All right, let's dive into the Word of God together. Turn with me in your Bibles to Acts chapter 18. We're going to learn about an individual that I think that is necessary for us to talk about. Acts chapter 18, we're going to be looking at verses 24 to 28. And Father, we pray that, Lord, you would awaken our hearts and minds to the truths that are in your Word. Lord, thank you for these men. Thank you for this great church and this great pastor. And Lord, those who are serving all over this campus. Lord, we pray your blessings upon them and upon us as we sit at your feet and learn from you. Lord, these are your men that you're raising up. You're equipping. Oh God, I pray that you would equip us today by the power of your spirit through the Word of God in Jesus' name. Amen. Acts chapter 18, looking at verses 24 to 28, the title of this message is, where is Apollo's today? Where is Apollo's today? Now, in order to answer this question, this very important question, we must first know who he is. What is it about this individual that Luke, the author of Acts, will take a pause and he will take time to introduce us to this great man? What was it about him? There are some qualities and characteristics about this man that we need to know, that we need to emulate, we need to have in our own lives. And we will see those characteristics about him. And one in particular that will show how such a man is needed today. Now, by way of background, Paul left the city of Ephesus and told the people in verse 21 that he must keep the coming feasts in Jerusalem. He landed in Caesarea and went to the city of Antioch and greeted the church that he came from in verse 22. And after he spent some time with them, he went over to the areas of Galatia and Perigia in order to strengthen all of the disciples to end of verse 23 says. And now we pick it up in verse 24. Let me just say this before I even get started. Many of you who know me and know how I teach, this would just be review. I'm a words person. Words mean things to me. For one thing, the English language is somewhat limited. I love our language that we speak, but it's somewhat limited. Let me give you an example. We only have one word for love, one word. But the love I have for my wife is different from the love I have for my children. And the love I have for cheesecake is different from both of them, you know? So, but we only have one word for love. The Greeks have five words to describe love. So for me, I bring out certain words in order to expand your understandings to try to get you to the nearest thing of what the author intentions were when he wrote what he wrote to the churches of Galatia, to Corinth, what Paul meant when he said certain things. So I'm trying to expand your understanding. It helps me to understand the author's original intent. So I'm a words person and I love to bring that out because I love to see the beauty of the body of Christ, how you will have various speakers with various ways by which they do things and God uses everybody. And it shows you that God can use you as well. And looking at the various speakers that's been speaking this weekend, it's just a beautiful variety of how God does things. And so I just had to say that so you can understand how I am. You have to understand the community I came out of. Teaching is something that's not done that much. There's a lot of preaching. And God said, you need to turn and God will heal you. There's a lot of that. And I didn't get anything out of it. That's why in the bio I would go to church on Sundays but Monday through Saturday we lived like the devil. It was just what we did. It was this thing we did. But when I first started hearing the teaching of the word of God was when I first got back from Okinawa, Japan. And I was stationed at Pendleton and I was looking for a Christian radio station and dialed in to K-Wave. And I heard pastors like Pastor David Rosales and others, Pastor Chuck. And I said, what in the world is this? I said, I never heard stuff like this. I love telling Pastor Greg Laurie how one time I was coming back from the Marine Corps I was coming back from Camp Pendleton where I was on Camp Pendleton. And I was at San Mateo. It was right near Christian Needles Road right before you get into San Clemente. And all of a sudden I was coming back home and I lived in Oceanside at the time. So I had a good little drive. And I was listening to K-Wave and I was listening to Pastor Greg teach James chapter three on the tongue. And I was like, what in the world? And I pulled over off the five. I said, I gotta take some notes here. I never heard stuff like this. What in the world is this? He went from one verse to the other and to the other. I said, what in the world is this? I'm used to somebody get one verse, go off on a message, never get back to that verse. So I'm like, what is this? blew me away, blew me away, blew me away. So this is why I teach the way I teach because I know many people who came out of communities very similar to minds. They know nothing about the teaching of the word of God. Nothing, nothing at all. So I want to teach them what does say of the Lord, because it doesn't matter what I say. I gotta teach them and give them what does say of the Lord. And that's why it's such an incredible thing for you to be in a church that's gonna teach you the word of God. Y'all take it for granted. Y'all out here in California, God bless y'all. Y'all got this weather and y'all got this, these palm trees and all this stuff. Y'all got this good teaching. Many of y'all just flip-flop from church to church and just got teaching all over the place. Y'all just, you know what I mean, I'm from Virginia. I'm gonna keep it straight with you. Y'all just flip-flop around, go to this church, that church and got all this good teaching out here. Hey, let's get somewhere and sit down. Get some good teaching. It's not like that. When I lived out here, there were 10 Calvary chapels and a five mile radius. And so when I went to Virginia, there was a Calvary in Virginia Beach, there was not another Calvary until you get to almost DC. That's like two and a half, three hours away. In three hours, how many Calvary chapels you got in three hours around here? A zillion. So I said all that to say, this is why I teach the way I teach. Now, look, we're gonna pick it up in verse 24, look what it says there. Now a certain Jew named Apollos, born at Alexandra, an eloquent man, and mighty in the scriptures came to Ephesus. Now as Luke the author shifts to sing back to the city of Ephesus, he pauses to introduce us to a man named Apollos. It is believed that his whole name was Apollonius and Apollos is a contraction of that proper name. Then Luke tells us where he was from. He was born at Alexandra, which was the second most important city in the Roman Empire. It was located in Egypt near the mouth of the Nile River. It was a center for education and philosophy. The city was founded and named after, as you can tell, Alexander the Great. It boasted of a university with a library of over 700,000 volumes. The city of Alexandra had a population of 600,000 people, which consisted of Egyptians and Romans and Greeks and Jews. At least 25% of the population was Jewish and this community was very, very affluent. And so this is the environment that Apollos was raised in. Luke also tells us that Apollos was an eloquent man. The Greek word for eloquent is logios and it only appears here this word in the entire New Testament. It means a man of words or man of ideas, which I believe Apollos was both. This means that he was highly cultured and trained in philosophy and rhetoric. And one of the main characteristics that Luke tells us about Apollos is that he was, and here it is, mighty in the scriptures. It is this characteristic that calls me to pause and ask where is Apollos today? The Greek word for mighty is dunatos and it means divine power or capabilities. And as you can see, it closely is related to the Greek word dunamis and it is where we get our English word dynamite or dynamic from. So his learning and eloquence coupled with his incredible grasp of the Old Testament made Apollos an incredible debater. He was a dynamic speaker. And did you know that no one else in the Bible was given this title of being mighty in the scriptures? Oh, the closest thing we get to it is Ezra. In Ezra seven, verse six is said to be an expert scribe in the law of Moses. And oh, how the church today needs more men like Apollos, men dedicated to being mighty in the scriptures. Oh, I say this because I look at Christians today and how little they know about the Bible and the things of God. I heard a story. I was just speaking in South Carolina at a men's conference, matter of fact, last weekend. And one of the pastors was talking about a young man in his church. A man who came up, you know, young man, he was in their academy. He was the worst kid in the academy. Kid was terrible. He used to terrorize the teachers there. But God got ahold of him. And this kid just began to devour the word of God. He read the Bible through five times in nine months and just, and just devoured the word of God.   This is what it means to be mighty in the scriptures. Most Christians know more about psychology and self-help authors than what the eternal word says. And my prayer and my desire, and I'm sure your pastor is as well, is that we are to feed you the word of God from Genesis to Revelation chapter by chapter, verse by verse, book by book.  And what I think about Apollos is is that he was a man mighty in the scriptures. And this is the title that was given to him. So this is the background of this great man. This is the environment that he was raised in. Look what he says there in verse 25. He says, this man had been instructed in the way of the Lord and being fervent in spirit. He spoke and taught accurately the things of the Lord, though he only knew the baptism of John. Now Luke tells us that Apollos had been instructed in the way of the Lord. The Greek word for instructed is catecheo. And it means to inform, to instruct or to teach. And it's where we get our English word catechize or for those of you with a Roman Catholic background, you remember catechism. And this means that Apollos had personal form or training. In other words, there's nothing wrong with going to Bible colleges or seminary if it is committed to the central doctrine of the Christian faith. And it's sad that we have to say that today. If it is committed to the historic Christian doctrines and the Christian faith, because so often today, many of them are not. And it's sad to even be able to say that. But yes, I know that many of you are probably thinking, well doesn't 1 Corinthians 1.26 says that God didn't call many wise? Well, yes, it does say this, but it doesn't say that God didn't call any wise. Just not many. Why? Because God doesn't want us to trust our education or our great intellect. He wants us to give the glory to him. He wants us to trust in his power and watch this and not the power of the intellect which comes from man. However, Apollos had both. We see that he was both a very eloquent and powerful speaker. Notice how Luke tells us that Apollos was fervent in spirit. The Greek word for fervent is zeal and it means boiling of liquids. And it means to be kept at the boiling point, meaning that Apollos didn't allow for his spirit to sag. He didn't allow for his walk with God to simmer down or to get low. He didn't allow his walk with the Lord to stop boiling. He stayed hot for the Lord unlike some of the believers in the church of Laodicea according to Revelation 3 and verse 16, they had become lukewarm in their walk with the Lord. Oh, we have to pause right here and I have to ask you, where's your walk with the Lord? If we were to stick a thermometer into your spiritual mouth, what would it say? Are you hot, cold, or are you lukewarm? Are you like Apollos who kept his walk at the boiling point? Have you allowed the blessings and prosperity of life cause your walk to simmer down a bit and now you're lukewarm, neither hot nor cold? As you can tell lukewarm is the compromise between hot and cold.  You're not where you once were and now you're no longer on fire for the Lord, not Apollos, not Apollos, no, no, no, no, no. He was notice, he was fervent in spirit. He kept his walk at the boiling point and because he was mighty in the scriptures and had been instructed in the way of the Lord, he spoke and taught accurately the things of the Lord. I want you to notice something. Notice it said that he spoke and taught the things of the Lord in an accurate way. Notice that. He spoke it outside of the church and he taught it inside the church or in this context out of the synagogue and in the synagogue. Maybe you're hearing your servant, maybe you're teaching some Sunday school class or maybe you are teaching something within the church. But do you speak it outside the church? See, I've seen enough on fire Christians in the church or you can talk a good game in the church. How you doing, brother? Yeah, all right, I'm doing good. Too blessed to be stressed, you know? Ha, ha, ha, ha, you know what they say. But we see you outside the church. See, Apollos was one who spoke and taught. And even though he taught accurately the things of the Lord, now I want you to notice he had one flaw. He knew only the baptism of John, which is a reference to John the Baptist. John the Baptist being the forerunner for Jesus came on the scene preaching a baptism of repentance according to Mark 1.4. His message was simple, repent and believe in the gospel according to Mark 1 in verse 15. John the Baptist had focused on repentance from sin and on water baptism as an outward sign of your inward commitment. His baptism was to prepare the people's hearts for Jesus Christ and his kingdom. Apollos was probably urging people in a more eloquent fashion to do the same. And even though Apollos had an inaccurate, should I say an incomplete message, I want you to notice that it wasn't inaccurate nor insincere, it was just incomplete. Notice how it didn't stop him from sharing what he did know. Now my point is this, don't allow your limited knowledge of Jesus Christ in the Bible keep you from sharing what you know. The blind man in John chapter nine in verse 25 says, one thing I know that I was blind, but now I see. If this is all you can tell people, then tell them the one thing. I was once blinded by my sin and Jesus came and opened my eyes to it and I repented and accepted Christ as my Lord and Savior. If that's the one thing you can tell people, you tell them that one thing. Man's greatest need is to be forgiven. And we have the greatest message that the world could ever, ever hear that Jesus paid it all and all to him we owe. And we have that great message. It's just, it's no different than we have the cure to the most deadly disease and we're keeping it to ourselves.  They're killing the world and we have the only message that can save them.  Everybody can say what the Muslims got more rights in America than we have.  You say one thing against them, your livelihood, your career, everything is gone.  Women have more rights than Christians because the idea is to shut us up because we have the greatest message because we have the message that can set people free from sin.  Men, we are mandated. What Wes is seeing in Sudan on a physical level of warfare, we have here on a spiritual level. It's time for men to take up their weapons. The Bible said the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but they're mighty in God for bringing down strongholds, casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God and bring every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. We're not fighting with weapons as they're doing over in Sudan. They have a dual thing over in Sudan. They fighting both spiritually and physically. It hadn't quite got physical here yet. But we have a war that's going on, war for our masculinity. I'm telling you, I say this around the world I'm not afraid to say it. Let me tell you something. America would not be happy until there's a bunch of Amazon women running the nation and all the men are gone.  And all men, just limp wrists, weak, weeny men that are left. I'm telling you, I'm not one of them.  I'm just, there's a few men happy to be men over here. You know, just like, you know, just like a Wonder Woman, the island of Amazon women, they won't be happy until that's what America looks like.  No, don't you say that. They're trying to do all they can to emasculate us. We're to be men, men of God, men of our homes, men, godly men on the job. I was raised by, I was raised by a strong man. I'm thankful that I was raised in a two-parent home, which is totally not seen today. Totally not seen. We have what we call the father void today because of how men are not in homes and the women are. We are seeing a void in our generation like never before. And we need to not just be men that's gonna bring home the bacon. We need to bring home the Bible too. And many of you need to start sharpening, picking up that Bible, and need to know what thus saith the Lord and become a mighty man of scriptures, mighty in the scriptures like we see here.  And they need to know that there is someone who can touch them and they can be, they can be a person that is free. They can be a person that can see just like you are seeing today. Your eyes are wide open. When you come to Christ, your eyes are just wide open. You're like, whoa. And if all you know is that one thing, you share that one thing, you know. The Bible said they overcame by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony and right around Revelation 12, 10. No one can deny your testimony. No one can say, that didn't happen to you. Well, yes it did. No one can say that. No one can take away your testimony. Do you have one? This is a testimony. This was my life before Christ. Christ came in it. This is my life now. That's a testimony. It's a three-part testimony. Can you say that? Not this is my life before Christ. They're not doing a little church every now and then. No, no, no, no. This was my life before Christ. I repented of my sin and accepted Christ into my life.  If any man being Christ, he's a new creation. Old things have passed away. Behold, all things become new. All things new in your life. Oh, sure things are new in here. Let me talk to your wives. Let me talk to your coworkers.  Is he a new creation? Which one? Him? Yeah, yeah, him right over there. Is that what your coworkers will say? Or if I go to the job and say, hey, you know who's the Christian around here? Oh, let me take you to Bob and then walk over to you. See, that's what it comes down to. If any man being Christ, he's a new creation. Old things are passed away. Behold, all things become new. All things new in your life. Or you just the same old you with a little Jesus thrown in. It says, all things become new. Are you still doing the old things? Still going to the bar? Are you still clubbing? Still drinking? Still, are all things new? Oh, we know there's a process that we call sanctification that is the process of setting you apart from the world and you becoming more like Christ. But is something new? I've said it many times before the Bible said out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. The first place that everyone should know that you are new in Christ Jesus is this, the way you talk. Because the Bible says if Christ, that Christ may dwell in our hearts through faith. This Christ is in your heart and out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. The first place that people should know Jesus is in your life is here. Maybe you're still using profanity, calling your wives and girls, bees and all kind of cursing out. Christ is not in your heart. I'm gonna tell you that now. I'm not afraid to tell you. Christ is not in your life if that's going on. He's not. This should be the first place that is sanctified.   I was just going for it.   And I did. The first place Christ cleaned up when I repented of my sins and accepted Him in my Lord and saved what's in my mouth. Within one week, boom.  Not only to the Lord, but to them. Because I wasn't speaking French. Oh, excuse my French. That's not French, that's some bad English. No. But when I put the word of God in my heart, then the word of God started coming out of my mouth. This is Apollos here.  Look at verse 26. He said, so he began to speak boldly in the synagogue when Aquila and Priscilla heard him. They took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately. Now, we know from verse 24 that Apollos left Alexandria and came to the city of Ephesus. Now, why? We don't know, we're not told. And we see that his gift of speaking made room for him. It reminds me of Proverbs 18 and verse 16 that says, your gift to make room for you. You don't have to, see, in the kingdom of God, you don't have to put yourself forward. You don't have to try to advertise yourself. You don't have to, well, you know, I just came from so-and-so church. Just wanna know if you guys could use someone like me. Now, you don't have to come here doing that.  The Bible says your gift to make room for yourself. When I first started going to Calvary Chapos, I had been a assistant pastor in the Black Pentecostal Church for four years.  Why?  And so we sat in the back. So for two years, I sat in the back, took notes and kept my mouth closed. I didn't go around saying, well, you guys just don't know. I was an assistant pastor at the church for four years. Surely y'all can use someone like me. No, I sat in the back. And then pretty soon, your gift to make room for yourself. Hey, pastor Tony, guess what? You know, I'm not gonna be able to teach this new believer's class. Can you cover that for me? Yeah, okay, I got it. Hey, I'm not gonna be able to be at this home fellowship. I'm supposed to teach it, but I got something going on. Can you teach? Yeah, yeah, I got that. Then pretty soon, hey, can you be available to pray for people after service? Yeah, okay, I got that. And then next year, I was asked to come on staff. Your gift to make room for yourself. It's still true. The greatest ability is availability. Are you available? In order to make your gift, in order to make room for your gift, you have to be available. Are you available? Man, are you available? Are you too busy fooling around out with the boys, doing whatever? Hey, are you available? Because when you're available, God will make room for your gift. He will. There should never be an advertisement. Well, you know, we need some help over in this ministry. Can someone sign up for that? It should never be, man, we should be Johnny on the spot. Yeah, hey, I just heard the announcement.  We should lead the way, not the women.  Most, the majority of them. One thing that most people love about our church is that we have godly men all over the church. Now because of the craziness of our society and the nuttiness of people nowadays, you know, we have a security team and all the guys on the security team are my size and larger. And so I have guys, you know, with me just in case somebody needs some hands laid on them and I'm not talking about some prayer. We pray for you afterwards. But you don't get these hands in the beginning now. I'm just letting you know. Now, of course me being a former Marine, I can handle myself. But the thing is, because we, and we got godly men just posted all over the place. And of course, you know, the single women love that. But women love it period because they feel safe when men are around. Godly men, not men with purses. Don't let me see y'all with a purse. Closest I'm getting is a backpack. And I'm making sure it's on my back so y'all don't mistake in it for anything else. And it's something about godly, godly men. And we stand and we stand confident because Christ is in the women of God. We're gonna stand, we're gonna make folks feel safe. We're gonna serve out in the parking lot and the women coming up and we get their little diaper bags and help with them. And umbrellas when it's raining, I know y'all, it barely raining out here. But we do that because we wanna serve these people here. That's what men do. We take care of families. We take care of the church. We take care of things. And this is Apollo. This man was a tremendous man of God and his gift made room for him. Why he came to Ephesus and from Alexander, we don't know. But the thing about it is that when Aquila and Priscilla heard him, because they stayed back in Ephesus. When Paul said he had to go to Jerusalem to keep the coming feasts, they stayed back in Ephesus and the Church of Ephesus originally started out in their house. So when they heard this guy speaking this eloquent preacher with this tremendous Old Testament knowledge, they said, whoa, who is this? I said, come here, bro. You good, but there's some, let me tell you the rest of the story. You know, that said a lot about Apollo stone, that he will receive instructions from this godly couple. He didn't allow his knowledge to puff him up. First Corinthians day one, knowledge puffs up, but love edifies. He did not allow his tremendous knowledge of the scripture to puff him up saying, who are y'all talking to? Maybe y'all need to sit down for me to talk to you. No, that wasn't him. This lets me know that he was humble and he was also teachable. Don't come in here with that cockiness and that arrogance. Don't come in here like that.  Your pastor's humble. Your pastor will teach you the word of God. You don't come in with some air. That's the quickest turn off for us to do this to you. Talk to the hand. Because soon somebody come around us puffing up and all that kind of stuff. We said, yeah, we're gonna sit you down for a minute. And we're gonna see if you can sit. You need to be humbled a little bit. He was humble. He was very teachable. And when we love those qualities about him that he allowed for them to teach him. Look at verses 27 and 28. And when he desired to cross Acadia, the brethren wrote exhorting the disciples to receive them. And when he arrived, he greatly helped those who had believed through grace. For he vigorously refuted the Jews publicly showing from the scriptures that Jesus is the Christ. Now, Apollos was so excited to have the whole story about Jesus Christ because all he knew was the baptism of John, which was a baptism of repentance. He didn't know about his atoning death on the cross and his burial for three days and his glorious resurrection. He didn't know about those things. But when he got taught about it, oh, he said, oh, I gotta get this word out. So he wanted to go to Acadia, the capital, which is Corinth. And he went to the city of Corinth. And so they wrote a letter to the believers in Corinth to receive this mighty man of God, verse 26 says. He was such a great help to the believers in Corinth that notice he vigorously refuted the Jews with his mastery of the Old Testament and his skill as a debater. The Greek word for refuted is a intense double compound word. And it means that he totally crushed his opponents, totally disproven them at every point. And notice, watch this, showing from the scriptures that Jesus is the Christ at the end of verse 28 says. Not showing from his own opinions or his own thoughts. Notice how he showed them. He showed them from the scriptures. Why? Because he was a mighty man of the scriptures. He showed them from the scripture that Jesus is the Christ. Because of the internet and the myriad of things on the internet. It used to be back 30, 35 years ago. It used to be where people said, well, you know, there are contradictions in the Bible.  Well, I can't show you, but I know they're in there because my friend's brother's cousin told me. No longer can we say that because of the internet. They say, hey, well, this verse says this and this verse says this and they give you because they're sites and stuff out there. Can you vigorously refute them from the scriptures that Jesus is the Christ? Are you able to do that? The Bible said, sanctify the Lord God in your heart and always be ready to give every man an answer the reason of the hope that lies within you. Can you do that? Can you defend Jesus Christ from Muslims? They said that Jesus is just a prophet. Yes, we offer, for us, we offer classes at the School of Apologetics and giving the defense of the Christian faith and other foundation classes that we offer to try to give people foundation in the faith to not only know what you believe, but why you believe that. There are a lot of people out there that have a whole lot to say against Christianity. And can you, like Apollos, vigorously refute them? Or can you just say, well, you know, just come to church and hear my pastor. Now that's great because he's gonna give you the word. But God wants to use you. He wants to use you as men. Then you're gonna take up the challenge. Or you may not take up a weapon in Sudan, but you can take up the weapon of the word of God. It's the sword of the spirit, the only offensive weapon we have. And take it up and commit to being mighty in the scriptures. That young man, me hearing that young man read the Bible five times in nine months, do you know what it would take? I guarantee he didn't have butts in his ears and beeps. And he wasn't watching all kind of mess and filth on his phone and on TV. And so he didn't have time for that because he was in the scriptures. And I guarantee you, as a matter of fact, I met the young man. They were on their way out. As we were about to leave too. There's a humble kid.  But I guarantee you, talking with him, you'd know. He's been with the Lord. The Bible makes it very clear that God wants us to be men of God and men of the scriptures. The Bible says meditate on these things. Give yourself entirely to them. Watch this, that your progress may be evident to all.  You want them to leave you saying he's mighty in the scriptures. You don't want to leave and all of a sudden say, do you think I'm mighty in the scriptures? Because they'd say no, I don't think so. And they'd be right to tell you that. But the Lord wants to use us to be man mighty in the scriptures. Let me conclude with this. Where is Apollos today? I pray in this room, I pray in this room. Man being instructed in the way of the Lord at church, fervent in spirit, staying at the boiling point in your walk with the Lord, speaking boldly for Jesus Christ, even if you only can say I was once blind in my sin but now I can see because of Jesus Christ. You're humble and teachable because you realize that you don't know it all. I remember one young man asked me a question. I think it was, I was speaking at a pastor's conference somewhere. And he looked, he came, okay, I got a question for you. I said, what, what? He said, how do you stay humble? You know, because I just, I'm learning some things and I'm struggling with pride and how do you stay humble? You know how Jesus, when the guy came up to him, the rich young ruler, he said, Jesus looked at him and loved him. I just looked at him and loved him and I looked him square in the eyes and I said, what do you have to be prideful over? It's not our word, we didn't die for anybody.  I said, what do you have to be prideful over? Pastor Chuck used to always teach us first Corinthians four and said, what do you have that you have not received? And if you have indeed received it, why do you boast as if you had not received it? What, I said, what do you have to be prideful about? The way you stay humble is standing God's presence through prayer, because everyone who had an encounter with God saw their own sinfulness. You stay in God's presence. Peter, oh, depart from me, I'm a sinful man.  Daniel, we have sinned against you. Standing God's presence, keep you and I, keeps us humble. Show me a person that's cocky and arrogant. I'll show you a person that spends little time in the presence of God. That's how you stay humble. You stay teachable. You don't know it all.   You don't know it all.  And so let us commit to being like apostles today. Men mighty in the scriptures. This area would never be the same. This church would never be the same. If we all say, you know what? I'm gonna commit to being mighty in the scriptures. It takes some diligence. There's some things you have, there's a little bit of TV you gotta turn off. There's a little bit of whatever it is you listen to in your car because you know the traffic out here is just, I won't even comment about that. You spend most of your time either sleep or in traffic, you know, at work and if we just commit to being men, we're gonna be like apostles. We're gonna be mighty in the scriptures. The Lord can do a work that will blow our minds. Let me tell you, I tell people what I see when I look out. What I see when I look out, I see men, yes, but I see empty seats. There's a man that you know that could have, should have been here. But it's not too late because God wants to use you to go reach them. You know who they are. Just put them on your mind. But you're gonna have to be a man worth following. I pray, always pray one day, I said, Lord, I pray that I can say one day like Paul did, follow me as I follow Christ. Or like 1 Corinthians 4, 16, I urge you to imitate me. I pray one day I can say that. I can't say that right now. I pray one day I can, but if we become like Jesus Christ as men, not to become sissies, but become as Jesus was the most manly man who ever lived, manly man, meek, meek is power under control. Could have blasted. He said, don't you know I could have called 12 legions of angels, had my father called. One angel on one night killed 185,000 Assyrians in one night. He said, I can call 12 legions. The one legion is 6,000, 12 times six for you mathematicians would have killed everybody in the world. He said, but don't you know the scriptures must happen like this. And this is our time. If we're not serious about the Lord, it's time to get serious. If you have not repented of your sin and accepted Christ as your Lord and Savior, today is the day of salvation for you.   We're gonna have some men to my left that's gonna be willing to take you and just spend some time with you. So let's close in prayer. Father, thank you for this great time.


well as I hear the winds howling outside blowing away the last of the warm season as we get ready to bring in November and the dark cold winter it's a good time to remind myself and anybody listening that there is no way around drudgery there's always going to be mundane drudgery uninspired boring now I can accept in theory it could be possible perhaps to have a life where every everything is so charged with meaning that there's never a time that is fully drudgery and that may be an ideal but it's certainly I'm certainly not there yet or near it there's no way to make everything interesting everything inspirational charged up at all times I think even if I have a good mindset overall sometimes I'll just can just not feel great a little physical discomforts all the little inconveniences that can get in the way it's always there's always going to be drudgery so one thing to say is simply that it's okay it's not a sign of motivational failure a lack of inspiration if you're not at all times of day pumped up with excitement at the chance of improving yourself for doing whatever work you have of that day there's going to be boring dull plodding work and for a lot of people that's a big part of the day that is sometimes seems like it takes over life that sadly enough it's not all together uncommon for it to feel sometimes like that is what life has to offer and if it goes too far it can really get pretty dismal to just feel like what do I have to look forward to in my life just more days of dull unsatisfying drudgery and this is the kind of despair that can easily lead to escapism through drugs and fantasy and anything to just avoid looking at the present reality because we cannot live in pure drudgery forever we need some kind of inspiration some we need to believe there's something beyond everyday dullness so one tool that I find very useful or it's more general than a tool it's really just just a simple principle that anything that appears like pointless drudgery pointless dull meaningless boring all these things we can't necessarily make them exciting we can't necessarily change the activities that they become inherently fun and we can't necessarily trick ourselves or convince ourselves that somehow these really are exciting things in and of themselves but what we can do is ask why am I doing these things why am I doing this mundane dull plodding I'm really getting tired of saying the word drudgery I'm saying the word drudgery a lot it's becoming drudgery just saying the word drudgery but you know why is it what why do we do these things it's always connected to something bigger there's always a reason why we're doing the bad thing that connects to some kind of a larger purpose something that is not mundane and dull something that we do actually care about but it's so easy to get lost in the day-to-day mundanity the little details that are painfully boring that we can easily forget that connection lose the the sense of that connection like Monday like washing the dishes daily mundane doing paperwork of all kinds bureaucratic formalities and these these things there's nothing that we do that isn't somehow connected into something bigger there's some reason why we are doing it even if sadly it's just if it's doing some kind of a job we hate just because we need to make money to pay off bills while we're paying those bills because we want to live and we have ideas about what kind of life we want to have and being able to pay those bills is one step connecting towards building the life we want so no matter how dull no matter how trivial it always connects into something bigger and eventually reaches something we care about and as long as what we do has meaning feels connected to something meaningful then it is no longer pure drudge it's no longer fully mundane it becomes connected to something great so the next time I face this feeling of not wanting to go through the next cycle of routine dull tasks I will attempt to remind myself why I'm doing these things what is the bigger picture that this is one tiny piece of there's nothing interesting about taking this one step itself but it's one step along a path that leads to something meaningful and good


Hello and welcome to the session. My name is Mansi and I'm going to help you with the following question. The question says, integrate the following function that is x into secant square x. So let us start with the solution to this question. Let i be equal to integral of x secant square x dx. Now according to the i-late rule, we see that an algebraic function is given preference over the trigonometric function for becoming the first function. So this will be the first function, this will be the second function. Now we will integrate it by parts. So i will be equal to first function that is x into integral of second function that is secant square x dx minus integral of d by dx of first function that is x into integral of secant square x dx into dx. This will be equal to x into, now integral of secant square x dx is tan x minus integral of dx by dx will be 1 into tan x dx plus the constant now here we will have this much and this will be equal to x tan x of cos x because we see that integral of tan x dx is minus log cos x minus times the minus sign becomes positive. So our answer to the question is x tan x plus log of cos x plus c. So I hope that you understood the question and enjoyed the session. Have a good day.


Hello. I welcome you all once again to my channel Explore Education. I am Dr. Rashmi Singh, Assistant Professor, Department of Education, Assistant Kanna Girls' Relief College, University of Alhaka. And in the series of discussing various types of ways, concepts under educational statistics, we are discussing now product moment correlation coefficient. Prior to this I have already discussed with you all the spearmen ranks, spearmen's rank correlation coefficient. And this time I am going to discuss product moment correlation coefficient. Okay. So, the lecture will be in bilingual mode as usual and it must be useful for all of you. First of all, we will take a recap of what we have studied in statistics. We have started with the results of statistics, then the statistical series is discussed in terms of time, space, continuous, discrete, then the characteristics are discussed with you. Then we talked to you about Measles of Central Lendency, which is the map of the secondary probability in which we have discussed the concept of the mean, median and mode. Then how do we calculate it? Similarly, the Measles of Periability. The Measles of Central Lendency tells us that the data is on the one side, on the other side, on the mean side, on the mean side, its tendency is in the middle. But we do not know how its dimension is in the whole data. So, for this we have to see the Measles of Periability, where it is more, we have studied the standard deviation, quartile deviation, we have talked about the range. Then it happened that the dimension of the data is understood, but it is also understood that if there are two variables, we are comparing, then the data is so correlated. So, what is the relationship? So, we have discussed the Spearman's Rank, the formula of the Spearman's Rank and how it will be taken out and now we are going to discuss the product-moment-correlation coefficient and the questions are also asked on this. So, again, what is the correlation? Correlation is a measure of association between two variables. Oh, it is T w or 2. It means that the relationship is the basis of the association between two fours. How much is the relationship between them? Typically, one variable is denoted as x and the other variable is denoted as y. Generally, we give one four as x and the other as y. The relationship between these variables is assessed by correlation coefficient and we measure the relationship between these two fours. Following statements are an example of correlation. So, he is saying that we are sharing this example with you. It is a statement related to that. As the intelligence increases, the marks obtain increases. He is saying that as the intelligence increases, our numbers increase. Generally, there is a correlation. As the introversion increases, number of friends decreases. As we get introvert, if we are very introvert, what will our friends do? Why? We don't want to meet anyone, we don't like to go to school, we don't like to live alone. So, we won't get friends. Then, more the anxiety or personal experiences, weaker the adjustment with the stress. He is saying that as one person's stress increases, the stress increases. The stress, the stress, the stress decreases. This is a correlation. If one is increasing, the other is increasing or decreasing. Positive, negative and zero correlations have been discussed. As the score on openness to experience increases, scores on creativity test also increases. What creativity is? He is saying that as the score increases on openness to experience, the creativity increases. Similarly, the more the income more the expenditure. So, these are all correlated. On a reasoning task, as the accuracy increases, the speed decreases. As the accuracy increases, the speed decreases. As the cost increases, the sales decreases. These are all the examples of this kind of correlation. To explain to you how one-step, another-step is required. Then there can be two types of correlation. Linear and non-linear. The relationship between two variables can be of various types. He is saying that there can be some kind of relationship between two pairs. But you have to break it from the point of view. And you have to break it from the point of view. So, what will be the linear relationship? One of the basic forms of a relationship is linear relationship. The linear relationship can be expressed as a relationship between two variables that can be plotted as a straight line. which can be plotted as a straight line. And what is a non-linear relationship? So, this also means that if one is increasing, the other is increasing. That is why both the two variables are coming. Then the non-linear is saying that the York's Dotson law, Stevens's power law in psychophysics, etc. are good examples of non-linear relationship. What does this mean? This means that if one is increasing, the other is increasing. The relationship between stress and performance is popularly known as York's Dotson Law. It suggests that the performance is poor when the stress is too little or too much. It improves when the stress is moderate. When stress is so nominal and moderate, then our performance is better. This is an example of non-linear relationship and you cannot plot it straight. Why? Because performance is poor at extremes. The minimum performance is the highest and the moderate performance is the highest. This cannot be a straight line. This is called non-linear, curve-linear, curve-linear. Non-linear means linear. This is an example of non-linear relationship. This is the strength of the relationship. How will the strength be known? How powerful is the co-efficiency of the relationship? Obviously, the relationship between intelligence and reasoning as well as the relationship between intelligence and creativity are positive. The more intelligent you are, the more reasoning questions you will get. Similarly, if you are intelligent and creative, then both relationships are positive. But at the same time the co-relationship coefficient is higher for intelligence and reasoning than for intelligence and creativity. But if you look at it closely, To find out whose strength is more in this relationship. You will find that intelligence is more in reasoning and co-relationship coefficient. It is more in terms of intelligence and creativity. Both are also positive. But you will learn from the co-relationship coefficient of its strength. The strength of relationship between two variables is an important information to interpret the relationship. When you get to know the relationship between two variables, you will be able to get to know the relationship between two variables. The correlation between two variables is expressed in terms of a number, usually called as correlation between two variables. The correlation coefficient is denoted by various symbols depending on the type of correlation. Indicating the Pearson's product moment correlation coefficient. There is no need to find everything in Hindi. The representation of correlation between x and y is rxy. The correlation coefficient is x and y. The correlation between x and y is less than or equal to r. The range of the correlation coefficient is from minus 1 to plus 1. The correlation between x and y is less than or equal to r. The correlation between x and y is less than or equal to r. The correlation between x and y is less than or equal to r. The correlation between x and y is less than or equal to r. The correlation between x and y is less than or equal to r. The correlation between x and y is less than or equal to r. The correlation between x and y is less than or equal to r. The correlation between x and y is less than or equal to r. The correlation between x and y is less than or equal to r. The correlation between x and y is less than or equal to r. correlation coefficient can be calculated by various ways. The correlation coefficient is a description of association between two variables in the sample. So, it is a descriptive statistics, so it is a descriptive statistics. Various ways to compute correlation simply indicate the degree of association between two variables in the sample. The distributional assumptions are not required to compute correlation as a descriptive statistic, so it is not a parametric or non-parametric statistics. We have already discussed parametric and non-parametric statistics, which are based on normal distribution. It is not necessary to be distributed normally for non-parametric. So, we are saying that this is not a parametric or non-parametric statistic, but a descriptive statistic. Why? Because we are only telling that the variable in the sample is the association between them. Then the calculated sample correlation coefficient can be used to estimate population correlation coefficient. If we have chosen the sample well, it is representative of our sample population, then we can estimate the correlation coefficient of the sample from the correlation coefficient of the population. Similarly, we can denote it as generally small r, then we denote the population correlation coefficient as n, then we denote the spare man, which we have talked about as rho. Generally, this is how it is done, rho. Now, let us talk about Pearson product moment of correlation. What is the peer correlation? The Pearson correlation coefficient was developed by Carl Pearson in 1986. Pearson was an editor of Biometrica, which is a leading journal in statistics. Pearson was the editor of the leading journal Biometrica. He was a close associate of psychologist, Sir Francis Galton. You must have heard of Galton. He was a statistician. He was a psychologist in psychology. He was a psychologist. The Pearson correlation coefficient is usually calculated for two continuous variables. Look, it is very important to pay attention to what kind of correlation is put in the variable. So, when there are seventy four, then the Pearson correlation coefficient is generally put in it. If either or both the variables are not continuous, then other statistical procedures are to be used. Some of them are equivalent to Pearson's correlation coefficient. Now, we will talk about variance and covariance. What are the needs of the Pearson product moment correlation? One, you will need the mean, one, you will need the variance and one, you will need the covariance. We have read about the standard deviation many times, but this may not be the case. The standard deviation coefficient is the same. We have read about the standard deviation many times, but this may not be the case. The square of the standard deviation is called the variance. And what is the covariance? Look, you know the mean. The mean of variable X is the sum of scores divided by the number of observations. That is, all the scores are connected. The number of scores that are given to us will be the mean. Do you know the variance? Do you know how to get the deviation? The variance of a variable X is symbolized as SX square. What do we call it? The square of the standard deviation. SX square is the sum of squares of the deviations of each score from the mean of X divided by the number of observations. What will you do? We will get all the deviations. Then we will square all the deviations. And if we connect them, we will get variance. We would get the same under root, so we would get the standard deviation. Simply, when we square the standard deviation, we get variance. Simple. What is covariance? It is a number that indicates the association between two variables. To compute covariance, the deviation of each score on X from its mean and deviation of each score on Y from its mean is initially calculated. What will we do? We will get two squares. The correlation will always be between two squares. First, you get the deviation of X from its mean. X can be one square. You get the deviation of Y. And multiply those two. Then products of these deviations are obtained. Product means that the result is good. And then you connect them. And what will you do? This sum gives us the numerator for covariance. It means that each and every number is equal to that. And then the numerator will come up. That means the covariance will be the sum of the covariance. And if you divide this by the number of observations, then covariance will come up. That means that variance is the square of deviations. And covariance is the good and bad of both the squares. And then you have to combine them and divide them by the number of observations. This is the formula. Equation for Pearson product moment coefficient of correlation. What is R? Pearson product moment correlation. Covariance. What is C-O-V? For covariance. And the covariance between the two is X into Y. X is one square and Y is one square. We have to divide it by SX into SY. What is SX? What is S? It is for standard deviation. So, for the standard deviation of X, you will get R if you divide it by the standard deviation of Y. So, covariance XY is covariance between X and Y. SX is standard deviation of X. SY is standard deviation of Y. Since it can be shown that covariance is always smaller than or equal to SX into SY. So, it is said that covariance will always be equal to SX and SY. Or it will be smaller. Because the maximum value cannot be more than one. Sine of Pearson's R depends on the sine of covariance XY. And the sine of the covariance XY depends on the sine of Pearson's correlation coefficient. So, our formula is R is equal to summation of X minus X bar. Look, I want to put X bar over X. Because I couldn't put it on X. So, I have to put X bar over X. X minus X bar. X bar means a small circle over X.  That is not possible. Upon N into SX into SY. Now, if you put it in the formula, you will understand how it is put. Look, we will be given only one subject. We will give X and Y. You will get this much data. And it will be told to you that its product moment correlation coefficient has been removed. So, what should we do? This is the number of observation. There are 10. X is Y. Remove the mean of both. So, it is 110. It has been removed from 10. It has been removed from 11. It has been removed from 120. It has been removed from 10. It has been removed from 12. It has been removed from 12. Now, if we want to get all the deviation from the abstract, then this balance is 11 out of 11. It has been removed from 3 out of 11. it has been removed from 2. It has been removed from 6. It has been removed from 5 in this way. That is X minus X bar. In the same way, output Y minus Y bar. Imagine here, how is the mean over 12. We have to eliminate 12 out of 12. it has been removed from 3. It has been removed from 1. It was removed 16. There are 4 in this way. Now, what we have to do? For calculation, cast the code above B and Y minus B. Cast the code above B and perform with X minus X bar. S x is equal to x is equal to 4.16, S y is equal to 3.33, so r is equal to 116. This is given as x minus x bar into y minus y bar which is your formula. This is r is equal to summation of x minus x bar into y minus y bar. In this, S x is equal to 4.16, S y is equal to 3.33, which you saw in that formula. What does this mean? What is the correlation between the two fours? Because 937 means 137% correlation. The coefficient has come out. It's over. The formula is small but you have to remember that first you have to remove the mean in x and y, then you have to remove the deviation, then you have to remove the square of the deviation, then you have to remove the variance. Look, here we don't have to remove the under root. We don't have to remove the standard deviation, then you have to remove the under root, then the covariance will come out. And the covariance, after removing the number of observations, if we remove it from both the variance, then it will come out. What? Product moment correlation coefficient. Did you remove sx? Did you remove sy? So it's 4, 10, 9, 6, 3, 10, 3, 3, and then you have to remove these two and then you have to remove them from 117, 10, 10. This is the sign of the problem. Look at this. This is the sign of the problem. You have to run away. It was a little difficult to do all these types. It was very difficult to apply all these symbols. So this is the product moment correlation coefficient. And it is also asked a lot from you. First you have to know the concept. Always try to understand the statistics like maths. Try to understand that this is a kind of work. It's not just calculation. First you have to understand the concept of correlation. Why? Why is it necessary? Now this concept will be clear. Then you will be able to understand that between minus 1 and plus 1 it can be considered as correlation coefficient. It is not that you have given the answer of the question of correlation coefficient. It cannot be 2.5. It cannot be 2.5. It cannot be 2.5. It cannot be 2.5. It cannot be 2.5. It cannot be 2.5. It cannot be 2.5. It cannot be 2.5. It cannot be 2.5. It can be 2.5. It cannot be 2.5. It cannot be 2.5. It cannot be 2.5. It cannot be 2.5. It cannot be 2.5. It cannot be 3.5. If I can see that it is a test term. It is not. But the body language is even different. I think some people are surprised by such facts as there is this topic today.


We can rebuild trust, but it depends on what broke the trust. And it depends on how you go about rebuilding it. And because people just say sorry. And sometimes an apology is enough. But a simple apology isn't going to be enough. It has to match what broke the trust. I have to feel like you're doing something that makes you feel vulnerable, or you feel embarrassed and matches how I felt. Otherwise, that apology actually has the opposite effect.


Hello everybody! It is so nice to talk to you guys and actually have a smile on my face. I'm really excited to tell you guys about our wedding plans right now. The silver lining in this all is that good things have come and so I'm super excited to bring you guys around and show you our new venue and kind of what our plans are going forward. So I'm going to walk you around the house and kind of show you our venue and then basically from there I have a couple other things that I'd like to talk to you guys about. So let's go ahead and look around the venue here and then we'll get into some other things. So let's go!


Welcome to Learning English, a daily 30-minute program from the Voice of America. I'm Dan Friedel. And I'm Katie Weaver. This program is aimed at English learners. So we speak slowly, and we use words and phrases, especially written for people learning English. Today on the program, Dan Novak looks at a return to traditional teaching methods in Sweden. Then, you'll hear Mario Ritter Jr.'s story about U.S. President Joe Biden's visit with striking auto workers in Michigan. We close the program with a lesson about the English word conservation from Brian Lin and John Russell. At first, this story on ancient building materials. Researchers have found a structure that may be the oldest evidence yet of early humans building with wood. The structure is simple. Two logs fitted together with a notch. It is half a million years old. It provides a rare look at how ancient human relatives were working with wood and changing their environments, researchers wrote in a study published recently in Nature. Larry Barham of the University of Liverpool in Britain was one of the writers of the study. Barham said, It took me a while before I appreciated what we were looking at. He added about the structure. It didn't look very nice, to be honest, but it is much more complex than I thought. Barham and his team dug up the log structure, and several wooden tools, from a riverbed area that sits above a waterfall in the African country of Zambia. They think the crossed logs could have been the base for a bigger structure, like a walkway or a platform. Barham explained that wood usually rots quickly due to the weather. As a result, little evidence remains of how our ancient relatives used the material. But the log structure that researchers found had been below the river's surface, which helped save them. So when Barham's team found the logs in 2019, they were still able to see signs that early humans had shaped them. Something just looks so fresh, you think, it cannot be this old, Barham said. It was difficult for researchers to estimate the age of the wood structure. Traditional dating techniques could not get deep enough into the past. In this study, researchers used a new method called luminescence dating. Luminescence dating uses tiny minerals in the sand to estimate how long materials have been buried, explained study writer Jeff Duller. Duller is an expert in dating methods at Aberystwyth University in Wales. The log structure was made at least 476,000 years ago, while the wood tools are slightly younger, under 400,000 years old. That places the materials in a time before our species, Homo sapiens. The earliest known Homo sapiens bones date from roughly 300,000 years ago in Morocco. The Calambo Falls logs were determined to be from about 476,000 years ago. The objects would have been made by another kind of early human relative, possibly Homo heidelbergensis, which was around in Africa at the time, the study's writers said. Homo heidelbergensis had a bigger brain case and flatter face than early hominins, species on the human evolutionary lineage. If these ancient humans were putting effort into building these structures, it suggests they may have stayed for a while or made repeated visits. In other words, they were not just groups of hunter-gatherers, said Dirk Leder of Germany's lower Saxony State Office for cultural heritage. Leder was not involved with the research. Hanamika Milks of Britain's University of Reading was also not involved in the study. Milks said about the finding, it's an important window into what these humans were capable of. I'm John Russell. As children returned to school in Sweden last month, many of their teachers were putting a new importance on some traditional skills. These included reading printed books, quiet reading time, and handwriting practice. Teachers were spending less time with digital devices, online research, and typing skills. The return to traditional ways of learning might be the answer to questions raised by politicians and experts. They have questioned the country's dependence on electronic technology in education. For example, schools in Sweden have introduced tablets in preschools, but critics say students are not learning basic skills as well. Lata Edholm is the Swedish minister for schools. She took office eleven months ago as part of a new center-right government. She was one of the biggest critics of the level of technology in schools. Sweden's students need more textbooks, Edholm said in March. Physical books are important for student learning. The minister announced last month that the government wants to reverse the decision made by the National Agency for Education to make digital devices required in preschools. The ministry told the Associated Press that it plans to stop digital learning for children under the age of six. Sweden's students score above the European average for reading ability, but an international test of fourth-grade reading levels, the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study, showed Sweden's children had lost ground between 2016 and 2021. Some learning loss might have resulted from the COVID-19 pandemic. The losses could also be a result of a growing number of immigrant students who do not speak Swedish as their first language. But an overuse of electronic devices during school lessons may cause kids to fall behind, education experts say. Sweden's Karolinska Institute is a medical school centered on research. There is clear scientific evidence that digital tools impair rather than enhance student learning, the institute said in a statement last month. The institute added that schools should instead center on teaching using printed textbooks and teacher knowledge. Information from digital sources may not be accurate, it said. The expansion of digital learning in schools also has drawn concern from the United Nations Education and Culture Agency. In a report published last month, UNESCO issued an urgent call for appropriate use of technology and education. The report urged countries to speed up internet connections at schools. But it also warned that technology and education should be used in a way so that it never replaces in-person, teacher-led instruction. Online instruction is a highly debated subject across Europe and in other parts of the world. Poland for instance just launched a program to give a laptop paid for by the government to each student starting in 4th grade. In the United States, the coronavirus pandemic pushed public schools to provide millions of laptops to students. But there is still a digital divide, which is part of the reason why American schools often use both print and digital textbooks, said Sean Ryan. He is president of the U.S. school division at textbook publisher McGraw-Hill. Educators are less likely to use only digital textbooks because some households lack the technology or internet connection at home, he added. To answer Sweden's decline in 4th grade reading performance, the Swedish government announced $64.7 million in book purchases for the country's schools this year. Another $45.3 million will be spent yearly in 2024 and 2025 to speed up the return of textbooks to schools. Not all experts think Sweden's move away from digital technology is only about what is best for students. Criticizing the effects of technology is a popular move with conservative politicians, Niels Selwyn said. He is a professor of education at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia. The Swedish government does have a valid point when saying that there is no evidence for technology improving learning, but I think that's because there is no straightforward evidence of what works with technology, Selwyn added. Technology is just one part of a really complex network of factors in education. I'm Dan Novak. I'm Dan Friedel and you're listening to the Learning English podcast. Dan Novak joins me now to talk more about today's education story. Welcome Dan. Great to be here. Your story today was about efforts by one country, Sweden, to reduce the amount of time students use digital devices. The current Swedish government wants to reverse a decision made by the country's education agency that makes digital devices required in preschools. Why is Sweden changing course? In a measure of reading scores for European schools, Sweden scores dropped from 2016 to 2021. Current Swedish minister for schools Lötta Edholm argues that a big reason why scores decreased is that there has been too much electronic technology in the classroom. And so now Swedish schools are going back to traditional ways of learning, teaching handwriting and using printed books for example. Is there evidence that more time with digital devices caused a drop in reading scores? Well, I think that's where the story gets more complicated. Sweden's Karolinska Institute, a medical school, said there is clear evidence that digital tools hurt learning. But whether they actually caused a drop in reading scores, that's harder to say. There were other factors at play, not least of which the pandemic and the switch to online learning. UNESCO, the United Nations Cultural Organization, also recently came out with a call for the appropriate use of technology in education. What more can you tell us about this? A new UNESCO report calls on governments to make sure digital learning never replaces in-person instruction. UNESCO said few governments have laws about how digital tools are used in the classroom. Essentially, UNESCO is arguing that technology should be used in ways to help teachers, but not replace them. So, I guess schools around the world should hang on to their books, papers and pencils. Thanks, Dan. You're welcome. Thanks for having me. You're listening to the Learning English podcast from The Voice of America. We'll be right back. But first, this message about one of our educational programs for children. VOA Learning English has launched a new program for children. It is called Let's Learn English with Anna. The new course aims to teach children American English through asking and answering questions and experiencing fun situations. For more information, visit our website, learningenglish.voanews.com. American President Joe Biden joined members of the United Auto Workers, or UAW, on a picket line as they continued their strike against U.S. carmakers Tuesday. Biden's action represents the strongest presidential support in history for striking workers. You deserve the significant raise you need, Biden said, after arriving at a General Motors parts center west of Detroit, Michigan. He walked along the picket line, exchanging fist bumps with striking workers. He said, yes, when asked if UAW members deserved a pay increase, one of the demands that the union has made. No deal, no wheels, workers said loudly, as Biden arrived. No pay, no parts. Candidates have appeared at strikes to show support for union members. During his 2020 Democratic primary campaign, Biden and others joined a picket line of casino workers in Las Vegas, Nevada. But sitting presidents have to balance the rights of workers, businesses, and economic concerns. They have long avoided such appearances. No president has ever walked a picket line before, said Eric Loomis, a professor at the University of Rhode Island, and an expert on U.S. labor history. Loomis added that presidents saw themselves more as mediators. They did not see it as their place to directly intervene in a strike or in labor action. Biden's action represents the strongest presidential support for striking workers since 1902. In that year, University of Texas historian Jeremy Surry said, President Theodore Roosevelt invited striking coal workers to the White House. Biden joined the striking workers one day before former President Donald Trump plans another event with auto workers in Detroit. Trump is the leading candidate for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination and will likely face Biden in the general election. The UAW strike against three major American car makers started 12 days ago on September 14. The UAW targeted General Motors, Ford, and Stellantis, the maker of Chrysler and Jeep. Thirteen thousand auto workers went on strike that day, and another 5,600 joined them last week. The labor union is asking for fewer working hours, improved benefits, and a 36% raise in pay over four years. The group is also asking for union representation at new electric vehicle battery factories. The group said workers had given up raises for many years to help auto companies through the 2007 to 2009 financial crisis. American auto companies also received government support at the time, but have since become very profitable. The three companies have received net income of $164 billion since and $20 billion this year. On Monday Biden said, I think the UAW gave up an incredible amount back when the automobile industry was going under. They gave everything from their pensions on, and they saved the automobile industry. He added that workers should benefit from car makers riches. Republicans believe Biden's push for electric vehicles, or EVs, is unpopular with auto workers. In a statement on Tuesday, Trump accused Biden of stabbing auto workers in the back. Biden's EV push, he said, will hurt the U.S. auto industry and cost jobs. The auto industry and its labor unions usually play an important part in elections in Michigan and other Midwestern states. In 2016, Trump captured the White House by winning the state of Michigan, among others. Biden won Michigan in 2020. I'm Mario Ritter, Jr. In this report, Brian Lin talks to us about a bird, the Atlantic Puffin. We learn about problems that the Atlantic Puffin population is facing. Pay careful attention to the word conservation. We will explore the word in greater detail after the report. Scientists studying the Atlantic Puffin population off the coast of Maine say the birds are now recovering after suffering major losses in 2021. Atlantic Puffins look and walk similarly to penguins. Wildlife officials say reproductions for the animals on islands off the coast of Maine fell sharply in 2021. But last year about two-thirds of puffins in the area produced young. While the numbers did not reach that same level this year, the birds still had a better year than in 2021. The main reason for the decreasing numbers is a drop in the population of small fish puffins feed on, such as herring. Two years ago, puffin colonies suffered one of the lowest reproduction rates in many years because of a lack of those fish. Only about one-quarter of the birds were able to raise young in 2021. Environmental groups have linked the lower fish populations in the area to warming ocean temperatures. The Gulf of Maine, which has puffin colonies on its islands, is warming faster than most of the world's oceans. Some recent years have been especially warm, and local climate officials have said this summer appears to have been still unusually warm. Bill Seidman is the president and chief scientist at the Farallong Institute, a conservation organization based in California. He told the Associated Press the reasons for the puffin population drop include deadly heat waves, loss of food, loss of islands to sea level rise, and an inability to reproduce or breed. The problem with climate change is these breeding failures and low-breeding productivity years are now becoming chronic, Seidman said. There will be fewer young birds in the population that are able to recruit into the breeding population. Maine's puffins are the only breeding Atlantic puffins in the United States. Worldwide, the species lives in the North Atlantic from Maine and Canada to Europe. Other countries with large puffin populations, such as Iceland, have also seen their bird populations drop. The Maine puffin population once fell to only about 70 pairs in an area known as Matinicus Rock. Hunters who went after the birds for their meat and feathers had nearly destroyed them by the early 1900s. Stephen Kress is a scientist with the Audubon Society who has sought to grow puffin colonies since the 1970s. His attempts included moving young puffins from Canada to Eastern Egg Rock, another small island in the area. Wildlife officials say adult birds in the colonies appear fairly strong, and it's likely the population is stable and it could still be growing, said Don Lyons. He is the director of conservation science at the National Audubon Society's Seabird Institute in Bremen, Maine. The difficulties facing seabirds make successful breeding seasons especially important, said P. D. Bursma. She is a University of Washington professor of biology and director of the university's Center for Ecosystem Sentinels. What that means is we should be more cautious and concerned about reproductive failures and things like that to make sure that in good years everyone that wants to has a chance to breed and do well, Bursma said. I'm Brian Lin. Before the report, we asked you to pay careful attention to the word conservation. Can you remember when you heard the term? You heard conservation a couple of times in the report. Here is one example. Bill Seidman is the president and chief scientist at the Feralong Institute, a conservation organization based in California. Let's start by breaking apart the word conservation. We have conserve and the ending Asian. Conserve is a verb. The online etymology dictionary says that conserve, meaning to keep safe or preserve from loss or decay, dates to the late 14th century. It comes from the old French conservé, which in turn comes from Latin. From the verb conserve, we drop an E and add an A-T-I-O-N ending to get the noun conservation. The word first appeared in the mid 15th century, the online etymology dictionary tells us. Conservation has been used since then when talking about local authorities who had charge of rivers, sewers, fishing areas, and so on. In the early 1900s, English speakers began to use conservation when talking about the preservation of nature and wild places. In the present day, we generally use conservation to mean the act of keeping something in good condition, animals, the environment, natural resources. But you might also hear conservation used to talk about keeping objects such as artwork or furniture in good condition. So we have conserve, a verb, and conservation, a noun. Did you notice something about how I stress different parts of the words? In the verb conserve, I stress the second part of the word, listen again, conserve. In the noun conservation, I stress the first part of the word, listen again, conservation. We hope this lesson will help you remember and use the word conservation in the future. And that's the lesson of the day. I'm John Russell. That's the Learning English podcast for today. Thank you, John, for that lesson, and thanks to Brian Lin for the report on the Atlantic Puffin. Most importantly, thank you for listening. For more, visit our website at learningenglish.voanews.com. I'm Katie Weaver. And I'm Dan Friedel.