Dr. Shah's Story (Pt. 2)

Hello listeners, today is Tuesday, October 25th, 2022, and this is Clearview Today. I'm Ryan Hill.

And I am John Galantis. And you're listening to Clearview Today with Dr. Abaddon Shah, the daily show that engages mind and heart for the gospel of Jesus Christ. You can find us online at ClearviewTodayShow.com, and if you have a question for Dr. Shah, anything you'd like to write in and suggest we talk about, send us a text at 252-582-5028.

You can follow Dr. Shah on his website at AbaddonShah.com. And you can support us here at Clearview Church at ClearviewTodayShow.com. There's a donation option to give there. And every donation that you make goes to not only supporting this radio show, but supporting our countless other ministries for building the kingdom of God. We're very grateful for the donations that we've already received. Thank you so much for supporting our radio ministry.

That's right. Thank you for being with us as we embark on this journey together. Amen. Before we get started, we want to remind you about the upcoming elections.

The statewide general election is coming up on November the 8th, 2022, and you're voting for one U.S. Senate seat, 14 U.S. House seats, several state offices, including General Assembly, Supreme Court, and Court of Appeals, local judges and prosecutors, and county offices like sheriff and county commissioners. That's right. And we want to keep talking about this. We want to keep bringing it up at the start of every episode because the moment we stop, the moment that we just don't talk about it anymore, we let it drop. That's the moment battles lost and we are in a battle. We absolutely are.

So we want to just keep talking about it at the beginning of every episode. And if you ever think that one vote doesn't matter in a sea of all these millions of votes, I would say take a look at some of the elections that have recently passed. Your vote absolutely matters. Absolutely. Absolutely. What we're saying is get out there and vote.

That's right. Inform yourself. Get out there. Vote your convictions. And we'll keep that conversation going with Dr. Sean a little bit. But before we do, John, I'm smelling like some, some coffee happening.

Yes. What do you have in your cup this morning? I've got nice, uh, what's the name of our coffee brand that we get the Philadelphia coffee.

What's it called? Uh, New Holland, New Holland, New Holland. Yeah. I've got New Holland coffee with blueberry cream, blueberry cobbler creamer from Walmart. You've got blueberry cobbler creamer from Walmart. Guess what? I sure don't. I sure don't. Look at that. You can't see it and you can't hear it in the, uh, radio podcast, but I've got an empty cup.

But the point is you could do, you didn't hear a splash of coffee because there's nothing in there. Walmart keeps coming up with these awesome coffee, like creamer brand, like flavors, like blueberry cobbler. They've got a, I think they've got like a cheesecake or whatever, and then they take them away. Why is blueberry creamer limited time blueberries year round? All of the good ones are limited edition. Why the blueberry cobbler creamer, for those of you who have never tried this, it is one of the most delicious coffee.

It's absolutely to die for and I, you can't find it anywhere. It's gotten to the point where I have to hoard it. I have to hoard it in my house and drink it out of the bottle. So I'm not, I'm not gonna lie. We've purchased like three and four bottles of blue, I saw your wife, I saw your wife going Snapchat.

She had like five or six. I was like, leave some for the rest of us, Elizabeth. Why are you doing that? So Walmart executives, if you're listening to this for some reason, please make blueberry cobbler creamer a, uh, an ongoing flavor. Here's the thing. Don't make it limited. Here's the thing. Just, just, I don't even know what to say to get through to these guys. Just make more of it. You're hurt.

Yeah. I'm hurt. You're personally wounded. I'm taking it personal because it's so good. You get addicted to the stuff.

It is very good. And then they take it away to like reel you in. It's a power play.

This is a power move. I don't know. And I don't like that.

Walmart already owns everything. Why did they need to, why do they need to dominate me specifically? I don't know. I don't know what to say. Whatever, man. That that's going to be my last minute advice is drink blueberry creamer, but uh, oh, you can't.

Oh, you can't. Yep. Well, blueberry creamer, cobbler creamer, it's got a long name, but I'll try to put it aside. The scandal creamer scandal aside, we've got a great episode today. Dr. Shah is going to be in the studio in a little bit.

And you know, we talked about his story, but it was really his dad's story and the foundation and what led him to not only ministry, but what led him to the States and kind of what set up the story, uh, for his life. Right. So we're going to hear more about that today. I'm interested because, you know, I've been here at Clearview for 10 years.

I think you've been here for nine years and it's just, it's just interesting to see what steps were taken to bring us to this place. Yeah. You know, when I got here, Clearview was already well established. So it's, it's going to be really interesting to kind of talk about that and see how all that happened.

And I think it won't, I mean, we definitely will not have time to cover every single aspect of what made Clearview what it is today. Yeah. That's a long story. Right. But it will be interesting to kind of get that foundation for future episodes.

Yep. I'm excited. We're going to take a quick break before we bring Dr. Cheyenne to talk about it.

Again, any suggestions or questions you guys have, text us at 252-582-5028, or visit us online at clearviewtodayshow.com. We'll be right back. What will people say about you when the crisis is over? Will they say that you lived out what you proclaimed all your life? Will they say that your actions matched your confession?

Ultimately, what will God say about you? Not only that, but as a Christian, are you being a lighthouse for others during the storm? Dr. Abedan Shah and his wife Nicole have composed a book of 30 daily devotions to help you navigate your faith through whatever crisis you may be facing. The book is called 30 Days Through Crisis, daily devotions to navigate your faith. Our prayer is that as you read this book, God will guide and strengthen you through His word into the image of His Son by the Holy Spirit.

It's 30 days through a crisis, and you can pick up your copy on Amazon right now. Let us know how it's helped you by emailing us at info at clearviewbc.org, and don't forget, you can also support what we're doing at Clearview by visiting us at clearviewbc.org forward slash give. Thanks for listening. Now back to the show. Come back to Clearview Today with Dr. Abedan Shah, the daily show that engages mind and heart for the gospel of Jesus Christ.

You can find us online at clearviewtodayshow.com, or you can send us a text at 252-582-5028. Dr. Shah is back in the studio with us today. Dr. Shah, how are you doing today?

I'm doing very well. This is our second episode. Second episode. Yeah, I believe back at it again. And if you're new joining us, if you didn't listen to all one of the other episodes, if you're unfamiliar with Dr. Shah's work. A huge episode back at this point. Yeah.

Listen, we're banking them. If you're unfamiliar with Dr. Shah's work, he's a PhD in New Testament textual criticism professor at Carolina University, author, full time pastor, and the host of today's show. Absolutely. And as we're, as we're going through this early voting season, we're trying to keep it on the airwaves so people get out there and they vote.

So before we jump into the topic for today, Dr. Shah, do you have anything that you want to remind the listeners of or any encouragement you want to give them? Oh, yes. Head toward the elections. Absolutely. If you've been here yesterday, please go out there, vote your conscience, vote your biblical convictions. It is so important to do that.

Now I came to this country when I was 17 years of age and in time I became an American citizen. And it's a great privilege to participate in the workings of this nation and electing leaders and I would say electing leaders who will follow God. Yeah. That's what we need in our nation. Absolutely.

Absolutely. Make sure you get out there and vote. If you have any questions about how you can stay informed, you can always reach out to us.

Again, that number is 252-582-5028 or you can send us an email to contact at ClearviewTodayShow.com. On yesterday's episode, we spent some time talking about your background and even your dad's background, his story growing up, converting from being a Muslim to being a Christian and his story going through seminary. My question that I'd like to know before we dive in, I want to get to your story, but what was going on with your mom during that time? What's her background? What led her to the point where she and your dad met?

Oh, wow. Well, my grandfather on my mom's side, we're talking about a whole different group of people. So his name was Thomas Franklin.

So a whole different background there. Name sounds very familiar to me. We named our last one, our last son, Thomas. Thomas Franklin, actually.

Thomas Franklin Shaw. And so he worked for the Railways in India and he had moved to that town to lead the local shed there and to be the head over that. And he was also a born again believer, so he was helping lead the church since they didn't have a pastor.

Oh, wow. And the church was very small, you know, 50, 60 people if that, and contentious, fighting with each other. And my grandfather was the lay pastor of that church. And he didn't want to be. He was done. He was coming close to the time of retiring. He had done that for maybe a year or so, right?

Just kind of filling in. And he was like, no, we need a seminary guy, we need somebody to come and lead these people. And he had written that letter that I talked about yesterday. So how on board, talking about your mom now, how on board was she with sending her 17-year-old to the United States? Oh, she agreed with my dad that I needed to go and study the Bible for a couple of years. Your brother was already here, right? So it wasn't like that big of a shell shock for her to send you across the seas. You're right. I mean, it was not, but still we were a close family and she cried and I didn't cry.

I hate to admit that. I was just like, I'm ready to go, I'm ready to see the world. But I had no clue what I was doing. So you land in America, the year is 1991.

That's right. What is your first thought? You step off the plane, you start looking around to see this is America. What do you... Oh, I was in Atlanta. So coming out of Atlanta airport and driving through downtown, it was nothing like it is today. Right.

Since the Olympic games, it's grown like crazy. And my brother took me to Gwinnett Mall in Atlanta. And so I walked in and I walked in by the food court. And the first thing you see when you walk into the mall, I don't know if it's the same way now, was McDonald's.

That's right. So I was going to say, I bet it's a McDonald's. McDonald's. As soon as you walk into the food court, there's a golden energy right there. Great.

The first thing you see in America, the big golden opportunity for that. And so I, my brother got me in the line and said, go and order. And I had never ordered food that way. Not only that, but think about this, like McDonald's name was kind of subdued. It's kind of got the coffee shop vibe in the nineties.

It's like vivid bright punch of color. And I'm standing in front looking at, I don't even know what to look for. Oh my goodness. We don't have menus like that. Now today, India is different. Not that it's more advanced or less.

It's just different. But back then, so I'm standing, I'm looking, who do I tell? What do I want? What, where do you find? What is there? And there are a lot of things on the board. So all these things, I mean, imagine somebody who's never seen that is looking at these menus. So I'm like, I don't know.

Tell me what I need to get. Yeah. He's just fine. I mean, just right there. Just tell him that you want the cheeseburger. I say, okay, I want the cheeseburger.

So it's so that I remember, wow. You know, the first time just completely confused. I don't even know what to do. I just came in this package.

Yeah. I said, what do you do with this? You open it and eat it.

I said, oh, because in India, I just ate rice and curry. And now somebody's giving me something, you know, paper wrappers, like a present. What is the clown? It was yellow. It was yellow.

Yellow color. Wow. Paper wrap food inside. Yeah.

I mean, I'm like, where is the curry? What is, okay. This is how it goes.

Wow. And I say that because the next week I wrote a letter to my dad and I said, I went to this place called McDonald's and it was amazing. They have shoe store. They had watches.

They had clothes. They had so many stores in McDonald's. Oh, so McDonald's to you was the whole mall.

The whole mall. I got you. This McDonald cat is rich. So then the one day, you know, I mean, a few days later I figured that I was like, oh, so this is a restaurant. Right. Okay. That happened to be in the mall and there are many of these all over the country. See the whole thing of these, these, these chain restaurant is an, is an American thing. I didn't know that. Wow. Yeah.

This, this one restaurant exists in this one place. Now how, how long had your brother been in the States before you? Uh, two years. But then again, he was also in England two years prior to that.

So he had already left the house years ago. What was, what did you buy in the mall? Did you, did he take you on a shopping spree? He did, but that day it wasn't that much.

I just ate, walk around a few minutes and I'm like, man, this is an amazing place. He said, okay, it's time to go home. We still about 45 minutes.

We have to drive up in the mountains. So I didn't hear all that. I just said, okay. I got to the college. He took me to the dorm. I was tired, jet lagged. Next morning I woke up expecting to see skyscrapers outside the window.

It was nothing but woods. Really? Wow. This is not what I had in mind. Yeah. So what is this? Oh, we're out in the country.

This is in the mountains. Okay. I said, where is the big city?

We saw yesterday. Oh, that's 45 minutes South. Huh? So we're not in the city.

He said, no, you're not in the, was it an idea? Like America was one big city. Yeah.

I expect a New York city. Okay. Okay.

Kind of like Coruscant style where everything's just one city. Yeah. I got you. I got you. I got you. You're at the, the college.

Yes. What are you there to study? I, I was still following my dad's instructions two years. So I said, let me find the most secular thing at this Christian college to do and the most secular field that was there was broadcast journalism. So that's what I was going to ask because I knew you had a background. Your bachelor's degree is in broadcast journalism.

How do you go from wanting to go to med school to broadcast journalism? You don't. Okay. There was no connection.

That was the closest I could find to being a secular field. Got it. Okay.

So I took that. I said, okay, I'll do broadcast journalism in the crazy though, how you're in broadcast now. Like, like, we're literally doing that.

We are broadcasting currently. Currently. Yeah.

That's insane. But see, God is sovereign. God knows everything and he knows us better than we know ourselves, right?

We think we want something and we want it so badly, but he knows us as a parent knows a child that I can't give you that. Yeah. You know, like your little son, he loves to get candy bars. Oh yes. I want more candy. And I can imagine nothing but candy day in, day out. I mean, he won't survive.

Not at all. So you know better. And you know, we're to say, no, we're not going to have that here.

Try green beans or chicken or try whatever you're feeding him. So also God with us, he let me do that right in the process. He knew this day would come. That's true. That's very true. So I mean, I'm loving this. Yeah. Oh yeah.

It's amazing. How clear view? How did you end up here at Clearview Church? Clearview came much, much later.

Okay. I finished my college, but prior to finishing my college, I met my wife Nicole. And she was also a pastor's kid. And she had vowed never to marry a pastor.

Well, oh, wait a minute. She was also a missionary kid. And so we met in college and then I wasn't going to ministries.

That was the problem. But she had one stipulation, which is you have to meet my dad. If you want to date me any further, you have to meet my dad. Typically those would be words of death right there.

That would be the end. And I was like, I don't know how this is going to work. And not that I don't want to meet your family, but I'm from India. Your family's from here.

I don't know how that's going to be. So I was very apprehensive. I said, okay, we'll meet whatever you want to do. And her dad had come. He was about to take over a pretty large church in this town, same town where we were going to college. And she said, he's going to be in the cafeteria.

I want you to come meet him. And I did show up. I looked through the window, a big tall man sitting next to this girl. And I said, oh, no, I'm not going in. Not for me. You didn't go in? You didn't go in.

Not for me. Immediately. I left. And so she called me up. She said, what happened? Where were you? We were waiting.

This ain't going to work. I got to go. I just, I had so much to do. She said, well, you know, I told you if we're going to keep dating, you have to meet my dad. I said, oh my goodness.

Okay. So I did. And I remember meeting him the very first time he came to her dorm and he was there waiting for me. And I walked up there. And sure enough, he was big and tall and he reached over and shook my hand. And I can't explain to you in that very instant, I knew that this man I'd never met in my life really loved me.

He had just that spirit. Wow. And it changed my life.

I tell Nicole all the time before I fell in love with her, I fell in love with her dad. Wow. Wow. He was a pastor in town. He had just come as a pastor in town. And so I sat under his preaching for a couple of years, you know, and Nicole and I got married. He married us.

But if he wasn't in my life, I wouldn't be sitting here today. So that's kind of what changed your mind to get you into the ministry. Yes. Wow. Absolutely.

Wow. What was that moment where you realize maybe this is what God is calling me to do? God was speaking to my heart. I felt that calling years earlier, but it didn't go anywhere. Until one Sunday morning, I was listening to him preach and it came just as that voice again that this is what you're called to do. And I was a little scared when that voice came and I was like, wow, no, I don't think I can ever live up to him or my dad. And so I told my wife a few days later at the time we were married, this is 1995, I had just turned the light off in our bedroom, just turned the light off.

And I said, you know, I think maybe God's called me to be a pastor. Oh no. Bad move. Before you hear Nicole's, before you hear Nicole's response, I want to know what's going through your mind at this point. What do you think? How do you think she's going to respond? She had told me several times, I don't want to marry a pastor and I didn't or something like that.

So I'm like, ah, this may not go well. So immediately the light on her side of the bed came on. Oh no, she sat up on her elbow and she said, no, I said we, I was not going to marry one and I haven't. Right. Good night.

And she didn't speak to me for a couple of days. Ooh. So. Hate to hear that.

I just hate. At the end of the couple of days, he said, well, maybe you need to go talk to my dad then. And I did. And he talked to me. And of course he gave me the same line that Spurgeon would give to his students or to people who would tell me, tell him that they want to go in the ministry, which is if there's anything else you can do and be happy, go do that. And he said the same thing to me. And I came back to him a week or two later and said, I believe this is what God has called me to do.

I didn't think this was it, but it is. Wow. And he said, I'm so excited. I'm so happy.

And he was very happy. So what, what prompts the transition from Georgia to North Carolina? Well initially I wanted to go where he went to seminary, which was New Orleans.

Okay. And, um, but, and we went there, uh-huh. He and I went, went down to New Orleans. To New Orleans. Yes.

Yes. We stayed on campus there, tour the campus, his old alma mater, even went down French Quarter, Bourbon Street and all that. He showed me the old stomping grounds where they would evangelize in a street evangelism and all that. And at the end of that, he said, what do you want to do? I said, well, I don't know. I think this place is nice. He said, why don't you try Southeastern?

I think you will like that much better. Okay. In Wake Forest.

Okay. And I didn't know where Southeastern was. I didn't know there was any of these seminaries. And so we came here in the, in the, in those winter of 1991, 1995, and it was snow everywhere. We came toward the campus and I realized this was it.

I must've, that must've been beautiful Southeastern's campus with snow everywhere. Wow. And, and then we moved here in the summer of 1996. Okay. Is that when you started pastoring?

No, that's when I began my masters. Okay. And I, then a few months later after that, we started attending a church in Raleigh and then started serving as a volunteer pastor at a retirement home.

Okay. And that was a wonderful time. Love that, that time of ministering to those people. And they were so sweet to us and to Rebecca. And then in 1998, a church in Henderson, the pastor's wife used to work with Nicole at a daycare center.

She told Nicole, if I would like to come and be a youth pastor, they would, they would love to have me. So I came. That's how it began.

Wow. And a year later, the pastor went back home to take care of his family in Georgia and the church called me. So that begins this period of rapid transition in your life. This is kind of where once you are, once you're at clear view at the time, it was, it was, it was tabernacle.

It was tabernacle Baptist church. Yes. Okay.

So this, so this really marks the beginning of your, of your ministry here. Yes. And, and talk about that. I mean, just talk about how like that, that, that explosive change in a very short amount of time. Yeah. So explosive, I guess, in a way, because our family had grown now, Abigail was born in 1999.

That's your second daughter, your second daughter. And I was getting ready to start my PhD work. I was doing really well in academics. And so I was writing articles for the, for the journals and, and studying for the entrance exam for PhD.

Right. So it was a lot of exciting things happening. And then the church called me to be the pastor and, and when we came here, I had a lot of hopes, a lot of visions and dreams of what are we going to do and how are we going to reach people and on and on. And realize very quickly that that was not the vision of the church at the time. Very sweet, very loving people, very kind to us and still are to this day, but at the time they had lost all hope, I guess you could say, because people would come and promise them. And then once seminary was done, they would move along. So they're looking at me as you're going to move on.

So why should we do anything else? And it hurt me. It bothered me. And I even called my dad and told him by this time, Nicole's dad had passed away with cancer. And I told, but he had told me, stay there, stay at that church.

And my dad told me the same thing when I told him, I think we're going to leave or move or something. He said, stay there and preach like you're preaching to thousands of people, 5,000 people. I said, dad, I don't think you realize this is a very small church, barely 10 to 15 people.

They're very sweet. Many of them are elderly, so they can't really hear me. It's a massive building that can seat about 500 people. And they're all sitting on the same place at the same place they sat since they were kids. So they're all scattered over the building. Sometimes I have to go, oh, no, wait, there's someone sitting there in the corner.

So it looks super empty. Yeah. Wow.

And so they can hear me and the other half can't understand my accent. Oh, no. Oh, no. I don't know what I'm doing here. I really, I don't think I'm doing them any service. And he said, just listen to me, just stay there and serve God and see what God will do. That was a pivotal moment because I feel like that really is even still your mindset today. This is where God has planted me. I'm not going on. I feel like your dad before you, I'm not going off looking for better pastures. I'm not going off and getting this greener grass mindset. Well, through the years, through those early years, we were looking for greener grass, to be honest.

We were like, had our eyes open here and there. And then churches would call and want to set up a appointment, but we never had peace about it. It never would go through. Wow. And I never went for an interview.

I never went for a single interview with anybody. And because I just knew deep within that this is the place, but you know how you are at the moment you think, Oh yeah, let me try to try that. And so long story short, God gave us a confirmation to stay here.

And once we burned our ships, I should say, and said, this is it, this is home, this is life, this is where we're going to live the rest of our lives. So much burden was lifted. Yeah. Wow. What a testimony.

I mean, just carrying that from, from your dad into your ministry and how we've been able to see Clearview grow and just expand and the reach and the influence that you've had over these years and that you're continuing to have even through this, this show. Yeah. Absolutely.

That's unbelievable. My question is, what would you, if you had to put it into like one word or maybe even just like a very short amount of words, how would you describe the last 24 years you've been here? I know that's kind of asked you to take a lot of history and truncate it, but I would use the word commitment. Yeah. You have to be committed to the task, whether there's 10 people sitting there or just two people there, you go prepared to give the message, the Bible study, the service, the worship, whatever it is, as if that whole stadium is packed because you're ultimately doing it unto the Lord.

Now, of course, I had to learn a lot of things, learn technology, learn how to publicize things, learn how to manage a church, how, how to get involved in the community, evangelism, discipleship, small, I mean, all these things came, but I won't say that that is it. Right. All those things are important. We're using worship with you. We haven't, we had dynamic student ministry with you, Ryan. But at the end of the day, if we were not committed, how can any of those things come to pass? Right. So trusting the Lord. And when God says, this is where I want you to be and do what I'm telling you to do, to obey and be committed is the key. Wow. And look how he's proven himself faithful through your obedience. Oh, amen. Amen.

Absolutely. If you guys enjoyed today's episode, you'd like to learn more about Dr. Shiloh and more about his ministry here at Clearview. You can find him on his blog at abaddonshaw.com. You can connect with us again through that number, 252-582-5028. And then make sure you visit clearviewtodayshow.com. You can connect with us there. You can, again, you can give, and when you give, it's supporting our show here.

It's supporting your ministry, Dr. shots is supporting our ability to reach others for the kingdom of God. And you have a chance to partner with us in that. We really want to stress that it's a partnership. We're coming up on the end of the show.

John, do you have any last minute advice for us? Oh man. Um, yeah, I do. I don't. Hang on. Okay. I got one.

I got one. Last minute advice. Eat your scrambled eggs with ketchup. Eat your scrambled eggs with ketchup.

Okay. It's, there's a sweet savoriness to it that I feel like is just completely underrated and you'll be really glad you did. You'll be really glad you did. If you like it, if you try and like it, text us, tell them the number one more time.

Get to five zero two eight. If you enjoyed today's topic, follow along with Dr. Shaw on his blog, avadonshot.com. Again, make sure you join us on tomorrow's episode. We love you guys and we'll see you tomorrow on Cleary Today. Bye.