Good morning, everyone. Welcome to class. We'll begin and then I think more will join us. So, can one of you lead us in prayer, please? Susan, can you lead us in prayer, please? Sorry, ma'am, I'm outside. Okay, no worries. Anyone like to lead us in prayer? Sri Kumar, can you lead us in prayer, please? Yes, master. Okay, thank you. Welcome. Precious father, we thank you and praise you, Father God, for this wonderful morning which are given to us by God. As we are looking unto you, my father, we ask you, Lord, master, let your divine wisdom be released to us by God. Every word which is going to come out from the mouth of your servant, let it be from the throne room of God, Father. We pray with that, Father. Fill us with the spirit of wisdom and understanding so that, Father, we can be able to receive every word of Father God and we can be able to keep those words, guard those words in us, Father, so that we can be able to use these words in our life for God, those principles what she is going to teach us, those Lord, master, those things what we are going to know today, Father God. Learn from Lord. Let the ignorance be removed from us and let these words give us light to Father God. Thank you for covering each one of our hearts with your blood of God, master, and sealing those words for Lord, master, we can be able to hold on that word of God, master, and so that those words, Lord, master, produce harvest in us of Father God. We thank you and praise you. In Jesus' most holy and matchless name we pray. Amen. Amen. Thank you, Master. Thank you, Sree Kumar. Okay, so we'll begin. We just do a quick recap. You know, we're studying this beautiful book, the book of Romans Paul's Episode to the Church at Rome, and we know that this book is heavy in doctrine and teaching. The first few chapters Paul is establishing some doctrine about various things he's teaching about various things, and then in the later chapters he establishes about Christian living. So just quick review chapter one, you know, after Paul presents his salutation and his desire, expressing his desire to come to Rome. He starts off by saying that we all have sinned against God, and in the midst of this he establishes the existence of God, and he talks, and he mentions that the invisible attributes of God are revealed in creation. So none of us have excuse because God has revealed himself in creation. But he says, in spite of this, you know, people have, mankind has given themselves to very depraved minds. They're depraved in their minds. They've gone the wrong way, and, you know, God, you know, did not stop us. He just lets us go in our own way. That is chapter one, very briefly. So chapter two we saw that he's specifically writing to the Jewish people. He's telling them that Jews, we know that God gave you the laws, the circumcision, ritual as a covenant. Both these things are wonderful, but don't think that because you have the law and the circumcision, which is a sign of the covenant, you know, you can judge others and you can escape the judgment of God. So he says, though you have the law and though you have the circumcision, which is a sign of the covenant, you still stand condemned before God. And then he tells the Gentiles, when you don't have the law, you are not given the law, you don't have circumcision as a sign of the covenant, but God has put inside you a conscience, which is a law in itself because the conscience tells us what is right and what is wrong. And then if you put chapter one and chapter two together, you know, Paul is saying that every person has two witnesses from God. One is reason, you know, a true reason we can observe through creation that there is a God, that God exists. And the second witness from God is conscience, that God has put in us a conscience so we know what is right and wrong, which is our sense of morality. So this is what very briefly, in a quick review of chapter two. And in chapter three, you know, he asked some questions, I think almost seven questions, and he's answering it himself, which is called rhetorical questions.  Because, you know, we are all sinners, you know, Paul is saying that all of us are sinners, we stand condemned before God.  So the Jews might be thinking or asking this question, then what's the law used for? Is the law useless? And then, you know, he answers it, he says, no. What happens if the second question, what happens if someone does not believe, does it change about anything about God? You know, it does not change anything about God, God still remains faithful, he still is just, he still is righteous, he justifies sin by condemning it, and he justifies the sinner. Okay. And then, you know, he comes up with another question in chapter three, which we looked at in the previous class. He says, since God unjust because he inflicts wrath on us, the Jews might be thinking or asking or saying that if our wrong deeds is going to make God look good, then is he unfair in punishing us for our wrong deeds? And Paul again answers no, and we looked at the example of Judas there, and we saw that God is just, he's a just God, and because he's just, because he's righteous, he has to judge sin. And then Paul moves on to say that none of us are perfect, because all of us have sin, we all stand condemned before God, and no one is justified because of keeping the law or, you know, the sign of covenant which is circumcision. And then Paul leads us beautifully by bringing out a solution, you know.  Yes, we all are guilty before God, but God has provided the solution. Okay, you know, we are guilty, but God has given us His righteousness. We receive His righteousness freely by grace through faith, and it's because of the redemption that is in Jesus Christ. So what is the solution that God has provided for us, even though we all stand condemned and guilty before God is that, you know, we have redemption in Jesus Christ, and we receive righteousness because of the redemption in Jesus Christ. We receive it freely by grace through faith. Okay, and in verse 25, he talks about how, you know, God made Jesus as our mercy seat. The word used there is propitiation, but when translated in the Greek is mercy seat. And mercy seat is something that every Jew is very aware of because in the tabernacle, like I explained in the Holy of Holies, is the Ark of the Covenant. On top of the cover of the Ark of the Covenant are the two angels with their wings. They're covering their wings and in the middle of that is the mercy seat where the high priest goes once in a year, makes an atonement sacrifice for himself and the entire Israelite race. He takes the blood of the atoning sacrifice and he sprinkles it on the mercy seat. And he sprinkles on the mercy seat. God says, there I will come and meet with you.  There's a right standing before God. God speaks to man. He meets man.  Jesus became that sacrifice for us. And because of his sacrifice, you know, we have a right standing with God. We can speak to God. God can speak to us and we can meet with God. So that is where we stopped. We will continue. We read verses 27 to 31. And can somebody again read that for us, please? Romans chapter three verses 27 to 31. Romans three 27 to 31. Sure. Thank you. Where there is boosting, it is excluded because of what law the law that requires works. No, because of the law that requires faith. For we maintain that a person is justified by faith apart from the works of the law. Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles too? Yes, of Gentiles too. Since there is only one God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through the same faith. Do we then nullify the law by this faith? Not at all. Rather, we uphold the law. Thank you, Srikumar. So here in this concluding verses of chapter three, Paul is asking three questions in verse 27, verse 29 and verse 31. So in verse 27 he is saying what about the law? What about the works? Where is the boasting then? So Paul is saying no one can boast. No one. No one can take the credit for themselves. We cannot boast Jews. We cannot boast the law and works. So he answers the question and he says that he asks, he says no one can boast because now everything is by faith. So we see how beautifully he's bringing in faith. He's first presented that the Jews have the law. They have the circumcision, which is the sign of the covenant. The Gentiles, God has given them reason, conscience. But irrespective of the law, the circumcision, the reason, the conscience, we are all only justified by faith. So he asks the question, where is the boasting that no one can boast? Why can no one boast? Because now everything is by faith. So how is boasting excluded because of the law of faith? Now he's slowly guiding them to the next topic, which is faith, which he discusses deeply in chapter four, but he's trying to introduce this topic about faith. And then in verse 28 he presents the conclusion of what he has been discussing all this time. He says that man is made righteous or man is justified, not by keeping the law, not by the works, but by faith, not even to his conscience, but by faith. So man is put in a right standing with God. Right standing with God means man is made faultless or blameless before God by faith. So it's not dependent on the deeds of the law or doing the things of the law, but man is made righteous. He's justified. He stands blameless or faultless before God by faith. In verse 29 he asks the next question, another question, is he the God of the Jews only? Is he not also the God of the Gentiles? And he answers this question by saying, yes, of the Gentiles also. So Paul says, though God gave the law and the covenant to the Jews first, yet he is God both of the Jews and the Gentiles. In verse 30 he says both Jews and Gentiles are going to be justified by faith. Paul is telling them, Jews, whether you are circumcised or are uncircumcised, like the Gentiles or uncircumcised, is going to be by faith that we are going to be justified. So there's no point in talking about circumcision, keeping the ritual of circumcision and telling those who are Gentiles or Greeks who come to the faith, who become parts of the church that they have to be circumcised because we are not justified or made righteous in God's side by keeping the law or by circumcision, but we are justified by faith. So the main thing here is what he's getting into is that we are justified by faith. Then he says, what is the use of the law? Paul is saying, I'm not making void of the law. I'm not saying that the law is useless. On the contrary, he's saying we establish the law. So how do we establish the law? Because Paul stated that no one can keep the law. The Jews say we have the law, we have the covenants, we have the circumcision, but we read that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. So he stated before that no one can keep the law. All of us are sinners. And the law serves that purpose. What does the law serve? The law is basically something that exposes our sin. It shows where we have missed the mark. It shows that we are sinners. It shows that we stand guilty before God because we have done something wrong. So the law is basically serving its purpose. It's exposing sin. It shows that we are guilty before God, that we have missed the mark, that God has asked us not to do. Now the same sin that the law has condemned, God has condemned in the person of Jesus Christ, which means God has judged sin in the person of Jesus Christ on the cross. So that through what Jesus has done on the cross, he can justify sinners who come to him in faith. He can justify sinners who come to faith in Christ Jesus. So Paul is saying that the law is not useless. It serves the purpose. It exposes sin. It condemns the sin. The same way, just as the law condemns sin, God has condemned sin in the person of Jesus Christ. He has judged it in the person of Jesus Christ on the cross so that he can justify people who come to faith in Christ. So here faith comes in. Faith is not telling us that the law is not necessary. Faith comes in because the law was there, but we were unable to keep the law. We couldn't match up to the law. Our works fell short of the requirements of the law. We couldn't keep the law. We couldn't keep the requirements of God standard. We fell short of it. So faith had to come in. And faith is not doing away with the law, but faith is actually fulfilling what the law was supposed to do. So faith is saying that it is a whole purpose. The law showed us that we couldn't do it on our own so the only way we can ever be righteous in God's sight is going through faith. The law was given to us so that we can be made righteous in God's sight, but we couldn't keep the law. So faith comes in and faith is saying that this is a whole purpose. The law showed us that we couldn't do it, that we couldn't do it on our own. We couldn't keep the law. So the only way we could ever be made righteous is by faith. It's going through the way of faith. So faith, in effect, actually has established a law. So everyone has come to this place where we have faith in God saying we cannot keep the law and hence, because we cannot keep the law, we come to faith in Jesus. So we are establishing the law. We are affirming the law that, yes, we cannot keep it and we can come to faith in Christ. We can be made righteous. We can be justified in God's sight. We can stand blameless in his sight only when we have faith in Jesus Christ. So faith is established. What the law has always been telling us that we have fallen short of God's glory and so we can come to faith in Christ Jesus by which we can be made righteous, by which we can be justified, by which we can stand worthless and blameless before the Most High Holy Eternal King, that is God. So this is what he concludes this whole discussion about how beautifully he brings in, you know, law, circumcision for the Jews, for the Gentiles, how beautifully he talks about reason, conscience, and then he says, you know, that we will be justified not by any of these things, but by the gospel of Jesus Christ. And then, you know, he goes on to say that, you know, we will be justified by faith in Jesus Christ. So it's not the law. It's not the circumcision. It's not our conscience that would justify us, make us righteous because we couldn't keep the law. So faith had to come in and it's only to faith in Jesus Christ that we can be made righteous in God's sight. So he ends the chapter with this beautiful conclusion.  Jews, Greeks, Gentiles, all on the same level because we're all being made righteous or being justified in God's sight because when we have faith in Jesus Christ and it is by grace that we receive it through faith and it's because of the redemption that is in Jesus Christ. The price that Jesus Christ paid to buy us back from the slavery of sin that is redemption, buy us back from the slavery of sin and not only just buy us back from the slavery of sin but reinstating redemption. There's a whole different beautiful concept of redemption saying we are reinstated back to our original position, our original place where we are sons and daughters, heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ Jesus. So see how beautifully he brings about this whole reasoning and argument and then he goes on to talk deeper about faith which is again a very beautiful way that he presents about how we can be justified or made righteous by faith. Okay, so that is end of chapter 3. Anyone has any questions? I hope all of you are understanding. Yes, ma'am. Yes, okay. Anyone has any questions? Okay, no questions means we'll move on to chapter 4. Okay, chapter 4 is moving on talking about how we are made righteous by faith. So in this chapter we can divide this chapter into two main sections. One where he establishes that faith came before the law and the covenants. So before the law and the covenants, there was faith. Okay, and he gives an example of Abraham. Why does he give the example of Abraham? You know, Paul is very smart because for every Jew Abraham is a patriarch, he is the father. So he says that Abraham was justified by faith or he was made righteous by faith and he received this righteousness by faith and this happened even before God gave the circumcision ritual or the laws. Even before the laws and the circumcision, Abraham was justified by faith. He was made righteous by faith. And he says the circumcision was given to Abraham after he was made righteous by faith. So both circumcision and the law came after faith. So what he's saying is that faith did not show up after Jesus but faith was their way back with Abraham even before circumcision, even before the law. So now he's really trying to get their attention and very smartly he's bringing in Abraham and very beautifully he's presenting his reasoning because when he's presenting this, no Jew can argue that they all have to agree saying, yes, the Bible scares, the scripture says that Abraham was made righteous. He was justified by faith. He was justified, made righteous by faith even before he received the circumcision ritual, even before the law was given. So that's the first part of one section of chapter four. The other section of chapter four is, he gives us insights into Abraham's faith. And therefore they're saying that the faith is what both Jews and Gentiles are going to be walking in. Whether you are a Jew or a Gentile, you're going to be walking in the faith of Abraham and he talks about Abraham's faith in God and he says this is how we, whether we are Jews or Gentiles must have faith in God. And it's just amazing how Paul is expressing the mind of God in helping these people to see that faith is both for the Jews and Gentiles and faith is not by just works, by keeping the law or by circumcision rituals. So we need to get done with that. You need to come by faith in Jesus Christ to be justified, to be standing, playing this and forth, this before God. So we'll look at Romans chapter four. Can somebody please read Romans chapter four verses one, two, three, please. Romans four, one, two, three. Yes. Abraham was humanly speaking the founder of our Jewish nation. What did he discover about being made right with God? If his good deeds had made him acceptable to God, he would have something to boast about, but that was not God's ways. But the scriptures tell us Abraham believed God and God counted him as righteous because of his faith. Thank you, Kong. So he starts off chapter four by asking a question. He says, you know, what then shall we say that Abraham, our father was found according to the flesh? Now here in chapter four, he talks about Abraham and David, two patriarchs. The Jews took much pride in Abraham and David, who were the two great patriarchs. Abraham was the father of the entire Jewish race. And David, their king who established them in the land of God and appointed them. And so when Paul says Abraham, and he talks about Abraham, all the Jews understood him because they knew Abraham as their forefather as their forerunner. So he asked the question, was Abraham justified by works? And, you know, he quotes an Old Testament reference here from Genesis chapter 15 verse six. If you remember, we said in the introduction, you know, Paul brings in quotes, a lot of Old Testament scripture because he's a scholar. He studied the Torah. He knows the Torah in and out. He knows the Old Testament scriptures well because he studied under Gamaliel, a great teacher of the Old Testament. Okay. So he says he presents here Genesis chapter 15 verse six. Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him for righteousness. So Abraham received righteousness based on one thing. And what is that one thing is clearly mentioning here that it is because he believed in God. Okay. And no one can argue that because that is, this is in scripture. So he's saying, Paul is saying, look at Abraham. What does scripture say about him? It says that he believed God and God granted to him as righteousness, which means it's made righteous in God's sight because he believed because he had faith in God. Now the Greek word for accounted, okay. Which Paul uses 11 times in the same chapter. In the NKJV, NKJV is translated as accounted, counted imputes, impute or imputed. Sorry. In the KJV it's translated as counted, reckoned, imputed. Now this is a word that basically has to do with the counting, financial counting, calculation. It simply means that put into one's account. Okay. Put into one's account. So in our usage, we can say that it's credited into one's account or deposited into one's account. So Abraham, when he believed God, God deposited to him. Or God credited to him or God accounted to him righteousness. So when we put our faith in God, it's God's Jesus's righteousness that has been deposited, that has been accounted, that has been credited, that has been put into our account. It's not our righteousness, but it's Jesus's righteousness, which has been put into our account. And that's why we stand righteous before God. So Abraham received righteousness by believing God. Okay. We'll move on to verses four to verse eight. So can somebody read verses four to verse eight, please? Not to him who works the wages are not counted as grace, but as death. But to him who does not work, there lives on him who justifies the ungodly. His faith is accounted for righteousness. Just as David also describes the blessedness of the man to whom God inflicts of righteousness are from works. Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord shall not inflict sin. Thank you, Asha. Paul posed on the save, but if a man does not work or if a man, if he believes, you know, he's received it purely by grace to faith. So if a man believes, he receives his righteousness purely by ways through faith. So he's saying Abraham received righteousness purely by believing and that is by faith and not by works. So the righteousness that God gave him is by grace through faith because he believed in God. Now, the Greek word for grace is Charis and it's used, you know, differently in different settings or contexts in the New Testament. And it's used in three ways in the New Testament. It's used for divine favor, which means divine acceptance.  And Ephesians chapter two verse eight says, for the grace you have been, for by grace you have been saved through faith and not of yourself. It's a gift of God. Okay. So God exiled the first context or the usage of how grace is used in the New Testament is a divine favor where divine acceptance God accepts us just the way we are. The second usage in the New Testament of grace is divine character. It's basically talking about the character of God. For example, in John chapter one verse 14, we see that the word became flesh and made his dwelling amongst us. And we see the glory, the glory of the one and only son who came from the Father full of grace and truth. So grace and truth is the character of God. And the Bible tells us as believers that we all need to grow into Christ's likeness. We read this in second Peter chapter three was 18, which says, but grow in the grace and the knowledge for Lord Jesus Christ to him be the glory both now and forever. Amen. That is a second usage where it's talking about divine character, the character of God. Wherever we see, you know, grace, we need to interpret it maybe in this context of divine character of God. And another usage of grace in the New Testament is divine enablement or divine empowerment. Grace is a divine empowerment of God. For example, when Paul tells, you know, has a stone in the flesh and which is a repeated attack of Satan or the enemy, he asked God to take it away. And what I've got to tell him, my grace is sufficient for you. That means, you know, my divine enablement, my divine empowerment is enough for you to go through this situation in life. Okay. So this divine enablement is given to every believer. So Charis, which means grace, has been, can be interpreted in three, in these three different contexts in the New Testament. It can be interpreted as divine favor or divine acceptance, divine character or divine enablement or empowerment of God. And based on the context, we need to interpret it correctly. So in this context, when we're talking about grace, it's basically talking about divine favor. Okay. It's a generous beat done by God. It is done out of the heart of God without expecting anything in return. So divine favor basically is a generous beat which is done on the heart of a person, the heart of the best to work without expecting anything in return. Now we often use the phrase unmerited favor. Okay. So grace in us is receiving what we did not deserve and what we cannot earn. That's why it's unmerited favor because we don't deserve it and we cannot earn it. So grace is God doing for us and for us what we could never do for ourselves. So grace begins there, our ability ends and it's often explained as an acronym, you know, G-R-A-C-E, which means God's riches at Christ's expense. Okay. But in this context Paul is talking about grace, talking about divine favor.  Now this is powerful. It's a powerful phrase even though it sounds paradoxical, God is declaring that the ungodly as righteous.  It's just a favor of God, unmerited favor of God. If God can do this for us, he can look at us who are ungodly, who are sinners as righteous because of the redemption that is in Jesus Christ, which we already saw in chapter three, which Paul has already mentioned in chapter three.  It's because of the redemption that is in Jesus Christ. And then in verses six to eight, you know, Paul is pointing out to David and again he quotes from Old Testament here, Paul quotes the first two verses from Psalm 32, but we will look at a few additional verses from Psalm 32. We will look at verses one to five so that we can understand the context. So in Psalm 32, it says, the psalmist says, the psalmist David says, blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered, blessed is a man to whom the law does not impute iniquity. And in whose spirit there is no deceit when I kept silent my bones grew old through my groaning all the day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me, my vitality was turned into the drought of summer. Verse five, Paul says, I, sorry, David says, I acknowledge my sin to you and my illiquity, I have not hidden. I said I will confess my transgressions to the Lord who forgave the iniquity of my sin, seller. So Paul points out here that even David received righteousness apart from works. He confessed his sin and he received forgiveness. So by faith he received the blessedness of having his sins forgiven. Like you to consider this phrase, the blessedness. Okay, the blessedness of the man who does, who God declares righteous or credits with righteousness.  It brings us to a place of blessings that we cannot receive by any other means or by keeping the law or by good works or we cannot receive in any other place. We receive it only when we believe in Jesus Christ and we are made righteous in His sight. So blessed is a man whose sins are forgiven. Okay, so that is what he talks about in these verses in verses four to verse eight. Okay, we'll move on to verses nine to 12 and then we'll take up any questions if there are. Okay, so can somebody read verses nine to 12 piece? Romans four, nine to 12. Yes, there's less than upon the circumcised only or on circumcised only. For we say that faith was accounted to Abraham for righteousness. How then was it accounted while he was circumcised? Or on circumcised? On circumcised, what was on circumcised? Yes, what is 11 and 12 also Asha, please? And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while still on circumcised. That he might be the father of all those who believe though they are on circumcised that righteousness might be written to them also. And the father of circumcision to go so not only of the circumcision but who also walked in steps of the faith which our father Abraham had while still on circumcised. Thank you Asha. So having established from the Old Testament the example of righteousness given on the basis of faith in the life of Paul or sorry in the life of Abraham, Paul then addresses the question of circumcision. So was this righteousness given because of circumcision? Paul points again to Abraham whom he says he received the righteousness by faith. We read this in Genesis chapter 15 verse 6 even before Abraham received the sign of circumcision which is in Genesis chapter 17 verse 10. He was made righteous or he was justified by faith and so Paul is saying Abraham was blessed he received this blessing. Now how did he receive this blessing? In verse 9 Paul says how did he receive this blessing? He says did he receive it when he was circumcised or did he receive when he was uncircumcised? He says he received it when he was uncircumcised and later on he was circumcised which means he is again proving the fact that Abraham was justified or received this righteousness by faith even before he was circumcised or even before he received circumcision as a sign of covenant. He says which was a seal of the righteousness of faith. So God gave him this covenant after God made him righteous through faith. So first he is saying that Abraham was not made righteousness because of the law or because he was given the law and the covenant or not because of his good works or good deeds but he was made righteous by faith and then he moves on to say that even before God gave him the sign of the covenant as the circumcision is a sign of the covenant even before he gave that Abraham was made righteous because of his belief in God, because of his faith in God. So the reason God gave him is we see this in the latter part of verse 11 but so that Abraham could be the father of all who believe. So he is kind of stretching that thinking. So he is saying that Jews, don't think that because you have the laws, you have the covenants, you have the higher place because you have the law, the covenants, the circumcision and all of those things. It is not that because your father Abraham or forefather Abraham, the patriarch Abraham was made righteous by faith and why did God make him righteous by faith even before he gave him the laws, the covenants or even before the circumcision was so that he could be a father of all who believe all who have faith in God. So he is kind of stretching that thinking. So Abraham, before he had the circumcision he had faith. So Abraham is the father of all who have faith. So he is saying that Abraham is not only the father or the patriarch of the Jews but also the Greeks, also the Gentiles. Why? Because he is the father of all who have faith. And in verse 12 he says, not just circumcision is required to be made justified, to be made righteous in God's sight but you need to walk in the faith of Abraham. So don't hold on to circumcision ritual. It's only by faith because your forefather Abraham was justified, made righteous by faith even before the sign of circumcision. So he is basically telling the Jews, the Jews are making this mandate tree, giving it up, making a hard time for all those Gentiles Greeks are coming into the church, you have to follow the law, you have to follow these patterns of eating, you have to be circumcised. So, you know, Paul is very beautifully mentioning it. It says, you know, Abraham was justified by faith even before circumcision. So Paul is basically stating two things here. The first is that Abraham received righteousness, my faith, so that he will be the father of everyone who walks in faith. Even if they are uncircumcised, which means the Gentiles, or even if they are circumcised, which means the Jews. And so he's saying, you know, we all come to a common denominator, common place, we all receive righteousness by faith. The second thing he's saying is, Abraham is the father of circumcision, okay, but he's not really of circumcision but you need to walk in the faith of Abraham because that is what is going to make you righteous because that is what made Abraham righteous first and not circumcision. So Paul is saying, even if you are circumcised, you have to walk by faith like Abraham walked in faith. So now Paul moves on to Abraham's faith, what was his faith like and what we can say about Abraham's faith. And that he talks about in the next few verses, in verses 13 following, okay. So verses 13 to verse 16, we see the promises based on faith because of grace, okay. So can somebody read that please? Verses 13 to verse 16. Can somebody read verses 13 to verse 16 please? Yes, sure, go ahead. For the promise that he would be the heir of the world was not Abraham or to his sake through the law but through the righteousness of faith. For if those who are of the law are heirs, faith is made void and the promise made of no effect. Because the law brings about wrath for where there is no law, there is no transpiration. Therefore it is of faith that might be according to grace so that the promise might be short to all the seed, not only to those who are of the law but also to those who are of the faith. Abraham raised their father first off. Thank you, Asha. So here we, you know, Paul is very beautifully presenting that the promises that God gave Abraham through him, you know, he'll have a seed and, you know, through him nations will come out, generations will be blessed, there will be numerous as the stars in the sky, the sand on the sea shore all the nations of the earth will be blessed through Abraham. And so the promise that God gave Abraham was something he gave at the point of faith. You know, when he was made righteous by faith, it was given to him when he stepped out in faith, he believed God, he stepped out, he went to the promised land and he received those promises because, you know, he had faith in God because he believed in God, he was made righteous by faith even before God gave him the sign of the covenant of circumcision. So the promises that Abraham inherited or God gave it to him was when he stepped out in faith. It was given at the point of his faith when he was made righteous by faith. The promise was through the righteousness of faith and it was not and it is not just who are of the law who have the promise but there is everyone who has faith will inherit this promise. So Paul is so beautifully bringing it out here. He is saying, Abraham received all his promises when did he receive it? He received it, you know, when he had faith in God, when he stepped out in faith, he was made righteous by faith even before circumcision, even before the law. So he is saying all those, you know, who have the law which has been given the sign of the covenant which is circumcision, which is he is talking about the Jews are not the only ones who will receive the promise of Abraham. What he says is everyone who has faith, faith in whom? Faith in Jesus Christ, faith in his gospel, who will inherit this promise because Abraham received these promises when he was justified or made righteous by faith. So, what is the promise?  This was, this promise was given and your generations will be numerous as the stars in the sky, the sand on the seashore. So this promise was given to Abraham and to his descendants and Paul is saying is given to him even before the law or the circumcision ritual was given and this promise is not just for those who are custodialists of the law or of the covenants or the sign of circumcision it's not just the descendants of Abraham who have been given the law and the circumcision which he is talking about the Jews but it's also to all who have faith in Jesus Christ. So all those who have faith in Jesus Christ will inherit this promise or will be partakers of this promise or will be part of this promise that was given to Abraham. Hence, Abraham is the father of us all which means he is the father of all the Jews, the Gentiles and Greeks who have you know, who believe in Jesus Christ who come to faith in Jesus Christ when they put their faith in him and it's because of the grace of God and the redemption work of Jesus Christ. So you see how beautifully he is bringing out everything and so Paul is repeating this point that Abraham is the father of all who have faith and all who have faith receive the promise that God gave Abraham and this is according to the grace of God. It's unmerited favor. It's something that we don't deserve and so it's he's saying it's faith righteousness and grace and it's given to everyone to both Jews and Gentiles. So you see how beautifully he is bringing about this whole argument. So he's saying that it is basically faith righteousness. We made righteous by keeping the faith and it's a grace of God and it's through the redemption work of Jesus Christ and it's given to everyone to both Jews and Gentiles and now he gets on to verses 17 where he gets into the faith of Abraham. He's talking about the basic details of the dimensions of the faith of Abraham which we will look in our next class on Friday. We'll stop here. Anyone has any questions? Any questions? Okay I hope all of you are in class and hope all of you have understood. Okay. No questions. Okay. If there are no questions we'll end class. Thank you all for joining class. I'll see you on Friday and we continue with the rest of


Rhywodol fath am hwnnw i'r ddefnyddio ddechrau. Mae'r ddefnyddio ddefnyddio ei ddefnyddio ddefnyddio yn y gallu matei niw. Diolch i'r ddefnyddio ddefnyddio deallu Ynny'r Gynnogau Gwyrdd i尔. Diolch i'r ddefnyddio ddefnyddio'r Gwyrdd i'r ddefnyddio'r Gwyrdd i'r ddefnyddio ddefnyddio'r sesiad syniad y Llywodraeth Scottish. Wrth gynch i gwaith mae fath o'r hollu, mae'n credu fath o'r paryll. Canongate is also the parish church for the palace of Holyrood house and of Edinburgh castle and it's with our role as Edinburgh's military church in mind that I want to focus briefly and probably inevitably on the centenary of the battle of Jutland which began exactly 100 years ago today and ended 100 years ago tomorrow. The largest naval action of the First World War, it remains something of a controversial battle in that both sides claimed victory of sorts. The Royal Navy's grand fleet under the command of Admiral Sir John Jelico and based largely in Scottish waters lost over 6,000 sailors and 14 ships out of a total of 60,000 sailors and 151 ships while the Imperial German high sea fleet lost 2,500 men and 11 ships out of a total of 45,000 sailors and 99 ships. The comparative losses meant that the Germans claimed victory but the blockade which they'd been trying to break remained in place for the rest of the war and British domination of the North Sea remained secure. As so often when the fog and confusion of battle had lifted questions were asked about some of the decisions taken by those in command on both sides. But the bravery of certain individuals who lost their lives on the 31st of May and on the 1st of June 1916 has always been beyond doubt. Men like Francis Harvey of the Royal Marine's Light Infantry who prevented a magazine igniting and blowing up an entire ship. Men like John Travers Cornwall, the 16-year-old who famously remained at his post while seriously injured but died in hospital before his mother could reach his bedside. Both of them were posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross and it is their valor and the service and sacrifice of so many like them to which we should surely devote time for reflection today and tomorrow.


Hey guys, welcome to Archland. So we have here a tier list courtesy of PrideWin. So I'm gonna put a link in the description so that you can have a second reference to this tier list. This tier list actually helped me a lot in deciding on who to build, how to move forward. And I'm gonna share with you guys some of the tips in the tier list and who to focus on more or less. This tier list goes down to F but I won't really go down to the lowest levels because you will eventually be looking for the higher tiers in terms of the heroes or the characters that you're going to be using. So honorable mention just for tier B, I've been using Brown so far. Decent, very decent in the early game if you need additional damage dealing, especially for water. But again, right now as I'm progressing, I don't think he is that good. So I'm looking forward to changing him in the roster. Also, I tried out Melissa for tier B. Definitely good enough, but you also have Belet in tier A. So might as well be building up Belet. They're both on fire, so it's no use building them. But I used both of them. They're decent to start, but we'll focus more on your tier A. So we'll start with Peacock here. So Peacock, I got her off-banner, weird off-banner pull. And she actually does great damage if your enemies are debuffed. The problem is if they're not debuffed, then her damage goes down. So ideally, she is paired with a debuffer or a debuff team, but very good mobility. Also, a comment, poor survivability. You have to use a rune on her, which has vampire for her to survive at least a long duration in the battle. But again, she's above average. I say no, I say average for A, average hero to use. She can take you as far as you want her to go. But eventually, if you have Charlotte, then definitely you'll be using Charlotte. And I did use her and Charlotte together in the team. They work well as well. Okay, next is Nicholas. Nicholas is this mage. But take note, Nicholas has some heals. So if you're in a market for building a hybrid mage and a healer, Nicholas is going to be your guy. So actually good as well, early game with the versatility. By the way, he is on fire, so take note of his element. He might have a problem in terms of the element that he's against at. So again, those are things that you should consider. So next is Cassie. Cassie is a water tank. Eventually, Cassie, you will actually be transferring to Richard for your tank as a tank. So both of them are water, but Cassie, if you start with her, she's damage reduction, good escort skill, decrease in physical defense for enemies. But again, she's actually hard to use and needs her unique equipment. Okay, so that is why she's at A. Next up, this is Kabir. He is of darkness. He is a tank, mostly tanks which are not red, green, and blue are good. But the problem is sometimes their stats are a little bit low. So that is a trade off. But Kabir is increased damage output with debuffs, debuff, and stuns enemies. So I wouldn't use Kabir if you have others better. But again, for the early game, he is going to be good. Next up is going to be Helga. So damage output and buffs. I think she's going to be your all-around mage. She's of light element. If you're really looking for somebody for a mage of all-around value, then Helga is going to be it for you. Next is going to be Hassan. So Hassan here, I used Hassan. So great with debuffs. His kit is situated alone on debuffs. So if you're building a debuff team, he's really going to be the center of it because he dishes a lot of debuffs. So does pollution, the enemy can't be buffed. Also as unhealable. So magic corrosion as well. So less magic defense. So again, if you're after a mage who has full debuff skills, then Hassan is going to be your guy. And the last one to round out our tier A is obviously Bellet. So a great early game tank and can be maxed out for free. And can be good. Actually it tried her, but quickly shifted to other tanks when I had them in my roster. So that is it for tier A. Moving on to our tier B. Sorry, tier S, I forgot. So for tier S, we have here Alicia. We'll start with Alicia here. So Alicia is going to be a great early game healer. Removes debuffs, very reliable. And if you don't have any other healer, she is going to do great for you in the early game. Next up is going to be Avia. If you prefer a healer that can heal only a single target, but it's big. She doesn't have any AOE heals. This one, Avia, one of the characters that we get for free. She has no AOE heals early game, but you get it at level 45. Can max her out for free. I think she is very underrated. I'm still using her. Actually, she's my preference for a healer because she buffs attacks or sorry, she buffs ally attacks before they attack. So great, really great value. Again, you just have to make sure that she reaches up to a level further to unlock her AOE heals. But again, I would prefer her over Alicia to be honest. I prefer her style, her overall mix of skills rather than just heals all day. So next up is going to be Clarisse. So this is Clarisse. So Clarisse is fire.  Great at a lone target. She has high mobility, great at picking off small lone targets, high mobility and great dodge. The problem with her is that if she's bunched up with a lot of enemies, indefinitely she cannot survive long. So again, Clarisse, we get her for free in the game. If you have her, she has really tremendous damage and survivability. Again, you just have to make sure that you move her right in the right, you know, in the right direction or in the right placement for her to survive more. Okay, so next up is Enjard. I used her to start. I transferred from Belet to her. She was, but I moved on because I got, what did I get? I got Gabriel. So I moved on because Gabriel is also light. So she is kind of a mini Gabriel. She also has, you know, she also has some of the stuff that Gabriel has. But again, she, she lacks, she lacks the tangibles that Gabriel has. So, and the problem is they are of the same element. So I had to move on with Gabriel, of course. So, but she's a good tank, especially with the light element. There are no, you know, there are no elemental, you know, counters in terms of red, green and blue. So she can be also your early game tank. Next up, this one, this is Erika. So great at single targets. So if you want to pick off single targets that you can't move through, Erika is going to be a girl. She still has her banner right now. Converts buffs into debuffs similar to, similar to Sigard. And what else? Really high range, but relies so much on her exclusive weapons. But again, exclusive weapons in this game are not really hard to get. It just requires time. So in my opinion, Erika is a good ranger. So far I think the best ranger that we have. And also she's a use of light element. So she doesn't have a clear elemental, you know, elemental weakness. So moving on to Ibn Atar. So good damage and damage over time. If you're looking for an assassin. So he's a water, by the way. So if you're looking for DPS and we're looking for an assassin who does DOT or damage over time, then get him. But again, he has low mobility in survivability. So you might think twice.  Okay, Lohan is here. So great buffs and heals. So for me, I think he's the best entry level for AOE heals. I tried to use his kit. I'm not really happy with it. That is why I moved back to Avia here. So, but he is good. He has heals for days. Buffs and heals are very good. But I found his kit a little bit one-sided. I wanted Avia's all-around ability better. So that is why I didn't pursue Lohan. But again, he's a good healer. If you don't have any other healers, and if you prefer a good AOE heal, then he is your guy. Next up is Michael. I don't know why they called her Michael, this girl here. So, or it's not Michelle, it's Michael. So anyway, for Michael, it's weird that she's a assassin. She's a blight. But Michael has great mobility, buffs, allies, but at the cost of low damage output. It's weird because she's an assassin. So I don't know why they put her in that category. But again, if you want a, you know, a variety in your assassin, she could be very good providing buffs to your allies. Okay, so and also has great mobility. Next up is Nola. Nola is Lightning, one of the three SSRs that are guaranteed in a banner. So you have Nola, you have Sigard, and you have Lina. So of the three, I didn't want to get her. She is actually, she has actually biggest range, buff crit chance as well, reset or decrease cooldown of skill. She has that, but needs to incorporate crit damage ASAP for a lot of her passives won't work. So that is basically what is her problem. She needs, she needs a lot of love in her kit for her to excel, especially for crit, for crit damage. So crit chance or crit chance. So weak on AOE, but good with individual targets. For me, if you're beginning, if you're a beginner, it's really hard to develop a hero character that needs a lot of, that has a lot of needs early game. But again, if you build her and if your preference is, is her, is a mage who is good in single target, then she is going to be your girl. And the last up is going to be Richard, can be versatile as a tank. I've seen him in PVP. I think I prefer him in PVP because of knock, of his knockback, knockback and stun, but can be a versatile tank and a damage dealer. Also his weakness is that he doesn't excel on either both.  So there you go. But he's good. Overall, he's still good. He just doesn't excel a tank and a damage dealer. So he is also lightning. There isn't a lot of lightning tanks. So again, he is the last one on your S tier. Moving on to our next tier, which is SS. SS, these are more or less your must haves in terms of heroes or characters. So we'll start off with Atum.  So Ignite specialist and very great AOE. I've seen him set on fire the battlefield. And when everybody passes there, they get damage. So again, Atum, very good as a fire mage. Next up is going to be Catherine. Catherine still actually has her banner up now. So probably one of our best mages around. Someone's a spirit warrior's debuff. Silence, unhealable decrease in magic defense. You name it, she has it. So if you're looking for an upgrade from Hasan, then she's your girl. That is why I'm upgrading to her. Hopefully I get her in her banner. Hopefully in the next few days, crossing my fingers. Crossing my fingers. For now, I'm actually choosing between this girl, Semi and her. But Catherine is more of what I need right now in my roster. So I'm opting for Catherine. So hope you guys also settle for her. Next up is Gabriel. One of the tanks that I think has a lot going on for her has counters, heals before battle, great survivability, AOE on physical defense. What else? Her element is actually light so she can be brought in any team. No really big counters from the three big elements, which is red, green, and blue. They say that light has less stats. At this point, I don't really care. Just have to make sure that she's built well. She's very versatile and she's won a lot of games for me or matches for me so far. She is preferably brought on in a PvE setup, not a PvP. Again, but if you don't have any choice like me, I still bring her in PvP. So again, one of the best tanks that we have. Don't get me wrong. Very, very nice kit. She can lower defenses, I can't say anymore. But again, top, top tank in SS tier. Next is Lena. She was one again of the three that we can choose in that banner, the beginner's banner, where we're guaranteed in SSR. So Lena, I didn't get Lena. I opted for a frontline DPS. So Lena has good battlefield control, highly mobile, great damage by the way for a water mage. And I have no complaints on her. It's just that my preference was something I had somebody on in the front to receive a lot of damage and that is why I moved to Sigard to get Sigard. So Sigard, tons of damage, self heal, really built to be a damage dealer. Can be your tank by the way, a little bit. But has a lot of damage, can attack multiple times. I started the game with Sigard. I didn't have Charlotte to start the game. I didn't re-roll as much. So I opted to go with Sigard. So again, probably one of the best warriors that we have. And going on to the last three, which is our God tier or SSS tier. We have Clefare, it's her, it's here. She is a priest, a light, one of the actually best healer that we have. Great heals and buffs, gives allies additional action. Again, I think one, she is a big upgrade to Avia if you have Avia. She's like, she's like the older sister of Avia. So she does things better than Avia while I like Avia already. So again, best healer, best buffer in the game. Get her if you can. And next is Sammy. Sammy, I'm still thinking if I'm gonna pull for her banner. If I get Catherine here. But again, I'm opting for Catherine because of what she does for my team. For her, I already have Clarisse. But again, she's a hard not to pull because she's of lightning. She's assassin and she's a good DPS for lightning, which I'm missing a lot. So Sammy, tons of damage, high mobility, top tier dodge. She's again, she's actually an upgrade over Clarisse. So if you are opting to use a assassin, then go for her. You won't really regret using her. But again, it's really a hard decision between Catherine and Sammy at this point. But last, but not the least, the queen of this tier list, it's going to be Charlotte. It's a warrior, water. If you don't have her yet, please do get her. Her banner is still available for I think 17 days if I'm not mistaken. If you haven't gotten her in the real world, please get her. Your life will be easier with her. Great movement, multiple attacks. Once I remember that she attacked three times in one turn. Great damage, she's death at level 45. What can you ask more about a warrior? And she demolishes fire elements. If Sigard and her would face off, definitely Sigard would fall down and bleed out. So that is it guys for the tier list. This is a nice tier list actually. For the rest, please just read what are their stats and why are they wrapped at that tier. But more or less, this tier list will still change as we play the game further, as we migrate to global. And that is it guys. If you have questions and comments, please put them down in the comment section. And let's discuss. So thank you very much for staying this far.  This is The Warden and I'm out of here.


Let's jump into a little Q&A and get from there being from the cryptoverse to what that is Everybody love Ben's channel been had a good one about will Bitcoin capitulate. I recommend everybody to take a look at that Bicky says it. Well, disclaimer not financial attacks advice over the name versus only just the paying Den is not an expert As you can probably tell or a financial planner perform your own research Rob, did you say you're using coin ledger for taxes? Yes, I've used him for the last two years. It's very simple from the time that I Got my username and password put all the data in and then shipped them over to my CPA took me 30 minutes I am not here to pour. I don't have the time to pour over tons and tons of spreadsheets I just I love the factory do it do that job Thank you Brian appreciate it Long-term time for any me more than a month. That's true. And before I go on I'm gonna try to do something differently the first the first video that are the first section segment that we talked about where we talked about poly-automatic being linked to new bank and Really to a lesser extent or a greater extent Warren Buffett. Do you think that is a positive or just like out? It is there to you know, give some type of advice and it's not a big deal I'm curious what everybody says, but that in the comments right now Classic classic happy Gilmore This is the best cult Conning has a good point Look, I don't know why people like Like we talked about this yesterday See the problem with people saying add the cryptos a cult and da-da-da. Yeah, so are a lot of companies and they're crazy But guess what cults? They seem to be market movers and we gave the example yesterday of Apple and Crossfit and some other stuff That's the Benny You leave your body when you die held us overrated While you're here though, it's important to have a little bit of health. I think Try swimming lakes up here. I would love to do that. I despise cold weather But the cold of the better when you're swimming James says Rob, thanks you for finally acknowledging that's not always possible to your research. Look it takes It takes some humility to look at things and go, you know what? It's a kind of impossible to do your own research constantly because there's so many things going on behind the scenes No one knows and sometimes even the upper people don't know what the hell's going on So again, that's why I like in this in crypto. It's the Wild West I gotta agree with Gary Ginza on this one It is the Wild West and for for one particular project to be able to navigate all the pitfalls is extremely tough Extremely tough, and I don't know which one's gonna make it That's why I spread things around because I can't put one my all my things in one basket. That's crazy That'd be like in the dot-com error. Just going, you know what pets.com looks awesome going all in The clown part always freaks me out. Don't worry It's not real. Yeah, I'm waiting for it. There's always the adult websites that span me. I don't know why I Have nothing but admins Protect me Lord Gary Eric says I love the dollar cost average during taxes. I got a headache How can I believe this headache when paying taxes super simple? So I have the same issue and What I did actually knew this for free right now There's a link in the description Somewhere oh Yeah crypto taxes made simple Here's how to use the video The link is crypto trader, but it's it's coin ledger and you can you can integrate via an API integration with all your Your exchanges central or decentralized all your wallets hot or cold And you can pull all that data in there and it can show you all your transactions So I am like I said I'm not the guy that's gonna pour over a bunch of spreadsheets and meticulously write down cuz I do I dollar Every single day I would blow my head off. I had to do that part too. So I let the I let the software do it. That's it So just try that and I'm right now you don't have to like you can do that right now It'll show you everything and if you want to generate a report then you have to pay for it But if not you just put it in and take a look and then do what you got to do If I mean just for your records, but for the report you have to pay I think it's been a hundred and two hundred dollars for Your tax reports and everything in line if not you can still do it and take a look at it So I like that Louise says Rob coin ledger is good for exchanges. Did you have a good experience with Walter MetaMass? No That was one of the problems. There was a little bit of a hiccup I think they got a little bit better now, but I had a problem with my MetaMass But I didn't have a tunnel on MetaMass. I didn't really care. I just put it in manually What's a good number of products for a diversified portfolio? I don't know. It's it's everybody's Tolerance, you know, some people like everyone I first got in it was like over 50 different projects. That was a little crazy Nowadays I try to stick to around the top 50 or so I mean the top 50 as far as market cap and then of course I have some D gen plays That's why I have the channel Dan D gen but for me, I always think it should be Bitcoin Ethereum, that's just me because I think it's the safest ones and they've been on the top for quite some time Not to say they can't fall off and all that stuff But they're kind of like the blue chips and then you kind of go down down the road for the next level And you got your layer ones the other ones get your avalanche and your polka dots and your near and your Cardano and your Solanas and all that stuff and I have a Section of that not all of them and then of course past that a little bit. So there's the pens what you want to do the real question though is just Show up and learn about all these different projects and who is building on them and how they're making progress That's the big thing Like the S&P 500 you can just set it and forget it and just walk away for ten years and it's not a big deal but if you put all your money into Say Apple, you know Why wouldn't you check on Apple every so often? And say, oh, well, that's awful all the you know all the processing chips We have a we have an enormous shortage. They can't make any computers or something. I think you wouldn't want to be I don't know selling Just saying Do you have some gaming projects I have yes I have again so Kishi which is built on polygon from polygon studios and Gala games, and I think there's something else Yeah, but yeah, I don't know what that means No, thank you, Bikki. Dan DJ and second user channel is right there and you can find out in the description as well I'm rooting for Simon. We're all rooting for some we're all rooting for for crypto or sell stations become whole without a huge haircut 20% Erica would be nice, but whatever. Oh Yeah, Everdome. I didn't really think about that, but Everdome is a metaverse play per se. So I invested in that one Cornucopia is a good one too Hi, Rob. What price did you buy sweat? So all the early investors got it at around a penny and a half or something like that and Right now it's probably hovering just above that. Let's see Oops Well, let's see what I So everything that I buy or get into For Dan DJ in because people like you know dump on me. I'm like if I could I was kidding but This is the list so sweat coin I bought it at point zero one four and I got this many tokens And the all-time I was nine cents and the price day was not seven cents It's probably like two cents maybe even lower than that But everything I got into it was a lock-up period because that made sense to me So I can't touch sweat coin for 12 months and then it gets unlocked over 24 fame was the same way Everdome was the same way again So Kishi Still the same way On December 15th. It's pretty good. She had something coming in in December. So that's what's up one second Put something in the background Anybody buy Aptos Aptos today, you know, there was a good video by CTO Larson talked about Aptos And I encourage everyone to take a listen to that before they do anything with Aptos CTO Larson Alright, very nice Yeah, I used to have a lot more of Polygon too. Alex is holding that to me as well And I think I wonder how the flare airdrop will be handled in the Celsius case I don't know. Maybe they can use flare to to fund to make everybody whole because it's not like they're gonna They're really good at giving things back JLo Where do you recommend getting a stable coin loan? At the best rates and highest amounts to borrow for steak assets, I've I Did loans before it didn't work out too hot But maybe this is not a bad time, but then you gotta you gotta think about it You have to think about this very seriously because I know Michael Silla talks about how everybody who's rich just takes out huge loans And they have collateral and they don't pay anything because it's a loan and that's what it is So just remember this like we talked about how things can go down lower. I took out a loan with Celsius and I used that too. I didn't do the degenerate thing which was take out a loan Get cash and then put it into crypto.  I missed the margin call. They liquidated me all of it So all my Ethereum got liquidated All right, so that's a taxable event. Well, that sucks, but The money that was there I want to pay it back because it's in my I took that money and put it into my house The Ethereum is gone But the Ethereum that I collateralized to cover that loan They gave it back.  So now you got to think about this JLo If you think that we're at the bottom and you want to do that and you want to borrow against your staked assets You can but I'm going to warn you right now That if something goes down sideways, you're going to have to collateralize that in some other way without the crypto and I think It just these assets fluctuate greatly. I think we know that in crypto. I can see For other collateral for loans and like typical loans where you get like a second mortgage on your house I get that even though interest rates are atrocious right now But for that one, I don't know the place Understand tell me be careful because I've seen it happen the opposite way. That's it I think that's it for today. Yes, that's it. So I answered everybody's questions. No one has anything for me All right, everybody. So thanks so much for stopping by. I do appreciate like today's video Give it a thumbs up consider subscribing all that good stuff and that is it for today As a reminder, I think we're going to do dca tomorrow because I am traveling on friday to houston The videos are up for Javill would like this How to stake? polka dot or excuse me how to stake Cosmos and atom using your ledger will be up on friday also the one on near And that's it. So thanks so much for stopping by guys. I appreciate it and I'll see you in the next one Adios


suspense. And the producer of CBS radio's outstanding theatre of thrills, the master of mystery and adventure, William M. Robson. Some people are just too good to be true. They sacrifice their lives on the altar of service, the modest martyrs of everyday life.  But perhaps the reward is not in heaven, but right here on earth. Perhaps they are the world's most colossal egotists, who presume to think they can change venality, greed, and sloth by blind humility. They serve, they suffer, they sacrifice, and who knows? Perhaps they enjoy every agonizing minute of it. Listen, listen then, as Miss Kathy Lewis stars in, everything will be different, which begins in just a moment. Wow, everything will be different. Starring Miss Kathy Lewis, a tale well calculated to keep you in suspense. Herb, there's something I've got to tell you. You go ahead, Cheryl, I'm all ears, the fellow says. I haven't had a friend for such a long time.  Yeah, I know. You mind if I freshen up my drink before you get started with a confession? Go ahead. You ought to know where everything is by now. That's what I like about you, Herb. You always bring your own bottle. Perfect gentleman. And I a third of I waited for you to furnish the booze. Oh, I'd serve liquor if I could afford it. Just because I don't drink is no reason to spoil other people's fun. That's what I like about you, Cheryl. You're so broad-minded. Well, live and let live, I always say. Well, what do you got to tell me? Herb, I'm not what you think I am. I was married once. So what else is new? Don't laugh at me, Herb. All right. All right, I'll be serious. I was about a little kiss. I'll hurt. Don't go on. Well, don't you think it's about time we got better acquainted? We've been seeing each other now three, four months. Three months, two weeks, and four days. You've been counting. Ever since the day you got mixed up down at the plant and came into personnel when you were looking for a counting. Well, you have days like that. Sorry? About what? Getting mixed up down at the plant. Oh! Are you? I don't know. What do you mean you don't know? I won't know until I tell you about my husband. Well, you're not still mad. Oh, no. No. He's dead. Well, and... Only, you see, Herb, they said I killed him. Now, sorry, Miss Kathy Lewis. Act two of everything will be different.  I failed him. He needed me, and somehow I failed him. I don't know how I... I gave him everything, all of me. How it wasn't enough. Some guys are like that, never satisfied. But this one is dead. Let's forget him. I can't. Not until I've told you all about it. Okay. Okay, hon, let's have it. Well, we sort of went together for a long time. It was a crazy kind of thing, because Walter was a crazy kind of fellow. I wouldn't hear from him for days, and then all of a sudden he'd call up at the craziest time. Hello? Hiya, doll. Well, do you know what time it is? Time to see you, baby. Nearly eleven o'clock. Grace, flower. Wally, I was getting ready for bed. I've taken off my face, and I've... Well, put it back on, and maybe down at Nino's. Wally, you've been drinking? Oh, I've, uh... Wally. Oh, now you know me. All right, Wally. Crazy. Wally. Yeah, doll. Don't be late. Eleven thirty in the back bowls. I'll be there, Wally. Oh, man, I'd like. There wasn't any rock and roll on the jukebox, just pretty Italian songs. Only this night, like so many others, Walter was late. Hiya, doll. Been here long. I was just about to leave. Oh, I'm sorry. I got hung up. Hey, Nino, bourbon and ginger. Wally, please, have some coffee. I don't want any coffee. Why, Wally? Why what? Why do you drink so much? Why not? Look at the kind of life I leave. A crummy job that got no future in it. A lousy, fine-ish room hanged my hat in. Nobody to care about me. I care about you. You do? Do you think I'd come down here in the middle of the night to be with you if I didn't? Yeah, and that's another thing. We never get a chance to be alone. Always meeting on street corners or lousy bars. What kind of a life is that?  We're just as lonely as if we didn't meet at all. A man ought to have a home. And a wife to come home, too. And good-hot food on the table. A man ought to have someone to take care of him. And a woman ought to have someone to take care of? Sure, sure. It works both ways, it's safe. It would, uh, uh, uh, why don't we? Why don't we fight, Wally? Get married. Why not? Because you haven't asked me. I'm asking you now. I'd marry you in a minute, Wally. Except for one thing. What? You're drinking. Oh, now, don't worry about that. Once we're married, what do I have to drink about? Will you marry me, doll? Yes, Wally, I will. Ha, ha, great. Hey, Nino, make that a double. Hey, I got something to celebrate. Wally, now, please, now. Oh, now, don't worry, honey. Don't worry. You'll see. After we're married, everything will be different. I believed him. I think anything as important as marriage is bound to change a person, don't you, in time. Of course, Wally didn't change right away. He was even late for the wedding. When he got there, there was liquor on his prep. After all, a man only gets married once. Of course, we didn't have the time or the money for a honeymoon, but after a while, Wally got a better job. We were able to buy this house. I could quit my job and work full time at the job a woman's best qualified for, making home for her husband. That you, darling? Hey, yeah. You're home right on time. Yeah, there are fights on in five minutes. Jen will be ready in a jiffy. I'll have it in here on a train. Oh, Wally, it's such a nice dinner. Swiss steak, mashed potatoes, and salad.  You wouldn't want me to miss the fights, would you? No. Then, like I said, I'll have my dinner in here by the TV. OK? OK, dear. Wally, are you asleep? I was. I can't sleep. So why should there be two of us? Wally, what? Let's go out some night. Yes. Friday, see, there's a good movie at the drive-in. You get good movies on TV, a little old, maybe, but good. Oh, I don't care about the movie, but just let's go out. What's the matter? Don't you like your home? Yes, oh yes, Wally, but I'm in it all day long. And I'm out of it all day long. When I come home, I don't want to go out again. But just once in a while. Listen, listen, what have you got to complain about? You've got everything a woman should want, haven't you? Yes. Ah, the trouble with you is you haven't got enough to keep you busy. Oh, I keep busy enough. Maybe what you need is a baby. That'd make things different. A baby, yeah. Maybe things would be different if I had a baby. They sure would.  Did you have a baby? No, no. He never mentioned it again. That must have had rocks in his head. Nice-looking girl like you. Hey, you're running out of ice. Oh, well, who leads ice? I'll just set the bottle down here. And besides, there we are. I'm sorry for the interruption. That's all right. What happened next? Well, there was this woman that lived next door. She was just about the only friend I had in the neighborhood. She used to drop in about every afternoon for a cup of coffee. She kept telling me. Honey, you don't know when you're well off. You've got a good man, a good steady provider. Don't let him get away from you. So what if he doesn't take you out as much as you'd like? He comes home every night, doesn't he? Yes. Not like that rat I was married to. With him, it was anything in skirt or capri pants, anything but me. Well, I fixed him good. I took him for everything he's got, so what have I got? A house, an empty house, and no one to come home to it. You sound so bitter. I am. I got a right to be. I guess you have. I guess I haven't. Yeah, that's right, honey. You got it made, so play it smart. You want to go to the movies. Your husband wants to look at TV, so let him. Then take in a movie by yourself every now and then. Oh, I don't think he'd like that. Won't hurt to try, will it? Well, I did try. To my surprise, Wally didn't make any objection. So I started going out to the movies by myself a couple of times a week. This arrangement wasn't the most desirable, at least it did get me out of the house back into the world, even if it was a world of make-believe. One night I did what I'd never done before. I walked out in the middle of the show. It was just too dull. When I got home, I let myself in by the kitchen door, and the first thing I noticed, it was so quiet. The TV in the living room was turned off. First, I thought Wally had gone out, and then I heard a voice. A woman's voice. I always sit through the second feature. Oh, I gotta be getting home.  One for the road? Oh, you twisted my arm. Crazy. I'll be right back, eh? Hey, what are you doing here? I live here, Wally. Remember? What's the idea sneaking up on me like this?  Don't you want to wipe it off? I like it that way. I see. What are you talking to out there? My wife, Shirley. Shirley? Oh, I don't know, honey. I just dropped in to ask you for that recipe.  I have a little drink with him, and so I did. So I see. Well, I guess I'd better be toddling off home. That's right. You'd better. Well, good night, all. Well? Oh, stop standing there with that long, suffering holier-than-now-look on your kisser.  You're drunk. Yeah, I'm drunk. And I'm going to get drunker. Give me that bottle. Yeah, sure, I will. I said, give it to me. Hey, don't be careful. That's my last bottle. If only it were. Who do you think you are? Your wife, Walder. And I try to be a good wife. I try to do for you the way you want. I must be a failure. But what I saw here just now couldn't be. And in my house, in the home, I tried to make for you.  This is the first time she's been over here. Oh? The other times you've gone over there? Is that it? Is it? What if it is? Why, Walder? Why? Look in the mirror and you'll see why. Come on, look at yourself. You ain't as young as you once was. You're getting flabby and wrinkled. And you never laugh.  Now you take this delma babe. She's a barrel of laughs. It never hurts anyone to laugh. Never hurts anyone to love his neighbor, neither. They tell us to love our neighbor and that delma sure makes it easy. Oh, cut out the hysterics and give me that bottle. I need another drink. No! I said, give it to me. No!  He whirled around, snatched a knife from the rack on the wall and started for me. I still held the neck of the broken bottle in my hand. He lunged at me. I threw up my hand to protect myself. And he got the jagged bottleneck in the face. A double-pastry fell. Somehow he fell on the knife. And lay there on the kitchen floor quite still. And I knew that he was dead. Ms. Kathy Lewis, act three of everything will be different. Poor kid. I had to tell you, Herb. Oh, I'm glad you did. I'm so glad you did. I never heard a sad story my whole life. No ice. We ought to. Oh, yeah, that's right. We're out of ice. Well, we still got booze, so who needs ice? So go on. Well, that's all there is to it. At first, the police thought I'd done it. Circumstantial evidence. Oh, yeah. But after they heard my story a half dozen times and checked his fingerprints on a knife handle and took pictures of all the things they do, they called it accidental death. But I don't know. To me, it's the same as if I had murdered him. Oh, Cheryl, honey, how can you say that? Because at that moment I wanted to murder him. I wanted him to be dead. Yeah, but you didn't kill him. Didn't I? If I hadn't broken his last bottle, he wouldn't have come at me with that knife.  Maybe not. Anyway, he wouldn't have stumbled and killed it. Now, look, look, hon, hon, this is silly.  Don't you think I'm to blame? No, of course not.  No, no, wait, wait, Herb. There's one thing that worries me about you. What? Well, you're drinking... What? Oh, that? Well, all right. You can stop worrying. That's the last of the bottle. Why do you drink so much, Herb? Well, I don't know. Out of loneliness, I guess. You talk about loans? I've got nobody, either. And I... All right, I might as well say it. I've been thinking now a long time about you and me. You all alone in this house, me all alone, a little furnished room. I've been thinking, why don't we get married? You mean even after what I just told you? Sure, sure, it's all over with. It's dead and gone. How about it, I sure? I must admit, the thought has crossed my mind. Only... Only what? I do worry about your drinking. Oh, forget it, hon. You'll see, once we're married, everything will be different. Fence, in which Miss Kathy Lewis starred in Everything Will Be Different, written, produced, and directed by William N. Robeson. Supporting Kathy Lewis in tonight's story where Lauren Stodkin, Virginia Greg, and Peter Leeds. Listen. Listen again next week, when we return with Mr. Dennis Day starring in Like Man, Somebody Dig Me. Another tale well calculated to keep you in. Suspense.


Thanks very much to the Arts Council and Nesta for inviting me to speak today. What I'm going to do is talk a little bit about blast theory and a little bit about our background. I'm sure some of you in this room are familiar with what we do, but obviously some of you aren't. So I thought I'd just give a bit of context for who we are and then go into this case study of this recent project, all this project that was commissioned last year by Channel 4 Education called IV Forever, which is an SMS drama, the first ever SMS drama commissioned by Channel 4. So blast theory is a group of artists who are now based in Brighton. The company formed in 1991 in London, so it's our 20th birthday this year. And the company really formed not to make works that use technology, but to make works that I guess engaged with audiences in really interesting ways and engaged with audiences outside of traditional sort of gallery and museum and theatre venues. So the company has always been driven by an interest in the audience and how to create sort of really responsive interactive participatory experiences for audiences. And even though we work very much with technology to create that experience, now that is still the sort of fundamental driver of the company. So in 2006 we relocated to Port Slade. I'm sure many of you would know Port Slade. It's sort of on the edge of Brighton and Hove. We have this building here which we've converted into studios and a permanent base for the company. You actually can't see our part of the building. This is on a sort of edge of an escarpment here and where it goes down to floors and we're on the very ground floor in the Travis Perkins woodyard, which some of you might know on the sort of Shoreham Harbour. And I guess something that fundamentally changed the company and really gave it the technology digital profile was a collaboration with the Mixed Reality Lab that started in 1997. And Mixed Reality Lab is at the University of Nottingham and is a world leader really in I guess developing and thinking about and researching mixed reality applications and augmented reality applications, which is really as the combination of the real and the virtual world, which sort of Anthony had a question about earlier, which is something that we continue to explore as a company. The company became a regularly funded organisation of the Arts Council in 2003 and we're very pleased to be going into the national portfolio in 2012. So we're very, as I said before, we're very interested in this sort of relationship with an audience outside of traditional spaces. So a lot of our work happens on the streets, it's like specific, it's urban and this work is one of the first works that really used, well Desert Rain was another work in earlier work, but can you see me now, really used gaming technology and created a relationship between online players and players on the street. So this is one of our players on the streets of the city who's having an interaction and being guided by a player on the internet. It was almost a bit like a hide and seek game, but played online and on the streets of the city. It really brought a lot of attention to the company, we received sort of several BAFTA nominations and awards for can you see me now and our other work. But more recently we're sort of focusing on, I guess, mobile technologies, handheld devices and using Wi-Fi, using GPS and SMS. SMS is really of interest to us because it's a way to reach audiences in the lowest common denominator, I guess. Everyone has a phone pretty much, everyone knows how to text. It's a really sort of nimble way to reach audiences and it's a very responsive way to reach audiences. So this was the first work that we created that used SMS Day of the Figurines, it was a game that ran for 24 days and the audience signed in at this sort of gaming table, they took on an identity of a figurine, then played this game for 24 days and basically it's just a series of text messages going back and forth. But for us it's really, we're really interested in how you can create stories and immersive narratives through a really sort of basic textural mode, the textural mode of SMS. So just a couple of other recent works. This is Riderspoke, which is a work. Some of you might have, it was in the Brighton Festival in 2008. I don't know, has anyone, is anyone familiar with this work? Yeah, a couple of people. So you take a cycle ride around the city with a small Nokia N800 internet tablet. You listen to a series of questions and audio recordings and you respond to those, you record your answers to those questions and then you leave those responses in sort of Wi-Fi hotspots around the city and as you cycle around the city you can listen to previously recorded responses from others. So it really creates this sort of layered, intimate sort of storytelling of the city and we presented that in Sydney, which is the iconic Sydney Opera House in the background and it's been a really successful work for us and continues to do. I mean, we are a touring company, we show our works sort of across the UK and internationally. And one of our most recent works is A Machine to See With which was a commission from three commissioners in North America, Bap, New Media Center, Sundance, Film Festival and Zero One Festival and the commission is a piece of Locative Cinema where we were sort of challenged to imagine what cinema could be outside of the cinema space and so the project we've developed is basically six people work together to rob a bank and so it's a series of phone calls and the six people play at the same time and they have to sort of strategize and work together in exchange with each other to rob a bank. And as you can see we demand quite a lot of our audiences to sludge through the snow here in Sundance but we'll be presenting that work during the Brighton Digital Festival and it's a new work that is touring and sort of doing really well for us and really I think the idea is that the audience is in the film. You imagine yourself as an actor in this highest movie. So on to broadcasting. So Blast Theory has had a particular interest in broadcasting and working with a broadcaster and this has been an ambition over a few years and we're really interested in broadcasting because it provides sort of access to new audiences, the creative and technical challenges, the business development, potential new revenue streams and obviously new contacts and networks outside of the art sector. And we also sort of feel that broadcasters are now really with convergence, with the convergence of sort of television and internet. Broadcasters are really looking for new ways to tell stories on those platforms. The sort of age of linear narrative is sort of long gone now and broadcasters are really sort of challenged by how to sort of reconstruct and reinvent the traditional TV model. So we've actually been really fortunate to have received some money through a grant for the arts to invest in us exploring how we might sort of develop broadcast projects as a sort of business model within the company. But also an element of that is how the company starts to generate more of its own IP so that we can sort of exploit the IP in the marketplace and look at sort of potential commercial opportunities for the company. So this is... And I think this is why this is what we're doing is relevant to the discussion we're having here today because we are really looking at issues of sort of business models, IP, broadcasting and how we can develop new partnerships around that.  It's a story that centres around this character Ivy who leaves home and it's about... She's around 17 years old and it's about her challenges as a young woman leaving home. We're really looking at issues of sort of family, sex, sort of education, drugs. So it's got all... So we've really tried to, I guess, look at how to create an engaging story around those issues just using SMS. So Channel 4, through Channel 4 Education, sponsored us or they commissioned us to create one episode, a seven-day episode of this SMS drama. At the time, some of you might know Matt Locke. Matt Locke was a commissioner at Channel 4 Education and it was really through Matt Locke championing this project that we got it through Channel 4 Education. Matt, whilst he was at Channel 4, was really interested in looking at new models of storytelling that Channel 4 could support and he was really interested in supporting sort of experimental models of storytelling. So this for Channel 4, I guess, was an investment in an experiment and it was an investment in, I guess, how you could use SMS and how you could use SMS in relationship to sort of education and bring in those sort of issues that are really relevant to teenagers through the sort of platform of SMS. So the project is aimed at 14 to seven-year-olds and we worked with a really fantastic writer, Tony White, who's the author of Foxy T. So how it works is the audience go online, they register their mobile number and email address and then on a certain day, so the trial was set for October 2010. So on, I think it was about October 10th or the 7th, the trial started and on that day, everyone who had registered and signed up received an SMS message to sort of start the game. And once they receive the first series of SMS messages, they can start to text back to Ivy. So the idea is that it's very interactive and that the story is told in the personal voice of Ivy. So Ivy is, I guess, asking you to go on a journey with her, asking you to trust her and to really create a dialogue between the audience and Ivy. And I mean, this was a real challenge for us, was how to, I guess, create a fictional character that was believable and that would engage an audience. But at the same time, the audience had to be aware that this wasn't a real person somehow. So there were many challenges for us in terms of sort of developing the story. And as over the seven days, it becomes more intimate. Ivy asks more of you. She asks advice from you. She tells her your secrets. So it's really the drama become, the drama is really that relationship between Ivy and the sort of participant. And so this is just an example of one of the conversations that went on. Ivy asks, do you know someone who's missed their period? And Caitlin, this was the participant response. And sort of they go on in this sort of quite intimate dialogue where Ivy is asking her help. She's responding and it ends. I feel like I can talk to you about it. Do you mind? No, not at all. I'm happy to help. And of course, these are all automated answers. There's no one sitting at the other end of the phone sending a message back to the participant. It's all entirely automated. And this was an incredible challenge for us in terms of the sort of technical development which I'll just talk about in a minute. How am I going for time, Angela? Hey, okay. So I sort of feel I'm sort of crunching all of this into a short amount of time. So just sort of why we used SMS. As I've said before, it is a native platform for teenagers. Teenagers are SMSing each other all the time. And it's a way we can get into teenagers' pockets. They don't have to spend anything. They don't have to go anywhere. They don't have to... Well, they do have to commit, but it's not as though that we're asking them to do anything outside of their normal lives. And it's free to sign up. Text messages are received at a standard rate. And so it's not costing the sort of young people that play anything more. It's persistent. It sort of mingles with the other text messages on your phone.  And it is sort of anonymous. We sort of really wanted the players to feel as though they could tell Ivy their secrets or be sort of confidential with Ivy and that they could trust her as well. So to develop the story, we actually conducted quite a few focus groups with young people. Of course, finding the right text language was really difficult because one group of young people would go, oh, that's, you know, text language is really naff. You know, we hate the way that people don't spell on text. You know, we really, you know, would prefer you to use proper spelling and good spelling. And then other people would say, oh, no, you know, text languages make things really short and snappy. So we're getting really conflicting sort of messages from our focus groups. So we sort of tried to incorporate most of that feedback into the script itself. And then, of course, Channel 4 were very involved in the process of signing off the scripts and I guess feeling confident that it was rich enough to sort of engage sort of that our target audience of 14 to 17-year-olds. So a challenge for us was really to reach the audience that we were after. I mean, Blast Theory doesn't work. We don't really work with young people. It's not a sort of target audience. It's not an audience that we work with regularly for. So for us to reach a sort of broad demographic, we really wanted to, I guess, make this a national project, a project with national profile and to reach an audience in an age range that isn't familiar to us at all was a real challenge. And we worked with a marketing company, Holler, who have done all the publicity for skins.  Social media was really important. We created an Ivy Facebook fan page and a Twitter identity. And Twitter actually became really important for us in terms of building, not only promoting the work, but starting to build a dialogue with the people who were taking part in the trial. So Twitter was sort of quite unexpected for us because there was this, not only while the trial was happening and people were, the audience was sort of participating in the drama, they were also tweeting about it. So, and I think one thing we really learnt was that, because how we structured the episode was that once you registered, you had to start on the day. And we sort of realised that the word of mouth really started to build during the week, during the seven days. And that if we'd left the registration open, we probably could have at least doubled our numbers, you know, through that sort of word of mouth. And because our target for the trial, which took place in October, was 1,000 users, and we got to about 800. And so it was sort of disappointing for us to not reach that target. But at the same time, 800 users really, I guess, provided the sort of feedback we were wanting in terms of how people were engaging with the script and the text, and also testing the technology. And I mean, obviously it was fantastic having Channel 4 on board with us, and we got a couple of nice little tweets like this one, you know, it's not only the future, it's the present. So, you know, but by this time it was sort of, I think they tweeted this the day before registrations closed. So it was, you know, that was a real learning curve for us. So just on the technical development, we developed the sort of SMS platform, the back-engine, totally from scratch. We worked with a local company here in Brighton to talk web solutions on the implementation of that platform. We worked very closely with them in terms of the design and the implementation because it not only had to sort of deliver the text messages, it, we had to sort of build in various requirements from Channel 4 like moderation. We had to build in privacy settings, data protection. But we also built in, I guess, mechanized sort of evaluation systems that we used at the end of the project. So it was really fantastic for us to work, I guess, in collaboration with this company, to talk web solutions on building this platform that was totally customized for what we wanted to deliver. It wasn't all smooth sailing, but it, you know, it really, it functioned very well by the time we got to the trial in October. A really important aspect of this is that we own the IP in that platform. So it means that we can, we have a platform that we can use either to continue the Ivy Forever project or to use for future SMS projects. And it's also, you know, has the potential to sort of license to sort of other organizations who are interested in using SMS. So I think just to visualize some of... Oh, out of time, okay. So I just wanted to say, giving an indication of the engagement, we had nearly 100% engagement on, this is called the pregnancy ladder, which is the sort of story about Ivy worried about being pregnant. These are the sort of responses that we got to her question, you know, what if I'm pregnant? Business development, I've sort of already covered that, I think, but I think internally we've sort of developed a whole range of schools that include sort of IP and rights management, data protection regulations, which is a whole other ballgame. A lot of learnings come out of it for us, especially the sort of contracting and legals with Channel 4 that went on for months and months and months, but I'm happy to answer questions about that. And obviously it raised sort of ethical issues about talking in an intimate way with teenagers and how intimate can you get and trust. And so I think these were issues raised for us and sort of outcomes. You know, a really key outcome is that we've developed a relationship with a broadcaster. We're now a preferred supplier. We're not sure if it's going to go to the full six-episode commission, basically because of the sort of turnaround that the commissioners at Channel 4, but it's been a really fantastic project for us and has opened a lot of doors in terms of sort of our networks of broadcasters.