On March 9th, CareNet Pregnancy Centers & Mentoring Programs had the great privilege of hosting over 1,000 people in our community for our annual CareNet Banquet.  During the evening we rejoiced in what God has been doing through CareNet.

If you were unable to attend, I would like to share with you a little bit of what we talked about…Nehemiah, wall repairing, and taking back territory from the enemy…

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 And your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt;
you shall raise up the foundations of many generations;
you shall be called the repairer of the breach,
the restorer of streets to dwell in.

Isaiah 58:12

The question on your heart and mind as we proceed, should be…what portion of the wall is my responsibility?  Because our God has called you a repairer of the breach.

I want to share a story with you…

An elderly carpenter was ready to retire. He told his employer-contractor of his plans to leave the house building business and live a more leisurely life with his wife enjoying his extended family.

He would miss the paycheck, but he needed to retire. They could get by. The contractor was sorry to see his good worker go and asked if he could build just one more house as a personal favor. The carpenter said yes, but in time it was easy to see that his heart was not in his work. He resorted to shoddy workmanship and used inferior materials. It was an unfortunate way to end his career.

When the carpenter finished his work and the builder came to inspect the house, the contractor handed the front-door key to the carpenter. “This is your house,” he said, “my gift to you.”

What a shock! What a shame! If he had only known he was building his own house, he would have done it all so differently. Now he had to live in the home he had built none too well.

In my opinion, the story of the carpenter and his house is a sobering picture of the culture that we have created for our children to grow up in.  The work is hard, the fight is exhausting, the odds can seem overwhelming…and so some of us decide that it’s time for us to retire, to just do enough to get by.  We have accepted that “times have changed, and it is just the way it is.”  Can I propose to you that our children are living in the house that we built?

In the first chapter of Nehemiah, Nehemiah is the cupbearer for King Artaxerxes and Nehemiah’s brother comes to see him.  Nehemiah asks about the condition of Jerusalem and the Jews.  His brother responds in verse 3, “The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire.”

Then the Word tells us that Nehemiah sat down and wept.

I am here to report to you that the wall around our community, our children, our families is broken down and its gates have been burned with fire.

We live in a society of broken down walls.

• We debate not whether abortion is taking the life of an innocent baby, but if its mothers wishes should supersede the baby’s right to live.
• Here in our community…one of the area school districts offers a program to its middle school students entitled “Big Decisions.” The curriculum at least acknowledges that sex is a big decision, but then tells 7^th and 8^th graders to be sure take birth control and be prepared by carrying condoms.
• We have the NFL threatening not to bring another Superbowl back to Texas if Texas passes a bathroom bill that would ban transgender people from using the public bathrooms in which they feel most comfortable.
• We have high school students creating their own campus “porn channel” by having students submit pictures and videos of their classmates.
• I promise you that I am not over exaggerating in the least when I say that every day, I visit with parents, a teenager, a preteen child or a college student who has been bullied, humiliated or compromised through some form of social media.
• We live in a society of “50 Shades Darker.” And Christian parents in their 40s posting comments on Facebook about girl’s nights out to see this series of movies.
• Things are so blurred that even a person’s gender is a grey area and up for debate.
• College students are provided counseling and have cry-ins when an election doesn’t go their way.

Walls of truth, which by the way does not equal hate….the word tells us that Christ himself was full of truth and grace.  Walls of truth, foundational values and beliefs, streets paved with love, grace and a commitment to following the path the Father laid out for us are the necessary non-negotiables that allow our young people to live healthy, powerful lives that bring glory to the Father…but there is indeed a breach.

To be continued…

My love,