Al-Fitr, what is your opinion about Turkey's position in current political warfare?  Turkey's currency has collapsed 90-95% last 10 years. So just imagine, if one, it's not, but let's say you're a country and one dollar of your currency was equivalent to one dollar of U.S. currency, well now in 10 years your currency was only five to ten cents of that original currency. Turkey's currency has collapsed. Turkey has waged multiple wars in last two decades. They attacked Iraq, they attacked Syria, they attacked Libya, they attacked Armenia and they lost in Iraq, they lost in Syria, they have lost, they're still there but they're bleeding like mad. There's a reason why their currency has dropped 90-95%, right? They lost in Libya, they sent their fighters there, right? They sent even fighters to Ukraine, ISIS, to fight against Russia. Russia knows this, right? So the only place they've prevailed is in Armenia, Nagorno-Karabakh, right? Because it was Turkey, Azerbaijan and Israel taking on Armenia and not even Armenia, they were taking on Nagorno-Karabakh, poor people, mountain people that have been living there for centuries, right?   And Turkey right now is still a puppet regime of Israel and NATO. No matter how it's being played, right? It's still a puppet regime of NATO, Israel and the United States. Russia knows this.  And when Turkey overreaches, Iran and Russia will deal with Azerbaijan and Turkey accordingly. There's no doubt about it. And by the way, anybody that wants to put military might comparisons together, Turkey's military is garbage compared to what Iran has, okay? Because Iran is true hardened people that know they have been attacked for the last 40 years. Turkey and Iran, if they go at it, it will be devastating, it will be devastating, but in the end, Turkey will lose, okay? That's my prediction if it ever happens and I hope it never does.


And now, stay tuned for the mystery program that is unique among all mystery programs. Because even when you know who is guilty, you always receive a startling surprise at the final curtain. In the signal oil program, The Whistler. Signal, the famous Go-Farther gasoline, invites you to sit back and enjoy another strange story by The Whistler. I am The Whistler, and I know many things for I walk by night. I know many strange tales hidden in the hearts of men and women who have stepped into the shadows. Yes, I know the nameless terrors of which they dare not speak. And now for the signal oil company, The Whistler's strange story, murder arrangement. The darkness of the deserted road was exaggerated by the shroud of trees lining either side. Larry Sims bending over, trying to fix the tire on his car, felt very much alone, and he worked clumsily, impatiently. He straightened up at the sound of another car approaching very fast. Suddenly the other car swerved in toward him. He leaned back just in time. It almost struck him down as its fender scraped his. Larry sprang forward again as the speeding vehicle rushed down. He tried to catch a glimpse of the driver, the number on the license plates. But the car, its lights off, was quickly swallowed up in the night, and all that Larry knew for certain was that someone had followed him, deliberately tried to kill him. He was still shaking nervously as he drove back to town. Even the friendly lights on the outskirts failed to cheer or calm his fears. He drove directly to an apartment, left his car in the alley, hurried upstairs. He had to ring the door buzzer several times before the door opened. I've got to see you, Mildred. Well, Larry, isn't this rather an odd hour? Let me in, Mildred, quickly. I've got to talk to you. Well, certainly, Cunning. You've never seen Larry so upset, have you, Mildred? His face is drained of color. His eyes, wild with fear, are blinking nervously as he quickly surveys the room. As if he expected someone else to be there, someone he fears. Apparently satisfied that you're alone, he turns to you suddenly. Mildred, he's out of prison, isn't he? Fred Beltman, I mean. Out? Well, yes, why? I knew it. I figured he'd get that parole. You'd better have a drink, Larry. You're actually shaking. Fred tried to kill me. He tried to run me down tonight on a lonely road. What? Oh, you do need a drink. I'll fix it, sit down. I was trying to fix a tire. He came at me out of the darkness, driving fast. You've been listening to too many mystery programs, darling.  Neater and cleaner. Here's your drink. Mildred, you've got to believe me. Have you seen Fred? Talk to him. Yes. As a matter of fact, I drove up to state prison this morning and met him, going back to the city. And you didn't call me? Mildred, you know I've been worried about him trying to avoid him. Oh, Larry, I do believe you're afraid of Fred. It's putting it mildly. Mildred, what am I going to do? You know he thinks I framed him, double-crossed him. Did he mention anything? Ask about me. No. Mildred, you're keeping something from me. He's made your promise not to warn me. He just wants to walk in on me. Larry, your drink is getting warm. And so are you. Look, if you're so concerned about Fred, why not hide out for a few days? I've got to do something. I can't just sit around, wait to run into him. Guilty conscience, Larry. Mildred, you know I didn't have anything to do with framing Fred. I wasn't even around when Fred got picked up. I was at the cabin, at the crest line. Well then, you've got nothing to worry about. Mildred, please help me think of some place to hide. Well, if you're that worried, I suppose he has had too much time on his hands in prison. I mean, too much time to think. Say, I know Larry. What? Joan's apartment. She's out of town for a week. She left a key with me. Fred doesn't even know Joan. Wonderful. I'll go there right now tonight. You can get in touch with me when you know something, huh? You know best. I'll get you the key. If you hear anything, that is, if I'm wrong about Fred, you'll let me know. You know I will. I'll talk to him tomorrow. Aren't you going to kiss me goodnight? You bet I am. You're okay, Mildred. You understand. I had to have somebody to talk to tonight. A thing like this... It's all right. And maybe you're right. At least you'll feel safer at Joan's. And Larry, the next drink I fix for you... Yeah? You'll be able to stay and finish it. Good night, Larry. Fred, I'm only telling you... Mildred, you know I'm not after Larry. Well, he seems to think you are. That's why I sent for you this morning to tell you to stay away from him. You, you don't deny you'd like to talk with him. No, I don't. I told you that yesterday.  Larry wouldn't have the guts to frame anybody, at least of all me. But he just might have an idea who did. I doubt that. I mean, he might have some information that I could fit in somewhere. Maybe even something he doesn't realize, something that would give me the whole story. And when you know the whole story. Well, I told you that too, sweetheart. But I'll elaborate.  One, there's a chance for a decent break. Two, the guy that sent me up. And three. You, Mildred.  Just made the appetite a shocker, that's all. From your punctuality this morning, I'd say it also sharpened your attention to schedule. Yeah, it did.  It's okay with you. Oh, Fred, why don't you stop worrying about who framed you and why? There are other things to think about. I know. But I'll get to them, baby. On schedule, in the appropriate time and place. You know best. And you won't stay away from Larry. Nope. Might as well tell me where to find him. So you can talk. That's all, I promise. He's not the guy I'm after. Now I'm sorry, Fred. I think too much of you to let you get into trouble. When you're on parole, you've got to watch your step. Okay, but I'll find him myself. You do believe it, darling. Don't you think I had nothing to do with trying to run him down the car last night? I'll try to believe it, I want to. Because, well, you know. Sure, I know. Come here a minute. You better come. Okay. Like you said, for all these have to watch their behavior. Something like that. See you soon. Of course. Good night, friend. Hello. Mildred Carson, please. Speaking. Oh, Miss Carson, this is Jennings.  Yes. Hey, about that car you rented from us last night. What about it? Well, the right fender was badly scraped. You know, you should have reported that to me. You see, there's a charge for anything like that. Oh, yes, of course. Well, just send me the bill. Well, how did it happen, Miss Carson? I really don't know. It must have been while it was parked somewhere. I really didn't have anything to do with it.  That's right. I'll be glad to settle it. It will be a pleasure. Good night, Mr. Jennings. First tonight, I'd like a word with the ladies. In these days of budget-pinching high prices, you're naturally interested in ways to save money. And Signal's amazing new motor oil that reduces engine wear due to lubrication. 50% is designed to do just that for you. You see, by keeping that like-new pep and power in your car twice as long, new Signal Premium motor oil helps your car go twice as far before needing an expensive engine overhaul. So there's a big saving in maintenance costs. Secondly, if your car isn't already an oil eater, new Signal Premium by reducing engine wear 50% should double the number of miles during which you'll continue to enjoy low oil consumption. So there's another big saving in oil. But of course, the time to prevent engine wear is before it happens.  Suggest that he get it changed to new Signal Premium, the heavy-duty type oil that reduces engine wear due to lubrication. 50%. Well, Mildred, you missed out, didn't you? In your desperate attempt to run Larry Sims down in that rented automobile, the only fortunate thing about it is that he didn't catch a glimpse of you driving when he leaped back just in time. But you still have Fred Belton to deal with. Stubborn, orderly-minded Fred, who won't rest until he talks to Larry. Tries to learn from him who was responsible for his arrest a few years ago. You know what'll happen if the two meet, don't you? Larry will say something you're certain that Fred can add to the facts he now holds. It will add up to one terrible thing, won't it? That it was you, Fred's supposed sweetheart, who tipped off the police and brought about his arrest. You must keep Larry out of sight, Mildred. Keep Fred from locating him, talking to him. But it can't go on indefinitely. So there's something else you must do. Yes, you've got to try again. And next time, you know you can't afford to miss. You're pacing the floor of your apartment, wondering what to do and how and when. As you hear a knock on the door, nervously open it. And sigh with relief as you realize it's McCauley, the parole officer assigned a check on Fred Belton. Oh, Lieutenant McCauley, come in. Well, thanks, Miss Carson. I haven't time. Just a word right here, if you don't mind. A word about Fred Belton. Yes, what about it? He isn't in trouble. No, he's not. I'd like to keep it that way, as much as you would. Oh, well, he's just a friend. Yeah, I know. You said that the other day when you asked about meeting him upstate. Fred's landlady said differently. She said you liked the guy. No, Z, isn't she? Mm-hmm. Well, all right. So I like Fred Belton. He's pretty. And you want to keep him out of trouble? And I want to keep him out of trouble. So what's going on? I don't know. I don't know. I want to keep him out of trouble. So what's going on? Well, we've got a call at headquarters. A call from Larry Sims, know him? Yes. Larry Sims is a worried gent. Thinks Fred tried to kill him the other night. Thinks it isn't safe for him to come back to town. So? So? What do you think? So I think Fred isn't that foolish. I understand he isn't even carrying a gun. Maybe not. But Fred Belton's got a bad temper, Miss Carson. Keep him away from Larry, huh? I'll try. You could keep him away from anybody. Then I'll really try. Good. That's all? Uh, that's all. Well, nice to meet you, officer. A cop who's really interested in giving a guy a break. There's a lot of us like that. You know that. Well, maybe I do. All right. Thanks anyway, for Fred. You watch Lieutenant McCawley walk down the corridor out of sight. He's given you an idea, hasn't he, Mildred? Yes, an excellent idea. The solution to your problem. Because if Larry Sims turns up dead soon, the first suspect will be Fred Belton. But you'll need one thing, won't you, Mildred? Proof. You've got to have something that will tie Larry's death to Fred without question. Something that you said, your own words coming back in your mind provide the answer to that one. I understand. He isn't even carrying a gun. That will do it, won't it, Mildred? He isn't supposed to be carrying a gun. No. But you're sure you can arrange that. Just as you're sure you can arrange Larry Sims' murder, you're determined to start the arranging at once. The first step. An evening visit to Fred Belton's landlady. Yes. What is it? Oh, Miss Carson. Good evening, Mrs. Elkins. Do come in, my dear. Well, I only stop by for a minute. I wondered if you'd do me a favor. Why, of course. I have a package here, a little gift for Fred. Mr. Belton, I was wondering if you'd let me into his apartment. I'd like to leave it there. It's sort of a surprise. Of course, of course. I'll give you my keys. Oh, well, I'd rather you came with me. You see, there's something I want to talk with you about. All right, Miss Carson. Be with you in a minute. Has it been a lovely day? Yes, quite lovely. Dear me, now, where did I put my key ring? I... Oh, here it is. Come along, my dear. Um, how is your husband, Mrs. Elkins? Oh, same as usual. Oh, really? Now, I must speak to him again about this elevator door. Stick something terrible. Ah, there we are. Now, come along, Miss Carson. There was something you wanted to talk to me about? Yes, it's... It's about Fred, Fred Belton. Nicest tenant I've had in the building ever, believe me. He was here for years, long before he... Well, you know. Yes. He's changed a bit, of course. It does that to a man, I suppose, all those years behind bars. But still and all, here we are. Mrs. Elkins, just a minute in the door. I had a visitor yesterday. Fred's parole officer. Tall, well-built man, sandy hair. Yes, I've seen him here several times. He's worried about Fred. And frankly, so am I. Fred's been acting strangely. There's something on his mind. He seems to be brooding about something. Really, Mrs. Elkins, I am worried. Oh, no, no, no. I don't think Mr. Belton's have to be doing anything wrong. I could be sure. Well, thanks anyway for letting me tell you about it. This way. Mrs. Elkins, I'd like to ask another favor. Of course, what is it? Well, if you could just sort of, I don't know, keep an eye on Fred for me. Let me know if he does anything unusual. The slightest little thing that doesn't seem right. I'd be glad to tell you, Miss Carson. There's very little goes on in this building that I don't know about. Here we are. Well, now that that's off my mind, where will I hide this package? I don't want Fred to find it right away. Let me see. There's a bookcase over here, or that chair. You could put it behind the pillow. No, I know the bedroom. In a drawer somewhere. Good idea. Oh, yes. Yes, I think this will be fine. What is it, my dear? I thought I heard footsteps in the hall. Do you suppose... Oh, dear, it wouldn't do to have so many pictures here. Wouldn't be much of a surprise, would it? No, I'll go and see. You don't waste a minute, do you, Mildred? As soon as she's out of the room, you step quickly to the bureau, open the bottom drawer, and drop the revolver on top of the shirt. You close it again, and you're standing by the window, looking out when Mrs. Elkins returns. Not at all there, my dear. Oh, well, thank goodness. For a moment I was certain Fred had caught us red-handed. Where does Fred keep his shirts, do you know? Bottom drawer, I think. Yes, here they are. Oh, dear. What's wrong, Mrs. Elkins? Look at this. What's Fred doing with a gun? Oh, I don't like this. I don't like it at all. The idea of Fred with a gun...  I'll talk to Fred myself right away. He's got to get rid of this gun. You're quite right. You certainly don't want that to happen. Maybe you could take it with you. No, I'm afraid that would make him angry. We'd better leave it just where it is. But the next time I see him, I'll talk to him about it. I'll tell him to dispose of it. I guess that is best. I'm sure it is. I wonder where he is right now. I have no idea. He went out late this afternoon. Oh, then he's probably downtown. Mrs. Elkins, is there a pencil and paper handy? It's in Fred's desk. I'll have to run now. Help yourself. And don't forget to lock up when you leave. No, I won't. It's working beautifully, isn't it, Mildred?  Everything falling neatly into place. And now with Mrs. Elkins gone, you make the next move. Take the gun out of the drawer and replace it in your purse. Then you drop the gift package into the drawer and close it. You move quickly to the window by the fire escape. It's likely. Then you leave a note for Fred, asking him to call you. And hurry back to your own apartment to wait. Shortly before nine, your telephone rings. Yes? Hello, Millie? Oh, Fred. I got your message just now and a gift. Thanks, but how come? Oh, it's not much really. I just wanted to surprise you. I happened to be out shopping, saw the tires and thought you'd like them. Well, I do, thanks. The reason I asked you to call, I've got to talk to you. It's very important. OK, let's have it. Oh, no, not over the phone. I'll meet you somewhere. The park? Wait a minute, Mildred. What's up? I'll explain later. Meet me at the park near the fountain at 10 o'clock. Can you make it? 10 o'clock it is. I'll be there, right on the nose. You can be certain of that, can't you, Mildred? Yes, Fred's always been very punctual. And you know he'll be there on time. Just when you want him to be. Now you're ready for the next step, aren't you? You hurry downstairs to the garage, get into your car and drive across town to the apartment where Larry Simms is hiding out. Who is it? It's Mildred Larry. Let me in. What are you doing here, Milly? I came to warn you. You better get your hat and coat. Fred is on his way. Fred, come here, but how did you find out? I don't know how he found out, but that's not important now. You've got to get out of here and fast. I still think it's my only chance, Milly. I'm not so sure he is. I've got to get out of town. That's all and keep running. Where will you go? Remember, it costs money to run and keep running. I know that. Okay, okay, so you got any other ideas? Yes, I think so. What are you doing? Why are we stopping? The park is as good a place as any to talk things over. And we have things to talk over, Larry. Okay, okay. All right, come on. Let's get out. Look, why can't we just sit here and... Come on, Larry. We've got to figure something out for you. I can think much better when I'm walking. All right. Haven't you awake? You know, darling, I really don't have to get mixed up in this. I'm only trying to help you. Sure, sure, I know, Milly. I'm sorry. You're okay. Strictly okay to do this for me. Thanks. Tipping me off about Fred.  Milly, I'll never forget you. No. No, I don't think you ever will. That would be... 10 o'clock. Wouldn't it, Larry? Yeah, sure. So what? So... this. Hey, what? It's the idea of the gun.  Now, if I can have a word with you men, I'd like to get technical for a moment and tell you some of the extra benefits you enjoy when you change to signals amazing new motor oil that reduces engine wear due to lubrication, 50 percent. One, new signal premium motor oil stops acid corrosion and rust. Two, it prevents sticking of hydraulic valve lifters. Three, it keeps oil rings clean and free. And four, it controls and reduces harmful engine deposits such as carbon, gum and varnish. Best of all, signal stations have a lot of oil. Best of all, signal stations bring you this superior quality heavy-duty type oil at no increase in price. So you see, Mr. if earlier in this program your wife suggested that you get your car's oil changed at a signal station she really deserves a compliment for being so smart, so practical in recommending signal premium the amazing new signal motor oil that reduces engine wear due to lubrication, 50 percent. Well, Mildred, it went perfectly, didn't it? You're certain of that, aren't you? Yes, every step of the way just as you'd arranged it. Larry Simms is dead and you've already put the murder weapon the gun back in Fred Belton's apartment. In the bottom bureau drawer where Mrs. Elkins saw it earlier this evening it was clever of you to leave Fred's window by the fire escape open, wasn't it? No one saw you enter or leave his apartment. Now back in your own apartment.  You congratulate yourself. Confident that the case against Fred Belton is airtight. Standing there in the open doorway is the lieutenant from police headquarters Fred Belton's parole office. Good evening, Miss Kaizen. Well, hello. May I come in? Please do. Still worried about Fred? He's been taken away What's that? You remember this Larry Simms I was telling you about the last time I was here? Well, yes. He was afraid Fred was going to kill him. Mm-hmm. Simms is dead, Miss Kaizen. His body was found in the park an hour ago. Oh, no. No, you don't mean that Fred... He denies killing Simms, but we found the murder weapon a .38 in Fred Belton's apartment. I see. Well, Fred Belton tonight, didn't you? Well, I... He says you did. Yes, we had a date tonight. Miss Kaizen, I've heard Fred Belton's version of what happened tonight. Suppose now you tell me yours. But I... Well, all right. I guess I may as well tell you everything. I had nothing to do with the killing. Fred called me and asked me to meet him at the park, and I did. I didn't know what Fred was going to do, but there was an argument. Go on, Miss Kaizen. Well, Fred had a gun. I tried to stop him, but, well, he'd have killed me, too.   What? You see, Fred Belton's landlady, Mrs. Elkins, was worried about him. She thought it her duty to tell us that Belton had a gun.  Mrs. Elkins told you this? Yes. She phoned us early this evening. Fred Belton never did get out of the park to keep that date with you, Miss Kaizen. We had him in custody an hour before the murder. He's been with us at headquarters all evening. This is an amazing new motor oil that reduces engine wear due to lubrication 50%. Get it changed at a signal service station by the same friendly independent dealers who help you go farther with Signal Gasoline. Featured in tonight's story were Bill Foreman, Joan Banks, Larry Blake, Betty Blythe, David Ellis and Bill Boucher. The Whistler was produced and directed by George W. Allen, with story by Joel Malone, music by Wilbur Hatch and is transmitted to our troops overseas by the Armed Forces Radio Service. The Whistler is entirely fictional and all characters portrayed on the Whistler are also fictional. Any similarity of names or resemblance to persons living or dead is purely coincidental. Remember at this same time next Sunday another strange tale by the Whistler. Marvin Miller speaking for the Signal Oil Company. Stay tuned now for our Miss Brooke Garden, which follows immediately over most of these stations. This is CBS, the Columbia Broadcasting System.


35, the Bible says, for whosoever findeth me, findeth life, and shall obtain favor of the Lord.  So here we see a contrast. So again, the book of Proverbs many times is contrasting two things. You see one side of the coin and then either on the second part of that verse or the next verse over. You'll see the other half of that where the Bible says, you know, here it's saying to love the Lord is to love life or to find life whosoever findeth me, findeth life, and shall obtain favor of the Lord. So it's equating life with favorable, being favor of the Lord. And then in verse number 36, it's on the flip side of that, it's comparing death to those that it's basically equating hating the Lord with those that love death. Alright, so what are we talking about this morning? So coming up tomorrow and the day after tomorrow is this thing called Halloween. I don't even want to call it a holiday. You know, a lot of people will say it's a holiday. I just want to say in the United States, Halloween is celebrated tomorrow and then the next day, celebrated especially in California, especially in Fresno, is this thing called the day of the dead. Alright, it's celebrated on the first of November. Now these things in the United States, if you've noticed over the years, they're getting more and more what I would call actually out of control. You know, Halloween, it seems like, you know, we go out soul winning, I've said this before, but the soul winner will have their finger on the pulse of the community closer than anyone. You'll be able to see what's going on, you'll be able to see how people's beliefs change, what people are into, what they're not into. Halloween is getting completely out of control in this country.  The latest thing that I've been seeing that was new to me this year is people, I've seen it twice now, people literally digging up their front yard.  So the point is that it's just getting more and more extreme. It's very easy for most people, not just soul winners to see this, but we're going to look this morning at why that is happening. We're going to look at why it's happening. You know, there must be an agenda here. There must be an agenda. So let's do a quick Bible study this morning and kind of look at if we can see, you know, what the Bible says about some of these things. We'll learn a lot of things this morning, not just about Halloween and the day of the dead, but you'll see this morning how Satan works in society. The first thing that Satan wants to do with serious things in society, you'll see with Halloween and the day of the dead is just make light of these things. Make them seem like they're not that bad. All right? Turn to Ephesians chapter 5. Turn to Ephesians chapter 5. Let's do a quick, let's take the plane off this morning and we'll do a quick Bible study and then we'll kind of come back to this idea of, you know, how God wants us to view sin and how Satan wants us to view sin. You'll see that there's two very different philosophies when it comes to the devil's agenda and God's agenda. Of course, we can expect that, right? But look at Ephesians, Ephesians chapter 5 and look at verse number 7. So in Ephesians chapter 5, the context here is that Paul is writing to the church at Ephesus. He's writing to these Gentiles, to these new believers. You know, this obviously applies to us but he's kind of telling them like, hey, you need to get out of these things and we're learning the same thing in the book of Acts. There's these cultural divides. Everyone's getting saved. Some of the Jews got saved. The Gentiles are getting saved.  Now you have a church of these people. So, you know, they're kind of trying to get everybody into church and growing as new believers. Look at verse number 7 where Paul says, be not ye therefore partakers with them. Now notice verse number 8 here. So he's saying, you know, you've got to be separate now. You've got to be different from these people outside now that you've become believers and you're saved. Now, but look at verse number 8, he says, for you were sometimes, he says you were sometimes darkness. Now notice he doesn't say you were in darkness. He says you were literally, you were darkness.  He says you were darkness but now you're what? It says you were darkness but now you're, now are ye light in the world. So he says you have literally become, you were darkness and now you have become light. He's equating unbelief with darkness and belief with light. Alright? Then look what he says. He says walk as children of light. Now he's saying do what people that are supposed to be in the light are supposed to be light do. For the fruit of the spirit capital S, now these people have the spirit in them. They're saved. They're indwelled by the Holy Spirit.  They have the down payment that God gave them of being the temple of the Holy Spirit. They have the Holy Spirit in them. So all of you this morning. For the fruit of the spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth. Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord. And then again look what he says in verse number 11. He says and have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness. Rather reprove them. So there's two things that he says in verse number 11. He says okay, he's like you were darkness. He's like you were literal darkness. Now you are light. He's like you should do things that prove the fruits of the spirit that prove that you have the Holy Spirit in you. You should walk meaning you should do these things. You should live a life that shows that you have the Holy Spirit in you. That's all of us. We all have the Holy Spirit in us. We should not grieve that Holy Spirit.  We should walk a life that shows that light to the darkness. And then for those people that are still darkness, he says two things. He says number one, have no fellowship with them. Don't be doing the things that they're doing. Don't be going to those parties. Don't be doing those works of darkness. But instead look what he says. He says but rather reprove them. So he says don't be fellowshiping with the darkness but you should be speaking against the darkness. He's like you should actually be reproving the darkness. That means correcting the darkness. That means when there's darkness, there's people still doing these things, those people need to be corrected. So the light should shine on that and correct it. Verse number 12, for it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret. He says all things again that are reproved. So he's like you should reprove them. Why reprove them? He says all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light. For whosoever doth make manifest is light. So it's saying the light should reprove the darkness. It's like shining a flashlight. Make manifest means made known. So what the Bible here is saying is it's kind of like giving some hope to the people that are in the darkness. The Bible says that the light should make known the darkness, make the truth known to the darkness. So isn't that true? Isn't there a lot of people that are in darkness today that don't even know that these things are wrong? These things that we'll talk about this morning, there's a lot of people that are just doing them because that's what people do. There's a lot of people out there just going along with society because that's what people do. They don't even know that it's wrong. But when the light shines on it, it will be known that it's wrong. Imagine, there's people that are celebrating Halloween and Day of the Dead that would tell you they believe the Bible. They're not saved. They would tell you they believe the Bible. And then when you went up and you showed them the Bible, that's reproving those works. And they would be like, oh man, I didn't even know that. There's a lot of people like that. There's a lot of people there. Evil people will talk about those as well. They don't love death and love these things, but they just don't have any idea because it's not known to them, which is why God says that the light shouldn't just be silent. You shouldn't just walk your own way and walk right. You should also reprove because there's still people over there that are darkness that they just don't know. It's not manifest to them. It's not known that it's wrong to them. Nobody's telling them the Bible. We were just talking yesterday. My wife and I were just talking yesterday just about how many churches there are. There's churches everywhere, everywhere. There's new churches popping up all over the place all the time. But none of these churches are teaching the Bible. None of these churches that are popping up everywhere are showing people what the Bible says. That's the problem. So it's not going to be made manifest there. The darkness is not going to be made manifest by the light because the light is the Bible. The light is God's word. Look at verse 14. Wherefore, he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give the light. So we can wake people up that are still in the darkness. The Bible is saying here, turn to Proverbs chapter 14. This is why people think, so the Bible here is saying that you shouldn't be part of any of that darkness, but you should rather reprove it. People will think the Bible believing Christian is extreme today.  When these things become normal in society, people look at the Bible believing Christian that doesn't want to have anything to do with that, and they say, that seems extreme. You don't even want to do that. Because what are they doing? They're making light of sin. Because it's been made light, it's been made nothing to them. They haven't had that light shine on the darkness for them. Look at Proverbs chapter 14 and verse number 9. I mean the Bible says in Romans 7.13 it says, the law is used to make sin that it might appear sin. That sin by the commandment might be made exceedingly sinful, the Bible says. That's what the law will do. That's how it will make these things manifest. But unlike that, the devil's philosophy, while God's word will make sin seem exceedingly sinful, the devil wants to make light of sin. And God is saying, don't have any part of it, instead reprove it and make it known so people in the darkness can come out of that. Proverbs 14.9 says, fools, make a mock at sin. This is what the devil starts out doing with everything. He makes it seem like a joke. He makes it seem like it's fun. But among the righteous there is favor. The Bible says, so look, sin always starts as a light thing. Sin always starts as a joke. Sin always starts as something that's portrayed as just fun. It's just a way for kids to get candy. I mean it started out, I remember Halloween decorations when I was a kid with somebody putting like, I mean you all remember this, somebody putting like a cardboard pumpkin in their window. Like these little cheap little cardboard pumpkins. Or a little cartoon witch in a window or something like that. Something that didn't look scary, didn't look bad. I mean we walked by one house the other day like there was like a full-on metal cage hanging from the basketball hoop in the driveway. The cage was like four feet tall, up in the air, and like a rotting corpse inside the thing. I'm just like, hopefully that's not real. But I mean where do you even buy it? I mean is that on Amazon or something? But I mean this stuff is like, can you imagine the money spent on this? Can you imagine, but like just going over the top to just celebrate death like this. But it started out it started out as a joke. It started out as something fun something light. And people still do that today they make light of it. And it went to just celebrating death. And just celebrating like Satan worship and all these terrible things. But ultimately it's just like a celebration like day of the day. It's a celebration of death. Halloween, I mean should death be celebrated? That's the question today. That's the question today. Should death be celebrated? Should a Christian, a Bible-believing Christian, should we celebrate death? Halloween, here's the origins of Halloween. This day marked the end of summer and the harvest in the beginning of the dark cold winter at a time of the year that was often associated with human death. Pagans, the Celts mainly, believed that one night before the new year the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred. And the dead could come back. And on the night of October 31st they celebrated this day when the ghost of the dead returned to earth. This is the origin of Halloween. That's supposed to be fun for kids. The day of the dead is basically, I mean the best way I can explain this without getting into great detail it's like a family reunion for the dead.  But here's the thing, they're both Paggan practices and here's what's super interesting. They're both Paggan ceremonies or celebrations and they were hugely adopted by the Catholic Church. Are you seeing a pattern with the Catholic Church, by the way? The Catholic Church has been adopting Paggan practices and Paggan beliefs since the beginning of its inception. The Paggan, the Catholic Church is literally, the Roman Catholic Church is literally a combination of Paggan beliefs and Christianity. It's like Paggan worship of idols and worship of gods. They mixed that into a blender with Christianity. Now we get worship of saints. We still kept the idols. We'll keep the idols. There's still idol worship. The Catholic Church just adopts Paggan culture everywhere it goes. But the point is the day of the dead in Halloween kind of they both made fun and made a celebration out of death. I mean if you look at, you know, go around we actually, my wife and I actually went to a Mexican grocery store the other day to get some presents to bring up to Canada. And there's just like all these decorated skulls and all these fun decorations of just celebrations of death all over the place for this day of the dead.  You know, and they're just, they're making light of it. What it is, it's making death seem tolerable. It's making death seem not that bad.  It's like this beautifully porcelain painted up artistic skull. It's basically making light of death. In Romans chapter 6, verse number 23, if you're a soul winner, this one you have memorized for sure. But look, how should the unsaved world, how should the unsaved world, let's look at the unsaved world first, how should the unsaved world feel about death? How should they feel? The Bible tells us in Romans 6 23 it says the wages of sin is death. So the Bible here is saying that it doesn't bring up death and we bring this up all, whenever we preach the Gospel to somebody, we will go to this verse as one of the first verses that we go to. The Bible says that yes, death is something that's real. Death is something that's real, but it's actually what you deserve for your sin. So death is the punishment for your sin. The Bible is not talking about just physical death. In Romans chapter 6, in verse number 23, in Romans 2014, another verse that we always will go to when we're soul winning it says, and death and hell were cast into the lake of fire, this is the second death. So there's two deaths.   Look, death and that death, the Bible says, is the penalty for sin which everyone has. So does this sound like good news? Does this sound like let's have a party? This is a very serious thing and this is why we, this is the first thing that we talk to with people when we're out preaching the Gospel. We're telling them this very serious condition that they are currently in. So every unsaved person, every person that is not believed and trusted on the Lord Jesus Christ is currently in that position where they deserve that death, that spiritual death. I mean darkness, just think of the darkness of Halloween and the day of the dead. Halloween is celebrated in the dark. Halloween is complete, I mean we just talked about darkness but every activity even the kids, I mean people are sending their kids out into darkness in Halloween. Turn to Jeremiah chapter 13. Jeremiah chapter 13. I mean there's tons of crime by the way that happens on Halloween in the dark. So darkness is just part of this celebration of death. Look at Jeremiah 13, 16. Look what God says. Give glory to the Lord your God before he caused darkness and before your feet stumble upon the dark mountains and while you look for light he turn it into the shadow of death. Notice how he kind of compares, you know he kind of equates darkness with death and then he says and make it gross darkness. Just associating darkness with death. Bad things always happen in the dark. My dad always told me this. He says nothing good happens after 9.  You think about all the things that sin that happens in the dark. People that go to bars, they're in the dark. People that are in nightclubs, they're in the dark. There was a nightclub across from the old church downtown. And I'm sure I've never been inside that nightclub but looking at the people that went in there it was surely dark in there. I'm telling you because if somebody would have went in there and flipped on the lights everybody would have been like it was definitely dark in that place. Why? Because darkness it covers sin. Darkness, it just it what makes sin manifest? Light. And we are light. Turn to John chapter 3. Turn to John chapter 3. Jesus said this. When he was talking to Nicodemus he said that this was a problem. Right? He said that this was a problem. Jesus comparing himself to the light. Look at John 3 verse 19. Jesus says in this is the condemnation that light has come into the world. But why didn't everyone just accept him? Why didn't everyone just accept Jesus when this light did come into the world? It says in men love darkness rather than light. Why? Why do men love darkness? Because their deeds were evil. Dark things, sin is it grows, it flourishes in the dark. Well spiritually and literally. This is why it's such a great analogy of this light and darkness and God uses it all over the Bible. Look at verse 20. For everyone that doeth evil hateeth the light. Neither cometh to the light lest his deeds should be reproved. Again you know showing that just literal darkness, spiritual darkness. But he the doeth truth cometh to the light. That his deeds may be made again manifest that they are wrought in God. So beware of things going on in the dark. Halloween is celebrated in the dark. Nothing good happens and operate in the light. I've preached a whole sermon on just darkness. So back to the question. Back to the question. Should we, so we see that unbelievers should not, there shouldn't be anything that they are excited about about death. Unbelievers should be fearful of death. You know they should be fearful. But what about us? Turn to Hebrews chapter 2. Turn to Hebrews chapter 2. And look at verse number 14. I was actually, I was telling my wife, I told my wife this after we landed after the last plane ride and we landed and we were walking into the Fresno airport yesterday afternoon. I told my wife I said you know the funny thing about flying in a plane, the funny thing about flying in a plane, air traffic and flying in on a plane is much safer statistically than traveling in a car. Did you know that? It's like way safer. Just on the numbers of people that die flying in planes versus the numbers of people that die traveling in automobiles. But I told my wife this, the funny thing about flying in a plane and I don't know maybe I'm the only one that thinks this, my wife agreed with me, but whenever you're going to take off in a plane you always think I don't know why that is. But whenever you're getting ready to take off in an airplane you always just think when this huge airplane is creaking and coming off the ground you're like pretty much anything mechanically goes wrong right now and we're going to heaven. But I mean you never think about that getting into a car. Even though a plane is way safer and all that. So you think about dying, but how should the Christian feel about death? Look at Hebrews 2 and verse number 14. The Bible says for as much then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood he also himself likewise took part of the same that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death that is the devil. Talking about Jesus here that through his death he destroyed him that had the power of death. So Jesus destroyed him that had the power of death that had the power of death. He's like who has the power of death? Then he explains that is the devil. So the devil the devil has power, the power of death over people that don't have Jesus is what the Bible is saying here. But here's the thing the devil doesn't have that power over me if you're saved today the devil doesn't have that power over you. The devil doesn't have that power of death over believers why? Because Jesus destroyed that. Jesus destroyed that so then look at verse 15 and deliver them who through and this is interesting right here who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. So before you were delivered you should have had fear of death you see what I'm saying? So I ask you the question how should unsaved people feel about death?  Now what about the believer? You say when I'm taking off in that airplane am I just like am I just terrified that I could die? Here's the thing I don't really want to die right now I pray to God a lot of times that he would keep me around for a while so I could serve him with my life so I could raise my children so I could do these things but if I do die in that moment it's like okay I'm going to see Jesus so I don't fear dying I would rather not die now so I could do more for the kingdom of God on earth but I don't fear it and neither should you if you're saved because the devil doesn't have that power over you anymore because for you to die physically is to live eternally that's it that's all it is but people that are not saved should have that fear of death. The Bible says that they will naturally have it. The people that are not as Hebrews 2.15 says they're not delivered yet they're not delivered so those are people without Christ they should fear death they should not be celebrating it it is only Christ that can free from death not some bananas put on a statue that you know not fruits and candy it is nothing for the unsaved world which is the vast majority of people it is nothing for the unsaved world to be celebrating at all nothing. They should be terrified of death they should be terrified of death. Everyone in this world is hanging over a cliff by a thread and a thread that is their physical life and at the bottom of that cliff is hell and eventually the lake of fire but at the bottom of that cliff the only thing is just their next breath and their next breath the only thing keeping them from that is that thread of their physical fragile life which is like a vapor like water spilled on the ground and they are risking hell every moment they are risking eternal damnation every moment they should be terrified of this you're out soul winning everyone will agree with you if you ask people the question you know if you died today a lot of times I'll preface that question with some kind of comment like if the kids like 16 years old or something and I say if you died today I'll say to the kid you know look because you don't know you're a young guy but you don't know if you're gonna you don't know how long you're gonna live everyone will agree with you you will never have anyone say I know that I'm gonna live to be 95 years old because everybody knows inherently in their conscience just like they will freely admit that they are a sinner they know that they have no idea when their last breath will be but no one's really taught them the Bible no one's really shown them the truth shine that light on that darkness that they're in and showed them what's below their feet showed them what's at the bottom of that cliff that they're hanging over this is what we are doing when we go out with the Word of God we are making that we are making what's below their feet manifest to them see that's mean what does it mean to tell people the truth no what's mean is to be some ministry that goes off and and goes along with the world and celebrating the fact that people are hanging over hell it's it's literal madness to be part of this but who wants who wants the Bibles what does the devil want? he wants to keep that covered he doesn't want people seeing what's below their feet he doesn't want people seeing what they're risking turn to Isaiah chapter 8 that's what Halloween the day of the dead let's have a big party and have a family reunion for our dead ancestors you're like what in the world it makes light or it makes a heresy of what's true is what it does look at Isaiah chapter 8 verse 19 Isaiah chapter 8 look at verse 19 God even God's even confused about this God says in Isaiah 8 19 he says and when they shall say to you seek unto them that have familiar spirits these are like witches sorcerers people that are conjuring spirits and unto wizards that peep and mutter should not a people seek unto their God God is saying why aren't people coming to me why are they going to all these devil worshipers and all these people that conjure demons which is what these familiar spirits are and then he says for the living to the dead question mark you know what that means that little phrase there at the end it says for the living to the dead you know what the Bible is saying here about the nation of Israel doing these things and he's saying why would the living want to go to the dead this is like the Christian that is involved in Halloween the saved person that is involved in the day of the dead God's like why would the living go to the dead what why would you do that knowing what you know as a believer why would you do that look this is what Satan's agenda is folks this is to make that eternal danger seem invisible to make that fear that is natural go away to make it seem funny to make it seem fun to cover it with alcohol and parties and costumes and disguises to cover it with these things to take away that fear of that physical death and what comes after this is the agenda of these next couple of days that are celebrated in this country to cover your conscience see the advantage that we have with the gospel is everybody has a conscience this is why we go shine that light and people will be like oh yeah you show them the Bible they'll be like that makes sense because everybody starts with a conscience everybody starts with a law written in their heart so look we shouldn't be celebrating death Christians should not be celebrating death we shouldn't fear death but we should be fearful for the people that should fear death but instead we see people that should fear death and they're starting to celebrate death they're starting to celebrate death now go back to Proverbs chapter 8 there's another level about this there's another level and you will find people out there that actually love death this is another level that's beyond celebrating death but in Proverbs 8 36 the Bible says Proverbs 8 chapter number 36 the Bible says it says he that sineth against me wrong with his own soul and all that hate me love death so we read that in the chapter that we read before the sermon started so the Bible here is equating people that love death with people that hate God there's people out there that love death if they love death they hate God if they hate God they're going to love death those two things are the same turn to Jude turn the book of Jude just right before the book of Revelation you'll find the book of Jude one chapter go to Jude so you got to be aware that there's people like this out there too there's people like this out there as well and they're going to love Halloween these are going to be the people that take all this stuff over the top every day is Halloween for these people every day is celebration of death for these people look at Jude and look at verse number 4 of Jude verse number 4 the Bible says there are certain men crept in unawares who were before of old ordained to this condemnation ungodly men turning the grace of our Lord God into lasciviousness and denying the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ it's not that they didn't they didn't know this is a different group of people this is people that it's not like they didn't know it's not like you go and preach the gospel and they're like oh I had no idea that the Bible said that about sin about death, about these things that we shouldn't be doing this I had no idea just because I didn't know no these people knew and they denied it the Bible says these people knew the word of God and they denied it Jesus Christ is the word of God and Jesus Christ is they denied him though they said no they rejected him look at verse number 11 it says woe unto them for they have gone to the way of Cain and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward and perished in the gainsaying of Korah these are spots in your feasts of charity when they feast with you saying you should have nothing to do with these people these people should not be in church feeding themselves without fear these people don't have fear that conscience is seared in these people and look at this why don't they have fear feeding yourselves without fear clouds are they without water carried about of winds trees whose fruit withereth without fruit twice dead plucked up by the roots these are people that are walking around on the earth right now these are people that their heart is beating and they're on the earth and the Bible is saying they are twice dead you know what that's saying is like the second death has already happened in them it's like they're done they're done there's people on this earth that love death that hate the Lord the Bible says they are twice dead these are the people that have been rejected by God they knew God this is Romans 1 people this is the unnatural these are people they knew God they rejected God they knew what God said they changed what God said they went and they knew who God was and they worshiped something else and not God and God said that's it I've rejected you and they're twice dead people that have experienced the second death before they physically died they hate God and they love death you'll find these people loving death equals hating God Satan worship is real stuff the occult is real a third of the angels went with Satan there is literally hundreds of millions of demons walking around on this earth witches diviners real stuff they're really contacting evil spirits demons they're real why in the world would anyone who calls himself a Christian want to have anything to do with this it's hatred of God turn to Luke 16 there's all these different places poem readers and all this stuff you go around Fresno they're all over the place and they're conjuring you think oh maybe they can conjure my great uncle for me it's not your great uncle because your great uncle is not saved he is somewhere that he can't get out of look at Luke chapter 16 look it doesn't make me happy to tell people that their relatives who weren't saved are in hell but at least we should tell people the truth so they can use that fear to get themselves and their loved ones past from death to life what's evil is not telling people the truth and making light and making a lie of the word of God verse 26 of Luke chapter 16 of course we have the rich man that went to hell and Lazarus went to heaven and the rich man as soon as he's in hell and he realizes that he's in hell and he's there and he can't get out he realizes he's like I want someone to go tell my relatives so they don't end up here look at verse 26 but Abraham says to him besides all this between us and you there's a great go fixed so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot like nobody from heaven can come to you and help you is what Abraham is telling him neither can they pass to us that would come from then it's like there's nothing you could ever do to get out of there is what he tells him and then he says but what about my relatives but what about my relatives he's like they have the law and the prophets you know what the law is the bible you know the prophets are you when you carry the bible you when you knock on somebody's door and you read them the bible you tell them the gospel you are the prophet so who does the unsaved person have they have the bible and they have you that's what the bible says and all these spirits they are demons they are demons that are tricking people they're pulling people into the occult and look there's wicked people out there there's wicked people out there that love this that love this but the bible says those people are twice dead so look should churches have anything to do with this should Christians have anything to do with this you know where you will find the most halloween party signs in Fresno right now in front of churches it's crazy that they say look they say they say we're crazy look you read the bible and you find out what the bible actually says about these things you're just like the bible going saying around you is what you're doing we are not trying to mimic the world here that's what these churches are doing we are an independent fundamental baptist church you know what fundamental means that word fundamental means it is centered around some concept or idea you know what we are centered around the king james bible that's what we are fundamental about we're not fundamental about any bible we would be a changing church maybe we could change bibles every year and then we would our church would look different every year we would do different things we would omit things things would get weirder and weirder we could just change the bible no we are fundamentally centered around the king james bible that is our core principle and that's why from our perspective we see the world going further and further away and that's also why from their perspective looking at us we seem to just get weirder and weirder so we have all these people in the world looking at us going you guys don't do that you don't send your kids you don't let your kids what's going on and we're looking at them going you're crazy you're weird you know it's just like why because we're going like this that's why every year we're further apart every year we're further apart but guess what here's an example in relativity we're the ones that are not moving we've talked about that a lot in this oh you can't tell what's moving and everything's relative no we are centered they are moving away for sure because we're fundamentally centered around the king james bible and god's word does not change god doesn't change that's why you see just these churches it's just not just halloween it's these contemporary churches they're just moving with the culture of the day the rock concerts they're just trying to they're trying to be like the world but just a little bit better than the world so they'll have a halloween party and they'll say no scary costumes so you have to dress your daughter up as a cute witch make sure she's not a scary witch but a cute witch make sure you dress your daughter up as a cute devil worshiper that's what the bible would say even king saul the wicked king of israel put the witches out of the land the bible says suffer not a witch to live that's what god thinks about people that would worship satan it's crazy that churches would go along with this and think that it's okay alright but look turn to hebrus chapter 10 look at verse 25 we go to this verse a lot but I just want to point out the last part of this verse hebrus chapter 10 and verse 25 we're moving further and further apart from the world because the world is moving further and further away from god and we are centered on god but look at hebrus 10 25 the bible talks about the importance of assembling as a church it says not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is but exhorting one another and then look what it says here at the end it's such a smart and practical verse here it says much the more as you see the day approaching it's saying the bible knows here that the world is going to get worse and worse and worse and that way it's telling us that that church and being centered around other believers that are going to exhort you in your faith is going to be so much more important as they get for as the world gets further away from you so as the world gets weirder and weirder and in five years people start identifying as animal animals and furniture and whatever else and people are like you don't think it's normal that my son thinks he's a couch and we're like no I think that's weird I think it's unnatural and there's 300 genders when today there's 50 and it was like well you don't think there's 300 genders no I think there's two I mean the world is going to get weird and look it's more important that we're around like minded believers when things get crazier and crazier and crazier and look we need to be reproving those things we need to be reproving those things because look there's a lot of people getting hurt a lot of people getting hurt when they're talking about turning a little boy and giving him chemicals and mutilating surgeries and people are talking about this today and somebody needs to be saying this is crazy this is child abuse this is evil before it gets weirder and weirder and weirder and you know it's not something that we need to shine the light on these things because there is no other light except us so we need to be sticking together as a church learning the Bible, studying the Bible shining our light everywhere we can find it because there's darkness all around turn to Matthew 22 verse 32 or just look at the front of your bulletin back to Halloween and the day of the dead Matthew 22 32 or the front of your bulletin the verse of the week says I am the God of Abraham the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob God is not a God of the dead but of the living and anybody that we can show the truth to that will then trust on the Lord Jesus Christ can move from that darkness to light they can move from that death to life and that is what we are to do the God frees people from death but death is very serious to the unsaved it's not something to joke about and make light of Satan wants the lost to remain dead because he's dead because he ends up in the lake of fire I mean we should not be celebrating death churches these churches that have all these signs out for trunk or treat most of them don't have the right gospel anyway but it is just pitiful if there is a church out there preaching the true gospel and they are involved in any way in this celebration of Halloween or the day of the dead it is, it sickens me because they should have nothing to do with it it needs to be reproved not joined not fellowshiped with so look we need to be getting the news of this to the dead so they can be brought to life it's a very serious thing we're going to celebrate the seasons changing tonight because God gave us the seasons so as we celebrate going into fall tonight praise God for the seasons praise God for this beautiful creation that he gave us for the blessings that he gives us for the fruits and the vegetables and everything that is good that comes from God that's what we will celebrate as Christians


Hey everyone, welcome back to my channel. I hope you're good. Welcome back to my channel. Or welcome if you're new. And today we are gonna be going through my 2021 reading goals. That's quite dramatic.  I just feel like there's a tendency to like come up with goals. And I just need my reading to be realistic this year. So my goals are things that I think I'm kind of gonna do anyway, but also there's a few things in there that will push me a little bit. We're back in Leeds by the way. I'm having to get used to the awful lighting situation in Leeds basically.  So nasty and so rude. In my flat here in Leeds, that whole wall is a window and you may think Megan that's great for lighting. Apart from, it's like facing where the sun is. And so if the sun's behind a cloud, it's like, oh my God, lovely diffused lighting. But if the sun is like straight out there, like if the sun is not behind anything, I can't have the blinds open and film because I will not be able to see. So we're just having to use other lighting. So I think the title of this is going to be something like reading less this year. Very dramatic. And so the amount of books I want to read this year are... Don't read anything. If you don't read it, it can't harm you. 100 books. 100 was my goal last year. I think if my reading keeps going the way it is right now, it's a nice goal to have. I did end up reading 131 books last year. And I think there's a tendency on BookTube to always want to read more than you have already, especially for me as someone who's like made massive gains in how many books I read every year so far. So in 2018, I read 15 books. In 2019, I read 80 books. And then in 2020, I read 131 books. So that's a massive increase each time. And so part of me is like, what if I read like 180? I'm really interested in having that conversation. I have to tell you that. But it's just not going to be realistic for me. I am going to be in my final year of uni this year. Let's not talk about it. Well, I already am in my final year, but it's going to amp up how busy I am in these kind of first few months of the year from like January to May. I just think I'm not going to be able to read as much as I have been reading. And then after that, do I find a job? But like, what? I know a lot of things, but I don't know about that. I'm not sure why. Obviously the kind of job climate everywhere is awful at the moment because of COVID. So I don't know what the world and my life is going to look like beyond June onwards really. So I don't think I even want to try and go that much about 100 if we're being realistic. Even if I scrape 100 by reading like four graphic novels on the 31st of December, I'm happy with that. A big, big goal of mine this year is to read more new releases as they come out. So I don't think I'm very good at this. I don't think I read that many new releases last year. I don't know, I didn't end up tracking my reading, which we'll get onto. However, I feel like as a Bookshoe channel, you kind of want to hear about new releases from me.  Hang on, I'm going to try and fix this. Just come over this way a bit. Then you just see my radiator. Oh my God. Right, we're just going to live with it. What's fair? Right. Life's not fair. Basically, I feel like as a Booktuber, I have a responsibility to tell you about new releases that are coming out and review them. And that's what I want to do. I just never end up getting round to it. So this year, I'm going to try and not really buy many backlist books, apart from if it's like series that I'm currently reading that I want to make progress in. Other than that, I'm really going to try and not buy too many backlist books. And I'm going to try more so and buy just a few new releases every month. I don't want it to be like crazy. I don't want it to be unmanageable. But I would say I'm going to try and get like two to three new releases a month and fit them into my reading somehow. So yeah, trying not to buy too many backlist, reading more new releases this year. Tied into that, I actually want to track my reading this year. I've said in the past that I want to do it and then I'm going to do it and then I never end up doing it. I'm going to be using Allie from Hardback Hordes spreadsheet which she has amazingly made. I would really recommend if you want to track your reading to go check it out. It's such an amazing way to track your reading. So I'm going to be using that like I actually need to do it this year. Wishful thinking. Yeah.  You dream a lot in your sleep. No, not really. Yes, you do. Like I actually want to do it. I always say I'm going to do it and I never do it. So I need to start the year strong. I need to put my first couple of books in there soon. Then just every time I read a book, just put an end there rather than like letting 10 stack up and then never doing it. And then this will allow me to fulfill my next couple of goals. The first of which is in terms of genres. There's two genres I want to read more of this year. The first is romance and the second is horror. I think I read maybe like three each but I want to read more of them. I want to be a romance horror. So bad. But I don't think I actually own any romance with horror. I got a lot for Christmas. So I'm really excited that I'm like set up for some good horror reads. But I don't think I actually own any romance books. So let me know your recommendations down below for anything I'd enjoy. I have, I think it's his Beauty by Jack Harbin. I have an e-arc of that which I need to read. But that's it. That's all I have. So please give me recommendations for romance books you think I'd enjoy. They're just two genres I don't read much of and if you know me, you know. I love to read like loads of genres. Like I like to dip my toe in pretty every, pretty much every genre. I feel like that just keeps me excited to read and makes me look forward to reading. So yeah, I just want to read some more of them. So let me know if you have any recs for either that you think I'd enjoy. They will be going straight on my wish list, straight on my TBR. Anyway, so I'm in control but I'm out of control and I'm also controlled. So in a way I'm everything. And then my second tracking goal is I want to be reading at least 50% non-white authors a month. There were some months I was doing this in 2020 but I just want to make this a sustained thing. I just want to be reading as diverse as possible and I think there's so many amazing stories out there that we need to speak about. And I think as a booktuber as well, I want to be promoting diverse stories to all of you guys. I also want to read more LGBT books this year. I don't think I read enough of them. Oh, and I, sorry. I forgot I have one other genre goal and that is to be start picking up non-fiction again. I love non-fiction. Like I love it. I love it. I mean, I'm so passionate about it. I used to read 50% non-fiction, 50% fiction before I started my channel. And then because I do themed reading vlogs, they're just hard to fit into them. And also I think on booktube there is just a pressure to just read fiction. However, I love it. I love non-fiction so much. I love learning. I love educating myself. I love reading about different things. And so I just want to try and get to one non-fiction a month at least. And then my last reading goal is to try and read 80 pages a day. I think on average, I do tend to read like if you top up all of my reading for a month. I usually average out about 120 pages a month between 110 and 120 pages a day. But I just want to start reading a fair amount every day. This previously hasn't been the way I read. I will often read like nothing for two days and then read like 300 pages in one day. That's just the way I've read. But I want it to be more sustained. This hasn't started off well the start of the year. I've been in a little bit of a mini slump at the start of the year. I don't really know why. Just this first week of the year. It's nothing major. Like I have read two books already this year. But I'm finding that I can only really pay attention to audiobooks. Like I'm really struggling to read physically. I don't really know why. Hopefully I'll get over that soon. Delusion, convince yourself. I do have a couple YouTube girls. I understand this isn't gonna be stuff everyone wanna watch. You can check on out if you want. Like I'll get it, I'll get it. My first YouTube goal is my subscriber goal. Now I feel kind of weird setting these. Like we're at a point now where my head can't really wrap around the number. And I know like it's not that high. Like I know people have like a lot higher on YouTube but like just even 9,000 people. By the way, I haven't said thank you on here. I do tend to say thank you like on Twitter. But like 9,000 is crazy. And honestly I can't emphasize through enough how much Booktube has like changed my life and doing Booktube and all your support and engaging with you. I feel so lucky, like 9,000 of you. I just can't wrap my head around it. So thank you for just hitting 9K, just reaching 9K. So like subscriber goals are always a bit, I always feel too hopeful. Like I always feel ridiculously hopeful setting them. Last year my end of year goal was 5K. And then we ended up hitting almost 9K by the end of last year. Like I think we hit 9K maybe five days into the year. This year that was crazy. Like my channel grew so much last year. So my goal for this year for subscribers is 15K. And like my head like past 10K, like the fact that we're only 1,000 away from 10K. Like I can't really compute it. Like I can't really imagine that many people. So 15K is a bit of an arbitrary number but I would like to sustain growth on my channel. I think that's normal. I'm just putting it out into the universe. You may say I'm a dreamer. I do want to get better with my branding. Like this is so boring. This is like none of you will care. No one will care. Clap if you care. Clap if you, clap if you care. But I wanna like, you don't understand how to redo my header, my channel header, my video intro and my end screen has been on my to-do list for four months every week. Like every week I do a weekly to-do list. It's been on there every week. Does it ever get done? No, because I'm terrified. I need to just do it.   I made them in like 20 minutes when I started my channel a year and a half ago. And I think they're ugly and they're basic. Like I don't like them at all. But I just never get round to redoing them. So I wanna have a bit of like a branding overhaul. This is so boring. But I just wanna take the time to find fonts I really like and just create a cohesive branding for the channel for editing purposes, for thumbnail purposes. Like I just think I need a bit of an overhaul in all of that. Cause I just feel like it's looking a bit stale. She was looking a bit crunchy, a little bit dusty. I feel like. And my last general like create-ish, create-ish? Negative. Creative goal is I wanna start using Bookstagram again. I don't use it. But luckily a lot of you follow me over there. So I feel like I should start using it again and engaging with you and like posting stuff. I get overwhelmed at the thought of taking photos. Like I get really overwhelmed because there's some people on Bookstagram obviously who create these like works of art. And then I'm over there like. How does that work? This is not for me. No. That's like a general goal. I wanna stop being afraid of Bookstagram and I just wanna start doing it. So that was all of my 2021 reading and bookish and creator goals. Let me know what some of yours are down below. I would love to know. If you've reached the end of this video, what's a random emoji I like? Hang on. Oh, put the like fingers crossed emoji. Cause we're like hoping it's gonna happen. I'm hoping I'm gonna actually do all these goals because I don't think I did all my goals last year. I'm not reacting to it. We're not looking at that. We're not looking at that. I'm hoping these are goals I can actually stick to. So put the fingers crossed emoji and let me know what some of your reading goals for this year are down below. I'm so excited for this year together. I can't wait.  We have the best time. And thank you so much for watching. I will see you very soon. Bye.


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