Quote:
Originally Posted by Sherri
Jermyn, I DO think it's Biblical. I think too often in Pentecostal circles, people get emotional and respond to an appeal to repent at an altar, but lots of times they are not really changed. They go back out and live the same old way. If they really do "make a decision" for Jesus, then they will go out a changed individual. Repentance just means a change of direction - it's making a decision to turn your life around in the other direction. Nothing anti-Biblical about that, in my opinion.
There's nowhere in the Bible that says you have to come to an altar and weep all over everything when you repent. There's nothing wrong with that, but you can also stand at your seat and make a decision to follow Christ. I doubt if people in the apostles' day came and wept at an altar - they just left their old lifestyle and started in "the Way".
Hope that all makes sense!
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When I received the holy ghost (and blurted out something in tongues) it was while standing during song service. I kept praying over and over for "it" and finally uttered the words "God, I'm sorry....." (no weeping for an hour at the alter) and the words came out like
somewhat like the feeling if you have ever woken up from sleep with a sudden jerk -I know this has happened to everyone at some point. At this point I had it.
But.... that didn't stop people from praying for me for 15-20 minute, en mass, around the alter at the end of the service. At this point I was young and my heart was an open book and I just thought 'live and let live', so I didn't fight it. If they thought it was necessary, what did I know?