At the altar....

A lot of people are not all that fond of altar calls, I am one of those, but, for some, they are needed as in this case....God knows when to have one and when not to...

By Ed Decker:

There is a time and place when each of us surrendered our carnal lives to a loving God and our lives changed forever. I clearly remember the time I gave up the old Ed and found the new Ed that had been hidden inside for so many years.


But this isn't about me. I will never forget the night that it happened to a very special man.


He was a tall, lean man; elderly, with a wild thicket of pure white hair.

He stood at the front of the small church, tears streaming down his face, hands lifting out and up from his body.


Earlier that day, I drove to the northern Utah town to speak at this church about Mormonism and its heretical doctrines.

I had my notes in order and was ready to explain the unbiblical doctrines of Mormonism to a packed church right in the middle of Mormon country.

After being introduced and welcomed by the pastor, I walked to the podium and scanned the faces of the crowd.

After a few minutes of warm-up comments, I turned to my notes and stopped.

I knew this was not the message thee people came to hear.

They came to hear what was in my heart.


I looked up and began sharing my story, my journey into Mormonism, my life there and my journey out.

At the end of my sharing, I led the congregation in what Christians called an "Altar Call" and asked those who had prayed with me and wanted that same peace of Christ and His gift at the cross to come forward.

Now I stood in front of this elderly gentleman with tears flowing down his cheeks.

I reached up and took his face in both my hands, feeling his tears run through my fingers.

Weeping with him, I cried, "If not one other person ever receives a new life in Christ in all my ministries, you alone are worth it all."


I asked him what he was feeling right then. He sobbed, Oh, The Joy, the joy."


That was many years ago and I never forgot that man and that night.

I found out later that he was a Mormon Temple Worker, one of the most faithful of the faithful...…..

yet heaven reached down and captured his heart. Others went forward that night as well, but sometimes I feel my hands are still wet from his tears.

I think one of the reasons I remember it as though it just happened today is that in some small way, I caught a glimpse of how Jesus must of felt when he died on the cross for you and me.

Somehow, I knew he felt that I, personally, was worth it all, just as he felt you, too, were worth it all.

Ed Decker

here

Blessings
Yaddy