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July 19, 2016 4:20 pm

Does God Have a Political Affiliation? And the Importance of Apologetics

The Line of Fire / Dr. Michael Brown

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July 19, 2016 4:20 pm

Dr. Michael Brown discusses the Republican National Convention, the role of God in politics, and the importance of apologetics in defending the Christian faith. He also explores the concept of intelligent design and its implications for our understanding of the universe. Additionally, he addresses the concerns of evangelical Christians and the need for a kingdom view in politics.

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Alright, the Republican National Convention has started. Is God a Republican? Is God a Democrat? Does God take party sides? Uh It's time for the line of fire with your host, activist, author, international speaker, and theologian, Dr.

Michael Brown, your voice of moral, cultural, and spiritual revolution. Michael Brown is the director of the Coalition of Conscience and president of Fire School of Ministry. Get into the line of fire now by calling 866-34 Truth. That's 866-34TRUTH. Here again is Dr.

Michael Brown.

Well, as expected, at the beginning of the RNC, the Republican National Convention, lots of controversy, the defeat of those that wanted to free delegates to vote for anyone rather than be bound to voting for Donald Trump. That went down with protests. And then lots of interesting things from an African-American pastor opening in prayer and referring to the Republican Party as the conservative party under God. And making clear that the enemy that must be defeated is Hillary Clinton and the Democrats. And then different speeches, some better than others I didn't watch, but just reading the reports and some of the transcripts.

And then Lonnie Trump delivering what many felt was an excellent speech until charges of plagiarizing came up that she took in her speech or her speechwriter took words from Michelle Obama in 2008. Is that getting blown up? And where does God stand all those?

Well, we're going to sort this out today. This is Michael Brown. Welcome to the line of fire, 866-1666. 34 Truth is the number to call. That's 866-3426.

three four eight seven 884. And you can read my latest article. Which asks if God has a party affiliation, if God has a political affiliation. You can read that by going to my website, Ask Dr. Brown, A-S-K-D-R-Brown.org.

That's askdrbrown.org. I want to make one comment before we dive in. To some of the controversies surrounding the opening day of the RNC. I wrote an article asking the question Do white Americans want to keep black Americans down? And in the article, I referred to other minorities that have overcome adversity.

In America, such as Jews, such as Asians, and others. Of course, they didn't have the history of being enslaved here. They didn't have the history of full-out segregation, Jim Crow laws, etc. but they overcame obstacles. and rose to the top of the society.

And then Africans coming over in more recent years. have not suffered the way those Africans that have been in our country for centuries didn't suffer the same way. And they have done very well in education and jobs and things like that.

So it seems to be something beyond the skin color issue.

So, what's happening?

Now I've I've worked in different sectors in ministry for decades. I have many friends in the business world, of course. I've just lived a normal life, 61 years old now. But as a white man, I've not worked ever. with people in the business world.

Or In education or in the spiritual world, that would be the greatest bulk, would be in the spiritual side and then educational side. Uh I I've never worked with people that intentionally wanted to keep black Americans down.

Now, there's no question to me that there remains racism in America. There's no question that you've got it going in all directions and that certain Parts of the country still have some very wrong attitudes that need to be overcome. I don't doubt that at all. But I've not run into an intentional systemic racism.

So Where do I find it then?

Well, I find it in the system itself. the welfare system and and how that has done so much to destroy Black American families. In other words, I look at them as victims of a wrong system that has broken up the family. and has helped keep them down and then brought up people With a view that we'd be looking to the government to fix all their problems, which is a way that. Created many of the problems.

Now, some believe that that was an intentional white ploy, welfare and all that, to keep blacks down. It could be. I don't know. I was not part of those discussions. Could be.

However, however. What I want to say is this. In my article, I was not blaming black Americans for the welfare system. Quite the contrary. I'm saying this is something that which almost put on them.

Very difficult to overcome and has had a generational impact. That was the point. All right, we'll be right back. Give us strict to always do what's right. It's the line of fire with your host, Dr.

Michael Brown, your voice of moral, cultural, and spiritual revolution. Here again is Dr. Michael Brown.

I'm going to pray and I'm going to give the benediction. You know why? Because we are electing a man in Donald Trump who believes in the name of Jesus Christ. And Republicans, we got to be united because our enemy is not of the Republicans, but it's Hillary Clinton and the Democratic Party. That was Pastor Mark Burns, South Carolina.

Pastor Mark Burns. He is an African-American leader. Significant that he'd be opening the convention in prayer. A shout-out from Donald Trump and the organizers for diversity and for saying the Republican Party. is not simply a white party.

as some might perceive it to be. But what do you think about The prayer let God be the judge as to whether Donald Trump is a believer in Jesus. I'm hoping he's turning to the Lord and that we'll see the fruit of that in his life, that he'll experience genuine conversion and we'll see the fruit of that. But let's listen to the rest of the prayer. 866-34TRUTH, 866-348-7884.

And if you're wondering, Where am I coming from? Where am I coming from? You know that I could not vote for Hillary Clinton for many reasons. you know that I staunchly oppose many of the values in the Democratic Party platform, their militant pro-abortion, pro-homosexuality stand, their weakness on Israel, their weakness on religious liberties and things like that.

So, I could not vote for Hillary Clinton or for any candidate who upheld the party platform. Many of you know I endorsed Senator Ted Cruz and gave warnings about Donald Trump as a candidate on a number of occasions, all the time saying, Listen, I hope I'm wrong. If he is elected, I hope I'm wrong. I hope that he proves to be an excellent president if he's elected. And I'll say it again.

And same with Hillary Clinton. If she was elected, I would hope I was wrong about all my concerns. All right, this is not a personal thing.

So I'm not looking at this in a personal way. I'm doing my best to say, all right, as an independent voter, yes, I've voted a Republican. By and large, for some years, unless I knew a particular Democratic candidate that I thought was outstanding, I wanted to get behind. Otherwise, I voted Republican for years, but I'm registered as an independent. It's just my own heart, my own mentality.

I'm not saying that's right for others. I'm not saying if you're registered with a party, that's there for a wrong. I'm just saying for me, I feel better registered as an independent because that more expresses my heart as a believer. I'm trying to look at all these issues in a pragmatic way. as a believer, as a follower of Jesus, and not with partisan Politics and not supporting one candidate or another as best as I can.

So let's listen to Pastor Mark Burns praying at the opening of the Republican National Convention last night. Father God. The name of Jesus. Lord, we're so thankful for the life of Donald Trump. We're thankful that that you are guiding him.

You are giving him the words. To unite. Does party This country, that we together can defeat the Liberal Democratic Party. To keep us divided and not united because we are. The United States of America, and we are the Conservative Party.

God. To defeat every attack that comes against us. Protect the life of Donald Trump. Give him the words. Give him the peace.

Give him the power and the authority to be the next president. Of the United States of America. In Jesus' name, if you believe it, shout amen. God bless you.

Well, I appreciate the passion, and I appreciate an open prayer in the name of Jesus. Uh thus far. The campaigns of both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump have been anything but uniting. They have rallied people behind them. that they have been anything but uniting.

And right now, given the volatile situation in America, It would be very difficult for a candidate to be a strong uniting candidate unless that person was somehow transcendent. Unless that person could rally America together in such a way that would transcend politics, be very, very difficult at this time to be to be totally candid, because we are so divided. And I want a candidate to stand for one thing, and other people want a candidate to stand for the exact opposite thing. And then there are others with yet another viewpoint, and the divisions seem much deeper now in America than in past years, on many, many different lines.

So it would take some type of extraordinary political leader. Or some very intense crisis where we look to a strong leader to really bring unity. But the campaigns thus far of Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton have been as ununifying as anything as I can remember. And if ununifying is not a word, it is at the moment. But what about this idea that the Republican Party is, quote, the conservative Under God.

Do you remember the account in Joshua chapter five? Joshua chapter 5 Joshua's about to attack Jericho. the first city in taking the promised land, And he sees an angelic messenger, a divine messenger. standing there with his sword drawn. And he says to him, Are you on our side or on their side?

And how does the answer? No. That's his answer. No. I'm the captain of the Lord of hosts.

At that and Joshua falls down on his face. and and and worships.

So The the big big issue. The big, big issue is Are we on God's side? Are we aligning with Him? To what extent is any party aligning with him?

Now you might say, well, that's obvious. Let's look at pro-life issues. Republicans have put out their strongest pro-life. platform ever. And they've called for the defunding of Planned Parenthood.

on the excuse me on the Democratic side. I don't think Planned Parenthood's ever had a better friend running for President than Hillary Clinton. When you look at Marriage and family issues, Republicans have taken very strong stands for marriage and family as God intended. and upholding religious liberties. Whereas the Democrats Four years ago, their platform was radical.

Now, what was radical then is just every day, who knows where that's going to go. And then when it comes to Israel, something else I believe is important in God's sight. the the Republican platform's gotten even stronger on that. And in order to show solidarity with Israel, didn't even mention a two-state solution in the platform. Not that the party is opposing that, but saying that's not even the emphasis.

and reaffirm Jerusalem as the capital. of Israel and and reaffirm that the the Embassy, the American Embassy must be moving.

Now that's been on the books for years. Bush didn't do it, Clinton didn't do it, Obama didn't do it. It's there, it's supposed to be done, just never gets done. The Democratic side was weakened in many ways, especially through the influence of Bernie Sanders. And some fairly radical voices that would be very weak on Israel to the point of some would even say Israel bashing.

So you could say, yeah, well, the Republicans are right on those issues. And I I personally agree. I personally agree that the Republican platform is massively better on many key issues than the Democratic platform. But to say that the Republican Party is the conservative party under God. Number one, you're talking about the whole party.

And you got plenty of people within the party that are anything but under God or devoted to God or devoted to biblical principles. And then within both parties, You've got some level of corruption or some level of cronyism or some level of the the the life politician power syndrome. You've got that. Then you've got the fact that once selected Many times the candidates don't act on what they've promised.

So The idea that God is on the side of one party or another, I have a problem with. Even though I wholeheartedly affirm many of the key planks in the Republican platform and wholeheartedly reject some of those in the Democratic platform. And there might be some in the Democratic platform that are better than Republicans on other issues. All that, of course, can be debated. But I think we make a mistake when we lower God in this way.

You know, just like in a sports game, he's rooting for the Yanks. No, he's rooting for the Orioles. No, he's rooting for the Mets. No, he's rooting for the Nationals. God doesn't root.

And he's not. For one team or another, he's for the advance of his kingdom on the earth. He's for the glorification of the name of Jesus. He's for his will being done on earth as it is being done in heaven. He's for people turning away from sin and turning to him.

And he'll work through all these other things, including sports and politics, to accomplish his will. and to accomplish his goal. Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War. Was asked if he was on God's side. To him, wrong question again.

The question is: Am I on God's side? That's what matters.

So we've got to be careful. Because I imagine going to be people praying at the Democratic Party and praying for God's woman, Hillary Clinton. And saying that we are the progressive party under God. And let's not drag God down. Let's bow down before him as people in need of a Savior and a Redeemer.

and say, God, how can we please you in this election cycle? It's going to be challenging to keep our emotions in place, but let's do it as mature people of God and let's bring a kingdom view to all that we do. Hey friends, this is Michael Brown. I want to encourage you to join our support team today. Become a torchbearer, one of our regular monthly supporters that enables us to broadcast the line of fire around America and around the world.

And oh, every month we sell back into you in many, many different ways. Join our team, become a torchbearer. Go to ask Dr. Brown, A-S-K-D-R-Brown.org, and click on donate. Got him.

It's the line of fire with your host, Dr. Michael Brown, your voice of moral, cultural, and spiritual revolution. Here again is Dr. Michael Brown.

Rock and I were raised with so many of the same values. Like You work hard for what you want in life. That your word is your bond, that you do what you say you're going to do. My parents impressed on me The values that you work hard for what you want in life. That your word is your bond.

and you do what you say and keep your promise. Those were the words of Michelle Obama in 2008. And Milan Trump 2016 side by side. When you hear the key paragraphs or just read them side by side, the one hand, They're generalities. It's not like she's quoting some esoteric saying that you never, never, ever hear.

or something that she said is my unique philosophy of life. Kind of generic. On the other hand, the overlap is is too striking. To miss.

Now it's not like Joe Biden, Vice President Biden. Quoting from the life of someone else, making reference to his past, his family's past history, whether it wasn't his own history at all, it was with Neil Kinnock, something like that.

So, I mean, that's. That's wild. That's wild. But there seems to be some level of plagiarism. Let's play a couple more clips, and then I'll give you my take on it.

866-348-7884. We'll go to clip number 11. Again, this is side by side, Michelle Obama 2008 and Melania Trump last night. That you treat people With Dignity and respect, even if you don't know them and even if you don't agree with them. that you treat people with respect.

They thought and showed me values and morals in their daily life. That is a lesson that I continue to pass along to our son. And we need to pass those lessons On to the many generations to follow. All right, well, that's pretty generic, right? Dignity and respect.

I mean, that's totally generic. I don't see anything you could say was plagiarism there. Listen to one more clip, and then I just want to give you my take on this whole thing. Clip number 12. And Barack.

And I set out to build lives guided by these values and to pass them on to the next generation because. We want our children and all children in this nation. To know that the only limit to the height of your achievements is the reach of your dreams and your willingness to work hard for them. Because Because we want our children in this nation to know that the only limit to your achievements is the strength of your dreams and your willingness to work for them. All right, now there are accusations, of course, that Michelle Obama plagiarized from Sololinsky rules for radicals.

Sololinsky would have been a radical leader who greatly influenced President Obama. And you can understand some of the president's views by going back and strategies by going back and reading Alinsky's rules for radicals. These things are fairly well accepted and well known. And I'm looking at these lists. Online, different articles right here, 10 examples of plagiarism and speech and this and that.

So on the one hand, I think for Trump's supporters They heard a great speech from Melania Trump. That's what they heard. They heard a great speech, and they would speak well of her as a first lady. Put aside this being the third wife, put aside. Her her own past as a model and things like that.

They'd just hear this woman and mother and wife speaking and it would be very positive.

So Overall, I think for the Trump supporters, again. in terms of the speech. In their view, in their view.

Now, the fact that she's being attacked, and the liberal media is kind of in a feeding frenzy over this. That will fire up the Trump supporters even more. We post breaking news on the Ask Dr. Brown's Facebook page on a regular basis. It's breaking news just to post it.

And because of the plagiarism charge, which wasn't even No verdict was being made by us. We were just posting this as the news, as we often do. Key things going on in the news.

Some Trump supporters are very, very upset over that. and defending it in every way. The attacks are only going to fire them up more.

Now on the flip side, on the flip side, The critics who were not going to vote for Donald Trump anyway, and even if it was a great speech from Melania, they wouldn't have been swayed.

Now they have more fuel for their fire. In an interesting way, I think both sides are going to get empowered by this. Both sides are going to get fired up by it.

Now She said that she had written the speech herself, Uh what I take that to mean is that she personally crafted it. Uh generally speaking, I can't relate to someone writing a speech for me. Uh I can't relate to that for a split second, but it's common for political leaders, and then they'll craft it and kind of make it their own.

So that's probably what happened. I'm sorry to laugh about this, but can you conceive? of a top level Speechwriter Borrowing words From the Potential first lady. at the DNC eight years ago. And using basically those identical words, eight years later at the RNC.

for the next potential first lady, and thinking nobody would notice? Uh That stretches credulity. I I I don't understand. How anyone could do that? on any level of professionalism.

It'd be one thing if it was some uh professor giving a a graduating speech at a college somewhere. And they grabbed some from there, and then was incorporated into somebody else's speech. And you think, hey, it's a good line, nobody's going to notice I took it from here or there. But something like this? From Michelle Obama to Melania Trump, eight years later in the parallel conventions.

I can't see this so How then would it happen?

Well, either the person just stupid One possibility. Another possibility is that Somehow they read many speeches, listen to many speeches, and just got some of these phrases stuck in their head and forgot where they got it from. and put it in. and the third is that by some strange stroke of coincidence that Melania and or her speechwriter just happened to come up with almost the same words. Maybe the most likely scenario is the second one.

Maybe. But anyway. All this is going to do is rile things some more. Opening prayer. Last night.

Pastor and uh Dylan, maybe you could uh Maybe you could check this for me. But someone sent me a note saying that a Muslim is going to open tonight. with prayer. Uh Muslims for Trump. That he will be opening uh see if If you could check that out for me.

That would certainly be sending a negative message to the base. Yeah, diversity, sure, but opening in prayer. In any case. In any case. Let us pray for the will of God to be done in the presidential elections.

Visit askdrbrown.org. Check out my latest article. Oh. and take advantage of the special resource offer. If you want to know how to be led by the Spirit, this is the week.

Over you. It's the line of fire with your host, activist, author, international speaker, and theologian Dr. Michael Brown.

Your voice of moral, cultural, and spiritual revolution. Get into the line of fire now by calling 866-34TRUTH. Here again is Dr. Michael Brown.

Welcome back friends to the line of fire when I went on radio when we launched this broadcast over eight years ago. I was praying about exactly what God wanted us to do. Being on radio was not my idea. Meaning, I didn't sit down and think, you know, this would be a great way to extend our ministry. I think I want to do this.

This is something the Lord had been laying on my heart for years. The burden grew over a period of years. And then people came to me. God laid it on my heart. This was coming our way.

Literally, it came knocking at our door.

So. We've taken this as a sacred responsibility, a sacred calling from the Lord. And I was articulating for a colleague as we were expanding onto many more stations. I I said I feel called to be a voice of moral sanity. and spiritual clarity In the midst of a society in chaos and a church all too often in compromise.

And of course, some might have questioned those words at some point. What?

Society in chaos? Church all too often compromised. But I think as the years have gone on, you've understood why we've said that. you've understood why we've talked the way we do. And many of you say, okay, now we get it.

And many of you that first heard our theme music and heard the talk about revolution. And heard me introduced on the air as your voice of moral, cultural, and spiritual revolution. you might have thought, well, that's kind of extreme language. What do you mean, moral, cultural, spiritual revolution? But the more you look at the state of society, the more.

the more sense it's making and the more you realize, okay, more of the same Is only going to produce more of the same. More of the same is not what we need. It's just like for years when I was overweight and I'd say, okay, well, I'm going to. I'm I'm gonna change my lifestyle, but It was really no change. I was just kind of thinking: tomorrow will be different.

Tomorrow will be different. Tomorrow will be different. It's not going to be different. It's not going to be different. We go through the same cycle over and over again with the political process.

We go with the same cycle of getting all worked up, and we've got to get this candidate in, and we've got to get that candidate out. And then maybe we do get the one candidate out, the other candidate in, and things often change very little. I'm talking about advancing the kingdom. Things have changed negatively. But things often change very little in terms of values that we have.

And even through the excellent presidency of Ronald Reagan, we were still aborting over a million babies a year, despite him being such a strong pro-life president. And then, if you think of a Reagan appointee on the Supreme Court, he's been, Justice Kennedy, one of the key voices in the wrong direction now on some of the biggest moral issues that the nation has faced that have gone to the court.

So, what I'm saying is this: yes, be involved. be involved in the political system. Yes, be involved in voting as long as your conscience allows you to. And be involved in calling on your political leaders to stand for certain things and to oppose other things. But recognize that what we need more than anything is a gospel-based moral and cultural revolution.

What we need more than anything is for God's people to be so changed that we go and change the world. How? by living godly lives? by evangelizing the lost, by making disciples. by touching those in need.

By getting involved in every area of society, just talking to a pastor the other day who's saying, It could be two years down the line, but planning on getting involved in the local school board. because he wants to make a difference in in the schools. Talked to a retired principal in Indiana. His pastor said, You need to be involved still in school.

So, here, this retired principal got on the local school board, and with the help of others, they've opened the doors for the gospel in incredible ways, right? In the public schools.

So, we get involved, we make a difference, and above all, we pray for God to move on this earth through His people, touching the world. What I'm saying is, politics are important, but politics only go so far. We'll be right back. We're going to change gears when we return. It's the line of fire with your host, Dr.

Michael Brown.

Get into the line of fire now by calling 866-34TRUTH. Here again is Dr. Michael Brown.

We are about to change subjects here on the line of fire. Often on Tuesdays, we try to get back to teaching, to theology, to make sure that we're always going back to the word and going back to. To our roots and foundations in the midst of all the moral and cultural things that we discuss. But just trying to answer the question, is a Muslim going to give the opening benediction, the invocation tonight? at the Republican National Convention.

I I've been sent articles. that name one uh Muslim Sajid Tarof. Then I'm looking at a program that someone else sent me. Seems to be a bona fide program of kind of moment for moment what's happening at the convention. It has an invocation, but with another gentleman's name, which also appears to be a Muslim name.

Obviously, Muslims for Trump, that's saying something because of his strong stance about immigration and things like that. But we shall see. We shall see. But if you're going to open one night and pray in the name of Jesus and then open and say we're the conservative party under God and then pray to Allah the next night. Can't see how that is going to...

Unify. Evangelicals who are strongly supporting Donald Trump, the, not overwhelmingly, but strongly, the nuns, those who, NONES, those who have dropped out. of religious affiliation, they're supporting Hillary Clinton more than Donald Trump. Again, just very interesting to see the way things play out. All right, we are.

We are. Changing gears now, switching gears. And a few weeks back, I was speaking with Jonathan McClatchy. A Christian writer, international speaker, debater, apologist. And we got into a few subjects, and I wanted to bring him back to talk more about this academy that he does.

As we're talking about how the gospel needs to be our foundation, how we need to get back to the gospel if we want to see the nation changed. The defense of the faith, apologetics, that remains a major, major issue.

So, Jonathan, over in the UK, over in England, thanks for joining us today on the line of fire. Thanks, Dr. Brennan, for having me back. Hey, just a quick question for you. I know you can most accurately give your own view, but.

Generally speaking, as your British colleagues look over at America, what's their take On what's happening with our candidates right now. Do you hear much talk? And can you tell me how? We're being viewed uh on the other side of the pond right now.

Well, in the midst of the presidential campaign that's the race between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, I know a lot of people in Britain think that it's it's a sad state of affairs that it's that the race is between those two individuals because that it's and I think people in America are really faced with the difficult decision of the uh of the uh w of the better of two evils. Yeah, got it. No surprise in terms of how things are being viewed. And then, just on your end, how are things now planning? Playing out in the post-Brexit decision?

Are things calming down, or is it still as volatile as ever?

Well, actually, a lot of the people that voted to depart from the European Union are regretting their decision. And some of the arguments that the Brexit campaign utilized have turned out to be not as convincing as they were. before the referendum. took place. For example, the immigration issue turns out not to be as strong because at the European Union, in order to keep the free market, require that the UK keep their current immigration policy and things like that.

And so that means that immigration was one of the key central arguments for the Brexit campaign.

So there's there's a lot of people that are feeling regret over their decision and to leave the EU, but certainly it's a very hot topic still over here. Interesting.

Well, we're. Watching with great interest over here in the States. All right, Apologetics Academy. I had the joy of joining you some weeks back talking about messianic prophecy. And we spent a couple hours.

I was online in the States. You were hosting in the UK. And then people joined us from different nations. Several dozen people, maybe close to 40 people. We ended up having back and forth QA and some mini debates in that respect.

So tell our listeners about the Apologetics Academy, why you started it, who's invited to it, what kind of speakers you've had.

Well, the Apologetic Academy really has been running since, I think, February of this year. And the Apologetic Academy basically seeks to educate, train, disciple and equip the church at a personal level.

So by hosting weekly webinars, online webinars with leading scholars and thinkers, Christians are provided access to world-class intellects that they probably otherwise would never meet or have opportunity to interact with. And so in addition to Christian speakers, I actually often bring on and invite non Christian speakers, such as atheists and Muslims, to present their challenges and their critiques of the Christian worldview. And this is followed by a live interactive Q and A using audio and video. And so the Apologist Academy thus provides opportunity for experienced apologists to sharpen their skills in debate by interacting one on one with some of the leading critics of the faith. And then the less experienced Christians have the option to sit back and witness the back and forth and thus reap the benefits of the expertise and experience of other Christians.

And so it allows Christians to have access to Christian scholars as well as interact with the arguments of non-Christian scholars as well. And what kind of fruit have you seen? How has it helped those who have been participating? What kind of reports are you getting back?

Well, it's all been very positive. The webinar has been very successful, and people really appreciate that I bring in viewpoints from across the theological and philosophical spectrum to present their case. And then we have open dialogue, critique, debate, discussion. And it encourages non-Christians to come and sit in and listen as well. And we just get some really good discussion.

So, yeah, I've been getting a lot of good feedback from, and also on the YouTube channel, because I record these sessions and put them on YouTube and The YouTube videos have been getting a lot of downloads. The most we've had so far, when Matt DeLahunty, the atheist, was on, we had sixty four people attend the webinar and then ten thousand people or ten and five thousand people have viewed it on my YouTube channel, about forty or fifty thousand have viewed it on Matt's channel.

So oh, these videos are getting a lot of downloads on YouTube as well.

Now uh Why is it so important that we tackle these issues? We believe in Jesus, we believe in the Bible, we live godly lives, we try to reach our neighbors and friends with the gospel. Who needs all this other high-level intellectual stuff? Why get distracted?

Some would think that way.

Well, I think in our culture today, we're there's an increasing need for Christians to be educated on apologetics and the rational defense of the faith. particularly for people who are going to be college students and are going to be encountering and interacting with the typical challenges that they are confronted with in college and university. And the one of the beauties of the Apologist Academy is that they can actually be presented with those challenges from people who actually hold those positions. And and they can be inoculated. Um From those views rather than insulated from them.

So when they come to the college, classroom and they're confronted with these anti Christian viewpoints, they've actually already encountered them and they've seen them engaged with a high level.

Now, in your view, obviously you have expertise in a number of subjects. You're working now on a PhD. in cell biology. You have a master's degree in evolutionary biology, second master's degree in medical and molecular bioscience. And a little later we're going to talk about the subject of intelligent design.

But then you debated atheists on wider issues. You debated Muslims and others. In your mind, as you have watched these debates as a host, where has the Christian side scored the best points? Obviously, it's a subjective answer as a believer, but maybe you could say what's played out with the audience. But where have the best points been scored to say, yes, we're on the side of truth?

Yes, we've had a few atheist guests on. We've had David Fitzgerald, for example. We've had Matt DeLahunt, we've had Aaron Ra on and we're going to have some other more atheist guests in the future, such as Robert Price of the Jesus Seminar and others. And for example, when we had David Fitzgerald on, there's an atheist, Jesus mythicist who thinks Jesus never existed. And we had some really high level scholars in the audience Including Dr.

Timothy McBrue, who's a very well-known philosopher and expert on Bayesian. Um probability theory and uh we had Chris Winchester, who is almost finished his PhD in New Testament studies and very, very knowledgeable, particularly in Richard Carrier type arguments. Um we had some other have scholars in the audience and they did a really good job of Um of I think dismantling the The Jesus Methodist position. We've had some really good interaction with Aaron Ra and Matt DeLahunty, and it's conducted in a very cordial and professional manner as well. It's very structured.

And people are free to interact live with the speaker. There's a we use a a professional webinar platform.

So people can actually raise their hand, and then I promote them to be live with and interact live with the speaker by engaging their webcam And microphone, or if they want to, they can simply submit questions anonymously or just participate in the chat window.

So there's a number of ways that people can participate and it's just really great to be able to. Yeah, tell you what, hold that right there. We'll be right back. You've got to tell people how they can participate. Friend, no cost involved.

This Saturday, you can be part of an online Apologetics Academy every Saturday. We'll tell you how when we come back. It's the line of fire with your host, Dr. Michael Brown.

Get into the line of fire now by calling 866-34 Truth. Here again is Dr. Michael Brown.

All right, you've got a free invitation. A free invitation to join. An Apologetics Academy this weekend, Saturday. It is free. It is online.

All you need is a proper online hookup with your computer, and you could sit in. And be in the midst of high-level, excellent discussion, interaction with top scholars, theologians, atheists, skeptics, and with other believers weighing in as well. And you say, I'm not that well-versed.

Well, you don't have to do anything, you just have to listen and enjoy. My guest, Jonathan McClatchy, leads the Apologetics Academy. If you go to apologetics-academy.org. Apologetics-academy.org. You'll find out everything you need to know there.

Jonathan, who are some of the guests coming up in the next few weeks?

Well, this coming Saturday, we have Alistair Smith from the Solas Center for Public Christianity in Scotland, who's going to be talking to us about the case against same sex marriage. And then the following week we have top biblical scholar Dr. Michael Akuna coming to talk to us. about are there differences in the Gospels, which is the topic of his latest research, Michael Lacona, of course, being the famous resurrection scholar as well. And and then the following week, on August sixth, we have uh doctor James White coming on, who I know is a buddy of yours, uh Dr.

Brown, and he is going to be talking to us About controlled versus uncontrolled textual transmission in regards to the Koran and New Testament. And so he'll be weighing out the advantages and disadvantages, respectively, of a controlled versus uncontrolled mode of textual transmission.

So that will be also very fascinating. And then the following week up after The following week after that, we have Wesley Huff who's going to talk to us about responding to Bart Ehrman's misquoting Jesus as well. Go ahead. Excellent. And um what time does this take place?

This takes place every Saturday at three p.m. Eastern, which is eight p.m. here in the UK or two p.m. Central or twelve noon Pacific. Got it.

All right, so this is a time you can be listening Saturday afternoons, apologetics-academy.org. All right, let's focus on a specialty of yours in these few more minutes that we have. And intelligent design. Let's say you're talking to.

Someone, oh, maybe with maybe with a college education, but someone who hasn't specialized in science or anything like that.

So you want this to be intelligible for them, but you want it to be something that they can take in the massive scope. Take a couple of minutes to give some of the strongest arguments as to how we can see there must have been an intelligent designer behind the universe or behind human life. Sure.

Well, the intelligent design is basically the quest for patterns in nature, which we are the hallmarks of intelligent causality. Intelligent design is predicated upon the historical abductive method of inferring to the best explanation for multiple competing hypotheses. And so when we find certain telltale features in living systems, such as the information content of life sub-registry molecules, DNA and RNA, we infer that the most causally sufficient explanation for that type of effect is Conscious, rational, deliberative agency by virtue of the fact that intelligent causality is the only known type of cause or category of explanation known to produce the type of effect that we're trying to explain. And so DNA does is involved in many things within the cell. And one of the things that it does is specify the sequential arrangement of amino acids that form the subunits of proteins.

And there are the DNA is taken and it's transcribed by an enzyme complex called RNA polymerase, and it's transcribed into what's called messenger RNA, which is a single stranded RNA polymer. which is then shuttled outside of the nuclear pore complex, outside the nuclease and taken to a ribosome. And at the ribosome, which is a two part chemical factory, it is translated into proteins. And so there's three character words that run along the the messenger RNA transcript. And these three character words are called codons.

And each codon will specify an amino acid. And so the sequential arrangement of the nucleotide subunits, the letters or the chemical subunits along the messenger RNA transcript, will then determine. sequential arrangement of minimum acid subunits. And so that is information. That's what we mean when we talk about information, specified complexity.

And When we look at the structures of proteins, And there's been experimental work done on this. you can actually um there there's there's um experimental evidence to suggest that the ratio of functional to non functional protein structures send the vast array of combinatorial possibilities, ways of arranging those amino acid subunits is astronomically small.

So finding the functional protein structures Within combinatorial spaces, like searching for a tiny, tiny needle in an enormous haystack and having a very limited time to do so. Remember that natural selection only is effective once you have. functional Utility, and once you've actually found these functional protein structures. But if they're astronomically rare and isolated within that vast array of combinatorial possibilities, that combinatorial space, if you will, then that's that presents a significant challenge to the evolutionary paradigm. And then there's molecular machines in the cell.

There's things like the bacterial divisome, for example, what allows bacterial cells to divide and the eukaryotic mitotic spindle apparatus, which is involved in cell division in higher life forms. These things are extraordinary feats of engineering and our design progress. There there is um various challenges to the evolution paradigm coming from all sorts of different feels one problem is the the wasting time problem. waiting for the emergence of coordinated mutations, which are required to explain certain adaptations. A coordinated mutation can be defined as when you need when you require two or more coincident genetic changes.

to only together produce an adaptive phenotypic effect. that allows for selection to operate. remember the evolution is supposed to proceed by random mutation and natural sexual selection or genetic drift and so forth. But selection can only work on mutations with a positive or negative adaptive value. and at least some adaptive advantages require two or more coordinating mutations.

And this gives rise to the the waiting time problem. That all that all mutations have two time constraints that depend on population size and generation time. One of them is the waiting time. for a mutation to occur. And the second of those is the waiting time for the fixation of this mutation.

It's not enough to just get mutation. It has to become fixed. It has to go from being the lone individual out there to becoming the norm that's established. And it turns out that history the history of life doesn't really provide the resources for Evolution to accommodate these waiting times. Right, so just the the and obviously you've said you've said a lot in a short period of time, and some folks' heads are completely spinning in terms of Even trying to grasp what's being said, and you're still dumbing it down.

In other words, this is. extraordinarily complex. We're talking about extraordinary engineering. And many scientists say, yeah, if you only had 14 billion years for this to happen, that's not enough time. That's how they'd look at it.

In other words, it's. There would be too many coincidences Taking place for this to be explained any other way except for divine causality. Hey, friends, check out the Apologetics Academy, apologetics-academy.org. Join in, it's absolutely free. You'll find your mind stretched, you'll be edified, you'll enjoy the presentations, you will learn a lot.

from them. You hear that music, that means we are out of time Check out the website askdrbrown.org. Plenty of resources waiting for you. My bottom line. You bow down before a sovereign God.

If he could create the universe. order our political sheet. What about intelligent design? Is that a strong apologetic argument that we can bring to the world? It's time for the line of fire with your host, activist, author, international speaker, and theologian, Dr.

Michael Brown, your voice of moral, cultural, and spiritual revolution. Michael Brown is the director of the Coalition of Conscience and president of Fire School of Ministry. Get into the line of fire now by calling 866-34-TRUTH. That's 866-34-TRUTH. Here again is Dr.

Michael Brown.

Actually, actually. We just had some information on intelligent design, but we're not talking intelligent design now.

So, if you want to dig in the last five minutes of the last hour, the funny thing is, I asked our guest, who's absolutely brilliant, to kind of dumb things down for us. You can realize how brilliant he is, how much he knows by things being dumbed down. I think went over a lot of heads. You got to go back and listen. The fact is, we have been amazingly designed and made by God.

The more science we learn, the more we see that. But that's not my focus today. We are going to get back to the political scene in a kingdom redemptive way. Here's the number to call: 866-34TRUTH-866-348-7884. And let's Let's listen to Hillary Clinton at the NAACP convention.

There are many voices right now speaking to the nation. They're. As much turmoil. There are efforts that are helping to unite us. There are churches working together for unity, for prayer in different cities.

There are police departments meeting with community leaders. There are many efforts being made for understanding and for harmony. And there are other efforts being made that are more provoking. Yeah. Anger and hatred.

We must be very careful. That's been something I've said over and again. I'll continue to say. Let's listen, though, to Hillary Clinton. Joey, let's grab clip number five first.

And she's speaking at the NAACP convention. The deaths of Alton and Philando. Drove home how urgently we need to make reforms to policing and criminal justice. How we cannot rest until we root out implicit bias and stop the killings of African Americans.

Now obviously this is a Something of great importance to all Americans, not only people of color. The question is, though, Do we know for sure what happened in those two cases yet? Has there been a thorough, proper investigation And do we know that there was clear negligence? In these cases, it's one question. And what do we do with the statistics that indicate that black cops are three point three times more likely to pull the trigger on a black suspect compared to white cops, What of the argument that effective policing has saved tens of thousands of black lives, And that really Judy Ali's contention That the police are the number one savers of black lives by enforcing the law.

in communities with high crime rates. What do we do with those arguments? I am 100%, 100%. concerned about injustice. I am 100% concerned about that which is unfair.

that which is destructive that which turns a blind eye, towards the very real needs. And the very real Complaints, I mean complaints in the best sense of the word, of a portion of the population. I am all for addressing blind spots. But as I said to a caller yesterday, As I said to a caller who was thanking me for what I've said on the show, but feeling as a whole that the church has let the African-American community down, I said, the key thing is. When something is presented, say the Michael Brown killing in Ferguson, hands up, don't shoot.

Well, from everything we know, that was a myth. There was no such thing as hands up, don't shoot.

So now you've got a whole community rallying about this, and you have others saying, but that's not what happened. That's not what happened. What we need to do is come together around legitimate, undeniable cases that we can then stand for justice together on. Liberty Pat. Oh, God of burning cleansing flesh.

It's the line of fire with your host, Dr. Michael Brown, your voice of moral, cultural, and spiritual revolution. Here again is Dr. Michael Brown.

So I'm going to do everything I can. To draw the contrasts with the Republicans who are currently meeting up in Cleveland. And I think it's fair to say we're going to hear a lot about taking our country backwards, because that's really what they mean when they talk about making us great again. Yeah, so the rhetoric is going to deepen and intensify Hillary Clinton versus Donald Trump. This is Michael Brown.

Our goal is to rise above the rhetoric. Our goal is to rise above the partisan politics. Our goal is to evaluate everything by God's word and God's standards and God's truth. You can read my latest article by going to askdrbrown.org. And in that article, I asked the simple question: Does God have a political affiliation?

Is God a Republican? has got a Democrat. Is there one party that's God's party and the other party that's not God's party? Or are we turning things upside down by asking that question? Is the right question the opposite of that?

Namely, are we on God's side? We on God's side. Uh Let me play another clip from Hillary Clinton speaking at the NAACP convention taking place at the same time as the Republican National Convention. And that first clip of Hillary Clinton was at Rally in Cincinnati, University of Cincinnati.

So, also from yesterday, but in a different rally.

So, again, let's go back to the NAACP convention. And I want to appreciate something that Hillary Clinton is saying and then raise a challenge to it. Clip number six: Hillary Clinton again at the NAACP. Right now. Black kids are 500% more likely to die from asthma than white kids.

500%. Right now, a black baby in South Carolina is twice as likely to die before her first birthday as a white baby. Imagine if those numbers were reversed. And it were white kids dying. Imagine the outcry and the resources that would flood in.

All right. Let me first say to whatever extent those figures are accurate, to whatever extent Hillary Clinton is pointing to a genuine inequity in our society.

Well, by all means, let's address it. By all means, let's be aware of it. By all means, let's see where the problems lie and how we can address those problems. Here's what I find troubling, though. Here's what I find troubling with the statement.

Are you ready? Number one, she is speaking to the choir in this regard. In other words, This has nothing to do with bettering the situation of black Americans as much as getting the votes of black Americans. It's not like she's saying this to a white audience, she's saying this to a black audience. Let me point that out.

More importantly, what's the feeling you get? It's society's fault It's the government's fault. The government needs to fix things. Isn't that the very thing that has worked against African American families for two generations now? Isn't that the very thing that has undermined the progress of civil rights?

In the 60s? Isn't that the very thing that has taking fathers out of homes. and has gotten in a situation of dependence on the government for welfare and other benefits. In other words, if Whether it's true. That the institution of welfare was a white supremacist idea to keep blacks down, which I don't personally believe it.

Maybe some had that intent. Or whether it was well intended but destructive, either way, it's destructive.

So, you're now going to point your finger at bad, evil society. And now the government somehow has to fix things. That's the problem to me. Yes, of course there are things the government does, and when the government is being unfair, we need to address it. But this whole idea of one group is a victim.

One of my guests last week, one of his big points was don't play into the victimhood mentality. Don't play into the victimhood mentality. That is always self-defeating. I've written about that in the book that Nancy and I wrote together, Breaking the Stronghold of Food, which we'll be announcing, giving you details on that shortly. In the book, Breaking the Stronghold of Food, there's a chapter on excuses are for WIMPs.

And another book that I'm working on. about rebuilding America through Scripture due out next year. maybe the middle of next year. And one of the chapters I'm dealing with there, the blame game and the entitlement mentality. And how that's crippling Americans across the country of every color and every background and every age.

And again, this type of rhetoric to me. plays into the whole mentality. And then again, what it's basically saying is that blacks are suffering because of white people. And it's a generalization that I take issue with. at the same time wanting to stand together, To improve the quality of life of every American as much as we can together or remove obstacles together.

But perhaps the biggest issue I have with this Is She says right now a black baby in South Carolina is twice as likely to die before her first birthday as a white baby. Baby. No, no, no, Hillary, your stats are way off. misses Clinton, your stats are way off. Yeah.

That black baby is twice as likely, maybe higher. to never get out of the womb. Yeah. Ms. Clinton, you support that.

You are a staunch supporter of Planned Parenthood. which has murdered more black Americans than any other organization. Think of it. Years back, brainstorming with some pro-life friends, I said, How about the slogan, Stop the Black Genocide? and others independent of me had thought in those same lines.

So that's what grieves me more than anything. That Hillary Clinton and Planned Parenthood are close, close co-workers. And Planned Parenthood's never had a better candidate than Hillary Clinton. never had one more in tune with their heart and their vision. And here you've got Hillary Clinton talking about black babies dying before their first birthday.

How about... How about getting to day zero? How about that? How about that? 866-34Truth.

All right, just a little bit more from Hillary Clinton. We'll go to clip number seven, again, speaking yesterday at the NAACP convention. Rosa Parks opened up every seat on the bus. Our challenge now is to expand jobs so everyone can afford the fare. And let's ensure.

That the bus route reaches every neighborhood and connects every family with safe, affordable housing, good jobs, and quality schools. Could you I I can't tell you how much that type of rhetoric grates on me. It's everybody else's fault. You don't have a job, whoever you are, young person, old person, black person, white person, whoever you are, you don't have a job, it's somebody else's. Fourth.

Yeah. And The reason you don't have a job is 'cause the bus doesn't come into your neighborhood. And that's the government's fault, and that's the white person's fault, and it's some type of conspiratorial issue. And notice. safe and affordable housing How's that going to come about?

Well, obviously something has to be given out. or prices have to be dropped to ways that can't be sustained, This is what created a a great financial crisis eight years ago. one of the things that led to that crisis.

So t to me, in my view, This is more of the same. This is the very thing that has worked against the dignity of black Americans. You say, who gives you the right to say it? You're white. And she's speaking at the NAACP and they're eating up every word.

I think that's a shame. I don't believe that what she says ultimately empowers. I don't believe what she says ultimately lifts people. I don't believe what she's saying. Ultimately, it gives the sense of responsibility and.

I don't need the government to help me. I don't need the government to bend over especially to me. If if I study hard and work hard, I can get ahead like anybody else. I may have more obstacles to overcome. If I'm from one ethnic group or have a certain skin color or come from a certain neighborhood, I may have more obstacles to overcome than someone else.

But That doesn't mean they can't be overcome. and as long as political leaders Are getting voted in by making promises of what the government's going to do to help somebody. Rather than say, we want to empower you. You say it is about empowerment. No, this stuff does not empower.

Has it? Has it empowered over the last 40-50 years? Quite the contrary. We'll be right back. Shaking this out.

Change the world. Change the world. It's the line of fire with your host, Dr. Michael Brown.

Get into the line of fire now by calling 866-34TRUT. Here again is Dr. Michael Brown.

We white Americans need to do a better job. of listening when African Americans talk. About the seen and unseen barriers you face every day. We need to recognize our privilege. and practice humility.

Rather than assume that our experiences are everyone's experiences. Actually Actually, we've been doing that. very, very studiously. for years now on the line of fire. As I have eagerly.

Listened to callers from different backgrounds to share their life experiences with me. And Because I didn't grow up in in racist environments, 866-34TRUTH, 866-348-7884. to weigh in with your comments. I've mentioned the second organ teacher I had when I was a little boy was a black man married to a white woman.

So what this was the early 1960s. And they had family turned against them, and friends turned against them, and they were thoroughly welcomed in our home. And so I had a black organ teacher married to a white woman, and they sometimes would join us for dinner. That was my dad. That was the environment that I grew up in.

And I've had the joy of ministering multiculturally for years and having dear friends. Virtually every race and ethnicity and skin color, co-workers. And I so honor the body. I so honor the diversity. I so respect the differences in society and the different strengths and weaknesses that each group brings, and how we can help each other, how we need each other.

And many callers over the years, many African-American callers, have really. Uh filled in. blind spots for me. because I was never racially profiled. I didn't have to overcome certain obstacles that a black American might have to overcome.

I wasn't treated differently because of my skin color, being in the great majority here in America.

So I've become very sensitive to these issues and believe that there are many things that white Americans just don't get. We just don't see. At the same time, I believe the policies that we have The the welfare system the way it is I don't mean that there are no people deserving of government help Of course there are. But the system as it's set up, in my view, is designed to keep black Americans down. rather than to empower them.

And my my African American colleagues feel the same way.

So when I hear Hillary Clinton speaking, then I say, okay, what have these policies done? They've hurt, they've not helped. That's what concerns me. I want to see justice, I want to see equality, I want to see empowerment. But I believe this plays into a victim mentality.

points the finger at someone else. caters to anger. and then deepens the problem rather than solves the problem. 866-348-7884. Let's go to Bunn, North Carolina.

Rhonda, welcome to the line of fire. Hey, Doctor Brown. How are you? Doing well, thank you. Thank you so much for your knowledge and your program.

My whole family listens to you. There's a couple of things I wanted to say. The first is that as a nurse, those statistics when you played them about the asthma with the black children, that concerns me because it probably is pretty close to the truth, and it does bother me a lot. It does tend to run in black children. But besides all that, let me say this.

my whole family, my entire life. I am white, but I have never, ever, I'm not even going to say it's a gift from God, even though it probably is. I've never understood. um the differences That people look at people different because they're str skin color. I have been, um, called awful names my whole life because of that.

I have one family member that's married to a young man that's mixed, and a granddaughter who I consider a granddaughter that's mixed.

So my whole life bears out what I'm saying about I have never felt unnecessary fear, even with young black men. I've just never felt fear towards black people. And I know a lot of people say this, but it is true. My best female friend is black. And we are heart sick over what's happening.

And I had noticed in myself in the last few days that I had been getting more fearful. I was um just so much more fearful instead of face field. In my dealings with people as I'm going about my job, because I'm a home health nurse, I go from house to house. and in a lot of different neighborhoods. And I realized that what I'd been doing in my car was listening more to the news.

The talk radio. than to listen to my uh truth network Uh where, you know, I'm hearing the word obey. And I I thought of the second thing. I've been on many mission trips over the years. Never, ever have I looked at what the political system was in Ecuador before I went or Venezuela before I went.

Never, ever have I done that. I've always been full of faith. I've always prepared by praying. I've always prepared by reading the word so that I could spiritually go and just boldly confess Christ and the gospel. And I think that all of us that are Christian needs to realize that our mission field is the United States right now.

We don't need to even be thinking I mean, I'm I support definitely missionaries everywhere else with Um I think that our mission field is right here. But we can't be full of fear. We have to be full of faith. We have to be because it will hinder us. In sharing our love for everyone and bringing the lost to Christ.

Yeah, and what we have to do, Rhonda, we have to be so careful that we don't get caught up with the spirit of the age. And I appreciate your heart. Appreciate what you're sharing. When I was in Jamestown, North Carolina, A couple of weeks ago, one gentleman came up to me and had been a regular listener. Maybe you're listening now, sir.

He had been a regular listener to Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity. But he said he needed something more positive and now listens to my broadcast as well.

So with all respect, I remember you telling that. Yeah, with all respect to Rush and Sean as far as being radio hosts and things like that with great success. And Rush tends to be, can be optimistic as well. The fact is we don't need a natural optimism. We need the gospel.

We don't need just someone giving us a positive political outlook. We need the gospel. And often, especially in the midst of politics, we can really get... worked up And we're pro this, we're against this, and the sound, and next thing we're getting agitated, and our emotions in the wrong place, whereas we need to bow down before God. to honor him as the king And to say, Lord, here we are, regardless of who's in office, we still have liberty to preach the gospel right now in America.

We have some freedoms under attack, but regardless of who's in office, we can stand, we can speak, we can preach the gospel to the lost, we can make disciples, we can pray. Let's give ourselves to what we can do as believers, what we can do that no one else can do. Let's give ourselves to it and impact America. on our knees in prayer and then living this out as disciples. Hay Rhonda, thank you so much for calling.

It's the line of fire with your host, activist, author, international speaker, and theologian Dr. Michael Brown.

Your voice of moral, cultural, and spiritual revolution. Get into the line of fire now by calling 866-34TRUTH. Here again is Dr. Michael Brown.

The fact of the matter is, however, as you look at this audience and as you look at the message, even with Mrs. Trump saying what she said. It's a pretty divisive message. There's no attempt to really pull the country together. It's kind of separating one against the other, which has also worked so successfully, Horn.

That is a former anchorman Tong Brokaw on NBC talking about the first night at the Republican National Convention. With all respect to mister Brokaw, I have to laugh at those comments. Do you think the Democratic National Convention is going to be more uniting for the nation? Do you think it's going to be less attacking Donald Trump than the Republican Convention is attacking Hillary Clinton? Do you think it's going to really appeal to Conservative Evangelicals to conservative Americans?

Do you think it's going to tone down its pro-abortion, pro-homosexuality rhetoric? Do you think it's going to tone down its Perhaps race baiting would be the best way to put it. Of course not. Of course not. What a biased statement, in my view.

By Tom Brokow on NBC. That being said, am I surprised? No. Not surprised at all. I expect the liberal media to be going after the Republicans and Donald Trump.

I expect the conservative media to be going after the Democrats and Hillary Clinton. And that's the way it's going to unfold. By God's grace. We are going to step higher. Yeah, we're conservative in our moral views because of scripture, because of the Lord.

And therefore I'm going to take issue with the Democratic National A party platform which is radically pro-abortion. I don't know if the final details have been released yet, but we can fully expect radically pro-abortion. Pro-Planned Parenthood. Whereas the Republicans are in their platform calling for the defunding of Planned Parenthood. Let's say the decision to redefine marriage.

That would have been looked at as the ceiling in the past.

Now that's just going to be the ground floor in democratic thinking.

So expect things to get more and more radical. Just expect it. And on and on it goes with the differences.

So yeah, I'm going to take issue with those, but... Does God primarily identify with one party or another? Isn't that part of the problem? Isn't that part of the downfall in our thinking? say with the moral majority or the religious right where it gets hitched to a party As opposed to saying to the party, here's where we stand, come and join us.

Here's where we stand. Be part of us. And if we agree with you, you'll get our vote. 866-34Truth. We come back in a moment.

I want to ask my guest, as often as possible, joining me on Tuesdays at this very time, James Robinson. Does God affiliate with a political party? And if you're a conservative Christian like me, Conservative follower of Jesus like me, and you say, under no circumstances could you vote for Hillary Clinton? What's it going to take for Donald Trump to get the vote of conservative Evangelicals. We'll talk about those issues, but first, a special announcement.

Special announcement. Have you ever wondered how you can recognize the voice of God? Have you ever Felt I need to hear the Lord more clearly in my personal life and decision-making, for my family, for ministry. How can I do that? How can I really be led by the Holy Spirit?

The Bible certainly talks about it. We're supposed to get dreams, visions, prophetic words. Did we just feel something? I did an extensive teaching on this, eight lectures, 12 hours, some years ago, and we put it out as the very best teaching I'd ever done on it: how to be led by the Spirit. You can download it at 60% off the already low price.

It's practically a giveaway. For everything you get for 12 hours of teaching, go to the website, take advantage of it. Trust me, you'll find it really, really helpful, biblically based, sound, practical, helpful. Go to askdrbrown.org, A-S-K-D-R-Brown.org, and you can just order, you can download, and take advantage of this very, very special resource offer. I trust it'll be a blessing to you.

We'll be right back. It's the line of fire with your host, Dr. Michael Brown, your voice of moral, cultural, and spiritual revolution. Here again is Dr. Michael Brown.

Welcome back, friends, to the Line of Fire broadcast, 866-34TRUTH. My latest article on the stream, stream.org, asks the question, does God have a political party affiliation? My guest, James Robinson, founder of the stream, stream.org, was one of the leaders involved with the birth of the moral majority, one of the leaders that helped encourage Governor Ronald Reagan to run for president.

So James Robinson has seen the successes as well as the failures of these types of movements and political involvement.

So James, as always, especially during the political season, it's great to have you on the broadcast with us. Michael, it's good to be with you. I appreciate the kind things you say, and I appreciate everything you do. Boy, are we living in a time when we're gonna have to have the wisdom that comes from above or our future is bleak. if not almost to freedom over as we've known it.

Yeah, absolutely. And this means, even though we vote and we get involved politically, that we have to transcend politics and bring a kingdom view to everything that's going on.

So Is it true on any level? That Religious conservatives and remoral majority ended up hitching themselves to a party. as opposed to standing their ground and saying to the party, Here's how you can work with us. Was there anything done wrong strategically we can learn from? When Jay Richards and I wrote the book, Indivisible, Restoring Faith, Family and Freedom, Before It's Too Late, and by the way, that is the master plan.

for where we need to go. If you want to know what must be done, get that book. Became a New York Times bestseller. I have actually suggested to the entire Trump family and team, if they actually take that book and I told Paul Manafort to lay it out, find anything in there that you want to push back on, discuss. But you're going to find that you're going to find a a proper inspirational way to approach the tremendously high pressure situations we face.

In the book, I pointed out that I was, yes, known as a part of the birthing of the religious rite. It was actually birthed in what was called a freedom rally in Dallas, where I was kicked off television for of all things saying that Romans chapter 1 is relevant. Uh the Homosexual practice is against nature's law, nature's God. and that these are issues we need to address, not with mainness, but with love. And I was kicked off, and then we went into a battle.

The Freedom Rally was the huge rally, not the briefing that Reagan said to endorse you, but. one that preceded all of that and all of the conservative leaders and Church leaders, uh across the nomination lines gathered in in Dallas at the convention center. And it was just a shot heard around the world. We overthrew the fairness doctrine. I was the speaker with the FCC there at the National Religious Broadcasters Convention.

I was the keynote speaker. Reagan also spoke. But anyway, we did some good things there, and the moral majority was burped after that because Wyrick was one of the men, Paul Wyrick, on the platform, and he said, for the first time I see hope. He began meeting with Jerry and they came up with the concept of moral majority. I told both of them, it's poorly named.

It had an arrogant uh sound to it. I did not believe that we were going to get a power base necessary to change everything, and I told them it would be short lived, and it was. And also, the problem that came there was it was obvious that the Republicans with Reagan. had embraced some of the deep concerns that Christians had, rightly so. But they looked like an arm of the party.

There it was. Of course, Pat Robertson then runs. You can't believe the pressure that was put on me to run for president. And I said, I'm a preacher. I had those opportunities years ago when I was very young to get in this part of the uh realm of uh political leadership.

Me, I'm a preacher. I'm gonna proclaim the message of the king to all would-be kings, and that's where I stay today.

Now here's our situation. It'd be very difficult for real serious Christians who take the Bible and the Constitution seriously. biblical morality. As Robbie Zachariah says, we've seen in our day the genocide, the death of truth, morality and reason. with heavy emphasis on reason.

Well, when you've got a party that nails a plank in that redefines the family, redefines gender. uh cast aside basic principles of the word of God. And even sensible thinking, and then nails a plank in that demands the right to terminate most helpless, innocent life on the planet. And then, with all just almost a vicious vocal approval of it, call you less than sound thinkers and terrible people, and you're worse than Hitler, that you want to tell. Women, that they can't do what they want to do with their body.

And we try to say, as Christians, it's not your body we're talking about right now, it's the body of a little. innocent child.

So when you have a party that has nailed those planks in. Where does a Christian get at the table unless they come to the table in the Democratic Convention to preach? proclaim the truth of God and say, get these rotten planks out of your platform.

Now on the Republican side, there's no question Republicans have a lot of Correction to do. They have a lot of rethinking to do. They do need to focus with a greater compassion on the needs of people who don't have much. But the government is not the answer. We can help move people toward the answer.

We can protect people's freedom so they can become a part of the answer.

So you do have a seat at the table, it appears. I do not. wish to endorse a party. I wish to endorse principles of all parties. And I think you expressed on the stream today a very good look at the concern there.

No, we're not an arm of a party. Yes, we are a move of God that should impact every party, every candidate and every voter in a powerful and profound and positive way. All right. So, right now, if you're thinking as I am, there's no possible way we could vote for Hillary Clinton. There's no possible way we could support the Democratic Party.

And yet, there are many that continue to have reservations about Donald Trump. Thankfully, you're one of the voices that's speaking to him and speaking to his family, and obviously giving him godly counsel. I've got the utmost confidence in what you'd be saying to him in terms of being gospel-based. In your view, What does he need to do if you're speaking in his ear? I remember being at meetings with Ted Cruz when you were speaking and publicly speaking in his ear and urging him to hear you in certain key areas.

So you've been quite forthright in that regard. What would you be saying to Donald Trump to say, sir, if you want the confidence of conservative Christians in America, if you want their vote, here's what I would counsel you. What are you saying to him? Make a place at the table for the wisest possible counsel and understand that biblical counsel is absolutely unshakably reliable. Not religious talk about biblical counsel, but biblical counsel In other words, make a seat at the table for a Joseph, for a Daniel, for the Old Testament, New Testament teachers and apostles and prophets.

Do that. He's done it. He's opened the door. You get Hillary Clinton, we're going to get one thing most Christians hope for. you get Donald Trump, you're going to get some things that people hope for.

Tony Perkins told me and then he told the news media, this is the most conservative platform I have ever seen. That the Republicans are now presenting, and that means conservative in line with basic family and, let's say, freedom principles, and certainly biblical principles, and especially getting rid of the Johnson Amendment right up front so preachers can do what they did and what liberal preachers and the liberals have continued to do. They don't pay any attention to the law any more than Hillary Clinton does. They think they're above the law, they refuse to obey it. And there's some insecure preachers that believe the truth that are just afraid to say anything, that should have said it no matter what.

You're not going to stop me from exercising free speech or my God given accountability and responsibility to preach the truth. I'm going to preach it. I'm going to preach it fearlessly and faithfully. And preach it to everybody.

So, when you look at the other side, you're going to get some things. You're likely to get the perfect justices in light of the comparison. You're going to get a judicial system and perhaps a justice reform. You're going to have strength for the family emphasis. You're going to protect that innocent life.

You're not going to, let's say, support these things that are so absolutely inconsistent with the Word of God, the will of God, the heart of God. And so there it is. But that doesn't mean you, you know, a person can be a Democrat or a Republican or a candidate on either side trying to run on the right principles and move their party back to principle. That's what everybody ought to do. The people in the Democratic Party that believe in family and marriage and personal responsibility and not dependence on the government, they ought to say to the whole party, change the platform, it's rotten to the core.

We're not going to support. How can any Christian support people who demand the right to kill the most innocent people on the planet? And here's another thing I want to say to everybody that was for some other person that didn't get it. What if Daniel? Had said, I'm not going to deliver God's truth.

I'm not going to interpret these dreams reliably for the sake of the people because I don't like Nebuchadnezzar. I don't like Belshazzar. I don't like Darius, and I don't like. Cyrus. I mean, where did this man ever stop delivering the truth?

And where are all the people that were for Ted Cruz or for Christie or for Bush or whatever? Where did we get the right as believers to suddenly decide our choice didn't get it in this democratic process?

Now, we're going to totally do the exact opposite of what everyone on the platform asked the other candidates to do. We're not going to support the candidate of the people. Forget the party. The people said they want this person.

So what does the church do? We preach to the people's champion. I'm preaching to Hillary Clinton right now while I talk to you. It's your rotten platform. Correct it, lady.

Secretary of State, clean up the act, stop it.

Now what about Donald Trump? His past is indefensible in many ways. But don't we ask people to move beyond their past into a new day where they might invite wisdom to the table? I'm telling you, I have been with mister Trump enough. I've talked to him and his family.

I've talked to his leadership. They are listening. Are they moving at the pace I want the way I want? Not necessarily so, but what's my responsibility? My responsibility.

Let me just cut you off right there.

Sorry to do that. Take another minute if you can on the other side of the break. I know your time is precious, but if you can just stay with us a couple more minutes, I want you to share that on the other side of the break. what you're saying, why you believe they're listening. That's important to hear because you've been around the block here.

We'll be right back. It's the line of fire with your host, Dr. Michael Brown, your voice of moral, cultural, and spiritual revolution. Here again is Dr. Michael Brown.

Welcome back, friends, to the line of fire, speaking with James Robinson, founder of The Stream. You've seen him on Life Outreach TV. Read his books, heard his messages. Visit thestream.org, stream.org. That's simple.

You'll read my articles there. In fact, they're the first ones to post them. And at least once a week, I'm writing an exclusive article just for the stream.

So you'll find great commentary on what's happening in the society, inspiration, as well as key breaking news, often with Christian commentary on it as it's happening.

So, James, right before the break, we had to cut you off, but you were talking about that you do have the ear of the Trump family, or some other evangelical leaders that are speaking to them, and that you genuinely feel that he's listening.

So, in other words, you don't feel that he's just posturing. by gathering people like you around him or by selecting a conservative governor like Mike Pence as a running mate, you don't feel he's just posturing for votes, but either in his heart of hearts he believes this is right or simply he believes this is the direction he should go. Uh and he's doing it. He's unquestionably captivated by Jesus that he sees in some people. Obviously, according to Min Carson, also in me.

And he believes that I care deeply for this country and that I have enough wisdom to know how to share some positive and important things and he listens. As does Paul Manafort, as does others. They've asked for it, they keep asking for it. I continue to work with Tony Perkins. To make sure he has total access, Tony will tell you.

how effective I've been in keeping him totally at the table. and increasing that I I I want the Trump family to hear what you say. I want him to hear what you say. I want Mr. Trump to know what you say as it relates to Israel and other important matters.

I will be working for you to have a seat at that table. Not because it's a Republican or what we think is more conservative, but because somebody says, I want to know the truth. And when the family basically is saying to me, We would lose everything. To help this country be turned around. Nothing really matters anymore but freedom.

and helping the American people. And I believe they mean it. because I'm telling you, they were being largely distracted from everything they've ever done. And mister Trump hasn't given any attention to it. And I'm watching the family give far more attention to trying to help their dad hear the truth.

And I find that to be the case. And I continue to be asked. And I make it very clear. I'm not going to back out. I'm not going to leave the seat at the table.

Even if I disagree with someone, I'm going to say, here's why I disagree, here's why I think it's a problem. It's the very things I said to Ted Cruz. I said it to every candidate, which I'm going to say probably 14 of the 17. spend time with me. I spoke the truth and shared my concerns with every one of them without waiver.

Because I believe that we build freedom on a solid principle foundation. And we have moved away from that, and the walls to protect that which matters have been broken down. And so I'm going to keep pushing toward it. I I want to see Donald Trump. make Jesus the most important thing in his life, most important person.

But I think if he got up and said, I've had a Damascus road experience, I think that would backfire as much as foxhole repentance. or jailhouse religion. People would think, now there's manipulation, there's a liar. And I have said to him, you keep what's going on between you and God, between you and God, and walk it out. Be very careful how you talk about religion.

These are the things I say because I'm telling you. People right now are so sick of political correctness, they're so sick of the establishment, they say we want something different. And Mr. Trump says, I want it too. Let's work to get it done.

Let's correct the course. Mm. And and friends For those of you who don't know James Robinson personally, when you see him on TV, You'll see someone emanating love. You'll see someone caring about starving children in Africa, and their concern is genuinely there. You'll see them getting choked up as they present these things as a couple, James and his dear wife.

And you might think, well, is this guy hard? No, listen, I've been in the meetings where, with Grace, he's spoken to political leaders in ways that I think, whoa. That was a strong statement. He and I have talked in with candor and grace. He'll tell me something he differs with me about that I've written or said.

So that's encouraging to me because I know, James, you were asking for prayer the first time you were getting with Donald Trump and his family. You texted me asking for prayer. You didn't go in there just kind of blind-eyed, or wide-eyed, I should say. You've been around enough political leaders. There's nothing magical about it.

So I had confidence, okay, he's going to hear the gospel from my friend here. He's going to hear the gospel. The fact that now, after these weeks, You feel he's listening even more personally. That's very encouraging to me. You know the many questions I've had about the Trump candidacy.

So as you tell me that he's really listening, and now I see how the the platform was drafted.

So he he didn't fight it, it seemed, right? It's hard. Yeah. That's positive to hear and encouraging to me, and I appreciate you sharing it. And listen, if you had an open door to talk to Hillary Clinton like this, I'm sure you would.

That's the problem. The door is not open there, but it is open on the side of Donald Trump.

So let's keep praying that God will surround them with godly men and women and that he and his family will have ears to hear. to do what's right for the nation. Thank you, sir, for your labors. Look forward to talking to you again next week. And please pray and vote.

Don't opt out because you didn't get exactly what you think you wanted. You may be getting something better than any of us actually wanted. We might actually get the awakening and the spiritual move of God that our hearts long for and we desperately need. Yeah, may it be so. If we long for that, that would be the joy of our lives.

Thank you so much, dear brother. Thank you. Thank you for your prayers and those of your listeners. All right. Well, that's genuinely encouraging to me to hear, friends.

Genuinely. Because, like I said, I know what. James has said behind the scenes. I know it's not just coddling, and he refuses to endorse any candidate. He's not going to endorse.

And Tony Perkins, I know where he stands on on key righteousness issues and religious liberties. He's a colleague and friend, and you're not going to find someone more articulate, more clear headed, with better understanding of these issues than Tony. And he's not a hater, he's not a basher. He gets maligned, that's because he stands for the truth. Encouraging, encouraging words for sure.

866. Why give out the? I got a minute and a half in the program. Why give out the phone number? Tell you what I'm going to do.

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Whisper: parakeet / 2025-07-04 22:58:50 / 2025-07-04 23:01:19 / 2

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