Happy Monday everybody and thank you for listening to The Clearview Today Show. Today's episode of Clearview Today and today's secret word is brought to you by Lebleu Ultra Pure Water. Unlike other bottled waters, Lebleu's Ultra Pure filtration system provides water that's free from contaminants and infused with only the essentials that your body needs. Make the smart choice today and experience the difference of Lebleu Ultra Pure Water. You can order online at Lebleu. That's L-E-B-L-E-L-E. E-U-dot-com and when you check out, use promo code today.
That's T-O-D-A-Y to get 10% off your next order. It'll save you money and it supports us here at The Clearview Today Show. 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. John Galantis.
You can find us online at Clearview Today Show dot 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 dot com. That's right. We got... You're good. We're tired. It's in our B. What is the line? What is the line?
What is the line? You can help us keep the show going. That's right. Yeah, you can help us keep the show going by supporting the show. You can share it on. Help us keep the conversation going by supporting the show. Share it online with your friends and your family.
Do you want to start over? That's right. You can help us support the show by sharing it online with your friends and family. Leave us a good five star review on iTunes or Spotify. Anywhere you get your podcasting content from.
Link is in the description below. And we are here live on the expo floor at NRB 2025 in good old Dallas, Texas. Everything's bigger in Texas. Although I think this is the smallest NRB I've ever been to.
No, I'm just joking. It's been a great, great NRB. We still got a couple of interviews left on the docket for today.
How's your NRB baby? We're wrapping up soon. So exciting. I mean, it's been so fast paced. There was one day where we were like, I feel like over the course of the day, it felt like three days rolled into one. Like, did we do that today? That's true.
And we did. There's so much to do, so many people to see, so many people to connect with. But the exciting thing is that everybody has the same goal, and that's to get the gospel out.
And whatever format people choose, whether it's printed media, tech companies, podcasts, radio shows, broadcasting, apps, app developers are here. The whole goal is to get the message of the gospel to the nation. A lot of times when you go to expo shows like these, it's a competition. Everybody's competing for the spotlight, competing for attention. Everybody's trying to get their message out or their vision out or their product out. What I love about NRB is that everybody's on the same side.
Everybody is a team. And even though you want your booth to be nice, you want people to come and see and hear your message. Really, ultimately, it's all the same message wrapped up into one. That's right.
That's the really cool thing about it. That's right. That's right.
Our verse of the day today is coming to us from Ecclesiastes chapter three, verse one, to everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven. Ain't that the truth? Yeah. If that's not the most encouraging thing that God has ever spoken into my life, because guess what? I don't want to hear that.
Yeah. I want what I want right now. My wife will tell you that, too. I want it right this exact moment. All the success from the Clearview Today show, all of the accolades, all of the things that God is bringing into our future.
I want it right now, the recognition, the money, the big life, the big house, the big white picket, all that stuff. God says, listen, there's a season. And right now, this is your season of learning. I think, you know, Dr. Shah said the same thing.
Everything that we do here, not just at NRB, but at Clearview Church in general, it's all in accordance with God's timing. That's right. And it's an important reminder that seasons change.
That's right. You know, the season that you're in, maybe it's an undesirable season. Maybe it's a difficult season.
Maybe you're going through a season of struggle or a season of grief. Seasons change. But God's faithfulness doesn't. God is faithful in every season. He's faithful to bring the colder air when winter hits. He's faithful to bring the flowers when springtime happens, summertime, the warm weather, harvest in the fall. God is faithful in and out of every season in life. So if you're in a difficult season, take heart because your season is about to change. You're speaking of difficult seasons in life. We're speaking with a young woman earlier who was going through some really difficult seasons, searching for answers, searching for answers. Her mom is actually from India.
She grew up in California, but she grew up under a lot of Hindu influence, a lot of Buddhist influence. And so was searching for answers. So we're going to take a quick break, have an interview with her. We'll be right back after this. Hey, Clearview 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 this 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. You give, you're becoming our partner. You're joining with us to spread God's truth and love to a hurting world. And your gift is a reflection of your faith. And believe it or not, it's going to make an eternal impact in someone's life.
That's right. And giving to the show is insanely easy. All you do is visit our website, clearviewtodayshow.com, and you can click on that little button that says Give Today. We are so encouraged by everyone who's already giving to the show. And if today's your first time listening, we want to let you know that we appreciate your partnership 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 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 are back here at NRB, Dr. Shah, NRB 2025, Dallas, Texas. Day two. But this is a show like number what, eight, nine. Like we've been doing a lot of shows on the floor. Some of the things, you know, you think just happened or just the opposite. They just happened.
It seems like they happened four days ago. Right. Right. Because your mind is it's just so, you know, we're so disheveled. But having so much fun meeting new people. Oh, yes.
You know, walking around and learning about different ministries, learning from them and then being on other people's show. I mean, you guys you guys have been phenomenal in setting all this up. So thank you. Oh, no, thank you.
Thank you. And I appreciate being able to be here. You know, NRB is one of those cool things because there's so much collaboration. I mean, it's pure collaboration.
That's all it really is. And so every single year that you go and that consistency of you going, you meet people that you have met in prior years and the connections get deeper. And then you're also meeting new people as well. And we met Veena yesterday. Dr. Shah, do you want to kind of explain how this happened?
Yes. So Veena came by our table right here. And I was talking to Ellie, I believe. And and next thing I know, we're talking about India.
We're talking about similar backgrounds and how she came to the Lord. So welcome to the show. Welcome. Welcome. Thank you so much.
Thank you so much for having me on the show. Absolutely. I'm so honored by the way I am.
I mean, you have such a phenomenal background and what a legend of your dad that. Yeah. Oh, and it's all Jesus, by the way. Everything we say, we glorify God.
Yes. That's that's why we're doing this. So Veena, introduce us and introduce our listeners to you. Tell us a little bit about your background and what it is that you do. So I'm an adjunct professor at Belmont University.
I teach theater. Wow. Yeah, that's awesome.
You're talking my language now. Our church has a very thriving theater ministry. That's really cool. I heard. Well, so I teach acting, acting for the camera and stage voice and speech and all that stuff.
So that's what initially brought me over here, but also because I have content as well, fitness content. So I have a twin sister, identical twin. Nice.
Oh, wow. And yeah, and we both came to the Lord around the same time within like a couple of weeks, basically. But we we heard from the Lord and we at that time, we didn't know was the Lord. We just thought it was the universe, right?
Because we were we grew up Sikh and then got into new age and then realized that the Lord was right there the whole time. You know, trying to say, hey, go this direction, go my follow me. Put down your everything. Yeah. Yeah.
Follow me. Yes. So that's you know, so that's what happened basically.
But a long story. Yeah. Well, for the benefit of our listeners, our viewers, Sikh religion coming from Punjab in India is a strong community, business minded community, very successful agrarian. But it's not just, you know, farming community.
I mean, there's pretty much talk about a top Air Force officials in India. Yeah. But Sikh community came to, I guess, North America. Right. Back in the late 1800s. Is that right? Yeah. Late 1800s.
First. So that was kind of part of my dad's, you know, lineage. My dad's family.
So his family came into the late into Canada, the late 1800s while his family also came with my grandpa and and they came into California the early 1900s. Wow. So, yeah, somewhere around 19. I don't know.
We're saying maybe 10, 12 teens. So we were one of the first on my dad's side of the family. My mom was born and raised in India. Right. And so she was full on Sikh.
And and so we went to the Gurdwara, which is the Sikh temple. Right. And we went there every week. But there were none back then.
I mean, not very many. This is in Canada. This is actually in California. I just have family that were in Canada. But my dad was born in Pasadena. So was his grandma. I mean, it was his mother. So my grandma was born there as well.
Yeah. And my dad actually is was a farmer. So we had that farming lineage. So I was actually very, very, you know, proud to be Sikh Punjabi. And I didn't think I was going to go into anything else because I said, oh, you know, we have great food. We have the great dance, the Bhangra dance and all that.
I'm not leaving that. Just just for my benefit, because I'm asking that of ignorance, is Sikh an offshoot of Islam or is it its own thing? It's its own separate religion. It's its own separate religion.
But I'll tell you, historically, it's really off. It's an it's an offshoot of Islam mixed in with Hinduism. That's right. So I would say that's how I would say now is the Sikhs would say, oh, no, we're not we are our own thing.
That's really how I got you. It's not like an accepted denomination. Right. Almost a reactionary movement initially because of the persecution of some of the people in that part of the country or part of the region, I guess. And so it came out of that.
But then now it's it's its own thing. You mentioned being Sikh Punjabi as well. What is Punjabi? That's a region of of North India. OK. And primarily a lot of like a lot of fertile land, a lot of farmers that live there.
So are from there. Is that one of the states of India? Yes. Yes. OK.
Yes. OK. I'm with you.
I'm with you. And and it's so, you know, when people think like, well, what what do the Sikhs look like or what are they how do we know? So it's the guys with the turbans. Right. That's my family.
OK. I had a lot of friends growing up who were from the Sikh background. Yes.
Great guys are still friends to this day. But your testimony is very unique because, yes, people do come to know Christ from, say, Islam or Hinduism or Buddhism. It's rare that you hear that they come to Christ from Sikhism. Yes. Yeah. How how did that happen for you? So that's it was a bit of a journey.
Right. We grew up in the Gurudwara. But then eventually, which is that Sikh temple. Then eventually we you know, my mom started I I she started feeling that there is not a this wasn't fulfilling. So I think she was looking and seeking and searching for something more.
It's very interesting because she grew up in India, so you would think she would be that's what I was inclined to hang on to her heritage or her faith or whatever. But God was working there. God was working there. And she also I think she just thought, you know, maybe this was the American way or maybe she thought there's got to be something more.
And America has so much more to offer. And then she so she was seeking as well, seeking. I was going to make a joke earlier. She was seeking. I was like, let me be respectful. Yeah.
But what ended up happening is that we didn't grow up with anything really solid. At one point, my mom actually became a Jehovah's Witness. Oh, wow.
So, yes, she thought maybe that was the the route we didn't we left that fairly quickly. Praise God. Yeah. Yeah.
Yes. But I went back into my my Indian roots. So I went back to this to Sikhism and I went back and I also was I really loved the hit loved.
That's the past tense, the Hindu faith, because it was what I thought was a religion of tolerance. What how old were you about this time or what year was this? That was like I think I was in my early 20s. OK. And I got, you know, much more into into everything that was sort of new age. Gotcha.
And that involved everything that was Indian religions and even Islam, definitely Buddhism. And so that was my life. And you're living in California at that time. Oh, yeah. OK. Well, I was born and raised. OK. Gotcha.
Gotcha. Fertile ground for the new ages. Eastern heritage and all that coming together. You say it's all was like this all encompassing. Absolutely.
All encompassing. And in fact, I, I got into even being a Bharatanatyam dancer. I was a Bharatanatyam dancer, which is a it's a dance, classical dance in the South Indian region that reveres the Hindu gods. Oh, yes. And I taught.
Yes, absolutely. And I taught yoga. I and I also did Kathak dancing as well.
My sister did Odissi and Kuchipudi. So those are the two other ones. By the way, these dances are not easy. Yeah, they're not.
It's not like just getting on the floor and dancing. Yeah. Yeah. So many very skilled, very cool.
Some of the girls would take, none of the guys, some of the girls would take those lessons. And it was like, wow. Yeah.
It really requires a lot of skill. But I, I loved it at the time. And I love I just love movement anyway. So anything was, you know, I was welcoming that. Yeah. But I so I wasn't about to let go of my faith, of my heritage and heritage and Indianness or the culture.
I loved everything about it until I didn't. What do you think brought that on? That's so. So this is what really spawned it. It was a, I was a psychic. And that's because in India, everybody is a psychic.
Everybody. Yeah. They're just like, okay, you go to Jyotish and okay, what is this a good day to film a Bollywood movie? Or is it a good day to get married or whatever? Yeah.
Start a business. And it's very, very, it's very much part of the culture. So I was, you know, I was like, yeah, well, everybody does it. And so even my family members would come up to me and say, hey, what do you think? And, you know, I said, well, the gods would say this. That leads me to a great question, because I think even within Christianity, there are sects of Christians who are like, I think the Bible is good and I think it's helpful. I just don't believe that it really happened.
You know what I mean? It's a myth that I think helps humans. And I think there's even people who are Christians that say that.
What is the ratio? Do you think that people who practice Hinduism feel the same way where it's like, I don't really in my heart believe that these gods exist and that these demons exist and that all of like, like, were you more in that or were you more like, no, I really believe this stuff. This is actually real life. Like when you were operating as a psychic. Yes. OK, so when I was operating as a psychic, it was yeah, that was just part of the thing. And I thought that I was getting the information from good sources. In fact, I would say, you know, I want to get, you know, the positive source, you know, give me that information. Right.
Right. So then what happened was my sister, she got pregnant and she had a child at, this is my twin sister. She she had a boy that was a year and a half old somewhere around there. And he started seeing the demonic realm. He started saying, yeah, wow. So it kind of surprised him. It actually scared him. And what's that?
And we kept hitting a brick wall and it wouldn't this wouldn't go away. I went to the people in Islam. In fact, I went to I was in the Middle East because my sister and I are performers.
And so we we had a show out in the Middle East and we said, yeah, maybe we should try to see contact somebody out there and see if they can help us. And we ran across a Muslim woman. She was so, so nice.
Beautiful woman and her son. And they said, yeah, we can help you. Absolutely. We can help you. You know, and my sister freaked out.
She said, I don't know if this is the right way, but obviously that didn't help. Because it just stirred up a lot of things. And that's probably the demonic realm is like going, oh, wow, you know, we got them. Yeah, we got them. The world, you know, we got Christians have such a limited understanding of this. Yeah.
Even in our church, often when I'm preaching, when I talk about Satan or his realm, I often stop and I say, pray for me. Right. That's right. Because any time you begin to expose what is, you know, the enemy's way or tactics or his future, what's coming, we do it with humility. We do it hiding behind Christ. Right.
We do it standing on his word. Right. Because, yeah, the enemy is powerful.
Even though his power has been broken. Right. Right. Right.
Even though we know that ultimately his judgment is coming, he still is roaming about. Oh, yeah. Trying to steal, kill and destroy. Absolutely.
Like a roaring lion. So we have to be very careful how we approach that world. That's true. You said before, like, you know, us in a Western world, we don't have quite the same concept of, you know, the demonic or that world. But growing up in India and, you know, you can attest to this as well from your story.
That world is very much real. And we don't need to treat it lightly. Exactly. And also just that once we know we have that authority, it's like we have no, we should have no fear at all. Right.
Because we have such a powerful God. That's right. But my journey continued. So I went to my own people, Sikhism, and they were like, we don't believe in that. So I had to move away from them. Hinduism, they thought this was my karma. And even though I thought, well, that didn't feel right to me because I, I've helped many people, including my family members. And I, you know, I didn't intend to do anything wrong or anything.
It just didn't feel right. I went to my Buddhism, which I, I was actually taking this workshop that they, they incorporate a lot of Buddhism in their healing methods. So, and they didn't, that didn't help. They said, get some garlic, put it near the, near the windows.
There was some rice and beans on the floor. This and that. I was like, nothing, but believe me, nothing, none of that helped. But you did it? I did. I mean, look, that's what you tried.
I tried it. I was like, okay. And then during one, and I, and as well as other things too, but then I went to that workshop that where the woman was, there was a woman there at the workshop and she came up to me and said, Hey, I don't believe in all this. I believe in Jesus because I'm Catholic, which was, they believe in Jesus, you know, the Catholics. So she was, I believe in Jesus. And I remember her, her name was Odette. And, and I said, Oh, okay.
She's one of them, but it's okay. I'll try this Jesus stuff. All right.
No problem. Went home and I talked to my sister. I said, I got to tell you what happened. So when I named, when I said the name of Jesus, it was so powerful without Jesus and everybody else. I felt like, you know, my hands were really dirty and I'm trying to wash my hands. Scrub it all clean.
Yeah. But Jesus was so powerful and clean. It was like washing my hands with a fire hose.
It was so powerful. I said, I'm afraid of that. It's like, it's weird. Really weird. She said, you're not going to believe this, but I had just before you got here, I had a vision of a cross.
Isn't that crazy? So she said, I think we're supposed to go to a church, a Christian church. And I said, okay, I guess we're going to go to this Christian church. So we went to the nearest Christian church, which was less than a mile from my place.
Prior to this, had you been in a church at all? No, not really. I mean, I had, but it was like, you know, not really. It was like visiting something foreign or something like that. Yeah. And I'd gone to the Jehovah's Witness, but I didn't have a great feeling. Not the same.
I'm with you. They denied Jesus being the son of God. I mean, the second person on the Godhead, part of the Trinity. Yeah, exactly.
Exactly. And they obviously just thought he was a prophet or some normal whatever. So I went there to this one church.
It was actually called Shepherd of the Hills and was in Porter Ranch. I'm doing a little shout out to them. But I spoke with a woman there who was the leader of the prayer team. And she talked with me and mentored me and let me know how accurate the Bible was, how many prophecies were fulfilled by one man, one God, Jesus. And I said, what, what, what?
How many? She said to have eight of those prophecies fulfilled. It's like one to, what did she say? A hundredth of a million, something like that. It's an astronomical number.
Astronomical number of eight of them. And he fulfilled all of them. That's right. Yes.
Yes. So I said, wow, that's pretty cool. And she also gave me some other documentation information that said, that supported that this is real. And she said, well, are you, do you want to, I mean, she didn't force me. She said, do you want to accept Jesus in your life? And I said, yeah, sure.
I'll try it. And it was like the best decision. Immediately afterwards I got baptized. It was like a month later. I was such a new Christian though.
Thinking about how, how some of the things I was thinking of and how, how stupid. What year was this, Veena? What year was this?
Do you remember? This was 13 years ago. Okay. Wow.
I only, I've only been a Christian for 13 years. Wow. That's awesome. That's amazing. What a testimony. 2012. 2012.
Yeah. And never looked back all the, everything. This is like, I'm really truncating this story, but no, no demons in my house anymore. Amen. Praise God. Done. Praise God.
It was gone. And, and so, and the other thing too is I have no fear. Amen. I have no fear. I was like before, afraid of everything. No, I'm no fear. Well, you have perfect love now and perfect love casts out fear. Cast out fear.
That's very, very true. We've got about three minutes left in the show. What are you, what are you doing now? Tell, tell us about a little bit of what you're doing now. Okay. So, I still teach acting and et cetera.
I'm also a fitness buff. Okay. I love it. Yeah.
I feel that God has given us a great temple to take care of it with good food and exercise. And I've always felt that way. So that's, that's basically, yeah. Amen. I love it.
I love it. God uses our gifts, our talents, our experiences. That's right. But this time for his glory. That's right.
For his glory. I still dance. I love it. I can now put worship music on and dance to it.
That's awesome. So cool how God, you know, weaves those desires into us and those natural talents and gifts. But then, I mean, your story shows us that those can be redeemed for his kingdom. I mean, we don't have to use those for our own glory or for the world's glory.
They can be redeemed for the kingdom. Someone told me, I don't know who that someone is. I know who that someone is, but do you dance for Michael Jackson? I have.
Wow. I have. I've done so, so many music videos like Michael Jackson, Ricky Martin. What Michael Jackson video are you in?
Black and white. Really? I'm one of those. No way. Yes. I love that video.
You have to look for it. Wow. I'm like. In there. All right. Wow.
It's white. That's awesome. Yeah. Yeah. It was fun. Yeah.
And I did, my sister and I did a lot of talk shows and we did a lot of, you know, sitcoms and a lot of, yeah, a lot of music videos and, yeah, and even like Tom Petty and Aerosmith and that was pre-Christian. So, you know, again, I had a whole different view. Perspective on life. Yeah.
But there, it's okay because that was my journey. Right. That's true. Yeah. And God's using it now and for his glory. Yeah.
For his glory. I believe God's going to use you in powerful ways. Amen. Amen. Thank you. I believe it.
I receive it. Amen. Amen. In just a few minutes, maybe Veena and then Dr. Shah, what would you say to someone who is listening to the show who maybe is in a similar situation as you are and grew up differently, didn't grow up in the Christian faith, but is beginning that process of questioning, beginning that process of like, maybe there is something to this Jesus thing.
What advice would you give them? I would say, do the first thing that I did, which is, all right, if you're there, God, show me. Yeah. And you may be shown a million times before you finally get it. But, so like, again, so I truncated the story because I was like, okay, this is the way.
And I'm like, no, it's not. Okay. This is the way. I'm not sure if I heard correctly. So yeah, that's the first thing.
And every time, every time I've said that, or every time people have done that, they are revealed that information. And so you just have to listen and just go and be really open. Yeah. Yeah. I wholeheartedly agree with Veena. I mean, that's, you know, go see what God has in store for you.
Just try Jesus. Okay. Yes. Yes. Absolutely. I would also add, Christianity is not a Western faith. That's right. This was not created by, if I can say it, white people.
I absolutely agree with you. I used to think that. Yeah. And there's people that think that, and they say, yeah, Christianity is like a Western faith.
No, I'm from the East. Not true. Not true. Christianity.
Jesus was from the East. That's right. That's exactly right. Right. That's what it all began.
A hundred percent. And so, you know, come, come to Christ and see the changes you make in your life. Amen. Amen.
Absolutely. Amen. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
So encouraging to us. You guys enjoy the show right in and let us know, 252-5825028. You can visit us online at clearviewtodayshow.com. Don't forget, you can sponsor us financially on that same website. Big thanks to all of our sponsors for making today's episode possible. If you haven't done so already, make sure you subscribe to the show on iTunes. If you want to re-listen or share it with a friend. Lots of great NRB content coming your way the rest of this week. We love you guys. tomorrow, I'll clear you today.
