The Hamilton Minute

Forever, O Lord, your word is firmly fixed in the heavens. Psalm 119:89 (ESV)

My name is Abraham Hamilton III, and this is the Hamilton Minute.

The American republic was founded on the principle that rights are given to us by God, not man.  As a result, men nor government can take them away. That’s why our Declaration of Independence refers to our rights as inalienable rights.

Government’s role then is to protect the rights that God has given to us.

The first freedom listed in the bill of rights, which government is entrusted to protect, is religious liberty.  The founders did this because they know that free exercise of religion is the fulcrum for all liberty.

Wherever the flame of religious liberty is extinguished, all liberty is imperiled.

Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, "Rise and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.  This is a desert place."

My name is Abraham Hamilton III, and this is the Hamilton Minute.

At the height of a Holy Spirit outpouring in Samaria, when the gospel was being preached with great power, and droves of people were converting to follow Christ, the Lord instructed Philip to leave Samaria and head south to Gaza.  Philip didn't know what divine appointment awaited him.  Through his ministry to the Ethiopian eunuch, the gospel would spread to Africa.

He left the crowd to serve one.

I call this "step-down faith."

It's easy to step up for the attention and applause of the masses, but do we have step-down faith?

There were added that day about 3000 souls."

My name is Abraham Hamilton III and this is the Hamilton Minute.

The day of Pentecost concluded with 3000 converts being added to the initial body of 120 believers.  Then that 3120 spent time together daily going to the temple and interacting in each other’s homes. They devoted themselves continually to the apostle’s teaching, fellowship, sharing meals together and praying together.

The 3120 that made up the early church came from Turkey, the middle east and Africa, and included Arabs and Romans.  In addition to the geographic and ethnic diversity, they also spoke different languages.  Yet they were made one family in Christ Jesus.

Scripture has the answer to the issues we face today.

"And Moses said, ‘I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned’” Exodus 3:3.

My name is Abraham Hamilton, III and this is The Hamilton Minute.

In the burning bush encounter Scripture records that it began as Moses kept Jethro’s flock Exodus 3:1.

“When the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, 'Moses, Moses!' And he said, 'Here I am'" Exodus 3:4.

Notice, God didn’t speak to Moses until He gave full attention to what God was trying to show him.

Diligent attention to daily duty is necessary.  We must be careful, however, not to allow duty to become an idol.  Are our hearts still sensitive to God? Can God still get our attention?

"For just as the body is one and has many members and all the members of the body, though they be many are one body, so it is with Christ.  For the body does not consist of one member, but of many."

My name is Abraham Hamilton III, and this is The Hamilton Minute.

Look briefly at one of your fingers.

You've just witness one of the greatest displays of God's creative intent there is.  No other person in all the world, even an identical twin, shares your fingerprint.

God specifically designed each of us to be unique.  That means we shouldn't try to carbon-copy anyone else in the Christian faith.

If God made you an arm in His body, or a kneecap, praise be to our glorious God for drawing us to become a part of His body.

How freeing it is to realize that we were never meant to copy anyone but Jesus.

“Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward” Hebrews 10:35 (ESV).

My name is Abraham Hamilton, III and this is The Hamilton Minute.

Sometimes there’s a delay between crying out to God in prayer and seeing those prayers answered.

It is imperative for us in those times that we don’t waver in our confidence in our God.

The next verse goes on to say, “For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised.” Hebrews 10:36 (ESV).

You see, the delay between supplication and delivered answer is one of the ways God develops endurance in us.

He desires that the roots of our faith grow down deep, that we become trees planted by rivers of living water … steadfast, immovable, always abounding in His work. In this we grow beyond superficial Christianity.

Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, what about this man?”

My name is Abraham Hamilton, III and this is The Hamilton Minute.

At the climax of the account when Jesus restored Peter’s personal relationship with him, and Peter’s call to ministry, He saw John following them.

Jesus had just predicted that Peter would give his life for the Gospel, when Peter said, “What about John, LORD?”

Jesus responded, “What does he have to do with your calling? You follow me.”

With those words, Jesus hit a consistent flaw of the human condition.  We derive value and self-worth by comparing ourselves to other people.

Your ups, your downs, your failures, your victories were never meant to be compared to other people.

We have been called to serve an audience of One. The only approval you need is His.

"So Aaron took it as Moses said and ran into the midst of the assembly. And behold, the plague had already begun among the people. And he put on the incense and made atonement for the people. And he stood between the dead and the living, and the plague was stopped" Numbers 16:47-48 (ESV).

My name is Abraham Hamilton, III and this is The Hamilton Minute.

Often, when the concept of intercession is raised, we normally think about prayer and we should. Prayer is one form of intercession.

Here, we see another – living intercession.

At the climax of a plague, Aaron runs into the fray, armed with incense, and where he stands, the plague stops. Aaron literally stands between the living and the dead.

May God move us to be living intercessors for our day, and where we take our stand in Christ, the plague stops!

You shall have no other gods before me.

My name is Abraham Hamilton III, and this is the Hamilton Minute.

In 1954 Americans lived under constant threat of nuclear attack from the USSR.

When American children practiced duck and cover in classrooms across the country, President Eisenhower realized that our pledge had no distinction from any other republic.

After hearing a sermon on February 7^th of that year, President Eisenhower signed a law adding the words “under God” to our pledge.

The president recognized the true source of unity, of indivisibility is unwavering submission to the God of the bible.

As we go about our day, let us all remember the only true source of national unity is submission to almighty God.

"Immediately He made the disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, while He dismissed the crowds” Matthew 14:22.

My name is Abraham Hamilton, III and this is The Hamilton Minute.

Here Jesus instructed His disciples to cross a lake and meet Him on the other side of it. As they went, they were met by a violent wind storm that halted their progress.

Often in our Christian lives we receive clear instruction from the LORD, only to be met by an obstacle that halts our progress. We must, however, recognize that the onset of a storm does not cancel out God’s instructions.

Halted progress does not equal denied destination.

When Jesus directed the disciples to go to the other side, He absolutely meant for them to get there.

Delay does not equal denial.

"Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord."

My name is Abraham Hamilton III and this is the Hamilton Minute.

Statistics show that children who grow up without a father are 5 times more likely to live in poverty and commit crime. They’re 9 times more likely to drop out of school and 20 times more likely to end up in prison. Yet the percentage of children born to fatherless homes has skyrocketed in America. As of 2015, 25 percent of white, 53 percent of Hispanic and 73 percent of black babies are born into fatherless homes.

While Scripture teaches that the weight of raising children in the discipline and instruction of the Lord falls upon fathers, seems like we need a movement that says fatherhood matters.

“Then David said to Saul, ‘I cannot go with these, for I have not tested them.' So David put them off” 1 Samuel 17:39.

My name is Abraham Hamilton, III and this is The Hamilton Corner.

As David prepared to face Goliath, Saul tried to outfit David with Saul’s personal armor. But David didn’t have Saul’s armor when he faced the lion or the bear, and David realized he did not need the armor to slay Goliath.

Today, many Christians yield to the temptation to be hipper, cooler, and even a little fuzzy on the clear teachings of Scripture in order to face the Goliaths of our day. But Jesus said, “If I be lifted up, I will draw all men" John 12:32.

We don’t need a cool light show to be an ambassador for Christ. All we need is to offer what we have freely received.

We know the transforming power of Christ because He has transformed us.

I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

My name is Abraham Hamilton, III and this is The Hamilton Minute.

What are gates? They are defensive tools used to keep stuff out, to keep an advancing force at bay.

Too often the enemy is successful in putting Christians on defense, when the facts are the Lord established His church as an aggressive, offensive, territory-taking body.

The Lord never meant for us to sit on the sidelines of life or to cower in the corner as a result of the wickedness in our culture.

A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. The light of the world cannot be contained.

The Lord is building His church and the mamby-pamby gates of Hell shall not prevail against us.

Blessed is the man who doesn’t walk in the counsel of the wicked nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scoffers.

My name is Abraham Hamilton III, and this is the Hamilton Minute.

One word has proven to be debilitating in our society: the D-word.  Discrimination.

What we fail to realize is discrimination is not automatically a dirty concept. We discriminate against thieves and murderers when we send them to prison. We discriminated against sexual predators by keeping them away from children. And yes, we rightly discriminated against men when we keep them out of women’s restrooms.

According to Psalm 1, we have to discriminate against the counsel of the wicked in order to be blessed. Good thing God isn’t debilitated by the D-word.

“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God – what is good and acceptable and perfect” Romans 12:2 (ESV).

My name is Abraham Hamilton, III and this is The Hamilton Minute.

Paul’s epistle to the Romans was written to believers. This verse highlights the fact that it’s possible for Christians to be conformed to the world’s ways.

The word “conformed” there means to be squeezed into the mold of another. Rather than to be squeezed into the world’s mold, the Lord requires us to be transformed by having our minds renewed by God’s Word.

Everything about us must be held up to the light of Scripture. And whenever there’s any discrepancy, we must be transformed.

But be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.  James 1:22.

My name is Abraham Hamilton III, and this is the Hamilton Minute.

This Scripture underscores the harrowing reality that permeates the life of many who profess to be Christians. The blessing of being a Christ follower comes not only from hearing God’s Word, but obeying it.

James continues, “for if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror.  For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like.  But the one who looks into the perfect law of liberty and perseveres, being not a hearer who forgets, but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing."

“So then, you will know them by their fruits.” Matthew 7:20 (NASB).

My name is Abraham Hamilton, III and this is The Hamilton Minute.

The U.S. Army’s 101st Airborne Division has been deployed to Europe for the first time since World War II amid soaring tension between Russia and the American-led NATO military alliance.

Nicknamed the “Screaming Eagles,” the 101st Airborne is trained to deploy on any battlefield in the world within hours, ready to fight, and they are now practicing for war with Russia only three miles away from Romania’s border with Ukraine.

The stated deployment purpose is to "support our NATO allies." It’s harrowing to consider, but with Russia’s nuclear saber rattling, has the stage been set for World War III?

“'You shall do no injustice in judgment; you shall not be partial to the poor nor defer to the great, but you are to judge your neighbor fairly.” Leviticus 19:15 (NASB).

My name is Abraham Hamilton, III and this is The Hamilton Minute.

Investigative Journalist and ABC Producer James Gordon Meek had his apartment raided by the FBI on the morning of April 27th.

He hasn’t been seen publicly since then. After that morning, Meek vacated the apartment, which he’d rented the last 10 years, resigned from his job at ABC and withdrew from a book project concerning the Afghanistan withdrawal, a project he’d previously promoted on social media.

Meek, a journalist known for exposing government corruption, vanishes just before his Afghanistan book comes out.

“So then, you will know them by their fruits.” Matthew 7:20 (NASB).

My name is Abraham Hamilton, III and this is The Hamilton Minute.

Contrary to popular expectations, the New York gubernatorial race between Incumbent Kathy Hochul and challenger Lee Zeldin is surprisingly tight. In a telling exchange between the two during a recent debate, Kathy Hochul revealed a trait that is all too familiar among Regressives. They implement policies that damage their underlings, yet they remain unscathed by them.

Lee Zeldin queried Hochul as to why she was comfortable traversing the debate without addressing New York’s ascendant and uncontrolled crime problem. Hochul responded, “I don’t know why that’s so important to you.”

Crime is the top issue for likely NY voters, but not that important to Hochul.

“Live as free men, and do not use your freedom as a covering for evil.” 1 Peter 2:16(a) (NASB).

My name is Abraham Hamilton, III and this is The Hamilton Minute.

Question voting results and you’re an election denier and a conspiracy theorist who poses an existential threat to our democracy. That is unless your name rhymes with Killary Sminton.

She who shall never be president has returned and she’s now saying “right-wing extremists” plan to literally steal the 2024 presidential election.

Recent history has shown us that when Regressives make accusations like this, especially preemptively, they’re often projecting onto others what they are actually doing.

Seems like this is another example of that as she may very well plan to run again in 2024.