We're looking in John chapter 21 verses 15 through 17. And so let me read those verses to you and we'll look at the subject of love and restoration. So when they had eaten breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonah, do you love me more than these? He said to him, yes, Lord, you know that I love you. He said to him, feed my lambs. He said to him, again, a second time, Simon, son of Jonah, do you love me? He said to him, yes, Lord, you know that I love you. He said to him, tend my sheep. He said to him the third time, Simon, son of Jonah, do you love me? Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, do you love me? And he said to him, Lord, you know all things. You know that I love you. Jesus said to him, feed my sheep. So what we have here as we're gonna be looking at this passage this evening is Jesus, who is in the process of restoring a fallen sheep. One of the reasons why the Lord Jesus Christ is going to do this is because he wants to make the apostle Peter usable in the kingdom of God and that cannot happen until he is completely restored. So we're looking at restoration. The word restoration means bringing something back to its original condition. It speaks of repairing or refreshing. And the concept of restoration is found throughout the Bible. The word restore is used 52 times in the Old Testament and four times in the new. The word restores is used three times in the Old Testament, one time in the new. Restored is used 28 times in the Old Testament, five times in the new. And the word restoration is used one time in the New Testament. So it's a concept that you find in scripture. In viewing this passage we get insight. And what we're gonna gain insight into is how the Lord restores a sheep who's in need of restoration. We're gonna be seeing that he is able as well as open to restoring us when we fall. Revelation 21 says to us in verses four and five, God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes. There shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying. Neither shall there be any more pain, for the former things are passed away. And he who sat upon the throne said, behold, I make all things new. He said to me, right, for these words are true and faithful. Behold, I make all things new. God makes all things new. And that includes especially our broken lives. He delights as you read your scripture in healing broken lives. He delights in mending broken hearts. And the reason he delights in that is because we discover as we read our Bibles that he loves us. Now in various portions of scripture in the New Testament, as well as allusions in the old, you see that Jesus Christ is pictured, Messiah is pictured as a shepherd. He says it himself in John chapter 10 verse 11 when he says, I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives his life for the sheep. So as the good shepherd, Jesus has a loving concern for the welfare of his sheep. The Old Testament Ezekiel chapter 34, 11 and 12 says, thus says the Lord God, indeed I myself will search for my sheep and seek them out. As a shepherd seeks out his flock on the day he is among his scattered sheep, so will I seek out my sheep and deliver them from all the places where they were scattered on a cloudy and dark day. God says, I am that shepherd. Jesus said, I am that good shepherd. And so as that good shepherd, he has a concern for us, a concern for our welfare. Now there was a time when Jesus asked the question, a question that would actually give us insight into his heart. It's a question found in Luke chapter 15 verses four through six when he says, what man of you having a hundred sheep if he loses one of them does not leave the 99 in the wilderness and go after the one which is lost until he finds it. And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders rejoicing and when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors saying to them rejoice with me for I have found my sheep that was lost. And then he kills it and he needs it. No, that's not what he does. Just seeing if you're listening. Jesus searches for his lost sheep. He searches until he finds them and then he rejoices over them. What we have here in this passage is Jesus restoring his beloved apostle Peter and he's restoring him to full fellowship with himself. And in his doing so, we have an opportunity to see the work of restoration how God restores. The psalmist in Psalm 23 verses one through three said it like this. He said, the Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul. He refreshes and he repairs my broken soul. That's what the Lord does. And that's what we're gonna see here in this passage before us how the Lord Jesus Christ is about to restore his beloved apostle. Now let me lay a context for you so that we can see how this is developing in scripture. Over the last several days prior to this event we know that Peter had had contact with the Lord Jesus Christ. In Luke chapter 24 verse 34, it simply says there that the Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon. Later on, the apostle Paul made reference to this when it says in 1 Corinthians 15.5 that he was seen by Cephas and then by the 12th. So John reports that Peter had seen Jesus and had seen him on at least two occasions within an eight day period. First when he was with nine other apostles and then later when he was with 10. On one of these occasions, he even had received a commission to go out and to minister. But with all of that activity, Peter is still living with the knowledge, the knowledge that he denied the Lord. He's busy. He's even spiritually active, if you will. Yet he has unfinished business with the Lord. The wound that he has has not been healed. And if that wound is not healed, he cannot be fully used. And part of his healing and part of his restoration will rely on an open dealing with his failure. There had been a public failure, a public denial, and therefore there must be a public confession and an open restoration. Remember with me that Peter had sinned in full view of witnesses. And as a leader, he needed to be dealt with openly. In 1st Timothy in chapter five, verses 19 and 20, Paul was instructing Timothy a young pastor about this. And he said, in 1st Timothy five, 19 and 20, do not entertain an accusation against an elder unless it's brought by two or three witnesses, those who sin are to be rebuked publicly so that the others may take warning. And so on that night, on the night that Jesus was betrayed, Peter had stated that he loved Jesus. And he even went so far as to say he loved Jesus more than the others did. But instead of faith, this revealed self-sufficient pride. Remember with me on that night how Peter had asked a question and made a strong statement. It's found in John 13, 36 through 38. It says there that Simon Peter asked him, Lord, where are you going? And Jesus replied, where I am going, you cannot follow now, but you will follow later. Peter asked, why, Lord, why can't I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you. And Jesus answered, will you really lay down your life for me? I tell you the truth. Before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times. Mark tells us in chapter 14 verse 31 that Peter insisted emphatically, even if I have to die with you, I will never deny you. So that's self-confidence. That's a self-confidence strength. And it's a tremendous amount of self-confidence. But when it came down to it, Peter denied the Lord. Again, remember with me, Jesus said that he would deny him, that he would deny even knowing him. And when Jesus had told him that, it's found in Luke 22, 60 through 62. Peter replied, when he was being questioned and they were saying to him, you are with the Galilean. He said, man, I don't know what you're talking about. And as he was speaking the rooster crowed, the Lord turned and looked straight at Peter. And Peter remembered the word the Lord had spoken to him before the rooster crows today. You will deny me three times. And he went outside and he wept bitterly. He wept bitterly, he had denied the Lord. Now, this denial did not come as a surprise, of course. He was aware of Simon's weakness, and he's aware of mine, and he's aware of yours also. Psalm 103, 14 says, he knows our frame, and he remembers that we are dust. Romans 7, 18, Paul said like this. He said, I know that in me, that is in my flesh dwells no good thing, for to will is present with me, but how to perform that which is good, I find not. I don't want to, but I find myself being vulnerable to not walking with the Lord as strongly as I would like. And so these are things that were not surprising to the Lord Jesus Christ. He wasn't surprised that the apostle Peter would deny him. As a matter of fact, he had predicted that he would. It's Simon Peter who seems to be surprised that he denied the Lord. It's Simon Peter who had vehemently said, I will go with you to death. Others may deny you. I never will. You can rely on me. Well, these events, the events of his denial had occurred probably around three weeks earlier. Peter hasn't forgotten his own words. Undoubtedly, his own words are still haunting him. That reminds me of King David and how David remembered his own failure. In Psalm 51, verses one through four, he had said it like this. He said, have mercy on me, oh God, according to your unfailing love, according to your great compassion, blot out my transgressions, wash away all my iniquity, cleanse me from my sin, for I know my transgressions. My sin is always before me.  My sin is always before me. There are times when your conscience will accuse you. There's no doubt about it. There are times when your own heart will say to you that you aren't what you say you are. You're not as strong as you think you are. You're not really born again or even redeemed like the Bible says you are. There are times when you might remember, you might wake up in the morning and remember some failure of yours, some sin that you'd committed, even a recent sin, but sometimes it's a sin that you have been forgiven of 20 or 30 years ago. The enemy will remind you or your own heart will convict you or condemn you. We have to learn that God is greater than my heart. He knows all things. He understands and he knew that when he called you, he knew what you would do with this message and he called you anyway. He knew that you and I would not be faithful like we wanted and there have been times perhaps in your life as I've been in mind where I've been in a moment of spiritual revelation where God is working in my heart and moving in a powerful way and there can be even sometimes emotions attached to it where I'll say to the Lord with all of my heart, with all truthfulness, God, I just wanna serve you. I just wanna pursue you. I just wanna be consumed by you only to find myself denying him in one form or another shortly after even prayer like that. I know my own weakness and I think you know yours too. None of us is fully completed yet on the side of heaven and so it's not a surprise to the Lord when we fail. And David failed. My sin is ever before me. David had failed in that he had had sexual relations with Bathsheba in that he had had her husband killed and gone through so many tremendous things as a result of that tremendously painful things as a result of that. And that's why he would say my sin is before me. I haven't forgotten what I've done. Wash me and cleanse me. Restore into me the joy of thy salvation because the Lord without you I'm not gonna make it. So David said my sin is ever before me. So we need to remember that sin cannot be swept under a carpet and simply forgotten. You can't deny its existence. You can't excuse it. It's not simply a mistake. It's not an error. It's not a mental lapse. It's not a culturally acceptable action. You can't blame it on somebody else. You can't blame your parents or your friends, your boss, circumstances or even your government. You can't rename it. You can't call it a disease, a preference. You can't legalize it. It remains sin. So to be ever healed we have to confess it. To have peace and restoration, sin needs to be brutally dealt with. It has to be recognized and it has to be named. It needs to be confessed and repented of and forsaken. And when this occurs restoration is made possible and it does occur. You see Peter is restored to fellowship with Jesus but he's going to be restored to fellowship with Jesus before he's going to be restored to ministry because he could not minister effectively until his restoration of fellowship is complete. And that's what we have here. Now in the setting we have Jesus preparing a meal for his disciples. In verses nine and 13 of this chapter we see that he has given them some fish and some bread that he had prepared for them. So imagine for just a moment this meal. More than likely this meal had been eaten in an uncomfortable silence.   You don't want to have a problem there at the table and yet it's there, it's unresolved.  I mean, it's still there. It's still there. It hasn't gone away. It doesn't go away, does it? It doesn't just evaporate, disappear. It doesn't take a vacation and say, I'll come back later.  Doesn't happen that way, does it? Now if you've got an unresolved conflict it's at the table with you. It's going to be there. And the apostle Peter has an unresolved conflict with Jesus Christ. He denied him. It's something that has to be dealt with. And so in the midst of all of this, how exciting it was and that they were fishing and they recognized that it was a Lord there on the seashore and Jesus said, have you caught anything? And John says, it's the Lord and they come rushing up to shore and you can see that like children they're excited because they're with the Lord. And now Jesus has a meal and he's serving them and now they're eating and in the quiet of that meal there's still stuff that has to be dealt with. It isn't going to go away by itself. And the tension of something like that is going to grow steadily. You see Peter had led the disciples back to their former occupations, hate been fishing. And now there they are seated with the Lord. They're alone, they're on that shore. And as you can almost hear the sound of them as they're eating their meal, crunching that bread, Jesus breaks the silence. And he speaks in verse 15.  Simon, son of Jonah, do you love me more than these? What a question to ask. Simon, son of Jonah, do you love me more than these? Do you love me more than these? What? Do you love me more than these things? Do you love me more than your fishing? Do you love me more than your boat? Do you love me more than your business? Or it could be, do you love me more than you love these friends, your companions and associates? Now he more than likely is asking this, do you love me more than these other men love me? Now that word, those spoken with gentleness would have torn Simon's heart. Again, remember it wasn't that long ago that he was insisting that he loved Jesus more than them all. Peter had declared in Mark 14, 29, even if all fall away, I will not. That's another way of saying, I love you more than all of these. But I want you to notice something that, that we might pass up and not even notice if I didn't bring it to our attention. I want you to notice again, Simon, he said, son of Jonah, do you love me? Why would he say Simon, son of Jonah? Remember in John chapter one, verse 42, when Jesus called Simon to be an apostle, he referred to him in that way. He said to him that he was a son of Jonah. And so that's when he first called him to be an apostle. But now when he develops his call, Jesus once more speaks of him as son of Jonah. And so what we have between the first time he's referred to that way in Scripture in John one and the second reference, there's a whole lifetime or three and a half years of lessons that were learned. Peter had to go through tremendous pain to arrive at a place that he would be usable. And what we have here is Jesus stirring at least two memories that Peter would have. In John chapter one, he would think of when Jesus had called him and given him a promise. He had said in John 142, you shall be called Cephas, which has translated a stone. Simon, you will become strong and I will use you mightily in the work of the kingdom of God. That was part of that promise. But secondly, he would be reminding him of his recent denial. He had said he loved Jesus more than the others. And those two memories would serve as the bookends of Peter's life with Christ. And as he's thinking of these things, he's being gently brought to the place of restoration. In considering these things, he's allowed to re-experience his sense of failure as well as his sin.  Before Christ called him, he was simply what is called a natural man. But in Jesus, he receives a new name to reflect his new nature that God would give to him.  Jesus is simply and gently meeting him where he is. And he confronts Peter, but he exposes him only to heal the pain and restore him. You see, if Peter's to be healed, he has to confront his sin. And that's why in verse 15, the question is asked, do you love me? What we're looking at here is a man whose pride has been dealt with. What you have in verses 15 and 16 with the word love, in verses 15 and 16, is an interplay between two Greek words.  The second word, the word that the apostle Peter uses, is the Greek word phileo. Those are two words translated by the single English word love. But there are differences in the meaning of those two words. Jesus is reminding him by using the word agape of his claim that he loved him with everything within him. Because agape is a word that is used to describe the God kind of love that is fully committed. The word phileo is a word that all of us are familiar with because it's a root word for friendship. When you see the city of Philadelphia, its translation literally is the city of brotherly love. And so brotherly love is phileo. Agape is the God kind of love that is self-sacrificial. So in this interplay, what you have is this. Jesus is saying, Peter, do you have agape for me? Do you love me with all of your heart completely and sacrificially? And Peter's response is, Lord, I have friendship love for you. What happened? A while back you were saying I love you with an uncontrollable burning without any borders kind of love. I would lay my life down for you. And now you're simply saying, I love you like I love the dearest friend that I could have. What happened here? You see, what's happening is the Lord is reminding him in a gentle way of the claims he had made and his own failure to keep his own promises. It's not cruelty on the part of the Lord. It's a way that he's gonna be able to root out this thing in him and bring him to healing. Simon, do you love me? Yes, Lord, you know I have a friendship for you. So when he first says that, Jesus gives him a commission, feed my babies. Take care of the babies and the faith as well as the children under your care. Spiritually nourish and tenderly care them for them. Take care of their spiritual needs. But he says that again in verse 16, Simon, son of Jonah, do you love me? Simon, do you have agape for me? Lord, you know I have deep affection for you. But even so he's saying I have deep affection. Jesus says tend my sheep. Nourish, rule, govern, protect and defend my sheep. That's what ministers, by the way, are intended to do. God has called us as ministers, pastor teachers, like myself, to have a defensive posture for the body of Christ. I don't know if you know that or not. You probably do. But perhaps you don't. Some people say what are you meddling in my affairs for? What are you busy in my business? You stay out of my business. Well I have to be honest with you, pastors have the ministry of meddling in a sense of bringing things up that need to be dealt with. And pastors have been given the call by God, the responsibility and duty by God to protect and defend the sheep. That is my responsibility. How do I do that? Well I do that through the word of God by equipping you for works of service so that you develop discernment as you go through the word and you're able to tell when someone's bringing false doctrine and you're able to say that's not true. There's something wrong with that. My mom used to use the phrase. She said, that sounds like tin. That sounds like tin. I was first saved. I was maybe two weeks old in the Lord. No more than two, three weeks at the maximum. And I was a hippie kid and all of that. And I was home and some Jehovah's Witnesses came and knocked down the door. And I had been instructed to read the Bible because it's in the reading of the word of God you're nourished in the things of God. You need to learn the ways of God. So read the Bible. And I was taught to do that when I got saved because the guy who followed up on me said you need to learn to read the word of God to fellowship, to pray, to have fellowship. These are the four basic things that'll keep you strong in the things of the Lord. And so the first thing he had said to us to me is you need to get into God's word and allow God's word to get into you. And so I started learning to read the Bible. No, I didn't understand it. And to this day, there are many things I still don't understand. I'm not gonna pretend that I know everything. I've been studying the Bible for a long time and I can tell you there are still mysteries that God is gonna unveil to me when I'm in heaven with him. And I'll say, oh, now I see. Now I understand. But I knew less than 40 some years ago than I do now. And there's a knock on the door. And I used to have this robe. It was a Japanese robe. It was a silk robe. It had a big old dragon on the back, oh, nine yards. And I was barefooted and I had the robe on. And I had the long hair and all of that. And there's a knock on the door and I opened the door up. And it's a wild. I had round granny glasses, big bushy sideburns.  And you know, all messed up and everything. And I opened the door to these two Jehovah's Witnesses. And I don't know anything. I don't know anything. I don't know anything about Jehovah's Witnesses or any other group at all. I've just gotten saved. And I still remember speaking to them and the two ladies and they said, we're representatives of Jehovah's Christian, we're Jehovah's Christian Witnesses and we're going through your city and we're discussing the things of the gospel of Jesus Christ. And I'm a brand new Christian. I said, well, praise the Lord. I'm a Christian too.  They really did. And they really did. And so they said, oh, I said, yeah, yeah. I was born again. I gave my heart to Jesus Christ. And they started giving me their wrap. I'm two, three weeks at the maximum old in the Lord. Just started reading the Bible. I was reading what is called the good news for modern man. It isn't even a translation, it's a paraphrase. Because I was given a King James Version Bible and it might as well have been in French because the words, I didn't have a clue. I finally got what was called the layman's parallel version of the Bible which had four translations side by side. So I read the King James, then I would read the New American Standard and I would look and compare. And that's how I started learning the King James language. And I taught out of the King James Bible until 1983. And when I would teach, I would simply change the words that were archaic to modern words every time I taught until the new King James came out and I began to use that and I've been using that for many years now. But as they were there and they're talking to me, I finally looked at them and I remember saying something like, you know, I don't think I agree with what you're saying. I don't, because they were saying things. I don't even remember exactly what but they were saying things that I knew I've been reading this Bible and it doesn't say that. It doesn't say that. And then that's like two, three weeks old in the Lord and God begins to give you wisdom and discernment just by reading God's word and it develops a discernment. So you'll hear what's being said and it's like my mom said, it's like 10. No, that does not jive. That does not make any sense. No, I read other things that say something different entirely than that. And so it was at that point that I as a brand new Christian began to say, I need to learn what God's word actually says. I need to learn it for myself. Went into the army, got out, was home and here comes two more Jehovah's Witnesses. They knock on the door and now I live in Whittier. Hi, we're Jehovah's Witnesses and we want to share with you. And they began to share with me. And I say, I don't think that what you're saying is true. And they say, oh, what we're saying is true. No, it's not. Well, the Bible says, and they started saying that to me, well, the Bible says, and even then I'm saying, no, there's something wrong with that. No, that's not right. I know, but I don't know how to defend my faith. I've been in the army for two years. I haven't been studying. I haven't had the fellowship and the teaching that I needed, but I knew this is wrong. So I said, can you come back next week? And they said, yes, great. I went to the only Christian bookstore I knew. What you have now, guys, is not what I grew up with. In 1972, there weren't Christian bookstores on every corner. In 72, you couldn't go on to the internet. I mean, a computer would take up most of this room. I mean, there was no such thing as the net until Al Gore invented it. So you actually had to get books. And I drove to Anaheim, which was the only Christian bookstore I knew. And I lived in Whittier, got on the freeway, drove to Anaheim. And I got Kingdom of the Cults by Walter Martin. He had a hundred and some pages on Jehovah's Witnesses in that book. And I read through it and memorized large portions of it. Now it's waiting. And they knocked on my door. And they came in. I still remember it. And they said, well, have you considered what we said? And I said, of course I have. I've been thinking about it all week. But let me ask you a few questions.  I said, then where does it say that Jesus invisibly came and began ruling the ruling out of Brooklyn, New York in 19, what was it, 1914, or when did he come and invisibly begin to rule through the Watchtower organization in Brooklyn? When did that happen? Can you give me a scripture that says that? Well, no, no, I didn't ask you what you've done. I wanna know if you've got a scripture that says, Brooklyn, New York, look for Jesus. Anything, no? Where does the Bible say specifically that Jesus Christ is Michael the Archangel? Where does it say that? And I started, well, we know that Michael means who is like God. I said, yes, that's what it means. But where does the Bible say that Jesus Christ is Michael the Archangel? Where does it say that? And I asked them question after question after question. And I finally said this to them. I still remember it was so exciting in the Lord. I said, last time you were here, you kept on saying this is what the Bible says. Let me tell you what it actually says. And I preached the gospel to these Jehovah's Witnesses. They didn't like it. They didn't, they got up and they hurried out the door and I followed them. And I was at the door yelling, and you know what else? And they were gone. Pastors have the responsibility of teaching the truth to defend the sheep from error. Never be angry at a pastor who loves you and up to tell you the truth. Because that's our commission. And that's the commission that Jesus gave to Simon Peter in 1 Peter chapter five, verse two, Peter himself wrote concerning it. He said this to other shepherds. He said, shepherd the flock of God, which is among you serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain, but eagerly. That's the call of every true shepherd. And then in verse 17, he said to him the third time, Simon, son of Jonah, do you love me? Now it's interesting in that John wants us to see that the number three is at play here. Verse 14 of this same chapter reads, this is now the third time Jesus showed himself to his disciples after he was raised from the dead. Now John records that Jesus asked Peter the same basic question three times. This was the number associated with how many times Peter denied the Lord. How many times did you deny me? And how many times am I asking about your love for me? What's interesting is this time Jesus says to him, Peter, do you have filial for me? And Peter's response is a heartbroken response. You know all things. You know that I have filial for you. And Jesus said to him, feed my sheep. You can now feed and you can now tend my sheep because you are a broken man. You see I can accept you on an honest level, but I will deepen you as I heal you. There's no doubt that Peter had cried out for forgiveness and there's no doubt that he had received it. But Peter needed to know he was loved and he needed to hear that from Jesus himself. Jesus' word of love to him is a simple command, go back fishing for men. Though his denial was great, Jesus' forgiveness is greater still. Again in Psalm 51 verses 12 and 13, it says restore to me the joy of your salvation. Uphold me by your generous spirit. Then I will teach transgressors your ways and sinners shall be converted to you. There are, listen and see if I can say this properly. Probably can't forgive me if it doesn't make sense. There are areas of your life that are going to be wounds that you received in life that will ultimately deepen your faith and increase your ability to have compassion for the weak and humility that is necessary to minister effectively the love, grace and compassion of God. As long as a person thinks that they are beyond failure, they are most dangerous. Which is why Paul would say, let him who thinks he's stand take heed lest he fall. The place of ministry that is most effective is the place that one discovers when that person is broken. Often that brokenness will come through personal failure and personal disappointment. It often comes when we assume that we are much better than we actually are stronger than in reality we are. And we become self-sufficient to the degree and to the point that we fail to remember our weaknesses and in doing so the Lord allows us to enter into the area not because he leads us there but because he allows us to enter into an area that will ultimately result in a wound in our life. You say, no, I don't believe that. It's a man named Jacob in the Old Testament. His name means supplanter. Jacob was a supplanner. And you see him as a sneaky man in the book of Genesis. But on one occasion Jacob has an opportunity to wrestle with an angel and he wrestles with him for some time. And then the angel which is really what is called a pre-incarnate Christ it's called a Christophany. He's actually wrestling with Jesus. The angel reaches and touches him in his hip and it withers. And from that point on Jacob who was originally called supplanter receives the name Israel which means Prince with God. And that Prince with God came through the crippling of God in this man's life. There are times when God wounds that he might heal. That he might make you dependent on him and you may go through the rest of your life with a limp where you will remember where you met God in a very special way and it will keep you dependent on God. I walk with a spiritual limp because I've been wounded but I have also been restored. Do you love me? Oh, you know all things. You know I do. Do you love me more than these? It wasn't that long ago that I was saying I do. But when you really think about it there was really only one who stayed at the foot of the cross with you while the rest of us were hiding and that was John. I said that I would never deny you but I was hiding. I said, do you know I love you more than these but I was hiding. Which helps me, and you've heard me say this before get a grip on John because John refers to himself several times in the Gospel of John in this way the one whom Jesus loved. And I didn't like it when I first read it. I thought, what arrogance, what, what arrogance?  I'm the one Jesus loved. Stop it, if you were here, I'd slap your face. Where are you coming from John? Listen, it's not how much you love God. It's how much he loves you. Never forget that. That's the heart of ministry.  Now, it's being loved by God so much that you will follow him to the foot of the cross when all others deny him. Because to be with Jesus at the cross was the best place for him to be. Because Jesus' love drew John. Peter's love drove him to denial. But Jesus is saying now to Peter, huh? Do you love me? Do you love me? Do you have friendship for me? You know all things. That's as far as I can go right now, Lord, that's being honest to you. That's as far as I can go. Take care of my sheep. Because I can start there. We know that ultimately Peter went completely to the end with the Lord. In the end, he loved his life less than he loved his God.  This he spoke signifying by what death he would glorify God. And when he had spoken this, he said to him, follow me.   Which the apostle Peter suffered martyrdom. But I didn't prepare this, but I wanna give you one last thought though in verse 20. Peter turning around, saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following, who also leaned on his breast at the supper and said, Lord, who is the one who betrays you? Peter seeing him said to Jesus, by the Lord, what about this man? And Jesus said to him, if I will that he remain till I come, what is that to you? You follow me.  What's he got to do with you? And don't you, have you ever discovered that we get in a lot of trouble when we begin to see, how come you do that for him and you're not doing it for me? You ever do that? How come you're blessing her and you don't bless me? How come that guy got a brand new car and mine makes smoke signals every time I drive? Why? Why does that kid, why is that kid in the honor roll? And mine is a model prisoner. How come? What has their life got to do with yours? You follow me. Isn't that what it's all about guys? You follow me. Let me take care of that one in the way I take care of that one.  Keep your eyes off of other people. Keep your eyes on me. You will walk on water. You will see God move. You will see God work in your life. And you can be used right where you're at if you accept the love of Christ and say, God be merciful to me. Creating me a clean heart, old Lord, renewing right spirit within me. Cast me not away from thy presence. Take not thy holy spirit from me. I want to follow you. God is in the restoration business. He takes you and he makes you brand new. For if any man be in Christ, he's a new creation. Old things are passed away. Behold, all things become new. Jesus Christ did that for the apostle and he can do that for us.


What is going on guys welcome back to the channel critical over here soon talking about screen 5 again here today So the tickets are screen 5 are looking like they're gonna start going on sale I guess the plans for them to start settling this Friday on December 17th. Shout out to being scared Shout out to you. I know you have a YouTube channel. I'll leave a link to that down in the description He does a lot of a like scary stories as I get scary stories based channel I think he also did like a fan film at one point regarding the screen franchise He was the one who initially tipped me off about this By tag me in this tweet that you're about to see and then I went to go verify with some other sources that I have access to and basically what the tweet says was Screen fans a little bird told me that the tickets for the new film will go on sale on December 17th Reliable source and then he of course wanted you to retweet it now I went to go check on this because he actually has disclosed some things in the past that he was right about Also, but I wanted to still go check on some things regarding if I could see if this was indeed true the things that I Basically did was I went to go see if certain chains would start selling them on Friday and someone I know It's basically yes confirmed. That's what the it looks like the plan is for I'm assuming this would be both regal and AMC They'll start selling tickets on Friday December 17th So if you are someone who's planning to go out and see screen five multiple times You have at least you have a chance to go out and buy those tickets starting this Friday if nothing else falls through the cracks because We could get it earlier only because also what has now happened is there has been a official cast poster that has been shown in the Woodborough horror group and I don't imagine I don't understand why they haven't really removed it at this point I mean the admins of the group you can post whatever you want in that group without any type of approval So that's why I always say I don't get why people are adamant about not wanting spoilers yet You join a group where no admin is really approving anything So the poster that I got shown is apparently gonna be something I guess we'll get it we'll see officially released in HD at some point along with a new trailer Because they also have started doing or started this hashtag of 12 days of Christmas There's a 12 days of Christmas that's gonna happen with scream many of us believe it'll start this Tuesday And of course Friday will be factored into it if in fact the tickets do go on sale So the other thing that we need to talk about was you do have a chance for those of you who actually Don't want to have any spoilers if you're someone who can Go out and see this movie early. You have a chance you have a chance to see it early and for free I'll go over that in a minute But going back to that cast poster the cast poster that came out looks phenomenal It hasn't again been officially released But but if you're in the Woodsboro horror film or if you're on Twitter or if you're just someone who's on reddit If you're lurking any on any platform has to do with screen-based content. I'm pretty sure you've seen it by now I just don't want to put it in put it here until it's officially released It looks amazing. We have I would say very much so this gave me like nightmare and elstree vibes I like how they basically were inspired by a lot of fan art That's out there for a lot of these screen posters that exist from what fans have made and just people in general Making their own screen posters. So I like that they took that route. So this would basically be a poster a Poster inspired by the fans from fans for the fans because again everyone involved radio silence They were big fans of this franchise the way they've gone on about their admiration for it I'm just so excited for them I can't wait to see what they have to bring to the table with this new entry Only thing that really is getting to me is the closer we get to this It just bothers me that West Craven is not here for this But I know that the franchise seems to be in good hands I was kicking myself also when they had got announced when Matt and Tyler got announced as directors I could I just kept going over this in my head if they were to make a screen 5 Who would be a good fit and this I kept doing this even after I saw ready or not I wasn't even considering them. So then when they got announced, I was like like yes These these are the right people these are the right to and I was a little bit disappointed in myself Because I didn't even consider them. They did such a great job with ready or not In terms of balancing the humor and the horror aspect So I can't wait to see how they play that out with with a screen movie because that's right in the ballpark of what we have Already seen from them. I know they have some other movies that they've actually starred in like VHS for those of you fans of that But getting into how you can see this movie for free any one of you who live in the States and want to see this movie For free early you have that chance to see it on January 12th This is from a site called mind on movies. I'll leave a link to that down in the description So basically on this site, what's gonna happen is at some point There's going to be an update on it where people who are commenting their cities down in the comment section of the page And again, I'll leave a link to you comment your city and the people behind this site that are responsible for setting up a lot of these Collaborating with the studios to help them with their promotional screenings They'll end up putting the cities where this screening will take place And if you're lucky enough to have your city listed in the bottom of the list for where passes will become available You need to keep monitoring the site because it's gonna show up just at random You can also turn on email alerts to get notifications of when they become available I would still just go to the site and just monitor it kind of just in case you're someone who receives the email Late because you just saw it in your spam folder or something or because you were just behind because of the internet I would just monitor the site and Just keep refreshing the page because on January 12th for anyone in the States. I don't know what states this will include But I'm willing to bet it'll be like states like Florida, New York, North Carolina, South Carolina Potentially Maryland, Illinois those are the ones I commonly see so if you're someone who lives it doesn't matter what state You're in just if you're lucky enough put your city down in the comment section of this page Because at some point as we get closer to the date you will get the chance to see this movie early and for free if you manage to snag a pass I also would advise showing up to the theater probably an hour even 30 minutes early because there is gonna be a line It's gonna be first come first served. I know this was before I started going to the press screenings without having to do this This is what I would do So I'll leave a link to that down in the description for anyone who actually wants to see screen 5 in advance for free And if you're able to again because a lot of people they're just so honed in on I don't want this sport for me. I don't want this sport for me if you are able to Take the opportunity to go see the movie early for free on this date If you can snag a pass, please go snag a pass Do not sit around and just wait around for spoilers to come your way because they are going to come and also If you really do not want them that badly You're gonna have to deactivate certain things You're gonna have to start learning how to use your social media a little bit better because there's ways you can mute certain Search terms there's a lot of stuff you can do you can leave certain groups and then come back to them You have to you have to protect your own experience and stop waiting for other people to care about a care about it Because they they don't not not everybody but some people do not care about your experience whatsoever So just accept that you could take care of what you have to control and go on about your day So let me know what you guys think about all this down in the comment section below if you have it Of course make sure you subscribe turn on post notifications that you never miss a video in the description I have links to my social media accounts my Facebook Twitter and Instagram you can message me there Of course, there's any movies news or reviews you would like me to cover in the future with all that in mind guys I will see you in the next video


It was too hot to keep you waiting out here. I'm sorry that I'm a few minutes late. I thank you for that warm farm welcome. And I'm delighted to be with those of you who represent America's bedrock industry. Agriculture is a driving force in our nation's economy. And the future farmers of America are working hard to keep it that way. I know that you will be meeting with our Secretary of Agriculture, Jack Block, or have you done that already? And am I way behind? He'll probably spin a few of his stories. Jack was a green hand of the Knoxville, Illinois chapter of FFA, but we both like to put on a blue denim jacket whenever we get the chance. And I remember someone, say, years ago having an experience. Now, I'm a rancher. I've got a ranch. But I had an experience that taught me how little a great many people know about farming. Most people just think that you put something in the ground, stand back, and wait for it to grow up. That easy. And I guess maybe I was guilty of some of that, even with a ranch. Because with all that space and everything, I got the idea that why shouldn't we have our own eggs for breakfast? So I put in a battery of chickens and everything, and it was just great. We did have our own eggs. And they only cost me $1.65 a piece. But all of us, I think, know that God has blessed America with a vast and a fertile land. But it's ingenuity and muscle and sweat that have made our farms the envy of the world. And the last thing our farmers need is government getting the way and making the job even tougher. You know, there's a story about a young fellow who was a city fellow, but he hired out to work on a farm during the harvest season. In the first morning, everyone was up before dawn, and a new hired hand, and the farmer made their way out toward the, in the dark toward the oat field. Neither one of them said a word on the way out. And finally, the city fellow asked, what kind of oats they were going to cut, wild oats or tame oats? And the farmer was a little surprised. And he said, well, tame oats, of course. And the kid said, well, why are we sneaking up on him in the dark? Well, that's about as much, I say, as some people know about what past policy mistakes and economic difficulties meant to our farm community. Our record of agricultural productivity is unmatched anywhere in the world. And it didn't come about thanks to double digit inflation. In the three years before 1981, farm costs jumped an outrageous 45%. And that was nearly $40 billion, the largest three year increase in our history. And today, we've knocked the wind out of inflation. For the last three months, it's been running at 3.3%. Our farmers and our ranchers don't produce the most wholesome and varied foodstuffs known anywhere as a result of 21 and 1 half percent interest rates. When we took office, that's where the prime rate stood. And I know that some of our critics have very short memory, but you and I know that a 21 and 1 half percent interest rate is a devastating blow to an industry that spends a fifth of its cash outlays on interest expenses. Well, we've cut them by 40%, but don't get me wrong. They're still too high, and we're not going to stop until we get them lower. And one of these days, and I hope it's very soon, some people will wake up and realize that not only is inflation firmly under control, but we intend to keep it that way. And with signs of future price trends pointing to low rates of inflation as far as we can see, I can't believe that there's no excuse for interest rates being where they are. We can all understand why, if there is inflation, you have to get back in interest. If money, you've loaned money, you have to get back the loss of the value of that money over the period of the loan due to inflation, plus your earnings on it. But the interest rates today are outrageously high, and they cannot have any excuse in inflation for their being at that level. In 1982, nearly one-fifth of the world's agricultural products was shipped from American ports. That didn't happen thanks to grain embargoes and protectionism. The grain embargo was a cruel, painful blow, and it was terribly unfair. And that's why one of my first actions in this job was to lift that embargo. And as long as I'm here, our farmers will never again be made the scapegoats for a foreign policy of weakness and indecision. So what we're doing, and we'll continue to do, is move in a positive direction, pursuing new export markets and working to remove export barriers. Our trade teams have been continuously on the go in search of new markets. Jack Block has been knocking on doors all over the world, and he's going to keep on knocking. His efforts are paying off. We've negotiated new import quotas with Japan that will lead to near doubling of beef exports and a 54% increase in citrus exports over the next four years. On another front, we demonstrated our determination to aggressively maintain exports, including a strong American challenge to the European Community Subsidy Program. As a result, the European community has joined us in serious discussions in an effort to solve some of the problems caused by their subsidized exports. Now that we've regained our reputation as a reliable supplier, we mean to maintain that reliability and that image. And today at home, we're hard at work on the 1985 Farm Bill. The Department of Agriculture will continue to solicit farmers' views on this important bill. So far, they've accepted hundreds of pages of written recommendations and held listening sessions around the country. The latest session was held just last week in Dallas. Now, you know, I don't get a chance to talk enough to the farm communities suit me. You represent the best in America. Our farmers and ranchers have always honored and lived with the values and traditions that make America great. Faith, family, neighbors helping neighbors, hard work, free enterprise and independence. We can touch the spirit of America in our farm communities and again, much is owed to the future farmers of America. FFA is giving more than a fine start to young people like yourselves. By cultivating in traditional values, leadership skills and patriotism, the future farmers of America ensure the strength and vitality of our country. Before I close, I want to say a few words about the thousands of volunteers and private industry sponsors who are reaching out to America's future. FFA has some 14,000 adult teachers and state advisors, good caring Americans who are offering a gift that will last a lifetime, the gift of opportunity. And it's all made possible because of the generosity of the private sector. This year, business and industry are expected to give over $2 million to provide incentive awards to FFA members. In fact, your state president's conference in Washington wouldn't have been possible without the support of the Chevrolet Motor Division of General Motors. And I'm sure that Bob Berger, general manager of Chevrolet who is with us today is very proud of what his organization is doing. You all deserve to be very proud with your help. Our young people will be ready to meet the challenges before them and to turn back or turn them into opportunities for their families, their community and for America. I have to tell you just one more farm story before I quit. Maybe you know this one about the old boy that had taken over some creek bottom land and it was rocky and covered with brush, cleaned the brush, he got rid of all the rocks and hauled them away and then he planted and he really had a beautiful garden there. And one day at church, he asked the minister to come back with him after the sermon and take a look at what he'd accomplished. Well, the Reverend arrived and he looked and he said, those melons. Oh my God has certainly blessed this land. I've never seen anything so wonderful. And look at the corn, I've never seen anything as tall as that. God certainly has been good to this place. And he went on that way until finally the old man who was beginning to shuffle a little bit and he said, Reverend, I wish you could have seen it when the Lord was doing it by himself. Well, I know you won't be caught in that kind of a spot but thank you all very much for being here. God bless you. Mr. President, represented here are three conferences of individuals who are working to improve agriculture and agricultural education in this country. We have the state presidents who are here to learn how to provide more effective leadership to chapter officers and chapter members in their home communities. We have another group of individuals with our Washington Conference program who are working toward providing leadership in those local communities and also some adults who are working towards improving the work experiences gained by vocational agriculture students. Our national theme this year is keeping America on the grow, which is precisely what we're trying to do by coming here to Washington DC to improve the type of training that we provide for young people. We also recognize that it takes examples, examples of leadership so that our students can go forward in their chosen industry. Because of your tremendous example, because of what you mean to us, we'd like to present to you our blue and gold award which says, to President Reagan, in sincere appreciation for your support and participation in the state president's conference, July 1984. We thank you and may God bless you. Thank you. Well, God bless you. Thank you so much. Thank you, Mr. President. That's pretty much the best question to make at last. Thanks very much. Yes. Hey, good to see you. And thank you for what you're doing. This is just great. Thank you. Dr. Payton was one of the national advisors of future policy. Well, thank you very much. Appreciate your time. Thank you. All right. Thank you. Thank you.


Kako, my name is Retsu Chiyama, your host for another stimulating episode of a series titled Business in Hawaii. Today we're going to delve into an area called Strategic Planning and with me is my guest Peter Adler, who will be talking about the why's, the how's and what strategic planning is all about in the world for business, nonprofits, academic institutions and many groups that want to achieve greatness, want to meet goals and be better organizations, but we'll be also discussing all that and more with Peter Adler. Welcome to the show. Hi Ray, thank you for having me on here. We'll start from the beginning. Where did your work in strategic planning begin? My background, I'm a sociologist by training, although I've studied the sociology of law and so on. But my interest for 30 years has been in the alignment and consensus building. As a mediator, as a facilitator, I've worked with a lot of groups, sometimes in very high conflict situations, sometimes in planning problems and that's where the strategy work comes. And sociology is all about groups and organizations, the study of. And society in large and society at small. And small, so we're talking about small groups, big groups and organizations. Exactly. So what would you say is the good side of strategic planning? Why should groups and organizations do that? People come to strategic planning for many different reasons and sometimes when people approach me about helping them, I have to go through a decoding process to understand what do they want to do with the plan, why are they planning and so on. The good thing is, all planning is a way of repositioning yourself for something new. If you just need to do what you're doing, you may not need to plan, although you may need continuity. Now, you're beginning at a place, I think, is it that you're trying to help people become self-aware, to know themselves? I'm interested in people getting things done at the end of the day. And the plan is a tool, it's part of the road, the yellow brick road to where you want to go. Michael Porter, who is one of the people whose influence I drive under, is at Harvard, he's a business professor, very well known in strategy work, both quantitative and qualitative. And he says it's all about understanding the position you want to occupy at some future point in time. Oh, right. Yes. What is the journey to that point? What is the journey? But where are you trying to get to? So, when you first meet with people who think they need a strategic plan and want to go somewhere, where do you begin? What's the questions that you ask them? Great question in itself. I ask people why they need a plan, what they want to do with the plan once they have one. I talk about what kind of plan, what's the audience for it? Is it internal, is it a compass for themselves, is it an external document? So there's a set of questions and that helps shape both the yellow brick road as well as the outcome. And how do you develop it? Is it a small group who are representing the organization or do you involve the entire organization? Do you have a, yourself as a mediator, a facilitator, as a guide, how does it work in the best sense? Every process is molded to the needs of that entity, organization, agency, whatever it is. And sometimes it involves consultation with many stakeholders. Sometimes it's a small group of executives. The process that I kind of like doing is having a small group that is going to be a planning committee and one that will do a lot of listening to external audiences, both internal and external, and taking a lot of information, do a lot of analytic work, and then chart a course. Do those ideal people exist or do you have to develop them to be the people that you want? I think it depends on the maturity of the organization. If it's a new startup and it's an entrepreneurial organization that's just getting its legs under it, you may have to find people. I've also found, always, it's very good in the process to bring in outsiders to help do some forecasting and help do some sensing of what's in the air. Forecasting for their, I guess, for business, the market sector or industry, for example, or nonprofit in competing against other nonprofits in the same area of philanthropy? Imagine, for example, a larger grocery operation. And one of the things that they might think all the answers are inside of them if they just think and talk long enough, but very often there's outsiders who may say, let me tell you about economic forecasts around agriculture, around food, around delivery of services. And sometimes in the face of disruptions, Amazon bought whole foods and they're delivering it. They're going to deliver by drones. What does that mean? Who would have thought that? Or if you're, like you say, who would have thought that in the retail space? That's the major question. That's right. Because that's the competition already, but that's something from left field who appeared out of nowhere. And it happens. It happens more and more and with more intensity. So do organizations do strategy planning and they come to you and what was the most, give me an example of a strategic plan that worked and was easy to do? I don't know that it's easy necessarily, but there's a couple of them that have stood out in my mind. And one was with the Hawaii Public Broadcasting and Leslie Wilcox, who was a relatively new executive director, very strong credentials, very creative. And she came in at the moment at which Hawaii Public Broadcasting was moving from a state entity to a non-profit. So it had people in both. Right. Interesting problem. About 50, 60 people. So we designed a process, and this is a mutual process working with her and her executives, and we said, okay, what we're going to do is we're going to listen to all the employees. We spent a day, 60 people in a room, and a process of gathering information. Then we listened to her board, we had a half day with them. And she had an advisory council because it's a regulated industry. We had a half, a couple of hours with them. And then we had a small group that wrote the plan and then went out with that plan and said, here's what we're thinking, last chance to comment, and that became the plan. And you know what? It's three pages. Yeah, it's three pages. So in those three pages, is there a template or format that is ideal for organizations? You say three pages, you're saying there's better than 100 pages. Well, I think so. Or one page. Yeah. What is the key here? How many strategies have we seen, big, fat, long plans, 100 pages, and they end up in the waste basket on the shelf? Nobody reads them. Yeah. Nobody can remember them. In fact, let me stop here. For most organizations out in the world, in the state of Hawaii, or nationally or globally, if somebody asks them, where is their strategy plan, what does it mean, what are three objectives or goals for the objective plan, they would think and think and think. And they would call somebody, probably in the planning department, if it's a huge organization, and say, where is that plan, and you're correct, why is it so hard for strategic plans to stick in people's minds? So Dwight Eisenhower on the run up to D-Day, which we just remembered, he famously said, plans are useless, planning is everything. Oh, okay. And what he was really saying was, it's not the paper plan, it's alignment around it. So that's part of what I think of as triple helix, alignment, scrutiny, strategy, alignment. Those are the three things that need to come together. And when you see Eisenhower, he's not known as a great soldier, but as a diplomat when you think about it. He came out of supply and logistics. He's dealt with people and trying to align people and then have them execute. That's right. Lots of contingencies and they knew it was going to be a very challenging invasion. They knew that. They were expecting 80% losses of 150,000 people, much less turned out, but tough, tough, tough. But I'm reminded of another quote from Peter Drucker, who said famously, strategy is execution. Yeah. That's right. And what do you think of that? I think it's critical. Okay. So at the end of the many planning processes, not everyone, it has to be shaped to whatever the client particularly wants, but at the end of it, what's going to happen in the next 100 days? What are we going to do in the next three months? What's the action plan? And a strategy, depending on the horizon, usually three to five years or longer, needs to end with an execution element. And then people got to follow up on it or else it's dead. But when you mention strategy, planning, these are big terms. I mean, an organization may have people who just do small things in a cubby hole or at a desk and so forth. How do you ensure that everybody in the organization follows some highfalutin strategy that's made up by the board or the corporate leadership? I happen to have a, I like a shorter plan myself that's memorable that people can remember and that the strategy is almost always more important than the strategic plan. The mission is more important than the mission statement. So it's what is it that is the in people's heads who have to execute? Right. Because once it passes to a new generation, they have to do the plan. Right. So it has to survive and sustain itself through generations, people in similar roles. With living people. Yeah, right. Yeah. And the people who make the plan really need to be part of the execution. What is a common mistake when organizations come to you and ask for your help and they ask you questions and think they know what you will deliver? I think the most common one is they don't really know why they need to do this or why they want to do it. Or it's, how should I say this? I don't mean this in a disrespectful way but it's a camouflage for other things that they want to do. I'll give you an example. Right. A hard example. Okay. So I was approached once by an unnamed organization and they said, Peter we need a strategic plan. Can you help us? Why do you want to do it? Well, we need to know what we're going to do the next five years and I asked why three or four times and what was at the bottom it was they actually wanted to let go of their CEO.  Right. So if I know that, if I know that I can say well we may have a better way of getting to that. It's a basis for something else that they wanted behind the idea. Once I learn that I understand what they also want out of a plan. Right. And then they can carry on with their own conversations. Interesting. But we're going to go into even more interesting things after this important break. Aloha. I'm Stan Osterman, a host here on Think Tech Hawaii, a digital media company serving the people of Hawaii. We provide a video platform for citizen journalists to raise public awareness here on the island. We are a Hawaiian non-profit that depends on the generosity of its supporters to keep on going. We'd be grateful if you go to thinktechhawaii.com and make a donation to support us now. Mahalo. Aloha. This is Scott Perry and I'm the host of Let's Talk Hawaii at Think Tech Hawaii. In this show we're going to be speaking in English and Japanese and I'm going to use my 30 years of experience to help many Japanese viewers improve their English skills as well as learning many interesting things about Hawaii. You can catch my show every other Tuesday, 3 p.m. Hawaii time. See you then. Nice job. This is Ray Tuchiyama back in the trenches with strategy planning on business in Hawaii. We've been talking about nonprofits. We've been talking about television stations. We've been talking about unnamed groups. All with ideas for the future, a goal, and where they want to go in business or with developing an educational institution of school or university. We now come to the most difficult, challenging, and intractable area on earth, the state of Hawaii. I remember there were strategies planning back in the 60s. There was an office for planning, a d-bed. In the early 70s there was a huge statewide consensus building for Hawaii 2000. Imagine that. In 1970, looking three decades out and wanting to develop scenarios and goals for the state. I don't even know where we're going next year. This is a very challenging area for a state of now 1.3 million citizens, with young people leaving the state, with all kinds of issues on homelessness, affordable housing, on our economy, and should we come together for a strategic plan for the state and how should we do it? I don't know that I have all the answers to that but I do have some ideas and thoughts and let me just say I think you're spot on and exactly right that we are at a moment where we probably need to do some longer term planning. I've been particularly worried about short-sightedness and what I will call strategic complacency that we don't look out far enough. We don't look out 10 years, 25 years, which is only one generation. And that was the beauty of Hawaii 2000. They really did a serious attempt at it. And again the planning process was critical. And neighborhoods were involved from the Hawaii to Hilo. All sectors were involved. And it was a smaller state at that time too, maybe 900,000 barely. So you could see that people were actually actively involved with the political leadership and business and universities to put together. Why isn't there people at the top or at the grassroots calling for a strategic plan? I think that the rush of modern, the speed of things now lends itself to short-sightedness. And what we have in the political arena, for example, is leaders who have to worry about their next election or about their next run-up. And so their planning has to deliver in a short term. Business we look at three quarters, four quarters, the first quarter next year. If you ignore that. The stock price. The stock price. Where is it going to go? We need one quarter. If you ignore them at your peril. But that doesn't mean you can't also look longer term. I'll give you a great example. I did some work with NASA a few years ago, not on a strategic planning, it was on a particular issue that they were facing. And one of the things I was aware of, they would do what they call decadal planning, 10-year plans. And I asked, what's in those 10-year plans? And they said, well, we have to go, we have to prepare investment strategies and go to Congress and legislature and talk to the private sector. And we needed to say, are we going to focus on, you know, planets close in, astronomical systems close in, or are we going to go deep beyond the galaxy? Are we going to do mainly robotics or are we going to do man missions? Are we going to focus on astrophysics or on engineering? So they had to make some threshold decisions and they would go through very elaborate decadal planning on that. And I was impressed with that. I was impressed that they would exercise foresight, think ahead, and it's not the same kind of business plan you would do for a three- or five-year plan. But I was impressed. We don't have that. Now, but you have an interesting issue here. With so many issues out on the plate or with the state, what three would you choose? What three? What three issues would you choose for the state and really dive into? So I happen to have a list of about 20, and I won't go through them all, but these are for 25-year vulnerabilities and threats. And I think there's an interesting book that I've become enamored of and it's called Super Forecasting and it's by a guy named Philip Tetlock and Philip Tetlock and David Gardner. And they have developed a method. It was seeded by DARPA originally and it's a method for making much more robust predictions than individual experts make and it's proven. It's empirically validated. I'm actually trying to bring these folks to Hawaii if I can figure out how to do it and hold some workshops. And they have a method and what they do is they will frame the question, they've identified really good people who are, and they're not experts necessarily, but they're people who can track down and they're sleuth down the answers to a question. So if we said, for example, who do we think will be the next president of the United States? They have a way, a methodology. And what they do is they crowd source, they have dozens of experts that pose the question and then they crowd source the answer. And we know that that produces more optimum results. We can do that. We could do that and understand the right vulnerabilities off a longer list and now begin to prepare and mobilize around it. So I think there's something about forecasting and prediction that goes hand in hand with the making of a plan. So in my life before I was very interested in an alternative future, so scenario planning also and that is still around for many companies. What if the price of oil went up? What do you do? You invest in oil seeking and so forth. For Hawaii though, there are parts of the state that of course for a livable society, the environment, the economy and so forth, can you, or education is one, have people come to you, what their biggest issues are? Have you have a sense of that? Not yet. It's part of what a small group of us are thinking about doing is doing some survey work to find out that and then we could begin to drill down into particular areas. And ultimately you're saying what area should we invest in? That's great. Or what should we defund to refund something else? Those are hard decisions politically. Very hard because even with education, it moves so slowly. It's a huge area. It's a jungle knot. Yeah, everybody talks about what skills should students be taught in order to meet the needs of jobs in 20 years. Who knows? That's right. That's a very critical area. Where we have a disconnect, I think, is that are people really getting the, like you say, with life so urgent and so micro in terms of mobile phones, with internet and so forth, they don't have a kind of looking to the future and kind of mentality. Is that the first step? I think so. And again, I think this is still to be thought through and thought through with a collective group of people who are really committed to working on it. We're in the middle of a major change. And Dean Neubauer, former chancellor at the university and very smart on Asia and Pacific education, he was telling me, he said, we have the fourth industrial revolution going on. And the one we've been in is about computerization and internet and so on. The one that's coming is artificial intelligence, big data, biometrics. There's a series of things that are going to have profound implications. We're not ready for that. We're not ready for that. And the question is, can we also harness some of that in the planning for the ahead and planning for the future? So I think there's a good moment coming. Well, you sound optimistic. I am. And who would join you in this kind of group thinker in determining the priorities or issues to really focus on? Who would make those decisions? This is one of these intersector things. These are cross-sectoral things. So you need to find some champions who are both in the public sector, the private sector, and the civic sector. And you need them to come together and work together and say, we will champion this. We will help boot this process up. And we will help design it and we will help implement it.  But if you don't have the champions, it's not going to happen. Well, it reminds me of the heady days around 59 into the 60s, when the state of Hawaii blossomed under statehood, made major investments in education and research. Even Governor Murn said he desired a Hawaii economy based on research. Back in the 60s. And but at the same time, if you look at Asia-Pacific, from way up, certain countries were doing better than others. Like the Philippines was actually speeding ahead of Japan in terms of economy development and others. And then the Singapore was nothing. It was absolutely nothing. Now look at it, it's a rock star. It had no, Changi Airport is not that old back in the 80s. And they had no Singapore Airlines. Interestingly, they did do a lot of planning and the MIT group that I know said to them that you should invest in engineering, education, English language, management. And there's something in the horizon that you should provide incentives for, semiconductor. Again, they did that. They listened and started to plan ahead for the future. And of course, semiconductors are old generation. Now they're moving into even more new areas today. But going back to your question, I think this is a sidle area. And do you need one leader to kind of take everybody forward? No, you need several leaders working together. Because it's not like the governor can control all this, nor can the business roundtable do it by itself, nor can the Hawaii Community Foundation do it. You need a real collaboration at a high leadership level. And they have to catalyze it. They have to be the catalytic converters. And why do strategic plans fail? I think part of it is a lack of courage. And a failure of nerve, sometimes, because sometimes you need to make tough moves and bull move. Part of strategic planning, a strategic plan, may involve chucking over some ballast. We don't do that. Everything, we just accrete more. So we don't do that. And it's hard in a little island. It's hard in a place where people know each other and have to bump into each other at Costco and Food Land. So it's difficult. These are very involved, difficult decision. A plan with no priorities is not a plan. I don't believe it's much of a plan. But it's paradoxical, because I would think a small place could move faster. But you don't think so. No, I think we're actually moving too slow. We're moving very slowly.  Is it because we're geographically isolated? I don't think so. I think we're a person. Singapore is a middle of nowhere, too. Yeah, exactly. In Hong Kong, there are a lot of places. There's a national circuit board of interesting places that are doing this. We're not on it. We're really not, except in the tourism area. And even that, we have to anticipate some changes in that. That's going to come. It's one of the vulnerabilities. What happens if there's a air goes out of the sum of the balloon? Well, everybody spews that. But I think people just are not thinking. They're just propelling themselves as if it will be the same, but just a little different in the future. And we'll muddle. We'll muddle, too. That's the awful word to use. But that's the truth. I just want to come back because I think that the core to planning for me is this triple helix, this DNA, which involves really careful scrutiny, data gathering, information, introspection. Second is about strategy, about that position you want to get into it, and then getting alignments around it. Those are three tough tasks. That's very tough, even for a small group. Because what is out there, I don't know. And then it's a massive bet, almost. It's a risk. You've got to gauge risk. Especially if they're worried that a lot of times strategic plans, people, when you get in a group, they want to hang lots of ornaments on it, and nobody wants to have their ornament on there. And it's what I used to call the Platte River Plans, which is an inch deep and a mile wide, but you can't tell where it's going. And of course, how good is the information? Right. That's right. How good is the data? What is the real data? Is it something that you really can make a decision out of? And the last one is, of course, alignment, because everybody has their own agenda, and their fear that their role will be diluted or eliminated. And that's the worst of all worlds. But sometimes that's what the change process involves. That's the ballast sometimes that's hard to throw overboard. Well, with those words on a ship that's moving in the ocean to a great new objective, or one that we have to really throw ballast out, or sink or swim, we have a metaphor that will end this show. Business in Hawaii, this is Ray Tuchiyama. Thank you very much.