Houston leads nation in births among mothers under 15 years of age

Below the Mason-Dixon Line and sitting on the main thoroughfare through the Bible Belt, Interstate 10, Houston, Texas, is not what people may think. National rankings put Houston in America's top 5 in restaurants, museums, and theater district, very much competitive with the likes of NYC, Chicago, and LA. The downtown culture is eclectic and unique drawing celebrities, artists, chefs, musicians, and the like. Lofts and high end apartments downtown are home to a sprawling population of young singles and newly weds who have yet to have kids and make the move to the suburbs. Many cultures of the world coexist side by side in our city.

But, in the last 12 months, we have also become the nation's largest city with a gay mayor and home to the largest abortion clinic in the western hemisphere. Another survey reveals we now also lead the nation in births among the under 15 years of age demographic. Our city is suffering tremendously from moral decay.

The solution is not legislation. The answer is a spiritual matter. Houston is in desperate need of spiritual awakening. We need a movement of God. History evidences that it will first require that we have revival in our churches. Houston's moral drift evidences how much our churches have fallen behind the curve in reaching our city. We need more church plants and we need the churches we do have to recalibrate: we have by and large stopped making disciples and now just worry about helping people in the sinner's prayer so they avoid going to Hell. Disciples make disciples, converts do not reproduce.

We need the Southern Baptist Convention to make Houston one of the "focus cities" one year soon. We need our seminaries to put Houston in the minds of church planters. We need Houston's pastors to love each other and root for each other instead of eyeing each other as rivals and worrying about "marking territories". While we play selfish, unbiblical games, millions of people in our nation's 4th largest city are going unreached.

We can still reach our city, but it's going to take a movement of God in and through our local churches. May it happen in my lifetime. I love our city and I love Houstonians; Houston is my favorite city on earth.