. Our Heavenly Father has been faithfully at work.

Robert and Stan have been teaching four hours each day at the school. They will be out preaching Sunday morning and then join us for the closing service at Emanuel at 5 p.m. That will be 9 a.m. Monday morning in Pensacola.

On Friday morning, I have a unique opportunity. I will be interviewed by a Christian radio station that reaches all of Europe. I am praying that my accent will be understandable to those who listen. They may need the gift of interpretation.

Dr. Jerry Passmore will preach at Olive on Sunday morning. You will hear from several mission teams Sunday evening. I look forward to opening my heart to you again on January 21. I cannot wait to see all of you who worship with us at Olive.

Pastor Ted Traylor

We arrived on Saturday after a 24 hour delay due to fog in Pensacola. Our new route took us through Paris. That is always a joy. But we made it fine. The weather is warm here for January with highs in the low 40s and upper 20s at night.

On Sunday morning I preached on the cross as the church celebrated the Lord’s Supper. The church was packed with over 3,000 in attendance. We returned that night to begin the crusade and the crowd was larger than in the morning. Emanuel Church has been praying and fasting for over a month. Prayer teams prayed in the basement during the services. Sunday evening we saw 35 people gloriously saved. On Monday evening the Lord’s harvest was even larger. The Lord is doing a great and powerful work and our counselors are hard-pressed to keep up. Amen! Most of the conversions have been adults. Please continue to pray.

Stan and Robert each are teaching four hours every day at the school. Robert worked in the nursery Monday evening where only two workers were watching an army of kids. Pray for these two men as they instruct young preachers and church workers preparing for ministry.

Hopefully I will be able to send pictures later in the week. The computer would not send them today.

I am sending this on late Monday evening here. The Gators and Buckeyes will kickoff in a few hours. When you receive this the national champion will have been crowned. I will get the highlights on TV here in a few hours. Remember, no matter the outcome, JESUS IS LORD!

Continue to pray for the harvest. Talk to you later in the week.

Pastor Ted Traylor

Happy New Year!
 
Since we did not have church on Sunday evening, Liz and I did something we have not done in I can’t remember when. We went to a movie on a Sunday. We don’t attend often and certainly not on Sunday evening. But with the holiday and change of schedule we sat in the stadium seats for a mid-afternoon flick along with several others from Olive. Seems this was a popular idea.
 
As a young high school student I remember the tragic plane crash of the Marshall University football team. However, I knew nothing of the real story and the comeback involved. We Are Marshall is the movie account of this true story. Tears ran down my face as I watched the film. Along with others, I laughed out loud at some of the things involved in the story. It was an enjoyable two hours.
 
We all have to deal with failure and tragedy. What do we need to respond properly? Here are a few things I saw in the Marshall story:
 
1. Persistence
 
2. Love
 
3. Forgiveness
 
4. Acceptance
 
5. Prayer
 
6. Leaders are needed to help others
 
I recommend this movie to you. But not on Sunday night!

Pastor Ted Traylor