Neighboring law enforcement agencies joined together in Bemidji today to help search and locate a 17-year-old missing boy, Jeremy Jordan. Our Josh Peterson was there as officers from all over the region came to help find the missing Cass Lake teenager. It has now been two weeks since 17-year-old Jeremy Jordan went missing after attending a Halloween party in the Nymore neighborhood of Bemidji. Law enforcement from five different counties were briefed and set out on foot, ATV and by helicopter in groups as part of an effort to make sure that nothing is overlooked. The prevailing theory is that he was looking to walk home and he selected a road some most direct route between the city of Bemidji and the city Cass Lake and our search efforts today are focusing on those areas specifically. At one point last week the Bemidji Police Department were looking into over 20 different tips however none of those tips has led officers to finding the missing teenager. So we spent a considerable amount of investigatory effort following up on all of those and at this point we've we've run out of tips coming from the public. For family and friends of Jeremy Jordan the past two weeks has been extremely difficult especially when there is only so much that a person can do. We're hanging in there we're you know we are getting tired you know it's every day every day going out with pretty much a core group of like probably 20. For Jeremy's family seeing a large response in turnout helps strengthen their hope. With law enforcement working alongside multiple other agencies the goal has always been the same to bring Jeremy home. There's so many areas that back there that we did cover and it's nice to have a double check though too. This multi-jurisdictional effort that also includes local tribal state and law enforcement agencies are searching areas that are considered likely areas Jordan could have traveled. Area residents are asked to keep checking their properties and any buildings that they have on it. In Bemidji I'm Josh Peterson, Lincoln News. Jordan is described as six foot four and one hundred and seventy five pounds with short dark brown hair and brown eyes. He was wearing a blue and gray hooded sweatshirt and light colored blue jeans. If you know of his whereabouts or of any information you asked to call the Bemidji Police Department. If you've enjoyed this segment of Lakeland News please consider making a tax deductible contribution to Lakeland Public Television.


Now that you would plow up the stony ground of their heart, that cold, dead, lifeless heart, or that you would indwell them with your spirit, now that you would bring them new life in Christ, that you would save their soul for your glory, for your worship, or that they might be with us in heaven. And we praise you in this, Lord, we praise you that your word, now the gospel is the power of God into salvation. We trust it, and we believe it, and you've changed us by it. God, continue to change us, or continue to conform us. We love you, Lord, and thank you for this time of studying your word together in Jesus' name. Amen. May be seated. Our sermon title is The Good Servant, The Good Servant, and we are in 1 Timothy chapter 4, and we've begun looking at this paragraph that runs from verse 6 through verse 11. And the first part really of a two-part section here, running all the way through verse 16, dealing with what are the characteristics of a good servant of Jesus Christ. And the Bible says in verse 6, as we study this paragraph together, that if you instruct the brethren in these things, you will be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished in the words of faith and of the good doctrine which you have carefully followed, but reject profane and old wives' fables, and exercise yourself toward godliness. For bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come. This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptance, for to this end we both labor and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God who is the Savior of all men, especially of those who believe. These things command and teach. And we are working again through 1 Timothy chapter 4, especially from verse 6 through 16 over the next several weeks, and we're working from that in 1 Timothy here, that defines what it means to be a good servant, a good servant of Jesus Christ. The word that you have there in your New King James, translated minister, is the word diaconos. It was the same word that was translated deacon in 1 Timothy chapter 3, when we looked at that passage. Here translated minister, a good way to think about that word is the word servant. This defines what it means to be a good servant. Now certainly there was good instruction for deacons in 1 Timothy chapter 3. There's good instruction here for Timothy as a pastor, good instruction here for all pastors, but make no mistake about it. There's good instruction for all of us in this. We're all to be good servants of the Lord Jesus Christ.  And we see the ultimate purpose for this in verse 16, where Paul says, take heed to yourself and to the doctrine. Continue in them, and here we see the purpose. For in doing this, you will save both yourself and those who hear you. And we know that salvation is fully of the Lord. It is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone that we're saved, that we're made right with the Holy God. Has nothing to do with your works. There's not one thing that you can add to your salvation. But now knowing that our faith is a working faith, what Paul is saying here is that in doing these things and exercising yourself toward godliness, in taking heed and to your doctrine, you are confirming that you are genuinely saved. It's the fruits of faith and those fruits of faith the Lord uses as a means of effectively saving someone else. It is through the spread of the gospel, through preaching that people are saved. So you can save both yourself and that sense and those who hear you. You must take care of yourself first.  You must take care of yourself first. You can't be of any use to your family. You can't be of any use to your spouse. You can't be of any use to your kids. You can't be of any use to co-workers, to neighbors, to loved ones. You can't be of any use to the Lord unless you are first going to take heed to yourself and to your doctrine and continue in them and carefully follow them and exercise yourself toward godliness. Otherwise, if you don't do those things, you are worthless to the kingdom of God.  You must take heed to yourself and to the doctrine here taking care of yourself first. In that sense, you must make your own spiritual health, your own spiritual maturity, your growth in the Lord that has to be a priority to you. You must value that in your own life so that you can be useful to the Lord. Number one, in verse 16, so that you can save yourself in that sense, but number two, so that you can save those who hear you so that you can be effectively used for the Lord. We saw that the first priority that Paul gives us in verse 6 is that that must include a regimen, as we've talked about, of diet and exercise. Think that way. If you want to be a good servant of the Lord Jesus Christ, it's going to take diet and exercise. Last week, we looked at diet from verse 6. The first quality of the good servant is a healthy and robust diet in God's word. In verse 6, Paul says, if you instruct the brethren in these things, you'll be a good minister of Jesus Christ nourished in the words of faith and of the good doctrine which you have carefully followed. Now remember with respect to instruction, we looked at Jeremiah and the worthless shepherds. A good minister will instruct from the words of God. A good servant of the word Jesus Christ will instruct. You may not be in the role of a pastor. You may not be in the role of a deacon or be in the role of a teacher, but every good servant of the Lord Jesus Christ is a teacher. In what way?  You may have Bible studies with your spouse. You evangelize the lost. And in that way, you need to be a good instructor of the word of God, and you have to know it yourself. Ezekiel chapter 3, verse 17 says this, Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel.  Hear a word from my mouth and give them warning from me.  The Lord comes and the Lord says, give them warning from me. Speak the words of God to them. Many today go out and they give them no warning. They speak peace, peace, when there is no peace. Rather than give them warning from God and impending judgment, we pass out bottles of water, free hugs, and we'll build a well, build a house. Those are all good things to do. I wouldn't prescribe hugs all the time. However, those things are good to do, but we've got to give them warning. The Lord has given us words and we're to give them his words. We're to give them warning. Speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way. Next though is nourishment. You need nourishment in the words of faith and of the good doctrine which you've carefully followed. Ignorance or neglect of God's word will leave you malnourished. It'll leave you sickly and weak. It'll leave you inept and ineffective. You must have a rich, healthy diet of God's word.  If you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything. You must invest yourself in a healthy intake, a healthy diet of God's word. But also we saw point three from that first section is that we have to reject error. The same time that we take in God's word to know the truth of God and allow the truth of God by the spirit of God to transform us. At the same time you have to reject that which is false. Those things which are profane, those things which are worldly, those myths and old wives fables. They have to reject that ungodly influence in your life. Reject false teaching. You've got enough to deal with learning the word of God to not be messed up with or involved with false teaching and error. Spend your time learning the word of God and reject those myths and errors. In 1 Timothy chapter 4 verse 6, Paul covers our need for a healthy and full spiritual diet. If you don't have that diet in the word of God, you're going to shrivel up and die.  Deuteronomy chapter 11 in verse 18, the Bible says, therefore you shall lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul and bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. That's how important the word of God is to beat us. That's what we're to do. It means all the time. We'd have the word of God before us all the time. In Deuteronomy chapter 17 and in verse 19, the Bible says, and it shall be with him and he shall read it all the days of his life that he may learn to fear the Lord his God and to be careful to observe all the words of this law and these statues. Some people can't read it one day of the week. We're to read it all the days of our life and that is to the Christian a delight, amen. We're to learn. We're to invest ourselves in the word of God. Proverbs chapter 6 verse 23, for the commandment is a lamp and the law a light and reproofs of instruction are the way of life. Therefore no proofs of instruction are the way of death. We get reproof from the word of God. We need that instruction, right? But beyond a healthy diet that we see in verse 6, you need to get your exercise. We need to put those spiritual nutrients that you're taking in from the word of God. We've got to put those to work, right? You need to exercise yourself toward godliness. Verse 7 says this, but reject profane and old wives' fables and exercise yourself toward godliness. For bodily exercise, profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come. To be a good servant, think diet and exercise, right? You are of no use to yourself or others if you're not feeding yourself the word of God, but you're of no use to yourself or others if you're not exercising yourself toward godliness. It takes this exercise. The first thing I want you to see from this, from this passage as we look at verses 6 through 16 is that all of this in the Christian life takes action. It takes action. This is not a dead, passive or static faith. This is an active faith. The Christian life is a life of action. It's a life of exercise. Look at all these action words in the text. Look at verse 6. If you want instruct, that's an active word, something we must do, okay? Instruct the brethren in these things. You'll be a good minister. Look at the end of verse 6, those things which you have carefully or faithfully followed. We're to faithfully follow. Verse 7, reject profane things. Exercise yourself toward godliness. Look down at verse 10. For to this end we both labor and suffer reproach. That word suffer reproach there is the word aganitsamai, it's derivative, which means to strive. It means to agonize. A better translation would be to strive, to labor, to toil because we trust very active. We trust the living god. God is not passive, right? God is not a dead idol. It's the living and powerful and active god of all creation.  These things, here it is again active, command and teach. Look at verse 12. Be an example. Verse 13, till I come, give attention. Verse 15, meditate on these things. It takes time, takes energy, takes forethought to meditate on the word of God. You need to plan to do that in your life. Give yourself, it says, partly to them. Give yourself a day a week to them, a few minutes over lunch to them. No, give yourselves entirely to them. Action. 16, take heed to yourself and to the doctrine. Continue in them for in doing this. See all the action words in these paragraphs? The Christian life is not a static life. It's not a dead, passive faith. It's an active faith. It's a living faith. It's a working, laboring, toiling, striving faith. And this is the faith that we've been delivered to. So what is this training? Just take these two paragraphs alone. What is this training and exercising look like? It looks like labor. It comes dressed up in overalls and looks like work. This because it is work. It looks like dogged persistence. It looks like sweat. It looks like toil. It looks like strenuous self-discipline. Has this burdened some to the Christian? Is it? No, this is a delight. The Christian wants to work in the Lord's vineyard. I want to please the Lord. You have a desire for these things. You're not burdensome. They're your delight. It looks like making sacrifices, right? The Christian life is full of do's and don'ts, stop signs and green lights that characterizes the Christian life. Now, many are so uncomfortable with that because they think that anything involved with do's or don'ts, smacks of legalism. Listen, holiness, obedience to Christ's commands, living for and serving the Lord is not legalism. It's a joy. It is commanded. It is holiness. It's righteousness. It's living for the Lord. It's not legalism. And beware, on the other side of that, there is such a thing as license. There are sins of commission and sins of omission. There are things that you are to do that you don't do. And there are things that you do that you shouldn't do. And in all of that, if you believe that living the Christian life gives you the freedom in Christ to live in any way that you want to live, that's taking the grace of God and turning it into licentiousness.  We see that throughout the pages of Scripture. Scripture is replete with that. That is part and parcel with the Christian life as the Bible teaches it. So many today are objectionable to that because somehow they want to live their lives for themselves and at the same time claim Christ. That's just not the way that it works. This active energetic work is far from the old teaching of quietism, or pacifism, or let go and let God. In other words, you don't do anything. You let God do everything. Is that what the Bible teaches? No, we'll look at several passages today that will just absolutely destroy that false thinking. You need to allow yourself, your heart, to be pierced by the word of God with respect to that. None of us are immune to that kind of pacifism in the Christian life. None of us are immune from that stinking thinking that begins to infiltrate our mind saying that it's okay if I tack Christ on as an ancillary part of my life and he's not the focus of what you're doing here. There's a story of an old cobbler and the story goes that a man came up and asked him what he did for a living. He's got his bag with him and obviously a cobbler and the cobbler replied, I serve the Lord and I fix shoes to help pay for it. It was his response. That's our lives. We are aliens and sojourners here. We're here to serve the Lord Jesus Christ. We're to be conformed into his image, being prepared for heaven, being prepared to worship Christ for all eternity, and we do other things to pay for it while we do, right? We're to serve the Lord. That work, as the Christian that we are to be engaged in, is described in verse seven as exercise, exercise. That's the word gumnazo in the Greek. It's where we get our word, English word, gymnasium from. I don't know how many times you've been to the gym lately, but it's rigorous, arduous, and demanding work. I'm not sure that I've heard people say that. It is rigorous, rigorous work. You're going to work up a sweat at the gym. It's hard work. It's rigorous work, demanding work. It literally means gymnasticize yourself toward godliness. I like that. Gymnasticize yourself. The word here refers to athletes and in the first century and centuries that followed, athletes at this time worked out similar to the way they do today. In the same way that we seem to have an obsession with diet and exercise and working out and the body beautiful today, they had the same obsession back then. They were obsessed with athletic contests, with competing, with games and races, and they would work out as athletes work out. The word carries the sense here, mind you also, of working out completely naked. They would take their clothes off completely so that they would have no restraints. They had the freedom to move. They had the freedom to exercise as they needed to or compete as they needed to without being entangled or ensnared by their clothing. But some people take this to mean that this freedom is freedom in Christ to continue sinning. That I can live in my sin and have Christ. I don't know. We're to remove ourselves from those things that so easily ensnare us. We're to remove ourselves from that sin that entangles us so that we may run our race. That's the image there, the sense of which this word carries. All restraints are removed so that we are free to serve Christ. We have the freedom in that sense in Christ to live a holy life. In Christ, the power of sin has been defeated. The penalty of sin has been taken away. But in that power of sin being defeated, we have the power in the spirit of God in Christ to obey, to live for Him. And we have the freedom in Christ to do that. It is, you understand, the enslavement of sin that the Christian still struggles with. It's not freedom in Christ they struggle with. It's enslavement to that flesh that comes in and tempts us. And in your flesh it's that war from Romans 7 that we see. I, with my mind, delight in the law of good God that it is holy just and good. But I see another law in my members, right? So it's that fight, that war with sin that so easily entangles us. The Christian's not enslaved to sin any longer in Christ. Christ has broken the power of sin in the life so that we, in freedom in Christ, may live for Him. And Scripture is replete with this metaphor, if you will, of Christian athleticism. We see this throughout Scripture. And it's a manly pursuit here, if you take it that way, or a pursuit of strength as opposed to the pursuits of old wives' fables. This is to be pursued heartily. And similar to our day, Paul says that this training in exercise, this exercise in godliness, must take place to get yourself right, to train yourself toward the things of God. We see an example of this throughout Scripture. But flip the page to 1 Timothy chapter 6. Let's look at a, an example right here in our context. 1 Timothy chapter 6 and beginning in verse 6. And here Paul says to Timothy, now godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and clothing with these we shall be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. Now listen to verse 11.  Right? So that word means flee. You, O man of God, flee these things. As Peter says, flee youthful lusts which wage war against the soul. You're to run. This is effort. Right? This is work. This is striving. You strive against sin. You strive against these things. Flee them. And it says pursue righteousness. We just thought I just, I'm supposed to put my Bible under my pillow at night and I thought I would just be righteous when I woke up in the morning. Right? I thought that righteousness was, I could just be a couch potato and the Lord would just grant me righteousness positionally. The Lord has granted you. If you're in Christ, you have the righteousness of Christ. This righteousness that we're to pursue is an active practical righteousness that flows from genuine saving faith. If you have genuine saving faith, you're going to be practically more and more righteous over time. That's the direction that our faith takes us. It's a living and active faith. But if you're not in Christ and you're not going to see more and more practical righteousness, you're going to see more and more just a pattern of your sin. But here, we're to pursue this righteousness. If you pursue righteousness and you're getting nowhere, then examine yourself whether you're in the faith. It would mean if you're getting nowhere that you don't have the spirit. The power of sin has not been defeated in your life by Christ and that you need to turn from your sin and place your faith and trust in Christ to save you and allow the Lord to fill you with his spirit and strengthen you for that life.  You're to pursue godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness. Here it says fight the good fight. That doesn't sound passive, does it? That's active. Fight the good fight of faith. Lay hold. That's a wrestling term. Lay hold on eternal life. Wrestle it. The kingdom of heaven suffers violence and violent men take it by force. Wrestle. Lay hold on eternal life. To which you are also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. These are active words, active words. First Corinthians chapter 9 in verse 24, Paul says here, do you not know that those who run in a race all run? Again, it's this metaphor of Christian athleticism, right? But one receives the prize. Run in such a way that you may obtain it. He goes on to say, therefore I run thus, not with uncertainty. Thus I fight. Again, it's a fight. Thus I fight, not as one who beats the air, but I discipline my body and I bring it into subjection. Lest when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified. That word there disqualified a document. It's the same word that Romans uses for reprobate. We don't want to be disqualified. Beat and buffet your body into subjection. You have another law in your members that wages war against the law of your mind, that the law of God is holy, just and good. And you must fight the good fight here. In 1 Corinthians chapter 15 in verse 10, Paul says, but by the grace of God I am what I am. And his grace toward me was not in vain. I like this. But I labored more abundantly than they all yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me. Well, at first blush, one, it could seem as though the Christian life is made up entirely of your own self-effort. Well, I'm gonna grit my teeth. I'm going to put my knuckles to the grindstone and I am going to work, work, work and dig out this Christian life. Is it like that? Yeah, it's not in your own effort. It's not in your own strength. It's in the power of his might. Not in your own strength. You must trust in the Lord and in the power of his might. Here it's the grace of God. This is not a static, passive or dead grace. This is an efficacious grace, an effective grace that works in us. Remember, work out your salvation with fear and trembling. Why? Because God works in you to do and to will according to his good pleasure. It's the Lord that work in you. Here it's his grace toward him that was not in vain. It was working in Paul. And so, according to that grace, he labored more abundantly than they all. Does that sound prideful to you? You know, Paul looks at all the others and says, you know what? I labored more than they all. Is that what he's, that's not the intent here of Paul. It's not the spirit of Paul. Paul, being very humble here, he says, yet not I, but it was the grace of God in me. If you have any victory in this Christian life, you don't get the credit for that. That's the Lord's victory. It's the Lord working in you. But at the same time, that the Lord works in you to accomplish your sanctification, to accomplish conforming you into the image of Christ. At the same time, you work doggedly as a means of grace the Lord uses to conform you to Christ. It's you working because God works. That's the Christian life. If it sounds like work, it's because it is. It is. And we've got to, you've got to come to grips with that. You need to resolve that in your mind. The Christian life is labor. And by the way, this labor, this striving, this work is the outward evidence of a genuine faith. Now bear in mind, I don't want anyone going out of here saying that we teach a works righteousness. This is not a righteousness. This is not a works righteousness. This is a righteousness that works. This is not salvation by works. This is a salvation that works. Genuine saving faith produces a labor produces a striving produces a an active, striving, healthy, vibrant, living faith. And James says it's the dead faith that proves you're lost. It's those hearers of the word only that are lost. This is an active faith, faith that is a dead faith does not save. So let me ask you how much of your Christian life is marked by strenuous self discipline.  Are you living your Christian life passively? Or are you in labor?  Or are you striving? The Bible says to agonize, strive to enter in at the narrow gate. Wide is the way, broad is the way that leads to destruction. That narrow gate is hard to find. It's difficult. There are a few that find it. Is your Christian life marked by strenuous efforts towards self discipline, strenuous exercising, gymnasticizing yourself toward godliness? Or are you passive, inert? Are you making progress? If you're indwelt by the spirit, you have a healthy intake of God's word, and you are exercising yourself toward godliness, you will by the spirit of God, you will make progress. Are you making progress in your Christian life? Or are you static? Are you just sitting? It's the shark that has to keep moving, to pass air over his gills, to keep breathing, to keep living. As soon as he stops, he dies. Are you making progress? With this, this work, this effort, there must be a goal. There must be an aim, an end result, and we have a glorious goal, don't we? If you claim the name of Christ, you have a glorious end, if you will, to this Christian athleticism, this Christian labor. Discipline without direction is drudgery, but our discipline has great direction, and it's not a drudgery, it's a delight. And what's the point, if you think about it this way, what's the point of practicing scales if you're never going to play music? What's the purpose of lifting weights if you're never going to go out on the field? Right? Our discipline has a goal, has an aim. The goal to which we exercise, the bullseye, in a sense, for which we are aiming is godliness, is Christ's likeness, to be conformed into the image of our Lord and Savior. That word godliness means piety, reverence. It refers to holy living, it refers to holy character. It is Christ's likeness, and godliness is the target of all that self-discipline and sacrifice. It is that we are to exercise ourselves toward godliness. That being said, godliness is the inevitable outcome, the inevitable result if you are in Christ taking in His word and exercising yourself. It's going to, isn't that a great promise to you, Christian? A great joy to you? Listen, you exercise yourself toward godliness. You take in and live by God's word.  The Lord will see to it in you. Just like physical disciplines lead to physical strength, spiritual disciplines lead to spiritual strength. Do you want to be godly? Do you want to be godly? Amen.  You want to be godly. Lord, I want to live a godly life before you. Do you want to be godly? Amen. If you want to be godly, then you must view godliness as that result which follows from diet and exercise.  Our sanctification doesn't work that way. It doesn't come on its own. You're not just going to wake up one morning and be like Christ. The Lord sanctifies you and he uses means to your sanctification and the means that the Lord uses to your sanctification is an exercise toward godliness and an intake, a diet of God's word, the spirit of God working through you. It doesn't happen by osmosis. You've ever gone into a test, right? You've ever gone into a test without studying and then you came out complaining because you failed it. What are you complaining about? You didn't exercise yourself to learn that material and you failed. What's more destructive to you, all right, is to go into that test without studying for it and you come out with an A, right? It just fuels that notion in our minds that I can get by without any work, without any labor, without any effort. And so many of us are trained in that kind of destructive thinking, stinking thinking, right? You cannot live the Christian life, be godly, be disciplined, be holy on your own strength, number one. But you cannot be godly on your own charisma, on your own personality.  You can't be godly in your own efforts. You can't be godly on your own gifts, your own talents, on your own personality. You cannot be godly on your own natural abilities by themselves. Godliness is that which is undertaken by a healthy intake of God's word and a gymnasticizing of yourself according to God's word, effort. It's not so with godliness. Many attempt that and some around them might say, we're such a godly man because he's nice. Maybe a person grew up memorizing scripture in some kid's program. And now they can quote some scripture and someone says to them, well, they're so godly because they know a few Bible verses and it's easy to hide, easy to fake. It's not so with true godliness. True godliness comes from a healthy intake of God's word and an exercising yourself toward it. Bunyan talks about the man who is a saint abroad and a devil at home. Does that describe you? People at home know you best, right?  But that godliness can often be faked. There's a real opportunity for being a hypocrite here. But God sees all. You can't fake this godliness with God. Jeremiah chapter 23 verse 24 says this, can anyone hide himself in secret places so I shall not see him, says the Lord? Do I not fill heaven and earth, says the Lord? In other words, you can't hide from God. You want a true godliness, a godliness that is the inevitable result of the spirit of God in dwelling you and you taking in God's word and exercising yourself toward godliness. Godliness is that we saw in chapter 3 that was explained as a mystery, right? But once mysterious, now revealed in Christ, because as it says there, Christ was manifested in the flesh. Christ came, lived a perfect sinless life. He became the perfect example of godliness, right? Christ was godly in everything. He fulfilled all of the righteous and just demands of God. And then that was perfectly godly. He's our perfect example. That godliness that God demands rightly and only flows out from that righteousness which Christ obtained for us in his perfect fulfillment of God's demands and flows out of our union and only out of our union with him. And try all you want to fake it. You can't fake true godliness because it only comes as flowing out of a union with Christ in his death and in his resurrection. But through his death and resurrection, he conquers death. He breaks the power of sin in our life. And in breaking the power of sin in our lives makes us free in him to live godly, to live for God. In that sense, he enables godliness in his people. He does that through the power of the Holy Spirit that was sent after Christ's ascension. He gave us, the Holy Spirit was poured out on us, in us, in dwelling us to enable us and empower us to live godly. And in having the Holy Spirit in us, seeing Christ in the words of Scripture, we have the visible expression of that godliness from the Word of God as we're transformed day by day by day into the image of Christ. In that sense, the godliness that you as a Christian want, the godliness that God demands, the godliness that we desire is all of Christ. For of him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever, amen. It is all of Christ. You want to be godly? Look at Christ. You want to be godly, scour his Word and learn of him. You want to be godly. Look at that example. You want to be godly. You must begin with that righteousness that is imputed, that is credited to your account when you come to the Lord Jesus Christ by turning from your sin and trusting him alone to save you. You must have that positional righteousness in order for you to have practical righteousness. In order for you to be able to live it. You must be in Christ. At the same time that we recognize this as a sure and inevitable gift of God in salvation, which it is, God uses means to accomplish this godliness in us. And as such, there is the responsibility of man. In the same way that this godliness is a gift of God, you have to work doggedly to get it. We are to use all of our might to this end to exercise ourselves toward this godliness. In Colossians 1, I love this in verse 28, Paul says this, him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus. That's a glorious statement. It's saving both ourselves and those who hear us. Paul had that end, that aim in mind of presenting every man perfect in Christ Jesus. Listen to what he goes on to say in verse 29. To this end, I also labor, striving, there's two same words that we see here in 1 Timothy chapter 4, laboring, striving according to his working which works in me mightily. You see the connection there. That godliness that you desire as a Christian is forever and inevitably and exorably linked to Christ, linked to the word of God, the spirit of God, the grace of God. It's not just your labor and striving. It's been accomplished for you by Christ, provided for you by his grace according to his working which works in us mightily. In Philippians, Paul says work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. Why? Because it's God at work in you. Look at another example of this. Look at 2 Timothy chapter 2. 2 Timothy chapter 2. This is another example. Listen to these words here and these metaphors, these analogies of the Christian life and these active words that Paul uses. 2 Timothy chapter 2, look beginning in verse 1. It says, you therefore, my son, be strong. Why do you have to be strong? Because there's going to be work. Be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things which you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. You therefore must endure hardship. I remember witnessing to a lady and I quoted this passage of scripture, eventually took her to the Bible where it said this because her response was, where's the joy in that? What do you talk about the Christian, endure hardship? That's not a Christian life. It says that all over the Bible. As a Christian, are you going to endure hardship? Yes. All those who desire for godliness will suffer persecution. Yeah, it's endure hardship. As a good soldier, as a good soldier, there's supposed to be a vacation. I suppose to put my feet up.  What is a good soldier? Jesus Christ. Verse 4, no one in warfare, what is that all about? These words that describe the Christian life entangles himself with the affairs of this life that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier, didn't enlist you as a couch potato. He enlisted you as a soldier. And also if anyone competes in athletics, here it is again, this Christian athleticism. He's not crowned unless he competes according to the rules.  That's legalism. It says here in 2 Timothy chapter 2, there are rules. There are dos and don'ts. I want to run this race, but I'd rather run on my own track. I'd rather go over here. The view over here is much better. So I'm going to run over here. Everybody else can, I want to be on the basketball team, but I'd rather shoot on this basket. You guys can all, I want to be able to kick the ball. You know, you can't kick the basketball. There are rules involved. You can't run on your own track. You're going to run on this track over here. And when you run on this track over here, you're going to run in your lane. Right? You're going to start this way. You're going to finish that way. There are rules. And anyone who enjoys the race, right, wants to follow the rules, following the rules makes that a delight. This is not burdensome to the Christian. This is a joy to the Christian. This is a delight to the Christian. But there are rules, make no mistake about it. Verse 6, the hardworking farmer. Anybody know anything about farming? That's easy, right? All you got to do is put some stuff on the ground and wait for it to come up. No, it is labor, man. It is up early and up late. And it is toiling and sweating. You're going to work up a sweat being a good farmer? Yes. You're going to work up some blisters. You're going to work up some heartache. You're going to work as a farmer. A hardworking farmer must be first to partake of the crops. Consider what I say and may the Lord give you understanding in all things. And consider what is said, Christian. Consider what is said non-Christian. When you come to the Lord, it's not just that you can ask forgiveness and everything is fine for you to live your life the way you've always lived it. There's a cost to following Christ. The cost of discipleship is high. It's a free gift that will cost you everything. That's 2 Timothy chapter 2. To the unbeliever, listen, this is impossible. It's impossible because you don't have the Spirit of God. You can try, try, try. And if you find yourself defeated, defeated, defeated, it's because you don't have the Spirit of God. You don't have the enablement from God's grace. You must turn from your sin. Leave that filth behind you and follow Christ.  You will do according to all that is written in this book. The Lord says that he'll give you a heart to obey him. He must obey him. Ultimately, to that unbeliever, you just have no real desire. You may have guilt, right? You may have an accusing conscience. Don't confuse guilt and an accusing conscience with genuine salvation. You can't confuse the two. That may be the Lord drawing you. But genuine salvation produces righteousness. Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous as he is righteous. He who sins, makes a practice of sinning, is of the devil. In this, the children of God and the children of the devil are made manifest. If you're in Christ, it'll make a radical change in your life. You'll start serving Christ and it won't be a burdensome to you. It'll be your delight. You'll start pouring yourself into the Word of God. It won't be a burden to you. It'll be your delight. You'll start hating that sin that you once enjoyed and you'll start hungering and thirsting for the righteousness that is yours in Christ if you'll obey him and live for him and exercise yourself toward godliness. We look at everything that people today devote themselves to. I think about it for a moment. You know, the American dream. You just come to this country. You work hard, right? You'll accomplish your dreams. All your dreams can be yours. You'll just work hard, greet it out. People come and they will say, you hear the testimonies, right? Grown up in the slums. When I worked my way up the ladder, you know, bare knuckled myself up that corporate ladder until I became a manager, became a business owner, became a whatever. And now look at all that I have. The big house, the car, the boat, whatever it is. I've got all my dreams. I've accomplished all my dreams and then they die. And all that is what? It's good for nothing. It is all good. You can't take anything with you.


What's up lovers and friends? Now my OGs from the sham booty YouTube universe know that this is a redo of video that I put out around five years ago called how to seduce anyone you want. And now I'm bringing that bad boy back and I'm adding in more tips and techniques that I've acquired throughout the years. I'm going to be breaking down my top five seduction techniques that I think are extremely impactful, whether you're trying to get the best out of somebody in the bedroom or you're trying to really make sure your point is made while you're in the boardroom. Now artful seduction when you really boil it down is about having a set of techniques and tools that you can utilize to draw people into you and then being able to provide those people with a feeling or experience that makes them want to keep coming back for more. Now before we dive into these five seduction styles let's just address the elephant in the room right now. Your girl is wearing lingerie. Now does that mean that I am suggesting that in order to be a masterful seducer you have got to be wearing the least amount of clothes possible? Absolutely not. The reason I'm wearing lingerie is because I have a sponsorship with Sab and Jax Fenty and I wanted to find a creative way to weave in the looks and also to deliver a powerful message to you and that message really is it's not about what you wear it's the energy that you bring to these various styles that really makes them pack a punch and be impactful. So you don't got to be wearing lingerie but the energy the vibe the essence that you have when you're wearing something that makes you feel sexy that's what you really want to bring across again to put a little button put a little stank put a little on these styles. And once again my OGs know that before we get down to pleasure we got to take care of business first. So I want to tell you all about the Savage X Fenty VIP program and why I have been a part of it and loving it and I want to encourage you to check them out. So here's the top line goods as an extra VIP member for Savage X Fenty you're going to get 50% off your entire first order plus you get two bras slash bralettes for $29. If you're not familiar with Savage X Fenty they have hundreds of styles when it comes to lingerie, loungewear and even some workout clothes they also have a ton of sizes that continues to grow. Wearing lingerie and clothes that really fits your skin and hugs your body in the right places is an incredible way to feel good in your own skin. Plus everything is under $50. Now if you become an extra VIP member and enjoy the perks you're going to get 50% off your entire first order plus two bras or bralettes for $29. If you don't want anything that month you can easily just skip the month and you won't get charged. You can skip as many months as you want. As an extra VIP member you'll get 25% off every style every day plus free shipping on orders over $49. Now if you are a little bit curious go down to the info box, click the link, see if you like anything and if you do I highly encourage you to take advantage of the offers of the extra VIP program. Okay without further ado let's get into these seduction styles. The seduction style that I want to highlight first is the one that I find myself using the most and that is the manifestor or the wool manifestor. This is the kind of person who is curious about the hopes, dreams, potentials and aspirations of other people and then they speak to that person as if they have already become their highest self. Through that individual you get to realize what your dreams would look like, what your goals would look like.  Now this one is very very powerful because it's intoxicating to be around somebody who treats you as if you've already made it whatever it is to you. In addition the person who utilizes the manifestor or wool manifestor seduction style actually ends up getting the best out of other people. Now we're constantly molding ourselves to the expectations of others so when we're around somebody who expects us to be again our highest self we end up rising to the occasion. A word of caution for my fellow manifestors and wool manifestors out there.  Next up let's talk about the nudist. This person is passionate, they are in tune with who they are and they are activated. In a world where we're all being so polite and just saying and doing what we think is the right thing based on the given environment when we're around somebody who holds true to their beliefs and knows who they are it is extremely intoxicating. The nudist is not afraid to get naked they're not afraid to be bold they're not afraid to bear it all. These are the kind of people who usually have really clear political stance and really clear opinions. Now at times this can rub people the wrong way but the nudist is not afraid of making other people uncomfortable. The nudist is a non-conformist they are led by their intuition and emotion. They are raw, uncut, bold and brave in a world where people are afraid to say what they really think. Now again in order to be the most effective nudist you also have to be in tune with yourself. You have to have a level of self-awareness because being raw and bold and in your face doesn't mean being irresponsible when it comes to knowing when you could possibly be harming others. Can I ask you a question and I would actually love for you to answer this in the comment section right now. What are you going to be doing in the next 30 minutes? How about on this weekend? If you're like most people you probably have a pretty clear response to that question and that is why the Eve seducer is so intoxicating. The Eve seducer represents temptation. They represent the spice of life, danger, excitement, rule breaking, shaking things up in a world that is pretty monotonous and predictable.   People have to be around you and expect the unexpected. You have got to defy the typical dating experience and reward people with once in a lifetime memories. What makes a party really just yes you need good people, you need great atmosphere, you need food, you need lighting but the playlist can really pull everything together and that is a seductive style that is magnifique. When you are the kind of person who can enter into any social circle and just pull everything beautifully together.  Now the seducer is somebody who again can just really talk to anybody when they're at a restaurant they make the waiter laugh.  Being a playlist is necessarily about being an extrovert, it's about being intuitive, it's about knowing what people need out of you and being willing to provide a positive experience for everyone. The playlist is usually a very empathetic person and because of that they can slip into the perspective of the person that they're talking to and they always and I mean always have the perfect song for that. The last seduction style that I'm going to mention is probably the one that you thought of when I first said the word. This is the siren. This is the kind of person who is just visually they are a snack. Moreover they are a five course meal. They ooze sexuality, they drip sensuality. They're the kind of person who you would gladly drink their bathwater and believe it or not this is the seduction style that I probably struggle with the most. It is important to know that this is not necessarily about looking fantastic, it's about being comfortable and sitting in your sexy. Now even throughout my Savage X Fenty partnership that I've done I've tended to make a lot of my activations into jokes. She's wearing the foiled sprigs embroidered string bikini tops and bottom see-throughs extra sexy on these what? Hoes. I can't take it, Shan. Everything. Up next we have our what? Savage Fenty Cotton Jersey legging model and boo. Showing that body. Addy, Addy, Addy, Addy, Addy, Addy, yes the tops the bottom. Wait is that a mask too?  And for our next look we have the what? All over me. High, waist, lace, thong and wet, orange, ginger. It's giving very much. Tony the tiger is giving Chester the what cheetah. Yes Savage Fenty is over there in the lab giving us their what? Just. That's right Shan. I really feel most safe and comfortable in the quirky area of life but I'm really trying to be a lot better about just sitting in my sexy and I invite you right now to have a seat with me. What I think is really important to drive home when it comes to seduction styles is that there really is no one size fits all approach. That's why I think it's really important for people to master at least two of them but as you get better keep adding more and more to your collection kind of like a golfer who has golf clubs that way when you are in a situation you can look over your collection and think which one's going to fit best for this given moment. So I'd love to hear from you right now in the comment section below which of these five is your go-to club and which is the one that you think that you would like to add to your collection and get a little bit better at. I also have five other seduction styles that I may or may not reveal to you in a part two video but let me know if you want to see that also in the comment section below and while you're down there being busy and productive and sharing your gifts with the world check out the info box because that's how you're going to find all the juicy details on the Savage X Fenty VIP program.


I'm going to get to talk about one of my very favorite people. Yes. Sir, how are you today? Yes, fine. I'll tell you very briefly what the series is all about. I'm sorry, you've got to put up with a frankly ancient BBC setup. Do you mind? Yeah, I was just wondering about the two mics here. One's for you and one's for me. All right. Eventually, it will be six programs. This is not sure. Go out starting in May. So the time thing is, you know, things are happening. Things that are happening today happen three months ago. And we imagine most of the things that you will want to talk about will go into the international program. Obviously, it's marvellous box office for us. And so we will have you right up at the top and almost certainly in the last one as well. And it's just a conversation. We'll just take it and see. All right. Ready? Margaret Thatcher was the first NATO government leader, I think, to come to Washington, to visit you after you became president. She came, I think, in February 1981. And people saw that as a symbol of your great closeness. Were they right about that? Well, yes, we had known each other for quite some time. As a matter of fact, I was still governor of California. And she was not yet prime minister, but had become head of the conservative party when I first met her on a visit that I had made to London. And we found ourselves in great agreement about a number of things that had to do with international situation. And I was very pleased and honored to have her here as the first of our close allies, the NATO allies, head of state. And I think it was symbolic of not only a personal relationship that had been established, but also the one of a relationship that exists between our two great nations. What were the particular personal qualities you saw in her when you first met her as governor of California? Well, first of all, the wealth of information she had on so many subjects. She was extremely well-informed, but she was firm, decisive. She had targets in mind of where we should be going, and as I said, I was just greatly impressed. Now, I know that there were some people at the time conversationally when I mentioned how well I thought of her. While I was still in London, there were some people who couldn't quite get used to the idea of a woman as prime minister. And I doubt if there are many of those around anymore. Absolutely. You were seen, both of you, as the leaders, really, of a conservative revolution on each side of the Atlantic. Was her having started this in Britain before you had the chance to start it here? Was that helpful? Was that important to you? Yes, very much so. Yes, I think it was an international happening that there was a reaction worldwide about her becoming prime minister. You mentioned her as a woman, and that obviously was of great importance in Britain. But at international gatherings, very male-dominated gatherings, the summits and so forth, how does that one woman stand out? Does it matter she's a woman? She is a great prime minister, not because she's a woman, but because of what she knows, what she does, and her insight into the right answers for the problems confronting us. And I have never seen in any of our NATO meetings or summit meetings any lack of respect and recognition of her stature because she is a woman. You've spoken of her as an ally, but she's also been an opponent at times, hasn't she? She's had disagreements with you. Is she a formidable opponent? Well, let me just say this, that I don't think any of the disagreements have survived as disagreements once we could talk to each other. Some of them have been the result of distance and not having heard the entire story and what it is told and everything is just fine. But I know someone has asked me once about her as a negotiator. Fortunately, we haven't had to negotiate. She would be most formidable on the other side of a negotiating table. But something like the Grenada event where there was a very clear difference after you had supported her over the Falklands was all feeling, I think, in America that she should have supported Washington over Grenada. At the time, was that a hurtful event? Yes, and it was unfortunate at the time but my situation was not one of lack of trust in her or on your side of the ocean, but in the city of ours, Washington, the walls seemed to have ears and I felt that it was so important in the limited time that we had to plan and move. Just a few days involved from the decision to actually the troops on their way, I was so fearful of a leak from our side that I just put it on close hold because there were so many lives involved. And the minute we could, I explained that to her and that's what our situation had been and why I had made the decision I made. How would you assess her performance over the Falklands, her performance as a leader? What could have been improved? I think she was faced with a very grim necessity. I knew something of that. I had spent 45 minutes myself on the phone with the then president of Argentina trying to persuade him that they should not be moving as they were and I didn't get any place. So I know that efforts were made to resolve that peacefully if possible not only by trying to put an order but on the part of your own government. And I think it was well handled but I think it also was the result of her ability at decision and firm action. Do you think that the conservative revolution which you've both presided over which we mentioned before is one which is going to last? Do you see it as having changed these two countries for the foreseeable future? I have to believe that it will because I think probably both of our countries had gone through a period in which in some ways we lost faith in our own people and we began to turn back to government doing everything and government being looked to for things that properly belonged out with the people and at the private sector. And I think there has been a recognition of that. I haven't been calling it conservatism so much anymore as common sense. And yes, I think that we have made a turn and that it will be a long time and I hope never before people see themselves reverting to this statism and this belief that government must take over and do everything. And does it help the special relationship between our two countries which you referred to that you happen to have two leaders who are like-minded? I mean you might not have, we might have a socialist. Would the special relationship survive that? I'm quite sure that the bonds between our two countries would survive any changes in leadership in these two countries. But I think that it is helpful that with the world economy so linked as it is, so internationalized, I think that with what has been a worldwide recession for example, I think that the working together and seeing more or less eye to eye between our countries, and this goes for our other allies in Europe also and elsewhere in the world, I think it is most helpful, beneficial. Just going back finally to Mrs. Thatcher herself personally, in our country she's often thought of as somebody who lacks a sense of fun, a sense of humor. Now you've visited with her frequently on both sides of the Atlantic. I mean have you had any particular memories of her character as it were, perhaps the sense of humor she might have? Yes, and she does. And I have seen her at the table in the summit meetings as just one of the seven, and I have seen her presiding at the meeting and her great good humor. And as I say, her cutting through to the vital points, I'm being a little reluctant here about telling something, and I hope it won't be tactless of me if I tell it. But when we had the summit meeting here in our country at Williamsburg, which as you know has been restored as the original colony that it was, and the first meeting was an evening meeting, dinner to open the whole session, and it took place in what had been the British colonial governor's mansion. And I couldn't resist. I was all prepared that when we sat down that I was going to suggest that had one of her predecessors been a little more clever, she might be hosting that gathering. And so we sat, there was a moment of quiet before conversation broke out, and I said, Margaret, if one of your predecessors had been a little more clever, she said, I know I would have been hosting this gathering. I never got to finish my line. Mr. President, thank you very much indeed. My pleasure. Is that all right? Wonderful. That's enough. Let's come on. When you say I may be about to see a little tact, let's guess everyone. I can't remember the story that I once heard over there about the library in London, and he hadn't been able to find a certain book about the United States, and he found it under the library for help. And she said, if you look under comedy, it's a book. Well, thank you very much. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Goodbye. Goodbye. Thank you, Mr. President.


Hello everyone, so you'll have to excuse me today. I kind of have a cold and and also I You'll have to excuse my sporadic videos lately as I mentioned once before it's been getting kind of busy and a lot of things Have been happening and so sometimes I can post sometimes I can't and so anyway it's this kind of and that's sort of what I wanted to talk about basically and I wanted to talk about my Remote lifestyle and the change that's been happening and you know just an update on all that I think inevitably this is gonna end up being a video on the remote lifestyle the digital nomad lifestyle the you know the lifestyle of living remotely and And kind of the pros and cons and what's needed and stuff like that so as most of you know, I've been living a remote lifestyle for years now and You know, it's allowed me and I've mentioned this many times It's allowed me to live in a bunch of places both me and my wife. We've been able to Live in places from, you know, Luka in Tuscany, Lugano in Switzerland Tacoma Park, which is right outside DC in the US Atlanta Taiwan Shanghai, you know stuff like that and so yeah in that sense It's been awesome and look the remote lifestyle is awesome. I You know, it's only thanks to that that I was even able to well to live in those places Even to you know be with my wife like I so my wife and I have known each other since high school I was actually friends with her older brother and sister and But you know the fact that I was able to go to Taiwan I originally came to Taiwan just to study Chinese for a bit But obviously we got back in touch and I wouldn't have been able to do that if I worked in office job and weren't able to leave for you know, any substantial amount of time and Anyway, and also the remote lifestyle is what allowed us to I mean, you know To move to different places to move to Charlotte's because that's when we decided to settle down a bit more and you know But in the end it was just my wife. She had to look for a job She found one in Charlotte and you know, we visited we liked it And so we moved there because I'm you know I'm flexible and so when we decided where to move I was able to go wherever we want and then she was able to see where the job opportunities were and go there Likewise when you know, she got pregnant and we decided to have the kid here in Taiwan You know, I was able to do that she had to take a leave of absence from her work we know which turned out to be fine and But yeah, it's um the remote lifestyle has tons of advantages. Absolutely. It's great But I should explain a couple things about it.    The lifestyle itself is different It's great and there are lots of opportunities, but it's different from that And so I wanted to cover a bit of this and and you know tell you what What to expect and what's needed and then also why we've kind of been trying to slow it down this whole remote lifestyle and you know and what what's going on now So, uh, you know, like I said, there are a lot of opportunities, but there's certain things you need to keep in mind when you have this remote lifestyle First of all, like I said, it's not glamorous. You know second of all, it's also You're always on call You know a normal job is a you know, normal office job is nine to five Monday to Friday and then you get the weekend off Uh, this type of thing you're pretty much always on call No matter what the day no matter what time of day And you'll find this out pretty quickly. And so what I would try to do, you know, different sporadically here and there is try to take time off here and there Uh, it can be done or or not It really depends where you are and especially when you're first starting out It's almost impossible because you kind of need to grab whatever opportunities come your way so You know along those lines, there's uh, Seth Godin was talking about how Seth Godin by the way is probably the best marketer in the world He was talking about how he was in a uh in vegas, I think And it was in the evening and he was having a drink and he was on his laptop working He overheard this couple walking in and she would and uh the the wife of the cup, you know, the couple was Just said to her husband say, oh my god, can you imagine having to work, you know at 10 p.m On on a weekend or something like, oh my god I'm glad I you know, I don't have her how much of a corporate slave do you have to be to do that or something Like that and you know, it got him thinking Seth Godin because he's like, you know Well, what seems odd to me is that you dedicate not, you know, Monday to Friday like 80% of your life to a job you hate just to take two days off to live your life, you know The way you want it. He's like, what kind of a life is that and I think that's where the difference is You have to really love what you do and if you love what you do You don't mind. In fact, you like the idea of, you know, I love the idea when I can get work done Have a beer here, you know, maybe something to munch on and get my work done and kind of get pumped up about it All that that to me is cool. And I feel really productive. Like I've done something cool And um, but you really have to like what you do And I think to be a digital nomad to live remotely work remotely you really need that you need to wake up in the morning And want to do this Because you know, you've spent so much time doing it. It has to be and I've said in a previous video When you especially when you start out, you're not going to get many rewards for what you do And you know, it'll take some time to start getting that so you really need to like what you're doing Otherwise, you're going to get so frustrated and you're going to get burned out and you know, you won't want to do it anymore and um So yeah, you really need to love what you're doing You need to like the idea that you can sit there, you know with a beer and get work done You need that you can sit there, you know, January 1st while everyone's getting over their hangover You know, you're getting work done and being productive or I don't know stuff like that and uh, this idea It it needs to work for you So it needs to be something you love if you find yourself dreading having to get work done And you're working for yourself. You don't have a boss breathing down your neck making you work It's not going to work out, you know, you need to find something else like uh, and figure out what it is Or working in office, you know, where you can have someone telling you to do that because it needs to be something you You really like doing now And a lot of by the way, this is a whole other conversation because a lot of people say I can't find what my passion is I can't find what I love to do and that's a whole other video which I can or cannot talk about if you want but You know, that's a whole thing unto itself and uh, you know And in many ways it can be fun to figure that part out and you know, what it is that you love and you love doing Um, and and try to figure that out in life But anyway, it needs to be something where you where you wake up in the morning You want to do this and um, and yeah, because otherwise it can't work out. Uh, so yeah, um Oh What point does that bring me? I'm sorry. I have all these things. Uh, yeah But having said that I feel this is actually if you can do something like this and you can kind of make it work for yourself It's actually a lot more secure and safer safer than uh, than a nine to five job Uh nine to five job. Look a nine to five office job to me is kind of especially in this day and age is one of the riskier choices because What you're doing is you are giving all your time and effort and energy to a company That's not yours. So first of all, you're fulfilling someone else's goal and dream and all that which fine Okay, you know, maybe if you don't want that, but it's uh You know, if you mess up you're going to get fired rightly so I guess if your boss messes up You'll probably get fired before your boss does anyway and uh, you know, or you know, because your department will be Let go or made redundant or something by the way, if nope, none of you mess up But the company downsizes you're probably going to lose your job the economy goes down So the company has to do layoffs you're going to lose your job There's so many ways you can lose your job that aren't your fault that to me it seems kind of crazy And um, you know, and then you're back in the unemployment line waiting for someone else to give you a job again You're not in control as someone else is always control of your working life of what you do and so it's um I don't know to me to me that kind of doesn't make sense rationally speaking logically speaking I mean it makes sense everyone has to do it, but It doesn't make sense to say that's safer 100 years ago It could have been because you work for a company and then that's pretty much your your job for life and That's how it is fine But in this day and age that's not the case at all and you don't want it to be the case You don't want to work for the same company forever most people I know would you know like to work for something else something else and um, you know And look there are variations of this like you can work for a company have company shares or be part of a team and you know You're kind of you get to uh see your vision become a reality within a company stuff like that Like I understand and I get that they're all different variations of this But to me if you are able to do your own thing and be in control of what you do Then that to me is a lot safer because if even if nothing's working out I can kind of realize that and then start doing something else, you know and try to make that work out and uh, it's So it's I don't know to me it makes sense if I can do something that earns me money Then I can kind of Figure out and dictate What sector I go to what clients I deal with and stuff like that to make it work out rather than having to rely on some boss who might not Have my same interests at heart because he has his own interests at heart. Anyway, um, so uh That's why I think it requires this different type of mentality but likewise it also requires Well, a lot of other things. Um, first of all, you're always looking for opportunities And uh, I think this is very important when you work Remotely as any type of entrepreneur, but definitely remote lifestyle and stuff like that. You're always looking for opportunities So if you're say a freelance translator and someone says, hey, you know, really you do I don't know Bulgarian translations English to Bulgarian and you're in Sofia in in Bulgaria and uh, and someone says, hey So do you think you could give me a list of I don't know, you know, 10 different Fitness or athletic stores in Sofia, you know, you could say, uh, actually I'm a translator That's not what I do. Sorry, or you could say like, yeah, okay, fine I'll I'll I'll do that and you kind of need that mentality You know, if you work for a company for a boss and your boss say, hey, I need you to do this and that And make us coffee. You're like, no, that's not in my job description I don't do them and that's fine for a nine to five job That's you know, that's you have a certain job description And that's what you're supposed to do But when you work for yourself, you're always looking out for opportunities So someone, you know, maybe someone can find Bulgarian translators They're wherever they are in London say or something But they need someone on the ground in Bulgaria to look up different Things and they just contact you out of the blue ask if you can look up these athletic stores or whatever it is And you kind of learn to sort of try to seize opportunities and see what happens And you know because you never know where they're going to lead and um, and I think this also really helps a lot When you have this kind of job you kind of trying to spot Things that happen certain opportunities and be able to grasp them on the fly as as they occur And so I think this is quite important as well And you need to and this is something that you get You get a lot more of and you get better at with time Unfortunately, we don't learn this at all in school and at the workplace either You know, you learn you're supposed to do what you're supposed to do You're supposed to study this subject You're supposed to work on your job description. That's it But when you work on your own it's very different and so you can get the hang of it more and more over time But I think it's important to have It's also important to uh Another big thing you have that you're you're going to have to deal with is imposter syndrome And this this is actually a lot bigger than you think I probably should have started off with it Because I see I'm already going past 12 minutes here, but imposter syndrome is very big Because you feel like You know, you don't have a degree in this no one else told you that you're very good in it No one else gave you the go ahead to do this, but you're still doing this for clients So you're like, wait, am I a good enough translator? Am I a good enough graphic designer? Who says that I'm a web researcher? I just decided I am, you know How do I know that I'm a great photographer and that I can do this and what if you know, I do Legal translations and someone needs a financial translation like oh, no, no, no I can't do that. I can't you know, I'm not the right person for that and all that And you really need to get rid of that and you need to and I I still have this and I still need to work on it you need to Know that you are better than you think you are if that makes any sense and you need to uh, you know, so someone asks you Hey, could you you know research some uh Some what was it athletic stores in Bulgaria And you're like, well, I don't know how research goes. I don't know web research market research I don't know. I shouldn't accept that you need to tell yourself like look I can do this and you know So obviously you can say okay. What exactly do you need? I can let you know this this this and this would that work And you know if they say yeah, that's exactly what we need.  I can't do that because this makes you Not want to start things not want to do things and want to wait until the perfect time to do it And that's when you procrastinate and don't get stuff done And that is kind of the worst thing to have and just because I see it so often People think they're not ready to do something yet and that they need, you know This much more training or this much more whatever because they feel like They're not at that level yet. That's imposter syndrome where you feel like oh, these people are calling me a professional Translator, but I'm not one yet. I really need to work on it No, if If you can handle what they give you to do then you can do it Okay, I'm not saying everyone out there is a professional translator You know because some people are definitely crap. I've had to deal with a lot of people who are crap, but Being nervous about it is not what's going to help you, you know going out there and doing it That's going to show you what you're good at and so you have to go out there and do that you have to take the risk and uh, you know and That's what it takes at the end of the day because I don't care how much training you get I don't care how many degrees you get I don't care, you know How many books you read and how many online courses you take or anything like that if you don't do something about it Then no one's going to do it for you. You have to do it yourself So you need to get rid of that imposter syndrome obviously try to be prepared for stuff and all that but Don't let being prepared Delay starting out. Don't let being prepared delay You know what any day you delay what you're doing is a day later that you're going to achieve your dream If that makes any sense So don't delay, you know get it started. You're going to make mistakes That's going to happen But you'll also be able to deal with them a lot better than you think as time goes on and you'll pick yourself up And keep going and trust me, you know, you will and so you have to stop being afraid and just do it um, okay, so I'm going a bit over time So anyway, these are some of the things you need for the remote lifestyle the good points of the remote lifestyles like I mentioned before You can live pretty much wherever you want and uh, you know, but it's not like glamorous like I said But it is really cool in the sense that You can you can make these happen if you've always wanted to like say live in Japan Then what you should do now is You should research it, you know, because you're working on whatever freelance thing You have but then look into japan don't be like oh when I have a million dollars or one day I'll go because then it'll never happen what you need to do is be like, okay What do I need to go to japan you need a plane ticket you probably need to live somewhere So go they have a million online forums where people discuss all this stuff See what rent is like in tokyo outside tokyo wherever you want to go See what permits you need to live there or not And and then create like you know say okay, so per month I'm gonna have to be making this much And I can almost guarantee it'll be a lot less than you thought it was this This goal will be a lot more reachable than you thought it would be and um And plus it'll be so much fun to research it and you know That's pretty much how I was able to live in all these places because I get excited about something I start spending too much time researching it again We know with a beer something trying to look up I go and excel and try to see If I lived here what the rent would be lived there what the rent would be and try to figure something out And then I'm like, okay. Well, what would my next step be? Well, my next step would be to I don't you know, I don't know see how much I'm earning Say, okay, I need to earn a little bit more per month And so I kind of work on that and then I try to figure it out or maybe I'm already earning enough So I just need to save enough for the plane ticket to go. So I just do that I'll be like, okay, maybe in two months. I'll have enough for the plane ticket and then I Try going and so try making plans, you know And in fact, I would for Taiwan I did that in other places I just start making plans and be like at some point I might come across a barrier that says, you know That makes me stop being able to go there. But uh, you know until that point comes I'm going to start making plans and see what happens. So, um Anyway, I won't get into that because that's a whole other thing in fact, I have a whole course on how to move and live abroad and But I just wanted to touch on it a bit in terms of living remotely working remotely. By the way Doing this work, you maybe don't even want to live remotely You want to just spend more time with your family or you know, just be able to dictate your own schedule And that's kind of what my wife and I are trying to do now We're trying to not live remotely as much We're not doing a very good job because we we've been still coming here to Taiwan and going other places But you know, try to create roots in a community and kind of uh, be be there for a longer time And so that's what we're trying to do when we go back to charlotte. That's what we will continue to be doing And um, you know, but still having this type of lifestyle and being able to work online and kind of dictate my own terms And uh, so yeah, it doesn't have to be about the travel digital nomad stuff It can be about whatever it is, but as long as you can You know dictate your own terms when you work work with the clients you want the hours you want stuff like that Um, so anyway, I know this is a bit all over the place But I kind of wanted to give an update on my lifestyle and the fact that yeah, we've been living this remote lifestyle and we're trying to Now we're trying to settle down a bit more Also, because we have a kid and so we kind of want to you know Create more roots in the community as they say and uh, you know Create more of that sense because you don't have that when you travel a lot and when you live for three months here Six months there It isn't enough It's enough time to make friends and then you're in touch through facebook and all that But it's not enough time to kind of create roots and create a sense of community where you are And so we're trying to do that a bit more We'll see how it goes You know as I said we we were doing that in charlotte and now we came back to taiwan to have to have our kid But uh, we're going to go back to charlotte and continue that uh soon And uh, yeah, so we'll see how it goes. So anyway, that's an update on what's going on with me And uh in doing so yeah talking a bit more about the remote lifestyle which hopefully is something that you're interested in or touches upon what you're interested in because You know being a freelancer is a great way to achieve that and so you know, they go hand in hand So anyway, that's pretty much it and I apologize again, uh, you know, these videos are going to come up when they come up I'm been trying to keep the schedule and in fact, you notice that probably you know a video or two ago I um, you know, I had 10 minutes to record a video and I got a phone call in the middle and I got all frustrated And I usually don't edit these videos. I just put them up as is so um But that one I have that phone call and I'm getting all frustrated in the middle So I uh in fact, I think I took it down I might just cut I might edit that you know part in the middle and just upload it Because uh that that's also kind of a waste just in the middle But also, you know trying to keep the schedule just is is a bit too much Um, you know, this isn't my job. My job is what I do But now with all the other stuff going on there's just way too much going on So, um, you know, but I'll do these videos as I can um and uh because I do it enjoy doing them. So uh, yeah That's pretty much it Hopefully you found this useful you found this or interesting or something along those lines If you do want to hear more I don't know about aspects of a remote lifestyle How to do it why to do it where to do it, you know or stuff like that or the good points the bad points Stuff like that, uh, you know, feel free to let me know and I can talk about it a bit more and uh, otherwise I will see you in the next video. Thanks. Bye