Tag: faith

Little Children

James HoganLeave a comment

How lovely it is to know and be known by God. This morning I rest in Him, knowing that I am safe and secure in His care, knowing that my future is bright beyond all imagining. And I do not count my future bright because I tabulate up the money or prestige that may one day be mine, nor because I consider all the love that comes my way from those whom I love deeply. Nay, I count my future bright because I look forward with sure hope that I shall one day be sitting in the presence of my God and for all eternity be living in perfect harmony with Him. This eternal life is my hope and my song all the day long. And I do not say it is my hope because of the length of life – if eternity can be defined in length – and the absence of death. That would not be enough. I could not count eternal life my supreme good if this life did not consist in communion with God. Of course, absence of fellowship with God could not in actuality be called life at all. It would be something far worse.

So I circle back and say that this eternal life to which I pin all my hopes and dreams – in realistic fashion since they are based on that real life which was pinned to that real tree oh so many years ago – is a life that fills my heart with song since I know this life will be me sitting at the feet of my Lord in bliss and endless joy. The Spirit within me sings this song and it knows this song since it was the song that it is has written. I know this song because I know the love that my Father has bestowed upon me calling me his very child! Oh such I am! And I know my Father because I know His Son who sweetly calls me every day into deeper fuller communion with Himself in the most perfect symphony of love and grace and sovereign compassion. I know this symphony that I now shakingly lift my voice to sing a minor part because I know Jesus Christ. He is my Shepherd that calls my name and bids me walk along this eternal path towards my home that has been prepared for me. Jesus is the bread that I take and eat in awestruck love knowing what it means that He died for me. Jesus Jesus is my song for now and for all eternity.

A cup of chocolate

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And a brief few words from me before I dive into my lovely Thursday night reading. Just had a good meal of leftover pork chops, potatoes and green beans and now enjoying my hot chocolate as John watches the football(Man U vs. Ajax, 1-1, 49th minute for anyone interested!). Had yet another crazy day at work, but I cannot complain when I am so abundantly blessed!! Last night had a beyond lovely time at church(still going through Revelation – the letter to the church at Sardis – oh so convicting and yet I loved it so) being encouraged by the Word of God and being encouraged by His people. May all of us become ever more driven by the passion to know our Lord more and to seek after Jesus and to gaze into His glorious face! May our hearts burn ever hotter and may our lives glow ever brighter with the Spirit that is poured out upon us so mightily. May we be so washed in the love of Christ and so aware of His beauty that we cannot help but follow after Him in the sheer bliss of being His. Oh inexpressible joy!

And I totally didn’t mean to spiral into such an outpouring…but thus goes my heart.

And going back to last night…after such an amazing time at church, came home, but did I do the sensible thing of eating dinner and going to bed? Of course not. Instead I walked the sidewalks near my flat as I conversed with my dear friend back in Florida…ah how sweet an evening it was! And though I never did get dinner last night, it was all worth it.

And now, with my brief words said, it’s reading time. And maybe time for another cup of cocoa.

Love you all, ever so much.

Peace.

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.

Men of Valor

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From the Gadites there came over to David in the wilderness, mighty men of valor, men trained for war, who could handle shield and spear, and whose faces were like the faces of lions, and they were as swift as the gazelles on the mountains…

Seriously epic verse, no? I’m not actually sure why I posted that, but I just love finding random awesome verses like that. (1 Chronicles 12:8, if anyone’s wondering) And while there’s nothing particularly “spiritual” in that verse…well, my heart can’t help but be lifted up and inspired to be such a man of valor as they. Maybe I’m not equipped with shield and spear or I’m not actually as fast as a gazelle(seriously – those guys were beasts!!)…but may I serve my God with such a dedication as they. Sometimes we are too lax in our service to our God…comfortable in our nice warm homes in our luxurious cities. Not too many of us willfully choose to make ourselves uncomfortable by charging into the wilderness. Not often do we give up all that we have to serve our Savior. I just pray that as blessed as we are to live such comfortable lives, we give thanks to our God continually! And that we never seek our own pleasure or glory before that of our most awesome Father. Amen? Amen.

Also, may we constantly seek after our Lord’s face and delight in His Word to us! Let’s stop continually indulging in the things of this world…and instead rest in the quiet peace of knowing Jesus Christ. Take a moment away from thinking on the whirlwind that is this world and think upon the things of God. Rest in his glory. Rest in his love.

And now, as always, I leave you with mine.

Peace and love.

Scent of Roses

James HoganLeave a comment

And as I think of writing a few lines here…I sign in happiness, relaxing at home in Tampa!! The cool Florida sea-breezes are blowing through the house and I smell lunch(hash – fried beef, potatoes, onions and carrots, mmmmm…) on the stove and I’m chilling here with Dad…yep it’s a good day!! Just had a sweet few minutes outside in the glorious Florida sunshine, watering the roses and digging in the garden a bit.

But no, getting home wasn’t that easy. After a somewhat over-adventuresome journey home(missed my connecting flight in Amsterdam, barely got on the next flight to Detroit, then snagged the last seat – first class, yo – on the Detroit-Tampa flight to arrive home some five hours later than I’d planned. And without my luggage. But I’m here home now and all is well!! Oh how wonderful it is to relax with Dad, Mom and Katharyn and enjoy this lovely vacation!

Yesterday was Dad’s 58th birthday!! So of course we celebrated in classic Hogan-style, complete with Pizza Hut and a few episodes of ’24’. How we do it! Dad and I finished up the evening watching the Oklahoma State(ranked #2) vs. Iowa State game…went down to 2OT with Iowa State pulling off the massive upset, complete with the field being rushed! A good birthday present to my dad, I’ll say! (Yes, Iowa State alumnus)

And now lunch smells almost complete – and how can I spend too much time on the computer when I can spend it with the fam here! – so I think I’ll be away. Before I do…some sweet verses I read this morning…(actually I would love to quote verbatim Psalms 37 and 38 in their entirety, but I’ll spare you)

Delight yourself in the LORD, and He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD, trust also in Him, and He will do it. He will bring forth your righteousness as the light and your judgement as the noonday.
-Ps. 37:4-6

Oh glorious verses! How I long to follow my God in all that I do – and for Him to bring forth righteousness in me as the rising sun! Oh bliss.

And I’m really off now. Love y’all.

Swallowed in the sea

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Well, I *was* going to go to bed freakishly early tonight(say, around 9pm!!), but as happens many a night, I got distracted by a good book. Oops. I really should keep the books further from my bed.

Anyways, reading in “The Glory of Christ” by John Owen…and I got to say, as much of a struggle it sometimes is to wade through his gorgeously intricate paragraphs, it’s so worth it. Any of you that own this(hey, I can’t be the only one!) needs to read the last few pages of Chapter 10…amazingly beautiful. I don’t quote from books often here, but…

The due remembrance of what the blessed Lord Jesus hath done for us, of the ineffable love which was the spring, cause and fountain of what he so did – thoughts of the mercy, grace, peace and glory which he hath procured thereby – are the great and unconquerable motives to fix our faith, hope, trust and confidence in him.

His divine nature is the ground and warranty for our so doing. This is that from whence he is the due and proper object of all divine faith and worship. From the power and virtue thereof do we expect and receive all those things which in our believing on him we seek after; for none but God can bestow them on us, or work them in us. There is in all the actings of our faith on him, the voice of the confession of Thomas, “My Lord and my God.”

Oh lovely.

And I could go on quoting..but I shall refrain. For now!

Oh but… just thinking about another one of my favs…

In this is love, not that we loved God, but that
He loved us and sent His Son to be the
propitiation for our sins.

And from this amazing truth does our love spring!

Adrift in raging seas
and lost in the maelstrom of silence
and seized in the chains of the poets
and drowning in rainbows.

Drowning yet grasping and
gasping and hoping and
praying and trying and
living yet dying.

Until there came a light,
the light that was a man
the man that was a lord
Our Lord and our God!

So no longer do we writhe,
and no longer do we write,
but still, but still, we sigh
in love, for love, divine.

Have a most glorious night, y’all!!

Moonlight Rising

James HoganLeave a comment

So once again, no time for a long update..but relaxing with a nice mug of coffee this Sunday evening and getting ready for a sweet(and most likely hectic!) week. Had an absolutely lovely weekend – got some errands done yesterday while of course making my obligatory Starbucks visit(now frequenting a different location, so sadly not all the baristas know me yet, but Steph Smart works there, so it’s fun seeing her!) and enjoyed some quality time reading and sipping on my mocha, mmm…

Oh and before I go further, you all should also know I’ve moved flats – now a little closer to city centre, living with John Dixon(a guy from church – he’s awesome!!). It’s pretty sweet having a roommate again, been a couple years! Wow, ever since my times at Stoneridge…seems like it was yesterday and years ago, all at once. It’s not bad living on my own, but all in all, I think I prefer being with someone else! God is good, giving me such a sweet place to stay, with such an awesome guy!

And today was just as lovely as yesterday, relaxing yet more and worshiping the Lord at Gilc this morning! Pastor Dominic’s still going through 1 Timothy in the mornings. Afterwards, me and Joel chilled out at the flat before eventually going to evening service(where we heard a powerful and sobering sermon on the “sheep and the goats”, Matt. 25 – we serve a sovereign God – all glory to Him!!). Me and John are now sitting here in the lounge, trying to postpone going to bed…while I type away here, he’s watching Match of the Day(which is sort of like a compilation of all the highlights of all the football games played today). Sadly, there is no real(American!) football shown. Oh well. By the way, Gators beat Tennessee yesterday(wow, I can still remember my first Tennessee game back in ’05!!) and Redskins beat Arizona today! Go Skins!!

And now that I’ve made my way to sports news, it must be almost time for bed! I will be getting up in about six hours, so I guess sleeping would be good. Have a most lovely night, y’all!! Whoever’s reading this(unless you’re someone in the UK!), I’m sure I miss you.

Peace and love.

24

James HoganLeave a comment

So this will be a short update, for two reasons – firstly, it’s a Saturday morning, which means it’s bacon and coffee and reading time!! And secondly, because it is just gorgeous outside, and so I just can’t spend too much time inside today!! And also, I am not quite in a writing mood, but I wanted to write at least a little bit following my 24th birthday the other day!! And yes, I am now 24. What!! It is a bit odd to think that three years ago, I turned 21 as I finished up my junior year at UF, looking forward to my internship with Cameron… And now, just three years later, I’ve graduated, spent a year in Houston, and now almost a year in Scotland. Um, did I expect this? Yeah, I can safely respond ‘No’ to that. Indeed, man does plan his ways but the Lord directs his steps!! How true that is! And so I’ve lived twenty-four years of my life, and I can’t but praise God for every second of those years! King of kings and Lord of lords, He cares for me. God of the universe, He holds me tight. Messiah of this fallen world, He loves me! And so, I love Him!!!

And as my thoughts attempt to run away with themselves, I will end this before my ebullience rises to new heights.

But briefly – yes, even celebrating my birthday in Scotland(first time in a foreign country!), I had a simply magnificent day…from celebrating in the office with a double-chocolate cake(courtesy of the awesomeness of Mark Neish) to walking up to church in the gloriously sunlit and breezy afternoon to basking in the wonders of the mercies of God at bible study to chilling with dearest Steven and Anna as we watched PotC4(complete with ANOTHER chocolate cake…yeah, my friends know me too well!!) to strolling along Union Street with them and thanking my Father for friends such as them to walking home and talking to Mom and Laura and Maryanne and loving hearing their voices even as they are millions of miles away…yes, I am supremely blessed.

Ostrakinos

James HoganLeave a comment

And Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about Him spread through all the surrounding district. And He began teaching in their synagogues and was praised by all. And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up; and as was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, and stood up to read. And the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. And He opened the book and found the place where it was written,
“The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me,
Because He anointed Me to preach
The gospel to the poor.
He has sent Me to proclaim release
To the captives,
And recovery of sight to the blind,
To set free those who are oppressed,
To proclaim the favorable year of
the LORD.”
And He closed the book, gave it back to the attendant and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Him. And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

Wow. That must have simply amazing to be one of those there and hear those words from Jesus’ mouth, stating that prophecy had been fulfilled that very day and declaring Himself to be the prophesied Messiah, the Saviour of His people!! I read this passage recently and it just struck me quite strongly, how amazing a thing it was for the God of the universe to come down to this earth, to fallen ones like us. And one day, He shall come again! And this next time, He will come in all his power and might and it will be glorious!! And I feel quite humbled knowing that we have such a Saviour and such a Father and such a Mediator and such a God. And now that I have talked quite a bit, I feel like quoting some other passages that I’ve much enjoyed recently, but it would be a bit awkward to quote the whole book of Hebrews. Aw, you all don’t mind, right. Right?? Well, I will quote one of my favorite bits then:

Every priest stands daily ministering and offering time after time the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins; but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time onward until His enemies be made a footstool for His feet. For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified. And the Holy Spirit also testifies to us; for after saying,
“This is the covenant that I will
Make with them after those days,
says the LORD:
I will put My laws upon their heart,
And on their mind I will write them,”
He then says,
“And their sins and their lawless deeds
I will remember no more.”

Amazing. And…

Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

And….

I sought the LORD, and He answered me,
And delivered me from all my fears.
They looked to Him and were radiant,
And their faces will never be ashamed.
This poor man cried,
And the LORD heard him
And saved him out of all his troubles.
The angel of the LORD encamps
Around those who fear Him,
And rescues them.

O taste and see that the LORD is good;
How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!

O look to Jesus! Look to Him and be saved!!

And…I may have been carried away a tad with all the quoting(Luke 4:14-21, Hebrews 10:11-17, Hebrews 12:1-2, Psalm 34:5-8). My bad.

But I couldn’t really help it.

Sometimes I feel like I should write more of my earthy feelings and sensual emotions…but I can’t keep from writing what is on my heart and in my soul!! In the balances of eternity…all else is but rubbish. Just let me leave you with one of my all-time favs…

But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the
GLORY OF THE LORD,
are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from
the LORD, the Spirit.

Stars in the sky

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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!