Friday, December 15th | The American Renewal Project (ft. David Lane)

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We're going to leave some links in the description so you can do just that. The verse of the day today comes from Colossians chapter 1, verse 13. He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of his love. Glory, hallelujah. He has delivered us. You know, sometimes I will be on stage, and I'll be just kind of leading worship, and I'll be, like, talking.

And everything I've talked, I'm saying, I've, like, thought through and I've rehearsed. And the thought will just come on me, like, why in the world would God choose to save someone like me? Why would you deliver me from darkness when I invited it into my heart, when I lived so many years reveling in it and wallowing in it?

Why on earth would you choose to save someone like me? And it's in the latter half of that verse, you've conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of his love. It's because of his great love for us.

And it's love that I can't comprehend, I can't explain, I can't think of a single thing I ever did to earn it, but it's just because he loves me that he would choose to save me. That's right. It should elicit a response from us, and that response is and must be worship.

And it must be surrender, and it must be obedience to what God has called us to do. I mean, it's no small statement to say that we owe Christ everything. That's right. We owe him our lives. I mean, literally, our lives were bought. They were purchased on the cross so that I, I mean, just like Paul says, I no longer live, but it's Christ who lives in me.

That's right. My life doesn't belong to me anymore. It belongs to Christ.

So the very least that I can do is live my life for him. And this all started with a little baby just in a manger. And in 10 days, we're going to be celebrating that.

Think about that, man. Christmas is 10 days away. I'm so glad.

That is the 15th, right? 10 days away from Christmas. And you are, you're ready.

I'm over the moon. Here's, here's something that I've been wanting to talk about. This is not a gripe because I don't actually have a problem with this, but this is something that I think a lot of people may agree with me on. The, the Rudolph movies, the Little Drummer Boy movies, the Claymation. That's creepy, right?

Like that art style is creepy. No, I like them. You like those little movies? The little, the little, how many were there? I mean, I guess I can, I can see hundreds. There were so many. I mean, I always know, I know. There's Rudolph, there's Frosty, there's the Year Without a Santa Claus, there's, there's, oh gosh, there's.

I wouldn't have even thought there was over 10. Yeah. The best, 10 best Claymation Christmas movie.

Yep, that's it. That's creepy. Santa Claus is coming to town. Oh my good, you don't think that's creepy? That little, that little.

Well, I, so I can, I see your point, I understand how it can be, how it can be creepy, but if you grow up on them, I mean, they're like nostalgic for me, I love them. So, Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July. I've actually never seen that one. Meiser's Brothers Christmas. Meiser Brothers Christmas is great. Rudolph's Shiny New Year. Seen that one, love that.

Oh my golly, I hate that art style. Nestor the Long Eared Christmas Donkey. Don't sit here and play like you know what that movie is. Yes, I know that one. Nestor the Long Eared Christmas Donkey. You know that. John the Sheep, The Flight Before Christmas. I love that one. Oh, that's new.

That's 2021. Let me see. Jack Frost. Yep. Okay.

Okay. Gosh, that's, that, that gives me nightmares. I think it's something about just that art style.

Let me ask you this. Just the blank eyes with like. Yeah.

Wallace and Gromit. Yay or nay? You don't find that creepy? No. Really? Yeah. I was always terrified of Wallace and Gromit.

Really? The little drummer boy. It's just, yeah, it's the, it's the style of the art. The claymation style. I always was terrified of it. Have you ever watched like a behind the scenes documentary of how they made those claymation movies?

No, I haven't. It is unreal. I can imagine. I mean, they have, literally it's every movement, every time the character moves, you just, that's a, that's a frame. Yeah.

They have to take a picture of it. So there's a reason that they were like super jerky in like the old movies because every time that they move, it's a frame. Yeah. Every frame had to be intentional.

I mean, it was really a painstaking process and these movies mostly came out in the seventies. Santa Claus is Coming to Town is another one. That's the one with that little creepy red hair one. 1970. That's the, that's the one with Burger Meister Meister Burger. What? Burger Meister Meister Burger. Yeah. The guy who's like, is there be no more toy makers to the king?

It's really there. By giving Christmas a compelling villain, Burger Meister Meister Burger. How did you know this? Because I've seen it so many times. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. That's the 1964 one. Now, I want to know, did the song come from the movie or did the movie come because of the song?

The song was, the song was pre-dated the movie, I believe. I believe. Now let me, let me not tell you. There's just something about claymation. I think people, it always boggles my mind. I think that people are, they look at those claymation movies and they're so beloved and all I feel is just like, at this point it's not fear, but I definitely feel kind of anxious watching those movies. The way they move around with them big bug eyes and they're just so jerky.

I don't know. I always imagine one of them just sprinting at me. Claymation movies for you are a no-go. Yeah. No, I don't like them. I didn't like them. As a kid, I didn't like puppets. I didn't like that claymation. I didn't like none of that. I liked puppets that were like, like Kermit the Frog or like iconic people, but like just generic puppets. Nah.

Like, like. Out of here. Sesame Street's fine, but you don't want to go see it like a puppet show. No. Sesame Street was fine. No puppet shows. No puppets that aren't like iconic characters. Like Elmo is a puppet, but he's Elmo. I know him.

I trust Elmo. Other puppets, I don't like that. I don't know you.

I don't know you like that. No. Yeah.

You need to bag, you need to bag back. Oh man. That's funny. Yeah.

So did he grow up with those movies? I don't know. I doubt it. But, but.

Well, maybe. What is the, what is he, are they endearing to him? Plus we've got a special guest on today's episode. Very special guest.

Very special guest on today's episode and I wonder about his take on these claymation movies. I don't know. Like even with Pastor Shah, I don't know what they showed on TV in, in India. Yeah.

You know, at Christmas time. And these are classic films. I don't know how much, yeah, how much of the West was infiltrating the Indian airwaves. I don't know. We're going to get Dr. Shah and our special guest and we'll continue this conversation, talk about some very exciting things happening here at Clearview and in the days and weeks ahead. But if you guys have an opinion on these claymation movies, if you have some movies maybe that you love that we haven't seen, write in and let us know 252-582-5028 or you can visit us online at clearviewtodayshow.com. Stay tuned. We'll be back after this. What's going on, listeners? My name is John.

And I'm David. And we hope you are enjoying the podcast thus far. You know, we really appreciate how many of you download the podcast every day.

Right. But we also want to remind you that we are first and foremost a radio show. Clearview Today is actually syndicated through the Truth Network. And we just want to let you know right now that in addition to hosting the all time best Christian talk show of all time, hashtag Clearview Today, hashtag Clearview Today, the Truth Network also, as it turns out, has an extensive library of Christian programming. We really love everything they're doing at the Truth Network because the whole goal is to encourage, challenge, confront and uplift listeners with the life changing truth of Jesus Christ through Christian talk radio. And listen, we know we're not the only show wanting to expand its audience. So if you have a vision for your show or for your ministry, why don't you consider syndicating your show through the Truth Network because they rely on decades of experience of self syndication with a full array of features for your long form or short form content. Make sure you visit the Truth Network online today at truthnetwork.com or you can give them a call at 336-759-0363. Again, that's 336-759-0363. Well, John, are you ready?

I was born ready, my friend. Let's hop right back in. All right. Welcome back to Clear View Today with Dr. Abbadon 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 any questions or suggestions for new topics, send us a text at 252-582-5028. That's right. Happy Friday, everybody. We are back here once again in the Clear View Today studio with Dr. Abbadon Shaw, who is a PhD in New Testament textual criticism. But we also have a very special guest with us, Mr. David Lanes. Good to have you, sir.

We do. Welcome to the show. We're excited to have you on the show today. I got to ask, before we get into the American Renewal Project, I'm dying to know and I think the listeners are dying to know, it's Christmas time. We're all watching those Christmas movies. Did you ever see Rudolph, the claymation Rudolph? You know the one I'm talking about. You hear the hard-hitting questions. Dr. Shaw, you know the one I'm talking about.

Yes, I do. I had to look it up when you say claymation. I said, what is that? It's really old. It looks like it's made out of Play-Doh.

Here's my question. Charming or creepy? If you're asking me, I would say, yeah, still charming. It still gives you that nostalgia. You sit there and you watch Rudolph and then there's Jack Frost, I think it is.

Santa Claus, The Frosty Snowman. Yeah, I think it's good. We need a little bit of that heartwarming. That style always just gave me the heebie-jeebies. Do you like them?

Never heard of them. Really? Really? There's no way. Hold on one second, hold on one second. No way. I love them. If it was on, I would hunt them down to try to find them. There's no way. There you go.

I'll go ahead and give you a spoiler alert. They're a little creepy. I didn't like the way they, they look like they're made out of Play-Doh and they just move kind of weird. They can be a little off-putting. I do understand that. But overall, it's that nostalgia vibe. That's right. It makes you feel good.

Yeah, it gives you those Christmastime feels. Well, it's good to have you here in Henderson. What brings you to Henderson, North Carolina today? We're having a Pastures event tomorrow, North Carolina Pastures event. This is a project we've been at for a long time, really, in North Carolina. And this is the 35th or 34th event that we've had in North Carolina, Pastures luncheons with North Carolina Pastures and spiritual leaders. So that's why we're here. That's incredible.

That's amazing. So the heart behind this, and Dr. Shaw, when we were talking in the initial stages getting this set up, what is the desire? What is the heart behind reaching out and bringing Pastures together?

What's the goal? Well, anybody who thinks what's happening in America has to do with Democrats and Republicans is very confused. This is the war between God Jehovah and the false god of secularism. So in hearing Dr. Shaw, he and I are a little different. I was one of the wildest men that ever lived, 44 years ago, and I got mercy. I lived on the bottom of the barrel, and I came to Christ. And so he cleaned me up for about three years at First Baptist Houston, and then a businessman took an interest and paid my way to Washington, DC at the end of 1982 and put me in the political fundraising business. And so then it's been a long journey through that. But the Lord really, people think now, I mean, I write a weekly opinion piece to 70,000 pastors, and people think that I'm a pastor, but I'm actually a political mechanic.

I'm an organizer, a mobilizer. So Gary and I went to see the lieutenant governor, Mark Robinson, in January, February of 2021. And he was tired. He had been serving, presiding over the Senate. He came in, and one of the things he said was that he was tired. And he said, I thought I was getting into elective office. I walked right into the middle of spiritual warfare.

So that was the first time my antenna went up. At the end of an hour, I said to the lieutenant governor, let me tell you what I want to do. He said, tell me. I said, I want to do 10 events, pastors luncheons with the lieutenant governor of North Carolina. And my goal is 100 pastors, averaging per event. And he said, that's what I want to do. And I said, my goal is 20 or 30 pastors and spiritual leaders running for local office in 2022.

And he said, that's what I want to do. So we did, last year, we did 13 pastors luncheons with Lieutenant Governor Mark Robinson, 2,700 pastors and spiritual leaders participated. And on May 17th, last year was primary election, North Carolina election day, 50 ran for city council, county commissioner school board, 25 won the primary. And on November the 8th, last year, the general election, 10 of the 25 won the general election. There's 13 newly elected state house members in North Carolina, 3 of the 13 are pastors. And so this is our second go around with the lieutenant governor.

So we've done 34 events with him. And the goal is, I'm going to get educated by Dr. Shaw here, but Jesus said to Peter, upon this rock, I will build my ecclesia. He could have said, synagogue, been spiritual or temple used a secular term and the gates of hell won't stand against it. So somehow over the last hundred years in America, the church is hidden behind the four walls of the building.

We have no footprint in the culture. That's not what Jesus called for. So if we're going to save the country for our kids and our grandkids, men and women of God, men and women of Issachar are going to have to move into the public square. And so that's what we're up to. We're actually pushing, in a sense, the ecclesia into the public square. So we've been in 20 states under the radar.

This is really unusual, me doing something like this. We don't do press conferences or press releases, because the currency in politics is, the largest denominations are, how much money can you raise that brings votes to the table, or how many votes can you bring to the table? Mobilizing is the currency.

Press conferences, press releases, and getting a shout out on Fox News are not denominations of currency, yet this is where we are, is that from a church standpoint, we give once a year a sermon about, you know, maybe have to vote or something like that. We're going to have to move into the culture if we're going to save the country. That's what we're doing. I love hearing your heart behind that, especially when you talk about, you know, if we're going to save the culture, if we're going to save the nation for our kids and for our grandkids, because that's that future focus, and Dr.

Shine, I know that's your heart as well. Right, right. So when we first heard about this event, I mean, our doors were wide open at that point, because that is the heart of Clearview, is how we can be not only in the community, but be the center of the community. Of course, you know, the church, Clearview is very different in that sense. We try to be involved with everything that is going on. So we don't run from the marketplace, we're actually there.

We have meetings here, the chamber meeting takes place here, the law enforcement dinners happen here. We do all those things because we want people to come through these doors, rather than just be here on Sunday mornings. And I also believe the pastors, when I heard the pastors are the first, the guest of honor in a way, because I believe the pastors are the conscience of the community. So if you complain about the community and say community is this and that and how terrible, again, as shepherds, we have to look in the mirror and go, what am I doing? How am I shining the light or helping people shine the light of Christ into our community? How can we be the salt and light? Something a lot of people don't know about Clearview is that it's written into our statement of faith that we have a cultural mandate.

It's mandated that the church be influencing the culture through the arts, through our place, through our worship, through the things that we do, like all those events that you just said, and even this one coming up this Friday. And I know, Mr. Ling, you've organized political briefings with people like Mike Huckabee and Newt Gingrich and Michelle Bachman. But how did it start? How did the American Renewal Project say, OK, this is what I want to do? What is the genesis of that idea?

Actually it started in Texas with Governor Rick Perry. And I guess a step before that actually was a medical doctor in Houston, Dr. Steve Hoeze. He and I teamed up. He saw a patient.

He's ADD. He took golf lessons before eight o'clock seeing patients. He saw patients in between patients. He had to do politics. After the office closed, then he and I would stay two or three hours at night doing politics. He was really one of—still is—one of the best grassroots precinct-level organizers in America. So it really started there. We had the idea.

Let's see. This would have been in 1994. In Houston, there were 52 judges, 54 judges on the ballot. That cycle, 52 went conservative, and they attributed it to pastors in Harris County, Houston, that basically took action as we tried to save the country. So that's how it began.

And then we started with Governor Rick Perry in 2005. And so since then—and those were big events that we did, three to five hundred pastors plus spouses overnight at nice hotels, fed them three meals, had 10 speakers, had a singing group that traveled with us, and we did that for 15 years and never asked the pastor for a penny. And the Lord gave me a little less than 50 million dollars from less than 10 people. And I don't beg for money. God's work done God's way never wants for money. Amen.

You have to be on His deal, right? That's right. So that's really been the miracle of it.

So we've been across 20 states under the radar. And you know, and the goal is spiritual. What we're doing is spiritual. The byproduct is political. But somebody's values are going to reign supreme in the public square. So here you have, in our case as evangelicals, 65 to 80 million evangelicals estimated in America have not registered to vote, which means they've never voted.

So then in a presidential year, half of those don't vote, so 25 percent vote, and in an off-year election, 12 to 18 percent vote. So how did the country get into the shape that it's in? We did this. So you know, as you know, when they landed in 1620, before they got off the boat, the Mayflower Compact, they wrote, in the name of God, for the advancement of the Christian faith. It's easily defended that Christians founded America. Somebody said, well, if they wanted a Christian nation, why didn't they say so?

They did. Just read the 13 original constitutions and charters. They established a Christian nation.

That's right. So now we've lost that. We've lost our Judeo-Christian heritage. Now we've lost the biblically-based culture. And so if we stay home, and we do, then the other side put their people in, they draft and pass legislation, and then codify into law their values. The culture of America is nothing but the public manifestation of the false god of secularism that's ruling America. That's right.

If we're going to save the country for our kids and grandkids, we have to move back into the culture. And so that's what we're up to. Amen.

Wow. That's so powerful. And I mean, it's kind of a sobering thought to think that we are the ones who have landed America in the mess that it's in. As the church.

It's a hard pill. We're not doing what we've been called to do, not being the salt and light in the culture. We are kind of responsible. Yeah. Well, somebody has a better opinion than I do, but you know, how did we get to where in 62 the Supreme Court removed the first prayer, and in 63 they removed the Bible from public education?

Well, the point is, a hundred years before that is when that started. And so if we're going to turn the country—this is a long road that we're on right here, to turn the country back to Him. But the good thing about the Lord, as you know, is that if He moves one step and it's over, you're out of breath. So that's why we say what we're doing is spiritual, the byproduct is political. Wow. You know, I think about men like you and even like you, Dr. Shah, who have come to this country and you see the value and how beautiful this country is, but even how beautiful it could be if we got back on the right track towards God. Right.

And I talk about this many times. When you grow up overseas, you see the difference. As much as America is not where it needs to be, the foundation is still there. And that's the foundation on which we operate. I mean, for example, the freedoms we have in this nation are coming from Scripture.

I mean, that's where it's coming from. Even our founding fathers, you know, we talked about the mavine and fig tree and all that, you know, how steep they were in Scripture. And that guided them. It was not just humanist principles coming from Europe or deism that was guiding them.

It was scriptural values. And so when you grow up overseas in a non-Christian culture, and then when you come here and you see that, even as morally we're upside down, there is a big difference. There's a marked difference that this nation was founded very differently. All right.

It doesn't mean that people over there are bad and people here are good. None of that is just a foundation. You can see there's a distinction.

So I believe that if that foundation is not recognized and restored and reminded to people, especially the young generation, Gen Z's generation, what's the next one? Alpha. Alpha. You know, they're not talking about these things. They're talking about, you name it. What's on TikTok. What's on TikTok and globalization. What the Kardashians are doing.

What they're up to. Yeah. It's a very different mindset. Unless you remind them, hey, listen, the freedom you have, it comes from here.

Now, the next step is for you to know Christ as your savior, but do realize what you have in America is not available elsewhere. That's right. And it's for a reason. It was very purposefully designed to be a different nation.

It was a city on a hill. So coming from overseas, it doesn't take but five minutes to go, oh, this place is different. There's definitely something different about this place. Yeah. I read online that you've had over a hundred thousand pastors involved in the American Renewal Project. Is that an accurate number?

Yeah. It used to be. The op-ed piece used to go to a hundred thousand.

It's about 70 now. Out of that massive number, because I know there are pastors and ministry workers who are listening to this right now, how do pastors and ministry workers partner with you beyond just participating in the prayer summits that you do? How do we partner with the American Renewal Project as pastors? Well, if they want to get the opinion pieces, americanrenewalproject.org is where you'd go to register. And then in terms of partnering, I don't really know.

It depends what stays. For an example, let's talk politics a second. When the horses come around the curve next fall on the stretch for the presidential election, they say that Arizona, Georgia, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Wisconsin, and Michigan are going to be the six states. So you can pray for us, obviously.

That's a good place to start. For the Lord to, if this is His deal, then we're looking for the funding to go into those six states with this model, which we call the ecclesia model, and that is pastors and spiritual leaders running for local office across the state. And there's all kinds of mechanics that go with that, but that's really what we're up to. I guess maybe to frame the question another way, you were talking earlier about the Bible has been removed from public education, and we've kept seeding ground and seeding ground and seeding ground to the point where we're so good at playing defense that Christians have almost forgotten how to play offense in America.

Maybe that's a question for both of you two guys. Where do you see Christians and pastors learning to play offense again? Well, I think the Lord gave it, you know, so we did for 15 years these big events, three to five hundred pastors plus spouses, a singing group, ten speakers, and that COVID really killed that in January of 2020. And so then I think the Lord gave me six, eight months later when I've been praying about it, this new model, which is we feed Chick-fil-A sandwiches. And so we've gone from education and inspiration, the big events, overnight events, to now inspiration and transmission. So we're moving into the public square. And what happened in North Carolina in 2021, 2022, I think is a miracle of God.

So now, you know, we need to, you know, somebody said, how do you eat an elephant one bite at a time? So you can't say, well, I'm going to go to 50 states. So you have to strategically figure out here's where we're going. And that's why I mentioned that the six states that they project will be the battleground states.

That's where we're trying to head to now. Very true. Now, I would say also, and I agree 100 percent, I would add that pastors, Christians, especially pastors, need to start seeing themselves living in a non-Christian nation, but with Christian, Judeo-Christian foundation.

You have to have a shift in mindset. And the reason I say that is because I saw my dad living in a primarily a Hindu nation and today is very nationalistic, very anti-Christian. So he knew for him not to be involved in the political square or in the public square was to lose the freedom to worship. And that happened to us many times where our power was cut off under technicality. I mean, it was just that, oh, well, I'm sorry, you are not part of this this region. So we're not where we've just got your power.

It was it was so ridiculous, but it was done. But other non-Christians on that grid had power. They had power. Everything was fine for everybody else other than the Christians. So we need to start understanding that my dad, he was out there, I mean, he campaigned for other people. He never ran himself, never had the time or the resources to do that, but he was constantly helping people who will support Christians. So pastors here, I still believe we are a Christian nation.

I still believe that the values are there, the foundation is there, albeit right now the enemy is running quite crazy in our world today in America. But if pastors start looking at it as it's not just that, let them do it, or I don't want to bring politics in the church, just know sooner or later, I would say sooner, you lose the ability to have church, to share the gospel, to be a Christian. And so start thinking yourself as a pastor overseas. And then the psalmist said, if the foundations are destroyed, what will the righteous do? Repair the foundation. So we have to get back involved in the culture and the public square as part of Jesus' ecclesia.

So encouraging to us. If you could leave us with one thought that you hope the American Renewal Project accomplishes in this meeting in North Carolina, maybe Mr. Landon, Dr. Shah, what would that be? The same thing we've done all across the state, which is, this is our first time here. What is this, Vance County?

It is. So first time in Vance County, and our goal is for pastors and spiritual leaders to engage the culture locally. And so that's what we're doing here. Amen. If you guys enjoyed today's episode, if you'd like to learn more about the American Renewal Project and how you as ministry leaders can be involved in your community, write in and let us know 252-582-5028, or you can visit us online at ClearviewTodayShow.com.

Don't forget, you can partner with us on that same website, become part of our Clear View Today Show family. John, what's coming up on tomorrow? Tomorrow is Saturday, so we're going to be sleeping in. We're going to be sleeping in on Saturday. Enjoy your Saturday, but we'll see you bright and early Monday for the next installment of Clear View Today. That's right. We love you guys. We'll see you in the next one.