The Altar Call

I preached my heart out again last night at the revival meeting. After much prayer I finally settled on the message I felt God wanted me to preach late in the afternoon. God's direction surprised me. In a thousand years I would have never picked that message for a revival meeting. Not my will  but His will be done. Acts 16:6-11. This is the passage about Paul's Macedonia vision.

I extended the altar call. I am still old fashioned in my thinking believing we need to preach for decisions. The altar and the altar call have fallen on hard times in many houses of worship. After offering a prayer I took a seat to pray and see what God would do. People do not come forward to the front to pray much anymore. They did last night.

The first person to go to the altar was the pastor. All six foot seven inches crumbled in a bent posture on the steps near the stage. An eighteen year old young man followed next. Soon others came. I took it all. in I barely held back the tears when an eight year old little boy left his pew and knelt down at the altar. I could not take my eyes off him. He bowed his head on the steps and prayed. I immediately thought of young Samuel hearing from God and asking God to speak for he listened. Only that little named Paul and God know what they conversed about. Paul stayed at the front for a long time. The scene moved me because the message did not appear to be one an eight year old would respond to. God can do anything.

I turned my eyes to the left. A mother holding a little baby boy knelt at the altar doing her business with God. Next to her knelt a seventy-four year old man. I looked straight in front of me to see a senior adult lady I've loved dearly for decades praying and wiping tears from her eyes. All across the altar I witnessed people encountering God.

I did not play on people's emotions during the altar call. It was given straight forwardly. All afternoon I argued with God about preaching that message. It did not feel like a revival message. Yet, God moved more in that one service than in all the others. Simply amazing.

Only God could speak to senior adults, young mothers, teenagers, a child, and a pastor all in the same service. I want to imprint that scene in the photo bank of my mind. I don't want to argue with God about what I am to preach. I want to surrender and yield trusting Him to do His work.

There is still a place at the altar for all of us. It is a place of surrender. It is a place of sacrifice. It is a place to come and die to self through the crucified life. [Gal 2:20] It is place to lay your life down as the ultimate act of worship. [Rom 12:1]

With that service the revival meetings ended. Though I still remain open to going back there and continuing the work. Such decisions are out of my hands. I count it an honor to get to minister to such a loving, warm, and hungry group of people this past week. Now, it is on to Alpine TX where I will again minister God's word this weekend with my brother in the Lord, Eric Adcock, who will lead worship.

By the way, God did work in the a/c situation. If you do not know what I am taking about go back and read my blog "God, why didn't You give all the money." Enough has been given now to purchase one new unit. Spring Creek Baptist Church still needs $12,000 to purchase the last two. I will pray until all the money comes in for the glory of God.