Our sermon title this morning is Draw Near to God in Prayer. Draw Near to God in Prayer. We're in John 16. In this passage of text that ends John 16, before we hear the Lord Jesus Christ himself pray in John 17. But in John 16 verses 23 through 33. Now on your notes, you have five points for the sermon. You can cross out the two through four. We're just going to get to point one this morning. You're probably already used to doing that. But you can just cross out those other four. Use all the lines for point one on your notes. We're going to talk this morning about drawing near to God in prayer. We're going to cover point one on your notes that joy, joy, prayer is provided for our joy. It's one of the reasons that we have the blessing of prayer. The blessing of prayer has been afforded to us by God's grace. We're going to be talking about that this morning. Now if you remember from our text, our context, right? Jesus and his disciples are walking on the east side of the city now on their way to the Garden of Gethsemane. It's the same night on which our Lord was betrayed and he will very soon be arrested.  The disciples in that context now are about to face their most difficult trial by far. The most difficult trial they've ever faced. Peter will deny him three times before the night is through. The other disciples are going to be scattered in fear, even the disciple whom Jesus loves. We know that's John himself here writing this Gospel. He's soon back to his fishing. They love the Lord Jesus Christ. They love the Lord. They've spent three years in ministry with him and they just want to be with him. They enjoy, they love his presence with them. And we can imagine that, right? We long to be with the Lord. If you're in Christ, you long to be with the Lord Jesus Christ. He's made it clear that he's going back to the Father and that's going to happen by a gruesome death.   But then he says something very profound in verse 20. The world is going to be rejoicing, but they're going to be in great sorrow. They're going to be lamenting and weeping. He says to them in verse 20, most assuredly I say to you that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice and you will be sorrowful. But then at the end of verse 20, something very profound, but your sorrow, the Lord says, will be turned into joy. Just like in verse 21, a woman, when she is in labor, has sorrow because her hour has come. But as soon as she has given birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish for joy that a human being has been born into the world. Therefore, you now have sorrow, but I will see you again and your heart will rejoice and your joy no one will take from you. Just like the disciples, right? We, on this side of the cross, on this side of the resurrection, we can see that the very same event that caused sorrow, great sorrow is the very same event that led to the greatest cause for joy. Jesus Christ is risen from the dead. All that sorrow, all that persecution, all that pain, hostility, all the trials, all the tribulation, all the adversity, all the tears, all the pain is now experienced in the context of that glorious truth. And it's truth in which you and I as Christians, it's truth in which we rejoice. We rejoice. The victory is won. The Lord Jesus Christ is the resurrection and the life. My debt, your debt has been paid. My sins, your sins have been atoned for if you're in Christ, right? My guilt has been removed. God's justice has been satisfied. God's wrath has been propitiated. For those in Christ, he's conveyed us out of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of the son of his love. Nothing can separate me. Nothing can separate you from the love of God in Christ Jesus. All that difficulty, right? All those trials now sanctifying us, working for us, a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. Sorrow and pain isn't removed in the Christian life, it's reframed, do you see? When you go through sorrow, when you go through difficulty, adversity, you go through it in the context of these glorious truths in which we rejoice. Any difficulty you face in the Christian life, you can face with a cause for great rejoicing. All that refers, that joy, all that refers to the joy that we have and the great truths of our faith, and we should rejoice over those truths. Truths that the Spirit of God reveals to us through His Word and then plants deep within our heart. We need to rejoice over those truths planted within our hearts and minds by the Spirit of God from the Word of God. Now think also now of our recent study together in the Gospel of John. There are many causes for joy, right? Many promises that the Lord gives us as causes for our joy. In chapter 14, we experience joy by His abiding Word or by abiding in His Word. In chapter 15, we experience joy by abiding in His love. In chapter 15, we experience joy through consistent obedience and fruit bearing. In chapter 16, we experience joy in the reality of the resurrection and the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ promised to be with us from now until the end of the age. But today in chapter 16 verses 23 through 33, we experience joy through prayer. We experience joy, the joy of the Lord through prayer. He says at the end of verse 24, ask and you will receive so that your joy may be full. I want to spend some time in our text today, right? Following the Lord's lead here from John chapter 16 and exhort us to draw near to God in prayer. To draw near to God in prayer. The Lord's intent here in this section of John 16 is to reassure His disciples to encourage them with the reality of their access to God in prayer. And we want to stir ourselves up to prayer through the same encouragement, through the same exhortation, right? We want to be people of prayer. And maybe you would confess with me. I may be the only one I'm willing to admit it, right? Maybe you would confess also that sometimes prayer is a struggle. Sometimes prayer, and I've heard it named one amen. There's just one of you that struggles with me. Sometimes prayer is a difficulty. Sometimes prayer is a struggle. And I confess and we have to confess to our shame that there have been times, maybe many times when we've struggled in prayer. Many people that I've talked to would confess the same difficulty. That's not unusual to the Christian life. There are volumes written on this subject. Many books that you read on prayer, the authors are confessing their struggle, their difficulty with prayer. The discipline, the duty and the delight of prayer. Maybe you've experienced that also. I'm becoming increasingly convinced, the longer that time goes by, that the sin of neglecting God in prayer is one of the most common offenses of the Christian. Consider with me for a moment your own experience with this, right? Your own experience in your own Christian life. Have there been times in your Christian life when your strength is small, when your zeal for the Lord is quenched or dried up? Have there been times in your Christian life, despite all that we have to hope in and to hope for? Have there been times in your Christian life where your hope is feeble? Why should our hope be feeble? Why should our strength be small? We have the greatest glories to rejoice in. Have there been times in your Christian life when your love for the Lord has grown cold? Why? Why would it be that with him who is altogether lovely, that our love for him would grow cold? Have there been times when your progress is hindered, when you're just not making progress in the Christian life that you want to make for the glory of God, for the glory of his name, for the good of your own soul? Have there been times when your battle with sin feels more like a flogging, more defeat than victory? Have there been times in your Christian life when your joy is absent? Have you think about those times? If you're honest with yourself, honest with the Lord, there have been those times. What was your prayer life like? Maybe leading up to that time, maybe through that time. What was your prayer life like? A. W. Pink said this, he said, Most Christians expect little from God, ask little, and therefore receive little, and are content with little. Often Christians rejoice little, hope little, serve little, love little, progress little, evangelize little, read the Bible little. And the connection I think that is made in Scripture, and here specifically from John 16, is that's tied to prayer. That's tied to your prayer life. A practical, very practical, very glorious and blessed means of God, means of grace that is prayer. I acknowledge that I don't believe that we do an overly faithful job of praying. This is an area where we need to improve, where we need to be faithful. We need to be stirred up. We need to be exhorted. We need to believe Christ. And I pray that the Spirit of God would come, and this text would stir us up. Over the next couple of weeks, as we work in John 16, pray that this text would stir us up to more faithful and more fervent prayer. God glorifying Christ exalting, spirit dependent, mind and heart transforming, man diminishing, sin conquering, hope fueling, fruit bearing prayer. And all that for the glory of God, certainly. But so that, chapter 16, your joy may be full. Draw near to God in prayer 1.1 on your notes, because prayer is provided for our joy. One of the reasons that we pray is for our own joy. One of the blessed purposes of prayer is our own joy. Draw near to God for your joy, right? Look at verse 23. And in that day, you will ask me nothing. Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in my name, He will give you. Until now, you've asked nothing in my name. Ask and you will receive so that your joy may be full. As we consider these two verses, right? Point 1 on your notes. Remember our context. Remember where we're at, right? He's leaving them. The Lord Jesus Christ is leaving his disciples. He's departing by means of the cross. And he's going back to be with the Father. And they're going to face tremendous sorrow at his death. Lamenting and weeping. They will cry out. We talked about that last sermon.  The Lord says in verse 23, in that day, right? In the day when I'm no longer with you physically, in the day after I've departed to be with the Father, in that day after Jesus Christ has ascended to the right hand of the Father, he says, you'll ask me nothing. Why is that? Because he's no longer physically with them, right? Pretty straightforward. He's no longer going to be physically with them.  He says in verse 24, along the same lines, he says until now, until this point, you've asked nothing in my name. Because he's been with them. He's been with them physically. They had asked him for a lot, haven't they? But they haven't asked the Father in his name for those things. Lord Jesus Christ was among them physically. They asked him. A pretty straightforward so far in 23 and 24. But this also communicates three very important points. Three important points. The first, and this is encouraging to them, reassuring to them, and it should be encouraging and reassuring to us as we consider these things. Point one, their relationship to God will not be cut off at the death of Christ. It will be enhanced. It's to their advantage that he goes away, because when he goes away, he's going to send the Spirit, the Helper, and also they're going to have access to God in prayer in his name. God the Son. Think about the Trinitarian presence here with the believer. God the Son promised that he would not leave them orphans. He said he would come to them and he promised, Matthew chapter 28, low that he would be with them even to the end of the age. We have the presence of God the Son. God the Holy Spirit is going to come to them. He's going to guide them into all truth. He's going to teach them all things. Jesus Christ said he's going away and he will send the Spirit to them. Another will be accessible to them in prayers offered in Jesus' name. Their relationship to God will not be cut off when the Lord Jesus Christ dies. But second, what he's saying here in verses 23 and 24, mark the beginning of a new period, a new era if you will in redemptive history. That day or those days that follow the death, burial, resurrection, ascension of Christ, the days that we are in right now are days in which to pray in Jesus' name is a new covenant blessing. Blessings that Jesus Christ secured at the cross. Blessings that he purchased for us by shedding his blood, right? The blessing, the joy of being able to go to the Father in his name and pray. He says until now they've asked nothing in his name. But when that day comes, ask, he says, and you will receive so that your joy may be full. So adding to the joy of seeing Christ after his resurrection, they will also have this joy of access to the Father in Christ for their prayers to be answered. Third point though is this. He ties our praying directly to joy in the Christian life. We ask in his name and the Father gives us what we ask for so that our joy may be full. So now here's the intent. If you look at verses 23 and 24, here's the intent or the promise, if you will, those verses. Ask or pray to the Father in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and two things are going to happen. The first is this. You're going to receive whatever you've asked for. And secondly, your joy will be full. I think there are a lot of cases in which genuine Christians have difficulty with both of those two statements. They have no problem seeing in Scripture the necessity to pray, right? And if you're not praying, I know you're convict. If you're a genuine Christian, you're convicted over your lack of prayer. You want to do better in prayer. You want to commune with God in prayer. You want to draw near to him in prayer. You want better prayer life, right? But a lot of genuine Christians have difficulty with the next two statements. Listen, if you pray to the Father in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, two things are going to happen. Two things are going to happen. You will receive whatever you've asked for. And secondly, your joy will be full. Now this can be abused in one of two directions, right? One of two directions. The first is this. On one side, you have health, wealth, prosperity teachers, right? Word of faith, false teachers that basically turn God into a genie or more appropriately for this time of year into Santa Claus, right? If you've just been nice rather than naughty, you'll get what you've asked for.  If you doubt, that's a lack of faith. You won't get what you asked for. And listen, when you pray, if you don't get what you asked for, it's because your faith is little. You need to increase your faith. Word of faith, false teachers will even say that you need to have faith in your faith to get what you've asked for. It's a ludicrous, absurd, unbiblical, vicious, wicked cycle that diminishes prayer. There's no relationship to genuine biblical prayer. Certainly not prayer in his name, right? And that causes difficulty. That thought process causes difficulty sometimes for genuine Christians. We're going to go over that a little bit today. People essentially, with that kind of a thought process, are essentially trying to extort from God what they want. I've really had my eye on that new Cadillac. And the Lord says that whatever I pray, whatever I ask in his name, he's going to do it for me. He's going to do it for me. They forget 1 John 5, whatever you ask according to his will. Forget all those other passages of the Bible. If I pray and I pray with enough faith, it's going to come to me and you end up praying. Self-serving, self-indulgent, selfish, hypocritical, wicked prayers. Alec Mottier, commentator said this. He said, If it were the case that whatever we ask, God was pledged to give, then I for one would never pray again because I would not have sufficient confidence in my own wisdom to ask God for anything. Let that sink in for a minute, right? That's one side. That's one way in which it can be abused. On the other side, you have genuine Christians that don't believe it. You have genuine Christians that don't believe it. Genuine Christians who don't pray in faith because they don't believe God for his promise. They don't know what the text means. And so they pray with no confidence in Christ for what God in his sovereignty will do. Many not believing in prayer, not believing in Christ for answered prayer, don't pray as they should. Don't pray as they should. And their prayer, that kind of prayer, certainly doesn't eventuate in their joy. So point one on your notes, prayer is provided in part for our joy. So here are some questions we want to spend some time answering from verses 23 and 24. What does it mean to pray then in Jesus' name? That's important, right, from the text? Do we really get whatever we ask for? What does that look like? And how is that connected to joy in the Christian life? And we want to put some definition around this so that we can pray with faith in Christ for this promise and that our prayers can be fueled and motivated by this promise and that it can be fueled and motivated by our joy in prayer, trusting in Christ for the fact that God will answer these prayers, not denying anything to Christ, answering these in his name in the same sense that we would pray in his name. Now the best place for us to start is by looking at our context. This isn't the first time, if you've been with us through John, isn't it the first time that we've heard this promise from the Lord? The Lord has made similar statements now three times that we've already looked at two of those. In John chapter 14, John chapter 15, John chapter 16, all these three locations, the Lord exhorts us to prayer and to prayer in Jesus' name. And then we see as we get to John 17 that the Lord himself is going to pray and we look forward to looking at that prayer. So let's look at the first place in which this was given to us in John chapter 14. Turn back there with me. John chapter 14. We want to look in our context here at this promise from the Lord. It's not the first time we've heard it. John chapter 14 and look down at verse 12. Now here Jesus is instructing his disciples again. It's the same conversation, right? Just a little bit earlier in the evening, they were talking about this very thing. John chapter 14, verse 12, he says this, most assuredly, again, amen, amen, right?  And greater works than these he will do because I go to my Father. And we connected that when we went through that passage together. We connected that to the work of the Holy Spirit in and through his people in the missionary work of the Lord Jesus Christ with the gospel. The greater works are related to preaching the gospel and sinners being converted to Christ in the power of the Spirit of God, right? Those are the greater works that we came to in verse 12. Then he says this in verse 13. Tied to those works, in the context of those works, he says, verse 13, and whatever, there it is again, right? And whatever you ask in my name, that I will do. For the purpose that, or so that, the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in my name, I will do it. Now notice the similarities first between John chapter 14 and our text in John chapter 16. Note the similarities. The first similarity is this. Whatever you ask, right? Whatever you ask. That asking in both passages is in his name. There's a way in which the Lord Jesus Christ mediates our prayer or intercedes for us with prayer. We'll talk about that more as we come to verse 26. The intercession of the session of Christ will deal with that when we get to verse 26. But notice the next similarity, that he's going to do it. He's going to give you what you've asked for. Whatever you ask, if you're asking in his name, he's going to give you what you've asked for. Now notice some distinctions, some differences between John 14 and John chapter 16. In John chapter 14, this promise of God, promise of the Lord Jesus Christ, is tied to the work that Jesus did and the work, the greater works that they, the disciples are going to be doing. Right? Tied to those two things. The works that I do, he says in verse 12, he will do also. And greater works than these he will do because I go to my father. And in that context, whatever you ask in my name, that I will do so that the father may be glorified in the Son. And notice this next, the next distinction, is that the purpose is a little different in John 14 and in John 16. It has the purpose here in John chapter 14, verse 12, verse 13, that the father may be glorified in the Son. The purpose of the prayer in John chapter 14, is so that the father may be glorified in the Son. God is glorified in answering those prayers. I think about it and put it together from John chapter 14, right? He connects our prayer to the work that he's given us to do and the greater works that we will do in Jesus' name. Specifically, the great commission, evangelizing, sharing the gospel with lost people and seeing them saved in the power of the Holy Spirit. He connects our prayer to the work that we have to do to the work that Jesus did and as we carry on the work that the Lord Jesus Christ did, as we carry on the work of sharing the gospel, pleading with lost sinners to turn to Christ, you can ask him whatever you need for that mission, whatever you need in that context, you can ask him in accord with that work and he will give it. He'll give it. That's a glorious promise. The only condition here in John chapter 14 is that it is in his name for the glory of God in Christ, not for our own glory, right? It's a blessed promise. It's a blessed promise. The condition is that it is in his name. Whatever you ask, verse 13, in my name, that will I do so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. It's going to be in his name for the glory of God in Christ, not for your own glory, not for your own glory. If you think about it that way now in John chapter 14, the whatever in verse 13 is defined by those conditions, isn't it? Think about that for a moment. It's not whatever, Lord, I need that Cadillac so I can make it across town to share the gospel with those people in that neighborhood. No, the whatever in verse 13 is qualified by the fact that it's prayed in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ when we're talking about what that means. And it's qualified by the fact that it would be glorifying to God the Father that he may be glorified in the Son, not for our own glory. It's in his name and for his glory, right? That's the condition. It's in his name and for his glory. Now by way of illustration, I thought about that, right? Prayer, prayer must be in his name and for God's glory. It eventuates in God's glory. God glorifies himself, exalts the Son in answering prayers that are made in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ that align with his mission and align with his work, right? And he rejoices to answer that prayer. I thought about that in reference to the Lord's prayer in Luke chapter 11. In Luke chapter 11, the disciples ask the Lord to teach them to pray, right? It sort of speaks sometimes to the difficulty and the struggle with prayer. We need to be taught to pray. So the disciples ask Lord, teach us to pray. So in verse two, the Lord says to them, listen to this, when you pray, say this, our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, right? hallowed reverenced be your name, worshipped be you, be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done in heaven and on earth as it is in heaven. I think about that text, right? To pray for the glory of God. To pray in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ for the glory of his name is to do these things. It's to hallow or reverence his name. It's to seek the coming of his kingdom. It's to seek his will and all things, right? So if you want to pray for the glory of God, run your prayers through that filter. Hallow reverence, respect God's name, fear God, right? See him as holy and worthy of prayer, worthy of adoration, right? Worthy of your dependence, worthy of your faith. Hallow his name and seek the coming of his kingdom. Seek the coming of his kingdom, right? Seek his will in all things. You're praying to the glory of God. Just tie those two things together. So that, verse 13, the Father may be glorified in the Son. Look with me at the next place where we touched on, John chapter 15. John chapter 15 and drop down to verse 5. Again, within this one conversation, before his death, his last words, his farewell discourse with his disciples, he's giving them parting instruction and he spends three portions of the conversation here on prayer. John chapter 15, look at verse 5. He says, I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me and I in him bears much fruit, for without me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered, and they gather them and throw them into the fire and they are burned. If you abide in me and my words abide in you, then you will ask what you desire and it shall be done for you. By this, my Father is glorified that you bear much fruit and so you will be my disciples. Now, we're going to put together John 14, John 15, and John 16. Think about the similarities between John chapter 14 now and John chapter 15. Similarities are this. One, it says that you will ask what you desire, verse 7, right? If you abide in me and my words abide in you, you will ask what you desire. The other similarity is the last phrase in that verse, it shall be done for you. That's not a... I want to emphasize this, right? That's not an empty promise. This is the Lord Jesus Christ speaking. These are the words of God, the Holy Spirit inspired text of Scripture and God is saying that whatever you ask in His name, He will give it to you. It's going to be, verse 7, it shall be done for you. Here, distinctions, if we look at differences between John 14 and John 15, here prayer is related directly to fruit bearing in the Christian life. Fruit bearing in the Christian life. Your prayer related to bearing fruit will be done for you. Why? Well, because you bearing fruit glorifies God. If that prayer is made in Jesus' name to the glory of God the Father, then your bearing fruit in answer to prayer glorifies God the Father so it shall be done for you. That make sense? The condition here is a little different. The condition here is that you abide in Him and His words abide in you. So now put it together. John 14, John 15, similar promises, right? Whatever you ask in His name, that's what He's going to do. Condition in John chapter 14 is that you're carrying on the work of the Lord Jesus Christ, sharing the gospel, pleading with lost interest to turn to Christ, that you're laboring in that mission. And when you labor in that mission and you pray for what you need in that mission, in His name, for the glory of God in Christ, not for your own glory, He's going to give it to you. You're going to have what you need. In John chapter 15, ask what you desire with reference to fruit bearing. Ask what you desire, right? It's going to be done with you. When you abide in Him, when His words abide in you, you ask in His name to the glory of God the Father, right? He is going to do it. It shall be done for you. Now, He clarifies that further down in verse 16. Drop down to verse 16 with me. He says in verse 16, you did not choose me, right? But I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should remain. That whatever you ask, here it is again, right? That whatever you ask the Father in my name, He may give it to you. These things I command you that you love one another. That says in verse 16, He chose His disciples. You do not choose me, the Lord says. You didn't choose me. I chose you and I appointed you with a purpose. Your purpose is that you should go and bear fruit. Now, when we were in this text, not long ago, we know that He's talking about fruits there of character, right? Fruits of the Spirit, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, those fruits of the Spirit. But He's also talking about fruits of conduct, right? Obedience to the word of God, not committing sins of omission, not committing sins of commission, but obeying the Lord Jesus Christ. And also, He's talking about fruits in the Great Commission, obeying the Great Commission, living that out. And in that, in your conduct, in your character, in the Great Commission, your mission as a Christian is to bear fruit. Now, here, that is the condition that you bear fruit, right? The condition is that you bear fruit. You're given a mission. When you labor in that mission and you bear lasting fruit, then what does the text say? Whatever you ask the Father in my name, He may give it to you. He'll give it to you. Here, if you look at John 15, the purpose of prayer is answered prayer, right? If you abide in me, my words abide in you, verse 7, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you by this. My Father is glorified that you bear much fruit. You bear much fruit. You pray for fruit. He answers the prayer for fruit. You bearing fruit glorifies Him. And you bearing fruit is one of the conditions for answered prayer. Be a fruit-bearing Christian. Whatever you ask the Father in my name, He may give it to you. So, what's the exhortation from John 15? It's to get work in your mission. Get to work on the mission that you've been given. Labor with Christ in the gospel, right? The power of the Spirit. Get to work on that mission. Let me give you another text from John's writings. Go with me to 1 John. 1 John. We're going to put all these together in just a moment here. Look at 1 John chapter 5 and drop down to verse 14. If you're thinking in a self-indulgent, selfish, self-centered, man-centered kind of way, then you may be discouraged right now thinking, you know, I'm not going to get the Cadillac. Right? Right?  You desire to commune with God in prayer. You desire to do the will of the Lord Jesus Christ to obey his word, for him to abide in you and for you to abide in him, right? For his word to abide in you, for you to abide in his love. And this is a glorious promise. Listen, you follow the Lord Jesus Christ in faith and your prayers are, will be, shall be answered. He will do it for you when you pray in his name for his glory. You've got to stop praying for your own name for your own glory, all right? First John chapter 5 verse 14. Now this is the confidence that we have in him. All of this should build tremendous confidence. These are promises from God. This is the confidence that we have in him. That if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. Verse 15, not just hears us, we know that he hears us. Whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of him. Now here, the condition, first John chapter 5 is obvious, isn't it, right? If we ask anything or whatever we ask, according to his will, if it's according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us, verse 15, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we've asked of him. This is the passage that health, wealth, prosperity guys like to forget. You and I can think of many things that we can pray that are not according to his will, right? Many things that could be prayed that are not according to his will. Pray in accord with his will. And when you pray in accord with his will, whatever you ask, you know that you have the petitions that they've asked of him. Even a genuine Christian, you may desire things. You may even desire things that are not according to his will. There are many ways that a genuine Christian can pray, and they can pray not in accord with the will of God. We know that to be true. But when we pray in accord with the will of God, we know that we have the petitions that we've asked of him. There was a quote from the quote from Mottier that I was thinking of that so true, isn't it, that oftentimes the thing about that, that if God were pledged to give us every single thing that we asked for, he would stop praying because he didn't have any confidence in his own wisdom to pray for those things that are really good for him. God answers prayer. Oftentimes, doesn't answer prayer in the way that you would think or expect or want him to answer the prayer. But you can rest assured that prayer is always answered for the genuine Christian and always answered in accord with their good. He works in his sovereignty, works all things together for the good of those who are the called according to his purpose. He's working that together for your good. And it's a great grace and a great blessing from God that sometimes we don't get what we ask for, right? Go back to John chapter 16, John chapter 16, verse 23. In that day, the Lord says, you will ask me nothing. Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in my name, he will give it to you. Until now, you've asked nothing in my name. Ask, you will receive so that your joy may be full, so that your joy may be full. So here again, now in John chapter 16, we see again, similarities, right? Praying in his name. We also see John chapter 16, verse 23, that whatever you ask, whatever you ask, the Father is going to do it, you will receive it. The distinction here is the purpose. The purpose in verse 24 is so that your joy may be full, your joy may be full. What gives a true Christian genuine joy? What are genuine Christians? What do they rejoice over? One thing is God's glory. I start putting the text together now. One of the things that causes genuine joy in the life of a genuine Christian is to know that you are laboring and praying and praying and laboring to God's glory, right? You want to see God glorified. You want to see the Lord Jesus Christ high and lifted up his name, famous among the Gentiles, right? What gives a true Christian genuine joy? Abiding in Christ and in his word. His will in all things, right? Your will on earth as it is in heaven. That gives a genuine Christian joy. What causes a true Christian to rejoice? Fruitfulness in his own life, right? When you see fruit in your own life, doesn't it? Isn't it a cause of joy to you and to know that it's him who has at work in you according to his will, according to his good pleasure, right? That gives the genuine Christian joy. Fruitfulness in his mission to rejoicing at the evangelism testimony this morning. What an awesome example of that very thing that when you're faithful to go out and labor with the gospel in the work that the Lord has given you to do in the Great Commission, when somebody responds to that in repentance and faith, it's a cause for rejoicing, cause for rejoicing. When all those things, when that's what your prayers are about, right? When that's your motivation, when that's your heart, when that's what your prayers are about, you get whatever you ask for, right? God's glory, his will to be done. You would abide in Christ, abide in his word, that you would bear fruit, fruit of character, fruit in your living, fruit in the Christian life, fruit in the Great Commission. When that's what your prayers are about, when that's your motivation, when that's your heart, when that's your desire, when that's your joy, right? When that's your joy, you get whatever you ask for and your joy in that is off the charts. Isn't it fullness of joy? Your joy may be not partial, right? Your joy may be, you know, mediocre. So your joy may be full. So your joy may be full. So that whatever we ask for, right? Whatever you ask the Father in my name is condition. We have to understand the condition and that condition is for your good, for my good. Those conditions are for the glory of God. If that condition wasn't there, right? And it's just whatever you ask in my name, that's not for the glory of God. God turns into a genie. And we ask a miss because we intend to spend it on our lusts. You see? So what do you do then? You keep praying. You pray. You pray in faith. You pray in hope. You pray with great expectation. You keep praying with gratefulness on your heart that God's answers are wiser than your prayers. And you keep praying. Spurgeon said this. Because God is the living God, he can hear. Because he is a loving God, he will hear. And because he is our covenant God, he has bound himself to hear. It's a promise of God. A promise of God. Labor and pray. Labor and pray. Labor and pray. We're going to talk about it as we get to verse 26. We'll talk more about Christ's intercession for us. What it means that Christ in this is our mediator. One way in which that's the case is that through the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ, he has given us access to the Father in the Son. Look at Hebrews chapter 4 with me quickly. I'll spend just a little bit of time here. Hebrews chapter 4. To pray in his name is to acknowledge the access that we have to God through and only through the Lord Jesus Christ. So when you pray, right? It's not a light thing that we say in Jesus' name. Sometimes we can think that way. It's sinful and neglectful to think that way. It's not a light thing. We have access to God the Father only in the Lord Jesus Christ. If... You have no access to God apart from the Lord Jesus Christ, right? You would be turned into an instantaneous grease spot if you attempted to access God apart from the Lord Jesus Christ. You can't. You can't access God apart from the Lord Jesus Christ. It's through the Lord Jesus Christ that we have access in prayer to the Father. We can't come in our own name, right?  Can't come in your own name considering our need, right? Considering our depravity God has given us a mediator, the Lord Jesus Christ. God has given us His Son to be our advocate. Look at chapter 4 and drop down to verse 16. We're backing up to verse 14. It says, Yet without sin. Because of Jesus. Because of His work. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. He's given us access. If you remember the story of His crucifixion and the death of Christ, right? In understanding the Jewish temple you had various courts that separated people from the Holy of Holies which was thought to contain the presence of God where the ark was, right? And the priests, the high priests could only go into the Holy of Holies once per year to atone for the sins of the people and for no other reason and only that one time per year and only that one person. When the Lord Jesus Christ died on the cross Bible says that the veil in the temple the holy place from the most holy place that veil that separated men from access to God was ripped from top to bottom. The veil was torn open. If you look at Ephesians chapter 2 the middle wall of separation between men and God has been torn down by the Lord Jesus Christ. It's in Christ that we have access to God the Father here specifically to pray to him to pray and to expect in faith that he hears our prayers it's through Christ and only through Christ that we can pray to the Father that's why when you pray it's important to acknowledge that drawing near to God. Listen Father I acknowledge that the only reason I can breathe out a prayer to you right now is because of your grace shown to me in Christ for no other reason can I come to you. I am worthy unclean depraved and apart from Christ I deserve nothing but wrath nothing but hell nothing but your judgment but because of Christ I could come right and you come wrapped clothed in the white robes of Christ's righteousness right otherwise apart from his righteousness we would be consumed apart from Christ we have no hope of access to God Christ intercession also involves all that he is and all that he's done Spurgeon said this also he said the granting of prayer when offered in the name of Jesus reveals the Father's love to him and the honor which he has put upon him prayers in his name few moments we have left think with me for a moment about what prevents our joy then what prevents or hinders our joy often genuine Christians simply don't believe they don't believe and so they don't pray the fact that they don't pray reveals that they do not believe right or when they pray they pray with doubting look at a little tour through James James chapter 1 James says if any of you lacks wisdom let him ask of God who gives liberally to all without reproach and it will be given to him but let him ask in in faith that's right without doubting he who doubts is like a wave of the sea tossed by the wind let not that man suppose that he'll receive anything from the Lord he is a double minded man unstable in all his ways we often have no joy in prayer because we ask don't receive because we ask amiss James chapter 4 you ask and do not receive because you ask amiss that you may spend it on your pleasures adulterers and adulteresses do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God often we're joyless or ineffectual so to speak in prayer because we're not praying fervently in righteousness for the Lord's glory James chapter 5 is anyone among you suffering let him pray is anyone cheerful let him sing Psalms is anyone among you sick let him call for the elders of the church let him pray over him anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord and the prayer of faith will save the sick and the Lord will raise him up if he has committed sins he will be forgiven confess your trespasses to one another and pray for one another that you may be healed the effective fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much Elijah was a man with a nature like ours and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain for three years and six months and he prayed again and the heavens gave rain and the earth produces fruit we consider prayer I want to consider prayer from John 16 over the next couple of weeks let me give you some exhortations to think about one would be this set aside a time and have a plan for prayer in your Christian life set aside a time don't make it a lesser priority one pastor called it the highest blessing don't make it a lesser priority set a time have a plan I want to convince you of this one Puritan said that the first hour of the morning is the rudder of the day set aside a time have a plan it's not heartless or legalistic to have a time and have a plan prayer is a priority it's not a leftover it's not something that you merely squeeze in as you have opportunity throughout the day you can't pray without ceasing pray in all those circumstances don't get me wrong don't take my too far with what I'm trying to say plan for prayer have a time have a plan set it aside as a priority Calvin said that prayer is the chief exercise of faith the chief exercise of faith prayer is often a litmus test of your devotion to Christ your faith in God have a time have a plan if you want to write these down I know the brothers talk to myself one time or another I've gone through Matthew Henry's method for prayer and let me give you some things to pray about considering having a plan and I've added one to Matthew Henry's list that I have in my own time the first one is drawing near drawing near to God and just drawing near by the blood of Christ pleading his merits through the veil of his flesh so to speak drawing near to God in Christ then the second would be adoration spend time adoring God adoring the Lord Jesus Christ how you do that inform through his word pray the Bible passages of scripture pray through the Psalms the Psalms exalt Christ exalt Christ in the Psalms second is third is confession so drawing near to God adoration confession confessing your sin confessing your need acknowledging your depravity the next is petition petition pleading with God Spurgeon said that pleading with God is the measure of prayer it's a substance of prayer pleading with God pleading with God petition next is Thanksgiving Thanksgiving next is intercession praying for others praying I've heard several people refer to it this way praying in concentric circles I usually feel extremely needy so I begin with my own my own needs and then I'll branch out to my wife then branch out to elders staff leaders in the church then to the church then to the kingdom you just pray in eccentric circles and it just helps you remember who to pray for the only way you can pray this way is to have a time and have a plan simply not going to happen in the three minutes while you're in the shower while you're driving your car doing other things next is to conclude commending yourself into the hands of God His sovereign grace and goodness to you and all of that thinking through the priorities how it would be your name your kingdom come your will be done set aside a time and have a plan for prayer secondly pray from the heart pray from the heart in worship is prayer a duty yes it is I was fixing my TV this week I was fixing my TV I was talking to someone about that and he asked me he said do you have the power on right now I'm like yes I do he turned the power off so prayer is a duty the way that a duty to the electrician is to turn the power off before he's working on electrical piece of equipment you'll die if you don't prayer prayer is a duty the way that a space helmet is duty to an astronaut leaving the module right or hazmat suit is for somebody entering a quarantined space it's a discipline it's a duty but it's a delight and it's an utmost need it's an utmost need you're going to pray from the heart in worship that prayer has to be informed by the word of God and what better way to inform your prayer from the word of God than by praying through text from the scripture praying through the bible Bunyan said that the best prayers have often more groans than words and Bunyan's thought in that is that it's from the heart and often times we don't always know what we ought to pray for as we should and so the spirit comes along with groanings which cannot be uttered and it should be fervent martinoy jones said there is no better index of one spiritual state and condition than one's prayers there's no better index of one's spiritual state and condition than one's prayers we want to be faithful in prayer amen we're faithful Lord in seeking him and faithful them in prayer with the expectation of faith that whatever we ask in his name he will do it amen let's pray we worship you Lord and right now Lord we acknowledge your sovereign will and power we acknowledge your covenant promises to your people that whatever we ask in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ you will do it because it glorifies you and exalts the sun it's for your glory it's for your names sake it's according to your word your will your mission your work your choice in praying according to that knowing that those prayers will be answered because those are our desires God we desire from the heart your glory we desire from the heart your will we desire to see Christ exalted we desire to see sinners come to saving faith we desire to see the saints edified and built up we desire to see your church prospered by your grace to us we desire those things that you desire so they are our great joy to pray for and we rejoice to see those prayers answered we've seen so many prayers answered in this place Lord we're so grateful to you for that we've prayed and you've been so faithful build our faith Lord we believe God help our unbelief help us to trust you more help us to rely upon you more help us to rejoice in you more for your glory God in Jesus name Amen


The fact is that the way we create, run, manage software has changed over time. The whole culture around it has also changed. How have you seen the methods of attack by ransomware? They have also changed, which once again based on your research. As you said, it's becoming more tech. It can be social engineering. There are so many ways attackers target their, of course, targets. How you have seen it changing, evolving, where you're like, of course, to be honest with you, these are some of the smartest people on the globe. As Linus once said, these are smart people. We want them on our side, not on this. So talk a bit about how you've seen the evolution of these attacks. They're smart and they're innovative. They're constantly changing. So they may focus on a specific industry that they know is more likely to pay. So let's say health care or critical services may be more likely to pay a ransomware attack. And we may focus on scale, trying to go and do automated attacks. And where we saw here is 143% increase in zero day attack. So just launching malware, then that malware will break in versus trying to send you an email. So somebody sent me an email and they said, hey, Steve, go to this website and you can get a new Frisbee for Disc Golf, which is my passion. Well, I'm going to go to that site, click, get my free Frisbee. They're never going to send it to me, but they will download that malware. That's how they used to do it. And now they're less dependent on the person and able just to directly attack, which allows them to scale faster.


Imagine this, you're married with kids and you're visiting the zoo. The kids are thoroughly enjoying the orangutans, waving, smiling, laughing and talking at them, but you love giraffes and two and a half hours is enough time admiring these apes. You want to move on and check out the other animals, especially the giraffes. What do you do? Well, if you're a decent parent, you don't just leave them behind as you move on without them, you make sure that you take them with you as you move on to the next exhibit. In a speech, this is the function of transitions. Grab your audience by the metaphorical hand and bring them with you as you explore other areas of your speech. In this video, we'll discuss the basics of developing effective transitions. There are a variety of ways that you can use transitions to move the audience along in your speech. One of the simplest methods is using sign posts. Much like the signs that you see when you're driving on the highway, sign posts in a speech let the audience know that a change is coming. Sign posts use a simple word or words such as first, second, next and in conclusion to signal a new idea for an audience. For example, first we'll discuss the importance of considering the breed before adopting a puppy. Next we'll discuss the importance of considering the space needs of different dogs before adopting a puppy. Finally, we'll discuss the importance of considering the cost of raising a dog before adopting a puppy. The review-preview transition is another simple but effective method for guiding your audience between main points. A review-preview states both the point you just discussed and the point that's coming up next. For example, a speaker might say, now that we've discussed the dangers of texting and driving let's examine the current penalties for drivers who are caught texting while at the wheel. The negative or not transition indicates a change to the audience by letting them know that the previous point is not the only relevant information. For example, a speech on dealing with stress might transition between points by saying that's not the only way to cope with stress. Another way is or imagine you're making a video that discusses transitions and you want to move on to the next type of transition. You might say a negative transition is not the only kind of transition however. You can also use rhetorical questions to move from one point to the next. Speaking of rhetorical questions, do you see what I did there? Rhetorical questions can also provide effective transitions between main points. A speaker could potentially pose one or more questions such as where do we go from here? So what is the answer to this serious problem we're facing? What can we do to fix this problem? Transitions serve a simple but critical function in a speech. Think of them as the tendons and ligaments of your speech. Tendons and ligaments maintain the structure of your body. Without them, you would be a loose heap of bone and muscle laying on the floor like a blob. The same is true of your speech. Without transitions, it will end up an unstructured mushy mess. With transitions though, your audience will be able to follow your progression from one point to the next without any problem. In this video, we discuss the basics of developing effective transitions. Check out some of our other videos for more insight into the public speaking process.


Today, I have the distinct pleasure of speaking with Tracy Costa from Peek-A-Boo Beans. How are you today? I'm great. Thanks. How are you? Well, it's holiday season and it looks like you're bringing all of us shareholders a real celebration. Your shares are up, what, 100% last week? It's been a good week. And I understand it's because you're on the road. Is that correct? I'm on the road. The business has been on fire recently. We've really invested in our digital marketing spend. We've been seeing great return on our ad spend. So we've had a 40% year-over-year growth in the first two months of this first quarter. And we're seeing the results we want to. Even our website visitors has doubled. Okay. So you're hearing the websites have doubled, but I personally just tweeted out, I didn't know that you had, I think you've got the largest board percentage of women, I think in the world. 75%, is that correct? It is. We're really proud of that. That's what we want to build. We want to build a culture of female empowerment and we're up to some pretty amazing things and we have some very strong board members because of that. And of course, speaking of the female empowerment, Catacord has appointed you for, what do they have? It's a women advisory program. Five people were selected among hundreds of women run businesses. And we get to work with the top resources in Canada as far as people and ideas and networks. So it's been a thrill to be one of those five women selected. And for those of you out there that may not be familiar with peek-a-boo beads, they do have a formidable board, but they also have an incredible business model in general that's a very unique. And I'd like to point out to everybody that you basically have created clothing for children that want to live to play, basically. Our mission at peek-a-boo beans is what people attach themselves to, what mothers, what parents attach themselves to. It's this mission about getting kids back to basics, getting them out playing in free structured environments where they learn and grow and develop. That's why we've developed such a strong culture and such a strong consumer. And having a 60% returning customer rate. At the end of the day we have an exceptional product that allows children to feel good, to not be distracted, to empower them to be independent. And so we have a great product. But our culture and our community and our mission is what keeps people coming back. And of course what shareholders are going to love is of course is how your stock is starting to perform. So can you tell us a little bit more about what you anticipate with your upcoming quarter for sales with of course the Christmas holidays? Well we know that we have been over the last few quarters. We've been building the business, building that revenue stream and we're starting to see that play out now. So we'll have in the first quarter we anticipate a 40% year over year increase and our margins continue to improve. So we're well positioned. We're going to be launching our subscription box which we put out in news. So that'll be coming out in the second quarter. It's an exceptional product offering and it's a subscription box which is reoccurring revenue and it's an experience. So we're really excited about that and then we're going to be launching a whole sustainability piece, a Warnware secondary piece to our site where we're buying back vintage peek-a-boo beans and reselling it. So really taking ownership over sustainability and being a stand for that. And of course those of you that know Peter Clausi, even Peter can put this clothing line on his children but this is more than just a retail outlet. It's more of a future forward culture with social media. You also are integrating some pretty cutting edge technology. Can you talk to us about that? It's always changing dramatically and you have to keep up with the times and the times are influencer based, affiliate based, network marketing but also creating sort of that omni channel where you can meet your customer where they shop. So we have a Brooks and Motor Store. It's fantastic. It's an experiential opportunity for people to come in, touch and feel the product and feel the brand but also the core of our business is e-commerce. It's Amazon. It's affiliate. It's tapping into social influencers who are mothers, who are fathers, who are women who are talking about products that they align with that have millions and millions of followers and fan bases through their Instagram feeds. So we're mitigating our downside risk by really providing shopping opportunities for where people like to shop and having multiple touch points and how to reach them. So it is very cutting edge and it is very relevant. But we always continue to evolve and grow and do what we need to do as far as the business goes to make us be successful. Well Tracy, thank you so much for joining us today and for anyone out there that wants more information on Peek-A-Boo Beans and I am a shareholder, please do email me, Tracy at investorintel.com. Thank you Tracy. Thank you so much Tracy.


Welcome to the Crimson Engine. My name is Rubidium. Today we are talking time code, syncing your footage and really something that's changing how we edit and that is the tentacle sync boxes. So a couple of weeks ago I had a shoot for a friend. It was a workshop sort of educational video scenario where we had a main shot locked off of him teaching but then we also wanted to do all these little cutaways of you know details on his hands, details on what he was talking about, close-ups on his face. So how I would normally have done this is start all three cameras running, come in with a clapperboard or just slate it somehow and hope that all three cameras run in sync for the entire time and if we had to cut for any reason we would have to slate it again when we started up. But this meant that the front camera would have been the main camera for most of the time but the two side cameras would have been running the entire time and it would have been really difficult to then having to watch all that footage and work out what small little slivers we wanted of the side coverage. The way around this is to use time code. Time code keeps as many cameras as you want as well as your audio in perfect sync for the duration of the shoot and when you open the files and sync with time code the Premiere or Resolve or whatever application you're using just puts everything where it is. So that meant that you could shoot your front camera, your main camera, and then whenever you felt like there was a little shot of a cutaway worth having and worth putting in the edit you could just set it up, hit record for a couple of seconds, turn it off again and in your timeline you would see this as a nice little insert that you could drop into the main shot. The problem is that DSLRs and most digital cinema cameras don't have time code. They have time code internally meaning actually I can see it on my C200 here in the in the side of the screen it's keeping tabs on this particular clip but there's no way to perfectly sync that with other cameras because the C200 you know despite being a seven and a half thousand dollar camera doesn't have the ability to jam time code. You can't come along with a time code box and tell the camera what the starting time code should be right now but it's not just a C200 issue lots of cameras including the red cameras have real difficulty keeping time code in sync when the camera is turned off and turned on and you end up having to use external time code boxes anyway. So enter tentacle sync. This is the second generation of these devices that have proved incredibly popular.  It sits on your camera and connects to the audio port. It outputs a digital audio time code so a series of bleeps and blobs that then get stored in the audio track of your video. Then the software when you open it in tentacle sync software it can read that digital time code audio and put it everything in sync as though it was the native time code of the video clip. The huge improvement with these guys is that they are bluetooth enabled so that you don't have to keep connecting things and unconnecting things from the camera which is you know a real issue when the audio guys come at lunch and want to re-jam the cameras and the camera might be turned off or it might be up in the ceiling or it might be somewhere else. You can do all of this as long as you're in bluetooth range with your phone you can do all of this without bothering anybody. Basically your your phone detects your tentacle sync boxes it shows if they're still they're still rolling how much battery they have if they're still in sync with one another and if they're not you can just hit a button and it will put them all in sync. It has a couple of really interesting little tricks it also has a microphone on it so if you do want audio a scratch track it will put the digital time code audio into one of a stereo pair and leave you with a scratch track on the other. With my C200 I have four tracks of audio so I'm still able to use the two tracks of the main tracks one and two for two different levels of the person speaking and then I'm able to use tracks three and four with this guy into the side. That meant when I did my workshop in New York City a few weeks ago I was able to shoot with the C200 and two 5d mark 3s just have these running the tentacle sync boxes on the sides and then when I got home rather than having to spend a day or a couple of days syncing up all that footage it was you know less than five minutes I brought it in it detected the time code I clicked the button it synced everything up and then output an XML that I could open in Resolve or Premiere and here is all my footage all in sync all ready to start editing it was dream come true. I heard from Canon that the real reason that the C200 was left off the list of approved Netflix cameras was its lack of native time code so with these little boxes and they start around $450 for the Bluetooth set of two of these you can bring your C200 into the time code world and have a really great time code with a great interface and really you know solve a lot of the problems of multi-camera shooting they come with these really clever little jerk stoppers so that the cable that's connecting the box to your audio cable can't get yanked out if the if the box drops down it also has an internal little Velcro pad on the back that's part of the system that's flush with the box so you just put a little piece of the included Velcro on the back of your camera and you can put it there I mean it weighs almost nothing and the battery lasts a couple of days it just repowers through USB-C which is pretty universal and it's a really really great system. Tentacle Sync were kind of enough to send me two of these to do a giveaway with so I would love to hear from you guys what's your worst case scenario audio story that you guys have endured on set leave it in the comments keep it to a paragraph and I'll pick the best story that I find there and I will send you a pair of these tentacle sync boxes with 500 bucks thank you very much for watching please leave your questions in the comments I'll leave links to this stuff on BNH and Amazon also Tentacle Sync's own page we can find out more about how this technology works I'm really happy to run my first giveaway and I hope someone out there needs these but otherwise thank you very much for watching and I will see you next time


of the expected Ukrainian offensive this spring or summer. How, to what degree, would the tactics need to change? I just spoke with my counterpart in Ukraine today, Minister Olexei Reznikov. We talked about a number of issues, but as we typically do. But he and the leadership remain focused on the task at hand. And I have every confidence that they will do what good leaders, great leaders do. They will fight the enemy and not be driven by a specific plan. They have a great plan to start. They have much of the capability that they need to continue to be successful. We've trained an enormous number of troops. We've provided a substantial number of platforms. And so I think he feels that he's in a pretty good position. And we'll stay focused on continuing to generate security assistance, capability so that they can continue to be successful whenever they choose to take up offensive operations.


In an interview with CNN Kremlin spokesperson Dimitri Peskov basically lied through his teeth throughout the duration of the interview He lied about the nature of the invasion into Ukraine He lied about whether or not the Russian government was targeting civilians and committing war crimes in Ukraine and that's to be expected But thankfully the CNN interviewer actually did a fantastic job and not only asking tough questions But pushing back and I'll link you to the full interview or part of the interview Most of it would CNN post it on their YouTube page Because it was really fascinating and I think really insightful But there was one portion of this interview that stood out to me because of how chilling it was So the CNN interviewer asked whether or not Russia would rule out using nuclear weapons since Vladimir Putin has hinted that he'd be open to it now multiple times and He refused to rule it out He had two opportunities to state unequivocally that they're taking nuclear weapons off the table and Dimitri Peskov did not do that take a look I quickly ask you though a need to ask you this because the world is afraid And I want to know whether Putin intends the world to be afraid of the nuclear option. Would he use it? President Putin intends to Intends to make the world Listen to and understand our concerns We've been trying to convey our concerns to the world To Europe to the United States for a couple of decades, but no one would listen to us and before it is too late It was a decision to start to launch a special Operation military operation to get rid of entire Russia that was created next to our borders What to get rid of Russia and Anti-Russia because Ukraine actually Ukraine started to be it was formed by the Western countries anti-Russia Okay, this is the problem. Okay. You look Ukraine is a country sovereign. It's recognized by the United Nations It's been around for a very very long time, but I just want to know I want to ask you again Is President Putin because again the Finnish president said to me that when he asked Putin Directly about this because President Putin has laid that card on the table President Putin said that if anybody tries to stop him very bad things will happen And I want to know whether you are convinced or confident that your boss will not use that option Well, we have a concept of domestic security and Well, it's public. You can read all the reasons for nuclear arms to be used So if it is an Existential threat for our country, then it can be used in accordance with our concept Well, there are no other reasons That were mentioned in that text So you are basically saying only an existential threat to your country I still don't know whether I've got a full answer from you And I just I'm just going to assume that President Putin wants to scare the world and keep the world on tender hooks That was pure insanity. That was madness In other words, no, we're not going to take nuclear weapons off the table And we want the world to know that one man Vladimir Putin can unilaterally end all life on earth We want you to know that and we want you to fear for that possibility It's sick. It's sadistic. It's Psychopathic, but that's their strategy keep everyone on edge so that way Russia gets what they want out of this illegal war of aggression it's grotesque and you think that you'd want your opponents to know that You never want to use nuclear weapons because of mad mutual assured destruction because if The United States knows that Russia is going to use nuclear weapons Then they're going to use nuclear weapons and we all die. That's the nature of mad So you think they want to make it very clear, of course, we would never use nuclear weapons We'd only use it in retaliation if they were used against us. That's not what they said there They're using this as a strategy now. Do I think that Vladimir Putin is bluffing to an extent? I do I do think that he's using this threat of nuclear annihilation To kind of get what he wants but that's not a theory that I want to test and certainly any United States official who's warmongering and saber-rattling and calling for a no-fly zone Which essentially would lead to a direct confrontation with Russia World War three and likely nuclear annihilation That they're they're so irrational Putin is insane. I think that he's made that very clear He's not a rational actor and the question is he's suicidal That's a question that we're all asking ourselves. Would he do the unthinkable? Well, he at least is Crazy enough to posture which in and of itself is Insane, but they're saying here look if we think that there's an existential threat to Russia Then we'll use nuclear weapons, but what does that mean exactly? What do you? Characterize as an existential threat because they've consistently moved the goalpost and the former president of Russia Dmitry Medvedev who's an ally of Putin has already said well the United States wants to end the Russian motherland So if you believe that isn't that an existential threat So are you already saying that we meet the criteria for you using nuclear weapons? So let's get to what Dmitry Medvedev said because it's clear that these people are fucking insane as Braddress of the hill explains a close ally of Russian president Vladimir Putin on Wednesday Accused the US of seeking the end of our motherland and said escalating tensions could result in a nuclear disaster Dmitry Medvedev deputy chairman of Russia's Security Council who also previously served as the country's president and prime minister wrote in a post on Russian social networking site vk.com that Russia has been the target of the same mediocre and primitive game Since the collapse of the Soviet Union this means that Russia must be humiliated limited shaken Divided and destroyed Medvedev wrote saying if Americans succeed in that objective Here is the result the largest nuclear power with an unstable political regime weak leadership a collapsed economy and the maximum number of nuclear Warheads aimed at targets in the US and Europe Medvedev said the US has constantly waged senseless wars since the end of World War two citing military action in Korea Vietnam Afghanistan and Iraq He then pinned the blame for tensions between the West and Russia on American aggression Unlike the American establishment, which wants the end of our motherland Russia wants to see the United States as a strong and intelligent country and not the last refuge of those who Gradually fall into senile insanity the former Russian president wrote so what he's basically saying here Is that the United States wants to weaken Russia to the point where nuclear weapons are more likely because if you have weak leadership here If you don't have our leadership, then you might get someone who's crazier who would actually press that big red button But we're gonna continue to threaten that and talk about the possibility of nuclear warfare as well It's just insane and it's ironic that he Calls out us imperialism rightfully so but then justifies Russian imperialism How about we just all agree that imperialism is bad full stop unequivocally so American imperialism is horrible, but also Russian imperialism is horrible and it sounds like cry bullying to me He's blaming the United States and US aggression for their invasion into Ukraine You're the ones who are the aggressors in this instance. You chose to invade Ukraine You can withdraw at any moment and end this war right now immediately But you're not doing that because you chose to do that Yes, America is an imperialist power and we have leaders who are war mongers and war criminals who should who should be behind bars For the rest of their lives But that doesn't change the fact that you in this instance made the decision to invade Ukraine You did this and you can end it, but you're not doing that So yes, America is an imperialist power and their imperialist wars of aggression should be condemned But don't condemn imperialism by doing imperialism yourself.  It doesn't make sense It's a contradiction and you look foolish. Who falls for this? I mean in the age of the internet you can't lie like country used to lie about wars, right? We saw the way that mass media changed the narrative when it kind of when it came to the Vietnam War and Similarly, you know in 2022 we all have cameras now We all have cell phones and we could document not only what's going on what's really happening But the war crimes as well so you can't lie you can't pee on our legs and say it's raining We know what's happening now That's not to say that NATO expansionism isn't inherently escalatory, right? I've talked about the US aggression I've talked before about how the United States government and officials in the US government are just too hawkish They constantly saber-rattle against Russia. I've talked about that prior to all of this But if you're gonna condemn imperialism for fuck's sake be consistent be consistent So we have an imperialist denouncing imperialism. It's just truly insane Now let's try to bring it back to reality because we've been talking about the unthinkable We've been catastrophizing, but I do want to emphasize that I believe ultimately that Putin is bluffing I hope that that's the case But I don't want to test that theory as I've stated. I don't think that we should push it I don't think we should escalate I think we absolutely have to do everything in our power to ensure that there is a diplomatic solution that ends this war of aggression And there is no I repeat no direct confrontation between the United States or NATO and Russia because that would indeed lead to World War three and most likely nuclear annihilation and You know we hear people like Lindsey Graham in the United States and people in the mainstream media Call for aggression and escalation via a no-fly zone or whatnot But I don't think that the war mongers realize that this isn't like other wars, right? When you call for a war within another country, it's easy to do that because it's out of sight and out of mind You send young people to die Because of your geopolitical interest or your natural resource interest in whatever country But when it comes to nuclear war and the prospect of nuclear annihilation No leader can hide behind their power.  So this isn't some Thing that you can talk about flippantly. This isn't some Small thing World War three would almost certainly lead to nuclear war which would almost certainly lead to annihilation of the human race but I hope that that's not going to be the case and I certainly don't think that you should worry about this because What can you do about this as an individual? There's nothing that you can do So there's no reason to live in fear of what could happen Because if we and this is going to be super-dumer if we somehow don't end up dying because of nuclear Annihilation will end up wiping ourselves out With climate change. So I mean it seems like the human race is on a suicide speed run currently and We want to go extinct. So but I just hope that cooler heads prevail I hope that there's an end to the war and I hope that we come together as Species and realize that killing ourselves is not in our best interest But getting back to the issue at hand with Russia and their constant Saber rattling and threat of nuclear annihilation. It's truly just It's morally reprehensible for them to even put this on the table and not rule it out very clearly So but to hold this over the heads of every human being on the planet. It's just To say that it's gross is an understatement. It's It's pure madness You


Well, I got drunk man. I'll take the lead If I had season four Ray Lewis there, I don't know if I don't know if I get that was season four Ray Lewis What do you think? What is up with these guys super bummer dude, I think you trade Justin Fields has just this one I asked to chat bear says everybody has Justin Fields shown that he is a he is a Generational prospect can't miss quarterback Hall of Fame type of player has he shown that Has he shown that I'm not saying he's terrible. He's awful, but has he shown it's a no doubt dude I watch this movie. I'm first of all, obviously, I think we're all Robert De Niro fans But I'm a big De Niro fan and it's this movie called Ronan if you guys never watched it I loved it Ronan. It's one of my favorite movies is called Ronan.  So there's clearly doubt with Justin Fields, right? Everybody doubts him. So if you have doubt then you just trade them not only because Maybe Caleb Williams is better or Drake may or whoever is better But one you'll have them for four years and they'll be on a rookie contract Whereas if you keep Justin Fields, you got to sign him like this offseason or next offseason to a monster deal So Justin Fields unlike Caleb Williams is going to stress your salary cap You know, that's the biggest thing and just for a question mark You might as well take the cheaper question mark. The Bears don't know how to make a quarterback good Well, that's a Bears problem, you know, it's the reason why the Bears have been awful my whole life outside of when Devin Hester carried them Let's put it like this way if Caleb Williams and Justin Fields are even Then you take the guy that's gonna be on a way cheaper deal for the next four years I will tell you this that some quarterbacks do take longer just the way the way the world is now man It's like quarterbacks have no leash Especially the damn black quarterbacks bro black quarterbacks.   Yep tie rod Taylor. I always love tie rod, dude I've always I thought tie rod could really be a player, dude And every time he's gotten his shot.   It's my man, too I think I watch the same the cook.   You guys think you can compete with this. It's a $500 tournament I think it was free to enter with my players lounge plus. What was that was fourth down, dude? Goddamn bro Jack Tatum. I actually clicked off that guy could click off Got picked.   It's not even sheds He just how do you not get blocked by a pulling guard and that other dude?   Just call it and just pray Oh, man.  Does anybody know how to stop it?  We lost the game now boys That was a great play drew up, dude I mean, this is the body as offense in the nation, dude.  We're like, what are we doing? Like what am I doing with my life on a Tuesday night? I could be so my life could be so peaceful right now I could be watching movies.    My life is like this right now I'm gonna lose the Ron J right now.       It's sad It's actually sad Run flats. Gee I didn't think to put flats. I didn't think that one huge wing Run flats.  I gotta stop sliding my line No way, dog.   Oh my god, dude Well, now we're in a hole, but we fight the reason why I couldn't why catch it there because I couldn't get tackled in bounds I really did not expect that, dude.   Did you not see that guy, dude?  Vic?  Thank you.  What a fight.  Why would you not run it again? You guys got 12 yards. There it is Like fuck, dude. I don't know how to stop this one either, dude.  Let's go peppers isn't and we're playing the sticks right here. Everybody's at 10 yards right here Come on, dude. Well, I got Gronk, man I'll take the lead Wasn't a bad round combo. I just played my yellow zone. That's all I just played my yellow zone If I had season four ray lewis there, I don't know if I don't know if I get that was season four ray lewis What do you think? I don't know if I get that was season four ray lewis. I mean, I got like three stops Let's do a pick six and another pick I think josh allen gets that though too josh allen gets that pick playing the sticks here 10 yard zones A lot of hot rods. I'm gonna de-path the left guy probably go for cover three bottom here Oh, yeah, we just screamed intentional grip Bulljack mid zone. Let's go Those are 20 yard purples 20 yard purples shaded outside I shouldn't worry about a corner out to the tight end as julius peppers and randy moss and 20 yard purples here Bulljack mid zone. Let's go All right, 10 yards here. We're at 10 yards just like the last one I put a deep half because he had a deep post last time. Yeah. Oh, he's gonna get this, isn't he? GG GG GG GG GG GG GG's the run GG's the run


What you're seeing behind us is known as Saber Guardian 23. It's an exercise that happens in southeastern Europe almost every year and it brings together a number of different nations from across Europe, from Great Britain, and even the United States. And this one's about crossing a river, obviously, but it's more than just building a bridge. It's demonstrating our ability to quickly inflate the bridge, to defend one side, to quickly attack the far side using every piece of enabler, every piece of equipment, all coming together as a combined arms effort. Clearly a lot going on behind us here, and I think this demonstrates a couple of things. First is it demonstrates we can go wherever we want, whenever we want, and we've been doing this for the last several days using multiple means to cross a wet gap up to a thousand meters. And we've proven we're pretty good at that. The other thing this demonstrates is our credibility, that when we show up somewhere and we say something, we're going to follow through on that, whether that's our commitment to the partners here in southeastern Europe or to the overall alliance. So being able to cross a wet gap is incredibly important.  And so being able to do this quickly and rapidly and maintain your combat power and that momentum and seize the initiative on the other side is critically important. So in the background is 11 M2A3 Bradley Fighting Vehicles. Today we are actually going across the Danube River. We're at the last in the order of movement as we are the decisive operations. So everything that is going into this is prepping the battlefield. Our NATO partners are setting it up for us. So as we cross the river and reach our objective, we'll be able to do that successfully because of them fighting the fight before we get to our part. Now the Bralleys behind me, they wave anywhere between 30 and 33 tons. And the pontoon bridge that we are crossing is a Romanian bridge. And each pontoon that is connected is rated for 60 tons. So that was important as far as safety goes for us to understand that capability. But also it gives us confidence that this enormous restricted terrain in front of us will not stop us from crossing to accomplish our mission. So we learn from each other while we're here. And also we learn to trust each other. We have U.S. rafts that are taken across Romanian APCs. We have Bulgarian ferries that are taken across North Macedonian vehicles. I mean it's all part of working together. And now we know that if we have to do this anywhere in the world, we have experience with it. And that builds confidence. And we also have confidence in our partners as well. This is our second multinational exercise with NATO. And we've learned a lot so far and look forward to doing it at any opportunity that we get. In Romania, in special in each flank of the NATO, we have a rich network of rivers. So basically this is the main obstacle when we can stop if we have an aggression. So during our exercise, we prepare to cross this type of obstacle together with the maneuver forces. If we cannot cross this type of obstacle, the fight stops in the front of this obstacle. So it's very important to us to learn together because we have different tactics, different anti-tank speeds. We have engineers from many countries here. And of course we have maneuver forces for allies and partners.


12-40 left to go, go ahead. Now they're in the 1-3-1, yeah. Now the back to the 1-3-1. The best time down they were man and they just didn't have their matchups. Back to the 1-3-1, not that I said, not that I think it gave them a ton of advantage. Nice feed inside. Rory misses it. Slam dunk follow up. And a chin up by Michael Byrd. And time out called by Coach Zimmerman who is not thrilled with his team.