Why is it that Christians die in natural disasters like everybody else? It's time for the Line of Fire with your host, biblical scholar and cultural commentator, Dr. Michael Brown. Your voice for moral sanity and spiritual clarity. Call 866-34-TRUTH to get on the Line of Fire. And now, here's your host, Dr. Michael Brown. Painful issues, issues that are not abstract, issues of faith that touch our very real lives. And my goal is not to just get people watching a video or use clickbait titles.
These are heavy issues. I want to do my best to give us some wisdom, to give us some biblical understanding, and to put us in a place where in the midst of vulnerability and pain we can worship God and trust Him. If you have a story in your own life where you suffered terrible loss, where it seemed as if God didn't come through, where things were not answered as expected, and yet today you could say, looking back, God brought good out of it. Or I wouldn't be the person I am today if I had not gone through that. Maybe we'll get to some testimonies as well.
Or maybe you have your own question of faith you'd like to ask me. Here's the number to call. 866-34-TRUTH.
866-348-7884. Bottom of the hour, I want to make an important announcement for all those listening on radio and watching online, listening by podcast. Some things are going to be changing. Some things are going to be expanding. So I'll be making that announcement at different days, different times, through the month.
So plan to do it at the bottom of the hour today. But for those outside North Carolina, you may not be as aware of the horrific, horrific damage, the horrific loss of life, the terrible, unexpected suffering because of Hurricane Helene. When I was in Florida last week, I had to get a flight out earlier because of coming hurricane weather. And I was flying to Texas and then to Mexico.
So I got out a few hours early. We had other friends right on the coast of Florida. They were concerned and there were fatalities there. But I wasn't hearing anything about North Carolina. Wasn't talking to Nancy at home. We live right outside of Charlotte, North Carolina, a little north of Charlotte. Our office is a little north of Charlotte. We weren't talking about, hey, is everything safe?
There were no concerns. It just was not coming up. And especially in the mountain areas and things like that, it's not right on the coast. It's not where the worst devastation would happen with hurricanes and yet completely cut people off guard. Rural areas, the fatality count, they're saying over 100. But it could be much more because people just cut off. I mean, you talk about rural areas, you're talking about mountain roads where the road doesn't exist anymore. You're talking about towns less than two hours from us.
Little towns just got wiped away. The rain stayed and it produced these floods and the floods carried homes away. And it's just absolutely tragic. And among the people suffering are followers of Jesus or Christians, among those who died. And I'm sure they prayed for help along the way.
Why does this happen? And you might say, well, look, God's not under obligation to save anyone and none of us are good in ourselves. I get that.
I understand that. But there are also promises in the Bible. There are also things where God says, call to me in the day of trouble, I'll deliver you. He's a refuge and a help. And you hear stories of miraculous preservation in the midst of the calamity and the storm.
Why some and not others? Now, let me tell you up front, there are no easy answers. There are no easy answers. I am not going to pull some theological rabbit out of a hat and give you an answer to every subject and problem and question and like, oh, that's it. No, these are life and death issues and there are no easy answers. So I'm just being as straightforward as I can about that.
That being said, I do believe there's some things we can offer you by way of hope and encouragement. So here's, here's where we're going to start. I was reading in one online news site and there was this picture. I thought, oh no, no. It's a picture of grandma and grandpa on the roof of their house in North Carolina with their seven-year-old grandson. And it's taken by the daughter. So the mother of the seven-year-old with, with her parents and it's before they die.
No, no, I can't be. The mom somehow makes it. She's gets stuck between some things. She makes it.
She's ultimately rescued. Tragic moving story. Nancy sends me a link yesterday to the news account, local news, and she says, watch this, watch the video. So I, I was driving home, listening.
I could look up every so often. I was listening, weeping as I did. And I want to play some excerpts for this because, well, you'll understand as we go.
Clip number one. With unimaginable grief, losing three loved ones in Asheville, North Carolina, when they were swept away in floodwaters. Two members of this family, one of which is a survivor of this devastating event.
They're coming out to share their story four days later. Megan Dyer and her sister, Heather Kephart, lost their parents. And Megan lost her seven-year-old son, Micah. Megan agreed to do the interview with us this morning in Micah's honor. Megan and her sister, Heather, they join us live here on weather command. And we do appreciate you both for being here with us. Let us start by saying we are so, so sorry for your loss.
Megan, you witnessed this happen. And when we experience grief, so often we are asked, how are you holding up? But I feel like I know the answer to that already.
So let me ask you this then. How is your grief today? My grief today is unfathomable. I'm sorrowful.
I'm, you know, I feel broken. But what is the main thing that I take away from grief is the uplifting of all the prayers that I've received. And I think that all the chain of prayers that I have felt are the things that held me up, the things that are holding me together right now. Because if it was up to my humanly flesh, I wouldn't be able to do it. Family, togetherness, many, many people reaching out, praying, sending their support.
That's the pieces that I can't have on my own that they're putting together for me. All right. So the first question you ask, OK, so prayers have sustained her. What in her what in prayers saved her seven year old son or her parents? Those are natural questions to ask. Well, let's let's hear what this grieving mother and daughter has to say.
Clip number two. Heather, by your side, Megan, we also know your other sister, Jessica. Initially, when the stories started coming out of western North Carolina, your sister Jessica was posting updates on Facebook before even after the rescue. And those subsequent updates there is this picture I believe you took on the roof. And only if you feel comfortable sharing what was going through your mind, because you, your parents and your son, I believe those were your shoes, had to evacuate to the roof. Yes, we did. It was our only hope at that point.
Everything else was covered in water. We were on the roof. And I considered at that moment that we were at our safe point. So I took a picture because everything else was covered so I took a picture because at that point I still had service and I wanted to keep them in the loop. I thought we were okay still, until the house broke apart and until everything started to collapse. Devastation, I was terrified, but in that moment all I thought about was being a mom and keeping my son safe and reassuring him that this is how superheroes are made.
We survive and we keep going and I wanted to keep that alive in that moment so I never let the faith falter. I want to ask you too, Heather, as we give Megan a moment as well. You are Megan's sister so your parents were also on that roof as well as your nephew.
I am reading that you do not live in Asheville so what was the communication? Did you know what was happening in real time as your family was waiting for that necessary life-saving support? We were, yeah, we were getting texts from Megan and like Megan we were hopeful. I mean we never in a million years would imagine that this would have happened.
And then things went dark and we didn't have any communication. And our sister Jessica went into action mode and started calling on the only hope that we have, prayer, which is prayer. And the network came through like we have never seen.
It's been such a blessing to our family. All the people, all of the responders, all around the world came and they prayed for us and our family. And I have to say in the water because I was stuck there for a very long time in the water and I was, you know, held down by roots and trees and in that moment, you know, in the midst of the chaos all I heard was God telling me to be still and to stop fighting the water.
That had, that was him, but that was prayers. That was prayers that told me to be still and to let the water carry me to where I needed to be to be rescued. Yeah, so she was rescued. She's in the water.
We'll find out for about five hours. She was rescued. Her parents and her seven-year-old son did not make it. And again you say, okay, people were praying. Everyone was praying.
She heard the voice of God telling him to be still and then God directed her to her safety after that. And yet the others were not saved. So I want to start here and say that is what sometimes happens in this world. Sometimes inexplicable things happen to godly people or people who love the Lord. What we cannot do is do what Job's friends did and well there's something wrong with you. This only happens to bad people. Now Job had a series of extraordinary calamities and that was their natural way to think something's wrong with you. You know, a lot of times we do that.
We have to point a finger at someone else because it makes our own faith insecure. Well, if that happened to them, then it could happen to me. First, never, never, never try to fall. It must be something there because if that happened to them, it could happen to me too so I don't have to make them bad. God forbid you think those thoughts. On the other hand, don't do what Job did and say, God, you're a monster. What kind of monster are you? How could you do? You're treating like your enemy.
You're trying to kill me and destroy me. The friends wrongly judge Job. Job wrongly judged God.
Don't do either. God remains good. God remains full of love. In the end, God's ways are best, even when inexplicable things happen in this world, even when one person is miraculously saved and another family member is not. We'll sort this out more and listen to more of this moving story on the other side of the break.
Don't go anywhere. This is Michael Ellison, founder of Tributa Wellness. I want you to hear an amazing testimony from my friend James Robison and most all of you will know of him. He and his wife Betty host the Life Today television program. Now here is James. Let me tell you about a miracle I experienced. My friend Michael Ellison, he and his wife are our 40 year plus best friends.
Well, let me just say this to you. I had so much pain with what was called tennis elbow that I could hardly reach over and pick up the phone without pain, without it hurting me. I couldn't pick up something to drink, a glass of tea or anything.
It was very difficult to do anything without wearing a tight strap and then Michael shared the Nopal cactus juice with me, Nopalaya. I began drinking about that much in the morning in the glass and that much later in the day and in three months I was a different person. I have now gone more than 10 years with no pain. Not better, well, I have no joint pain. I am telling you it did something to the inflammation in my body that was undeniable. Now that's just my testimony but that's been more than 10 years with no pain.
As a matter of fact, if I miss for some foolish reason a few days, I can feel it creeping back that fast. So give it a try. See if it helps relieve your pain. I hope it does like it has mine because it worked for me.
Nopalaya is supported by clinical studies for lowering inflammation and improving mobility, flexibility and range of emotion in the neck, back and joints for less reliance on pain medication and improved quality of life. Call 800-771-5584 and use promo code BROWN25 to receive 25% off your order. As a new customer, 100% of your order goes to support the line of fire. Call 800-771-5584 or go online to TriVita.com. It's the line of fire with your host Dr. Michael Brown. Get on the line of fire by calling 866-34-TRUTH.
Here again is Dr. Michael Brown. Thanks friends for joining us. Hey, thanks so much co-sponsor TriVita for your incredible generosity to Zarlisa's, our viewers and for your great wellness products, part of my daily routine.
So thank you for standing with us. I want to go back to this interview. Mother has lost her seven-year-old son and her mom and dad in one moment, swept away by the floods after the hurricane here in North Carolina.
Her sister has lost mom and dad and nephew. Here they are doing an interview. They wanted to do it. They wanted to honor their parents.
They wanted to honor Micah and as this unfolds, we'll share more commentary and then talk these issues through as believers, how we handle this and tangible things that we do before the Lord. All right, let's listen to clip number three. You were eventually rescued and sharing the story just four days later, Megan. Your son Micah, seven years old, from what I've been told you're wearing one of his t-shirts. You called him a superhero.
Yes, he wanted to be Deadpool for Halloween and in his honor, I wore it today for him. Micah, man. Tell us about Micah and the legacy that he's going to leave on this earth. You know, I'm so proud of my son because in his last moments, he wasn't screaming for me. He was screaming, Jesus, Jesus, save me.
Jesus, I hear you. Jesus, I'm calling upon you and his wildest dreams and everything that he wanted to be was a superhero hero and that was his goal in life and instead, he's my hero because he reached for something past flesh, past human, past anything that even grown adults, I think, would reach for. My son called out to the one God Almighty and I think at that moment, he was rescued and he became my hero and I think all of them carried me through that moment. I think that his biggest dreams, he was the smartest, smartest, bravest, hopeful, great friend, great son. I couldn't have asked for a better son and he was so happy up until the very end when he was screaming for Jesus and in that moment, I think he found joy. You know, the innocence of children is actually quite spectacular. Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry.
Yeah, it is. Marissa being a mother to Meghan and Heather, I do, amidst the tragedy, your parents as well, Jessica included. How will they be remembered?
Heather, if you don't mind sharing about your parents. Our parents, like everybody, were not perfect but since the time that we could talk in our little southern accents, they taught us Bible verses and we met, my dad, we had a big piece of cardboard and for every Bible verse we memorized, he gave us a star and the old foily stars, I don't even know if they make them now but we got one for every verse and those verses to this day are in our hearts and in our minds and I think nothing, they wouldn't want to do anything else in this moment but to give honor and glory to the Lord Jesus Christ. And one verse in particular, Micah 6a, he has shown the old man what is good but what does the Lord require of thee but to do justly, love humbly and walk humbly with thy God.
I think I know why Micah got his name now. Yes he did, in honor of my father and in honor of that verse. All right, and now she's gonna give her account how she's rescued Meghan, the mom, and then we'll share some thoughts about it, asking the question, well there's a boy trying, Jesus saved me, why didn't Jesus save him? Fair question to ask, right?
Fair question to ask. Let's listen to the last segment of the interview. You know, and I apologize, it's so emotional, I think anybody watching, it's hard not to get choked up. Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry. I have, I'm so sorry.
Yeah. I'm sorry, I have a seven-year-old. I have a seven-year-old at home and so I do want to ask you, oh my gosh, I've never done this on air before but I think people watching need to know that when we talk about over 120 lives that have been lost, these are brothers and sisters and sons and mothers and fathers. Prayer and faith is getting you through this and it is such an important thing to lean on in this time.
What is it you want people watching to know and to understand as we continue to bring coverage out of Asheville, out of North Carolina, out of these communities that have been so deeply and forever impacted? I want them to remember that there is joy beyond the pain, that while we are wrapped in sorrow and while we are wrapped in grief and overwhelming regret for all the things that we could have done that we didn't, that they are happy and they are joyful and they are all around us looking down and my son couldn't be more proud of me for hanging on. My parents were probably lifting me up when I was in between the two things that were holding me down. They are rejoicing at the fact that I now can tell them what God did for me because it was God. He said, be still, I am in control and you will pass on. This is a backfire for the devil because he tried to take me out and here I am sharing the word that my seven-year-old is a hero and my parents live on in God's glory.
Mighty, mighty Micah Mann. I'm struck by your spirit and having the support of your sisters. I know when it comes to this event, I would imagine you being in the water, I know it's hard to gauge time. Was it a few hours until you were rescued? I was in the water for five hours. I was in the water for a very long time down the river. I got caught in some trees and things were hitting me.
I got dragged under a few times and that's when I remember being in a tree and I remember thinking, well, a voice told me I cannot stay here. I have to let go because they couldn't find me there. I had to trust that voice to let go and to hope something else was waiting for me. When I did let go, I heard the voice say, be still, don't fight the water. Then I ended up in between the two carriers that stuck with me the whole time. I waited for about two hours until God blessed me with a man that saw me and the rescue team that provided for me.
I can't thank them enough. You have a very long road ahead of you and the grief I know is going to come in waves. For anybody that's experienced grief that is watching knows, I always say it moves like the ocean. The ebbs and flows and some days are going to be harder than others and some moments will be easier.
But I think remembering those moments of your son and of your parents are what ultimately those good memories of laughter and joy are what see you through. In addition to your faith and speaking with us and sharing your story, both you and Megan and Heather, we so appreciate it. You have all of our prayers, our utmost condolences and as you navigate it, we hope you can carry with that some of our thoughts and love.
All right, yeah, and if there was a GoFundMe account set up as well, I'm sorry, I don't have it in front of me. You know, today as I was leaving the house, Nancy was packing up. She and our daughter Meg are heading into one of the worst-hit areas in North Carolina just to try to bring help, hooked up with a ministry there. You know, they're packing chainsaws and whatever else they have and just to go help on the ground in our ministry, just trying to help out in practical ways. So obviously, Christians can do that. Christians lead the way in humanitarian efforts around the world. You'll see wherever there's a disaster in America, around the world, you'll see major ministries that are there, local ministries that are there, churches doing good. This is something that we can do. We don't necessarily have questions, answers as to why this happened or that happened or why this disaster didn't touch here, touched here.
This one miraculously rescued, this one not rescued, and I'm going to address all that on the other side of the break. I'm going to address all that as best as I can, scripturally. But, but what we do know, what we do know is that there are things we can do on the ground. We can pray for God to help those that did survive and help those in the midst of grief and then in tangible ways to just come alongside and support and say we're here to help in a physical way. But what about the great questions of faith? How much insight does God give us? Is it just random? Could it be that any of us are like we're sitting ducks?
Is there is there anything we can do? What are the promises? We'll address all that on the other side of the break. This is Michael Ellison, founder of Tributa Wellness. I want you to hear an amazing testimony from my friend James Robison and most all of you will know of him. He and his wife Betty host the Life Today television program. Now here is James. Let me tell you about a miracle I experienced. My friend Michael Ellison, he and his wife are our 40 year plus best friends.
Well, let me just say this to you. I had so much pain with what was called tennis elbow that I could hardly reach over and pick up the phone without pain, without it hurting me. I couldn't pick up something to drink, a glass of tea or anything.
It was very difficult to do anything without wearing a tight strap and then Michael shared the Nopal cactus juice with me, Nopalaya. I began drinking about that much in the morning in the glass and that much later in the day and in three months I was a different person. I have now gone more than 10 years with no pain. Not better, well, I have no joint pain. I am telling you it did something to the inflammation in my body that was undeniable. Now that's just my testimony but that's been more than 10 years with no pain.
As a matter of fact, if I miss for some foolish reason a few days, I can feel it creeping back that fast. So give it a try. See if it helps relieve your pain. I hope it does like it has mine because it worked for me.
Nopalaya is supported by clinical studies for lowering inflammation and improving mobility, flexibility and range of emotion in the neck, back and joints for less reliance on pain medication and improved quality of life. Call 800-771-5584 and use promo code BROWN25 to receive 25% off your order. As a new customer, 100% of your order goes to support the line of fire.
Call 800-771-5584 or go online to TriVita.com. It's the line of fire with your host, Dr. Michael Brown. Get on the line of fire by calling 866-34-TRUTH.
Here again is Dr. Michael Brown. Well friends, if you'd like to make a contribution, we are helping with some of the material things as we can, sending my wife and daughter with some help over there. It's a great time to do it. We'd love to send you our thank you gift. My new book comes out in just a few days, Hearts of Compassion, Backbones of Steel, how to discuss controversial topics with love and kindness. You can call 800-538-5275.
800-538-5275. Your gift of any size was very timely and our thank you gift to you is this very important, eye-opening new book. Okay, important programming announcement. We have been on the Truth Radio Network since we started Live Daily Radio 16 years ago. We're going to continue on the Truth Radio Network.
Main stations are on North Carolina, some other locations. You're going to continue to hear us. However, if you're listening live, it's three to four eastern time and if you're in different time zones, different time zones. But three to four eastern time. We're going to continue, but it's going to be three to three-thirty eastern time.
Three to three-thirty. All of you who get our podcasts, whether it's through the Truth Network or Apple or Spotify or Edify or Charisma, wherever you get our podcast, that's going to continue. May have a new name, but it's going to continue. So you've subscribed to our podcast, those are going to continue. But it is a half hour equipping broadcast. We are pouring into these.
We've been doing them around the country. We launched this on a couple hundred plus stations in January and this equipping broadcast is our best way to build you up, to strengthen you, to help you to get much, much more in depth than we have in our live talk shows to really cover subjects well, to help you be everything God wants you to be in this critical, difficult, challenging hour. So that's going to continue. However, we're going to be releasing a lot of new additional content.
So our content is actually going up, not down. But the daily radio broadcast is going from an hour live talk to 30-minute equipping. So those listening three to three-thirty eastern time, nothing's changing. If you're still listening between three-thirty and four, subscribe to the podcast. You can listen to that whenever you can. And then here's the other thing you want to do. You want to go to our YouTube channel.
Go to YouTube, type in the line of fire. Make sure it's my face you see there. Subscribe to the YouTube because we're going to be putting out all kinds of great new content. We're going to be pouring a lot of hours into producing really excellent new content from long-form interviews to more intensive teaching, digging into biblical books, detecting controversies in different ways, to sharing by audio some things that we've written, to sermons I've preached in the past that are relevant.
We'll be posting lots of new stuff. This way you won't miss anything. So if you don't subscribe, if you're watching this on Facebook, just take a moment, go to YouTube and type in the line of fire. Make sure it's my channel there. Click subscribe. Then you'll see a little bell. Ring that bell.
So ding, press that. That means whenever we launch something new, you'll know about it. All right, so this is our way of continuing to minister and fulfill the mission that God has given us to do. All right, so let's now sort things out, what we know and what we don't know. What we do know is that things happen in this world to everybody. Everybody dies eventually. Everybody goes through hard times, that life is not just a bowl of cherries. Life is not just fireworks and happy things and nice things. Life has ups and downs. Life has hardships. And Jesus said in John 1633, in this world you'll have trouble. Not just for the faith, but it's part of living in this world.
That's why you have books like Job. That's why you have all the emotions of the Psalms. That's why you have the book that raises skeptical questions like Ecclesiastes. God's saying in this world there will be hard times, there will be difficult times.
So let's just start there. God can use those times to make us into something beautiful. They can destroy us, they can make us become embittered or broken, or He can do something something in us through those hardships, through those difficulties, through those trials that make us something that we weren't before.
Let me read to you what Paul wrote in Romans chapter 5. Romans chapter 5, Paul wrote this, therefore since we have been justified by faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus the Messiah through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings. Now speaking especially of suffering for the faith, but there's just the suffering of being in this world. We glory in our sufferings because we know that suffering produces perseverance. There's something that can be built in us by way of persevering, having been through the storm, having been through the loss, having been through the agony, having been through the pain, having endured.
It produces in us perseverance and perseverance produces character. Those who've been tried by the fire, those who've come out whole are some of the strongest, godliest people I've ever met. Two people that I met they were as if they were from another world, another planet. Richard and Sabina Warmbron had the pleasure and honor of spending some hours with them on a couple of different occasions in around 93 and a little bit after that. I mean they were different.
They had suffered horrifically in Romanian prison, Sabina in a slave labor camp and Richard in horrific torture imprisonment, three years solitary confinement, two imprisonments over 14 years. They had a different quality about them that was because of what they had suffered and there are people that know of incredible compassion but they've been through terrible loss and it was that loss that produced in them an extraordinary compassion. We don't know why certain things happen. We don't know why one was saved and one was not saved.
We don't have answers and many times if God gave us an answer it would be beyond our understanding or too hard for us to handle. So we trust him and I'm going to give you more reasons to trust him in a moment but God can make something beautiful out of the worst things you've ever been through. A high school, excuse me, a college professor did an exercise with her students had him take a piece of paper and write down on the front the 10 worst things that ever happened to them in your life. Write the 10 more, think about it, 10 worst things. Now flip it over, write down the 10 best things that ever happened to you and in many cases the same items were on the front and back. There were several items on the front and on the back. The worst thing and the best thing.
It was the same thing. The worst things I've ever lived through. The things I hope I never ever go through again have helped me make have helped make me into who I am today and produce some of the best qualities in me.
I hope I never go through those again and yet I wouldn't be who I am without them. Paul says we also glor in our sufferings because we know that suffering produces perseverance, perseverance, character and character, hope. We end up with a hope beyond the grave and hope does not put us to shame because God's love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. I'm not concerned about a mom and her theology saying well you know a seven-year-old he helped he prayed Jesus saved me he was helping me he was in heaven he was helping me and my parents were helping me as they were in heaven well that's I don't know about that theology forget the theology about that right now that's not the issue. This is a woman sustained supernaturally in faith and able to say my parents are with the Lord and my son is with the Lord and they're forever happy so in the midst of the pain I have joy that's extraordinary that's supernatural and that's not denial that's reality friends that's reality. Some years ago I had a biblical scholar on the air with me and he had lost his faith completely lost his faith he was an atheist now and he said he wished he could get it back he just doesn't know how and he and his wife had the tragedy of losing a baby baby boy he started crying on the air he he said I wish I could see him again I want to see him again but he just doesn't believe it's real friends this is reality this is reality you say well how do you how do you be so sure I'm going to tell you in a moment I'm going to tell you in a moment but we don't understand what everything why things happen we do know that God does act supernaturally in undeniable ways and like this woman with her story and even hearing the voice tell her be still and then you've got to move that was the voice of God that was the voice of God saving her life. I'm working with a school in Israel the Jerusalem Bible Institute official class is launched in November one of the professors was telling us colleagues I wasn't there in Israel for the first meeting with with the incoming students but there's one couple with their baby they were miraculously delivered on October 7th. Why were they delivered the others not I don't know but God will do enough things to show that he is really there and sometimes in the aftermath of the tragedy he doesn't heal the person but then he works miracles after he is saying I am here I am real I am good it will all make sense one day and he gives us enough evidence in the here and now enough evidence in the here and now that we can say yes you haven't left us you haven't forsaken us I don't know why you didn't save my wife or my husband or my kids or my parents or my friend but you saved me you saved this one you did it supernaturally your presence is sustaining me so I know you're here I know you're good I know you're the one carrying me in my grief and pain and bereavement I know that's real and for Job ultimately he never got answers to his questions but he encountered God and when he saw the overwhelming wisdom and beauty and power and majesty of God and understood the depths of his goodness the questions disappeared and then the rest of his life was more blessed than the first so how could that be God is a redeemer and those things that we lose in this world children family will never get them back in this world even if we have a bunch more kids and family we never recover that loss that hole is always there and yet God can make us a better person through it God can use us to help others suffer because others will suffer in this world and then forever and ever and ever and ever we can enjoy his goodness and his grace I want to give you a personal story from some dear friends and give you some more scripture to consider as we talk about these life and death real issues of faith no easy answers but beautiful truths about a beautiful God who can be trusted whether we live or we die we can trust him and we hold on to his promises if we don't get the answer we expect ultimately God has a reason but until then I'm going to hold on to every promise let's go this is michael ellison founder of tributa wellness I want you to hear an amazing testimony from my friend james robinson and most all of you will know of him he and his wife betty host the life today television program now here is james let me tell you about a miracle I experienced my friend michael ellison he and his wife are our 40 year plus best friends well let me just say this to you I had so much pain with what was called tennis elbow that I could hardly reach over and pick up the phone without pain without it hurting me I couldn't pick up something to drink a glass of tea or anything it was very difficult to do anything without wearing a tight strap and then michael shared the nopal cactus juice with me nopalea I began drinking about that much in the morning in the glass and that much later in the day and in three months I was a different person I have now gone more than 10 years with no pain not better well I have no joint pain I am telling you it did something to the inflammation in my body that was undeniable now that's just my testimony but that's been more than 10 years with no pain matter of fact if I miss for some foolish reason a few days I can feel it creeping back that fast so give it a try see if it helps relieve your pain I hope it does like it has mine because it worked for me nopalaya is supported by clinical studies for lowering inflammation and improving mobility flexibility and range of emotion in the neck back and joints for less reliance on pain medication and improved quality of life call 800-771-5584 and use promo code brown 25 to receive 25% off your order as a new customer 100% of your order goes to support the line of fire call 800-771-5584 or go online to try vita doc this is michael it's the line of fire with your host dr michael brown get on the line of fire by calling eight six six three four truth here again is dr michael brown thanks friends for joining us on the line of fire we've got two very important interviews coming your way on tomorrow's thoroughly jewish thursday broadcast i encourage you to tune in and tonight begins the jewish new year so in the bible it's the first day of the seventh month not the new year it's the first day of the seventh month yom trua the day of the signing of the trumpet blast the shofar blast and then 10 days after that yom kippur the day of atonement five days after that the week-long celebration of sukkot which has an additional day added onto it jewish tradition goes for eight days and october 7th would have been the culminating day of tabernacles called simchat Torah day of rejoicing of the giving of the torah supposed to be the most joyous day on the jewish calendar instead october 7th last year was a horror of horrors israel still in an existential battle things have only intensified since then the Iranian missile onslaught reading accounts from israel saying it's it's miraculous that all the technology operated the way it did that there weren't fatalities all over israel after this missile bombardment it's extraordinary but israel is in pain prevail right now israel needs your prayers and especially this time of the year the holiest day of the jewish time of the jewish calendar where jews will be looking to god and praying in the midst of the pain pray that god reveals himself pray that god pours out a spirit of grace pray that he brings comfort pray that the mercies expressed through his son would become real to israelis jews all around the world so back to the question of suffering in this world the the biggest thing that we ultimately look at is the cross the biggest thing that we ultimately look at is the cross that is the expression of the goodness and kindness of god that is the expression of the mercy of god that is the expression of god giving us the opposite of what we deserve and when he wants us to know his nature that's where we look when jesus came into the world he said to his disciples john 14 when they said show us the father he said have i been with you so long you don't get it you've seen me you've seen the father in john 5 he said he could only do what he saw the father doing he is according to hebrews 1 the the shining forth the expression of the glory of god if you want to know what god looks like if you want to know who god is if you want to know his nature look at jesus and you see god's heart for us expressed at the cross in other words he's not out to get us he's not looking for an excuse to destroy us he's he's not looking for opportunities to to hurt us you know john 3 16 most of you listening watching for god so loved the world that he gave his one and only son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life eternal life for god did not send his son into the world to condemn the world that the world through him might be saved and of course the condemnation is people continue to walk in darkness not god's light but god did not send his son into the world to condemn the world but said the world through him might be saved and ultimately when god foresaw what the human race would be and do he foresaw that he foresaw giving us free will he foresaw it would come out of it he foresaw and foreordained the cross through the cross through the cross we have eternal life and we'll be with him forever god saw all the suffering all the pain everything that would happen and said it will be worth it for me because god will endure the pain with us and it will be worth it for the human race for what will come out in the end which is being with him forever and ever and ever an unspeakable joy and glory and purpose and destiny and he could give he gives us a glimpse of that in the here and now that carries us through the storms of life and the hope he puts within us is not artificial it's real so in the 1990s so I was serving second half of the 1990s in Pensacola Florida as a leader in the Browns revival Friends of ours had an absolute tragedy a couple some of our dear friends they had a miraculous child they had their kids they thought their family was done god showed them supernaturally to have another child and and they did they know there's one more there's one more and they had another and child of promise a little little baby little boy he's got a little baby he's got a little baby little boy he's got a severe heart condition he's not going to make it the heart's enlarged and all of us who prayed all the leaders prayed we lived in Maryland when the baby was born this is now some years later when we live in Pensacola he's he's not going to make it that's what the doctors say and as we prayed we all felt all the leaders he's going to make it he's going to make it he's going to live and and god healed his heart and 12 years old and sleep over at a friend's house and there's a terrible fire and he's killed 12 years old no heartbreaking news heartbreaking news I mean they prayed and prayed that's for god to raise him from the dead until he was buried and died he was buried and the parents trusted god continue to trust god and continue to love god serve god dear friends to this day inexplicable loss but they worshiped god nonetheless well in the days that followed it was one after another friends we weren't really close with but they're closer to nancy's sister and they got killed mom and dad got killed they got in an argument the car believers they got in an argument in the car not paying attention and slammed into a truck in front of them with their teenage kids in the back seat kids made it parents killed and then another then another it was total of about 10 people in just a period of weeks and then other dear dear friends 13 year old son they had two boys one little bit older than 13 year old boy a kid 6190 pounds i remember and uh for a friend's birthday they they went out on jet skis now the the friend's father was a safety fanatic i think it was something like 20 years earlier but years earlier he lost a child in a drowning accident so he became a safety fanatic and they went out on a weekday so the only there wouldn't be other boats there wouldn't be other jet skis just the two jet skis that the boys were on and dear friends of ours they're boys on the jet skis and he's driving and not experienced with it but driving and well they'll navigate properly and they crash head on they fall in the water everybody's fine the boys 13 year olds killed instantly killed i remember we got murdered in pensacola we were just absolutely devastated and another child no devastated and and um you know and i remember i stepped out of room for a minute and i heard i heard noise nancy had actually taken some of the furniture and thrown it in in my office and she said i'm not eating i said you're going on a fast she said no i'm going on a hunger strike it was just her way of saying god this doesn't seem right it was expression of it was expression of faith so i i flew up to new jersey to be with our friends and uh i literally was gonna the the the coffin was was in the church building for a couple days for services and viewing and then then then be buried and uh i i went up i didn't tell them but i talked to the pastor got permission to go in the church building at night to pray that god would raise him from the dead i'd never done that but i thought well i have to try it's in the bible jesus raised people from the dead the disciples did on some occasions he didn't rise but anyway what was shocking what was shocking was the couple gary and cindy they run our ministry by the way friends of over 40 years cindy's our director of operations gary's our cfo they run our ministry uh at the viewing that night they stood there comforting the mourners they stood there with smiles comforting the more with a massive hole inside of them that i can't imagine with agony over the loss of their child godly kid godly kid both of them godly the older brother is a pastor today in our area godly kids and cindy had confessed as always you know the children are blessed and you know they follow the truth and so on and they had no earthly answers to this and yet god's presence was with them to the point that people were coming up crying and i remember them standing there hugging them and comforting them so this is the opposite this is the opposite and then that next day it's like i said it was a friday then this next day where we're all gathered at the houses before the funeral still gathered at the house and a reporter comes to the door and and because they've heard the story they want to you know how they're feeling the reaction and they're upset with the other family and cindy opens the door and they said they would like to talk to cindy pan for that issue that's me she said no no no the the mother that lost the trust because that's me they couldn't say they couldn't understand how this can possibly be that here you are answering the door and you're actually greeted me warmly and kindly yeah agony of heart yes a loss yes a hole that remains to this day and yet they will tell you about the goodness of god they their faith has not wavered they still believe in the goodness of god they still believe in miracles if you're in a crisis there are people to stand with and pray with god somehow sustains us we may not have the answer as to the why but he comes with his presence and says i'm here i'm near i'm with you and in eternity this will make sense right now i'm going to carry you through the storm and i'm going to use you to help others because as long as this world is here there's going to be suffering and pain so we look to the cross we see the goodness of god we trust in no matter what we hold to the promises as written unless unless god tells us otherwise we hold to the promises as written and he will take us through the valley he will take us on the mountain he will take us through the storm if we don't make it through the storm forever and ever we will enjoy his presence one way or another god will bring light out of darkness and get out of evil it is who he is
