Author: Rev. Charles Pugh

We are now well into November and there is much discussion about all of the Occupation around the world! There are nations occupying other nations and exercising varying degrees of rule and control. Some even accuse the United States of occupying Iraq and Afghanistan, though the main policy has been to grant democratic freedom to these and other Countries. With unemployment in America and even around the world as high as it is, occupations are on the minds of many people—thinking about the job(s) they can get and will have. There is an Occupy movement that is being promoted around America, focusing on Occupying Wall Street to see some change in the way business is operated. Students and young people on our college campuses have helped fuel many of these protests, though they are often ignorant of the deeper agenda of this movement. Rather than dealing with the political ramifications of the Occupy Wall Street Movement, I want to take this writing opportunity to address a more important Truth than any truth proclaimed by those connected to these Occupy protests. What is needed more than any push or protest movement on Wall Street or any Main Street is for each of us to seek to Occupy YAH Street!

Many today are more aware that the personal shortened name for GOD is YAH (c.f. Psalm 68:4). What is known as the Hebrew Tetragrammaton—YHWH—is what represents HIS Name, which with the changes of English pronunciation of the Y (to J) and W (to V), has often been translated into English as JeHoVaH. Due to the Holiness and great Reverence for HIS Name, most Hebrew people would not even pronounce it, thus the vowels between the 4 consonants (YHWH) were not certain. Most today agree that YAHWEH is the correct pronunciation for the personal Name of GOD. At the risk of some using slang or being irreverent, think of what people should actually be doing and emphasizing in any proclamation or protest against authority or business. It should not be to promote your own way or street or simply protest Wall Street, it should instead be to promote YAH Street!

So, what am I getting to here? Well, to use an idiomatic expression, I am attempting to “get down to where the rubber meets the road” or street. 😉 What takes place in the daily interactions of human beings around the world is what you might say is happening on the streets (some view this as Main Street as opposed to Wall Street). The question there is, “What are you really like in your daily living?” Are you focused on your own will and way or are you controlled by another? It is all about Control (see my earlier 05-01-08 Blog: “It is ALL about CONTROL!”, which is also in my book). Are you in control of your life or is another person; are you yielded to some spiritual force (aware of it or not) or are you knowingly yielded to the Creator—YAH? Wouldn’t it make sense and be logical that you get your advice and direction for living from your Creator—YAH—and not from men or any protesting Wall Street or Occupying some other area? In this light, would it not be better to Occupy YAH Street than any other place?

Of course, I am speaking spiritually here. We know that we are living in these physical bodies. We know that we are occupying the space where we live and work or lounge or whatever we do. It is not appropriate or what HE wants for us to be so focused on spirituality that we fail to live it out in this physical world. It is not appropriate or right to sit back and fail in our daily responsibilities, and simply wait for Jesus Christ to return and straighten out the mess man has made in the world. Jesus Himself (YAH in the flesh 😉) taught us to “Occupy til I come” (c.f. Luke 19:13). He wants us to come to know HIM and use our talents and abilities for HIS Glory! He did not mean for us to resort to living against rules and laws as many in these occupy protests are doing. He did mean for us to be involved in our communities and to be responsible in all that we do and to yield to HIS way in our attitude and actions. Our Creator intends for us to Occupy YAH Street in this world!

It’s that time of year again! Leaves are falling, cooler weather is coming and candy is flowing (at least many children are hoping to collect a lot 😉 ). This time of year also tends to bring out many interesting characters, through costumes and parties where scaring people is more acceptable in light of Halloween. Rather than getting into the religious aspects of All Saints Day and All Hallows Eve, I want to take this writing opportunity to ask you to consider whether or not you, yourself, might be bewitched?

Do you remember that old television show entitled “Bewitched”? Elizabeth Montgomery made witches seem mild mannered and even likeable. It was almost as if becoming bewitched really wasn’t such a bad thing. With the celebration of Halloween, many find reason to dress up and be as scary and even gory as can be. Much focus on the dead, bloody and scary things might not go over too well at any other time of year, but at this time of year, it is usually excused or even expected. It is almost as if there is a bewitching spell over this day that makes all these bloody and gory things OK or even acceptable. Aside from any positive effects of a temporary adrenaline rush, there is really not much good that comes from celebrating death and horror. While retailers benefit from the sales of costumes and candy and many younger children dress up as more innocent or even heroic characters, there is a great cost that comes with much of the so called “fun” of Halloween—immunization or a bewitching!

Death is our mutual enemy, not something we should dismiss or even glorify! A wandering spirit would not be a desirable state, as the spirit and soul of man was created to have a body. Exposed blood, guts and gore are not positive things in the real world. If those attempting to scare around Halloween were actually coming after you with real blades, a chain saw or some sharp sickle, you would run for your life. Accepting these things as OK or even good, if only for one day and night in a year, will bewitch you! If you find yourself spellbound on Halloween, perhaps you should ask yourself if you are bewitched about anything else?! You may want to review my 05-22-09 blog entry, “DELUSION.”

Do you scare easily? Are you afraid of death and hell? It seems that the word “hell” is so often used today as a curse in exclamation or frustration that people even tend to doubt the reality of its existence. Hell is a real place; Jesus even often taught about hell. Death is most certainly a known reality that no person has ever completely escaped, except Jesus Christ. History validates this incredible fact. There is real reason to be scared if you have been bewitched and failed to deal with who the Person of Jesus Christ really is. 2 Corinthians 4:3-4 puts it this way:

“But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.”

There is a “god of this age” (the real Devil, who is the fallen angel, Lucifer) who seeks to blind and bewitch you. He is clever and doesn’t care how he can get you distracted and keep you deluded. It may even be through doing “good” things or being religious. He wears all sorts of masks and he will seek to get you to wear masks too (See my 10-30-08 blog entry: “What are Your Masks?”).

Friend, I trust you are not bewitched! Please do not let the temporary cultural acceptance of horror and gore and evil delude you into agnosticism or into ignoring the harsh reality of death and what happens after. Life is a time of testing for us all. Faith is a matter that we all deal with. The question is, “What and Who will our faith be in?” Will you believe in the written Word that has been tested and proven true over and over again? Will you believe in the ever changing opinions of men, who seek to explain all through natural processes and impersonal matter? Will you take the time to consider the claims of the Person of Jesus Christ? Will you simply be bewitched?

I know! Oh, I’ve heard that before. Been there, done that! No need to explain that one. I understand; I’ve got that figured out! No, I’m not talking about your shape or how much you weigh (figure out that one! 😉 ). I’m also not talking about some mathematical solution that has been figured out. What am I talking about here? Well, whether you’re a student in college or simply a student in life, you need to come to grasp this: You DO NOT have everything figured out!…

You are not all knowing, despite living in an Information Age where you have so much knowledge right at your fingertips! You do not have the answer to everything. You do not have it all figured out! You may have a lot of knowledge retained in your head, but it wouldn’t take long to reveal things that you do not know—things that you have not yet figured out. Teenagers: beware! Experts: evaluate! You who are in positions of Authority out there: learn to be humble; learn to be a servant leader!

If any of us ever come to the place where we think we have it all figured out, then at that point, we most certainly do not! Do you see the danger? Do you see the lesson I’m talking about here? We often lose perspective, don’t we? We often come to a place where we think we do not have to worry about learning any more, as we have a particular thing figured out! Now, don’t get me wrong here. I’m not saying that you can’t depend on some things and work from that foundation. We do know that there are certain laws that work in the world and that GOD sustains to be consistent in our observations. We can build on information we know to be true. We must, however, be very careful to not assume that because we know some things to be true in a particular situation, that we then can know all things about that situation. Most certainly, it is through continued study, often focused on our college and university campuses, that we learn more about the way things work and come to discover new ways to improve our lives and find out more about the forces and elements that GOD has Created. Indeed, it is on, or in conjunction with the campuses, that most medical and technological advances are discovered! We must not have an attitude that portrays that we know everything and have it all figured out. Reality and even increased knowledge, teaches the observant learner that he or she has so much more to discover!

It is this attitude that I am primarily addressing here. It is an attitude that is contrary to Grace. It is an attitude that is not very teachable. It is an attitude that pushes its way and runs over people with whatever authority has been granted. It is an attitude that fails to listen well and is self-focused to its own agenda. It is an attitude that says, “I’ve figured out what this is or what you are about and I don’t need to know anymore or change my view.” It is an attitude of pride and not humility. It runs rampant throughout our society today. Does this attitude describe where you are now?

Friend, please do not be confused here and go the other way and simply wander around as an agnostic. You certainly won’t accomplish much that way! There are things that we can know. There are some things, though, that we can only know by faith. This is GOD’s design for the world we live in today. It is to help us conquer the sin of Pride and thinking we are the answer to all and have it all figured out. It is to help us come to depend on the One Who Created us and desires fellowship with us! GOD has revealed HIMSELF in Creation, in His Covenants (the Bible) and in the Person of Christ. These things are corroborated in history and even from the locations of places you can visit to this day! True faith is not something that runs counter to reason; it does run counter to pride.

GOD has helped me to figure out a lot over the years. Through HIM allowing my personal tragedy of forced isolation and much time alone with only HIM and what HE has revealed, I have figured out a lot! 😉 I also know I have much more to learn! Because of this, I now have a ministry I call Lessons To Learn Ministries. This is why I write and speak and minister as I have opportunity. This is why you are reading this article and I have all that I do on my website. There is SO MUCH MORE needing to be learned and figured out! And, do you know what the goal of it all is? It is to be FIGURED OUT! (Learn more from Genesis 1:27; Romans 8:29; 1 Corinthians 15:49, etc. 😉)

Ah, it’s getting to be that time of year when school papers are going to be due and students will be focusing on how to get their research and thoughts put down on paper! Have you ever really thought about things being on paper? In an increasingly digital world, it does sometimes seem less and less important. Companies and banks push for paperless statements to try to save money. In fact, schools and colleges are even increasingly accepting work done and recorded in electronic or digital formats. Perhaps today, you might even broaden “on paper” to now include being “on computer” or “on drive” or “on phone” or “on a blog” 😜 or just “online.” So, what is so special about being on paper?!

Things written on paper tend to carry greater weight and interest than things only said. Despite living in an increasingly electronic world, things being on paper still tend to carry more consideration than not being on paper. Have you ever heard of something being “written in stone”? That is really solid! 😉 Before paper was popularized and produced, people often wrote in stone or in clay and on vellum or animal skins. Papyrus plants also came to be used for writings and bindings. Early Christian emphasis on the binding of books, and the Bible in particular, then exploded once the printing press was invented. Paper began to be readily produced and more and more people increasingly began writing down their thoughts and ideas. Today, there are multiple ways to store experiences in time and ideas and thoughts that are spoken and recorded somehow, yet something being on paper still has its advantages!

We are physical beings. We come to understand and grasp reality in our bodies. We use our hands to work and to hold things. We use our eyes to see and read and understand things. Having something and even someone near and around you tends to bring a greater sense of security and comfort. When you have something in your hands that you can readily manipulate and transport and even physically pass on to another, you have a psychological advantage. When you participate in writing something out verses simply pecking on a key or button, there is greater physical activity and thus a physical, psychological edge. While electronic communication has its advantages, being on paper may not be so bad, after all! Even news written on paper and in newspapers, tends to get more extended attention.

With that typed introduction out of the way and before I print this out on paper 😉, I wonder if you have ever thought about how the reality is often not what is written on paper? How many businesses and companies, or for that matter, how many organizations and even churches have one thing written down, but practice another? Isn’t it easier to put something down on paper, than to live that thing out in reality? What if what is written or on paper is also not the reality? Because of the advantage of having something easy to manipulate and even pass on right there on paper in front of you, what would be an advantage for something true, could then turn to a great disadvantage if the information is false. In other words, if something false is written down on paper, it tends to spread faster and even carry more weight, making many think it is true. Such has often been the case in aspects of my own personal tragedy. Things written down on paper that have been shared with others and have even been used in Courtrooms have often led to people believing things that are not true about me, since all happening after the 04-16-07 VT Tragedy. Additional improper judgment and personal tragedy has occurred when Hospitals and Courtrooms and even Churches have not lived up to what they have written on paper!

Friend, I trust you have been challenged in your thinking and will learn from what I am saying here and post and even print out on paper. Please be careful to consider each situation as it is and do not assume things to be true, just because they are on paper. Learn to test all things and hold fast to what is good (c.f. 1 Thessalonians 5:21). Please properly investigate each statement written on paper and fight that psychological tendency to automatically give it more weight. Remember, too, that there is Someone Who is keeping accurate, meticulous records of everything we think and say and do! These things are written in books (perhaps on heavenly paper 😉 ) that GOD will use to properly judge our lives! Selah!

If there is one lesson we all need to learn, it is how to Hope through suffering. When things are going well and prosperous for us, we tend to rely on that blessing and not the Giver of all blessings. Suffering is the gate through which we must pass to come to know GOD. This was the gate that GOD Himself had to pass through to realize the Hope that He had laid out in Creation. This is why God the Son, in the Person of Jesus Christ, came and suffered as He did. Can we then hope to find the glorious pathway of blessing through any other gate than the gate through which our Creator passed?

September 11th is a date of testing. It was this date in 2001 that changed the perspective and course of the United States and the rest of the world! The economic world and Trade Center was attacked on that day. Through suffering and loss many have learned and many have even come closer to God. Those learning have hoped through their suffering. Thousands of stories and testimonies of God’s Mercy and Grace have come from those Hoping through the gate of suffering. April 16th is also a date of testing. It was on this day in 2007 that the academic world and way was attacked. Through this tragedy and suffering, much good has come. Thousands of stories of God’s Mercy and Grace have come from those Hoping through this gate of suffering. Academic Institutions around the world have learned and need to continue learning through this tragedy of suffering!

My family, both in the upbringing of the five souls from my parents and personally through the five souls coming from me and my spouse, has often had to pass through the gate of suffering. It is Hope through the gate of suffering where my family’s growth and blessing has come—Hope in GOD’s Personal Presence and the Promises in His Word; Hope in GOD to eventually bring about Ultimate Justice! This is the Hope that has enabled my older sister to endure, having been personally and physically violated some 21 years ago while in college, God recently bringing about some justice after all these years. It is Hope through the gate of suffering that enabled my parents to endure years of separation from their youngest daughter, after the local and State Government wrongly removed her from the home. It is the same Hope that enabled all of my family to cope through the tragic death of my youngest brother, who grew discouraged and secretly took his own life. It is Hope through the gate of suffering, following the 04-16-07 Virginia Tech Tragedy, that has enabled me to endure improper religious and governmental involvement, leading to all of my personal tragedy and ongoing separation from my wife and five dear children. Ultimate Justice will come about and I Hope to be reconciled with all the authorities involved and soon reunited with my estranged wife and children.

When we trust in GOD and His Word and pass with Hope through the gate of suffering, HE may even choose to honor our specific prayers. HE did this for me and a few others joining me in specific prayer when Usama Bin Laden was suddenly found and judged! Just as we prayed, HE brought about some Justice before 05-09-11, to help encourage my struggling pastor friend and all those impacted and suffering after 09-11-01. We all have our own burdens that we must learn to bear. If we desire to fulfill the law of Christ and want to be truly Spiritual, we will indeed be helping others to bear their own burdens. We find Strength to do so from our GOD and Savior, Who Hoped through the Gate of Suffering on the Cross, Conquered the Ultimate enemy—death—and is soon coming again to reconcile all things! HE left us with the Promise of His Spirit and His example of coping and Hoping through the Gate of Suffering!