Answers to Your Questions

Well, let's do it. You've got questions. We've got answers. 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.

Thanks for joining us today on the line of fire. Michael Brown here. Delighted to be with you. You've got questions? We've got answers.

Phone lines are open: 866-34TRUTH-866-348-7884. Anything in any area of expertise where I can help you. If it's something we've talked about on the show, something I've written about, something I've discussed with a guest, we need clarification, we have a question of your own from your own reading of the scripture, whatever it may be, give me a call, 866-348-7884. On today's broadcast, nothing is on topic or off-topic because there is no Designated topic. I want to begin with an email question.

I've been asked not to use a name for personal discretion. Dr. Brown, I just finished reading your book, Breaking the Stronghold of Food. and I must say it hit home. Most of Nancy's feelings, my wife Nancy had co-authored the book with me, most of Nancy's feelings while being fat are exactly like mine.

I've started my journey and feel so hopeful and encouraged like never before. Here's the deal. Nobody close to me understands, especially family, and they all need to lose weight also. I'm not pushing anything on anyone else, simply on my journey. My first real challenge is coming up and I wondered if you had any advice, going to dinner at an acquaintance's house.

How do I politely not eat what is on the table? There will be only four of us total, so I can't get lost in the crowd. My husband is already angry with me because I said I was sticking to my plan anyway. Advice. Thank you.

Wow. First I'm glad you're encouraged. But it's so painful to hear it that your own husband doesn't fully support you here, that he doesn't realize this about your health. that he doesn't realize this is about your feeling good about yourself. That he doesn't realize that this is about long-term well-being and present-day well-being, and that this is something that should be of concern to him as well.

And I would urge you to say, hey look, could you just read this? And let them read Nancy's story, where she tells a story in one place in the back of the book, because she intersperses her comments throughout the book, and then in one place in the back, she tells her story. It's just a few pages. Say, hey, honey. Just for me, for your wife.

Would you please read this? Because this is how I feel. That's the first thing. And then pray for him. Pray for him to quote, get it also, because we're so used to this.

We're so used to being obese. We're so used to being overweight. We're so used to being run down physically because of the way we eat. We don't even know it. We don't even know the connection.

So. Hopefully you can get your husband on board. But What I would do is very simple. You know that for you this is a matter of life and death. You know that for you this is a health issue.

So I would simply tell the folks, hey, I'm on a special diet. This is what we tell people wherever I travel around the world. And it's totally true. It's a super healthy diet. It's a totally healthy diet.

It's a healthy-only diet. This is what we tell people wherever I travel around the world. I'm on a special diet. I need a refrigerator in the hotel room. That's what we tell them, because I've got fruit that we need to put in there, or some other things I may travel with that are healthy that I need to put in there.

But otherwise, just tell them, hey, I'm on a special diet. Could you make me a giant salad? And if it's easier, I'll just bring like a massive salad for everybody. And so you take a big part for yourself and give to others. It's that simple.

If your husband understands how important this is for you, if you know that really it is a matter of life and death, and it's a matter of just living a normal, productive life and feeling good in your own skin. Then certainly it'll be important to your husband at some point. He may be angry though, because he's feeling threatened, like he has to change his diet. And these food strongholds are big, we know it. And we'll kick and scream and fight before we yield here.

So that's the counsel. Ask him to read Nancy's appendix in the back of the book. And friends, if you don't have the book yet, Breaking the Stronghold of Food, get it. I believe it'll change your life. I believe you'll be as helped as Nancy and I were in writing it.

Tell a friend, hey, I'm on a special diet. Would you mind just making me a big salad? And normally they'll be happy to comply. You'll be right now. Oh God of burning, cleansing flame.

Send the fire. 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. All right, let's do this together. You know, I want to encourage you again. Feel free. to ask honest questions about faith-related issues.

feel free to wonder about things that you're taught.

Okay, you know, I I hear this, but I always wonder about it. Maybe the pastor or the leader or the radio host or the T V preacher or whoever it is, your Bible study leader, maybe they have great insight into this, but you don't get it. rather than just parrot what you hear, ask questions about it, not in a critical, skeptical way, but say, boy, you're saying that, but I don't get it, I don't see it. And then if you dig more, then it's like, oh, now I see it, now I can stick my teeth into it.

Now, I have substance behind it.

Now, there's some weight behind what I believe. I'm not just parodying what someone else says. Conversely, Not everything a leader says is perfectly accurate. If that was the case, then we would all be in total harmony on everything. Or there would only be one Christian leader in the entire world, and everyone else would just say, whatever you say.

Obviously that's not the case.

So sometimes something's taught. And you think, you know. I don't agree with that point, because I've studied the scriptures on this for years.

Well, maybe you'll be convinced that your view is wrong. Maybe you'll be convinced your view is right, but it's healthy. I'm not talking about sitting there like, oh yeah, go ahead, prove it.

Now that's a bad attitude. The good attitude is, boy, I'm so glad to hear the word. I'm so eager to take this in. I'm looking forward to Dr. Brown's broadcast today.

I'm going to take this in. And I say something that strikes you as odd, like, hmm. All right.

Well, let me look into that. That's healthy. That's good. It's not healthy to sit and question everything in a skeptical, cynical way, challenging every leader and every person in authority. That's unhealthy.

It's also unhealthy to just believe everything mindlessly without ever examining it or looking into it.

So hear things, receive things with a good open attitude. and then dig in deeper were there questions. Does that make sense to you? I hope it does. 866-34TRUTH.

Let's go to the phones. We'll start in Camden, New Jersey. Ed, welcome to the line of fire. How you doing, Dr. Brown?

I'm doing well, man, and you sound like you are from New Jersey, buddy. Thank you. I'm a long time listener, Doctor Brown, and I I'm just having issues right now with a niece and nephew. My my older brother's two children who are both um openly you know homosexual And I I I remember as a kid Um, when they were kids, the my brother and his wife would hang around Another homosexual couple, and I don't know if that spirit of homosexuality. Cling to my brother's family, and my niece and nephew both turned out to be gay.

We've struggled with that for a while, but we've come to just show them love. We've never even tried to judge them. My niece and her girlfriend, we've opened our arms to her. We've given them money for groceries. But they they have had problems in their house.

where they're seeing, you know I'm going off the top of my head that they've seen evil spirits, they've seen evil things going on, and they reached out to us and I had explained to her that that that lifestyle will attract. those type of things and Right there, she cut me off and told me that I'm dead to her and that she's saved regardless if she's in a homosexual relationship. And I just don't know what other way to go about it because I'm not trying to judge her. Yeah. I understand.

I understand. And look, she came to you for help. And look, we know there are plenty of heterosexuals and Plenty of married couples that are rightly married in God's sight, and they get attacked by demonic things and torment and things like that. We understand that, but. if they're coming to you for help, They know who you are, they know what you believe.

What are you going to do? You know, you can't turn your back on that. You can't deny that. You know, it's just like if someone is 200 pounds overweight and they keep coming to me, telling me, you know, their knees are hurting and their back is hurting. It's like, all right, if you lose weight, your knees won't hurt and your back won't hurt like that.

You know, you got to tell the truth in that regard.

Now, again, we don't know everything going on and if they're demonic spirits attacking them and what's prompting that, how is it happening? But certainly, what I would tell them is: okay, listen, you need Jesus. And I wouldn't even initially that would be the same. You need Jesus. You need to get right with God.

Now, they claim they are right with God. They claim that they are saved and they are right with God. That's the problem. See, if not, you start there. You need Jesus.

Well, what about our relationship? First and foremost, you need to. You need the Lord, and when you come to know Him, then you gotta obey Him. And if you understand that the relationship's wrong in his sight, you got to obey him. And he has something better for both of you.

But, you know, the first thing is. You need Jesus, right? And if they claim to be following Jesus, that's the big problem. If they claim to be saved and born again and suddenly cut you off, I mean, obviously, that's sensitive about it. That the moment you say this, they cut you off.

So, number one, you pray for them. And maybe the Lord even enables you to fast on their behalf. Because to cut you off that quickly, obviously, they're very sensitive about these things. It also means that the Holy Spirit's conviction will get under their skin in a good way.

So, obviously, you've been praying, but I would really take this as a time to up my prayer for them, all right? And even to fast if the Lord lays it on your heart, that God would convict them. Yeah. And then along with that, if there's a way to get a note to them. And especially to the gal, because she's a blood relative.

And to just write and say, listen, I know you're upset with me. Yet you know all these years I've never attacked you. We've always been there for you. You came to us asking for help because of demonic spirits. We spoke honestly to you, but listen.

We love you. We want what's best for you. We care about you. I'm on your side. Would you just agree that you want Jesus to To have his way in your life.

Would you agree? And then let's both agree on that. Lord, whatever is best, that's what we want. Whatever is your will, That's what you want. Say, look, forget what I believe.

Forget what you believe. The day you die, you're going to stand before God, not going to stand before uncle or aunt or anybody. And see if the Lord gives you the grace to write in real love and just say, Let's start fresh. We just want the will of God. Would you agree?

We just want Jesus. If Jesus is happy with your relationship, then I'll be happy with your relationship. If he's not, then you have to answer to him. Can we start there? And perhaps the door will swing back open.

And then if it does, you can ask her, hey, would you want something? You know, I've taught on these things with real love. I've written on them with real love. If they're open, then let us know. Shoot us a note.

We could recommend some resources that they could read or watch or engage with in one way or another. But I'd start with prayer and fasting and then reach out with real grace and love. Pray together with your wife about how to word this and get it back to: look, if you claim to be following Jesus, your life's accountable to him.

So let's both go to Jesus. Can we agree? And I remember a little illustration. It's oversimplified, Ed, but I think you'll find the relevance. The church in which I was saved, we pretty much didn't go to see movies.

That was just the understanding that's the world and so on. And you see one movie, then you'll see a worse movie.

So that was the mentality. We didn't go to movies. They were off limits.

So, you know, of course, we couldn't give like exact chapter and verse, but we used chapter and verse for principles about darkness and don't partake in the darkness and so on.

So anyway, regardless of whether you go to the movies or not, it's not the issue. The the the issue was that this this one gal said to the pastor, She said, I'm going to go to the movies and see this is such a movie tonight. But I'd just like you to pray for me before I go because I know there's some controversy over this, you know?

So the pastor. And we heard the story from our pastor. The pastor prays over her and says, Lord, bless her, be so close to her, be so near to her. And he prays this amazing prayer about Jesus just being with her every inch of the way and filling her life with his presence and so on. And then he said, Okay, have a nice time at the movie.

She goes, Are you crazy? I'm not going to the movies now.

So it wasn't a matter of him attacking her or telling her what was wrong. It was a matter of praying for her to be so close to the Lord that being so close to him, she wouldn't be interested in these other things. And I heard an ex-gay. make the comment, a formal homosexual was asked Can you be gay and Christian? And he said, not for long.

Meaning, if you're walking in homosexuality and really meet Jesus and walk with Jesus, you won't be able to live the way you were living before.

So let's just pray, Lord. I pray for Ed. And his wife, I pray for this niece and her partner and for the nephew that you would get involved, Lord, in a deeper way. I know you're at work, Lord, but I pray you get involved in a deeper way. May they see darkness for what it is.

May they see evil for what it is. If there are demonic spirits attacking them and it's through this relationship, then let them see it full-blown. And Lord, let the light of your spirit, the light of your presence become so absolutely real that there is a radical, real conversion experience in both of their lives and the nephew too, and that they run towards you with heart and soul. And may your anointing and wisdom be on Ed and his wife. In Jesus' name, we pray.

Hey, Ed, thank you, sir, for the call. And many of you listening, watching, you say, that's me, that's my family. That's my son, my daughter, my cousin, that's my dad, my mom. You pray. You pray it's the greatest weapon you have.

God will work in their hearts. We'll be right back. Game to the world. It's fire we want for fire we Please stand to the fire. It's the line of fire with your host, Dr.

Michael Brown. Get into the line of fire now by calling 866-342. Here again is Dr. Michael Brown. All right, here we go, answering your questions.

You've got questions, we've got answers: 866-348-3423. 7884. That's 866-34TRUTH. Hey. Do you have the Line of Fire app yet?

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Okay, let's grab some email questions here. Hello, Dr. Brown. I'd like to ask: is rape condemned in the Bible? I'm aware that some Christians cite Deuteronomy to imply that the Old Testament condemns rape.

But if the Old Testament laws no longer apply to us, then what are the implications of rape within Christianity? All right, certainly. The Bible condemns rape for quite a few reasons, certainly unequivocally. Let me explain, though, the issue about dealing with Old Testament laws and then a bit of a controversy regarding Old Testament rape laws. But first, it is not just a simple statement that the Old Testament laws don't apply.

The better way to look at it is this. in the entire Torah. the the divine instruction, the teaching, the law that God gave to Israel. There were commandments that were universal in scope. For example, when God tells Israel, don't murder.

He was telling them something that is a law for the whole world, something that he's written on hearts, and in Genesis 9 made a law for the whole world that whoever shed man's blood by man would his blood be shed. In other words, a death penalty for taking a human life because that human being is created in the image of God, according to Genesis chapter 9, verse 6. We can debate the death penalty for today, that's another subject. But simply to say that before God had called out Israel, before God had given the Torah, the law, to Israel, he made it universal, do not murder. Period.

That's where we start. That's for everybody.

So there are some laws that God gave Israel because they are universal moral laws, like don't murder and don't commit adultery and don't steal. That is wrong for everyone. And then there's some laws that God gave Israel to keep them separate from the nations, like the dietary laws. Like laws about not wearing garments with two different fabrics or sowing your field with two different seeds. That was to keep Israel separate from the nations.

Each of these laws was saying you're different, you're separate, you're different, you're separate, you're different, you're separate. That's what this was all about.

So, So We see the laws that were universal in intent repeated elsewhere in the Bible. Repeat it for other nations, or even repeat it in the New Testament. And that's how they know, that's how we know that they apply to us. today. All right, so let's just understand that first, and I think we could better grasp these things.

As for rape, Rape is either adultery, You are either having sex with someone who is married, which is forbidden. Or You are having sex with someone outside of wedlock, someone that is not married. In which case, it's fornication. If it's with someone married, it's adultery. If it's with someone unmarried, it's fornication.

Both of those are forbidden. in the New Testament. That's number one. Number two, it is an act of violence. It is an assault on another person.

It is the exact opposite of loving your neighbor as yourself. And therefore, of course, it is strictly forbidden. It is a violent assault on another human being, and it is forcing them to either commit adultery or to have sex out of wedlock. Of course, they are just the victim. They're not sinning in the process.

They have been defiled. They have not committed adultery or committed fornication in terms of their own will, but they have been abused, they have been defiled.

So, for many, many reasons, it is a hateful, violent, sexually immoral act. Of course, it's condemned.

Now, here's what's interesting. People look at Old Testament law about rape. And they say this was so unfair. This was so chauvinistic. And this was so cruel to the woman.

Because under Old Testament law, A man rapes a woman. then the father could have the man punished a certain way Or Or He could m have to marry the daughter. and would never be allowed to divorce her. That means he's got to provide for her and care for her all of his life. You say, how cruel can you get?

The man rapes someone, and then the punishment for the man is he gets the woman for the rest of her life. You've got to understand the culture. A raped woman would be off limits to many. A raped woman would be considered damaged goods. This is the case around the world to this day.

A woman who gets raped, others don't want to touch. There's a stigma. Yes, it's wrong, yes, it's ugly, but it is something that remains in the culture to this day. What you do is you punish the man. By saying this one-time act now makes you responsible for life to care for this woman and you can never divorce her.

You say, What about the woman? She in these cultures, and it exists to this day. I've actually read about countries today, for example, a country in Africa. And I believe I've seen it in other places as well, where it's the same penalty. If you rape someone, then it can be the father's will then, okay, that he has to marry that daughter.

Because no one else is going to marry her, and she does not want to be unmarried, and she does not want to be childless. And she would rather be married to that man and have children with that man than be single without children the rest of her life. That is the culture in certain parts of the world to this day. And that was the culture in the ancient world, the ancient biblical world, the ancient Near Eastern world, where these laws were given.

So this was done, as strange as it sounds to our ears, to protect. The woman. Absolutely. Let me say one other thing. Rape remains a plague in our culture.

It is something that happens so much. And in so many parts of the world, women are just treated like sexual objects. And it is shameful, it is ugly. And I want to encourage you, if you're a woman, Never let the world put pressure on you. That you have to dress and present yourself in such a way that you look like a sexual object, because that's not who you are.

And men. Don't look at women just like somebody to have sex with. Look at them as fellow heirs in being created in the image of God together. Look at them as someone that can bring something into your life that no other human being can bring as a gift from God. And treat the opposite sex both ways with honor, with respect, with esteem.

Let us not degrade one another into sexual objects. All right, have you visited the website, askdrbrown.org? No, you haven't read my latest articles? Watch the latest videos? Really?

Well, check everything out right there at Ask Dr. Brown, A-S-K-D-R-Brown. Board. 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. Thanks so much for joining us today on the One of Fire.

You've got questions. We've got answers. Here's the number to call. 866-666. 34 truth 866-348.

Seven eight eight four you say all Dr. Brown, I really can't call now because I work. What can I do? Hey, you got a question? Send it to our website.

We've got the contact info right there, askdrbrown.org. Just email in your question. I've got a bunch of email questions right here. I'm going to be answering some of them on the air. Either I get back to you, or staff will get back to you with answers with resources.

So if you can't call in, if you're watching or listening at another time, then by all means, shoot us a note and we'll do our best to get back to you. 866-34TRUTH for everyone who can call.

Okay. Let me comment on something. The beginning of this year, so some months back. Beginning of this year, A friend of mine, a colleague of mine, who has debated Muslims, moderated debates more than 40, 4-0, more than 40 moderate debates with Muslims, at least six in mosques, including in the largest mosque in Europe. Debated Muslims about Jesus.

and written about the Quran and what Christians need to know about the Quran.

So well educated in these areas. If he has an interfaith dialogue with a conservative Imam. A man that used to be much more radical in his views and then has stepped back from them, even went and visited Auschwitz a number of years ago to take in the full measure of what happened to Jews and has been speaking against jihadi Islam and is on the hit list of ISIS, but is a strongly conservative Imam. My friend invited the Imam to have a debate. The Imam said, I'm not sufficiently familiar with Christian theology to debate.

Let's have a dialogue.

So they had two nights of dialogue. You got tickets, you came in, one was in a church building, not beyond a pulpit preaching, two men sitting in chairs.

So they discuss what they have in common, where they differ, what their beliefs actually are. And then the next night they did it in a mosque. And as a result, you had Christians talking to Muslims about Jesus after the event, going back and forth, interacting, and walls that had been erected so high that you couldn't even talk to each other, now those walls were down. I think it's a great idea. Great way to get the gospel out.

Well, amazingly. Amazingly. For doing this, he has been savaged. My friend has been savaged as being a useful idiot for Islam who got duped. by this jihadist Imam.

And those of us that think what what my friend did Or those that think what he did was good, we have been branded clueless. And we have also become useful idiots for Islam. We need to grow up a little bit. I warn about radical Islam all the time. My friend has debated Muslims in mosques overseas.

He understands Islam a whole lot better than 99% of the rest of us. And on top of that, he understands how many Muslims espouse a violent Islam, a jihadi Islam, that wants to kill people like you and me. His eyes are wide open. My eyes are wide open. I get death wishes and even death threats from radical Muslims on a fairly regular basis.

We understand that. And we also understand the vast majority of Muslims are not terrorists. The vast majority of Americans living in America on our terrace. And while they would ultimately like to see America become Islamic, just like we want to see Saudi Arabia become Christian. They're not trying to take over the government and kill you with a terrorist attack.

So if you can build a relationship and share the gospel with them, why wouldn't you do that?

Someone says, Well, we're not supposed to be friends with the world.

Well, we're not friends with the spirit of the age. No, no, no, we don't compromise and take on the spirit of the age and become friends with the world in that respect. Absolutely not. But yes, we're friends with sinners. How are we going to get the gospel to people if we can't befriend them and show them the love of God and speak the truth in love to them?

So yes, don't be a friend of the world and take in the sin and the spirit of the age, but be a friend of sinners and share the gospel with them. Every opportunity you have in whatever setting you can do it where you don't get polluted yourself, go for it. We'll be 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 broadcast. You know what I find really interesting? And here's the number to call 866-34TRUT.

Any question you want to raise, any comment, anything you want to discuss with me, recent article, recent video of mine you want a question, you want to take issue with, give me a call, 866-34TRUTH. I have reached out to folks because what you may not know. Behind the scenes, is that when someone attacks me publicly, sometimes what I do is I reach out to them privately. reach out to see if I can be of help to them, because I know if they're attacking me, then I can't really help them. If they're attacking me, then whatever God's given me to be a blessing to them, they're not getting it.

And ultimately, if I believe I'm right in God's sight and honoring him, they're attacking me, is not helping them, and it's not hurting me.

So I'll often reach out. Plus, if it's a brother or sister in the Lord, hey, I want to be a peacemaker. Or if I feel they're in sin, they're attacking someone else, I want to speak the truth to them.

So I I'll reach out. You know what's wild? I'll often invite folks to join me on the air. Hey, you have a difference with me. Come on on the air.

Well, no, you control the mic. I won't do it. You know what? I go on shows all the time, other people's shows where they control the mic, as long as I can get my viewpoint out, as long as I can get my message out, even if it gets truncated, as long as there can be a little pushback to the other view, I'll do my best to take the opportunity to do it. And I do my best to be fair to those that differ with me.

Just we have time constraints with breaks and things like that. I can't let someone give a 20-minute point, obviously. But. Folks say, no, no, no, no, I don't want to talk to you on the air. I say, okay, great.

Let's talk off the ear. Yeah, I'm busy. They're busy. But I'm sure we could find a time. Time for a phone call.

So, tell you what, let's talk off the air. How's that? They drop out. Don't hear from them. I can't tell you how many times this happened.

Let's talk off the air.

Okay, great. We set up the time. I never hear from them. You know, I've been busy. Oh yeah, I'm sure you haven't talked to anybody else on the phone in these days.

Why what are people running from? If you're doing the right thing, then stand up for it. I don't want to debate you. I don't want to debate either. I want to have a civil conversation with a fellow believer.

I want to understand why you're so upset. I want to help you. If I've got a blind spot, help me. When you're walking in the light, when you're confident before God and man, you don't have to constantly run and hide. And again, it's one thing if you knew.

that if you came on my show, I was going to be nasty and insulting and demeaning, and you'd get mud over you from head to toe and you wouldn't even wanna go near it. That's one thing, but that's not gonna happen. It's it's one thing. If I was going to set you up You know, I was invited last year, maybe a year before, to go on Comedy Central. and to discuss with them issues about same-sex quote marriage.

And I've had some friends that have gone on there and said they were treated fairly. Everything was fine. They were treated fairly. I've had other friends that went on, and I know what happened. Things were brutally edited.

I mean, it is a comedy show. There can be news coverage as well, but it is meant to be comedy.

So, for example, they'll say to you, hey, wasn't this funny? And you yeah, that was funny. And then they got you laughing, and then they'll put that in. What did you think about the Holocaust?

Now you're well, no, they just cut and spliced. I'm going to give you an extreme example to get the point across.

So a friend of mine was on, he told me exactly what they did and how they did it. We had them on a radio to try to set the record straight. But far, far, far more people watched the TV show than listened to my radio show where we addressed it.

So they asked me on. And I said, if it's a live show, great, because they can't edit it out if it's live, right? No, no, no, it's going to be pre-recorded. We said, no problem. as long as you allow us to record everything as well.

We will record everything, and as long as you edit it fairly, we will not release the full record. If you edit it unfairly, we'll release the full record. No, we can't let you do that.

Okay, that's one thing. Because what you say is going to get destroyed. When I invite you on live radio.

Okay, if I tell you we will only post things in unedited form. When I say go ahead, record whatever you want. Then, what is the problem? You're not going to get misrepresented. You say, Yeah, I prefer to discuss it in private.

Great, let's talk in private, and they drop out. Or we set up a time and I never hear from them. That tells me there is a serious lack of integrity. That tells me there is a serious flaw. in their position, a serious chink in their armor.

And it makes me wonder, what are you running from? Come on, you remember as a kid when your mommy told you don't eat the cookies in the cookie jar. We just bake them they're for dessert after dinner for our guests, but you couldn't resist. It's fresh baked chocolate chip cookies, and and you go and you eat one. and your mother comes, 'cause she can see that look in your eyes.

She just knows. Did you eat one of the cookies?

Well, you're guilty Come on, let's see a smile. Let's see those teeth. Let me see your hand. Oh, no, I mean, I no, I I just got to brush my teeth, mom.

Well, well, my hands are fine. Why why no, you don't believe it? You start to get all worked up and everything, right? But When you didn't eat the cookies, you're like, go ahead, mommy, check my teeth. Look, here are my hands, check everything, count the number of cookies, because I saw you put 14 in there, and there's still 14.

Because when you're walking in the light, you're confident, you're clean.

So I seriously question the integrity of those who attack and won't even dialogue. those who attack and won't even talk off The air. If your position is so secure, then at least have a civil discussion about it. Does that sound like too much to ask? 866-34TRUTH.

Since I mentioned armor, here's a question from Jared. Do you have any in-depth studies explaining the whole armor of God and how the Christian is to use each part of the armor as well as the whole armor? Also, the spiritual aspect of the armor, example, the breastplate of righteousness, and how it relates to us being imputed with the righteousness of God. Thank you, and God bless your brother in Christ Jesus. Actually, I have it a full teaching series 12 hours On Eight.

Well, it used to be eight cassettes.

Now we just have them in eight MP3 files. You can download them from our website, very inexpensive, or you can get a CD. an entire teaching on spiritual warfare. I did this actually in the late 80s. I did a number of teachings at what we used to call our, it was a spiritual class night in our ministry school.

In the day, we'd have more academically oriented classes and a lot of stuff related to Jewish roots of the faith and training people for Jewish ministry and stuff like that. And then at night, it was our spiritual training center. And I teach on prayer and intercession and spiritual warfare and angels, demons, and deliverance and prophetic ministry and healing and all these kinds of things and getting to the scriptures and giants of the faith and so on. And years later, we thought, you know, that's kind of the best that I taught it.

So we'll just use those.

So just like a book that I wrote that came out in the late 80s or something.

Well, this is a teaching series that came out in the late 80s.

So you'll be listening. It's like, why is he mentioning President George H.W. Bush? Because he was the president at the time. I mean, that's the background.

But yeah, I taught on it. You can find it in our store at askdrbrown.org on spiritual warfare. And of course, we spend time talking about the armor of God. But let me. Let me give you an example.

of how some of this works. Notice that you have the armor which is protective, but then you have the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. Remember. In Matthew's gospel, Matthew 4, Luke's Gospel, Luke 4. when Jesus Yeshua is tempted in the wilderness, tempted by Satan.

after a forty day fast, He rebukes Satan. How? Three Times he quotes the word. And interestingly, he quotes from the book of Deuteronomy. Which is written at the end of Israel's 40 years in the wilderness.

So after his 40-day fast, right, as happened to Israel, so happens to the Messiah. He now. Is tempted by the enemy. And what does he do? He responds with three verses from Deuteronomy.

So the word is that offensive weapon. That word we speak out, we proclaim, we stand on, we believe, and thereby push back. Works of darkness, and say no to the temptations of the enemy and the lies of the enemy. Let's look at this. The helmet.

of salvation. Is that a helmet that we put on? And we think, spiritually speaking, right? And we think, I'm saved, I'm saved, I'm saved, I'm saved.

Now, it's good. It's good to meditate on who you are in the Lord. It's good to meditate on being a believer. It's good to meditate on being saved and forgiven. That's all good, healthy, great.

I'm all for it. Absolutely. But interestingly, If you cross-reference this in the book of Isaiah, You'll see that it says, God wears. Salvation is a helmet. Does that mean God thinks all the time, I'm saved, I'm saved?

No, no, no. Salvation there means victory. deliverance. And the same helmet metaphorically that God wears, this helmet of victory. and salvation and deliverance is the same helmet metaphorically that we wear.

Not thinking all the time, I'm saved, I'm saved, but we are victorious, we are overcomers. We in that sense, metaphorically speaking, wear the same armor that God wears metaphorically. Once you grab hold of that, that's one of those wow things that affects your thinking.

Okay, we'll be right back with more. 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. Thanks so much for joining us on the line of fire. This is Michael Brown, your joyful voice of moral, cultural, and spiritual revolution. You know, not that long ago, I had a guest on the radio show from Canada. And he talked about some of the things happening in Canada.

Canada. He talked about the new law. Federal law that controls your speech, that orders your speech. That if a man identifies as a woman and says, I want you to call me they. I want you to call me Z or Zer.

then you're required to Under penalty of law. Oh, okay. Uh it In the province of Ontario, this is the law. in the province of Ontario. In Canada.

All right, this is not just a bill that might be passed. No, no, it is the law in the province of Ontario. that if you have a a child, so you've got an eight-year-old boy, and he identifies as a girl. and and he wants to to be called Sally instead of Sam. and he wants to wear a dress to school.

And you say, no, Sam, we know you're going through a hard time. I know you really feel this way, but God really made you a boy, and you're not going to go to school dressed as a girl, and your name is Sam. But let's pray and let's talk. Let's try to find out why you feel like this. It's okay to have those feelings.

Let's try to find out why.

Well, Sam can go to school. And say that his parents are not allowing him to be who he really is. This is a form now of abusive parenting. That could then be reported to the government. I'm not making this up, friends.

Look into it. And that child could be taken away. That child could be taken away. from the mother and father and raised in an environment where he would be raised as a girl. That is the law in the province of Ontario.

You wonder why we raise our voices. You wonder why we speak out. You wonder why we draw attention to these issues. It's not because we hate anyone. It's because we love people and we love families and we love the way God made the human race and what he intended for marriage and family.

And when you tamper with that, it affects everybody, ultimately. That's why we've been sounding the alarm and that's what we've been saying. The key is awakening in the church that we begin to live right, raise our families right, honor God, pastors, leaders, stand up for what's right. And by God's grace and mercy, America can be saved from destruction, as can Canada. Yeah.

This guest from Canada said to me, you know, the latest thing now, drag queens and libraries are reading stories to children as young as two. I said, not just in Canada, in the States too. This is now the big thing. Drag queen awareness and helping little kids to understand what it means to dress up as a drag queen. This is perverse.

Yes, these drag queens need the Lord and need to find wholeness and repentance. You don't put that on kids Gosh! This is what we're dealing with. This is why we raise our voices. 866-34-TRUTH.

All right, let us go to Tonington, Connecticut. Steve, welcome to the line of fire. Hey, Doctor Brown, thanks for having me on. You bet. Um okay, so Second Kings 315.

Yes, sir. Elijah says, bring me a musician, have him play. And then the hand of the Lord comes upon Elisha, and he prophesies. I assume that's the spirit of the Lord. Yes, sir.

My question is. How'd that work? What's going on there? What's the relationship? And I I can think of a few other places, you probably tend to.

Between the Spirit of the Lord and music and How does that work? What's the application for us? Is there something we can learn from this? this past. It's just mysterious to me.

Yeah. Uh okay. I I love the question, Steve. And in fact, I am toying with writing a book right now. I've actually started playing around with it on the power of music, how music changed the world.

and how music must change the world again, but especially it's going to be a call to believers and to songwriters and people in praise and worship and everyone to recognize the power of music.

So let's first talk totally generic and secular. Music has a unique power. Music literally affects the brain. in ways that other things don't.

So music can completely create a mood, right? I went online and I looked for a list of the most powerful movie soundtracks with recent movies. And I think there was a soundtrack to Romeo and Juliet. And the theme song began to play. And I didn't see Romeo and Juliet.

We know it's a sad story, right? But I didn't see the Romeo and Juliet movie. The moment I heard the music, I wanted to start crying. The moment it started. It had that effect on me.

Watch your favorite drama show, you know, when someone's trying to chase somebody down and you're fleeing for your life. Take the music out, and it just becomes like a guy running down the street after another guy.

So music can create moods. Music is tremendously powerful. There was a test done, and I believe this happened in several places. There was a high crime rate in one park.

So what they did is they piped music and classical music into the park and the crime rate dropped. People just didn't want to be in that environment and it was not conducive to them mugging and thugging and whatever else they were doing. The whole thing that got me into drugs and a decadent lifestyle from 69 to 71 was rock music. That was the thing that opened the door and that pulled me in, and then I dove in headlong and made my sinful choices.

So, music has this effect on the brain in a unique way, okay? When you then tie it to the anointing of the Spirit, David played. playing the harp. and the evil spirit that was tormenting Saul would leave. Or here, Elisha can't prophesy until the minstrel comes.

And when this man begins to play, obviously to the Lord, he begins to play, the Spirit comes on Elisha. Or 1 Samuel, the 10th chapter, that there's a group of prophets. Samuel tells Saul, you're going to encounter a group of prophets. And they've got musical instruments. Why?

Because they're prophets. And because this enhances prophetic ministry. I can't tell you how many times, sir, I mean, hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of times, where the right song in a service suddenly changed the whole atmosphere. where the worship leader was sensitive and just felt to go in a certain direction. And next thing, the people who were worshiping very passively were now totally engaged and they're suddenly on their knees or they're weeping before the Lord.

I can't tell you how many times I've been preaching and ministering, and I'm going to have an altar call, or I'm going to minister in a certain way, and I need plenty of times. I have altar calls, no music, nothing, just people respond. But so many times, I know that if we'll sing a particular song, that there is a certain grace on that song. There's truth. There's music joined together with it.

If every instrument was completely out of tune and the person leading and singing couldn't sing, and the amps were so turned up, everything was screeching, obviously that's not going to do anything. But when you have in the right atmosphere, someone that's anointed, so there are psalmists, they're anointed. Think of how much. David put the psalms are all sung. Think of that.

Think how much David put into the temple, the plans for the temple and the tabernacle when he had it with constant singing, constant singing. In my book, Revolution. Revolution, The Call of Holy War, about the Jesus kind of war that we wage, overcoming evil with good and overcoming hatred with love. In that book, Revolution, I have a whole chapter on the power of music and how music in the 60s affected America so negatively, but how music anointed by God can change the world. It's an amazing, rich topic.

That's why I'm thinking of writing a whole book on it. Change the world. Change the world. Change the world. Well, let's do it.

You've got questions. We've got answers. 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. All right, we're going to get a little bit political for a moment, but any question you have of any kind, anything you want to call in to talk to me about, biblical, theological, spiritual, cultural, moral, Israel-related, whatever it is, if it's anything that we talk about on the air or any area of expertise I have, give me a call.

Eight six six three. 348-7884 is the number to call. Or if you have our app, the Line of Fire app, you can just press the button to call on there. If you don't have the app, go to the Apple Play Store, the Apple App Store, the Google Play Store, and download the Line of Fire with Dr. Michael Brown.

And this way you can call, boom, right there from your phone, just with one press of a button.

Okay, let me get a little political. There is always controversy in the air about President Trump and his tweets. And some are more extreme than others, personal attacks on others. And some who voted for him were hoping that once elected as president, that he'd feel the weight and the gravity of the office and recognize the bully pulpit that he now has, and accordingly, would step a little higher, still be who he is, still be rough and tumble, still say it like it is, all that, call out fake news, whatever. Perhaps wouldn't engage in such personal attacks, crass attacks on other people.

And obviously that that has not been the case. Here's what I've addressed, and here's how I want to address it. President Trump was not my first choice. He may have been God's first choice the whole way, let God be God for whatever purposes. But he was not my first choice.

In fact, I was very critical of him as a candidate. But once he won the Republican nomination, now it was a question for me of Donald Trump versus Hillary Clinton. And I could not vote for Hillary Clinton in good conscience.

So I was voting against Hillary Clinton when I voted for President Trump. And I was also voting for Supreme Court appointees and things like that.

So, I support the president. He is my president. Barack Obama was my president, even though I absolutely despise some of his policies. He was my president.

Now, President Trump is my president. You may not like him, but he is your president if you live here in America. That's the way our system works. But it doesn't mean, even if you're a supporter of the president, that you have to support everything he says and does. And I believe that many of us, as followers of Jesus, are hurting our witness and demeaning ourselves when we feel the need to support.

everything he says to back every tweet that he tweets. Why not simply say, I support our president. I think he's done a lot of good. but I wish he wouldn't attack people in this way. It gives you more credibility.

I'm shocked as I see some of the worst tweets in recent weeks and months that have come from the President. And when I've said, look, you can support him. I'm a supporter of the President. I voted for him with concern, but I voted for him. And I know that he's getting certain things done by being who he is.

On the other hand, the rough edges are destructive. The rough edges hurt him. They degrade his presidency. They distract from getting the real things done in many, many ways. They tarnish other things.

And they make you look bad if you defend them.

So why not say, I support our president? I believe he's being unfairly attacked. I'm going to stand up for him. But I wish that he wouldn't respond the way he does. One of my colleagues put it like this.

Just because someone's throwing turds at you doesn't mean you have to pick them up and throw them back. Come on. What does a parent do? When the kids are acting up, the parent doesn't start to scream the same way. The parent says, kids, go to your room now.

Or kids, be quiet. When you're the president of the United States, I don't care who the journalist is, I don't care what organization is attacking you, you're like the parent and they're like the kids in terms of your authority, your influence.

So be the parent.

So I support our president, I'm praying for him, but I absolutely don't support certain of the things he says and does. I wish he'd not do them. And I'm going to say that for integrity's sake. We'll be 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. Yeah, I love our Friday broadcast on the line of far.

You may be listening, viewing on a different day, but I don't have to prepare a lot of things. I'm going to have to grab a bunch of audio clips and go through a stack of articles and figure out who's coming on with guests and stuff like that. I just show up, look at our emails, pick out the ones I want to answer and wait for your calls and see which way we are going. to go and you know when i do interviews People say to me, hey, I'm talking about someone interviewing me. They say, hey, would you like a list of the questions?

I said, no, just throw them at me as we go. Don't you want to prepare?

Well, I mean, I'm happy to prepare if you want me to, but I enjoy the spontaneity of the moment.

So, Let's see where we go today on the broadcast. 866-34TRUTH. You've got questions. We've got answers. We will go to Raleigh, North Carolina.

Jamie, welcome to the line of fire. Hey, Doctor Brown, how you doing, man? I'm doing well, thank you. Hey, uh, is that a question about John seven, uh, verses eight through ten?

Okay?

Okay, there was a Muslim on a YouTube's comment thread that was trying to use those verses to assert that Jesus was lying to his brothers and that it was okay to lie In order to accomplish a goal or to do God's will or whatnot. I was wanting to get your input on that. I had a Jewish friend of mine tell me it had something to do with different teeth, but I wanted to get clarity on that on that what you told me from you. Yeah, it's and it's a fair question, by the way.

So so let's just give the background to this from the Muslim perspective. In the Muslim religion, there is something called tikiyah. And what it ultimately works out to is lying for certain religious purposes.

So let's just say someone puts a gun to your head and says, you are Muslim. that you're allowed to say you're not. to save your life. Or you could even curse Muhammad if you had to save your life. I don't know that every Muslim would want to do that, but that would be something they're theoretically allowed to do.

Or it could go further. Let's say that I'm a Muslim leader and you're the leader of another nation. And you have subdued my army. and want me to make a peace treaty. for 10 years.

Great, I'll make it for 10 years, knowing that within two years my army will be strong enough to take over again and trash that treaty and attack, that I would be theoretically allowed to do that.

Now, As ugly as that sounds, as deceptive as that sounds, and it is. We would justify lying in certain circumstances. For example, smuggling Bibles into a closed nation, right? and you pack them a certain way inside the vehicle, in an inner lining of the vehicle. And you just put some produce in your truck and drive by the border.

What do you have? Produce. Why? Because you're trying to get Bibles in. We know people would do that for the gospel, all right?

Or someone that's persecuted for the faith. And Richard Warnbron would talk about being in jail and solitary confinement and beaten and tortured, and they'd demand names, so he'd give them names. And he knew it would take him months to track these people down, only to find out they were already dead. And he was not going to betray someone.

So he did that.

So the question is: in God's sight, When is something justified and when isn't it justified? That's the larger question.

Now, the specific question: did Jesus lie here in John chapter 7?

So let's start at the beginning. After this, Jesus traveled around Galilee. He wanted to stay out of Judea where the Jewish leaders were plotting his death. But soon it was time for the Jewish festival of Shelton's Feast of Weeks. Jesus' brothers said to him, Leave here and go to Judea where your followers can see your miracles.

You can't become famous if you hide like this. If you can do such wonderful things, show yourself to the world.

Now, remember, his brothers at this point are not believers. His brothers are basically saying, Go on, go ahead, put on your big show, Jesus. Let the whole world see you. You're going to be some big shot, then put the show on in Jerusalem where everyone can watch. For even his brothers didn't believe in him.

John 7, 5. Jesus replied, Now is not the right time for me to go, but you can go any time. The world can't hate you, but it does hate me because I accuse it of doing evil. You go on. I'm not going to this festival because my time has not yet come.

After saying these things, Jesus remained in Galilee, but after his brothers left for the festival, Jesus also went through, secretly staying out of public view.

So there are two things that happen here, Jamie. Number one is he doesn't go when they go. When he says, I'm not going, what he's really saying is I'm not going at this time. That's number one. Number two, he's not going for the reason that they say.

to put on some big public display. Number three, when he does go, he goes in private, hidden from the crowd.

So if he is to be revealed and known, it is to be by God's doing.

So the idea that he just lied. would be misleading.

Now, is it a separate feast being spoken of? That's not the natural way to read the text. That would be reading the text like you're trying to defend something, okay?

Some might argue it in that regard. But to me, the most natural thing is he's saying, I'm not doing it your way. I'm not doing that on your time schedule. I'm not going. And then he feels prompted afterwards: okay, now is the right time to go.

So he stays back. Once they go, it's like, okay, now is the right time. And he goes at a later time and he goes in a private way.

So he does not do what they say.

So to call it lying, I would say absolutely not. All we have to understand is Is this? Come on, go, Jesus. Come on, put on your big show. We're going out.

No, I'm not going. I'm not going. It's not my time. And then maybe a few days later, it's like, okay, now is the time, but I'm not doing it your way either. There's no lying there at all.

And to me, it reads very consistently. It's quite different from intentional deception where you're actually going to do and say the opposite that a Muslim would be speaking of. And again, I would press the Muslim to say, well, then How can I know? How can I know when you're telling the truth? Because I don't have an ethic.

Where I can just lie to you for strategic reasons. Yeah, if someone came to the door, all right? You know, it's during the Holocaust, okay? And you're hiding Jews in your attic. And they say, Are you hiding anyone?

No.

Okay, you are then lying to save a life, and we all recognize that that's the right thing to do. I mean, it happens in the Bible, right? With the Hebrew midwives in Exodus the first chapter, or Rahab the harlot.

So they're lying to save lives. And in that, we could agree with other faiths. But just one other interesting thing, since you asked, a slightly off topic. But There's an account in the Talmud, so ancient Jewish tradition, that a man goes to another leader and says, hey, did I do the right thing? I was ordered to kill a man.

to save my own life. If if I didn't do it, then he was going to kill me. And the leader responds, the rabbi responds, What makes your blood redder than his? In other words, you don't kill someone. to save your own life.

And Judaism then says that there are three things that you cannot do to save your life. You cannot murder to save your life. You cannot commit sexual immorality to save your life. And you cannot commit. idolatry to save your life.

And that's why many Jews, thinking that to follow Jesus, meant to be baptized into an idol-worshiping tree. church, that was idolatry, they died rather than do that. And I believe within Islam. And because of that, in the larger Middle Eastern Arab and Muslim culture, you will see more deceit. There are some Muslims, Jamie, that are very moral people in terms of our standards and ethics.

and that really seek to be truth-telling and honest and have a high ethic, but others, it's part of their religion that there can be deceit in certain circumstances, and that's where you really have to get to know people. and see their lives and ask for wisdom and discernment. But my posture, though, in dealing with the Muslims is going to be to walk in love. and to believe the best. And here, one more tangent, but since we're on this, then I'll take some more calls: 866-348-7-884.

One more tangent. As a leader over the years, or just as a believer, I have been betrayed. by folks close to me. And maybe some people would feel I let them down. I don't know.

But certainly I know. that in a few circumstances, I've actually been betrayed. I have been hurt by people close to me who turned against me. It's actually happened. And I thought about it and I said, okay, I know some leaders, they have walls surrounding them.

They have all kinds of walls surrounding them. and they're set up that anyone that differs, they just fire them, fire the whole board, gone. No accountability. They don't like gaunt, because they're not going to let anyone take advantage of them. That's how they respond to being hurt.

I determine to seek to use more wisdom. But to be trusting and to walk in love.

So if you stab me, it's going to be in the back. because I'm trusting. not unwise, and I have wise people with me. And I have a wonderful team that we've been together through thick and thin for 20 years together.

So what I'm used to is faithfulness and loyalty. I show it to others and they show it to me. But we all get hurt in life. And when we all get betrayed, we all get lied to, we could become cynical. And skeptical again, this is a tangent, this is not your initial question, but I'm just Going off on this, I think it's relevant.

I'm going to use wisdom. If I have a reason to understand someone's being deceitful towards me, you know, the used car salesman trying to sell me this car that only a grandma used to ride to church once a week, then why does it have 150,000 miles on it and falling apart? It doesn't line up.

So I'm not going to be an idiot or a fool. or anyone's dupe. But My first act Attitude is trust. My first attitude is believing the best. And then if I see deceit, then I'll act accordingly.

Okay, more to come. Your calls may come back. Change the world. Change the world. God of light, hear our cry.

Send a fire. 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 friends to the line of fire, your voice of moral sanity and spiritual clarity in the midst. A society in chaos in a church all too often in compromise. 866. Three, four, eight, seven. 884 is number to call.

By the way, Some interpreters Reading John 7, the question of was there dishonesty. Believe that Jesus gave a misleading impression because it was to save his life. That he had to go up to the feast, but if he did it the way the brothers were expecting or when they were together, that his life would have been threatened. And some actually believe. That was the case, and we do have scriptural precedent for saying something misleading to save a life.

We referenced some of those examples in the last segment. 866-34Truth. We'll stay in Raleigh, North Carolina. Rodney, welcome to the line of fire. Hey, thank you for having me.

It's good to talk to you. Thanks. I got a question that you probably hear far too often, but um My question is: What's the difference between Catholics and Protestants? I'm a Protestant. I go to a Presbyterian church, and I've heard.

other people that I've talked to that are Catholics. Um especially, you know, Catholic priests and those higher up in the Catholic Church that the Catholic religion, so to speak, is the only way to go. And everything else. is um where they stop short Of saying that you're going to go to hell, but it's it's not the way you're supposed to believe. And I heard one priest say, that they feel like that because It says in the Bible we're all supposed to be one.

Mm-hmm. Is there something in the Bible? that they're standing on as far as the way they believe or not. Yeah, so let me try to break this down as easily as I can. And Rodney, I actually don't get a lot of calls.

about this.

So I'm not Catholic. And I have friends of mine who are Catholic believers, and because we're both believers and born again, we are one in Jesus. But the things that make Catholicism different than the Protestant faith are the things where I believe Catholicism is different. is wrong in. And let me try to give you the Catholic perspective and then why I believe it's wrong, okay?

The Catholic perspective says this. that Jesus had one church and one church only. And that he appointed leaders beginning with Peter and then a succession of leaders. And if you'll go back through history from the Pope today, you'll see that he traces right back to Peter. This would be the claim.

Of course, I reject that, all right? But that they trace back, there's a succession of leaders, and Peter, therefore, was the first Pope of the Mother Church, and that there was one. Jesus prayed that we would be one, and Paul urged us to keep the unity of the faith, and there's one body, and things like that. And they'd say, Paul wrote to Timothy that the church is the pillar and ground of the truth, so that the truth is now passed on through the mother church, okay? And the church leaders have authority, they have the keys of the kingdom.

They have authority to make decisions and to develop doctrine, and to here's what the Bible says.

Now, how do we live it out in an ongoing way?

So the church develops these traditions, so that most of what makes Catholicism distinct. the the views about the Pope. and the views about Mary. And the Mass and various other Catholic teachings, all of these are not found anywhere in the Bible. They are developed in church tradition.

Now, a Catholic would say, Well, we're just fleshing out what's in Scripture, we're expanding what's in Scripture. And I would say, No, you're adding to what's in Scripture. The fact of the matter is... that there were other parts of the world. Before Islam destroyed so much of the church in northern Africa and Asia, just through tremendous violence, the church was persecuted and and decimated.

What about 800 years ago, you had a vibrant, strong church in that part of the world that had almost no connection to the Pope whatsoever. And in many ways, it was much more advanced in terms of scripture and mission work and things like that.

So, the idea that there's just been this one church.

Now, the Greek Orthodox or the Russian Orthodox, they would say they're the authentic ones. And what happened is this: that in the days of Martin Luther, the abuses in the Catholic Church had become so extreme, the most extreme being indulgences, where Basically, you would pay money to get somebody out of purgatory. And just the ultimate scam to appeal to emotions, think you could get your grandpa out of purgatory if you give a little bit more to the church. I mean, all kinds of corruption.

So, when the Protestant Reformation first sought to bring correction within the Catholic Church, then broke away from it, to them the Pope was the Antichrist. To them, this was Babylon the Great. This was the great whore, the great prostitute.

So you have this complete break. And then with Catholicism, no, our way alone is the right way. This is the mother church. And Luther and all these Protestants are apostates. And then the Protestants are looking at the Catholics.

No, you're the ones that are apostate. What it what it comes to for me is that when I go back to Scripture I do not see Scripture setting up this authoritative mother church. And when I examine many of the traditions of Catholicism with Scripture. Say the idea of the Mass, which would basically have Jesus suffering on a weekly basis. or purgatory, for example.

or the later development of the the infallibility of the Pope. Or the sinlessness of Mary, or whatever the things are. I don't see these things in Scripture in any way, shape, size, or form. And I see them as detracting from the supremacy of Jesus. Listen, things can go so far, Rodney.

Just give me an example of how far they can go. Many years ago, a student at our ministry school in the 80s went to do missions work in Guatemala. He went to live there for a while and interned and served there. and he came back with the pictures, sir. I saw them with my own eyes.

An Easter parade. where they had Jesus in a coffin. All right.

And Mary sitting on a throne, and And underneath the throne was inscribed, Mary, the same yesterday, today, and forever. You say, well, that's extreme. I understand that. I fully understand that. I was once given literature inviting me to a conference about the worship of Mary, and the church needed to learn more about the worship of Mary.

These are things I passionately differ with and feel give proof to the Catholic Church not being the mother church or the one true church, but having true believers within it. Just like the Protestant church has true believers within it. What I see within Scripture is an appeal back. the scripture. And yes, there are traditions, but the traditions don't carry the same weight as Scripture.

That's number one. And number two, more importantly, the traditions must be evaluated based on Scripture.

So where I see Scripture contradict to tradition, I reject that tradition. in the same way. Judaism is not the religion of the Old Testament. It's the religion of the Old Testament plus rabbinic tradition, but primarily rabbinic tradition. The same way Catholicism, you can say, is the religion of the New Testament plus Catholic tradition, but primarily Catholic tradition.

That's an analogy that the church historian James Parks once used, and I believe it's an accurate one, that Catholicism is no more the religion of the New Testament than Judaism is the religion of the Old Testament. They both rely on the development of tradition. And it is that tradition. Remember, Jesus said: read Matthew 15, read Mark 7. For example, that human traditions Done in the name of God often make void the word of God.

So thank God for believing Catholics, born-again Catholics. You're my brother, you're my sister in Jesus. But if I agreed with all of your theology, I would be Catholic. All right, friends, check out our many resources, my latest articles, videos at ask Dr. Brown, A-S-K-D-R-Brown.org.

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 866-34 TRUTH. Here again is Dr.

Michael Brown. Well, here we are. It's that time. It is that day. You've got questions.

We've got answers. 866-34TRUTH, 866-348-78. Eight. Four. Hey, can I just make a little appeal here?

Yeah, this is something I've addressed a bunch over the years. Can we step higher? in our communication one with another. Remember what Paul wrote to the Galatians in Galatians 5? If you bite and devour each other, take heed lest you are consumed by one another?

Why do we have to act like the world on social media? Yeah, I know I'm here to take your calls, and I will. 866-348-7884. You've got questions, we've got answers. We'll deal with them today on the line of fire.

But this is always so grievous when I see believers savaging each other. When I see believers treating each other in ways that I can't believe if we had face-to-face relationships, we'd act like that. We'd talk like that to each other. And then some hide behind anonymity, making it even worse. At least if you're going to say something, let us know who you are.

Okay?

And if I differ, at least I know who I'm differing with. But I see people, they launch all these attacks and you can't even find out who they are. I've had some critics come after me. And by the way, so you don't think I'm thin-skinned, my staff, when they find attacks on me, the latest website attacking me, the latest video attacking me, they send it to me for my encouragement. It's a reminder that we're doing the right thing and a reminder to pray for those that differ with us.

They send it to me to encourage me.

So I'm the opposite of thin-skinned in that regard. But But I'll say to some of these folks, hey, I'm glad to interact with you. You just savaged me in the cruelest way. You never even tried to reach out and interact. I'm happy to interact with you.

Just tell me who you are. Boom. Silence. Just, you got this website? Just tell me who you are.

You got this cool handle on Twitter? Just tell me who you are. Won't do it. hiding behind anonymity. That tells me something.

And then the lack of civility. the anger with which we respond, the fleshly nature with which we respond, I'd encourage you. To pray through or read, read through 1 Corinthians 13. before you tweet. before you post on Facebook, before you respond to the future.

someone Read that through. How about that? Or how about just doing this little experiment, all right? Take the book of Proverbs, one chapter a day. It's one chapter a day for a month.

That's all. All right.

And just underline. If you don't like to underline, just make a note of it. every verse dealing with the tongue. and then pull those verses out. and then read them through periodically.

And and and before posting Maybe once a week, review the verses about the tongue, about communication. All right.

I'm telling you, it would change much of our communication. It would change much of what we say and much of what we put out. Doesn't Paul write in Colossians 4 that are That our speech should always be seasoned with salt and with grace. Isn't that in the word? Aren't there warnings in Proverbs about with many words transgression is not lacking?

But he who restrains his tongue Is wise? Aren't there proverbs about a fool just speaks whatever comes into his mind? You know, there's that old joking proverb, it's not in the Bible. Better to be quiet and people think you're foolish, than open your mouth and dispel all doubt. I heard one leader once make this comment.

I never regretted a word that I didn't say. meaning that there are plenty of things he would have could have might have said, but he held his tongue. and was glad Because of it.

So, just an appeal. We're going to the phones on the other side of the break. Just my appeal. Let's step. higher.

Let's do a better job. We can be strong, we can be clear, we can have conviction, but let's do it in a price-like world. Is that too much to ask? I hope not. We'll be right back.

Shake the knee. 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. Thanks, friends, for joining us today on the line of fire. You've got questions. We've got answers. 866-34TRUTHERTHER.

For truth is the number to call. Let's go to the phones. We'll start with Anton in New Orleans. Welcome to the line of fire. All right.

Thank you for taking my call today, doctor Brown. I had a question about a recurring phrase in Ecclesiastes. Yep. As I recruit as I read it in different translations, it it seems markedly different. If you were to look at and I'm wondering what the original language would be both in Hebrew or in Greek, because it seems like maybe the variations in the Septuagint.

If Ecclesiastes four, In the Septuagint, it seems to end the choice of one spirit, which makes it seem like a very free will kind of verse. In my New American Standard, it doesn't read that way at all. Yeah, so the phrase you're talking about, let's read the whole verse, Ecclesiastes 4, 4.

So I'm going to read it in a few different versions, okay? King James, again I considered all travail and every right work, that this for this a man is envied of his neighbor. This is also vanity and vexation of spirit. New King James says, instead of vexation of spirit, grasping for the wind. uh the HCSB, a pursuit of the wind.

ESV striving after the wind. NIV chasing after the wind. NET chasing the wind, NLT chasing the wind. Complete Jewish Bible Feeding on Wind, New Jewish Publication Society, Pursuit of Wind, and Septuagint. probably better to translate with waywardness of spirit.

So the Hebrew phrase is ru'ut ruach.

Now, just to be clear, ruach in Hebrew can mean spirit or breath or wind, depending on the context, okay?

So in this case, wind is the most natural contextual meaning. Spirit does not really have meaning here, or breath. Wind would be the most natural.

So the question is the word r'ut. And there are a few possible different roots from which that could be derived in Hebrew. One has to do with shepherding, and so then people would say feeding on the wind, but that really doesn't make much sense, feeding on the wind. Another potential route has to do with following after or chasing, and that's the way most understand. And I think as you hear translation after translation saying it like that, that that is the best way to read it.

It is chasing after the wind. Chasing the wind would be the best equivalent in English. But you have to understand when you read A bunch of different translations. In every case, the translators are highly educated. and are very skilled in doing what they do.

from from the the translators from before the King James. from the Septuagint translators before the time of Jesus. to translation committees today, and I I've sat on some of these committees. That you have scholars, you have people who are well trained, and sometimes there's a real debate. I mean, what's the best way to translate this?

And you could go either of two or three directions.

So, what do you do? You see, okay, let let's see, do we have that same phrase elsewhere? How is it used in that context? Maybe that'll help us.

Okay, let's look at the ancient versions. Let's look at the ancient Aramaic translation or paraphrase if we have them. Let's look at the Greek. Let's look at the Latin. How did the ancient translators understand it?

And then you look at the languages, the so-called cognate languages that are very closely connected, languages like Akkadian and Phoenician and Ugaritic and Arabic and Aramaic that are close to Hebrew. Can we get something from there? And that's how you'd look at it, but generally speaking, a bunch of different translations. And they read differently, it's telling you there are a couple of possible ways to go in understanding this. That's the one thing.

When you see the overwhelming consensus, especially of the more modern versions, going in one direction, then that's telling you that scholars have now agreed that this is the best way to understand that.

So it's a legitimate question, but I believe the best argument would be to say. As I'm looking at my translations here, that the best way to say it, pursuit of wind, chasing after the wind, following after the wind, that's what's really being spoken of here. And that's what Ecclesiastes is saying. Here's the paraphrastic NLT. Then I observed that most people are motivated to success because they envy their neighbors, but this too is meaningless, like chasing the wind.

Ah! That makes good sense. Hey, last last thing. I remember In grad school, during my master's and PhD work, I had Arabic, classical Arabic. I had two years in college, and then I had another year in grad school.

And we were translating these Arabic texts. There was a small classroom full of, in fact, there were three Muslims in the class with me, one from Sudan and two from the States. And the two guys from the States belonged to different Muslim groups. And, you know, five times a day you stop and pray.

Well, their prayer time occurred during the class time.

So it was understood, you know, the professor understood, okay, they have to go and pray. But they belonged to two different groups.

So they each had a different time. No, our group says it's this time. Our group says this time. I said, that sounds just like the church. You know, these little differences that split us.

Of course, like comparing the church to Islam, but you get the point there. But the translator, the professor, reminded us. That every text makes sense when translated. In other words, when we'd come in with a translation and it made no sense whatsoever, and we'd be comparing notes, like, what happened? We don't know what it was at this one, we'd be confused on it.

And he'd remind us, if it doesn't make any sense, you didn't translate it correctly.

So, when you hear this again, the NLT, it's like, boom, that makes good sense. That, sir, is what the verse means. 866-34Truth. I appreciate the question. Let's go to Nick near Cary, North Carolina.

Welcome to the line of fire, Nick. Yes, sir. So great to talk to you, Dr. Brown. I really appreciate it.

All you do and Just your take on everything and how How devoted you are. Really appreciate that.

Well, thank you, sir. Yes, sir. Um so uh Little bit of backstory. I've actually talked to you before, very briefly, about a very Intricate and detailed. Subject.

that I think you should be aware of. And I want to challenge you uh to look into at least Little back story on me. I grew up. In a Christian family, I grew up a Baptist, you know, God-fearing, Jesus-loving people until I was in my 20s. And in my twenties, you know, I can I just do like a lot of people do and you know.

did a lot of things I shouldn't have and had a lot of you know fine I thought time and Um anyways I'm I'm thirty eight now. And I have three kids. I have a beautiful family. Got a lot going forward. God has really blessed me.

I will say the Through those years of sort of being a product. Yeah. Yeah. I never let go of God. I always prayed still.

You know, I definitely. was in a backslidden state for a long time. Long time. and I was deceived. By Satan into basically making me an ineffective Christian.

Mm-hmm. Now I am absolutely on fire. More than I ever have been. I have a new outlook on things. We're in church every Sunday.

I'm teaching my kids. Valuable lessons for life. Yeah. Great.

So I'm on the right track. And I want to tell you How that happened for me.

Well, to tell you what, yeah, just we got a break. Coming up.

So, if there's a question, I'd love to hear more, but just because of the constraints of radio, if there's a question, if you could just summarize it for me so I can respond, that would be awesome. Yes, sir. it's not necessarily a question, but something I think I have on my heart that I Is a uh proponent of The word I think I I have a duty to live. Let you know.

Well, go ahead. As long as you can get to it right now, we got time. Go ahead. Yes, sir. Yes, sir.

And I mentioned this to you before, and again, I was kind of rushed off the air, so I was trying to. you know, get some Trying to tell you about this, but There is a vast conspiracy in this nation And it is the religion of Freemasonry. I would just challenge you to look into that. Um that is what brought me back. to Christianity because I was going to join the Freemasons And I looked into it and I looked on some YouTube videos And I did some research and Looked at some of the literature that these guys have put out over the last.

two hundred years well, specifically about one hundred years I would look at the writings. this is what I'll say to summarize. I know you take questions, but being a brother in Christ had just I feel led, I just ask you to research Albert Feike and Manley Hall. And what they had to say. about the thirty third degree of Freemasonry, which is A satanic sect of Freemasonry.

that has infiltrated our government. They're at the highest level of our society. I tell you what, sir, I've got to jump in. You hear the music. And um Time is out.

I know this is important to you. And I listen to what folks say. I look into things.

So thank you, sir. for the call. Seriously, God bless you. It's fire we want, for fire we need. Please exceed the fire.

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.

So here's one little guideline. When you call in And when you tell the call screener what your question is. which is why I'm bringing you on the air. please be kind enough to ask that question. This way I know what I'm dealing with, And if you have a statement to make about something, a conspiracy theory or something like that, well, they're.

Email us, share your thoughts, okay? But it's best not to. Yeah. Give one bit of information to our call screener, and then come on and talk about something totally different. Fair enough.

Yeah. Fair enough, I would say. I'm going to answer my own question.

Okay. I I've had some friends that were convinced that Freemasons Freemasonry is behind basically All the the world leaders or American history. and is demonic and destructive. I'm not a mason. I have no connection to masonry whatsoever.

No family members, no friends have been masons. It's totally outside of my world. And I know that there are some aspects of Masonic influence in American history. For sure, don't deny that, certain imagery, that's there. But do I personally believe that there is a large Masonic Conspiracy.

That is at the root. of America's evils? No.

I don't.

So Are you going to fault me for differing? Are you going to fault me for having serious dialogues with people about this and differing? are going to fault me for coming to different conclusions. I think I am very skeptical in general about conspiracy theories because I've generally found them to be false. and many of them involve the Jews.

Yeah, I was even tying with writing an article, you know, a total fake news article, which you wouldn't know was fake news until you got to the end, where I uncover what's really behind everything. And of course, it's just a sham, but it's meant to show how conspiratorial we can be in our thinking. That being said, I know there's a lot of junk that goes on behind the scenes. I know there are coalitions and agreements and secret societies and organizations wielding all kinds of power. I know that exists too.

I'm not denying that. And here's the ultimate conspiracy. Satan wants to destroy us. Satan wants to destroy the human race.

So he is working in all different ways. He hates Christians, he hates Jews, he hates atheists, he hates Muslims, he hates gays, he hates straits. He is our common enemy. And yes, he will try to take out certain people in certain ways because they are more of a threat to him. I understand that and believe that.

That to me is the ultimate conspiracy. But again Just a little respect. Don't tell our call screen or something else, and then come on and speak about another subject. for the sake of our listeners. This way I can decide if that's a question we want to address or not.

Okay?

By the way. While we're having a little fun. Notice this mic here. Notice who's sitting behind the mic. You know what that means?

This is my show.

So, I get to decide if we're going to bring a certain subject on the air or not. And by the way, as long as you say what it's about. 99.999% of the time, we'll bring it on, have the discussion. And I've got I've got no problem. with someone saying, hey, look look, there's Maces have much more influence in society than you think.

Or there's these secret bankers and they have Fine, in other words, if you're studying an issue and you take it seriously, I'm not mocking that, I'm not demeaning that. I'm not saying you're unintelligent or you're du. No, you may have studied a certain thing, come to a certain conclusion. But if I come to a different conclusion, Don't fault me for for that, okay? 866-34TRUT.

Okay, let's see if I can get to this. from Leslie. Dr. Brown, I'm a new listener. I came across Line of Fire a while back.

I listened while out running errands. We'll be running an errand right now, and I'm answering your question. Five stars for your ministry. Thank you, sir. I viewed your debate with, I believe, Dr.

White on eternal security. Not so much eternal security, but on predestination and election, which ties into... If you're truly saved, can you fall away or not? I was in your camp to begin with, but was interested in what Dr. White had to say as well as yourself.

Why do believers overlook the scriptures where Paul speaks of enduring to the end that you shall be saved, as well as others about fighting the good fight of faith?

Well, Dr. White would say that a true believer will endure to the end and that God uses these exhortations to help us endure to the end. I would say That's proof that not everyone does endure to the end. that, for example, Hebrews tells us that we are made partakers of the Messiah if we hold fast our confidence until the end. Or Paul writes in Colossians that God will present us faultless before his throne if we continue in our faith.

Faith.

So I believe these are important exhortations, and this is what my attitude, this is what my attitude should be. Number one, number one, I put my total trust in the Lord. He who began the good work. is going to finish it. He who started it will bring it to completion.

I can rest in him. I can trust in him. I am confident in God. And I don't play games with the grace of God. That's what I understand.

In other words, I'm not looking to Mike Brown to be the Savior. I'm not looking to save myself. I'm not looking to my own righteousness. I'm not looking to pull myself up by my own bootstraps every day, and I can do it. No, no.

I'm lost without him. Absolutely lost. But I'm not without him. He is in me. He is working in my life.

I'm his child. And he who began the good work in me is going to carry it through. I put my total trust in that. He will never fail to get me through. He has also given me a choice.

I can reject him. I can turn away from him. You say, well, if that's the case, I'd turn away from him every day.

Well, actually, you don't. Actually, in your heart, you say, Lord, I'm sorry for blowing it. Lord, I do want to serve you. Come on, in your heart of heart, in your heart of hearts, you may struggle at times, you may have ups and downs, but you want to serve Him.

So I trust His grace totally, but I take the warning seriously. And I don't say it could never happen to me. I say, Lord, that's why I cling to your grace so that it won't happen to me. The other question you had had to do with rapture second coming.

So let me just answer that, Leslie, in the time that I have left. As I read scripture, here's what I see. At the end of this age, Jesus will appear. in glory, in flaming fire for the world to see. We are waiting for what?

His We long for his appearance. Yeah. When we see him, we'll become like him, right? He's going to appear in glory for the whole world to see. He is going to catch us up.

Those who died in the Messiah will be resurrected. Those of us alive will be changed, caught up. to meet him in the air. And we descend to earth with him. He comes with his saints, meaning with the angels and with us, and he establishes his kingdom on the earth.

The other view, the pre-trib rapture view, would say he comes invisibly. Right, stops just short of Earth. gets us and goes back to heaven for seven years, I say, He descends. is is seen as he appears in glory, we are caught up to meet him. and we descend to earth together.

So one second coming With these two aspects to it, as opposed to a rapture, and seven years later or three and a half years later. a second coming. But I don't divide over these things. Let us pursue the Lord, give ourselves to the Great Commission, and pray for the Lord's return and live and walk worthy. of that return haven.

Go to my website right now, askdrbrown.org, A-S-K-D-R-Brown.org. We've got a free e-book when you sign up for our email.