Reformed. Christianity. Evangelism. Modern Culture.
The list is long but I could only fit in 10 ways to botch an altar call (I know this makes me sound like a disgruntled Arminian) :
- Present an unbalanced message. Only let them see the heart-warming part of God’s character. Preach God’s love but leave out His holiness and justice. That way they’ll think He’ll let them into heaven no matter what.
- Don’t mention repentance until they’re repeating a “sinner’s prayer.” Just get them to say, “I repent of all my sins” while they’re echoing you. They won’t know what they’re saying and they won’t count the cost.
- Above all else, be dignified. Don’t get heart to heart with the people. They would get something out of what you said.
- Skim over the gospel and push the prayer. Pretend the lost naturally understand what Christ has done for them.
- Preach Jesus as a life enhancer not a life rescuer. Tell them how Jesus can improve their life but don’t show them Jesus as the only One who can save them from Hell. People will think if they reject Him they’re only losing out on a spiritual high. Read More!
Many have walked down the aisle at altar calls a dozen times. They try Christianity for a while and then fall away. After another emotional sermon appeal they walk the isle in tears and a few weeks later the cycle is repeated. It’s now called “trying Christianity again” or “getting saved again”. How many times can one walk down an altar or keep “trying Christianity”?
The Bible says that once you are saved, you are never the same again; you are a new creature (2 Cor. 5:17). If you have gone back to your old ways, then most probably you were never saved (1 John 2:19). If, however, you were saved, then God won’t let you stay in rebellion for long. He will deal with you in whatever way is necessary to bring you back into fellowship with Him.
Did you become a Christian by going to church or by asking Jesus to forgive you of your sins? The latter makes you a Christian, the former doesn’t.
You don’t try Christianity to see if it works, or if your life gets better. …Read more!
I have had my fair share of altar calls. I have walked down many an aisle to the tune of an emotional appeal. These days preachers get converts after appealing for almost anything. Do you want a better house? A happy marriage? Do you think life is hard and your kids don’t finish their porridge? Here is what you can do they say: Just say this prayer and let Jesus into your heart. He will come in and make things alright. He is seriously knocking at that door and he really wants to come in. Wait a minute you say. There is no preaching about sin, no preaching about righteousness no repentance? Yup, sadly that is the state of evangelicalism. We have mega churches and therefore can accommodate more converts but … to what?
A while ago, William Franklin “Billy” Graham (one of the most recognisable Evangelical faces of the 20th Century) was said as of 1993 to have made more than 2.5 million people “step forward at his crusades to accept Jesus Christ as their personal Saviour“. …Read More!
In the church where I ministered in South Wales I used to stand at the main door of the church at the close of the service on Sunday night, and shake hands with people as they went out. The incident to which I am referring concerns a man who used to come to our service every Sunday night. He was a tradesman but also a heavy drinker. He got drunk regularly every Saturday night, but he was also regularly seated in the gallery of our church every Sunday night. On the particular night to which I am referring I happened to notice while preaching that this man was obviously being affected. I could see that he was weeping copiously, and I was anxious to know what was happening to him. At the end of the service I went and stood at the door. But There’s More
John MacArthur explains the dangers of making emotional pleas.
C.H. Spurgeon invited men to come to Christ, not to an altar.
Listen to him invite men to Jesus Christ
‘Before you leave this place breathe an earnest prayer to God, saying, ‘God be merciful to me a sinner. Lord, I need to be saved. Save me. I call upon Thy name….Lord, I am guilty, I deserve Thy wrath. Lord, I cannot save myself. Lord, I would have a new heart and a right spirit, but what can I do? Lord, I can do nothing, come and work in me to do of Thy good pleasure.Thou alone hast power, I know To save a wretch like me; To whom, or whither should I go If I should run from Thee? There’s More…
Excerpt from The Legacy of Charles Finney:
[Charles] Finney is particularly esteemed among the leaders of the Christian Right and the Christian Left, and his imprint can be seen in movements that appear to be diverse, but in reality are merely heirs to Finney’s legacy. From the Vineyard movement and the church growth movement to the political and social crusades, televangelism, and the Promise-Keepers movement, as a former Wheaton College president rather glowingly cheered, “Finney lives on!”
That is because Finney’s moralistic impulse envisioned a church that was in large measure an agency of personal and social reform rather than the institution in which the means of grace, Word and Sacrament, are made available to believers who then take the Gospel to the world…
To demonstrate the debt of modern evangelicalism to Finney, we must first notice his theological departures. From these departures, Finney became the father of the antecedents to some of today’s greatest challenges within the evangelical churches themselves; namely, the church growth movement, Pentecostalism and political revivalism.
Reacting against the pervasive Calvinism of the Great Awakening, the successors of that great movement of God’s Spirit turned from God to humans, from the preaching of objective content (namely, Christ and him crucified) to the emphasis on getting a person to “make a decision.”
Charles Finney (1792-1875) ministered in the wake of the “Second Awakening,” as it has been called. A Presbyterian lawyer, Finney one day experienced “a mighty baptism of the Holy Ghost” which “like a wave of electricity going through and through me…seemed to come in waves of liquid love.” The next morning, he informed his first client of the day, “I have a retainer from the Lord Jesus Christ to plead his cause and I cannot plead yours.” Refusing to attend Princeton Seminary (or any seminary, for that matter), Finney began conducting revivals in upstate New York. One of his most popular sermons was, “Sinners Bound to Change Their Own Hearts.”… Read More
The early years of my Christian walk were blighted by several unanswered questions and countless doctrinal errors. After coming a cross the Doctrines of Grace I was encouraged to know that my salvation had nothing to do with me. God alone chose to save me not because I was good enough. Not because I was more deserving than the next person. God was gracious to me and brought me to repentance and faith in Jesus Christ. Watch this clip and leave a comment:
William Franklin “Billy” Graham has featured several times in TIME magazine and will remain one of the most recognisable faces of the 21st Century. A spiritual adviser to multiple American presidents and an avatar of Christianity on the six o’clock news. Billy Graham is believed to have preached in person to more people around the world than any other Protestant in history. It is said that as of 1993, more than 2.5 million people had “stepped forward at his crusades to accept Jesus Christ as their personal Saviour“. As of 2008, Graham’s lifetime audience, including radio and television broadcasts, topped the 2.2 billion mark.
“Accepting Christ” and “making a decision” for Christ are clichés sprinkled all over church notice boards and statistics spread sheets and missions reports. These ambiguous yet glossy sounding expressions should always be run and tested by the Word of God to see if they align with sound teaching and doctrine. The modern day gospel has moulted and produced yet astronomically illustrious results highlighting numerous “decisions made for Christ.”
But what did Jesus tell Nicodemus? Read More
In the church where I ministered in South Wales I used to stand at the main door of the church at the close of the service on Sunday night, and shake hands with people as they went out. The incident to which I am referring concerns a man who used to come to our service every Sunday night. He was a tradesman but also a heavy drinker. He got drunk regularly every Saturday night, but he was also regularly seated in the gallery of our church every Sunday night. On the particular night to which I am referring I happened to notice while preaching that this man was obviously being affected. I could see that he was weeping copiously, and I was anxious to know what was happening to him. At the end of the service I went and stood at the door. But There’s More
By Jim Bublitz (OldTruth.com)
Quoting AW Pink . . .
There is such a “falling away” in the number of genuine conversions — we say “genuine” conversions because there are multitudes of those who come forward to shake some popular preacher by the hand, multitudes of card-signers, [hand-raisers] etc., etc. Hence it is that there has been such a sad and such a wide-spread “falling away” from the old time family worship. Hence it is that we now witness such a lamentable “falling away” from the mid-week prayer-meeting. Hence it is that there is such an awful “falling away” …. Hence it is that there is such a fearful “falling away” from the moral standards of former days. Hence it is that there is now such an ever-growing “falling away” from Sunday School attendance all over the land. Yes, the “falling away” has commenced and is already far advanced. There’s More
I remember when I was younger I walked down countless altar calls at crusades. Said numerous sinners’ prayers. But was I flirting with the grace of God? I don’t know. Did I feel bad about my sin? You bet. With every sermon about sin the hair at the back of my neck would get bristly and cold sweat would trickle down my arm pit. I had a deep fear of God. But I don’t think I repented or even turned from sin.
This week the Pope’s been visiting the United Kingdom. It’s interesting to see how many catholic friends are hanging on to every word he speaks. In him they live and move and have their being. Others listen with tears and others with smiles. If he told the crowd to jump off a cliff no doubt hundreds would with out hesitation fling their heels into the marrow of the winds. I have a mischievous idea. If the Pope made an altar call, how many people would walk forward? But There’s More
A Twisted Crown of Thorns ® 