March 20, 2026 · 48:46

("Best-of" Edition from 10/18/24) Jeff Chamblee, host of The Stand Radio on AFR, steps into “The Corner.”

Bible & Theology

Show notes

Jeff Chamblee, host of The Stand Radio on AFR, steps into “The Corner.” 0:00 - 15:00. Psalm 78:5-7 (NASB95). Generationality is the province of visionaries, not dreamers. 15:00 - 31:00. Jeff Chamblee, host of The Stand Radio on AFR, steps into “The Corner.” 31:00 - 48:00. If we desire familial generational fidelity to Christ we must pursue it intentionally. 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 · 8,814 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.
0:32Good evening, everyone.
0:34Welcome to the Hamilton Corner here on American Family Radio.
0:37I'm your host, Abraham Hamilton the third.
0:40The real Jay Mac is in the building often imitate and never duplicated.
0:44And we are ready to rock and roll with today's edition of the program.
0:49I've been looking forward to having the conversation we're going to have today.
0:54Something that's certainly near and dear to my heart.
0:56And I pray that it will be incurred.
0:59Excuse me, encouraging and edifying to you all as well at this very moment.
1:05Many of you, if not most of you are making your transitions from your part time jobs,
1:10where you generate an income to your full time jobs, where you cultivate an outcome.
1:15As you do so, I want to remind you to do so with intentionality because what goes on in
1:21your house is far more important than what goes on in the White House.
1:27This is true every day of the week.
1:32Even in election season, it is still true.
1:36And you're gonna see a large part,
1:41I'll say this way, a large part of what we desire
1:44in terms of outcome, sorry, outcome cultivation,
1:49is a byproduct of who we are.
1:51It's a byproduct of who we are.
1:53So as you make your transition from your part-time job
1:57where you generate revenue to your full-time job
1:59you're cultivating an outcome, remember that God desires our external engagement in ministry
2:05to be the result, or should I say the overflow of what we enjoy with him personally.
2:13We, even in our efforts to be disciple makers, never graduate beyond being disciples ourselves,
2:22that we are being refined, we are being challenged, we are being transformed, and our external
2:28Ministerial investment must be, must be a byproduct of what we are enjoying and experiencing as
2:35the Lord is maturing us and growing us.
2:39It is a sobering, sobering reality.
2:42The scripture bears it out.
2:44I mean, Luke 640 says it very well that a student, a pupil, when fully trained will be
2:50like his teacher.
2:52You know, and it's something that I often ponder and really welcome the Lord to search me by
2:58I have spirit Lord, where am I?
3:01When fully trained, do I want my children to be like me?
3:06When fully trained, the people that I'm pouring into,
3:08do I want them?
3:09Would it be beneficial to them?
3:10Would it be God-honored?
3:11Would it be God-glorifying for them to be, you know,
3:16to ascribe and to embrace certain aspects
3:19of what they've experienced?
3:21This is something that is certainly certainly
3:24worth consideration.
3:25So again, as you're making your transition,
3:27I want to remind you that what goes on in your house is far more important
3:33What happens in the White House the first institution the first human institution that God created was the family with marriage at the center?
3:39You know before you get to an order of priests in order of prophets the first human institution was the family
3:45Family is a big deal to God
3:48Family shapes who we are. That's by God's design
3:51You know I
3:54Refer to this often in the mental health profession when people get counseling when people go to therapy
4:00One of the first questions always is, what was your relationship with your father?
4:05No matter who it is, whether it's a male, whether it's a man, whether it's a woman, that's usually
4:09the first question.
4:11Some of the other questions will delve into what was your family dynamics.
4:14You know, how did you all interact in the home?
4:17Because it is intentionally, God designed that relationship to be shaping, to be formative,
4:24to have a lasting impact.
4:27Many of us are recovering from negative experiences in those contexts, but the negative experiences
4:35don't undermine or nullify what God's design is.
4:41And in spite of whatever experiences we may have encountered, we may have endured, the
4:46grace of God is available to us to reformat us, to reshape us, and to transform us so that
4:51what happens in our families, subsequently, is the product of the revolutionary transforming
4:59power of God. That no matter what has happened in your family background before you came to
5:06know Christ, everything changes once Christ enters the picture. Everything changes. Let us
5:18go to the Word of God. We're going to go to Psalm 78, a mass skill of Asaph as I was described.
5:25The mass skill is a particular type of Psalm. I've used this analogy before. We have the
5:31overarching genre of poetry that we're familiar with within English literature.
5:35A particular type of poem is a Shakespearean sonnet, right? A sonnet. You also have
5:42acrostic poems. Those are different types of poems within the category of poetry, right?
5:49This Maskell is a particular type of psalm. And in it, Asaf writes in Psalm 78,
5:57verses 5 through 7 is where I'm going to focus. And in his writing he reveals an
6:03an aspect that is intrinsic to manhood biblically.
6:07All right.
6:09This is what the Psalmist writes Psalm 78 verse five for he
6:13referring to God established a testimony in Jacob.
6:18He appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers
6:23that they should teach them to their children, that the generation to come
6:28might know even the children yet to be born.
6:32that they may arise and tell them to their children,
6:37that they should put their confidence in God
6:40and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments.
6:46The characteristic of Biblical manhood and Trinsic II Biblical manhood
6:51that's revealed in this text is God ordains men to be generational,
6:56envision, generational, and view generational
7:01and investment.
7:02Generationality is intrinsic to us, to where we conduct ourselves, we live in a certain way,
7:07we invest ourselves in a certain way where we have the generations that follow us in mind.
7:12Hey, how do you reconcile that with potentially being in the last days?
7:18Very simply, very easily.
7:23The Apostle Paul, the Apostle James, the Apostle John, they believe they were living in the last
7:30days as well.
7:33is sovereign over the conclusion of human history. We should be
7:39sober minded and recognize what the scripture says to us in a
7:44comprehensive sense to our real recognition of where we are in
7:54time in terms of what the Bible says what we're transpiring in
7:57the last days also is metered by God's command to us. It is
8:03because of a recognition as to where we are in terms of the potentiality of the human timeline,
8:09human history's timeline, that we should be all the more engaged, invigorated to obey what God has
8:17commanded us to say is simply, we should live for eternity and living for eternity guides and
8:24instructs what we do with the time He's given us and they hear now to say it even the more simply
8:29because of our confidence in eternal life,
8:32it should govern how we approach every minute
8:36that God gives us on this side of eternity.
8:40We should recognize that the Lord establishes commission
8:42and commanded us to execute it in view of the reality
8:45that human history is moving towards its culmination
8:47and conclusion.
8:50Here I've explained this before,
8:53the testimony that was established in Israel,
8:55that ASAP refers to in this song.
9:02And the law that was appointed in Israel
9:06is that he commanded our fathers, one generation,
9:09that they should teach them to their children,
9:12a second generation, that the generation to come,
9:16a third generation, might know even the children yet
9:20to be born, a fourth generation.
9:24The scripture is commanding that men in particular
9:28should have future generations, even those yet to be born
9:32in view as we navigate our lives.
9:36Then it continues in verse six, I'll reverse it again,
9:39that the generation to come might know, even the children you had to be born,
9:42that they, the children you had to be born, might arise and tell them to their children.
9:46A fifth generation to tell the generations what? Verse 7, that they should put their confidence in God
9:56and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments. Guys, this text brings to the forefront
10:06what I describe as the visionary versus dreamer, polarity. What am I talking about?
10:16Dreamers are men who have all kinds of ideas.
10:21This idea of that idea of this idea of that idea of this idea of that idea of this idea of that idea of this idea of that idea.
10:27With no wherewithal nor willingness to put feet to that dream, to that idea.
10:34A visionary however is one who yes has ideas, has goals to ascribe toward, metrics to move toward,
10:47and put feet to them. This generationality that I'm talking about that is intrinsic to
10:53Biblical manhood requires that we as men are not mere dreamers but with visionaries. Considering
11:04the necessity of being a visionary, the question rhetorically that should confront every one of us,
11:10that if we are going to embrace the generality that is characteristic of Biblical manhood,
11:17What are we implementing in our lives now in order to bring this vision to fruition?
11:24If generationality is intrinsic to Biblical manhood, what are we implementing in our lives now to bring this into fruition?
11:33I mean, you see what the scripture says, that there is a conduct of one's life that will be provocative to such a degree to
11:43such a degree to where even the children yet to be born.
11:48We'll see the merit and value of embracing daddy and grandads and great grandads, manner
11:55of living to place their confidence in God, to forget not the works of God's God but to
12:04keep his commandments.
12:07What does this bring me to the verse I referred to earlier, Luke chapter 6 verse 40.
12:14A pupil is not above his teacher, but everyone after he's been fully trained will be like his teacher.
12:22I want to be clear.
12:26The call to be a disciple maker is not to make clones of you and me.
12:31When Luke is making this in recording, really Jesus instructions here, Luke is recording Jesus's teaching.
12:38He's announcing a principle that is reality.
12:44This is why I said discipleship is a constant.
12:46The only question is who's gonna be the discipler
12:48and in what direction and what trajectory
12:51is one being discipled?
12:53Because right now we're living in the consequence
12:56of the world being more effective
12:58and more committed to multi-generational discipleship
13:00than the church by and large.
13:02What we're living in is the harvest
13:05that has resulted from seed sewn
13:10and the cultivating work that has transpired
13:12for well over a century.
13:13That's what we are guys.
13:16When we are disciple makers,
13:19we don't just teach information and skills
13:22and attitudes, disciple makers impart a lifestyle.
13:29Disciples makers impart a lifestyle, not just information,
13:32not just skills, of course, the lifestyles
13:34will include information and skills of various sorts,
13:37and attitudes of various sorts.
13:39But ultimately, what we're seeking to impart is a lifestyle.
13:44So if generationality is something we will embrace,
13:48will we be dreamers, or will we be visionaries?
13:56I know the Lord would have us to be visionary.
13:59So if we are going to be biblical men,
14:02and I know I'm talking to the men today,
14:06what is our manner of living,
14:08our quality of living that we would impart as a lifestyle
14:12that would provoke even the generations yet to be born,
14:17not to reject and rebel against the faith of their fathers,
14:22grandfathers, great-grandfathers,
14:24but what caused them to say, man,
14:25I know what a godly man is,
14:27because I've had a father, a grandfather,
14:29a great-grandfather,
14:30And because of their witness and example, I want to provide a similar witness and example
14:36that I know what a man of God looks like because I had one in my home.
14:39Or I had one in my granddad.
14:41I had one in my great granddad.
14:43Fellas if we have a commitment to generationality, it requires us to be not mere dreamers, but
14:48to be visionaries, put a feet to the vision that God has given us.
15:00Those who place their faith in Jesus are elevated to an extraordinary position.
15:05co-heirs with Christ we share in His inheritance.
15:08The Gospel is the ultimate dignity giver,
15:10elevating the unworthy to unimaginable heights.
15:14Our lives should reflect this dignity,
15:16empowering us to extend the same grace and love to others
15:19that has been so generously given to us.
15:22I'm Jordan Shambly, and you can read the rest
15:24of the Gospel Dignifers, The Undignified, on TheStand.net.
15:34Shiting light into the darkness,
15:36this is the Hamilton Quarter, an American family radio.
15:40Welcome back to the Hamilton Corner, Abraham Hamilton the third here.
15:43I am delighted as I mentioned to have this conversation.
15:46I've been wanting to have it for a while, but I'm glad to be able to do so today.
15:50I have in studio with me, none other than Mr. Jeff Shambly.
15:56He is the host of the stand radio, which you can hear every Saturday right here in American
16:01family radio at 4 p.m. Central time and on Sundays at 8 p.m. Central time.
16:07Jeff is a graduate of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas.
16:12He served as a worship leader in churches in Mississippi, Texas and Georgia.
16:16He's worked at AFR in multiple capacities since 1998, including several years as director
16:22of American Family Studios.
16:24And as I mentioned, he now works with the Stand Magazine and hosts a weekend radio program
16:29called The Stand Radio.
16:31He and his wife Anita have seven children, four boys and three girls.
16:34And they have 19 grandchildren.
16:38And the grandchildren is what I really want to talk about with you today because I began
16:43the program talking about generationality being something that is intrinsic to Biblical manhood.
16:49And I've spoken a lot about being a father, being a husband, but I wanted to have a conversation
16:53particularly about being a grandparent and endeavoring to be faithful in that stage of
17:01our lives.
17:02But before we do that, I just want to invite you, Jeff, just to share with the audience here,
17:07What it is you do with the stand radio program and the stand magazine.
17:09Thank you Abe.
17:10Yeah, I work with the stand magazine and I contribute to some of the writing and also
17:15host and produce the stand radio program as you've mentioned.
17:18So we're taking a lot of the same topics, culture, faith and family, putting that into a half
17:24hour radio format and it's available as a podcast at aFR.net as well.
17:28So just love doing that work.
17:30Talk to a lot of really smart people and they get to learn a lot of things.
17:33So I enjoy that phrase got for that.
17:35And for those who don't know, the Stand Magazine
17:37is AFA's print publication,
17:41and listeners can get that print publication.
17:44Would you just share with them?
17:44Sure, we're offering a free six month trial subscription
17:49when you go to AFA.net slash the stand.
17:51So you can check out past issues of the Stand Magazine,
17:55look at the digital content,
17:56and there's a link to the Stand Radio as well.
17:58So yeah, it's our flagship publication.
18:00It goes back to the very beginning.
18:02Back when Brother Don started this,
18:03There were no pictures, no graphics.
18:05It was words from cover to cover.
18:08I mean, it was packed, but we cover a lot of the main issues
18:10that IFA are covering.
18:11Amen.
18:13So as I mentioned, the conversation I wanted to have,
18:15because I know you're a husband, you're a father.
18:18I know you've discipled your children in the home,
18:21get the privilege of working with one of your sons
18:23here on staff at AFA.
18:25But I just, I wanted to invite you onto the program
18:28to glean wisdom, one of the things I enjoy doing
18:30among a host of things is being able to converse with believers
18:35who are further along than I am at different stages of life.
18:38And I know we have a lot of listeners
18:39who would benefit from this conversation as well.
18:41So I wanted to just to kind of glean some wisdom from you
18:44as to how you and your lovely wife Anita
18:48have invested yourselves at this stage
18:51where you now have not only seven children,
18:53but 19 grandchildren.
18:55So you would include some spouses of your children,
18:59grandchildren the whole bit.
19:00So I just wanted to introduce the topic
19:04and let you walk us where you want to walk
19:06as some of the things you've learned
19:07in the journey where you are so far.
19:08I appreciate that opportunity.
19:10I don't know who is an expert in this.
19:11I can tell you a thousand things not to do.
19:14And that's where my expertise is.
19:16But I would say that my wife Anita carries the bulk
19:20of the hands-on instruction.
19:24We've homeschooled for 40 years.
19:26And so she's still at it.
19:29We have two boys at home.
19:31So not only do we have 19 grandchildren,
19:33we have two children still at home.
19:35And I was caring for my own mother
19:38up until May of last year.
19:40So we found ourselves in a very unique position.
19:42We were caring for an elderly parent.
19:45We're also raising children
19:47and we're also taking care of grandchildren.
19:49We did not anticipate that when Anita
19:52and I first got married.
19:54And we decided that if the Lord would allow,
19:57we would have a large family.
19:58And so we had seven children,
20:02they're roughly four years apart.
20:04And so our oldest is 40,
20:08and our youngest is 16.
20:10So I have grandchildren the same age as my son.
20:13That's some of your children.
20:14Yeah, which is kind of neat.
20:16It's kind of different.
20:17It's funny you said a larger family.
20:18I think that someone on the board of HSLDA now,
20:21And when Mike Ferris invited me to join the board,
20:24he said, oh, you got a nice starter family.
20:25We have six children.
20:26So every time I hear I think about that,
20:28I say starter family.
20:29Yeah, yeah.
20:30Some families are really large.
20:31I know.
20:33But my role is a grandparent.
20:37And I look at, I look at passages like Deuteronomy chapter
20:40four in verse nine, where the Lord is warning the people
20:44to take heed and to what they've been taught.
20:48And he says, and teach them to your children
20:50and your grandchildren.
20:51So I think the Lord intends for grandparents
20:54to have an instructional,
20:56discipling role in their grandchildren's lives.
20:59Now that's gonna look different than it is raising a child.
21:02For us growing up, I mean, we were every night,
21:06you know, in the den with the Bible open
21:09and reading the scriptures.
21:11Talk about what you,
21:12raising our children right, right.
21:14So, you know, we made family worship time a real priority,
21:19you know, when the kids were growing up.
21:20and still do, but you don't have that element
21:23with grandchildren.
21:24And so what you do with grandchildren
21:26is a little bit different.
21:27Now my wife today, and I wish she could be here,
21:30but she's taking care of three of our grandchildren,
21:33while our second daughter is at MD Anderson
21:35receiving some cancer treatment.
21:37And so, because she has been a homeschool mom
21:41for all these years, she has the freedom
21:42to be able to bring the grandchildren into the home
21:45and actually homeschool them as well.
21:47So when you say, what are you doing
21:49to disciple your grandchildren?
21:50Anita's role is very hands-on.
21:54I mean, she's talking about the Lord
21:57and walking them through the Word,
21:59also working on math, doing activities
22:02that are family-related activities,
22:05how to cook, how to fun games and things like that.
22:08So she's got a very direct role.
22:10Mine is more indirect.
22:15For the grandchildren specifically, every morning,
22:18I've always been reminded of Job and how he went before the Lord every morning and prayed
22:23for his children.
22:24And from the time that she and I began to homeschool and he and I began homeschool, that was an important
22:29picture to me.
22:30So every morning, my routine is to pray for the grandchildren by name.
22:35Chase, Eli, Ashton, Claire, Carolina, Aiden, Sawyer, Swazie, Declan, Colin, Haden, Henry,
22:40Everly, Joseph, Andy, Amelia, Audrey, the baby, Archie and Maeve.
22:46By name and praying.
22:47I expect you almost did it alphabetically.
22:49Well, I go by family.
22:50Okay.
22:51So I go by my oldest daughter is Lauren
22:54and I go with her nine children.
22:56Then we go to Devon and Jordan and Aaron
22:58and I have two that are not married.
22:59So I'll have to do some more memory work.
23:00When the youngest get married.
23:02Anyway, that's worth it.
23:03But I pray that the Lord would move on their hearts
23:05that he'd save their souls,
23:07keep them from the deception of the world,
23:09keep them from the enemy and preserve them.
23:12And I pray for their parents.
23:13You know, part of this difficulty or part of the challenge of being a grandparent and
23:21discipling is that you have to respect the boundaries of your children's families.
23:25Yeah, please talk about that.
23:27Because when you bring up a family, you have family standards of what the manners are going
23:33to be in the home, what's going to be acceptable in terms of books and media.
23:39And then when you have children, they need to wrestle with those issues for themselves.
23:43And some of them will approach things differently.
23:47So when you have grandchildren coming back into your home and mixing with your own children
23:54that are still home, you have to maintain the standards that you've always held, but you have
23:58to be flexible enough to be able to not offend or to say things that are just, you know, you
24:05need to let the people, let the children be their own children.
24:08That is a very interesting dynamic because often we think about, even in my own mind, when I
24:14think about grandparents influencing contribution to the shaping of grandchildren, it's often
24:20not within the consideration of the grandparents having their own children who are still in
24:25the home as well and not wanting to undermine or undercut the parents, your children's convictions
24:33while also maintaining your, that is a very interesting dynamic.
24:37talk to a grandchild in a negative way about their parents. I mean that that
24:43even if there's something that you would disagree with I mean we've Anita and I've
24:47always had this understanding and I think we've learned this from from other
24:51people as well that even if there's something that you would do differently
24:55as a family you never criticize a parent to a child you know but you have to
25:02explain why we do things differently so it's it's a delicate process but I think
25:07you know, you look to the Lord and for His grace in that.
25:10So you have to hold to your truth,
25:12but you have to be flexible enough to allow parents
25:16to be the parents.
25:17Now we do have a rule, a rule.
25:19So if the grandchildren come into our house,
25:21our rules apply.
25:23Okay, so.
25:24And this is something you would have discussed
25:25beforehand with the parents.
25:27I mean, they all know that.
25:28They all know that.
25:29And my approach is that, look, I'm going to handle
25:34grandchildren the way that their moms and dads were handled.
25:37You know, so they know what to expect when they come in.
25:41But you know, our kids, look, we're pretty much on the same page.
25:45They're all walking with the Lord.
25:48They all have the same view of education.
25:51They all have the same view of discipling children.
25:55So these are no big hurdles that we have to overcome at all.
25:59Well, praise God.
26:00I do a bless with that.
26:01I get people asking all the time,
26:03maybe what do I do in this situation where my children don't share my view on these matters?
26:10How do I respond to my grandchildren in those contexts? And I've explained to many, many callers,
26:19listeners, they'll email or whatever that you never want to undermine your children, your grandchildren's
26:26parents. However, like you just said, I think it's important to communicate with your children,
26:32your grandchildren's parents upfront as to what they should expect
26:36and give them the opportunity to determine whether or not they're willing
26:39to allow that to happen. When I have found just experientially, this is anecdote,
26:43when that happens I have found most children are willing to allow their grandparents
26:49to invest in them as they see fit in most of the time, not always, but most of the time as long
26:54as that communication between parent and grandparent happens upfront, not after the fact.
26:59That's good.
27:00That's what I, but just find experientially.
27:02Yeah, and I think when we first decided
27:05to have a large family, I think our parents were supportive.
27:13But when you approach and say, well, number three's coming
27:16along, now number four's coming along,
27:18we're having number five.
27:20At some point, the attitude is a little different.
27:24It's still good, but it's a little different.
27:27I think some things were challenges for our parents
27:29as we were coming along.
27:31But I do agree that you need to have those conversations
27:35with your parents, you know,
27:37as your kids come into their homes.
27:39What was the dynamic light for you and Anita
27:43as your children, the ones who are married now,
27:47as they've grown and now they've married,
27:50I'm sure your relational dynamics with them
27:53changed somewhat as they mature to the place to where now
27:56they're taking on families of their own
27:59and moving out of your home.
28:00And what was that transition like for you?
28:03Well, for us, because our kids are all Christians
28:06and the ones that are married.
28:07Let's just pause and thank the Lord for that for us.
28:09You need to make all your children.
28:11Praise God.
28:12All Christians, that is the grace of God.
28:13Yes.
28:14Lord is precious, the wonderful name.
28:15So look, we don't have any major worldview issues
28:19that we have to work through.
28:20Yeah, that is why.
28:21I mean, that's just the way that is.
28:23And for us, we've been able to approach our children,
28:26not as friends, I wouldn't say as friends,
28:28but I wouldn't say in the same role as a parent,
28:31because you're not giving instruction.
28:35A lot of times you're asking their opinion.
28:37And so you're listening to them,
28:39and I've learned a lot, and I've listened to my kids.
28:42Now, they haven't had the years of walking
28:45with the Lord that I've had,
28:46and so there's some things that I would maybe do differently.
28:50But for us, I mean, that's always been good.
28:52One of the challenges is,
28:55When your children marry someone,
28:57you're hoping that they will love the Lord as well.
28:59And that's been my prayer for my kids spouses,
29:01that they would love the Lord more than anything.
29:05And so I have three son-in-laws and two daughter-in-laws.
29:10And they're great people.
29:13But when you may have a child that marries
29:16into a family that's a lot different,
29:18where they say, well, we're not sure we want
29:20to teach our children at home.
29:22we're not sure we want to have the same standards.
29:25That's going to have to be navigated in prayer
29:29and according to the scriptures.
29:31And again, never undermining a parent's authority
29:35to a grandchild.
29:37I just come back to that
29:38because I think that's very important.
29:39Yeah.
29:40And you've iterated it and reiterated it.
29:44Just why?
29:45Why is that so important?
29:46Because of parental authority,
29:48the parent has the authority from the Lord to instruct in the reason.
29:55They are God's representatives in the lives of those children, and that needs to be honored
30:01and respected.
30:02Now, if there are unbiblical things going on, there are times when that has to be addressed
30:07with the parent, not the child, and that needs to be addressed with the father and not necessarily
30:13the daughter.
30:14For example, we have three daughters, three son-in-law,
30:19if there's an issue with a family activity or whatever,
30:22I'd go to the man and we'd work through that
30:25as a head of the family.
30:27But-
30:28Well, it's because you're a chauvinistic misogynist.
30:29I mean, you know, I just, patriarchal,
30:32all that stuff, stereotypical.
30:35No, just because the parental authority is important.
30:38It was important to us when we were raising our children,
30:41we wanna maintain that.
30:42And besides, the children already see what's going on
30:45in their own families.
30:46You don't need to reiterate that to a child.
30:49You need to make them feel secure and accepted and loved.
30:53Point them to the Lord by your life and your example,
30:57by letting them see you pray for them.
31:00Have a Bible in your hand when they come over to your house
31:02and you have family gatherings.
31:04Read some scripture and pray.
31:06You don't have to preach.
31:07But that illustration, that object lesson
31:10really important in the eyes of a child to see their grandmother, grandfather, be people
31:16of faith in walking with the Lord.
31:18That's so good.
31:19I want to ask you, and this is related, I want to go here, and I know we only have about
31:24a minute and some change before this segment is over, but what are some of the things that
31:28you prioritized in investing in your own children that aided, and of course, you can't predetermine
31:36and that your children will be Christians, but by God's grace, as you mentioned, they
31:40all our Christians. So what are some of the things that you prioritize in your own home
31:44as you are raising your children and then we'll take it to the next layer and see how
31:50some of those things may be passed down to your grandchildren?
31:53So the priorities were definitely everything is centered around the character of God.
31:59I got to interrupt you right there because the disrespectful music is grabbing.
32:04But when we get back I'm going to re-present that question and we'll continue to conversation.
32:10you are listening to and watching the Hamilton Corner, my guest is Jeff Shambly.
32:14We're talking about grandparents and their investment in contributing to
32:19multi-generational faithfulness to God.
32:21How can grandparents serve their grandchildren?
32:24The following is from an article by Dr. Jessica Peck, host of the Dr. Nurse Mama Show.
32:34Some children feel fear in places they should feel safe every day.
32:39So let's be challenged to speak words of life and encouragement.
32:43The next time a student shares a discouragement or difficulty with you,
32:47try listening first and then engaging them in compassionate and encouraging conversation.
32:53Read the full article SchoolMomHope on thestand.net.
33:18Shambly host of the stand radio heard every weekend here on American family radio Saturdays at 4 p.m. Central
33:24Sundays at 8 p.m. Central before the disrespectful music grabbed us I posed a question to you
33:30What were some of the things that you prioritized in your home as you were rearing your own children
33:35That you think it's important to share with audience here. Yeah, I say number one
33:40Everything revolves around
33:42the person and character of God.
33:44I mean, God is the center, Christ is the center of what we do.
33:47I mean, we bring that into the marriage,
33:50we bring that into the child raising.
33:52So education centers around that.
33:54So when we go through education, math and history
33:58and language and all of those things,
34:01it always points back to our responsibility to our creator,
34:06that we have a loving father,
34:07that we need to know him through what he's made,
34:10That includes math, that includes science and all those things.
34:13So our homeschools centered around educating on who God is and so forth.
34:19And so it's centered around the scriptures as well.
34:22So really that's the bedrock.
34:24Above that comes everything that points back to it.
34:27So you're pointing, you're teaching manners, you're teaching a hard work ethic.
34:33You're going outside and the boys are learning how to build things to dig post holes.
34:39you know, and build fences and whatever you're doing.
34:43We happened to live on eight and a half acres out in the country,
34:45so it was easy for us to go out and have animals.
34:47We had sheep at one point, some horses and chickens and all of that.
34:52So, you know, hands-on activity was really good.
34:55Anita does a lot of canning and a lot of home-making kinds of things,
35:01so the girls are all cooked really well.
35:04Our daughters cook cantons.
35:05What time do I need to be on for Thanksgiving?
35:07I know it. It's good.
35:09I'm telling you.
35:10You advertise and I'm responding to the...
35:12Yeah, it's good stuff.
35:14It's good stuff.
35:15But that was really important and then a daily time with the Lord having a daily quiet time,
35:22a daily family worship time.
35:25We had a big tradition during Advent.
35:27We bought an Advent wreath.
35:29And so every night during the Advent season we would go through the prophecies of Christ
35:33from the Old Testament, all the way to fulfillment in the New Testament.
35:36Wow.
35:37We'd sing some hymns.
35:38spent a long time with that.
35:39You know, I preached occasionally.
35:40I shouldn't have, you know, but I need to say,
35:42they get a long lengthy, but over the year
35:45they get a little shorter.
35:46But those were those were important things that we did.
35:49Now, I refer to the scripture in Luke 640 in the first segment.
35:55When Jesus is speaking in Luke records him saying
35:57that a pupil is not above his teacher.
35:59But when fully trained, the pupil or student
36:01will be like his teacher.
36:03Also, may the statement that a disciple maker
36:05doesn't just teach information, skills and attitudes,
36:07but he or she imparts a lifestyle, imparts a lifestyle.
36:12What are some of the things that you found
36:15to be important as grandparents?
36:17To make sure that you do and live as a part of your lifestyle
36:22in an effort to see Christ inculcated in your grandchildren.
36:26My wife, if she would hear, she'd say,
36:27we want to inculcate a lifestyle of learning.
36:31So you never stop learning, you know,
36:33when we were homeschooling,
36:35It really is more life training, I would say, than homeschooling.
36:39Because the idea is that when you grow, you never stop learning.
36:43You're always learning more about the Lord, you're learning more about the world that He
36:46made, you're learning more about how you can advance the kingdom through your involvement
36:51in the culture, whether you are a homemaker or whether you're in a working environment.
36:56So I think that would be a big goal for us, is preparing them to not be passive adults
37:05to be thinkers and to think biblically.
37:08I mean, that was really our goal.
37:10And what about, and this is frankly kind of sad
37:14because we've seen story after story,
37:16especially here recently, if pastors kind of,
37:20not kind of falling, compromising the different things,
37:23what do you see some of the things that are important
37:27in terms of us as me,
37:29out Lord willing, I'll be a grandparent at some point
37:31to the Lord Terry,
37:33that we should seek to invest or pursue in our own lives
37:37to try to maintain that legacy of faithfulness
37:40beyond just ourselves, even our children.
37:43And even as the, sorry, Psalm 78 says,
37:45the children yet to be born to see something valuable
37:50in our lifestyles that will cause them
37:52to want to yield their lives to Christ.
37:53Yeah, as I said earlier, you know,
37:55the role of the grandparent is to pray
37:57for their grandchildren every day to intercede for them.
38:00And I would say to that end, Abe,
38:02we need to live in such a way that our prayers are actually heard.
38:06Because in Psalm 84, 11, he said,
38:10no good thing will he withhold from those who walk uprightly.
38:15The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man avails us much.
38:19So if we are not living and pursuing God as older adults
38:25with the same vitality that we had in our earlier walk with Christ
38:30and avoiding laziness spiritually,
38:33and pursuing the Lord really,
38:35as far as he wants us to live,
38:37and to leave behind a legacy of faithfulness.
38:40Because as you mentioned,
38:41there's so many sad stories of ministers and others
38:44who have fallen, and listen, we're all susceptible to that.
38:48Absolutely.
38:49And that should cause a fearfulness in our hearts
38:51to pursue the Lord with a trembling and a fear,
38:54and to not get so close to a sinful lifestyle
38:58or a pattern that you can be diverted into that.
39:01So create a big buffer between you and sin.
39:05And I think in two, leaving behind relics of faithfulness.
39:11So my mother passed away this past year
39:15and I have some of her prayer journals
39:18and I've opened them up and I've read,
39:19she was praying for my children
39:22and she's praying for my grandchildren.
39:24And I have that record to be able to pass along.
39:27And I have her Bible that's well worn.
39:31And that's the kind of thing I want to leave
39:34for my grandchildren when they look back at mom, mom,
39:37and pop pop.
39:38I want them to have a written record of what we have done
39:42in notes in our Bibles, memories of seeing us
39:46at family gatherings praying with people,
39:48not criticizing people, not undermining,
39:53but quietly and faithfully pointing to the Lord.
39:57Man, you got my wheels turning because what you illustrated is something that I say frequently,
40:06but just having you here and having this conversation puts even a more tangible point on it,
40:11because the concept of retirement, and I understand what it's meant in the world,
40:15what that said, but that's really not a biblical concept. We don't retire from Christ following.
40:21I often say, we don't retire, we refire. I'm not saying you have to remain employed or run
40:27in the business, something that way.
40:28If the Lord has afforded you the financial capacity
40:31to make some adjustments there, that's fine.
40:32But we never want to adopt a mentality,
40:35kind of a spiritual retirement mindset to where,
40:37you know, now I'm older.
40:40That's when you get in trouble.
40:42That's where trouble comes.
40:43That's where the enemy's waiting to catch you
40:46when you say, hey, I'm just going to kick back.
40:47And I want to say that it may have been John,
40:52the Apostle John, that gave some warnings to older men
40:55as they get older, not to slip back, not to just relax,
40:59because one of the recent pastors who fell
41:02was close to 80 years old.
41:04And listen, that can happen to anyone
41:07if those trap doors are left uncovered.
41:11And you just have to be sure that there's
41:13some safeguards in place.
41:15You mentioned earlier, and I think this
41:17is important for people to understand,
41:19and you said it just a few moments ago,
41:21that what you did with your own children
41:23was more life training than just home
41:25schooling and then you mentioned some life skill development that your wife is involved in with your grandchildren
41:30I often say discipleship is not merely getting the corner less recited to 10 commandments
41:35It's how do we exalt Christ in all of life? So in work work ethic post-hole digging? Yeah, you know baking or whatever it is
41:43Right, how do we exalt Christ? I think it's important for grandparents to recognize that and to take advantage of every opportunity
41:50opportunity to impart a God honoring lifestyle to their grants as
41:56Often as they have that opportunity. I know you guys are pursuing that. What would encourage? Would you give? Yeah
42:01I would say if you're a grandparent you are already discipling the only question is are you pointing to the Lord?
42:07Are you pointing them to the world? You are discipling
42:11Even if you're silent your actions speak very loudly
42:15What you say what you value
42:17you, what you congratulate them for.
42:22So if you're pointing to success in material kinds of things,
42:27that's going to stand out.
42:29If you give more accolades to those sons or daughters who
42:33have positions in the business, or are you
42:35looking at your daughters who are, quote,
42:37merely staying at home?
42:39So I think the things that you value and the things
42:42that you talk about will be noticed by your grandchildren.
42:45You picked up.
42:46Yeah.
42:47That's so important to underscore because we might think,
42:50well, I'm only discipling when I'm going through the beatitudes
42:54or when I'm talking about the fruit of the spirit
42:55from Galatians 5, but in what you celebrate.
42:59You know, what lights up your eyes.
43:01I often reflect on the thing that lit up my dad's eyes
43:06with sports.
43:06In fact, only was all I played sports
43:07because my dad got so excited about it.
43:09I didn't really care about it at first,
43:11but he got so excited and made me excited about it.
43:14Well, yeah.
43:15And I don't try to duplicate my own likes and loves
43:20for life in the hearts of my grandchildren.
43:21I do wanna share some things with them.
43:23And listen, there's nothing wrong with sharing
43:26whatever your passion is with your children and grandchildren.
43:29I was a ham radio operator growing up 15 years old.
43:32I got a ham radio license.
43:33I'm starting to get back into that.
43:34So my grandchildren think that's really cool
43:37that you can listen to.
43:38Yeah, you listen to Morse code
43:39and these radio signals from all over the world
43:41and I love amateur astronomy.
43:44So I have a 10-inch reflector telescope.
43:46We take out in the yard and my kids grew up with some of that,
43:50so I take it out with the grandkids.
43:53And what a perfect opportunity to talk about the Lord
43:56and what He's made, the wonders in the heavens.
43:59So there's a lot of things that grandparents can do
44:01that the kids will take with them.
44:03They'll remember those things.
44:04Yeah.
44:05What are some cautions you would provide?
44:08And I'm not asking you to go into the details
44:11of all of your things.
44:12But I'm telling you, I value this so much.
44:14So what are some, some caution, some things you might recommend
44:18that that grandparents may want to avoid or even parents who,
44:22you know, like I said, where I am, I'm not a grandparent yet.
44:25What are some things you might recommend
44:28that we may need to avoid as we seek to honor the Lord
44:32at that particular, this particular life stage?
44:34I think when you're starting out as a young parent,
44:36a young Christian parent, you think you have everything
44:39figured out and you think, okay, well, here's the template.
44:42If we do these things, we're going to get this result.
44:45As you get older and as they get into the teenage years and beyond, you think, well, that's
44:50not going to work.
44:51That obviously does not work.
44:53And when they get married, that's where you begin to find out what kind of job you did as
44:57a parent.
44:58It's not when they're 12 or 15 or 18.
45:01Those are crazy years anyway.
45:02It's when they're 25 or 30 that you begin to say, okay, well, there are some gaps here
45:08or there are some things we could have done differently.
45:11And I would think the second thing is that, and not to be critical in the children, I mean,
45:16they've all, I'm so proud of how they've been matured into adulthood.
45:20I mean, I wish that I was as mature as my children are now when I was their age.
45:25I was nowhere near where they are now.
45:27And I would say, don't hold on to your convictions so strongly that you can't admit your mistakes,
45:34because there were times when in discussions of how we were raised, you know, we raised
45:39are early children very strictly.
45:41I mean, very much.
45:42We were on top of everything.
45:44With the younger children not so much,
45:45our older kids say, well, you let the younger ones
45:48get away with everything.
45:50Well, our older children had young parents
45:52and our younger children have old parents.
45:55And so we've changed in how we've,
45:59the things that get our attention in those days
46:03don't really bother us now.
46:05And so being willing to say,
46:08I learned some things as a parent and talking to my children,
46:13and you will too.
46:15You'll parent differently in 10 or 15 years than you do today,
46:20because you've grown, I mean, you learn things,
46:22and the Lord has shown you that maybe you were trusting
46:25in the flesh more than in him,
46:27and so you've had to learn those lessons.
46:29So being willing to admit those things
46:32and to hopefully pray that your children
46:34will take where you've brought them
46:35and take it to the next level.
46:36You know, that's what I want to do.
46:38Yeah, that's my prayer, Lord, my ceiling,
46:40we my children's floor.
46:42Yes, yeah, yeah.
46:43I heard you say that.
46:44Yeah, I pray that almost daily even now.
46:47And what you described is a continual,
46:50really display of humility to your own children,
46:53which is still continually to disciple because they'll take that
46:57because they know how they were raised.
46:59And if there are some changes, they recognize the changes
47:01and then they'll present it,
47:03hey, you let them get away with murder
47:05and it gives you the opportunity to say,
47:06Well, here are some things that we learned that have affected how we've made these adjustments.
47:10Yeah.
47:11So these are some things and even that is instructive even the more for them.
47:15This is valuable for me.
47:17We're still making those adjustments.
47:19I mean, we had a conversation with one of my children at home the other night about, you
47:25know, wishing certain things had taken place earlier on in their life.
47:29And I thought, okay, well, that's something that we can probably do a little bit better
47:32with Caden, who's our youngest.
47:35And so we're always learning and we're always getting into the scriptures, we're always
47:39reforming as the performers used to say, and always looking for ways to walk more faithfully
47:44with the Lord.
47:45Thank you so much for joining me here today.
47:47My pleasure.
47:48This is so helpful for me.
47:50I'm positive, it's helpful for lots of people who are listening and watching.
47:55I know we have a bevy of grandparents who tune into this program and even parents who
47:59tune into this program.
48:02This is vitally important.
48:04I say every day what happens in your house is far more important than what's going on
48:08in the White House.
48:09It's easy to allow those things to distract us and avert our attention.
48:12But what happens in our house really ultimately shapes our nation.
48:16That is the truth.
48:17And so what we should seek for is for faithfulness across the long haul of life's journey.
48:24Should the Lord afford us additional years of inhaling and exhaling his oxygen, our commitment
48:29must be to remain faithful. Thank you. Thank you.
48:38The views and opinions expressed in this broadcast may not necessarily reflect those of the American
48:43Family Association or American Family Radio.

Transcript indexed for search. Open the panel to read along.

Share this episode

Related Episodes

Oct 15, 2025

Israel & Foreign Affairs
Bible & Theology

The longest U.S. government shutdown in history was 35 days. How long will this one last?

0:00 - 15:00. Philippians 3:8-10, 12-16. Jesus is the prize. 15:00 - 31:00. The longest U.S. government shutdown in history was 35 days. How long will this one last? 31:00 - 48:00. U.S. CENTCOM has no…

Listen

Feb 26, 2026

Bible & Theology

Salt losing its savor gives rise to the political theater we saw at the State of the Union Address.

0:00 - 15:00. Matthew 5:13-16 (NASB95). There is no use for savor-less salt. Christ-following requires boldness. 15:00 - 31:00. Salt losing its savor gives rise to the political theater we saw at the …

Listen

Aug 14, 2024

Race & Reconciliation
Bible & Theology

Venezuela’s 1998 could be the United States of America’s 2024.

0:00 - 15:00. Romans 13:3-4. God ordained the government as a mechanism to restrain evil. 15:00 - 31:00. Venezuela’s 1998 could be the United States of America’s 2024. 31:00 - 48:00. The UK’s National…

Listen

Subscribe and never miss an episode.

Pick Your Platform All Episodes

Call (888) 589-8840 Book Abe