Rekindle The Revival Fire

When your spiritual life suffers and revival fires die, oh, we'll keep the work going, but we're going to lean on our own devices. Let's figure out how to avoid that and rekindle the revival fires coming up right now on the TV Today 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, right here in the studio with our host, Dr. Abadan Shah. Dr. Shah, it's good to see you.

I'm excited about this show. I'm excited. We've been talking. We've been having great conversations. We've been going through the book of Nehemiah.

And if today's your first day, you never listened to the show before, you just turned on the radio, you just found us on the podcast app, we want to say welcome. We want you to go ahead and take the next step. Even before you hear this episode, you can join the mailing list. You can do that at the very first link in the description of this video. I shared this on yesterday's episode.

We actually have 137 new subscribers just last week. That's awesome. That's incredible. Yeah, not like overall. That's just from last week.

Wow. What is fantastic? Dr. Shaw, what does it say to you that 137 strangers have bought into what is being preached here at Clearview? Number one, God's got His hand on us.

I mean, every day I'm amazed at how. Much God is blessing us. It's not in us. We are nothing, we are nobody, but it's by the grace of God.

So I give God the glory. Amen. And God has blessed us by putting such an incredible team. I mean, what you guys do here and in the back, and the rest of the staff, and our church family, how we come together to support a ministry like this. Without that, It wouldn't happen.

So it's God all the way, but how does God do it? By giving us a team like this and also the church family that we do. And I think it also speaks to the blessing that your wisdom and insight is to all of our listeners and our viewers. I mean, I know that we talk about that sitting in this room, but your insight into bringing clarity to these biblical issues and to current issues that we're facing, weaving the wisdom of the Bible into current situations that people face in ministry and in leadership. I mean, 137 subscribers in one week speaks to that.

It speaks to how people are being impacted by your message.

Well, I think it's evidence that these leadership principles that we're bringing to you from the book of Nehemiah work. 137 people have bought in and said, yes, I want to hear more. I want to join this family. And I think that's evidence that it's not just that, I mean, Dr. Shah is a fantastic leader, but all these leadership principles are coming straight from the Word of God, right?

It's straight from the Bible. That's right. My job is to just dig in. Prayerfully. And with awareness of language, grammar, theology, all of that, just letting the word come to life.

That's right. And then. Explaining it to people. While inviting them to submit their lives to God's purpose. And also reaching to those who are lost to come to Christ.

That's all I am doing, letting the word speak. to help God's people. And then to reach those who are not. Amen. That's it.

You know, we've been talking about what happens, Dr. Shah, in ministry when these revival fires start to die down. And by revival fires, we don't necessarily mean like. what we typically think of revival, but just Momentum in your ministry. Yeah, the fire behind a ministry.

Yeah, when God is doing something, you're in a period of growth. And you gave that quote yesterday: that it's in the nature of a fire to go down. Yeah, I mean, that's not unique to me. This is something that the founder of Salvation Army, William Booth, made that statement: Is the nature of the fire to go out? You have to keep it stirred, you have to keep it fed, and the ashes removed.

You have to constantly, constantly do that. Does that mean for a single moment? That God is not behind the revival? No, everything, everything is through God. But how does he do it?

It's when we actively stoke the fire. Actively seek to put God first, actively focus on His Word, actively choose to obey. In our daily lives, in our church life, in reaching the community, in reaching the nation and the world with the gospel. When we actively fight for that, that's when the revival fires continue to burn.

Okay?

So it's not just that, oh man, we have a revival, but how do you keep that flame burning? That's what we're talking about here.

Now in Nehemiah's situation, we see that he was there for twelve years. It's only 52 days that it took to build the walls, but he went on to stay 12 years as the governor for Judea. Goes back home to Persia for one year. When he comes back, everything is in disarray. Tobiah.

you know, that that one of the triumvirate between San Ballot and Geshem, Tobiah, has moved into the granary. Yikes. I mean, he set up office right inside the temple. I can't imagine what went through Nehemiah's head when he came back and saw not only the people were just in spiritual shambles, but this guy who was a staunch opponent of the work that he was doing was living in not like in the temple. You said he set up room in the temple?

Yeah, it says right here in verse 5 that... Let me read it for you right here. I missed that. I know we talked about it yesterday. Yeah, no, no, he's not only living in the city, he's in the temple.

Well, I didn't, I missed that. That's his pen. See, it's right here. This is Nehemiah chapter 13. But during all this I was not in Jerusalem, for in the thirty second year of Artaxerxes, king of Babylon, I had returned to the king.

Then after certain days I obtained leave from the king king, and I came to Jerusalem and discovered the evil that Eliashib had done for Tobiah. In preparing a room for him in the courts of the house of God. Oh, my goodness. He set him up in the temple of God. I shouldn't be laughing.

And it grieved me bitterly. Therefore, you know, but we're going to come to that now. Imagine I punched Eliash in the face. Imagine Nehemiah coming in. He opens the door.

Tobias sitting there waving. Hey, man. Oh, my God. How did you get here? Imagine the behind-whopping that took place after that.

I would have knocked it. Do you think he knocked Elias in? I was just about to say, do you think there was a scolding after that? Oh, we'll come to that in a moment. But let me continue here before we talk about what Nehemiah did about Tobiah having his own personal office inside the temple.

Remember, mind you, this is the same guy who had opposed God's people. This is the same guy who had tried to sabotage the building of the walls around the city of Jerusalem. Tried to kill Nehemiah, didn't he? They tried to kill Nehemiah, threaten Nehemiah. This is the same guy.

Not like Years later, just a year after Nehemiah is gone, that he comes back and Tobiah has a nice, beautiful. Office in the temple, not just like he moved into Jerusalem. In God's house. In the temple. Oh, that's rough.

Now, let's continue, but we're going to come back to that.

Something else it did. Nehemiah chapter 13, verse 10. I also realized that the portions for the Levites. had not been given them. For each of the Levites and the singers who did the work had gone back to the field.

So, Levites were the worship leaders. Because of Tobiah, the Levites were without support and were kicked out. And had to go to work in fields in order to survive. For someone, maybe Dr. Shah, a new Christian, maybe unfamiliar with the customs of the the tribes and the Levites, do you want to just explain what does that mean?

Their portions weren't given to them? Of course.

So. All right. The priests, they lived off the temple. The Levites also, but in a different sort of way. Every tribe had to sort of give.

Even even in their own Tribal allotment: there was supposed to be a place made for the Levites.

So the tribe of Dan.

Some Levites would live with you. Mm-hmm. The tribe of Gad. It's a car. Benjamin, Judah Some Levites would live with you.

Why?

So you can have your own personal pastors.

So, yes, you need to go to Jerusalem to the temple for the sacrifices, for the feasts. But does not mean that it's all happening in Jerusalem over there. No, in your own communities, you would have. Kind of a s a sense of we have something here until the big feast, until the Passover, until the Pentecost. But there's something here.

So you were supposed to serve and help the Levites because they were helping you. Right. Because they were praying for you. And at the temple, they were the ones who would lead in worship. Mm-hmm.

Guess what happened in that one-year gap between Nehemiah going back to Persia and Nehemiah coming back from Persia? They had stopped paying the Levites.

Okay.

So, the Levites out in the field, busting their butts, breaking their buttons. They got to survive. And they cannot lead the worship. Why?

Because they got to be over there. Wow. You know. One of the first things to go When the revival goes out or revival dies is worship. Yeah.

How many, many churches in America, let's just focus on America right now. Worship is not that important. And if it is, it becomes about the music. It becomes about the style, the tempo. It becomes about something other than what it's supposed to be.

Worship is very important. I. I cannot stress that enough. I believe the preaching of the word is very important. This is when the word is broken.

and taught to the people, And at the end, and the heart of it is the salvation message. That's what preaching is. but worship that comes before, during, after, Is also very critical because it's a call to people to respond. To the presence of God. That's exactly right.

That's exactly right. It is a call to the people to be ready to hear what God has to say to them. And then, when we sing again the invitation song, it's not just an invitation song like some music so you can walk down on it. No, this is. A call to now respond to what you have heard.

That's right. Either to get saved. or to repent of his sin. or to choose to obey God. In some aspect that he spoke to.

That's right. That's right. You can always tell because when people really, and I know this is a pretentious thing to say, but when people don't get the point of worship, they say that. You know, worship is important because it sets our hearts for the message. And true, it can function in that way.

But I love the way you said it, Dr. Shah. It's the second half of a conversation we're supposed to be having. Yeah, it's a coffee. Imagine having a conversation with someone and you just talk and they just look at you.

Yeah. They're listening. But they're not doing it. Yeah. Absolutely.

So in Nehemiah chapter 13, verse 11, Nehemiah contended with the rulers and said, Why is the house of God forsaken? I mean The listeners of viewers, wherever you are, whether you're in an office building or working in the garage or in a restaurant or you are driving down the road, I don't know where you are or at the lake. Whatever. I hope this this Today's broadcast is helping you. I hope it's challenging you.

I hope it's convicting you. I hope it's giving you the tools you need to help your church become. to get on fire. to retrieve the revival fire. But I'm also talking to our team right here.

Okay?

The people who are sitting in this room. The people who are behind the cameras, the people who are in the office, I'm talking to all of us. The things that I emphasize here are not something that are coming out of my personality or my upbringing or just something I picked up or gleaned here and there by. I don't know, by experience or by reading or something. No, it's coming from this.

Book, it's coming from the Bible. Listen to what Nehemiah said to them. When he saw that the Levites were not being properly taken care of, and they had to go back to the fields and hence could not work, listen to what he said to them. Nehemiah chapter 13, verse 11.

So I contended with the rulers and said, Why is the house of God forsaken? Have you heard me say that before? Like, why are we not fixing this problem? Why are we not taking care of that? Why are we not actively protecting this place?

Why are we not actively cleaning up this place? Why are we not actively interacting with the people and encouraging them and guiding them or at times even admonishing them with humility, with love, with grace? That's coming from here. Why is the house of God forsaken? And I gathered them together and set them in their place.

Then all Judah brought the tithe of the grain, and the new wine, and the oil, to the storehouse.

So they started bringing those things back in. Listen to verse 15.

Now, in those days, this is Nehemiah chapter 13, verse 15. In those days, I saw people in Judah trading wine presses on the Sabbath. Means they were not coming to church. Yeah. They were working on the Sabbath.

Of course, people are going to say, well, come on, church. Yes, temple. I'm just trying to apply it to our context. They stopped coming to church. What are they doing?

Oh, man. We've just been busy, busy, busy. You know how it is. I've been meaning to, but you know, I got to get this taken care of. If I could get this caught up, man, I'm just a busy season.

That's right. If I could get all this caught up, you know, I'd be using prayer. That's right. Yeah. Nothing new under the sun.

Oh, people are. A couple of these things getting behind us. I mean, are we going to be in a better place? We'll be back. Save my spot up then.

Here's the thing: it's an old problem. It's not a southern problem, it's not an Indian problem. Because we heard the same thing growing up from people, it's not anything of that sort. It is a. Church problem.

It's a believer's problem. That's right. So, what did Nehemiah do? They were treading wine presses on the Sabbath, bringing in sheaves and loading donkeys with wine and grapes and figs and all kinds of burdens, which they brought into Jerusalem on the Sabbath. Can we imagine that?

That's the day where you should not be working, and God should be your focus. That's right. The day of rest. In Jerusalem they're working. And I warned them about the day on which they were selling provisions.

It's like, hey, I mean, come on, God wants us to work. I tell you what, I tell you who doesn't work, them Levites. I tell you who doesn't work. No, they didn't say anything about the priest. Why?

Because the priesthood was already corrupt. That's right. I mean, the priest, the pastor, had brought in the enemy into the church. Right. So nothing about the priests, but it's not because the priests were doing their job.

No, they're already gone. They were already done. They'd done it. They were using all the money, the resources to bless themselves. And so.

Okay.

What a disarray.

So w I want us to understand this. When people say that, do pastors work or do church staff work?

Now, In your life, you may have encountered those who didn't. They just sat around in the office and played on their computer or prayed a you know prayer here at something and a message there on a weekend and maybe a visit On a Tuesday night. Other than that, they didn't do anything. And I'm sorry, that should not have been the case. But most of the pastors that I know Work incredibly hard.

I know we do. I know we do at Clearview. We are a very, very, very hardworking staff. And I'm not even talking about myself. I'm talking about these guys here and gals who.

Right. Amazing. I mean, unbelievable. We can't pay them enough for what they do.

Well, it's, you know, you do an excellent job of communicating to us what's at stake. When we talk about day in, day out stuff in the office or prepping for a message on the weekend or prepping for a special service or an event. Ultimately, what's at stake is we're dealing in people's eternities. That's right. We are helping people understand that they have a heavenly father who loves them, that they've been created by God for a purpose, and that they belong to a community that's seeking to make Christ visible in our larger context of a community.

And if that's the goal, if it's not just let's finish this spreadsheet or let's make sure that this song is in Planning Center, let's make, no, if it's people's eternities at stake, Why wouldn't we work hard? Why wouldn't we give 112%? Why wouldn't we work our fingers to the bone and then some? Because it's much more important than a paycheck or it's much more important than a bonus or a status. It's people's eternities on the line.

And for the people in your congregation who are already saved, what is your goal for them? You know, do you want to just keep the status quo, just keep them saved, just keep them, just keep them right where they are?

Well, then, yeah, it's easy as a pastor or as a ministry staff to just maybe go visit someone when they're sick. Maybe put something up, maybe like a little. I don't know, a little devotional here and there. But man, if you want to produce something, if the church is really supposed to be multiplying, to be producing disciples, to be producing all these people, then it's going to take some hard work. You think books just happen?

You think radio shows just happen? And you may say, well, you know, as a church, we don't have that ambition to do all that stuff. Why?

Why?

Seriously. I mean, and I know that sounds like, well, it's not about books and it's not about that stuff, but it's about growing. The goal for any organization, especially a church, especially the ministry of Jesus Christ, is growth. And the growth that we're talking about is not just that we will be bigger and we will be well-known and popular. No, the growth means souls.

The growth means those lives are now going to follow Jesus Christ.

So before you criticize someone for trying to be the big church or the popular or trying all this, ask yourself. Why are they doing that? And then ask yourselves, what are you doing? That's right. It's very easy to sit behind a keyboard or your phone and post a social media post, something that you grab somewhere and you dump it.

It's quite different to actually go and share the gospel with somebody. That's right. It's actually Incredibly hard for week after week after week. It's not just when I feel like it, man. I had a great golden truth I found, and I want to share with my little group.

It's quite different that week after week, you have to get up and preach the true word of God. That's right. And not just get up there and give a great lesson that you, you know, stole from David Jeremiah or from Joni Erickson Tata. No, it's something you dug in. Mm-hmm.

That's difficult. And you have to do that while at the same time warding off the attacks of the enemy. You have to do that while at the same time Being careful about the feelings of people.

Somebody's feelings get hurt, or some people in the church are at odds with each other. Nothing to do with you. But they're at odds with each other, or they're at odds with their own family, friends, co-workers, neighbors. You have to consider all of these things and still help this congregation to move forward. It's incredibly difficult.

That's right. And without the grace of God, without the hand of God, it cannot be done. All that to say, most churches, most staff, People are working very hard. That's right. That's right.

Very hard. Have you ever met a lazy pastor? I met one or two, but most are actually going above and beyond. 30 years of pastoring only met one or two. I mean, I think that's a statement in itself.

Yeah, I agree. That maybe opens up a larger question then: why has this caricature. Latched onto people's view of people who are in ministry, pastors or church staff. Yeah, you don't you if you're not out there splitting logs, if you're not out there on an oil rig in the ocean, then you're not really working hard. Where is it?

Because they think that spiritual work is not on the same level as physical work. or mental work. Do they feel like a person Let's say working in construction. Man, he has to go out there early in the morning. and get started on getting the foundation right or landscaping.

It's a lot of work. Or a person working in the medical field has to show up uh for for for one, they have to go to school for several years and then they get their education and now they have to show up and they have to put in an IV or they have to you know go into a triage situation. Oh, wow, so much stress. Or a person working in law enforcement, or a person working in the military. They have to go for years away from home and and I mean months away from home and and miss out on all their children and and maybe even get shot or maybe even get wounded.

Or they see somebody working in a factory or in in a low local city government and they feel like that's real work, where you have to fight for something or contend for something or or finances. You have to sit there and meticulously look at all the financial data. I mean, that's so you talking about Jesus is in your heart. and give more money And one day you're going to have more reward in heaven. Come on, this is garbage.

What people like that don't realize is. That without spiritual Work which is sharing the gospel, teaching the word, helping people. live the life that God has intended for them to live. Everything else will collapse. Everything else will collapse.

Means you can be making Ten million dollars a month, but if your teenage son is going off the deep end. How do you feel about those $10 million? How do you feel when your heart is broken? How do you feel when you're not sure where that person is, that granddaughter is? What happens when you're sitting there and your marriage has fallen apart?

That doesn't mean that everybody going to church never has marriage problems and never has a divorce? No, those things happen. And even there. Having a church that teaches the word, reaches the lost, helps them, bandages the wounded, and chastises those who are about to make a wrong decision that will be spiritually fatal for their lives. All of those things are helping people.

stay on God's path.

So when somebody says, Oh, this is not real work. You are very naive. And you need to really open your eyes and see this is what's happening in Europe. This is what's happening. In England.

Yeah. This is unfortunate. Praise God. Fortunately, There is a little turn in America where people are waking up and realizing we need Something more than just technology and medical advancement. We need oh wait, we need God.

Yeah. Speak to that person because there's always going to be people outside of the church who are not saved, who say, yeah, pastors, ministry, they don't work. It's not real. And we know that Jesus can change their heart. Jesus can open their eyes.

But for the Christian who is saved, for the Christian who has the Holy Spirit. And they still think this way, how can the Holy Spirit open their eyes today? I would say truly, truly, truly, and I mean, if you don't get that truly, I'll say, ten more times. Truly true I mean Be honest with yourself. Are you really where God wants you to be?

In your spiritual life, do you have a personal vital, which means a real Live relationship with God right now. Are you truly talking to him? Can you really hear his voice? Or are your personal insecurities? and your personal lack of lack of of of you know, peace in your own life.

Is that getting in the way? That you Say what you say about church and pastors and staff? Truly examine your heart, and what you will find here is that you have other problems. And sometimes we take it out on those who will take it.

So be very careful about that. Try that with your boss. It's rather with the doctor you go to. Try that with law enforcement. Yeah.

Try that anywhere else. Oh, we won't. Why?

Because we know there will be repercussions. But here, we will love you the way you are and accept you no matter what you do. Mm-hmm. So, my encouragement to you is to get alone with God and really humble yourself. Humble yourself and you will realize that man, oh Send those Levites to every tribe, For a reason.

That's right. And let me speak for those of us who are in this room and on the team when I say thank you for the impact and the influence that you have had in our life and helping us see those things and helping course correct us, both in a ministry setting and just in life. I mean, you have certainly been that for us, of calling us back to God and helping us focus on Him and helping reignite those fires when they start to dwindle and when they're threatened, reigniting that passion and that fire in us.

So thank you for leading us as we together lead others. Absolutely.

I'll read this one scripture and let you all close. In Nehemiah 13:23, in those days I also saw Jews who had married women of Ashdot, Ammon, and Moab, and half of their children spoke the language of Ashdot and could not speak the language of Judah, but spoke according to the language of one or the other people. I mean, that's translated that today. We do not know how to speak the language of the gospel. That's right.

That's 100% right. And, you know, our goal here at the Clearview Today show is not just to get your email address, not just to get your money. Our goal is to equip you to where you and your ministry and your church are speaking fluently the language of the gospel because it's the only language on earth. It's the only language in any world, any universe that can actually save the lost. And, you know, one of the things that we are very passionate about is all the things that Dr.

Shah is saying about what's happening in Clearview. It can be your church. It can be your ministry. In fact, that's what we pray every single episode that the things that we're talking about will benefit you, will equip you to become a stronger leader. And here's how you can help is by contributing to the Clear Vee Today Show and the work that we're doing to get the gospel and to equip leaders, just like Nehemiah to equip leaders to live out God's calling on their lives.

You can do that by visiting Abhinan Shah.com forward slash give and partnering with us financially. You can also do that by becoming a sponsor of the Clear Vee Today Show. We have several sponsors that make what we do possible, and we would love for you to consider coming on as a sponsor of the Clear Vee Today Show family. For more information about that, send us a text message to 252-582-2022. That's right.

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