If Christ is raised, nothing else matters. If Christ is not raised, nothing matters.
–Jaroslav Pelikan
Nothing matters but Christ’s resurrection. And because nothing matters but Christ’s resurrection, everyone and everything matter.
–Robert Lowery
Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord! O Lord, hear my voice! Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my pleas for mercy. . . . I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I hope; my soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning, more than watchmen for the morning.
Psalm 30:1,5-6
For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
Philippians 1:21
Today, Thursday, March 25, 2010, Marilyn and I met with my oncologist. Last week I had several tests done, and she wanted to discuss the results. The scan revealed that the slow-growing cancer has spread to my abdomen and intestines. While the tumors are very small, they will continue to grow. The doctor has decided to put me back on medicine that has been successful in slowing down the cancer in certain situations. I had been on it for about two months, but due to side effects, the doctor had me cease taking it. As a result of the tests, however, she has asked me to go back on the daily medication. She told me that if the treatment does not slow down the growth of the tumors, or if new medications are not developed, or if God does not intervene in a special way, then I have up to two years to live.
There is no earthly cure for this kind of cancer.
My doctor encouraged me to continue doing what I am doing with regard to being a godly husband, father, grandfather and friend. She also encouraged me to continue in my ministry in the months ahead. I am praying that God will continue to allow me to find joy and contentment in my family and in my ministry as professor and dean.
We have shared this news with our family, and we now share it with you. Of course, we ask you to pray for us. Ask God to bless us with a deeper faith and with a resolve to honor him in the days ahead. Ask God to bless my wife and my children and grandchildren. Ask God to bless me as I continue serving in the seminary. Pray that God will be exalted in the days ahead.
In closing, I’d invite you to read a reflection I recently posted and remind myself Okay, Papa.
Dr. Lowery’s speaking engagements page has been updated for 2010. In order to spend more time on study, teaching, and family, Dr. Lowery will be speaking less this spring. More dates will be added, however, as they arise.
Image by hexodus…
Both Christians and atheists know a money-maker when they see it. Tens of millions of dollars have been made by individuals and businesses who have promoted the false doctrine of the secret rapture via their books and movies. Now the atheists have decided to get in on the gig.
In the Sunday, February 28, 2010, edition of The Springfield Journal Register, an article entitled “Service vows to save pets left behind in the Rapture” appeared. It seems as if Bart Centre, entrepreneur, has decided to offer to care for the pets that belong to people who expect to be saved in the Rapture. The company is called Eternal Earth-Bound Pets. The service calls itself “the next best thing to pet salvation in a Post Rapture World.” What’s the catch? You pay $110.00 for a ten year contract (What! Not seven year!). The catch is that the Rapture has to occur within 10 years of receipt of payment.
And who will take care of “Spot”? Atheists who won’t be saved. But not just any old atheist. The atheists must be animal lovers and have no criminal background. They must be moral, though lost, people. Once the rapture has taken place, they will go on a rescue and retrieve operation once Christians have departed this earth.
Why is Mr. Centre offering such a service? His response: “I’m trying to figure out how to cash in on this hysteria to supplement my income.” He is several steps behind certain well-known authors who have already figured out a way how to make a rich living off such tripe. On the other hand, perhaps we should find it refreshing that for a change non-Christians are trying to catch up with Christians when it comes to a trend.
Come to The Other Holy Land!
Well, actually, two lands. For the fourth time, I will be visiting Greece and Turkey. My last visit was in 2005, and I am looking forward to co-hosting a tour with my friend, colleague, and fellow dean, Dr. Paul Boatman. We will depart on Sunday, December 27, 2010 and return on January 8, 2011.
Many people travel to Israel for pilgrimage or study tour, but there is also much to see in Greece and Turkey. Our tour group will be retracing the steps of Paul and John. Excavations have continued since my last visit. In 2005 in the ruins of Ephesus a tent had been erected over a site near the library, and I am eagerly looking forward to what has been uncovered. I also anticipate re-visiting Laodicea because much archaeological work has been done in the past five years. It is possible to walk down the main street and see typical homes and businesses in a way that was not previously possible. And Pergamum is always a treat, along with Athens, Corinth, and Philippi.
There are an increasing number of books on the seven cities available. This year I plan on taking with me an academic work by Steven Friesen, Imperial Cults and the Apocalypse of John: Reading Revelation in the Ruins (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001). Friesen is one of the leading authorities on the significance of the first century cult for our understanding of Revelation.
The best all around guide is A Guide to Biblical Sites in Greece and Turkey by C.E. Fant and M.G. Reddish (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003). I strongly encourage you to purchase this work if you go with us.
Please contact me at rlowery@lincolnchristian.edu, Paul Boatman (pboatman@lincolnchristian.edu) or our administrative assistant, Becky Boggs, at bboggs@lincolnchristian.edu for more information. Full details including itinerary and cost can be found on this flyer (PDF).
It was a Friday night not too long ago. Our four-year-old and six-year-old granddaughters, Jocelyn and Carissa, were spending the night with us. Jocelyn was upstairs taking her bath. Having taken hers, Carissa was downstairs with me. We were in the kitchen. I was sitting at the dining table and she was at her little table practicing her penmanship. She is now learning how to read and spell words. She loves to have me ask her to spell a word, and she will carefully write it down on small slips of paper.
She had been spelling out on paper a bagful of words, some she chose and some I requested.
She asked me: “Papa, how do you spell cancer? Does it begin with a ‘c’ or a ‘k’”? I told her.
Several minutes passed by. She then asked me: “Papa, do you know that Jocelyn and I pray for you and grandma every night?” “Yes, Carissa, and we really appreciate your prayers.” “Okay, Papa.”
A few more minutes passed. She asked me another question: “Papa, can God heal you?” . . . “Yes, Carissa, he certainly can.”
About one minute later, she asked: “Papa, will God heal you?” . . . “Yes, Carissa, he will–someday, somehow, some way.” “Okay, Papa.”
Then children were brought to him that he might lay his hands of them and pray. The disciples rebuked the people, but Jesus said, ‘Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.’ And he laid his hands on them and went away.
(Matthew 19:13-15)
To which I can only say: Okay, Papa.
Dear reader, I submit this essay with considerable uneasiness because I do not want to appear to be boasting. My thoughts reflect my response to God’s ever-surprising grace.
On February 22, Monday evening, I had the privilege of preaching the inaugural sermon for Ozark Christian College’s annual Preaching-Teaching Convention. The theme was Unveiled, and all of the sermons were based on the Book of Revelation. I was asked to preach a sermon based on Revelation 1. My goal was to use the first chapter as a way to introduce the major themes of the last book found in our New Testament. The title I gave to the message was “Dancing to the Lyrics of the Lamb,” and I wanted the folks to understand how John challenges us as disciples to remain faithful to the Lamb. I pray that it was a night in which God was honored by what I preached.
At the end of the service, Shane Wood, an alum of our seminary, former research assistant of mine, member of the staff at OCC, and a student currently working on a PhD in New Testament in Edinburg, Scotland, announced to the assembly that he was editing a book that would contain special studies on the Book of Revelation. What took my breath away was that the book was going to be published in my honor later this year. He then presented me with a plaque and a list of the contributors: Craig Blomberg, Paul Boatman, Oti Bunaciu, Craig Evans, Gary Hall, Fred Hansen, J.K. Jones, Paul Kissling, Brian Lowery, Yulia Lubenetz, I. Howard Marshall, Matt Proctor, Mark Scott, Jeff Snell, Carmen Trenton, Tony Twist, Neal Windham, and Shane Wood. Some names will be recognizable to you, some will not be. I know all of them. They are former teachers (either directly or through their writings), classmates, and students.
What unites them all is their love for Jesus, their commitment to the study of the Word, and their love for wedding serious study with service in the Lord’s Church. They hail from our country as well as from Austria, Canada, Romania, Scotland, and Ukraine. Some are presidents, others are professors, still others preachers and teachers. But all follow the Lamb. I have been blessed by their influence in my life over the years, and I pray that whatever they write will be a blessing to you and bring glory to the Lamb. And I thank them for their gift.
I remain stunned this Thursday morning as I write this piece. But before I finish, I must share with you something about the title of the volume. You certainly understand the references to the dragons and to John, but what is the meaning of “every grain of sand”? Bob Dylan wrote a song with that title many years ago, and it remains my favorite song of the hundreds he has written and of the hundreds I have heard him perform. Let me quote some lines from memory:
In the time of my confession, in the hour of my deepest need,
When the pool of tears beneath my feet flood every newborn seed.
There’s a dyin’ vice within me, reaching out somewhere,
Toiling in the dangers and in the morals of despair.
Don’t have any inclination to look back on any mistake,
Like Cain, I now behold this chain of events that I must break.
In the fury of the moment, I can see the Master’s hand,
In every leaf that trembles, in every grain of sand.
I gaze into the doorway of temptation’s angry flame,
And every time I pass that way, I always hear my name.
Then onward in my journey, I come to understand,
That every hair is numbered like every grain of sand.
This is not the time to offer an analysis of the song, so let me offer this one observation: as we experience the failures and frailties of life may we always remember that God remains God, and our submission to his will is our way of expressing gratitude to him for his saving grace.