"Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.”  John 15:2

No one likes to suffer difficult circumstances.  In this era of easy believe-ism it's often conveyed, “If life isn’t always smooth we’re doing something wrong.”

The Scripture teaches us, however, that our LORD often meets fruitful branches with additional pruning.  The pruning is not punishment.  Its actually to make us even more fruitful.

If you’re in a rough spot right now, take heart.  What may feel like the squeeze to end all squeezes could very well be the LORD’s pruning for additional fruitfulness.

When the LORD prunes us He does so for our good.

"By mercy and truth iniquity is purged; and by the fear of the LORD men depart from evil.” Proverbs 16:6 (KJV).

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

We live in a day when churches are filled with people ready to hear and receive God’s mercy. Unfortunately, however, it is often accompanied by a de-emphasis or concealment of the truth of God’s Word.

Paul, the salvation-by-grace-through-faith Apostle, was asked if salvation is solely a product of grace what benefit then does the law provide. Paul responded, “Without the law, I wouldn’t have known God’s righteous standard and how far away from it I was.”

Any presentation of God’s mercy absent of God’s truth is no Gospel at all.

Iniquity is purged by mercy and truth.

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.

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.

“The simple believes everything, but the prudent gives thought to his steps.”  Proverbs 14:15 (ESV).

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

A draft majority opinion, written by Justice Samuel Alito,  in the Dobbs case which indicated 5 of the 9 SCOTUS justices had voted to overturn Roe and Casey was leaked to the media on May 2nd.

By my count, the leak could’ve only come from one the Justices themselves or one of their law clerks. The latter is more likely in my view. But, the investigation into the leak has just gotten to where clerks cell phone records are being collected and they’re having to sign affidavits… now!?!?!!?

Leak investigations in the digital age are not rocket surgery. That is, if you truly want to investigate.

What we're witnessing is a lack of will, not capacity.

“God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.”  1 John 1:5(b) (NASB).

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

San Francisco Mayor London Breed announced her 5-year plan to end homelessness in her city… well, that is transgender homelessness.

I wish I was kidding.

She literally announced a $6.5 million budget proposal to end homelessness within next five years for the transgendered, the gender non-conforming, and LGBTQ+ youth in Frisco.

So what about the homeless San Franciscans who don’t fit any of the aforementioned categories? Any hope for them?

Any recent visitors to San Fransisco will tell you their streets teem with excrement, largely deposited by homeless people. Mayor Breed has shown that excrement also comes from the Mayor’s office.

“Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own [nature,] for he is a liar and the father of lies.”  John 8:44(b) (NASB).

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

According to the State of Georgia, early voting turnout during its 2022 midterm primary election was 168% than it was in 2018, their last gubernatorial primary, and 212% higher than it was was during the 2020 presidential primary year.

Though corporations tried to beat each other in the woke olympics, Major League Baseball moved it’s all-star game, and Mr. J. Robinette called Georgia’s 2021 election integrity law “Jim Crow 2.0,… Jim Eagle,” Georgians voted in record numbers, including minority voters.

Who’d a thunk it! Voter I.D. law and increased voter participation.

“For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders.”  Luke 18:16 (NASB).

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

The Texas Department of Public Safety has confirmed that at least 19 elementary school children and two teachers were murdered by an 18 year old at Robb Elementary in Uvalde, TX.

The massacre has spurred the typical knee-jerk calls for more gun control legislation.

We never see this type of reaction when other instrumentalities like knives or motor vehicles are used to perpetrate heinous crimes.

The issue isn’t the instrumentality. The real issue is the sin-sick human heart. There’s only one way to address it, the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Avoiding the true cause avoids the only cure.