It's been a very difficult week for old Pliny, and he's got Back for Blood and Destiny 2 content involved to get to, and frankly, I'm not feeling particularly diplomatic this fine day, so I might sound harder on Far Cry 6 than you feel. But, I gotta tell ya, Far Cry 6 sucks, people. It's very rare I find myself unable to finish a game I spend 60 bucks on, but here we are. Far Cry 6 sucks, after the logo. Time for a reboot. I'd meant to keep this short because I have a bunch of in real life stuff to do, and frankly, because Far Cry 6 might be the least interesting game I've played in ages, but there's a ton to say about it because it's got so many problems. It continues the trend of recent Far Cry games, meaning it's just like the last one, but slightly worse in every way. When we talk about the Far Cry franchise, it's important to recall that the first two, while being great games, are very different than the last five. Far Cry 1 was a major leap forward and should be remembered mainly as a proof of concept for the modern open world shooter. Many of the people who made that game ended up making the Crysis series, which ended up being a different flavor of the Far Cry formula, while Ubisoft Montreal took over the franchise and moved it in its own unique direction. It was with Far Cry 3 that the final form of Far Cry was fully realized. It's interesting to look at how two franchises that started as one ended up going in pretty different directions. Crysis was similar to Far Cry 2 in structure, but Crysis 2 and 3 ended up being far more linear experiences. Lots of fans of Crysis 1 didn't like the more linear focus of the second and third games, but looking back, I think they actually have some of the best gameplay in the series. The story got stupid, but the gameplay managed to keep the open-ended feeling of the combat without sprawling lack of focus of something like Far Cry. Far Cry as a franchise went in the opposite direction. From Far Cry 3 onwards, each game has gotten less and less focused and linear in every aspect of the design. Far Cry 3 is still a great game, because every system in it reinforces what that game does best. Far Cry 3 used the setting and the map and tied all of its progression to those things. The open world was how you crafted ammo and upgrades. Weapons were unlocked by climbing the radio towers or unlocked early by using money that you got from hunting or looting. Progression was earned by completing missions with massive boosts in XP for taking down outposts without being spotted or at least without letting anyone pull an alarm. Far Cry 4 took the same formula and just polished it up so that it ended up being a better version of the same exact game. And Primal took that game and made it feel different by setting it 10,000 years ago. But then something happened. Ubisoft started collapsing all of their franchises into one mega franchise, where Far Cry 3 and Assassin's Creed 2 were totally different games. By the time Far Cry 5 arrived, almost every Ubisoft open world game was instantly recognizable because the structure of the games are so similar. One of my earliest reviews was about Far Cry 5 and why I thought it was a good place to leave Far Cry for a while. After Far Cry 6, I am positive there's nothing left to do in the formula and it can only get worse from here on out. The reviews I've seen of Far Cry 6 have mostly said, well it's not that great, but it's more Far Cry, so if you like that sort of thing then here it is. But here's the thing man, it's really not just more Far Cry. Instead it's simply a shittier version of it. We'll touch on the truly miserable story in a bit, but the most important thing is that Far Cry 6 is both boring and bloated. I'm going to quickly run through why Far Cry 6 sucks, but at the end I'm going to help Ubisoft by very clearly explaining how to fix this series gameplay. Right off the bat, Far Cry 6 suffers from a total lack of interesting places to fight. In my 25 hours of playing there was one memorable outpost that made for interesting gameplay.  About halfway through there's an offshore oil rig you're sent to for a mission that requires you to hit and run and use stealth to take out multiple alarms. It's one of the best locations that's ever been in one of these games and shows how Far Cry still can be a wonderful experience. The problem is how rare those moments are.   Far Cry 3 and 4 had this figured out because so much of the progression was tied to the open world exploration and the hunting and crafting system. So even though those games had the same spread out map it still kept you going because everything you did in between missions was critical to your progression. Far Cry 5 broke this system by making progression tied not to exploration, but to things like getting 25 kills with a shotgun. And Far Cry 6 doubles down on that. Radio towers are still gone, which I just fundamentally do not understand. The problem was never that climbing radio towers was annoying. The problem is they were too many of them and they weren't interesting enough.  Far Cry 6 just fills it in as you walk around, with NPCs tagging points of interest for you. Then there's the combat arenas themselves. They're just totally unremarkable. Almost no effort went into actually making sure there was a wide variety of places that are fun to fight in. Weapon variety is pretty poor and even the gunplay feels like it's taken a step backwards. Far Cry 6 seems very excited to now have a Destiny style super mechanic called Supremos, but they are utterly useless. They're so pointless I would consistently finish fighting and then think oh right I could have used my superpower. The Supremo mechanic is the perfect example that Ubisoft doesn't even understand the game they're making anymore. I don't mind that they wanted to add a mechanical wrinkle, that's great. The problem is it doesn't fit in the combat sandbox they have. Why does the super mechanic work in Destiny? It's because the entire game is built around that system. Enemy variety and encounter design makes using the super feel great and often needed. You can't just throw a mechanic in without changing the rest of the game. If Doom 2016 had had the dash dodge and grapple hook it would have been pointless because the game isn't made with those mechanics in mind. And playing Doom Eternal without the dash dodge and grapple hook would be a nightmare because every enemy encounter in the game is designed around those tools.  Aside from very rarely realizing I could quickly blow up a helicopter with it, there was literally no other reason to ever use the super. If you want to change the combat sandbox of Far Cry, it requires changing how the game plays. Which means changing the enemies, changing the story, everything. The most disappointing thing about the supremo mechanic is the developers have the right idea. Far Cry needs something more now. They just didn't have the guts to do what's actually needed. Progression. Far Cry 3 had a well designed progression system that tied into everything the game did well. The game's main focus was exploration, hunting, crafting, climbing radio towers, using stealth to takedown outposts, and finishing story missions. That's the game. All progression was directly tied into those systems so that playing the game naturally allowed you to progress through unlocking weapons, crafting stuff, and getting skill points. It was simple, focused, and satisfying. Far Cry 5 changed this and made everything worse.  Instead of unlocking skills, you now just buy armor. Are you interested in being able to sprint a long time, but also move quickly while crouched?  Crafting is basically gone, aside from the totally pointless settlement building mechanics. Guns are no longer mainly purchased or unlocked by completing missions.  But wait, wouldn't the ability to pick up a dead enemy's weapon break that looting system? Well, yes, but don't worry, they solved that problem. You can't pick up weapons that are on the ground. Is there a reason given in-game for why you can't pick up enemy weapons? Nope. Far Cry 3 and 4 had an absolutely perfect weapon system. You could pick up mid or late game weapons by taking them off of dead enemies. Or you could unlock specific weapons by taking down specific outposts. Or if you really wanted a weapon early, you could loot and hunt for money and buy weapons from shops. It was all about freedom, which perfectly fit with the core of the Far Cry design.  Its progression is downright terrible.  It is objectively worse than Far Cry 5, which was clearly worse than Far Cry 4. If there's one thing Far Cry doesn't need, its weapon rarity, perk sets, multiple copies of different guns. Making Far Cry a looter shooter is 1000% the wrong direction to go with the franchise. The Division is a very good loot focused game. Assassin's Creed has for some reason decided to become a loot focused game. They decided to make Ghost Recon a loot focused game. Not every single Ubisoft title has to follow the exact same design principles. If every single one is a massive open world collect-a-thon with light RPG mechanics and loot-based progression, then none of them feel like new games. Far Cry suddenly feels like a first person mod of Assassin's Creed. And frankly, if Ubisoft wants to take Far Cry in the direction of loot rarity for progression, then they're gonna need to put in the effort required to make that fun and interesting, and have the combat actually be balanced around it. In its current state, it feels like someone at a board meeting said, you know what people like these days? Loot. Make sure to jam some looting in there.  Story The first three Far Cry games had stories. Far Cry 1 had a story, and Far Cry 2 had a story. They were bad, and nobody cared. Then Far Cry 3 had another bad story, but a really fun villain. Then Far Cry 4 had a blow average story with another fun villain. Then, for some reason, Ubisoft decided they wanted Far Cry to like be about stuff and things.  Because Far Cry is about blowing people up in a jeep with C4. Someone decided it was kinda gross to have every Far Cry game be about all the terrible problems in third world countries. So some genius thought, hey, let's have a game in America, and it could be about American problems. And that guy got a raise. Then, a few minutes later, everyone realized it was impossible to make a Far Cry game in America be about real stuff without making it about very, very, very controversial stuff.  That wasn't gonna happen. So they made it about nothing instead.   Far Cry 5 was garbage, because it pretended it was gonna be about something, but instead, all of its creative energy was used trying to figure out how to be a story in America about America without saying anything whatsoever about America. They weren't gonna make that mistake again. So instead, this one is in Cuba. Nice and easy, right? Oh wait. Actually, very few issues are more contentious and complicated than Cuba.   Listen dude, just take a position, okay? Just say something or don't. Don't say something and make Far Cry 3 again, but don't say half of something and pretend it matters at all. Far Cry 6 is about how revolutions are good unless they go bad, but then the next one could be good, except sometimes they can also be a little bad.  The actual Cuban revolution is a complicated thing, and this game would have been a thousand times better by simply telling that story in a Far Cry game. Just read one of Che's books and boom, there's your story.    And the government grows the cancer curing tobacco by enslaving its own citizens and making them pick it.  It sounds like it was written by a six year old, but I promise you that is the story. This isn't even worth pointing out, but I can't resist. Any country that invented a cure for cancer, which is impossible by the way, because cancer isn't a thing. It's a word for like 350 diseases. But anyway, any country that invented a cure for cancer would not need to enslave its citizens. It would have more than enough money to pay its citizens a ton of money and outfit them in protective gear. And if you pay enough money, people will risk anything anyway.  They do that on their own. They don't care, because money. Saudi Arabia doesn't need to enslave its citizens. It doesn't give them any political power. It does give them all a shitload of money because oil is worth money. Why wouldn't you make the game about the dictator of Yara, I mean Cuba, giving all the citizens a ton of money, but still being a dictatorship? Then you could ask actually interesting questions.  Is political freedom more important than stability and wealth? Is it right to kill people so that you can vote? Is voting more important than everyone having a job and being wealthy?  Why not just have it be oil? It's not hard to ask interesting questions about revolution, just like it's not that hard to ask questions about white nationalism and Christianity. Just pick an idea and write about it, but instead Ubisoft is just miserably garbage at writing these stories now. They want the cool setting, but they don't want to take even the tiniest risk of pissing anyone off.  My god, it is terrible, man. Just terrible how to fix it. Traversal is a core mechanic of Far Cry and Assassin's Creed, but there's no gameplay involved in the traversal anymore. The joy of the first two Assassin's Creed games was the parkour system felt fresh, and it seems like it would be expanded upon. Instead, it has become less and less of a gameplay mechanic to the point that climbing in Valhalla is pointless. Ubisoft needs to spend the next three years making the actual map traversal a gameplay element in Far Cry. This isn't some Herculean task that requires them to reinvent the wheel. There are a ton of games that make movement a gameplay mechanic. A mixture of Destiny 2 style FPS platforming or Mirror's Edge parkour stuff, and Breath of the Wild stamina management climbing is all it would take to make climbing radio towers and traversing a huge wilderness map a gameplay system. If Far Cry is going to have you running up and down the side of a mountain and running all over the place for 20 hours on a huge open world map, that needs to be a gameplay system with mechanics and interesting things to do, like Zelda. There's even far more room for emergent combat in Zelda than there is in Far Cry because the map isn't just a big annoying level to walk across, and Zelda's combat is bad. Many games have map traversal being an integral part of the gameplay loop. This is the easiest thing that Ubisoft could do to make these games less miserably tedious to get through. 2. Settle on a progression system and flesh it out so that it ties directly to what a Far Cry game is. That means a heavy emphasis on tracking and hunting animals, crafting with the things you get hunting, and taking on outposts.  Go talk to the dudes making the division and ask them how they make a satisfying loot-based progression system because they're doing it and you are failing. Make the progression fit within the vision of the game. That means not just randomly selecting progression systems from other popular games and jamming in toned down versions of it. Not every single game needs a settlement building mechanic, Ubisoft. Why on Earth is the same exact mechanic in the Division 2, Far Cry 6, and the new Assassin's Creed games? Don't port systems willy-nilly over to every game you make. Decide what Far Cry is, and then design progression systems that fit in Far Cry, hunting, crafting, stealth, exploration, outposts. That's the core of Far Cry appropriate progression. Get back to it. 3. The setting. Here's one of the other big pieces of the puzzle to Far Cry. It's time to really think about what is essential and what is not. A large wilderness is needed for a Far Cry game, but does it have to be modern day? Why wouldn't Far Cry in space work? Why wouldn't heavier survival crafting elements work? If you want to shake up the combat, eventually you'll need to shake up the enemy variety. We're still fighting the exact same goons we fought in the second game. Why not Far Cry 2324 on an alien world with robots, alien fauna, and totally different enemies? There is no difference between playing Far Cry in Cuba, Montana, and Myanmar, because they all boil down to playing in the same biomes. Yarra's mountains are basically the same as Kyrat's mountains, which are the same as America's mountains. If one of the most important aspects of Far Cry is fighting in a wilderness setting, we're going to need to expand the range of biomes on offer. 4. There's only one other big thing that needs to happen in these games. Far Cry should be more like Crysis again. That means more linear crafted experiences within the open world.  If there's a game that Far Cry would do well to rip off, it's Metro Exodus. Exodus features several big open world maps rather than one massive open world. This splitting of the game allows huge diversity in the biomes and mission and encounter design. Crysis gives the player a feeling of an open world adventure while still having a ton of set piece action elements. The one thing that was truly excellent in Far Cry 5 was the linear set piece missions you got during important story moments. Far Cry 5 showed that the Far Cry team is more than capable of making badass linear FPS missions. Far Cry wouldn't work as a corridor shooter obviously, but it could easily make sure that each biome had three or four linear set piece elements. Design major story encounters around sprawling instance levels that allow for careful pacing and encounter design. These moments would make the pure open world freedom all the more interesting because they would act as something to break up the monotony of pointless walking. Each Far Cry game needs to be designed with several interesting biomes first. They need to have 25 spectacular outposts each as good as the offshore oil rig that is the highlight of this game. Then they need 10 really great linear story set piece missions. After you design those, decide where we are, what the story is and stitch together the open world around these things and not the other way. Far Cry 6 may have sold well, but I promise you this game is about to crash and burn. There is just nothing interesting left. Call of Duty can go on forever because the multiplayer is excellent. Far Cry doesn't have that. It needs a total reset and that reset needs to focus on these things first. Traversal needs to be gameplay. There needs to be some linear designed action. Maps need to be more diverse and progression needs to not suck. It needs to tie into the game's best systems, not fight against them. If Ubisoft took four years off and starts over from scratch, maybe Far Cry can be saved.   Ubisoft can do better and they need to really start thinking about what a better Far Cry will look like.  Thanks for coming. I'll see you next time. Bye.


Congressman Roy, start voting to defend a country that kills and targets journalists. Stop defending Israel with impunity. We wanted to bring up the issue about all of the journalists who have been killed in Gaza. And I want to read a quote here from the Secretary General of Reporters Without Borders. He says, 103 journalists who have been killed are not numbers. There are 103 voices that Israel has silenced. 103 fewer witnesses of the catastrophe unfolding in Palestine. 103 lives extinguished. If the numbers show anything, it is that since October 7th, no place in Gaza is safe, no journalist in Gaza is spared, and the massacre has not stopped. We reiterate our urgent appeal to protect the journalists in Gaza. It's easy to get lost in the numbers, but here is Mohammed Abu Khattab. He was killed by an Israeli shelling on November 2nd, 2023. Abu Khattab was killed along with 11 members of his family. This is Sari Mansour. He is a Palestinian journalist. He was killed by Israeli shelling on November 2nd, 2023. And I have Ahmed Badir, Badir Palestinian journalist. He was killed in an Israeli airstriking to the Aqsa Martyrs Hospital. Badir was standing in front of the journalist's tent at the hospital gate and died when a shrapnel hit him. This is Salam Nima, Palestinian freelance journalist, killed by Israeli drone strike on October 13th, 2023. Her body was recovered from the rebel three days after her home in Jabalia refugee camp situated on the northern Gaza Strip was hit by an Israeli airstrike on October 10th. Ala Al-Hams was a Palestinian journalist who was killed by an Israeli air force strike on February 12th, 2024. Al-Hams was a 35-year-old Palestinian journalist with a local Palestinian news agency. She succumbed to her injuries after being seriously wounded in an Israeli airstrike on her family house in Rafa City. Saeed El-Tawil, Palestinian journalist, killed by Israeli airstrikes on October 10th, 2023. Congressman Chip Roy, we just wanted to educate some people before the hearing started to let them know that five journalists have been killed every week in Gaza, surpassed the number of journalists killed around the entire world in the past year. And this is a picture of Samu Abu Dhaka. Abu Dhaka, a camera operated for Al Jazeera Arabic, was killed by a drone strike while covering the aftermath of nightly Israeli raids on United Nations school, sheltering displaced people in the center of communists. According to Al Jazeera and Reuters, he was trapped with others injured in the school which was surrounded by Israeli forces and unable to be evacuated for treatment. This is Shireen Abu-Aquir. Abu-Aquir, a Palestinian American and acclaimed correspondent for the Doha-based media network, was shot in the head while covering an Israeli military raid on the Janine refugee camp in the occupied West Bank in May, 2022. Hamza Al-Dadou is a Palestinian journalist and camera operator killed by Israeli drone strike, January 7th. Assam Abdullah, he was a Palestinian journalist killed by Israeli shelling on October 13th. Take the journalist in Gaza. Protect your journalist in Gaza.


RCA Victor, world leader in radio, first in recorded music and first in television, presents the Phil Harris Alice Faye Show. And here is the Phil Harris Alice Faye Show transcribed, written by Jack Douglas and Marvin Fisher, with Elliot Lewis, Walter Tetley, Janine Roos and Whitfield, the orchestra under the direction of Skip Martin, and yours truly, Bill Foreman. First, a word from RCA Victor. Ladies, let me introduce you to a real friend of the family, a new RCA estate space king range. Yes, if your family is just a bit cramped for space, if your family likes plenty of good food cooked to perfection, then you'll give a hearty welcome to a space king. First of all, these newest RCA ranges take only 30 inches of wall space, yet they give you full-size performance. The super-sized oven roasts the largest turkey, holds a banquet for 20 big eaters. Talk about cooking area. There's room to spare on top of a new RCA estate space king, and so many other features never before built into a range so compact. You can buy either a gas or electric RCA estate space king range, and prices start at an unbelievably low $149.95. So don't wait. See the brand new RCA estate space king ranges at your dealers now. And now the stars of the RCA Victor program, Alice Faye and Phil Harris. It's the habit of most men in the business world to get up very early, have their breakfast and then leave for their place of business, where they do such things as negotiate contracts, draw the plans for a bridge, or perhaps they complete the design of a new ocean liner. Like these other tycoons of industry, Phil Harris rose early this morning, had his breakfast, and now he's already hard at work at his business. New Cadillac hubcaps have got a real crazy tone. Practice with those drums in the living room. What's the matter? What's the matter? You've got the goldfish so scared they're all over in one corner of the bowl. Do you think them goldfish are scared? Well, you see the canary. The past 15 minutes he's been banging on the cage with his tin cup, screaming for the warden. So you have to practice, but you have to do it every morning? Honey, you have to keep touch. You have to keep that feel. You can do what you want to, but the Chamber of Commerce has called up three times and asked you not to beat those tom-toms. They said we've had enough rain. That's the way it goes. An artist is never appreciated until he's dead. How did you know that was one of their suggestions? All right. Nevertheless, I've been practicing all morning and I've finally got it just right. Alice, listen to this. How'd you like it? Like what? What was it? What was it? Alice, don't tell me you didn't recognize Stranger in Paradise. Well, I'm Stranger in Paradise. Well, of course. I don't know how anybody could have missed that. It was real. Hey, Curly. Hi, Alice. Hey, Curly, I brought my kazoo. Sure is working good, too. Listen. Hung!  Alice, I just got some new tissue paper. Wet proof, wet proof, wet proof. Listen, let's take Stranger's ball, Curly. One, two. You're time like this. Wasting our time. Yes, it's almost noon and just what have you accomplished? Plenty, Alice. I was up early and I did a lot of things. I got out of bed and went over to the filling station and brushed my teeth. Two miles to the Union Depot. What'd you go to the Union Depot for? Oh, he's got business there. He goes there every morning to feel the slots and the salted peanut machine. I thought it was something silly like going to the Unemployment Bureau to see if you could get a job. Oh, I did that, too. And did they have any jobs? Oh, yeah. They needed painters, taxi drivers, carpenters, breakmen, janitors, night watchmen, elevator operators, ushers, and office workers. Well, why didn't you take one of those jobs? Not my line. I'm registered as a left-handed blacksmith. Those are pretty hard to find nowadays. Oh, yeah. Left-handed blacksmiths and zeppelin polishers are the two hardest workers in the world. Um, you still registered down there, Curly? Yeah, yeah, I'm registered. They ain't been able to find nothing for me either. Oh, that's too bad.  You mean on a farm? No, no, no, no, honey. This is a specialized job. This kind of hay hand is a guy who works at a place like, well, like the Palladium. And when some guy makes a mistake and heads for the wrong powder room, he holds up his hand and says, hey! It's all a matter of timing. I thought I'd get some weird answer like that. I think it's a shame. You two sitting around all morning when you could be out helping little Alice and Phyllis, or they're selling tickets to their school play. Well, Alice, why should we do that? They can handle it all right themselves. They always have. Yes, but they didn't tell you. The entire proceeds of the play are going to the Red Cross. Well, gee, Alice, I don't know about this. Curly and I'd be glad to help the Red Cross. In fact, I'd even be glad to give them a pint of my blood. But you know what happened last year when I gave them a pint? No, what? It was very embarrassing. They couldn't classify it. They searched in a medical journal. They called them Mayo Brothers in a John Hopkins clinic. That's right. They finally found it on page six of the bartender's guide. He came under the heading of Manushevitz, Muscatel. Under the microscope, his red corpuscles were running up to the white one singing Change Partner. Where are those tickets, Alice? Curly and I'll sell every one of them. Yeah, you know something that might be fun? Come on, Curly, we'll show her. She was doing pretty good so far, Curly. We're talking about pretty good. We sold 18 tickets already. Well, when you tell them it's for the Red Cross and the school play is going to be Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Fennett makes it a lot easier. Hey, maybe nobody's home. Good afternoon, gentlemen. May I be of service to you? Oh, well, yes. This is my friend, Mr. Lewis, and I'm Phil Harris. Oh, well, it was indeed a stroke of good fortune that I was here. I just arrived home from the university. I'm the Dean of English over there. Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Professor Artemis Baxter. Gee, a professor. Yes, I have my personal card right here in my Wescott pocket. Would you mind taking the card out, sir? Oh, no, not at all.  Well, I don't mind, Professor, because... What'd he say? If anybody wants me, I'll be waiting under the truck. Wait a minute.  Well, sir, we're selling tickets for a Red Cross benefit. You see, the high school is putting on a play. It's Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. Oh, yes, Huck and Tom. How well I remember the famous old story written by Samuel Clemens under the name of Mark Twain. Here's your money. You must forgive me if I seem a little vague today. You see, I've had a great deal on my mind lately. Well, I figured there must be something upset me, Prof. Yes, I've reached a turning point in my life, and it all rests upon one very important decision. Kind of tough trying to make up your mind, Professor. Oh, you can't imagine. You see, I've been offered the presidency of the University of Vienna. They also want me on the faculty at Harvard, and they're urging me to accept the position as Chief Advisor to the Atomic Energy Commission. Which one did you decide on? Well, I haven't made up my mind yet. Sometimes I think I'll just go on being a tea kettle. We just left in time. He was coming to a boil. Now, why don't you let me do the talking here? You've muffed the last three sales. No, I'll do all right. That's what you keep saying, but you can't sell the way you do. Just ask them if they want to spend some money to see a play. Now, just notice the way I operate. I use a little psychology. Now, watch. How do you do, Miss? What are you doing next Friday evening? What do you have in mind, Big Daddy? No, no, no. No, lady, you see, you misunderstand what I mean is, well, do you know Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Thin? Yeah, but who needs them? You're more my type. You handsome demon. Come closer and thrash me with your eyelashes. I'll go put a couple more nickels in the parking meter. Would you like to buy two tickets for 50 cents a piece to help the Red Cross? Oh, I certainly. I'll take half a dozen. I'm just dying to see Tom Sawyer. I read the book. I'm very interested in books, anyway. Here I am without my library card. Oh, no, no. You see, I pose for the covers on those little novels, you see, in all the drugstores. Hey, I've seen a lot of those covers. Wow. You'll just love the last cover I posed for.  I'm lying back on a divan with my golden hair cascading over a velvet hill. What's the name of that book? It's the April issue of popular mechanics. We just left in time. She was coming to a boil. Get the tickets, Elliot. We're all sold out. Let's go home. All right. That was so hard, Alice. People are always ready to help the Red Cross. And, you know, even today, Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finner are as popular as they ever were. That's one of the things Phyllis and I were worried about when we tried to sell the tickets. If the people asked us about the play, we didn't know how to describe it because neither one of us had ever read the book. Little Alice never let it be said that as a conscientious father, I never told you that immortal tale of American boyhood. You see, Tom Sawyer was a little orphan boy who lived with his Aunt Polly. Now, his pal, Huckleberry Fin, was about the same age, about 14, and he lived in an old shack down by the river. They were real boys. They used to spend most of their time doing things that... well, things that boys liked to do. But every once in a while, Aunt Polly had a few chores that Tom just couldn't get out of. All good people sing this song. Do-da-do-da-do-da-do-da-do-da-do. I better not slap none of this whitewash on Aunt Polly's sidewalk or she'll give me what for. Hi-do-do-da-do-da-do-da-do. Oh, hi, Tom. Ah, hello, Huck. What you doing? What's it look like? What's it look like I'm doing? Whitewash in the fence, that's what. Looks like fun. Sure, it's fun, but I ain't gonna let you do none of it. Why not, Tom? Because whitewash in this fence gives me a pleasurable feeling. That's why it makes me all sort of quivery inside. How do you mean quivery, Tom? Well, it's, uh, kind of hard to explain the feeling, but have you ever been in swimming raw and sat down on a cold toad? Boy, that whitewash sure goes on there real slick. Yeah, sure does. What have you been doing this morning, Huck? Oh, I got up early, took my pet gopher over to the brewery and let him eat some hot beer mash. I think he ate too much. Why, Huck, what happened? On the way home, he killed a horse. Come on, Tom, let me whitewash the fence for a while. No. Well, let me whitewash the poles. No. A couple of boards. Nope. One board? Nope. Well, when you've finished whitewashing the fence, can I lick the brush? No. Yes, sir, ma'am, Polly. Are you still whitewashing that fence? Yes, sir, ma'am, Polly. Well, you'd better do a good job. Yes, sir, ma'am, Polly. Gee. You see, Tom, you wouldn't have to do all this work if you'd run away with me on the raft and be pirates. I may do that yet. Hey, how's the raft, Huck? Pretty good. But we're going to have to get a new sail. Your Aunt Polly's corset ain't working out. What do you mean?  Yeah, I know. Well, Tom, if you don't want to run away and be a pirate, I'll see you later. So long, Huck. Well, I'd just like to work all day. Doo-dah, doo-dah, doo-dah, doo-dah, doo-dah, doo-dah. This whitewashing ain't as much fun as I thought it was when I started out. Hello. Huh? Oh. Hello. You're Tom Sawyer, ain't you? What about? I'm Becky Thatcher.  I'm not sure. The census taker didn't come to our house. I live right down the street. Who don't know that? Are you afraid of girls? Afraid of girls? Shucks, no. Ah, come on. Now tell the truth. Don't they embarrass you?  Heck, no. Why do you say that? Because for the past two minutes, you've been whitewashing me. Excuse me. I thought I came to a soft board in the fence. Did you ever kiss a girl, Tom Sawyer? That's for me to know and you to find out. Oh, give me a little kiss. Will you, Tommy? Tom Sawyer. Yes, I'm Aunt Polly. Did that happen again? No, Aunt Polly. He didn't leave his bicycle. Come on, Tom, quick. Well, nobody's around. Give me a kiss. Thatcher. Well, all right for you, Tom Sawyer. I don't like girls. I never did like girls, and I don't think I ever will like girls. If anybody came in late, this is a fantasy. Sawyer, you've had your chance of a side time practically going steady with Julius the grocery boy and you'd better skedaddle out of here because he's coming up your back porch now. Anybody? Hello, Julius. Gee, Becky, when'd you get the new air dale? Well, take a good look. What? From Shewan, South Carolina. That's where they make Shewan tobacco. Come on, it's a pee. Let him take his glasses off first. Oh, I just gave that Julius a licking huck. That's him lying there on the ground. Well, now I think you need to be taught a lesson, Tom. Here, see how you like this and this. I'll learn them. Oh, this is terrible. How could you beat up Tom Sawyer, your best friend? You're not supposed to do that. I'm not? No. Well, how did I know? I never read the book. So, you see, little Alice, Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn were real American boys. And in spite of their tendency to get into mischief, they grew up into good citizens like, uh... Like Curly and me. Yeah, yeah, like Allie Hitton and me. The backbone of the community. The solid structure of society. Maybe even world leaders. Phil! What? How many times do I have to tell you to pick up those drums that are cluttering up my front room? See you later, Dad. Yes, a long world leader. Phil! Come here. Bill Foreman's giving me the lowdown on the new RCA Victor of Victrola High Fidelity phonograph. I was just telling Elliott Phil that the Victrola High Fidelity phonograph does wonders for recorded music. Let you hear the highs and lows that never come through ordinary phonograph. Sounds good. How about a demonstration? Let me do the honors. Here's how a record sounds on a regular player. I know an old lady who swallowed a horse. She's dead, of course. You can improve on that magnificent voice. Listen to it on a Victrola High Fidelity phonograph. You may find her guilty, but I'd forgive her. Say, I do sound better. Sort of peri-combo-ish. Hey, that wasn't me. What are you... Hold it, hold it, Curly. I'm having a little fun. Let me give you a real example, Phil. See? That's how a record may sound on an ordinary phonograph. But on a Victrola High Fidelity phonograph, you get highs and lows you never dream were on your records. That does make a difference. And now, Phil, RCA Victor's High Fidelity is the greatest advance in home music in 28 years. Once you've heard it, you'll never be satisfied with anything less. Visit your dealers now for a demonstration of RCA Victor's new High Fidelity Victrola phonograph. This is Phil again, folks. We've had a little fun tonight, but when the Red Cross volunteer comes to your door, answer the call, join your 1954 Red Cross campaign for members and funds. Join and serve. Thank you, and good night. Good night, everybody. Included in this program transcribed were Frank Nelson, Elvia Allman, and Julie Bennett. The part of Julius was played by Walter Tetley. This has been an NBC Radio Network presentation. Does your radio sound like this? Does the volume fluctuate? Is there an annoying hum? If your radio has any of these symptoms, the trouble may be a weak or worn-out tube. So have your local service technician install dependable new RCA tubes. Experts will tell you, RCA tubes give the best performance. Dear, these are your friends following John Cameron Swayze and the news on the NBC Radio Network.


Oh my goodness, we're really looking forward to this show. So what's the magic word? The magic word is Moanalua Gardens Foundation. We talk about that today. With Pauline Warsham, she's the executive manager. Managing director. OK, and Charlie Cook, one of the directors. And he is a secretary-treasurer of Moanalua Gardens Foundation. Very important. So Pauline, tell me what it is and what it does. Well, Moanalua Gardens Foundation was founded 49 years ago in 1970, actually by two beneficiaries of the estate of Samuel Mills Damon. And they were two sisters. Francis patches Damon Holt and her sister Harriet Haku Damon Baldwin. And they founded Moanalua Gardens Foundation to fight the H3 from going through. Oh, interesting. Sure. The H3 dispute back when Voice Brown, remember that name? No, I don't. He represented the people who wanted to oppose it, yeah? Right. And so because it was a privately owned valley by the family and closed to the public for over 100 years, they wanted to protect and preserve the valley. It had cultural artifacts in there and history that goes back to the ancient Hawaiian chiefs. And they felt it was their responsibility to make sure that it remained intact. So that's basically how Moanalua Gardens Foundation was founded. But then after the controversy over H3 ended, they realized that it was important to educate the community about stewardship and about protecting and preserving these natural resources that we have that are fragile and need to be taken care of. So then we transitioned into an educational organization. And we were actually the pioneers of environmental education. We were the ones who developed the first environmental education program in Hawaii called the Ohia Project Curriculum, which was funded through a grant from the MacArthur Foundation. And we partnered with Bishops Museum to develop this K through 12 curriculum. So for over 20 years, we taught the curriculum in public schools in Hawaii and on Molokai. And it became the forerunner of many of the environmental programs, culture-based programs that you see today. So yeah, you told me that you are involved in this 24 by 7. How do you spend your time pulling? Well, other than working out, I spend my time. Have to do that. I spend my time working on projects at the Waterloo Gardens Foundation. It really is a labor of love. And we believe very strongly that what we do is important for the community, the entire community. Well, Charlie does, too. Charlie, why are you involved? Why am I involved? Well, I was asked about 30 years ago to join the board. I guess because our family has come from the missionary stock that arrived here.  The Cooks, the Rises, the Wilcox and the Limans all came, and it took 116 days from the east coast and down from the south. Those are the good old days. So the family has always been interested in it. And the Cooks were brought here basically to help start the educational programs for the Ali'i. And after the royal school was built and joined, they started the Punahou School to help not only the Ali'i, but the missionary children. And then when that was finished and going well, they worked with Ernest Pawhi, a bishop, to start Kamehameha schools. So they were involved very heavily in that area. And you're continuing the family tradition then, eh? Trying to. I'm trying to. I'm sorry, my brother's no longer with us. He passed away in 2015. And he was very strong. He was the leader of the branch of the Nature Conservatives here in Hawaii for several years. Then Calvin Takeda took his place. And then Suzanne Case was there until she moved over to DLNR. But we're a small organization. We're well organized because of Pauline. And we have a board that is very interested in what we're doing. And we are now considered a Hawaiian board because a number of the people are part Hawaiian descent. Nick and Jamile, the president, Pauline, and several people from Kamehameha. One of them is also an OHA board director. So it gives us a little more oaf in the community. And we see somewhere between 12 and 14,000 people a year for the two-day event. It's the biggest event that Eleni Palace has ever had. Oh yeah, let's talk about this event. This is very important. The event that Charlie is talking about is your major annual event, right? Yes, it is. Tell us about it, Pauline. Well, it's called the Prince Lot Hula Festival. It started in 1978. And it was organized to really unify the community after the controversy over age three. And also to continue the legacy of hula enchanting in Kamananui or Moanalua Valley. You were early in the Renaissance, I would say, huh? Yes, yes, exactly. And today it's now the largest non-competitive hula festival in the state, we believe, in the entire world. But it's become a two-day festival and we have over 20 halau participating. We have cultural practitioners, demonstrators. They demonstrate poi pounding, feather laymaking. You say demonstrators, you mean they demonstrate the culture, but they don't demonstrate political issues. Right, yeah, their culture, yeah, their art form. All culture. Right, right, right.  Yes, everything takes place on the grounds of Ilanipalas. And there's a connection with Prince Lot there, too, because the grounds of Ilanipalas were really first occupied by the Kamehamehas. Kamehameha, the third, when he moved the capital to Honolulu, bought the largest and most opulent house that he could find in Honolulu, and actually it belonged to his sister, I believe, Kamamalu, Princess Kamamalu. But it became the first building that eventually... And that's across the way, the Kamamalu building, yeah? Well, no, it's not across. The Kamamalu building was built by the state and named after her, but it actually was erected on the grounds of Ilanipalas. Oh, it preceded Ilanipalas. Right, it preceded that. And so, Kamehameha, the third, fourth, and fifth, who was Prince Lot, all resided in that house prior to Kalakaua tearing it down and building what is now Ilanipalas. Charlie, you wanna talk about the way that worked? Prince Lot, what was his full name again? Lot Kapuaiva. Lot Kapuaiva. Yeah. And he was the first elected monarch? No, no, he was the last. He was the last of the Kamehamehas. The last of the non-elected monarch, yeah. The last of the Kamehamehas. The last of the Kamehamehas. And that was in the 1850s or so? He died in 1862 or 1863, I believe. So they're a little later than that. And followed by Lunalilo, Leho, Leho, I'm sorry. Lunalilo. Lunalilo. Right. Who only lasted maybe a year or more in office and then he died, he was elected. Right. And then after him, David Kalakaua was elected, yeah. Yeah. Did I get that right? Yes, I did. I think you do have it. I got that right. I get that right. I believe so. Okay. And there's always been, as I said, the question. It's always a mindblower to realize that the monarchy in Hawaii, two dynasties, the first Kamehameha and the second one, Kalakaua. Right. But in the second one, they were elected. A monarchy, a king that's elected. This is really remarkable worldwide. That came from the influence of some of the missionaries that were here. Maybe your family. I would think that my family was more on the educational side. And you know, we're left on Kauai, Oahu, Molokai, Maui, and the big island, the Lyman House in Hilo. Oh, sure. So they were not that political. Some of the other missionary families became very, very political. And... Why am I thinking you're... 1893 when the Liliu Kalani was overthrown. That was a sticker for everybody. Yeah, that was a bad time. But some of the history goes back that they thought the British were going to try and take over Hawaii. And that's why the American businessmen kind of moved in on it. And all this is interwoven, right? Isn't it? It's interwoven certainly into those two dynasties in Eoloni Palace. It's interwoven into the history of Hula. It's interwoven into, you know, the foundation you guys are involved with. The people who were around one of our gardens, the Damon family and other families, they're part of this whole 19th century history. So we got some great materials. I want to show before we go any further, Pauline. Okay. So we have some slides. Let's identify them. And you can tell us what they are and how they got created. Okay, this is our logo art for and poster for this year's Prince La Hula Festival. Each year we come up with a different theme and this year's theme is Imua Inapokii. And what it means is move forward or owe youth or actually the festival tries to perpetuate our Hula traditions through the newer dancers, the homana that come up through the halau. So what we're, you know, perpetuating here is the continuation of the legacy of the Hula through our young, through our youth. And the art was done by a native Hawaiian artist called Shannon Weaver. She has been doing our art for at least seven or eight years now. And each year she comes up with a beautiful design that we then translate into our posters, our t-shirts, our advertising. Here's your book on the festival from last year. Right. One of the Prince La Hula Festival from last year. You can see it's the same art. Right. It's really beautiful. Yeah, this is last year's art and it shows, of course, the Hula dancers in front of Yolani Palace. And it was again done by Shannon Weaver. And this year she used the image of the Coronation Pavilion. And these are a photo recap of last year's Prince La Hula Festival with the art, as you can see. The festival, the little bug there on the right hand side is really the award that we received from the Hau'i Lodging and Tourism Association and AIO Media in 2018 for being the best tourism event for heritage and culture. AIO Media? That's Dwayne Carisa. Right. Wonderful. Great that you're involved with him. Yes. Yeah, he's one of our supporters. Oh, good. So, you know, I mean the whole thing seems to be an expression of the Renaissance. An expression of the Renaissance. You guys started maybe earlier than the Renaissance that I observed, right? In the 70s, that is something, because it didn't take full hold until what? The 90s or even the 2000s with the music and the Hula. Now it's in full tilt boogie, so to speak. That's really moving along. Are you native Hawaiian? Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.  And Charlie, I'm sure you've observed it. You're way back, Kamayana, but what's happening now is more groundswell, more grass roots, with Hawaiian people who didn't have the benefit of missionary blood yet. Well, you notice that a lot of the private and public schools are now offering Hawaiian language, and then we have the emerging schools throughout the island. And they've had football teams that play each other that speak only Hawaiian. And I think it's a wonderful, wonderful thing that's going on. And I hope, before I pass away, that I will see more of it. I know that Molokai is very interested in it. We had a teacher that lived on Molokai, and we have a gentleman on our board that comes from the lineage of Muwana Lua, Ralea Kau, and he's the keeper. That means the Daman family. Yeah. It's being the original inhabitants of Muwana Lua. He's a lineal descendant, yes. Yeah, yeah. That's really going back, yeah. He is the keeper of all the Iwi bones, because there are a lot of burial sites in the gardens and in the mountains there, and he knows where everyone is. I've talked to him and I've gone with him on a couple occasions. He can point out everything in those valleys. Yeah. He can keep those memories, that history alive. So let's take a short break, you guys, and we come back. I want to talk more about what you're teaching, what you're trying to perpetuate, how successful you are, and what you see in the future for the foundation. We'll be right back. Aloha and welcome to At the Crossroads. I'm your host, Keisha King. I'm live at five every Wednesday, where we have entertaining and educational conversations that are real and relevant, both here in Hawaii and across the globe. I'll see you at the Crossroads. Aloha. Aloha. Aloha. I'm Wendy Lo, and I'm coming to you every other Tuesday at two o'clock, live from Think Tech Hawaii, and on our show, we talk about taking your health back, and what does that mean? It means mind, body, and soul. Anything you can do that makes your body healthier and happier is what we're going to be talking about, whether it's spiritual health, mental health, fascia health, beautiful smile health, whatever it means, let's take healthy back. Aloha. Well, the board came from the... Well, that was restful, wasn't it? You know, talking about old times. Okay, Pauline, we didn't finish the slides. Let's finish the slides. Okay. Because I really love the work, I love the art, and it's more than just good art. It's art with heart, you know what I mean? Exactly. And it's native Hawaiian style, it's lovable art. Okay, let's see what you got. Okay, let's take a look. This is our opening ceremony. It's the Royal Order of Kamehameha, and Prince Lot, that's his portrait there. He actually founded the Royal Order of Kamehameha after his grandfather, Kamehameha I. So we make sure that the Royal Order always participates in a major way in the Prince Lot Hula Festival. So they're the ones presenting the Ho'okupu or the Tribute to Prince Lot there at the palace before we start the program. And this is a sample of the different halau. We have major halau, the premier halau from all over the state participating in the festival. And they perform both awana, which is contemporary hula and kahiko, which is ancient. And so you will see them performing those different art forms there in those slides. And they are excellent. All the dancers that participate in the festival, I think since we've moved to Eleni Palace, they have upped their game. I think the presence there in such a revered place has made them more focused on doing the best that they can do. So really it's elevated the excellence of performance. Well, all of hula. We have more slides over here, let's go to this one. These are some of our demonstrators. There's a little kinky girl learning how to make lei from the nawahine o kamehameha, which is the women's group offshoot of the royal order of kamehameha, and then more kahiko dancing down below. And this is typical of the kinds of attendance or crowds that we get that Prince Latula festival. No, there's a lot of people. There's a lot of people, as Charlie said, maybe 12 through 14,000 over the two day period. So that gives you an idea of how well attended and interested people are. They come from all over the world, actually. We have people call us and email us ahead of time asking when the festival is. They'll come from Germany and Belgium. Of course, we have a big contingent from Japan. So it's really an international audience that you'll see and a lot of local people as well. And a lot of work for you. Yes, but a labor of love. I got it. And with a great team. With a great team. And then we have an example of more demonstrators that was in the prior slide. On this slide, we have beautiful hula. And we have some of our food vendors, the Shea Vice vendor, of course, is always very popular and they keep busy all day long. And it's part of the festivity. What makes the festival so special is sampling our local fair as well. Very special, yeah. Keep going. Okay, next. And of course, this is our thank you, our mahalo to all of the people who make the festival possible, our major sponsors, which is Hawaii Tourism Authority, the National Endowment for the Arts, State Foundation on Culture and the Arts, Office of Hawaiian Affairs, and businesses like Douglas Emmett and Maths and Navigation and Hawaiian Airlines, Royal Hawaiian Center, Midweek, and the Honolulu Star Advertiser, our in-kind sponsors, of course, Eleni Palace, and the Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau, Oahu Visitors Bureau, and Olelo, who help to film and broadcast the festival. I wanna come, too. I wanna come with a camera. I hope you'll let me come film this. You're very welcome. What day in July? It's Saturday and Sunday, July 20th and 21st. On Saturday, we start at 9 a.m., and we end at 4 p.m. And on Sunday, we start at 9 a.m. and end at 3 p.m. Mm-hmm. Charlie, are you gonna be there? Are you gonna be dancing? What is your mahalo? I'm afraid I don't dance.  I know. But no, I'm there, and I usually sit in the booth with Kimo Kahuano, who does all our announcing, and keep him laughing, and he's very good. Very good, he's excellent. And we watch the program, and we try to keep it on time, and we've been very successful in that. We have a lot so much time for each halal to dance. Very important program. Oh, yeah, it has to be, you know, marshals right through. Otherwise, we'd run over time, and that doesn't work too well when that happens. So we've been very happy with it, and Paulina's been the key. She's on our roller skates the whole time, so. Of course, one would expect no less. So put this in the landscape for me. We have, you know, a lot of people still very disturbed over the overthrow. It's deep into Hawaii's history and culture even now. The renaissance, the reemergence of dance and the Hawaiian language and music, in the last, in my time anyway, in the last, what, 20, 30 years, has been notable, remarkable, and still going on. You guys are part of that.  And then we have, you know, we have the whole sovereignty issue where people argue about things. And I just want to know where this foundation, Moanalog Gardens Foundation fits in the Hawaiian community and the future of the Hawaiian community going forward in the state, in art, in culture, and as a community. Want to go first? Sure. Well, Moanalog Gardens Foundation, actually, we're all about celebration. You know, celebrating our culture, and being positive about what we have today and looking back at the past and learning from the past and perpetuating the hula traditions that were first found in Moanalua Valley. So, you know, we try to stay apolitical and neutral, but we are about celebrating. We are about educating our keiki and making sure that they understand how important it is, their culture, how important it is to continue and perpetuate their culture. But hula is more than tennis. Yes. Hula has moral principles. Hula represents those special Hawaiian principles that we carry forward that are so embedded in our state and so revered and nurtured by so many people in our state and so important to the future of our state. Can you talk about that, Charlie? Well, as we know, like the Mary Monarch, we have two types that I want to, just one. Oops. Oh, kahiko. Kahiko. Excuse me, I lost it there for a second. And the majority of the people that come understand the difference between the two. And there's a lot of the tourists that come and enjoy it too. And I've been fortunate enough to talk to a lot of these people that are visitors and they're just overwhelmed by it. They said that, and this is free. They don't have to point out the big bucks like they do in Waikiki. Consequently, they love it and they want to know more about it and they ask if they can film. We have a policy of no photographing because they're professionals that are doing it there. But you can't monetize that 100%. Right. If you bring a camera, I'll guarantee that you won't be thrown out on the King Street. Thank you, Charlie. One last thing I want to ask you is that, do you have advice for the Hawaiian community, the native Hawaiian community right here, 2019? What is your advice to them? My advice? Your advice. It's to keep doing what they're doing. But to stop the arguments and fighting.  So those people in the community that are educated, more innocent, I feel it should be more active as possible in there because we have the amount of care problems, well, Halekala problems. And I've visually seen that on the big island. I went up to see amount of care with one of my daughters and had all the big pohacos, the big rocks in the road, and we just go by. I didn't want to get into a confrontation. What's your advice to me, Emma Howley? I have no claim to this culture, but I certainly appreciate it. Well, I'm Howley too. Okay, what's your advice to me from where you are as a board member of the Moanalua Gardens Foundation? That's a tough one, Jay. That's a tough one. Well, what my advice is, keep doing what you're doing. You're giving us this opportunity to broadcast more information out to the community. Anytime, Charlie. And that's very important to us because we need all the help we are.  We are financially in good shape. Well, if I wanted to make a contribution to the foundation, where would I go? What would I do? Get your checkbook out, write Moanalua Gardens Foundation, and you have my card and Pauline's card that's addressed there. Mail it to us, and you will eventually get a thank you letter. Or you can go directly to our website, www.moanaluagardensfoundation.org slash donate, and you can donate online. And we would be grateful for any and all donations. Of course, it would be well, it would be worthy. The last question to you, Pauline. What's the future of the foundation? You've put many years into it. What's the plan going forward for succession, renewal, expansion, continuation? What's the plan? The plan is to keep on going. But right now we're working on a succession plan. We brought the organization through some difficult times, and as Charlie said, we're a stable organization now, but we would like to see it grow. We would like to bring aboard people who have the same vision, who want to move it forward. Because there is a limited amount of time that we have that we want to make sure that when we leave that it's in good hands. And so we see a bright future for Moanalua Gardens Foundation. The Prince Lajula Festival is well-established here. It's become a signature event for the community. As I said, the largest non-competitive hula festival in the entire state, and our education program is so important. And so we need to make sure that these programs continue into the future. And we're making those plans right now to put in place not only the infrastructure, but the people to make it happen. Pauline Worsham, Charlie Cook, Moanalua Gardens Foundation, I love you both. Aloha. Aloha. Moanalua. Moanalua. Yeah.


The spiritual realm is real. Demons are real. And I want to show you from Scripture the seven ways that demons attack believers. Before I begin, make sure you're subscribed to EncounterTV on YouTube and click that notification bell when you do subscribe. You can also follow us wherever you're watching us. Demons deceive. The primary way the enemy attacks the believer is through deception and there are many forms of deception. Spiritual warfare is simply the fight to believe God's truth over the enemy's lies.  He was a murderer from the beginning. He has always hated the truth because there is no truth in him.  So the primary strategy against the believer from the demonic realm is deception. John 8.32 says, And you will know the truth and the truth will set you free. The believer does not become bound by demons. They become bound by lies and deception. When you know the truth it's like turning on a light in a dark place. When that light goes on the darkness dissolves instantly and when you know the truth you're liberated from demonic deception. Now before I describe the different ways that the enemy does attack the believers let me explain to you some of the limitations that the enemy has. Now demons are very powerful beings. Jude 19 says, Yet Michael the archangel when contending with the devil in a dispute about the body of Moses did not dare to pronounce upon him a railing judgment but he said the Lord rebuke you. So we mustn't be apathetic in our approach to spiritual warfare because demonic beings are highly trained spiritual assassins who know humanity's weak point. So we have to take the spiritual war seriously. But with that in mind we must remember that they also do have their limitations. First of all, demons cannot read minds.  Demons cannot see the future. Isaiah 46 9-10 says remember the former things of old for I am God and there is none else. I am God and there is none like me. Declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times the things that are not yet done saying my counsel shall stand and I will do all my pleasure. So the scripture says that there's no one like God who can describe the end from the beginning and the beginning from the end. Only God can see all things. Only God can see the future. So how then do psychics get their power? Well demons make what I call educated guesses. As I mentioned just a moment ago, demonic beings understand human nature in ways we probably can't even fathom. And looking at human nature, they check political conditions, climate conditions, economic conditions and they can make predictions about what will happen in the future based upon what they know about humanity and the world. So they make educated guesses. This is why psychics are mostly wrong but sometimes do get some things right. Number three, demons cannot be omnipresent. Job 1-6-7 says, Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord and the adversary also came among them. And the Lord said to the adversary, From where have you come? Then the adversary answered the Lord saying, From roaming on the earth and walking up and down on it. Now here we see that the adversary traveled. Remember Jesus said when an unclean spirit comes out of a man, it goes what? Through the desert. It roams through the desert. It moves about. If you're omnipresent, you by definition can't move anywhere because you're everywhere at all times. So the fact that the adversary moves, the fact that demons move about the earth is proof that they are not omnipresent. So those are demonic limitations. They cannot read your mind. They cannot see the future and they cannot be omnipresent. So how do demonic beings attack the believer? Well, we know, biblically speaking, that Christians can't be possessed. Other words for possession are demonization and oppression. So Christians can't be possessed.  And whatever word someone speaks against me, God's word speaks something greater. But this doesn't mean that demons can't affect and influence and attack the believer. So number one, they use accusation. Revelation 12.10 says, Then I heard a loud voice shouting across the heavens. It has come at last salvation and power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ. For the accuser of our brothers and sisters has been thrown down to earth, the one who accuses them before our God day and night. The Bible calls the enemy the accuser. Have you ever been going about your day full of joy and peace when suddenly you get a flashback or a memory about something you did or thought? That's the accusation of the enemy working against you, trying to get you to focus on the shame of your past, trying to get you to identify with your past sin. It's time to be free of this assault. It's time to recognize that God has forgiven you and He's put your past where it belongs. This is an assault that is very common against the believer because the enemy does not want you to have peace. The enemy wants you to live in shame regarding your past.  No, that is the accusation of the enemy and it's time to live in the peace of God. Number two is temptation. In Genesis chapter 3, we see that the enemy tempts Eve and later of course Adam fell into the same sin. But when the enemy went to tempt Eve, the first thing he did was challenge the word of God. This was the result, Genesis 3-6. The woman was convinced. She saw that the tree was beautiful and its fruit looked delicious and she wanted the wisdom it would give her. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband who was with her and he ate it too. Demons are like salespeople for sin. They sell sin. They present sin. They try to get you to fall into sin. And remember this, they're never going to present you with something that you're not interested in. When the enemy tempts you, he's going to tempt you with things that you find tempting. He's going to exploit your weakness. So this is an assault of the enemy for sure. This is one way that the enemy has destroyed marriages, families, ministries. It's through temptation. And temptation really is a form of deception because temptation says, this sin is worth my integrity. This sin will give me permanent pleasure. This sin will fulfill me. And it's the lie of the fulfillment in that sin that really gets you because you wouldn't fall for temptation. You wouldn't sin if you didn't think that it would fulfill you in some way. So that's the great deception behind temptation. So temptation is a form of deception. Number one, accusation. He accuses you of your past sin. Number two, temptation. And isn't it interesting how the enemy works with these two?   It's funny how when you're walking clean, he doesn't use accusation, but he talks about how wonderful sin is. And the moment you fall into sin, he talks about how horrible your sin was. That's how these two attacks work together. Number three is distraction. Ephesians 6-12 says, for we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. The enemy wants to take your mind off the supernatural world. He wants to keep you consumed by entertainment and music, and all of the distractions that this world offers. He wants to keep you focused on the carnal, not on the supernatural. He wants to keep you focused on the temporary, not on the eternal. He wants to call you to battles that don't matter. He wants you to give your tension, time, and energy to things that aren't going to matter years from now. He wants you to get involved in that argument. He wants to get you stuck on that Netflix series. And of course, watching television is not sinful in and of itself, but if it becomes all consuming in your life, that, of course, is something you should be careful of because that's the trap of distraction. He gets you consumed by these things. He gets you fighting all these battles that don't matter. He gets you thinking about things that you shouldn't think about. He gets you involved in things that consume too much time. That is an assault, and you must recognize it. And it's funny to me that we're not losing people, Christians. We're not losing churchgoers to the occult, not necessarily all the time. Most of the time we're losing people to baseball. Most of the time we're losing to people, people to entertainment, to the things and cares of this world. We must be aware of the distraction of the enemy. Number four, depression. Now, it's important to remember that mental illness can be caused by demonic beings, but that doesn't mean that every mental illness is caused by demonic beings. It can happen, but that doesn't mean it's always the case. For example, I had a friend who was one way, but then after suffering an injury to his head became a completely different way. The brain injury affected his personality in many negative ways. Now, was that a demon that was attached to his brain? By no means. He had suffered a serious accident. So mental illness can come about as a result of natural things in this world. That doesn't mean, however, that demons can't use it. So sometimes demons can cause mental illness, but that doesn't mean that every mental illness is caused by a demonic being. In the same way, demons can affect mental illness, but that doesn't mean that every mental illness is affected by demonic beings. Now, what I mean by that affected is that demons will see someone suffering with depression, and they will intensify and prolong that depression. Let's say a parent loses a child. Well, if a parent loses a child, of course they're going to experience some form of depression, a lingering sadness over them. But the enemy can get involved in that situation and intensify that depression and even prolong that depression by continually telling them lies. So we can't be dogmatic and say every single time, oh, that's definitely a spirit. And we can't be dogmatic the other way and say every single time, well, that's mental illness. It's not a demonic spirit. Sometimes it is. Sometimes it isn't. And sometimes it's a combination of the two. But one of the ways that demons affect the believer is through depression and that depression comes about through deception.  They forget the truth where God has said, I'll never leave you nor forsake you. And they embrace that lie. And so once they believe they're alone, they feel alone. Once they feel alone, they act alone. And once they act alone, that becomes a behavior pattern. That behavior pattern is what we would call a bondage, but it's all rooted in the mind. They don't need an exorcism.  That's just one example of how one lie can cause depression. But there are many lies that can cause depression. Lies like God hasn't forgiven me. Lies like God has rejected me. Lies like nobody loves me. Lies like my life isn't worth living. These are lies that become rooted. But that lie is deception. And that deception causes depression. So sometimes it's demonic. Sometimes it's not. Sometimes it's both. But we must be on the alert to identify these lies that we might be set free from this attack of the enemy. Number five, intimidation or anxiety. 1 Peter 5.6-7 says, Therefore, humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God that he may exalt you at the proper time casting all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. One of the ways that the enemy used to attack me severely was through anxiety, constantly lying to me telling me that the worst case scenario would be my reality. Isn't that amazing how the enemy does that? He whispers to you, worst case scenarios telling you this is going to happen or this is going to happen or that bad thing will occur. You're going to definitely lose that love when now we understand that as believers we face tragedies, we face heartache. But this is really overkill to think this way, to think worst case scenario and that's how the enemy wants to keep you living. He's going to constantly be suggesting the worst possible outcomes. And if you're not careful, you're not going to identify it. And if you don't identify that lie, you can't reject that lie. And if you don't reject that lie, you by default embrace that lie and therefore you live in this paranoid anxious state where you're always very tense and on edge and just about to lose your mind and people can sense it around you. That is an assault of the enemy. Anxiety like depression can sometimes be rooted in the natural world, can sometimes be caused by a demonic being and can sometimes be a combination of both. Number six, affliction or mental torment. 2 Corinthians chapter 12 says this beginning at verse 5 that experience is worth boasting about but I'm not going to do it. I will boast only about my weakness. If I wanted to boast, I would be no fool in doing so because I would be telling the truth but I won't do it because I don't want anyone to give me credit beyond what they can see in my life or hear in my message. Even though I have received such wonderful revelations from God. So to keep me from becoming proud, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan to torment me and keep me from becoming proud. So Paul the Apostle here is writing of demonic mental torment that he was suffering with. Now nobody told him, oh Paul you should undergo an exorcism because as we know, Christians don't need exorcisms and Christians should never undergo anything that even resembles an exorcism. We're set free by knowing the truth, living a holy life, surrendering to God, repenting, asking for his forgiveness, not by rituals and superstitious approaches. So Paul was never told, oh that's a devil, you got to get it cast out of you. Instead this is what happened. Verse eight, three different times. I beg the Lord to take it away. Each time he said, my grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness. So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses so that the power of Christ can work through me. Now here we see that the solution to affliction if you're a believer is not exorcism, it's grace.  This is different than intimidation because it's not just about putting fear in you, it's about putting confusion in you. It's about getting you to second guess your walk with God. It's about getting you to feel like you're not grounded. It's about getting you to be tormented in the mind. And demons say things about your future, about your past, about your present, about who you are, about who others are around you, about reality, about God. They lie about everything they can in order to get you to become tormented. But the response here is grace. But be aware of that because when you find your mind is not at peace, you find your mind all over the place and you feel that torment in your mind. Be aware that that is an assault of the enemy. It brings on cynicism, this really dark sense around you. That is the assault of affliction or torment. Finally, number seven, indoctrination.  And in the Greek, this literally means who has deceived you. For the meaning of Jesus Christ's death was made as clear to you as if you had seen a picture of his death on the cross. So here the scripture is describing this deception coming over the Galatians, getting them to believe a different gospel. 1 Timothy 4, 1-2 says, Now the Holy Spirit tells us clearly that in the last time some will turn away from the true faith. They will follow deceptive spirits and teachings that come from demons.  So indoctrination is another form of assault of the enemy where the enemy gets us to believe doctrines that are distracting, doctrines that are tormenting, doctrines that are bizarre or unbiblical and Christians become obsessed with these doctrines that in the end don't even really matter. You know the Christian life though it's not always an easy one is rather simple. Anything that's spiritual is simple. Anything that's religious is always going to be complex, complicated.  But sometimes the enemy can bring torment by means of indoctrination and those two assaults work very well together by getting you to believe certain doctrines it can bring about certain mental torment. So if you believe at any moment I as a believer can have a demon in me, well guess what?  For example, I one time was reading the book of Romans. This was early on when I was born again. You know, I looked at that portion of Scripture that described vessels of wrath and I thought that that meant that God created certain people to be condemned forever and I thought, what if I'm a vessel of wrath? So that doctrine, that indoctrination that didn't come from the Holy Spirit but another Spirit tormented me and the enemy, here's a crazy thing. The enemy will use Scripture sometimes to torment you. Not the Scripture itself but the twisting of the Scriptures to torment you. So that is an attack of the enemy. The solution for all these is very simple. 2 Corinthians 10.5 Casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalted itself against the knowledge of God and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. It's casting down these imaginations by means of truth. Get these thoughts to subject themselves to the authority of God's Word. If you want to defeat the deception of the enemy, if you want to defeat these attacks first, identify the deception. How do you do that? You know the Word. Compare your thoughts and what's in your head with what's in the Word. That's how you identify lies. Once you've identified the lie, choose to believe the truth. Thoughts are the actions of the mind. You choose what you believe and once you've chosen to believe the truth, freedom follows and the attack of the enemy is defeated. Father, I pray you help us do it. Help us to see the assaults of the enemy. Holy Spirit guide us. Thank you, Lord, for exposing the devil and his plans. Help us, Lord, to live in truth, to embrace the truth that we might be free. In the mighty name of Jesus, we pray. And I want you to say it because you believe it. Say, well, that is it for the message. Here now is a question for conversation. Which of these demonic attacks do you most often have to deal with in your life? Let me know in the comments section right now. Now, here are some comments from a previous video titled Have I Committed the Unpardonable Sin? The Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit Clearly Explain. In that video, I asked, did this message help you to better understand the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit? How so? Damarius Pagan wrote, Yes, it did help me. When I was a little girl, I was always scared of committing blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. Now I'm 44 and this is the first time I've heard a clear explanation of this topic. Thank you so much. Rachel Abouza writes, I thank the Lord for answering my question. After I watched this video, it became clear to me how a person commits the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. So now, the devil won't be able to lie to me again. I love that. Gladys Perez writes, since the age of 12, I have lived with the fear of committing this sin. But out of nowhere, I saw this video on my Facebook feed. This video has truly brought clarity to this subject. Thank you. And the final comment I'll read from this video comes from Cho Karyaga who writes, Yes, I am always terrified of having blasphemous thoughts because I fear that God won't forgive me. But through this message, I learned the truth about the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. One more time, don't forget to subscribe to EncounterTV on YouTube and do click that notification bell so you can receive notices when we put out new content. You can also follow us wherever you're watching us. And remember, make sure to get involved with this ministry. 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