"The Just Rejoice"

If there is one thing I believe is lacking in our youth today, it is Praising the Lord. What I mean is: For them to experience Worship, and to be able to praise God openly and freely, without the concern of being judged. It is rather unfortunate that so many today are concerned with what others think, instead of what God requires; but I think this has a lot to do with what their parents did. This generation of children now, have parents that were so caught up in the TV role models of the 80's & 90's; people like 'The Fonzie', and other such 'Cool' characters, that made many set a standard for coolness. The Christian version of this 'Cool' character is almost schizophrenic in nature, because on the one hand they want to be holy and praise God, and on the other hand, they want to act cool and unaffected. What does this do for the children? Really, it causes them to not understand worship, and the real fellowship we have with God by expressing our worship to Him. I get so sad seeing the current teenagers in church services today, that don't even attempt to worship, but just look down at their feet, or anything else but participate. This has everything in the world to do with how they are influenced by their parents, and how their parents worship God. Maybe what really needs to happen is for there to be Joy in the Lord; and when I say Joy, I mean rejoicing in what He has done for us. When was the last time you as a parent shared what Jesus has done in your life to your children? They need to know what He has done, and they need to see your joy being expressed in what He has done. Really, it comes down to what matters most, in not only our hearts, but also our homes. Do we want to influence our piers, or do we want to influence our children? We really can not have it both ways, because for one, there is a desire to be cool; and for the other, there is the desire to rejoice. The word for Praise in the Hebrew is 'Halal', and it means to be bright, to shine; to be splendid; to boast; to praise, to celebrate, glorify. Our children need to see this rejoicing in our lives, not just as we come together for fellowship; but they need to see our sincere desire to celebrate what the Lord has done; and it needs to be part of our daily lives!!! "Praise ye the Lord. Praise God in His sanctuary: praise Him in the firmament of His power. Praise Him for His mighty acts: praise Him according to His excellent greatness. Praise Him with the sound of the trumpet: praise Him with the psaltery and harp. Praise Him with timbrel and dance: praise Him with stringed instruments and organs. Praise Him upon the load cymbals: praise Him upon the high sounding cymbals. Let everything that hath breath praise the Lord. Praise ye the Lord." (Psalms 150)