Okay, good morning. Good morning everyone and thank you for joining this Thursday morning mentoring our time for interaction, time for questions, time for discussion, just talk about things that would be on our minds or of interest to us. Thank you for connecting. I started the recording so the session will be recorded for the benefit of other people. We're also having people join the call now so just give them a minute. Let's take a moment to pray and then we will get started and I think it's Gene or Jay Chikmar who want to host it. Jay, did you host it two weeks back? I forgot. Yeah, but I think I hosted. Oh, you hosted two weeks back? Okay. Okay, week before last. Okay, okay, okay. Then Gene, are you okay with hosting today? Yes. Okay, fine. Good. Let's just pray together and we will get started. Yeah, have it. Do you want to pray with us? Pray for all of us before we get started? Okay, let's pray. Thank you. Okay. Father God, I want to thank you for the gift of this new day. I want to thank you for each and everybody who is already in the call. Father, I'll give a lift on to your hands, on to your Lord. We dedicate ourselves on to your Lord such that whatever we do, we do your name. We also ask for your tendermis is Lord throughout this day. We also pray for those ones who are yet to connect, also to connect. Maybe those who have internet problems, you help them Lord. We give on to each and everything into your hands through Jesus Christ. I have prayed. Amen. Amen. Thank you.  Thank you so much. Okay. So we are ready to get started. I'm handing this off to Gene who will host the call. Everybody's welcome to participate. Please go ahead. You can type your questions or unmute and ask. I have made a note of two questions from last week, but the people who ask the questions have not yet joined, so we'll just wait for them before we respond to those questions. Over to you Gene. Thank you, Pastor. Thank you. So good morning, everybody. Welcome to this time where we can talk, we can discuss, bring about questions, any thoughts that that's been on our mind, maybe anything that we're learning. So I leave this open. You could either chat, you could either put your question up on chat or unmute and raise your questions and we can address them. Yeah, so it's open to all of you. Probably I'll just ask this question. This came up while we were discussing, you know, in the Corinthians class in the third year students like we were going through chapter 14 and verse 22. Therefore, tongues are for a sign not to those who believe, but to unbelievers. But prophesying is not for unbelievers, but for those who believe. And then verse 23, therefore, if the whole church comes together in one place and all speak with tongues, and there are there come in those who are uninformed or unbelievers, will they not say that you are out of your mind? And then he goes on to say, you know, if all prophesied, then if an unbeliever comes, then he is convicted, convinced, and declares that Jesus is a Lord. But I think the problem was with verse 22, which says that tongues are for a sign not to those who believe, but to unbelievers. And we know that, you know, tongues are assigned for unbelievers, like we see in Acts chapter 2, where people speak in the known language, and then it's a sign people are drawn to, they are amazed, perplexed, and then they hear the message and they are drawn to Christ. But the second part of the verse, but prophesying is not for unbelievers, but for those who believe. And then the verses following that seem to be like a challenge or contradiction, because so if Rabbi Pastor can share something on those. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you. So yeah, so these two verses, you know, they're right after each other, but they seem like they're speaking exactly opposite things. But the way I've always understood it is that the Apostle Paul is telling us of the different uses of these vocal gifts, that tongues, like you've already shared, they can be assigned for the unbeliever, but if it is not properly exercised in a church gathering, something that was supposed to be assigned to the unbeliever can be a cause for mocking. Because in verse 22 he says, look, it's a sign for the unbeliever, but when you're all together and you start speaking in tongues, the same people who come in, they will think you're out of your mind. So what is actually intended to be a gift, to be used to impact the unbeliever, if it is misused or not, if it's not properly exercised by the church, it can have a reverse effect. It will, the same unbelievers will start laughing at us, saying, what if these people are mad. So the same thing, prophecy. Prophecy is primarily like he says earlier, he prophesies, he edifies the church. It first contains 14 verse 3, he says, you're edifying the church. But that same gift, which is meant to serve the church, believers, edify believers, bring exaltation, edification, exaltation, comfort to the church, can be used to impact unbelievers if exercised properly. So I think, well, the main point is Paul is getting across in the latter part of chapter 14 as the proper exercise of the gifts. So I think in these two verses, he's showing us both. He's showing us that if a gift is not exercised properly, what is supposed to be good can bring a bad name. And also a gift that is meant for the church, if exercised properly, can also affect the unbelievers and bring them in to the kingdom. So the emphasis is on the exercise these gifts in a proper way, and it will have impact to the church as well as to the unbelievers. Yeah, I think so. I think that just that statement, but prophesying is not for unbelievers. I think that was the one which is a little challenging. The other thing is, yes, of course, that the proper usage of gifts and how it can benefit both the unbeliever and the believer. Yeah, I think a good example will be in John 4, the prophetic, where Jesus was sitting at the woman at the well, and there was a word of knowledge, and he called out, go and call your husband. He says, I have no husband. So there's a beautiful example where the prophetic is used to impact somebody who doesn't know much about God. Thank you. Thank you, Pastor. Thank you for addressing that. Yes, it's open for any other questions. So if you could put up your questions, or just unmute, we could answer that. Yeah, even if it's a question that was probably raised in class, it would be nice if we could bring that up here so that all of us could learn too. So there was a question that was raised in class and we required any more clarity. It can be raised here as well. Hello, Pastor Jean. Hello, Herbert. Yes. Okay, thank you so much. I have some colleagues of mine who are in e-learning and you cannot easily access the current information or assignments before completing the prerequisites and so on. So could there be some assignments which are yet to be due within this time as maybe they have not yet got some like enough megabytes to download all other information and they get updated? They are worried that they might be caught up with the deadline. Thank you. I'm just trying to see if I understood it. Yes, Pastor. Yeah, so Herbert, what people do is we will, okay, so the reason we have like the prerequisite is we want to make sure that all those on the e-learning that they actually watch all the lectures because they're not attending class. That's why we make it a requirement to watch all the classes in sequence and similarly with the assignments. But what we can do is I will request all the staff that we don't have a due date on the assignments. So we'll keep the due date open until the end of the semester so that at any point in time they can finish it as long as it's before the last date of the semester. So we will request the staff to do that so due dates can be left open. So as because basically on the e-learning a student can start anytime and as long as they finish before the end date they are fine. So we will request that and that will be helpful. Is it okay? Yeah, thank you so much. It is very clear and it is very good. I hope nobody now will have an excuse of not because some people, some don't have computers, some they share telephone maybe like that. So it is a challenge but then if there is as long as you complete them before the end of the semester it is okay. That is very okay. Yeah, we will do that. Okay, thank you so much. Yeah, I think there's just probably one more issue. I think at the end of each probably unit there are I think some faculty have put in things called as knowledge checks that seems to be completed although they're not graded but it needs to be completed before they enter into the next unit. So I think that seems that is more you need a prerequisite to have completed it before you can go on but the assessments or the assignments can be put in up to later. So would that be okay? Yeah, so the knowledge checks don't have an end date so they have to basically they have to do it meaning yeah but there's no end date so as long as they go through it before the end of semester it's good. Yeah. Yes, thank you Pastor, thank you. Yes, questions. I'm sure it's not a dry day. I'm sure we have a lot of things to ask so type in or jump in. Yes Divya, thank you for raising your hand. Yes Divya, you could unmute and share your question please. Thank you, thank you ma'am. So my question is from Romans chapter 9 from 6 to 12 where it talks about Isaac's children, Esau and Jacob especially with I'll just read that 6 to 12 but it is not that the word of God has taken no effect for they are not all Israel who are of Israel nor are they all children because they are the seed of Abraham but in Isaac your seed shall be called that is those who are the children of the flesh these are not the children of God but the children of the promise are counted as the seed for this is the word of promise at this time I will come and Sarah will shall have a son and not only this but when Rebecca also had conceived by one man even by a father Isaac and in brackets it's written for the children not yet being born nor having done any good or evil that the purpose of God according to election might stand not of works but of him who calls it was said to her the older shall serve the younger as it is written Jacob I have loved but Esau I have a hated so I was a bit confused with what was written in the brackets saying right for the children not yet being born nor having done any good or evil that the purpose of God according to election might stand not of works but of him who calls and then it goes on to say that Jacob I have loved but Esau I have hated so it is not based on anything they have done but why is it said that way okay thank you for bringing this up we just we just covered this yesterday and I'm studying on the book of Romans so Pastor Ocean will be anyway so but okay let me just quickly say this one is if you want to like understand the full chapter of Romans Romans 9 we did we did it yes just yesterday so if you go to our youtube what is it called a pc bible it's called a pc bible college yeah if you go to our youtube channel I think this is the correct one I didn't hope I didn't make a mistake and if you go to the third year third year track and you just pick up the video on from the course on Romans yesterday's lecture we covered all of chapter 9 in that so we'll you know it's we will explain it through but let me just quickly summarize what what so basically here in Romans Romans 9 10 11 the apostle Paul is addressing the question on what is God doing with the Jewish people while the emphasis now is on the church right so that's like the overarching question he's addressing in these three chapters so till room end of Romans 8 he's been talking to believers we are in Christ and so on and Romans 9 10 11 he's shifting focus to addressing this question so Romans 9 1 to 5 the apostle Paul shares his heart you know for the Jewish people he says you know of course he said he's an apostle to the Gentiles he's been he's preaching the gospel but that doesn't mean he has lost affection for his own Jewish people and so he he he talks about that in the first five verses and then he says you know these the Jewish people are the nation of Israel the other ones have received all the covenants the promises and all of that from God so what is God doing now so that's what verse 6 starts off with you know but it is not that the word of God has taken no effect that means it's not that God's promises to Israel has gone void right because God's word is not so that means God's promise to Israel and the Jewish people is still in effect and then he begins to you know state two important things the first thing is this he says but the promise that was given this was verses 7 through 9 7 through 9 the promise that God gave to the people of Israel he said that he said in you know it is referring to the children of promise so he's not just referring to the natural born children of Abraham but he was actually referring to the spiritual children which is basically all of us who believe in Jesus Christ that's how he ends Romans 9 then verse 10 he says and not only this so the second thing so that means God is God's word to Israel is still in effect because what he promised them is not just to the natural born children of Abraham but also to those who are spiritual descendants that's why whatever God is doing now through the church is still actually in effect fulfilling what his word to Israel and not only that so that means here's another thing I want you to know is what Paul is saying and then he starts talking about the overall purpose of God he says and I'm just summarizing this passage then we'll get into verse 11 in detail but he says the overall purpose of God is still in effect and throughout chapter 9 the rest of chapter 9 he is quoting he's referencing different figures from the old testament to show how the purpose of God is fulfilled and somehow the choosing of man kind of comes into that all right so and we were discussing this in the lecture yesterday that we need to interpret scripture in the light of the rest of scripture that means we cannot so in the rest of scripture we see the sovereign the the the free will of man so there is the sovereignty of God the sovereign purpose of God which is his you know that's verse 11 the purpose of God and according to whom he selects the people that he wants to work through and so on so there's a sovereign purpose of God and yet there's a free will choice of man coming in and these two meet together in a in a wonderful and sometimes even mysterious way right so man is a free will agent free model agent and yet God is a sovereign God and yet these two come together so he's saying you look at Jacob and he saw God's sovereign purpose was proclaimed even before they were born even before they were born God said the younger will serve the older so not I'm sorry the older will serve the younger that is Esau will serve Jacob it was prophesied a spoken even before they were born before they they knew even you know they were new good and evil they made a choice anything God already said that he also said I love Jacob I hate Esau and these words were spoken even before they were born so does that mean so so God is declaring his purpose does that mean these these people didn't have a choice you know that they were just robots and you know that things had to happen just because God spoke of that way no we understand that man always have a has a choice so God in in in speaking ahead of time was not predetermining their choices but declaring their choices ahead of time and declaring his purpose ahead of time his purpose is always like in this case he's working through the nation of Israel for his purposes and he's chosen to work through these two people Jacob and Esau but each one made their own choice so why did God love Jacob and hate Esau Hebrews 12 25 26 27 talks talks about it it tells us there that you know and it refers to Esau as a fornicator and so on Hebrews 12 let me get the right word sorry Hebrews 12 16 and 17 yeah and the reason is because Esau was a man who sold his birthright for the sake of one meal as a man who yielded to the flesh Jacob in spite of his flaws chose to pursue God right he chose to pursue God he was not perfect man but he chose to pursue God so God says I love that and I hate that so he's not necessarily hating the individual of course they made their choice and they experienced what the outcome of their choice that God is saying I love the man who pursues the things of God in spite of his own weaknesses so God is declaring his purpose even before things happen he's not predetermining individual's choice and the purpose of God according to his selection is at work and people by their own choice come in align themselves to what he wants right and that there's a lot more that he talks about in the rest of chapter nine he talks about Pharaoh you know who says God hardened his heart what does that mean I talks about he gives the example of the potter in the clay and and and we bring out the fact that there's a difference between the clay and us the clay has no choice but we have a choice and so on so it'll be useful if you listen to that lecture roshan's put that up on the on the on the thing so that explains all of chapter nine I've tried to you know very quickly answer your question there but this is a very challenging chapter yeah thank you thank you pastor so here unless we bring that free will into account we may fail in the right interpretation right that's correct yes in fact there's a separate school of thought we call it calvinistic theology where calvinism that excludes the free will of man and therefore they just focus on the sovereignty of God and the pre predetermination of God and so then that kind of leaves us in a difficult position but yeah yeah yeah thank you I guess I'm encountering so many of those ideas yeah thank you thank you so much thank you baby for the question thank you pastor yeah yes it's open out again for questions yes john yes john thank you for using a question yes um hi pastor so uh in hebrew stuff to go ahead was seven in the days of his flesh he offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears to the one able to save him from death so we see jesus prays with loud crying and tears um so we do understand the need of prayer and supplication um but practically when we're speaking um is loud crying a still part of our prayers to god sorry john I missed the reference could you um hebrew stuff to five or seven okay so so your question was is loud groans in christ still part of our prayer yes does it need to be uh yeah it's a very interesting question um can I open this out to anyone to answer that this question was are groans cries part should be part of our prayer uh as we as we intercede sir if I may just quickly uh in the classic uh verse that we can look at is romans 8 26 27 it says in the same way the spirit helps us in our weakness we do not know what we ought to pray for but the spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans um and I think there are times in our lives and seasons that I mean we don't really know what to pray for I mean to express it sorry roshan we're not able to hear you I think he's roshan okay I think he's uh he's lost connectivity so he was bringing about the verse where the spirit groans uh for us praise so I I I'll take that on and maybe when he comes I think he can also clarify that that reference of of the spirit crying for us on be an intercede interceding on behalf of us is something that we see as an example and that's something that um you know it is an expression of the heart of groaning crying out um in louder the spirit even in the psalms I'm sorry I don't know the reference to that but it talks of how uh our tears are are in the bottle you know that God sees the pain and the struggle that we uh we go through as we intercede or as we make our supplication yeah so I uh is there anybody else who'd like to add to that and roshan if you're back uh would you kindly continue to address that really uh no thank you sorry uh it's um that I mean the connection brought it the same time I finished so my point I think yeah thank you uh yes john I hope that answers your question uh yes kind of okay would you like to expand on that or have a follow-up on it uh yeah so um so so the conclusion should be uh it not necessary that every time we pray we need to have loud crying but it depends on even the circumstances and God considers our cries and tears yes and that has been an been an example that the spirit has also shown which I mean if you were asking is it okay or is it acceptable uh yes it is the expression of you know a prayerful expression that you are a method of an expression yes yes thank you and just another if I may uh another who's reminded of this other character in the bible I think Anna uh in Samuel the book of Samuel says uh I mean that she she was crying out with so much pain and I uh you know that some of the priests thought that she was drunk but actually she was just expressing her pain and in wordless uh you know groans and crying so yeah that's yeah because the book of Samuel all right thank you thank you Pastor Roshan all right we have yes Nancy please I just thought I'd add one more point to what has been discussed so uh John uh yeah like um when we pray I don't think always you know to be loud and to present our prayers in such an intense way is required but yes as Pastor Roshan said sometimes depending on the circumstances and depending on you know uh the state of our hearts uh this is very much applicable like we saw in the case of Hannah I was just reminded of that uh short prayer with Jesus made and um just look at the reference yeah John Levin verse 43 that he uh just sort of calls out with a loud voice Lazarus come forth right so but God heard that prayer so uh I'm just thinking like it's not always required I think it's more about our faith and the fact that we're coming to God we're approaching God you know and uh with the right attitude that is important in prayer is sometimes the expression can be intense but yes that is sometimes yeah I just wanted to add that thank you Jean thank you John thank you Pastor Nancy thank you Pastor thank you thank you John all right there's a there's another question um up on the chat and I'll just read that uh what is what are the seven churches and the revelation John is talking about some somebody teach me this is this is this a seven kind of century and seven centuries are the body of Christ seven century uh heal of the body which one is saying in Genesis 3 15 um brother Abish would you kindly you know just clarify for me are you looking at what are the seven churches in the revelation of John in in in revelation is that what you're asking for yes yes okay okay um the pastor may I ask you to address this question yeah um yeah thank you Abish thanks Jean uh so there's these seven churches that John was John was writing to uh uh literal seven uh seven churches in seven cities that were there at that time right and all of these were actually very close to each other so in today's map today's world map if you imagine Turkey uh the country of Turkey on the west coast of Turkey on the on the west coast there's a sea port a port town called Ephesians or Ephesians was there it was a sea port town so it was on the it's a coastal town on the east on the west coast of Turkey and all the other six churches were very close to very officious wars so these were literal churches are very close to each other all of them in that region and John was on the island of Patmos which is just a little away from the coast on a separate island he was there so Jesus was giving a message to these seven churches so the correct way to understand revelation two and three chapters two and three is this is a literal message from Jesus to each of these seven churches which were existing at that time to take that and then to say that this represents seven seven church ages which many preachers do is not correct uh that is uh using that in a very wrong way but many preachers do that they say that okay these seven churches represent seven ages that is not given that is not true because even when Jill is speaking to John he says John I'm going to speak to you of things that are and things yet to come so the things yet to come start off from chapter four verse one revelations chapter revelation chapters one two and three are things that are so Jesus tells John John write the things which you have seen that is revelation chapter one things that are that's revelation chapter two and three and things that are yet to come revelations for onwards so that's how we must understand it and so it is wrong to interpret as seven ages now can we learn from those seven churches definitely right we can read it and we can say okay these these are the mistakes they made we must not make the same mistakes and these are the good points they had we should imitate the good points so definitely we can learn from all the seven churches but to use that and say they represent seven ages or seven parts of the body of Christ uh that is wrong it's okay okay okay thank you for the question brother Abhish and thank you pastor right um anybody else would like to bring up a question okay there's a question by Herbert I read an article by 40 was repetitively used in the bible like 40 days of rain during Noah's time 40 days of Jesus in the wilderness 40 days of the apostles receiving the Holy Spirit many times people normally say that the days of a thief are only 40 could they be a secret in 40 okay um would somebody like to address this pastor jay kumar or pastor Nancy about the 40 uh the representation of 40 being a number in scripture or pastor dashes uh okay Herbert so Herbert uh the truth is that in the bible God uses certain numbers to signify certain things in the bible but so so we need to be aware of it but we must not create a science like numerology out of that so that's a balance we need to maintain and be careful not to get into so you know there is there are all these you know what I don't recall them as dark sciences like numerology and palmistry and astrology and all of those kinds of things so while God does speak in scripture while there are certain numbers that are used in a certain way by God doesn't mean that we should you know go into numerology so you know we need to keep that foremost in our mind so the answer to your question is yes there are certain numbers in the bible that indicate certain things right so number seven is used throughout in the bible as a symbol a symbol or as a number for perfection you know so you find that throughout bible so 12 is used for government uh that means leadership administration governments or 12 tribes 12 apostles you know it is sort of number 12 is used that way and so similarly we see the 40 being used you know in a very significant way to talk about the season of you know you could use it as a season I mean I'm just signify using it that it signifies a season of transition 40 is used you know as as that you know it took 40 40 years for Moses in the wilderness to go from you know the runaway person to being the leader 40 years from Egypt to Canaan 40 days like you said you know since uh uh it was actually Pentecost which is 50 days but uh since uh Luke says you know he showed himself alive showed himself alive for 40 days so the transition so this 40 is used that way in scripture right now that does not mean uh you read that into every time you see 40 or 40 chapters in the this bible or you know I have turned 40 so it's time to transition or you know don't read that into every num every time you see 40 you only do it when uh when when God is saying look this 40 means this right when the Holy Spirit is really highlighting it otherwise don't read into every 40 that you see as a season or a time for transition that's what I would say is it okay yes thank you pastor okay I just I just want to actually pastor I wanted I had a follow question so a lot of people you know when especially during fasting periods there are these numbers that are used of 7 21 40 uh and to and a lot of them when when you actually ask them they say 40 days of fasting to emulate what Jesus did um so that I've been questions that have come asking should there be specific days of fasting um and I think the obvious answer is even in fasting it is the heart change not the period of time so would that be correct yes yes yeah so you know we don't we don't like think these numbers are magical that okay somebody fast forward because somebody could fast 40 days and nothing happens whereas somebody could fast four days and something big happens you know so the answer correct answer is yes it's the heart before God the days themselves are not magical yeah all right thank you pastor thank you thank you Herbert for all for that question yeah John's asked a question in Revelation 7 5 to 9 we don't see the tribe of Dan mentioned among the 144 000 um could there be any reason also the tribe of Joseph could it mean a flame all right um uh I think uh pastor Paul would you like to take that question or pastor pastor yes pastor Paul you want to go ahead uh you can go ahead uh but a few uh I'm not really sure of this so I think she should be sorry sorry sorry yes let's ask you sure okay yeah um yeah John so uh yeah so we don't know uh so the answer to your second part of your question is yes uh so most people you know they know that okay the tribe of Fram is left over but Joseph is there so uh he so that replaces a frame now we don't know why the tribe of Dan was left out uh but you know some scholars think and I'm just saying this is just you know what scholars think is because of their disobedience or the fact that they didn't uh you know uh were not completely aligned to God's ways so maybe that's why they were left out it's not stated their why Revelation 7 so people think that it's because of that we're not sure but that's what scholars would say maybe the this tribe didn't you know didn't really walk in obedience to God or uh so on yeah okay awesome thank you thank you John um I think Kiran's uh put up a question mark 1 13 to 14 John knew all before John Baptist and did all works okay let me just read that up just pick that up please okay it's mark 1 13 to 14 and just read that and he was and he was there with the wilderness 40 days tempted by Satan and was with the wild beast and the angels ministered to him now after John was put in prison Jesus came to Galilee preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God John knew all before John the Baptist and did all works um I don't know if you've made the right reference to the scripture uh Kiran uh and would you like to ask your question Kiran if you could unmute or just probably type in ma'am the verse is saying the here is little bit prophesy it happened but uh is that John who did who used to uh do baptize the people before Christ coming what is your reference uh Kiran your reference is not mark I suppose is your reference John 1 13 to 14 yes ma'am sorry the the reference is Luke 1 Luke chapter 1 13 to 14 okay thank you okay all right Luke 1 Luke 1 13 to 14 uh I don't think that's the reference either this talks about uh the angel um appearing to Zacharias and Elizabeth uh I I don't think that's your thing but but I think your question was uh did John know what were the okay you need to kindly repeat that what is the question or if you can give us the reference that will help us have a um the background of what your question would be Kiran yeah ma'am Luke chapter 1 verse 13 to 14 that's not the verse uh that I think you're referring to because here the verse is where the angel appears to Zacharias and Elizabeth it says the angel said to him do not be afraid yes ma'am yes this one okay so what's the question Kiran I'm here the little question is like that uh angels appear to Zacharias and don't be afraid and Elizabeth have son uh you you keep the name John okay all right uh so so did John knew that he would become John the Baptist and did would do all you works was that your question yes yes okay all right so the question is did John know that he would become John the Baptist before he became John the Baptist and that he would do these works I think that that's her question um okay I'd like to open this up for thoughts from from the other pastors so what what I what I see is that there was a call to John's life and as the angel revealed to Zacharias and Elizabeth that you know that they would that he would that they would bear a child they definitely knew that there was a call from God for his life and he walked in that call and even scripture you see prophetically it's been spoken about someone who comes to prepare the way for the Lord and that was a referring to John the Baptist so there was a call on his life he walked in it and you know he walked in that in the purposes but maybe I'm not too clear if he did know that he was being spoken about by the prophets that he would be the voice calling out in the desert if someone could probably clarify that yeah just quickly I responded that this is my understanding both for John the Baptist and even for the Lord Jesus Christ you see that uh you know of course all the scriptures spoken off Jesus himself or John thing but I believe that they over time and through their relationship with God came to recognize the call of God it wasn't like you know when baby Jesus was born he immediately knew the purpose of God because the bible says and then we can look at scriptures look look says he grew in stature and favor and wisdom as f50 was foresays you know morning by morning he was taught by the father so why would he have to be taught by the father if he knew everything at the time of his birth why would he have need have to grow in wisdom and in favor if he knew everything at his birth right so you see that there was a progressive growth because he grew as a man he left aside his omniscience and he grew as a man I'm talking about Jesus Christ and if it applies for Jesus then it definitely would apply for John so that he too would you know over time come into recognition of God's plan and purpose and then you know recognize that his calling was defined was expressed in certain scriptures you know why would John say I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness how did he know to quote that scripture he saw his calling in the Old Testament scripture and that would have happened only through his relationship with God so it was a recognition of God's call over time not at the moment of birth okay thank you thank you Pastor Ashish we've come to the end of our session today we are at 853 may I quickly request somebody to please pray and close the session anyone any one of the students Jordan may I request that you close the order prayer or Jordan or Zalitoli and anybody if you could quickly unmute close thank you so much for this session thank you Lord for our pastures for clarifying our thoughts Lord thank you Lord whatever we have learned Lord help us to remember Holy Spirit and help us to be a good witness Lord and as we just was we especially thank you Zalitoli thank you everyone for joining in thank you meet you all at class thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you


It's a very special pleasure to introduce Secretary John Kerry, Secretary of State of the United States. Welcome Mr. Secretary and actually I have to say welcome back because you joined us the first time 21 years ago and you have been part of many of our activities so it's really welcoming a good old friend. I have to say in all the discussions we had over the last days it was always emphasized how important American foreign policy is. Now we know it's in very good hands and so far we are eager to listen to you. Thank you Mr. Secretary. Well Klaus thank you very very much. It's an enormous pleasure for me to be back in Davos and to have this opportunity to be able to share some thoughts with all of you about American foreign policy and I have as Klaus just said to you all I have had the privilege of being here many times over the past 20 years I always appreciate the diversity of thought and the thirst for new ideas that really characterizes this forum. It's safe to say that Davos pushes the limits of thinking tries hard to find the new thinking and that's really what makes this forum so special so Klaus I congratulate you on many many years of putting together a really remarkable venue for everybody. Today I want to share our latest thinking with respect to the role that U.S. diplomacy can play in addressing some of the most pressing foreign policy challenges that we face in an obviously extraordinarily complex very different world from the world of the last century. I must say I am perplexed by claims that I occasionally hear that somehow America is disengaging from the world. This myth that we are pulling back or giving up or standing down. In fact I want to make it clear today that nothing could be further from the truth. This misperception and in some case driven narrative appears to be based on the simplistic assumption that our only tool of influence is our military and that if we don't have a huge troop presence somewhere or we aren't brandishing an immediate threat of force we are somehow absent from the arena. I think the only person more surprised than I am by the myth of this disengagement is the Air Force pilot who flies the Secretary of State's plane. Obviously our engagement isn't measured in frequent flyer miles. That would be pretty nice if I got a few as a matter of fact but it is really measured and I think serious students of foreign policy understand this. It is measured by the breadth of our global commitments their depth especially our commitments to our allies in every corner of the world. It is measured by the degree of difficulty of the crises and the conflicts that we choose to confront and it is measured ultimately by the results that we are able to achieve. Far from disengaging America is proud to be more engaged than ever and I believe is playing a critical role perhaps as critical as ever in pursuit of peace prosperity and stability in various parts of the world. Right here in Europe we are working with our partners to press the government of Ukraine to forego violence to address the concerns of peaceful protesters to foster dialogue promote the freedom of assembly and expression and I literally just received messages before walking in here of the efforts of our diplomats on the ground working with President Yanukovych to try to achieve calm and help move in this direction in the next days we will stand with the people of Ukraine. We're also making progress towards finalizing the transatlantic trade and investment partnership which would link the world's largest market the EU with the world's single largest economy the United States raising standards and creating jobs on both sides of the Atlantic in the Asia-Pacific region we are negotiating the Trans-Pacific partnership which will similarly encourage a race to the top not the bottom as it unifies 40% of the world's economy the United States is working extremely closely with China and our allies in the region in order to address North Korea's reckless nuclear program and also on diplomatic priorities like disaster relief and development I was recently in the Philippines and in a few weeks I will be back in Asia my fifth trip as Secretary of State within a year we are working with our ASEAN partners to discourage escalatory steps and conflict in the South China Sea and this is a critical part of the president's rebalance to Asia across Africa the home to seven of the world's 10 fastest growing economies we are investing heavily in both development trade and in the Great Lakes region we just recently helped end an armed rebellion demobilizing the M23 armed group and just yesterday thanks to our diplomatic intense engagement on the ground we have helped to achieve a ceasefire in South Sudan and I can tell you that almost every day during the so called Christmas break I was on the phone to either President Kier or to former Vice President Rick Machar or to the Prime Minister of Ethiopia or President Museveni of Uganda as we worked diligently to try to move towards peace closer to home we just completed a US Canada Mexico summit in Washington last week in preparation for our leaders who will focus on increased cooperation in our hemisphere the North American effort for renewed entrepreneurship renewable energy and educational exchanges so after a decade that was perhaps uniquely and in many people's view unfortunately excessively defined foremost by force and our use of force we are entering an era of American diplomatic engagement that is as broad and as deep as any at any time in our history and such are the responsibilities of a global power the most bewildering version of this disengagement myth is about a supposed retreat by the United States from the Middle East now my response to that suggestion is simple you cannot find another country not one country that is as proactively engaged that is partnering with so many Middle Eastern countries as constructively as we are on so many high stake fronts and I want to emphasize the last point partnering we have no pretense about solving these problems alone nor is anyone suggesting least of all me that the United States can solve every one of the region's problems or that every one of them can be a priority at the same time but as President Obama made clear last fall at the United Nations the United States of America will continue to invest significant effort in the Middle East because we have enduring interests in the region and we have enduring friendships with countries that rely on us for their security in a volatile neighborhood we will defend our partners and our allies as necessary and we will continue to ensure the flea flow of energy dismantled terrorist networks and we will not tolerate the proliferation of nuclear weapons now in reality all three of these challenges and the relationships that surround them and accomplishing all of these goals requires in President Obama's words for the United States to be engaged in the region for the long haul from security cooperation with our Gulf partners like Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates with whom we are both discussing longer-term security framework for the region as well as to helping countries in transition like Tunisia Libya Egypt Yemen to countering al Qaeda and its affiliates to ensuring stability for the world's shipping lanes and energy supply there is no shortage of the places where we are engaged in the Middle East so the question isn't whether we're leaving the question is how we are leading today we believe that there are initiatives that taken together have the potential to reshape the Middle East and could even help create the foundations of a new order first the agreement that we reached with Iran as of this week Iran's nuclear weapons program is being rolled back in important ways on Monday Iran took a series of steps that the world has long demanded including reducing its stockpile of 20 percent in rich uranium disabling the infrastructure for its production and allowing unprecedented transparency and monitoring to guarantee Iran is complying with the agreement they will have to reduce their 20 to zero and they do not have and will not have the capacity for reconversion they have to reduce it to forms that are not suitable for making weapons Iran must also halt enrichment above five percent and it will not be permitted to grow the current stockpile of three point five percent enriched uranium Iran cannot increase the number of centrifuges that are in operation and it cannot install or use any next generation centrifuges to enrich uranium and while we negotiate a final agreement over these next months Iran will not be permitted to take any steps to commission the iraq plutonium reactor now clearly there are good reasons to ask tough questions of Iran going forward and believe me we will and good reasons to require that the promises Iran made are promises kept remember we certainly haven't forgotten there is a reason that the world has placed sanctions on Iran there's a reason why they exist in the first place and there's a reason why the core architecture of those sanctions remains in place and that is why this effort is grounded not in trusting not in words but in testing and that is why now inspectors can be at fordow every day that wasn't the case before the agreement we struck inspectors can now also be at Natanz every day that's also new thanks to the agreement we struck and inspectors will visit iraq plutonium plant every month and they are under an obligation to deliver the plans for that plant to us taken all together these elements will increase the amount of time that it would take for Iran to break out and build a bomb the breakout time as we call it and it will increase our ability to be able to detect it and to prevent it and all of this will to an absolute guarantee beyond any reasonable doubt make israel safer than it was the day before we entered this agreement make the region safer than it was the day before we entered this agreement and make the world safer than it was now yesterday president Rouhani stood here and he said that Iran is eager to engage with the world and hopefully but Iran knows what it must do to make that happen he told you that Iran has no intention of building a nuclear weapon well while the message is welcome my friends the words themselves are meaningless unless actions are taken to give them meaning starting now Iran has the opportunity to prove these words beyond all doubt to the world now let's be clear if you are serious about a peaceful program it is not hard to prove to the world that your program is peaceful for sure a country with a peaceful nuclear program does not need to build enrichment facilities in the cover of darkness in the depth of a mountain it doesn't need a heavy-water reactor designed to produce weapons-grade plutonium like the one at iraq it has no reason to fear intrusive monitoring and verification and it should have no problem resolving outstanding issues with the international atomic energy agency this is true for every country in the world with an exclusively peaceful nuclear program and it is the tough but reasonable standard to which Iran must also be held so we welcome this week's historic step but now the hard part begins six months of intensive negotiations with the goal of resolving all the international community's concerns about Iran's nuclear program i want to say that the p5 plus one has acted in unity in great cooperation and we welcome the international community's efforts that has characterized this initiative so Iran must meet this test if it does the middle east will be a safer place free from the fear of the nuclear arms race and diplomatic engagement my friends backed by sanctions and other options will have proved its worth the second challenge is syria where an enormous almost unimaginable human tragedy is unfolding before our eyes just this week we have seen the terrible new evidence of torture at the hands of the Assad regime but this week we also saw the syrian regime and the opposition sit at the same table in same room or separate tables but in the same room for the first time since the war began they were joined by more than 40 countries and institutions who have assented to the Geneva communique which clearly outlines how this conflict must conclude with the creation of a transitional government with full executive authority by mutual consent let me tell you in simple terms why that means Bashar al-Assad cannot be part of that future it is simple it is first because of the extraordinary havoc that he has wreaked on his own country on his own people a man who has killed university students and doctors with scud missiles a man who has gassed his own people in the dead of night families sleeping women children grandparents a man who has unleashed extraordinary force of artillery and barrel bombs against civilians against the laws of warfare Assad will never have or be able to earn back the legitimacy to bring that country back together that's number one but number two because of those things that he has done because of 130,000 people who have been killed the opposition will never stop fighting while he is there and so if your objective is to have peace this one man must step aside in favor of peace and of his nation you can never achieve stability until he is gone and finally any transitional government formed by mutual consent by definition will not include Assad because the opposition will never consent to permit him to be there the united states is engaged in this difficult endeavor because we know that the longer the fighting continues the greater the risk that serious sectarian divisions will spiral out of control we know there are people who wish that american young men and women were on the ground fighting for them there are people who would love to see america fight their war for them but that is not the choice the choice is first diplomacy in order to avoid the devastating results that could result in the disintegration of the syrian state and the instability that could spread across the entire region we are engaged because the number of refugees pouring into jordan i see our friend nasser jude of the foreign minister here into lebanon and turkey is destabilizing and it's unsustainable we are engaged because while we are proud to be the largest contributor to the humanitarian assistance to deal with those refugees the ultimate solution can only come when we stop the supply of refugees when we stop the fighting and that can't happen soon enough because Assad continues to kill and displace innocent syrians and in doing so has become the world's greatest single individual magnet for jihad and terror absent a political solution we know where this leads more refugees more terrorists more extremism more brutality from the regime more suffering from syrian people and we do not believe that we or anyone should tolerate one man's brutal effort to cling to power we must instead empower all of the syrian people that is why the united states and our partners who sat around the table this week will continue to fight for a pluralistic inclusive syria where all minorities are protected where all rights are protected and where syria can come together to be once again the secular and unified state that it was represented by a government of the people's choice where all minorities are protected now we believe this vision is achievable and we will continue to work closely with our partners for a new syria that can exist peacefully as a sovereign independent and democratic state where syrians will be able to have their voices heard without the fear of retribution imprisonment or even death now obviously we know this isn't going to be easy in fact it's obviously very very hard it's already hard but we've already seen in syria what forceful diplomacy is able to achieve as we speak a man who the day before he agreed to do it denied he even had the weapons is now removing all of the chemical weapons from that country as we speak the international community is on its way to completely removing all of syria's chemical weapons and unprecedented undertaking that is making the region and the world safer and is setting an example on a global basis we are convinced that if the syrian people are to have the chance to rebuild their country and if millions of syrian refugees are to have the chance to return home it is ultimately diplomacy that will make it possible there is no military solution to the problem of syria and that brings me to the most intractable of all conflicts the struggle to make peace between israelis and palestinians every time i meet my foreign counterparts anywhere in the world when they visit me in washington or when i travel to their countries i am not kidding you when i tell you that invariably the first issue that they ask me about is the challenge of middle east peace it may seem improbable to you but i'm telling you it's absolutely true from asia to latin america to africa all through europe this question lingers this intractable conflict has confounded administration after administration prime minister after prime minister leaders and peacemakers and they always ask me this about the middle east even before they complain about what we're doing or not doing ironically despite this global interest my friends people still asked me i'm astonished by it why with all the troubles in the world and in the middle east in particular why is the obama administration so focused on trying to forge israeli palestinian peace and obviously i've had that question directed me and personal and in other ways well the reason that we are so devoted to trying to find a solution is really very simple because the benefits of success and the dangers of failure are enormous for the united states for the world for the region and most importantly for the israeli and palestinian people after all the years expended on this the last thing we need is a failure that will make certain additional conflict there are some people who assert this may be the last shot i don't know the answer to that i don't want to find out the hard way but i want you to consider what happens if talks fail for israel the demographic the demographic dynamic will make it impossible to preserve its future as a democratic jewish state israel's current relative security and prosperity doesn't change the fact that the status quo cannot be sustained if israel's democratic future is in fact to be secured today's status quo my friends i promise you will not last forever president abbas is committed to negotiation and to nonviolence but failure will only embolden extremists and empower hardliners at the expense of the moderates who have been committed to a nonviolent track to try to find peace and what would happen in the west bank without that commitment to nonviolence the israeli and palestinian members of breaking the impasse initiative who are here today know well what is at stake israel's economic juggernaut is a wonder to behold prime minister netanyahu was able to talk to you about it here today but a deteriorating security environment and the growing isolation that could come with it could put that prosperity at risk meanwhile if this fails palestinians will be no closer to the sovereignty that they seek no closer to their ability to be the masters of their own fate no closer to their ability to grow their own economy no closer to resolving the refugee problem that has been allowed to fester for decades and if they fail to achieve statehood now there is no guarantee another opportunity will follow anytime soon this issue cannot be resolved at the united nations it can only be resolved between the parties if peace fails the region risks another destabilizing crisis one unilateral act from one side or the other will be yet another and yet another and another until we have fallen yet again into a dangerous downward spiral at a time where there's already too much danger in the region and you know what's interesting we often spend so much time talking about what both parties stand to lose without peace that we actually sometimes forget to talk enough about what they stand to gain from peace i believe that the fact that peace is possible especially in a region with so much tension and turmoil ought to motivate people palestinian stand to gain above all else an independent viable contiguous state their own place among the community of nations imagine this time next year here in davos if palestinian businessman and government leaders from the state of palestine are able to pitch the world's largest investors a host of projects from the palestinian economic initiative and imagine if they could be invited to participate in building a new state with new jobs new infrastructure and a new life free from occupation and for israel the benefits of peace are enormous as well perhaps even more significant for starters no nation on earth stands to gain so many new economic partners so quickly as israel does because 20 additional members nations of the arab league and 35 muslim countries stand ready under the arab peace initiative to all recognize israel and normalize relations the moment a peace agreement is reached as sheik abdallah ben zayed said at a meeting of the foreign ministers of the of the arab league which we held in paris a few months ago he said to his minister colleagues completely spontaneously unexpected for me he said you know what after peace israel will enjoy greater economic benefit from relations with the gulf than it now enjoys with europe that's the foreign minister of the united arab emirates just imagine what that would mean for commerce and trade stanley fischer the former governor of the bank of israel who president obama has nominated to serve on our own federal reserve board said that a peace agreement with the palestinians could boost israel's gdp by as much as six percent a year and together the jewish state of israel and the arab state of palestine could develop into an international hub for technology for trade tourism tourism unbelievable tourism the holy sites of the world of the major three religions this would invigorate a region it is long past time that the people of this great and ancient part of the world became known for what they can create not for the conflicts that they can perpetuate it is long past time that jerusalem the crucible of the world's three great monotheistic religions becomes known not as the object of constant struggle but as the golden city of peace and unity embodying the aspirations of israelis and palestinians alike the truth is that after decades of struggling with this conflict we all know what the end game looks like an independent state for palestinians wherever they may be security arrangements for israel that leave it more secure not less a full phased final withdrawal of the israeli army a just and agreed solution to the palestinian refugee problem and end to the conflict and all claims and mutual recognition of the nation state of the palestinian people and the nation state of the jewish people that is our destination and the real challenge is not what is it it's just how to get there how to get the leaders and the body politic of both places to make the courageous decisions necessary to embrace what would be fair and what would work that's why i am working with president abbas and with prime minister natin yahoo to achieve a framework for the negotiations that will define the end game and all the core issues and provide guidelines for the negotiators in their efforts to achieve a final status peace agreement i have watched over 30 years in the united states senate i was on the lawn in washington when the great handshake took place i've watched anapolis and why and madrid and oslo and all of these efforts but always we've left out the end game always people have had to wonder when or if the real peace could be achieved one of the biggest challenges in reaching this agreement i will tell you my friends is security the palestinians need to know that at the end of the day their territory is going to be free of israeli troops that occupation ends but the israelis rightfully will not withdraw unless they know that the west bank will not become in ugaza and nobody can blame any leader of israel for being concerned about that reality we have been working hard on addressing this challenge president obama's approach begins with america's steadfast commitment to israel's security he knows and i knows i know that there cannot be peace unless israel's security and its needs are met we have put the full range of resources of the u.s government behind this effort in an unprecedented way for the past nine months a team led by general john allen a four-star general in one of the most respected minds in the u.s military has been engaged in a comprehensive security dialogue with our israeli and palestinian counterparts based on his efforts we are confident that together with israel working with jordan working with the palestinians working with us all of us together can create a security structure that meets the highest standards anywhere in the world and by developing a layered defense that includes significantly strengthening the fences on both sides of the border by deploying state-of-the-art technology with a comprehensive program of rigorous testing we can make the border safe for any type of conventional or unconventional threat from individual terrorists or a conventional armed force we are well aware that technology alone is not the answer but we also know that it can play a key role in helping to secure the jordanian border just like iron dome has played a key role in securing israel's southern communities security is a priority because we understand that israel has to be strong to make peace but we also believe that peace will make israel stronger we are convinced that the greatest security of all will actually come from a two-state solution that brings israel the lasting peace and secure borders that they deserve and brings palestinians the freedom and the dignity that they deserve as committed as we are it is ultimately up to the israelis and the palestinians to reach an agreement on how to end this conflict make no mistake this will require difficult political decisions and painful compromises on both sides these are emotional issues many embedded in age-old narratives at the end of the day it is up to prime minister netanyahu and president abbas to recognize what the world has recognized that peace is in the best interests of their people but that makes it no less true that at every level everybody has a role to play the arab league and the european union have already shown how they can pave the way for peace and they have been unbelievably cooperative and we're grateful for their help i thank king abdallah of jordan and nasa juda and the extraordinary efforts of jordan to help move this the arab league nabil al arabi and uh halli datia the leader of the arab league follow-on committee that is working month to month to stay current and to be engaged in this many states have made contributions to the palestinian economy including a micro infrastructure initiative that is making a difference to people's everyday lives many companies including some of you here have invested in both israel and the palestinian territories and you've shown the difference that the private sector can make in this endeavor and all of you can make a positive contribution by dismissing please the all too easy skepticism by seeing the possibilities and by building the momentum for peace successful diplomacy like the conversations here at davos demands the kind of cooperation that has to come from many stakeholders as claus schwaab says in an interconnected world all challenges must be addressed on the basis of togetherness that is true whether you're talking about this peace effort or about what we must achieve in syria or about what we must ensure in iran intensive creative strong diplomacy requires cooperation and that is exactly why the united states is so engaged in the middle east and around the world and while we will stay so as our friends and partners take courageous steps forward they can be assured that president obama and his administration will remain engaged for the long haul but we will also confront these challenges with the urgency that they deserve we dare not and i assure you we will not miss this moment thank you


FAO's Farmer Field Schools have improved the skills of over 20 million farmers, pastoralists and fisherfolk in over 90 countries. By putting the farmers at the heart of the learning and innovation process, Farmer Field Schools empower people, households and communities. Producers meet regularly in their fields, discuss problems, innovations and management techniques, set up experiments, make weekly observations and take joint decisions. They build a deeper understanding of the local agroecosystem. Over the course of 30 years, Farmer Field Schools have grown to cover a wide range of topics, including agroecological farming. Agroecology is a holistic approach that applies ecological and social principles to the design and management of sustainable agriculture and food systems. Farmer Field Schools have a wide range of topics, including agroecological farming. Farmer Field Schools, introduced by FAO in India, have been adapted to focus on regenerating soil using intensive polycropping and agroforestry locally made by a stimulants derived from animals and botanical pesticides. Every week, groups of 20 to 25 producers from the same village meet on their Farmer Field Schools site to do an agroecosystem analysis and monitor their experiments. Two subgroups of farmers monitor the condition of two priority crops, while another subgroup can make visual assessments of soil health. Another group can check all the plants and trees present in a few square meters and discuss the positive synergies between the species which are growing next to or under each other. They will observe which trees will provide support for crops by giving shade, windbreaks, organic matter for soil cover or compost, and fruit. As Farmer Field School members increase their plant diversity throughout the year, nutrition and incomes also improve, and farms become more resilient to extreme climate events and outbreaks of pests such as the Fall Army one. These regenerative agricultural approaches put into practice the concept of one health for ecosystems, animals and people. Agroecological principles are very important because if we maintain the diversity of crops on a piece of land, the diversity of microbes and beneficial insects also increases, hence no need of putting fertilizers and manures and other pesticides and chemicals and all from outside. So we can recycle the nutrients that is from the field to animals or livestock and from the livestock we can keep directly to this field. So we are here to explain about agroecological principles, their diversity, their recycling procedure and the economic principles like year-round income. The FFS people are like a group of people, no caste, no religious basis and they're happy now. The discovery learning process in Farmer Field Schools is ideal to support farmers' learning and innovation on agroecology and offer a practical farmer-driven approach to discover and regenerate the complex web of life sustaining our agroecosystems.


What we're going to do is we're going to clean it on the surface and then we know where to start taking up the tile. But we got to clean it first because if you start taking up the tile it just splashes everywhere, it makes it worse.


Much like we could ask that you know angel riddle which came first the chicken or the egg We could ask the same type of Question or riddle about the media which came first the culture or the media does culture influence the media or does media influence and Drive culture and the answer to both of those things really is yes. I think you know to all of that Really almost as unanswerable as The chicken and the egg question so But regardless that doesn't excuse us from being aware Culturally of what's happening in the media and the impact the culture has on media and vice versa. So in this video We will examine the critical media perspective of cultural Analysis in our continuing examination of critical media studies So let's start as we always do by taking a look at what is cultural analysis a cultural analysis examines artifacts from a Perspective that seeks to understand how media influence the way we think about the world as political and social beings so Essentially, how does media? Use and impact culture and almost kind of vice versa because they are really very interconnected That's that's cultural analysis. That's the framework that we're going to use and and and take a look at in this video so the major premises of Cultural analysis are pretty straightforward first that cultures and ideologies Normalize and privilege certain perspectives as we talked about when in our previous video We talked about culture and ideology and laid that foundation one of the things we talked about or a couple things We talked about where how ideologies normalize things and they enhance privilege, right? we use Ideologies to structure our society and our culture through things like privilege so cultures and ideologies normalize and privilege Certain perspectives when you have them they are seen as normal and they are given the advantage over Ideologies and cultures that don't have those perspectives Media is frequently used to reinforce and exclude then other Cultures and ideologies So we use that we we see that these cultures and ideologies are what are Quote-unquote normal and it's and preferred those perspectives are what we want so media then is you is frequently used to to reinforce that and to to More broadly Express that this is normal. This is what is desirable. This is what we should want And this is the cultural and ideological norm And and so and we do that to to reinforce some of those things and then of course Through the exclusion of other things say that these are not normal and these are or by negative portrayals say that these are Are not normal things are not desirable things for our culture so Cultures and ideologies normalize and privilege these perspectives and then we use media to reinforce or exclude those other cultures and ideologies Uh, it's also social the socially powerful or privileged groups typically create and or control the media so media is used to reinforce these things and it's also usually controlled by those socially powerful things to Indicate and to and then reinforce that That those are desirable things that what they have and what they want are desirable So, you know, it kind of creates this cycle We see but we have this dominant culture group and then they are the ones who then create the media Okay, they dominate the culture. They dominate the media So they create the media and then these cultural norms are established through those media outlets as you know This is what's desirable. This is what's good and then society adjusts and seeks to normalize Based on what they're being told is normal. What they're being told is desirable and good Which then feeds into the dominant culture group. Okay and reinforces that particular group So it creates this cycle of and helps people maintain that power in that situation So as an example, let's take a look at the 90s Let's take a look at the 90s just in general on the media the 90s and and how that reinforced some of these things So in the 90s the dominant culture group as we kind of touched on in a previous video were The heterosexual white males right that's been the dominant power group and dominant culture group for a long time So by and large straight white men are making media decisions and and and establishing that culture So they are the ones creating the media for the most part So and we see that reflected in the media the most popular show in the 90s or shows In the 90s we could see er for example, it's very very popular Very very white very very heterosexual and and largely male dominated Seinfeld same type of thing right we got Three straight white guys and and one woman there but all all of whom are white and All of whom are heterosexual friends You know that it's been much discussed when you look at media about just how white Friends is and now how what a big deal it was anytime they had somebody on there who was A person of color or a person who was different from that dominant culture group These are the shows that ruled the 90s So these are the shows that we look at that were created that dominant culture group said, okay, this is what's normal This is what we know and so we're going to create this and and this is the media that was put out there And as as a result, of course, we tried to emulate the people trying to emulate this So these are the norms that were established right So there was there was a A shift away kind of from if we look at those things that there was a shift away from First of all family-based sitcoms to do things like young professionals who worked or kind of worked I think the friends kind of worked a little bit in some ways they had jobs I don't know but and so we saw a shift away from family-based sitcoms that we had in the 80s For example like the Cosby show and things like that growing pains family ties Those were you know family-based shows we had in the 80s to 90s. We saw These norms being established of a shift away from those things into young professionals who kind of work right like friends A new way to think about family that family isn't just about Genetic times but families also about you know the Seinfeld characters or a family really in a sense for the friends cast Certainly we're considered a family for example And then we saw a change in speech that comes along with that language is a part of culture And so we see changes in patterns of speech based on those media right um like you know Saying something is so whatever that was not something to happen for that use of so as a magnifier Like very or really that was not something that that was common. So we This is so different or so whatever you're so fancy. You're so whatever That's a that's a language change in the 90s based on media really that came from the media Um the the heavy use of sarcasm Not that sarcasm was created in the 90s But through the media really came out and was put in the forefront in the 90s and some and then up speak How we you know kind of had to end everything like a question You know at the end of every sentence It he kind of had to go up at the end even if it wasn't a question of if it was a statement That was not something that really happened before then Okay, so so we saw those changes cultural norms where we had these again young professionals to move away from Family the strictly family and into different kinds of family and changes in speech then as well as a result we saw these things again, these were enormously popular television shows so Created by that dominant culture to create that media then these cultural norms were established through these these artifacts And then as a result society seeks to normalize society seeks to catch up and say okay, so now we need to to To catch up with this if this is what the normal is then we need to find that so society Saw it to do that and and did that in a variety of ways first of all We saw the formula repeated in the media That became the norm in the media once something became popular became the norm So we saw the same type of formula used in shows like sex in the city how I met your mother We had these again predominantly white casts that are alternative types of families and talking a funny way Big bang theory came along then and later as well and so we decided so we sought to Repeat the success of those things and repeat that formula We also saw things like society seeking to normalize coffee houses were not really a popular thing before Friends, I know that sounds weird, but you know, we went from From having you know, these these you know, bunch of old guys sitting around the every that's a coffee shop That's what it would have been Before the 90s, you know, that's what we thought when we said coffee shop It's where old guys go to share stories and and drink coffee until all hours of the day because they don't have anything else to do Right, but then After the success of that media and that society seeking to normalize Everybody wanted to drink at this fancy coffee shop and everybody wanted the fancy coffee And so you you saw these things pop up all over the place and now not only do you have a star box on every corner But you have these really unique Kind of coffee shops that that are cool Right and and they really came about as a result of that media development during the 90s And then we also saw society seeking to normalize like the things like the rachel Which is what this haircut was called the rachel right after the character that jennifer aniston played on friends This haircut was such a huge deal when it first happened Every woman wanted the rachel every girl wanted the rachel that made became a haircut style That the society sought to emulate these people so much that that they wanted the same haircut As as she had right so it became became known as its own thing And all of that then fed back into this dominant culture group, of course, right? It all that feeds back into Oh, this is working so So we're able to establish this as a norm to the exclusion of other things and reinforce And that those things are what is good and what is right and and exclude Other perspectives then and make them seem abnormal Yeah So it creates this sort of the sort of system that takes place when we do these things so Okay, so we have to keep that in mind that that's that's you know the major premises of Of cultural analysis include a recognition of these things So from a perspective of today from the contemporary perspective, we look at we look at things in terms of cultural analysis We do examine things like class which may make you think back to our buddy marks, right? And and that's was his thing. We looked at that in a previous video and when we looked at marxist analysis and That was all about class. Well class is still important And in fact, uh, so marx kind of believed that there were these the Different classes the bourgeoisie the petite bourgeoisie and the proletariat, right? And that the proletariat was the the largest group the most important group but the bourgeoisie Kind of ruled the roost and and set the set the tone for everything in the petite bourgeoisie We're kind of in between the middle class was sort of in between but what we see in a contemporary sense is that in our culture the petite bourgeoisie is The largest part of society Okay, and we're still influenced by the bourgeoisie and the proletariat's still there the working people so to speak working class We're still there, but the petite bourgeoisie really dominate the culture and and and so but so are both creating the culture but also Following in that culture and as we look back at that cycle, right? So we see that that For example, uh, technology how that influences class and and uh, and we think about that The haves and haves knots in terms of the digital divide and and technology so We think about things like the american dream for the class the class that that we have created the american dream This idea that anybody can can reach any height Right that you can move between those classes marx would have said no you can once you're in the proletariat You can never get out of the proletariat, right? But but but but you know contemporarily we would say no That's not really true that Though, you know, the american dream is that anybody can can Can become famous can become wealthy can can achieve what it is they want If they just work hard enough, right? That's the idea of the american dream Is that anything is possible and so we have to consider that as a part of our culture This idea of a conspicuous consumption too that the shopping is cool. It's desirable It's desirable to own things and and we've become very materialistic. So we need to keep those things in mind that class dominates our culture Also the the impact of race In our culture and the idea of exclusion we we I mentioned this briefly as we talked about friends idea that I mean rarely, you know, certainly weren't very many lead Characters on for none of the six for black or of a minority of any sort, right? But uh, But certainly even the secondary lead characters. It was pretty rare to have Somebody of color or have a minority represented in in that role even so it was very white straight middle class type of things so excluding Other races and representation of other other races obviously and then stereotyping We stereotype people in the media all the time. That's a contemporary thing. We need to consider that we stereotype people based on race and and based on You know cultures and things like that that we that are represented Then in our media artifacts and the way the stereotype is used to classify large groups of people accurately or interact inaccurately This idea of assimilation is is important to us. That was that was part of the As we discussed again in a previous video We looked at this but the idea of the Cosby show was such a An important show culturally in some ways because it represented just saying, you know, the black family could be middle class Could be professional even upper class, right? They were professionals They're a doctor and a lawyer as parents and and this idea of assimilation into The media but it stands out because it's so rare, right? That's you know And then media also creates a society of othering Society of othering when we when we label things and we think we're doing You know, I think we're doing well on things and but we other them by The label for example, you know when we say a director and we don't just say directors. Oh and this female director She's she's outstanding this outstanding female director We don't point that out about Steven Spielberg or Morton Scorsese. We don't say well, they're really outstanding male directors These are these are great Male directors, you know, they do all this and they're and they're men We do that with others. We do, you know, this outstanding female director this outstanding African-american director we other people we label instead of just looking at wow, that's a fantastic director Right, they're doing a fantastic job and and but we label them and we and as a result we other people So media has that impact as well. So we need to keep these things in mind As we're as we're looking at cultural analysis Okay, so let's dig in real quick to some common questions and look at one artifact or one, you know Kind of thing real quickly to illustrate some of these Common questions and cultural analysis. What are the dominant cultural elements under which this artifact was created? So again, what was the culture remember a culture is historical It's it's bound to that time and that perspective and and so so we need to consider What was the dominant culture of the time that that artifact was created? How are those cultural? How are those cultural ideologies represented in that artifact? How does this artifact seek to protect or challenge the dominant culture? You remember the dominant cultures when creating the media and really influencing that so How does this artifact seek to protect that or is it seeking to challenge that dominant culture? And then what other cultures or ideologies are limited or excluded in this artifact? So real quickly I mentioned this show a couple times a bit but let's just take a look at the Big Bang Theory As an artifact here the Big Bang Theory very popular show So through much of the the 2008 I can't remember exactly when it started but But it was very popular very very popular show in fact spawned a spin-off now and young Sheldon and things But we're going to focus on the Big Bang Theory So the common questions that we want to look at first of all What are the dominant cultural elements under which this artifact was created? Well, you know as I mentioned this came along in the in the wake of the post-friends movement where So everybody was shifting kind of as we talked about to that People are professionals and you know, so they may have jobs and instead of family based and family may take on an alternative meaning Right and so and then you have those different elements the way that people talk and That you Sark has them and things so Those are the dominant cultural elements with those post-friends type things that we knew that everybody was Of the friends and Seinfeld era this came directly after that. So you see you have this alternative family, right? They're not genetically related, but they are a family in a sense.  They treat each other like a family And so we see a lot of family dynamics, but not an actual family We see that they're young professionals that they are, you know that and they're we see that they're really I'm representing the value of education and predominantly, you know, they're an educated group with the exception of of A wider name just slipped my mind Kaylee Cuoco's character Shoot, what was her name? Okay, it'll come to me when I'm not trying to think but you know everybody else was educated highly educated right, but so the dominant cultural elements, but were You know alternative family, but still largely heterosexual white Predominantly male leads of course So those are the dominant cultural elements that that are in play then How are they represented in that artifact? Well through the show in we see that they are predominantly White heterosexual and educated men professional men and women then eventually are integrated into the show So we you know that we see more and more Women added but weren't there initially, right? They had the one woman initially and then they added some later to balance things out But all of them straight all you know despite the fact that the one of the primary leads who played Sheldon Was in fact a gate in in real life, but in the show everybody is straight and predominantly that's those are the main characters are You know white heterosexual And with the exception of Raj, you know, it's pretty white and very very little Minority representation in the show in general So it's really reinforcing those dominant cultural Ideologies and norms that that are associated with that How does the artifact seek to protect or challenge the dominant culture again? The way it's cast the way the characters are written it really is protecting that dominant culture of Of heterosexual white men and adding in education that it's okay to be educated It's okay to be smart that the nerds are taken over right that it's cool to be a nerd it's cool to be into those kinds of things and and so You kind of want to slip that in a little bit too. I think because you know most people creating these shows are Probably nerds themselves right what we would call nerds. They're into science fiction They're into these types of things So they wrote characters that are based on them and they were funny as well But but trying to normalize those things and make it cool to be Going to a science fiction Convention or something like that doesn't seem so weird now that they've done done it on the big bang theory so many times Right, so so they're really protecting that dominant culture with with this show though really not not challenging it too much You know challenging that aspect of it. I guess in terms of introducing the nerd thing but But really protecting a lot of the different cultural aspects And then cultures and ideologies that are limited or excluded well first of all cultures and ideologies If we talked about race, which is not really an element of culture, but Is excluded predominantly white cast and and so that is excluded predominantly I guess I guess I wouldn't say predominantly christian there were there were several jewish characters But you know religion wasn't really a part of it anyway, so but but excluding Certainly other types of religions that that weren't represented as strongly at all you know excluding The lgbtq community really not represented despite the fact that they had several Well, I mean, you know people who were Known in real life to be gay But weren't portraying gay characters not that they have to be you know They're actors they can portray all kind of thing, but Those types of things you really didn't see any gay characters on the show Not not certainly not predominantly featured and Despite the there was a heavy sexual component to the show, but it was all really heterosexual type things so Those are excluded You know you see the exclusion of kind of uneducated people really lower working class People these are these are professionals and they're focus focusing on their lives and their issues or whatever so You see those excluded and and just really You know, even though roge was there you don't really see a lot of his culture represented in that show It focuses on other aspects of predominantly traditional american cultures and ideologies So despite the fact that it's a good show. I really love that show. There are some it is a very Um strong representation of the dominant cultural elements at that time and protecting those and And really featuring those and limiting it or excluding other items that could be addressed Hopefully this gives you an idea of what looks like with cultural analysis when we do that And so now you can keep an eye after those. They're really very very important And we can also note that when things are going against The culture and seeking to challenge the culture those things become more obvious than as a result If you have questions about cultural analysis or anything related to critical media studies, please feel free to email me Love to hear from you there in the meantime. I hope this adds into your toolbox of Critical lenses for critical media studies now that you know a little bit more about cultural analysis


Among the 50 global risks examined, there emerged constellations of risks which have been grouped into three risk cases. The reality in 2011 was that we saw protests really revolving around this notion of a dystopian future happen around the world. So much so that in 2011, the time person of the year was the protester. Income inequality, high levels of youth unemployment, elderly population more dependent on bankrupt or debt-saddled governments. The sheer scale of the issue is just daunting. If these issues are left unaddressed, they're certainly going to exacerbate fiscal problems that governments already have. Part of the solution to that is to get retirement security, healthcare security, long-term economic security for these individuals addressed and in a positive way. We live in the 21st century in a world that depends on systems that were basically designed in the 19th and 20th century.  Society at large is really showing signs of losing trust in some of the important institutions that we have developed over the last several decades. We live in an era of shocks and they're going to be global and they're going to be more frequent and we need to test how safe our safeguards are. We need to get a partnership between government, society, business to address problems collectively, identify potential solutions, agree frameworks for implementing those solutions. Up to now we assume that there have been only good things to happen in terms of being more connected. But at the same time there are people who understand that that system can be used for less desirable ends and means. The real concern is that you have capability to actually shake the system, to actually turn off some of the systems that allow us to be connected. We are seeing that cyber threats come in three categories, sabotage, espionage and subversion. A key challenge is that probably no single institution can really address the risk in a comprehensive way. What is needed today is really a collaboration on various levels. Cyberspace is real and so are the risks that come with it. It's the great irony of our information age. The very technologies that empower us to create and to build also empower those who would disrupt and destroy. One of the things illuminated by the report is that the risk is distributed in a certain way today. It's shifting. We have to decide where we want it to land before we can properly design the policies and solutions to really go after them.


Carry the burden, carry the load. Thanks so much for taking time with us, 17. How are you? Really great, thanks for having me. I want to start with something John Robinson said about you recently. I asked him, I said, why is Ryan Tannehill the perfect guy to be the Tennessee Titans quarterback right now? And the word he used to start with, he praised a lot of your attributes, but the number one thing he said was your approach. Explain to us from a quarterback's perspective what approach is and why that's so important. I'm assuming it's just the way I approach the game. My preparation day in and day out, how I come into work every single day, I come to try to get better each and every day, no matter what the situation is going on around me. Do everything I can to take advantage of the opportunities that are given to me. It's Wednesday, it's first, second down, Thursday, third down stuff, Friday, red zone, total game plan, and I'm trying to hold you guys around me accountable and ultimately go out on every Sunday and find a way to win. Ryan, we've seen you so many times as the Titans quarterback, go out for a final drive and lead the team down the field. Using the word approach again, what's your mindset when you take the field as the Titans quarterback to begin a last minute drive? My mindset is to go execute one play at a time and finish in the end zone and win the game. Have a lot of confidence in the guys around me. You know, we've shown time and time again that we can get it done, but really just staying calm in the storm, right? There's a lot of craziness going on, times run down, but a lot of chaos that can catch you up, but really just try to center myself and focus on one play at a time, executing each play in itself, keeping in mind situation and everything like that, and then ultimately, you know, making the place to get yourself and the team in the end zone. Is that as much fun as it looks like it is? Oh, it's so much fun.  Those are the moments you dream about in your kid or even now when you lay in bed at night. You put yourself marching down the field and winning the game late in the fourth quarter over time and nothing better than that. Ryan Tannehill will throw the ball to any eligible receiver. Some quarterbacks don't do that.  You will throw to anybody on the roster who is out there eligible and open. Why? I believe in the guys around me. You know, we have a lot of guys that come to work each and every day and prove themselves. You know, you may not see it on Sundays, but there's a lot of guys that are maybe on practice squad or receivers who don't get a whole lot of playing time, but a lot of confidence in those guys. I see the way that they work and the way that they make plays in practice. So when their number is called and they have to step in to go into a game for us, that confidence doesn't drop. And I have a lot of confidence that I can just do my job, which is, you know, going through the play, finding the open guy and then delivering an active football. You have bonds with so many of your teammates and so many of your teammates on offense and so many of your receivers. But AJ Brown talks about your bond constantly, that the two of you have something special. What is it about number 11 and number 17 that goes so well together on the field and even off the field? We have a lot of fun together. You know, I think we both love the game. We love competing, love making plays and get along great. You know, I think not only AJ, but almost everybody on the whole offense. And I have such a good time building those relationships, getting to know guys, you know, away from football a little bit, what makes them go, what they like. And then, you know, when you're able to just spend that time away from the field, I think it makes everything on the field that much better. So much attention to offensive coordinator, Arthur Smith and your relationship with him. Why is it so great to be Arthur Smith's quarterback in this offense? It's a lot of fun. I have so much respect for Arthur. I love working with him. He's been great from day one when I got here. Obviously it was a different role, but this is approach to game planning, his approach to setting the tone for the offense and what we expect, holding everyone accountable, laying it out there on what we expect is clear. And I love that communication. I love being able to work with him, game planning and making adjustments whether during the week or even on game day, making slight adjustments that have paid off for us during the game. So I think there's really just a great banter back and forth, a great communication line that we have and obviously it's paying off on Sundays. Last question. When you look across the field and you see a young guy like a Joe Burrow and you think back to your days of being that early first round pick bonus baby, what do you know now that you wish you had known when you were back in that place eight years ago? So much. You know, you learned so much over the course of life, of course of your career, whether it's dealing with things on the field, dealing with things off the field, just football in general. I've learned so much football. You know, from the time I got to league until now is the confidence that I'm seeing clearly what I think I'm seeing. But at the end of the day, you know, some of those things you just have to kind of go through in order to pick them up. Some guys pick them up faster than others, but you know, for me, it's been a steady progression. I just hope to stay on that path. So for him, you know, just stay true to who you are and believe in yourself, keep working hard and the rest of it take care of itself.