Let's be honest, Christmas season can turn ministry into controlled chaos. We're talking about extra services, we're talking about special programs, last-minute changes to the order of service. It can be a lot. But how do we maintain a standard of excellence when everything feels rushed? Dashing all the way coming up right now on the PV Today.
You're listening to Clearview Today with Dr. Abadan Shah, the daily show that engages mind and heart for the gospel of Jesus Christ. I'm Ryan Hill. I'm John Galantis. Merry, Merry Christmas to you guys.
We are chugging along through this week, chugga, chugga, choo-choo style. We've got a lot of great conversations. We've been having a lot of great conversations here on the show. We're going to have another one today. But before we do that, we want to introduce our host, Dr.
Abadan Shah. If you're listening for the very first time today, Dr. Shah is a PhD in New Testament textual criticism, professor at Carolina University author, full-time pastor, and the host of today's show, Dr. Shah. Merry Christmas, bye.
Oh, Merry Christmas. Oh, Merry Christmas. Ryan has a new rule where each episode has to be opened up with Merry Christmas. Because we don't just say Merry Christmas on Christmas. You say it all through December.
Can I be honest with you? Yeah, go for it. I have been starting Sunday school every weekend with my 6th through 12th graders with Merry Christmas since before Thanksgiving. Oh, my goodness. Wow.
They love it. Since the weekend before Thanksgiving, I was like, what's up, guys? Happy Sunday. Merry Christmas. It's good to see you.
Just kind of like rolling through it. Do you take pride in, or are you a little bit ashamed of being like the Christmas guy? I'm the guy. Oh, no. I take pride.
You love it. Absolutely. You really, really like it. I have Christmas Light decals on my car as we speak. Because I'm.
A humbug. I am a little bit of a Grinch and a humbug, but I am a little ashamed of it because here in the South, people don't like humbugs. You need to, you need to buy into the Christmas. That's right. Like, I'm all for Christmas, not even just the day of like that week is Christmas, and I'm okay with that.
Other than that, Ellie put up a... I'm sorry, you said week, and I think what you meant to say is quarter of the year. Ellie put up a little sign on our on our um Our couch side table that says absolutely no humbugs allowed. And I said, Ellie, I gotta tell you, baby, this feels a little targeted. She's like, well, if the shoe fits.
That's right. That's right. Dr. How's your Christmas prep going? It's going well.
So far, things are going well. We're busy. We're busy more. In trying to help families in need, we do a lot. I mean, a lot.
I was just talking to Ryan right before our show started that I had taken one of our contributors around to show where we had kept bags and bags of things per family. And in each bag, there were names of children, sizes, ages, jacket shoes, and then down the list. And then I showed them all that. I was like, well, what about the other bags? Where are they at?
And then he said, Oh, no, they're not. Those are different. The other ones are behind this. I was like, Oh, I forgot to show that person that. There was a whole different room with a whole different set of bags.
Oh, yeah. And it's unbelievable. Multiple initiatives going on at the same time. Like, it's not an exaggeration to say that the town, the community at large, is being blessed this Christmas season from Coview Church. Hundreds and hundreds of kids.
Like, if you could see the, and maybe we'll, maybe we'll upload some pictures and some videos to this episode, but if you could see the amount of toys right now that are in this church waiting to be delivered, I mean, it's incredible. It's altogether, I would say, close to 1,500 if you add all the gift cards as well. That's incredible. Yeah. Yeah, it's amazing to see each Christmas.
I mean, every year, it's sort of overwhelming to see, you know, and knowing that that's not just a bunch of toys that are sitting on a table. Those are going to kids. Those are going to be unraptified kids on Christmas. And it's not just about a toy, it's about connecting them with a Savior who loves them and who and a Heavenly Father who gave His Son for them. That's one of the things that has really helped me to grow up: seeing how the Kindle ministry goes above and beyond, doesn't even really.
Scratch the surface. They go above and above and above, above and beyond every year. And not just at Christmas, but I mean, we're at Christmas time now, so that's what's on the forefront of our mind. That's right. Our verse of the day today is coming to us from Psalm 33, verse 3.
Sing to him a new song, play skillfully with a shout of joy. Seems like a weird Christmas verse, but it actually goes exactly along with what we're talking about today. Dr. Shah, this standard of excellence.
Now, that's something that all Christians like to say. That's one of those Christianisms. We're about pursuing excellence, not perfection, but excellence. Everybody loves to say it. Very few churches are actually able to accomplish it.
Why do you think that is? Especially during Christmas time, I'm assuming. Yes, of course.
Well, it's because we get busy and we sort of get overwhelmed.
So it's much easier to say, let's just get it done and move on. And so the standard of excellence is never reached. And we give ourselves a pass and say, there's so much going on. I just cannot do that. I just, it's so much, you know, and I need to be with my family.
And so we sort of lower the bar there. That's true. And it happens in churches. It was a big shock to me when I came to America. Because I grew up in India, right?
Everybody knows that by now. I heard me say that many times on the show. One listener somewhere is like, what? Are you serious? I grew up in India.
And in India, Christmas preparation begins in November. I would say sometime in mid-November.
Okay, or maybe towards the end part of November. Maybe more like the end part of November. There is no Thanksgiving like we have in America. There's a whole different culture, mindset, religion, everything. And how it began in my home was by um Uh getting everything out of the house, or at least getting it in the middle of the room.
and covering it with these drapes that were brought out every year to cover our furniture. Why? Because we're going to paint the entire house.
Now we're not going to paint it. We hire painters who would come and they will paint the entire house. Then they well, you know, whichever order, they first do the church, then the house, either way. But then they will also paint the entire church.
Now keep in mind our sanctuary Our worship, our youth center, our fellowship hall, our Sunday school classroom, our offices. I mean, it's a much bigger edifice than what I had growing up. Right. Very, very true. In fact, our entire church could probably fit.
In our hub now. Wow. Yeah. Yeah, the church I grew up in, the entire sanctuary and all the other classrooms, whatever, could fit in the old building. That's God has blessed us here.
But they would paint the entire The inside of that church every year for Christmas. And the outside. Wow. The outside is red. Red, red stone.
So they were painted red.
So all that was painted. Wow. So that would begin in the end part of November. Then There was the cooking that would begin. And this is not just my home, but homes all across India of Christian People they will start cooking and they cook and they cook and they cook and they make all kinds of pastries and snacks and, um Uh, roast beef.
I don't think of it roast beef as what you put in a crock pot and roast beef. This is roast beef that it's almost like somewhere between a roast beef and a jerky.
Okay. But not as as tough as a jerky. Right. Yeah. But somewhere like that.
Right. No, not like the tub. We got a message that says like in the tub. Not like that. Nobody makes the roast.
Nobody's making bristles. But it's so good that you will not stop eating it. Wow. You will not stop eating that roast beef. That's incredible.
And so that cooking is going to begin. And then Uh first week in December, my dad will get uh the Christmas program. Put together.
Now, of course, dad has been gone since 2021.
So it's a different world now. Program isn't like the concert, the cantata thing? No, no, no. No, this is a small booklet of what's happening during the Christmas.
Okay. Oh, wow. And then it will be sent to the printing press. I can see the printing press right now in our hometown. There were several printing presses, but this was one.
And he would go over there and he would work with them and make sure everything is in place and pictures and icons and all that.
So, of course, it all begins with Christmas carols. Oh, yeah. I remember I was actually talking to someone last night. We had a dinner last night that we all attended. I was talking to someone about Christmas carols in your hometown, talking about how you're out till.
It's all changed now. They don't go at night anymore. But you're out till like four or five in the morning. Absolutely. Because if someone, because if you don't go to someone's house, that's a problem.
How dare you not stop by? Yeah. We were ready. We were waiting.
So all this to say, your dad had a very high standard of excellence. Like, if something's happening at your dad's church, what was the name of your dad's church? It was Hindi and English Alliance Church. It was Alliance Church. If something's happening at the Alliance Church, it's going to be excellent.
Oh, absolutely. The reason we're talking about this today is because we got another check-in. Thank you guys, by the way, for checking in. We've had a lot of people been writing in. We got to check in today, Ryan.
You want to read it? Absolutely. This person also did not give their name. I'll give my name. This is Can I suggest one?
Yeah, yeah. This is Holly. Holly Day. Ryan. You're the man.
Holly Day from uh he didn't he didn't leave his state either.
So Holly writes, Hey, Dr. Shaw, I know Christmas is supposed to be a season of joy, but honestly, every December feels like survival mode for me as a worship pastor. I love what I do. I love leading our people in worship, but this time of year, it just hits different. I'm juggling extra choir rehearsals, kids' musical practices, and trying to get the band to learn four new Christmas arrangements in two weeks.
Don't do that. Then there are the curveballs: soloists getting sick, volunteers traveling, tech issues popping up out of nowhere. Last Sunday, the projector froze in the middle of Oh, Come All Ye Faithful, and the Wednesday before that, half the vocal team texted me and said they couldn't make practice. And on top of that, I'm trying to prep Christmas Eve, Christmas Sunday, and the Sunday after Christmas all at the same time. It feels like three services stacked on top of each other, all demanding their own level of excellence.
Does it ever get easier, or is this just part of the calling during the Christmas rush? Uh well, I want us to stop Trying to be excellent, okay? It's more than that. I think it's really about. Um Something more.
It's not just let's be excellent because we're doing it unto God. All that is true. I'm not saying that's wrong. I'm not saying that's false. It's true.
We are to be excellent towards God. But let's look at it more as this is what you and I need. These festivals, these celebrations fill our hearts. with joy, with gladness. If everything is just cut and dry work, whether you're doing it in church or whether you're like, you know what, I cannot be involved right now, John, I cannot be part of the worship and all that stuff right now because there's so much going on at the family.
I'm going to go try to get every shopping done for them, get the house ready, buy all the gifts, buy all the food we need. And it's a lot going on, and I got to get the house ready because all these people are going to be coming over and families coming over.
So I'm going to go do that. Whether you're doing a lot at church or whether you're doing a lot at home, whether excellence at church, excellence at home. That If it's all if that's all there is to it as to how you see this. You would have a heart attack. Yeah, you're gonna, yeah, you're gonna burn out too.
What do you think? What do you think about people who are like, Yes, I'm with you, but my people, the people on my team, this guy's a worship pastor, my musicians or my volunteers, they're in that mindset. You need to help them understand, and you have to understand yourself that. Doing this Fills your cup. Not that I'm doing this because God deserves it, and we need to have a standard of excellence, and a lot of lost people are going to come, or in your home setting, we need to do this because family deserves our best, and our children are going to come, and grandchildren don't need to be disappointed.
We need to have don't think of that. Think of it more as this is what brings the joy The gladness into my heart so that I can handle the stress. Even if you're doing it for the right reason, if all you're doing is just so I can be excellent towards God or excellent towards my family. You will burn out. Yeah.
Yeah. Look at it as. I do this. And it gives me joy. Whether it's at church or at home, I would say make sure you keep the church part just as strong as your house part.
Because sometimes we say, I'm going to just go home and because that's Because you feel like if you don't then relationships will break down. If you don't do things for your grandchildren, then they'll be disappointed and they won't love you like. You want them to love you. Right. That's right.
Don't think of it like that. Yeah. Keep God first. Do it because it will fill your heart with joy. sing because Singing Brings joy into your life.
Be part of the various things that go on at church during Christmas season, the best you can, because you cannot be at everything. Right. Do it because, man, that fills my cup. Shop for your kil children or Or um Clean your house or cook all the goodies that you will because that gives you joy. not out of obligation, whether in church or at home.
Yeah. Obligation does not Cannot sustain us, but so long. Yeah. And God does not want you to get to the end of this Christmas season and be drained. You know what I mean?
God's not going to look at how exhausted and how depleted you are and be like, good job. You did it. You did excellence. Yeah. And you put church first.
No, I am saying put church first. Right, right. Because then your family will also take part of the church. But what I am saying is, find joy in that, find excitement in that, that you're getting to sing like the angels sang. You get to come Just the way the wise men came Yeah.
To the manger and they worship Jesus. You give gifts because they gave the gifts, gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Do it with that kind of a mindset. Right. That you're part of this big story, and that gives you joy.
When I get up and preach, if all I'm doing Sunday after Sunday is I have to do this because this is my duty. And I'm going to do it with excellence. Because I'm a good soldier of Jesus. That Yeah, it's correct, but ultimately I'll break down. Yeah.
So I have to find joy in studying. The Bible. I find joy in teaching. The Word of God. I have to find joy in meditating on what I have learned and see if it's working in my life.
All those moments. I don't know what better way to say that. It's like a machine and you're putting oil in it. Yeah. Yeah, I think you're right.
If you just rev it up and rev it up and rev it up, it will break down. The oil of gladness is understanding: hey, this is why I'm doing this. And this is why it's great. And there are times that you may not be at every single function at church, and there are times that you may not be able to get all the best gifts that you hope you could buy in time for your children and grandchildren. It's okay.
You did the best you could, but find joy in the gift. That's right. That's right. And sometimes I think even lost people are able to enjoy that far more than saved people. Yeah, I think you're right.
Yeah. One of the things that you personally taught me, and I know this doesn't seem connected, but when we started working out for the very first time, you know, in I think 2018, I started working out with you. And I remember one of the things you told me was: you have to make up your mind. Because the the way you think in this gym is gonna Affect the way. And at first, I was like, okay, yeah, that makes sense.
But then seeing it to get, like, seeing it actually come to life, it's like, if I. And I know this seems, but if I make up my mind, the way that I'm thinking right now affects, directly affects my output. And I think this, the same thing happens here. If you decide up top, even if you're, even if you don't feel it in the moment, if you decide up top when December starts rolling around, I'm going to find joy in this. I'm going to let this fill my cup.
And I'm going to communicate to my people that they're going to do the same way. I think a lot, I would say 99% of people are missing that step. I think they are. I think that's the big part too, is communicating to the people. Like you, you, more than I need to fill a role in a volunteer roster, you need to serve because it's going to fill your cup.
It's going to, it's going to give you joy that you can then pour out in the various things you're responsible for this holiday season. You need to be a part of this. You need to be a part of what God is doing. And for you that wrote in, man, I feel you because I've had to stop myself. I almost made a lot of mistakes this Christmas or this December communicating with the worship team because there have been times where I've written out devotionals that I'll send out to them on Monday mornings.
And I've written, I've typed it out. Hey, guys, I know December is crazy, but just try to hang in there. We're going to get through it together. And I read it. I'm like, what the heck am I writing?
What message am I sending to my team? Thankfully, I didn't send it. But I guess what I'm saying is, I think you're right, Dr. Shaw. We have to remind our people that this actually sustains you, it revives you, and it will change the way you think about.
All of this. If you're doing this There are three reasons that usually it ends up happening. If you're doing this because. You know, if you don't do this, you may not be approved. and loved by people.
That's a wrong motivation. Don't do it for that purpose. That if I don't do this, church people are not going to love me. If I don't do this, my family is not going to love me. Don't do it for approval purposes.
Secondly, don't do it uh because you know, there's there's um Um How do I say this? Uh there's a limited time. That pressure that if I don't finish this in this time, if I don't finish this in this time, then I'll be a failure. No, don't don't have that mindset. Do your best.
Give it all. But don't let that time pressure make you feel like If I don't finish it in time, that I must be a failure. No, you do, you do your best. By God's grace. And it will be okay.
And the third one is this: that there is this limited amount of joy out there, and I need to, or success out there, really, that I need to grab hold of the biggest pie as quickly as possible. Yeah, there's only so much success and blessing to be gotten.
So I need to get it. I need to get mine. Yeah, yeah. So, approval by people. Secondly, again, the limited time and I need to do this limited, if not, I'm a failure.
And there is a kind of like a zero sum gain, which is like this. You know, if I don't grab the biggest piece of pie, then I've lost. Right. Don't fall in those traps, whether it's in the church life or in the home. Home life.
That's right. Don't do that. Instead, Uh know that you're approved by God. Ultimately, you are already approved by God.
Okay, so don't worry about that. As to limited time, God knows our time, God knows our days, He knows what we're able to do.
So when you've given your best, and at the end of that, you go, I could have done more. I could. You can say, God, in your sovereignty, in your wisdom, In your grace, that's all you allowed me to do, because that's all you expected from me.
So I cannot create more time. and more space because that was not supposed to be. And then the whole idea of I'm going to grab the biggest pie. And that's success. No, that's not how it works.
That's not how God sees it. He's not put out a big pie there and says, all right, whoever runs out there and grabs the biggest piece wins. The rest of it's gone, it's gone. Our losers. That's not how He's doing it.
That whole thing, that myth of that pie out there. Needs to be just discarded. Yeah, I agree.
So approved by God. Whatever happens, you give your best, but ultimately you go, man, by God's grace, that was good. That's right. Is this something you ever arrive at, or is this a constant check and adjustment in your life? For me, there are times I'll forget that.
And I have to catch myself, but it's not as often that I forget it. You know, there are a lot of things I would like to do, but then I have to go, no, because of this, this, and this, I cannot do that. And that's okay. And God is not disappointed in me. God still loves me.
and I'm okay. The one I struggle with is probably Uh the first one. The limited time doesn't bother me. I don't believe in the whole Pie theory that you know, grab the biggest pie, if not someone else will grab it and you'll be the loser. The one I struggle with, if any, is like if I don't do all these excellent things, then I may not be approved and loved by people.
Yeah. So I got to give my very best so that I will be loved and approved. And that's that's one I struggle with. And I have to give it back to God and say, God, as long as you love me and you. Um um approve me.
It doesn't matter what man says, right? And I know he does. You do. You do know that. And you do a great job, even knowing that that's something you struggle with.
You do a great job inspiring your staff and your church. Seriously, there have been times where we've been talking at lunch and we were talking about, so this, you know, this December we're going to do this, this, and this. And you would say stuff like, I truly believe God has placed us together in this time. And I walked out of those lunch meetings feeling like we're going to conquer the world for God. And so I guess all that to say, for that to be something that you struggle with, you do a great job of inspiring us.
Because I don't feel like I struggle with that. And I think you're a big part of why. Thank you. Thank you for saying that. Like, for example, for you, if I can go please down this road here, down this group here, the room here, for John, I mean, I would say you're approved because God has called you to help lead worship here, Clearview.
It's already approved. There's nothing you can do. Uh, that can take that away, unless you do something sinful or something like that. You're already approved by God. Limited time.
You give your very best to the radio show, to this, and this, and then it's like. couldn't get to it, and that's okay. And then we're not trying to capture some pie out there. And I think you are. In your home life, you can also see that.
You can be the best dad possible. You're trying to you just bought a house. What a great opportunity for your children to grow up. In a nice house. You just bought a nice car for, right, Ryan, for your family, for Elizabeth.
So they can travel back and forth and don't have to break down and don't have to live in that sense of fear and trepidation. Are we going to make it home or not? Or what's happening? You have, you know, God's taking care of you guys. That's right.
That's right. Same thing with David. You know, I just bought a house, you're not just throwing money out there. in some rental home or apartment. But you have a house now.
You've taken a huge step that most people never get to take, which is, I am a homeowner. I am a homeowner. That's true. There's people all over America, all over the world today who can never say that. Yeah, absolutely.
But if you don't give your very best, then there's something to worry about. Give your very best. That's right. Don't waste time. Don't lose time scrolling on the phone or going off on rabbit trails and finding and looking at videos for hours and hours and hours.
I think that's wasting time. That's not going to achieve anything. That's right. Now, if you are looking at videos, let that be some kind of an education, whether it's for your exercise or whether it is for. studying the Bible or some history or something that is beneficial.
But if it's not, yeah, don't don't get into the brain rot. Yeah, don't do that. Don't sit on the toilet for hours without your phone. We all have limited time. That's right.
God's not handing out any extra time to people. We've got a limited time on this earth, and you don't get a do-over. There's no second chance. You don't get to now this time in my next life. I'm going to.
I'm going to use all this knowledge. This is all we get. This is the one life that we get. That's right. And at the end of the life, I mean, if you don't get to write that book or you don't get to do the that's okay.
God, God knew. That's all he wanted from you. That's right. That's right. Don't stress over time is running away or people don't love me or there's a pie out there.
I got to grab the. That's where you Your health breaks down. That's where. Nervous breakdowns come. That's where people burn out.
Yeah. Speaking of nervous breakdowns, I want to end the show with our yearly tradition of what it looks like when you don't have an excellent standard of at your organization.
So we do this every year. If this is something that you have been following, the Clearview Today show for a number of years, this is one of my favorite videos on all of the internet. It is Miss Patty LaBelle at the lighting of the Christmas tree ceremony in 1992. At the White House. This is what it looks like when you nearly have a message.
So, my friend, my friend who wrote in, just know no matter how bad that service was on that Sunday, it's not going to be a lot. Watch this with the standard of excellence in your mind. Many recording and acting career. Has it right off the bat? Came out too early.
Here this thing this is is Patty LaBelle. This is at the White House gang. Mm-hmm. Playing for the president. What were you doing this year, Dr.
Shah, 1992? I was in America for the second year. Wow. I was born Six months before this was filmed. Hang on, mistletoe.
That was four. Look at you.
Alright, nothing.
So far, no big deal. Nope. No, she's scared. She's scared. Yeah, she's scared.
She's scared. Take it. Uh oh. Oh, baby, baby. I don't know, and that's the wrong words or the two words.
There. It's Christmas. I'm gonna have them all like a hand. Oh my goodness, look at her face. She's terrified.
I don't have a backward, I don't have a background standard. Oh, I don't. They're trying to get into it. Merry Christmas for you and me. Oh no, no.
It's so bad. It's so painful. And they're still not there. Nah. No background singers.
We're a third of the way through the song. Oh my gosh. Mighty.
Well, she might be yelling at this girl. Yeah, that's that's crazy, Dr. Shah, which I would say, you know, come on, excellence. That's right. And she, she's a, she's very good at what she does.
She's a great singer. She's a great singer. She's a episode. We work hard to avoid those moments. That's exactly right.
Absolutely. Guys, make sure you join us next time, same time, same station. We're going to be diving into another great topic here on the Clearview Today show. Our background singers will be in place. Very good, Ryan.
Thank you again to our sponsors for making today's episode possible. And if today was your first time listening to us, hey, Merry Christmas. We're glad that you're here. Hope to join you in the conversation tomorrow. That's right.
Don't forget, you can always support us financially at Abadanshah.com forward slash give. We're out of time, but I do want to encourage you guys to go ahead and make that TBN Plus account because we are coming to TBN Plus. Clearview Today is going to be on that, is going to be on that platform on December the 18th. Also, Apologetics Conference is happening here, March. 28th at Clearview Church.
Oh, also, NRB. We have not been given the dates. NRB 2026. Do you know them off the top of your head? It's in February.
It's in February, and we're going to put it in the show notes as well. But NRB 2026, Nashville, Tennessee, we are coming to see you. We want you guys to drop in. If you're in the area or if you're attending NRB, come and see us at the Truth Network booth. We're going to be there with all of our Truth Network friends, and Dr.
Shah is going to be there as a featured leader on Prey.com. If you've ever been to, go ahead. That would be February 17th through the 20th. February 17th through the 20th. That's where we're going to be in Nashville.
If you've ever seen the Prey.com booth, I mean, you really just cannot miss it. Dr. Shah is going to be there as one of their featured leaders, and we're going to be there with all our friends over at the Truth Network.
So come say hello. That's right. We love you guys. We'll see you tomorrow on Clearview Today.
