Thursday, February 22nd | The Man, The Myth, The Ledged… Mr. George Washington!!

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We're going to leave a couple of links in the description so you can do just that. And today's verse of the day is coming to us from Joel chapter 2, verse 13. Surrender your heart and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God, for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and of great kindness, and He relents from doing harm. Repentance is a heart thing.

You can go through the motions all day long, but nothing happening in here. And so many of us, I think, fall into that trap of, especially if you've grown up in the church, you know the motions of repentance. You know the dance. You know what it looks like on the outside.

You might even be a good enough actor or actress to be able to fake it on your face. But God knows your heart. And if your heart is not repentant, then change is not happening. Dr. Shaw says repentance is a change of mind about sin, self, and savior.

And if that change is not happening, then true repentance is not taking place. You know what Mama used to call those? Mama used to call those crocodile tears.

Don't mean nothing. I don't know where that came from. I think crocodiles can fake cry or something like that. I guess if a crocodile comes out of the water and it's not actually crying, I don't know.

But my mama used to call that, she said, those are crocodile tears. God can tell when you've got crocodile tears. You might actually feel bad for your sin. You might actually feel guilt and conviction. But if you don't change your mind about it, then you have not repented. Repentance is not—and this took me a long time to learn.

It wasn't until Dr. Shaw explained this from the pulpit here at Clearview Church that I really understood it. Repentance is not feeling bad. It's not saying, God, I've sinned. Please forgive me. It's changing your mind and saying, by God's grace, by the power of the Holy Spirit, I will not do this anymore.

I can't keep myself from doing it, but the Holy Spirit can. That's repentance. And we're not saying tears can't be a part of that, but tears do not indicate repentance.

They can be a byproduct, but they're not the evidence. And your emotions are like, man, how bad I feel about this. It's genuine. It's raw.

That means it's real repentance. No, not at all. Not at all.

Not at all. That's some good, clean advice we just gave you. And speaking of advice, I've got a little advice on our segment today, advice no one needed. So I was grocery shopping the other day, walking through the store. Came across some cupcakes. Sometimes you want just a cupcake instead of a whole big slice of cake. It's a little too much.

Too much commitment. Sometimes you want a little cupcake. You just want a little cupcake.

That's fine. What is the problem with a cupcake? There's no problem with a cupcake. It's like the perfect cake. Well, I guess if you smash it in your face... Well, if you bite a cupcake... You get stuff all up your nose. You're going to get icing all over everything.

It's true. It's inefficient. Sometimes cupcakes are pretty big, and the ratio in a bite of icing to cake is off in a cupcake. I think what I do is I open my maw real huge and I just cram it down. I let the icing just slide on down.

That's a problem for another time. With a cupcake, though, icing on the outer rim of the cupcake is usually less than the amount of icing in the middle. Usually a peak of icing on a cupcake.

Man, you were really getting into this. Here's your cupcake hack. Take your cupcake. Obviously take the wrapper off because you're not a maniac. Grab the cupcake by the rim. Take your other hand. Pinch the bottom of the cupcake. I see it. Off.

Oh! You've dissected a cupcake. Hold on. You've bisected a cupcake. I've bisected a cupcake.

Hold on. This now cake in your hand on top of the cupcake. Oh, I thought you were going to eat them separate.

No, no, no. On top of the cupcake, cupcake sandwich. Cupcake sandwich. It is the perfect ratio of icing to cake in every bite. If you try the cupcake hack, let me know what you think. Write in and let us know.

252-582-5028 or you can visit us online at clearviewtodayshow.com. Stay tuned. We'll be right back. Elizabeth, my darling bride, what would you say is the most beneficial thing you could do for yourself in the morning? Probably drink an entire pot of coffee when sitting.

I'd say that's a close second. No, the best thing you can do for yourself is to start every morning with a daily devotional. Only be one to talk about.

Well, as it turns out, we have two. Right now, you can unlock the power of daily inspiration, wisdom, and spiritual growth in our devotional series, 30 Days Through a Crisis and 30 Days to a New Beginning. Written by our pastor, Dr. Abaddon Shah, and his wife, Nicole, the 30 Days devotional series is designed to reveal new biblical truths every single day. That's right, and every day is a new revelation to guide you on your Christian journey toward a more meaningful and purposeful life. You can pick up your copy today from our website, that's ClearviewBC.org, where you can grab both books on Amazon, Apple Books, and Audible.

That's 30 Days Through a Crisis and 30 Days to a New Beginning by Abaddon and Nicole Shah. And don't forget, these are only the first two in an expanding devotional series, so keep your eyes peeled for future installments. Thanks for listening.

Now, let's get back to the show. Welcome back to Clearview Today with Dr. Abaddon 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 or suggestions for new topics, send us a text at 252-582-5028. That's right, we are here once again in the Clearview Today studio with Dr. Abaddon Shah, who is a PhD in New Testament Textual Criticism, professor at Carolina University, author, full-time pastor, and the host of today's show. Dr. Shah, I don't even know where to start.

I don't know. So disgusting about what we talked about. Now, disgusted is a strong word. I was so put off. Can I pose the advice, please? I'm going to back off.

On today's segment, advice no one needed, I offered some advice. Some birthday advice. Sometimes you don't want a whole cake for your birthday, you just get a little cupcake. You know, just a little treat. But the problem with a cupcake is that the icing is all concentrated at the top, so the icing to cake ratio in a bite is difficult for a cupcake. It's better in an actual cake, but it's difficult in a cupcake. So my advice was take your cupcake and hold it like a ring around the top, grab the bottom, pull the bottom off, and then make a cupcake sandwich. Nobody wants to do cupcake surgery on their birthday. Well, hold on just a second.

Go ahead. Gracious. Cupcake sandwich. Then when you bite into it, you get the perfect ratio of cake to icing in every bite. What do you think? I'm not a big cupcake fan anyway.

I knew you weren't. I remember we would always get cupcakes for like, for parties and stuff, and I never saw you eat cupcakes. I think it's because, and the reason, maybe you can correct me if I'm wrong, but there's no dignified way to eat a cupcake. What's the best birthday snack? Do you like just a regular birthday cake? Ice cream cake. Ice cream cake. It's the best of both worlds. Carvel ice cream cake.

You can't go wrong with it. No, I want an ice cream cake. I wish it was one of our birthdays today. Well, it's not one of our birthdays. I'm in March.

But it is a birthday today. You're in November. I am in November. I was in October. October.

Yeah. Nick, when is Nicholas's birthday? October. October.

Okay. So a lot of fall birthdays in one spring. Yeah. But today is a birthday. Yeah. It is George Washington's birthday. Happy birthday, General George Washington. That's right.

He was an important guy, and a lot of people don't know this, but he was the first president of the United States. That's right. Yeah. Is that the big information you have?

I feel like something about a cherry tree. There was a lot of good information in there. Which we don't know for sure if that really happened or not. Wooden teeth. Yeah. Something like that.

The wig. Yeah. I wanted to show you this.

I'll show it to you later in the episode. Is it wooden teeth? Yeah.

I said wooden teeth. Yeah. But I wanted to show you.

Someone did an artist rendering on what George Washington would have looked like with a modern day haircut. Oh. I want to see if I can find it. Really? Yeah.

I'll show it to you, but it'll take me a minute to find it. Yeah. So George Washington was born in 1732 in Westmoreland County, Virginia. He is the first child of Augustin and his second wife, Mary Ball Washington. Two brothers, Lawrence and Justin, one half-sister Jane.

And then I think a sister, Betty, was born. Wow. Oh, wow.

Yeah. That's what he would look like. It's crazy how... We can put this in the video episode too, but it's crazy just how... It's funny because you see these images so much, they start to lose their humanity until you realize, with just something like that, that this was a living, breathing person.

I mean, that haircut definitely does make him look like we could just walk past him on the street. Oh, yeah. Absolutely.

But it's kind of cool. And that's why I like when we do these historical figures, especially on the birthdays and stuff, because they're people. And they're people with real problems and real spiritual lives just like us. And they greatly impacted the lives that we live today.

That's right. And we're really fortunate, really blessed to be living just across the line from Virginia, which is... we're in North Carolina, for those who may not know. And we're right to the north of Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, the Triangle. And so a lot of history took place around these parts, especially in Virginia. And so George Washington is a Virginia boy, born and raised, and he's very instrumental in our American history. So one of the greatest books I ever read at your recommendation was 1776 by David McCullough. And if you... Like, I think I've said this before, but if you like fiction and you are kind of averse to nonfiction, he's one of the best historical authors you can read, because he writes as though it's a fictional account, even though it's not. But just the way that he writes George Washington in that book, I was like, man, I've never seen historical figures' humanity come to life like this before. And this is a very critical time.

And we'll build back up and talk about his life a little bit. But since you brought up the book, 1776, this was a very critical time in the history of the American Revolution, 1776. This is where he is trying to get this ragtag group of some army people, because they were part of the British army at one time, right? But many of them are farmers and bakers and blacksmiths, and he's trying to get them to act like an army. And that was no small task, because they were sort of like the Jamestown colony or colonists. They were sort of gentry type, you know, hey, I don't have to do this. I don't have to listen to you.

You're not paying me enough. Well, you know what, just for that, I'm leaving. So he would have people walk off the battlefield or walk away from the camp. And he had to make rules saying, if you do that, you'll be court-martialed.

I'm not kidding. You'll be court-martialed. And they were like, yeah, whatever.

You do that. And they would try to leave. And then, of course, they were court-martialed. And then he would have to beg the Congress to send money to them, because they're working and doing all they could to be in the army.

But back home, their children, their wives were hungry. So pay them. Please pay them. Buy them new shoes. They need shoes.

They need socks. Having to deal with deserters before the nation is formed, you know what I mean? You're still fighting for the ideal.

It's not like you had something really good and you're fighting to preserve it. It's like, I see the vision. As a leader, I see the vision.

And I'm having to bring about an entire army of people who don't see the vision and who are not bought into it. Right. That's a very, very tough job. Now I think I talked about this previously, but he kind of distinguished himself in the French and Indian War, maybe if you all know about that. Even prior to that, he was a surveyor. He bought some land in Frederick County, Virginia.

In two years, he was owning as much as 1,000 acres of land. And I know times were different back then, but still, that's a big deal. And then, of course, after that, he joined the army. He sort of distinguished himself in the French and Indian War.

This is 1753. And that was sort of a time period where people were looking for a hero. And he was sort of that hero. And his name became sort of a household name because he had done so well. And somebody even said that one day, everybody's going to know this young man.

Wow. Even back then. Even back then, the French and Indian War, they said, someday, everybody's going to know this young man. That's kind of incredible.

He's going to lead some people. Yeah, because it's easy to talk good about someone after they've already accomplished it, but before seeing greatness in people. And I guess that's really the mark of a leader is that people see that greatness in you and then later on, he sees that greatness in others.

That's really cool. Yeah, he was kind of a quiet type, the strong, silent type, but he was much more than just old guy in a wig. He was so much more than that. I love hearing that because sometimes, in our heads, we trick ourselves into believing these people dropped into history at the moment of their, at the height of their notoriety. We just think that he was a fully formed president just that appeared one day. But he had formative years, he had a childhood where he began even then to distinguish himself.

And I love that people are going to know him one day, he's going to lead people one day. And boy, isn't that true. I mean, we have his face in our wallets on dollar bills. Oh yeah, you see it every single day. Songs and rap music, you name it. Everybody talks about the Washingtons.

The Washingtons. It's all about the, yeah, yeah. It's funny because, like you said, when people see greatness in you, you tend to play it off. When people see Christians, we tend to play that off and be like, I don't know, God's got a plan for everybody. But he took that and he really made it something. He understood that God did have a plan for his life. And he wanted to honor that and live it out to the best of his ability. You bring up God.

Yes, of course. I believe he was a Christian. He was an Anglican. You don't, you cannot read any of his writings without coming across the word providence. He's constantly talking about the providence of God. The providence of God in the Revolutionary War, the providence of God in Dorchester, the providence of God in New York.

All these places, how the fog rolled in, or how he was able to escape, or how they were able to just win that particular battle in the nick of time. All this, he uses the word providence. And what does providence mean? It means God's supreme hand, sovereign hand over our lives, our situations, the world, history, whatever, natural disasters. That's what providence means. And he really believed in the providence of God. Well, I even think about how tirelessly he worked to ensure that everybody had that religious freedom.

You know what I mean? Like, is it possible that someone would risk their entire life and everything, their reputation, their future, if they didn't believe in that same God they were fighting for others? Yeah, it's possible. But is it probable?

You know, would he have truly risked everything unless he knew that God's hand was actually in it? Right. Yeah. And then later on, he was also elected to the Virginia House of Burgesses. And then 1759, I'm sort of kind of running through his life a little bit, more than just the president or the guy who led the Revolutionary Army.

So I'm giving a little bit more information. But 1759, he married Martha Custis. She was a rich widow with land, property, slaves, two young children. And Washington kind of, sort of, in that process, grew richer than he was even before. Very hardworking man, very entrepreneurial.

We don't think of him like that. There's a great book out there on his entrepreneurship. But he was very much into, I'm going to do this and I'm going to do that and try this and try that. It was, he became what he became by God's hand. And he was very wise. Yeah.

Well, you don't take on the financial burden of war without being business minded. You know what I mean? Yeah.

You can't really lead armies and do all that kind of stuff if you're not sharp between the ears. That's right. Yeah.

That's right. In 1796, this is where the sentiments were changing radically against the mother country. It's time for us to have our own freedom. It's time for us to govern ourselves. We don't have to live under the dominance of these people who are far away. They want all this tax money, but they don't want us to be, to represent ourselves. So no taxation without representation, all those things.

And Washington definitely took the side of freedom, liberty, and self-governance. So this is a very important period in his life. I can't imagine having to see war brewing on the horizon and having to do this for the first time.

You know what I mean? Yeah. Like at this point in our life, like now granted he'd led other wars before, but I don't suppose the French and Indian war was anything like the revolution that was upcoming on the horizon.

No. It was a battle, it was dangerous, all that stuff. But you were not, how do I say this, what you were doing was not illegal. What you were doing was not something that would get you hung. It wasn't treasonous. It was not treasonous. But the revolutionary war was very, very different.

People were divided, loyalists and the Sons of Liberty. Should we stay loyal to the British crown? Should we be who we are? Isn't that the best for everybody?

Let's try to work this out. Or should we fight for our freedom? Yeah, that's true. And I guess that's another leadership principle, is that adoption of responsibility. Because I'm thinking like the French and Indian war, like yeah, if they lose, it'll be disgraceful, but ultimately Britain will eat that cost. If you start a revolution against your mother country and you lose, that's everything.

Well, I think that speaks to his capacity as a leader, because part of a leader is knowing calculated risks, knowing which risks to take. Yes, the revolutionary war was risky. If they lost, then they're traitors. It's treason. But if they win, then they win everything.

They get everything. Yeah. And then having to convince countless other people under you that it's worth risking their lives for.

And I'm sure there were people back then, and I've read a lot of history, American history, there were many people who were saying like, you're crazy. You're dumb. Why would you do this?

This pretty much identifies your character. You are a disloyal person at heart, because why would you do something like this? Why are you not more diplomatic? Can we not sit down and talk this out? What is a good leader's response when someone, because I'm sure that you've had ideas and you've had visions in the past of the direction God was taking our church, and you've been met with opposition as well. What is a good leader's response in that, other than take a hike? I think you really, for a Christian leader, you need to know what God is telling you. But as a leader, just generically speaking, just a leader, if you don't have a vision of a better tomorrow, then what are you in for? Maybe it's just to pocket some money, maybe it's to make the best of this.

Okay, well, there are a lot of people who do that, and they're often forgotten. Washington, and you can add Jefferson, and Madison, and Franklin, and Patrick Henry, all these people, they had a vision that if we do this right, if we fight for our freedom, we may even die for our freedom, we may even lose our lives, our family, our homes. What we will gain will be so much better for all. What we will gain is freedom. What we will gain... It's hard to imagine that. You really have to step back in time to start imagining, it's like, freedom, freedom, you're not enslaved.

What are you talking about? Freedom. Liberty. What do you mean by liberty? You are all same people, you're all British. What liberty? You're a colonist, but so what?

Colonists still are under the British Empire, the umbrella. For them to say, no, that is not the same. We envision a day where we can govern ourselves, that we can put our interests, number one, that some group of people far, far away who have never stepped foot on this land, how can they tell us otherwise? How can they tell us how to live? But I mean, that's how you got here is because of those people. Those are your roots. Those people are your family, your friends, you're connected.

That's where you find education and religion and culture and fashion and art and everything. You're saying you're gonna cut that off and start this on your own? Well, unless you are a visionary, you will give in and say, yeah, you're right, you're right.

I was just about to ask that. Do you think that's a common trap that leaders fall in? They hear like, well, what about this?

What about all this stuff that, remember where you came from and we've never done it that way before. Do you think too many leaders fall into that trap? I talk about ministry, there are a lot of wonderful pastors, great preachers, wonderful godly people, loving people, caring people, serving people.

They're just not visionary leaders. And that's where you go, well, you're a great person, you're a good friend, but I think something major is missing and because that's missing in your life, you're also cheating other people of the benefits of a better tomorrow. Like I could have just, Nicole and I could have just said, you know, why make a big fuss about this? Why don't we just keep this building where we are and just maintain this? Maybe we can have a good renovation one day and do that.

We don't have to like sell this building and move out and go somewhere else and start a church or we didn't really start a church, we really transitioned a church into a contemporary church and still holding onto the same values but with a different style of worship and all that. We don't need to do all that, let's just keep everybody happy. Because I can assure you, people were not 100% behind us, they loved us and that was a huge plus.

I'm seeing a parallel because I'm thinking about someone like George Washington and winning a war is, it's a feat in its own, but it's one thing. It's another thing entirely to like, I'm thinking about like the constitutional convention where you have to actually sit down, craft out this vision on paper, you know what I'm saying? And then make it happen. And I'm even thinking about what you and Nicole went through in 2008, crafting out the vision of the church. The values, the mission, the vision, even the name change.

We're still the same church, it's a different name. And then getting people to buy into that vision. And not only buy into it to like give you the green light, like write a check, but just like hey, that's my vision too. And not everybody does that.

Sometimes they're hesitant, sometimes they're in-fightings. That's the big I think thing for me, thinking about George Washington and the thing about you Dr. Shah and how you've led through church revitalization, which is something I think people don't talk enough about, it's a field that is completely overlooked, it's something that we need to spend more time focused on because church planting is wonderful and it should be happening. And you know, sticking with churches that have always been is wonderful, but there's something to be said for church revitalization.

Churches that have gone down and then bringing them back to life, I think that's a lost concept. By the way, just to be mentioned in the same statement with George Washington, that's a huge thing. So I'm humbled to even be mentioned in that group, but if you mean by that, a visionary leader, yes, I'll gladly accept that. But yeah, we're talking about that, we're talking about visionary leaders and how they shape and you don't have to be the president of a nation to be a visionary leader that makes impact in your community and eventually the nation. I think the day is coming where we're going to see this show making an impact in the overall spiritual health of the nation. And that's our vision for the show.

Because we see a better day in America. We see light in the future. We know that we're going to some dark times, we're going to some confusing times, but we believe that this show could be the catalyst for a better tomorrow. And I think, amen, amen, and I think we believe in our hearts that there are visionary leaders out there who don't know it. And if you can have the tools, if you could listen to this show, hear this wisdom, learn from people in the past who have done this exact same thing, albeit on a bigger scale, how much better our nation will be. If only there were more visionaries.

That's right. But going back to George Washington for a few minutes, he was a very charismatic individual. And I don't mean by that like he was just, hi, hello, everybody, here I am. He just had this demeanor about him that people were just like, at the same time, awed by him and respected him. They really were. I mean, it was just this, like one time George Washington walked into a party or a social gathering and somebody came in, kind of put his hand on his shoulder, Georgie Porgie, how are you, bud?

Georgie Porgie. Darn fine to see you. You all so and so. He just turned and just looked at that person, didn't say a word, just looked at that person. And of course, they removed their hand.

Just slid right off. Yeah. Like, really? It was not because I look how great a man I am. But that's not what he was doing. He was simply saying, I don't know you.

That's not how you approach somebody you don't know. And so that's one of the things. He was, I believe he was a born again Christian. He of course, you heard my message on the vine and fig tree, one of his favorite passages.

We'll link to that message too, because that was one of the best ones I think I've ever heard here at Clearview. Something very interesting. When it came time for him to step down from being the president, they asked him and I said, hey, you can run again. We'll elect you. You could be the king. You could be the king of America. He said, no, all I want to do is go back and be a farmer.

And I think it's King George, I may be wrong, but it's King George who said that. He said, if he can do that, he surely is a great man. If you guys enjoyed today's episode, maybe you learned something about George Washington's life, write in and let us know, 252-582-5028. You can visit us online at ClearviewTodayShow.com. Don't forget, you can partner with us financially on that same website.

Become part of what God is doing through the Clearview Today Show and reaching the nations with the gospel. Also, I want to remind you to visit MightyMuscadine.com, they're the sponsors of today's episode. Check out their products and use the promo code today, that's T-O-D-A-Y when you check out. It's going to get you a great discount and a portion of your purchase comes right back here to the Clearview Today Show. John, what's coming up tomorrow? So tomorrow, we are continuing a conversation we had back on Monday. If you remember, we talked about the anointed.

What does that mean exactly? We got a little bit through that conversation for time's sake. We had to kind of wrap it up and then some things happened this week. We wanted to make sure we talked about the Dead Sea Scrolls and George Washington. So we are continuing that conversation about the Lord's anointed. That's awesome. Love you guys. See you tomorrow on Clearview Today.