January 23, 2026 · 49:48

What should be included in a “Family Mission?”

Marriage & Family

Show notes

0:00 - 15:00. Deuteronomy 6:4-9 (NASB95). “You shall write them on the doorposts of your house.” 15:00 - 31:00. What should be included in a “Family Mission?” 31:00 - 48:00. Aiming true is required to hit the target. | Family Focus Weekend Feb 20-22, 2026 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 · 9,609 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.
0:02It simply reoccupies the space vacated by the light.
0:06This is the Hamilton Corner on American Family Radio.
0:10It 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.
0:23Even in this dark moment.
0:26Let's not miss our moment.
0:28And now, the Hamilton Corner.
0:32Good evening, everybody.
0:33Welcome to the Hamilton Corner here on American Family Radio.
0:36My name is Abraham Hamilton the third.
0:39And I am the host of this program.
0:42We got some visitors passing by right now.
0:43So it's good to see you guys.
0:46Thank you for tuning into the show.
0:48What a week.
0:51What a week has been already.
0:52But God has faithfully brought us to this juncture in the week.
0:55At this very moment, many of you, if not most of you,
0:58are making your transition from your part-time jobs where you generate an income to your full-time jobs
1:04where you cultivate an outcome. And as you do so, I want to remind you to do so with intentionality.
1:09Understand the primacy that God places on family and allow that the reality of the primacy that God
1:16places on family to guide you and I in our engagements. I've said it before and I will say it again,
1:22and we will never outpace, outvote, out politic,
1:26out Supreme Court opinion, out lobby, out register voters
1:32beyond the deficiencies that abound in our homes of God
1:36could get ahold of us and our families.
1:38There's no question as to what could happen in our world
1:41among the institutions that God established among mankind.
1:44The human institutions, the first of which
1:46that he established was the family
1:49with marriage at the center.
1:50God did that intentionally.
1:52He intentionally did that to communicate to us
1:56the central feature that the family plays
1:59in his economy, the central feature,
2:03that the family plays in the unfolding
2:05and the construction of society.
2:09If we bypass the family, if we ignore the family,
2:12or if we seed the family jurisdiction
2:17to governmental forces, we can expect to see
2:22what we currently have to continue.
2:24And an idea that I've been thinking about,
2:27and we've been talking about this at church,
2:30my brother, Will Addison has pointed this out,
2:32I often reflect on Daniel and his friends
2:37being in Babylon, and Babylon never ending in them,
2:41and how they had a time of development and preparation,
2:45even though they were Yaleid,
2:46young boys when they arrived in Babylon,
2:48they had a time of preparation
2:50prior to arriving in Babylon?
2:52Well, folks, we are living in a form of Babylon.
2:59While we're endeavoring to be faithful to the Lord,
3:01to rear our children in his nurture and his admonition,
3:04to be salt and light, we are doing so
3:07in a modern, somewhat Babylonian context.
3:10And so it is vitally important that we understand
3:15the context that we are in,
3:17and we engage with that awareness.
3:20And to say this very simply what I'm driving towards
3:23is that we don't have the luxury to play footsy
3:24with the devil.
3:26We don't have the luxury to play footsy with sin.
3:27You know, the thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy.
3:32Though the initial offering is very often presented
3:37with platitudes and you have arsenic,
3:40but it's coded in chocolate.
3:41The ultimate objective is just that theft,
3:46murder, and destruction.
3:47So we have to understand that.
3:49And we also have to recognize that this is the context
3:52that God has placed us in.
3:53And he has not placed us in it to be overwhelmed by the environment,
3:57to be overwhelmed by the context,
3:59but that we would execute his commission in the midst of it.
4:01So as you are making your transition to your full time jobs,
4:05first and foremost, recognize this is full time work.
4:08It's a full time commitment.
4:10It's a full time investment.
4:12What we do to generate revenue, it is important,
4:15but it's not the most important thing that we do.
4:18Sometimes, especially when I talk to men around the country,
4:20That's a challenging recalibration.
4:23Because many times we think our most important jobs as men
4:26is providing.
4:28That's not the most important, it is important,
4:31but not the most important.
4:33And I will remind you as I often do, man,
4:35if you're in a life stage as I am, we have young children,
4:38we only have them for this long.
4:40We only have them for this long.
4:42I told you guys before, the little baby that,
4:45you know, that we had was born in Texas, by the way.
4:49That joke, we got a learner's permit, a driving permit.
4:52What in the world is going on?
4:55What did the time go?
4:57I chuckle because my children, they now,
5:02been down to hug their mother.
5:05What did this happen?
5:06It happens that quickly.
5:08What I'm saying is that we must be about
5:10our father's business, we must work while it is day.
5:13We must take advantage, we must take advantage
5:15of the time that we have and make the main thing the main thing.
5:18The sad reality, even in many churches,
5:20we have all kind of programs, we have all kind of plans,
5:23We have all kinds of things going on.
5:25But the children are a secondary phenomenon.
5:28When wicked people, Vladimir Lenin, for example,
5:31said, give me all the children by the age of four,
5:34let me teach them.
5:36Let me teach all the children to give them to me
5:37by the age of four.
5:38Let me teach them for the next four years
5:41and I'll rule the world.
5:42That's what Lenin said.
5:45We gotta understand this.
5:46To the word of God we go.
5:48Today we're gonna begin the show in the book of Deuteronomy.
5:50Deuteronomy chapter six, verses four through nine.
5:53And I'm gonna pair this with Ephesians, chapter five,
5:58which I've mentioned several times.
6:01Even when I have the privilege of counseling young men
6:03and they're preparing for marriage,
6:05I referred them to this when the scripture says
6:07in Ephesians five, that wives that are submit themselves
6:11to their own husbands, wives submit to your own husbands
6:14as unto the Lord.
6:15I've explained that that is a covenantal submission.
6:18There's a covenantal context between a husband and a wife.
6:20It's not a generalized proposition
6:22for all women assumed to all men, it's a covenantal context
6:25that men have an obligation to commit themselves
6:28to their wise for a lifelong holy matrimony.
6:31And that is the environment from which submission springs.
6:34But I've also communicated that word submission
6:36is the English transliteration of the Greek text,
6:39who post also, which means to submit in a voluntary fashion.
6:45That who post also Greek term is transliterated
6:48as an English in the compound English word sub,
6:51meaning under and mission from the word meter, M-I-T-R-E,
6:54which means vision.
6:56All of those words are used to say,
6:58there can be no submission if there's no mission.
7:02This is what I tell men, if you, young man,
7:04want to be a husband one day,
7:06you must be worthy of a wife.
7:10And so I challenge the young man, what is your mission?
7:15What is the mission for the family that you would position,
7:20you will be positioned to lead.
7:23If you have no mission,
7:25if you have no vision for a family,
7:27I tell the young men,
7:28you are biblically unqualified for marriage.
7:31Now that is not a terminal sentence.
7:34That's not an insurable disease.
7:36That's just the reality.
7:38Then if you desire to be joined to wife and holy matrimony,
7:41you have an obligation to know who you are,
7:43who God has called you to be,
7:45what God has called you to,
7:47and what is God's vision
7:48for your operation and function within a family.
7:52Because what you present to your prospective bride
7:55is that mission and vision,
7:56and that is what she voluntarily joins you to fulfill.
8:03To that end, Deuteronomy six,
8:05I'm gonna read it first and talk a little bit about it.
8:07I refer to this scripture often, but it says this,
8:11starting in verse four, Deuteronomy chapter six,
8:13chapter six, verse four.
8:15Thanks to Mr. McIntosh, you probably have it on your screen
8:18if you're watching the show right now.
8:21hero Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is one.
8:25You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all
8:28your soul and with all your might.
8:31These words which I am commanding you today shall be on your heart.
8:36You shall teach them diligently to your sons or to your children
8:42and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way
8:47and when you lie down and when you rise up, you shall bind them
8:51as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead.
8:58You shall write them on the door posts of your house and on your gates."
9:06Now I refer to this passage of scripture all the time.
9:10I'm hearing my children in my hair right now saying,
9:12yes, daddy, you sure do. I do.
9:15And it's one of the scriptural sources that provides and describes the
9:21fundamental ingredients for disciple making.
9:24First and foremost in order to be a disciple maker,
9:26you and I must be disciples ourselves.
9:29You can't give what you ain't got.
9:32You know, the scripture commands you shall love the Lord
9:34with all that you are, heart, soul, mind and strength.
9:37When Jesus quotes this in the New Testament,
9:38he includes the word mind,
9:41but that concept is included in the Hebrew word for heart.
9:44All right, so in Matthew 22, when Jesus quotes this
9:47in response to the question, what is the greatest commandment?
9:49And he offers this, you shall love the Lord
9:51with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength,
9:53and the second is like it.
9:54You should love your neighbor as yourself.
9:55He's quoting from, in part,
9:58Deuteronomy chapter six.
10:01Then the other component, after being a disciple,
10:05you commit yourselves to make disciples
10:07the most profound and enduring and necessary ingredient
10:11of disciple making is time.
10:13That's what it's communicating.
10:14When you sit in your house, when you walk by the way,
10:16when you rise, when you wake,
10:18it takes time disciples can't be made in a microwave.
10:22And so then the text goes on and say that this love
10:24for the Lord that you have,
10:25as conveyed through His instruction to commands,
10:28you, as you are teaching this diligently to your children,
10:32as you are loving the Lord this way,
10:34you shall write them on the door posts of your house
10:39and on your gates.
10:40This is the source of scripture that the Lord used,
10:46among other things, to move me personally,
10:51in view of what I said before from Ephesians 5
10:53about having a mission for a family,
10:54things of that nature,
10:56of developing a family mission statement,
10:58and then writing it down to be put on display in my home.
11:02All right, so that's one of the things,
11:04you come to my home, people who've been in my home,
11:07have seen this, we have a sign with our family mission on it,
11:10because it's something that I wanna aspire to live personally,
11:14to teach to my children,
11:16and three, I want them to understand
11:19that God and his divine providence
11:21have allowed them to be born into a family
11:23where we have clarity concerning what our mission is.
11:27And so that everything that we do,
11:28we talk about this in my home,
11:29the way we manage finances,
11:30the choices we made concerning,
11:32the cultivation of the mind and discipleship.
11:34And there's some of you like saying what?
11:36Off to we call it education,
11:38but I don't limit it to education
11:40as a common term is employed
11:41because education and academia are not synonymous terms.
11:44But the facts are that the cultivation of the mind
11:47is central to making disciples.
11:49This is why when Jesus quotes from Deuteronomy 6,
11:51So you should love the Lord with your mind.
11:52Our mind should be invested in our love
11:54and our devotion and commitment to the Lord.
11:56And so to the Lord.
11:58And so that's why I describe it in that fashion.
12:02Having this statement of mission for our family
12:07is something that the Lord has moved me to do.
12:09And when we zoom out, many of you listening to me right now,
12:12you work in industries, you work in corporations.
12:14And what do you see?
12:15This is our corporate mission.
12:17This is the mission statement for the company.
12:19This is the vision statement for the company.
12:21Admissions and vision statements for all kind of areas
12:25and industries and occupations and things,
12:28why would we think we needed to have a mission
12:30and a vision for our families?
12:33One of the things that is abundantly clear,
12:37because the Lord tells us this in scripture,
12:39Romans 12 is a great source,
12:40verses five and six, first Corinthians 12
12:42is another great source.
12:44When the Lord says that his body is comprised
12:46of many members, the many members of the body,
12:50just like in our physical bodies,
12:51Our physical bodies are made of, you know, skeletal system,
12:54muscular system.
12:55We have organs, we have all kind of appendages,
12:57we have all kind of features.
12:58It's one body, but different parts, many members.
13:01Well, the Lord uses that metaphor to describe His bride,
13:03His bride as being a body comprised of many members.
13:06And then in Romans 12, it says that the members
13:08of the body are also members of one another.
13:13So that as members of the body, we have no need
13:16to seek to be identical to other members of the body.
13:19Similarly, the Lord develops families
13:23with different operations.
13:24You'll find that God gives some families,
13:26you just, is consistent.
13:28They have a mind for engineering and mathematics and science.
13:31And then others, they have a mind for linguistics
13:33and language arts and things of that nature.
13:35And then another, you have this family,
13:36they seem to be all artists.
13:37You have a matter of family.
13:38Everybody and family can sing.
13:41You throw a rock, you're one person.
13:42Don't read me if I saw a lot of people.
13:45Like no matter, like an example that comes to mind
13:47my mind immediately because thank God,
13:49My parents became believers the year that I was born.
13:52I grew up here in the winence all the time.
13:57I like it, can't every winence sing?
14:00You know, God does that intentionally.
14:03And so when God gives us this, these abilities,
14:06these gifts, these talents and abilities,
14:08it's vitally important that we have clarity
14:10of how it should be used.
14:12Thinking for example, those who are musically inclined,
14:14how often have you seen this story over and over and over?
14:17Oh, this person, they were raised in the church.
14:19They cultivated a gift to sing to play to whatever,
14:21in the church.
14:22Then what did they do?
14:24They go to the world.
14:24You know, like Whitney Houston,
14:26all our families are in ops.
14:27They're all raising the church,
14:29but they took Whitney Houston to the club
14:30to start singing.
14:31Couldn't it be they didn't have clarity concerning a mission
14:34from God as to how those gifts were to be used.
14:38Clearly talented, blessed by God,
14:39what talent, how is that talent utilized?
14:44I'm gonna have a conversation today
14:46about cultivating and developing a family mission.
14:51What should be included in a family's mission?
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15:59Shiting light into the darkness,
16:07this is the Hamilton Corner, an American family radio.
16:11Welcome back to the Hamilton Corner, Abraham Hamilton the third here, and I am joined
16:15by my favorite guest, Y'all know who it is, to help this conversation.
16:19And I thought since we were talking about developing a family mission,
16:23that I would, excuse me, include the person that I am endeavoring to execute
16:28our family's mission with, which is my lovely wife, Maria Hamilton.
16:31Welcome back.
16:32Hey, thank you for having me.
16:33I think some people are saying you come in on the show too much.
16:36Too much to tell to me.
16:37I can just not.
16:37Jeff said I won't tell you, but he said that before you came in.
16:41He's like, he did not say that.
16:46You heard the conversation we had in the first segment,
16:48segment concerning developing a family mission.
16:51And I want to add to the things I stated in the first segment,
16:55developing the family mission and creating a statement is one thing,
16:58but it's another thing to live in.
16:59That's right.
17:00And when I'm talking about developing a family mission,
17:02I'm not talking about talking about having a pretty well
17:06edited statement that does not reflect
17:10your demonstrable family values.
17:12Yeah, yeah.
17:13And when I buy a demonstrable, I mean,
17:15if you have a statement on a wall,
17:18but that ain't what you're living,
17:20there's a nullification and an undermining taking place
17:23concerning family mission.
17:24But just to start the conversation,
17:26I wanna have just as a threshold question.
17:29when you consider a family mission and what should be involved, what immediately comes to your mind?
17:34So prayer, right? Seeking God. Because it's one thing for us to create our own idea of what we see
17:41our lives playing out as, you know, what our goals and dreams have been from our youth, you know?
17:47But it's another to actually seek the guidance of the Lord and the instruction of God. And even
17:51like his wisdom, he knows not only us individually and he knows the depths of our hearts, but he knows
17:57who he joins us to in marriage.
18:00And he also knows the offspring that will come from us and through us.
18:04So it is why is this and I also the kids this, how foolish it is to have the creator of heaven
18:10and earth access to the one that has that has all power and all knowledge and
18:14Shelfam like put him on the shelf and not seek him for all that he has for us, for
18:20all that he wants us to know.
18:22And so for sure, the first thing would be praying
18:25and praying that God would reveal and would show
18:29and would give words of wisdom and words of knowledge,
18:31things that we wouldn't know because he knows,
18:34not only the future, but he knows the depths of our heart.
18:36So I would say prayer is important.
18:38And then also a serious commitment
18:42and it will flow from prayer,
18:43but a serious commitment to glorifying and honoring him
18:48that at the end we would be able to say,
18:51I'm sorry that we would be able to hear, well done,
18:54that good and faithful servant from him.
18:56So it would be to honor him to glorify him,
18:57to seek what he is calling us to,
19:01and that everybody will fulfill that in the family.
19:04When you say seek to glorify him and honoring him,
19:07are you talking about in a more generalized sense,
19:10are you talking about in the development,
19:12even of the family's mission?
19:14Yeah, well, in both, but in specifically for the mission
19:18because the mission is to be lived, right?
19:20It's not just to be known or said or spoken.
19:23It's to be lived out.
19:25And it's not only gonna be lived out by you and I
19:27as a unit, it is gonna be lived out through our children
19:30and their marriages and their offering.
19:31Meaning like the Lord has a generational purpose
19:35for the glorifying of his name,
19:37for the exaltation of his name,
19:38for the advancement of the kingdom.
19:40And so there is a, the mission is bigger
19:43than us individually, right?
19:45So when I say honor and glorify him,
19:47I'm talking about God,
19:48What did you place us together for?
19:51What are you foreseeing that we accomplish?
19:55Not only in obedience, but in heart condition, right?
19:57Because obedience flows from our heart
19:58that is committed to God.
20:00So that's what I mean.
20:01Just more like, Lord, what do you want me to do on this earth?
20:05Who do you want me to be?
20:06And then what do you want me to do
20:07so that your name can be bright, right?
20:10It can be shine bright through my testimony, my life.
20:14And that really relates to some of the essential life questions as it pertains to developing
20:21and shaping a worldview, who am I and what is my purpose?
20:27Do you think the family mission statement has to address that or in terms of life purpose
20:35verbatim or what do you think about that?
20:37No, I think what we've, and again, this is what we've sought to do.
20:42is the same, but it'll be different for each family, you know, the way that it's written
20:46out and everything.
20:47But I think for us, what the Lord has shown us is that the verbiage is what He has captured
20:53us with, like what we feel is like the best way to explain why we are here, you know,
21:01and what we are doing together, what our path is.
21:06The way that it's executed is different throughout different seasons of life, you know, in different
21:10ways that it looks, God brings about different assignments and different things throughout life and grows and matures us even within the mission, you know?
21:19So to look different as we live it out. But no verbatim, it would just be like, what has the Lord revealed
21:26that we are placed on this earth to do?
21:28And as simple as being completely poured out, being emptied out for the sake of the kingdom of God, for the sake of advance in the gospel.
21:35And of course that'll look differently in different setups, different ways.
21:39And she referred to that, that's included in the part of our family's mission,
21:43the Hamilton family mission.
21:44The goddess has called the Hamilton family,
21:46be poured out like drink offerings in service to the Lord's purposes in our time and our generation.
21:50And we endeavor to communicate that to our children,
21:55and thankfully got led in that direction, because that doesn't,
21:58it's not meant to bind you to any particular lane of exercise,
22:05but it is meant to provide a foundation and an anchor
22:10to have a fundamental understanding that all that you are,
22:13that all that is being invested into you,
22:15meaning to our children, all the resources
22:18that have been entrusted to your stewardship,
22:20all the insight and mind cultivation
22:23that you're receiving is not for consuming
22:27on your own personal selfish development,
22:29your own personal desires, God has provided all of that
22:33so that you could be poured out in serving of his purposes
22:38in your generation, because each generation of Hamilton,
22:41Lord willing should the Lord tear you
22:43any blesses us to have subsequent generations,
22:45each generation will have the requirement
22:48to live that out through how God has made them.
22:50Yeah, yeah, and I think sometimes I hear,
22:53so the way that I think sometimes is
22:55because I didn't grow up in church and everything
22:56and the way I came to know Christ,
22:58I always hear a lot of skepticism
23:00in the back of my head, it's not from God,
23:02but you know, just like this idea of like,
23:04how do you think, why are you so sure
23:05that you can accomplish that, right?
23:07Or like you and I would always ask you more so early
23:10on our mayors, like can we really raise children
23:11that are for real, like they're seriously committed
23:13to Christ.
23:14And that was such like,
23:16pying the sky thing for me at the time, you know?
23:19And again, we're not advocating for perfection,
23:21but what we are advocating for and encouraging the body
23:24to embrace is the reality that God desires
23:28a fully committed believer.
23:30Not a lukewarm one, one that is on fire for his purposes,
23:34for his heart, for who he is,
23:36not only what he does and what he gives us, but who he is.
23:38And so can we raise, first of all,
23:42before we raise anybody, can we become that ourselves?
23:45Number one, can we lay the foundation of our union on that?
23:50And then can we raise the generation of believers after us
23:54who are fully 100% committed in heart, right?
23:58And so the answer is, yes it is.
24:00in heart, but that heart commitment is tangibly demonstrable in the lives of...
24:05Correct. In obedience and in pursuit, yeah, and in hunger.
24:08And in the lives of us who basically are the founding unit, if you will, for our progeny.
24:14Yeah, we got to live it. Yeah, for sure.
24:16So it's in our... Please don't lose your kind of thought. That conveying that and then putting
24:22that statement in print and then mounting it on the wall, it serves as a mirror.
24:29Every day we walk in the house, we walk underneath that sign,
24:33is a moment of introspection and challenge.
24:36Are we living? You and me?
24:39Are we living to be poured out like drink offerings?
24:42In the poured out expression, and it came from the Lord of Frank,
24:44based in the scripture, we have the scripture references as well.
24:47But the poured out reference challenges the notion of nominal Christianity
24:52and a luke warmth concerning him.
24:55him. We don't want to just, you know, give God tips with our lives.
24:59Want to be completely sold out.
25:01That's right. Yeah. I think we are grown up in a generation, a time period in America,
25:06for the church for sure, where a lot of us claim the name of Christ and pacify ourselves with
25:13church attendance and even a, you know, a right to self-righteousness, really is what it is, but
25:19a righteousness according to our own understanding of doing what is right. But we are not
25:24living a sold out life that says,
25:28Lord, for you are a live for you are a die.
25:30Like what are you calling me to?
25:32You know, full abandonment and full submission to his,
25:35to his not only his will, but his heart.
25:38You know, like it's one thing to say,
25:39Lord, I'm gonna obey you in all that you say.
25:41And that is good.
25:42But if you think about it, that is an overflow of a heart
25:46that is in love with Christ.
25:48Like I was telling the kids yesterday morning, we-
25:51You can say telling the kids, you're talking about our children.
25:52Our children, yes.
25:53Sorry, yes.
25:54Yes.
25:55Yes.
25:57You telling our children.
25:58I was telling our children yesterday morning
26:00that it is one thing for us to know what is right
26:03and especially in our home where they know
26:05our expectation, not only ours,
26:08but the Lord's expectation for every member of our family
26:10is obedience because if you love him, you'll obey him, right?
26:13But what I was trying to help them to understand
26:15is that obedience does not come by convincing ourselves
26:20that we should love him, therefore we should obey him.
26:23We should love him, therefore we should obey him.
26:24If I'm not obeying him, if I don't wanna obey him,
26:26if I'm flesh doesn't wanna obey him,
26:27then therefore I'm not loving him and that is bad.
26:29And so I should love him so that I can obey him, right?
26:32And yes, we agree with that, those statements,
26:34but if we live like that solely,
26:36we are forcing ourselves to obey when our flesh
26:40is not purified and restored and redeemed
26:42and exercised and purified.
26:44I don't know the word to use there,
26:45you know what I mean?
26:45The reality is, yes, the reality is that we grow in love
26:50for the Lord because we submit ourselves to be sanctified, right?
26:54So in every occasion when there is conviction,
26:57we say, Lord, thank you God,
26:59that you are not leaving me the same.
27:00Thank you Lord God, that you have pointed out something in me
27:02that is filthy, that I should treat us filthy,
27:05that I want to reject, and Lord, would you help me remove that?
27:08You know, and when I'm selfish, or when I'm fighting,
27:11and when I'm getting angry, and I'm sinning
27:12because of the anger, whatever it is I'm doing,
27:14Lord, help me to shed that, to be renewed, to be transformed.
27:19and the more we are transformed, the more we love God,
27:21and the more we start valuing the things of God
27:23and himself more, and the more we desire to obey.
27:27Obedience is a joyful act.
27:29It is not one that's like, oh, fine,
27:31because it's right, right?
27:32And so when we have that flipped,
27:34when we were just thinking about obedience
27:35as doing the right thing
27:36and enforcing ourselves to the right thing,
27:38it's not joyful, and it's supposed to be joyful
27:41because the awareness of the heart, the mouth speaks,
27:43and we act, right?
27:45Yeah, and what you're communicating is that there's a reality
27:47that when God saves us, we don't automatically have new minds
27:52and new appetites, new desires.
27:54So there's a reality of being a believer at an earlier stage
27:58in your sanctification journey to where you're doing the right thing,
28:01not because you want the right thing, but because the right thing is right
28:04and you kind of strong arm your way into obedience,
28:08but there is what you're talking about.
28:11But even there, there's room for additional growth
28:14because God's desire is that we would grow and mature to the place to where
28:20obeying Him becomes our delight. Yes, yes. To where we delight as Psalm 119 says,
28:26oh Lord how I love your love as at earlier stages, loving the love and word love.
28:32I mean I'm over here, when my precious over here but the Lord say I can't so I
28:36guess I just can't. Right. But there's growth and maturity and that's what
28:39you're saying that that articulation presents that before in this and since
28:44our children to say, hey, if this is where you are,
28:46there's more to grow to the place to where the being poured out,
28:49like a drink offering, becomes your willing,
28:52volitional, joy-filled, love-anchored obedient service unto the Lord.
28:57And we've got to be honest, right?
28:59And I think that's one of the main purposes of this episode
29:01is that we want to encourage fellow believers,
29:04because once upon a time we were them,
29:06like we were trying to honor God, what I'm about to say next.
29:11The idea, my point here is to say,
29:14let's really be introspective, let's really look at ourselves.
29:17I want us to encourage the listeners to dig deeper
29:21and really be honest about where they are in this
29:24and it leads us to what we're talking about
29:26with priorities because we, you and I, meaning,
29:29we did not start off in our individual walks with Christ
29:32fully 100% understanding everything that God has called us to
29:36and being 100% committed to all things
29:39that got desires for us.
29:41We've grown in sanctification
29:43and that's the journey for all believers, for all of us.
29:45And so it's just a time for us to continue
29:48and for those who are listening to also continue
29:51to be introspective, to be honest with themselves,
29:53that we really ask the real question that says,
29:57Lord, are you my priority?
29:59Like are you the center of my life?
30:02Like do I wake up for you?
30:06Do I live for you?
30:07Do I lay everything down and you are, I don't want crying.
30:10You are the treasure of my life, like are we there?
30:13And if we're not there, and let me say it,
30:16let me say it differently.
30:18If there is room to grow, right?
30:19Because this is not about perfection.
30:21This is about hunger and a thirst, yeah, for him.
30:24And so that we would be honest.
30:26So then when we're honest, we realize either that we need
30:29to grow or that we're there, but we want more
30:30because we should always want more
30:32because God is inexhaustible.
30:33that we would continue to hunger,
30:37but that we would say, Lord,
30:39I want you to be my greatest treasure,
30:42and I want you to be my children's greatest treasure.
30:44So then, what am I going to devote my life to,
30:48but to raise a generation whose treasure is you versus wealth
30:54or even stability or even marital bliss?
30:58Or there are other things that compete, right?
31:01So I'm saying, Lord, help us as a body to really grasp this
31:05and to make the main thing the main thing.
31:09Yeah.
31:10And what you're talking about in terms of priorities
31:12and I know we can close to the break in this segment
31:15is describing and discussing and addressing what is,
31:21not what we know intellectually what should be.
31:24Because if you ask us, well, what should
31:27our family mission consist of,
31:30most people listen into this show,
31:32you'll be able to provide the right answer
31:33what it should be.
31:35But what we're driving at is not what it should be,
31:39or what it truly is.
31:41And what we're talking about is not merely
31:44what we put down on a paper, or put down on a sign,
31:47but what do we live, and then what do we convey?
31:50Because the thing that I continually go back to,
31:52you're talking about this love for the Lord,
31:54Lord, do I wake up for you?
31:57We should never attempt to graduate from the notion
32:00order to be disciple makers we have to be disciples ourselves and if we want to see
32:03these qualities cultivated and those coming behind us and those we're in
32:07relationship with and I'm seeing including people outside of our family even then
32:11has to be something that's that's that's evident within us the music
32:16disrespectful and I hear playing I know you hear playing too when we come back
32:22from this break we want to pick up this conversation and discuss priorities in
32:26family mission because you mentioned a couple things stability in life economic success
32:35provision these things are are not bad necessarily but could they become rivals
32:44and could the family mission development process reveal comfortable idols that we've cultivated
32:51in our lives and in our hearts we'll tackle that when we get back from this break friends new
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33:54The Hamilton Quarter podcast and one-minute common terrets are available at EFR.net back
34:10to the Hamilton Quarter on American Family Radio.
34:15Welcome back to the Hamilton Corner Abraham Hamilton the third here with my lovely wife
34:19who still makes my heart skip a beat machine to the room it's true.
34:24Maria Hamilton, before we went to the break babe we were having a conversation you brought
34:28up the concept of either you did or I did I can't remember which one of us did but
34:32priorities and family mission we live in a world that's just be real we got to make
34:37money people need to eat we need you know electricity we need warmth in our
34:42homes things of that nature how do we reconcile which the the concepts that
34:48should be tangibly demonstrable in our families mission with the the articulation
34:55that you provided in the last segment about Jesus being our
34:58prize and our hearts overflowing with devotion and love and
35:02commitment to him and that being tangible that evident in our
35:05lives reconciling that with the realities of every life that we
35:08have to live in and things that we often discuss in our home the
35:12whole Harvard versus heaven phenomenon. How do we reconcile
35:15prioritizing properly in cultivating family mission?
35:19Yeah, I think it's just the the foundational perspective, like
35:23the foundational ideas that govern how we execute our lives or how we live them.
35:30So like for example, when we think about, let's say we are called, let's say you and I were
35:35called to open a business, to start a business, right?
35:39And we know we're entrepreneurs.
35:40That's a lot of weight on your shoulders, but then if I'm helping you know on our shoulders
35:44for our family, right?
35:46Sustenance, you know, money and even long term, right?
35:50You have a lot of responsibility if you're an entrepreneur.
35:52I understand that that feels like that is like the end.
35:56You have to devote everything to it
35:58because if not, you don't eat
35:59and your children don't eat, right?
36:00So I can understand that feeling
36:03like such an important commitment
36:06that you're giving your whole everything to it
36:09because you are so concerned about your stability
36:12and you're in the provision for your household
36:15and for your children.
36:16So it's not like you're ignoring your children
36:17when you're devoting your whole everything
36:19to a startup, if you will, right?
36:21But I think if we go back and we lay the foundation properly, right?
36:27Instead of looking at the business and the success of it and the provision that comes from it
36:33and then the stability and the life that you can provide for your children,
36:36let's start at the foundation of who is God?
36:40What has He called us to?
36:42And what does He desire?
36:45If we start there, then the business will fit in its proper place, right?
36:50So like the foundation would be who is God.
36:51God is the creator of heaven and earth,
36:53the supreme being, the one that holds all knowledge,
36:56all truth and who is love, right?
36:58He, the God of all eternity,
37:01has chosen to reveal himself to you, to me,
37:04to everyone listening.
37:06So this God has a perfect plan for your life,
37:10but it's not just for your best life ever.
37:12It is literally God has an eternal purpose
37:17for all humanity and you because God has rescued you from sin and saved you, praise God.
37:23Now you have the ability to have the wherewithal, the knowledge to come in and say, Lord, then
37:29use me.
37:30Like where do I fit?
37:31What is it that you call me to?
37:33And that's how he does reveal an entrepreneur spirit in you and he gifted you with this and
37:37he's giving you an idea and you're running with this idea, right?
37:41Well, when the business, if you look at the business from God's perspective, God has
37:47has originated the idea, he has put in you the talents,
37:50he has given you the wisdom, he continues to guide you
37:52and lead you in this business, and the business becomes
37:56secondary to your heart's treasure.
37:58You are living and doing this for the glory of God.
38:01God will get all the credit, God will get the benefit,
38:03God will grow it, God will end it.
38:05God has the veto power over all of it.
38:08And then God is so faithful and so good that he will ensure
38:12that your stable, that your family is cared for,
38:15that your children are served.
38:16So then the business does not become a competitor
38:20with your raising your children.
38:22See, it doesn't become either I devote my whole life
38:24to this business or I just have a much of it from home.
38:27That should never be a thing that we,
38:30that compete against each other.
38:31If the Lord called you to start a business,
38:33where that's the only example I can think of right now
38:34that feels like such a weight,
38:36that it feels like either I do this or I do that, right?
38:40The Lord desires that we become sold out for Him
38:44and that we raise the generation of believers
38:46for sold out for him.
38:47Not just that we are pleased like Hasakiah with Wilhelm Good,
38:51and it's gonna be good in my generation.
38:53And these children, these children,
38:56are going to be adults one day,
38:58and our greatest treasure should be that they know God,
39:01that they know him, not that they're perfect,
39:03that they know him, and that God will become
39:05their treasure as well.
39:07Now, can we force that?
39:08No, can we model it?
39:09Yes, can we live it before them?
39:11Yes, and can we encourage them,
39:13and do everything in our power to obey God,
39:16so that they can, that the Lord can capture their hearts, right?
39:19And that he will become their treasure.
39:21So I'm just saying that as an illustration,
39:24it's to your question that our priorities
39:27need to be in the right order.
39:28Like if the foundation is God and him being our treasure
39:32and him leading and directing and sanctifying us
39:35and training us and showing us
39:37and giving us dreams and visions and guidance,
39:39then everything else falls into its proper place
39:43and you won't have this competing,
39:45either I devote my time to this,
39:47or I devote my time to this,
39:48and when they're both important,
39:50but in their proper place,
39:51they are as the most fruitful.
39:58So what you just described really articulates
40:01that family mission can aid in fortifying oneself
40:06and one's family against idolatry.
40:09Because let's just be clear,
40:10we never make idols out of stuff we don't like.
40:13We never make idols out of stuff
40:15that's easily cast off, usually things that become idols,
40:19practically become idols are things that we enjoy.
40:22You know, using your example, hypothetical of an entrepreneur,
40:27an entrepreneur example that having a business
40:30started from scratch and it begins to be successful
40:33and it's thriving, that feels good, that's enjoyable.
40:35That's a wonderful thing, but that wonderful thing
40:38can get out of place, can get out of pocket
40:41if that wonderful thing becomes the wonderful thing.
40:44Yeah, yeah.
40:45Practically, the wonderful thing.
40:47It consumes everything,
40:50but having clarity concerning family mission
40:52can aid us in being fortified against that,
40:56having family mission anchored in scripture,
40:59rooted in scripture,
41:01can aid us in not allowing the wonderful thing
41:04to become a wonderful thing,
41:07to become the wonderful thing.
41:09So now then it becomes a rival competitor.
41:11That's right. That's right.
41:12We always have to be watchful of that.
41:15And that's why God is so good he convicts us of sin.
41:18So when we are elevating anything, even family, even children,
41:20to the pedestal of God, then we have to repent
41:24and God will help us.
41:25I think one of the things that we also see in our culture,
41:27though, especially in the region of the nation
41:30that we live in and the Bible Belt or whatever,
41:32the reality is that we really convince ourselves
41:36that our children can be given a way
41:43good enough. Like we settle for like, I just want them to be
41:47good kids. Like I just want them to end up on drugs or on the
41:50streets or criminals are in jail. And then it's just like, I'm
41:53it's just good enough. So then then everything else becomes
41:56more important, really, because if that's the standard that you
42:00that we set for our children, I just want them to be good
42:02enough. I turned out good enough, right? We turn out
42:05good enough. So we say, let's be honest, that's what we say.
42:08We turn out good enough. I went to public school and I turned out
42:10good enough. Or, you know, it's it wasn't that bad. They're gonna
42:12have to learn some way, they're going to have to learn how the world is.
42:14We got all these excuses.
42:15And the bottom line is when you when you peel it back to layers, we are just
42:19satisfied with them being good enough, right?
42:22Because if I have to devote my everything to make sure that I put food on the table
42:28through a business or whatever it is, then I have to then make sure that my kids
42:32get the best second place.
42:36So then the best second place, they're going to be all right.
42:38It's good enough.
42:39And then we're good with like this is thriving.
42:41I'm making sure they got food on the table.
42:43I'm making sure that we have a stable life
42:44that they have what I didn't have growing up.
42:46And that's good enough.
42:48Man, that's not the heart of God.
42:49God doesn't want good enough.
42:51God wants complete commitment, 100% from all of us.
42:54Not just from the kids, from all of us.
42:56So I just think that's an area of challenge.
42:59Yeah, the children have what I didn't have materially.
43:02Yeah.
43:03In terms of things, stuff and possessions.
43:05But even if you, I mean, you can, we can add mental health,
43:10like we can add emotional stability as well.
43:13Like we may have come from trauma, you know,
43:15our fathers or mothers, whatever didn't do.
43:17And so then we, you know, we don't want that for our kids,
43:19so we want better for them.
43:20So yes, financial material, but also we want them to not have
43:24a father who's abandoned them or we want, you know,
43:28so all those things, even in that,
43:30you can have the proper order in the priorities,
43:34you know what I mean?
43:35that I feel like the Lord is saying to us
43:38and through us, I hope for the glory of God,
43:41is that we would be so committed to the Lord
43:44that He dictates what is most important
43:48and that our priorities are set in His order
43:51versus in our own humanistic thoughts,
43:56our ways.
43:57I feel like His way is better.
43:59So you posited being,
44:02but positive, good enough as being a rival
44:05to what I would describe as being poured out
44:06like drinking service to the Lord's purposes.
44:09Let's dig into that a little bit
44:11because that could be a jolting conversation
44:13for people as we're talking now
44:15because if you see the scripture,
44:18I've never read in scripture
44:21what the Lord says in terms of,
44:24that's a good enough Christianity.
44:26Not at all.
44:28And that good enough disposition
44:30often manifest itself in a kind of a nominal churchy entity
44:37to where there are church traditions that are cultivated,
44:42but there are not hearts that are hungering and thirsting after righteousness.
44:46So how does, in your view, the good enough phenomenon,
44:50rival being poured out like drink offerings in service to the Lord and His purposes in our time?
44:55Yeah, it rivals it because when we determine what the standards are, but when you hear standards,
45:06don't just think rules.
45:07When we're talking about standards, it's not just rules, do's and don'ts.
45:10It's heart condition.
45:11Well, heart condition, heart condition that then overflows into actions, into life goals,
45:18into how it all manifests, right?
45:19But like our heart condition, when we set a low standard and when we say that's good
45:23enough because that's a good kid because he's respectful or it's a good kid because he's
45:27not like the bully of the school.
45:30That's good enough.
45:31We are humanistically sitting that in place and that is going to dictate how we behave
45:35and how we act and what is most important.
45:38Guys, if I'm pleased, let me tell you, if I'm pleased with my son who's a rule follower
45:43and I just let him continue to just be a rule follower because when I'm seeing him he
45:47is doing everything I have something to do and he says, yes ma'am and yes sir and no
45:50ma'am no sir.
45:52And I'm satisfied with that because that's good enough.
45:55But I am not examining his heart and not asking him,
45:59son, how are you doing?
46:00Like, how is your prayer life?
46:03What are you reading in scripture?
46:04What has the Lord shown you?
46:06You see, you seem downcast.
46:08What's going on?
46:09Is the Lord showing you something?
46:10And he opens up and he says,
46:11I'm feeling convicted right now.
46:13And I don't know what to do with this.
46:15We are helping him in his sanctification journey.
46:18I am not satisfied.
46:20I'm not satisfied with leaving our kids good
46:22enough.
46:23And we should not be because that's not the heart of God.
46:25You know when David wanted to build a temple for the Lord, he had a genuine heart.
46:29Like he wanted God to have a place in Israel in Jerusalem that was like the place of the
46:34persons of God and stable and secure and all could come to worship God there.
46:38That is a good desire like starting a business and making it, making sure that it's financially
46:42stable and all that.
46:43Those are good things.
46:45But God told him you're not the one that's your son.
46:47But you know what he did before he died?
46:49He prepared everything so that his son can build it, right?
46:53So he's so convinced, first that the temple is going to be built, that God wants Solomon
46:57to build it, not David.
46:58He was so convinced that he prepared and did everything so that Solomon can take it and
47:03run with it.
47:05So how dare us as parents, right?
47:08Declare within ourselves, that our kids are just good enough, and we don't prepare ourselves,
47:13our lives, our everything to make sure that they take it and run beyond what we can run
47:19and that they can run hard after the Lord,
47:21like can do what the Lord called them to do, you know?
47:24And so yes, it involves giftings and talents
47:26and resources and things that God puts in place
47:31for them to thrive.
47:32But man, we have to make sure that we don't set the standard
47:35or set the standard ourselves and that we acknowledge
47:39that what should be our priorities come from God,
47:42not from our own humanistic understanding.
47:43Yeah. So when you describe the phenomenon
47:46not having a child who's a rule follower externally,
47:51that's often a little bit more challenging
47:52to discern heart condition versus a child
47:55that has an outward disposition of rebellion
47:56because you can see that more clearly.
47:58But if you have a child who's a rule follower,
48:00the external rule following isn't always
48:03and is not automatically evidence of hearts
48:06that are devoted to the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords
48:09because different children have different dispositions.
48:12But you're saying, I'm not satisfied
48:14would solely assessing your external conduct that my responsibility as a parent is to be
48:20invested to serve you in a manner sufficiently to cultivate heart transformation.
48:26And the external rule following alone is an indicative of what actually is present in
48:31the heart.
48:32But that's all through our scripture.
48:34That's not my idea.
48:35That's not because I want a kid that's like for real on fire and can show off that he's
48:39really on fire for the Lord.
48:40No, this is the heart of God.
48:41And all through scripture, he says,
48:43I desire a committed, fully submitted heart,
48:47a heart that loves me, not just a does the right thing,
48:50a heart that loves me.
48:51So we are to love God, and we are to train our children
48:54and others around us to love God.
48:57Family mission is a tool that God gives us to aid us
49:00in following his purposes and prioritizing that properly.
49:04And all to reflect on the fact that when we have young
49:06children in our home, we don't have them forever.
49:09So what we must do, we must do swiftly,
49:12we must do early, George Barna talks to us about,
49:16the early stage at which worldviews are crystallized
49:20in hearts and minds, and so it is imperative for us.
49:24Want to be disciples who love the Lord with all of our hearts,
49:27our souls, our minds and our strength,
49:30and to love our neighbors as ourselves,
49:32our nearest neighbors, guys,
49:34are those right in our own homes.
49:39The views and opinions expressed in this broadcast may not necessarily reflect those of the American
49:44Family Association or American Family Radio.

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Marriage & Family
Israel & Foreign Affairs

("Best-of" Edition from 8/16/24) Our Brother Israel Wayne, Director of Family Renewal, returns to “The Corner.”

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