saturneptune
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What is the longest invitation that you recall presiding over, and what were the circumstances that made it that long?
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What is the longest invitation that you recall presiding over, and what were the circumstances that made it that long?
In kentucky, the average "call to be saved" lasts for 15 minutes,, provided there's no dinner afterwards. If there is, the preacher says, "sinners, you're on your own".
The first mistake you made is the fact there are no sinners in Kentucky. This is the promised land. The second point is that when Baptist congregations are called to a pot luck after church in West Virginia, each member gets on all fours and goes out to the pasture to graze.
The first mistake you made is the fact there are no sinners in Kentucky. This is the promised land. The second point is that when Baptist congregations are called to a pot luck after church in West Virginia, each member gets on all fours and goes out to the pasture to graze.
The first mistake you made is the fact there are no sinners in Kentucky. This is the promised land. The second point is that when Baptist congregations are called to a pot luck after church in West Virginia, each member gets on all fours and goes out to the pasture to graze.
What is the longest invitation that you recall presiding over, and what were the circumstances that made it that long?
What is the longest invitation that you recall presiding over, and what were the circumstances that made it that long?
We do not have invitations as such. Modern invitations were born out of 19th century Finneyism which, IMHO, seek to illicit an emotional response to the preaching of the Gospel. We do encourage people to talk to an elder after the worship service if they have a spiritual need.
Whaaa? You mean you haven't read in the bible where Jesus told them to "go into all nations and preach the gospel to every creature, "and to give a 20 minute altar call and 58 verses of "Just as I am", and those who raise their hand, or come up front and make a "statement of faith", and are baptized, shall be saved"? That's in the fine print in 2 Studderations 15:73.
When my daughter came to faith in Christ, I told her, "Not every professor is a possessor." I explained how raising a hand or going forward at an altar call meant nothing. In fact it could actually be a danger because individuals would place their trust in something they did as opposed to something God did. It is not the emotional response that saves; it is work of the Holy Spirit.
Of course I know that those who practice altar calls do not deny that salvation is only the work of the Holy Spirit. Many of them will say that going forward or raising a hand provides a moment in time they can point to as to when they were saved. I get that. But I cannot help but see the false hope and guilt trips associated with this practice. I still recall Jack Wyrtzen's words at a camp meeting in front of hundreds of people in Schroon Lake, New York when he said, "If you can't stand up for God in a place like this, surrounded by His people, then you'll never be able to stand up for him anywhere." This was said during a gospel invitation. Even then, long before I became a Calvinist, those words caused me to cringe. Is that what the gospel is? A guilt trip?
The longest altar calls I've ever been in happened yearly in Oklahoma at a youth conference. During an afternoon, a preacher (always the same one) would preach, and he would have an altar call, and berate anyone who stayed in their seats. But, anyone who went forward to pray, he would tell to wait there until a worker got to them to write down what decision they made that day. Then, everyone who made a decision would have to stand up and let everyone know what decision they made.
While there might have been some sincere decisions made, I remember dreading that day. I don't know how many times I told everyone (practically each year) that I "rededicated my life to God". This seemed to satisfy them without putting any extra expectations on me.
While I'm not against altar calls, I an against what happened there. In my mind it was the pride of a man wanting to brag on how his preaching changed lives.
Now to the OP, I am not a pastor, but I've witnessed altar calls that seemed to last for ten minutes. I truly don' t understand them.
When my daughter came to faith in Christ, I told her, "Not every professor is a possessor." I explained how raising a hand or going forward at an altar call meant nothing. In fact it could actually be a danger because individuals would place their trust in something they did as opposed to something God did. It is not the emotional response that saves; it is work of the Holy Spirit.
Of course I know that those who practice altar calls do not deny that salvation is only the work of the Holy Spirit. Many of them will say that going forward or raising a hand provides a moment in time they can point to as to when they were saved. I get that. But I cannot help but see the false hope and guilt trips associated with this practice. I still recall Jack Wyrtzen's words at a camp meeting in front of hundreds of people in Schroon Lake, New York when he said, "If you can't stand up for God in a place like this, surrounded by His people, then you'll never be able to stand up for him anywhere." This was said during a gospel invitation. Even then, long before I became a Calvinist, those words caused me to cringe. Is that what the gospel is? A guilt trip?
But they feed ya right after the magic show right?
What is the longest invitation that you recall presiding over, and what were the circumstances that made it that long?
Calvinists invented the invitation.We do not have invitations as such. Modern invitations were born out of 19th century Finneyism which, IMHO, seek to illicit an emotional response to the preaching of the Gospel. We do encourage people to talk to an elder after the worship service if they have a spiritual need.
Well,at least it was called a stand then, and not an altar.come forward and kneel near the stand."