So let's move on to argument number 5 and I think arguments number 5, 6 and 7 will be the more challenging arguments in the sense that a serious debate about these arguments is going on nowadays. So here's number 5. Science gives debunking explanations of common sense beliefs. Here's an example. Nowadays there's a large field called the Cognitive Science of Religion that aims to explain why people hold certain religious beliefs, why they believe in gods and ghosts and spirits and angels and demons and so on. So one example is an explanation in terms of a hyperactive agency detection device. So the idea is basically this, imagine that you're 10,000 years ago and you and your friend are sitting at a campfire and all of a sudden you hear something behind you in the bushes, a weird sound, well in that case you might think, oh that's probably just the wind or maybe a branch fall down of a tree or you might think, oh what's that? It might be a tiger or it might be a lion or some other dangerous creature. So let's get a stick or let's get ready or let's get out of here maybe, right? That's what you could do. Now it seems that those people who always think, oh that will be the wind or something else, those people are significantly less likely to survive because sooner or later it is going to be a tiger or a lion. So as a result of that people have a certain agency detection device that is hyperactive. So they detect agency, they're inclined to think, oh there's agency even when there isn't and people still have that hyperactive agency detection device. So as a result of that for instance they tend to see faces in clouds and as a result that they look at nature and think, wow this is so beautiful, there must be a God who created all of this but that's hyperactive agency detection, there's no God there at all. That's the basic theory and you will find similar or somewhat similar debunking explanations for morality. Now if you look at the literature you will find various explanations and they compete with each other but I don't think we should discount them on that basis, on the basis that they compete with each other because as long as one of them is correct then people who embrace those common sense beliefs might be in trouble. So the likelihood that this specific one is correct might be low, that doesn't count against their being a good debunking explanation. Alright I think there is still some work to do for these arguments though and let me point out three important things here. First what these explanations should do in order to be truly debunking, so in order to debunk religious and moral beliefs is rule out independent evidence. So in the case of God for instance they should rule out other evidence that counts in favour of the existence of God such as arguments for God or maybe certain revelations, right because believing God is not only based on agency detection, it's also based on other things. These theories should meet so-called criteria for good scientific explanations. So one example is good scientific explanations have a certain predictive power and it's not clear that all of these explanations as it stands have sufficient predictive power so that they can actually be tested themselves and finally they should be truly debunking. So in order to be debunking it should not merely explain the phenomenon but also explain it away. So it should explain away moral beliefs, why we hope moral beliefs and why that's somehow illusory and same thing for believing God. But in order to do that it seems one needs some kind of philosophy, right because one needs to explain well why this phenomenon exists and why it's somehow illusory and that's going to be a challenge if you are an adherent of scientism in the strongest version. Let's move on to the next argument. The next argument says science shows common sense is permeated with bias so we find bias all over the place. Here are two examples the denomination effect that's the bias that people have to spend more money when they have it in coins than when they have it in bills, right. So you give two people $100 each but you give it in coins to one of them and in bills to the other person. The person with coins is going to spend more money on average, right that's a certain bias people have. And another interesting one is judging other people in comparison with oneself. So they've asked for instance scientists how well they think they do in comparison with their colleagues and it turns out 95% of them think that they are better than their colleagues which of course can't be true. So people have a certain bias here, right and one might think look common sense so believes not based on science shows all these biases so it's not reliable so we should rely only on the deliverances of the natural sciences. So this is a good argument. Two points, first in order for this to be a good argument it should really be about beliefs. So the denomination effect for instance is not really something about belief but maybe more something about behavior. So if I spend more money when I have coins than when I have bills then that doesn't necessarily come with a belief. In fact once you ask people about it they might change their behavior. So we should focus on those biases that come with certain false beliefs. And the second thing is and I think more work needs to be done here is how widespread are these biases. We know that there are lots of biases and that many people have them but how widespread are they in the sense that are they sufficiently widespread to undermine the reliability of common sense and that would be an interesting thing to find out. So I challenge anyone working on this to do more research and show us that this is sufficiently widespread to undermine the reliability of common sense. And that brings me to the seventh and final argument for scientism and that's a complicated argument and there's lots of empirical research to back this up so I'm going to be very brief here. The argument is this science shows that common sense believes are illusory. Here are two examples, belief about free action. So Liebet has done several experiments and other people have taken those experiments to show that there is no such thing as free will because we can measure a certain readiness potential in people's brains before they act and they think they act freely. And the second example is beliefs about the reasons for which one does something. So Wagner and Talia Widley have done research on this. And one example I particularly like is the following. So they set up a certain experiment and what they do is they, someone is in a shopping street and has certain groceries with them or with her and that person drops the groceries apparently accidentally on the floor. This is all a setup. And then they look at the people surrounding this person in the street and they check whether they actually helped this person. And let's say it's nine o'clock early in the morning people are in a rush and it turns out most people won't stop, right? So about 80 or 85% of people just continue to walk and go do their work or wherever else they need to go. But here's something else they also do in this experiment and this is crucial. They put a $10 bill in a telephone box nearby and what they do is they check the people, they measure what they do, when they've been to one of those telephone boxes and found the $10 bill. And it turns out that 80 or 85% of those people will actually help the person who dropped the groceries. And they would interview the people afterwards and ask why did you help the person who dropped the groceries or why did you not help this person? And people will say things like well I helped this person because well we need to help each other, right, if we don't help each other what kind of society are we and so on but nobody will appeal to the fact that he or she just found a $10 bill in a telephone box. So this suggests that people don't really know the reasons for which they act. They don't really know why they did the things they did and why they did not do the things they did not do. That's the basic thrust of the argument and there are other experiments to back this up. Well the main question I think is how representative are these examples? There are more questions to be asked but this is I think the main question. How representative is this? Does it also apply to bigger decisions in our lives such as a decision to take a job or a decision to marry or other decisions? So these are great experiments and I think we need to continue to do them but in order to be a good argument for scientists and we need to know more about how representative they are.


What's going on everyone? Sam here with late in sports cards and I am ripping two boxes of 2021-22 Panini Obsidian Soccer for Sam R. So good luck Sam. Same name Mojo in this one maybe? Color blast. Let's hope that'd be cool. Maybe. Okay, you guys saw me open that right? There's nothing in there. There's literally nothing in there. You saw that. It was sealed. I have the wrapper here. I'll take the wrapper back out. Nothing in there. That is a completely empty Obsidian Soccer box. So I'm going to get you another box Sam for sure.  That's so annoying. Oh my god, thanks a lot there. So let me get you another one and then we're gonna have to delay another break and forth. So there's another one. Like how does that even how? I can't even fathom how that happens. I really can't. Come on now. So there's one box right there. Jeez man. Come on now. I've literally never seen that before either. That's a joke. I'll text Rich about that empty right there. We've got orange. That's one of 25. Frank Kessie. Nice one there. That's so frustrating, man. I'm so sorry about that Sam. That was literally an empty Obsidian Box Zero. Literally an empty box. I have it right next to me. We've got Ilkay Gondogan for Germany on the Virtuous. That is 42 of 60. Yeah, literally not even a pack inside. Sealed and everything. We've got for France, Arulian Chikameni to 105 on the base rookie. Nice one there. We've got Kai Havertz for Chelsea. That's to 149 on the trifecta jersey. Nice one there. That's a new one. That's definitely a new one. We've got to 50 for Germany. Robin Gossens on the lightning strike auto. Right, Brandon? I know. Come on. What if that's a kid's birthday gift or something? Nice one there. We've got for Aston Villa that is numbered to 50. Volcanic auto of John McGinn. I just lost for words. And then to 126. That's 23 of 126. Got Oliver Kahn for Germany on the lightning strike auto. Nice one there. Right, exactly. That's why even if I rip a hobby box myself, I always record it just in case. That's one thing I will say to everyone. If you're doing personal rips yourself, always record it. Even if you don't want to post it anywhere, just record it. Just so you have the proof if something goes wrong. Empty box there. Yeah, that's what I'm saying too, Jeremiah. Like that's going to go like the empty box will go on YouTube for sure. It'll be there, you know what I'm saying? And it's like we were opening the two boxes too.  We've got, man, that box you could say is a one of one, honestly. Damari Gray numbered to 30 for Everton. Nice one there. Possibly Luca. There's definitely a possibility. And that's just got Joe Felix to 60 on the supernova. eBay one of one. No kidding. Felix got Frankie DeYoung on the rookie to 105 or not the rookie for the base to 105. Excuse me. We've got Galaxy Gear. Argentina is Eric Lamella to one to 149. That's very true. Nice one there, Galaxy Gear. We've got Rodrigo Real Madrid on the trifecta material to 149. Nice one there. We've got John Brooks for the USA dual patch autograph, numbered one of five. Nice hit there. Yeah, I got it right next to me, Caleb. And I got the wrapper too, so. I don't have the pack wrapper though, unfortunately. John Brooks. And then last hit of the boxes for FC International Milano is Haken Kelonglu. That is numbered 60 of 75. Nice one there. Congrats on all of your hits there, Sam. Again, sorry about that empty box in the beginning. We'll have all those hits right out to you. Thanks again, bud.


Yeah, some of you might have seen that. I have this movie Watcher's Guide to Enlightenment and There's one of the movies that's in it called chances are and that movie was Johnny Mathis of course made that song very famous, but there's a song the theme song from that movie is with Peter Sotera and share and There's a great line in that song every memory repeats every step I take retreats Every journey always brings me back to you and it's it's really a song about coming back to God about letting go and coming inward and coming inward and In a course in miracles Jesus teaches us that time doesn't go forward That actually as we progress on the spiritual journey, it's like we're retracing our steps And we're like going back to the beginning, you know We're in the beginning in the I amness that's prior to time is where all our joy and innocence are and we've We've so to speak Projected out or went out into time and now we come back and back and back and back and we retrace our steps So in one sense, it's it's about time collapsing Instead of time extending it's about Miracles saving us time through time collapse instead of having to continually play out these same mistakes and errors over and over like a broken record so You know, that's why you're here. That's why we're all here is to to be inspired into that to really know that that is Is our way and that we're on this together So, yeah, it works out, you know, you just you come and you start to feel more and more inspired That you can relax and the things will will work out. I always felt Especially when I was in high school and in my 20s that I would just have these Deep shareings with with a friend or with some friends like heart-to-heart talks It was my most enjoyable experience was having heart-to-heart talks And I always thought would be nice to just Have a make do that for a living I Guess Oprah did so You know, it's and you see how how helpful, you know That that is something that we wouldn't even consider and I do remember saying that to spear one time saying I would love to Make a living at that and this person Okay, you you will you will you will have your living in that and so Just to start to open the mind to those kind of things is is quite a step Because it's a step from the traditional patterns one of the the major teachings of a course in miracles is that all illness is mental illness and You know when you start working with the course and you start giving yourself over to it that's one of those things that seems to be a big big stretch and and The only way that that we can actually come into an experiential understanding and awareness that all illness is mental illness is Coming into a full-blown experience that that everything is mind Everything is mind or you could say everything is consciousness if you want to talk about it that way and with a course of miracles basically the way into that experience is It's through a shift of mind and literally through a progression of We'll say experiences that have to do with our identity So a lot of us, you know, we're born raised We have all these ambitions of what we're gonna be when we grow up whether it's a dancer or an architect or You know a writer or all these different professions and You know chances are when we were pondering all the potential professions, you know Being a miracle worker was not one of them and yet When we read a course of miracles, it's like oh that it's like the spirits saying oh, that's your chosen profession you're gonna be a miracle worker regardless of whether you were a Have a mother or you were a part of a dance company or part of a construction company or part of a family or whatever whatever the Script seems to be whatever the story seems to be that's our starting point but our end point is is being a miracle worker and I know for me, you know, it was like there was being raised in Christianity There was even that miracle worker is just a couple words, but it conjures up things one of my sister, you know part the Red Sea and you know, you know raised the sick and Raised the sick raise the sick raise the dead even, you know, it's like it's more than That it just goes on and on and there was all these associations there and then the more I got into the practice I started to have a lot of Phenomenal things that were very out-of-pattern things happening around mystical experiences I was having and people around me and so forth and it did start to seem more like a Like a fail it just had less of a of a concrete reality to it And you know, I would find myself going nobody's gonna believe this I can hardly believe it and then it just but here it's happening and it's happening again so it's a convincing job the spirit has to convince us and I know for myself going through what seemed to be physical ailments and then just Practicing the lessons and practicing the principles that I would have shifts, you know removal of symptoms and Things that were just shifting and changing and even we could say being reflected back to me very directly from From the world of form and it really got my attention, you know, I have even said I I was doing the workbook lessons And I was doing this lesson where the it was like a rolodex in my mind one day There is no death. The Son of God is free. I Might have as well have had James Earl Jones voice, you know like from Field of Dreams, you know that deep voice There is no death the Son of God is free and I literally was guided to take some food plate of food Salad to my grandmother and I was guided to this restaurant or this actually supermarket that I Never hardly ever went to and I had already raising the dead experience I watched a woman who had who was laying in the aisle and had stopped breathing the paramedics had given up on her And it was just like laying there just like stone cold no diaphragm movement, and I had all this I'm working with the course, you know, you just give yourself so fully over to it There is no death the Son of God is free talk about working on your lesson of the day. That was pretty it was very strong It was almost like it was thundering in my mind, and then I watched this woman seemingly come back to life And and I just witnessed it But it seemed very very natural like it was like the form and the script was just matching to this Magnitude that I was experiencing all this energy like in my mind my right where my third eye would be and right around my heart area and it just kept happening those kind of things over and over and over and What that does is it takes you into an experience? that that all sicknesses is Sickness of the mind. It's all mental sickness and really the only way to really fully get into being a miracle worker is to really start to have the experience That it has been a perceptual problem You know perceiving the fragmented world is what the problem is the problem the problems really aren't specific The ego has tricked us into believing the problems are specific and when you're going through something like like a broken back or all those Seeming experiences in the pain, you know, they seem to be very strong witnesses to the reality of the body and the reality of the physical but The more we go deeper and deeper inside and we give ourselves over to the course and these teachings it's just You you do get happier and happier because you do realize that there's no problem apart from the mind and there's no problem apart from what you think and You you really do focus in on watching your your mind like never before you become very super attentive to your thoughts Before you know, you were distracted in all the forms, but after a while. It's like no I'm gonna pay close attention to these thoughts as I move through the day and That's what the course workbook lessons were for me. It was just, you know, super attentive. I was highly sensitized And and used to be before I could slip into some annoyance or irritation or what I called mild upset, but then that became more excruciating, you know Even even the mildest disturbances were were really powerful They really got my attention and I was able to just bring it back again and release the thoughts and so I Think that's the thing. That's what you're going through with your friend You know is it's kind of like in your face in the sense that it's still a predominant part of your awareness and Then the workbook lessons just give you it's like a gentle reorientation of the mind Every day and they're during different aspects of the day to keep coming back Keep coming back keep coming back to the point, you know, when you practice it more and more and more There's it does seem quite surreal the world starts to be very very surreal and and then you're you're more Just in the state of watching the body may still seem to be active, you know But it's the mind is is at rest and is at stillness so I Always found that that I just saw everything as my own lesson And so it wasn't so much what was happening in my world that I was proceeding, but it was more Paying closer and closer attention to my reactions Even at nighttime during my nighttime dreams instead of doing like, you know dreams Analysis it was more Paying close attention to what I was feeling, you know during the dreams and and also whatever those reactions were And even pondering in the morning when I would wake up and remember remember a dream like huh? What was I feeling, you know, really zooming into that and then working with that as a way to release? so, you know, it's you find yourself more and more I Mean, I just I remember an early Course in Miracles video that I watched where all these people were at all different stages of working in different aspects of society and different different aspects of Professions and living in the world and so forth, but they were all Talking about their mental practice of working with the course Some of them were like a speechwriter for the president of the United States, you know saying I realized that That countries would keep fighting and we would still have conflicts going on in the world until I Could bring my own self to peace of mind. I could have a shift in my own mind you hear it from Many many different people who are working with the course and it starts to dawn like okay, that's that's where my Major work is that's going to be my contribution You keep practicing and practicing and then Through the practice comes more and more the experience of feeling detached Deep down, too, that's what people want to feel they want to feel that love and that connection they just want to know that they're loved and that experience of extending that love says more than Anything else that we could do, you know, just that sense of being really fully present with someone so feels like that's part of what your lesson is right now is is to Just go and join with your friend and be the presence of love be there as as a listener be there in in total acceptance and Through that demonstration You're showing That there is another way and it's very powerful. That's no small thing at all


What's up, everyone? Take down here. I just wanted to take a minute and say happy New Year's. I am really thankful for everything you guys have done and all the support you guys shared for 2019. For me, it's sad it's coming to an end, but I honestly had a great year for not only my personal life, getting my current job back in May and absolutely loving it. I work night shift, security guard at a casino and I'm just having a blast with it. The money is great. I have a lot of time to do other things and I've been working on my channel as well. So the job aspect is great. I'm coming close to taking my entrance exam for CBSA in 2020 around March, so I'm really excited for that. This year also with my channel, I've been making more videos and seeing that there's a lot of videos that are starting to take off on my channel, which I'm really thankful for. I actually had a video and I'm not doing this for bragging, but I had a video reach 100,000 views. I had another one reach 80,000 and some others that are well over a thousand views, so I'm really excited. Seeing how many subscribers I was getting mid-summer, my goal for the end of 2019 was 500 subscribers. That's where I wanted to be at, and right now I'm well over 500 subscribers. I think I'm on the road to 600, but it's been a great year.  I just want to mention that as I did for Christmas, I am recording this video in advance because I should be working New Year's overnight. It's going to be time and a half. That's why I took my vacation prior to Christmas. I just wanted to work over Christmas and Boxing Day, so that's the day after Christmas, because those were time and a half and I wanted to work New Year's, which is time and a half. A little side note is I'm likely going to be extremely busy New Year's, working time and a half at a casino because a lot of people are going to be there, a lot of people are drinking. Apparently it's so busy that every machine is taken. People are waiting for machines. You can't even walk without bumping into people. It's going to be in talks after in talks, so whenever you're dealing with one, control, surveillance, they're calling for another one, so it's going to be a busy night for me. It's going to be a quick night, hopefully. That makes it will go by faster. I'm really excited. That's my New Year's video. I'm really excited for 2020. I have a lot of plans. Of course, my entrance exam for CBSA in March. Hopefully, I'll take it and pass and share that journey with you guys once again of what's happening in the future for CBSA. I'm going to be trying to make more videos for you guys. I have a lot of things planned. I've been scheduling in advance once again whenever I have time to record. I'm recording as much as I can. I've been planning a lot of great videos for you guys or what I consider great videos. Over the summer, I have a lot of series that I plan on starting, so I have a lot of things to do. For the channel, for my personal self, I hopefully I'm going to try to get my own place in 2020. Just move out, either be closer to work or if I get into CBSA, get closer to one of the border ports, so whenever it's time to start the on-the-job training, I'm not going to be too far. I'm really focused on CBSA. I'm not giving up that dream, but if I end up failing in March, it's not the end of the world. I'll stick with my job right now because it is great money and I absolutely love where I'm working, but I will consider working somewhere else. I did share back in 2019 a backup plan of what I think I'm going to do, so I just wanted to say happy New Year's. Thank you guys for all your support this past year and welcome to 2020.


and knowing that the God who made us loves us so much that he invites us into relationship with him and he invites us to come boldly to the throne of grace. Welcome to Hope Today. I'm Anna and I'm here with Tom and Tom, we get to talk about talking to God. I know, I love that boldly to the throne of grace. I always am amazed at that, that we get to walk into the throne room of God boldly. Well, we're gonna have Addison Bavir with us. He's gonna be talking about words with God. Do your prayers matter? What if anything happens when we pray? And are we having words with God or just words with ourselves? We're gonna learn more about that on our chat today with Addison Bavir. And this is a really important subject because we've got God. He's the most interesting person in the universe, right? Nobody's more interesting than God. Nobody's more glorious than God. Nobody's more fantastic than God. And yet prayer is sometimes kind of like, we wonder what in the world is going on? I'm sorry if that messes you up out there. I've fallen asleep in prayer meetings and I've been at times, even in my personal prayer, challenged to focus, challenged to really break through to that relationship aspect with God and that conversational aspect with God. And I'm sure I'm not alone in that. Yeah, so I've been loving Jesus since I was a little girl and talking to him. It's interesting through the different seasons of life, through the stages of life as we're growing in our relationship with God and we're trying to figure out like, how do we talk to him? Is there a right way? Is there a wrong way? Is he listening? Does he care about the little things or is it just the big things? And so I think like each one of us at different times we have those questions about prayer because it's important and we wanna know that our prayers are effective and that he hears us. Absolutely and don't be afraid to God's not insecure. He's not worried about our questions. Don't be afraid to approach God and say, God, why am I having trouble getting hold of you? Why am I having trouble locking into the things that I know that this should be a joy? And many times we do wrestle with that. Also it is Testament Tuesday so be sure to hang around for later in the program. We're gonna be sharing a scripture with you and it has to do with this entire subject matter of prayer and talk to the Lord. Yeah, it really is just such a precious gift that we have that the God of the universe who's over all things loves us so much and invites us into that intimate personal conversation. Yeah, absolutely. Well, we're gonna take a quick break and then we'll be back with Addison Bavir and Words with God. Hope happens here at Cornerstone Television. All this month we're offering a joy-filled DVD, Christmas with the Chosen, The Messengers for your best gift to the ministry. Gather around the manger with loved ones and experience the first Christmas through the eyes of Mary and Joseph. Follow the young couple as they take the long road to Bethlehem and prepare for Jesus' birth. Plus enjoy an extraordinary lineup of musicians performing both new and classic Christmas songs from the set of The Chosen, such as Phil Wickham, Brandon Lake, Maverick City Music, Cain and many others. Thank you for your generosity that makes the ministry of Cornerstone Television possible. Request your Christmas with The Chosen DVD when you give this month. Call<PHONE_NUMBER> or give online at ctvn.org slash donate. From all of us here, we wish you a very Merry Christmas. We all know we should pray, right? I mean, it'll be good for us. It'll help us be more grounded, more connected to God. But you know what I'm gonna say next in our hurried lives, slowing down to pray can feel like a cosmic waste of time to our prayers even matter. What if anything happens when we pray? Are we having Words with God or just Words with Ourself? Well, joining us now is Addison Vavir with the book, Words with God. He's the CEO of Messenger International, a discipleship organization that impacts millions of people. Addison, welcome to Hope Today. Thank you, Tom. It's good to be on here with y'all. Well, I have to tell you, this is hitting right at the heart of where I think a lot of us are when we pray. You know, I've got my prayer list. I've got things I've written down there, things I pray for all the time, things that are current. You know, and it can seem like a chore to go through that or to pray to God, take times. Why is prayer like that? And what has God shown you about that whole process? Yeah. Well, when I dove into this and I started working on this book and having conversations with different people, I realized that a lot of people's experience with prayer was very similar to my own. I constantly felt like I was missing it when it came to prayer. I never felt like I was doing it right or I was doing it enough. And as I've told people, I find that virtually everyone brings some sense of shame or guilt or condemnation into their prayer life. They begin their times of prayer, feeling like they haven't prayed enough, that they aren't worthy to enter into this conversation with God, to engage with Him. And so they struggle to have words with God. And the book has, the title of the book has that dual meaning, words with God. How do we actually have words with God? Is there a right ways or a right method? And also, how do we have words with God when we're frustrated with what prayer is and how it's worked in our life and our understanding of prayer? And so I tackled both of those questions in this book and I have found that in that practice, everything meaningful in life converges at the intersection of prayer. It's not just this place of transaction. It's not a formula for us to figure out. It's actually the most intimate place of transformation. So that's a bit of the journey. And I have found that as I've talked to people, when I reframe what prayer is, they start to see that so much of their life belongs to prayer and is a part of prayer. And that changes how they engage with God. Yeah, you know, I think all of us have said, okay, he knows what I need. He even says he knows what I need before we ask. Why do I have to go to prayer in him? But you've already touched on that briefly that it's a transformative time, the most transformative time. Could you speak a little more deeply into that? Yeah, absolutely. Again, we have this idea of prayer as a transaction. It's another thing on the list, but I argue, even if we're talking about spiritual disciplines, I would say that prayer is the discipline that infuses all of them. I don't think it belongs in its own category apart from the other spiritual disciplines. I think it is the life force that we bring into every part of our lives. This is why Paul says things in 1st Thessalonians 5 Romans 12, like pray without ceasing. So if prayer is something that we're to do without ceasing, then obviously our idea of prayer has to be fundamentally flawed when we reduce it to just something that we do when we go to God and we ask for things. But for a lot of us, we measure the effectiveness of our prayers on this basis. I asked God for something in prayer and he responded the way I wanted him to or believed he should. And so prayer works. And the truth is, and we see this all through our scripture, we see this promise that God is a good God and he responds to us in prayer based on what is best for us, based on what we need. And we see this amazing promise in scripture that if we ask for bread, he's not going to give us a stone. Well, the converse is also true. If we think we're asked for bread or we're actually asking for a stone, he prepares us and teaches us what it is to ask for bread so we can learn what it is to receive from him what is highest and best. Addison, one thing that I very much appreciated about your book was your talk about disappointment with God when there are prayers that are unanswered, even the hard feeling of feeling betrayed by God. Can you share a bit of your personal experience with those feelings and what do we do when we hit those feelings? Yeah, absolutely. And I talk about this in the book, but I went through a period of five years where I navigated insomnia and anxiety, specifically in the evening. I would struggle to sleep. A good night of sleep for me was three, four hours. And I was doing everything I knew to do. I was checking all the boxes, if you will, but it seemed like God was completely checked out in my life. It felt like the tangible presence of God, His goodness, His faithfulness, the evidence of His goodness and His faithfulness was nowhere to be seen in my life. And I learned in that season something so profound that we can't really know how faithful and how good God is until life has given us a reason to doubt His faithfulness. And I learned also in that season that peace isn't having all of the answers. I wanted to have all of the answers, and I would trade this peace at night, which the night actually belongs to God. It's the first movement of the day, and it's a time of rest and trust. And I was trading that time to get some grasp of control in my life. And through that journey, I found some powerful prayers. One in particular, Psalm 22, where Jesus borrows these words. He borrows these words from David on the cross. And he says, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? And I learned something in this season. When we get real with God, God has a way of becoming real to us. And I love how a part of the human experience that every single one of us has to navigate, Jesus modeled on the cross. And that is the belief. Every single person has to navigate this. And I believe it is the greatest temptation that we have to go through, that we have to navigate the belief that God has abandoned us. And in that journey of navigating that belief, we let go of these old ideas of God and prayer and life and purpose that put us in control, that make us the captains of our faith. We trade that and we discover a relationship, a promise, a goodness, a presence of God that energizes and infuses our life in every season, regardless of what we go through. Because if you look at Psalm 22, later the Psalmist says, you do not abandon the affliction and they're afflicted, nor do you turn your face from them. And so when we move through that, it's almost like a rite of passage. We think that God is rejecting us, the silence, the disorientation, the disillusionment that we move through. We think it's a rejection, but it's awesome. It's actually an invitation to rediscover God as He is to let go of those parts of us that we think are ugly and scary and that God doesn't want to move in and move through, to let go of those and invite Him in every part of our fear of anxiety, of our concern, of our disorientation and see how He meets us in those moments. I love that. I love the transformative power of getting to know God. Let's talk about that a little bit, because you spend a part of the time in the book talking about how we see God. You know, the Bible talks about us seeing through a glass of darkly, and I feel that way sometimes, where I'm kind of like trying to see God how He really is. What has God shown you about seeing Him the way He is? Yeah, well, we think very highly of our sight, right? People say, if I see it, then I'll believe it. And that's understandable, but when we even think about how vision works, all of us see the world through distorted lens. We do. Like, I think of people like my dad, who's colorblind, right? Like, he doesn't see the world as it is. He sees the world as He is. So, he's engaging with the world as He is, not engaging with the world as it is.  And if you look at Scripture, there's so much in Scripture about the mind being renewed, about the eyes of our understanding. And this became so real for me. When I had cataract surgery, when I was around 30 years old, I had cataract surgery, and I was bored with the cataract. So, my entire life, I saw the world through a fog lens. And when I was 30, they cut out the lens and they put in a new lens. And I went through multiple procedures. There were some complications. And after four procedures, the world still looked the same. When I looked through my right eye, the world still looked like it was behind a fog. And I was sitting with the doctor, with the surgeon. I'm like, doctor, what's going on? Like, I've had four procedures. Why does it still look like I'm viewing the world through a fog lens? And he told me, he said, Addison, I can't make your lens any clearer than what it is.   Wow, prayer, so much about what prayer is, is changing the way we see and engage with the world, which transforms us, which allows us to see and engage with the world differently. And there's, again, there's so much in Scripture about that, but we have to first acknowledge the fact that we don't see everything as it is. And that positions us in a place of humility, to receive grace, and grace is the power to see things differently, to feel things differently, to do things differently, because it's a gift from God. It's the infusion of the divine. And when we receive that, then we start to see the things that we previously couldn't see and do the things that we previously couldn't do. This is such a powerful concept, because naturally, as humans, we are so selfish and we have to deal with pride every single day. And we, you talk in your book about how we build our own kingdoms and how we need to, you said about, we get so comfortable with our own kingdoms and forget what God's kingdom is all about. Can you unpack that? Yeah, I mean, we live in a world of platform and kingdom and empire, whatever language you want to use. And so it's tempting to build our kingdoms to validate ourselves, to validate our positions. And the reality is the way of Jesus and the model of prayer, like Jesus is the king of kings, because his model of leadership empowers and enables many kings, many queens. I mean, it's a beautiful model of leadership. I love the poem in Philippians too, where it talks about how he, as the greatest, stooped the lowest, and by doing so, he has elevated sons and daughters, fellow brothers and sisters to be partakers of his kingdom, to understand the ways of his kingdom. But this is accessed in the place of prayer and what I would call like complete prayer, immersive prayer, or integrative prayer. And the truth is we, so many of us, we think we're only building his kingdom or building for the kingdom when we're at church on Sunday or Bible study or when we're reading the Bible in the morning or whatever, the kingdom practice or religious practice may hold. But the great news of Scripture and the kingdom of God is that this kingdom is flooding into every part of our lives. And that's where there's power. That's where there's meaning. It's in the mundane. It's in the everyday. And that's why prayer has to move outside of the closet, if you will. Yes, it belongs in the closet, but also to move outside of the closet into every part of our lives, because that's where we do life. That's where the spirit of God is waiting to reveal things to us about ourselves, about others, about purpose that reveal the reality of his kingdom. And if we look at the metanarrative of Scripture, the story that the Scripture is telling, it's not the story about how we die one day and go to heaven and be with God. It's actually a story of how God comes to dwell with us and to make our home, our lives, and ultimately this earth, his habitation. And that's an amazing promise in manual God with us. So when we embrace this reality of the kingdom, this idea of the kingdom, we start to see how every single part of our lives, even the most mundane parts of our lives, is full of purpose and opportunity. So, Addison, what's it been like for you? What is prayer like now? Now that you've written a book, you've had a Lord download a lot of wisdom and I highly recommend the book, Words with God. But what's it been like for you now in that prayer relationship? Yeah, I mean prayer has honestly, so much of my life I view as a prayer now. And that's been the most transformative part of this. I think we make the mistake of reducing prayer to just a small part of what prayer is. Because there is a transactional component to prayer, where we ask for thanks, we receive things, and that energizes our prayer life to be certain. But there's a robustness to prayer, that as I was saying, belongs in the nooks and the crannies of our lives. And it's not us moving our mouths, it's us being quiet and sensitive and practicing rest. Even if you look at 1 Thessalonians 517, where Paul makes a statement of prayer without ceasing, y'all hear that, you're probably like, that sounds like a terrible chore. Like how in the world do I pray without ceasing? I can't do anything without ceasing. Well, it's actually a posture of rest. Pray without ceasing can be translated, pray from this place of constant rest, of hearing, of receiving. So we can be delivered from the frantic inaction that defines our day, where people are running to and fro. They always feel like they're behind. They never feel like they have the right answers. They never feel like they're good enough. And if you look at what the writer of Hebrews says about prayer and connection with God, so much of what it takes to connect with God is actually confidence and assurance that we belong in that place of prayer, that God wants to speak to us, that God wants to give us good things, that God is going to transform our lives even in the midst of suffering and pain, there is promise, there is goodness. And when we start to understand that, we see more of our lives as a territory of prayer. And I would say that's been the most transformative part of my journey is seeing more and more of my life as belonging to prayer. And I had a pastor reach out to me after he read this book and he had been pastoring for 20 years. And he said, I've read so many books on prayer. He said, I've never read a book that made me feel better about my prayer life, like that I'm actually doing more than I realize I'm doing while at the same time challenged me to pray more than I ever thought was possible. And I've had people reach out to me in their 60s, 70s, 80s telling me like, I've been following Jesus for 40 to 50 years. I've never understood this whole prayer thing. I've tried, I've read the books that offer the formulas, nothing worked. Now I'm reading this and I understand what it is to walk with God, to have prayer become a way of life and not just another thing on the list, but the thing that energizes the whole list. And that has been my passion with this because I do believe we're all to embrace prayer as a way of life and not just another thing to do. Yeah, I love it when in the book you say, if communion is available to us, let's not be satisfied with communication. And I love that. Would you pray for our viewers right now, those that are watching and say, boy, this sounds good. I would love to know God this way. Would you just pray for those that are watching? Absolutely. God, I thank you that when it comes to prayer, you are the hero of prayer. We don't have to be the hero because we don't have to be the hero. We're not the villain. We get to be a participant. And so God, right now we say, hey, we open our lives to you, to your grace, to your spirit, to your work. We repent, Lord, for making prayer another work of the flesh. We want our prayers to be energized by your spirit. We ask God that you would take domain of every part of our lives, that you would help us and teach us the rhythms of rest and silence so that we can hear that still small voice so that we can unlearn the voice of the accuser and we can recognize how you speak to us and those tender moments of our lives and those everyday moments of our lives. Spirit of God, I pray that those places of condemnation and guilt and shame, I pray that you would shed your light on those places in us, God. Those places that we've tried to hide from you, I pray that we would realize that those are the points of a connection, of an intimacy, of a promise, of a knowing that we never thought was possible. I pray, God, that you would give every single person listening to the sound of my voice. I pray that you would give them the boldness and the tenacity and the audacity to cry out to you in prayer, to ask for the impossible, to seek you in every place that you can be found, and to know that you are a good God who desires to meet them in every moment of their day. In Jesus' name, amen. Amen. The book is called Words With God, Trading Boring Empty Prayer for Real Connection, Addison Bevere. Thank you so much for being with us today. Thank you, Tom. Thank you, Anna. It's great being with you all. What a powerful conversation with Addison Bevere about prayer. And I would imagine that something in there stuck with your heart. And so we want to just continue to unpack talking about prayer. What does the Bible say about prayer? And so our scripture today comes from Romans 8, 26, and 27. And it says this, And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don't know what God wants us to pray for, but the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God's own will. You know, I was thinking about this scripture as just preparing for the show today. And the words from this scripture that I love so much is groaning. Like it talks about groanings. And just thinking about those of you at home who are, your spirit is in anguish. Like your soul is in anguish.  Maybe you feel like you've prayed out all your words. You've prayed out everything that you can think of. And yet the circumstances of life are staying the same. Know that in those dark moments in that deep anguish of soul that the Holy Spirit is pleading for you on your behalf, pleading to the Father to come and to comfort you and give you exactly what you need. And Tom, I was just, I was thinking about how Addison said oftentimes we don't see the world like God sees the world. We see the world as we are. And so that time in prayer when we're just sitting in God's presence it allows the Holy Spirit to work in us, God to work in us to change our perspective. I think it's very common that we would just see through our own eyes when we really need to see through God's eyes. It's such an important part. But I want to pick up on that word groaning as well, Anna. And that is that I don't know when the last time you groaned was. It's something that requires your entire body. Groaning is not like, it's not an owie. Groaning is your whole body just under the weight of something. It can be a physical thing. It can be an emotional thing. It can be a spiritual thing. But it's requiring everything of us. And I think that is a key word for us. You know, when I used to early in my life I thought that maybe this was speaking of like speaking in tongues or something, groaning is too deep for words. I don't think so, even though I believe in that gift to believe that that's part of a Christian's life today. But it's something beyond that. It's something else. It's something of our entire being just throwing ourselves down and saying, God, I can't do anything here. I can't do anything. I need you. I need to see, help me to see the situation as you see it, but be the person and the strength that I need. In fact, I want to read that a little bit of that same verse out of the Passion translation. It says, And in a similar way, the Holy Spirit takes hold of us in our human frailty to empower us in our weakness. The Kingdom of Heaven is built upside down, Anna. It's when we are weak, he is strong. We're strong when we're weak because it's his strength. Yeah. You know, I was an illustration that came to mind was just how when a person is... So I sat with this young woman very recently and she went through just a very heartbreaking situation and she was groaning. And you know what she did? She went to her father and she just sat in her father's presence and you know what he did? He's wrapped his arms around her and he wept over her because he had such compassion for her suffering, such compassion for her anguish of heart.  His compassion never fails. It is so great and it covers over you. And today I just, I want you to know that God wants to show himself to you even when maybe you feel like he's not listening, like you're not seeing answers to your prayers, you know, our feelings shift and change, but God never changes. And so this day, remember that God is good, that God loves you fiercely, that in your waiting, in your confusion, in your darkness, God is working and he promises to work all things for your good and for his glory. Prayer, no matter how you're feeling, he just invites you to come into his throne of grace, into his presence, where he can empower you, lift you up, make you strong and set you on the path for his glory.


Asking you. Symbol zimbok question. Ya ni, ni. Nimstarigani yu shayi rusha manze hadia yu muñeoka. Ya, ya, ya. Alta maybe you kind of kwa ogatena because you're so fresh. Like just let us know. Ni line gani. Shayi peana. Eh? Muñe atoka jibaya sanitiza. Like I got this. I'm so cool. I'm so very cool. Hashtag is a social for Friday. So muona guesta kini tyeka just previously. And he looks nice. So let's talk to him and find out what his name is. Hi. How are you? I'm good. I'm fine. Thank you. Bro, me puga loko, you look nice. Ni kujaribu. Twatani na namdameta apu ewe? I'm too chacha. Ni kitina marimete. To chorrem up. Two neza chorama. Onakuita nani. Ok, mi na julika na kama willa boy. Eki ehila willa. Eki ehkil a boy. Wait, wait, wait, wait. Why are we killing somebody? Amatuna. Kusimani bad is good. Kusimani mazisha ni kitupoa. So are you killing somebody for real? Or... Mi sastami na uwa na ekil. Alastu na mu na apelika mazisha. Eh. Hei. To taku eza. To tapu muwa. I don't know if we can do this. Ok. So I've also piped your Instagram page and you'll let us know how to find you. But before that, ni me ku peipi na uwi kwananyota boy Mali. Ya, ya, ya. Kwanani ni ma bro? We like brothers because we hang out a lot. Tuna fanyamziki piya pa moja. Tuna tumi studio moja. So that's how we got to meet each other. Katia Ungem na kibrem li patana wabi. How? One studio. We record that. Touchdown records. It is in umoja. Eh. So, ya. Ok. I was thinking geography but clearly no. So to li patana wuko. Onajiwa kweniki tu poa ikondom na hendea na wuko mitakutana yengi sana. Ok. Ok, ok. Alright. Choosing kwa atende umo. Enya ni ma na witu poa. See, aikuwa studio. But ni li na witu poa. Ya. Hashtag social Friday. I can go mako. Dadimbo na ni moviea pombeli. What are you trying to tell us? In the beginning? Dila. Dila basically, it's part of my story. Mi kakugro kibra palivo. Ni hard life. Ni gangster life. What hard life? You have so face. Mabia is chosen at wambia when you know. But you have so face. What hard life have you eaten? Nikukulatu matu wunda. Ah, ah. Tomato. Zaki na nani. Laki ni mimisa. Geto ukonda ni kabisa. Doka kibra katikati aso weto na katikera. So ya. Apun do kajana toka. And life ya geto seiti na honga. Easy that way. So mi, diyo kweyongoma na jitamista Dila. Na jaribu kutel story na happen apu geto. Na jaribu kutel street life. Badu na jaribu kule taili wu badnesia hi, papa ponda anyu na shik. Ya. Okay. Kwa TV, kunaizi advazeniazu kwa zawatu Africa. You know? Those African children as if destitute. Kwanza, I don't know why there's always a fly somewhere. Kuna kanzi tuka na zinpapu kwanza kapua. Alofu katoi kakuraka kumizma kumizi apu. Alofu wana liya. That's kind of the outside, you know, portrayal of Africa. Amma, you know, developing countries. Ni wukweli? Sisi tuki wafrika tuno na si wukweli. Of which si wukweli. It's true. Ya. Wasa wana fanyabitu kezo, probably wana jaribu kubenefit for me tuno wana. So, awa kutuna niya zawze niya siya. Tugi batsitu kofiti tuna ishi fiti. Ya. So, niya wana ishi fiti, nakatapua. Ni grecia god manze. Grecia ni where is. Role, me bling, adiu kondani, mali wu me pizza. Sisi tunze, ala. Amanda roi, me pepe tepua. Ni wana ni batsara, ni waji hape it. Bombo clats. Bombo clats. Assumes, deyanda geto. Assume, Assume ni metoka deyamerokans. And by the way, what in the world is happening in the States. Sasa nini, muneanda kapito heo kufa ni ni, alafu sasa. What? Anyway, that's your problem, not mine. I don't miss money. I'm so passionate. Assume ni jai enda geto. Eh, so, me metoka amerokans. And I'm mousi, but I'm mousi. Ha, ha, ha. Pain for me a picture. Geto ni kaji. Geto, geto ni plesing ni na fiti. Geto ni plesi, fila ni wneza kondekti, nakilamu tu. Geto ni plesi, waso nasa idiana. Geto ni plesi, kuna edukation as much as tu konaeo pictureitu ko watu apendi, shoeless jini ni. Geto ni na tua master, geto ni na tua atama, daktari. Like, geto ni plesi wneza patakila kitu. Kutoka geto imanisha iti, iti, life ya kutu niivo ina saka mani ini. Una pata, waso yungi okopali, gestuyeshona, yon de kitu wneza manage for na onona. But for me, geto imani fundisha, mani fundisha witu mob, personalin kiyongi ya from my experience, mani fundisha konekna ase, mani fundisha kukua humble, mani fundisha kutekius of any opportunity, mani fundisha kukua way harder, ya witu kaiso. So, me kukua pali geto, nili land witu positive, more than negative. Ya. Ya. Na karejment wneza piawa se. Ya. Uzi, usi stoke tu kiaibu eti ya uko, utaibu amani. Like, ato, ono kiyanda isi. Uzi, usi, wneza piawa, mani fundisha kukua wneza kakawati, umangani. So, yon mini fundisha kukua wneza kajal, kakawati. Mani fundisha kukua wneza kajal. Ya. Uzi, uzi, uzi, uzi, uzi, uzi, uzi, uzi, uzi, uzi, yon namata, mani fundisha kukua wneza. Uzi, uzi, uzi, uzi, Hey, na, we'll take a seat na mimi aike. I need constant help with this. Yes, sasa, kuna bib fladi ime ndiko apo ati mademageto. Sasa, sura ni aike. Lakinia. kuna wig. And I thought I was very unfair. Nukweli, I don't think so. Ah, he, he am mimi. I really don't think so, but it just happened. Yes, I'm sure his mims now are coming out to the kitchen. Dedichei aika butylan inzwa. Do you know anything about Kenya is my proud of my progress Kenya is the place I grew up in The place I came from is the tuqafo I have never visited Is there anyone Ateze kia kata? Na jo three aya mingia mihestre mihestre Kim Chezo?  Seti wokovunilecana, na mima badlyo mia wokok ambasana I like that Laka inisha sowa na jubado Tuna pgei Natakani kumlexi ni wangelai fiyangu vifitu Fufu icha na akinia na zatoa name suanapu evo ya na skia kumbe oni angusia ya misteri ovo iti paizi weitu na orliza kwa social media ito mi misteri gani usia angusia mani kaka toto hadi mone wu kaji hadin devu skanda kumia kido wapu apu kwa apu mi ito nisha hi katia umutukwere ah it's kupimaring, it's me don't do it ah ah but kuna moja na kumbu wukatu nisha iskia umutua kitumia mahal wasal kunakwa gari iti sa actually unangyoua pick up line un well nifunguera umana nifungueni riisha ah yeah nifUNGUERU Every fine moment I'll do it thank you for your time na nyota baulini hepa you will email your misteri hashtag iso social icra na uko karibu you are the Ponzi Sarp I am a loner I am a loner you cover your ears hustikas visualize scheduled flights and Hey, I have a question but first I will be asking... Next is the Freestyle, no 2, we are at the peak of Muaga Street What is this that you keep pouring? Please let us know, the hashtag is social Friday You should go to Freestyle Dream Chess Aha Pasikosto, we are talking about daily looking up to Makaveli We have been waiting for my film Wana ni gojachini do the higher I am getting, nile veji, yo ladanda ni game, ni shea steppin I make it hot, keep the old place sweating, ay, lost and low did the dyno I'm crazy for the music and I know, never got a hand and I never got a chance did the dyno Feeling the heat, I'm a man like Tyson, I bring what don't turn a whiz on either psycho Hope you ready for some unsteady attacking Nime kunjasura budo jingasi takii, karma dogs, I'm a buck, they are backing I see you in your metaphor, told you what you're better for Rap God is in me or the one up in heaven How I'm sure in rhymes call me AK-47, Kasswa, zona minima Manda nil this scene like a killer on a scene We are so jee, we are so so jee Is it true, okay, I have heard that there's some artists when you wanna za kumbuka The first thing they've ever written, the first ever thing And since kwa Instagramia ko uli chocha, you listen to yourself all day Mama see me, see where we, see where we Niza kumbuka kitu ya gospel kumandika back way back when Niza kumbuka mistia givangu za gospel Nive So kora zil kumifanyona deun flani apu Ail kumistia kumbasa ana Shara tuha, anitua luna mure Yoko me piwa nabuiz flani piya yo kora zanitua nik Ya So utapigia kora zna, nihonje shetu Yil kwenenda, when the night get long Ah, there will never get a long When the night never end Remember Garafen, Jesus is the start and the end Yo Temptation like tsunami destroy in the end Yesu yukonami ni me back from the past All I did was begging, all I did was dragging Living in the darkness, blackness I never saw the light, meaning no sight And Lord for the causes, bless me Lord when I'm naked, dress me We gotta move forward, warmth in the enemy Heaven is the destiny Christ is the family, the true shining light Every war and a fight Forget about the passion I'm sick of passion Aponi rutsungu, full Gospel inaku javezuu inaku zungu wa matunii Paana sasuna jwa Bile inaku vegetati Bile rawamungu anaku tabiri yaibono yaibono Ako naku edit Baki ni days man, niku anampiga, Gospel abaia I like that Would you be offended if when they play As they introduce you, they start playing songs of Kitambo na wusha, maybe to say wusha changed genre, loosely translated. She has a feel offended kwa sababu, yote ni creativity yangu at the end of the day, ya na ikifika place, wanta hui chesu, sinikazi yangu. Eimi li kwa fikiya wase, so kaita fikiya wase, in every way misawa, I don't mind. I like that. I like the visuals for your new video, very much. I have a favorite part. Nikwa mbe, I think that's how I'm for sure. But kuna msi mwigi na pwa metu asha atia lafu kana fani e di. I don't know who told you to put that in the video, but only Fikiri hadana. Hey!  Ata simoni surabu. Wa mbe zum. Wa mbe zum to place na. Inna songa it's like, I might do it, just offend someone, so let me just relax. Na tu hangu wa govum, mazari ma kodi. Eje wa konangubu. I don't know who told you to put that in the video, but it's Fikiri. Wa api. I don't know who told you to put that in the video. Inna Fikiri wa wa api? Pali, inna Fikiri. Tuna pima na set. It's okay. It's alright. Is your music about... Okay, actually rephrase e kitu, because ghettos are different in all parts of the world. Sisi uku, ni tofoutia ghettoya, kina merukano, kina jameka. Wasi wengi, wana konga na nolidia gheto, batawa na nolidia slamsa, mi ni konazote. Wow, what's the difference? Cos kibra, besaid bing a gheto, ni slam. What's the difference? Gheto, wana tiki place, semi place ka pipe line, wana matsemi place ka umo. Paipun meskia ufaek wachandulandze. Amatsemi place, kama api. Wana pata ni gheto, in such a way that, wana jwa slam ni place, tu ni shoddi na katu, place wana wana, numbatu ziko mato, paima za babati. Ni ni place tu, wana se wana, wakana low standards zaku, zaki maisha ni kumfuko. But gheto wana pata ni, gheto ni zako place, semi tu yate umo ni gheto, place ka paipun ni gheto, place kama... Iskiz na ito Bartlands. Kabete. Kabete yucha. Slam ni wakapu, kama madare slams, wakanda ni, wana pata ni, nili noma ni. Nili noma. So, is it all about violence? Paima. Wuku evo manzeata, kama ni violence, wami kwa influenced, wami kwa catalyzed na kidu. Catalyzed? Laki ni ilusungu ya kone mengi. No, no, no, are you sure you are correct? We are rutsungu, isn't it? In saywezi am katruasubu, wanzi tufungu na, anasimu na nanganao kila seiku. Lazi mo kumetu umo. But apart rei niwana, zi shanga sei niwana metokia izomta. Ya ya? Niyawasa kuka mostpobabili. Juhu ni meski ya kwingine, sejiweki doko, doko ucheze bbawneza, geuza kichungi. And for very long times, kuna join. Kwa shaka, kichungi, nidi chungi. Ni magic trick. Eh, what? Wana geuza kichungi, ni magic trick. Ombo class. And he saved the style. I am a little, a little afraid, a little. Okay. So unatikaniina 2021, what do you have planned? 2021, wanzi na takikwe tu, aia of mobs, man. Ya. Ni kuna plans mobs, ana, so umo na jeminim se, na kula music na oga music, na ota music, na rala music. So na takikwe tu, ni ya ya music wanzi. Progress after progress, wanzi na tumiyanzatwewewe, isomgeki endakura. My favorite thing about it is that, mo collabos, meni nini, mo collabos piya kazi taga. Eh. Tuna piya tu shugli ani. Kwanza ni, ni ambi kulabum. Ocha, nini naiva. I know there's something going on. Sini nimi? Kulabui naiva. Kulabui naiva. Nini nimi naiva. Daki ni sawa. I understand the need for sustains. Tosa piya na nimi, mitanzo kutulia pa kiki. Just to promote a song. Mini kama rap artist, atu nangatemi kiki. So utani fanya kama irikomondi, wanzi kuwa, alafundu ni ambi ni songina. Uku, we don't do that. We don't do that. We don't do that. Ki wakanda. Uku ni kungo way hard, ni kungo kingangster. Izo ni was socialite. Aya? Sorry. Mini kwa socialite. Mini rap artist, nimi zeki tu. I respect that. My favourite thing about what you said was progress. Often we want perfection immediately. Tansha kuwa muka, tuwa ni kitu pa, alafu hit, pa iwoto. But I like what you said, progress. What does progress mean to you? Progress means to you. Yama ana sana like. Atando when you come up on a progress, ina take patience. Wezi ya muka tui viti, wukaku wa wukahapeno na. Una groh. Una groh na new believe. Atu isi daily, tiku baki desem. Iyo lazima basi, kuna kitu run na muntuma alika, wuna isi ku baki desem. Mena isi isi ku baki desem. Progress ni kena take time. Wasengia wana juwa, wasengia wana ku inspired, wana patamsia, wana imba, epe anta kaku imba. Ana chokia kwaji ya. Nanda ni piolia muka tuwa subi wukanza ku imba. Epe itaji. Manze, ikitu na itaji time. Manze piya ku humble. Manze piya ku focus. Ujitu me tu. Manze taku itaku. Ata isi poji patwendele atu? Ujitu me. Kama mi kiviangusa it's too late to give up. Nigi give up ki tambo. I like that, it's too late. It's too late to give up. So acha ni pigi tuende na watuki enda. Kanu ku give up, nigi give up ki tambo uko wubu ni liwa na. Acha ni achi a perform tu. So acha ni achi a perform tu. Manze mi areskwa na jwe niwa. Na jwe tu fellow students. Kama ni relationship. Kama ni give up uko. So it's too late to give up. I like that. Okay. Niliulizanya utabue who inspires him.  So who inspires you? I mean atu inspiration places mob. Locali ni zasema misekama okto, wakadinali, calligraph, breeder, kuna ama rapa, kumaki tambo nil kwa na skizestien sana. Hey. Kuna, kuna joa lkwa na pigia wa buzz. Ha wa tesa. Hey. Ha say, kuna kina Silverstone buzz bade. Yeah. Alas, atu kibonga internationally. Nga gali aseka kina Nekumiru. Nga gali aseka kuma kina J.K.O. Nga gali aseka kina Rody. Apoko J.K.O. Nga gali aseka kina Da Baby. Yani wa sana ito ni kibao kina Kendrick. Yani listia zinsha. Lava, hey. Ok, ok. Wa sana pigiatu witu zakwe li witu zina. Ha joa, miim say na penda conscious rap sana. So ezi mama mbling na skizatu kidongo tu ya ni. That's out of curiosity. Do you like reggae? Kwa conscious music ni kazi ni reggae? Achana wa mi na skiza reggae. Nga ipeyenda. Kwa sababu geto kitu na jizu sana ni reggae. Una groki skiza, upenda usi pende. Ah, ok. Sosa reggae, reggae na penda na skiza. Laki ni sasa miimi, manzi hipopo day. Si usupo mojo tu stuwa mualai. Do something, mix something there, lafutu kujesu sana dizeni ako. Kweli. Walae, take it. Nisa, naji payo challenge. Nantakwata, ni kukaira dance. Nisi nisa ho? Nantakwata, nifani Fristalia Mwisho, please. Fristalia Mwisho? Ya. Ah, ya sama bola, nasi jatoka runda, uki tiki maik klans utasima ni mitumba. Kama matunda ni kofresh ni kopowa, ki dolecha gumba. Wili na feel, hima ikunjuna kumba. Kama ni waroro, weli tani ta uma. Ah, kama demo shani book, nili false sik, ni kala zonda niyabut. Na wili ni na spit, neza sema kuna truth. Very sorry, babaya, okos gone is your youth. And I've seen the reaction. Wili wana spy wami tu muwanam passion. The way they look at me, wana penda my passion, ni feel listen to my music, utasima he ni passion. Ah, I got a vision to fulfill my mission. And a mission to fulfill my vision. I kick them with kawate Bruce Lee, I'm not bragging. Back from the future, we realize they are lagging wana speed. Kama nyoka in his place, I'm the dragon. Will a boy? Hmm. Ya. Apokwa, babaya. Did you know, guys? Excuse me, do you know that it was Baba's birthday yesterday? Happy birthday once again, Baba. Friday me fika. Sushto le tukka fiyuskum oja. Tush pigeshe reheve yena fa. I mean it is your birthday. Come on. Hashtag social priority. Don't go anywhere. We are going to serve you his new track. And also please do keep in mind at your time in Endakwishake. I don't know why time goes like this when we're having fun. Anyway, tkuna suali we're asking you on our socials once again is ni nila ni ganyu siyam go siyam tu hadi monewe. Ya. Kukenda kwa mbe ya boys. Nambu na muna kwa nga na meeting mikisha toka kwa dem as in kuku interact na dem. Meeting. Don't misunderstand me. Hey! Ujonezu memes. Ah. Susana skeku chong ma. Chong ma. Skeku burn, man. Bawa cha tuni ni so metuken.


from our studios in the heart of Silicon Valley, Palo Alto, California, this is a CUBE Conversation. Okay, welcome back everyone. We're here at the CUBE Studios in Palo Alto for a special CUBE Conversation, talking security, talking about the internet and cloud computing. Martin Bosshart is the CEO of Open Systems. Martin, great to see you. Last time we chatted was in December, you were in Vegas, we had a little on the ground. Great to meet your team. Welcome back to theCUBE. Thank you so much. It's great to be here. So exciting things going on. We want to get a state of the open systems in the industry. Obviously, security's really a big thing. A lot of stuff going on in the industry. Black Hat, Def Con, Amazon had a big event called Reinforced, which is really kind of the first cloud security show, which brings the whole, your kind of value proposition to the table. But you guys have a new office here in Silicon Valley. I saw a video on the internet trending. Yeah. Pretty nice place to work. Give us the update on the current office and Silicon Valley presence. Yeah, we are really happy to be now here and US headquarters in Redwood City in Silicon Valley. So this really helps us also to be closer to the talents, to be closer to all the going to market activities and also to understand the market better. So it's really exciting to be here. And obviously also our, I mean, the people love to work here in Silicon Valley. Better is always great. Yeah. Well, that's always great. And the office has got that good, good working vibe there. Take a minute to explain open systems real quick for the folks not familiar with the videos we did in last December in Vegas with your team. Tell them what your company's value proposition is and some of the growth you're experiencing. Right. So open systems really is, is a, you know, we operate SDUN in a secure way for our customers. So it's really focusing on making a relatively complicated technology from operational point of view, very easy to consume for our customers. So this is, I think something we started more than 15 years ago in Europe. And I would say open systems is very much comparable or at least the going to market parties very much comparable to an organic form. So we have a wonderful ecosystems in Switzerland, especially in the financial services industry. And our customers just love the way we provided those services and told their neighbors and friends. And this is really how we grew on a global scale. Currently open systems is operating more than 180 countries, SDUN and security infrastructure for customers and we protect approximately 2.5 to 3 million end users globally. And when we started to enter the US market, we learned that the way we provide SDUN in a secure way really resonates a lot with the US market because we can make complex infrastructure, especially projects going to the cloud very easy to consume for our customers. So we are really exciting on the growth side right now. We grow super fast in the US. We have been very successful in latest customers. We won cameras, we won a KAMMIT. So you're winning a lot of business. Winning a lot of business. And what's exciting about it is those customers give us really very valuable feedback on the difference how we provide that service. It's really exciting. You know, Martin, I was observing and I am talking to your team in December when we first met you guys for the first time. And you just briefly touched on it on your description of the company's success. A lot of the early success and continued success has been word of mouth with the organic, not like big marketing splash in the pool, kind of like banging the drum hard although you're doing some marketing now but in being in the US. That word of mouth has been really a testament to the quality of the product. So I got to ask you, what are they happy about? What's the problem that you're solving? What's the big buzz? Why are they so excited to share to their peers and colleagues about open systems? What's the big revelation? Yeah, thank you for the credit. I think everybody goes to the cloud and what you really need is an SDU to access the cloud. What that also means for all those companies, they have to rethink their security posture. So if you add now all those products and then you try to operate those products, it turns out it's relatively complicated compared to an old school MPLS network we used to operate in the past. So this is really where open systems comes in and helps customers to operate that in a very easy way. So we integrate all those products needed to operate the global SDU in a secure way on a single delivery platform and that allows customers to consume that entire suite in a very, very easy way. I want to get your vision on the future of open systems. I know you guys call it secure SD-WAN. I'm a little bit more radical and controversial in the sense of I think SD-WAN is kind of past a term. I think it's really cloud connectivity work anywhere. People are working at home more than ever. Cloud computing is brought in essentially enterprise cloud we're calling it cloud 2.0 where it's not just public cloud and having workloads in there taking advantage of the greatest of cloud 1.0. It's enterprises, it's hybrid, it's multi-cloud. You're seeing a really a distributed computing, a networking problem and a security problem being at the center of this new work environment. Essentially people connected to something. It's cloud, right? I mean, that's called SD-WAN because it used to be an office, campus, remote office, very static, dynamic. You're absolutely right. I mean, this is really very, very old goes. Let's say a network was a network and it was very clear what a network does. Right now it's more like we want to just connect users to cloud services. And it's not so clear where those services are coming from and it's not so clear where those users are sitting, where you consume from and it results in a phenomenal opportunity to be much more agile, much more, much faster also to set up new services. But it also is a challenge for IT operations because you might have a group of users saying, well, this in this service doesn't work well. And now you have to debug. Why is it not performing? Why is in Germany maybe a service coming from the US not performing well? Or you have an IoT device suddenly not really collecting data in the right way. And this is really where SD-WAN becomes an orchestration layer. SD-WAN really helps you to orchestrate all those services and make sure you have the SLA available at all times everywhere. And also understand if it's not delivering right. And this is really where I believe yeah, we need new solutions to make this easy. Because of that. You know a lot of companies talk about digital transformation that becomes the office, the top CEO board conversation as transform be digital. But the underlying infrastructure which is very complex. We talk about distributed computing. You got networking, all these things in place. And old, new, all kind of mashed together with cloud. It's easy to say digital transformation but you're talking about digital transformation of the business on top of existing complex hardware which comes out to networking, moving packets from A to B, storing it on drives. And now you have people working at home. So you have people working globally. It's not that simple. No. It's complicated. It's not just the U.S. problem. It's like I have a team and an engineering team in the U.K., in Germany, wherever. So it's a global problem. Exactly. And also it's about how do you process all the data in an efficient way. And where we see a lot of innovation power released is right now in the cloud. It's really exciting how easy it gets to consume all that computing power out of the cloud. But you need to make sure it is available and you need to understand what is happening if it's not available and how to fix that. And this is really where I think networking became more demanding, more challenging but also obviously offers a tremendous opportunity for in a way. And I think the security industry has got much broader scope to it.  But when you think about like Cloud 2.0, Cloud 1.0 is compute storage, great applications can load up on the cloud, all this great stuff's happening, Ray, yeah, rah, rah. Now Cloud 2.0 is networking and security. Independent of everything, right? So what's your take on that? How is open systems helping companies? And what do you say to your customers when you say, hey, you know, compute networking, the storage is good, your cloud on premise, no problem, there's operating models for that, but you got networking and you got security to deal with on top of all the complexity. What's your story? I think the most important thing is, you know, we have to live with the fact that some devices, some tools are not secure. So I think IoT is a very good example. If you want to have all those sensors out there and be close to the customer, be close to some business processes, you need IoT. But it's just not possible to have these very cheap devices building a secure way. So it's a lot about how do you design a network to design it in a resilient, secure way. And that means that you have to think in zones, you have to think in compartments. And that makes it relatively easy secure again, but it is from operational point, if you're quite a challenge, because you do not operate anymore one network, you suddenly operate maybe any network. On that point, just to kind of wrap up here, the security challenge around IoT, machine learning and AI, which is clearly becoming part of the fabric of how companies are going to leverage that. Right. What are some of the big challenges that companies are having, and what do you do to solve them? You know, in the old network world, you had a network where everything was connected based on one network. So when you introduce SD-WAN and you introduce all these capabilities, it is very dangerous if you think just in the old school of one network, because suddenly you have IoT working on the same network as maybe your finance department, or you have productivity facilities working on the same network as your finance department. So it just doesn't make sense to have those very different functionalities on exactly the same network. Because if you have a compromised situation, you suddenly have your entire company compromised. And this is really where compartments become very, very important. I think this is also something you see in every industry, historically as well, that security and safety starts also with compartments. So if you think fire, fire security, it has a lot to do with fire compartments. That in case you have a fire, you don't lose the entire building. Or the same goes with ship building. I mean, Titanic was the last very big ship that sunk, but the reason was the compartments haven't been pressurized. A modern ship doesn't sink anymore. And I think this is really what we have to do now also in IoT. We have to think in compartments. We have to think in layers. And that's easy to do with SD-WAN, but it's not so easy to operate. Final question for you real quick. People talk about hybrid cloud, multi-cloud. That's the big conversation in this cloud 2.0. But you guys as being successful in outside the United States and now in the US, there's also a multi-geo environment. What should people think about when they kind of want to frame that debate or conversation? I'm a multinational, I'm operating in the US. Now I have regions, clouds have regions. There's also all kinds of now regulatory pressure coming across those areas. I would say around 2000 companies really started to globalize their value chains.  But if you want to be competitive, you have to globalize your value chain. So it doesn't make sense to produce everything in one place. Your product usually or your service is produced on a global scale. And that means that networks also have to help you to really produce that global value chain. But it means also that you are operating in different jurisdictions, in different regions, and you have to respect those different regulations and laws. And this is obviously then also a challenge for network operators because privacy in Germany is different than privacy in the US. Access rights are different. China is again very different. With all those multinationals, we operate in all those countries and we have to respect the local law. And provide the security they need. Exactly. Martin, thanks for coming in and sharing your insights. Appreciate it. Great to see you. We'll follow up with and keep track of the progress. Thanks for coming in. Thank you so much. Okay, I'm John Furrier here for CUBE Conversation with Palo Alto at theCUBE Studios. Thanks for watching.