July 24, 2026 · 48:48

Discipleship in the home is comprehensively beneficial.

Bible & Theology

Show notes

0:00 - 15:00. Psalm 78:5-7. Multigenerational Christian faithfulness is a mark to pursue. 15:00 - 31:00. Discipleship in the home is comprehensively beneficial. 31:00 - 48:00. Romans 12:1-2 requires the Believer to reevaluate everything through the Scriptures or call: 800-326-4543 To donate call : 877-616-2396

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800-326-4543
877-616-2396

Full transcript Auto-generated · 9,264 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.
0:31Good evening, everyone.
0:35Welcome to the Hamilton Corner.
0:36Abraham Hamilton the third is my name.
0:39I am the host of this program joined by produce extraordinaire, often imitated but never duplicated.
0:47The real J. Mac.
0:49We are ready to rock and roll with today's edition of the program.
0:54At this very moment, many of you, if not most of you, are making your transition from your
0:58part-time jobs where you generate an income to your full-time jobs where you cultivate an outcome.
1:03And as you do so, I want to remind you to do so with intentionality, understanding the primacy
1:09that God places on family. And by his divine providence and sovereign grace, you may be a part
1:19of establishing a multi-generational legacy of faithfulness to the Lord. Some of you listening
1:26to me, you've had parents maybe that were believers, grandparents, were you and that
1:31instance you would be a third generation Christ follower. Others of you are like my wife in that
1:40you are the first Christian in your family line. No matter where you stand, you have the opportunity
1:46to be a vehicle through whom our Lord glorifies himself generationally. Our investment in our
1:56family's lives cannot guarantee nor will it guarantee what the outcome would be.
2:02But what I am focusing on is our quotient of obedience.
2:10We cannot guarantee how people respond to us as we obey the Lord.
2:15But we are responsible for obeying Him.
2:21I'm responsible for leading my family spiritually.
2:24I cannot guarantee that my children will come to faith in Christ.
2:27by God's grace, as I'm talking to you today, five out of the six children that Marie and I have have
2:35surrendered their lives to Jesus, have been born again by the Spirit of God, confessing their need
2:42for Him as a Savior and turning away from their sins, not being perfect by any means, but growing
2:49in maturation, in perfection day by day.
2:55One of the key things that we look for
2:59as our young children make a profession of faith
3:02is that we look for evidence of that faith.
3:07We look for the fruit of the spirit
3:10born in the hearts of our young children
3:12and evident in their behavior,
3:13primarily the most immediate outposts of demonstration
3:18is their interactions with one another as siblings.
3:23And we wait, we don't say, hey, you're born again,
3:27just because you say so.
3:28We believe what Roman's 10 says, absolutely.
3:31But we recognize that we have an obligation
3:33as our children's parents to examine whether or not
3:37there's fruit on the tree, so to speak.
3:40So that is what we do.
3:43But I have a question this morning,
3:46or should I say this evening, I have a question.
3:52Is it truly a desire that we have
3:57to establish a multi-generational legacy
3:59of faithfulness to the Lord.
4:00Is that something we really want?
4:03Like for real, not acknowledging in our minds
4:06that it is a good idea, not acknowledging in our minds
4:10because this is Christian radio
4:12and well that should be something we pursue.
4:14No, is that something we truly, truly, truly want?
4:20Does the way that we live our lives
4:25reflect that this is something that we truly, truly want?
4:29Is this something that we want for our children to have?
4:32but we don't really want to be a part of it.
4:36But we examine how we use our time,
4:39how we utilize the resources God has entrusted to our care,
4:42how we spend our days, what would that say our true priority is?
4:48These are questions that I have.
4:51And we're gonna get into the word of God in a moment
4:54and you'll see hopefully why I'm asking these questions.
4:57We're gonna begin today's program in Psalm 78.
5:02I've referred to this before Psalm 78 verses five to seven
5:08is what I'm gonna focus on.
5:10And this is a portion of scripture that the Lord
5:14has gripped me through.
5:18And this is what God's word says,
5:19but he established a testimony in Jacob
5:24and appointed a law in Israel
5:27which he commanded our fathers
5:29that they should teach them to their children
5:32that the generation to come might know
5:34even the children yet to be born, that they may arise and tell them to their children, that
5:41they should put their confidence in God and not forget the works of God, but keep His commandments.
5:53This portion of Scripture stirs me so deeply every time I read it, because here we have
5:59the Lord showing scripturally that it is a real possibility, independent on how our response
6:06of the scripture would determine whether or not it's a real probability that we can be
6:11a part of establishing a multi-generational legacy of faithfulness to God.
6:18The Psalmist writes, and this is a mask of Asaph, right?
6:22The Psalmist writes, for Yahweh established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in
6:29Israel which he commanded to our fathers, that's one generation.
6:33So Asaph is writing at this time and he's referring to the generation that preceded
6:38him, right? This is what he commanded our fathers, one generation, that they should teach them
6:46to their children. That's a second generation. This will be Asaph's generation. That's two
6:51generations there. That they should teach them to their children. Verse six, that the generation
6:57to come might know even the children yet to be born. This is potentially as much as the
7:08third and even potentially the fourth generation. So that asas children, asas
7:16generations children, I'm sorry, even those yet to be born. That would be those who
7:21would even come later. Continue in verse six, that they may arise and tell to their
7:30children. Let me read verse six in total again, that the generation to come might
7:34know even the children yet to be born, the children yet to be born, that they may
7:39arise and tell them to their children. So the Psalmist, A.S.F. has envisioned the children
7:49of the children who would yet to be born. Do y'all see this? And what is it that they
7:57should tell their children, these subsequent generations, verse 7, that they should put
8:02their confidence in God and forget not the works of God, but keep his commandments. Psalm
8:14119 how wherein may a young man keep his way pure by guarding it according to your word
8:26God has provided for us a mark to pursue in
8:34establishing a vision for
8:38family that would have us engage in such a degree to
8:45Where the generations yet to be born
8:47born, will be instructed that they should put their confidence in God and keep his commandments.
8:57During the Cultureproof Conference last week, Dr. Deltack had mentioned that he's rarely
9:05heard pastors address families as units, rarely heard a communication of what God expects from
9:18and through a family.
9:22I asked the question earlier, is this something that we really want?
9:28Now I understand because for the longest,
9:30there was a long time in my life, I didn't see the scripture.
9:35This is something the Lord showed me
9:37in my own study of His word that I had never seen before.
9:41And I was like, Lord, why had I never seen this before?
9:45And the Lord began to stir me a desire
9:47to be a part of a multi-generational legacy
9:50of faithfulness to Him.
9:57But when you are made aware of this,
10:00when you're made aware that this is something
10:02that the scripture cast vision for that is available,
10:05Is this something that we really, really, really desire?
10:09Because if we really desire this,
10:13then the response should be,
10:14man, well, what do we need to do in order to have this
10:17to be something that we enjoy in our lifetimes?
10:23And I'm asking the question because
10:26I've had conversations with other men,
10:27professing brothers in the faith about this,
10:30who would say verbally to me that this is something
10:32that they want.
10:38And then I'd have conversations about things like,
10:40family devotions, spending time
10:43with your family and the word of God,
10:45communicating the fact that the worship service on a Sunday
10:50is not the only time where God's word should be opened,
10:53that our children need to know that we, as fathers,
10:58and the leaders of our families,
11:00that we are dependent upon the Lord
11:01and His word for our daily living, our daily sustenance.
11:04And then to communicate that to our children.
11:07And there are many times that I'm not trying to,
11:09you know, be heavy-handed with this,
11:13But I'll try to follow up with some brothers and be like,
11:15okay, how's it going?
11:16How's it going with you leading your families
11:19in devotional time?
11:20Are you worshiping the Lord together as a family in your home?
11:22Ah, I know you bad, this happened.
11:24I've had that happen.
11:25I've had this happen and I have that happen.
11:28And I get it.
11:30I understand life is real.
11:33There are times in life, times in my own life
11:34because of certain demands that are going on.
11:38And right now, I've alluded to this before,
11:41caring for parents in addition to children, that your schedule ends up becoming a little
11:46swirly.
11:47But do we come back to what is primary if in fact it is primary?
11:54See one thing that has happened and I think we need, I don't think, I know, we need to be
11:58honest about this man.
12:00When the Apostle John says in his epistle that we are to love not the world nor the things
12:05in it, John wouldn't have had to say that if love for the world of the world system wasn't
12:10a real thing that Christians have to deal with and are confronted with.
12:15And in some ways and in some spaces and in some areas,
12:19we have to be honest with the fact that many times
12:23we though we are professing believers,
12:25our desires, our hopes, our dreams are identical
12:29to the world's hopes and dreams.
12:33I don't say that to be condemning at all, not at all.
12:37No, I say that as an invitation, then let's be real.
12:40Let's be real.
12:44If the Spirit of God would acquire you and to see,
12:46what is your true first love?
12:47What is your true heart's desire?
12:49What is your true life's passion?
12:51What is the thing that you want more than anything else
12:53to see happen in life?
12:55What would the real answer be?
12:58That's what I'm talking about.
13:02And when we welcome the Spirit of God
13:04to evaluate us in this fashion,
13:06and we come to the conclusion that the real answer is,
13:08well, you know, when I really want more than anything else,
13:11I want to live my life in a certain way
13:12where I can have a nice retirement.
13:13That's what I really want more than anything else.
13:16What I really want more than anything else
13:17is a life without trial.
13:19That's what I want more than anything.
13:20what I really want more than anything else.
13:22You know, you feel in the blank.
13:25You know, I want to have a bank account,
13:26I want all of the zero sitting.
13:31And it bothers me when my 10 million is reduced
13:35to 8.75 million.
13:38Guys, let's just be real, let's be real with it.
13:41What I really want to able to buy,
13:43whatever car I want to buy.
13:47Because it's only in being real
13:50and bringing this out before the Lord.
13:53That we welcome the Lord to do the Holy Spirit surgery,
13:56the supernatural circumcision of the heart
13:58that we desperately, desperately.
14:02God presents this for us in Psalm 78.
14:05For he, he, Yahweh established a testimony in Jacob
14:08and appointed along to Israel,
14:10which he commanded our fathers, one generation,
14:13that they should teach them to their children,
14:15that's Aesap's generation,
14:17that the generation to come might know
14:20even the children yet to be born.
14:22Conservatively, that's at least three generations,
14:25that they, those children who yet to be born,
14:28may arise and tell up to their children.
14:30conservatively, at least a fourth, if not a fifth, generation.
14:37And what is it that they're going to tell them, the subsequent generations, that they should
14:41put their confidence in God and not forget the works of God, but keep His commandments.
14:48A multi-generational legacy of fidelity to Christ is a mark for us to pursue.
15:00Jesus Christ never once said, your delusion defines you.
15:04Keep it up.
15:05Christ in fact peeled the scales away from Paul's eyes.
15:08Paul identified as a judge in jury,
15:11theologically to go out and kill Christians.
15:13And then Jesus struck him blind on the road,
15:17introduced himself, I'm Christ who you're crucifying,
15:20peeled the scales back and Paul never returned
15:22to that life of sin.
15:23Here, Todd Herman, on a disciples view,
15:26weekdays 12 p.m. central on AFR.
15:34Shiting light into the darkness,
15:37This is the Hamilton Corner, an American family radio.
15:41Welcome back to the Hamilton Corner,
15:43Abraham Hamilton III here.
15:44I am joined by my delightful wife.
15:47I'm gonna start with the question.
15:48I don't even tell you I was gonna ask you.
15:49But I know you, I know you can answer it.
15:53This is the woman who got, hey, hey, hey, had for me.
15:59You know, out of the ashes of Hurricane Katrina.
16:04The Lord had a bride for me.
16:06Maria Hamilton is here.
16:10We are fresh off of the Culture Proof Conference.
16:13One of the things that my wife is passionate about is equipping children with the truth of
16:22God's Word, sharpening them and even introducing them to the discipline of apologetics.
16:28And at this conference last week, you had the opportunity to minister to the children at
16:35the Culture Proof Conference, which you have done for quite some time, for quite some time,
16:40dating back to 2018 now.
16:42That's correct, yeah.
16:43That's something.
16:44Why are you so passionate about helping children to have the tools that are necessary
16:53to first know what it is that they believe, but then secondarily be able to know why they
16:58believe it, and then thirdly, they're able to reasonably and win some league communicate
17:03that to those who would ask why they have such faith.
17:06Yeah, so first of all, because all throughout Scripture we see that God has given us His
17:13people great insight into who He is.
17:16And that doesn't just include adults, it includes all of His people.
17:21And so I strongly believe that children, and this is from the Lord Himself, that children
17:26can understand who He is because He has revealed Himself to all humans.
17:32So the children can understand who he is,
17:35and then they can grow in their faith,
17:37be committed to it, grow steadfast and firm,
17:40and then be able to defend it.
17:41But I think it's something that the church
17:43has not taken seriously, because I think
17:46throughout the ages, we've dumped it down
17:48to just entertaining them during church versus...
17:51Entertaining children.
17:52Oh, I thought you were entertaining people
17:54in a sanctuary with the smoke machine.
17:55Oh Lord, oh Lord, okay, that happens too.
17:57I don't have to.
17:58That happens too, but listen, if that's happening...
17:59Oh, I'm bad, I'm bad.
18:01If that's happening the main sanctuary,
18:02you know what's happening back in the back, huh?
18:04Oh, they are, yeah.
18:06So, you know, so we've been entertaining them,
18:09but then they grow up and they don't know who Christ is.
18:11They don't know why they believe what they believe.
18:12They don't know why it's even worth it
18:14to even be a believer.
18:15Like what is this thing called Christianity?
18:17And then every other ideology creeps into them
18:20and then they get taken captive.
18:22The Lord is very clear as you read in Psalm 78
18:25that he wants us to pass down the faith,
18:27but we got to start when they're three and four.
18:29That's when they really grow to be solidified.
18:30And we know that studies have been done where by the time they're 10, 13,
18:35and the preteen, even teen age years, they, they, they are so solidified in their
18:41ideology where they're right or wrong that they have to really be deconstructed
18:44and then constructed, if you will, they have to be torn down and be rebuilt with
18:47the truth, if they believe a lie, exactly.
18:50So, so I just, I know that God desires that all believers are to equip the next
18:55generation.
18:56And so it's something that is very important.
18:58I always say, there is no junior Holy Spirit.
19:00You've said that.
19:01There's no junior Holy Spirit.
19:02I was talking in the conference to the women.
19:04There's no women Holy Spirit and men Holy Spirit.
19:06This is the Holy Spirit of God that as I am supposed to be a believer, I am to train others
19:11to be believers as well, to be strong disciples of Christ.
19:14And that is not a small matter.
19:16I was driving over here praying and I was like, Lord, I want to be spent in your work.
19:20I want to be spent.
19:21I want to do what you have called me to do from the morning to the evening.
19:25I was talking to the children in our morning service
19:30in church in Kentucky, and I was telling them,
19:33I was like, man, I'm glad that my sofa ministry is working
19:36because we do Bible study at our house.
19:39And I wanted to understand what we're teaching,
19:43what we're talking, we're reading through the Bible,
19:44and I want my children to grow,
19:47to understand the word of God and to be able to live it,
19:50to love God, to obey Him, to stand firm,
19:53they know what they know is true.
19:54And it is working praise the Lord because the Holy Spirit is faithful because he indwells
19:59them because he opens their eyes, he draws them to himself.
20:02And so Sophom ministry is working.
20:04Praise God for the Sophom ministry.
20:05One of the things you mentioned, and I don't want to speed by this because often we can
20:10assume because there are children being raised in a family with a parents or Christians and
20:15church attendance is a frequent phenomenon.
20:17We can assume that our children are born again when that may not be the case.
20:21Did you just speak to the necessity of Christian parents
20:24proclaiming the gospel to our own children?
20:28Oh man, yeah, and there's so much to that,
20:30because we can go practically and we can go,
20:32the biblically, all of it is good.
20:35But I think about like when we first start
20:38and they're little and they're three and four
20:40and they're learning how to talk and how to articulate
20:43and you see the sin nature in them,
20:45I think it's incredibly important that we understand
20:49from God's perspective, I hate to say this,
20:53but what our children are, like who they are,
20:55not only individually, but the value that he places
20:58on little children.
21:00And again, we just wanna entertain them
21:01and give them a coloring book and let them do whatever.
21:03But God doesn't see them that way.
21:05God doesn't just put them to the side.
21:06In fact, we see that Jesus let them come to me.
21:08And actually the kingdom of God belongs to those
21:10that are like children.
21:11And what are like children dependent upon him, right?
21:14So our children are not some people to be kind of put
21:18to the side and just kind of entertain
21:20so that we won't be distracted.
21:21So when they're three and four and they start that young,
21:24we can understand that we can pour into them.
21:26And the way that we present the gospel to them at that age,
21:30there's many ways, I mean, we can use little characters
21:32and we can use the local books and all those things.
21:34But honestly, I think we have to see that they are capable
21:40as we are capable to receive the gospel.
21:43So we don't have to dumb it down or water it down for them.
21:45We don't have to use puppets only.
21:48That's a good like supplemental tool, if you will, or whatever.
21:51Like we use the puppet shows on TV and stuff, you know,
21:56like little cartoons or whatever to come alongside what we're doing.
22:00But we open the scriptures, man.
22:02We sit them down and we tell them you didn't sit down and you're going to pay attention.
22:05And you're going to understand what we're saying and you're going to ask the questions
22:08and answer the questions.
22:09And then we also have to train them how to help them by the spirit of God to feed their
22:17flesh, you know, and be more like Christ.
22:19And why is it worthy to be more like Christ?
22:21And that's when the gospel is presented.
22:23But that's a regular everyday thing.
22:24Yeah.
22:25Oftentimes instances of misbehavior that required discipline
22:30create opportunities for the gospel to be shared.
22:33Create gospel opportunities.
22:35Would you explain how that happens?
22:36Yes, Lord.
22:37So you know, we got six kids, yo, and it ain't, hey,
22:40you talking about gospel, it has to be.
22:43Because the only reason, the only justifiable reason
22:47why we are to correct our children is because of Christ.
22:52Like if you think about that, right?
22:53If you're talking about discipline,
22:54if you're talking about,
22:55hey, don't write on the walls, Jimmy.
22:56Like don't write on my walls,
22:57my rule is don't write on the walls.
22:59What will be the reason that child will obey?
23:02Naturally speaking, he didn't wanna get in trouble.
23:04He didn't wanna get spanked.
23:04He didn't wanna get punished.
23:05He doesn't wanna get the devices taken away
23:07or whatever it is.
23:08Negative consequence.
23:09Yeah, the negative consequence for breaking that rule.
23:11But why is it that from a Christian's perspective,
23:15What is the real why behind the,
23:17I don't wanna get in trouble, right?
23:19It is, I wanna honor God.
23:20At least it should be for a believing child.
23:22So it is for the believing child, right?
23:26Unfortunately, believers, adult believers,
23:28don't think about it that way,
23:29and then they drop the ball.
23:31But I'm wording it that way intentionally,
23:33and you're right, but I'm just saying,
23:34I'm wording it that way intentionally
23:35because it is, like biblically it is, it ain't our opinion,
23:38right?
23:39It is literally that children are told by their parents
23:42because God has instituted it that way in his word.
23:45And so for my child who wants to write on the wall
23:48or wants to do any other thing that we've told him not to do,
23:53for them to understand that you are to obey me
23:56so that, not so that in addition to growing to obey Christ,
24:02it's because the gospel is our life.
24:04Like it is because Jesus died on the cross for us
24:07that we get to serve him and obey him, right?
24:09The heart first and then the conduct.
24:11so we can shape their hearts with the small little rule
24:15of don't write on my wall, right?
24:16Yeah, in the Spirit of God, really fun.
24:17In the propensity to disobey.
24:20Sinful nature, right.
24:21Gives us an opportunity to point out to the child
24:23that it's not because you don't love Daddy and Mommy,
24:26it's not because you don't want to live in the home with us,
24:29it's because there's a sin nature.
24:31Yes.
24:32That is not merely about Daddy and Mommy,
24:33wanting your conduct to be conformed
24:34to a particular pattern or expectation.
24:37We desire for you to have Christ formed in you.
24:40And the fact that though you love daddy and mommy,
24:43you know what the rules are,
24:45you know what the requirements are,
24:46but your inclination towards breaking those rules
24:50is evidence of the fallen Adam in you.
24:53And you don't have to convince them of that
24:54whenever they see it in themselves, right?
24:56And actually that is, it's so, God is such a genius, y'all.
25:00Like he's such a genius.
25:02He knew the fallenness of humanity
25:05and how that would mar the image of God.
25:08And then he allows us as
25:10image bears and his image bears.
25:12Thank you. Yes. And it he allows
25:14us as we're growing in him to be
25:15able to rightly identify that and
25:17then to hate it. So he removes
25:19pride from our hearts because if
25:21we're able to see that even though
25:23I love mommy and daddy, I still
25:24want to do whatever I want. I
25:26still want to disobey them. I love
25:27them. I don't want them to abandon
25:28me. I don't want them to leave me.
25:29I need them. I love them. I want
25:30to be with them. I want to cut over
25:31and bed at night. But I still want
25:33to write on the wall even though
25:34they told me not to. Then the
25:36child can grow to understand I am
25:38in need of a savior.
25:40I am in need that,
25:42pride has to go,
25:43pride has to go,
25:44it is not formulaic,
25:45it is the power of God,
25:47but there is a method or a way
25:48that God has allowed for us to live
25:50so that we can exercise that out of them, you know?
25:53It's often a very necessary step,
25:54especially, especially when you're in an environment
25:58to where church attendance is a frequent phenomenon
26:01and your parents are Christian,
26:02oftentimes our children need to be made aware
26:05of the fact that they are responding to,
26:08their disobedience, their behavior
26:11that requires correction is not merely a natural phenomenon
26:16in the sense of that it should just be dismissed as,
26:19well, you know, that's what children go through.
26:20No, the children need to be confronted with the fact
26:22that they have a sin nature,
26:24and their sin nature leads them towards sin,
26:28and the only remedy for that sin nature
26:31is to have a new nature,
26:32which is available to us in the final Adam.
26:34So that is something that we as adults,
26:36especially those of us that came to faith as adults,
26:38like for example, I did in my teens
26:40and then really early adulthood, we can understand that.
26:44Like logically, we can understand that even experientially,
26:47we have had all the falls and all the sin,
26:49and then we're like, Lord, we need you.
26:50But a child of three and four can understand that.
26:53And I think the problem in the church
26:54is that we don't think they can.
26:56We think that their attention span is too short.
26:58We think that they're not intelligent enough.
26:59We think that they need to receive it
27:02in with little caricatures, like the word of God is for all of us.
27:06So for us to really see that from God's perspective,
27:10it'll aid us in our parenting.
27:12It'll aid us in helping and coming alongside the spirit of God,
27:16the Lord himself in training the heart of the child,
27:19versus thinking of them differently.
27:23Now I wanna pivot here and it really could spend three hours
27:26on just that and talking practically,
27:28because that's one of the things that one of the things
27:30Lord and Pressable on you and I, as we were blessed to receive children, was that the Lord
27:37led us to teach Christ's character, to teach Godly character, and to teach the fruit of
27:41the Spirit, and to have our children to rear them in such a fashion, to wear the fruit of
27:47the Spirit was almost like a mirror.
27:49This is what God said is produced when Christ is formed in you and the Spirit of God endwells
27:53you.
27:54Now measure yourself against what the Lord says should be evident if you are his.
28:00And then that often created that,
28:02well, in the children that, man, I need a savior.
28:05So that's how the Lord let us.
28:07But I wanna turn the conversation
28:09and really spend the bulk of our time together
28:10on this component, because there's been much conversation,
28:15later in September, we'll be at the
28:17Home School Legal Defense Association's National
28:19Leaders Conference, and there are lots of people
28:22who talk about how, well, they call it homeschooling,
28:26we call it discipleship in the home.
28:28It's better to do it at home,
28:29because you get a better education,
28:31you have a better thing.
28:32But one of the things that I think
28:34that is not addressed efficiently
28:36is that when we obey God's command
28:37to take the initiative, the responsibility,
28:40and the leadership of evangelizing,
28:43catechizing, cultivating the mind,
28:44to discipling our own children,
28:46that is not only beneficial for the children,
28:49it's beneficial for us.
28:50Yes.
28:52Have you seen that?
28:53And if so, how?
28:54Yeah, so,
28:56and we said that.
28:57Let me say,
28:58as the parents that has benefited from us as parents.
29:01Yeah, so first we got to walk the walk.
29:03I mean, I'm not about the front
29:05and convince them of doing something
29:06that I haven't, that I don't live, you right?
29:08So we always say at our house,
29:11you know, why do you believe what you believe?
29:12Like, we were just talking the other day on the couch
29:15and I was asking the kids,
29:16you know, why do you believe what you believe?
29:18And they were like, because it's true.
29:20And some of the little ones who are still being trained
29:22said, because you told me not trust you,
29:23thank God that they trust us, right?
29:25Because we live it out, we walk it out.
29:27But that is not enough.
29:28They need to know it for themselves that the Bible is true, that the Word of God is true,
29:31that Christianity is actually reliable.
29:32And it is true.
29:34Because another kid growing up in a different ideology, in a different home can say,
29:38my mommy and daddy love me and I trust them and they told me that it's true, therefore it's true.
29:42No Christianity is true.
29:44So, since we have bought it, right?
29:47I can't sell anything I haven't bought.
29:49Like, I'm not going to distribute something that I don't believe in.
29:51That's what spokespeople are, right?
29:53Like, we're not going to just be selling something we don't live by.
29:55So in our home, we have to live this that we believe in, right?
30:00The book, if we are Christians, we read the book,
30:03we read the manual and we live it out.
30:04And so, and then the kids can model that.
30:06Well, when they're modeling it,
30:08we are having a real-time mirror examination
30:13of our own heart condition and our own walk with the Lord
30:15and our own convictions and what we're really preaching
30:19because we preach in our bot in our functioning, right?
30:22And so-
30:23Meaning how we live, we preach in the way we live.
30:24Our lives are proclaiming.
30:26Correct.
30:27Like the living epistles.
30:28Like we're, yeah, red by man.
30:29And so our children are seeing how we live.
30:32And that conviction is what we benefit from.
30:38It's a good thing.
30:38It is good to be convicted of sin.
30:40And when we are living out or preaching something
30:42or wanting to obey the scriptures,
30:45and our children are not able to see that in action,
30:48then iron sharpens iron, it's not equal.
30:50But in the sense of we are accountable
30:54to the walk that we're having before them.
30:56And so it is extremely important
30:59the kids are able to see that, right?
31:01Yeah, so if I can summarize
31:03and if I make sure I'm following you saying
31:05that one of the first iterations of it being beneficial
31:10for us as parents to take the lead
31:13in discipling our children in the home
31:15is because we have any internal source of accountability
31:20in our children for us to live before our children
31:23what we're teaching our children to receive from us.
31:26Because we believe it, right?
31:27Like this is not just because we live in a Bible bell,
31:29if we live in the Bible bell.
31:30Like this is not about just Christianity
31:32is the common thing in America.
31:33It is, this is true.
31:35And it requires me lay down my life.
31:37So I'm laying down my life
31:39and I am expecting you to do as well
31:41if you're born a gimbaliever, little Johnny, right?
31:43And then it's a gimbal tape.
31:46You're listening to the Hamilton Corner,
31:50the Hamilton's Corner at this juncture.
31:52Maria Hamilton is my guest
31:53And we're talking about the reciprocal benefits
31:57of discipling our children.
31:58It's not only beneficial for them,
32:01it's beneficial for us.
32:03You do not want to miss the remainder of this conversation
32:07because I feel like in many ways
32:08we're just getting this started.
32:09Following the conversation we had earlier
32:12about the necessity of using instances
32:16where discipline is necessary
32:18to point our children to their need for a savior.
32:21More Hamilton Corner after this break.
32:30When you look at the fundamental priorities that this administration has,
32:35rebuilding the American family through the various priorities, ensuring religious freedom
32:40is alive and well and flourishing in America, having a Department of Justice that is actually
32:46focused on enforcing the laws of the land, I have a hard time disagreeing with any of them.
32:51Join Walker Wildman and Rick Green at the core 1PM Central weekdays on AFR or on the AFR app.
32:59The Hamilton Quarter podcast and one-minute commentaries are available at aFR.net
33:10back to the Hamilton Quarter on American Family Radio.
33:15Welcome back to the Hamilton's Corner, Abraham Hamilton III with my guess.
33:21Mrs. Maria Hamilton, can I really refer to you as a guest now?
33:26You kind of live here.
33:27I live here and here's the thing the Hamilton Corner is you know goes beyond this too.
33:32Oh, hey.
33:33Oh, fuck it.
33:34So, you know, behind the scenes, you know.
33:36Yeah.
33:36Yeah.
33:37Yeah.
33:38Yeah.
33:40Well, all right.
33:41All right.
33:42Well, you said something before we went to the break and it immediately brought to mind
33:46a scripture.
33:47When you said one of the first benefits of taking the initiative to disciple our children
33:51in the home, including cultivating their hearts and minds, and I know it sounds wordy for
33:55me to say this, but I'm saying it because we need to understand education is more than
34:00just reading, writing written.
34:01Yes.
34:02Yes, yes, yes.
34:03of the mind. Yes. And Jesus says that any student when fully trained that they would be like
34:09their teachers. We have to take this a lot more seriously than we have prior to this moment.
34:17But your statement, then Maria brought to mind first, that's the only in chapter two,
34:23verses 11 and 12. I want to read them because the Apostle Paul is talking about, well,
34:28We're talking to the Thessalonians,
34:30if you remember from Acts 17,
34:33Acts 16, 17 and 18, Paul was only,
34:35was staying Thessalonica for three weeks
34:37until they ran them out.
34:39And so as you might imagine,
34:41the Lord opened the hearts of many Thessalonians
34:43to come to faith in Christ,
34:44to where a church was birthed,
34:46but they had all kinds of questions.
34:47We'll let to the Apostle Paul,
34:48addressing all kinds of issues subsequent to him
34:50being kicked out of Thessaloniki.
34:53Thessalonica.
34:54But he says this in verse 11,
34:55in the first Thessalonians chapter two verse 11
34:57I'm just gonna read briefly says just as you know how we were exhorting and
35:02Encouraging and imploring each one of you as a father would his own children
35:10so that you would walk in a manner worthy of the God who calls you into his own kingdom and
35:16Glory the Apostle Paul pointed out three characteristics of
35:21Good fathering with God as the picture of a father and he identifies those things
35:26exhorting, encouraging, and imploring.
35:30And the last of those three, which I don't have time
35:34to expos it, all of this.
35:37But the last of those where he says imploring, or yes.
35:45The, Elizabeth says bearing witness.
35:48Yes, exhorting, encouraging, or the last one
35:51is bearing witness.
35:52All of them come from the group where paracaleo, paracaleo,
35:56which means to summon, to call or invite,
36:00or to summon to one side.
36:02It gives a depiction of the engagement.
36:06So exhorting and encouraging,
36:09the encouragement is involved, not only exhorting,
36:12the exhorting includes rebuke,
36:13but the encouragement is there too.
36:15And as those things are put in place,
36:17the paracaleo is, and I'm inviting you
36:20to join me in what I am doing.
36:22Yes.
36:23That is what you just described.
36:24And so, okay, so why is it that the church embraces
36:28rebellious children?
36:30And I'm not talking about perfection, right?
36:32Like I'm not talking about, oh, this is the formula
36:34and you're gonna get it and it's gonna be all lovely
36:36and nobody's gonna rebel
36:37and nobody's gonna turn away from the faith.
36:38No, this is the act of God who captures the hearts of men
36:42including our children.
36:44But the Lord is faithful.
36:45He's faithful.
36:46He who began a good work will see it to completion.
36:48He is faithful.
36:50So when the Lord calls us to do this,
36:52that Paul is saying that he will do, that he does,
36:55God is faithful to see that through.
36:57So the children will grow up to be fellow warriors
36:59of the David talks about in Psalms 127.
37:01So I just need to make sure I obey God
37:05and trust him with the results.
37:07I am going to have myself a ministry.
37:09I am going to open the word of God with them daily.
37:11I am going to show them their sin.
37:13I am going to repent when I sin.
37:15I'm going to tell them to repent when they sin
37:17and guide them through what that looks like.
37:19I'm going to correct their behavior.
37:21I'm going to continue to parent biblically so that with expectation that they will be fellow warriors
37:28Now with expectations that they're gonna rebel
37:30Mm-hmm, right because the word of God is true. It is sharper than any two-edged sword. It is literally alive
37:35It really pierces so the Holy Spirit will grab ahold of their hearts
37:39We are seeing that
37:40Mm-hmm like I remember once upon a time makes me cry because I remember once upon a time
37:43I was like, hey, can we really do this like can we really raise because we were so inundated
37:48with rebellious teenagers, with children who grew up in the church,
37:53completely disconnected from the Lord. Can we really raise up a generation of
37:57believers that are really going to be grounded, that they say, He is my Lord, not
38:01just mommy and daddy's Lord. And we are seeing the fruit of that because He's faithful,
38:05not because we're great, because He's faithful, because we have made mistakes
38:09as well, and we have sinned against them and had to repent all those things. So
38:13it's not about perfect parenting. It is about obeying a perfect God who
38:18who upholds as end of the bargain.
38:19Amen.
38:20Amen.
38:21And I stated it somewhat sloppily initially
38:23when I read verses 11 and 12,
38:26exhorting is the first of the three.
38:27Exorting, encouraging and imploring.
38:30The exhorting is the first of the three.
38:32So the exhorting or the paracaleo is what's first.
38:36Okay.
38:36And then that's followed by the encouraging.
38:38And then the final of them is the imploring,
38:41which the return between discouraging or disciplined.
38:44But prior to the discipline application
38:47and prior to even the encouragement that the Lord says
38:49that there is a standard that should already be followed
38:53by the Father in this instance,
38:54and that as we are engaging with our children,
38:57we are inviting them to join us in investing
39:02in what we have found that is worth,
39:05that's not what we're living for, but we're dying for.
39:08That has to be demonstrable enough first
39:10before we even teach it.
39:12And you're saying that when we take that initiative,
39:14that we have this internal accountability system.
39:17It aids us in our sanctification
39:20as we endeavor to put into practice
39:22what it is we're trying to convey.
39:23And for that to be embraced.
39:25It is conviction for the Holy Spirit is good.
39:27Whether it comes through a donkey,
39:29or it comes through a minister,
39:30or it comes through your child.
39:32If it's right, right?
39:33It's right and so we should embrace it.
39:34So yeah, there's been plenty of times
39:36when we've attempted to live out the scriptures,
39:38as we do daily and we fall in short.
39:41Or we are, I told Christian the other day,
39:43oldest, he's 15 and he is coming alongside us to help with the little ones a lot, you know?
39:49And he was doing something, telling one of the younger kids something about patients and he
39:54was like, oh, why is it that I'm like, you got to be patient?
39:57You know, and he's losing his patients.
39:58And I'm like, I remember when he was you, the child was you and I'm the parent and I'm like,
40:03you need to be patient and I'm losing my patients, right?
40:05And that, I mean, I think everyone can testify to that.
40:09But that's, that is a benefit, right?
40:11where I am literally hearing myself losing patience
40:13while trying to teach patience to my child.
40:15And the Holy Spirit is like, wait, you gotta live it out.
40:18You can't just tell every patient
40:20and you're not being patient.
40:21And so then it's that whole thing of like,
40:22Lord, help me to defeat my flesh, help me to grow in you.
40:25And it's a daily prayer, we have to be on our knees.
40:27Likewise, we have to teach them how to be on their knees
40:30so that the Lord can help them to grow in character
40:32and to grow them into maturity.
40:34And he says it here, right?
40:35In verse 12, so that you may,
40:37so that you would walk in a manner worthy.
40:40So I want to walk in a manner worthy.
40:41I want little Johnny and little Timmy to walk in a manner worthy
40:45of the God who called them.
40:47Amen. Right.
40:48So, and I think that's, that's available to us.
40:49Amen. And you mentioned, well, why is it that the church,
40:51why do we embrace what you said,
40:53embrace rebellious children?
40:56And cause I know you, I know,
40:58what you're endeavoring to point out is that
41:00why do we accept it as normal?
41:01Yeah. Why do we accept it as normal?
41:03Because the scripture tells us for second Timothy chapter three,
41:07Romans one that rebellious children
41:10is not something that should be
41:11a normalized phenomenon.
41:13That's actually evidence of high level spiritual disorder.
41:17Yes.
41:18But why is it, why does it not strike us
41:21as the odious and egregious phenomenon that it is,
41:25as God says, it's odious and egregious.
41:28And the simple reason is because of the reverse
41:32of Romans 12, one and two.
41:34We've allowed phenomenon at this
41:35traveling in the world to be normalized for us.
41:39When the Lord calls us to be peculiar,
41:41we should never normalize what God says
41:44should not be normalized with an household of faith.
41:46Yeah, we have to have a biblical worldview
41:48about our children.
41:49We have to have a biblical review by the next generation.
41:52The worldview that we must embrace
41:53is what God has said about them.
41:54And like you read Psalm 78 all throughout scripture,
41:57tell the next generation about my works, about who I am.
42:01They start with who is God.
42:03We have to, they have to understand who God has revealed himself to be in the Word of God and how we have fallen
42:09from that through sin in our sin nature and then how we are
42:13rescued back and brought back in by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and then that continual
42:18sanctification that we are growing and living in in our own adulthood and they are in their childhood and teen pre-teen and teen years and into their adulthood.
42:26I think that God is trustworthy. I think he's demonstrated with enough evidence that he is trustworthy
42:31And so it is up to us to then view them from his lens
42:36and then obey him and live it out and do it
42:39and train them to love him.
42:42What is the additional benefit that you've identified
42:45just in our lives together as we're endeavoring to
42:49obey with the scripture commands of us
42:50to make disciples of our children,
42:52what is an additional benefit that you've seen?
42:54For myself personally?
42:55Yeah.
42:56Oh man.
42:57Or is the benefit that we as parents receive?
42:59From training them?
43:00Yeah.
43:02I think we've grown in trusting God even more.
43:05I think, I think for me,
43:07I'm gonna speak for myself,
43:07because you grew up in church, but I didn't.
43:09And so, and that's not to say the one is better than the other.
43:11I'm just thinking about like,
43:13Well, I would say one is better.
43:14One is better than the other,
43:17but as I have-
43:19The challenge is intrinsic to both, but-
43:20Correct.
43:21And what I mean is that not growing up in church,
43:24not knowing really what to expect
43:26or what it should be like is a deficit,
43:30But also it has helped me, I don't justify it,
43:33I'm saying that the Lord has walked me through
43:36being able to see how depraved I was
43:38and how much I needed him.
43:39And then growing in him has helped me to see
43:42that he has done it all for us.
43:46Like there is, and I don't know,
43:48I hate to say the word enough,
43:49because it sounds like it's little,
43:50but like he has done it for us.
43:52He has provided the way for us to be like Christ.
43:56And so when we are living this out
43:59and our children are receiving the instruction
44:03and receiving the correction and they themselves
44:06by the Spirit of God are being strengthened
44:08and walking upright before the Lord,
44:11we are able to see and grow in,
44:14man, what God says is true.
44:16Like his methods are for real, they work.
44:19Like when he says do this and trust me for the results,
44:23the results are guaranteed and that is faith.
44:26Like he has, we are sure that the end result
44:29will be what he has declared for it to be.
44:31I'm not talking about perfection.
44:32And I'm not talking about children that are, you know,
44:34gonna go through their trials and difficulties.
44:35We, James told us, right?
44:37We will have trials and difficulties.
44:38But what I'm saying is, an assurance
44:42that God is who he is, is that he is.
44:44And I think we have grown, I don't, again,
44:45so personally grown in, man, he's trustworthy.
44:50Like he told us, he told me to stop working outside
44:54my home and come to my home and raise my children.
44:57He told me that and nobody was doing that around me
44:59and I knew he was calling me to that
45:01and I'm abandoning quote unquote all the career
45:04and all the things.
45:05It wasn't abandonment but and I say that for a reason
45:07because that's the world sees it, how the world sees it.
45:09And I put that to the side and I am trusting God
45:12that my time and my efforts and my study
45:16and my walk with God and my trusting my prayer time
45:18all that is gonna bear fruit.
45:20And then it bears fruit.
45:22Amen.
45:23Right, we're years of like, these children, like,
45:26bears fruit.
45:27Years of labor.
45:28Years of labor, bears fruit.
45:30And so he's trustworthy, man.
45:32And I just feel like it's just the more we grow,
45:34the more we walk with the Lord, the more we obey Him,
45:37the more we are solidified.
45:38God is who He says that He is.
45:40He literally does not lie.
45:43He is immutable.
45:44He does not change.
45:45He's trustworthy.
45:46How has your study of God's word been impacted by you?
45:53joining me in our effort to to
45:56We need a little too long for that sir.
45:58Well yeah, what but just with a
46:00brief leave briefly ma'am.
46:02No I just I had all the questions you know and you know that I had all the questions grown
46:05out but I didn't know a firm down in regards to truth and reality and so as I started digging
46:10in in my early 20s with your help I became solidified in in man the Bible is trustworthy
46:17it is true is reliable but then as the kids have grown because one of my fears early on
46:21was, man, what are my kids asking questions about the Bible that I can't answer or about
46:24God that I can't answer? And there's going to be things that we don't know, like generally speaking
46:29of about anything, knowledge and everything. And so I would be like, oh Lord, but of course,
46:33because God is so good, he just literally says, walk with me, trust me, walk with me, trust me.
46:38And the more I have studied, the more I have been able to become a better
46:43disciple or like I've become a better disciple as I study the Word of God, we have got to be
46:48be politically literate, we have to know the word of God.
46:52We have to know the new testament, the old testament.
46:53We have to know how they come together.
46:54We have to know the word of God and when he is revealed.
46:57This book, we have no words to describe it fully.
47:00It is alive.
47:01So the more we become the biblically literate, excuse me, the more equipped we are as disciples
47:06and the better disciple makers we become.
47:09Not only Johnny's going to ask me something that I mean, the answer to I'll go dig it
47:12up.
47:13Let's go study it together.
47:14That's not a problem.
47:15It goes beyond fear of not having the answer.
47:16It is, live this.
47:18I can live it, and then I can help you,
47:21I can come alongside you to help you live it.
47:23So we become better disciple makers.
47:25So in other words, translated according to the age standard version,
47:29that you respond into God's call to you,
47:32to disciple our children in the home,
47:35it's impacted your quality of biblical study.
47:38There's such a degree to where you become transformed
47:41by what you study.
47:41Every parent should be a theologian and an apologist.
47:44We have to know who God says it is.
47:46because we have to know God.
47:48And for those who might be intimidated
47:50by those big words, don't be.
47:52The eloegen just means,
47:53studier of God.
47:55Yes. That's it.
47:56Apologist just means that you're able to give an answer.
47:59Amen.
47:59A response, a defense for the faith that you have.
48:03And we should be that,
48:05not because my wife says we should be correct.
48:07Jesus said that we should be that in His word,
48:09that we should be workmen worthy of higher.
48:11Yeah.
48:12Rightly dividing the word of truth.
48:14The Lord says to your Apostle Peter,
48:15should always be ready to give a defense for the hope that is within us to any he would
48:20ask us.
48:21And so these are just some of the benefits, major benefits.
48:26Disciplining our children is not exclusively beneficial for our children.
48:30It's actually beneficial to the parents in growth and the sanctification.
48:34Amen.
48:35The views and opinions expressed in this broadcast may not necessarily reflect those of the American
48:44Family Association or American Family Radio.

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