Θα κάνουμε ένα σημαντικό πρόγραμμα για το Ράδιο Νέτοργο, που είναι κάτι που το σημαντικό πρόγραμμα του Ράδιο Νέτοργο. Λοιπόν, το Ράδιο Νέτοργο είναι να δημιουργήσει κάποια από τους πρόγραμματος αθήρων, που είναι όλοι οι πρόγραμματος αθήρων, όμως οι πρόγραμματος αθήρων είναι σχετικά. Ένα άλλο είναι οι πρόγραμματος αθήρων, και φυσικά, οι πρόγραμματος αθήρων. Το πρόγραμμα που θέλουμε να κάνουμε αυτό είναι να χρησιμοποιήσουμε τη στιγμή του Ράδιο Νέτοργο. Απόμιξα, we are using bilateral transfers between many different nodes that do not need to be on the blockchain. The blockchain is only led on which the final computations are stored. So the Lightning Network is essentially a network that can transfer any assets and it's inspired and very similar to the Bitcoin Lightning Network. προσπαθόθηκε με παντελα~~ two developers of which work from this office.. We are everyone in progress and we are working towards the minimum viable product at the moment. What are the features that write-in has ? Essentially you can transfer any ERC20 compatible token for example,miyorum, Déjà vu dels Ex tokens Μπορείς να δώσεις, μπορείς να δώσεις στις τρανσέντρες και μικροφαίμενες επειδή αυτοί δεν πρέπει να πάρεις στο μπροσύν unless there is a challenge. Και μπορείς να σκέψεις επίσης 1 μιλόντρα στις εξέντρες επίσης, επειδή δεν πρέπει να βρεις στο μπροσύν unless there is a settlement. Και οι μπροσύντρες έχουν also confidentiality. Εσύ, στις τρανέντρες, εξέντρες μοτοσυντήρες είναιούμε να χρησιμοποιήσεις κάτι που θα γίνεται παιχνίδιο. In a theorem, this would be essentially smart contracts, to which security deposit is given. This will be settled or closed by any of the two parties. Υπάρχει μόνο ένα τελευταίο παράδειγμα για το οποίο κάποιος μπορεί να τελευταίσει και να πάρει το δημιουργείο αν υπάρχει πρόβλημα. Υπάρχει κάτι like that, for example, there will be a contract with a deposit given by both participants. The participants essentially sign transactions but do not put them in the blockchain, but they only keep how much of an asset has been spent. They both know how much they have spent. A bidirectional channel looks like this. Essentially there are two deposits inside the contract. Each participant has to track both the balances, Alice and Bob here, both track Alice and Bob's respective balances. They can spend as much as is the deposit inside the contract. We have a net distributable of the balance of Alice, for example, here in the graph. Essentially in order to scale this, there can be many channels that are connected. In order to scale this into a full network, we have multiple channels that are connected and they mediate transfers between one another. This is what we call a mediated transfer. Essentially, if Alice wants to send something to... It can use Bob and Charlie, but they would need to have something called a hash lock to sign a transaction with so that nobody can look at it unless it has reached the end of the channel. Once the transaction goes to David, then he asks Alice for the secret and it goes backwards and the transaction is finalized. In a mediated transfer, it's known to decide a small fee depending on the distance. That's something that we have not implemented yet, but that's just how the idea goes to work. Imagine a network of many such channels with routes being found between any of the two participants. As long as the transfers cancel out, the sum of the transfers is not more than a deposit, the channel can be long lived. So nothing would need to go in the blockchain, which would result in having a very low frequency of settlements. That would make everything much cheaper because there would be no gas costs since nothing goes in the blockchain, fast for the same reason. And there would still be no counterparty risk because the transactions actually do exist and the epigraphic approval, and each one depends on the previous one, they just are not put in the blockchain unless there is a problem. There are many applications for such a thing. One example would be decentralized exchange. For example, if you want to trade two assets, you would need to have a channel open for both of those assets. The initiator would broadcast the intent. For example, he would have a bit and ask for asset A and asset B. The interested parties would send the same request and the initiator would accept. And the way that this would work is that we would essentially have two mediated transfers with the same asset, so that once the secret is revealed, and only if it is revealed, then either both of the transactions would execute, or if there is a problem none of them would execute. As I said in the beginning, this is inspired by the Latin network. Now we compare both of them. In Ethereum, Ryland has an easy implementation thanks to the virtual machine. If there is an uncomparative participant, the channel is not locked, we just find another route. We can add more funds to a smart contract, so the channel can get much more funds if needed. If the deposit is not enough, we can use it for any compatible totting with the ELC20 totting proposal. And it's interoperable with the smart contract internal. We can use oracles, anything else you may need. The current status is that we have demonstrated 500 transfers per CPU core per second. It's a work in progress, and we don't need anything extra added to Ethereum at the moment. We just need to implement it. We don't wait for metropolis or anything like that. Our milestone is, of course, zero. We have demonstrated with the testnet a transfer from Copenhagen to Mumbai mediated by a node in Florianocolis Brazil. This happened around August, I think. We're heading towards the minimum viable product, which is the big milestone that we want to come out around the beginning of 2017. We would like to. If you like Python and you like Ethereum, we would really appreciate the help. Then it's in Github. It's right in networks plus right in. And yeah, that's all.


and I'm excited to journey with you as we learn how to take your health back. Today we show here from L.J. Duenas, the executive director for Alzheimer's Association. Our talk is titled Alzheimer's and Dementia Untangled, Concern, Care and Our Hope for a Cure. Today we shall be made more aware of what this disease is and how many loved ones are affected by it. Welcome L.J. Aloha Wendy and thank you for having us and for all that you do to raise awareness about many causes that impact our communities here in Hawaii. So mohalo. Oh, thank you too L.J. for your great heart, your servant's heart. I know we've worked on many projects from American heart to American diabetes to Alzheimer's and I'm sure there's many more causes that you will also lend your heart to as you love your community so much. So L.J., let's get started. I know you're the executive director for Alzheimer's Association. So tell us what is Alzheimer's? So Alzheimer's disease is a brain disease and the most common form of dementia. It is not a normal part of aging. I wanted to stress that. And dementia is not a specific disease. It's an overall term that describes a group of symptoms.  There are many types of cancers and there are many types of dementia as well. So there are many causes of dementia but Alzheimer's is the most common form of dementia making up about 80% of all dementia cases. And most people who have dementia have it because they have Alzheimer's disease. So I wanted to talk a little bit about where this term came from Alzheimer's and Alzheimer's disease was named after Dr. Aloysius Alzheimer. He was a German doctor who first described this disease in a landmark study about one of his patients, Ms. August Dieter. And in the photo perhaps that is shown you'd be surprised to know that Ms. Dieter is only in her early 50s. She can no longer speak, right? Carry on a conversation. She no longer looks you in the eye. She no longer knows who she is or her loved ones are.  And this is dangerous and she sleeps a lot. In fact, all day, many days. And at the very young age, Ms. Dieter dies at age 55. So it's a very debilitating disease. And I can quickly talk now about what happens in the brain for persons with Alzheimer's. So after Ms. Dieter passes away, Dr. Alzheimer's does an autopsy of her brain. And in this study, he finds three hallmarks that we now know are the hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease. One is the buildup of amyloid or what we also call as plaques around the outside or spaces between nerve cells. And then also the formation of tau or what we also call tangles inside of the cells. And this causes the brain to atrophy or to shrink, particularly in the areas important for memory, planning and behavior. So it's the destruction and death of nerve cells that cause memory failure, personality changes, problem carrying out daily activities and other symptoms of Alzheimer's disease.  What is the trigger for this to start happening and at what age does this start happening at? So we do know that the hallmarks of Alzheimer's, whether it's amyloid or tau presence in the brain can happen long before symptoms occur. What causes the buildup of these proteins and of normal tau in the brain, we still don't know. But there are many factors that we're studying. It could be environmental factors. We know that what's healthy for your heart is healthy for your head. So we know that diet, physical activity, cognitive activity is going to help in preventing or delaying the onset of Alzheimer's disease like it does for many diseases. Well, I mean, she was just 50 years old and diagnosed and passing at 55. That's incredibly young because normally we think of this as a older person's disease. And so I'm sure that's why you highlighted her history because she was so young. Yes, and this happens today. There are folks as young as 40 who develop younger onset Alzheimer's. And what's interesting is that in younger onset Alzheimer's, so young folks who do develop Alzheimer's disease, the rate of progression is significantly exaggerated. Wow. Oh, that's even scarier because you would not usually even look for that diagnosis in such a young person. So, but you're saying that when they do contract it or they are diagnosed, it just goes rapid through their body and they go down a lot faster than if they were an older person? That is correct. So the folks who have younger onset Alzheimer's, the rate of deterioration of the brain is a lot faster than those who typically would be diagnosed with Alzheimer's later in life. Wow. So I know that you have a big task at hand because the numbers keep growing. And I know we're gonna talk about fundraising, but I just came to my mind like, come on, let's go raise more money so we can get more studies and more knowledge about this because it's affecting our keiki and we need to make an impact on a positive direction for that in itself, as well as taking care of the kupuna community. So I wanna ask you, how does Alzheimer's impact our communities here in Hawaii? Well, Wendy, Alzheimer's is a public health crisis across the United States, across the world and of course here right here in Hawaii. It will cripple our community if we don't take hold of this disease. And today we know that nearly 100,000 kupuna and others in Hawaii are impacted by this disease. 29,000 are diagnosed with the disease, while another 65,000 are their caregivers. We also know that this is a very conservative number as we do not have a true handle of actual people with the disease as many people still don't know what to look out for and simply think of memory issues as a normal part of the aging process. Like we all have in the past, right? We thought that just memory issues were just a part of aging. And we have seen there are a very high percentage of folks over the age of 100 who are very cognitive healthy. Yes, I know a lot of that has to be related to of course environmental lifestyles and then of course diet. And that's what we study with the Blue Zones. And why are they or that community able to live past 100 with great memory and physical abilities? So there's a lot of studies that need to continue to be done. And I'm sure that you are all working so hard in your association to help us find out pure the cause and what should we avoid as we're growing up so that we won't be affected by this disease called Alzheimer's. So I know you talk about the kupuna. So what impact does Alzheimer's have on our kupuna? Well, the impact to our kupuna is great. It's unfortunate. We know that in Hawaii, one in three kupuna who die dies with Alzheimer's disease. So dying with Alzheimer's disease, however, is not the same as dying from it. But even when dementia isn't the direct cause of the disease, it can be the final blow. So speeding someone's decline by dealing with health care, medical health disease, cancer or other serious illnesses. So one thing again, if you remember one thing from today, it should be this, Alzheimer's is not normal aging. Yes, age is the primary risk factor, but age is also the primary risk factor for many types of diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, cancer. And no one thinks of cancer as a normal part of aging. So, LJ, can you repeat that one statement again that you want us all to remember about Alzheimer's? Please repeat it. Yes, so one thing I would like for everyone to take away from today is knowing that Alzheimer's is not normal aging. Okay, all right. So that's good to know and that's something that we should be all aware of. And as you mentioned with the keiki, I mean, that's really spooky in my mind. So I know we have a lot of work to do. And I know that as I said, you're going to, as an association, work towards finding their cure. So hurry up, lots of work to do, I know LJ. So can you put a dollar amount of what boy shall be spending in regards to Alzheimer's? Yes, so Alzheimer's is very expensive like many diseases, right? But this disease is the most expensive disease to treat and manage in America. And right here in Hawaii costs for Alzheimer's in Hawaii can range anywhere from $11,000 to $70,000 a month. So it costs us about $2 billion a year, $240 in Medicaid costs, another $200 million in Medicare costs, and then $1.6 billion in caregiver costs, which is unpaid care where family members are providing care for their loved ones who is impacted by this disease. So it's not sustainable. We need to get a hold on this disease and support our cocoon and their caregivers who many of which have been financially burdened in addition to the emotional, physical toll that this disease has. You know, I was going to ask you that question and then of course you broke it down for us, but I would want to surmise that the greater cost is not just the disease, but it's the care and the caregivers around the patient. And as you said, the family members, they get so heavily taxed with their time spent, so they have to, when usually the local families, they don't want to suggest having an outsider come into care give for their parents or their loved ones, but in this case, because it's such a demanding disease, so people have to lean towards hiring out and getting caregivers to come in, is that correct, LJ? Yes, yes. Or they decide to leave their job or they decide to take a part-time role because they can't afford to hire someone to come in and provide that support. And many families want to keep their cocoon at home, yeah? So that they can be, and that comes up. Yes, especially here in Hawaii with the families all nested into one home and all the multi-generations in the home, but it just gets very, very tough at times. And I know many families that are dealing with this and trying their best, but it does get trying.  Ask some family member to watch and you ask the caregiver, the primary caregiver, hey, let's go have a cup of tea and just take them out for a drive. I think that's really good therapy. What do you suggest, LJ? I couldn't agree more. I think that's one thing you can do to support caregivers is giving your time to provide them with respite. Yes. Or go to the grocery store for them or pick up medication for them.  That's a great suggestion. Yeah, some simple acts of kindness that you would normally do, but in fact, you should really focus on this more so because in fact, any caregivers, just give them a break. I go to the store, I buy them mochi or chocolates and just give them a, I love you gift and no rhyme or reason why, but just because. So I know that they promote a lot of that at the Alzheimer's Association. So LJ, as we speak of many diseases, we work together with American Heart Association, but we all know that heart disease has always been the number one killer of mankind. So where does Alzheimer's stand in this toll? So Alzheimer's disease in Hawaii is the fifth leading cause of death. It is the sixth leading cause of death in the United States, but Alzheimer's is the only disease among the top 10 chronic conditions that cannot be prevented, cured or even slowed. But we do hope that this new therapy that we'll talk a little bit about later that has been approved for use may help. We also know that while death rates for other chronic conditions like heart disease, which continues to be the number one killer, death rates are decreasing, but Alzheimer's disease, the rates of Alzheimer's disease death rates is increasing. So the figure on the slide that you saw earlier, about 145% increase over the past 19 years in Hawaii is actually 300%. So there's a significant higher percentage of death in Alzheimer's in terms of growth for the last 20 years. That's, well, you're the right man behind this organization to help them and lead them through these times and work as hard as you do on anything that you're passionate about. So thank goodness Alzheimer's Association has you on board with them. So congratulations for making the decision and continue on with that great work and the work ahead. So I wanna ask you, how can folks know if they have Alzheimer's? How does one know this? So there are 10 signs that we look out for and I'll try to summarize all of them for the sake of time. But if anyone is looking for information about what these are, it's at alz.org slash 10 signs. So they could always visit us there to take a look at those, a list of signs to watch out for. But the very first one is memory loss that may disrupt daily life. So one of the most common signs of Alzheimer's disease, especially in the early stages is when someone asks questions repeatedly over and over again in a span of a minute, two minutes, three minutes, the same question. For getting recently learned information or for getting important dates like birthdays, their birthdays, their wedding anniversary. So that's a first sign or one of the signs and symptoms of Alzheimer's disease. And just to put into context, what may be a typical age related change would be sometimes forgetting names or appointments but remembering them later. Another sign is challenges in planning or solving problems. So some people with Alzheimer's may experience changes in their ability to follow a plan, directions or work with numbers. They may have trouble following a familiar la-la recipe. They've made for decades or keeping track of important bills like missing their mortgage payment or paying their Hawaiian electric bill. And what's typical age related change is maybe making that occasional error when managing finances or household bills. Another sign would be difficult completing familiar tasks. So people with Alzheimer's often find it hard to complete daily tasks. Sometimes they may have trouble driving to the neighborhood long strokes that they've been going to for the past 30 years or organizing a shopping list or even how to use a mop. A typical age related change would be something like occasionally needing help with the microwaves or finding a channel on the remote. So those are some signs and symptoms of Alzheimer's disease. The other symptoms are also like confusion with time and place. So people living with this disease can lose track of dates. They can lose track of the passage of time. So they may have trouble understanding something if it's not happening immediately. Sometimes they may forget where they are or even how they got there. Typical age related change would be maybe confusion about what day it is but figuring out later. So Alzheimer's disease is not forgetting where you parked your car but if you even had a car to begin with. So you're lost. Yeah. I won't go over the other signs because that will take us past our time but again, if anyone has any questions feel free to give us a call or visit aoc.org slash 10 signs. Wow. And you know, when I was looking over that list, of course, we would always make jokes about, oh yeah, brother does, he always does that but when I listened to them and I really sat back and listened and went through that list, it's not a joking matter at all. And yet, some of us may experience one or two of these and I think we're gonna say, oh maybe, and we may joke about it but it's not a joking matter. So as I said, really watch your family members and your loved ones. I mean, as you mentioned, it doesn't matter how old or young they are but when you notice these symptoms and seriously notice them without laughing and making comments about it, just really watch them and then you can more or less assess what's going on really in their lives but as I said, it could be a fun list and we would always make fun of these things but that's where we wanna end it but it's a true and serious issue that we have to be more seriously mindful of. So thank you, Aljay, for going through that list and giving us a little bit of clarification about just the simple things that we may take for granted. So thank you so much. So what is the Alzheimer's Association doing about this public health crisis? Oh gosh, where do I start? We do a lot, we do a lot in the community and I'm extremely proud to share with you that the Hawaii team, our staff and volunteers, they've done even more through this pandemic than we ever have to support our program caregivers. We of course provide information and resources about this disease and how to access services whether it's through the association or through our community partners. We offer programs, so we offer education and training programs for caregivers or persons who are living with this disease or really anyone who's interested in Alzheimer's and other dementia. Topics that are typically covered, covered 10 warning signs, what's normal, what's not normal aging. We also go over legal and financial planning because when someone is diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease or any other form of dementia or cognitive impairment, there are certain things that have to happen to ensure that they are protected and their family is protected. And because of COVID, we've developed COVID-19 and caregiving programs to support our group and their caregivers who really had to become professional caregivers because adult daycare was closed, folks weren't able to come into the home to provide respite or nursing care because of the risk of infection. So we reach more families throughout the pandemic than we have or have before. And I know that each and every one of those Kukuna and caregiver who reached out to us were extremely grateful. We also offer support groups. So like any support group, this is a peer led support group where folks, particularly caregivers, get together, they talk story, they share challenges and successes and they also help decrease social isolation because they have a hui the other they can kind of talk to, call on each other if they need additional support. And we've done this virtually and telephonically throughout the pandemic and we are looking forward to bringing this back in person once we are able to. And I believe our target date is August. Wow. We also offer care consultation services. This is individualized care consultations for families. We offer a 24 seven helpline. Anytime anyone needs assistance, give us a call. And we are now recently working with health systems to ensure that patients have the tools and resources they need to support their patients. Wow. Wow, is that all you've been up to in LJ? That's a lot and that's, it's so comprehensive what you just discussed. But really what stands out in my mind is the legal counsel that you're offering that is so valuable, especially with these patients because you have to catch them where they're still cognizant of their personal belongings and what they want to have done with what they have acquired. And it's so important to catch it early on. And so the legal counsel that just, you guys covered it all. I'm so ever grateful that you guys are thinking out of the box about all these different circumstances around the patient. So congratulations again to addressing that the legal counsel part. I know you also mentioned a little bit about this drug at Johan Helm. Can you just share a little bit about that drug with us? Happy to Wendy. So this drug, it's an antibody therapy. So what this means is that it targets a hallmark of Alzheimer's disease and particularly amyloid. So what this drug does is that it removes amyloid from the brain. Now, this is not a cure but this is the first FDA approved drug that delays decline due to Alzheimer's. So this is certainly a victory for all people who are affected but I wanna be very clear that this drug is only effective in the very early stages of Alzheimer's disease. This study only shows efficacy in the early stages and not in the later stages of the disease. And this is why it's so important that diagnosis is done timely. So some of the exciting factors about this new approval is that also there has to be a diagnostic test. Currently, there's not a true diagnostic test that is approved by the FDA that would easily be used to then prescribe this particular therapy. So we're excited. This is only the first. We know there's gonna be a second and a third and we know that eventually it's not a matter of if but when we find a cure. Wow. And again, you nailed it on the nose when you said it has to be taken in its early stages. So then again, we're all thinking, well, how do we know? How is it diagnosed? So that's something that you all have to be working on rather quickly as well. The testing and the diagnosis, the early diagnosis of dementia within our loved ones. How do we know, right? Yes, very, very true. Wow. I know that you guys have many events coming up because as I said, let's get out there, raise more funds, raise more awareness. But of course, like I said, you need money for awareness and programs and education. So what are the events coming up for the Alzheimer's Association and how can we out there help you and the association? Well, Wendy, coming up this fall is our Walk to an Alzheimer's Hawaii events happening all across the state on Hawaii Island, on Kauai, on Maui and on Oahu. So we urge folks to visit us at ALZ.org slash walk and register for a walk in your island. We also do encourage fundraising, but it is free to register. This year, we are bringing back an in-person event, but we are also including a virtual component for those who are not comfortable in gathering. But we're fortunate to have leaders, leaders like First Lady Dawn Amano Ege who is our Honorary State Walk Chair, our Executive Chairs, Dr. John Henry Felix with HMAA and Trisha Minieros with the Plaza Assisted Living and our many other event walkchairs across the state that's helping us plan, recruit and of course do all the logistics. And I'm sure you're very familiar with that because you've led amazing walk and tour events with the other nonprofits that you've been a part of. So we're excited and we know that people are gonna come out in full force, support the efforts and will raise funds, raise awareness so we can support the work that we do across Hawaii and the United States. Wow, and I know the color of Alzheimer's is purple and we have a dear friend, Kalani Peah and his favorite color is purple. And I understand he was very involved with the Alzheimer's Association as well. Yes, he still is. He was one of our purple ambassadors this past June. And Kalani Peah has a very impactful story. His grandmother lives with Alzheimer's disease and his connection to her is music. It's beautiful. I love the story. I love the story. So LJ, how can folks out there get a hold of Alzheimer's Association? Well, they could always call us. Like I mentioned, 24-7 at our helpline which is<PHONE_NUMBER>, our local number which you will see on your screen by email or just visiting us on our website at ALC.org slash Hawaii. We have a ton of information, but give us a call 24-7. We are always there to support Hawaii and our other Pacific Island territories. Wow, and I know that you have such great media skills so please share that with us as well. Yes, so we are always trying to raise awareness and we know that social media is powerful. So please follow us on Instagram and on Facebook and our tag is at ALC Hawaii. So please like, share us, and we look forward to supporting you and your families whether they have Alzheimer's or another form of dementia or if they're just interested in learning more about this disease. Wow, thank you so much, LJ. We'll have to leave it there for now. You've been watching Taking Your Health Back on Think Tech Hawaii. Mahalo to LJ Duanez, Executive Director of Alzheimer's Association. Thank you so much for talking story with us and for sharing all this important information about Alzheimer's and the science to look for. Mahalo and we'll see you again in two weeks. Aloha everyone.


Should we, should we sally forth and continue to find out what's going on? Yeah, do you have to be sallying yourself? What did I just call you? An actual fire dancer? Morgan is not causation. But there's a twist. You ready? Psycho style. You can't have causation without correlation. So while one may not be the other, one is not a sufficient, and one is not a sufficient. How do they say that? One is a necessary but not sufficient condition for the other. Sounds like I've been drinking today. It's just, we're talking about statistics, and that has a certain effect on my body. Anyway, no, I love stats. Actually, I love talking about them, and it's really fun. So correlation, it's not causation, right? And that is absolutely one of the key things to keep in mind anytime you're dealing with behavioral change issues, anytime you're dealing with a new policy, anytime you're running into a new problem at work in that environment, is that, is that change? Causing the outcome, right? So if you have a problem with, let's say, let's say your insurance companies aren't paying as quickly as they are, and you think it's the result of some new process that happened at work. Well, that's quickly as they are. As quickly as they should be, or you expected, or as quickly as they have in the past. So you think that might be the result of a new process or a new change at work. So you go, what did I change recently? So we get back to that, what can you control things? We're going to look at only the things you can control. Then we're also going to go, is there anything in that environment or any change that I made as a manager or in my staff or in my policies and procedures that could possibly be affecting this outcome? So you're going to look at that and you're going to take a guess. And if you think you've found something, then really what you have is a correlation. I made a change on X, and it seems like it had an effect on Y. And notice I did this in A, B design, right? A, B designs are bad for scientific control and for experimental control. They're good for letting you know that you may have a correlation here that's going on. That if you do see a change here, or you make a change here and you see an effect here between your baseline intervention phases, whatever, then you're on the track to finding out if possibly the thing that you're doing is having an effect. Now, an A, B design by itself is not going to give you the information you need. Correlation is not a causation. However, if that thing that you're worried about is affected by the policy change, the new behaviors at work, the new system, whatever it is that you've done, the change that's made, if it is affected by that in the real world, then you will have correlation to begin with. So in order to show causation, you have to have correlation. But you can't assume just because you have correlation that you have causation. This sounds like a weird statistics argument that I'm putting in the context of work or OVM. But really, it's not even a statistics argument. This, folks, is about just basic understanding of scientific principles and the application of rational conclusions and empirical arguments. It kind of all matches together in this particular one little thing. So when you have, again, so correlation is we're all cautious with it and you're going to run into this all the time. People are always going to be saying, well, this happened because of that or that happened because of this and we did this thing and that caused this effect and we made this change in the software and that caused this problem and like, whoa, slow down.  You might be on some weird path that has you doing 57 different things when all you needed to do was one. So be careful when you're doing your interventions at work or when you're trying new policies and procedures. Change one thing at a time. That's kind of that scientific part, right? And then observe to see if that has an effect. Now, in some instances, you're going to be able to go back and forth and I've done that in my work and I've had the lucky opportunity to do ABAB type interventions. So sometimes, and we're going to come back to that when we talk about research methods in the OBM setting and why it's so important, but there are opportunities for you to practice all this stuff and keep all of these things in mind. It's just like if you're working with a client. It's no different. Now you're working with the processes and the business and the behavior is the compiled behavior of many, many people all put together into one thing. So if you will, I don't know why that word compile came in there but I just popped it. Anyway, correlation, not causation, but you can't have causation without it. So it's overrated, but it's still important.


Now also we want to keep three things in mind with the sales tax The first thing to keep in mind is you you got to turn on the sales tax Which will do down here in the taxes tab on the left if you're in the business view You also have a taxes tab on the left as well Once the sales tax is turned on and set up the system needs to know Whether or not the sales tax is going to be applicable or not The primary thing that will give the indication there is The items that we set up last time the products and services That's under the sales tab and then the products and services and the business view It's under the get paid and paid tab and the products and services So we set these up before for us We're going to say that the inventory items are typically subject to sales tax The service items are not going to be subject to sales tax So once we turn the sales tax on we'll have to verify that there's properly Recording the items having a taxable component or not And then the third thing we have to think about are the customers meaning for example Is the customer subject to it to what sales tax is the customer going to be subject to? And if we have multiple sales tax applicable and we might have some customers that aren't subject to sales tax at all so we could then go to the customer and Kind of override the primary item that's going to indicate sales tax, which will be the inventory items


Thank you. Before we move to business today, I would like to say a few words to the chamber. Members will wish to know that I have this morning written to Speaker Bercow, Lord Fowler and to the mayor of London, on behalf of the Scottish Parliament. I wanted to convey our sympathy and our solidarity with fellow parliamentarians, and to express our sense of loss, at the loss of life and cruel suffering inflicted on so many innocent individuals and their families yesterday. Flags are flying at half-mast at Holyrood today and we observed a one minute silence this morning as a mark of respect to those affected by the tragic events. This morning, the Parliament's corporate body received a briefing from Police Scotland. I want to reassure members that there is no change to the threat level, no intelligence to suggest a specific threat to Scotland, Edinburgh or Holyrood. However, as a precautionary y gallwn hyfforddon maen nhw dym ni eu bod yn dwi'i ddefnyddio gyffredinol yma. The corporate body, in discussion with Police Scotland and the Security Services, will continue to keep our security arrangements under review as we always do. I convened a meeting of the parliamentary bureau this morning and a motion will be put to Parliament later today, proposing that the debate on Scotland's choice be rescheduled for next Tuesday. This change has the support of all business managers. Gwyn i'r bwysig oedd yn agnuredd a gyda'r bwysig ar y syster parlymynion eu wneud mewn westin. Felly mydym ni'n hoffa i gwaith o'r ddweud o'r cyffredinethio ar y ddyn nhw o gOM, oed Dyna wnaeth ymydd i'r unig o'ch bwysigbeth, yn ymglw prophetaidd y ffordd i'r ddyn nhw, ein cynhyrch yng nghymru â'r pwysigbeth yn y pwysigbeth ichon o Gwyliaf, a'r byw gyffredig yw'r defnyddio a wnaed i'r blaidr iawn, oedd yn leiwch ar hyn o'i wneud ei cwylio. Rwynt i mi fydda, mae'n wneud ei wneud i'ch bwysigbeth, a gwylio'r difnyddio y pwyntio, sydd oedd o'r pwyntio agor gwbl yn yn yn ei wneud. The question is that we agree. Motion 4845, in the name of Jovis Patrick. Are we all agreed? Yes. We are agreed. We move now to general questions, and we start with question number one from John Mason. Thank you, Presiding Officer. To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to tackle violence against women in prostitution. Minister Annabelle Ewing. Thank you, Presiding Officer, and I would wish to associate myself and my colleagues with your remarks this morning. To respond to Mr Mason's question, The Scottish Government is committed to tackling all forms of violence against women and girls, including women in prostitution. The Scottish Government supports a range of measures that can help to reduce the harm caused by prostitution and encourages the enforcement of existing laws against those who seek to exploit others through prostitution. The question of how to deal with prostitution in the longer term and whether any specific approach can or does reduce the inherent harm associated with it is very complex and policy decisions should be evidence-based. That is why we commissioned research in 2015 to consider the reliability of the evidence-based internationally on the impacts of the criminalisation of the purchase of sex and research that explored the available knowledge and evidence of prostitution in Scotland. That research was published by the Scottish Government on 24 February of this year to help to further inform the debate. We look forward to hearing views on the findings of the research around what is a highly complex and contested area. John Mason. I thank the minister for that answer. I have now heard a number of survivors of prostitution speaking about their experiences and I have to say that it has been very moving, not least last Friday at the SNP conference. Even survivors who were working in a brothel in Edinburgh, who were tacitly approved, were continued to be abused by pimps and others. Will the minister agree to meet some of the survivors of prostitution and hear their experiences? I thank the member for his supplementary question. It is important that we listen to the views of everybody involved, including the views of sex workers from both sides of the debate, those in favour of criminalisation and those opposed. I would be happy to meet former and current sex workers to listen to their views on the findings of the research and to listen to their experiences in order to help to inform future policy considerations. Rhoda Grant I welcome the policy decision on commercial sexual exploitation, taken by the SNP conference at the weekend, which is very similar to the stance of the Scottish Labour Party. Both policy positions are in line with Equally Safe, the Scottish Government's violence against women strategy, endorsed by this Parliament. However, we need to take action now to stop this exploitation happening. I am glad that the minister has accepted to meet survivors to learn about the devastating effects that that has had on them. I had asked the First Minister and, indeed, the Cabinet Secretary to do that some time ago, will that meeting now take place and will it put a plan of action in place that will deal with commercial sexual exploitation and promote equality? Rhoda Grant I recognise Rhoda Grant's long standing interest in the subject. I would say to the member that work has been on-going on this matter for some time. I would advise that the immediate next steps that we plan to take are to allow all-interested stakeholders, including current sex workers and those who have exited prostitution, to digest the detailed research that we did publish on 24 February, just about four weeks ago. We then plan to engage further with those stakeholders to obtain their views on that published research. I can say to Rhoda Grant that I have asked officials to hold meetings after the Easter recess with key stakeholders and to try to understand what their current views are and if their views have changed at all further to the published research. In terms of the meetings that I am happy to have with current and former sex workers, I will ensure that officials put those in place in the weeks to come. Asaewa To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to reopen the Yorkhill minor injuries unit and, if so, on what date it will do so. The planning and provision of local services is the responsibility of NHS boards and integrated partnerships in line with national policies and frameworks. NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde has confirmed that the closure of the minor injuries unit at Yorkhill is a temporary measure to ensure that there is robust, unscheduled care that is covered across the city. After a meeting of the acute services committee this week, the board will be carrying out a review to determine the best location for a replacement service for the west of Glasgow to best meet the needs of local people. Anasawa The minor injuries unit closed two days before Christmas and with no notice to local people except a sign at the entrance. At that time, the local public were reassured that this was just a temporary measure to cover the peak during winter. That was confirmed by the First Minister's questions. However, as of today, the minor injuries unit has still not reopened. I now have a letter from the chief executive of the health board, who states that, due to the continued pressures at the Queen Elizabeth University hospital, the minor injuries unit service will remain closed. During the review period, we should review whether we should have a minor injuries unit service at Yorkhill at all, so that the service will remain closed as well. Again, that has been done with no consultation with the public. There has been no information at all to the public, no consultation, no going through of due process of service reform. That simply is unacceptable, is it, cabinet secretary? Let me reiterate what I said in my answer. I hope that Anasawa was listening to that indeed this is a temporary measure. Yes, it has been taken to help to provide unscheduled care across the city. However, as I said in my initial answer, the acute services committee this week has agreed to review where the best location in the west of Glasgow should be for a minor injury service. As Anasawa should know if he paid attention to the detail, the Yorkhill unit was always an interim step as part of the migration of services in Glasgow in recent years. It may be that there is a better permanent location for a minor injuries unit that would better serve the people of the west of Glasgow. I would have thought that Anasawa would agree that that piece of work should go on. Of course, in terms of consultation with local people, it should be that Greater Glasgow and Clyde should be discussing with local people where the best location in the west of Glasgow should be, and I would certainly be encouraging them to do so. Sandra White Thank you very much, Presiding Officer. The cabinet secretary mentioned the review that was being carried out. Can the cabinet secretary confirm if NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde look at this review and are looking at other sites such as Gattonnavel, as well as Yorkhill for minor injury units in the west of the city? Yes, and considering where the west of Glasgow service should be provided, the board will need to go through a process to identify the most appropriate location for the service that will look at both Gattonnavel and Yorkhill to assess which would meet the best meets the needs of local people. I have asked that the board to keep the member informed on timing and process, and I would certainly encourage her to engage further with the board on this, and to ensure that the views of local people that Sandra White represents are conveyed to the board in terms of what that best location should be. Annie Wells Thank you, Presiding Officer. There have been reports that Yorkhill closure was due to staff shortages over Christmas. Between December 2011 and December 2016, nursing and midwifery vacancies in Glasgow rose from 0.3 per cent to 3.4 per cent, which equates to 541 vacant posts. What will the cabinet secretary do to ensure that there are enough nurses in Glasgow to provide urgent care? Shirley-Anne Somerville I can say to the member that, in terms of the workforce growth over the last 10 years, qualified nurses and midwives in Glasgow are up 5.5 per cent, or 597 whole-time equivalent. However, what I would also say to the member is that clearly demand has also increased. It is very important that, in terms of how services are delivered, they are delivered in the best way to meet not just the current demands but the future demands as well. If we look at the demands on unscheduled care, those have grown not just in Greater Glasgow and Clyde but across the rest of Scotland as well. It is very important that services continue to meet those demands, which is why, in terms of the west of the city, it is very important that, in terms of that minor injury service and potentially services that would go around that could provide a very important part of that unscheduled care service. I hope that that is something that the member would support. Again, if she wants to meet with the board to discuss that in more detail, then I am sure that they would be willing to do that. Graham Simpson To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the comments by the divisional commander of British Transport Police in Scotland that its proposed merger with Police Scotland risks reducing the effectiveness of railway policing. Cabinet Secretary Michael Matheson Police Scotland has confirmed to the Scottish Parliament that its intention would be to maintain a specialist railway policing function within the broader Police Scotland structure. That will retain the skills, knowledge and experience that BTP officers and staff have built and embed railway policing within the wider local specialist and national resource of Police Scotland. Graham Simpson The Justice Committee has heard that up to 40 per cent of British Transport Police officers could leave the surface if this merger goes ahead. A huge concern to operators like Virgin and Cross Country and indeed all of us. British Transport Police Federation chairman Nigel Goodband told their conference in Cardiff yesterday that plans are driven by nationalistic jingoism and amount to a childish wish from the SNP to play with their own train set, not based on any evidence. Expert after expert says the BTP isn't broken and Chief Superintendent John McBride, who I referred to in my question, told MSPs that when other police are involved in rail incidents it takes 50 per cent longer to investigate and get trains moving again. Does the minister dismiss the views of Mr McBride and others, or is he going to listen? We have engaged extensively with the British Transport Police Federation and others within railway policing on a whole variety of issues relating to the intention to integrate railway policing in Scotland into Police Scotland. As I mentioned earlier on to the member, Police Scotland has been very clear about its intention on maintaining a specialist railway policing function within Police Scotland and introducing it under a single strategic command structure, which will allow us to ensure that we maintain that specialist resource, making sure that the railway services and passengers receive the quality of service that they require and that they believe is necessary, but at the same time increasing their capacity to be able to draw upon national resource, specialist resource in a way that they are not able to do to the same extent at the present moment. In addition to that, not to provide reassurance to the staff within the BTP, we have made it very clear to the British Transport Police Federation and to the staff unions that we have offered a triple lock, which guarantees security of job, security of pay and security of their pension conditions. We will continue to work with them as we take this legislation forward within the Scottish Parliament to provide them with the reassurance that they require and also the reassurance that the public require about the way in which specialist railway policing will continue to be delivered if Parliament supports our legislation. Rona Mackay Assistant Chief Constable Bernard Higgins of Police Scotland and Chief Constable Crowther of British Transport Police both told the Justice Committee that Police Scotland does indeed have the specialisms and resources that it needs to take over policing of railways in Scotland. Does the minister agree and would you like to reiterate your earlier comments? Assistant Chief Constable Higgins and his evidence to the Justice Committee was very clear about the ability of Police Scotland to be able to deliver specialist policing in a range of areas. For example, we already have specialist police delivery, specialist functions at the present time, whether it be airports or ports, whether it be in underwater or whether it be in other areas such as firearms. There is no doubt that the assurances that ACC Higgins has provided has demonstrated a commitment to making sure that we maintain the specialist function of railway policing due to integration of BTP into Police Scotland to be agreed by this Parliament. Neil Bibby Presiding Officer, I know whatever differences we have in the chamber. I know we all want to pay tribute to the work of all our brave police officers wherever they are and our thoughts will be with PC Keith Palmer. Major rail unions have warned that they are prepared to consider industrial action if the Scottish Government pushes ahead with the railway policing bill and the break-up of the British Transport Police. Is the Justice Secretary prepared to risk yet more disruption on Scotland's railways for a merger that workers do not want, that the public do not need, and that those who represent British Transport Police officers have said that they are supported by no logic, no reason and no evidence? What I can assure the member of is that both myself and my colleague Cymru Cymru will continue to engage with the variety of stakeholders who have an interest in how policing is delivered on our railways, including the unions, and to provide them with the assurance that they are looking for around how policing will be delivered should integration be agreed by this Parliament. To provide them with the assurance that they will continue to receive the level of service that they expect and is provided at the present moment. It will be for this Parliament to decide whether integration takes place or not, whether it is choosing to approve legislation or not. It will be for the Labour Party to set out their position in that matter, but ultimately it will be for Parliament to decide on where integration takes place or not. To ask the Scottish Government what its timetable is for proceeding with the results of the consultation on increasing the number of organ donations. The independent analysis of the consultation on increasing the number of organ and tissue donations will be submitted to the Scottish Government in May this year. A decision informed by the outcome of the consultation will be made shortly after that. I welcome the minister's previous comments that there is a presumption in favour of a move to an opt-out system of organ donation. Given that is the case, does the minister agree that there would need to be a major public awareness and education campaign around an opt-out system, that there would understandably be along lead-in time before that system was up and running and saving lives, so swift action is essential as a result? I take on board the comments that the member raises and absolutely the crucial thing about making sure that this is right is to take the time to properly consider the consultation responses. There have been 836 consultation responses to this consultation. We have also alongside the work on the soft opt-out, which we did set out our presumption for a soft opt-out in the consultation. There has been a significant amount of work to increase the rate of donors. We have some of the highest rate of donors per million of population than any other part of the UK. We have the highest ever number of deceased donors this financial year. Alongside the work that we are doing, the careful work that needs to be taken forward relating to this exercise, the soft opt-out, we have also alongside that significant work that is on going to increase the rate of donors to make sure that we have this proceeded with the sensitivity that it requires and we will take the time to go through the consultation responses and make sure that we keep the member and the rest of the Parliament updated on the progress on the legislation. Can the minister please advise as to how many people are currently awaiting a transplant in Scotland and how many people died whilst waiting for a transplant in the last year for which figures were available? I can get back to the member in some of the detail that he seeks. However, the active transplant waiting list has decreased by 20 per cent. We have also got, since 2008, the number of donors in Scotland has increased by 131 per cent as well. Moreover, in response to Mark Griffin's question, we have the highest rate of donors per million of population in any other country in the UK. Alongside the careful work that we have taken on the presumption of the soft opt-out for the legislation that we consulted on, we also have a significant number of other areas of work that we are taking forward to ensure that people get transplants when they need it and that we increase the number of donors.


The National Weather Service issued a snow squall warning Thursday morning for portions of Arizona's Yavapai and Coconino counties.NWS predicted 1-2 inches of snow per hour in gusty winds up to 35 mph and urged people to delay any travel until the snow squall passed. The NWS says that although snow accumulations during a snow squall are typically an inch or less, the added combination of gusty winds, falling temperatures and quick reductions in visibility can cause extremely dangerous conditions. For motorists, forecasters say more bad weather is in store after storms that battered nearly every corner of the United States. The Northeast is cleaning up after drenching rains, flooding and fierce winds that stranded vehicles, shuttered schools and knocked out power.


any time now. Can I start? Sure Divya, go ahead. Okay. Thank you Lord. Thank you Father for this wonderful time that you've given us Lord to learn deeper, Lord learn more Father Lord so that we can understand Father how really you want us to worship you Lord in our spirit and truth Father Lord. Thank you Lord for the opportunities that you give us Father Lord. Yes Lord when we consider Lord the things happening Father in different parts of the world they don't even have the opportunity to gather Lord. Thank you Father for you've given us Lord this privilege Father Lord to gather together Lord to praise your name Lord to glorify you Father Lord and to learn from your Lord Father Lord. We Lord at this time we commit Father of us Russian and trans Father thank you Lord. Speaking through him Lord to us in the in all the classes Father I pray that the session Father may you speak through him Father may you anoint him Father Lord and empower him Father to Father teach us Lord the deeper biblical truths Father Lord. I pray Lord also for each and every student who are here thank you for bringing them and thank you Lord for all who are planning to join. I pray Father that you open our hearts that we will be receptive Father Lord to your word and we obey you Lord and trust in you and worship you Lord whole heartedly. Yes. In Jesus' name we pray Amen. Amen. Thank you Divya. Thank you for starting us up with prayer. Thank you everybody for joining in. I hope you all are doing well. I hope you all are safe and good. Okay so yeah let's get started. Let me get the notes up here for us. Great so we are in chapter six on becoming a worshipper right that's the chapter we've been looking at. So we finished the first half of the chapter last class in the last sessions so we looked at deeply at the differences between spiritual worship and fleshly worship. If there is true worship that means there is also false worship and which state of the heart is yours. Are you worshiping him in spirit and in truth or are you worshiping the idols that you made up for yourselves okay so that's what we've looked at and the dangers of idol worship or false worship okay and so we closed the last session by looking at the life of Gideon right from Judges chapter six very briefly without going into too much details we see that God calls him to save Israel right from the enemies from the Amalekites and the Midianites and before God leads Gideon into the battle into his promise into his destiny the first thing that God tells him to do is to break down the altars of Baal break down the altars of false worship even before he steps into his destiny of becoming a warrior right so and I believe it's the same for all of us that all of us have you know God has a plan for all of us isn't it he has a destiny for all of us that he wants us to walk into and one of the first steps and one of the first keys for us to stepping into that is bringing down the altars of false worship in our lives and and seeking God for his help and his guidance for us to know the altars of false worship so many many times that we we don't even realize or know that we built up altars of false worship and we need his his light of truth to shine in our hearts for us to realize that isn't it so that's what we looked at in the last class spiritual worship versus fleshly worship okay we now go into the second half of the chapter an example of becoming an extravagant worshipper becoming a worshipper becoming an extravagant worshipper so one of the key scriptures mentioned there is Luke chapter seven was 36 to 50 okay we will go to the gospel of Luke once again if you've heard me speak on this chapter you know what it is all about I apologize because you might have heard me speak on this many many times right an example of an extravagant worshipper okay so let's take a look at Luke chapter seven was 36 to 50 onwards okay 36 to 50 can I request each of each of us to read at four verses each please anybody four verses each Luke chapter seven was 36 onwards someone could start reading us each of us can read four verses Luke chapter seven from verse 36 when one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him he went to the Pharisee's house and declined at the table a woman in the town who lived a sinful life learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee's house so she came there with an arabistic jar of perfume as she stood behind him at his feet eating she began to wet his feet with her hair then she wiped them with her hair accused them in poor perfume and in the Pharisee who had invited him saw this he said to him sir if this man were a prophet he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is that she is a sinner okay thank you and Jesus answered him Simon I have something to say to you and he replied say teacher a money lender had two debtors one owed 500 dinari and other 50 when they were unable to repay he graciously forgave them both so which of them will love him more Simon answered and said I suppose the one whom he forgave more and he said to him you have judged correctly turning toward the woman he said to Simon do you see this woman I entered your house you gave me no water for my feet but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair you did not give me a kiss but this woman from the time I entered was not stopped kissing my feet you did not put oil on my head but she has poured perfume on my feet therefore I tell you her many sins have been forgiven as her great love has shown but whoever has been forgiven um little lost little then Jesus said to her your sins are forgiven okay can you read the 49 and 50 as well let's finish it off the other guests began to say among themselves who is this who even forgives the sin Jesus said to the woman your faith has saved you go in peace thank you Priya thank you everyone for pitching in to read okay so we just read from verse 36 to 50 right almost 14 verses 15 verses um so from from just that first glance of going through that scripture right can you all just share what kind of stands out to you from just the first time reading the passage what stands out what stood out I think it's uh for me it was verse 45 where Jesus responds to Simon saying uh you gave me no kiss but this woman has not ceased to kiss my feet since the time I came in you did not anoint my head with oil but this woman has anointed my feet with fragrant oil yeah so that really uh you know uh how much we take for granted sometimes yeah thanks to you yeah how much we take for granted okay let's make a note of that granted uh what are these guys come on come on just unmute and feel free to speak for me it's verse 48 and Jesus said to her your sins are forgiven I think uh she didn't even ask Jesus to forgive her sins she came and she kept loving Jesus and she kept wiping and kissing him but Jesus with all his love he came he knew that she's here for something and he knows everything before we even ask him so that's that awesome thank you jeffina lubega I guess I also think that uh there is these people had a there is what we call stereotyping in communication where you don't look at the good over what a person has done but you judge a person before in action so you look at these people the disciples did judge this lady because of her past yet I think Jesus Christ was judging her because of her present not because they just had grace on her because I I think that God does not judge us because of our past because of our present or our future he judges us because he loves us because he has grace for us no matter what we did in the past what we do today or what we shall do tomorrow he is always in the same position what we call the love position and the grace position thank you so much awesome thank you lubega thank you so much uh very guys anybody else for me what stands out is the attitude of the woman um in uh forgetting who is around and who is uh uh doing what uh she poured out herself and uh when she's not uh remembering men uh that she is a sinner or uh what others look at her i mean that attitude of worship touched me yeah thank you priya you're not not uh not thinking too much about the people around her yeah awesome awesome i want more guys i won't i want to hear you all more it's interesting can i share can i share yes please go ahead sorry i thought i yeah for me it's like uh the washing of jesus feet was an art of cleansing like we said and it was an art of outpouring of her spirit in the art of worship but that was not standing because cleanliness or cleansing is part of worship traditional setting in the animal thank you thank you isaac thank you okay anybody else georgia anita aradna it's a good note niki uh can i share one more thing sure there yeah yeah i also love the fact that how she is uh you know um for her the cost of the uh is it yeah the alabaster yes oh no with the tears portion right okay okay yeah i was just thinking of like how uh she just surrenders right she is not um the humility uh that she exhibits there um even as priya was sharing right uh she's not at all concerned about what is happening around her she's just focused on the person of jesus christ so yeah yeah that's awesome yeah amazing thank you thank you just one more person one more one more person okay can i yes please here actually i want to talk about Pharisees and they are the leaders that time and maybe uh if we think about our lives now we are the people who are leading people to christ and that day actually Pharisees they have invited jesus but jesus has not told them that your sins has forgiven and uh he has also not said that um your faith has helped right so we as leaders also need to be very careful when we are leading people to christ it should not happen that other people they will be saved and we will be in darkness so we need to actually learn from Pharisees that we should not be like them awesome thank you so yeah different perspectives and i mean we could go through each and everybody yeah you know just just to hear the different perspectives and it'll all be amazing right so i want yeah thanks thanks guys thanks for just sharing your thoughts in your your perspective your view on this chapter right um like this is um this has to be one of my favorite a passage recorded in the bible uh and one of the things also why i like luke i mean among the gospel every gospel has its own beauty uh you know every gospel because it's written by a person right luke is not just a random computer given name it's it's a name of a person that resembles that means it's talking about um you know every person who writes have their own way you know for writing a song or a poem or saying a story isn't it it's like an artist right they all have their style of saying and then if when you read through the gospels uh very carefully the matthew mark luke and john um there are similarities uh you know but in that similarities there's there is a touch of of their personal life of their personal character of their who they are right and uh and luke in many ways is known as a gospel as luke uh jesus as a friend of sinners that's how luke portrays it and and also in many ways uh luke also tries to honor and protect women in the way he writes and you know his stories um the way i say that is in the way he honors is if you again i think in last week's mentoring hour there was a question about the difference between the genealogy of jesus in in matthew and luke and you see luke writes from the perspective genealogy of mary right he connects jesus from and he wants to you know kind of honor her you know elevate her so to speak and in here in many ways and i don't want to go into the details in this passage is luke is kind of uh protecting the name of this person now there's a huge debate uh again i don't want to go into the details of it about what the name of this person could be in you know because the name of this person is mentioned uh in other gospels which is mary right and the debate is uh you know is it is this a different woman or is this is at mary and whatnot so i i don't really want to get into all of that we can have the theological discussions uh later time but um but just looking at this one chapter right without uh i mean if for your own personal uh you know meditation or whatnot okay you can read this chapter 3650 you can also read uh please make a note of it john chapter 12 verse one two seven okay john chapter 12 verse one two seven and uh the same is mentioned in mark in the gospel of mark chapter 14 verse three to nine mark chapter 14 verse three to nine and then in matthew chapter 26 verse 7 matthew chapter 26 verse 7 okay um i mean just like there is uh the different groups that are divided about you know different things of the bible you know like there are different denominations and whatnot like even eschatology for that matter right you know about the end times there are different sex different groups who believe in post-tribulation pre-tribulation and all of that um um thanks yes matthew yeah so i mean all of those references talks about the same thing of where the the woman annoins uh jesus with the perfume okay it all talks about that and i this is what i believe okay you don't have to believe what i'm saying and i believe when you read through it uh the gospels and that the holy spirit talked to you and and with some some research as well i believe it's the same person um i believe it's mary but uh and one of the confusion that uh that kind of that that's created this divide is because uh if you read the previous chapter of luke luke chapter six it talks about jesus is up north in israel somewhere in galilee galilee is north northern part of israel right and uh and every other gospels that you know john and matthew and mark talks about mary of bethany which is bethany is down south of israel right so and because this thing this chapter in luke comes immediately after chapter six okay you know the chapter six talks about jesus being in galilee and it's and uh and he must i mean he must still be there so it's it's not it's not possible that it's mary from bethany who's you know who who are knowing to jesus because jesus is up in the north that's the understanding but um one of the key factors which is very important for us to understand is that the gospel of luke is not written chronologically uh while the gospel of mark is the closest to the chronological order to record events of what happened in jesus's life but so luke is everywhere right you know that uh i don't like that so you see but uh you know he confuses the reader but uh he's one moment he was he's over here and the other moment he uses okay let me add in there you know it's it's his way of writing it's his style of writing but when you compare okay uh when you just do enough research you understand uh i mean i kind of believe that's the same person but let's not get there now okay um that's just a big context guys before we just look at this text now when we look at this text luke chapter seven was 36 onwards from 36 to 50 it's kind of divided into three episodes right from chapter from verse 36 to 38 is one scene that's scene one uh and from 39 to 43 is seen two and from 44 to all the way to 50 is another scene okay so let's look at the the first scene scene one 36 now it says now one of the Pharisees invited jesus to have dinner with him so he went to the Pharisee's house and reclined at the table okay now every time we see that uh you know with jesus traveling like you know he was a preacher and teacher who went from town to town to town to town traveling preaching the gospel the good news and whatnot right and then he would preach at the synagogues and then again customary to host the teacher the traveling teacher or the preacher in one of the houses uh and and that's kind of what's happening here okay now jesus is being invited and if you read the gospel of john uh in this record it says a feast was held in honor of jesus okay in honor of jesus so and that's what's happening so jesus goes to this Pharisee's house uh and uh he reclined at the table now again going back to those days people would not sit upright like this on a nice chair at the table the round table or a beautiful square table uh you know for dinner it says he reclined and if you've seen one of those recliners that we have in modern days is put your feet up everything you're kind of reclining okay that's also not the way he's reclining so it's like a low bed on the ground and so if you're a right hey if you're a right-handed you'll be resting on your left shoulder with your feet stretched on the on a bed like this so he's reclining like this sorry guys again so he'll help himself uh you know with his right hand to break bread or dip it in a sauce or whatever okay so that's what's happening that's the position or the posture jesus is and he's a reclined he's pretty casual he's pretty chilled out okay and this event is also like an open house what do i mean by that is when again a preacher or a teacher a rabbi you know from another town was in place was in their town and if he was invited everybody from that community would also come into the house they were all invited that's why it's called an open house like you know you everybody were welcomed also although they were like a separate room where the guest was actually you know being hosted the living room the garden area everything would you know would be filled with people who wants to come and see the rabbi say hello say hi you know etc etc so everybody is there a lot of people are there jesus is reclined at the table Pharisee a Pharisee has invited okay then it goes on to say verse 37 when he was reclined at the table when a woman who had lived a sinful life in that town in that town learned that jesus was eating at the Pharisee's house she brought an alabaster jar of perfume okay let's pause so in the bible again every time this sinful life is recorded right it's uh the new living translation will tell a certain immoral life a woman came in who lived a certain immoral life okay that is only pointing towards one thing okay that is prostitution okay this bible college class are we supposed to be talking mentioning those words bible doesn't hide anything and if you're uncomfortable i can't help you okay so putting aside diplomacy she was a prostitute who lived a sinful life okay who had lived a sinful life in that town learned that jesus was eating at the Pharisee's house she brought an alabaster jar of perfume and as she stood behind him at his feet weeping she began to wet his feet with her tears then she wiped them with her hair kissed them and poured perfume on them and poured perfume on them okay so we are still in scene one she uh we need to put ourselves in her shoes guys okay all of us okay guys and girls we need to put ourselves in her shoes there is this entire town or village in this person's house and this person is a Pharisee it's not just another person right um he's he's the student of the world he serves in the temple right in a synagogue it's a Pharisee's house there are a lot of people what must be running through her head her mind like you know Priya mentioned she did not worry about people isn't it but just think of her her journey from her house to this person's house just passing through every individual and if she and i'm guessing you know her heart is beating hard it's pounding you know out of her chest um and everybody in the town knows and recognizes who she is and it is also possible that if she looked up and saw she could recognize certain people you know who was involved with her but then she puts all that aside and she brings this alabaster jar and something about this perfume okay guys is uh it was an imported perfume and if you know anything about import it's expensive right and another beautiful fact is that this perfume was exported from the northern northeastern part of India or Nepal okay so it's made from one of the key ingredients was a pink color flower or so which is grown in the foothills of the Himalayas then it's crushed and it's put in this beautiful jar okay it's not just uh like you know one of the glass bottles that we have now it's it's a beautiful beautiful and a very expensive jar just that jar is expensive you know with the regardless without the perfume inside it is expensive okay now another historian says that this perfume was used by the temple prostitutes as well this was used uh you know to lure men in okay once again i forgot to put my phone on airplane mode done sorry so this perfume was used to lure men to uh is another word isn't it seduce men into you know so this is the perfume that's it's being talked about here as well okay now perfume was used very vastly in the sculpture so i'm just showing one of the reasons now if she's bringing an alabaster jar uh it was for you know used for this purpose as well so she brings that jar and she stood behind his feet weeping she began to wet his feet with her tears then she wiped them with her hair kissed them and poured perfume on them now in the gospel of mark when you read this passage uh you know that one of the reference that i gave it says she broke the alabaster jar she does not open it she breaks it okay now if this is the jar it's just a flash no if i just opened it uh you know i have control over how much i want to pour isn't it yeah i mean so i have a glass and if i want to pour something in it i have control over how much i want to pour yes or no but when the version says that she breaks the alabaster jar it simply means that she's not surrendering some she's not surrendering just 90 percent she's saying i don't want to have any control over my past she breaks it at his feet right uh another scholar says she was giving up the trick of her trade you know like every profession every trade has a trick isn't it hey this is the trick of my trade you know this is what gets me more business more success in my trade she was willing to give up the trick of her trade she was willing she was just saying that i am not going back to my old life so she stood she stood you know behind him his uh him she was weeping at his feet and she began to wet his feet with her tears um why is tears recorded you know we need to ask that question isn't it uh there's so many things about the bible the details that it records and we need to ask why is it there why is her tears recorded what's the big deal about her tears uh you know and the bible says he collects our tears in a bottle isn't it and one of the psalms i forget the psalm if you if you can just you know put it in the chat section it'll be helpful he says he collects our tears in a bottle uh and one of my friends this is again going back to 2011 she said she wrote an article about this it says when she was worshiping him when she just weeping at his feet with her tears she was giving jesus something that we cannot give him in heaven in heaven in revelation if when you read it says the day will come where he's going to wipe away all our tears all our shame all our pain it's all going to be gone so in heaven there's not going to be any tears and so when we worship him with our tears in our pain uh in through our sorrows through our struggles we are giving him something that we cannot give him in heaven isn't that beautiful so is your worship costing you something that you will not be giving him in heaven and that's why it is so precious and it's recorded and that's now now it makes sense like thanks divya it says now it makes sense why he records our tears in a bottle because we are giving him something we cannot give him in heaven and it was a couple of weeks ago i was speaking with one of the persons from we have a setup team in church right and i was talking about is like hey how are you managing do we have enough people in the team to help and come and set up you know you've been doing this every week why don't you take a rest his response was so casual and but just so profound he said no boss i you know we can't do all of this you know when we go to heaven we were not even having like a serious spiritual talk but out of you know no way he says you know we we we i can't you know we can't do this in heaven or you get this chance here to to roll the cables to you know plug everything to set up everything and uh oh man that that hit me hit me you know beautifully and it again reminded me of this is for us to look for ways look for opportunities to worship him in ways that we cannot worship him in heaven and that is precious and that is what is happening here is she breaks the alabaster jar uh at his feet she was willing to give up the trick of her trade um and she kissed his feet wet his feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair wiped them with her hair right you guys with me that's scene one now the scene shifts from verse 39 yes priya yeah we'll we'll look at that as well verse 39 when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this he said to himself that means in his thoughts right if this man were a prophet he would know who was touching him and what kind of woman she is that she is a sinner okay this expectation of the prophet knowing is a valid expectation is because every prophet of the old right were they were known to know things okay what what is the king of syria doing what is the king of you know israel doing so he would know of course god would give him the word of knowledge and wisdom to know so and that is the expectation here as well is that if this man was a prophet as he claims he would know who was touching him and what kind of a man she is simon did know who he was hosting okay and then jesus is like okay simon i have something to tell you so simon must be like finally you have something to say yes go ahead and say you know because she's doing something that is very awkward and inappropriate we are all just you know quiet over here you know nudging each other i'm i'm glad you have something to tell yes please go ahead and he's thinking that he's going to confront but that doesn't happen isn't it verse 40 simon jesus answered him simon i have something to tell you tell me teacher he said verse 41 two men owed money to a certain money lender one owed him 500 dinari and another 50 neither of them had the money to pay him back so he canceled the debt of both now which of them will love him more verse 43 says simon replied i suppose the one who had a bigger debt canceled you have judged correctly jesus said okay another important you know why is jesus is using this parable and where money and debt is used as an example again now once again if you read the lord's prayer or the sinner's prayer as we call it in the in the in the gospel of matthew and in the gospel of luke again it's the same aramaic word that's where you that's used for debt and sinners okay so that's why when we pray some versions say like forgive our debts as we forgive who are debts against us right and then now there's another translation that says forgive our sins as we forgive those who sin against us so it comes from the same root word which has two meaning where debt is equal to sin and sin was equivalent to debt okay so so jesus is just narrating the story to the Pharisee in the scene too jesus read his heart he knew the intentions of his heart he knew that the atmosphere was something it was not right there's something strange about it and then verse 44 then he turned toward the woman and said to simon so he's looking at the woman but he's talking to simon it's like an epic movie scene is happening isn't it he turned toward the woman but he's speaking to simon and he's saying do you see this woman i came into your house you did not give me any water for my feet but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair you did not give me a kiss but this woman from the time i entered has not stopped kissing my feet you did not put oil on my head but she has poured perfume on my feet therefore i tell you her many sins now you know we see the connection of sins and debt isn't it i tell you how many sins have been forgiven for she loved much but he who has been forgiven little loves little okay um again to set the cultural context of those days is it was uh like you know in the Indian culture if a guest comes in the least we could do give that guest is a glass of water right that's just hosting the guest well that's showing our courtesy you know so in similarly in their day and age in their culture if a guest came home it was customary to wash give water to wash their feet because it would be very dusty from the travel from the road they traveled and it was also customary to kiss their hand okay that was also a symbol and also give them a little bit of perfume to you know on the to just put on their palm or their hands a little bit so everything that this woman did was offensive her breaking the perfume was considered a waste why because it's like hey you don't break the alabaster jar you don't give everything you know he's not that important this guest is not that worth it you know but then seems like she knew how worthy jesus was and so she gives it all and then another very offensive thing that she does is she lets her hair down and so according to the Talmud right that's one of the docs documents of the the Hebrew people if a woman lets her hair down and if she was married the husband has enough reason to file a divorce against her in public if she if she let her hair down in public now obviously she'd not have to worry about that but it was yet very offensive okay and let alone like everybody knew the fact that she was an adulterous woman and she was a prostitute but here's the thing is I just want to pause here before we conclude this session is another other gospels other references says that why this waste it's one year's wages right no I just mentioned that this was that we all know that she's an adulterous woman she used the perfume can be could have used the perfume to I said use an allure men and you know into prostitution as well and so when we say that was one year's wages how do you think she earned those wages I hope you guys are listening to me how do you think she earned those wages I believe it at that and so this the act of this woman is she goes against everything that society you know that culture and the people there understands about worship she almost redefines everything and in the in the gospel of Matthew it says what this woman did what this woman did will be in you know will be remembered wherever my gospel is shared it's amazing isn't it by Jesus doesn't say you know Peter will be remembered for what he did wherever my gospel is preached Apostle Paul will be remembered John will be remembered all these 12 disciples will be remembered for wherever he doesn't say that but he says what she did will be spoken about in memory of her that means Jesus wanted her to be remembered and that's and we can talk about this passage for years and years and years and we might still not fully understand the depth and the beauty of what's happening here right and finally in conclusion it says that she wiped his feet with her hair she must have come in she did what she did and she was going back now i'm just saying it's not in the bible but just think about it as she's walking back as she's walking outside i'm wondering you know people asking each other hey is that fragrance coming from the feet of Jesus or is it coming from her hair right the whole room everybody in the house inside and out knew that she was very intimately close with Jesus and now the fragrance of Jesus has that was on Jesus has been rubbed off on her with her hair she came in she came in as a prostitute but she is now walking out as an extravagant worshiper she has since have been forgiven without her even asking verbally asking for forgiveness we talk about actions speaking louder than words it seems like a right place to use isn't it and so that's the beauty of worship is that when you've been intimate with Jesus the person your friend your family the world your congregation will know that you've been with Jesus because the fragrance of Jesus has been rubbed off on you and we see paul writing that in the book of Corinthians is that he is the fragrant one so there is this fragrance you know that is on Jesus that gets rubbed off on us when we spend that intimate time when you know with him in worship okay one of the very important can we just quickly go to Matthew chapter 21 please and i'm i know we've just gone a minute i'll give you an extra time for the break i apologize Matthew chapter 21 hr i see the question yeah Matthew 21 verse 31 and 32 Matthew chapter 21 verse 31 and 32 okay let me read it for you it says Jesus said to them i tell you the truth the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of god ahead of you for john came to you to show you the way of righteousness and you did not believe him but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did even after you saw this you did not repent and believe him that means it tells something that john the baptist as he was preaching sinners would listen to him and two among them were tax collectors and prostitutes would listen to his sermon his sermon his preaching what did he preach repent for the kingdom of god is near and then other thing he says is i baptize you with water but the one comes after me baptizes you will baptize you with fire that was his message and they believe that and so jesus makes this bold statement saying prostitutes will enter before you guys because they believe right and it is not a surprise when we see again in the genealogy of jesus in Matthew there are two prostitutes mentioned isn't it it's Rahab from Jericho and then Tamar who prostitutes herself with her father-in-law and that is mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus bible doesn't hide anything and if there's something in the bible that means there's something for us to learn and there's something god wants to teach us and i believe in closing of this section god wants us to become an extravagant worshipper an extravagant worshipper who will come to him who will just first take that first step and come bring yourself to him don't run away and then break your alabaster jar don't just open it don't try to have control over it but break it and that is the meaning of the hymn that we sing i surrender all isn't it break it at his feet and as you spend that intimate time with him his fragrance will get rubbed off on you and everybody all your friends your family will know that you've been with Jesus and they will know that you are a worshipper and just like her you will be remembered for what you are what you've done not how many meetings or crusades you've had but how much time you've spent with Jesus amen and so as students as students i want to encourage us all that we would become extravagant worshippers and that we will not hold back you know everything in our worship okay um that's uh that's the end of this session we'll try and recap a little bit more in the next section but for now i know we've gone five minutes overboard i apologize please take extra five minutes for your break and i'll see you at 10 05 i guess indian standard time all right take it guys