As Christians, we say we have to fast and pray if we want to see God work in our lives and in our nation. But when was the last time you really prayed and fasted? Let's talk about it. Coming up right now. Let me tell you today's show.
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. Welcome to the Clearview Today Show with our host, Dr.
Abaddon Shah. If you're listening for the very first time today, we want to welcome you to the show, say that God has brought you here for a reason, and we're going to let you know exactly who's talking to you 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, got a great conversation for you. Yes, we're going to be talking about what it takes once you know that God has called you to a particular task. There's going to be a cost. That's right. And that cost is what we will be discussing today.
Yeah, absolutely. Nehemiah is such a fascinating story in the Bible. It's the story of a man who stepped up when he didn't have to. I mean, in a sense, he did because God called him, but there wasn't anything for him personally that was on the line other than like this was his people, this was his homeland. And it provides a clear view for us for what we need to do when God calls us to step up.
That's right. When God calls us to be obedient to Him. That's right. A lot of the times our Christian life is blurry, right? Like we know kind of what it's supposed to look like.
We know how the pieces sort of fit together. But our goal on the show is to make that clearer for you. That's why we call it Clearview Today. And you know what? We can't do that without our sponsors, without the people who support us financially.
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Now, Dr. Shah, I haven't been able to get this out of my head since the last time we talked about it, but that picture you gave us of. The palace at Shushu Shan. Yeah. Beautiful.
I mean, manicured lawns. There's like a hedge that's shaped like a dolphin. I found it on Pinterest. Did you? You Google Earth it.
I re-pinned it. Yeah. No, I actually don't even have Pinterest. That's, I mean, that's Nehemiah's workplace. Yeah.
Just pinnacle of achievement and success. And then God calls him somewhere else. That's right. I mean, those who are watching or listening, you may not be able to see what we have on our monitors right now, but on our monitors, we have a portion of the wall. This is real.
This is not AI-generated. This is an actual picture of what the walls look like. And as you can see, the beautiful tiles along this corridor leading inside the palace. And you can see the immortal guards. And of course, Alexander the Great took all the gold that they were, you know, dressed in.
All that is gone. But Imagine all of that beautiful, shiny, pristine, clean. And you're walking between those walls, headed to work every morning. And you are living in the lap of luxury. You're safe.
You have Anything and everything you need. You are right there with the upper echelon of Persian society. The king turns to you for advice. And the whole time, you know that you are not a Persian, you are a Judean who was brought here. Not personally, but your ancestors were brought here.
From Okay. Into Babylon, but now you are one of the Persian society. Yeah. You've climbed the ladder, you're educated, you're successful. I mean, think about that.
An outsider, Who just a century earlier, or maybe less than a century, was just a Yeah. You know, a slave in a sense, but now you are sitting right next to the king. And being called to give that up. How in the world? Why would you do that?
Yeah, would you do that? And that's what we're talking about today. Yeah, we talked about this yesterday: that as a leader, you have to be willing to sacrifice. And maybe today we can talk a little bit more about that. Like, what exactly does it cost?
You know what I mean? I think a lot of us, a lot of Christians, glorify this idea of sacrificing as long as it's manageable. You know what I mean? I'm willing to sacrifice a weekend or two here and there. I'm willing to sacrifice maybe one night a week to go to my Bible study.
You know, that's right. But what happens when it's my job, when it's my career, when it's my lifestyle?
Well, that phrase counting the cost, I mean, that's circulated in Christian circles for a while. That's churches or Christian lingo. But we don't really stop to think, you know, what is the cost? And is this going to cost me more than I am willing to pay? Right, right.
And that's what Nehemiah had to count, and he does. And the way he does it is very powerful because it says in verse 4, so it was when he. When I heard these words, which words? The words from his brothers that Jerusalem was lying in ruins, the walls were still lying on the ground, the gates are still burned with fire, there is no hope, there is no safety, there is no future for the people. The temple is sort of there, but.
Other than that, there is no Long-range plan on where his people are headed. When he heard these things, that the people are in great distress and reproach. He sat down and wept. and mourned for many days So Okay. Oh If you're in ministry What is it that Challenges you.
What is it that moves you? If what moves you is popularity. then go do something else. If what moves you is Money Then go do something else. I'm not saying you cannot be popular being in ministry or you cannot have money being in ministry.
You'll have those things, you'll have all those things. But if that's all you care about, I just want to be popular, go do it somewhere. You may or may not be successful. It's not that easy just to be, you know, what I'm not going to go into ministry. I want to be popular.
Oh, guess what? I'm popular. No, it's not that easy. That's right. It's even a tough world out there.
Very tough world. If you think ministry is hard, secular world to be successful, no clue what you're talking about. It's very, very, very, very difficult. And then you know, you say, well, I I just I just wanna Just wanna have fun. I I just wanna have fun.
Well, ministry can be fun, but if you're just looking just to have fun I don't know, go do something else. Go sail. Go play golf. Pl go. I don't know, make music, do something.
Dr. Shah, I feel like, man, I feel like I'm going to ruffle some feathers with this one, but I feel like the most of the most people in ministry who are listening to this would say, you know, I'm not looking for any of that stuff. I'm looking to build the gospel of Jesus Christ, the kingdom right here on earth. And what we're really saying is, I want an easy life. Yeah.
I want an easy workload. That's right. And I would say ministry can be easy life, but there needs to be some conviction that you care about the lost souls. You care about The people you're serving. Do you care about their future?
Do you care about what's happening in their lives? Salvation Marriage reconciliation, relationship restoration, young people. Who are taking the wrong path and the repercussions that will follow? You need to care about that. And you say, well, I'm in ministry and I feel like that.
I don't care. I guess I need to get out. No, if God did call you into ministry, then you need to ask God to soften your heart. That's right. Yeah.
To help you go back to why you originally entered into ministry. You entered into ministry because. You not only care about The gospel, but you care about lost people. You care about saved people who needed guidance and help.
So go back to those things. And to do that. I don't think Nehemiah fasted and prayed.
So that he will feel bad for his brothers. No, he felt bad. Hearing about it, and then he fasted and prayed.
So I hope nobody walks away going, I guess I need to fast and pray.
So that I will feel bad. Right. That's not from the text. For Nehemiah, his emotion preceded his response. Absolutely.
So, where are your emotions? Again, we're not emotional beings. We don't live by emotions. But what is it that moves you? I mean, I'm really asking people, I'm asking our staff the same question: what is it that moves you?
Mm-hmm. And you say, well, caring about lost souls, honestly, I'm being honest. It doesn't move me. Then ask God to help. You'd be moved by the music.
Yeah, absolutely. God has helped me that way because I could honestly say that it's like it's not, it was not my central motivator. And I think that over time, you know, it still probably is not, I'm not where I need to be, but I definitely. But I definitely feel that God has helped me. And I think He's helped me by watching you guys, watching, like watching and being present when we do like our Kindle outreach ministry, watching and being present when you are speaking to people, like international people who are coming here who want a place to belong.
That has helped soften my heart a lot. And I see how God is moving in people other than just my immediate circle. Yeah, ask yourself the question: how did Jesus see Jesus? The multitudes. How did he see people?
Because that's what we're doing. That's what every Christian should be doing, but those who are in ministry, we should be doing. Way more. How did he see people? Now, I know there are problem people.
I know there are people who will just try to give you a hard time. And that's there. Then you have to deal with them. Be wise as serpents, harmless as doves. But Setting that aside, how do you see people on a regular basis?
When you talk to a person in the lobby, church lobby, how do you see them? Why are they there? I mean, I asked that question. After every message when I take my s place at the door, I think about the people coming up. and I'm shaking their hands.
I think about each of them. As best as I can. It's like, man, this person is here because Mm-hmm. They may be mourning the loss of a loved one in their family. And they are struggling.
Not having that person in their life, they're struggling. I look at someone else, a couple, Man, they're here because they're hoping something would be said today in the message. that may help him or help her. renew their vows, renew their commitment. To be In a God-centered, Christ-centered marriage.
I see another person who is right now estranged from his son or from his daughter. I see that person there going. I made a lot of mistakes. Maybe God can tell me something. Maybe maybe something will happen.
In my son or my daughter's life, that we can bring about some healing.
So seeing them As they walk past me or shake my hand as to what's happening, I'm not saying every person has like a huge burden and a problem. Maybe somebody is not at this point. And that's great. Coming to church does not mean that you gotta have a problem. But at least I need to see them that way.
sometimes we become very judgmental.
Sometimes we become very self-focused, very protective. And I never want to get that way. I want to protect the ministry. I want to fight away the wolves that come in sheep's clothing. I want to make sure that we don't allow that.
Having said that, if we treat the sheep as wolves, then. then we're not going to feel bad for them when they are hungry or thirsty or have a broken limb. Or falling prey to a wolf, we're not going to feel for them. And then forget this, pack it up. You may have a lot of Bible knowledge.
You may have some great administration skills, administrative skills, you may have. Great ability to create programs and make big things happen. But you're really not a shepherd.
So We need to have a shepherd's heart. Think about the people who are you're meeting in the community. They may be going to other churches. They may be right now disenchanted with churches.
So I need to see them. the way Jesus sees them. You know, what do you say to those people? Because every church, every organization is going to have those people that are like, you know, I hear there's a need, no problem. Just let me just get to work.
You know what I mean? All this talking, all this praying, all that stuff. Let the pastor deal with that. Let the staff do with that. Just show me where to go and I'll go.
You know what I mean? You know, how do you, how do you, how do you get this vision and this conviction into the people who are willing to help, but. As long as I'll just do whatever you don't ask me to do. We have to talk about it. Just that's one reason we're talking about it on this show.
So if you say, well, I need to pray and fast so that I will feel what Nehemiah felt when he heard. No, no, no, Nehemiah already felt. His heart was broken. He sat down and wept and mourned and fasted for many days before the God of heaven.
So that already happened.
So, talking like this, and I'm hoping as you're driving down the road, or headed to work, or headed home from work, or at your lunch break, or just sitting. On your front porch. I don't know where you are right now, but I hope. Listening to us talk is sort of bringing you back to the fundamentals of what it means to be a shepherd. Shepherd does not mean you have to be a pastor or be on a staff.
You may be a Sunday school teacher, you may be a small group leader, you may be working in children's ministry or student ministry or some outreach ministry. If you stop caring for people, then it's, I'm not going to say, then might as well forget it. No. Then get back. to the basics right Start Seeing people the way Jesus saw them.
You know, the Bible says Jesus, when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion. That's right. When Nehemiah heard what was happening in Judea or in Jerusalem, he was moved with compassion. One of the things that stood out to me from the last episode that we did, we were talking about Nehemiah and then others in exile who responded positively when God called, like Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, Esther, is that they never lost sight that God was still working. They never lost sight that God was still at work.
God still had a plan. Even in this, even in this, you know, displacement from their homeland, God was still good and he was still involved and he was still working. He set out a plan for his people. And I think that's a good reminder for us, even as we're having this conversation about being a shepherd and having a shepherd's heart, is that you can get so lost in the details. You can get so lost in the mundane and the day-to-day operation that you forget God is working.
In this church, God is working in people's lives here, and God uses us as a part of his plan. It also reminds me, like looking at the example of Nehemiah, that Nehemiah was moved to compassion, but then that compassion also moved him. You know, he made a life-altering decision. And I think a lot of times, and you could probably relate to this as well, Dr. Shah, being in ministry, you've seen people who are like this.
They're moved to compassion and they just want to talk. And it never goes beyond that. Like, someone should do something.
Someone somewhere ought to go and help these poor people. But it never comes to fruition because we just have the bad feeling. We send thoughts and prayers, and then that's it. Yeah, and that's why churches, whether you're big church, middle-size, small church, mid-size, small church, start thinking of, okay, if our. Children in our community are are are just They don't care about the things of God.
They're making wrong choices, wrong decisions, whether they are drugs or sexual immorality or whatever is happening. Uh it should bother you. Mm-hmm. It should bother you. It should break your heart.
And so you should see them as fearfully and wonderfully made by God with a purpose, with a plan. But right now, they are sold out to the enemy and they are doing things that are wrong.
So it should bother you. And then comes the next step.
Okay, if that's happening, what can we do? Like in our church, we have people who work in the school system.
Some work in the elementary school level by providing a food closet, a clothes closet. They try to help the teachers because. If the school systems are not good, then teachers will not come. and then the students will not get the education they need. And imagine How worse things will get.
So. There are people in the church who feel like, okay. Th the if we are truly concerned About the future of our children, then we need to partner with the schools. And we need to. Find ways to help the students, but also the teachers, the staff.
Maybe we can do things around the school that will help. Enhance the environment, the atmosphere of the education there. That's one way to do that. Or you can do things in the community, like with Crime Stoppers. I'm part of the Crime Stoppers board.
Crime Stoppers exist to help the law enforcement. By giving a payout, a reward, a money, a sum. to for people someone somewhere saw a crime. Hey, call this number. It's anonymous.
Or text this app, the P3 app, text here. And if that tip does work out, we will give you a reward money. What happens then? We're able to catch the bad person. And they can be taken off the street so our streets are safer.
And and the the the standard of living goes up, people's sense of security comes back and people make better decisions.
So we should care and then get involved. Just today, I was talking to a person who is helping Who's one of the friends of the library, our local library? And what does she do? She goes there and she goes, they're having a book sale.
So getting all the books together, cleaning them up. putting a price tag on them, getting it ready for the book sale. Nice song gonna be. Hundreds of thousands of dollars that will come in. but there will be some amount of money that will come in that will go to enhance the library.
Then it will also create room in the library for more books.
So more people in our community can go And check out the books and and read and and and better themselves. You see These are just some examples. Of course. We can talk about more from the church, like men's ministry and women's ministry and senior adult ministry. There's so many ways you can do that.
Uh when you see things Just like Nehemiah heard about the walls of Jerusalem were lying down and the gates were burned with fire. When you see that in your context. The next step is what is it that I can do? What he did is he prayed And he fasted.
So that's a great point. And we've got a few minutes left in the show. It's this middle in-between area where you feel the conviction, you get involved. In the middle is the praying and the fasting. Do you think that, what do you think would have happened if he had just rushed off to Jerusalem without doing that?
Because we don't have direction, we don't have guidance. We haven't talked to the God of heaven because God is the one behind this. Whether it is the Friends of the Library, or it is school support ministry, or it is our Kindle outreach in the inner city, or some other ministry or Crime Stoppers, which is not our ministry, but we partner with them. We need to pray and say, God. Obviously, there are things wrong.
And we need to be the salt and the light. in the world. Help us, guide us, guide us to make wise choices, guide us to maximize our efforts, guide us, Lord, to maximize our time. I don't want to go out there and and just be doing something just to be something. What will Make the most impact.
What will show the world that we are not only full of truth but also full of mercy? When we have the balance of truth and mercy, that's when we have favor with God and with people. How can we do that?
So praying And I would add to that, fasting helps us have that perspective. That's why at Clearview, every Tuesday morning, 6 o'clock, the men gather here to pray. Yeah. In our Sunday school classes, in our Bible study groups, in our Wednesday night Bible study, we have a time of prayer.
So Praying and fasting gives us direction. but it also invites God to take the lead Not that we're going to jump in and do something here to make our world a better place. And God, if you want to join in, you can. Come on in anytime. If you know the words, feel free.
You're welcome to join in our plan, Lord. And that's not what needs to be. God should be the center, God should be the focus of everything that is being done. You know, I was watching the movie. A Great Awakening, just put out by Sight and Sound.
It's a great movie that shows the friendship between Ben Franklin and George Whitfield. And then shows how George Whitfield's preaching made an impact in the American Revolution. And and it's it's been great. to watch that movie because at one point in the constitutional conventions There was a big debate. Over Should we or should we not pray?
Because Ben Franklin made The suggestion, I think he made a motion that we should pray. At the start of every convention, we should pray because they were so divided. The big states were fighting against the small state. The small states felt like they were being sidelined. And so I think it was Ben Franklin, who, as much as I know, was a deist.
Was not an evangelical Christian. Maybe he became one at his deathbed. I don't know. But he made the motion that we should pray. And at least in that movie section, again, I don't know the exact historical timeline on how everything happened.
They shot down the motion, they tabled it. And then I think it was George Washington who was presiding over the convention. He said, I for one, even though the motion has been tabled, I for one will be there on that particular day. For a message from the pastor.
So. We, as a nation, as America, we believe that we are. Who we are because of God's hand. That's right. So asking God.
to bless us, to guide us. To have his hand upon us, to protect us. Is part of the American mindset. You know, there's a new movie coming out about that very soon. Yes, there is.
And, you know, I don't know how much we want to say, but it's a movie that's being produced right here. It's a documentary film. That's right. I would give you the title, but we're going to keep it a surprise for now. But that exact thing that Dr.
Shudd just mentioned is a new documentary that we're producing that's going to be out on, it's going to be premiered June 28th, and then it'll be out for digital release after that. But, Dr. Shudd, do you want to just give our listeners some encouragement about that? Maybe they're listening to you and they're saying, you know what? I'm looking around America right now and I don't like what I see.
I feel bad about it, but I have yet to take any action. I'm ready to pray. I'm ready to fast. I'm ready to do whatever it is I need to do. Yeah, I think that's what we need to do to begin with prayer.
As you know, May 17th was this big prayer event in Washington, D.C. This is again a great testimony of God's hand upon our nation in 2026. Who would have thought that we would have a big prayer event right in the heart of our nation's capital? Who would have thought that we would have been invited to participate? Yeah, we were invited to be there.
Yeah. Yeah, and it's right on that mall. And so, So, again, great reminder that prayer is what has made us the nation we are. That's right. And if we're going to move forward and do more for the kingdom of God, we need to come back to that prayer.
That's right. Just like Nehemiah. Amen. We need to fast and pray. Amen.
Amen. So encouraging. Guys, I hope that you listened to today. I hope that you took away that your action step is number one, to pray, seek the Lord, and number two, to take action. That's right.
To step up to what God has called you to do and like Nehemiah, to go and be about that work. Guys, if you're joining us the first time, write in and let us know: 252-582-5028. We want to welcome you to the Clearview Today Show family. Big thank you to our sponsors for making today's episode possible. And don't forget that you can support us by subscribing to the show anywhere podcasting content can be found.
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