God's Plan "A"...

NB:  The title is a misnomer because God only has one plan and it will take place (cf. Isa. 14:24,27; 46:10; Job 42:2)--He needs no Plan B!


Doris Day's song "Que Sera, Sera" in which she sings, "...What will be, will be, The future's not ours to see, What will be, will be, Que sera, sera..." is a resignation that you have to have a philosophy of a "stiff upper lip" or "grin and bear it,"no matter what--let the chips fall where they may! You must become more adaptable and learn to roll with the punches, they say.  But we have a loving God who knows us personally and is involved on a personal level with us as individuals, and we don't have to be stoical, but can cheerful and rejoice in all circumstances, knowing that we can bring glory to God and "all things work together for good" as it says in Romans 8:28.  God will never overwhelm us and let us be tempted above our ability to resist: "When you pass through the waters, I will be with you..." (Isaiah 43:2, ESV).  "...[H]e will not let you be tempted beyond your ability.." (1 Cor. 10:13, ESV).

We don't have to be discouraged that we have messed up our lives beyond repair because God is in control and took all our shortcomings and failures into account when He thought up our destiny out of the top of His head before we were created.  We don't have a fate that cannot be altered by our volition, but a destiny that we will willingly comply and cooperate with to complete.  If our destiny is to be a maestro, we must work at it with all our might.  David says in Psalm 31:15 (NASB):  "My times are in Your hand...."  Another rendering would be "My future is in [God's] hands."

Everything happens according to God's timetable and timeline, not ours; for this reason, we ought always to be patient, awaiting His time:  "There is an appointed time for everything  And there is a time for every event under heaven...He has made everything appropriate [or beautiful] in its time..." (Ecclesiastes 3:1,11, NASB).  We have a future and a hope according to Jeremiah 29:11 (NASB) because God has a specific plan tailored for each of us:  "For I know the plans that I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope."


It is beyond comprehension, but in God's profundity that we cannot ever fully apprehend (even in eternity), that God wrote out in his plans all the days of our lives just how they should transpire:  "...and in Your book were all written / The days that were ordained for me, / When as yet there was not one of them" (Psalm 139:16, NASB).  This may be termed the providence of God and the Puritans referred to it quite frequently, and even Lincoln did after his conversion, but it was not rhetorical but another way of referring to the sovereignty of God over all details, small and great in our lives.

John Wycliffe's tenet:  "All things come to pass of necessity" and Ephesians 1:11, says, "He accomplishes all things according to the counsel of His will," or "...works all things according to the counsel of His will" (NASB). Nothing happens that God does not direct or permit (He knows even what could be and took that into consideration), using either vessel of honor or dishonor--the good or the evil.  It seems like He uses evil more, but there is so much more of it to make use of!   God's will be done, with or without our cooperation, either willingly or unwillingly, because He is sovereign, and He wouldn't be God if He weren't in control of everything, and that means there are no maverick molecules in the cosmos beyond His sovereign watchful eye.

God has no Plan B (in fact we shouldn't even label His plans, for God needs no backup plan) and we didn't mess Him up. frustrate, or thwart Him by our sin or evil, but He works through and despite it.  In the kingdom of God in eternity His will be done on earth as it is in heaven (willingly and cheerfully).  It is never too late to do God's will or "get your act together" if you will pardon the expression, and get with the program!  The eleventh-hour prophet can accomplish as much as the one who has worked all his life if God is with him.     Soli Deo Gloria!

Protestant In Name Only

Dare to disagree and express your views or interpretations!  Dare to be different and be a Daniel who stood up against the whole government and defied it or like Dietrich Bonhoeffer who attempted an assassination of Adolf Hitler as a double-agent, and was martyred by the Nazis for his faith and dissent.  They were Protestants in spirit who learned to think for themselves and didn't blindly follow the leaders but knew their God personally.

Will the real Protestant stand up, and be counted, please! Protestants are called that because they protest!   Protestants are born to question authority and to check things out for themselves, not taking some one's word for it, no matter who he is; having a personal and not a second-hand knowledge of the Lord.  It's time to show your Christian colors! What then is the essence of being Protestant and why is this an issue in today's evangelical church?

The issue is how can we end up being Catholics in practice while calling ourselves Protestant.  The branch of Christianity known as Protestant includes a lot of denominations, but they tend to all agree that salvation is by grace through faith in Christ alone (this is known as sola gratia, sola fide, and solus Christus in Latin as 3 of the five so-called "Five Onlys" of the Reformation), without any merit or work on our part to contribute to it--this is essential acquiescence on soteriology or the doctrine of salvation.  But there is more to it that than:  Martin Luther started the movement in 1517 at the Wittenberg Castle Church door where he nailed his 95 Theses on Halloween, and basically announced to the Church and declared, "I dissent, I disagree, I protest!"  He had been awakened from his dogmatic slumber and was ready to reform the Church.

There has to be room for disagreement in an agreeable and civil manner amount church members or it becomes cult-like as the People's Temple (the "cult of death") of Jim Jones that was based on his personality--the people saw no more need for their Bibles since they had him in person!  We need to be ever vigilant and be Bereans who daily search the Scriptures to see whether these things our pastors and teachers tell us are so.  This is the noble thing to do and God expects it of responsible congregants. Having room for disagreement and agreeing to disagree is healthy and show life in a church body, and is not the beginning of the end.  There is a time to go your separate ways, of course, like Paul and Barnabas disagreeing about Mark's worthiness, but we should be able to work out most disagreements.

The typical Protestant attending church today doesn't study or sufficiently read his Bible, but believes everything his church tells him and follows with a blind faith, not knowing why.  One Protestant said he doesn't even believe in the infallibility of Scripture anymore, but insisted Christ was still his Lord. This begged the question: "How does He exercise His Lordship?"  The person in question said, "By following the teachings of the church." This so-called nominal Protestant has come full circle and is really a Catholic who believes only the clergy has the authority to interpret Scripture and one mustn't question authority.

One distinction of Catholics is that they adhere to time-honored traditions as to have equal authority with Scripture (since the decree in the Council of Trent from 1545-63), while a Protestant is open to new ideas and experimental--not religious or slave to traditions such as the Rosary--and has a personal relationship with Christ as a priest and doesn't need one to make confession to on a regular basis.  There is nothing inherently wrong with tradition as long as it complies with tradition but it can get in the way and become a distraction to the real thing.  Catholics defer to tradition, without question!

We don't want a church that is run by control freaks or old fuddy-duddies who are set in their ways and are satisfied in the comfort zones with the status quo.  Old habits die hard and we constantly need the input of new and young blood to keep a church alive and from dying off and becoming irrelevant. We need new ideas and must never stop reforming the church we attend because one of the slogans of the Reformation was semper reformanda in Latin, or always be reforming. We see ourselves as works in progress and like to say that God isn't finished with us yet, but have a hard time saying the same about our church, that it is also a work in progress and in need of sanctification and reform--Martin Luther knew that he had not finished reforming the Church of its Catholic influence of the Popes. And we should never be "at ease in Zion" (cf. Amos 6:1) or settle in complacency and think we have arrived as a church body and need no improvement.  A church without vision will perish spiritually and this means a view into the future and a plan of attack against the devil and his domain.  Proverbs 29:18 (KJV) says, "Without a vision, the people perish...."   If you aim at nothing, you will get nothing!  Aim high, because you cannot aim too high--it is better to aim high and almost make it than to aim too low.

The questions should always be asked as to what is the attitude toward disagreement and our member's ideas and concerns treated properly, fairly, and biblically. Why?  Because the sole authority for a Protestant church is the Bible and one of the slogans of the Reformation (one of the five onlys), was sola Scriptura or the Bible alone is the authority and final arbiter, not some church dogma or constitution; the whole point of being Protestant is not to be at the mercy of church dogma and have the freedom to interpret Scripture on your own--but with this responsibility comes the responsibility to do it correctly--because with every privilege comes the complementary responsibility that goes hand in hand with it as its flip side.  This goes with any right you have, you also have an obligation as the flip side!  Soli Deo Gloria!

The Plumb Line That Counts

What is the true measure of our spirituality? Is it a numbers game or a matter of statistics (my Bible study has more attendees than yours!)?  Is God pleased with emotion or with faith?  Don't keep score like life is a sport or game!  Don't keep track of credits and debits, if you will, as in a ledger-book mentality!  Should we size up our competition, like some women are wont to do? Should we ever be jealous of someone else's gift (this is called gift-envy)?  Should we compare ourselves with ourselves and see if we fall short of some self-imposed standard of so-called perfection?  Paul says in 2 Cor. 10:12 (NASB) the following in this regard:  "For we are not bold to class or compare ourselves with some of those who commend themselves; but when they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are without understanding." We can think pretty highly of ourselves if we are the standard (but we are not to think of ourselves more highly than we ought per Romans 12:3).

But the plumb line, which is used by construction workers to verify a wall is vertical, is the Word of God and the Holy Spirit's power to convict and the ultimate judge is Jesus Himself. We are to mind our own business and not worry or fret about what Christ is doing in our brother's spiritual life the way Peter wondered about John after the resurrection and Jesus said, "What is that to you?"  We don't know the will of God for someone else or their calling and maybe not even our own, no one knows the complete will of God for their whole life--we are to live day by day and one day at a time.

The Word of God is alive and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword... according to Hebrews 4:12.  That is why God's will is not laid down all at once and we are to abide by it and let it be our very life.  Jesus said that we are to live by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God in the same vein.  The problematic scenario occurs when a weak brother thinks he is superior because of his standards and ends up judging others or looking down on them from his narrow interpretation of Scripture.  In other words, you can always find someone to look down on and feel superior to and make you feel good.

But Jesus is the standard and direction is the test; therefore it is written:  "Be ye perfect even as your heavenly Father is perfect."  What direction are you going (you are either gaining ground or losing it, going forward or backward--there is no middle neutral territory where you can tread water, so to speak); therefore, it is likened to walking because you can walk backwards or forwards, but not in one place or standing still!

We are progressing if we are faithful to our individual calling and spiritual gift and fulfill the ministry (yes we all have a ministry of reconciliation according to 2 Cor. 5:18) that God has given us.  Jesus said,  "He who is faithful in little, shall be faithful in much." If we are not faithful in marriage, as someone in our care, how are we to be faithful with bigger and better things?  If God has entrusted you with lots of money, it could be a test to see if the real treasures of the spiritual kingdom can be entrusted to you--for this life is just a staging area, a preschool, a rehearsal, or a trial run for eternity and meant to be lived out in light of eternity.

What amazes me is that there are Christians who are relatively ignorant doctrinally and quite wise in knowing their God and in having a personal "hands-on" relationship with Him from encounters in the "real world."  There are seminary graduates who are literally scholars and hardly know their Lord at all, for it is all second-hand knowledge and little hands on real experience in the trench warfare of real life and have O.J.T. or on-the-job training in the spiritual battle of the Christian pilgrimage to maturity.  The goal is not to see how much we know, but how much we sow!

It may seem like we are unimportant and have a position of lowlife, but in Christ, we have true dignity.  We are all members of the body, and each individual members thereof--each with a unique gift and purpose to fulfill.  No one can say he doesn't need another member of the body!  What matters is not what part we are, but whether we are faithful and do it in the Spirit or not--God isn't against works, just against ones done in the flesh.  When we sow it is a win-win situation for us because whether the person accepts or rejects, we are obeying God and doing our part to fulfill the Great Commission.  One may plant or sow, another water or cultivate, and finally another may reap the rewards; however, remember God gave the increase and we owe it all to Him.

We are to be faithful in what we do know and not think we have to know all the answers or have expertise in the Bible to be mature because the Bible wasn't written to increase our knowledge, but change our lives.  Much of our learning should be trial and error and, even though it is best to learn from the Bible, we may end up learning the hard way by experience or the school of hard knocks. Paul said that he doesn't even judge himself, and he is correct because only Jesus sees the Big Picture of our whole contribution to His plan for our life.  This is why it is said that some who are first shall be last and some last, first, simply because we are not in a position to judge or measure our brothers and see their progress, and some are getting their reward in the here and now, while others will go to their reward in eternity.

Jeremiah 23:29 says that God's Word is like fire and a hammer because it can penetrate our souls and see the real person we are; likewise Hebrews 4:12 says it is like a two-edged sword because it can pierce between our soul and spirit.  The Bible is not true, it is truth and there is a distinction.  Only truth transforms, not being true. Jesus didn't say He was true, but truth.  Knowing Him is knowing the truth, and it is knowable in spite of Pilate saying, "What is truth?"  Absolute truth exists and we are to realize that it is our life and it is life-giving.  As we read the Bible, it reads us!  We are revealed for what we are and cannot be ingenuous to the Truth.

Case in point:  One believer may seem to be doing demeaning and servile work, but God is only testing his humility and meekness!  Remember, the way up is down!  John the Baptist uttered:  "He must increase, I [my ego] must decrease"  (John 3:30.  Our crosses pale in comparison to others and no cross means no crown.  The test of your greatness is not how many people serve you, but how many people you serve!  In God's economy, the world seems topsy-turvy!  It is said that the poor of this world will rule the rich in the life to come--there is some truth to that, for it is difficult for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God, so don't get too attached to it or at home--this is not our home.

 Our judgment will be at the bema or the Judgment Seat of Christ in eternity where our deeds done in the flesh will be judged, no our sins, not at the judgment of the condemned at the Great White Throne Judgment after the 1,000-year reign of Christ.  Find peace in the fact that the only canon that counts is Christ's; it doesn't matter what others think--Jesus' plumb line is the only one that validates and as the final or ultimate arbiter.

If we get away from the Bible we are entering dangerous territory where we don't have the enlightening ministry of the Spirit in our lives and will experience many unnecessary pitfalls due to our negligence--believe me it doesn't pay and you can't ever make up for lost ground--opportunities lost can never be regained.  "A wise person is hungry for the truth, while the fool feeds on trash" (Prov. 15:14).  We should aim to love the Word of God and make it our joy and delight to feed on it as Jeremiah did:  "...And Your words became for me a joy and the delight of my heart..." (Jeremiah 15:16, NASB).  Thy Word was found, and I did eat it, and it became to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart."  The psalmist in Psalm 119:97 says that he loves the Word so much he meditates on it all day long!  

Our growth parallels our relationship to the Word as to how we allot our time according to the opportunities given us.  Some people love Shakespeare, but it is quite another thing to love the Word of God enough to want to be in it on a regular basis--but this takes maturity and is not an automatic fruit of salvation,  The infant believer longs for the pure milk of the Word (cf. 1 Peter 2:2). "Those who love Your law have great peace, and nothing causes them to stumble" (Psalm 119:165, NASB).  Soli Deo Gloria!

The Necessity Of A Biblical Worldview

NOTE THAT THIS BLOG PERTAINS TO WORLDVIEW AND IS ALSO POSTED ON MY OTHER BLOG @ www.christ-centeredworldview.blogspot.com/    IT IS A SAMPLE OF MY WORK IN THIS FIELD.

"Of the sons of Issachar, men who understood the times, with knowledge of what Israel should do, their chiefs were two hundred..." (1 Chronicles 12:32, NASB).

"... [A] people without understanding shall come to ruin" (Hosea 4:14, ESV).

C. S. Lewis, the literary apologist who wrote the Chronicles of Narnia and Mere Christianity, said we must defend our worldview and not lose by default or neglect---in other words, we must have the answers and be prepared for spiritual battle. Lewis also says "[we] must show our Christian colours, if we are to be true to Jesus Christ.  We cannot remain silent and concede everything away."  We must dare to be "Daniels" willing to get into the action and not stand aside and merely passively observe.  We cannot remain neutral, for that is a stand against Christ and His truth. Matthew 12:30 says:  "He that is not with Me is against Me."

The Judeo-Christian mindset has not failed, it has not been defended, but abandoned.  The dual problem is that many do not know why they believe, nor even what they believe! Our mission: Get the truth out there and propagated in a culture that is convinced that "truth is a short-term contract," but there is absolute truth!  But it is not all relevant. We must all be responsible to disseminate what light God has given us. The ramifications of being remiss or negligent are a nation devoid of divine viewpoint and being hijacked by fanatical or fringe movements, using God to promote their agenda, and possibly even the ultimate surrender to secular thinking, and the elimination of Christian input in toto into the public square could transpire, i.e., be muzzling our freedom of speech!

What is a worldview (commonly referred to as Weltanschauung, the German terminology)? Opinions are something you hold, while convictions hold you:  It is the sum total of your convictions and why you see a life worth living or something worth dying for. It has been said that it usually answers the queries:  "Where did I come from? Why am I here? Where am I going?" Your worldview helps you explain God (or explain Him away), your world, and the relationship between the two as to how they relate individually and as a society. In sum, your outlook on life.  In essence, we have a theory of the world and God, and how we relate to them, according to the dictionary. This is a vital discipline because kids are going to college ill-prepared when there's a war of ideas going on, and too many need to get their thinking straightened out (cf. 2 Cor. 10:5:  "... [Bringing] every thought [or viewpoint] into captivity to the obedience of Christ").  So how do you interpret reality?

To answer these questions from the viewpoint or perspective of Secular Humanism, they leave God out of the equation and explain away the supernatural, only believing in the observable and rational, and leaving the universal language of science and consensus to figure out all the answers.  Science has become a religion--or "scientism" and making value judgments, (as Carl Sagan, the 1981 recipient of the Humanist of the Year award, according to my source, said, "The cosmos is all that is or ever was or ever will be"--this is out of the realm, scope, and domain of science).   More people believe in the theory of evolution (which is unproven and "unprovable") as religious dogma and scientific fact, and this is the Big Lie. Dr. Karl Popper says that evolution does not fit the definition of a scientific theory.

But Evolution is the building block of Secular Humanism and this belief system has no place for God in the Picture. This is the predominant worldview today in academia and we cannot remain silent and concede everything away, according to C. S. Lewis, again. Humanism has been around since antiquity and was known as "man as the measure of all things" (define and begin all reality with man, not God) and it was called Homo mensura--deifying man and dethroning God. They see all religion as just chasing some "pie in the sky," and believe in living for the "here and now," without living in the light of eternity.

According to scholar and theologian Carl F. H. Henry, Christianity speaks to all academic disciplines and is relevant to all facets of life, not just having a personal relationship with God. There is a struggle for student allegiance in the school system and atheism has been declared a religion by the Seventh Court of Appeals in 2005. Humanism was defined in a book Religion Without Revelation by Julian Huxley. In A Common Faith, John Dewey sees the Secular Humanist movement as having the elements of a religion. They say that children's minds should be kept open, but they proceed to brainwash them.  A. Solzhenitsyn has said that "man has forgotten God," and Friedrich Nietzsche (the patron saint of Postmodernism) said "God is dead." meaning that He is "no longer believable."  Will Durant has well said, "The greatest question of our time is whether man can live without God." A current politician has said he would "keep God out of it."

You either must begin with man and explain the cosmos, or begin with God and explain the cosmos. This begs the question:  What was in the beginning?  "In the beginning God," or "In the beginning matter."  Which created which? Do matter and energy have inherent power and intelligence to fix all the more than 50 constants in our cosmos and make life suitable for us, known as the Anthropic Principle, or the fine-tuning of our planet for human life?  Athanasius, one of the Church Fathers, said that the only system of thought that Christ will fit into is the one where He is the starting point. The false assumption that science makes is that Christianity is anti-science:  In fact, it made possible modern science in the first place and is the "Mother of Modern Science!  Many good scientists have been and are Christians.

Shakespeare said it well, concerning our meaning in life apart from God in Macbeth as he mused about the entirety of living:  "...['Tis] a tale Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing."  R. C. Sproul said in the same vein:  "With God we have dignity and without God we have nothing."  When you insert God into your thinking you can explain reality and find meaning to it. Bertrand Russell restated it well, "Unless you assume a God, the question of life's purpose is meaningless."  Life is nonsensical without reference to God!

The biggest challenge Secular Humanism faces is the word "purpose" (and its corollary "meaning"), or the study of it known as teleology (from telos for a purpose).  The word seems almost theological to them in nature.  There is indeed a war of "isms" and the battleground is the mindset of a whole generation that is apathetic toward them in their interpretive framework.  The bottom line is that these "isms" have consequences.

It was the proponents of Secular Humanism that bemoaned the fact that children's minds weren't kept open when evolution was a forbidden subject in school; now they refuse to even let Creationism have equal time, though there is plenty of evidence, so that lack of evidence presents no excuse for denying it. We need to keep God in the public arena and defend the Christian worldview in the public square wherever possible, not letting Secular Humanism eradicate it or make it irrelevant. (They believe religion is acceptable as long as it is "privatized.")

"If there is no God," Fyodor Dostoyevsky's dictum goes, "everything is permissible," and up for and up for grabs, and we are without a moral compass--if we are animals, why not act like them?  (Morals are then subjective and only a matter of personal conviction.)  Some believe values are just a matter of public consensus--justifying Nazism and Communism!  Listen to the New Age definition of it: "Morality is a nebulous thing; listen to the God within!" And if it feels like the truth, it is. Postmodernists say that it can be right for you, but not someone else. They dodge the morality issues. Compare this idea to the situation described in Judges 21:25 (ESV):  "... [Everyone] did what was right in their own eyes."  All we need to know is that God is the moral center of the universe! A theologian Karl Barth, focused on Christians who are religious, but not righteous--and decried this as a natural fruit of this way of thinking.

We need to separate the wheat from the chaff, ascertaining the truth from the fiction.  "My people perish for lack of knowledge"  (Hosea 4:14).  Note well: "Knowledge is power," said Sir Francis Bacon (cf. Prov. 24:5). "For lack of knowledge My people go into exile" (Is. 5:13).  1 Chronicles 12:32 says we need people who can interpret the times and know what to do.   Our faith is "defensible" and we must meet the challenge and not lose by negligence or default.  If we are versed in our worldview we will realize it outshines every other one.     Soli Deo Gloria!

Mouthing It And Doing It

   "Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to  God a sacrifice of praise--the fruit of lips that openly profess his name"  (Hebrews 13:15, NIV).

Efficacious praise is more than lip-service.  It is deeper than the phrase connotes--it is only in actively doing it that one really praises the Lord, not in the mere saying of it:

It is one thing to say "Praise the Lord" and quite another to make good on it or make it a reality. Alleluia is the Greek, and Hallelujah is the Hebrew for "praise the Lord," which is commonly said. This word is commonplace in our hymns and must be understood, not just be an empty phrase.   Has the expression become trite or hackneyed to you, and have little spiritual impact on your spirit?  It is imperative to say "Praise the Lord!"  and in the indicative mood when you realize it--or a declarative statement.  "Praise the Lord!" is a command; while "I Praise the Lord!" is worship (but, for what or why?).  Analogous would be saying, "Thank God!" and then thanking Him in a prayer of thanksgiving for something specific.  Viva la difference! 

But some people just go through the motions in their worship--they have memorized the Dance of the Pious. We say "I love you, let me count the ways!" And we exalt God I worship Him" and mean it from the bottom of our heart; we shouldn't just utter the words thinking that that satisfies (us or God)--we are meant to worship and are only fulfilled in doing it unto our God who made us this way.  Don't just say it--do it! There are many ways to praise the Lord according to Psalm 150 and many reasons to elicit praise.  It is the proper thing to do to offer the Lord His due, and pay homage to the One we adore.  When we learn to respect and honor is one thing; however, to learn, in turn, to apply it to God is another.

How do we praise Him?  Our lives are a witness to His glory and our testimonies are giving Him the honor he deserves.  For only God is worthy of our praise, but man will praise something or someone if not God.  "Let's just praise the Lord!"  We must be discerning to manifest the many ways this can be accomplished.  The Bible says that infants can praise the Lord in Psalm 8, and the firmament shows His handiwork in Psalm 19.  Everything in creation is meant to bring glory to God (Isaiah 43:7 says we were created for His glory!).  God even makes the wrath of man to bring Him praise according to Psalm 76:10!  God indeed allows all to happen for His own purposes and to ultimately bring Him the utmost glory, His chief end.  If you want to see the glory of God, just look in a mirror and see the intricate design that God made and then behold the beauty of the Lord in all creation; for there can be no art without an artist.  God cares a lot about beauty because He made so much of it--is is manifested in manifold ways.

It is one thing to just say the phrase, and quite another to sing it or shout it--that form of expression is inherently praiseworthy.  In other words, it isn't just what we say all the time, but how we say it that makes it meaningful.  An analogy would be the man who just says he loves His wife, but never manifests or proves it or makes good on it in the display. Of course, he ought to say it, but if he means it his conduct will prove it.  Sure the words are important, but we must love not only in word but in deed and in truth.  Likewise, we can say "Praise the Lord" but do we mean it?   As a witness to others, bringing up the fact that you worship God does bring God glory because people are made God-conscious.  I used to hang around a bunch of Christians who constantly used this expression and meant what they said.  It is like saying Amen all the time to acknowledge the truth and agreement with a spiritual truth.  These believers said it with such enthusiasm and expression and the right demeanor that it was contagious!

Let's just think of many things to praise the Lord for His provision; His providence; His protection; His blessing;  His presence; His name!  I could go on, but we thank God for what He's done and just praise Him for what He is and what He does.  Psalm 100 says we are to enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise!   "I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised..." (Psalm 18:3, ESV).  "... Shout unto God with the voice of triumph [for this praises God]"  (Psalm 47:1, KJV).

When we brag about someone or report the good deeds we are praising them, it is about time we do likewise to God and give credit where credit is due,   "Sing praises to the LORD, O you his saints..."(Psalm 30:4, ESV).  This means we should worship God in song as well as in our speech--praise is another word for blessing and glorifying someone.  Hail God, in other words!  We worship and adore Him with all our being and want to celebrate it and pass it on.  Once you've experienced authentic praise to God you want to spread the word and pass it on, because it is contagious.   I can relate to David in Psalm 34 (ESV) saying, "I will bless the LORD at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth."  There is power in praise and it is the way to reach out to God and enter His presence. The most joyful believers are those who have learned to praise unashamedly.

Whenever you turn a person away from the human way of thinking to the divine viewpoint, you have praised the Lord because God is honored by it.  Worship is praise.   "... Praise the LORD, O my soul? I will praise the LORD as long as I live; I will sing praises to my God while I have my being" (Psalm 146:1-2, ESV).  It is paramount that we praise Him in His sanctuary and when we are gathered together in His name; in fact, it is commanded.   Let us extol and lift up the name of the Lord (all that He is and His awesome reputation)!  Worship and songs that glorify Him bring Him praise.     Soli Deo Gloria!