June 9, 2026 · 50:49

(A "Best Of" from March 11, 2026) Pastor Bert Harper, co-host of Exploring the Word on AFR steps into “The Corner.”

Bible & Theology

Show notes

0:00 - 15:00. Colossians 4:5-6. God has provided guidance and instruction for us concerning how Christ-followers are to engage unbelievers. 15:00 - 31:00. Pastor Bert Harper, co-host of Exploring the Word on AFR steps into “The Corner.” 31:00 - 48:00. Mankind’s hubris leads to self-destructive ideologies. | 1-800-326-4543 ext. 345 To donate call: 877-616-2396

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1-800-326-4543 ext. 345
877-616-2396

Full transcript Auto-generated · 9,125 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.

0:01Darkness is not an affirmative force.
0:03It simply reoccupies the space vacated by the light.
0:07This is the Hamilton Corner on American Family Radio.
0:12It should be uncomfortable for a believer to live as a hypocrite.
0:16Delivery people out of the bondage of mainstream media.
0:19And the philosophies of this world.
0:21God has called you and me to be his ambassador.
0:25Even in this dark moment.
0:27Let's not miss our moment.
0:29And now the Hamilton Corner.
0:34Good evening, everybody.
0:35Welcome to the Hamilton Corner.
0:36Abraham Hamilton, the third is my name.
0:39I'm the host of the program here joined by the corner
0:41contingent right across from me once again as our friendly
0:45neighborhood with a holic Mr. Marty Sparks,
0:48perpetually in recovery, nonetheless.
0:51And we are joined also by producer extraordinaire, Mr. J.
0:55Mac, Mr. Jeff McIntosh in the screening room,
0:58often imitated, but never duplicated.
1:00and we're ready to rock and roll with today's edition of the program.
1:04At this very moment, many of you, if not most of you, are making your transition from your
1:08part-time jobs where you generate an income to your full-time jobs where you cultivate
1:13an outcome.
1:14And as you do so, I want to remind you to do it with intentionality.
1:20Income generation is important, but our culture has applied the terminology of it being our
1:27full-time jobs and in many ways that has been conflated with identity. But the truth is, for all
1:34believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, because every single believer is called to ministry,
1:41called to participate in the fulfillment of our King's Commission, the Great Commission.
1:46And for those of you who are listening, who are not yet believers, I just want to urge you,
1:51as you see all the things swirling around our in the world and our own nation,
1:55to embrace the Lord's grace through in salvation,
2:00now, don't wait, don't hesitate.
2:04You see all of these things happening,
2:05they just confirm that the Bible is true.
2:09The scripture says that when the Lord returns,
2:11it will be as it was in the days of Noah.
2:13And you think about, you know, as it was in the days of Noah,
2:18and all everyone did what was right in their own eyes,
2:21you know, what could that look like?
2:24Could it look like?
2:27Grown people fighting for the right for children?
2:31No, let me say it this way.
2:33For the right to permanently mutilate the bodies of children,
2:37all in the name of transgenderism,
2:39could it look like, you know,
2:42rampant pornography, sex trafficking,
2:45for an occasion, an adultery?
2:48And then to add insult to demonic injury,
2:52enshrining as a right, the right to slaughter the natural byproduct of physical intimacy between
3:02adults in the name of freedom.
3:06Think about that.
3:07For freedom's sake, let's kill these innocent unborn children.
3:11It could look like, and then this you want to talk about, in absurd, obtuse, insane, whatever
3:18description you want to put on it, you have people upset that the NBA canceled a basketball
3:26game night with a theme.
3:29You go to basketball, the theme is Holly Beach themes and the theme for Atlanta Hawks Monday
3:36night basketball game was Magic Monday.
3:41And most of you don't know what I'm talking about.
3:42Praise God that you don't.
3:45Magic City is a popular strip club in Atlanta.
3:48Mm-hmm. You see Marty's face mm-hmm in the Atlanta Hawks
3:52They're gonna have a celebration of the strip club as the theme for their Monday night basketball game and then get this
4:01Because you had one basketball player Luke Cornette who spoke up about it saying guys that's
4:06That's so we're gonna degrade women and girls and we're gonna do it. That's gonna be the theme of an NBA game
4:12And you got other basketball players mad at him for saying something about it as it was in the days of Noah
4:19That's kind of what it looks like guys.
4:21And it's just simply shows that the Bible is true.
4:24And so because the Bible is true, everything that the Bible teaches is true.
4:31So don't hearten your hearts when the Lord draws you for salvation, draws you to
4:37himself in salvation, repent and believe, man, because eternity is a long time to be
4:45wrong.
4:47It's a long time to be wrong.
4:50And for those of you who are believers,
4:52this also highlights why we must work while it is day.
4:56We must work while it is day,
4:59because when the nighttime comes,
5:01no one will be able to work.
5:03Then to the word of God we go,
5:05and this, the scripture we're gonna discuss today
5:07kinda aids us in navigating this.
5:10Colossians chapter four,
5:13verses five and six is where we're gonna focus
5:16to begin the program today.
5:17Colossians chapter four,
5:19verses five and six.
5:26The Apostle Paul is right into the church at Colossae and he says this and this is,
5:29this is, I pray that you would ponder this and welcome the Lord to root this
5:36in your heart just as I'm praying that the Lord would root this in my heart as well.
5:40The scripture says this, conduct yourselves with wisdom toward outsiders,
5:46making the most of the opportunity.
5:50Let your speech always be with grace as though seasoned with salt so that you will
5:55so that you will know how you should respond to each person.
6:03Now, to be clear when the text says,
6:04conduct yourselves with wisdom toward outsiders.
6:06The Apostle Paul is using terminology to describe those
6:09who are not yet believers.
6:11So he's instructing believers as to how we should conduct
6:16ourselves concerning those who are not yet believers.
6:18One of the first things that should be embraced
6:21and understood from this text is that the Lord requires us
6:25as believers to anticipate, to pray for, and to prepare ourselves to engage those who are
6:32unbelievers.
6:33This should not be something that we should approach with a casual disposition.
6:37It shouldn't be like, maybe this should happen.
6:42This is something that we should anticipate, and I would even include, seek out, seek opportunities
6:50to be the hands and feet of Jesus to proclaim his gospel and to begin the process of a discipleship
6:57relationship, that should not be something that should sneak upon us like a burglar.
7:01Ain't no one that will strain this thing happening to me today.
7:04Marty, you won't believe this, Marty.
7:06It might sound like a bra, man, from the fifth floor.
7:09Hey, Ma.
7:10Man, you never believe what happened to me today, man.
7:14Ain't believe in Ma.
7:16It had an apartment full of sandwiches.
7:21And they had this one cat in there man,
7:23and he believed he ain't no the Lord, man.
7:26No, each for the believer, we should ask God
7:29to give us opportunities to shine a light of Christ,
7:31to give us opportunities to pray,
7:33and we're starting to proclaim his gospel,
7:35that this isn't something that should sneak upon us,
7:37and then we should welcome the Lord
7:39to prepare us for the engagements.
7:44Here the Lord is guiding us by his spirit
7:47through the Apostle Paul's writings,
7:49to conduct ourselves with wisdom toward outsiders.
7:52One of our prayer should be that, Lord, would you give me wisdom today to engage those who do not yet know you?
7:59Lord, would you give me wisdom as to how I conduct myself and how I interact with those who do not yet know you?
8:08We say things very casually, but the truth is no man is promised tomorrow,
8:13so we should not allow opportunities to just kind of slip out of our hands,
8:17but we should seek to be effective.
8:22And as the scripture says here, making the most of the opportunity.
8:27I understand, man, I live in the same world you all live in.
8:31I understand, you know, going to the grocery store, going to run errands, doing different
8:34things that we might not want our agendas intruded upon.
8:43But I told her the other one time, even when you go on vacation, we don't own vacation
8:46from being the disciple of Jesus Christ.
8:50So you might be on the cruise ship, man, you might have somebody that you can share the
8:53gospel with sitting as you get in the buffet line.
8:58You're in the buffet line.
8:59Look, I know it's buffet, guys, but I like to say buffet.
9:04waiting on the sandwiches. It might be a good time to take advantage of, conduct ourselves
9:14with wisdom. It should also bring to the forefront of our consideration that we need wisdom to
9:21engage. Don't just use this kind of, and I'm going to get to that next part of the next
9:27verse, don't just get to the point where you kind of have a routine, wrote thing that you
9:32usually have a script almost like you're an actor. You know, stage left when the next
9:38Then lie, like you have a ready to roll line.
9:42Now, don't misconstrue what I'm saying.
9:44It's good to be prepared, having thought do some things, maybe having
9:48considered what some objections might be, consider who the person
9:52that you may be encountering what they are presenting with.
9:55But the scripture bears this out, and you'll see next that
10:00guys, every person is an individual.
10:02Not everybody's circumstances are identical, which is why you get to the next verse,
10:07Verse six, let your speech always be with grace
10:11as though seasoned with salt,
10:14so that you will know how to respond to each person.
10:20Guess what that highlights for us?
10:22That your response to one person
10:25will most likely not be identical to your response
10:27to another person.
10:29Each person requires the grace
10:32that is particular to that individual.
10:34Each person requires the wisdom
10:37that is particular to that individual.
10:39So we should get out of this mindset to where we kind of have this,
10:44the script as I referred to earlier that we just,
10:46we pull out for every circumstance because each circumstance is going to be the
10:49exact one. You know, one of the ways the Lord is,
10:55is helped and is helping to sharpen my wife and I in this area is that each of our
11:00children are different and each of them have different questions.
11:03Each of them have different ways that they express themselves and each of them
11:06have even different learning styles when they receive information.
11:09So we cannot have a kind of cookie cutter approach that we do the exact same thing with each one of them at each stage and expect the same
11:16Result guys they each are individuals and the Lord helps us in interacting with our own children to prepare us today
11:24What people outside of our home to say hey, you know even if you think this person might look like somebody you talked to before
11:29They may come from a background at a similar to the person before they are not identical to the person you talked to previously
11:35And so setting our course
11:39to seek the Lord earlier, verse two,
11:44and this exact same chapter, the apostle Paul says,
11:46devote yourself, yourselves to prayer.
11:48Devote yourselves to prayer.
11:50We think about devotions, and yes, in our family,
11:53we have family devotions on a daily basis,
11:55but there's a devotion to prayer that's required for us
11:59and required of us.
12:01And in devoting ourselves to prayer,
12:02we seek the wisdom of God and the sharpening of our Lord.
12:06And for the Lord to enable us to have a speech
12:09that is grace filled as seasoned with salt.
12:14Every time I think about the salt season
12:16and I think about my mom cooking back in New Orleans,
12:18you know, cause I'm telling you, unseasoned chicken
12:22is an uncivilized presentation, let me tell you.
12:26But I would look at how my mom took particular care
12:28to season the food she represents to us
12:29and it was important to her because she wanted
12:33the food she prepared for us, her children,
12:35to be easily entreated, readily, entreated, readily received.
12:41So she would season it.
12:44We should seek to have seasoned words.
12:47In the seasoning, it may not be fillet for the gumbo.
12:52It may not be the Trinity.
12:55I'm not talking about the Holy Trinity,
12:56I'm not talking about the Trinity for cooking.
12:58That's what they call in the norms, the Trinity.
13:02But the seasoning for our speech is the grace of our God
13:07that militates toward us in the presence of our God
13:10as we seek Him.
13:12And that we approach each image bearer
13:14with an individual disposition.
13:17And I'm gonna continue to lean in on the notion of hospitality
13:21as a means of ministry,
13:25that we utilize our homes as ground base,
13:28as ground zero, if you will,
13:31our foundational outpost, if you will,
13:37for reaching out to those most immediate to us,
13:41most closest to us.
13:46We have a people that God calls to foreign missions,
13:48and I am exceedingly grateful for them.
13:50That's one of the things that I think that has been a blessing to our nation is that we've
13:55sent the most missionaries into the world and in the history of the world.
13:59But we need a lot of domestic missions too, man.
14:03We need a lot of neighborhood missions, block mission, local and community mission.
14:13I pray that the Lord would cause this to be deposited in you in the manner that He desires
14:19it to be.
14:20So we got to get away from simply looking at all the things that are challenging and negative
14:25in the world and not seeing man, God has called his bride to be so light in the place and in
14:30the time that he's planted us.
14:36And as we seek the wisdom of God and welcome him to season our speech with the grace seasoning
14:43and we consider how we should respond to each and every individual person who may not yet
14:49know the Lord.
14:50and we make the most of those opportunities
14:53because eternity truly hangs in the balance.
15:01A discipleship minute with Joseph Parker.
15:04He who dwells in the secret place of the most high
15:07shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
15:09I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress,
15:12my God in Him, I will trust Psalm 91 verses one and two.
15:17In a perilous world, so many people are afraid,
15:21they're fearful.
15:22In a world where inner cities
15:23and many other communities are,
15:25simply dangerous places to be. We see the drug trafficking, human trafficking,
15:30muggings, murders, physical and sexual abuse. There is a place of safety in this world and it's found
15:37in it's found in that secret place, that intimate relationship with God. No one can protect you
15:44like God can, but it's important for us to do our part to appropriate to place ourselves in that
15:49secret place. Praying Psalm 91 every day is a very wise thing for all believers to do.
15:55No one can protect you like God can.
15:58Shiting light into the darkness, this is the Hamilton Corner, an American family radio.
16:12Welcome back to the Hamilton Corner, Abraham Hamilton III here and I'm delighted to have
16:15on the program a brother who when we get together they always tell us you guys to try to do a
16:19better job of keeping the energy up because you are a bit too calm and sounds a bit too
16:26much like you're narrating at a golf match.
16:30That is not what happens.
16:31Yeah, what they'll accuse me of is learning to whisper in a sawmill.
16:37Well, you already hear his voice.
16:40My guest, guys, is one half of that dynamic duo that hosts exploring the word every day
16:46right here in American Family Radio.
16:48I'm speaking of none other than Pastor Bert Harper.
16:50Pastor Bert, thank you for joining me here on Hamilton Corner this evening.
16:52Thank you, Abe.
16:53It is so good to be with you.
16:54I appreciate you and your show.
16:57Oh, oh.
16:58Both of them, man.
16:59Well, praise God.
17:00Well, I wanted to have you on the program for a couple of reasons, but I do want to invite
17:05you for those who may not be aware to share a little bit of what you do on exploring the
17:10word daily and how that is a unique offering in our daily lineup on the radio program.
17:17One of the most interesting stories I heard was what our leader, Tim Wamman, said about
17:22three o'clock in the afternoon, we're ready for just some Bible, not commentary from about
17:28What the Bible says about today's issues.
17:30So about 15 years ago, they started exploring the word
17:35and Marvin Sanders and Alex McFarland were on there.
17:39And I came on board during that time,
17:41but during that time again, Marvin began to have
17:45some illness and they asked me to come on in.
17:47And now we've been doing it 14 years
17:50where we just usually it's a book of the Bible.
17:53Right now we're going through Ephesians.
17:55And I don't say we do it verse by verse,
17:57but we do it section by section of those verses.
18:01And we just enjoy it.
18:03And the purpose is salvation and discipleship.
18:07And Alex and I look at it that way.
18:10So opportunity, we've had people to be saved right there
18:13while we were doing the program as they called in
18:16and we have a lot of people last week.
18:18We got a message of someone that was saved,
18:22listening to this program.
18:23And they just wanted to say thank you.
18:24So I praise God for that opportunity.
18:27No, man, that is so amazing and is so profound and so needed because the most desperate and
18:35enduring need, I say this on the show pretty much almost daily.
18:37And our country, the most desperate and enduring need is for the gospel to be proclaimed, but
18:42for disciples to be made.
18:43When I was older than you guys now, but when I was in school, Marty, making remember, but
18:49you know, we had Bible reading, we had prayer.
18:52a matter of fact, my little community, believe it or not,
18:54which is in northeast Mississippi where I grew,
18:57we had summer school because we were farmers
19:01and we got out in the spring and fall to plant the crops
19:04and then together the crops
19:06and we went to school during the summer.
19:08Usually during the summer, the two churches
19:10that we had in our little community of Wheeler, Mississippi,
19:13they would have a revival.
19:15And we got to turn out and go to the revival,
19:17we would walk down the street.
19:19Now everybody went because as opportunity
19:21not have to study English.
19:22Yeah.
19:23And so even those people that didn't go to church in those days, they received the Word
19:31of God and, you know, what an opportunity that was.
19:34And we've come a long way from that, but it was a good time to be able to grow up and
19:39to hear that and see that and see how good of effect it had on the people that listened.
19:45Yeah.
19:46I mean, we not only have come a long way from that, I would argue and I don't think he'd
19:50It could be successfully contradicted.
19:53I would argue that we've been intentionally manipulated.
19:57I agree.
19:58Well, if you don't know the truth,
20:00you're easily manipulated.
20:02That's the whole idea.
20:03When truth, when you have truth, the Bible is a standard.
20:07And in Ephesians today, we talked about that,
20:10said after you get these things,
20:13you're able to live wise.
20:15You know, knowing who Christ is
20:17and knowing what he's done for you
20:19and letting the Word of God speak,
20:21it makes you able to make decisions,
20:24able to discern what's going on
20:27with individuals in the world.
20:30You mentioned that you guys frequently get testimonies
20:32and hear back from people who surrendered their lives
20:36to Jesus or maybe even rededicate their lives
20:39to the Lord as a result of the program
20:43that you do on a daily basis.
20:44Is that something that you've seen consistently now
20:46having done it for 14 years?
20:47Yes, it is.
20:48And it's amazing.
20:50Alex and I both have gotten to go to prison facilities,
20:56preach with them.
20:57And a lot of them have their Bible study
21:00around exploring the word town.
21:02They're able to do that and invite others.
21:04And we've seen so many people come to know Christ
21:07and we hear about it and we thank God for it.
21:10And people get back in church.
21:12And we got this one call last week,
21:16someone that could not because of past crimes,
21:20paid the press out, got saved,
21:23but yet he's restricted on where he can go.
21:25And so exploring the word is that part of his life.
21:29Well, he wouldn't get to hear the preaching alive,
21:32but he can turn on the radio and hear daily,
21:36the Word of God being proclaimed.
21:38And that's why Alex and I do, he is very academic.
21:42You know, he's been a seminary president
21:45and you know all that, I'm Pastor Will,
21:47pastored for 40 something years plus,
21:50and yet studied the word preached expositorly,
21:53and we bring those two avenues together,
21:57and it kind of makes it unique preaching,
22:00but having a discussion.
22:02And then as Alex says, it's like,
22:05you're preaching a sermon at the end,
22:06we take Bible questions, somebody holds her hand up,
22:09and ask, I got a question,
22:11Pastor, about what you just said.
22:13And it makes it a unique program, I think.
22:16And that's a great combination to have,
22:18because the Bible says they were to study to show ourselves,
22:21approve the workmen worthy of higher,
22:24and being able to articulate that,
22:27and having the combination of the pastoral heart
22:30combined with the years in the past,
22:32and the academic approach combined,
22:36in an individual offering, is something that is unique,
22:39and I can see how it benefits the people who tune in.
22:41I learn a lot from Alex and he says he's learned from me now.
22:45We don't know.
22:46We go on there.
22:48We're learners herself.
22:50We ever can quit being learners ourselves.
22:53We need to fold up our tent and do something else.
22:57And we're still doing it.
22:59Go through a book.
23:00We've gone through every book of the Bible in these years and going back over some second
23:05and third time.
23:06And guess what?
23:08Every time we see something.
23:09Oh man.
23:10It's fresh.
23:11That's the word of God.
23:12That's amazing.
23:13You know, just yesterday in our first segment, we refer to 2nd Peter chapter 1 verses 1 through
23:209 when the scripture talks about if these qualities are yours and they are increasing,
23:25they will fortify you from being an NASB 95.
23:27When does it useless and unfruitful in your knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ?
23:31And what you just said, if we're not continually learners, one of those qualities were knowledge
23:36that we are continually learning.
23:40The thing that was provocative and jolting that I kind of zeroed in on quite a bit yesterday
23:44was that the reality exists that we can be Christ followers yet be useless and un fruitful
23:51in our knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.
23:53And I believe that one of the things that's contributed as I said earlier that we haven't
23:58just become a less godly society, it's been an intentional manipulation of our society
24:03to provoke us to be less godless.
24:05One of the things I would argue that is contributed to that is a lack of understanding of the necessity
24:11of being continually fruitful and that being evident in being voraciously hungering and thirsting
24:16for righteousness continually.
24:18I would agree fully because what you're doing, Abe is, I believe it's Satan's agenda.
24:25We know his agenda and he's always had his arsenal, principalities and powers and they
24:33influence and they try to find the places of greatest influence. And I use the big E's
24:41entertainment, education and economy. Those three satan has infiltrated so much that it's
24:51difficult. But God has his agents praise the Lord in those places and I thank God for that.
24:59It's not, the ground is not level.
25:02God's bigger than.
25:03And sometimes we lose sight of that.
25:06God has that perspective and we need to, I think what our perceived, after what you said,
25:14if we stay in the Word of God, stay fruitful.
25:18Look at things from a biblical worldview, God's eyes.
25:21Give me my Father's eyes.
25:22You know, we need to look at everything like that.
25:25I think we can have the perspective and not lose hope
25:28and not just go away saying, well, that's the way it is.
25:33No, we're to be active in trying to make things different.
25:36Oh, absolutely.
25:37And that's right, AFR.
25:39That's reason.
25:40Man, years ago I got on board with AFR
25:43because I could see, hey, we wanna make a difference
25:46in this world that God has given to us.
25:48Man, you're absolutely right.
25:49When you say the ground is not level
25:52And this is something that people need to really embrace
25:55and understand when you think about,
25:57well, what's the corresponding opposite of God?
26:00Most people think, well, the devil,
26:03what the truth is there is none.
26:05You know, reality is Satan.
26:07God stands alone in the category unto himself.
26:09Satan is nothing beyond a fallen angel.
26:12The only corresponding opposite of that might be Michael,
26:14an angel, but God has no corresponding opposite.
26:18So God and his people are majority.
26:20I don't care what the count might be.
26:21And he's demonstrated that all throughout history, but he's chosen for his agents to be his people.
26:27And by and large, too many of his people have kind of taken the bait, if you will, to absent
26:33ourselves from being his agents.
26:36And just being content with kind of being sidelined commentators will assess how dark it is and
26:43how bad it is and complain about it.
26:45But our responses are often not reflective of our convictions that may be espoused verbally,
26:50but not in action.
26:52Being a Mundy quarterback.
26:55No, we need to get in the game.
26:59Too many of us are in the stands,
27:00applauding or booing or whatever we do.
27:03We need to be active in what God's called us to do.
27:07And I believe in God's calling for every believer.
27:11They have their gifts.
27:14They should have, I call them,
27:15it said shape, your spiritual gift, your heart or your passion,
27:20your abilities, your personality, and your experiences.
27:24God works those, and that makes every believer unique.
27:28No one else liked them because they're all,
27:32you know, we're all different in every way,
27:35but God uses us in those positions
27:37that He's given us and opportunities
27:40to let them see our good works and glorify our Father,
27:43who's in heaven, and we need to be busy about that.
27:45Amen. His glory should be our top line.
27:47Amen.
27:48That's the glorification the glory of our father should be our our animating principle
27:54I'm pot. I'm pretty sure I don't know because I don't host
27:58Exploring the word, but I'm pretty sure you've gotten some calls and asking well. What are you take?
28:04What what what is your take on what's happening with operation epic fury and Iran and and you know that they're
28:11They're reporting indicating now that sleeper cells of terrorists in our own country are
28:16being activated, so to speak.
28:19As you get those calls, how have you been responding to those who have inquired of you?
28:23Well, our whole idea is that God is in control.
28:27That's the first thing that we need to understand and know God is in control.
28:31We can trust Him.
28:32We also, I would say that we, nothing should get between us and our faith and trust in the
28:38Lord.
28:39He knows Satan does not just roll over and die, so he's going to be active and he came
28:46to kill still and destroy.
28:48So guess what he'll do?
28:49He'll use anything.
28:50There's nothing that he will not use in order to try to bring fear into our lives.
28:57I think the worst thing to do is always operating fear.
29:00Fear and faith do not come at the same time.
29:04should override perfect, you know, perfect love cast out fear.
29:08And perfect love is what based on Jesus Christ, faith in Him.
29:12And so, yeah, what's taking place over there, just define it.
29:18I remember what I said in the pulpit where I'm preaching right now,
29:23was there are just wars, you know?
29:26And what gives me hope, yes, what we did, I'm hoping will work for good.
29:31But in the last 10 or 15 years, Iran has been the place where more people have come to Christ
29:38than just about any other country.
29:40I remember going to the NRB around 12 years ago, and I was going by one of the booths, and
29:45it was an Iran mission.
29:49I interviewed him for the other program.
29:50I do explore admissions, and he said that because of the internet, we're able to infiltrate
29:57all behind and get in there and share the truth.
30:01And they're responding.
30:02I remember then he said, they're responding in thousands.
30:06And it has not quit.
30:08We had Alex was able to be in a school two weeks ago,
30:14and he was able to talk about what was taking place there.
30:18And he had a girl that has lost from Iran,
30:21her family was still over there.
30:23She had gotten out and was in that school,
30:25and she was talking about how many believers are in Iran.
30:28So I'm praying, here's my prayer,
30:30I'm praying that God would use these Iranians,
30:34those that love the Lord and those that want freedom,
30:37real freedom, they could have the opportunity to rise up.
30:42And hey, God doesn't fit into our box.
30:47And wouldn't it be something that Iran, of all places,
30:50would become a place of missions?
30:53Listen, let me share this with you.
30:56See what you think about it today.
30:58I look at what took place in the United States
31:01and undo this real quickly.
31:02And it was that we had the first Great Awakening
31:05before we had the revolution.
31:08The American Revolution.
31:09Exactly.
31:10And we had this basis to break away from England
31:14and we had the capacity to start a new nation.
31:17Why?
31:18Because of the biblical background that we had had
31:20at the first Great Awakening.
31:23Iran's had an awakening, spiritual awakening.
31:26I think this set up different than a lot of others
31:28that they had no idea what they would do.
31:32If they've received Christ, and there's a large group of them,
31:35they've got some wisdom in order to see what they can do
31:39to overcome the enemy.
31:40I'm praying for that, brother.
31:42I'm paying you that right now.
31:43Man, I had Bill Federer on last night,
31:46or some might say Bill Federer had me on.
31:48I didn't know on you.
31:49I know Bill Federer.
31:51One question.
31:52Yeah, he was explaining the distinction between Shiite and Sunni and Sufi Islam and how Iran
32:00is a Shiite nation, but for people to come to faith in Christ in Iran, really, it's a
32:06death sentence.
32:08So we're not talking about casual, going through the drive-through at Mickey D's and coming
32:13to faith in Christ.
32:14These are people who, as the scripture says, love not their own lives unto death in order
32:20to become Christ followers.
32:21And so, man, my heart is with you in praying
32:27that those who have been born again,
32:29that they might be animated to be Salt and Light
32:32and in the end the nation where they are planted.
32:35And who knows?
32:36Because I am one that I refuse to try to place limitations
32:39or to place, create a box to put the King of Kings
32:43and the Lord of Lords, and he nor will he ever try.
32:47Amen.
32:48To fit.
32:49You listen to the Hamilton Corner, my guest is Pastor Bert Harper, co-host of Exploring the
32:53Word, right here on American Family Radio.
33:00AFA Action takes attacks on the family seriously.
33:04The enemies of the family constantly employ new tactics to try to sneak past our radar.
33:09They know if we stand together, their evil plans will fail.
33:13Your gift to AFA Action allows us to stay vigilant against their onslaught.
33:17And if you give this month, you'll receive access to the Cultural Institute video, When
33:22your faith is illegal by Frank Harbor on AFA Stream as our thanks.
33:26You can make your gift today at AFAAction.net.
33:30Hello, I'm Sam Roar, President of the American Pastors Network, a growing national network
33:35of pastors committed to the authority of Scripture and preaching the whole Council of God.
33:39We believe biblical obedience is the foundation for revival and impacting our culture for
33:43Christ is our duty.
33:45For too long, the pulpits of America have been silent on the important issues, such as
33:49marriage and family and assault on learn-ability.
33:51Join us in the battle for truth on Stand in the Gap Weekend Sunday evenings at 6 p.m.
33:56on American Family Radio and visit us at americanpastorsnetwork.org.
34:00War with Iran. This is David Wheaton, host of The Christian World View.
34:06President Trump delivered a speech to the nation outlining the justification for attacking Iran
34:11jointly with Israel, which centers around Iran's decades of attacks against us in Israel
34:17and their efforts to make nuclear weapons.
34:20This is ample justification, despite most all on the political left and some on the right
34:25opposing it.
34:26Prophetically, this is a war that involves Israel and Iran, historically Persia.
34:31The Bible says Iran will be part of a coalition that invades Israel before the return of Christ.
34:37We don't know when, but let's be ready because Jesus said, Your redemption is drawing near.
34:44You're a most recent program about the war with Iran at thechristianworldview.org and then
34:49tune in this weekend for another topic that will sharpen your worldview.
34:53Listen to the Christian worldview with David Wheaton, Saturday mornings at 8 Central on
34:57American Family Radio.
34:59The Hamilton Quarter Podcast and One-Minute Common Terrets are available at AFR.net.
35:10Back to the Hamilton Quarter on American Family Radio.
35:14Welcome back to the Hamilton Corner Abraham Hamilton third here with Pastor Bert Harper
35:18co-host of exploring the word right here on American Family Radio.
35:22You can hear it daily at 3 p.m. Central time, 4 p.m. Eastern time.
35:27What an amazing program that they have.
35:29We're having a great conversation.
35:31We talked before about or mentioned the necessity of the body of Christ, not really being spectators,
35:38being fruitful and useful and actively engaged.
35:42And there is a summit coming up this summer to deal with that directly on the head, AFA's
35:49activate summit for which you will be one of the speakers.
35:53Would you share with the audience here what is the activate summit?
35:57Well it is an equipping, but it's also the speakers you know there's going to be some
36:02evangelism in it because not everybody it's the church member is born again believer.
36:08But it is for equipping the saints and the idea of it,
36:12and it's one of the areas that activate goes into.
36:15They have areas and it's the family.
36:18And that's one of the reasons that I was invited.
36:20I love the theme, Roots to Fruit, and Growing,
36:24down in having your roots and then spreading out for the fruit.
36:28And they've asked me and my wife Jan will be helping me.
36:31We'll be talking to about family.
36:33And for some reason, they wouldn't need to speak about grandparents.
36:37parents.
36:38Can you figure?
36:39She, I wonder.
36:40Yeah, I wonder why.
36:41What a grandparent.
36:43What is that all about?
36:44Yeah.
36:45So I just tell folks we're going to go to Psalm 127 and 128 because it is one of those passages
36:52that cover children, parents and grandparents.
36:58And you don't have a lot of information in the Bible about, quote, how to be a grandparent.
37:05But it is a place of influence.
37:07Listen, and that's a great position to be in as a grandparent.
37:13So we're going to try to equip him, but you got others like Dr. Nurse Mama, Dr. Jessica
37:18Peck, she'll be there.
37:20Jess Sreeve, he'll be there with his wife, I know as well, he said.
37:24And Jess is a great preacher.
37:26Great teacher as well.
37:27We've had him at our fishbowl retreat and the moor, and Jess does a great job of communicating
37:33and equipping.
37:34So it's going to be a good, good program.
37:36It seems you lie.
37:38And matter of fact, the dates are 16th through the 18th,
37:40and people can register now.
37:42And so we're looking forward to it.
37:44We've already started preparing, Jen and I have,
37:47because we want to really be effective.
37:50It's an area.
37:52We've done the pastoring life membership.
37:55You've been there.
37:56We do that.
37:57We do marriage conferences where we've done that.
38:00So this is a first for us, for us grandparents,
38:03although we refer to it because it's no trouble
38:07talking about your grandchildren.
38:08No, not at all.
38:09And I really think the life stage for grandparents
38:12can be one of the most fruitful life stages
38:15for ministerial engagement, for many people,
38:18not everybody, we have different life circumstances,
38:20but for many people sometimes,
38:21they're at a place where they have more resources
38:23than they've had prior times in their lives,
38:25they have more time sometimes than they've had previously,
38:29but we often say in our church, we don't retire, we refire.
38:33that concept of retirement, as it's commonly understood,
38:37you don't really find that in the scripture.
38:38You are, pastor, as long as I have, I've seen people.
38:42They could not do what they're used to physically
38:45and even mentally, so they have to change.
38:49Yeah, make an adjustment.
38:50And the people come to my mind,
38:53just the people I've pastored and the adjustments,
38:55but never a place for the sidelines.
38:57Amen.
38:58And so we, you're to stay active.
39:00God's got a purpose for you.
39:02Yeah, and I think the church in our country will be served well by focusing some attention
39:07there.
39:08You know, I call them the season saints.
39:09Yeah, that's right.
39:10So at the season saints, you know, we were in Colossians four earlier, let our speech be
39:15seasoned with grace as with salt, you know, the season things, they have more seasoning,
39:20yeah, hopefully than some others, and to be able to be more effective.
39:23So that is something that I think is a unique offering.
39:27How often do you, do you have a conference that you have a particular portion dedicated to
39:32equipping grandparents. I mean we're looking forward to, I'll tell you this
39:35story is it's on the other program that I do exploring missions with our son
39:39Nathan. And we had this couple they had pastored here but their children were
39:45gone. They still, the head grandchildren, but this is the time they volunteered for
39:51missions and they had to go through an agency that didn't have age restrictions.
39:56But they said we can go for half the price that it would take for someone to
40:01go with a family because we have our income coming in.
40:05Yeah.
40:05And they say, and we know we can, and let's God just something
40:09physically we can put in 10 to 12 years on the mission field.
40:14And it'd be a lot more fruitful.
40:16We know what we know better now to do what then we did then.
40:19We don't have all the overhead that a lot of them would have.
40:24And what an opportunity.
40:25So grandparents, I would say the same thing you said,
40:29the time frame, the availability of maybe finance
40:34of being able to share and to do some things
40:36to make a difference.
40:37So if I'm not worth coming,
40:40it's worth coming to hear my wife, I didn't tell you that.
40:43So I mean, I think it's gonna be an amazing time together.
40:47To register, you simply go to activate.afa.net.
40:52You'll see there you can register there.
40:53I believe there's some early bird registration here too.
40:55April.
40:56That's right.
40:5730th is the deadline for that as I understand.
41:00It's gonna be, you know,
41:01and a great opportunity for you to be apart
41:03and in the whole hope and the objective I know
41:08is for the cumulative effect of what transpires there
41:11is that people leave equipped to be active
41:15and to engage.
41:16That's good, activate.
41:18By the way, I did not know this until I heard it.
41:21Thursday night, they're gonna have something
41:23really, really special.
41:24they're going to have trivia Friday
41:27with Tim, Ed, and JJ.
41:29Now, okay, so laughter is good like a medicine.
41:34So make sure you come first and not
41:36and get your dose of medicine
41:38with those three individuals.
41:40You know, I'm looking forward to hearing that.
41:43I just, so it's your last sum, you'll be equipped,
41:46you'll be challenged, I think you'll be blessed.
41:50That's a good combination of all that happens.
41:52That is a great combination to activate
41:54some of July 16th through the 18th.
41:57Go to activate.afa.net to register.
42:00You'll be able to hear Pastor Burton and his wife, Jan,
42:03Pastor Jeff Shreve, your trivia Friday live,
42:07we'll be there on Thursday.
42:08Several other people will be there.
42:11And you mentioning the family and grandparents,
42:13and I asked you about this.
42:16There was an article I came across,
42:17and first it was an article in this publication
42:20called The Cut.
42:21That's not a publication I recommend.
42:23And you had some others who were analyzing or responding to the article in the cut, but it's
42:30something that you see on the rise in our country just as you're having more outspoken advocates
42:36for heterodox things like polyamory and all this kind of insanity.
42:41There was a candidate for Congress in the Nashville area in Tennessee named Afton Ben.
42:47She talked about how her mom told her,
42:50you don't need to have babies, you need to seek power.
42:52That's what her mom trained in,
42:54and I'm thinking, man, what a mind trip
42:56that your mom is telling you that babies
42:58are hindrance to your career prospects.
43:01You're talking to your own daughter.
43:02Can you imagine?
43:03Basically, a mom telling her,
43:04I wish I didn't have you.
43:05I could have been more powerful than my life.
43:07I mean, it's crazy, but the cut had an article on it,
43:12which, you know, it's horrifying
43:14because these things are being discussed more and more popularly, but the article is titled
43:20I Regret Having Children.
43:22I regret having children.
43:24And sadly, it was several young moms who were profiled in the article and that basically that's
43:28what they were talking about.
43:30Well, that contradicts what the scripture says.
43:32You're going to refer to Psalm 127.
43:33What the Lord says, children are a blessing from the Lord.
43:37Pass the Word.
43:38What is happening in our society when you have people saying these things, you combine it
43:42with the sinful commitment to abortion in our country.
43:45Now you have women being discouraged away from motherhood.
43:48What's happening in our country?
43:50It is a spiritual battle.
43:51It really is.
43:52And I say this, we meet Mondays in the same group of people.
43:58Meaning you and I.
43:58You and I are meeting on Mondays together.
44:00And what happens, and the only way you can explain something,
44:05Satan has blinded the minds.
44:07Now think of not blinded the eyes,
44:09but blinded the minds where you don't see clearly.
44:13Now blindness has different those that are totally blind
44:17and then those that are obscured to a place
44:19where they are considered blind.
44:21So what happens when Satan enters in to this false teaching,
44:27it's always gonna be unbiblical.
44:31Now when it starts off a lie,
44:33they're gonna try to get it as close to the truth
44:36as they can in order to try to obscure it,
44:40and it not be so absolutely wrong that everybody says,
44:44that's a lie, but what happens,
44:46it gets further and further away.
44:48The lie continues going, and the lie continues to breed
44:53and grow and get further away from the standard
44:55that God has laid out.
44:57So this is what's happened in our country with family,
45:00you know, women say, and okay, we have a right to,
45:04And they did, they had the right to do what they,
45:07they equal vote and all that.
45:09I don't wanna go in, but you know,
45:10but what happens, Satan then builds in something
45:14of an untruth into it and it gets to the point
45:16where it's so obscure like this, that children,
45:19you know, they're bad, they're not good.
45:22They'll hinder you, they'll harm you.
45:24And so Satan has blinded the mind.
45:27Now how do you fight against that?
45:30You always do, always with truth.
45:32Always with truth.
45:33So just because somebody deviates from the standard, you don't change the standard in order
45:39to accommodate them.
45:40So we stick with the truth of God's Word, which talks about children, be a heritage to
45:45the Lord, happy as a man has his quiver full of them.
45:49They're like arrows in the hand of a warrior.
45:52Listen, what that woman is doing, she's giving up the real power that she had.
45:57And I can't help but think about John and Charles Wesley's mother, you know, as she would have
46:05all those children, but she always had a time in what an influence that woman had on the world.
46:12And what was she?
46:13She was a, I'm just going to say it, she was a stay at home mom.
46:16And she influenced the world through them.
46:19I would say they believed a lie and they're really going in the opposite direction of where
46:24the power really is. Who said that he that rocks the cradle, you know? Yeah. Yeah. And
46:30it's the world. And she who, you know, rocks the cradle. Yeah. That's given up power when
46:36you give up that opportunity. Yeah. You mentioned and I often refer to Spurgeon's description
46:42of discernment where it's not merely distinguishing right from wrong. Spurgeon said, but discernment
46:47also includes distinguishing right from almost right. And like you said, the most effective
46:52lies, they're introduced being very, very, very close to the truth.
46:57So there's a, there's an element of truth that rings true, but the lie never stays pat
47:02as time continues, the lie continues to diverge from the truth.
47:07And you have things like this.
47:11I also, and again, I say this, I never intended for this to be a saying, but my original producer,
47:15Jeff Reed made it kind of a tag for the show, but it says darkness is not an affirmative force,
47:21of reoccupies, it's based vacated by the light.
47:24And I think it's important when you have notions like this article from the cut that these things
47:29are confronted and combated with truth because you have with the combination of the decimation
47:34of the family, you know, the norm today, the majority of young children who are born into
47:39the world today, they are born into fatherless homes.
47:42That's a statistical reality.
47:44So when you have that statistical reality and you have this great chasm where you have people
47:50who are in environments where the life circumstances
47:54seem to ring true with this article.
47:57In the absence of their life experiences,
48:00their life experiences in this lie
48:02being confronted with the truth of God's word,
48:04that truth can, I'm sorry, that lie can grow legs.
48:07And so you end up with a generation like Afton Ben
48:09who believe that, oh, no, no, no, no, children
48:12are a burden to life, they're hindrance.
48:14I don't want children, I want power
48:17and what they don't understand is that
48:19you never end up better off by rebelling against what God has designed.
48:24I heard this years and years ago and it really hit me.
48:29I want to preach the word, preach truth of the word, and it is this.
48:34If you're not being fed right, you'll go to the garbage dump to get food.
48:40And this is important.
48:42So that's why AFR, the Hamilton Corner, exploring the word,
48:47all the others on our program, you know,
48:49saturated in truth.
48:51And people can feed upon the truth.
48:55And when you feed upon the truth,
48:57it brings a forth, the fruit that you were talking about.
49:01It brings forth the willingness to do what God wants to do.
49:05But if you're not dead in truth,
49:06that's why the pulpits of America need to reign in truth.
49:09And that comes, that is the word of God, Abe.
49:12It's, that's, Jesus said,
49:14I am the way, the truth and the life.
49:17And his word is set apart in heaven, sanctified in heaven.
49:21Listen, so we stand on the word,
49:24and regardless of what people might say about us,
49:27whatever they might say in 2026,
49:30we need a different focus.
49:32No, the word of God is it, and it's in Christ Jesus.
49:35Mm.
49:36So well said, and so very true.
49:39And I would just add that there's no such thing
49:41as a benign lie.
49:44So just as you said that the pulpit must be saturated in truth,
49:47God's people must be saturated in truth
49:49and be willing to confront the lies that's presented
49:51in our everyday interactions.
49:54That when these lies are presented, for example,
49:57around the water cooler, or you have friends
50:00or family members that are saying,
50:01man, you know I read this article,
50:03and man, you know what, I have, man,
50:05yeah, children are a burden that we in those instances
50:08consider Colossians 4, seek the wisdom of God
50:12that our speech be seasoned with grace as with salt,
50:17and that we seek how we are to respond to each person.
50:20That's what Colossians 4th, 6th says.
50:22In those moments, because in the absence of truth,
50:25when there's starvation, people will even go to the dump
50:29for food.
50:30We want to be the hands and feet of Jesus
50:32and be a source of people to be nourished
50:34and avoid the dumps.
50:36Praise the Lord, amen.
50:40The views and opinions expressed in this broadcast
50:43may not necessarily reflect those
50:45of the American Family Association or American Family Radio.

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