Friday, November 29th | Becoming a Better Scholar

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Fun fact, no. I have to make my own with McDonald's Sprite, and you guessed it, Texas Pete. I am genuinely horrified to hear that.

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Where's my Mountain Dew? You're listening to Clear Views a Day with Dr. Abaddon Shah, the daily show that engages mind and heart for the gospel of Jesus Christ. I'm Ryan Hill. I'm John Galantis. You can find us online at ClearviewTodayShow.com. Or 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, and we want you guys to help us keep the conversation moving forward. You can do that by supporting the show. You can share it online with your friends and family. Leave us a good five-star review on iTunes or Spotify.

Absolutely nothing less than five stars for any reason. We're going to leave a couple of links right there in the description so you can do just that, right? You can follow our show from the new Chromebook that you just punched somebody in the face for on Black Friday. I was just about to say, happy Black Friday, my friend. Happy Black Friday. It is upon us at last.

At last. Did you guys go shopping this morning? We went shopping a little. Well, no, I didn't go shopping. Ellie went shopping. I haven't been Black Friday shopping in years.

We used to go, but it just always struck me as funny as the day after Thanksgiving, like literally sometimes the same day, we just got done sitting down at the table and giving thanks to the Lord for everything we're grateful for. And less than 12 hours later, we are in line, trampling people, knocking people down, trying to get all the TVs and all the goo gags and the doodads and all that stuff. What is a goo gag? A goo gag is like a little gadget. You know what the kids use? Like they have like the little pokey whatever, the pokey mans, and they hit the buttons, they fight. It's crazy man what the kids get up to these days. They got the little beyblades and they got, what you call it?

Have you been shopping recently? The Digimon. I think I'm like a Rip Van Winkle. I just fell asleep. That sounds right. You fell asleep in like the late nineties and woke up.

That sounds right. Oh, Black Friday. It's crazy. It's crazy.

I love that I went Black Friday shopping years ago before kids, but it was like a, we're going to go and maybe buy a couple of things, but we really went to just go hang out. People watch. And look at the people. Yeah, just kind of like, it's an excitement. Like there's excitement in the air as people are kind of like stressing to get here and there. And we're just kind of sitting down sipping our drinks and just like, we're going to go here.

I want to take us on a philosophical walk down human nature, like the path of human nature. Because here's what I want to say. Does Black Friday bring all the crazies out into the public or is this just the, it's always inside them? Like when you go in Walmart, like like not today, but let's say I went to Walmart five weeks ago and the Black Fridays nowhere on the horizon and these people are there. Are they actually crazy, but suppressing it?

And then on Black Friday, they'll let it out. It's like kind of like the purge sort of thing. Oh, 100%. They're just crazy.

Absolutely. They're crazy and violent. The average person is crazy and violent.

They just keep themselves to the inside. Except for Black Friday, when people get trampled over Tickle Me Elmo. Black Friday's like the purge.

Black Friday's like the purge for it. Like you are socially allowed to bring out all your ugliness and all your desire. I'm very grateful for all of the things in my life, but I will curb-sump you if you take that last plasma screen. Now here's my question. Here's my question.

This is for my Clearview people specifically. If you're listening to the show and I don't know you specifically, you're allowed to be as crazy as you want. But for all my Clearview people who are listening, all right, is y'all acting crazy on Black Friday? Look at me now. Be honest. Look at me.

The Lord is watching you. Are y'all acting crazy on that Black Friday? Are y'all going to Walmart and pushing old ladies down? Are y'all going to Kmart? Are y'all going to- Kmart? Nobody's going to Kmart.

Uh, Ross dressed for less and acting crazy. Y'all going to Circuit City and acting like a daggone fool? Circuit City? What? Radio Shack? Yeah, yeah.

That's what I was looking for. It was on the tip of my tongue, but I couldn't- Golly, pull out the old school. Anyway, man. Anyway, I say happy Black Friday. We're going to get Dr. Shaw in here and talk to him a little bit. I can't imagine Dr. Shaw Black Friday shopping. No way.

I can't either. We got a Black Friday sale at the manuscript store. Like the antique shop.

Yeah. Let's see what they got. Run in and let us know your take on Black Friday. And if you're still out there Black Friday shopping, write in and let us know, 252-582-5028. Or you can visit us online at ClearviewTodayShow.com. We'll be back after this. Hello Clearview family. I'm Nicole.

And I'm David. And we want to talk to you today about the Clearview app. You know, there are so many churches out there that put their sermons on YouTube and they're announcing on Facebook and their prayer list on Periscope.

I didn't even know Periscope was still functional. Oh, it's not. And that's why nobody can find their church's prayer list and nobody's prayers be getting answered. But here at Clearview, we believe in making our content as accessible as possible. That's right. Clearview produces so much content every single week, including Dr. Shaw's sermons, original music, a full online store, weekly prayer gatherings, and so much more. Not to mention the number one best selling Christian talk show of all time.

I don't know if that's accurate. Well, maybe not yet, but that's why we want people to download the app. If you're listening from the Triangle area, we encourage you to check out Clearview Church in person. But if not, you can still follow all of our content on the Clearview app.

It's 100% free on the Apple Store and Google Play Store. And best of all, all of our content is right there in one convenient spot. Make sure you download the Clearview app today, and let's get back to the show. Welcome back to Clearview 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 to 252-582-5028. That's right.

And we're here once again in the Clearview Today studio with Dr. Abbadon Shaw, who's a PhD in New Testament textual criticism, professor at Carolina University, author, full-time pastor, and the host of today's show, Dr. Shaw. Happy Friday, my friend. Happy Friday to you guys. Happy Black Friday. Happy Friday. Happy Black Friday. Anybody out early for deals today? Black Friday sounds like an ancient medieval battle or something.

Welcome to Black Friday. Yeah. It's like a war, like Bloody Sunday. What was that, Russia?

Something like that? I don't know. Ireland. Ireland.

Ireland. Yeah. It was like an ancient battle or a catastrophe. That day became known as Black Friday. And then I feel like every time I see footage of Black Friday, I feel like, yeah, this is a catastrophe. It kind of fits. This is sort of a catastrophe. It kind of fits.

Why is that person of a spear? Dr. Shaw, just a few short hours ago, we were sitting here around this Thanksgiving podcast table or this Thanksgiving radio table, just giving thanks for all that the Lord has given to us. We're just so grateful. If you wouldn't mind, I'd love to take a break from the show to go out and trample some old ladies in the middle of a wall. Yeah, I need to push a lady in the face for a plasma screen real quick. I'll be right back. Have you ever been Black Friday shopping?

Years and years ago. Did you like it? Um... Who'd you go with? Nicole? Yeah, Nicole. Okay. Yeah.

Did she like it? The kids went too with us. And so it was in a way fun, but I don't shop for those clothes anymore. Okay. We used to have like this whole thing laid out that we were going to go here and we're going to go by that department store and those spare pants I want or something like that. But now I don't do that.

Yeah. I don't like shopping on a calm day. You know what I mean? To me, shopping is like... I've never understood the whole... Because to me, shopping is like, go in, get what you need and go home. Because I need something. But a lot of women... I mean, some guys do. Some guys just like shopping. Some people just like to go in. I don't need anything, but I just want to see what's up. Go in, pick stuff up, put it in the... Try it on.

Have no intentions of buying it. It's just like a fun day. But then to add the chaos... The chaos. The chaos of Black Friday on top of that. Well, let me back up and say this.

It's not the kind that you're thinking. Like, get up there early in the morning, get in line at four o'clock. No, I don't think we ever did that. Right. No. It's more like we'll roll in about 11 o'clock in the evening, in the afternoon, like in the morning. 11 in the morning. Yeah.

And then kind of walk around and it's kind of scavenged through. Do you have like a list, like a hit list? Like, here's all the things we got to get for Black Friday. Yep. So all I have is size 58, you know.

All I need is 34 or 36. Yeah, it's not going to work. Yeah. Elizabeth and I went Black Friday shopping like that early, like one, two o'clock in the morning before kids.

Wow. This was well before kids. We were newly married. And we went because there were some things we wanted to buy, but largely just a people watch. Like, we went and got some coffee and just kind of sat down and just spent time together.

We bought a couple of things, but people were crazy. Oh, yeah. Really?

Oh, I mean, we saw several like verbal arguments almost break out into like physical altercation. Oh, yeah. Oh, really?

Yeah. Ellie, see, Ellie went, Ellie likes that. Ellie likes that. She won't admit it, but she likes it. She likes to see people. She doesn't do that, but she likes to watch people like in the stores break down and start fighting over stuff.

And my mom and sister love it. I don't like that anymore. So the three of them, the three of them would go, but then Ellie would do that annoying thing where she's like, I'm not gonna have fun if you don't go. I was like, I have no interest in going. I genuinely, I don't like shopping on a, on a fun day. So I definitely don't want to go. She's like, well, then I'm just not going to go. I'm like, so, so I'm getting guilt. All right, I'm going, I'm going. And that was, I think I went black Friday shopping two, maybe three years in a row. And then I was like, I'm done. So you don't do it anymore?

I don't like it. With the advent of Cyber Monday, that's what I do now. I'm surfing on my couch.

Absolutely. Now that I'm all over Amazon, like I'm getting this and this is the comfort of my own home. This is sort of the way where you spin it to look like a good husband. Cause I'm like, baby, we, we're not taking those kids out. Here's what I do.

You go break old lady's backs and you trample them and get all the, all the deals that you want. I'm gonna stay home with you. Stab somebody in the eye for a Tickle Me Elmo.

I'm gonna stay home with the kids. Do you all even remember Tickle Me Elmo? I do. I remember that. I had one. But you, we were not married at the time.

No, no, no. I was a kid. I was old enough to remember this whole big uproar about Tickle Me Elmo. Yeah. How old were you? Oh gosh. Uproar.

What are you talking about? Elementary, maybe early middle school. Early middle school. Probably, probably 10. Yeah. Yeah. Do you remember the uproar?

Like, like everybody wanted one or like, yeah, I had one. No, no, no. But do you remember the uproar? No. Yeah.

I'm sure I couldn't find them. People were like, Oh man, it was crazy. Like Tickle Me Elmo, like the, like the where, where you take it.

He's like, and then he starts shaking. Yeah. That was the toy. I didn't know there was an uproar over it. Like, Oh yeah, it was huge. Yeah. I mean, this went on for, I mean, people were looking for it everywhere, spending hundreds of dollars to buy it because...

Stealing from other people. I mean, it was crazy. Oh my goodness. Yeah.

And it was not even worth it. No, for a little doll. The Tickle Me Elmo, hold on. The Tickle Me Elmo craze. Yeah. He starts laughing and they keep tickling him and then he starts shaking. Oh my goodness. The video from the CBC is called the Tickle Me Elmo craze that called a what?

That's not funny. Yeah. I seriously caused a Walmart employee to get trampled.

To get trampled. In 1996. 1996. Yeah.

That's right. Yeah. I was, I was, I would have been eight.

Okay. I was eight in 1996. In the mid 1990s, kids, I shouldn't be laughing at this, kids went crazy for the Tickle Me Elmo and so did their parents in trying to acquire the popular toy, crazy enough to trample. It was nuts.

I'm sorry. I mean, it was crazy. People were getting like hurt and killed over this. Did they die? The employee died? Yeah, there were some people that died. Absolutely.

I don't know if this employee died, but there were some people who did. Oh, golly. It's crazy. That's insane. It was nuts.

I don't know if that very, very well. We didn't get it that year, but we got it the year after. You didn't get one for your kids? Yeah. I mean, a few months later, they were there. Let me ask you this. I know we got to move on, but if you had taken your dad and your mom Black Friday shopping, what do you think their reaction would have been?

This is like India. Really? You think they would have liked it? They would have liked it? I was not expecting that.

All right. So my mom, she loves people. She likes to be around people or liked.

She's in heaven now. So she liked to live in the city limits. She liked to live where people were. She liked to go shopping in the heart of the bazaar. I was a little boy.

Mom would take me shopping. I hated it. I didn't want to be there.

I did not want to be there because I knew exactly the route. We're going to go by the vegetable market here. Then we're going to go buy the grain market over there. Then we're going to go buy rice over here.

We're going to go buy wheat over there. You can still see all those markets. Oh, I can see them all.

I saw them last time I went. I mean, so much has changed. Imagine a lot of this flat ground and a lot of dirt is caked on. I mean, it's just like so much more is on top of each other. And oh, it's so hectic. It is so hectic. And she would take me usually like on a Saturday afternoon or something like that. And it's hot and I'm walking around holding her hand. And it's like 50,000 people converging on the same bazaar. Goodness.

Yes. And people are like shoving this and shoving. But then you her. So the guy who's sitting behind a huge pile of beans, that's how it went. I mean, he went to the bean shop. It's nothing but beans.

He's got beans, beans, beans, beans, beans, beans, beans. You name it. I got to give you that one, right? Thank you.

I appreciate that. And then they would call her Benji, which means like like sister, but but but also like a teacher because she was also a teacher and she was known as a teacher in town. So they say, oh, teacher. Yes.

And so how much? And then she would say that. And then she would then then she would barter with the guy.

I would not barter like bargain with the guy. Yeah. I was like. So she would she would haggle, haggle the price? Yeah, you do that.

Was she good at it? Oh, yeah. So, yes. And it was annoying because I was like, just buy, just go. Just buy, let's just go, please. Then she was like, no, no, no. That last week we paid this so that it's like, well, there's no other things going up and all that. And it's like, no, no, no.

We've been coming here for a year since I remember this so well. So she could be disagreeable in the store if she needed to, to get a good deal. It's not a store. This is an outside, big bazaar. Gotcha, gotcha. OK. I mean, you'd be shocked to see how much food and they keep it.

It's not the cleanest place, but it's the shop itself is clean. No, no. Here's a I don't want to interrupt you from your story. Are you that way? Like, if you're like if you're like if someone's like, hey, I know this was the price, but now it's this.

Would you be like, I just want this to be over with. So here's here's what it is. OK, OK. Because I mean, the things I buy now are like books, things like that.

So if I can bargain a better price, I will definitely do right. But not over beans or potatoes. You know, so so then we go to the potato shop and it's like tons of I mean, it's like a mound. It's like a mountain like this tall and the guy sitting behind it on this bench. And he has his workers around him with bags ready to put the potatoes in there. And he said, no, that that's a bad one.

Why would you put a bad one in there? So I mean, this this hundreds of voices happening look like that. That's actually very nice put together.

Let me let me put almost see if I can get Indian Bazaar is what you got to type on Google. I'm sure you'll find some pictures out there. I got you. So. So, yeah, who I would be stressed. That's that's stressful. I mean, I'm like third party here in this.

And I'm just like a little kid. Yeah. And then we go to the the daily goods store.

That's where we would go buy all the oil and the butter and everything and have to stand there. Wow. And then the list goes in and then they go back there and they. Oh, my gosh.

You give him a list and they would get everything. That's kind of cool. Not the beans part. This is another store. This is a different place. So she was like that. Like that.

Yes. This this one. This is this. See, like here, like that, like that. That's what they look like. That this one here. That's what they look like. Yes.

Except the mound was probably more like that over there. Like this one. Yes. Wow. Yeah. That picture is at least. Yeah. So she said she'd be so she'd be over here. It didn't look like this. I mean, imagine like hundreds of people here and hundreds of people there.

Those on the radio. This is literally a mountain of potatoes. Yeah. A small amount of potatoes.

It looks like a hill. You said I'm gonna type in Bousavol and see. Oh, yeah.

You'll see. I'm sure Bousavol Bazaar. Yeah. There it is. Oh, yeah. That's one of the bazaars. Go in there. Yeah. Oh, yeah. That's one of the bazaars. But it's OK. That's it. And that's the one your mom would take you to? No, I don't remember that.

I mean, maybe it is. Got you. But imagine that with lots of people everywhere.

They get the people to clear out for the photo. Yes. I mean, I remember some of these places. I'm not. So when I tell you all these stories, I'm not lying.

Oh, no. This is real. Real. That's insane. All real. Wow. Wow. So, yeah.

So and then the haggling would begin and then the bargaining. And I'm like, like, go home. Not right now.

We just started. Oh, that's you never want to hear that. You never want to hear that. So I had to say she'd be right at home during Black Friday. Oh, yeah. No problem at all.

Got you. How'd your dad feel about it? Dad would do the shopping, too. But he wouldn't bargain like mom would bargain.

No. Dad would just like he had his and they knew he was coming. So they always knew exactly what he needed. And then he always was dressed up, you know, nice, expensive shoes, not suit, you know, dress pants, dress shirt. So they knew he he was he was sir. Yeah. Sir. Sir.

I love him. Sir. Wow. That's awesome. Father.

They would call him father. Very cool. Yeah. Wow. Our version of the day today is coming from Matthew Chapter 11, verse 29.

Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly at heart and you will find rest for your souls. Perfect antithesis. Exactly what I would do the market. Hold on one second. No way. No way.

Antithesis. It's not. That's not. You're joking me. I promise you that's not the word.

Judge. Antithesis is the word. Oh, it's not the word. OK. OK. So the point is taken away from him. Yeah, I got to get shame. If he ever.

He actually took the points. I can have an expanded vocabulary. Thank you very much. Antithesis. The antithesis. But I think you're right.

Antithesis. But I think you're right. I mean, even talking about Black Friday, maybe we can talk about that on today's show, like this learning to be content with what God gave you.

But at the same time, like Dr. Shy, I know that you being in the scholarly world, there's nothing inherently wrong with ambition, wanting to do better, wanting to have the you know, the best life on earth that you can. You know, how do you balance that with what with what Jesus says, where he says, I'm gentle and lowly and in me, you'll find rest for your souls. How do you balance that with people who are like, well, then we shouldn't want things.

We shouldn't strive to shop or to to gain things. You know what I mean? Yeah, I think there's a balance there. I think there's a there's a place for what Paul talks about. I can do all things to Christ who strengthens me. That's more a passage about contentment than oh, I can hit a jump shot. That's more about that. So, yes, we should be content where God has placed us. At the same time, it's good to have a vision, a goal, a strive, a drive in life. And that's that's OK. Yeah. As long as we don't begin to worship those things.

Right. As long as we don't live our lives focused upon those things. I appreciate that mindset because it wasn't until working here that I developed that drive, that that passion to to be better, to explore, to to go further. By nature, I'm a very kind of easygoing, stagnate vanilla. John wants to call me a milk toast guy. John calls me a milk toast. But I always say that because I think the same of me.

I think I fall into that category, too, where I don't once I arrive at a place I'm comfortable with, I don't have a drive to or I would say I didn't have a drive to be better. Yeah. Very much like this works. Don't don't fix what's not broken. Don't touch it. But you've taught me to push the push the boundary in a good way. Explore what is ahead.

Dig further and be more creative. Yeah, there's I think there's a good value. I think there's value in good Christian ambition. Yeah.

And I know that can sometimes that can be a dirty word to some people. But I disagree. And I think you've taught me that is that you should always I don't want to be better than everybody else.

I want to be better than I was yesterday. Right. And the people who are better than me are driving me to be that I want what they have not in an envious sort of way. But I can see that God has blessed them for their hard work. That's right.

And for their maybe there's a better word than ambition, but their drive to make better and best for the glory of God. Not better and best just so you can look at yourself in the mirror and feel like you are you have arrived or you're so something and somebody. I mean, that's just just just gives room for pride. Right.

No, we don't need that. Better and best for the glory of God. That's just a big difference. Very much. Yeah. We talked. What did you say? Milk toast. No way.

You give him milk toast. No way. You give me sermonic something. You give me what did I have to say it back to me. Sarah diddle. You gave me terror. Sir Mossy nation.

Sir Mossy nation versus milk toast. I say we fire the guy. I don't know if I have the authority to send. Trump will say you're fired.

Listen, you fight if I get out. I don't know if I have permission or the authority to send Clearview employees home for the day, but I would if you would grant me that just for today, I'd like to send him all. Well, the problem is I need him to do some work.

I don't want him to go. Well, congratulations on milk toast. Thank you very much. I appreciate that.

I saw that when I was like, oh, what a happy coincidence. You got offended. You got offended that over antithesis, but milk toast was fine. OK, shoot. And you didn't think to say, hey, David, I think this word's too easy. No, no.

If I get lobbed the softball, I'm gonna hit it. You hit it. All right. We you know, we talked the other day, Dr. Shah, I think not yesterday, but the day before about your scholarly your scholarly work, writing work, writing research. And so I wanted to know, because we were talking about all these articles that you're writing and you're pouring, pouring, pouring so much time into your research. You know, how do you engage in research in that way?

What I mean is I think you made the comment that like a lot of times these articles, they get published, but they're not like circulating. They're not sold like books are sold. So how do you find them? Oh, so there is a database out there. Libraries have it. Universities have it.

Academic institutions definitely have it, especially if they're accredited, they will have it. And you get on there and you're able to do research advanced settings and you're able to type in keywords or author names or if you have a book title or if you have a verse that you're working on. Let's say I'm doing this paper on Acts 837. So I'm going to type that into the keyword. By the time this airs, by the way, you'll be you're reading this. You're probably reading this paper right now as people are listening. That's right.

That's really cool. And then things begin to pop up. But just because you you do that doesn't mean you're going to have all the articles. Sometimes you have to go through bibliographies. You have to read introductory articles and dictionaries, not just say regular English dictionary, but these are like theological dictionaries or Greek theology, exegesis, dictionary, and find relevant subjects and then look down to see what are the recommended books or articles that this author used in composing that article. And then you follow them, read those articles, and then you'll find out that there's there are experts in the field on that particular subject or that book or that verse even.

And then you see what is it that those experts recommend. Then I'm going to say, OK, so read this book. No, they're going to quote a certain book more often than others. So you go or an article.

So you then follow that article. I'm writing this paper on Acts 837, which is a verse that should not be there in the original text because the manuscripts that support that verse are from the fourth, fifth century. So there's no reason for them to be in the text.

So as I am, there's no reason for that verse to be in the text of Acts. So as I'm researching that verse and the grammar or the manuscripts, something will spark something there about a certain author, certain text critic from the 19th century who wrote some very important things regarding the Western text. So I'm going to follow that person for a little bit and see who was he? What was his deal? Why do you think that the Western text was good?

Like A.C. Clark, what was so special about him? And then I'll follow him and then, oh, he wrote a book called The Descent of Manuscripts. OK, let me see what this book.

Oh, wow. This book has a lot of information. Well, this information, is it good?

Is it bad? I don't know. And then I'll read somebody else from the time period who talked about The Descent of Manuscripts by A.C. Clark. So I want to know who are those people? Were they reputable enough to write on it? So now I'm learning not only about Acts 837, but also about the Western text, also about A.C. Clark, also about The Descent of Manuscripts. And then I'm also learning about these other text critics who talked positively or negatively about A.C. Clark's work. But in the process, you see how I've been able to understand. I've been able to understand Acts 837 better, not completely, but better. I've been able to understand the Western text. I've been able to understand A.C. Clark.

I've been able to understand the state of New Testament textual criticism at the end of the 19th century. So my understanding has grown. So again, it's not... It can happen.

Right. And it's not you just chasing a lead to achieve a goal. But really, the goal is you're becoming a better scholar.

You're becoming a better text critic. Have you ever, this is kind of just an aside, but have you ever, like, is it possible to know that a source is a waste of time? So for instance, like that book, OK, well, The Descent, what was it? The Descent of Manuscripts. The Descent of Manuscripts. For you to find out if this information is good or a waste of time, do you have to read that book or can you just go to other people who have said... Yeah, I have to decide. Is this book a key book in my field that is a must read?

So thank goodness I have someone like Dr. Maurice Robbins and I can ask him. And I did ask him, I said, what do you think about A.C. Clark? I know he's a Western text proponent.

Why is he good? He said, well, the way he saw variant readings is like it's like they were passengers getting on and off a train. So a variant reading would get part of the manuscript tradition then jump off and then jump back in and then jump off and jump. That really is not how textual criticism works.

That's not how the Greek manuscripts were transmitted by variants jumping on and off. We don't have proof for that. That's not really accurate. Right. So maybe I shouldn't read The Center of Management.

It does have some helpful information, but maybe not one that is a must read on my list. Gotcha. You see how that works. But I am aware of A.C. Clark. I'm aware of his contribution.

I'm also aware of his deficiencies. And I'm not going to read that book. But if I find it at a book sale at like four bucks, I'll buy it. Oh, even if it's like 20 bucks, I'll buy it because it's worth having and it has some very important information. Very cool. So things like that is how scholarly research is done.

Maybe we need more time to talk about this. That's so helpful. So interesting thinking about the research that scholars do, that you do, Dr. Shah, and wading into that world. If you guys enjoyed today's episode, write in and let us know, 2525825028. Or you can visit us online at ClearViewTodayShow.com. Don't forget, you can partner with us financially on that same website.

Be a part of what God is doing through the Clear View Today show and reaching the nations with the gospel of Jesus. Jon, what do you want to plug as we head into the weekend? Definitely want to plug. Well, first off, Dr. Shah's paper, it will be available. You're actually reading it today as you guys are listening to it. And I imagine it will be available in the weeks, the coming weeks or months for you guys to read. But if not, in the meantime, you can be reading his book, 30 Days of Praying for America, Daily Devotions to Heal Our Nations.

Dr. Shah wrote this alongside his wife, Nicole. You can get it on Amazon right now. You can also get our debut album, Heaven Here and Now. It's available on iTunes, Spotify, Apple Music, Rhapsody, anywhere that digital music is sold.

So make sure you download it right now. Also, I just want to remind you, if you are local in the area, make sure you come by and pick up your tickets for A Christmas Carol coming up right here at Clear View Church on December the 7th and the 8th. It's not going to be milk toast.

It's not going to be milk toast. Tickets are $5 apiece, doors open at 6, and the show starts at 7. And we would love to see you.

If you'd like information about tickets, you can contact us here in the Clear View Today show. Hope you guys have a wonderful weekend worshiping God with your church family. We'll see you bright and early on Monday. We love you guys. We'll see you Monday on Clear View Today.