Lightning Questions

Happy Friday, everyone.

It is January the 6th. I'm Ryan Hill. I'm John 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 suggestion for a future episode, send us a text at 252-582-5028.

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And we're going to leave you guys a link in the description of this podcast so you can do that. To make your life easy. That's right. That's right. John, would you like to do the verse of the day today?

Yeah, buddy. Today is Psalm 86 in verse 5. For you, Lord, are good and ready to forgive and abundant in mercy to all those who call upon you. I don't think it ever gets old talking about the forgiveness of God. Because I need it.

I need it. Yeah, it's something that we need daily. I mean, there's a reason the Bible says things like His mercies are new every morning, because we need new mercy every morning. And God is a God of forgiveness. But it's so much more than just forgiveness. It's not just like, Oh, it's okay.

I forgive you. He cleanses our sin. And He forgets it. He cleanses our sin. Not that He forgets it in the sense that He loses that memory. He's God, so He doesn't forgive. But He doesn't hold it to our account anymore. And what I love is that His love is so abundant.

It's not like this carefully rationed out thing where I get this number of tries and then I'm just kind of like three strikes and you're out sort of thing. Ooh, man. I'm very thankful that's not the case. Yeah, He pours His love on us as long as we genuinely seek Him.

And that's the thing, I think, this year going forward is I want to seek God more. That's right. You know what else was carefully rationed? What's that?

I think I know what you're going to say. A treat that was left for someone here on the show. Here on the show. He's not in the studio today.

He's not in the studio right now. He'll be here later today. But last night we had a party.

We did. We had some people coming in. Lots of fun.

Lots of fun. Lots of delicious treats were brought. Lots of treats. A lot of our people at the church are farmers.

They raise animals. And so one of the treats that often gets brought is goat cheese. Which is delicious. If y'all have never had goat cheese, that junk is good.

It's very good. Because they make it themselves. They make it and process it and everything. That cheese came fresh out the goat.

No, I don't think that's how that works. Really? Yeah.

Anyway, they make it and process it and it's just very fresh. So we were talking. We were standing around.

Myself, David, Ryan, Dr. Shah last night. We're talking. Dr. Shah's talking. He's having a good time. We're laughing. We're having a good time. Hanging out. We're hanging out. David is over there. I wish I had something that's in a bag.

It's in a Ziploc bag. And Pastor Shah's like there. And David's listening. He's like, uh-huh, uh-huh, yeah.

He's like, yeah, I know what you're saying. Just squash it. Slowly smooshing.

Just squash it. Absent-mindedly. Not even like. He's like, yeah, yeah, I see that.

I feel what you're saying because blah, blah, blah. And so then finally Pastor Shah's like, what are you doing? David's like, huh? This is powdered sugar. Someone made that and brought it in.

I was going to take that home and eat it for breakfast. And David's like, I thought it was powdered sugar. That's the thing that made me angry.

And maybe you can turn your mic on and figure this out. I was doing it because I thought it was powdered sugar. What sense does that make? It's like me pouring this coffee all over the table. And you're like, why did you do that? I thought it was milk. I thought it was milk.

Why would you do it if you thought it was powdered sugar? I understand what David was saying. And David, feel free to jump in. Yeah, jump in because you just sound like we're going in on you. I understand what he was saying.

He's not going to talk. If it was powdered sugar, it would be sort of a cool, fun sensation as you are molding it. Think about what you're saying.

Hold on, hold on. As you are molding it into a different shape. But it's powdered sugar, so it would just fall back into, it's just powder. That's a cool, fun sensation for kids. Right.

It's not a cool, fun thing. So, logically it tracks? Practically? Doesn't make sense. Yeah, there was a thing of cookies, and I was like, what if I just crushed up these cookies?

And I was like, I thought they were apples! Like, why? So, Pasteshad this morning put a video on Snapchat of him trying to scrape the smashed up... Have you seen it?

Yeah, I've seen it. He was like, I don't understand why people put their hands on things that aren't theirs. He was like scraping the mashed up goat cheese. Do you want to say anything, or are you just going to? You don't have to.

We're live. I don't know what I can say. When I said I thought it was powdered sugar, I didn't think like, okay, that means now I can crush and destroy this.

Now I have permission. My thought was, this is leftover powdered sugar from the cookie decorating contest that they had on Sunday night. Nobody's ever going to need it, nobody's ever going to use it. Which we did not have powdered sugar at the cookie decorating contest.

I didn't even know y'all had a contest. Powdered sugar is not something that you can ruin. Like me moving it around wouldn't have ruined it to where it's not usable anymore. Right. You're a fidgeter.

You're a fidgeter. You do stuff like this. Yeah. David is thinking about... The radio audience isn't... Golly. No, but they can hear it now. Yeah. David is thinking about five to 10 things simultaneously at any given moment.

Yeah. Is it difficult to sit still? Because sometimes I fidget, like if I'm hungry.

If I'm hungry, I'll be like doing stuff like this. But you destroy. You destroy. He didn't intend to destroy. All right. I mean, I don't think anybody intends to. It was like malicious. Yeah.

He's like, go cheese. I'm giving you a hard time. I don't think you meant to do anything. I don't think you meant no harm. When Dr. Shaw comes into the studio, I am going to bring this up. Because I want to hear from him the thought... Because I know he was looking forward to that.

And to see you just smashing it and flattening it in a bag for seemingly no reason was devastating. Oh, man. I'm going to get off you a little bit because I feel kind of bad. I'm feeling a little bad. Do you want to segue into the main topic?

I don't really know how to segue out of this. I was hoping we'd get more of an argument or a reaction, but he just seems sad. Just sad. All right.

Let's take a while to maybe reflect on this. We need a moment of silence for the go-to. If you say one more cool thing, you're in. Yes.

That's what I've always wanted. Today is Friday, so we have our lightning round questions today. We're going to grab Dr. Shaw in just a minute. But if you have any questions or suggestions for new topics, text us at 252-582-5028. Or visit us online at ClearviewTodayShow.com. We'll be back after this.

It was like nothing we've ever seen before. That's right. And one of the things that we've always been about here at Clearview is forward motion and community. Those are both very important. So the whole heart behind the EP was, hey, let's just take these two things and let's put them together because we truly feel like that's the antidote to what's happening in the world today. We're right in the middle of writing a whole bunch of new material as a church. But while all of those projects are still in the works, we want to help point you guys towards these songs that God has given us.

You can listen to all of them right now on Spotify. Just look up Clearview Worship. Or if you want to support what we're doing here at Clearview Church, you can buy it on iTunes right now. And always remember you can support us directly at the Clearview Today Show by visiting us online at ClearviewTodayShow.com.

That's right. Thanks for listening. We hope these songs are as much a blessing to you as they were for us.

Amen. Let's get back to the show. Welcome back to Clearview Today with Dr. Abbadan Shah, the daily show that engages mind and heart for the gospel of Jesus Christ. You can visit us online at ClearviewTodayShow.com.

Or if you have any questions or suggestions for future episodes, send us a text at 252-582-5028. Dr. Shah, welcome to the studio this Friday. This Friday? Right.

You know what helps? It's the first Friday of 2023. I feel like I've said that every episode. You're very excited about 2023. It's the first. We're still on the first. Everything I do this year is going to be the first time. It'll be the first day of October. That's the first time I did that in 2023, gang.

Right. It's like when you have a little kid and everything is new. First steps, first words. This is the first Friday. How was your first Friday breakfast of 2023?

I have no idea. I know you had a bagel this morning. Bagel this morning. And there was supposed to be a spread.

Yes. There was supposed to be a spread. And I'm just wondering how the spread was. Well, do you want to hear the whole story? Well, we told a little bit of the story. We told the story that led to this morning's breakfast.

Right. So I'm just wondering, from your perspective, how did everything turn out? Well, I'll tell you this much, okay? This was a wonderful time. Things we had finished up for the evening and just kind of hanging around talking. And somebody had given me some goat cheese in a plastic bag. Delicious.

Right? Delicious. Goat cheese.

Everybody loves goat cheese. I hope you do. And so I'm over there. I'm over there talking, very intently talking. I'm not paying attention to this kid next to me.

I mean, this person next to me. And he's over there playing patty cake with my plastic bag. He said, play him patty cake. I mean, he's just like smacking it. Baker's man style. And then I look over and I see that he took, he completely flattened that goat cheese in that plastic bag, that Ziploc bag.

I mean, flattened. And I'm like, why would you even do that? Oh, I thought it was just sugar. I thought it was sugar, dude. Goat cheese, powdered sugar. Very different. But the thing, that's the thing I was saying this morning during the intro, like, goat cheese, unacceptable. And I apologize.

Had it been powdered sugar, I'd have been fine. No. No. But the point is, it's not yours. Why were you messing with it? Leave it alone. So, you know, when I went to get some goat cheese to put on my bagel, it was an ordeal. I can imagine so, having to just scrape it all off.

I hope this person finds peace. Yeah. Because, you know, I wanted to have that experience of goat cheese spreading over. I felt like I was putting soap on my bagel. Goat soap. Oh, no.

Goat soap. That's what it looked like. Truly so sorry. Truly so sorry.

But they said okay. But somewhere I could smell his nasty hands. Oh, no.

Even though it was all plastic, the hands of the goat. No, I'm just kidding. Do you think some Friday lightning round questions might make this all just go away? It might.

We had a hard time saying this story. I don't think anything. Yeah, I don't think anything. We're talking about David over there. David, do you have anything to say?

My bad. I was going to say, I'm sorry would be a good response. I'm sorry.

It's okay, David. I wish I didn't do that. I made your goat cheese, like, flat cheese.

I wish I didn't do that. Goat soap. Yeah, it was goat soap on your bagel, so.

Yeah. We just joke around with each other. So, folks, don't take it personal. Don't at him. Yeah, don't at me. Don't at him, but also don't touch the goat cheese. If you at me, I will take your goat cheese. And he will smash it. I promise I've seen him do it.

In a heartbeat. Well, today we are doing lightning round questions. It's Friday, so we're going to have your user-submitted questions. Remember that you've been sending these questions in to that same number, 252-582-5028. And if you haven't done so yet, ask yourself why.

Take a good hard look in the mirror and ask yourself why you haven't sent those questions in. Yeah, the whole point of having the number is for audience engagement. And the people who have been engaging have been telling us, I love that you guys answer the questions.

I love that you read the reviews. I love that you guys are engaging with your audience. Because that's the whole point of having the number, so that it's not just us talking at you.

We want to talk with you. And a lot of these questions, I'm not going to lie, some of these questions really make you think. Some are kind of silly, like if you could combine two animals to make a new topic. I enjoyed that one. That was a fun question.

I liked it. But then some of them really make you think. We love having the conversation with you all. Please keep sending those questions in. We know that as you're listening, some of these questions are popping up. Just send us a quick text, 252-582-5028. You might just hear it on the Lightning Round questions episode on Friday.

Four of you guys are about to hear them here in a second. Here we go. So the first Lightning Round question today comes from Shannon R. And Shannon asks, what is your favorite book of the Bible and why? Oh, wow. I wish I could tell you one book, but I don't have one.

But I put it this way. The book that I'm studying at the moment is my favorite book. Oh, yeah. So right now, the book of Genesis is my favorite book because I've been so into it. But when I was preaching from Nehemiah on leadership, it was my favorite book.

But then when I was in 1 Peter, that was my favorite book. Yeah. That's a pretty good outlook. That's a good way to look at it. Yeah.

I wish I could tell you that this is it. But I would be lying because when I get into a topic or a subject or a series, really series, biblical book series, that becomes my book. And I will dive into it. I will study it.

I will explore it theologically, historically, geographically, grammatically. And it just becomes very dear to me. That's awesome. God has a way of really making those books come alive. Oh, man. Yes, yes.

Is there one that stands out to you like this was a really enjoyable book to read through? Genesis right now, to me, it is. You know, I've been studying on the Hittites. This is a group of people that lived in Asia Minor. And they're sort of long gone.

We hardly have anything left about them. But we see their impact on the biblical characters. So what I'm telling you right now is that's where I'm at.

That's what I'm studying right now. So I love reading about the Hittites and then looking at the Bible and seeing how Abraham adopted Eliezer of Damascus. And he was going to be the heir of everything he had. When you look at Hittite customs, that's what they did.

If a couple did not have any children, they would adopt one. And his job was to mourn over them when they died. Wow. Yeah, yeah. So all that is part of the culture at the time.

So it's right now. I'm really loving it. That's loving it, loving it. What's your favorite book? Oh, man. My favorite book of the Bible, I really enjoy. And this may just be because I took a class dedicated to it in college. But I really enjoy the book of Judges.

Oh, okay. I really like the book of Judges. Kind of those different accounts of those men and women who stepped up to lead Israel in sort of the cycle that Israel falls into. I really like that one. That and Joshua are near the top for me.

I like that. When you said Nehemiah, because I had mine picked out, but then you said Nehemiah, which I've also fallen in love with. The first one that I thought of instantly was Jonah. I always have loved the book of Jonah. Love Jonah. It's a short book, but I think it's one of those that demonstrates the reality of the Bible because of how unarchetypal it is. You always expect that happy ending that you learned in Sunday school, but the Bible is so real, and I've always been compelled by Jonah. But then you mentioned Nehemiah, because the first series that I ever heard you preach was Rebuilding the Walls, which was a series on Nehemiah.

That's right. And I always remember thinking, like, there's no way that this book is ever going to be interesting to anybody. And going through that series, I think it was in 2013, and it was eye-opening, because I was like, this is a book I've never heard, didn't even know was in the Bible, didn't know what it was. And yet it was such a compelling story.

So I'm back and forth. If I had to pick one, I probably would pick Jonah, but then Nehemiah's like, close, close second. How about Malachi? Did you enjoy Malachi? I did enjoy Malachi. I loved the series on Malachi. Yeah, Malachi was good. I liked Malachi.

That was a series that I felt like could really, and I think one day will be something, the Counter Shock series going through Malachi. That was another one that I hadn't really ever given the time of day until coming here and listening to you preach through it. And just a reminder for those of you who are listening and watching, if you haven't heard these messages, or if you're unfamiliar with Dr. Shah's sermon series, you can always find all of his sermon manuscripts on his website, Abhinanshah.com, or you can find all of those videos over on our church's website, ClearviewBC.org. Go back and listen to some of these things that we're talking about, the Nehemiah series, the series on Malachi, Counter Shock. Go listen to those. Go watch those messages. Go read those manuscripts.

You'll be blessed as a result. Yeah. I was looking to see that Rebuilding the Walls was there, and it is there. Yeah.

It's there. Because you started the blog in 2012? Yeah. So the following year. And I've been writing my messages since, good grief, 1999.

Earlier, actually. But in 1999, when I started as a pastor of this church, my first and only church, I began writing manuscripts. So I would take the whole manuscript with me. But then it doesn't mean I read it word for word, but I would write everything out and then kind of keep that as a plumb line from which I would kind of branch out. But then in 2008, I started typing it.

I used to write it on this yellow legal pad and then started typing it out. And then in 2012, I decided to buy a website and build a blog site. Nice.

I mean, really, a blog site, and put all my notes online. And people loved it. Yeah.

They still do. Yeah. Yeah. I got a question from Gerald J. What does the name Abaddon mean? Oh, OK. So, for all of you who thought it was an Indian name, it's not.

I 100% always assumed it was until, I think, like a year or two after meeting you. Even people in India ask me that question, what kind of name is that? All through my life, Abaddon.

What kind of name is that? What does that mean? I'm like, well, it's from the Bible. My dad was preaching from Numbers, and he came to Numbers, chapter 1, verse 11. And there is Abaddon, if I can find it right quick, I'll read it for you. Numbers, chapter 1, and verse 11, it says from Dan. No, from Benjamin Abaddon, the son of Gidioni.

That's where my name comes from. It's funny that you say that, because I remember, I was reading through Numbers one time. And I told you I read through Numbers 1 that day. And you were like, oh, did you hear anything? Because I listened to it.

I had the NLT, and I just listened to it. And I remember specifically being like, did you hear anything familiar? And I was like, familiar?

I mean, I think I've read Numbers before in school, though. Did you hear anything familiar, any names that sounded familiar to you? And I was like, I don't think so.

So we went back and read it together. I was like, oh, there's your name. I listened to it, and the guy on the tape pronounced it Abaddon. So I was like, oh, yeah, there's no way. I never would have caught that.

But if I had read it, I would have seen it. I don't know why, but that memory always... Well, to help you understand what that name means, Abaddon comes from two Hebrew words. Abi, or Ava, is father. Dan is judge. So Abaddon is my father is judge, or judge is my father. Really talking about God is my father. You can also say it that way.

God is my judge. Ava can also be God. So that's what it means. Now, here's something interesting. Fun fact. We need a graphic or a sound. Can you put a fun fact sound right here, David? There it is.

That was awesome. If you were to take the name Daniel and flip it, see, Dan is judge. Abaddon, Dan, same word, judge. Instead of Ava, father, it's El, Elohim.

So Daniel is Abaddon backwards. Huh. Does it mean roughly the same thing?

Same thing. That's pretty cool. My father is my judge, or my father is the judge, or God is my judge. Yeah.

God is the judge. Wow. Very cool. That's awesome.

Yeah. So our next question comes from Ernie B. What was your favorite... Ernie and Bert.

Oh, I didn't even catch that. This is from Sesame Street itself. Ernie and Bert.

No, I'm just kidding, Ernie. What was your favorite worship song as a kid? Oh, in Hindi, I don't have it. I've forgotten. But if I could think of the English songs we sang that may help our listeners appreciate that, like Come Death Out, I remember that one.

That was a favorite one. And there were a couple of others, and I'm kind of thinking if we even sing them in American community, I think they're more British songs, British hymns. You guys, I guess, sang a lot of British hymns. So did you just sing songs in English, then switch to Hindi? Or was it like, this song happens to be in English, this one happens to be in Hindi? In our church, my dad had two services on Sunday, and in the middle was a Sunday school.

Okay. The first service was for all the English-speaking people. That doesn't mean that they didn't speak Hindi, but they came from all over the country, and especially from South India. And they spoke Malayalam, Tamil, Kannada, let's see, what else?

I'm kind of drawing a blank right now. But a lot of different South Indian languages. So the only way he could communicate with them and they understand it, instead of having like 15 translators next to him, was by speaking in English, because they were all pretty educated people. They were doctors and nurses at the local hospital. That's how they came here for a job. So he was speaking English, and they would have like one person translating it, and that's pretty much it.

Then Sunday school. And then it was a second service, which was a Hindi-speaking service. So this was for all the local population, which is the people who grew up around there. So is it fair to say it was structured as a service for people who could speak English and for people who couldn't? People in the second service could also speak English. It's just that Hindi was better for them. So they came to the second service. The first one were mostly transplants. The second one were locals.

That's the best way to say that. But the language-wise, they all knew the languages. Now, we didn't know the South Indian languages.

My dad did. Sometimes he would translate himself. So some of the songs I learned in the English-speaking service, some I learned in the Hindi.

We only went to the Hindi one. I got you. Yeah. A lot of my friends were there.

Yeah. Did you... Because you grew up in church. Did you have any worship songs as a kid that you really liked? Oh, man. So one of my favorites as a kid... Fifth, sixth grade, early youth group age was the Every Move I Make. The Every Move I Make, I'm Making You. Love that one. I don't know that song. Well, I also didn't get saved until 2007.

True. When I got saved, the bop in youth group was Days of Elijah. That's a guilty pleasure. I'm not going to lie. That is a guilty pleasure. Musically, it's a great song. I remember getting hyped to that. That was one of my favorites around the fifth, sixth grade age. Another one that I really loved was The Amazing Grace, My Chains Are Gone. Oh, yeah. When they tweaked the old hymn, Chris Tomlin put that chorus in there.

I was like, okay, this gives it a new breath, a new freshness. I really like that one. I remember when David Crowder Band was like, that was it. I love David Crowder Band. That was the Christian superstar worship. Yeah, David Crowder.

Yeah, he's just Crowder now. David Crowder Band, that's where all the cool Christian kids were. Sandra P., what is it about New Testament textual criticism that excites you? Oh, wow, that's a great question. For me, it was the opportunity to focus on the text of the Bible. When I knew that God was calling me to do more advanced study, academic study of the Bible, I felt like all the other disciplines were great.

Don't get me wrong, and they're very difficult. But textual criticism was one that you cannot help but look at the text of the Bible. Biblical theology, you're reading a lot of theology books.

Grammatical stuff, certain words or phrases or grammatical categories, you're spending a lot of time on the grammar. But textual criticism, you have to look at the scripture and wonder, why is this reading better than this reading? So that was my major reason for why I chose textual criticism. It forced me to look at the scripture.

Not that you have to be forced, but it did. So where does that, I guess that's just something that God has gave you, is just a genuine love for the text. Right, and it's, I would say, if any of you academics are listening, I'm sorry.

I apologize beforehand. But textual criticism is the most difficult discipline in biblical studies. Yeah, I can see that.

Across the board, even more than systematic theology, even more than Christian philosophy. I mean, all you got to do is go buy you a textual guide or book or whatever and just flip through it and see how many signs and information data is there. And you're sitting there going, what is all this?

I can confirm, because I have done that. I was like, yeah, I don't know what this is. I know some of these words.

A hundred different manuscripts and the variants and the collation. It's like, I don't want to deal with this. It's like the neurosurgery of biblical studies.

But I like it. I have a lot to learn in it, I'll be honest with you. So much I'm still learning and growing, but it just excites me. Yeah, that's awesome. Very cool. Well, if you guys enjoyed today's questions, or if you have questions that you want heard on Lightning Round Questions on Fridays, send those questions in to 252-582-5028.

You can also visit us online at ClearViewTodayShow.com, and don't forget to click that donate button to support what we're doing. We appreciate your gifts, we appreciate you being partners with us as we seek to impact people for the gospel of Jesus Christ. That's right. Hey, I got a question to end the episode on directed at you there, Ryan. Okay.

This is from Randy W. Randy? Yeah, what did you go to school for? What did I go to school for?

To get smart. I went to school for bubble gum and Cracker Jack. There you go.

No, I'm just kidding. So my undergraduate degree, my college degree is, I double majored in psychology and youth ministry. The official degree is in psychology. And my master's is an MDiv with a concentration in biblical counseling. Nice. So I got the theological core with the counseling emphasis. And I would say as a pastor, Ryan does an amazing job. Amen. Amazing job on so many levels. Thank you. Thank you. And these guys do too.

I don't want to be like, that's it, Ryan. And the other guys do amazing things too. No, I'm blessed to be a part of a team like this. It's incredible. We love you guys. We'll see you next time on Clearview Today. Thank you.