October 24, 2025 · 49:48

Paul Hastings, host of the “Compelled” podcast, returns to “The Corner” to discuss his new book.

Bible & Theology

Show notes

0:00 - 15:00. Revelation 12:10-11 (NASB95). Testimony is a powerful tool in God’s Kingdom. 15:00 - 31:00. Paul Hastings, host of the “Compelled” podcast, returns to “The Corner” to discuss his new book. 31:00 - 48:00. Documenting testimonies for posterity is a key component to establishing generation fidelity to Christ. or call: 800-326-4543 To donate call : 877-616-2396

References & links

Phone lines mentioned

800-326-4543
877-616-2396

Full transcript Auto-generated · 9,226 words

Transcribed with OpenAI Whisper (base.en). Timestamps are approximate. Lightly cleaned for readability; quotations from on-air callers may include filler words. Use the audio player above for the authoritative recording.

0:00Darkness is not an affirmative force.
0:03It simply reoccupies the space vacated by the light.
0:06This is the Hamilton Corner on American Family Radio.
0:11It should be uncomfortable for a believer to live as a hypocrite.
0:15Delivery people out of the bondage of mainstream media.
0:18And the philosophies of this world.
0:20God has called you and me to be his ambassador.
0:24Even in this dark moment.
0:26Let's not miss our moment.
0:28And now the Hamilton Corner.
0:33Good evening, everyone.
0:35Welcome to the Hamilton Corner here on American Family Radio
0:38or in our BTV.
0:41Thank you for tuning in to the program.
0:43Yes, indeed.
0:44Let's not miss our moment.
0:47You know, I often reflect on the reality of Acts,
0:51Acts chapter 17 when the Lord reveals to us
0:54through the Apostle Paul's engagement in the areaopagus.
0:57He says that God has determined before time the boundaries of our habitation and the times
1:03in which we would live.
1:05The fact that you and I are alive right now are not mere coincidences of biological occurrence.
1:13It actually is the result of divine providence.
1:17Simply put, God has ordained you and I for this time.
1:22This is the time that God has ordained for us.
1:27our feet, hit the pavement as the Lord opens our eyes in the
1:30mornings, please understand that this is the divinely appointed
1:36time for us. So let us be about our father's business, man. At
1:41this very moment, many of you, if not most of you are making
1:44your transition from your part time jobs where you generate an
1:47income to your full time jobs where you cultivate an outcome. And
1:50as you do so, I want to remind you to do it with intentionality,
1:55recognizing the primacy that God places on family, recognizing the opportunities that you have frankly.
2:01I know with all of the absurdity and the insanity that's happening in the world that this juncture
2:08and in our nation, it's very easy to become despondent or to become listful or to be downcast or to be
2:20discouraged. Resist that temptation, man. God has appointed us for this time.
2:25At this very moment, many of you, if not most of you,
2:28are making your transition from your part-time jobs
2:30where you generate an income to your full-time jobs
2:33where you cultivate an outcome.
2:34And as you do so, I want to remind you to do it
2:38with intentionality.
2:40Understand the primacy that God places on family.
2:43Guys, we are never going to outpace the deficiencies
2:46that abound in the home to our younger brothers
2:49that are here.
2:50Listen, I just want to encourage you, man.
2:52Don't listen to what is happening on these mainstream media outlets and other things.
2:58Seek to develop yourself into the type of man that is worthy of a wife.
3:03Seek to develop yourself into the type of man that is worthy to be the head of a family,
3:09a leader of a family, a priest and a protector and a provider and a prophet to your home.
3:16Seek to become that kind of man, again to be worthy of a wife.
3:21young women seek to be the type of women who have the quality of wifeliness.
3:25The Bible teaches that he that finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the
3:32Lord.
3:33The quality of being a wife was present before the perspective husband found her.
3:40And one of the things that's implied intrinsically in that text is that the perspective husband
3:45knows exactly the types of qualities that a wife should have.
3:51ladies seek to be that type of wife and be a part of the Psalm 128 reality to where transformed
3:58husband and a transformed wife, serve as a foundation for a transformed family, plant yourselves
4:05in the church that is a church of transformation. And from that position, light up the darkness,
4:13man, be about our king's business, influence the society where God has planted you. That's
4:20That's what we need to be about.
4:23And we commit ourselves to this,
4:25no matter what swirling around us.
4:27So as you're making your transition
4:29from your part time jobs to your full time jobs,
4:31do so with intentionality.
4:32For those of us who are like me, who are married,
4:35man, let's glorify the King of Kings starting in our homes.
4:38You know, the most enduring and consistent opportunity
4:43that I have to exalt the King of Kings
4:45is not what I do behind this microphone.
4:48It's what I do at home.
4:51One of the things that we're normalized
4:52in our church with the men is when we talk
4:54and greet one another that we standardize,
4:57man, how's your wife?
4:59Man, how's your wife?
5:00Because we understand we have a responsibility,
5:02we have an obligation to cultivate our wives.
5:05Our wives should be better Christ followers
5:07because they're joined to us.
5:10Reverse should be true.
5:12We as husbands should be better Christ followers
5:14because we joined to our wives.
5:17You wanna talk about a radical reformation.
5:19If we could be radically reformed in our homes,
5:23there's no question as to what can happen in society.
5:26So the word of God we go, Revelation 12 is what we're going to go today.
5:30Revelation 12 and I'm going to continue to emphasize this because we do need attendance
5:38and functioning in other areas.
5:40We need political engagement, the wicked legislation that California's governor, Gavinito, New
5:47Salini signed on a Sunday trying to do it when nobody's paying attention.
5:53So he thought it shows why we need vigilance and diligence.
5:57in these political arenas, but not to the exclusion or at the expense of what happens in our homes.
6:06And I don't think there would be anyone who disagrees with that.
6:09And I just want to be a consistent source and a consistent encourager for us to exalt the Lord in and through our homes
6:16as a matter of first important priority.
6:18All right, Revelation chapter 12, verses 10 and 11 by way of reminder, the name of the book is Revelation.
6:28there's no S. It's derived from the Greek word apocalypsis, which means to reveal or to see,
6:35to open one's eyes, contrary to genres of movies and things. The word apocalypse doesn't mean,
6:41you know, the great zombies are coming now. It actually means to see. Hence the name of this book
6:47Revelation. It's a revelation that Jesus, the revelation of Jesus specifically, Yeshua,
6:53and it's documented by John.
6:57John basically is serving, the apostle John is serving
6:59as Messiah's scribe in this instance.
7:05And in this passage, this portion of scripture I should say,
7:07Revelation chapter 12, verses 10 and 11,
7:12this is what God's word says.
7:13Then I heard a loud voice in heaven saying,
7:19Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God
7:26and the authority of his Christ have come. For the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down,
7:37he who accuses them before our God day and night. And they overcame him because of the blood of the
7:46Lamb and because of the word of their testimony. And they did not love their lives even when faced
7:54with death. It is instructive for us that the Greek word for accused are there is
8:03categro where we get our English word categories from. It's no surprise that
8:09some of the fruit of the flesh articulated in Galatians 5 in contrast
8:13with the fruit of the Spirit are divisions and schisms dare I say categories but
8:23here in Revelation, we have a depiction of that great deluder, Satan, being cast down.
8:29And the Bible is explicit in highlighting the mechanism for the brethren's overcoming of Satan.
8:37You know, I've been talking with my wife and she's been doing this study on C.S. Lewis'
8:42writings.
8:44And one of the things we've discussed recently is that when you think about good and evil and
8:52contrasting in opposites.
8:55When you think about what the Bible teaches about Satan,
9:02who or what do you think is the corollary opposite of Satan?
9:09Most people casually, not thinking deliberately about it.
9:13Most people casually think God,
9:14to which I was simply saying, no ma'am, no sir.
9:18God has no rival.
9:21God has no contrary opposite.
9:26God is consummate goodness, omnipotence, not some power, all power, omnipresent.
9:39God has no rival. Who is a contending opponent or opposite of Satan? Remember we was Lucifer.
9:48Who was Lucifer at the beginning? An angel. Who was Satan? A fallen angel. No, the
9:55contrary opposite to Satan, the angel Michael.
10:05Maybe they're Gabriel in there too.
10:07See, God has no rivals.
10:09The term that's most accurate is a sati.
10:13There is none that could be compared to God.
10:16He alone dwells in unapproachable.
10:18Like he has no rival.
10:23So when we talk about the reality
10:24of contending in spiritual warfare, the truth is,
10:26Satan and his imps, they know their end.
10:29is simply attempting to deceive you and I
10:33into thinking other than what is true.
10:35And we know that when Jesus entered the Gatorian region
10:39and the demoniac was possessed
10:40and we all know it's recorded for our benefit.
10:42What was said, have you son of man come to torment us
10:49before our time?
10:50The demons know they're in this torment.
10:52The demons know they're in this damnation.
10:53Satan knows his end.
10:59God is not the opposite of Satan.
11:02God is in a category all to himself.
11:06So when we read that the brethren overcame Satan,
11:10we shouldn't be shocked in verse 11.
11:13And they overcame him.
11:16Why and how?
11:18Because of the blood of the spotless lamb.
11:23What the Passover and Exodus inaugurated
11:26was prospectively foreshadowing what will be consummated
11:32In the Messiah, in the overcame and because of the blood of the lamb,
11:39and because of the word of their testimony.
11:42Now, I know that scriptures referred to often, but it's often referred to
11:46decontextualized because if you read the very next phrase,
11:50they overcame them, him by the blood of the lamb and because of the word of their
11:54testimony and they did not love their lives, even when faced with death.
12:00What the scripture is saying is that the blood of the lamb was such a potent source
12:04for these believers, that they didn't abandon their faithfulness,
12:10their commitment, their faith in Christ, even when faith was with death.
12:15They maintained their testimony, they maintained their witness,
12:20even when confronted with physical cessation of life.
12:27That is because the brethren know that being in Christ means death has lost this thing on us.
12:39Now, I also want to highlight that it is vitally important that we have a testimony that we share our testimony that
12:50Communicating the story his story. That's how my family and I like to talk about history. It is his story
12:59Over time when we communicate his story as it is woven through our lives. It is a source of strength
13:05It is a source of resonance.
13:09It is a source of commonality.
13:11It's the kind of thing where,
13:13chopping it up with Jeff and I'm saying,
13:14man look what God did in your life, man.
13:17I can draw encouragement, man.
13:18If God can do that in Jeff's life,
13:21not saying I need to have the identical experience
13:23that Jeff had, but if God can do that in Jeff's life,
13:27man, he can do amazing things in my life as well.
13:30This is one of the reasons why it's vitally important
13:33to understand that being a member of a local assembly,
13:37The local church is a means of God's grace.
13:43The local church is a means of strengthening
13:47and protection and refinement and conviction
13:51and encouragement and support,
13:55which is why the phenomenon of church discipline
13:58was such a serious deal
14:02because for one to be removed from a local assembly,
14:07man, it has great consequence.
14:10They overcame Him because of the blood of the Lamb
14:17and because of the word of their testimony.
14:22Family of God, our King has no rivals.
14:28There is no corollary or attending opposite to Him.
14:37He alone is worthy of our veneration and praise
14:41and dedication and resolved commitment
14:47because it is through the blood
14:49of the spotless, unblemished lamb.
14:51Unblemished lamb, unblemished lamb that we overcome.
15:01A discipleship minute with Joseph Parker.
15:04Proverbs 31 is a chapter that's unique in a number of ways.
15:08It's largely, what a young man, a young king,
15:11remember that his mother taught him.
15:13And you know, sometimes if you're reading this passage,
15:16you just might miss that.
15:17But remember this, this young man remembered
15:21a lot of things his mother taught him.
15:23It's so important to understand parents,
15:26our children are listening.
15:28They're listening and learning from you every single day.
15:31You know, often the devil will try to tell you
15:33your children aren't listening to you.
15:34And parents sometimes will say,
15:35my children don't listen to me.
15:37Parents, they are listening.
15:39They're listening sometimes when you want them to
15:41and they're listening sometimes when you don't want them to.
15:43They're picking up on things you didn't mean for them to hear
15:45because they are listening.
15:48So may we as parents and grandparents
15:49make the most of our time of teaching,
15:52training, guiding, and molding our children.
15:55Yes, they are listening.
16:05Shiting light into the darkness,
16:07this is the Hamilton Corner, an American family radio.
16:11Welcome back to the Hamilton Corner, Abraham Hamilton.
16:13The third here I'm delighted to have on the program,
16:16a returning guest, a brother who I appreciate
16:19and respect has become a friend to me.
16:21I'm speaking of none other than Paul Hastings,
16:23who is a podcaster and entrepreneur.
16:26He has consulted extensively in the film, marketing and political arenas.
16:30He's a host of compelled a podcast telling unique stories about God working
16:35through people's lives.
16:37He's also produced several award winning short films and commercials.
16:40His work has been featured by Dr. James Dobson's Family Talk, World Magazine,
16:44the Gospel Coalition, our organization, AFA, the Blaze, CBN News, World
16:49Net Daily and so many, so many more.
16:51He and his wife and their three children live near Austin, Texas and attend redemption,
16:57Hill, church, Paul.
16:59Thank you for returning to the Hamilton Corner.
17:02Well, thank you very much for having me on the show and a new edition.
17:06We actually have four kids now.
17:08Hey.
17:09Yeah.
17:10Exciting thing.
17:11Congratulations, man.
17:12I didn't know you had a fourth one.
17:17That is a tremendous blessing.
17:19That's a tremendous blessing.
17:20I so appreciate you.
17:22I did mention, but I know you are a homeschool dad now and graduate.
17:29And you speak at conferences, you do so many different things.
17:33And I just so appreciate the opportunity to be able to chat with you a bit.
17:36And I'm excited about your new book.
17:39But before we get into that, I want to talk a little bit about your podcast for those who
17:43may not be aware.
17:45And if you're not aware, where have you been?
17:47Are you under a rock?
17:48literally the Hamilton family go to as we take road trips, the compelled podcast, would you just speak
17:53a little bit about your podcast, what you do through it, and what you're seeking to accomplish?
17:57Yeah, so our podcast started seven years ago. My wife and I were at a crossroads in my career path
18:05at the time. I had been doing politics for about 10 years, and this is just state politics in Texas.
18:12I was really burnt out. And frankly, I was at a point where I was being tempted to do
18:17unethical things in order to win campaigns. And my wife and I, we just had to have a real heart
18:24check. Basically me, I had to do a real heart check. We just began asking God, are there other
18:28things that we could do besides politics? And I had this crazy realization that the entire time
18:35that I'd done the political arena work and everything, I'd never prayed for my opponents or for the
18:42opposition. I would pray for victory. I would pray that justice would be done. But I'd never
18:48prayed for the salvation of my opponents. I'd never prayed that God would restore their families.
18:52All that I cared about was finding the terrible, wicked things that they had done,
18:57and then putting that into a mailer that I could then send out to voters and tell them,
19:01oh, don't put this person there, how horrible human being. And it was just kind of a real
19:06heart check. Oh, and there were many other things, factors going out at the same time,
19:09But that wasn't just a real heart check as I just realized like man, I would rather
19:13the rest of the next chapter of my life be spent celebrating that God can take horrible terrible people
19:20and transform them. And so that became a quest to go and find some of the greatest testimonies of
19:27Christian still living today to share their testimony with people that may never heard their story before.
19:33And so now we find people with these undocumented or under documented stories about how Christ
19:39did some amazing work in their life.
19:42We add sound effects, music and narration, and we create a very encouraging, uplifting story,
19:48true story told by the person that this happened to, and they share their story of radical transformation
19:54by God.
19:55Man, it's so powerful.
19:58And there are people that are tuning in and you're describing what you did in politics.
20:02If you can encapsulate what your role was in politics, were you functioning as kind of
20:06like a campaign manager?
20:09I did a little bit of both.
20:10I was a statewide campaign manager for some campaigns.
20:13I ran the political mail.
20:14I was a consultant.
20:15I did behind the scenes work.
20:16I did kind of, I don't know the right term for this, but kind of like subterfuge ops.
20:21And that's at some point, that's what I realized.
20:24Like I was just being asked to do things and being tempted to do things that in the end,
20:28I didn't believe actually honored God.
20:31And it was all in the name of winning.
20:33We had to win so desperate to win.
20:36And we had lost sight of who our true leader truly was.
20:40Man, your testimony is just so stirring.
20:43And I'm so grateful for you sharing that here with us
20:46and moving in to your podcast.
20:48You described it as how you use music and things guys.
20:52It is dramatized storytelling that is so
20:56excellently done, so well done that I wholeheartedly recommended to you for you to
21:02consider, review it for your family, your children depending on their ages.
21:07It is, as I mentioned, it literally is a go-to for us as we travel and we become so
21:12encapsulated, my children say, man, I haven't realized we've been traveling so
21:15long because the stories are so engaging. Now, all through scripture, we see
21:19examples of this when a Lord would say, okay, now document this, you know, do this,
21:25put this memorial stone here so that when your children come this way they will ask,
21:29would you just speak to the importance of not only having these testimonies but documenting them so
21:35that they can be shared? You mentioned some are undocumented or under documented. Why is documenting
21:40them so important? Yeah, what a great question. And I think a great example of this, in fact I have
21:46a little prop here with me. So this is a card that we have documenting some of the stories that
21:53that we have in the podcast.
21:54And one of them is the story about this guy named Tom Terrence.
21:57And he grew up as a Ku Klux Klan member back in the 60s,
22:02lived in Mississippi and then in Alabama.
22:05And he was a hardened terrorist.
22:08He hated God.
22:09Actually, let me rephrase that.
22:11He actually thought he was serving God.
22:13But he hated the things that we know that God actually was.
22:16But that he thought he was serving God
22:18by spreading this campaign of terror.
22:22many things transferred in his life, but at the age, I think 22, he was caught and sentenced to 30
22:29years in prison. He later escaped and there was a nationwide FBI manhunt looking for him. And finally,
22:35he was caught again, he was placed in a solitary confinement. And I think he was there for nine
22:41years. And in solitary confinement for nine years locked up in a eight by six cell, he didn't have
22:48have much to do. And so he just began reading. And back then in the prison system, you could
22:53read any book that you felt like. So he just started reading through all this, you know,
22:56white supremacist propaganda. And he just read through everything that he possibly could.
23:01But at some point, he, and he was, you know, reading the works of Hitler and all this stuff.
23:04At some point, he ran out of material and he was bored. And so he picked up a Bible. He'd
23:09never read the Bible before, but just began reading the Bible. And as he was reading the
23:14Bible, it felt as though like the scales were just falling off of his eyelids. And alone by himself,
23:21he gave his life to Jesus Christ. No one ever witnessed to him. No one shared the gospel with him.
23:27He didn't listen to Billy Graham on the radio. No, he just simply read the new testament. And
23:34after reading the words of a Jewish man, Jesus, he concluded, he said, wow, I think I've had it
23:42backwards for my whole life. I think Jesus actually is who he claims to be and he gave
23:46his life to the Lord. And now you fast forward. Now, Tom is now 80 years old. He lives in Washington,
23:52D.C. He later became the pastor of a multi-racial church in D.C. incredible story. But few people
24:00have heard his story. And so this is one of those stories like this is unbelievable. This is remarkable
24:06that a hardy clans member would become this incredible Christian.
24:10And so we run on mission to again find these stories and document them
24:14while these guys are still alive able to share their testimony before they pass away.
24:19Mm man, it's so profound. It makes me think about the Apostle Paul on 1 Corinthians 15 when he says
24:25that listen, I'm telling you this story. We saw him more than 500 people at one time saw Jesus
24:32resurrected, you know, and in most of them are still alive.
24:35You can go across reference to what I'm saying with these people who are still alive.
24:39It's such a powerful, powerful thing to do and to document and to show that influence,
24:47that God is at work when you say that, man, this is unbelievable.
24:50When you think about who God is, you know, I believe it.
24:53And I remember, I heard that podcast episode, I remember listening to it just being captivated,
24:58captivated by it.
25:00Now I know when your own development, one of the things that was impactful for you was
25:06hearing testimonies, especially Christian biographies, would you just speak a little
25:10bit to how this documented testimony actually helped even shape you?
25:16Yeah, absolutely.
25:18So when I was a kid, my parents made sure that we had great Christian biographies in
25:22our home.
25:23And I don't think it was like some strategic move on their part.
25:25It was just part of natural life.
25:27I was homeschooled and so they make sure we had lots of great material in the room.
25:30I remember I would pick up like these little chapter books about David Livingston or Hudson
25:35Taylor or the Peace Child, all these different folks that were missionaries or I read about
25:41Cory Timboom, I read about Brother Andrew smuggling Bibles behind the Iron Curtain.
25:46As a kid, I'm just reading these books and I was a voracious reader and just time and
25:50time again I was struck by wow God is working not just in the lives of the Apostles in the
25:55the Old Testament or the New Testament,
25:57he is working in the lives of modern day people.
26:00And so all those books that I was reading about these guys
26:02from the 1800s or the early 1900s,
26:04like that definitely shaped my love and desire.
26:08And then as a kid, I'd go to church,
26:09and of course I'll be honest,
26:11I would fall asleep in church all the time.
26:14But the moment that the pastor began sharing a story,
26:18it could be a story about a missionary,
26:20it could be a story about his lawnmower,
26:23any kind of story, I would wake up,
26:25I would wake up and listen,
26:27rapidly to this story.
26:28And I would get the sermon analogy
26:30that he was trying to make.
26:31I would understand that,
26:33but then it went to my back to the Bible,
26:34then I'd fall asleep again.
26:35Which is kind of embarrassing to me,
26:36but I used to struggle with that a lot.
26:38But I realized it was because God had hardwired me
26:42to love stories and understanding who he was
26:45in the nature of him.
26:46And I could grasp that through stories.
26:48And I think there's a lot of other people up there as well.
26:50We know things academically in our heads,
26:52but when we hear it as a story
26:54it resonates with our hearts.
26:57There's a reason why Jesus did so much of his teaching
27:01through parables, you know?
27:04It is undoubtedly one of the masterful tools
27:10that he employed to convey his message.
27:13What has been some of the feedback that you've gotten
27:15and some of the impact, frankly?
27:17From your compelled podcast of various episodes
27:20and some of the impact on listeners
27:23after having heard some of these undocumented
27:26or under-documented testimonies.
27:27Absolutely, yeah, we hear messages
27:29from people every single week,
27:30people who will reach out to us, so they'll live a comment.
27:33Just a couple that come to my mind recently,
27:35we heard from a mom who was struggling with reading her Bible,
27:39struggling with like engaging with the Lord,
27:43even though she had recently made a commitment to Christ,
27:45but she was struggling with these things.
27:47And instead, she found herself continuing to watch
27:50like shows on Netflix or shows that really dishonor God.
27:54And she knew that she really shouldn't be doing that
27:56because like these shows were like, you know,
27:58just engaging in sinful activities.
28:01And she wrote to us to say that a few months ago,
28:05she was sitting down to watch another show
28:08that she knew was not gonna feed her soul.
28:11And she was like on her phone.
28:13I guess she was gonna watch on her phone.
28:15And she knew she shouldn't.
28:16And so she prayed like right then,
28:18She looked up right then and said, God, I know I shouldn't do this.
28:22What should I do?
28:23Right?
28:24And I don't know what, but the Holy Spirit at that very moment on her phone pops up a notification
28:30saying there's a brand new compelled episode.
28:33And at that point in time, she had only listened to one compelled story like a year prior or
28:38stuff like that.
28:39And she said that she'd never seen a notification on her phone prompting her about a compelled
28:43episode before.
28:44But she said that this very moment she's on her phone, she makes his prayer and boom,
28:48The little notification says,
28:49there's a Christian testament it listened to you on Compel.
28:52And so she said she clicked the button,
28:53she listened to the Compel episode
28:55and she's been consuming Compel episodes ever since,
28:57just as a way to kind of push back against her desire
29:00to watch these Netflix shows that were unhealthy for her soul.
29:05And so that was just cool.
29:06She reached out to this way.
29:07One other story, I'll tell you,
29:08we had a young man reached out to us from Canada,
29:11actually he heard one of our testimonies
29:13that was about confession and about turning away
29:15from a double life.
29:17And he was convicted that he had never shared with anyone,
29:20his pornography struggled and even addicted for either of you.
29:23I think for about 20 years.
29:25And see he wrote us an email saying that after hearing
29:28this testimony compelled about confession,
29:30he had finally gone and confessed to the pastors
29:33at his church and now he's been walking freedom ever since.
29:36And it was just so cool to get that message and hear that.
29:39Man, that is so powerful.
29:41It is, and I hear this from parents a lot, in this kind of hyper-technological world.
29:49I was even talking last night about this statement that was put together by some tech leaders and
29:54people from all cross-sections warning about the development from algorithmic learning to
29:59artificial general intelligence, artificial superintelligence, to where much of our attention
30:06spans and our capacity to consume information has kind of been impacted by kind of the flashing
30:12sequences, a lot of the animation. Have you had any experience with families and parents
30:17in particular sharing with you how it's been important for them to help kind of recalibrate
30:22even their children's attention spans by setting themselves to listen and to engage with compelled
30:27episodes instead of kind of a lot of the visual entertainment that's more so prevalent today?
30:31You know, I don't want to shoehorn an answer to their and say that, oh, of course, I haven't
30:36had that discussion about that in particular.
30:39Although I have heard from families saying that they love that it's an audio only show
30:44and that they're able to drive, they're able to do a chore, they're able to do the dishes
30:49and they can listen to it.
30:51And I've heard from many families who've said that, and it depends on the ages of your
30:54children.
30:55But for this one family in particular, they said they listen as a whole family and then
30:59they'll discuss it during dinner.
31:01just their family is weekly practice to do. We met another family. They've got, I think,
31:06they've got, let me remember it, quintuplets and their kids, I think are 12. So they've got
31:12five 12-year-olds. And they're just as a compelter. I know it's pretty crazy. Maybe they should
31:17be compelter. I don't know. So they listen as the 12-year-olds all sit down and they all listen
31:24together as a family while they're driving places and they'll discuss that. So hopefully that's
31:29that's a question.
31:30Yeah, no, it doesn't.
31:31And I appreciate your answer.
31:32It certainly does answer my question.
31:34For people who are tuning in who may not be aware
31:37of how they can access Pott Compelled,
31:40how can they find your podcast?
31:43Well, two ways.
31:44One is you can listen to our podcast on demand anytime
31:46you feel like it's at CompelledPottcast.com
31:50or you could just search for Compelled on Apple Podcast
31:53or Spotify, YouTube or everywhere.
31:55Also, as of earlier this year,
31:57we're actually now on American Family Radio.
31:59broadcast it 2 p.m. Central time on Sundays. And you can hear
32:04our full episodes then. And it's just the Sunday block at 2 p.m.
32:08Central time. So that's how you can listen to our show. And I
32:11again wholeheartedly recommend that you do so. You do not want to
32:14miss an episode. You do not want to miss a testimony because it
32:18truly is powerful and no pun intended compelling to hear what
32:22God is doing all across the country. Now there's a new
32:25venture that you're pursuing. And if you're watching the show right
32:29Now I'm holding it in my hand because in addition to having the podcast and the radio presence,
32:36the radio show on American Family Radio, now Paul and your lovely wife Sarah, you have
32:41written a book, the compelled book, ordinary people, extraordinary God.
32:48On the other side of this break, we're going to get into the book.
32:52What's in it?
32:53We drove you to write it and how can people get it?
32:55You don't want to miss this.
32:56Stay tuned in right here on American Family Radio.
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33:04What if it could reflect faith, foster community, and offer spiritual support?
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33:14It's about honoring Christ and embracing healthcare that aligns with Christian values.
33:20Redeem members share medical expenses through monthly contributions, supporting one another
33:25in a Christ-centered community.
33:27It's not insurance, it's believers helping believers through financial support and prayer.
33:32And, Redeem Health Share provides freedom for members to select the doctors, hospitals,
33:38and treatments that are right for them.
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33:44From everyday checkups to unexpected medical emergencies, Redeem offers flexible programs
33:49and encouragement-rooted in Scripture.
33:52Because your health care should reflect your faith, not compromise it.
33:57or at redeemhealthshare.org.
33:59The Hamilton Quarter Podcast and One-Minute Common Terrets
34:09are available at AFR.net.
34:11Back to the Hamilton Quarter on American Family Radio.
34:16Welcome back to the Hamilton Corner, Abraham Hamilton,
34:18the third year.
34:19My guest is host of the Compelled Podcast.
34:23Mr. Paul Hastings, we've been talking about his podcast,
34:27but just as I mentioned before, when we went to the break,
34:30that there's a new offering available.
34:32It is, it is, it is the compelled book.
34:36If you're watching the show, you can see it on your screen.
34:39I have it in my hands and Paul and his wife have taken
34:44what they do via podcast and have brought it
34:47in book form, Paul, my man.
34:50What moved you to take the step to plunge into
34:55putting this book together?
34:58Sure. Well, thanks for asking Abraham.
35:00And again, thanks for letting me come and join your listeners
35:02It's a real privilege to get to share what God's been doing in our lives.
35:06Amen.
35:07So the compelled book came about and really that really felt like it was kind of this miracle.
35:12What happened was a particular publisher reached out to me.
35:17Actually, I reached out to them asking if I could buy some books from them.
35:21I missed out on a particular sale.
35:23And so I emailed the publisher saying, Hey, I'd still like to buy these books on sale.
35:27Anyways, they emailed me back to president actually of the company, emailed me back and said,
35:31Hey, by the way, I just started listening to your podcast.
35:35I love Christian testimonies and I love what you're doing with your show.
35:39Maybe we should do a book together.
35:41And my wife and I, you know, we got that email and we kind of laughed because like we
35:45had talked about maybe doing a book someday, but because it just felt as though, you
35:49know, some testimonies, lots of people love to listen to the radio.
35:53But some people, they don't listen to the radio or that listen to the podcast, but they
35:57will read a book. And the testimonies are just as important and just as powerful. It's just a
36:02different way, a different medium. And so we began selecting seven of some of our favorite testimonies
36:09from the podcast and we rewrote them for an audience to consume through a book. And again,
36:16these are all true stories. These are stories from people that really experience the Lord
36:21working in radical, miraculous ways.
36:24Just one example I'll give is from chapter two,
36:28and it's the true story of Don and Carol Richardson.
36:32They moved to Papua New Guinea back in the 1960s,
36:37and they were a brand new Mary couple.
36:39They had a six-month-old baby,
36:41and they moved to Papua New Guinea
36:43and moved in with a tribe of Stone Age cannibals
36:47that had never seen a person from the outside world ever.
36:52Like this is the first contact with the outside world.
36:55And the Cannibal tribe actually thought
36:58that these two people were magicians
37:01because every time they looked at them,
37:03these people they had a metal box that could fly
37:05from the sky and people, like a huge bird,
37:08people could get in and out of the bird, it would disappear.
37:11And they had this witchcraft medicine
37:14that could heal anybody of a sickness
37:16they would have died from and they had sticks that could,
37:19you know, make loud noises and kill an animal
37:21from a hundred feet away.
37:22And it was just mind blowing.
37:24It was like, you know, Robinson Crusoe almost,
37:27but this particular missionary couple
37:30was struggling to share the gospel with this cannibal tribe
37:34because the cannibal tribe actually revered deception.
37:37That was like a core tenet of their beliefs.
37:40Deception was a great thing.
37:42And so this family was struggling.
37:44how do we share the gospel with the tribe that celebrates Judas, not Jesus, Judas is the hero of
37:51the story. And so I won't give away what happens, but there's just an incredible moment as this
37:58family realizes that God is working even in despite these crazy circumstances. And so that's
38:05just one of the stories that we documented in the book. There's six others and I can tell other
38:09stories. But again, this is just a way for us to just really encapsulate what God is doing.
38:16Lee Strobel gave us a shout out. It's on the front cover of the book also. So if you know his story
38:21from the case for Christ, he loves the book. And we've sent it on to a few other folks as well. So
38:27it was just a real joy to get to write this and kind of show this and present this to a whole
38:31other group of people that wouldn't find these testimonies otherwise.
38:34That is remarkable and I don't want to to give the book away
38:40But what time period are we talking about that these missionaries went to
38:45Papan again?
38:47Yeah, it was around the 1960s is when they arrived
38:50And again, it was completely cut off from the outside world
38:54They were the very first groups of people to ever encounter this tribe
38:58And these were fearsome warriors who were accustomed to killing their enemies and feasting on their bodies.
39:05And yes, because the group of missionaries were considered to be magicians, they were treated completely differently.
39:12I'll just share one other story from the book, and this is from September 11th, 2001, actually.
39:19It's chapter number five, I believe, with Brian Burdwell.
39:23And Brian was a lieutenant colonel in the US Army on September 11th.
39:28He was at the Pentagon on 9-11 when the plane crashed into the building.
39:34And Brian was about 20 feet away from the impact zone.
39:38His body was blown to the other side of the room.
39:41He was set on fire. He was burning alive.
39:44But he was a Christian though.
39:46And so he screamed out to God and said,
39:49Jesus, I'm coming to meet you and he laid down,
39:53because he had tried to get up, fell down,
39:55stand up, fell down, he was burning alive, right?
39:57And he screams out, Jesus, I'm coming to meet you.
40:01And he laid down on the floor and waited to die.
40:05And he waited, and he waited, and he waited until he realized
40:10that he's still conscious, he's still alive.
40:14And he realized that he was no longer burning on fire
40:17because the one place they had laid out on the floor
40:21was directly beneath one of the last few functioning
40:25sprinkler heads in that entire wing of the building.
40:27Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, wow.
40:32That, guys, you definitely want to get this book.
40:36You need to get this book.
40:38And not only for your own benefit,
40:41but I think this book could be a good tool
40:44to share God's work with others through.
40:47You know, you meet somebody in the mall or wherever you might be,
40:50having one of these books on hand, maybe a helpful tool for you.
40:54It's not the conventional track, but it's something that can be used to show how God works
40:58in the lives of individuals.
41:00And, and, and, and Paul, I'm just struck by your description of, and I have it right here,
41:06the missionaries who went to Papua New Guinea, they are Don and Carol Richardson,
41:12where literally just this year, earlier this year, Papua New Guinea amended their
41:16constitution. I don't know if you're aware of this, but yes, yes, they
41:21amended their constitution to declare themselves a Christian nation. I
41:24guess, I guess the emails about Christian nationalism hadn't made it to
41:27Papua New Guinea just yet, but they, but they amended their deck, their
41:31constitution to add this declaration to their preamble. And it says this
41:35quote, we acknowledge and declare God, the Father, Jesus Christ, the
41:40Son, and Holy Spirit as our creator and sustainer of the entire universe,
41:45and the source of our powers and authorities
41:47delegated to the people and all persons
41:50within the geographical jurisdiction of papa new Guinea."
41:53That is included in the preamble to papa new guine's
41:58constitution and of course I don't want to go beyond anything I know factually,
42:03factually, but I cannot help but to think that Don and Carol Richardson's influence
42:08in this nation may have in some way contributed to the development of the nation
42:14to the point to where now they're willing to add a statement declaring themselves a Christian
42:18nation in the Constitution. I don't want to go beyond what I know to be factual, but I
42:22would not be surprised if there could be a direct line that shows how their work contributed
42:27to what is happening there currently. What do you think about that, Paul?
42:31I think you're totally right. I think it was that works of missionaries just like Don and
42:35Carol who answered the call in the 1960s. Those missionaries who went over at that time, then
42:41as well as other missionaries who went to other tribes at the same time.
42:44Absolutely.
42:45I have no doubt about that.
42:47Absolutely.
42:48Mm.
42:49Now in terms of this book and I made this statement and I want to see what you
42:52think about this as well, because I think it could be good for individuals to get
42:56the book for themselves, but for believers that who may listen to your
43:00podcast already, that this actually could be a great tool to use really in an
43:05evangelistic sense.
43:07Yeah.
43:07I actually that's one.
43:09But that was the heart of our publisher.
43:11That's the reason that we chose to work with that publisher.
43:14So, you know, some people, they make a big deal about trying to make book royalties and
43:18money off of the book.
43:19But to be clear, my wife and I, we waived all of our royalties.
43:22Whenever these books are sold, we don't actually make any money off of it.
43:25Our part was for this to be an evangelistic tool.
43:29Our publisher has been super great about this.
43:31And so they basically have these bulk discount packages where you can buy the book.
43:35I think it's like you can buy a hundred copies for $2.50 each.
43:41And so just crazy cheap, actually $2.50 per book, right?
43:45When you buy a hundred copies to really enable this to be
43:48an evangelism tool or a tractor church.
43:50We've heard about entire churches buying this book
43:52and giving them out to their congregants
43:54or having stacks of these books to give out to people
43:56as they come and visit churches.
43:58My wife and I, we keep a stack near our door actually.
44:01So when the Amazon delivery guy is there,
44:03we can give him a book.
44:04We give books to people as we meet them.
44:06We carry a copy in our car.
44:08And we've heard of other families who buy these books in bulk
44:10and they place them in little free libraries
44:12around their community.
44:14So really again, the heart is for these stories to get out there.
44:17No one's making a bunch of money off of this.
44:19This is truly a labor of love with Kingdom's story
44:22at heart there.
44:23Now I know you and your wife worked on the book
44:26and I see it also includes Ellie Payne.
44:29What was Ellie's contribution to the book?
44:32Yeah, so Ellie, she was a girl who attends our church
44:34actually, she was 17 when my wife and I started writing the book.
44:38And we didn't tell our publisher about this.
44:40We just told our publisher like, Hey, we need some additional help to write this
44:43book, you know, can we work with someone else?
44:45And they said, Sure.
44:45And so I think our publisher probably thought that she was like an experienced,
44:48you know, author, but actually Ellie's a very talented author herself, but she's
44:52only 17 or she's now 18.
44:54But so we worked with her as well.
44:55So the three of us, it was a labor of love between the three of us working together.
44:59Um, Ellie would write kind of the first draft.
45:01My wife would do the second draft.
45:03I would do the third draft and then it would rotate through it again.
45:06God it, man.
45:06That's fantastic.
45:07Guys, this can be used as an evangelistic tool.
45:11It can be used for personal edification.
45:14It can be used to strengthen one's faith, you know, really strobe.
45:18I'm very familiar with his work.
45:20Many of you are familiar with it.
45:21The case for Christ work, it is just a phenomenal tool.
45:24Paul, how can people get compelled?
45:26You mentioned that there may be bulk pricing available.
45:29How can people get this book in particular, including?
45:33the bulk pricing to be able to maybe as a evangelistic tool.
45:38Sure. Obviously, you could buy a single copy on Amazon that's totally fine.
45:42But if you want to get the bulk copy, either 20 copies or 100 copies,
45:45you have to go to our publisher's website. The easiest way to find that is just go to
45:49CompelledPodcast.com and there's an image of our book there. Just click that image and that'll
45:54take your right to our publisher page. Man, that is absolutely fantastic. That is absolutely
45:59fantastic. So I know that you prepare the compelled podcast in seasons. I know that. I know that
46:06you and your wife work diligently compiling testimonies before you release them. What can
46:12people look forward to if you want to give us a sneak peek to kind of wet the palate, if you will,
46:16for what's coming next through your podcast, as well as some what any other ministerial endeavors
46:22that you're engaging. Because I know you always have many, many irons in the fireball.
46:25The book, the story that we're most excited about that we're about hopefully going to record very soon
46:32I've been corresponding via snail mail with a gentleman. I think he's 91 or 92
46:38He is one of the last living kamikaze pilots from Imperial Japan. Wow. He never flew his mission
46:45He became a Christian. It's an incredible story. He lives in America. He's about 92 years old
46:51He's got a profound testimony of God's transformation of his heart, going from a guy ready to die
46:58for the false God emperor of Japan, now willing to die for the true God of the universe.
47:04Oh, wow.
47:05That is absolutely fantastic to hear.
47:08Now I know a little bit of the process that you employ as you pursue these interviews,
47:14and man, I can't wait to hear from this pilot, the last living Kamikaze pilot, as you've
47:20you've traversed the country and maybe even the world in some instances compiling these
47:23testimonies, how have they compelled you in your walk with the Lord Jesus Christ?
47:31Wow, such a great question.
47:33A lot of times my wife and I, we've talked about this and sometimes we are experiencing
47:38a moment of suffering, whether it be physical suffering, sickness.
47:42Right now we've been going through a long season of mold sickness.
47:46Our previous house had a bunch of mold in it and so we've now working through that.
47:50We've gone through really difficult things just as our own family, but it gives us perspective
47:54as we remember some of these guests that we've had in our show and people who were kidnapped
47:59by terrorists or held hostage or had incredible moments of other suffering.
48:04We could see how they went through their really tough moments, but they also knew that God
48:08was faithful.
48:10Maybe they did not have their fairy tale Cinderella ending that they wanted, but they always knew
48:14that the lore was on their side and he carried them through those circumstances.
48:18And so that's been very encouraging to my wife and I.
48:20I don't claim that we can apply that perfectly in our own lives,
48:24but it's something that we found a lot of encouragement from.
48:26Oh man, that is so good.
48:28That is so good.
48:29I want to kind of ask a follow up in this regard
48:32because the concept of suffering
48:36in our current context and our nation
48:38is something really that's foreign to many believers.
48:41Just if you would, in about maybe 30 seconds,
48:44how can suffering frankly aid us in our journey
48:48in our sanctification in Christ.
48:51You know, one of the things that I remember is when Christ
48:53acts as the Apostle Paul, he talks about through the trials
48:58that we've been hit with, we are now able to comfort those
49:01with the comfort that we have received.
49:04And again, that's another thing.
49:05When we experience suffering, we do receive comfort
49:08from the Lord, but let's not just save that for ourselves.
49:11Later on, we're gonna encounter other people.
49:13They're going through tough moments and we need to turn
49:15around and extend to them the grace that we receive
49:18the board at that same time.
49:20Paul, thank you for your time.
49:23Please tell your wife I said hello and allowing you to spend a few moments with us here on
49:27the Hamilton Corner.
49:28I'm so grateful for your work, your life, your ministry.
49:31Folks, compelled the podcast.
49:34Check in, compelled the book.
49:36You need a bunch of copies to distribute.
49:40The views and opinions expressed in this broadcast may not necessarily reflect those of the American
49:45Family Association or American Family Radio.

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