Month: February 2011

Twilight dreams

James HoganLeave a comment

So, it’s a beautiful Friday evening!! And there’s really no other reason for this update…just thought I’d continue the trend of me posting updates at an alarmingly high rate. Just about time to eat my delicious salad(with tomatoes, green peppers, red peppers, spring onions, a cucumber, green olives, feta, celery salt, onion powder, basil…olive oil and vinegar…mmmmmmm….)

But besides my upcoming dinner of awesomeness, just looking forward to a sweet evening with Anna and Steven(think we’re going to introduce Anna to The Unit…and if we’re really crazy/silly, we may just watch Fellowship of the Ring!! Steven’s never seen it, which me and Anna have decided must be remedied. The only question is…how important is sleep?).

And because I’m a bit hungry(yes, it’s almost 9pm and I haven’t had dinner yet), I’m off!

Stars in the sky

James HoganLeave a comment

Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ,
if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit,
if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded,
having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind.
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit.
Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests
but each of you to the interests of the others.
In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:

Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
rather, he made himself nothing
by taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to death—
even death on a cross!

Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus
EVERY KNEE SHOULD BOW,
in heaven and on earth
and under the earth,
and every tongue acknowledge
that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.

Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed
—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—
continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling,
for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.
Do everything without grumbling or arguing,
so that you may become blameless and pure,
children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.
Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky
as you hold firmly to the word of life.
And then I will be able to boast on the day of Christ
that I did not run or labor in vain.
But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering
on the sacrifice and service coming from your faith,
I am glad and rejoice with all of you.
So you too should be glad and rejoice with me.
-Philippians 2:1-18

So yeah, couldn’t really cut that short. Beauty? Glory? Inexpressible joy? Yes, yes and a thousand times yes. And I really don’t think I can write any further thoughts on this…so let me just ask y’all to read that again and let yourself be washed in the glory of the Word. Bask in its beauty. Live in its joy. And let’s abide in Jesus. Forever and always. Because despite all that we do to tear away from Jesus, He holds us tight…nothing(not even ourselves!!) can take us from His almighty hand. And that, my dear friends, is joy indeed. Joy inexpressible and full of glory. And we sing!! Oh do we sing!

About a loving fire

James HoganLeave a comment

About to roll off to bed(in actuality, I should be doing that now!), but just wanted to quickly comment on the absolutely lovely last couple days I’ve had. Tonight, despite my exhaustion(because of too much awesome weekend fun times!), Steven came over(bringing some frozen pizzas with him…which didn’t stay frozen – or uneaten – long). And so we relaxed watching a few(and by a few I mean three!) episodes of the Unit…oh it’s awesome to have a friend like him I can relax on a sleepy Monday night with…

And last night..oh was it beautiful!!! I would so love to fully describe it to you all…but some things…yeah, I just can’t. Under veiled stars above and embraced by cold winds and and praying to our God and Father and enraptured by the love bestowed so graciously to us…oh there is little better than coming together with a dear friend in sweetest prayer and lovestruck wonder. Amazing love…how can it be????

Oh I will dance
on the heights and
sing in the depths,
my LORD,
my God,
my Saviour,
my Jesus!!!!

Vast of blessing

James HoganLeave a comment

Not quite sure why I decided to start writing now, since I really should be getting ready for church!! I’ve been meaning to write something all afternoon but have been getting distracted burning Laura(sister) a CD for her graduation present…(yes, even though it’s three months away) and been having sweet times listening to my new hymn album. Like I said yesterday, it’s pure awesomeness and you all should get it. I most highly recommend it.

And this morning was amazing times at church(is it ever *not* amazing times?) and then I went out with Aiysha and Sam for lunch before coming back home and doing some shopping for the week. And last night was…well…awesome? Can’t think of a better word. Steven, Maren and Anna were over and we got to feast on a sweet Hungarian dish(which was just delish and I’m going to make Anna give me the recipe!) and a supremely yummy classic German dessert(and no, I don’t remember what it was called. It was some German name, yeah) and most importantly, we enjoyed lovely times of talking and playing card games(introducing Steven and Maren to poker!!) and listening to music and just chilling out and enjoying the goodness of the LORD!! And as I drove them home, us all rocking out to “Eyes Open”(Snow Patrol) with the windows down and cold air rushing into the car, I rejoiced in sweet friendships… Oh our God is good!!!!!!

And now, church time. Peace!

Born that way

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Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,
and in sin my mother conceived me.
Behold, You desire truth in the innermost being,
and in the hidden part You will make me know wisdom.
Purify me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
Make me to hear joy and gladness,
let the bones which You have broken rejoice.
Hide Your face from my sins
and blot out all my iniquities.
Create in me a clean heart, O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
Do not cast me away from Your presence
and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of Your salvation
and sustain me with a willing spirit.
Then I will teach transgressors their ways,
and sinners will be converted to You.
Deliver me from bloodguiltiness,
O God, the God of my salvation;
then my tongue will joyfully sing of
Your righteousness. -Psalm 51:5-14

Oh I will sing!!!

Ahh this has been such a sweet day!! Admittedly, I’ve been inside for most of it…but that’s because it’s been grey and gloomy and rainy outside all day long…so I decided it was a perfect day to relax indoors. Had a late night anyway(sweet party times with Aiysha and Sam et al!) so woke up sort of late…(11AM, eek! That’s probably my latest lie in in quite some time!) So after my shower I enjoyed my sweet bacon and coffee breakfast and reading…and for the past few hours I’ve been chilling in my living room and compiling a new iTunes playlist(felt it was time for a new one…and in doing so, realized I had NO “And Can it Be?”. That had to be rectified and so I found a sweet version…in this awesome CD that you all should get – Resolved Music, Vol 1 on Amazon. Great stuff)…so making the playlist took me a while because I kept getting distracted(first by talking to Laura on Gmail…and then Katheryn. So worth it though! *waves to both*). Anyways here’s the playlist I came up with…I’m pretty happy with it. Presenting…”The Homestretch”:

1. Such Great Heights – The Postal Service
2. It’s Beginning to Get to Me – Snow Patrol
3. All of Us – Blindside
4. Ever Dream – Nightwish
5. Dargor Shadowlord of the Black Mountain – Rhapsody of Fire
6. Nothing but the Blood – Jars of Clay
7. Go Hard ft. Tedashii – Lecrae
8. The Prodigal Son Suite – Keith Green
9. Something Beautiful – Needtobreathe
10. Die Alone – Ingrid Michaelson
11. Blackout – Muse
12. Yellow – Coldplay
13. Revelation 5 – Hope Bible Church
14. And Can it Be – The Enfield Hymn Sessions

Good stuff, neh? I’ve been listening to it right now and I am most pleased. I forwent my usual hardcore opening and went a little softer with Postal Service and Snow Patrol opening…but don’t worry, got at least a little power metal awesomeness in there with Nightwish and Rhapsody. I’ve been much enjoying Rhapsody of Fire on the way to work lately – glorious beautiful music(even if Galan’s the only other person I know that agrees!!)

And in other news, tonight having Steven, Maren and Anna over…my 3rd night having people over in four nights!! But this time, Maren and Anna are going to cook apparently, so I can relax a bit. Ooh, I probably should clean the kitchen a bit though before they’re here. Yes, good plan.

And although I think I have more to say, time to run to the store to get some juice for tonight and then prep my place for company. Hope y’all are having a most glorious day!!!

Rock on!

Light infused

James HoganLeave a comment

Of good bacon and sweet coffee and loveliness…as I take this amazing Friday morning and glory in the beauty of the day!!! I’ve started a Friday tradition of waking up a bit earlier(around 5-ish instead of 5:30-ish) and making bacon along with coffee…and having a nice extended time to read and relax before I go off to work. And that means I *won’t* be spending much time writing…sorry, I know you all are terribly disappointed. Looking outside the window here as the sky slowly lightens…

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time
are not worthy to be compared with the glory
that is to be revealed to us.
-Romans 8:18

Tea and a pen in hand

James HoganLeave a comment

And a lovely Thursday night to you all!! It’s approaching the time when I should be going to bed…but no, writing a bit would be *far* more fun! Tonight is the first night I’ve had by myself in quite some time…and that’s not a bad thing, but a little rest and relaxation is most definitely appreciated!! And so you may be wondering what I’ve been up to these past few days…but before I get to that, time for a little announcement. I have my USA return date…April 4th it will be! And sadly there won’t be any time to visit Florida, but I WILL have an approximately six hour layover in Houston! So any of you in Houston that have a few spare hours that day…just saying. Oh and wait a second. I never mentioned where I’m going, did I? Well, Oklahoma City it is! At least…for a few months. Apparently on May 2nd I’ll be receiving word on where my more “permanent” assignment is. But it’s a bit odd…a few months ago I was thinking that I was definitely looking forward to being back in the States…but now that I have my departure date, I feel strangely sad. Or maybe not so strange! Just thinking about leaving Aberdeen now…and not leaving the city, really, but the people. I mean, sure – I’ll miss the sweet narrow streets of Aberdeen embracing me close and the way the sun sets through the perfectly blue northern sky and the chill air’s touch on my cheek and the twinkling of the morning star as I drive in to work…and being reminded every time I step outdoors of the beauty of the earth that the LORD has made…but that is not all. And see, I’m trying to postpone my sorrow at leaving by not writing about what I’ll miss the most. I’ll miss the friends that the Lord my God has given me here…the church so providentially placed before me…the late nights and the early mornings and the coffee conversations and the cinema moments and the wonder and joy at sharing my life with such dear friends…Aiysha in her many distracting ways(I’m pretty confident in saying that we’ve had some pretty radically awesome conversations..)…Steven in his total awesomeness(we may have far too much fun together, but is that a bad thing, hm??? Oh God’s blessed me with his friendship)…Anna in her sweet intensity and joy(oh but we have a glorious time discussing the goodness of the Lord together….that He would bless such fallen ones as us!!)..and well…I could keep going, but it would take a while to get through everyone! Just know this – God is good. And He has blessed me exceedingly. As always. And then…well my church. Gilc is a place filled with people longing to glorify God and teaching the Word and reaching out to Aberdeen around…and it is beautiful. A place where the truth is preached mightily(went through the first half of Jeremiah 7 last Sunday evening. Yeah. That was a bit intense…Jeremiah was told to stop praying for the people…because God would not hear him, for His people had abandoned Him for that which does not save and for gods which do not move and for things which do not satisfy. And so the God of the universe prepares His wrath. Although his patience is exceedingly great, it will not last forever. And..yeah). A place where our glorious Jesus Christ is exalted.

And new paragraph time, neh? Because I did intend for this to be an actual update of what I’ve been up to lately…and I’ve failed miserably at that and instead turned it into random musings! But, I should stop thinking about leaving Aberdeen, since I have a good month and a half before I have to go! And that time will be spent glorifying the Lord, I so declare. And enjoying His goodness!

And now I have very little energy left for writing(or rather, little desire…since my writing muse has been used up on the previous! And my emotions are spent…), so it appears that the afore promised update will be a bit…er, short. ANYWAYS. Last Friday night, went down with some of the guys to Arbroath, where we were having our Gilc Young Adult Weekend Away trip, huzzah!! We started off having a good dinner together(must have been about 30-40 of us? I’m rubbish with estimating head counts) and then playing some intense challenge-type games. We were all in teams and each competed in separate tasks. Mine was to roll marbles across a table trying to catch the sticky tape at the end. Yeah. It’s harder than it sounds. Anyway, my team fell behind quickly, but came back to make it 3rd(out of 8 teams). Good show. And after that, a few of us stayed up for a while talking and chilling…

Next day, I meant to get up early! Alas, this did not happen, but made it down to the dining room for breakfast(the food all week was ridiculously good. Seriously. For Sunday dinner we had roast beef, potatoes, vegetables, Yorkshire puddings…cobbler…ice cream…and that was just one meal) and then later saw Steven and Anna! They couldn’t come the night before because of work so was most glad to see them arrive. We then had our first seminar…and to save time, I’ll try not to give you a blow-by-blow account of his teaching, but it was a most encouraging and exhorting time of realizing how important theology is to our walk with Christ(a good theology is critical in three areas…our sanctification, our service towards others, and our worship – yeah, that pretty much covers everything). Later that day, a bunch of us went on a walk along the coast of the North Sea…and oh it was beautiful. I can’t really describe it…other than to say that looking at the sea lap up to the cliffs below our feet as the clouds descended upon the distant horizon in splendor…I could have spent all afternoon sitting on the edge of the cliffs watching the sea(me and Steven climbed down to the edge to the great chagrin of some of the girls there…) but alas, I was with a group and so had to rejoin the party soon enough..

And walking back along the coast as the sun began to set and making sweet conversation with Anna, praying mightily and rejoicing in the goodness of the Lord. That’s a pretty good afternoon, no? After getting back to the conference center, Anna owned me in ping-pong(yes, I will admit it. 21-14, 21-18 I believe. Ow) That evening was more fun times engaging in costume hilarity(the theme was “Farm”. I was wearing my Iowa Hawkeye jersey shirt. Get it? Iowa? Farm? Yes? Yes) and more games. Stayed up late again…got some pool in and more talking. The next Sunday morning was our last breakfast together…then worship service time! And finally we all had to make our way home. If you’ll notice, I accelerated near the end there, but be assured that there was much more awesomeness than I’m revealing here!!

And now we come to Sunday afternoon, where we got back home to Aberdeen about 4pm or so. Made it to Gilc for evening service(for the aforementioned Jeremiah sermon of sobering intensity) and rejoicing with my fellow brothers and sisters(sidenote – read Psalm 130 that morning..sang it in the evening…oh God is awesome!)…and then me and Aiysha hung out for a bit(first time we’d seen each other in ages!!). The next day I was quite exhausted(work was tough, I’ll admit. My body cried for sleep). But Monday night did I sleep? Of course not!! When do I ever listen to my body, anyway? Steven came over for some Unit-watching action(Unit = an amazingly awesome special ops Army squad show. How did I miss out on this one??). Steven has the German version but thankfully we’re able to hear it in English. Anyways, we finished Season 1 on Monday and started in on Season 2, all the while enjoying some classic chicken caesar salad action…

So Tuesday night did I go to bed early? Of course not, once again! I think I mentioned this in my previous entry, but me and Aiysha hit up the cinema that night. Wednesday night was my weekly Starbucks dinner night(and by dinner I mean coffee. Shhh) and then worship/study/prayer at Gilc! We went over Romans 8:22-39. Just saying, Romans 8-11(particularly 8) have been some of my favorite chapters EVER these past few months(one of these days I’ll have to actually write up a mini-essay on that chapter..)…and so yet again, my Father continues to bless me. It was a glorious night.

And tonight? I rest. Can I write more? I can. Should I write more? Hm…if I actually want sleep, maybe not! Do you all want me to write more?? (No answer required)

But as I sip my mint chocolate tea and ponder on my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ…I can’t help but give glory. And I think I shall do a bit more of that in the privacy of my own head apart from this coldly glaring computer screen.

Love y’all.

Upon a lake

James HoganLeave a comment

And now from Aberdeen, g’morning all!!! Don’t have too much time to write now as work is about to start…but just wanted to say that despite the gloomy rainy day that is today, I am feeling marvelous and looking forward to dominating some work this day! For the past few days I’ve quite wanted to update y’all on my past weekend(which was simply glorious!!) but that will have to wait as I simply do not have the time now. Tonight I’ll be going to study/prayer time at Gilc…and probably won’t be home ’til after 10 at the earliest…but tomorrow night will be my first night to myself I’ve had in a week or so! So maybe tomorrow night. Anyways, last night I went with Aiysha to the cinema and as always, we had marvelous times together and I’m ever so grateful to the Lord my God for such an amazing friend!!! God is good, what more can I say?? I doubt, yet He is ever faithful.

And now it is work time. Time to glorify God a bit, yo. Have a beautiful morning, my friends!!! Let’s bask in the goodness of the LORD!!

Give thanks to the God of heaven,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting.
-Psalm 136:26