Tag: god

James HoganLeave a comment

So just got back from a sweet weekend in Tampa!!! Admittedly, it was bracketed by crazy car adventures(car breaking down in rain + impending flight + me hitchhiking to airport + car being impounded = just a little stress and anxiety. I do NOT like allowing myself to be overwhelmed by worry or uncertainty, but this weekend cut it a little close. But now I have regained my car and I *believe* it’s fixed, bar a slightly alarming rattle in my compressor flywheel. And I have been affirmed in my conviction that I have two of the most awesome friends in the world…Alex driving to check for my car on the beltway at 3 in the morning…and Will helping me rescue and fix my car today. I gotta say, I feel so blessed to know that I have friends who have my back! God is good, INDEED. And thus ends the longest parenthetical thought of all time.), and now I have totally lost my train of thought. *scans back to top of parentheses* Ah yes. The weekend of Tampa and family awesomeness!! Full of the *whole* family together again and taking naps on the couch and late night talks with the sisters and lasagna of amazing awesomeness and Spades tournament with the fam and just loving my family!!! And of course, I did see some other people(including Dream and David, enjoying delicious ice cream and more delicious conversation! And I got to have lunch at Steve and Vickie’s, enjoying hamburgers and beans and encouraging words. And I got my Christmas(ok, a little late) present from them – this awesome handmade blown-glass alligator head. It is AMAZING. If you are in Houston, come over and you can see it. And Gary and Janet came over on Sunday night and again, I am constantly reassured of the amazing blessings of the LORD in the people he surrounds me with. Ah it is too much for someone as silly as I!!) And seriously, these parentheses have got to stop! I am henceforth banning myself from using them for…the rest of this entry.

I have now decided it’s time for dinner. And I’m binging on Snow Patrol on the moment, and I’m not quite sure if that’s a good thing or not. It’s chill enough to be relaxing, but romance-tinged enough to be slightly dangerous to the emotions. Like I’ve said before, music can be a most wonderful and perilous creation!

And now I take my leave. Before I do though, let me share what has been most encouraging these past few days:

Therefore humble yourselves
under the mighty hand of God,
that He may exalt you at the proper time,
casting all our anxiety on Him,
because He cares for you.
1 Peter 5:6-7

He cares for you. How awesome is that?

Peace be to you all!

James HoganLeave a comment

Well, I wanted to post a nice long entry, but alas, I am leaving for a camping trip in less than twenty minutes! I was enjoying my coffee and bacon and buried in reading and…well, sort of lost track of time. And now it’s past 12:30. Oops. Well, suffice it to say that this past week has been pretty ridiculous(and I really want to post an entry soon detailing my adventures in California with Katharyn!) and this weekend is set to be pretty spectacular! Because finally, I will be hiking in the wilds of Texas. When(if) I return, I’ll let you all know what the wilderness of Texas is like. And now, on to the meat of this post…I was going to post this in my other(theological/serious/one-I-never-post-in) blog, but thought that I may as well post it here.

And so today, on the day that we remember as the day that Christ died for us, what do we say? Can we say truly that as Christ died, so we died to sin? Can we say that as Christ lived, we live His life by His Holy Spirit? Sometimes it is so hard to live in this lost world – it yet spins, but groans with every revolution, awaiting with eagerness the return of the King. And as we live in this world, we remember that we are to live renouncing the things hidden because of shame(2 Cor 4:2) and to live by the grace so abundantly given to us by our God the Father! And now, for what do we wait? Our hope is in the LORD!(Psalm 39:7). Let us live with the passion of Christ, forsaking the beguiling pleasures of this world and cling to the feet of Jesus! Let us live with the sorrow of Christ, weeping over the desolation of those who know Him not!(Matt. 24:37-39) Let us live with Christ!! And indeed, we do, because Christ died that we may yet live. He, who knew no sin, died that we may know the righteousness of God. He, who committed no sin, died with the sins of the world upon his shoulders that we may be freed from the bondage of hell! He, who was the perfect and spotless Lamb, was slain by His Father that we may be priests forever, to our LORD and God! Christ alone is our righteousness! Christ alone is our passion! To Him be all the glory and all majesty and all power and authority, from now to the day of eternity! May we look to the heavens and see Him standing at the right Hand of the Almighty, robed in glory and power!! As we groan and falter in this bleeding world, let us look into the Holy of Holies and see the very Son of God! As the wrath of God was poured upon Jesus, so the treasuries of heaven were poured upon us! Our lives were bought with a price, the very blood of Christ. And so we love Him. Because He first loved us!!!!!

James HoganLeave a comment

And I saw heaven opened, and
behold, a white horse, and He who sat
on it is called Faithful and True, and
in righteousness He judges and wages
war. His eyes are a flame of fire,
and on His head are many diadems;
and He has a name written on Him
which no one knows except Himself.
He is clothed with a robe dipped in
blood, and His name is called The
Word of God. And the armies which
are in heaven, clothed in fine linen,
white and clean, were following Him
on white horses. From His mouth
comes a sharp sword, so that with it He
may strike down the nations, and He
will rule them with a rod of iron; and
He treads the wine press of the fierce
wrath of God, the Almighty. And on
His robe and on His thigh He has a
name written, “KING OF KINGS,
AND LORD OF LORDS.”

-Revelation 19:11-16

I was walking to the gym after work today and a storm was coming. As I walked, I was singing to myself a song from my church in Tampa, a song directly from the verses I quoted above…and as I got to the part, “His name is called The Word of God…”, at that very moment, lightning flashed down in every direction around me…and the thunder built to a glorious crescendo, punctuating the beauty of the storm. I stood struck with awe. And I was reminded(why do we forget!!) of the power and righteousness and mercy and perfection and glory and holiness and love and justice and compassion of the Almighty.

How great is the LORD!!!!

James HoganLeave a comment

Thanksgiving…what a wonderful day!

It’s getting late now, so I don’t have time for a long entry. And I should probably clarify that by saying it’s late for my house(definitely not late by college standards!) Anyway, I’ve had a long, relaxing, fun filled day…

And I realized I haven’t posted in here in so long – I have been rather busy lately with exams, homework, projects and all, so pardon the lack of updates. I do have some stuff I wish I could write more about, but alas, it’s not to be. One of the more fun weekends lately I went up to South Carolina with Rob, Ryan, Brandon and Stephanie for the Gators game(my first away game I’ve been to!) and to visit James Walden and his family…such a great weekend! And we dominated, which made it even better. Speaking of great games, after the Gators/Noles game on Saturday, I’m going to come back to Tampa on Saturday night because on Sunday I’m going to the Redskins/Bucs game!!! I am SO excited!!! It’s going to be my first ever pro game, and thus my first ever Redskins game! It’s going to be a blast, even if it’s not as exciting as college games…

Anyways, I’ve been pretty stressed lately with all my classes…this semester I’ve had a pretty big workload. Hopefully I’ll get some A’s, but this is my first semester that I don’t have any “sure A’s” at this point in the semester. I had a rough four-hour programming exam Monday night(my computer died in the middle of it! I need to either get it fixed or get a new computer…can’t have it affecting my grade like that) and then a 2 hour Microprocessor lab exam the next morning at 7:30. And that’s just some of it. It’s just good to see the light at the end of the tunnel…and God is keeping me strong through it all.

And this has now become less of a Thanksgiving entry and more of an update entry! Which I guess isn’t a bad thing, but this entry was SUPPOSED to be about Thanksgiving! So basically today, I watched a few marketing lectures in the morning(yeah, it had to be done…) and then we all went over to the Phelps for Thanksgiving dinner! Steve’s parents were there, but Katharyn was missing, so that was sad. But she’ll be back for Christmas! Anyway, I had a great time relaxing, talking to the Phelps, watching some football(with Miracle of 34th Street thrown in during commercials) and of course…eating. I think I actually didn’t eat as much as during Thanksgivings past, but it was a marvelous feast! Turkey, potatoes, dressing, asparagus, and PIES. Lots and lots of pies. I had a piece of cherry pie, a piece of apple pie, a piece of pumpkin pie and a small piece of pecan pie…yes, it was amazing. But the best part of the day was just being with people I love and knowing we are all thankful for each other and God’s love and what He has done for us. What a wonderful treasure that is!!

I really should end this entry soon, or I may have to put it under a cut…nah. I’ve just been super-thankful lately, despite some trials I’ve gone through lately, God has uplifted me when I’ve been down and reminded me of His graces when I’ve been cheerful. While I still wonder about the future and what God has for me, He’s given me more of a peace and I am truly grateful for that. And since I do want to end this soon, I’ll say one more thing and just say that to all my friends that are reading this, I’m also so thankful to all of you that love me despite all my shortcomings…friends are a wonderful thing. Hope you all have had a wonderful Thanksgiving – God bless you all!!