Hey, this is John Galantis from the Cleaview Today Show checking in with you guys to plug our new show, How to Read Biblical Hebrew with Dr. Abadan Shah. It's a video podcast. You can watch it right from your favorite podcasting app, and we're releasing new episodes every single week. You don't have to be intimidated about learning Biblical Hebrew.
We're going to start with the alphabet. We'll start with sounds, basic grammar. We'll work our way up. But our guarantee is this. If you follow this podcast and put in the work, you will be reading the Old Testament in its original language in no time.
Again, that's how to read biblical Hebrew with Dr. Abadan Shah. Links in the description.
Now let's start the show. I've got so many dreams about my ministry, so many ambitions and aspirations, and I know they could come to fruition if I only had the money. Chasing those dollar signs coming up right now on the YouTube show. Yeah. You're listening to Clear View 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. Welcome to the Clearview Today Studio. We are so glad you're here, joining us for today's conversation with our host, Dr.
Abadan Shah. If you're listening for the very first time today, welcome. I'll let you know exactly who's talking to you. Dr. Abadan 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, welcome. I'm excited about being here today. It's going to be a great show. Good, good show.
Today's verse of the day is coming to us from Elizabeth A, right here in our home state of North Carolina. What do you think the A stands for? Albermarle. Elizabeth Albermarle writes Proverbs 16, 24, her favorite verse: Pleasant words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul, and health to the bones. That's right.
It's kind of like this morning, like I walked into the office and Ryan said, Good morning. And I was like, What's up, Dorky? Dorky four eyes. Yeah, that was hurtful. I wish you didn't say that.
Fluff m Doctor, how you been? I'm doing very well. Very cool. All the winter storms are hopefully done. Sunny weather is here.
You know, it's just something about when the weather is nice, it just changes your outlook on life. That's true. That's true. It shouldn't matter. It shouldn't matter, but it does.
Yeah. It does. That sunshine makes a difference. Absolutely. You look outside and it's gray and cloudy and dreary.
There are a lot of people who struggle with that when it's cloudy or when it's really cold and just dreary. In those moments when you feel that way, read God's word. That's right. Spend some time meditating on positive things. And that's coming from Philippians.
It tells us to whatever things are true, noble, just, trustworthy, on and on, praiseworthy, meditate on these things. It means think about them. And pray over them for yourself and with the people around you. Pray for God that their minds and their hearts will be guided towards things that are positive. And.
But negative thoughts come take every thought captive, And bring it to the obedience of Christ. That's right. Don't let it just ruminate in your mind, in your heart. Bring it. Immediately and subjected under the feet of Jesus.
Well, that kind of leads into what we're talking about today because one of the ways those negative thoughts manifest itself, especially during the winter, is it's cold, it's dreary, it's going to snow. I don't want to get caught in the snow. I tell you what, guys, let's stay home from church this week. Let's just enjoy our time. And one week turns into two weeks, turns into three weeks, turns into a month.
And all of a sudden, families all over town start doing this, and churches start to see, uh-oh. Our giving is down. Yeah. What turned into, hey, snow day, this is kind of fun. After a few weeks, churches are starting to see, wait a minute.
What's going on, wife? It's fun. Yeah. You can create every opportunity for people with online giving, with text to give, with different varieties of opportunities. But most of the time, if people are not in person, They're not going to give.
Now, Dr. Shah, pastors might be aware of this. Ministry leaders might be aware of this. Congregation members. people in the church?
Or is this even something that crosses their mind?
Well, so as you know, I am the chair of our local Henderson Vance Chamber of Commerce. And so I get to be around business leaders, business owners, And um One thing that we've We've been talking about is how sometimes when the churches are closed for a Sunday or two, it impacts the budget. It does impact the budget.
Now, sometimes it's just because the mails have come in, but they haven't been processed because people are not out. Right. And so you have to wait till the banks open. You do that. Everything is fine then.
But sometimes it's because people are not giving. They don't come, they don't give. And then when they do come back, it's not like they're catching up. They're simply like, okay, yeah, that was terrible.
Okay.
Well, I'm going to go and give for this month. But what about last couple of weeks? I mean, you don't expect me to give double, right? I can't give double right now. But here's the funny thing that I heard today in one of the meetings.
There was a business owner there, and there was another kind of a supervisor of his corporation there. And both of them said the same thing. It's like, yeah, you know, with all the deposits coming in, and we're not. There to make the deposits and all that. Man, it was.
Peter to pay Paul, kind of thing, for a little bit, and then we were okay. Yeah, I was like.
So you are going through the same thing that Churches are going through. Right, right. Which is when people don't give. Then it It gets tough. That's right.
Yeah, that's exactly right. And if they don't give consistently, Then you shut down. Yeah. Yeah. How do you go from, how do you go from knowing and acknowledging that truth to now being on the defensive and being worried about money?
Because maybe there's churches out there who are like, hey, Pastor, I hear you and I live this every single week. I don't know how we're going to keep the lights on. I don't know how we keep the bills paid. Go ahead and tell me how to fix this problem.
Well, years and years ago, when I say years and years ago, I'm talking about 25. five years ago. I began following John Maxwell. In fact, I began following him in the late 90s when he was just. Leaving the pastorate at Skyline Wesleyan Church and going into this ministry, this leadership ministry.
He called it at the time Enjoy, I-N-J-O-Y, Enjoy Ministry. And so I began to follow him because he had written some leadership books over the years. And I was like, man, I like what he's got. And one of the things that he said. that has always stayed with me is that He doesn't worry about money.
He said, I don't worry about money.
Now, I'll be honest, when I first heard that, I was like. Yeah, because you already have money for you to say. Yeah, because you have the big church or you know how to make money. rest of us, we have to worry about money. But I listened to what he had to say, and it began to make sense.
He said, The reason I don't worry about money, and John Maxwell, if you're listening to our show, I'm paraphrasing, okay? He said, The reason I don't worry about money is because I work hard. And I am a go-getter, and I'm gonna go out there and give my very best and some more. And somehow money always follows. You say, I don't worry about money.
And I thought to myself, what a great philosophy to have. That he knows the Lord Jesus Christ. He talks about it even on his shows or his speeches and talks that he's a person of faith. And what he's saying is that he knows Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior.
So he has that aspect covered. He has that part covered: that he has a faith in the living true God. He knows Christ as his Savior. He's trusting him to provide. But what he's saying here is Because I work hard, because I work smart Because I'm a go-getter.
People give, people buy that product. Whether it's a book or a conference, or or a podcast, whatever he's doing, people buy it and And he money always follows. He said, I don't worry about money because what happens is when you start worrying about money. That's when you are more focused on paying the bills rather than building or Seizing a vision. Yeah, that's catching a vision.
Great point. It affects your mindset and it affects how you approach your work, how you approach your goals, right? Because how am I going to go out there and conquer the world if I'm too scared about how my electricity is going to get paid? Am I going to sit there and, like you said, write this book, worry about this radio show, or do all these things that are creative and impactful when I don't have this in order, or I feel like I don't have this in order? Yeah, you're working for a lump sum.
And so you're striving, like, I'm going to do enough work to get to that financial goal. But if you work, if your work ethic and your level of hard work outpaces the The money that's coming in? the money will catch up to your work. And so let's take that apart a little bit. What does that mean to work hard, to work smart?
It's not just like I go in there and I just work, work, work, work, work till I drop. And then I sleep for two, three hours and I go work, work, work. No, let's look at what work is. For me, work is more cerebral. You know, it's more the mind, whether it's academic work.
Or preaching or You know advising people It's more the work of the mind.
So I spend a lot of time sharpening those tools.
So, if I'm doing a series of the book of Job, then I'm going to spend time finding the latest. commentaries on the book of Job. I'm going to spend time reading that the text in Hebrew, study it, get the grammatical significance of Of Job. I'm going to spend some time getting the historical background around the book of Job. I'm going to say the theology.
Of the book of Job, and not just the theology of the book of Job, but how does it connect to the rest of the Old Testament and the New Testament? How can I see Jesus Christ? Because if a message is only do good or don't do bad, It doesn't have any life in it. When you put Jesus in it, When you put the Son of God The Redeemer in it, all of a sudden, that passage comes to life because that's how it's designed to be by the Holy Spirit. And so I spend time Finding Uh the truth.
in the word of God and then application And then how am I going to communicate that message? Saturday afternoon, I'm already thinking. By Saturday morning, I'm already thinking, how can this now be communicated in a way that that man who is sitting in the audience who otherwise is bored to death. Or sleepy. or cynical, or struggling with his sin.
or is resentful towards his Neighbor, or brother, or wife, or whoever. How can I engage him so that the Holy Spirit can speak right to his heart? What is that image that can go on the you know, I have a little T V on this on uh monitor on the stage with me, on the pulpit with me, and I use it. And then I will communicate with Ryan. Ryan does a phenomenal job.
And putting it all together. Thank you. It's always fun for me on Saturdays to see the trajectory of the message. Cause I feel like I get the benefit of having sort of a sneak peek and seeing how the message is, but I don't have the full context yet.
So to see how those images are woven through the message. And you always do such an expert job of weaving them in and painting that picture with words, explaining what the image is conveying. Right. So that takes time and effort. And then Saturday evening, of course, the worship service.
We've talked about it, John and I have talked about it, you know, what the songs are and how well will they work together to make the best possible impact so that the message Can have the most impact in the hands of the Holy Spirit. Right. Yes, the Holy Spirit is with me during the preparation. The Holy Spirit is with me through the delivery, but the Holy Spirit. should always should should be given complete reign so that He can do whatever he wants to in the hearts of the people who are listening.
That takes a lot of work. Studying, research, writing. And then Saturday evening, after I'm done preaching, we sit down as a staff, all those who are there, even spouses. And then we talk about what can I do better. What is it that you liked about the message?
What did you feel that was sort of um Unclear. How can I applied better Or what did I say that I really didn't back it up with solid evidence or information. That's a lot of work. Because then I take it back with me, and you guys talk to me. I take it back with me.
And then Saturday evening, as I'm sitting down dinner time, I'll find out that information from my commentaries or my electronic resources and Greek and Hebrew and whatever. And I put it all together.
Some of the things I already put it in the sermon.
Some I get up at It's like six o'clock in the morning. or 5.30 in the morning. And I'll go ahead and insert that information in, get it all ready. Put it on the blog.
Okay, and I get here, and David has already taken all that information and put it in. Our programs that will throw it on the screen and throw it in on the live stream.
Okay, these are two different things. Yeah, it got to look different. Yeah, so it's a lot of work that is happening there. And he has to do that. I mean, like real time.
Sometimes he can get ahead, but most times it's in real time. He's putting all the information up. Mm-hmm.
So it's a lot of work. Right. But that lot of work makes a lot of impact. Is impacting the people who are sitting in the pews. It's impacting the people who are watching in their homes.
It's impacting people who are all over the world watching through the truth network. And there's this idea, and correct me if I'm wrong on this, but there's this false idea that, listen, if you just get up there and speak Jesus, you're going to have the same impact. Yeah, I and I'm I'm I'm you know, God, as my old professor used to say, He can strike a straight lick with a crooked stick. I didn't know what that meant until much later. I was like, What that sounds good.
I just don't know what it means. But I get it, that God can use our failures and our half hearted efforts and still reach people with the gospel. Right. Still change hearts. But I'm not satisfied with that.
So, but I say. Work hard, work smart. This is what I'm referring to. And not just that, this is just in the context of the Sunday morning message. How about?
Throughout the week. talking to our staff Yeah. making sure our worship ministry, our student ministry, our children's ministry, our audiovisual ministry, our men's, women's ministry, our outreach ministry in the community, our missions across the globe, How are these things running? Are they truly making an impact? What's happening, where are we at?
How are our leaders? For our small groups, our Sunday school. You know, all these things we have to keep. Keep our hands on and then. You know, I believe the way to have favor with God and with people.
you need to have mercy and truth.
Sometimes some churches are very truth heavy. How about mercy? Do you care about the people in the community. Do you find ways to reach them and show them the love of Christ? And help those who are hungry, and help those who are.
Who are needy, they need clothes. Do you provide for those students?
So, all these things are happening.
So, when I say hard work, There's a whole lot more than just I just clock in eight hours a day. I clock in nine hours a day. What are you doing in nine hours? Right. Right.
Who are you impacting? What is the level of output? And we haven't even talked about the radio show. True. I mean, that's a lot of work.
Yeah, yeah, that's a lot of work. I mean, I'm talking right now, and y'all listening to me, but really, John is the one who organizes these shows and gets them going, making it cohesive. And then Ryan comes in and gives his take on it and brings that element of Kind of like a host. And then David's over there, he's switching cameras and audio recording and all that stuff, and also helping with the research at times. And then Nick.
In the office is putting it together for YouTube and Adam's putting the reels together. I mean, it's a lot of work. Yeah. Yeah. Once you, once you press parts.
Yeah. Once you press stop on the recording, it doesn't just get uploaded. You know, you've also got to, and then you got to think about all the distribution. Who wants what episodes? TBN wants these episodes.
Pray wants these episodes. Truth wants these episodes. There's a lot of coordinating. There's a lot of stuff going on. Getting it together.
Haven't even talked about sponsors. There's just a lot. And then what do we talk about? There are current issues, there are biblical issues. There are leadership issues, marriage issues.
I mean, there are so many topics there. And we have to make sure that we Um are not only On topic. But also, we share things that are helpful to people. We make sure that. They are cutting edge.
We make sure that there are rock-solid principles. You don't want to just get up here and talk. Yeah. What is the latest, greatest fad? Yeah.
But that may not work out tomorrow.
So we want to make sure that what we share with you Is something that you can take it to the bank. That's right. Well, like when we get done and we post an episode, yes, we have to move on to the next episode, but we also have to go back and see how it performed. Yeah. If this one got significantly less views or less comments, hey man, maybe that topic didn't resonate with people.
We have to evaluate the episodes that we're putting out and we're putting out one a day. Yeah, the goal is not just listen to us talk, listen to us have a conversation. Although we hope you do. We hope you are, you know, you're tuning in, you enjoy it, you like our personalities. But at the same time, the heart is that you'll be impacted.
Yeah. Your life will be changed, that you'll be, your thinking will be corrected on various things. And like we say every episode, that you would engage your heart and your mind for the sake of the gospel. That's right. And if your life isn't being changed or your life isn't being better by this show, then either we're doing something wrong or there's a divide up.
And so part of, like, part of. Doing this show and analyzing these episodes and seeing, and Pray.com is a huge help for that because they actually give us detailed metrics. You know, it takes time. You got to study them. You can't just glance at them and say, Okay, that's interesting.
What do you do with it? What do you do with all that information? We sit down as a team. Dr. Shah looks at it.
Okay, wow. We're really big in Texas.
Okay, what does that mean? You know, what does that imply? We're really big in Chicago. What does that imply? Those are two different areas.
So it's a lot that it's a lot of just mental thought that goes into it. That's also planning, strategizing. And don't think for a moment that because we're planning and strategizing, the Holy Spirit doesn't have a role. He is all over the planning and strategizing because we begin with prayer. We begin with, every morning I begin with asking God.
To have his hand upon me, and if there's anything in my life that is sinful, that he would remove it. Cleanse me. And fill me with his presence so that I can shine for Christ.
So when we say, Work hard. and money will follow. This is what work hard looks like. And how does money follow? When people out there, just like yourself, you see this show or you hear this show.
and it's impacting your life because now it's telling you, hm, Stop waiting for a break. Stop waiting to get Discovered. You know, as the old adage goes, start a fire wherever you are, somebody's bound to see the smoke and come looking for it. That's exactly right. Start a fire.
Yeah. Yeah. You know, and that's what we're doing here: starting a fire through our Sunday morning, through our Wednesday nights, through our daily, weekly programs that we do at Clearview. in our impact on the community. In this radio show, in our television show, in our books that we publish.
In the conferences, the apologetic conference coming up at the end of March at Clearview. Uh, all these things are simply to start that fire. The document you're producing, yes, yep, there's a big documentary coming in honor of the 250th anniversary of the United States. We're going to be talking about that in more detail. Lots and lots and lots of things coming out from that.
But, like Dr. Shah said, all of these things are little fires. We're not, if you just wait, and maybe you can talk speak on this, Dr. Shah. If you just wait for your big break, you will never do anything.
Yeah, you know what I'm saying? Like, even being on pray.com, which has become a revenue pathway for Clearview Church and for Dr. Abadan Shah's ministries. That started just because Ryan and Dr. Shaw took a shot standing by the prey booth.
It wasn't like we put something out there and then this big. Executive called and said, Hey, I saw your thing. Let's talk. Let's lunch. Let's do a power line.
It didn't happen like that. Doc Ryan just went for it and he said, Hey, I want to start a conversation, see where this leads to. It's going to be an investment. It's going to take a lot of hard work. It's going to take a lot of money and research and data, but I think it's worth it.
And it's paid off because of that. Absolutely. Yeah. And I think if you will examine the people that we consider they've gotten their big break, like they were sort of nobodies and then they were plucked from obscurity. They were discovered.
There may be some people in there that I'm not aware of, but most of the time you're going to find hard workers. Yeah. Yeah. It seems like a big break. It seems like this was just handed to them.
But really, behind the scenes, these are some hardworking people. Absolutely. One of the things you taught me, Dr. Shah, is when you work hard, the right people notice. Yeah.
You know, because I think people are saying, okay, so I'm just going to go out there, I'm going to work hard, I'm going to bust my tail. And God's going to send me a blank check in the mail. God's going to, but, but really, it's He's going to put the right people in your life who see and want to invest in your work. Yeah, and also don't just work hard. We often say work smart, which means.
If we're going to do a radio show, then we need to ask ourselves the question: what is it that the people want to hear?
Okay, that's also very important.
So, there may be things that I'm passionate about, but if the audience is not passionate about it, then I need to. Either help them get passionate about it, or I need to find out what is their need. Right. And get passionate about that.
So there is a level of. You know uh Intelligence that is needed. to figure out what is it that is that is Going to help our audience. That's right. Because when there are satisfied customers, then they will pay.
Yes. Of course. Yeah. So. Again, we're talking to our listeners.
Don't worry about money, work hard. But this is what working hard looks like. It's not just You know, just I'm out there busting my behind, and I do all this, and man, I'm just waiting on a break. No. You have to work smart.
Yeah. And I know the example I gave you was a ministry context. But look at it in your context. What do you do? Do you work at a bank?
Do you work at a car dealership? Do you work in law enforcement? Are you an athlete? What is your job? Are you a teacher?
Are you a doctor? Are you an insurance salesman? What is your job? Do you work for the city? Look around to see how you can make the biggest impact for the gospel.
That's right. That's right. How can you do much more than just clock in, clock out? There are a lot of people, especially in ministry contexts, you see that a lot. uh who are on staff.
You just You're just coasting.
Somebody else is carrying the heavy load, and you come in. And do your little thing, get your ch paycheck, and you peace out. Shame on you. If you do that, shame on you because you are cheating not only yourself, but a lot of people. That's right.
Because what is needed, well, I'm not on top because I don't agree with the direction. Then quit, go somewhere. Yeah, what are you doing there? Go somewhere else. Right.
Because you shouldn't be doing that to them. Mm-hmm.
start learning what is it That is expected of you. How can you make the place better? Whatever it is, let's say you work at The mall. You work at the food court.
Okay, you said, well, this is just a job. No? Find How can you make the customers day? How can you be winsome? And and friendly and keep the counters clean.
And make sure that the food is hot and fresh, and find ways to do that. Guess what's going to happen? You will rise. You say, Well, I've tried that over the years. If you have that kind of an attitude, that I've tried that and it didn't happen, I really doubt that you've tried that.
That's right. That's right. We've talked about this on the show before. Maybe it's. Maybe it's worth another conversation in the future, but you're capable of...
Exponentially more than that you think you are. Yeah. If you think you've been pushed to the limit, you haven't. Dr. Shaw, if someone is listening to this and they're saying, I hear what you're saying, I want to go out there.
I want to work. I want to work hard and then allow money to follow, but I'm out of money and I'm not out of month. Like I've still got bills to pay. I'm having a hard time. Was that you?
No, it's not original. That was clever. I've got bills to pay. I'm really struggling financially. How do I keep this in view?
What can I do spiritually to develop a good work ethic? Oh, definitely begin with prayer. Prayer is powerful. When you talk to God and say, God, would you intervene in my situation? Would you give me that vision that you have for me?
I mean, that's what I did years ago. Mm-hmm.
God, what is the vision? And I didn't just get a, you know, writing up in the sky, in the clouds, saying, This is what thou shalt do. No, I had to discover that on pen and with pen with pen and paper. I wrote it down. And the vision that I got after much.
study and prayer and reading was to give well articulated a well written, well delivered perspective, on life On leadership biblical values. That that was my vision.
Well articulated.
Well written, well delivered perspective. on life and and values and everything, leadership. And s and then I began to Create uh everything possible to then Move towards that direction.
So, prayer, I would say, is begin with prayer. Ask God to help you. Amen. I if somebody says, Well, okay, what else? Get around people who have.
Similar values. There you go. Yeah. Hard work. Absolutely.
Iron sharpens iron, right?
So get around people who work hard. Get around, and you say, Well, I don't have anybody where I'm at.
Well, we're living in the internet age. That's right. Find people that you can follow. That's right. Learn from them, watch them.
I do that. And then it will help you tremendously. That's right. Who do you want to be in life? And that's a question we asked on an episode recently: what do you truly want in life?
And I think that's really great advice. That's right. 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.
Thanks again to our sponsors for making today's episode possible. And if today's your first time listening to us, I'm glad that you joined the conversation today. Hopefully, you tune back in tomorrow for another great conversation here on the Clear View Today Show. That's right. Don't forget that you can support us by subscribing to the show anywhere podcasting content can be found.
Make sure you share it with your friends and family as well. And you can always support us financially at Abadanshah.com forward slash gifts. That's right. Couple of things we do want to let you guys know. We got a brand new show over on iTunes and YouTube.
It's called How to Read Biblical Hebrew with Dr. Abadan Shah. If you've ever wanted to read the Old Testament in its original language, this is the show for you. You say Hebrew is scary.
Well, guess what? It is scary, but we're going to start at the very beginning. You're going to learn the alphabet. You're going to learn vowels. You're going to learn consonants, all of this good stuff.
Work your way up to reading the Bible in its original language. Also, NRB 2026, we are coming your way next week, February the 7th through the 20th. We're going to be there. We'll be there as part of Pray.com. We'll be there as part of Truth Network.
Guess what? I just found this out this afternoon. The team doesn't even know this. We're also going to be there as part of TBN Plus.
So they're going to be there as well. Dr. Shah is going to be at all three of those booths. He'll be able to talk to you guys, say hello, shout out your ministry. Maybe we'll do some shows from the convention floor, but all of that is going to be taking place in Nashville, Tennessee next week.
Also, big, big, big, big apologetics conference is coming to Clearview Church right here in Henderson, March the 28th. You can get your tickets right now at clearviewbc.org. We're going to give you 20% off if you use our special promo code, T-O-D-A-O. That's right. We love you guys.
We'll see you tomorrow on Clearview Today.
