What Are Some Concerns About the Altar Calls, Invitation in Churchesand Meetings

THERE ARE SIX DANGERS PORTENTAL IN ALTAR CALLS

1A    DANGER 1: CAN GIVE PEOPLE A FALSE SENSE OF SALVATION

Individual can be easily lead to believe that their trip down the aisle during an altar call at a Billy Graham meeting is somehow equal to salvation. The public’s act of going forward can so be intertwine with genuine act of faith salvation that confession results. People began to believe that they are saved by this act rather than by Christ.

2A    DANGER 2: CAN MAKE PEOPLE THINK THEY HAVE MERITED THEIR SALVATION

By a public act as a point of salvation can lead a person to think that they have done something  to merit or get  their salvation which compromises the doctrine of Grace.

3A    DANGER 3: CAN LEAD TO AN OVER-EMPHASIS ON THINGS THAT DO NOT NECESSARILY SIGNIFY TRUE CONVERSION.

Altar calls can lead to an over statement of public responses, for the public decisions. But a public decision for Christ is not always a good way to judge, or a good indicator of true conversion.  In fact, usually, it quite the opposite.  History has repeated shown that public decisions have proven to be quite unreliable as barometer  as a  gauges of true salvation . And scriptures teach that the fruit of true conversion will only be evidence in the lives of a believer over time.     

  

4A    DANGER #4      CAN ECLIPSE THE REAL CAUSE OF CONVERSION

Altar calls can hide from view, cast a shadow on,  eclipse the real cause of conversion.  The real cause is not the decision or the appeal, or the walking of the aisle, nor even the sinners prayer, nor the felt emotion of the moment as the emotional music is softly played in the background. True Conversion is cause by the Holy Spirit who draws some to believe as the gospel is proclaimed, and that will happen where are or not an altar call is giving.  Repeat that.    

5A    DANGER 5  GIVES SOME CHURCHES FALSE CONFIDENCE BY MAKING THEM THINK THEY ARE INDEED EVANGELIZING      

Some churches think that they are evangelist merle because they use altar calls. But in reality many churches are slow brought into evangelistic passativity where their only attempts are at the altar calls. (I remember Dr. Barber saying back in 1966, “You get them here and I will get them saved at the altar.”) Be the church or the individual, some began to believe its at the altar call at the end of the service. Which in many cases the services are so diluted with the presentation of the gospel,  so unbiblical in their presentation  of the  whole gospel that they are consistence fruitless, regardly of how many come forward and appear to respond to receive Christ.

6A    DANGER # 6HISTORY SHOWS ALTAR CALLS PROVE TO SHOW CONSIDERABLE MISCHIELF

The historical record will show altar calls have proved to show considerable mischief. Which was predicted by the Methodic when altar calls first was introduced in the early 1800.s. And have proven to be very correct in their first judgment of that. Gospel presentation have grown increasing diluted, much shorter and incomplete. False conversion has become at an huge rate in the modern church. And God truth and way have been hidden as a result. A countless thousands have been and continue to be lead into an emotional response without a clear understanding of what they are responding to.  As a result false conversions have abounded.

I really hope this makes sense to you, while I am not anti altar calls, per say, anti  churches that use altar calls the right way. The simple fact of the matter is some churches believe they are evangelist by using the altar calls. But in reality they are not at all. If that is the only time you believe a person can be saved is at an altar then that is wrong too.  If you are saying “Well no one is getting saved in our church,” then you have fallen into the lull of believing that the church service is the only place a person can be saved.

I am quoting a comment made by this video:

·       It is amazing that you think your understanding about altar call and the doctrine of salvation is THE TRUTH. It is unfortunate that brethren like you are out there to attack the move of the God you are supposed to be working for, God have mercy. I have used alter calls based on the Bible and have seen fatastic real, and lasting decisions for Christ followed by a godly life style.

Pastor Study Office

My surrounding at the house,

My study at the house,

When I was working in any position in a church, I had a nice office.

1. Wooster Baptist Temple: :Youth Pastor.: office
2. Madison Baptist Church, Psstor. Had a very nice office and study (fixed it myself ) The church did not have one before I got there.
3. Victory Baptist Church, Assoc. had a nice little office.
4. FBC of Fort Worth, Minister of Education: Did not have an office.-
5. Mansfield Baptist Temple, Youth Camp Director and Teacher. Did not have an office.
6. Calvary Baptist Church, Youth Pastor. A very nice office. And the men built me book cases.
7. First Baptist Church, Altoona Kansas Pastor/Teacher 1980-1996. Had a library room with some 2500 books. And a beautiful study office. Beautiful book cases built by Kurt Nunnenkmap. I spent nearly every day in the office. Love every minute of it.
8. The brief stay as Pastor in Lusby Mills, had no office.
9. The brief stay at Second Baptist, had a great office, in which I was there every day.
10. The time I was at Ashland Ave Baptist Church, five years. I had no office, Well one I used to set u some of my books.
11. In between being a pastor, I had set up an office at our house. Every book, every binder, every magazine, file cabinet, was at the house. It took up a lot of space at the church
12. Portsmouth Baptist, I had an office.
13. Rivers of Joy Baptist: Pastor/Teacher. The church has a church office in the church building. But I have turned the old church building into by own pastor's office and pastor's study. I really love being in the office and study.
    

Only until I moved to Portsmouth Ohio did I have and study office at the house. From 2003 to 2008 I worked nearly every day at the house working and studying the Bible. I believe I would spend about five to 10 hours a day studying.


And it was not until 2003 did I have a good Gateway computer and on the Internet.

I working in both places now, at the house and at the office at the church. I would love to be able to visit with people at the church more than I do. I like the idea of being at the office. Even when I am at the house, I still dress as if I were at the office at church.

'
I have only a few books at the house (less then ten). Most of the books that I had in FBC in Altoona, Kansas I left there.

I would love to have a staff of works, but I don't. So I work out of my house some times then go to the office at the church. I now like doing both.

View of the study at Rivers of Joy Baptist Church

From the study room to the my office view

Books and research books

My Technique research books

My study room:\

By study notes

My office at the church annex building

Everette Whisnant :Orange Ave Baptist Church, Roanoke, Virginia in 1951, Everette Whisnant, Pauline Whisnant

Everette Whisnant, and Pauline Whisnant

Dad pastor of Orange Ave Baptist Church, in Roanoke Virginia back in the 1950's

Song Leader Johnny Jones, was with Dad a number of years

Mrs Pugh the lady on the second row with her daughter

She is now 92 years old and lives in Roanoke, VA.

Dad was an evangelist before he was a pastor. He and Johnny Johnes traveled wit hthis tent a number of times, and Dad was still doing this when I was born.

Smooth Talk and Flattery (White Horse Inn)

Smooting Talking Pastors

"I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive. For your obedience is known to all, so that I rejoice over you, but I want you to be wise as to what is good and innocent as to what is evil. The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you." (Romans 16:17-20)

"Sometimes it really gets me down when I think about how many millions of people in America today watch TV preachers like Joel Osteen, Robert Schuller, or Joyce Meyer and read their best-selling books. Meanwhile, programs like the WHI and books about sound doctrine have a mere fraction of the audience. Then there are the mega-churches were people flock to feel better about themselves while churches that faithfully proclaim God's Word and administer the Sacraments each week often struggle and their ministers often find themselves under enormous pressure to change their emphasis. How many Christians today are bathed in the great truths that Paul considered essential basics for any church? But then I remember that the mega movements come and go, it is the church Christ founded, however small and unentertaining it is, that endures from generation to generation."

- Michael Horton

IS DECISIONAL REGENERATION GOD'S METHOD OF SOUL WINNING?

Decisional Regeneration is not God’s method of evangelism, and the saving of the human soul. Part two

· Who's Charles Finney?

• 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^."
• ^{http://withchrist.org/Finney-Horton.pdf}

· William McLoughlin summarized Finney's major contribution to revivalism by saying that,

• both he [Finney] and his followers believed it to be the legitimate function of a revivalist to utilize the laws of mind in order to engineer individuals and crowds into making a choice which was superficial based upon free will.

· The results justify my methods.

• This factor helped lead later generations of evangelists to adopt Finney's success theme as the barometer of God's blessing.·
• Billy Sunday stated, "theory has got to go into the scrap heap when it comes to experience."

• In effect, this statement meant that the historic doctrines of grace could be ignored if not altogether rejected by the evangelist

• Indeed, D.L. Moody picked up on this reasoning when he said, "It makes no difference how you get a man to God, provided you get him there."

• Until his conversion, Finney claims to have only heard that type of preaching where the pastor would blandly read his sermon, telling the congregation that they should sit and wait upon God to save them.

• These memories greatly affected the young convert. He took this style and content of preaching to be the practical outworking of Calvinism.
• In his view, the passivity of man in salvation brought deadness into the pews.

• Therefore, his preaching and his methods were designed to catch the sinner's attention, and once caught, to create an emotional outpouring that would result in conviction, which would then result in conversion.

• Among the "new measures" that Finney employed to do this work were protracted prayers and meetings, the anxious or inquirer's meeting, the anxious bench, public prayers for know sinners, coarse and irreverent language, and women praying in mixed gatherings

• Was this judgment of the Calvinistic pulpit methodology a fair one? After all, had not Jonathan Edwards "blandly" read his sermons? And yet, his ministry was blessed in the First Great Awakening. The key to this question is not found in methodology, but in theology.

• The deadness that Finney perceived, was not due to the methods (or lack thereof) which were used in the pulpit, but to the type of response required of the congregation.

· In contrast to this, Jonathan Edwards and, later, Asahel Nettleton (who was a contemporary of Finney)

NeASAHEL NETTLETON: 1783-1844 (note footnote)

• exhorted their hearers, upon coming under conviction of sin, to go privately before the Lord and plead for their souls. Both of these committed Calvinists witnessed great spiritual awakenings under their ministries.

· At issue is Finney's definition of "revival."

• The debate over methods was, in reality, a debate over the proper means of conversion.

• Finney, believed that a revival "is not a miracle or dependent on a miracle. It is a purely philosophical result of the right use of the constituted means."

Gunhild Carling