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I don't know about others, but I invite men to come under the preaching of the Gospel. It is my goal to preach the Gospel to men everywhere, which is one reason why I am a strong proponent of missionary work.

At the conclusion of my services, I make a relevant application appropriate to the material covered. It is a rare service that I do not present the truth of the Gospel, and call on men to repent of their sins and believe in Christ Jesus for salvation.

However, I don't tell them that they have to walk down that aisle and take the preacher's hand and repeat a canned prayer. We do offer an opportunity for people to come and present themselves as candidates for membership based upon their profession of faith in Christ or by promise of a letter from another Baptist church. Believe me, if the person coming in such a way is not someone well known by me, and I don't already know their testimony of faith in Christ, I do not present them as candidates for membership, but arrange with them to set a time that we can talk so that I can ascertain their sitatuion and also explain to them the responsibilities of church membership. Most all of those coming as candidates for membership are folks that I have counselled with previously at length, and normally I know before the service even begins that they will present themselves at the conclusion of that day's message.

Mostly though, the "invitation" that we offer is an invitation to service, and to make practical application of the message preached, calling on the hearers to take action based upon what they have received.

It is a rare service that I do not present the truth of the Gospel, and call on men to repent of their sins and believe in Christ Jesus for salvation.

However, I don't tell them that they have to walk down that aisle and take the preacher's hand and repeat a canned prayer.

OK. Two things. First, wouldn't an "elect" person who God decided it was time to repent, repent whether or not you asked them to?

Second, it sounds to me that you have more an objection to a "canned," or ritualistic, or pre-planned "call." I recognize that there is a certain amount of charlatanism going on, and people may be being fooled. But I don't see where having a ritual is bad.

We do offer an opportunity for people to come and present themselves as candidates for membership based upon their profession of faith in Christ or by promise of a letter from another Baptist church.

OK, I see where you are calling people to join as members, to join in service, and how this is different from calling people to be saved.