Dr. Brown Takes Your Calls and Tackles Your Questions

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That's 866-34-TRUTH. Here again is Dr. Michael Brown. Welcome, welcome friends to the Line of Fire broadcast.

Michael Brown, delighted to be with you. You've got questions. We've got answers. If we don't have them, we'll do our best to find them for you. The subject matter that we cover here on the Line of Fire, anything that relates in any way to subjects that guests have discussed or things you've heard that I believe, whatever, news related things we've talked about, we open the phones today wide. 866-34-TRUTH. We'll start with our friend Todd in Seagrove, North Carolina. Welcome to the Line of Fire.

Thank you, Dr. Brown. This question came to my mind here just a few days back, and I knew it would be the perfect question to ask you today. And the question is, what is the origin of the names Pharisee and Sadducee? Right, so Pharisee goes back, in Hebrew it's prushim, and the normal assumption is that it goes back to the concept of being separated. Someone who was a perush was someone who was separated. And the Pharisees, as they have their historic origins in the mid-second century BC, now in their mind they go all the way back to Moses and traditions being passed on.

But they basically advocated that everyone in Israel should live in priestly purity, and that while temple worship was important, that going to a local gathering place, a house of prayer, and teaching the local synagogue, that was a Pharisaic innovation, was important. And they were separated, so prushim normally taken to mean that it goes back to that originally. Sadducees, the term tzadok or tzadoki in Hebrew, has to do with righteousness and why that was attributed to them directly, those that were more in the priestly aristocracy, those that were more temple-based, etc., how that term got directly associated with them, there seems to be a bit more dispute, but the one has to do with separation, the other has to do with righteousness in terms of the meaning of the words, and then they became basically things that were worn, just like the Methodists go back to the methodical way that John and Charles Wesley lived and told everyone you have to live like this, like this, like this, they were called Methodists, that stuck.

So same with these, but that's what the terms actually mean. Well, I know the old joke is about the sense of the Sadducees didn't believe in the resurrection or spirits or angels or anything, that's why they were Sadducees. Yeah, so of course that works in English as a joke, right? But it doesn't work in Hebrew when it just has to do with the root for righteousness. Yeah, and again, just so you know, that if you're talking to a Jewish person, especially a religious Jew, Pharisee's not a bad word.

You know, in our Christian terminology, in general societal terminology, we say don't be a Pharisee, meaning don't be a hypocrite or self-righteous, but to a religious Jew, Pharisees were heroes, and the New Testament is unfair to them. Hey, thank you for the call, appreciate it. 866-34-TRUTH, let's go to Joseph in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, welcome to The Line of Fire. Happy Sabbath in advance, Dr. Michael Brown. Thank you. So my question is, I'm just curious to know your thoughts on, I'm not sure if you know any of his research, but Dr. Algarza, he actually is doing research on Hebrew New Testament manuscripts, and I'm just curious to know if you know anything about his research, and also if you do, what are your thoughts?

So Algarza and I know each other on a certain level, we've interacted personally a little bit. He's definitely a serious student of the Word, he is one that does serious academic study, and is not just some internet flake out there, because a lot of the Hebrew manuscript stuff can be pretty wacky. Can you tell me specifically what question you have in terms of what he said about Hebrew manuscripts of the Gospels that has gotten your attention?

Well, I do subscribe to him on YouTube, and I've been watching him for a while now because I really like his research, I have two of his books on the Hebrew New Testament, and if my memory serves me right, I believe the last time I saw one of his update videos, he actually indicated that he had found over 4,000 Hebrew New Testament manuscripts from Matthew to Revelation, and he was actually making bindings of them so he can study them in his research of those manuscripts. Yeah, the key thing is, just to understand, none of them are ancient, none of them go back to within centuries of the New Testament, that's the key thing. In other words, whatever manuscripts existed in the first or second or third or even fourth century, that Jerome said that he saw either a Hebrew Matthew or a Gospel of the Hebrews, there's some debate about what actually existed, or the letter of Hebrews in Hebrew, did that exist?

We don't have any of that. We have none of the ancient manuscripts, all we have is manuscripts from well over 1,000 years later, 1,500 years later, and scholars have always understood that these were simply translations into Hebrew from the Greek. Now some have argued in more recent years, George Howard, Nehemia Gordon, and some others, they have argued that actually these later manuscripts reflect some earlier traditions from manuscripts we don't have.

The fact is we don't have them, it's all speculation. What we do have is much, much, much later, and that's why there's so many of them, there are many translations of the Greek New Testament into Hebrew over the centuries. The question is, do any of these renderings reflect an alleged original Hebrew? Are we any closer to finding an original Hebrew? The answer, to my knowledge, is no, we're no closer. Alright, well thank you very much, I appreciate your insight on that.

Sure thing, sure thing. And in fairness to Dr. Garza, he may not be saying anything different than I'm saying whatsoever, so I just haven't followed in detail what he's taught on this. But as I've said many, many times, anyone who tells you that their translation of the Bible is based on the original Hebrew New Testament, it does not exist. There is no such animal in existence. It is possible that some parts of the New Testament were originally written in Hebrew, or that there were different books that we don't have written in Hebrew, that Matthew may have written something in Hebrew which is different than his Greek gospel. So certainly something existed. There's no question that some manuscripts existed, and the early church fathers recognized that and talked about it, even talked about some of the sources where it might differ from the Greek here and there. But we don't have any of those. So when anyone tells you their translation is based on the original Hebrew, it is not, because we don't have an original Hebrew for the New Testament. And the idea that the whole New Testament was written in Hebrew, that some tried to argue, that's completely bogus. But certain parts may have been originally, and it'd be amazing if some of those manuscripts were found at some point.

But they don't exist in terms of anything that we have. Alright, 866-348-7884. Let's go to Joseph in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Welcome to the line of fire.

Hi Dr. Brown. The reason I was calling was, I've been going through a Lutheran small catechism and the large catechism, and going through the history of catechesis in itself. Do you know why it fell out of favor in Protestant circles overall? I don't know specifically why it fell out of favor, aside from churches just becoming less traditional and less didactic.

So I can't tell you exactly when this drops off in certain circles. If you're still in a Lutheran church or a Presbyterian church or obviously a Catholic church, Greek Orthodox, there are going to be various levels of catechesis, so of teaching through a catechism. Certainly, the early church had certain truths that were being passed on.

There was the Jewish tradition of study that was important. It's only over a period of time that the more detailed catechisms are developed, and then over a period of time where you can't be baptized until you are properly catechized. That obviously comes much later because the New Testament was, you're baptized upon your repentance and profession. But exactly when and how, it just seems, again, I can't give you details because I'm simply not familiar, but my larger understanding is, as the churches got less and less traditional and more and more kind of preaching the word in a practical application way, that part of what was lost was catechizing. And especially when you just have many new independent groups rising up, which has been a tremendous number over the last century plus, that they don't have those traditions to draw on. So I think it's a combination of new groups being formed, so many people being saved, new organizations, denominations being formed, new non-denominational or post-denominational church movements, coupled with other churches departing some from their traditions.

I imagine that in the Catholic Church, on average, things are far less traditional now than they were 50 or 100 years ago, so it's just part of a larger cycle. As far as I know, I can't be more specific though. Okay, thank you very much.

Yep, sure thing. 866-34-TRUTH. Yep, time for another call.

Let's go to Michael in California. Welcome to the line of fire. Yes sir, I just have a question. With regards to the Samaritan women, the Samaritan people, are they Hebrew people? Yes and no.

Let me explain. According to 2 Kings 17, when the northern kingdom of Israel was judged by God and the Assyrians exiled large portions of the population into Assyria and elsewhere, that they allowed, there was still a remnant of Israelites that remained there. And then, because of the people being brought in there, they didn't know the customs of following the Lord and they were coming under judgment, so priests were sent back. Jews view the Samaritans as half-breeds. They say, especially the ancient Jews, they saw the Samaritans as half-breeds. They said they are mixed marriages between the original Israelites and the other pagans that were exiled into their countries, so that they're half-breed and therefore not as pure as the Jewish line. The Samaritans say quite the opposite, that they were the ones that preserved their purity, that they are the true Israelites and that they preserved the true traditions. So in their minds, they are 100% true blue Israelites and their numbers are very, very small. The traditional Jewish view was actually they're half-breeds. They are Israelites who intermarried with those who were sent into their country, so other countries exiled into Israel, and that's why they had lower status.

Nowadays in Israel, they're just part of a larger body of Israel, but that's the ancient debate. Thanks, friends, for joining us on the Line of Fire. Just another reminder, if you don't get my emails, be sure to sign up. We've got so much great stuff coming your way every week, letting you know about free resources online, catching you up on latest articles, videos, new resources that are being released. So go to AskDrBrown.org, A-S-K-D-R Brown.org.

Just click up to get the emails, put in your first, last name, email address, your address if you like, and we will be in touch with you. You'll be blessed. You'll be blessed. By the way, with regard to the last question and the Samaritans, which is true, are they the pure breeds or the half-breeds? I don't know. I don't know that we can know for sure. I don't know what DNA testing has yielded or how much that would indicate a certain purity of line and how far back it goes. At a certain point, for sure, they did not intermarry and they were very much separated and that's one reason their numbers became so low.

Without question, they are seeking to worship the God of Israel and follow the Torah of Israel, but not many of the later rabbinic traditions. 866-34-TRUTH. We go to Almondo in Unalaska, Texas. Welcome to the line of fire. Hey, Doug. Hello. Are you there? Yes, sir, can you hear me?

Yeah, go ahead. Hey, so I have a question about the scripture Hebrews 10 26 27 where it says if we go on deliberately sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sin. So is particular verse applying to like the loss of salvation? Yeah, as I understand it, it absolutely is. But we need to understand it rightly. It's not saying if you sin, you're saved and you think I'm getting drunk.

I just I'm depressed. And now you lose your quote lose your salvation. No, it's not saying that memory is talking to Jews there in context, Jewish believers, and they are being pulled to deny Jesus to walk away from their faith. And he's saying, if you are going to go on and sin willfully, if you're going to reject him and go on and sin willfully, the temple sacrifices are not going to veil. Going back and practicing the Day of Atonement. There's no sacrifice for sin that remains.

You reject. So your willful sin is rejecting the Messiah and now living your life however you want to live it. And it says when you've done that, as you keep reading, that you've trampled underfoot the Son of God. So it is someone who makes a willful choice to persist in sin and deny the Lord, barring repentance, barring that person turning back to the Jesus that they rejected. Yeah, they forfeited their salvation.

And it's a very serious warning. I mean, he says the only thing to look forward to is fiery judgment. But if we turn back to the cross, of course, there's mercy and forgiveness. Every believer on some level has sinned woefully many a time, right? But yeah, as for forgiveness and turn back to the cross, the whole message of the Bible is God's incredible mercy and forgiveness for those who turn to him.

But you've got to remember, especially to that Jewish audience, there was the thought, I still have that old system. I don't need the Messiah. And they're saying, actually, you reject him and go on in willful sin. There is no sacrifice for sins, except you're going to have to pay for trampling the blood of the Son of God underfoot. Okay, so is the sin practically talking about the sin of rejection, like rejecting Christ in full and persisting in sin?

It's both together. In other words, certainly rejecting the Messiah, certainly rejecting Christ. But not only that, it's the idea that I can now go on in sin and have some type of forgiveness that remains. So look at it in this way. Their bigger issue may have been what to do with the Messiah, right?

And thinking, well, we could go back to our old system. Someone else, it's going to be, what do I do with him? In other words, will I follow him as Lord or not? And it's saying, okay, if you think you can just go on sinning, I reject you as Lord, I'm going to go on sinning, I'm still cleansed, I'm still washed. No, it doesn't work like that. So my choice at persistent, unrepentant, willful sin is a rejection of his Lordship.

You can't have it any other way, right? Yeah, so it's not that, oh man, I was a stupid thing to do, I regret it. Or, okay, look, I knew what I was doing, it was wrong, and I come back to God for forgiveness. He goes, no, uh-uh, that's it.

No, that's not it. It is the persistent and willful rejection of Jesus as Lord, which is going to be manifest theologically. You know, I don't believe in him anymore, and it's going to be manifest in my lifestyle. So for some, it starts theologically. They begin to question, and they end up rejecting Jesus as the Messiah and walking away from him. For others, it starts because of fleshly sinful desires.

And the guy is determined to dump his wife and start a new life with this gal that he really likes, and he's going to do it. So there is that rejection of the Lordship of Jesus. And you can't just say, well, forgive me, forgive—no, not if we persist in that sin and rejection. So hopefully that's applicable, you know, giving you application for today, all right? No, yes, definitely, thank you so much.

Sure thing. So I take away from that two things. One, don't play games with grace. And two, if we truly ask God for mercy and turn to Jesus, he doesn't reject us.

All right, let's go to Alex in Buffalo, New York. Welcome to the Line of Fire. Hello, I had a question about Proverbs. In Proverbs, it says, like, if you correct a fool, they're going to, like, hate you. Do not reprove a scoffer, or he will hate you.

Reprove a wise man, and he will love you. But then later in Proverbs, it says that, like, you should correct a wise man, or a foolish person, so they don't become, like, wise in their own eyes. Right. Right, so the real issue, so generally speaking, we understand the principle. In other words, when you try to correct a scoffer or a mocker, it's useless.

They just mock all the more. You correct a wise man, and he's going to listen, right? But now it's the answer of fools. So Proverbs 26, the two verses are side by side. So it's not about correction, it's about responding. So Proverbs 26, 4, answer not a fool according to his folly, lest you be like him yourself. Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own eyes.

So there's scholarly debate because it's got the two verses next to each other saying the opposite. You know, one is, it throws out the first to reject it by the second. The other is, depends on the circumstance. In other words, sometimes you do not, again, this is not about correcting so the person will learn and grow. It's about rebuking, right, or responding. So if there's the one time, to me it's based on circumstance.

In other words, these are two truths that have to be applied, and that's why we have both verses. So the one is, if I answer this person, you know, they're just acting like a complete jerk on the intranet and putting the foolish stuff. If I answer, once I get into that, I'm dirty already. You know, the name calling, the junk, the insult.

The moment I get into that, I'm now blemished and dirty, just walk away from it. There are other times when it's right to say, you are deceived, you are in error, I'm warning you, and you walk away. So it all depends on the situation and discernment.

Now again, there's debate among scholars because you really get to say, we all have the same info, the two verses side by side. But we do know in principle that there are people that you just ignore, don't bother trying to speak into this person's life. For example, if someone comes up completely drunk and yelling and screaming, you normally just walk away. You know, unless there's some supernatural unction on you to pray for that person, they're going to be instantly sobered, you just ignore it.

You don't engage, you just walk away. So there are times we do that, and generally with someone that's a fool or a mocker, you just pray for them. And then other times it's important to rebuke, to warn, and then those that are going to receive teaching, that's how you see. When I first started teaching in a Bible school, when I was 27, 28 years old, I saw pretty quickly that there were some people who were dynamically gifted. I mean, really, charismatic type people that seemed to have a lot of potential, but they didn't take correction well, and they didn't have a humble spirit. So they would get my time, like anyone else I would teach, I would seek to pour into them.

If they had a question for me, I'd answer. But the ones that I poured into were the ones that, when you brought them correction, they absorbed it and they thanked you for it. I said, that's the kind of person I want to pour into, because that's good soil.

So it's the same kind of principle as what we're talking about here. So if it seems like they would receive the correction and they would not just mock you more, and you don't stoop to their level either, if they're arguing like that? Yeah, then you do your best to give it, because you don't really know that person's character yet.

They have not been clearly seen as a wise person or as a fool. I have engaged people on the internet, and it's like, okay, you're making a point. I'm pretty sure you're sarcastic and you're mocking, but just in case, I'm going to respond with truth. And then, to my surprise sometimes, it's like, oh, thank you, that really helps.

That's what I needed to hear. I'm thinking, wow, I thought you were a mocker, but who gets tone of voice in a tweet? And then other times, I engage, I give an answer. Their response is absolutely idiotic and even insulting, and I say, hey, that'll be my last comment, and I'm done.

And I'll just mute the person so that I'm not going to hear their ongoing responses. So sometimes we don't know. Jesus tells us in Matthew 6, don't give that which is holy to dogs. Don't cast your pearls before swine. Sometimes we don't know immediately what the character is, but we always seek to engage in a way that will open eyes. We never stoop to the level of sin or flesh, and that means don't respond instantly. Sometimes wait, think, pray for right response, right heart.

And then there are times when you know, hey, I just need to warn you. I'm telling you plainly, you're deceived, you're in error, you need to wake up, and we're done. Hey, thank you for the question. We'll be right back.

Here again is Dr. Michael Brown. It is my delight to be with you today on the line of fire, taking your questions, answering them as best as we can. 866-348-7884. Just a reminder that I'm going to be ministering in the Fort Worth, Texas, Dallas-Fort Worth area this coming weekend. I've got some small meetings, but some public meetings as well.

They'll be on my itinerary at AskDrBrown.org. I may not be able to greet you personally, depends on when, the meetings, et cetera, but love to have you out if you're anywhere in the area. All right, we go straight to the phones, beginning with... Not beginning there.

Let's go to Barry in Deerfield Beach, Florida. Welcome to the line of fire. How are you, Dr. Brown? Doing well, man. Doing well. That's good. I'm looking forward to your new book coming out. I'm waiting for it. Which one? The one about the Old Testament. Ah, got Compassionate Father in Consuming Fire, Engaging the God of the Old Testament.

Yeah, we signed a bunch of copies for the pre-orders, and those are being shipped out. Yeah, so great. Thank you. Go ahead for the interest.

Go ahead, sir. Yeah, my question is Matthew 18, 18, where he says, What you loose on heaven is loose on earth, and when you loose on earth, you loose in heaven. Can you explain that? Yes, the way that we often hear it taught in our Pentecostal Charismatic circles, it does not fit the context in terms of binding and loosing demons and things like that. So while I do believe in our spiritual authority over the devil and demons in Jesus' name and by the Spirit, I don't believe that's the application there. He's dealing with church discipline, congregational discipline. He's dealing with decisions that are being made in terms of sin and relationships. And it's basically saying that God will enforce us, that God will back what we do with his authority when we're standing as his representatives, because what we're doing is just mirroring what's done in heaven. So someone emphasized that what we bind on earth or loose has already been bound or loosed in heaven. We were just reflecting it, but that would have been known Jewish legal terminology. In fact, let me just see, for example, in the Jewish New Testament by David Stern, how he renders that, because for sure he's going to be emphasizing the Jewish context in his Jewish New Testament commentary.

But binding and loosing often had to do with legal decisions that were being made. So let's just see here, and do I have it up on my screen? No, there we go. Yes, I tell you people that whatever you prohibit on earth will be prohibited in heaven. Whatever you permit on earth will be permitted in heaven. So he's rendering it in light of its legal Jewish background and understanding it in that context. So the congregation sets this parameter, and that will be then in harmony with God and backed by God. So in the case of someone being disciplined or excommunicated, we have divine backing and doing it when we're doing it in harmony with God. And then as the believers were making decisions about Gentile believers, are they required to abide by the law of Moses?

This is the type of permit prohibit that I believe Jesus was talking about in context. Okay, thank you very much, Doctor. You are very welcome. All right, 86634truth, let's go to Aaron in Portland, Oregon. Welcome to the line of fire. Hello, Dr. Brown. Can you hear me okay?

Yes, I can. Perfect. I first just want to start by thanking you for your ministry. It's blessed me over the years. I wanted to receive counsel from you on a personal matter. I have one brother, my only sibling, and for the last 15 years or so, we've never really been close. He's kind of the black sheep of the family, I guess. And I found out recently through my parents that my brother is beginning a transition towards being a woman. I really don't have an open line of communication with him, but I love him deeply. And I'm very concerned for him, and what bothers me the most is I don't want his blood on my hands, but I also don't want to push him further away or hurt him in any way.

So I'm kind of at a loss for what to do. Yeah. Because my beliefs, my worldview is very hurtful for him.

Yep, yep. Yeah, I have an older relative that felt completely rejected by me because of the positions to which I hold, as he is, as a man in his sixties, said that he's actually a woman. So obviously, just believing what we believe, emphasizing biology is not bigotry. People still perceive it as hate, and that's unfortunate. We know that if we didn't love, we wouldn't care.

If we didn't love, we'd just say, hey, do whatever you think to do. So your brother, does he claim to have a relationship with the Lord? No, I don't think he does. He was Catholic, he was married in the Catholic Church. He's since been divorced, and like I said, I haven't spoke with him in over two years.

Right. So I don't believe he does. Right, so my first concern would be his relationship with God, because transgender identified or not, that's his big issue. In other words, there are hundreds of millions of people who are heterosexual and straight that are lost without Jesus. So that's the first thing, to pray for God to work in his life. There are obviously issues, struggles, pain he's experiencing, he feels now this is the way to resolve them, that's obviously not the solution.

But I would begin with really praying for him like never before, and asking God to lead you in prayer, maybe even to lead you to fast for him, for his relationship with God. That's the biggest issue of all. There are people who are former transgender. I mean, they tragically butchered their bodies, and they can't repair what they did, but they're born again.

They love the Lord, they're saved, they'll be with him forever and get a new body one day. So I'd be praying for that first and foremost. And then secondly, if there's a way just to reach out that doesn't seem too odd, I would just reach out just to open the doors of communication.

I wouldn't raise the transgender issue, and again, at this point, you haven't been close enough to be able to speak into that. But I would just, if appropriate, just shoot him a note, say, hey, been thinking about you, hope you're doing well, or whatever, or hey, it's been a long time since we've talked, let me know if you want to. And if he says, well, what triggered it, just say, I understand you're going through some major decisions and changes, I've just been thinking about you praying for you.

I'd just like to talk again. And you only go there if he goes there. If the door is shut automatically, if he senses, oh, here he comes with his self-righteousness, I don't want anything to do with him, then you just keep praying. The other thing, if he can go this far, Aaron, I encourage you to watch this movie. You can do this, but if it goes so far for him to watch it, it's called In His Image. So Aaron, if you go there now, inhisimage.movie, inhisimage.movie, and just put in your email address, you can watch it freely there.

Or on YouTube, In His Image, the movie. It's about an hour and 45 minutes. I had the privilege of hosting it for American Family Association. And it is very heavily based on gender issues and transgender identity and what the word says and some compelling stories. It will give you even greater empathy as you pray and greater understanding. And perhaps by some miracle, your brother would be willing to watch this, and it might be just what he needs to wake him up and turn his heart. But everyone listening, watching, can I ask you to just agree in prayer now that God would intervene in this man's life?

And for everyone else that's with me right now and you say, that's my brother, that's my dad, that's my aunt, that's my cousin, that's my friend. God, we're asking you to work in these precious lives and to reveal your son and to make them whole from the inside out. In Jesus' name, and Lord, give Aaron wisdom. Give him wisdom. Amen.

Hey, let us know how things go in the months ahead. 866-34-TRUTH. We go to Norman. No, we don't. Let's go over to Chris. Whoa, we are having an epidemic of this.

Let's try this here. Isaac in California, are you there? Hey, can you hear me? I can hear you.

Well, we had an epidemic of phone drops there. Glad California hung on. Yeah, what's up?

We're barely holding on. Yeah, I know, I know. Well, that's why you were more desperate. You had more perseverance. Yeah.

We reached out for the tassels. But anyway, so there is—speaking of epidemics, by the way, because of the epidemic, you know, there's been a lack of social interaction. And there's a lot of people—I've been having this conversation with people in my own circle about courting and dating and how this epidemic has affected that, and especially for believers. And there is a rise, I'm seeing, of supposed Christian dating apps, you know, like Upword and so on and so forth that people download and are going through that whole thing. So I'm kind of seeking your wisdom on this. If there is like a biblical response to Christian dating apps, you know, is it wise to consider them? Is it unwise to consider them?

What are some dangers to look out for? Yeah, so again, having never looked at an app in this way, I haven't been happily married to Nancy for over 45 years, and dating apps didn't exist, you know, back in our day when we met. Right. But just my practical advice, first make sure it's legit, right? There are probably predators out there and all types of people with all kinds of agendas. So make sure the thing is legit.

And then, I don't see anything wrong with it on the surface. In other words, is it any different than if you live in a certain small town and there are very, very few people there, you know, your age, that on Friday nights you visit a youth group at another church to get to meet people, you know, and that's why you're there. You enjoy the service, but you're really there to meet people, or you socialize in certain places, or no, our community reach has just been expanded. So I would just make sure that whatever you do, you do it like any other relationship. You get to know someone, you're really honest and forthright. I would imagine that with an app it's easier to give false impressions. So I'll finish on the other side of the break.

But I do know some people that have met their spouse through a dating app and they've been happily married for years. I do know that it happens. 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. Yes, so just one more practical thought about a dating app is, again, it's easier to hide identity or to convey false impressions via social media than face-to-face, and you can still do it face-to-face, but less so. So I would just say that if there does seem to be an interest, you always want to start on spiritual things first and not just appearance or outward credentials, connection about spiritual things and commitment to the Lord. But if there was any degree of seriousness, I would do my best to get it in a way where you're talking, if you can't do it face-to-face physically, by Zoom, and certainly by phone, so that you are getting to know each other better.

Because at some point if you live in different parts of the country, you have to figure out what are you going to do with that. So you really need to get to know each other as well as possible. You could say, well, just pray and God will bring the right person into your life. That's what happened with me in a little church. Here God brings a 19-year-old Jewish atheist to this 19-year-old former drug abuser, saves Nancy and brings us together.

So I watched him do that, but he could do it through many other means. So the key thing is just to have some caution and wisdom in the midst of it. All right, let us go to Angelia in Alexandria, Virginia. Welcome to the line of fire. Hello, Dr. Brown. Thank you again for taking my call. It's exciting.

I've been able to get through. So I wanted to ask, just like a previous caller, maybe two calls ago, had you to expound on Matthew, the binding, and Lucy. So my question has to do with Proverbs 18, 21. Death and life are in the power of the tongue.

And can you please give some practical application in regards to that? I am not a person that follows the name it and claim it type of thing, but I have discussions with my husband a lot about speaking things out of our mouths that might not be positive. But, you know, like thinking, like if you speak something negative, you know, you're speaking the situation where it's going to turn out bad. Okay, so there's the one extreme, the word of faith, name it, claim it extreme, if people put it like that, that you create realities by what you say. And that reality is not just going to be shaped by that. So it goes to an extreme, which is clearly not true. In other words, there are people for years like, ah, I'm going to die young.

They die at like 104, you know? And there are people that say, you're going to fail. You're going to be a failure.

And you just cast off like, whatever, and you keep going. In other words, it doesn't make you a failure. There's the other side, you know, sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never harm me.

Well, that's also not true. So words are tremendously powerful. Words can wound. Words can encourage. So words can be death-giving, discouraging, negative, hopeless.

There are kids that struggle with depression and suicide because of being bombarded by parents. You're nothing. You're no good. You're a disgrace to our family.

I wish you never came into the world. And they end up taking their lives out of depression and feeling of worthlessness. And there are others that just knew, hey, I always knew I could do it because my mom and dad, they always said, hey, you put your mind to it. You can do it.

You can do it. So we know the power of words. And what I encourage you to do is go through Proverbs and take a note of every verse that deals with the tongue, how the tongue can wound, every verse that deals with words and the power of words. And it's quite dynamic, you know, and a reckless tongue pierces like a sword, and the one that opens its mouth wide opens it to destruction, but the words of the wise bring healing. So in a very literal way, life and death are in the power of the tongue, but not in the exaggerated way that Word of Faith people say, as if they're going to say something contrary to reality and that makes it so. You know, well, I'm actually success.

I'm actually, and therefore it just happens. Or if someone speaks something negative, that now it's like those words are hanging over you. Now, there are things, sometimes someone can speak something, and because of their role or their authority, they speak something negative, and it's like a sword. It's devastating. And you have to go to the Lord, because you know it's false.

You know it's a lie about you. You have to go to the Lord and say, Lord, in your presence, I renounce that. I cast that down. Because it's stuck in there. It has power. So the power of words is primarily understandable. It's not mystical.

It's understandable. Because, for example, if I just start speaking in Hebrew, kol klud sarlach lud yitzch lach v'cholashon l'takumitach le'mishpat tarshii, well, I didn't minister to you. You didn't say praise God. Well, I was quoting Isaiah 54, 17, no weapon formed against you will prosper in every tongue that rises against you in judgment you'll condemn. So it's not the sounds.

It's the quality. It's the reality of the words, and they can be life-giving or death-giving, and that's why we need to be cautious and careful with the words that we speak. So it's not the one extreme, the word of faith. Just speak it, and it happens, and it's not the other extreme. It's just words. Words have no power. Words have a lot of power because of what they convey, all right?

Yes, sir. All right, God bless you. Do that study.

You'll be blessed as you go through Proverbs. It's one I've taught on endlessly. One reason is it's so important. Another reason is keep reminding me. Keep reminding me.

All right, let us go to Bobby in Central Coast, California. Welcome to the Line of Fire. Hello, Dr. Brown. Yes, sir. I kind of have a two-part.

It was only going to be one part, but then another something came to mind. Anyway, I've been working with or talking to this guy in the chat room. He's a traditional Jewish guy. His chat name is Donny Christ. He is like a counter missionary against the gods.

He's focused. My Christian friends say, you need to dust your shoes off, get away from this guy. But I've known him for like five years, and I love the guy. Anyway, but... All right, so here's the question. Just hang on for a second.

I'm going to answer that first because your phone's cutting in and out. If you feel that he's open and that perhaps he's thinking about certain things, so seeds are being planted, or if you feel it's sharpening and strengthening your own faith, in other words, you're learning from this, even though he's not open, that as you're interacting it's sharpening your own understanding, and it's forcing you to study and you're growing through it, then that would be worthwhile. If it's more a waste of time, if it's A, he's not open, B, it's not helping me grow, C, it's just contentious, then to me I'd walk away from it. It's a waste of time, and I'd say, hey, if you're ever really seeking and hungry, then reach out to me. And this is as someone that's, to this day, as of today, interacting with counter missionary rabbis, and I've done it for decades and decades. Obviously I want to influence them, but I feel the dialogue is always helpful. It's always sharpening, it's always challenging us both to think and pray, and therefore I find it helpful.

There are others I won't deal with because they're mockers, they're scorners, and there's no fruit in the dialogue, there's no growth through the dialogue, and there's no openness on their end. All right, so the second part of your question was what? Well, he keeps coming back to that in the Torah where it says, it's impossible, I couldn't come to Jesus because he was a man, it's idolatrous to worship a man. Right, so how do you answer that one? We don't worship a man, we worship God, and we know that throughout the Old Testament that God sometimes takes on human form. So here's the thing, Bobby, what you need to do is get well equipped. So do you have my five volumes on answering Jewish objections to Jesus?

Because that's your starting point. And for these discussions, volume two, so if you want to get in-depth answers to these very questions, volume two of answering Jewish objections to Jesus, or you can get a complete class I've taught, 22 hours, on my website, Countering the Counter-Missionaries, where we deal with this in-depth. So either volume two of answering Jewish objections to Jesus, so I'd recommend all five volumes, or the 22-hour DVD series, or on the Ask Dr. Brown YouTube channel, just scroll through for answering toughest questions, and you'll see we have a series of 32 half-hour lectures, and each lecture tells you what it's about, so you'll find adequate info there, and may the Lord work and speak through that. Hey friends, let me encourage you, as someone who's been in dialogue with the Jewish community for just under 50 years, I mean, the end of this year, beginning of the new year will make 50 years, and dealing with brilliant rabbis, and sincere Jewish scholars, and people on all sides of the religious fence, more religious, less religious, that we have nothing to fear, dealing more with atheists in recent years, and those of other religions over the decades, we have nothing to fear. We are on the side of truth, and this truth still sets people free, and Jesus Yeshua is the Messiah of Israel, and the Savior of the world, and as brilliant as these rabbis are, and as many sincere, honest questions as they bring, and challenge is, we have solid answers in the Word of God. So friends, we've provided resources to give you answers, so take advantage of these. Those you can purchase, those that are free, we're here to serve you. May the blessing of the Lord overtake you in every area of life. Another program powered by the Truth Network.