Tag: church

Clouds and Snow

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So as I look outside the window now, I see the grey skies of this morning have vanished, although snow still graces the rooftops and lingers on the pavement below. But the winds of winter are strong, sending beautiful cottony clouds to billow across the blue of the sky. And the sun shines!

I did so think that winter was over and spring was coming, but apparently I was mistaken. Awoke this morning to see – snow everywhere!! So I spent a nice morning with my eggs and coffee and reading before tramping through the snow to church. And oh what a joyous time at church it was!! Singing with all our hearts(Psalm 24 was particularly lovely – The earth is the Lord’s, and all it contains! …who is the King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty!) and enjoying being together as a church – an amalgamation of people from all over this earth, people from all walks of life and manner of living. And yet we all share a common bond – we are heirs of God and brothers of Christ and bought by the blood of this Christ and sealed by the Holy Spirit and desirous of being with our King and God forever and ever!! And so today, as our local fellowship of believers in Christ – what a wonder it is that I have been blessed so be included therein!! – met for the first time as a new church, we couldn’t help but exult in the Lord and worship him oh so heartily!! We are no longer part of the Church of Scotland – nay, we are no longer tied to an organization who deems servility to the world of higher value than being submissive to Christ and all He has told us in His Word. And so this new church – Gilcomston Church – is no less a church because we are not tied to a denomination or hierarchy of men. Gilcomston Church remains part of the church universal – the body of Christ – and as we long to worship Him in spirit and truth with all our might and all our heart and all our soul, I simply bow my head and rejoice in my spirit. That God has blessed me so…by putting me with people here with such a passion for God and His Word – what have I done to deserve this? Nothing. And yet God blesses me.

And indeed, God our Father – the King of glory! – has blessed our simple church. And as we rejoiced this morning in song and word and love(Dominic had a beautiful sermon from Psalm 98…oh, how we long for the return of the King!), I was overwhelmed by what God has done for us. He has given us much. May our hearts continue to cry out to Him all day long and through the watches of the night! And if you are reading this and don’t know our church, pray for us, I ask. Pray for us.

And I was not planning on writing all that, but I shall let it remain.

Now time to prepare some dinner before evening service! Oh how I love Sundays! A day to worship God and enjoy the rest He has given me and be at peace in my soul. And y’all – I pray that you may have such a peace – a peace as sweet as the most beautiful sunrise, and no less glorious. Grace and peace.

Naptime

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And yes, I really feel as if I could do with a nap just about now!! But it’s less than an hour until I leave for church, so maybe I should just try and stay awake…I thought writing a few words might help! Anyways, these past couple days have been packed full of awesome(although sleep may have been lacking!). Yesterday afternoon after Books and Beans, went over and met up with Chris and Jo for Hobbit goodness…and yes, it was glorious seeing it again, and especially with them! Afterwards we munched on burgers at Handmade Burger in the mall before Jo went off to meet people at Gilc for hot chocolate outreach. Me and Chris ended up going back to their place and chilling out for a while and talking and reading old stories he’d written and playing with Maple…and while I may not have gotten back to my place until late o’clock, I don’t regret a thing! Although – this morning, my body was a bit grumpy as I got up early to go over to Graham and Tineke’s for pre-church coffee(turned in to full breakfast! Bacon and eggs, mmm..) – it was so awesome seeing them again, since we haven’t talked since before Christmas. So again – oh so worth it. After that(still not church time yet!), me and Jackie had coffee at Pret, since she’s back in Aberdeen for the week – hurrah!! So we enjoyed talking and catching up…and then soon enough – church time! Worshiping our Lord Jesus Christ and basking in the love of our God and hearing the mighty Word of our Lord(2 Thess 1 today – I love that chapter!! And Dominic didn’t preach it half-bad either…)..I can’t describe properly how blessed I truly am. I really can’t.

And now I had planned on using this afternoon to clean the flat a bit and do some clothes-washing, etc…but of course, people had other plans! Went over to Zara and Ruth’s for a yummy lunch…and again, talking and laughing with them and Alec and Philippa and Morag and Charlotte and Amy…again – why do I have such good friends? I am deeply humbled and e’er blessed. Truly, y’all.

And yes – I finally took my leave and walked down to Sainsbury’s for a bit of shopping(running into Tineke doing hers as well!) and now I’m back in the flat and I’m sleepy and fading and slightly delirious from these sweet times I’ve been given… I really think I could lie down on the couch here and sleep deeply, but I think I may instead just continue to sip my Earl Grey and read a little bit of A Memory of Light…and continue to praise my Father for all these things he’s given me. Oh joy, oh love, oh bliss!!!

Ruhamah

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Just finished the book of Hosea at church tonight. Can’t express in words how lovely that book is and how it has blessed my soul…just read the below verses and linger in the gorgeous music of the heavens…

Then I saw a new heaven and a
new earth; for the first heaven
and the first earth passed away, and
there is no longer any sea. And I saw
the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming
down out of heaven from God, made
ready as a bride adorned for her
husband. And I heard a loud voice from
the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle
of God is among men, and He
will dwell among them, and they shall
be His people, and
God Himself
will be among them,
and He will wipe away every tear
from their eyes;
and there will no longer be any death;
there will no longer be any mourning,
or crying, or pain;
the first things have passed away.”

And He who sits on the throne said,
“Behold, I am making all things new.”
And He said, “Write, for these words
are faithful and true.”
Then He said to me, “It is done. I am
the Alpha and the Omega,
the beginning and the end.
I will give to the one who thirsts
from the spring of the water of life
without cost.
He who overcomes will inherit these things,
and I will be his God
and He will be My son.”
-Revelation 21:1-7

A tilt of earth

James HoganLeave a comment

And now as my dinner is almost upon me, I wish to just write a few words to express the wonders of this weekend! It has been indeed supremely glorious and relaxing…how can I not thank my Father for what He has given me??

Yesterday I was able to sit in Starbucks and wrap my hands around my coffee mug as I struggled to wrap my mind around the eternal mercies of God…and I couldn’t help but praise Him! And then being able to talk with my family back home(oh the wonderful thing that is cellular communication!) and enjoy a restful evening of reading…

And this morning enjoyed worshiping at church with some of my dearest friends(before I go further, must mention the awesomeness that was Gilc’s song choice today…O For a Thousand Tongues, In Christ Alone, Joyful Joyful, and a really ancient and dusty-sounding translation of A Mighty Fortress…surely never to be paralleled again!) and then a most lovely afternoon spent cooking Mom’s homemade spaghetti sauce and yet more reading…before going back to church and worshiping anew!

And now I’m about to have my epic dinner of spaghetti, meatballs, garlic bread and salad while maybe watching a bit of 24(Season 7, for those interested!). Oh how I cannot fully comprehend the goodness of the Lord. I hope these faint musings echo at least a bit of what I’m feeling now…

Peace, y’all. Peace and love.

Dreams of love

James HoganLeave a comment

And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write:
The Son of God, who has eyes like
a flame of fire, and His feet are like
burnished bronze, says this:
‘I know your deeds, and your love
and faith and service and perseverance,
and that your deeds of late are greater
than at first. But I have this against
you, that you tolerate the woman
Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess,
and she teaches and leads My bondservants
astray so that they commit
acts of immorality and eat things sacrificed
to idols. I gave her time to
repent, and she does not want to repent
of her immorality. Behold, I will
throw her on a bed of sickness, and
those who commit adultery with her
into great tribulation, unless they repent
of her deeds. And I will kill her children
with pestilence, and all the
churches will know that I am He who
searches the minds and hearts; and I
will give to each one of you according
to your deeds. But I say to you, the
rest who are in Thyatira, who do not
hold this teaching, who have not known
the deep things of Satan, as they call
them- I place no other burden on you.

Nevertheless, what you have, hold
fast until I come. He who overcomes,
and he who keeps My deeds
until the end, to Him I will give
authority over the nations; and he
shall rule them with a rod of iron, as
the vessels of the potter are broken to
pieces, as I also have received authority
from My Father; and I will give him
the morning star. He who has an
ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to
the churches.’

Oh what sweet words!! Something that’s really hit me hard lately…how can we compartmentalize our lives so, and be so self-satisfied in our own accomplishments. How can we so easily tolerate and even praise the evils of this world? Oh let us overcome. Let us hold fast to the the words of God and of Jesus Christ our Lord. And let us praise His most glorious name! He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

To dream and hope and love…

James HoganLeave a comment

Because mere wonder cannot suffice for love…

Can you guess where I’m posting from? Yeah, Starbucks. And why, you may ask, am I posting on the middle of a Monday? Well, it happens to be a bank holiday here, so no work for me! It’s quite unfortunate though, because I was originally going to use today to explore around Aberdeen, maybe go visit a castle or something of the sort. Sadly beginning yesterday, I seem to becoming sick. Most annoying. Apart from having a stuffed nose, inflamed throat, sleep-inducing weariness, and a slight tint of dizziness, I’m quite fine. I swear! I actually probably shouldn’t have walked here to Starbucks at all, but I couldn’t stand the thought of being by myself in my flat all day long! Had to get out, so I made the trek here(I really should measure the distance, but it can’t be longer than a couple miles) and now after a few hours spent replying to emails, sipping on my peppermint mocha and reading the delightfulness that is the Word, I decided I may as well see if my writing muse had fled along with all my strength and vigor. Apparently not, hurrah! But I must warn you, I’m feeling slightly hazy, as if I’m dreaming yet awake. So we’ll see if my writings can actually make sense!

So yesterday(apart from the gradually feeling sicker part) was quite awesome! I love Sundays. I was originally going to go to a new church(Gilcomston South, a Church of Scotland) yesterday morning, but me and Mark(friend from work) had planned on going to the football game. Thankfull, Gilcomston has an evening service too! But first, me and Mark hit up the football game – Aberdeen versus the Rangers(of Glasgow). Apparently it’s one of the biggest games of the year, and the Rangers have been perfect thus far, winning all their games. I could believe it – quite an awesome atmosphere!! Right to our left we had a huge section of Aberdeen supporters singing and chanting most of the game and there was a large Rangers contingent at the game as well. It definitely wasn’t a boring game either – we went up 2-0 and it looked like the makings of a huge upset! Sadly it was not to be, as the Rangers came storming back the 2nd half. A couple brilliant goals and a penalty to win 3-2. Alas. Still, it was an awesome game!

Afterwards, came back to my flat and then got ready for church – it’s only a few miles away, right on Union Street, so I was able to walk. It was a lovely service, although by this time I was feeling quite under the weather and most un-energetic. Still, met a few friendly people and look forward to meeting more later this week!

And Saturday was a fun day of exploring and buying far too much stuff. After I spent the morning reading and relaxing at Starbucks(if you’re somehow desirous of reading more words by me, I wrote up a post on Adam’s blog here. Warning: content is sort of unedited…but joy inducing all the same, to me at least. I cannot ever forget or deny the majesty of the LORD, all glory to the Father!), I walked downtown and found a scarf and gloves(which people told me I’d eventually need) and then around lunchtime, found a statue of William Wallace and ate lunch there. After that, I quite by accident discovered an awesome 2nd-hand book shop! They had an Asimov book I’ve been wanting for a while(Prelude to Foundation – the first one of his I ever read, way back in 9th grade!) and I got a biography of William Wallace. My bedtime reading for the next week. It’s so cool to be reading it and finding mentions of Aberdeen and thinking, “Oh yeah, where I am right now!” I love finding random awesome book shops. And they mentioned that there was an even better one near the university. I’ll have to discover that one another weekend…oh and I also bought a Rhapsody of Fire album. I really shouldn’t have, since it was sort of expensive, but I really wanted to hear its epic-ness. I’ll just consider it my early half-birthday present to myself. Have I mentioned Rhapsody of Fire here before? They’re an Italian symphonic power metal band that primarily writes fantasy-based songs. Gorgeous songs that probably most of you won’t enjoy. But I do, so there. My favorite driving music ever, pretty much. And on the subject of music, I need to do another album rank-up post sometime soon…but this post is already starting to go too long, so we shall save that for another day!

And yay, apparently being sick hasn’t taken all of my writing powers(or my tendency to be long-winded…but shh)!

Alright, I’ve decided it’s time to leave Starbucks(I’ve probably already been here 3 hours…and I’m getting sore sitting in one place for so long…and my peppermint mocha is almost gone…) and go down to the store for some soup and Nyquil(or whatever passes for Nyquil in these lands). Hopefully my body can heal up enough that I can go to work tomorrow. We shall see. Now, off to walk on the ancient paving stones, dream of a time when there will be no sickness, dance in the beauty of the day…and rejoice in the goodness of our Lord!

Rock on, y’all.