Robert Lowery

Photo by Dan Barak

I was pulling into the driveway and heard the talk show host proclaim boldly, arrogantly, and condescendingly right before a commercial break: "America is the last best hope for mankind!" I know the context in which he said it, and it makes no difference to me who is the author of the statement and what that person meant. As I heard the host shout it out, I thought: Rubbish! How proud! How wrong! How ugly!

Please don’t take the above and what follows below out of context: I love my country. I would not want to live anywhere else on this earth than where I live. Living in this country has been both a blessing and a burden. We are blessed with resources most people only dream of, but with the blessing comes a burden, an appropriate burden, to be responsible stewards of what we have been given. But even with this disclaimer, I have to write several sentences that begin with the word "But."

But this world is not my home; I’m just a passin’ through.

But for me as a Christian, or any Christian (as this radio show host claims to be), to make such a statement is just flat out wrong. At best we have not thought out what we say, and at worst we actually believe such a lie. Perhaps I am reacting or over-reacting to the radio hosts as well as to the politicians who are using the name of Jesus to support their quest for the presidency, to preserve America as the last best hope for the world. Perhaps I am a bit cynical about those politicians who are forceful advocates for complete separation of Church and State but they do not hesitate to show up at an African-American or Hispanic or Mega-Church filled with Anglos on a Sunday morning to seek their votes. I think: What hypocrisy!

But the most important citizenship I have is not my earthly residency in America but my heavenly citizenship (Phil. 1:27ff.; 3:20ff.).

But the most important hope we can proclaim is the hope, the eternal hope, that is found only in Jesus Christ and the freedom that he alone can bring, a freedom that will endure for age upon age.

But when you and I as disciples of Jesus and as citizens of God’s Kingdom truly live out the implication that we believe that Jesus is the last great hope for mankind, then nations will be forever changed.

We need to ponder what C.S. Lewis wrote in 1952 in Mere Christianity:

A continual looking forward to the eternal world is not . . . a form of escapism or wishful thinking. It does not mean that we are to leave the present world as it is. [Christians have] left their mark on Earth precisely because their minds were occupied in Heaven. . . . Aim at heaven and you will get earth ‘thrown in’: aim at earth and you will get neither.

America, the last best hope for mankind? To challenge this is viewed by some as being disloyal or unappreciative. No. For me not to challenge it would be to be unappreciative for what God has done for us in Jesus. For me not to challenge it would be to be disloyal to a great King and Kingdom. For me not to challenge it would be an indication that I have made my country into an idol.

The Kingdom of God is the world’s last best hope. Nothing matters but God’s rule, and because nothing matters but the Kingdom, everything and everyone matter.

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From Good Fri-Day . . .

"To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood . . . " (Rev. 1:5b)

"But God Almighty declared of old: ‘Surely your blood of your lives will I require.’ Whence it follows that if after such cleansing we give ourselves over to pollution, we become guilty of the Blood of the Lord, and bring upon ourselves destruction. Our sins crucified Him once, and He forgave and cleansed us; if by obstinate sin we crucify the Son of God afresh, who shall again cleanse or forgive us? for there remaineth no more offering for sins." — Christina Rossetti

"You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation." (Rev. 5:9)

Because Thy Love hath sought me,
All mine is Thine and Thine is mine:
Because Thy Blood hath bought me,
I will not be mine own but Thine.
I lift my heart to Thy Heart,
Thy Heart sole resting-place for mine:
Shall Thy Heart crave for my heart,
And shall not mine crave back for Thine?
–Christina Rossetti

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To the Lord’s-Day

"On the Lord’s Day I was in the Spirit . . . " (Rev. 1:10)

"Rome and St. John had come to an issue. Rome had power of life and death, chains and sentence of banishment on its side: St. John on his side had the defence of the Most High and the shadow of the Almighty. . . . Immovable as Patmos the rock amid buffeting winds and waves, St. John stood fast in the liberty wherewith Christ had made him free."

Earth cannot bar flame from ascending,
Hell cannot bind light from descending,
Death cannot finish life never ending.
– Christina Rossetti

"Do not be afraid! . . . I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! and I hold the keys of death and Hades." (Rev. 1:17-18; see also 2:8)

"He Who was made like unto us knoweth whereof we are made; and that we are but dust well may He remember Who died and was buried, although it was not possible that He should see corruption or be holden of death. He feels with us as well as for us: He died, as we all must die; He lives again, as by His grace we all may rise to life everlasting. Thus He maketh Himself all things to all men, willing by all means to save us. His death and His Life as it were salute us: O yet dead, believe on Me and ye shall live; O ye living, believe, and ye shall never die." — Christina Rossetti

"Then I saw a Lamb, standing as if it had been slain, standing in the center of the throne . . . " (Rev. 5:6a)

None other Lamb, none other Name,
None other Hope in heaven or earth or sea,
None other Hiding-place from guilt and shame,
None beside Thee.
My faith burns low, my hope burns low,
Only my heart’s desire cries out in me
By the deep thunder of its want and woe,
Cries out to Thee.
Lord, Thou art Life tho’ I be dead,
Love’s Fire Thou art however cold I be:
Nor heaven have I, nor place to lay my head,
Nor home, but Thee. — Christian Rossetti

In his autobiography, Miles Gone By: A Literary Autobiography, the political columnist and founder of the magazine National Review, William F. Buckley tells a delightful story about a waiter who interrupted Buckley’s dinner with a question: "Aren’t you the fellow who edits National Review? I have a suggestion to make. I love your magazine but stop using all those new words. I don’t understand many of them." Buckley said he smiled and told the young man that he would take his advice under consideration. A year or so later Buckley returned to the restaurant and the man came up to him and said: "Thank you, Mr. Buckley. I see you took my advice and used simpler words." Buckley smiled and thanked the gentleman. He then told the reader that interestingly the vocabulary the magazine used had not changed, rather the waiter had changed. The magazine had not "improved." The waiter had.

For more than thirty years, I have been on a quest to teach myself and others how to read the Bible properly, observing time-tested principles and using the best methodologies. I am fearful that many believe in a "dummying down" when it comes to Bible study. It is present in many "seeker-sensitive services." We don’t want to use language that offends or bothers or puzzles. Or in our Bible studies we are fearful of turning people away when we talk about issues like genre, context (both literary and historical), understanding the meaning of grammar and words, the importance of tradition in the history of how a passage has been understood, and other related issues. So we don’t talk about these vital issues. Indeed, after teaching seminary students for more than thirty years, I am alarmed at the declining knowledge of Scripture along with the knowledge of how to study Scripture. There is a connection between what they know (or don’t know) and the how of Bible study.

Of course, there is a connection between failing to know how to study and failing to know God more intimately. I can’t know God very well if I don’t spend time talking with him via prayer and hearing him speak to me via the Written Word.

Perhaps many don’t pray because they don’t know how ("Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples." Luke 11:1). Perhaps we don’t study Scripture because we don’t know how (Philip asks, "Do you understand what you are reading?" The eunuch responds, "How can I, unless someone explains it to me?" Acts 8:30-31). Now the eunuch did not understand the message of Isaiah 53:7-8 not because he was illiterate! Acts 8:34 tells us that the eunuch did not know if Isaiah was speaking about himself or about someone else. This Bible student did not understand because he needed a teacher to teach him how to study. Using my informed imagination, I think that it is like that Philip said something like the following:

1. First, let’s consider the context of Isaiah. How would Isaiah’s readers understood this passage?
2. Second, let’s ask basic questions like Who? What? When? Why? Where? How? So what?
3. Third, let’s move from this passage to other passages of Scripture that may help you understand this passage that is obscure to you.
4. Finally, how did Isaiah speak to the original recipients, and how does he speak to us today?

Does this probing of the Acts 8 story remind you of any hermeneutical principles? How about "Interpret the obscure by the clear?" or "Interpret Scripture by Scripture"? How about the "exegetical steps" (steps that help us "draw out the meaning of a passage" like who is Isaiah talking about? What does it mean this person was like a sheep led to the slaughter?"

I am convinced that one of the biggest failures in congregations–no matter what their size–is the failure to teach people to study Scripture on their own. We give them content but not the tools to study on their own. We feed them what we know and fail to teach them how to feed themselves. God forgive us! The heritage I am a part of claims to be a people of the Book when many people are failing to open the book because they don’t know how. And I am using the word "open" on a deeper level, of course.

Here is what I am suggesting. As we do not hesitate to talk computer lingo even to retirees (Who had ever heard of PowerPoint slides or cursors thirty years ago or downloading or e-mails thirty years ago?), so God’s people need to be told how to feel comfortable in talking about context, genre, narrative, etc.

I just pulled off from my library shelf right behind my computer one of the first Bibles given to me, a KJV at that! I turned to II Tim. 2:15 and noted that more than forty years ago I neatly underlined that verse–"Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." As I typed the words the words "shew" and "needeth" were underlined in red, highlighting spelling errors. But we know better, don’t we. A computer in the day of KJV would not have underlined them; they would have been part of the dictionary of the day. But if there had been an underlining of a word or a phrase that had been mistranslated, the word "study" and the phrase "rightly dividing the word of truth" would have been underlined. Why? Because I now know that the word Paul used does not mean "study" but it means "do your best." I can see this in how the word is used elsewhere in Paul’s writings (II Tim. 4:9, 21; Titus 3:12). And the phrase "rightly dividing" does not mean "divide the Bible into neat little sections or dispensations," but it means to cut a straight path so that you can hear the Written Word clearly and correctly.

 Let’s do our best to raise the bar not only with regard to knowledge about God’s Word but knowledge about how to read and study God’s Word.

How can people do their best in studying Scripture unless they are taught how so they can know what? Or more importantly, how can they know the Whom behind the words?

Before you purchase another book, please go to Amazon and order a copy of The Literary Study Bible (English Standard Version), edited by Leland Ryken and Philip Graham Ryken (Wheaton, Il: Crossway Books, 2007). Please.

Every other year I teach a class entitled "How to Read the New Testament as Literature." While acknowledging that the Bible is the inspired Word of God, we need to keep in mind always that the Bible is inspired literature. The implications are profound. For example, it simply will not do to read individual verses or paragraphs of a book of the Bible, divorcing those units from the Story of the particular book in which they are found. Or it does no good read a book of the Bible without placing that book’s Story within the larger context of the STORY of the Bible. We need to approach the Bible as if it were divided into sixty-six chapters, and we must understand the relationships between those chapters.

The Literary Study Bible, based on a fine translation, will be of immense help to you in becoming a better student of Scripture. Let me offer some remarks:

• You will be able to explore in detail the Bible’s story lines, complex characters, historical settings, literary genres, motifs, theological themes, imagery, and important terms.
• You will be able to appreciate even more both the simplicity and the complexity of the Bible as a whole as well as individual books of the Bible.
• You will be shocked to see the unity of a book when you read it without chapter and verse divisions. It is printed in single column, paragraph format.
• In the introduction you will be put at ease by the way the editors deal with why some resist reading the Bible as literature (Fallacy #2 The idea of the Bible as literature is a modern idea that is foreign to the Bible itself).
• In the introduction you will be introduced to twelve literary features of the Bible (a unifying story line or the presence of a central character).
• You will be blessed as you read through a book of the Bible by the sidebars dealing with important topics.
• It is not a verse-by-verse study but rather it helps the reader see how what they are reading fits into the context of the book and ultimately of the Bible.
• The author’s intended meaning is made clearer by the notes, layout, etc.
• The editors treat the Bible with proper respect and authority.

I have only one complaint: the font is too small. But remember this: The one writing the review turns 60 this year and wears trifocals (progressive lens at that!).

What a marvelous gift to give to yourself. And to a new disciple . . . or even an old one.

Paul S. Williams, who writes the "And So It Goes" column for The Christian Standard, had some very kind things to say about Dr. Bob’s teaching ministry in his most recent article:

When Bob talks about teaching the New Testament, he lights up like a Macy’s Christmas display. He sounds like a juice machine that can’t get enough oranges. He squeezes the most out of his world. He lives and works among seminary students with abandon, utterly confident in the truth of God’s Word. 

Read the entire piece here.

In response, Dr. Bob adds the following thoughts:

I am truly humbled by Paul’s kind and encouraging words. I have continued in my teaching and preaching ministry at Lincoln Christian Seminary because the community of disciples made up of faculty, students, staff and administrators, have challenged me to be the best steward of my life as I can possibly be and have given me the freedom to pursue my study of God’s Word.

NOTE: The above photograph was taken by Steve Smedley for the Bloomington, IL Pantagraph, accompanying an article on Lincoln Christian Seminary’s Doctor of Ministry program.  Original article here.

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The story in the "Life" section of Time magazine ("Bye, Bye Love," February 11, 2008, pp. 59-60) caught my attention. Several pictures accompany the story about how some people are finding both humor and profit in divorce, even though divorce is sad. One of the pictures is a picture of a cake marking the end of the marriage, not the beginning. The design features the bride kicking her former groom down the tiers of the cake. Another baker has designed a cake, the upside-down wedding cake. The bride’s or the groom’s legs are sticking out at the bottom as if the cake has crashed down on the figure. People have designed voodoo dolls ("A safe way to stick it to an ex-lover") along with a "Wedding-Ring Coffin" ("Real closure may come from even a symbolic burial of the past.")

Divorce. . . Such an ugly word but a frequently acted out word. Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary (11th edition) offers a definition that somehow ignores the tragedy, "to dissolve the marriage contract between . . . to make or keep separate . . . "

Note the word "contract" is used, not "covenant." Contract smacks of business agreement between two parties whereas covenant strikes at something much deeper in describing the relationship existing between a husband and a wife.

"Covenant" (a "pledge") is the word that describes the relationship existing between Christ, the Bridegroom and the Church, the Bride. To describe the relationship between the believer and Jesus in such intimate terms is common in Revelation (Rev. 3:20; 14:4; 21:2, 9).

Revelation makes it clear that a disciple of Jesus can end the covenant relationship. How? By entering into a relationship with Babylon the Great (14:8), be being seduced by the mother of prostitutes (Rev. 17-18).

But to break the covenant you have with Christ means that you pay the price. The cost is described in Rev. 14:9-12. Christians who break the covenant will pay an incredible settlement to get out of the relationship with Christ. It will cost them their very souls. (John is not describing those who "appeared" to be followers of the Lamb and really were not . . . Rather he is clearly describing those who had been followers–see 14:1-4–but had broken their pledge. The teachings of Calvinism would not have appealed to John the prophet!)

Wedged between the references to marriage (Rev. 21:2, 9), John provides a list in 21:8 of those who will not be in the intimate relationship with Christ. At the head of the list stands the word "cowardly." It has an interesting background. In the Old Testament it was frequently used for those who had been part of the Lord’s Army but they had gone A.W.O.L. Consider:

"Then the officers shall add, ‘Is any man afraid and fainthearted (a coward)? Let him go home . . . ‘" (Deut. 20:8)

God tells Gideon to speak to the soldiers: "Anyone who trembles with fear (anyone who is a coward) may turn back and leave Mount Gilead." (Judges 7:3).

In Rev. 21:8 John says that the fate of those who are cowardly, who break the marriage covenant and abandon Christ, is awful: There will be the great divorce.

Tags: divorce, marriage, revelation