Remembering My Friend - James Emmons

      Friday, October 13, 2023

The Lord is my shepherd; I have all that I need.  He lets me rest in green meadows; he leads me beside peaceful streams.  He renews my strength.  He guides me along right paths, bringing honor to his name.  Even when I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid, for you are close beside me.  Your rod and your staff protect and comfort me.  You prepare a feast for me in the presence of my enemies.  You honor me by anointing my head with oil.  My cup overflows with blessings.  Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will live in the house of the Lord forever.  Psalm 23:1-6

A “goad” is what a shepherd uses to direct his sheep towards the next good place for grazing and water.  A life’s path is determined by choices and the oversight of God; we choose to cooperate or kick against God’s leading goad.  For a preacher, or anyone, that pathway’s conversations between human and Creator can be a daily struggle between understanding God’s prodding, and our obstinance. 

The struggle to break from our bent to stubbornness is like Jacob’s wrestling match with the angel of God who displaced the patriarch’s hip, which caused him to limp for the rest of his life.  Some choices carry more weight than others…a reminder of a better path, not taken.

I met James Emmons in 1999.  I was on an unplanned sabbatical (that’s the “in-between churches” that pastors sometimes experience).  James’ church was searching for a pastor, and I was available.  God did the goading to lead me into friendship with a man who would be a Godly influence on my life.         The Brownworth and Emmons clans meshed with church life and friendship.     We shared a mini-vacation once.  We prayed together and shared meals at each other’s homes.  James and I very nearly shared a birthday, only a few weeks apart, his in May, mine in June.  About 15 years ago when we were both crossing the line from the 6^th decade of life to the 7^th, I called James on his birthday.  When he answered, I sang (quite off-key) Happy Birthday, dear James…you old coot,  Happy birthday to you!  From that moment, “old coot” became our greeting. 

James passed a few days ago, after a long struggle with cancer.  It wasn’t until a few days before that passing I shared with him the backstory on why I began the old coot business.  In 1983 I was serving a church in tiny McIntosh, Florida, population 257.  The four churches in McIntosh shared Sunday evening services, and Mr. Richardson, one of the life-long Methodist brothers, was in the hospital at the time.  Mr. Richardson had just passed his 80^th birthday when I walked into his hospital room (all the pastors in town visited all the members; denominations were unimportant in that burg).  We chatted, prayed, and when I was about to leave, another elderly man ambled through the door.  I didn’t recognize E. Colin Lindsey who, in 1935 partnered with Henry Belk to create Florida’s largest chain-department stores, Belk-Lindsey.[1]  Mr. Lindsey and Mr. Richardson were like James and I, born only a few weeks apart, with Mr. Richardson the elder.  They attended the McIntosh grade school together as children, and remained friends for life.  As Lindsey walked through that hospital room door to visit his old friend, Mr. Richardson brightened-up and howled, Colin, what on earth are you doing in a hospital?  Mr. Lindsey, limping on a cane, smiled an impish grin and said, I just wanted to see what an 85-year-old coot looked like!  Now, that 40-year-old story is about friendship that is faithful, and endures a lifetime.  The reason I began to call my friend, James, an old coot, is because, even though we started later than Richardson and Lindsey, the Brownworth and Emmons bond did the same.  For me, old coot symbolized the essence of a long and fruitful friendship.  And that is what I will miss most about my friend and co-laborer in Christ.  He had a playful, gentle spirit, but a fierce commitment and loyalty to Jesus.  I know this faithful friend and Christian brother will greet me one day…over yonder. 

For You Today 

I trust you have good, long-term friendships.  I pray you have eternal friendships!  I suspect James didn’t often kick against God’s goading towards His will.  I trusted his counsel, his friendship, and knew he had my back…always!

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

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There are about 2,600 devotional posts and 400 sermons in the Rocky Road library.

Title Image courtesy of Pixabay.com Images without citation are in public domain or cited via weblinks.  

Unless noted, Scripture quoted from NLT^©  

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[1] See Ocala Star Banner article

The Hallucination of Order

 

Thursday, May 5, 2022

The Lord is my shepherd; I have all that I need.  He lets me rest in green meadows; he leads me beside peaceful streams.  He renews my strength.  He guides me along right paths, bringing honor to his name.  Even when I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid, for you are close beside me.  Your rod and your staff protect and comfort me.  You prepare a feast for me in the presence of my enemies.  You honor me by anointing my head with oil.  My cup overflows with blessings.  Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will live in the house of the Lord forever.  Psalm 23:1-6

The Psalm King David wrote is loved by untold millions.  What is not to love about peaceful streams, lush green meadows, and having your strength and soul restored?  Yet, human experience tells us that life is chaotic, messy, even at best.  Is David’s picture of a peace-filled life with God a realistic expectation, or a cruel hallucination…merely a form of wish-thinking, chasing after the perfect life in a chaotic universe?

A hallucination is a distortion of a real image or event.  Expecting perfect order in a chaotic universe is a disconnect with reality.  So, does that mean David’s image of God’s unfailing love is a pipe dream?  Not by any means.  One simply has to see it in correct perspective; David’s picture of what God provides is virtually proven by the chaos of our world.

Consider the provisions and the problems:

#1. Rest beside peaceful streams presupposes there are raging (chaotic) rivers.

#2. Renewed strength presupposes your personal strength can fail.

#3. Right paths announce that there are some wrong ones to avoid.

#4. Dark valleys instill fear while God’s presence brings courage.

….and the list is much longer.

Chaos, weakness, wrong choices, and fearful realities are not hallucinations, they are the reality of a fallen world.  Rest, renewal, corrected (forgiven) wrong choices, and courage to go on are just as real for the inner person. 

When the reality of life’s harshness meets the goodness of God’s grace, the follower of Jesus Christ has – as David wrote to begin the Psalm – all I need.

For You Today

You might be facing some tough decisions, chaotic storms, or a mind-numbing shortness of courage and other resources.  If so, take some time right now to give God great praise for the opportunity you are facing.  Just like David, facing Goliath the giant, you’re going to see you lack nothing you really need, because those promises never fail.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road with Jesus; have a blessed day!  

[1] Title image: Pixabay.com & Pixabay.com   Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©   

Good Shepherd

 

Thursday, April 22, 2021

Each morning I sit at my desk and study God’s Word.  It is early enough to still be dark, and it always strikes me as the most peaceful, renewing, and blessed time of the day.  And I’m always aware of what King David called the peaceful streams of such restful, reflective moments, the holy hush of being close to the Good Shepherd.  I’ve been pursued by His goodness and unfailing love; I’m in the midst of living in His house forever.  The images come flooding from God’s Word:

“I am the good shepherd; I know my own sheep, and they know me,  John 10:14
And when the Great Shepherd appears, you will receive a crown of never-ending glory and honor….Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you 1 Peter 5:4, 7

And, of course, there is the greatest of Good Shepherd passages, Psalm 23.  Consider the ways this Shepherd carries the lambs (and this old sheep):

Peace to regroup and renew

The Lord is my shepherd; I have all that I need.  He lets me rest in green meadows; he leads me beside peaceful streams.  He renews my strength.

Life can certainly wear one down under the kinds of burdens we face.  One look at the news channel can suck the hope out of you if you let it.  And who doesn’t let it from time to time.  For that, God reminds us we have everything we need, and He renews our strength to persevere.

Guidance for the next steps in life

He guides me along right paths, bringing honor to his name.  

God’s Word is our GPS.  It’s purposes are many, but all directed to helping sheep like us find our way in this minefield of life in the 21^st century.  A shepherd’s job is to see the sheep through life’s journey.

Comfort and Courage against fear

Even when I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid, for you are close beside me.  Your rod and your staff protect and comfort me.  

This is the one I treasure greatest of all.  When things happen that don’t make sense, and life gets scary, and I tremble with fear at the thought of going on another step for dread of the darkness, it is then I reach out to hold-onto the Good Shepherd’s robe, just ahead of me, His light showing the next step…and that is astounding, that He has already been there.  He has faced the darkness, and the darkness scatters in His presence.  And he turns back to look at me…and His smile lifts my soul.  And the darkness loses…again!

And then, the ultimate question is answered as the Shepherd gives:

Confidence in the future and beyond death’s veil

You prepare a feast for me in the presence of my enemies.  You honor me by anointing my head with oil.  My cup overflows with blessings.  Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will live in the house of the Lord forever. 

Life with the Good Shepherd is a never-ending, always-unfolding, ever-widening, and increasingly-blessing story.  It’s more than epic…it’s eternal.

Usually, by the time I finish writing a devotional reflection on the day’s passage, I begin to notice how the darkness outside my window is beginning to give way to the new day’s light.  The Good Shepherd has been with me through the dark night, and we start another day of going where He leads in the light; embracing where He labors, and rejoicing in the way He blesses.

Perfect!

For You Today

The next time you’re greeted by an acquaintance, or the cashier at WalMart, or the one who fixes your car, and you get that question, how’s your day going, haul out Psalm 23 and hit the highlights of every day with the Good Shepherd.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!  

[1] Title Image: Pixabay.com Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation©

Branded

Thursday, April 30, 2020

The Lord is my shepherd; I have all that I need.  He lets me rest in green meadows; he leads me beside peaceful streams.  He renews my strength.  He guides me along right paths, bringing honor to his name.  Even when I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid, for you are close beside me.  Your rod and your staff protect and comfort me.  You prepare a feast for me in the presence of my enemies.  You honor me by anointing my head with oil.  My cup overflows with blessings.  Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will live in the house of the Lord forever.  Psalm 23:1-6

I’ve never heard of shepherds branding their sheep; according to Jesus it’s entirely unnecessary, because the relationship is deeper than the skin’s surface:

My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.  John 10:27

More about my interest in tattooing in a moment; first a disclaimer:

I am neither a proponent of, nor an opponent of tattoos; I do not judge the worth of anyone who chooses to adorn themselves with ink. 

As an art-form, tattooing is not something today’s generation discovered…people have been inking themselves for thousands of years.  Like all personal choices, hairstyles, fingernail length and décor, music, clothing, and accessories, popularity of style is momentary and varies within cultures; it rises and falls on everything from whimsey to social outcry.    I am, however more curious about what the numbers might look like if you tried to figure out the why of people choosing to get tattoos.  To name a few categories there are, it’s pretty, manly-macho, my social statement, identity (such as clubs and gangs), and the list goes on.  All choices are personal; some are deeply-meaningful, and some border on just filling time.

The closest I ever got to a physical tattoo was a few marks I didn’t choose; targets, really.  They were the location points for radiation due to throat cancer.  The markers disappeard eventually. 

The tattoo, or brand, I did choose was the Psalm 23 type.  The sheep-branding of the heart, where you are known by the Good Shepherd is that which brings you safely through a lifetime of both sorrow and joy.  It is the seal of God[1], placed by the Spirit of God in the heart of one who has accepted the offer of God to be saved by the blood of the Son of God.  Christ-followers are branded with the seal of the Holy Spirit.  It is a promise of things to come, of eternal life, joy, and peace, not only in Heaven, but here and now, through this current life of toil, pain, and darkness.

This seal of the Spirit is (like the ink artwork in fashion today), a deeply personal choice.  It isn’t a matter of putting your name on a church roll, or going through someone’s prescribed rituals; it’s a matter of surrendering your heart to be sealed.  That means surrendering your will, bending your choices to fit what God has ordained, not what simply pleases you. 

Following Christ is all about personal choice; Jesus chose to frame the relationship He offers as sheep with a shepherd.  Sheep are led by one who is worthy to follow and trust…not like cattle which must be driven, or dangerous wild animals which must be tamed, incarcerated, or killed.  Those who follow Christ follow a worthy Good Shepherd…one who lays down His life for His sheep.

For You Today

To be branded HIS, means you will begin to recognize His voice, and follow where He leads; that is, after all, the nature of sheep and shepherds.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

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Title Image:  Pixabay.com      Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation©

For other posts on Psalm 23 see In Green Pastures and Beside Still Waters and Enough and     The Tools of a Shepherd  

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[1] Revelation 7:4

The Tools of a Shepherd

Thursday, March 19, 2020

The Lord is my shepherd; I have all that I need.  He lets me rest in green meadows; he leads me beside peaceful streams.  He renews my strength.  He guides me along right paths, bringing honor to his name.  Even when I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid, for you are close beside me.  Your rod and your staff protect and comfort me.  You prepare a feast for me in the presence of my enemies.  You honor me by anointing my head with oil.  My cup overflows with blessings.  Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will live in the house of the Lord forever.  Psalm 23:1-6

There are so many dangers associated with tending a flock of sheep.  Ancient shepherds lived with the sheep to keep watch, because predators were everywhere.  The shepherd’s tools are well known, rod and staff.  The staff was a guide to help move the sheep along to the next place where there would be water and grazing.  Sheep tend to wander, so even the staff was a means of protection against just stumbling along, and perhaps winding up in a place that’s barren and unsustainable. 

I was watching a TV drama where one of the main characters was talking to a co-worker.  She asked her friend, have you ever felt like things happening to you were all connected; like you were being driven to something?  Had I been in on that conversation I would’ve jumped in and screamed, YES, YES…are you not listening?  Of course you’re being moved along, you senseless, non-attention-paying sheep!  That’s the Great Shepherd guiding your steps.

So, if the staff is for guiding, where does the rod come in?  That may be the most important tool in the shepherd’s hands.  The rod was for protection and discipline.  There are enemies of sheep that are too formidable for any sheep.  A rod was about the length of a man’s forearm, fortified with pieces of metal or rock strapped to the end.  It became a club in the hands of a skilled shepherd to drive off wolves and other predators. 

But it also became a different kind of protective tool each night.  As the sheep gathered close to the shepherd, he would use his rod like a diagnostic tool, pulling back the thick wool covering each sheep.  This was to allow the shepherd to see if there were any wounds that needed tending.  This was the comfort part of rod and staff of which David wrote.  David was a good and faithful shepherd tending the family’s flocks.  When he penned Psalm 23 it was with fond memories of simple, but profound experiences keeping watch.

And this is the task our Heavenly Father gave to The Good Shepherd, God’s son, Jesus.  We human beings are like a flock of wandering sheep who have a peculiar habit of wandering away from the Shepherd, as Isaiah said:

All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet the Lord laid on him the sins of us all.  Isaiah 53:6

For You Today

What Isaiah said about God laying the sins of us all on the Christ of the cross, is God’s rod combing over our sheepish, wooly backs, revealing the sins of our foolishness and pride.  His omniscient eyes don’t miss a one…no matter how big or small.  And the Good Shepherd removes our sins and heals our wounds.

Take a moment just now and thank him in your best sheep prayer that the Good Shepherd is willing to live with His flock…us!

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

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Title Image:  Pixabay.com  Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation©

For other posts on Psalm 23 see In Green Pastures and Beside Still Waters  or  Enough