The Kraft Foods Company, makers of Parquet margarine, presents Willard Waterman as the great Gildesleeve. Great Gildesleeve is brought to you transcribed by the Kraft Foods Company. The women of America paid quite a compliment to Kraft's Parquet margarine last year. You like Parquet so well, and you serve it so often, you made it the best-selling margarine in the whole country. Here's why Parquet is such a great favorite everywhere. It's the margarine that looks wonderful, tastes wonderful, and spreads smoothly, even when ice cold. Why don't you serve Parquet regularly at your house? Remember to get the quality margarine made by Kraft, delicious Parquet margarine. Mr. Gildesleeve's dating time has been pretty well taken up with Miss Tuttle, a school teacher, but today a long black car switched up to the house across the street, and that pretty Miss Paula Winthrop stepped out. Now Birdie's anxious to see what's going to happen when Mr. Gildesleeve comes home. Even to Mr. Gildesleeve?  Hang on to your heart now, I'll tell you. My heart? Yes. That eight passenger hot rod was driven by an old flame of yours. You mean, can it be? It is. Paula Winthrop? In the flesh and in the ferns. Yeah. There wasn't another passenger with her, was there Birdie? No, sir, she's still single. Just a neighborly interest. Yes. Hi, everybody! Hello, my boy. Hello, Leroy. Leroy, Mrs. Winthrop is home. Yeah, I know. Well, you see babs every day. Why didn't you tell me her mother was coming? I didn't think you'd be interested, Aunt. The way you've been dating Miss Tunnel. Well, like I told Birdie, a neighborly interest. Love's my neighbor, huh? Oh. What's Miss Tunnel gonna say?  Young man. Another one of her ships must have come in. Oh? I was talking to the housekeeper over there, and she said Miss Winthrop spent the whole winter on the beach in Florida. That is when she wasn't out in the ocean on a yacht. Yeah, Paula always did know how to live. Yes, sir, yachting, swimming, dancing, deep sea fishing. She doesn't have to go to Florida for fish. She's got one on the line right here. Young man, watch it. I have a date with Miss Tunnel tonight. Mr. Gilsey just likes to look, Leroy. I'll say he looks like all of them. Yes, yes. But just because his head's on a swivel, don't mean he ain't got a loyal heart. Thank you, Birdie. Yes, sir. Mr. Gilsey, you know what you got? You got a swivel head and a loyal heart. There's a light in the window for me. You fine defendable girl. Not as glamorous and cosmopolitan as Paula Winthrop, perhaps, but... My George, I'll bet Paula led quite a life this winter down in Florida. Yeah, I'm pretty proud of myself. We're not rushing over there the way a lot of pushy ex-boyfriends would. And yieldlessly, you have Karen. Oh, hello, Stratmorton. Hello, Gray. Come in. My, it's been so long since I've seen you. Yeah, last night at the faculty chess party. Well, what'll we do tonight? Oh, I thought we wouldn't go out after such an exciting time last night. Uh, sit down, Stratmorton. No, I just sit. I feel like kicking up my heels. Oh. How about a movie? Couldn't we save that for tomorrow night? Tomorrow night? Well... As a matter of fact, I got some popcorn this afternoon. I plan to fix that and make you some hot chocolate.  Why not go out and get something to eat? Why spend your money when I have everything here? What's a little money? Now, this isn't like you not wanting to sit home by the fire and pop corn. And winter will soon be over. Yeah. By the way, Grace, you've never spent the winter in Florida, have you? Florida? No, why? I just wondered if you'd ever been South. No, I spent one winter teaching school in Southern Indiana.  No. Well, nothing like vacationing in Florida.  No, but a good friend of mine just got back. Well, pal, I have seen. Oh, Grace, let's admit that we get in a rut sometimes. I don't consider myself in a rut. But we always do the same dull things. Let's not be afraid to grab some of the glamorous things of life. All right. Tonight, I'll put a marshmallow in your hot chocolate. Oh, my goodness. I slept a lot last night. Home at 10 o'clock. And I think I'll stop in and see if anything interesting has happened to P.D. Hello, P.D. Hello, Mr. Jonas Green. What can I do for you this morning? Well, I was on my way to the office, so I thought I'd stop in and see what's new. Man, I just opened a new container at Tooty Fruity. You care for a cone? You know I wouldn't eat an ice cream cone on the way to the office. Yeah, I put it in a carton and you can eat it after you get there. P.D., stop trying to sell me ice cream. I'm still full of marshmallows. Okay. Yeah, I had a lot of marshmallows last night. I wondered if you were eating them for breakfast. No. I spent a very dull evening, P.D. Bang a towel for you? No, I was with Miss Tuttle. It doesn't sound like a dull evening to me. Well, it just occurred to me that grace is very complacent about life. Things can get pretty monotonous that way. Have you started making comparisons already, Mr. Jonas Green? What's this? I noticed Mrs. Winthrop's back in town. Did you see that car she's driving? Get a car? I thought it was a Pullman coach. Right, George. She lives in a different world. Very interesting girl. Yes, she is. It's hard to dislike a pretty girl with money. P.D., I think I ought to drop over there and say hello. Just for old time's sake. You might even take her out. That's not your favorite place to entertain the ladies.  Well, P.D., a girl like Paula has to be taken to the best places and shown off. Well, if you're going to be a show-off, it'll cost money. I'm not trying to show off. I'm just stepping up into the big league. Mr. Jonas Green, I wonder if the water commissioner shouldn't stick to his own little pond. Well, I said, helping that big league, they spend money like water. All you have is the water. Nonsense, P.D. You don't know anything about people like that. You never had any contact with big money. That's what you think. Oh, I used to go with a girl whose father owned a local hotel and livery stable. Oh, my goodness. In fact, we used to go in her buggy. What does that have to do with Paula and me? I'm trying to tell you I could have married Miss Applegate. Miss Applegate? But instead, I married Mrs. Baby and I've never lived to regret it. Good. Of course, I haven't lived much either. Why should I get too interested in the girl who's here today and then Palm Beach tomorrow? George, that's a big car over there in Paula's driveway. It's a temptation. No, I'll just forget Paula Winterfus in town. I'll go in the house, call Grace, and make a date with her for tonight. After all, I've been going with Grace for a year now. What's wrong with an occasional evening of chess with the faculty? They're munching popcorn and marshmallows. Oh. Grace, this is Dr. Morton. Oh, Dr. Morton, how nice to hear your voice. You're about the movie tonight. I hope you're still interested in going. I'd love to go. Great. I wasn't sure you felt like going. Oh, yes, indeed. Looking forward to it. So I'll pick you up about the usual time. I'll be waiting. Yeah, I'll be there. Goodbye. Bye, Dr. Morton. Well, that's that. No, I've got to be there. Hey, Esberty. I didn't know you were home. Yeah, I'm home. When you come home, you usually say I'm home. Yeah, well. So you know why I didn't know you were home? Because you didn't say I'm home. My mind was on making a phone call, Bertie. Yes, sir. Didn't come home early to see me this winter, did you? Well, I did think I'd run over there. Then I said, why waste the time? You call that wasting time? You have. That woman gets pretty every year. She does? Yes, sir. I got a close-up view today. You've been over there? Well, I went over there to return a pie pan, which I thought was bad. And after I got over there, I found out it wasn't mine all the time. Bertie, you were just curious. Yes, sir. And I did something about it. Well, by George, I'm going to do something about it. You know, Harmon's saying hello to Paula. I don't have to make a date with her. I've got to date with her. Yeah. Hello, Paula. Remember me. Why, Throckmorton. How nice to see you. Yes, thank you. Oh, won't you come in? Well, for a minute. Oh, fine. I thought I should come over and welcome you back to Summerfield. Well, you're very sweet. I hope you don't mind the disorder. I'm still unpacking. No, no, not at all. Go right ahead. You're looking wonderful, Throckmorton. Well, I'd never know you. You're so tanned, you know. I've lost a little. Paula, you haven't lost a thing.  You know, I've never seen you. You look so beautiful. Well, thank you. She's prettier than ever. I suppose Florida agrees with me. Well, we can't offer you anything like that in Summerfield. No beach, no yachting. All we have is the reservoir. Perhaps you'd like to go out there some moonlight night. Is there a moon tonight? Tonight? Well, I was only joking. I wouldn't take you to a place as corny as the reservoir. Well, I'd like to see something of Summerfield. Seems I've been away for ages. Yeah, we've missed you. What's there to do in town now? Well, Irving Hostetter and his hip-cats are still playing in the crystal room. We might celebrate your return by going to dinner and dancing sometime. I mean, when it's convenient for all concerned. I have no plan for tonight if you want to go dancing. Tonight? Well? I know. I'll wear the dress I was wearing in this picture. Picture? Yes, here. I just unpacked it. It was taken at the Yacht Club. I don't care where it was taken. Let's go. Just a moment. Last year, when the Kraft folks made a special offer to families serving delicious Parquet margarine, women saved almost a million dollars on Power's Model nylon stocking. 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You have a choice of six sizes, two of the season's smartest shades, and two seam styles. Just include 75 cents for each pair you order along with the yellow end flap from a package of Parquet margarine. Tomorrow, be sure to get that delicious margarine made by craft Parquet margarine. You've already got a date, Leroy. That's your uncle. Oh happy when he's got his head in two nooses. Hello Leroy. I didn't know you were home from school. Yeah. Who stutters home from school too. I hear you got two dates tonight. Yeah, that's right. I do have to call Grace. How are you going to get out of it? My boy, a shrewd old trapper always covers his tracks. And I'm so clever I cover mine before I make them.  What an operator. Ssh, Leroy. This is Throckmorton again, Grace. Yes, Throckmorton. Would you mind terribly if we have to change our plans about tonight? What happened? Well, an old neighbor of mine just got back in town and I'm obligated to go over there this evening. Oh, sorry about the movie. That's all right. I'll go with one of the teachers. Well, you know I wouldn't do this except under unusual circumstances. Like I say, an old friend. I'm sort of a welcoming committee. You explained one. Well, to be seeing you. Glad you understand, Grace. I understand. Goodbye. Goodbye. Well, let's thank Carol. I'll get in and tell her your old neighbor was a girl. There's no use burdening her with the tails, my boy. What if Miss Tunnel sees you at the movie? Movie. Leroy, I'm taking Mrs. Winthrop to dinner and dancing afterwards. Shooting the works, huh? Well, she's accustomed to being royally entertained. Yeah? She lives the way I like to live. I see five, 10, 11, 1150, 75, 12. What are you doing? I'm calling my money. $12. Gosh, you're loaded. Yeah, I could date Grace for a week on this. Do you want a car, Ron, for 50 cents? Leroy, don't try to get any of my money. Besides, I've been thinking about the car. Well, I'd like to get behind the wheel of that job she drove home. Oh, boy, I'd like to ride in that, too. How about me hiding in the backseat? Leroy. Coursage, Doc Horton. You make it look lovelier, Paula. That's a beautiful dress. I'm fond of it. So much. It's too bad you have to cover so much of the dress with those furs. Well, I thought it might get cold later tonight. Where's your car? Shall we go in my car? No trouble, of course. All we have to do is walk across the street, unlock the garage, dust off the seats, and see if it'll start. I've been having battery trouble. Oh, well, why don't we go in my car? It's right here. Here might be a good idea. Quite a car, Paula. Would you like to drive it? Well, Leroy wants to know all about it. Yeah, I mean, uh...  Just as you say. By George, I get to drive it. It's a long car. You turned on the ignition. Oh, yeah, let's see what we do next. Oh, better lower the window, I guess, to make signals. Yeah, where's the crank? Oh, you just pressed this button. Whoop! Yeah, I thought we had a bee in the car. Yeah, here's the starter. A lot of horses under that hood. How do you get them to back up? Aren't you familiar with the automatic transmission? Well, I still use the gear shift. Oh, and you move this lever to reverse. Oh, yes. Well, I'll back out into the street. That's a touchy motor. Zeke, power steering. Where's the brake? Bump something. Hope I didn't hurt your car. You just knocked down your mailbox. Oh, well, I'm not expecting any letters. I'm glad you insisted I eat the steak. You know, nothing but the best I always say. What did you think of the service? It was exceptional for Summerfield. Well, when we came in, I slipped the Mater D two dollars. Didn't you see me? Well, you did it so cleverly, I thought you were just shaking hands. No, that was money I was shaking. Shall we move on to the crystal room? Yeah, glad. We can be there in 10 minutes in your car. Drockmorton. Hey, yes, Paula? Well, I just noticed we're almost out of gas. Out of gas? Uh-huh. You better drive in that station on the corner and let me get some. No, no, no, I'll buy the gas. After all, it's your car. At least I can do is to burnish the gas. Well, if it'll make you feel better. I better get out of the car and cut my money. Excuse me, Paula, I'll take care of everything. All right. Yeah, see how I still have a $5 bill. $0.75, $0.80, $0.90. Good evening. Boop. Still a rot? Well, two gallons. Two gallons? Don't you want to wet the bottom of the tank? No, I'll see you here, young man. I could report you to your boss. I own this station. That's why this hurts me so. Well, watch it. I'm sorry, mister. I've been trying to put a motor together all night. And every time I pick up a wrench, somebody comes in for gas. I guess when you said two gallons, something just snapped. You see, that's two gallons. You can hardly smell it. I'm not buying it to smell. How'd you get all the way up from Florida? Somebody push you? Now look, this is my car. It belongs to the young lady. Well, I'll go ask her. She doesn't want to be stopping every five minutes to buy gas. No, wait a minute. I'm buying tonight. Okay. If she gets in the car tomorrow and runs out of gas, she's going to know you're a cheapskate. Yeah, I guess you're right. She's a swell-looking girl. Don't you want to make a good impression? Well, put in five while I make a phone call. Well, now you're a credit to this car. Pushy gas salesman. Is everything all right, Rock Morton? You're all fine, Paula. I have to make a phone call. After I pay for five gallons of gas, I won't have enough left for dancing. And I'll borrow some money from P.V. He'll be home. P.V., are you in bed? No, I'm answering the phone. Look, P.V., I'm out with Mrs. Winthrop, and I need some money. No, why don't you borrow it from her? She's got more than I have. I can't do that. Now, if I come by your house, can you let me have a few dollars? No, I can't. What? I left all my money at the pharmacy, Mr. Gilderstein. Oh? Mrs. P.V. might have some under the mattress, but I wouldn't advise trying to get there. Well, thanks anyway, P.V. You're welcome. Have a good time. Yes, yes. Goodbye. Call again, Mr. Gilderstein. Oh, me. Well, you're ready to go, Mr. That'll be five dollars. Five dollars? No, I asked for five gallons. Oh, I thought you meant five dollars worth. I only have five dollars and eighty cents for the evening. Well, if you want to run over to the drive-in and get some straws, I'll siphon the gas out of the tank. Never mind. Here's your five dollars. What can we do with eighty cents? Doc Morton, aren't you going in the wrong direction for the crystal room? Well, Paula, I'd like to talk to you about that. I came up with a Charlie horse when I made that phone call. Oh? You didn't see the step. Would you just soon settle for a movie? The both theaters right here. Of course. We can always go dancing.  I'll put it in this parking space right here. Eighty cents. Just enough for two tickets. People are coming out. Yeah, we're just in time for the last show. Good. I wanted to see this picture. Well, let's hurry and not miss any of it. Well, Doc Morton, aren't you going to put any money in the parking meter? Money? Parking meter? Well, I don't want to get a parking ticket the minute I get to town. Oh, yeah. Well, I'll put in a nickel. No, I'm five cents short for the movie. Oh, what else can go wrong? Why, Doc Morton? Well, hello, Grace. I didn't expect to see you here. I thought you were spending the evening with your old neighbor. Yeah, well, this is my neighbor. Of course, she isn't so old. Hey, Mrs. Winthrop, I present Miss Tuttle. How do you do? Good evening, Mrs. Winthrop. Drought Morton, you have such attractive neighbors. Yeah, well. I know you two are anxious to see the movie. Nice meeting you, Mrs. Winthrop. Nice meeting you. You, wait a minute. Grace. Excuse me, Paula. Oh, all right. Grace. Yeah? Grace, can I have a word with you? You don't have to apologize, Drought Morton. No, I want to, later. But right now, can you lend me a nickel? 30 seconds. One more reminder about Parquet Margeron's remarkable new nylon stocking offer. With every pound of Crafts Parquet you buy, you can order Power's Model Nylons at less than half price. These new Nylons are 60 gauge instead of 51 gauge, and the 60 gauge are even more glamorous and longer wearing. They ordinarily cost more, too. But you can get them for only 75 cents a pair when you send the yellow inflap from a package of Crafts' delicious Parquet Margeron. Yeah, I cleaned out my wallet entertaining Paula last night. Glad to be calling on Grace again. Won't cost me any money. Yeah, there's something to be said for the simple life. Hello, Drought Morton. Hello, Grace.  Here. Oh, thank you. Oh, but don't sit down. Go ahead. We're going out. We are? Yes, I've been very selfish, Drought Morton, keeping us home when you wanted to kick up your heels. But... I haven't been dancing for ages. Oh, and there's a new steakhouse on the edge of town. But... Excuse me, I'll get my coat. I better use the phone. Can you sneak $10 out of the mattress tonight when Miss Peavey isn't looking? No, no, I wouldn't change that. Good night, folks. See radio network production. The show is written by John Elliott and Andy White. And it's transcribed. Included in the cast are Walter Chetley, Lillian Randolph, Byron Cain, Mary Ship, Gene Bates, and Dick LeGrand. Musical composition by Jack Meakin. This is John Heaston saying good night for the Kraft Foods Company. Makers of the famous line of Kraft quality food products. Be sure to listen in next week and every week for the further adventures of The Great Hilda Sleeves. There are two kinds of delicious Kraft prepared mustard. Mild Kraft mustard, smooth and delicately spiced, and Kraft mustard with snappy horseradish added. And whichever you prefer, remember, when you add a little mustard, you add a lot of tang. Cried on cold sandwiches, hamburgers, frankfurtters, and cold cuts. Enjoy the wonderful sauces you can make for hot meat and vegetable courses with Kraft prepared mustard. Keep both kinds on hand and keep the whole family happy. Get mild Kraft mustard and Kraft mustard with snappy horseradish added at your favorite food store. You bet your life with Groucho Marks on the NBC radio network.


Okay, so we'll answer Abhishek's question. He says, can you elaborate Matthew 5 according to Jesus if any person called the other person fool and the consequences would be hellfire. Okay, so Abhishek, the way we understand this passage, it's not just about the rule.  Well, Jesus is saying that the point that he's making is that, you know, the God's standards are higher and at that time we must remember he had the Pharisees as part of his audience and we know that the Pharisees had double standards. You know, they would preach something but they would live out something completely different. So he was trying to let them know that their thoughts, their motives and their actions must have the integrity that God desires. You can't be one person to the world and expect God to accept you for the show that you put out.  Now, this is not literally to say that, you know, if you call another person a fool, then the exact consequence that follows is hellfire. But what Jesus is saying is there is a severe consequence for wrongdoing and he lists out different kinds of wrongdoing and he's saying that God's standards are higher. God's bar is higher. Okay, so that's the point. That's the point. So Abhishek, did I answer your question? Are you looking for? Yes, ma'am. Thank you, ma'am. Okay, fine. Yes, thank you. Yeah. Okay, so we'll just continue and if at all you have any questions, you can always, you know, interrupt. Okay, so we were talking about childlikeness and we said that we must have complete dependence on God and that's the way a kingdom person thinks. But also in, let's tell you that scripture, Matthew chapter 18 verse four, Jesus did make a statement and say that whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. So that's another point. No, when we are childlike, when we carry that kind of a faith, we are told that in God's perspective in his kingdom, you are greatest because, you know, that's the kind of trust that you carry. Okay, so an additional point to that section there. Now, moving on, we are encouraged to carry servant humility. Okay, so Jesus once again, while communicating to his disciples, he makes this point.  Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many. So servant humility is really a kingdom perspective and Jesus said this in Matthew chapter 20. Now, we might see this concept in a lot of leadership books these days and, you know, many leaders who have let people effectively, they too might vouch for, you know, this kind of a servant humility, servant leadership. And all that. But it's actually a kingdom thing and Jesus taught us to move with this value where he says that anybody who wants to be first, you actually have to take on the position of a servant and anyone who wants to lead, you must be like a slave or you must serve the people really well. And a true leader is actually a servant and Jesus also did that, right? So greatness in the kingdom of God, it actually comes not out of positions that we have, not out of the titles that can be given to us but from our humble service. It comes from giving ourselves, you know, to serving God's purposes, serving God's people and doing this well. When we do that, when we are servants in the kingdom of God, you know, it actually, we are told that when we are last, you know, we are actually first. But we need a kingdom mindset to accept that and to live it out because if we don't have a kingdom perspective, then it doesn't make sense. You know, why would you, why would you want to lead by serving? It's very hard. But when we carry a kingdom perspective, we would be okay to humbly serve others. Jesus also washed the feet of his disciples and this is the same kingdom perspective that he brings to his followers and says that if you want to lead, you must be a servant in the kingdom and you are great in the kingdom when you choose to be a servant. Alright, so there is a question on the chat but I'll come back to that later. Here's the next perspective, kingdom thinking. It's about trusting the king for his decision and trusting the king's perspective, celebrating the king's perspective. So the parable that is given here is that of a landowner who hires laborers, he hires some people in the morning and he promises them, you know, a remuneration, a reward and they get to work and then later on he goes out and at different parts of the day he finds more laborers and he keeps inviting them to come and work in his vineyard. But at the end of the day, he gives all of them the same amount as reward. Now, what happens when he does that? I'll just read those verses for you. Matthew chapter 20 from verse 11, and when they had received it, they complained against the landowner saying these last men have worked only one hour and you made them equal to us who have borne the burden and the heat of the day. But he answered one of them and said, friend, I'm doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? Take what is yours and go your way. I wish to give to this last man the same as to you. Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with my own things or is your eye evil because I am good? So the last will be first and the first last for many are called but few are chosen. So in this case, what happens is the laborers who came in early, they have a grievance against the landowner and they are saying how could you pay the same amount to somebody who labored for 12 hours and somebody who labored for one hour. You get the same pay for both of them. It doesn't make sense, but the landowner says that I'm the owner and I am doing this for my reasons. Now can you not accept that? So what we understand here is that God has a way of doing things. God has a way of doing things in the lives of his children. Sometimes for us, from the outside, we don't understand what God is doing. For example, you look at a certain brother or a certain sister in your church who you think is not that spiritual, but as you look at their journey, they seem to be blessed with more opportunities for ministry. They seem to be blessed with favor from people and they come back to you sharing, oh God, did this, God did that and you are wondering, man, I am the one who is praying here for hours together and so and so puts in only so many minutes of time and they are receiving such a wonderful reward in their ministry and look at me, I am struggling. So this is our way of thinking. Now we don't know how God looks at people and what is there in his perspective because one thing we know that we serve a good God.  So when we see how God is functioning, we must celebrate his perspective and it may happen. A lot of times it may happen in the ministry because we end up judging people and we end up saying, man, how is their ministry doing so well and mine is not. There is tremendous growth there and the Holy Spirit is being poured out there and nothing much is happening here, but I know that I am the one doing all these things and God is supposed to bless me. So that kind of an attitude where you are not letting God be God and do what he knows best. So he is obviously doing the right things in his people's lives. So celebrating the king's perspective becomes very, very important. And there is another passage in Romans 14 where Apostle Paul says, who are you to judge another servant? To his own master he stands a false, indeed he will be made to stand for God is able to make him stand. So as a kingdom person, here is the flip side, we also celebrate. So we have been saying it is not about denominations, all these man-made things based on doctrines, based on a certain church culture, these are all man-made things. But the spiritual dimension of the churches that we are one, if you are born again, if you are saved by the redeeming work of the Lord Jesus, you belong to the spiritual kingdom of God. And then you see things in the kingdom of God. Let's say another ministry is doing well, another brother in Christ is serving really well and people are being blessed through his work. We actually will be celebrating because isn't he part of the same kingdom? Now God is doing it, why is he being so rewarded so much? We don't know but one thing we know, we are all part of the same kingdom and wonderful to see God's kingdom extended, God's work being done, people being blessed. So that's a kingdom perspective and we will talk about this later. A kingdom builder will celebrate what the king is doing without judging and criticizing and complaining. And obviously we don't have all the reasons for why God is doing certain things but we trust that he is a just God, we trust that he is a good God. So celebrating the king's perspective is also very important for us and having that mindset as you live this life is important. Coming to the next foundation of kingdom thinking is kingdom resolve. Kingdom resolve. So in this what do we notice? We are basically saying that God wants to see a determination for the sake of the kingdom and for the sake of the king. Now for all of us I'm sure we will relate to the idea of a soldier who has pledged allegiance to his land and he goes on his assignment. Now maybe there is a certain celebration in his family where he needs to come back and he has already planned for it but in the case of a war breaking out at the border he stole that yes you had applied for leave but unfortunately because of the current circumstances we are not able to send you back. So what will be the attitude of the soldier? Any good soldier who has made up his mind to serve the country will be fine. He will be like okay I will just convince my family I will let them know that this is the situation and I have to be on assignment. So something like that like a determination and a resolve for the kingdom of God is very very important. So Jesus in a certain teaching he tells this person that okay let me just read it in his own words here. Okay somebody comes up to Jesus and says Lord I will follow you wherever you go this is in Luke chapter 9 verse 57. Yeah so verse 60 Jesus okay verse 59 this person says that he said to another follow me but he said Lord let me first go and bury my father.  And another also said Lord I will follow you but let me first go and bid them farewell who are at my house. But Jesus said to them no one having put his hand to the plow and looking back is fit for the kingdom of God. Okay so what is the point that Jesus is making here is he saying that if you belong to the kingdom of God forget about your family. Family is not important is that the point that Jesus is making no because we know other passages of scripture to be very precise. First Timothy 5.8 and I think yeah first Timothy 5.8 where we are told that a person who does not care for their own family their own flesh and blood is worse than an unbeliever. Okay so when scripture says that we are supposed to take care of our own family and you all will recall when we did Isaiah 58 about the chosen fast.  So is God saying in the passage that we just read did Jesus mean that the one who is part of the kingdom should forget about his personal affairs completely about his family about his loved ones.  Well obviously he didn't pitch one against the other that's not the point but what he is emphasizing is a kind of a resolve and a determination where you put the kingdom first. Okay like we said earlier seek it first the kingdom of God. So it's an attitude with which we live and work in the kingdom. Where we say that if there is anything in my you know in my personal life that is capable of distracting me from the kingdom then you know God I am above it. So basically what you're saying is in this case Jesus says okay let the dead bury their own dead. The reason he said that was you know this young person who had resolved to follow Jesus if he had to go back home to do the funeral and get distracted right and never come back to serve to follow Jesus again. You know that would be a missed opportunity for the kingdom and probably Jesus knew his heart and Jesus probably knew that this person might end up you know getting distracted. And that is why he said let the dead bury his own dead meaning you keep the focus. Don't try to do this and that while you also chase the kingdom keep the focus and make the kingdom your priority. Similarly when he addresses the second issue here when someone wants to go and bid farewell to their household or their family members he probably knew their heart as well. And he knew that once the person goes back you know meets with the family members and the family responsibilities way heavy on them. They might make a decision and say okay forget about following Jesus I will just take care of my family okay. So what he is warning us about is replacing the things of this world you know for the things of the kingdom. So the things of the kingdom have to be priority that doesn't mean we are neglecting our daily responsibilities. Yes responsibilities are there but we learn to live for God in the midst of these responsibilities right. And wherever I don't know maybe at some point in our lives if at all there is a certain sacrifice required and we have seen that in the lives of so many missionaries right. Like you had a David Livingston who went to South Africa is it. Yeah and you had different people going to various parts. Who is the person who came to India here? Serempur? William Carey yeah William Carey who came down to India you and Aida Scudder who came down to Vellore India. So they made huge sacrifices. They left behind their families I mean Aida Scudder it said that you know she was pretty well to do but she committed her life to service. Amy Carmichael she is also from a very wealthy Irish family if I am not wrong but she made a choice okay. I am moving to another part of the world sacrificing everything for the sake of the gospel right. So there are some who have made huge huge shifts in their lives but this is not to say that you know God is saying you can't have that. That's not what God is saying but the point is prioritizing the kingdom prioritizing the kingdom and if ever a huge you know decision like that is required. I am sure God will give the grace and you know he will grant the favor to make those big decisions as well. The point is to prioritize the kingdom okay moving on when it comes to kingdom thinking handling rejection right.  And I mean don't worry about them don't worry about them and then he also said that the kingdom of God is near you. So what is he saying you know when we are living for the kingdom it doesn't mean that everyone is going to welcome us with a red carpet okay. And we may not be acceptable to a lot of people in the people that we are in the standards that we carry and also the message some people may not want to listen to the message from you. You are rejected why you're rejected for the sake of the gospel okay I'm not talking about doing the wrong thing and being rejected no that's that's not what I'm talking about. But doing the right thing and doing the right thing for the kingdom and being rejected excuse me. So what is Jesus saying he's saying that that could happen okay and we realize it happened to Jesus he himself was rejected for the right things excuse me. Yeah but we don't let that rejection get us down okay we rise up and we keep moving forward. So for a kingdom person okay how does it apply in our everyday life maybe you know you're doing something for the kingdom you go to a new city. And God has called you to that city and you begin your church planting work right. What if you are met with questions and complaints and rejection by the regular people and also the Christians in that city how would you respond how would you respond. Yes mangy two options one is to try and convince people and second one is what Jesus said just shake the dust off my feet and then go to the next city. Okay okay okay fine sure mangy but yeah you may want to continue in the same city also you know if you are very clear that God has called you to do. The work there so thank you thank you for those responses but again the point is that you don't let the rejection become a setback. Right because for the kingdom of God when you are serving him there will be many such incidents but we carry on with the kingdom perspective. You know we don't take things personally and we keep going forward. I mean it applies to something as simple as you know we try to do we have an initiative that we start as ministry to serve people but it doesn't work out right. And we hear from our family members and our you know other friends in church that hey you should have never done that it didn't work out what is this you keep trying things and they don't work out. Well we don't let that defeat of failure stop us right. We keep carrying on we think okay fine you know this didn't work out but I'm still serving the kingdom I need to do something to bless the kingdom to extend the kingdom what is the new thing that I can do or how can I improve what I did earlier. So a kingdom person is thinking forward is thinking ahead so setbacks rejections failures delays these things may bother us a little bit but we are not going to let those things stop us. We keep moving forward so that again is a kingdom way of thinking so we'll move forward with the next point here about kingdom thinking. This has to do with the riches of this world and you know all that the world has to offer for a comfortable and luxurious life. So Jesus talking to a rich young man so he said that it is easy for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a young person to enter the kingdom of God. Okay so what was the point that Jesus was making. So the point that Jesus is making here is that it's not that having riches having wealth having resources is a wrong thing. It's not like it's a sinful thing but if we are not careful and our heart is given over to these these things that sustain us. It is possible for us to get distracted from the things of the kingdom. So he's saying that we must not be completely enticed by the world. Another passage where you see Jesus making this point is the parable of the sower. Parable of the sower where he says that the weeds rise up, they choke the growth of the plant and then in the interpretation he says the things of this world, the riches of this world. So they tend to choke the growth of a believer. So the wealth of this world can be a distraction. However if as a believer we have the grace and the blessing of money and yet we know how to prioritize the kingdom and live for the kingdom. That is such a blessing and I'm sure many of us are aware of people like this who are in the business who are sought after in the country doing very well. But at the same time they are Christians who live with high standards. So we know that God is not forbidding us from having resources, having money, having wealth. It's not wrong but if our heart is taken over by these things then we might get distracted from the purposes of the kingdom and that's the point he's making. So when we are living for the kingdom we must also be careful not to let wealth and riches entice us. The next perspective here about the kingdom is having more than an outward form. So basically what Jesus is saying is he's saying that the Pharisees they were more concerned about their reputation. Reputation is what others think about us and they were not so keen or they were not that bothered about what God thought about them. So that is why to the people of the kingdom he made a statement in Matthew 520 where he said for I say to you that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. So he noticed the so called good works of the Pharisees but he told his own disciples that beyond their good works which are primarily for display I want you to live out a righteous life in every way and that is the true display of the kingdom that is the true lifestyle of the kingdom. So he encourages us to live out the kingdom through and through not just in the right attitudes and the right behavior but also with the right thinking and with the right heart. So today we have covered different perspectives about the kingdom the kind of thinking that we must have and I'm just quickly going to go over them once again just so we have some recall. We said that we are part of the kingdom of light they've been brought out of the kingdom of darkness and there's a certain way the kingdom of light functions and a certain thinking. And in this thinking we are called to have higher standards for daily living. We are asked to walk with faith. We are called to live for the sake of the king. We are called to have a child like attitude towards the things of the kingdom, lead with servant humility, celebrate the king's perspective, have kingdom resolve, handle rejection in the right manner and not just have an outward form of goodness and righteousness but surpass the standards of the world's goodness. So this is the manner of kingdom thinking that we are supposed to carry. So along these lines if there are any thoughts or comments I would encourage you to please go ahead and put it across. Maybe we can have a little bit of discussion before we close today. Even as you're thinking let me take up what Kennedy has put on the chat here. He says why is it that Christians who have tribulation in their daily walks often seem to have greater joy in the Lord than those who live in more comfortable spiritual climate. Is faith related or lack of childlike trust? So yeah, Kennedy, I think you've answered your own question. The components there are faith, childlike trust, even in difficult circumstances if people can maintain that they would realize as scripture says momentary afflictions that are working for us an eternal reward. So they maintain that kingdom perspective but it's possible that sometimes we are so comfortable in our so called spiritual environment. We have the right church, we have very good resources, spiritual resources but we never really digest it and choose to live out of it. And thereby we lack faith or we just carry the wrong attitudes and so all that doesn't work in our lives. So yeah, Kennedy and that could be the reason. Okay, Mangi I saw your hand raised. Thank you Pasta. I had the question and then I answered my own question but the last question. Anyway, in Matthew 5 verse 20 it says, unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of scribes and Pharisees, you will not mean enter the kingdom of heaven. And we are given three scriptures here in the next paragraph that state the same thing. So that made me think, is it possible for anyone to exceed the righteousness of scribes and Pharisees? Because it is near impossible. Those people lived by the law. They did everything in the book. Even though it was outward, it wasn't inward. They did everything according to the book. Now we live by faith in Christ. We've got the Holy Spirit to enable us to do everything right. But is it possible for us to exceed that righteousness? That's the question I had. Thank you ma'am. Yes, thank you. Thank you, Mangi. So we know that Christ came to fulfill the law and not to destroy it. And as you rightly pointed out, now we have the Holy Spirit in us and also we have been made the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. Okay, thereby our position from where we start living out this righteous life itself, it is way surpassing that of the Pharisees and the law keepers of our day and time. So yes, the answer is yes, Mangi, because of what Jesus has done for us, who we have become in Christ Jesus. And the Holy Spirit working in our hearts. We can surpass the righteousness of the Pharisees. Thank you. Thank you, Pastor. Yeah, sure. And another point is there in the passage itself. Matthew 5, because if you read the passage, Jesus is actually attacking them. And he is saying that the display of your right works is okay. But what about your heart? So that's what he's saying each time. He's saying murder. You say that you should not murder. But from your heart, you are ill-treating your own brother, adultery. He says okay, the law says that do not commit adultery. But you're looking at women with lust. So he is attacking them. And there itself, we know that their righteousness was not that correct anyway. Because they were doing one thing, but their hearts were so far away from their actions. Yeah, so just another additional point. Okay, thank you for that question. I'm coming to Rupa. Rupa, you raised your hand. Ma'am, you have shared that point. I just wanted to share it. Oh, okay. Fine, fine. They said that these Pharisees were most of the time corrected by Christ because they were putting on a righteousness which was not righteousness. They were hypocrites in their following. So God wanted something true and from the heart. Yes. Yeah. Yes, thank you Rupa. Thank you for adding that point. All right. So any more. Yes, Sam, I can see your hand raised. Please go ahead, Sam. Thank you ma'am. So something that I've been sitting with since even from the last classes. I think what I'm trying to find and I'm still framing my question. So I'm sorry if it's not very clear. I think when I hear the word kingdom and as we look into kingdom thinking, my first understanding or like natural understanding is towards some form of governance, you know, ruler who rules, who decides, who dictates, who makes decisions. Now as per kingdom thinking and as per the Bible, clearly it's a form of monarchy. God can alone be the righteous king. Yes.  That's how I do it. But practically living right now, I mean, we still keep God in our midst and we seek for his guidance and all that. But I'm thinking translating that to our culture, to our society, the way we function. You know, we live in a democratic society, which is majority wins. But then the minority who may have the right voice often gets oppressed by democracy. So I see kingdom thinking and democracy sort of not going hand in hand. It's almost colliding because kingdom thinking is almost autocracy. It's monarchy. So let's say practically if this was an organization and how many we are here and we need to elect leaders, we need to make certain decisions. Yes, we are starting a church and all that. So I'm just thinking how kingdom thinking applies to our function, especially in terms of governance, where, you know, to follow, I mean, to follow how things are in the Bible. I mean, back then, even when Christ was there, it was still the room. I mean, there was still not a, they were not living in a democratic society. So I'm thinking a lot of what he preached was it and what's there in the Bible.  So it's easy for people to relate. But now 2000, 3000 years later, you know, we don't have kings and queens anymore. We have votings and whatnot. There's no royalty or all that.  Yeah, yeah. Yeah, no, it's good, Sam, like you're just trying to understand what we are talking about and also compare it with our present day governance structure that most countries have. So you're right. It's a monarchy in the sense that it has God at the center of the rule, but we know he's a triune God. And, you know, when it comes to the principles of the kingdom, yes, it is set by by God and his nature, right? It is congruent to the nature of God. God is just and therefore, you know, the kingdom functions with justice. Kingdom authority, right? Kingdom authority comes from the king. He is the ultimate source and his kingdom rules over all other kingdoms that exist here on the earth. So, you know, the kingdom authority flows in that manner. It's the highest authority. Then, you know, you talk about values, you talk about thinking, some ways of thinking that we looked at today. Yes, it is all set by God and God presents this to us. Now, the problem which I think a lot of us may have is to worry that it's being imposed on us, right? Like, where is the freedom? Where is the free will? Where is the opportunity to have an opinion, right? And to live your life to the best, to the fullest.  Well, see, just because we are ruled by our God who is our king, it doesn't mean that we lack freedom. In fact, you would notice the very reason why this world was infected with sin is because God chose free will. And he never controlled, he never controlled any decision that, you know, mankind made. So then Adam and Eve sinned, but still, you know, God had a plan of redemption to bring us back. So the point I'm trying to make is, yes, it is not a democracy that we equate with freedom of expression and freedom of choice. But you see, the kingdom allows incredible freedom. But the spirit of the Lord is there is liberty. That is something that we see in the scriptures. And the kingdom is described as righteousness, peace and joy. That's the kingdom of God.  In fact, we will be our best in the kingdom when we conform to the rule and dominion of the kingdom of God. So just because we are part of this spiritual kingdom of God, it doesn't mean that we at some point will feel restricted or limited. And, you know, I'm reminded of the scripture. I think it is in Psalm 103. I'm not very sure right now, but it says that he will take what there will be, you will be far from oppression. You will be far from oppression. So, you know, Jesus demonstrated the deliverance of God from every oppression when he walked the earth. And 1 John 3, 8, we read that he destroyed the works of the devil. So that's the king whom we are serving who sets us free from every oppression. And our freedom will abound to an extent that we can't express. So this kingdom is very different from the kingdoms that we have seen on the earth and the rule and reign of kings and queens that we have seen on the earth. Which may help us, you know, which may cause us to think that, oh, kingdom, some form of restriction here, you know, where is the freedom and maybe democracy is better and all of that. So yeah, just additional thoughts, Sam, the way you're trying to find your words. I think I'm also trying to find my words. Thank you, ma'am. I think I'll sit on this more, but I'm thinking more on, like, I mean, following the king is, I mean, it is the best, it is clear and no doubt, you know. Yeah, yeah.  Like, let's say this is an, and let's say you and I are somehow on the top, you know, and we both are praying and seeking God's guidance. And if, I mean, I think in the spiritual realm, it would be, it's also clear, like, God would give us a commandment and we would follow it. But because we are on earth and, and, you know, you and I, supposing I again, I haven't thought it through so well. Let's say the two of us have two different, say, sense of directions, you know, you want to lead the team in a different way and I want to lead the team in a different way. And we both are, we have the best intentions, we both are, we both somehow convince, convicted that, you know, this is. Yeah. So, Sam, not able to hear you anymore. Sorry, can you hear me? Yeah, could, could, could hear you. Yeah, you can, you can, yeah, finish. Yes, Sam, please go ahead. You and me as leaders, we get two different sense of directions, you know, so that I'm thinking it would either result in a conflict. Because we don't have a key, I mean, we have king, but because we, we have limitations of being in our physical forms or not. I mean, the chances are that we, you and I, we have the both, we get the both sense of direction and we, we are united and but there's also a slim chance that you know, and I am thinking of most of the churches that have split the division that have been causes where, you know, two leaders, now both having the best intentions, can't see eye to eye. So, it's, it's a little opposite of kingdom thing, like, you know, it's, and I mean, with the king being present on earth, I mean, I'm sure I'm thinking of the millennial reign and when we are in heaven, it would be so simplified. But in today's world, looking at all these churches splitting the leaders not being able to see eye to eye, different policies. But I'm still yet to frame my question, but some, some of the things that I'm wrestling with right now. Yeah, good Sam. So I mean, you could just ponder on these things. And in both the courses, but actually more in this particular course, you know, we will talk about kingdom, the kingdom of God and, you know, conflicts among God's people and all that. So we will come to these things later as well and look at it in depth. Looking forward to them. Thank you. Thank you. Thanks. Okay, we'll just have Charles and Maggie also ask their questions. We may exceed by a few minutes today's class, but I hope that's okay with all of us. Charles, please go ahead. You had something to say. Thank you so much, ma'am, for allowing me. I'm looking at when we say that there is no freedom. It's all again coming to the main point of this topic that we are doing today. Kingdom thinking thinking our thought landscape. Most of the humans, their thought landscape has been veiled in a way that we think that we are under operation. We are slaves. We don't have the right to say anything. But in the real sense, the moment that is that shift that paradigm shift that ability to know that we are not under operation, but we are under freedom. The thinking must change. And I braced the load that I am in this class, that I'm able to learn about this type of thinking. Because outside there, people are thinking of celebrity. You will remember a certain lady. I don't remember where she was who said that Christianity is a celebrity. Christianity is prison. But that was her thought. But to me, I am saying that when our thinking changes, we are going to have another perspective on how to think about the kingdom we are serving in. Thank you. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you, Charles. Thank you for sharing your thoughts. Definitely, you know, God will, we will imbibe these things and it will affect our lives in a positive way. Yes, Maggie, please go ahead. You had something to say. Thank you. Just adding on Samo's question and what Charles just spoke now. If we look at John 3, verse 14 to 16 to 17, actually, we see that it is by us exercising our own freedom that we will follow Christ. We also ever believe, so it's also ever choose to believe, we have freedom to choose to live in the kingdom of Christ. To choose to give our own freedom to God, to submit under God so that his dominion can live under his dominion. So it is like the question someone asked. One thing I would say is that it is us believers who choose. And being in the kingdom of God, it's not by men or it's not slavery, but it is the person choosing to submit to God. Say, okay, God, I'm giving myself to you. I'm giving myself to your authority.   So it's actually freedom at the highest level. It's like knowing that you are free and then submitting that freedom to God. Thanks, thanks, Mangi. Yeah, that's true. And I know when the term kingdom comes for a lot of us, including myself, I feel restricted. I feel limited that, oh man, now you have to conform to everything which is set by this kingdom. But as Mangi said, this is the highest form of freedom that you and I will ever have to be part of the kingdom. Because as we live by kingdom thinking, what we're actually receiving is eternal rewards. It might be momentary discomfort, no temporal discomfort, but at the end of the day, God is setting us up for blessings.  So it's a win-win situation all the way and yeah, please think along. And I'm so happy that we are trying to digest this perspective so that we can live it out. So that's wonderful. Please keep thinking, please keep coming up with questions and we will learn more on the same subject as we move forward.  Have a blessed day. I'll meet you again in another class this week. Okay, so yeah, take care. Bye for now. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Bye everyone. Thank you, Dinesh. Bye Pratik. Thank you, ma'am. Thank you. Bye. Bye. Thank you, ma'am. Love you. Thank you. Thank you, Prabhakar. Charles. Harrison. Bye. Bye Rose. God bless. Mangi. See you. Yes, Felix, you have a question. What was that accidental? I see your hand raised. Bye. Bye, Bula. Thank you.


Okay, we're back for live and this time we're talking about Steve Zercher in Kansai-Gadai University in Kobe, Japan. There's lots of interesting things happening in Japan this week and we're going to talk to him about one thing that has international implications, that is Carlos Schoen. And well, welcome to the show, Steve. Nice to talk to you again. Yeah, thank you. It's been a month or so over the holidays. I haven't had a chance to chat, so it's wonderful that we were able to talk again. And as you mentioned, I want to highlight probably the biggest story in Japan, especially in the latter part of 2019 and going into 2020, and that's the story of Carlos Schoen, who is a well-known, well-respected, highly influential businessman in Europe and also in Japan. And that was a refugee, not a refugee, he's under interval arrest actually, so he's a criminal on the run in a sense. So I'd like to talk about his story and perhaps what this will lead to potentially. Yes, well, please let us know because frankly, you know, the way the press has covered it, it's confusing. Is he a good guy, is he a bad guy, is he running away, is he running away because of good reasons or bad reasons, and why did he go, where is he now, he went back to Lebanon, was it? Yeah, he's in Lebanon now, he's of Lebanon descent. Yes. So that's one of his home countries along with Brazil and France. So he decided when he escaped here at the end of last year to go to that country maybe for political cover, but also there's no extradition between Lebanon and Japan, so the Japanese government cannot ask the Lebanese government, at least legally, to bring him back to Japan to face justice here. But let me start at the beginning so the listeners have a context about this guy. Yes. He was arrested in late 2018 actually, so this has been an ongoing story for quite a while now over a year, and he was flying in on his private jet, you know, the Nissan jet, and he got off his tarmac and the Japanese prosecutors and Japanese police were waiting for him. This is under those to him, of course, and they immediately arrested him and put him into detention. The charges that were placed against him were under reporting income and also breach of trust in his role as CEO of Nissan Japan. His perspective on this is that this has all been trumped up charges, that he's completely innocent, and that the Japanese legal system basically amounts to what he calls hostage justice, hostage justice. That is, the presumption is that you're guilty rather than innocent when you're arrested. So just a little bit about him, he's 64 years old and he's a citizen of Brazil where he was born in Lebanon where his sentence from his parents were born in Lebanon and they immigrated to Brazil. He went to university in France and he worked for 18 years at Michelin, the famous French company, a tire manufacturer. From Michelin, he was hired by Renault in 1996 and Renault was nearing bankruptcy at that point, so the famous French manufacturer, French auto company. He came in there and he helped turn that company around into a profitable company and he's very famous within corporate circles as being an efficient cost cutter. So he restructured Renault and was able to turn that French company around. And then in 1999, and this is where the Japanese side of this starts, Renault made an investment in Nissan. At that point Nissan was two months away from bankruptcy. They were done. They couldn't get money from Japanese banks, which is unusual because usually banks bail out Japanese companies, but everyone within Japan had figured Nissan was done. So Renault came in as a white knight there at the very end, pumped them enough money to keep them going, and Goan was appointed as the COO of Nissan as a result of this investment and he laid off 20,000 people out of 150,000. He was highly criticized, it was brutal what he did from a Japanese perspective. He was highly criticized for doing this. This is, again, in 1999, 2000, traditionally, as you know, Japanese companies had not to want to lay people off in their lifetime employment, that's more of a myth than it is reality anymore. But anyway, back at that point, to have a major corporation when the same as Nissan to lay off 20,000 people was highly unusual. And as a foreigner, he could get away with it, but he was criticized. But in the end, he turned the company around as well. So over the preceding years, they opened up 15 new manufacturing sites worldwide. The employment went from 120,000 to 245,000, and Nissan moved from being the fourth largest car manufacturer in Japan to the second largest manufacturer in Japan. It was after Toyota, Toyota is number one, but that was quite amazing for a company that was two months away from going bankrupt. So he became the CEO of Nissan Japan in 2001, and he was in that role up until November 19, 2018, when he was arrested, as I mentioned before. So he was charged with underreporting his salary, about $9 million in future compensation. It wasn't salary that wasn't being paid weekly or monthly, it was future compensation that he had negotiated internally, and he had not reported that, which under Japanese law you're supposed to. Even money that you have not received, you need to report, you will receive in the future. So that's one of the reasons he was arrested. Immediately after that, he was kicked out of all, he's actually involved with three companies, Renault, where he was the CEO, and Nissan, where he was the CEO, and Mitsubishi, which is a car manufacturer here, a minor one. He was also involved there because Renault had made an investment there, and all three positions were taken away from him, and he immediately went into detention. So he was under house arrest, he wasn't in prison, but he was in a special room where the prosecutors could interview him for eight hours a day without any legal representation. That is the way the Japanese system works, and that's kind of the basis of why Renault has been making the case that he was being unfairly held, and that he really didn't have any chance whatsoever of having a fair trial. Well, that's really disturbing in the sense that it sounds like something you would find in Russia, or maybe the Middle East, or in some dictatorship country, not in a democracy. In a democracy, you have counsel, in a democracy, they don't, you know, I mean, I know this sort of thing happens, or it has happened with the CIA, but you know, I don't think we like it here, and I don't think the Western world likes it, and I would have assumed if you hadn't told me that, I would have assumed that he would not have been treated that way. So what is going on in Japan? Is Japan changing? Maybe going to the oppressive side? What happened? No, this is how things are typically done. When someone is arrested, no matter what level of crime it is, they can be held pretty much as long as the prosecutors want to hold them. They have to go through certain legal maneuvers, ask the judge, and they can make the case that the person who's been arrested is a flight risk, or some other extenuating circumstances. Listen to this, Jay. The conviction rate by prosecutors in Japan, not just Tokyo, but for the whole country, is 99.4 percent. Home.  Well, you know, one thing it strikes me about, this is worth dwelling on for a moment, is that, you know, given this opportunity to interview for days and a time, it's not so much that the prosecutors make their case. It's that they do investigation, and they decide whether to prosecute the case. And so being fully informed, they don't, they don't, I'm making this up. I mean, I'm just imagining, that means that they would not prosecute a case that should not be prosecuted. Therefore, the only cases they prosecute are the ones they feel certain about, that they have the evidence that there is guilt there. But, you know, so that's the question I want to put to you. Is it this 99 percent thing, which is a little chilling? Is it because 99 percent of these defendants are really guilty? Or is it because, you know, the prosecutors have a system where they can convict everyone, including people who are not guilty? What's the bottom line? Is this... Yeah, this is the transparency here just doesn't exist. So my own reaction would be probably out of that 99 percent. There's some people who are innocent, but they just say, you know, I'm not going to get justice. They are already presuming that I'm guilty, even though I'm not.  I just plead guilty, and I'll get out in five years if I protest my innocence, and I'm held under house arrest, or I'm prosecuted, and I'll end up staying in jail even longer. So Golan, you know, it's been over a year. He was under house arrest. He was charged. But there was no trial date set. It kept on slipping into the future. So part of the rationale, I'm kind of jumping ahead a little bit for why he decided to become a criminal, basically by escaping Japan, was that he felt that he would never get a fair trial, and he would be under house arrest indefinitely.  How do you feel about it? It's, you know, it's really hard to say. I've been in Japan long enough that I know what he's saying is absolutely correct. That once you're arrested, you're presumably guilty, and you end up, you end up basically confessing. That's generally how things go through. So that's what they were trying to pressure him to do. He claims to be innocent in the press conference that you talked about before we started the official discussion here. He claims that innocent is the innocent. I kind of doubt it. I think what's turning out to be the case is that within the Nissan company itself, as with so many Japanese companies over the last few years, the corporate governance is non-existent and they're basically corrupt at the top. And he probably was either participating in that process or helping to create that process. So my own perspective, I think he probably has violated Japanese laws, but the way they've arrested him, the way they've managed him, the way they've actually gone after his wife as well. He wasn't able to see a lawyer. He wasn't able to visit with his family while he was under house arrest. It's pretty rough from the Western perspective, but again, from the Japanese perspective, it's business as usual. Oh, that's really tough. So let me say it sounds like something might happen in China. But, but query though, you know, he's, let me go back and ask you one question that dwells on this. Here's, here's a guy who is not Japanese who manages to do very well in the corporate world in Japan. And he's selected for this very high level position. And I guess, you know, what that means that we have a global corporation and Nissan is certainly a global corporation. The Japanese like to hire people who are not necessarily Japanese people, they feel who are global executives. But with that, and this is my question with that, it seems also that they give a lot of power. And with a lot of power comes a lot of responsibility. And what do you want to call it risk risk of the regulators dealing harshly with you and the criminal criminal organizations criminal prosecution organizations dealing harshly with you. And you mentioned one thing a minute ago, you said that at the top, these big companies are corrupt. What do you mean by corrupt?  Do you mean that there's nobody telling them no, you can't do that at the board of directors is ineffectual? What does corrupt mean? Yeah, it's basically the latter chain. So in the last few years, some of the best known companies in Japan have been discovered to have basically lied about their sales reports, lied about the quality of their products, funnel money into undisclosed locations. This is Olympus, Toshiba, in my neighborhood here, Kobe Steel. Many of them were overreporting sales and there was no corporate overview. The board of directors, if they knew about it, didn't do anything about it or maybe was not reported by management. So Japan Inc over the last few years has really taken many, many hits because blue shift companies, companies that you thought were professionally managed have turned out to be not so. In the case of Olympus, this was about five or six years ago. It was a whistleblower who was a foreign CEO. So again, we have a foreigner who went to the press and said that it was half a billion dollars was being funneled into these companies where the money just disappeared days after. There were rumors that the Yakuza was involved in helping Olympus to maintain their high sales numbers by loading the money and then extorting them. So it was a terrible, terrible episode of complete corporate failure, corporate governance failure in Japan. And Nissan also is now in the limelight because of what's happened with Goan and kind of exposed how poorly Nissan had been managing themselves. The chief guy who actually helped to set up the prosecution, he was a Nissan leader, he also had to resign a few weeks later after this whole thing started with Goan because he also was accepting money and not reporting it in the proper way. Same thing with Goan, he had future compensation that he was not reporting. So it wasn't just Goan, apparently, who was participating in this under-reporting of salary that he was arrested for. Well, that leads to the question of what the Japanese government is doing. So there you have Goan and he's in Lebanon and he's telling his side of the story and criticizing the Japanese government and system of laws for that matter. What is the Japanese government doing? Are they responding? Are they arguing with him? Are they taking action to prosecute others in Nissan who might have been in league with him? And are they changing the system because it sounds like he is inviting criticism of the Japanese government and prosecutorial system and maybe the Japanese government should take note of that and try to improve it? What's happening? Okay, so your question about if other Nissan officials have been arrested and treated in the same way, the answer is no. So that stands out as something that doesn't make sense if you look at it from a fairness perspective. Other officials in Nissan have done the same thing and they've been removed from their position but they have not been arrested. So they're focusing on Goan and that's because they set him up, basically. He was asked to come to a board of directors meeting. He flew on his jet and everything was set up already to arrest him as soon as he stopped off the plane and was on the tarmac is what they've done. Now part of what Goan is claiming is that this is all has to do with internal politics. He had been attempting to move Nissan and were no closer so that the management would be more leaning towards the French side. This is what the Japanese press is reporting. This is what Nissan officials were saying that Goan was trying to do in the background. So Goan responded and said, look, this is all trumped up. I wasn't doing anything that was illegal. This is something that Nissan agreed to do with me in terms of my salary and other things. What that really got me for was the fact that they thought that I was going to take away independence from Nissan and make it more subservient to her own, which he in his press interview has claimed many times he was not trying to do. So from his perspective, this is more political than it is legal. And to your second question about what the Japanese government is going to do, clearly this is shining a light on the Japanese justice system, which is uniform. It's not just NGOs, the high level famous people get treated this way. It's everybody. Will Japan change because of this outside, this light shining on from the outside on this and the pressure perhaps that Goan is going to create to try and change the system? I don't know. So far, they have not responded in that way. They have issued an arrest warrant for him through Interpol and his wife. And they're claiming that if he really is innocent, he needed to prove that he was innocent here in Japan, even though they held him for so long and didn't even give him a date when he would potentially be able to have a trial and prove to hopefully prove that he would be innocent. But in the end, Goan decided that he wouldn't be able to do that, even if he is innocent and it's true that he is innocent, that he would not be able to prove that in the Japanese court because the court is so stacked against him that he's basically presumed to be guilty, which the Ministry of Justice actually said. It was kind of a slip of the tongue that she said, Goan needs to prove that innocent. That was a direct quote from her when she was commenting about him being in Lebanon. Yeah, this is very disappointing. It's very disappointing. I mean, maybe I have to read further on it, but my reaction to the way you framed it is that he may very well be right. This is a fairly peculiar thing to regulators would come to him and say, you know, you should report that and we're going to audit you and we're going to require you to pay it back. And I'm sure he's a wealthy man. He could do that. Likewise, breach of trust. They could straighten him out. They could straighten the board out. You don't have to put him in jail over those things. They're corporate transgressions, but they're not necessary.  And so my reaction is they went over the top. Not only did they go over the top, but they brought him down. They ruined him. He's globally ruined. He's radioactive. He's not going to be able to get a job anywhere now as a corporate executive. What else? My other reaction to this is that is that this had to be an inside job. Somebody had to finger him. And it really does sound like a political maneuver because of what you said, because of his effort to change the relationship you know between Nissan and who was it? The other the other car company. We're no investor. We're no, I think they don't 40% of Nissan as a result of bailing them out back when they were nearly putting bankrupt. So they are the majority owner of Nissan, but they don't. Nissan has been independent in terms of how it's been managed. Although Golan was CEO or no, and he's also CEO of Nissan. By the way, he is the only person ever to be CEO of two Fortune 500 companies at the same time. Remarkable. Well, it sounds like he was pretty good actually. You know, Steve, it sounds like he was a really good executive and he could he could do what he could do amazing things with two companies at the same time. And you know when you get to the top, maybe those people would like to bring you down simply because you're so good. Yeah, there could be some resentment, but he did what he did, you know, that he did turn Nissan around clearly. But also I think this issue of the politics between the French, you know, we're not owned by the French government. So there's also there's national politics involved on this. And there's a Japanese sense that Nissan is one of our blue chip companies and we don't want to know him by the French government. So there's a lot of ramifications or undercurrents on this. But I think, Jay, your instinct on this is right, that a lot of this has to do with politics. So just very briefly, let me talk about the escape, which is this is going to be a Netflix video or maybe a movie.  The guy who looks the most like him is Mr. Bean. I don't know if you know him, Ron Atkinson, but they look very similar. But Ghosn has already said, I don't want him to play me. He wants some kind of handsome person. This is going to be huge. Our favorite president, Trump is involved too. The wife of Ghosn has reached out to Trump to help with this injustice that they see that's being carried out by the Japanese government.  So he doesn't have a windowless arm band. Jay, if you or I were arrested in America and we were under bail, we would probably be wearing one of those things. In Japan, that's not legal. They don't actually have that. But he's under supposedly 24 by 7 surveillance. But on the evening of 12.29, the end of last year, he walks out of his home. He has a hat on and a face mask. So he's kind of trying to disguise himself. But he walks out and nobody notices. And you know, the end of the year in Japan is a holiday season. So apparently the security guards weren't working. No one was paying attention. And maybe they figured this out. So he goes, this is incredible. So he meets Tokyo and then he figured this all out. The easiest airport to get out of without being reviewed or being searched is the Kansai Airport. They've done their homework on this. So he gets on the bullet train. He goes down to Osaka and then he has a private jet set up. And apparently he climbs into a musical instrument box. There were some Gregorian musicians that were leaving Japan.  And the box is so big that he couldn't go through the X-ray machine. So it was just waved through. So he gets on the plane. This is why Hollywood is going to be doing this day. It's an incredible story. He gets on the plane. He flies to Istanbul and then he transfers over to Lebanon. So he arrives on the 29th of the 30th. In Japan, no one notices. So he's gone. The day goes by, two days go by. And then finally on the 31st in Lebanon, he sends out a notice and says, hello, guess what? I've been Lebanon. I just came to Japan.  They got caught. What a great story. You're right. It's a great movie. And my last question, we only have a minute left. But my last question is, how do people in Japan feel about this? Are they ticked off that he escaped the system? Are they ticked off with him for the apparent violations that claim the alleged violations of the criminal law? Or has he become a kind of hero, a kind of bad guy hero? How do people feel about that? Well, I'd say the reaction's been interesting. They think that what he's done is wrong, that basically he's escaping and that he has turned himself into an international criminal. But there's also anger directed at the justice system and the prosecutors for how they handled him and also for the fact that they let him escape so easily. How could they do that? How could they let him go like that when they were supposedly under surveillance 24 by 7? So it's hard to say how this has all been evolved. He wants to clear his name and he said he's willing to go through a court system or court case in some place where he feels he can get a fair trial. I don't know if that probably is not Lebanon. It had to be maybe some other place. But he wants to prove his innocence because Jay, you're right. He's from an international perspective. He's completely gone. He has no future whatsoever in a corporate role because of escaping from Japan. Even if he's innocent, the fact that he did that, I think he's done. Well, I imagine he was as a corporate executive of a multinational that way. He had a few bucks stashed away. Is there any discussion about his assets elsewhere? Yeah. The bail that he put up, he actually got out on bail in Japan. He put up $10 million and he just left that. When he escaped Japan, that money goes into the Japanese government coffers. I don't know what his net worth is, but I'm sure it's probably into the hundreds of millions. I don't think we need to worry about him having to eat cup noodle every day or not being able to hire the best lawyer that he available to try and clear his name. But he seems very animated along those regards along that way. He's going to attempt to clear his name. We'll see. It's a great story, Steve. Thank you for sharing it with us. What a great discussion. Now we'll all be watching for it. Thank you so much, Steve Zercher. Really appreciate it. Talk to you again in a couple of weeks. Look forward to your trip to Hawaii. Take care. Looking forward to it as well. Bye-bye. Thank you.