Thanks Ted for All the Love
On December 31, 2011 without many people knowing it, the world lost a pioneer of the cowboy movement. Ted Pressley, founder of Cowboys for Christ, went home to be with his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. This was a huge loss for the great number of people whose lives have been touched and who will always owe a great debt to this great man of faith.
For those of you whom did not know or have the privilege to meet Bro. Ted, I am deeply sorry. Ted was what is missing in the Christian movement in the United State today. Ted was a man who heard God calling him to walk a path that no one ever walked before or even thought about walking. He was a trailblazer, even while others stood on the sideline telling him that those called cowboys and cowgirls would never be the type to come to Jesus.
Ted was a man who had the fire of John the Baptist and was as hard-headed as the Apostle Paul. After stepping down from pastoring a church, he took off on the road to bring the salvation message to the western heritage people. With the fire of evangelism in his bones, he pushed through the small minds of so-called religious people and stood on the Word of God, knowing that all can be saved if they will just call on the name of Jesus.
For more than forty years Ted never stopped traveling the world with the message of the cross. Ted was always ready at any time to preach and call the lost home to the Lord. With newspaper articles and TV shows, Ted broke new ground in the cowboy world.
I will never forget when God called me to Fort Worth. The first person to give this young preacher a chance to preach was Ted. From the moment I arrived in North Texas Ted was there to help along the way and show me what it was to be a trailblazer. I will miss him, but I know the ones that will come behind him will be blessed by the trails that were opened because of Ted’s obedience to the calling that God had on him.
As for me, thanks Ted for being there when it seemed that no one else understood what was going on. Thanks for showing me what it meant to stand up for the vision that God has given me to lead people to know Jesus. Thanks also for teaching me that you have to laugh when you work for the Lord. I’m thinking that when Ted walked into Heaven, he was met by a great crowd of people that wanted to thank him for telling them about Jesus. Then, I know he heard the words from the Lord that he has waited a life time to hear, “Well done Ted. Come in and sit for a while. You’ve done a good job. Thanks Ted!â€