A Tribute to Dr. Wayne Allen
The service for Dr. Wayne Allen was held on Monday, June 11th, at the First Baptist Church of Carrollton. Dr. Brent Taylor did a beautiful job in leading the service and preaching the message. You can see the whole service on the church’s website http://vimeo.com/43858684 .
Dr. Allen loved Dallas Baptist Association and Dallas Baptist University and was a leader in both DBA and DBU. Dr. Gary Cook and I were both invited to share some words of tribute to Wayne Allen. You will find my comments below or you can watch this video.
In John 12:26, Jesus said, “My Father will honor the one who serves me.” Wayne Allen certainly fits that description as one who served Jesus Christ.
It is a privilege for me to represent the pastors and churches of Dallas Baptist Association, because Dr. Allen was one of the most respected pastors in our city. He was for us a MODEL of what a man of God ought to be.
Moses was called a “the man of God” by Caleb in Joshua 14. Wayne Allen was a man of God for us. He was:
- A Godly Pastor – He built a great church and at the same time gave sacrificially of himself to local and global missions as well as Dallas Baptist University.
- A Godly Husband – Wayne and Theresa did ministry as much as possible together. When you saw one, you saw the other. Theresa, this is a wonderful model that has been influential for Ellen and me and to many other pastors and wives.
- A Godly Father/Grandfather – When you are around the Allens, you realize very soon that this is a wonderful family. The statement of the children in the program that “of all the lives Dad touched, we were the most important to Dad” is one of the most beautiful things that children of a pastor could say about their Dad. We knew this was true about Wayne Allen
- A Godly Leader – He was respected, a great statesman in Baptist life at a time when there are very few. He was a key leader in DBA and served as the moderator and chairman of the administration committee, budget committee, credentials committee and committee on committees.
- A Godly Friend - Wayne was a brother in Christ, an encourager, a man of integrity. He was a man of his word.
Didn’t we see the evidence of the fruit of the Holy Spirit in this man? Paul describes these nine character qualities in Galatians 5:22-23. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self- control.
At our Annual Meetings, he preached four times over the years. We have a manuscript of each sermon in our minutes, so I read them. They were four different sermons, but they all had the same basic message – MISSIONS. He had three to five points to his sermon and in each sermon the points all began with the same letter. There is an authenticity to each sermon because you knew that Wayne Allen modeled his message.
Wayne Allen had a delightful sense of humor. In 1997, his sermon was on the Nehemiah Dallas Project. He said, “I am grateful that in the past few months a task force under the direction of Joe Mosley has made a detailed study of the inner city. They have developed a plan that I believe is of God. They asked me to serve as the honorary chairman. I guess it was because my wife told them how ornery I could be.”
In 1972, he was preaching about proclaiming the message of Jesus Christ. He told about a revival at FBC where the evangelist would preach from all over the Bible but always end the sermon talking about “Jesus and inviting people to accept Him for salvation. A Catholic was saved, an Episcopalian, and – praise the Lord – even some Baptists” got saved.
In his sermons, he often talked about the importance of strong marriages and the families. “I believe when we strengthen the family, the church will be stronger, and our witness will be accepted.”
In every sermon he also challenged churches to support missions. In his sermon about Nehemiah Dallas Project, he said he was going to challenge his church members to consider giving so much a month for the next three years. Does that sound familiar?
He was a bold leader who was willing to take a risk when he felt the Lord’s leadership to do so. In one of the sermons he talked about the move from downtown to this location. He was a wise leader. He knew when to take a risk and why. He said, “Everywhere Jesus went He rocked the boat – not for the sake of boat rocking, but because of His compassion.” When compelled by the love of Christ, Wayne Allen would take bold steps to advance the work of the church.
When he served as the Honorary Chair of the Nehemiah Dallas Project, he said, “When I was asked I really didn’t think I had the time to serve. However, when the Nehemiah Dallas Project was explained to me it sounded so much like what I believe is the heartbeat of the Scripture and of our Lord that I could not refuse.”
When God called Wayne Allen as a 23 year old man, he put his hand to the plow and he never looked back. (Luke 9:62) No excuses. No refusal to our Lord. This is a man who was a faithful and obedient servant of Christ until the moment God called Him home.
He was a faithful servant who heard the Lord say, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” This is one whom the Father will honor because he served the Lord Jesus.
Wayne would be the first to say that His life and testimony was a result of the grace of God, and the gift of salvation through Jesus Christ. He was a humble man.
Paul described the character of a pastor in 1 Timothy 3:2, “Now the overseer must be above reproach.” The King James Version uses the word “blameless.” That was Wayne Allen. He was above reproach.
It was an honor to know this man of God. “To God be the glory, great things He has done.”
