Okay, let's go into some of those headline, headline punishments. And I think there are probably two extremes that people fall into. One, as you've outlined in the introduction is saying that the sharia is all about these kinds of punishments and nothing else. And it is restricted to that. And another extreme on the other end is to avoid that completely unless not even talk about them and pretend that they don't exist. You're trying to say that you're representing a middle path here that acknowledges their existence, but within a framework, a wider framework that also needs to be acknowledged. I want to see also not just that I acknowledge their existence. I'm proud of them. I became Muslim. One of the major things that helped me to become Muslim is when I heard about the Islamic punishments that existed and I honestly looked at them and felt, you know what it is? I really believe this would solve the problems in our society. And I really saw the wisdom in it. And I felt this is how it should be. And it really encouraged me to look into Islam more, you know, when people say these type of things, a lot of times people step back and say, whoa, you know, like, this is really severe or this is really harsh. But I actually thought, you know, I can see the wisdom or I can see part of the wisdom in that. And I was very, very, and until now, I'm thoroughly proud of the Islamic legal system. And I don't make any apologies for it at all. I believe that it is what will bring about, it will bring about reconciliation and peace within the society and safety and security for everybody. And within that, there's some advice to the people giving da'wah, whether the dua'at or even just the general layman speak into a non-Muslim colleague, for example, not to hide anything from Islam, because you never know, something like that might be the thing that actually a non-Muslim hears. And also, I feel that's true. A lot of people do hide things and they kind of try to sugarcoat things. And sometimes the person later on finds out about them and then feels really betrayed. Like I feel like, well, you know, I wanted to go in with my eyes open and surprisingly, people, you know, you would be surprised a lot of people, the things you think that people might find difficult because you perhaps found it difficult yourself when you first heard about to understand the context of it. Then you might be surprised that those things might actually be what brings a person to Islam.


Wait, what? My crime sense is going off. Here? Ooh, yeah. Ooh, it's happening. Okay, okay, what is it? Who's involved? What kind of homicide is it? Double? Triple? Huh. Quadruple. No, it's not that easy. Come on.  Come on. Go, go, go. Yeah, okay. I know. Well, yeah, I can't find it if you keep squirting. You know the process. You want me to lose this lead? No, I'll figure it out. Oh, here. Got it. There's no way that was up to code. This one's on me. Remember the dance we had last semester? That was so much fun. It was a wonderful evening. Yeah, Jean wore a dress, and you guys all did that awesome dance together. You guys were so in sync. Team Juniper must really have their act together because there's no way we'd be able to improvise something on the spot just like that. Right. Super spontaneous. Pira, you know I love you, but kick step, kick step, body roll is not rocket science. It's kick step, kick step, body roll. No, I can't work like this. And where do you think you're going? Anywhere but here. Oh, no, you don't. You and I have a fitting to go to after this. You haven't lost those seven pounds, have you? You don't know that. I know there's an empty bag of chips under your bed. Yeah, we're just really good friends. Loving those coffee beans for me.  Looking good. Now, how about a little water? Those beans look thirsty. All that's left is to plug the secret and turn it on. Bring me a cup. Nora can't have caffeine. She has too much energy already. I told her she couldn't make coffee anymore, so instead she's having you do it. Add logic, Ren. This one's on you. This one? Oh, yeah, she drank all the coffee already. Stay with us. Great job, Sam. Yeah, okay, cool. Let's take five and then we'll get back to it. Goodness, that was crazy. I think I just traveled through a bunch of parallel universes. It was so weird. Did you guys see any of that? You doing okay, Nora? Ruby Chibi is presented in front of a live studio audience. Probably just be easy to go study at the library. I don't want to go to the library. I want to study here. In my room. It's all of our room? Oh, well, the boys fight class is about to let out. I think I could see the showers from here. What? No, you can't. Told you. Okay, I can see in. You're terrible. You're the one still looking. Oh, someone is coming in. Who is it? Who is it? Get worse. You don't have a date to the dance coming up, so I thought I'd stop by. No. No? You don't even know what I was going to ask. Okay, fine. What were you going to ask? I was going to ask if I could take you to the dance. So you want to know if I'll go to the dance with you? Yeah. Well, what do you think I'm going to say? I think you're going to say... No. Swing! I guess you can't win them all. Yang, what are you doing? It's a long story. We'll be right back after these messages. Everyone knows that a pre-fight meal is the most important. That's why I always turn to pumpkin Pete's marshmallow flakes before a match. It tastes like victory. Pumpkin Pete's marshmallow flakes, the tasty treat that'll toughen your tummy. I remember a simpler time. A time when three flavors of ice cream were all you needed. That's why I stuck with Nio's Nio. So don't listen to our competitors. Try Nio's Nio today. It's definitely not poison. Warning. Nio's Neapolitan ice cream is considered a hazard by the remnant food bureau. Eat at your own risk. It's probably poison. Looks like the end of the year dance was a success. That's my line. Hello, son. I got two tickets to the gun show if you want to join me on the dance floor. That's the cheesiest thing I've ever heard. Okay. I want to go to a gun show. You promised the next free time you had, we'd get to hang out. Just us guys. Keeping it real. What's more awesome and manly than a gun show? No, that's not what I meant. Oh, no. I'm not taking no for an answer. You win some, you lose some. Hey, wasn't Team Juniper supposed to be here with a cake? They were? Yeah. I told Nora to bring cake. Nora? You don't think. Didn't there used to be an exit here? Borrow your sight to cut up and serve some slices? Thanks for checking out that episode of Ruby Chibi. We're going to be re-releasing the entire first season every week on this channel. If you want more from the team that brought you Ruby and other great animated shows, you can check out Eye of Notes or any of our select all content. Our live action content helps support the animation content. So it's all going in the same place. Like things, subscribe things, do things to bells.


Okay, welcome back to our second lecture, BC 212 on Christian Apologetics. We are talking about the resurrection of Jesus and we are trying to say how we can be convinced about the resurrection of Jesus just based on the evidence or the information that's given to us, that we can be convinced and if you look at it very critically, like a court, let's imagine ourselves being lawyers and looking at what happened, can we convince ourselves and others who question the validity of the resurrection of Jesus. So we mentioned four, we went through four quickly, we mentioned the broken Roman seal, the fact of the empty tomb, the large stone that was moved, the Roman gods who ran away and then they paid money to circulate, you know, a wrong story to explain the missing body of Jesus. So number five, look at it. Fifthly, grave clothes were left behind. So we have to imagine, even if the 12 disciples of Jesus came to steal the body, okay. So according to their tradition, the body is wrapped with a lot of cloth and embalm, they put some, you know, like something like an ointment that would over time become hard, right, it'll become, it'll make the the cloths make it firm, make it hard, like a case, like a shell. So they did that and they put the body of Jesus in the tomb. So this is three days later, so that the grave cloth must have become somewhat harder, like, I mean, not saying it would have fully become hard, but it is slowly, it becomes slowly, you know, the cloth then becomes really thick. So the disciples have come to steal the body. Imagine, somehow the gods was asked to sleep, the disciples came to steal the body, they moved the stone, do you think they will stand there and say, take the cloth out now?  And so you can imagine, they come to steal the body and you think they'll be doing this, taking the cloth and then they fold it nicely and keep it there. Maybe somebody needs to use this. They fold the cloth and keep it nicely and then say, we only got the body, let us go. I don't think anybody will do that. Even if they have come there, they've managed to open the tomb, within two minutes, take the body, run, cloth and everything, run. We will take out everything later, but what we are seeing is something very different. We are seeing his cloth, the grave cloth, which wrapped his body, it is lying there, it is left there in the tomb and the cloth that was to wrap around his face was folded and kept. That means whoever is there, they're not worried about anything, hold and keep it, which we have to think, would somebody coming to steal the body have done this? If they've come to steal, they would have taken everything and gone. Why they've left the grave cloth behind? Why have they folded the face cloth and kept it nicely there and then gone? Why? So, this us again, one more thing to think about. Hey, was the body stolen or did he actually rise from the dead and that when he rose, the supernatural work of God just took off the cloth, just left it there. Number six, so now Jesus appearance is confirmed. So, the Bible tells us for 40 days, he showed himself alive. Immediately after his resurrection, 40 days, he showed himself alive and Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 15 that there were 500 people, at least 500 witnesses. Now, in any court, if you have three or four witnesses saying the same thing, that is good enough. Here you're having 500 witnesses, 500 people are saying, we saw Jesus. In those 40 days, we saw him, 500 people. So, this is important. Secondly, among the witnesses, you also have somebody who was a hostile witness. So now if you go, maybe 10 years, we're going 10 years after the resurrection. You come to about 80, 40 and you think about a man called Saul of Tarsus. He is against Jesus. He is actually persecuting the Christians and he is saying, I saw Jesus. I was on the way to Damascus. It was 12 o'clock in the afternoon, bright light. So I'm not imagining something, everything was fine. Suddenly there was a light that was even brighter that came and I heard the voice of Jesus. So we are saying 10 years later, somebody is having this kind of an experience and saying, I saw Jesus and he is a hostile witness. That means he is not one of the disciples or anything. He was actually an opponent of Jesus and he's saying, I saw this bright light. I heard the voice of Jesus and I'm following Jesus now. So that is 10 years later, so Jesus is still alive 10 years later and it is a light from heaven. And what is most amazing is his own family became believers. So why is that important? Because Jesus had some half brothers, meaning other brothers whom were natural born to Joseph and Mary. They all grew up in the same house. But these brothers, they did not believe in Jesus during his earthly ministry. He's our brother, he must be doing some trick, getting all these people to follow him. So in John chapter 7, we see this, right? His brothers said to him, that means Jesus own brothers. They said to you and your disciples, you go or it says there in John 7. Even his brothers did not believe in him, John 7.5. So that means during his ministry, while he was preaching and teaching, his own brothers didn't believe. No, no, no, he's doing something wrong, something, he's cheating all these people. We know he's our own brother, he was there. We grew up together. But in Acts chapter 1, the mother of Jesus and the brothers are all sitting in the upper room, waiting for the Holy Spirit. So say, hey, what happened? While he was alive, you didn't believe? You saw him killed on the cross, now you're quietly sitting in the upper room, waiting for the Holy Spirit. What happened? Only one thing could have happened, his resurrection, because they all saw him die. They saw how he was crucified on the cross. They must have been thinking, see our brother, he cheated all these people, this is what he got. Till that point, they must have been thinking like that. Then something changed. They're sitting quietly in the upper room, the same brothers. And one of those brothers, his name is James, he becomes the leader of the church in Jerusalem. And he writes an episode of James. So they think, okay, something has changed. These brothers didn't believe. Till he was crucified, they didn't believe. Next, within the next 40 days, they have become believers. Why? Only reason can be his resurrection, because if we had not risen from the dead, they would have said, funeral over, we will carry on with life. But it didn't happen like that. So what we're saying is, see, there were 500 witnesses. His own brothers have become witnesses. And 10 years later, we have a man like Saul who also has changed. So this is enough proof that Jesus rose from the dead. Enough. Last two points. Number seven, the disciples own lives. That means, you know, see, if Jesus did not rise from the dead, you can think these 12 people followed Jesus, 12 apostles. One of them, of course, betrayed him. So we have 11. They could have said, maybe we all got cheated now. He died. He went off. We got cheated.  Three years wasted. It's okay. We will carry on. That's what would have happened if it was just the way things would have gone normally. Yeah, we got fooled for three years. Well, at least we were here. We heard what he said. He said, nice things. What finished his life is over. We will count. But 12, of course, they replaced Judas. These 12, all of them gave their life were martyred. All of them, right? They gave their life for what they believed. This Jesus rose from the dead. They were preaching from the beginning. They waited for the day of Pentecost. And that message from the beginning was he rose from the dead.  So these are the, we're not talking about just some, you know, strangers. These people who were with him, they had the choice. They could have quietly gone back, which has happened. Like if you read the book of Acts, you know, in Acts 4 and again other places, they mentioned other people who had followers. But when they died, those followers all dispersed.  And when they died, everybody dispersed. But in the case of Jesus, it didn't happen that way. These 12 men stayed and from the beginning they preached his resurrection and they gave their life for that message. And lastly, number 12, we can say lives are transformed. And this will happen in his name that today, if Jesus was dead, there won't, lives won't be changed. Miracles won't happen. But Jesus is alive. Therefore, we can believe for lives to be transformed and miracles to happen. So eight facts that convince us that the Lord Jesus rose from the dead and he is alive today, right? Any questions on that? Any questions? Yes, go ahead. Pastor, so like I don't know if you heard of this archaeologist, but like he, he has found like some things like from the past, like David's time or Jesus' time. And about Jesus is like where I think he found the blood of Jesus. He found the blood of Jesus. I don't know, but it is like, yeah. So like he found his blood and then he gave to the scientists in Israel, in Israel and then they looked it up. They saw the blood and had only 23 chromosomes. So then they were like, what is this? How can it exist and who has this? Because we need to have 46 or something, right?  They found the Ark of the Covenant. Yes. Two pairs. Take that as like one of the evidences of Jesus being alive also. So first of all, I don't know about this. I haven't read about it. So I mean, I remember this is mentioned some classes back. So, but I personally, you know, I haven't looked into this. So I don't know. Maybe I should go and look into it. So I don't know. I can't speak to it. What we wouldn't need to do is check if it's a reliable source. Like, has this been verified? Who's the one who's reporting it? Has it been verified by some independent scientists? You know, so like, is it authentic? Is this news authentic? Because there's nowadays a lot of things can go online.  If it is authentic, okay, it's good. But I don't, I wouldn't get necessarily so excited just about that. You know, like, okay, this, this, there's so much more to our Christian faith. So it's good to know if it's authentic and if it's genuine, it's good to know. But I wouldn't like highlight that so much simply because lots of people can say lots of things and they themselves can, you know, do lots of other, bring a lot of other information. So then it becomes a battle of information. I got this and you got that, you know, when you're fighting. So I think it's just best to stay with the truth and forgot TV. I'm got TV is it. Okay, let me go and check it. I don't know. Goli's head also. All right. I don't know too much about that. All right. Any other questions here? Prince has a question. Believers continuously living a sinful and godly life. Land up. Will you go to heaven or not? So Prince, I would point us to at least one passage of the scripture in Galatians 5. Paul is writing to believers in Galatians 5 and he says, it teaches us that very clearly that if we live according to the works of flesh, she says, you know, we will not inherit the kingdom of heaven. So based on that, and I'm just looking at Galatians 5, Paul clearly tells us we cannot or then we can also get Romans 8. He says, you know, if you live after the flesh, we will die, but we have to walk according to the spirit. So Romans 8 Galatians 5 clearly tells us that living continuously and sin is unacceptable. First John chapter 3, John writes, whoever is born of God does not continue in sin. Right. So the Bible is teaching us that we should not. So the answer to the question is we will, you know, if a person is living according to the flesh, she will die. The whole issue is, you know, when and how, you know, there's a person who begins who has accepted Christ, who may have had a genuine experience of salvation, but then goes away into living in sin, living ungodly. When does that shift take place? That is something only God can see and God can decide. Right. So we just follow the instruction of Scripture, live righteous. But what if a believer goes away living ungodly? Well, we know that kind of a life will not inherit the kingdom of heaven. But when does that change take place? That we will, you know, God can see and God will decide. Okay. Question? Question. We have been saved and we are living a very holy life. Fine. And because of our body, bodily things and all, I did a sin. I accepted Jesus. I'm living a holy life and I sinned and I sinned. So after instant of time only next, I've died. So if we, because we, the other thing is I didn't repent it for the sin what I did. Yes. And I died. So do we, are we going to heaven or? Yeah. That's what, but the thing is faith on Jesus. But there is a little doubt. Yeah. You can also think about it, right? Think of Jesus coming from heaven. The trumpet is sounded that moment. So many believers have just committed some sin, but the trumpet sounded. They didn't have time to repent. Will they get caught up in their rapture or not? You know, we can think about these scenarios, right? So whoops. So my answer to that is, yeah, we will be forgiven and taken into heaven because, you know, our sins are forgiven based on our faith in Jesus Christ. And God knows at that moment, okay, that instant, two seconds before, you know, either the person died or the price came.  You know, so we might forgive. We don't have a chapter in verse on it, but my thought is that here we are saved by grace. You know, God will take us. But so that's a different scenario. Whereas in the description, what the question that Prince asked, this person is continuing to live ungodly, continuing in sin. So life's continuing in sin. Ignore willfully sinning without repenting and turning to God. That's a different scenario. Yeah. Awesome. So Pastor, I'm asking about the disciples.  That's what they did. All of that preparation. But then the disciples, I mean, they did not understand, did not get it. So, and the other thing is also like we see later on that Jesus actually not blocked their minds from understanding, but like later on, he finally opened up their minds to understand.  I mean, yeah, it was true that during his ministry and the Lord Jesus was speaking to his disciples about his death and resurrection, they didn't understand. They didn't really get a grasp of what he was talking. But after his resurrection, he opened their understanding, looked at 24. And I think it's more of a revelation coming to them. That, oh, now all of those scriptures make sense. Maybe at that time they were looking at Jesus and their focus on Jesus was this man is going to be the Messiah and they probably were looking at him as the one who's going to become King. Right? They were looking at that part of him because you see, even after his resurrection at chapter one, the question they're asking is, Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel? That means are you going to give us back? Are you going to make us kings? Give us authority and overthrow these Romans. So that's been their mindset. Hey, this Jesus is going to be the Messiah who's going to establish the kingdom of heaven here on earth. So that was their expectation.  I'm going to rise up. No, nobody will not let anybody touch you. He is responding. That his mind is, hey, you have to set up the kingdom. I will sit on your right hand. He will sit on your left hand. So they are thinking that way. But Jesus say, I'm going to go to the cross. I'm going to be crucified. I'll rise up the third day. What is he talking about? They didn't understand those things that was not highlighted. That was not, you know, but when that happened and then they saw in the scriptures that the scriptures all actually spoke of the Messiah as a suffering servant. They were only looking at Messiah as the king. Right? So the book of Isaiah. Yeah, Messiah will come as a king. The government will be on his shoulder. He will establish his reign and the lion will lie down with a lamb. You know, that will be his reign. So they're looking for that kind of a time. But as they also said, Messiah will come.  He'll die on the cross. He will be crucified like this, but they didn't understand. So after Jesus explains them, explained it to them after his resurrection, then they receive the understanding. So that's the difference. Why would they think that because Jesus already explained to them that he did not come as they expected. He already explained to them so much. I mean, like, why do you think they would still think that? I think it had to do a lot with their expectation. That means you can imagine you're going to the synagogue and you're hearing talk that Messiah will come and he will set up his kingdom here on earth, which is true. It is in the scriptures. For example, today in our world today, there are what is called as ultra orthodox Jews. There are Jews. They are referred to as ultra orthodox. These Jews do not recognize Israel as it is today. They're Jews, but they will not recognize Israel as a nation, as it is today. Why? They're saying, no, no, no, no. For us, the Messiah has to come and he has to set up his throne. That is the real nation we are looking forward to. So that means they're still holding on to that tradition. So they're still today. They call ultra orthodox Jews. They do not recognize what is like Israel as a nation, the prime minister, all that. It's all man-made. We're not interested in this. We are waiting for the true Messiah to come and his kingdom to be set. So you can imagine from those times beyond 2000 years, that was the expectation. So when they said we have found the Messiah, what are they expecting? Messiah, you're going to get rid of the Romans and you're going to bring the Jews back into power in our region. That is their expectation. So it took a lot of change in thinking to embrace what the scriptures already spoke about the Messiah, which they overlooked. That's the problem. Okay.  Well, I just want to quickly do the two short chapters there. So one is lesson number 12, Salvation in Jesus Christ. So, you know, when we present Jesus to the world, we are talking about the uniqueness of Christ. We're talking about, you know, when we're questioned about the resurrection, we can explain. See, this is why if we think through very clearly, we can say with conferences, Rosa from the dead, even though we were not there, we can use the information we do have to be convinced. And the next thing is about salvation in Jesus. Why do you say there's salvation only in Jesus? So that's why that's another question. That's another area where, you know, people will ask us, why can't you just say there is salvation every religion? You all follow what you want. We'll all meet in heaven. I can't you speak that. Now, why do you insist salvation only in Jesus? So, well, we have to be very clear on that. Number one, because that is what the Word of God says. Nowhere the Bible says, follow any path you want, you will make it to heaven. There is no nothing like that in the Bible. The Bible is saying there is only one way. So if we are following the Bible, then that is the only thing we can say. Secondly, because Jesus is unique, and we went through all of these nine statements in the previous lesson. So we are convinced that Jesus is unique. There is no one else like Him. So we can say salvation is only in Jesus. Very unique. Nobody else comes near these things that we had spoken about. And number three, because Jesus provides a complete remedy for sin. And He brings us into a relationship with God. So there may be, yes, we recognize there are a lot of good ideas, good philosophies, good, maybe we could say, things that people can do, religions, there's that, a lot of good things are there. You're not saying they are bad. But in dealing with the issue of sin and bringing us a relationship with God, only Jesus presents us with that. Only the Bible is telling us, the Bible is telling us, this is possible only through Jesus Christ. Others can say, okay, live nice, live a good life, do a lot of good things, have a fulfilled life or whatever. But can you deal with sin? Can you bring us into a relationship with God? That's only promised through Jesus Christ. We receive salvation by grace through faith. It's a free gift. It's not something we have to work at. It's not something I have to do so many good works. It's not something that comes through a cycle of incarnation, reincarnation. It's not me depending on somebody else's good works. No, I can receive it. Each one of us can receive it by grace through faith. So this is why we say there's salvation only in Jesus. So we must be very clear on that. Okay, fine. Any questions? All right. So let me see. I think we'll pause here. What we want to do in the next two lessons, 13 and 14 years, how do we, I'll just introduce it and then we'll pause. How do we share Christ with a Hindu? How do we share Christ with a Muslim? Okay. So we're not going to go into one full study on Hinduism and full study on Islam. That's not the point. What we want to do is we want to understand briefly a little bit on Hinduism. Understand what they think because there are similarities, but very different meaning. When we say, in example, we mentioned already, when we say incarnation, that idea is also in Hinduism, but their meaning is very different. For us, we are saying this is God who came once, who became man. For them, it's like a lot of avatars keep coming. Ideas there. When you say, Triune God, God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, similar concept is there, the concept is there, but the meanings are very different. So when we are speaking and sharing the Christian faith, you must understand that we are saying something, they say they understand, but what they're understanding is actually something different. So we have to be very careful or very clear in what we are saying about Jesus. Why Jesus is different? Why believing in Jesus is different? So that is similarly in Islam, what is the difference? Islam, people, Muslims would have a lot of questions about Jesus because they consider him as a prophet, nothing more. So then they will question, why do you say he is God's son? How can God have a son? How can he prove his resurrection? So those are the things in the minds of Muslims. So the challenges with sharing Christ with the Hindu, the challenges with sharing Christ with the Muslim, they're two different and we need to know how to present the gospel, present the message of Jesus in a very clear way for them, each one. Are they talking to a Hindu or a Muslim presented in a very clear way? And then of course, we let them make the decision, right? So we will do this next week, lesson number 13, lesson number 14. With that, we will conclude this section on looking at the person of Jesus. So then we'll move into some other topics before we close. Alright, any questions? Okay, no questions. Can somebody please close in prayer? Soul into your hand, Father. Guide us, lead us through your Holy Spirit. We submit the whole day into your hand. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Alright, thank you everyone for joining us today. Enjoy the rest of your day. See you again next week. Bye now.


Welcome to the December graduation reception at Colorado Christian University, the College of Undergraduate Studies, December, 2020. My name is Dr. Janet Black, and I'm the Interim Vice President of Academic Affairs for the College of Undergraduate Studies. This is a December graduation reception, not a commencement. We invite you to come back in May, May, 2021 for a commencement that is full of music, pageantry, a sea of black gowns and banners, and celebrate with us then. But for some of you, you may not be able to do that. Graduation reception is meant to be a celebration of your achievements and provide you some closure for this season of your life. At the beginning, I wanna say thank you. Thank you for choosing CCU, for your academic career. Thank you for bringing your gifts to the community at CCU. Many of you have very strong academic gifts. Thank you for being scholars with us. Some of you are athletes, and I admire the way that you can persist in competition and scholarship. Some of you've poured out your lives in student leadership and student life. Thank you for that. And many of you've worked with us in your work study hours across campus. Thank you most of all for your friendship, friendship to the faculty and the deans, friendship to one another as a senior class, friendship to the sophomores and juniors and freshmen. Thank you for the friendship that you bring here at CCU. I offer my sincerest congratulations to you. It is my honor to introduce Dr. Don Sweeting, the president of Colorado Christian University since 2016. He serves not only here as our president, but he also serves a greater Christian community. He's on the board of the National Evangelical Association and on the executive committee of the Fellowship of Evangelical Seminary Presidents. He's a scholar and author, a president with a pastoral heart, a husband, a father. Thank you, Dr. Sweeting, for sharing some of your wisdom with these December graduates. Hi everybody. It's my joy to join you for our winter graduation. So I wanna welcome you. Today we celebrate one of the most significant achievements in your life graduates, graduation from college and university, Colorado Christian University. So on behalf of the board of trustees, I wanna express my congratulations. We're so honored to have been a part of your life. And with great anticipation, we look forward to hearing from you about your future achievements. You have been blessed to graduate college. Did you realize that in the world, only 6.7% of the world's population get a college degree? That's not a big percentage. You've been blessed with a unique privilege that God has entrusted to you. And so we're thankful for that. But you've also been blessed to be a part of Colorado Christian University. This is a special place with a very special distinct mission. And we hope it's changed your life. We hope you've been built up in a particular way. Our focus at CCU has been more on construction than deconstruction. You hear a lot about deconstruction in secular higher education. They take you apart, but they often don't get to that putting you back together again. So our focus and passion is construction. We've been building intentionally building into your life. We have been distinct, intentional about it on behalf of the faculty and staff. And I'd like in the next few minutes to share with you some of my own hopes about what we've built into your life. I wanna do this briefly, but I wanna employ eight Cs to letter C to do that. Again, be brief, don't worry. So what have we been building? Well, the first C is curiosity. We hope you have grown in your curiosity about the world. We hope you've grown in your love of learning. The idea of a liberal arts education is you've become free. You have free time to reflect on a wide range of subjects to connect with the past, to explore. One writer called it four charmed years of learning. To develop habits, to develop new interests.  The first C is curiosity. The second C is competence. We hope we built into your life competence and not just competence to do something well, but do it with excellence.  We focused on English comp and literature and government and economics, math and science. But we've also done with focus to train many of you in certain subjects for competence and excellence in business might be health science or psychology or sports, nursing or biology or education. We hope that you come away with a sense of competence and a passion for some excellence that you're able to think about certain things and do things well. Because once you learn it in one field, you can easily learn it in another field. It's transferable. So the second C is competence. We've been aiming to build not just curiosity, but to build competence into your life. The third C is citizenship. We've all heard about studies of students graduating from college and they don't know anything about their own country, their own political order. And it's very sad. I don't think that's the case with CCU because we've been very intent about teaching you about our own nation, our own civilization. We require American history and Western civ. It's part of the core subjects because we want you to be able to function as a thinking citizen, to be an influencer in a democratic society that's so important. And so we have been intent on preparing you to become a good citizen. That's the third C. The fourth C is character. Character growth in particular, inner growth, not just smarts. Character is about something more important than that. We're not just interested in you coming away with our take on the latest political issue of the moment. We want you to become better people, become good people, virtuous. We hope that's taken place by exposure to models such as our faculty and other students by exposure to wisdom from the past and great lives and great books and all that. One of the things I noticed in my own education is there took place an imperceptible growth that I wasn't aware of at the time until I left that place, that there was a character change where I had new loves and there was more wholeness hopefully in your life more integrity, a deeper love for the Lord and his word, a sense of right and wrong. Character is bedrock. One of the first things employers look for isn't skill, but it's character. You can be trained in skill, but character, that's different, that takes time to develop. And so when you're training to be a scientist or an engineer or a politician, but you don't have a moral compass, look out, it can lead to big trouble. But we wanted to train you so that you have a sense of what is right and with a moral compass. We wanted to give you not just information, but a sense of ethics, not just career preparation, but character preparation, not just help you to earn a lot of money, but give you a moral base to help you not just make a good living, but to live a good life. Bill Armstrong, my predecessor in the role of president, often said, we don't need to make smarter devils. The world doesn't need another university making smarter devils. We need a university that will help form good people. And so the fourth C is character. We hope that there's a strengthening of your character that's taken place. The fifth C is community. One of the attractive things about CCU on the front end is we talk about how there's a wonderful community here. We're small, but the kind of people who come here will have a deep indelible impression on your life. We know that you'll probably graduate with friends for life, and we're so glad about that. Look back at your four years and think of the relationships that you've started and that some of them will fade away, but some of them won't. I remember hearing a student say to this particular female student said, I didn't come to CCU to find a husband. I came to find my bridesmaids. And we hope that you've found your best men or your bridesmaids, if that's the Lord's will for you. Perhaps it's a spouse. Perhaps you've built a relationship and you've met somebody very special in your life and it will lead to marriage and family. And that's wonderful too, but this is a community that's special. Our teachers, one just passed away and on his desk was a long list of the students that he had taught and the areas that they went on to having an impact. He kept in touch with them. That's also a part of that community. That's the fifth C.  The sixth C is Christ centered faith. I hate to put this as number six because it's really the foundation of everything. It's the rock on which we build. Jesus is the light of the world, the way, the truth and the life. We believe that. He's the eternal word made flesh. The one in whom all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are found says Colossians one. We hope we've built you up in your faith that you understand God's word better, the Old Testament, the New Testament, basic theology, worldviews, what a disciple is. We hope you have a better sense of Christian apologetics and you're able to share your faith. Well, most of all that you love Jesus in the gospel and the word of God. And you're able to look at every subject with a Christian worldview and better integrate your faith with your life. So the sixth C is Christ centered faith. The seventh C is calling. We hope you come away with a sense of calling that you're not just gonna be looking for a job but you leave here with a sense of I'm called by God to do different things. First of all, I'm called to know and love him and serve him no matter what job I have. That's my primary calling. But my second calling, maybe you have a better sense of what that is that you had some teacher point out to you that you're good at this, that you should do this and it's been confirmed and you feel called to be a nurse or called to be a teacher or called to be a pastor. I was talking to some of our nurse teachers and this one gal was saying that the difference with CCU nurses is they're just much more motivated and they're not just because it's a job but they are called and they have a different sense of care with the people they're with. And in a time of COVID, that's really important because she was making the point that a lot of the nurses that she's been seeing they become very fearful and then they pull away from that but the ones who are called to be in it they go forward with a deeper motivation and a deeper courage, which takes me to the eighth C and that is courage. We hope that during your time here you have grown to be a more courageous person that you have grown in moral courage that maybe through being a part of the March for Life you're not as afraid to stand up and speak out for the sanctity of life. You're not as afraid to speak out for the name of Jesus or to speak for the truth of God's word. We hope that you come away with a stronger sense of what is right and you're not afraid to be bold and faithful even though it will cost you. That's our hope as we think about you, eight Cs. Call us not CCU, but C-C-C-C-C-C-U or something like that and put them all together and I think it makes for a more resilient person. This has not been an easy year, the year of COVID. We have had to do a lot of things very differently but let me tell you something about this graduating class this year. You're going to be different. You are going to be more resilient than the classes before you or some of the classes after you. Why? Because you've gone through a national crisis. Everything's been thrown upside down. You've had to learn to do things differently. You come away with a greater sense of appreciation for the normal simple things of life when things go right. You know that things don't always go right. You have a more realistic sense about life in a fallen world. You've had to be creative. In other words, you become more resilient. And our hope is that because of building in you the things that we built into you that you have been constructed into a stronger person that you're more curious, that you are more competent, that you are a better citizen, that you have a stronger character, that you have a sense, a deeper and a wider sense of community, that you have built on a Christ-centered faith, that you leave with a sense of calling and that you have a courage as you go forth. That's what we've been intending to build, praying to build. We don't always do it successfully and not every student actually takes us up on the challenge, but most of them do. And that's our joy in seeing you cross the stage and receive the diploma, you know, this graduation. It's been said that what happens at college doesn't stay at college. And we've seen signs of that this year, but we hope the things that happened at college go with you and bless the world. See, our gift to the world is our students. I particularly believe that the world needs CCU and CCU students and our mandate as a school is to send out leaders, thousands of leaders year after year, wave after wave, a movement of students that will be salt and light in our world and influence it for the kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ. And so we release you today with our blessing and we release you with a blessing. The blessing I want to give you comes from the last line of a liturgy from Christian worship. It's actually found in the Book of Common Prayer. It's recited in some churches every Sunday. This is how the service ends. The minister will say, go in peace to love and serve the Lord, to which the people all respond in the name of Christ, amen. Thank you and God bless. Good evening everyone. I'm Cara Johnston. I'm the director of alumni and parent relations here at Colorado Christian University. I'm sorry I couldn't be with you tonight but I want you to know I share in your great joy at graduating tonight and becoming full-fledged alumni of this great university. I want to read to you our alumni charge. This is something that we read at every commencement as a formal way to welcome you into the ranks of the Alumni Association. You are now certified to the world at large as alumni of Colorado Christian University.  You entered her halls as future alumni and tonight you leave as alumni. Congratulations. Tonight we do not note your separation from CCU but rather the next step in your lifelong relationship. Commencement does not signify the breaking of ties and a life lived apart. Rather it marks your initiation in the fullest sense into the fellowship of the university as a bearer of grace and truth. Her ambassador and promoter of her mission in your workplace, in your community and as faithful servants in your church of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. The university is not the campus. It is not the buildings on the campus. It's not the faculty. It's not the students here at any one time. It's not a line on your resume and it is not the memories that you will draw upon in later years and it is certainly not a piece of paper. The university is part of you and it is you that will carry her influence and her knowledge wherever you go. With grace and truth, I welcome you into a lifetime membership in the CCU Alumni Association and I invite you to strengthen this relationship as you go along your life's journey. Visit our website, follow us on social media and come to our events. You will always have a place at our table of fellowship. May the Lord bless you and keep you.  Draw near to God and he will draw near to you in all situations and at all times. Please make sure too, as you leave tonight, take one of the blue junior writing pads that we have given to you as our gift and we look forward to meeting you in person someday and congratulations again.  Thank you. Hello CCU graduates and family and friends also tuning in. My name is Dr. Jonathan Demos. I'm an assistant professor in the psychology department and it is my honor on behalf of the faculty of the university to offer up congratulations to our graduates. Being a part of this graduation ceremony reminds me of a movie I just saw. It was about a college graduate and she was graduating in the spring when most people graduate. So she was there with most of her friends that she went to school with and it wasn't during a pandemic.  And then after the ceremony, she went out with her family, got a nice meal together.  Paid decently well, but something that she hoped might turn into a career better opportunity someday and that was the movie. I'm just kidding, that's not a real movie, but was a real movie, it would be a terrible movie. I would never go see it and neither would you, but this, this right here, this is the start of a movie that would hook me. In this movie, maybe the first scene is you watching your graduation on a screen. Maybe you're with a few people, maybe you're even watching it alone. We can see you smiling, we can see that you're proud of what you've accomplished, but we can also see a sadness behind your eyes, a little bit of tightness in your smile. And then maybe in this movie, we flash back to your first day of college, showing up with so many hopes and expectations and then we cut quickly through scenes where we see you laughing with friends, crying after a breakup, but you can see you scrambling to take notes in a class before I, I mean the professor in the movie changes the screen too quickly. We see you leaving to work your second job while your roommates start playing a game. We hear you say, not tonight, I've got to study for a demo exam. When your friends are going out for dinner and we cut back to your graduation and we watching this movie know deep in our bones that you fought and sacrificed and grew and learned and you deserve so much better than this bizarre final semester in this kind of graduation. Now that's a movie that has me hooked. That's a movie I can't wait to root for the hero. That's a movie that I have to know how it will end. I'm invested. And honestly, it's a lot more like the kind of stories we get in the Bible than the first movie I talked about. I mean, can you think of a story in the Bible about successful happy people who make a series of great decisions that results in even more success and happiness? No, the stories in scripture are a lot messier as conflict is at the heart of every great story. Now, if you were a student at CCU then surely you've heard the phrase Amago Day a lot. Fewer family or friends tuning in tonight. Maybe that phrase is new to you. It's Latin and in academic settings we like to use Latin because obviously it's fancy and it makes us feel self-important. And this phrase means image of God. We were created Amago Day. And then we tell you why I think that is important for our unusual graduation tonight. We were made in God's image, which doesn't mean I don't think that we physically resemble God. It means that God breathed something of his nature and character into us. And if we could take a peek down one of the smaller passageways of the Amago Day tonight it is in our design to tell and love stories. To wit, how many of you have watched a movie or a TV show in the last week? How many of you have watched a movie or TV show in the last 24 hours? How many of you have a second screen on right now and are watching a movie or a TV show just in case this isn't interesting? When was the last time you binged Netflix so hard that you got the message of shame at a little box that says, are you still watching? Like you've been watching so long it's checking to see if you're even still alive. We love stories. And we've certainly corrupted this part of our design like all the others, but at its deepest core it is part of the Amago Day. We serve a God who reveals himself through messy and broken stories. We have us harrowing escapes from slavery, lion's dens, chariots of fire, which by the way, also a great movie. The climax of scripture, of course, is the death and resurrection of Jesus. But for me, maybe it's because I grew up in a Christian home and have heard the story my whole life, doesn't feel like a shocking plot twist. To me, it's always felt more like a satisfying resolution, like the perfect note to resolve the whole discordant mess. The biggest plot twist in the Bible for me is the ascension. Now after rising from the dead and conquering death and sin, after walking around a while and doing ministry, Jesus leaves, just floats up to heaven with a promise to come back someday. Now that is shocking. It's shocking because we aren't just spectators of popcorn binge watching the unfolding redemption story. We are participants. We are left shockingly with an important role in this redemption story, which brings us back tonight and your graduation. Our goal at CCU is to train you vocationally so you can get a job when you graduate. We weren't good at that, then we wouldn't have much point in being a university. But more than that, we long to equip and train you for the extraordinary role you have been given. And you, our extraordinary grads, in an extraordinary year, have been handed all the markers of a great story, of a story that we can't wait to watch because it's messy and it's broken and the stakes are high and we can't wait to see you overcome. The semester has been hard and this graduation isn't what you pictured, but this is the kind of story that makes you hope. And here's what the apostle Paul, who himself was the protagonist in quite the messy and amazing stories involving blinding lights and shipwrecks and earthquakes and imprisonment. Here's what he had to say about this. But we also glory in our sufferings because we know that suffering produces perseverance, perseverance, character and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame because God's love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. Hope will not disappoint us.  And why those of us who have tasted the beauty of the real Christmas story will never let go of it. And now it is our prayer that you have the courage to go out and live your story well and with courage. The kingdom is depending on you. Go forth and use your gifts and skills and education well because it deeply matters. Congratulations, class of 2020 and blessings to you. The School of Business and Leadership is proud to announce the graduation of the following seniors. Corinna Archuleta. Olivia Christie. Natalie Cox. Olivia Duesenberg. William Farm. Nora Fort. Josh Fox. Trajan Hawking. Shane Hesling. Carter Johnson. Kyle McMillan. Richard Morris. Nathan Ostman. Richard Pease. Timothy Patette. Nathan Schaefer. Zachary Stein. And Nathan Strumfer. Congratulations. I'm Dr. Ryan Hartwig, Dean of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences, also a professor of communication. Congratulations, graduates. Madison Bruns. Jessica Canada. Riley Castleberry. Gabriela Davis. Christian Edwards. Katelyn Galon. Abigail Guadnola. Talia Hernandez. Mina Johnson. Allison Johnson. Chelsea Johnson. Jonathan Good. Dana Jones. Piper Koy. Grace Lloyd. Margaret McDonald. Ruthanne Massey. Savannah Mitchell. Eliana Jade Pereira. Mariah Pruitt. Marjorie Raddick. Erin Rash. Liana Robbins. Katelyn Sage. Sydney Sausado. Noah Wells. Greetings, School of Education graduates. I'm Deborah Sheffield, Dean of the School of Education at Colorado Christian University, and I wanna wish you warm congratulations as you celebrate completing your four-year degree at CCU, all the hard work, tenacity, and resolve it has taken to successfully complete your degree here at CCU. I want to read the names of the School of Education graduates at this time. Paige Charvat. Faith Johnson. Skyler Lucky. Megan Mendendorp. Katelyn Nicholson. Anna Wood. And Katelyn Woody. Again, warm congratulations, and God bless you. My name is Mark Parker. I'm Dean of the School of Science and Engineering, and I wanna congratulate all of our December graduates for this year. First graduate is Tyler Bergman. Jack Hollander. Mindy Mazza. Anthony McGee. Randall Lat. Nichols. And Sarah Jane Shaw. Thank you and congratulations to all. My name is David Cotter, and it's my privilege to serve as the Dean of the School of Theology, and I'd like to thank you all for participating in this virtual graduation ceremony. I'd also like to thank and congratulate the families and friends who have supported our graduates for these long years of trainings, and would like to express my congratulations to our graduates. May God richly bless you in your future adventures. The graduates from the School of Theology are Taylor Beno, Micah Haynes, Crosby Kuhl, Jane Lewis, and Caleb Sandburn. Congratulations to you all. Thank you for sharing with us in this celebration time. So glad that you could be with us. Those of you students who are scattered around the Lucrino classrooms at this moment, families at home or in hotel rooms, streaming in with us. Thank you so much for joining us. We celebrate you students. We congratulate you. We're so happy that God has used you to come to CCU, but also to go forth into the world using what you've learned here, how you've grown here to change the world, to perfect the world for Christ. Please pray with me as we close. Heavenly Father, you are a great, great God. Thank you for bringing these students, these December grads, into our midst for a season. Thank you Lord for giving them families that supported them, that helped them through, that talked with them on the phone and saw them on various kinds of messaging platforms to give them support as they work through this education process. Thank you Lord for the faculty for the staff here at CCU that return all the glory and praise to you when we see students do so well when they complete. Thank you Lord for the way you've given us your blessings. And I pray Lord that as we move forward from this moment into what you have for us next and for these students, the next may be scary, it may be wonderful. We pray Lord that you would give us that peace that goes with us, that you are leading us. Thank you Lord for these students for the way that you've already worked in their lives and continue to do so in your great plan. We pray in Jesus' name, amen. I would like to welcome you to stick around for some time with your fellow students in the various classrooms in Lucrino. I also would welcome you to move forward to celebrate with your families as you may have some plans. Again, thank you. Have a great night.


Every day I try to live a life with a purpose of serving my sport. I think tennis is an unbelievable sport that's given so much to me. Now I work every day to try to share that sport with the world. My current position at the USTA is director of pro tennis operations and player relations. I spent 13 years playing these professional events and now I'm charged with overseeing the entire player experience at the US Open. At Gustavus I was introduced to my tennis coach Steve Wilkinson who helped me really build my philosophy for playing tennis on the court but more importantly how I want to live my life. When I went on tour I leaned on the community really hard. I spent 13 years playing on the professional tour.  Gustavus was like a foundation for me that essentially as important to me even after I left as when I was there. I think the balance that you can get from a liberal arts education at a place like Gustavus is really special and it gives you exposure to so many different areas whether it's art or science or sports or a social scene you can get all of that. What it means to be a Gusty is to be a part of something that's greater than just myself. To be a part of a team, be a part of a school, passionate and mostly all supportive of each other. I'm Eric Boudirac and I'm a Gusty. Gustavus Adolphus College. Make your life count.


Video Friday, with a present! Before I get started, and I think this is a really key feature that anyone should pick up on this tip, is I either cut the AC or I take my water bottle and I spray down the air. This helps to grab all the dust particles that are floating and it settles onto the ground.  So when you miss the air, all those particles get trapped and they fall to the ground. And with no AC on, nothing is swirling around with the force of the AC. So it really helps to cut down on the dust. Video Friday, with a present!


the Commodan of the United States, Coast Guard Admiral Paul A. Yoast, the Secretary of Transportation James Burnley. Ladies and gentlemen, the President of the United States. Let us pray. Almighty God, author and source of Truth and Knowledge, for me to introduce our Commander-in-Chief, President Ronald Reagan. Ladies and gentlemen, the President of the United States. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you, Admiral Caroni. And thank you, Secretary Burnley, Admiral Yoast, Senator Weicker, Senator Dodd. It's an honor. I thank you all, and it's an honor to be able to participate in the commencement exercises of the United States Coast Guard Academy. I'm especially delighted to be here with a class of 1988. You see, in certain ways, I envy you. For one thing, all of you know what you'll be doing next year. The fact is, many young people have trouble choosing their life's work. I was an exception. After college, I knew exactly where my future lay. I became a radio sports announcer. Was just a lucky guess. But I know what I would say to any young people who told me that they were torn between different careers. If they said they wanted to help people in distress, guard our borders, conserve fisheries, battle drug smugglers, enforce maritime law, test their courage against stormy seas and defend America in times of war, and wear proudly each day the uniform of this great country, then I would tell them just one thing. I'd tell them, join the Coast Guard. I know a lot has happened since you started here as swabs. We're presented with a copy of Running Light and first rode the wind on America's mighty square rig of the eagle. Soon it'll be time for you to receive your commissions and bid farewell to the academy. It's been said that graduation is a time of sentimental goodbyes coupled with extreme relief. One student departing his alma mater wrote inside the cover of his yearbook, all things must pass, though I almost didn't. Now, I don't imagine that any of you wrote anything like that inside of your copy of Tide Rips. You know, as president, I have a military aid from each of the five services. My Coast Guard aides have been excellent. One of them taught me that, and I quote, the Coast Guard is that hard nucleus about which the Navy forms in time of war. But there's one thing I haven't been able to get a straight answer on. What I want to know is, how's the awning? I hope that means it's all right. Well, graduation day belongs to the graduates. But why I want to take just a moment to speak to some special people here today, your mothers and fathers. You know, I've often said that there's nothing that makes me prouder than America's young men and women in uniform. I want to ask the parents, are you as proud of these soon-to-be officers as I am? During World War II, one general said that America's secret weapon was just the best darn kids in the world. Now, that may not have been the exact word he used, but when I look at your sons and daughters today, I know exactly what he meant. And Cadets, let me ask you something. For your parents or that special teacher or friend who helped you to be here today, can we give them a very loud salute? Well, since your service was founded by the first Congress nearly 200 years ago, it has served with courage and honor in every war our nation has fought. The first Coast Guard casualty of World War II came the day after Pearl Harbor when a transport evacuating American families out of Singapore came under attack. On D-Day, when our soldiers hit the beaches at Normandy, there were Coast Guardsmen piloting the landing craft, and some 1,500 soldiers whose craft were sunk by enemy fire were rescued by the Coast Guard on that fateful day. Back when Washington bureaucrats were not as sophisticated or numerous as they are today, we named things more nearly for what they were. One of my favorite examples is that one of the predecessors of today's Coast Guard was known simply as the life-saving service. And through the Coast Guard does many jobs, I suspect seafarers in distress will always think of you that way. In March of last year, some 200 miles off our New Jersey coast in stormy Atlantic waters, a Soviet freighter sent out a desperate SOS. The ship was listing 26 degrees to port in seas that were running 20 feet. Gale force winds were gusting up to 55 knots and the skies were dark with rain and sleet. The Soviet ship was sinking. Well, the Coast Guard, then three Coast Guard helicopters came to the rescue. Their fuel was low, there was little time. And despite screaming winds and pitching seas, each helicopter in turn managed to hover above the ship's heaving deck. And the helicopter crews with infinite care lowered a wire basket and lifted up to safety one by one, each of the 37 people on board. It was one of the most dramatic rescues in Coast Guard history and a heroic demonstration of what we mean when we say the Coast Guard is an armed service and more. Today, one of the Coast Guard's most important missions is to fight the importation of illegal drugs. In the last 10 years, you have arrested more than 8,500 drug smugglers. And for that, America salute you. It's time to make illegal drugs public enemy number one. It's time to say America's tolerance for illegal drugs is zero. The Congress made a serious mistake when our fiscal year 88 budget request for the Coast Guard was reduced by $72 million and forced to curtailment in the drug interdiction effort. I hope the Congress will restore the funds necessary for you to accomplish your vital mission. While that is one thing, it's not the only thing that all of us as a nation must do. But before I talk about what remains to be done, let's take stock of what has already occurred. Yes, it's true that across the breadth of the federal government, we have assembled a strong anti-drug team and enacted tough anti-drug policies. In 1982, we set up the South Florida Task Force, which was headed by Vice President Bush. Hundreds of additional drug agents were sent to Florida along with extra judges and prosecutors. More Coast Guard cutters were deployed. And the other military services provided surveillance assistance for the first time. We made record drug seizures, and major crime in South Florida decreased nearly 20%. Because of that success, the next year, we formed the National Narcotics Border Interdiction System, also led by the Vice President, to coordinate federal, state, and local drug and law enforcement efforts against drug smuggling nationwide. Since the formation of the border interdiction system in 1983, annual cocaine seizures, involving the Coast Guard, are up more than 20 times what they had been. In 1987, I established the National Drug Policy Board in order to coordinate all of the administration's efforts in this crusade. This board, chaired by Attorney General Meese, has developed a series of comprehensive strategies to reduce both the supply and demand for illicit drugs. And let me stress, the Coast Guard and the other armed services have played a major role in this unprecedented campaign. In addition to the Coast Guard's tremendous efforts, last year the Pentagon provided over 2,500 ship days of maritime support and more than 16,000 hours of air surveillance. The Coast Guard and the Department of Defense gained important new resources for their drug fighting efforts from the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986. And last year, the Coast Guard and agencies with which it works seized nearly 26,000 pounds of cocaine, 26,000 pounds of a drug that has a street value of $1,000 an ounce. Don't try to figure that out in your head. It's $416 million. And by keeping deadly drugs from reaching our communities, I think the Coast Guard earned yet another good reason to be known as the life-saving service. Another key part of the war on drugs has been the appointment of no-nonsense federal judges. Not only have drug convictions doubled since 1979, but prison sentences are 40% longer. And last year new tougher sentencing guidelines were issued. The Comprehensive Crime Control Act passed in 1984 helps put drug dealers out of business. Last year alone, over $500 million in drug-related assets were seized. Drug eradication programs are now underway in 23 countries up from just two in 1981. More funds than ever before are being spent on drug education and public awareness. And more funds still have been requested. Since 1981, we've tripled the anti-drug law enforcement budget. And I'm asking for another 13% increase. That would give the federal government a total of $3.9 billion next fiscal year to fight this menace. All told, it's an extraordinary demonstration of our commitment and a remarkable record of achievement. And that having been said, you know what else? Extraordinary as it is, remarkable as it is, as much a testimony as it is to those in law enforcement in the Coast Guard, more has to be done. There's an additional step we must take. And without it, I don't know if we can succeed. I want to use this opportunity today to call for a special initiative. One of America's greatest strengths is our unique capacity for coming together during times of national emergency. We set aside those differences that divide us and unite as one people, one government, one nation. We've done this before, we must do it now. Illegal drug use is the foremost concern in our country. And frankly, as I finish my final year in office and look ahead, I worry that excessive drug politics might undermine effective drug policy. If America's anti-drug effort gets tripped up in partisanship, if we permit politics to determine policy, it'll mean a disaster for our future and that of our children. That's why today I'm calling on both houses of the Congress, both sides of the aisle, to join with my representatives in a special executive legislative task force to advance America's unified response to the problem of illegal drug use. Because if we cannot remove the politics from drugs, how can we hope to remove the drugs from our communities, workplaces, and schools? Our task force should agree on solutions for every area of the drug problem, from blocking supplies to curtailing demand, from treatment to education to prosecution, from interdiction and confiscation to eradication. Nothing should be overlooked or left out. Our policy is one of zero tolerance for illegal drugs and we're looking for solutions, not just a restatement of the problem. And no later than 45 days from now, there should be a report to me into the bipartisan leadership of Congress laying out our proposals. Let me take a minute to spell out some specific items that need to be considered. First, to deter violent crime and narcotics trafficking, we have to deal with the drug syndicates on our terms. That means when a death results from narcotics trafficking or when a law enforcement officer is killed in the battle, the law must provide for swift, certain, and just punishment, including capital punishment. We've got to send a loud, clear message to drug kingpins and cop killers. We also need to appoint more tough federal judges who take drug crimes seriously and to pass mandatory penalties for those who sell drugs to children. Our military assets can be used for greater command and control functions in surveillance and drug detection. And we should consider allowing our governors greater use of the National Guard in this effort. But one thing must be clear. When it comes to the military, let's give them a clear mission for specific situations. To assist in this effort, I have also today directed Secretary of Defense Carlucci to tap the best minds both inside and outside of government to come up with creative solutions on how we can better use military resources and technologies to detect drugs and support civil law enforcement agencies in interdiction. We need stepped up international eradication programs to reduce the supply of drugs and additional education and prevention programs to reduce demand, including the use of civil sanctions, such as fines and loss of federal privileges. Our encouragement, our goal, should be for those who have never tried drugs to remain drug-free. I'm especially proud of the anti-drug work that Nancy has done which has changed the way we talk and think about drugs. You see, at the root of the drug crisis is a crisis of values and a spiritual hunger. I believe that as a society, we're still paying for the permissiveness of the 1960s and 1970s when restrictions on personal behavior came under attack by a cultural establishment whose slogan was just say yes. There were numerous calls for repealing our prohibitions on drugs. Those who favored tougher drug laws or even just keeping the ones we had were labeled conservative, moralistic, reactionary, and old-fashioned. And that was back before those words were met as compliments. The none-too-subtle message to young people was that they had to use drugs if they wanted to be cool. What greater shame can there be than that many of our young people began to use drugs not to rebel but to fit in? So when the crusade for a drug-free America, the next step is to enforce a policy of zero tolerance of illegal drug use. So when we say no to drugs, it'll be clear that we mean absolutely none, no exceptions. This concern with values goes beyond just the issue of drugs, of course. We worked hard in the early 80s on our national recovery so that we might be able to recognize, indeed, deal with social problems that have been too long ignored and sometimes obscured in the past. Well, today, America is facing head-on social problems like drugs and crime. And this, as I say, stems from the renewal of our fundamental beliefs and values as a nation. And this renewal goes beyond just our own borders. In one week, I will depart for the Moscow summit. It'll be my first visit to the Soviet Union and my fourth meeting with General Secretary Gorbachev. Our goals there are something that I've been discussing for the last several months in detail. But let me summarize. There are four main agenda items in the US-Soviet relationship, human rights, regional conflicts, arms reduction, and bilateral exchanges. With regard to human rights, though we note some improvements, we'll continue to press for full respect for the freedom of expression, travel, religion, and other rights contained in the Helsinki Accords and for institutional reforms that would guarantee such rights and the rule of law. We'll discuss a number of regional conflicts in which the United States supports the forces of freedom against brutal communist dictatorships. In particular, we will note the progress of the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan. We will reaffirm America's support for the brave Mujahideen freedom fighters and the goal of an independent, non-aligned, and undivided Afghanistan free to determine its own future. In the area of arms control, General Secretary Gorbachev and I will continue our dialogue on the reduction of nuclear weapons, focusing in particular on strategic offensive systems. And with respect to bilateral exchanges, I especially want to encourage more student exchanges between our two countries. I hope that more Soviet young people can view firsthand America's democratic system and way of life. Just the other day, I met with 70-some students, 38 Americans and 38 Soviet students, who have held a conference in Helsinki, in Moscow, and are now here in the United States holding one. And I looked out at them as I'm looking at you. And you couldn't tell which were Russian and which were American. And I had to say to them, if all the young people of the world could get to know each other, there'd never be another war. Well, I should also mention that part of our meetings will focus on the US-Soviet maritime search and rescue agreement that has just been concluded. Other maritime issues we're currently discussing include the issue of fisheries and plans for dealing with emergency pollution spills. So yes, the Coast Guard's concerns are on the Moscow agenda. It's been a great honor to be here with all of you. And you can be sure that when I'm in Moscow, I'll think of all of you here today. You represent the best of America and carry in your hearts the values that are the source of our liberty and our spiritual strength. This is reflected in the path of the service that you've chosen. We're a nation of free men and women who use our God-given liberty to serve our country because we love her and all that she represents. It's our earnest prayer to serve America in peace. It is our solemn commitment to defender in time of war. I believe that America is standing before the brightest future the world has ever known, and that future is yours. And properly so, because you've chosen to wear the uniform of your country and risk all that you have and all that you are in her defense. I wish not only to congratulate you on your graduation, but as your Commander-in-Chief, I salute you. Thank you and God bless you all. Thank you, Mr. President. And if I may, since we're all good sailors and you are our Commander-in-Chief, we are always taught to return a salute, sir. At this time, I'd like to present the United States Coast Guard Band. Do you solemnly swear or affirm that you shall support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic, that you shall bear true faith and allegiance to the same, that you take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion, and that you shall well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which you are about to enter, so help you God. Repeat I do. Thank you. Please be seated. The Commissions as Ensigns will be presented by the President. The Degrees of Bachelor of Science will be presented by the Superintendent. And Captain Robert L. Ashworth, the Commandant of Cadets, will introduce the graduating class. The audience is requested to refrain from applauding until the end of the presentation. Arnold Den Abe, William John Antonakis, Gary Clayton Armstrong Jr., Allen Norvig Arsenal, his commission will be presented by his grandfather, Captain Leve Norvig US Navy, retired. Scott Vernon Austin, graduating with honors. Eggders Ivers Asenbergs, Joseph Edward Balder, his commission will be presented by his father, Major Jerome F. Balder, US Army, retired. Stephen Allen Banks, Kirk Anthony Bartnick, Brad Michael Belanger, graduating with high honors. Kathleen Josephine Bogan, Bill Derman-Ellian, Eric Richard Diamond, Dominic DeBarre, Joel David Dahlbeck, graduating with honors. His commission will be presented by his uncle, Master Chief Petty Officer Lance A. Dahlbeck, US Navy, retired. Rinaldo Modibot Domingo, Todd Croteau Dubois, George Washington Eldridge, James Edward Elliott, graduating with honors. Janet Marie Emerson, graduating with honors. Her commission will be presented by her father, Chief Warrant Officer Michael O. Emerson, US Coast Guard Reserve. Jeffrey Cosumi Enomoto, Carl Michael Furlato, Donald Lee Fleming Jr., McCarty. His commission will be presented by his father, Captain John McCarty, US Coast Guard. Patrick Joseph McGuire, his commission will be presented by his brother, Staff Sergeant Francis A. McGuire III, US Army. Gregory Lee McHenry, his commission will be presented by his father, Chief Warrant Officer Rodney E. J. McHenry, US Coast Guard, retired. Jeffrey J. McSpadden, Christopher James Mead, graduating with honors. His commission will be presented by his father, Commander James F. Mead, US Coast Guard, retired. William Roman Meese, Stephen Charles Milanson, Timothy Edward Myers, his commission will be presented by his father, Major Edward M. Myers, US Army, retired. Jan Miller, graduating with honors. Jess Carl Moore, John Francis Moriarty, graduating with honors. Philip Lee Morris, Leonard Christopher Murphy, his commission will be presented by his brother, Lieutenant Junior Gray John C. Murphy, US Coast Guard. Cameron Troy Naran, Kevin Wellesley Nelson, Thomas Gerard Nelson, James Matthew Nuschwander, Christopher Daniel Nichols, graduating with honors. Mary Esther Nakosha, Kurt Crampton O'Brien, Matthew James O'Connor, Matthew Joseph Xamery, George Michael Zeitler. At this time, I'd like to introduce Ensign Leonard Murphy, President of the Class of 1988. Mr. President, on behalf of the United States Coast Guard, the Academy, and the Class of 1988, an appreciation for your support of the military, a strong America, and for your presence here with us today. We would like to make you an honorary member of our class. Each cadet probably wears a clash ring as a symbol of their membership within the class. We would like to present you with such a ring as a symbol of your association with our class. Will the audience please stand for the alma mater and the national anthem? The benediction will now be given by Chaplain Paul Teske, United States Navy, Chaplain at the United States Coast Guard Academy. May the eternal father who created you in his image, who gifted you with proven intellect, who has blessed you with good health, sends you forth. May he allow the deep sense of honor each of you to well up as a standard for your day-to-day service to God and His people. When you see injustice, do not tolerate it. When you see chaos, lend a helping hand. When you see danger, eliminate the source. When you are called to defend, bravely go. You are the young eagles of our future.  The 107th commencement exercises of the United States Coast Guard Academy are now concluded. Ancens, divest yourselves of all symbols of cadet life.


Hey guys welcome back to come again TV the only place on YouTube where all key culture collides I'm Shannon and today on the show. We're taking a look at the Dragon Ball super blood of Saiyans Special seven from Bandai Now I got this at my local Walmart. I found it in the electronics department I don't know of any other Walmart's that are carrying it so far The only one I've ever I've been able to find these at are at the Taylorville Walmart As you can see here Dragon Ball Z Broly or Actually Dragon Ball Super Broly, sorry There is a Dragon Ball Z Z Broly, but this is Dragon Ball Super Broly It is from Bandai. The only thing I have done so far is cut the tape away from the edges so that I can open it I have not seen what's inside. So I have no clue what to expect from this thing So as you can see there's Super Saiyan God Vegeta on the front As Same image on the top. There's the side. There's the other side There's the back and Then the bottom. I'm a bit of a Dragon Ball fan. I mainly prefer Vegeta. I'm a Vegeta collector I Don't really collect any of the others just Vegeta because I like I like Vegeta style, you know As you can see there this it does have the TOEI entertainment logo on there I Kind of wish they would have had like a window display for it or whatever Because like I said, I'm not really sure that what to expect from this guy. It looks like a statue So yeah, let's go ahead and open it up and take a look Have Super Saiyan God Vegeta from Blood of the Saiyan Special 7 comes in a bag and All you got to do is attach his head and then attach the stand and place them on the stand so let's go ahead and open this bag up and Put it together So we'll go ahead and put his head on It's supposed to line up See this groove here supposed to like go right in there but There we go. It fits really Tight and snug So now let's go ahead and get the display a bit stand out and this as you can see here that's supposed to Fit in there just like Vegeta's head did just like that and then This goes Right in Vegeta's butt It's like that And I have to say I'm actually pretty impressed with this This did have a $25 price tag on it. So it's not a bad price. I Do wish there were other ways to display him though I'd kind of like the base to rotate a little bit the arm anyway as you can see here this is the Super Saiyan God Vegeta as he's got the red hair His next transformation would be Super Saiyan God Super Saiyan Vegeta, which would have the blue hair and There he has the It looks like he's got the blue tights on with his Frieza Force armor And I have to say the detail on this guy is really nice I'm liking them. They had this one. They had the Majin Vegeta and then they had Goku from Super Saiyan or from Dragon Ball GT Being a Vegeta fan and since I just recently watched the Broly movie. I had to get Super Saiyan God Vegeta So kind of a short review as there's no articulation to go over the detail pretty much speaks for itself I'll go ahead and take some pictures and Zoom in on it and let you guys really see the detail on this. So real quick. Let's go ahead and check out the measurements on this guy so Vegeta does stand at About nine inches tall from the bottom of the base to the very top of his hair and He is he is about Three and a half to four inches wide the display base is Four and three quarters Inches wide and then Vegeta on his own without the display base Go ahead and kneel down here a little bit is About eight and a half inches long and he's a really nice looking figure. I really like the sculpt It's got some really nice shading. It is It feels like a vinyl statue As you can see it's got a little bit of movement there However, it's not intended to move. So I'd be careful trying and as you can see You can see down into his boots Just pretty nice There's the peg hole where the stand goes into very nice sculpt on his muscles Got the blushes there on his cheeks Very nice. I Think if you guys pick one of these up, you'll be very pleased with it So anyway, there you have it guys. This has been the review of the Dragon Ball Super Blood of Saiyans special seven Dragon Ball Super Broly Super Saiyan God Vegeta Kind of a mouthful guys. I had to stay there to think of what I was saying and of course this has been from Bandai So I hope you guys enjoyed this video if you did give it a like Subscribe to the channel and share with your friends. I've been Shannon. This has been Comic-Con again TV The only place on YouTube where all geek culture collides Take care Geeks If you enjoyed that video, make sure you hit the subscribe button right there So you stay up to date on all things geek culture Also, go ahead and check out one of these two playlists on the side for more videos Just like the one you just watched I'm Shannon for Comic-Con TV The only place on YouTube where all geek culture collides. Take care Geeks


Good morning, Hank. It's Tuesday. Today is the first day of the Turtles All the Way Down movie shoot. Greetings from, you know, I'm not actually sure I'm allowed to say where greetings from. COVID tests live in the dream. Isaac, am I allowed to say like what city we're filming in? Greetings from Cincinnati. This is Isaac. He's producing the movie. Say hi, Isaac. Hi. There's no place I'd rather be. Pay no attention to the costume change. It's definitely not a continuity error. So four things I always forget about watching movies get made. First, I always feel like I'm in the way. Like a movie set is basically a large construction site and I don't know how to do construction. Scaffolding and ladders and lights are always moving this way and that, and I somehow managed to be in the way of that like hundreds of times every day. But everyone's always really nice about it. They don't like yell at me or anything. They just say points, which is movie speak for you're about to get hit by something pointy. Second, when I watch movies, I always think like this is taking place in a very beautiful and sophisticated location. But then like right now, for instance, my view is currently of a dumpster. It's a very cinematic dumpster, but it is a dumpster. Third, there are so many people here and they're all busy. They're all doing stuff 12 hours a day. The only person who's not busy is me. And lastly, on that front, it is impossible to put into words how amazing it is to have all of these people pouring their time and talent and love into this story. Earlier today, the movie's first assistant director, Mary said, we're trying to 3D print your imagination. And that really is how it feels. I have attempted to move to a place out of the WIM. So listen, Hank, I am not allowed to tell you what we are shooting today, but I can tell you a story. So part of my book, Turtles All The Way Down, is set at a Chuck E. Cheese, which is like an American chain of children's fun places. Their mascot is a mouse whose government name I'm not making this up is Charles Entertainment Cheese. So the nice people making the Turtles All The Way Down movie reached out to Chuck E. Cheese to request permission to film in one of their esteemed establishments. And Chuck E. Cheese responded that that was not going to happen. I'm not going to read you their exact response, partly because I want to avoid spoilers and partly because I'm a little worried I might get sued, but suffice it to say that Chuck E. Cheese was not happy with my portrayal of their institution in Turtles All The Way Down. Just for the record, of course, look, it's a work of fiction, but I stand by most of my portrayal. Like, I think there probably is pee in the ball pit. I think there is pee in most ball pits. I mean, for the record, I think there's pee in almost everything. I think that's a Leonard Cohen lyric. So anyway, I'm not allowed to tell you what we're filming today, but I can tell you that it's not at a Chuck E. Cheese. But I actually think what's happening instead might be better and more wonderful. This has just been the most amazing day. Isabella Merced, who is playing Asa, understands that character so, so deeply. Cree, who's playing Daisy, is amazing. The director, Hannah Marks, has read the book, like, more than I have and loves it so much and cares about it so much. So yeah, I just feel so lucky and grateful today. But the other thing I'm thinking here is that this is only happening because so many people read and cared about the book, because they responded with such generosity to the book's exploration of anxiety and obsessive thinking disorders and free will and its other themes. And I think everybody here is committed to making a movie that spreads the same ideas that the book did, that people's pain is real and deserves attention and validation, but that there is also hope, even when your brain tells you there isn't. I am very glad I lived through some hard days, Hank, so that I could have this one. Hank, I'll see you on Friday.