Robert Lowery

Dr. Bob was recently interviewed for the Inside LCCS podcast (direct link to the interview).  The Inside LCCS podcast was announced on this site back in June and seeks to tell the stories behind the story of Lincoln Christian College and Seminary.  In this interview, Dr. Bob shares his faith story, how his initial fear of Revelation(!) turned into a passion to teach it, and many more interesting aspects of his life and career.  Followers of this site will almost certainly enjoy the time spent listening.

The other day one of my dear colleagues and I were discussing the question: Who is a scholar? I have continued to reflect on our conversation. According to one of my dictionaries a scholar is “a person who attends a school or studies under a teacher” or “a person who has done advanced study in a special field.” Well, I guess I am. But our discussion focused on a definition presented in an article in a journal he had read (I was aware of the article but had only skimmed it; it didn’t appeal to me. Gee, I guess I am not scholarly enough!). The author of the essay suggested that a scholar is someone who has a PhD (Goodness! Not a Doctor of Ministry; that is not good enough, evidently! Please know that I am being sarcastic! Now that can lead to all kinds of temptations. Someone could argue that his/her PhD was from a better school than someone else’s or the field of study was more difficult or more important than another . . . Well, you get the idea, don’t you?). A scholar is also one who has published and has presented papers before other scholars (Well, at least one paper and then we could debate if the organization was really acceptable or noteworthy enough–Society of Biblical Literature? That counts! Evangelical Theological Society or the Stone-Campbell Conference? Not prestigious enough!).

How arrogant!

How absurd!

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My age is a metaphor.
It only speaks of everything before.
“War is Kind” Song by Jakob Dylan

Robert Allen Lowery was born at Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis, the firstborn son of Ercel and Adrene Lowery. My paternal grandfather’s middle name was Allen and my first name was given to me in honor of an uncle of mine, an uncle who became very dear to me and one whom I miss to this very day. I still remember his love and gentle spirit. Uncle Bob was always a gentleman, always dressed like one (I never saw him out of a suit, even when fishing or working in his garden, a pin-stripped brown suit with matching Fedora), always spoke like one, and always smoked cigars like one. I loved him and still love him.

LX. Sixty. 60. Of course, I am not alone: Samuel L. Jackson, Jackson Browne, Al Gore, Sally Struthers, Phylicia Rashad, Cat Stevens, Robert Plant, Olivia Newton-John, Brian Eno, Richard Simmons, James Taylor, Alice Cooper, Stevie Nicks, Prince Charles, et al. Yet in rereading the list I don’t know that I would want to spend any significant amount of time, if any, with any of those individuals. Read the rest of this entry »

And so the e-mails continue about my view that the above view tends toward chaos. . .

I remain convinced that many interpreters of Revelation have a truncated view of the events they judged to be prophetic fulfillments and they are guilty of viewing history in instrumental terms. They studied the past and current events to find those that fit their expected prophetic scenario. They cherry pick the evidence to support their theories, in other words. Because they believed they understood where history was going in great detail and the unseen forces that were moving it along, history contained few real surprises.

But . . . what about the complexities of historical cause and effect? What about the unexpected consequences of human behavior? They proof text! They have an a-historical view of history. They have this view and they proof text in order to match history to their anticipated plan. They place an events into their prophetic jigsaw puzzle and when they are proved to be wrong, it is difficult for them to take the piece out! Read the rest of this entry »

Marilyn and I have been blessed with two wonderful children who love Jesus and his Church in deep mature ways. We are grateful for our daughter Rachel who models what it means to be a Christian wife, mother, and servant in the church. Joe is a good preacher and well loved by the good folks in Pana. Rachel’s ministry with Joe in Pana is a blessing to many. And besides these blessings, she and Joe have given us two wonderful granddaughters, Carissa and Jocelyn in whom we find great delight.

Our son Brian and his wife Sarah also serve the Lord in rich ways, Sarah teaching high school French and maintaining her Christian witness and Brian as managing editor of Preaching Today. Ever since he was a child Brian has loved to write. I recommend a piece to you that he recently wrote on today’s anti-hero and the quest for justice and how a Christian should respond.

And They’re the Good Guys?  -  Brian Lowery

Get your own Jack Bauer action figure!

The sermons being preached for chapel services of Lincoln Christian Seminary this semester are focusing on images of God. So far the students and others are responding well as we have heard some fine preaching as God as King and God as Shepherd. In the weeks to come more images will be covered: God the Craftsman, the Farmer/Gardner/Vineyard Owner, the Builder, the Homemaker, the Parent, the Spouse, the Friend, and the Kinsmen. Exciting images!

On Wednesday, September 17, I preached a sermon on the theme God the Warrior. Little did I know when I began my preparation how pervasive this theme is in both the Old and New Testaments. So I invite you to listen and reflect on our God as Warrior and we as a warrior people.

Listen to Dr. Lowery’s sermon, “God the Warrior,” at the LCCS Podcast site.

In September 2006, at the encouragement of my friend and colleague (and the one who keeps this site up and running), Michael Gowin, I began posting my reflections for your reading pleasure. I remain grateful to Michael for his friendship and his stellar work on the project and I am grateful to you, dear readers, for your visits, insights, and kind words of encouragement. Michael and I are ready to begin a third year, and we invite you to continue visiting the site at your convenience.

I have welcomed having this forum to share with you perspectives not only on Revelation but on other topics as well. and I have appreciated your comments. The venture has forced me (and I use the verb in a good way) to be writing on a regular basis.

I have a request. Are there issues, topics, or questions that you would like to see me address? They can be larger than Revelation in particular or eschatology in general. Please drop us a line and let me know how I can be of better service to you.

Thanks for sharing the journey as we grow in Grace and Truth.

Bob

Photo by boxercab

Several of you responded directly to me via e-mail about my musings on the approach that sees Revelation mirroring today’s newspaper headlines, an approach that tends toward chaos, at least in my opinion.  Some have said they agreed and not a few have disagreed.  The disagreements have been more emotional than rational.  And I am disappointed.

Let me repeat:  The Book of Revelation is not about predicting the future in great detail but rather it is about how disciples of Jesus are to live in light of a future that belongs to God.  Let me elaborate: Read the rest of this entry »

Photo by wishymom 

On August 1 of this year I began my thirty-third year of teaching for Lincoln Christian Seminary.  A few days ago my wife and I were out with friends and they talked to me about my ministry and I observed that due to recent retirements, I have the most seniority of any professor currently teaching at Lincoln.  There are one or two others that may have been teaching full-time longer, but not here at Lincoln.

Why?  Why have I remained on the same campus in the same ministry for so many years?  Is it because I have not had the opportunity to go elsewhere and do something else?  No.  There have been a few moments when I was ready to go.  But something or Someone pulled me back. Read the rest of this entry »

As I write this, I am feeling a bit feisty.  The other day I was reading an article and the author noted the second law of thermodynamics:  All things tend toward chaos.

And I wondered if it could be argued that the dispensational premillennial approach tend toward chaos.  And I concluded, yes.  I can find very little good to say about the position that has infected the way millions read the Bible as a whole and not just Revelation or Daniel in particular.  Of course, I defend the dispensationalists’ right to adhere to their view but of the approaches taken toward Revelation 20 specifically and Scripture as a whole it has the least support both historically and exegetically.  It is a departure from the historic faith and is based on a faulty system of interpretation.  Please remember that there has been a historic premillennial interpretation for eighteen centuries before dispensationalism was formulated by such men as J.N. Darby and C.I. Scofield.  The writings by these two as well as C.C. Ryrie, J. Walvoord, H. Lindsey, Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, Tim LaHaye, Jack Van Impe, to name just a few, have proven that the approach is bankrupt.  (Take a look at the closeout sections in a Barnes and Noble store or in a Borders.  Or view the closeout bin in a recent Christian Book Distributors catalog.  What will you find?  Prophecy books that were outdated either shortly after they were published.  How many editions do we need to have of Walvoord’s Oil, Armageddon and the Middle East?  A true discerner of prophecy would have only one edition!  :)

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