If you are truly a great mind by the grace of God, then shout a mighty halleluja. Hallelujah. Amen. I noticed some people were still quiet. I think these are people still hoping to be great minds. But if you know and truly know that you are a great mind, then I think your halleluja should be much louder than my own. Hallelujah. Amen. Amen. Amen. God bless you all. I'm extremely honored to have been invited to speak to this very distinguished gathering of professionals, of intellectuals, business people, entrepreneurs. On the topic, and the topic has been well, in my view it has been well spoken about already, exercising kingdom dominion. After listening to Daddy and the Lord, who laid a powerful spiritual basis for it, and then Pastor Emmanuel, who demonstrated in practical terms how to exercise kingdom dominion in the marketplace. First, I am greatly encouraged. I must say that I am greatly encouraged and I do feel that I am empowered to be much more useful and much more active and powerful in the marketplace. So I want to thank you very much, Pastor Emmanuel, for that. I would just very quickly add a few of some of my own thoughts to the topic. I define kingdom dominion as transforming your own sphere of influence by simply practicing the principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Transforming your own sphere of influence. And Pastor Emmanuel has already mentioned that, that wherever it is that you are, transforming it, dominating your own sphere, whatever that sphere may be. But I want to refer very quickly to a scripture. Second Kings chapter 2 verse 19 to 22. Second Kings chapter 2 verse 19 to 22. I will just read that scripture. Second Kings, then the man of the city said to Elisha, Please notice the situation of this city is pleasant as my Lord sees. But the water is bad and the ground barren. And he said, bring me a new bowl and put salt in it so they brought it to him. Then he went out of the source of the water and cast in the salt there. And said, those says the Lord, I've healed this water from it. There shall be no more death or barrenness. So the water remains healed to this day according to the word of Elisha which he spoke. Elisha called for physical salt. Physical salt. And he poured it into the source of the bad water. And the water was healed. Scripture describes you and I as the salt of the earth. In Matthew 5 verse 13 to 16 it says you are the salt of the earth. You and I are the salt of the earth. That's what the scripture says in verse 13. But it goes on to say that if salt loses its favor how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but we thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. But we, because we are the salt of the earth, it means that in this nation, in whatever capacity we find ourselves, we are the salt that has been poured out by God into the source of the problem. Just as Elisha poured salt to the source of the problem. You and I, in whatever field we find ourselves, we are that salt that has been poured there. In politics or in business or in entertainment or in education or in ministry, wherever it is we are that salt that has been poured there. Scripture also says that we are the light of the world. In verse 14 of the same scripture says that you and I are the light of the world. We are a city that is set on a hill and we cannot be hidden. Scripture goes on to say that you cannot light a lamp and put it under a basket. But on a lamp stand and it gives light to all who are in the house. Our light is supposed to benefit everybody, all. And then it goes on to say that our light must shine, must so shine before men, that they will see the glory of our Father. They will see our good works and then glorify our Father in heaven. When our light shines, God will be glorified. But our light can only shine from our good works. So it's so important for us to understand that we are obliged, we are obliged, we are compelled by Scripture. It is our obligation to be the light, to be the salt. And it's so important for us to understand that salt cannot operate. It cannot operate or it does not operate except to flavor. The purpose of salt is to improve the taste, to make the taste better. Years ago when I was appointed as the attorney general of Lagos State, I was in 1999. I was a Christian. In fact I had just become, well not just, I became a Christian in 1994. But by 1999 I was appointed attorney general. So it was a period of about five years. But all through that time, from 1994 when I became a Christian, a born again Christian, I was only interacting with Christians. And you know how it is. When you are born again, when you are spirit filled, you are working in, you are just doing all manner of things, you are excited about the gospel, you are doing all sorts of things for God. All my interaction was with Christians. I mean I didn't even know that people still drank, that people still drank and smoked. I completely forgot that there were people on this earth who were doing all sorts of crazy things. Anyway when I was appointed attorney general, one of the very early days after my appointment, I had a meeting with a group of other advisors of the governor at the time. It was in a very small room. In that small room were about four or five of us. There was a gentleman who was smoking a pipe another one was smoking a cigarette but by the time we started the meeting only the one that was smoking the pipe continued to smoke his pipe. This was a small air conditioned room.  So I said to the man, why would you just stop this thing? This is very uncomfortable. So he looked at me and said, faster, faster, faster. Anyway he put off the pipe. But at this time the smoke was all over the place. So as I stepped out of the meeting, my hair was smelling of tobacco, my body was smelling of tobacco, everything was smelling of tobacco.  What if a member of your congregation comes now and smells this tobacco all over you and says pastor, do you also occasionally, what will you say? And I was getting very upset and wondering is this the right place for me to be? Should I be in the company of these kinds of people? Is this even a right, am I even doing the right thing? And I heard the Lord speak to me that salt, you are salt. If salt is not inside this tube, if it's not inside this soup, how can it make a difference? How can you make a difference if you are not right inside the trouble? That's where you are supposed to be. I was so convinced that that was exactly where I ought to be because God spoke to me about it. So wherever it is that we find ourselves, no matter the circumstances, no matter how dark, no matter how bad, that is where we are meant to be. If you are salt, you are meant to flavor. If you are light, there's no point you're being a light in light. You can only be a light in darkness to make a difference. Romans 8 verse 18, scripture says for the earnest Romans 8 verse 19, beg your pardon. Scripture says that for the earnest expectations of the creation, eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. The earnest expectations of the creation eagerly awaits the revealing of the sons of God. You and I are eagerly awaited by the creation, in other words, by our own nation. By this society, this is our own creation. We are eagerly awaited. Everything that is wrong, everything that is corrupt, everything that requires repair is saying where are the sons of God? Where are the sons of God? That's what it says. God has given us authority. 1 Timothy 3 verse 18. 1 Timothy 3 verse 18. The scripture describes the church, you and I, the church, as the pillar and the foundation of truth. The pillar and the foundation of truth. That is how the Bible describes us. In 1 Timothy 3 verse 15, it says, if I am delayed, I write so that you may know how you ought to understand yourself. In the house of God, which is the pillar and the foundation of the ground of truth, depending on the one that you use. The church is therefore the key to the transformation of society. And when we say the church will refer to you and I, we are the key to the transformation of the society. What the church does, what is preached, how we behave, is what will transform our societies. The responsibility for the destiny of the nation is ours. The responsibility for the destiny of the nation is ours. The responsibility for the destinies of business, the destinies of politics, the destinies of education. The destinies of this nation is ours. Everything we read in scripture about us ama ni tumindra kupa salid maru tkProb kutia lozande turu na ya iksu我們i k guarding wa kita n wristata faku tke rising na wei na wumputhi matatgo na wei wala kujeru kufa wala k SUBSCRIBE pave java java diz targe lu partico этой m Nós compassion tisha Namati Nani humabuh survival tisha tisha hf entrevah Only to those who are called by the name of the Lord Jesus. It does not refer to anybody else. It says it's we who are called by his name. We pray, we humble ourselves, but most importantly that we turn from our evil ways. That's what it says. It doesn't say that other people should turn from their evil ways in order to heal the land. It says those of us who are called by his name are required to turn from our evil ways so that the land will be blessed. The responsibility for prayers for our nation is ours. To seek his face on behalf of our nation is ours. Even the responsibility to turn from evil ways is ours. The Bible believes that a nation will not do well if the believers are doing evil or they refuse to turn from their ways. That is what the Bible says. That's what the scripture says. The scripture imposes on the church the responsibility for transforming the nation. That's what the scripture does. The gospel also gives us a mandate. There's a clear mandate. We call it the Great Commission. Matthew 28 verse 18 to 20 is the mandate that has been given to us. All power is given to me in heaven and earth. This is Jesus Christ speaking. Go ye therefore and make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you. And lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the age. The scripture is so clear about our mandate. Our mandate is absolutely clear. We are supposed to go out and disciple the nations. We are supposed to go out and teach the nations to observe the scripture. What are those things we are supposed to teach the nation? We'll come to that in a moment. Matthew 1 verse 28 is part of that mandate. The five-fold mandate is contained in Genesis 1 verse 28. Scripture says that God blessed them and said be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, subdu it, have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves on the earth. So there's a five-fold mandate, be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, subdu it, have dominion. We are required to do all of these, these are the mandates that have been given to us. So when we look at the scripture that tells us about how to have dominion, subduing and all that, a good working definition is one that tells us that we have not subdued the nation. Until the principles, the values, the virtues of the kingdom of God have been accepted as a normal way of life in our society. So this is what it means to go and teach them to observe and to do all things whatsoever that he has commanded us. It is so that we can teach the nations, our own nation, all of the principles of scripture that are important to transform our nation. So we are anointed, we are anointed to do this. Pharaoh was in search of a man who could handle the economy of Egypt in the time of farming. The Bible says that he actually asked for a man who had the anointing of God. They are anointing to deal with the economy, not the anointing to raise the dead or heal the sick. But it's the same anointing that you use to raise the dead or heal the sick that you can also use to heal the economy because it is the same God, the same spirit of God. The anointing is used in different ways. So if you look at Genesis 41 verse 38 to 40, Pharaoh said to his servants, can we find such a one as this, a man in whom the spirit, only in whom there is the spirit of God, can we find someone who has the spirit of God? In other words, can we find an anointed man of God? Can we find someone who is anointed?  And then Pharaoh said, look, God has already shown you all of these things. There's no one as designing as wise as you. You shall be over my house, over my people, and according to your word, only in this regard will you be, will I be superior to you. It was very clear that what God wanted and what God still wants is that the anointing which he has given each and every believer must be to transform our society in our own space. Whatever that space may be, 1st Corinthians 12 verse 4, 1st Corinthians 12 verse 4, all the way to 7, but the same spirit, there are diversities of gifts, but it's the same anointing. There are differences of ministries, but it's the same Lord. And there are diversities of activities, but it's the same God who works all in all. But the manifestation of the spirit is given to each one for the profit of all. We are anointed to be the best entertainers. We are anointed to be the best in technology and innovation. We are anointed to be the best in business, to be the most talented and creative entrepreneurs. That is the nature of the anointing of God. So we are already anointed. We have the spirit of God, the spirit of excellence as Pastor Emmanuel pointed out. All of these come with the anointing of God. So sometimes you ask ourselves, so how do we then operate? How can the principles, the values and the virtues of the kingdom become accepted as a way of life? Are there any examples in history, for example, where the gospel of Jesus Christ has transformed societies by the actions of men and women like yourself and myself? Yes, there are examples. There are good examples in history. Many of us who are, those of us who are students of history, have heard about the protestant reformation, the protestant reformation. When believers like you and I in Europe and in America and later Asia changed their world by observing the principles of scripture in their everyday lives. Some sociologists and historians, Ashton, for example, or Weber, all agree that even the industrial revolution and the prosperity of the West, prosperity of Europe and then America, were benefited greatly from the principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ, especially through the way that the gospel was preached first by the Puritans and how they practiced the gospel. The strict observance of gospel principles, especially righteous behavior, were so crucial. The way the believers worked in factories and offices led to the description of hard work, diligence, service and integrity as the Puritanica work ethic. In other words, because of the way Christians worked, because of the way they behaved, work itself, hard work, diligence was described as Puritanica work ethic. In other words, it was described as if hard work means the way Christians behaved. So the Germans, for example, in their catechisms, in churches, in those days, many of the protestant churches, they would take the 10 commandments, say for instance, thou shalt not steal and they will analyze it in detail. What does stealing mean? If you look at some of their catechisms, they will say, stealing means when you steal the time of your employer. For example, if you are praying when you should be working, they will say stealing and I use the example of praying when we are working because it's an example of doing something good at the wrong time. And they will give you different examples of stealing. And that was how they taught in the churches. So they would look at the various dimensions. If you even remember the invention of the mechanical clock, the invention of the mechanical, not the hourglass, the mechanical clock, was in Bavaria by Christians. They invented the clock so that they could be sure that people will work the hours that they were required to work. And pay a tithe. So the clock was important for that purpose. There was a French philosopher who was not even a Christian, Alex de Tocqueville, who was writing about what he discovered about America, why America was great. He said I looked around and he was talking, this was in the 18th century. He said I looked around in the 19th century. He said I looked around everywhere in America. I was wondering why is this country great. He said I looked at the harbors, I looked at the railways, I looked at everything. I was trying to find out why is this country great. He said I couldn't discover it until I got to their churches and discovered what they were preaching. And I realized that America is great because of what was being preached on their pulpits. What were they preaching on their pulpits? What were they preaching? What was being preached? Because if we ask ourselves what was being preached then we will know why the gospel transformed their society. The influence of the gospel was what transformed Europe and America and later on Asia. And I'll explain how come Asia, Asia beginning with Japan was an old established civilization. In fact, Asia and Japan and China were ahead of European civilization, Western civilization. They were well ahead, generations ahead. They were already writing when European civilization was still considered barbaric. They were writing, they had writing, they had all sorts of things. But by the 18th century the European civilization had taken over. So even the Japanese began to wonder why is it that these Europeans have suddenly moved ahead of us. For those who studied the history they will know that the reason was because of the gospel of Jesus Christ the transformative nature of the gospel and the various principles. And we'll look at those principles in one minute. But in 1871 Mpro Meiji of Japan just three years after what is called the Meiji Restoration gathered a group of people together, intellectual statesmen and people like that and 50 students. And he said go to the UK and America and find out what exactly is the reason why these people are great. They also came to negotiate treaties and all of that, they had three major objectives but I take the one objective that concerns us which is the reason for the greatness of Europe and the greatness of America. So that team of scholars went there. In fact of the 50 students many of the students were left behind to study. They started the principles that made these nations great. And as you know the Japanese copy very well. They copied those principles. Later China was to copy from Japan those same principles that made Europe great and made America great. What were those principles? The first principle is the principle of righteousness. Righteousness. And we've heard from Pastor Emmanuel already principle of integrity. Proverbs 14 verse 34 Righteousness exalts a nation but sin is a reproach to any people. Proverbs 13 verse 34 Righteousness exalts a nation but sin is a reproach to any people. The principle applies to a man or woman because a nation is first a person. So in Genesis 12 verse 2 A part of it, Genesis 12 verse 2 God speaking to Abraham says I will make you a great nation. So when we talk about a nation we talk first about the individual because every individual is actually a nation. So righteousness is the hallmark of the children of God. Righteousness exalts a nation. Yes we become righteous by grace. Scripture says in Matthew 6 verse 32 to 33 Scripture says that we are indeed after all the gentiles seek these things but your heavenly father knows that you need all of these things. These are the worldly things but seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you. We are already living in the righteousness of Christ. We are already in the righteousness of Christ but the true mark of the believer is that we are practicing righteousness that we are practicing it. First John 3 verse 10 this is what marks out the children of God. Say the children of God and the children of the devil the distinguishing factor whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God nor is he who does not love his brother. So righteousness, the practice of righteousness is what makes us out as true believers but what does this righteousness mean? What does it mean? I think first it means integrity. Matthew 5 verse 37 Matthew 5 verse 37 let your yes be yes and your no be no. Let it be clear where you stand. Let your yes be yes and your no be no. Honesty, forthrightness, trustworthiness we must be trustworthy we must be trustworthy if we are not trustworthy there is no way that we can truly benefit from everything that God has promised us and our nations cannot benefit we must be trustworthy the puritans which we have spoken about the born again Christians of those days were preferred for work they were the preferred candidates in interviews for work because everyone knew that they would be diligent and trustworthy it was impossible for them not to find work because they were considered trustworthy you can imagine a situation in Nigeria today if you were to say that in this place if we even say in the chapel of blessing every person who is here is trustworthy it will be impossible for us for the persons not to find work impossible because everybody is in search of trustworthy people we are all in search of honest people to work with or to work for us we are looking for honest partners even thieves that I always say are looking for honest people to keep their money with even thieves yes everybody is looking for honest people honest men and women we are all in search of honest people what does integrity mean it means respect for credit and obligation and I was so excited when Pastor Emmanuel talked about the fund that was created in his church to assist and empower people and what happened to the fund I have experienced a very similar thing anyone who is a pastor who has pastor for any length of time I have experienced it because we all do these things in fact in my own church when the first church I pastor after we had done it many people did not pay back but what was worse was that at vigils people will now begin to pray that those who are old those who you owe should forget the debt has a kind of prayer that people now start praying so you now have to tell them the scripture says the wicked borrows and does not repay Sam 37 verse 21 the wicked borrows and does not repay that's what Sam 37 verse 21 says when you borrow repay because if you don't repay how will we be able to give others from that same credit respect for credit and obligation is an important spiritual principle very important spiritual principle integrity we must show that we are able we must show that we are honest law and that we are trustworthy we must show that we are trustworthy I'll never forget how I'm sure some of us know of a bookstore in Lagos the bookstore is owned by pastor Remy Morgan one of our pastors in 1995 when we were all at the Redeemed Christian Church of God we all he started a business business of buying and selling Christian books he started with Bibles at the time he was trying to order Bibles from abroad but nobody was prepared to give credit to Nigerians nobody even to buy Bibles he said no no no because so many people had come bought Bibles sold Bibles and didn't return money this was people buying Bibles but somehow he got favor and started to get some Bibles on credit because he paid back because he consistently paid back his credit became bigger and bigger he was able to expand the bookstore today I believe that bookstore is definitely the leading Christian bookstore in the whole of the country even in West Africa the leading bookstore because of the consistency of an individual who chose to have integrity the whole world is waiting for people of integrity and without integrity there is very little we can do same goes for savings and investments I'm not going to talk about that principle but the second principle which we also need to practice is the principle of service and diligence and I'm talking about the principles that made other nations great the same principles that the Japanese saw when they went on that visit to the United Kingdom and to America the same principles the principles of service and diligence this is the principle of the Gospel that says that the greatest person is the servant the leader must be prepared to be the servant of all Mark 10 verse 43 to 45 Mark 10 verse 43 to 45 he says it shall not be so among you but whoever desires to be great among you shall be your servant and whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave of all for even the son of man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many so being a servant being ready to be a servant in fact the word minister although these days we are honorable to it the word minister actually means servant so we are supposed to be servants if we want to be leaders the other feature of it is hard work and planning hard work and planning that's the other feature of service and diligence hard work and planning is the hallmark of the Christian hard work and planning the puritans those old believers were so hardworking and so diligent that hard work as I've said earlier was named after them the Puritanic work ethic many historians and sociologists attribute the economic development of the west to that work ethic that ethic of hard work we are as believers dedicated, loyal, loyal, honest because the reason why we are loyal the reason why we are honest is because we do not serve man we serve God in whatever position we find ourselves we report to God not to man we report to God that is the reason why we cannot but be loyal we cannot but be trustworthy we cannot but be hardworking we cannot but be diligent we are not under man we are under God that's the reason whatever anybody may say however anybody may choose to look at it our responsibility is first and foremost to the one who created us and to the one who gave us a new life to God Almighty that's our responsibility that is why we cannot afford the other thing is planning look 14 verse 28 look 14 verse 28 it says for which of you intending to build a tower does not first sit down and count the cost whether it has enough to finish it or not so planning is a normal part of our own existence as Christians planning is basic for us hard work is basic John 9 verse 4 hard work is basic Jesus said I must work the works of Him who sent me while it is day the night is coming when no one can work hard work is so basic it is so fundamental to the way that we operate if a Christian is not hardworking he cannot rightly describe himself as a Christian because it's the basic part of our work and this is why Jesus himself said but he came here to work and that while it is day in other words why we have strength we must work that's the whole purpose of work that's the whole purpose of being here we must work you know sometimes because of the way we preach young men and young women today believe that life should be a function of miracles I was talking to her excellency on our way here it's about miracles if somebody comes to church and gives a testimony and he says praise the Lord brothers and sisters I started my business 2 years ago now God has helped me I have now bought an Okada but nobody will clap you will look at him as you have looked at me now nobody will clap is that a testimony but if the same fellow comes and says praise the Lord I started my business 2 years ago now if you look at that black jeep outside there it is the one the Lord has given me people will stand up and clap they will not ask the question how did you how how did you do it how did you go and buy when did you get the money by what means was it honest no, nobody wants to ask that question what the scripture teaches us is that we are supposed to build whatever it is we are doing line by line precept by precept nobody suddenly just becomes rich it is very it is most likely a dishonest most likely a dishonest thing anybody who shows up and says suddenly I became rich we have to ask a question nobody suddenly becomes rich it is line by line people build businesses the reason why businesses have survived all over the world business the reason why believers were able to come forth with testimony is because they built their businesses line by line precept by precept if we begin to preach a gospel that gives people the impression that they can just suddenly become rich we are misleading people that is not the gospel of Jesus Christ we are misleading them it is line by line precept by precept and that is what the scripture tells us that is what the gospel tells us that is how all over the world the big businesses built by Christians all over the world were based mainly on hard work and many of those businesses survived till this day the other principle in service and diligence is time consciousness time consciousness acroxiasis 3 vs 1 to everything there is a season a time for every purpose under heaven to every to everything for the season there is a time for every purpose under the earth we must be conscious of time whatever it is we must be prepared we must be conscious of time and so all of these principles were the sort of principles that made all of these countries great because the believers in those countries took their responsibilities seriously and whatever space they were in whether it was education or business or politics they took their place and they were serious but let me say something that is so important and that believers must accept as part of the responsibilities were there in 2 Timothy 3 vs 12 to 13 2 Timothy 3 vs 12 to 13 the scripture says yes all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution anybody who wants to practice righteousness in the marketplace whatever that marketplace may be whether it is business or politics wherever if you want to practice righteousness you will suffer persecution scripture says but evil men will grow and imposters will grow worse and worse deceiving and being deceived but it says if you are going to practice righteousness in the marketplace you must be persecuted if you are not persecuted there is a problem perhaps we are compromising persecution is a part of righteousness look at the society such as ours where over time corruption has been accepted as a way of life if you don't accept the corruption wherever you are whether you are in politics government or business you will be persecuted that's how it works you will be persecuted there is no way you will not be persecuted if people agree if the rule is that there should be corruption and you don't follow that rule then you will be persecuted if the rule in a place is that oh we take bribes here we collect it into a pool and we share it you the Christian who says I will not participate you will be persecuted that's how it works but the important thing to bear in mind always the important thing to bear in mind always is that we are designed to win in the end that's the design of God we are designed we are designed to win and there is no way we will not win there is no way there is no way that righteousness will not prevail there is no way righteousness will prevail there is no way the major thing is that we must be prepared we must be prepared to take the persecution if we are not prepared to take the persecution as they say if you want to if you join them I am trying to remember if you can't beat them that's what but that is not the place of the Christian oh no no no no the place of the Christian is to stand and stand and remain standing and we will prevail there is no question at all in my mind that we will prevail whether it's in politics in government or wherever it is that you are working whatever that sphere of influence is you will prevail because I've had experience in government my experience in government I have served in the state I'm now serving in the federal government and I'm fully confident because I've seen it seen it time and time again what we are supposed to do is do what we are supposed to be loyal be faithful be honest, be forthright stand because everything is going to come at you it will come at you but the scripture says we are neither dismayed nor fearful we cannot be dismayed or fearful because every one of those battles God Himself has said the battle is mine so I want to urge all of us to be able to stand wherever it is take your position and remain there people who are going to attack they will say all sorts of things but take your position and remain there God is able if God be for us who can be against us and I urge you remain standing wherever you are even if you are falling stand up again no matter how many times stand up God Almighty is ready He is ready He is prepared at all times He has no problems whatsoever He has seen this before nothing surprises him whatever you are going through you have seen it before and you will prevail in the end in the mighty name of the Lord Jesus Christ let's just stand up and we'll just take one single prayer point we'll just pray unto the Lord we'll just say just ask the Lord Lord God Almighty say after me Lord God Almighty thank you for your work today I ask that you will help me where I am functioning today help me to stand help me to stand help me to prevail help me to prevail help me to win the battle is yours thank you Almighty God in Jesus mighty name we have prayed amen praise the Lord


Hi everyone, Joe for jaskiescasebrakes.com coming at you with a random number block randomizer for Diamond Icons Baseball Picker Team 17. That's coming up in a separate video. There's two different ones we're doing here, randomizers for this one features this group of teams. So remember, zero gets you any and all redemptions and including one of one redemptions for that group of teams right there. One will still get live one of ones. Big thanks to this group for making it happen. Congrats again to the winners and that one filler we did. There are the numbers right there. Let's roll it, randomized names and numbers, three and a six, nine times. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, and ninth and final time. Got Michael down to Jose. Three and a six, nine times for the numbers, one, two, and ninth and final time. We got zero down to nine. All right, so Michael with zero, you'll get any and all redemptions for that group of teams highlighted in that tab there, including one of one redemptions. Carl, you'll still get live one of ones for that group of teams. Michael with four, Brittany with three, Logan with two, Carl with five, Brittany with seven, Carl with nine, Brittany with eight, Jose with six. Sort by number and we'll see you in the next video for the break, jaspyscasebreaks.com.


Five. Give me a high five. Yes. You're getting all those positive emotional juices flowing as those strange YouTube people keep talking about. I don't I don't understand where they're coming from. I'm supposed to like point my butthole up to the sun and recharge my spiritual energy. I don't think so. I don't think that's very scientific. Change. Yes. Changing things. We think of autism.  They're going to go into meltdown. They're going to go shut down. They're going to get all these kind of things. And yeah, if our mental health is bad and life is a bit up and down and we don't really know where we are, sure. Quick changes on the spot is probably going to cause us a lot of anxiety. For me, I I've had experiences where I have to cope with a lot of change. Consistently.


Welcome to the first show of 2021 for the Global Report. I'm your host Loli. We have back with us today Mr. Steve O'Koon, a former official in the Clinton administration and current advisor at McClarty. Welcome back Steve. Thank you for having me back. Now Steve, the last time we chatted we were still discussing the prospects of the U.S. presidential election and now we have Biden poised to step into the presidency next week. Yes, I mean it is certainly in circumstances no one ever foresaw this attack on the capital led and fueled by Donald Trump is going to change everything. It's going to change not only domestic politics in the U.S. it's going to have a large impact on U.S. foreign policy what Biden had wanted to do and now what Biden can do going forward. Well you know that's exactly what I want to get your take on today is American policy under Biden.  So for one thing the image the values the influence of U.S. leadership abroad have been severely corroded and I know Washington's focus is probably not going to be on Europe but let's start with Europe. During Trump time he's left a bunch of tariffs on the continent. Do you see Biden reversing some of those tariffs. Yeah, I look I mean Biden is going to take a fundamentally different approach in two ways. First, he's not going to attack our allies. So there are trade tensions when it comes to subsidies between the U.S. in the EU between the U.S. and and Canada India, other allies but but how Trump has gone about addressing those is completely wrong. It was counterproductive and certainly they're going to be addressed very differently under a Biden administration when it comes to working with our allies globally. He is also going to take a fundamentally different approach when it comes to a multilateral approach to foreign policy as opposed to the unilateral approach so it is going to be a sea change and that change will occur faster. In Europe then it will occur in Asia because of the long standing relationship and because generally speaking the countries are and should be aligned on foreign policy and trade policy although with some significant differences. Now just to hold you to my first question because I'm really curious how he's going to address this is kind of delicate because on one hand he has to keep in mind that it's the Roosevelt states like Michigan like Pennsylvania that help to secure his election win. And on the other hand I don't think this escalation of tariffs with Europe is going to go very far. So how do you think he's going to resolve this tariff issues with Europe is he going to reverse some of those tariffs. Well I for sure he's going to reverse some of them but the question is it's a negotiation. And I think we need to keep in mind that while Donald Trump was a disaster as a president from a foreign policy perspective it doesn't mean that every action he took didn't have some basis or justification under under US law there are subsidies that take place in Europe that need to be addressed there is some market opening in Europe that needs to be addressed but the way to do that is not through unilateral tariffs it is it is to negotiate an agreement and I think you're going to see that negotiation. Well the issue is the bandwidth of of the US government is is limited by the amount of resources it has internally and you have so many pressing matters across the entire world it's hard to say well are we going to start negotiating with Europe first or is it going to be China. Is it going to be back to the WTO all of these things need to be addressed so I I think hard to say what's going to come first but the approach is going to be different the ultimate outcome. You can see generally where we're headed with Europe. OK fair enough. Now let's let's move on to the defense and security. I know that European allies have been debating an independent security path. So on one hand we have France who's advocating for strategic autonomy while defrosting relations with Moscow. In the middle we've got Germany who's saying no no no don't push the United States away and then we've got the Baltic States. We got Poland who's seen no alternative to US military presence. What can Biden administration expect from NATO and vice versa. Well I think this ties into a bit of more. What are the Europeans expectations of the United States. Does Europe believe and this is a global question. Is the US back to its its pre Trump approach to foreign policy or is the US going to have a chance for years from now to return to Donald Trump's version of America first which is unilateral and its isolationist. And if the European allies do not believe that after that after one term of Biden we could come back to to President Trump or a Trump like foreign policy. They are going to have to pursue some more of an independent course. And so you're going to see what happens in in Washington when it comes to handling the insurrection on January 6 have a large impact on how allies and competitors view the United States not just for the Biden administration but beyond the Biden administration. All right. Well let's move on to Middle East. The messy can of worms. Maybe we can start with Iran. I know that the incoming Secretary of State Blinken said that Biden's going to be doing less not more in the Middle East. But we have heard this kind of vocal pledges many times in the past about pulling back from Middle East. So looking at Iran do you think Biden's going to go back to the nuclear deal. Well I mean you have to presume he's going to to take a multilateral approach unlike the Trump administration. It was the Obama Biden administration that negotiated the nuclear deal. The presumption is that that approach isn't going to change. You have to ask yourself what is Iran going to do because that is going to dictate a lot of it. But you should see a multilateral approach to bringing Iran into constraints is opposed to trying to use sanctions against Iran and sanctions against your own allies to force Iranian behavior to change which has never worked. So I think it's safe to say you're going to see that same multilateral approach from the Obama administration into the Biden administration. It's the multilateral approach of Republicans and Democrats before before the Trump administration. So sure that that should revert back to that form. But will there be a deal. When would there be a deal. What would be in the deal. What is Iran going to do. All of that is going to take a lot of time.  Well it's certainly possible depending on what Iran has done since the agreement has been broken. So I mean I think that's the type of thing you have to say that this administration this incoming administration is going to go back to a fact based negotiation and the facts take you where you need to go on on any agreement with sufficient constraints. So that's what we're going to have to watch over the next coming year or so when it comes to the Iran deal. You know just to tackle your earlier question about what you think Iran is going to do. You know I think Rouhani is a reformist. I see him interacting and engaging US diplomatically. The group of people I'm watching is those religious conservatives because they are in an internal struggle with Rouhani. So I think that is the group of people that has the potential to prevent the next deal from happening. And that's the point. I think all the questions are what's Biden going to do on Iran. What's Biden going to do on China. What's Biden going to do on Europe. The question is as much if not more. What is she going to do in China. What's going to happen politically in Iran. What's going to happen politically in Germany in France and the others. So that is the question that you have to ask in addition to what is the Biden approach going to be. And until you can understand that's part of the equation. You really can't predict what's going to happen. You would hope that a Biden administration and a willingness to come back to a traditional multilateral foreign policy is going to give room to the reform reformers. So if you can say that the reformers in Iran to have more authority. But Iranian politics is going to play out very differently in it beyond what's going to happen in DC. Okay.  I want to call attention to the Saudi led war in Yemen. I mean despite the horrendous humanitarian cost of the Saudi led war in Yemen. The US has continued to be the main supplier of bombs to Saudi Arabia. So I know under Trump ties were very cozy with Saudi.  And you know maybe instead of turning a blind eye and keep up with the lucrative arms sales do something with Saudi. It is also will Saudi see this as a as a reason to change as well. Is there going to be an opening for them to take the steps that they need to stake internally and in terms of of the you know the wars that are occurring the battles if not outright wars that are occurring across you know the Middle East. It's only when when when the you know the Trump administration is on the way out the door that they start taking actions different actions in Yemen. And yet is that going to lead to even more of a humanitarian crisis. The Biden administration has so much on its plate to deal with. And you can't ignore what's happening in the US domestically right now as to how much they can do all at once and what priorities they are going to take. Yeah. Well we're going to touch on the domestic issues just a little bit later. Well let's do a pivot to Asia because I know this is going to be a consequential part of the world for decades to come. But unlike Obama time. And I think if Biden would choose to focus his efforts here in Asia like you said you know US is more constrained financially that would mean that he has to scale back US in other theaters like Europe and Middle East. So is he prepared to do that. Well again there's there's what are you going to do in terms of a multilateral approach and what are you going to do in terms of of a trade approach. I mean I think if you look at where the US is today is to where it was before Donald Trump came into office. And from a trade and economic perspective what has occurred. Right. You've got the TPP goes forward without the US. The regional comprehensive economic partnership agreement of 15 countries including China Japan ASEAN and Australia comes together without the US. You have the EU and China now negotiating a trade deal without the US. The US is out in the cold. It is much worse off today economically than it was four years ago. It's no better if not worse when it comes to China because what has occurred there. All of the unfair trade practices that China had been engaging in that led up to the tariffs that Donald Trump has opposed are still in play and China's economy continues to grow. So we've gotten nowhere with China and then if you want to throw in national security. No progress or we've gone backwards on North Korea we've gone backwards in the South China Sea. So what is it that the Biden administration can do to try and undo all of the damage that the Trump administration has done. It has to come back to a multilateral approach working with allies to try and figure out how do you address all of these issues you have from an economic perspective and a security perspective that the Trump administration has only made worse over the past four years. Now Steve I keep hearing you say I mentioned this multilateral approach and I concur with you on that. I'm just I can't help but wonder is that enough because you know Steve when I look at Biden's foreign policy team I see a lot of Obama alumni. And so on one hand yes they have the experience but on the other hand like you said the world has changed China has changed U.S. has changed since 2016. So with this quasi Obama team are they simply going to dust off the old playbook or can we expect them to come on with a stronger stomach for competition because that is the reality of international relations. OK well if you look at what happened let's go back to the towards the end of the Obama administration. The long standing U.S. approach to China had been changing right you you had a approach of you know let's accommodate and engage with China and that started you know in the 70s and certainly went through Republican and Democratic administrations through the China through the midpoint of the Obama administration but then the realization came clear that the approach of accommodating and engaging with China was not going to produce any change in terms of China's unfair and anti competitive behavior against foreign businesses U.S. and others alike. And so that approach started to change under Obama changed most significantly with the TPP where it said let's take a multilateral approach and we're going to either force China if they want to be part of the regional trade architecture to meet the the rules that we all agree upon or they can go and be outside of it. And that is the approach that was starting to work and then it is the one that Donald Trump utterly destroyed with his withdrawal from the TPP and then everything he did for the four years thereafter. So yes a multilateral approach can work but it's going to be something that is going to take time. The second thing I think that has changed significantly in the past four years that the Biden administration is going to recognize is that the countries here are not waiting for U.S. leadership. They are moving forward. They are not going to be dictated to by the U.S. and they're certainly not going to be dictated to by China. It's why the TPP went forward without the U.S. and without China. And you're going to see a continued agency within the members of ASEAN and Japan and Australia and hopefully India in moving forward. They want the U.S. to be part of that approach. But if the U.S. isn't going to be part of that approach they'll move forward on their own. But with the Biden administration the U.S. will be part of that approach. And it's why I think a multilateral framework in 2021 is going to be more impactful than the one that we had that really kind of started in 2015-2016. Yeah so when I look at U.S. and China I see that they are squabbling more than ever over many issues. They fight over trade, technology, espionage, COVID-19, China's policy on Xinjiang, Tibet, Taiwan, Hong Kong and the South China Sea. But I'm just thinking some of these issues seem to be more bilateral than multilateral. Do you see Biden having the capability to bring China to the table and to seek some common ground because he's someone I see who is very capable of giving and taking and seeing things beyond zero sum? Well I am going to disagree with the premise of the question in saying these are U.S.-China issues. These are not U.S.-China issues. These are issues for Japan, they're issues for Australia, they're issues for India, they're issues for most of the countries and should be but for all of them but certainly most of them in Asia. This is not a U.S.-China issue. This is where Trump failed miserably and that people call this a U.S.-China trade war. It's Trump's trade war. It isn't. These are actions that China has taken against many different actors and so it's going to take many different actors to come together who are willing to do so to make those changes. Now you also have to keep in mind China is critical. It is the most critical market for most businesses in Asia. It's probably the second most critical market for many businesses of the United States and of the EU and otherwise and so you have to engage with China. You have to find a way to engage with them in a way that leads to a, you know, use a Chinese phrase, you know, a win-win and that is possible. China does need to make changes for its own domestic economy when it comes to IPR protection. It needs to make changes in terms of how it is going to handle technology. It doesn't want to be cut off. It doesn't want to have its technology cut off from the world. So there's incentives for both sides to cooperate. But there's also times where China needs to be confronted and that's the balance that the Biden administration is going to have to find and it's going to be better to find that not on its own but working with its partners. Well, I will say this as an ASEAN national. I think we appreciate when Trump pushed back against China in the South China Sea. But looking at, looking at ASEAN, I mean speaking again from ASEAN national, you know, I think we support U.S. military presence in the region. But we want, we're deserters of a lower temperature between U.S. and China because the last we want is to be the gross upon which the great power elephants trample on. So listening to you though, Steve, I have to raise this because, because until U.S. resources get on par with its rhetoric, I think we are going to remain skeptical in Southeast Asia because while China is doing more with more, U.S. cannot be doing more with less. Well, and I mean with a one, it's just not ASEAN that's skeptical about the United States. It's the whole world that's skeptical about the United States, especially after what happened with the insurrection on the Capitol and Trump's continuation so far in power in so far having support amongst the majority of the Republican Party. So you have, that's a global issue. The other issue you have, though, is that I think ASEAN recognizes that it needs to chart its own course. It needs to move forward. It's why when the U.S. left the TPP, everyone thought it was over, but it wasn't over and it wasn't over because of leaders like, you know, Prime Minister Abe in Tokyo, but also leaders like Prime Minister Lee here in Singapore. And so you're going to continue to see where it can ASEAN lead as much as possible. And that's, you saw that again with the RCEP, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership. It is a mistake to call that a China-led agreement. It is at least as much led by ASEAN and by Japan as it was by China. So ASEAN recognizes it needs to chart its own course and whether, or as much as it can, ideally with the United States as a partner, but if not, it's going to go forward as best it can on its own. I think ASEAN is charting its own course. I mean, we're hedging our bets whether U.S. like it or not. So on one hand, we are staying the good grace of the United States. On the other hand, we're keeping our options open for China and other U.S. rivals. So I think we're doing just that. But do you think the U.S. is going to come back to the TPP? It is a very difficult for the U.S. to come back to the TPP in part for two reasons. One, under U.S. law, the authority to negotiate new trade agreements expires this summer, and it's doubtful that Congress is going to renew that. So that would mean that the U.S. would have to come back more or less to the existing TPP, which it won't, because it doesn't have the change. It doesn't have the provisions in there, especially when it comes to labor, when it comes to the environment, when it comes to tax. And now the question is, are the countries here just going to accept all of those changes from the U.S. without any negotiation? That will be very difficult to do. So I don't see the U.S. coming back to the TPP in year one or two of the Biden administration. You can see some sector-specific deals. Maybe you can see a digital trade agreement that the U.S. could join. So there are ways to come back to ASEAN, to come back to trade agreements without the TPP. And I think that's the more likely first step for the Biden administration, at least for its first two years. I think it's right for us to temple our expectations, because U.S. has got its plate full domestically. You and I know that he has to hit the ground running to deal with the pandemic, to deal with the economy, to deal with the polarization, and I guess the side effects of impeachment of Trump, right? Well, I think that's actually the most important thing that isn't getting enough attention right now. There is going to be two issues coming forward. One is, can you trust the United States after Biden leaves office as to whom the next president is going to be? Because the U.S. has a bad track record of living up to agreements. It wasn't in Kyoto. It was in Paris, and then it was out of Paris. It was in the Iran deal. It was out of the Iran deal. It was in TPP. It was out of TPP.  I'm going to do what needs to be done on trade agreements like labor rights, like more environmental protections. But then to see the U.S. leave it, and then my domestic constituency is opposed to me, so I've paid a political price and gained nothing for it. So the U.S. is going to need to show that it is back on track from a bipartisan approach when it comes to trade and foreign policy. The only way it is going to do that is if Donald Trump is held liable for what happened when it came to his insurrection, that the Republican Party joins the Democratic Party in impeaching, convicting, and disqualifying him from office, and that you can then trust that even if Joe Biden's a one-term president, whoever replaces him on the Republican side is going to continue along the same lines as Joe Biden did on a bipartisan foreign policy. Because if you don't, and if there is the threat that Donald Trump can run for office and win in 2024, why would you make any deal with the United States within the next four years? Well, Steve, I think you are making that statement on the assumption that once Trump is gone, Trumpism is gone. Well, Trumpism is going to be diminished if you have a Republican Party come together and say Trumpism is not welcome here, and if you say we are going to punish the people in the Party who have been supporting him or at least disown them, and so splinter off the Trump part of the Republican Party, which right now is a large part of it, and then try and build back up that center-right conservative Republican Party, which the country needs, then you can go forward. Now, if Donald Trump has nothing happening to him, and he starts running for president literally January 21, the day after the inauguration, it is going to be much worse. So the question is, where do countries, competitors and allies alike see the United States going over the next four years, because that is going to determine how much they're willing to trust a Biden administration? You know, Steve, it's been part and parcel of every American policy to spread its ideas of Western democracy far and wide. But after last week's riot, do you see America exercising a little bit more restraint and pulling back and saying, you know, maybe our way is not the best way after all, and definitely not for everybody? Well, I think what you're going to see is that there's a significant wake-up call in the United States that we have to address our issues. We have to address social media. We have to address hyper-partisanship. We have to address voting rights. We have to address gerrymandering. And so I do think that there is a wake-up call for enough people in the United States that there is going to be that we need to, you know, walk the walk in addition to talking the talk. Will the Biden administration had talked about having a summit for democracy? Is that still going to occur? I don't know if it did. What does that mean? But, and I think this is the most important thing that I hope comes out of January 6th, is that you saw a president of the United States bring together and incite a mob to overthrow the government, and it failed and the institutions held. And I hope that is the narrative that comes forward, is that as flawed as the United States is, our system held, our system held, and that type of system is the one that works well at least for the United States. Yeah, I'm definitely not dismissing the tragedy that I think one good that came out of the riot is that it did open up the eyes of many of Trump's followers. Well, our time is up, Steve. Thank you so much for the generosity of your time and for contributing your highly-valued expert input to the conversation. Thank you so much. Thanks for having me again, Lily. And next time, hopefully I'll be in Hawaii for our next interview. Yeah, I hope so too. Well, that's Steve O'Koon's near-visit of McClarty. Thank you.


11 strikeouts tonight. Just what do you think led to that level of success for you on the bounce tonight? Yeah, I feel like early on when I was racking up the strikeouts, I feel like my command was on point. I Think I didn't really miss much with you know the the fastball which got me going And you know, you know, there's certain type of pitches there through the outing that Were what commanded and then and that's what what what led me to the level strikeouts Erin Boone mentioned your cutter said it was fantastic tonight. Just how much of a role did you think that played in tonight? yeah, it was huge, you know, we started back during a few cutters and and You know, we just kept rolling from there But the cutter was on point today and I was I was I was happy to command it so well Can you just describe what it's like when you're having your way with an opposing batting order like that? It seems like you were on and off the mound very quickly every every inning. Yeah, I mean, you know Defense stay alive one when when the pitcher works quick I'm you know, typically the pitcher that works quick So I like to keep it going keep the momentum moving and and and and get my team a chance to win Nester just what's the range of emotion in the dugout from the bottom of the eighth inning when they kind of Shockingly take the lead to you guys get it a back on the on the gardener single Yeah, definitely, you know, we were in shock obviously, but you know, what's once the guys came in from the dugout from the field You know, everybody, you know trying to get up Attitude get going because it's not over. Obviously, everybody knows the lineup that we have and how dangerous we can be And you know Luke Luke and labor had really to get a bat and and wait stealing that that that bag for us was huge It just changed the guard's approach completely and and I feel like, you know, guard is is a guy that's going to get it done And and if not, he's going to try his best. So I'm happy worked out