Robert Lowery » Recommended Reading

Who is John Stott?

bob — Mon, 17 May 2010 21:33:15 +0000

This piece by David Brooks, “Who is John Stott,” appeared in the November 30, 2004, edition of The New York Times. John Stott has been one of the most influential people in my life, even though from a distance. The first book I read by him was Basic Christianity, and I believe I have read every publication of his since the mid 1960s. I have heard him speak and briefly met him many years ago. He is a disciple of Jesus who models servant-leadership. May God raise up more men like him.

Revelation’s Rhapsody Now in Paperback

michael — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 22:37:01 +0000

Volume 1 of Dr. Lowery’s commentary on Revelation, Revelation’s Rhapsody, is now available in paperback format. You can still purchase copies of the hardcover at “collector’s prices” on Amazon. As of today, one new hardcover is available for $193.54. Plus $3.99 shipping. Or you can order the paperback directly from College Press or by calling Mr. Books, the LCU campus bookstore, at 217-732-3168 ext. 2224. The paperback is significantly less expensive than $193.54 and it makes a great Christmas gift.

N.T. Wright and Johnny Cash on Heaven

bob — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 17:50:11 +0000

Okay, this may be the first and only time that you see the names of these two theologians linked, but they need to be.

A few days ago I was traveling to Higbee, Missouri to teach and decided to take along a 5 CD set of Johnny Cash entitled “Cash Unearthed.” It is a remarkable set, produced by Rick Rubin over a period of months and released shortly before Cash’s death. I had recently finished N.T. Wright’s remarkable book, Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church (San Francisco: HarperOne, 2008) and Wright’s approach to a biblical understanding of the blessed hope of Christians connected with what Cash wrote:

Come hear me good brothers come here one and all
Don’t brag about standing or you’ll surely fall
You’re shinin’ your light yes and shine it you should
You’re so heavenly minded and you’re no earthly good
No earthly good you are no earthly good
You’re so heavenly minded you’re no earthly good

Come here me good sisters you’re salt of the earth
If your salt isn’t salted then what is it worth
You could give someone a cool drink if you would
You’re so heavenly minded and you’re no earthly good
No earthly good you are no earthly good
You’re so heavenly minded you’re no earthly good

If you’re holding heaven then spread it around
There are hungry hands reaching up here from the ground
Move over and share the high ground where you stood
So heavenly m indeed and you’re no earthly good
No earthly good you are no earthly good
You’re so heavenly m indeed you’re no earthly good

What Cash sang in three verses, Wright develops in nearly three hundred pages of clearly thought out reflections. Wright doesn’t believe in heaven—at least, not in the way that millions of Christians understand the term. Wright quotes a children’s book by California first lady Maria Shriver called What’s Heaven? which describes it as “a beautiful place where you can sit on soft clouds and talk…If you’re good throughout your life, then you get to go there…When your life is finished here on earth, God sends angels down to take you to heaven to be with him.” That, says Wright, is a good example of what not to say. The Bishop of Durham then develops many Biblical truths:

In the Bible we are told that when you die, you enter an intermediate state. Paul is every clear that Christ has been raised from the dead already, but that nobody else has yet.
The New Testament says that when Christ does return, the dead will experience a whole new life: not just our soul, but our bodies.
The New Testament does not teach that all that really matters is saving souls for a disembodied heaven.
At no point do the Gospels teach that “Jesus has been raised, therefore when we die we are all going to heaven.” It says that Christ is coming here, to join together the heavens and the earth in an act of new creation.
Jesus is raised, therefore the new creation has begun: we have a job to do.
The New Testament teaches that God wants us to be renewed human beings helping him to renew his creation. The resurrection of Jesus was the opening bell.
If people think “My physical body doesn’t matter very much,” then who cares what I do with it? And if people think that our world doesn’t matter much, who cares what we do with that? No! Wright shouts. It matters if you have acid rain or greenhouse gases prior to the final coming of Jesus. It matters when we bomb civilians. It matters how we treat our spouses and our children and our neighbors. It matters how we are faithful in carrying out the Great Commandment and the Great Commission.

If Cash were still alive, I would love to hear him and Bishop Wright sing a duet.

Truth and Consequences

bob — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 12:48:03 +0000

For years I put off reading the novels by Wendell Berry, a decision made despite recommendations from people who I consider trustworthy when it comes to recommending what is worth reading. Well, I have begun reading the volumes about the fictional village, Port William, located in Kentucky. I regret not having read them earlier, because I will certainly want to read them again and again. He introduces a cast of characters that I feel like I would know if they were to move to Lincoln. In fact, he has gone so far as to draw a map of Port William and he includes it in the volumes along with the “family tree” of its residents. When I survey the tree and see the birthdates and deathdates of characters I have fallen in love with, I feel as if I have lost some neighbors. This is quite remarkable, really, because they—the Coulters and the Catletts, for example, are fictional characters. But I miss one and then another as either the story comes to an end or their lives do.

I am currently reading a third volume in the series (I believe there are seven plus a volume of short stories), A World Lost, published in 1996. It is a story about a young boy, Andy Catlett, and the death of his Uncle Andrew Catlett, his namesake, his father’s brother. Uncle Andrew was one of a species, we are told. The uncle is murdered and in the pages we trace Andy’s pilgrimage in dealing with the death of his beloved uncle and friend. As Andy observes “I was his hand, his body, his buddy . . . I had wanted to be like him. It had not occurred to me to want to be like anybody else.” Andy experiences loss, sadness, and the mystery surrounding the man’s death. Indeed, no one tells the boy why his uncle was murdered, and the question follows Andy into adulthood.

The story is about the slippery nature of true, including the truth about each of us, about all of us.

There are two parts I cite for you. The first is one of Andy’s many reflections on his Uncle Andrew:

To him, I think the idea of consequence was always an afterthought. He did not expect consequences; he discovered them. When he could, he laughed them away. When they pressed in through his laughter, he shut his mouth and bore them. What he had done was his fate, and so he bore it.

Andy goes through life and collects what information he can about his uncle. As he collects he learns the limits of fact. Later in life, he reflects:

Perhaps it was thinking about him after his death, discovering how much I remembered and how little I knew, that I learned that all human stories in the world contain many lost or unwritten or unreadable or unwritable pages and that the truth about us, though it must exist, though it must lie all around us everyday, is mostly hidden from us, the birds’ nests in the woods.

I turned 61 on October 11. I read the above statements a few days after that day and marveled that at points in my life I have lived without thought of consequences of something I have said or did. More often than not, those were regretful times. Times I hope no one ever recalls and digs up. Much of my life is lost because so much was unwritten. (I have never been good at journaling, a popular practice among many today.) So much should remain unwritten and unread. And yet the truth about me as a husband, father, grandfather, teacher, and preacher lies all around me everyday. Much of the time, it is hidden from loved ones and friends and colleagues. Much of it is hidden from me. So I begin this sixty-first year relying on God’s grace more than ever. It is a wonderful, marvelous grace that saves, sustains, and continues to surprise.

I Have a Dream of a Living Church

bob — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 18:55:47 +0000

A while back I came across a sermon by John Stott (see The Living Church: Convictions of a Lifelong Pastor). It was preached on November 24, 1974, the 150th anniversary of the church where he was preaching at the time, All Souls, Langham Place, London.

Near the end of the sermon, Stott acknowledged his indebtedness to Martin Luther King, Jr., and his famous dream speech in Washington, D.C., and then concluded his sermon with his own dream for All Souls. The parts of the prayer are worth preaching. He focuses on such themes as “I have a dream of a church which is a biblical church… a worshipping church… a caring church… a serving church”—themes developed in several clauses. He concluded the sermon with the following:

I have a dream of a church which is an expectant church—

whose members can never settle down in material

affluence or comfort, because they remember that

they are strangers and pilgrims on earth,

which is all the more faithful and active because it is

waiting and looking for its Lord to return,

which keeps the flame of the Christian hope burning

brightly in a dark, despairing world,

which on the day of Christ will not shrink from him

in shame, but rise up joyfully to greet him.

I have a dream of an expectant church.

I can only add to this brief post: May this be our dream and our prayer. Amen.

Bible Study Magazine: Something for Everyone

bob — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 06:01:11 +0000

In my opinion, a major publishing event took place with the issuing of Bible Study Magazine late last year. If the September-November 2008 and the just received January-February 2009 issues are a preview of things to come, well, good things will be coming along for serious Bible students. A new tool from LOGOS Bible Software in print form! What a delightful surprise!

As indicated in the title of this posting, the magazine offers something for everyone, from the Sunday School teacher to the preacher to the College or Seminary student and professor. In the inaugural issue the editor Michael Heiser writes that the magazine “will enhance your study of God’s word in a variety of ways, suggesting methods of Bible study and offering tips on Bible study tools. It includes advice and encouragement from pastors, teachers and scholars on Bible study. Interesting and challenging content about the Bible and the ancient biblical world will take your study to a completely new level.” Overviews of Bible books, word studies (both Greek and Hebrew!), book reviews, the value of archaeology for understanding scripture, choosing Bible translations, inductive Bible study principles, rock music and Bible study, and even a sprinkling of comics and puzzles. Authors like Josh McDowell, Mark Goodacre, Daniel Wallace, Craig Broyles, and Peter Flint are just a few of the important contributors to the publication. Relatively new authors like Jeannine Seery, Christy Tennant, and John D. Barry will enrich your mind as well.

In a day in which I find myself having to be more careful than ever in budgeting for magazines (I currently subscribe to more than 15 weekly, monthly, or quarterly publications, and I fear that some of these will not be renewed due to limited funds), I do not intend to drop my subscription to this important magazine. The introductory rate of $14.95 is still available. If you have to, let your subscription to Rolling Stone or People or TV Guide expire and sign up at www.BibleStudyMagazine.com. Today.

Further Reflections on Israel Trip

bob — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 11:54:19 +0000

I had the privilege of visiting Israel with a group of disciples of Jesus who love him dearly. It was a special blessing to have numerous seminary students with me. I have received permission from Tanner Green, one of my students, to post his reflections on the importance of the Sea of Galilee in the ministry of Jesus (download the PDF). It is because of students like Tanner that I have continued ministry in Lincoln for more than thirty years. Sit back and read the essay and marvel at how a knowledge of geography aids us in reading the Word. Perhaps next time I go overseas, some of you kind readers of this site will join me.

A Few Things Out of the Ordinary

bob — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 02:35:12 +0000

Let me digress . . .

and recommend a study not at all associated with the Book of Revelation. The wonderful volume is by Klyne R. Snodgrass’s Stories With Intent: A Comprehensive Guide to the Parables of Jesus (Eerdmans, 2008). It will take its place in my library alongside the helpful volumes on parables by Craig Blomberg and Ken Bailey. Indeed, in many ways it is superior to the works by those fine scholars.

The book reflects mature scholarship that is geared for either a seminary course or a preacher who is preparing a series on the parables of Jesus. It is, in my opinion, the finest volume of its kind. It is succinct, clear, and accessible. Snodgrass gives clear answers to key questions that arise from a study of the parables. He pays close attention to gospel parallels (e.g., the two parables on lost or wondering sheep in Luke 15 and Matthew 18) and interacts with the important contributions, including the works by Ken Bailey whose cultural insights have been very helpful to serious Bible students. You may not always agree with his conclusions, but you will be a better student because of your reading of Snodgrass.

My digression continues . . .

by my encouraging you to consider the topic of Christian faith and the environment. I am not trying to be politically correct or “with it” since this is a major concern of people, both Christian and non-Christian. Years ago, I read Francis Schaeffer’s call to relate the Christian faith to the planet in his groundbreaking work Pollution and the Death of Man. In this area, as in others, Schaffer was a man ahead of his time.

An easy book to read is Dave Bookless’s Planetwise: Dare to Care for God’s World (InterVarsity Press). Bookless desires to explore “the story of God and the whole of creation” (p. 18) and does so in which God’s dealings with this world are seen as five acts of a drama: creation, fall, Israel, Jesus, and the present/future age. (You may also want to take a look at Hilary Marlow’s Let the Earth Sing (Oxford – forthcoming in 2009) and how she reads the Old Testament in light of environmental ethics).

Another book, albeit a bit more complex, is Christianity, Climate Change, and Sustainable Living by Nick Spencer and Robert White (SPCK. The authors, an economist and geophysicist, explain the science of climate change as well as offering a biblical theology of creation care. The authors also challenge Christians to look at our lifestyles by offering principles and practical suggestions.

Finally, take a look at Cherishing the Earth: How to Care for God’s Creation (Monarch) by Martin and Margot Hodson. Scientific and theological perspectives are wedded in a creative way. Their desire is to point us to a better way of living until we find ourselves living on the new earth to come (Rev. 21:1ff.). We are challenged to respect both the earth and all its inhabitants.

U2 and Christmas

bob — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 16:26:02 +0000

Earlier this year I read a book entitled Bono: In Conversation with Michka Assayas (New York: Riverhead Books, 2005). For those luddites who do not know who Bono is, well, first of all, he is a follower of Christ, a flawed one like all of us, but deeply passionate about spelling out what it means to be one of the saved. Second of all, he is the singer for the world’s greatest rock and roll band, U2, a band that my son Brian and I have had the privilege of hearing in concert at least three times (1992, 2001, and 2005).

Bono is asked the question by Assayas: “When was the first time something happened when you thought about a line from the Scriptures? When you first said to yourself: yes, I can see beyond that and see how it applies to such and such situation?”

Bono responds by first saying that the story he is about to tell Assayas is not the first time that Scripture’s relevance was felt. He had gotten back from a long tour and was excited to celebrate Christmas in Dublin (Ireland). He went to St. Patrick’s Cathedral, and arriving late, he had to sit behind a pillar and could not see a thing. All he could hear was the lovely choral singing. Because of travel fatigue he was having a hard time staying awake, and so he focused on reading the Christmas program. As he was reading, it dawned on him, not for the first time, but it really sank in: the Christmas story. Bono recounts:

The idea that God, if there is a force of Love and Logic in the universe, that it would seek to explain itself is amazing enough. That it would seek to explain itself and describe itself by becoming a child born in straw poverty, in shit and straw…a child… I just thought: ‘Wow!’ Just the poetry ….Unknowable love, unknowable power, describes itself as the most vulnerable. There it was. I was sitting there, and it’s not that it hadn’t struck me before, but tears came down my face, and I saw the genius of this, utter genius of picking a particular point in time and deciding to turn on this. . . . Love needs to find form, intimacy needs to be whispered. To me, it makes sense. It’s actually logical. It’s pure logic. Essence has to manifest itself. It’s inevitable. Love has to become an action or something concrete. It would have to happen. There must be an incarnation. Love must be made flesh.

Now sit back and click on the image below to watch and listen to Bono as he sings “I Believe in Father Christmas.”

Christmas time is a time that Love was made Flesh.

Spending Time with the Church Fathers

bob — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 05:01:07 +0000

For more than twenty-five years I have had the privilege of teaching a class entitled Scripture in Context with my friend and colleague, Dr. Gary Hall. The first part of the semester we spend discussing the historical setting of the Old and New Testaments and about two thirds of the semester are spent focusing on the history of the interpretation of the Bible. I always like to hear Gary’s insights about how the earliest Christian commentators approached the Scriptures.

Yesterday I covered a one thousand year period that we call Medieval times. We focused on what happens when there are poor hermeneutical choices made to support the traditions of the Church.

At the end of the lecture I issued a caution. I told the students that I fear that too many of us consult commentaries written in the last several decades and we miss much when we do not reach farther back to see the insights deeply devoted individuals had as a result of their spending time in the Word. Such a failure to do so reflects a certain arrogance on our part: We are far more sophisticated in our approach to Scripture and the ancients, especially the commentators who lived in the three or four centuries after the church was born, really do not have much to offer to us. Or so we think! Each year I teach the history the students marvel at how we continue to deal with issues that countless Christians have had to reflect on over the centuries.

We must spend time with the Church Fathers. Of course, they can be just as wrong as any other commentator, regardless of the century in which one wrote. Chronological proximity to the writers of the New Testament does not guarantee that the interpretations offered by the fathers are always accurate. Even with the pages of the New Testament we find people who did not hear Paul correctly, to cite just one author.

Whenever I study a passage of Scripture–for lecture or for sermon or for a writing project–I always try to get a sampling of interpretations throughout the centuries. And I have never been disappointed or have gone away hungry. For example, as I continue work on my commentary, I am currently working through the volume on Revelation (edited by William C. Weinrich) that is a part of The Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, edited by Thomas C. Oden (more details below). It is one of twenty-eight volumes encompassing all of Scripture and offering us the key writings of the early church fathers.

Let me list some helpful resources that will connect you with past interpreters, specifically Christian preachers and teachers who lived during the first two or three centuries after the church was born:

Bercot, David W. A Dictionary of Early Christian Beliefs. Peabody: Hendrickson, 1998.
Coxe, A. Cleveland, ed. The Ante-Nicene Fathers: Translations of the Fathers Down to A.D. 325, 10-Vol. Set. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1971. {See volume IX for a general index (including subjects and Scriptures).
Goodspeed, Edgar J. Index Patristicus. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1993.
Lampe, G.W.H. A Patristic Greek Lexicon. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1969.
Liddell, Henry George and Scott, Robert, ed. Revised and augmented throughout by Henry Stuart Jones with the assistance of Roderick McKenzie. A Greek-English Lexicon, Ninth Edition with a Revised Supplement. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995.
Oden, Thomas C., gen. ed. Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture Series. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press. Numerous volumes.
Commentaries by F.J.A. Hort, B.F. Westcott, J.B. Lightfoot, and H.B. Swete, among others.

Here is my challenge to you. Do not read only the most recent interpreters of Scripture but go back about eighteen hundred years and reflect on the wisdom of some of the earliest disciples of Jesus. We will be richer for it.