Updates and Strategies from the Front Lines of the Culture Wars

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How does it feel, having been on the front lines of the culture wars for many, many years, how does it feel, having been on the front lines of the culture wars for many, many years, knowing the Lord, you can make a difference for good. If you have an opinion, the freedom convoy in Canada, so thousands of truckers and non-truckers gathering together to push back against what they feel are severe restrictions, taking away their freedoms, taking away their abilities to make a living in Canada because of COVID. They feel the restrictions are draconian, they feel the restrictions are not even science-based at this point, and what really provoked this was if these truckers went out of the United States, so it's their job, they come down, they're dropping stuff off, they're picking stuff up, whatever, coming back into Canada, they couldn't do it unless they're vaccinated. So for many, that was, oh, okay, this straw that breaks the camel's back here. So they organized these protests, driving down on the roads together. Did it cause some disruption?

Yes, of course. They were trying to draw attention to a serious cause here. Some of them were Christian, some of them not Christian, some of them coming from a spiritual viewpoint, some from a totally secular viewpoint.

I saw a video of many of them singing a classic hymn together and worshiping God, but that's certainly not all of them. So they would block certain areas, so here's a major intersection or an international crossing, and they would stop traffic and block these areas. Disruption was caused, but was it justifiable? It was peaceful. There was no violence of any kind. There were no threats of violence. They wanted to get their message to Prime Minister Trudeau and their viewpoint.

He was hiding from them. And then, of course, cracks down by using the Emergency Act, which was passed in the late 80s, but has never once been used in Canadian history. And I have read reports from Canadian legal experts saying it was not intended for a situation like this.

And there were many other things that could have been done before invoking the Emergency Act. So Prime Minister Trudeau has done many things that critics call dictatorial. The parliament has stood with him. A majority stood with him, not overwhelmingly, but stood with him now to continue to keep the Emergency Act in place. Then he's saying, hey, we may need to keep some of these things in place long term. So there are many, many concerns about the freedom of Canadians. But was this a right thing to do? Is this the way you bring about change, or is it just being carnal and rebellious?

Should the people just sit back and do nothing, even if they feel that fundamental constitutional or legal freedoms are being taken from them? Maybe you follow the situation more closely than others. Maybe not. But if you have a viewpoint, Christian or otherwise, I'd love to hear from you.

866-348-7884. The situation in Ukraine with Russia continues to be at boiling point, headlines announcing all types of dire potential consequences, bloodbath and then world consequences economically. I do not have deep insight into the situation there. I feel there are many others right now who can do a much better job of catching you up. And hopefully we'll get some experts on that we feel are giving forth helpful and reliable information. I don't feel that my I have not been able to devote sufficient time to study all the related issues to give you commentary that I think is worthy of your time. And we can only focus on so many things at once.

So I just want to share that. But we want to keep praying. Father, have your way in the midst of this volatile situation, which could affect many, many people in many, many deep and dire ways. All right. Before I start giving you some examples of pushback, I promised I'd be doing it through the year just in one file alone.

I've probably got, oh, let me see, headlines from the last few months, about 40 so far that I just threw into one file of tangible examples of people pushing back, of groups pushing back, of people saying enough is enough, some secular, some Christian. But but I said that this would be a year where this really needed to be our mentality, not primarily politically, not by intimidation. Right.

So I'm not talking about the truckers, pro or con right now, but us as believers, we are called to be the light friends. OK, so before I before I get into that, let me play a clip. Disregard whether you like the show that this was on or not.

That's not the issue. Disregard whether you're a follower of this woman's ministry or not. Just want you to hear what she has to say. This is Emma Stark on The Jim Bakker Show. And this was sent to me by a colleague where we are having a discussion among several of us as to what she had to say. Let's listen.

Let me push this. This really matters, Emma, because this is very Saudi Arabia has no abortion. Saudi Arabia has no pornography and some other sexual issues that we would want to approve of. Is Saudi Arabia righteous? No, because righteousness is not measured in law. It's measured in hearts, in submission to Jesus Christ. And here is the problem. In a successful church, you're so fixated with legal lobbying and who is in power.

That you prophesy nonsense to back a political position rather than understand that it doesn't actually matter. What matters is heart change. And can I tell you this whilst I'm on a roll? That's real revival. That's revival.

It's heart change. And we have forgotten that. We thought that the nation would change through our vote rather than through a transformation of hearts. And while we're on it, can I just say, if you get the leader in a nation you do not want, maybe and just maybe you need to thank God. Because maybe a leader that irritates you is the right provocation to raise the church. God will not marry a nation.

He will marry a bride. And so sometimes he puts in a nation the very thing you don't want that will raise a bride who has made herself ready. And you have got to change the rhetoric here because the obsession with law and politics is robbing from the church in America the ability to change hearts, which is how people find Jesus. And you will not have revival unless the church changes hearts. If you keep wanting to change the law and politics, that is not a measurement of righteousness. Righteousness is coming to Jesus in surrender in your heart. And I think if you can give a European grace and you can come and speak into Europe because we need our blind spots, and I know it's late at night, but I actually believe that God is saying stop looking for worldly success. Stop looking for measurements that I don't measure when I look for heart change and I look for you to love my kingdom more than you love your nation.

It's a massive shift, isn't it? And give me grace on it. Do we want good leaders? Of course we want good leaders. Do I want righteous laws? Of course I want righteous laws. But the priority of scripture is that we change hearts to Jesus first. Christianity is not a top-down religion. That's Islam. And we have lost bringing people to Jesus.

And we thought if we campaigned for a leader, people would find Jesus. That's not how it happens. All right. What do you think of those comments? You can weigh in on that as well.

866-34-TRUTH. Do you agree or do you disagree? I'll give you my perspective. My perspective is although part of it could be overstated as either or, but then at the end she makes clear, of course we want righteous leaders. Of course we want righteous laws. But the fact is she's absolutely right. Now, you can differ with me or not.

That's fine. But she's absolutely right in terms of saying that we got our focus off in America, the Church of America. And we just keep thinking if we can just get the right person in the White House or the right people in Congress or the right people in the courts and the right laws passed, that that will solve the problems. But unless there is a massive groundswell of hearts being changed and lives being changed, all that's going to be is just opportunities for people to rebel all the more and push back and fight all the more.

Of course, if we can get a righteous law passed, we do. But the emphasis, the priority must be on changing hearts. So when I give you examples of pushing back, this is to encourage you that change can come. This is to encourage you that one life or one group can make a difference. This is to encourage you that, no, we're not in some inevitable slide downward and there's no way around it and everything's just going apart. Figuratively and literally these days.

No. It's to it's it's to say with that change can come, but ultimately it's got to come through prayer, through us living out Godly lives, living our neighbors, through us preaching the gospel, making disciples, repenting of our sins. That's the ultimate way the change can come. And without question, as I address in a book that will come out in the fall, God willing, we have gotten way too caught up with politics.

That's why I address it so much to try to say, hey, let's get our focus back. We will be right back. Thanks, friends, for joining us on the line of fire. Eight, six, six, three, four, two, just six days to the release of Silencing of the Lambs. So excited to get that book out to you. And we've got a couple of special shows coming your way next week.

One of them is going to be on Wednesday. And I've done the interview, recorded the interview. It's very intense. It is very, very intense, very eye-opening, very vulnerable. I'll tell you more about it as we get closer. Eight, six, six, three, four, truth is the number to call. As promised through this year, I want to keep giving you examples of individuals, of groups making a difference.

All right. So so here's one from Freedom Lafayette, Lafayette, Louisiana. And it says our mission, LCF's mission is to inform, equip and activate individuals to engage in the preservation of religious freedom, individual liberty and parental rights.

So it's Lafayette Citizens for Freedom. And one of the issues they were dealing with was an ordinance, West Lafayette 31-21, that was a proposed ordinance sponsored by some council members to ban, quote, unlicensed counselors from practicing, quote, conversion therapy on minors enforced by a thousand dollar fine. It defines conversion therapy, quote, as any practice, practices or treatments that seek to change an individual's sexual orientation or gender identity. And counseling is techniques used to help individuals make decisions relating to personal growth, vocational family and other interpersonal concerns.

So this is, again, talking about minors, right? Parents say, yeah, my kid is not happy with someone of same sex attractions or transgender feelings and would like counseling. So professional counseling or going to a pastor, you know, different categories. The world calls it conversion therapy. We don't call it talk therapy.

Tell it ministering to people. OK, so they they stood up against this and the ordinance was withdrawn. They stood up against it.

They raised their voice for freedom, for religious freedom, and the ordinance was withdrawn. Maybe there's a kid that's going to get help that otherwise would have been suicidal. Maybe there's a kid that's going to get hope that otherwise would not have been able to have this ordinance passed. Maybe there's someone who have a very different life outcome in a positive way. Citizens coming together, making a difference that can happen anywhere.

OK, how about this? This is massresistance.org taking it to the politicians. Wyoming County commissioner resigns after pressure from mass resistance parents over obscene library books. He compared local parents to Nazis railed about parents ignorance and hate and arrogant pro LGBT liberal who got elected and conservatory. That's how they're describing them.

Arrogant. A new pro friendly commissioner has been voted in to take his place. So these are parents pushing backs in their obscene materials in our children's school libraries. And we don't want them there. The the this commissioner, in turn, according to the reports, refers to the parents or likens them to Nazis.

He's out now again. Ultimately, we want to change hearts. We want to change lives. Ultimately, we want to see people come to life changing faith and transformation. At the same time, we want to protect our kids. At the same time, we want to stand for righteousness.

At the same time, we we want to push back and do what's right. Here's another example. Let's see.

Let me just go over here. OK, so bigger news, better known news. But here's an an article on Fox News, Fox News staff. Joe Rogan is, quote, unstoppable after confronting cancel culture. Now, Joe Rogan is not my model for godliness. He is not my model for Christian values. I'm not looking to him for counsel or wisdom. He is incredibly successful and seems to be quite open and honest in his search for truth and pray that he really comes to know the Lord.

But I'm not holding him up as an icon for the church. But when there is a real attempt to silence him, simply bringing on guests pro and con about vaccines and asking questions. When there is a real attempt to do it, Spotify ultimately stood with him. Now, did they stand with him for ethical reasons? Did they stand with him for for righteous reasons?

Saying, OK, we recognize that that you cannot silence voices you differ with if we want to have a free and open community. Or was it simply he's so successful as just a good money investment? Either way, there was this really attempt, serious attempt for many quarters to silence him and it for a little while.

Spotify took some hits with their stocks. Obviously, they're looking long term and hopefully even doing this for ethical reasons. But bottom line is the attempt to stuff him out will probably only increase his audience.

I'm using this as an illustration as we're talking about pushing back. I want to bring on a guest that we have right now, Rob Chambers from the American Family Association. And the American Family Association for decades has led the way in calling attention to major moral and spiritual issues and calling Christians together to stand there for what's right, making them aware of different situations, but also maybe lesser known because they've been so well known for petitions and getting their message out. They've also been involved legally for many years as well. Rob, there is a case right now that you have going to the Supreme Court.

Can you tell us about the significance of that? Well, thank you so much, Dr. Brown, for having me on. What we're looking at is we're encouraging the Supreme Court to take up the CMS issue, the Center for Medicaid and Medicare Services, to rehear the case that they sent back or basically upheld the right for HHS to require health care employees to get the jab, to become injected with the vaccine, COVID vaccine, that is. So we're calling on the Supreme Court to hear that because basically the basis for their rejection of the health care workers' rights to not get the jab was based on some really flawed reasoning.

All right. So why is this of concern to a Christian organization like yours? I understand, for example, if you feel there's sexually explicit material that's affecting children or other things like that.

But why is this something that you're actually pushing to get to the Supreme Court? Well, there are many health care workers across the country who who are Christian, who are who have people who have deeply or sincerely held religious beliefs, and they would oppose the vaccine on that basis. They would violate their religious beliefs. There's also health care workers who would believe that it would violate their rights of conscience to either to get injected with that vaccine or even give it to another medical personnel. So there's those two reasons, rights of conscience and religious liberty. Where are you concerned that things could go if the courts ultimately say, no, you have to get vaccinated? Again, this is not pro or anti-vax. That's not the issue at all. It's about religious freedoms.

Do you have a concern that this could be the tip of the iceberg for something larger? Well, I really do, because, first of all, there is no statutory authority that, as we understand, that the federal government has to require people in the medical profession to get get vaccinated. The Supreme Court, the liberal opinion read into the law or thinking that that it was actually there, but it's not.

But if if the federal government succeeds or prevails at the Supreme Court, then then what's next? I mean, if the federal government can require this to happen, what else might the medical profession require? Right. It creates a health care czar at HHS, for example.

Right. So in the in the larger scheme of things, you have been on the front lines, AFA, for decades with issues of religious liberties and freedoms. In your mind, is this part of a bigger picture?

We talked about what else could happen in the health community. But is this part of a bigger picture of of a genuine assault on Christian liberties and larger religious liberties in America? Or are we overdoing this? Are we paranoid?

I don't think we're paranoid at all. I mean, I mean, look, we see what what the government is already doing with with vaccines. You know, they're saying that that this vaccine is is effective.

It prevents infection or even prevents transmission. They said that early on. But then they changed the they changed the goalpost.

And now it's just to to mitigate any problems that one would have if they were to get the vaccine or if they were to get the COVID virus, for example. And so we just see the the government continuing to move in a direction that is not limited in fashion, meaning limited government as as the government was intended or originally instituted by by we the people. And so the government is continuing to move in a direction away from the consent of the government, for example.

Yeah, it is true. And if you think of the issues that concern Don Waldman in the early days of AFA and you look at where we are now in society, you think, OK, he was right to sound the alarm. And by the way, having having been down with your folks quite a few times, it is multiethnic and multigenerational. It is not just representing a bunch of old white men. So there is a perspective that the whole nation needs to hear.

Hey, last word over to you. Well, I tell you what, that is such I've been here with AFA for about six years, maybe over six years, and it is really incredible the amount of diversity that exists here at AFA. I mean, I mean, a lot of young people, a variety of ethnic diversity as well. And so it's just really a great organization, a great place to serve and to serve others there out in the country. And I would encourage people to go to AFA.net and to learn more about AFA and learn how you can get involved and even support the ministries of AFA.

Yeah, absolutely. Friends, go to AFA.net. I've been there in Tupelo face to face, been on many of the shows. We've worked together on the In His Image documentary.

Find out what they're doing. Get on the mailing list. AFA.net and you will get regular opportunities where your voice can make a difference. Hey, Rob, thanks so much for joining us on the air today. We'll be right back. It's the line of fire with your host, Dr. Michael Brown. Get on the line of fire by calling 866-34-TRUTH. Here again is Dr. Michael Brown.

Listen to what Billy Graham said many years ago. Courage is contagious when a brave man or a woman takes a stand. The spines of others are stiffened. Have you ever seen that with a group that everyone, I can't say I won't do anything? And then an unlikely person stands like if they're standing, I need to stand. And the next thing, well, if she's standing and he's standing and they're standing, I need to stand. And next thing, others rise up. Why not be the one to show courage first?

Not talking about being a troublemaker, not talking about being arrogant, angry, militant. I'm talking about loving the Lord, loving your neighbor to the point that you say, I'm going to do what's right. It's uncomfortable, but I'm going to do what's right. Oh, you experience beautiful freedom when you do it.

I really get into that principle and the silencing of the lambs, the freedom you have when you obey God and cast off the fear of consequences and other things. But friends, why not be the one, even if by nature you're not a leader, you're more of a follower, why not be the one that shows courage first and others can then follow your lead? Because one way or another, people are watching us, right? One way or another, people are watching us.

866-34-TRUTH. Earlier in the show, I played a clip from a woman from Europe and she was talking about how our priorities got off here in America, how we put so much emphasis on getting a certain person in the White House or getting certain laws passed that we forget our greater mission, which is to change hearts and minds. And yes, of course, we want to eradicate abortion. Of course, we want to see healthy families. Of course, we want to see lots of things happen. But you can only make so much of that happen legally, right, which we advocate for.

The priority must be changing hearts and lives. I asked for some feedback on that comment. Let's go over to our friend Fael in Greensboro, North Carolina. Thanks for calling the line of fire. Nice to hear from you. Yes.

Hi, Dr. Brown. Let me tell you, the lady from Europe has just echoed everything I've been saying, even from the beginning when there was so much controversy about Trump or Biden and the evangelicals were stating that Trump was against abortion and Trump. I said, but I've always said, is that coming from his heart?

Because God is about the heart. And I said, I believe if Trump's daughters or wife or anybody was raped by a black person, that he would tell them they would have to have an abortion. I also said that if we, the church, would get out and evangelize, then the heart would change and we wouldn't have to worry about the rules and the legality of where a person can have a baby or not have a baby or children or not, because the heart of the person would be changed. And then that would spill over to, of course, your states and countries. And you wouldn't need these laws because you're going back now to even, even though I know what the Bible says about blood, blood that is, that is, well, it's got innocent blood that spills.

Right. But my thing is, if you make someone do it based on the law and does not come from a heart, it doesn't please God. God is a relational person. He's about relationship with the church, not rules and regulations. And that's why we get off with the Old Testament sometimes, with the law. And we end in the New Testament, not that the laws are not, some of the laws are not good, like back to not kill. I understand that.

But if you do, if you're not doing it for the right reason, which is from the heart, because you're trying to please God, or you're trying to have a relationship with God, then it doesn't mean anything to God. Let me just let me just interject one thing. If if my next door neighbor hates another neighbor on the other side. Right. But the reason that he doesn't strike that neighbor is because he's afraid of the consequences of going to jail for murder.

Or I'm glad. In other words, I would rather that he that he doesn't kill someone even for the wrong reason that he kills someone. But that being said, ultimately, the solution has to be changing hearts first. Of course, we have to have laws in place.

You know, it's it's it's the human race and human race needs boundaries. But right. The point is and God knows Trump's heart. Right. God knows.

You know, we can't predict the future, what any of us would do. But yes, it's it's the emphasis. It's the priority. And we got look, I say we I mean the body. We got so caught up with the elections. It's almost hard to remember now because it's a little bit past. And we've been dealing with covid for so long. But it was obsession.

Social media pages. And we're attacking each other and just being like the world. And we think, oh, we get we get Trump four more years is going to change America. No, no, no. Yeah. So. Yeah. And you get four more years of fighting.

It's not going to change. No, I was looking for the hit the heart. Yeah. The other thing. The other thing, too, I said, even though Biden was standing for abortion and. All the other stuff from his heart, I think he probably doesn't want it, but he's doing what the people want. And I think Donald Trump is doing what the people want from his heart.

He's not in it. But only God knows the heart. Only God knows. Yeah. And here's here's the thing. When I wrote my commentary on Jeremiah, I really dug deep into the lives of some of the kings. So you had you had some like Jehoiakim who is just wicked and arrogant. And when the words of the Prophet Jeremiah were being read to him from a scroll, he it was wintertime. So there was a fire going. He just he just took his his his his knife and just sliced it as it was being written through it in the fire to burn. He was arrogant and wicked and had to show his power because he was he came into power under Egyptian Egyptian rule. And then after that, Babylonian rule, he's being taxed by both.

Yes, I'm a man. Watch me on the king. But it was wicked from the heart. Zedekiah, it seems from everything we can see, his brother was a man pleaser that he privately would bring Jeremiah in and say, look, what should I do?

And Jeremiah tells us, OK, but don't tell anybody we talked. And he did wicked things because he was weak. So one was seem to be wicked from the heart, the other weak from the heart.

But they both fell under judgment because they did what was sinful and wrong. Hey, thank you for weighing in. And again, one thing from that that word from Emma Stark. And again, don't know much about her ministry. And I know there are many different opinions about the TV show she was on.

I've been on the show and in the past and enjoy getting my message out in every different setting that I can with appreciation. So I don't want to be distracted by that because some immediate like, oh, what about this? What about this? But she did say that sometimes you get the leader you don't want. And for the vast majority of Christian conservatives in America, we didn't want Joe Biden, even if we had misgivings about Donald Trump. Because of his radical abortion positions, because of his radical trans activist positions, because of concern as to whether he would be strong internationally, et cetera.

We didn't want him in. But I fully recognize this. There could be judgment in it in terms of America falling even more. But it could also be the very means to get us to pray the way we're supposed to pray for revival rather than say four more years of Trump, four more years of Trump. That's going to do it again.

It's a perspective. Yes, we vote. Yes, I voted for Trump, but I always had concerns. And I wouldn't vote for him again. From what I see right now, I would not vote for him if he if he ran again. He said, what if it was against a really, really bad candidate? I vote for someone else just unconscious.

I wouldn't vote for president at all. Just run at right now. So what does that mean? People get mad at me from both sides. You say, well, Mike, why even talk about these issues? Why not just quote scripture once again? Because we live in this world and we're trying to bring scriptural principles into every area of life, including politics.

So what's the principle here? God is king. People are going to come and go. The most powerful man on the planet is just flesh and blood. If God takes his breath away or her breath away, if there's the most powerful woman on the planet, boom, they're gone.

End of subject. We breathe. I'm breathing right now.

You're breathing right now by the grace of God. Not because we deserve it. So we need to get our perspective where it needs to be. And that is on the gospel first. Seek first the kingdom of God.

Seek first. It's a matter of priorities. And I have very godly, mature friends who are gravely concerned about the state of the church in America right now.

And who feel that unless we really get our priorities straight, 2024 could be worse than 2020. Which is a very sobering, concerning thought. OK, back to encouragement. Here we go. Some more pushback.

How about this? In England, this was reported. Oh, OK.

This goes back a few months, but I haven't. Oh, no, I'm just reading it wrong. It's February 12th because it's written British way. It's it's twelve, one, two and then 02.

But it's February 12th, not December 2nd, February 12th. The Telegraph reports Christian teachings to be protected from conversion therapy ban says government. OK, there shouldn't be any, quote, conversion therapy ban and all talk of, quote, conversion therapy is the talk of the world, not the talk of the church and not the talk of the therapist. Christians involved in counseling, therapy, psychology don't use the term conversion therapy.

That's a negative term the world puts on it. But as England was moving towards a ban on that, pastors began to speak up. So so you're talking about more than twenty five hundred church leaders wrote to Liz Trust, who is the minister for women and equality, is warning that they are willing to be criminalized if her proposed ban stops them from teaching their faith because they're going to preach hate. Everyone can change. Gays can change. Lesbians can change. Trans people can change. People with with all kinds of desires can change.

People with all kinds of bondages can change. Everyone can be changed through the gospel. And we're here to help you find wholeness in Jesus. Well, what if you come for counsel? Well, that's conversion there. They say, hey, that's fine.

Go ahead and do it. Put us in jail. Take us from our pulpits. We're willing to pay the consequences. But you are doing the wrong thing.

Please do the right thing. So this quote, banned conversion therapy ban shouldn't even be talked about at all. Absolutely outrageous. But here are leaders in England push back and they're told, OK, you're you're going to be protected.

Now, of course, we shall see as the rubber meets the road. But that's another positive. That's another good example of pushing back. Do I have another one here?

I can get too quick before the break. How about this? Jennifer say Levi's brand president quit saying she was forced out over her opposition to covid 19 school closures. She gave up a one million dollar severance so that she could not be silenced. How long would it take you to earn a million dollars?

I want to take me to earn a million dollars. I'm sure she was making more than most of us. But here she said, OK, she's losing her job. She takes a million dollars like a payoff, right? Takes a million dollars severance pay, but can't talk about the issues as to why you were fired. No, I'll pass on the million so I can speak up. Does that example speak to you?

To me at all? We'll be right back. It's the line of fire with your host, Dr. Michael Brown. Get on the line of fire by calling eight six six three four.

Truth. Here again is Dr. Michael Brown. You know, I put out different questions on the broadcast and sometimes I'll put out a question and everybody wants to talk about it. The phone lines light up and it's juicy discussion back and forth. The other times I put out a question and beginning to show and callers are just not interested to talk about it that particular day, because you may say, Dr. Brown, how come you ask some questions and say, hey, we'll take your calls on this? Well, if we don't get sufficient calls on both sides of an issue, there are no calls to take. And I'm not pushing it. And you never know.

You never know. I mean, I've come into the studio with a hot topic and I'm thinking, wow, I want to cover as much ground as I can, but we're going to be flooded with calls and I want to get to as many calls as I can and try to balance that, you know, the content and the calls. And it's like nobody's calling. And then I'll mention something completely off topic and everybody wants to weigh in. So you just never know. But if you ever wonder how come I announce a certain thing and I'll take calls on it, if we don't get calls on that subject, no calls to take. And we're not in the situation where I'm looking at all comments on social media platforms during the show.

So even if people are commenting there, if they don't call in, we for the most part don't interact with it. Okay. Have you gone to vitaminmission.com? Have you?

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Some salmon that Nancy might have, but otherwise eating as healthily as we know how. You still need to supplement that with certain health supplements and many others need many others. So check that out. Vitaminmission.com. And there's a code to use the Dr. Brown code. When you do, you'll see that you get a special discount. And then in turn, Dr. Stangler makes a donation to our ministry with every purchase.

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Vitaminmission.com. Okay, I promised you through the year examples of encouragement, pushing back, people saying enough is enough, people standing up to the culture. Some are believers, some are not. Am I saying that, oh, look at this, the shift. We've got 50 headlines here versus 38 on the other side.

Or 214 positive stories versus 111. Oh, no, I'm not saying that at all. I'm not saying that those on the other side are not taking stands.

When I say the other side, I mean ideologically. We're all human beings in need of God's grace. And I don't divide in that sense. I see people who know the Lord and people who don't know the Lord. So my ultimate focus is to bring people to know him personally and to walk with him and to honor him.

That's my ultimate burden, purpose, vision. That being said, it's encouraging to know that people are making a difference. Here, look, let's say 100 people today are diagnosed with cancer. And let's say many of them don't survive the cancer. That's tragic. That's painful.

I don't minimize that. But in your own life, I was just talking to a pastor today and I said, hey, how you doing? He says, my wife just had a biopsy, so we're praying for a good report. That good report means the world to them. That good report, when it comes in, means the world to their children.

The doctor saying, hey, you're cancer free or this can be dealt with and you've got great life expectancy. That's good news in your world. So I want to give you good news in other places in America and even other countries to say, hey, that can be the reality in your school. That can be reality in your state. That can be the reality in your family. That can be the reality in your community. Why not?

Why not? OK, so check this out. Is there a more left leaning city in America than San Francisco?

Maybe, but it'd be hard to find. And of course, it's been a stronghold for gay activism for decades and decades. And the homeless crisis, other things going on, drug addiction. There are a lot of real serious issues right now in San Francisco.

It's obviously ripe for the gospel in that respect. Check this out. This has really sent shockwaves around America. Fox reported February 16th, San Francisco recalls three school board members, quote, a clear message in San Francisco, one of the nation's most liberal cities. Recall efforts split Democrats.

Here is a report that is from The New York Times in landslide. This New York Times, San Francisco forces out three Board of Education members. The recall, which galvanized Asian-Americans, was a victory for parents angered by the district's priorities during the pandemic. So the the parents were upset. They felt that the school board was engaging in all kinds of other issues and renaming schools and doing things with a radical leftist agenda and not really paying attention to the needs of the students in the schools that here in this very liberal city. The parents said, you're out.

And I've been I've been reading some reports. This is not Democrat versus Republican. This is what's best versus what's not best. Right. That's the issue here.

Probably most all the great majority of voters involved were Democrats. That's why there is a split there. But this people are talking about. Get the message. This radical woke ideology is not working.

Get the message. This is what Democrats are saying before it's too late. And look, we've we've known that America with with all the problems that we have, we tend to be a slightly center right country ideologically.

So obviously, that's that shifted in certain ways. But you go radical left and you're going to lose people, not gain them. By the way, you go radical right.

You're going to lose people, not gain them just for the record. I'm talking about politically, about politically. How about this from Tony Blair, February 17th? Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair remains a loud voice in international politics. He said people don't want a situation where women can't talk about being women.

Look at that. And he's he led the left wing Labour Party. He's he said voters don't like all this stuff that is being shoved at us regarding the public discourse over transgender related politics. Quote, they voters don't want a situation where women can't talk about being women. It's former Prime Minister Tony Blair, not Dr. Michael Brown on the line of fire or not some other Christian conservative leader.

He said, I have this conversation quite often with Labour people, meaning left wing Labour Party. And I know their inclination is to walk around this issue, but I'm telling you to go right into it and resolve it in a way that makes it absolutely clear where you stand. Boom. I love it. Talk straight. Let the chips fall where they may. By the way.

You talk about irrationality. So the truckers in in Ottawa, different cities in Canada, we started with Freedom Conference. I'm going to go back there. They they arrive in one city. And a group of protesters to their protest show up. You know what they're shouting? Signs proclaiming trans rights or human rights. Excuse me, this is this is a protest about covid vaccines, mandatory vaccines and covid crackdowns. And the other party is shouting trans rights or human rights. What what what did the truckers have to do with trans rights or not? What did the freedom convoy have to do with transgender issues? What did covid restrictions have to do with this at all? Nothing.

Absolutely nothing. I mean, people were getting into this online. Like, what? Huh? I think you showed up to the wrong protest.

That's what people were saying. But it exposes and reminds us of the irrationality of certain positions and a certain myopic focus. That's just on one particular issue.

Now, this is everybody's issue. Do we know what did the freedom convoy ever say a syllable having anything whatsoever to do with transgender issues? No. Not a syllable. There's nothing in any statement. There are no signs that were being held up.

There are no billboards that were on the side of trucks. There were no interviews with truckers saying and and and all this transgender stuff. It needs to stop. And a man needs to be a man. A woman needs to be.

No, no, no, no. Where none of that was said anywhere. And yet and yet protesters show up saying trans rights are human rights.

Now, for the record. Those who identify as transgender are as human as any other person. Those who identify as transgender should be protected under the law like every other person. Those who identify as transgender are still created in God's image. And Jesus said the same blood for me, a heterosexual straight man, as he did for someone who identifies as transgender, who has had all kinds of sex change surgery. He said shed the same blood for each of us. And my desire is to see those who identify as trans is to see them find wholeness, to see them find freedom to in the bodies in which they were created.

That's my desire for them. And that's what compassion calls for. That's what compassion calls for. But this was one of the wackiest things I have read.

And yet it does not. Surprise me. It does not surprise me. Hey, friends. Wednesday of next week, God willing, March 2nd is when I'm going to interview a woman. Now identifies as a man shouting at the top of her lungs against trans activism affecting our students, expecting our children. It is going to be one of the most eye opening interviews we've ever had on the line of fire coming away next week. Another program powered by the Truth Network.