Dr. Brown Reaches Out to the Critics

There is criticism that is constructive. And criticism that is destructive will explain the difference today. 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. I absolutely love the truth.

I love the truth. By God's grace, I live for the truth. By God's grace, I would die for the truth. And I base my entire life on the truth of God. In particular, as revealed in his written word, the one and only word of God.

I submit my life to the God of the Word and live for the God of the Word and through that Word have come to know him personally and seek to make him known to the whole world. Because I love truth. over the years. I have changed things that I believed, maybe raised in the Lord believing a certain thing and studied out scripture or came to a different conclusion. Or had a certain spiritual experience which I then had to test based on the Word, which caused me to then go back to the Word and study things afresh.

So, all that to say, I love and pursue the truth. And I invite you to pursue the truth together with me. This is Michael Brown. Welcome to the Line of Fire. It is an absolute delight to share this day with you.

To all the moms there, I hope you had a great Mother's Day. To those of you mourning the. absence of moms. May God's grace be yours. This was the first Mother's Day for my sister and for me.

Of course, we're both in our 60s without our mom. And it makes you appreciate all the more the moms in our lives and the love that we show them. I'm going to explain in a moment the reason that I'm talking today about the difference between constructive criticism and destructive criticism. I want to make clear here. I'm not on the air to bash people.

I'm not on the air to retaliate against what I feel are ridiculous attacks. I'm not here to use the platform God's given me as some kind of bully pulpit to hurt people. I want to help. I want to help. And if you're a listener, maybe you you watch some of our T V shows, maybe you read my articles, you follow us on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, whatever, read my books, heard me preach, however it is that we've intersected.

And you have genuine questions. You're concerned about direction I've taken. You're concerned about something I believe. You have a question about people I associate with. You're troubled.

Give me a call. Give me a call. I'm not here to bite. I'm not here to embarrass you. I'm here to talk.

It's a reason that we pay money to be on the air, as many others do to be on the air, to have the opportunity to talk with you and give you a phone number you can call. No, I'm not able to talk to you outside of radio time because, obviously, like everyone else, got a full schedule. And there are a lot of people that want to talk to me. And sorry, I can't have an extended conversation online. That's not possible.

Maybe a little bit of interaction here and there, but by God's grace, we've got a sizable online community that follows us and relates to us. But we do have talk radio.

So if you're able to grab a few minutes to call in 866-348-7884-866-34TRUTH and we'll have constructive conversation. You may not be a believer in Jesus at all. You may differ with me on other grounds. You may not be a believer in God. You might be a Jewish person who doesn't believe in Jesus.

You might be a fellow believer in Jesus who has issues with me about things within the faith. You might be a fellow believer in Jesus who has issues with me over political or cultural or moral things, or things having to do with Israel. By all means, let's talk. 866-348-7884. Also, The latest developments with President Trump.

The developments of President Trump going to Israel. And my latest article Entitled Happy Mother's Day, Dad. Yeah. Happy Mother's Day, Dad There are people who are not happy with the existence of Mother's Day. and Father's Day.

They want to get rid of them. One of them has suggested replacing it with Guardian Day. Another adding non-binary day if you don't fit in the mother-father category. 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. Thanks for joining us today on the Wandafari. Have you ever read the book of Proverbs?

And while you're reading it, there's a lot about rebuke and correction. And one of the qualities of a wise man is that when a wise man is rebuked or a wise man is corrected that the wise man learns of it. and from it and grows through it, and that one word of of correction to a wise person is more effective than a hundred lashes to a fool, meaning a morally bankrupt person. If we are wise, we learn and we grow through correction. We learn and we grow through constructive input.

hardly a week goes by in my life where I'm not getting constructive input.

Sometimes hardly a day goes by. And by God's grace, I welcome it.

Sometimes I can react and think, ah, that's bad. That's insulting, or that's negative. But most of the time, I recognize this is good. This is only going to help. And then there's criticism that is destructive.

How do we tell the difference? 866-34TRUTH-866-348-788. Eight. Four. Let me tell you what brings this to you.

to the surface today. It was about 10 days ago, I had a guest on the air with me, Jennifer LeClaire. She is an editor with Charisma magazine. And Jennifer and I often interact because I post my articles on a number of different websites several times a week, Charisma News being one of them. And we might interact over something happening in the news or something that we're grieved about within the body.

She was going to be speaking at a local conference.

So I was out of town. I was in Phoenix. She was back in my hometown. We did an interview by radio. And then later in the show, a pastor called, a concerned pastor.

Who also would have what you might call a discernment ministry, looking to see if there's error in the body and seeking to correct it.

Now, is this good? Is it witch hunt? Is it healthy? Is it unhealthy? Those are questions that we'll discuss.

And he called and raised a number of concerns. And we had a discussion about them. And immediately thereafter, I got flooded. with attacks over this particular issue. And folks wanting me to damn Jennifer to hell as a false teacher.

And if I didn't, then that proved that I myself was a false teacher. And I am all for honest questions. I'm all for someone saying, look, I don't see that in the word that concerns me. I'm all for people saying, Dr. Brown, I have a serious question as to why you would have this guest on, or why you would let the pastor speak freely when he was being negative, or why you let her speak when she holds these weird beliefs.

Fine, by all means, ask these things. On my Facebook page, for example. Where we've got the most traffic because we've got 530,000 plus likes there. Lots of people, millions of people that we touch and reach through that platform by God's grace. There are folks that will post regularly.

who differ with me.

Some for years. They've never been blocked. They never been excluded. Because they're simply saying Derek Brown, I think you're wrong here. Mike, you're wrong here.

I differ with you. And some saying, here, here are all the verses where I differ with you. Great, have at it.

Now, I wish, I honestly wish that I was able to read all the comments and then respond to everyone. Time does not permit that, and I think quite obviously that's not a mystery there. I wish I could. I wish I could respond to every comment and every article posted on every website or every comment and every video posted. I wish I could.

I love to. And you have to understand, I love truth because of which, if I see error, Yeah. I want to correct it. If I see, let's say, a religious Jew challenging a point I've made in a debate with a rabbi, and it's on our YouTube channel, and it's filled with error. The gentleman may be sincere, but he's completely wrong.

I want to refute that. But that's really the forum for others to interact, and it's rare that I interact there.

So You could post every day for the next 10 years after every radio show. Here's how I differed with your radio show today. Boom, boom, boom. And you won't get blocked. And you won't have your tweets or your posts delete it, your comments delete it.

It won't happen. If you assault other brothers and sisters, if you start attacking others that are posting and use insulting, disparaging terms, use profanity. you will get deleted or blocked. We're patient with folks attacking me, but if folks come after me in ugly ways, we just don't feel it's right to allow our platforms to be used for these kinds of attacks. We feel we have to be stewards over them in that respect.

But by all means, we welcome the differences. We welcome someone saying, I don't believe you're teaching the word accurately. I think you're in error here, and here's why. You're welcome to do that. And we're fine with it.

And I'm not personally offended. In fact, if you take time to put together a post with lots of scripture, I know I may not be able to examine it carefully or respond to, but I appreciate you taking the time to do that. That's great. We're students of the word. We're serving the same God.

But what happened was I started getting flooded with nasty, ugly comments. I mean, really nasty, really ugly. And then... along with constructive disagreement and constructive questions. Then someone on our team sent me links.

To some website, one in particular, it's anonymous, it doesn't deserve mention. I'm going to give the best construction. that the people behind it are sincere. That they're not completely carnal, worldly people that are at a great distance from God and claiming to be Christians. And they're not just baby Christians or people who've been excommunicated four times.

They're anonymous. You have no idea who they are. You don't know their track record. You don't know their submission to authority. You don't know the quality of their lives.

You don't know the fruit that's produced. You're unable. to test or examine their fruit in terms of their persons, their lifestyle, their background. Can't do any of that, their church affiliation. You don't even know exactly what they believe.

But I just looked at some of the headlines. They were so outlandish, filled with falsehood. Attacking me for things I don't even believe, among other things, that I've seen it and I pity the folks. I pray for them and I pity them. But I don't even bother to read the articles, nor will I.

Give attention to them by linking to them. If I was going to take the time to refute something with the hope that perhaps some there were sincere seekers of truth, then, yeah, sure, by all means, I would give more information. My goal is redemptive. I want to help them, not hurt them. I'm not here to belittle.

That's why I'm not even mentioning specifics. And if you know who I'm talking about, grow up. What you do is immature. If you're the folks behind it, immature. and unethical.

And often completely false, filled with inaccuracies, misinterpretations, judgments, which is bearing false witness against brothers and sisters. and with the ridiculous measure with which you measure. The judgment with which you use against others by ridiculous, I mean hypocritical nature of it in many ways, you get judged that way yourself. I'm concerned for the fullness of the blessing of God on you. I'm not prophesying you're going to die or go to hell.

I'm saying I'm concerned that you're not walking in the fullness of the blessing that God has for you. But I'm going to put the best construction on it. Folks behind one particular website I'm thinking about, I'm going to assume they mean well. and they do care. and they're trying to honor the Lord.

It'd be hard to be more guilty of con destructive criticism than they are though, right now.

So I I want the best for them, but I I don't even bother to read things. I I s uh someone showed me a graphic they posted and it it was almost obscene. And again May God help them. But I thought, you know, I've got to take some time to address this. I've got to help people who love the truth.

who are concerned by things they see in the body, who are concerned about false doctrine or wrong practices, some who have larger concerns about the charismatic movement, others who have concerns about non-charismatic movement. that I I want to approach things in a way we can be of of practical help. We could say, okay, here are characteristics of constructive criticism. This is good. This is possi This is useful.

This is helpful. And this is destructive. And I I was Uh on Facebook Saturday Saturday night. I had to get up and preach Sunday morning in Virginia. I was in the DC, Virginia area.

And I decided, okay, I'm going to do something I hardly ever do. I'm going to interact with as many people as I can in one particular thread. Because I had commented that some, some heresy hunters, They're so zealous that some of them, they chop off the, it's like a doctor chopping off the head of the patient because the patient needs eyeglasses. And got a lot of healthy discussion there, got a lot of affirmation for what I was saying, and then got some unhealthy discussion. By unhealthy, I mean they're going to list names, and I'm not here for you to call in every day.

Is so-and-so approved or not? Is so-and-so approved or not? I know this person's a brother, but are they approved, or maybe they're going to hell? I'm not here to be God's policeman. All right, we do address things.

I've written whole books dealing with eras that I've seen in the body that I'm concerned about, reached out to the people to dialogue with them, printed things with names and quotes, but in the most redemptive, constructive way possible.

So I'll address things day and night, but I'm not here to be God's policeman and put my stamp right on on things. But some of the accusations were just so bizarre. But I got into. A lengthy interaction with one gentleman back and forth saying, hey, I wish I had more time, but here's some succinct answers. And then finally, hey, I'm out of time.

I thought it was pleasant, friendly, helpful. Only to see. Oh let's see, now what he says about me, this old fringe lunatic who desperately wants to be popular so he can make a buck out of you with his merchandise. This is a guy I've been having friendly interaction with, and then he posts that, what's with these people? 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. Hey, friends, big announcement.

My friend Rabbi Yusero Blumenthal and I have now launched our virtual video debate. It has now begun. We've each presented on our respective YouTube channels a 20-minute presentation on the real Jewish Messiah. God willing, a month from now, we will post rebuttals to one another's presentation, 20 minutes long, and a month from that, responses to our Rebuttals. Really looking forward to this.

It's up now on our YouTube channel. Ask Dr. Brown, watch this, share it with others. There's a link to Rabbi Blumenthal's presentation, so you can watch both. 866-348-7884.

Oswald Chambers said this. Watch the thing that makes you snort morally. Beware of anything that puts you in the place of the superior person. Charles Spurgeon said this I have found Christians who have grown so very critical that if the whole portion of the meat they are to share in due season is not cut up exactly into square pieces, and put upon some choice dish of porcelain, they cannot eat it. Then they ought to go without, and they will have to go without until they are brought to their appetites.

That's what Spurgeon said about a hyper-critical attitude. Vance Havner said this. One may be as straight as a gun barrel theologically, and as empty as a gun barrel spiritually. In fact, it may be that in their very opposition to evil men and false teachers, these Ephesian saints, speaking of Revelation 2, the church of Ephesus, had left their first love. In other words, they had tested those who claimed to be apostles and were not.

They were faithful to the truth of the word, but Havner says perhaps in their zeal for that, that's how they left their first love.

So often it turns out that fundamental Orthodox Christians, Havner says, become so severe in condemning false doctrine, gnashing their teeth at every sniff of heresy, that they end up without love. one may do a right thing in a wrong way. The same Paul who wrote, though we or an angel from heaven preach any other gospel, let him be accursed, also wrote the love chapter to the Corinthians. Unless we can get that combination, we shall be theological hawshocks and doctrinal detectives, religious bloodhounds looking for heretics but with hot heads and cold hearts. Moreover, Ephesus in Revelation 2 proves that religious activity without love calls for repentance.

I wonder what would be left nowadays if we eliminated from our church work all that is not the spontaneous expression of our heart's love. for Christ. Constructive criticism seeks to build up not destroy. Constructive criticism is redemptive. Constructive criticism will reach out.

to those it differs with, with the hope of serving and being redemptive. Destructive criticism seems to glory. In attacking others, seems to glory in putting down others, seems to glory in criticizing others. seems to glory in finding problems and differences rather than finding true harmony where it exists. Um Look, in the days of Jonathan Edwards.

in the outpouring, the great awakening. there were critics who severely attacked the work because of the unusual things that happened. And I would dare say that many contemporary critics of revival Doing so in the name of Edwards and the Puritans and the old historical preachers, they would have rejected the Great Awakening in a heartbeat. And what happened was the chief critic in the Great Awakening was Charles Chauncey, who ended up apostasizing, becoming a Unitarian, by the way. And historian Conrad Cherry pointed out that while Edwards focused on the wheat, Chauncey focused on the chaff.

In other words, God was doing a great thing. There was a great harvest in many people being truly saved and transformed. And yet, and yet, what happened was that, of course, there were flaky things and wrong things and aberrations, just like you had, say, with the Corinthians, but that didn't deny the reality of what the Holy Spirit was doing. Chauncey focused on the chaff, and there was some, and said this can't be God. Edwards focused on the great harvest of wheat and said, This is God.

And I've seen that same tendency today. That the destructive critics will focus on the chaff. They will put more emphasis on one negative testimony. Than a hundred positive Jesus-glorifying, scripture-exalting testimonies. I've seen it.

With my own eyes. That's why I'm sensitive to these things. Oh, I deal with issues all the time. I confront people all the time. I've been more of a critic of errors within movements of which I'm a part, be it the Messianic Jewish movement, be it Charismatic movement, be it evangelical church in general, as an insider.

I've been more of a critic than some on the outside, but I've sought to do it in a constructive way, and a lot of it's done behind the scenes. 866-34TRUTH. Let's go to the phones in New Brunswick, Canada. Reese, welcome to the line of fire. Hi there, how are you doing today?

Doing well, thank you. Good. Yeah, so I guess I just have more of a comment maybe than a question, but I think you've done. You've kind of been answering it as you've been talking. My main criticism, I guess, is something I've called in about before is.

Something as someone who donates to your ministry, something that I find a little upsetting is when you have on guests who are. Who I would consider theologically questionable, like Bill Johnson, like Sid Roth, like Jennifer LeClaire. And I know you've addressed this. Thousand times, so I'm sorry to make you do it again. No, don't apologize, Rhys.

But thank you, thank you for your support and your graciousness. But go ahead. Yes. Uh I guess the thing is. It You know, there were some problems with Strange Fire, but during Strange Fire, one thing they mentioned was.

uh when the good guys appear with the bad guys, it's I I don't know if you would agree with that statement, but the it can lend credence to the quote unquote bad guys. And That's what I have a problem with, is it lends 'cause you are very well respected, and I I respect you, and many respect you for. your great work. When you have them on your show, it it lends them credence and Um and a lot of what they have said is been documented. very well on you know, pirate Christian or fighting for the faith.

As false prophecies and bizarre manifestations. Let me ask you a question, though, just in fairness. I have um I have been misrepresented so many times on so-called discernment websites. I I have had people Like w I saw one website attacking me For denying that I call myself an apostle.

Well, that's like attacking me for denying that I call myself a top basketball player. You know what I'm saying?

So. I get attacked for denying something that I never said or believed.

Okay. And I mean, I'm just looking at headlines. But then sometimes I've read articles, I've literally laughed out loud. reading the attacks about me, then I pray for the people. Then once I read it, it's like, you gotta be kidding me.

Literally, I'm laughing out loud that they actually wrote it. And there's one discernment website, they're talking about, well, I was on Benny Hinn's show and sell books, and they estimated, I don't know how many tens of thousands of books our ministry sold by being on his show. Actually Benningham's ministry approached us and wanted to know if they could buy 400, 400, 00 books from our ministry, of which I would have received no royalties anyway. in order to accommodate orders that came in. But because they couldn't get a good enough discount from us, they didn't order it.

So we ended up selling zero books. But I mean, I read these kinds of things. And I know how I misreported.

So I'm going to give the benefit of the doubt until I find out more to people that I know personally love the Lord, live godly lives, and hold to all the fundamentals of the faith. 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. Thanks so much for joining us on the line of fire, 866-348-7884. For the number to call, we're talking about the difference between constructive criticism and destructive criticism. You know, Reese, I was just sent a link to one of the websites you mentioned.

And it's a misleading headline that misrepresents my views.

So Uh I I Over the years, sir. I've worked with people. And I know them well, all right? I absolutely would not have some of the guests that my friend Sid has on his TV show. All right.

Okay. I wouldn't do it. They have a different emphasis. I wouldn't be comfortable with some of them. I know Sid himself very well.

I know that he is as devoted to Jesus as about anybody I know. that he loves the word of god and lives by the word that he is one of the most fearless evangelists i've ever met in my life soul winner who who would give give his blood to to win the lost i've known him for over 30 years i know he lives a personally godly life and and hates sin I know that.

So that's what I major on. That's what joins us together in the Lord. Here, Dr. James White and I. Uh he's as Calvinist.

I'm a I'm an Arminian. And he's an even more staunch Calvinist than I am an Arminian, right? He's not a hard cessationist, but basically a cessationist. I'm a charismatic. We have the utmost respect for each other.

And I know a lot of times on his show, he'll critique what I talk about on mine. Or he'll challenge me doctrinally. You know, we are dear friends. Why? We know each other.

We know one another's commitment to the Lord. We know. Our hearts. I admire his fearlessness. I admire that he goes into a mosque in South Africa or London, you know, to debate imams and things like that.

I know his love for the truth.

So that's what joins us together. And I would, as much as I think Strange Fire was terribly destructive, I honor John MacArthur as a man of God. And I respect him despite the differences. That's my posture. I don't know Bill Johnson as well.

But we have grads from our ministry school that have served in his ministry for many years. I've spent quality time with leaders there. I've preached there. And even though I would differ with certain practices or emphases, I believe he genuinely loves the Lord. I've seen his heart for God.

And he has a massive platform. He doesn't need my radio show to give him credence, you know.

So that's what I look at. That's what I major on. And if I see, for example, I'm going to follow Jonathan Edwards' guidelines. that if you see an unusual manifestation, you can't judge by that alone. Because God didn't tell us in the word to judge by that.

To me, that's going beyond salvation. Scripture. that scripture is going to tell me to to look at the To look at the first examine it by the word, you know, is what's being preached, the fundamentals. Is there anything contrary to scripture? That's one and two.

than to look at the fruit that's produced.

So if I see, I use the Jonathan Edwards guidelines and simplify them like this. If I see the Jesus of the Bible, the virgin-born Son of God, the Word made flesh, the only Savior and Lord, The eternal God made flesh. If I see him being exalted in the lives of people and in messages, If I see true repentance from sin and turning to the Lord in holiness. If I see a great love for the scripture and submission to the authority of scripture. And I see a burden for the lost.

These are characteristics I see coming out of someone's ministry. Then it's the Holy Spirit at work. Very simple of me. That's not the devil. Was there something unusual in it?

Maybe something that needs fine-tuning correction could be. But the whole, I recognize this is the Lord. Praise God. And because I saw Brownsville maligned, misrepresented. mocked I saw destructive criticism.

I'm sensitive to it in terms of I'm going to give the benefit of the doubt first.

So, tell you what, why don't you respond on the other side of the break? And in fact, Jennifer LeClaire is going to join me momentarily because I just mentioned. the phone call that I had with the pastor who was concerned. By the way, you can go to one of the websites mentioned and it's actually using a mocking t-shirt as a fundraiser, mocking. what Jennifer Pair talked about.

being used as a fundraiser on the website. Just FYI. Yeah. 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. Thanks friends for joining us on the line of fire. Hey, one thing... that's really helpful is do your best to examine things for yourself.

Your quote statement, even a clip, you want to get it in full context. I I have seen clips From sermons, I thought, wow, that's damning. And then I listened to the rest of the sermon and thought, oh, that's not what they were saying at all. It was completely lifted out of context.

So we want to be careful to Do that 866-348-7884. In a moment, I want to bring Jennifer LeClaire on to discuss a couple of matters that are an offshoot of the conversation we had about 10 days ago. But just going back to Reese in New Brunswick, Canada. Do you do you understand my approach, my heart, what is going to Cause decisions that I make in terms of who I want to get in the trenches with and associate with. And uh again I It's one thing to be a friend, another thing to be on the same leadership team, another thing to be a coworker.

They're going to be all different levels of things. But. Yeah, I'm glad to have folks on the radio with me whose ministries I appreciate. I may not agree with every point, but when I had Bill Johnson on, the condition was. That Uh I would be able to ask him hard questions that I've been asked.

And that we would open up the phone to calls for anyone to call, and no one called in that day to challenge him.

Some weeks later, we got calls, but he said glad to do it.

So he's there waiting for the calls. I asked him the questions that the biggest ones that come to me, and the people said you weren't hard enough on him. I didn't have him on the air to grill him. I had him on the ear as a brother that I respect. and said, hey, but there's criticism towards your mystery.

Can we address some of it and see, you know, sort the thing out?

So, I mean, what more can we do than that? To me, anyone listening to that broadcast would hear a humble man who loves the Lord and loves the Word.

So back to you, give you the last word here. No, yeah, a a very reasonable response, I think. Um I guess for me You know, the people that we mentioned, some the things that I've seen on their shows or podcasts or whatever are. are dividing lines, I would say. And I guess Um I guess That's just Where we differ, I would say.

Some of the stuff I've heard or seen from some of these people is just. It's just too much and I I couldn't If I were to have a radio program, I wouldn't be able to interview them. I just think it would be crossing a line.

So, I mean, that's just my main criticism. But your response is very reasonable, as always. Yeah, hey, listen, I appreciate it. And one day, just shoot us a note. Just say you're the Reese from New Brunswick and shoot it to our ministry.

It'll get to me. With the things that concern you, the things that cross the line for you, I'd be interested to know that. All right? Because obviously, we all have things that cross lines. All right, thank you for the call.

Thank you for your spirit as well. My pleasure. God bless. 86634Truth. I want to get to as many calls as I can.

And then over the course of the rest of the show, this hour and the next hour, I want to lay out as best as I can what's constructive, what's destructive, give you some more details. But without further ado, got Jennifer LeClaire on the line. Hey, Jennifer, welcome back to the line of fire. Hey, Dr. Brown, how are you?

Doing well.

So little did I know that our short little interview about 10 days ago would spiral into me now being told if I don't disassociate you as a false teacher, which I understand means a hellbound heretic and deceiver, that I myself am a hellbound heretic and deceiver. I'm sure that's not the first you've heard that, but it came with a bit of a swirl. I did send you a few of the links just to glance at. But Jennifer, first, let me ask this. What matters to you most?

What do you live for? What moves you? I know you're a wife, you're a mother, you work at charisma, et cetera. But the core of your being, what moves you? What motivates you?

You know, intimacy with God. In 2010, the Lord told me to make prayer my life's work. And so, although I write books and I do TV and radio, and I'm the editor of Charisma, you know, my heartbeat is prayer, and that requires. Intimacy with God. It requires leaning on His breast, listening to His heart.

And that's really the core of who I am: just trying to walk with the Lord, walk in the Word. You know, I think that in a nutshell, I'm a Word person. I'm also a Spirit person. I strive for that balance between being grounded and rooted in the Word and also being open to what the Holy Spirit is saying and wants to do. And tell me the difference between sensing the Lord is speaking to you versus the written word.

Well, you know, the written word is infallible. Our hearing, our spiritual hearing, is not infallible. Anyone is capable of being deceived, but we can always rely, lean on, depend on the Holy Spirit-inspired word of God. It's profitable for correction, for instruction, for rebuke. And so, you know, primarily, the word of God is what must ultimately guide us.

But at the same time, there is revelation from the Holy Spirit. The Bible says he will lead us and guide us into all truth. It says he'll put words in our mouth when we need them. You know, it says he'll comfort us. And so, you know, the Bible also, Jesus said that God, that man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.

And the tent there indicates that God is still speaking. And so we cannot just say, well, you know, if it's not in the Bible, if that experience is not in the Bible, we have to negate it. There are people that have had experiences like Bill Johnson, you know, where there's things with angels that we don't understand. There's things like Ezekiel experience with. the wheel within a wheel and all these living creatures in the book of Revelation.

There's abstract things, but again, I'm one that's been more historically and presently a stickler for it being in the word. I'm not on the fringes. I'm wary of things with too many angel feathers, too much gold dust, gemstones. All that really sort of causes me pause. I don't speak against it because I can't say that it's not God.

But I've always been more conservative in that realm. And what How do you feel about Lack of accountability. among certain prophetic people in the charismatic movement. Does that concern you? It does concern me.

We call them Lone Rangers or renegades, where they sort of spout off. We see a lot of prophetic opinion, a lot of subjective experiences that aren't even within the bounds of reality of Scripture. In other words, there's some things that we don't maybe find in Scripture. The Bible says that if we recorded all the works that Jesus did, there would not be enough books in the world to, you know, there would not be enough room in the world for all the books they would offer. You know, but there are some things that just defy scripture.

It's not that you can't find it in Scripture, that you can't find the principle in Scripture, you can't find any indication of it. It just defies scripture. And we're seeing some of that in prophetic ministry where people are giving angels very, very strange names. I've spoken out against some of these things. People are selling prophetic words.

All this is very troublesome to me, and I've been very vocal about it. Yeah, so there's one thing to say this is extra-biblical. In other words, we don't find this specifically. In the Bible. You could argue that the use of instruments, musical instruments, is not explicitly found in the New Testament, but we find it in most of our churches.

It's not unbiblical, but it would be unbiblical to say that Satan is Lord.

So we understand those differences. And, Jennifer, within charism itself, Let's say someone writes in and they say they have this amazing healing testimony and it's the most incredible thing. Do you require documentation before you print that? It depends. If they're saying they raised the dead, yes, we will get a doctor's report.

If there's a Randy Clark has a great project where he's gone around and documented those kind of healings, we do ask for documentation.

Now, if someone says I was in a prayer line, I laid hands on somebody and they had a headache and the headache went away or ears opened up. If they're not naming names and they're sort of giving testimony or anecdotes based on to teach a principal, as long as they're not naming names, no, we don't ask for that level of indication. But if they're saying cancer was healed, a dead person was raised, those kind of things, absolutely, we get verification. Yeah, I remember something happening a few years ago, and that's why that came to my attention. That Chris said, No, we need medical documentation before we print that.

All right, last question. This whole thing about, quote, a sneaky squid spirit, that the pastor called in and said, You had a guest on, and she believes in a sneaky squid spirit. And I saw. Sneaky, I mean the devil's sneaky, that's not an issue there. But I have no idea how a demon is going to be manifest or seen.

It sounded very weird to me. You know, honestly, I never heard of the thing, but it seemed very weird to me. But I thought, you know, if the Bible depicts Satan as a seven-headed dragon, and you've got angels with four different faces, you know, lion, ox, eagle, man. I don't know. It could be symbolic of tentacles or something.

So since you wrote about it, just take a minute to explain what you understand. And was this something symbolic or not? Yeah, I I See You know, in a sense of it being symbolic, you know, for example, we have the Jezebel spirit.

Now, I don't think there is a thing called Jezebel. I think it's essentially a spirit of seduction because in Revelation 2 and 20, Jesus speaks of this woman who calls herself a Jezebel, who teaches, who calls herself a prophet, who teaches and seduces. And so, you know, I believe it's a spirit of seduction. We use the name Jezebel because we, you know, we like to have a common vernacular to explain things, to talk about things. You know, it's the same way the devil's the dragon is symbolic.

The Lord, he's not a rock, he's not a fortress in the general sense. The word in the realistic, you know, Jesus is not a lamb and the Holy Spirit is not a dove. But we sort of use symbols, you know, we see that in scripture.

So, you know, sort of sometimes in the deliverance ministry, in the spiritual warfare ministry, we describe things by their function. And so when someone is feeling a squeezing pressure on their head and it's affecting their nervous system, you know, It could be different. We call it different things. I know people who are not charismatic won't understand this, but you know, things like a pie pong spirit, we get that from the woman with the spirit of divination in the book of Acts. Paul encountered her, and that word divination is from the Greek word pythos, which is stay right there.

We'll be right back, then we'll get you your calls. 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.

Thanks for joining us on the Line of Fire. We're talking about the difference between destructive criticism and constructive criticism. If you are critical of me or my ministry, the work that I do, or differ with me on any level, phone lines are open, 866-356-865-865-6. Three for truth.

So speaking with Jennifer LeClaire. Editor of Charisma. She mentioned Acts 16, 16. We see in our English translations that this slave girl had a spirit of divination. And yes, in Greek, the word divination comes from the Greek word python.

Théoslexicon points out in Greek mythology the name of the Pythian spirit or dragon that dwelt in the region of Pytho at the foot of Parnassus in Phocas and was said to have guarded the oracle of Delphi and been slain by Apollo.

So this Python spirit then became the name for a spirit of divination. And Jennifer is just mentioning that in the same way, some people who are engaging in spiritual warfare, Ephesians 6:12, we don't wrestle with flesh and blood, but with principalities and powers of darkness, these satanic entities, these demonic spirits, that sometimes they'll be given names and referred to in certain ways.

So, hang on, just have a slight malfunction on my screen here. John, if you could just put Jennifer back on with us, that would be great.

So you were explaining then that sometimes terminology may be used, that this was not an actual snake python. But it was just a description of this spirit of divination. And sometimes in spiritual warfare, you or others have done similar things. Was that the point you were making? It is.

We have to have some kind of common language to begin to discuss. these things.

So that's that's the bottom line with that. Right, so I sent you a transcript that was sent to me by a friend. That that uh raised charges against you and said that you've given false prophecies or said other things, etc. Has this individual ever contacted you and raised concerns to you? No, I've never even heard of them before.

I was not surprised because I saw what his spiritual background was and understood that he doesn't believe in prophecy.

So if you don't believe in prophecy to begin with, certainly any prophecy that's uttered out of anyone's mouth would be considered false. Right, right, exactly. And it would be now adding revelation. Do you think it's best? Obviously, some people are not accessible.

You know, I might write an open letter to Miley Cyrus, like I did a couple of weeks ago. Of course, it's redemptive. And every word I'm writing, I'm writing to be read publicly. But if I had access to her, I'd reach out to her. If there was someone that if I had a way to get to someone.

I'd reach out to them, and then if I can't reach out to them, their doors closed, then I'll address what I have to if it's a public issue. But do you think it's best if people do reach out directly so you can have interaction? Does that seem the more constructive way? It does.

Now, their motives matter. I mean, if they're just b bent on attacking, that's there's no. real use in dialoguing much. If they want to have a true dialogue where they're seeking to understand and really concerned, you know, for my well-being, that's a whole different story. I find some of these guys that do sorts of things like this where they trash you on the radio and all these sorts of things publicly without ever speaking.

They're actually violating scripture. They're violating Matthew 18, the principles therein.

So it concerns me for them. It doesn't bother me. I, like you, have learned to take these things and rejoice in them because it's persecution. I answer to the Lord and I have accountability all around and about me.

So it's unfortunate, but we deal with it. Got it. Hey, I appreciate you taking time to join us today and just address some of these things. Again, my goal, and I said through the show, is not to bash and attack people. I'm not here to hurt people.

I'm here to help as much as possible.

So thank you for weighing in. Much appreciated. Hey, Johnny, let's just get our next caller on the line. Welcome to the line of fire.

Alright, let's try one more. Go ahead. Hello? Yes, you are on the line of fire. Hello, doctor Brown.

How you doing? I got a quick question on Revelation chapter three. We're talking about Laodicea. Yeah. Okay, yeah.

Okay, now I'll uh On Laodicea, okay, Jesus, he he I've noticed that all in all seven churches, That um that that Jesus always When he refers to the seven churches, he always has something good to say about the church. Yes. But then he also notifies us and tells us the things that he hates about the church as well. And that they must repent, and if they don't repent, something will be taken away. My question is, is that, okay, in Laodicea, If we notice that Jesus says nothing good about this church, what's the leather?

Okay? And when he says nothing good about this church, He also calls out the lukewarm, says he'll spew them out. Uh But Jesus never caused the church outside of this church. He never caused the church, but he caused the individual. And when he calls the individual, he says that he who opens the door, right?

He's talking to the individual themselves.

Well, actually, just one thing to jump in and say. Of course, you're right that this is the one out of the seven that he says nothing good to. Just like in Galatians, Paul says nothing good to the Galatians at the beginning, whereas every other congregation he addresses positively first. But all of the addresses in Revelation 2 and 3 are to individuals. It's to the Angelos, the angel, or the messenger.

Right, but from beginning to end, it's all in the signular. In other words, the church is being addressed. Hang on, hang on. Hang on, hang on, hang on. The church is being addressed through the leader.

Okay, the spiritual leader that's over it.

So that's why it's all singular, even though it's describing the church as a whole. And that's why the promises are in the singular as well.

So yes, it's to each individual to hear and repent, but the church as a whole is being spoken to and addressed. In spoken. But the thing is, is that all these churches absolutely were in generational order as well.

So before this tennis, what do you mean they were in generational order?

Well, the Church of Ephesus was the very was the first church, and it kind of goes in its own order. What I want to keep saying is that it's not the same church. That's not accurate. Go ahead. Okay, the last church is known as Laodicea.

That's the age that we seem to be living in right now. Oh, not at all. Christ himself sat there and said, He who had, I mean, I'm sorry. He who walked the door, all right. Hey, hang on, hang on.

Let me help you here. Let me help you here. No, no, no, not at all. Number one. Number one, the churches are not in chronological order.

He's not talking about church ages. He's talking to seven different congregations in Asia Minor. That's number one. Number two, hang on, hang on, hang on, Johnny. Just you got to mute our friend here.

Okay, thank you. I'm here to help you. You called in with a question. I can answer your questions, and you've got a lot of misinformation in here. But if you don't listen, you'll never learn.

Okay? So I'm here to help you. All right? So be wise and let me help you. There is no indication that these are chronological.

Okay. You have seven different congregations in Asia Minor that were literal congregations being addressed. And what does Jesus say to Laodicea? You say, I'm rich, increased in wealth, have need of nothing, don't realize you're wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked. The vast majority of the church around the world, that does not apply to.

That may apply to some of the churches or much of the church in Europe and America or North America. But it doesn't apply to suffering saints all around the world. They're like Smyrna. I know your poverty and your afflictions yet you're rich. Tell the church in Syria.

growing in the midst of hellish persecution and beheading. that they're Laodicea. Tell the church in the tribal regions in India growing and thriving in sacrificial ways that they're layable to see it. No, they're smart enough. If anything, but this it applies to each one where it fits, but Laodicea applied to us where we need to repent and let's do it.

And let's go forward. God's a God of life. Repentance is his way of life. There is criticism that is constructive. And criticism that is destructive will explain the difference today.

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. Welcome, welcome to the Line of Fire. This is Michael Brown. It is my profound joy to be with you today on the broadcast, 866-348-7884.

Do you differ with me doctrinally, theologically? Do you have concerns about what I believe? Do you differ with me when it comes to moral, cultural, social issues or my views on Israel? Or you feel that I should weigh in more on politics or I weigh in too much and you have a criticism or concern, the phone lines are open in particular to those. who differ with me 866-348-7884.

I am not here to intimidate you. I am not here to talk down to you. I am here to help. And if you can sharpen me in some way, I welcome that. But I hope if I can sharpen you in some way, you will welcome that.

866-348-7884. First, a special announcement for all of my friends listening right now in Raleigh, North Carolina. On our great truth station there in Raleigh. Join me this Wednesday night, one night only, speaking for Pastor Chad Harvey at First Assembly in Raleigh. All the details are on the itinerary of my website, askdrbrown.org.

And I've been asked to address the question of the church and homosexuality. I assure you it will be done with compassion and truth. If you yourself identify as a gay Christian, If you yourself Put yourself in the category of gay activist. If you have a family member that has come out as gay, if you're trying to sort out how do we take a stand on the social issues without hurting people, by all means, come. This is not a night for gay bashing.

This is not a night for compromising scripture.

So, by all means, join us. That'll be this. Wednesday, 7 p.m. at First Assembly in Raleigh.

Okay. Let me give you some scripture from the book of Proverbs. Are you ready for this? Listen to these words. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.

Listen, my son, to your father's instruction. Do not forsake your mother's teaching. There will be a garland to grace your head and a chain to adorn your neck. It's Proverbs 1. Proverbs 9, do not rebuke a mocker, he will hate you.

Rebuke a wise man. And he will love you. Proverbs 15, he who listens to a life-giving rebuke will be at home among the wise. Proverbs 17, a rebuke impresses a man of discernment more than a hundred lashes a fool. Proverbs 19.

Flog a mocker, and the simple will learn prudence. Rebuke a discerning man, and he will gain knowledge. Proverbs. 25. Like an earring of gold or an ornament of fine gold is a wise man's rebuke to a listening ear.

Proverbs 27. Better is open rebuke than hidden love. Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses. Proverbs. 28.

He who rebukes a man will in the end gain more favor than he who has a flattering tongue. Proverbs 29. A man who remains stiff-necked after many rebukes will suddenly be destroyed without remedy. Ecclesiastes 7, it is better to heed a wise man's rebuke than to listen to the song of fools. Job 5, blessed is the man whom God corrects.

Proverbs 3, my son, do not despise the Lord's discipline. Revelation 3, those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. What's the point of all this? rebuke, correction are wonderful things and can be life-giving. But there is a destructive criticism that is without love.

that is often scoffing and mocking. I see some criticism out there. It has more the characteristic of a scoffer. And a mocker. then it has the characteristic of a lover of God and a lover of people.

That's the kind of criticism that is destructive. I have seen it tear people up and destroy them. I have seen it get in the way of what the Holy Spirit was doing to change lives. And I have seen constructive criticism save. life.

Let us pursue the truth. And let us do it in love. Then we have God's heart and God's mind. We'll be right back. Ain't the world O God of burning, cleansing flame.

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.

Thank you so much for joining the broadcast today, 866-348-7884.

Now, I just want to say one thing. This is my radio show, meaning... If you'd like to get on the air and talk for 20 or 30 minutes, Sorry. Don't have the ability to have you do that. Unless you're a guest that we're bringing on, because I want you to talk to all of our folks.

So I. I've actually had folks criticize me.

Well, he he interrupts.

Well Actually, if someone's talking and they go on and on, or they're saying something that's incorrect and I'm trying to jump in, or they're asking a question, they don't let me answer. Yeah, it is my show. I will interrupt. to get the mic back and if the person continues to talk over me then I'll mute them. I won't hang up on them.

I'll mute them with the hope that they'll listen and then give them the opportunity to come back on. If we're done talking, we're done talking. But I welcome your call, okay? I am all ears to interact. And there may be misunderstandings, misinformation I can help you with.

There may be misconceptions. There may be something that you say that's enlightening for me because I never considered that angle before, never saw it from that angle before. Maybe I can enlighten you. That's why we talk.

Now, I know not everyone's able to, but let me encourage you, do what you do in a godly spirit. Do what you do in a way that that's how you'd like others to treat you or respond to you. And that's what I seek to do on a regular basis. I don't seek to use the platforms God's given me to disparage others in the body. And I'd encourage you to do the same.

There is often a self-righteousness with a... Destructive critical attitude. I've seen it over the years. And what makes it interesting is that the people doing the correcting often have so many errors themselves. Errors theologically and and and the way they walk and the way they live, and they completely violate the love command.

They're scoffers, they're mockers, they're they're nasty, they're mean spirited, they don't try to reach out to those they differ with and things like that. And they're champions of truth. You think, yikes, is that good in God's sight? Is that right? In God's sight, is that holy or positive or productive?

So, you know, these are questions that we have to ask and examine the attitudes along with the content.

So, A destructive critic is often an expert. and tearing down but a novice in building up. and a destructive critic.

Some of the characteristics also apply to, say, religious hypocrites.

So let's look at our own lives. Trust me, I write these things and I pray about these things in my own lives. I'll get through praying for a critic and then I'll say, Lord, is there anything that they're saying that I'm missing, any blind spot I have? Because I'm not God's perfect policeman. set in to set the whole church straight, and I alone am right.

Right? Here, many have looked with respect to my colleague Hank Hanograph. We're colleagues in the Lord. We obviously have some theological differences. And now the Bible answer man is Eastern Orthodox.

Well That reminds us that it's the Bible alone that's infallible, not Hank Hanegraff, not Mike Brown, not somebody else.

So everything's going to be tested by the word. Obviously, Hank would agree. Yeah, let's test it by the word. And then we have our differences. And if we still recognize one another within the body, then we treat each other accordingly.

If you believe someone is apostatized, they no longer believe in the death and resurrection of Jesus, then you call that out accordingly. Uh so some characteristics of a hypocritical religious spirit. One claims to have an exclusive corner on the truth, even among God's people. Two It's self-righteous. Three is a slave to human praise and criticism.

Is jealous jealous jealous jealous, envious, and competitive. Five is highly critical. Six wants the spirituality to be seen. Seven. is cynical and skeptical.

produces bondage instead of freedom. Is more concerned with outward forms and traditions than with the power of God, mercy, and compassion. 10. is narrowly nationalistic and dangerously denominational. Let me go back to that ninth point: is more concerned with outward forms and traditions than with the power of God, mercy, and compassion.

Remember Jesus criticized religious hypocrites in his day, Pharisees? who are people that, according to accounts of the day, were highly esteemed among their people. And yet, Jesus saw major concerns among many of their leaders.

So. He said you you strain out a knack. and you swallow a camel. Right, so before you have your drink, you put it through a strainer, you strain out a gnat, but you swallow a camel. What an image.

And he said, You tithe on mint, dill, and cumin. That's good, you should do that. Tie it down to the smallest detail, great, but you neglect the weightier matters of the law, justice, mercy, and faithfulness. That's what I've often seen with destructive critics. There's a massive blind spot.

of a lack of love, of a lack of recognition of other brothers and sisters, of a lack of following biblical ethical communication and behavior. But they're right, they're going to fix everybody. And they'll nail you to the wall over something that in scripture is not a major point of emphasis.

So let me give you the example that I want to. Go to the calls. I have ministered Preached side by side with Heidi Baker one time. That was in Germany some years ago. We both spoke at a conference.

We had fellowship behind the scenes over some meals, in between meetings, things like that. We've been. In settings together, large meetings where we're both there together. It's the only time that we really ministered side by side. That's the only time I really got good face-to-face time with Heidi.

Then when I read her book, Birthing and the Miraculous, I really liked it. and I asked her to come on the air from Mozambique. We had a bit of a hard time with the phone connection, but she joined me on the air.

Now Here's what I know about Heidi and her husband. They're well-educated. Heidi has a PhD in systematic theology. From, I think it's King's College in London. Her husband was well educated as well.

God called them to serve the poorest of the poor in Mozambique to minister to children and others in need. And they have quite an extraordinary work there with many, many Thousands of churches planted, an incredible ministry of mercy, feeding the poor, caring for the sick. Also, many documented healings. People who are deaf and blind have been miraculously healed. And because of Muslim resistance to certain parts of their ministry, they've had people attacked and even killed for the gospel.

And as far as I know, on all the fundamentals of the faith. all the fundamentals of the faith. that Heidi is an Orthodox believer. In other words, if you go through the the basics of the faith, And do you hold to the solas, you know, solas scriptura, by faith alone, and by grace alone, and etc.? And the scripture is the final authoritative word of God.

Do you believe salvation only through Jesus, that he died for our sins, rose from the dead, that he's the eternal Son of God, that God is triune, that we're all guilty in God's sight and need redemption? All the foundations. As far as I understand, she wholeheartedly affirms them, and they teach them as foundations. Or take them for granted as foundations that everyone has to hold to in their school or schools. As far as I know.

And there's no question that Heidi's done things that very odd to me in a service. And there's some video footage. It's very different than I'd conduct a service. and out of my comfort zone. Absolutely.

I've never talked to Heidi about it, never had the setting to. If if if it was a time and place, I I might talk to her about it. but I know she loves the Lord deeply. I know that she has sacrificed much for the Lord, she and her husband. I know that they are producing fruit that's going to last forever.

So here's the deal: here's a ministry. Here's a ministry. That is Winning people to Jesus. bringing them from darkness to light, And forever and ever and ever, these people, many, many thousands, will be with the Lord forever and ever and ever and ever and ever. God sees them as genuine converts.

Somebody say, Well, we'll see. Hey. You can have your attitude, that's fine. But you'll be pleasantly surprised on that day because in the presence of God you'll be filled with love and you'll rejoice over the fruit of some ministries that you savaged here. And You'll have these other ministries that are attacking her, and all they're going after is: look at this funny, look at this, look at this crazy.

How was it? She's laying on her back, and she's just laughing. How is that out of order? Maybe it is out of order. I wasn't there.

I don't know the whole context, but what I saw seemed odd.

Okay. Maybe it was Adivor. I don't know. Don't know. Because I didn't watch enough to to even say.

All right, but what I saw was odd.

However, the one attacking her Okay, well show me your fruit. Show me the people you've led to the Lord. Show me the disciples. Show me your sacrificial love for a lost and dying world. Let's talk about your prayer life and how many hours of quality fellowship you have with God.

And talking about the tears you shed at the throne of God as you weep over His Word and in love with Him and on and on and on and on. And that you can point to this multitude of people that are going to be with Jesus forever and ever and ever and ever and ever through your ministry. Oh oh, you can't? but you're going to savage her because something that seems strange in the service, that is destructive criticism. That is destructive criticism.

And I'm glad they have Heidi on the air. And tell it. That service is odd. I don't understand it. I'm not comfortable with it.

and welcome her as an honored sister in the Lord and appreciate her sacrifice and love for Jesus. What do you think of that? We'll be right 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. You know, there's something else I could point out, 866-348-7-884. But By God's grace, I've done some serious study over the years.

and written commentaries on biblical books and got my doctorate in Semitic languages and things. And plenty of times, Nancy's reading the Bible in English. She doesn't know the original languages, and she'll see insights I've never seen. And correct me. On my understanding, and then I'll go steady the commentaries and dig deep in the Hebrew and the Greeks.

It's like, honey, you're right. You're right on that.

So I'm not pulling rank here. I'm not pulling rank. But I'll say this. Uh by God's grace uh I can be pretty sharp in certain ways. in terms of analyzing preaching, teaching.

And I I could tear a lot of stuff. A port. Your average sermon preached on an average Sunday I could tear a lot of it to part apart. But If the overall point is true and good and sound, then I'm not going to tear this thing apart. I'm going to say amen to the overall point.

And then maybe if I have access to the person, help them, hey, here's a better way to handle scripture. But I find it interesting that that destructive critics will major on the minors. They'll be so off on the majors. and that they'll attack the minor. That's part of destructive criticism.

Constructive criticism is: hey, that's wrong. Hey, this is seriously wrong. You're heading down the wrong path. I've warned people many times: you're heading down the wrong path. I'm warning you.

I'm urging you to repent. I'm urging you to turn back. This is serious error. I do that consistently with a broken heart for people. I'd also ask Those that I call destructive critics, how much time do you spend weeping over those that you criticize?

And praying with a broken heart and fasting for them. Because if you're right, they're in big trouble. And they're hurting a lot of people. I would hope that you don't just like, oh, let's put this graphic up. Oh, cool.

Let's really zap them with this. That's childish. Childish. would be on his or her face. in prayer, with tears.

Fasting O God grant them repentance they're blind, they don't see. But there are many times where We're just focusing on the wrong things. I've dealt with King James only people. and they're fanatical. And they are abs I've I've dealt with them and they're using profanity.

But you don't use the King James, so you're wrong. Wow, talk about double standards. 866. 348-7884. Let's go to Jeff in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Welcome to the line of fire.

Hey, thank you, doctor Brown. It's an honor to be on with you. Um I just wanted to give you a two-second version of something, and I think I may not be alone. I i in my experience, uh I sure hope not, but the things you're talking about today have kind of all been broken over my head by people and by the Lord in the last several years. I started out at an institutional, quote, institutional large church in Dallas.

It's actually where I met you one time. um, I ate dinner with you and stuff if I don't remember, ten, twelve years ago. But some major problems are going on there at the time. I'm reading your stuff and Raven Hills, Katz's, and saying, yeah, this is like these are the things in my heart with with problems not dealing with sin. Come to find out.

A guy who was a prayer pastor there was in construction and building the first late-term abortion clinic in Dallas, and it was just getting swept under the rug. And so, through a long process of events, ended up leaving there, almost went to fire actually and and And uh, and probably missed it on that one, didn't probably should have, but uh, but anyway, over time, uh, the Lord corrected some of my theology over the years, then got with a home church fellowship. And I was like, okay, here's a group of people who are on fire, who love the Lord, who've had similar experiences to me, who see the errors in the church or whatever. But it But there's other like it took several years to meet lots of groups like that and realize, wait, all they're talking about is what's wrong in the church instead of like what's right and how to build it. Yeah, just to jump in, the the The Religious spirit in the negative sense, not the good sense of the word religion, but the negative sense.

is epitomized in Luke 18. with the Pharisee and the publican. when the tax collector, the publican, beats his breast and says, God, have mercy on me, a sinner. And the Pharisee says, God, I thank you. I'm not like others.

I'm not like this publican. I pray, I fast, I do, and pointed to all those things. And yeah, my son-in-law Ryan leads a house church. I have many friends in the house church movement. I'm friends with Frank Viola, who's written books about the house church and things.

But over the years, I have many times raised my concern about the house church movement that feeds on criticizing the rest of the body and that's primary spirituality saying, we're not like these guys. You know, we meet on a Thursday night in t-shirt and jeans and have a sushi together. We're not like these traditional Christians. And God's smiling on the quote, traditional Christians on a Sunday morning in a church with a pipe organ who love Jesus and not happy with the elitist on their Thursday night service.

So yeah, that is always a concern that we are the ones that have it. And these poor slobs out there, they're lost. You know, God's more concerned with us saying, God, we need you. If we don't have it all together, we need you. He's much more affirming of that.

So back to you. Mm. Oh, no, amen, amen. And then but then beyond that, what I've I'm a continuist. I agree with you on literally 99% of everything.

I'm not uh of a five point two lift Calvinist, but I'm probably a little bit more Reformed than you. But on Israel, I agree with you. On eschatology, I agree with you. On your fire and your heart and desire for missions and evangelism, you've you've been one of the probably the five biggest influences on my life. as far as a a public minister.

But In this place where I'm at, so dreams begin to come out and And you know, I thought, oh, well, this dream now, a person who's Shown a pattern of being judgmental or critical, hyper-critical of others, and not using, never taking a hermeneutics course, you know, and using scripture, like you said, incomplete.

Now, all of a sudden, we. me and my family start to get like evaluated.

Well, the stream seems to show maybe you're hiding this and like maybe this baby's a curse. It just it went off the rails. Um And so I'm like, Lord, I'm kinda honestly I'm kind of heartbroken just like, Lord, I just I just want to like meet with the body. I don't want to be. Critical.

I don't want to be in error. I just want to meet with like minded brothers and sisters who are sold out, who who love you and and Man, I'm like a hard on my sleeve kind of guy. I can be hard-headed, I can all that. I don't deny any of that, but I just wanna um. I just want to find this thing.

And I wonder. If some of the Prophetic people, some of the people with prophetic gifts or whatever. ha you know, in droves kinda left the institutional church And some of the ones who were genuine, you know, who weren't just setting up these discernment sites to cut everybody's head off, like you said. but it really have a broken heart. Aren't going to move back in and are they going to be welcomed back in?

And is there going to be, is God going to be in the back? Yeah, tell you what, let me just jump in. I hate to interrupt, and thank you for your gracious words. And I am glad I was able to be a blessing in your life. Uh let me just give you one word Uh don't use the term institutional church.

I I know what you mean by it. But it makes a distinction.

Well, I don't believe God sees a distinction. He has one body, one family. And what I do is just ask God to attach you to the right body. And understand you're going to disappoint some people and some people are going to disappoint you. But you want a place where you can work together, serve together.

And it's never gonna be perfect. and they're always going to be ups and downs. But there are plenty of healthy churches all around America in the midst of all the deception and apostasy. plenty of healthy churches. Ask God to attach you to the right place and Let's look at what he is doing in a positive way.

Hey, Gotta Ron, thank you for the call. 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. I am specially opening the radio lines today to those that are critics of my ministry for whatever reason, critics of what I believe, either within the faith or outside the faith. You're always welcome to call. In fact, I especially love to hear from people that I differ with, but...

Uh And today, in particular, I want to open up the phone lines 866-348-7884 and give you some guidelines: the difference between destructive criticism and constructive criticism. And I've got an incredible quote from Jonathan Edwards I want to share with you in a moment and then get to your calls. But first, because yesterday was Mother's Day, I wrote an article. Entitled Happy Mother's Day, Dad. Think wh wh what?

What's that?

Well There are concerns. That Celebrating Mother's Day, Father's Day is Is exclusive. and doesn't recognize the non-traditional families. Because of which Uh early this month KXTV Canada reported that an elementary school is canceling Mother's and Father's Day events. in an effort to celebrate diversity.

and inclusivity. After a traumatic incident involving one of its students, now they wouldn't say what the incident was. But they said, hey, we're not going to have any celebration in school. In other words, we're not going to have, okay, kids, today in arts and crafts, everyone's going to make a present for their mommy. Obviously, you're going to have a single parent home.

Someone doesn't have a daddy. You're always going to deal with those kinds of things. And schools used to work with that. But no, not now. Maybe a boy has two daddies and it was traumatic.

to have a Mother's Day celebration. In any case, this is how you celebrate diversity and inclusivity. How? by banning Mother's Day and Father's Day celebrations in the schools. And and the school sent out the most ridiculous.

uh letter to parents about it. And one parent posted on Facebook, I think disappointment is an understatement. This will be the first year that we don't get gifts crafted with love from our kids, and since we only have one little one now, it makes that all that much worse. I don't understand why we as Canadians need to give up our traditions that have been passed through generations. I welcome all races and ethnicities, but forcing us to give up things that are important to us as Canadians is garbage.

That doesn't even have anything to do with religion. You can't celebrate your mom and dad. We say, Well, that's just a school in Canada. Who cares about that?

Well. How about this? The New York Times celebrates a gender-fluid Mother's Day. As reported on the Daily Caller, how by posting a video of a drag queen reading a story to a little boy. Yeah.

Yup, yup, yup. Here's what the drag queen says. I guess the social construct of Mother's Day is this gender role of domestic work, women's work. Traditionally, you give a mom mom a day off because she does all these domestic things for the household. But things are different.

Some families don't have moms at all. They have either two dads or different people who play that role for them. And it's important to experience different gender and what that looks like.

So Since Maybe Kim Kardashian's dad is now a woman. Do you say, well, how do the Kardashians do it on Father's Day? Maybe we should take a lead because father is now a woman. No, you pray for that family to really find wholeness in the Lord, and you go on and celebrate Mother's Day and Father's Day.

So, one feminist mentioned that That uh Or, excuse me, a columnist Emma Teitel, writing for The Star, mentioned non-binary parents' day. That's being suggested for July 17th. If you're a non-binary parent, you don't fit into either. Traditional mother or father. But she said, No, no, let's just scrap Mother's Day and Father's Day.

And so we'll have Guardians Day. We'll have Guardians Day instead. Here, here's a little prediction. I'm going to go out way out on a limb here on the line of fire. Are you ready?

Mm-hmm. Mother's Day and Father's Day are going to outlast non-binary Parents' Day and Guardians' Day. You have my official prediction. Back with your calls and an amazing quote from Jonathan Edwards. Stay right here.

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. All my friends listening in Raleigh, North Carolina, right?

Yeah, I'm talking to you in your car, in your home, your work. I'm talking to you, yes. Wednesday night, this Wednesday, so two days from now, speaking one night only. for Pastor Chad Harvey at First Assembly. on homosexuality and the church.

This is a gay-friendly night, meaning I'm not going to be bashing people. If you're same-sex attracted, if you have a family member that is, if you identify as a, quote, gay Christian, please do come. Please do come. Everyone is welcome to hear what I'll be sharing this Wednesday night. Also, for many years, I've been interacting with an ultra-Orthodox rabbi, Rabbi Israel Blumenthal, who is a counter-missionary and tries to pull Jewish people away from faith in Jesus, believing that that is right in God's sight to do.

And he and I have been looking for a way to have a debate because he doesn't like oral debates. I don't have time for ongoing written debates.

So he came up with a proposal. We went back and forth. And here's what we've done. We've each posted today on our respective websites.

So just go to my YouTube channel, Ask Dr. Brown, ask KDR Brown on YouTube, and you'll see it. I posted a 20-minute video. He posted a 20-minute video. Neither of us saw them before being posted.

Called The Real Jewish Messiah.

Now, one month later, God willing, I'll post a rebuttal to his video. He'll post one to mine, 20 minutes each. One month after that, a response to one another's rebuttals. And that should be one hour full, side by side, so a virtual video debate. The first ones are up now, so you can watch mine.

There's a link to his in my video, and vice versa. I'm going to go to the phones in a moment, but listen to what Jonathan Edwards said. Because during the Great Awakening, as in almost every revival movement, unusual things happened. of people shaking, falling, crying out, people going into trances. unusual things happening.

How do you judge them? Is it God? Is it not God? And he gave nine different signs and said, you cannot judge either way. They were non-signs.

People have used them as negative signs as complete misuse. They are non-signs, meaning. Meaning that Edward said, okay, people falling, crying out. You can't say that's the Spirit, it's not the Spirit. And listen to what Edward said here.

Let me get the exact quote. Here we go. Many are guilty. of not taking the Holy Scriptures as a sufficient and whole rule. whereby to judge of this work, whether it be the work of God, and that they judge by those things which the Scripture does not give as any signs or marks whereby to judge one way or the other, and therefore do in no wise belong to the Scripture rule of judging, namely, the effects the religious exercises and affections of mind have upon the body.

Did you get that? He's saying the scriptures which are our authority and rule Do not tell us to make judgment. by how somebody responds.

Well, that can't be God because there are five people laying on the ground shaking.

Well, that must be God because there are five people laying on the ground shaking. No, Scripture doesn't tell us to evaluate based on that. This is Jonathan Edwards writing around 1740s. The effects that religious exercise and affections of mind have upon the body. Scripture rules respect the state of the mind and person's moral conduct and voluntary behavior, and not the physical state of the body.

The design of the scripture is to teach us divinity and not physic, meaning physic, things physical, and anatomy. Ministers are made the watchmen of men's souls and not of their bodies. And therefore, the great rule which God has commanded into their hands is to make them divines and not physicians. Christ knew what instructions and rules his church would need, stand in need of, better than we do, and if he had seen it needful in order to the church's safety, he doubtless would have given ministers rules to judge of bodily effects and would have told them how the pulse should beat under such and such religious exercises of mind, when men should look pale, and when they should shed tears, when they should tremble, and whether or not they should ever be faint or cry out, or whether or no they should ever be put into convulsions. He probably would have put some book into their hands that should have tended to make them excellent anatomists and physicians.

He has not done it because he did not see it to be needful. He judged that if ministers thoroughly did their duty as watchmen and overseers of the state and frame of men's souls and of their voluntary conduct according to the rules he had given, his church would be well provided for as to its safety in these matters. Those ministers of Christ and overseers of souls that busy themselves and are full of concern about the involuntary motions of the fluids and solids of men's bodies, and from thence full of doubts and suspicions of the cause, when nothing appears but that the state and frame of their mind and their voluntary behavior is good and agreeable to God's word. I say such ministers go out of the place that Christ has set them in and leave their proper business, as much as if they should undertake to tell who are under the influence of the Spirit by their looks or their gait. I cannot see which way we are in danger or how the devil is likely to get any notable advantage against us if we do but thoroughly do our duty with respect to those two things, namely the state of persons' minds and their moral conduct, seeing too that they may maintain in an agreeableness to the rules that Christ has given us.

If things are but kept right in these respects, our fears and suspicions arising from extraordinarily bodily effects seem wholly groundless. This is Jonathan Edwards, friends. revered as a Calvinist, revered as a Puritan, revered in non charismatic circles to this day, and with with much good reason. One more quote from Edwards. He said it is a weak objection.

That the impressions of enthusiasts, meaning fanatics, have a great effect in their bodies, that the Quakers used to tremble. Is no argument that Saul, afterwards, Paul, and the jailer, did not tremble from real convictions of conscience. Indeed, All such objections from effects on the body, let them be greater or less, seem to be exceeding frivolous. They who argue thence proceed in the dark, they know now what ground they go upon. They know not what ground they go upon, nor by what rule they judge.

The root and course of things is to be looked at, and the nature of the operations and affections are to be inquired into, and examined by the rule of God's word, not the motions of the blood and animal spirits. There's a famous video from early in the Brownsville Revival, and one sister is talking about the transformation in her life and how God delivered her from suicide and her sister from suicide and drugs and so on. And both of them devoted to the Lord, godly women to this day, over 20 years later, transformed through what God did touching them in the revival. And as this young woman is talking, she's shaking. And and you know, shaking very strongly.

People say, that's a God. How could that be God?

Well, what I'm hearing, pouring out of her mouth, is God. how Jesus touched her. How Jesus changed her. how she's in love with the Lord. As she's living a godly, holy life, as she has this tremendous burden for a dying world.

That that's what I'm hearing. And the fruit has remained godly fruit.

Someone who loves it.

Well, she's still shaking. I don't know, but I don't care. This is no concern. The Bible doesn't tell me to judge based on that. And a lot odder things happen in the Bible than someone shaking.

I want to see is the basic doctrine they hold to in accordance with the Word of God, number one. Number two, major on the majors. Number two, are they living a godly, Jesus, exalting, moral life? That's what I'm looking for. That's what I'm looking for.

And if there's a problem here and they're happy to address it. But the idea, well, actually, God, the person is shaking. Where does the Bible tell me to judge based on that? That's Jonathan Edwards' whole point. 866-34 TRUTH.

Let's go to West Virginia. Aaron, thank you for holding. Welcome to the line of fire.

Hey, hello, Doctor Brown. How are you? Doing very well. Thanks, sir. And I promise that I will concede if you interrupt.

Yeah. Hey, I'm here to help. Go ahead. Amen. Amen.

I believe it. I just simply wanted to speak on three points. One being what was spoken concerning Jennifer Claire Leclerc and I just feel that often in the body of Christ, there's such misunderstanding. and division and It seems like that after two thousand years Uh We wouldn't still be arguing about how God can do things. He's God.

I thought He was solving. And uh often When you look at things of the spirit, When you consider that Jesus said, Who does man say that I am? And Peter answered and said, You are the Christ. And Jesus said, Well, who revealed that to you? It had to be the Spirit of God because you didn't have that.

And so when we look at men, And women who receive things, how is it that a physical fleshly body could ever get in contact with a sovereign God, His Spirit. and it not be affected. I think that one of the things that we deal with as the body is that there's a divide. uh concerning maturity and leadership. That's why we have we have used often talk about culture wars.

well, to oppose something, to go after him and oppose An opposition, an oppo, an opposing threat, you first must. Post. Must have told it. And a lot of times People in the body don't oppose it. We don't believe in demons being cast out.

But when we look at the Bible, as our as our structure We see all these things. You know, everybody likes to be nice, Doctor Brown. But I look at the scriptures and I remember John saying He said, Who warned you, you brood of vipers? Jesus spoke very Uh So soon. Yeah, there are there are and I'm just jumping in because we got a break Aaron I wanted to give you the maximum time but you know we're gonna have divisions misunderstandings because we're people We're human beings, but we can minimize them by humbling ourselves.

saying, God, show me my blind spots, give me a teachable spirit, reaching out to those we differ with, walking in love towards one another, we can minimize some of the misunderstandings. But whether there is sin, where there are issues, yeah, let's call them out forthrightly and clearly. Hey, bless you, Aaron. Thank you for the call. 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. So that was about ten days ago a brother called a pastor who was critical of some of the teaching of one of the guests that I'd had on earlier in the day.

And I realized who the person was when they'd called the first time, someone said, hey, you know who that was? Because I didn't realize. Oh, great.

So I know this person, I don't follow the ministry or their website, but I'm aware because of links that friends will send me that they have often criticized me or taken issue with things. And I definitely have issues with what they teach and believe in certain ways and the way they conduct a particular critical or discernment website, whatever you're going to call it. But we had a civil discussion as brothers in the Lord. And I told him, give out his website. Give out not just your church website, but the website where you're critical of me and my guests.

Why? Because I've got no problem with people looking at things and exactly, listen to what I have to say, listen to what they have to say. That's fine. I've got no problem with that. I may have strong differences and feel what they're doing is more destructive than helpful in certain ways, and they may feel the same about me.

That's fine. But what I find especially troubling is people who hide behind anonymity. There is no accountability. There is no way to to know about their lives, the fruit they bear. their church affiliation, are they under authority, what fellowship they have, nothing, nothing whatsoever.

And that I find to be Unethical.

Now, there are times, I mean, you might be doing Islamic outreach to radical Muslims. You have to hide behind anonymity if you want to live through the day. I understand that. But when we're talking about differences within the body, there is no reason to do it. It might be a fifteen year old kid for all I know.

Wet behind the ears. You might be someone that's been kicked out of four Bible colleges for unethical behavior. I don't know, you might have been fired from your church for committing adultery three times. Don't know. We don't know any of that.

When it's behind anonymity.

So I would, if someone called in that was a critic. And I felt they were a destructive critic, but they were known. We'd have dialogue, and I'd say, here's their website. Yeah, I'm just posting a video debate with a rabbi. who denies that Jesus is the Messiah as an ultra-Orthodox rabbi.

And on my link, here's my presentation. are the real Jewish Messiah. And here's Rabbi Blumenthal's presentation. In the description on my YouTube, I'm linking you to his counter-presentation. And he's linking you to my presentation in his link.

And we're both saying, let's put everything on the table. I am all for that because I love God and I love His truth. But the the scoffing, mocking, slingshotting from a distance. False finding, nitpicking. majoring on the minors Straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel approach, I've seen for years, and I've seen it be destructive.

And just a little word of wisdom, and I'm going to go back to the phones. A pastor many years ago raised this issue, and I thought, great. point. Are you ready? name for me one of the ten spies.

who said we can't take the promised land. And numbers 13, 14. Any one of the ten that said we can't take the promised land. Don't remember their names? Neither do I.

Name for me the two spies who said we can't take the land, Joshua and Caleb. Many of you never heard of Charles Chauncey until I mentioned him in the broadcast today. He was the chief critic of the Great Awakening, but we know Jonathan Edwards and George Whitfield, the two great voices. of the Great Awakening. It's interesting.

So the destructive critics, they may have a certain influence now, won't last. The fruit of true moves of God will last. And the biggest issue is when we stand before the throne of God. I want God to say, well done, good and faithful servant.

So if I got blind spots, help me see them. And please let me help you see yours so that we can be all that Jesus wants us to be. 866-348-7884. We go to Steve in Tarrington, Connecticut. Welcome, sir, to the line of fire.

Okay. Good day, Dr. Brown. Thanks for having me on. You bet.

Listen, I come from the Independent Baptist movement. which is well known for very, very strong authoritative personalities. Um probably way overboard, I would say. And also for Some deep, deep corruption. And I think part of that.

Let me just jump in. Hey, hang on just one second. Hey, just for all of our listeners, Steve is giving his assessment and opinion of Independent Baptists. Just want to make that clear, because normally we don't mention. specific groups of names, but that's I didn't say anything, but I just want to say I have no knowledge either way, but that's your assessment.

You feel that they're well known for that.

Okay, back to you. Go ahead. Okay, and I am one, by the way. Yeah. So I just want to talk about A certain kind of two things.

One, a certain kind of authoritativeness. which was which does not allow Problems to be corrected. I just want to warn against that because a lot of people tremendously fear. Um the the man of God. Mm-hmm.

Don't touch the anointed. Who are you to touch the anointed? And the guy can be in adultery, he can be stealing money. He can be backslidden, but no, no, no. His board, if they raise an issue, They're out.

Yeah, that's not leadership. That's not leadership. Leadership serves, and leadership is accountable.

Now here is what I've literally heard said. Um How God deals with you when you fall. is based on how fast you're running for him. Woo! Talk about danger.

That reminds me of a charismatic guy, because this problem is not unique to Independent Baptists. Matt, absolutely true. That that uh One guy Claimed because God had given him such a healing gift, that's why he was allowed to sleep with so many women he wasn't married to. You talk about sickness. and deception.

Yeah, I mean, God's going to respond to us humbling ourselves. and truly repenting. That's what he's going to look at. If I dared think, hey, I've got this big ministry and I'm running hard, I'm going day and night, so if I blow it, if I steal money or commit adultery or something, you know, God will be softer on me. No, all the more am I accountable.

All the more will I shake in my boots that I could be so guilty when having been given so much. And I can't help but think of Uriah the Hittite. Pro even though David was a man after God's own heart, David had sinned tremendously. And Uriah would not honor dishonor God, the nation, his king. Even by doing something that he legitimately could do, he could have gone home to be with his wife.

but she was he was filled with honor, and yet she was not the leader. And it took a year, it seems, for anyone to confront David for what he had done. And he had and there was obviously a man better than him, although not positionally the same as him.

So I think if somebody, no matter their position in an assembly, sees something egregious. And I'm not talking about little things. I'm talking about adultery, fornication. I'm talking about of preachers' children that are in open ad The fornication, these kind of things. They are allowed to have a problem with that, in my opinion.

Yeah, Steve, in your humility, you're understating it. And and and look, David commits adultery, then has Uriah killed. And yes, after Uriah is killed, David does bury Bathsheba, marry Bathsheba, and Solomon is born out of that union, loved by God, the second child. But you better believe it cost David. Dearly, dearly, dearly.

May we walk? and the fear of God and the love of God. One day we will all stand. before him. That's sobering.

That's sobering.