Dr. Brown Answers Your Toughest Questions

The following program is recorded content created by the Truth Network. Let's do it. You've got questions. We've got answers. Here again is Dr. Michael Brown. Thanks, friends, for joining us on the line of fire today. Here's the number to call. Any question of any kind that relates in any way whatsoever to the content of this broadcast or anything I've written about, touched on, talked about, anything whatsoever, guests have discussed, that is game for today. Go for it. 866-34-TRUTH is the number to call.

Going to go to the phones in one minute. We just got in now the new edition. It's really a beautiful edition, Compassionate Father Consuming Fire, Engaging the God of the Old Testament. I originally wrote this book as my very first in 1985. It's been out of circulation for many, many years. So what we decided to do is do an update. Update the book because it is so practical.

It is so relevant to so many issues that believers are dealing with today and questions about the God of the Old Testament, the goodness of the God of the Old Testament. So it's beautifully produced. It's a new edition. It's this beautiful coffee table hardcover edition. But listen, you can still officially pre-order it on our website. So go to AskDrBrown.org. You'll see the information right on the home page. And then when you do, you'll get a numbered signed copy, so kind of collector's edition from the first printing, along with a link to a special teaching I did that gives the history of the book, gets into further information about each chapter.

So you'll find it really, really enlightening, eye-opening, and literally, I just walked out right before the show as the truck arrived with books and just grabbed a copy so I could hold it my hands and hold it up for you. Okay, we go to the phones, starting with Sim in Idaho. What's the pronunciation of your city? I didn't want to butcher it. Cor Delaine.

Cor Delaine. Okay, got it. Yes, go ahead. Hey, thank you.

I met you the first time over at the Brownsville Revival, so it's been a long time, but thank you so much for taking my call. My question is, I know sometimes you can interpret the scriptures literally or allegorically. There's, you know, allegorically you can look at things, and I was reading, or actually I heard a teaching three weeks ago that was going off of Revelations and the Four Horns, and the pastor had said that the United States, Russia, UN, and NATO are the Four Horns. Well, my question is, if that is the case, do we take the scriptures that says, flee Babylon?

Is that is that literal? And the angel that throws the stone down to Babylon is that literal? I'm super confused, and I was hoping that you can enlighten me. Right, the confusion comes from the pastor, not from the scripture.

In other words, ask yourself this question. Let's say you live 1900 years ago, a little over that, when Revelation was first written, you were one of the first believers to receive it. So, in one of the seven cities in Asia Minor where Revelation was addressed in the early chapters, the seven congregations in Asia Minor are each addressed.

So, let's say you were one of the believers hearing Revelation read in your house church meeting. Do you think it should have some relevance for you? Yes.

Okay. In other words, it's written for you, right? You're the first readers, and there's a special blessing. So, if it's talking about United States and Russia and China, whatever, or the Vatican, or whatever, none of which existed then, it would have no relevance whatsoever. So, there must have been some meaning there. Revelation is full of symbolism. Revelation is full of mystery and imagery that's called apocalyptic. So, you describe things in visionary form. You describe things as if everything is the end of the world, etc.

It's normal imagery. So, when you'd be reading about the beast and so on, you'd certainly be thinking about a neurotype figure or a Caesar or whatever the Roman emperor was persecuting the church at that time. If you didn't have freedom to do your work as a Christian, you know, you would be under that system of the beast or the antichrist, even though there's a final application of the book. The point is, spiritual imagery like this can be applied in many, many different ways. It had to have relevance for the first readers, and then every generation reading along the way, and then and then the last readers in the last generation as Jesus comes and we see the end of the book of Revelation, the establishing of God's eternal kingdom, and things like that. So, if the pastor wanted to read it rightly, he could say, today we could make application and say that the four world powers are thus and such, and it could be interpreted in that way.

Just like when you're reading 1 Corinthians and Paul's dealing with issues in the church then and specific people that were divisive, now how do we apply that to us today? Or, for example, COVID is not one of the plagues of the book of Revelation. The vaccine is not the mark of the beast. But you can say, isn't it interesting that a day will come when you can't buy or sell without getting this mark, and now we're being told you can't do certain things without a vaccine.

Isn't it interesting how these things can happen and be a foreshadowing? So, it's just a matter of giving right interpretation to something. So, you say, okay, practically speaking, what does it mean flee Babylon? It absolutely does not mean flee the United States or flee Russia or flee China or flee whatever it is. It means flee from the sins of the world, flee from the control of the world system and the pollution of the world system.

So, wherever you live in whatever country you live, fleeing Babylon means fleeing from the sins and the pollution of the world. So, it could be like in our day raising our kids not having a TV in the house because we didn't want to be polluted and have the kids polluted. We had screens you could watch videos on, but we didn't have TV. We chose to do without it. Or someone has an internet filter so that they don't partake of certain things.

They make sure that certain junk can't come in their home. There are many ways we can flee Babylon, but to apply it in a literal way is absolutely not what's being spoken of here. And again, we're not even at that moment where there's the final judgment on Babylon.

So, let's make spiritual application and then certain things as they fall into place and have more universal application at the end of the age, then let it be. Is that helpful? Man, that is really helpful. I really appreciate it. Just keep me and my family in your prayers, and I really thank you for your time. All right, you bet.

And you're not the only one to ask a question like that, for sure. 866-3-4-Truth in grace to you and your family. By the way, often when we start our broadcast or Q&A broadcast, before I'm on the air, every line is filled, and then sometimes we have some openings. So, we have some openings. If you've been trying to call and get through, this is a great time to call. 866-348-7884. Let's go to Troy in Louisville, Kentucky. Welcome to the line of fire.

Hey, Dr. Brown. Thanks for having me on. My question is more Jewish-related. Over the past few years, your material has helped me tremendously with Jewish evangelism and apologetics, but kind of more of a practical question I had for you today. In my city of Louisville, I've tried to reach out to the Jewish community in different ways. Some of the things I've done is try to befriend some people on social media, and then also I've been into a couple tourist studies and just kind of listened and tried to ask a question and just meet the rabbis.

And so, I've tried to do those things, but haven't been able to really get much traction. I've also met with the Messianic rabbi over a congregation here in Louisville and just tried to strategize with him, but I just haven't felt like I got much traction. I wanted to ask you, in your experience, what would be some practical sort of things I could do to better reach and engage the Jewish community of my city? Yeah, well, I appreciate your vision and burden to do that and wanting to be scriptural to the Jew first. So, the first thing you do is pray. Pray that God would open hearts, God would open minds. So, pray that general prayer for the Jewish community in Louisville.

That's the first thing. And of course, you recognize that you have religious Jews and you have nominal Jews. You have atheistic Jews.

You've got a wide range and every person is different. The default would be, well, we don't believe in Jesus or we're not buying what you're selling, but that's just the generalization. So, you pray first for God to open hearts and minds. The second thing is, I would pray for divine appointments. In other words, I would ask the Lord to bring someone in my path. I was flying back from Phoenix the other day and on the way getting on the plane, I said, Lord, would you bring someone on my path today that's open, that's hungry?

Now, it didn't happen that he did, but when I sat down, there was some guys on the plane and they asked if they could switch seats with the woman in the seat in front. She didn't mind, so she switched and I thought, okay, that gets my attention, because I've had it happen when someone switches seats and it's a divine appointment. I remember it wasn't long after talking to a guy, he's there weeping and wanting to get right with God.

It was just amazing. So, I thought, well, even though I'd rather just write and rest now, I want to be conscientious. So, I said, hey, listen, getting on the plane, I prayed that God would give me an opportunity to speak with someone that was spiritually searching. I said, if you have any spiritual question of any kind, you just ask me.

She goes, okay, I'm good, but thanks. Well, that's as far as it went, but you never know and it'll get your attention if out of the blue you meet someone, you start talking, they're Jewish, maybe they're on a spiritual search. So, number one, pray in general for the opening of eyes. Number two, pray for divine appointments, because otherwise, it's, picture the rabbi going to talk to the pastor of your church and saying, I'd like to tell you why you shouldn't believe in Jesus.

I mean, he's not going to have a lot of success. If you go to a Torah study or something like that, make it clear, hey, I'm a Christian, I'm not here to proselytize, I just want to understand your perspective and then if they open a door to talk, great, but otherwise, learn what you can. And then lastly, get a practical book. Troy, there's one called You Bring the Bagels, I'll Bring the Gospel by Barry Rubin. It's been out for many years, but it's a practical book, R-U-B-I-N. You Bring the Bagels, I'll Bring the Gospel. And this just gives different principles, sharing the gospel with Jewish people. Obviously, the history of antisemitism in the church has driven many Jewish people away. So, if you're just a Christian that loves the Jewish people, loves Israel, doesn't have an agenda, that will help build bridges. So, hopefully, in those different ways, God will bring someone across your path that's open, interested, and don't be frustrated.

Many times it takes many, many years to see someone come to faith, but the Lord is at work. God bless. We'll be right back. It's The Line of Fire with your host, Dr. Michael Brown. Your voice of moral, cultural, and spiritual revolution.

Here again is Dr. Michael Brown. Thanks for joining us on The Line of Fire. Hey, a word to those who differ with me, a word to those who think my beliefs are wrong or heretical or crazy to believe in the Bible or God or a religious person, but just have different viewpoints. This is a great time to tell me why. Let's tell me to tell all of our listeners and viewers why. It gives me an opportunity to interact with you. You say, Dr. Brown, I know you often do that and give people an opportunity to call. How come you don't take their calls? Because they don't call. I would gladly take calls from those who differ with me virtually 24-7.

I delight in speaking with those who differ, especially those who have strong challenges. Unfortunately, it's very difficult to get people to call in. It's one thing when they bash you online and insult you and malign you and all that, whatever. It's their life. They do it. They give account to God. I just feel bad for them, but that's one thing.

People do that left and right. You say, hey, why don't you call? Why don't you call? I mean, we've even done live shows and we're watching, which is every day, we're watching YouTube chat and people attacking and blasting me say, hey, someone's on YouTube. Call in.

Love to talk to you. Silence. So if you wonder why I don't take more of the attacking calls, it's because the attackers don't call. But if you'd like to, you say, well, that's insulting.

You called me an attacker. Okay, well, if you differ with me, if you think I'm wrong, phone lines are open. 866-344-TRUTH.

How's that? All right, let's go to Steven in Tampa, Florida. Welcome to the line of fire. Hey, Dr. Brown. Thanks for taking my call.

Sure. Hey, I wanted to ask you a question. It's more of a personal question, but I want to get more of a biblical insight. You know, I've been practicing solitude more in my life recently, and I actually bought a pass to my local zoo, and I love to look at nature and just kind of take pictures as a hobby, and I can see God through that, and as I was taking pictures recently, it reminded me of Romans 1, verse 20.

But then I thought to myself, the question, why? How come we can connect with God through nature in almost a spiritual sense? And I don't really know for myself, it just kind of is, and I feel God speaking to me, and I see many qualities through nature that we also see in humanity. But I kind of wanted to get your perspective on how nature also resembles God's qualities. Right, so Paul is not writing there about every creature on the planet necessarily brings glory to God. You know, for example, how does a rattlesnake bring glory to God, or how does a flea bring glory to God?

That's not his point. He's talking more about creation itself, so the heavens and the earth, the display of God in nature, it's self-evident that there's something more. It's self-evident that these things did not create themselves, and that's why people around the world through the centuries have believed in a deity or deities because it's clear there's something more out there and beyond them. Now, you can also learn aspects of God, and this is in the end of Job in the divine speeches, through some of his creation, his creatures, the diversity, the wonder. You know, here's this fish that swims 4,000 feet or 5,000 feet in the bottom of the sea, has never been seen before, and it lives in complete darkness, you know, to the human eye, and then they get these lights out, and then it's got all these amazing colors and, like, lamps.

It's like, where'd that come from? So, there are aspects of, wow, the diversity, the beauty, the wonder of how God makes things, the differences as part of diversity. So, it's not, for many people, it's not so much you connect with God through creation, but you learn about God, and that's what he says in Job, you know, learn about me through creation and through the wonder of it and the awe of it and the diversity of it.

So, not everyone does that, but it is something that can be easily done. Now, on the flip side, when you realize, as I understand it, that a worm is more complex than, say, an iPhone, and no one would question for a split second that an iPhone was manufactured intelligently, and the worm is one of the most primitive, simple forms of life on the earth, how much more evidence is there in human DNA and the creation? So, those are some thoughts, Stephen, and may your pictures not only bless you, but bless others as well. Hey, I appreciate the call. 866-34-TRUTH. Let's go over to William in Delaware. Thanks for calling the line of fire.

God bless you, Dr. Brown. I like you a lot, and I love you, and I appreciate you a lot, but I want to challenge you. Why don't you just come out and say that you can't be a Christian and vote Democrat? I would think that would help a lot and would challenge people to think about that and make a change a little bit in the time we're living in. Do you think you can be a Christian and vote Republican? No, no, no, no.

Good question. No, no. I vote Republican because it's the least of both evils. I'm not saying to be a Republican.

No, no. I'm not saying, no, that's not what I'm saying. Whatever you want to be, that's fine, but you can be a Democrat and be a Christian. So, William, I cannot fathom, personally, how someone can love Jesus, love the Word, love God's principles, and vote Democrat. However, I don't doubt that there are Christians who vote Democrat. So, I actually wrote a chapter in a book, a conservative book, about why some Christians vote Democrat, and I spoke with believers who explained to me some of their reasons for voting Democrat. Now, I don't agree with it, but I can't make the statement that you're asking me to make.

In other words, it goes beyond what I feel comfortable before the Lord or to say, hey, the Bible gives me this as a litmus test. But I do appreciate your answer about Republicans. In other words, we recognize that we're dealing with a fallen system and fallen people. So, here's what some have told me, okay? For example, they said, look, you had Ronald Reagan for eight years, George H. W. Bush for four years, George W. Bush for eight years, Trump for four years, and we still have abortion on demand.

During those 24 years of Republican presidents, pro-life presidents, we aborted over 21 million babies. So, what they've said is, that doesn't matter. Now, again, I differ.

I differ. But they've said to me, that doesn't matter. However they vote doesn't seem to change abortion, so that's going to be changed on the ground, etc. As for homosexual activism and things like that, again, I don't like the answers in terms of what they would say. But they would also say, look, the law can only go so far. It's changing hearts.

We've got to concentrate on families. So, one said this to me. You're all excited about, as a black brother, he said, you're all excited about the conservative justices that Trump has appointed throughout the country. He said, from my studies, these justices on average, for the same sentence to the same type of person, will give a longer sentence to a black person than a white person.

To me, that's injustice. He said, when I'm dealing with my local school districts and trying to get things done and changed, when there's a Republican in power, they don't even give me the time of day. When there's a Democrat, we can talk. So, I'm trying to get my kids educated.

I'm trying to help the inner cities. Those are gospel issues also. So, I hate abortion. I hate homosexual activism.

I differ with these things. But on the ground, it's much more practical for me to vote Democrat on these other righteousness issues. So, again, I differ because, in my view, you cannot vote for a candidate who's pro-abortion.

You sit out in the election if you have to, but if they're pro-abortion, you draw a line in the sand. Just in principle, you can't. But I can't say before God that someone cannot vote Democrat as a Christian. I couldn't do it. I can't see it.

But I can't judge them and say, you're not a follower of Jesus if you vote Democrat. And my question is, why? Why can't you?

That's why I want to challenge you. Why? I haven't heard why. Well, because in their view that our votes for Republicans have not stopped abortion any more than their votes for Democrats, but on the ground, they're saying on practical righteousness issues, on life and death issues where they live, the Democrats are better than the Republicans. That's their argument. And, therefore, because God cares about justice and God cares about education and God cares about poverty, these are all righteousness issues, they feel voting for Democrats. Now, again, I differ.

I think Republican policies still work out better. But if you could give me the chapter in the verse to justify your position, I would gladly adopt it. I don't see that. And, William, I just want to say this. I gave the opportunity for someone to call in to differ with me. As soon as I saw on my screen someone differing, I wanted to get right to you.

It turns out we're together in so many ways. But I was talking to this one brother, African-American brother, and he said to me, why do you think there are people in Congress who are preaching on Sunday morning against homosexuality, against abortion, but they are members of the Democrat Party and they're serving as Democrats? I said, my answer, they're hypocrites. I said, that would be my answer. He said, that's not the case.

And he gave me the reasons behind it. So I think the best thing, William, is to find someone that loves Jesus and that votes Democrat and either challenge them and get them to change their views. As you know, I very strongly challenge people who claim to be pro-life and voted for Joe Biden. I said, you cannot say you're pro-life and vote for Joe Biden.

But to say you cannot be a follower of Jesus, period, and vote Democrat, it's too broad. As much as you know, we are in sync in so many things. But thanks for the public challenge on that. I appreciate it, William. May God's grace be yours. We'll be right back, friends. Don't go anywhere. 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. It is my great joy to take your calls.

Do my best to give you solid biblical answers and wisdom for your questions. 866-34-TRUTH. Michael Brown, thanks for joining us on the Line of Fire.

We go straight to the phone starting with Edward in Middletown, Pennsylvania. Welcome to the Line of Fire. Thank you, Dr. Brown.

You're welcome. I'll get right to my question, and I do appreciate your ministry. I'm messianic myself, although I am a gentile rather than a Jewish person.

I'm also charismatic like you. So the question is, I was comparing Romans 6-14 with Romans 3-31. In 3-31 Paul says we uphold the law, but in Romans 6-14 he says we are not under the law. So knowing that the Holy Spirit does not contradict himself, I was thinking that perhaps by law, when he says we are not under the law, he might mean the law as perhaps pertaining to a certain sect or sect of Pharisees of his day.

No, that's, yeah, I appreciate your thinking on that. It's certainly not what he's saying there in Romans 6. And let's also bear in mind not only will the Holy Spirit not contradict himself, but it's highly unlikely that some of Paul's intellect in the same letter would contradict himself so blatantly, right? So the first point Paul is making, remember when he says law, that can mean a system of law commandments, or it can mean laws in Torah, the five books of Moses, right, can be used interchangeably with overlap between them. So what's his point in Romans 3? He's saying how we're justified by faith, and that this is actually what the Torah teaches, so that rather than abolishing the Torah by faith, we are upholding it. We're saying, well, we learned justification by faith from Genesis 15, 6, that Abraham believed the Lord and it was counted to him for righteousness. So when we teach justification by faith, we're teaching what the Torah teaches, and therefore we uphold the Torah. And then Paul has also argued a few verses earlier that under the law, no one is justified. Rather, everyone is found guilty and in need of a Savior. So by pointing to Jesus as the only Savior, and by pointing to justification by faith, rather than nullifying the law, we are upholding it. We're saying, well, that's what it's there for.

That's the whole purpose of it. Then in Romans 6, he's talking about our dealing with sin. And the law could command us not to sin without empowering us, that the law did not have that element of supernatural grace, God's chorus, which empowers us to do what he called us to do.

As the old poem says, to run and work, the law commands but gives us neither feet nor hands, but better news the gospel brings, it bids us fly and gives us wings. So in Romans 6, 14, what Paul is saying is we're not under the law. One is a system of justification. Two, as something to lead us to the Messiah because we've already come to the Messiah. That's Galatians 3. And thirdly, we're not under the condemnation of the law. Now, by the empowering of God's grace and spirit, we can keep the righteous commandments of the laws, Paul explains in Romans the 8th chapter. These are now written on our hearts to love God, to love our neighbor, et cetera.

So that's how those things come together. Two different aspects and two different viewpoints and two different emphases in terms of what he means by law. So you were right in wondering about the different nuances of law, namaste in Greek, Torah in Hebrew, but just came at it the wrong way. So appreciate the question, sir, very much.

Thank you very much for your answer. All right, you got it. 86634, truth. Let me just say that these are things, like many of you, I thought about, studied, considered for years, and as I did, things fell into place. I remember once one of my trips to Israel may have been one of the early trips, if not the first, while praying at the wall, what outsiders call the Wailing Wall, but within in Israel just called the Wall, a Kotel, that while praying there and meditating on that passage about not being under the law, that certain aspects of that struck me with great clarity. All right, we go to, let's see, Deborah in West Bloomfield, Michigan. Welcome to the line of fire.

Hello, is it Cliff? Go ahead. Okay, yeah, I have two questions. Number one, it's concerning refugees, you know, how we should treat refugees and all that. Is there a way we can find a balance between loving our neighbor, because, you know, definitely we emphasize the importance of loving our neighbor, and I'm all for that, but also at the same time, you know, making sure that our moral standards are still upheld, especially when it comes to, you know, the treatment of refugees and those that are fleeing from war. I was just watching this one documentary about, you know, our former President Trump, who wanted to fight against Islamic terrorism, but his approach was, I would say, very opposite of what we could expect from any president, you know, that says immigration policy, for example, the Muslim ban and all that. Well, what was the Muslim ban that you referred to? There's certain countries that can, or certain people that can enter the U.S. Right, there were seven countries identified by the Obama administration that were dangerous in terms of potential terrorists seeking to come in to America's refugees, and Trump upheld that ban, but then used unwise rhetoric as if he was prohibiting all Muslims from coming into America, but that was never the case, and that was never policy.

But yeah, so let's sort this out very simply into two categories. It is the government's role to make sure that we have secure borders, safety. For example, the policeman in your county, his policeman, policewoman, their primary thought is not, how can I love my neighbor, but how can I protect this community from people that don't love their neighbors? That's why they're there, right?

In other words, if they see someone trying to rape a woman, it's their role to stop that person from raping a woman as opposed to saying, hey, maybe had a bad day, let's sit down and get a cup of coffee. So we understand that. So our government has to make sure that we have secure borders, and we have immigration policies. We have millions and millions and millions, tens and tens of millions of immigrants in our country who have come as refugees from war, have come from difficult situations, and we have always done our best to open our doors to them. There's just a proper way that they come into the system.

It may be slow, but you have to do it by the system. Otherwise, the country can't function. It can only absorb so many people adequately, and you have to be able to vet against terrorism. So right now, as we're doing our best to bring in refugees from Afghanistan, different missions are working to do this even outside the United States. People have to be vetted properly because you don't want to let a terrorist into America whose goal is to take American lives.

So that's for the government to do. For us as believers now, we do our best to reach out, to accommodate refugees, to bring them into our communities. I know one church in Winston-Salem that led the way in resettling Muslims into their area, and they loved on these people, and some of the people started to come to church and were coming to faith, but otherwise they were just there as Christians to set an example. In the late 70s, with the fall of Saigon and the boat people crisis as refugees were fleeing out of South Vietnam, and many of them dying at sea, our pastor got up and said, there's a crisis, and we're going to take these people in because they need sponsors. They can't come without a sponsor. Have you got a bed in your house?

Have you got an empty couch? Let's take them in. So we did that for years. We had refugees from Vietnam, Cambodia living with us for a period of several years, and they became part of our family, but all they needed was sponsors.

So we did that part. So the Christians should emphasize the compassion part. What can we do to help where there are refugees in need? What can we do to settle them in our communities, to reach out, to be a blessing, to show genuine Christian love, and let the government keep our borders secure and vet those who are coming in?

I think it's a simple marriage. You remember with ancient Israel, you have many verses about being compassionate to the stranger, reminding the Israelites that you were strangers in Egypt too. At the same time, they were called to slaughter their enemies. So, you know, if we're quoting the one verse, remember what the other verse has said. So I think if we put everything in its right perspective, what the government does, what the church does, then we can also advocate to the government, look, there's a class of refugees here. Trump wanted to put Christian refugees at the top of the list because they were often the last to be treated, and they were so discriminated against in the Muslim countries, they often couldn't get to the places for resettlement for refugees and things like that.

So I believe he did the right thing in putting that higher up on the opportunity list to come into the country. So that to me is the way I've looked at it. Let the church do its job, let the government do its job, and we can both express things in a righteous and compassionate way. Alright, my second question. So concerning the treatment of the LGBT community, can you please clarify how we can have a biblically balanced approach, whereby as we learn to love them, at the same time we don't lower the moral standards.

Right, so there are two things. There's the agenda and there are the people. So you don't want to say, I love the sinner and hate the sin, because what a gay person will hear is you hate me, because they would say, this is not what I do, this is who I am. So the way the Holy Spirit dropped this in my heart in early 2005, which kind of brought to clarity things I had been feeling for months leading up to that, was reach out and resist.

Reach out to the people with compassion, resist the agenda with courage. I love you as an individual. I care about you whether you're gay, straight, bi, trans, however you identify. You're a human being created in the image of God yet fallen like the rest of us.

Jesus said the same blood for you. I'm going to care about you. If you're a Hindu neighbor, I care about you even though I wouldn't share your faith. If you're a guy living with his girlfriend, I'm going to care about you even though I don't agree with your morals. If you're a gay couple, I'm going to care about you even though I don't believe it's real marriage. So I'm going to love the people, care for the people, treat them with kindness, with grace, everywhere I know how, but I will resist the agenda, the activism, and I'll hold to biblical standards on that.

They may feel rejection in that, sorry about it, but I'm going to love you, I'm going to resist the agenda, and will not move on either. Everyone listening and watching live in less than 30 minutes, 4.15 eastern time, we will be on our YouTube channel, that's Ask Dr. Brown, A-S-K-D-R Brown, for our weekly private exclusive Q&A chat. So you have to join us over on YouTube, Ask Dr. Brown on YouTube, 4.15 eastern time, and especially if you're unable to get through today or we weren't able to get to your call, love to take your questions in chat form over on YouTube. All right, we go back to the phones with an anonymous caller from South Carolina.

Welcome to the Line of Fire. Hey, Dr. Brown, pleasure to talk to you. I don't get to listen to your show very often, so I hope you haven't answered this one recently, but I have been involved in church my entire life. I'm in my late 20s, a little over more than five months ago. I truly got saved, though, and I gave my life to Jesus completely. Since then, I've felt God has been leading me in the ministry, and I have a great desire to share the gospel to change lives for Him. I have talked with a pastor friend of mine and maybe one other person for advice on this, because I've heard in the past growing up that in ministry you're called to do it, it's not something you can do on your own. And I struggle with, is this God leading me in this direction, or is this just that I'm fully involved in my entire life for Him now? Is it just because I'm so involved in the Word and all that, if it's just me thinking that I should do this? The pastor friend I've talked to about it, I said, well, it's not a selfish thing to be in the ministry, so obviously it's something that God is probably telling you you need to be doing, but I would love your advice on it if you have any for that.

Yeah, so let me come at this from a different angle. How did you get from your teen years into your 20s? You lived, right? You kept doing what you were doing and you lived and you got there.

Okay, when you planted a tree, you plant the seeds and then they grow and they're properly watered, it grows and the tree just happens, right? So the same way, you don't want to think of ministry like some profession. You want to realize it's just the natural extension of who you are in God, that all of us are involved in ministry one way or another. If we're saved, every one of us should be doing the work of ministry in one way or another.

Some, it's vocational. You're actually paid to do it because it's what you do full-time, but every one of us should be doing the work of ministry. So in that sense, I've always been called to minister. When I was first saved, I shared the gospel with everyone I could in my high school. In the first year I was saved, probably 40 different people came to a church service with me to hear the gospel. And every day I'd look for someone new to share the gospel with, even if it was inside school, outside school, I knocked on every door in my neighborhood of 300 families to leave a track or to share my testimony with someone. I would study the scripture as if I was going to preach, etc. So when I actually was called to preach and asked to preach at the age of 18 when I was saved a year and a half, I had been living this out for all the months leading up to that. When I was finally asked to teach full-time at a Bible school, I'd already been teaching in church for years. So what I'd encourage you to do is keep doing what you're doing and being who you are. If God is calling you into vocational ministry, so this becomes what you do full-time as a pastor or a Bible school teacher or a traveling speaker or a missionary, whatever, that desire will just grow more and more and more and more.

It's almost like as a boy, if you kept wearing the same shirt, at a certain point as you grew, that shirt would burst because you just got bigger and started to grow into being a man. It's the same with this, that as you love the Lord, keep spending time with him, keep sharing the gospel, find out, oh, the church needs someone to do this, I'll show up to do it. Oh, you need that, I'll show up to do it.

Well, oh, you need a ride there, I'm your man. You just keep serving, throwing yourself in. At a certain point, if God wants you to be in vocational ministry, it's as if he says, okay, I can't have him spending time as a landscaper or a computer programmer.

I need him doing this. And then the doors open and it's all you can do. If you're really called, it's all you can do. You can't not do it because the fire burns inside of you. So rather than try to figure it out, keep doing what you're doing, being who you are, and everything will fall into place with clarity, and you'll know for sure.

That make sense? Yes, sir, that was perfect. Thank you so much, and I ask you please pray for me. All right, Father, we ask for your will to be done in this young man's life.

As he draws close to you, may Jesus be his all in all. Amen. All right, let's see, we got time for some more calls here. Let us go to Angela in Alexandria, Virginia.

Welcome to the line of fire. Good afternoon, Dr. Brown. Thank you so much for taking my call. You're welcome.

Okay, so I'll try and be quick here. My question pertains to the Scripture. Hebrews 1317. I know you're familiar with it, so I won't quote it to you. But what I'm trying to ascertain is, how do you make proper application with that in regards to spiritual authority in your life? For example, pastor or spiritual father, and making a health decision in regards to, like, the COVID vaccine, right? So they're, you know, not trying to be manipulative or anything, but they're saying, you know, you can look at their lives, you know, they wouldn't do anything, you know, to lead you astray purposely or whatever.

They've taken the vaccine, and... Yes, so let me address that. So Hebrews 1317 is the strongest passage in the New Testament, telling us to obey our leaders and submit to their authority.

Yes, sir. But the question is, what kind of authority do they have? It's spiritual authority to guide us in spiritual truth and godly living. It's not authority to tell you that you can't marry this person because they go to another church, you know, or to tell you that you can't work this job because if you work this job, you're going to miss a church service. That's not the authority they have over your lives. The authority is to point you into the truth of the gospel and to help nurture your soul, so if you are walking away from God and walking into willful sin, that they're there to warn you and to help you back on the right path.

So, yes, it does say immediately after to consider the lives and look at the outcome of their lives and how they live, but again, it's talking about moral conduct. So they can say, look, we have researched this, and we know you have questions, and we got the vaccine, we're recommending that you do it, but all that is is a recommendation. They cannot, they have no spiritual authority. The fact that your pastor does not make him any more qualified than anyone else.

It's specifically the reason why I am not telling anyone what to do or not to do because I'm not qualified, and I know a lot of people look to me, just like on the show, calling in for counsel, right? So my counsel is do the research, ask God for wisdom, and make an informed decision. As for my own choice, that's my own personal choice because I don't want to influence anyone either way because I don't have the right to. Not even a matter of authority, I am not a specialist in this. The most brilliant minds that I know are on both sides of this and differ each way. By all means, if I knew for a fact that the vaccine was safe long term and would save lives, I'd get it every week if I had to.

I'd wear a mask the rest of my life if I knew it would save people's lives, and whatever the laws are, I'll comply with, you know, in terms of travel, wearing a mask, and things like that. On the other hand, if I have concerns that the vaccine may not be safe or there are complications because of it or other ramifications, then the last thing I want to do is recommend it. So your local church has no authority to tell you what to do there, but they can say, hey, if you find us reliable, trustworthy people, this is our recommendation. But Hebrews 13, 17 does not apply. It does not apply there.

God has not given them authority over your medical decisions in this regard. So, hopefully, that helps. And, Angela, I do appreciate you calling very much. Thanks so much. All right. Tell you what, Blake in New Brunswick, Canada. We've just got a minute and a half.

If you can dive in quickly, go ahead. G'day, sir. Your audio teaching on healing, amazing.

I really want to recommend it. But the last teaching not done by you really throws me. There's parts that contradict what you say, such as if you have symptoms, you're not healed. He says the opposite. So just a quick question. Hang on, help me here. Sure. That series, Israel's Divine Healer, I'm the Lord Your Healer, goes back to the late 80s, if I remember. Okay.

Who does the last session? I don't remember. You did every one of them, and then someone that's closer to Word of Faith theology does the last one.

And you recently got that series? Yes, that was off your website. Okay. Well, thank you, Blake, for alerting me to that, because obviously I would have certain differences with something, so I have to figure out.

I mean, I don't remember that specifically, which is interesting that you raised that. So let me check out here. So here's the short thing.

I stand behind everything I said in the series back in the 80s, which is why we still put out my theology and beliefs haven't changed on healing. But if there is a last message from someone else, then let me re-listen to that and check, because I don't think we bill it like that. And this is audio.

It's easy enough for us to make an adjustment. So anyway, Blake, thank you for the call. We regularly review all the material in terms of quality, especially the older series that we taught to make sure the quality is still good. So thank you for the call. Thank you for the question. And we will check into this. Everyone else, 15 minutes from now.

See you over on our YouTube channel. A.S.K. D.R. Brown. Be blessed. Another program powered by the truth network.