The Call to Be Ambassadors and Not Miss Our Moment in a Dark World
Abraham Hamilton III Darkness is not an affirmative force. It simply reoccupies the space vacated by the light.
Abraham Hamilton III This is the, Hamilton Corner on American Family Radio.
Abraham Hamilton III It should be uncomfortable for a believer to live as a hypocrite,
Abraham Hamilton III delivering people out of the bondage of mainstream media and
Abraham Hamilton III the philosophies of this world.
Abraham Hamilton III God has called you and me to be his ambassadors even in this dark moment. Let's not miss our moment.
Abraham Hamilton III And, now the, Hamilton Corner.
The Primacy of Family and the Influence of Government Indoctrination Systems on Society
Abraham Hamilton III Good evening everyone. Welcome to the Hamilton Corner here on American Family Radio. I'm your host, Abraham Hamilton iii, joined by producer extraordinaire, often imitated, never duplicated, the real J. Mac and we are ready to rock and roll with today's edition of the program. At this very moment, many of you are making your transition, if not most of you, from your part time jobs where you generate an income to your full time jobs where you cultivate an outcome. And as you do so, I want to remind you to do so with intentionality, understanding the primacy that God places on family and welcoming that primacy to govern, to guard and to guide your engagement in your homes. Because the simple truth is even today, in the wake of this week's midterm elections, that, what goes on in your house is far more important than what goes on in the White House. And you know, if anybody's been listening, you've been listening to the show for quite some time. You know, I've been making this case for a while that when you think about the advancement of the Marxists and the Islamists around the country politically, how did we come to the place where we have an electorate that would prefer that? And with all of, there's gonna be lots of talking heads is gonna have their prognostications, they're gonna say turnout or not turn all these other things. But there is one institution, one system that is churning out voters that are conducive to the Marxist and Islamist message.
Discipleship and the Role of Christ's Lordship in All Aspects of Life and Governance
And it is the one system that still, as I'm Speaking to you, 93% of the American populace is funneled through 93%. What system am I talking about? Y' all know what it is. It's the government indoctrination system. Might I remind you just this year, this year in the state of Texas, they had to pass new policies concerning the teaching of 911 in the state of Texas because the textbooks in Texas simply described 911 as a terrorist attack. But they didn't talk about any of the motivation behind the actual terrorists in Texas. And how did Texas just. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. You see, we, we, we can, we can tiptoe around the periphery if we want, but if we continue to allow regressives to lead in discipling generation after generation after generation of Americans, we can't continue to be surprised when they vote that way. We cannot. And you know, the commitment to discipleship is not driven by our desire to see certain political outcomes change. The commitment to discipleship should be out of the overflow of our love for our Lord. And that love manifests itself in our obedience to what he has commanded us to do, in having the appropriate understanding of what discipleship is. All of Christ, for all of life. Christ is lord over fiscal policy. Christ is lord over border policy. Christ is lord over the sanctity of human life. Christ is lord over marriage, and he determines what it is and what it is not. Christ is lord over human sexuality. Christ is lord over regulations and taxation. He's lord over it all.
Obeying God's Commands to Make Disciples and the Unchanging Truth of Scripture
But we have not governed ourselves in a manner that has communicated that lordship. So, because darkness is not an affirmative force, but it reoccupies the space that is vacated by the light, if we refuse to obey God's command and make disciples, the spirit of the age will readily and eagerly step into that void. So I'm saying what I'm saying because the motivation should not be one that drives us horizontally first, it should drive us vertically. To the word of God we go. Colossians, chapter one. And this text will bear it out. And nothing that has transpired this week has nullified what I'm about to read to you. Nothing, nothing. Nothing has nullified what I'm about to read to you. Colossians, chapter 1, verse 13. For he rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption through the forgiveness of sins. He is the image of the invisible God, the first, the protakas of all creation. For by him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible. Whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities. All things have been created through him and for Him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. That is God's word. There is not a scintilla that has transpired this week that has changed this.
Discerning God's Message Through Current Events and the Christian's Role Amidst Adversity
Because that is true. My encouragement and my challenge even to the body of Christ is to seek to discern what God is endeavoring to show us. Seek to discern what God is endeavoring to show us. Is God attempting to get our attention in any particular way? Oh, Abraham, there You go again. You're conflating the scripture with politics. Am I? Am I? Is God not sovereign over the nations? Does God's sovereignty stop at the borders of the United States of America? Is there something that human beings engage in that is beyond the scope of the King of Glory's jurisdiction? We serve a Lord. We serve the Lord who equips his body to be his hands and feet. Regardless of the surrounding contexts. I explained earlier this week the command to pray for all men, offering all manner of prayer for all manner of people, including kings and those are in authority. The. That was a command that was given within the context where you had a Nero sitting on the Roman and on the Roman throne. Was that an excuse and an occasion for the believer to not live the life of the believer and to be faithful and obedient and to execute his dominion, execute his commission? No. It's with Nero as a backdrop that Christianity explodes.
The Consequences of Failed Discipleship and the Need for a Robust Biblical Worldview
First Peter, Second Peter. Written within the context of overt hostile physical persecution, circumstance didn't dictate what should have been done, not at all. What I believe. Among the other things that I, I do believe it's multifaceted. I do believe it's multi layered. But I believe that the primary thing that God is attempting to show us is to let us see palpable, tangible consequences for a failure or refusal to commit oneself to discipleship in Mass. You know, I had I had a privilege this week actually the day after the elections, Wednesday, brother in our church works with the fellowship of Christian athletes. Shout out to Ray, what's happening Ray? And he invited me. He had been ministering to in the local school context. It's amazing because Ray and his wife are committed Christ followers and they disciple their children at home, which includes the cultivation of their mind. So they're home educated. But Ray is committed to obeying the Lord and took a position with fellowship of Christian Athletes, Praise God. And he invited me to come with him to address a local high school football team. You know what? I'm sitting there, I'm in the field house and I'm m in the locker room and I'm looking at all of these young men, all of these young men, Strapping, muscular, 16, 17, 18 year olds. And it hit me as I'm sitting there that the truth is the majority of these children's parents and obviously I don't know all of the children. So I don't know this to be factual, but I'll say at least half of these children's Parents, if not a majority of their parents, go to church somewhere. And it hit me even further that the children born into the Christian household, by the time they've reached the ages of 17 and 18 years old, they should have been given access to eight to 10 years of being steeped deeply in God's holy word. Now, for how many of them is it true? I know it's true for some of them. Well, let me say it better. It may be true for some of them, but what percentage of them would it be true for? When you stop and examine, your immediate surroundings, you know, where are your children and grandchildren being educated? What percentage of these children have been steeped in. Notice what I said? Steeped in. I'm not talking about, you know, just. Yeah, they've been in children's church, where they sing the songs and they have the sock puppets and, you know, they have the graham crackers and apple juice. I'm talking about being steeped in Christlike formation. Where there is intentional and robust discipleship taking place. To where these young people, as they're matriculating between the ages of like, 5, 6, 7, on to 10 and 12 and 13, they are developing a thoroughly processed biblical worldview as a result of intentional discipleship information. What percentage. What percentage.
The Absence of Systematic Theology in Youth and the Normalization of Godlessness in Education
What percentage of our children in these youth groups have a systematic theology? What percentage? Oh, ABE Children and systematic theology. Yes, yes. Can I tell you something? They all are developing a systematic theology, but not a biblical theology in submission to Christ. Their biology, their biology classes are teaching theology. Their mathematics classes are teaching them theology. Their language classes are teaching them theology. Their algebra, their math classes are teaching them theology. You know, the theology they're being taught? God is irrelevant to this subject. God is irrelevant to the discipline. So what is the consistent steeping that's taking place? God is irrelevant to all of these aspects of real life. While at the exact same time we expect the children to do well in regurgitating the various discipline mastery that excludes the knowledge of God. But we don't think about it like that. We have normalized a perpetuation of godlessness to where when it comes to relationship with Jesus and submission to his authority and his lordship and integrating their life with His Word. Well, they only do that at church. And the truth is, church is a foreigner to their, regular lives. Because we spend eight hours a day, five days a week for 12 years, seven, eight months a year, normalizing the exclusion of God from our everyday intentional investment in thought and in time.
The Surprising Outcome of Discipleship Training and the Atheistic Foundation of Marxism
And now many people are surprised that when we have a populace that's been trained and discipled that way. They've continuously been going in a direction and now you see. Oh snap. So you. So. So you really are running as a socialist with the un. The, the fundamental theological undergirding notion of Marxism is atheism. Well, of course they're comfortable with policies that do not include the knowledge of God because they've been trained to exclude the knowledge of God. Now, I know what I'm saying is provocative, I know that, but doesn't make it any less true. And I know there are exceptions to what I'm saying, but how plenteous are those exceptions? Which one is the most consistent, consistent experience in our country? We have to be honest about that.
Listener Support for American Family Radio and the Importance of Monthly Financial Partnership
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Supporting AFA's Mission to Shine the Light of Jesus in a Dark World This Year
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Shining Light into Darkness and Addressing the Weakness of the Church Post-Election
Abraham Hamilton III Shining light into the darkness. This is the Hamilton Corner on American Family Radio.
Abraham Hamilton III Welcome back to the Hamilton Corner. Abraham Hamilton III here joined by my lovely wife. This is becoming kind of a weekly thing.
Maria Hamilton A regular thing.
Abraham Hamilton III Regular thing. Maria Hamilton. The the only is not not the first there only put that on your wall. so babe, welcome back to the show. You're in studio. So midterm elections.
Maria Hamilton Lovely, lovely. Love the experience.
Abraham Hamilton III You will come saying all of that
Maria Hamilton but it's true. I was like I just want to sleep. This is not to you but just like I didn't. You know that's depressing. So I'm trying to sleep anyway. So So my real
Abraham Hamilton III thoughts. What's depressing? You said that that
Maria Hamilton blue tsunami that they're calling you, right?
Abraham Hamilton III Why. Why is that? Because. And that's exactly where I'm gonna go. Some people were saying, well if you know, certain Christians or certain melanin displays are happy.
Maria Hamilton Oh they are. No, I've seen it. I've seen. Babe, the church
Abraham Hamilton III is weak. What are they happy about?
Maria Hamilton Right? They really think this is a good thing.
Abraham Hamilton III That's
Maria Hamilton the sad part.
Abraham Hamilton III Okay, so when. Okay,
Maria Hamilton yeah.
The Growing Darkness in the Nation and the Church's Spiritual Weakness
So here's what I'm saying, though. I started off like that because that's really the initial thoughts I had. And then as I think about it, I just know that darkness is continuing to grow in our nation. Darkness and wickedness and blindness and a complete dullness to what is true. A lack of discernment. the church is weak. And I'm not talking about weak in voting. I'm not talking about in turnout. I'm talking weak spiritually. I. It saddens me greatly because we are a populace of. Of ignorant and non disciples. And so it. It just saddens me greatly to see it happen. I was talking to our kids about it that morning. what was it? Wednesday morning? And I was telling them during our Bible study, like, guys, our nation will not be quote, unquote, righted in the traditional ways that we've. We. And I don't say you and I necessarily, but just how. What. What we've invested ourselves in, like nationally. It's not going to be righted that way. Darkness continues to. Continues to grow in our own country, in our own cities, in our own area, right in the Bible Belt and all that. It's not going to be righted that way. We have to make disciples. We have to be found doing the work of God. We have to be found seeking for the greatest reward that is well done. Well done, thy good and faithful servants. That's what I'm going to live for. And when I focus on that, then I embrace and receive the peace of God. M. Because if I focus on the tsunamis and the waves and the reds and the whites.
Abraham Hamilton III The reds and the
Maria Hamilton whites. I'm sorry, Lord. The reds and the blues.
Politics as Downstream from Culture and the Necessity of Making Disciples for Societal Change
The red and the white. No, the reds and the blues. I get. I just, I narrow my focus and I'm putting my hope in something that is not gonna give me anything. That's not where we need to focus on. Of course, politics is important and we vote and we fight for our freedoms. But how? Wow. Right? Yes.
Abraham Hamilton III Yeah. So it's very well said. You know, the, late Andrew Breitbart, I believe, is the one who began to make this statement in recent political history, before his passing. He would say that politics is downstream from culture.
Maria Hamilton Yes.
Abraham Hamilton III I have said, and this is repeated from people like thought leaders like Francis Schaeffer that politics is nothing more than the externalization of the American populist theology.
Maria Hamilton That's right. So a nation, a nation is carried by the values of its citizenry. M. Like it is shaped by the values of the people. We are not going to have. And you and I talk about this all the time. We're not going to have righteous candidates and we're not going to have a righteous populace that votes if we don't make disciples. Like, why do we expect a red tsunami? When you say red, you know, we can define that in many different ways. but why do we expect that when we're not even. Like, how, how are we going to want people that do not love darkness if we are not training them to not love darkness?
Abraham Hamilton III Yeah. And I don't think anybody was expecting, expecting a red tsunami necessarily. But, but I, I know because I know some of these people that a lot of people were surprised at just how overwhelmingly, people across the country voted for,
Maria Hamilton mm,
Discerning Demonic Doctrines and the Ignorance of Many Regarding Their True Nature
Abraham Hamilton III DSA types and
Maria Hamilton extreme.
Abraham Hamilton III And you know, I had one guy tell me, abe, you're just, you're just fear mongering. With Abdul Al Sayed, I just want everybody to go, just do a little check for yourself. And with AI, you can do this real quickly. Look at how many times in different ways that Abdul, Al Sayed pronounced his name before he got before the election.
Maria Hamilton Yeah. Now
Abraham Hamilton III his accent is compared to how he pronounced his name during his victory speech.
Maria Hamilton Oh, listen, the real one's coming out. And the reality is we are so ignorant, like, we don't know demonic doctrines. We can't discern them. We don't know when somebody gets up there and says X, Y and Z, we cannot tell if they are actually doctrines of demons or not. We don't. So then we see people like this and then we say, oh, it's just, you know, they're just a people group that are coming to our nation and they just, you know, they want to express their freedom of religion just like you Christians. We have no idea that these are doctrines of demons. No discernment.
Abraham Hamilton III So, so this is what I want to address in light of the things we talk about already. I believe, and I said, I said it on the program in the first segment here today that based on the scripture I read from Colossians, chapter one, it says all things are held together by Jesus Christ.
Maria Hamilton Amen.
The Lord's Sovereignty Amidst Political Surprises and the Believer's Responsibility to Discern
Abraham Hamilton III Even though you have pundits that are surprised, the Lord is not surprised by what's happening. So it is the responsibility of the believer. I would submit to you to Discern, what is it that God may be attempting to show us in light of this, what is happening? One of the evidences of our society being degraded is that we have far fewer countrymen whose immediate response is to appeal to heaven than we do amongst the people who say we just need the politics harder.
Maria Hamilton That's right.
Abraham Hamilton III And this is on both sides of the aisles.
Maria Hamilton Yes.
Abraham Hamilton III Could it be that what we're missing is God is attempting to show us that there's a void that has been created, a vacuum that's being created, and you're trying to fill it with that which is insufficient. What I'm saying is, are we witnessing God showing us that there's something broken in America but politics didn't break it?
Abraham Hamilton III And because politics didn't break it, politics can't fix it.
Maria Hamilton That's correct. That's correct. I mean, the reality is that we cannot politic our way into righteousness. That's not God's method.
The Church as the Pillar of Truth and the Importance of Heart Condition Over Voting
That's not God's way. And like you said, the church, the believers, the church is supposed to be, again, the pillar and the ground of truth. We are supposed to be the ones carrying the banner of truth. He is a person. He has revealed himself to us. We are the ones that are supposed to be advancing what is right and what is good and what is true. And when we don't, I'm, just bringing into the polls or the ballot box. I'm not talking about that. And trying to gauge, to see what the polls are saying and how many of us are going to vote. I'm talking about on the ground, in our homes, our heart condition.
The Ineffectiveness of Voting Red Alone and the Need for Fundamental Transformation
Are we disciples? Are we making disciples? Because like you said, we are not going to fix this by voting red. Newsflash, we voted red before. We've had the president, the White House, and the Congress. That doesn't fix it.
Abraham Hamilton III Well, what do you do when voting red means that you would vote for a person Like Ken Paxton, for example.
Maria Hamilton Exactly. Yeah. Like just, let's just, let's just get a red person in there. Like, what are we doing? These candidates? Like, what are we doing? And it's hard to watch. So back to your original question. How did I feel? I was like, okay, we're watching a train wreck happen without being able to stop it, but we want to stop it. So people are like, attempting it, but it doesn't stop it. And what it will take is to unhinge it from the rail. Like, literally.
The Necessity of Revival and the Power of God's Weapons in Spiritual Warfare
It takes a fundamental transformation
Abraham Hamilton III of our country. A renewed train on a renewed direction.
Maria Hamilton That's better. That's exactly right. But we have to start first with us believers and then the church, which is comprised of families.
Abraham Hamilton III Yeah, I mean, I think this was Sunday. I think I was talking about this second Corinthians 10. I think in our country, though, discernment is blunted. I think by and large, people recognize that something is wrong, but they don't recognize what is wrong, and they don't recognize what needs to be done to address what is wrong. The Lord tells us in his words that the weapons of our warfare are not carnal.
Maria Hamilton Correct.
Abraham Hamilton III Let's just pause on that for a moment.
Believing in the Divine Power of Spiritual Weapons and the Call to Heart Circumcision
M. How many professing believers really actually believe that
Maria Hamilton in
Abraham Hamilton III actions of our warfare? And yet you say in action, the evidence, whether or not you believe something, is not your mental assent to it. It's based on what you do.
Maria Hamilton That's my point
Abraham Hamilton III in response to
Maria Hamilton correct
Abraham Hamilton III what you profess to believe. So how many people really believe that the weapons of our warfare are not carnal?
Maria Hamilton M.
Abraham Hamilton III It's a challenging question because when we examine how we live, I think we'll find that there's not many people who really believe that. Even professing church attenders.
Maria Hamilton Yeah.
Abraham Hamilton III It says not only that they're not carnal, but they're divinely powerful to the destruction of strongholds.
Maria Hamilton We're talking about the power of God here. That's
Abraham Hamilton III exactly right.
Maria Hamilton We're talking about seeking the One that can right the ship. We're talking about seeking the One for. Not only strategy, but for heart transformations, for. We call it revival. But. But revival is not just like this. This pixie dust falling on people and they're like, falling out. I'm talking about a. A heart circumcision, starting with us and pouring it over into the next generation. It takes intentionality. Yes. It takes hard work daily.
Intentional Discipleship and Raising a Generation Willing to Die for Christ
Not on election years. Yes, I'm talking about daily. It takes. I'm going to be intentional with my children to ensure that they understand who God is, who they are in light of the Lord and how to stand firmly. And you know, when we talk about discipleship, and you said it before, it's not just like Christian manners or like how to operate within Christianity. It is a surrendered life. Right. And we read it in Luke 9, 23. Right. And Jesus says. He says, whoever. I'm going to read it. Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it. But whoever loses their life for me will save it. Are we Making disciples. Like, are we making. Do we think just like you said with going to the high school, right. And seeing these, these young men, Are we raising a generation of believers who are willing to die for the cause of Christ? Are we raising a generation of believers who are saying,
The Biblical Understanding of Martyrdom and the Distinction Between Savior and Lord
Abraham Hamilton III and the willingness to die is not mere to the cessation of natural life,
Maria Hamilton not martyrdom
Abraham Hamilton III only. Well, the biblical example of martyrdom, the book of Acts, chapter one. You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Samaria, the uttermost parts of the world. The world witness there is martyrs. We get at least where martyrdom from. But the truest sense of a willingness to die for the faith is a willingness to be the living dead.
Maria Hamilton Exactly. Surrendered fully. The
Abraham Hamilton III Lord is the Lord.
Maria Hamilton Exactly. And do we even understand the distinction between Savior and Lord? So again, these young men we talked earlier at home, private talks here, about young men and young people being biblically literate.
Raising Biblically Literate Youth Willing to Stand for the Lord and Surrender Their Lives
Abraham Hamilton III Yes.
Maria Hamilton But then we also need to add to the equation. Are they being raised to understand the value of standing for the Lord? How many young people today in the church can quote scripture, memorize whatever, but how many of them are willing to lay down their lives that I'm not talking about again, not like I'm, willing to
Abraham Hamilton III die the price.
Maria Hamilton Exactly. Or even surrender control of their lives? Like, Lord, you order. The Bible says he orders the steps of the righteous. So Lord, you order my steps. What have you had me to be born for? What are you calling me to do? I wish I want to follow you. Would you order my steps? Would you guide me? Would you give me insight? Would you direct my path? How many of us are living that? And how many of us are reproducing that?
Abraham Hamilton III Reproducing that
The Appeal of Socialism and Marxism to Fallen Adam Versus a Society Ordered by Christ
Maria Hamilton in children and in our neighbors.
Abraham Hamilton III We need to pause and sail out on that. Yeah. Because we, I think we're putting the cart before the horse because we want certain things to look a certain way in society. But what you don't realize that the thing that you're saying you want, that you want to look for, it does not come natural to fallen Adam.
Maria Hamilton Correct.
Abraham Hamilton III The reason why the socialist Marxist presentation is so attractive is because it resonates with fallen Adam. And so what we desired is to see a society ordered around an ethos that only flows from captivity to Christ.
Maria Hamilton Yeah,
John Adams' View on Virtue and the Need for Self-Governance Rooted in Religion
Abraham Hamilton III like. Like for example, and I've talked about this at length, people often quote Jon Adams, you know, and him saying that the, our constitution republican form of governance is only efficacious for a religious and moral people. They grabbed that quote out of this out of his speech to the Massachusetts militiamen. But they exclude the context. Right? What, what Jon Adams was explaining. He said we could have an exterior appearance of virtue, but if we are not a virtuous people, that the people in our country, in the United States of America will eviscerate our constitution like a whale going through the net. This is what Jon Adams said.
Maria Hamilton It's an implosion,
Abraham Hamilton III he said, but we need to have a, people in order for this constitution to remain effective. We must have a people who are governed, self governed by religion and morality. Well, what is self governance? A fruit of the spirit.
Maria Hamilton Yeah.
Abraham Hamilton III Self control does not come
Maria Hamilton on
Abraham Hamilton III to Adam in his fallenness.
Maria Hamilton And what is self control? Right. Like we got to, let's define terms.
Defining Self-Control and Discipleship as a Disciplined Learner and Follower of Jesus Christ
What does the Lord mean when we say self control? What does it mean for us to be disciples? I tell the kids all the time. We've said it since, you know, our oldest was little. What is the disciple? A, disciple is a disciplined learner of God, a disciplined follower of Jesus Christ. Discipline is central. Self control is central to the believer, not only in conduct, but in heart condition. Yes. Self control starts at the thought level. Right. Like it's a heart level that we're talking about. When we're talking about self control, then we see that in action rebellion is not acceptable for the believer. I don't care how strong will the child is. Rebellion is unacceptable for the believer. And self control is the fruit of the Spirit. We seek God and we implement the way, the strategies that he gives us to raise a. Of disciplined followers of Christ, including ourselves.
Abraham Hamilton III And so when to the point
Maria Hamilton we're starting with ourselves
The Fruit of the Spirit as Evidence of God's Indwelling and the Gospel's Necessity
Abraham Hamilton III and to the point that you're raising now, when we talk about it being the fruit of the Spirit. The fruit of the Spirit and you know, I describe it this way, is evidence of the Holy Spirit's revenant and residence. Yeah, it's evidence that the spirit of God indwells here. Well, where does that come from? That only comes by regeneration.
Maria Hamilton Amen.
Abraham Hamilton III So what I'm saying that there are people clamoring for the trappings of constitutional, a constitutional republican form of government. Government that ordered liberty. But what you don't realize what you're clamoring for is a government that is consistent with the populace, that is comprised of people who've been born again. To say it even more simply that we will not have the type of country that many people want to have if we don't have the gospel being preached
The Disconnect in Diagnosing Societal Problems and the Need for Gospel Preaching
Maria Hamilton and live
Abraham Hamilton III disciples being made. Amen. And the gospel being lived. And so I'm saying this because the there's a disconnect in diagnosing the what and the why.
Supporting AFA's Mission to Shine the Light of Jesus and Requesting Christmas Buttons
It's m the time of year when people start thinking more about giving gifts. But did you know AFA relies on your gifts throughout the year to help us continue to shine the light of Jesus in a dark world as the year winds down, please consider giving a generous gift to AFA when you do request the free 10 pack of our new good Tidings of Great Joy Christmas buttons. That's one to wear and nine to share. Visit afa.netgreatjoy to give today. Afa.netgreatjoy.
The Hamilton Corner Podcast and the Need for a Born-Again Population in America
Abraham Hamilton III The Hamilton quarter podcast and one minute commentaries are available at afr.net back to the Hamilton Hamilton Corner on American Family Radio.
Abraham Hamilton III Welcome back to the Hamilton Corner. Abraham Hamilton III here joined by my lovely bride Maria Hamilton. The only get it right and keep it right. And we're having a conversation. And and look, you're not going to get this from the punditry. The punditry class, you're not going to hear, you know, Ben Shapiro is not going to say, hell, the thing we really need in America is for people to get to be born again in the name of Jesus Christ. He don't believe in Jesus as the Messiah, you know. And and I want to make sure I'm clear about this. I am not saying that the Gospel needs to be preached so that the nation becomes something.
The Gospel's Purpose is Transformation for God's Glory and the Expansion of His Kingdom
Come on. That is. That is in the right direction that we prefer. No, what I am saying is that the gospel needs to be preached. People transformed by the power of God
Maria Hamilton and for his glory.
Abraham Hamilton III For his glory and the construction and expansion of his kingdom. And as God does that, he fits the members in his body as he wills, which will inevitably result in people seeking to live for God's glory.
Maria Hamilton Come on,
Abraham Hamilton III you know which is the.
God's Way of Impacting Society Through Believers and Rejecting Humanistic Methods
The publicizing of his holiness in various iterations. Some will be entrepreneurs, some will be inventors, some will be homemakers, some will be pastors, some will take the servant leadership responsibilities. But the entirety the society will be impacted by the presence of the believer.
Maria Hamilton You know, that's been God's way since the beginning of time. He says it all the way back in Genesis. This has been his way the entirety from the beginning of time. And we as fallen human beings have wanted to subvert go. We want the results now because God's results are good. And we all know even
Abraham Hamilton III atheists want the result.
Maria Hamilton Even atheists want the
Abraham Hamilton III old boy saying he's I'm a Christian. Culturally, I don't believe the bit about Christ and his resurrection. I don't believe in that. But I much prefer, you know, church bells and Christmas hymns and Christmas carols and Christmas carols to Sharia law.
Maria Hamilton uh-huh. We want the results, but we do not want to go God's way. We want a humanistic method, to arrive at a spiritual godly result. And that's not going to happen.
Abraham Hamilton III Never going to happen.
The Devil's Desire to Be God His Way Versus God's Plan
Maria Hamilton Never, never,
Abraham Hamilton III never going to happen.
Maria Hamilton That's the, that's the devil, right? Like the devil says, I want to be God. My way though.
Discipleship Programs and the Definition of a Christian Disciple
That's what we're doing.
Abraham Hamilton III Did he surely say,
Maria Hamilton come on,
Abraham Hamilton III you won't die, die, Moose. Moose. So, you know, in our church we went through a discipleship program. I highly recommend reading Old Dead Faithful Christians. you know, and there's a brother who wrote a discipleship curriculum a long time ago and we, adjusted it to fit our local church family. But he provides a description of Christian discipleship that reflects on what you said. What we teach our children, should I say is consistent with that.
The Core of Discipleship: A Personal, Lifelong, Obedient Relationship with Jesus Christ
But he describes a Christian disciple this way. He said a Christian disciple is a personal. A Christian disciple is one with a personal, lifelong, obedient relationship with Jesus Christ in which he Jesus transforms the disciples character into Christ likeness, changes disciples, changes the disciples values into kingdom values and involves the disciple in Jesus's mission in the home, the church and the world. I'm gonna say it again.
Immersing Youth in God's Word from a Young Age for True Discipleship
A Christian disciple is one who develops a personal, lifelong obedient relationship with Jesus Christ in which Christ transforms the disciples character into Christ likeness, changes the disciples values into kingdom values and involves the disciple in his mission in the home, the church, in the world. The foundation for all of this, before you get to the work, is a personal, lifelong, obedient relationship with Jesus Christ.
Maria Hamilton Yeah.
Abraham Hamilton III How consistently are we offering this? As I said earlier, these. By the time the young folks, young men became seniors, they should have been provided eight to 10 years at a minimum of being steeped saturated in the truth of God's word. What does God word, God's word say about this? What does God's word say about this? That these shouldn't be new concepts.
Maria Hamilton I know.
Raising Children to Know God, Their Identity in Him, and His Ways
And we have experience there. Right, you and I, and you grew up in church. Praise the Lord. And you knew Jesus at a young age. there was a lot more discipleship that took place for you in your later teens and twenties. For me it was later in my twenties. but the Lord had to undo and redo for us. Where. If we start them young, like if we, if we immerse them in who God is. Because God made them. Yes. And he should be their Lord. He's their Savior. He's their Lord. So if we train them to know him, if we teach them that they are known by him, if we raise them to understand where their days are immersed in the reality of who he is and who they are in him, how they should reason, how they should think, aligning, ah, our thoughts with his right, knowing that he is a fountain of all truth, that there is nothing that comes from him that is a lie, that the chief liar is Satan and we reject him in our personal lives when we're, starting from when they're fighting over a toy, progressing over when they're teens and they're dealing with the world and the sin in the world, we will be able to raise a generation of believers according to God's ways and according to his plan. Now, that doesn't mean that the M Method solves all the problems. It means that we exalt the King. Who has the power to solve all the problems, if you will. Right.
The Church's Weakness in Making Disciples and Staying Connected to the Vine
Like he's the one that gives life and life eternal. And I think the church is weak in this area. I think that we're sitting in the pews and just watching this thing happen right in front of us and not making disciples. You know, one of the things that I know, Brother Avery, in that discipleship curriculum honed in on was the reality of staying connected to the vine.
Abiding in Christ for Fruitfulness and the Pruning That Leads to Greater Yield
Right. Like, like Jon describes it. And, and I'm going to read it just because I don't want to say it wrong, but he says I am the true 1. Jon 15.
Abraham Hamilton III Which, which verse? Verse
Maria Hamilton 1 Jon 15. 1. Okay. Yes. I am the true vine, and my father is the vine dresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit, he takes away. And every branch that bears fruit, he prunes so that it may bear more fruit. So that it may be. How many young people do we expect to bear more fruit as they progress through life? How many of us are really, expecting them to be rebellious, Expecting them to not know it from that, Expecting them to embrace and, and desire brain rot. M in on YouTube. Like how many of us,
Abraham Hamilton III in conflating that with adolescents. Yes.
Maria Hamilton It's just because they're young, they'll learn. No, no, no, because discipleship is not, doesn't happen, through osmosis, through just years on earth. We know old fools with gray hairs? Yes, like so. But the Bible already says it pruning M produces more fruit.
The Importance of Abiding in Christ for Producing Fruit, Both Spiritually and Naturally
And then it says you. Let me see. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Verse four, abide in me. Do young people know what it means to abide in Him, M and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine. So why are we expecting a populace to produce fruit like you said earlier, when we're not even abiding in the vine? We are not connected to the source. I keep telling my kids, you know, 21st century America, we have, chargers in every outlet for all these devices. Right?
Connection to Christ as the Source of Life and Power for Believers
Okay, I tell them, can your iPad be charged if it's not plugged into the source? No, that's how we are with Christ, right? We have to be connected to the source. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from me, he can do nothing. So here's the thing. We really can do nothing. Because even the atheists will do nothing without Christ. Christ gives them the ability to exist. Christ gives them the ability to breathe. Christ gives them the ability to function in this earth. Without Christ is eternal damnation. So without Christ, you can do nothing for the believer. With Christ, we understand what that means. Even beyond the existing and the breathing and the functioning on earth, we're talking about abundance.
Investing in Exalting His Name and Making Disciples for Eternal Impact
We're talking about exalting his name. So for the believer, we can do nothing without him, because we would be doing stuff that's temporal, that, that withers away upon death. But what he's calling us to is to invest our lives the next 40 years, the next 50 years, and being intentional about exalting his name and making disciples of those around us. That's. We have.
The Church Must Wake Up to Its Mission of Making Disciples
The church has got to wake up.
Transforming Character into Christlikeness Through Authentic Relationship and Exposure
Abraham Hamilton III One of the first iterations of this personal, lifelong, obedient relationship with Jesus Christ, that brother, Brother Willis. Willis pointed out, was transforming our character into Christ likeness.
Maria Hamilton Yeah,
Abraham Hamilton III one of the things, it's kind of like the experience I had. I remember the first time I had, real organic orange juice. Not the chemical created thing from concentrate
Maria Hamilton or watered down.
Abraham Hamilton III And what happens is, because I had that Welch's for so long, my palate had not been adjusted to accommodate the authentic. So my initial presentation of the authentic was to reject it. Why? Because it was unfamiliar to me. And it was not until I had, repeated exposure to what was authentic combined with a mind renewal as to how the authentic will Affect the cells in my body versus the inauthentic. The palate adjusted with the mind renewal and the repetition and exposure to the source for mind renewal.
Maria Hamilton I hear intentionality there.
Abraham Hamilton III Absolutely. Time investment. And what I'm saying is the transformation of character into Christ likeness. It becomes our character. And we begin to demand that in those who would endeavor
Maria Hamilton to lead,
Identifying and Demanding Christlike Character in Leaders and the Challenge of Finding It
Abraham Hamilton III to serve us in a certain leadership capacity.
Maria Hamilton Correct.
Abraham Hamilton III And our capacity to discern Christlike character is sharpened as we are transformed into Christlikeness.
Abraham Hamilton III But when Christ is not a part of the consideration or the calculation, those conversations fall to the background.
Maria Hamilton Yeah, Yeah. I was thinking just now about these servant leaders. Right. And we think about like Mike Johnson, who we know personally and we love dearly. And we can. We. There are some that we're like man. Yes. Like, we like them. And we see, we see like mindedness. We see a commitment beyond just a party or beyond just American dream comforts. Like these are brothers and sisters in Christ that are serving in those positions. But are they the majority even within the party that we claim to.
Abraham Hamilton III He would answer that, say no,
Maria Hamilton thank you, because he's in it and he knows.
The National Trajectory Towards Darkness Regardless of Political Parties
And so again, back to your point, back to our point about how do we get here, what do we do in reality? Those are gonna be the few exceptions of like, that's why we have rhinos. Like, that's why we have a party full of people who are just like, you know, I'm just gonna. They're not grounded. They're not grounded. And they're not committed to something greater than themselves. A lot of them, are there for power on both sides of the aisle. So. So we can get frustrated all day long and we can start figuring out, oh, how do we get. Maybe we got to start now we know two more in two years. We gotta, you know, presidential elections and all these things. We can do that if we want and we're gonna spend ourselves doing that. And it's gonna be blue and then red and then red and then blue and all this.
Abraham Hamilton III But the question is, what is the trajectory of the nation
Maria Hamilton it's
Abraham Hamilton III going
Maria Hamilton in exactly
Abraham Hamilton III regardless of. Correct. The party in office. The nation's trajectory has been going in the same direction.
Maria Hamilton Yep.
Abraham Hamilton III It's just going at different paces.
Maria Hamilton That's right.
Abraham Hamilton III With one party goes faster, another party goes slower. But the direction seems to be the exact.
Maria Hamilton That's exactly right.
Abraham Hamilton III Direction.
Maria Hamilton That's exactly
Abraham Hamilton III right.
Voting is Important, But Hope Must Be Placed in God's Word and Making Disciples
Don't misconstrue what I'm saying. I'm not saying the parties are Identical. They're not. There are differences between them. But I'm talking about the national trajectory.
Maria Hamilton And we are saying go and vote and show up. Yes,
Abraham Hamilton III we
Maria Hamilton do that all
Abraham Hamilton III the
Maria Hamilton time. And we, and we teach our children how important it is. Right. but if we, if our hope is in that, and if our hope has been in that, then, and we're seeing the trajectory again, not of both parties, but also as an, of the nation as a whole. Darkness and darkness and darkness. Then we can't, we can't get frustrated now. We had to go. Let's go back to the drawing board. What are we doing? Going back to the word of God is what we need to do as a church.
The Church's Role in Making Disciples and Experiencing God's Restoration
Be disciples and make disciples. Right? Be those that love Christ with all of our heart, mind, soul and strength. Teach those to love God with all our heart, mind, soul and strength every day. And we will see a change. Not for change's sake, but we will see a change because God is faithful and he heals lands.
Abraham Hamilton III He does.
Maria Hamilton He judges them too. He restores a people group. He prospers a nation. This is all what he does. Not what a red party does, but he does. And so if not
Abraham Hamilton III what a blue party does,
Maria Hamilton good.
When the Church Does the Father's Work, He Will Take Care of the Rest
Not at all. when we come together as a church and we do our Father's work, He will take care of,
Maria Hamilton the rest.
Abraham Hamilton III I mean, to the point.
Valuing What the King Values: The Essence of Discipleship for All Ages
I mean, Avery Willis goes on a personal, lifelong, obedient relationship with Jesus Christ in which the disciples character is transformed into the Christ likeness and the disciples values are changed into kingdom values. A simple way to describe that is that the disciple begins to value what the king values.
Maria Hamilton That's a disciple
Abraham Hamilton III versus what the fallen Adam valued.
Maria Hamilton How many of us think 5 year olds can do that?
Training Children to Love God, Hate Evil, and Walk in His Ways
How many of us think that 10 year olds can love what God love and hate what God hates in our home? And I'm not talking about perfection in our home. My job, your job is to train our children to love what God loves and hate what God hates. To distinguish good from evil according to God's way. To submit to him and follow him. To allow the Holy Spirit to examine their perversion, their sin, their fallenness and cleanse them, remove them, sanctify them. Five year olds can start learning that 10 year olds can have a grasp of that. Fifteen year olds should be walking in it.
Maria Hamilton like that is real, not because we're living it.
The Cycle of Sin and the Need to Return to God's Word for Change
That is real because that's God's way. We take him at his word and we trust Him. But too long we've been going through this cycle and nothing is changing. It's actually worsening. We got to get back to what is right.
God's Capacity for Restoration and the Opportunity to Turn Back to Him
Abraham Hamilton III I'm encouraged because God has the capacity. You know, our family's history book has shown us that things in it like Sodom and Gomorrah, it could be. That's a rap,
Maria Hamilton man. Right.
Abraham Hamilton III But where we are now, you have the so called, not so called, the description of the blue tsunami. But at the exact same time you have ballot measures like those in Iowa to restrict the ability to raise income taxes. You have others where they're keeping trans boys out of girls sports. My point in saying these, saying these things is that God is giving us the space and the opportunity to turn,
Maria Hamilton yes,
Discerning the Times and Obeying God's Requirements in This Critical Moment
Abraham Hamilton III if we will. But the question is, will we rightly discern the moment that we're in? Will we discern what God is trying to show us and then will we obey what he requires of us?
Disclaimer Regarding Broadcast Views and Opinions
Jeff Chamblee The views and opinions expressed in this broadcast may not necessarily reflect those of the American Family association or American Family Radio.
The Call to Be Ambassadors and Not Miss Our Moment in a Dark World
Abraham Hamilton III Darkness is not an affirmative force. It simply reoccupies the space vacated by the light.
Abraham Hamilton III This is the, Hamilton Corner on American Family Radio.
Abraham Hamilton III It should be uncomfortable for a believer to live as a hypocrite,
Abraham Hamilton III delivering people out of the bondage of mainstream media and
Abraham Hamilton III the philosophies of this world.
Abraham Hamilton III God has called you and me to be his ambassadors even in this dark moment. Let's not miss our moment.
Abraham Hamilton III And, now the, Hamilton Corner.
The Primacy of Family and the Influence of Government Indoctrination Systems on Society
Abraham Hamilton III Good evening everyone. Welcome to the Hamilton Corner here on American Family Radio. I'm your host, Abraham Hamilton iii, joined by producer extraordinaire, often imitated, never duplicated, the real J. Mac and we are ready to rock and roll with today's edition of the program. At this very moment, many of you are making your transition, if not most of you, from your part time jobs where you generate an income to your full time jobs where you cultivate an outcome. And as you do so, I want to remind you to do so with intentionality, understanding the primacy that God places on family and welcoming that primacy to govern, to guard and to guide your engagement in your homes. Because the simple truth is even today, in the wake of this week's midterm elections, that, what goes on in your house is far more important than what goes on in the White House. And you know, if anybody's been listening, you've been listening to the show for quite some time. You know, I've been making this case for a while that when you think about the advancement of the Marxists and the Islamists around the country politically, how did we come to the place where we have an electorate that would prefer that? And with all of, there's gonna be lots of talking heads is gonna have their prognostications, they're gonna say turnout or not turn all these other things. But there is one institution, one system that is churning out voters that are conducive to the Marxist and Islamist message.
Discipleship and the Role of Christ's Lordship in All Aspects of Life and Governance
And it is the one system that still, as I'm Speaking to you, 93% of the American populace is funneled through 93%. What system am I talking about? Y' all know what it is. It's the government indoctrination system. Might I remind you just this year, this year in the state of Texas, they had to pass new policies concerning the teaching of 911 in the state of Texas because the textbooks in Texas simply described 911 as a terrorist attack. But they didn't talk about any of the motivation behind the actual terrorists in Texas. And how did Texas just. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. You see, we, we, we can, we can tiptoe around the periphery if we want, but if we continue to allow regressives to lead in discipling generation after generation after generation of Americans, we can't continue to be surprised when they vote that way. We cannot. And you know, the commitment to discipleship is not driven by our desire to see certain political outcomes change. The commitment to discipleship should be out of the overflow of our love for our Lord. And that love manifests itself in our obedience to what he has commanded us to do, in having the appropriate understanding of what discipleship is. All of Christ, for all of life. Christ is lord over fiscal policy. Christ is lord over border policy. Christ is lord over the sanctity of human life. Christ is lord over marriage, and he determines what it is and what it is not. Christ is lord over human sexuality. Christ is lord over regulations and taxation. He's lord over it all.
Obeying God's Commands to Make Disciples and the Unchanging Truth of Scripture
But we have not governed ourselves in a manner that has communicated that lordship. So, because darkness is not an affirmative force, but it reoccupies the space that is vacated by the light, if we refuse to obey God's command and make disciples, the spirit of the age will readily and eagerly step into that void. So I'm saying what I'm saying because the motivation should not be one that drives us horizontally first, it should drive us vertically. To the word of God we go. Colossians, chapter one. And this text will bear it out. And nothing that has transpired this week has nullified what I'm about to read to you. Nothing, nothing. Nothing has nullified what I'm about to read to you. Colossians, chapter 1, verse 13. For he rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption through the forgiveness of sins. He is the image of the invisible God, the first, the protakas of all creation. For by him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible. Whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities. All things have been created through him and for Him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. That is God's word. There is not a scintilla that has transpired this week that has changed this.
Discerning God's Message Through Current Events and the Christian's Role Amidst Adversity
Because that is true. My encouragement and my challenge even to the body of Christ is to seek to discern what God is endeavoring to show us. Seek to discern what God is endeavoring to show us. Is God attempting to get our attention in any particular way? Oh, Abraham, there You go again. You're conflating the scripture with politics. Am I? Am I? Is God not sovereign over the nations? Does God's sovereignty stop at the borders of the United States of America? Is there something that human beings engage in that is beyond the scope of the King of Glory's jurisdiction? We serve a Lord. We serve the Lord who equips his body to be his hands and feet. Regardless of the surrounding contexts. I explained earlier this week the command to pray for all men, offering all manner of prayer for all manner of people, including kings and those are in authority. The. That was a command that was given within the context where you had a Nero sitting on the Roman and on the Roman throne. Was that an excuse and an occasion for the believer to not live the life of the believer and to be faithful and obedient and to execute his dominion, execute his commission? No. It's with Nero as a backdrop that Christianity explodes.
The Consequences of Failed Discipleship and the Need for a Robust Biblical Worldview
First Peter, Second Peter. Written within the context of overt hostile physical persecution, circumstance didn't dictate what should have been done, not at all. What I believe. Among the other things that I, I do believe it's multifaceted. I do believe it's multi layered. But I believe that the primary thing that God is attempting to show us is to let us see palpable, tangible consequences for a failure or refusal to commit oneself to discipleship in Mass. You know, I had I had a privilege this week actually the day after the elections, Wednesday, brother in our church works with the fellowship of Christian athletes. Shout out to Ray, what's happening Ray? And he invited me. He had been ministering to in the local school context. It's amazing because Ray and his wife are committed Christ followers and they disciple their children at home, which includes the cultivation of their mind. So they're home educated. But Ray is committed to obeying the Lord and took a position with fellowship of Christian Athletes, Praise God. And he invited me to come with him to address a local high school football team. You know what? I'm sitting there, I'm in the field house and I'm m in the locker room and I'm looking at all of these young men, all of these young men, Strapping, muscular, 16, 17, 18 year olds. And it hit me as I'm sitting there that the truth is the majority of these children's parents and obviously I don't know all of the children. So I don't know this to be factual, but I'll say at least half of these children's Parents, if not a majority of their parents, go to church somewhere. And it hit me even further that the children born into the Christian household, by the time they've reached the ages of 17 and 18 years old, they should have been given access to eight to 10 years of being steeped deeply in God's holy word. Now, for how many of them is it true? I know it's true for some of them. Well, let me say it better. It may be true for some of them, but what percentage of them would it be true for? When you stop and examine, your immediate surroundings, you know, where are your children and grandchildren being educated? What percentage of these children have been steeped in. Notice what I said? Steeped in. I'm not talking about, you know, just. Yeah, they've been in children's church, where they sing the songs and they have the sock puppets and, you know, they have the graham crackers and apple juice. I'm talking about being steeped in Christlike formation. Where there is intentional and robust discipleship taking place. To where these young people, as they're matriculating between the ages of like, 5, 6, 7, on to 10 and 12 and 13, they are developing a thoroughly processed biblical worldview as a result of intentional discipleship information. What percentage. What percentage.
The Absence of Systematic Theology in Youth and the Normalization of Godlessness in Education
What percentage of our children in these youth groups have a systematic theology? What percentage? Oh, ABE Children and systematic theology. Yes, yes. Can I tell you something? They all are developing a systematic theology, but not a biblical theology in submission to Christ. Their biology, their biology classes are teaching theology. Their mathematics classes are teaching them theology. Their language classes are teaching them theology. Their algebra, their math classes are teaching them theology. You know, the theology they're being taught? God is irrelevant to this subject. God is irrelevant to the discipline. So what is the consistent steeping that's taking place? God is irrelevant to all of these aspects of real life. While at the exact same time we expect the children to do well in regurgitating the various discipline mastery that excludes the knowledge of God. But we don't think about it like that. We have normalized a perpetuation of godlessness to where when it comes to relationship with Jesus and submission to his authority and his lordship and integrating their life with His Word. Well, they only do that at church. And the truth is, church is a foreigner to their, regular lives. Because we spend eight hours a day, five days a week for 12 years, seven, eight months a year, normalizing the exclusion of God from our everyday intentional investment in thought and in time.
The Surprising Outcome of Discipleship Training and the Atheistic Foundation of Marxism
And now many people are surprised that when we have a populace that's been trained and discipled that way. They've continuously been going in a direction and now you see. Oh snap. So you. So. So you really are running as a socialist with the un. The, the fundamental theological undergirding notion of Marxism is atheism. Well, of course they're comfortable with policies that do not include the knowledge of God because they've been trained to exclude the knowledge of God. Now, I know what I'm saying is provocative, I know that, but doesn't make it any less true. And I know there are exceptions to what I'm saying, but how plenteous are those exceptions? Which one is the most consistent, consistent experience in our country? We have to be honest about that.
Listener Support for American Family Radio and the Importance of Monthly Financial Partnership
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Supporting AFA's Mission to Shine the Light of Jesus in a Dark World This Year
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Shining Light into Darkness and Addressing the Weakness of the Church Post-Election
Abraham Hamilton III Shining light into the darkness. This is the Hamilton Corner on American Family Radio.
Abraham Hamilton III Welcome back to the Hamilton Corner. Abraham Hamilton III here joined by my lovely wife. This is becoming kind of a weekly thing.
Maria Hamilton A regular thing.
Abraham Hamilton III Regular thing. Maria Hamilton. The the only is not not the first there only put that on your wall. so babe, welcome back to the show. You're in studio. So midterm elections.
Maria Hamilton Lovely, lovely. Love the experience.
Abraham Hamilton III You will come saying all of that
Maria Hamilton but it's true. I was like I just want to sleep. This is not to you but just like I didn't. You know that's depressing. So I'm trying to sleep anyway. So So my real
Abraham Hamilton III thoughts. What's depressing? You said that that
Maria Hamilton blue tsunami that they're calling you, right?
Abraham Hamilton III Why. Why is that? Because. And that's exactly where I'm gonna go. Some people were saying, well if you know, certain Christians or certain melanin displays are happy.
Maria Hamilton Oh they are. No, I've seen it. I've seen. Babe, the church
Abraham Hamilton III is weak. What are they happy about?
Maria Hamilton Right? They really think this is a good thing.
Abraham Hamilton III That's
Maria Hamilton the sad part.
Abraham Hamilton III Okay, so when. Okay,
Maria Hamilton yeah.
The Growing Darkness in the Nation and the Church's Spiritual Weakness
So here's what I'm saying, though. I started off like that because that's really the initial thoughts I had. And then as I think about it, I just know that darkness is continuing to grow in our nation. Darkness and wickedness and blindness and a complete dullness to what is true. A lack of discernment. the church is weak. And I'm not talking about weak in voting. I'm not talking about in turnout. I'm talking weak spiritually. I. It saddens me greatly because we are a populace of. Of ignorant and non disciples. And so it. It just saddens me greatly to see it happen. I was talking to our kids about it that morning. what was it? Wednesday morning? And I was telling them during our Bible study, like, guys, our nation will not be quote, unquote, righted in the traditional ways that we've. We. And I don't say you and I necessarily, but just how. What. What we've invested ourselves in, like nationally. It's not going to be righted that way. Darkness continues to. Continues to grow in our own country, in our own cities, in our own area, right in the Bible Belt and all that. It's not going to be righted that way. We have to make disciples. We have to be found doing the work of God. We have to be found seeking for the greatest reward that is well done. Well done, thy good and faithful servants. That's what I'm going to live for. And when I focus on that, then I embrace and receive the peace of God. M. Because if I focus on the tsunamis and the waves and the reds and the whites.
Abraham Hamilton III The reds and the
Maria Hamilton whites. I'm sorry, Lord. The reds and the blues.
Politics as Downstream from Culture and the Necessity of Making Disciples for Societal Change
The red and the white. No, the reds and the blues. I get. I just, I narrow my focus and I'm putting my hope in something that is not gonna give me anything. That's not where we need to focus on. Of course, politics is important and we vote and we fight for our freedoms. But how? Wow. Right? Yes.
Abraham Hamilton III Yeah. So it's very well said. You know, the, late Andrew Breitbart, I believe, is the one who began to make this statement in recent political history, before his passing. He would say that politics is downstream from culture.
Maria Hamilton Yes.
Abraham Hamilton III I have said, and this is repeated from people like thought leaders like Francis Schaeffer that politics is nothing more than the externalization of the American populist theology.
Maria Hamilton That's right. So a nation, a nation is carried by the values of its citizenry. M. Like it is shaped by the values of the people. We are not going to have. And you and I talk about this all the time. We're not going to have righteous candidates and we're not going to have a righteous populace that votes if we don't make disciples. Like, why do we expect a red tsunami? When you say red, you know, we can define that in many different ways. but why do we expect that when we're not even. Like, how, how are we going to want people that do not love darkness if we are not training them to not love darkness?
Abraham Hamilton III Yeah. And I don't think anybody was expecting, expecting a red tsunami necessarily. But, but I, I know because I know some of these people that a lot of people were surprised at just how overwhelmingly, people across the country voted for,
Maria Hamilton mm,
Discerning Demonic Doctrines and the Ignorance of Many Regarding Their True Nature
Abraham Hamilton III DSA types and
Maria Hamilton extreme.
Abraham Hamilton III And you know, I had one guy tell me, abe, you're just, you're just fear mongering. With Abdul Al Sayed, I just want everybody to go, just do a little check for yourself. And with AI, you can do this real quickly. Look at how many times in different ways that Abdul, Al Sayed pronounced his name before he got before the election.
Maria Hamilton Yeah. Now
Abraham Hamilton III his accent is compared to how he pronounced his name during his victory speech.
Maria Hamilton Oh, listen, the real one's coming out. And the reality is we are so ignorant, like, we don't know demonic doctrines. We can't discern them. We don't know when somebody gets up there and says X, Y and Z, we cannot tell if they are actually doctrines of demons or not. We don't. So then we see people like this and then we say, oh, it's just, you know, they're just a people group that are coming to our nation and they just, you know, they want to express their freedom of religion just like you Christians. We have no idea that these are doctrines of demons. No discernment.
Abraham Hamilton III So, so this is what I want to address in light of the things we talk about already. I believe, and I said, I said it on the program in the first segment here today that based on the scripture I read from Colossians, chapter one, it says all things are held together by Jesus Christ.
Maria Hamilton Amen.
The Lord's Sovereignty Amidst Political Surprises and the Believer's Responsibility to Discern
Abraham Hamilton III Even though you have pundits that are surprised, the Lord is not surprised by what's happening. So it is the responsibility of the believer. I would submit to you to Discern, what is it that God may be attempting to show us in light of this, what is happening? One of the evidences of our society being degraded is that we have far fewer countrymen whose immediate response is to appeal to heaven than we do amongst the people who say we just need the politics harder.
Maria Hamilton That's right.
Abraham Hamilton III And this is on both sides of the aisles.
Maria Hamilton Yes.
Abraham Hamilton III Could it be that what we're missing is God is attempting to show us that there's a void that has been created, a vacuum that's being created, and you're trying to fill it with that which is insufficient. What I'm saying is, are we witnessing God showing us that there's something broken in America but politics didn't break it?
Abraham Hamilton III And because politics didn't break it, politics can't fix it.
Maria Hamilton That's correct. That's correct. I mean, the reality is that we cannot politic our way into righteousness. That's not God's method.
The Church as the Pillar of Truth and the Importance of Heart Condition Over Voting
That's not God's way. And like you said, the church, the believers, the church is supposed to be, again, the pillar and the ground of truth. We are supposed to be the ones carrying the banner of truth. He is a person. He has revealed himself to us. We are the ones that are supposed to be advancing what is right and what is good and what is true. And when we don't, I'm, just bringing into the polls or the ballot box. I'm not talking about that. And trying to gauge, to see what the polls are saying and how many of us are going to vote. I'm talking about on the ground, in our homes, our heart condition.
The Ineffectiveness of Voting Red Alone and the Need for Fundamental Transformation
Are we disciples? Are we making disciples? Because like you said, we are not going to fix this by voting red. Newsflash, we voted red before. We've had the president, the White House, and the Congress. That doesn't fix it.
Abraham Hamilton III Well, what do you do when voting red means that you would vote for a person Like Ken Paxton, for example.
Maria Hamilton Exactly. Yeah. Like just, let's just, let's just get a red person in there. Like, what are we doing? These candidates? Like, what are we doing? And it's hard to watch. So back to your original question. How did I feel? I was like, okay, we're watching a train wreck happen without being able to stop it, but we want to stop it. So people are like, attempting it, but it doesn't stop it. And what it will take is to unhinge it from the rail. Like, literally.
The Necessity of Revival and the Power of God's Weapons in Spiritual Warfare
It takes a fundamental transformation
Abraham Hamilton III of our country. A renewed train on a renewed direction.
Maria Hamilton That's better. That's exactly right. But we have to start first with us believers and then the church, which is comprised of families.
Abraham Hamilton III Yeah, I mean, I think this was Sunday. I think I was talking about this second Corinthians 10. I think in our country, though, discernment is blunted. I think by and large, people recognize that something is wrong, but they don't recognize what is wrong, and they don't recognize what needs to be done to address what is wrong. The Lord tells us in his words that the weapons of our warfare are not carnal.
Maria Hamilton Correct.
Abraham Hamilton III Let's just pause on that for a moment.
Believing in the Divine Power of Spiritual Weapons and the Call to Heart Circumcision
M. How many professing believers really actually believe that
Maria Hamilton in
Abraham Hamilton III actions of our warfare? And yet you say in action, the evidence, whether or not you believe something, is not your mental assent to it. It's based on what you do.
Maria Hamilton That's my point
Abraham Hamilton III in response to
Maria Hamilton correct
Abraham Hamilton III what you profess to believe. So how many people really believe that the weapons of our warfare are not carnal?
Maria Hamilton M.
Abraham Hamilton III It's a challenging question because when we examine how we live, I think we'll find that there's not many people who really believe that. Even professing church attenders.
Maria Hamilton Yeah.
Abraham Hamilton III It says not only that they're not carnal, but they're divinely powerful to the destruction of strongholds.
Maria Hamilton We're talking about the power of God here. That's
Abraham Hamilton III exactly right.
Maria Hamilton We're talking about seeking the One that can right the ship. We're talking about seeking the One for. Not only strategy, but for heart transformations, for. We call it revival. But. But revival is not just like this. This pixie dust falling on people and they're like, falling out. I'm talking about a. A heart circumcision, starting with us and pouring it over into the next generation. It takes intentionality. Yes. It takes hard work daily.
Intentional Discipleship and Raising a Generation Willing to Die for Christ
Not on election years. Yes, I'm talking about daily. It takes. I'm going to be intentional with my children to ensure that they understand who God is, who they are in light of the Lord and how to stand firmly. And you know, when we talk about discipleship, and you said it before, it's not just like Christian manners or like how to operate within Christianity. It is a surrendered life. Right. And we read it in Luke 9, 23. Right. And Jesus says. He says, whoever. I'm going to read it. Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it. But whoever loses their life for me will save it. Are we Making disciples. Like, are we making. Do we think just like you said with going to the high school, right. And seeing these, these young men, Are we raising a generation of believers who are willing to die for the cause of Christ? Are we raising a generation of believers who are saying,
The Biblical Understanding of Martyrdom and the Distinction Between Savior and Lord
Abraham Hamilton III and the willingness to die is not mere to the cessation of natural life,
Maria Hamilton not martyrdom
Abraham Hamilton III only. Well, the biblical example of martyrdom, the book of Acts, chapter one. You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Samaria, the uttermost parts of the world. The world witness there is martyrs. We get at least where martyrdom from. But the truest sense of a willingness to die for the faith is a willingness to be the living dead.
Maria Hamilton Exactly. Surrendered fully. The
Abraham Hamilton III Lord is the Lord.
Maria Hamilton Exactly. And do we even understand the distinction between Savior and Lord? So again, these young men we talked earlier at home, private talks here, about young men and young people being biblically literate.
Raising Biblically Literate Youth Willing to Stand for the Lord and Surrender Their Lives
Abraham Hamilton III Yes.
Maria Hamilton But then we also need to add to the equation. Are they being raised to understand the value of standing for the Lord? How many young people today in the church can quote scripture, memorize whatever, but how many of them are willing to lay down their lives that I'm not talking about again, not like I'm, willing to
Abraham Hamilton III die the price.
Maria Hamilton Exactly. Or even surrender control of their lives? Like, Lord, you order. The Bible says he orders the steps of the righteous. So Lord, you order my steps. What have you had me to be born for? What are you calling me to do? I wish I want to follow you. Would you order my steps? Would you guide me? Would you give me insight? Would you direct my path? How many of us are living that? And how many of us are reproducing that?
Abraham Hamilton III Reproducing that
The Appeal of Socialism and Marxism to Fallen Adam Versus a Society Ordered by Christ
Maria Hamilton in children and in our neighbors.
Abraham Hamilton III We need to pause and sail out on that. Yeah. Because we, I think we're putting the cart before the horse because we want certain things to look a certain way in society. But what you don't realize that the thing that you're saying you want, that you want to look for, it does not come natural to fallen Adam.
Maria Hamilton Correct.
Abraham Hamilton III The reason why the socialist Marxist presentation is so attractive is because it resonates with fallen Adam. And so what we desired is to see a society ordered around an ethos that only flows from captivity to Christ.
Maria Hamilton Yeah,
John Adams' View on Virtue and the Need for Self-Governance Rooted in Religion
Abraham Hamilton III like. Like for example, and I've talked about this at length, people often quote Jon Adams, you know, and him saying that the, our constitution republican form of governance is only efficacious for a religious and moral people. They grabbed that quote out of this out of his speech to the Massachusetts militiamen. But they exclude the context. Right? What, what Jon Adams was explaining. He said we could have an exterior appearance of virtue, but if we are not a virtuous people, that the people in our country, in the United States of America will eviscerate our constitution like a whale going through the net. This is what Jon Adams said.
Maria Hamilton It's an implosion,
Abraham Hamilton III he said, but we need to have a, people in order for this constitution to remain effective. We must have a people who are governed, self governed by religion and morality. Well, what is self governance? A fruit of the spirit.
Maria Hamilton Yeah.
Abraham Hamilton III Self control does not come
Maria Hamilton on
Abraham Hamilton III to Adam in his fallenness.
Maria Hamilton And what is self control? Right. Like we got to, let's define terms.
Defining Self-Control and Discipleship as a Disciplined Learner and Follower of Jesus Christ
What does the Lord mean when we say self control? What does it mean for us to be disciples? I tell the kids all the time. We've said it since, you know, our oldest was little. What is the disciple? A, disciple is a disciplined learner of God, a disciplined follower of Jesus Christ. Discipline is central. Self control is central to the believer, not only in conduct, but in heart condition. Yes. Self control starts at the thought level. Right. Like it's a heart level that we're talking about. When we're talking about self control, then we see that in action rebellion is not acceptable for the believer. I don't care how strong will the child is. Rebellion is unacceptable for the believer. And self control is the fruit of the Spirit. We seek God and we implement the way, the strategies that he gives us to raise a. Of disciplined followers of Christ, including ourselves.
Abraham Hamilton III And so when to the point
Maria Hamilton we're starting with ourselves
The Fruit of the Spirit as Evidence of God's Indwelling and the Gospel's Necessity
Abraham Hamilton III and to the point that you're raising now, when we talk about it being the fruit of the Spirit. The fruit of the Spirit and you know, I describe it this way, is evidence of the Holy Spirit's revenant and residence. Yeah, it's evidence that the spirit of God indwells here. Well, where does that come from? That only comes by regeneration.
Maria Hamilton Amen.
Abraham Hamilton III So what I'm saying that there are people clamoring for the trappings of constitutional, a constitutional republican form of government. Government that ordered liberty. But what you don't realize what you're clamoring for is a government that is consistent with the populace, that is comprised of people who've been born again. To say it even more simply that we will not have the type of country that many people want to have if we don't have the gospel being preached
The Disconnect in Diagnosing Societal Problems and the Need for Gospel Preaching
Maria Hamilton and live
Abraham Hamilton III disciples being made. Amen. And the gospel being lived. And so I'm saying this because the there's a disconnect in diagnosing the what and the why.
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The Hamilton Corner Podcast and the Need for a Born-Again Population in America
Abraham Hamilton III The Hamilton quarter podcast and one minute commentaries are available at afr.net back to the Hamilton Hamilton Corner on American Family Radio.
Abraham Hamilton III Welcome back to the Hamilton Corner. Abraham Hamilton III here joined by my lovely bride Maria Hamilton. The only get it right and keep it right. And we're having a conversation. And and look, you're not going to get this from the punditry. The punditry class, you're not going to hear, you know, Ben Shapiro is not going to say, hell, the thing we really need in America is for people to get to be born again in the name of Jesus Christ. He don't believe in Jesus as the Messiah, you know. And and I want to make sure I'm clear about this. I am not saying that the Gospel needs to be preached so that the nation becomes something.
The Gospel's Purpose is Transformation for God's Glory and the Expansion of His Kingdom
Come on. That is. That is in the right direction that we prefer. No, what I am saying is that the gospel needs to be preached. People transformed by the power of God
Maria Hamilton and for his glory.
Abraham Hamilton III For his glory and the construction and expansion of his kingdom. And as God does that, he fits the members in his body as he wills, which will inevitably result in people seeking to live for God's glory.
Maria Hamilton Come on,
Abraham Hamilton III you know which is the.
God's Way of Impacting Society Through Believers and Rejecting Humanistic Methods
The publicizing of his holiness in various iterations. Some will be entrepreneurs, some will be inventors, some will be homemakers, some will be pastors, some will take the servant leadership responsibilities. But the entirety the society will be impacted by the presence of the believer.
Maria Hamilton You know, that's been God's way since the beginning of time. He says it all the way back in Genesis. This has been his way the entirety from the beginning of time. And we as fallen human beings have wanted to subvert go. We want the results now because God's results are good. And we all know even
Abraham Hamilton III atheists want the result.
Maria Hamilton Even atheists want the
Abraham Hamilton III old boy saying he's I'm a Christian. Culturally, I don't believe the bit about Christ and his resurrection. I don't believe in that. But I much prefer, you know, church bells and Christmas hymns and Christmas carols and Christmas carols to Sharia law.
Maria Hamilton uh-huh. We want the results, but we do not want to go God's way. We want a humanistic method, to arrive at a spiritual godly result. And that's not going to happen.
Abraham Hamilton III Never going to happen.
The Devil's Desire to Be God His Way Versus God's Plan
Maria Hamilton Never, never,
Abraham Hamilton III never going to happen.
Maria Hamilton That's the, that's the devil, right? Like the devil says, I want to be God. My way though.
Discipleship Programs and the Definition of a Christian Disciple
That's what we're doing.
Abraham Hamilton III Did he surely say,
Maria Hamilton come on,
Abraham Hamilton III you won't die, die, Moose. Moose. So, you know, in our church we went through a discipleship program. I highly recommend reading Old Dead Faithful Christians. you know, and there's a brother who wrote a discipleship curriculum a long time ago and we, adjusted it to fit our local church family. But he provides a description of Christian discipleship that reflects on what you said. What we teach our children, should I say is consistent with that.
The Core of Discipleship: A Personal, Lifelong, Obedient Relationship with Jesus Christ
But he describes a Christian disciple this way. He said a Christian disciple is a personal. A Christian disciple is one with a personal, lifelong, obedient relationship with Jesus Christ in which he Jesus transforms the disciples character into Christ likeness, changes disciples, changes the disciples values into kingdom values and involves the disciple in Jesus's mission in the home, the church and the world. I'm gonna say it again.
Immersing Youth in God's Word from a Young Age for True Discipleship
A Christian disciple is one who develops a personal, lifelong obedient relationship with Jesus Christ in which Christ transforms the disciples character into Christ likeness, changes the disciples values into kingdom values and involves the disciple in his mission in the home, the church, in the world. The foundation for all of this, before you get to the work, is a personal, lifelong, obedient relationship with Jesus Christ.
Maria Hamilton Yeah.
Abraham Hamilton III How consistently are we offering this? As I said earlier, these. By the time the young folks, young men became seniors, they should have been provided eight to 10 years at a minimum of being steeped saturated in the truth of God's word. What does God word, God's word say about this? What does God's word say about this? That these shouldn't be new concepts.
Maria Hamilton I know.
Raising Children to Know God, Their Identity in Him, and His Ways
And we have experience there. Right, you and I, and you grew up in church. Praise the Lord. And you knew Jesus at a young age. there was a lot more discipleship that took place for you in your later teens and twenties. For me it was later in my twenties. but the Lord had to undo and redo for us. Where. If we start them young, like if we, if we immerse them in who God is. Because God made them. Yes. And he should be their Lord. He's their Savior. He's their Lord. So if we train them to know him, if we teach them that they are known by him, if we raise them to understand where their days are immersed in the reality of who he is and who they are in him, how they should reason, how they should think, aligning, ah, our thoughts with his right, knowing that he is a fountain of all truth, that there is nothing that comes from him that is a lie, that the chief liar is Satan and we reject him in our personal lives when we're, starting from when they're fighting over a toy, progressing over when they're teens and they're dealing with the world and the sin in the world, we will be able to raise a generation of believers according to God's ways and according to his plan. Now, that doesn't mean that the M Method solves all the problems. It means that we exalt the King. Who has the power to solve all the problems, if you will. Right.
The Church's Weakness in Making Disciples and Staying Connected to the Vine
Like he's the one that gives life and life eternal. And I think the church is weak in this area. I think that we're sitting in the pews and just watching this thing happen right in front of us and not making disciples. You know, one of the things that I know, Brother Avery, in that discipleship curriculum honed in on was the reality of staying connected to the vine.
Abiding in Christ for Fruitfulness and the Pruning That Leads to Greater Yield
Right. Like, like Jon describes it. And, and I'm going to read it just because I don't want to say it wrong, but he says I am the true 1. Jon 15.
Abraham Hamilton III Which, which verse? Verse
Maria Hamilton 1 Jon 15. 1. Okay. Yes. I am the true vine, and my father is the vine dresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit, he takes away. And every branch that bears fruit, he prunes so that it may bear more fruit. So that it may be. How many young people do we expect to bear more fruit as they progress through life? How many of us are really, expecting them to be rebellious, Expecting them to not know it from that, Expecting them to embrace and, and desire brain rot. M in on YouTube. Like how many of us,
Abraham Hamilton III in conflating that with adolescents. Yes.
Maria Hamilton It's just because they're young, they'll learn. No, no, no, because discipleship is not, doesn't happen, through osmosis, through just years on earth. We know old fools with gray hairs? Yes, like so. But the Bible already says it pruning M produces more fruit.
The Importance of Abiding in Christ for Producing Fruit, Both Spiritually and Naturally
And then it says you. Let me see. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Verse four, abide in me. Do young people know what it means to abide in Him, M and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine. So why are we expecting a populace to produce fruit like you said earlier, when we're not even abiding in the vine? We are not connected to the source. I keep telling my kids, you know, 21st century America, we have, chargers in every outlet for all these devices. Right?
Connection to Christ as the Source of Life and Power for Believers
Okay, I tell them, can your iPad be charged if it's not plugged into the source? No, that's how we are with Christ, right? We have to be connected to the source. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from me, he can do nothing. So here's the thing. We really can do nothing. Because even the atheists will do nothing without Christ. Christ gives them the ability to exist. Christ gives them the ability to breathe. Christ gives them the ability to function in this earth. Without Christ is eternal damnation. So without Christ, you can do nothing for the believer. With Christ, we understand what that means. Even beyond the existing and the breathing and the functioning on earth, we're talking about abundance.
Investing in Exalting His Name and Making Disciples for Eternal Impact
We're talking about exalting his name. So for the believer, we can do nothing without him, because we would be doing stuff that's temporal, that, that withers away upon death. But what he's calling us to is to invest our lives the next 40 years, the next 50 years, and being intentional about exalting his name and making disciples of those around us. That's. We have.
The Church Must Wake Up to Its Mission of Making Disciples
The church has got to wake up.
Transforming Character into Christlikeness Through Authentic Relationship and Exposure
Abraham Hamilton III One of the first iterations of this personal, lifelong, obedient relationship with Jesus Christ, that brother, Brother Willis. Willis pointed out, was transforming our character into Christ likeness.
Maria Hamilton Yeah,
Abraham Hamilton III one of the things, it's kind of like the experience I had. I remember the first time I had, real organic orange juice. Not the chemical created thing from concentrate
Maria Hamilton or watered down.
Abraham Hamilton III And what happens is, because I had that Welch's for so long, my palate had not been adjusted to accommodate the authentic. So my initial presentation of the authentic was to reject it. Why? Because it was unfamiliar to me. And it was not until I had, repeated exposure to what was authentic combined with a mind renewal as to how the authentic will Affect the cells in my body versus the inauthentic. The palate adjusted with the mind renewal and the repetition and exposure to the source for mind renewal.
Maria Hamilton I hear intentionality there.
Abraham Hamilton III Absolutely. Time investment. And what I'm saying is the transformation of character into Christ likeness. It becomes our character. And we begin to demand that in those who would endeavor
Maria Hamilton to lead,
Identifying and Demanding Christlike Character in Leaders and the Challenge of Finding It
Abraham Hamilton III to serve us in a certain leadership capacity.
Maria Hamilton Correct.
Abraham Hamilton III And our capacity to discern Christlike character is sharpened as we are transformed into Christlikeness.
Abraham Hamilton III But when Christ is not a part of the consideration or the calculation, those conversations fall to the background.
Maria Hamilton Yeah, Yeah. I was thinking just now about these servant leaders. Right. And we think about like Mike Johnson, who we know personally and we love dearly. And we can. We. There are some that we're like man. Yes. Like, we like them. And we see, we see like mindedness. We see a commitment beyond just a party or beyond just American dream comforts. Like these are brothers and sisters in Christ that are serving in those positions. But are they the majority even within the party that we claim to.
Abraham Hamilton III He would answer that, say no,
Maria Hamilton thank you, because he's in it and he knows.
The National Trajectory Towards Darkness Regardless of Political Parties
And so again, back to your point, back to our point about how do we get here, what do we do in reality? Those are gonna be the few exceptions of like, that's why we have rhinos. Like, that's why we have a party full of people who are just like, you know, I'm just gonna. They're not grounded. They're not grounded. And they're not committed to something greater than themselves. A lot of them, are there for power on both sides of the aisle. So. So we can get frustrated all day long and we can start figuring out, oh, how do we get. Maybe we got to start now we know two more in two years. We gotta, you know, presidential elections and all these things. We can do that if we want and we're gonna spend ourselves doing that. And it's gonna be blue and then red and then red and then blue and all this.
Abraham Hamilton III But the question is, what is the trajectory of the nation
Maria Hamilton it's
Abraham Hamilton III going
Maria Hamilton in exactly
Abraham Hamilton III regardless of. Correct. The party in office. The nation's trajectory has been going in the same direction.
Maria Hamilton Yep.
Abraham Hamilton III It's just going at different paces.
Maria Hamilton That's right.
Abraham Hamilton III With one party goes faster, another party goes slower. But the direction seems to be the exact.
Maria Hamilton That's exactly right.
Abraham Hamilton III Direction.
Maria Hamilton That's exactly
Abraham Hamilton III right.
Voting is Important, But Hope Must Be Placed in God's Word and Making Disciples
Don't misconstrue what I'm saying. I'm not saying the parties are Identical. They're not. There are differences between them. But I'm talking about the national trajectory.
Maria Hamilton And we are saying go and vote and show up. Yes,
Abraham Hamilton III we
Maria Hamilton do that all
Abraham Hamilton III the
Maria Hamilton time. And we, and we teach our children how important it is. Right. but if we, if our hope is in that, and if our hope has been in that, then, and we're seeing the trajectory again, not of both parties, but also as an, of the nation as a whole. Darkness and darkness and darkness. Then we can't, we can't get frustrated now. We had to go. Let's go back to the drawing board. What are we doing? Going back to the word of God is what we need to do as a church.
The Church's Role in Making Disciples and Experiencing God's Restoration
Be disciples and make disciples. Right? Be those that love Christ with all of our heart, mind, soul and strength. Teach those to love God with all our heart, mind, soul and strength every day. And we will see a change. Not for change's sake, but we will see a change because God is faithful and he heals lands.
Abraham Hamilton III He does.
Maria Hamilton He judges them too. He restores a people group. He prospers a nation. This is all what he does. Not what a red party does, but he does. And so if not
Abraham Hamilton III what a blue party does,
Maria Hamilton good.
When the Church Does the Father's Work, He Will Take Care of the Rest
Not at all. when we come together as a church and we do our Father's work, He will take care of,
Maria Hamilton the rest.
Abraham Hamilton III I mean, to the point.
Valuing What the King Values: The Essence of Discipleship for All Ages
I mean, Avery Willis goes on a personal, lifelong, obedient relationship with Jesus Christ in which the disciples character is transformed into the Christ likeness and the disciples values are changed into kingdom values. A simple way to describe that is that the disciple begins to value what the king values.
Maria Hamilton That's a disciple
Abraham Hamilton III versus what the fallen Adam valued.
Maria Hamilton How many of us think 5 year olds can do that?
Training Children to Love God, Hate Evil, and Walk in His Ways
How many of us think that 10 year olds can love what God love and hate what God hates in our home? And I'm not talking about perfection in our home. My job, your job is to train our children to love what God loves and hate what God hates. To distinguish good from evil according to God's way. To submit to him and follow him. To allow the Holy Spirit to examine their perversion, their sin, their fallenness and cleanse them, remove them, sanctify them. Five year olds can start learning that 10 year olds can have a grasp of that. Fifteen year olds should be walking in it.
Maria Hamilton like that is real, not because we're living it.
The Cycle of Sin and the Need to Return to God's Word for Change
That is real because that's God's way. We take him at his word and we trust Him. But too long we've been going through this cycle and nothing is changing. It's actually worsening. We got to get back to what is right.
God's Capacity for Restoration and the Opportunity to Turn Back to Him
Abraham Hamilton III I'm encouraged because God has the capacity. You know, our family's history book has shown us that things in it like Sodom and Gomorrah, it could be. That's a rap,
Maria Hamilton man. Right.
Abraham Hamilton III But where we are now, you have the so called, not so called, the description of the blue tsunami. But at the exact same time you have ballot measures like those in Iowa to restrict the ability to raise income taxes. You have others where they're keeping trans boys out of girls sports. My point in saying these, saying these things is that God is giving us the space and the opportunity to turn,
Maria Hamilton yes,
Discerning the Times and Obeying God's Requirements in This Critical Moment
Abraham Hamilton III if we will. But the question is, will we rightly discern the moment that we're in? Will we discern what God is trying to show us and then will we obey what he requires of us?
Disclaimer Regarding Broadcast Views and Opinions
Jeff Chamblee The views and opinions expressed in this broadcast may not necessarily reflect those of the American Family association or American Family Radio.
In the wake of the midterm elections, Abraham Hamilton III and his wife, Maria, look beyond the latest political headlines to ask a deeper question: What is shaping the nation’s direction—and what is the church called to do about it?
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