The Importance of Human Touch

Hello, everyone. Today is Tuesday, December the 6th. I'm Ryan Hill.

I'm Jon Galantis. You're listening to Clearview Today with Dr. Abbadon Shah, the daily show that engages mind and heart for the gospel of Jesus Christ. You can find us online at ClearviewTodayShow.com. If you have a question for Dr. Shah or anything you'd like to suggest that we talk about on future episodes, send us a text at 252-582-5028. You can also email us at contact at ClearviewTodayShow.com. You guys can help us keep this conversation in the airwaves by supporting this podcast.

You can share it online. Leave us a good review on iTunes and really just help us keep the discussion alive. Help us keep the name of Jesus Christ in the airwaves as long and help us take it as far as possible. That's right, and we're thankful for your partnership in doing that. Amen. Jon, you want to do the verse of the day today?

Yeah, man, let's hit it. The verse of the day is Hebrews 13-15. It says this, Therefore, by him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to his name. Continually offer the sacrifice of God. You've got to do it every day. Every day.

In every circumstance, every day. The sacrifice, I mean, it tells you right on the verse, is our thanks to him for what he's done. And you know, a lot of times we try to get super hyper-spiritual and say, well, our praise is not a sacrifice. Our praise is something we get to do. And yeah, that's true.

That is true. At the same time, it is our sacrifice of praise because that's what God wants. He wants our praise. He wants that, our praise and our obedience, more than some offering that doesn't mean anything, some blood offering or some, you know, smoke offering or whatever. Like, not the smoke offering.

What did they do when they would light the fires on the altar and stuff? Yeah, yeah, that's it. That's it. You know, he doesn't want that. He wants our obedience. He wants our praise. And our full praise from our hearts. That is the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to his name.

Amen. The Guardians of the Galaxy holiday special came out last week. Yep. Have you seen it? I have seen it. I haven't watched it all the way through yet. But I have, I have seen it. So you're watching it last night? It's very enjoyable, very enjoyable.

It's really funny. And I didn't realize this when I watched it, but I saw someone post about this. It is the first MCU project without a villain. Hmm. Yeah, I guess you're right. There's no, like, main antagonist. There's a, there's a problem that they have to sort through, which I don't want to give it away for people who haven't seen it. But there is no, like, big bad. Yeah, that's, that's true.

There's no one really working against them. I guess, I mean, I guess, spoilers. It's been out for a week. How about this? How about this? Skip ahead to about six minutes in if you don't want to hear any spoilers.

But if you're listening to the radio, just, yeah, sorry, I'd go on and change the stations a little bit. I guess Kevin Bacon would be the, would be the antagonist because he doesn't want to be captured. Yeah, true. True. He's not, like, inherently against them. He's not working against them. Yeah, he's not working against them.

He's just, he wants to be unabducted. Yeah. By aliens, which I think is fine. Also, Kevin Bacon in a Marvel movie is, is pretty great. I didn't see, so here's the thing. I never saw Footloose. I had no clue when they, really, they did that cute thing where, like, people who know who Kevin Bacon, they just show him.

Yeah. So me and Ellie were watching. I was like, who the heck is that? She was like, are you serious? I was like, Kevin Bacon. I was like, what is this, some dude? She was like, that's Kevin Bacon.

Yeah. And then I remembered the joke from Guardians 1 where, where Peter Quill likes Kevin Bacon a lot. But I was, I thought his, like, cause in Guardians 2, they made a big, bigger deal out of David Hasselhoff. Remember he...

They did. You're right. So I was like, I don't know who this dude is. And Ellie was like, that's Kevin Bacon. Yeah. I was like, is that... Very famous.

Yeah. I've never seen it. You should watch Footloose.

It's a classic. How famous is this dude? Is Footloose famous or is Kevin Bacon famous? Kevin Bacon's famous. I mean, he's famous. He got famous largely because of Footloose, but he's had other projects that are, that are very well known.

Like what? I've never heard of him. Other than Kevin, other than Footloose, I've not heard Kevin Bacon.

There's been a bunch of stuff. There's like a bunch of thriller movies that he's been in. There's a bunch of action movies he's been in. Can you name them? I haven't seen them.

No, you can't name them. I haven't seen, I know he's been in them. I don't think he's that famous. He is, he is quite famous. I mean, I think we know Kevin Bacon from Footloose.

He, I will say he is very well known because of Footloose in the same way that Patrick Swayze is very well known because of Dirty Dancing. You? Nevermind. Okay. I don't watch dance. Old school dancing movies, I'm guessing are not your, not your thing. You like, you like a Spider-Man 2.

I like Spider-Man 2. Watch that about 50 times and then watch it another 50 times. Yeah. Yeah.

I like that. Well, today on today's episode, we're continuing our December series as we approach Christmas. It's kind of our own holiday special.

It is. It just spans 30 days. This is the Clearview Today holiday special.

But it's going to be the whole, it's going to be the whole month though. I should have worn my Santa Claus hat. We should wear the Christmas suits, I think. I'll bring them. I'll make sure we do that.

Very cool. So today we're talking about God's providence, his promises and his presence that are vital for us as we go through life. But so are God's people. That's right. We all something that we neglect. That's right.

That's right. Well, yeah, that's, that's what I was going to say is we often neglect to remember. I guess forget. We neglect to remember. We forget that God has placed people in our lives. You know, he's placed you in my life and me and your life and Dr. Shaw in our lives. And the people around us are just as much part of God's plan for our lives as we are. That's right.

Absolutely. And God wants us, God wants us to connect with godly people who will bring us wisdom and encouragement in life. And we're going to bring Dr. Shaw in to talk about that. But in the meantime, if you have any questions or suggestions for new topics, make sure you text us at 252-582-5028 or visit us online at ClearviewTodayShow.com. We're going to get Dr. Shaw and we'll be right back.

Hey there listeners, my name is Jon and I'm David. And we just want to take a second and talk to you about Dr. Shaw and Nicole's new book, 30 Days to a New Beginning, Daily Devotionals to Help You Move Forward. No matter who you are or where you are in life, you're going to get stuck.

You're going to have goals that you just can't seem to reach. And you're going to be looking for some new way to start over. Unfortunately, life does not have a restart button.

But here's the good news. God's mercy is new every day, right? And so that means every day is a new chance for you to start over. Now, Dr. Shaw and his wife, Nicole, have written a new 30 day devotional in their 30 day series designed to give you practical tools for starting over.

No matter where you are in life's journey or what pitfalls you've encountered, this devotional is going to help you move forward, refocus your mind on God's truth and meditate on his word. And you guys can pick up a copy right this second on Amazon.com. Unless you're driving.

Yeah, don't shop and drive unless you're driving, in which case wait till you get home. But we're going to leave a link for you right here in the description of this podcast. So it'll be waiting for you when you get home. That's 30 Days to a New Beginning, Daily Devotionals to Help You Move Forward. For the remainder of November and all through December, we'll be sending a free copy to anyone who supports the podcast by visiting us online and donating to the show at ClearViewTodayShow.com.

That is a very, very good incentive, gang. That's 30 Days to a New Beginning, Daily Devotions to Help You Move Forward by Abaddon and Nicole Shaw. Thank you guys so much for listening. David, you want to jump back into the show? Let's go.

All right. Welcome back to Clear View Today with Dr. Abaddon Shaw, the daily show that engages mind and heart for the gospel of Jesus Christ. You can visit us online at ClearViewTodayShow.com, or you can always send us a text at 252-582-5028. Dr. Shaw's with us in the studio today. Dr. Shaw, how are you doing this Tuesday?

I'm doing very well. We're very excited. Christmas is almost here. Amen.

Very, very excited. I don't know if you guys remember this, but we had that text thread going back and forth for a while of like, so-and-so is coming. Remember that when we would take that to each other? It was Jesus is coming. Jesus is coming. What it was, it was, it was people were sending Dr. Shaw the, um, like the, uh, keeps scrolling.

It was like those chain letter emails. An angel is watching over you this day. Scroll to like, or keep scrolling if you don't love Jesus or something like that.

But the reason I bring that up is because that's what's in my head. Like every day, like Christmas is coming. Because what happened was Pastor Shaw was like, if I'm getting these, I'm sending them to the staff. That was sending them to you guys. And we were like, Pastor Shaw, please don't send them. He was like, Jesus is coming.

Four to fifteen of your friends. That was funny. Well, if you guys, if you guys have never seen the show before, you've never listened. Not familiar with Dr. Shaw's work. Dr. Abaddon Shaw is a PhD in New Testament textual criticism, professor at Carolina University, an author, pastor, and the host of today's show.

And you can find all of his work at his website, AbaddonShaw.com. That's right. And speaking of Christmas, we're talking again about, you know, the, the theme of Christmas. We're focused on the nativity story in our conversations here on the show. But today we're talking about, you know, the, some characters that we don't often think about in like the specifically the nativity story. They come up in that narrative.

But we're talking about Zachariah and Elizabeth and the role that they played in Mary's life leading up to the birth of Jesus. So today is all about like, you know, God brings, brings things into our life. We rely on God's presence. We rely on his power working in our lives. But sometimes we neglect the fact to recognize that God brings people into our lives as well.

Absolutely. You know, when you're going through difficult times in your life, you have God's word and that is wonderful. It's the promise, the promises of God, the assurance of God. You have God's presence, the presence of the Holy Spirit who reminds you that it's not over. God is in control. He'll work all things together for good. You have to walk through this valley, but you're not walking alone.

He is with you and that assurance that comes over you. Then there there is your own personal experience in life. You've been there, done that. You know, you're going to survive this.

You know, you're going to make it through this. And it's all those things are wonderful. But then there is one thing still missing and that missing element is the human touch. Yeah. And I'm not talking about Bruce Springsteen song. OK. All right.

I'm talking about the human touch in the sense of having people in your life who genuinely care about you and give you the assurance that, hey, I know what you're going through is tough, but you'll be OK. And they don't leave you in despair, but they leave you in hope. Right. They leave you encouraged.

They leave you with the promise that it'll work out. Right. God is in control.

Right. And you'll be OK. It's almost a false kind of hyper spirituality behind it where it's just me and God. And as long as I'm the lone soldier standing for God's army, I'll be OK. Even though I'll live the life, I'll get all the accolades of the martyr.

But I know I'll be OK. But that's really not God's design for us. He never designed us to stand on our own two feet without other people, other godly people around us. That's right. Now, keep in mind, there is a balance there.

The balance is this. You cannot be just going along with I have people in my life and ignore the word of God, ignore the presence of the Holy Spirit. If you do that, then, of course, you're going to have false friends. Right. You're going to have false assurances. You don't want that. Trust me, you don't want that. I'd rather err on the side of the word of God and the presence of the Holy Spirit if that's all I can get. Right. But to have people in your life who lovingly reassure you, it'll be OK. You'll be fine. And we know what you're going through and we trust you.

We're with you. I think there's also really beautiful imagery as well in the idea that Elizabeth gave birth to John the Baptist. You know, paving the way for Jesus. This is not a man that Jesus needed in the sense that we would think he needed. At the same time, he did prepare the way of the Lord. He was fulfilling prophecy. Just like Elizabeth and Zechariah were there for Mary, you know, John the Baptist was in a way there for Jesus. He was doing what God had put him there to do. Right.

And then let's kind of zoom in a little more on that account. Even before he marched out and was the voice crying in the wilderness. In another sort of way, Zechariah and Elizabeth were also paving the way for Mary and Joseph. Because when the angel came to Mary and said, you know, rejoice, highly favored one. The Lord is with you.

Blessed are you among women. Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a son. For those who are looking for reference, I'm reading from Luke chapter one. And you shall call his name Jesus. Now, imagine this young girl.

Most scholars agree. What, 14, 15, 16 years of age? Very young.

Can you imagine the fear that must have come over our heart? You know, of course, keep in mind, this is not random. You know, she's from Nazareth. Netzer, the name Nazareth. You know, about 100 years ago, people didn't believe there was a town called Nazareth.

Really? Yeah, they didn't believe that. And then archaeologists found this place in Galilee. And the word Netzer maybe comes from the Hebrew word root, which means root. And these people were of the priestly class waiting for the Messiah to come through them.

They were they considered themselves the root of David. And so she may have been aware of the fact that one of us may be the carriers. Right.

But it was not as concrete until the angel came and said, you're the one. Yeah. Can you imagine the fear?

Can you imagine the anxiety that must have come over her? Yeah. It's one thing to be like, well, it'll be someone in my town or in my city. And it may be some point in the future. It may be, you know, some day way in the future.

But not only is it here and now, but it's you. Yeah. And it's not like, oh, you and this man are going to get married and have a child. Right.

You're going to be with child through the Holy Spirit means without any human involvement. Right. How long do you think it took her to come to grips with the fact that you're telling me I'm going to be married out of wedlock? Yeah. I mean, I'm going to have a child out of wedlock. Yeah. What are people going to say? What are people going to say?

What are people going to do? Yeah. You know, I mean, this is Galilee, so maybe the rules were not as strictly observed. But can you imagine maybe they were going to stone her? Yeah. I mean, there's a reason why Joseph was minded to put her away secretly. Right.

Because there were some rules. So you can sense the loneliness that she must have experienced at that moment. You know, the fear, the loneliness, the anxiety. And so in Luke chapter one, verse thirty six, the angel tells Mary, Now indeed, Elizabeth, your relative has also conceived a son in her old age. And this is now the sixth month for her who was called barren. What is Mary's reaction in verse thirty nine? So now Mary arose in those days and went into the hill country with haste to a city of Judah and entered the house of Zacharias and greeted Elizabeth. Means God is not just some mechanical, robotic despot.

He cares about human feelings and he cared about the feelings of Mary and said, hey, I know you're pretty scared right now. Right. But something similar has just happened, not same because Elizabeth was not pregnant from the Holy Spirit. Right. But something similar has happened to your cousin.

So why don't you go see her? Right. It's funny because we tend to do things like that where we try to live our Christian lives. We do our Bible studies. We have our times of prayer. And yet there still sometimes feels like things are missing because we're neglecting that part of our lives that God has given to us community. Yeah. We're neglecting the community, especially in the last couple of years. We've seen that a great deal where people are like, you know what?

I'm going to use this time to get close to God and it's just going to be me and him and it's just going to be this cool thing that I do. And we see that it doesn't work that way. You cannot neglect the community of God's people. Yeah.

I mean, and even just kind of sort of as, you know, not so spiritual environment like working out. Right. I mean, these guys will tell you, you guys as well. We started working out, what, a couple of years ago? Yeah.

What do you think, David? Was it 2018? It was, you and I were 2018. I think everybody joined shortly after probably.

Yeah. 2018. It was probably, it was 2018 when I know when you invited me, I remember going out or walking out to your truck that one night and you were like, Hey, you want to come to the gym with me? And for everybody listening on radio, I was not healthy in 2018. I was really scared of how you were going to find that. I didn't know how that sentence was going to end. I think everybody at the table just held their breath. They were like, 2018, 2019, 2020.

I was not healthy. And I was like, Hey, do you want to come work out with me? And I was like, yeah, sure.

And then John and Ryan had joined in as well. And yeah, it's been about that long. Four years now.

It's been four years and having, like you said, that human touch, there's people around you to keep you accountable. It makes a difference. A huge difference. Yeah. But I like how there's still the, there's still the foundation. There's still the core. And I think that's a point that, that you're making Dr. Sean is like community without Christ in the center, community without like that core, that thing that they had in common. Right.

It's, it's, it's not just enough to go and be with people. If, if it's, if Jesus is not at the center, if Jesus isn't the connection that's bringing you together, right. Then, you know, it's not the same kind of community. You may, you may connect based on affinities or based on hobbies, based on common vision and goals, but the sense of community that comes because we have the Holy Spirit living within us, it's only possible if you have Christ in your heart.

Yeah. When we saw, we saw so much of that put to the test in 2020 when everything was fractured and we, you know, we had to find creative ways to interact with people. And then finally being able to come back together, you could, you could see people, you know, as, as we were, you know, paying attention to, to guidelines and all that kind of, all that good stuff. We can talk about that another time, but, um, you could see people's relief when that community was reestablished, that, that personal connection, that community worshiping together, centered on Christ, building one another up. It really made a difference and it really created a vacuum or an emptiness in people's lives when it was missing.

Yeah. And it should have never been missing in the first place. It should not have been. And this is what I think I respect about you, Dr. Josh, from the very beginning, you kept talking about how the promises of God give you courage to face life. It's not about, you know, uh, playing it safe or hiding or just hoping beyond hope that God takes care of it. It's giving you courage to live your life in spite of all the craziness that's happening.

Right. You know, just recently, as I said recently, I'm talking about last Sunday, I received a card from somebody that I need to get permission from her to share that card. And I want to do that one day, but I'm just going to give you kind of vague information on that. If she was talking about how much she appreciated us standing firm and emphasizing our walk with Christ, the importance or the essential nature of the church, and then also the importance of the community. And she, she admitted that, you know, in those couple of years that she was in a different world, she was chasing the dream. And she said, I'm so glad that you stood firm and strong. And today I'm coming back to it. And I'm grateful for you and Nicole and of course everybody here at Clearview. So one day I'll get permission from her to share more details on that the best we can.

But again, it's great to hear that the community matters. And now going back to the Christmas account Mary went to see her cousin Elizabeth because she was alone. You know, she was alone in Nazareth up in Galilee and she left and came down to Judah to spend time with Elizabeth. I mean, isn't that amazing?

The beautiful human element there. And you know, Elizabeth did not judge her or condemn her. Of course not. We can say that now. Of course not.

But in the moment, what if she had to like, look, my child is legitimate. I don't know what you're up to. Yeah.

Could we have really blamed her? Yeah. I don't know. Or don't bring that in my house. I'm trying to have a baby.

I don't want to need to be stressed out about your situation. Yeah. Whoever he had. No, she was so full of the Holy Spirit that she recognized and said, you know, the baby leaped inside of me when, when you walked in. Wow.

Which, which is a, which is quite amazing. Gives me chills when I think about that. I know it's because I got chills thinking about that. It's just amazing how God works. You know, he works in such mysterious ways. And yet it's like, kind of like you said, Dr. Shaw, when you look back on it, it just seems as plain as day that this is how he would always promise that he did it. That's right.

You know, and, and it gave Mary the strength, the courage, the wisdom, you know, all of that, the fortitude to hang in there until the birth of the savior. How can we apply that in, in our context to thinking about where we are in the holiday season, people are at the height of business. Many of them, they've, they're busier than they've been all year long. They're trying to meet family demands.

They're trying to attend Christmas parties at work. How do we bring this element of the personal touch into our, how we approach the holidays? The longer you live and the closer you walk to Jesus Christ, the more you realize people need you and you need people. And life is tough. It has, it's rough days, but if you have one another and if you care about each other, you can get through and don't always think about yourself.

Think about the other person, think about where they are, what they may be feeling, what they may be going through. And, and I have to remind myself of that. And I hope all of you will remind yourself of that for somebody else, because you know, we need one another. And I know in this room, you guys are there for each other.

I know David is there and I'm there for him. And he, he will send me texts, like even last night, you know, we had to deal with some situation. I appreciate that. Thank you for doing that. It means a lot from, he read me a passage from C.S.

Lewis about a bad minister. And he said, thank goodness you're not like this. Okay. Thank you. I didn't get to see it because I was, it was a crazy day, but later on I did.

I was like, Hey, thank you. Yeah. Yeah. So even, even so I'm dealing with that situation and other things you know, that, that encourages me.

Yeah. But I think it also goes to show that you have a sense of spiritual discernment as God's people do. You know, godly people have that spiritual discernment where they're aware of God's plan.

They're aware that no matter what's going on, there may be spiritual warfare, but there's also God's plan constantly moving forward. So everything that we do, even including this radio show, everything we do is part of that plan if God is with us. Yeah. Work on the radio because we, we want to lift somebody's spirit. That's right.

Yes. We want to stand on convictions. We're going to teach you biblical scholarship. We're going to teach you apologetics.

We're going to teach you exegesis, hermeneutics, whatever, whatever languages, current events. But at the same time, maybe all you need is an encouragement that, hey, you know, what you're going through in your family, what you're dealing with in your health, what's happening with your finances, what's happening in the craziness in America, in the world, we are together. We're going to get through this with God's help. He is with us.

He is working all things together for good and we're going to make it. I think, I believe that's one of the biggest reasons we're on the radio. Right.

You know, and if the apostle Paul needed people, if Jesus needed his inner circle, you know, and go in the old Testament and if David needed Jonathan, on and on, we need each other. That's right. That's right. Absolutely.

You know, one of the things I appreciate about you, Dr. Shaw, especially, and I would, I would urge all of our listeners on the radio to find this person as your life is find someone who can ignite your faith, not just make you feel better, but actually push you to do more and to accomplish more. Because a lot of times we can hear an episode like this and just think, well, you just need someone to make you feel better, pick you up when you're down. Yeah. That's true.

You do need those people. But what I like about you and what I've always admired about you is that it's not about just constantly getting back up. It's about move forward.

It's about we can change the world if we want to, if you have to, if we really desire to do it. And there've been meetings that we've walked out where we sat around for, I don't know, two or three hours just talking. All we did was talk. But I felt, I walked out of those meetings, genuinely believing that through us, through Clearview Church, we're going to change the world. Absolutely.

And it's not us. Of course. I hope our listeners understand. When we say we're going to change it, it's with God, through God, for God, by God.

I mean, everything is through him and for him. Exactly. But if, but I know that if I didn't have someone like you speaking that into my life, I wouldn't believe I would coast. And I think the majority of our people would, we're always going to look for someone just to pick us back up to get back to equilibrium.

Yeah. I would 100% agree. If it wasn't for you and your impact in my life and our lives, we wouldn't be the men we are today.

We wouldn't be the leaders that we are today. And so that would be, I mean, as our listeners are a part of the show, find that person who can catapult you forward, who can help you cast a vision you didn't know that you needed and who you can partner with to reach people for the gospel. I mean, that's what we talk about on this show is that you're partnering with us, listeners and viewers. You're partnering with us as we seek to impact the nations for the gospel, as we have an opportunity to do that right here, no matter where you live. And we're grateful for you. We're grateful for that partnership, that connection that has been built as a result of this radio show and as a result of your ministry, Dr. Shah.

Thank you. And it's because of you guys and our human element, you know, the touch that we have here is the reason why I'm behind this microphone, behind this camera, in front of this camera. It wasn't for you guys. I mean, I would just be alone talking to myself. That would not be a fun show to have. I think it could be enjoyable. I think it would be fun. I don't think so. You never know.

I think people would like it. Yeah. All right. Well, thank you guys. If you enjoyed today's topic, if you have suggestions for future topics, let us know by sending us a text at 252-582-5028.

Speaking of that and speaking of that personal connection, are you guys okay if I read a text that we got? No. Okay. Yes, please.

That did not break the way that I was expecting. So this text comes from, let me pull it up here. This text comes from Susan, who is listening right here in North Carolina, and she just wrote in and she said, Hey, just wanted to let you know, I love the podcast. Y'all do a great job.

Love the combination of silly, serious versus and the tip or the advice of the day. Oh, nice. Very cool.

Very cool. We love getting messages like that. So if you guys have been kind of sitting on that, like, well, I don't really know if I should take the number, please send it, send it in. We love hearing from you.

It lets us know that there is someone on the other side of these microphones and the other side of this broadcast. And it lets us know that you're engaging in this partnership that we've sought to create. So send us a text 252-582-5028, or you can visit us online at clearviewtodayshow.com. And don't forget that on that website, clearviewtodayshow.com, you can support us financially, engage in that partnership that we've been talking about. And every time you give, you're not only benefiting this show, but you are, you are benefiting countless other lives for the gospel of Jesus Christ.

That's right. John, do you have a quote to leave us with today? A meaningful quote, an insightful quote, a life, maybe even life changing. I do, but I cannot find the person who said it.

Do you remember it? Dr. Shah, the one that you had on my, what, what is the, what is his name is H-U-W Longfellow Let me just tell you, okay, the heights reached and attained by men, great men were not done by sudden flight, but they, while their companion slept were toiling upwards into the night. That's it. That's it. That's what it takes. That's what it takes. One of my favorite quotes.

I love that while their companion slept, they were toiling upward into the night. Very cool. I love it. Put your mind to it. You can do it. That's right. That's awesome. Well, thank you guys. I'll see you next time.