The Altar Call

 

I remember while growing up

There was the altar call,

It is not as prominent these days

To my mind it has taken a fall.

At the end of the message

There would be an invitational song,

Back then they were very ardent

And that invitation would be long.

It would begin with the preacher

Followed by the song leader

And if that were not enough,

A plea would be made by the pastor.

Older members would leave their seats

And would go and grab a youth

And would march him up to the altar,

Trust me, I am telling the truth.

It was like the only way to be saved

Was by kneeling at the altar rail,

Not at home by your bedside,

That and all other places would fail.

  

Fashioned after Billy Graham

That prolific evangelist,

You did not want to leave the church

And that invitation opportunity miss.

At the altar were all types:

The frightened ones and the emotional,

The forced ones and the imitators

Even the I don’t know why people.

I once heard a pastor say,

Be careful what you say down here.

Everybody is not coming for what you think

So, when you open your mouth, beware!

A word to the wise is sufficient

I will leave you to ruminate on that,

All kinds of people would go to the altar

But salvation was not always the fact.

Whether all were saved I could not tell,

That is way outside of my purview,

An individual would have to tell for himself

Hence, I could not know for you.

What I do know that I can tell

Is that true salvation is evidentiary,

For once the Holy Spirit indwells a heart

A changed life is the reality.

The altar at which the sacrifice occurs

Is the altar of one’s heart,

That’s where the penitent dies to sin,

That is where salvation starts.

It’s not the rail at the front of a church

Or even kneeling beneath a cross

But the sincere cry from a sinner’s heart

That recognizes he is lost.

He could be anywhere, as a matter of fact,

When by the Spirit he is arrested,

That for him is his altar call

And the offer in which many have invested.

A poem or song on the Internet

Could be the means of your altar call,

I would suggest, should this happen to you,

Positively respond, no longer stall.

Right there you can find the Saviour,

The Shepherd who is calling to you,

Right then you can find sweet communion

I have found it and so can you.

Stewart Russell © April 2020