Here we are in Zephaniah. Let's begin reading at chapter 1, verse 1. I'll read to verse 3 and give you a prolonged introduction, and then get into the message today. Zephaniah, chapter 1, beginning at verse 1, reading to verse 3, the word of the Lord, which came to Zephaniah, the son of Kushi, the son of Gadalia, the son of Amoriah, the son of Hezekiah, in the days of Josiah, the son of Ammon, king of Judah. I will utterly consume all things from the face of the land, says the Lord. I will consume man and beast. I will consume the birds of the heavens, the fish of the sea, and the stumbling blocks along with the wicked.  What a cheery introduction we have here in the book of Zephaniah. Now, I'll give you a little bit of a background. It's going to take a moment to develop this with you, but it'll help us all to understand the direction of this book and its context. This book here, the book of Zephaniah, was written somewhere between the years 640 to 612 BC. It was written during the reign of a king by the name of Josiah. Josiah was a king who ruled over Judah, and he ruled over Judah from around 640 to 609 BC. When you look into the life of Josiah, Josiah was godly. He ascended the throne of Judah when he was only eight years of age. When you look in the Old Testament book of Second Kings in chapter 22, in verse 2, 2 Kings 22 says that he did what was right in the side of the Lord, walked in all the ways of his father David. He did not turn aside to the right hand or to the left. He ultimately, as I mentioned a moment ago, reigned in Jerusalem for 31 years, according to 2 Kings, chapter 22. Now, when you look into the life of Josiah, you're going to see that under him, two attempts at reformation in the nation were made. The first one took place when he was 16 years of age. Now, he ascended the throne when he was eight. But the first attempt at reformation came when he was 16, according to 2 Chronicles 34, verses 3 through 7. Those verses tell us that at the age of 16, Josiah tore down the altars of Baal, destroyed pagan incense altars, pulverized the wooden, carved, and molded images, and scattered their dust. He burned the bones of the false prophets on their altars and destroyed the various altars in the land. Now, in his 18th year of his reign, Josiah, used the money that had been brought to the temple in order to repair the damages due to neglect over the years. And so, when the command was given to get the money so the temple could be repaired, the high priest, his name was Hilkiah, said that he found the book of the law. And the book of the law was read to Josiah. Now, when Josiah heard what was written in the law, the Bible tells us that he tore his clothes in grief and repentance. And he saw that the troubles that Judah was enduring was because of disobedience to God. In 2 Kings 22, verse 13, we read, Go, inquire of the Lord for me, for the people and for all Judah concerning the words of this book that has been found, for great is the wrath of the Lord that is aroused against us because our fathers have not obeyed the words of this book to do according to all that is written concerning us. So when he heard the word of the Lord read to him, it provoked him to repentance in grief. Well, the high priest led a delegation to speak to a prophetess whose name was Hilda. And she sent a message to Josiah. She said, God is going to bring judgment upon Jerusalem because of idolatry. But because Josiah was tender towards God and he had humbled himself, Josiah would go to his grave in peace and he was not going to see the calamity that was going to befall Judah. When you get into chapter 23 of 2 Kings, that chapter records that Josiah gathered the priests, the prophets and the people in Jerusalem. And he read to them the words of the covenant and they made a covenant with the Lord. In 2 Kings 23 verse 3, the king stood by a pillar and made a covenant before the Lord to follow the Lord and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes with all his heart and with all his soul to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book and all the people took a stand for the covenant. And so you have the priests, you have the prophets and you have the people of Jerusalem as they're hearing the word of the Lord and making an oath to God that they're going to follow after him. Now after that took place, he began to clean house in Judah. He removed the idols that had been placed in the temple and he burned them outside of Jerusalem. He removed the idolatrous priests who had burned incense on high places in Judah. He tore down the booths of, and this is what it says in the New King James as well as the King James, he tore down the booths of the perverted persons that were in the house of the Lord. The booths of the perverted persons. The term perverted person is a term that speaks concerning temple prostitutes. There were temple prostitutes in the temple of God in the city of Jerusalem and the temple prostitutes were men who not only had relations with women but also had relations with other men. He tore down pagan altars, he broken pieces sacred pillars and he tore down an altar that had been built by a man by the name of Jeroboam in the city of Bethel. Then he had all the pagan priests executed because they had led the people to sin. And that was according to the law of Moses because the law specifically ordered the elimination of all who led Israel to sin. You see, God had been revealing himself to man and ordering them to obey him and worship him alone. And so he gave a law concerning those who would lead them astray. In Deuteronomy 13, verses one through five, it reads, if there arises among you a prophet or a dreamer of dreams and he gives you a sign or a wonder and the sign or the wonder comes to pass of which he spoke to you saying, let us go after other gods which you have not known and let us serve them.  You shall walk after the Lord your God and fear him. Keep his commandments, obey his voice and you shall serve him and hold fast to him.  So you shall put away the evil from your midst. And so in the Old Testament, that's how they dealt with false prophets and under Josiah, they put these false teachers to death. Under Josiah, reform took place and there was an outward change in the nation. But the sad fact is there was only an outward change but there was no permanent change of heart. Zephaniah brings a message that is intended to reinforce the message that judgment is coming. You see God said he would spare Josiah but he also said the people were to be judged. In 2 Kings 22, 16 and 17, thus says the Lord, behold I will bring calamity on this place and on its inhabitants. All the words of the book which the King of Judah has read because they have forsaken me and burned incense to other gods that they might provoke me to anger with all the works of their hands. Therefore my wrath shall be aroused against this place and shall not be quenched. He went on in chapter 23 verses 25 through 27 to say, before him there was no king like him who turned to the Lord with all his heart, with all his soul and with all his might and according to all the law of Moses, nor after him did any arise like him. Nevertheless the Lord did not turn away or did not turn from the fierceness of his great wrath with which his anger was aroused against Judah because of all the provocations with which Manasseh had provoked him. The Lord said I will also remove Judah from my sight as I have removed Israel and will cast off this city Jerusalem which I have chosen and the house of which I said my name shall be there. In this prophecy he speaks of sins that were rampant before King Josiah had begun to reign. King Manasseh was the most evil king and he reigned for 53 years and he had a son by the name of Ammon and Ammon reigned too and both of them were exceedingly evil and they provoked Judah to sin by encouraging idolatry. Both of them did. So when Josiah began to reign, Judah had become thoroughly idolatrous and did not fully recover. Zephaniah is gonna be writing of the day of the Lord and his judgment on Judah as well as the world and he's gonna say that God will not just deal with Judah but he will also judge the world for its sin. Now, God had future plans and he desired to bring blessings but in the future they're gonna reject him and there would be others who would not. A key verse is gonna be found in the second chapter in Zephaniah chapter two verse three where it says, seek the Lord all you meek of the earth who have upheld his justice. Seek righteousness, seek humility. It may be that you will be hidden in the day of the Lord's anger. And so that's a brief background concerning the context of Zephaniah and so we begin at verse one where it says, Zephaniah chapter one verse one, the word of the Lord which came to Zephaniah, the son of Kushi, the son of Gdahlia, the son of Amoriah, the son of Hezekiah in the days of Josiah, the son of Ammon, King of Judah. So this is interesting in that he traces his lineage back four generations all the way back to Hezekiah. More than likely he's speaking of King Hezekiah so that makes Zephaniah the only prophet of royal blood and that granted him easier access to the King, to King Josiah. And so he gives to you his pedigree if you will and then goes right on in to speak in verse two where the Lord says, I will utterly consume all things from the face of the land, says the Lord. I will utterly consume. That word consume simply means to destroy completely. You see in 2 Kings 21 13, it reads, I will stretch over Jerusalem, the measuring line of Samaria and the plummet of the house of Ahab. I will wipe Jerusalem as one wipes the dish, wiping it and turning it upside down.   He's saying I am gonna bring judgment and this judgment will be complete. This is a judgment that I'm bringing that will wipe you out. Now as we go through the book, we're gonna see that it's not just these who are hearing the words during the time of Zephaniah that are gonna be judged because it speaks of God's judgment being worldwide and you'll see that as we go through this book, this small book. So God's judgment is worldwide and so what we'll be seeing is that the day of the Lord is another way of speaking of not simply this period of time that is taking place during Zephaniah, but as a word that is also speaking of and especially speaking of what we call the Great Tribulation that is found in the book of Revelation chapter 6 through 19. We're gonna see that this is speaking profanically in the sense that it applies to these people at this time, but it's complete fulfillment is really a portrait of what's gonna take place in what is called the Great Tribulation. You see God's judgment is spoken of and you'll see this as we go through Zephaniah as basically being worldwide. So Revelation reveals that this time that is referred to as the day of the Lord is actually what we call the Great Tribulation. And in the Great Tribulation, when you read in the book of Revelation, that which is called the Great Tribulation, you see that the Great Tribulation is spoken of from chapters 6 through 19 in the book of Revelation. And in those portions of Scripture, in those chapters, you see that God actually has what are called escalating judgments that he brings upon the unbelieving world. We'll see that, you see that they have the sealed judgments, the trumpet judgments and the bowl judgments. And that is what is actually gonna fulfill the picture that we have here when it speaks concerning the day of the Lord and God utterly consumes all things from the face of the land and that's what will be taking place during the time that God brings his worldwide judgment. He says in verse three, I will consume man and beast, I will consume the birds of the heavens, the fish of the sea and the stumbling blocks along the wicked.  So that is clearly revealed in various judgments that occur, but especially during the tribulation. When you look in the tribulation period, as mentioned from Revelation 6 through 19, when you look at Revelation chapter six, Revelation six reveals escalating judgments that this is part of what is called the sealed judgments. And you see judgments like war and famine plagues and earthquakes. When you look in Revelation chapters eight and nine, that is another series that is called the trumpet judgments. And verses chapters eight and nine reveal the vegetation is burned, a third of creatures in the sea are poisoned, drinking water is polluted, which kills people, that there are four angels leading 200 million, a 200 million member army that marches and a third of mankind dies in that judgment. And then in Revelation 16, we have the bowl judgments and these bowl judgments produce sores, seas of blood that kill every living creature, the drinking water becomes blood, the sun scorches men with fire, darkness settles on the earth and the world staggers on to a battle called Armageddon. And so when he's speaking in verse two and three here in Zephaniah, it's something that occurs not only during the time of the writing to those who are receiving it, but it's a picture of what's gonna take place in the future that is yet to come. You see, he says in verse three, I will cut off man from the face of the land. Now, when that takes place, you would think that judgments such as that would draw people to repentance. I mean, how much, how long does it take for somebody to realize that God's angry? And I probably ought to say I'm sorry. But when you read the book of Revelation, the Bible tells us in Revelation 16, verse nine, everyone was burned by this blast of heat and they cursed the name of God who sent all of these plagues and they did not repent and give him glory. And so in a prophetic sense, when God is pouring out his wrath on earth, instead of them responding with repentance, they end up continuing being judged. They do not repent and they will not give him glory and God is saying that during this time, again in verse two, I will utterly consume all things from the face of the land and he speaks of consuming man, beast, birds, fish. He said, I'm gonna cut off man from the face of the land, says the Lord. That did not take place during the time of Zephaniah. That will take place in the time that is called the tribulation. In verse four, he says, I will stretch out my hand against Judah and against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem. I will cut off every trace of Baal from this place, the names of the idolatrous priests with the pagan priests, those who worship the host of heaven on the housetops, those who worship and swear oaths by the Lord, but who also swear by Milcom, also known as Molek. Those who have turned back from following the Lord and have not sought the Lord nor inquired of Him. And so he says, Judah and Jerusalem are being singled out for judgment. And now what is it and why is it that they're singled out? What is it that makes them worthy of judgment? And in one word, it's the word idolatry. They were guilty of idolatry. He says in verse four, I will cut off every trace of Baal from this place. Now, when you read your Old Testament, you will read the name Baal. When you go into the New Testament, you also see it as Baal's above, or Beel's above. And so Baal was a Canaanite deity. He was associated with agriculture and was believed to be the giver of life. Mankind was dependent upon him because he provided what was necessary to sustain the farms and the flocks, the herds. And so worship of Baal was rampant. And the worship of Baal included sexual orgies. The word Baal means Lord or Master. The Canaanites believed that Baal was in absolute control over nature and over people. It was he who was in charge of the rain. He was in charge of the weather. And man's survival was dependent upon his provision. And Baal worship entered into the nation of Israel. Now, when you read the book of Judges, it's interesting how that the decline of the nation of Israel is clearly presented. And there are various steps that are outlined that reveal how a nation declines. And not only was that evident in the book of Judges as it pertains to Israel, but let me speak about it for just a moment as it pertains to nations in general. When you look at Judges, and I'm looking forward to teaching Judges because it's a very powerful book, and it's only been about 30 years since I taught it last. So when you look in the book of Judges, you can actually see a pattern. The first step of them descending into idolatry and walking away from God, the first step is simple rejection of faith in God. And then it points out that when you reject faith in God, that leads to moral degradation. And what's interesting is when you reject faith in God and the nation becomes morally degraded, it also points out that there is anarchy politically. And so when a nation steps away from worshiping God and walks away from faith in God, that nation will also inevitably give itself over to sexual promiscuity. And when that nation gives itself over to sexual promiscuity, that nation also develops a political system that enables and allows that to become the new norm. And if we don't see that today, we're doing the same kind of things today here in the United States that the nation of Israel did during the time of Judges, walking away from faith in God, walking away from morality and having our whole political system polluted with a mentality that sin is acceptable and laws that will be written that will cause the person who rejects that law to actually be fined or even put in jail. You can see that kind of spirit in many denominations to this day. Churches that have stopped seeking the Lord and have stopped following the word of God. And what happens is when you begin to walk away from faith in God, the first thing you're gonna walk away from is belief that the word of God is necessary. And when you walk away from the belief that the word of God is necessary, then you're gonna begin to give those things that you think the people desire to hear. And when you begin to give the things that the people desire to hear, you're gonna not say anything to do anything to cause them not to come back unless you'll water down any message you give in order to make the place more accepting, more loving, and as a result of that, instead of having the love of Christ there, you're gonna substitute that with the love of the world. And when the love of the world is there, that there's gonna be all kinds of sin that's acceptable. There was a book that was written a long time ago. Some of you perhaps had a read in one of your history classes. It's called The Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire. It was written by a man by the name of Edward Gibbon. And this is what he said led to the destruction of the nation of Rome. He said, Rome fell because of the undermining of the sanctity of home and family. Rome fell because of the increasing taxes. The taxes that were levied in order to pay for free bread and entertainment. Rome fell because it was an increasing hunger for pleasure. Rome fell because of the decay of individual responsibility. Rome fell because of the rejection of religion and its power to influence life and provide guidance for the people. Does that sound familiar to anybody in this room? Does that sound like anything we're going through right now? Rome fell this great empire that had a thousand year rule because the home and family was undermined because taxes were increased in order to give away free things and entertain people. It fell because people had an increasing hunger for pleasure. It fell because people no longer took individual responsibility for their behavior. We have that today. It's interesting to me to see that people will very quickly tell you the reason they robbed that bank is because somebody made them do it. Somebody didn't give them enough and they wanted more. And that's the mentality that we have today. The rejection of religion and its influence caused the internal moral barometer of Rome to be short circuited and people began to do things that were right in their own eyes. And we're seeing that right now. You see, what's going on in Zephaniah is saying God is going to judge the nation because the nation has rejected him and has embraced idolatry. And when a nation rejects God and embraces paganism, it also will embrace immorality and anarchy. And the immorality was embodied by Baal and his consort, her name was Astarti. And that replaced the worship of Jehovah in the nation of Israel. Now God is very upset with all of this and he makes the statement in verse four. He says, I will cut off every trace of Baal from this place, the names of the idolatrous priest with the pagan priest. So he says, I am going to cut off the names of the idolatrous priest. Now when he says the idolatrous priest, the word idolatrous is rather a Hebrew word that is literally translated the black ones. And the reason it's referred to as the black ones is because it spoke of their robes. The robes that they wore were black. And it was speaking concerning the morbidity and the evilness that was characterized by the way that they dressed. You see what they were doing is they had entered into idolatry and had begun to worship the heavens. They began to worship the stars and the moon and the sun. And they began to worship the creation rather than the creator. And that was expressly forbidden in Deuteronomy chapter 17 verse two. God actually speaks to the nation of Israel that had given itself over to astrology and he says in Isaiah 47, 12 through 14, stand now with your enchantments and the multitude of your sorceries in which you have labored from your youth. Perhaps you'll be able to profit. Perhaps you will prevail.   Behold, they shall be as stubble. The fire shall burn them. They shall not deliver themselves from the power of the flame. It shall not be a cold to be warmed by nor a fire to sit before. Go on to your astrologers. Go to those who are charting the stars. Go and speak to them and see if they can save you. And the point he's making is of course they can't. God had forbidden them from worshiping creation. And yet we see a resurgence of nature worship to this day. We're seeing people who are worshiping nature. And another thing that I'm finding interesting in this generation is our concern for animal life seems to be surpassing that of our concern for human life.    And yet when that gorilla recently was shot because it was in danger of killing a child, you had over 300,000 people signing petitions saying that they thought that was wrong. But how would we as a nation, even though what was right or wrong, we've gotten away from the value of human life anyway. In the same time that one gorilla is being killed and 300,000 people are signing petitions, there are thousands of children worldwide being aborted. And nobody's saying anything about that. We've accepted the death of human life even to the point where we're legalizing euthanasia. We're saying it's okay and as a matter of fact, there's a movie that's out right now that glorifies choices to take your own life and the hopelessness of something like that. And people are moving towards this amorality, this sense of not having a sense of value or worth because they've gotten away from what God declares to be right and what God declares to be wrong. And I'm telling you something and I've said this recently, I'll say it again. You know what's happening right now in the church world and you'll see it if you don't already see it. Anybody who teaches through the whole word of God, the counsel of God, if you take it from A to Z, anybody who does that is gonna start having almost a prophetic style ministry because instead of just saying the things that tickle the ears of the listeners or make them come back, when you get the whole counsel of God from A to Z, you see the blessings as well as the warnings. And when you get the whole counsel that teaches us how to live properly and warns us against living in a way that displeases the Lord. But I guarantee you that that is not popular. You know that and I know it too. Because people wanna say, they say, speak to us pleasant things, speak to us good things. I can remember on one occasion where there was a man by the name of Walter Martin. He's been with the Lord. He died a long time ago. But he was on what would be called a Christian television program. And there was a woman at that time. Her name was Jan Crouch who was speaking to him. And Walter Martin was pretty direct and he was saying things concerning bad doctrine. And Jan did not like it when he did that. And so she said, can't you be more kind when you're speaking? And Walter Martin says, kind? And she says, yeah, can't you be more kind when you're speaking? And Walter Martin says, well, how about this? Woe unto you. And he starts speaking about whitewashed tombs filled with dead men's bones. And he starts going on and on and gone.  And he looks at her and he says, do you know who said that? She says who? He said, Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, love in the flesh, made those statements. She says, well, I know he said that, but can't you smile when you say it? I'll never forget that. And that was 20-some years ago. That spirit of accommodation had already begun to enter into the church where people said, prophesy to us happy things. Don't speak to us things that cut to the heart. And so Zephaniah is bringing a word to the people. And he's saying God is bringing judgment because under Josiah you had two movements towards reformation. Some say there was a minor revival, but the outward life of the nation had been changing but the internal life of the people had not. With their mouth they honored God, but their hearts were far from Him. Josiah had been told, you are honorable, you will be spared from what will take place in the nation, but I will not withhold my judgment from the people of that nation. You'll be spared from seeing it, but they will endure it. So, time of judgment during their day that also has application to the future. Now, this is interesting because one, he's saying they worship the heavens, the stars, moon, and the sun. But he goes on to say also those who swear oaths, notice by the Lord, but who also swear by Milcom. Milcom is another name for God known as Molech. And Molech was a Canaanite fire deity. And one of the ways to worship Molech was child sacrifice. When you see a statue of Molech, the statues of Molech had a man's body and a bull's head. And very often his arms were outstretched at an angle. And the worshipers of Molech would bring their newborn infants. And in his belly he was made of brass. There was a fire that had been built in his belly. And it was blazing hot. And around Molech would be musicians who would be playing all kinds of loud, discordant music. So it was just loud and distracting. And they were shouting and chanting loudly and singing loudly. As the mother would bring her baby, as the baby would be brought to Molech, and then placed in the arms of this idol, and the baby would roll down the arms, slide down the arms into the belly of Molech, where the fire was. And when that infant hit the fire, that baby's screams were being drowned out by the priests and the worshipers. And this was the way they worshiped because along with the killing of children, which was to guarantee prosperity and fertility, so they'd have other children in the killing of the babies because it was such a gruesome thing, they made a lot of noise to try and drown out the screams of an infant that was being incinerated alive in the belly of this beast. That was Molech worship. The Bible tells us in Jeremiah 32-35, they built the high places above all, which are in the valley of the Son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and daughters to pass through the fire to Molech, which I commanded them not. Neither came it into my mind that they should do this abomination to cause Judah to sin. Now this is a very devious form of idolatry. And I want you to see this because it says very clearly here, they swear oaths by the Lord, but also swear by Molech. Interestingly enough, it's the attempt to worship God in the world at the same time. These are people who said, I worship God, but these are also people who served Molech and they were actually doing both. Molech was a God of the flesh and Molech's adherents gave themselves over to fleshly sins.  That's in the church today. I forgive me because it sounds like I'm, I don't want to make you think that I don't have hope for the body of Christ or that I don't love the church I do, but as somebody who's been in ministry for a long time, I've seen it. I've seen and heard of those who on a Saturday go out and party and then on a Sunday, on a Sunday, they serve in the children's ministry. I know of a church in New York that has what they call beer and baptisms. So when the baptism takes place, they have an open bar and the people who are coming for the baptism drink their beer and cheer on their friends who are being water baptized and that's looked at as being acceptable. The same church recently, it was posted on YouTube, perhaps some of you might have seen this, the same church had a women's conference where they had, I guess, the different landmarks and things that you associate with the city of New York and so they had someone dressed like the Statue of Liberty and they had some of these little figures that you'll see in Times Square where people get their pictures taken with them and they have somebody there in New York City called the Naked Cowboy. I wonder how many of you have ever even seen or heard of that. I've been to New York many times and they have a guy that called the Naked Cowboy and he's walking around bare-chested and only puts his guitar in front of him and they had one of the assisting pastors, I don't remember if he's the youth pastor or what, but they had him on the stage at a women's conference as the Naked Cowboy. And they're all cheering and excited about this and that's taking place right now. Who in the right mind would argue that that's something honorable or proper? Who in the right mind would say that that honors God? And yet, what we have, even in the Old Testament, is the Lord saying, you on the one hand are making your oaths to God and on the other hand, you're making your oaths to Moloch, you can't have both. That's what Jesus was speaking about when he made it very clear to us in Matthew 6, 24 that no one can serve two masters. He said, you'll hate one and love the other or be devoted to one and despise the other. You can't serve both God and money. You make up your mind who you're gonna serve like Joshua said to the children of Israel, choose the day whom you shall serve. Whether it's the God on the other side of the river or whether it's the God who brought you here, he said, but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. You make the choice. Which one are you gonna serve? And God is saying that you, he's saying to the nation of Israel here, he's saying you are compromisers. On the one hand, saying your oaths to God, on the other hand, making your oaths to Moloch. He says in verse six, those who have turned back from following the Lord and have not sought the Lord nor inquired of him, he speaks of them saying he will judge both the ones who appear to follow him and really don't as a ones who never did. This is all gonna take place, he says in verse four, when I stretch out my hand against Judah. Verse seven, be silent in the presence of the Lord God. For the day of the Lord is at hand, for the Lord has prepared a sacrifice, he has invited his guests. Be silent, he's saying because you have nothing to say. Be silent, he says, because you're in the presence of the Lord. Now this day that's being spoken of, the day of the Lord is yet future. But it's coming, is certain, and man cannot say anything. Interestingly enough, when he says he has invited his guests, these guests are the ones who are drawn to Israel. But in reality, they're the ones that are going to die there. In verse eight, he says it shall be in the day of the Lord's sacrifice that I will punish the princes and the king's children and all such as our clothed with foreign apparel. In the same day, I will punish all those who leap over the threshold, who fill their master's houses with violence and deceit. No one is going to escape judgment is the point he's making, from the peasant to the prince. Notice how he says in verse nine, in the same day I will punish all those who leap over the threshold, who fill their master's houses. What is he saying there? Well, leaping over the threshold speaks of servants of the rich who eagerly are taking property from the poor. The middle class slowly disappears while the rich get richer. He says, I'm going to punish you for that.  And so on that day, on the day of the Lord, there's going to be the sound of crying and sorrow in Jerusalem. When he speaks concerning the fish gate, for those of you who've been to Israel, this is what is also called today the Damascus Gate. And he's saying basically, any direction that you go and turn to, you will find people wailing and mourning. When he speaks of, in verse 11, the inhabitants of Maktish, Maktish was a marketplace. It was in a valley that ran by the temple. It may have been located near what is called the Western Wall. And he's saying there's going to be sorrow everywhere and everybody will be cut off. In verse 12, it shall come to pass at that time that I will search Jerusalem with lamps and punish the men who are settled in complacency, who say in their heart, the Lord will not do good, nor will he do evil. Therefore their goods shall become booty and their houses a desolation. They shall build houses but not inhabit them. They shall plant vineyards but not drink their wine. He's saying it's going to come to pass and I'm going to search through Jerusalem with lamps and I'm going to punish them. I'm going to seek you out. Like somebody who has a flashlight looking for something that is hidden. This reminded me of Amos in chapter nine verses one through three where it says, I saw a vision of the Lord standing beside the altar. He said, strike the tops of the temple column so hard that the foundation will shake. Smash the column so the roof will crash down on the people below. Then those who survive will be slaughtered in battle. No one will escape. Even if they dig down to the place of the dead, I'll reach down and pull them up. Even if they climb up into the heavens, I'll bring them down. Even if they hide at the top of Mount Carmel, I'll search them out, capture them. Even if they hide at the bottom of the ocean, I will send a great sea serpent after them to bite and destroy them. In other words, God is saying you could run but you're not going to be able to hide. I'm going to find you. You see, they're living this good life, they're resting unconcerned about pleasing God. They're also thinking they're never going to be judged. They are settled in complacency. It's a dangerous place to be. When I first got saved back in 1970 and early into 1971, coming into a faith of price and all I was going to Calvary Chapel in, and there was this tremendous sense that we need to get out and do the work of the Lord because Jesus is coming any day now, any moment now, Jesus is going to return. And that was poured into us. A lot of people were caught up with prophecy at all at that time and we're looking at the signs of the times and I can still remember the various things. As I began to read the Bible, they said to read the Bible and I did and I was going through the New Testament and I got to Matthew 24 and I began to read concerning earthquakes and pestilences, the various things that were going to take place, wars and rumors of wars. And I can still remember that I was in bed on one night having come home from a Bible study and early in the morning, there was an earthquake that shook everything up. It was February 9th, 1971. And everything, my house that I was in, my parents' house was shaking and I can still remember, I had just heard a Bible study that earthquakes were going to come just before the Lord Jesus returns and I can still remember as I was laying there, I was 20 years old, I was laying in the bed and the house is shaking, it's a massive earthquake and I still remember raising my hands up, saying, oh, come quickly, Lord Jesus. I don't know if I'd do that now, but I did it then. I remember one time, Marie and I were home in bed and all it was early in the morning and our children were very small at that time and an earthquake hit and she had a different response than I did that time long before because when the earthquake hit, all I remember some of you married guys will understand this, is all I remember is that Marie jumped over me. You see, I have an assigned spot in the bed. I was assigned that, I didn't even know I had that. I used to just lay wherever I wanted to, not anymore. I haven't done that for a long time. No, you have on the bed, you have the left side and Marie has the right side and that's just the way it is. I mean, if I want to confuse her, I'll get on the right side. No, that doesn't happen. I have to be on the left side, but anyway, I'm on the left side of the bed and next to me is the doorway that leads to the hallway that leads to the children's room. The children are all small at that time and the earthquake hit and our house was shaking pretty good and I awakened to feel somebody climbing over me. Just went right over me, I hear them hit the ground and run down the hall and then before you know it, there's these kids, my kids, that have all been ushered underneath a door jam and mama hovering over them as I'm laying in bed and so the earthquake ended and she put them back in bed and she climbs in bed next to me and I found my worth that night. I said, you make sure everybody got up and you left me here.  Earthquakes, anyway, I'll get back to that. We were taught a long time ago that these were signs of the times, but what you do is you prepare for it and what is happening, I believe, is the theology of the moment and it's been going now for some time, has been get as much as you can here on earth and don't necessarily prepare people for that moment when the Lord takes the church. I was taught to live today as if it's the last day I'll have on the face of the earth because Jesus could come at any moment. I was taught that and I am ready because if I have this hope, as First John 3.3 says, if I have this hope, then what am I to do? I purify myself even as he is pure. The hope of the return of Christ is a purifying hope that should cause us to be active in our pursuit of Christ and seeking the transformation that comes through relationship with him. We are not called to complacency and the Lord is speaking concerning that when he says I will punish the men who are settled in complacency who say in their heart their Lord will not do good nor will he do evil and that's how people think. They're saying God isn't even involved in the equation. There's nothing going on that I should be concerned about. They are what would be called comfortably agnostic. They believe that God does neither good nor will God do anything evil and he says I'm going to deal with you. When he speaks concerning their goods and their houses becoming desolate and they're losing their goods and all of that, the things that you connive to get are going to be taken from you in the same way that you took them from others. He says in verse 14, the great day of the Lord is near. It is near and hastens quickly. The noise of the day of the Lord is bitter. There the mighty men shall cry loud. That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble, distress, devastation, desolation, darkness, gloominess, clouds, thick darkness, a day of trumpet, alarm against the fortified cities, against the high towers. I will bring distress upon men. They shall walk like blind men because they've sinned against the Lord. Their blood shall be poured out like dust, their flesh like refuse. Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the Lord's wrath. But the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of its jealousy, for he will make speedy riddance of all those who dwell in the land. The tribulation. After Josiah died, there never arose in the southern kingdom another good king. And judgment will come upon the nation because of their forsaking God. Not to this degree, this obviously is speaking of the day of the Lord. Because when he describes it, in verse 15 begins to describe it, it's described as a day of wrath, trouble, distress, devastation, desolation and all of that. And so the words describe the severity of the judgment that those who reject him will receive. He speaks of it as a day of trumpet and alarm against the fortified cities. During that time, trumpets were sounded when danger was close. But in this case, nothing is going to save them. He says, I will bring distress upon men. They will walk like blind men because they've sinned. Like it says in Isaiah 59-10, we grope for the wall like the blind. We grope as if we had no eyes. We stumble at noon day as at twilight. We are as dead men in desolate places. You see, all that money that they had gathered is useless to save them. As God brings this judgment on the world. Let's close with a couple of thoughts.  So what mattered? Did your money matter or did your relationship with God really matter? Do relationships matter more than money? And do the proper relationships matter more than the improper ones? What has value? And when we look at it like that, we can say this, what has value in your life? When my mother was still alive, mama went home to be with the Lord three years ago, but when my mom was still alive, she would listen to me, she lived in New Mexico and she would listen to me on the radio. And one day I was sharing and my mom was not slow when it came to telling me what she didn't like about anything I said. My mama had her opinions and she freely gave them away and she gave them to me all the time. Mama's prerogative. And so I had said something on the air that she was bothered by and so when I went to New Mexico to visit her, she was one of these and she would kind of wait until she had opportunity and then she'd share what bothered her and so it was one of those moments and I was seated there with my mom and she said to me, you know, Dave, the other day you were sharing on the radio, she said, I was listening to your church service because she would listen online and you said something. She said that when your father died, she said, you said that the things that he left to you had no value to you because in a study here on a Sunday morning I had said that my dad divided up his worldly possessions amongst his four children but I really didn't want his worldly possessions. Mama didn't listen to the whole statement because all she heard was he didn't want it so she's waiting for me to show up and I did and so she's upset. You said you didn't want your dad's things and I smiled at my mom and I said, Mama, what I said was I wanted my dad, not the things my dad had. That's what I said. What matters to you the most? The things or the person? The things, a lot of people, listen, you can divide humanity, very often it's done into those who like things and those who love people, those who love things and those who use people. It's easy. All you have to do is ask yourself, what is more important to me? What would I rather have? Would I rather have a lot of money? You say, yeah, because I could buy friends. No, would you, sometimes you'll see on television some not very attractive man, older, with a very beautiful woman and you'll say, he must be very rich because on looks alone, he's not gonna have arm candy like that. Very often it turns out he's very wealthy and she invested her life in the wealth. That's a fact, we know that happened. But what matters? This is the most important thing for us as we close this because God is simply saying the things that you acquired over your lifetime that caused you to be at ease, complacently thinking I would do nothing. Those things have lulled you like an opiate into an inability to even see what's going on around you and your judgment is crashing upon you and it's gonna catch you unaware. It is very important for us to put first things first. That's why the Lord in so many different places says the same kind of thing where he says, seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be added to you. You can be at peace and have great joy when you don't have two nickels to rub together if you're with somebody who loves you. Marie and I, all through our life, it wasn't the places we went, it was the person we were with. When I come home from a trip, I'm not coming to a house, I'm coming to a person. That person is Marie and wherever Marie is, is home for me because it's relational.  So one, the nation of Israel or Judah, the nation of Judah at this time is about to enter into the judgment that God had promised that he would spare Josiah from but would pour out on the nation because they had rejected God, entered into idolatry and were only paying lip service to him. Well, they were on the one hand making oaths to God and the other hand were worshiping Molek.  But it's also a prefigurement of that other day that takes place in Revelation 6 through 19, which is called the day of the Lord when God pours his wrath on a Christ rejecting world and that world goes through a series of judgments in its destruction. So God is prefiguring that even as he's speaking about that in the first chapter of Zephaniah.


Hi, welcome to Seymour's World on Think Tech Hawaii. We have a wonderful show for you today, but I want to do a little bit of review. The show we had last week, which was on Medical Marijuana, drew one of the highest ratings we've ever had on Seymour's World. And I've been asked by many, many viewers, both by email and text and phone, to please do another show. So I've asked Dr. Kim in Pennsylvania to join us again, which I think we will do either in two weeks from now or just before Thanksgiving. Another show that will talk about the actual marijuana usage, which means what happens when somebody does take medical marijuana? Who monitors all that process? So that's one thing we will do. The next thing I want to say is thank you for all your birthday wishes. Yes, I did turn with them yesterday, and I have another birthday coming up again next year, which is a big one. But I'm happy to say that I feel healthy, and my kids are great, my wife loves me, so I can't ask for much more than that. On November the 11th, I am going to be narrating a Holocaust cantata with the Oahu Coral Society. And this cantata is based on the prisoners of Auschwitz and the music and the songs that they wrote while they were in the camps. So if any of you are in Honolulu and can't attend, it's going to be on Veterans Day at 7.30 p.m. at St. Andrew's Cathedral. Then on December the 4th, I don't have anything to show you, but I will the next time, we are going to have Kids Hurt To Gala. And that Gala event is going to be at the Ko'olau Golf Club, where I'm very humbled and honored that they want to pay tribute to me for my volunteer work for Kids Hurt To, for the foster children, for kids with grief and trauma, and everything that we try to help these 500 kids a year to try to get a better life for themselves. So let's get on with the show. We're very lucky today. We have Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton with us. I'm just kidding. We don't have Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. We have one of my best friends and one of our best musicians at Make Him Smile, and that is Janai. We have Patrick von Vigant. Did I say it right? Oh, so it was kind of European the way you did it. Well, I wanted to say like Patrick von Vigant, you know, to give you a little bit of a European flair and a touch to your name. But Patrick is also a magnificent musician. You're both with our Make Him Smile family, and you help us entertain the children and the adults wherever we do play. And I just want to say thank you to both of you for doing what you do. I wanted to bring you here for another good reason, and that is that you have just come back from London, and you have been at the Abbey Road Studios, which all of us who are of age remember, the Abbey Road Studios is where the most famous musicians in the world have ever been, and you guys recorded a song, or you recorded an album if I'm not mistaken. So before we even get into Abbey Road, I want you to tell our audience who you are, how you got to Hawaii, what you're doing right now, and give us a little bit of a background of your music career. Why don't you start? Oh, okay. Very good. Well, I have been in Hawaii doing jazz and music for a really, really long time. I'm a jack of all trades when it comes to my musical career. People can't really pigeonhole me. It's just that I love to sing, and I love to sing everything. So basically I do everything, and I've been at it for 40 plus years. At this point, I'm just not ashamed to say it. I have nothing to hide. Age is just a number. I don't feel it like I've been in the Hawaii music industry for over 40 years, but that's the way it is. So you started when you were four years old? H. No, I'm kidding. It was a lot older than that, but Tim, I've been at it long enough to know what I'm doing, where I'm going, and I'm still going in many different directions, but it's okay. I'm just a multitasker. I'm a Gemini after all. I have to say Gemini. When you come to our Make Him Smile programs, first of all, you come almost more than anybody else. You're sometimes there three, four times a month. You go to our hospitals way out in Kahuku, and you play at Kulana Malama, which is a hospital in Ewa, where we have some very, very sick children, and you play for them. And I admire you so much for doing what you do for our program, and I just wish you all the best in anything that you ever want to do, and I'll be there for you. Oh, thank you. You blessed me, really, you have. Well, it's my pleasure. Patrick, you have just joined our family, but you've already become very famous with the type of music that you play. Tell us a little bit about yourself. I grew up here. My parents moved here in the 50s, and so I was a little kid. One day I woke up in Waikiki, and then we saw the ocean, and said, we like this, you know, so. Then I was just a typical teenager here. I grew up in Navy housing over in Pearl Harbor area. I was a kid. I heard the Beatles. I heard the music on the radio, and I said, I love that. I saw it on TV. I said, I want to be part of that. My mom was a musician. She played piano in the house, and she would get us all in a tizzy. She played the old ragtime and stuff like that, and she'd get all the kids jumping around. And my parents, my father would walk around whistling Mozart or singing Johnny Cash. So it was kind of an odd house, but it was a lot of fun and a lot of love. And they just encouraged us. So when I was 17, we had moved to the mainland for the last year of high school. They all came back here, and I stayed. And I got the bug, and I said, I'm going to the big city. So I went to New York City in Los Angeles and got involved in the music business. And it was, I was just of the mind that you can't keep me out. I want to do that. We were talking earlier about how'd you get involved. I was like, I wanted to be in. And my parents said, you can do that. And my friends said, yeah, go for it. So I just started knocking on doors and doing that. And I ended up in record companies, in bands. I played in a bunch of bands. But I really wanted to make records. And I was working in New York for about five years. And then I said, I was going to go back to California and learn really to make records. And I got very lucky. And I pounded on the doors. I went to recording school and did all that. And then at the same time, I was playing in bands and such. But I got into the studios, and I hit the jackpot. I really got lucky. I got to work with the big league guys. And they accepted me in. And I worked hard and did the duty. And I learned how to make records with a bunch of really wonderful people. So that just opened up a lot of doors. And the two of you, you're both here in Hawaii now. You're both performing in Hawaii. We all know that jazz is not the mainstay of Hawaiian music. It's definitely on the outside of Hawaiian music. But yet, you're both very successful with it. You both travel a lot to different venues. Japan, England, all over the world, which is very impressive. How did the two of you meet? Well, we were both involved with a Hoku award-winning band called Hot Club of Hulaville. I was the lead singer, songwriter, producer, co-producer with Sunny Silva. And Patrick, I met Patrick through Hot Club of Hulaville because he was doing a lot of really great stuff for us. He would record our productions. He really helped out a lot. I was a groupie. I wasn't trying to say that. No, no, but I was. I love those guys. So did you accept him right away or did he have to pay his dues? Well, I mean, I kind of didn't really pay a lot of attention to him. She didn't know who I was. There's a song. We're going to sing a little bit of a song about this. And then all of a sudden, the light went on and we started working together after the demise of that particular incarnation of Hot Club of Hulaville. And we started working together and we developed chemistry. I don't know if you'll remember this one, but she came up to me one day and said, hey, I'm mad at you. I'm like, what? And she said, you didn't invite me to sing on your record. And I said, I didn't really know you that well, and then she'd invite me to sing with her when she was playing live and that. I was kind of intimidated because I was impressed. I loved Sunny Silva and the Hot Club of Hulaville. Sunny and I had been friends for a long time. So I loved that band. I loved what they were doing. And they really helped bring this music back to the forefront. And so it was just a natural. And I was in love with the music and those guys. And I said, they were doing their concerts. I said, I'll record it. I don't know if they asked or I offered, but we recorded a whole bunch of shows of theirs and just had a blast. And then it just was just a wonderful mixture of so many great people and great songs and musicians. I'm getting in my earpiece. When are they going to start to play? So if you guys could get ready, get your instruments ready. You're playing guitar, Patrick. And you're playing ukulele? Or you're just going to say... I'll play ukulele later. Okay. Very good. So why don't you start with you. Tell us about this first song. Well, this is a song that you all know. And it was the first song we did a couple of weeks ago at Abbey Road. I said to the guys, let's start with an easy one. I was a little bit nervous. We brought on all these wonderful British jazz musicians. So we had charts and everything. And I knew how I wanted to do the song. But still, the first one out there was like, let's start a little bit easy. So we started with this. And this is part of the swanky... We do these albums called Swanky. And part of the Swanky thing is it's the old tunes. It's the classic songwriters. So this is a George and Ira Gershwin song that you all know. From a time and the living is easy, fish are jumping and the cotton is high, your daddy's rich and your mama's good looking.  And all these mornings you're gonna rise up singing and you'll spread your wings and take to the sky. But don't you worry baby, don't you worry, there's no harm that's gonna come to you. So now with mama and daddy standing by. Summertime. Wow. That was beautiful, you guys. That was absolute... What a rendition of summertime. I mean, I was gonna start singing with you and then I realized I would ruin the whole thing. So I said, no way, no way should I get into that whole thing. But it would have been new and original. Oh yes, very original. And off key. Now if you had a piano that would be a different story, but that was very cool. You said that twice now. We're gonna get the piano. We should challenge this guy and get the piano in here. Well, maybe one day we will because I'll be wonderful. Now tell us a little bit about the Abbey Road experience. I produced a series of CDs called Swanky over the last few years that Janai has been part of. And when she said the chemistry happened, it did happen. We didn't know. That's the wonderful thing. I had no clue when we met each other how this would unfold. And we just, I invited each other into the studio. She asked me to sing on some of her stuff and I asked her to sing on some of my things. And so I did this, we went to Capitol Studios in Hollywood where I used to be an engineer. And we got the Hollywood Cats and some of the Hawaii guys to come in and we started doing, we did an album Swanky One at Capitol and it just sort of grew, it became this organic thing.  I said, well, let's go to Abbey Road. It was just in my head, it just seemed like a good idea. It's like, okay, why not? I was, we talked earlier, when my parents said, go for it, try it, I was like, oh yeah, go for it. So it didn't seem that far-fetched to me. A few years later we did another Swanky album and then about a year ago, six months ago I started to really put it together and I started to pull the trigger to say, all right, let's go to Abbey Road. So I called them up, I called the studio and I said, hey, can I book it? And they said, yep. I said, what does it take? And they said, money? And I said, all you need is money. It takes money and a plan. So love didn't work, that did not work, okay. We sang a little bit. Yeah, yeah. So I knew some British musicians that I had become friends with on Facebook and through meeting some of them while I was there previously. And so I knew that I could, the people who I wanted to play with were wonderful players who like this kind of music. So I was like, all right, if I can get these guys. And when I sent them the note and I said, okay, you interested, they said, yeah, I was like, I called her and I was like, I'm sending her emails and videos of these guys. Can you believe these guys are going to play? And she said, yeah, I'm in. And then things started on roll. You start writing checks and sending credit cards and making phone calls and writing charts and getting stuff done. How many guys from Hawaii have been to Abbey Road? I'm so amazed and I feel so grateful just that I'm in the same room with you guys because I've known Abbey Road for all these years. You can touch me. We were in the Beatles room and we went to the Beatles room. When I was booking it, there was an option for Studio 3, which is a smaller room, which is a wonderful room. And I was thinking about it because I knew it was smaller and I wanted it compact. But then she said, oh, they got booked and Studio 2 is open. And I knew Studio 2 was the room, the Holy Grail. So I was like, we have to do it. And it cost more. I was like, just do it. And we did it. And of course it was pretty magic. Oh my gosh. Well, we've got to take a short commercial break. And then I'd like you to start with a song right off the bat when we get back from commercial. We're going to show some photographs and some pictures. Woo, OK. All right. I'm Seymour Kazimerski on Seymour's World to Think That Kawhi. We'll be back in a minute with Patrick and Jani. Hi, I'm Donna Blanchard. I host the show Center Stage on Think Tech Wednesdays at 2 p.m. And this is Crystal Cork. I'm Crystal and I host Cork Talk on Tuesday mornings. I like watching Donna's show. You do. I like watching your show. I like watching your show because you talk about you're not afraid to really dive into issues that are important and sometimes they're a little shocking. And you always bring us information that is sometimes the underbelly that we need to know and we need to say it's important. Well said. Well, I like yours because you can find any topic in any type of character. But you will find that source which brought them to the product of that creative process. And that's like the most important thing is the process. Awesome. I think, yeah, I do. I think it's all about the process. And I think we'll find world peace when we know each other's stories. So thank you very much for bringing it to us. Join us on Think Tech. Think Tech. Hawaii anytime. Hi, welcome back to Seymour's World on Think Tech, Hawaii. Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are not here today, but we have something a lot better than hearing those two guys complain about each other and talk about anything. But what is important in the world? What we want to do today is to make you have some fun, relax and enjoy some wonderful music. And our guest today, Patrick and Jani, part of our Make Him Smile program, they entertained us in the first, in our first segment. But now we're going to ask them to start off the second segment. What song are we doing? It's called My Bluebirds, Singing the Blues. Go for it. Oh, June is clear and skies are clear and bright. For me, music of the birds and the trees doesn't mean anything. I heard a bluebird sing in one day. He brought a message of happy news. He filled the air above with a song of love. But now my bluebird's singing the blues. I'm where a blue-eyed wonders because my blue bird's nest was a black bird's rest. And now my bluebird's saying I wasn't the one. A certain someone changed her mind. And now my bluebird's singing the tune. Oh, my blue skies seem to take away my dancing shoes because my blue... Wow, that was wonderful. You know, we could spend the rest of the show just playing, but it is terrific. Now, let's let's just find out where you are playing right now. Jani, where are you playing? Well, this Saturday I'm very blessed to be doing the Governor's Ball. It's a fundraiser for the March of Dimes. And we're going to be doing that with the Mike Lewis Orchestra featuring the Fresh Preps. So it's going to be a lot of fun. You know, it's a black tie affair that a lot of people are going to be attending mostly for the purpose of raising money for the incredible institution, March of Dimes. And I'm really, really excited about being there on Saturday. And Patrick, you're going back and forth to California. Well, I'm going back next week and I actually have some... I do production work for other people as well. So it pays for my sins, basically. And while I'm there, though, I'm going to be performing at a couple of hospitals. Oh, wonderful. I'd like to make them smile, probably. I'd like to make them smile. And I have wonderful friends over there and they invite me all the time and I go and I just bring other musicians in and we go and do it. And I want to thank you for crediting me being part of Make Them Smile. I'm a newcomer to this and I love being part of it. And I just, I think what you're doing is great and I'll get more involved. That's wonderful. We love having you. Any time that you're here, Janai is probably one of our best singers. Oh, I know. I'm going to the Cougar Hospital. I'm going here, I'm going there, I'm going to the Shriners. She's...  Now, before we get into another song, because everybody seems to want to hear more, could we bring up some of the pictures from their Abbey Road? Here we go. Oh, you tell them. Oh, these are great. That's Colin Good on the right. Amazing pianist and Martin Wheatley on the left. We're talking to him about the song Smitten, I do believe. Is that the Smitten moment? Yes. We're talking to him about a song that we're going to be performing. And there it is, Studio Two. Let's see the next one. Oh, there's... That's all... We had to go outside, of course, and stand in a... You know, it's very unassuming right there, because it's a house on a street in a neighborhood. It's like a nice posh neighborhood, as they say. And so we all went out there and just took some shots out there. And those were some of the... One of the gals in the other picture was a photographer for us, and she was wonderful. Georgiana on the bottom. She was wonderful. And she came in and just shot photos and video. And another gal, an old friend, came in from London, and she shot a bunch. And that's Wayne McIntyre next to me on the left. The engineer of the Abbey Road Project. We became very good friends with him, and we're going back, we're going to perform with him. Oh, wow. Yeah, so he's a great musician as well as a great engineer. So we met this family, and Martin on the left was the man who put the band together. And I leaned on him a lot, and he was just a proper English gent. So how many people did you have there, actually, musicians playing guitar players, et cetera? Well, you had guitar, bass, piano. Oh, here we go. There you go, there's the hole. I think we had more engineers than musicians. Did you? We had four engineers. We had four solid rhythm section musicians, guitar, bass, drums, and piano. Then we had a few singers come in. We had a young friend from Hawaii. That's Stephanie Denton in the middle there. She was shooting photos all day, and she was just a champ. And her and Georgiana just, they made us look good. And then the, that's Toby. Yeah, oh, I'm sorry. Yeah, we have Mez, Coliff, in the next to Stephanie, and Paul Moylan, who was an amazing bass player. He's wearing the glasses and the hat. And so yeah, and then we had Toby and Jeff, the engineers, and they were terrific. And of course, Wayne McIntyre's pushing all the sliders and pushing the buttons and stuff. Oh, look at that studio. Wow, that's a big studio. Oh, it's huge, and that's only half of it. The wall, you see the wall up at the end there. This is how the Beatles would set it up too. If you look at the old pictures, you'll see that they would have little, they're a little baffled off sections. So the piano was over there. The pianos up in the upper, corner up in the right corner, are the old ones that Mrs. Henderson's piano, we used it, it was the Obla de Blada. Yes, yes. When I heard it played, I was like, all of a sudden I was flashed back to hearing that record for the first time. And then we used it on a great jazz song. Oh, here you go. That's the two of you together. This is a great, I thought this was a cute shot, huh? Yeah. Yeah. Stephanie, this was our booth, and we had cameras, we had the screens up there, so she could see the screen. I would have to turn and look, and I could see out to the piano, she could see out to the bass and drums and such. Wow. Uh-oh, you look like you have that hat on perfectly. Well, I was, I wanted to look. He always brings a character. I was doing a ragtime song, and the headphones kept falling, that's why I had to put, hold it. But I wanted to do the ragtime song, because I knew they were taking pictures and stuff. Wow. And so I wanted to be a little schwankey with it. What an exciting moment for you guys. Get ready for another song. Uh-oh, right? Okay. Because I keep hearing from our audience more music. Oh, okay. Let's do at least one more, and hopefully we'll have time for two if we can. Yeah, sounds great. Shall we? Okay, we're gonna do that original song. Oh, tell us about it. This has heard great, so go ahead. Well, this is a song that I wrote called Smitten With You, and it's just, you know, it's written after the style of songs that we're fond of recording and producing. And you were thinking of me as you wrote it. Absolutely. Oh, my. Oh, whoa, whoa. Oh, not you. Sorry about that. No, sorry about that. Now, you also wrote the Make Him Smile theme song. Yeah, I just like that. Which is fabulous. Every time we play that at anywhere, they say, wow, who wrote that song? Because it was you. Aw, that's sweet. Go ahead, go for it. That's really sweet. Okay, so here we go. ["Smitten With You"] Smitten with you You must know how much I'm Smitten with you I've left lots of clues I fancy Throw you how much I light up to see you Just want to be with you Smitten with you It's old fashioned I know but What can I do You don't need So I'll continue to be Smitten with you Smitten with you Just beautiful, guys. Just beautiful. And you wrote that song tonight. Yes. Yeah, you couldn't tell. I'm just telling you, it's a beautiful, beautiful song. Oh, it's cute. Isn't it great that old style? Yeah. And Martin, the guitar player, he also played a wonderful loop lately. So he grabbed your ukulele. Well, I insisted that he play my beautiful koa kelii. And that's why I was so nervous playing it because I hear Martin's playing in my head and I'm like, I can't play that. But, you know, it's okay. I mean, I wrote it on this ukulele.  Let's talk about jazz and music. I mean, we're our generation loves jazz. But is it gone down? Or is it, can you bring it back up again to where people just love to sit and listen to wonderful, nice, slow, beautiful, melodic music versus the bang, bang, bang, bang of what's out there today? I have an answer. Yes. It has not gone. It's just changed into all these different genres of jazz. You'd be amazed to know that there's smooth jazz and there's straight ahead jazz and there's instrumental jazz and there's, you know, there's all these different. So it's education. You really have to educate people. You really do. But, you know, a lot of the downfall of many musical styles here in America, which is, by the way, jazz is the only indigenous musical style to America. The big reason for its demise is corporate radio. Corporate radio just killed it. So- And of course we have the, not the demise, but really a downfall of the CD music as well too. Well, that's- Which hurts musicians. That's a completely different subject. But something maybe we can't cover today. But I do want you guys, I know you can't believe it, but it's at the end of our show. So you guys can play one more song if you don't mind. All right, all right. And you'll four more. I know, I know, I know. Maybe if the audience asks, I promise I'll bring you back and they probably will ask. So if you could just take us out with a song. Let you go. I just want to say goodbye to everybody and to all of our guests on Seymour's World at Think Tech Hawaii. This has been a wonderful interlude, 30 minutes of music. Something to make you smile, something to make you happy, something to forget about everything that you're reading in the newspapers and watching television. And just remember that life is full of joy and music is really what brings it to you. So please go ahead. Here we go. This is a D. Martin song from the 50s. My Generation. There you go. Take one fresh and tender kiss. You can't be. Memories it gave me. Add one stolen night of bliss. You can't be. Memories it gave me. One girl, one body. And once a happy day went. Some joy and memories are made of this. You can't be. Memories it gave me. Don't forget our small memories. You can't be. Memories it gave me. Sweet, sweet. Memories it made. With a dream.


agriculture and public health together so that we have an agricultural system that supports public health, as well as taking care of the farmers who produce the food we eat every day. How's that for a challenge? That's a great intro. Yes. Thank you so much. Thanks for those comments. And welcome. Welcome to the world of agriculture. So you probably figured out I'm the overdressed farmer on the panel up here today. But thank you for this opportunity. Great comments so far. It is all about the food. I think this is a great time for this discussion.  We had to figure that out. But I think that what lies in front of us after the light was shown very brightly in all the corners of the food system, the opportunity for a generational opportunity for us to take advantage of that. And, Steve, I'm going to need another hat. My dog ripped up the last one I got, but sorry to digress there. Hopefully this is the beginning of discussions, not the end of discussions here. But I like the fact that we're having conversations and talking to each other. As a farmer, always remarked about how New York State has such a remarkable agricultural system. You know, we rank in the top 30, top 10 of over 30 different commodities in New York State. And we have great water. We have great resources in our education for agriculture. We have some of the best farmers in the country in New York State. We figure in every national conversation and we get to live and work and farm next to the most amazing and diverse marketplace anywhere in the world that we have right here. So connecting the dots, and I know that's been used quite a lot, I actually invented that phrase, connecting the dots between upstate and downstate when the differences between upstate and downstate, urban and rural have probably never been more stark. This is a great opportunity for us going forward, so I'm excited about that. I think, to your question, first of all, we got to get to know each other. We've been disconnected by generations of efficiency in our agricultural production systems. And so, you know, our farmers didn't really need to know who their customer was. But today it's obvious. I remember going to about 20 years ago, my introduction to farm to school was my local high school, the school my kids went to, two miles from my farm. I was asked to be a part of a panel, and some of you in the health world will remember, Fit by Five. And the effort was to help stamp out childhood obesity and juvenile diabetes before the age of five. And I thought as a farmer, that's a problem. And I remember going to a meeting at the school and I walked in and I listened to the issue, it was very much an issue. And I walked around the corner and looked at the cafeteria. Now, I live in the Skihari Valley. We have about 43,000 acres in the Skihari Valley. It's one of the top 10 soils in the world. We're famous for carrots, potatoes, vegetables, lots of crops. I looked at the menu there. There was nothing on the menu that came from my valley. And I thought, this is a crime. Young people are growing up in a rural community upstate New York, frankly any community in New York, not understanding about nutrition, not understanding where their food is coming from. And that bothered me, what bothered me more was that in my community, those kids were going to grow up and think they needed to leave that community to make a living. Because they didn't know what opportunities existed in the food system. So that truly drove my passion about farm to school. And I think that's a great point. We need to teach young people. I'd like to see nutrition be part of education curriculum, K through 12, into grad school. So first of all, we need to connect the dots between upstate and downstate, urban and rural. We don't know much, very much, about each other. And the schools are a great starting point. So I'm excited about, Dr, your efforts around nutrition. I have a good friend who has three medical degrees and one law degree. The amount of time that he was taught nutrition doctors, I should say, was very minimal. The idea, the way we approach growing vegetables on my farm, is that it's kind of like growing kids. It's much easier to keep them healthy than it is to try to make them healthy once they're sick. So that's been our approach in agriculture. I think that should be our approach with kids. So I want to talk a little bit about just a couple of highlights, things we're doing in New York State, because we're doing some great things in New York State. We have initiatives in New York State that are very much modeling, connecting the dots, connecting and understanding the importance of a Brazilian and responsive food system right here in New York. Not another part of the world, not another region, but right here in New York, as COVID taught us very well. First of all, nourish New York. Some of you remember when COVID hit, we were able to connect the dots between our farmers. We had farmers who were dumping milk, farmers that raised apples, farmers that raised potatoes, and they lost half their market because they were shipping half our products in New York, go into the food service world. They go to our schools, they go to our universities, they go into our restaurant world and the distribution that works in our hospitals.  So suddenly, half the product didn't have a home. So we scrambled, we worked with our food banks, our 10 regional food banks. Very quickly, we're able to, within 10 days, set up nourish New York where we supplied produce from New York State, dairy products from New York State, meat products from New York State, got them directly to the food banks and into their distribution system. It's been codified into law now, a fantastic program, and a great way, again, to connect the dots. I get to convene the Hunger and Food Policy Council. I'm looking at Joel Berg here, who's a part of that council, where we, yeah, give Joel a round of applause. He's our walking encyclopedia about USDA and food concerns. But we have the state agencies represented. We have farmers represented. We have people in this space represented. And we talk about issues and we talk about how to connect the dots with the goal of getting more New York food products into our food system across the spectrum. People who need access to food, people who grow food, let's connect them in a better way. So I'm excited about that opportunity that affords us. That's what enabled us to set up nourish New York in such a quick period of time. I'm excited to tell you that we're building a food hub in the South Bronx right now. I was able to be, oh, thank you. It's been talked about for years, been in the works for years. We finally made it happen. I was able to be there with then-Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hockel, put a shovel in the ground. It was very emotional. It was very emotional for me to see an opportunity to connect food with people who need food. I already talked about Farm to School. We're also putting together an advisory committee on rural access to New York healthy food. So I'm excited about all those efforts, but I'm also excited about our opportunities nationally. I think that I see an alignment between what is coming out of Washington, what we are doing in New York. We're talking on a regular basis. The focus on not just food security, but nutrition security that's coming from Secretary Vilsack. We were in Manhattan just a couple of months ago talking about that. That's exciting. Talking about transformation of the food system. He announced a week ago. And looking at how we transform in looking back at COVID what we can do there. So we got two bites of the apple here. We have this conference coming up at the White House. We also have the Farm Bill. I will be doing a series of listening sessions around the state, including New York City. Talking about the Farm Bill, looking at the nutrition title, looking at the farm title. And I think I like our chances here. Every five years, Washington gets to look at the most complicated piece of legislation ever to go through Congress, the Farm Bill. We're going to weigh in, make sure New York is represented there in a big way. So I like our chances, New York. Thank you so much. Thank you, Commissioners, all. So I want to thank all the panelists. And I don't know what you heard, but I'll tell you what I heard. First of all, what I heard was the integration of all of the units in which these commissioners and chancellors are working. You can't deal with one part of the food system without dealing with the rest of the food system at the same time. And so all of you are working, it sounds to me, in the same direction. And maybe this will help you work together and do some joint efforts. Wouldn't that be fun? And then the other thing that I heard was the fabulous opportunity that this moment in time represents. We have the opportunity to make a real difference in policy. And this conference here with the breakout session will be an opportunity to try to talk about the kinds of policies that you think we ought to be having. And I'm just really so happy and honored to be part of this, to have met all of you and we've been able to chair this. And to be here with you today, thank you very much. Thank you all so, so much. So everyone here knows how critical food is to individual, community, and planetary health and well-being. This is precisely why you're here. So now we are eager to hear directly from you all. We want to use our time here to really drill down and develop those innovative and actionable recommendations. Each of you have indicated your preferences for your breakout. We had to take a few liberties to make sure that the groups were even. And that is on the back of your name tag. Each breakout session has two facilitators and a note taker. And again, as Congressman McGovern pointed out, to the outcomes of these breakouts are going to be compiled into proceedings that will be received by the White House. So these breakouts are spread across the lawn. We're going to start from my left here. We've got the health care followed by business and innovation, followed by public health and nutrition education, science and research, and finally eradicating hunger through federal nutrition programs. Please reconvene here at 1210 for some quick highlights as we then head into lunch. Thank you.


If they love Jones and they were afraid that somebody's gonna take him at 15 like the Redskins They had to take him at six. They just had to so the argument It's a two-fold argument guys Is Jones as bad as people are saying is he that much of a project or Would somebody have taken before the Giants picked at 17 and if you love the quarterback and again get them in in his I hyperbolic way. I fell in love with the guy. I watched him whatever if he really if he loved the guy You had to take him with the six. Let's hear how in love Dave Gettelman was. I love the month absolutely love them of everything about him and Then I went to the senior ball He walked out there and I saw a professional quarterback after after the three series that I watched I Saw a professional quarterback. So that's when I was in full bloom Love what on earth are you saying man? This is gonna be the third straight time. They've taken the Senior ball MVP the senior ball. It makes the pro bowl look like the the conference finals of the NBA They're not playing hard. That's when you fell in love web and loletta. We're not taking with the sixth overall pay Got it, but there is a pattern here with the Giants That's strange but again We get caught up because Gettelman is captivating in the things that he says because he's all over the place Okay, I'm in love. I was in full but actions speak louder than words I don't need him to tell me that he's in love with the guy when you take him sixth overall That pick tells me that you're in love with a guy So we can hear not Michael But he can say what he wants and he's gonna sit for three years all the stuff that he throws at you because I think he Just loves teasing the media and driving us crazy really But at the end of the day actions speak louder than words. He took him at six So he obviously believes this is the next great quarterback. This is not the second third or fourth round It's the sixth overall pick. He doesn't have to tell us. He loves him. The pick tells you that I'll tell you this if Mara and tish Hired a guy that has had the game pass him by at the age of 67 They have set this franchise back at least a decade. They really have so you're telling me you love Daniel Daniel Jones More than you love Sam Donald and here's the thing that really stinks for the Giants Jones and Donald now will play alongside each other for the next 10 12 years It's gonna be right in the Giants face same thing with Dwayne Haskins of the Redskins They're gonna see him twice a year for the next 10 years if the Redskins made the right pick But the funny part is at his age they've got on is not gonna be the GM in 10 years They're gonna be a 77 year old GM. So the Giants entrusted their whole Organization to a guy that they better hope that the game hasn't passed him by now You could argue he made the right pick last year with Saquon, but did he yeah? He got an otherworldly running back, but he passed up at least three quarterbacks three that could be good And you can make the argument that every quarterback that he passed up is better than Daniel Jones No, no every other would argue that he is so far Everyone every so far Michael and again Don's right We won't say I'm saying all three that would they passed on yes Because they couldn't take me field all three are better than all three and and maybe and maybe two from this year Yeah, so we're gonna be comparing them to about five six quarterbacks right? Yeah, and I'm glad you said that because I don't want to hear the spin that he's only Compared to the quarterbacks in the 2019 draft No, you had an opportunity at two to take a quarterback So all the quarterbacks you've passed on over the last two years you're saying this is the guy It could have been any of the quarterbacks over the last two years, but this is the guy and You could say well listen Barkley was just too good, but even Gettleman himself Said I don't want to be in quarterback hell.  It's quarterback hell So you chose the court you're running back over the quarterback So I so I have to believe you didn't think any of those quarterbacks were the next big thing So now you know this now he can be proven right and it doesn't matter that he's 67 or could be out of a job This is all he's gonna be remembered for nobody's gonna care about the Barkley picked Nobody's gonna care that he was the GM on the losing panther team He's gonna be the guy that took Jones when all these other quarterbacks become great or one of the quarterbacks They were ahead of Jones is great and he right in your home building if Sam Donald tums turns out to be the next great quarterback and Jones turns out to be the second coming of Dave Brown That's all Gettleman will ever be remembered for And it's also pretty dangerous. I mean, I think they fell in love with the story. All right, the guys are a manning clone Gil Brandt you said this yesterday down. So let's give credit a lot of people respect your brand He compares them to a young Peyton Manning. He worked at the man manning passing Academy He went to Duke. He was coached by David Cutcliffe David Cutcliffe was Peyton Manning's quarterback coach at Tennessee Eli Manning's coach at Ole Miss So I think they put together all these puzzle pieces Cutler said this guy's gonna play 15 years and he's gonna win championships We shall see there are a lot of reputations on the line again I defend the Giants if they love them that much you have to take them at six You can't gamble that he'd be there at 17, but they might have been alone in their love It might have been you know what it might be Peter You'll like this take it might be it might have been the case of shallow how they might be the only people that think he's great I'm it's it's and if that's the case Let me ask you a question because anything Don is Don's trying his best to just live in a world where In a world get all men's not just out of his mind, and I appreciate that But does this turn out to be this this is one of two things either Daniel Jones is an absolute NFL Stud who takes over for Eli Manning Sometime late this season or next season or whatever it is and becomes a franchise quarterback Or is this truly the ultimate sign of the end of Dave Gettleman that he's gotten everything wrong What's the more? What's the more likely thing in your heart? What do you think's gonna happen? Is Daniel Jones an NFL Stud? Oh Just going off everything and the people we spoke to and guys that we respect like Todd McShay and and Mel Kyber you have to say he's not an NFL Stud But maybe they're wrong they've been wrong before hey remember Ryan leaf was the second pick in the draft Absolutely, it's happened You will find articles of people asking if leaf was better than Manning and again where we live in a world where Joe Montana was a third round pick Russell Wilson was a third round pick to roll Davis at running back was it was a seventh round pick I mean you know Tom Brady you look at the ultimate quarterback in this league where he was drafted All right, so there are times they get it wrong. All I'll say is he has to get it right this has to be the key even Peter even if he succeeded even if the Giants made the playoffs last year Even if they got it right that they could have been a playoff team and make some sort of a run and They draft Jones and it turns out to be a bust That's what you remembered for when you take a quarterback at six it has to work out If not, it destroys you it destroys reputations. It does you can't get up from that So so he has his junk about you know the Mel Kipers of the world and the Adam Schefters of the world We could be right. We could be wrong and then it's forgotten about the next day Literally his entire career this pick is what he's gonna be remembered for and so he believes in it So you know find out if he's right or wrong and real quick. Yeah, if I'm overstating this and being a fool That's fine. We all know I am a fool And it's not weird to you that the guy who he really put his entire reputation on the line for to grab at six He fell in love with after the senior bowl. Well, no, that's not straight But he said he was in love with him on film. I like the tape. Yeah, I love with him on film and then When I saw that I saw but I do Again, I feel like I'm defending. I'm not you are you're getting close down I'm sure again I could be the talk show host like everybody else in this town and scream more And then three years on you're being a fraud right now He called Michael did Don not call you out for having a lukewarm opinion two days ago about the about Damien Lillard True, but I'm not dying on this hill, but no you either got a die on the hill or not The guys are more on I'm sorry. I'm not a shock.  They did a good job last night He believes in the I'm agreeing with Michael if you believe that this is the next great franchise quarter How to take him at six I don't know what Jones is gonna be so we have to punt out We have to punt for a year basically So I'm supposed to call them more on like everybody else there's something wrong with the guy He's a saboteur and in three years from now if Jones turns out to be the next Tom Brady So I never said that there's a guy who's really successful Sorry, that's fine. You could be successful that way. I just don't think morons on the table I don't think he could be wrong, but you're telling me that he's lost his mind. No the Giants organization has lost I don't think anybody even during the Jets dysfunction even when Mel Kuiper said the Colts didn't know what they were doing I never think morons on the table. You could get it wrong and he'll lose his job if he gets it wrong I just said his entire legacy will be destroyed if he gets this wrong and I don't think let's see what Jones I don't think morons on the table either, but I do think you can say that no matter how you cut it It does not appear that they handled this correctly last night. They did not read the room properly


Hi everyone, Joe for Jaspy's casebreaks.com coming at you with some soccer, little footy. 2022 Leaf Metal Soccer, one hobby box, random hit break number one. So it's only a four spot break. There's four autographs in the box. Then we're just gonna type them into that list. And then thanks to Joseph, Matt and Colin for getting on this. We'll randomize your names, randomize the four hits, and match you up with whatever it may be. So let's pop open the case. So also, quick little note, there's one of the boxes that has a sticker on it. Actually, you'll see right here. One of the boxes is a special red, white, and blue box. That's not part of this break, as it says in the description right there. So just FYI, I think we're gonna separate that out and do something else with it. Maybe it'll be a personal box. Maybe it'll be a different break. So let's pop this open. Kind of heavy because I think they're all encased. All right, so now we have these nine remaining boxes here. So how should we do this? Here, we'll use the die. We'll select a side first with the die, and then we'll select an individual box. So one, two, three for the left side, four, five, six for the right side. Five, one, two, three, four, five, six. And then we'll go one, two, three, four on the dice roll. And if I roll a five or a six, we'll just roll again. One, two, three, four, top to bottom. Two, second one down right here. That's the one we're gonna do. The rest of these boxes we'll save for next time. There's another one box break loaded up if you want to, and obviously if you buy all four spots, it becomes a personal box. So we'll just mark these with Xs. I don't think there's case hits or anything like that that we have to keep track of, but we'll just mark those with Xs just so you know they are from the same case. If these don't really move along, then maybe they'll get set back to Instagram, but personally I would love to, I would love to do some more of these. All right, good luck everybody. And we'll type in the hits and the order that they are pulled. All right, so the first one is Keon Edwards. Six out of 35. Not sure if, not familiar with this particular prayer. 19 year old kid. Part of the arsenal is under 21, so maybe one to hold on to and keep an eye out for. Next one is Zach Emerson. 21 out of 25, let's see what he's all about. It's a good way to learn some of these new players too. Also an English footballer, also 18 years old, youngster. Part of the Blackpool FC Reserves and part of the England under 18s. So another one to hold on to. Next one is Jeremy Sarmiento. 29 out of 33, let's see what he's all about. And he is a 20 year old, currently with bright Hove Albion. He's made a handful of appearances for them already. I guess it was with the England under 16, 17, 18s, but is on the, with the Ecuador national team now. My team in action, the World Cup, later this year. And woo, a Quad Auto. Wow. So this is the potential of this leaf metal soccer, ladies and gentlemen. A Quad Autograph and all Liverpool players. Four out of six, well, not currently, but Sadio Mane, former Liverpool player. Trent Alexander, current. Love Diego Jota as well. Love these guys and Fabinho down there as well. That's awesome. Just one away from a train whistle, but still really cool. All right, gang. Well, let's, I guess it's only four cards. So let's keep the video running. So we had the K on Edwards Autograph, numbered six out of 35. There's a Zach Emerson Autograph, 21 out of 25. There's the Jeremy Sarmiento Autograph, 29 out of 33. And then there's the amazing Quad Auto here. You know, Liverpool coach, Jürgen Klopp, often is noted as wanting to play what they call some heavy metal football. So it's fitting that we get this Quad Auto out of leaf metal soccer. All right, so there it is. The Edwards Emerson Sarmiento and the Mane, Alexander Arnold, Jota and Fabinho, Quad Auto four out of six. And then we'll just run the randomizer. We'll see what you get matched up with. Fingers crossed, Joe, Matt and Colin. Let's roll it, randomize it. Six and a one, seven time. We'll do names first. One, two, three, four, five, six. And once more, seventh and final time. Pretty much the same, actually. I think Matt and Joseph were switched around in the last spot, Mojo was switched around. And now the hits, good luck. Six and a one, seven times. Fingers crossed. One, two, three, four, five, six, and a one, seventh and final time. The Quad Auto in the three spot. And that's gonna be for Colin with the last spot Mojo. 70% of the time, last spot Mojo hits 100% of the time. And this time in a big way, right here. So Matt, you get the Edwards Auto to 35. Joseph with the Sarmiento Auto to 33. Those youngsters, hopefully they evolve into superstars. Same with Zach Emerson, Colin to 25. But the big one, of course, Colin with the Quad Auto. Sadio Mane, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Diogo Jota, and Fabinho, four out of six. Congrats to you as a big Liverpool supporter. That's a pretty awesome card there. Thanks for watching, everybody. I'm Joe for jasmizcasebreaks.com. We got more of this Leaf Metal Soccer if you wanted to get into it. We'll see you next time for the next one.