Tag: faith

Not So Trivial

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From my latest book that I have just(very eager and most excited am I!!!) begun…Studies in the Sermon on the Mount by D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones…

There was a time when the designation applied to the Christian was that he was a ‘God-fearing’ man. I do not think you can ever improve on that – a ‘God-fearing’ man. It does not mean craven fear, it does not mean ‘the fear that hath torment’, but it is a wonderful description of the true Christian. He is of necessity, as we are reminded very forcibly in the seventh chapter of this Gospel, a man who lives in the fear of God. We can say of our blessed Lord Himself that His life was a God-fearing life. You see how important that view of the Christian is. So often, as I have been pointing out, modern Christians, who may be able to give very bright and apparently thrilling testimonies of some experience they have had, do not suggest they are God-fearing people, but give the impression of being men of the world, both in dress and appearance, and in a kind of boisterousness and easy confidence.

So we must not only take the injunctions of the Sermon seriously. We must also check our particular interpretation in the light of the principles I have given. Beware of the spirit of arguing against them; beware of making them ridiculous; and beware of so interpreting them as to regard any one of them as impossible. Here is the life to which we were called, and I maintain again that if only every Christian in the Church today were living the Sermon on the Mount, the great revival for which we are praying and longing would already have started. Amazing and astounding things would happen; the world would be shocked, and men and women would be drawn and attracted to our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

May God give us grace to consider this Sermon on the Mount and to remember that we are not to sit in judgment on it, but that we ourselves are under judgment, and that the building we are erecting in this world and in this life will have to face His final test and the ultimate scrutiny of the eye of the Lamb of God that once was slain.
-D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, page 23

May I be known as a God-fearing man. This is my prayer this night. All glory to God – the Author of my salvation and the Lord of my life. My song rises to the heavens – sing ye to the Lord, all ye His saints!

Eschatos

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Hello all!! I have a few spare moments…as I sit here in the family room at home in Tampa! I just finished laying mulch on the rose bushes out back and now before I shower figured…might as well update briefly! Am nearing the tail end(oh no…) of a simply wonderful mini-vacation here with the fam. I may write in more detail at a later date, but for now, suffice it to say I am much blessed and I am ever so relaxed right now! Being at home is always encouraging, but I feel like this time has been even more so. Hanging out with Dad and Mom and Laura…so many good times at the church(Prophecy Conference at our church – with Alan Kurschner and Marv Rosenthal and Dad speaking…wonderful, beautiful biblical truth being taught and gorgeous, enlivening worship songs being sung and oh such encouraging fellowship with my fellow brethren, reminding me of the day we shall all one day be in the presence of God Himself, worshiping Him forever and ever – “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain!”)

And…I did say I wouldn’t get into the details, but let this just be a reminder to you all(and myself) of how much God blesses us. As much pain and sorrow is on this earth – and yes, we are a party to so much of it! – God grants us such peace and grace as we abide in Him and seek His face and cry out to Him, resting in the comfort of His Spirit and the joy of being redeemed through Christ Himself – oh glory to His Name! So that grace and peace is filling my heart and I know not why the struggles and cares of this world should give me any pause at all.

May your souls be warmed by the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ our Lord. He who died for us will surely continue to work in us until we are fully sanctified and consequently wondrously glorified at the day of Christ Jesus. Peace and love, dear friends.

Redeemed

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Just thought I’d share some of my notes from my recently completed study on 1 Peter 1:17-21. Some gorgeous verses…and I’m obviously not doing them justice. But…God has encouraged my soul this afternoon and I can’t help but share. Be blessed, dear friends.

So to wrap up – anything that can sum all this up? Namely – the gospel is glorious. We have a Father who loves us, who planned before the foundation of the world this grand redemptive work – the death of Christ and His resurrection from the dead – which is the price by which our lives are bought. So no longer are our lives meaningless – no longer are we lost, sheep that have gone astray. We now worship God, acting with awe and respect towards our Father, worshiping His name, full of faith in this present life and full of hope for the life to come. If you can think of anything this week to dwell on – think on the fact that we were redeemed with the precious blood of Christ.

One more thing I’d like to bring up. This redemptive work that Christ did – is not something He was forced into. He did it for us, out of love and care and deepest passion. For us. In John 18:4, we see some glorious words which I’ll just read briefly. Right before this verse, the mob comes to arrest Jesus. And in verse 4, “So Jesus, knowing all the things that were coming upon Him, went forth and said to them, “Whom do you seek?” Do you see that? Jesus knew all that was coming. He knew of His impending suffering, of the wrath that was about to be poured upon Him. He knew He was about to fulfill the prophecy of John the Baptist – “The Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world”. He knew He was about to be forsaken by His Father. He knew He was about to be smitten of God, afflicted, pierced through, crushed. He knew the iniquities of us all were about to fall on Him. He knew all these things. And what did He do? Did He shy away or decide it wasn’t quite worth it. That we weren’t quite worth it? No. “So Jesus, knowing all the things that were coming upon Him…went forth.” He did this – for us. The precious blood of Christ – the Lamb that was slain. Our only response should be to fall on our faces before God and worship. Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing! Amen. Amen. Amen.

A White Horse on Field of Green

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Well, it is a Monday morning and it is beautiful. You ever have one of those mornings where you feel supremely encouraged and oh so aware of the love of God? That is today for me and oh is it wonderful!! Firstly, I resolve to go to bed earlier from now on…as a full night’s sleep is just fantastic. Right!? I was in bed before 9 last night(albeit…reading for a while after that, but still!) So when my alarm went off this morning at 3:45…I somehow was almost instantly awake and alert, which is most abnormal. I did the decent thing and didn’t actually rise until about 4…but that set the tone for my whole morning. I had loads of time to do all my normal morning tasks…and then almost 45 minutes for a leisurely reading and coffee time. Oh bliss. And so I read Psalms 97 & 98 and Proverbs 6 and Jeremiah 38-41 and Acts 6-7…and I had time to meditate and pray on these words of Scripture. I was particularly struck by the end of Acts 7 – on Stephen’s powerful testimony and subsequent vision of Jesus standing at the right hand of God. Oh might I be full of the Holy Spirit to such an extent as Stephen was – oh that I might behold a glimpse of the glory of God! And so pondering these words, I finally left for work…where I was able to listen to my favorite Lord of the Rings Symphony, enjoying the gorgeous music contained therein. And as I stopped by Starbucks for my Monday peppermint mocha…for some reason their machine wasn’t working, so I received my drink complimentary. And I just thought to myself, “Lord – why have you granted me so many little blessings this morn?” And so I thank my God this day for how He has granted me these gifts. Now of course – I set course for a day full of work and likely stresses and annoyances. But I shall not fret nor complain. It is well with my soul.

For A Little While

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Been studying 1 Peter 1:3-9 today…can’t help but share my concluding notes I just now wrote. A bit overwrought perhaps? I care not – thus is my heart.

I think it’s important to recognize the existence and necessity and beneficial nature of trials in our lives. But should our lives be characterized by sadness or depression because of these trials? No it should not!! Because we should understand the truth of the glorious gospel and the work of God in our lives, through the power of the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ from the dead – this is the foundation of our faith! And this foundation leads us to have a sure and firm belief in our inheritance and future hope – knowing that God has protected and made sure our salvation and consequent rewards and benefits thereof. And so we rejoice and even though we have never seen the Lord Christ with our own eyes, we believe in Him(through the faith granted by God!) and we love Him(through the love of God poured out in our hearts through the workings of the Holy Spirit!) and we understand that our souls are saved – we have been born again to a hope eternal and to a life ne’er ending. These trials and sufferings we experience are for our good and make clear to us the genuine faith we possess. And so understanding all this, why should we not rejoice!? Our joy should be such that we can’t even express it and almost dare not try. But we cannot help it and simply must offer praise and glory to our Lord Jesus Christ, offering Him the offering of our souls and the highest song of our lips. God has made us His children. We share in the inheritance of the Eternal God Almighty with our Lord Jesus Christ. We, as God’s children, are much beloved by Him. How should our hearts burn within us, in awe and wonder and love everlasting. See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God. And such we are.

Trembling

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And so shall I post once more?? Thought it was best that I let the last two song-heavy updates stand on their own. I also should probably zoom off soon, since I’ve spent quite long enough here at Starbucks! But I still have a little coffee in my cup, so I shall write a little more. Pardon the spaciness of my thoughts…I’m in an intriguingly odd mood lately. Odd as in I’ve spent time in several different countries in the last few days…and this time has left me abundantly encouraged and oh so thankful and I really do not think I can quite put my thoughts to page. But…I shall try, at least a little bit. This morning, me and Julie went to Dish Society for breakfast…because I was craving their food partially, but really so Julie and I could catch up and I could tell her a least a bit of my last week in Scotland. Despite all my many tangents, I think she got a good overview of my adventures! Can I capture that here? Maybe.

Anyways. Today is my first full day back in America for over a week. Yesterday afternoon, my plane touched down in Houston and I was once again in my home country. And how was I feeling? Bittersweet. For truly, it is good to be back here and be able to call Dad and family again on phone and see all my Houston friends again(Reliant K and Switchfoot concert tonight with Peter, et al!). But after such a beautiful week with my friends in Scotland…I must admit to a bit of sadness after leaving them (again!).

Oh this is a nightmare – I have no idea how to properly chronicle this past week…and I may admit defeat and try again tomorrow or Monday. I think I shall just thank the Lord my God for giving me this holiday and blessing it in such a way that I had prayed for but wasn’t quite sure would happen. Being with my dear friends again(Chris, Jo, Joel, Laura, John, Ruth, Jackie, Graham, Tineke, Mark, Rosemary…and more!!) was amazing and I realized I am blessed far beyond I deserve with such good and precious friends. Even after being gone three years, I can still talk and laugh and deeply connect with them. But more than just the fun times with friends(and it was indeed fun!!), I relished the chance to commune with my God. I set aside particular times to get alone with my Father God and these times were blessed be Him, of this I testify! As I walked the cliff side path south of Stonehaven on Monday afternoon and felt the sea spray on my face and looked out and watched the sea meet the sky in a beautiful embrace of grey and blue and white and saw the grass dance in the cold sweet breezes and as I sat upon a rock on the seashore and gazed upon the horizon and thought upon the fact that God has called me His true son and placed His hand upon me in perfect love and as I closed my eyes and prayed to Him, I felt at peace. There are so many things in our lives that we feel ill equipped to handle and so many futures we desire were our own and so many trials and tribulations we wish were not our own! And so to realise that God knows us, heart and soul and eyes brimming with tears and passions…this is gloriously precious. And to remember that God loves us His children with an unending and all encompassing love…this is beautifully divine. And so as I sit here in Starbucks, recalling this past week, how God blessed me with such a time of communion with my God…I rejoice. I sing. My meditations this day are full of the glories of the Lord. My heart this day is a-tremble with the thoughts of my Father. My eyes this day are bright with the passions of my God. Let us pour out our souls before the Lord our God, all ye nations -let us rejoice and sing to Him this day He has made! Amen and amen.

O For a Thousand Tongues

James HoganLeave a comment

Hello friends and happy Saturday!!!

I am currently at Starbucks(in Houston again!) and have been having a relaxing last couple of hours here. I recently have been putting together (another!) quality mix CD, purchasing various songs from hither and yon(er, or…from the wild Amazon) and now I’m at the point where I really need to listen to them together to judge the flow, etc. But I’m also rather silly and am refusing to do that since I’m currently listening to my Hymn playlist…and it is so joyous and marvelous and simply amazingly God-glorifying that I can’t listen to anything else just now. So thought I’d update this instead. Yay? And because I haven’t posted these track-lists yet, thought I’d record for posterity the last several mixes I’ve made…I rather enjoy them, but your tastes may(and will!) differ.

Firstly, the playlist I’m listening to now – HymnSing. I’ve long desired to have a proper CD with all my favourite hymns. During the course of making this, discovered that I have too many favourites for one CD. Oops? Anyways, I put this together and…it is rather wonderful. It may or may not have drawn tears during my first listen-through in my car one beautiful morning. Since these are all sung by various groups, not going to put the artists, just the title. Many of them are live recordings of simply amazing congregational and choir singing praises to our great God…who has forgiven us…everything. If you want a copy of this CD – message me on your preferred media and give me your address and I’ll send you a copy. Behold our God.

HymnSing:
1. Praise to the Lord, the Almighty
2. My Hope is Built on Nothing Less
3. Grace Greater Than All Our Sin
4. And Can It Be That I Should Gain
5. How Firm A Foundation
6. There Is A Fountain Filled With Blood
7. Before The Throne Of God Above
8. Behold Our God
9. Come Thou Fount Of Every Blessing
10. O The Deep, Deep Love Of Jesus
11. Jesus, I My Cross Have Taken
12. Jesus Paid It All
13. It Is Well With My Soul
14. Holy, Holy, Holy
15. O, For A Thousand Tongues To Sing
16. All Hail The Power Of Jesus’ Name
17. Worthy Is The Lamb That Was Slain
18. Amen

Tears of Joy

James HoganLeave a comment

Hello friends – and a happy Tuesday to you all!! I am going to write a quick update here before work begins…because this weekend has been quite a whirlwind, not at all the “free and relaxing” weekend I thought it was going to be! Well, it was a beautiful three day weekend but somehow I found a way to cram many many things into it. Hmm. Not one quiet night, what has become of me!!? Anyways! Friday night, had a fun time going to Torchy’s with Angela and John and having some good catch-up time with them(and delicious tacos, natch!) Saturday morning…somehow I got the brilliant idea that I needed to run since it’d been a while. So I got up uber early(to beat the heat, etc. Oh Houston) and ran my long run(10 mi). After I was halfway through, body was feeling great and so I was thinking I might push it to 13…but sadly my lack of hydration caught up with me about the 8 mile mark and so I most struggled those last couple miles. I decided not to be foolish and just finished my normal run. Anyway, once I hydrated, I felt great(albeit quite sore rest of day. And day after. And day after…) and I got to enjoy a nice coffee and reading morning at home. Eventually I went out, did various errands that needed doing(and buying books for people in Aberdeen, hurrah! I shall not name them here, just in case they’re reading this. Which is probably doubtful). Then I popped over to Starbucks for some online and writing time(which was very unsuccessful – I’m struggling with current story sadly). At this point, it was about 2pm and I realised I was very faint and dizzy and getting a headache. I wondered why. And then I remembered that I had sort of forgotten to eat anything all day. Even after my run. Oops? So I went to Trader Joe’s, got some hatch chile mac’n’cheese(which was quite good!) and then ate that at home while watching college football(which has returned! Houston beat Oklahoma and Texas A&M beat UCLA and Texas beat ND…so all is well in the state of Texas today).

And wow, this entry is a bit ridiculous – I am rambling overmuch and I would apologise, but I’m not done yet. I shall try to quicken the pace though, as I do need to start work soon. So where was I? Saturday? Oh yes. Right. So, after watching a bit of college football, I had plans with Jared to hang out and watch a movie at my place. Sadly, he had to cancel because of some family plans that came up…but since I have awesome friends that invited me to something else(thanks Lea and Marianna!), my evening did not go wasted. Went to the Miller Outdoor Theatre and enjoyed some quality baroque music and some even more quality conversation with the aforementioned Lea and Marianna. I got home at some point and promptly fell into bed. Sunday! Sunday was the day of days. Church(which was marvelous and encouraging and God exalting!), then missions prayer time, then had some good sushi with Jonathan and Julian for lunch. Afterwards when I was back at my place, invited Julie over for tea and reading time, but sadly(not really!) we got no reading done and just had a great time talking and talking and talking instead. She is such an encouraging and dear friend! After that…Jared came over and we had some dinner and watched the Texas-ND game(instead of movie, because who needs a movie when you have football?). And unsurprisingly, while we watched the game, the best part was just talking about life. And thus ended my Sunday, in which I got approximately one hour to myself. And I am not complaining one bit.

And…er, I really need to cut this off here, even though I haven’t even talked about yesterday(Labor Day) yet. Oh well – just know that it was good and God blessed. As always. I must simply praise my God for always blessing me oh so much. Of course, there are some parts of life that are sorrowful and so we must grieve. But when I am enjoying life, I must recognize that it is God my Father who has blessed me so – and I thank Him and Him alone.

This morning, I heartily enjoyed listening to my newest mix CD…it is maybe my best yet. It is all hymns(do not laugh!) and it is beautiful. It is very unoriginally entitled HymnSing and it contains pretty much all my favourite hymns. Singing them in the car this morning as I thought about the love of God…oh what tears, oh what joy. When someday God grants that I may return to Him(oh come that day!), I do hope that some of these songs are sung. Oh how wondrous it is, to think that the blood of Jesus has paid for all my sins. That is my theme, my song. I will at some point post the track-list, but now I shall simply end this very very long entry(my apologies, dear friends) and leave you with this…

Soul, then know thy full salvation
Rise o’er sin and fear and care
Joy to find in every station,
Something still to do or bear.
Think what Spirit dwells within thee,
Think what Father’s smiles are thine,
Think that Jesus died to win thee,
Child of heaven, canst thou repine?

Neon Haze

James HoganLeave a comment

Morning, all!! Quick update time. It’s a wonderfully sticky Monday morning here in Houston and as the day slowly lightens, thought I’d let you know what I’ve been up to lately as I sip on my peppermint mocha…

In actuality, this weekend was a nice and calm one, which I appreciated much. Friday night, went with Sammy to a random church’s young adult group meeting, where he was engaged to preach. He was much blessed by God and preached mightily on 2 Samuel 11 and the effects sin has on us. Powerful, convicting and encouraging – God be praised! Saturday, I got many random errands done, then went to Natalie and Andrew’s engagement/wedding party in the afternoon, where it was awesome to celebrate their soon marriage!! Sunday was church and afterwards, I went straight home and did various household chores before finally sitting down and having my dinner of leftover lasagna and a tomato salad. And…with my dinner, watched Return of the King. It’d been far too long. And even more fun was me and Maryanne watched it in sync, so we got to text each other random comments back and forth as we watched. Fun times…just wished we lived closer so we could watch in person!!! Alas. Oh! I also was much engaged in writing yesterday afternoon…got a powerful urge to put a story to paper, even though I am now doubting my literary powers and ability to do the themes of this story justice. I’m about 2200 words in and halfway done, but it is most rough so far and I am unsure whether it will get to where it needs to be. We shall see. I need to fly now, but shall leave you the opening…sorry to be such a tease. Love you all, my friends!!

A window stained, spattered with raindrops and grim in both general aura and appearance. Thunder rumbled in the far off distance and the harsh neon lights glared into the window, through the rain streaked plastic and into the cramped room. The room, mean in appearance and dim lit with a single lamp beside the bed, had a singularly utilitarian appearance. A bed, a sink and a mirror. Nothing more, nothing less. Nothing more was needed. Nothing less was used.

A Note

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Hello friends…and happy Monday!! I don’t have time to write long, but thought I should dash down a few words here, even though I can’t properly chronicle the weekend! Alas. Still, a good one was had(even though I was busy every night and didn’t quite get in a relaxing rest night like I had planned!) Still, I can only thank and bless my God for all His goodness, for all His love. I was able to sing praises to my God in a hymn-sing that John put on, Friday night…oh so joyous!! And then dinner and good chat with new friends(plus John!). Saturday involved a quality coffee morning and many more conversations at the Maresh’s, followed by watching the new Jason Bourne movie with Julie(it was a good movie…but definitely not up to the standards of the previous three. Oh well. Still awesome seeing Matt Damon be amazing on the big screen!!) Then I had a craving for lasagna so of course…had to go home and make that for dinner!! Julie came over to help me eat it and we watched so many good Olympics events(and had some good chat interspersed!). Saturday night was an excellent Olympics night…Mo Farah taking the gold(again!!) in the 10k – so thrilling, especially as I remembered watching it from my Calsayseat flat four years ago!! – then Michael Phelps dominating in the pool one last time…Sunday, many more fun things happened, but I simply don’t have the time to write about them now!! Sorry for this poorly constructed, somewhat rambling entry, but just wanted to write these things down so that I always point back to them and…remember the goodness of the Lord. Be well, my friends – take courage and live today for the glory of our God and Father!!