Putting Our Faith Before Our Politics; A New Book on the Distinctiveness of Jesus; and More

We're going to go from the Word of God to the White House and back to the Word today right here on the line of fire. Mm-hmm. It's time for the line of fire with your host, activist, author, international speaker, and theologian, Dr. Michael Brown, your voice of moral, cultural, and spiritual revolution. Michael Brown is the director of the Coalition of Conscience and president of Fire School of Ministry.

Get into the line of fire now by calling 866-34-TRUTH. That's 866-34-TRUTH. Here again is Dr. Michael Brown. All right, how about I start the broadcast with a big prediction?

Oh yeah, yeah, it's a pretty simple prediction. In fact, it's a prediction just about anybody could make. The prediction is this. Things are not going to quiet down anytime soon regarding our President, his decisions, and those who differ with his decisions. Things are not going to be calming down anytime soon.

Expect ongoing protest, expect ongoing Senate boycotts from the Democratic side, expect more onslaught from the media, more swirling controversy in social media. Expect that, expect more polarization. Nothing gives me any indication that any of that will change in the immediate. Future. In fact, it seems each side is only going to dig in more deeply in the days ahead, with Cabinet picks still to be confirmed, with Supreme Court justice to be announced tonight, with more flack over the executive order and lawsuits to come against it regarding immigration.

Expect things to only intensify, which means. We as God's people need to step out of the fray and get our heads in a better position. one that's not just driven by the right or the left, one that's not just driven by allegiance to the president or opposition to the president. one that's driven by allegiance to the Lord. And wisdom from above.

This is Michael Brown. You are listening to the line of fire. How do you think our president is doing? How do you feel about the executive order? We had some lively discussion yesterday.

It's still in the news to discuss today. Do you feel that Donald Trump is sending a message to the enemies of America saying, hey, We will be strong. We will not be like the last administration. We will be strong. There's a new sheriff in town.

Is he sending a negative message to the Muslim world? Is this going to increase radicalization of Muslims within America, many of whom may not have been radical in the past, but may be radicalized through these actions? Is this further alienating people away from him? The statements he made during his campaign and some of the mistakes he made during his campaign present a certain caricatured image. Is this playing into it?

Or is this what he was elected to do? 866-348-7884. Let's step back though. Let me read the word of God to you. Psalm 123.

A song of a sense. Most likely is these songs were sung going up to Jerusalem for pilgrimage. This was considered ascending. It was both a physical and a spiritual ascent. I lift my eyes to you.

To you who sits enthroned in heaven, As the eyes of slaves look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a female slave look to the hand of her mistress.

So our eyes look to the Lord our God. He shows us his mercy. Have mercy on us, O Lord. Have mercy on us, for we have endured no end of contempt. We have endured no end of ridicule from the arrogant, of contempt from the proud.

And what I want to focus on... is is this concept of our eyes look to you. Donald Trump is not the savior of America. On his very best day ever, he will not be the savior. of America.

I pray that he will be a good president, a God-fearing president, will act with... wisdom. I pray that there will be people surrounding him who will speak into his life with wisdom. I pray that he will be more careful in steps that he takes so as not to... unroll things in a hasty way and hence lead to all kinds of confusion as we've had with the immigration order.

But either way, my eyes are not looking to him. And if you're a critic of Donald Trump, your eyes are certainly not looking to him. Our eyes are looking to the Lord. We must have another perspective that transcends politics and transcends media. Can we do it?

I believe we can. 866, 34 Truth, you get to weigh into. Got it. Light here are It's the line of fire with your host, Dr. Michael Brown, your voice of moral, cultural, and spiritual revolution.

Here again is Dr. Michael Brown. Welcome back, friends, to the line of fire. All right, a few things I want to say first, and then we'll take your calls as well regarding our president. We posted on our Facebook page yesterday, and I asked Dr.

Brown, asked KD or Brown on Facebook. We posted. a video from a grad and his wife from our school of ministry, Fire School of Ministry. The Grad and his wife were there with their kids in Iraq. And the video is from Iraq, and they weigh in with a response to the president's executive order.

And the long and short of the response is this. That The President's going to do what he's going to do. But Christians in America have a responsibility to reach out with love and compassion to their Muslim neighbors. And right now, if you're a Muslim living in America and you may have fled from violence from fellow Muslims in your country. Civil war or fled from radical Muslims in your country, and you've taken refuge in America.

and you're here as a peace-loving American. Either way, you might feel a rising tide of hostility towards you simply because you're a Muslim. And it's a great video. It's not a political statement, it's a spiritual call. For believers to reach out with love to their Muslim friends and neighbors and let them know that as followers of Jesus, they care about them, they care about their welfare.

And to be there is true friends for them. I want to echo that and say again that our greatest calling here Is not a public statement of allegiance with the president. You can say, hey, I think the executive order is fine, I think it makes sense. I know there'll be some hardship for some for a period of time, but I think it makes sense in the long term. It was just rolled out poorly and there was a lot of confusion with it.

You may have that position. By and large, I think the executive order is not that extreme and does make sense in many ways, but. while the Government should major on security, The Church should major on compassion. In other words, let the government do what it needs to do to keep our borders safe. and then to do its best to help those suffering around the world however we can.

We've sought to do that for many years. Let the church, though, major not on political solidarity. Yeah, pray for the president and support him as much as you can, but let the church major on compassionate. outreach, okay? That's one thing.

Second thing is regarding the President's appointment for Supreme Court Justice. His promise was that it would be somewhat in the mould of Antony Scalia.

Now Scalia in a certain way. Broke the mold, he was so unique, his brilliance was towering, his expression, his opinions were so sharp. That it's tough to have one fully in his mold. But we understood what President Trump was saying, or candidate Trump, when he promised this. And he did say he would pick someone from a list of 21 justices that he had worked up together with the help of Heritage Foundation, which is a strong conservative think tank in America.

So he's staying with that. It is someone from that list. It is a male from that list because the press secretary made reference to he.

So it's a male from that list. And there are three choices. One seems to be the most likely.

Some are saying that.

Well, it could be someone not quite as conservative as Scalia. And Democrats are saying whoever it is. They're gonna they're they're gonna filibuster. They're going to object to it, whoever the nominee is, assuming it's from this list. And then you have the so-called nuclear option, which was made on behalf of the Democrats, but now could work against them, that would shut the whole filibustering down and say, sorry, we're going through.

We're pushing this through. I mean, it's going to be intense either way. And the decision apparently has already been made. But we'll be able to respond to it better. I'm going to get James Robinson's take on this in the second hour, for those that can catch the show in the second hour.

We'll be able to respond more once the announcement is made. But there are concerns. that it could be someone perhaps closer to Justice Roberts. Then Justice Scalia. the late Justice Scalia and Justice Roberts, of course, surprised everyone, Chief Justice Roberts, when he voted in favor of the President's Affordable Care Act, Obamacare.

And hence, turn things in a way that no one was expecting to go. Otherwise, he's been strongly conservative of many other issues. Is it going to live up? Is the appointment going to live up to all expectations? That remains to be seen.

One other points of interest. There have been concerns. and the LGBT community. Growing concerns Based on releases of information, rogue releases, people on the President's staff who are releasing information on their own, whether unknown to the President or against the President's wishes or Totally part of his plan to get the information that we don't know, just called rogue, all right?

So they're not official. representations of the president position. But there were concerns in the LGBT community that he was going to be reversing some of the things President Obama had done, some of his LGBT activist stances, and that further things would be pushed forward that would allow for, quote, discrimination against LGBTs. In my mind, some of the things that were being talked about were just going to be fair. Fair so that there would not be special privileges for those who identify as LGBT to the Expense and cost, and inconvenience, and loss of liberty of other Americans.

Well, the latest we've heard. Is that President Trump is saying no, he is uh or his Spokespeople are saying, no, he will actually, and is about to issue. statements and executive orders saying that all of the rights for LGBT federal employees, those are going to remain. There won't be discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. And that opens up a whole can of worms once again when it comes to religious liberties, when it comes to other issues, when it comes to whether these should be actual categories, sexual orientation and gender identity in the same way that, for example, race or ethnicity are.

Or skin color, or characteristics, or traits, or categories. But just read. statement from gay activist leader saying, don't be deceived by this. This is just a tiny little carrot. Forget about it.

Donald Trump is not going to be a friend of the LGBT community, but we shall see. Either way, it reminds us, it reminds us that our hope in national transformation is not in the president. It's in God and in the people of God. That being said, when the acting attorney general refused to carry out the president's immigration order. He rightly fired her immediately.

That's the only right response. And she had no business doing that in her position.

So of course he had to do that and of course it's You can say, oh, she's heroic for doing it. Not not in my book. not based on the substance of the order itself. All right, 866-34Truth. Obviously, I've got a lot more to say, but I want to hear from you as well.

Let's go to Fort Washington, New York. Patricia, welcome to the line of fire. Welcome. Good afternoon. How are you, doctor Brown?

Doing very well, thank you. I first want to say I thank God for you and the voice and the platform you have given you. And I thank you that you are rightly dividing the word of truth. I just want to share scripture. to bring hope to believers because we ought to pray in this hour.

and I was reading the scripture and it ministered to me. And I pray that you bless and encourage the hearts of believers. Because this is the hour that the gospel is going to heal those that are faithful. and hopeless. hope need to go forth.

He said in Isaiah sixty two and verse one, For Zion's sake, Would I not hold my peace And for Jerusalem's sake, I will not rest until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness and salvation thereof as the Lamb. not burn it. And as children of God, we are the light We ought to show compassion. We could have been from that nation. But we ought to let God do what He's doing.

And just keep praying for the wisdom of God, the knowledge of God. Things are going to happen that we don't. really understand, but just Be still and know that He's God and pray. That's all I want to say.

Well, you said a lot. Thank you for the kind words and amen. to what you had to say, friends. Jesus is never going to make a mistake. Thank you, Patricia.

God is never going to fail. Every human being will make mistakes. Every human being will fail.

Somewhere along the line, people we look to will will disappoint us somehow, somewhere, over the course of life. Elected officials certainly will.

So I want to encourage you, do not. overreact. to good things the president does or bad things the president does. Do not overreact. There is a fierce overreaction on all sides right now.

And we somehow need to step back. I say somehow because it can be challenging, because things are swirling all around us, because the issues taking place may affect friends and family.

Somehow, we need to step back. and get our heads clear. It may be just by times of worship. It may be by reading the scripture and meditating on the word. It may be by casting all our anxiety and concern on the Lord in prayer.

But if we do that, then we'll be able to play our role, our positive role in the society. All right, more of your calls and a special announcement. We come back. It's the line of fire with your host, Dr. Michael Brown.

Get into the line of fire now by calling 866-34TRUTH. Here again is Dr. Michael Brown. Hey, two special announcements. Actually, one I made yesterday I want to make again today in case you missed it, but one I didn't make yesterday.

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So get the Ask Dr. Brown app today. 86634Truth. Senator Ted Cruz, in an interview with the Daily Caller, said this: I think we have to understand where the Democrats are right now. I think they have been radicalized by this election, that the lesson they took from the election was Hillary was too moderate.

that they need more Bernie or Elizabeth Warren, I think we're going to see Trump derangement syndrome on the left where they are in. denial. Yeah, uh the reaction is extreme. No doubt about it. 866-34TRUT.

Let's go to Aliciana in Boston. Thanks for calling the line of fire. Hello, Dr. Brown. I thank you for taking my call.

I know my phone is starting to break up. But um I hope you can hear me, can you? Yeah, I can. Go ahead. Yes, I'm calling.

In twenty twelve, I called your program. And I said that I wasn't voting for President Obama. I am black. I'm a black woman. I'm an evangelist dash pastor.

And I'm an immigrant. From twenty twelve I have been like a modded here in Boston, Massachusetts. I called the governor here in Boston, Massachusetts. And I asked him, because I don't know if you're watching the T V. There are like trying to let him be on their side.

and they're like alienating him. But I called his office today to let him know You understand me? that I am praying for him. A lot of the pastors and ministers do not see what God is doing, and they might call me a liar. But if as if they're truly praying, There Yeah.

here in Boston are turning. I am not a Republican. I am not a Democrat. I am an independent and I am an independent to Jesus Christ. And I don't care what they do.

My house? They have called me the B word. I have been slapped in my face. But I am still standing for God. And for whatever they want to do to me, That's it.

My grandson, I am a grandmother. I have six children and a great grandmother. My voice might sound y young. But my grandson asked Me this summer. Isa Grandma.

Who are you voting for? I said I am not voting for Hillary Clinton. I say he said, but Donald Trump His words are just not nice. Things he said is not nice, Grandma. I said I I said.

I am not voting for Donald Trump. I am voting. But Jesus Christ. Who I stand on. I am voting.

I have to show. No principles. In the word of God. word to what I have to teach my children. My grandchild.

My face. Grand Fuck. I have when I get to heaven. I don't I'm not looking for anything on earth. When I get to Yeah.

I think that's men. Day, I want my Jesus to say, you stand for what's in my Bible. Yeah, let me just, I appreciate. I appreciate your passion. And ultimately, that's what it's going to come down to.

Do we honor the Lord? And then the decisions that we make Do we base our decisions to the extent that we have guidance? Do we base them on... Scripture. And obviously when we vote, we don't have a perfect candidate for anything.

Anything in this world, even a mother and father raising a child, they're not going to be a perfect parent or a perfect spouse. But Are we going by party politics? Are we going by the latest trends? Are we being moved by the media on the left or the right? Or are we God-fearing people?

that step back and say, Lord, I want to honor you. and I want to be known above all. for my witness to Jesus. Thank you for calling and thank you for your passion. I appreciate it.

Hey, let me put out. A couple more questions for you. Do you Feel. that the way the executive order was rolled out and the nature of the executive order. could well lead to the radicalizing of Muslims in America.

that this could create a picture, an image of Uh of These Well, how do I say it?

Okay, let's just say that the groups that want to radicalize Muslims in America. And get people resenting the government and feeling that they are. Uh not wanted. Do you feel that this will give more fuel to their fire?

So while the executive order is meant to prevent terrorism, could it actually provoke terrorism? terrorism. Also, Do you feel that the witness of followers of Jesus is being hurt, is being compromised by the president's actions since 81% of white evangelicals voted for President Trump? Just questions to ask, questions to discuss, they're going to come up. Do you have answers for them?

It's the line of fire with your host, activist, author, international speaker, and theologian Dr. Michael Brown. Your voice of moral, cultural, and spiritual revolution. Get into the line of fire now by calling 866-34TRUTH. Here again is Dr.

Michael Brown. Thanks, friends, for joining us on the line of fire, 866-348-7884. The number two call. How could God use the Controversy surrounding the president's executive order on refugees. How could God use this for the good?

How could this be something positive?

Well, one thing, aside from the question of whether it's a good order or not, whether it's going to help America or not, in terms of larger issues or other issues, How about the fact that this could stir up more awareness of the plight of refugees worldwide? And hopefully, open up more American hearts to those truly in need. That's one thing. And secondly, get the discussion of the needs of Christian refugees on the table. Ask the questions as to why so few have made it into America, say from a country like Syria.

Ask, what are we doing as Americans to help persecuted Christians worldwide, especially in the Middle East? Because they are the ultimate victims in the midst of this and the ones caught in the crossfire and the ones with whom we should identify the most. What are we doing as believers? This can be used in a positive, redemptive way. 866-34TRUTH.

Let's go to Sarah in Montgomery County, Maryland. Welcome to the line of fire. Hi, I'm glad as provocative as you are and you come up with new questions, we have to define what a refugee is. And we know, you just mentioned the Christians who have been in this Holocaust, these people that we've brought over and that have come to Europe These 30-year-old men were not exactly what a refugee we had in mind as a refugee. We also have to clarify the meaning of the word.

immigrant, that's someone who went through the legal immigration process. like I just did with someone very close to me. You know, someone brought up the gospel a little while ago, and you've had good callers. It also says. in the Gospel of John, that he who comes not through the gate but over the top is a thief and a liar.

This is God's country. Israel's God's country. We have rules and laws based on a Christian Judeo-Christian founding. that are to help a true refugee refugee and to Bring an immigrant in here legally. Um Donald Trump was elected by telling people he's going to keep the people that want to kill us out of here.

And he's trying to do it, but he does it so clumsily. That is his real. Fault, and the people around him are not preparing him to do things, to say things in the right way. Um He said he was going to do this. And the real result of this, what's happened?

There were a few people detained that were, after all, let in, but the left was ready. The left was ready with their protesters at the site to make a big, big production of it, and they'll be ready for anything. They're very well organized. I think I've talked enough. Yeah, well well uh of course The points you make are important points and who is a refugee and immigration status and things like that.

Our whole history has been made up of people fleeing other countries. the very founders of our country and the colonies fleeing from religious persecution in England. And we have a history of that. Uh grandparents came over from Russia, my father's side. We're immigrants here.

That's when the name got shortened to brown from whatever it was.

So in that sense, we've been a nation of resettled refugees that have become part of the very fiber of our country. But we do face different situations. We didn't have the threat of terrorism, say, with refugees coming in 100 years ago the way that we do today. There are different things that have to be evaluated. If the President's going to act and be a strong president, which he's obviously determined to be, clumsily, that's a word that sums things up.

You can't act clumsily. There would have been a lot less fuel for the critics of the president if there had been wisdom in how the executive order was rolled out in council and how to respond to green cards and different things like this. It's fire we want, for fire we 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. Let me say it once more. You discredit yourself. when you feel that you have to defend everything the president does and however he does it.

You discredit yourself. from being taken seriously. Better to say Hey, I think the executive order is excellent and important, but it was not rolled out wisely, or as our last caller said, it was done clumsily. Better to say that than to defend everything because then someone will just see you as a hyper loyalist. It'd be the same if it was Barack Obama you were defending, or Hillary Clinton you were defending, or I was defending.

Let let's show our ability to be rational. Let's show our ability to be dispassionate and not always caught up in our emotions. Let's be able to say, yeah, I agree with this, I disagree with that. Again, if you voted for Donald Trump with enthusiasm or with reservation, either way, it's not your obligation to defend everything he says or does, even if he's getting attacked by liberal media. 866-348-7884.

This is Michael Brown, and my goal is not to be a defender or a critic of the president. No more than it was my goal to be a defender or critic of our past president. If you listen to conservative talk radio, you'd hear Barack Obama blast it. five days a week or seven days a week virtually throughout every show. If you listened to liberal radio, you would have found George Bush being blasted seven days a week, or now Donald Trump seven days a week.

This is not a matter of partisan politics. This is a matter of doing our best as believers to look at things through a biblical grid. to look at things through biblical wisdom, to look at things in terms of what's best for our nation, and then to stand accordingly and to speak accordingly. And sometimes that's going to put us in total harmony with the administration and sometimes not in harmony with the administration. That's just going to happen.

Uh my wife Nancy is is committed to the truth as best as she sees it and understands it. And if that means telling me something I don't like, Or saying something that our kids or grandkids would like. or someone else wouldn't like. It doesn't dawn on her to do anything else because truth is truth. When the girls were growing up, maybe they were young teenagers and they'd put on an outfit and they'd say, hey, mom, does this make me look fat?

And she'd go, yeah. They go, mom, it makes me feel bad. She goes, well, then don't ask. If you don't ask, I won't volunteer it. I won't tell you.

They asked, she gave an honest answer. Most of the time, we're not expecting an honest answer. We're expecting an answer that just makes us feel good.

So When we are billed as your voice of moral sanity and spiritual clarity, we do our best to do that and to be able to step back and get away from the fray of the raging headlines and everything else. And to say Okay. Let's Take everything in. Let's analyze it. Let's look at it prayerfully.

Let's see where there are good points and bad. And let's act accordingly. Before I go back to the phones, the latest on Betsy DeVos, the president's nominee to become education secretary. There was some hold-up. Democrats in the committee to vote to get her for a full vote.

She has now been voted for twice after going through a procedural obstacle to go for a full vote before the Senate. The latest charge, though. The latest charge against her Is that she copied and paste it, from previous statements. from the Obama administration when she was being asked questions. And that so she's guilty of plagiarizing.

And The response from Republicans is, are you kidding me? And Trump education advisor Rob Goad described the plagiarism allegations as character assassination. Quote, to level an accusation against her about these words included responses to nearly 1,400 questions, 139 alone for the ranking member, is simply a desperate attempt to discredit Betsy DeVos, who will serve the Department of Education and our nation's children with distinction if confirmed.

Now the issue is, of course, that she supports school charters and that she opposes Common Core, and I think those are great. Both of those are great. In other words, if you want to send your child to a private school, and that's in your child's best educational interest. You're going to send your kid to private school.

Well you're already paying taxes for the public school. That's how it's supported. In your real estate taxes, you are paying for the local school district, but you're also sending your kid to private schools, so now you're paying for both. And the private school, most likely being a lot, lot, lot, lot more than you're paying in taxes for the local school district. Of course, it's going to be much, much more.

So school vouchers, charter schools, those kinds of things, these are alternatives and these are ways of empowering parents to have more liberty in terms of where they send their kids.

Well, what's that going to do to the national education system? Obviously, we have to care about the national system, but the national system is very broken in many ways and needs great repair. needs a lot of overhaul. and common core, which would have the federal government say, okay, here are the basic things that must be taught in classes and schools and values that are put forth. That's in many ways dangerous and way beyond the scope of the federal government.

So I don't know in detail all of Betsy DeVos' strengths and weaknesses, but the things for which she's coming under most attack are the things that I most wholeheartedly support.

So we shall see where that goes. 86634Truth. Back to the phones in Boston. Daniel, welcome to the line of fire. Thanks a lot, Pop.

Yeah, Daniel, are you speaking right into the phone? It's a little hard to hear you. Yes. Hit any bad at all? Not really.

Give it one more shot. Hey. Yes, it's better enough. Yeah, there we go. There we go.

Dr. Brau, it's a pleasure to talk to you. My name is Daniel. I'm from Brazil, but I'm living in Boston right now. And you are very known in Brazil.

People love you, love your work. You have a great name over there. Oh yeah, over there as well. Doctor Brown, would you like to talk about Mr. Trump?

as an immigrant myself. Uh mister Trump told he's a businessman, he's a negotiator. I think he's trying to push He's agenda far right. to show the people from one side that the reaction for the other side is very strong.

So I think he's trying to make a Yeah. understand for people to understand what the immigration problem is about. Not only immigration, but I think Trump is trying to show t for some people that vote for him, just like me, That's uh You cannot push far right, you cannot ban ev everybody because there is a lot of cry out on the other side. And I think he's trying to show people there is whatever is opposition, there is another side that thinks differently, and I think he's trying to find the middle of the convergence for An issue that he has to do with the let me ask you this, Daniel, and thank you for the kind words about Brazil. That's a blessing to hear.

Let's just say that the President is doing this. Let's say that he is Using his art of the deal tactic, which is you go for the extreme because you want something more in the middle. Isn't that potentially, though, going to create a lot of international Chaos and concern. Along the way, in other words, it's one thing to do it if you and I are negotiating a business deal to buy some piece of real estate. And you're going to an extreme because you're trying to get me to accept something more than I want.

But when it's being played out internationally, Isn't that going to create some problems? Yeah, yeah, that's right. But I think it is intentional. I think you want to shake up normal United States. But it's Especially Europe.

He wants to show that people has voice, people are oppressed. I lived in Rwanda for four years. and uh its people is oppressed. you have no voice. It's just like here.

You cannot disagree with the left You are They call you fascist, they call you Hitler, they call you names because you disagree with the far left policies. I think he's trying to shake up not only the United States, I think he wants to shake up all the world. in many, many different ways. Business immigration. You make some important points there.

Obviously, the far left is going to brand Trump or those with him or just conservative Christians in the most ugly terms. But a colleague of mine, he may have an article on this up today. I'll have to check to see if it's up yet. But Daniel, a colleague of mine, suggested that almost everything Donald Trump has done so far has been to send a message to the enemies of America. saying there's a new sheriff in town, and I'm going to be different than the old sheriff.

and I'm going to be strong where he was weak. and that this is all meant to send a message out. to the rest of the world saying America is going to be strong again. and America is not going to be messed with.

So if we draw a line in the sand, if we draw a red line, it's going to be real. Again, is it being done in the water? If that's the case, how is it being carried out? But you have to look at all these different things. And let's put aside the clumsy way that the executive order was rolled out.

I'm sure that these things were done strategically. And again, he did campaign more radically than what he's implementing now. Back with more your calls. Stay tuned. It's the line of fire with your host, Dr.

Michael Brown, your voice of moral, cultural, and spiritual revolution. Here again is Dr. Michael Brown. Welcome back to the line of fire 8663 Fort Truth. My friend Peter LeBarbara has just posted an article Trump triangulates on homosexuality versus abortion.

After which is Americans for Truth About Homosexuality condemns the decision to keep Obama's pro-LGBT executive Order. And according to Peter, this is the first sign we have that President Trump will be triangulating on homosexuality versus abortion. As exhilarated as we were to watch the Trump administration confidently and boldly stand for the protection of the unborn at the March for Life, we're now deeply disappointed that Mr. Trump has chosen to defend false LGBTQ quote rights. based on changeable homosexual and gender-confused behaviors.

Um These were concerns I had as well as far as where President Trump would stand on these issues. In his mind, he's simply being fair to all Americans. I would say he's buying into gay activists' talking points here.

So again, a concern. Uh I had a letter delivered through a colleague.

Someone high ranking within the president's administration, I believe it was properly delivered. And I just urged him to remind the president that when it comes to religious freedoms versus quote sexual freedoms, that religious freedoms must triumph. and that no matter what he does to appease LGBT activists, they'll always want him to go further.

So in keeping with that, I'm reading articles online today by gay journalists saying, okay, so the President did this, but it's nothing. All he did was keep things where they were. We still expect him to be a foe and an enemy. And hopefully they'll realize that there is no appeasement until conservatives, and in particular conservative believers, are put. in the closet in terms of our views.

Hopefully our president will recognize that and see that. 866-34TRUTH. We go to Richmond, Virginia. Stanley, welcome to the line of fire. Hi, Dr.

Brown. Hello. Yes, sir. Can you hear me? Go ahead.

Yeah, you're on the air. Yes, I I I don't see where he's done anything Two. This outside of the letter of the law. uh I I think that stuff he's implemented is is validity for work. And he he's just fulfilling campaign promises.

And I don't I don't know when that would be a problem.

Well, the first thing is, Stanley, the problem is a lot of people hate him no matter what he does.

So let's start there. And that if he acts on his campaign promises, they're going to hate him all the more. And certainly with the executive order. He did nothing. Illegal?

I know it's being challenged. Nothing illegal. The seven countries that he listed were those previously identified by the Obama administration. There was a stay on refugees from one particular country that President Obama implemented during his administration, and there were not protests all across the country because of it.

So you have, I think, three things, Stanley. Number one. As he has campaigned, He campaigned in often very divisive and personally insulting ways, so that created a lot of enemies. That's one. Two, there are people that absolutely hate and despise his policies, so as he implements them, they're going to react.

And three, the way that the order was rolled out was very confusing.

So you had suddenly these cases where someone with a green card couldn't get back into the country or families were temporarily separated or a newborn baby and an 18-month-old baby were detained, allegedly detained at O'Hare Airport in Chicago, even though they're American citizens.

So you had enough of these things done wrong that it gave further fuel to the critics.

So if he rolled it out. carefully and everyone was properly informed. Yes, Stanley. People would still be flipping out and attacking him. because they hate him and they hate this executive order.

but it would have spared him some of the criticism. As for doing what's right. And doing what's legal. He's certainly done what's legal here. He's certainly done something.

In keeping with his campaign promises. In fact, that's why many people voted for him. In fact, this is less extreme than what he promised in his campaign or spoke of in his campaign. It's certainly not a Muslim battle. And I feel that the media is doing a disservice to the public, reporting it in such a way to inflame further tensions and even to further alienate Muslims in our country, whereas this is not a Muslim ban.

As for firing the Attorney General, absolutely, that was the right thing to do. Wa was it yes or it was it was it sent out by implementation or by method.

Well People were not rightly informed as to what they were supposed to do. For example, There was ambiguity about people with green cards. And Homeland Security sent out one particular note. And from what I understand, basically say no to green cards. And then Bannon overruled it.

No, no, of course green card people come in.

So the way it was done, from everything I understand, and look, I don't know how you roll out an executive order on immigration and what, you know, I'm not a government insider. But from everything I understand, even from friends of the president, it was not done in a way that people on the ground knew how to handle certain situations. I think it'd be pretty easy. To say this is about to go into effect, and you notify the particular parties privately and say, okay, this is going to effect, nothing is to be announced until thus and such time. And then they're prepared and they know what to do and how to handle it.

So, Stanley, in candor. The criticism against the executive order, is shrill and hysterical and over the top. The executive order itself is not that extreme in many ways and is is primarily a delay, 120-day delay, so that there can be from refugees coming from seven countries, so there can be more extreme vetting. processes put in place which I think are necessary based on what I understand about real security lapses. here in America and our current system.

That being said, the way he campaigned, in his blustery, divisive style, and personal attack style. And The clumsy way it was rolled out, those things have added fuel to the fire of the hysterical reaction.

So it's got two sides to it. But as to the executive order itself, Uh is it the That extreme that we should be having these riots and protests or protests across the country? Certainly not hate. Out of time. Thank you, sir, for weighing in.

I appreciate it. Again, let me just give you wisdom. If you support the President, believe in what he's doing, Add to your credibility by being willing to differ with him at certain points when you feel to. Otherwise you will be perceived as a mindless loyalist who can't see fault because of your loyalty. And it should be that with anyone.

When I meet people and say, hey, I agree with almost everything you say, but I differ here, I think that's great. My wife differs with me, of course she's right, but she differs with certain things I say uh, obviously. And you may agree with everything. I met a gentleman yesterday, said man, I've listened to you for years, I agree with everything you say, great, but it just so happens he finds himself in agreement as opposed to, well, if Dr. Brown says it, Mike Brown says it, I'm going to agree.

So let's not discredit ourselves. Let's be thinking people. Let's not identify primarily as Republican, Democrat, pro-Trump, anti-Trump. Let us primarily identify as followers of Jesus. Hey, remember, when you become a torchbearer, when you become one of our monthly supporters and join our team, you get two free books that'll rock your world, plus a card, 10 Commitments of a Jesus Revolutionary, 10 practical steps you can take to be a world changer.

So go to thelineoffire.org, click on donate. My bottom line today: your primary identification should be as a son or daughter of God. We're going to go from the Word of God to the White House and back to the Word today right here on the line of fire. Um It's time for the line of fire with your host, activist, author, international speaker, and theologian, Dr. Michael Brown, your voice of moral, cultural, and spiritual revolution.

Michael Brown is the director of the Coalition of Conscience and president of Fire School of Ministry. Get into the line of fire now by calling 866-34 Truth. That's 866-34 Truth. Here again is Dr. Michael Brown.

All right, let's step back and take a deep breath and focus not on the news. Not on the president. Not on the media. Not on protest. Not on a raging society.

But let's focus. on the Lord. This is Michael Brown. Delighted to be with you today on the line of fire. I.

I'm coming your way live from Kerry, North Carolina, just a few minutes outside of Raleigh, North Carolina. Many of you listening to me on 10.30 a.m. or 105.7 FM. I want to invite you to join me tonight. I've got three more nights at the Cary Church of God starting at 7 o'clock.

I'll have a time of worship that will be bringing you a message tonight speaking on friendship with the Lord. Jesus calling us his friends, a call to divine intimacy. I believe this message will stir your heart and deeply minister to you.

So Uh I want to glorify the Lord for a moment because ultimately, ultimately, this world is going to swirl around us. Ultimately, society is going to shake around us. Ultimately, there's going to be controversy and confusion. Come on, let's just think for a moment. You go to different websites online, go to a conservative website, go to a liberal website.

It's like two different worlds. And who can remember this much controversy this quickly in the midst of a presidential administration for whatever reason you chalk it up? And nations stirring. And I don't mean it's the end and Jesus is coming at any minute. I just mean it's a time of wild shaking, quaking.

We as believers. have to be able to step back. and get our heads in a different place. We as believers need to not be so moved by what happens. around us.

And last night. A woman testified with tears of joy 13 years ago when her son was born, she had postpartum depression. And that postpartum depression went to just full out depression. And she suffered with depression for 13 years. I can't imagine what that's like.

I can't imagine how dark and difficult and discouraging that is. And she just talked about the darkness that was in her home as a result of it. But during the meetings on Sunday, the Holy Spirit touched her. Jesus touched her, the depression left. She's been filled with glorious joy and she was so overflowing.

She said, been in the church for years, but hardly knows any of the people, and just wants to meet everyone and spend time with them. It's just, you know, tears of joy. That's what the Lord does. That's what Happens in the presence of the Lord. Seasons of refreshing, seasons of renewal.

in the presence of the Lord.

So when things swirl all around us, When things get intense all around us, be it financial pressure. be it personal family pressure. be it just the turmoil of society around us and you're upset and grieved and concerned. It's so important that we step back. It's so important that we get an eternal perspective.

Years ago, I heard an old man who was a missionary and medical doctor. who died and said that he went to heaven. And so the glories of heaven And then revived. He came back from the dead after I don't know how many hours or a day, whatever it was. I don't know if the story is true or not.

I do not know. I have no idea, I can't verify it, because these things happen, of course, but I personally can't verify it. What I know is that As he spoke about heaven, and spoke about Eternal issues and spoke about the glories of the world to come. I was deeply stirred. And I remember putting on the news, and there was some conflict, Russia and America.

It's like, eh. Eh, that's small. God rules, and God reigns. That needs to be our perspective. Got a special guest when we come back.

It's the line of fire with your host, Dr. Michael Brown. Get into the line of fire now by calling 866-34TRUTH. Here again is Dr. Michael Brown.

So we're going to keep our focus on Jesus these next minutes. And later in the broadcast, we'll come back to issues having to do with the White House and the President and further controversies and do our best to bring clarity in the midst of it. My guest, Ken Samples, has been on the broadcast with us before. He's a senior research scholar with reasons to believe, a philosopher and theologian. And he is also an adjunct instructor of apologetics at Biola University.

His latest book, just released today, God among sages. Why Jesus is not just another religious leader. Ken, welcome back to the line of fire. Great to have you with us. It's good to be with you, Michael.

I hope you're doing well. Yeah, never a dull moment. If I remember, the last time you were on, it was with a colleague of yours, an astronomer colleague. We were talking about the blood moons. Is that correct?

That's right. Yes. You've got a good memory.

Alright, and you've since written this book, God Among Sages. What got you going on this one? You know, it probably was before I came to Reasons to Believe, I was teaching philosophy, world religion, logic at a public college. I'd have Hindu Muslim Christian students in class, they'd inevitably discover I was a Christian, and they'd ask me, What makes Jesus different? What what is the difference between the world's religions?

And I thought, boy, I'd I wish I had a book I could just hand to them to show them how Jesus Stands out among the religious leaders.

So that's probably 25 years ago, and that writing that book never left my mind. And so I'm Really pleased today to see it out.

So what makes your book different than a book just on comparative religions?

Well, I'll tell you what. I um I look very carefully, first of all, the book's divided into three parts. The first section looks Very carefully at what Jesus thought of himself. I mean, everybody has an opinion about Jesus. I wanted to know what was Jesus' own opinion of himself.

The second part looks at Krishna. It looks at uh the Buddha, Confucius and Muhammad. The last part of the book looks at the question of pluralism and religious inclusivism.

So I think one of the things that makes it different, Michael, is I look very carefully with an eight point comparison between Jesus and these other four major world religious leaders. And who are you targeting in the book? Who is your prospective reader?

Well, it's written primarily for the Christian. I hope the book can serve as kind of a tool chest where Christians can familiarize themselves with the religions, with the religious leaders. be impacted by the distinctiveness about Christ. and sit down and be able to have a chat with these people. I mean, Years ago, if you wanted to talk to a Muslim or a Hindu or a Buddhist, You had to go on a mission trip overseas.

Today, they may be in your classroom with you. They may be at your children's soccer practice. The world's religions have come to us. And so this book is largely written for the Christian, but I think you could give it to a non-Christian who's interested in Jesus and the world's religions. Mm.

Well, let's put some questions on the table then. You work with Reasons to Believe, which is led by Dr. Yu Ross, and it's a premier faith and science. research group and ministry. And we'll hear the argument on evolutionary end, well, you know, we share A massive amount of DNA with chimpanzee or something.

And because there's a lot of commonality, therefore, we must have evolved from monkeys and things like that. And similarly, in the world of religion, People will be quick to point out, well, you know, the concept of love your neighbor as yourself or that which is hateful, don't do to your neighbor. I mean, you have in Judaism, you have in Christianity, you have in Buddhism, and people will find a lot of common ground. What are we to make of the fact that different religions have certain teachings in common or certain concepts in common. What do we deduce from that?

That's an important that's a very important question. Michael, if Scripture is true that God has created the world, He's created everybody in His image, we have what we call general revelation. People see the glory of God in nature, they feel the pull of conscience, Romans one. we shouldn't be surprised that Jews, Christians, Muslims uh Hindus, Buddhists, Confucianists. Have something similar to the Ten Commandments.

They certainly have the second five, generally speaking. That's what we should expect. I think it's a mistake to think. that because these other religions are not the true religion in every way, that they get everything wrong. Paul says that everybody knows in their heart of hearts that there's a God.

They have a conscience before them.

So I would argue rather than being a compromise, the idea that there is a common morality is actually consistent with what Scripture teaches. All right, so a common morality, but it Is there a common spirituality? Do all the different religions have a common idea of who God is and how we approach Him? Or is that just a myth? That's the That also is a great point.

I would not only argue that the world's religions are going to get certain things right because they're made in the image of God, because Of what God has revealed. But it's also critically important to realize that because of the fall and because of counterfeit. Uh Spirituality Those ethical beliefs are going to be mixed with all kinds of false teachings about the nature of God. The nature of truth. And in fact, that's what we find.

I mean, the world's religions.

Some are monotheistic, some are polytheistic, some are pantheistic. They differ about what the human dilemma is: is it sin? Is it desire? Is it karma?

So what we should expect from a Christian point of view is that, yeah, they will have a common kind of moral and spiritual impulse. But because of the sin in the world and because of counterfeit teachings, it's going to be mixed with things that are contrary to what we find in historic Christianity. Got it. And that would certainly make sense as well.

So before we talk about the distinctiveness of Jesus, let's just help our listeners understand a little bit more. About the different leaders that you look at.

So you contrast Jesus with Buddha. Krishna, Confucius, and Muhammad. You have eight relevant categories of evaluation.

So let's break it down in real, real simple sound bites. What would you say are the the distinctives Of each of these, Buddha, Krishna, Confucius, Muhammad, and then we'll separate Jesus from the rest of them. Yeah, very good. I think that what's interesting, Michael, and this might surprise some of your listeners, but it's actually true. When it comes to Krishna, Krishna is the most important religious figure in the religion of Hinduism, but most Hindus are not pantheists.

They're part of bhakti Hinduism and believe in malotriism, which is roughly a type of monotheism.

So Christians and Muslims have a lot to talk about when we compare Jesus and Krishna. Part of the challenge, though, with Krishna is Uh that We don't know whether he actually ever existed, whether he is purely mythological or whether there are some stories that mix history and mythology. When it comes to the Buddha, the Buddha is a much more well-anchored historical person, has deep insight, I think. at least in beginning with the idea that life has significant suffering. But I think the cure that Siddhartha Gautama, who is called the Buddha, offers.

deeply misses the mark. And of course, All of the teaching we know about the Buddha comes 400 years after his death. That's very different than Jesus. With Confucius. A very uh a very influential person.

I mean, you don't have to be a a member of the Confucian religion to be influenced by Confucian ethics. Most Asian people are influenced by the ethics of Confucius. Again, a historical person. who said little about God. though there are people who think that it's possible that he was a theist.

And then finally, the most influential of the religious leaders other than Jesus. And of course, the most controversial is Mohammed. Mohammed clearly was a historical person. But again, there is myth and legend uh mixed with hist history when it comes to Muhammad. And Michael, all of these individuals Certainly, the Buddha, Confucius, and Muhammad, they all admitted that they were merely human beings.

They all three admitted that they were imperfect human beings. And in fact, writing this book, I became somewhat sympathetic to both Confucius and Sid Hartha because they were categorically clear that they couldn't keep even their own ethical principles, let alone transcendent principles. All right, so the more you look at these other figures, even their own claims or what's claimed about them, the more Jesus stands out from them. My guest Ken samples his new book just out today. God among sages.

Why Jesus is not just another religious leader. We come back, we'll look at some of the eight criteria that he uses, and we'll see how Jesus is distinguished. from all these others. He is the light that shines out above all. 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 so much for joining us on the line of fire.

This is Michael Brown. I'm speaking with Dr. Ken Samples, he is the author of God Among Sages: Why Jesus is Not Just Another Religious Leader. Ken, I remember many years ago reading the testimony of Keith Green, great musician and singer who went to be with the Lord at the age of 28 in 1982. He talked about How, when he was on a spiritual search, he just noticed that Jesus was popular in many different religions and made him wonder: okay, what is this about Jesus?

And it drew him to Jesus in that way. And of course, Jesus is revered not as a Son of God, but he's revered as a prophet in Islam. Certain other religions have a high estimation of Jesus, or at least will look to his teachings as another enlightened leader. But your whole point is, and as Keith Greene discovered, he's anything but just another. Enlightened leader.

So let's start to paint a picture. How does he stand out? when compared to Krishna, Buddha, Confucius, Muhammad. Yeah, I think the first place we can touch on is, Michael, that the historicity, that is what we factually know about Jesus, Is a lot stronger than the other four. In terms of Krishna, Krishna scholars are uncertain whether he actually existed.

Terms of the Buddha, they don't know what century he's born in. There may be a fluctuation of two and a half centuries. as to when he lived. And even with Confucius and Muhammad, the writings of these individuals come to us quite a bit later than That was the person of Christ. In terms of oral tradition, in terms of the early writings.

Of the epistles, particularly Paul, and then the Gospels. All of this information comes to us. pretty quickly in the first century.

So Jesus is anchored in history in a way that is much looser when it comes to these other individuals. The second critical issue, Michael, is the question of their nature. I mean, Jesus claimed to be God. In John 8, he's in a very vigorous dispute with some of the religious leaders of the time. They finally become exasperated and ask him, Who are you?

He reaches into the Old Testament, Isaiah 45 through 48. Yahweh refers to himself as I am, or I am he. Jesus says, Before Abraham came into being, I am. Verse 59, they pick up stones to stone him. He says, I and the Father are one.

Now whether Confucius Uh wh whether uh Krishna lived, we don't know. He's viewed as an avatar. But in terms of the Buddha, Confucius and Muhammad, they were categorically clear. They were mere human beings. They made no claims to deity.

It is true that evolved Buddhism exalted the Buddha to a divine status. But that's Mahayana Buddhism, which is very different than the original Theravada Buddhism. Another feature is Their character I mean Jesus claims that Not only to his family, not only to the religious leaders of the time, but to even Pontius Pilate. Jesus claims to be an individual who has no original sin and no sin at all. And certainly, when we look at Krishna, the stories about Krishna.

He's engaged in Sexual relations with the cow maidens and acts kind of like a college student in that respect. The Buddha is much more circumspect.

So is Confucius. But they're categorically clear that they can't keep uh all of the commandments that they urge, and certainly even Muhammad It admits that he was a person who was imperfect.

So these are the kinds of things that we go into. Their roles, none of them claim to be Savior other than Christ.

So these are the kinds of issues that I try to draw out, showing that there's nobody in second place. Christ rises above all the rest. Jesus is not only different, Michael, than between you and me, but pick the sages of the earth. And none of them compare very well with the G. Jesus of Nazareth, who Christians view as God, the Son of God, and God in human flesh.

So let's look then at a few more specifics. And this is very helpful. It clears a lot of the fog because people just have these mystical views of all these different ways to God and all the enlightened teachers are all the same and so on.

So let's dig down even a little deeper. Let's take a look at Buddhism, for example.

So the faith that ultimately rises based on the teaching or alleged teaching or example of the Buddha.

So when it comes to the concept of God and sin, And atonement, reconciliation, are those concepts even found in? In Buddhism? In original Buddhism, there really is no concept of God. What Siddhartha Gautama believed, was he an atheist? Was he an agnostic?

He certainly doesn't see that as a central focus of his endeavor. And the idea that we would be morally flawed, that there would be a character flaw at the core of human beings is also not something That Buddhism would affirm. And the idea of redemption, no, the Buddha. The Buddha plays a role in terms of being an enlightened teacher. His last words on earth, according to his disciples, were, work out your salvation with deep diligence.

But that word salvation is still not a redemptive idea.

So you could be an atheist. You could believe in many gods in Buddhism, but the many gods idea is certainly more of an evolved idea. For Siddhartha, Uh there may not have been a God. There's no concept of sin and certainly no idea of redemption in a Judeo-Christian uh way of thinking. All right, and what if we look just because we've only got a couple of minutes to Hinduism and Islam, in either of those religions, which between them have over 2 billion adherents, is there any concept of redemption, of substitutionary atonement, of through faith in a merciful intermediary that your sins can be blotted out and you get a new heart, a new life, something that's at the heart of the gospel?

Is there anything like that in these other religions? Yeah, that's a really important point, Michael. The truth of the matter is that Krishna doesn't do anything for his Hindu followers, his adherents. in order to change Uh they're status in the eternal cycle of things. Uh Mohammed.

Can't take you to paradise. Krishna can't take you and break the chain of karma. Buddha cannot take you to nirvana. Quite frankly, one of the definitive ways in which Jesus is different is that he died. four four people The blood of Christ has cleansed their sins.

these other religious figures cannot change your status in the eternal state. And thus, there is no Lord and Savior in the way that the New Testament speaks about Jesus. As remarkable as these leaders are and as influential as they have been in the world. They pale in comparison to, again, the Lord Jesus Christ. The savior of the world.

Yes, so the more we look at the others again The more Jesus shines forth. Friends, you can hear how clearly Kennisampos communicates. This is just a little taste of what you'll get in his new book, God Among Sages: Why Jesus is Not Just Another Religious Leader. The website. Reasons2Believe, reasons.org.

Hey, thanks for joining us today. Much appreciated. Thank you, Michael. Bye-bye. Good luck.

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 866-34TRU. Here again is Dr.

Michael Brown. You know, a few years ago, I was in Des Moines, Iowa, and we were doing a special listeners rally. It was a small gathering. In other words, not a big auditorium with thousands of people, but a smaller gathering, more intimate setting where folks would come together and share a meal together and then get to ask me questions. But before we got to their questions, I asked them.

What is it that they like best about the line of fire? And one thing that came up from several is, you know, we hear stuff happening in the news, we read about it, we see reports, then we know you're going to write about it or talk about it within a day. And by God's grace, we're able to give a perspective that they find helpful. We want to do that again today. Welcome to the line of fire, 866-34Truth.

I am really eager to speak with my dear friend James Robinson today. We've got a lot of catching up to do. What about the president's executive order and the flak he's taken on it? What about the way it was rolled out? What about who he's going to announce tonight?

As his pick for Supreme Court justice, there's a great article on the stream. This is the website published by James Robinson right there on a regular basis, stream.org. A good article by Rachel Alexander, Trump to announce Supreme Court nominee pick tonight down to three with one favorite. And she mentions the three, Judge Neil Gorsuch, I may be mispronouncing his name, Judge Thomas Hardiman and William Pryor Jr., and then suggests, hey, it could maybe be a woman, Judge Diane Sykes, although based on what Press Secretary said with reference to he, the supposition is it's one of these three men. There are some concerns with each.

There are very strong pros with each. We'll see where that goes, but want to get James' perspective as someone who's been a spiritual counselor to the president. And I want to encourage you. Do not be a pawn of the media. Do not simply be one, That You go to right-wing websites, left-wing websites.

You go to this. this place for information, that place for information, and whatever the talking head says, whatever the article says, you guys kind of repeat because it agrees with your ideology. That's the cheap way out. That's the easy way out. Think.

Step back. Analyze things critically. I love the fact that I'm surrounded by people very close to me who have very different views on a number of key things, and we'll be challenging each other all the time. We hold to the core fundamentals of the faith unshakably, but then as things work themselves out in society, we'll often have different perspectives. And it's great because we challenge each other.

In fact, I kind of miss the old Hannity and Combs, where Hannity would make his case, you think, great case. Then Combs would come along and challenge you. You think, oh, it's a fair challenge. And they go back and forth, iron-sharpening iron.

So if you voted for the president, it doesn't mean you have to defend everything that he does. You may differ with things. If you didn't vote for the president, you can still feel free to commend him when he does good. Let's not be either or let's be loyal to the Lord and his standards and do everything based on that.

Okay, before I bring James on the air with me, Mm. couple of things. I've got my cell phone in my hand right now. And I clicked, I just clicked now on the Ask Dr. Brown app.

It's out for all Android phones right now.

So the Google Play Store, Android Play Store, get the app. It's ASKD or Brown, Ask Dr. Brown. And I'm looking at it right now and I see line of fire.

So if I click on that, I can just click on listen and listen live right now on my cell phone, wherever I am in the country. And podcast, boom, all the previous broadcasts. And if I just want to call in, I just. Click on call in and then click on articles and I'm looking at oh the last 20 or 30 articles or so that I've written. They're all linked right here.

And then if you want to just check the archives, bottom of that page, click to view more. Same with videos. Same with books that we have. Same with our Jewish outreach.

So the Apple version should be out any day now. But take a minute, got a little break here, and then we'll be back with James Robinson. And download the Ask Dr. Brown app. It's one word, A-S-K-D-R Brown.

Tell your friends about it. It's going to be great to communicate even better with you. God of light, hear our cry, send a fire. It's the line of fire with your host, Dr. Michael Brown, your voice of moral, cultural, and spiritual revolution.

Here again is Dr. Michael Brown. All right, as announced, it is time now to speak with my friend and colleague James Robison, a man uniquely qualified to comment on the events of the last few days with our president because he's been a spiritual advisor to candidate Donald Trump and now President Donald Trump, an advisor even to some on the cabinet as well, are about to be appointed to the cabinet. James, welcome back to the line of fire.

Well, thank you. Glad to be talking to you. And we live in exciting and serious times. And Now is the time for the church to arise and shine the glory of God on it.

So that's what I'm praying for. Yeah, amen. Is it possible that we can get so caught up in partisan politics as Christians that we feel the need, just the gut-level reaction, to either support the president or criticize the president as opposed to bring God's perspective on things? I think that we really do have to keep praying because You know, a lot of people are going to be disturbed that Donald Trump's personality doesn't change. And I was just talking to Jay Richards, and I think that's one of the areas we've got to cut people some slack.

It's just like me. God did call me and choose me, and I am very firm, forceful, passionate about what I believe. uh tend to be very uh convincing I've said in jest that I'm often wrong, but I'm never in doubt. There is something about a leadership role that you can see in maybe a coach or a military leader or even a national or church leader that can be a very dynamic personality. And then some would say, Well, he just needs to be tempered.

Well, I did go from being sometimes so forceful, I actually came across. uh angry. And I in fact I was. I said I was shouting at my own tormentors. but I was moved with compassion, but I didn't lose my zeal or my passion with the compassion or my forcefulness.

So Donald Trump is not likely to suddenly have a new personality. The fact is, God can use the peculiarities of it in a supernatural way if we will pray that, that in fact, is the case and that He hears wisdom. Brilliance is in the room, smart is in the room in areas of leadership right now, perhaps as smart as any we've seen. But they must make a seat at the table for wisdom. Because if wisdom is not in the room with all these brilliant people or these gifted, successful people, they will not make wise decisions.

So I'm praying for the President to have wisdom. And that that's what needs to happen right now with the Supreme Court to uh, you know, choice, and I think probably it's already definitely settled. And I think that our stream staff and the people I'm close to have been investigating both. Candidates, and it looks like that we're going to be win-win, it doesn't mean that everybody's going to be happy. But we really need to pray that they will in fact be greater than even we hoped for in the the wisdom with which they rule from the court.

Now, what about When we look at the executive order, let's look at three things. The executive order itself on immigration. the campaign rhetoric and some of the bluster of Donald Trump's personality during the campaign in particular, and then the way it was rolled out, some of the mistakes of the way it was rolled out causing further confusion. Can we separate these things? The fact that President Trump campaigned a certain way, perhaps alienated even more people.

Then the executive order comes, which in many cases is sober and sane, but could further alienate people. And then it was rolled out in a clumsy way.

So you've got all these things intertwined. Can we separate them and get past the emotional response?

Well, I think first of all, we need to notice that the move of the liberal progressive right now is suddenly they are constitutionalist. Suddenly, they are quoting the Bible. Suddenly, they are compassionate. Suddenly they are Jesus-like.

So there must have been something really right about the intent of the action. The timing and the explanation ahead of time might not have been as clear as it should have been, but you know, sometimes. In the government island, you will actually Give people some sound advice that just doesn't trickle down or doesn't get to all parties. It looked to me like: here would it be: okay, here's my counsel. I think some of these things would be better when you have your whole team and your whole leadership team together.

Right. and it comes out as a as a united front. I I think hurry, hurry, rush, rush is not a good process in business. That's usually a sign of danger. Uh beware.

And I think you can get in a hurry to do the right things. And even though you intend right and the purpose is right, the timing can be less than best and the explanations and clarification less than best.

So that that's but then that's how we pray. Lord help them to have better timing. help them to clarify better. and that we recognize the the outcry is being fed by the most deceived, divisive, Hate field. anti life, anti biblical, anti worldview forces.

It's unbelievable how great all these entertainers and progressives are now. Oh, they're just Bible-coding, you know, constitutionalists and. All of a sudden they're concerned for the Constitution. It is insanity. In the women's movement, that is supporting groups that have no respect.

zero respect for women. And and they don't seem to care about the the women in the womb.

So w we can't let insanity continue to rule. We've got to pray for wisdom to prevail. We've got to pray that the difficult to teach will Be taught because of the love and conviction and consistency with which we deliver the message. And that's what I'm going to do. I I I refuse to do less.

I'm going to continue to speak to everyone the truth in love. But I'm not going to compromise the truth. And uh You know, I just believe truth will win. I think it's like a lion, turn it loose, it defends itself. And we're going to lift up the standard that draws people to it.

And the greatest standards lift Jesus up so high that he magnetically. supernaturally attracts people to himself. I don't think most of the world has seen Jesus. Because they don't see him in the church. And you know how hard I'm.

Prague and working with leadership to see if the you know, if the family of God can start looking like the Father. Yeah. That's why, again, the voice you brought to the president and the voice you're bringing to the nation this is so critically important, because our witness cannot be primarily attached to a party or to a political leader. Our allegiance has to be seen as so clearly to Jesus, and that's what shines.

Some of our missionaries serving in Iraq right now, graduates from our ministry school, put out a video yesterday in response to the president's executive order. And it basically said this, the president's going to do what the president's going to do, but Christians in America need to reach out to their Muslim neighbors with the gospel and with compassion. And in other words, that's our commission here. And we stand with the president wanting to secure our borders and stand against terrorism and pray that he'll act with wisdom. But we have a mandate.

We have a mandate that transcends the mandate of even the president of the United States. And that's to bear witness to Jesus. And the fact is, Jesus was a friend of sinners. The religious system hated him. And obviously others hated him.

But Jesus drew the outcasts and the sinners and the rebels. came flocking to hear him.

Somehow we have to radiate that Jesus. But he would not invite into his family's home and friends' home someone that had promised and pledged to destroy your children and your family and your future and your freedom.

So, to say that there are no walls, I mean, the Old Testament spends a lot of time talking about the importance of a wall, but you have secure gates. But you have a secure gate to keep out the people who would damage, and the wall is there. I mean, all of these messages in the Bible are. I would like if we have a few minutes and we come back. I'm gonna tell you about a conversation One of the last that I hit this was just me and the President and Betty.

riding in the in the suburban with him. I want to tell you something that I said to him. that I think's important, and I think you wouldn't mind at all me sharing it. Because I'm very careful not to share anything that is not acceptable and something that you understand, hey, this is just the kind of relationship that we have and we're we're having a discussion.

So I w I'm going to share and And I'll tell you how how that little little back and forth went. Yeah, absolutely. In fact, we've got a couple of minutes before this next break, so I did have another question Supreme Court related, but let's go for it right now.

Well, one of the things I said to him, and just we like I was right beside him and Betty's sitting right behind him. Good. And I was gonna look at look at look at me. I mean, look look right in my eyes. What do I want?

Nothing. What am I after? I think I said, isn't that Isn't that good that you know that? Yes. But I said now Stay with me.

You know what I really want. I want God's best for you and your family. You believe that? You said yes. I said, I'm on God's best for everyone.

All the families. I I'm on God's best. for all he gave his sons a routine, And for people here, where do you believe that? He said, Yes, I think he said, I know that. And I said, Can I tell you something?

I think in your heart that's really what you want. I I think you know we need more than Our best. We need God to best. And I mean, he's listening just like you're listening. And you look at his countenance and bet he's watching and You know, I'll sit to her later.

Isn't that remarkable? And I think, do I think he might have felt complimented that I said, sir? You're acknowledging that you believe I want God's best for you and your family and others. And yet I said to you, I think in your heart, that's what you really want. And he didn't say No doubt.

I think he was I think he was reflecting, you know what? That's exactly what's happening. And I can tell you that's what I'm hearing from the members of his family. Let it be. All right, friends, I've got another question for James Robinson if he can just stay with us a couple more minutes on the other side of the break.

But don't just throw stones. Pray. Pray. Pray. The stakes are very high these days.

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.

I'm speaking again with my dear friend and esteemed colleague, James Robison. If you have not been to the stream recently, there are great articles, relevant articles. Giving you a great kingdom perspective on what's happening in the world around us. Stream.org. I've just been carefully reviewing an article by Rachel Alexander.

Trump to announce Supreme Court nominee pick tonight down to three with one favorite. A new article by Tom Gilson, Boy Scouts, Transgenderism, and the Tyranny of Every Small God, among many great articles, totally relevant to what's happening.

So check it out, stream.org. James, of course, I've commented on the hypocritical demonstrations where you have people who didn't lift a finger or raise a voice with the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of Christians, slaughter, displacement, enslavement of hundreds of thousands of Christians in the Middle East, and now they're all upset about a temporary ban on, say, a Muslim refugee from Libya seems hypocritical and also hypocritical to quote the Old Testament while they reject the Old Testament because we know that the same text that said to be compassionate to the foreigner also said to kill the hostile foreigner in the Old Testament. Testament.

So the hypocrisy is high, but As we look to the Supreme Court appointee, it's going to be announced tonight at 8 o'clock. Donald Trump has assured us that it would be someone from the list of 21 justices that he was given with the help of Heritage Foundation. The top three candidates seem to have a lot of strong the ones that are being reported as the top three, a lot of strong characteristics.

Some are concerned that it's not going to be as strong a justice as Scalia, that Trump needs to just take a hardline position. Obviously, even if you knew who it was, you wouldn't tell us. But what's your take on where Donald Trump is heading on the issue of pro-life and a Supreme Court appointee? No, I I personally don't believe you'll waiver on it. I think it's already come out with stronger statements on the horrors of abortion.

And but at the same time, love and compassion for those who are pressed with these very difficult decisions and may have not made the right one to Offer them grace and hope in the future. I think he really wants to get the best of. possible justices. And I know the stream has investigated these and And definitely it seems different to Uh Yeah, but pardon me, that's my homebone ring. I'm on the phone.

But I think that You know the But the fact is that we hold on to God that we get a great, great, uh Uh justice. And uh as far as I know, it's kind of narrowed down to two. In the all the input back to me is that they will be Very strong. And where there are questions and concerns, I think they need to be. Discussed if there's been some association or influence, say even being a part of a church.

that might not have as stronger convictions. I think you need to be very certain of that. Justice doesn't share those? uh the lack of convictions with that particular body of uh religious people.

So those are all very legitimate concerns, and the strain will be Examining all of those. I think John Smirk's headline article right now on. the progressives and how suddenly biblical they are and what great Christians they are and telling you they're now the greatest Christians. As powerful, they can read it. when we see something that doesn't sit well with all of us, Or we're concerned about it.

I think we continue to handle it with courage. Like you said, as you went to the break, pray, pray, pray. That's not a small thing. Uh you know you know, nothing good ever happens, but uh if people uh but except because people cry. That's why it happens.

And somebody said that bad things happen because somebody didn't draw it. I think prayer does a whole lot more than most people realize. And I think we are seeing miracle answers to prayer right now in the progress that's being made. and we don't let up in our prey. I am not going to suddenly become the arch enemy of someone who has something less than m I might consider the best.

I'm going to pray for the best. uh to be developed to be strengthened in that person. the weaknesses to be exposed. I'm going to be an advocate for righteousness for godliness and and and for the love that God tells us. should flow freely through us.

Think about it. Love never fails. God Is Lara.

So if we're full of that, And we let that flow. We don't compromise truth. Love doesn't compromise truth. It's a dental one. It it hurts people.

That's not love. That's indifference. That's anything but love. but love the people even we know are wrong. And uh Lift 'em up.

Don't get in bed with 'em. But love your enemy. Yeah, and when we think of say Donald Trump as a pro-life precedent. You think of five years back, say that Donald Trump will be a champion of the pro-life movement. He would have been laughed out of court.

During his campaign, when I was a real critic during the Republican primaries, I said, is he going to waffle on this? Is he going to change? How deep are his convictions? Then as it went on, I thought, well, they are deep. Seems something's happened in his heart.

This has become part of who he is.

So we've seen evidence of positive change. We're not just praying in a slipshod, blind way. We've seen things happen. It gives us encouragement to keep praying. James, thank you so much for your integral role here.

And we pray for you that God will continue to use you as a voice of reason, a voice of spiritual wisdom to our president. Thanks for your time and your tireless efforts. Much of you. I can promise all your listeners. Uh Michael.

that when wisdom walks in the room with his present, He recognizes it. It makes an impact on it. And the real issue is: will wisdom always be in the room? And the other issue is. Will he tune his ear?

to hear the voice of ri wisdom. in the spiritual realm from the still small voice. Truth lifts its voice at the head of every street. It shouts in the public square. you can hear truth.

God speaks to our heart. I'm praying that for the President and all those around him. Amen. Amen. Continue to shine forth.

Thank you so much. Thank you. All right, friends, you heard what to pray for clearly and articulately. May the voice of wisdom be heard. Hey, two things.

I can't bring you on the phone right now, Mason, in Plano, Texas, but to answer your question, how come I'll reach out to Muslim neighbors, friends to initiate a peaceful dialogue? Reach out. Reach out and ask someone: hey, can we have a meal together? Can we sit and chat? Say, I'm a follower of Jesus.

I love the scriptures. I love Jesus. I know you're a Muslim and you're devoted to the Quran. I'd love to talk to you. As a Christian, I care about you and just want to get to know you.

Can you tell me what you believe? And just want to interact, just want to understand. And just want to let you know I care about you as a person. Express care for them as a human being created in the image of God for whom Jesus died, and they'll know it and they'll feel it. And many Muslims that have come over from the Middle East are very much relational, family-oriented.

And They will recognize your active friendship. And then through that, begin to interact. If you have questions, there are different websites that can answer your questions and books that will help you understand these things better. If you feel, hey, now it's getting to an actual argument, say, hey, well, I'm not here to argue, but... Let's watch a debate between a Muslim and a Christian leader.

But initially, just be a friend. Just be a friend. Hey, thank you for asking. It's an important question. Friends.

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