Robert Lowery

Photo by Dean Forbes

My travels to churches, conventions, and campus ministries have blessed me richly this school year. From West Coast to East Coast and from North to South, I have had the opportunity to do a considerable amount of preaching and teaching on the Book of Revelation as part of the work I am doing on my commentary on Revelation. I have taught Christians who are relatively new and Christians who are seasoned Bible students. Let me share with you some of what I have observed . . .

• There are many serious students of God’s Word. I have met individuals who have told me that they are weary of superficial preaching and teaching–you know, the lessons and sermons filled with cute stories but not much substance. They want to get deeper into the Word so that they can grow deeper in their relationship with the Lord.
• There are many Christians who are turning away from the sensationalistic writings on the Book of Revelation; they are weary of the self-styled experts who constantly get it wrong when it comes to date-setting and interpreting the signs of the times.
• There are many who have encouraged me to write clearly and boldly on Revelation as a discipleship handbook and want me to finish my commentary as soon as possible. Such words of encouragement are a blessing to me while they also call me to be humble as I write up my study and reflections. I wish the commentary could have been finished yesterday, but alas, it is at least a year and a half to two years off.
• There are many who have come up to me after the lessons and have told me that they are no longer afraid of the book. As one man told me recently: "Revelation is not rocket science. It is very clear to me that it is a book about how to live as a disciple of Jesus."
• One more comment about people remarking to me that they are no longer afraid of the book once they know how to read it . . . I encourage them that the only fear that should come when reading the book is the fear that they have not been faithful to the covenant.
• After being in a seminary ministry for more than thirty years, I am blessed beyond words to be able to travel to places and meet people who love Jesus and who desire to follow the Lamb wherever he goes.

Photo by Danny.Hammontree

As readers of Scripture we must make every effort to achieve a credible and coherent understanding of a text on its own terms and in its own context. In his marvelous work, Eat This Book: A Conversation in the Art of Spiritual Reading (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2006, p. 30), Eugene Peterson uses an idea from C.S. Lewis to make an important point about how we approach Scripture:

C.S. Lewis, in the last book he wrote, talked about two kinds of reading, the reading in which we use a book for our own purposes and the reading which in which we receive the author’s purposes. The first ensures only bad reading; the second opens up the possibility to good reading.

There is both good and bad reading of Scripture. This is the case concerning any book in the Bible and is especially true concerning the Book of Revelation. Too many preachers and teachers use the book for their own purposes–to predict the end of the world–rather than be receptive to and show respect for John’s intended purpose–a call to obey God no matter when the world ends (Rev. 1:3 and 22:7).

I recently taught a seminar on Revelation in a congregation. One man came for one session and only one. Why? Because he would not let Revelation speak on its own terms and I wasn’t allowing that to happen. And what wasn’t I allowing? I wasn’t allowing Revelation to tell me exactly when Jesus was coming again. I regret that he didn’t like the first session, but he would have liked the following sessions even less.

A question for you, my reading friend: How do you read the Bible?

What in the world does this mean?

On February 27, 2008, one of my mentors-from-a-distance died at the age of eighty-two. His name was William F. Buckley Jr., viewed by many as the father of the modern-day conservative moment and author of more than fifty books (more reflections on Buckley’s influence from the National Review Online–ed.). He guided me especially during my high school and college years through his writings, his television show Firing Line, and on the one occasion I heard him speak at Illinois State University in Bloomington around 1968, a fairly significant year in the history of our country. I think I have read at least forty of his books and look forward to his last one to be published in April of this year. He was notorious for his vast vocabulary, and as I type this reflection, I am looking directly at one of his books on my shelf, The Lexicon: A cornucopia of wonderful words for the inquisitive word lover. He died at the desk in his study. Not a bad way for a thinker and writer to go. (I should like to go having just taught a class or preached a sermon or having just met with students.)

I believe with this post this is the second time I have referred to Buckley on this site, the first being written before he died. Back in 1969 (my junior year at Lincoln Christian College), I remember reading in an issue of National Review, the conservative journal founded by Buckley, the phrase "immanentizing the eschaton" and smiling. I was a young hotshot Christian College Bible major and knew what Buckley was talking about, but the words were strange to many readers of the journal. Buckley explained himself:

Eschaton means, roughly, the final things in the order of time; immanentize means, roughly, to cause to inhere in time. So that to immanentize the eschaton is to cause to inhere in the worldly experience and subject to human dominion that which is beyond time and therefore extraworldly. To attempt such a thing is to deny transcendence: to deny God; to assume that Utopia is for this world.

I am smiling as I re-read this statement by Buckley because my spell-check does not recognize eschaton or immanentize; it has highlighted the words in red. The terms do not appear in Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary (11th edition) as well. Let me summarize the phrase in one sentence: It refers to the attempts of people to bring the transcendent from the spiritual world (the eschaton) into their world (the immanent).

And what was the context? Buckley used the phrase as a criticism of the pride or self-confidence of liberal politicians who attempt to create a literal heaven-on-earth. He argued they were doomed to fail because that they were attempting to de-throne God and put themselves up on their own respective thrones.

Once again I am smiling because I am reminded that many years ago the World Council of Churches chose as their theme for one of their conventions a verse from Revelation, namely 22:5, where God proclaims "I am making everything new!" The convention planners took the statement completely out of context and said that the Church is called to make everything new. Of course, we know that only God can and will make all new, and it won’t take place in this world. But . . .

Buckley was both right (literally and figuratively!) and wrong. A perfect world will never exist in this world because we are a fallen people and desperately need God’s saving and sustaining grace. But . . . we must model the Kingdom to come by the way that we live in his Kingdom now. Even though we will never be able to make this world perfect or new, we must seek to extend the Kingdom wherever we are. And when the kingship of God is extended, cultures will be changed. In carrying out the mission of the church, we are anticipating or foreshadowing what God desires to see take place and what will take place completely and perfectly only at the final coming of Jesus. In the meantime . . .

We proclaim that Christ is Lord over all things, and thus the coming Kingdom of God lays claim to all of reality.

We proclaim that the cross is good news not just for the individual sinner but for all of creation, for every dimension of creaturely existence that has been touched by sin.

We proclaim that reducing Christ’s lordship to the private sphere is to be rejected. There is no separation between the sacred and the secular. Because Jesus reigns over all, all of life is religious.

We proclaim that the Kingdom of God is just as relevant to business as it is to family nurture; just as appropriate to citizenship as it is to churchmanship; and the kingship of God is just as relevant to the arts, education, politics, and the sciences as it is to personal devotion and worship.

We proclaim that being Christian is not solely about private lives or about spiritual lives because we believe that God cares about how we conduct ourselves in our work-a-day lives, our entertainments, and our political and economic decisions.

We proclaim that God is indeed interested in economic justice, the care for the world and its inhabitants, and the care of the world in general.

We proclaim that the Kingdom has political, economic, and social meanings and implications for our lives as members of the eschaton.

We proclaim that God does indeed care about social issues such as political arrogance, economic exploitation, judicial misconduct, political shenanigans, the misuse of the earth, and the suffering of the poor and the oppressed.

We proclaim that the kingship of God over all things calls us to see his creational and redemptive concern as embracing a view of the Kingdom calling that touches upon the social, bodily, and corporate aspects of human existence rather than merely an imagined spiritual or private definition of religion or the Kingdom of God.

The bottom line? As followers of Jesus, we have been redeemed for a purpose: to be redemptive agents in the reclamation of "all things." God is jealous for his works and for this world. He surrenders nothing to the forces of sin and death. Truly we are to be immanetizing the eschaton as best we can by God’s grace and strength as we strive to be the church he wants us to be.

"The trip of a lifetime," "better than a year in seminary," "something that I have always wanted to do."

These are only some of the expressions that could be used to describe a trip to Israel. If you have not been there, words cannot adequately describe the emotions, feelings, and insights you will "feel and touch" from a trip to God’s "Holy Land."

Standing on Mt. Carmel where Elijah called down the fire of God, praying in the Garden of Gethsemane where Jesus prayed the night before He was crucified, and riding on the Sea of Galilee in a wooden boat are just some of the things we will be doing on our trip.

We will walk where Jesus walked, pray where Jesus prayed, and feel the power of His Spirit as we encounter the places where Jesus lived and died.

Deluxe accommodations have been secured at an excellent price. We hope you can join Dr. Boatman and me for this exciting trip that is certain to increase our spiritual growth and create memories for a lifetime.

The 11-day trip is being coordinated by Jerusalem Tours International and will take place from December 28, 2008 through January 7, 2009. For full details including pricing and an itinerary, please download the brochure.

Tags: israel, tour

Photo by notashamed

My seminary students know that I am passionate about many subjects but one stands near the top of the list: We must always be studying the Bible in community. To be sure, I explore Scripture in the privacy of my Study, either at home or at my office on the campus. But I really get jazzed when I am able to study Scripture with other Christians, both in a congregational setting as well as a classroom setting at Lincoln Christian Seminary.

This past weekend (February 29-March 2, 2008) was a precious one for me. I had the privilege of teaching the Book of Revelation (Surprised?!) in Clayton, Indiana. I told the congregation that over the next two years I am trying to teach on Revelation as I continue to work on my commentary. I want to "try out" my study on Christians. I had the privilege of studying with nearly one hundred people at a special seminar on Friday evening and Saturday morning (and to several hundred at Sunday School) on how to read Revelation as a discipleship handbook. Their questions were perceptive; their hunger to know God’s Word encouraging; and their love for Jesus obvious. When I was driving home on Sunday afternoon, I marveled once again at how God can bring brothers and sisters together to feast on the Word. The sister of my third grade Sunday School teacher, Irene Cline, attended the sessions. People who knew my parents and even former high school classmates shared in the time. I marvel at how Jesus, the Living Word, and the Bible, the Written Word, bring and keep us together over the years.

Hats off to such fine congregations as those in Clayton, Indiana, Springfield, Illinois (West Side and South Side), the Christian Church in Mahomet, Illinois, the Atlanta Christian Church just up the road from the Seminary, the Southern Randolph Christian Church in Higbee, Missouri, the LeClaire Christian Church in Edwardsville, Illinois, and others. Your partnership in Bible study is a blessing to me.

In our studying in community we have asked questions and sought answers together. In studying in community, we have laughed and cried at the wonders of God’s grace and Word. In studying in community, we hold each other accountable, we grow in grace and truth, and I pray that we bless God in our efforts.

Thank you. As I read and offered teaching on Scripture, you listened well. May we obey well as a result of our times together. In other words, may we continue to be a commentary on John’s call to worship in Revelation 1:3:

Blessed is the one who reads the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear and obey the words of this prophecy because the time is nearer than it was when we were last together.