Author: Rev. Charles Pugh

One of the hottest topics in this Country today and one that will likely be discussed for months to come is the issue of Gun Control. This subject may particularly be in the minds of those in this Blacksburg community, as we approach the 6th Anniversary of that most horrific 04-16-07 VT Tragedy! What can be done to help prevent so many of these terrible shootings that continue to plague our schools and colleges and other areas of the society? Do we need more laws to help prevent the use of certain high power guns and greater rounds of ammunition? Do we need more laws to keep certain people (such as those with a history of mental health difficulty) from acquiring guns or any such weapon? Well, these are the questions out there and where the debate is focused in what Government can do to control the problem and help prevent these shootings. While it does seem obvious that there are laws needing to be strengthened, or at least enforced, is there not some greater issue begging to be discussed? I submit that the deeper and more important issue is not some greater Gun Control; it is a greater GOD Control!

The 12-14-12 Sandy Hook Elementary shooting massacre is the catalyst bringing this subject to the forefront. In light of this shooting, Connecticut lawmakers just last week passed what is being called “the strongest and most comprehensive gun legislation in the nation.” Indeed, there should be an emotional and active community response to such a horrific tragedy! You may even wish to reference my 01-14-13 Blog: “Gunned Down.” The danger, however, after any such tragedy, is in allowing the emotion of such a horrific thing to blind you to the daily realities and the lessons of history, leading to an overreaction. When you are impacted by some tragic event, you must get the right perspective to keep from being controlled by the tragedy and reacting too far the other way. These tragic events should get our attention, though, and stir us to proper action! The proper action is only possible when we get our perspective in line with the Creator and His Creation.

As the saying goes and as I referenced in that “Gunned Down” article, “guns do not kill people; people kill people.” A gun has to be under the control of a person to be fired and injure another. So, it is quite logical to see that the debate should be about more than just the guns themselves. The greater issue has to do with the people who might fire the guns. None of us believes that all guns will be banned. The right to bear arms is the second and long standing amendment to our Constitution. Yes, someone intent to hurt and kill can do more harm with higher power weapons and greater rounds of ammunition. Greater control there could indeed prevent greater damage. Even so, some people are still going to take guns and try to hurt and kill others. Should not the greater emphasis and concern be on helping the people who might wrongly use any guns? What could each of us do to help those around us?

While we do need better legislation to close the legal loopholes that some are wrongly using, a more important emphasis should be on getting people to be more in tune with their Creator. Our government should not seek to legislate adherence to any particular religious system, but officials can and should encourage more emphasis upon GOD controlling things and not guns or even the people carrying guns. We need more GOD Control—having HIM in Control of people—and not so much more gun control. Government officials as well as many people and organizations in our society could help here! The T.V. and Movie industry could certainly do more here again too!! We need a REVIVAL in our churches and homes, spreading into many aspects of our society!!! Greater gun control is not the best answer—it is more of the society and more individuals letting GOD control them and helping others to see why this is the way we all should live! GOD will not force Himself on us, as some people try to do with guns. HE will, however, hold us all accountable and bring every work into judgment (Ecclesiastes 12:14)!

Last month’s State of the Union address and the current political climate related to these automatic budget cuts (actually there are no real cuts, but reductions in budget increase), leads to the subject of my latest blog article today. The current religious scene in the Roman Catholic Church (deciding upon a new Pope) also lends itself to a discussion of Unity. What is the State of the Union of these United States? What is the state of Unity among religious bodies? These questions lead me to a discussion of Unity and what I have as the 8th Lesson to Learn in my “Top Ten Lessons To Learn” (see my book and the overview on pages 411-12 or see “Unify Diversity” in the Top Ten Lessons tab above).

Why can’t we have more agreement on issues that divide us? Each of us is a uniquely created individual with genetic and environmental differences from all others around us. You have a unique DNA sequence and a unique fingerprint and eye pattern from all others around you! There are those similarities, however, which unite us as human beings and illustrate our common ancestry and origin. If Evolution (as an explanation of the origin of species, as Charles Darwin put it) were true, there could be no real unity or certainty in any human or other discovery. Certainly, there is great diversity (the only sense in which evolution or what might be called “micro evolution” is true). We disagree on various issues because we each are different people with different tastes and perspectives. The only way for any individuals to find common unity is to agree on certain particulars in any interaction that they may have. When we come to agree on what is true (that which is coherent and corresponds to reality), then we can be unified in that endeavor. The state of that union would be solid and strong.

If everything is in flux and truth is changing (as evolution teaches), then we have little hope of ever accomplishing much together and advancing in any field of study. We could not be certain or learn very much and build upon any foundational truths. Reality teaches us that this is not the case. There are laws in Nature that do not change. There are things that we can count on happening every year as Creation cycles in the various seasons, and so we can build upon those certainties. Sadly, most of our colleges and universities are not very unified (or at least consistently so), because most of academia has bought into a theory of evolution and applied it in all areas of knowledge. As I have noted elsewhere and as I was saying in the immediate aftermath of 04-16-07, I believe that this is why GOD allowed (not “caused”) “the worst shooting massacre in U.S. History” to occur on the campus of Virginia Tech. This is where the “Father of the Modern Creation Movement” (Dr. Henry Morris) was working and teaching, before he was ostracized after co-authoring that breakthrough book—The Genesis Flood. Unity is not a problem when we agree upon what reality teaches us and what GOD has revealed as authoritative in His Holy Word. The Bible is relevant in any culture and does not change!

Friend, I do not know what your belief system is or how unified you are with anyone else around you. Our hope of Unity in any relationship will not be found through any man or religious leader, such as a Pope. The United States will only be unified as we should be, when we get back to the principles of The Book that is even foundational to our very Constitution. The state of your own unity with anyone else will only be as it should when you also agree upon these Truths. The State of your personal unity with The Creator must come first and this is only possible when you come to accept the Creator (The Eternal Word—John 1:1ff), Who became your Savior from the penalty and curse of sin. The State of any Union will only be as good as those involved decide to agree upon Truth. I trust the State of your Union with GOD, as HE has revealed HIMSELF is strong. I trust that you come to know and follow JESUS CHRIST!!

By now you may have heard of another school related incident where a school bus driver (Charles Poland Jr.) was gunned down (see my last blog article) by an assailant who then kidnapped a five year old boy and has been holding him hostage. What a sad incident that has been capturing more and more media attention. We pray and trust that this man will come to his senses and release the boy and turn himself in! As I mentioned in my last article, we should not be people that try to push our way so much that we force others to do things against their will. While you may have never experienced such a drastic hostage situation, perhaps you have found yourself feeling as though you were trapped—feeling as though you have been taken hostage!

It certainly is not good to feel trapped! Perhaps you remember some time as a child when you were stuck in a closet or trapped somehow by a sibling? No doubt you have had an experience where someone tried to force you to do something you did not want to do. Maybe you never have been kidnapped or taken hostage, but you likely have had that feeling of being trapped in a bad financial situation or even in a bad relationship. What about your job? Have you ever felt like a hostage there? Regardless, you should be able to at least somewhat relate to being taken hostage.

None of us really likes for others to tell us what to do. We are individuals. We are independent people with a will that will make hundreds, if not thousands of choices every day. Though it is sometimes necessary, it is not natural to have another person make decisions for you. Each of us is a self-willed creation. GOD created us this way. We have a will—an ability to determine choices. We are not absolutely free to do whatever we want or to violate the laws of Nature GOD has created, but we are free to make many decisions; decisions which impact the way our life goes. There is a problem we all have, though; a problem which we personally had no choice over, but one which does impact each of us. We have been taken hostage!

Maybe you don’t believe it? Maybe you think nobody is going to tell you what to do! That is naïve at best. The fact is that we all have others to make some decisions for us and we ourselves, at least at times, choose wrongly. Sometimes we even realize it before we choose and still choose wrongly. That is sin (see James 4:17). We all are sinners by nature (through Adam) and sinners by choice (c.f. Romans 5:12; James 1:14, 15; I John 1:8). All of us sin and fall short of GOD’s Glory and what HIS Will is for us (e.g. Ecclesiastes 7:20; Romans 3:23). We have been taken hostage by a fallen nature that wills us to choose to do wrong.

Friend, maybe you will never be taken hostage like this boy in Alabama, but you must realize your need to be freed from the spiritual hostage situation you are in. Our Creator made it possible for us to be freed from our self-serving, sinful nature. Jesus Christ came to earth and gave His life as a substitutionary sacrifice for your sin and mine. HE rose from the dead to prove His Deity and make our justification possible (see Romans 4:25). HE makes it possible for you to be free to serve others and not simply try to gain something over them or control them. Once you are set free in Christ, you no longer have to be held hostage to your sinful nature (see Ephesians 2:1-10). It is then a matter of choice to what nature you will yield (c.f. Romans 6:11-13). You have been taken hostage and you will either be a hostage to your sinful self-will and that of others or else to The Savior, Who died to free and redeem you from the bondage of man. What could be better than being taken hostage by your loving Creator?

As I write today, I note how this day will be marked down as an important day in the history of America and in the National gun debate that has repercussions for all of us. Today the issue over gun violence came to a head when a special commission reported recommendations for how to curb further gun violence. The mayor of Blacksburg was even officially a part of the discussions of this special commission, since Blacksburg is where the worst school shooting massacre took place at Virginia Tech on 04-16-07. Following this specially commissioned report (the 12-14-12 Sandy Hook shooting being the catalyst to initiate this), the President then signed 23 Executive Actions to help put this new effort against gun violence into place. The hope is that more guns will be laid down before more people in this Country are gunned down.

Have you thought about this issue of guns and gun violence before? There are many things to consider in this debate. Interestingly, after each of these mass gun shootings and potential government intervention to crack down on guns, sales of guns and ammunitions have gone up! The right to keep and bear arms as given in the second amendment to our U.S. Constitution is an important right in the history of our Country. We certainly do not want a tyrannical government to rise up and control us! Still, there are many abuses of guns in our culture and many mass shootings, such as the recent one at Sandy Hook Elementary or the horrible Theater shooting in Aurora, Colorado, and of course that worst one here in my own community of Blacksburg, VA that make you wonder if we shouldn’t have stricter gun and ammunition laws. Despite this, the reality is still that guns themselves are impersonal and thus do not kill or maim people. People carrying the guns and then choosing to fire them, rather than putting them down, is what kills and injures others.

This Country certainly has changed a lot in the past 50 years or so! School problems used to be more tied to chewing gum and talking out of turn, rather than issues tied to sexual promiscuity or knife and gun violence. What is the problem? Why the change and downward spiral of worsening problems? Well, similar to what should be a core understanding in the gun control debate, the problems in our schools are more about the expression of the sinful human nature and a greater societal acceptance of it. The problems need to be corrected in our homes and churches, rather than through more laws or government intervention. If we want more to flee from the violence connected to guns, we must get down to the core issues of the heart and seek to love and help others understand this as well.

Friend, I trust that you understand these things and are not the type of person that tries to force people to do things. Using a gun is certainly a way to try to force your point of view. I trust you have learned that there is a problem that is deep down at the core of your own being. If that problem is not dealt with through confession to and acceptance of the Creator and Savior, then you will become a person to force your own way and may even try to do so using a gun. Guns can be legitimately used for defense or even for hunting, but it is dangerous for people not right with their Creator to use them. That is where gun violence and these mass shootings come from! They are motivated by sinful human nature and the spiritual forces that seek to destroy life. If we want more to put their guns down and help protect our students and others from being gunned down, we must first be certain that we have dealt with that problem we each have that is deep down. We must trust in what Jesus Christ has done for us and then seek to love and help others see the forgiveness and restoration that comes through a relationship with our Creator!

As I write today, I note that the year of 2012 is nearly completed. Barring some tragedy or completion of your life on earth, you will soon see 2013 (or perhaps even have as you are reading this). The world is watching as America steps closer to going over this Fiscal Cliff (see my last “Cliff Notes” blog for more information there). Time did not end on 12-21-12 as some predicted, though most believing in the significance of this date are simply seeing it as a new beginning. Time is short, however, before 2012 comes to a close and even perhaps for you in your life! Sadly, another horrific shooting took place on 12-14-12, which now stands as the “second deadliest school shooting in U.S. History” (the 04-16-07 Virginia Tech Tragedy still being the worst 😟 ). Little did those 20 young children (ages 6-7) and 6 adults know that their time on earth was short when they went to school that morning (28 total were killed by that shooter—Adam Lanza, who had shot his own mother earlier that day, then shot himself as first responders arrived on the scene at Sandy Hook Elementary). Certainly, none of us knows for sure how long we will have to live this life on earth, but one thing is for sure—Time is short!

Have you ever thought about this thing we call time? Indeed, it is somewhat of a mystery to us! Time is a measurable thing. Interestingly, it is measured by our fixed positioning in the universe and that primarily in reference to the sun. The fixed rotations of the sun, moon and other bodies in space make time measurable for us (just as GOD says they were given to us for—see Genesis 1:14). If you were able to plant yourself on another planet (not possible for us, as no other planet is privileged and created for life in the universe, as true science and not theory still confirms), time would be measured differently. Even if you are blessed with a full life expectancy of what we consider today, you would not be living much more than 70 years or so. In light of history and of the great expanse of space, indeed our alive time is short!

It would be quite tragic if your time and life here on earth was cut short. Did you know that the daily choices you make even impact your time on earth? Clearly, our Creator has designed it as such. If you do not take care of your body, you will risk greater sickness and weakness and your time living will even be cut short. If you live your life in risky ways and around people who do not keep safety prioritized, your time on earth will be shortened. If you drive and do so in what is a dangerous way, you risk injury or even death (many are killed on the highways every day). Regardless of how long you do live, in light of eternity (which is essentially timeless and without end), this life and time on earth is short! We should live in this light of eternity!!

Friend, your time is short! It may not be today or tomorrow that you meet your Maker, but it will be one day soon! You may not perish in some tragic shooting or through some terrible accident, but your time on earth will soon pass. Time is short for decisions that we make and should make that impact how we live and even how long we live (also impacting our eternity). Time is short for the leaders in this Country to avoid further economic turmoil. Time is short for you dear friend and you need to be ready to meet your Maker! Do not waste or ruin it, but instead, redeem it! You would do well to heed the instruction of Ephesians 5:15-16: “See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil.”