Hamilton: God has called us to be his ambassadors even in this dark moment

>> Abraham Hamilton III: Darkness is not an affirmative force. It simply reoccupies the space vacated by the light.

>> Speaker B: This is the, Hamilton Corner on American Family Radio.

>> Abraham Hamilton III: It should be uncomfortable for a believer to live as a hypocrite, delivering people.

>> Speaker B: Out of the bondage of mainstream media and the philosophies of this world.

>> Abraham Hamilton III: God has called you and me to be his ambassadors, even in this dark moment. Let's not miss our moment.

Hamilton Corner: God has ordained you and I for this time

And now, the, Hamilton Corner. Good evening everyone. Welcome to the Hamilton Corner here on American Family Radio or NRB tv. Thank you for tuning into the program. Yes, indeed. Let's not miss our moment. You know, I often reflect on the reality of acts, Acts chapter 17, when the Lord reveals to us through the Apostle Paul's engagement in the areopagus, when he says that God has determined before time the boundaries of our habitation and the times in which we would live. The fact that you and I are alive right now are, not mere coincidences of biological occurrence. It actually is the result of divine providence. Simply put, God has ordained you and I for this time. This is the time that God has, ordained for us. When our feet hit the pavement as the Lord opens our eyes in the mornings. Please understand that this is the divinely appointed time for us. So let us be about our Father's business, man.

At this very moment, many of you are making your transition to full time jobs

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. And as you do so, I want to remind you to do it with intentionality. Recognizing the primacy that God places on family, recognizing the opportunities that you have. Frankly, I know, with all of the absurdity and the insanity that's happening in the world at this juncture and in our nation, it's very easy to become despondent or to become listful, or to be, downcast or to be.

>> Speaker B: Discouraged.

>> Abraham Hamilton III: Resist that temptation, man. God has appointed us for this time. 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. And as you do so, I want to remind you to do it with intentionality. Understand the primacy that God places on family. Guys, we are never going to outpace the deficiencies that abound in the home. To our younger brothers that are here. Listen, I just want to encourage you, man. Don't listen to what is happening, on these mainstream media outlets and other things, seek to develop yourself into the type of man that is worthy of a wife. Seek to develop yourself into the type of man that is worthy to be, the head of a family, a leader of a family, a priest and a protector and a provider and a prophet to your home. Seek to become that kind of man. Again, to be worthy of a wife. Young women seek to be the type of women who have the quality of wifeliness. The Bible teaches that he that finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the Lord. The quality of being a wife was present with before the prospective husband found her. And one of the things that's implied intrinsically in that text is that the prospective husband knows exactly the types of qualities that a wife should have. Young ladies seek to be that type of wife and be a part of the Psalm 128 reality to where a transformed husband and a transformed wife serve as the foundation for a transformed family. Plant yourselves in the church that is a, church of transformation. And from that position, light up the darkness. Man. Be about our king's business. Influence the society where God has planted you. M. That's what we need to be about. And we commit ourselves to this no matter what's swirling around us. So as you're making your transition from your part time jobs to your full time jobs, do so with intentionality. For those of us who are like me, who are married. Man, let's glorify the King of Kings starting in our homes. You know, the most enduring and consistent opportunity that I have to exalt the King of Kings is not what I do behind this microphone, it's what I do at home. One of the things that we're normalizing in our church with the men is when we talk and greet one another, that we standardize. Man, how's your wife? Man, how's your wife? Because we understand we have a responsibility, we have an obligation to cultivate our wives. Our wives should be better Christ followers because they're joined to us. Reverse should be true. We as husbands should be better Christ followers because we're joined to our wives. You want to talk about a radical reformation if, ah, we could be radically reformed in our homes, there's no question as to what can happen in society. To the word of God we go. Revelation chapter 12 is where we're going to go today. Revelation chapter 12. And I'm going to continue to emphasize this because we do need, attendance and functioning in other areas. We need political engagement. You know the wicked, legislation that California's governor Gavinito Mussolini signed on a Sunday trying to do it when nobody's paying attention. So he thought it, shows why we need vigilance and diligence in these political arenas, but not to the exclusion or at the expense of what happens in our homes. And I don't think there would be anyone who disagrees with that. And I just want to be a consistent source and a consistent encourager for us to exalt the Lord in and through our homes as a matter of first important priority.

Revelation says the brethren overcame Satan because of the blood of the Lamb

All right. Revelation, chapter 12, verses 10 and 11. By way of reminder, the name of the book is Revelation. There's no S. It's derived from the Greek word apocalypsis, which means to reveal or to see, to open one's eyes. Contrary to genres of movies and things, the word apocalypse doesn't mean, you know, the great zombies are coming. No, it actually means see. Hence the name of this book Revelation. It's a revelation that Jesus, the revelation of Jesus, specifically Yeshua. And it's documented by John. John basically is serving the apostle. John is serving as Messiah scribe in this instance and in this passage, this portion of Scripture, I should say Revelation, chapter 12, verses 10 and 11. This is what God's word says. Then I heard a loud voice in heaven saying, now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come. For the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down. He who accuses them before our God day and night. And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony. And they did not love their lives even when faced with death. It is instructive for us that the Greek word for accuser there is, is catego, where we get our English word categories from. It's no surprise that some of the fruit of the flesh articulated in Galatians 5, in contrast with the fruit of the Spirit, are, divisions and schisms, dare I say categories. But here in Revelation we have a depiction of that great deluder Satan being cast down in the Bible. It's explicit in highlighting the mechanism for the brethren's overcoming of Satan. You know, I've been talking with my wife and she's been doing this study on C.S. lewis's writings. And one of the things we've discussed recently is that when you think about good and evil and contrasting and opposites, when you think about what the Bible teaches about Satan, who or what do you think is the corollary opposite of Satan? Most people casually not thinking deliberately about it most people casually would think God, to which I would simply say, no, ma'. Am, no, sir, God has no rival. God has no contrary opposite. God is consummate goodness, omnipotence, not some power, all power omnipresent. God has no rival. Who is a contending opponent or opposite of Satan? Remember who he was. Lucifer. Who was Lucifer at the beginning? An angel. Was Satan a fallen angel? No, the contrary opposite to Satan. The angel Michael. Maybe throw Gabriel in there too. See, God has no rivals. The term that's most accurate is aseity. There is none that can be compared to God. He alone dwells an unapproachable light. He has no rival. So when we talk about the reality of contending in spiritual warfare, the truth is, Satan and his imps, they know their end. They're simply attempting to deceive you and I into thinking other than what is true. And we know that when Jesus entered the Gadarean region and the demoniac was possessed, and we all know it's recorded for our benefit what was said. Have you, Son of Man, come to torment us before our time? The demons know their end is torment. The demons know their end is damnation. Satan knows his end. God is not the opposite of Satan. God is in a category all to himself. So when we read that the brethren overcame Satan, we shouldn't be shocked in verse 11. And they overcame him why? And how? Because of the blood of the spotless Lamb. What the Passover in Exodus inaugurated was prospectively foreshadowing what will be consummated in the Messiah. And he overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony. Now, I know that Scripture is referred to often, but it's often referred to, decontextualized, because if you read the very next phrase, they overcame them, him by the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony. And they did not love their lives even when faced with death. What the Scripture is saying is that the blood of the Lamb was such a potent source for these believers that they didn't abandon their faithfulness, their commitment, their faith in Christ. Even when faced with death. They maintained their testimony. They maintained their witness even when confronted with physical cessation of life. That is because the brethren know that being in Christ means death has lost its sting on us. Now, I also want to highlight that it is vitally important that we have a testimony that we share. Our testimony that, communicating, the story, his story. That's how my family and I like to Talk about history. It is his story over time, when we communicate his story as it is woven through our lives, it is a source of strength, it is a source of resonance, it is a source of commonality. It's the kind of thing where chopping it up with Jeff, and I'm saying, man, look what God did in your life, man, I can draw encouragement, man, if God can do that in Jeff's life. Not saying I need to have the identical experience that Jeff had, but if God can do that in Jeff's life, man, he can do amazing things in my life as well. This is one of the reasons why it's vitally important to understand that being a member of a local assembly, the local church is a means of God's grace. The local church is a means of strengthening and protection and refinement and conviction and encouragement and support. Which is why the phenomenon of church discipline was such a serious deal. Because for one to be removed from a local assemblyman, it has great consequence. They overcame him because of the blood of the lamb and because of the word of their testimony. Family of God, our king has no rivals. M. There is no corollary or attending opposite to him. He alone is worthy of our veneration and praise and dedication and resolved commitment. Because it is through the blood of the spotless, unblemished lamb. Unblemished lamb, unblemished lamb that we overcome.

Joseph Parker: It's important to understand parents, our children are listening

>> Speaker B: a discipleship minute with Joseph Parker.

>> Abraham Hamilton III: Proverbs 31 is a chapter that's unique in a number of ways. It's largely what a young man, a young king, remembered that his mother taught him. And you know, sometimes if you're reading this passage, you just might miss that. But remember this. This young man remembered a lot of things his mother taught him. It's so important to understand parents, our children are listening. They're listening and learning from you every single day. You know, often the devil will try to tell you your children aren't listening to you. And parents sometimes will say, my children don't listen to me. Parents. They are listening. They're listening sometimes when you want them to, and they're listening sometimes when you don't want them to. They're picking up on things you didn't mean for them to hear because they are listening. So may we as parents and grandparents make the most of our time of teaching, training, guiding, and molding our children. Yes, they are listening.

>> Speaker B: Shining light into the darkness. This is the Hamilton Corner on American Family Radio.

Paul Hastings, podcaster and entrepreneur, returns to the Hamilton Corner

>> Abraham Hamilton III: Welcome back to the Hamilton Corner. Abraham Hamilton iii here I'm Delighted to have on the program a returning guest, a brother who I appreciate and respect has become a friend to me. I'm speaking of none other than Paul Hastings, who is a podcaster and entrepreneur. He's consulted extensively in the film, marketing and political arenas. He's the host of Compelled, a podcast telling unique stories about God working through people's lives. He's also produced several award winning short films and commercials. His work has been featured by Dr. James Dobson's family Talk World Magazine, the Gospel Coalition, our organization, AFA, the Blaze, CBN News, WorldNet Daily, and so many, so many more. He and his wife and their three children live near Austin, Texas and attend Redemption Hill Church. Paul, thank you for returning to the Hamilton Corner.

>> Speaker B: Well, thank you very much for having me on the show. And a new addition. We actually have four kids now. Hey. And yeah, exciting thing.

>> Abraham Hamilton III: Congratulations man. I didn't know you had a fourth one. that is a tremendous blessing. That's a tremendous blessing. I so appreciate you. I did mention, but I know you are a homeschool, dad now and graduate and you speak at conferences. You do so many different things and I just so appreciate the opportunity to be able to chat with you a bit. And I'm excited about your new book.

Michael Hamilton started his podcast Compelled seven years ago

But before we get into that, I want to talk a little bit about your podcast for those who may not be aware. And if you're not aware, where have you been? Are you under a rock? This is literally the Hamilton family go to as we take road trips, the Compelled podcast. Would you just speak a little bit about your podcast, what you do through it and what you're seeking to accomplish?

>> Speaker B: Yeah. So our podcast started seven years ago. My wife and I were at a crossroads in my career path at the time. I had been doing politics for about 10 years and this is just state politics in Texas. I was really burnt out. And ah, frankly I was at a point where I was being tempted to do unethical things in order to win campaigns. And my wife and I, we just had to have a real heart check. Basically. Me, I had to do a real heart check. We just began asking God, like, are there other things that, we could do besides politics? And I had this crazy realization that the entire time that I'd done the political arena work and everything, I had never prayed for my opponents or for the opposition. I would pray for victory, I would pray that justice would be done, but I never prayed for the salvation of my opponents. I never prayed that God would restore their families. All that I cared about was finding the terrible, wicked things that they had done and then putting that into a m mailer that I could then send out to voters and tell them, oh, don't vote for this person. They're a horrible human being. And it was just kind of a real heart check. There were many other things, factors going on at the same time, but that was just a real heart check. As I just realized, like, man, I would rather the rest of the next chapter of my life be spent celebrating that God can take horrible, terrible people and transform them. And so that became a quest to go and find some of the greatest testimonies of Christians still living today to share their testimony with people that may never heard their story before. And so now we find people with these undocumented or under documented stories about how Christ did some amazing work in their life. We add sound effects, music and narration and we create a very encouraging, uplifting story, true story told by the person that this happened to. And they share their story of radical transformation by God.

>> Abraham Hamilton III: Man, it's so powerful. And there are people that are tuning in. And you're describing what you did in politics. If you can encapsulate what your role was in politics, were you functioning as kind of like a campaign manager?

>> Speaker B: I did a little bit of both. I was a statewide campaign manager for some campaigns. I ran political mail. I was a consultant. I did behind the scenes work. I did, kind of, I don't know the right term for this, but kind of like subterfuge ops. And that's at some point, that's when I realized, like, I was just being asked to do things and being tempted to do things that in the end I didn't believe actually honored God. M and it was all in the name of winning. We had to win. So desperate to win. And we had lost sight of who our true leader truly was.

>> Abraham Hamilton III: Man, your testimony is just so stirring and I'm so, so grateful for you sharing that here with us and moving in, to your podcast.

Why is documenting testimonies so important? Why is documenting them important

You described it as how you use music and things. Guys, it is dramatized storytelling that is so excellently done, so well done that I wholeheartedly recommend it to you for you to consider, review it for your family, your children, depending on their ages. it is, as I mentioned, it literally is a go to for us as we travel and we become so encapsulated. My children say, man, I haven't realized we've been traveling so long because the stories are so engaging. Now, all through scripture, we see Examples of this, when the Lord would say, okay, now document this. You know, do this, put this memorial stone here so that when your children come this way, they will ask, would you just speak to the importance of, of not only having these testimonies, but documenting them so that they can be shared. You mentioned some are undocumented or under documented. Why is documenting them so important?

>> Speaker B: Yeah, what a great question and I think a great example of this. In fact, I have a little prop here with me.

Tom Terrence grew up as a Ku Klux Klan member in the 60s

so this is a card that we, have documenting some of the stories that we have in the podcast. And one of them is the story about this guy named Tom Terrence. And he grew up as a Ku Klux Klan member back in the 60s. Lived, in Mississippi and then in Alabama. And he was a hardened terrorist. He hated God. Actually, let me rephrase that. He actually thought he was serving God. but he hated the things that we know that God actually loves, that he thought he was serving God by spreading this campaign of terror. many things transpired in his life, but at the age, I think 22, he was caught, and sentenced to, 30 years in prison. He later escaped and there was a nationwide FBI manhunt looking for him. And finally he was caught again. He was placed in, solitary confinement. And I think he was there for nine years. And in solitary confinement for nine years, locked up in a eight by six cell. He, didn't have much to do and so he just began reading. And back then in the, prison system you could read any book that you felt like. So he just started reading through all this white supremacist propaganda and he just read through everything that he possibly could. But at some point he was, you know, reading the works of Hitler and all this stuff. At some point he ran out of material and he was bored. And so he picked up a Bible. He'd never read the Bible before, but just began reading the Bible. And as he was reading the Bible, it felt as though, like the scales were just falling off of his eyelids. And alone by himself, he gave his life to Jesus Christ. No one ever witnessed to him. No one shared the gospel with him. He didn't have. He didn't listen to Billy Graham on the radio. No. He just simply read the New Testament. And after reading the words of a Jewish man, Jesus, he concluded, he said, wow, I think I've had it backwards for my whole life. I m think Jesus actually is who he claims to be. And he gave his life to the Lord. And now you fast Forward now. Tom is now 80 years old. He lives in Washington D.C. he later became the pastor of a multiracial church in D.C. incredible story, but few people have heard his story. And so this is one of those stories that this is unbelievable, this is remarkable that a hardened clans member would become this, this incredible Christian. And so we were on a mission again, find these stories and document them while these guys are still alive, able to share their testimony before they pass away.

>> Abraham Hamilton III: Man, it's so profound. It makes me think about the, APostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 15 when he says that, listen, I'm telling you this story. You know, we saw him. More than 500 people at one time, saw Jesus resurrected, you know, and most of them are still alive. You can go cross reference what I'm saying with these people who are still alive. it's such a, such a powerful, powerful thing, to do and to document and to show that influence that God is at work. When you say that, man, this is unbelievable when you think about who God is, you know, I believe it. And I remember, I heard that podcast episode. I remember, listening to it, just being captivated by it.

One of the things that was impactful for you was hearing testimonies

Now, I know in your own development, one of the things that was impactful for you, was hearing testimonies, especially Christian biographies. Would you just speak a little bit to how, this documented testimony actually helped even shape you?

>> Speaker B: Yeah, absolutely. So when I was a kid, my parents made sure that we had great Christian biographies in our home. And I don't think it was like some strategic move on their part. It was just part of natural life. I was homeschooled. And so they made sure we had lots of great material in the room. And I remember I would pick up like these little chapter books about David Livingston or Hudson Taylor or, the Peace Child, all these different folks that were missionaries or. I read about Corrie 10 boom. I read about Brother Andrew smuggling Bibles behind the Iron Curtain. And as a kid I'm just reading these books and I was a voracious reader. And just time and time again I was struck by, wow, God is working not just in the lives of the apostles, in the Old Testament or the New Testament, he is working in the lives of modern day people. And, so all those books that I was reading about these guys from the 1800s or the early 1900s, like, that definitely shaped my love and desire. And then as a kid I'd go to church and of course, I'll be honest, I would fall asleep in church all the time. But the Moment that the pastor began sharing a story. It could be a story about a missionary. It could be a story about his lawnmower, any kind of story. I would wake up. I would wake up and listen, rapidly to this story, and I would get this sermon analogy that he was trying to make. I would understand that. But then once he went back to the Bible, then I'd fall asleep again, which is kind of embarrassing to admit, but I used to struggle with that a lot. But I realized it was because God had hardwired me to love stories and understanding who he was and the nature of him. And I could grasp that. I think there's a lot of other people out there as well. We know things academically in our heads, but when we hear it as a story, it resonates with our hearts.

>> Abraham Hamilton III: M There's a reason why Jesus did so much of his teaching through parables. You know, it is undoubtedly one of the masterful tools that he employed to convey his message.

What has been some of the feedback that you've gotten and some impact

What has been some of the feedback that you've gotten and some of the impact, frankly, from your Compelled podcast, the various episodes, and some of the impact on listeners after having heard some of these undocumented or under documented testimonies?

>> Speaker B: Absolutely, yeah. You know, we hear messages from people every single week. People who will reach out to us or they'll leave a comment. Just a couple that come to my mind. Recently, we heard from a mom who was struggling with reading her Bible, struggling with, like, engaging, with the Lord, even though she had. She'd recently made a commitment to Christ, but she was struggling with these things. And instead she found herself continuing to watch, like, shows on Netflix or, you know, shows that really dishonor God. And she knew that she really shouldn't be doing that because, like, these shows were, like, you know, just engaging in sinful activities. And she wrote to us to say that, a few months ago, she was sitting down to watch another show that she knew was not going to feed her soul. And she was, like, on her phone, like, she was going to watch on her phone, and she knew she shouldn't. And so she prayed, like, right. She looked up right then and said, God, I know I shouldn't do this. What should I do? Right? And I don't know why, but the Holy Spirit, at that very moment on her phone, pops up a notification saying, there's a brand new Compelled episode. M And at that point in time, she had only listened to one compelled story, like a year prior or something like that. And she said that she'd never seen a notification on her phone prompting her about a compelled episode before. But she said at this very moment she's on her phone, she makes his prayer and boom. A m little notification says there's a Christian testimony to listen to on Compelled. And so she said she clicked the button, she listened to the compelled episode. And she's been consuming compelled episodes ever since, just as a way to kind of push back against her desire to watch these Netflix shows that were unhealthy for her soul. and so that was just cool. She reached us out this way. One other story I'll tell you. We had a young man reached out to us from Canada. Actually. He heard one of our testimonies that was about confession and about turning away from a double life. And he was convicted that he had never shared with anyone his pornography struggle. And he'd been addicted to pornography I think for about 20 years. And see, he wrote us an email saying that after hearing this testimony compelled about confession, he had finally gone and confessed to the pastors at his church. And now he's been walking freedom ever since. And it was just so cool to get that message and hear that man.

>> Abraham Hamilton III: That is so powerful. it is. And I hear this from parents a lot, in this kind of hyper technological world. I was even talking last night about, this statement that was put together by some tech leaders and people from all cross sections warning about the development from algorithmic learning to artificial general intelligence to artificial superintelligence, to where much of our attention spans and our capacity to consume information has kind of been impacted by the flashing sequences, a lot of the animation. Have you had any experience with families and parents in particular, sharing with you how it's been important for them to help recalibrate even their children's attention spans by setting themselves to listen and to engage with compelled episodes instead of a lot of the visual, entertainment that's so prevalent today.

>> Speaker B: I don't want to shoehorn an answer to there and say that. Oh, of course I haven't had that discussion about that in particular, although I have heard from families saying that they will, they love that it's an audio only show and that they're able to do other things. You know, they're able to drive, they're able to do a chores, they're able to do the dishes and they can listen to it. And I've heard from many families who've said that and again depends on the ages of your children. But for this one family in particular, they said they listen as a whole family and then they'll discuss it during dinner. That's just their family's weekly practice to do. We met another family. They've got, I think, they've got, let me remember. Quintuplets. And their kids I think are 12. So they got five 12 year olds.

>> Abraham Hamilton III: Oh, wow.

>> Speaker B: As a whole, I know, it's pretty crazy. Maybe they should be compelled story. I don't know. But. And so they listen as they, the 12 year olds all sit down and they all listen together as a family while they're driving places and they'll discuss that. So.

>> Abraham Hamilton III: Man, that's amazing.

>> Speaker B: Hope that answers your question.

>> Abraham Hamilton III: Yeah, no, it doesn't. And I appreciate your answer. It certainly does answer my question. for people who are tuning in, who may not be aware of how they can access Compelled, how can they find your podcast?

>> Speaker B: Well, two ways. One is you can listen to our podcast on demand anytime you feel like it'[email protected] or you could just search for Compelled on Apple podcast or Spotify, YouTube or everywhere. Also, as of earlier this year, we're actually now on American Family Radio. We broadcast it 2pm Central Time on Sundays. and you can hear our full episodes then. and it's just the Sunday block at 2pm Central Time. So that's how you can listen to our show.

>> Abraham Hamilton III: And I again wholeheartedly recommend that you do so. You do not want to miss an episode. You do not want to miss a testimony because it truly is powerful and no pun intended, compelling to hear what God is doing all across the country.

Paul Hamilton has a new venture called Redeem Health Share Ministry

Now there's a new venture that you're pursuing and if you're watching the show right now, I'm holding it in my hand because in addition to having the podcast and the radio presence, the radio show on American Family Radio. Now, Paul and your lovely wife Sarah, you have written a book, the Compelled book, Ordinary People, Extraordinary God. On the other side of this break, we're gonna get into the book. What's in it, what drove you to write it and how can people get it? You don't want to miss this. Stay tuned in right here on American Family Radio.

>> Speaker B: What if health care could be more than bills and bureaucracy? What if it could reflect faith, foster community and offer spiritual support at ah. Redeem Health Share Ministry. The mission goes beyond medical bills. It's about honoring Christ and embracing healthcare. The that aligns with Christian values. Redeem members share medical expenses through monthly.

>> Abraham Hamilton III: Contributions, supporting one another in a Christ centered community.

>> Speaker B: It's not insurance.

>> Abraham Hamilton III: It's believers helping believers through financial support and prayer.

>> Speaker B: And Redeem Health Share provides freedom for members to select the doctors, hospitals and treatments that are right for them. No networks, no restrictions, just faith treatment care.

>> Abraham Hamilton III: From everyday checkups to unexpected medical emergencies.

>> Speaker B: Redeem offers flexible programs and encouragement rooted.

>> Abraham Hamilton III: In scripture because your health care should.

>> Speaker B: Reflect your faith, not compromise it. More at, redeemhealthshare.org the Hamilton Quarter podcast and one minute commentaries are [email protected] back to the Hamilton Corner on American Family Radio.

Paul Hastings and his wife have taken what they do via podcast and have brought book

>> Abraham Hamilton III: Welcome back to the Hamilton Corner, Abraham Hamilton III here. My guest is host of the Compelled podcast, Mr. Paul Hastings. And we've been talking about his podcast but just as I mentioned before when we got went to the break that there's a new offering available and it is the Compelled Book. If you're watching the show, you can see it on your screen. I have it in my hands. And Paul and his wife have taken what they do via podcast and have brought it in book form. Paul, my man, what moved you to take this step, to plunge into putting this book together?

>> Speaker B: Sure. Well thanks for asking, Abraham. And again, thanks for letting me come and join your listeners here. it's a real privilege to get to share what God's been doing in our lives.

>> Abraham Hamilton III: Amen.

>> Speaker B: So the Compelled Book came ah, about and really, that really felt like it was kind of this miracle. What happened was ah, a particular publisher reached out to me actually I reached out to them asking if I could do buy some books from them. I missed out on a particular sale and so I emailed the publisher saying hey, I'd still like to buy these books on sale. Anyways, they emailed me back. The president actually of the company emailed me back and said, hey, by the way, I just started listening to your podcast. I love Christian testimonies and I love what you're doing with your show. Maybe we should do a book together. And my wife and I, you know, we got that email and we kind of laughed because like we had talked about maybe doing a book someday, but because it just felt as though, you know, some testimonies, lots of people love to listen to the radio, but some people, they don't listen to radio or they don't listen to podcasts, but they will read a book. And the testimonies are just as important and just as powerful. It's just a different way, a different medium. And so we began selecting seven of some of our favorite testimonies from the podcast and we rewrote them for an odd audience to consume through a book. and again, these are all true stories. These are stories from people that really experience the Lord working in radical, miraculous ways. just one example I'll give is from chapter two, and it's the true story of Don and Carol Richards Richardson. M. They moved to Papua New guinea back in the 1960s, and they were a brand new married couple. They had a six month old baby and they moved to Papua New guinea and moved in with a tribe of stone age cannibals that had never seen a person from the outside world ever. Like, they, this is the first contact with the outside world. And the cannibal tribe actually thought that, that these two people were magicians because every time they looked at them, you know, these people, they had a metal box that could fly from the sky and people like a huge bird, you know, people could get in and out of the bird, it would disappear. And they had, you know, this, this witchcraft medicine that could heal anybody of a sickness that they would have died from. And they had sticks that could, you know, make loud noises and kill an animal from, you know, 100ft away. And it was just mind blowing. It was like, you know, Robinson Crusoe almost. But this particular missionary couple, was struggling to share the gospel with this cannibal tribe because the cannibal tribe actually revered deception. That was like a core tenet of their beliefs. Deception was a great thing. And so this, this family was struggling. How do we share the gospel with a tribe that celebrates Judas, not Jesus? Judas is the hero of this, of the, of the story. And so I won't give away what happens, but there's just an incredible moment as this family realizes that God is working even despite these crazy circumstances. So that's just one of the stories that we documented in the book. There's six others and I can tell other stories. But, again, this is just a way for us to just really encapsulate what God is doing. Lee Strobel gave, us a shout out. It's on the front cover of the book also. So if you know his story from the Case for Christ, M. he loves the book and we've sent it on to a few other folks as well. So, it was just a real joy to get to write this and kind of show this and present this to a whole other group of people that wouldn't find these testimonies otherwise.

>> Abraham Hamilton III: That is remarkable. And I don't want to give the book away. but what time period are we Talking about that these missionaries went to, Papua New Guinea.

>> Speaker B: Yeah, it's around the 1960s is when they arrived. and again, it was completely cut off from the outside world. They were the very first group of people to ever encounter this tribe. and these were fearsome warriors who were accustomed to killing their enemies and feasting on their bodies. and yet, because this group of missionaries were considered to be magicians, they were treated completely differently. I'll just share one other story from the book. And this is from, September 11th, 2001. Actually, it's chapter number five, I believe, with Brian Birdwell. And Brian was a lieutenant colonel in the US army on September 11th. He was at the Pentagon on 911 when the planes crashed. When the plane crashed into the building, and Brian was about 20ft away from the impact zone. his body was blown to the other side of the room. He was set on fire. He was burning alive. But he was a Christian, though. And so he screamed out to God, he said, jesus, I'm coming to meet you. And he laid down because he had tried to get up, fell down, stand up, fall down. He was burning alive. Right. and, he screams out, jesus, I'm coming to meet you. And he laid down on the floor and waited to die. And he waited and he waited and he waited until he realized that he's still conscious, he's still alive. And he realized that he was no longer burning on fire because the one place they had laid down on the floor was directly beneath one of the last few functioning sprinkler heads in that entire wing of the building. Wow.

>> Abraham Hamilton III: That. Guys, you definitely want to get this book. You need to get this book. and not only for your own benefit, but I think this book could be a good, tool to share God's work with others through. You meet somebody in the mall or wherever you might be. Having one of these books on hand may be a helpful tool for you. It's not the conventional track, but it's something that can be used to show how God works in the lives of individuals.

Papua New Guinea amended its constitution to declare themselves a Christian nation

And, and, and, and Paul, I'm just struck by your description of. And, and I have it right here. The, the missionaries who went to Papua New guinea, they are Don and Carol Richardson, where literally just this year, earlier this year, Papua New guinea amended their constitution. I don't know if you're aware of this, but yes, yes, they amended their constitution to declare themselves a Christian nation. I guess the emails about Christian nationalism hadn't made it to Papua New Guinea. Just yet. but they. But they amended m. Their. Their constitution to add this declaration to their preamble, and it says this quote, we acknowledge and declare God the Father, Jesus Christ the Son and Holy Spirit, as our Creator and sustainer of the entire universe and the source of our powers and authorities delegated to the people and all persons within the geographical jurisdiction of, Papua New Guinea, End quote. That is included in the preamble to Papua New Guinea's constitution. And of course, I don't want to go beyond anything I know factually. Factually. But I cannot help but to think that Don and Carol Richardson's influence in this nation may have in some way contributed to the development of the nation to the point to where now they're willing to add a statement declaring themselves a Christian nation in the constitution. I don't want to go beyond what I know to be factual, but I would not be surprised if there could be a direct line that shows how their work contributed to what is happening there currently. What do you think about that, Paul?

>> Speaker B: I think you're totally right. I think it was the works of missionaries just like Don and Carol who answered the call in the 1960s. Those missionaries who went over at that time. Them as well as other missionaries who went to other tribes at the same time. Absolutely. I have no doubt about that. Absolutely.

We waived all of our royalties on this book because our heart was evangelistic

>> Abraham Hamilton III: Now, in terms of this book, and I made this statement, and I want to see what you think about this as well, because I think it could be good for individuals to get the book for themselves, but for believers that. Who may listen to your podcast already, that this actually could be a great tool to use, really, in an evangelistic sense.

>> Speaker B: Yeah, I. Actually, that's what. That was the heart of our publisher, and that's the reason that we chose to work with that publisher. So, you know, some people, they'll, you know, they make a big deal about trying to make book royalties and money off of the book. But to be clear, my wife and I, we waived all of our royalties. So whenever any of these books are sold, we don't actually make any money off of it. Our heart was for this to be an evangelistic tool. Our publisher has been super great about this. And so they basically have these bulk discount books packages where you can buy the book. I think it's like you can buy 100 copies for $2.50 each. and so just crazy cheap. I, should. $2.50 per book. Right. When you buy 100 copies, to really enable this to be an evangelism tool or a track for church. We've heard about entire churches buying this book, and giving them out to their congregants or having stacks of these books to give out to people as they come and visit churches. my wife and I, we keep a stack near our door, actually, so when the Amazon delivery guy is there, we can give him a book. we give books to people as we meet them. We carry a copy in our car. And we've heard of other families who buy these books in bulk, and they place them in little free libraries around their community. so really, again, the heart is for these stories to get out there. No one's making a bunch of money off of this. This is truly a labor of love with Kingdom story at heart. There.

Paul Strobel: How can people get The Case for Christ Work

>> Abraham Hamilton III: M. Now, I know you and your wife worked on the book, and I see it also includes, Ellie Payne. What was Ellie's contribution to the book?

>> Speaker B: Yeah, so Ellie, she was a girl who attends our church. Actually, she was 17 when my wife and I started writing the book. And we didn't tell our publisher about this. We just told our publisher, like, hey, we need some additional help to write this book. Can we work with someone else? And they said, sure. And so I think our publisher probably thought that she was, like, an experienced author, but actually, Ellie's a very talented author herself, but she's only 17 or she's now 18. So we worked with her as well. So the three of us, it was a labor of love between the three of us working together. Ellie would write kind of the first draft, my wife would do the second draft, I would do the third draft, and then it would rotate through it again.

>> Abraham Hamilton III: Got it. Man, that's fantastic, guys. This can be used as an evangelistic tool. It can be used for personal edification. It can be used to strengthen one's faith, you know, release Strobel. I'm very familiar with his work. Many of you are familiar with it. The Case for Christ Work, it is just a phenomenal tool, Paul. How can people get compelled? You mentioned that there may be bulk pricing available. How can people get this book, in particular, including the bulk pricing, to be able to maybe use it as a evangelistic tool?

>> Speaker B: Sure. Obviously, you could buy a single copy on Amazon. That's totally fine. But if you want to get the Bulk copy, either 20 copies or 100 copies, you have to go to our publisher's website. The easiest way to find that is just go to compelledpodcast.com and there's an image of our book there. Just click that image and That'll take you right to our publisher page.

>> Abraham Hamilton III: Man, that is, that is absolutely fantastic. That is absolutely fantastic.

Paul, you prepare the Compelled podcast in seasons

So I know that you prepare the Compelled podcast in seasons. I know that. I know that you, and your wife work, ah, diligently compiling testimonies before you release them. What can people look forward to? If you want to give us a sneak peek to kind of wet the palate, if you will, for what's coming next through your podcast, as well as some what, any other ministerial endeavors that you're engaged in. Because I know you always have many, many irons in the fire.

>> Speaker B: Paul, the book, the story that we're most excited about, that we're hopefully going to record very soon. I've been corresponding via snail mail with a gentleman. I think he's 91 or 92. He is one of the last living kamikaze pilots from Imperial Japan.

>> Abraham Hamilton III: Wow.

>> Speaker B: He never flew his mission and, he became a Christian. It's an incredible story. He lives in America and he's about 92 years old. he's got a profound testimony of God's transformation of his heart. Going from a guy ready to die for the false God Emperor of Japan, now willing to die for the true God of the universe.

>> Abraham Hamilton III: Oh, wow. That is, that's absolutely fantastic to hear. Now, I know a little bit of the process that you employ as you pursue these interviews and man, I can't wait to hear, from this pilot, the last living kamikaze pilot. As you have traversed the country and maybe even the world in some instances, compiling these testimonies. How have they compelled you in your walk with the Lord Jesus Christ?

>> Speaker B: Wow. Such a great question. You know, a lot of times my wife and I, we've talked about this, and sometimes we are experiencing a moment of suffering, whether it be physical suffering, sickness. right now we've been going through a long season of mold sickness. our previous house had a bunch of mold in it. And so we now working through that and we've gone through really difficult things just as our own family, but it gives us perspective as we remember some of these guests that we've had in our show. And, you know, people who were kidnapped by terrorists or held hostage or, or had incredible moments of, other suffering. And we could see how they went through their really tough moments. But they also knew that God was faithful. And maybe they did not have their fairytale Cinderella ending that they wanted, but they always knew that the Lord was on their side and he carried them through those circumstances. And so that's been Very encouraging to my wife and I. I don't claim that we can apply that perfectly in our own lives, but it's something that we found a lot of encouragement from.

>> Abraham Hamilton III: Oh, man, that is so good. That is so good.

Paul Hamilton: How can suffering aid us in our sanctification in Christ

I want to kind of ask a follow up in this regard, because the concept of suffering in our current context in our nation is something really that's foreign to many believers. Just if you would, in about maybe 30 seconds, how can suffering, frankly, aid us in our journey and our sanctification in Christ?

>> Speaker B: You know, one of the things that I remember is when Christ actually, it's the Apostle Paul, he talks about through the trials that we've been, hit with, we are now able to come comfort those with the comfort that we have received. And again, that's another thing. When we experience suffering, we do receive comfort from the Lord. But let's not just say that for our own selves. Later on, we're going to encounter other people. They're going through tough moments, and we need to turn around and extend to them the grace that we received from the Lord at that same time.

>> Abraham Hamilton III: Paul, thank you for your time. please tell your wife I said hello. And allowing you to spend a few moments with us here on the Hamilton Corner. I'm so grateful for your work, your life, your ministry, folks compelled the podcast. Check in, compelled the book. You need a bunch of copies to distribute.

>> Speaker B: The views and opinions expressed in this broadcast may not necessarily reflect those of the American Family association or American Family Radio.

0:00 - 15:00. Revelation 12:10-11 (NASB95). Testimony is a powerful tool in God’s Kingdom.

15:00 - 31:00. Paul Hastings, host of the “Compelled” podcast, returns to “The Corner” to discuss his new book.

31:00 - 48:00. Documenting testimonies for posterity is a key component to establishing generation fidelity to Christ.

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