Adoration and Praise

So, how do you feel about praising God every day? You can’t deny that we as believers are expected to daily show adoration and praise for our Sovereign King.

In Isaiah 43:7 we are told that we are created with the purpose of GLORIFYING HIM. Even Christ told us in His model prayer to begin with adoration of the Father. We are to testify to all of God’s faithfulness and mighty works. Let’s face it, we should start and end our prayers with praise.

The more we know of the Lord, the more we should desire to praise Him. The songbook of the Bible, also known as Psalms, gives us many examples of praise. One of the many Hebrew words for praise is ‘tehillah’. This means to sing praises to the Lord. Psalm 22:3 says that the Lord is the one who Israel praises! Music is an important part of praising God. As you can see in Colossians 3:16, singing praise was one way early Christians would educate others. They had the Old Testament but nothing of the New Testament in writing at this point. For the purposes of a daily workout, you can listen to hymns, or sing songs of praise yourself. Why not find some praise and worship music to include on your ‘playlist’? Use that as you go to work, as you relax or even as you exercise your body!

“Hallelujah” is a word recognized around the world. “Hallel” means to boast or to brag on in a big way! “Jah” is a short form of the name for God. So you could say that this word is an extreme outburst of excitement about God. If you are feeling it, just take Psalm 150 and read through it, increasing your excitement with each verse!

Another Hebrew word for praise is ‘Yodah”. This is a gesture of throwing out one’s arms in celebration or confession. How does praise include confession? This extension of our arms indicates a need for God. We desire to be free from the burdens of sin. So our praise is in the knowledge that we are on this side of heaven. We are joyful! We are right with God! So daily, express your praise using posture with a song! If you are uncomfortable in the corporate setting of worship then do it when you are alone.

What does praise do? When we praise the King of Kings it takes our mind off of our problems and focuses on Him. Praise presses us to think more about God’s character as well as appreciating who He is. Finally, we are preparing our hearts - to receive God’s love and the power of His Holy Spirit.

David proclaimed in Psalm 145:1-2 that he would praise God every day! Pastor and author Bob Hostetler developed his own “praise program” for the 31 days of the calendar. Each day he focused on an attribute of God (Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace, etc.) You can develop Scripture-based sentences that acknowledge these attributes as you Praise Him! If you are going to praise Him daily, develop your own ‘praise program’. It may begin as a habit, but it will grow into a deep desire as you know Him more intimately!

I read a Newspring Church devotional recently that said “Because God is great in all things, we can praise Him in all ways. There is no limit to how, when, or where we can praise God.”

In summary:
Start and end your prayers with praise.

You can listen to hymns or sing songs of praise yourself.

You can express your praise using posture with songs or in your prayers!

Develop your own praise program and watch it become a deep desire to constantly praise Him.


One of my favorite praise songs is “Holy is the Lord God Almighty.” The Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir sings it in a very powerful way. I love this expression of praise: Holy is the Lord God Almighty, The Earth is Filled with Your Glory!!!

I praise and adore you, Lord, as the Holy One of Israel. You are my Redeemer, the God of all the earth!

Can you make praising God a daily part of your spiritual workout?

I invite you to listen in to my podcast "Praise Him" with Music Minister John McFadden. We talk about making praise part of our everyday spiritual workout. You can find the podcast on iTunes (Apple Podcasts) and Podbean. Here's a link: https://apple.co/2uq6AFP.


Thanks for reading this post. I would greatly appreciate you sharing a link to the post with your friends and your network.


"His faithful love endures forever."


Until next time...




Chaplain Gray

Introducing T4G: A Basic Spiritual Fitness Workout Plan

Workout Plan Coming Together

I am really pleased to report that months of developing an idea is actually coming together in a very basic format. T4G is now the name of my spiritual fitness workout plan. 

As you may already know, I've selected 1 Timothy 4:8 as a core verse of scripture that is guiding me in the development of this idea. It's not really original as many pastors have preached wonderful sermons on this piece of scripture. Spiritual disciplines are often focused on during these sermons and lessons. I've read and listened to multiple sermons on the topic. I've read articles and researched and followed hundreds of website addresses. I also bowed my head and asked the Lord for His wisdom and guidance.

I see two things coming into focus. First, I am writing a series of blog posts on six elements of the basic spiritual fitness workout plan. Upon completion of the series, I believe I will have the foundation of a written document outlining these six elements. I also believe that I can supplement the blog posts with additional content provided by a guest contributor. It is unclear at the moment if I have enough content to pursue publishing a book. However, as the content develops further, I will consider this as an option.

Secondly, I am currently publishing a series of podcasts on the same six elements. Already I have had several excellent guests help me talk about how to make these spiritual disciplines part of a daily workout. You can find the podcast on iTunes (Apple Podcasts) and Podbean. Here's a link:https://apple.co/2uq6AFP.

Thanks for reading this post. I will add a new post on March 27 on "Adoration and Praise".

"His faithful love endures forever."

Until next time...



Chaplain Gray

Way Back Wednesday - Exceptional Leadership

One of the most inspirational stories that I can relay to you involves a resident camp getting ready to open for the summer season. This week's "Way Back Wednesday" takes us back to a post about the Exceptional Leadership of someone I consider a wonderful friend, an authentic Christian man, and if I'm not mistaken a native South Carolinian. Here are a few parts of a blog post from December 1, 2017. Please follow the link at the bottom of the page and read the 'rest of the story'.

Setting the Stage
Here are a few things you should know before we get to the challenge. Val Elliott graduated from The Citadel. This is a significant fact in this story. If you are familiar with this institution, you’ll recognize and understand what I am talking about. According to the Citadel’s website “The Citadel strives to produce graduates who have insight into issues, ideas, and values that are of importance to society. It is equally important that Citadel graduates are capable of both critical and creative thinking, have effective communication skills, can apply abstract concepts to concrete situations, and possess the methodological skills needed to gather and analyze information.”

Val and his team work well together. They lead in a Godly way. They take burdens to the Lord’s altar, they seek His guidance for camp themes, and honor God through the many activities and elements of the camp’s life.

Camp Hanes has a rich history and one that dates back almost 92 years. So opening camp each and every summer is a big deal!! Camp was set to open on June 11.

Devastation in Less than 30 Minutes - May 24
On May 24, an EF-2 Tornado cut a half-mile path of devastation and destruction through camp. There were 125mph winds and this lasted about 30 minutes. Every building and structure at camp was damaged. Thousands of trees were downed.

Follow this link and read more about the effort led by Val Elliot of YMCA Camp Hanes!
http://bit.ly/2TDokfE



Update on Spiritual Fitness Ministries...

Prayer ministry remains strong - I have over 140 men and women that I pray for by name and correspond with.
Podcast (Training for Godliness) - Two new episodes are in development. Editing should begin this weekend. I've got another guest for an episode on my radar and hoping he'll accept my invitation to join me. You can find the podcast at chaplaingray.podbean.com or on Apple Podcasts and Google Play.
Local activity - I continue to take a chapel message to the Pathway House Shelter for Men twice a month. Many men are finding success through the programs here at Pathway House. They do exceptionally good work. My other outreach is with the Greater Greenwood United Ministry and their Free Medical Clinic. I handout a devotion and offer to pray for each client who comes in their lobby twice a month. So many people rely on this ministry for their basic medical care.
Blog - look for "Praise and Adoration" to be posted on March 27.

"His faithful love endures forever."

Until next time...

Chaplain Gray

Way Back Wednesday - Thinking About Summer Yet?

Wow, about this time of year we often begin thinking about the long, hot lazy days of summer! I mean, we may not have brutal winters here in South Carolina, but the rainy, cold days (and a lot of them) do tickle our memories and help us think about the summer months. So, for this blog, I'm headed back to summer 2018 at YMCA Camp Harrison. May this create in your mind a nice, sunny day in your favorite summer location!!

This was my blog post on August 29, 2018...(photos removed for purpose of today's post.)

Summer in the Mountains
I spent this past summer serving as Camp Chaplain at YMCA Camp Harrison, operated by YMCA of Greater Charlotte. Camp Director Dave Purcell and Associate Executive Director Miranda Wyatt charged me with focusing on the Christian emphasis of the summer camp program. Campers ranged in age from six to sixteen and the bulk of the staff was between the ages of 17-27.

I want to share some of the activity and tremendous experience of working at camp.

First of all, I was blessed to work with such great people on the summer staff. While Dave and I have known each other for many years, and Miranda and I have worked together during my time with the YMCA Christian Leadership Conferences over the years, I was introduced to a whole new group of YMCA Staff. There were the year-round staff of Camp Harrison as well as the summer seasonal staff (like myself) who arrived in late May. Some staff worked for the first time and others have spent their summers at Camp Harrison. It was a lot of fun to work with the young adults and have the opportunity to get to really know many of them!

Dave and Miranda knew when they hired me that the Lord would give me many opportunities to serve Him by being His hands and feet. I had the responsibility to deliver the Vespers program four nights each week plus a chapel service on Sundays. The worship songs were coordinated and led by Hutch. He did a great job of involving some other staff with the music and many staff were able to share their gift of music with us. I'll be honest, it took me a lot of time to prepare about 55 messages for the summer. It was more than that as I served as a resource for the cabin counselors as they were responsible for a group of campers.  Because this camp has a strong Christian focus, each week during the Closing Campfire everyone present was given the opportunity to come to know Christ as their Lord and Savior. A lot of lives were changed during the course of the summer.


I've been involved in a YMCA program for 35+ years called the YMCA Ragger's Society. During camp, I had the responsibility to direct the program for campers and staff. One of those very dedicated Raggers was a leadership staff team member named Liz. She did some great work with campers and young staff as they accepted challenges in their personal walk with Christ. If you are familiar with the Ragger's Program, you'll be happy to know that our team tied over 260 Rags this summer. About 120 of those were first time participants. "Look up and laugh and love and lift."


My family and I once lived in the mountains of Western North Carolina. We are familiar with Asheville, the Blue Ridge Parkway, Pisgah National Forest, and places like Cherokee, Bryson City, and Brevard! So, as I discovered that camp was located in the NC mountains I looked forward to the beauty of God's creation. And the Brushy Mountains, Lenior, Wilkesboro, and even Boone certainly didn't disappoint. Just walking around camp I thoroughly enjoyed the fresh air, the morning fog, the sunsets and the views of the private Lake Broyhill. Yes, there were flies, bugs, and even a few snakes, but that didn't discourage all of the fun and exciting activities of camp!


My experience at camp did reveal something I can say with great confidence. If you ever consider sending your child to a resident camp, and you'd like for them to be in a strong Christian environment, I highly recommend you find out more about Camp Harrison. You can explore their website at http://bit.ly/2wkT33C.

If you'd like to talk about this camp, feel free to email me! (chaplaingraystallworth@gmail.com).


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On March 13, 2019, look for another Way Back Wednesday with a post about an exceptional leader and graduate of the Citadel!



Remember "His faithful love endures forever."

Until next time...

Chaplain Gray