The Darkness of This World and Being God's Ambassadors in Challenging Times
Abraham Hamilton III Darkness is not an affirmative force. It simply reoccupies the space vacated by the light.
Abraham Hamilton III This is the, Hamilton Corner on American Family Radio.
Abraham Hamilton III It should be uncomfortable for a believer to live as a hypocrite,
Abraham Hamilton III delivering people out of the bondage of mainstream media and the philosophies
Abraham Hamilton III of this world. God has called you and me to be his ambassadors. Even in this dark moment. Let's not miss our moment.
Abraham Hamilton III And now, the Hamilton Corner.
Election Season Approaches: Developing a Plan to Vote and Shaping Our Nation's Future
Abraham Hamilton III Good evening everyone. Welcome to the Hamilton Corner here on American Family Radio. I'm your host, Abraham Hamilton iii, joined by the producer extraordinaire, often imitated, never duplicated, the real J. Mac and we are ready to rock and roll with today's edition of the program. We are just a few days away, you know, Tuesday next week is election day, but of course now we're in election season, and so those of you who who have not voted yet, I encourage you to develop your plan. You know, set your day, set your course. It actually is a great opportunity for you to bring your children to let them experience what it's like to cast a ballot in the free society while we still can. you know, it is something that is unique in human history. There are still still many people around the world who would love to be able to do what we get the opportunity to do here in the next few days. It's been interesting, those have been predicting a blue wave. the early voting returns don't seem to support that. and I guess I should mention that I'll be participating, I'll do an interview during AFR's election night coverage. That'll be next Tuesday evening. So after this program ends at 6:00pm Central, time, the election night coverage will begin and I will return to the airwaves later that evening Tuesday night to participate in AFR's election night coverage. So make your plans, to cast your ballot so that your desire to shape our nation will be registered at this very moment. Many of you, if not most of you, are making your transition from your part time jobs where you generate an income to your full time jobs where you cultivate an outcome.
The Primacy of Family and Navigating Responsibilities as a Husband and Wife
And as you do so, I want to remind you to do so with intentionality, understanding the primacy that God places on family. I also want to remind you that while we are standing on the precipice of the culmination of the midterm election season and can't say election night anymore, I want to remind you that what goes on in your house is Far more important than what goes on in the White House. So I know what's happening on November 3rd, but do you have a plan and strategy that you will implement on November 4th? Have you considered what it is that you will do thereafter? how are you navigating your responsibility? If you're listening and you're a husband and a father? how are you navigating your responsibility to be the head of your household, the head of your wife, the head of your family? How are you navigating that? Are you drifting along in it, or are you intentionally discharging your duty? If you are a wife, how are you engaging? Are you, functionally a disciple, or are you a disciple in name only? These are things we. We have to navigate and we have to consider. Well, because. Because the way that America has become what she is at this juncture is the product of discipleship.
The Power of Discipleship: How Our Choices Shape Generations and Outsource Responsibility
Because discipleship is a constant, meaning that it is going to happen. The question is, who will. Who will do the discipling? What is the substantive communication in that discipleship, and in which direction will the discipleship take place? Because Jesus told us that a student, when fully trained, that student will be like his or her teacher. What is happening in our society is that we're producing generations of our fellow countrymen who are. Who are reflecting the quality or lack thereof, of their source of discipleship. That's what's happening, folks. But if we will welcome the Lord to get a hold of us and our families, you know, we don't realize it, but one of the most important potent forces for righteousness that God has created, it is the family. But for far too long, we have outsourced, generally speaking, we've outsourced our responsibility to make disciples in our home. And yet we wax surprised when those students become fully trained that they're not like us necessarily, but they're like their teachers. And as the late Voty Bauckham often said, that we cannot continue to send our children to Caesar for discipleship, I would add, yet wax surprise when they come home to us as Romans.
Proverbs Chapter 13: Instruction, Rebuke, and the Consequences of Our Words and Actions
You want to talk a mic drop? That is a mic drop. To the word of God, we go. Proverbs, chapter 13. Proverbs, chapter 13, verses 1 through 5. Proverbs, chapter 13, Verses 1 through 5. I'll read the text, and then we'll dig into it a little bit. Verse 1. A wise son hears his father's instruction, but a scoffer does not listen to rebuke from the fruit of his mouth. A man eats what is good, but the desire of the treacherous is for violence. Whoever guards his mouth preserves his life. He who opens wide his lips comes to ruin. The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing, while the soul of the diligent is richly supplied. The righteous hates falsehood, but the wicked bring shame and disgrace.
God's Word as a Manual for Parenting: Cultivating Wisdom and Transformed Expectations
The first verse. A wise son hears his father's instruction, but a scoffer does not listen to rebuke. I wanted to present this text this evening because I, like many of you, have heard over and over and over again, there's no manual for parenting. There's no manual for rearing children to which I would offer an objection. Objection. Because God's word is replete with wisdom, guidance and counsel, particularly for the parent and child relationship. I'm not saying the Bible is exhaustive in its presentation, but the Bible is filled with guidance as it pertains to the parent child relationship. Here, this very chapter of Proverbs begins with the communication to a son that says, a wise son hears his father's instruction. So you have the proverb presenting several things right at the very beginning of the text that we share today of this first verse. First of all, it communicates the notion that it is a reliable possibility for a son to be wise. This is, A. This is a point that I drive home consistently when I get to speak at conferences around the country, homeschooling conferences as well, is that we have to get out of this notion where we accept the world's example and expectations for our children, that adolescence does not have to be synonymous with foolishness, doesn't have to be right. You read about Daniel and his friends when they arrived in Babylon. The Bible says that, that they had the qualities of wisdom, understanding science, understanding knowledge, having the capacity to offer advice to monarchs upon arrival. But in order to enjoy that type of qualitative existence, we not only have to have a change, the transformed expectation of our children, but we have to have a transformed expectation of us as parents.
Raising Wise Children: The Importance of Parental Example and Godly Discipline
If we want to have wise children, we have to offer our children wisdom. That offering includes first and foremost the way we live, our manner of living secondarily, our intentional offerings to them, our intentional offerings to them. We have lots of people that talk about, you know, well, this. This government school system failed. This system failed. What does the Bible say? Fathers, rear your children in the paideia and new theseia of the Lord. Meaning that we are responsible ultimately. So if there's a failed system, why do we keep sending our children to the failed system? Why? Why? Why? How? We have an entire generation of people that are susceptible to the lies of the Marxists, to the lies of the Islamists. Because the darkness is not an affirmative force, but it reoccupies the space that is vacated by the light. Here you have the scripture continuing in verse one. A wise son hears his father's instruction. The word instruction here in Hebrew, includes within it the notion of discipline and rebuke. How do we know that? First of all, even if you don't know the Hebrew text, we know that because the very next phrase in this verse goes on to say, but a scoffer does not. Does not listen to rebuke. So what is being contrasted here is the wise son and the scoffer, right? The wise son hears his father's instruction, which includes rebuke, but the scoffer does not listen to rebuke. So guess what that entails. The notion of discipline is primarily your fatherly responsibility.
The Father's Role in Discipline and Understanding the Reality of Human Nature
Discipline is primarily a father's responsibility. Now do you see why it's so grotesque that we have such a high percentage of children, especially in certain demographics, that are being born into families where the fathers are not married to the mothers and living in the home with the child? Every mother in this audience will more than likely tell you that when a father says something, particularly in the way of instruction or in the way of rebuke, it's often received a little bit differently than when it comes from mom. Is it because of the size of the man and the bass in the voice? Those things could be contributing factors. But can I tell you something? I would submit to you that it's a feature of divine design. God has designed fathers to carry the weight and responsibility of discipline. This scripture also prepares a notion, or should I say presents the notion in contrast in the wise son, from the scoffer. Some children can become scoffers. That's what the scripture is presenting to us. He goes on next in the second verse to describe, from the fruit of his m. From the fruit of his mouth, a man eats what is good. But the desire of the treacherous, the desire of the treacherous is for violence. Is for violence. Contrary to the gentle parenting crowd and the Marxist crowd that want to deny the reality of human nature and the sinfulness of man's nature, there are people who truly want violence.
The Dangers of Violence and the Need for Self-Control in Our Words and Actions
I've explained to you numerous times that Moses, Mordecai, Marx Levy, also known as Karl Marx, is not the. The originator of, what we described as, identitarian and communitarian thought, socialistic thought. His contribution to. To the socialistic panoply was a utilization of violence as a tool to accomplish the Marxist agenda. there are some people who want violence. Verse three goes on to describe the governing of one's mouth. Verse 3. Whoever guards his mouth preserves his life. Whoever guards his mouth preserves his life. The exercise of self control over one's mouth is a life preserver, the scripture says. But he who does not have self control over his mouth, or as this text says, he opens wide his lips, comes to ruin. Verse 4. The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing. Boy, if that does not exemplify modern society, we got a bunch of people that want and want and want and want and want and want and want. But they're wanting from couches and they're wanting from seats. And their wanting does not reflect itself in their willingness to work. But the scripture says, while the soul of the diligent is richly supplied, diligence is something that must and should be cultivated in the home first and foremost.
Righteousness, Disdain for Lies, and Parenthood as a Mission of Discipleship
Verse 5. The righteous hates falsehood. Disdain for lies is intrinsic to righteousness. Intrinsic to righteousness. Disdain for lies is intrinsic to righteousness. But the wicked bring shame, disgrace. My simple point from all of this is that God has ordained parenthood as a station of mission. And we parents have to understand and embrace that. It is our responsibility to train, to disciple, to evangelize and to catechize our children. There is no one better for your children than you. There is no one better for my children than my wife and I. This is God's design.
Listener Support, Election Season, and Rearing Discerning Young People
Hello, I'm Abraham Hamilton iii. Did you know that this content is listener supported? Without people like you, this podcast would not exist. That's why we need you. A generous monthly gift of any amount will help sust American Family Radio and specifically this podcast. Please consider becoming a monthly financial partner today by visiting afr.netgive that's afr.net give.
Abraham Hamilton III Shining light into the darkness. This is the Hamilton Quarter on American Family Radio.
Abraham Hamilton III Welcome back to the Hamilton Corner, Abraham Hamilton III here joined by my lovely wife Maria. Hamilton the first.
Maria Hamilton Hey. Hey.
Abraham Hamilton III We began the conversation today during the program from the book of Proverbs, chapter 13 and describing the fact that God gives us guidance in his word. Whether it's either scripture on point or a principle from the text that aids us in navigating the parent child relationship. Some people try to say there's not. Try to say people have said there's no manual on parenting. While I understand what they mean by that notion, to assert that the scripture say it differently to assert that God has not given us guidance in his word to govern our parent, children relationships. That's just an expression in either ignorance or it's a malicious expression because the Scripture gives us all kinds of wisdom. But I wanted to have this conversation with you because, midterms election, election season will culminate, Tuesday next week. And, we have lots of younger, people that are voting. And you and I have even had some encounters recently that have left us greatly, concerned, for many different reasons.
Equipping Adults and Children with Biblical Discernment for Challenging Times
But I want to begin the conversation with you with this question. Can we rear a generation of young people who have the discernment necessary to understand the times that we are in, as First Chronicles says, and to know what we should do? Is that possible?
Maria Hamilton So I will just respond with the question, can we as adults be equipped to be able to discern the times scripturally, Biblically Christians? The answer is yes. So therefore, whatever applies to adults applies to children. I think we limit. We, unfortunately, throughout history has been in the United States for sure, church history, meaning the Christian history in the country. We've limited and compartmentalize how we apply Scripture. So we really think that the Scripture, the meatiness, the weightiness, the heaviness of Scripture, how to live life, how to implement the Scriptures, applies only to those of us that have passed, like, I don't know, 25 or something. And then we leave the young ones to coloring sheets, we give them crackers and juice, and we say, go play in the playground that we build in our churches. and we are not equipping them the same thing that we need, the same understanding, biblical exegesis, understanding of studying Scripture, that we need as adults to implement what God has given us. All of the principles that you're explaining, all of the commands that God gives that we should embrace, receive and obey are the same ones that children need. And I just get frustrated with that because I'm like, man, we expect them to automatically, at 30, be able to vote wisely when we have not equipped them to be able to reason properly from Scripture. We have not been able to.
Teaching Children God's Authority and Character for Wise Decision-Making and Obedience
We have not taught them the authority of scripture, like how we are to submit to it, why we're submit to it, who God is, what his character is like, what he expects of us. We don't teach them these things. We don't equip them as they are being formed. And then we expect wise decision making when they're adults, we expect obedience and implementation of Scripture. We expect them to be able to understand what is happening. We Expect them, as we expect adults already, to be able to discern right from wrong, good from evil. What is happening in our nation, how it's not a light switch that's turned on. We are to pour into them scriptural truths, help them to understand how to reason from God's perspective, just like we ourselves are training ourselves to learn to do you know what I mean? Like, as we are studying scripture, as we're being transformed by the spirit of God, children can receive that from young.
Abraham Hamilton III Yeah. And you mentioned 30. I hope they have it way before 30. I know, but you know, 18,
Maria Hamilton for some reason now 30 is the new, what is it, 30 is the new 18 or something like,
Abraham Hamilton III I don't care what they say. I know, but
Maria Hamilton that is so. And that's another discerning point. Like why are we saying that 30 year olds are adults and 20 year olds are too young? It's just a kid. No, they're not. You know, oh, it's frustrating.
Abraham Hamilton III No they're not. And so you said something that, that is profound that I want to revisit. and this is something you wouldn't even hear. You didn't know I said it. But man, it's a feature, our oneness in, in the oneness of the Spirit of God, that if we're going to have an appropriate estimation for children. Like in Proverbs 13:1, the text begins by saying, a wise son.
Maria Hamilton Right.
The Possibility of Wise Adolescents and the Need for Transformed Parental Expectations
Abraham Hamilton III So it, it is presenting the notion that, that a father can have a son that is wise. It does not limit that reality to a particular age. So you can say, well, yes, certainly when my son is an adult, I want him to be wise. But the scripture does not preclude the notion that you can have a wise son who is an adolescent.
Maria Hamilton Yes.
Abraham Hamilton III You know, and, and not only does it not preclude it, we have examples. Daniel and his friends, the scripture talks about their capacity to understand science. Being knowledgeable, being wise, being handsome.
Maria Hamilton Yeah.
Abraham Hamilton III Being good looking, you know, but having the ability to, to be cabinet advisors to monarchs.
Maria Hamilton They
Abraham Hamilton III arrived in Babylon with that ability. But in order for us to enjoy the phenomenon of having wise adolescents, that will require, yes, us to have an upgraded and elevated expectation of our young ones. But it also must be preceded by an upgraded expectation of us as adults.
The Berean Example: Owning Truth and Raising Children to Discern Scriptural Wisdom
Maria Hamilton Yeah, yeah, I think, I think scripture gives us plenty of examples of this. One that, comes to my mind is the Berean believers, the Berean Jews specifically, when Paul went to go speak to them in Acts 17, and it says that you know, they heard, they understood what he was saying and then they went back and said, wait, let me look, let me look it up and see if it
Abraham Hamilton III is
Maria Hamilton Amen. Amen. Which gives you the understanding. And it's just like that one little phrase, that one or, two verses before he even goes to Athens, but before Paul goes to Athens. But in that you get a glimpse into the condition of the, of the Berean Jews where not only do they go back and study it, but they, they discern that what Paul was saying was true. And they brought that and said, wait, let me go and let me confirm so that I can own what Paul is saying. It's not just what Paul preaches. Right. It becomes who they are. Yeah. Can we raise children in our homes that when they are, when they're launched, right, when they're ready to go and beat back the darkness, that they have that ability already at 12 and 13 and 15 and 16? Yes, yes, yes. And not because we prefer it or because we like it, or because we even are seeing it in our home, but because the scripture. Does not like you said, put in qualifiers. A son is wise. God says, seek wisdom and he will give it to us.
Renewing Our Minds and Avoiding the Normalization of Outsourcing Discipleship
Abraham Hamilton III Yes. His word makes wise the
Maria Hamilton simple. And it is not just the adults who are simple that seek wisdom. That it's. It's his people. And so the children that are being raised in our homes can be indeed wise.
Abraham Hamilton III Now, now, one of the things and man Romans, 12 gives us the instruction, gives believers instruction. Believer, do not be conformed to this world. That means our expectations that our participations, that our engagements should not be dictated to us based on what is normal in the world around us. M instead be transformed by the renewing of our mind. But we have practices and things that have kind of normalized, I would argue, small incursions against biblical fidelity to where one of the things that is normalized in our society is the outsourcing of the discipleship responsibility to other people.
Maria Hamilton Yes.
Abraham Hamilton III And when I say discipleship, I'm not limiting it to, you know, church attendance, etiquette. I'm including the cultivation of the mind. So much so to where we import certain practices even into the church. For example, like age, segregated ministry.
Maria Hamilton Yeah.
Abraham Hamilton III Where does that come from? Now hear me. I'm not saying it's automatically bad. I'm saying where does that come from? Where did it come from? I don't ever remember the Apostle Paul, saying, you know, let's gather, for the breaking of bread and the apostles doctrine and the fellowship and, and, and, and, but we got to have everybody's under 12. Y' all go over there,
Maria Hamilton use Jesus, when He fed the 5,000 and the 4,000, and it was more than that because women and children were there, he did not say, hey, Paul, I mean, sorry, Peter, Peter, go and you teach the kids and I'm gonna teach the parents. No, he's teaching all of them. Now the understanding also was I would, I would expect that the parents that received the teachings from Jesus who are being transformed, will also bring it to their children in their regular day to day lives so that they can understand what Jesus just taught. But no, nowhere in the scriptures do we see that division. I think we really have contributed unfortunately to the dumbing down of the next generation.
The Dangers of Outsourcing Discipleship and the Creation of Space for Darkness
Abraham Hamilton III And that's where I'm going with this because so then when we normalize the outsourcing of that discipleship responsibility to others, then there's space created.
Maria Hamilton Yes and
Abraham Hamilton III no. I'm not automatically saying that the space is bad, but here, what I'm saying, well, darkness is not an affirmative force, but it reoccupies the space that is vacated by the light. Very often we have an assumption that we want our children to be, quote unquote normal. Are they reading at grade level? Are they accomplishing this at this level? Well, what level should there be for your child? Who says what your child's capacity is? Why is it that we find comfort and confidence in basing where our children are according to a externalized, normal standard? When the Bible says comparing yourself amongst yourself is not wise?
Maria Hamilton Amen.
Abraham Hamilton III What, what is the capacity? What if you have a 4 year old who is able to read at a 9th grade level?
Maria Hamilton Yeah.
Abraham Hamilton III How would you ever know that if they're never given that opportunity? What if you have, you know, a seven year old who's ready to go on to Algebra one?
Maria Hamilton Yeah.
Abraham Hamilton III But you'll never know that because they're stuck in a pathway where you say, well, I'm satisfied with this because it's normal. My point in saying all of this is that we have a lot of people that would want to complain about where we are as a nation, but could it be that we are where we are as a nation because we have normalized this notion of outsourcing discipleship in that the students are being fully trained and when they're fully trained, they are just like where we have sent them?
Maria Hamilton Yeah, yeah. And it's unfortunate to see that because I think the norm now is not only rebellious teens, but also foolish teens. Right. And where
Abraham Hamilton III Substantively ignorant.
Addressing Rebellious and Ignorant Teens: Moving Beyond Behavior Modification to Trained Minds
Yes,
Maria Hamilton exactly. And we just say, well, it's just because of the phase of life you're in. Yeah,
Abraham Hamilton III because they're young.
Maria Hamilton No, no, we should not accept it. biblically, scripturally, in Christianity, we should not accept that. That's not what the Bible says. But we have again, allowed the world to infiltrate. I think another component of this is that we think that, behavior modification is all that we can hope for. That we can hope that they obey us and that they, like, you know, submit to our kind of ideology or perspectives on things. But we don't think that we are able to or that we can actually see the results of a trained mind. Right, like where our children, our 16, 17 year olds can actually discern and be able to say, wait, when I heard this news outlet say this, is that true? Does that align with what is truth? ah, is there exaggeration there? Is this something that we should embrace? All those things? Can they reason? Can they reason? And I'm sorry, guys, but the reality is that God has the mind that produces all things that are true.
The Purpose of Education: Countering Indoctrination and Raising Discerning Individuals
Like God reveals himself as the one who produces logic, who produces reason. So we can align ourselves with how he thinks. He has given us the ability of that by being made in his image and likeness. But we have dumbed ourselves down and we truly do dumb, our teens down.
Abraham Hamilton III Think about this. There are lots of people who will say things like this. Well, you know, they don't teach economics in school anymore. Or
Maria Hamilton civics.
Abraham Hamilton III They don't teach civics. In school anymore. They don't teach accurate history anymore. So why do we continue to send our children,
Maria Hamilton man? Right.
Abraham Hamilton III You know, young people can understand macroeconomics. Young people can understand microeconomics. Young people can understand, you know, simple things. Like, you know, when you say free stuff, what do you mean by that?
Maria Hamilton Yeah,
Abraham Hamilton III what does that. Why do you say it's free? Doesn't somebody have to pay for it at some point? And if we know that our, you know, they call them schools, but I want you to understand that they're indoctrination centers.
Maria Hamilton Yes.
Abraham Hamilton III And they are discipleship centers because cultivation of the mind is central to being a disciple. Remember Jesus's instruction when he was asked about the greatest commandment? He said, you are to love the Lord your God with all of your heart, all of your mind and your strength. The mind is supposed to be centrally engaged in worshiping the Lord and following the Christ. In Second Peter, chapter one, if these qualities are yours and they are increasing, they will Keep you from being barren and unproductive in your knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. One of those qualities was knowledge.
Maria Hamilton Yeah,
Abraham Hamilton III was knowledge. But we wonder why, you know, why are, so many of our young people, why did they understand socialism is bad?
Maria Hamilton Right?
Abraham Hamilton III Guys, can I tell you plainly, and I'm saying this because I love you and I don't mean this to be condemning, but they have been discipled to think socialism is good.
Maria Hamilton Let's keep it real. We have been producing. Sorry.
The Impact of Public Schooling: Producing Socialists and the Importance of God's Word
We have been producing like in large quantities. The majority, if you look at the numbers right now, I believe the latest numbers I saw, 94% of Americans are sending their kids to school,
Abraham Hamilton III to
Maria Hamilton public school, to public school. 6%, 6% are being taught in a Christian environment, whether homeschool or Christian school. But then 1% of that is homeschoolers. Right? So, so we have to look at the numbers properly. We're in the minority. But here's the thing. 90 plus percent of Americans kids, close to 90% of American kids or even more than literally are being. We are producing en masse. We are literally producing like sending them out like clockwork, like an assembly. Socialists. And why is that? Like an assembly line. Why is it. But because they're unable to discern why and how socialism is bad. Why is it that communism is horrible? and how do we discern when the trickle effect of socialism is impacting us? Like why is it that kids, are so bamboozled into thinking that Social Security is not socialism, right? Like why is it that is socialism. That is literally government run socialism. So why is that? Because we have thought that. Because we, because it's a trickle, right? And when, when our necks up, are up against the wall, that's when we start screaming like, wait, why are we here? But we haven't trained the next generation of people which once upon a time it was us, right, coming out of these systems to be able to rightly see, oh, they're inching their way into socialism and communism in our country.
Abraham Hamilton III The scripture says, Proverbs says that sin grows as a man traps.
Maria Hamilton Yes.
Abraham Hamilton III You know, and so this is, this is happening. But it's happening in, in a way. But it doesn't have to. You
Maria Hamilton know,
Examining Everything in Light of God's Word and God's Purpose for Parenthood
Abraham Hamilton III the Lord says do not be conformed, that's
Maria Hamilton right
Abraham Hamilton III to this world. And I'm not talking about just being anti everything, just because it's everything. I'm saying everything needs to be examined in light of the white hot scrutiny of God's holy word.
Maria Hamilton Amen.
Abraham Hamilton III That is what I'M saying. And so, like, we had a previous conversation about, well, what is the purpose of education? Have we considered that? What is the purpose, from God's standpoint of mind cultivation? What is God's view of what we call parenthood? Most of the times, guys, and again, I don't mean this to be condemning, but this is just the truth. Most of the time, people just kind of drift into parenthood. You know, they just arrive there. Well, you want to get married and you want to have a family, but have you considered what is God's purpose for the family? What does the scripture say the family is to be? What is the jurisdiction that the family has? What, what is God's view on that? Have we sought him about that? Have we searched his word about that? Are, our churches teaching us about that? How are we preparing ourselves in this way in order to operate at the maximum efficacy, not just being good enough based on what we've experienced, but being able to fulfill what the scripture says is available to us? We must revisit this. And some might say, well, Abe, how's this? Jermaine? As we're approaching the culmination of election season, I'm saying, guys, we are not going to vote our way. We're not going to vote our way out of where we are. Voting is a, vitally important component. But it is one component. But if we vote and we're not making disciples in our home, that we are not addressing what needs to be addressed in the fullest sense possible.
Political Issues as Christian Issues: Voting, Socialism, and Being Salt and Light
Ed Vitagliano Well, Fred, it is, today is three weeks away from the election, midterm, election, and a, lot of talk about how this is going to go for Republicans especially, probably going to maybe lose the House and the Senate. there is always talk at election time that Christians should stay out of the political process, just be spiritual and win lost souls. All that is important. what would you say to people who are wondering whether they should go out, get registered if there's still time, and to vote in three weeks?
Fred Jackson Well, political, issues are Christian issues. When we talk about things like abortion, when we talk about, men who say there are women and want to go into women's restrooms and play in women's sports. I mean, that's not just a political issue. It is a Christian issue issue. And been, reading some interesting articles in Decision magazine. Franklin Graham talking about this, gentleman from the Colson Center. Socialism is a Christian issue. Socialism is about making man God.
Ed Vitagliano Right?
Fred Jackson You know, the system that America has made America success. Is obedience to God's word. And yes, there are problem areas, but there is a huge difference. And it is a spiritual issue because when socialism comes in, it's man celebrating man. Man becomes God. Man oversees everything. And I'll tell you what, we just have to look at other countries, Ed, that have tried socialism. They basically want to chase, Christianity out of the scene.
Ed Vitagliano That's right, because it's a competing ideology. I heard, Dr. Ray Pritchard say that, yes, we all understand as Christians that government can't save our nation, but it sure can hurt our nation and can do a lot to damage the church and, to become an obstacle to the preaching of the gospel, which of course is the most important. But, Jesus says to be salt and light. And I think it's fair to say that voting and standing up for biblical values is at least part of that in a country where you're free to vote. And we will be covering here at American Family Radio election night on November 3rd. You'll be able to tune in to American Family Radio and we'll have staff from AFR from our news team and special guests talking about the election and what those results mean for, the next two years as we prepare for a presidential election in 2028.
Rearing Discerning Children: The Lesson from Benjamin Franklin and Our Nation's History
Abraham Hamilton III The Hamilton Corner podcast and one minute commentaries are available at afr.net back to the Hamilton Corner on American Family Radio.
Abraham Hamilton III Welcome back to the Hamilton Corner, Abraham Hamilton iii, along with my lovely wife Maria Hamilton. And we were having a conversation about the possibility to rear children who are discerning of the times that we are living in. And a little while back, I did a show where I read on the program the entire extemporaneous speech that Benjamin Franklin gave on the floor of the Constitutional Convention when the delegates to the Constitutional Convention basically deadlocked. And Benjamin Franklin gave this rousing speech and saying that, look, look fellas, this is the ABE Standard version translation of Ben Frank's speech. but he said, look, fellas, during the Revolutionary War when we were all were immediately concerned about the fact that we can get our, Jon Brown hind part shot off at any moment, we didn't cease offering prayers daily in this exact same chamber. But now here we are 11 some odd years removed from the Declaration of Independence, where we have the privilege of, of deliberating concerning our national future in an environment of peace, we proceeded. And we have not once sought to implore the assistance of that divine hand. You know, if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his awareness, can an empire rise without his intervention, he then makes a formal motion to pray.
Maria Hamilton Yep.
Abraham Hamilton III And invite the clergy. And, and he's regarded as one of, if not the least religious of the founding fathers. And I, I shared that, read the entire thing on, on our program and say guys, this is a part of our nation's history and you wouldn't believe that the amount of comments and responses I got back from that. A lot of people who don't even know that that happened. And so, and, and look, all these people who responded to me, they all went to school.
Maria Hamilton Yes,
Abraham Hamilton III listen, I went to school. I learned that in school.
Maria Hamilton Thank you. I
Abraham Hamilton III didn't learn that in school.
Maria Hamilton Right.
Abraham Hamilton III Where did I learn that? I learned that and an autodidact long after I finished my formal education. So my point is though, why do we continue doing the same things when we know the results?
The Power of Home Training: A 12-Year-Old's Constitutional Knowledge and the Choice to Homeschool
You know my story, long ago, when you know, the Lord moved my pastor in NewSong Orleans, to do what we now know to be it was lobbying. But he didn't know that term. My pastor didn't know. He just felt compelled by the Lord to confront the state legislatures, legislators with the notion that if you cause sin to become state policy, the, that you very well could be inviting God's judgment on our. And so while at my job I was just a driver, I drove the van for the elders to go back and forth to Baton Rouge from NewSong Orleans and I met you know, Gene Mills, his son, who is now the director of the Louisiana Family forum and his 12 year old son in the middle of conversation. I was like 17, 18 years old. I ain't saying a word cause I don't know nothing at that time. But this 12 year old boy is engaging in conversation with then state representatives Tony Perkins and, and attorneys and he's quoting the, the Constitution, quoting it from memory. It blew me away, which caused me to lean over to jen. I said Mr. Mills, where does your son go to school? And he says to me, well Abe, Mrs. Mills and I, that we, we, we train him at home, he doesn't go to school. I was like, oh, never heard of that before. But that put a, put a, put a seed in my heart and say wait a minute, a ah, 12 year old. I only have to know about Nintendo. That was what it was back then, you know, Nintendo. But a 12 year old can actually know about our nation's history and can know about our Constitution and can actually reasonably engage winsomely with adults about our nation's history, about our nation's future in that instance Our state's future in light of the way they've been discipled and been trained. But in our day and time, to actually even say that, a 12 year old who's reciting the First Amendment from M memory and not just quoting it like he's in a contest for. For recitations, but quoting it within the context of a conversation.
Maria Hamilton Yeah.
Abraham Hamilton III With adults.
Maria Hamilton Yeah. The unfortunate truth is, as you and I experienced in our own educational, endeavors in this country, we are not learning. We're not learning. we are not learning. We are being taught what to think and what is, whatever the notion is of the day and whatever is happening. And even learning history things in a way that doesn't even, like, register because we literally just learned about dead people and old dates and stuff and nobody's interested in it. And we kind of just barely make it through school. That was my testimony. Barely making it through school. Literally started learning, really, when I left, when I started homeschooling my kids and realizing, oh, God, I did not know any of this stuff. so why are we sending them to school? It's easier. Number one. It's easier to send them to school. It is easier to ship them off to have somebody else do the heavy lifting.
Selflessness in Parenthood: Putting Dreams on Pause for a Greater Purpose and Voting Wisely
It is easier. It is also, you have to be selfless to be able to understand what it means to take on these young people and train them to become who God called them to be. Because you have to put your quote unquote dreams on pause, which I hate even using that wording because it's ridiculous, but in the way that the world reasons, that's what they say you're doing. So you have to put those things on pause. But really what you're doing is you're taking up something even greater. Right. Like we discussed that last time I was on.
Abraham Hamilton III I mean, when you recognize that the Lord calls a believer to have a renewment of the mind, where did those dreams come from? What dreams? Where did they come from? Exactly? Even are those superintended by the power presence of God. Is the word of God involved in the cultivation of those dreams? Or do they rival some things that the scripture would say? This is
Maria Hamilton worthy.
Abraham Hamilton III Surprisingly
Maria Hamilton worthy. Yes, yes, yes. So, again, but then we get frustrated, right? We get frustrated when we go to the voting booth and we see names and we're like, okay, I guess I got to go with this one because this one is really bad. Yeah. So it's like, this guy is really going to be a crazy one. And then this one, you know, I'M just going to have to vote for this one. The reality is that if we are not making disciples, we are not going to see the results that we want to see in the voting booth and nationally in legislation and all that. We're not going to see those results if we're not making disciples. Because what we're going to be producing, what we have been producing, is leftists, or, let's just keep it real, rhinos, where they are red, but they really are just kind of like, you know, moderate, more leaning left, because that's what's trending, really, and they follow the trends. and so we're not going to see the results that we really want to see. So again, we go vote. Yes.
Making Disciples: Understanding Islam, Discerning Truth, and the Need for Strong Meat
And we go and we research and we are diligent and we vote wisely. And there are people who are running that are awesome. You know, we vote for them. But. But we have got to make disciples. We have got to train the next generation of believers to know what is happening around us. When we, when we see Islam, are we training our kids to understand what it means for these people to submit to Allah? Do we understand what that means? Do we understand what the core doctrines and beliefs of Islam are? Do we know? Do we know as adults? And then are we training the young people to be able to discern? Now, do we teach them to love others? Of course. And do we teach them to understand that, you know, you know, the love of Christ is there for everyone, no matter if they're wearing, you know, western clothing or whatever, hijabs. We love people, but truth loves, right? To be able to love, we have to tell the truth. And the truth is that this quote, unquote, religion is not not only compatible with freedom, it is literally demonic. So are we teaching our children to love, but to discern and to be able to rightly identify? Good and evil.
Abraham Hamilton III The Hebrew writer In, Hebrews 5 and 6, it says that you cannot endure strong meat because strong meat is for the mature.
Maria Hamilton Yeah.
Abraham Hamilton III you can only abide milk because the mature by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern good from evil by reason of use. a lot of people talk to talk about how our society has been dumbed down.
Combating the Dumbing Down: Exiting Public Schools and Recognizing the Systemic Problem
Maria Hamilton Mm.
Abraham Hamilton III But there's not enough conversation as to how the dumbing down has transpired. And then the additional consideration what must be done to revert, not just reverse, but to replace the dumbing down with training towards maximum efficacy.
Maria Hamilton Get them out of public school.
Abraham Hamilton III That's one step.
Maria Hamilton Yes, but
Abraham Hamilton III it's not the only step. It's a vital step. It's a vital step. And, and I don't mean to condemn anybody in a broad brush sense. I know for a fact there are godly people in the public school system. I know for a fact there are loving people in the public school system. But the system is what is problematic.
Maria Hamilton That's the problem. Like my
Abraham Hamilton III brother Israel Wayne said that if you are on a train that is heading south and you run as hard as you can with all of your strength, with all your zeal, with all of your energy, with all your fervor, to run north on a train that's heading south, where are you going to end up?
Maria Hamilton That's right,
Abraham Hamilton III you're going to end up south. And guys, if you look at our nation, look at the trajectory we've been on. Look at how the Supreme Court excluded prayer from schools. Look at how the Bible was removed from schools, how our nation has been transformed. The very first textbook ever published, published for public schools was the Bible originally. But look at the trajectory we have been on. And look at where we're going. Look at where we're going. There was a time that if a person came out, right, and said that they were a, Marxist and they were a socialist, they would not get one vote from anybody. But now you have people openly running as socialists. You have people whose history shows that they are in favor of Sharia law.
Maria Hamilton Yep,
Abraham Hamilton III Sharia law. Yet they're viable candidates for the U.S. senate. Guys, do we recognize where we are?
Maria Hamilton And like you said, do we recognize how we got here? We got here because the public school educational system has been set up in such a way that to be able to produce what we see. It is not that. That's the primary, funnel, if you will, where most of Americans go through. Like, that's the system that most of us go through. So why are we surprised? Take them out of school. Like, we have got to do something now because it's.
The Urgency of the Moment: Producing Christlike Children Who Can Stand for Truth
We are so far ahead in the wrong direction, we got to do something now. That's going to have to. That the Lord by the power of God, really, it's going to be a miracle to turn the ship because we have contributed to this too much. And unfortunately, in the church, it's just, it's overrun. It's overrun with people just digging their heads in the sand because it's easier, because it's normal, because we're not as bad as. Because I went through the system and I'm not as bad as. Why are we comparing Ourselves, amongst ourselves. The standard is Christ. It's not like you and I, like, we can have that debate all day long. You went through the system. I went through the system. You. You are smarter according to the system than I am because you're a linear learner and I'm a kinesthetic learner. So even just in that, we can say, oh, you turned out okay, because look at you, you're a lawyer. I'm sorry, that is not the standard. That is not what God called us, calls us to be like. He doesn't say, oh, as long as you get good grades and you are able to get a, Juris Doctor. Like, that's not the standard. I'm talking about Christ likeness. Children that grow up to understand the times. Children that grow up to be able to discern right from wrong. Who, who are able to own their faith, who are able to stand in the face of opposition, who are able to advance the gospel, who are able to penetrate darkness. Are we raising a generation that can do that?
Abraham Hamilton III Whose motivation for life course is the love of God and his calling for them? Not based on examining, well, how much money did this job produce? Come on. Then that will be the occupation I pursue.
Maria Hamilton Right?
Abraham Hamilton III That, that is. That is not what God calls his people to do.
Training for Persecution: Raising Believers Who Can Stand for Christ Amidst Opposition
Maria Hamilton No, guys, the church right now is being persecuted left and right. All over Africa, all over the Middle east, they're being persecuted. And you know what? The parents are training their children to be coming. I'm not talking about everybody to become martyrs. To be able to say, for Christ I live and for Christ I die. And we're not there in America yet, but we are well on our way. Well on our way of our freedoms being taken over. Well on our way to be able to be shut up and just, just, just worship in your church. And then eventually the churches will be taken over. So are we raising believers today that in 30 years we'll be able to stand for Christ? Not for their own comfort, but for Christ?
Abraham Hamilton III Yeah. Yeah. And that's a feature of discipleship.
Maria Hamilton Amen. You
Abraham Hamilton III know, that's a feature of discipleship. And, and it doesn't happen. It doesn't happen just by osmosis. It doesn't happen by the snap of the fingers. Fingers. It has to be cultivated. And, and we, we have to have the type of urgency, that. That is responsive to the reality of the moment.
Maria Hamilton Yes,
Abraham Hamilton III to the reality of
Maria Hamilton the moment. To discerning the times. Yeah.
Abraham Hamilton III Yeah. You know, it is. It is. It is high time for that, brothers and sisters. It is high Time when we think about the things that we are confronting. I've shared with you, and some others. I remember I had a conversation, with a pastor one time, and we were talking about the responsibility of making disciples out of church's roles to equip the saints for the work of the ministry and how that the disciple making ministry has to start in the homes. And I just asked, what do you think the majority of the pastoral concern issues arise from? Do you think it's coming from, parents at home teaching their children, you know, to be promiscuous teaching, teaching their children, to look at illicit material online? Where do you think that's coming from?
The Roots of Pastoral Concerns: Peer Influence, Indoctrination, and Lukewarm Believers
Maria Hamilton Right.
Abraham Hamilton III They're learning it largely from peers, you know, at the government indoctrination complex, you know, and in many ways we are setting, creating the environment that creates the pastoral care and the pastoral concern issues. And I just say it plainly, how many more times do we have to have, you know, our young teenage, daughters that are being pregnant outside of wedlock? How many more of our young men do we have to see carted off to prison and go and do these things? And look, those are examples on one end of the spectrum. But even short of that, how many more do we have to have young people that have no problem with being deceivers, being deceptive, you know, being followers of the crowd? You know, how many, how much more of that do we need to have? And excusing it by saying, oh, but they're young.
Maria Hamilton Yeah. How much more lukewarm believers, though? Like, how much more the ones that are, that are churchified, that know the lingo, but are sitting in the pews left and right, and their hearts are cold toward God because what they, who their God truly is, is comfort, is the American dream. It's money, the applause
Abraham Hamilton III of men.
Maria Hamilton It's the applause of men. It is. I'm a good kid. I'm a. How much more are we going to allow for this to, like, how long, how long do we. Until our eyes are open? And that's why prayer is so important. Is
Abraham Hamilton III there not a cause?
Maria Hamilton Amen.
Abraham Hamilton III Is there not a cause? Prayer is important, vitally important.
Obedience and Parenthood: Rear Children in the Discipline and Instruction of the Lord
And as we pray, obedience is vitally important. The command Ephesians 6:4 Fathers, do not exasperate your children. Rather, rear them in the discipline and instruction of the Lord, the nurture and admonition of the Lord, the paideia and the new theseia of the Lord. Have the decisions we made concerning our family. Have they. Are those decisions conducive to paideia and new thesia of the Lord being accomplished or are we working against what God calls us to? We have to be honest about this and assess it with the white hot scrutiny of God's Word superintended by the Spirit, Spirit of God and have the honesty, the humility and the integrity to admit where we may have fallen off and ask God for the grace and strength to repent.
Disclaimer: Views Expressed May Not Reflect American Family Association or Radio
Jeff Chamblee The views and opinions expressed in this broadcast may not necessarily reflect those of the American Family association or American Family Radio.
The Darkness of This World and Being God's Ambassadors in Challenging Times
Abraham Hamilton III Darkness is not an affirmative force. It simply reoccupies the space vacated by the light.
Abraham Hamilton III This is the, Hamilton Corner on American Family Radio.
Abraham Hamilton III It should be uncomfortable for a believer to live as a hypocrite,
Abraham Hamilton III delivering people out of the bondage of mainstream media and the philosophies
Abraham Hamilton III of this world. God has called you and me to be his ambassadors. Even in this dark moment. Let's not miss our moment.
Abraham Hamilton III And now, the Hamilton Corner.
Election Season Approaches: Developing a Plan to Vote and Shaping Our Nation's Future
Abraham Hamilton III Good evening everyone. Welcome to the Hamilton Corner here on American Family Radio. I'm your host, Abraham Hamilton iii, joined by the producer extraordinaire, often imitated, never duplicated, the real J. Mac and we are ready to rock and roll with today's edition of the program. We are just a few days away, you know, Tuesday next week is election day, but of course now we're in election season, and so those of you who who have not voted yet, I encourage you to develop your plan. You know, set your day, set your course. It actually is a great opportunity for you to bring your children to let them experience what it's like to cast a ballot in the free society while we still can. you know, it is something that is unique in human history. There are still still many people around the world who would love to be able to do what we get the opportunity to do here in the next few days. It's been interesting, those have been predicting a blue wave. the early voting returns don't seem to support that. and I guess I should mention that I'll be participating, I'll do an interview during AFR's election night coverage. That'll be next Tuesday evening. So after this program ends at 6:00pm Central, time, the election night coverage will begin and I will return to the airwaves later that evening Tuesday night to participate in AFR's election night coverage. So make your plans, to cast your ballot so that your desire to shape our nation will be registered at this very moment. Many of you, if not most of you, are making your transition from your part time jobs where you generate an income to your full time jobs where you cultivate an outcome.
The Primacy of Family and Navigating Responsibilities as a Husband and Wife
And as you do so, I want to remind you to do so with intentionality, understanding the primacy that God places on family. I also want to remind you that while we are standing on the precipice of the culmination of the midterm election season and can't say election night anymore, I want to remind you that what goes on in your house is Far more important than what goes on in the White House. So I know what's happening on November 3rd, but do you have a plan and strategy that you will implement on November 4th? Have you considered what it is that you will do thereafter? how are you navigating your responsibility? If you're listening and you're a husband and a father? how are you navigating your responsibility to be the head of your household, the head of your wife, the head of your family? How are you navigating that? Are you drifting along in it, or are you intentionally discharging your duty? If you are a wife, how are you engaging? Are you, functionally a disciple, or are you a disciple in name only? These are things we. We have to navigate and we have to consider. Well, because. Because the way that America has become what she is at this juncture is the product of discipleship.
The Power of Discipleship: How Our Choices Shape Generations and Outsource Responsibility
Because discipleship is a constant, meaning that it is going to happen. The question is, who will. Who will do the discipling? What is the substantive communication in that discipleship, and in which direction will the discipleship take place? Because Jesus told us that a student, when fully trained, that student will be like his or her teacher. What is happening in our society is that we're producing generations of our fellow countrymen who are. Who are reflecting the quality or lack thereof, of their source of discipleship. That's what's happening, folks. But if we will welcome the Lord to get a hold of us and our families, you know, we don't realize it, but one of the most important potent forces for righteousness that God has created, it is the family. But for far too long, we have outsourced, generally speaking, we've outsourced our responsibility to make disciples in our home. And yet we wax surprised when those students become fully trained that they're not like us necessarily, but they're like their teachers. And as the late Voty Bauckham often said, that we cannot continue to send our children to Caesar for discipleship, I would add, yet wax surprise when they come home to us as Romans.
Proverbs Chapter 13: Instruction, Rebuke, and the Consequences of Our Words and Actions
You want to talk a mic drop? That is a mic drop. To the word of God, we go. Proverbs, chapter 13. Proverbs, chapter 13, verses 1 through 5. Proverbs, chapter 13, Verses 1 through 5. I'll read the text, and then we'll dig into it a little bit. Verse 1. A wise son hears his father's instruction, but a scoffer does not listen to rebuke from the fruit of his mouth. A man eats what is good, but the desire of the treacherous is for violence. Whoever guards his mouth preserves his life. He who opens wide his lips comes to ruin. The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing, while the soul of the diligent is richly supplied. The righteous hates falsehood, but the wicked bring shame and disgrace.
God's Word as a Manual for Parenting: Cultivating Wisdom and Transformed Expectations
The first verse. A wise son hears his father's instruction, but a scoffer does not listen to rebuke. I wanted to present this text this evening because I, like many of you, have heard over and over and over again, there's no manual for parenting. There's no manual for rearing children to which I would offer an objection. Objection. Because God's word is replete with wisdom, guidance and counsel, particularly for the parent and child relationship. I'm not saying the Bible is exhaustive in its presentation, but the Bible is filled with guidance as it pertains to the parent child relationship. Here, this very chapter of Proverbs begins with the communication to a son that says, a wise son hears his father's instruction. So you have the proverb presenting several things right at the very beginning of the text that we share today of this first verse. First of all, it communicates the notion that it is a reliable possibility for a son to be wise. This is, A. This is a point that I drive home consistently when I get to speak at conferences around the country, homeschooling conferences as well, is that we have to get out of this notion where we accept the world's example and expectations for our children, that adolescence does not have to be synonymous with foolishness, doesn't have to be right. You read about Daniel and his friends when they arrived in Babylon. The Bible says that, that they had the qualities of wisdom, understanding science, understanding knowledge, having the capacity to offer advice to monarchs upon arrival. But in order to enjoy that type of qualitative existence, we not only have to have a change, the transformed expectation of our children, but we have to have a transformed expectation of us as parents.
Raising Wise Children: The Importance of Parental Example and Godly Discipline
If we want to have wise children, we have to offer our children wisdom. That offering includes first and foremost the way we live, our manner of living secondarily, our intentional offerings to them, our intentional offerings to them. We have lots of people that talk about, you know, well, this. This government school system failed. This system failed. What does the Bible say? Fathers, rear your children in the paideia and new theseia of the Lord. Meaning that we are responsible ultimately. So if there's a failed system, why do we keep sending our children to the failed system? Why? Why? Why? How? We have an entire generation of people that are susceptible to the lies of the Marxists, to the lies of the Islamists. Because the darkness is not an affirmative force, but it reoccupies the space that is vacated by the light. Here you have the scripture continuing in verse one. A wise son hears his father's instruction. The word instruction here in Hebrew, includes within it the notion of discipline and rebuke. How do we know that? First of all, even if you don't know the Hebrew text, we know that because the very next phrase in this verse goes on to say, but a scoffer does not. Does not listen to rebuke. So what is being contrasted here is the wise son and the scoffer, right? The wise son hears his father's instruction, which includes rebuke, but the scoffer does not listen to rebuke. So guess what that entails. The notion of discipline is primarily your fatherly responsibility.
The Father's Role in Discipline and Understanding the Reality of Human Nature
Discipline is primarily a father's responsibility. Now do you see why it's so grotesque that we have such a high percentage of children, especially in certain demographics, that are being born into families where the fathers are not married to the mothers and living in the home with the child? Every mother in this audience will more than likely tell you that when a father says something, particularly in the way of instruction or in the way of rebuke, it's often received a little bit differently than when it comes from mom. Is it because of the size of the man and the bass in the voice? Those things could be contributing factors. But can I tell you something? I would submit to you that it's a feature of divine design. God has designed fathers to carry the weight and responsibility of discipline. This scripture also prepares a notion, or should I say presents the notion in contrast in the wise son, from the scoffer. Some children can become scoffers. That's what the scripture is presenting to us. He goes on next in the second verse to describe, from the fruit of his m. From the fruit of his mouth, a man eats what is good. But the desire of the treacherous, the desire of the treacherous is for violence. Is for violence. Contrary to the gentle parenting crowd and the Marxist crowd that want to deny the reality of human nature and the sinfulness of man's nature, there are people who truly want violence.
The Dangers of Violence and the Need for Self-Control in Our Words and Actions
I've explained to you numerous times that Moses, Mordecai, Marx Levy, also known as Karl Marx, is not the. The originator of, what we described as, identitarian and communitarian thought, socialistic thought. His contribution to. To the socialistic panoply was a utilization of violence as a tool to accomplish the Marxist agenda. there are some people who want violence. Verse three goes on to describe the governing of one's mouth. Verse 3. Whoever guards his mouth preserves his life. Whoever guards his mouth preserves his life. The exercise of self control over one's mouth is a life preserver, the scripture says. But he who does not have self control over his mouth, or as this text says, he opens wide his lips, comes to ruin. Verse 4. The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing. Boy, if that does not exemplify modern society, we got a bunch of people that want and want and want and want and want and want and want. But they're wanting from couches and they're wanting from seats. And their wanting does not reflect itself in their willingness to work. But the scripture says, while the soul of the diligent is richly supplied, diligence is something that must and should be cultivated in the home first and foremost.
Righteousness, Disdain for Lies, and Parenthood as a Mission of Discipleship
Verse 5. The righteous hates falsehood. Disdain for lies is intrinsic to righteousness. Intrinsic to righteousness. Disdain for lies is intrinsic to righteousness. But the wicked bring shame, disgrace. My simple point from all of this is that God has ordained parenthood as a station of mission. And we parents have to understand and embrace that. It is our responsibility to train, to disciple, to evangelize and to catechize our children. There is no one better for your children than you. There is no one better for my children than my wife and I. This is God's design.
Listener Support, Election Season, and Rearing Discerning Young People
Hello, I'm Abraham Hamilton iii. Did you know that this content is listener supported? Without people like you, this podcast would not exist. That's why we need you. A generous monthly gift of any amount will help sust American Family Radio and specifically this podcast. Please consider becoming a monthly financial partner today by visiting afr.netgive that's afr.net give.
Abraham Hamilton III Shining light into the darkness. This is the Hamilton Quarter on American Family Radio.
Abraham Hamilton III Welcome back to the Hamilton Corner, Abraham Hamilton III here joined by my lovely wife Maria. Hamilton the first.
Maria Hamilton Hey. Hey.
Abraham Hamilton III We began the conversation today during the program from the book of Proverbs, chapter 13 and describing the fact that God gives us guidance in his word. Whether it's either scripture on point or a principle from the text that aids us in navigating the parent child relationship. Some people try to say there's not. Try to say people have said there's no manual on parenting. While I understand what they mean by that notion, to assert that the scripture say it differently to assert that God has not given us guidance in his word to govern our parent, children relationships. That's just an expression in either ignorance or it's a malicious expression because the Scripture gives us all kinds of wisdom. But I wanted to have this conversation with you because, midterms election, election season will culminate, Tuesday next week. And, we have lots of younger, people that are voting. And you and I have even had some encounters recently that have left us greatly, concerned, for many different reasons.
Equipping Adults and Children with Biblical Discernment for Challenging Times
But I want to begin the conversation with you with this question. Can we rear a generation of young people who have the discernment necessary to understand the times that we are in, as First Chronicles says, and to know what we should do? Is that possible?
Maria Hamilton So I will just respond with the question, can we as adults be equipped to be able to discern the times scripturally, Biblically Christians? The answer is yes. So therefore, whatever applies to adults applies to children. I think we limit. We, unfortunately, throughout history has been in the United States for sure, church history, meaning the Christian history in the country. We've limited and compartmentalize how we apply Scripture. So we really think that the Scripture, the meatiness, the weightiness, the heaviness of Scripture, how to live life, how to implement the Scriptures, applies only to those of us that have passed, like, I don't know, 25 or something. And then we leave the young ones to coloring sheets, we give them crackers and juice, and we say, go play in the playground that we build in our churches. and we are not equipping them the same thing that we need, the same understanding, biblical exegesis, understanding of studying Scripture, that we need as adults to implement what God has given us. All of the principles that you're explaining, all of the commands that God gives that we should embrace, receive and obey are the same ones that children need. And I just get frustrated with that because I'm like, man, we expect them to automatically, at 30, be able to vote wisely when we have not equipped them to be able to reason properly from Scripture. We have not been able to.
Teaching Children God's Authority and Character for Wise Decision-Making and Obedience
We have not taught them the authority of scripture, like how we are to submit to it, why we're submit to it, who God is, what his character is like, what he expects of us. We don't teach them these things. We don't equip them as they are being formed. And then we expect wise decision making when they're adults, we expect obedience and implementation of Scripture. We expect them to be able to understand what is happening. We Expect them, as we expect adults already, to be able to discern right from wrong, good from evil. What is happening in our nation, how it's not a light switch that's turned on. We are to pour into them scriptural truths, help them to understand how to reason from God's perspective, just like we ourselves are training ourselves to learn to do you know what I mean? Like, as we are studying scripture, as we're being transformed by the spirit of God, children can receive that from young.
Abraham Hamilton III Yeah. And you mentioned 30. I hope they have it way before 30. I know, but you know, 18,
Maria Hamilton for some reason now 30 is the new, what is it, 30 is the new 18 or something like,
Abraham Hamilton III I don't care what they say. I know, but
Maria Hamilton that is so. And that's another discerning point. Like why are we saying that 30 year olds are adults and 20 year olds are too young? It's just a kid. No, they're not. You know, oh, it's frustrating.
Abraham Hamilton III No they're not. And so you said something that, that is profound that I want to revisit. and this is something you wouldn't even hear. You didn't know I said it. But man, it's a feature, our oneness in, in the oneness of the Spirit of God, that if we're going to have an appropriate estimation for children. Like in Proverbs 13:1, the text begins by saying, a wise son.
Maria Hamilton Right.
The Possibility of Wise Adolescents and the Need for Transformed Parental Expectations
Abraham Hamilton III So it, it is presenting the notion that, that a father can have a son that is wise. It does not limit that reality to a particular age. So you can say, well, yes, certainly when my son is an adult, I want him to be wise. But the scripture does not preclude the notion that you can have a wise son who is an adolescent.
Maria Hamilton Yes.
Abraham Hamilton III You know, and, and not only does it not preclude it, we have examples. Daniel and his friends, the scripture talks about their capacity to understand science. Being knowledgeable, being wise, being handsome.
Maria Hamilton Yeah.
Abraham Hamilton III Being good looking, you know, but having the ability to, to be cabinet advisors to monarchs.
Maria Hamilton They
Abraham Hamilton III arrived in Babylon with that ability. But in order for us to enjoy the phenomenon of having wise adolescents, that will require, yes, us to have an upgraded and elevated expectation of our young ones. But it also must be preceded by an upgraded expectation of us as adults.
The Berean Example: Owning Truth and Raising Children to Discern Scriptural Wisdom
Maria Hamilton Yeah, yeah, I think, I think scripture gives us plenty of examples of this. One that, comes to my mind is the Berean believers, the Berean Jews specifically, when Paul went to go speak to them in Acts 17, and it says that you know, they heard, they understood what he was saying and then they went back and said, wait, let me look, let me look it up and see if it
Abraham Hamilton III is
Maria Hamilton Amen. Amen. Which gives you the understanding. And it's just like that one little phrase, that one or, two verses before he even goes to Athens, but before Paul goes to Athens. But in that you get a glimpse into the condition of the, of the Berean Jews where not only do they go back and study it, but they, they discern that what Paul was saying was true. And they brought that and said, wait, let me go and let me confirm so that I can own what Paul is saying. It's not just what Paul preaches. Right. It becomes who they are. Yeah. Can we raise children in our homes that when they are, when they're launched, right, when they're ready to go and beat back the darkness, that they have that ability already at 12 and 13 and 15 and 16? Yes, yes, yes. And not because we prefer it or because we like it, or because we even are seeing it in our home, but because the scripture. Does not like you said, put in qualifiers. A son is wise. God says, seek wisdom and he will give it to us.
Renewing Our Minds and Avoiding the Normalization of Outsourcing Discipleship
Abraham Hamilton III Yes. His word makes wise the
Maria Hamilton simple. And it is not just the adults who are simple that seek wisdom. That it's. It's his people. And so the children that are being raised in our homes can be indeed wise.
Abraham Hamilton III Now, now, one of the things and man Romans, 12 gives us the instruction, gives believers instruction. Believer, do not be conformed to this world. That means our expectations that our participations, that our engagements should not be dictated to us based on what is normal in the world around us. M instead be transformed by the renewing of our mind. But we have practices and things that have kind of normalized, I would argue, small incursions against biblical fidelity to where one of the things that is normalized in our society is the outsourcing of the discipleship responsibility to other people.
Maria Hamilton Yes.
Abraham Hamilton III And when I say discipleship, I'm not limiting it to, you know, church attendance, etiquette. I'm including the cultivation of the mind. So much so to where we import certain practices even into the church. For example, like age, segregated ministry.
Maria Hamilton Yeah.
Abraham Hamilton III Where does that come from? Now hear me. I'm not saying it's automatically bad. I'm saying where does that come from? Where did it come from? I don't ever remember the Apostle Paul, saying, you know, let's gather, for the breaking of bread and the apostles doctrine and the fellowship and, and, and, and, but we got to have everybody's under 12. Y' all go over there,
Maria Hamilton use Jesus, when He fed the 5,000 and the 4,000, and it was more than that because women and children were there, he did not say, hey, Paul, I mean, sorry, Peter, Peter, go and you teach the kids and I'm gonna teach the parents. No, he's teaching all of them. Now the understanding also was I would, I would expect that the parents that received the teachings from Jesus who are being transformed, will also bring it to their children in their regular day to day lives so that they can understand what Jesus just taught. But no, nowhere in the scriptures do we see that division. I think we really have contributed unfortunately to the dumbing down of the next generation.
The Dangers of Outsourcing Discipleship and the Creation of Space for Darkness
Abraham Hamilton III And that's where I'm going with this because so then when we normalize the outsourcing of that discipleship responsibility to others, then there's space created.
Maria Hamilton Yes and
Abraham Hamilton III no. I'm not automatically saying that the space is bad, but here, what I'm saying, well, darkness is not an affirmative force, but it reoccupies the space that is vacated by the light. Very often we have an assumption that we want our children to be, quote unquote normal. Are they reading at grade level? Are they accomplishing this at this level? Well, what level should there be for your child? Who says what your child's capacity is? Why is it that we find comfort and confidence in basing where our children are according to a externalized, normal standard? When the Bible says comparing yourself amongst yourself is not wise?
Maria Hamilton Amen.
Abraham Hamilton III What, what is the capacity? What if you have a 4 year old who is able to read at a 9th grade level?
Maria Hamilton Yeah.
Abraham Hamilton III How would you ever know that if they're never given that opportunity? What if you have, you know, a seven year old who's ready to go on to Algebra one?
Maria Hamilton Yeah.
Abraham Hamilton III But you'll never know that because they're stuck in a pathway where you say, well, I'm satisfied with this because it's normal. My point in saying all of this is that we have a lot of people that would want to complain about where we are as a nation, but could it be that we are where we are as a nation because we have normalized this notion of outsourcing discipleship in that the students are being fully trained and when they're fully trained, they are just like where we have sent them?
Maria Hamilton Yeah, yeah. And it's unfortunate to see that because I think the norm now is not only rebellious teens, but also foolish teens. Right. And where
Abraham Hamilton III Substantively ignorant.
Addressing Rebellious and Ignorant Teens: Moving Beyond Behavior Modification to Trained Minds
Yes,
Maria Hamilton exactly. And we just say, well, it's just because of the phase of life you're in. Yeah,
Abraham Hamilton III because they're young.
Maria Hamilton No, no, we should not accept it. biblically, scripturally, in Christianity, we should not accept that. That's not what the Bible says. But we have again, allowed the world to infiltrate. I think another component of this is that we think that, behavior modification is all that we can hope for. That we can hope that they obey us and that they, like, you know, submit to our kind of ideology or perspectives on things. But we don't think that we are able to or that we can actually see the results of a trained mind. Right, like where our children, our 16, 17 year olds can actually discern and be able to say, wait, when I heard this news outlet say this, is that true? Does that align with what is truth? ah, is there exaggeration there? Is this something that we should embrace? All those things? Can they reason? Can they reason? And I'm sorry, guys, but the reality is that God has the mind that produces all things that are true.
The Purpose of Education: Countering Indoctrination and Raising Discerning Individuals
Like God reveals himself as the one who produces logic, who produces reason. So we can align ourselves with how he thinks. He has given us the ability of that by being made in his image and likeness. But we have dumbed ourselves down and we truly do dumb, our teens down.
Abraham Hamilton III Think about this. There are lots of people who will say things like this. Well, you know, they don't teach economics in school anymore. Or
Maria Hamilton civics.
Abraham Hamilton III They don't teach civics. In school anymore. They don't teach accurate history anymore. So why do we continue to send our children,
Maria Hamilton man? Right.
Abraham Hamilton III You know, young people can understand macroeconomics. Young people can understand microeconomics. Young people can understand, you know, simple things. Like, you know, when you say free stuff, what do you mean by that?
Maria Hamilton Yeah,
Abraham Hamilton III what does that. Why do you say it's free? Doesn't somebody have to pay for it at some point? And if we know that our, you know, they call them schools, but I want you to understand that they're indoctrination centers.
Maria Hamilton Yes.
Abraham Hamilton III And they are discipleship centers because cultivation of the mind is central to being a disciple. Remember Jesus's instruction when he was asked about the greatest commandment? He said, you are to love the Lord your God with all of your heart, all of your mind and your strength. The mind is supposed to be centrally engaged in worshiping the Lord and following the Christ. In Second Peter, chapter one, if these qualities are yours and they are increasing, they will Keep you from being barren and unproductive in your knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. One of those qualities was knowledge.
Maria Hamilton Yeah,
Abraham Hamilton III was knowledge. But we wonder why, you know, why are, so many of our young people, why did they understand socialism is bad?
Maria Hamilton Right?
Abraham Hamilton III Guys, can I tell you plainly, and I'm saying this because I love you and I don't mean this to be condemning, but they have been discipled to think socialism is good.
Maria Hamilton Let's keep it real. We have been producing. Sorry.
The Impact of Public Schooling: Producing Socialists and the Importance of God's Word
We have been producing like in large quantities. The majority, if you look at the numbers right now, I believe the latest numbers I saw, 94% of Americans are sending their kids to school,
Abraham Hamilton III to
Maria Hamilton public school, to public school. 6%, 6% are being taught in a Christian environment, whether homeschool or Christian school. But then 1% of that is homeschoolers. Right? So, so we have to look at the numbers properly. We're in the minority. But here's the thing. 90 plus percent of Americans kids, close to 90% of American kids or even more than literally are being. We are producing en masse. We are literally producing like sending them out like clockwork, like an assembly. Socialists. And why is that? Like an assembly line. Why is it. But because they're unable to discern why and how socialism is bad. Why is it that communism is horrible? and how do we discern when the trickle effect of socialism is impacting us? Like why is it that kids, are so bamboozled into thinking that Social Security is not socialism, right? Like why is it that is socialism. That is literally government run socialism. So why is that? Because we have thought that. Because we, because it's a trickle, right? And when, when our necks up, are up against the wall, that's when we start screaming like, wait, why are we here? But we haven't trained the next generation of people which once upon a time it was us, right, coming out of these systems to be able to rightly see, oh, they're inching their way into socialism and communism in our country.
Abraham Hamilton III The scripture says, Proverbs says that sin grows as a man traps.
Maria Hamilton Yes.
Abraham Hamilton III You know, and so this is, this is happening. But it's happening in, in a way. But it doesn't have to. You
Maria Hamilton know,
Examining Everything in Light of God's Word and God's Purpose for Parenthood
Abraham Hamilton III the Lord says do not be conformed, that's
Maria Hamilton right
Abraham Hamilton III to this world. And I'm not talking about just being anti everything, just because it's everything. I'm saying everything needs to be examined in light of the white hot scrutiny of God's holy word.
Maria Hamilton Amen.
Abraham Hamilton III That is what I'M saying. And so, like, we had a previous conversation about, well, what is the purpose of education? Have we considered that? What is the purpose, from God's standpoint of mind cultivation? What is God's view of what we call parenthood? Most of the times, guys, and again, I don't mean this to be condemning, but this is just the truth. Most of the time, people just kind of drift into parenthood. You know, they just arrive there. Well, you want to get married and you want to have a family, but have you considered what is God's purpose for the family? What does the scripture say the family is to be? What is the jurisdiction that the family has? What, what is God's view on that? Have we sought him about that? Have we searched his word about that? Are, our churches teaching us about that? How are we preparing ourselves in this way in order to operate at the maximum efficacy, not just being good enough based on what we've experienced, but being able to fulfill what the scripture says is available to us? We must revisit this. And some might say, well, Abe, how's this? Jermaine? As we're approaching the culmination of election season, I'm saying, guys, we are not going to vote our way. We're not going to vote our way out of where we are. Voting is a, vitally important component. But it is one component. But if we vote and we're not making disciples in our home, that we are not addressing what needs to be addressed in the fullest sense possible.
Political Issues as Christian Issues: Voting, Socialism, and Being Salt and Light
Ed Vitagliano Well, Fred, it is, today is three weeks away from the election, midterm, election, and a, lot of talk about how this is going to go for Republicans especially, probably going to maybe lose the House and the Senate. there is always talk at election time that Christians should stay out of the political process, just be spiritual and win lost souls. All that is important. what would you say to people who are wondering whether they should go out, get registered if there's still time, and to vote in three weeks?
Fred Jackson Well, political, issues are Christian issues. When we talk about things like abortion, when we talk about, men who say there are women and want to go into women's restrooms and play in women's sports. I mean, that's not just a political issue. It is a Christian issue issue. And been, reading some interesting articles in Decision magazine. Franklin Graham talking about this, gentleman from the Colson Center. Socialism is a Christian issue. Socialism is about making man God.
Ed Vitagliano Right?
Fred Jackson You know, the system that America has made America success. Is obedience to God's word. And yes, there are problem areas, but there is a huge difference. And it is a spiritual issue because when socialism comes in, it's man celebrating man. Man becomes God. Man oversees everything. And I'll tell you what, we just have to look at other countries, Ed, that have tried socialism. They basically want to chase, Christianity out of the scene.
Ed Vitagliano That's right, because it's a competing ideology. I heard, Dr. Ray Pritchard say that, yes, we all understand as Christians that government can't save our nation, but it sure can hurt our nation and can do a lot to damage the church and, to become an obstacle to the preaching of the gospel, which of course is the most important. But, Jesus says to be salt and light. And I think it's fair to say that voting and standing up for biblical values is at least part of that in a country where you're free to vote. And we will be covering here at American Family Radio election night on November 3rd. You'll be able to tune in to American Family Radio and we'll have staff from AFR from our news team and special guests talking about the election and what those results mean for, the next two years as we prepare for a presidential election in 2028.
Rearing Discerning Children: The Lesson from Benjamin Franklin and Our Nation's History
Abraham Hamilton III The Hamilton Corner podcast and one minute commentaries are available at afr.net back to the Hamilton Corner on American Family Radio.
Abraham Hamilton III Welcome back to the Hamilton Corner, Abraham Hamilton iii, along with my lovely wife Maria Hamilton. And we were having a conversation about the possibility to rear children who are discerning of the times that we are living in. And a little while back, I did a show where I read on the program the entire extemporaneous speech that Benjamin Franklin gave on the floor of the Constitutional Convention when the delegates to the Constitutional Convention basically deadlocked. And Benjamin Franklin gave this rousing speech and saying that, look, look fellas, this is the ABE Standard version translation of Ben Frank's speech. but he said, look, fellas, during the Revolutionary War when we were all were immediately concerned about the fact that we can get our, Jon Brown hind part shot off at any moment, we didn't cease offering prayers daily in this exact same chamber. But now here we are 11 some odd years removed from the Declaration of Independence, where we have the privilege of, of deliberating concerning our national future in an environment of peace, we proceeded. And we have not once sought to implore the assistance of that divine hand. You know, if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his awareness, can an empire rise without his intervention, he then makes a formal motion to pray.
Maria Hamilton Yep.
Abraham Hamilton III And invite the clergy. And, and he's regarded as one of, if not the least religious of the founding fathers. And I, I shared that, read the entire thing on, on our program and say guys, this is a part of our nation's history and you wouldn't believe that the amount of comments and responses I got back from that. A lot of people who don't even know that that happened. And so, and, and look, all these people who responded to me, they all went to school.
Maria Hamilton Yes,
Abraham Hamilton III listen, I went to school. I learned that in school.
Maria Hamilton Thank you. I
Abraham Hamilton III didn't learn that in school.
Maria Hamilton Right.
Abraham Hamilton III Where did I learn that? I learned that and an autodidact long after I finished my formal education. So my point is though, why do we continue doing the same things when we know the results?
The Power of Home Training: A 12-Year-Old's Constitutional Knowledge and the Choice to Homeschool
You know my story, long ago, when you know, the Lord moved my pastor in NewSong Orleans, to do what we now know to be it was lobbying. But he didn't know that term. My pastor didn't know. He just felt compelled by the Lord to confront the state legislatures, legislators with the notion that if you cause sin to become state policy, the, that you very well could be inviting God's judgment on our. And so while at my job I was just a driver, I drove the van for the elders to go back and forth to Baton Rouge from NewSong Orleans and I met you know, Gene Mills, his son, who is now the director of the Louisiana Family forum and his 12 year old son in the middle of conversation. I was like 17, 18 years old. I ain't saying a word cause I don't know nothing at that time. But this 12 year old boy is engaging in conversation with then state representatives Tony Perkins and, and attorneys and he's quoting the, the Constitution, quoting it from memory. It blew me away, which caused me to lean over to jen. I said Mr. Mills, where does your son go to school? And he says to me, well Abe, Mrs. Mills and I, that we, we, we train him at home, he doesn't go to school. I was like, oh, never heard of that before. But that put a, put a, put a seed in my heart and say wait a minute, a ah, 12 year old. I only have to know about Nintendo. That was what it was back then, you know, Nintendo. But a 12 year old can actually know about our nation's history and can know about our Constitution and can actually reasonably engage winsomely with adults about our nation's history, about our nation's future in that instance Our state's future in light of the way they've been discipled and been trained. But in our day and time, to actually even say that, a 12 year old who's reciting the First Amendment from M memory and not just quoting it like he's in a contest for. For recitations, but quoting it within the context of a conversation.
Maria Hamilton Yeah.
Abraham Hamilton III With adults.
Maria Hamilton Yeah. The unfortunate truth is, as you and I experienced in our own educational, endeavors in this country, we are not learning. We're not learning. we are not learning. We are being taught what to think and what is, whatever the notion is of the day and whatever is happening. And even learning history things in a way that doesn't even, like, register because we literally just learned about dead people and old dates and stuff and nobody's interested in it. And we kind of just barely make it through school. That was my testimony. Barely making it through school. Literally started learning, really, when I left, when I started homeschooling my kids and realizing, oh, God, I did not know any of this stuff. so why are we sending them to school? It's easier. Number one. It's easier to send them to school. It is easier to ship them off to have somebody else do the heavy lifting.
Selflessness in Parenthood: Putting Dreams on Pause for a Greater Purpose and Voting Wisely
It is easier. It is also, you have to be selfless to be able to understand what it means to take on these young people and train them to become who God called them to be. Because you have to put your quote unquote dreams on pause, which I hate even using that wording because it's ridiculous, but in the way that the world reasons, that's what they say you're doing. So you have to put those things on pause. But really what you're doing is you're taking up something even greater. Right. Like we discussed that last time I was on.
Abraham Hamilton III I mean, when you recognize that the Lord calls a believer to have a renewment of the mind, where did those dreams come from? What dreams? Where did they come from? Exactly? Even are those superintended by the power presence of God. Is the word of God involved in the cultivation of those dreams? Or do they rival some things that the scripture would say? This is
Maria Hamilton worthy.
Abraham Hamilton III Surprisingly
Maria Hamilton worthy. Yes, yes, yes. So, again, but then we get frustrated, right? We get frustrated when we go to the voting booth and we see names and we're like, okay, I guess I got to go with this one because this one is really bad. Yeah. So it's like, this guy is really going to be a crazy one. And then this one, you know, I'M just going to have to vote for this one. The reality is that if we are not making disciples, we are not going to see the results that we want to see in the voting booth and nationally in legislation and all that. We're not going to see those results if we're not making disciples. Because what we're going to be producing, what we have been producing, is leftists, or, let's just keep it real, rhinos, where they are red, but they really are just kind of like, you know, moderate, more leaning left, because that's what's trending, really, and they follow the trends. and so we're not going to see the results that we really want to see. So again, we go vote. Yes.
Making Disciples: Understanding Islam, Discerning Truth, and the Need for Strong Meat
And we go and we research and we are diligent and we vote wisely. And there are people who are running that are awesome. You know, we vote for them. But. But we have got to make disciples. We have got to train the next generation of believers to know what is happening around us. When we, when we see Islam, are we training our kids to understand what it means for these people to submit to Allah? Do we understand what that means? Do we understand what the core doctrines and beliefs of Islam are? Do we know? Do we know as adults? And then are we training the young people to be able to discern? Now, do we teach them to love others? Of course. And do we teach them to understand that, you know, you know, the love of Christ is there for everyone, no matter if they're wearing, you know, western clothing or whatever, hijabs. We love people, but truth loves, right? To be able to love, we have to tell the truth. And the truth is that this quote, unquote, religion is not not only compatible with freedom, it is literally demonic. So are we teaching our children to love, but to discern and to be able to rightly identify? Good and evil.
Abraham Hamilton III The Hebrew writer In, Hebrews 5 and 6, it says that you cannot endure strong meat because strong meat is for the mature.
Maria Hamilton Yeah.
Abraham Hamilton III you can only abide milk because the mature by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern good from evil by reason of use. a lot of people talk to talk about how our society has been dumbed down.
Combating the Dumbing Down: Exiting Public Schools and Recognizing the Systemic Problem
Maria Hamilton Mm.
Abraham Hamilton III But there's not enough conversation as to how the dumbing down has transpired. And then the additional consideration what must be done to revert, not just reverse, but to replace the dumbing down with training towards maximum efficacy.
Maria Hamilton Get them out of public school.
Abraham Hamilton III That's one step.
Maria Hamilton Yes, but
Abraham Hamilton III it's not the only step. It's a vital step. It's a vital step. And, and I don't mean to condemn anybody in a broad brush sense. I know for a fact there are godly people in the public school system. I know for a fact there are loving people in the public school system. But the system is what is problematic.
Maria Hamilton That's the problem. Like my
Abraham Hamilton III brother Israel Wayne said that if you are on a train that is heading south and you run as hard as you can with all of your strength, with all your zeal, with all of your energy, with all your fervor, to run north on a train that's heading south, where are you going to end up?
Maria Hamilton That's right,
Abraham Hamilton III you're going to end up south. And guys, if you look at our nation, look at the trajectory we've been on. Look at how the Supreme Court excluded prayer from schools. Look at how the Bible was removed from schools, how our nation has been transformed. The very first textbook ever published, published for public schools was the Bible originally. But look at the trajectory we have been on. And look at where we're going. Look at where we're going. There was a time that if a person came out, right, and said that they were a, Marxist and they were a socialist, they would not get one vote from anybody. But now you have people openly running as socialists. You have people whose history shows that they are in favor of Sharia law.
Maria Hamilton Yep,
Abraham Hamilton III Sharia law. Yet they're viable candidates for the U.S. senate. Guys, do we recognize where we are?
Maria Hamilton And like you said, do we recognize how we got here? We got here because the public school educational system has been set up in such a way that to be able to produce what we see. It is not that. That's the primary, funnel, if you will, where most of Americans go through. Like, that's the system that most of us go through. So why are we surprised? Take them out of school. Like, we have got to do something now because it's.
The Urgency of the Moment: Producing Christlike Children Who Can Stand for Truth
We are so far ahead in the wrong direction, we got to do something now. That's going to have to. That the Lord by the power of God, really, it's going to be a miracle to turn the ship because we have contributed to this too much. And unfortunately, in the church, it's just, it's overrun. It's overrun with people just digging their heads in the sand because it's easier, because it's normal, because we're not as bad as. Because I went through the system and I'm not as bad as. Why are we comparing Ourselves, amongst ourselves. The standard is Christ. It's not like you and I, like, we can have that debate all day long. You went through the system. I went through the system. You. You are smarter according to the system than I am because you're a linear learner and I'm a kinesthetic learner. So even just in that, we can say, oh, you turned out okay, because look at you, you're a lawyer. I'm sorry, that is not the standard. That is not what God called us, calls us to be like. He doesn't say, oh, as long as you get good grades and you are able to get a, Juris Doctor. Like, that's not the standard. I'm talking about Christ likeness. Children that grow up to understand the times. Children that grow up to be able to discern right from wrong. Who, who are able to own their faith, who are able to stand in the face of opposition, who are able to advance the gospel, who are able to penetrate darkness. Are we raising a generation that can do that?
Abraham Hamilton III Whose motivation for life course is the love of God and his calling for them? Not based on examining, well, how much money did this job produce? Come on. Then that will be the occupation I pursue.
Maria Hamilton Right?
Abraham Hamilton III That, that is. That is not what God calls his people to do.
Training for Persecution: Raising Believers Who Can Stand for Christ Amidst Opposition
Maria Hamilton No, guys, the church right now is being persecuted left and right. All over Africa, all over the Middle east, they're being persecuted. And you know what? The parents are training their children to be coming. I'm not talking about everybody to become martyrs. To be able to say, for Christ I live and for Christ I die. And we're not there in America yet, but we are well on our way. Well on our way of our freedoms being taken over. Well on our way to be able to be shut up and just, just, just worship in your church. And then eventually the churches will be taken over. So are we raising believers today that in 30 years we'll be able to stand for Christ? Not for their own comfort, but for Christ?
Abraham Hamilton III Yeah. Yeah. And that's a feature of discipleship.
Maria Hamilton Amen. You
Abraham Hamilton III know, that's a feature of discipleship. And, and it doesn't happen. It doesn't happen just by osmosis. It doesn't happen by the snap of the fingers. Fingers. It has to be cultivated. And, and we, we have to have the type of urgency, that. That is responsive to the reality of the moment.
Maria Hamilton Yes,
Abraham Hamilton III to the reality of
Maria Hamilton the moment. To discerning the times. Yeah.
Abraham Hamilton III Yeah. You know, it is. It is. It is high time for that, brothers and sisters. It is high Time when we think about the things that we are confronting. I've shared with you, and some others. I remember I had a conversation, with a pastor one time, and we were talking about the responsibility of making disciples out of church's roles to equip the saints for the work of the ministry and how that the disciple making ministry has to start in the homes. And I just asked, what do you think the majority of the pastoral concern issues arise from? Do you think it's coming from, parents at home teaching their children, you know, to be promiscuous teaching, teaching their children, to look at illicit material online? Where do you think that's coming from?
The Roots of Pastoral Concerns: Peer Influence, Indoctrination, and Lukewarm Believers
Maria Hamilton Right.
Abraham Hamilton III They're learning it largely from peers, you know, at the government indoctrination complex, you know, and in many ways we are setting, creating the environment that creates the pastoral care and the pastoral concern issues. And I just say it plainly, how many more times do we have to have, you know, our young teenage, daughters that are being pregnant outside of wedlock? How many more of our young men do we have to see carted off to prison and go and do these things? And look, those are examples on one end of the spectrum. But even short of that, how many more do we have to have young people that have no problem with being deceivers, being deceptive, you know, being followers of the crowd? You know, how many, how much more of that do we need to have? And excusing it by saying, oh, but they're young.
Maria Hamilton Yeah. How much more lukewarm believers, though? Like, how much more the ones that are, that are churchified, that know the lingo, but are sitting in the pews left and right, and their hearts are cold toward God because what they, who their God truly is, is comfort, is the American dream. It's money, the applause
Abraham Hamilton III of men.
Maria Hamilton It's the applause of men. It is. I'm a good kid. I'm a. How much more are we going to allow for this to, like, how long, how long do we. Until our eyes are open? And that's why prayer is so important. Is
Abraham Hamilton III there not a cause?
Maria Hamilton Amen.
Abraham Hamilton III Is there not a cause? Prayer is important, vitally important.
Obedience and Parenthood: Rear Children in the Discipline and Instruction of the Lord
And as we pray, obedience is vitally important. The command Ephesians 6:4 Fathers, do not exasperate your children. Rather, rear them in the discipline and instruction of the Lord, the nurture and admonition of the Lord, the paideia and the new theseia of the Lord. Have the decisions we made concerning our family. Have they. Are those decisions conducive to paideia and new thesia of the Lord being accomplished or are we working against what God calls us to? We have to be honest about this and assess it with the white hot scrutiny of God's Word superintended by the Spirit, Spirit of God and have the honesty, the humility and the integrity to admit where we may have fallen off and ask God for the grace and strength to repent.
Disclaimer: Views Expressed May Not Reflect American Family Association or Radio
Jeff Chamblee The views and opinions expressed in this broadcast may not necessarily reflect those of the American Family association or American Family Radio.
Election season brings plenty of attention to the ballot box—but what about the work families do every day? Abraham Hamilton III and Maria Hamilton discuss how parents can disciple children, cultivate discernment, and prepare young people to live out their faith. Grounded in Proverbs 13 and other biblical passages, this conversation makes the case that shaping the next generation starts at home.
Live
Did you know American Family Radio is listener-supported? Your monthly financial support will allow us to continue upholding Godly values through our numerous channels, like American Family Radio, One Million Moms, The Stand magazine, and many more.
Become a Great Commission Partner TODAY to help AFR transform culture by rebuilding the family. When you donate today, you’ll get access to:
