In the greatest sermon ever given Jesus instructed His followers to lay up treasures in heaven rather than on earth. He pointed out that wherever our treasure is, our heart would be there also. The question is, “How does one lay up treasures in heaven?” The answer is to invest in those going there. There are two investment accounts for heaven’s treasures. The first one is the Gospel account. We must be telling the Good News. The second is the Goodness account. These two accounts work hand in hand. It is the second one I want to speak to here.
 
In Matthew 25, Jesus speaks of the judgment when He will place the sheep and goats in opposite camps. He then tells the sheep to enter the Kingdom and speaks of the good things they did for Him when He was hungry, thirsty, naked, in prison and without housing. They are confused and ask when they did such things for Him. He responds by informing them that when they did it for the least they did it for Him.
 
Our culture looks for authentic Christianity today. And real Jesus followers are kind to the hurting. At Olive Baptist we are investing in a ministry village that is designed to do the work outlined in Matthew 25. Our Charis House is a place we provide for ladies who are coming out of prison. Intensive discipleship is demanded. Life skills are taught and productive followers of Christ are built. This residential facility is an investment in ladies going to heaven. We see them saved and transformed by God’s grace.
 
Our vision contains a clinic for free healthcare staffed with encouragers to share the Gospel. Our Goodness Ministry provides clothing and food. Counseling for troubled families is a part of the Ministry Village. When we meet the needs of people and do it in Jesus’ name, we are finding people open to the Gospel. We are unapologetic about the Gospel. That is the reason we are here.
 
I often hear it said everything rises and falls on leadership. Leaders are extremely important. However, we find everything rises and falls on Lordship. When Jesus is Lord, ministry and the Gospel walk hand in hand. The Gospel and Goodness accounts allow us to lay up treasures in heaven.
 
Often I am asked why we do ministry evangelism. Here is my response:
1. Jesus called for it.
2. It is right and it works.
3. It is on the final exam at the judgment.

Our second Charis House is now complete. However, we are not ready to move the ladies in. We still need some furnishings. The house is registered at Target. I encourage you to stop by and purchase something for the house. It is as easy as buying for a wedding shower. This is another great way of investing with goodness.
 
Pastor Ted Traylor

As you click on TedTraylor.com today you will notice a new look. Our graphics department likes to keep a new face on things from time to time. I want to thank Stephen Shaw, Matt Arnold and Ginger Leonard for the work they do for me day by day. They work hard and bring creativity to the table. Team is very important in any endeavor and Olive Baptist has a great roster of players. 

Harvest Weekend was a joy at Olive. We saw 59 decisions for Jesus. Scott Dawson did an incredible job of presenting the Gospel and drawing the net each service. And the music was soul-stirring! Luke Garrett is a gift of God to the Kingdom. Never have I had more pride in our choir and orchestra. The numbers were marvelous and the sound and energy were life-giving. Thanks, Leo, for leadership to get us there. We had wonderful children’s events. Dennis Dean and his team were out of this world. Their hard work paid off as we saw kids saved and parents freed up to attend the services in the worship center.    

Southern Baptists are in need of revival. Harvest events are important in the church. If we are going to reach our cities we must be strategic and intentional. Harvest Weekend was planned and prepared with the lost in mind. These events are a must for churches that want to reach the unsaved and unchurched. There are scores of ways to do it. Here at Olive, the Charis House does it, our yearly Fall Festival does it, and Upward Basketball does it. However, these ministry outlets only work because we love people and want to share the Gospel.   

 I often hear it said that everything rises or falls on leadership. While leadership is important, I am of the opinion everything rises or falls on LORDSHIP. If Jesus is crowned Lord in the life of the church then servants will be turned loose to do the work of the Kingdom. Keep it up church. As Luke sang Sunday night, “We’ll work til Jesus comes and we’ll be gathered home.”   

Pastor Ted Traylor        

Excitement is building at Olive on two fronts. First is the Harvest Weekend that begins tonight. Dinner is at 5 p.m. and the meeting starts at 6:30 p.m. Our evangelist is Scott Dawson and our guest soloist is Luke Garrett. Please invite your unchurched friends to join us tonight, Saturday night and during services Sunday morning and evening. These are going to be great days.

Another item that is gaining momentum is the 2020 Implementation Report. The team presented the recommendations to the Budget Committee on Wednesday evening. Last night we presented it to the Deacon Family. Both groups affirmed the actions unanimously. Steve Harrod and his group will present the report to the church for approval on Palm Sunday evening, March 16.

In the report you will see plans for the Ministry Village which includes the Health and Hope Clinic, counseling ministry, housing for the women’s and men’s ministries and much more. Our outreach into local apartment complexes is an important piece of this recommendation. You will also hear of plans to renovate the high school and middle school ministry areas. New paved parking is being added for 400 cars. Drawings are also included for the sports fields as well as the paving of the access road to Whitmire Drive. You do not want to miss the presentation March 16 in the 6 p.m. service. I have included a map for you to see the overall master plan for the campus. The first recommendation calls for a $2 million investment in this plan. Be praying about your part in all of this. Together we can make it happen as God provides the way.

You can download the report here (pdf).

Pastor Ted Traylor

Last Friday evening I had the joy of being a guest at the 39th All Sports Association Trophy Awards Dinner in Fort Walton Beach. This event includes the presentation of the Wuerffel Trophy. It is given annually to the college football player who best combines exemplary community service with athletic and academic achievement. This year’s winner was Tulsa University quarterback Paul Smith.
 
Before the event I was privileged to have a few minutes to talk with the guest speaker. The ole ball coach Steve Spurrier was in town to honor his former player, Danny Wuerffel. I talked with him about his dad who was a Presbyterian pastor. Preachers’ kids always interest me. Coach Spurrier told me of the places his dad served and about his home going a few years ago. I got the sense he loved his father. Amen!
 
The former Heisman winner and current South Carolina coach’s speech outlined the traits of successful people. He said he got these from a former mentor in his early days as an assistant.  These are:
 
1.  Attitude-one should be positive and eliminate excuses
 
2.  Effort and courage
 
3.  Preparation-like a Boy Scout always be prepared physically and mentally
 
4.  Overcome adversity
 
5.  Ability not to get big-headed
 
6.  Love to compete.
 
The highlight of the evening for me was the recognition of Special Olympian Emmanuel Valentin. This multi-medal winner brought the crowd to its feet with his one sentence acceptance speech. The six items from Coach Spurrier’s speech were on display in this young man with the big smile. When he finished his slow reading of the prepared one sentence, he said, “The End.” For me it was the beginning of a new attitude. Anyone as blessed as I am should never complain again.

The Thursday addition of Baptist Press carried a story on the health of Southern Seminary President Dr. Al Mohler. He is scheduled for surgery to remove a precancerous tumor from his colon. It was discovered this week in a routine colonoscopy. I ask that you join me in prayer for Dr. Mohler, his wife, Mary, and the two children. You have no doubt seen Al on Larry King Live and other national media outlets speaking up and out for the Gospel and Bible faith. Let’s all intercede for healing for this Baptist leader.

As we head toward the weekend we are full speed ahead toward the Harvest Weekend Celebration in just seven more days. Be active in inviting friends to join you at this wonderful meeting of glorious music and great Gospel proclamation. Scott Dawson and Luke Garrett will be our special guests.

Pastor Ted Traylor

Normally I post my thoughts on Tuesday and Friday. This week I have a Thursday update because today is Valentine’s Day. On Tuesday evening, Liz and I had our Valentine’s night out for dinner in downtown Pensacola. Back in December of 1976 Liz and I stood at the marriage altar to take our vows and seal our marriage commitment to each other. Here we are 31 years later and I am still the most fortunate man on the planet. Liz is God’s good gift to me. As Proverbs says…her worth is far above jewels.

Liz is more than my wife. She is the wife of the Pastor at Olive Baptist Church. Both blessings and pressures come with the territory. I want to thank the church for allowing her to exercise her gifts. She is a musician, teacher, writer and counselor. Of late, she has been working in the 8 a.m. preschool ministry. Just this month she has been teaching the Moms of Middle School Girls Bible study on Monday evenings.

This year she is serving as president of the SBC Ministers’ Wives’ Luncheon. She is currently involved in preparing the arrangements to host this major event in June during the SBC National Convention in Indianapolis. She is a busy lady.

Today I want to say HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY to my sweetheart.

That is a question that was asked of me this week. If one means by fractured, broken and not useful at all, I would say no. But to admit we are in a state of disrepair, causing our convention to be less, much less, than it could or should be in the cause of reaching the world with the Gospel, is a given in my estimation. Our membership numbers climb but the baptismal numbers are flat or declining year by year. Our Cooperative Program giving is up but we not making advances in evangelism by winning the lost. What is the problem? Here are some of my thoughts.   

1. We are fat. By that I mean we have more materially than ever. Giving to missions is up but the doing of missions is not. One cannot serve God and mammon.   

 2. We are passionless. Of late I have been calling a list of friends to ask their thoughts on the SBC. I have received a lot of ho-hum responses. It seems today we just do not care for convention involvement as much as we have in days gone by. A spirit of independence has crept in among us. Cooperation for world mission does not drive us.   

 3. We struggle to define who we are. The SBC has always had various groups within it. Mission is what has united us. Lately we seem to point to ourselves as something other than Baptists. We label ourselves as Traditionalists, Fundamentalists, Calvinists, Contemporary Church Practitioners, Cooperative Program Supporters or some other name and/or emphasis rather than Southern Baptists.   

We will always be forced to walk a balance beam as Southern Baptists as we unite in mission. Our local autonomy and our commitment to cooperation is a tension we must keep but never stretch so tightly that it breaks. We are a big tent but it has a flap on it. Not everyone doing Kingdom work is a Southern Baptist. It is my prayer that our SBC family will come together for the cause of the Gospel. It is my pledge to work with others who are in the convention. Together we can do great things. The question is, “Can we get together?” For the Gospel’s sake we must.    

Pastor Ted Traylor     

Sunday evening I was in Birmingham for the installation service of Dr. Stan Lewis at First Baptist. That evening Liz and I stayed with our former church members, Paul and Karen Bowers. He has just been named the CFO of the Southern Company. We had a delightful visit. Liz returned to Pensacola with the Gillilands and I drove to Atlanta for the board meeting of the NAMB trustees.

My assignment places me on the Church Planting Committee. Our group heard from our new team leader, Dr. David Meacham and his staff. They are getting the new team in order. Sowing down America with gospel-preaching churches is their goal. A fresh focus is placed on the urban centers of America. We are at 300 million people and counting. We have much work to do in reaching America. This is why we are involved at Olive with helping plant (I like to call it “mothering”) churches in Cleveland and San Diego. Your giving, going and praying are essential in these new works.

Southern Baptists are a long way from doing all we should or can. At NAMB the hope is to stir up our 45,000 SBC churches to be on mission. After all, churches plant churches. Our convention can’t do it. Trustees have no money other than what churches give. NAMB is not a fountain; it is conduit. The work of churches can flow together through this able agency.
 
On Wednesday, I drove from Atlanta to Tuscaloosa, Alabama where I met Dr. Day and we led the Tuscaloosa Association in worship with an emphasis on evangelism and spiritual renewal. It was a great service. We arrived home late Wednesday night.
 
Today I am off to Dallas for a meeting of the trustee board of Emanuel University. Dr. Negrut is in the states from Romania for our annual meeting. I will return early in the morning. Saturday begins our 24-Hours of Prayer emphasis at Olive for the coming Harvest Weekend. I am grateful to the over 400 who signed up to pray at different times from 7 p.m. Saturday until we end at 7 p.m. Sunday night at the church altar.
 
Not every week is like this one. But I want to thank you for allowing me to serve our denomination and mission partners around the world. I am always enriched during the time spent in these meetings. I look forward to seeing you Sunday with Matthew 7 burning in my soul.

Pastor Ted Traylor
 

Sunday evening was a wonderful service for the First Baptist Church Birmingham and Dr. Stan Lewis. I was privileged to preach at the installation service. To hear the service and to see how FBC has welcomed the Lewis family go to http://www.fbcbhm.org/

Congratulations to the New York Giants. They played the underdog role and won the big football prize. Glad I don’t try to make a living betting on games because I sure missed this one.

I am at NAMB in Atlanta today.  I will tell you more on Friday. Have a great week.

Pastor Ted Traylor

Many of you have asked me about the article in the local paper concerning President Jimmy Carter and the meeting in Atlanta he has convened. The meeting is the Celebrating of a New Baptist Covenant. The three-day conference concludes today when President Bill Clinton will address the assembly. Many have wondered out loud if the meeting was intentionally planned to be held just before Super Tuesday and the primary elections in 22 states. However, the leaders deny that to be their intentions.

The theme of the meeting is “harmony and unity” among Baptists. You can listen to the speakers on their website. I listened to Jimmy Carter last night. He called for unity around the Gospel. In conclusion he outlined six topics of interest. He inferred it seems we can agree to disagree on these issues and still preserve harmony. Here is his list:

1. Should women serve in the roles of pastors and deacons?
2. Creation - Do we live on a young earth or an old earth millions of years old?
3. Abortion - Should Roe vs. Wade be debated?
4. Should homosexual Christians be welcomed in the faith family?
5. What about separation of Church and State?
6. What should our position be on capital punishment?

The former President did not expound on these issues but seemed to say they were all up for debate. He believes no matter our viewpoint, we can still maintain unity and should strive to walk together. He concluded that we should put aside our differences and preach salvation by grace and seek to spread the Gospel. He also spoke of traditional Baptists and more conservative Baptists. The SBC is in the more conservative group and are largely absent from this meeting. The New Baptist Covenant Meeting is led by those that left the SBC several years ago.

After listening to the Baptist meeting I turned on the Democratic debate. By 9 p.m. I needed a prayer time. Our world is in need of strong leadership on every front. The church and the nation need leaders of substance and conviction. These are days that demand our best. Cowards need not apply. Our nation, the Southern Baptist Convention, Olive Baptist Church and my family need me to be at my best and on the frontline. You are needed as well! God help us to be found faithful to seek His mind.

On Wednesday of this week Liz and I had the privilege of going to the birthday party of a great Olive member. Gladys Collins turned 95. In President Carter’s address he spoke of dormant traditional Baptists. Mrs. Collins is a Baptist – but she is not dormant. She has been and is a lady of action. Mrs. Collins is a great American, a great Baptist and my friend! I am pleased and thankful to be on God’s team with her.

Pastor Ted Traylor