Here Comes the Pushback!

The following program is recorded content created by the Truth Network.

Hey friends, we told you, 2022, the year of taking back ground. It's time for The Line of Fire with your host, activist, author, international speaker, and theologian, Dr. Michael Brown, your voice of moral, cultural, and spiritual revolution. Michael Brown is the director of the Coalition of Conscience and president of Fire School of Ministry. Get into the line of fire now by calling 866-34-TRUTH.

That's 866-34-TRUTH. Here again is Dr. Michael Brown. Welcome. Welcome to the broadcast, friends. This is Michael Brown coming your way live once again, but we're still audio only.

Here's the plan. We plan to be audio only today, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and then what we plan to do at the beginning of the year, starting like three weeks later, Monday. God willing, we will be broadcasting from our new studio, audio and video and with a brand new intro that you are going to love. Welcome to the broadcast.

Here is the number to call 866-34-TRUTH, 866-348-7884. Because we have not been live for much of this new year and then the end of last year as planned as we were building the new studio, I'm taking calls on all subjects today, like we do on Friday. You've got questions.

We've got answers. So all subjects, you can continue the conversation we were having yesterday about COVID. You can call on any political or cultural issue or any Bible theology subject, whatever.

866-348-7884. I've got a lot of encouragement to bring to you today. I am starting now to have a file just of listing examples of pushback in the year 2022. When believers are standing up for what's right, when secular authorities are standing up for what's right. Now, please understand the only way we will really see lasting societal transformation is through the gospel.

That's the only way. There is no political or cultural or moral cure outside of the gospel. Now, we rejoice when righteous things are done. We rejoice when good laws are passed.

We rejoice when people in the world choose to do what is right. But we fully understand that the only way there can really be lasting transformation is through the gospel. It must begin with revival in the church. It must begin with repentance in our midst, with us turning from our sin and our complacency and our hypocrisy and our unrighteousness and our prayerlessness and our lack of love and all of that. It begins with repentance in the church, which brings awakening to the believers.

We begin to live differently. We begin to bring the gospel to a lost and dying world. There is power in our message. People hear the message and are transformed. And as a result of that, then change can come on a larger scale. So, as the light shines, the darkness is dispelled.

At the same time, there are many things that are happening around us that are positive. And we have been saying, friends, for many years, if you've been a regular listener to the line of fire, we have been saying for many years that there will be a gospel-based moral and cultural pushback, that there will be a gospel-based moral and cultural revolution. Why do I say it?

Well, I say it because I believe God put it in my heart. In other words, this has been something that in prayer over and over and over and over again for years has been stirred in me as a promise from God. I'm not saying, thus saith the Lord, I guarantee this will happen, and if it doesn't, I'm a false prophet. I'm saying I sense this deeply.

I expect this deeply. Even being on the radio every day, even serving as your voice of moral sanity and spiritual clarity. This is a reminder, when God put me on the radio, part of him putting me on the radio was for this very purpose, to encourage, to help spark health and transformation and revival in the church that would bring a gospel-based moral and cultural revolution. The other reason, though, that I say that the pushback is inevitable is not just the sense I have from the Lord.

Obviously, that carries me. It's not just, obviously, something even more fundamental. Namely, the Word of God says that the light shines in the darkness and the darkness cannot overcome it. So, ultimately, we know that even in the end with the return of Jesus, the gospel will finally triumph here in this world. But it's also my sense that Satan overplays his hand and that those that he seeks to work through go too far.

Look, think of it. It says in 1 Corinthians 2 that if the rulers of this age had understood things, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. Did Satan recognize that by crucifying Jesus, by killing the Son of God, he would now bring the means of redemption and salvation to the world? Did he realize that what he was doing with Judas, betraying Jesus? Remember, Satan possesses Judas.

He betrays Jesus, gives him over to be crucified. Did Satan fully understand that in doing that, he was now sealing his own doom? It's possible that he did, but that he couldn't control himself. Now, that's a whole big question, and we can get into all kinds of theological speculation. I don't want to go there, but it's almost as if even if he knew what he was about to do with self-defeating, he's a murderer. He had a chance to kill the Son of God.

That's the very thing God uses for his defeat and our redemption. So, I'm going to give you a bunch of examples about pushback happening in America, in Canada, in the UK, and other countries, just to say, hey, look, this is inevitable. And a lot of it has to do with radical transgender activism, as you'll see. Okay, let me get started with some of these stories.

And then again, your calls on any subject under the sun, or have any expertise, 866-348-7884. Okay, this was reported on Breitbart, January 3rd. It said this, leading British girls' schools won't accept legally male trans applicants. 25 British all-girls' schools won't be accepting applications from legally male transgender pupils.

That's big. That is very, very big to say, hey, this is a girls' school and a girl is a biological girl. And if she's not a biological girl, if she's a biological male who identifies as female, sorry, this is a girls' school and girls are girls. Now, these days, even saying that is revolutionary. These days, even saying that is radical, but they're saying, hey, we care about the girls here.

And you can't have a biological male here with the girls. That's cruel to the biological mind. Listen, you cannot turn the world upside down because of the struggles of an individual or a few, right? Look, we do our best in our society to help, say, someone who's blind or someone who's handicapped and crippled or someone who's deaf. We do our best to help people who have various health challenges, but we don't turn the world upside down. We don't say, okay, every person now has to walk with their eyes closed to accommodate someone who's blind. You say, well, how does that accommodate them? No, it doesn't, obviously.

But the point I'm making is you can't turn reality upside down to help one individual who is struggling. So you have compassion on the boy who identifies as a girl, but you don't allow him in an all girls' school. Here's another report. This was on the Daily Wire.

This was from December 30th. The British newspaper cancels person of the year poll after J.K. Rowling runs away with top spot. J.K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter novels, so one of the best known authors in the world, one of the most successful female authors of all time, she, as much as she stands for, quote, transgender rights and is very compassionate to people and their struggles, says, listen, if you have male private parts, that's how you were born, then you're not a female.

And if the law is saying that if a man who identifies as a woman rapes another woman, and the law says you cannot identify that person as a male, that's crazy. So there has been an attempt to cancel her. There has been an attempt to remove her influence. But here, you say, well, what's the good news about the British newspaper canceling person of the year?

It's saying there's a whole lot of grassroots support on behalf of J.K. Rowling. There's a whole lot of grassroots support of people just saying, hey, there is a difference between males and females. Cannot we accept that? Okay, Canada, a few weeks back, passed an insane law saying that anyone of any age who wants help with unwanted same-sex desire, anyone of any age who wants help dealing with unwanted gender identity confusion, cannot receive professional help. They cannot receive professional counseling. It is now illegal, not just from minors, as tragically exists in many states in America and some other countries, but all people of all age.

I mean, it is absolutely insane. And the bill just went right through even conservatives back then. So a number of pastors working with Liberty Coalition said January 16th, so this past Sunday, they were going to stand up and speak and bring a message on biblical sexuality, even if it meant being fined or put in prison. Now, what gave this even more impetus was that Pastor John MacArthur stood with them and urged others to speak out. So as reported by the Christian Post, December 30th also, Pastor and Theologian John MacArthur of Grace Community Church in Los Angeles is calling on pastors to preach about the biblical view of sexual morality on January 16th in opposition to a Canadian law banning therapy for unwanted sexual attractions and gender confusion, what is often derisively referred to as conversion therapy, set to take effect next month. So Pastor MacArthur published an open letter calling on other pastors to speak.

And this past Sunday, thousands of pastors, thousands of pastors in Canada brought a message that was technically illegal. The pushback continues. We come back. We're going to take a break from these stories and go straight to your calls. Stay right here. 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.

Thanks for joining us on The Line of Fire, taking calls on all subjects because we've been away from live radio for so much the last few weeks, 866-348-7884. For everyone praying for a strong recovery from COVID, appreciate that. I tested negative yesterday.

COVID is basically, that's behind me. It's just the way it affected my heart. It's a minor thing overall, I believe, and by God's grace, there's a good way to get everything solved. So with your prayers and along with working with our doctors, we should be 100% back to full strength.

Okay, I'm going to the calls momentarily. What happened yesterday is we were broadcasting remotely, and it was a bad snow day and a few things had to be overcome. I found out during the show that as I took a call, I could hear the caller, but you couldn't. So you either heard me breathing or responding. But I just want to tell you really quickly, I was talking about these bizarre spiritual attacks I came under a couple of times while I had COVID. You're never going to die.

You're never going to come out of this and all this. And I asked if others had similar experiences. So a woman called in as a social worker. She had to be vaccinated. She was vaccinated. She got COVID, and she said it was no more than the common cold, but she got spiritually and emotionally assaulted. You're going to die.

Isn't that crazy? It felt like no more than a common cold to her. That's what she gets hit with. You're going to die. Your God's not going to deliver you. And the way she combated it was Daniel 3. Whether I live or die, I'm going to worship this God.

So that was the call I was reacting to. I just wanted you to know what it was about. 866-34-TRUTH. All right, let us go to Peter in Montreal, Canada. Thanks for calling the line of fire. Good afternoon, Dr. Michael Brown. Hey. Thank you. Thank you for taking my call today.

Sure. Actually, before I get to my question, I'd like to tell you that I had the privilege in seeing you in person when you visited Montreal over a decade ago. And actually, I got to meet you in person. And during our meeting, I experienced something extraordinary.

I witnessed it. And I'd like to share that with your audience today. Sure.

Go ahead. And I haven't spoken to you since that meeting. We haven't spoken for over a decade. And since you've been declaring the good news, that blessed hope of Yeshua, our Messiah, who will keep His promise to those who love Him. And you have preached His name with honesty, with integrity, and passion. And it was incredible, Dr. Michael Brown, that after your three shows when I met you, in person, in a closed room, I saw the Holy Spirit, the light emitting all over your body. You were an apostle that God had chosen. And I was in front of that chosen apostle. And God chooses people, ordinary people, much like He chose the apostle Matthew, the apostle Paul Saul, who wrote half the gospel, ordinary man who veered. But he has written the law in their hearts.

And you are one of those people, Dr. Michael Brown. We're all servants, man. Yes, we get the privilege of being bond slaves of Jesus. And every good thing that comes out of us comes through Him. Hey, thank you for sharing your heart. Okay, so to your question, sir.

Now, in regards to my question, I think this is a time that we should bring this. After I met with you, God blessed me with a lot of success financially and with work. And He blessed me in every which way. But most importantly, He showed me something over a decade ago which I haven't spoken to anybody. And I started to prepare. And now, in my heart, I know that it is true.

And I'd like to share this with you, and I'd like to get your opinion. And it's a question in regards to Matthew chapter 24, verse 32 to 34. He also had another witness in the Apostle Mark who wrote it in chapter 13, verse 28 to 30.

And he also had a third witness, the Apostle Luke, in chapter 21, verse 29 to 33. And he basically was speaking about the end times. And he said, learn the parable of the fig tree.

Know that when it starts to regrow leaves again, that this generation will not pass. And I began going to Psalms chapter 9, verse 10, and it basically spoke that Israel is the fig tree. It gave an analysis there. And then I went to Hosea 9, verse 10, and it basically said that a generation has 80 years. So when we see that Israel was reborn again, as stated in chapter 66 of Isaiah, when Israel was reborn again in 1948, when we take Hosea's verse, that there's 80 years and a generation, and we go into 1948, it takes us to 2028. And I began discussing that with a lot of people, but in the beginning...

I'll tell you what, let me just, because you've taken a full time to present that, let me just respond. Many pointed to Israel as the fig tree, 1948, and then they said generation is 40 years, and since it's 1988. And now you're saying, well, generation, based on Psalm 90, that's a lifespan, which is different than a generation, by the way.

That a lifespan, a generation is basically from beginning of one group of people to the next beginning of the other, which is not a full lifespan. You're saying 2028, with all respect, Peter, and as much as you prayed and studied and looked at this, I would look at this very differently. All Jesus is saying is, look, the fig tree is really conspicuous, because Luke also mentioned the other trees, and say, hey, when you see certain things happen, then that tells you that the end is near. It's not singling out Israel as the fig tree. Others have tried to do it, well, Jesus curses the fig tree, so he's cursing Israel.

No, the primary images of Israel in the Bible are not so much fig tree, but the vine or the olive tree. Rather, this is simply making a general statement that just like when you see, for example, oh, the leaves are turning color, it means you're in the fall, or the trees are starting to bloom again, or the plants bloom again, you know you're in the spring. So when you see certain things happen, just like the fig tree, which is the most conspicuous, getting its leaves, that tells you that the end is near, that this generation will see these things come to pass.

So I would really strongly caution against setting any date or looking at the year 2028 in any specific way. Rather, I would continue to look at what's happening in the world around us, look at the prophetic scriptures, and see as we are getting closer to the end. But I would also caution when I came to faith in 71, I was told this was it. Jesus was coming at any moment. The end was near.

And of course, that was over 50 years ago. So let's be careful. Let's do the will of God today. Let us pursue Jesus and making a difference by touching those around us.

And as things become clearer and clearer, there'll be no debate as those days unfold. Hey, thank you, sir, for the call. 866-34-TRUTH.

Let's go to Oleg in Chicago. Welcome to the line of fire. Dr. O'Brien, good afternoon. It's really a great blessing talking to you. Thank you.

God bless you and restore your health and give you strength and peace. My question is related to the biblical Jacob. Right now, I am a pastor and I am researching for my own benefit and for the benefit of my congregation life of Jacob.

And I came to the very confusing reality. First of all, I find out that reliable data is showing that the early philosopher, historian, Jewish community, Christian father and many other Christian thinkers of the past, they believe that Jacob was an example of godliness. And they translate his name, Jacob, from the Hebrew word. Jacob, well, which means the Lord God will protect you. But since the reformation time, more and more theologians and preachers, they connect Jacob to the deceiver.

And they, you know, pointing out to the blame of his own brother. I would also highlight that he was not chosen by God. And my confusion is, based on the biblical knowledge that I have, there could not be two absolutely different view or way of interpretation of the same individual or theme. What do you think about Jacob?

OK, so there are two issues, Oleg, and thank you for the question. Number one is the meaning of his name. Number two is the quality of his character. So as to his character, there's no question that he is viewed on the one hand as God fearing and then the other hand leaning on the flesh and deceptive. In other words, he is a picture of two extremes. And you know, you can have a pastor who is tremendously prayerful and preaches powerfully and then has a deep, deep character flaw. And he's kind of living a double life.

Now, it catches up with you. Jacob suffers a lot because of it. And then once he's really broken and comes to that place of desperation in Genesis 32 and his name is changed to Israel, that's when it seems he has a transformation that the conniving Jacob, that the one who was going to trust God and yet rely on the flesh and lie and deceive, that that Jacob kind of dies at that point. As to his name, on the one hand, it's tied in with Akav, ankle, because he's grabbing his brother's ankle. But you don't like, excuse me, likely name your kid ankle grabber. That's probably just a play on words.

So what's the real meaning of the name? We'll come back on the other side of the break. It's the line of fire with your host, Dr. Michael Brown, your voice of moral, cultural and spiritual revolution.

Here again is Dr. Michael Brown. Thanks, friends, for joining us on the line of fire. Michael Brown, delighted to be back live with you and just getting full strength back, getting my voice back and can't wait to broadcast from our new studio. Yeah, we were supposed to start the year with this, but we weren't expecting COVID and all this other stuff. So ready to start also with an exciting new musical and audio introduction.

I think you're going to love it. So God willing, we were promising it for a while, but should be starting Monday this coming week. I'm going to give you some more examples of positive cultural pushback. 866, Three-Four Truth.

But I'm taking calls on all subjects today. I just want to finish up with Oleg in Chicago. So on the one hand, sir, Jacob is a picture of many of us, you know, trusting God and yet relying on the flesh. But in a very extreme way. And of course, he pays for it mightily.

But what he goes through in the betrayal in his own life, you reap what you sow. As for his name, it does, Yaakov does rhyme with Eikev, ankle. It would be like saying they call him Mike Brown because he uses a mic a lot. This is just a play on words there. On the other hand, there is the root, akav, which means to deceive. And Esau says he is like his name, Yaakov. He's a deceiver. Now, here's the question. Would you name your kid deceiver?

No, you wouldn't do that. So other Semitic scholars have suggested, as you noted, that the original name could have been a, the full expression Yaakov Ya, Yaakov El, with akav meaning to protect, which we get from some Amorite names, some other Semitic names. So that they named him, and it's just short for that, he will protect, meaning God will protect, Yahweh will protect. And that was the original meaning of Jacob. But then the Bible just plays on the, plays on words, Eikev, ankle, and akav, deceiver. But so the origin of his name, like when my parents named me Michael, they had no idea in Hebrew it meant Michael who was like God, or certainly that was not a major thing in their heads. So the naming of the child, that's just one thing.

But clearly in the Bible, his character is deeply mixed, because of which he experiences blessing, but a lot of hardship with it, that he could have avoided if he had honored the Lord. I hope that helps, sir. Yeah, thank you so much, Dr. Bell.

You are very welcome. 866-34-truth. All right, before I go back to your calls, let me give you some more examples of cultural pushback. In some cases believers, in other cases just the society in general, saying enough is enough. This was published on the Daily Wire, January 5th, by Megan Basham. After public outcry, Facebook reverses decision banning conservative children's book publisher. It was completely outrageous that back in November, Facebook banned from its platform a conservative children's book publisher called Heroes of Liberty. So they published biographies on Ronald Reagan, President Reagan, economist Thomas Sowell, others, and they built up their platform for many years on Facebook. They advertise there, and then they get banned. Everything is gone.

The reasons are completely worthless. When the publisher appealed the ruling, the Daily Wire reports, Facebook responded by claiming that because Heroes of Liberty didn't comply with their policy on low quality or disruptive content, it was permanently disabling the account. What? They gave a final appeal. They were told after final review of this ad account, we confirmed it didn't comply with our advertising policies or other standards.

That's our final decision. Well, thankfully, it got overturned. There was a public outcry. This is insanity. But the good news, as we've been telling you, friends, is there was a pushback. A couple more news items, then back to your calls.

How about this one? Published on Politico, January 10th, Pope Francis hits out at cancel culture. Yeah, Pope Francis, known for many of his liberal views that have upset traditional Catholics, he said this trend is, quote, invading many circles and public institutions.

Look at that. The Pope, he says this, cancel culture, exact quote, is invading many circles and public institutions As a result, agendas are increasingly dictated by a mindset that rejects the natural foundations of humanity and the cultural roots that constitute the identity of many people. And one more example of pushback.

This was reported by the Daily Wire, January 8th. A Christian nurse was forced out of her job on a South London hospital for wearing a crucifix, actually a small crucifix. She says, well, hang on. She said a hospital staff were heat jobs.

Some of them went to mosques four times a day. She says, yet my little cross was deemed so dangerous, I lost the job that I love. It was handed down to her since childhood.

She said every day, every time I look at it, I think of Jesus' love, how much he loved me and the need for me to love him back. So anyway, she gets fired from her job because of wearing the crucifix, because she refused to take it off. She was moved to clerical duties, became subject to what she described as a sustained campaign of bullying that left her unable to work. She brought a legal case against the health services. And this is earlier this month, her case ended in victory when employment judge Daniel Dial found that Mary had been constructively dismissed in a way that was both unfair and discriminating.

He said that the medical trust had created a humiliating, hostile and threatening environment and that when Mary complained, the response had been offensive and intimidating. Friends, obviously the darkness is going to be here until Jesus returns. Obviously, there'll be all kinds of battles, spiritual, moral, ideological, cultural, political. We understand that. I just want to remind you that there is a pushback that is continuing. 866-34-TRUTH. Let's go to Armon in New Jersey. Thanks for calling the line of fire. Hey, Dr. Brown. Thanks for taking my call.

Sure. I've listened to so many of your debates against Calvinism and other things for that matter, too. I've really appreciated those and some of the books you've written. And you and I are of the same mind in our view of God's character. I think Calvinism inevitably leads to Calvinists making God the author of evil. I think that it maligns the character of God. And to be honest, it makes me angry to hear them talk about the Lord in that way. I find myself frequently correcting Calvinists and some that I love very much. My question is, I really feel that the God that they're describing is not the God of Scripture and is essentially a different gospel than we believe. You know, we believe that God died for the sins of the whole world, and Calvinism rejects that.

I'm just wondering your opinion. How should we be dealing with brothers and sisters that see God so very differently? Right, so first thing, a Calvinist sees God as infinitely and amazingly good and gracious, believes that all of us are worthy of damnation by our own choice, and that God, in his grace, although he owes us nothing, chooses to save some of us, and therefore he's amazing and wonderful. So in their mind, and that's how I felt as a Calvinist from late 70s into early 80s, it's not making God into a moral monster. It is not imputing evil to him. So even though I agree with you that if you ultimately say God ordains that which happens, then you have to say, God ordained the rape of that child, God ordained the serial killings of these innocent women, God ordained this, you would ultimately have to say that.

And ultimately, I do believe it paints the wrong picture of God. But you have to first accept the system from within the system. In other words, let Calvinism define itself and define its view of God. And then from there, what I would do, Armon, is ask constructive questions. You know, if we want to focus on the testimony of Scripture, that Jesus died for the world, for the whole world, for every person, for Jew and Gentile, for all people, you'd say, well, how else could God have possibly expressed it other than those words?

You know, I would I would lovingly challenge that. I would point to verses where God plainly says, I didn't want this to happen. I never intended this. I never thought of this, meaning I never planned it for you. It is contrary to my will and my desire for you.

So how do you explain that? And I would just lovingly push, you know, of course, Calvinists have answers, but if I agreed with the answers, I'd still be a Calvinist. So, you know, when Jesus says in Matthew 23 to Jerusalem, let's say, speaking of the leaders of Israel, how often I gathered your children together, how often I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you weren't willing.

You know, just I would lovingly press that. What does that imply? I'd also ask this, okay, we preach to people, God commands all men everywhere to repent, right? And we tell whoever we meet, you need to turn from your sins and put your faith in Jesus. So here's my question. Let's say that they could do that. Of course, Calvinists says they can't. They have to be born again to do it.

That, of course, is very problematic to me. But let's say we say, okay, theoretically, what I'm telling that person is true, right? If they will turn from their sins and believe in Jesus, they'll be saved. If they're not elected, did Jesus die for them?

The answer would be no. So aren't I telling them something that is now fundamentally untrue? Because even if they could believe, it wouldn't be to their salvation because Jesus didn't die for them. So I would just press those points and then look at the verses like Ezekiel 18 where God plainly says he has no delight in the death of the wicked but rather that they repent. Passages in Jeremiah where God distances himself from Israel's behavior and says, I absolutely never intended this for you. How can you say God ordained it? I would press those. I would press the verses about God's grief because of human sin and obviously he didn't ordain us to sin and grieve over it and just see if the Lord opens hearts through that.

But always doing your best to not present Calvinism as you see it to a Calvinist but rather to present Calvinism as a Calvinist sees it and then to lovingly challenge it with Scripture. Hey, thank you, sir, for the call. All right, we come back.

I'm going to an old friend, Pastor Jeff from Maryland. We'll catch up on the other side of the break. We'll get to the rest of your calls or at least a few more. Stay here. 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 866-342. Here again is Dr. Michael Brown.

Hey, friends, let me encourage you strongly to visit vitaminmission.com. So right through my whole battle with COVID, right through recommending that I went right over to the hospital to get a chest x-ray and case of pneumonia, which I did. Checking with me regularly. In fact, just moments ago, I got another text. My friend, Dr. Mark Stengler, think of it with this thriving, busy practice in California, unable to keep up with all the needs of new patients with COVID and all of that.

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So let me encourage you to visit vitaminmission.com. So back in June, if I recall, I got a text from my friend, Pastor Jeff Rogers, who just watched a debate I had done with a colleague and a gay and lesbian pastor. Sent me a note about the debate, said, hey, no need to reply. Then sent a follow-up text and said, do you think that sometimes this can be directly related to demonic power because the first text said no need to reply.

I never replied to the text. So Jeff, I'm only about six months, seven months late in replying to you. But how are you doing, man? Man, I'm doing great. I'm just sorry to hear that you have to deal with this battle of COVID. And of course, as soon as I heard it, I immediately started praying for you, joining with thousands of other people that are praying for you.

But I believe that you're going to see recovery happen very quickly. Well, thank you. I love you. I love you so much.

Man, thank you so much. When I first got hit, it was so minor. I don't want to post anything because I know people hear COVID. They take it seriously. Plus, we were battling for the life of a friend we ultimately lost. That's where I wanted the prayer focus to be.

Yeah, but it got a little bit wild for a little while, man. And the demonic attack just one night was just ridiculous. And the good news is Satan is a loser. And whether we live or we die, Satan is a loser. But with everything that we go through, if we walk with the Lord, we come out better. So my determination is long term to be even healthier, to be even stronger, to be even more full of vitality, energy, vision. Because, Jeff, I know like you, we carry the same vision.

We're not trying to slow down. We're trying to see God work more and more in the days ahead and feeling like there could be decades by God's grace in us. So I don't boast about tomorrow, man, but I am carried by the prayers of God's people. And right now, it's just getting strength back, getting my voice back, so this is better every day, and then just getting this hard thing fixed.

But in Jesus' name, it will be fixed. Amen to what you're saying, and I appreciate it. Thank you, brother. Yes, sir, and believing. We will continue to pray. Adrian doesn't even know that you're dealing with this battle, so when I get off of this call, one of the first things I'm going to do is let her know this, you know? Awesome. Let my kids know it, have them praying for you too. So, anyway, man.

Thank you so much. Yes, so what's on your mind today? Oh, man, many things, but I know you've got to get it to a bunch of people.

But I want to say two things. One, I want to tell you about an area of pushback that you might not be familiar with, but in the comic book world, in Comic-Con and all of that, you know, you have all these people that are into superheroes and Marvel and DC, and there's just this huge, huge, large cascading group of people. Now, with that being said, comic books and their production and marketing and people buying them is suffering a reduction because of the push of wokeism in the comic books. And it's like, in public, people are intimidated to speak out that I don't really like this direction we're going with all of this LGBT2 forcing it down my throat.

Right, Robin is bi and Catwoman's trans, whatever it is, everybody's bi or trans or gay, right? Yes, and what you're seeing is that even younger people are like, okay, I've had enough of this. And it's being reflected in the drop of comic book sales in America, even though in other parts of the world where they are doing comic book-type characters and they're just keeping them male, female, and strong, that's going up. So I want to let you know there's a very subtle form of pushback even there that can be found in the younger generation. So I just wanted to mention that in passing.

Excellent. So here's the thing that I wanted to just bring up. I know that for a long time, well, let's say a long time, for the last year or so, two years, as we've seen the nation go darker and darker, the church has become more and more aware that we need to pray. And 2 Chronicles 7, verse 14, has been like a clearing call for many people that we need to really respond to that because it tells us in those passages that when God told Israel in ancient times, if they messed up and they recognized they messed up, then this is what you need to do.

You need to humble yourself, you need to pray, you need to seek my faith, you need to learn from your wicked ways. So we say that God doesn't change, and that's true. I mean, I absolutely believe that, and I absolutely believe we can apply the principles there that we see that come out of 2 Chronicles 7, verse 14. The challenge that I'm looking at, though, is when we are praying, you know, we're humbling ourselves to pray and seek His face, which really means to go after knowing and really getting His presence. I kind of feel that what the church in general has done is just ask the Lord to forgive the church but not necessarily turn a lot from the wicked way. And that may be debatable, but I guess the question that I have really beyond that is when a person is praying for this nation, and let's just say we have the mindset of Daniel praying for the nation, even though he may not have been a participant in what brought him in the bondage, but he prayed for the nation. And like Nehemiah, he prayed for the nation, even though he may not have been a direct participant, and they are applying what could be found in Ezekiel.

If a man would stand before me, I look for a man to stand against the... Right, right. So the question is, how far can repentance go beyond the individual that's praying? In other words, can you really have effective repentance administrated beyond yourself? Right, right.

So let me just jump in to make sure I got a chance to answer while we still have time. Let's separate two things. First, there is the prayer of the church within the nation. There are believers within a nation.

So Daniel was part of the elect nation, Israel as were Nehemiah and others. So when we apply that to ourselves today, that doesn't apply to America, which was not chosen the way Israel was, but it applies to believers within America. So on the one hand, we are praying for the church, for repentance, for awakening. On the other hand, we are praying for God to have mercy on the nation and bring the nation to repentance and salvation.

So they're related, but they're separate. You know, so 2 Chronicles 7, 14, if my people call by my name, that's not America. That's the church in America. But all we can do, Jeff, is to personally turn to the Lord with all of our might, all of our heart, with all of our soul. And when we do, God will convict us of many areas in our lives that we thought were fine, that we've just gotten comfortable with. It's like, what is that? It's almost like looking in the mirror after gaining 100 pounds, but you weren't aware of it.

It's like, what happened? So that's what happens is we turn to the Lord and then with it, God begins to stir the hearts of others. But I do not have the power to repent personally of all the sins of the church of America, or even all the sins of the church and the community in which I live. But I can pray for God to deepen the spirit of repentance in others. And you can liken it to a coal, that if I can get my own coal burning red hot, then it's going to ignite the coals next to me.

And if enough of those ignite, pretty soon you could be cooking something on the fire. So what you also need to be conscious of is that you're never the only one. God has a people. God has a remnant. And as much as it may feel as if we're the only ones, as much as we may feel isolated, I know when I'm getting stirred to pray, I feel very sure the Holy Spirit is stirring others to pray as well. And that's what gives me the confidence that, I believe it was Matthew Henry who said that when God wants to send revival, he gets his people praying. So when I see a rising tide of people crying out, young and old, of seeking God's face, I just read a book last night that I endorsed, a passionate book about revival by two young men who had been impacted by my ministry over the years. And it struck me, hey, I just wrote a book, not in October, Revival or We Die. Many people are reading it and saying, yeah, that's my heart.

That's my heart, that's how I feel. They're bringing a similar theme, revival or we die. So the encouragement is, no, I don't have the power to repent for the whole church, but I do have the power to repent for my own life and to pray for stirring in other hearts knowing that something's going on. There's a beautiful verse in Jeremiah 3 where he calls the people to repent and then says, Hinanu atanu, here we are, we come to you. In other words, Lord, I'm gonna lead the way. So let's lead the way in repentance. Let's lead the way in intercession knowing that this could spark massive national outpouring and revival. Back with you, God's Living Live tomorrow, Thoroughly Jewish Thursday. Another program powered by the Truth Network.