8/12/2019 1991 Issue 5 - The Lordship Series: Hope in Crisis - Counsel of Chalcedon

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"HOPE

IN CRISIS"

And I

wi

put

enmlo/

between

you

nd thewoman, ndbetween your

seed

and

her seed.

(Genesis

3:ISctl. .

The crisis pregnancy hotline

ministry of Chalcedon Presbyterian

Church inAtlanta, Georgia, is

not

about

saving babies. Not

really.

The

"Hope

in

Crisis" ministry is really about saving

souls ..in

the name of Jesus

Christ.

Truly,

thisministryis

different from

standing onstreetcomerswith signstltat

say,

"ABORTION

IS MURDER", (which

God's people

know and

the unrighteous

denyagainsttheirconscience),andtaking

verbal abuse while you

stand there.

This

crisis pregnancy ministry is a tool for

church members o labor in the Great

Commission

.

God

commands

us

to

go

into the

world

and preach the gospel

to

every creature, (Matthew 28:19, Mark

16:20).

One amazing thing

about

this

ministry is

tltat

we don't have to go out

into

thehighwaysandbywaysto find

the

lost of

this

world to

tell

them about

salvation

throughJesus

Christ

The lost

call our homes

when

the hotline is call

forwarded from the Chalcedon

Presbyterian

Church

office

Thereareninecounselorsinvolved

at

this

time. These women are wives and

mothersandhomemakersandmembers

of Chalcedon Presbyterian Church,

whom the Lord has stirred up to serve

Himinthisway.

These 'handmaidens' of

Jesus

Christ

were

trained by theworkof

the Holy Spirit within them . In other

words,

just by

listening

faithfully

to the

preaching of

the

Word

from the

pulpit,

praying for guidance

and

wisdom,

and

reading

the Word,

these

women

have all

the equipment they need to

be

effective

servants oOesus Christ.

When I joined the ranks of

counselors seven years

ago,

I

was

burdened because Don and I desired to

have children

and

Iwas labeled infertile.

I was hearing of all the babies

being

slaughtered through abortion and was

appalled

and

said, "Don, these

women

areslaying the babies tltat

we

are praying

for " Through this the Lord led

me

to

be

a

counselor.

When Ibegan I thought Iwas just

going

to

talk women

out of

abortions

but

Iwas

alarmed

atwhat Iwas

hearing

from

the other end of the telephone

conversation--angry,

bitterwomen

who

feared the presentand

the future

having

been wounded

by

the sins of the

past.

Some

even called

to try to

arrange

financing for their

abortions.

Others

called

to

ask our fees. Others called to

askiffour-five-orsixmonthabortions

would

be

too

prohibitive

for

their

pocketbooks.

Others would

ask which

abortion

procedure

would be the least

dangerous

and

painful;

not for their

babies, but for themselves .

Most of the time,

when

I

begin to

speak,

and t

he

y

realized they did not

want

to

hear

what I had

to say,

they

would hang up.

I

used to get my feelings

hurt when they would yell orcomplain,

or hang

up on

me.

Then I

realized

tltat

they were

not

mad

at

me, they were

v

ery

angry

at

the

God tltat they

were

used

to

denying existed.

Thatwaswhen the

Lord

taught

me

that these people are LIVING

IN

DARKNESS and

hate the light, and will

continue

to do so

until

the

lord

reveals

Himself to them

.

And,

what

greater

privilege is

there

in the

life of

a

child

of

Godthanwhenthelordallowsustolead

a lost and rroubled soul to Himself.

This marvelous opportunity

to

serve has been

available

through

this

ministry

for

a

decade

now.

Although

there

is

conflict

between the light of

the

world and the darkness, I find

great

comfort

in

remembering His promise

in

Genesis

3:15,

he

will

crush your head.

Our feeble

efforts

in some way continue

to

expand our

Lord's

kingdom and

evidence

is

total victory ov

er sin,death

andSatan. Thelordsaysthatthereisnot

only

enmity between

Jesus Christ and

the world. There

is hope and grace and

tender mercies and victory

in Him.

"Where

sin

increased grace increased all

the

more." (Romans 5:20)

The Lord

has

blessed me

greatly

overthe past

fewyears

in thisministry.

It

se

e

ms

that

the call

e

rs are

more

willing to

listen or

are

more

troubled

or scared and

are

willing

to pour out their hearts

to

someone who

will

listen.

I've heard

some miserable life stories

and

some

wretched situations

and

often I'm able

to

say, "Well,

your

life will continue to be a

June 99 TIlE OUNSEL of halcedon 2

8/12/2019 1991 Issue 5 - The Lordship Series: Hope in Crisis - Counsel of Chalcedon

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struggle until

you

stop

the

panicularsin

thatiscaiiSingtheproblem. Godwillnot

let you rest and find peace in this type of

lifestyle

. Ask

the Lord Jesus to

forgive

you and changeyourways .He

promises

in

His

Word that anyone

who

comesto

Him

He will

not tum

them away."

Interestingly,

aJ.most

aU

of

these

womencallthcinselvesCluistians.

Many

of them

have one

ormore

children living

with them. One caller had a

y )1.Jng

daughter

who

was attending a

Christian

School and

she

was pregnant

and

didn't

wantherdaughterto know. Thewoman

was not married to

the

father of the

unborn child. I told her if

she

and her

daughter really did attend church

regularly

and

knew God, then she knew

that

having an

abortion would

kill

her

baby and

she

would just

be trying to

cover

up her sin instead

of confessing

it

to

Godandherdaughter. lsaidthatifshe

would be honest with herdaughter,

that

as cluiStians it would deepen their

relationship.

Herdaughterwouldrealize

that

Mommie

is a sinner and

needs

forgiveness, . oO . After a lengthy

conversation

thewoman

agreed

with

me

and said

she

would do

the right

thing.

Praise God

One

caller,

whodidnotcallherself

aChristian,

wassingle

and

recendy

broke

up

with

a

boyfriend

who

had giverihera

venereal

disease. I told her

that

was

indeed serious and could have

consequences but that siIice it wasn't

AIDS, perhaps

God

was

giving

herspace

to repent and an oppomiility to change

herways. ~ a f t e r a l e n g t h y d i s c u s s i o n

I urged her

to ask God

fut forgiveness

and thank Him

for

sparing her from

AIDS. She listened intently and finally

indicated

''you're

right".

Another woman

called

from her

desk at work and.quiedy asked about

abortions---.1Il she

knew

was that

she

wanted one. I

tried to

destribe

the

procedurestoherandsaid,

Now

do

you

want

to pay someone

to

do

this to you

andyourbaby?"

We

began to

talk

about

the

Lordandshesaid, "I'm

so

gladl

caUed

you,

yournumber

was the first

ad

on the

newspaper listing. You're right, Icould

never go through

with

that, that is

ho

rrible

."

Hallelujah. God's providence

is marvelous

and I

reminded

her

that He

planned

that

phone

call.

Many times I'm able to say

that

"God did

not

createda

woman's

body for

a life to

be

carved out

of it.

And

that

is

what you want

someone

to

do.

And

you'regoingtopaythemtodoit." Ithink

it

is important to reiterate that

I

am not

the

only

counselor

and

that

all the other

women

could reconnt

many, many

fruitful and encouraging conveISations

from

their

own experiences.

Mo

st of the time I never

hear

the

outcome of my conversations

with

the

callers. Sometimes I think they may be

saying

things

tome

that they think Iwam

to hear in order that we can end the

conversation.

It

really doesn't matter.

Sometimes

people

still

hang

up

on

me

when

they

realize

we're

not offering

abortions but

alternatives they can live

with.

But usually

now

before the

conversation is

over I'm able to

share

with them

from

the

Scriptures

. "

So

ismy

word

that goes out from

my

mouth: It

shall not

return

to me

empty

, but will

accomplish

what Idesireandachieve the

purposeforwhichl5entit.

"0sa ah55:1l)

I praise God

for

the

opportunity

and

privilegeL05erveHim inthisministry.

IamthankfultothesessionofChaIcedon

for being

so

supportive to all of the

counselors

and to

others who

have

opened their homes and the

sacrifices

thatare

beingmade

for

the

glory

of

God

.

May

God continue

to

bring the

lost and

dying world

out

of th

e

darkness and

into

the

lightofJesus, through thisministry.n

udio

Tapes

Messages

rom

II orinthians

by

Joe

Morecraft,

III

The love

of

Christ ( 2Cor13)

The New Creation ( 2Cor14)

Reconciliation

( 2Corl 5)

The Ministry of

Reconciliation

( 2Cor16)

The Life of

Christ's

Ambassadors ( 2Cor 17)

$4.00/tape (cassette)

1

5.00

for all

five

tapes

Order

from:

Specialty

Media Services

P.O. Box

28357

Atlanta,

GA 30358

404)-668-9511

m COUNSEL of Cha1cedon June 1991