Happy Father’s Day

Hello, everyone. Today is Friday, June the 16th. I'm Ryan Hill. I'm John Galantis. You're listening to Clear View 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, or if you have any questions for Dr. Shah or suggestions for new topics, send us a text at 252-582-5028, or you can visit us online at ClearViewTodayShow.com. That's right. You guys can help us keep the conversation going by supporting the show, sharing it online, leaving us a good review on iTunes or Spotify, anywhere you get your podcasting content from.

We're going to leave a link in the description of this podcast so you can do just that. And today's verse of the day actually comes to us from Psalm 78, 72. It says, So he shepherded them, he meaning David, he shepherded them according to the integrity of his heart and guided them by the skillfulness of his hands. You know, that's a good reminder that God calls us to tasks, but he doesn't do so neglecting the talents and the gifts that he's given us. Notice that verse says David shepherded them because what was David before he was a king? He was a shepherd.

And that's one of the greatest honors and responsibilities that a Christian leader can have is to be a shepherd of God's flock. God used David's natural talents and gifts and inclinations and life experience in preparation for him to be a king. David didn't know he was going to be a king.

David had no idea. But God used things that were already going on in David's life circumstances that God orchestrated talents and gifts that David had in him to be to make him the best suited king for Israel. And that's a reminder that nothing in our lives is wasted. God uses everything to prepare us for the calling he has for us.

Yeah, that's right. He it said that he led with the skillfulness of his hands. And we will we Christians will settle for a preacher. Christians will settle for a preacher if they're just a nice guy. Or if, you know, Mima used to like his personality.

He came and visited Mima in the hospital. We should demand that our pastors are excellent at what they do. Not only, like, just be pleasantly surprised, you should demand it. You know, your pastor should be the most skilled scholar that you know, especially when it comes to biblical truths because these are the things that he's leading the flock. That's why I love sitting under Dr. Shah and hearing him because it's truly good. That's why we gravitate like in movies. We love like our Tony Starks and our house MDs and our what our Stephen Stranges and all these. They're good at what they do. We are drawn to that.

Yeah. And I think that's that should not be a cool bonus in the church. That should be like the fundamental thing that your pastor has going for me.

Good at what he does. That's one of the things I love so much about Dr. Shah is that he has genuine love for the text, and he takes what he does very seriously because it is very serious. We've talked about this on the show before, but if doctors are taken seriously because they handle a person's physical life, why not pastors even more so because they handle a person's eternity?

That's right. I mean, the information that he gives can either lead a person toward or away from heaven, from eternity with God, from salvation. So that's one thing I love about him so much is that every message goes back to the gospel. Every opportunity goes to proclaiming the gospel. Even this radio show is proclaiming the gospel to as many people as possible. If you're a Christian, hey, listen, your doctor is important, but everything he does is a stall.

Eventually he will lose. You don't want to make sure that when it comes to your eternal salvation that you end up losing. I love this coffee mug, but it's a nice mug. I got it in Mount Rushmore, but the thing is the handle, the stinking handle, when I hold it here, you can't see the logo. See what I mean?

But I don't want to hold it with my left hand. It's Mount Rushmore. Is that really what you're going to talk about today? No. No.

Because you've got to get your wisdom teeth out. That's what's really going on. You're stalling.

Speaking of stalling, you're deflecting, you're diverting your attention. I don't think so. I don't think so.

You got real quiet. I don't want to get them out. I don't want to get them out. I don't know. It's whatever. I'm tough, but I'm also scared. I'm sad.

Have you ever had surgery before? No, never. I don't want to get them out. The thing is they're under my gums. They're completely underneath the gum and they're sideways.

Both of them are. I've had the top two pulled. That was a terrible experience because they didn't give me anything. They numbed it, but then they just yanked it out so I could feel it cracking and crushing in my bones. I could feel it pop right out. I didn't like it at all, but I was like, whatever. This one, they were like, yeah, we're going to have to put you under. I was like, okay, but then the more I started thinking about it, I was like, I don't want to. They were like, well, you can leave them. You can certainly leave them in your head, but if they continue to grow and they contact the other teeth, you're going to lose more than just those two wisdom teeth.

You can take your chances. Maybe they'll never cause any problems, but if they do, it'll be pretty bad. Apparently, it's bad if your wisdom teeth grow into your other teeth. They're completely sideways in my head. My sister actually is the one who took the X-ray and discovered it, so I'm kind of angry about that.

Gardner, thanks a lot, sis. If I'd lived my life in ignorant bliss, there's a chance I could have just never known. I'm not scared of them cutting my mouth. I'm scared of just going underneath the anesthesia. I've never had that before.

I've only had it a couple of times, but it really is not bad, which I realize is one thing to say on this side of it. It feels like falling asleep. And that's what everyone says who's done it.

But I think that's my thing, I have to do it. It's like riding a plane. The first time, it was very nerve-wracking. It's sort of an unnatural sleepiness that comes over you.

But then, you can't fight it. It's just like, I'm going to sleep now. It's like riding a plane. The first time I ever got on a plane, it was to go to Israel. I was really jumping to the deep end.

It was a nine-hour flight. I was like, oh my gosh. I'm terrified. And everyone's like, it's fine. I'm like, oh, it's fine. Okay.

No problem. I didn't think it was going to be fine. I was like, yeah, I know it's fine, but it's scary because I've never done it. I don't know what it's going to feel like. So I'm scared of getting it, and then I'm like, oh, this feels bad. I don't want to do this. I don't want to die. I'm scared of that couple seconds of panic as I start to go underneath. Well, I reckon I'll see you on the other side. I don't know. I think we're going to bank episodes so that I don't have to miss a lot.

But if there's some upcoming episodes that I'm not in, it's probably because of that. We'll know. We're praying for you. You guys keep Jon in your prayers as well as he heads towards that operation. It's going to be a piece of cake, but definitely understand the nerves on the other side. Yeah, yeah. There's no risk.

There's no risk that anything's going to mess up. It's just doing something that I've never done before. That's kind of scary.

Sorry to get so real on the show. Look at this. Text in a prayer for Jon. Yeah, there you go. Text in, let him know that you're praying for him. If he's out of it with anesthesia, we'll get the messages to him somehow. We'll put it on the show. I'll put it on the Facebook.

There you go. Let him know that you're praying for him at 252-58-25028, or you can visit us online at cleartodayshow.com. We're going to grab Dr. Shafra episode, and 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. Shah's work.

And that is his weekly podcast series, Sermons by Abaddon Shah, 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, hop off the podcast.

I'm just playing. Keep listening. Dr. Shah 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 Avidan Shah 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. Shah's website, abidanshah.com. And we're gonna 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. Abidanshah, 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 new topics, send us a text at 252-582-5028. That's right.

And if today is your first time ever joining us here on the Clear View Today show, we want to say welcome, let you know exactly who's talking to you today. Dr. Abidanshah is a PhD in New Testament textual criticism, professor at Carolina University, author, full-time pastor, and the host of today's show. You can find all of his work on his website.

That's abidanshah.com. I was setting up a joke. Mid-sentence pause.

You can find all of his work? I want to go back and watch that. It's like, oh, I was setting up a joke. Now I'm not even going to say, Dr. Shah, happy Father's Day, man. Thank you. Happy early Father's Day. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Father's Day is coming up this weekend.

Very exciting. Is there something that you typically get as a Father's Day gift? Something that just has a little prank or something? I didn't want to name that, but something that just kind of is this recurring, like before my dad, it was the lowest gift card. Like every Father's Day, he just got a lowest gift card. That's funny.

Now don't give me a lowest gift because I'm going to sit there. Not that I can't do things. It's just so busy. I never get to go around and fix things in the house. Once in a while, I will. I have a lot of things to fix at the house.

Just no time. I'm getting my teeth carved out. I don't know if that's a Father's Day gift. Happy Father's Day. I'll be gumming my food.

I'm just eating. Happy Father's Day. Here's your applesauce.

I was going to say I'll have some applesauce and maybe some soup. On today's episode, in light of it being the Friday before Father's Day, we want to talk about Father's Day, about dads, specifically about the role that God has created for dads in the family. In culture today, a lot of times we're trying to blur lines and we're trying to remove distinctions, but there is a role for men, for biblical fatherhood in the family.

I would say this. It's not just that fathers are not stepping up to the plate. I think it's also many times they don't know what to do. That's also a very important issue that we're struggling with. It goes along with our serious generations.

When you go through a generation where there are divorces, going through a generation where morality is thrown to the wind and people don't know how to build families and create legacies or pass on the biblical values to the next generation, when that doesn't happen, then how do you know to be a good father? You don't know that. K Well, it's one of those things where I think men in general have let women lead spiritually for so long that a few generations have gone by and forgotten how to do it.

Whereas that used to be the norm, now it's like, I don't know. I'm not equipped to do that. It's like, yes you are. That's what you were called to do.

You just don't know how. It's more than just a spiritual leadership because I think that needs to happen. Males should be the spiritual head of their homes and all that stuff. But even the basic things of being a father, most men don't get it. The fact that, hey, it's something beautiful and wonderful, a God-given gift for you to impart true knowledge, spiritual wisdom, work ethic, building God's kingdom, all these things.

This is something wonderful that you get to do. Most men don't know that because if you're living in a self-centered world where everything revolves around you and you are the, as long as it makes you happy. I mean, some of the things I hear about men doing, I'm not saying every man is doing that.

There are a lot of wonderful guys out there who are faithful in their marriage, but then there are some who for just a 15 minutes of pleasure, they throw away their families, throw away their marriages, throw away their children. And they rationalize it and they say, you know, it wasn't real. I didn't feel anything for her. I didn't feel anything. It wasn't a real thing because my heart was always yours. I'm just driven by biology. Or the other way, you know, that I was miserable in this marriage.

So I had to go do that. You know, or, or forget about that. How about they are so obsessed with their work that this is what gives them meaning in life. Or they don't care. I never wanted to have kids. You wanted to have kids.

You know, I don't, I don't care. I mean, that's, look, I had to find my way the hard way. Then you got to do the same thing. That kind of a mindset when people grow up with that, you know, here and there, you will hear some good father who's, who's trying to raise his children the right way and help them and guide them and protect them and bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord. But overall, even in the church, it doesn't happen.

Yeah. So often, and that's one of the things I'm so thankful for here at Clearview with you, Dr. Shah, there's, there's a constant charge for men to step up and to live both in the home and the church to lead spiritually, to lead their kids, to be involved alongside their kids. That's one of the things that we talk about a lot here is, Hey, find a place to plug in where your kids can see you serving. That's, that's a huge deal that kids see church isn't something we just come to. It's something that we belong to. So we think that we're a part of. See, I want fathers to find joy.

Okay. True joy in the gift of fatherhood. That's a very different thing. True joy in the gift of fatherhood. There's a reason now that I know there are people who cannot have children. So I say that, you know, with compassion, but God has given us the gift of parenting so that we may understand his heart. Okay.

That's number one. God has given us the gift of parenting so that we may understand his heart. Secondly, God has given us the gift of parenting so that we will leave a godly legacy, a godly seed. Kids are not ultimately for ourselves.

It is for God's kingdom. That's what I'm saying is parenting, you know, it's a gift for us to know the heart of God and it's a charge so that we can leave a godly legacy for the next generation. I think your father did a great job of doing that for you because he instilled in you these values from a very early age. And I think that's one of the things that I see Christians saying a lot is that, well, I want my kid to love church, but I want him to discover it for himself. But kids just don't do that.

They don't understand values. Do you remember that episode? I know you're an Andy Griffith fan. Do you know that episode where Opie starts hanging out with the drifter and Andy goes to him and he's like, you need to skip town. And he's like, you got to let, you should let your son decide what kind of life he wants to live.

And Andy's just like, no, he's a young, he's a boy. And you can't let a kid decide for himself because they'll go to the first thing that makes them happy. A lot of us never grew out of that.

And we go with the first thing that makes us happy. Like you were talking about this, this last couple of years, you guys have to, you need to stay home and you need to quarantine, like stay home and do no work. Yeah, absolutely. I'm happy to do that. Tell me what else to do.

I'll do it. I'll do it because on the surface it makes me very happy and I'm going to do it. Not thinking about the long lasting consequences like two, three years down the road, our church can't keep its doors open. Well, I mean, yeah, it's what it is. Everybody else is going to the same thing. I mean, this is just normal and I don't want to be part of that normal. Exactly. I want us to work towards a set of values that are above and beyond what this world is going to craft us, craft and give to us to obey. We're not going to do that.

Absolutely. So also when it comes to parenting, I don't want to be a parent just because it makes me feel good or just because my friends are doing it or just because my love of my life, you know, my girlfriend now wife. And now, yeah, we got to do this father thing because I'm with her.

So I'm not going to do it because it makes her happy. Those are not the true, those should not be the true motivations behind being a good father. And then it's, I'm not going to say that I've been the best father in the world.

No, there's so many things I wish I could do again or redo not just like years ago, even recently. And I would say, yeah, that was not the best way to react to that or respond to that. But being a good father helps us understand how God relates with us. Well, I think that's what makes you a good father is that you know how God relates to us and your desire is to be like him and you're never, it looks like God is not swayed from being our father. So also are you not swayed away from being the parent? If it means making an unpopular decision or if it means leading in a way that our kids don't agree with, so be it.

I'm the parent and I'm not afraid to be a parent. Just like God is not. He knows what's best for us, even if he knows what's best for me and for you, even if we don't.

Right. You know what I mean? Even if we want something contrary to that, like if we want something different, God's like, no, this is what's best for you. And I think even the fact that you're, you're willing to on air say, you know, there are some things that I wish I had done differently. There are some areas where I feel like I could have responded differently. I think that in itself makes you a good father as well. Being able to take a look at that and say, maybe I was wrong there because there's many dads that won't ever say that. That's something that I learned from you. I did it on the retreat where I snapped at my kid over something he didn't do.

Oh, I remember that. I snapped over him and I was like, I was harsh with him and I was like, oh, he didn't do it. And I, you know, from watching you, cause before I would have been like, Hey, just get lost. Take a hike. Quit making me think you're doing something. But I was like, Hey, this isn't how Dr. Shaw would do it. Hey, daddy's sorry.

I shouldn't have done that. You know what I mean? We watching, watching older, wiser fathers is I think one of the best benefits that I've had from my time here. Yes, absolutely.

Not just, not just stuff we learned from our own dads, but stuff we learned from, from you and from other dads of, of how to parent, how to respond and how to lead spiritually and what that looks like. See, just like marriage is not just a Christian or a biblical institution. Okay. I mean, think about that for a moment. Some people say that it's like, Oh, this is Christian. No, no, it's, this is a universal or, you know, human institution that has been given by God. So also parenting is not just a biblical or Christian institution. This is a human institution given by God.

We've been talking about this on the show for a little bit, but you know, it's no secret. We're working on a big project that revolves around the book of Samuel. And so Dr. Shaw and myself and Ryan, we've, we've all been kind of looking at Samuel very, very, very closely for the past like half year, just studying it, reading it, talking about it, you know, just living in that book and Samuel's whole mission of keeping uniting Israel without resorting to being like the other nations ultimately failed. Like he, he did everything by the book, the way God wanted it to do. He, he proclaimed victories over like the Philistines, all this stuff, but he was a bad father and it ruined his credibility.

And so when his sons started doing what Eli's sons were doing all those years ago, it, the nation turned away from him. And I was thinking about that, like as we were prepping and we were looking over our notes, I was like, all the good that Samuel did and it still failed. And I don't know that it failed just, I mean, I don't know that it failed just because of that, but at the same time, it certainly didn't do him any favors.

Yeah, no, it didn't. And it was very tragic because he's such a great man. I mean, such a bridge builder, but when it came to fatherhood, people begged him and said, look, you're going to die.

Don't leave us with your boys. Get us a king, get us somebody else. Then he went and got Saul, which did not work out for the best. Then got him David, which again, in the long run did not, did not work out.

Yeah. David's like, Oh, we got it, man. After all heart. It's like, is he a good father? I mean, he, listen, he wrote songs, man.

He did, he did a lot, a lot, a lot of good stuff for history. It's like, right. But how about his boys?

It's like, Hey, look, kids going to do what kids are going to do. Kind of a hairy situation. Yeah. Yeah. But other than the fact that they didn't always practice it, they definitely preached it because if you look at how Solomon talks to his son in Proverbs 1.8, you know, this Proverbs, by the way, is a letter from a father to his son, right? He's, I believe he is, this is Solomon writing to Rehoboam.

Even though Rehoboam ended up not listening. And that's a kind of tragic. It is.

That's what I'm saying. Like it's so full of tragedy. And it's just one right after another. Cause the letter is. Boom right after the other. Yeah.

The letter is so full of hope. Yeah. Ten letters. Yeah. Really? Yeah.

So here's one. My son, hear the instruction of your father and do not forsake the law of your mother for they will be a graceful ornament on your head and chains about your neck. My son, if sinners entice you, do not consent. If they say, come with us, let us lie in wait to shed blood. Let us lurk secretly for the innocent without cause. Let us swallow them alive like shield and whole like those who go down to the pit. We shall find all kinds of precious possessions. We shall fill our houses with spoil cast in your lot among us.

Let us all have one purse. My son, do not walk with them. Keep your foot from their path. Golly. I mean, it reads like fatherly advice. Yeah. Isn't that great?

Be careful who you hang out with. You cannot find this anywhere. No.

It doesn't exist in the world. You say, well, Oh, come on. You're being limited. There are, there are, you know, we have ancient writings and this yeah, but they do not compare on this level. Right.

Okay. So what I already said, let me repeat that again. Fatherhood is a universal institution given by God to us because he wanted us to learn about him. What better way to learn about him than to have kids of our own. And then we understand his heart.

And you know, so here in the Bible, you see how God relates with us. He tells us don't go down that path. The fatherhood is not just about yes, yes, yes.

Whatever you want to do son, as long as you and I can be happy together and you can have the best time of your life. No. Sometimes many times you have to tell your son or your daughter. No. Yeah.

Yeah. My goal with my son is not to bond and relate to him. I want to do those things and I want him to like me and I certainly want us to have a good relationship, but my goal is to set him up for success, right? To set him up, to walk in a godly way. And if that involves making decisions where he's really not going to like me, I have to be cool. I'm not going to like it, but I have to accept it and be cool with it.

Yeah. It makes me think sometimes about like, what, what is the goal? What is the goal in this interaction for me as a parent?

What do I, what do I want to achieve long-term in this interaction? Is my goal to make my child happy, which is a very short-sighted short-term goal, or is my goal to make my child a successful, productive, God-honoring adult? Sometimes those things can go together, but sometimes they don't. And my goal for my kids, as long as my mind is on straight, my relationship with God is right, is the long-term, is for them to be productive, successful, God-honoring adults. So in the short-term, that means that they're not going to be happy with my choice.

That's something I'm willing to weather. And at the same time, it's not just being a good father means you're making your kids miserable. Like you just dominate them, constantly tell them no, and constantly imagine them and no, it's more than that. So Solomon, on one hand, is telling his son, don't do this, but on the other hand, he is telling them do this, right? I mean, if you read the book of Proverbs, how many Proverbs are there about do this, do this, do this, and you'll have this, do this, and you'll have this.

It's all about achieving. There are times my dad corrected me. I mean, there were kids who were stealing things from the science lab. Yeah, it was just like, it was supposed to be funny because this one teacher was sort of clueless, like a typical science teacher. He was always absentminded.

He was like a scientist. So around him, you know, you would, these kids began to steal test tubes and burets and pipits and put them in their bags. Why? Just to mess with them? What are you going to do with this?

So we can do it. Yeah. So guess what I did, but I'm going to steal too.

You stole them? And so one day I'm home and he hears the clanging in my bag. He's like, what is that sound? And I said, oh, these are test tubes.

I remember he was a science and math teacher. He was like, why are you bringing it home? I'm like, it's really funny, but you know, this is what the students do.

And so, you know, the teacher doesn't know a thing about what we're doing. He said, well, let me just tell you something. You need to return those because if you start stealing now, little things like this, you're going to start stealing big things one day.

I was like, oh, that's true. So I returned it. Did the other kids return it?

No. And we had a guy in our town who was a, who was a kleptomaniac. He was a kleptomaniac. He was, he was so sad.

He had a, I think like a mental condition because he could not help himself. He would steal. Really?

Oh yeah. Just, just take stuff. Just take stuff. Like he would steal entire ceiling fans from people.

Just take the ceiling fan. He would. I'm going to take this. Y'all mind? Hang on. No, no, no, no. He wouldn't do that way. It was about how he can do it and get away with it. Wow.

A ceiling fan. Oh yeah. When he finally got caught, they found in his basements, all the ceiling fans, they found watches, they found so many things, gadgets and stuff that, that he didn't even sell. Like if you want to sell it and make money off of it's one thing, you know, you're just keeping him as trophies. Yeah. He just wanted to keep them to have. Yeah. I mean, it was a bad day. It was a really, and I felt so bad for his kids, but my dad used that as an example. He said, you remember that guy?

Okay. Just want you to know that's where you head when you start stealing. Your dad taking the time to have that conversation with you.

That's huge. It was admirable because he was steering you away from sin. Like was it sin to steal, play a prank on your teacher?

Maybe not, but it came, it could have led to that place and he didn't want that for you. Yeah. And, and I was like, okay, I see it. I'm not, I shouldn't be doing that.

Yeah. So important. If you had, if you have one piece of advice to give to dads or dads to be dads at heart on father's day, what would it be? Just know that your assignment is not because of the culture or your family or your wife or your parents or whatever it is from God and take joy in that and, and do things a God's way. You know, read the word of God and see how he is with us and be that with them. Sometimes you have to discipline them.

Sometimes you have to get onto it. Sometimes you have to ask them to forgive you because you know, you are not God. You'll make mistakes.

God doesn't make mistakes, but you'll make mistakes. So that's where you have to go and say, Hey, I'm sorry. I overreacted. That was not necessary.

I'm sorry. So do that. All those things are part of learning to be like our heavenly father. And then as believers, I believe we are raising our kids, not for ourselves. It's for the next generation.

So they can shine for God. Amen. If you guys have any questions or suggestions for new topics, send us a text to 252-58-25028. Or you can visit us online at cleareeveetodayshow.com. And don't forget, you can partner with us financially on that same website. Every gift that you give goes not only to building up this radio show, but countless other ministries for the kingdom of God. To all the dads, dads to be dads at heart out there, we want to say happy father's day from all of us here at Clearview Today. We love you guys. We'll see you next time on Clearview Today.