Camp Living Water 2023

Welcome back, everyone. Today is Tuesday, July the 25th. I'm Ryan Hill.

I'm John Galantis. 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, 252-582-5028, or you can email us at contact at ClearviewTodayShow.com. That's right. You guys can help us keep the show going by liking the show, supporting it online, sharing it, 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 so you can do just that. And the verse of the day today comes from Acts, chapter 20, verse 35. I have shown you in every way by laboring like this that you must support the weak. And remember the words of the Lord Jesus that he said it is more blessed to give than to receive. I think something that we tend to take for granted is the things that we do as Christians. Because I think a lot of us for a long time have it beaten into our head like, you can't do anything.

You can't earn this. With salvation, that's completely true. But living this Christian life, the things that you do are of utmost importance. Like what you do with the whole book of James. If the things that I do on this earth don't matter, and I don't know how many Christians are out there saying that none of it matters, but we should take it from it matters to it's of the utmost importance. You know what I mean? It's not that you are saved by the good things that you do, but if you are saved, those good things should naturally follow.

So if they're absent in your life, then you have a misunderstanding of the gospel and what Christ has done for us. And there's a target demographic. It's the weak.

It's the down-product. It's the people who don't have it as good as you. I can help my friends. I can help people who are more powerful than me or more wealthy than me because, hey, look, they're probably going to give me something back in gratitude. The people who are weak, the downtrodden, the hungry, the sick, the lame, they're not going to be able to do anything for me.

I'm not getting anything out of this physically from this person. I'm doing it because God has commanded us to do it, and it's the Spirit of Christ living and moving through us. Yeah, I love that you said that. It's the Spirit of Christ living in and through us because isn't that what Christ did for us? He didn't gain anything from us by dying for us on the cross. We didn't have anything to offer him as payment for his death on the cross other than just our gratitude and our lives.

Our lives are not our own because he bought them on the cross. So, in serving other people who can't help us in return, we are displaying the Gospel to other people. So important. Speaking of displaying important messages that God has given us, we have an exciting announcement. I think some people already know what's up, but just in case they don't, you want to say it?

You can say it if you want. We have an album coming very soon. It'll be our first feature-length album. We've done an EP.

We've done three singles, I believe. The most recent of which, Power and Mercy, available now anywhere digital music is sold. Make sure you go pick up your copy today. It's available on iTunes now. There was a hang-up there for a couple of days, but it is available on iTunes now. Yeah, there was a delivery error on the part of the distribution company. Couldn't get it to iTunes in time, but it's there now, so that's good.

Download your copy now. Power and Mercy, and then the other single, Meditate, are two singles off of an upcoming studio album being produced, not here in Clearview, off-site in an actual recording studio with an actual producer who is working hard to make these songs display the message audibly and in that soundscape that we want to communicate. But, yes, the album, we've been a little bit tight-lipped about it, but there's also some videos coming. There's some updates coming, but it's called Heaven Here and Now, and it's based off of a sermon series that Dr. Shah preached back in 2017 that spoke to me, and I wish he was here.

Maybe we'll talk about it on a future episode, but it was based off a sermon series that he preached about. If Jesus truly said that the Kingdom of Heaven is here, it's at hand, then that means we're seeing and living the Kingdom of God and Heaven right now. I think of it as some ethereal place in the beyond that I'll go to when I die and I'll just be there for eternity.

But Heaven is designed for Earth and for us living right now. I love that message carries through in each one of those songs. That's something that you guys have prayerfully crafted, and it's something that's just so incredible as a church to sit back and benefit from John, from your leadership in that, and then from Dr. Shah and David in the songwriting process, and just seeing all those songs come together.

What a blessing to be able to share this medium to other people and give them a glimpse of what we have here at Clearview, which is Heaven Here and Now. As of today's July 25th, drums are wrapped. Everything's complete. Bass is halfway done. Four of the nine songs are tracked on bass.

Then after bass is going to come lots of keyboards, MIDI sounds, guitars, and then violin, strings, all that kind of stuff. All the music gets wrapped, and hopefully by September we'll be doing vocals. From there on, it's just a matter of time until release. That's awesome. It's moving quick.

Moving quicker than I anticipated it would. So exciting. Make sure you guys stay tuned for more important updates on the album coming out from Clearview Worship. Heaven Here and Now is going to be available very soon, and we are excited to talk to you more about it.

How do I stay up to date with those updates? Where are they going to be? They're going to be on our Facebook page. That's Clearview Church, North Carolina. What is our Facebook page? Is it Clearview Henderson?

Clearview Church, Henderson, North Carolina. You follow that, you're going to get all those updates. Follow us on Instagram.

It's going to be there, as well. Follow us on Instagram. Download the app. You can download the Clearview app. It's absolutely free. It's available for both Android and Apple devices.

You can put it on anything, like smart devices, anything like that. We want you to follow the progression, because that's what gets me hyped for albums. When artists that I like or bands that I like put those weekly or even monthly videos out, I feel like I'm part of the process just by watching it.

Then when the album comes out, I'm like, I got to get it, rather than be like, well, I'll check it out another time. It's not that we just want you to consume these songs. We want these songs to impact you and your church. They're songs that have impacted us greatly. They've changed the way that I think about worship. That's our goal for you as a worship leader or as pastors or as members of your local Christian community. These songs are meant to be tools and resources for you to help revitalize that spirit of worship.

Absolutely. Get in touch with us. If you want to stay up to date with those updates we have coming out, you can text us at 252-582-5028, or visit us online at ClearviewTodayShow.com.

We'll be happy to send those links over to you and loop you into that album recording process. That's right. We're going to get Dr. Shawn in just a minute. We'll be right back. Hey, everyone.

My name's Elli. And I'm David. We want to take a minute and let you know how we can actually serve you as you're listening to Clearview Today. The Bible paints an extraordinary picture of who we are as a church body. The mission of Clearview Church is to lead all people into a life-changing, ever-growing relationship with Jesus Christ. A huge part of leading people is praying for them. A big reason that Christians have unanswered prayers in their life is because they're not praying.

You know, 1 John 5.15 says, and if we know that he hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of him. If you're listening to the Clearview Today Show, we want to know how we can pray for you as well. There's a number of ways that you can get in touch with us at Clearview and share your prayer request, but the best way is by texting us at 252-582-5028. You can also send us an email at prayer at ClearviewBC.org, or you can download the Clearview app on iTunes or Google Play.

You know, on that app, there's a dedicated prayer wall that helps us to get to know what's going on in your life, how we can pray for you, and how we can take any necessary steps to get you moving in the right direction. Thanks for listening. Now, let's get back to the show. Welcome back to Clear View 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 for Dr. Shah or suggestions for new topics, send us a text at 252-582-5028.

That's right. If today is your first time ever joining us here on the Clear View Today show, we want to welcome you and let you know exactly who's talking to you today. Dr. Abbadan Shah is a Ph.D. and New Testament textual criticism professor at Carolina University, author, full-time pastor, and one of the best camp directors this side of the Tennessee.

You can find all of his work on his website. That's AbbadanShah.com. And that is exactly what we're talking about today, Dr. Shah. We're talking about camp today. I know you just recently got back from Camp Living Water, speaking at the junior camp up there. Do you want to share a little bit about your history with Camp Living Water, why we got connected, how we got connected, and sort of how we got to this point? And hopefully, when we talk about Camp Living Water, you have a camp in your life that you went to as a kid, or your kids go now, and hopefully it's a good Christian camp that you can send them to where they learn and grow and have that sense of independence, and yet you know they'll still be okay. And so, years ago, Nicole and I met a gentleman who introduced us to Camp Living Water. And it's kind of a funny story, because we actually sent our daughter away, Rebecca, who was at the time maybe six or seven years of age.

This was in 2002. We put her on the bus to send her off, thinking she's going to a camp outside of Durham. She was going like five hours away.

It is outside of Durham, just a little bit further than that. I just had a vision of, you remember that scene in Remember the Titans, when they all get on the bus, but little Rebecca's like, this little girl on the bus. By herself, going away.

It was like ten of the kids that she never knew in her life going off. And then we heard about it, and we were like, okay, I wonder how do we pick them up? And we called them, and it's like, oh yes, the bus will, when it gets close to Greensboro, we'll let everybody know.

Greensboro. So where are they again? Oh, they're up in the mountains. Oh.

They're in Bryson City. It's 2002. You pull out an Atlas, and you're like, oh, oh, wow. Yeah, this is before GPS and all that. It's not like you can just pull up a computer and say, let me find it.

I guess you could do that at the time. But yeah, I had to pull out a road Atlas. Do you still have an Atlas in your truck? I don't.

It's now in my black truck. I gotcha. Okay. So that was a shock. And we're like, oh my goodness, we just sent our kid away like five hours away.

He's the first kid, though. You get to do stuff like that. I guess so.

Yeah. But she had fun. She had a good time. She went back the next year and the year after, and went off for years. And then Abigail followed when she was about the same age, five, six years of age. And then Nicholas followed, and then Thomas. There was a time when all four of them were at camp. We had nobody at home for a couple of weeks. And they're at camp together.

I think that's one of the coolest things. And there was only one week a month where it was just complete quiet, because all the kids were there, and the youngest one were there for a week. And our camera operator, Nicholas, or our switcher, I should say, our video engineer, is not here, because he's currently at camp and has been there for the last four weeks? More than that. More than that?

Five or six? He's working on staff there this summer. He's working with the camp.

I think we're closing on week six now. Wow. That's incredible.

Yeah. He started off as assistant camp director, I think it is, and then he became a counselor. So many people were coming. So many kids were there. So he had to be helping out. That's awesome.

I love that bit. And my kids, Noah was in his cabin, my oldest son, and he said Nick was the best. Just the greatest counselor ever. Had a blast. They had spiritually impactful moments, but there were also some crazy cabin shenanigans.

That's what makes camp special. That's fun. Yeah.

It was funny. One little girl was walking by, and Nick was coming to see me, to go to the creek for a second. And I said, oh, there's Nick. Yeah, Nick. I think he hates kids.

Why do kids do that? I was like, really? Why do you say that? I don't know. I don't think he likes me. I was like, oh, you don't think Nick likes you? He's like, no, he's always picking on everybody.

I was like, well, because he likes you. Yeah. I said, what else do you know about Nick?

I don't know. He's nice. I said, okay. I said, do you know he's my son?

Yeah, I knew. I'm like, no you didn't. No, you didn't, kid.

No, you didn't. Why do kids do that? Kids would be like, he doesn't like me. He's like, what else do you know about him? He's nice. He's nice, but he doesn't like kids?

I don't know. He likes me. I like him. I thought it was funny when he said that. I was like, oh, okay. The thing I've seen is all the kids that are at camp, I think it's just, I don't know if it's this camp in particular, just Christian camps, but like, they're doing like fun activities that was like, I was raised in public school. So like those activities I'd be like kind of against the wall being like, look at everybody. But they're like, oh, I'm in this dude. I'm doing like the cheers.

I'm doing like getting hype. They're like, I'm a hundred percent all the time at camp. Well, camp has its own culture, right? So you have to, first time I went, it was very unnerving for me.

I went as a counselor in 2008 and it was, I was like, no, can't do that. Cannot, cannot be banging on the table. Cannot have a kitchen parade. Did you have a kitchen parade? Oh, we did. Yes.

Yeah. What is a kitchen parade? So a kitchen parade is not something that is initiated by the kitchen.

It is summoned by the, by the campers. So the campers will join in this chorus of we want a kitchen parade. We want a kitchen parade.

Hi ho the Dario. We want a kitchen parade, but at max volume and like slamming on the table. Yes.

Multiple times. So that, that chorus rings out and if the kitchen deems it, you know, appropriate enough, then they will grab pots and pans and ladles and trainers and just beat them through the cafeteria. And then there's an uproar of cheers. Just like, just like, like your favorite sports team came out. Just imagine that. But it's the kitchen staff. Like LeBron James himself is like high fiving people. That level of energy just, yeah.

Wow. That's a kitchen parade. And then like letters come from home.

So then there's a song that goes with that, which is mail time, mail time, mail call, mail call, a wonderful life to live. And like when I say that they're screaming at the top of their max volume, they're screaming. I got a bunch of Snapchats from Dr. Shaw and a lot of them were his Apple watch in the cafeteria saying volume warning, decibel warning.

I laugh so much when those came through because mine did the same thing when we were there for camp. I was like, Oh yeah. Oh yeah. Loud environment. Oh, loud environment.

Okay. And it's not like there's a speaker. It's just, it's just kids being loud. But it's fun. Is this cafeteria specific or is it like hype all the time?

Those things are cafeteria specific, but that energy level, that, that culture is there all the time. It's just very, and that's when you, where you need like young teenagers who are counselors and helpers because for an adult like me, it's like, no, no, no, you can't do that. Sit down.

No, you're not doing that. And, and, and even the teenagers, they have their limits. Like, you know, the kids will try to come grab their hats or do something serious or, or something crazy. And the, and you cannot see the, sometimes the CITs go along with sometimes like, Hey, can't do that.

Let me have that. I don't know how the rules work on this one. Sometimes they've reached their limit. Usually like Wednesday and Thursday in the week, they're tired.

Patience is wearing a little thin. Yeah. They start to get that. They start to like the camp high starts to wear off and they're starting to be like, okay, I need some rest.

I don't think the kitchen parades are as fun as I once thought. Yeah. And this is, I'm talking about this counselor, right?

Yeah. Kids are always ready to go. It's like six. My, in my cabin, I remember when I was a counselor, six o'clock in the morning, ready to go play gaga ball. The pitter patter begins from this cabin to that cabin. They're all making their way to the gaga ball.

So break down the organization of it. Cause I know you went first and then, and did you go as a speaker? I did for teen camp.

Okay. And then you went, what you came back and then you went this past week as a junior camp speaker, junior camp speaker. So how does, how does, what are the different levels of like the different camps? So, so teen camp is for the 12 to 17 year olds, the middle and high school students. And that's usually first because the many of those campers are functioning as CITs. So while they're there, they're getting their weeks of teen camp. And then they have some training where their CIT stands for counselor and training. So they, they step up and they are sort of like the junior leaders for junior camp. So they're partnered with a counselor and they have the opportunity to step in and lead and lead devotions and things like that. So they'll do teen camp first. Then there's some CIT training in there. And then they've got junior camp after that, where the kids seven years old to 12 years old go.

Okay. And that's the, that's a separate week. And that's the week that you went. I went to junior week. I was a speaker for junior.

I've been doing this good grief for almost like 10 years now. There was a gap in between about two, three years, but I didn't go. They had somebody else come, which is fine.

But then they call me back and say, Hey, we want you back. Nice. What did you speak about this year?

This year I covered the entire book of Ephesians. Nice. Very cool. Yeah. It will shock people.

I mean, these kids listen, they take notes and they respond, they interact. It is pretty amazing. I began Sunday night and I started with the book of Acts and how the church was founded in Ephesus, how they were baptizing with the baptism of John until Paul came and said, so how was your spiritual life? Well, we're waiting on the Messiah. Well, Messiah already came.

So what are you guys doing? Well, nobody told us. So they felt kind of left out. So Paul shared the gospel with them. The Holy spirit came in all power. They had a mini Pentecost and the church was born in Ephesus. And then I go into the book of Ephesians, starting in chapter one about how Paul commended them for running the race and not being in the back. I mean, they caught up, their love was strong.

They were moving fast. So Paul commended them, thank God for them, prayed for them. Then comes chapter two, chapter three, where Paul reminds them of who they are in Christ and how they are to live the Christian life, reject immorality, reject sin and choose to walk in the new family. And then Paul tells them, just like you were left out, the Gentiles are left out.

So go out there and win the lost. This is chapter three and four. And then Paul tells them now that you are in the new family, you have a new DNA. Don't live like the old family, live like the new family. You have gifts, you have different responsibilities. Now I'm talking to the kids.

You have different roles in the family. So get with it. Don't be a victim. Talk about that because kids, the world will tell you that, oh, you're so sad and you maybe want to act like you're sad because you're just having a bad day and I'm sad and I'm just going to sit here and pout. You can see all the kids are looking at me like, how did you know that about me? And I said, don't do that.

Now, if you're really sad, go talk to somebody, but if you're not really sad, don't let anybody tell you you're a sad person or sadness is good, or you just need to just pout over there because you got left out. Don't do that. Jump in.

They're locked in. They're listening and serve each other. Don't be angry.

Don't be frustrated. Be long suffering, which means be patient with people, be kind, and then find your role, not only in the church body, but also in your families. Mom and dad need to love each other.

You know, wives submit to your husband, husbands love your wives as Christ loved the church. Hey, these are their roles, right? Now, what are your roles? Don't over your parents. So I talk about that with them. And then finally, since you're in the new family, you're under attack.

Satan will do everything possible to get you distracted and keep you focused on self. So put on the whole armor of God. So we walked through the armor. And then finally, the last thing I tell them on Thursday night is the baptism. I showed them, and each night David made the videos for me from Ephesus. So they saw the videos and then began to the lesson and I showed them the baptistry in Ephesus. I said, see how this is. That's how you need to be baptized when you receive Jesus.

This is what it means. And the final lesson is on Friday morning, revelation chapter two to the church in Ephesus. You've lost your first love. Guys, when you leave this place right now, you're excited about Jesus. When you go away, there may be a tendency to lose your first love. So go back to doing the thing.

I mean, they're locked in. So that was my lesson. I don't know what Ryan's lesson was. So when we were there, we talked through the whole book of Galatians and how there were these false teachers that were trying to pull the Galatians away from the doctrine that Paul taught them that you needed the gospel and you needed Jesus plus. And so we talked about how there are false teachers in our lives, although they look a lot different with things like social media and, you know, things like TikTok.

People can look really polished and portray themselves as a spiritual expert, but not everyone on social media who looks polished has your best interest in Christ. So we talked about the life that God has called us to live is one where we are surviving on the island of life. So in order to do that, we need to out-pray, out-pray one another, out-serve one another, and out-love one another. So those are the things that God has called us to do.

And how can we take that back home? So then Thursday, we talked through what it means to be baptized, what it means to step out in obedience to follow God and to follow Jesus's command to be baptized. And then Friday morning we talked about this spiritual experience that you have on a camp or a mission trip or something where you get so excited and you go back home and the fire dies down and you have to wait for the next trip to kind of reignite that spark. And I reminded him, I'm like, hey, God is not any closer to earth here at Bryson City than He is back in your hometown.

He's not any more real here than He is back in your hometown. The same God that you felt close to this week is exactly the same back home. But you're different this week. So you're going back home, you don't have to change. God doesn't change.

You don't have to change. You can maintain that closeness to God by doing the things you do here at camp, reading your Bible, being surrounded by people who are trying to grow spiritually and can encourage you to do that. So important.

Absolutely. Spending that time every morning, carve it out that time every morning in God's word and being engaged in worship and not being distracted by the things of the world, putting those distractions aside and focusing on God. Serve God like you're doing here.

Things you have to do when you go back home, start doing them. And many of these kids do. There's a difference in the kids who go to camp. I'm not saying they're perfect kids or don't have any issues or they're not rambunctious at times. They'll be kids because they'll be kids. But there will be a difference in their lives because they have been exposed to a kind of a level of Christianity that they don't get at church.

Yeah. Well, I'm glad you, I'm glad you bring that up because there is a, like you said at the beginning, camp has its own culture and it's exposing them to something that's outside of their comfort zone. It's away from their parents and it's them sort of kind of exploring the world in a, I mean, although it's contained and it's regulated at the same time, that's a new level of freedom for them.

And I like how both of you talked about with the kids, you don't have to lose this when you go home. We definitely give a lot of Bible. We focus on good, strong, I mean like the Ephesians CDs.

I could have done that in church here and people would have responded. Same exact things for how old are those kids in junior camp? Seven to 12. Seven to 12 year olds are listening to me and I'm not a kid speaker, but they were into it. They're connected to me and listening to God and responding. Like four got saved.

That's awesome. It was not a big number that I've seen typically at junior camp when I've gone. Even last year, there were more. This year was a little low. There's a lot of changes coming on at camp, good changes in a way. So there was a little less, but still the one got baptized and you had far more in your camp.

We did. We had three that got saved and then 11 that got baptized, which is amazing. And that's typically, is that typical or is it usually much higher than, or in the past it's been higher?

Well, in the past it's been a little higher. At least in my group it was higher because I had like 12 or 13 that got baptized, something like that, if I'm not wrong. The kids, I feel like is usually higher in the baptisms because by the time they get to teen camp, a lot of them have been going for a while.

So they've made that commitment as junior campers, which is great. I mean, that's fantastic. And many times they're baptized there.

You know, parents want to baptize them or see them baptize at church, everybody watching them. And that's great. But man, the experience of being at camp in the Creek, because you're in the backside of the camp, there's a beautiful Creek there and be baptized in that Creek. Yeah. That stays with you forever. Yeah. It's an experience that you will remember.

It's filmed. And so you can keep it with you. If my kids were getting baptized, I would have told them, do it over there. If you got saved there, do it over there.

I love that. And I love that you encouraged the kids to do that, Dr. Shaw, because it's always reminded me of Philip and the Ethiopian, like that instantaneous, like, here's water. What's preventing me from being baptized? I've made this decision. Can I get baptized right now? The desire is there. You know, it's not this thing of, let me hesitate.

Let me make sure it's right. And let me, that's something that I feel like adults kind of do, or they put on their kids or they do for themselves. But like a kid is like, or even someone with the faith of a child is like, I want to do it.

If there's nothing stopping me, let's do it. There are some parents who want to be there and we tell them, come on, you know, come on last night, pick him up. And the last day, come, come be there and, or help baptize. We've had dads who stepped in the water and they did the baptism with us. So it's not like what we have to do and you just watch. No, come on in.

And it's very, very beautiful. I grew up going to camps. They were not kids' camps, but they were camps. They were like family camps. And I remember up in the hill stations, this is in India, they have hill stations.

They're these retreat centers up in the mountains where Christian families will come or churches will come. And I remember my dad being one of the speakers. And so going to these camps was a lot of fun for us. We remember singing camp songs and people are like, what were they? Same the ones we sang in the seventies. This is the day the Lord has made. And what was the other one? Hallelujah. And then I forgot the names now.

It'll come to me. But anyways, these are the same, same camp songs we sang. And I remember going to some of these places.

And so I always had that in mind that when I have a family, I'm going to send my kids, or at least go, but there was never a family camp to go to. But kids' camp, when it came up, we sent our kids. That's awesome.

That's really cool. So important. That camp experience is so crucial. And I'm so thankful for you, Dr. Shah, for maintaining that connection with Camp Living Water and for making a priority for our kids. If you don't have a Christian camp near you, look for those experiences for your kids. Look for those experiences to send them away where they can be independent but in a controlled environment and, most importantly, have Scripture and Christ infused into their week.

That's right. So important. If you guys have any questions about what we talked about today, or you'd like help looking for a Christian camp near you, send us a text, 252-582-5028. Or you can visit us online at cleerviewtodayshow.com. And you can also support us financially on that same website. Be a part of what God is doing through The Clearview Today Show. Be obedient and giving, and watch how God will bless you as a result. We love you guys. We'll see you next time on Clear View Today.