Robert Lowery

A few days ago I had what I call a Deuteronomy 28:66-67 moment:

Your life shall hang in doubt before you. Night and day you shall be in dread, and have no assurance of your life. In the morning you shall say, ‘If only it were evening!’ and at evening, you shall say, ‘If only it were morning!’ because of the dread that your heart shall feel, and the sights that your heart shall feel.

I tip my hat to the context: God is warning Israel about what will happen if the nation is not faithful to the covenant. But on this particular day, I applied the two verses to my life.

It had been a rough day. One of my friends had been wounded, and I did not know what to say or do. Ministry is like that on occasion. I was down about my physical and spiritual struggles. The night did not bring peace whatsoever. The Tempter stole his way into our house. I was alone, and I was overwhelmed by anxiety, frustration, and anger. So I got up out of bed and began cleaning—dusting, running the sweeper, putting things away, even doing a load of laundry. And I was still restless.

Around 1:45 I decided to listen once again to Northern Ireland’s Robin Mark. His newest recording is entitled Year of Grace and it is marvelous. One song especially brought comfort, “All is Well” (listen to the song on YouTube):

He lowers us to raise us
So we can sing his praises
Whatever is His way all is well
He makes us rich and poor
That we might trust Him more
Whatever is His way all is well
All my changes come from Him, He who never changes
I’m held firm in the grasp of the Rock of all the ages
All is well with my soul
He is God in control
I know not all his plans
But I know I’m in His hands
He clothes us now then strips us
Yet with His Word equips us
Whatever is His way all is well
And though our seasons change
We still exalt His name
Whatever is His way all is well

Some put their hope in chariots and princes. Others put their hope in the wisdom of oncologists, the cathedrals we call hospitals, and the nourishment we find in the latest medications. God can certainly use all these to bring healing. But they are worthless without faithful praying and hopeful living. Ultimately, I must place my faith in Jesus.

And so after listening to Robin Mark I went back to bed, prayed some, cried some, and remembered some, and then I fell asleep in Jesus. But the last song I thought of before I closed my eyes was a psalm that Jesus sang at the end of the Passover Meal as he was heading to the garden: I shall not die, but I shall live and recount the deeds of the Lord. The Lord has disciplined me severely, but he has not given me over to death. . . . This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it (Psalm 118:17-18,24).

Dr. Lowery closed out the Seminary’s spring chapel sermon series with this message entitled, “Culmination: Our New Home.” His text was Revelation 2.

Audio (MP3) link to Lincoln Christian University

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 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.

On January 16 of this year I preached a sermon in seminary chapel as we kicked off a series on the Ten Commandments. The text assigned to me was Deuteronomy 5:7, “You shall have no other gods at my side.” Basing my sermon on this single verse, I was asked to develop the topic “Committed to Exclusive Allegiance.”

By my count, there are more than seventy allusions to Deuteronomy in the Book of Revelation. Even though this first of the Ten Commandments is not alluded to directly, it certainly is the backdrop for all that John wrote:

• It was God who gave the revelation.
• It is God alone whom we are to worship (Rev. 4:1ff.; 13:1ff.; 22:9).
• It is God Almighty who will bring about judgment on those who do not pledge their allegiance to him as well as on those who abandon their allegiance.

It is obvious that one of the key themes in both Deuteronomy and Revelation is the exclusive allegiance God expected from the people under the Old Covenant, expected from the Christians in the first century, and continues to expect from those of us today who live under the New Covenant. The people in Moses’ day succumbed to the worship of false gods in Egypt, and the three sermons by Moses in Deuteronomy were preached with the conviction that the second generation of Hebrews could well succumb to the unknown gods they were about to encounter as they crossed the Jordan and entered Canaan. And of course, Christians at the end of the first century were being tempted to worship the gods of the Roman Empire, including the worship of Caesar. I believe that America is one of the most idol-worshipping countries on the face of the earth. There is not a one of us who has not broken the other nine commandments because we first broke the one commanding us to have no God but Yahweh. The first commandment is timeless. We too must obey the first of the ten commandments, the one commandment that is the foundation for not only the remaining nine but for all commandments found in Scripture.

I invite you to listen to the sermon. Listen and ask: Are you and I willing to offer such radical allegiance while living in such a relativistic age?

Listen to the sermon on the LCCS Podcast site

Many years ago I became intrigued with the image of Bethlehem and the sermon that is posted was a result. In fact, I eventually had the sermon published. I invite you to journey once again with me to that “insignificant village.”

NOTE: This sermon was originally delivered by Dr. Lowery in 1982.

 

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Dr. Bob and I recently sat down to talk about his first year of blogging at rlowery.com. Listen as we discuss how blogging has changed his writing process, his “counter-cultural” view of sharing personal information, and thoughts on reader responses to Revelation’s Rhapsody, as well as plans for the second volume in his Revelation commentary series.

 

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Dr. Lowery was interviewed by Isaac Gaff on the Worship Conversations podcast last week. In Part 2, listen as the two discuss Dr. Lowery’s thoughts on “worship as war.”

Worship Conversations – Episode 9 – The Book of Revelation and Worship – Part 2

NOTE: Dr. Lowery references the conversation that he and Isaac had last October after his sermon in LCC’s chapel service. You may want to listen to that discussion again to get some context for this interview.

Technorati Tags: worship, Revelation

Dr. Lowery was interviewed by Isaac Gaff on the Worship Conversations podcast last week. Listen as the two discuss Dr. Lowery’s book and his understanding of the book of Revelation, especially as it relates to worship in the church today.

Worship Conversations – Episode 9 – The Book of Revelation and Worship – Part 1

Technorati Tags: worship, Revelation

NOTE: Dr. Lowery references the conversation that he and Isaac had last October after his sermon in LCC’s chapel service. You may want to listen to that discussion again to get some context for this interview.

As mentioned last week, Dr. Lowery was one of the three speakers at the Deans’ Installation. Dr. Lowery’s remarks begin around 42:00. Get your audio below:

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Scott Sarver’s photos from the ceremony can be found here.
Microphone photo credit: el_davo

Technorati Tags: Revelation, sermon, Robert Lowery, Lincoln Christian College