Month: April 2015

Brooklyn

James HoganLeave a comment

Evening all!! I’m just finishing up my post-workout yogurt, have done countless online errands(yay for getting my Needtobreathe tickets for tomorrow night! yay for replying to friends’ emails! yay for paying bills??)

Anyways, I’m super tired tonight. On a Monday. This does not bode well for the rest of the week. So I’ve decided I’m going to enjoy my leftover spaghetti and salad and then go to bed early. If I don’t get too distracted reading, that is…

So this entry seems a bit boring, so just gonna close and mention that I was listening to the new Nightwish album – Endless Forms Most Beautiful in my car this morning as I drove to work. I was heartily enjoying the gorgeous melodies and riffs contained therein but as I pondered the words in the songs(mostly involving the beauty and magnificence of this world and extolling the wonders of their god Evolution!!), I heard the plaintive plea of all those in this world who do not know God and I thought of the words I read this morning in Acts 17:

“The God who made the world and all things in it,
since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell
in temples made with hands; nor is He served by human hands,
as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to
all people life and breath and all things; and He made
from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the
face of the earth, having determined their appointed times
and the boundaries of their habitation,
that they would seek God,
if perhaps they might grope for Him
and Find Him,
though He is not far from each one of us;
for in Him we live and move and exist…”

So so true are these words. And so as I listened to the thundering guitar and chilling choir and soaring voices of Nightwish, I thought of how much God desires each one of us to know Him. The people in Nightwish(whom I will see in less than 2 weeks!) may think they know how the world works – of course there is no such thing as “a god”! They may think that this world and this universe – in all its grandeur – is all there is. And this grasping for beauty, this sighing for truth…it is but an echo of a cry of the heart that all men and women share as they feel the aching wound of the universe within their souls. Oh that they would seek God! If perhaps they might grope for Him. If perhaps they might find Him. He is not far from each one of us. Think on that this evening, I think I will. Pardon my slightly disjointed thoughts – but had to write them down now ere they flee! Peace, my friends. Peace and love.

Icing

James HoganLeave a comment

Happy Saturday, friends!! I’m just going to write a few words….currently sitting on the floor at home, drinking my afternoon coffee(fifth cup of the day? Not bad for a Saturday!), snacking on pineapple and watching some Capitals/Islanders hockey playoff action(go Caps!!). Woke up a little earlier than normal, so have to confess I’m feeling a little sleepy now. Me and Ernie got breakfast and then went up to the Woodlands to check out the programs offered by Dallas Theological Seminary(they were having a special event there today). I may or may not be considering taking a few classes there in the fall…praying for wisdom on that, believe me. I sometimes feel it may be too much, trying to work full-time and take extra classes, but I would truly love to be in a place where I can be learning even more about our glorious God. So! We shall see where the Lord leads, and now it just comforts me to know that my future is in the hands of my God. I’ve been talking with an old friend that I haven’t spoken to in many many years, and she shared a verse that’s encouraged me deeply:

“For My thoughts are
not your thoughts,
nor are your ways
My ways,”
declares the LORD.
“For as the heavens
are higher
than the earth,
so are My ways
higher than your ways
and My thoughts
than your thoughts.

For as the rain and
the snow come down
from heaven,
and do not return there
without watering
the earth and
making it bear and sprout,
and furnishing seed to the sower
and bread to the eater;
so will My word be
which goes forth
from My mouth;
it will not return to Me empty,
without accomplishing what I desire,
and without succeeding
in the matter for which
I sent it.”
-Isaiah 55:8-11

Amen. And Amen. Have a most wonderful Saturday evening, dear friends!!!

Stradivari

James HoganLeave a comment

Good morning, friends!! I’m about to head out for coffee times with Natalie, but thought I’d say hi, since it’s been a little while! And apparently I was trying to write a short story last time I was online – found the below excerpt saved as a draft. Really not much to it, but thought I’d leave it here for posterity(and in case it jump-starts my muse!).

I’ve had a delightful morning thus far…got to sleep in(to 7:30!!), then had my breakfast of coffee and toast while getting some solid reading done. Haggai is a very fascinating OT book, one that looks with grief into the past…and with bright hope for the future. Love it. Can’t wait for the day where the whole of the heavens and the earth acknowledge the name and glory of the Lord our God. Amen and Amen!! Next will be Zechariah. Almost done with Old Testament…so sad. Except not really, because that just means I get to start in Genesis again! Anyways, now I’m on my second cup of coffee, taking care of some online errands and listening to Itzhak Perlman playing Beethoven(on the big TV screen with good speakers!). Probably time to head out now though and…enjoy some more coffee with my dear friend Natalie. Peace, friends!! And enjoy below extremely random snippet.


The rain poured down, straining to be heard over the blare of the neon lights.

Rick risked a quick glance upward and was rewarded for his trouble with a splatter of water in his face from the inn’s overhang. He shook his head in annoyance and ducked back into the lobby. As he closed the door firmly, he heard the electronic chime from the front desk. The security officer masquerading as the receptionist raised her eyebrow at him in silent question. He shook his head in response. No sign yet.

As Rick walked back over the well-worn linoleum of the hotel’s foyer, he scanned the room, looking for anything out of place…

Agora

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Happy Saturday y’all!! I’m sitting here in Agora coffeehouse in Houston enjoying a beautiful day…and I really have been trying to write something semi-creative, but alas – my muse has fled me(at least for the time being). Anyways, I’ve successfully gotten some other tasks done and so I thought I’d write a quick post here. I woke up a bit later than normal today, but I have a good reason for that…yesterday didn’t get to bed until past one o’clock! That was totally my fault though. Got home about midnight, and then instead of smartly going to bed, I read for an hour. Ah well. My book(current one – Worthing Saga by O.S. Card. Classic) was worth it and I still got enough sleep. Oh and I forgot to explain why I was up so late last night! Me and Daniel went to the movies – met up with a bunch of other people(Matias, Jonathan, et. al…) and then had a time of awesomeness watching Furious 7.

So – I must confess – I’ve never seen any of the previous “Fast and Furious” movies, so I’m a novice to this world, as it were. And it didn’t matter. I much enjoyed!! Was the movie moderately ridiculous, full of physically impossible and logistically ridiculous stunts? Yes. A thousand times yes. Was the movie exhilarating and awesome and just really super fun? A million times yes. Watch the trailer and you’ll get a sense of how ridiculous(ly awesome) this movie is. The characters were all well played, by actors that seem to have a lot of fun just hanging out together. The movie was very well shot, in that all the action and stunt scenes, I could actually follow every bit of it, never being confused by what was on screen. Classic lines of dialogue and great combat scenes and…a lot of heart. That was what maybe surprised me the most. One of the main actors(Paul Walker) died last year in an unrelated car accident, and so this movie is is his final film. And truly, it was a tribute to him in a lot of ways. Movingly so. I actually got close to tears at the end, as they had a scene with Walker’s character and family playing on the beach as the rest of the cast looked on. It was beautiful. So as much as this movie was full of fast cars and big muscles and sweet hand-to-hand combat…it was really a movie about family. And that your truest friends are truly family. And you can’t ever let that go. Good film.

And after – we all just hang out for a while outside the cinema and acted goofy and chatted and enjoyed the beauty of the night. (Actually…there were a ridiculous amount of people there, so it wasn’t that quiet or beautiful. So. Many. People. All there to see F7 too, apparently!!) Eventually it started raining so me and Daniel headed home. But that’s why I didn’t get home ’til midnight. I say it’s a good reason. Don’t dispute me on that.

Now Hotel California is playing in here…it’s really hard not to sing along. Really hard. I have to say, this place is awesome. This has to be the first ever coffeeshop I’ve been in…with a jukebox!! I’m now going to attempt to write a little more…if no piece of poetry shows up here later, you’ll know my muse is indeed hiding well. Peace y’all, have a day of awesomeness.

Lamb of God

James HoganLeave a comment

Who has believed our message?
And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
For He grew up before Him
like a tender shoot,
and like a root out of parched ground;
He has no stately form or majesty
that we should look upon Him,
nor appearance that we should be
attracted to Him.
He was despised and forsaken of men,
a man of sorrows and
acquainted with grief;
and like one from whom men
hide their face
He was despised, and we
did not esteem Him.

Surely our griefs He himself bore,
and our sorrows He carried;
yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken,
smitten of God, and afflicted.
But He was pierced through for our transgressions,
He was crushed for our iniquities;
the chastening for our well-being
fell upon Him,
and by His scourging we are healed.
All of us like sheep have gone astray,
each of us have turned to his own way;
but the LORD has caused
the iniquity
of us all
to fall
on Him.
-Isaiah 53:1-6

My heart is saddened as I think of the suffering of Christ Jesus, yet I rejoice. Because truly – through the sacrifice of Jesus, God’s own Son and God Himself – I am counted as righteous in the sight of the Lord God. And the fact that I am righteous and pure before God…how can I not sing to the God who made it so? Worthy is the Lamb who was slain. Slain for me. Filthy ungodly unworthy me. And so, some two thousand years ago, God the Father poured out the full and righteous cup of His wrath upon God the Son. And I am now a child of God – countless songs and boundless bliss – how can I not sing for this?? God loved me first, now I love Him – oh those glorious words – He loves me!!!