Every Catholic should attend a Tent Revival meeting once in their life.

[Nancie_Lew]

I’ve been to one. No thanks, I am a quiet and shy person by nature and all the hyperactivity gave me the heebiejeebies.

.

There is no law that says someone has to go up to the altar. You can make a commitment to the Lord in the privacy of your own home.

God gave people different personalities. Why would he expect everyone to like the same form of worship? One advantage to being Protestant is that there are so many different forms of worship that a Christian can find a church that suits his personality. If you are shy a traditional church will suit your needs but if you are out-going a Penacostal church would be more appropriate.

My Methodist church has two services on Sundays one traditional, and the other modern.

 

[mark_a]

They may not have 100% of our teachings, but we can sure use some of their FIRE! You will be amazed, I promise, about how they are in absolute, unadulterated LOVE with our Lord.

What will I do with this fire?

 

[Allweather]

Tent meetings are probably a dying thing, like circuses, marching bands, and SUVs.

They may’ve been great during the Protestant heydey of America, before TV and movies. A tent revival would be quite the entertainment event in 1830 or so.

Elmer Gantry, which character was based on a real-life individual, tells the story of some of the entertainment factor behind that style of revivalism.

 

[Teakafrog]

One who feels the need to go to a Protestant “tent revival” to obtain this type of inspiration needs to do some serious re-evaluation of their spiritual life.

**I would never make an altar call myself-- seeing as how that would be professing belief in their theology… which I don’t.
**

Honestly, I hope you take a good look at the Catholic faith and then at these theatrical productions put on by non-catholic evangelists and see that you are trading the pearl of great price when you suggest going to something like this.

Who needs a revival to “meet God” when we have the Real Presence in the Eucharist?

Exactly! I grew up in a Baptist Church like this. THANK GOD He led me to the True Church. Yeah, so you get all worked up for a while. Then what??? That is why I went searching for more. I got ‘saved’. What good did it do me a couple years later when the fire had burned out? Now I know that living for God is a constant, a day to day surrendering of self, not an emotional one-time cry-fest, and that’s it. Thank God I found the Truth. I certainly don’t need to go back to where I came from, that’s why I left! Altar-calls are about emotion. The Eucharist is Jesus. No contest.

 

[the_phoenix]

But only if they feel the pull of the Holy Spirit. It is AMAZING to see someone so moved that they block out the rest of the world to go meet God down front. There is no ‘magic’ but really it is basically an AH-HA! moment. The recognition that you NEED Him. When you reach the front there is someone to talk to and help you pray if you are not used to this. But mostly they are there to support the fact that you have humbled yourself to God and recognize the need for Him in your life. It doesn’t SAVE you… but it starts or refreshes the journey.

Catholic Altar Call:

Priest: “This is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Happy are those who are called to his supper.”

People: “Lord, I am not worthy to receive You, but only say the word and I shall be healed.”

My father is now in a wheelchair, and normally mom wheels him up to Communion. One time, right at this part of the Mass, not able to contain his enthusiasm for receiving Jesus in the Eucharist, he suddenly grabbed ahold of the wheel on his chair with his one good hand and arm, and propelled himself down the aisle from the back of the church all the way to the front before the Communion line could form … it was the fastest I’d ever seen a man in a wheelchair go, and very touching.

At the front of the line was the priest to talk to my father with the words “The Body of Christ” and invite him to intimate prayer with Jesus, whom dad would humbly recognize and proclaim as his personal Lord and Savior by saying “Amen” before then receiving God Himself Truly Present in the Eucharist, Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity.

The Eucharist … Food for the journey.

~~ the phoenix

 

[Cat]

the phoenix, that is the most touching story about your dad!

I can kind of identify. Since my ankle surgery in mid-March, I’ve been sitting at the back of the church and the EM brings the Lord to me. But last week, I just wanted to get up there myself, and thankfully, my crutch and Cam Boot allowed me to do this.

 

[Harpazo]

There is no law that says someone has to go up to the altar. You can make a commitment to the Lord in the privacy of your own home.

God gave people different personalities. Why would he expect everyone to like the same form of worship? One advantage to being Protestant is that there are so many different forms of worship that a Christian can find a church that suits his personality. If you are shy a traditional church will suit your needs but if you are out-going a Penacostal church would be more appropriate.

My Methodist church has two services on Sundays one traditional, and the other modern.

In my opinion, that’s just plain silly. When is it going to be less about we want, and more about what God wants?

In Pax Christi
Andrew

 

[Verisimilitude]

Um, no thanks on the tent revival, but I do have a question.

I generally think I am a well informed individual but two things I have seen here (on CAF) that I have/had no clue about.

First was some loon named Jack Chick-Trick-Track…something. I learned enough about him to know I was blissfully ignorant and need to know no more.

But the "Tiber Swim Team " might be different. A quick google search offered me to buy a T-shirt, but I’m guessing there is something more to it. I was even in Rome last year, but did not swim in the river. The Vatican was and is worth going back again so…a brief explaination or a worthy link would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[Allweather]

Those who’ve converted to Latin Rite Catholicism from other faiths. I was going to say from Protestant faiths, but then realized it might include some others, as well.

 

[Allweather]

Exactly! I grew up in a Baptist Church like this. THANK GOD He led me to the True Church. Yeah, so you get all worked up for a while. Then what??? That is why I went searching for more. I got ‘saved’. What good did it do me a couple years later when the fire had burned out? Now I know that living for God is a constant, a day to day surrendering of self, not an emotional one-time cry-fest, and that’s it. Thank God I found the Truth. I certainly don’t need to go back to where I came from, that’s why I left! Altar-calls are about emotion. The Eucharist is Jesus. No contest.

The emotion thing can be like a drug. You need more and more of it as you go. I noticed in my pentecostal church, back almost 30 years ago, that people had to get “worked up” into a mindframe for worship. Part of worship seemed to include a sort of warm-up period, to get the juices flowing, so to speak. There’s something to be said praiseworthy of this type of worship, I suppose, but I think it is fraught with danger. Very little time was spent on doctrinal instruction. What little doctrine there was, was given from the pulpit by the highly emotional woman minister. The main doctrine seemed to be tears, both of joy and of grief. That’s a good thing, and it sure has its place, but a steady diet of it isn’t good, IMO.

 

[Nancie_Lew]

Having been to these silly things numerous times as a child/young adult before I was Catholic, I can assure you I would not cry for joy, but in saddness that these people lack the fullness of truth and a false theology leads them to the “altar call”.

What part of the salvation message do you feel is the silliest?

1. A person prays to God when they understand that they are a sinner and in need of a Savior. Sometimes during a revival a “sinners prayer” is said but going up to the altar and saying a sinner’s prayer will not accomplish anything on its own. A sinner’s prayer is only effective if it genuinely represents what a person knows, understands, and believes about their sinfulness and need for salvation.
2. We are all sinners. Romans 3:10 proclaims, “As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one.” The Bible makes it clear that we have all sinned. We are all sinners in need of mercy and forgiveness from God (Titus 3:5-7). Because of our sin, we deserve eternal punishment (Matthew 25:46). The sinner’s prayer is a plea for grace instead of judgment. It is a request for mercy instead of wrath.
3. What God has done to remedy our lost and sinful condition. God took on flesh and became a human being in the Person of Jesus Christ (John 1:1,14). Jesus taught us the truth about God and lived a perfectly righteous and sinless life (John 8:46; 2 Corinthians 5:21). Jesus then died on the cross in our place, taking the punishment that we deserve (Romans 5:8). Jesus rose from the dead to prove His victory over sin, death, and hell (Colossians 2:15; 1 Corinthians chapter 15). Because of all of this, we can have our sins forgiven and be promised an eternal home in Heaven - if we will just place our faith in Jesus Christ. All we have to do is believe that He died in our place and rose from the dead (Romans 10:9-10). We can be saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Jesus Christ alone. Ephesians 2:8 declares, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.”
4. Going up to the altar is simply a way of declaring to God that you are relying on Jesus Christ as your Savior. There are no “magical” words that result in salvation. It is only faith in Jesus’ death and resurrection that can save us. “God, I know that I am a sinner. I know that I deserve the consequences of my sin. However, I am trusting in Jesus Christ as my Savior. I believe that His death and resurrection provided for my forgiveness. I trust in Jesus and Jesus alone as my personal Lord and Savior. Thank you Lord, for saving me and forgiving me! Amen!”

This is what revival is all about. Apparently your heart was just too hardened for you to understand the real meaning of it.

 

[SORROWS]

I find the whole tent revival thing silly and circusy. I don’t like the whole audience thing - infact I don’t care for any of it.

The Catholic Mass has everything I need to grow and be more spirtitual. Christ truely present in the Euchrist is what I desire.

Tent revivals? No thanks.

 

[Melanie01]

…hmmm…wellll…no thanks…it is loud and distracting…you cant hear yourself let alone pray in such an environment

 

[PAR]

I think it is good that we at least go once to another church. Because it gives us the chance to see how others are moved with our Lord. WE Love our Lord and God, some show it more than others. Somepeople need a quieter church and some need a more group orientation in the church. I know that God gave us free will to choose, what and how we were going to worship. The rest is up to us to show Him we are really believing in Him.

 

[Tonks40]

I think it is good that we at least go once to another church. Because it gives us the chance to see how others are moved with our Lord. WE Love our Lord and God, some show it more than others. Somepeople need a quieter church and some need a more group orientation in the church. I know that God gave us free will to choose, what and how we were going to worship. The rest is up to us to show Him we are really believing in Him.

In essence, I agree, but the problem I have in doing so is feeling sorry for them for not being able to recieved the Sacraments, especially the Eucharist…

…Just dumb Catholic pride on my part!

 

[Grateful4mercy]

Wow, some people really have hard hearts. Really a shame.

Look, going to a revival ONCE does not equal:

• skipping mass
• becoming protestant
• abandoning your beliefs
• throwing yourself on the ground and having a seizure

It is an opportunity to feel and express the love of God in another way, not the end of Catholicism. Think of it as eating at our friends house. We are constantly inviting them over to our place, it might help if we knew what fed THEIR souls, right?

Also, it’s not like they are going to drag out a Book of Mormon and start preaching. For whatever errors they may make, they are still reading the Word of God, for crying out loud.

Maybe I was just lucky and saw a really good preacher (it was in a convention center, not a real tent). He talked about hell, he talked about God, and mostly he talked about love. At the end of the two hours I was totally, madly in love with Jesus. All I wanted in the world was to be with him in Heaven.

Going to Mass is a very moving experience for me as well (maybe I’m just soft hearted) I have trouble singing hymns when the host is being consecrated because of the lump in my throat. And this in no way is a substitute. It’s a learning opportunity.

Oh, and what are you suppose to do with the fire? You COULD go out and give it to somebody else…but thats totally up to you. There are plenty of baskets around for you to put your candle under.

In Christ.

 

[mark_a]

Wow, some people really have hard hearts. Really a shame.

Look, going to a revival ONCE does not equal:

• skipping mass
• becoming protestant
• abandoning your beliefs
• throwing yourself on the ground and having a seizure

It is an opportunity to feel and express the love of God in another way, not the end of Catholicism. Think of it as eating at our friends house. We are constantly inviting them over to our place, it might help if we knew what fed THEIR souls, right?

Also, it’s not like they are going to drag out a Book of Mormon and start preaching. For whatever errors they may make, they are still reading the Word of God, for crying out loud.

Maybe I was just lucky and saw a really good preacher (it was in a convention center, not a real tent). He talked about hell, he talked about God, and mostly he talked about love. At the end of the two hours I was totally, madly in love with Jesus. All I wanted in the world was to be with him in Heaven.

Going to Mass is a very moving experience for me as well (maybe I’m just soft hearted) I have trouble singing hymns when the host is being consecrated because of the lump in my throat. And this in no way is a substitute. It’s a learning opportunity.

Oh, and what are you suppose to do with the fire? You COULD go out and give it to somebody else…but thats totally up to you. There are plenty of baskets around for you to put your candle under.

In Christ.

I have nothing against revivals or the people attending. Its great that they can get the gifts they need at a revival.

But a revival, like NASCAR or the NBA or soccer or clothes shopping, is just not for me.

 

[1ke]

Really? So you think they DON’T know God? Why are you so set in only meeting God in your own church. God is everywhere, and every place you meet him brings you new life. If you only see the world from out of your own living room window what can you teach others about it?

Re-read what I wrote. It was directed to your OP, in which you stated Catholics should go to these Protestant tent revivals. They need no such thing.

I replied that someone who needs to go to a Protestant tent revival for inspiration needs to examine their spiritual life more closely. I stand by that. Thinking they “need” some sort of Protestant tent revival experience to encounter the Lord or find “inspiration” is serious error. Your OP referred to Catholics attending such a revival. I was not addressing Protestants attending their own denomination’s services.

Ok, so you fulfilled half of the request already, what are you complaining about?

Your erroneous idea that **Catholics **need to go to Protestant tent revivals for some purpose of finding inspiration and getting on fire for the Lord is quite insulting and implies that Catholics are:

(a) not on fire for the Lord
(b) unable to find such inspiration in the Catholic Church

I was not a Catholic when I attended such a service, and as a Catholic I would not return to one.

And you can’t know what moves people to greater faith and love of Jesus. A good number of those people will seek higher truths and find them in the Catholic Church. Do you dare to criticize the Lords grand plan for them?

Protestant theology is false and encouraging Catholics to be sucked into the “emotional experience” of such a tent revival is seriously in error.

I’m not criticizing any person’s path to the Lord. I’m criticizing your idea that Catholics-- who have the fulness of truth-- need to look outside the Catholic Church for “greater faith and love of Jesus”. Such an idea is erroneous on it’s face since no Protestant church contains the fulness of truth and dangerous.

I’m a cradle Catholic, thank you very much. But I understand that we will never be one if we expect the whole world to conform to the CC view on things.

We will keep the door open and the light on. Hopefully, the Lord will move others to reconciliation.

Why can’t we have both?

Because you cannot mix error with truth, shake, and stir.

Surely they have something to teach us as well.

Nope. Not one thing.

We can teach them doctrine, they can open our minds to worship.

There you go again, asserting their is something lacking in Catholic worship.

Where is it written in the CCC that we can’t have a Catholic Tent Revival?

No one said that Catholics could not have a tent revival. That is not what you proposed. A Catholic tent revival would consist of Catholic theology, Catholic preaching, Catholic Sacraments, and no error. I’ve been to such events, they’re great.

 

[1ke]

What part of the salvation message do you feel is the silliest?

This is what revival is all about. Apparently your heart was just too hardened for you to understand the real meaning of it.

The worst part about a tent revival is the false theology of Once Saved, Always Saved and the basis of everything on an emotional feeling.

Feelings fade. I’ve seen people who felt “saved” at the Revival become very confused, depressed, and disheartened when that “feeling” didn’t stay with them or when times became tough. Much of this Evangelical “tent revival” mentality is also tied up in the Health and Wealth Gospel.

H & W is false, and it’s cruel. Joel Olsteen is a prime example of this type of “feel good” experience that leads people into such serious error.

Perhaps I shouldn’t have said “silly”-- dangerous to a person’s soul is more accurate.

 

[Grateful4mercy]

Re-read what I wrote. It was directed to your OP, in which you stated Catholics should go to these Protestant tent revivals. They need no such thing.

I replied that someone who needs to go to a Protestant tent revival for inspiration needs to examine their spiritual life more closely. I stand by that. Thinking they “need” some sort of Protestant tent revival experience to encounter the Lord or find “inspiration” is serious error. Your OP referred to Catholics attending such a revival. I was not addressing Protestants attending their own denomination’s services.

Your erroneous idea that **Catholics **need to go to Protestant tent revivals for some purpose of finding inspiration and getting on fire for the Lord is quite insulting and implies that Catholics are:

(a) not on fire for the Lord
(b) unable to find such inspiration in the Catholic Church

I was not a Catholic when I attended such a service, and as a Catholic I would not return to one.

Protestant theology is false and encouraging Catholics to be scked into the “emotional experience” of such a tent revival is seriously in error.

I’m not criticizing any person’s path to the Lord. I’m criticizing your idea that people Catholics-- who have the fulness of truth-- need to look outside the Catholic Church for “greater faith and love of Jesus”. Such an idea is erroneous on it’s face since no Protestant church contains the fulness of truth.

We will keep the door open and the light on. Hopefully, the Lord will move others to reconciliation.

Because you cannot mix error with truth, shake, and stir.

Nope. Not one thing.

There you go again, asserting their is something lacking in Catholci worship.

No one said that Catholics could not have a tent revival. That is not what you proposed. A Catholic tent revival would consist of Catholic theology, Catholic preaching, Catholic Sacraments, and no error. I’ve been to such events, they’re great.

Well ok, if you feel that strongly about it, I’ll take your name off the list, sheesh. :doh2:

I also never implied anything like what you are accusing me of. The Pope has called for us to evangelize by meeting people ‘where they are’. I’ll take it you have the people in your parish covered, I’ll get the rest of the world.

I guess I can understand you views, you have just come sliding into home safe, you don’t want to go back out there but I am at least an 80th generation Catholic and I see it as my sworn duty to go out and find lost sheep. Sometimes that means you have to understand what is keeping them lost.

Anyway, didn’t mean to get your rosary all knotted up.

May the Peace and Love of our lord be upon you always.