From Donald Trump's comments about the Berlin Islamist terrorist attack to H B Two in North Carolina to the Christmas Star, all coming your way right here. 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. From his Southern Florida retreat at Mar-a-Lago, the President-elect described the fight against terrorism in starkly religious terms.
ISIS and other Islamist terrorists continually slaughter Christians in their communities, he said in a statement. Mr. Trump also set an audacious goal for his administration. These terrorists must be eradicated from the face of the earth. During our radio broadcast yesterday, I got news about the tragic terror attacks in Berlin.
Yet again, the hand of ISIS, from what we understand. The reactions of our current administration, the reactions of incoming President Donald Trump, are vastly different. I want to talk about that today, a very important subject. This is Michael Brown. Welcome to the line of fire.
But first, Some big news from North Carolina. Most all of you around the country know about HB2. This was the bill passed by the Republican leadership and signed into law by Governor McCrory that was meant to counteract the radical bill passed by the Charlotte City Council that would have effectively rendered all public bathrooms and locker rooms gender neutral in the state. Of course, tremendous controversy about this, tremendous pushback against it. Attorney General Roy Cooper had outside funding from gay activist organizations and other leftist groups that helped get him elected.
I think he outspent Governor McCrory about two to one and still only won by just a few thousand votes. But now HB2 is back in the news, and this is a very important issue right in front of us right now.
So I'm joined by Tammy Fitzgerald, who is the executive director of the North Carolina. Values Coalition, and she's been a frequent guest on the broadcast before. Tammy, thanks so much for joining us on short notice. Could you let our listeners over North Carolina and around the nation know what's happening now with HB two?
Well, thank you, Dr. Brown, for having me on your show again. And this is what I refer to as very treason. Um This is the most breathtaking portrayal I've seen in North Carolina politics in recent days Um The governor who just lost his election by two-tenths of one percent. just called the legislature backing the special session.
to for the express purpose of repealing House Bill two, because the City Council of Charlotte on Monday repealed a Charlotte ordinance. And um legislative leaders are saying that they're preparing to repeal. House Bill two because they made a promise that if Charlotte repealed its ordinance, that they would do a reset and repeal House Bill C. Um, so that's where we are today is when anticipating a vote tomorrow and working like crazy to get those Republican members and some of the Democrats to vote against any repeal effort on House Bill two. All right.
We've got less than a minute before the first break. I know your time is short today, but didn't Governor McCrory pitch this some months back and said if you take back if City Council of Charlotte repeals its radical bill, we'll repeal HB two, and they declined. Why the change now on the part of the City Council?
Well, because they no longer need the issue to win the governor's election. The left used tow filter two is a way to drive a wedge. And try to win the election. And now that they have the governor's dispensation, they no longer need it. And so What their plan is, what the human rights plan is, and the LGBT organizations, is that once House Bill II is repealed, They'll go across the state passing these ordinances in city after city.
Um because there won't be anything to stop them. And of course that's what Houseville Tim was. Yeah. Uh, she did. All right.
Well, we want everyone to know what's going on, so you can call your representatives in North Carolina coordinate. 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 866-34TRUTH.
Here again is Dr. Michael Brown. But it should also be noted that the whole issue of gender identity is a national issue. that will be resolved by the courts. and the United States Justice Department.
Like all of us, I look forward to that resolution and to working with our state legislators in the coming days. Thank you and may God continue to bless the great state of the world. of North Carolina. That's our outgoing governor, Pat McCrory. Just want you to hear one more clip as he's explaining why he is calling for the repeal of HB2.
And then, my guest, Tammy Fitzgerald, Executive Director of North Carolina Values Coalition, explaining why, in her view, this is a terrible betrayal. Of the people. Listen again to Governor McCrory.
Now that the Charlotte Ordinance has finally been repealed, The expectation of privacy in our showers, bathrooms, and locker rooms is restored and protected. under previous state law. I have always publicly advocated a repeal of the overreaching Charlotte Ordinance. But those efforts were blocked by Jennifer Roberts, Roy Cooper, and other Democratic activists. You know, this sudden reversal with little notice after the gubertor election has ended.
sadly proves this entire issue originated by the political left. was all about politics. at the expense of Charlotte. and the entire state of North Carolina. But as I promised months ago, If the Charlotte Ordinance was repealed, I would call our General Assembly into special session to reconsider existing state legislation passed earlier this year.
And I'm doing just that. for this Wednesday. All right, again, that was outgoing Governor Pat McCrory.
So, Tammy, two questions for you. First Isn't Governor McCrory just doing what he promised to do anyway? And now let's look at it the most positive way, very naively. Hey, everybody just wants to put this behind them and get this cloud off North Carolina. And why shouldn't we go along with this positive scenario?
What am I missing in thinking that way?
Well, Doctor Brown, um, you know, the governor and the local leaders Speaker Moore and President Berger. Believe that they can just do a reset and go back to the way things were. Before the Charlotte Ordinance passed, The unfortunate truth is But there's no going back. In fact, the human rights campaign has made this an issue at a national level. And they've chosen North Carolina as ground leader.
Are you still there? Are you still there, Tammy? Yes, I'm here.
Okay.
So they've chosen North Carolina to be ground zero for the transgender bathroom issue across the nation. And um So what the left will do is they'll use the repeal of House Bill 2. to then go to all the cities across North Carolina that if they think they have the body to pass it and pass the Uh ordinances. that will allow men and uh and boys into the girls' bathroom. And I don't believe there's any going back to ground zero.
And I believe that the governor and the legislative leaders made that promise um that if Charlotte repealed its ordinance, they would repeal House Bill two. And it was it was rebuked and rejected by the Charlotte City Council, so their promise is no longer valid. But I also believe they made the promise when Governor McCorey was with governor. And now that he's not governor, the underlying premise for the promise is invalid and um So I believe the voters of North Carolina that supported this governor and these legislators Are the ones who are being betrayed. And the promise that they made to them about protecting privacy and safety is what is being.
Um is is what is being betrayed. And so um you know, it it doesn't do you much good to keep a promise. the people who are trying to violate the privacy and safety of our children. and break the promise to the people who vote for you. I know that Governor McCrory has said, just texted to a colleague of mine, that the legislature will stop other cities as they have told me.
In other words, that if other cities tried to do this, then the legislature, which still has the rule in the state, would basically do what they did with HB2, saying if you try this again, you know what's coming. Why does that give you no comfort? Because now we have a Democratic governor who's campaigned against House Bill two, and tried to um To stop its passage, wouldn't defend it, and has said he's going to try to repeal it. Because now they have to depend on veto overrides to get any kind of bill through the legislature that would stop these cities. And In the first place, that's what House Bill Two did.
It stopped these cities. I don't understand the need to go backwards and get back to where we were. Um Because every time a city passes an ordinance, They're going to be on the defense to pass something new to stop it. And it just doesn't make any sense to repeal what was a good bill, what you passed in the first place to stop cities from passing these types of ordinances. And I believe that there will be four or five cities that pass these types of ordinances between now and january eleventh when the legislature begins its legislative session.
So if that if that happens, we'll see who is correct. about whether they could stop the cities or not. Yeah, so it it would it would be the most extraordinary act of hypocrisy. and and political I don't know what word to use. Chicanery.
Political correctness. But think of this. Think if the Charlotte City Council passes this bill despite an overwhelming uproar against it in the first place. Then they refuse to pull it when the governor has said he would repeal House Bill 2 if they did. Then, once he's defeated by the narrowest of margins in the election, they say, now we'll repeal it.
9-0. Could you imagine if after this happened, and let's say the legislature then repeals HB2, that they turn around and put it forward again? I mean, Yes. You talk about a political football being thrown around, and you believe that that is fully their intent? Exactly.
They've already telegraphed that to legislators. In the Charlotte Observer Today, they reprinted the press release from the Human Rights Campaign in Equality North Carolina yesterday, where they say that once House Bill II is repealed, they are going to push very hard for LGBT protections across the state, just like Charlotte passed. And then in the in the resolution the Charlotte City Council passed yesterday morning There are a bunch of whereas clauses at the beginning, and the last whereas clause. is is a statement that once the General Assembly repeals the legislation that repealed their ordinance, then they will be free to enact new ordinances.
So and then Vy Lyles, who sits on the Charlotte City Council, has already said that she thinks Charlotte should pass another ordinance. And so there are three confirmations there already out there in the public. for the legislators to see indicating that this is exactly what They are going to do that cities are going to pass these things and that human rights campaign and equality NC. are going to be helping them do it as they did Charlotte. Right, so to use a military analogy, and again, we're not comparing this to military battle, but to use a military analogy, I have a gun pointed at you, you have a gun pointed back at me, and I say, okay, tell you what, let's put down our weapons and throw our weapons out, and then we'll have a truce while I have shipments of weapons coming in behind me.
Again, just use that military analogy.
So if it was simply a matter of it is the way it seems, and people are saying, hey, we're going to back away from this issue and have a real reset and just let things be the way they were before, and it was okay, that would be one thing, but that's the last thing on anybody's mind. And if you have these folks that were radical enough to push this bill through in the first time, the fact that they now unanimously vote to repeal it, you've got to know there's more going on. All right, Tammy, what do folks in North Carolina do? There has to be more going on, and it leads one to believe that the business community is driving this. Um so And this is what led to the Trump revolution.
you know, is is Republican leaders being elected by people who expect him to back up and do what they said. and then doing something completely different. And I just don't know how these leaders sat and watched Donald Trump do what he did and think that they can get away with doing what Congress has done for the last eight years. All right. We just got to jump in 30 seconds before the break.
What do voters do?
Okay, so you can go to keep in keep ncsafe. org. And sign the petition, which will send an email to your legislator and the legislative leaders asking them not to repeal House Bill two. Then I would encourage you to use our website at keepncsafe.org. to look up the phone number for your legislator and call them.
And then I would encourage people to come to the legislative building tomorrow at 9 a.m. and be ready to hold up time so that we'll have a better day. to tell their leaders not to do this. All right, Tammy, thanks for sharing those cautions and concerns with our listening audience. I'll repeat this in the second hour for all of our North Carolina listeners.
May truth triumph here. Give us strict to always do what's right. It's the line of fire with your host, Dr. Michael Brown, your voice of moral, cultural and spiritual revolution. Here again is Dr.
Michael Brown. It went just past me, past my girlfriend. It missed me by three meters, missed her by five. It came in through the entrance, hit the sides of the barriers and then carried on past us. Yeah, that is an eyewitness from Berlin talking about the terrorist attack, the Islamic terrorist attack yesterday.
Initially, a Pakistani migrant was arrested, and then it turns out that he was not the one driving the truck. They got the wrong man. According to the reports, it was an ISIS gunman who is now still on the loose. If anything's happened in the last few minutes, since I've been on the radio. This is the latest that I have heard.
And the administration, not President Obama himself, but a spokesman, said, quote, the United States condemns in the strongest terms what appears to have been a terrorist attack on a Christmas market in Berlin, Germany, which has killed and wounded dozens.
So it says a Christmas market, doesn't mention Christians, but a Christmas market and what appears to have been a terrorist attack. Notice no reference of Islam or Islamist. radical Islam or jihadists. None. As always, as always, remember, friends, remember that when Nidal Malik Hassan, the 2009 Fort Hood mass murderer, who identified As a soldier of Allah, who was mentored by the Muslim terrorist Amwar al-Alaku, whom we killed in a drone strike in Yemen a few years back, who slaughtered our soldiers in cold blood while shouting, Allahu Akbar, that after his horrific massacre in Fort Hood, that the Pentagon, the Obama administration, branded it workplace violence.
I kid you not. And then in 2015, six years after the 2009 massacre, President Obama referenced the attack as terrorist, but still did not refer to Islamic terror. This is intentional. This is intentional. Now look.
President-elect Trump, no doubt, has been reckless in some of his tweets. no doubt has been unprecedented in some of his tweets. no doubt has engaged in saber rattling, which at times is unhelpful, especially with other national entities and leaders. But to his absolute credit, he tweets this out himself, not a spokesperson, he tweets this out yesterday. Our hearts and prayers are with the loved ones of the victims of today's horrifying terror attack in Burlick.
Remember, there are 12 dead over 50 injured. massive truck plows into a Christmas market. Innocent civilians were murdered in the streets as they prepared to celebrate the Christmas holiday. ISIS and other Islamist terrorists continually slaughter Christians in their communities and places of worship as part of their global jihad. These terrorists and their regional worldwide networks must be eradicated from the face of the earth, a mission we will carry out with all freedom-loving partners.
Obviously, he opens that up to the so-called moderate Muslim world. Yes, there are moderate Muslims. Yes, there are radical Muslims, but I say so-called because definitionally there can be some ambiguity there. But the notice in one tweet He has said more than President Obama said in eight years. And it's not that Americans have suddenly become Islamophobic.
Americans were not having problems with Muslims in their community that were. Living like other Americans and practicing their faith. Like, you've got Jehovah's Witnesses, you've got Mormons, you've got born-again Christians, you've got Jews, you've got other groups, some larger, some smaller, you've got atheists, you've got Muslims practicing their faith. Americans were not up in arms about this.
Okay? After 9-11, there was some larger hostility towards the Muslim community in general, which was misguided here in America. But for the most part, there have not been problems. It is Islamic terror that has brought on the problems, and then our government's failure to address it by name. And remember, we're not just fighting people, we're fighting an ideology.
And it is an ideology that radicalizes many people who are born and raised here in America.
Some from Islamic countries and some who are not from Islamic countries.
So you are talking about a radicalizing of people with an ideology that our government won't even mention. I mean, look, our law books and manuals used by the FBI and other things like that to prosecute a war against terrorism, words about Islam were scrubbed. Because that that's considered offensive. You don't want to offend moderate Muslims. It's not that suddenly America and Europe have become Islamophobic, it's that there have been too many acts of Islamic terror.
too much of an attack, an overt attack, on on a a Western lifestyle which is different than radical Islam. And the governments of these different countries, American, different European countries, doing too little about it and seeming to be more concerned about offending moderate Muslims than protecting their own children and women and men. Their own citizens.
So in one tweet Donald Trump has done more. in my mind, to address this issue, Than our president, President Obama, and his administration have done in eight years. And that's one reason. that many Americans said we don't want eight more years of this Knowing that Hillary Clinton would only continue these same policies because she holds to these same ideologies. And all over Europe now there's an outcry.
In Germany there's an outcry. I mean, uh very harsh words being spoken, telling Angela Merkel, the the leader of Germany, telling her, uh there this is this these are your dead. There's blood on your hands. I mean, look, it was 25 days ago that ISIS announced they were going to be launching terror attacks around the Christmas holidays in Europe. And America.
And different governments have been on high alert, and still they couldn't stop this. Because obviously the alert was not high enough or there are too many potential terrorists in the country. I'm not criticizing law enforcement. God knows that people in law enforcement want to protect their people. But I'm simply saying that the policies up to now have been such that even with a warning we're going to do this to you, they've still done it.
And then still people say, well, it's apparently a terror attack, or it's it's terrorist, but they won't mention Islamic terror. That's reproachful. That's That's horrific. That that is uh blemish on these governments. And and it is an insult to the dead and the wounded and the bereaved.
So I am really pleased with this. Uh word from President-elect Trump. I think that's a good idea. I've written an article about it, and the article is really taking off being shared thousands and thousands of times already on different websites. Just a few hours after it went up, I got up way earlier than I planned this morning and suddenly was stirred to write.
I wrote and got it posted immediately on the stream and other websites.
So read it. It's on our website. Go to thelineoffire.org. You'll be able to read it. I mean, in the article, I say, yes, our incoming president has been reckless in some of his tweets and unpresidential, and not all of his saber-rattling is helpful, but this is good.
And this is important. And this is why there is a change of heart.
Now the key thing is... To to To address these things in an ongoing sober way, not to appeal to a radicalized right, okay, to a xenophobic right in reaction to an extreme leftist response, but rather now to prosecute this war soberly. At the same time, as believers, we reach out to everyone with the gospel and pray for the salvation of everyone. Our government, which has not been given the sword in vain, seeks to punish. Evildoers.
So I am pleased to see this. It is a step. And the right direction. May this war be prosecuted with wisdom. to protect the many innocent in the Muslim world.
and to focus on the terrorism, the Islamic radical terrorism that must be focused on. And notice. President-elect Trump actually used the word Islamist to make the Criticism even more specific and narrow. Remember, go to the website thelineoffire.org. Special resource offer this week you don't want to miss.
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. Anywhere where large numbers of people gather. You certainly have the potential for one of these types of attacks. That's what concerns law enforcement officials. The ease with which something like this can be done.
That was former NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly talking to ABC.
Now, here's what's interesting. Here's what's interesting. We have been touched by radical Islamic terror here in America. It's not just that we're watching it happen overseas, and we recognize that the first and foremost victims of Islamic terror are other Muslims around the world. What's interesting, though, is I posted on Twitter a question, as we come to the end of 2016, which best describes your state of mind?
which best describes your state of mind, and I gave four choices hopeful, fearful, confused, sober. Are you ready for this? 3% said confused. Four per cent said fearful. Twenty seven per cent said sober, Sixty six per cent said hopeful.
Isn't that interesting? Maybe we'll talk more about that later. in the broadcast And on top of all this, you have the shooting captured. on video of a Russian ambassador in Turkey? A man standing behind him, off duty security man, shooting him in the name of of Allah and ISIS, and saying this is what you get for what you've done in Syria.
This is a very precarious time right now in the Middle East and with Russia. And right in the middle of all of it, of course, radical Islam. Let's go to the phones. We'll go to Mike in Howell, New Jersey. Thanks for calling the line of fire.
Hey, Dr. Brown. Yeah. Um mis mister mister Trump is Uh a very compromise with with Russia. In terms of his money, Putin is also a terrorist to his own people.
He's had many reporters killed. He's got his critics killed. He he's uh supported uh supposedly blowing up apartment complexes to get a pretext. in in in in uh in in uh chechnya so um there's uh uh the the the connections between uh russia now and and and the incoming president are absolutely uh frightening okay. Uh i Islamic terror um is i i i i it's horrible.
And perhaps the the the President not mentioning it was w was was maybe hoping to not ignite Vigilanteism, okay? I don't think so. Mike, let me just jump in. Hang on, hang on, hang on, hang on, hang on, hang on, hang on. Let me just jump in.
All right. That was not the reason. The reason was he did not want to offend what he considered to be the vast majority of Muslims around the world. And he's made that very clear. There may have been secondary reasons, but that's certainly the primary.
Okay, back to you. Don't do these things. Mike, I guess you were talking the whole way I talked and didn't hear me. All right, tell you what, but I did try to give you a shot here, and I know you've called in with some views in the past. Hey, listen.
I am not one of those in the pro-Putin. bandwagon and look at what an amazing job he's doing. There are certain positive things he's done in Russia and others that give me grave concern, for sure. And I certainly do not look at Russia's involvement in the Middle East as something positive when it comes to Israel and America. At the same time, I recognize that Islamic terror is now touching Russia in very direct ways.
And yes, there have been ongoing battles with Chechnya, and yes, atrocities committed by both sides. There's no question about that. But And all of that, I want to reiterate, I am very pleased that President-elect Trump directly called out Islamic terrorists slaughtering Christians even in places of worship. It's easy to say, it's truthful, and it must be addressed. And every moderate Muslim in the world should say, absolutely, it's ugly, and they're attacking us and our places of worship, too, and we renounce this.
Let it be done. And let us work together against this plague of radical Islam while praying for the radical conversion of those caught up in its deception. We're going to change gears radically and have an absolutely fascinating discussion with Dr. Hugh Ross from Reasons to Believe. Game tour.
God of light, hear our cry, send the 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.
Well, we've all read Matthew II chapter. It is the Christmas season now. Although Matthew 1 and 2 were not written as Christmas chapters, there was no such thing as Christmas. They do describe the birth of Jesus. And this is a time when Christians around the world celebrate the birth of the Son of God in this world.
They read Matthew 2, and we've seen his star in the east. Who are the Magi? Were they astrologers? Were they wise men from Persia? And how does this thing work?
Well, I couldn't think of someone better to talk to about this than an astronomer. A Christian astronomer, Dr. Hugh Ross, who is the founder and the director of Reasons to Believe, one of the most important ministries on the planet dealing with the issues of the Bible and science. Dr. Ross, welcome back to the line of fire.
Thanks so much for joining us. Oh, my pleasure. Thank you.
Now you've obviously had a long term interest in this as a Bible believer and as an astronomer. What would you say are some of the most common misconceptions about this account in Matthew chapter two?
Well, I've got about 40 books on the Christmas Star in my library, and almost all of them talk about the Christmas Star. as a conjunction of planets. For example, like Venus and Jupiter. coming close together in the sky. or a planet coming close to the star Regulus.
or a planet uh coming close to the moon. And uh Yes, I don't think that fits what we see in Matthew two, because Matthew two says it's a single star That appears Yeah. Mm-hmm. and reappear. Years in the same location.
So that would rule out conjunctions. The other thing we noticed from the text. as it evidently only the wise men were aware of the event. because when they came to Jerusalem, the the priests And King Herod really didn't know what they were talking about.
Now planets are bright, comets are bright, supernovae are bright. And if that's what it was, then people would have recognized what the wise men were talking about.
So I think it's something more subtle than that. And also, uh, the wise men are magi and uh you know, the greatest of the wise men was Daniel. and Daniel is the only book in the Bible that predicts the timing of the coming of the Messiah. And that may have been the only book of the Bible that these wise men were aware of. I'm certain they were aware of it because, like Daniel, they were wise men.
So they would have certainly paid attention to the written works of the greatest of the wise men. And it's in Chapter nine that tells you the timing of coming Messiah.
So they would have been cognizant. looking for some sign. And they saw this star and said, that's got to be it. Let's go to Jerusalem. and see if somebody there knows the location.
Now, let me ask this. We know that God in his wisdom has dispersed truth about himself through creation and then through various traditions that have been passed on through the generations and different cultures.
Some call them redemptive analogies.
Some of them may be remnants of things that were passed on from the founders of the human race or Noah and his family after the flood. Others may have just been supernaturally deposited by God. But is it possible that these men were simply pagan astrologers and they had some familiarity with the Hebrew Bible? After all, there's the mica reference found in Matthew the second chapter, and there seems to be the concept of a Messiah, a Jewish Messiah, which was not something known in the pagan world. But is it possible that these were pagan astrologers and that God could use the sun, the moon, the stars, the planets, comets to speak to nations?
Is that something that you're Yeah.
Well, it does tell us in the book of Daniel that Daniel and his three friends. were educated and all the sciences of the East. And so they would have been exposed to astrology because that was part of the sciences of the East. I would expect these wise men uh that are mentioned in Matthew were also exposed to that. It doesn't mean that they are astrologers any more than we would imply that Daniel is an astrologer.
He was exposed to it. It doesn't mean that he necessarily believed it. What we do know from the text is that they saw this sign in the sky. and they saw this as a sign of the coming of the Messiah. And really, the only place where they could have gotten any indication of that is the book of Daniel.
I mean, what else would have motivated them to say, let's go to Jerusalem? Uh, 'cause a star that no one else was aware of. And that's the thing to see in astrology. Astrology is indeed very focused on the positions of the planets in the sky. But given what we see in the book of Matthew, I don't think that's allowed.
And therefore, I think it's a mistake to think that these wise men were motivated by astrology Because if they were, it would have been a conjunction of planets, and King Herod would have known exactly what they were talking about. And moreover, the text says Yeah. It's a single star. that appeared in the same location.
So and also the fact that it Mm. And reappears. In the same location, conjunctions of planets don't do that.
Now, there's a book that a caller highly recommended to me, a very literate caller, within the last year. I bought it, started reading it, and then it joined about a thousand other books that I want to get back to, or I should say multiple thousands of other books I want to get back to. But it's called The Great Christ Comet: Revealing the True Star of Bethlehem by Colin R. Nichol. Are you familiar with that book?
Yes, I don't think a comet is is a possible explanation. If it was a comet, everybody would have been aware of it. What I've noticed is, outside of the book of Matthew, the only possible recording we see Yeah. Korean astronomical reference to a guest star. Uh that a reference to a comet.
Or probably not a comet. Um A Nova. And I think that's a really good candidate. It appeared in 5BC. to a Korean astronomers.
That's about the right time for the coming of the Messiah. And that being a nova would explain why the wise men were Cognizant of it, but none of the people in Jerusalem are aware of it, because the brightest Nova that appear are about as bright as the star Polaris. And so that might not catch the attention. Of people living in Egypt or living in Babylon or Jerusalem. And also, the interesting thing about ANOVA, a subclass.
actually recurs. We call them recurring NOVA. There are stars that appear disappear from view and reappear anywhere from a year Yeah. several hundred years later. And actually, in the past year, astronomers have seen two recurring NOVA with periods that are less than a year and a half.
And that fits what we see in Matthew too. Because notice you've got Harrod very carefully questioning the Magi, when did you see the star in the East? and basement information uh after the Magi have presented their gifts, uh Herod comes in and kills all the firstborn sons. that are two years of age or younger in the village of Bethlehem.
So chances are the timing between the two Star appearances is about a year to a year and a half. And that would fit very well a description of recurring NOVA. the only other possible candidate that I would recognize as an astronomer would be a cataclysmic variable star. That's another star that can appear to the naked eye, disappear for a period of a year to a year and a half. and reappear.
but typically it doesn't reappear with the same brightness. whereas a recurring nova often reappears with the same brightness. All right, so let's just take the last two minutes and try to sum things up. As you know, I have areas of strong scholarship and areas of zero scholarship.
So, astronomy being one of those areas of zero scholarship. If you gave a lecture on astronomy within the first 10 minutes, you would have covered everything I know. Plus more.
So I'm asking in the most simple of layman's terms here. But the whole concept of we've seen his star in the east, that's been confusing to some.
So what actually happened? Where did they see this phenomenon and how did it guide them to Bethlehem?
Well, the Magi came out of the Persian Empire, so chances are they were either in Persia or one of the ancient provinces. of uh the Persian Empire, which would have been east of Jerusalem. That's where they saw the star. That doesn't mean this star was in the eastern part of the sky. It just means they were in the east when they saw the star in the sky.
And then when they got to Jerusalem and are on their way to Bethlehem, the star reappeared to them.
So it reappeared in the same location that they saw back in the East. and that kind of confirmed to them that they were on the right track. The star did not give them a location. It simply indicated the timing. Fascinating.
All right. We come back. I want to ask you, Dr. Ross, about a new book that you've written, The Improbable Planet: How Earth Became Humanity's Home. Friends, one of the neatest websites out there is the Reasons to Believe website.
So go to reasons.org. If you're a skeptic of the Bible, if you're a believer, but you've got questions about science, if your kids have questions, there are all different levels where folks can dive in and new articles and videos posted on virtually a daily basis.
So check out reasons.org. Rich, rich resources there. And for those of you that have always believed in a young earth creation, check out the arguments for an old earth creation. This is a debate I believe we can fairly have as followers of Jesus. Reasons.org.
I'll be right back with Dr. U. Ross. 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. I'm speaking with Dr. Yu Ross.
He is the president and founder of Reasons to Believe, PhD in astronomy. Maybe you've read one of his books. Maybe you've seen him on TV. His newest book, Improbable Planet: How Earth Became Humanity's Home. Dr.
Ross, I've heard this phrase before about Earth being an improbable planet or just the fact that we can observe the universe from where we are being unique to Earth. What's the thesis of this book, and what makes this all so indicative of the hand of God?
Well, the book comes out of a Bible study I did five years ago, where I noticed that all the major creation texts consistently linked the doctrine of creation with the doctrine of redemption. And then you've got some Bible passages that declare that God begins his works of redemption. before he creates anything.
Well, that would imply that every one of God's works of creation are for the purpose of making possible the redemption of billions of human beings. And that launched a three year study of the scientific literature to see if indeed that actually plays out. Is it really true that every event in the history of the universe, earth and earth life. and every component of the universe, earth and earth's life. plays a critical role in making possible the redemption of billions of human beings.
within a short period of time. And the answer is yes, and the book tells that story.
So I'd begin with the origin of the universe and take you right up to the present moment. and show you that indeed How there are hundreds of thousands of miraculous interventions that God performed. to make possible the redemption of billions of human beings. Or to put it another way, There's fine tuning we see in the universe to make life possible. there's greater fine tuning that makes possible uh megafauna, you know, plants and animals.
have much more fine tuning that makes possible the existence of human beings, even more fine tuning To make possible the existence of billions of human beings that can live at one time. And then the greatest fine tuning is where billions can live on the earth and develop the technology for the good news of salvation through Jesus Christ. can be taken to all the people groups of the world. And the book ends by showing based on the science, how close we are The scene. that message of salvation through Jesus Christ indeed being taken to all the people groups of the world.
where we can be moved from this creation to a brand new creation. evil and suffering will never exist. And one thing I've appreciated in your writings is that you're always looking at this issue of the problem of evil and what's called theodicy and God's justice in the midst of suffering and pain and his goodness and questions that arise about it. And as you know, I've had young earth creationists on the air as well. And in my view, Just looking at the biblical text and me not having the capability of making a scientific decision about who's right, I've said that the biblical text could be read in terms of a young earth creation or an old earth creation, that either is possible just on a purely exegetical level.
But one of the things that I appreciate about your position is that you believe one of the reasons for the old earth creation and for an old universe is that God was. preparing things and purging a lot of things out to get to a point where the maximum number of people could be saved in the shortest possible time with the most minimal suffering. Could you I know this is a massive subject, but could you explain it, expand on that for a moment? Yes, that's the whole reason for writing my book, Improbable Planet, is basically making the point that if we interpret science From a redemptive perspective, we're going to be able to more efficiently and rapidly advance Mm-hmm. And I've actually spoken in front of audiences of science professors.
As I spoke at Caltech just the two weeks ago. Mm-hmm. making that point. This is the way we can more rapidly and efficiently advance scientific research. But I've also been speaking to seminary professors saying This is a more effective way to advance theological research.
So interpreting the Bible from a redemptive perspective I think it gives us a more secure way of understanding what the Bible's message is all about.
So for example, there's a huge debate in Christendom Is it young Earth? Is it older? Is it theistic evolution? Is it special creation? I think if we were to get together as Christians And they begin to interpret the sixty-six books of the Bible from a redemptive perspective.
we're going to be able to resolve these differences. And so that's really the purpose from our writing the book is Let's see if we can more efficiently advance science. Let's see if we can more efficiently advance theology, and let's see if we can resolve some of these divisive issues. that exists within the church. Yeah, and I appreciate the irenic spirit you've had in all this to discuss the hard questions with a goal to unity in the body and exalting Jesus.
By the way, Dr. Ross, I was sent a copy of the manuscript from the publisher to write an endorsement for it, but as often happens, unless I'm reminded multiple times of deadlines, I miss them. And that's what happened before I knew it. The book was coming out.
So I apologize for not getting to add my words to it. I really wanted to, but at least we could have you on the air to talk about the new book, The Improbable Planet, by Dr. U. Ross. And it was a joy to get to visit your team a few years back.
And what a great spirit, what a great attitude, and what a great heart for the Lord.
So thanks for all you do. You've helped many, many people come back to the faith, strengthen others in the faith.
So keep up the great work.
Well, thank you for that encouragement. I very much appreciate it. From the heart. All right. Dr.
Uross, the new book, The Improbable Planet, the website reasons.org. Reasons.org. All right, friends. I've got speaking of books, it's what two weeks? Two weeks.
And Breaking the Stronghold of Food will be officially released. Nancy and I wrote it together. Every time I flip through the pages and see her comments interspersed throughout the book, representing about 20% of the book, I just smile. I think what she says is so real. And by the way, people that have known me for years have gotten advanced copies of the book, and they.
We're as candid as we could be. I mean, you're talking about weaknesses and struggles. I mean, they're loving it. They're being encouraged. We're hearing from people, advanced readers, that say this is the best thing they've read on the subject.
And I'm just so excited about it. And trust me, I'm giddy because I would have been the last person out of a million that you would have expected to write a book on healthy eating. But it has been life-transforming, and we believe you'll be greatly helped. You can still pre-order on Amazon at a great advanced price. Just go to amazon.com, the book Breaking the Stronghold of Food, the official release date, January 3rd.
Get as many copies as you want. And obviously, you don't need me to tell you that. But trust me, once you get it, I think you're going to want to give it to other people. And if I had stacks of these wherever I've gone to preach the last couple of years, as my life has been transformed, I could be giving these out like hotcakes. I'd be selling them like hotcakes.
I'm talking about in leaders' meetings in what's called the green room, you know. Before the meeting, and all these different leaders talking before speaking at a conference, and that's often the main subject that comes up. And oh, we need that book, husband and wife alike saying it.
So order your copies, and remember on our website, thelineofire.org, all this week, right up to the new year, 40% off all books. digital downloads. No conditions on that.
So take advantage of that at thelineoffire.org. My bottom line today. I am full of hope because the God who sent his son into the world rules and reigns as king. From Donald Trump's comments about the Berlin Islamist terrorist attack to HB2 in North Carolina to the Christmas star, all coming your way right here. 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. Thank you so much for joining us on the broadcast. This is Michael Brown, your joyful voice. Moral, cultural, and spiritual revolution. I've got a lot of things to talk about with you today.
And the phone lines are open. I only took one phone call in the first hour and had two guests on as well. But I'm going to open the phone lines now: 866-348-7884-866-34Truth. And I've got a question I'm going to ask you in one moment. All right, so stay tuned, ready to call in to respond to my question.
First. Friends as I have been talking now. For the last 17 years, starting in 1999, about a holy uprising. About a gospel-based moral and cultural revolution. There are many people who wondered: what are you talking about?
We've always been clear: we're not talking about a revolution of violence or hatred or intimidation. We're talking about a Jesus-based spirit-empowered revolution, meaning radical, dramatic, sweeping change through the gospel and through God's people living out the precepts of Jesus and the Bible. We're talking about overcoming hatred with love, overcoming lies with truth, overcoming anger with the life of the Holy Spirit. That's what we're talking about: overcoming evil with good, wherever we find it, and in this way, bring about positive change through the gospel. And there were people who wondered, what are you talking about?
What do we need revolution? What do you mean? Everything's okay, everything needs a little change. And as the years have gone on, that word's been just about on everybody's lips. And the talk of a political revolution with President-elect Trump, the talk about conversation.
Cultural and moral revolution, the upheaval, the change. I think a lot of people understand exactly what I'm talking about now. In other words, you get to that point where more of the same is not going to do it. You look at it and say, okay, what I'm doing, what we're doing as churches, what we're doing as individual believers, is not doing it. Oh, you might be blessed personally, maybe your family's blessed, maybe your local congregation.
But if you look at it on a national level, things have been going in the wrong direction in many ways, morally, culturally, even spiritually, despite positive pockets of God moving. And that brings you to the point where you say, okay, I've got to do something radical and different. Listen, many of you know my own story. August 23rd, 2014. I sat down with Nancy and I said, My plan is not working when it comes to food and eating.
I've got to do something.
Something has to change. She had been praying fervently for me to come to that conclusion and for God to give grace. I had been crying out to God. August 24th, 2014, I started doing something radically different because I realized I'm almost 60 at that time and my plan is not working. I'm getting heavier.
My blood pressure is getting higher. I'm getting more tired, more worn out. My schedule is only getting more intense. And this is not glorifying God and this is not wise. And I made a radical, dramatic change with the help and grace of God and with the help of Nancy.
I made a radical dramatic change and have lived by that to the book, basically, by the plan that we followed. I live by that now for almost two and a half years. And something radical happened. Yes, we talk about that in our new book, Breaking the Stronghold of Food, but that's not my focus right now. My focus is to say, I understand.
understood without making a radical change that I wouldn't see radical results. I understood without making a radical about face and and taking on a whole new lifestyle that I had never known before. Never come near it anywhere in my first 59 years of life, never anywhere near it. I repeat that again, that without that radical change which always seemed completely impossible for me being such a food wimp, and only liking a certain number of foods and and most all of them unhealthy. That it was by God's grace the change came.
But here's the point. You have to come to that point as a believer personally, spiritually. as a church, as a pastor, as a leader. nationally where we say, okay, my plan is not working.
Something has to change radically. That's what we talk about. That's what we mean by revolution. I'll be right back. Got a question to ask each of you listening.
It's fire we want, oh 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.
Welcome, welcome to the line of fire.
So here's my question for you. And then I want to say something loudly and clearly to everyone in the state of North Carolina. All right, we've got great stations all over North Carolina, and I want to speak directly to as many of you as possible, so please stay tuned. But here's my question for you. For everyone listening anywhere.
in the nation or by internet anywhere in the world. Here's my question for you. What is your frame of mind? Entering 2017. What is your frame of mind entering 2017?
I posted this on Twitter, and with a poll, I'm allowed four choices.
So I said, as we come to the end of 2016, which best describes your state of mind. Hopeful. fearful. confused or sober. What about you?
in particular if you're a follower of Jesus, what's your frame of mind? Are you discouraged by what you see happening in the world around you? Are you encouraged by what you believe are positive changes? Is it just such an intense time that you're sober? Are you fearful of what is to come?
What's your state of mind? 866-348-7884. Again, I gave four choices because I could only give four. Hopeful. fearful confused, sober.
But obviously each of those are different. There can be some overlap between them. I I must say I'm a little surprised by the responses. Not the overall response, but the degree. by which the responses went in the directions they have.
So, if I had to guess which one was going to come out on top, I had a guess. I had a good suspicion. But the degree to which one has come out on top has been quite the surprise.
So, what's your frame of mind? Moms, dads, young people, pastors, business people. What's your frame of mind? Hopeful, fearful, confused, sober? Or something else.
866-348-7884. Okay.
H B two. is back in The news. You say, okay, can you refresh my mind on HB2? Yes. Ma'am, yes, sir.
Yeah. Ah, yes, ma'am, yes, sir. That's offensive to some because it only lists two gender categories. Let me say it again: yes, ma'am, yes, sir.
So Uh Here's what happened. throughout the city council despite massive protest tens of thousands of emails and petition signatures and so on. They passed a radical bill. They had folks elected to the city council with the help of the human rights campaign, the world's largest gay activist organization, with lobbying, with funding. Also, got a radical mayor in terms of these issues.
I'm not saying that Mayor Roberts does not have other good qualities or is a decent person in other ways, but when it comes to LGBT activism, he has had radical goals there for years. The Charlotte City Council passed a bill. which effectively made all public locker rooms and bathrooms gender neutral.
Now remember, I'm not the one making this news today. This is news that we are responding to. This is something that affects the residents of North Carolina and the nation. And the nation, because North Carolina has been ground zero of the battleground of gay activists trying to push through their agenda politically in a very concerted way.
So it passed in the city of Charlotte.
So the state legislature had an emergency vote before it could go into effect. and they shut it down. They said no. Not going to happen. You do not have the right as a city to pass this ordinance, and we're shutting it down.
And then it added some other provisions in as well.
Some of them do with minimum wage. I'm not quite sure why that fit in there. Others having to do with people being unable to sue the state over alleged discrimination over LGBT issues. Part was subsequently changed. But the state of North Carolina came under hellish attack as a result of that.
And the NBA pulled its all-star game, next year's all-star game from Charlotte because of that. PayPal backed out of bringing new business, which would have created hundreds of new jobs and brought in millions of dollars of income. The NCAA, College Sports, pulled out some of their events from North Carolina. Bruce Springsteen and Ringo Starr and others said that they were going to cancel concerts they were going to do in North Carolina.
Now, interestingly, from what I understand, that alone did not cost Governor McCrory the election to Attorney General Roy Cooper. There were other issues, including a toll road issue, which was extremely inflammatory that hurt him. And he was outspent roughly two to one by Attorney General Roy Cooper. You said, where did he come up with so much money?
Well, Human Rights Campaign and other radical left groups funding him to push him through, and he still won by only a few thousand votes. And others who had been hardliners for HB2 and the legislators, they won re-election. And the Republicans solidified their lead in the houses in North Carolina.
So the vote to bring in Attorney General Roy Cooper as the new governor and to oust Governor Pat McCrory was not a mandate on HB2. There's no way you could look at it like that.
However, the backlash to HB2 and the funding behind Attorney General Cooper certainly helped push Governor McCrory out. And I'm sure there are many in North Carolina who don't like the results of this and the way that North Carolina has been stigmatized on the flip side. On the flip side, there are many who are pleased with the bill and believe it's the best and wisest thing to have in place. And it's not a matter of hatred. It's a matter of expectation of privacy in bathrooms and locker rooms.
And saying that in a school, we don't think it's right for the city or the state to impose that a 15-year-old boy who identifies as a girl gets to play on the girls' softball team or basketball team and share the locker room and shower stalls with them. We think that's unrighteous. We think that's ugly. We think that's wrong, no matter how confused and sincere the boy might be. And remember, we're often told that because he's transgender, it doesn't mean that he is gay.
So if he is transgender but identifies as a girl, so he's not necessarily identifying as a lesbian.
So wouldn't that mean he's still attracted to females? Then why would he be in the locker room or bathroom or shower store? You're talking about teenage boys. And what of the confusion on, say, the little girls, six-year-old girls, who remember that Johnny came to school as Johnny, but now Johnny is Janie and using their restroom?
Now, I don't think so's going to happen with six-year-old kids, but what about the confusion? And what about the very real doors that are open to heterosexual perverts and predators who are going to use these laws to access the bathrooms and locker rooms as has happened and as has been documented? As much as it's denied, it's happened quite a few times, and perverse human nature is going to tell you you open a door like that, of course it's going to happen. Because you're in no way of telling the person, sorry, you can't go in that bathroom.
Well, I identify as a woman. You can't go in the change room at Target. You identify, you're a man.
Well, I identify as a woman. You can't keep the guy out unless he commits some kind of crime. I mean, that's utterly outrageous.
Okay.
All that being said. Governor McCrory a few months back, in the heat of the elections, said to the city of Charlotte, You. Repeal your bill. You cancel your radical bill and will repeal HB two. And we'll go back to the way things were.
Remember, remember, friends, the NBA, PayPal, NCIA, all these other groups and entities, they had no problem, Bruce Springsteen, Ringo Starr, coming to North Carolina when things were the way they used to be before the radical Charlotte Dill. Everything was fine. and there was not some national outrage over it. Then this bill comes in a provocatory way. Charlotte City Council passes this bill and provocatively we tried to get council members or the mayor or someone from the office on on short notice today unsuccessfully.
I don't know if they got our messages and declined or weren't available. Don't know.
Okay, simply said we did reach out. And if you're listening, you're a representative for anyone in the city council or the mayor or on the city council, by all means, I want to get your perspective. You can call in and we gladly talk to you at 866-348-7884. If you claim I'm misrepresenting anything or misunderstanding anything, or you belong to a gay activist organization or an ally thereof, then by all means, give me a call. We can have a friendly discussion in the midst of our differences.
So Here's what happened. Governor McCourry said to the city council, you repeal your bill, we'll repeal HB2. They said no. Now that uh attorney general cooper who has campaigned again against hb2 is coming into office. City Council has said, okay, we we're going to vote on this again and they agreed nine to zero to repeal this.
So you you're talking about all of the radicals and you've got some very radical people with some very radical views. all of them who said We are not going to budge on this. They are now all just said, okay, we'll repeal. Yeah, rule repeal, just repeal HB2. And I had Tyme Fitzgerald, executive director for the North Carolina Values Coalition, on the air with me.
And she said, This is a complete betrayal of the people of North Carolina, their legislators who voted for HB2. Because the moment you remove it, then in cities across North Carolina, radical, gay, lesbian, transgender activist bills will be pushed forward, and the very thing stopping them from taking effect will not be there. You say, well, then they have to just bring it back in. Oh, okay, then why go back to reset then? Why even think of that?
And the Human Rights Campaign and others, from what I understand, are clearly saying, you better believe we're going after this throughout the state.
So it's like basically saying, you put your weapon down, I'll put mine down, and then I'll pick mine back up when you don't have yours anymore to put it in. Military terms. 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, friends, for joining us on the line of fire 866-34Truth.
So, check this out: poll results. To my question, A poll results to my question of What's your frame of mind as we come to the end of 2016 into the beginning of 2017. Are you ready for this? on Twitter. And we still have 17 hours left for people to respond.
The four choices hopeful, fearful, confused, sober. Are you ready? Three percent said confused. Only Three percent. Four percent.
said fearful. Twenty seven per cent said sober. Sixty Six per cent said hopeful. Is it part of a larger change? with a push back against an elitist agenda.
Is it part of a larger change of a sense of God intervening? Is there something in the air? I was talking to a college student at a After service on Sunday morning, after I preached. And this young man is at a university that has a Christian foundation, but was. Toying with adopting some radical LGBT activist.
What? guidelines in its school. And he said to me, they've basically stepped back from that right now with the Trump victory and things like that. In other words, even though Donald Trump didn't campaign on these issues, there's this pushback against this radical political correctness. Many people are seeing it and they're encouraged by it.
This has nothing to do with hating people. This has to do with saying enough of imposing the radical agenda of a tiny minority on the populace as. A hole.
So Let's just think of this scenario here. Let's think of this scenario here in North Carolina. And everyone living in North Carolina, go to this website, please, keepncsafe.com. Keep ncsafe.com and you want to sign a petition tell the NC General Assembly no repeal of HB two on Wednesday send a message with our petition so you can do that at keep And yeah, excuse me. No, keep my ncsafe.com.
Sorry about that. Keep my nc safe dot com. Um Look, if there were actually safeguards in place, That said, in point of fact, it is impossible for local cities to push new agendas because the state would say no to it. That's one thing, but it's the opposite of what I understand.
So imagine this.
Sorry, City Council passes this radical bill. The state legislature pushes back against it. This helps Governor Cooper raise millions of dollars in his fight against Conservative Governor Pat McCrory, who signed the bill into law. And came under tremendous fire for it. And then Governor Cooper, incoming governor, so he's elected.
And the city council says, okay, we'll back off from this now. We don't want to push this. We don't want to fight this. And then North Carolina as a state Pulls back in HP2. Could you imagine the utter hypocrisy?
And if you're on the city council, I hope you're listening. If you've got a friend on the city council, please tell him to tune into this broadcast on the lineofire.org or whatever station you're listening on right now. Can you imagine the hypocrisy? Could you imagine the the the sheer political The uh machinations keep not finding the right word there. The uh the duplicity?
They're making clear this is just a political football to be thrown around. Could you imagine if, after repealing this, And then let's say the legislature says, okay, we're going to repeal HB2, that they then turn around and try to push this bill again. I mean, you talk about utterly discrediting themselves. as hypocritical liars. Otherwise, if you've got your agenda, say it, put it out there.
Mind-boggling.
So go to keep my ncstay safe.com, sign the petition. And then you'll be directed to your state representative. And if you want to, if you can, give a call and just weigh in. If you feel it is not wise to repeal HB2, then go on record for that. All right?
866-34-TRUTH. We'll go to Jerry in Gastonia. Welcome to the line of fire. How you doing? Good.
So what's your state of mind? You bet.
Well, I'm kind of worried about going into two seventeen. Especially after two, uh sixteen. Because uh They're You know, the people have seemed to gone crazy. I mean, you know, this gender thing. in the bathrooms and all this kind of stuff is I think the the politicians have gone kinda nuts.
Fully understood.
So that concerns you. What do you make of these latest developments, sir, with the Charlotte City Council saying, okay, we're going to pull back on the bill, we're going to repeal it if you repeal HB two? Is that something being done in good faith to move the state forward, or is that just a setup to basically say you put down your weapons while we import new ones?
Well, in my opinion, the politicians is probably just a cover-up. Mm-hmm. Got it. You know, they their decision making is gone kinda wacko, I think. Mm.
Well, however this thing plays out, it is it is going to be something to keep an eye on for many, many different reasons. Hey, Jerry, thank you for weighing in. I appreciate it. Let's go to John. What happened to John?
We just got him there. North Carolina, the one talking about HB2, I was going to get to that call.
Okay.
Well, we missed it somehow. We got John, and we lost John. Tell you what, let me. If we can get to one more call, Howard, we'll do it quick. And uh because otherwise we're going to be right up against a break.
But listen. Whatever happens Whichever direction the state goes, legislature goes, it's not the end of the world, either way. But these are important issues. And I've been just trying to understand what's happening so I myself can speak. Uh with insight And have something to contribute to the discussion.
All right, we've reconnected with John in Kernersville, North Carolina. Go ahead, sir. Your thoughts on. HB2. Yes, sir.
My thoughts would be in agreement with you that the state legislature needs to stand with this thing. I think if they were to repeal it, I would see is giving grounds. I I don't think it would take very long for, I guess what I'd call it more liberal type city like Asheville or UNC, you know, U Wilmington.
someplace like that to just go right back and impose the type of ordinance Charlotte did. And then we're back where we started from. I I I don't think these these folks were to be trusted at any time. But I think more so the folks that have have have em uh enforced HP two, put it on the books, they need to stand their ground with it. Yeah, and listen, John, here's the thing.
Gay activists and their allies are deeply committed to their cause. They feel it's righteous. They feel it's just. They feel it's fair. They feel it's compassionate.
They are deeply invested. The idea that they'll just say, okay, Well just abandon this is highly unlikely.
Now Governor McCrory, if I understand rightly, has said, no, no, the the state whatever is repealed with HB2, the state would make sure that it says that no city can pass such legislation. And therefore, it would be a moot point if they tried to. But I have no way of seeing that or understanding how that would be. the case.
So why would people who are deeply committed to a cause, when the barrier to their cause is now removed, why would they say, okay, we won't try to advance our cause?
So get involved, go to keepmyncsafe.com. Sign the petition as you feel is right and it will be forwarded to your local legislator. 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. You don't expect to be smack bang in the middle of that when it's Christmas music and Christmas lights and people enjoying themselves. And then all of a sudden That carnage is just there.
Yeah. Emma Rushton an eyewitness to the horrific attack Islamic terror attack in Berlin yesterday Last I saw leaving 12 dead, over 50 wounded. God knows how severely some of those wounded. This is in a Christmas market. This is with Christmas music playing.
This is something that radical Muslims said they were going to do. They announced this less than a month ago. They were going to carry out these kinds of attacks, and here they have. President-elect Trump has addressed them in a more forthright way than President Obama did in eight years. We'll talk about that, but first let's focus On what actually happened in Berlin.
This is Michael Brown. Welcome to the line of fire. We'll grab clip number three, JJ. Again, Emma Rushton. describing as an eyewitness What happened in Germany?
We were sat having a glass of mulled wine. We were in one of the little booths. And then we heard a really, really loud bang and looked to our left. and the Christmas lights that were overhanging the market. just started to be torn down.
We saw the top of the articulated lorry and it it crashed into the place where we'd bought the the mulled wine from, completely decimated it and carried on going. Um Luckily everyone from the stall was pulled out. But it was just crashing through people, crashing through the huts. Um it pulled the lights down so it all went dark. One more clip, clip number nine, again.
Eyewitness Emma rushed in. This is talking about what just happened yesterday. In Berlin, absolutely shocking, horrific, the ugliest face of Islamic terrorism seen by the whole world. What did she have to say? We saw people holding their heads.
There were pools of blood on the floor. There were people in the recovery position. It's just. It is not what you want to say. I think it was deliberate.
It was far too reminiscent of at Nice. It was just far too reminiscent of Nice. Yeah, so Nice in France where an even more deadly Islamic terrorist attack using a large truck, ramming into children, women, and men. and a festive holiday. And here, even more deliberately, associating this with the attack on Christians because of this being a Christmas market.
So, not just a place where a large number of people were gathered, but a place specifically associated with Christmas. This is the ugliness of radical Islam. This is what needs to be addressed and exposed. Let every Muslim of good conscience renounce this. Let every Muslim leader around the world of good conscience renounce this.
Let everyone who follows Islam and renounces the violent interpretation of the violent texts as being for today. Let them raise their voices and announce this, and renounce this, and let them join together. With other governments. Let them work together as one to fight against Islamic. Terror.
This must be identified by name. This must be addressed by name. This must be uprooted by name. It is an enemy, it is an ideology, it is satanic, it is destructive, and of course it destroys many millions of Muslim lives in the midst of it, and destroys all the lives of those who get involved with it. Even if they don't actively take other lives, they are believing in deep, dark deception.
It is the gospel of Jesus that can set them free. We come back. I want to talk to my friend James Robinson, working as a spiritual advisor to Donald Trump. And with knowledge of things happening behind the scenes that often I'm on have. I want to talk about President-elect Trump's approach to this and the larger populist uprising that is saying, please, someone stand up and do something.
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.
From his southern Florida retreat at Mar-a-Lago, the President-elect described the fight against terrorism in starkly religious terms. ISIS and other Islamist terrorists continually slaughter Christians in their communities, he said in a statement. Mr. Trump also set an audacious goal for his administration: these terrorists must be eradicated from the face of the earth.
So I got up this morning way earlier than I planned, and next thing I was stirred to write, and I wrote an article that's really taken off on the stream, stream.org. Islamist terrorists continually slaughter Christians. This is a quote from Donald Trump. Notice it's precise. He doesn't even say Islamic terrorists, but Islamist, even to say that's just a specific form of Islam.
Islamist terrorists continually slaughter Christians. Trump says what Obama refused to say. I feel this is highly significant, and this must be said. This is not an attack on all Muslims, far from it. This gives an opportunity for peace-loving Muslims and moderate Muslims to say, we also renounce this and want to work with you to eradicate this from our midst.
This is something, sadly, that the Obama administration studiously refused to do for eight years, and Hillary Clinton was obviously of the same mindset, would have continued in this mindset. I feel this is highly significant. Part of the reason That many voters said we want to change, and that's why they voted for Mr. Trump. As always, a great joy and privilege to have my friend James Robinson joining us on the air.
Thanks so much for spending your time with us today.
Well, Doctor Brown, it's a Pretty much tonight. I'm so glad you referenced the article. I find myself both grateful and amazed for what you share. And I'm gonna It's a privilege to be able to share it with others. And I think that this really does point us to the importance of our prayers because I think that.
the prayers of many people were in the process of being answered and And many of us are surprised. we might say by the the instrument of the individual that has yielded himself to the will of God, to speak out for others. And I think I actually try to do something to stop the the horrific acts. And it seems to you, as one that has far more access to Mr. Trump than the vast majority of people on the planet would right now, that he genuinely cares.
about Christians being slaughtered as Christians, and he genuinely cares about Christian freedoms and religious liberties. In other words, this was not just a a helpful campaign slogan. But from what you can tell, this is generally something that concerns him. I don't think there's any question about it. I think he cares about what everyone who really does have a genuine interest in the well being of others.
What's a thank? and what they care about. I don't care whether it's jobs or opportunity. are an overreach uh excessive uh government. uh regulations that limit.
I mean, it doesn't matter what it is, it hurts us. I believe he cares. I I don't think he wants to see people mistreated, they shouldn't be. And I think that when he said eradicate, he's going to look for every way possible to stop this terrible. uh atrocities and uh they just continue.
Okay.
Well, I just I do not uh like what has happened for the past years. I'm appalled by it, I'm shocked by it. I don't even understand how people think the way they think. If they could could tolerate and put up with something and to think that the major media seems to promote this nonsensical attitude and um insane actions or lack of it. it just breaks my heart.
And and to be honest with you, Michael, I think it God is moving. In our behalf. On behalf of people who love others, who love freedom. who believe that there are absolutes and principles that My reflection. When you violate 'em, the the cost is tragic.
Excuse that text coming through on my phone when I'm talking to you, but it's the best uh phone I can use. That's right. But anyway, I just uh I I'm I'm grateful for someone who seems to care and have enough coura courage to speak out. He talked to him Sunday. I told him how amazing when Paul talked about the last days.
We people are ungrateful. We live in an age of ingratitude, and here he is going back to the areas where people didn't expect him to get supported. And he's saying thank you. A sincere thank you for heaven's sake. And I'm I appreciate what he's doing.
I I know you do too. Yeah, and you have to ask yourself, okay, why do that? You're not winning votes now, and and you're not trying to gain popularity. Obviously, it's something that he feels is a good practice to thank those who've worked hard. And obviously, he's appointed people who've been loyal to him.
The great uproar over his appointee to the Ambassador of Israel, David Friedman, who is a long-term co-worker of Donald Trump, a bankruptcy lawyer, among other things, and great relations with the Jewish state, and is a strong proponent of relocating the embassy to Jerusalem. Thomas Friedman, liberal New York Times reporter. Has said, when it comes to relocating the embassy to Jerusalem, all the presidential candidates talk about it. This was enacted under President George W. Bush, and then President Obama reaffirmed, yeah, we're going to relocate the embassy to Jerusalem.
I mean, this is what the law says. And then it keeps getting postponed. Thomas Friedman said, everybody talks about it, but no one's actually doing anything about it. It'd be a catastrophe if he does something about it. And now Donald Trump is saying, yeah, we actually plan to do that.
And there's been an uproar about it.
So again, with all of his evident failings and sometimes reckless texting and things that would seem unpresidential, he really seems to be saying, I'm going to do what I said I'm going to do, which is a major reason people voted for him.
Well, it's like everyone he appointed. is the opponent of what this nonsensical attitude supports. They are not far the Wordsman perpetrated on the American people and taxpayers. And I just Find it amazing. I'm indeed grateful.
And I think the more angry certain people get, including major media, the greater confirmation it is that this is a wise course of action. And I'm boy, I'm I'm I'm no longer surprised. And I I did talk to him of Sunday afternoon. And the first thing that always comes out is a gratitude to the American people who supported it. And I'll be honest with you, Michael.
He is grateful for Christians. He is grateful for people who not only say they love God, but they seem to indicate it by their actions. And that one of the strongest confirmations of that love is the way they love others. The way that I'm neighbor. And to say that this man cares uh what these believers think of seemed to me an understatement with all the interaction I've had with it.
He is indeed grateful. And he's doing his best to sleep back. And I'm real that the people in Israel, people like yourself, are Um rejoicing over the progress and direction that he's going. And look, he is our rightfully elected president. I refer to President Obama always as our president, my president, because he was our elected president.
That's the way it works. Whether I liked the policies or not, whether I was grieved over him lighting up the White House in gay colors, he remained my president. Hillary Clinton would have been my president if she was elected.
So I just want to encourage those who still struggle and still look at Donald Trump's past or questions about his present or other things like that. Maybe you couldn't vote for him. He is our president. Pray for him and hope for the best. And when you mention his appointees being the opposite of the politically correct spirits, you've got a guy that would be over that's an opponent of the whole climate change narrative.
And you've got someone who's against Common Core. It just seems so much of the politically correct agenda is being challenged by his appointees, but that's why people voted for him. And it's not a hateful thing. It's not a xenophobic, Islamophobic, homophobic, transphobic hatred. It's saying, you know, we don't.
Like the direction our country's going, and we'd like to have a voice in getting it in what we feel is a better track.
So it's a positive populist vote if it can be channeled properly. Yeah, and this populace road happens to be, I think, on the side of of wisdom and opposed to the political correctness that is absolute. nonsense. And so I think that we have a lot to be grateful for ourselves and to be encouraged by. And I just pray that it continues.
And I pray that we'll actually see the changes. I've made that need to be made and have been for a long time. I think that to honestly it's it's an answer to prayer. And I really do believe I've said it and I believe it, the stage is set for an awakening. I think the greatest spiritual awakening in history, we're not talking about religious, awakening.
We're talking about a relationship with God that leads people to love God and love one another. the way he intends and desires us to. And I say get on with it. And surprising as it may seem, it looks like Donald Trump's trying to keep his word. and he's trying to express love for people who have been overlooked.
and who've been trampled underfoot as well as the troops who have been trampled underfoot.
So Praise God for it. I see it as an answer to prayer. I see it as positive progress. Very positive. And I appreciate you helping to get me to see that when I had massive questions.
It's because I knew you've been around for many years and I said, okay, my brother's onto something. Let me open my eyes and pray and consider it. And I appreciate that. And I've sent you emails from listeners who said, because of you coming on the air and talking about these things and open them up to vote for Donald Trump, we're not looking to him to be the Savior. Jesus is our Savior.
But we believe God can use him. And I appreciate you raising up the stream, friends. That's stream.org, the go-to place for godly commentary on what's happening in the world today. My brother, please have a great Christmas and New Year, and can't wait to talk to you again. You too.
But let me tell you, I just sent your article to Eric Trump and said, please get your dad to read this. I think it's great. Expresses our hearts so clearly.
Now, that's how much I thought about what you said. I put it in hands that I thought would take it straight to Mr. Trump. So thank you, Dr. Brown.
I love you. Thank you for yours. Thank you, sir. Mm-hmm. Give us strength to always do what's right.
It's the line of fire with your host, Dr. Michael Brown, your voice of moral, cultural, and spiritual revolution. Here again is Dr. Michael Brown. I want to address one more issue for us as followers of Jesus.
How do we relate to radical Islam. The one hand you have missionaries, some of the grads from our ministry school, Included in that number, serving in some of the most dangerous areas in the world. Why? Because they love Muslim people and they want to reach them with the gospel. And that includes radical Muslims.
And that is something very dear to God's heart. And the man who committed the atrocities yesterday, as I understand it, still on the run, the ISIS gunman. allegedly plowed the truck in Berlin into The crowd of women, children, men. That's someone that Jesus died for. Yes, according to my theology, Jesus died for that man.
And God calls that man to repentance and offers him salvation through the gospel, even if he goes to prison for the rest of his life or has a death penalty. God offers him forgiveness. And eternal life through the gospel. That's God's heart. For the worst, sinners.
Yet on the flip side there is such a thing as law and order.
So let's just ask this question, and I want to read some scripture. Because some of you are conflicted in your heart. You want to be loving, but then you also notice a cry for justice, which is right. Let's think of this for a moment. has God established law and order?
Or is God the author of chaos and confusion and anarchy?
Okay, that's an easy one, right?
So Romans 13, let every person be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.
So ultimately, all authority goes back to God. God removes authority, no human being has any authority. Because ultimately, all authority belongs to him and it's up to him to disperse. Therefore, whoever resists, the authorities resist what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment.
Now, it's the authorities who are seeking to do good, not the authorities who are seeking to do evil, that are being spoken of here. That's the proper role of governing authorities. For rulers, they're not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is an authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval.
Again, it's speaking of governing authorities who are seeking to do good. not say Adolf Hitler is trying to exterminate uh a whole people and decimate others. No. You don't say, hey, what can I do to help you wipe out the Jews? What can I help you to do to wipe out the Gypsies?
What can I help you do to go to war against England and France? No, no. That that's what it's talking about here. All right. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct but to bad.
They are a terror to bad conduct as ordained by God. For he is God's servant for your good But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer. Therefore one must be in subjection not only to God's wrath, but also for the sake of conscience.
Okay.
So let's just think of this in the simplest of terms, okay? Do you believe it's a good thing? If there is a policeman driving through your neighborhood. and some one was about to break into your house, And steel your most valuable, priceless possessions. and the police officer saw this person, And was able to stop them and apprehend them before they did it.
Would that be a good thing or bad?
Okay, we all say good. Let's go a little further. Let's say there is a serial child molester. who has just kidnapped a little girl, and there's an Amber alert out for him. And a policeman happens to see someone that fits the description of the man and the child.
and the man pulls a gun to try to shoot the child, and the policeman shoots him first. Was that a good thing or a bad thing? Yes, it's a shame that this man has sunk to such perversion and violence, but yes, that is a good thing. He saved the girl's life, and the man, the policeman, would rightly be called a hero, correct?
Okay, let's take it a little further. You are A Security officer of some kind with the army, with the government, with the local police. You're in Berlin yesterday. You are alerted that a large truck has been stolen by a suspected Islamic terrorist. you see this truck about to plow into the crowd of people.
And you are able with expert marksmanship to kill the. The driver of the truck before, moments before he crashes into the crowd, and no one is killed. Because of that, is that a heroic act? Is that a good act? Is that a godly act?
Yes, yes, yes. Those in authority do not bear the sword in vain. They are avengers who carry out God's wrath on the wrongdoer.
So we have two issues here. We have the issue of seeking to eradicate radical Islam or. deal a severe blow to radical Islam, cripple radical Islam, just as the Nazis were crippled and decimated. That was a good thing. And then we are constantly reaching out to all human beings with the gospel.
So we're reaching out to people in prison. And we're sharing the gospel with that neighbor whom we didn't even know was. a serial criminal. Because we share God's heart of wanting all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. And so we pray for them.
and at the same time we know that law and order are good and positive. and and that when the policeman pulls over this reckless drunk driver going ninety miles an hour in your neighborhood, he's probably saved some people's lives.
some innocent children or a family driving in the car.
So by stopping this man, he has done good. and at the same time We would try to reach out to this person in prison. If it was a neighbor, reach out and say you've obviously got deep issues with sin and weakness in your own life, and there is redemption and a new life through Jesus.
So we pray for the salvation of all people, including Muslim terrorists. And we pray for God's will to be done, which includes wrath against the wrong. Doer. It is both and. and you can be absolutely Christian in your attitude.
and want to see divine judgment on ISIS and radical Islam. and the repentance and salvation of the maximum number of radical Muslims. You can hold those attitudes at the same time and they are both attitudes that love life and that want to preserve life. and that believe in justice as well as mercy. All right, I hope that makes sense to you.
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So. Pre-order right now on amazon.com. The book will ship January 3rd. You can get it at a great price there as well, or a signed special edition on a website. Bottom line today: God's justice, and mercy, and wrath.
truth, love all go hand in hand perfectly.
