Hallelujah!!!
It's a word that is firmly entrenched in our religious vocabulary. It has found its way into our songs, our scriptures, our sermons, and for some, our daily lives. Despite its long-standing presence, it seems that few know what it means. Some believe that it is a synonym of "Amen" as a response to a good sermon — merely a word to convey strong agreement with someone. But the truth is far more fascinating and relevant to our life. Hallelujah is a derivative of one of the seven Hebrew words that we translate as praise. "Praise" is a rather tame translation of the word. Hallelujah directly translated means "to be clamorously foolish." These days, with that definition, it almost seems more at home at a sporting event or concert than in church. When were you last clamorously foolish at church? In church, we generally relegate clamorously foolish to the student ministries. We'll let the children and youth handle that for us. But Hallelujah is a word for