Robert Lowery

Last week I had the privilege of once again teaching Preaching from the New Testament. Over the years I have team-taught the course with Wayne Shaw, Chuck Sackett, and now Jeff Snell. This semester is the second semester Jeff and I have partnered together, and in light of his giftedness as a teacher and how well-read he is, I am looking forward to growing in my knowledge of preaching.

At one point during the first day, Jeff asked the question: Who is your model preacher? From whom did you learn homiletics? The answers were delightful. But then I thought that I had never asked the question: Who is your model exegete? From whom did you learn how to study the Bible?

So I invite you to weigh in on this question. Please be as personal or as impersonal as you wish (anonymous or not), I believe visitors would like to hear you response to the above. Who and how has someone in your life (a professor, a Sunday School teacher, a preacher, etc.) shaped you in your approach to Scripture?

Dear Readers,

It’s been a good summer for me, and I praise God for the time. First off, I was able to get significant rest (Doctor’s orders!). I feel the best I have felt in many months. My weight remains stabilized, my color is good, and my energy level, though still not up to where it was two or more years ago, is pretty decent.

Second, for the eighteenth summer I had the privilege of teaching at Haus Edelweiss, just outside of Vienna, Austria. This year I taught on the subject of eschatology to students from Russia, Hungary, and Bulgaria. What a marvelous group of people to study with!

Third, near the end of July our three families (Marilyn and me, Brian and Sarah and Eden, and Joe and Rachel, along with Carissa, Jocelyn and Dawson) spent a week together in beautiful Door County (Wisconsin).

Fourth, we returned from Wisconsin on Saturday, July 24, and departed for Brown County in southern Indiana on July 25 and stayed until July 30. A gracious friend provided funds for me to rent a small log cabin in the middle of the woods (a cabin built in the 1830s, by the way) so that I could have a getaway to write. And write I did. I praise God that I was able to finish the commentary up through Revelation 19, and I got a good start on Revelation 20-22. I ask you to join me in praying that, Lord willing, I will complete the work by the end of this calendar year. God provided the place for me to write and the funds to underwrite the project, and I am deeply grateful.

Finally, classes begin for me on Tuesday, August 31. For the twenty-seventh year I will be team-teaching Scripture in Context with my colleague and friend, Dr. Gary Hall. I have learned much from him over the years, and I am looking for joining with him once again. I am teaching I-II Thessalonians during the October intensive week and then Dr. Jeff Snell and I are teaching a class on preaching from the New Testament. We meet four times, one Thursday a month from September through December.

I am eager to begin and covet your prayers that I will teach with strength and clarity.

On Tuesday, September 7, I return to the hospital for a scan to see if the cancer has progressed any. Please pray for Marilyn and me and our family. We will be told the results on September 9. Frankly, I am praying for continued respite, but whatever the news, I hope that I may continue teaching and writing.

Your eternal friend,

Bob