Hello, everyone, and welcome to Blackstar Potential. My name is Lee Fuge, and I'm here today with musicteacher.com. In this video, we're going to be talking about ways to restring a floating tremolo. In this video, I'm going to be changing the strings on my Jackson Adrian Smith SDX, which is equipped with a Floyd Rose locking tremolo. So if you have a guitar with a locking tremolo or you're thinking about getting one, one of the most common complaints is that they can be quite tricky to restring. Now, this is one of those maintenance tips that once you've done a few times, it does get a lot easier. A locking tremolo bears a lot of resemblance to a standard non-locking tremolo, except the difference being we have a locking nut here and the strings clamp into the bridge. That means when I'm using the tremolo, I can really give the tremolo arm some abuse and it's going to hold tune. It's not going to slip out of tune like a vintage tremolo would if I was to dive bomb the tremolo all the way to the guitar's body like so. It's going to return to the pitch at which we tuned it. The reason this kind of tremolo system is slightly tricky to restring because the bridge is what is known as a floating bridge. It goes both down and up. So the bridge is actually floating and the tension is balanced with some springs, which are housed inside this back cavity. So when we're restringing this, we have to balance the string tension. So we're balancing the string tension, which pulls the bridge up and the spring tension, which pulls the bridge back. So what we want to do is we want to get the bridge level to the body so it can go both up and down without any issues. So I always recommend restringing your float rows one string at a time. So that's what we're going to do. So the first thing I'm going to do is take off the whammy bar. I'm just going to pop this on the desk in front of me. So to complete this job, we need just a few simple tools. You're going to need a screwdriver. This is to help balance the springs in the back. We're going to need some wire cutters or some string cutters because we're going to be cutting the ball end off the string, but also to trim any excess at the headstock. We also need a three millimetre Allen key. If you've bought a flow, grows a quick guitar. It should come with the correct size Allen key. This is to loosen these bridge screws here. These are the clamp screws that hold the string in place. The string is held in place via a block, which these Allen key bolts here control. And there are also Allen keys here at the top where the nut is to keep the strings locked down up there. So first thing we're going to do is loosen these. You can take these off completely if you want. Once you've loosened them, the entire block will simply pull away. So we're going to take that off and then we're going to remove the back plate. And then we're going to start taking the strings off one by one.  And then you want to remove the six screws that hold the back plate in place. This is going to release the back plate and allow us access to the springs that are inside the back to allow us to balance the bridge correctly. Once you've removed the back plate, here's what the inside looks like. So this particular guitar has three springs, which are all moving in a straight line. They are attached to the tremolo claw and the bottom of the tremolo block. So when we push the whammy bar down, these are the springs that pull it back to its neutral point. So the tension of these springs has to match the tension of the guitar strings.  So we can do this two different ways. You could just cut the string off if you want. I like to loosen it slightly at the tuning peg and then using my allen key. I'm going to undo this first bolt. They can be slightly stiff. So just take your time when taking them off. And then eventually that string is just going to pop out of the bridge saddle. Like so. Now I can take that spring off the guitar. So there's my first string removed. So I'm just going to set that to one side. Obviously, you need a set of fresh strings for this. I'm going to be setting this up with a set of 10 gauge strings. If you're going to a different string gauge to the string gauge already on your guitar, the bridge is going to need some additional balancing. I'm changing this for the same gauge strings. So I shouldn't have to do too much adjustment to the tremolo claw. The reason I recommend doing this one string at a time is just because if you take all the strings off, this bridge is just going to go straight down to the body. You're going to have to rebalance the bridge as you go. If you do it one string at a time, it just allows some string tension to stay in place, which means minimal rework on the back of the bridge. So we need to prep our first string. So remove the string from its packet, set the packet to one side. What you want to do here is you want to unravel the string. Be careful of your eyes. The end of the string where the ball is, this is the end that typically grips the inside of a bridge on a regular style guitar bridge. We want to get a wire cut us here. Now, on most of the general guitar strings you can buy, the windings come down to a point where they thicken out. I was cut just above that point. So I'm just doing this and I'm removing the ball end of the string altogether. Now I have a string with no end. So that is going to go in this point of the bridge here that we talked about earlier, where this bolt is pushing a little block against the string. So push that right in, make sure it's contacting the bottom so it's not going to fall out. So you need your Allen key. You're going to tighten this bolt. So we're going to put that in place. A few turns you should never, ever force a flow drive system. So just keep turning these until they naturally stop. This can be a little bit of a fiddly job when you first start doing it. Once you've done this a few times, you will get faster at the process. But the first time you restring a Flowing Grows guitar will take some time. So get that tightened up. Like I said, don't force it. Just turn the Allen key until it naturally stops. So now I'm not really putting any tension on that, but it's not going any further. I would just give it a slight nudge past that point. And that is now locked in place. So that string is now locked into the bridge. So what we now need to do is take the other end of the string and now we're just going to restring this in the conventional way. So obviously we're going to come up the neck. Most Flowing Grows guitars will have a string retainer of some sort. So you want to put the string through the nut under the string retainer and then wrap that around the tuning peg before threading it through as you normally would when restricting a guitar. So we're just going to push that through like so. I've done two winds around the headstock post there, and I'm just going to push that through and make sure everything is lined up and tight. So now I have a string on the guitar locked in place, but it's loose. We can't really use that. So now we need to tune it. So I'm going to plug my guitar into my guitar tuner. Now, on a Flowing Grows tremolo, we have a series of fine tuners on the bridge. These allow us to change the pitch of the string in small increments once it's locked in place. What I always do is I like to reset the tuner to about halfway on its travel each time I change the string because I do use these to keep my guitar in tune. So sometimes you may screw these right down or right up. So when you do take the string off and you've got it here with no tension in, just reset it so it's about halfway in its entire travel. Now we can just start tuning that string as normal. So I'm going to use the tuning peg and I'm just going to tune this string up until it registers as an E on my tuner. Once I've put a little bit of tension in the string, I always like to just recheck that bridge pin just to make sure that's not loose. And if I'm happy with that, I will continue to turn in that string until my guitar tuner shows an E. Now we're going to stretch the string a little bit. I like to do this as I go along with Floyd Rose guitars. Just give that string a little pole at a few different places along its length. Check it again and you'll see it drop down to a D sharp. So I'm going to tune that back up to an E. I'm going to do that a few more times just until it settles as an E. This just pulls out any kinks or any loose parts of the string. Make sure it's connected and seated correctly. So once I'm happy that my string is stretched and in tune, now I'm going to check the bridge. So I'm going to hold the guitar sideways and I want to look at the bridge along here. What I want is to see that this plate, the bottom of the bridge plate is level with the body of the guitar. So when it parallel, but with a gap. So this is level. So I'm happy with that for the first string. So in this case, it is level. The bridge plate is parallel with the body. I'm happy with that. And now I'm going to proceed. So the next thing I'm going to do now and I'm going to take off the A string. So I'm going to loosen the A string. Then I'm going to unlock the bridge until the string pops out. And we're going to remove that string in the same way. So this thing applies. Take your second string out of the packet, cut the ball end off just under the windings and insert that into the bridge. And lock the bridge down. Once you've done that, the same thing applies. Now we're going to make sure that string is now wrapped around the tuner. So same thing now up the neck. Under the string retainer and through the nut. And then we're going to get this around the second tuning post. So this is the A string. So we're going to pull that tight, wrap it around the post two wraps and then push it through. And now we're ready to tune up. The A string. So I'm going to just check that my fine tuner is about halfway on its travel by loosening that and tune up the A string. Again, I'll do a couple of turns and then I'll check it at the bridge just to make sure that this is properly locked down, which it is. So we're going to get that more or less in tune. Once that is in place, we're going to start stretching the string just to make sure it holds tune really, really well. Don't be afraid to give the strings a good tug just to make sure you're pulling out any loose ends. And once I can stretch the string and it stays pretty much where it is, I'm pretty happy that that is more or less done. For now, I'll give it another full stretch at the end. So I'm going to check the bridge again. Now, this time it does have a slight backwards lean. So the bridge is actually tilted back slightly. So to me, that means the string tension in the back is greater than the tension of the strings pulling. So I'm going to put the guitar flat like this and I'm just going to loosen by just a quarter of a turn. I don't want to do too much. And I'm going to check again. So that bridge is actually now level. It was only slightly out. So by loosening the screws in the back, I've straightened the bridge on the top. But what I've now done is I've actually de-tuned these strings. So I'm going to re-tune the E and A quickly. And now that I'm happy with those, I can proceed. So now I'm going to change the other four strings and then we'll come back and we'll finalize the setup. All right, so all six strings are on. So that took me around about 15 to 20 minutes with the cameras off there. Obviously, like I said, I've reached strong Floyd Rose guitars many times. But if it's your first time, it's going to take you a bit longer. So I would set aside maybe like an hour if this is your first time doing it. As you do it more and more, you will get faster with it. So now all six strings are on. So we're going to do some final checks before we get the guitar ready. So the first thing I'm going to do is check every string is in tune. So some of them are slightly flat because obviously, like I said, we're dealing with a floating bridge here. And I've made sure that all my fine tuners, except my high E1, are balanced. These are going to allow me to make tuning adjustments once the guitar is fully locked. Now that that's in tune, I'm going to use my Allen key. And I'm just going to make sure that everything here is secure. So I'm not forcing it. I'm just checking that there's no additional travel in these bolts because obviously we don't want the strings to slip out when in use, but you should never force this. Just turn it to make sure that it's not loose. Okay, so I'm quite happy with that. So this guitar now should sound in tune. So now we want to replace the locking nut.  The plate goes across the strings like so. And then the bolt goes through that into the nut. You can thumb screw this into a certain point. When I do this, I always like to just thumb screw them in place just so I know where they are. And then I'll lock them down fully and we can do our final tune up. So at this point with those thumb screwed in, I'll once again check my bridge. So that is level. That is exactly how I wanted it. So at this point now, I can proceed to take my allen key and lock the nut in place. So same as with the bridge, tighten it until it won't tighten anymore without any excessive force. And then just a slight nudge past that point. You should never force this because not only do you risk stripping the bolt, that's going to be a nightmare to get off, but you can also apply too much pressure to the strings up here, which can cause breakages. So we want to just turn that until it naturally stops. So that's naturally stopped now. I'm just going to give it a little pull beyond that point. Now to get that to go any further, I would need to use quite a lot of force. I'm going to do the same thing for the final one. Natural stop in point, little pull and we're done. So now that's still pretty much in tune. Now I'm going to use my guitar tune and the fine tune is on here to tune it. So you can see my E there is slightly sharp. So I'm going to use the fine tune now to bring that E into tune. I'm going to do the same thing for all six strings. Now I can replace the back plate. So obviously I'm happy that my tremolo isn't going to be adjusted anymore.  I no longer need to balance the bridge because that is done. OK, now we're going to take our string cutters. We're going to tidy up these unsightly strings on the headstock unless you like that kind of thing, of course. Some people prefer to leave their guitars like this. I personally don't. So we're going to snip the strings off as neat as we possibly can. And now I can simply take my tremolo on, screw that back into place. And now my Floyd Rose locking tremolo quick guitar is really strong, tuned up and ready to go. Let me know down below in the comments if you guys have got any Floyd Rose tips or tricks that I might have missed in this video that you want to share with anyone else checking this out. If you enjoyed this maintenance video and there are any other maintenance tips and tricks you guys want to see us talk about in these videos, let us know down below as well. Thank you so much for watching. Don't forget to check out Black Star Amplification on YouTube for more videos just like this. If you're looking for a guitar teacher in your local area, please head over to musicteacher.com. It's a great network of music teachers all around the UK waiting to help you guys out. Thanks so much for watching and I'll see you soon.


You know what I've noticed? I did I did a little study and a little research. What type of study? What type of study, man?  Was it the men or is it the women?  Oh, tell the people. Tell the people what you found out. I got a chart here, right? OK. And it says that. Today's millennial generation of women are cheating on their husbands slash boyfriends at an alarming rate, alarming rate. And this is unbelievable. Like, if you look at this chart, look at the blue. That's that's unbelievable.  That's unbelievable, isn't it? They get busy. They are getting busy, too. So to all the fellas who because a lot of y'all be thinking, you know, y'all y'all y'all got the one. They said the younger woman in relationships is cheating more frequently. Right. Hey, y'all be thinking y'all got the one. All these young fellas out here, you be thinking you got the one. I got it. And the whole time she's a thot pocket. Hey, you hear me? But let me tell you something about women. They do it better than us. We think we we think we so smart. We think we got it all figured out. We think we so slick. Guess when your woman going to cheat. When you think she not. When your woman going to cheat, when you think she at church, you hear me? Well, who the pastor? But you got to ask. What's she going to cheat with? Was you with Reverend Sheets? What you was at? St. Mattress. Past the layer. Getting a holy one. Sucking a holy one out of there. What was you with?  Oh, my God. Let me tell you something. Oh, my God. Hey, these women going to cheat when you. These women going to cheat when you don't think they cheat and they smarter than us. That's why a lot of violence happening out here. Because listen, since the beginning of the time, wars have been started over that thing. Over that over that over that guy. That thing, that thing, that thing. That thing, that thing is that thing. Man, listen, man, change. Listen, man, I just seen cold, blooded chumps, man. Turn into warriors about that thing. About that thing. Ah! Oh, no. Got to him. Got to him.  Everybody's going to die. Kill everybody in the house. Knock the fish tank over. Everything got to go. Kill a dog. All the flies and all the mice, everything gets exterminated about that. That thing is dangerous, man. I'm talking about, man, I'm talking about, people have this, exterminated the whole, everything moving in the crib got to die.  Snap about it. That's the thing, man, listen.  No, on some real stuff, we gonna be straight up, vagina did take the pace of everything.  I said, that thing? That thing control the street games.  A lot of people are like, why is this happening? Why these little boys? I don't want my little boy to grow up ho ho. A lot of times the women create the environment and they create the mindset for, when I was a young boy, I used to see older women, these beautiful women, and anytime I seen them, they was getting in a drug dealer car, or they was getting in somebody's car that had a lot of money that had things.  Cause you want that pretty girl. Jump into your car.  You messing with a cat that's out here operating outside of the law, putting it down.  I'm not trying to judge you because everybody had a moment in life where they be living outside of the law, but you out here messing with the people that you say you don't want your son to grow up and be like.


Okay, welcome back. The second hour, we thought we will do something different. The topic is on common issues in marriage and family, which I think you could just probably go through your notes and look at what are the issues. It's just basically looking at what are the issues and also what are guidelines you need to do as a counsellor. And I just want to quickly touch upon that and probably we'll have like a practical session. So, when you are counselling couples or families, there's more than one member, right? And usually what will you see when a husband and wife or a family comes together for counselling? What are some things that you think would happen? No, no. We're not looking at what will happen. What are you noticing? Yeah, they're fighting. And what are they fighting about? Yeah, so usually you will have two different kinds of stories, right? Two perspectives or two stories. So what should you as a counsellor do there? Okay, okay. Mike, people need to hear you. First, we have to listen to both the perspectives.  No, no, not final. Final is a process. I'm saying what should be some things you should keep in mind when you're dealing with a couple or a family. Compassion towards them. Do not judge them. Okay, so one thing very important is you don't side one. Yeah, one-sidedly. Don't take anyone's side. Side one and bring down the other. It's a very dangerous thing to do there. You're not there as a judge. You're not there as an advocate for anybody. You're helping them to come to resolve a problem. That's one of the first and foremost things that you need to do. And how do you do that? You need to make sure that both can trust you. So you're not going to isolate or alienate any of them, but how both can actually trust you. The idea is to get, you are standing there, not as a mediator. You know who a mediator is? Who's a mediator? And in between who's saying, okay, wait, wait, I'll tell him. You're not there as a mediator. Remember that. You're there as a facilitator. The facilitator is you're helping them come to a place of conversation and understanding. Okay, so that's what you're basically doing in that. All right. So I thought better than going through this is let's take an example and we will have a session. Okay, so I'll give you the scenario. The scenario is that the husband had a affair. Okay, they had a affair. The wife found out and as a result, they have come for counseling. All right. Okay, online students. Okay, now I'm trying to figure out how we can do this. How do we, online students engaging will be very difficult. So y'all are going to be, so what I'd suggest is to whoever are going to be sit together on one computer.  Okay, okay, switch on the camera. So who are the two people? Okay, so Francis is the husband who's had the affair. Okay. And you're the wife. Someone has to be the counselor also. Anyone among the online students willing to be a counselor? I can try. I can try. Ramali, did you say yes? I said I can try. Yeah, okay, wonderful. Great. Okay, so she's going to try. Okay, so who's the wife? No, no, no. Anand, be the wife. You just have to complain about him. Easy job. Your husband has had an affair. You found out. Okay. You don't know how to manage. So come, come, come. Anand is wife.  You just complain that he's, he's, okay, ready? Okay, fine. All right, just put on your video so Ramali can see you. Because I think it's helpful to see. Okay, I'm going to switch off my... Who is the wife? Anand is the wife? Yeah, yeah, Anand is the wife. Anand is taking some time to come. Oh, Anand is the husband. He's still coming from his affair. Ramali, your councillors want to see you. Yeah, I'm trying to come on the video, yes. Okay, okay. Excuse me. You heard that, Ramali? No, I didn't hear anything. Okay, I told him not to complicate it. I said that the husband agreed that he has an affair. And because the wife found out, she said until you come for coun... If you don't come for counselling, I leave. So that's the scenario and that's how they've come to you. Okay? You can start, Ramali. You can start. Hello. Okay, give yourselves a name or for Anand. No, Anand then... Angel. Okay, Anand then Angel. Okay, start. Yeah, Anand. Hi, Angel. How are you doing? I thought Anand. You're Anand. Anand, you are Anand's boy. Anand, yes. Well, I have to put it on now. Oh, okay. All right. Can you hear them? Hello. No. Yes, I can. I can hear them. So, Anand, I'm going through a big trouble, big problem. My husband is gone from my hand. He has an affair, but I don't know what to do with that. Okay, okay. Okay, calm down. And let's send you your little attitude right now. Can you hear me? Yes, right. Can you hear me loud and clear? Yes. Yes. Speak again. Hello, my check one to three. Okay, speak. My check one to three. Yes. Yes, yes, yes. So, Anand, I... Angel, Angel. Okay, guys, let's keep it formal. Okay. Okay, let's start. Angel, I understand your little attitude right now. So, let's just take a moment. So, I'm glad you and your husband, Anand, are here today to meet me. And I'm sure the way it started, there are some kind of things happening in between you guys. So, even before I want to speak, can I understand what's exactly happening between you? Maybe I can hear from you both. Angel, would you like to go first and you can try and explain me what is wrong? I want only one thing. I want my husband back. Okay. So, what happened, Angel? What happened? Is there any reason for you to be so... He have a childhood crush from his 50 year old. But after I got it, he can marry her in no way. He married me and my life became spoiled. Now, that person, his name is Anand. He is with that girl every night, every morning. I mean, he's not spending time with me, not coming to my house. Lot of things, lot of things. Okay. So, you're saying that your husband is having an affair with his childhood crush. Am I right? Can you come again? You're saying that your husband is having a crush with his childhood classmate. Am I right, Angel? Yes, she is now there but they are maintaining their relationship. They are avoiding me. Okay. I understand you might be going to a lot right now. So, Anand, do you have... do you want to say your side of the story? Both husband and wife are discussing to tell me this way. Yeah. Hi, Emily. Hi. Sorry. Yeah. I heard your wife is saying that you're having an affair with your childhood friend. Do you like to explain your side of the story if anything... No, she is still my friend. She is doubting me. I don't know what to do if she doubted on what I have to do. Anand, I said agree that you had. You're confronted? It is true. Don't do this because that kid is very complicated. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, Ravali. She is my childhood friend. So, yeah, we are in a relationship. Okay. Okay. So, before even addressing the problem, Prince is raising his hand, right? Do you have question, Prince? Go ahead. So, now, we need divorce. What is the topic? How should the story go? No, I think you may not just go with it. We just have some... Yeah. Who is the main character? Husband want to divorce or not to divorce? So, wife want to divorce, not to divorce. What is the forwarding story? That you create. That we create. No need to come with the story. Is it from husband or is it from wife? Okay. You created. Okay. So, we will create the story as we go along.  So, I wanted to ask you a few questions if you don't mind. Can you tell me, it's been how many years you got married? I don't remember. Angel, how many years you got married? My tears are coming. He not remembering that one also. It's been 10 years. Okay. 10 years. Yeah, 10 years I think so. That's great. That's great. So, do you have any children out of this marriage? No, he don't have time for that.  That's what they said. Okay. Yeah. So, how was your 10 years of marriage? Could you just summarize it in a few sentences? I know now we are going through a difficult time, but how was your marriage in the past before this all started? I circumcised myself like on the one day from there to today. Like first week and I think first month is okay. We are in a good relationship. Then he started separating from my life. Jeanne, you are on mute, so I can't hear what. I have to let them talk. Anand, can you please? Francis, can you talk? Now you can hear me? Yes, yes, yes. So, you are saying? Yeah. Okay. So, from the... Anand mute yourself. Fully, fully, fully. So, it's been like from the month we married, I think mostly one month he is with me. We are in a good relationship. We are like a friend, best buddies, but after one month, mostly three months, he started separating from me. He said he had a job, a lot of jobs, a lot of works happening. He started going out. I'm from my heart pure love. Okay, I trust she and me is saying the truth, but after six years only I got to know from one of my friends here. She is a CCTV on our villa. She said, okay, he is going not to that person, not to for a walk. He is going to another person. Like after I'm in the investigation, but recently I found out I talked to him. It's been one year. It's been one year, I caught him. So, actually, Angel, few details are not matching. You said you were married for 10 years. And then after six years, you found out after three months, he got separated from you. He's keeping separate from you.  And so, what happened in these six years? Were you guys having good moments? Were you guys happy? Actually, he's not separating. We are not feeling separated. He'll come on the morning, like not in the proper talking. I will make food for him. He'll come and eat.  It's been everything normally, but I felt somewhere. Now I am feeling somewhere. Okay, that is the reason he went. He's been a busy lifestyle, but we got the time to talk. We got the time to enjoy. He gave that freedom and all. Okay. Anand, how was your experience, your last past 10 years of your marriage life with Angel? Angel shared her story. Could you please share what was your experience? Do you have any happy moments or anything that could you highlight on it? If you ask about my wife, she's a very good girl. As far as I know, she's a loving girl. Whenever I come back home, she'll be waiting for me. She cooks a good food, Kerala food. She cooks so well. She's one of the best things I can say about her. Yeah, everything is good for me. She's a very good wife. I don't have any problem with my wife. So as you agreed that she's a good person and you had a good time with her as a wife, she's taken care of you and family. And also as you kind of agreed that you have an affair with your friend, could you please tell me since when this all started, is there any point where you decided that you had to look out? We understand everybody has some kind of a weakness. Is there something with you that you could explain to us as a reason? Yeah, she is my childhood friend. So we promised each other we'll be there for each other for life. So I can't break that promise. But my parents forced me to marry this girl. So I can't cheat that girl. I can't cheat my wife also. So yeah, I'm just justifying. I'm just being on both sides, balancing two families. Okay. As complicated as it sounds. So now you come to this position where it's hard for me to say but as you are hearing from Angel, both of you are in a difficult relationship. And Angel is so sad that she wants you for her sense and she doesn't want you to share you with any other person. So you came to this point where you have to choose between Angel and your childhood friend. So I would like you to think about it. I am not expecting an answer. I would like what you suggest is that you and Angel... I just want to tell you one thing, Raveli. My childhood friend didn't got married and she stayed for me. She has not married it. For me only she stayed like this. So you just tell me if I leave one, how it will be for her. If I stay only with my wife, I can't leave her because she stayed for me, right? I can't leave my wife also. I don't want to see it anymore. I want two families. I want both my wife and my childhood friend. So unfortunately, you are married to Angel Anand. So that is a covenant that you made with Angel and you haven't married your childhood friend. So there is no kind of a legal covenant that is attached with her. So it will be an illegal affair at any point of time. So I understand your feelings towards... I can understand your feelings towards her but as you see legally and morally or ethically Angel is your wedded wife and if you have to stay with her it is that you have to be true what you have promised to Angel as part of the legal or covenant process. So Angel, I would like to ask you this question as Anand is expressing his feelings for the other person as she is not able to leave her because of the promise he made for her. So after listening this, how do you feel about it?  Or else it's going to be forever.  I don't want this life without Anand. Looks like you've been through a lot Angel. Your voice also changed quite a bit. I would say we'll do this.  You can talk your heart out about each other and when we meet before the next session, you come with the points that you write down what you feel about each other and I would request you to come for the next session after doing this exercise. I hope that is okay. See, it is difficult. I want you to understand it is difficult to give an absolute solution for these kind of problems because there are two individuals involved with the third extra and decisions should not be taken in haste. We will take it slow. I understand both of you are in pain and a lot of complexities. It's like Angel might get an architect also. I would like you to do this exercise. We will meet in the next session with what you have. Thank you. Excellent. Is my mic on? Wonderful. I think you did such a great job, Ravali. I think let's look at what Ravali has done. The skills that she showed. We will get Angel and Anand to first respond. What did you think about the way that she... How did you all feel? Put yourself in the role. How did you all feel that she responded to you despite the situation being hard? Actually, she responded so good. Like a professional. And I appreciate her for not...  Yeah, she did a very good job. Okay. Be specific of your answer. What did you find her doing? It's been... For my side, it's a complicated thing. What we give to her. And how she... I liked how she wind up the section. She didn't went to... From her side, she did her best. And from... She became overflowing from her head. She said, okay, we will wind up this section now. Just you talk. And she didn't left also. She didn't like... What is that? She didn't give up on... And she didn't write extra something not wanted. She want to go forward. But take a break, okay. Like how to... She handled in a very well position. Okay. Any other thoughts? What did you think? How did you think Rabeli handled it? How do you think she handled it? Nicely. What... Give some specific... Give specifics to it. Even the other online students. She... What I felt it's like... She was very patient. And how she was giving... Like it's not like giving the solution. But... Coming into a point where they both can communicate to each other. I think... Yeah, Neena. Information she's given. You're legally married with one and not... Both wives, yeah. Nice. Good. Yeah. So she... If you saw... I think your voice was... You didn't get perturbed when you heard... You know... The complexity of it. You did say it is a complex situation. But I do understand what where you are in both spaces. You were careful not to take sides. That's one thing that I really did see. Despite what maybe Anand said. That could have worked. Or could have bought about... You know, maybe a response of judgment. You were very, very clear of... Not doing that. I think you've got... You rephrased what was spoken. You were empathetic to both. To both of them. You actually showed a lot of empathy. You clarified. You asked one person the question. And the other person you said, What do you have to say about it? What do you think about it? What do you think about having to put in your... Ideas or thoughts? And you ended it well. You've probably said, Let's go back. We can't discuss this completely. But go talk about it and come back. I think overall you did an excellent job. Anyone else? Anyone else would like to bring about thoughts? What did you think? Can you hear me? Can you hear me? Go ahead. For me, I felt like She was not being biased. Especially when we know when that other person legally accepts that that person was in an affair. We almost take the side for an affected person who get affected. But she's been so neutral towards each person also trying to make feel that she understands him also. She understands his situation also. That's a good thing I like. And also she was trying to be but she was not minimizing the problem of Anand. She was also like, I understand you also. I understand your perspective too. And actually I like the way she closed it up. Even I was just waiting how she will but she was so, I think she used wisdom for the end how to conclude further session telling you talk and come back with a point writing. She did a very good job actually. Okay. Anyone else? Anyone else wants to, before we have Ravali say what she felt. Ravali, you want to share what you thought. Actually it is a difficult situation because first thing is not a real scenario so they are not really speaking out of their heart and they are being very naughty and funny. So very tough. So for me to put in that place where I should not respond in the I thought I should not respond the way she approached me to give it a thought even though when I know that Anand is a wrong thing inside my heart he is saying I gave the promise to that girl I want to do justice to both my wife and that girl I felt very I am like one I will give you inside my heart I was thinking but so I wanted to put it across in such a way that you know I wanted to as you said I made sure that I am not biased to someone and I made sure I want to listen both sides of the story because both are together and I also felt the need of counseling them separately as well I wanted to say that in the end because when they are together there is a lot of promotion happening that Angel is like back and all of that and he is like you know trying to say his point so I felt even counseling together and also counseling separately to understand each other's perspective is important I felt and also one point where I said something and I kind of corrected it is when Anand is telling that you know I love her also I mean basically he likes the childhood and I said I understand your situation but I corrected that I am listening to whatever you see because I felt I might not understand his situation because I haven't been there at any point of time so I understood his emotion that he felt that way but I didn't know how to put it across in that case scenario where he is saying I gave a word for her and I am feeling bad that I am not able to do justice for both even though he didn't put it in this way but that is what he is seeing at that point of time so there I might not understand what he exactly sees but I just know that he is going through an emotional you know roller coaster having both and being in a place where he is not able to decide what he wants to do so I want to know how do we put it across where you really not been in that place I can't understand him being I mean having an affair or being in double relationship because I haven't been there so how do we channel that kind of tough situations question so one of the things that so what you are saying is I can't imagine being in a state like that and how do I understand him well enough to know where he is at so it is perfectly okay to say that you are not able to comprehend what it means to have this affair as well as your wife you are not able to comprehend because you may not know how he feels until you ask him so it is okay to say at this point of time I can't comprehend what it is for you to have a wife as well as have a lover and want to keeping both I am not able to comprehend that but I would like to understand a little bit more about what this means to you what does this mean to you having both of them in your life with the stress of knowing that your wife is unacceptable to this relationship but your desire of understanding her so actually asking him that will probably are you there so just doing that will open up a conversation that helps you to hear from Anand what it means so when you are coming to a place of understanding you are not understanding it for yourself but you are clarifying that understanding for Anand so you may be saying Anand I can't comprehend what it means for you to have two women like this but what does it mean to you or what does it feel like for you to have your wife who is vehemently against this and to have your lover who wants all of you what does that feel like for you so you are actually helping him clarify something as well because he may come to understand okay I have not thought about this actually quite stressful this is not an easy job to have a wife and have a lover having one not accept maybe having the other pushing me towards it so while you are making the understanding for yourself you are actually also going to be helping Anand to discover that for himself that may help him see a little bit more light into his situation did you get that Ravali do you have any questions thoughts Ravali Ravali can't hear you okay Ravali we can't hear you okay I just wanted to probably also put some of the things you know some of the skills that we have learnt some things that Ravali put into practice what all do you think she put into practice did she attend well she saw Anand doing you know not Anand sorry Angel having heart attack and crying and all of that and she saw it okay and then she really bought about that right she was very keenly observing you alright did she listen well did she respond to your feelings you said I see that you are feeling really broken you are really upset right so she responded her questions did she ask questions well enough yeah that made you all to think or figure out a situation right okay so those were definitely and I know we didn't progress further into influencing and all of that but nevertheless I think she she did get this extremely well okay alright thank you thank you Angel for all the drama and Anand for making up the story and Ravali excellent job great okay alright we have another 10 minutes do you all have any questions if not we can close today any questions any thoughts so something maybe I think I will probably just add one or two things something that I may ask Angel and Anand is okay since you both came in here for counselling maybe that's something I would want to know from Anand since you both came in for counselling what is the best way what would you like me to do to help you right because it would it would help him think about what he would like right so that's maybe a question that that I'd ask you don't have to answer that's a question that I may ask the second thing that I may ask is I'd like maybe again to Anand is you know I do see you have a you really want to keep your wife and your girlfriend what do you think are some of the challenges that you may face as a result of keeping both of them in your life what do you think so I want him to come to a place of really understand what could be the positive or the negative he's not come to think of the negatives so what could be some challenges maybe I will bring about what do you think others around your family that is your parents what what opinion would they have of you keeping two women together right so these are things that would help him to think and also to Angel because she said if she keeps her I will die I will kill I will kill both of them he said I will kill both of them so maybe asking you know bringing about she may be saying it in that overwhelm and that emotion but when you when it comes down and or when it tones down probably asking some something like if you looked at the solution of dealing with this apart from killing Anand then her what would be another thing that you would do if Anand continues to want to stay with this girl and you right so you're what you're trying to help her is to look at another solution or something more rational rather than I will kill Anand then I will kill thing it may have come from an emotional state so once that is down I'll say apart from that thing that you said if there was another choice of doing something else what would you do Angel right so it gives them ways of how to think then maybe Angel will say I'm going to go tell his parents or I'm going to do something else so that that that's more a you're generating a solution to help them to come to terms come to a come to a practical solution okay rather than you know this thing this issue of dying or issue of killing right so these may be two additional questions of the hat that I can think of that you know I may ask anyone else things of another question that you could probably ask to engage them to think anybody else Shri Radha Nikhil Nina any other question okay there's nothing it's okay alright no other questions from anyone if not we'll just close with a word of prayer thank you actors alright let's just pray thank you Lord once again for where you've placed us Lord we truly need your wisdom and guidance to deal with people who are hurting father we pray that you will keep us sensitive you will keep us in love you will keep us not judgmental or biased towards others and their challenges but Lord you will give us a heart of compassion a heart Lord that really desires to see situations being changed Holy Spirit we pray that you will guide us through each of this build the skills within us even as we get talking to others get discussing I pray God that you will bring to our minds help us recall the things we've learned things we've studied thank you once again for your grace over each of our lives in Jesus name amen thank you thank you everybody here there is sorting out happening and love back in action okay I leave them bye bye see you


This presentation, Final Frozen Frontier, Geopolitical and Geo-Economic Thinking on the Arctic, was presented on June 8th at the CSIS Global Security Forum at the Willard Hotel in downtown Washington. A rapidly transforming Arctic is a subject of growing global interest and importance to Washington policymakers. But first, to understand the Arctic, you must form a new perspective. Looking at a regular map on the wall, it is difficult to gain that perspective. To gain a fresh perspective, we must go to the top of the world using the helpful tool of Google Earth. Let's go to the North Pole. Welcome to the Arctic, an area which covers one-sixth of the planet's landmass. There are five Arctic coastal or littoral states, Russia, Canada, Denmark via Greenland, Norway, and the United States. These countries are sometimes referred to as the Arctic Five. There are eight members of the Arctic Council, an intergovernmental forum for Arctic governments and indigenous peoples. Members of the Arctic Council include the five coastal states, plus Iceland, Sweden, and Finland. This region is not a static picture. What you are watching now is a time lapse of changing and receding polar ice from 1978 to today. The polar ice cap is 25% smaller than in 1978. In the summer of 2007 alone, one million more square miles of ice melted beyond the average. Sea ice thickness has decreased by approximately 40% over the past several decades. The receding ice cap has allowed for greater access to the Arctic by way of shipping routes. The two routes are the Northwest Passage and the Northern Sea Route. The economic dynamics of the region will shape the Arctic's future profoundly, particularly in the shipping industry, where potentially global shipping times from east to west could be reduced by 30%. Two German ships from the Beluga Group, shown here, traveled in the summer of 2009 from South Korea to Rotterdam through the Northern Sea Route, marking the first commercial transit through the entire Northern Sea Route, reducing the trip by 3,500 miles and 10 days. The other critical economic driver of the region is its abundant oil and gas resources. The US Geological Survey estimates that the Arctic holds 30% of the world's remaining natural gas resources and 13% of untapped oil supplies. You can see where these deposits lie here. 84% of the oil and gas is offshore in waters less than 500 meters deep. While most Arctic oil and gas resources are found within the exclusive economic zones of the coastal states, shown here, some are located on disputed boundaries. The recently ratified Norwegian-Russian Border Demarcation Agreement is an example where Arctic border disagreements have been successfully resolved. With the increase of commercial and human activity in the Arctic, comes the need to ensure safe transit, protect borders, and provide adequate protection and safety of life in extreme climatic conditions. To adequately protect shipping, icebreakers are needed. Let's travel to Murmansk, Russia, and take a look at some of Russia's nuclear-powered icebreaker fleet. Countries must now protect borders that were once protected by ice and inaccessibility. Arctic coastal states train their military personnel to operate in severe conditions. Let's travel to the Canadian Northern Territories, where we find Canada performing in its annual joint exercise of its maritime command and Coast Guard operations, Operation Nanook. Recently, Canada invited Denmark and the United States to participate in this exercise. Search and rescue will be a prominent feature of the future Arctic security landscape. Let's travel to Dead Horse, Alaska, where, depending on the moment, we could see the Coast Guard cutter, the U.S. Healy, America's newest and largest polar icebreaker. Next year, the Healy will be the only ice-strengthened vehicle in the U.S. fleet. To underscore the importance of search and rescue, May of this year members of the Arctic Council signed a legally binding agreement on international search and rescue. This map outlines the sectors of responsibility of each Arctic Council member. And we can see by this footage that robust training and exercising in the Arctic will be vital. In addition to the economics and security dimensions, the Arctic is a place identified by strong international cooperation and coordination to protect the fragile Arctic environment, also to ensure sustainable development and reduce the effects of climate change. This has been the mandate of the Arctic Council since its creation in 1996. Let's go to Stockholm, Sweden. The Swedish government currently serves as the chair of the Arctic Council until 2013. Here is a picture taken in May of this year in Nuuk, Greenland, at the Arctic Council ministerial meeting. The Arctic Council is the primary forum for addressing policy challenges in the Arctic. Science is an important element of Arctic research and understanding. Let's travel to the Norwegian Ice Center in Svalbard, Norway, one of the most modern Arctic research centers in the world. Finally, one non-Arctic actor in particular has taken an active interest in Arctic science and research, and that is China. The newly created Polar Institute of China has signed an agreement with Polar Research Cooperation with Norway and is present in Svalbard. The world's largest non-nuclear-powered icebreaker, the Snow Dragon, shown here, normally docked in its port in Shanghai, has completed four scientific expeditions to the Arctic. Thank you for joining us on this brief Arctic tour. To learn more about the CSIS Arctic program, the Geopolitics of the High North, check us out at arctic.csis.org.


Mr. William from Ghana had approached us for the problem of his rapidly increasing weight and he came to us about two to three weeks ago. At the time of the first consultation, he weighed 250 plus kilograms. He had a great inability to move around and to exercise and he had a lot of breathing difficulty because of his weight. My name is William Bonny. I'm from Ghana, Africa. I came to Manila Power because mobility obese was impacting my way of life. I was not happy about it. So I decided to come do biotic surgery because over the years I tried alternative means of losing weight and I wasn't able to do it. So I opted to come try biotic surgery here. I was really impressed with everything from how professional the staff are. I'm very happy with the results. As I speak now, practically back to 100%. No pain, nothing. We evaluated him, we prepared him for surgery for about 10 to 15 days with exercise regimen and respiratory and breathing exercises and then we operated on him last week. I have done a sleeve gastrectomy on him which means that we remove a large part of his stomach from inside. Stomach is the organ where the food is digested and stored. It is next to the food pipe. So once we remove the stomach, the body hormones, they come back to normal and the patient starts to lose weight automatically. As a result, he has lost about 12 kilograms in the first week itself. He feels more active now. He is able to walk better now and he is on his way to recovery. I am sure that in the next one to one and a half years he will lose most of his excess weight and come back to his near normal weight. Even after just a week, I lost 12 kilos and I can feel it already. I can feel the change in my life. The way I walk, the beating, everything is improving. I can just imagine after a year and half from now, I am very happy with Dr. Sumit. From the first day I saw him, I just knew that everything will be fine. Now I will strongly recommend anyone who is tired of being obese and wants to make a change to seriously consider manpower because they are going to make sure whatever they need to do to make you come out of a successful day like they did for me. I recommend that you come here, manpower, you will be happy. The staff are very professional, very nice. The doctors do the same. Equipments, second to none. Everything is great. I strongly recommend that anytime you want to consider doing a surgery, you just come to manpower and you will be happy.


I'm gonna get right into the message because it's so so so so of God It's called ask of me and I will give you the nations for your inheritance It's a messianic psalm and it was intended for Christ Christ is the king of all kings and Lord of all lords We honor him as such the father God said this to Jesus the son Ask of me and I will give you the nations of the earth for your inheritance In fact, if you read the whole psalm, it says why do the heathens rage? Why have the kings of the earth gathered together?  Ladies and gentlemen, we're living in a time where our nation and the world is casting off all moral restraints from values of sexuality and honesty and purity and gender and They're raging against God it. It's not that all you could either believe in God or not believe I know they're raging against God against Christianity But God says ask of me Why can we ask of God as well if this is intended for Christ because we are joint heirs with Jesus Christ He said I reign and I want you to reign alongside of me I want to raise your faith to ask See Jesus taught us how to ask and Matthew 7 and 7 he says ask and it will be given to you And John 4 or 14 Jesus said if you ask anything in my name I will do it. Christmas time is coming. My favorite time of the year. I don't know about you, but I like specific giving So my wife she said well, what would you like for Christmas? You know and I ask You know the apple came out with these really cool your ear pods now that are noise-canceling So I ordered them and she's gonna put it under the tree for me But it's a secret Don't tell anybody God challenged me when I pastored I'm doing missions work for now next year will be 50 years Every year every summer of my life since I was 16 years old. I went on a missions trip I'm the only son, but I had four sisters too old or too younger So there was a family of five it was a seven family of seven But my older brother died at birth and my other Sister was a twin of another girl. She died after 11 months But five of us in the family of my my my dad was such a man of God He asked of God and God gave him me And as I grew and I pastored the church in Union, New Jersey God was opening up the Soviet Union and one day I fell on my knees and I said God I ask you for the nation of Ukraine. I I wasn't born there. I speak the language But I'm an American just like you with Slavic parents And I asked the Lord and the Lord he he he Revealed and showed me that he wanted to give me that nation So in 1973 went on our first missionary journey. I was a teenager. I was 19 years old And you see pictures of Lenin everywhere. Do you have a picture of Lenin here? There he is. I mean like we have Coca-Cola and McDonald's and we're sick of advertising They had no advertising. It was all propaganda. It was all pictures of this bald-headed guy with a little goatee and And if in the small letters you can't see it But it says Lenin lived Lenin lives and Lenin will live forever Doesn't sound like Jesus yesterday today and forever the same Well, if you take God out of the picture like the Soviet Union did you got to put a small God in there And that was the small God His body is on display in the mausoleum But the Russians make fun of him call him sucho fruit or dried fruit They have to keep adding wax to that body, but he's somewhere Stoking the furnace and shoveling coal right now. I'm sure And on my first missionary journey, I saw this propaganda everywhere We went as tourists, but we went and visited the registered churches, but I'm going to get right to the point So as a tourist there was a tourist agency called interest where they would take you to museums and and and stadiums and One time a circus and they would brag about how wonderful the Soviet Union was So I remember in the city of Donetsk That's on the east side where the war is going on right now This young Komsomol That's the next slide she she she was a young communist They had the pioneers which were the communist boys and girl scouts Then they had the teenage group which was the komsomol's young communists and then the communist party members She was about 21. She was gorgeous And she had black air Beautiful blazing dark eyes. She was very attractive. She was wearing A micro mini skirt that caught my attention as a 19 year old And she was telling our group of five people She said oh, this is where our glorious soviet athletes race and we win all these gold medals But she knew we were christians and the interest had was part of the kgb the secret police And she's poking fun at us and she said yeah, she said some people of your faith came to the stadium And they prayed a prayer that one day the gospel The that you would have She didn't say the gospel but one day that there would be meetings of your faith in the stadium And then she said with the sneer. I'll never forget this But it will never When she said those words The zeal of god in my teenage heart Rose up within me. She wasn't pretty anymore I walked away and i'm telling you exactly how it happened exactly word for word This was burned into my memory Indelibly I walked away. I made a fist And I prayed into my fist And I said oh god let her words fall to the ground Secondly I prayed uh two things that number one uh stadiums would one day be used for evangelism crusades I prayed that in 1973 Number two prayer I prayed that billy graham would come and preach in those stadiums hallelujah So My point is this Ask of me says the lord Ask big things Ask impossible things Ask god for the nations Ask god for the northwest of america To be god's inheritance in jesus name Ask ask I didn't realize that one week from today you would be doing this At this time, but this is god's challenge to you in this message Ask of me you have not because you do now what? Ask but if you ask ask that my name would be glorified This is the god's inheritance for his name for his glory I prayed these two things fast forward 17 years ahead. I'm in a car Oh, I Forgot one detail So then we were finishing this tour of 50 days at seven weeks in a day We were in the city of churn of sea now this is on the west coast They put us up in this really dilapidated dilapidated hotels soviet soviet hotels were not the best And I walked down this little balcony overlooking the street a boulevard the trees a park And I saw a soccer stadium And I remembered this is the same trip I remembered the the arrogant words of this young consumable this young communist. It will never happen And so I I raised my hand towards the stadium. I said god I pray that that stadium would one day be filled with people to hear the gospel of jesus christ 17 years went by I forgot that prayer I'm in a car I'm with paul henevic a guy sing with tony oras a guy sing with And we're in a car ready for services in that city We stopped at a red light. I looked to the left and it says hotel bucovina this name of the hotel And I said, oh my goodness. I stayed there in 73 the first year I went then I saw a youtube video in my head The holy spirit Brought back to my remembrance And I see like a a mental picture of myself standing on that balcony with an outstretched hand praying That a stadium would be filled with people the light turns green right we move ahead iron gates open up And 15 300 people filled that particular stadium to hear the gospel of jesus christ for the first time in 70 years of communism Because a teenage boy age 19 years old asked god for something impossible during the monolithic An empire of revolution Who thought that it would crumble without a war without a shot being fired?  It was still gorbachev. It was still the communist party And the local leaders didn't want to give the stadiums that the Soviet was crumbling And so the christians they made all these posters. They went to the red cross. They said, can you hire the stadium for us? Yeah, if you let us charge one ruble per ticket one ruble is like a dollar And so they sold 15 300 rubles To 15 300 people The money went to the red cross All because a teenage boy James four two says you do not have because you do not ask But we also must ask for the right reasons Verse three says you ask and you do not receive Because you ask wrong wrongly to spend it on your passions Now let's move forward to 1986, right? 1986 I was a pastor of a local church And the registered church now in the Soviet Union Invited us as a church to come and visit churches. They're officially All expenses paid now. I gave up missions work. I just go like a week or two weeks somewhere But here we have an official invitation and we're ready to go with this my friend paul my friend, uh, tony And we're ready to go to to the Soviet Union, right? Kiev and other cities And Chernobyl blows up HBO had a special line at about half a year ago five episodes I implore you to watch them borrow somebody's password if you have to Then give it back. Okay. I don't like HBO has a lot of filth on it But this five-part series was so accurate to the detail The buildings the timing the people in the bridge watching Chernobyl burn. It was Riveting it's amazing. The story is very accurate And so Chernobyl blows up now radiation. You can't see it.  It'll make you infertile It'll uh radiate you it'll give you cancer of the thyroid and on and on and on So our trip is scheduled in in in two weeks and my wife says you're not going But I ask god Ask of me says the lord Ask of me. I said lord. Do you want us to go? Yes?  Hallelujah So I said to my wife, we're going.  I said, okay So we flew to Moscow because that's what the only international airport at the time. It's the surveyed union, right? And they so where's our next city Kiev Oh, no, and so we went to Kiev We came into the city, right and they have guys with gas masks And they're geiger counters on our car and it's clicking And so we're in the car. How's the radiation? Ah, it's tolerable today They have the gas mask and we're in the car and he's telling us it's tolerable 90 buses of children we saw them I counted them I could tell you stories and stories Washing the buildings morning and evening so that the radioactive dust from the buildings would go into the gutters and be swept away We were in the western city of rivne And we were 15 pastors around a table in a restaurant They asked me to pray So I prayed what I prayed every day that Trip to turnable to excuse me to the Soviet Union. I said lord bless this food. Let it let it be health to our bodies You promised us you would keep us in Jesus name amen We started to eat there were two japanese engineers sitting about five tables away And one of them came up to me. He had a a pen. He said sir, um, you speak english I said yes, I do this is a dosometer dosometer. It measures radiation Can I measure your your roast beef? I said sure He measures he said hmm. He went back And then he starts yelling at the waiter and finally this argument got very heated And he threw down his napkin and the two japanese engineers left So the waiter comes over to me true story word for word. I said to the waiter. What was that all about? He was demanding that I feed you the same to feed him the same meat. I gave you He says his meat is radiated off the church your meat has zero radiation I cut it from the same piece of meat I forgot about that story until I was at a church in portland at pastor sitting next to me He says, George, I was sitting next to you. Do you remember? I go no We were sitting in this restaurant and the meat was not radiated. I go. Oh, yeah How many things do we ask of god that he does and we forget about Give god glory give god praise Say, thank you god. You are a god who answers prayer That's god's promise, but then what if I don't know what to ask god What if I don't know how to ask god? Invite The holy spirit To pray through you roman's 826 teaches us the spirit also Helps us in our weakness for we do not know how to pray as we should how many people agree with that Well, okay, admit it to god god I want to ask you because it's not about me. It's about you telling me to ask you But what do I ask? How do I ask holy spirit? Would you reveal the mind and the heart of god so I can pray what you want to accomplish? I just I just Exposed to you one of the ways that god gets his will done by putting a desire to ask him so now he can Actually answer that prayer by using us to ask and he will answer the prayer hallelujah The spirit himself intercedes invite the holy spirit to pray through he will Inspire you He will Remind you He will bring to your mind a verse a word a picture a passion I was in india in 2014. I teach at a bible school their youth of the mission and they can't pay in my way They can't give me an honorarium But once a year I go visit a country where I could give And and and what I receive back is prayers and encouragement and helping the poor That's I love it's been doing it for the last 21 years We're going again this february and while I was there this year in 2014 The there's a squaring in Kiev called the maydan And it it exploded it exploded into violence 100 people at least were killed maybe more But 100 were recorded And uh And and there was revolution in the streets of the city of Kiev Now without getting into the politics was not my purpose what whatsoever I had the question that I had to answer in my own heart God do you want me to go because I was scheduled in may to do a big youth conference in a western city in Ukraine And I say god if you do want me to go I need I need three confirmations No make it four. I said god Remember how gideon wasn't sure about the will of god and god was patient with him and made the fleece wed And then he made the grass wet and vice versa, right? Well, actually if you read the story of gideon from beginning to end god gave him four confirmations He burned up the food with his staff and the two fleece Confirmations and then one time when he went down to the tent of the midian I see heard what god had to say I said god I want four And I'll go Well that night I prayed at my bedside and god gave me peace you will go Okay, that's number one I'll just take that lord the peace of god is one of your best confirmations That you're doing the will of god because when you're not doing the will of god, you don't have peace You have a troubled spirit But god gave me such peace. I'm gonna go. I thought hmm. Okay god three more Well at the end of the week on friday the director of the school and his wife said we want to pray for you I said I love prayer. Okay, so they began to pray for me So the the the director's wife she said God gave me a word that he will send his angel ahead of you And you will he will break the bars of iron and and open wide the gates of bronze And I said I love that chapter god gave that to me when I started doing ministry in chernobyl And ministry in the civil union. That's for me. Thank you god revelation number two And then somebody else said isaia 45. I don't know what's there. Let's look it up. He was the exact word I will send an angel ahead of you. He will open up the bars of iron the gates of brass And the girl said hey, you know what I got open open. I didn't know what it meant But go god's opening the gates. I go. Okay. I wanted it was a powerful powerful time But before I went there was I came home from india and I was in jacksonville, florida I spoke at a bible school, but they had me speak at a church service that morning So I sat down on the first pew a guy named pasha stafoga. You probably know him sat next to me. Hey, george How are you doing pasha? He's oh, I'm so happy pasha. Why are you so happy? God gave me a scripture this morning. I said, oh really what scripture did he give you? Yeah, isaia 45. I will send my angel ahead of you. I go. No pasha. That wasn't for you God actually gave me five confirmations you know Never fear to verify if what god is saying is really from the lord God knows that we live in A body of flesh and we get fearful god knows that gideon was fearful God will confirm to you and in fact in the old testament and paul quotes it in the new Let everything be established by the mouth of what? Two or three witnesses or confirmations as such There's one more thing to ask pray that the lord would send workers into the mission fields Jesus said that harvest is plentiful the laborers are few Therefore pray earnestly to the lord of the harvest to send out laborers But something why so Why did jesus say To his disciples to pray that god would raise up workers laborers Because there's something interesting that happens when we pray the will of god The way jesus taught us to pray We get invested in that Jesus said where your treasure is your heart is there also As you pray for others to go What happens oftentimes we become the answer to our own prayer John 15 16 jesus said i chose you that what you should go go Go means a change of locations Not permanently for most people But temporarily And bear fruit and that whatever you ask the father in my name He may give to you Let me challenge you today That you should go to seattle You should go across the pacific You should go to the farthest ends of the earth You should ask the father and the father by the power of the holy spirit We'll give you a bride for his son hallelujah We become the answer to our prayer go into all the world and preach the gospel go It's an imperative It's not a request It's a command i raised my hand about military service because i never served in the military the draft was cancelled one year before I didn't go to vietnam praise god But my son luke was Asked to join the military as a captain He got his doctorate as a psychologist a clinical psychologist a long runway He's got two masters degree and today he's the officer in the air force The coolest thing is we get on this air force base and by the way, it's a nuclear base So they had high weapons. They had these gate. They had these teeth that would pop out of the ground to stop bombers I mean it was serious security And you know the guards at the gates down and they're packing nines and 15s and and and machine guns and asking for our passports And then they would sharply salute my son. I go. Hey, man, know whatever saluted maybe He would say something they would do it. He's an officer Well Be faithful in little things one of the little things that I didn't appreciate at all as a child was go to Five years to ukrainian school now. This is specific to me. This is not for you As a little boy, uh about eight years of age My dad enrolled me in an orthodox church where they taught ukrainian. I hated it. My teacher was like 140 years old She had a voice like a crow Ah Saturday mornings nine to 12.  Then go out and play stickball or football in the streets of newark new jersey where I grew up Here i'm sitting in a class of 20 other kids learning ukrainian. Why? for who And I never realized that those were the skills that I would one day use you know Jesus said if you are not faithful with that which belongs to another Who will give you your own? You know what I discovered is that god wants to train you by putting you in an intern program By putting you in an associate program by putting you serving the ministry of someone else and it's not your ministry But when you are faithful And your time comes to completion then god can release to you your ministry God can release to you your mission's direction And as a young boy, I was in servitude to that school As a young man, I joined for 12 years of ministry of my brother-in-law and sister in a and in singing for 10 more years I was in servitude to a local church because my dad was at the age of retirement And after 22 years of faithful ministry I went out by faith in my own ministry And I've lived by faith ever since I went from a good salary to zero dollars the next month My wife worked as a nurse and we raised three kids and put them through college and grad school And god has shown himself faithful, hallelujah You see As you go god leads you You see we want guidance ahead of time We want directions ahead of time We want to know everything ahead of time, but god says go Abraham said where where I will show you imagine telling your wife That god is leading us where I don't know he'll show me Well, where are we going? No, would you have to go? But believe it or not we call him such a man of faith because he trusted the lord You know god can't steer A parked car can he do you do that as a kid?  You're playing driver, which is fine. It's a child But now it's time to put away childish things I love the guidance of the servant of Abraham It's a little gem. If you don't read the old testament, you'll never pick up these little gems So Abraham makes his servant his faithful servant Eleazar who would have inherited had god not given Isaac to to Abraham. Okay He said go find a bride for my son So now this servant he goes out. He goes out. He doesn't know where he's going He doesn't know who this young lady is going to be. He doesn't know where to go, but he goes And then finally he finds Rebecca Finally, she agrees to be Isaac's bride Finally, she becomes one of the wives of the three patriarchs Abraham Isaac and jacob And as they're asking Eleazar, how did you find this bride? Let me put it to you. How will you find your husband? How will you find your wife your future? um life partner Well, as Eleazar said and I love it in the king james of the new king james because the fri the grammar is exactly like it is in the Hebrew It's backwards Now listen to what he says I Eleazar Eleazar being in the way comma the lord led me First of all, he got in the way First of all, he went not knowing where to go And as he went the holy spirit now said turn left turn right no no go straight 40 years in the wilderness, how did they know where to go the fire of god would would rise and they would lead them hallelujah I think god's problem is getting us out of our cushy cushion church seat. Is that right? You don't have to be a full-time missionary. You don't have to be a pastor You don't have to be a man.  Come on. Okay with that No, jesus with loud cries and tears he prayed to god Although he was a son he learned obedience he bruised five and seven Let me tell you another story because jesus told stories and the narrative is what we learned from It was 1974. We just came out of the suvid union. I had just prayed those exciting prayers about Having asking billy graham to come and asking that stadium Although I left out one more detail That prayer about billy graham coming right? Well, he went to Moscow and he had one of the largest crusades He was supposed to come to Kiev, but he got sick with parkinson's The baptist leadership asked me to be the translator for billy graham in 1994 Although wow a privilege of a lifetime and he goes and gets sick But in 2007 franklin comes to Kiev And the billy graham organization calls me up and they said we want you to translate franklin from english Into ukraine. Thank god for that old lady in ukrainian scorn As I stood behind a pulpit in the largest stadium in key of the olympic stadium The largest gathering of christians that was ever recorded in ukraine's history 42,500 on sunday 39,000 on friday And the choir stood up to sing just as I am 4,000 people from all over the nations came to sing And I translated franklin into ukrainian And 6,000 people got out of their seats And they're coming forward and a chill went back Down my neck because I remembered as a 19 year old teenager I prayed that the stadiums will be filled to hear the gospel of jesus christ And I prayed that billy graham would come to ukraine Never did I expect never did I dream Never would I dare to presume That god would use me To help answer a prayer for his glory Young lady young man Ask ask of me says god I will give you the nations As your inheritance Go back to the story in 1974 after the slovak union We went to a youth conference in By christian san norway A missions leader had invited us lauren conneham was the main speaker brother andrew open doors was another speaker And uh, it was a it was a friday There's so many good speakers. We were the singers we sang lauren spoke And that night was a move of god. It was so powerful that the leader did something I've never seen done before or even since and it's a good thing. Maybe you want to try this someday Excuse me.  All right to witness You know two by two he says but Don't greet anyone Don't go to the coffee shop for tea Take 10 or 15 minutes go straight to your room or find a place in the woods to pray And ask god what he wants to tell you about tomorrow's day And I took that so seriously. I was 20 at this time So I went right back to my room. I knelt in my my my about my bed And I was serious about this And I asked god. I said god tomorrow when we go To speak about you god God, I don't like personal witnessing. I'm scared god. I don't always know what to say God, how am I going to witness the norwegians? I know they speak english and everything But I feel like a stranger in strange land God, I want your passion god I want your heart And I ask god a dangerous question I said god What are you? How do you feel about these people? What is your heart feeling right now towards them? And the holy spirit fulfilled He romans 8 He says we don't know how to praise we should but he expresses through groanings Through tears we can't be uttered. I began to sob Now it's it's it's not unusual to cry when you pray, but this wasn't crying. This was weeping This was A heavy heavy burden on my heart And and I was heaving it was so powerful And the god gave me a vision It was a mental picture I saw a boy Sitting on a beautiful spiraling wooden staircase in a very elegant elegant home Wood paneling on the I can see the details in my mind today wood paneling on the walls the banister was polished Dark oak the stairs were dark This boy blonde haired boy sitting on the second step Had his head in his hands And he's weeping too as hard as I was And all that he was saying was nobody cares for my soul Nobody cares for my soul The holy spirit says tomorrow you will meet that boy Tell him I care for his soul And I began to weep for him. I began to pray for him Sure enough the next day we went out to the center of town There's a beautiful jesus march. We had signs jesus is lord lord incanohem speaks we sang And then they gave us a bag lunch and they said go out two by two And I finished my sandwich and the juice box And I bit into an apple and they sent a Norwegian boy with me. It's a Norwegian And so we came up with three boys in black leather jackets our age. There's tough guys everywhere even in Norway And you know the kind you know the lower lip is hanging out Thumbs in their jeans And the Norwegian boy while I was finishing my apple started speaking in Norwegian to the to the three boys They laughed at him They mocked him. It was very very clear very evident I don't know where the zeal comes from but the zeal of the lord. I threw away my apple. I said, hey, do you speak English? Yeah And I looked at the middle boy It was him that I saw in my vision And I said to him word for word.   What do you want? Where should I go? Who do I speak to? Because song 126 and I conclude Those who sow in tears shall reap with joy He who goes out weeping bearing seed for sowing shall thatless come again with rejoicing Bringing his sheaves Isaiah after seeing the glory of god he said I heard the voice of the lord saying Whom shall I send? Who will go for us? Then I said lord here. I am send me just stand with me The altar call is very simple today If the holy spirit touched your heart And as an act of faith You want to come and just stand at the altar. I'll pray with you Then pastor of lad will make another invitation of another kind But I'm only going to give you this opportunity to god speak to your heart Do you say go in my name? Did he say ask in my name? I want you to come And if it's not room in the altar just fill the aisles come now as we're letting a Music or song I want to pray with you a prayer Just come just come might not be everyone might be a few might be more come closer If you're a girl you can come If you're a grandmother you can come for the same you're an older person you can come There's no ages here. There's no gender here. There's no professionalism here God can use a teenager Use anybody you can use you Just come say god here. I am here. I am can you use me? Yes And those of you that came would you pray this prayer out loud dear god? I come In obedience to your voice Here I am Speak to me Guide me Take me Show me Inspire me Tell me I ask you Do great and mighty things For your glory And let me take a part in that I believe In jesus day Amen a father I pray for these that pray that prayer I pray that the wave of your holy spirit will not only inspire them for five minutes in this service But as they go today they heard from you as they go today, they heard your voice They heard your spirit stirring the waters of their hearts lord and use them for the glory of god Father give them boldness to pray prayers. They never prayed before Give them faith to believe what they've never seen before Give them father The impossible Because with god nothing is impossible and I ask in the name of the jesus The glorial god and god's people said amen


You know, yesterday, the Secretary of the Army, the sergeant made myself put out a letter addressing racial injustice in the country and the military. It's something we just can't have. And that letter is just the beginning. It's really the beginning of a conversation. It's a beginning of a discussion.  We have to hear. And most importantly, we have to take action. And every one of us should strive to have, and I squad, diversity. And my squad is the Sergeant Major of the Army, Princeton. My squad is CW5 DC Dixon Carter. And they represent the best of America. And I'm proud to have them on my team. I'm proud to get advice from them. I'm proud for them to give me their perspective, which is so important in handling these tough issues.