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It’s Been a Long Journey, But…

December 22, 2011 in Personal Stuff, Thoughts with 0 Comments

It’s been a long journey, but last month I hit a “milestone” in my own blogging experience. I reached the 1,000 posts mark.  When I began blogging almost five years ago, I’m not sure if I had any idea what I was doing or where I was headed with this blog thing (sometimes I wonder if I have a better grasp now), but it has become a part of my life.  Over the last few days I’ve been doing some restructuring and redesigning on my blog which has forced me to carefully examine some of the deeper issues relating to the blogging experience.  The evaluation of my blog has been healthy and ultimately brought me to two conclusions as I move into the New Year (2012).

First, I have a strong desire for people to read and understand the Bible. As of this writing, I have completed my journey through the New Testament and also the first seven books of the Old Testament.  I hope to finish the rest of the Old Testament in the next 2-3 years.  In my restructuring of the blog, I tried to make it easier for people to locate each book of the Bible on the left column as well as adding search capabilities at the very top of that same column.  You can also download a FREE pdf file of each book of the Bible I’ve completed by clicking on the Downloads tab.  In an effort to get you updated content as I publish it, you can receive every new post (about 5-6 times a week) in your email by subscribing here or if you use a feed reader you can subscribe to my feed by clicking here.

Second, I enjoy taking everyday circumstances and making a spiritual application.  Since I also enjoy laughing at myself, you will probably find regular, humorous stories with a twist at the end.  In my redesign, I tried to make those stories more visible so I added a Stories About My Life tab in the navigation menu.

If you have made it to the end of this post, muchas gracias.  I love writing and I thank you for reading.  If you have any ideas or suggestions, feel free to leave a comment or send me a message through Facebook or Twitter.

Ever Feel Like This?

May 9, 2011 in Disappointment, Personal Stuff, Thoughts with 0 Comments

Over the last couple weeks, I have felt a little off.  My desire to pray hasn’t been there.  Reading God’s Word has not been a priority.  In a few areas I’ve even noticed some apathy creeping up.  I know.  I know.  I’m a pastor and these things aren’t supposed to happen.  Right?  I’m human.  I struggle.  Although I remain an optimistic person, I still find myself struggling with feelings of dissatisfaction with myself as a father, husband, friend, and pastor.  It’s hard to even identify the source of the feelings or when they began, but I’ve recognized these emotions more in the last few years.  Maybe it’s age.  Maybe it’s an unhealthy view of success.  Maybe it’s a part of growing as a person.  Maybe it’s all of these things.  I’m not sure.

Some of you can relate.  You are in the same place right now or have been there.  You feel out of control.  You feel unwanted apathy.  You feel discouraged.  You feel neglected.  You feel unsatisfied.

Even when you overcome one struggle, it only opens the door for another.

I’m convinced that there is no special formula for ridding ourselves from these emotions; however, if handled properly these feelings can actually propel us forward.

Sometimes moving forward begins with stepping back.  I believe I’m in a place right now where I need to step back.  I know I cannot handle these feelings on my own.  I need help.  When I realize I need help, I am ready to receive help.  When I’m ready to receive help, God is free to do His work without me getting in the way.

Struggles provide an opportunity for a greater dependence on God.

The Next 30 Days of My Life

January 10, 2011 in Personal Stuff, Relationship with God, Spiritual Disciplines, Thoughts with 6 Comments

Today I am beginning a 30 day trek through the New Testament using YouVersion’s New Thru 30 reading plan.  I’m pretty excited about it.  In my opinion, there are very few things as exciting as reading Scripture and allowing God to change me.  Although I’m not always the best at obeying what I read, I know that God is patiently working in my life.  On this particular read through of the New Testament, I’ll be paying special attention to the character and attitudes of Jesus (and His apostles) and how I can develop those same characteristics in my own life.  I’m looking to James 1:25 for inspiration, “But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.”  My prayer is that I will respond with obedience to what God is teaching me.

I’d also like to take this chance to invite you to join me in reading through the New Testament in the next 30 days. It’s not too late to start and I believe YOU CAN DO IT.  YouVersion has provided some incredible resources to help you succeed in reading your Bible.  They have provided FREE tools to get the Bible into your hands regardless of your location.  You can read a little about YouVersion’s Bible apps by clicking here.

If you are taking this challenge, let me know in the comments so I can pray for you as you journey through God’s Word.  I promise to pray for you by name and I hope you will do the same for me.

As you are trekking through the New Testament, you may discover that you need some help with certain passages, so I’ve provided a link to download my personal study guides through every book of the New Testament.  You can also use the Google Custom Search box on this site to locate my thoughts on any passage of Scripture in the New Testament.

My 2011 Resolutions Revealed

December 31, 2010 in Personal Stuff, Thoughts with 4 Comments

I love a new year because it gives me an excuse to start over.  This year I am tackling 4 resolutions and I’ve decided to let you in on them so you can keep me accountable.  But before I do, here are a couple verses that give me hope when considering each new day (or year).

“Yet I still dare to hope when I remember this: The faithful love of the Lord never ends!  His mercies never cease.  Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning.” (Lamentations 3:21-23)

I hope you will take this beginning of a new year to establish some new routines and goals that will move you closer to the person God is attempting to form.

Resolution #1:

Read through the New Testament in 30 Days (beginning Monday, January 10)

Action Steps:

Resolution #2:

Get more quality and quantity time with my family

Actions Steps:

  • Limit phone calls, emails, and social media during the hours of 5:00-8:30pm weekdays
  • Continue to use Friday nights for family night
  • Invest more time helping my family in personal, spiritual growth

Resolution #3:

Lose 15 lbs. in the first 90 days of the year (a little over 1 lb. a week)

Action Steps:

  • Track daily calories intake through Lose It! app and loseit.com
  • 30-40 minute workout everyday at Planet Fitness
  • Switch to eating orange sherbet instead of ice cream
  • Cut out sweet tea and drink water

Resolution #4:

Spend more time writing on my blog in order to provide others with more insight into the Bible

Action Steps:

  • End the year with at least 250 blog posts (which would put me over 1,000 for all time)
  • Finish blogging through the first five books of the Old Testament
  • Have 100,000 pageviews this year

Anyone want to share your resolutions?

My Best (Blogging) Moments of 2010

December 30, 2010 in Personal Stuff, Random Thinking, Shameless Self Promotion, Thoughts with 2 Comments

I’ve been on a blogging hiatus for the last two weeks of 2010.  It has been nice to take a break, but I have really missed it.  Writing is something I have always loved from a very young age when I tried my hand at writing scripts and making my two younger brothers/neighborhood kids perform them.  I’m going to recap the happenings/best moments of this blog over the last 12 months and I hope to take it to the next level in 2011.

I took the first 90 days of the year off from blogging in order to accomplish two things: read through the entire Bible in 90 days and lose some weight.  You can read the results here.  Later in the year, I wrote a little more detail concerning my weight loss.  You can read those posts here and here.

After finishing these two goals for 2010, I eased backed into blogging and only posted 60 entries through August when I decided to change my blog from Blogspot to WordPress.  Although it was a pain and a bit of a learning experience, I’m glad I made the switch.  You can read my thoughts regarding this here.  Since making the transition to WordPress in August, this site has welcomed nearly 23,000 visitors and has had close to 34,000 pageviews.  Most of the people arrive here looking for insights into Scripture.

This year was also a big milestone on this blog because I finally finished blogging through the New Testament.  To celebrate, I gave away a study Bible and you can read about that event here.  When blogging through the New Testament was completed, I debated whether I should begin blogging through the Old Testament; after all, it took me nearly 3 1/2 years to finish.  I decided to tackle it and I am already halfway through Genesis.  Follow my progress here.  Slow and steady wins the race.

I’m in the midst of revamping my blog for 2011 so look for a focus on content and maybe even some new features.  I’d like to take this chance to thank you for reading.  If you didn’t read, I wouldn’t write…at least I don’t think so.

Video Blog – Things You Should Know About My Past

October 5, 2010 in Failure, Forgiveness, Guilt, Life, Personal Stuff, Sin, Thoughts, Video Blog, Weakness with 0 Comments

Yesterday, I wrote about dealing with your past. If you didn’t get a chance to read my post, you can get a little video preview here and if you would like to read the original post, you can read that here. Forgive my first attempt at a video blog, but I’m trying a few new things here. Enjoy your day!

Things You Should Know About My Past from Tom Hogsed on Vimeo.

Things You Should Know About My Past

October 4, 2010 in Failure, Forgiveness, God, Guilt, Life, Personal Stuff, Relationship with God, Sin, Thoughts, Weakness with 12 Comments

Letting go of the past is, well, not so easy.  Looking back over my life, I could list numerous regrets and sins which I would be ashamed to admit; in fact, some of those things have been hard to release from memory.  Although I have sought God’s forgiveness from my past sins, I still find it complicated to forgive myself.  How could I be so stupid?  Why did I let that area slip?  I knew better.  This morning as I was sitting down to pray and study for my Sunday message at The Summit, something from my past popped into my head out of nowhere.  At first I wondered, “Where did that come from?”  In that moment, I began an honest prayer to God and claimed His forgiveness. I know God had already forgiven me, but all the memories flooded my mind again.  Through the years, especially when regret plagues my soul, I have often reminded myself that the past changes for no one.  The page has been turned.  Yesterday is out of reach.

If your past cannot be altered, why have you been so consumed with it?  Don’t get me wrong, I understand that sin brings consequences, but does God really desire for you to live in a continual state of regret for things you cannot change?  I really do not think so.  Once you have turned from sin (repented) and received God’s forgiveness, you must release the sin.  Isaiah wrote concerning this very topic, “All of us, like sheep, have strayed away.  We have left God’s paths to follow our own.  Yet the Lord laid on him the sins of us all” (Isaiah 53:6).

Listen, you have done some terribly stupid things in the past.  So have I.  God knew you would break His commandments and sometimes stray away from Him, so He took drastic measures 2,000 years ago when He treated His own Son, Jesus, as if He had committed those sins you actually committed.  Those very sins which have consumed your life, have been shouldered by Jesus Christ.  He shouldered that divorce.  He shouldered that lie.  He shouldered your perversion.  He shouldered your secret sin.  He shouldered your cheating.  He shouldered your deception.  He shouldered your failings as a parent.  He shouldered that lust.  He shouldered that bitterness.

There are a few things you should know about my past, but thankfully my past has been erased.

Nerdy Stuff and Heartfelt Words

October 3, 2010 in Personal Stuff, Shameless Self Promotion, Thoughts, Unspecific Ramblings with 0 Comments

September was a huge month for me.  At the end of August, I transitioned from a Blogger hosted site to a self-hosted WordPress site.  Since April 2007 I had been writing posts at my Blogger site and was very hesitant about attempting to transition over 600 posts to a new location as well as learn WordPress.  However, a month with WordPress has convinced me that I made the best decision.  As a side note, I discovered that choosing a good theme is extremely important to WordPress and I must say that choosing the Standard Theme was the absolute, right choice for me.  If you are looking for a top quality, but simple theme to use, Standard is awesome!

One of my other worries was losing all my previous comments (even though many of you leave them on Facebook), google links, and readers, but although I lost all my comments and google links, September brought record traffic to my blog.  Nearly 7,000 people stopped by during the month of September and I have gained many new friends/readers.

That was the nerdy part, but I also wanted to give you some words from my heart.

I say all that to say this…thank you for taking the time to read my blog.  I write with you in mind and my goal is to help you take small steps in your faith.  I believe in the power of words.  If I didn’t, I would stop writing.  Thank you a million times over for reading.  If you have any ideas or things you would like me to write about, feel free to send me a message.

The Posts YOU Read Most in September 2010:

What Happened on This Date?

September 24, 2010 in Celebration, Family, Personal Stuff, The Church, The Summit in Green, Thoughts, Unspecific Ramblings with 1 Comment

This weekend will mark my twelfth year working at Canton Baptist Temple.  Looking back through the years, I have learned so much about myself, others, church, and my relationship with God.  There have been many good times and numerous struggles, but I don’t regret one moment.  Even though my wife never planned on marrying  a pastor (I wooed her), I believe she has been everything I could have ever wanted and we have shared countless memories of our experience at CBT and, now, The Summit in Green.  Sometimes I think people like her better than me!  I cannot say enough good things about my two kids.  I hope they know how proud I am of them.  I hope they are proud of me.

I would like to thank all of you who have become our friends and have allowed us to share in your lives.  I pray that God would continue to use all of us to reach out to people who are far from God so that they can experience hope, the forgiveness of God, and a changed life.  I know that God has something special in store for our future!

My Story of Weight Loss

September 21, 2010 in Determination, Leadership, Life, Motivation, Personal Stuff, Random Thinking, Thoughts, Transformation with 2 Comments

Yesterday, I wrote about the Secret to Weight Loss (and more) in a blog post and today I wanted to share a little of my story regarding the statement, “make daily decisions consistent with your future, desired result.”  I’m a firm believer in the power of faithfulness, hard work, and patience in many areas, but over the past few years I began to ignore my health.  My motto was, ” You only live once so why not enjoy it.”  Exercise and eating in moderation were not high on my list of priorities.  I slowly gained about 40 pounds  over the course of 11 years.  Although the extra weight bothered me, I continued to ignore it.  At the end of last year, I determined to change my overall health and made a new year resolution to lose 20 pounds by the end of March 2010.  The first few weeks of counting EVERY calorie and exercising 30 minutes daily was a shock to my system.  My body didn’t like it, but I kept telling myself that I wouldn’t quit.  By the end of March, I had reached my goal and I genuinely felt better in many areas; in fact, exercise and eating better has become a new habit.

I learned a lot about myself and the value of faithfulness, hard work, and patience during the first 90 days of this year and I wanted to share a few of those things.  Although these principles are related to my weight loss, I believe they can apply in numerous areas.  So, here is what I learned.

  1. Set goals that are challenging, but attainable. Although I needed to lose 30-35 pounds, I started with losing 20.  Also, I kept the time period short so I wouldn’t become frustrated by the length of time.
  2. Stay committed even when progress is slow. There was a period of 2 weeks right in the middle of the 90 days when I didn’t lose a pound.  Quitting was not an option.
  3. Set short term goals, but keep the end result in mind. Again, I wanted to lose 20 pounds so instead of striving to lose 20 pounds, I reminded myself that I needed to lose just a little more than a pound a week.  I celebrated those small victories, but kept my end result in view.
  4. Enlist someone to hold you accountable in your endeavor. My wife was a huge help.  She really encouraged me along the way.
  5. I can sometimes accomplish more than I think I can. At first, I wasn’t sure if I could lose the weight, but now I know I can.  This means that the next time a challenge comes my way, I have the confidence that I can do it.

I really hope this helps!

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