Lightning Round Questions

Welcome back, everyone. Today is Wednesday, June the 7th. I'm Ryan Hill.

I'm John Glantis. And 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 visit us online at ClearviewTodayShow.com. If you have any questions for Dr. Shah or suggestions for new topics, send us a text to 252-582-5028, or you can email us at contact at ClearviewTodayShow.com. That's right, and you guys can help us keep the conversation going by supporting the show, sharing it online, leaving us a good review on iTunes, Spotify, anywhere you get your podcasting content from.

We're going to leave some links in the description so you can do just that. And today's verse of the day is coming to us from Psalm 14. 14. Do not incline my heart to any evil thing, to practice wicked works with men who work iniquity, and do not let me eat of their delicacies. It's so interesting to me that David here is asking God to protect him from evil desire, from evil temptation. Notice the word that he used at the end there, do not let me eat of their delicacies.

Things that are nice and desirable and wonderful. Because if sin wasn't desirable, we wouldn't be tempted to do it. Yeah, we think of sin as this ugly, dark, black, oozing monster that's crawling around in our hearts.

And it is that, but that's not how it appears to us. David experienced this intimate, holy relationship with God, but he also understood what it meant to fail God. He knew what it was to sin and to let God down. And so guarding his heart and guarding our hearts is critical. Guarding our hearts against those things that tempt us. You know, David didn't want any part of evil at all, even the parts that are nice and are pleasant.

He didn't want any part of it at all. Absolutely. And I love the, I love the setup there. Are you willing to pray that same prayer? Are you willing to ask God to keep things from you that may, you may desire, but you know, are evil, you know, are sinful, you know, will lead you to places you have no business going. Are you willing to ask God to keep those things from you? That's a difficult prayer because I want these pleasantries of life.

You know, I want the comforts that come along with life, but at the end of the day, if it keeps us from God, they're just, they're just not worth it. Absolutely. I had a, I had a text come in earlier today. By the way, thank you guys for texting and all your questions and giving us podcast banter.

We love to read these and, and just knowing and just hearing from you. I mean, we love knowing there's other people on the other side of these cameras and microphones that are listening to us and are enjoying the daily show. So let's keep those texts coming. Yeah.

I wake up, I wake up and there's like 20 text messages. I'm like, man, people are really loving this show. This guy, David S, he writes in, Hey guys, super behind on the podcast, but I'm loving the great fried debate. Everybody goes back to the Friday. Something about that was a big one.

Something about that fried debate resonated with people. So thank you. Thank you for listening.

My question is, catch up on top or catch up on the side? Ooh, let's answer on three. Let's answer on three. All right.

Ready? Cause I think, I think I know exactly what you're going to do and I'm pretty sure you know what my answer is going to be. One, two, three on the side.

No, no, no, no. You're such like an orderly little neat fried guy. What is the purpose of ketchup? It's made to dunk your fries in.

I disagree. It's a topping. It's a condiment.

You don't dunk your hot dog in ketchup. No, but that's a hot dog. That's not fries. Fries are meant to be made manipulated with your fingers.

Yeah. Sometimes. Or you can eat them with a fork. Do you ever eat chili cheese fries with your fingers? I'll eat French fries with a fork, especially if they're chili cheese fries. Chili cheese fries are different. I mean, that's like a meal in itself.

That's true. That's a separate category for me. I put my ketchup on top a hundred percent. It's made for dunking. Dave, get in on this buddy.

What do you, what do you keep? Cause I know, I know you get ketchup on your fingers. That's true. And you get ketchupy salty things. Let me ask you this. Just like that. No, I don't want to lick all over my fingers while eating.

We're in the south. That's what you do. No. Ew. What if you have chicken nuggets sauce on top or sauce on the side? I don't eat chicken nuggets, but I would dip.

I would dip the chicken nuggets. Right. Because that's a dipping sauce. Correct?

But I also. Even if you dip the chicken nuggets in something like honey mustard or ranch, things that are condiments. Yeah. It's a dipping sauce on the side. Yeah, but chicken nuggets are a dip food. I don't think fries, no, I think fries, you pick it up.

No, no, no. David, what do you do? Ketchup on the side, on top or ketchup on the side? I'm on the side. On the side. Everybody I know in my life is on the side. Nicholas, are you on the side as well? You're on the side. Everybody does it on the side.

On the side. That's cause it's the correct way to do it. See, I like to do it. I like to do it on top of the fries and then I sprinkle the salt so I can see the salt particles and it's just, it's just a nice pleasant meal. And then if I'm like, man, this is really messy. I'll take a fork.

Okay. So I hear you, you can put ketchup on the side and then salt the ketchup. I don't like to. I don't like to dip them. I don't, I don't want to dip fries. I just want to pick the fries up and eat it.

I don't want to take the extra time. You want to get the ketchup on your hands. I like to have the ketchup on my hands.

And I think it's just kind of, it's just kind of complete. It's the same reason we don't have a thing of spaghetti and then dip it in sauce. You put the sauce on top and then you just eat it. Same thing with the fries. Same thing with the fries.

No. Spaghetti and french fries are not the same thing. They're not the same thing. They don't have to be, they don't have to be the same thing to have similarities, to have things in common.

Disagree. You put it on the, you put it on top. You put it on the side. Ryan's going to say you put it on the side and I think Dr. Shaw will too. And I think David will and Nicholas has and my wife would and I think your wife would.

So what we're seeing here is a clear trend. Most people, I do think most people eat them on the, with ketchup on the side. I would say not. Now I will say if it's any other sauce, got to go on the side. Like honey mustard, I wouldn't put it on top of the fries.

Ranch would not put it on the side. It's aesthetic. It's aesthetic. It doesn't taste better. It's just aesthetic. This is the way that it's supposed to be meant.

You put your ketchup on top of the fries and then you eat the fries. Ah, I disagree with you on this. I don't know what else to say. I don't know what else to say. David, let us know for you. Which one is it for you?

On the side or on top? And the rest of you listening as well, let us know. Stay tuned for Dr. Shaw's answer as well.

We're going to ask him at the end of the episode. But if you have any questions or suggestions for new topics, send us a text at 252-582-5028 or visit us online at ClearviewTodayShow.com. We'll be back after this. 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, Ph.D. 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, hop off the podcast. I'm just playing.

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. 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 Ph.D. 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.

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. If you have any questions or suggestions for new topics, send us a text to 252-582-5028.

That's exactly right. And if this is your first time ever joining us here on the Clear View Today Show, I want to welcome you and let you know exactly who's talking to you today. Dr. Abaddon Shaw is a PhD in New Testament textual criticism, professor and Carolina University author, full-time pastor, and the host of today's show.

You can find all of his work at his website. That's AbaddonShaw.com. And it's Friday. That means it is time for lightning round questions. I don't want to wear the hat anymore. I want to do the tie. You want the tie? Yeah, I think the hat makes me look kind of doofy. Here's the thing, though.

I have no problem switching. The hat does not fit my head 100% we've tried. It does not fit. And I can't tie a tie.

Hold on, wait a minute. I'm just saying, just try it on for a second. Oh, it looks actually ... It really doesn't fit?

Nope. It fits mine perfectly. Like Laurel from Laurel and Holly.

It 100% does not fit my head. Vaudeville's dead. And you know who killed it? The radio. Well, guys, we are excited about lightning round questions today.

Dr. Questions, I mean, AbaddonShaw is in the house with us today. Answering your questions, the questions that people have written in over the past few days. Some a couple weeks ago, but we like to compile them and air them on lightning round questions under a specific theme. So, these are centered around maybe some personal questions.

Questions about people getting to know you a little bit better and kind of life behind the scenes of Clearview today. Yeah, absolutely. Of course. So, the first question today comes from Jonathan B. And Jonathan wants to know, what was the last big thing you changed your mind about? Last big thing. Wow, what a question. That's a big one. That's an interesting question. That's a big one.

That's a big one. Wow. Well, the last big thing, I can go and answer that, is regarding generations. Up until recently, how recently?

I would say maybe about a year ago. I used to think, this last generation, this generation IZ or even generation IY, I'm sick and tired of their complaining, griping, lack of motivation, lack of work ethic, just don't have the same values, just don't have the same sense of commitment. And I'm just frustrated with them. But when I did my own study, Strauss-Hao theory and reading and studying what this generation is about, what is it that has caused them to feel and act the way they do or think the way they do, it's changed my approach. And it's no longer like, man, this generation is a bunch of losers or they're just weak or just don't have what it takes to be successful.

Now I look at them differently and I see them having certain strengths and attributes that we don't have. So my opinion of generation IZ or generation Z has changed. My opinion of the upcoming generation, because there's no, usually we look at it as, oh, it's just going to go from bad to worse. But I believe generation alpha is going to turn things around in a good way, in a different way. If we give them the foundation they need, like Gavin, like Asher, and even Joanna is in that generation, not Evie, right? Not Evie.

Evie's technically Gen Z. So Joanna, Asher, Gavin, Holden, all this generation, I just mentioned the kids that are connected in this room, they will not be like, oh my goodness, we just, it's hopeless out there. It's actually going to be a turnaround. In a good way.

In a different way. That's awesome. That's encouraging to hear. And if you guys haven't, if you're not familiar with the episodes we've done on Generations or Dr. Shah's messages on Generations, I encourage you guys to check those out.

You can look back in the database if you're listening to this as a podcast, or you can check his sermons out on his blog, Abidanshah.com. That's right. We just did one with Nicole this past Monday, and we did a bunch a few months back. So those were really encouraging. Genevieve H, she actually wrote into the show a couple of days ago when we answered it in one of our intros. We were going to ask you that day, and it must have slipped our mind. But Genevieve H wants to know, what advice do you wish you had taken?

What advice I wish I had taken. Wow, these questions today are really hard-hitting questions, man. Makes me really want to think.

If you could be any kind of animal, what would you be? These are deep, existential questions. You've got to think on these ones. Well, I mean, one of the things my parents would always tell me is, you know, study.

Take the time to study, study. And thank goodness I took that advice, and it worked out for me. If there was an advice that I wish I had taken more, sometimes I would hear, spend more time with your kids.

You can't go wrong with that. That's true. Having met a single person who said, man, I wish I had spent less time with my kids on their deathbed is like, boy, I wasted so much time.

Those kids, I tell you what, man. So if I could take that advice, I would go back and spend even more time. Wow, that's awesome. Our next question comes from Michael R. And Michael wants to know, what other podcasts or radio shows do you listen to or recommend? One I love listening to is the John Maxwell Show. You know, it's actually the actual title of that. Let me go and find it right now for you. It is the Maxwell Leadership Podcast.

Ooh, yeah, that's right. We listened to a couple episodes at lunch the other day. And I mean, you will come across some amazing, amazing title, like they just did this two-part series called How to Have Job Security, that teaches you how to work hard and how to make yourself indispensable, those kind of things.

Here's another question, another episode, Moving from Dependence to Independence, The Optimistic Leader, Five Questions Every Resilient Leader Asks Themselves, Leaders Make It Happen. I mean, this is a really good show for leadership. And then there are other shows that I listen to time to time. But they're more preaching-oriented, things like that.

One Extraordinary Marriage by Tony or Lisa DiLorenzo, great podcast for your personal marriage, you know, those kind of things. And they're going to be on the show in just a few weeks. Yeah, they'll be on the show. You're right. You're right.

Very true. Awesome. Love that. Trevor R., how do you find time to do everything you do? Oh, I've asked that question.

Wow. Well, a lot of hard work, a lot of time making the most of the time I have, because, you know, we don't have any more time than the President of the United States or the homeless man on the streets of India. We all get the same amount of time. But how do you maximize that time? How do you do what needs to be done? So, for me, it is, you know, time boxing. For me, it is knowing, hey, these are the things that got to get done today. This is the time limit.

These are the obstructions that will be coming, obstacles along the way. This is how I need to manage that. So that's how I think about time. And I begin my day with Bible reading and prayer, which are indispensable. So once I do that, I know my focus is in the right direction. I'm headed in the right direction. So, I mean, even when I'm sitting down watching TV at night, I have my computer with me.

I'm looking at something. I manage my time. I don't just sit back and just, you know, frivolous entertainment.

Yeah. You told me that a while ago. I think you shared with all of us that, you know, we all have the same amount of time, whether you are the homeless man on the street or you're the President of the United States. No matter where you are, we are all given the same amount of time. It's what you do with the time that separates you, that distinguishes you. And that helped me tremendously.

You know, just kind of think about how to order time and how to organize things and time management. That's huge. That's key. And that's one of the things I admire most about you is how you are able to continue to take on projects and continue to pursue excellence and dig deep and research and craft sermons that are mind-blowing and life-changing and be a part of the community and impact all of us, teaching us with leadership. It's just, I mean, that question, how do you have time to do what you do? We get to see that up close and personal, the way you manage your time.

And it's a huge benefit to me and to us. Well, it's a biblical thing, redeeming the time. The Bible talks about redeem the time because the days are evil. So I want to redeem every moment I have for the glory of God. I think when you have that outlook, it not only trickles down to the people who work under you, but it also trickles down to the people.

I mean, it trickles down to the people who are under you, but it inspires people to make the most of their time. When we first, we were approached about doing this show, about doing a daily show. It wasn't an idea that we came up with. A radio network came up to us and said, we would like to propose that you guys would do this and be on our network. And at the time we were like a daily radio show on top of everything we're doing.

That's a lot. And we met and we were like, is this impossible? And, but we prayed on it. We talked to you and then you came and you were like, guys, I don't, this is a lot, but I don't think it's impossible.

And when someone says that to you, you start to realize it's really not impossible. If you apply yourself and we do it and we work as a team, we can do it. And so it was like, okay, this is scary, but we're going to do it.

And now we've got a daily radio show and it doesn't feel like this is a big impossible Herculean task. Of course it requires planning, prepping. I mean, we, you guys plan tremendously well. The entire team, the radio team with Ryan and John and David and Nicholas, I mean, y'all plan things out and put things in the proper category.

And then you come up with a question. I mean, this, it takes work, but you guys are amazing. And with God's help, I mean, ultimately is God giving us the strength, the wisdom, the grace we need. So I'm just amazed as you guys. Amen.

Well, it came from watching you use your time wisely. That's right. Our next question comes from Grant L. Who is your dream podcast guest? Jesus. I mean, the Lord himself. Lord, welcome to the podcast today. This is going all out.

Why not? Imagine, just that idea of like Jesus himself, like sitting here, it's like, we ran out of mics, but we give him one, like one of the older mics, give the Lord the good mics. Yeah. Or he like, he restores it.

He just makes it work. Now I'm envisioning like, you know, one day in eternity, you're listening to Clearview Today, Heaven edition, without dropping on a shot. And Jesus. Wow.

That's incredible. New episodes daily. To have the Lord on our podcast. You could settle all arguments right then and there.

So like, all right, baptism, do you need it to be saved or not? Like instantly, nobody argues back. No aggressive texts. Oh, mercy. This is one from David W. What's your go-to dessert? Is that to you, David?

I think David might've sent that in as a joke, but it's here. So we got to answer it. Well, it's tough. I mean, I mean, you name it. I love cheesecake. I love pecan pie.

What else do I love? I love blizzards from Dairy Queen. Oh, I can eat some strawberry cheesecake blizzard cookie dough. Those do sound kind of good. I mean, sky's the limit there.

That sounds really good. This comes from Carter V. Carter wants to know if you only had one book of the Bible to preach through for a year, what book would you choose? Only one book. What book can you make last a year? For a year. Oh, there are plenty of books that can go on for a year and beyond.

Which books would you do for a year? I mean, goodness gracious. I mean, book of Revelation can go on for a year. Oh, yeah. My mind should've jumped to that pretty instantly, especially since we're about to do Revelation. We're headed into Revelation. Yeah.

We were starting that this weekend. But if I were to do one and that's the only book left, only one left, there's no other book. I don't get any of the choices. Just for a year. Just for a year.

And then you can go back to whichever one. Colossians. Really? Yeah. Didn't you say you hadn't preached all the way through Colossians yet? No.

Wow. And having gone to Turkey and standing on this hill and knowing that underneath is a city of Colossae, it hasn't been excavated yet. Colossae has not been excavated. So when you go there, you just see this hill. The only thing that is visible is this side of this hill, which is a theater. And the reason we know it's a theater is because of the seats. Other than that, it hasn't been opened up yet. Wow. But that's Colossae. And there's so much more under the ground. We just don't know yet. Yeah.

Wow. There's sometimes people thinking it's all there. And then to sit there, because when I was walking around that hill or walking up on top of the hill, walking around the hill, all of that. And have you ever read the book of Colossae, Colossians? It has the most highly developed lofty Christology of the entire Bible.

It's just rich. And so, yeah, I would love to do that. Did we do, I remember in Converge on our call, when you were teaching Converge a few months, it might've been last year, but you did that. We said, all right, let's throw a bunch of books out that we like. Because we do that fun thing where it's like, what are we going to study next?

We just take suggestions and then start narrowing them down until we get one. And I remember someone pitched out Colossians and it got down to where Colossians was in the final four. And I remember you being like, all right, we can do Colossians. Are you sure that's what you guys want? I can't remember if we actually did it or if that's how we landed.

I can't remember if we did it or if we just landed with Samuel, but we did Samuel shortly after. But I distinctly remember being like, oh yeah, Colossians is good. And he'd be like, we can do it. Are y'all sure that's what you want? Because we'll be there for a while. We'll be in Colossians for a little bit. This is what it sounds like. You're ready for here? One or two verses of that.

All right. This is Colossians chapter one, verse 15. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him, all things were created that are in heaven, that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers, all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things. And in him, all things consist. And he is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things, he may have the preeminence.

Paul is like bringing his A game. And like, it's like, what was that? Five verses.

You could spend like seven or eight weeks just there. Easy. But here's the sad thing. And I will move on. You know, the church in Colossae got this letter. I believe the lost-est Christology is in the book of Colossians. And today you can't even find that church.

It's buried under the dirt. So what does that say to us? Just because you have a lot of knowledge and deep theology does not mean you're going to last. That's right. Exactly right.

That's right. It comes on to, are you passionate about the gospel of Jesus Christ? Are you living holy lives? Are you reaching the lost?

If you don't do that, you can have all this stuff. I mean, look at this. Here's another one. Verse 24, I now rejoice in my sufferings for you and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ for the sake of his body, which is the church of which I became a minister, according to the stewardship from God, which was given to me for you to fulfill the word of God, the mystery, which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has, we can go on and on. It's like, whoa, deep stuff. We like some deep preaching. We like some meat and potatoes, but you can have meat and potatoes and still be buried, lost forever. That's right. That's a great point.

So anyways, we'll move on. That's awesome. Graham C, what are you reading through your devotional right now? Through my devotional.

I'm reading some works on prayer, just kind of just focusing on prayer. Nice. That's awesome. This one comes from Elizabeth M. Elizabeth says, what's one thing you miss from India that you can't get in the States? My grandmother's cooking. Oh, yeah.

It is sad some days to think about. A lot of those foods that I've tasted and ate, I remember the taste. Really? But yeah.

Oh yeah. I remember the taste, the scent of the food, but it's gone forever. Just going to an Indian restaurant doesn't do it. I mean, people think, why don't you just go over there and eat? But do you really think every Indian restaurant just tastes like the food you grew up with at home?

Like grandma's cooking. It's true. Yeah, no. It's not. No.

I mean, I have so many tastes that are gone forever. Wow. Caitlin C., just listened to your episodes on the Wild West a week ago. Who is your favorite Wild West personality? I like Doc Holliday.

I think he's pretty cool. Or should you say Doc Shalliday? Doc Shalliday. Doc Shalliday right there. This is Doc Shalliday given to me by Doc Williday. Doc Williday. There's David over there with his hat. David gave it to me. David Williamson.

Thank you, David. But Doc Holliday is pretty cool. You know, there's a lot of characters from the Old West that are amazing. Wyatt Earp was great. Wild Bill Hickok was great. Buffalo Bill was pretty amazing.

Bat Masterson. These are all actual people. That's awesome.

These are not make-believe people. They're amazing characters. Yeah. We've got time for one more, I think.

Okay. This comes from Jason R. Jason R. wants to know, what's the status of your shoe game? My shoe game? Shoe game. Like, what kind of shoes do you wear? What kind do you like to wear? What's your favorite?

What's your go-to? I knew as soon as you read it. I was not going to read it out loud, but then I was like, yeah, okay, I think Ryan's going to go shoe game.

I knew it was just going to confuse him. Yeah, shoe game. I'm a big Allen Edmonds fan. So, you know, that's the one that I love because those shoes last a long, long, long time. So that's my go-to. Where do you land on New Balances? New Balances is pretty good.

There you go. New Balances are good. Asics are pretty good. Yeah.

I like Asics. Now, if I were to wear New Balances in here and get roasted, Pastor, you would then say that that's not appropriate. That's not okay for... Because I got hit hard on the radio in front of a lot of listeners. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.

I had people writing in, comforting me, because my roasting was so bad. I mean, I like those shoes. I like... I mean, so many.

I can't even begin to explain. But since we said that, I'm going to read a passage from the book of Romans, chapter 10, and verse 15. How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, who bring glad tidings of good things. There you go. There you go. Those are the best shoes.

That's right. The shoes that go to somebody and share the gospel of Jesus. Amen.

I love it. I don't care what they look like. You don't care if they're New Balances. You don't care if they're... What was it? Allen Edmonds? Yeah. If they're preaching the gospel, they're beautiful.

That's right. Beautiful. I love it. If you guys enjoyed today's topic, you want your questions answered on Lightning Round Questions, make sure you send those in to 252-582-5028, or you can email us at contact at ClearviewTodayShow.com. Check out that website as well. You can support us financially on that same website.

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