by: Allen Domelle
Sunday is always a great day, but this Sunday was a bit different. I was invited to speak at the Woodlawn Baptist Church in Bowie, Maryland. This was their annual Round-Up Sunday. Pastor William Tyson and his people worked real hard inviting people to come, and spent much time in prayer to see God bless in a tremendous way.
God was good to give the church a great Sunday. We had 840 attending the morning service. 149 of those attending were first time visitors. The buses worked hard and brought in 350 riders. God then rewarded the efforts of these dear people by giving us 18 people who accepted Christ as their personal Saviour and 1 person baptized.
Each ministry had a different promotion. The bus ministry rented some blow-up slides and trampolines for the children to enjoy. The Spanish department had a pig roast, and many Spanish people came and heard the Gospel of Jesus Christ. In the main adult Sunday school class, the pastor has several gift cards he gave away to many of those attending. The pastor’s wife worked hard and had a chocolate covered pretzel that was given to each person attending. It reminded me a lot of when Jesus performed miracles and fed thousands of people so that they would come hear Him tell them how to get saved. It was truly amazing to see these people give their best effort for God to work through them.
The one thing that came to my mind throughout the whole day is that the old-time religion still works. In a day when compromise has crept into our independent, fundamental Baptist churches, it was refreshing to see that God still blesses the soul winning efforts of churches who still stand strongly on the truths of the King James Bible. Luke 14:23 is still effective today as it says, “And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.” The people of Woodlawn Baptist didn’t bring in a drum set or have rock music to bring the crowds in, instead they simply obeyed the command to “Go.” They literally went out into the highways and hedges and compelled the people to come, and they came.
Let me remind you that you don’t have to compromise to still see God bless. I wish you could have heard the testimonies that were given on Sunday night how God truly blessed the efforts as they worked the tried and true methods of the old time, separated Baptists. Don’t let the progressive liberal Baptists tell you that you can’t preach hard and soul win and still build a church in this present day. The Woodlawn Baptist Church is a testament to the fact that the independent, fundamental Baptist movement is alive and well, and if people will simply put God to the test, then they will be amazed at what He will do for them. Whenever you’re tempted to compromise, simply remember 2 Chronicles 16:9, “For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him.” The people of Woodlawn Baptist put God to the test, and he showed Himself strong in our presence this past Sunday.