I greet you this morning in the name of the one, the only one who is worthy here this morning, the Lord Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, the one who considered you and considered me and said, I'm willing to give my life for him and for her. It's an amazing thought as we reflect upon that Jesus Christ died for us, for each individual that is here this morning. But in a dynamic sense, Jesus Christ died for the church and I don't want you to ever forget that. There is a personal aspect to salvation. Each one of us must come to the cross individually. I cannot come there for you and you cannot come there for me. But we come there together as brothers and sisters. No man is there by himself. This morning we are talking about a church life. A church life worth dying for. And the only way that we will understand what this church life is, is if we begin to see it from the perspective that God sees it. And this theme is going to run throughout the message. This is the burden that's on my heart this morning. If you have your Bibles and want to follow along, I invite you to turn to Psalm 48. I'd like to begin there with this beautiful portion of scripture. When I think of something that is worth dying for, it implies that there is a cause, that there is a purpose. There is something bigger than myself that I aspire to and live for. And I find this portrayed in this portion of scripture. In Psalm 48, we will read most of this scripture and the first two verses of this beautiful Psalm have often been sung and set to music. And I'd like for us to do that. And I'm asking you to stand as we sing and as we read this portion of scripture. Will you stand? And let's sing the first two verses together. Great is the law in the city of our God for situ on the sides of three. God is known in her palaces for a refuge. And now we drop down to verse eight. As we have heard, so have we seen in the city of the Lord of hosts in the city of our God. God will establish it forever. Silah, we have thought of thy loving kindness, O God, in the midst of thy temple. According to thy name, O God, so is thy praise unto the ends of the earth.  Let Mount Zion rejoice. Let the daughters of Judah be glad because of thy judgments. Walk about Zion, walk about Zion. Go round about her. Tell the towers thereof. Mark ye well her bulwarks. Consider her palaces that ye may tell it to the generation following. For this God is our God, forever and ever. He will be our guide even unto death. Amen, you may be seated. As I ponder this beautiful portion of scripture, there is, I understand, of course, that David, as he penned these words, if indeed it was David, it was a song and Psalm for the sons of Korah, the heading of my Bible says, but as the Psalmist wrote these words, I'm sure there was a practical application and inspiration for them right there. But it's also no question in my mind that there's a prophetic word here that points forward to the church. He calls it Mount Zion. There's a number of observations about 10 that I'd like to quickly make here just as an introduction to this message. And as we think of a church life, the first thing I want to point to is in verse one, the first observation is the creator of Mount Zion is worthy of praise. He says, great is the Lord and greatly to be praised. Our life should be obsessed with bringing praise to God. Its creator is worthy, first of all. There's another thing that I see there about the church, Mount Zion, as he calls it here. But he said it's like a city set on a hill. There's a visibility there. Sometimes we think of the church, the quiet in the land, the hidden, the what, that people don't see readily, but here he says it's a city on a hill. It's a beacon of light. Let us never be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord and of speaking for him and let the whole world see it and be drawn in. There's another thing that I see there in verse two. It's a beautiful place. The church of Jesus Christ is a beautiful place. And I know there's times that there's been, that the pictures that brother Ken shared here of stoning and of beheadings and of martyrdom are pictures of pain and suffering. How can that be beautiful?  I see men there and women who have a cause in their heart that they are willing to die for. And that's beautiful when there's that kind of purpose and passion in the life of a person. It's beautiful for a situation. In verse three, it's called a palace. The implication is it's a beautiful place. The church of Jesus Christ is that way. In fact, he says next, it is the joy of the whole earth. It is the joy of the whole earth. You know, and there is, I have seen this in various parts of the earth. There's times I've been in Belize, I've been in Paraguay and in Papua New Guinea and in Kenya and most recently in various parts of Ukraine. I have seen the joy of the Lord in all of those places written on people's faces who know Jesus Christ and the gospel has changed them from darkness to life. It doesn't matter the culture. Sometimes we talk about our cross cultural situation. Let me tell you something where the word of God is preached and where it is believed and where the Holy Spirit changes lives. It doesn't matter if the skin color is black or white or blue or green or yellow. It has no impact on that. And the languages are diverse, one from another. We can't understand them unless there's an interpreter at our side when we speak. But there is joy there where there is a belief in Jesus Christ. What a blessing it is. It's the joy of the whole earth. In verse three, I see something else. He says it's a refuge. The church of Jesus Christ is a safe place. It's a refuge for those who are wandering. And I don't know what your situation is here this morning but if you've never been a part of a safe refuge, I'd invite you in. I invite you to come. Sometimes in a group like this, the moderator says he's glad to see all those that have come out. I'm always a little vexed with that. I'm not glad for the people that have come out. I'm glad for the people that have come in. I see that in Mount Zion. It's coming in that we come when we come to church. It's not coming out, it's coming in. Now we come out of the world. I guess we can, I can buy that. It's okay there. And another thing that I see in verse eight. Did you notice it as we read across it? This is not something that comes today and is gone tomorrow. He says it's an everlasting kingdom. This thing's gonna outlive me, brethren. I'm gonna come and go. But the kingdom of Jesus Christ is an everlasting kingdom. It's never going to cease. The gates of hell are not gonna prevail against it. Oh, I get excited when I think of that. Maybe, I don't know if you do this when you read a book or not. I do it sometimes. We read the first couple chapters and then I wanna know how this thing ends. And so we flip to the back and we see what the last chapter is. And lo and behold, we find out that the main character is still alive and well and happy. And so when we go back to chapter three, the airplane's running out of gas and it's going down. I can put that book on the shelf and go to sleep in peace. I don't know how it's gonna happen, but I know at the end of the chapter, at the end of the book, he's still there. And so everything's gonna work out okay. You know what? I read the last chapter. I know how it's going to end. There may be persecutions and trials in our life until we get there, but I know it's going to, that ultimately, regardless, there's going to be a victorious conquering. There's gonna be a victorious entering of the church of Jesus Christ into heaven itself when this kingdom on earth is finished. When I think of that, notice what else he says. He says that kingdom is going to be established forever and he says he has seen it there. And so in verse 11 he says let Mount Zion rejoice. Let the daughters of Judah be glad. And that's why we can rejoice here this morning. We don't know what tomorrow holds. We don't know when that next catastrophe is going to strike or when there'll be that reversal, but we can live here today in gratitude and in joy because we know how it's all going to end out. He says we can rejoice and the daughters of Judah can be glad. And then he says another very sobering idea here in verse 12 and there he says Mount Zion is worthy of close inspection. That's how I worded it. He says go look at Zion. Go look at the church. He says walk about her and go round about her and tell the towers or inspect the towers of the church. What are the pillars of the church this morning? And have you noticed them? He says mark ye well her bulwarks as we think of marking them or take notice of them. There's my center column on that idea says consider well her bulwarks. I think there's another word there. Set your heart to her bulwarks it says. The bulwarks of the church have the idea of the strength of the church. The kind of thing that stands when the storms beat against it. He says Mount Zion has bulwarks. There's towers there that are ultimately going to stand. And he says consider those things. As I think of those things I see a passion. I see a joy that is there. You know Mount Zion it may not be perfect. This temple we don't always get it right. It's filled with human beings like you and I and sometimes there's mistakes, there's misguided thoughts we try and we don't get it right. I didn't say this morning that the church of Jesus Christ here on this earth is a perfect place. But as there is a passion that burns in the heart of each one. I think of several authors, poets if you please who have written words like this. Oh to be like the blessed redeemer. This is my constant longing and prayer. Gladly I'll forfeit all averse treasures. Jesus thy perfect likeness to wear. When that kind of passion burns in our heart then we can walk about Zion and we can consider those bulwarks. Another writer said it this way. He said Lord I am fondly earnestly longing into thy holy likeness to grow searching for more and deeper communion yearning thy love more fully to know and even invites us to draw that water out of the wells of salvation. Oh when that kind of a cause that kind of a passion begins to work in our heart then we begin to understand what it is to have a church life that is worth dying for. We're not finished here yet. Did you notice the last couple of verses? He says the God of the church will never leave her. No he says this God is our God forever and ever. This God is our God not just today not just tomorrow but forever. Our God will be with Mount Zion and he says he will be our guide even unto the end. Even unto death he will stand there with us. This picture of the church of those pillars. I don't know if Paul was thinking of that when he wrote to Timothy the young bishop at Ephesus. Ephesus was an amazing city but maybe a few more details on that in a bit. But Paul wrote to young Timothy and he says these things right eye unto thee hoping to come unto thee shortly. But if I tarry long that thou may us know how thou art us to behave thyself in the house of God which is the church of the living God the pillar and ground of the truth. He didn't say that you're the pillar. He said the church of Jesus Christ is the pillar and ground of the truth. And as you approach the Ephesus harbor there was a huge temple that was there. Now this tabernacle is big but if I understand it right that temple there was so large you could probably set this tabernacle in the one corner of it. I don't know exactly but it was called it was one of the seven wonders of the world. It was a temple to Diana of the Ephesians and you know the story and acts how they worshiped there but the prominent feature of that temple was the pillars. They tell me that there were 127 pillars that supported that roof system and each of those pillars was six feet in diameter. It was made of marble six feet in diameter 60 feet tall weighing 46 ton of piece and there he says that it was a forest of gorgeous marble pillars. And Paul said Timothy don't be so impressed with those pillars. He said it's the church of Jesus Christ. That's the pillar and ground of the truth.  And I know today the church is not seen as very important by many. There's people that criticize the church for some going to church is just a weekend in convenience. They'd rather go play golf or go fish on Sunday morning but you know it'd be kinda looked down on and so I guess I'll go to church. This morning some people claim that it's more of a habitation of hypocrites than of God. I'm sorry about that but I frankly don't feel like that's a very good excuse. I'm sorry that there are hypocrites in church. There's probably a few in your church. I'll stop short of suggesting who that might be but there's probably a few in your church too but when I think of people who have left the church because of the hypocrites that are in it could it be that the ones that are still there are closer to God than the ones that have left? I'm not sure but it's something to think about anyway. And there's others that say, well my church is dead. My church is dead and I wonder what they mean by that because you see the church, the church isn't cement blocks and carpet and pews, the church isn't two by fours and tin on the roof. The church is people. And once again if the church is dead I wonder if we should check our own pulse. At least our spiritual pulse and is it me perhaps? Is it me that's not in tune with the spirit of God? Is it me that's not bowing? Is it me that's not walking the way of the cross? Is it me that has self still hung on, sitting on that throne instead of hanging on the cross as we were so eloquently taught yesterday? Could it be that it's me? You see the church of Jesus Christ is only living when you and I are spiritually alive within that church. That's what gives the church life. It's the life of Jesus Christ through the believer in that congregation. It's not the paint on the wall or the pew you're sitting on, it's you and me. If your church is dead, I invite you to do something about it. Now I also recognize that there are many, there's a huge diversity here this morning. There's probably people here that have never been a member of a church and they're not quite sure what that means. And then there are those I'm sure that have been part of a church and maybe you're disillusioned by it. It's been a difficult journey and so on. And maybe this morning you're alone. You just claim to be part of that universal church, that great universal church that God is coming back for. But the idea of submitting to a local brotherhood and being a part of that, it's probably maybe it's something that you shy away from. I hope there's many here who have been otherwise and I will come to that in just a bit. I was thinking about that and I find several models in scripture. The Bible Stephen talked about this when he was preaching in Acts chapter seven. He said, this is he who was with the church and the wilderness. Now when you think of the church and the wilderness, I see there a wandering church, a church that was just kind of meandering around waiting to die. They were on their way to the promised land to be sure but the promise was that they weren't gonna get there. Many of them, a wandering church. First Corinthians chapter 11 talks about several other models of church. He says, for this cause many are weak. Is your church weak? Many are weak. And then he said, many are sickly.  And he says, many sleep. Is your church sleeping? Paul mentioned those three possibilities there and they're very sobering possibilities as we think of a sick church, a weak church, a sleeping church. But that possibility exists. There are churches that are drifting. There's churches that are divided. There's churches that yesterday we heard about the way of peace where two are brought together into one, what beautiful scriptural math, two becoming one, that middle wall of partition being broken down. Today we find churches where that middle wall of partition is being built and one becomes two. Maybe you're disillusioned with that. I'm here to tell you this morning, not everything is wrong. Not everything is wrong. There are churches today that honor the Lord Jesus Christ. There are churches that take seriously the word of God and attempt to apply them. And I invite you to find a congregation of believers like that and become a part of that or your own congregation and build it up. Not everyone's on the slippery slope. There are many brotherhoods that are trying hard to put the living word into everyday life. There are many congregations today that can rightly claim that the gates of hell are not prevailing against them. They are moving forward. There's a living vibrancy that is going on within that brotherhood. Oh, I rejoice in that. These are people where there's a beauty in that church because self has been put on the cross and Christ is on that throne within the brotherhood. And it makes a church life worth dying for. Now, before we consider that, perhaps we should ask, well, what is the church? And we don't have time to do any exposition on that. I love what the Dortrecht Confession says. I was going to read this portion. I don't think I'll read but a few sentences. They begin there, the paragraph there in the Dortrecht Confession written in 1632. We believe in and confess a visible church of God namely those who, as has been said before, truly repent and believe and are rightly baptized, who are the one who are one with God in heaven and rightly incorporated into the communion of saints here on earth. These we confess to be the chosen generation, the royal priesthood, the holy nation who are declared to be the bride and wife of Jesus Christ. Yay, children and heirs of everlasting life. A tent, a tabernacle, a habitation of God in the spirit built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets of which Jesus Christ himself is declared to be the cornerstone. This church of the living God which he hath acquired and purchased and redeemed with his own precious blood with which according to his promise, he will be and remain always, even unto the end of the world for its consolation and protection. Yay, we'll dwell with them and walk among them and preserve them so that no flood or tempest, nay not even the gates of hell shall move or prevail against them. This church, we say, may be known by her scriptural faith, doctrine, love and godly conversation as also by the faithful observance, practice maintenance of the true ordinances of Christ which he so highly enjoined upon his disciples. I did read the whole paragraph. I didn't know where to stop. What a beautiful picture of the church. Now what is church life? I tried to just synthesize a few ideas from that. Church life is brotherhood. Church life, we're talking about the interconnectivity of brothers and sisters within the church of Jesus Christ. That's what church life is all about. The Bible calls it brotherhood but you are a chosen generation, first Peter too. We could read that whole chapter with profit. He talks about us being a priest with a holy nation, a peculiar people that we should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light which in time past were not a people but are now the people of God which in time past had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.  And then he says in 1 Corinthians 12 verse 25 that there should be no schism in the body but that the members should have the same care one for another, the same care. That's what builds brotherhood. The thing that amazes me about this whole business of being a body or a brotherhood with the members caring one for another is that many times it is members that look out for each other. You know, we often think of the body and we have many members in one body. The Bible says, now if I'm walking along and I see a sharp piece of glass on the path before me and I'm barefoot, guess what happens?  There is a drawing back, maybe my hands fly up but did you notice that none of those members would have been hurt had I stepped on the glass? You see it would have only been my foot that would have been hurt. So why is my eye concerned? Why do the hands fly up? Why do the muscles tense? It says they're the members have the same care one for another. That's a beautiful picture of church life, beloved. Maybe it doesn't affect you but you're concerned for your brother. So you're gonna make a sacrifice personally for his well-being. That's brotherhood, that is brotherhood. Another thing that I find in church life is fellowship. It's such a beautiful thing. Fellowship, so many verses we could read. First John chapter one. Few verses from First John chapter one. I'll start in verse five. This then is the message which we have heard of him and declare unto you that God is light and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him and walk in darkness we lie and do not the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light we have fellowship one with another and the blood of Jesus Christ his son cleanses us from all sin. What an amazing gift. This whole thing of koinonia, of sharing together, of fellowship one with another. Revelation 21 is of course a future prophecy. I find a good bit of it a reality today. He says, and I heard a great voice out of heaven saying behold the tabernacle of God is with men and he will dwell with them and they shall be his people and God himself shall be with them and be their God. God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes. There shall be no more death nor sorrow nor crying neither any more pain for the former things are passed away. And like I said there's of course a future reality to that. But today as God dwells with his people in his tabernacle, in the church there's a lot of this going on right now. There's a wiping of tears. There's a caring and a sharing together that is beautiful in the idea of fellowship. Today in the church of Jesus Christ there are a number of enemies that militate against church life. I'm going to mention just a couple of them. The first one is the consumer mentality that is around us. What's in it for me? If you're going to your church with a consumer mentality, the way you go to Walmart or to a Sears and Roebuck company, you won't find it. You know, when I go to town to shop I might go to find a set of tires and I'll go into one store and if I don't find what I want I simply go next door. There's a firestone store just down the street or university tire is down the other way. I don't have to go to one and I'm not even committed to it. I'll go where I can get the best bang for buck and there's where I'll buy my tires, right? There's a lot of people that go to church that way. They go for what they can get out of it. They go for a spiritual pill. They go for a shot in the arm. They go for a bit of encouragement and of course they're fair with it. They put their 10 bucks in the offering plate. They want to make it a fair deal. How would it work if you operated your marriage that way? You only, you shopped around and you only put into your marriage what you could get out of it.  I want a good food. I want some intimacy and so I'll just do what is necessary for that to happen with the least amount of input possible. It's a tragedy. There's a second enemy in the church and this one is the idea of attending without being. Attending without being. I'd like to illustrate that with a little, with a contrast here. You know, you were not born a godly unifying member of a brotherhood. That's not how you entered the world. So how can I become that? I take you to the example of Jesus our Lord in John chapter 10 where Jesus said, I am the good shepherd. And he said I am many other times. What did he mean by that? The I am. I use this illustration. I hope you understand where I'm going. There's two groups of people here. Did you know there are farmers who, or there are men who can plant corn, who can fertilize it, who can make things grow, but they are not farmers. I can play ball if the pitcher is kind and the catcher misses it. I can never be called a ball player. What's the difference between those two? I can cook water and if I get really hungry I can even make an egg sandwich. I can never be called a cook. What's the difference between those two? There are carpenters who can nail and saw boards and then there are craftsmen. What's the difference between those two? There are people who do good deeds that Christians should do. They go to church the way a Christian should go. They tithe the way a Christian should tithe, but they are not Christians. And if I want to be very practical, I would have to say that there are men who father children, but they are not fathers. There are females who bear children, but they are not mothers. What's the difference between these two brethren? These two groups of people. I would love to open it up for discussion. You can do this afterwards, but the difference here is obvious. Is it not? These people over here, their heart is in it. Their passion is there. They give time to it. And if I want to summarize it up, these people over here is something they are. They are craftsmen. They are cooks. They are farmers. These over here just attend those things. They just do some of the things that those kinds of people do. And I'm asking you this morning, in the quietness of your heart, which side are you on? Do you just attend church? Do you just do some of the things that churches, that church members should do? Or can you humbly and before God declare, I am the church. I am part of the body of Jesus. And it's something that just comes out of the very core of your being. It flows forth from the fabric of your life. It's not something that you put on on Sunday morning and take off Sunday afternoon. It's something that you are. Jesus said, I am the good shepherd. He didn't shepherd because it was high paying. He didn't shepherd because it was an important job. He didn't shepherd because of prestigious position. He didn't shepherd because he loved those woolly animals. He shepherded because he could do no other. He was the shepherd. He is the shepherd. It's simply the way he is. Now, I just got done saying that none of us were born that way. So what hope is there for us? I've heard a lot of excuses. I've heard people say I can't cook because I wasn't born a cook. I can't teach because I wasn't born a teacher. I've seen 10 babies born. I've never seen teachers born or farmers born or preachers born or fathers born or farmers born only babies. But I've seen them become that as it became the passion of their life and as they gave their heart to Jesus Christ and as they espoused a cause that was bigger than themselves, they became that. And I'm telling you this morning that you can become part of this living entity of the church of Jesus Christ as you become that, not just do some of the things that they do. And then there's the minimalist. Minimalism is a tragedy in our churches. It's prefaced by the question, is it a salvation issue? You mean I have to do that? Is it a salvation issue? You mean I have to dress modestly or wear plain clothes? You mean I have to help sing? You mean I have to give up certain kinds of music if I'm gonna do that? Come on, is it a salvation issue? Those of you that are married, I want you to go into your marriage and let's try that there. Honey, would you wash the dishes? Is it a divorce issue? Well, if it's not a divorce issue then I'm not gonna do it. And the wife says, I'm tired of cleaning up. I think I'm gonna stop. She says, is that a divorce issue? How would your home operate if we'd live that way? That is how people are coming to church. Is it a divorce issue? I want to get into the church with the very least commitment that I have to give to it. No, beloved, I'm happy to wash the dishes if that's what makes my wife happy. I'm not gonna come wash yours. But I'm happy to wash hers. I'm happy to help vacuum. She's happy to pick up after me. It's because we love each other. It's not a matter of a divorce issue. It's a matter of a love issue. And that's what brings us to the climax here and the real heart of our message. If you have your Bibles in care too, you can turn to Isaiah 62. The enemy on the wall continues to spin. I'm not sure what to do about it. But Isaiah 62, I was going to read these first, I'm gonna read the first few verses. He says, for Zion's sake, I will not hold my peace. And for Jerusalem's sake, I will not rest until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness and the salvation thereof is a lamp that burneth. The Gentiles shall see thy righteousness and all the kings thy glory and thou shalt be called by a new name which the mouth of the Lord shall name. Thou shalt also be a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord. This is talking about Mount Zion again. It's talking about the church, a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord, a royal diadem in the hand of our God. Thou shalt no more be termed forsaken, neither shall thy land any more be termed desolate. But thou shalt be called Heffzaba and thy land Bula for the Lord delighteth in thee and thy land also shall be married for as a young man married a virgin, so shall thy sons marry thee and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee. You understand this verse. Verse four is what is just precious to me and has just completely, it's just been a delight in my heart as I began to ponder this here. He says the church is going to be Heffzaba. What does Heffzaba mean? I suppose many of your center columns in your Bible have it, but that word means my delight is in her. My delight is in her. And brethren and sisters, this whole message will not make much sense to you until we begin to see the church of Jesus Christ from the perspective of God. You see, when we say that God's delight is in the church, think back to the creation. Out of that mess that was there, God made light and He said it was very good and it's something He could have delighted and it was beautiful. And then the firmament and the trees that grew in the grass and then there was the animals and the fish and birds and each one of those things was a glory in itself. It was amazing. And in this verse, He could have said, I delight in that light. I delight in my creation. I delight in all these things that I have made. He didn't say that. He looked at the church and He said, my delight is in her. My delight is in her. I'll tell you, brothers and sisters, when our delight turns away from our truck and our delight turns away from fishing and our delight turns away from our wallet and our delight turns away from our job and our delight turns away from all those distractions in the world and our delight is in her. All of a sudden this whole thing will begin to make sense and we will begin to see the church as the glory, the diadem, the crown in the hand of our good God. He that touches her touches the apple of His eye. It was for this reason that He loved the world so much that He gave His only begotten Son.  I was gonna turn to Ephesians chapter five and just look again. So ought men to love their wives even as Christ loved the church and gave Himself for her. And if you think of that, that's a church life worth dying for. It's already been done. There was, He was our leader in that and then there was of course many martyrs that came behind and did that as well. I have one more illustration. I'm going to just skip to the end. I'm going to close with this. I'm gonna need a few volunteers, a couple of volunteers and because time is of essence and I don't know who would volunteer, I'm gonna volunteer for them. I'd like for Brother Dale and Brother Ken to come up here and take these chairs. If you would please brothers. The memory portion that I was deeply challenged with, I worked on it, but I wasn't worthy to stand up here and recite that entire portion in First Peter chapter four, the way these dear people did last night, yesterday or in the yesterday afternoon, whenever it was, that was beautiful. I love that. But First Peter four, verse one has been referred to a number of times and it simply says this way, for as much as Christ has suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind, the mind of Christ, for he that has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin and Philippians two, verse five says a very similar concept. He says, let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. What does that mean, brothers and sisters, to have the mind of Christ? Now, I thank these two brethren for being willing to volunteer here, but I don't know we really the mind, how do we understand the mind? I'm going to be a little practical here and I'd like to think of it within the realm of the brain. The brain is a physical organ, the mind is much more fuzzy and nebulous and I wonder this morning if it's possible, if mankind will ever get to this place that they will be able to do a brain transplant. I don't know if that is ever the possibility but I'd like to do that this morning. I'd like to just for illustration's sake, take this brother's mind and put it into this brother and take this brother's mind and put it into this brother and I guess we'll use brains because we said the mind is kind of hard to get a hold of and I don't know if there's any last words you want to say before we attempt this or not. Okay, he says it's his game, but so we take these brethren and we put them to sleep and probably trim a little hair off here so it doesn't get mixed in with and we do an incision right around here and there sound asleep, they don't feel anything. We take this cap off, it's this top off here and off here and we take this brain and we lift it out and we disconnect it and we put it in here and we do the same thing here and we disconnect this brain and we put it in here and these brethren are sound asleep and we connect the plumbing and the electrical connectivity that's there and by God's grace it's successful. They are still breathing, we disconnect the machines and they're still sound asleep but now they begin to wake up. They begin to wake up and this brother here, as he wakes up on his pillow, he's beginning to think and he thinks about Costa Rica and he begins to think about the churches of Costa Rica and he begins to, he wonders what's happening with those dear brothers down there because he left them and he came to the to Roxbury campground and he put them in charge of somebody else down there and he's wondering if things are going like they should down there in Costa Rica and this brother here, he's also just re-waking up and as he comes to, he's thinking about Christian light and he's thinking about, they put this warehouse in there and he's responsible for some things in that warehouse and they weren't quite finished. He took off work on Friday to go to Roxbury and he's thinking about what he needs to do when he gets back to work on Monday or Tuesday as he gets back there and then as he's thinking about this, there's a bit of clarity coming into his mind and so he stands up and looks in the mirror and he cannot believe what he sees because they're looking back from the mirror is a dear brother from Costa Rica that he has known for many years and loves and appreciates and he says, how can this be? What is going on with this? And this brother the same way. He looks, he wakes up and he looks in the mirror and there he sees a brother from Stewart's Straft and he doesn't understand this because something has gone on here. Are you with me brothers and sisters?  When there's a disconnect between brain and body, we have a huge problem but where the body is functioning the way it ought to as the brain gives its commands, the body responds and functions. Now what we have done here is we haven't done a brain transplant. We've done a body transplant. We've put Brother Ken inside this shell and we've put Brother Dale inside this shell and now go again to Philippians 2 and 1 Peter 4. He says, let this mind be in you which was in Christ Jesus and brethren and sisters when that stony self-willed heart is taken out of our heart and the mind of Christ is put in there then suddenly he is in charge of my hands and he is in charge of my feet and he is in charge of my love and he is in charge, he is able, all of a sudden I find myself laughing at the things that he would laugh at and I weep at the things that he weeps at and the work that he wants done my hands do and my feet go because his mind is in here and he is the controlling factor of my life. And he says, let this mind be in you. Arm yourselves likewise with the same mind because he that has this mind has ceased from sinning. Now we need to put these two brothers let them get back into their right mind and thank you so much for taking part in the day. I'll be done here in just a moment if you want to just stay here. Brethren, when we see the church as Jesus saw it and as God sees it and this mind is in us suddenly there will be a change, a dynamic change and it will indeed be a church life. We're praying for amen and God bless you.


Hi everyone! My name is Angie Dortenzio and I'm a sophomore at Fairfield University. Today I'm going to be showing you 10 things that I think you should bring with you to college. We're going to start off pretty basic. Stacking drawers like these. They're perfect for storing all of your items. Item number two, face mask. Don't forget you will be getting two Fairfield University ones that look just like this. Item number three is a reusable water bottle. Item number four is hand sanitizer. Item number five is any sort of air freshener. Item number six is any sort of sanitizing wipe or spray. Something to clean down the surfaces and touch spots in your room. Item number seven is your favorite snack. So my favorite snack is goldfish. Item number eight is an extension cord or a power strip. Item number nine is a foam mattress topper to go over your bed. Item number ten, any sort of backpack. And those are the ten items from our back to school haul. For all of your back to school information, please check out fairfield.edu slash reopen. Thanks for watching!


Hi everyone, Joe for jaspyscasebrakes.com coming at you with 2013-14 This guy remember him in 2013-14 Panini timeless treasures basketball two box Random team break number four Excuse me Sorry Not some water Big thanks everybody here. Let's double you up all teams are in let's roll it and Let's randomize it Two and a two hard four for the hard way two and a two one for both lists two three and four After four times I got Michael down to Justin four times for the teams one two three and four After four times we got the Timberwolves down to the Bucks. Remember this is 2013-14 And looks like our uploads are working again So we'll upload this video shortly after or what load everything after the last couple breaks We have tonight schedules in the chat Michael with the T wolves Michael P with the Sun's Hans with the Raptors Michael with the Cavs Charles with the Pacers We saw Charles in Wisconsin. It was nice to meet you Hans with the Kings my Lakers and the Wizards Jonathan with the Pelicans and the Sixers Justin with the Clippers Zach with the Warriors and the Pistons Andrew with the Hornets Michael with the Grizz Hans with the Blazers Andrew with the Hawks Michael with the Spurs Charles with the Jazz Hans with the Magic Nets and Thunder Charles with the Heat Hans with the Rockets J-Mac with the Knicks and the Nuggets Charles with the Celtics Michael with the Mavs Hans with The Bulls and Justin with the Milwaukee Bucks fingers crossed now. It's a two box break Let's up get all this alphabetized by a team And we have four boxes remaining from the case that we popped open All right, so Here's what we're gonna do. We're gonna roll the die one two three for the top two boxes four five six for the bottom two boxes And we're gonna use that flamingo die right there Five one two three four five six. We'll save these for break five All right any trades? Usually there aren't too many trades Sixers pelicans for bulls maybe let's go through just a couple orders We had a little interruption with YouTube, but now I think we're back on track. All right trade window going once Trade window going twice And trade window closed let's print and rip TwC I See you got here, so we got Tony Parker die cut for the spurs Not numbered so that will go to There's the final print out right here. I'm gonna go to Michael behind John wall is Promising pros drew holiday nice. That'll go to Jonathan tried to trade couldn't trade mojo then we got xbay Udo validating marks Autograph are we getting warmer bucks? It's gonna go to Justin and behind John wall is time to shine Steve Blake autograph It's 54 out of 249 Plank sort of could be like Austin Barnes's brother That'll be for at least in that shot. That'll be for Hans and the Lakers to 249 And there's John wall to 299 for the wizards All right, second box We got nice David Robinson spurs Saw him with Tim Duncan, right? I think you Dave Bronson Tim Duncan Hall of Fame stuff is Roy Hibbert on top and we got Monta Ellis big piece of his jersey 42 out of 49 Dallas Dallas Mavericks that'll be for Michael Schwartz and we got Dan a cell timeless talents Oh and Lance Stevenson. Sorry got a little aggressive there. There's Dan a cell That'll be for Denver. That's gonna go to Justin and there's Lance Stevenson to 249 Charles with the Pacers. There you go. Charles. Good to see you at Wisconsin Dells good card show nice to hang out and Roy Hibbert to 299 Indiana Charles With that one as well. There you go. Well, no, you honest none of the big top rookies like Cedric McCollum Are you honest on to combo and whatnot? But the hunt continues two more boxes left check it out on jaspy's case breaks calm And I'll see you next time for the next one. Bye. Bye


The next item of business is a statement from Humza Yousaf on NHS Endowment funds. The cabinet secretary will take questions on his statement afterwards, so there should be no interventions or interruptions. I call on the cabinet secretary around 10 minutes, please. Thank you very much, Deputy Presiding Officer. I am grateful for the opportunity to provide an update to members on the independent review of governance of NHS Endowment funds in 2019. The then cabinet secretary for health and sport commissioned the review to consider and provide recommendations on changes that could be enacted to strengthen governance arrangements for NHS Endowment funds. The review is being published today, and in my statement I will summarise the key findings and recommendations, alongside our next steps. Before I do, it is important to provide some context in the need for the review and for the resulting recommendations. In terms of background, members will be aware that NHS Endowment funds are charities. There are 16 such NHS-linked charities in Scotland, each registered with Oscar, the charity regulator. The underlying legislation is contained within the NHS Scotland Act 1978. That gives power to a health board to, and I quote, to accept, hold and administer any property on trust for the purposes relating to any service that is in their function to make arrangements for administer or provide or to their function with respect to research. Each charity is therefore a trust, and in line with the 1978 act, the charity trustee of each NHS-linked charity is the related NHS board, acting as a single corporate trustee. That means that board members of the NHS board also act as trustees of the related charity. The decision to commission the review, as members will remember, was prompted by a report from Oscar in February 2019 following the inquiry on the use of endowment funds by NHS Tayside. Oscar found that, while charitable assets were used only for the purposes of the charity, which are the same as those of the health board, there was inadequate separation of the interests of the charity and of the NHS board in decision making. Oscar considered that an issue inherent in the structure of the charity with health boards as corporate trustees and recommended a review of the governance arrangements of the endowment funds and also of the 1978 act in that respect. Before I turn to the findings and recommendations of the review, let me place on record my sincere thanks to the chair, Julie Hutchinson, to the project team, to the reference group and the specialist subgroups, and to all those who are involved in the time and care that has gone into the review. I would also like to pick up on the point that was made by the chair of the review, more of a reflection rather than a recommendation. In her words, the report shines a light on a particular group of charities in Scotland that deserve to be better known. That is reflected in comments from one donor who observed that people may not know that they can raise and donate funds to their local NHS charity and that beneficiaries may not know that charitable funds have provided something from which they have benefited. That review considers governance arrangements and, in doing so, it highlights the importance of the work of those charities and provides us with very helpful recommendations to support that work in the future. I turn to the findings and recommendations. The review found, as did Oscar, that an inherent conflict of interest exists in the structure of the funds. First and foremost, that is seen in the dual role of NHS board members who are also officers of the corporate trustee of the related NHS charity. In those dual roles, they are required to make decisions both on how to direct charitable funds and on managing board finances in order to deliver the required services and to meet the statutory requirement of financial break-even at year end. Let me be clear that it was not the finding of Oscar or, indeed, of the review that there was widespread issues in the decisions that were made on use of charitable funds. Rather, it is the case, as reflected in their findings, that the current situation puts health boards in a difficult position and open to criticism when making spending decisions on behalf of NHS charities. It is also the case that, under the current legislation, the statutory purpose of the health board and the related charity are the same. As a result, the same item of expenditure could, validly, be incurred by the health board or by the related NHS charity. Although there is no legal requirement to do so, to address that overlap, health boards have established practices to separate out core spending and non-core spending. Those items are to be publicly funded by the health board and enhancements to be funded by linked charities. However, there is no legally binding governing document for those NHS charities. There is a lack of separation between the health boards and related NHS charities that need to be addressed. The review makes a number of recommendations, 28 in total, to do that and to improve the overall governance arrangements of those NHS charities. The most significant of the recommendations is replacing the existing corporate trustee with a charitable board that would compromise an independent chair and a majority of independent members. That means that a chair and a majority of members are not drawn from the executive or non-executive membership of the related NHS board. The review also recommends publicly available legally governing documents for each endowment fund and the introduction of limited liability for board members of endowment funds. It makes further recommendations on recruitment and training of trustees and on communication, including on-going interactions between the health board and the charity. I turn to our response to those recommendations and to the review and how we will take forward the recommendations in the review. I accept the recommendations of the review absolutely in principle, but there is some work to be done on precisely how we take forward those recommendations to ensure appropriate consultation, to ensure no unintended consequences of course and to support our NHS boards through implementation. The legislation governing the NHS charities dates back to the 1970s as the review rightly sets out times have moved on and so must we. There are significant sums held in those funds and it is not just the money that we must protect, but of course the intent behind those funds. Since the establishment, many people have donated to those funds. Often friends and family members of loved ones who have received care from the related health board or, indeed, the recipients of that care themselves. They have donated in order to give back to support the people and services that supported them in their hour of need and to improve the experience for others in the future. That has never been more true than now with unprecedented levels of donations to NHS charities seen throughout the course of the pandemic. As the chair of the review reflects, those charities are uniquely placed to play a creative and much-needed role in supporting how we cope and recover from Covid-19. Trustees are required to consider the interests of the charities separately and distinctly from those of the health board. I fully accept that we need to ensure that structures and governance arrangements safeguard our endowment funds and support those responsible to act in the best interests in the charities at all times. I also accept that the current legislation simply does not adequately provide for this and that taking forward the recommendations from the review to separate the people and the purpose of the charity would address the inherent conflict of interest that I have spoken about extensively in this statement. As the review sets out, the creation of an independent board would provide trustees whose focus is no longer split between the health board and the charity and allow the charity to shape its own strategy, linked yet separate to that of the health board. Fully adopting the recommendations will require legislative change and it will first require the precise mechanisms for that change to be determined. It will also involve significant work for our health boards. That will not necessarily be the quickest process, but we will ensure that it moves forward with pace. It will require consultation with stakeholders, including Oskar, NHS boards and those who donate to our NHS charities. It will also require support for our NHS boards in taking forward this change when it comes. Deputy Presiding Officer, while changes will take time, I want to emphasise to members today my commitment to improving the governance structures and frameworks for our NHS charities. I will urgently explore what can be done now before legislation is passed by this Parliament and what more can be done at this stage to improve governance and accountability on these important matters. That is a commitment that is shared and that we will progress with our NHS boards and with Oskar. The cabinet secretary will now take questions on the issues that are raised in his statement. I intend to allow around 20 minutes for questions after which we will move to the next item of business. It would be helpful if members who wish to ask a question could press their request-to-speak buttons now as soon as possible or place an R in the chat function if they are joining us online. I call Craig Hoy. Mr Hoy, just a second, your microphone does not seem to be on. Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I thank the cabinet secretary for advance sight of his statement. We welcomed the publication of this review today. The review was first announced in 2019, with the aim of looking into how health boards use funds donated to NHS endowments following a scandal at NHS Tayside the year before. To quote the statement, there are significant sums held in those funds. It is not just the money that we must protect but the intent behind those funds. Given that, can the cabinet secretary give us concrete assurances that all accounts of the charities will be made public, including income and detailed expenditures? Going forward, will he guarantee that any changes to NHS board endowments will have transparency at their heart? That is a very fair question from Craig Hoy. I hope that, in relation to my statement, I was able to give some details of what boards are doing right now and just to emphasise that there are a few safeguards. One is that all trustees are required to act in the best interests of the charity. They are also required to publish an annual report and accounts, and within that set out spending plans and future strategy. Those are publicly available, and they are open to scrutiny. Given how much interest there is in that, I will certainly impress upon the chairs and chief executives of boards when I meet them and I meet them very regularly and when I meet them next. Just how important it is that, if there are any changes made in advance of legislation, then those are communicated publicly. I think that that is a reasonable expectation. I thank the cabinet secretary for advance sight of the statement. Today's statement should be welcomed and Scottish Labour will take time to consider the range of recommendations made in today's report. The cabinet secretary rightly states that this process will not be a quick one, but could he advise the chamber when he expects to have completed consultations with relevant stakeholders and have brought draft legislation to the chamber? Indeed, will he give more detail on who he expects to consult as part of the process? Will it include patients and members of patients' families and those with a genuine interest in making the NHS trust work on behalf of local communities? Answer to Karen Watkins' last question absolutely, consultation should be with donors, with patients, with the families of patients, as well as with the NHS boards themselves. On her first and substantial question, I could not give her a date today, it would be wrong for me to suggest that I could. She used the phrase that when could she expect the Government to bring forward draft legislation? It might be that we are able to make the changes that we are looking to make with other legislation that we are considering, such as the reforms to charity law that we are considering already as a Government. It might be that we are able to make that change. I could not say for an absolute sure at this stage, so it might be that we are able to do that. If we are, that speeds up the process if we are able to have the relevant consultation in advance of that legislation. What I can promise, Ms Watkins, is that we will do that as quickly as we possibly can, because I understand just how important an issue that this is for all those concerned. Stuart McMillan joins us remotely. Thank you, Presiding Officer. Following on from Kate Hoy's question, can the cabinet secretary outline how taking forward a statutory corporation route for endowment funds would actually stop the repeat of the issues with the Tayside fund? Forgive me, I could not quite hear Stuart McMillan entirely, but I think that he was asking about the statutory corporation, which is one of the recommendations of the review. In that respect, yes, I think that it would help with the issues, particularly around conflict of interest. That is actually one of the areas that I wish to take a bit of time to see whether that is one of the recommendations that we can take forward, but could we take it forward or achieve the outcomes of that recommendation through another route? For example, could it be that the new NHS charity boards are set up as skills, for example, as opposed to the SLA statutory corporation? There are pluses and benefits of both routes, but ultimately, at its absolute core, what that recommendation does is help us in relation to that inherent conflict of interest that I expressed in my opening remarks. Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. Until recently, I was actually on the board of NHS Grampians. I have seen, first-hand, the amount of valuable work done by the endowment funds. Does the cabinet secretary have any estimates on how much the changes and icturable costs the endowment funds, which will, of course, mean less for the charity to spend on patients and staff? I am thinking that would the chair and board members be paid, for example? Also, thinking about new members of staff that may be going on to work for the charity, would they be included in the NHS terms and conditions, for example? Cabinet Secretary. Douglas Lumson is right to raise all of those issues, and that is why we have to take a bit of time to work through them. I would not want any NHS endowment fund to be reduced because of the changes that we are making. Therefore, as a Government, we will look to see how we can absorb those costs and make sure that funding is given to health boards to be able to absorb those costs, as opposed to having to take those costs out of endowment funds. That is not why people are given to endowment funds and NHS endowment funds. I think that that is a very reasonable point. However, in terms of the second part of Douglas Lumson's questions, I could not, at this stage, give him absolute definitive answers, but that is exactly why we want to consult with all the relevant stakeholders. Michelle Thomson, to be followed by Paul O'Kane. Serious governance flaws stem back to 1978 and the UK Government legislation of that time that enshrined the conflict of interest. I note the comments from the cabinet secretary that fully adopting the recommendation could require legislative change and it will first require the precise mechanism for that change to be determined. A couple of questions, can he give any further guidance on that further legislation and perhaps challenges around it? Furthermore, is he issuing some interim guidance just now to boards regarding that conflict of interest, or is he relying on the OSCR report? I think that they are both very important questions. On the first part of my question, I will not repeat or rehearse what I said to Carol Mocken, but we will look to see if there is any other legislative avenue that we can possibly use to move this forward at pace, as opposed to introduce completely separate primary legislation. On the second part of my question, it should be said that, since those issues were first surfaced in relation to NHS Tayside, it would be absolutely the case that NHS boards have looked at their own governance processes and accountability processes and have made positive changes. It is also important to note—I am sure that no member has that impression, but it is really important to note from the OSCR report that initially the NHS Tayside issue was not widespread issues with the conduct of trustees. The picture that has emerged from our analysis is generally positive and encouraging, and I hope that that will reassure existing and potential supporters of the charities. By and large, the NHS Endowment Charity in Scotland has appropriate charters, operating instructions, policies and terms of references in place. Those documents exist. Of course, where they need updated, on the back of the review, my expectation would be that NHS chairs and boards would look thoroughly at the review and make the appropriate changes, if necessary. Public confidence in NHS charities is vitally important, and we must learn the lessons of what happened at NHS Tayside. I recognise that the review by Julie Hutchison is a key part of this. I am sure that we were all inspired in the first lockdown by the fundraising efforts of Captain Sir Tom Muir, and NHS Scotland boards received a share of £4.4 million of that fundraising. It shows the importance of endowment funds, because, although the public may not know much about them, they have likely contributed to supporting them, I would want to see the money well spent. I welcome the cabinet secretary's intention to accept the recommendation to create independent boards of trustees to govern each charity, but does the cabinet secretary agree with me that those boards must be more representative of patients and family carers, and what steps will he take to ensure that boards are representative of the communities that he serves? On the first point raised by Paul O'Kane, what it does say to me and suggests to me is that people still have confidence in our NHS endowment charities, and that is why they have donated in record sums. I know that they are inspired by the likes of the late Sir Tom Muir, but others as well. On the substantial point that he raises, it is an issue that I have raised with NHS boards. They all have, as you would imagine, equality policies that they follow, but if I can be frank with Paul O'Kane, I would like to see progress being made quicker and faster. Although our boards absolutely have equalities at the heart, not just in terms of racial equality, which has been an interest I know of this Parliament of most recent, but representation right across the board of protected characteristics. There are policies in place. I am challenging boards to make sure that they are more representative. I think that he is right when it comes to the new boards that are created for charities. They must be representative, but we do not need to wait for those charity boards to be set up to see what we can do with our current structures absolutely in place. In short, we can do more and probably go faster in this regard. As the cabinet secretary has noted, huge sums have been donated to NHS charities during the pandemic. We also know that our boards are under intense pressure, including financial pressure. What safeguards are in place to ensure that the funds are used as they were intended to be? Of course, funding of the NHS is at record levels and we will continue to ensure that our NHS is funded adequately given the pressures that it is currently under. In terms of the safeguards, I spoke to some of those when answering questions from Craig Hoy earlier. It should be said that, as I mentioned in my statement, all trustees are required to act in the best interest of the charity. That is the first and primary safeguard, but they are also required to publish an annual report and accounts. That has to set out in detail their spending plans. Of course, those are publicly available and open to scrutiny. Those are the safeguards that currently exist. On the back of the review, my expectation most certainly would be that every single NHS board looks in detail at the review. If it has to update its procedures, governance and structures, it should absolutely do that. We have heard several times today that, in 2019, NHS Tayside was forced to give money back to the endowment funds following allegations of mismanagement. Can the cabinet secretary confirm that no other Scottish health board has been required to return money to the endowment fund on the same terms? It is certainly not that I am aware of. Given the pressure on the NHS board for remobilisation, is the cabinet secretary confident that the timescales for recommendations that have been taken forward can be met? It is a very fair question to ask. Of course, we all know and we debate regularly in this Parliament just how under-pressure NHS boards are, but I think that this is an issue of extreme importance and therefore I expect urgency to be attached to the recommendations, given that this, as a number of members have said, is about public confidence. Yes, while they remobilise, I would expect there to be some pace and urgency around those recommendations. I will do my best, because of course this will involve legislative change. I will certainly do my best to ensure that there is that pace and urgency from the Government, too. Apologies, Deputy Presiding Officer, and cabinet secretary, for being late. I have experienced what all Glasgow's regions are at the moment in severe delays on ScotRail. These charities have given valuable equipment that I personally have benefited from in hospitals and thank all those who have donated to them. One of the recommendations is that each NHS link charity should put in a place a code of conduct to provide guidance and set expectations on board behaviours. Can I ask the cabinet secretary what is the timescale for putting those code of conducts in place? Who will review them before they are implemented? Will they vary from health board to health board? It goes back to my answer to my colleague Douglas Lumsden and others that we will obviously need to take a bit of time to work through those to consult with the appropriate individuals, but there are already, of course, in our current public appointments, including our NHS boards, codes of conduct that we expect those members to abide by. We will make sure that they are absolutely robust. In terms of who we have been to consult with, I have already referenced a number of answers to a number of members that we will want to talk to as wide a group as possible, but perhaps I left out clinicians, which is an important reminder that, of course, it is really, really important that those who are working in our health service, such as Dr Gohani himself, are consulted upon in relation to all of those matters, including a code of conduct. Gillian Mackay, to be followed by Emma Roddick. One of the recommendations of the review is that NHS-linked charities should put in place induction training for all charity trustees, as well as consider the need for on-going training and support. Such training and support will be an important step towards widening access and ensuring a more diverse membership of NHS-linked charity boards. I appreciate the cabinet secretary's earlier answers to Paul O'Kane and Douglas Lumsden, but what measures, such as paying, trustees and implementing training, will the cabinet secretary employ to ensure that our boards are more representative of lower socioeconomic backgrounds, ethnic minority backgrounds and disabled people? While I cannot, as I have said to others, give our absolute specifics, because we will take some time to review the recommendations, I think that the points that Gillian Mackay raises are exceptionally important, because we know that for a number of people, particularly in our diverse groups in society, the fact that there is not the appropriate training, there is not the appropriate capacity building, there are perhaps financial disincentums for them to get involved in boards such as NHS-linked charity boards. Those are all important issues and issues that I will take time to reflect on, because, as Paul O'Kane and others have said, our board should be as reflective of the societies that it represents. Finally, Emma Roddick joins us remotely. Can the cabinet secretary outline what steps have been taken to improve the management of those funds in advance of today's recommendations that have been taken forward? I could probably be relatively brief, because I think that I probably answered the question from a couple of people that, since the issue first surfaced, a number of boards, obviously all boards, looked at their own internal processes and governance around the issue. Changes have been made, but the most important safeguard that we probably got in place is that those spending plans are published and open to scrutiny, which I think is really important. However, a range of steps and the measures that have been taken by boards, since the NHS Taste edition in particular, did surface my expectation now, if I can give some reassurance to Ms Roddick. My expectation now would be that, since the review was published, the NHS boards would look at it urgently and see whether their process, its governance, needs to be updated and to do so at pace. Cabinet Secretary, that concludes questions on the statement. I will allow a little time for front-benches to change round.


So when it comes to the left's electoral strategy against Joe Biden, I have previously said that we need to emphasize that he is not electable going up against Donald Trump. So we've got to hammer that home and make sure that people know that if they are voting for Joe Biden in hopes that he's going to be the best, most safest bet to defeat Donald Trump, they're in for a rude awakening come November. But another thing that we also have to hammer away at is another one of his vulnerabilities.  He's in the pocket of Wall Street. He has a super PAC. He's doing private fundraisers with elites in the Hamptons, and he's taking money from some of the most egregious people in the country. So it took decades for him to finally admit that his crime bill didn't work out too great to say the least, right? And he only did so begrudgingly because he knew he had to because he's running for president. So you can't run on the crime bill being good in 2020 when we all see what a demonstrable failure that was. But the problem is what he says now is meaningless because what he's doing now indicates to us that he hasn't actually changed. He's taking money from individuals who are private prison profiteers. And that's not even considering all of the money he's raked in from private health insurance companies who literally profit by ripping us off. So a new report by the Intercepts, Ida Chavez actually explains who is helping to prop up Joe Biden's campaign quote. After decades of championing legislation that escalated mass incarceration, former vice president Joe Biden released a criminal justice plan seeking to reverse key provisions of the 1994 crime bill. He helped write the wide-ranging proposal, which he rolled out roughly a week before the second Democratic presidential primary debate in July would ban private prisons and reduce incarceration. It also takes a clear stance on those who are cashing in on the prison system. Stop corporations from profiteering off of incarceration, his website reads. But one of Biden's top fundraisers, Michael F. Nidor, is the CEO and chair of Centine, a health insurance company that's a major player in the prison health care market. And facilities in 16 states have contracted out their health care services to Centurion, which is owned by the $60 billion health insurance company, according to its website. This year, Nidor has also donated to the National Republican Senatorial Committee, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, and the reelection campaigns of Republican Senators David Perdue, Lindsey Graham and Susan Collins, as well as Democratic Senator Gene Shaheen, FAC filing show. Biden's platform vows to end the federal government's use of private prisons by building off an Obama-era policy that was rescinded by the Trump administration, along with ending the use of private facilities for any detention, including the detention of undocumented immigrants. Neither the Biden campaign nor Centine responded to a request for comment. So I mean, what do you think this is going to lead to? If Centine and someone who is the CEO of that company profits off of private prisons, do we honestly trust that Joe Biden is going to do away with private prisons? He has this reform currently, but he'll introduce it, theoretically speaking, if he's elected, and then what's going to be one of the first provisions that he chips away at? The ban on private prisons. And guess what? There's going to be a lot of other stooches in Congress that will go along with him because this individual is a ghoul that's bankrolling individuals in both political parties, including the DCCC. So I mean, you can't take anyone seriously who claims that they are supporting a policy, but they're taking money from these special interests that financially benefit from that. Like if Bernie Sanders was talking about Medicare for All, but taking money from health industry CEOs and doing fundraisers at their mansions, I'm sorry, I wouldn't believe that he was serious about Medicare for All because this is a corrosive influence. These fundraisers influence elected officials, right? When you hold a fundraiser for someone running for president, oftentimes you want something in return. I mean, it's no coincidence that all of these rich people end up getting jobs as ambassadors to somewhere, both in Trump and Obama's administration. This is just the way that politics works and we've become accustomed to it. Like it's not just a coincidence that that happens, right?  That's how Betsy DeVos was able to buy her way into Donald Trump's administration. So of course, that's why this individual, Michael Nydorf is giving donations to Joe Biden.  And look, Joe Biden before had previously admitted that it's human nature for you to be influenced by someone who helps you out, who donates to your campaign.  This is what Pete Buttigieg says. This is what Biden often refers to.  They will never actually point out the fact that the reason why things are the way that they are is because of money in politics, right? We have economized the entire electoral process. It's about money. So if you want a policy issue to be passed, then it's about lobbying how much money you spend to get a politician elected and to lobby them to do the right thing or the wrong thing in many instances and most instances. So I mean, this is just this is disgusting, right? Why believe Joe Biden at this point, if you're still a Joe Biden supporter and you know that he's taking all of this money, why would you believe that he's going to fight for you?  I don't believe anyone is that naive. What I think people are basing their votes and support for Joe Biden on is this myth that he's the most electable to take on Donald Trump. But let me remind you what happened in 2016. Donald Trump called out Hillary Clinton's corruption and he was right about that. And he hammered her. He hammered her for her horrible record.  Now he can't necessarily, you know, call Joe Biden a warmonger now and have the credibility to do just that since he's currently trying to escalate into a war with Iran. Nonetheless, though, people don't like the Iraq war. So Trump can still say that I was right about that and Trump was wrong about or Biden was wrong about that. So I mean, what do you say in this situation other than if you think that Joe Biden is most electable, you're fooling yourself. And if you think he's going to represent you, you're not that naive. Wake up. Joe Biden is going to lose to Donald Trump and in the event he's able to beat Donald Trump, nothing will get accomplished that helps normal Americans. Maybe he does a couple of good things. Maybe he reverses some of the things, some of the executive orders that Donald Trump put in place. But if you honestly believe that he's going to change your life, you are horribly mistaken unless you're already very wealthy. And after, you know, four years or eight years of Joe Biden, can you imagine after people are even more demoralized and desperate? Who are we going to elect then? Steve King, Roy Morris president. I mean, it's only getting worse. We went from George W. Bush to, you know, Donald Trump. Presidents who make Ronald Reagan seem like a libtard cuck. So I mean, we've got to wake up at some point and realize that we are voting against our own self-interest. If we keep electing corporate Democrats, you have a chance to elect someone who is going to have revolutionary change on his agenda. Maybe he's not going to be successful. Maybe he only gets 10% of his agenda through Congress. But regardless, 10% is much more than we can expect from Joe Biden even assuming he passes half of his agenda, which he won't.  Joe Biden is a fraud and really he should be running as a Republican because that's basically what his actions indicate he is. He's more of a Republican than even a liberal. He's not a lefty. I'm just sick of him. The fact that he's still leading in the polls is incredibly frustrating at this point. But this, you know, this isn't over yet. Bernie is surging. Bernie can win. We just have to work, work that much harder to make sure that Bernie wins and Biden isn't the one who comes out on top because if he is the nominee, we're all fucked. And Donald Trump gets another four years.