What's going on Clearview Today listeners? It's David here from the Clearview Today Show and I just want to let you know that today's episode and today's secret word is brought to you by Mighty Muscadine, king of the superfoods. Mighty Muscadine offers a variety of products from their signature Muscadine grape juice to powerful dietary supplements.
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Not only are you saving money, but you're supporting our show as well. So thank you. Today's secret word is baboonery.
That means foolishness, stupidity or nonsense. And today's secret word contestant is johnny. Congratulations to John Galantis. Happy New Year, everybody over here with the Clearview Today Show. Welcome to 2025 with your favorite Christian radio show slash broadcast slash podcast. It's the only one. It's not only your favorite. It's the only one that is I think. It's the only one for you in 2025. That's right.
2025. I'm feeling alive. You're listening to Clearview today with Dr. Abbadon 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 Clearview today show.com. Or if you have any questions for Dr. Shah or suggestions for new topics, send us a text to 252-582-5028. Or you can email us at contact at Clearview today show.com.
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Link is in the description. And we are here today with our wonderful host, Dr. Abbadon Shah, who's a Ph.D. in New Testament textual criticism, professor at Carolina University, author, full time pastor, the host of today's show, Dr. Shah. Welcome to 2025, my friend. Good to be here. Good to be here. Another year God has given to us to live in his world, to enjoy life, to build his kingdom. And then we go off into eternity.
That's right. There's more fun to come. New creation. Amen. Amen.
I love that. Oftentimes I love when you talk about eternity, when you talk about heaven, because oftentimes people have the picture of us just kind of like sitting on a cloud, singing holy, holy, holy for seven trillion years. And then we get to start it all over again.
And we're just going to be happy with that. No, eternity is going to be fun. That's not a biblical understanding. Biblical understanding is much more than that.
And reason we're talking about eternity is because this year we're going to talk a lot about prophecy. That's right. That's right.
Big, big year. Do you want to talk about that for your for your audience real quick? Yes.
2025, we're starting a brand new series. It's basically titled Biblical Prophecy. That's right. Talking about the end times prophecy.
I should be more specific. And we're going to begin with Act one, which is mercy to Israel. Mercy to the Israel of God, which is the title that or the designation that Paul has for the Jewish people, the ethnically Jewish people. And it's coming from Galatians Chapter six, verse 16, where he talks about the peace of God on God's people and mercy on the Israel of God.
And so that's the way he he lays it out. So we're going to focus on Romans nine through 11 and just talk about how integral is Israel to biblical prophecy, to end time prophecy. Now, I know there's people out there that are asking, Dr. Shad, is that is that a sermon series or is that something we're going to hear here on the Clearview Today show? Both.
I mean, it's a sermon series. You know, if you're in the area, please come join us. That's right.
Yes. Saturday night at six thirty Sunday morning, eight thirty and eleven o'clock. In between eight thirty to nine thirty is a service. But in between nine forty five to ten forty five, a Sunday school that's going to join in, go to Sunday school. And then there is a service at eleven, eleven to twelve. There are people who stay for both. That's true. Yeah.
Yeah. Our verse of the day, our first verse of the day for twenty twenty five is coming from Second Corinthians, chapter five, verse seventeen. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away. Behold, the new has come. I don't think anybody's ever told me better news in my entire life that the old has passed away. You are a new creation.
And I love that. And that's something I think that you've you've hit on a lot in your in your sermons that it's not that you're a different person. You're a new person. That's right. You know, it's not that you now, OK, you've put to death your old ways and your old behaviors.
You are a new creation. Right. That's right. That's right. In fact, that was the focus of our second devotional in our 30 day series.
We wrote the first one in twenty twenty called Thirty Days Through a Crisis. Right. And it was a hit.
A lot of people were so blessed by it and we were blessed by it, of course, as well. But then the second one came out in twenty twenty two, which was called Thirty Days to a New Beginning. That's right. Right. So that was that that verse was the heart behind it. Yes. We are a new creation. That's right.
That's right. I want to talk about that book as we're going forward. But before we do any resolutions, any goals, any any like big I know that the Prophecy series is a huge one, but any like big long term goals that you want to see happen in twenty twenty five. How about you guys? I mean, I have some. Oh, man. I think for me. The theme would have consistency. Yeah. And across the board in areas in in, you know, diligence in studies and health and working out and time with my family and work here. Just just consistency.
Yeah. Just just building that up. I definitely want to see at least three major publications come out of Clearview in twenty twenty five, which is a big it's a big ask. It's a tall order, but this is a tall church and this is a tall team.
And I've seen it happen time and time again. You know, we're talking about 30 days to a new beginning today. I would love to see another 30 days come out. This will be the first one that came out in a consecutive year.
They didn't like take a year off, basically. And so I've been talking, Dr. Sean, I've been talking and I want to give all the details away, but I think I think three publications, whether it's a song or whether I should say it's an album or an EP or something, whether it's a book, whether it's an article that you've written. I think three major publications in twenty twenty five is feasible. And I think it's a good indication of where God has placed us at this point. Absolutely.
I'm not surprised by much anymore at Clearview. It's amazing. God's hand is upon us and the way he guides us and gives us the vision and then the energy to get it done. And the people who come alongside and they support projects like this with their efforts and with their resources, it's quite amazing. Definitely. Definitely. In the spirit of trying new things, Dr. Sean, I brought something up here that I thought would be kind of a cool New Year celebration. I know you're a fan of Oreos. I don't know if you're a huge fan of sour cream on baked potato.
I am. So is it sour cream? That's sour cream. Yeah. What did you think it was? I thought it was Cool Whip. Cool.
No, no, no. That's also like Oreos and Cool Whip. I've got a little sweet dessert.
Really? Sour cream? It looks like whipped cream. Here's what I want.
I want I want some trust right now. Have you never you've never tried it. It's basically Oreos and sour cream.
It sounds disgusting. Melissa, turn me on to this. I'm telling you, I wouldn't lead you astray. I wouldn't lead you wrong. It will taste like a cheesecake. It will taste like a cheesecake. So here's what I'm going to do.
Just for the radio, I'm going to open it, listen to the package. You know what an Oreo tastes like. I'm going to give it to you, Dr. Sean. I'm going to let you pick your own because I don't want to put my nasty hands. And so that's for you, Ryan. Dr. Sean, if you want to just grab an Oreo and I'm telling you, OK, it's going to taste that's the sour cream.
And you guys listen at home, even if you're driving. How much should I get like this? Is this too much? No, that's fine. No, I think that you probably don't know the sour cream to Oreo ratio.
Yeah, probably no more than that. But we're just going to eat it. And I'm telling you, it's going to it's going to be weird. But you're going to taste the cheesecake.
Ready? Here we go. You taste it? Your face does not look like you're enjoying it. You want to try it, Dave? You want to try it?
You don't want to try it? I mean, I like it, too. I can kind of see cheesecake. I like it. I like it.
How does that tanginess from the sour cream is really bad radio. But I'll have another. I can see it.
I don't know that I would like sit down with the snack of a plate of Oreos and a bowl of sour cream. You would. I think it's pretty cool. You want another? You want to?
I'm OK right now. I mean, I want to, but I don't want our listeners to hear. It's bad radio smacking the whole time.
It's bad radio. Maybe we should go to a break. I'll wash my mouth out. But I thought in the spirit of I wanted to do this on the show last New Year's.
Really? And someone I'm not going to say who I really don't know who, but someone ate all the Oreos. Well, it was like a New Year's thing.
I wanted to try something new. And January, New Year's twenty, twenty four, we did an episode and somebody ate the Oreos. I think I actually vented about that on the episode. I don't hate it. I love it. I love it. The aftertaste is sour cream. Yes. But in the moment, it's a cheesecake.
Yeah, it does. I don't know who told Melissa, but Melissa told me and I had the same thing. I was like, ew, I'm not trying that. And I did it and it changed me.
Yeah, it's it's much better in the moment than it is after the fact. I don't know that I would eat an Oreo without sour cream. No, I don't know that I would just have an Oreo.
You don't think? I would go with that. You know, this is not related to cheesecake at all, but Oreos and peanut butter. I would try that, too. That's a good one, too.
That's a great number. What does it taste like, a cheesecake? It tastes kind of like Reese's. You get the peanut butter and the chocolate. Yeah, I'd be down with that. It's good together. Cool. Combination. That's right.
That's right. Guys, you know, the message there. Let's hear it. Let's hear it. We got a message there.
It's the combination of unexpecting ingredients. There you go. How does that go with a Christian life? That's the question. Let's answer that. So you all think.
Yeah, you go ahead, Ryan. I need time to think. Putting things that that that don't work, like I can think about our salvation. OK, OK. Yeah.
Salvation is eternal life, blessing, peace. But someone had to die on the cross. Right. Yeah. There's there's there's mercy. But then there's justice.
And how do those two go together? So, hey, I got one. How about you? God is in the business of using things and people that don't make sense. Yeah. So Samson was an unlikely hero. God used him and made him strong when he didn't appear to be strong. God raised Gideon to a leader when he, you know, was reluctant to take that leadership role.
God's in the business of working, working through and using things and people that don't make sense. Unlikely heroes. That's right.
That's right. How about you? I'm trying to think. I'm not good at this game. I'm not good at the pick that I was going to preach. This is essentially a game of pick it up and preach. I think Dr. Shaw would probably win. You've just realized you've never had Dr. Shaw participate. That's true.
We've never had you as a contestant on pick it up and preach. Unlikely like that. That's what we do on Sunday nights as an opener. It's kind of that that exim poor where they get an item and they all of a sudden have to come up with a quick, like devotional thought. He would hand them like, do you make them choose their own items or do you give them items? It depends. Sometimes I'll make them choose their own. Sometimes I'll give them random items.
He would hand them Oreos and say, you have to present a gospel message in 30 seconds. Yeah. Yeah.
I think you would do really great at it. I clearly growing up, I used to have this every Christmas. I think I told you about that. You know, every Christmas you would have this competition night. It was either it was singing and debate competition. And debate was not really you're debating each other.
Some some some did that, but it was exim poor. And so you you find this topic and you get five minutes and then you get up and you present it. That's that's kind of fun. That sounds kind of fun. We should do that here. Yeah, that'd be fun. Yeah, that'll be fun.
Guys, don't go anywhere. We're going to take a quick break and then be right back at you with more Clear View Today. Hey, Clear View Today family, thank you so much for tuning in to the show. We're having a great time so far. Listen, if this show has been a source of encouragement and insight for you, we want to take a second and just ask you to consider supporting us financially.
I know that might ruffle feathers a little bit, but think about it. You're listening to the show seemingly because you care about spreading the life changing message. Of Jesus Christ to the world. Well, you're giving allows us to continue sharing that message with other listeners just like you. Your support is more than just encouragement to us.
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And we pray that God blesses you abundantly for your commitment to his work. All right, let's get back to the show. Welcome back to Clear View today with Dr. Abbadon Shah, the daily show that engages mind and heart for the gospel of Jesus Christ.
You can visit us online at Clearview todayshow.com or if you have any questions or suggestions for new topics, send us a text to 252-582-5028. I feel like I still have Oreo in my teeth. Yeah, a little bit. I was picking it out of my teeth, too.
Another thing I thought about, I wish I'd done a little better planning on this. If I'd known we were going to do like the big New Year's celebration, I would have shaved. I feel like I got a lot of neck beard going on.
I look kind of like a ragamuffin. I feel like it's just like not. It's not. It's just not a good.
Yeah, it's not a good. It's not a good look. It's not a neck beard guy.
No, goodness. No, neck beard. You don't want to be a neck beard. That's not a good look. But neck beard.
Neck beard is like I can only grow it on my neck. You know what? You do want to be a secret word winner. Ragamuffin. Ragamuffin was my word.
That's an easy word. Ragamuffin. Ragamuffin. My mom used to call me that. Ragamuffin was the word. That's not even an obscure word. But when I saw it, I was like, oh, I can easily easily.
I do wish I'd shaved. It didn't even like cross my mind that that might have been the secret word. Yeah. I was like, yeah, ragamuffin. Yeah. You never want to be a neck beard. That's one style that's never been a style. It's just poor grooming.
There are people who do have it and they're good people. Yeah. I try and I'm I'm a prime candidate for neck beard if I don't take care of myself.
And I looked at it when we were on break, when we were listening to the ad, I was like, oh, I wish I'd shaved. But you know what? There's always a chance to start over. That's right. That's right. It's always a chance to start over. That's the beauty of the Christian life. That's right.
Much like much like with your facial hair in the Christian life. There's always a chance to start over. Some people feel stuck. You know, that was the first chapter.
It is the first chapter in our 30 Days to a New Beginning book. Feeling stuck is a bad feeling because you feel like, man, I cannot move forward. I cannot go back. This thing happened.
And now I am stuck. And sometimes it's because of an event. Sometimes it's just a rut.
Either way, it's not good. You need to move forward and you have to have a change in thinking. What needs to happen now? This event happened, but I'm not moving forward. What needs to happen?
Or I'm in a rut and I don't feel like I'm moving forward. So, you know, people of Israel, I talked about this in our book, they were circling Mount Sinai for 11 months. Yeah. They had encountered God here 11 months ago, you know, and then they got the gift of the law. They saw all of this, but then they got stuck and were not moving forward.
And God had to tell them, you know, stop circling the mountain, move forward. Was it a fear thing or do you think it was a comfort thing? Like they were just comfortable where they were? Or do you think it was like, I'm afraid of what's out there?
Or maybe a little of both? Yeah. They were skirting Mount Sire. That's the name of the mountain. I mean, I would say in the case of God's people, a little bit of both, I think it was fear because they didn't want to go into the wilderness any further because moving forward would require them to really trust God and trust Moses and leave behind the comforts of Egypt. So I think there was that fear.
Stuck in a rut, they'd rather do this and pass time, which is also connected to fear, but it was kind of like, this is good. Why go anywhere? We have the mountain. We talk to God. He feeds you.
He takes care of you. You got water. Let's just stay here. And that's not good. Yeah. Part of writing your dissertation, you know, your dissertation, it took you some time to write it, but you were also building a church alongside it. You know what I mean? Did you ever feel like you were in a rut or did you ever feel like I'm stuck on this dissertation or did you have the foresight to know, no, I'm doing a dissertation and also building a church at the same time? Yeah, I knew that.
I knew that. It was frustrating, frustrating because I wanted to finish the dissertation, but it was not out of, man, I don't know what I'm doing. I don't know. I'm just lost. I'm just confused. I just don't know what is going on. It was never like that.
It was just that I just wish I had more time to do this, but I know I have to do this. But it was never, I feel stuck. It was not stuck. It was never stuck because I'm just not going to live a Christian life that way. For a Christian to feel stuck is when you take your eyes off of Jesus Christ.
Good point. That's when people feel stuck. I feel stuck. What do you mean by feel stuck? You know, when you're keeping your eyes on Jesus, you're running the race, looking under Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.
So if you're feeling stuck, either it's because of fear or you have got into a rut, which is also a product of fear. I was never fearful. Let me back that up. In the first couple of years of being at Clearview, okay, this is my first and only church. And now it's coming up to almost 25 years. Praise God.
Wow. 26 if you add my youth pastor years. First couple of years of coming as a pastor from 1999 to maybe 2002 or whatever, I had a little bit of fear. Fear like, what if this doesn't work out? What if I'm the one who's going to kill this church? There was that fear.
When I went to work at the school, when they asked me to come as the headmaster, the principal of a school, when I came, that's when I encountered some of the most difficult, difficult, difficult times. Imagine you have a staff of 25, 30 people. Okay. I mean, this is a small staff compared to what I had. 30 some people.
They have to get paid. How old were you at the time? I was 31. Wow. That's a year younger than I am now.
I can't imagine being the principal of a school. Yeah. That's incredible. And there is zero money in the bank. Yeah.
Wow. Zero money in the bank because parents are not paying their bills. Now some parents have, don't get me wrong, some parents have. Some parents were really, really nice and good. Some couldn't.
It was the economy. Some were just delinquent. Some didn't give a rip. They're like, I'm not paying. Why aren't you not paying? I'm just- I'm just not going to. Don't worry about what I'm going to do. It's like, we're going to kick your kid out.
Well, we're going to make a lot of noise if we kick our kid out. I'm like, just pay something. Pay something. Just pay.
Yeah. And they wouldn't pay? They wouldn't pay. I mean, some were broke. Some were, you know, anyways. So going through that process stretched me so much.
I used to have headaches in the back of my head. Wow. I can imagine. You know, then there were some board members. I wouldn't trust them with a hot dog stand.
I wouldn't trust them to move the trash can from the mailbox to the back of the house. Wow. You know, I'm like, golly. And at the time, I didn't know. At the time, I was just like- Devious or just inept? Both.
Both. Oh, my world. Oh, my world.
World? Oh, my word. Oh, my word. Oh, my word.
You're good, man. I mean, I mean, this is- What is your world at that time? I mean, no, it's like, what do you call the PTSD? Oh, yeah.
The Vietnam flashbacks. Yes. I can figure out what I mean, word and world. They were both inept and they were just, what's the other word? Devious. Devious. Yeah, both. Wow.
Wow. So then having to deal with their decisions they would make and then point fingers at me like, he did it. And I'm like, no, I'm the bad guy? What the heck is wrong with you people? You're grown people. Yeah, adults. Adults acting this way. Yeah, bad men.
Fully grown people. Yeah. I mean, so those were the moments that I was stretched.
I mean, stretched as stretched can get. Then having to deal with tough decisions. There were times students had to be expelled for bad behavior. And then there were times some of the board will just like, nowhere to be found. President Trump arrived to write after the 2020 elections. Where is the rest of the Republican party? Can't find them anywhere.
I understand how that man felt because I was like the same thing. Like where's everybody? Where are my people? It's time to do this. It's time to go to work. Where's my backup singers?
Shout out to Patti LaBelle. Where's my background? Oh my goodness. So those were the times that I was stretched very much. And at the moment I didn't realize what was happening. I was like, my goodness, I'm just not good enough. I'm just not good enough.
I'm just not good enough. And I would read books. I would talk to people. And what I didn't realize at the time was that was God's process of putting steel and concrete in me. That was God's way of getting me to trust Him. I mean, trust Him. Walking by faith and not by sight. It's not just a bunch of words on a page. It's not just a little, give me a book or some message or some podcast.
This was real. Like I have to trust God. I have to trust. Tomorrow at noon, the checks are going out. Tomorrow at six o'clock, there is a big meeting with the board and all the parents. I have to get up there and I have to face all these people for bad decisions they make. My dad even told me, before I became a princess, like, hey, just know you're not the retriever for all their previous back payments.
I didn't listen to my dad. I was like, oh, okay, I got it. Then realized, oh, wait, you owe money to all these people? I am the repo man along with being the principal?
Oh, golly. No, I don't want that job. If I truly understood that, I wouldn't have taken the job. Right. But is that what it became or do you think that's what it always was going to be? It was always going to be.
They knew what they were doing. So anyways, long story short, that's what really built that sense of tenacity in me and God was behind that. So I don't fear much anymore.
And it's not because I'm a fearless man or I'm your fearless leader or I am just, you know, just no, no, no. God used that time to help me. So now, when you say, what are we going to do? Like, we'll be okay. I've been through worse.
We'll be okay. So what God is doing with these people of Israel, I use the illustration to help our listeners understand is he was using that time to prepare them for the battle on the other side of the Jordan. Right. That's a great point because the battle is something that you still have to prepare for. You have to, it's that time isn't like, this isn't the battle.
You know what I'm saying? Like, that time you went through isn't the battle. That's preparing you for the battle. It wasn't the battle.
Right. It was preparing you for the battle. And it wasn't that the battle was going to be necessarily, all right, get ready because the battle's 10 times worse. It's just that now you're equipped to deal with it and you're equipped to overcome. I'm not saying for a moment that things are easy now.
No, it's not that. Things are tough, but I know what steps to take. I know how to refocus my eyes on Christ. I know that this is the word of God. I know what it means to not live by my emotions, but live by facts. Those kinds of things you don't just learn in a book or a message or a podcast.
You learn that by actually living it. So anyways, all that to say, God's people felt stuck, couldn't move forward, and it was out of fear. But maybe God is taking you through your Christian school experience.
Well, that's what I was going to ask. If there's people who are feeling stuck today, what would you tell them? I mean, look at how God is teaching you. Look at the experience that He's taking you through. It is not to let you fall apart. God doesn't do that. It is to build steel and concrete in you to help you trust Him more, to help you live more fearlessly because there are greater, bigger tasks that are coming. This is nothing compared to what God is going to use you to do. Now, if you had asked me that question in the middle of all that, I would be like, I'm not good enough for this. I'm like, every day I feel inadequate. I feel inadequate.
I don't know what I'm going to do. But God is God. God is just amazing.
That's right. He's just amazing. His word is so powerful.
Yeah. I love that you share that with our listeners because, I mean, just, just, you know, us sitting on this table and sitting in this room, we've had the chance to benefit from your experience going through that, being stretched because you can help us in those seasons when we are feeling stressed or when we are feeling like we are in the battle. You are there to refocus our mind. Like, hey, this isn't the battle. This is prepping you for the battle. This is God stretching you. And I love that that's a lesson that God's people learn in community because we need one another to help refocus our minds and our hearts when we start to lose our way or lose sight of what God is actually doing. Think about it. The battle was fought on Calvary.
That's right. Jesus fought the battle for us. He fought the battle against sin. He fought the battle against our flesh.
You know, all of that has been taken care of. Now we live not towards victory, but from victory. So don't think that I'm a loser.
I'm not good enough and all that. You know, that's the whole point we talked about in the previous shows of, you know, in this life you may lose battles. That's right. But does not mean that it's over. That's right. This is part of the journey.
100%. But he's won the victory. He has won the victory for us. Amen.
Amen. Such a great reminder for us. Make sure you guys join us tomorrow.
Same time, same station. We're going to be diving into another great topic here on The Clearview Today Show. Big thanks to Le Bleu Ultra Pure Water for sponsoring today's episode, The Water for You and Me in 2025. And don't forget you can support us by subscribing to the show on iTunes if you want to re-listen and you can support us financially at clearytodayshow.com. John, 2025.
Yes. What are you gifting our listeners with? Two days from now. It's coming up in two days. We're going live on the air from seven to nine. We're going to be doing our 24 hour prayer vigil.
You can call in two five two five eight two five zero two eight. We'll chat with you on the air. We'll pray for you.
It's going to be a great, great time. It's going to be 24 hours of uninterrupted prayer here at Clearview Church, but we'll be going live for those two hours, seven to nine p.m., two five two five eight two five zero two eight. You can also get Dr. Shah and Nicole's book, Thirty Days of Praying for America, Daily Devotions to Heal Our Nation. We talked about the second book in that series today, Thirty Days to a New Beginning, also by Dr. Shah and Nicole's also on Amazon. And you can get 30 days to a crisis too. You may as well just get all three. Go ahead and get all three.
Look, it's 2025. If you've only listened to the show once in your life, go ahead and get those three devotionals. It's going to change the way you do your morning devotion. So you can also get our debut album, Heaven Here and Now is available on iTunes and Spotify anywhere digital music is sold.
That's right. Lots of great content coming your way the rest of this week. Make sure you guys tune in. We love you guys. We'll see you tomorrow on Clearview Today.
