Phillips on Replacing Altar Calls

Yesterday, I showed 8 of Dan Phillips 15 reasons for not doing altar calls recently posted on Pyromaniacs. Numbers 9-15 are below:

9. It is always better to point out a better way than it is just to fault the way it's done.

10. Plus, aren't we Calvinists always big about always preaching the Gospel? If there's no Gospel in our preaching of Ephesians 5, Nehemiah 1, Genesis 12, or what-have-you, don't we all say we're doing it wrong?

11. And, that being the case, unless we bar unbelievers or check their baptisms at the door, mightn't the Spirit of God awaken an unbeliever in the assembly?

12. And if that's the case, shouldn't we be the first to scramble to provide the answer to the question "What must I do to be saved?", if it's being asked?

13. And, though we have wonderful arguments against telling people to come forward to be saved, should we not constantly be issuing invitations — that is, urging our hearers to repent, turn, believe, be saved?

14. And so should we not be eager to help anyone on whom the Spirit of God so moves?

15. So I think providing elders and others after a service to talk with anyone moved in any way by the sermon is a great idea, and we should do it — make them available, tell folks they're available, urge folks to avail themselves of them.

I love Phillip's list because it shows that a person can have an evangelist's heart and yet not appreciate altar calls. It also demonstrates that a church can have a great evangelistic effect in her corporate gathering, even when her emphasis is on edification.