Anchor of Hope (ft. Kay Barrier)

Hello, everyone. Today is Thursday, February the 16th. I'm Ryan Hill.

I'm John Galantis. You're listening to Clearview Today with Dr. Abaddon 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 a question for Dr. Shah or a suggestion for a future episode, send us a text at 252-582-5028. You can also email us at contact at ClearviewTodayShow.com.

That's right. You guys can help us keep the conversation going by supporting this podcast, sharing it online, leaving us a good review on iTunes, Spotify. Anywhere you get your podcast from, make sure to leave us a review. We're going to leave a link in the description of this podcast so you can do just that. Leave us a review on the white pages.

What is that? Isn't there a website, whitepages.com, where you leave reviews? I remember yellow pages from out of the phone book. Or Yelp. Leave us a good review on Yelp.

Yeah, yeah. In Angie's corner. There you go. Anywhere you can leave a review. Take out an entry for Clearview Today and leave us a good review. Skywrite it in the air. You want to read the verse of the day? Oh man, yes.

I would love to. The verse of the day comes from one of my favorite books in the whole Bible, Joshua chapter 4 verse 24. God did this so that all the peoples of the earth might know that the hand of the Lord is powerful and so that you might always fear the Lord your God. So, for context, this is coming from the account right after Joshua leads the people of Israel into the Promised Land and they cross the Jordan River, the waters are miraculously stopped up, and they cross over on dry ground. Which of course, you know, reminds the people of when God parted the Red Sea and the Israelites left out of Egypt and walked through on dry ground. And I love that Joshua calls back that reminder of God's faithfulness because when we're faced with difficulty, a lot of times we forget the moments when God has been faithful.

We're focused on the current situation. But are you going to be faithful here? And God's like, yes, look at my track record. I've never abandoned you. I've never let you down.

I'm not about to start now. Well, I also like how God, you know, puts these people in different categories based on what he's done for them. The purpose of this is so that all the peoples of the earth might know the hand of the Lord is powerful. This is for everyone. This is a message to everyone on earth, all the peoples of the earth. And yet it's so that you will always fear the Lord your God.

It's so that you will understand your special place and what I've set apart for you specifically. So there's a, there's a beauty in there. There's a, there's a poetic, uh, separation almost.

Absolutely. Um, speaking of being separated. Oh no, we are really good at these segues. Uh, I lost my phone this morning.

Oh, that's frustrating. And I could not find, I was running late. I was like, Oh, cannot find my phone. And it's reminded me of a little time in DC when you and I were together with your wife. And I remember we were getting off the Metro and, uh, I saw, I just heard this, so we were all just having a good time in DC.

Dr. Shaw took us down there for the weekend and we were all there. And, um, I, we got off the Metro, we were goofing off and I just heard, uh, and I was like, what in the world? I looked and I saw this, this Chinese kid and he had a phone and he was like, for those of you who on the radio, I'm like gesticulating to the, he was like holding up to the window, holding up the phone.

I was like, why is he doing that? And I was like, that's Elizabeth's. And soon as I thought that the train just vanished.

It just took off. I was like, that's Elizabeth's phone. And then I looked and Elizabeth was like, Oh, I was like digging in her bag. Um, Ellie came up to me as soon as that happened, was like, give me your phone now. I was like, I kept up with my phone. She was like, give me your phone now. And I didn't have my phone for the day cause she kept it. I remember that you got your phone taken away.

Oh man. How did it, I can't even remember how we got the phone back. She went on a scavenger hunt. I think we called it and we were like, Hey, go here. Hey, we're going to meet up with you at the next stop.

But it's the next stop. So like she went with a couple of the people from the, from our group. We had the kids with us.

So I had the kids, she went off with a couple of the people in the group and we had to go on like scavenger hunt and find the phone. I remember we were in the airspace museum, the aerospace museum. And I remember coming up to you and be like, you want to go upstairs and see like the, uh, like see the airplane and stuff.

You're like, no, no, I don't. I don't like, I was like, I remember seeing, can I take Evie? You were like, take Evie. I took Evie.

Me and Ellie took Evie and we went upstairs and saw the plane. And I remember Evie was like, is my mommy going to get her phone back? And I was like, Oh baby, probably not. Like it was one of those things where I felt bad, but I was just having fun. It's funny now. But that day I was like, yeah, this is the worst.

I can't imagine. And I mean, I can't imagine how Elizabeth felt like she was, she was pretty embarrassed. We should, we should probably, we should probably ask her, but, uh, long story short, we did get the phone back phone back. Everything was fine. She still have that phone to this day? No. So she got it. Oh, that's right. That was an Android. Yeah.

Yeah. We switched, we switched over an iPhone, but there was, that was a fun day. That was, it was a fun day. And, uh, that was not a great start to the day, but it's a funny memory now. It's, it's one of those things where like you can like, I'm, I'm able to say in the chaos and in the frustration, like this is going to be funny one day.

So I don't have to stress about it now because I know it's going to be, whereas we were like, if you ever bring this up, I'm going to harm you. Yeah. But now it's funny. I mean, it's, it's a funny story now.

Oh yeah. So we've got an exciting show playing for you guys today. Dr. Shaw is going to be here in just a second, but if you have any questions or suggestions for future episodes, send us a text at two five two five eight two five zero two eight. Or you can visit us online at clearviewtodayshow.com.

We'll be right back. Well, good morning, afternoon, evening, Clearview Today listeners. My name is Jon and I'm David. And we just want to take a quick second and let you know about another way that you can keep in touch with Dr. Shaw's work. And that is his weekly podcast series, Sermons by Abaddon Shaw, PhD.

As a lot of you may know, or maybe some of you don't know, if you don't know, you do now. And if you don't know, then maybe just hop off the podcast. David, I'm just, hop off the podcast.

I'm just playing, keep listening. Dr. Shaw is actually the lead pastor of Clearview Church in North Carolina. Every single weekend he preaches expository messages that challenge and inspire us to live God honoring lives. Well, one of the four core values of Clearview Church is that we're a Bible believing church. So every sermon is coming directly from scripture, which is great because that guarantees that there are timeless truths that are constantly applicable to our lives. This is a great resource because whether you're driving, whether you're cleaning the house, whether you're working out, you can always benefit from hearing the word of God spoken into your life. And God's word is always going to do something new for you every time you hear it.

Sometimes it's conviction and sometimes it's encouragement. But know that every time you listen to God's word, you're inviting the Holy Spirit to move and work in your life. You guys can check out the Sermons by Abaddon Shaw, PhD podcast. First and foremost, check it out on our church app. That's the Clearview app.

You can get that in the Google Play Store. You can get that on iTunes, but you can also find the podcast on the Apple podcast app or on our website at ClearviewBC.org. And listen, if you've got a little extra time on your hands, you just want to do some further reading. You can also read the transcripts of those sermons.

Those are available on Dr. Shaw's website AbaddonShaw.com. And we're going to leave you guys a little link in the description so you can follow it. But for right now, David, let's hop back in. 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 if you have a question or suggestion for a future episode, send us a text at 252-582-5028. Dr. Shaw is back with us in the studio today. Very special episode of Clear View Today today. Yes. Yes, absolutely.

Clear View Today today. That was awesome. It sounded right in my head, but then as it was coming out, that didn't make sense. Well, it is a very special episode today because it goes to the heart of how I was raised. My dad was a pastor for, you know, 50 some years, 57 to be exact. And other than being very evangelistic and, you know, sharing the gospel without fear and all that, he also had a heart, he had a compassion for people. And he would do things that as kids, it didn't make any sense to us. It was like, okay, you're going to be over there helping these people until they get better or they go into this problem in their life.

And dad is just, just so caregiving. It didn't make sense until I got called in the ministry and then it was like, oh, so helping people who are hurting is an essential part of what believers are supposed to do and church is supposed to be. We're not supposed to be just like, as long as me and mine are fine, you know, God will provide for them. Now we have to step in, pray for them. We have to step in and do things to help them find comfort.

We are the hands and feet of Christ. That's right. That's right. And we're about to dive into that topic really hard here in just a second. But if this is your first time ever tuning into the show, Dr. Abbadan Shah is a PhD in New Testament textual criticism, professor at Carolina University, author, full-time pastor and the host of today's episode.

You can find all his work on his website. That's AbbadanShah.com. That's right. And those of you who are watching the podcast or watching the show, you know what's coming. Cause you can see it. Right. That's why we tell you to watch it.

That's why we tell you to go watch it. But for our listening audience, we have a very special guest with us today. Ms. Kay Barrier is on the show with us. Welcome. We are glad that you're here today. Thank you for allowing me to be here today to speak on behalf of the ministry.

Absolutely. Well, I've known Jimmy for a very long time. I had seen Kay here and there. And then of course we were, Jimmy and I have been friends on Facebook as I had seen you, but I've gotten to know you. And Jimmy is a lucky man. I appreciate that. I tell him that all the time. You are such a blessing in his life. And I know he's a blessing in your life too, but we're so, so glad. He's a big support. He helps me a whole lot, helps the ministry a whole lot. So I'm appreciative. And the more I've gotten to know him and his heart for people, the community, I'm blessed to call him a friend, you know, and you as well.

He has never met a stranger. He can talk to anybody. Well, you know, we're talking about that today and that's something that Dr. Shaw, you just kind of hit on is this heart for serving and this heart for helping those in need. I mean, do you kind of want to set that up for the conversation we're going to have about Ms. Kay's ministry today?

Oh yeah, sure. I mean, there's several passages in the Bible, you know, you go in the Old Testament, like say Proverbs 14, 31, he who oppresses the poor reproaches his maker, but he who honors him has mercy on the needy. So caring for people who are hurting, whether sick or, you know, facing a difficult situation is a very uniquely Judeo-Christian value.

Right. You know, we tend to think like everybody in the world is doing that. That's not true. You know, having come from the other side of the world, it's a very uniquely Judeo-Christian value that now everybody's following. And, you know, they have all these ministries and all these, you know, nonprofits everywhere in the world and people think everybody does it, all religions believe it.

That's not true. Right. It's Christianity that has, I would say, Judeo-Christian values that has really promoted caring for those in need, even if those have, can do nothing for you. And when Ms. Kay came and talked to me about this, I was like, a hundred percent, tell me what you need.

We'll do it. So if you don't mind sharing, sharing with us the heart behind it. The ministry got started about in 2009 when I took it over. I was going to another church and they asked me to be president of the ministry. And so I took it and not long after that, I started the idea of prayer blankets. And so that meant that we would purchase a blanket and the ministry members would lay hands on it and pray over it. And that was in hopes of people who had the blanket that they would feel God's love and feel our prayers over them. And that was special to me because when my mother was very sick, somebody from another church brought her a little small prayer blanket and it wasn't anything fancy.

It was just a little piece of green felt that they had made. And she wanted that blanket with her at all times. And she kept it over her legs and it meant a lot to her. It really did. And it gave her comfort to know that she was being prayed for. It was like a symbol. I mean, we know that the blanket doesn't have any power in itself, but we do believe in the power of prayer.

And we just think, and we've gotten, we've gave over the years, probably thousands of blankets away. Wow. I didn't know that. That's pretty amazing. Yes. And we've gotten so many thank you notes, pictures of before and after.

Wow. A lot of them were children that had been in the hospital all hooked up to all kinds of wires and things. And they have their land on that prayer blanket. And then afterwards we get pictures of the children all smiling and happy and healthy with that blanket over them. And I can only think of just look what God has done. And it just, it means a lot to us.

Yeah. I mean, and just the way you said, there's no magical power in there. It's the prayers of God's people. And when people hold that close to their heart, they sense that they're not alone. Through the years of ministry, pastoring for years, that's been one of my always, I feel like I don't do enough, you know, going out there, giving care to people, being there with them when they're going through difficult situations, the busier you get, the harder it gets. But when God's people come together, make that concerted effort to pray over that blanket and send it off to those people, they have that 24 seven. And when you go into a difficult time, it's a source of comfort. You know, you feel God's covering you. Right. You know, I love that. Yeah. Good. When I was just going to ask when, when you started or when you, I guess when you took over the ministry and kind of brought the idea of prayer blankets up, did you have any clue that it would get to the we've given out thousands of blankets?

Did you, did you see that in the future? Because when we first, when I first got the ministry, um, it was called my sister's keeper at that time. And, um, we had, I think my first meeting was Jimmy and our pastor.

It was like two or three other ladies that were members of it at that time, but they couldn't be there at that first meeting. And it has, it grew to like 20 girls. Um, and, um, now that, um, I want it to be, um, anchor of hope ministry, we change in from my sister keeper and um, we've, um, got about five girls from the other ministry that want to stay with that, hoping to grow and, um, have more as people hear about it and hoping to grow. You know, where we are as a culture where people feel unloved, you know, we can, we can deny that and say, you know, just, just toughen up and, and face your problems, you know, be strong. That's not where the world is. People are hurting and it's going to become even more essential to have ministries like this, where people genuinely care for those in need. And they don't have to be members of this church. They can be anywhere, you know, and, and believers are non-believers. We're hoping even non-believers who are going through cancer or whatever they're facing to have a church group or a group of ladies or people for that matter, come together, pray over a blanket, sending to them. And it's, you know, and there's also other things y'all do as well.

We do. Yeah. Um, as a matter of fact, last Christmas, right around Christmas, um, one of the ministry members, um, overheard a waitress, um, talking about that she had, um, that had a house fire and she, um, was in a mobile home and it was an older mobile home and she, um, didn't have any insurance. So the mobile home completely burned up and everything she had in it. Um, she had four children and, um, thankfully that none of them got seriously hurt. She had one little girl that got burns on her feet, but she's doing good now. But the ministry got together and jumped together and helped her a lot. And, you know, it just, um, oh, she was just so appreciative.

She just, we took it to the restaurant where she was and she just broke down and cried and cried and cried. So, and we do that, um, for, for cancer patients that are going through chemo and all that, um, gas cards, stuff like that. It's more than just a blanket.

We try to include the blanket with it every time. So that is a keeps, that's a symbol that we love them and God loves them. And, and we're in hopes that, you know, and helping this person, it always seems like the family members, you know, whether they're in church or, or saved or not, you know, we don't know, but um, they always are touched too by the blanket and they'll come back to us and say, thank you so much for caring. So, you know, and so What I like about that, uh, is, uh, what, what Ms. Kay said is not just save people only, you know, this is for anybody in need. And if, if God lives on your heart and the group of people supporting you, because if they're saved, their faith is going to grow. If they're not saved, they'll come to know Jesus Christ. Right. And as I say that, man, these people did this for me and you never know where they are.

They may be atheist, they may be agnostic, they may be grown up in church, but drifted away to have a church care for their mom or dad or uncle or son, daughter. Um, what a powerful difference it makes. Right. Right. That's right.

That's right. And we've been blessed, um, with people donating blankets to us. Um, we have, um, some of the ministry members themselves by the blankets. Um, Jimmy, um, and he has, he's in a bluegrass band and, um, he, and very good from what I've heard. Um, he, um, and his awesome friends, which are, are great friends of ours, they'll go around to churches and they'll, um, or people will ask them to different events and every single time that they are paid or given any kind of donation, they donate it to the ministry. And so it has, um, been so that some of the, um, band members themselves have been sick or their family members have been sick and we've been able to help them too.

So it's been great. They're a great group. Yeah. We're talking about that. John and I talked about it when, when we first began to go in the direction of having you on the show is to have Jimmy and Jimmy and the sound barrier. What I liked about that, it was that it's not just a band, it's a ministry in and of itself. I mean, I love that.

It means a lot to him and it is a ministry to him. And we will work on some kind of a timing. Maybe John can connect on that and make it a big deal here on one like a Sunday night or whatever. We will go on a Friday night, whatever is best that has the most impact.

I want to get my own dad in that. If it's a bluegrass band, I'll probably be one that loves it. Yeah. And those of you who are listening, we'll let you know when that date's coming up. That way, if you're local, if you're nearby, you can come out and listen to Jimmy and the sound barriers and support this ministry. I love that word play. That was all Jimmy. I love it.

Nothing like a good pun. You know, when I think about doing those kinds of things and what Jesus said in Matthew 25, when he welcomes people in, he will say, you know, they will say, what have we done for you, Lord? When did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison and did not minister to you?

Then he will answer them saying, assuredly, I say to you in as much as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me. So when you're going doing that, you know, in a way you're ministering to Christ. That's right. You know, that's, that's deep. It is.

It is. I love that verse. And the ministry's signature verse is Hebrews 619 and it says, this hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast and which enters the presence behind the veil. Praise God. Wow.

That's beautiful. And we're thankful for that hope that we have in Jesus. And we, he keeps us anchored and we just are thankful for all that he's let the ministry do because without him we couldn't do anything. Right.

I love the way you put it that he keeps us anchored. Like he it's, it's a lot of times I feel like as Christians, we can get this sort of pie in the sky, sort of hyper spiritual. I'm not long for this world. I'm just going to long for the world to come. But for the time that we have here on earth, I think your ministry and Dr. Shah, what you're saying as well, that we, we have to live here on earth.

We have to live in the real world. And with Christ at the helm, there's nothing you can't do. I mean, think about the thousands of people that, that you've impacted and that Clearview is impacted and now coming together with this ministry, just the impact that's about to happen is, is, uh, astronomical. Yeah.

It's going to be very, very impactful. Yeah. And, and I mean, you've, you've hinted at it, Ms. Kay, but anytime that you help someone in that way, you receive the blessing as well. I mean, just to see those people loved and cared for and that have the love of God communicated to them and to know that they're being prayed for. That's a blessing to the people who are doing the praying and delivering the blankets. That's right.

That's right. And we just pray that the people that we're helping and that the blankets that they receive, that they'll feel the love of Christ and they'll feel our love. And, um, we're just, I'm hoping that during the storms, cause we all at some point go through storms and life and during those storms that he'll, they'll remember that he's their anchor and that he will keep them through the storm.

Right. And then James five talks about that. If any, as anyone among you suffering, let him praise anyone cheerful, let him sing praises. Anyone among you sick, let him call for the elders of the church and let them pray over him. Anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord and the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick and the Lord will raise him up. So in a sense that, you know, the oil of course in a sense is a blanket going to those people saying, this is our presence with you and that the Holy Spirit is, is not only healing you if it's God's will, but he's also going to work all things together for good in your life. This is not a random situation.

You're not just going through some sickness. God is working. And when people see that sometimes healing comes, you know, and sometimes God says, I have some ultimate healing to do here. Such lives all around this person who is suffering. And so what a great ministry. Thank you. I'm excited for what God has planned for us next.

What are some things that you see on the horizon? Well, we want to continue to help whoever that is sick and as our financial situation is going to help us or is given to us, we hope to be able to help people like that lady with the house fire. We were just blessed at that time because Jimmy and the Soundbarriers had just done a music show for Christmas. And so we were able to help this lady with her children and so they could have Christmas because everything she had was gone. And so we were, we are hoping that we can continue to do stuff like that and continue to help cancer patients.

Back in the summer, we went to the beach on our vacation and there was a lady there at the condominium that had found out that she had cancer. And we just happened to have one of the prayer blankets with us. And some of the ministry girls was with us. And so we prayed over the blanket and gave it to her. She lived in Maryland or somewhere else.

She was nowhere. And we see her every time we go because we go about the same time every year. And so we knew her. And so we took the blanket up to her condominium and prayed with her.

Oh, it was just so heart touching because it meant so much to her. Now we're working on getting an email and contact information for those who want to donate. I know there are people who are listening. You want to help in this ministry and we generally welcome that because God's going to burden your hearts to get behind a ministry like this and say, Hey, I can't go. I'm not capable, but I can give. And so for now, what is the best way we can contact? Call here at church.

Is that correct? Yes, that would be great since it's new and everything. And Jimmy and I were talking about last night, we need to set up some kind of email or something just for the ministry. And we'll work on doing that. And we'll hopefully get some kind of email set up that will go directly to you so you can evaluate.

We can pray, whatever we need to do. By the time this episode airs, that email should be set up. So we'll go ahead and have that in the show notes.

And if it's not, then we'll go ahead and put it in the show notes once it is ready. Right. Absolutely. And in the meantime, if you can't find that for whatever reason, you can contact us here at the show at 2525825028, or send us an email at contact at cleerviewtodayshow.com and we can get you connected to Ms. Kay in this ministry if you'd like more information or if you'd like to support in what they're doing.

That's right. So if you guys have questions for future topics, or if you would like to learn more about Ms. Kay's ministry, thank you so much for being on the show today. Thank you for allowing me to be here.

Absolutely. You can text us to that number, 252-582-5028. Visit us online at cleerviewtodayshow.com.

You can partner with us as we seek to impact as many people as possible. That's right. I got a quick question coming in from Marcus T. What is your life verse?

Well, Dr. Shaw kind of took it. Which one is it? It's the Matthew 25. Oh, is it really? 35. Oh, what about that?

Wow. That's awesome. That's for when I was hungry and you gave me food. I was thirsty and you gave me drink. I was a stranger and you took me in. I was naked and you clothed me.

I was sick and you visited me. And they asked him, when did we do this for you? And he said, assuredly I say to you in as much as you did it to the one of the least of these, my brethren, you did it to me. Amen. Amen. Beautiful.

That's an awesome life verse. Thank you for sharing that. Thank you. You're welcome. Thank you. That's amazing. We'll see you tomorrow on Clear Read Today.