Monday, February 12th | Happy Birthday Father Abraham!

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We're going to leave a link in the description so you can do just that. The verse of the day today comes from Genesis chapter 2, verse 7. And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living being. Maybe the feminists were onto something. Men are dirt.

Remember where you came from, men. No, that's not what we're saying. But we are saying that there's a difference here in how God formed man. He spoke light into existence. He spoke land into existence. He spoke time and space into existence.

But man was different. God formed man out of the dust of the ground. And it's almost the idea of a potter shaping clay. And God just breathes the breath of life into his nostrils. That's different phraseology than any other thing in creation.

And being formed in the image of God has so much theological depth that we could never get into in this little two-minute segment at the top of the show. But it does just remind us, number one, where we came from, and number two, how lovingly our Creator has created us. To know that God, like Ryan said, has breathed the breath of life into us, it makes me look at life differently. It makes me see my life as precious.

You know what I'm saying? It's not just something that I'm getting through. I have to just grit my teeth and get through the struggles of life. Life is something to be cherished and enjoyed. And kind of in that vein, I'm back in the gym, baby.

So I was going to say, God's created us in his image, including our physical bodies, and we want to make sure that we're taking care of our physical bodies. And according to Snapchat, you have been. So here's the thing. Did I ever get out of the gym completely? Yes.

Some would say yes. I took a hiatus. I should not have. It was not a hiatus that I meant to take.

It was not planned. Thanksgiving messed me up, but good. I ate way too much at two or three different Thanksgivings. And then Christmas came. So between Thanksgiving and Christmas, I was like, you know what? That is kind of the one-two punch of the holidays. Bad, bad, bad, bad. Just all around harmful for my gains. So Christmas came, and between Thanksgiving and Christmas, I was like, you know what?

Let me just take some time to get all this off. Maybe I'll do some cardio here and there. And I did. I did a couple of days a week. But it was not regimented like the four to five day split over the week that I had been doing since 2018.

So that was pretty bad. Then Christmas came, and I repeated my sin at Christmas. I ate way too much. And from Christmas all through January, my workouts were so spotty. I never got out completely, but I would take a week off. And then I would do two days a week. And then I would take another two weeks off. And then I'd go back and do one day a week. Bad.

Just overall bad. So I never dropped it. But now, starting this, I would say these past two weeks, I'm back in four days a week, doing my chest on one day, doing my legs, doing my back and my shoulders, and then I can't remember what the fourth day is. I think it's all cardio. Nice. I can't remember.

Nice. Have you been back in the gym as well? I have been back in the gym as well.

Last year there were a whole bunch of different factors, and I can throw up every excuse in the book. But the thing that really struck me is that in the mornings sometimes, because I'll get Elizabeth up and get the kids up and get them ready to go to school. Elizabeth's a teacher, so she's got to get there a little earlier. And then I've got some time in the mornings. So that's when I'll go to the gym. And there's lots of mornings where I'm like, man, I just feel like I just want to lay back down.

I just want to just rest and relax for a little while. And it was that initial hurdle. But the thing that makes me continue to go back to the gym is that I've never regretted going to the gym.

Yeah, true. I've never gone to the gym and been like, man, I really wish I didn't do that. I really wish I'd stayed home and slept. Every single time it's like I really feel better. I really do feel mentally, physically better. I feel there's clarity. I can get through the day better.

It's just more beneficial. I want to check in with Dr. Sean and see how the gym's going for him. But write in and let us know what's your go-to hack for the gym, what makes gym life easier for you.

2-5-2-5-8-2-5-0-2-8. Or you can visit us online at clearviewtodayshow.com. We'll be back after this. You can check us out on Apple Music or on Spotify, anywhere digital music is consumed. We've got a few singles out right now. We have an EP out as well. And right now, at this moment actually, we are working on our first ever full-length original album.

Hopefully that's going to be out sometime this coming summer. Clearview Worship on iTunes and Spotify is your 24-7 place for inspiration and worship. Follow us today and let God's message of hope, love, and faith go on. We'll be back after this. Follow us today and let God's message of hope, love, and faith be a guiding light in your life.

Amen. Let's hop back into 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 or suggestions for new topics, send us a text at 252-582-5028. That's right. We're here once again in the brand new Clear View Today studio with Dr. Abbadan Shah, who is a PhD in New Testament textual criticism, professor at Carolina University, author, full-time pastor, host of today's show, and the Snapchats I've been looking at recently are to be believed. A PhD in getting these gains.

A PhD in gains. Dr. Gaines is back in the gym, my friend. You're looking good. I'm trying to get back in there. Dude, I've been seeing on Snapchat the past, I would say, seven days, not seven days consecutively. You've been back like seven times in the past couple weeks. Yeah. It's been just about that.

Yeah. You're looking good, man. Well, thank you. How do you feel? I feel good.

It's good. I went, tried to kind of take care of my girth and worked on my diet and my eating habits. And once I brought my weight down to a certain level, now it's a matter of making that a lifestyle and then also focusing on working out. Because if you work out, it's sometimes hard to lose weight.

I'm not suggesting that you do that way, but for me it worked where I stopped eating as much, brought my weight under control and ate the right things, and then now I'm going back to the gym. Well, and today is a very special episode. Today is another birthday episode. We are talking about Abraham Lincoln today. I thought you were going to talk about Lincoln Brewster. I thought, hold on one second, let me check my notes because I thought Lincoln Brewster's birthday was today.

You might have to cut that off. Now, it may be Lincoln Brewster's birthday. I don't know that. Well, I saw Lincoln and that's right where I went. It just says Lincoln's. You want to sing happy birthday to Lincoln Brewster? I don't know if it's his birthday, so my planner says Lincoln's birthday. I'm guessing who else but Lincoln Brewster. Well, it is Abraham Lincoln's birthday.

I'm looking at February the 12th. You know what's funny is there's a ton of people right now, like young worship leaders who are like, who is Lincoln Brewster? I guarantee they have no clue. Yeah, you've changed yourself saying Lincoln Brewster. Best thing to happen to worship guitar since I think, I don't even know, man, probably ever. Yeah. Probably ever, but I don't think it's his birthday.

No. No, it is, however, Mr. Abraham Lincoln's birthday today. He was born in the year 1809. Mr. President.

Mr. President Abraham Lincoln, which also leads us to today's main topic. Today is Dr. Sean's book club. Yes. We haven't done a book club in feels like a month. Ain't that crazy? Funny how that works. But on the book club today, you know, Dr. Sean, you're talking about a book that has to do with Abraham Lincoln's life.

That's right. Well, a few years ago we took our family. I was just trying to make sure I had all my information right here. We took them not to Lincoln's birthplace. February the 12th, of course, Hodgenville, Kentucky, but this was in his boyhood home, which is a national memorial. And this is in Indiana. Pigeon Creek, Indiana. And that's where we went with our family, with our kids, walked around.

I'm trying to find some of the pictures here right quick because we had a great time. And his father, Thomas Lincoln, he had lost two homes previously in Kentucky. And then now, you know, that's where Lincoln was born, in Kentucky. And then, of course, moved to Pigeon Creek. And we took the kids there, walked around, saw some of the things, and watched these videos and all that. It was quite an awesome sight.

Was that when they were younger you did that? Yes, yes. And what I was looking for, I found it right here, is they have these beautiful, almost looks like you're in Washington, D.C. If you go by the mall and you see the various, I guess, statues and things like that on the wall and depictions of points and times in American history.

This is points and times in Abraham Lincoln's history, his life. So him in Kentucky, them in Indiana, in Illinois, in D.C. So all these things are there. And then also, you have the, whose gravesite is there?

I had that just a moment ago. But I believe his mom is buried there, if I'm not wrong. In this hometown?

In this place. Okay. Yeah, that's right. She was buried in a gravesite behind the family cabin, next to the Lincoln's closest neighbor. And her name, Abraham Lincoln's mother's name was Nancy Hanks. Okay. Lincoln.

So we went by her gravesite. Nice. I bet that was fun. Do you remember about what year that was? This was in 2009. Okay. Yeah, 2009.

Quite a bit ago. Maybe time for another visit. I'd love to go see his hometown. Yeah, this is his boyhood home. So there was his birthplace, and there's something there too. And then there's a boyhood home.

And of course, you know, many of the places that claim him as he was here. Right. Of all the books on Abraham Lincoln's life, do you want to talk about the one that we've chose for Book Club today and why it appeared to you? Yes. I have several books, as you can see.

I'm kind of putting them to the side right now. The one that stands out to me is Doris Kearns Goodwin's book, Team of Rivals. Wow. It's a huge book. That's a book. Yeah, and there's one person in this room who's read it, and his name is? David. David Williamson. Yeah, engineer for the Clearview Today show.

Yeah. I don't know how much he enjoyed it, because he would often come and say, man, that book is long. Well, he was talking to me about it. Honestly, I didn't realize it was Doris Kearns Goodwin. I thought it was a David McCullough book. Did David McCullough write a book on Lincoln? No. Okay.

I got confused there. When you said the author's name, I was like, oh, that is not what I was thinking. No. This book also became the movie, Lincoln. Oh, wow. It was based on Team of Rivals? Yes.

Wow. Starring, what's his name? Daniel Day-Lewis.

Daniel Day-Lewis. That's one of those movies that really took me by surprise, because I'm sort of like that, and that's why I like authors like Doris Kearns Goodwin. I wanted to say Doris Day so bad, but I knew it. Doris Day Goodwin. Doris Kearns Goodwin, yeah. And authors like that who capture, they really have that ability to capture that imaginative spark, so that when you read, like for me, I primarily read fiction, but when I read books like this, you can sort of see that narrative come to life in front of you and knowing that it actually happened makes it that much more powerful. You know what I mean?

Yeah. There are books out there, and they have to be really good to be just a sweeping survey of someone's life. I have read those kind of books, too, but I'm so vested in that character that it's not going to be a drudgery to go through that book. I'm going to love it.

I'm going to love every bit of it, learn things about this book, all that stuff. But then there are books that when they do this entire historical sketch of this person's life, every place they went, everything they did, that it's like, oh, I'm not into this, okay. Yeah, it's kind of a chore to get through. A chore to get through. Yeah, it's like you keep waiting to get to the good part.

Yeah. Team of Rivals, on the other hand, the subtitle is The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln, where he is surrounded by this group of people who are politicians. Some are aspiring politicians. Some are supporting him.

Some have ulterior motives. And how he works with them and how he guides them with wisdom, and he accomplishes the things he needs to accomplish. And the Rivals actually became his sparring partners, in a sense even his guardrails to keep him to go off the edge. And the edge was not necessarily that Abraham Lincoln was bad at that point or on that issue, but in a sense he was guiding this nation, keeping this union alive, union together. And sometimes some of the things they did, sometimes underhandedly, sometimes maliciously, would help him be even more determined.

Even more focused and even choose the righteous way. I am not white. I mean, you can look at me and go, yeah. Dude, I think he's telling the truth. I think he's telling the truth. Really? What? But interestingly, I've been accused of racism, too.

And the first time that happened, I was like, are you serious? I said, I don't want to say anything, but are you colorblind? What are you? Because you may not be that, but you say the same things that they say. Well, could it be that maybe there's some truth in what I'm saying? Right. We don't want to confront that. Yeah. Instead of all of a sudden calling me a racist, and against what, brown people?

I am brown. And no, if you know my personality, if I know that's a cause, I'll fight the whole world against it. It's not something I compromise. Well, I think Lincoln was very similar in that way. He knew that this was a moral evil, and to fight that cause wisely, the way he did, is something that is sorely missing in today's. Because I think we tend to think, all right, we're going to find a moral ideal and just attack it blindly with everything that we have. Yeah, I feel like it's two sides. I feel like it's either that, like I'm going to fight this tooth and nail and just kind of bulldoze my way through, or I'm not going to stand for anything. I'm just going to kind of waffle back and forth, like just go here, I'll go here.

Whatever just gets me elected, I'll sing the song. And I feel like there's not anybody who's going to stand and fight, but fight wisely like Lincoln. Right. And of course, he was not just some podunk, you know, hometown guy. He was a lawyer, right? I mean, if you go back and look at his life, 1834 to 1842, I believe, he was a member of Illinois House of Representatives, and then he was licensed to practice law in 1836. After that, moving to Springfield, Illinois, he married Mary Todd, Mary Todd Lincoln after that point, had four sons. And then in 1846, did I say 1946 early?

I think 18. Yeah, 1846. He spoke a lot of things and did a lot just to talk about where the nation is headed and all of that. You begin to hear a lot more from him on that matter. Do you think he was as beloved in his time as he is today?

No. He was not a popular president. I mean, they looked upon him as like this gangly guy.

What does he know? I mean, if you ever look at some of the cartoons, cartoons they made of him before the Civil War, during the Civil War, I mean, they're not very flattering. I can't imagine. Yeah. They made him look like this awkward guy. I'm thinking like Ryan Stiles with a huge beard and giant ears on the top. Yeah, that's probably pretty close. That's probably pretty close. Shout out to Ryan Stiles.

Yeah. And then, of course, 1847 to 1849, U.S. House, U.S. Representative from Illinois, and then we hear about his interest in national politics. Then he debates Stephen Douglas in race for U.S. Senate from Illinois. He makes many biblical references in the process and even corrects Stephen Douglas regarding his use of the Bible.

So you begin to realize, oh, wait, this man is a Christian or pretending to be a Christian? If we want to continue to enjoy the success that we've seen, if we want to continue to be the premier nation, we have to remember that we are one nation under God, founded upon biblical truth. We need to get back to that. And even in Lincoln's time, I'm sure he would have agreed that being founded on those principles doesn't mean that your nation runs like clockwork. It's not going to everything be perfect. There will be division, at the same time keeping unity in mind. We talk about leadership a lot on the show, and I think that's something that you and Lincoln have very similarly, is that there's a big picture vision. And to fight for this end goal right now is going to compromise the unity of what we currently have.

Knowing that the answer will come one day, I guess in a way with the secession, history kind of forced his hand, but he still knew that this fight had to be done wisely. You know what I mean? Right.

I totally agree. And that is something that if you're an outsider, or if you're an American but you're still not aware of American history, foundation, the principles, what makes us American, then you're going to judge people like Lincoln or Washington or Jefferson or Teddy Roosevelt and all these people as Ronald Reagan, others, I can name other names too, as just being these people were in it for themselves. But if you get beyond that and really vest your time, spend your time learning about them and get into it, I'm not saying I am the most well versed person in American history, but I really tried it to study it and read the key books and learn about these key figures. And what I find is that they genuinely had a heart to see this experiment, the American experiment succeed. They wanted to see it succeed. They wanted to see this nation that is unlike any nation in history, where people are part of the nation not because of the color of their skin, they're part of the nation because of the ideas behind what makes an American, the liberty that we have in this nation, the freedom, the dignity we have. Of course, immediately somebody may say, but you don't realize all the ills of our society and all the bad things that have happened.

Oh yes, I'm aware of all that. Having said that, what I'm saying is the intention behind seeing this nation love God or use the Bible as a foundation or fight for the liberty of all peoples, these things, people like Lincoln and Washington and others, really prized and they were willing to die for it. I think there's a lot of older people listening to the show who would absolutely agree with you, and I really want the young people who are listening right now to take heed of what you're saying, because there's a lot of truth in it that you're not going to be told anywhere else. I spend a lot of time on the Internet, and all I see is American negativity, and it's pointing out all of the flaws, all of the injustices, all of the atrocities. We're a flawed system. Everything's broken.

Everything's broken at the foundation. When you're a young person and you spend ten times as much time on the Internet as I do, you're going to start believing that. I'm really grateful for you because sometimes it takes, I hate to use the word an outsider, but it takes someone coming in to say, hey, listen, where I grew up, people would die to have what you have. People have died to have what you have. When we talk about the American dream, for people like you growing up in India, it is a dream.

It's a dream that people risk everything and would give everything to have even just a taste of what we take for granted. I want young people to hear that as well. I believe people like Lincoln, as I mentioned some other names, and I can keep mentioning names of even women, white and black, or other races who were part of the American experiment, who truly understood this. They knew that this nation is worth preserving. This nation, the values are worth fighting for, worth dying for.

They may not all agree, but they agree on the Christian values, the Judeo-Christian values. Let's just put it that way. That's a good point.

That's a good point that I think gets overlooked. It would have been easy enough for Lincoln to say. If this happened in 2024 and Lincoln was a woke leader in our day and age, he would have been like, you know what? I don't want to be in a country with a racist anyway.

Go ahead, secede. But he knew that this nation is standing for something bigger than our ideals. Our personal ideals. Our personal agenda. There's a bigger ideal. If we give in here, Europe is waiting, chomping at the bits to come in here and take advantage of us, to divide us. There are other forces, sinister forces waiting to tear us apart. We cannot do that. I understand states' rights.

I get it. He was not a foolish man. He was a pretty smart, I would say, lawyer. But he knew. We cannot let this happen. And he fought for that.

And I'm grateful that he did. Can you imagine the nation divided? I know people even now talk about civil war may be coming.

I'm like, pray to God that it doesn't. What are you talking about? Imagine this nation that we live in now, because we live in North Carolina. Imagine this not being part of America.

Well, I mean, that is the whole identity. It's the United States of America that goes against everything that we were founded upon. That division, that disunity. And Lincoln recognized that and recognized it was something worth fighting for. And I can imagine that would be a hard choice, because it's like, yes, you have freedom, but no, you will not secede from this union. And we'll fight to keep you here.

Because we know, ultimately, that this is the greater good. He said that in 1861 as he was leaving Springfield. And as train depot, he gave this powerful speech. And he ended, or he included these words that without the assistance of that divine being, I cannot succeed.

With that assistance, I cannot fail. And same year, 1861, March the 4th, he was inaugurated, I should say, as the President of the United States. And April 12th was the firing on Fort Sumter, Civil War Begins. Wow. That was in... South Carolina. Charleston? Yeah. That's where you're from, right? Have you been to Fort Sumter?

Really? I have been to Fort Sumter. I've never been. It's pretty cool. I've been there, too. I've been there, too. That's pretty cool.

Wow. We're running a little short on time, but you had some other books on Lincoln. Yes, of course. And again, there's so much I want to talk about him, because I admire him as a leader.

Especially these days when sometimes even conservatives will talk trash about Lincoln. And I'm thinking, why are you doing that? Right. Oh, because of this and this and this. And I think they're misrepresenting him. Oh, yeah. They're misrepresenting him.

They're taking bits and pieces of what he said or what he didn't say, and then before you know it, he ends up being this very odd character who was no good, but he just took advantage of this and wanted to be so-and-so. That's not true. Let me just give you an anecdotal story. After Lincoln died, Mary Todd Lincoln struggled. She struggled.

She ended up living in a hotel room. Really? Right.

I didn't know that. Yeah, she went really downhill. His sons, it didn't end well with them either. I mean, it was not something that you would say, wow, no, they really... Not the glorious ending for the Lincolns we envision. No. Not like the Star Wars ending where everybody gets their medal and smiles. Not at all.

Not at all. I have this book right here. I have several books, by the way. If you ever want to read about his spiritual life, that's one thing people attack all the time.

He was not really a Christian. Christian historians do that. Really? Yeah. And sometimes I'm like, well, I don't know which sources you're reading, because if everything you're going to doubt and subject to your own historical critical inquiry, then everything will seem like subject to suspicion. Right.

You know? That's sort of the Bible. If you're looking for something suspicious, you're going to find it. Elton Trueblood wrote a book called Abraham Lincoln, a Spiritual Biography. Good book. Good book.

I've looked through it before. There's also this one right here, Abraham Lincoln Wisdom and Wit. And there are many such books out there, by the way, on Lincoln's wit and wisdom. But here's what he said about the Bible. He said, in regard to this great book, I have but to say it is the best gift God has given to men. All the good savior gave to the world was communicated through this book. But for it, we could not know, but for it, we could not know right from wrong.

All things most desirable for man's welfare here and hereafter are to be found portrayed in it. Amen. That's a mark of great leadership is when they always go back to God's word. Right. Yeah. And there's so many other things that he said was so powerful. Here he says, I have said nothing but what I'm willing to live by.

If it be the pleasure of Almighty God to die by. Wow. That's pretty good.

Beautiful. And of course, we know about the four scores. Four score and seven years ago. Yeah. I used to have that memorized. Yeah. I can't remember. And I mean, he wrote that speech and the other guy spoke for like an hour and a half or something. Something like that, yeah. And Lincoln gave this little speech that he put together on a napkin and whatever, you know, maybe some anecdotal speech.

They couldn't get a picture of it or something. Right. But people remember that speech. Yeah. That's right. It's usually the mark of a great leader. The Gettysburg Address.

That's right. If you guys enjoyed today's episode or you learned something about Lincoln, write in and let us know. Or you can visit us online at ClearviewTodayshow.com. Don't forget, you can partner with us financially on that same website. Scroll to the bottom, click that donate button, and let us know what's coming from our Clearview Today Show family. Also, I want you to check out MightyMuscadine.com. They're the sponsors of today's episode. We've got a great line of products for you. Use the promo code TODAY when you check out.

T-O-D-A-Y. It's going to get you a discount and a portion of that purchase is going to come right back here to your favorite radio show. John, what's coming up on tomorrow's episode? Getting closer and closer to Valentine's Day.

You know what that means. We're going to be talking about... Can we even save? I'm going to save.

I'm going to save on Christian Radio. We're talking about your love life, man. Oh! Just kidding. Listen. The people...

Sorry. Somebody was concerned. You actually... We're getting into that. They were really concerned.

You actually startled me for real. We're going to talk about how to let God guide your love life. It's so incredible to let God into every single portion of your life and there's portions of our lives that we tend to keep for ourselves because this is private. Listen, God is the Lord of everything. Every single part of our life. We're going to be talking about that a little bit tomorrow. That's right. Can't wait to be there. We love you guys. So long, God bless you.