The speaker gave what I now know is called an “invitation” to respond to his presentation of the gospel. At the time, I had never been to an event where the speaker had asked anyone to “come forward” and trust in Jesus Christ. He counted to three and asked people to come forward who wanted to be saved from their sins by “giving their lives to Jesus Christ.” The preacher talked about the blood of Jesus and heaven and hell. He told the packed basketball gymnasium of middle school students that we needed