Musings...

Presently I am sitting in my chair, watching House Hunters, sipping coffee and writing while Noah naps and the dog chews a giant bone outside in the back yard.  Pretty blissful I must say.  I'm still feeling a little groggy from our weekend trip back to Plainview.  We really enjoyed our time with family but sleep was definitely not on the agenda.

Last night marked the beginning of Sunday night youth meetings with my group from Morning Star.  We saw 4 new faces! It was a good night and I am very excited for things to come.  I was also able to make it over to Wesley in time to listen to Zach preach.  He preaches every Sunday night but this is the first time I have attended.  The kids were with Zach while I was at youth.  Those two have those college kids wrapped around their little fingers.

Listening to Zach's sermon and considering other things happening around us, I have found myself dwelling on certain aspects of church leadership.  As Zach put it last night, leading, in any fashion, in the church gives you an incredible amount of responsibility.   We must be careful, in all that we say, to not lead anyone astray.  For so many, especially in youth, those meeting on Wednesdays and Sundays are the only time some kids hear anything about the Lord.   So many places in the bible warn against false prophets (Matthew 7, 1 Timothy 4, Hebrews 13, etc) and you do not have to look far to see false prophets among us today (see Harold Camping).

He so crazy...

Recently, Zach has gotten into the habit of listening to talk radio, specifically, Christian talk radio, and yesterday on our way home we listened to quite a few different stations.  Some stations were good and gave good information.  Others, however, made us just shake our head in amazement.  Amazement that there are people out there that will believe what someone says just because they write a book and claim to use the Bible as a reference.  This got me thinking about my job and other's who do the same thing Zach and I do.  It's a sad fact that so many churches hire people to teach their youth and children without checking first what their beliefs are and following up on what they teach.  It's also sad that so many parents trust the religious upbringing of their children to the church, and the humans the church has hired, without being aware of what is actually being taught.  Even in my own experience, so few parents thought to ask questions pertaining to what I and others I worked with were teaching their children about Christ.  Scary!  Now, I hope and pray that I will never lead a single person astray and I will continue to pray daily for wisdom and discernment.  I do hope that people will not take everything they are told by a supposed "teacher of the Word" at face value.  A true sign of a "cult" or "false prophet" is that asking questions about what you are hearing is discouraged.

So, I guess, through these rantings, I'm beseeching each of you to question, to discern, to search out answers to your questions, and not lean on the teachings of one person.  Also, I know for sure I'm going to be paying close attention to who is teaching my children and what they are being taught.  As a teacher and a leader I pray never to become complacent with my great responsibility.

As a final note on this matter I look to James, Chapter 3.  It reminds us "that we who teach will be judged more strictly." We never stop teaching, even if it's our day off...