Dr. Brown Is Back Live with Thoughts on COVID and a Full Health Update

The following program is recorded content created by the Truth Network. A line of fire now by calling 866-34-TRUTH.

That's 866-34-TRUTH. Here again is Dr. Michael Brown. Absolutely. Hey friends, here we are back live.

This is Michael Brown. Absolutely delighted to be with you. My voice is a little hoarse, but I'm feeling massive, massively better. Getting stronger by the day, recovering well, and so eager to be talking to you directly.

Again, if you're listening, aside from the hoarse voice, everything is normal. If you're watching on Facebook or YouTube, we are still audio only. We will be for a few more days and then, God willing, we'll be back in the brand new studio. We actually had snow and ice pretty heavily here in North Carolina. We're right outside of North Carolina.

Because of that, roads are difficult as well today. But we're audio only, but we're live. Here's a number to call. 866-34-TRUTH.

866-34-87-884. It is Martin Luther King Day, but we won't be focusing on his legacy today. But, excuse me, a bunch of other things we do want to talk to you about. But I remind you of such an important message that he brought. That darkness cannot drive out darkness. That hatred cannot drive out hatred. Only light can drive out darkness.

Only love can drive out hatred. There's a lot of sickness in our society today. There's a lot of spiritual and moral disease. And we, the people of God, we who know the Lord, we have the answer. I'm not looking not looking to a party, political party, to a political candidate. I'm looking to Jesus. And I'm looking to Jesus in you and me. Together we have the answer our society needs. Together we can make a difference. Okay. I want to ask you a question about your own lives, your own health, and then I want to share some of this very interesting journey I've been on.

I think it's going to minister to you as I do. But here's a question for you. If you got COVID, was it purely physical?

That was it. You got hit with it, mild, severe. But either way, it's a physical thing, like flu, like cold, but worse. But just a physical thing.

You break a bone. You know, you have another sickness, another disease. You're diagnosed with this and that.

It's just a physical malady. Was that what it was? If so, I'm glad that was the extent of it. Or did you come under some type of spiritual or emotional attack?

Did you come under some oppression? Like you're going to die. You're going to die.

You're not going to make it. Look at this one. They died. That one. They died. Or you'll never get back to normal.

You'll never get well again. Did you get hit with that? If so, I'd love to hear from you. 866-34-TRUTH. Also, does it seem to you that a disproportionate number of Christian leaders have been taken out by COVID? Most recently, a prominent pastor in California, Ray Bentley, loved by many, a pastor to some of my own friends out in California. Pastor Ray Bentley died, what, two weeks ago.

Marcus Lamb, Daystar TV, internationally known. He passed away earlier on at the beginning of the pandemic. Many pastors, bishops, leaders, and the Church of God passed away. I mean, a substantial number, all due to COVID. Is this a specific satanic attack to try to take out Christian leaders? Is it that some simply refused to be vaccinated and were more vulnerable? Could it have been mistaking faith or presumption?

Or could it be that it's just, it appears a certain way, but that's misleading? Now, please hear me. The last thing I would do is sit here in judgment on a brother or sister. That's not my intent.

God forbid. I stand with my brothers and sisters, whether we have the same views on various subjects is not the issue. But from what you can see, does it seem that the enemy has really been scheming to take out Christian leaders in an unusual way? You know, perhaps even the fact that many feel for various reasons before God that they shouldn't be vaccinated and they're God-fearing people and they're presumptuous.

Could that be part of an attack where we become more suspicious of the government and the society around us? Just thinking out loud, 866-342. So we're going to take some of your calls. But first, I just want to share a little bit about my own recent journey. You know that since August of 2014, God miraculously worked in my life, dramatically changed me and helped me to come up with a completely brand new lifestyle, diet, eating and living as healthily as I know how every day of every week, without exception ever, even if I'm traveling around the world without exception. Okay, so it's been massively life-transforming.

On every score, life-transforming. My energy, my overall health, it's been night and day. And my only boast has been in the Lord, because has been in the Lord, because I was a chronic, long, pizza-holic, just unhealthy lifestyle.

Even though I'm almost 6'3", I weighed 275 pounds. And in an eight-month period, through God's help, just eating healthily. I had been exercising before, so I continued to exercise, went from 275 pounds to 180.

And the policy has basically been no exceptions ever. And I've been thriving. You know, I used to get several headaches a week, haven't had a headache in what, seven and a half years, used to have constant lower back pain, that's gone.

I had high blood pressure, my blood pressure changed to ideal. But please hear me, I never, ever boast it in my health. I boast it in the Lord.

And that's for two reasons. Number one, I knew that it was God who changed my life. I knew I had nothing to boast about. I knew I couldn't say, hey, look at me, can you believe what I've done?

It's like, God intervened. And He helped me. That's one thing. So when I would boast in the Lord and encourage others, hey, if He could do it for me, He could do it for you, it's because I want to see you healthy. I want to see you thriving. I want to see you living out your life to the full Lord. Because that's the biggest thing to me. I want to be healthy and strong so I can run my race for Jesus. So I can be here to do the max I can.

The maximum damage to Satan's kingdom, the maximum advancing of God's kingdom, glorifying Jesus with every breath I have. But the other reason that I never boasted in my health was because you can't boast about tomorrow. Hey, Betty White had endless tomorrows and then she didn't. The whole nation ready to celebrate her 100th birthday. Wow, this cultural icon.

I'm not saying an example of God in this, but this cultural icon. And then she gets to her 100th birthday. People magazine announcing it. They're all in advance. And it doesn't happen. Every one of us will die. Unless Jesus comes first, every one of us will die.

And we don't know the day of our death. So I never boasted about tomorrow. And when I ultimately chose not to be vaccinated, it wasn't because I opposed vaccinations. It wasn't because I opposed COVID vaccinations. It wasn't to be belligerent. In fact, Nancy and I went back and forth on it many times.

Yes, no, should we, shouldn't we? And if she had said, you know, I really feel strongly that we should just knowing her track record with practical wisdom over the years, I would have said fine. So it's not something like I hostilely resisted over this time. And in terms of our extended family, it's like half is vaccinated, half isn't. But this has not been like some spiritual thing I won't do it or the mark of the beast or it's just big fart.

No, that's not been it. My understanding and consulting with my primary doctor was that with no comorbidities and with vibrant, thriving health, even though I'm 66, that COVID was really not a threat. In other words, the vast majority of people I know that have gotten COVID have gotten it and that's it. A few have had long haul symptoms.

But otherwise, a couple weeks, you know, and they're over it, a few weeks, they're getting back to normal. So without boasting about tomorrow, that was my understanding. My doctor had also prescribed ivermectin for me, said, hey, have it on hand in case you get it and a few of the supplements to take with it. So I was ready in that regard. And whatever the rules are, wherever I am, I follow them. In other words, if in this setting, you're required to wear a mask, I wore a mask. And if in this setting, no one was wearing a mask, I didn't wear a mask. I didn't wear a mask. And I was around thousands and thousands of people in various meetings.

And the vast majority, in some cases, virtually all of them unmasked. And it seemed I didn't contract it, but I never boasted about tomorrow. All right, I just want to make all of that clear.

There was no presumption saying this can't touch me or anything like that. And when I first got hit, so here, December 25, Christmas, a family that lives nearby came over. And we started the day, my grandson, Andrew, 18. And he's now officially recruited as a college baseball pitcher. The kid's a good athlete.

All right. We both did 2000 meter rows, but he was low into the weather with the cold. So he didn't push and I actually beat him. I had a pretty good time for myself.

Otherwise, he would have beat me. I'm just saying that's how I started the day with the family over. Hey, let's do a 2000 meter row.

And then the next day, because it's supposed to be vacation time, just chill time, relax time until the new year. So I'm watching some football on a Sunday. And I'm doing these planks, for those who know what they are. And I'm doing a minute 15. I normally would do a minute each, one on the left side, one on the right side, one praying plank, one push-up plank. But I said, hey, I want to push a little further and did 75 seconds on each side, which I felt that.

All right. And then afterwards, I had so much energy, put on these virtual reality headset and did these boxing matches, just really good workout. And I remember thinking to myself, man, I feel so full of energy.

And then it's been my custom for years, take a late afternoon nap. I got up from the nap and I was like, oh man, I'm sore. Was that just from all those planks?

That'd be odd. I was like, man, I'm tired. I can't hardly move. It kind of came out of the blue, COVID did. Nancy had started maybe a day before with some symptoms. We both tested positive a couple of days later. And initially I didn't post anything. I didn't say anything because it's so minor. I got body ache.

I'm tired. It's going to pass. It was only towards the end of the second week.

I got hit at the same time, a close friend died. Now by calling 866-34-TRUTH. Here again is Dr. Michael Brown. Thanks for joining us friends on the lot 866-34-TRUTH. Does it seem to you that Christian leaders are under special attack from COVID, some demonic attackerism, natural explanation for it? 866-34-TRUTH.

I'll get to your calls shortly. I had been saying from the end of last year, coming to this year, that 2022 is going to be a year of taking back ground. Not so much a prophecy as much as a mindset. That this is the attitude that we need to take on spiritually. My new book, The Silencing of the Lambs comes out March 1st. The ominous rise of cancel culture and how we overcome it is filled with strategies and filled with words of encouragement. And I promised you that in this new year, that we are going to be giving you examples, words of encouragement of things taking place in the news, in the world, positive examples of pushback.

So God willing on tomorrow's broadcast, I've got a bunch of items I want to go through. These are things not people are talking about, but actually happening. Signs of things. Progress. And I'm not primarily looking at this in a political way. I'm not primarily looking at this in terms of one party advancing over another.

I'm looking at this in terms of righteousness, in terms of morality, in terms of spiritual encouragement. So be sure to join us on tomorrow's broadcast. So in the midst of me being sick, initially I thought, no problem. In fact, the second week, I was thinking of even going into the office.

Nancy said, no, that's premature. Well, it was very premature as I started to get weaker. But we even managed to do radio a couple of days and we thought, okay, getting stronger, getting better. And then it just stopped. I've heard this from many who had COVID, but it doesn't progress in the normal way.

You know what I'm saying? You think, okay, I've had a cold, I've had a flu, I've had this, I've had that. You know, I've got this injury and each day get a little better, get a little stronger. It's like, zoop, stalled. And then I started to get weaker.

I started to feel completely exhausted. At the same time, we were fighting a battle for a dear friend, Brad. Brad was a student of mine at Christ for the Nations on Long Island in the mid 1980s. So we knew each other since I was 28 and he was 17. After he graduated, he would often travel with me as I spoke, not just as a younger friend, but he was an anointed worship leader, a singer, piano player. And we'd minister in music before I spoke. I used to babysit our girls when they were real little and then we'd stay at our house. We lived in Maryland then, come stay at the house. We'd travel out from there.

We did some overseas meetings together. But he'd never married. He'd never married. And he was a handsome guy and we'd get interested in this one. And then he wasn't interested. He'd get interested in another one.

She wasn't interested. It's like, Brad, when are you going to get married, man? And he was the oldest of eight siblings, seven sisters, Brad and then seven sisters.

Anyway, years went on. He's now in his mid-late 40s, still not married. And he is playing at the funeral service. He's part of a church who was asked to play at the funeral service playing and ministering and looking out at this grieving widow thinking, this is not right.

This is not right. Well, wouldn't you know it? God brings the two of them together. He becomes a father to her kids because he'd always wanted to have kids of such an important value to him. And they were just a wonderfully happy couple. I got to meet them September of 2020. I spoke in their church there in Winston-Salem. And we got word, I guess, right before Christmas, that Brad was in the hospital with COVID.

He's in his 50s, healthy and strong and all that. And I heard about it. It's like, okay, that's bad. But I didn't take it that seriously. Nancy immediately wanted more details and what's going on and just felt the seriousness of it. And we've lost, I don't know, probably about 10 people that we know personally.

So that we've had a history with that were part of our ministry team years ago or a student in our ministry school or just an old friend or colleague or an extended ministry colleague that died of COVID. So we knew how serious this could be, how demonic and ugly this could be. But you know, Brad is in his 50s. I just couldn't even imagine anything happening. Well, it gets worse. It gets worse. And you say, what treatments did he get?

All the treatments that you hear about from ivermectin to monoclonal antibodies, etc., he got that. But he got sicker and sicker. And now, I'm laying in bed. I can barely move. I'm completely exhausted. And this thing's hanging over my head, this demonic law.

You know me, Mr. Positive. One of our grandsons, our younger grandson, Connor, when he was 14, he once said to me, Grandpa, you're just too optimistic sometimes. I am so consumed with a sense of God's favor. I am so consumed with a sense of the goodness of the Lord. I am so consumed with this holy confidence that God has amazing things in store for his people. And that as I continue to walk with him, he's going to use me in ways far beyond anything I've ever seen. I mean, I'm consumed with that reality.

I'm the opposite of doom and gloom. That's why when I heard my friend, you know, Brad in the hospital say, ah, it can't be that serious. And then we realized it is serious.

And we're praying now day and night. But this thing's hanging over my head. You watch. You're going to die. Where in the world did that come from?

It is so absolutely foreign to me. I mean, you're talking about someone who gets on a 15-hour flight joyfully. Can't wait to get on the plane.

15-hour flight. I mean, it's just the way I am. This built-in constant enthusiasm and joy and expectation. And I know many of you feel it.

Many of you listen to the broadcast because of a sense of hope and encouragement that you get. But this thing's hanging over me. This is the way it goes. You get sicker. You end up in the hospital. And you don't come out.

And that's the end of it. We have other friends very close to us, lived by the grace of God. I mean, the family didn't know if they'd see them again. And people have been coming in to give them last rites and stuff.

And they made it by God's grace. This thing's hanging over me. And then, a week ago Sunday, so eight days ago. And again, I'm just really weak. Everything's going backwards for me. Even just the simplest thing. Like, you're just living your normal life. You wake up in the morning. You have breakfast. You go to work.

You play with your kids. I'm looking at this like, how do people do that? It wasn't thinking, I'll never be well again. But it was like, I just was so weak. I couldn't even see.

Just like, wow, how are you going to brush your teeth? Wow. That's how weak I was. And then we get word, Brad's gone. We lost him.

Oh, gosh. And his precious wife, widow, now for the second time married to Brad six years. The first husband six and a half years.

Now, Brad, six years. The kids bereaved again. It's like, no, this can't happen.

Almost every day I was posting prayer updates and people praying for Brad around the world. It's like, no, this is not the way it's supposed to be. And with that, so I'm grieving. I'm crying over the loss and crying for the family and their loss.

And getting hit now in my own head. That's it. It's over. That's it.

You don't get out of your 60s. That's it. Next thing, it's getting worse. And I shot a note. So, I mean, this is the weirdest thing I've ever dealt with.

Just the weirdest demonic attack and so utterly foreign to every fiber of my being in God. But when it hits like that, when you lost a lifelong friend and the enemy's just there breathing down your neck and you're so weak, you've got no energy. And I shot a text to my doctor and he said, you need to get a chest x-ray immediately. You may have pneumonia. So, early the next morning, our daughter May came, picked me up because Nancy's doing much better but still had to be home. She couldn't be out yet. And picked me up, brought me to the hospital and hear this thing. That's it.

Once you go this way, you never come out. And once I'm in, they said, yeah, you do have pneumonia, but that's not the issue. You've got COVID pneumonia.

That's not the issue. Your lungs are okay. You sound okay. But the issue is that the COVID messes with your heart and you're in AFib, so arterial fibrillation. So, the heart beats are regular and blood pressure is too low. They said, hey, we'd send you home. But instead, we've got to keep you overnight just to monitor the heart and to get you on some meds to regulate things. So, I was able to go home the next day for those blasting the hospitals. Let me tell you, everybody there did whatever they could to make my stay as good as it could be, to get me out of there as quickly as possible, to be as courteous and conscientious as you could ask for. This whole thing, oh, you go to the hospitals, they'll kill you. Compassion burnout because they've just pushed me on the limit. But at that, once I was in the hospital, it was okay, you're not going to die.

You're going to be fine. And we will address the heart issue. So, I'm on some meds now.

There's some natural solutions. And of course, we pray. But I fully expect to be fully recovered on every score, running my race everywhere I know how, never boasting about tomorrow. But let me tell you, the vision, the dreams, the things that God has put within my heart, they affect all of us. I'm telling you, as sure as I'm sitting here speaking to you today, that holy confidence continues to rise, that we will see a great move of God in America, that we will see a great outpouring of the Holy Spirit, that we will see a multitude of sinners come to salvation, that we will see awakening within the church that then touches the society, that we will see this gospel-based moral and cultural revolution, of which I have spoken for so many years, and in seed form has been growing in so many places and in so many of your hearts. So there have been losses. There have been tragedies. There are people for whom we mourn. Right now our hearts break for the families of those who have lost loved ones to COVID and other tragic things.

But the kingdom advances. Jesus is Lord, and we are taking ground in His name. Okay, we come back. I'm going to your calls.

A few other things I want to talk about as well. 866-348-7884. We'll be right back. Back with you live at last. Boy, counting the moments. My voice is a little hoarse, but I am so energized just to be on the air with you.

866-348-7884. Did you get COVID and in the midst of it get hit mentally, emotionally, spiritually? You'll never get better.

You'll never go back to it. You're going to die. Did you get hit with that?

I mean, it's the most bizarre stuff to go through, but boy did I get hit with that. It was one quick time about the second day and then a week ago Sunday, the day that we lost a close friend to COVID. I had just kind of an afternoon and evening that was miserable and hellish. Thank God for His goodness and grace and promise. All right, going to the phones momentarily.

Remember, as this is Martin Luther King Day, perhaps Dr. King's most famous quote that we should be judged by the quality of our character, the content of our character. I was on some vacation time but then sick with COVID, so intentionally just resting extra. I was watching some football games, just spending more time with sports than I normally would. I'm thinking, you know, that's a team.

You've got many black players that would be number one in the NFL than white players and other ethnicities. It's a team. You're hugging each other and you're celebrating.

It's a team. I'm thinking, boy, if we could live like that because I need you and you need me. And an American needs us to be who God has called us to be. Remember to visit vitaminmission.com. What a great time to get some healthy supplements into your body that will help you short term and long term, especially supplementing healthy eating and lifestyle. Vitaminmission.com. You'll get you as a special discount there that Dr. Stengler has provided for you, our listeners.

Okay, with that, we go to the phone starting in Oregon. Norma, welcome to the line of fire. Norma, that is so remarkable though because here we are and for you, you just got hit with cold symptoms. For me, initially it was mild.

I mean, I had that bad stretch later on, but initially it was mild. And you get hit with these thoughts. There's something demonic about this.

I'm not talking about the origins and the Wuhan lab and I'm not denying the physical realities, but it really seems, it really seems that there is something demonic going on with all this. Absolutely wild. Absolutely wild. Hey, Natalie, thank you so much for the call. Much appreciated. Norma, excuse me, Norma, excuse me, and I'm so glad that you're on the other side of this.

God bless you. All right, let's, let's go to Robbie in Alabama. Welcome to the line of fire. Robbie, are you there? Yes, go ahead. Go ahead, Robbie. All right, tell you what, we'll try to get back to you. Let's go to Natalie in Detroit.

Welcome to the line of fire. Yes, I can. I can hear you loud and clear. All right, tell you what, looks like we are having an audio issue here.

All right, hopefully we are good to go. And let's try one more time here. Natalie, can you hear me now? Yes, can you hear me? All right, I am not sure what is going on.

We are broadcasting remotely today. And okay, so I can be heard. I'm going to try to go to the phones one more time. And if not, I'm just going to share a few other things on my heart with you. Let's try again.

Robbie in Alabama, can you hear me, sir? Yeah, go ahead. Thank you, man. I'm so glad to be back.

Yeah, so this is something that I have also thought about, written about. So, a dozen people, all of whom died of COVID. To his knowledge, not one of them was vaccinated.

I can count right now, and for those that we just may have had some problems with our call connections, Robbie was asking, there are so many Christian leaders who have died of COVID. To his knowledge, none of them were vaccinated. And with all the conspiracy theories out there about why you shouldn't be vaccinated, okay? And some of these things may not be conspiracy theories.

Some of these things may be valid, all right? Could it be that so many Christian leaders are saying we shouldn't be vaccinated for XYZ reasons? It's the mark of the beast. Or the vaccines are connected to aborted babies. Or the vaccines are just the government trying to take over. Or the vaccines are not proven and are dangerous, et cetera, et cetera. So, the question is, could it be that these leaders in choosing not to get vaccinated, and some of them being very prominent very prominent voices, warning against the vaccinations, like Marcus Lamb. So, the question would be, have they died? Not because of COVID as much as because they didn't take a remedy or help that God had provided.

So, we're looking at some very painful, difficult issues. These are brothers and sisters in Jesus. Some of these people minister to millions. Yes, they're with the Lord now, but you've got grieving families and the legacy of what could have been ahead of them. So, my friend and I were comparing notes. He knows over a dozen people personally died of COVID.

None of them were vaccinated. Nancy and I, as we go through our list, maybe it's about 10 people. I don't mean knowing about, like Marcus Lamb and I maybe knew each other. I don't know if we ever met, but I was on Daystar with his wife, Joni. But I don't put him on that list because I don't know him personally. Anyone on my list is someone that I've had a personal history with over the years.

Or, let's say in the case of here's a pastor friend I knew years back and his daughter dies. So, for me it's over 10. And to my knowledge, none of them were vaccinated. That's very serious.

That's very weighty. Now, please hear me again. The last thing that I'm doing is sitting here critically because I've not been vaccinated myself. I don't oppose the vaccinations, and it's possible in the future that I might be vaccinated.

But in no way do I sit in judgment. And I know that many God-fearing, Jesus-loving people have wrestled with this, have wondered whether they should be vaccinated and have strong reasons not to. And I know of story after story, I can't verify it firsthand, but people telling me of family members, of people close to them who died as far as they know as a result of the vaccine. And then very credible reports from Israel about suppressing stories as the government began to look into vaccine-related injuries, and thousands and tens of thousands of people began to respond that they then blocked it and removed the data from public view. So, I'm aware of the arguments and the concerns, but if I could press a button and all these friends who died who were not vaccinated, if I could press a button and have every one of them vaccinated a year ago or whenever the vaccine was available, I would do it.

Because maybe it would have saved their lives. Now, is this a perfect storm and the enemy trying to take out Christian leaders in particular, because many Christian leaders have been skeptical about where things are going? And look, even if you're pro-vaccine, like Dr. Jonathan Sarfatti that I had on the air with me to present his pro-vaccine case, and he's very strongly pro-vaccine, he absolutely opposes the mandates. So, the whole thing's got mixed in together. The government overreach, trying to vaccinate children like five years old, and all kinds of unnecessary restrictions being pushed, and then churches being shut down here at Gambling Casino in Nevada, it can operate at 50% capacity.

You can have a church building that seats 3,000, you can't have more than 50 people in it. So, there's been so much mixed together, but may God give us wisdom. These are people's lives involved. May God give us wisdom. We'll be right back. Thanks, friends, for joining us on The Line of Thought.

This is Michael Brown, delighted to be back with you live. I apologize to everyone that's on hold, our phone lines are jammed, but we're having some type of problem taking calls today, so I can hear you, but no one else can hear you, when everybody else hears me sitting here breathing, right? So, I apologize, but I will not be able to take calls.

Hopefully, tomorrow we'll work this out. We're still broadcasting remotely, but let me say again, I am thrilled beyond words to be back with you live, and thank you so much for praying for me. You know, COVID for the vast majority of people is very minor, but for some it hits more severely, and for some it's been fatal, so our hearts grieve for those who are mourning, and may God's grace prevail in your lives. I want to just tell you a quick little story, and then talk about an international COVID incident. Many years ago, I heard Rush Limbaugh on the radio, and the story holds whether you loved Rush or didn't like Rush, okay?

That's not the point. He was at the airport one day at baggage claim, and Peter Jennings, who was the famous anchor on, was it ABC News? So, famous news host, he's at the airport as well at baggage claim, and Rush notices a bunch of people. Oh, that's Peter Jennings, and they're pointing at him.

That's Peter Jennings, but nobody goes and says a word to him. Well, they had no relationship with him. They watched him on TV, but he was this famous guy, and they observed from a distance. As Rush is noticing this, he next sees a bunch of people now surrounding him. Rush, how's your dad?

Hey, Rush, how did this work out? And he realized, wow, being on talk radio, you develop a certain relationship with your audience, and they become family in a certain way, and you get to kind of live life together. You kind of share things. I might have had crazy things traveling back from overseas, getting delayed, and barely getting back in time to do the show, and I kind of come running in the door, and you just share this what's been going on, and people can call in and interact, and interact, and I get to know you through the calls. I get to know you on a certain level. I get to know your story, your perspective. So, there's just something about live talk radio, of course, preaching.

Here, think of it like this. You're a pastor, and you get up, and you preach to your congregation, and they may interact with you a certain way, or amen, or laugh, or, you know, it's jokes, or whatever, or you see they're being impacted, but it's different than when you're sitting together with them in like a small group, and that's the thing with radio. So, I discovered years ago I'd be getting out of my car, going into a grocery store, and I see a perfect stranger walking towards me.

I mean a perfect stranger. I know that I don't know this person, this person, but they're smiling at me as if I've known them for years, and I know what's coming the moment they come up to greet me. I know what they're going to say, Dr. Brown, I listen to you every day. There's that sense of camaraderie.

There's that sense of being together. So, I know you have a lot of things going on in your life. I know that it's not like your whole life from, oh, I gotta listen on the rear. I'm gonna listen to Dr. Brown. I can't miss the podcast.

I can't miss the show. I don't imagine that I'm that important in any of your lives that everything stops for Dr. Brown, but I know that many of you have been regular listeners, some for years, and we really are family. There really is a sense of connection, and on my end, I'm like, I gotta be alive again. I've gotta be.

And then last week, I was trying to do some shows or the week before as I was getting weaker. I remember sitting here, we got the whole remote set up at my house and all of this and ready to go. And then I told the studio, okay, sorry, we gotta just repeat an old show.

But I mean, that's my heart. That's my devotion and my love being on the air with you. And God has really spoken to us about major expansion in 2022, not just another word. I'm talking about with practical strategy and faith and plans to expand to reach more people with this broadcast than ever before. And God willing, we're just going to wait to the end of this week. And then on Monday, start broadcasting from our new studio.

So we'll have the whole new look I think you'll enjoy and some other surprises hopefully coming your way as well in the weeks ahead. But last thing, I've been following with real interest the story of Novak Djokovic and the Australian Open. For those not familiar, he is one of the three greatest male tennis players of all time, tied with two others, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, for the grand slam total of each one what's called 20 grand slams. And he's been best at the Australian Open. Federer was best at Wimbledon. Nadal's been best at French Open. But among them, my favorite has always been Nadal. To the extent I follow it, I may watch a full tennis match once or twice in a year. But I've always liked Nadal.

So I'd be rooting for Nadal versus Djokovic. And Federer is older because of injuries and things he's not playing right at the moment. Djokovic has been known for years since the whole vaccination discussion came up to say, I'm going to be very careful about what I put in my body.

And he says extreme diet and practice and things like that. So he ends up choosing not to be vaccinated. And he's done some things that had tournaments and people en masse and then people get down with COVID.

So he's gotten criticized a lot. And Australia, of course, has shut down the whole nation because of COVID. So they said, if you're not vaccinated, you cannot play in the tournament. He got a medical exemption from the Tennis Association because he had tested positive for COVID in December.

And they said, well, then that will be just as if you were vaccinated, you can play. When he arrived, the government said, no, no, you didn't fill out the visa properly and we don't accept the medical exemption. He was kept overnight with under armed guard at the airport, then brought to this cheapo immigration hotel. I mean, not the best place to stay. And he's there. Then the judge said, you didn't have adequate notice and you weren't treated properly.

So we're going to review the thing. And then the government comes down and says, you have to leave. Now, why did they say it? Ultimately, not because he was vaccinated. Look, if that's their rule, you can't come into our country unless you're vaccinated. That's their rule. Or if the Australian Tennis Association or the organizers of the Australian Open say, you have to be vaccinated to play. Does it matter if you've had COVID or not? That's their call.

They can do that. In his case, they said, we are deporting you because you are well known for your stance against vaccinations personally. And if you win the tournament, this could bring undue attention to your position and discourage Australians from continuing to get vaccinated.

They're like 90% vaccinated, continuing to get boosted. Your example with not wearing a mask, in certain sense. But Djokovic definitely made some mistakes. And again, rather than the Dahl one, the Djokovic one.

So on the personal level, that's not it. I'm not like a Djokovic supporter. But it struck me as utterly bizarre. And the court stood with the government, so Djokovic was deported.

And the Australian Open has begun without him. But it struck me as utterly bizarre for the government to say that it is an overwhelming risk for us to allow him to play because of his personal views about the vaccine. I mean, doesn't that strike you as overreach? Again, if they simply said, if you're not vaxed, you can't come in the country, all right, that's their rule, like it or not. You can't play in the tournament if you're not vaccinated.

Okay, that's their rule, like it or not. Now, if that had been the case, and they had told them, no, you can't play unless you're vaccinated, then I imagine he simply would have said, okay, I won't play. When he got a medical exemption, he announced it publicly, all excited, got the exemption ready to play.

And then when he got to the country, they said no. They even acknowledged that the approval of his visa was by computer mistake. And Djokovic himself has acknowledged that his team filled things out incorrectly. So there are errors on all sides. And I respect the rules.

If you set them, fine. But the idea that you have to deport him, I mean, think of it. He's right now considered the number one tennis player in the world.

And for sure, one of the top three of all time. You have to deport him, lest his personal example negatively influence others in the country. Maybe you think the government did the right thing. But to me, that was extreme overreach. To me, that was, how can you just go can you describe it? That was simply saying that we do not want negative ideas circulating that will cause people to go against our mandates and decisions.

I mean, could you imagine that happening in America? So I wrote about that. I wrote some candid reflections on vaccines that many seem to have appreciated. Askdrbrown.org. Askdrbrown.org.

Check out the latest articles. And again, on tomorrow's broadcast, I want to bring you words of encouragement and let you know of some pushback that's taking place. Some major pushback took place in Canada yesterday, Sunday, as Christian leaders, pastors, basically said to the nation and said to the law, we're going to do what's right. We're going to preach the gospel. We're going to stand by our convictions, regardless of cost or consequence. Be ready to be encouraged. We're back with you live here on the line of fire. Another program powered by the Truth Network.