That's what this altar is for

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Bro. Richard,
        Boy, you've got a dilema.  You are dealing with a person who is not
near a place of repentence, yet it seems difficult to lead him to that place
if he will not cooperate even to the point of having a home Bible study.
        Going to the altar is simply a move toward a convenient gathering
place where people can bind together in prayer.  People can repent in the
pew, or even at home.  Think how many people receive the Holy Ghost at
home--even in bedrooms or basements (where ever they may be when they make
that surrender).  But going to the altar shows both to God and to the rest
of the congregation a certain level of surrender and some level of seriousness.
        No man comes to the Father unless he is called, however.  Therefore,
I wouldn't worry about where this man prays--I would pray for him to have a
revelation of God's reality and his need.  As to the lack of scriptural
basis for praying at an altar, is there a scriptural basis for rejecting
altars?  On the other hand, there's nothing magical about an altar, either.
But there IS something supernatural about saints laying hands on a sinner in
the process of repentance and helping to pray him through.  Also, there is
something supernatural in a person giving his heart over to God.  If it is
convenient for both these things to take place at the front of the church in
a place reserved for praying (the altar), then why not?

Troy

At 06:29 PM 3/3/97 -0600, you wrote:
>
>Okay, help me out here saints.
>
>There's a guy in our church, "Dave", who comes basically because his
>wife comes.  He *really* needs the Lord in his life -- it's as
>obvious as if he was being hit over the head with a two-by-four.
>But Dave absolutely refuses to make any real move to letting Christ
>be Lord in his life.
>
>He says he doesn't go to the altar because it's not scriptural: it
>wasn't the practice of the church in the New Testament.  All it is
>is an excuse, of course, but how do you respond to something like
>that?
>
>I believe the Lord told me that Dave will receive the Holy Ghost this
>year.  To this end, my wife asked him if he'd be interested in a Bible
>study at home, which he declined.  I bit my tongue and didn't blat out
>that home Bible studies is *precisely* the way the New Testament church
>operated :-)
>
>Richard Masoner
>