I wish I were better at Blogging!

Matt Lollar Photography

2010-07-16T16:50:00.002+01:00

Just in case some of you don't know, I have now gone full time as a professional photographer. To view my site please go to http://www.mattlollarphotography.com and tell all your friends about me!

The Mover

2006-03-09T12:55:00.000Z

O Supreme moving Cause,
May I always be subordinate to thee,
Be Dependent upon Thee,
Be found in the path where thou dost walk,
and where thy Spirit moves,
take heed of estrangement from thee,
of becoming insensible to thy love.

Thou dost not move men like stones,
but dost endue them with life,
not to enable them to move without thee,
but in submission to thee, the first mover.

O Lord, I am astonished at the difference
between my receivings and my deservings,
between the state I am now in and my past gracelessness,
between the heaven I am bound for and the hell I merit.

Who made me to differ but thee?
for I was no more ready to receive Christ than were others;
I could not have begun to love thee hadst thou not first loved me,
or been willing unless thou hadst first made me so.
O that such a crown should fit the head of such a sinner!
Such high advancement be for an unfruitful person!
such joys for so vile a rebel!
Infinite wisdom cast the design of salvation in the mould of purchase and freedom;
Let wrath deserved be written on the door of hell,
But the free gift of grace be on the gate of heaven.
I know that my sufferings are the result of my sinning,
but in heaven both shall cease;
Grant me to attain this haven and be done with sailing,
and may the gales of thy mercy blow me safely into harbour.

Let thy love draw me nearer to thyself,
wean me from sin, mortify me to this world,
and make me ready for my departure hence.
Secure me by the grace as I sail across this stormy sea.

-This is found in Valley of Vision pg 8
-I wish was this passionate and poetic in my prayers!

Dating....?

2005-10-26T16:28:00.000+01:00

So what does a gospel/biblical relationship look like? How would someone try and have a biblical relationship? Well have you ever seen two couples madly in love who then fell out because one person in the relationship hurt the other, and it snowballed so fast the only seeming feasible thing to do was break up? Well what went wrong? What went wrong is that those two people in their hearts had a false view of each other and themselves, and did not expect them/themself to mess up, fall and sin, and when they did, they did not know how to cope except by dumping them...ever been there?

I have come to the conclusion that this happens because Christians in relationships do not have biblical views of who their significant other truly is. So I propose that in a relationship we have to understand the gospel about the other person and failing to see the gospel in the other person results in heart ache...Well what does that mean? This is what it means: Instead of me having an idealistic view of who my significant other is, i.e. someone who loves me, never hurts me, wont break my heart, ect. I need to have a word-based view of who she is, she is a sinner, and a wretch who has been saved by God's grace. Yes I should want her to love me, and never hurt me, but I can't expect it to happen perfectly. So if I come to our relationship trusting she is who the bible says she is (a sinner saved by grace), the chance of me being let down and hurt are much lower, but if I come to our relationship thinking she will never hurt me, I am in for a big surprise, because the truth is that we are still sinners, and we still mess up. But when she sins, what then will be my response in response to her sin? Well it will have to be forgiveness, I have been forgiven, and because my heart now loves her because of grace and because i understand sin and the power it has on us as believers I have to forgive her. For it is the very thing i will struggle with as well. If I don't forgive I am not a believer. I not only have to forgive, but I have to understand that even though she has sinned, she is still a finished work of Christ because God has justified her through the blood of his Son. God has forgiven every one of her sins, and nothing is to be held against her. And I am now under obligation to love her as Christ loves her, But this is true of me loving all Christians, not just a significant other.

But This also goes my way. She has to understand i am a sinner and that i am going to hurt her, maybe even break her heart, but that God is working in me and through me by His Holy Spirit and even though i am Sanctified(Made Holy) I am still being Sanctified. And that i am going to have to go through the constant cycle of faith and repetance just as she will have to do with me. So i will have to ask for her forgiveness and Repent, but not just of her but of God. I think this is what a true biblical relationship should look like in a very General way. I thank God for teaching me this through other more knowledgeable and gracious Christians than I. I want a real biblical relationship, not a Hollywood mock up that last 2 months!

A New Covenant

2005-09-12T00:33:00.000+01:00

The Other day as I was reading through Luke 1:67-80, I noticed something that I had always known in my mind I guess about Salvation, but never had put a lot of Thought into. See this section of Luke is Zechariah’s (John the Baptist's father) prophecy after his mouth was loosed from the bondage of not being able to speak... Now He begins his prophecy by extolling the greatness of God(68-69a), he then begins to speak about salvation and God's promise of it to the children of Israel and that follows until the end of the chapter. Now thinking in terms of the bible as one story, and thinking about the children of Israel and how they were suppose to be the Nation that the world looked at and equated to the followers of Jehovah God. They were suppose to be the very "light", "the city on the hill that could not be hidden" (Matthew 5:13-14). But, because of sin, the children of Israel never were this nation, they never were the nation that was put on a pedestal as God's trophy for the world to look at, don't get me wrong they were the people of God by covenant, but by a covenant they never kept because of SIN. But what was the reason that they sinned?

I believe that there is one reason we all sin and that is because we do not believe the truth. We might know the truth, but we do not believe it, and therefore we do not act upon it. We all exchange the truth of God with a lie. Surely this is what Adam and Eve did right? God told them that if they ate from the tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil they would surely die. Satan told Eve that if she ate from the tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil she would become like God. Eve's desire to be like God was the motivation that caused her to act, but it was rooted in the fact that she did not believe God's word. She believed the lie of Satan and suppressed the truth. (Romans 1; Genesis 3)

So what does this have to do with the children of Israel and Zechariah’s prayer? Well, if we were to look throughout the Old Testament to the various instances where the children of Israel sinned against God, we will see that most of the instances seem to be that they sinned because they feared. Now, we have already established that we sin because we do not believe, the context in which that might take place could be fear, but it could also be anger, annoyance, bitterness, joy, lust, or any other feeling for that reason, these are all productual feelings of disbelief. This is not to say that if we have these feelings we are necessarily disbelieving something, but they can come about from disbelieving the gospel.

So when it comes to Zechariahs prophecy I am a bit thrown, because he says "To Grant us that we, being rescued from the hand of our enemies, Might serve him without fear." But surely they could have trusted that God was their God and he would have won the battles for them, right? Surely if they had stayed obedient and in covenant with him he would have rescued them from the hands of their enemies and there would have been no reason to fear? Well they could not stay obedient to God, therefore they did fear the hand of their enemies because they knew that God was not going to rescue them because of their sin.

This is just setting the stage for the importance of the coming Messiah. God was going to redeem his lost people by way of the death of his son. He was going to make a covenant of blood that could not be broken. A new Covenant of Grace was on its way and it was going to do for the children of Israel and for me and you that which we could not do, which is to redeem us to God once and for all. Our standing with God was about to change in that the covenant Christ was going to make with God by his blood could not be undone or added too by us, if only we will place our faith and trust in Christ. We have all been given the status of Christ in the eyes of God for simply trusting in the cross; this status is permanent because of Jesus Christ. Our status no longer will waver like that of the children of Israel because now our covenantal standing has nothing to do with how we act, but everything to do with Christ's death on the cross(Romans 3:21-31). Surely the truth of this New Covenant and Messiah gave Zechariah a reason to worship and prophecy.

Question Answered...

2005-04-20T12:24:00.000+01:00

I received the following Question from a friend, and seek to explain the issue:
“If a Christian sins, and dies right after they sin, do they go to heaven and are they punished for it?”

As Christians we are called to repent of sin and ask for forgiveness (matt 3:2; 4:17; Luke 13:5 and so on), but I believe of that initial repentance and inviting Christ to be Lord of our lives (Acts 3:19), we are than saved (John 10:9; Acts 2:21; 4:12), while being saved, God does a couple things in our life, He calls us, He adopts us, He fills us with the Holy Spirit and Seals us by the Holy Spirit, (Eph 1:7; 1:13; 4:30; Col 1:14; I Thess 4 ) He Justifies us, or makes us righteous because the blood of Christ (Acts 13:39; Rom 3:24; 3:28; 5:1; 5:9; 8:30 and so on), He Forgives us, He Redeems us, and He Gives us a rich inheritance in heaven (All of these aspects are found in the first chapter of Ephesians). Because our salvation at this point was somewhat of us (after God drawing our hearts with His irresistible grace), in accepting Christ, God has completed the work by filling us with the Holy Spirit, and Justifying us, or declaring us righteous in His Eyes (not because we are righteous at all, but only that Christ's righteousness was credited to us -Romans 3:10).

So to the issue that really needs to be dealt with here, is that of once saved always saved, or , Perserverance of the Saints. As a Christian we are called to continually repent and ask for forgiveness of sins (Matt 6:9-13 -Lords prayer), but for those who do, it is a sign of their salvation, but at the same time, since God Forgave all of our sin, and Punished all of our sin when Christ died on the cross, it is said, that it is finished (John 19:30). So we do repent and ask for forgiveness out of a sorrow for our sin, and out of obedience to the word of God, but our salvation really took place when Jesus died on the cross, because he took all of our sins upon Himself, and paid the debt that we once owed. So yes in once sense it was when we asked for forgiveness, but because God dealt with the penalty and with the judgment, believers are then covered by the blood Christ, and cannot than loose that covering. People cannot loose salvation, and if we could, what sort of Assurance would we have? It would than be completely "man based" salvation that was continguent on our certain or uncertain faithfulness to God.

So with that in mind, if someone dies with a sin not repented of, they will go to heaven. We are taught in Psalm 103, that God has "Removed our Sin from us, as far as the east is from the west." One day we will all come before the throne of God for judgment, but not for condemnation, but for our Crowns, crowns which we will lay before the feet of Jesus. So now to summarize what I said earlier. You are saved because of the Shed blood of Christ, by repenting of your sins, asking for forgiveness and following Christ. So when God the father than looks at you, He sees His Son's blood covering you, showing your adoption by Him, and He (God the Father) than loves you because of His Son’s work and sacrifice in your place. And you cannot be removed from this covering because all of your sin is paid for and it was dealt with and finished on the CROSS!!!. I hope this Helps

Humility

2005-03-22T00:09:00.000Z

Humility

Humble
• Adjective (humbler, humblest) 1 showing a modest or low estimate of one’s own importance.

This is the oxford dictionaries definition of Humility. This is what I thought true humility was and what it looked liked, but if this definition is used in a Christian context it is quiet wrong. See I had an idea of what humility is, but I have determined it is incorrect. I thought it was the way I presented myself, the tone in my voice of how I said something, but I was wrong.

Humility or “Humbleness” as we say in the states, is not just how I look to other men, or how I speak or present myself, but rather, humility is a lifestyle that we as Christians are called to possess (Matt 18:4; 21:5; 23:12; Luke18:14). Many times I would seek to appear humble to men, I would seek to say just the right things so as not to sound like an “arrogant America,” but my standard by which I used to measure my life’s humility was based on men and works.

See I believe now that only true humility can come as a result of knowing who we are in light of who God is. For when I compare myself to men, when I weigh and measure my life to theirs, and two things can happen at that point; One, I can fill up with pride like the Pharisees seeing that outwardly I am much better than other men, or two, I can look at other men’s accomplishments and plummet into deep despair for how pathetic my life is. I think this is to frequently how we judge/measure our humility, in comparison to other men, and as result we are not truly left being humble at all, but we are just a clever façade which is only fooling men, but not truly showing our heart.

I now know, that true humility can only come when we know who we are (sinners deserving all of God’s judgement and wrath), who God is (almighty, powerful, just, righteous, faithful, loving, all knowing, omnipotent, omnipresent, immutable, omniscient), and how grace works in our life (the fact that were called, chosen, predestined, adopted, redeemed, forgiven, sealed by the Holy Spirit, and given a rich inheritance in Christ in which we do not deserve in the slightest….Eph 1).

This thought is a humbling thought that should drive us to love God, love other men, and seek to live for Christ alone. So our humility does not have to do with how we appear to men, or how we speak because these things are products of our love for God, when we love God, put him first, and live for him alone, our lives become radically changed. When we seek to love God, put Him first and live for Him alone, we will soon display different qualities as result of the change in our life, but many times people try and have the qualities of humility with no true sense of what it is. Naturally as human, we see things that are attractive to us, and seek to pursue those things, but with humility, we need to pursue a knowledge and love for God, and through that we will display these qualities. Without petrol a car cannot drive likewise, without a love for God, the appearance of “humility” will fail because nothing is truly holding it in a place where it can become consistent.

What you sow in the flesh has to be maintained in the flesh, but that which is sown in the spirit, the spirit can maintain.

Thought of the Day

2005-02-18T16:44:00.000Z

Before you read this, really dwell on these words and what they mean. These are some powerful words, read them with humility and reverence.

Twas I that shed the sacred Blood,
I nailed him to the tree,
I crucified the Christ of God;
I joined the mockery.
And of that shouting Multitude
I feel that I am one;
And in that Din of voices Rude
I recognized my own.
Around the Cross the Throng I see
That mocked the surferer's groan;
Yet still my voice it seems to be,
As if I mocked alone.

-Isn't it ironic that even after this God desires a relationship with us, more than we desire one with Him.

matt

Glorious Grace Pictured in the Old Testament

2005-02-18T09:33:00.000Z

Genesis 20:1-18

As I was reading this story of Abraham, Sarah and Abimelech, I was trying to focus on the cross through this passage. I want to try and look at everything through the eyes of grace.

So in this story we see that Abraham and Sarah sojourning in the land of Gerar, and they both are scared because they do not believe anyone in this country fears God, so they tell the King Abimelech that Sarah is Abraham's sister, because Abraham thought that if the king knew that sarah was his wife, they would kill him and take sarah.

So Abimelech took sarah as his own, and that night has a dream where God speaks to him, bascially condeming him because of his sin.(20:3) But Abimelech pleads with God on his behalf because he was tricked into knowing Sarah was not married, but his intergrity was pure, and it was not he who sinnned but abraham.

So we go on down to verse 9 where he confronts Abraham and Sarah, and they give their excuses. Now Abimelech could have had these two killed for this crime against him, after all, he is the king, But he showed grace to them. INfact, he did not simply show grace, but he LAVISHED it upon them. The three ways he LAVISHED grace upon them is that #1 He gave them sheep, oxen, male servants and female servants, and 1000 silver pieces(inheritance).(14) #2 He pardoned sarah completely in the site of all his kingdom(justified them).(16) #3 He gave them free reign in his kingdom, which basically means he adopted them into his country, or his kingdom.(Adopted them)

Now stay with me here because i want you to catch what i am getting at here. This is exactly how our salvation is worked out in our own life. We have sinned against God, deserve punishment, but what does God do? He gives grace in 3 parts...Not only does He Saves us, by justifying(declaring us righteous) us(Romans 3:24), He Adopts us as sons and daughters(Eph 1:5), and the He gives us an inheritance of His Riches(Eph 1:14, 18)! This is exactly how God portraits himself through Abimelech in Genesis chapter 20. Remember, every passage in the old testament some how points towards the cross! The Grace tht God has So LAVISHED upon us, is beyond my thoughts or comprehension!

MY Hope is Built on Nothing Less, than Jesus blood and Righteousness...Make the cross the center of your life everyday

Living Under Grace

2005-02-15T13:37:00.000Z

Eph 1:1-14, then 15-20

Often times as Christian we find ourselves trying to do thing in order that we might gain favor
with God, and be on His "Good Side." But the truth of the matter is that we live in a state of grace. In Eph 1:1-14 Paul is writing to the church at ephesus and explaining to them once again what exactly grace is, he is trying to see if they get it. See we have been chosen, called, predestined, redeemed, forgiven, pardoned and sealed by the Holy spirit, and we need to live our life knowing these keys things. But not just knowing them with our mind, but dwelling on them with our inner most being, they must consume our life and our outlook on life. These things cause us to focus on the cross of Christ, and at the same time humble us to know that WE have no bearing on our standing with God! WE can neither gain Gods approval by our Good works or be cast down because of our works, for He sees us under grace, He sees us with the blood of Christ covering us. And only Christs death on the cross can place us in a good standing with God. These things should consume our every thought, our every breathe, every waking minute of our life!

Not only should we know this, but we should look forward to our life with Him. For instance, if you were to be told that next year you would be given 2 million dollars, than that anticipation would help you cope with your broken down car, leaky roof and old clothes, because you know this time next year all of that will change, and life will then be "Good." That is exactly how we should be anticipating our eternal life with Christ, See only our inheritance in the kingdom of God makes this present life bearable, for we are only visitors in this "Finite"(temporary) world, for if we have placed our faith in Christ we are not Citizens of this world, but of the Kingdom of God. We are anticipating spending eternity with him and that is all that makes this life bearable.

Be Consumed by Grace!
Matt

We are merely branches

2005-02-12T10:40:00.000Z

John 15:1-2 " I am the true vine and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in My that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit."

It is an amazing thing that God would choose to not only save sinner, but that He would pursue us further than "Just a Relationship" with Him. He desires and intimacy with us. Not only is He(Jesus) our source of salvation, but He is also our source of Life. We are like trees planted by streams of Water(Psalm 1:3). See the image here is of a tree planted, if there is not a source to which it can pull nutrients and vitamins and water from, than it will wither and soon die. As Christian, we will not wither, for we are the tree planted by streams of water, or paraphrased we could say, We are people planted and en-cirlced in the love of Christ, and that love of Christ is our source for Growth.

In Christ we are steadfast and never moved. For the tree is one of natures strongest things because its roots grow deep holding it in the ground, and the base of the tree and the root system is what feeds the rest of the tree. So in Psalms Christ is is the river, but in John Jesus is the "True vine," He is the base of the tree that supplies all nutrients to the branches. There is this amazing imagery here of branches dying and being cut off, because two things happen with dead branches. One, they do not produce fruit and therefore are no good for anything, and Two, they actually hinder growth withing the tree; they take up space so to speak. So we as the body of Christ are displayed as a tree, with Jesus as our base, or source of growth, and only by His grace were we saved, and only by Gods grace is He seperating His true church!