The Robertson family is one unique bunch. They’re authentic. They’re straight shooters with their words and their hunting rifles. And millions have watched their mega-hit reality show “Duck Dynasty” on A&E.
It’s clear they love God and the Bible, and now Phil Robertson and his oldest son, Al, are sharing their passion in The Duck Commander Faith and Family Bible, which was released on October 28th by Thomas Nelson Publishers.
Al (the only beardless son) recently shared how he came to love Scripture with us.
He explained that his love for the Bible started when he was only five years old. His parents weren’t Christians at that time, but a pastor and his wife who lived up the street invited Al to attend a vacation Bible school. The cookies and Kool-Aid were great, Al joked, but he was captivated by the stories from the Scriptures. He would visit their house to hear more.
“I was just drawn to ‘em,” Al said. “Stories about Moses and Abraham and Gideon—all these great heroes came alive to me. So my early imagination at that age came from Bible stories. And so that was the power of it. It’s interesting. Even if it’s not the Word you’re reading, it’s the Word you’re hearing that can impact you.
“For about two and a half or three years, really formative years, I was able to get a nice background of biblical stories and Old Testament stories and learn about Christ, even when my family wasn’t there. So later on, of course, that would become very valuable to me as a pastor myself. To know the importance, not only of how powerful the stories of the Bible can be, but how you got to be looking out for that little five, six-year-old kid somewhere that’s coming to a VBS, because you never know the impact you can have on them.”
Al, a full-time pastor for 22 years, is now concentrating on the show, the family’s duck call business and speaking around the world. He’s getting used to reading the Bible without the urgency of preparing for his next sermon.
“It’s been a good discovery for me. It’s stressed the importance of how the Word still has to be active and still has to be used by God’s people.”
One of Al’s favorite passages is Ephesians 3:14-20. “More than all we can ask or imagine” is a powerful phrase, he says. “Now that we’re living this crazy life on television and all over the place, I just keep pinching myself saying, ‘This is what this verse is talking about, Al.’ I could have never imagined what we’re doing now. I could have never imagined having this Bible project. And yet God could see that clearly for us.”
With millions watching and the spotlight constantly shining, Jesus’ words, “much is required from the person to whom much is given” (Luke 12:48, GNT), have become even more real to the Robertsons. Al says, “We’re gonna face great days and we’re gonna face challenging days, but we’ve got to be the same. And dad is kind a famous for tellin’ us that we always have to remember who we are when we started out here, lest we forget and become somethin’ different.”
