New Life

Last Sunday we had a girl call in wanting to talk about her situation with her boyfriend. He was not treating her well and she wanted some advice about what to do. Our Hopecoach said that she was far too valuable to be with a guy that was treating her so badly, and that the best thing to do was break up with him. She, however, was having none of that. She talked emphatically about how much she loved him - she just couldn't break up with him. She and the Hopecoach stayed on this topic for a while and after it became abundantly clear that she was dead set on staying with her boyfriend and not going to listen to reason, the Hopecoach asked her if she had any spiritual beliefs. She said yes and went on to talk about how she believed in the Bible and reincarnation. She was sure that the Bible taught about reincarnation somewhere. Our Hopecoach shared what the Bible actually says about life, death, sin, salvation, heaven, and hell and afterward asked if she wanted to turn her life over to Christ and have eternal life in heaven...she said that she did. They prayed and after they did the Hopecoach asked how she felt. She said, "Awesome! I want to start over. I want to live a completely new life." All the sudden she was willing to break up with her boyfriend and get rid of all of her old life so she could a new one in Christ. You can imagine her excitement when the Hopecoach shared 2 Corinthians 5:17, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, behold the new has come!"
Praise God for His incredible power to change a life - the old to new...dark to light...and death to life...forever!

A Huge Decision

We had a young girl contact us through one-on-one chat recenlty. She wanted some advice on a huge decision - whether to have sex with her boyfriend or not. She and her boyfriend, both Christians, were considering the benefits and consequences of having sex. The HopeCoach could tell right away that this girl wanted to have sex and was looking for some kind of endorsement. The Hopecoach, of course, did not give that endorsement. Instead, in a gentle and loving way, she used the Bible to explain God's beautiful plan for sex and how it is meant to be enjoyed only in a marriage relationship. When the hopecoach had finished saying what was essentially the opposite of what the caller had wanted to hear, the caller, instead of argument or flippancy, thanked her profusely and before the chat was over had called her boyfriend to tell him that she now knew it was best to wait until marriage.
Today, teen's ideas about sex are shaped by entertainment and sex education whose most moral message is: "Having sex is absolutely fine as long as you love the person and you use protection." Even though she was a Christian, she had been so bombarded by this idea that she had almost completely accepted it. The HopeLine exists to shine the light of truth into the lives of teens that have been lied to by the world. And in this case the Holy Spirit granted the young girl an open heart and she, by God's grace, made a decision to accept the truth and wait until marriage before having sex.

What a Rush!

A 17 year-old girl (we'll call her Joan) called in and wanted to talk about her girlfriend that had left her to be with another woman in another state. Joan was very hurt and very angry about over the situation. The Hopecoach, Harriet, did not talk about Joan's homosexuality right away. Instead, she talked to her about forgiveness and that the only way to be over her pain and to move on was to forgive this girl who had left her. After this the caller asked if God thought that homosexuality was an "abomination". Harriet said that, yes, it was but so were her other sins. Joan was taken aback at this response. Harriet began to share the gospel and God brought conviction on this young woman. She acklowedged all her sins, repented, and made Jesus the Lord of her life right then! After they had prayed there were a few seconds of silence and then the caller sort of squealed. Harriet asked what was going on and the girl said, "I'm having a rush come all over me!" The Hopecoach asked what she thought that was and Joan said, "The Holy Spirit just came and lived inside of me!" After the call was over Harriet was practically jumping up and down with excitement over what God had done in the life of this young woman! Praise God for His incredible power and for the amazing gift that is the indwelling of the Holy Spirit!

Spirit Filled Night!

Last Sunday, June 29th, was an incredible night for the Chattanooga HopeLine. The Spirit of God was upon us. We took some significant time before we logged onto our computers to sit together and praise God for His work in the HopeLine. We shared with each other some of the calls that meant the most to us - the ones where we had so clearly seen God at work- as well as how the HopeLine had blessed us. After this time of praising God we went to the phones. Almost immediately we saw that this wasn't a normal night. Two separate hopecoaches ushered their very first callers of the night into the Kingdom of God! By the time another round of calls had come and gone two more souls were brought into a relationship with Jesus Christ! By the end of the night we had another two precious young people adopted into the family of God, one of which when asked if she felt any different after praying to receive Christ said, "I feel like I could fly!" A grand total of six callers had their lives completely transformed forever last night! Not only that but I can't tell you how many stories I heard where hopecoaches had calls that "were meant for just for them". I heard two separate hopecoaches say, "I am not sure anyone else could have understood that situation like me because I have been through every single thing that are going through now." Thanks be to God for His amazing saving power and perfect providence- He is truly an incredible God who loves the hurting young people of this world infinitely more than we ever could!

That's who it was!!!

A young girl called recently because she really liked a guy - thought about him all the time - and wanted to know whether she should tell him. After talking about that for a while the HopeCoach began to talk to her about the gospel. As he was in the middle of sharing about what Jesus had done for this girl she burst out, "That's who it was! That's who was in my dream!" She went onto explain that she had a dream two nights before where a man appeared to her and spoke to her in a booming voice that shook the house and said, "They offer you love, but I offer you life." She went on to say that when she had the dream she didn't know who the man was but she realized as the HopeCoach shared that it was Jesus! She also realized that Jesus was calling her not to focus on guys (who offer her love) but on Himself (who offers her life). After that she enthusiastically rushed the HopeCoach to tell her how she could have a relationship with this Jesus. The HopeCoach was floored and so excited to be a part of this amazing saving work that God had done in this girl's life.