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Jun 7, 2024 · 49 minutes

Intentional Investment Into the Family

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Show notes

0:00 - 15:00. Psalm 78:5-7. Generational faithfulness is the product of intentional investment. 15:00 - 31:00. Direct from HEAV’s 41st Annual Convention… Mrs. Hamilton has something to say. 31:00 - 48:00. Fathers are essential for generational witness.

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Transcript

8,990 words, in two-minute parts. Made by machine, so a few words may be off.

0:0048:50

  1. 0:00

    Darkness is not an affirmative force. It simply reoccupies the space vacated by the light. This is the Hamilton Corner on American Family Radio. It should be uncomfortable for a believer to live as a hypocrite. Delivery people out of the bondage of mainstream media. And the philosophies of this world. God has called you and me to be his ambassador. Even in this dark moment. Let's not miss our moment. And now, the Hamilton Corner. Well, welcome to the Hamilton Corner, Abraham Hamilton the third year. Thank you for tuning in to the program. We are here at the HEAV 41st annual home school convention. Everybody's in the room. You're welcome. Welcome to the breakout session. We're doing double duty here with the breakout session and a recording for the program. And so I'm excited to be here for this morning. It's been an amazing, amazing convention already, getting to participate in various sessions, seeing the full schedule of full format. This is a great place to be if you are new to homeschooling. If you're considering whether or not this is something God would have for you, a convention just like the one we're at right now was something I highly, highly, highly recommended. Something that my wife and I actually did as we were considering what course of action we'd pursue years ago, man, it's been a long time. It's been what? Fourteen years ago, twelve years ago. we started our journey. What did you think? 13 years ago, that's right. 13 years ago before we started our journey, and so that's such a great amount of resources, curriculum sale, that's available, seeing all the things that are available to you to recognize that, man, you don't have to be dependent on any governmental source to pour into your family and to recognize that what goes on in your house, truly, truly, truly is more important than what goes on in the White House. So as I often do, I'll introduce parts of my team here in Richmond, Virginia to my right right now. on my right. Mr. J. Mac, producer of extraordinary sitting right next to me. It's always cool for people to get to see him in person. Y'all can clap for Jeff, that's cool y'all clap for Jeff. He also can clap for Jeff's biceps, you know, they deserve their own welcome and invitation. And back at AFR home base, Mr. Bobby, Rosa is there as well. We're ready to rock and roll with today's edition of the program. And I do mean what I say at this very moment, of you, if not most of you are transitioning, not in the commonly discussed sense now. 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, as I do on a regular basis, that what goes on in your house is far more important than what goes on in the White House. I say that not to denigrate or to minimize or to ignore the significance of what over-office occupants do, but simply to highlight the fact that as important as their jobs are, they shouldn't trump the importance of your job in my job and we have the wherewithal to impact what happens in our home we may not be able to control what kind of ice cream mr. Robin is gonna eat today we can't control whether or not he knows where a seat is oh my goodness but we have control over what we do with the time that God has given us one of the things we talk about in our home all the time is the fact that time is a gift that God has given us the scripture tells us in the beginning God created the world has a beginning it's amazing how the scientific community, finally catching up to that fact.

  2. 3:27

    You know, and one of the features of his creation is the phenomenon we call time. We all have the same amount of it. And the Lord has blessed us with tools, watches, calendars, things of that nature to measure the passage of time. That measurement should include on our end an assessment as to how we're using the time that God has given us. You know, how are we using? Are we wasting? Are we allowing, with the Scripture describes as civilian affairs to entangle us? knows we have civilian affairs that we have to address. You know, I say all the time, I'm a husband, I'm a father, I got bills like everybody else. But the Lord's will is for me not to be entangled, bogged down, ensnared by those things so much so to where they detract me away from his eternal purposes. Though we're living in this temporal station, we are living really for eternity. But with the time that we have currently, in the temporal station that we are in, God has given us the privilege and opportunity to be faithful. We have a responsibility to respond accordingly to think that God has given us in the format of time. So as you are listening to this program, as you are making your transition, I want to simply encourage you and remind you that the first human institution that God created was the family with marriage at the center. The first command that God gave to mankind was given within the familial context. None of that is coincidental. All of it is a product of God's divine ordinance helping us to understand what our lives priorities should consist of. And I had the opportunity yesterday in different sessions, as we talked about the reality of we who are parents at this juncture, and I'm not ignoring grandparents and others, but we who are parents, we need to come face to face with the reality that this is one area of faithfulness that does have a time stamp if you will on it. You know, right now, man, it's amazing. My oldest son is 13 years old now. Good gracious. I can remember when he was a little tight. The reality is within, we don't get to go back and do 10 years old again. We don't get to redo eight years old. We don't get to redo seven. You know, all we have is what we have. And as many of you listening to me, you have older children. Excuse me, I got a sneeze. I don't have my normal cough, but those of you who have older children, you recall how quickly that time period passed. You know, how quickly that time passed. So what are we doing with that time? What are we going to do with it?

  3. 5:42

    How are we going to utilize that? It is incumbent upon us as we take full advantage of the opportunity that God has afforded us that we are maximally faithful. You know, nominally, not minimally, but maximally faithful with the time that God has given us. So as you're making your transition, I want you to be mindful of the fact if you have not done so before, let today be the day where you begin to invest in your home. If you are not intentional, the world will give you priority. The world will tell you what to do at your time. The world will tell you what should be significant in your life. But we have the wherewithal, if you are a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, He has given us His Word to help us to understand where our priorities must be as believers. It is the Lord's command to us that we are to execute this commission, which often ignored or neglected, or even maybe not even understood, is that right in our homes, we have an internal opportunity to execute our king's commission. So let us be about our father's business. Today we're gonna turn to Psalm 78. It is described as a masculine of ASAF, a masculine is a particular type of Psalm, often use this analogy when describing these types of things in scripture. We're from the English phenomenon called poetry, but within the overarching genre, if you will, of poetry, they are sub-genres like sonnets. You have Shakespearean sonnets. It's a particular type of poem. Well, you have the book of Psalms that are filled with Psalms, which are really songs, but a Mascul is a particular type of Psalm. And in this Psalm, you have a portion of it that I have been gripped by, convicted by, and I pray that it will be in the source of encouragement for you as it has been for me. And this is what the Word of God says. Psalm 78 verse five, he says, for he established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers, that's one generation, that they should teach them to their children, a second generation, that the generation to come might know even the children yet to be born. It's a third generation.

  4. 7:44

    That they may arise and tell them to their children. Fourth, that they should put their confidence in God and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments. It is amazing to me to consider that God has ordained for us. I said this yesterday that I've been saying this quite a bit, that the creator of heaven and earth, who then put on human flesh, when referring to the creation account, that's a good pass there, a good catch, complete. Describe the marital union as its designer, which makes him alone as a definer, for this call shall a man leave his father and mother, and a two shall be joined together and be one flesh, that God knowing that Adam and Eve have no biological parentage, He yet introduces into the human experience the concept of fatherhood and motherhood. This underscores the reality that God has something very specific in mind concerning fatherhood and motherhood. These are not merely relational dispositions. These are not merely biological observations. I've described them. God has ordained fatherhood and motherhood to be stations of mission. You see here one of the intrinsic features of God's view of fatherhood is that fathers have a responsibility to be generational in our investment, our vision, and the scope of our impact. He who have God saying that he established a testimony in Israel, appointed a law in Israel, that he commands a father's, that they should teach them to their children. One of the realities that God has designed fatherhood to include intrinsically is that fathers are ordained by God to lead and are ultimately held accountable for teaching our children, and not just teaching our children in a general sense, but with a specific direction or trajectory as we talked about last night in mind.

  5. 9:53

    Now, as I'm saying this, God knows very well that when he refers to fathers, you can't have fathers without mothers. So he's not addressing fathers in isolation, but he's continuously addressing fathers in the same way that the Apostle Paul, by the Spirit, writes in Ephesians 6-4, fathers do not exacerbate your children, rather rear them in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, in the pidea and nuthisia of the Lord. Again, when the Lord says something to Father, she knows that mothers are involved in it, but he's revealing that fathers are ultimately accountable, which is why when you have the rebellion that transpires in the garden, and if you know you follow me, I don't recall it at all, because it was an intentional act of treason against the high and holy God. When the treasonous act takes place, when God comes to calling, he doesn't say, hey, oh, where you at? No, he says, Adam, where are you? And one thing you'll find, whenever God asks the question, it's recorded in the description, it's not because he doesn't know the answer. Whenever God asks a question, it's because he's probing the recipient of that question to consider it a ponder deeper. Adam, where are you? It wasn't a question of geolocation. It's not like his wifi was off and couldn't find them because their cell phone wasn't connected to the tower. It's a communication of a breach in relationship, a breach in intimacy that Adam is ultimately held responsible for. Similarly in Ephesians 6-4, and I've explained this before, you look at Paul's Epistles with Ephesians and the original Greek manuscripts, first of all, there are no chapter and verse demarcations, but secondarily, the first half of the book is written in the indicative form, indicating who we are in Christ. That's where we get glowing transcendent theological maxims, like for you are dead in trespasses and sins, but you are quickened alive together in Christ Jesus. That's an indication of what you are, now that you're in Christ, and it's particularly noteworthy that the Lord is saying this to Gentile Ephesians, with their entire history of paganism and all of the hedonistic things that existed prior to the regeneration, but now that you're in Christ, you are a new creature. Well, the second half of the book is written in the imperative mood.

  6. 11:55

    It's commands, and among the commands in the second half of the book of Ephesians, the Lord commands fathers, don't exacerbate your children, rather, to rear them in the Pidea and New Theezy of the Lord, the nurture and admonition of the Lord. The word Pidea and Greek simply means the whole training of the mind and the morals. This idea of dividing, you know, reading, writing and arithmetic from spiritual development is a worldly notion. Because spiritual development for God's standpoint includes the cultivation of the mind. That's why Jesus tells us, you know, the worship of the Lord with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. But one of the things that has been following our culture is that we've seeded the authority. we see the ground of my cultivation to the godless. And the story of unfortunately American churchy entity, not to be confused with Christianity by the way, because church familiarity is not synonymous with Christ following, is that the world has encroach continuously, uninterruptedly into the world and carried off as spoils of war, captives, really for the cause of the enemy. Now their bodies may be physically present and youth groups and whatsoever you may be, but their hearts and minds are not, which is why there's such a consistent phenomenon that many of you sitting in this room might even identify, man, we're always continuing with world and it's even in our churches. Where's that coming from? Because we see the decolivation of the mind to a godless source and the fundamental reality is that discipleship is a constant. It's gonna happen whether we want it to happen or not. The question is who is doing the discipling? And Jesus explained when the student is fully trained, it's gonna be just like his teacher. So if we're looking at fruit and we're like, man, I don't like what that's coming from. need to ask, well, who's been the teacher? No, so getting back to the text, the scripture reveals that God has commanded fathers to have generational vision, generational outlook, but generational investment. So much so, so that fathers should teach their children. Verse 5, so that the generation to come might know even children yet to be born. Do you realize God requires you and me, fathers is this room to invest ourselves and our families in such a way so that our grandchildren and great-grandchildren will forget not the work of God but keep his commandments. This is the qualitative investment.

  7. 14:19

    That doesn't mean you can't be an investment banker. That doesn't mean you can't be a hedge fund operator. That doesn't mean you can't be a fortune 500 CEO. That doesn't mean you can't be a painter, small business operator, plumber, lawyer, doctor. No matter what the occupational discipline may be, See those can vary, but you know what should not vary? For the children, the arrows invested into the heritage of a Christian family, with a Christian man at the helm of his family? Our children should be reared to forget not the works of God and keep his commandments. This is a pinnacle responsibility for men of God. Shiting, light into the darkness, this is the Hamilton Corner on American Family Radio. Welcome back to the Hamilton Corner. Here on American Family Radio, welcome to you all in the breakout session at the HEAV41st Annual Home School Convention. I am joined by my favorite guest, if you've ever watched the show or heard the show, you know who I'm talking about when I say my favorite guest, my guest is the mother of our six children, my lovely wife. I call her the matriarch of Hamiltonia, who's made the decision. I do call her the, who's made the decision to invest her gifts talents, her abilities into joining me and our mandate to build our family, to build our home, while we have young children under our roof. We know what time is coming, whether it will no longer be there, at which time our mission collectively will have an additional nuance to it. But for the time being, that is where we're focused. Mrs. Maria Hamilton, the first welcome. Hey, thank you for having me to the program. Well, I've agreed to have you for life. So having It was not a big deal. That is true. That is true. I'm glad you hold your word. Yes. Well, when I asked you to join me on the program, I wanted to talk to you a bit about the significance of maintaining in terms of belief system perspective, but not just belief system, but application of biblical worldview.

  8. 16:30

    And while we're here at the H.E.A.B. Home School of Convention, I thought it would be appropriate to discuss that, particularly in the context of marriage, but also in investing ourselves in discipling our children, which includes the cultivation of the mind. Yeah, I think it's very important that we remember that God has revealed Himself to us. God reveals Himself through creation and He reveals Himself through special revelation in His Word. And so I think it's important that we always maintain that as a foundation of our understanding of life and then how that affects our marriage or impacts our marriage. And so God revealing Himself to us in a certain way, because you know now the trend is you worship anything and you worship the universe and all these things. But God is God. Elohim is God. YHWH, the God of Israel is the one we worship. And so He has revealed Himself to us, praise God. When you think about that, the Creator God, most high that created everything has revealed Himself to us. That just blows my mind. So when we consider that, that has to be our foundation and our anchor on how we address Things why because he's creator God so by right he has defined the terms right he's defined What truth is and what right is versus what is wrong? And so if we have that as our foundation then I can address him properly You know deal with him properly love him properly and likewise vice versa in our marriage so it glorifies God Yes, but he has revealed himself and I think that's foundation Whenever I turn to the topic and I'll never forget this dr. Renton Rathbun who is here I don't know if any of you guys have been to any of his sessions yet. He is the director of World View at Bob Jones University. He has provided a definition that I have used ever since I heard him. And I was like, yes, that is exactly right because he highlights when most people talk about world view and having a biblical world view, we start by describing us, you know, the lens that we wear and how we see and how we view. And I wrote it down, I haven't memorized, but I don't want to really just make sure I don't mess it up.

  9. 18:30

    But he says a biblical worldview is God's explanation of his world through his word for his image bearers. Let's say that again. A biblical worldview is God's explanation of his world through his word for his image bearers. Then he added this additional application description. God's image bearers then use God's word to interpret his world and align ourselves with God's explanation. Amen. That is a clear and beautiful description of what is necessary. Now what I want to add to that is many times when people discuss having a biblical worldview and we have great apologists. One of my favorite is Dr. Jason Lyle who was literally an astrophysicist. You know, Jay Warner Wallace, he's deer and deer in my heart because he has a background in criminal law. Like I have a background in criminal law yet he from the law enforcement side like KP sitting sitting over here, me from the attorney side, you know, you have a host of others to do so, but a biblical worldview is not merely for external utilization. And what I mean by that is not merely to be used to tell those folks how they should see things and how they're supposed to live. The first utilization of a biblical worldview is internal. How do we see ourselves? How do we see the people closest to us? How do we see our spouses? How do we see our children. So that internal application is necessary just as much as the external application is necessary. And I think a lot of people, even people who profess to be Christians, falter in that point because we forget, man, you know what, if I'm a Christian, my first opportunity to live and act Christianly will be to the people who are closest to me. Right. Yeah. Yeah. Right. And you do. You do a good job. Frasica. Well, thank you. Yeah, but it's been, it's been, we've He's been married 15 years, 15? He does better with the yaw. He really does. 16, that's okay. Yeah, see, okay, thank you for the grace.

  10. 20:33

    But so in the years though, we learned, we are very different. Okay, him and I are very different. You guys know more about him through the show. We are very different in the way that we have for us information and the way that we just do things. But man, the Lord has brought us together and I need him and he needs me. the thing that we've embraced based on our worldview is transformation and character. And so, you know, we can claim our differences and our personalities, but at the end of the day, we must be transformed to reflect Christ. And so we've helped each other in that praise of Lord and has brought us to a place where we can function as one. And we can be one like the word calls us to be how the Lord desires for us to be. And so it's been a great blessing to be able to do that with you. So the next layer of the conversation where I wanted to direct us toward is having that as a foundational establishment and not just kind of a one and done phenomenon. Yeah, I love you. You love me with Christian. Let's go forward. But consistently checking in with each other. How are you doing? And it's like a corny thing that we've adopted, but it works for us. Simply saying, you know, how's your love tank? You know, it's not enough for me to tell you I love you. do you feel love about me today? Am I speaking to you in a God-honoring manner, the manner that you feel edified by the way that I speak to you? Having that as an established foundational, relational metrics for ourselves, we then grow to the place to where now we have oneness and mission. Because marriage, unfortunately people misconstrue the reality that marriage has a benefit called companionship, but the purpose of marriage is not companionship, God has put us together for the mission He has for us. And so how would you maybe describe the significance of having that understanding, foundational worldview and apply between to us together, going forward to have a oneness and a unity in mission? Yeah, so for the oneness has to be worked out intentionally.

  11. 22:37

    Again, and I think the only thing that really brings about oneness is character formation because we're both growing an intimacy as we are transformed, and as we become more like Jesus. And I'm not talking about perfection, but I am talking about changing at the heart level. And so the more we do that, then the more we understand what God has called us to, why He's joined us together and what He's called us to. And I think for us specifically, the Lord has really given us a mission. I'm so grateful that God had in His plans to reveal to us our mission in life. And so, and He revealed it to you. And I embraced it because I know and I've known and I've trusted his walk with the Lord. And of course the Lord reveals it and so we know how we're walking and where we're heading. But I think it's important that we understand that that is our mission, that way we have a goal. And instead of, which happens a lot, and it's very unfortunate, it is not the will of God in marriages, where you have, I describe it as two ships, you know, sailing in the same direction, but they're individual ships versus being on the same ship. And we are both on the same ship going in the same direction, in the same direction, excuse me. and the direction is given to us by God. And I don't know if you want to go into the direction for us, but generally speaking, there is a mission that God has given us and my gifts, my talents, my, you know, the way that God made me, you know, he needs me, you understand, like the, the, what I say is I bring so much blessings to his life because he is sanctified by being married to me. He has to grow in patience and in godliness, he does, so it's a blessing, it's a blessing. And likewise, right? So, but we are on the same ship. And so when we have that direction, that instruction from God, our disagreements are different, right? Of course, he's the son of God, so I'm going to respect him, honor him, in the way that we disagree, you know, in those moments of difficulty. But when we have a mission, those problems and those disagreements are seen differently, and you probably explained this better than I can, but they're seen differently because we have a goal, and we're in the same team, and we're going in the same direction.

  12. 24:42

    And so those things, those disagreements, the enemy will use to tear us apart. And we don't wanna allow that. He's the enemy, not each other. Yeah, and one of the major things that we often have to remind ourselves is that disagreements do not give us a license to sin against each other. Amen. Amen. And if we do sin against each other, we have the obligation before God to humble ourselves and repent. Amen, and forgive, amen. Immediately, and forgive. And when you have the trajectory or the reality of two ships that may be parallel in the same direction, you have the possibility for one to be traveling at a different speed, to one to take a break when the other's not necessarily taking a break. And what I wanted to bring this conversation toward was within the commitment that God brought us through, some people have their generational kind of legacy folks who homeschooled. That's not our testimony. We didn't know anybody who homeschooled, but the Lord called us to it and put us in this direction. But oftentimes what can happen is that a bulk of the day-to-day responsibility can rest on the wives. And sometimes wives can become resentful, become burned out, husbands can become checked out. And we can say, well, I'm going to commit myself to being a provider, we make material provision, but we don't offer substantive provision. We don't offer tangible evidence of support, let alone engagement in the day-to-day function of the home. So how would you describe the necessity of a father in the provision aspect? Yes, but also in the substantive investment in the home's mission, particularly as it pertains to the children? Yeah. You know, our understanding of homeschooling, man, the Lord has brought us through a journey because at first it was, first of all, I was terrified of homeschool.

  13. 26:42

    At first, I was like, I can't do that. They won't learn anything. You know, I was, and- I'll interject this, this real brief. Yeah. I brought up homeschooling to my wife, and I kid you not. I said, well babe, what do you think about homeschooling? She said homeschooling, think about homeschooling. I don't think about homeschooling. That's what she said. I had never thought about homeschooling as an option, but I am so grateful that the Lord opened my eyes. And here we are. And so we've homeschooled from the beginning, praise God. But here's the thing. when we started homeschooling, the Lord showed us that it wasn't just about academics. Now, yes, that's important. And my children have learned to read. Praise the Lord, we're there, right? Okay. And so, but, so that was, you know, originally I was afraid then the Lord was made it very clear that that's what I needed to do and invest my life in that, right? So I've done that. But it goes beyond academics. It goes beyond academics. And so he's shown that to us as well, that it is not just teaching to read and write and do math and praise the Lord that they can do that. But man, and they glorify him through that. But if we limited to academics, anybody can do it, technically. What God has called us to is shape the heart of the child. And he says it in Psalm 78, what is the instruction? It is teaching the next generation who he is, what he has done, who he is, right? And so that's important. For us, it is home discipleship. And I don't wanna get, you know, within to the words. But when we say homeschooling, we are trying to shape the hearts of our children by the power of God. And so for your role, right, I can do the math and the reading and the little ones. And then you help me with like civics and things that I'm like, who can do that praise the Lord that you come in for that academically. But man, the day to day forming the heart of a child, I don't want to cry, is so much work. And I'm going to expect this. You can cry. I feel like Oprah. No, but I'm not like Oprah.

  14. 28:42

    That's right. Let's get that straight. So I'm saying that to transform and again it is a power of God. Hear me. I'm not saying in my power, but I'm saying by the power of God to be intentional about shaping the heart of children in every circumstance. Like you know the common understanding of pick your battles. Right like when you're dealing with children and one of them is right there and whoo, right? I have the grace for a reason and but pick your battles. I don't I don't I don't aspire I don't adhere to that because Every battle the enemy is trying to take them and we can't just back down and say oh, he's just three two whatever No, the heart of the child must be always taught and all and and and directed in the right path Yes, there is grace and all of that, but we have to be intentional about revealing to the child their heart and then this is a straight edge, then holding their disposition, their selfishness, their sin against the word of God and then saying that is sin. We must work sin out of our hearts by the power of God. And so we do that. That is where we need fathers. I feel like that is where I I need him and we have plenty of stories where I'm like, I need you to work this one right here today, they gave me the balloons. And so, and we need our husbands to be the ones that are, yes, overseeing academics, but beyond overseeing academics, it's overseeing that heart, the fruit, inspecting fruit, being able to direct the child, help with punishments, whatever it is that needs to happen, lead and all that. I think it's pivotal and when single moms do it, Oh, God, praise, I mean, the praise of the Lord, they have Jesus, but that's difficult. It's hard. So I wanna invite you to share some of that practical, even you may be using some examples, because I mean it, when I say we're transitioning to our full-time jobs, it's literally a full-time job. And one of the things that we have found is that the quantity of time that we spend together as a family, that it gives rise to quality time moments.

  15. 30:49

    not, we can't pre-program those qualitative moments. You know, I'll never forget this one thing, you know, we were doing, and we were sharing the gospel with our children and abigail. You may remember one day she woke up in the middle of the night, you know, like two in the morning. Daddy, I can't sleep in the disrespectful music and started, so we'll pick this up on the other side of the break. But long and short of it, the reason why she couldn't sleep is that she was overwhelmed about thinking about the large number of people in the world who weren't yet Christians. And she didn't know what to do with that. And so we can't pre-program that moment, but yes, we weren't our children to be concerned about the loss in the world. But I didn't expect 2 AM, she's gonna come pulling on the side of the bed to daddy. Tears rolling saying I don't know what to do with it. So that is the moment I could say, I don't really want to get an abigail because she came to my side of the bed. We'll pick this up on the other side of the brick. You're listening to the Hamilton Corner. I'm telling you that music is disrespectful because I wasn't ready to stop yet, but the break is making me stop. Thank you for joining the program. We'll be right back after this quick short time out. Bolton Quarter podcast and One-Bitted commentary are available at aFR.net. Back to the Hamilton Corner on American Family Radio. Welcome back to the Hamilton Program. Hamilton Program. Hamilton Corner is the name of the show that I'm a part of. Thank you guys for that applause. We are here in Richmond, Virginia, at the Greater Richmond Convention Center for the ATAV Home School Convention. Before we went to the break, and my guest is my lovely wife, Maria Hamilton, Mrs. Maria Hamilton. Before we went to the break, I was just explaining a qualitative moment that we had an abbey at this time was probably about maybe five, four or five. Four or five. And so in that moment, I stayed up with her for really another hour and some change, pointing her to the fact that one, that your sensitivity concerning the lost condition of people in the world is not a natural phenomenon. That is not something that people do naturally. A more natural response would be selfishness and self-centeredness. So I affirmed for her because at this time she had given her life to the Lord, but I said what you're experiencing is the ministry of the Holy Spirit that is moving you to be concerned about people beyond yourself.

  16. 33:22

    That is God at work in you. So I was able to take that opportunity to affirm in her that this is evidence of the Holy Spirit's work in your life. This is evidence, sweetie, that you are his. Secondarily that not only are you his, but God put you here because if he saved you and wanted you to be in his tangible presence right now, that's where you would be. But he saved you and allowed you to continue on the earth because he wants that concern to be worked out through you and other believers through your life. So we were able to talk about the significance of living a life as a witness for Christ through your gifts, your talents and abilities. And one of the major things that we get to do is that we can use the ministry of prayer for the lost all over the world. And so in that moment, it became an instructional time concerning prayer, an instructional time to the Word of God of having a love for the souls of men, but also an opportunity to invest in her at that early stage that what you should seek to now be, in addition to praying for the loss, to use your gifts, talents, and abilities to appeal to the souls of men at every opportunity. So it became that all of that occurred at two in the morning, to three in the morning, but it was a product of these cumulative efforts. And so it also followed a consistent series in her life where she was just sitting over and over and over again. And so she became aware of her losses, who let her being regenerated then weeks thereafter, this incident happened, but that's just an anecdotal story of the reality at the quantity of time that we invest leads to those qualitative moments. And that's something that we still talk about to this day that she'll never forget nor will I ever forget. And so that's just a practical example of what that quantity of time phenomena leading to quality of time looks like. Now I asked you to share a bit more Maria, a bit more practical examples of the significance of fathers in that discipleship role that includes discipline as you were alluding to before. And if you had something else you wanted to say before that, you're welcome to do so.

  17. 35:24

    Yeah, along the same lines, it's just that the reality, when you were explaining about Abby, we have to consider what are our priorities and as fathers, you know, what are your priorities? Is it to bring in the income and praise God for that, right? But if that's a priority, then we are missing the greater picture because I Told a when I married him and this is not to give myself accolades I really I can live in a tiny home with six kids on race and beans you hear me like I can do it So I'm just saying provision praise the Lord that God provides But that is not our priority And I'm sure a lot of you moms can relate and we can wake up we work and make it work on one income, you know And we do praise God but the heart of the child. I mean if we go back to Psalm 78 like we started the show with we have to understand that God's heart is for his people to train the hearts of the future generations and if that is not our priority, then other things will become our priority and for fathers it is very easy for other things to become a priority because of the way God made you get made you guys and in the hardwiring and that's great, but the enemy will use that and twist it and so So is it more important that you sleep and wake up early to go to work or is it to shape Abby's heart? What was more important in that moment you chose Abby's heart, praise God? Because for you, the Lord has revealed to you that that is most important. We have Gabriel that is number four, no Lord. Number three. And he, one of the things that I struggled with as they were younger and still with the younger ones is fruit. Like, I want to see fruit. You know how, like, all this work. And I want to see fruit of the Spirit. I want, you know, and Gabriel is 10. And y'all pray for me. You hear me like seriously. So we need Abraham. We need, he needs his mom, but he needs his dad as well. And so with him, you know, we've had moments where sin is just ruling and reigning in his heart.

  18. 37:28

    And it's not, and one thing I want to be clear, what we're not saying is that we are condemning our children up and down, beaten them up with the word of God. That's not what we're doing. There's a lot of grace, but there is understanding. Like when in Psalm 78, when God is explaining to them, show them, teach them what I have done, though all those miracles, and you keep reading beyond what you read, I mean, it really is showing who he is as creator God, as loving God, as father, God as father, as the one who protects his people. So we have to point them to his word so they can know who he is. In the moment of rebellion, like Gaby, when he purchased a video game without our permission, I was like, how did you do that? He did it. And right before we were about to give him the green light, he could have the video game. I did it already. I grabbed the bell. I really did. I loved him very much so. But he needed his dad. We needed to come up with a game plan, and what we do, practically speaking, is we, you know, whether it's spanking in the moment or whatever it is, some of them, honestly spanking doesn't work. We have to lock them away in the dungeon, and we do in their bedroom. And so, but we need to go back and pray, and we're like, hey, what do we do? Like, so we prayed, and we were like, Lord, give, because God knows each child. God knows them better than we do as their parents. And so we asked for wisdom, and we asked the Lord to show us, what do we do with this one child? the things that I have done with the previous ones, or we've done with the previous ones, don't work out with this one, he's 10, and I'm like, oh Lord help me. And so we prayed, and I don't know if you wanna tell all the details, but we prayed about it, and God gave us scripture, and gave us, we literally sat him down and did a whole Bible study with him, and then we applied the future punishment, which was the whole month worth of discipline. And so, and again, it is not in our power. God is the one that brings fruit. God is the one that transforms the hearts.

  19. 39:28

    That is the one that helps them to defeat their flesh. But we are instrumental and we have to obey God in that instruction. And so you practically dealt with that and he needs you, he needed you in that moment. He continues to do all our children do, but that was an account that I wanted to spend. Yeah, and it flows from, and if you study the scripture, for example, if you turn to Genesis chapter two, I'll turn there really quickly. And this is something that you know, it's just amazing in the scripture. The Bible tells us, and we're out at that later, a piece of paper fell out of my Bible that I used. And Genesis chapter 2, when the Lord in the up close examination of the six days of creation and includes the creation of mankind, when he says, verse 7, for example, then the Lord God formed man of the dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living soul or a living being. All right, then look at the very next verse, verse eight. The Lord God planted a garden toward the east in Eden, and there He placed the man whom He had formed. The scripture shows us that God didn't create Adam in the Garden of Eden. He creates Adam outside of the garden and then places him inside of the garden. And there are lots of details we can talk about that as to why that detail is in scripture, but then you go on to Genesis chapter two, The Lord goes on to explain why he places man in the garden. And he says, I gotta find it. Yes, verse 15, he says, then the Lord got, took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it, or to cultivate it and to keep it. We often, as fathers, we ascribe to the keeping duty in the mandate for the garden, to keep the garden, to protect the garden, to be a provider for the garden, but we forget the first part, to dress it and to keep it. Our duty from the very beginning before the rebellion ever occurs and the consequences of the rebellion is God ordained Adam and consequently man, specifically men, to be cultivators and protector providers, not just protector providers.

  20. 41:44

    Absolutely God made us physically, we're bigger, we have bigger bone density, we have muscle mass that's larger that speaks to our natural ordination for protection and provision. But it's not exclusively protection and provision. We have a duty to be cultivators as well. Unsurprisingly, Ephesians 5, when it comes to interaction with our spouses, the Bible says that husbands are to wash out wives with the water or the word. It's a New Testament application of that cultivation phenomenon that's announced in Genesis. When the Lord talks about placing Adam in the garden to dress it and to keep it, to cultivate it and to keep it, it's not merely the physical garden, but everything undermines jurisdiction in that garden. And so if we relegate or minimize our function in the home to being protective providers and we ignore our cultivation investment, we are missing a significant component of why God put us there. The discipleship process requires mom, absolutely, but it requires dad too. As a feature of the oneness that we should enjoy and the two shall become one flesh. You have the physical reality of the conjugal one flesh union. You have the spiritual oneness that happens. You have the progressive oneness, a relationship that occurs, but that oneness should also apply to our investment in the children. With each individual couple, there'll be some features, some variables, but a constant that must be there is that it's not Maria's job only to make disciples of my children. It is our job collectively to make disciples of our children. So what that requires of me is that as I execute my mandate as a protector and provider, I must do so while also intentionally seeing, Lord, how can I also fulfill my mandate to be a cultivator? What I'm simply saying is that we should not separate those functions and recognize that these are not merely New Testament iterations. This goes all the way back to the beginning.

  21. 43:46

    Adam was placed in the God very well, could have made Adam inside the garden very easily. But he intentionally creates him outside of it, then places them inside the garden and says, and I've placed you here to cultivate and to provide and protect for everything I've placed within your jurisdiction. One of the immediate, the Lord's semility could have created the world, the world filled from day one, with eight billion people, but he intentionally has this, this habit of beginning a notion, but leaving one for us all spring to repeat it. He creates Adam and Eve with the mandate of fruitfulness, multiplication, and replenishing the world. and Cavash in it. Is it an interesting in the New Testament, the Lord wholeheartedly intended for the gospel of the kingdom to go into the entire world, yet the God-man limits his ministry physically to the boundaries of the nation of Israel. Why? Because he initiated the move and left room for his offspring, hello great commission, to full fillet. Just like he began with two people, left room for his offspring to full fille that mandate. Fathers and husbands are central to the necessity of establishing multi-generational faithfulness to God. So when we see, man, the world is going crazy. We as believers should stop and say, wait a minute, are we fathers doing our tasks? Or are we repeating the sin of the fallen Adam from Genesis 3? Now go there, then I'll pass it to you. In Genesis 3, you'll find, and this happened, I was reading the description, it stumbled across this, because I'm saying, Wait a minute, God gave the instructions to Adam directly, entrusted Adam with the responsibility of sharing his instruction, particularly as it pertains to the tree in the middle of the garden, sharing that with Eve. But when you get to Genesis three, you see, beginning, verse one, now the circle was more crafted in any beast of the field, which the Lord God has made, and he said to the woman, indeed God has God said, you shall not eat from any tree of the garden, I'm like, wait a minute, why this snake talking, why the serpent talking Eve?

  22. 45:54

    In the initial conversation in chapter three, the serpent is misquoting God, not actually repeating what was said. My thought was, why didn't Adam come right then and say, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, we don't talk the snakes around here, but we don't see that. Then you have the verse two, the woman said to the serpent, "'From the fruit of the tree to the garden, we may eat but from the fruit of the tree, which is in the middle of the garden, God is said, you shall not eat from it, or touch it, or you will die.'" That's not what we would say. You keep going verse four, the serpent says to the woman, What? Verse five, for God knows that until you eat from it, your eyes will be open and you will be like God knowing good and Eve. This entire banter, the snake Eve banter goes on and on and on and I'm wondering, is that even all of this? Then you get to verse six. When the woman saw that the tree was good for food and that it was a delight to the eyes and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate and she also gave to her husband who was with her. Dude was there the whole time, physically present, functionally absent. Much of what transpires today is husbands are physically present in the instances where we are present, but functionally absent. And when that transpired in the beginning, nothing big happened except for sin entering the world, death at the consequence of sin, even the actual ground now producing thistles and thorns. And now in order to eat, you gotta work to eat. When before work was just an expression about creative ingenuity, now you gotta work to eat. The same thing happens now when we as fathers are physically present, but functionally absent, the consequences are dire. Homeschooling shouldn't be the domain of Mommy Alone. This June marks two years since the overturn of Roe vs. Wade, but did you know that the number of abortions actually increased the following year? In 2023, the amount of abortions reached its highest level since 2012.

  23. 47:55

    Preborn continues to stand strong for women in crisis. is a ministry of compassion that showers women and babies with God's love, providing free ultrasounds to mothers to introduce them to the precious life growing inside of them. When a mother meets her baby on ultrasound and hears their heartbeat, she is twice as likely to choose life. $28 sponsors one ultrasound and $140 helps rescue five babies. Your generous tax deductible donation will also help to provide women who choose life with assistance for up to two years. So please give your best gift to donate dial pound 250 and say the keyword baby. That's pound 250 baby or visit preborn.com slash a fr that's preborn.com slash a fr. The views and opinions expressed in this broadcast do not necessarily reflect those of the American Family Association or American Family Radio.

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