Author: Rev. Charles Pugh

By now, you have likely heard that Chicago lost its bid to host the 2016 Olympic Games to the city of Rio de Janiero, Brazil.  Despite a special effort to pitch this by Oprah and even President Obama and his wife, the city of Chicago will not be hosting these games.  Some may point to the game playing behind the scenes or even Chicago’s reputation of political corruption as the reasons.  Regardless of why these games will not be played in Chicago, we had all better be thinking more about playing games and what games we may be playing….

Given that Halloween has been the second most profitable time of the year for retailers, much is emphasized to promote dressing up and playing the part of what is typically some spooky character.  I have other thoughts about this which I will not detail here.  You may wish to revisit my 10-30-08 Blog, “What are Your Masks?”  Aside from the special promotion of Holidays like Halloween, one of the other most popular and profitable areas for retailers and businesses involves the Gaming Industry.  What child or teen today has not had at least some exposure to video or computer games?   If not careful, these games can even come to consume a person’s time and life.  Adults enjoy games too and many are turning more to the gambling of gaming at casinos.  Lotteries are growing in influence and expanding to areas where before they were adamantly resisted.  There is much financial profit in promoting games.

Looking at this even more broadly, you can see this propensity toward game playing evidenced in the growing popularity of sports.  Many children participate is some school sport and high school and college sports are highly promoted and followed.  Just consider how the weekly time from Friday night through Sunday is most often dominated by the promotion, playing and analysis of various sporting events.  There is a phenomenal growth in games and sports and this is evidenced on television, on the radio and on the Internet.  Taking it even further, many consider their business practices more like a game to play than a service to perform.  In fact, philosophically speaking, many look at all of life as merely the playing out of some celestial game.

There is certainly a lot of good that can come through playing games.  The value of learning discipline and control and seeing the achievement of goals, as well as the collective effort of working as a team are all benefits of playing games.  There are those downsides too.  If you choose to look at life as a game, then I suggest you follow the rulebook of Scripture.

Consider the following related passages and even their greater contexts:

“Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown.”   I Corinthians 9:24-25

And also:

“Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, . . . .”  Hebrews 12:1-2a

Friend, life is much more than a game!  If you do see life as playing a game, then be certain that you are on the winning team and playing to help the team win.  We will prevail! 😉

There is SO MUCH information coming at you today from so many different sources that you had best be certain you are grounded in what you believe and that you know who you are.  In fact, if you are not stable in knowing who you are, then you will find yourself morphing into things you will later detest.  Certainly, we all need to continue growing and learning, yet your growth as a person will be built around some core or upon some foundation.  If that foundation is not proper and if it is not fortified, then the winds of information and change will blow you over and you will be crushed in the rubble.  The foundational meanings of our very existence are in question today.  Many individuals are struggling and so is America as a Nation.  No amount of attention to the healthcare debate or any needed reform there will be able to help us if we do not first know who we are.  America needs to be certain of her foundational identity, particularly given the position we have as the leader of the free world.  What we have now are IDENTITY CRISES.

Your identity is that sameness which characterizes who you are.  An Identity Crisis is that psychological description of when there is confusion about your social role, potentially even impacting your personality.  Applied to an institution or organization, it is confusion about the nature and/or direction of the group.  America is certainly experiencing a time of confusion.  We have forgotten our history, though vestiges of our DNA remain. Until and unless we better acknowledge who we are as a Nation, we are doomed to fail or at least falter in confusion.  Crisis will be followed by crisis until the crises overwhelm us.

As noted in my 09-15-09 Blog, “Academic CORRUPTION,” the educational Institutions in our Country are formative players in determining the direction of each generation.  If there is confusion and/or corruption in the Universities, then this will most certainly spread throughout the rest of the society.  This is what we are experiencing today.  Many of the radical ideas accepted and even promoted on our college and university campuses have found their way into the mainstream of society and are now even being promoted in the most powerful and influential positions of the government.  The answer is not to censor the information, though there must be guidelines for public consumption; the answer is to openly debate all of the issues with mutual respect and civility and come to better understand our own DNA

In my upcoming book, I will address this further under Lesson #4 (also tabbed above): “Fortify Foundations” as well as under Lesson #8: “Unify Diversity.”  If we understand and apply all of the Top Ten Lessons to be learned, we can avoid many tragedies, such as the one that impacted us all on 04-16-07.  We could also avoid many tragedies like those I have experienced since that horrific day (I illustrate this through detailing 10 stages of my tragedy in the book).  We must know who we are.  We must be certain of our identity.

Friend, if you personally want to know who you are, then you must first come to know GOD.  You may wonder why that is necessary.  Your Creator made you with a purpose and oversaw the intricate weaving together of your DNA.  Consider Psalm 139:13-16:

“For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well.  My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret . . . Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, The days fashioned for me, When as yet there were none of them.”

Be certain that you know your Creator, Jesus Christ; you will then avoid every Crises of Identity!

College football fans and all of the Hokie Nation interested in Virginia Tech have a great example to look to in the Virginia Tech vs. Nebraska football game last Saturday.  With little hope left for a team’s offense that had struggled against a tough Nebraska defense all day, the Hokies were faced with no time outs and only 1:44 left to play.  They were stuck on their own 12 yard line and had to drive the length of the field for a touchdown in order to regain the lead.  Amazingly, the VT quarterback found an open receiver down the right sideline on an 81 yard strike that looked to even be a potential touchdown.  The receiver had been pushed just out of bounds right before the goal line; but now, they only have 3 yards to go for the score.  The drive stalls with an 8 yard loss on a sack and then the ball thrown away with nobody open.  With only 33 seconds left and a third and goal, 12 seconds tick off as the scrambling quarterback escapes the grasp of a star defensive tackle and finds a receiver in the end zone! Virginia Tech ends up winning 16 to 15 in one of the most improbable comeback wins ever.  NEVER GIVE UP!  That fitting slogan certainly applies here, yet is there more to learn?

It was only 8 months ago today when yet another tragedy happened on the Virginia Tech campus.  Personally, I sensed in my spirit then that something was going to happen that very day that would be impacting my own tragic situation.  I stayed home from church that night to pray and right at that very time of the evening a beheading murder took place on the campus.  Two days later, due to this event and the change in the Virginia law after 04-16-07, and due to my writings on this website and interacting with others not agreeing with me, I was involuntarily committed for the third time.  Despite the emotional insecurity (often still present) in the VT community, I was quickly released after being sent again to a State Mental Hospital facility.  Further tragedy followed, which I will not detail here.  I was reminded then and again this past Saturday of the power that prayer calls upon to move in the events of history.  The extent to which the LORD answered my specific prayers for a special “miraculous” type of win and finish in Saturday’s football game, only heaven will reveal.  I am praying about a lot more than a football game and working toward the end that I want to see when many more will learn the most important lessons in life.  If these lessons are not learned, then future tragedy will continue.

The Tenth Lesson I am focusing on (tabbed above) is “Hope in Faith.”  I may write more about that in a future Blog as I am in the upcoming book.  One aspect of that lesson is to not give up when the problems and tragedies of life happen.  We are meant to overcome the difficulties of life and not give up or give in to them or simply complain about our problems.  Our Creator, Jesus Christ, even came to earth to die in our place so that we can be right with GOD.  Ultimate victory in life is only possible when a person trusts in this One Who not only died as the substitute for his or her sin, but Who was also victorious over that worst and final enemy—death!   Because He gave up His life for us, we must give Up our life for Him.  Much good will come when you learn to yield to your Creator and follow that slogan that I last told my children before my life completely took an unexpected direction:   “Trust GOD and His Word, no matter what!”

Friend, did you know that GOD loves you dearly and wants you to follow the Truth, yet if you continue to fight against this, that even HE will give you up?  Be challenged by the Apostle Paul’s Spirit inspired comments directed to the Church in the corrupted society of Rome.  In Romans 1, he warns that people should follow the GOD they can learn about from the Creation, rather than worship and idolize the things and creatures in the Creation:  Verse 24—“God gave them up to uncleanness”; Verse 26—“God gave them up to vile passions”; Verse 28—“God gave them over to a debased mind.”

NEVER GIVE UP in life unless you have given up on GOD or HE has given you up to your own sinful choices.  Repent (change your mind and heart) from your sin and give up your life for HIM!

One thing becoming increasingly common in our modern enlightened culture is hearing of further CORRUPTION.  Hardly a day goes by but what you hear of yet another scandal.  We hear of corruption in the business world (each of us is actually paying for this now) and in the business and competition in the world of sports.  There are frequent examples of scandal and corruption in religious circles and most certainly this is occurring in the world of politics.  In fact, many today are beginning to realize the extent of corruption within the Government and more and more are standing up and speaking out.  We are on the verge of a revolution of change (as was campaigned in the 2008 elections), yet what this great change will actually be is yet to be realized.  Will it be correction and a return to a superior way of living or will it be further corruption?  How is it that many are just now beginning to wake up and learn of the extensive corruption within America?  The answer is ACADEMIC…

This is why I have established this VT Lessons To Learn Website.  This is why I am writing the book—“…Lessons To Learn…”— which I trust will be completed and available by the end of this year or the beginning of 2010.  This is why GOD has allowed my personal tragedy and why it continues even to date.  I know what is wrong.  I know what is causing the corruption.  I also know the ultimate solution.  The root and breeding ground for the corruption all throughout the society is not found in some dark corner of the governmental system.  The root and breeding ground for corruption is found in the opinions of man seen in the academic establishment.

Having ministered for over 10 years on the Virginia Tech Campus, I have experientially learned the tremendous impact that the Academy has upon our culture.  There is that tremendous potential for good coming from our Colleges and Universities.  Most of your medical and technological breakthroughs happen on or in conjunction with the College campus.  Young people are educated in the highest knowledge and best understanding of life that the world knows.  There is also that potential for bad.  It is the enlightened teaching of toleration and encouraged permissiveness that enables the ruin of many young lives.  It is the campus “party life” atmosphere that many students adopt and then carry with them into the various jobs and occupations in the society.  The College tenure process and frequent lack of accountability further aids the corruption and often festers radical thinking.

Students are re-educated from their upbringing the moment they are separated from their parents.  Year after year, I have seen the radical ideas festering within the Academy being passed along to each incoming class of students.  The leaders in our Country and many leaders around the world have been educated in the American Institutions of Higher Learning.   So, if America has the best Learning Institutions in the world, then why do we continue to see so much corruption?  History even shows (consider the founding of many Ivy League Schools) that corruption quickly comes into the Institutions.

There is a solution and there is a SUPERIOR learning that I often talk about in my blog articles (c.f. the middle verse of the Bible, Psalm 118:8).  There is a yet higher education that many are missing and what would expose and more importantly replace the corruption being perpetuated today, particularly in the Academy (See my 06-29-08 “HIGHER Education” Blog or even my 06-17-08 “Intelligence and Ignorance” Blog).  The founding fathers of America understood this.

Until the greater change is realized, see that you have yourself in order and learn the number one lesson of all (c.f. “Top Ten” tabbed above).  Be sure that you find the only viable solution to the internal corruption in your own soul (See the Gospel tab above or contact me personally).  It is all Academic, though often lost in the established theological or secular Academy.

One thing characteristic of our permissive and often foolish information age is what I call the IN YOUR FACE attitude.  It is reflected in the video games that millions play and in many genres of music that millions regularly hear.  You can see it in “art” or observe it in movies, on television shows and even at sporting events.  It is often reflected in the energy and excesses seen on our college campuses.  Back in the aftermath of 04-16-07, the world watched this attitude portrayed in pictures and video that Seung-Hui Cho sent to NBC news.  In fact, it was so extreme that many began censoring this information or worse yet, ignoring it and further ignoring the shooter.  You do not learn by ignoring information and you do not solve problems without the right answers.  Maybe you have seen people who claim to have the answers.  You might have heard or watched some of the EXTREME themed shows about sports or even the animal world.  Maybe you have heard about or watched a show like MANswers that is promoted on the Spike and MTV networks.  No doubt, you are aware of the many reality shows that often encourage extreme situations to hold the interests of the viewers.  The answer to help you properly deal with all of this information and have a lively, yet healthy attitude in life is actually not far from the problem.  It is to be In YOUR FACE!

What am I talking about here?  This sounds like doublespeak!  I assure you that despite at least a triple play on words ;-), what I am saying here is not in error, nor is it doublespeak.  There would, however, be double blessings if you come to understand and accept the truth here.  Please think and reason with me.  I may talk more generally about attitudes in a future blog, but in this article I will focus on this extreme “IN YOUR FACE” attitude.

Psychologically, it does make us uncomfortable when someone violates our personal space and “gets in our face.”  We usually reserve our most intimate space for those closest to us.  There are some exceptions there, though these are usually examples of the problem I am addressing.  You likely would not simply walk up and hug some stranger that you just met. This would at least be too awkward for them and probably even for you and would bring into question your future relationship with that person.  You would not kiss just any person either, unless you like or love them or it would be in a culturally acceptable situation.  You certainly should not violate your own body or that of another in sexually hooking up with someone you hardly even know.  Yet, that very extreme way of thinking is even being promoted in our culture today and particularly to our young people.

Friend, the limits of a single page keep me from further developing what is obviously a problem.  My point to you here is that an exciting and abundant life is not found in this extreme “IN YOUR FACE” attitude.  It is also not found in some relationship with another person or even in your own face.  It is NOT Self Reliance!  The solution is to rely upon and be in the face of GOD; not with that “IN YOUR FACE” attitude, but with a reverential fear and respect before your Maker.  It is the “secret” that I wrote about in my 05-02-08 Blog.  It is the number one lesson that I am writing about in my upcoming book (see the Top Ten Lessons tabbed above).  Consider again 2 Corinthians 4:6:

“For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”

Please come to know GOD in the face of Jesus Christ.  Do not fall victim to the “IN YOUR FACE” attitude.  Seek The Face of the LORD as the Psalmist, David did (see Psalm 27).  Live in the face of the LORD and let HIS FACE be reflected in your face!