Approaching Nebo’S Peak

By Eulie R Brannan

As we near the end of our earthly sojourns, often we look back on our journeys and reflect on the many peaks and valleys along the way. Moses led a stubborn people for forty years to bring them from Egypt to the Promised Land, but his mistake in not following God’s command prevented him from entering. Yet he was given permission to climb Mount Nebo and see the Promised Land before he died.
In Approaching Nebo’s Peak, author Eulie R. Brannan reflects on his ninety year journey as he, too, nears his own Nebo’s peak, imagining Moses’s thoughts and intertwining them with his own. Dr. Brannan has spent a lifetime studying the scriptures, which has enabled him to draw on Bible characters and principles and share his insights with you; by noting how the lower peaks and valleys can help us make our last great climb to the top, he hopes that his spiritual autobiography will help you in your climb.
Like Moses, you may have spent a lifetime seeking the Promised Land. And as you climb to Nebo’s peak and see what the Lord has given, you will finally experience the excitement of a permanent homecoming.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Sep 15, 2018
• ISBN: 9781973638704

Eulie R Brannan

The writer has lived for 94 years and experienced many heartaches. He has had his father, mother two brothers and a sister precede him in death. He has had to bury three wives- one of whom he lived with for thirty four years, a second for thirty one years and the last for eight years. Yet he has weathered these storms and can still see the sublight of life. His faith has sustained him, and he believes the Lord has spared him to do his work that he plans to do until the lord calls him home. The author exposes himself and his inner feelings in such a way that a fellow struggler can relate to them and hopefully gain courage to struggle on, wounded but not defeated. He with Paul affirms, “I know whom I have believed” 2 Timothy 1:12.

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Copyright © 2018 Eulie R. Brannan.

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Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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ISBN: 978-1-9736-3869-8 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-9736-3871-1 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-9736-3870-4 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2018910513

WestBow Press rev. date: 9/14/2018

PREFACE

For many years, friends who have heard me teach and preach have encouraged me to put some of my thoughts in writing. I was not sure I had anything to add that had not already been written, perhaps better than I could do. Solomon said, Of making many books there is no end (Ecclesiastes 12:12). Following a triple bypass a week after my eightieth birthday, I thought maybe age had given me experiences that I could write about that would help a fellow sojourner.

Special encouragement from the shepherds at the Madison Church five years ago started the project. I have written chapters at different times over a five-year span; hopefully, a final revision has brought them together into a coherent whole.

These are lessons learned and thoughts provoked by a senior sojourner who, at age ninety, realizes he is near home. It is sent forth with the hope and prayer that it will benefit the readers.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Memory cannot recall nor space allow me to list all who have influenced the contents of this book. I am a part of all I have met. My special thanks to my wife, Louise, and other family members who encouraged me to write and stood by me in the process. Thanks to Tony Hoover and the other shepherds at Madison Church who encouraged me to write and provided time for me to get underway. John Walton was a tremendous help with encouragement and technical assistance in formatting the manuscript to meet the publisher’s specifications. Dale Kirkland was always available for technical assistance. Special thanks to Angela Kirkland, who proofed the manuscript. I am grateful to Dr. Lyle Dorsett, a gifted writer who has published over twenty books, who read the manuscript and encouraged me to put it in print.

CONTENTS

Preface

Acknowledgments

Chapter 1     Introduction—Moses’s Thoughts And Mine

Chapter 2     Thank You, Lord, For The Lower Peaks

Chapter 3     No Man Is An Island

Chapter 4     God Operating Behind The Scenes

Chapter 5     Lay Aside Every Weight

Chapter 6     What Have I Left Behind?

Chapter 7     Urgency—Night Is Coming When No One Can Work

Chapter 8     Set Your House In Order

Chapter 9     Homeward Bound

Chapter 10   Five Favorite Sermons

1

INTRODUCTION—MOSES’S THOUGHTS AND MINE

He climbed with sure steps and perfect eyesight up the slopes of Nebo toward Mount Pisgah’s peak. No one would have guessed this strong climber was 120 years old. Just over the Jordan was a land Moses had spent a third of his life traveling to find. You could see the excitement in his eyes, but a sad memory clouded his mind. The land would be everything the Lord promised—but Moses would never enter it. In a moment of weakness at Meribah, Moses struck the rock instead of speaking to it. This cost him his entrance into the Promised Land. Then I pleaded with the Lord at that time, saying, I pray let me cross over and see the good land beyond the Jordan, those pleasant mountains and Lebanon … But the Lord was angry with me on your account, and would not listen to me. So the Lord said to me:, ‘Enough of that! Speak no more to Me of this matter’ (Deuteronomy 3:23–27).

Moses reached the top and, looking to the north, could see the majestic twin mountains Lebanon and Herman. Lebanon was bedecked with green cedars, and Herman was white with snow. His vision moved westward to the Mediterranean Sea and over the Galilean highlands to the pear-shaped Sea of Galilee. Farther to the south was the Plain of Esdraelon, where the ancients fought more battles than any other spot in the world. Noble King Josiah would lose his life there. Dropping his view farther, he saw the Shfela of Samaria and Judea, bordered on the west by the Plain of Sharon and on the east by the Jordan gorge, through which the Jordan River snaked its way to its grave in the Dead Sea. Due west of Nebo were the five peaks, including Zion, where the great king built his capital city.

Turning to his left, Moses saw the Negev and the desert wildernesses of Paran, Zin, and Ethan, where he wandered with two generations of Israelites for forty years. Truly, it was a good land flowing with milk and honey.

We cannot be too sad for Moses. Later, he would appear with Elijah on the Mount of Transfiguration and discuss with our Lord his coming death. Moses never reached Canaan, though I expect to see him soon in a land that beggars comparison to any other. I want to join the chorus that sings the song of Moses (Revelation 15:3).

Ninety years have passed since I started my journey to the Promised Land, and I can identify with what must have been some of the thoughts of Moses. Unlike Moses, I don’t have the best eyesight, and my strength is much abated, but with the help of the Lord, I can still climb. I want to share my thoughts as I near the completion of the journey. Perhaps they will help others when the end is in sight. God has no retirement age in his service. John Milton suffered blindness at the age of forty-three, and in his poem When I Consider How My Light Is Spent, Milton asks, Does God demand day labor, light denied? The answer is yes, but he has promised, As your days so shall your strength be (Deuteronomy 33:25).

Paul had suffered much and achieved much, but he looked toward the finish line and said, Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus (Philippians 3:13–14).

Andy Rooney said, I’ve learned … that everyone wants to live on top of the mountain, but all the happiness and growth occurs while you’re climbing it.

SOME LESSONS LEARNED

Benjamin Franklin wrote, Experience keeps a dear school, but fools will learn in no other. Brother Gus Nichols was approached by a young preacher who asked, What university did you attend? He answered, The University of Hard Knocks. With a puzzled look on his face, the young preacher said, I don’t believe I have heard about that university. It seems I have spent several terms in the University of Hard Knocks. The lessons learned have sometimes been painful, but they have always been profitable and permanent.

My mother always wanted me to be a preacher. When I was fourteen, she sent me to Dasher Bible School (Georgia Christian Academy) to begin my training. There I learned a great lesson in a Bible class that was not a part of the study. I had been in Sunday school all my life, and since my conversion a year before, I had been studying my Bible. I thought my class in Matthew would be easy, so I did little preparing for my first test. I was shocked to see so many blanks that required specific information. I filled in a few blanks and sat staring at the ceiling. A movement to my left caught my attention. I cast a glance and saw that my girlfriend was offering to share her answers with me. I copied from her paper and learned later she was no Bible scholar. We both scored seventy-one on the test. The superintendent’s daughter, who was also in my class, told me the teacher had gone to her father about cheating on the test, and I had better do something soon.

The superintendent was W. O. Norton, and I thought I might be walking the last mile as I went to see him. I said, Brother Norton, I cheated on my Bible test.

He stared and then growled at me, Cheating on any test is terrible, but cheating on a Bible test is the worst! I stood petrified, waiting for his Pack up and go home. Instead, he said, Go tell your teacher, and do whatever he says. Halfway relieved, I made the same confession to my teacher.

He said, I am glad you confessed, but I have to give you a zero on the test. I gave a hearty thank-you and studied for my other tests. Since that time, I have been in many classrooms, both in undergraduate and graduate studies, where cheating was done, but I have never even been tempted to cheat. I received added satisfaction about forty years later when I went to see my aged friend W. O. Norton, and as I shook his hand to leave, he said, If I were looking for a good man, I would not pass you by.

From the time I was fifteen until I graduated from college, I got up each morning before dawn to deliver the Montgomery Advertiser. When I was fifteen, I delivered my papers on a bicycle. This was fine until the other carriers began to get motor scooters. A friend had one with a sidecar that he was selling for four hundred dollars. I had to have that scooter. If my dad would lend me the money, I could repay him in eight months. I carefully laid out my plan. If I had the scooter, I could get up thirty minutes later, I would not be as tired, and this would result in better class attention and higher grades. I called, made my case, and waited for an answer.

My dad said, Those things are dangerous, and I don’t want you to have one. If the paper route is making you too tired, give it up, and I will pay all your expenses. Not what I wanted to hear.

Backup strategy—get Mom’s help. I was sure if I won her approval, she could get Dad to send the money. I called her; I made my case, and she said she would try to get Dad to change his mind. I felt sure all I had to do was watch the mail for the check. In the meantime, my friend was getting anxious to sell his scooter and would have to get another buyer if I didn’t have the money. My roommate had just sold his car and offered to lend me the money if I could repay him within thirty days. I was certain I would have Dad’s check by that time, and so I became the proud owner of a motor scooter.

The very next night after I bought the scooter, I was taking a friend to his girlfriend’s house for his date. We started around a car that suddenly decided to turn left, and we crashed into the back fender. I woke up at the emergency room, where they sewed up my lip and greased my skinned-up face. Someone took me back to the dormitory, and when I woke up the next morning, I went out to see my wrecked motor scooter. Not a pretty sight.

Now I was skinned and bruised, with a wrecked motor scooter, owing my roommate four hundred dollars due in four weeks. A letter arrived from Mom, and she informed me Dad was not going send the money. My only recourse was to call Dad,