Tag: Lloyd-Jones

Apples and Cinnamon

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So today will be an interesting day.  The weather conditions are advertised as being a “wintry mix”, which when hearing that – sounds delightfully pleasant right?  Wintry mix sounds to me like maybe a peppermint tea or exotic hot cocoa or something delicious that can be sipped while cosy at home during the depths of winter.  But no – this wintry mix is much more annoying – namely, very cold(probably sub-freezing) temperatures and various forms of precipitation.  Yay?  Driving here this morning, all the signs proclaimed: “ICE PREVENTION OPERATIONS AHEAD”.  At least Houston is trying, am I right!?  My one shoutout of the day goes to the woman I saw on her morning run as I drove to work.  5:45AM, 37 degrees and slight rain.  And she still went on her run.  I shake my head in admiration and shame – never am I that dedicated!!

But apart from the weather forecast, right now I’m enjoying my coffee here at work as I continue to wake up.  Thankfully I’m less sleepy than I was yesterday!  Totally slept through my alarm so had no time for breakfast or coffee…and why did I sleep in yesterday?  Well, the night before that was Julian and Kelsey’s wedding – and oh what a gorgeous wedding it was!!  I shan’t describe it all here…but their wedding was God glorifying – a simply beautiful ceremony of them affirming their marriage covenant to one another before God Himself.    And I must briefly mention the beauty of the venue itself – outdoors surrounded by the mid-winter Texas countryside.  As I stood by Julian’s side and gazed out at the setting sun, brisk air enlivening(and slightly shiver-inducing!) and fading light spirit invigorating…I had no thoughts but to thank God for blessing Julian and Kelsey so – for giving each of them to the other as partners in this beautiful, crazy, wonderful life.  All praises to the One from whom all blessings flow.  Amen.

What else can I write before it is work time?  Well I suppose I should start on my pledge for this year.  I typically enjoy reading very much(as you should know, if you know me at all), but I am very poor in recording what I’ve read.  So I’ve decided this year to keep track of each book I read.  Even re-reads(because yes, I do re-read quite a bit – and I don’t want to miss the chance to highlight good books, just because they’re not first reads).  This is a slightly perilous resolution, for several reasons.  Firstly, because I’m typically terrible at keeping on something like this, so I must be diligent at recording these, even if I have no time to write any fancy reviews.  Secondly, because…this means my reading tastes will be exposed for the whole world to see – will be a good impetus to (try to) read quality books!  For now though..here goes.  I will record the books as I finish them, so here’s my first two, which coincidentally or not I completed last night.

1. Authority by D.M. Lloyd-Jones.  This was a remarkably short book, less than 100 pages!  But I much enjoyed this adaptation of several of Lloyd-Jones sermons he gave on the subject of authority, namely – the authority of Christ, the authority of the Scripture and the authority of the Holy Spirit.  I much enjoyed this book(as I enjoy almost all of Lloyd-Jones’ writings!) and it encouraged my soul.  Oh how we should more often remember that our faith does not come from within us and is not founded on the shifting sands of our moods or the ever changing tides of the wisdom of this world…but our faith is in Christ Himself, as revealed through the external witness of the Holy Scriptures and the internal witness of the Holy Spirit.  Oh might we rejoice in this thought and take heart.  Too easily do I get discouraged by my circumstances and by the trials and tribulations I find myself in.  Let me more oft consider the God whose son I am.

2. Oathbringer by Brandon Sanderson.  This is the complete antithesis of the previous book.  Definitely not a short book – I don’t know the exact page count, but easily over 800 pages I would think.  A classic high fantasy novel.  Sanderson is truly one of my favorite authors and I think I own a higher percentage of his books than almost any other author.  I’ve also met him a few times, which adds to my liking for him.  His writing style is definitely not quite as beautiful as a Tolkien or a Rothfuss, but his world-building and action sequences are almost unparalleled.  This book is the third book in his magnum opus Stormlight Archive series and so I shan’t attempt to summarize the plot here, but I much enjoyed this book and will be definitely revisiting it in later re-reads.  I’m just sad I’ll have to wait a couple more years for the next book to come out…alas!

So there you have it – the first two books completed for 2018.  Already begun another one, will record when finished!

Have a most lovely day, dear friends – may it be a day of joy and peace.

and Thus

James HoganLeave a comment

To hunger and thirst after righteousness is nothing but the longing to be positively holy.
I cannot think of a better way of defining it. The man who hungers and thirsts after
righteousness is the man who wants to exemplify the Beatitudes in his daily life. He is a man
who wants to show the fruit of the Spirit in his every action and in the whole of his life
and activity. To hunger and thirst after righteousness is to long to be like the New Testament
man, the new man in Christ Jesus. That is what it means, that the whole of my being and the
whole of my life shall be like that. Let me go further. It means that one’s supreme desire
in life is to know God and to be in fellowship with Him, to walk with God the Father, the Son
and the Holy Spirit int he light. ‘Our fellowship’, says John, ‘is with the Father, and with
His Son Jesus Christ.’ He also says, ‘God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.’ To be
in fellowship with God means to be walking with God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit in the light,
in that blessed purity and holiness. The man who hungers and thirsts after righteousness is the man
who longs for that above everything else. And in the ends that is nothing but a longing to be like
the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. Look at Him; look at His portrait in these Gospels; look at Him
when He was here on earth in His incarnate state; look at Him in His positive obedience to God’s
holy law; look at Him in His reaction to other people, His kindness, His compassion, His sensitive
nature; look at Him in His reaction to His enemies and all that they did to Him. There is the portrait,
and you and I, according to the New Testament doctrine, have been born again and have been fashioned anew
after that pattern and image. The man, therefore, who hungers and thirsts after righteousness, is the
man who wants to be like that. His supreme desire is to be like Christ.
-D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, pp 66-67

Amen and Amen.

Day of Days

James HoganLeave a comment

Hello friends! It’s Sunday evening here and I’m enjoying my chamomile tea and a little MLJ reading and really should get ready for bed momentarily. Quickly then…just know that today was a simply wonderful day. From being at church with my brothers and sisters and worshiping God together…to having some wonderful chats with friends old and new…and then getting home today and realizing after I finished my workout that I simply could not stay indoors as it’s been gorgeous all day!! After lying by the pool and finishing Steelheart(Brandon Sanderson) – I went for a walk…then thought how nice it would be to read outside at EQ. So walked back to the flat, picked up Lord of the Rings and walked back to EQ and sat on the porch with the sun warming my face…truly, this has to be one of my favorite days of the year. Blissful. I got many chapters of LotR read(from Bree to Rivendell!) and then finally walked back home to make my salad for dinner. Now…I prepare for the upcoming week. Knowing that God is good and has set my path in front of me, I cannot wait to walk in it. Give me the strength, Lord. Give me the strength. Sometimes I feel I know not why I take the steps I do…nonetheless, I trust my God. May this week be blessed of the Lord – only for His glory. Always. Now, I take my leave. Before I do…might as well write out a few of my favorite words from my latest chapter of MLJ:

What hope is there for the world? There is none. There is no comfort for the world now. But for the Christian man
who mourns because of sin and because of the state of the world, there is this comfort – the comfort of the blessed hope,
the glory that yet remains. So that even here, though he is groaning, he is happy at the same time because of the hope
that is set before him. There is this ultimate hope in eternity. In that eternal state we shall be wholly and entirely
blessed, there will be nothing to mar life, nothing to detract from it, nothing to spoil it. Sorrow and sighing shall
be no more; all tears shall be wiped away; and we shall bask for ever and ever in the eternal sunshine, and experience
joy and bliss and glory unmixed and unspoiled. ‘Happy are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.’ How true it is.
Unless we know that, we are not Christian. If we are Christian, we do know it, this joy of sins forgiven and the knowledge
of it; the joy of reconciliation; the joy of knowing that God takes us back when we have fallen away from Him; the joy
and contemplation of the glory that is set before us; the joy that comes from anticipation of the eternal state.
-Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, page 50

Thus sings my soul.