Praise, The Doxology’s Descant
If God never blessed us again, we could continue to praise Him for Who He is – God the Creator of heaven and earth, the Everlasting One, God Almighty, or Father of lights. His character remains constant and always worthy of praise – holy, righteous, just, loving, patient, and merciful.
The Scriptures abound with plaudits of praise to God. Praise is the essence of worship. There can be no worship service without praise. Whenever any people of God stray from Him, their patterns of worship change. No longer is He the object of worship or adoration; rather they begin to worship, whether formally or informally, false gods. The false gods could be idols carved in wood or stone or they could be ideologies or philosophies of life carved with words. The result is God is no longer recognized for Who He is or what He does.
Throughout Church history, there have been doxologies (hymns of praise to God) written to help Christians verbalize their praises to God in song. Best known to us is a translation of one written in the sixteenth century by Louis Bourgeois, “Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow,” or “Old 100th.” Louis Bourgeois was the master of choristers in Geneva and was primarily responsible for the musical portions in the Geneva Psalter. My French hymnal is replete with hymns attributed to him.
Another well-known or favorite doxology is, “All Creatures of Our God and King.” This doxology was written in the twelfth century by Francis of Assisi, founder of the Order of Little brothers or Friars Minor. It is a beautiful example of a call to all creation, animate and inanimate, to render praise and glory to God. If the “Hallelujah Chorus” causes us to rise to our feet, “All Creatures of Our God and King” ought to cause us to lift both head and hands in glory to God the Creator, the Eternal One. It is truly worthy of memorization, freeing us from looking down at our hymnbooks in order to look up to our God!
Thanksgiving is the time of year when thoughts turn to considering our many blessings and expressing thankfulness to God for His bounteous acts of mercy and loving-kindness. Surely a thankless heart is a cold, insensitive heart. It is a heart that barely beats and where the pulse of spiritual life is undetected. Each day affords each and every one of us many opportunities to be thankful to God, for His blessings are innumerable. Praise encompasses thanksgiving, but thanksgiving is just a portion of praise. Thanksgiving praises God for what He does or gives. Praise goes beyond focusing on the acts of God to spotlighting His person and His character.
If God never blessed us again, we could continue to praise Him for Who He is – God the Creator of heaven and earth, the Everlasting One, God Almighty, or Father of lights. His character remains constant and always worthy of praise – holy, righteous, just, loving, patient, and merciful.
This Thanksgiving Day many will know how to offer thanks, even if it is only for the table spread before them or for the family that is gathered together that day. However, as Christians, let’s not just tally our thanks nor tarry at thanksgiving. Let’s go beyond what the world can do because we know Him and Who He is. Let’s pursue praise and devote our doxologies of praise to Him who is worthy of worship.
From time to time, we enjoy either singing or hearing a hymn with a descant. The descant is a melody or counterpoint sung above the simple melody, usually by sopranos. As the descant rises distinctively above the simple melody, so praise rises above simple thanksgiving.
“Now Thank We All Our God” may be a favorite American Thanksgiving hymn, but “Great is the Lord and Greatly to be Praised” is an age-old admonition. Let’s not waste the centuries-proven talents of a Louis Bourgeois or a Francis of Assisi, as well as others like them. Let’s join them and centuries of Christians in praising God for Who He is with our doxologies of praise! May God be pleased as we all – soprano, alto, tenor, and bass – join together singing the indelible descant of praise.
Helen Louise Herndon is a member of Central Presbyterian Church (EPC) in St. Louis, Missouri. She is freelance writer and served as a missionary to the Arab/Muslim world in France and North Africa.
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Why Your “Christian” Friends Have Become LGBTQ Allies
Many of us love and fear our friends and family more than we love and fear God. We’re more afraid of becoming enemies with our loved ones than becoming enemies with God.
Some of your supposedly Christian friends have recently said they are members of the LGBTQ community. That’s becoming increasingly common. However, an even bigger number of your supposedly Christian friends have become LGBTQ allies.
You already know that. But do you know why?
There are, of course, several reasons why many professing Christians are embracing LGBTQ ideology. Satan has devised many schemes to lead us into apostasy. With that in mind, although all people who support LGBTQ ideology do so for the same reason: sin—people can commit the same sin from different temptations.
As I’ve alluded to, one of the reasons why many professing Christians have become allies with LGBTQ people is because many of their friends and family have become members of the LGBTQ community.
Studies show that this is statistically the biggest reason why people become LGBTQ affirming. For instance, a 2013 study from Pew Research Center shows that 32% of Americans changed their minds on gay marriage because they “know someone who is homosexual.”
When a loved one says their sexual sins are an intrinsic part of who they are, they’re suggesting that if we do not love their homosexuality or transgenderism—then we do not love them. That is a powerful, manipulative argument that many parents, siblings, and friends do not have courage or integrity to resist.
Many of us love and fear our friends and family more than we love and fear God. We’re more afraid of becoming enemies with our loved ones than becoming enemies with God. Therefore for every person who becomes a member of the LGBTQ community, many more of their friends and family will become LGBTQ allies.
In a sense, familiarity breeds acceptance. Our culture knows that.
In a leaked video about Florida’s Parental Rights In Education bill, an executive producer at Disney said they had a “not-at-all-secret gay agenda.” Since people are more likely to become LGBTQ allies when they know and love others who are members of the LGBTQ community—influential institutions in our culture like Hollywood, mainstream media, social media, and academia have created an agenda to produce favourable LGBTQ representation to make us more accepting of LGBTQ ideology.
Therefore the most popular movies, TV shows, and books today feature characters and storylines designed to normalize LGBTQ sexuality. Knowing this, my wife—Annie Sey—has created a service called Library 4 Littles to help parents protect their children from deceptive books that indoctrinate them.
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Redeemed
Jesus referred to the gospel as the “gospel of the kingdom” (Matt. 4:23). The Kingdom was our Lord’s preeminent teaching, illustrated in parables and demonstrated in works of power that showed authority over Satan and reversal of the effects of the fall. For us to embrace the gospel is to recognize Christ as King.
conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear (1 Peter 1:17, NKJV)
What comes to mind when you hear the word “gospel”? You may well think of the good news of great joy announced by the heavenly messenger to the shepherds outside Bethlehem. In the gospel is found a righteousness from God that is by faith in what Christ achieved and not by works done by us. It holds the promise of forgiveness of sins and life eternal.
But the gospel is more than that, just like Christ’s redeeming work involved more than just us. It reaches to the entire creation (Rom. 8). We are not merely new creatures; we are part of a new creation that speaks to the Kingdom of God.
Jesus referred to the gospel as the “gospel of the kingdom” (Matt. 4:23).
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Flunking the Equity Test
The manufactured belief that CRT is merely a continuation of civil rights–era efforts to ensure equality of opportunity provides valuable cover for those pushing race-conscious policies and practices that prioritize equity in outcomes.
On a recent episode of his cable television program, Bill Maher asked Bernie Sanders to explain the difference between equality and equity, and the long-winded senator was at an unusual loss for words.
“I don’t know what the answer to that is,” Sanders mumbled after an awkward pause. Pressed to clarify his position, Sanders composed himself and offered only that he supports “equality of opportunity” over equal outcomes. He does?
If this answer is sincere, it would put Sanders, a self-described democratic socialist, substantially to the right of the “equity”-obsessed Biden administration and today’s public education establishment. If, on the other hand, Sanders was merely being politically adroit, his answer demonstrates how quickly the Left’s language game breaks down when basic definitions are required.
Sanders isn’t dumb. He knows what the legacy media are loath to admit, particularly on the issue of racial inequality: most Americans, including most Democrats, strongly favor equality of opportunity over government’s assurance of equitable results.
One reason the Left doesn’t want this debate can be seen in the fight over teaching critical race theory in American schools. Recall that CRT bills itself as an academic theory that emphasizes how race intersects with societal institutions to reproduce and sustain unequal outcomes observed across racial groups today. Focusing only on whether CRT is formally being taught in K–12 lesson plans, however, is a distraction. The Left prefers to keep the dispute focused on this point of contention, which boils down to precise definitions, because it obscures a larger fight: a clash between politically popular principles of color blindness and nondiscrimination, on the one hand, and deeply unpopular schooling policies and practices that emphasize race-consciousness and equitable outcomes, on the other.
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