Veteran's Day (ft. John George)

Welcome back, everyone. Today is Friday, November the 11th. I'm Ryan Hill.

I'm John Galantis. You're listening to Clearview Today with Dr. Abbadon Shah, the daily show that engages mind and heart for the gospel of Jesus Christ. You can find us online at ClearviewTodayShow.com, or if you have a question for Dr. Shah, anything you'd like to write in and suggest that we talk about, send us a text at 252-582-5028.

You can also email us at contact at ClearviewTodayShow.com. Follow Dr. Shah on his blog at AbbadonShah.com, and you can support us financially at ClearviewTodayShow.com. There's a button there to donate and to give, and every donation you make goes not only to supporting this show, but supporting countless other ministries for the building of the kingdom of God. That's right, and we're incredibly grateful for all of the donations that we've already received, all of the contribution, all of the partnership that you guys have shown us. You know, I think that's one thing that Ryan always hits on, is it is a partnership between creators and consumers, in a way, because you guys are not only consuming the word, but you're also helping to spread the word.

You're also helping to get the gospel out there to the people who need to hear it, and there are people who need to hear it in this nation, in this country. So we want to thank you guys for partnering with us in that way. Thank you for your obedience to God and helping us make this show possible every single day.

That's right, absolutely. We couldn't do it without you. And you can help us keep the conversation on the airwaves by supporting this podcast, by sharing it online, share it with your friends and family, and leave us a good review on iTunes or any other podcasting platform. That really is so helpful for us.

Leave us a rating and a review. It helps keep the podcast visible. The way that iTunes and other platforms work is the more ratings and more reviews a podcast gets, it's going to shuffle to the top of the feed. That's right.

So it just helps keep it visible, keeps it in front of people's faces. So help us in keeping that conversation alive. If you haven't done so already, leave us a rating and a review. And I did get a pretty strongly worded letter from iTunes saying that if we didn't have a thousand reviews by the end of the fourth week of our show, that they would take us off the air.

Oh, no. They are very well, I sent I sent a lot of bragging letters to them, like a lot of a lot of really harshly worded emails. So this was less policy. This was less iTunes policy and more retaliation. They're petty. They're petty. I hate to hear it.

iTunes, if you're listening, we're sorry. We don't think you're actually petty. Mr. Jobster, do you want to hit them with the verse of the day? Yeah, absolutely. So the verse of the day today comes from First Timothy chapter four verse 10. For to this end, we both labor and suffer reproach because we trust in the living God who is the savior of all men, especially of those who believe.

Amen. That's encouraging because a lot of times we go through life and we think that all of these sufferings are just something to get through. It's just something I got to grit my teeth and get through because it's just unpleasant and it's something that it's something that I have to see to the end, but that completely removes God from the situation.

You know, Timothy's or Paul is reminding us that we labor and we suffer reproach because we're not in, not even though we trust in God, but because we trust in God. That's why that stuff is going to happen. That's right. Yeah. It gives a point to everything that we go through, good and bad.

There's, there's a reason for it and it's pushing us closer to new relationship with Christ. That's right. John, you got something on the desk with you today. What, what's, uh, what's just my fault? No, no. Oh, shoot. Yeah.

Yeah. It's a David McCullough 1776. Dr. Shaw recommended this book to me a few weeks ago. I've been reading through it. Um, it's a, I don't know if I'd say it's a retelling of the revolutionary war. Um, it's just sort of a chronicle of events, but it's, it's, if you've never read, uh, any of David McCullough's work, I have to say he is one of the most talented historical writers that I've ever read. Really? Um, yeah.

Dr. Shaw could not recommend this guy enough. And um, I thought it was kind of fitting just to kind of talk about it because all of our episodes this week have been centered around, uh, politics, America, patriotism with all the election, that kind of stuff going on. So I am really, really enjoying this book. I read it once in high school, just kind of skimmed it, but I'm really, really loving it.

Nice. I've never read it. So is it like historical fact? Is it like historical fiction?

It's fact for sure. It's written like a novel, like it's written in sort of a way that makes it, um, compelling and engaging, like you're following characters rather than, Hey, here's when this event happened. And because of this, then the British had to do this. It's actually following the characters and their goals and their like aspirations. And so like, here's where Washington is emotionally. And so here's what he wants to do to like get across the river.

He's, he's trying to accomplish this goal. So I'm putting my care into a character rather than just, Hey, here's what the Americans did and here's what the British did and they suffered this defeat and how, how engaging can that possibly be? But I care about Washington.

I care about Ben Franklin and Sam Adams and all these guys. So it's, it's very unique in that way. Very cool. Well, and that's especially fitting for today's episode. Of course, today is Veterans Day. We're recognizing those in our community who have served in the armed forces who, uh, who gave up their freedoms in a sense to protect the freedoms that you and I enjoy. And we've got Dr. Shaw coming in the studio as well as a special guest to talk more about Veterans Day.

If you've got any questions or suggestions for topics, you can text us at 252-582-5028 or visit us online at clearveetodayshow.com. We're going to grab Dr. Shaw and our guest and we'll be right back. What will people say about you when the crisis is over? Will they say that you lived out what you proclaimed all your life? Will they say that your actions matched your confession?

Ultimately, what will God say about you? Not only that, but as a Christian, are you being a lighthouse for others during the storm? Dr. Abaddon Shaw and his wife Nicole have composed a book of 30 daily devotions to help you navigate your faith through whatever crisis you may be facing. The book is called 30 Days Through Crisis, Daily Devotions to Navigate Your Faith. Our prayer is that as you read this book, God will guide and strengthen you through His Word into the image of His Son by the Holy Spirit.

That's 30 Days Through Crisis, and you can pick up your copy on Amazon right now. Let us know how it's helped you by emailing us at info at clearviewbc.org. And don't forget, you can also support what we're doing at Clearview by visiting us at clearviewbc.org forward slash give.

Thanks for listening. Now back to the show. Welcome back to Clear View Today with Dr. Abaddon Shaw, the daily show that engages mind and heart for the gospel of Jesus Christ. You can visit us online at clearviewtodayshow.com or send us a text at 252-582-5028. Of course, Dr. Shaw is with us in the studio today. Absolutely. And if you guys have never seen Dr. Shaw's work before, never seen the show, never listened to the show, Dr. Shaw is a PhD in New Testament textual criticism.

He's a professor at Carolina University, an author, pastor, and the host of today's show. You still didn't do the snap. I keep forgetting to do the snap. You know why I didn't do the snap?

Because I didn't have the run sheet up, and I did that from memory. That's the first time I've done it from memory, yes. Very impressive.

Yes. Very impressive. Were you impressed, Mr. John George?

Oh, most definitely. Thank you, sir. Thank you, sir. Well, we do have a very special guest with us today.

Mr. John George is on the podcast with us. Welcome. We are so glad that you're here today. Thank you. Good to be here. Awesome. Thank you for joining us. And Dr. Shaw, I know you've known Mr. John George and his wife Mary Beth for a little while.

Yes. I've known them. I've known them prior to coming to Clear View through their daughter Sarah and their son-in-law, Andrew. And so I had seen them. I had brief encounters with them. And then there was that Sunday morning, you were in the lobby. I don't know if you remember that.

Yes, I do. Very well. And I said, Mr. John. And you just waved.

And so we reconnected and got to know them so much more. And I just have to say it again. You guys have been a blessing to us. You have been a blessing to us as well. Thank you, sir.

Thank you, sir. We are so glad that God has knit us together, brought us together. And I believe it's for a great purpose. And we don't have to wait for that purpose has already begun. The teaching you're giving in our Sunday school, and of course the men's Bible study, and of course your wife being involved and your daughter being involved and your son-in-law and your grandson, whole family is involved.

So we're so excited. I actually have a funny story about Sarah, your daughter. One of the very first times we ever met her.

She plays for everybody who's, I mean, we all know, but for anybody who's listening Sarah, Mr. John George's daughter plays piano on the worship team here at Clearview. And so she came up to me and she was like, you know, I do, I play a little piano. I was like, oh really? She was like, I mean, I taught for a few years. So I was like, oh, okay.

Yeah, that's cool. I was like, do you want to come to one of our rehearsals and just maybe sit in, just see what it's like? She was like, yeah, sure. So we were all playing.

And so our sound guy is mixed is in the back and he's got it to where on the soundboard, he can press a button and just solo out one person to listen to it. So he came to me after I was like, all right, Sarah, bye. And everybody left and Chad, our sound guy comes up to me and he goes, you know, I soloed that new piano player. And I was like, yeah, I was like, he was like, dude, he was like, you better beg her to stay. He was like, he said that was inhuman. And I was over the, over the months, he was right.

I started to see he was right. She is incredible piano player. She loves it. Yeah. Amen. God's blessed her. Amen. Yes.

He's blessed all of you. It was a, you know, I don't play anything. My wife. So she's a piano player. Yes. For a long time ago, Sarah's teacher. Okay.

We learned something today. She went to college and took music there. Okay. I didn't know it. Sarah did.

Not my wife. Gotcha. Gotcha.

Gotcha. Okay. Wow. Cool. Wow. That's amazing. Well, uh, you know, as, as much as we want to continue talking about your family and the various musical talents, we have you on the show because today is veterans day.

Yes. Um, and you know, we, we learned not too long ago that you were in the army for several years for a long time and we're thankful for your service. Uh, you know, veterans day is a chance for us to, you know, honor those men and women who have served, who have defended our freedoms that we, you know, treasure so greatly in this country. Um, so we wanted to invite you on the show and just give you a chance to share about your experience so we can learn from you, learn what your experience with the army was like and kind of how that shaped you. Well, it, it shaped me all right. But you know, throughout, throughout my whole time in the army, I saw God working in my life constantly.

And you know, we talked about when, when you were doing the 23rd Psalm about God's provision and his protection. And, and I could see that real alive right when I was in the army. I joined the army out of a year of college.

I joined it because the college I was in was a very liberal arts college. It was a very leftist and, uh, their views and my views didn't seem to, um, sync up very well. And, uh, about, I guess about two thirds the way through my second semester, I found out that a very dear friend of mine that, um, that I was in high school with was killed in Vietnam. Oh no.

And I said, I've had enough of this. So the Vietnam war was already going on at this point. Oh yeah.

I joined the army in June of 67. Okay. Wow.

I know that sounds like a long time. It's in the height of a world chaos. That's what was going on.

Yeah. But when David was killed, I said, this, this, this does it. So I joined the army and, um, they gave me tests and you know, they said, listen, you, you did well on these tests. We want to send you to officer candidate school. I said, sure, that's fine.

I didn't know what it was doing anyway. So, uh, I joined in and went to basic training to start with about two thirds of the way through basic training. Commanding officer called me and said, uh, your officer candidate school has been canceled. Really? Why?

Because they had enough second lieutenants to slaughter over there. I'm sorry that got political, but, uh, so he said, we will send you to any school you want to go to anywhere. And I said, well, you know, what's the best electronic school that you have? Okay.

He said, well, it's a group called the army security agency schools in Boston or outside of Boston and air place called air Massachusetts. And, but you have to extend your enlistment. And I said, okay, how long?

That is just a year. I'll do it. No problem. So the school didn't start in time. So they sent me after basic, they sent me to advanced infantry training. Okay. You talking about fun. Yeah. All right.

Land navigation, shooting, uh, larger weapons than you learn to shoot in basic training. It was, it was, it was recreational to me. Okay.

Of course. Now when I went into the army, I weighed 135 pounds. I was tiny. So they fed me more than I could possibly eat.

Really good food. Yeah. If you were overweight and you got spoons. Yeah. If you were 135 pounds, they pound it.

They just be fortunate that out. So I gained weight like crazy. It was exercising every day, doing great things like pugil sticks, beating each other with pugil sticks. Really fun. Yeah.

I thought it was camp. Yeah. You were right out of college. So 19, 20 years old. Yeah. I was 19 years old. 19. Yeah.

Yep. And so after, after advanced infantry training, they sent me to air mass and I went into, uh, into electronic school and it was seven days a week, eight, 10 hours a day, constant electronics beginning to end. No liberal arts, none whatsoever.

All science, math and electronics. Wow. Wonderful. No, I was going to say, did you know at that point when you were doing that, did you know that you were going to Vietnam or was that, so you didn't know you were going? No clue.

No clue. And there's a story behind that too. But, uh, anyway, they, um, they, they were trained in electronics. I was having a ball. It was, the academics were easy, really stressful, but about two thirds through that, uh, they came to, someone came to the class said, uh, you're needed in such and such room. And so I went to that room and there were two guys in there in suits and they asked questions of me for hours.

Really very personal, personal questions. And they said, well, if you're chosen, we have another thing we want you to do. And I said, well, that's fine.

Yeah. Found out later that they had sent the FBI into my community and ask everybody in community, my community about me. Oh, really? They sent the FBI to your family and friends?

They certainly did. And so they, my family and my friends and my neighbors. And so I graduated from electronic school and I got my orders and surprisingly enough, my orders sent me to the Pentagon. Oh, really? I'm learning new stuff. Very interesting. So I went, I went to the Pentagon and went to a room where they trained me in other things other than electronics. And I was there for a couple of months being trained to all by myself.

And what is things other than electronic? Are you at liberty to say or not really? No, not really.

I got you. But it was, it was, um, maybe you tell me off mic. When, when I finished with that, I took a couple of weeks leave and got orders to go to Ethiopia. Now at that time, Ethiopia, uh, had a province called Eritrea at the North and now of course that's a country. He's a country now.

And at that time it was a province of Ethiopia. Okay. And so there was a small outpost of army there and our mission was to monitor things.

Oh wow. And so I was in the electronic side of it, establishing sites that monitor things. Right. And that was in one area. And then in another area we had parabolic dishes that monitored satellites. Enemy satellites, y'all satellites, all satellites?

Not ours. So we were, we were, we would monitor anytime communications. That is insane. That's really insane.

I don't know it for a fact, but I was told that our unit, the army security agency was a part of the NSA, the national security agency, the military. Wow. So anyway, we were, we were monitoring things.

Wow. Just listening, listening out, making sure everything's cool. Make sure everything's cool. Make sure everybody was behaving. And when, what happens, what happens if you're monitoring something and what happens if you're monitoring something and something ain't cool? You just, someone was tasked to take care of it. Someone's going to go handle that.

It would be, I got you. Wow. So how long, how long were you, um, in active duty? How long were you serving for? Four years. Four years. Okay. Four years. Wow.

Yeah. What was the, I guess the most significant moment during those four years for you? What was the moment where you're like, yeah, this is, this is why I'm here. This is what I'm supposed to be doing.

Oh, great question. There were three of us in Ethiopia. It was two segments, Ethiopia and then Vietnam. But, uh, there was three of us and we were, we were in a jeep and we were heading from Asmara, Ethiopia, which is part of Eritrea and headed to the Blue Nile Falls, which Pastor Shaw, you mentioned in your Egypt. I did.

I did. So we were, we, we headed to the Blue Nile Falls. Well, there were no paved roads.

It was, it was all just cart paths. And so it's, I suppose it's probably two or three hundred miles as the crow flies, but it was going to take us three days to get through the jeep. And so we, we spent the night at, at, um, at Intense out of the boondocks our car. But we were, we were on our way and the generator on our jeep died.

We were running off a battery and we were in the middle of nowhere. Yeah. Wow.

I can't imagine. So to tell you how God's provision works, I mean, it's just amazing. We went through this small town called Enda Selassie. I mean, it was all mud huts and nothing, but there beside this path going, which is main street Enda Selassie was a World War II jeep buried in the mud up to its axles. And it had been there since World War II. Wow. They just left it.

Oh yeah. They just left it. It had been there for decades. And so we stopped and we looked and lifted the hood on this old thing. It creaked badly and looked in there and it, the generator looked like the same kind of generator was in ours.

I see the light bulb happen. I think we can really capitalize on this. So what we did was we, we started asking around and, and asking people, you know, who owns this jeep?

We want to buy the generator. No one, no one spoke one word of English. So we said, Oh, okay. So we got out of toolbox and we just took this off your hands. Yeah, really. Cause it was obviously it had been there.

Never moved. And so we were taking the generator out of the thing buried in the mud, but it wasn't muddy. I mean, it, because Ethiopia was in a horrible, I need to say this.

Ethiopia was in a horrible drought at that time. I remember reading about that. Oh yeah.

It was bad. So, so all of a sudden we look up and here stands this gentleman beside us, very large gentleman. And he, in very good English described to us his mission in life, which used to be the sheriff for that town. Really?

Okay. So he arrested us and he took us, he took us to his... I did not expect the story to go that way. So y'all got arrested for that. He took us to the, to the station there and we were sitting there just trying to behave ourselves.

And another gentleman came into the, into the room. You said it was three of you guys? Yes, three of us.

Was one of them your CEO or were you the CEO? Oh no, no, I wasn't. We were all together. So the gentleman came in and he talked to the sheriff there. And when he finished talking to the sheriff, he said, come with me. And so he took us to a remote wall. It was a walled house.

He took us through in the door of the wall into this immaculate house. I mean, it was just beautiful. I mean, it was just fantastic. And we met the prince of that province. Oh wow. Oh wow. Oh yeah. Wow. And he said, come in, let's have dinner. We'll talk. And so he, he gave us a great dinner.

It was fantastic. And so he said to us, we are having serious trouble. Our people are dying because they have no water. So if you will promise that when you get back to your base that you will tell your commanding officer that we need well drilling rigs, then tonight about midnight, you can go down there, take the generator out, swap it with yours. Yeah. Off you go. So we said, oh yes, we will help you. Of course. 100% scouts honor.

Scouts honor. So we, we did, we got the generator, put it in our, put it in our Jeep, worked like a champ. Even after all those years, generated current.

It was great. They don't make it like that anymore. They do not. Unbelievable. We made it all the way to the blue Nile falls and all the way back to Asmara and reported what we, what had happened. And then it wasn't long after that I got orders to go to Vietnam. So I have no clue whether they ever got to it or not on the list that somebody may have done something for them.

I hope so too. Our relationship with Ethiopia at that time was phenomenally strong. Really? We were really, really good allies.

I didn't meet Haile Selassie who was the emperor of Ethiopia, but I was within distance just like you and me. Yeah, of course. Wow. So it was, it was a real, a real adventure. You know, Dr. Shaw, one thing you said on the Monday show, and I kind of mentioned this yesterday with Ms. Woodson, but one thing you said on Monday that's, I think at the heart of really this whole week, because this was election week, this was a week that we really wanted to get at the heart of what we're talking about here. You said that, you know, when I decided to become a citizen of this nation, it wasn't because I wanted the benefits or I wanted this. It was because I knew that if I wanted to serve my country, this is the way to go about doing it.

Right. For me, it was, um, after 9-11 that I made the decision to become an American citizen because you know, now it's no longer, well, I can be a citizen here, there, whatever. It's time to choose. If my country ever called me, which one will I go to help? And I chose, prayerfully chose the United States to be my country. And, and I believe the best decision I ever made.

Beautifully. And, um, so, you know, it changed the way I saw people who had served because they served for my freedom. You know, it's because of the sacrifices they made. Uh, now this is Veterans Day. People often confuse Memorial Day and Veterans Day. Two different things, folks.

Don't confuse them. Veterans are those who are still living. Memorial is for those who are passed away, but either way, for those who are willing to go and give their life that I'm grateful for what you've done. And so, so I'm thankful. Thank you. I'm thankful because it's given chance and opportunity to me and my family to live in this great nation and to take so many freedoms for granted, but it's because someone paid the price and to the generations many have, but especially the veterans today.

Thank you. I appreciate that greatly. I will never forget standing in a room with, I don't know how many other men with their hands up, taking the oath to protect and serve and stand to protect the constitution against enemies, both foreign and domestic. I'll never forget that as long as I live. I still believe in that oath. How do you think that oath and that those memories shaped you as a Christian?

Oh, seeing God work in my life, just the event with Ennis Elassie in Vietnam, it was over and over again where his cloak of protection over me was physical. When you get dumped in the wrong place by a confused helicopter pilot and you're all alone all night long with a con ex full of equipment and they come back and get you the next day apologizing. I mean, we're laughing today, but I can just imagine being in a foreign place. I mean, we walk out into the woods after 10 o'clock at night. I mean, you realize the fear, but imagine being in a foreign country where enemy combatants are all around and their objective is to take you out and you're out there all alone.

I mean, that's, talk about fear. You know the blessing that I got in Vietnam? It was not only with combatants. I was surrounded by combatants every time I went out into the field, but I never had to pull the trigger. But the interesting thing about that is everyone that was over there had a mission to do. And so everything that happened over there, you had the mission and you were a part of it.

So if there's guilt to be had, it lands on me just as much as them. If there's any gain to be had, I'm thankful for it. It was a blessing to serve this country.

You really won't, you won't hear that much these days. That's a very rare point of view. That's amazing. This is powerful.

Those three sentences you just made are powerful very much. Thank you for that. Very much. Thank you. Thank you for your service. Thank you for being on the show today.

Absolutely. My pleasure. Sitting next to a man who's wrapped elbows with princes and emperors.

In the last show we had somebody from the Pentagon as well. But so this is, we are so blessed. Thank you. Thank you. Absolutely.

We are, you're no more blessed than we are to be here under y'all's leadership. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Bless my family greatly. Thank you. And I will be forever grateful to you guys. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. If you guys have any questions about today's episode, send us a text at 252-582-5028 or again, you can email us at contact at clearviewtodayshow.com. And don't forget, you can visit that same website clearviewtodayshow.com to support us financially, to partner with us in reaching the nations with the gospel of Jesus Christ. Mr. John George, do you have any last minute advice for us today?

We'll never cross the ocean standing on the beach watching the waves roll in. Oh, man. I like that. I love that.

That's awesome. If I may translate, I think what he's saying is get to work. Get to work.

Get to work. But there's so much truth in that. That's true.

So much truth in that. Thank you. Wow. We really need to work on like some sort of merch line for Clearview Today's show. I can see a t-shirt. Yeah, I'm seeing a t-shirt with John George in a bow. Like the back of my laptop.

He's got his like leg up. I like it. I like it. That's awesome. We love you guys. We'll see you next week on Clear View Today.