“At some point, the gold page moved from after the white page to the beginning…. the gold page starts with an introduction to who God is and then where He lives. 100 years ago, most children not only had some understanding of God, but also believed He existed. Today, the idea of God is foreign to most unchurched children.” - P&D
The phrase “ask Jesus into your heart” does not occur in Scripture. My recent article makes this point. So, why do we use this phrase? I’ve only just scratched the surface with my research, but here is what I have found so far. Encouraging unbelievers to ask Jesus into their hearts only seems to appear in Christian vocabulary in recent centuries.
“I walked down the aisle, shook the preacher’s hand, and professed faith in Christ. A few weeks after that scary walk, I had the scarier experience of being baptized one Sunday morning with a bunch of other people. I was officially saved.” - 9 Marks
“The survey revealed that 72% of respondents came to faith before the age of 18, while the remaining 28% didn’t start holding Evangelical beliefs until they were adults.” - CPost
“Located in all 50 American states and in most countries around the world, CEF’s newly-established goal is to minister to 100 million children each year globally with the Gospel in the near future.” - CPost
“Stephen J. Wellum, professor of Christian theology at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and editor of the Southern Baptist Journal of Theology, argued in an article for The Gospel Coalition on Monday that an examination of the question may open the door to the possibility that “exceptional” cases of salvation are possible.” - CPost
First published at SI May 1, 2006.
Into my heart, into my heart,
Come into my heart, Lord Jesus.
Come in today; come in to stay.
Come into my heart, Lord Jesus.
Harry Clarke, Welsh song leader for Evangelist Billy Sunday, wrote these words in 1924. Who hasn’t heard these words sung at the end of an evangelistic challenge? I’m still amazed that many Christians still sing the lyrics after they already know the Lord.
