Dr. Brown Is Live, Taking Your Calls and Questions

The following program is recorded content created by the Truth Network. 866-34-TRUTH. That's 866-34-TRUTH. Here again is Dr. Michael Brown. What a joy to be with you today on the line of fire.

By God's grace, my voice is getting stronger by the day, getting more back to normal by the day. Thanks for your prayers for support. Here's something to call, 866-34-TRUTH, 866-348-7884. Any question of any kind that in any way relates to any subject matter we ever cover here on the line of fire, give us a call. That's what we do on Friday, phone lines wide open, 866-34-87884. One other thing, if you differ with me, if you think I'm misinformed, if you have read or heard things about me that distress you and you want to know if they're true or not, give us a call.

Better to do that than just a bash or attack or kind of swing in the darkness. Let's bring things into the light. I promise not to bite. 866-348-7884. Let's start over in Capel, Texas.

Jared, welcome to the line of fire. Hey, Dr. Brown. I'm glad to hear that you are doing way better from your COVID south. Yeah, thank you.

We have it here at our house too, but we're doing good. Good, good. Yes, sir. Okay, well, I had kind of a two-part question, if that's okay. So the first one was, I just went blank.

There it is. What do you think about how hands on is God in creating people? Because in the Psalms it talks about that God knits us in our mother's womb and things like that, and I guess what I'm asking is like, you know, like birthday sex and, you know, just genetic things that people are born with, you know, blindness or whatever. Like, so do you think like God, you know, creates them like that or he just allows that to happen just naturally and, you know, does that kind of make sense?

Oh, it does, and it's a very, very relevant subject. In fact, I've got a brand new article up on the stream called Sickness is an Enemy, where I do acknowledge that in the scripture God does take responsibility for his human creation. So first, as far as forming us as unique human beings, who we are, I absolutely believe that God is massively hands-on because that's us. I mean, he's, and of course he's working through human choices, so who marries who and what child they produce and all of that. He's not overruling that.

In other words, there are not going to be two ethnically Chinese people that give birth to an ethnic Native American. I mean, he's not going to overrule DNA, but certainly he is our individual creator and is hands-on, and he also says this. Now, the context is God speaking to Moses and explaining to Moses why he can send him and use him even with a birth defect, but as Moses is protesting, you know, Lord, I've never been a good speaker. The Lord says in Exodus 4.11, who gives man's speech? Who makes him dumb or deaf, seeing or blind?

Is it not I, the Lord? So on the one hand, God takes full responsibility for his human creation, and if you have the tragic event of having a child with a birth defect that will not live out a year, God's the creator of that child. God doesn't say, well, I made you, but only partially. On the other hand, we know throughout scripture that healing is good, that health is good, that long life is good in and of themselves, these things are good, that God has revealed himself as the healer of his obedient people, not the smiter of his obedient people. And in the case of the man born blind, Jesus simply says it wasn't due to his sin or as if he sinned in the womb or the sins of his parents. Rather, this was that the works of God might be manifest, but what were the works of God?

Healing. So in other words, we say, yes, God created every human being. And in some way we say, yes, God created that person blind and another person deaf. We also recognize without the fall, this never would have happened. We also recognize that if Jesus encountered that blind or deaf person, he would have healed them. So there is the sovereignty of God, but then there's the revealed will of God that he is the healer and blesses us with, with health and long life.

Right. So like, you know, so say someone, you know, who is blind, like, do you think God, like, just kind of lets that happen though? Or like he says, you know, I want this person, cause I believe... We don't know. We don't know. In other words, we don't know if there was something in the, in the process of the physical, uh, birth of that child and development of that child that went wrong.

Cause it does happen. We're in a fallen world and that God didn't stop it. Did God actively make it happen?

I don't see that specifically, even the language in, in Exodus four, it's not that he made, but rather appointed. So in other words, okay, that is your lot in life, but God's will is still healing. Right. And okay.

Great. And then I guess part two kind of goes with like praying for the sick and things like that. So, you know, when Jesus and the scriptures talks about, you know, ask anything and it will be done for you, like it's all these great promises about like, whatever you ask in my name, but were you done according to my will, you know, and, and, and we ask believing that Jesus is, you know, wanting to heal people, you know?

So I guess like, and you know, obviously it doesn't always happen, but what are the scriptures actually like? Is he just talking to the disciples? Well, no, he's not just talking to his disciples.

Absolutely not. And when he says in John 14, 12, whoever believes in me, the works that I do with, he do also because I go to the father that is all believers. That is a comprehensive whoever believes in me.

So there, there are several specific answers. One is we must show we're praying in harmony with the will of the father, right? With let's not talk about healing for a minute.

Lord, make me the next president of the United States or make me the top baseball player in the nation. Well, we don't know that's God's will. So we can't pray that in faith without God directing us to pray that we're taught that we have to persevere in faith, that many times the answer will not come for a protracted period of time, but we must persevere. We're even simply told we must pray in faith. So there must be that holy confidence in God. And some of that can only be given by God.

Some of that grows out of our relationship with him. But because I see scripture teaching so plainly healing as, as a blessing that he wants to bring to his people, healing is a way that he receives glory healing as an expression of his compassion. I will continue to ask God to heal the sick even when I don't see them healed. That's still the way that I pray. I don't know why we lost our friend in his 50s.

I actually another yesterday in his 50s. I don't know why they weren't healed. I don't know why the prayers weren't answered, but because I'm a Bible believer, not an experience based believer, I'm going to continue to pray for healing and ask for it and believe that sickness is an enemy in and of itself until Jesus returns.

Last point. Some of the godliest people on the planet are sick. Some are chronically sick.

Some deal with overwhelming physical challenges. Some of the most wicked people on the planet are super healthy. So health in and of itself is not a proof of blessing. Sickness in and of itself is not a proof of divine, divine disfavor, but sickness in and of itself is an enemy and healing in and of itself is a blessing. That's why we have hospitals and doctors and medicine because we agree we need to work together against this terrible enemy, sickness. If you want a comprehensive statement, check out my book, Israel's Divine Healer. 866-34-TRUTH.

Let's go to Dustin in White Lake, Michigan. Welcome to the line of fire. How's it going, Dr. Brown?

Going great, thank you, sir. All right, so my question is, is, you know, I've been, I've been really struggling lately, really struggling. I have, like, some, you know, I've been dealing with mental health issues and all this, and I can't get a grasp on, am I truly a born-again believer? I mean, there's evidences in my life, it hasn't been perfect, but I believe in the Son of God, but how can I know?

I mean, how can I know? Yeah, so Dustin, yeah, first, I'm so sorry to hear you're going through these struggles, and obviously some could relate to the mental health challenges. In other words, that your emotions are getting messed with, your thinking process is getting messed with, so let's believe for God to really give resolution to that. But what I want to encourage you to do, Dustin, is to ask the question, is Jesus trustworthy, and does Jesus keep his word?

That's the issue. Every one of us is going to have that are born-again, we'll all have evidence of salvation, but then evidence that we're not fully sanctified, right? You see, yeah, I am a changed person, wow, I do have communion with God, but then why did I give way to temptation the other day, and why was I so prayerless the day after that, and how come I didn't feel as close to God? So for me, overwhelmingly, day and night, I know that I know that I know that I know that I'm born again. I also know that there are times of temptation or trial and difficulty where that assurance gets challenged. So along with asking God to give you a deeper assurance, I would put all the emphasis on who Jesus is, and what he's done, and what he's promised. And I would put all my eggs in those baskets, Lord, you promised, I have put my trust in you, I believe Jesus died for my sins and rose from the dead, I've confessed him as Lord, therefore I put all my trust in you as Savior. Your assurance comes out of who he is. If you know who he is, then you know when you put your trust in him, that he absolutely has saved you, cleansed you, forgiven you, and has plans for you for eternity.

Put everything into leaning on him, forget your own strength, your own ability, your own faithfulness, throw it all on the faithfulness of Jesus. And as you do, I believe that there'll be greater peace. Can I pray with you, Dustin, is that okay?

Yeah, absolutely. All right. Father, I pray for Dustin, and I thank you for this great prayer army praying with me right now around the world. I pray first that you would just help him to look to Jesus. And as he looks to Jesus, may there be that deep sense of assurance. Comfort his heart, Lord, you are faithful.

No one who puts their trust in you will be ashamed. And whatever other issues he's dealing with, mental health, Lord, may you give him resolution, healing, wholeness, a way to live a fruitful life without this torment. Lord, set him free from everything attacking. We ask it in the name of Jesus. Grace to you, Dustin.

Grace to others for whom Dustin was speaking as well. All right, we'll be right back with more of your calls. 866-342. It's the line of fire with your host, Dr. Michael Brown. Get into the line of fire now by calling 866-342.

Here again is Dr. Michael Brown. You know, as I get my full strength back after COVID, I'm more committed than ever to healthy living. Yes, by God's grace, I was very committed before, but all the more committed, all the more committed to taking physical care of this temple.

Why? To be a good steward so that I can honor God with my body, so that I can run my race the best, so I can serve you effectively, so I can be here for my family and generations to come, pour into them as long as I have breath. I can't boast about, my next breath can't boast about tomorrow, but I can boast about a God who has helped transform my life.

And I could only imagine what would have happened if I got COVID in condition which I used to be, you know, obese and with food addictions and high blood pressure and things like that. So all the more committed and all the more do I encourage you to check out vitaminmission.com. Three good things happen when you do. One, you can find out about some of the finest health supplements on the planet to supplement your steps to healthy living, so some great products there. Two, you use the special discount mentioned on the website, so you get a 10% discount when you order. Three, Dr. Stengler turns around and gives a donation to our ministry in turn, so everybody's blessed. It's a great cycle of life, so visit vitaminmission.com. With that, let's go to J.D.

in Richmond, Virginia. Welcome to the line of fire. Thank you, sir. First off, I'd like to say what you said to Dustin was absolutely perfect. Dustin, if you're still out there, just remember God said he would be there no matter what. He didn't promise you perfection.

He promised you that he would back you up. Now my question for you, I've been a medic for right about 22 years, medic firefighter for about 22 years. I've done a lot of things, a lot of studies over the years, and one of the things I found out during the studies was that the average human brain stays alert for 10 minutes after death. My question is, and I've asked other people this question, and that's pretty much across the board. Unless your head's been literally moved from your body, it's still your brain lasts for 10 minutes.

Do you think—or do you have any ideas? I may be crazy, I may not be—but do you think that's the time that you're in judgment, that you're standing in front of God? Because it's 10 minutes. I mean, on average, it's 9 minutes to 10 minutes, and then your brain dies. I'm just curious to what your thoughts are. Yeah, so I'm ignorant of that aspect of things, you know, the brain process that you just described.

Thank you for your service as a medic all these years. Oh, you're welcome. Yeah, but no, I don't believe that because we are not immediately judged. I know Scripture says it's appointed to men once to die, after this the judgment. The judgment is at the resurrection. So the moment we die, the saved are saved and the lost are lost.

So the light goes to the light and the darkness goes to the darkness. In other words, we are not given final evaluation or accountability at that point. But the judgment clearly is at the time of final resurrection, and when everyone stands before God, the great white throne judgment, the books are opened. That's when that takes place. So whatever this unique process is, does the Spirit leave the body immediately?

Is the brain just a physical organ that's still alive, but the Spirit is gone? Obviously, I can't comment on that. I don't know.

But no, I do not believe that's the time of judgment based on Scripture. Okay. I just was curious.

It's just something that's always been on my mind, and I wanted to ask the body. Thank you for your time. Thank you for your show. Yeah, can I ask you a question as a medic? Absolutely.

Okay. You know, there's so many questions about COVID, vaccines, hospital treatments, et cetera, hospital workers suffering compassion burnout just because they're so overworked and things like that. As an insider in the medical profession, how do you feel when you hear people not just saying, stay away from the hospitals because they're afraid that you're not going to get the best treatment of COVID, but they're trying to kill you in the hospitals? How do you feel as a medical professional when you hear that?

They're not trying to kill anybody. COVID is what it is. If you look back at the flu when it first came around, you take the population at the time, it killed a bunch of people until we figured out what it was and we had a vaccination for it. We take a flu vaccination every year, majority of people, because they don't want to get the flu. To me, the COVID is going to end up being the same way. I used to be scared to death when I went into a house with somebody that, you know, you get the call that comes out and they send you this little message on the side that says, hey, by the way, they probably got COVID.

And it used to scare me. And the precautions and the fear that it has caused people because of all of the, and I'm not trying to point anybody and be disrespectful, but from the CDC and all of them, they put such a stigma and it beats some of the stigma, but it's been overdone. I mean, this is a terrible disease, but people have just made so much of it that everybody is scared to death. So we wear masks, go wear a mask. And then we find out, well, the mask, which we've known for months now, but the little surgical mask or the piece of cloth puts on your face doesn't work. So you've been in hypothetically, a grocery store standing next to somebody talking to them that's had a cloth mask on and you're totally fine with that, but it's done absolutely nothing for you.

But once you find out it does nothing for you, you go into pandemonium mode again. Yeah. J.D., that's the key thing. And thanks for bringing that up. Everything's gotten so politicized. Everything's gotten so emotional, understandably.

Many have died. And then you mix in the mandates, you mix in government cracking out on churches, you mix in questions about vaccines, and then the whole thing just spirals, as you say, becomes this pandemonium. So what we all need to do is say, hey, we all want the same outcome. We want to go back to normal life and we want people to stop getting sick and dying as much as possible. Let's work together for that rather than have so many emotional reactions. Hey, J.D., thanks so much for the call. 866-344-TRUTH. Let's go to Raph in Niagara Falls. Welcome to the line of fire. Dr. Brown, thank you very much for taking my call.

Sure thing. My question is about Jude, verse 5. Fairly recently I just came across in some modern translation like ESV and the net translation that verse 5 is translated as basically saying that it was Jesus who saved Israelites out of Egypt. And I was just wondering what your thoughts about that, if you agree with that translation, especially given some related passages in 1 Corinthians 10 where Paul refers to Jesus as rock, and then obviously we have in John 8.58 where Jesus says before Abraham was I Am, and then the author of Hebrews basically says that Moses considered reproach of Christ greater than wealth and treasures of Egypt. So putting all of that together, just wondering about your thoughts about this particular translation.

Well, so you realize there are two issues. One issue is which Greek text is followed. Do we follow the one that has the name of Jesus or the one that just says Lord, right? The other issue is in the Septuagint the name Joshua is oddly rendered as Yeshua, Yesus. So that's why in Hebrews in some places it's absolutely talking about Joshua, but the Greek says Jesus. And the King James renders it like that. So in certain places it definitely means Joshua. Does it mean Joshua here? The reason to question it is because of the textual variants that say Lord. In other words, some of the texts obviously said Yesus, and then there could be that some were correcting it to say Kurios, so it wouldn't be ambiguous with Joshua.

So that's what would lean in this direction. The other part is, so I want to remind you, although you once fully knew it, that Blank, who saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe. Well, that's the Lord.

That's the Lord. So it can't be Joshua here based on that. So it's either originally said Kurios Lord, or it said Yesus, Jesus, but not Joshua. So it's either Jesus or Lord, but not Joshua. As to which text is best, that's a debate between textual scholars.

But it seems highly unlikely that it would mean Joshua here just because of the second half of the verse. Okay. And everything you said, your reasoning, 1 Corinthians 10, and Jesus being eternal, etc., all of that reasoning would play in perfectly. So your thinking in terms of justifying this translation is accurate.

And of course, the NET notes would get into that more. So thank you, sir, for the call. Appreciate it. 866-34-TRUTH. Let's go to Joseph in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Welcome to the Line of Fire. Hi, Dr. Brown.

Hey. The reason for my call is, recently I've been trying to do a lot of evangelism with Roman Catholics, and it's been fruitful. The thing that I'm kind of struggling with is, once they're more open to reading Scripture, kind of recommending—because a lot of them are just really wanting to read Scripture because they've never done that before, and actually go through the Scriptures—what would you recommend for them to be able to actually be able to read it, to understand a historical narrative or poetry and everything else like that, to understand it in context? They can aid with that.

Right. I mean, that's just a question for any student of Scripture that's new to it. I would get a good study Bible. Whichever translation they're reading, there's probably a good Protestant study Bible, right? So if they're reading the NIV, the NIV study Bible, there's an ESV study Bible, NASB study Bibles, and that would give them adequate information in the footnotes, in the introductions to the book, without getting heavily doctrinal.

So that's what I'd recommend. Get a study Bible and go through it with them when questions arise. And then keep saying, hey, I'm not here to bash your beliefs, but do you see this in the Bible or not? Last thing, my friend Larry Tomczak, T-O-M-C-Z-A-K. His story, Clap Your Hands, became a bestseller many years ago, coming out of Catholicism into a living faith in Jesus. The audiobook is available free online. Clap Your Hands, Larry Tomczak. It could minister to a lot of Catholics. 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, 866-344-TRUTH. Remember to call. You've got questions. We've got answers.

If we don't have them, by God's grace, we'll find them together. Hey, remember, Monday, our long-awaited debut of our new studio. So for those that watch on Facebook or YouTube, you'll get to see that. It's going to have benefits for our listeners as well. And long-awaited, we've got a brand new intro to the Line of Fire. We've been waiting to launch it.

A few things got in the way, including me getting COVID, our two producers getting COVID, a few other things happening, dotting every I and crossing every T with the new intro and music. So God willing, Monday, supposed to be the first Monday of the new year, we got pushed back just a few weeks, and it should be a really, really great day. And words of real encouragement that should stir and build your faith as well. 866-344-TRUTH.

Let's go to Daniel in Arlington, Missouri. Welcome to the Line of Fire. Hi, Dr. Brown, how are you doing?

I'm doing great, thank you. I just want to say what a blessing your ministry is, and I thank you for taking my call. I've been recently revisiting the subject of eschatology. I've always held a futurist view, and I've always been taught that Daniel, chapter 11, refers mainly to the Antichrist, that Antiochus Epiphanes would have been a type or a shadow. However, I recently came across an article in which they were saying that when you get to 36, that this is actually referring to King Herod. And the argument made a lot of sense, and I remember in your book that you wrote with Dr. Keener, you had mentioned that you may not line up with the typical seven-year tribulation view of these kind of passages.

I was just wondering where you stand on that. How would you interpret Daniel? Yeah, so I would interpret it still the way that you historically have—in other words, that you have an earlier reference to Antiochus Epiphanes, Antiochus IV, that you have that earlier reference, but you have the fulfillment, the fullness of the passage with the Antichrist.

And we know for sure that when abomination of desolation is first mentioned, or one of the times it's mentioned in Daniel, it's talking about Antiochus, and yet we know for sure that Jesus applies it at least to the destruction of the Second Temple. So it's giving us multiple layers of meaning there, and many could argue its final fulfillment is with the final destruction of what will be a Third Temple when the Lord returns. So I would read it like that. To read it with reference to Herod seems very, very unlikely. I'm not aware of that being a prominent interpretation at all. To me, if there is a reference to an earthly king, it's to Antiochus Epiphanes, and it finds its—and he is like a type of shadow, a prefiguring of the Antichrist. But to apply it to Herod seems highly unlikely for many, many reasons.

We'd kind of jump out of context as well. So I know people can make interesting arguments for many things, but that's not one that I would accept. Awesome. Thank you so much. You are very welcome, Daniel.

Appreciate it. 866-34-TRUTH. Let's go over to George in Raleigh, North Carolina. Welcome to the Line of Fire. Hey, Dr. Brown.

I was telling the call-hancing guy. I'd like to have a question, but I can't seem to be able to give a donation, sir. I've donated before, ever since around Christmas time. I've been trying to send in a feed off into your ministry. I go to AskDrBrown.org forward slash donate. One time, I don't know what happened, sir, but it just blanked off of something, and I must admit, I got hacked on my laptop, so I'm a little weary of trying to donate through my laptop. But on my cell phone, can you just tell me how I can send in a donation, sir?

Hey, George. Thanks so much for your heart to give and for making that effort. Let's do this so that we can do it in the most secure way and there's no concern whatsoever. I don't have info in front of me at the moment in terms of how to text and give.

I know we had that set up once. I've just not announced it on the air. I'm going to see if I can find that or have a staff member find it. But if you don't mind doing this, sir, because it's very gracious of you to be making the effort to reach out, as soon as our call screener has a moment, I'm going to ask him to get your either phone number or email, whatever you want to give out, and one of our staff will reach out to you directly next week.

We just want to honor you and your efforts to give. It should work perfectly fine. We've not heard other complaints or issues. So if you go to AskDrBrown.org, I mean, the first thing I would try again, AskDrBrown.org, you'll see the just forward slash donate, or you'll see the button that says donate and click on that if it's one time or monthly. I would encourage you to try that once again. However, if there's any issue whatsoever, we will get back in touch with you. So Grayson's just going to get either your phone number or your email address. We'll reach out to you directly. And then if we can find our text to give info where you give just by your cell phone, I'll announce that later in the show.

So keep listening for that. Yeah, the link, as far as we know, is working fine for everyone. So those that donate and help us, we appreciate it.

I had to cut back some of my travel schedule, which does impact our ministry income. If you'd like to help with a new year gift, that would be a great blessing as well. AskDrBrown.org forward slash donate. Okay, with that, let us go over to Andrew in Germany. Thanks for calling the line of fire. Yeah, hello, Dr. Brown. First of all, I would like to thank you for all your, the work you have done in the last years. Really, really great for everybody, especially for Christianity.

And secondly, a story for my English, not my first language, if something is unclear, please just ask me again or something. My question to you, Dr. Brown, is actually twofold. It's more like of an economic view than a spiritual view of the world. What are your thoughts if somebody asks you the question that according to the Torah, and the last time I heard that actually was from a rabbi on YouTube, actually, Rabbi Yosef Mizrachi is his name, I think, something like that. And he said, quote on him, just quote like that, and that according to Torah, like six and a half billion people in this world, which are idol worshippers, if you follow the Torah, do not have the right to live. That's a pretty heavy and bold statement, obviously. But what are your thoughts if anybody which has a really high position in this world, like is it on financial systems or big companies, big tech companies, and he is following such statements?

Are there any implications which are in your mind? And of course, do you know these kinds of statements in that book? I didn't study the Torah in that detail. So I can't even tell if that's really the truth.

Andrew, it's not the truth. Rabbi Yosef Mizrachi is an extreme counter missionary rabbi, hotly opposes the gospel, has refused to interact with me publicly, and has scorned me privately. We've even offered to send them all five of my volumes answering Jewish objections to Jesus. He has made extreme statements that have put the lives of Messianic Jews in Israel at risk. So he is not representative of rabbinic Judaism.

He is an extremist whose views should be denounced. And in point of fact, yes, according to the Torah, the five books of Moses, idolatry is wrong. In other words, it's wrong for the nations to worship other gods. But it says in Deuteronomy that God called Israel to worship the one true God and gave the rest of the nations over to idolatry.

According to Jewish tradition, for a Gentile to be righteous in God's sight, they have to renounce idolatry and blasphemy, et cetera. And if we were in the Messianic kingdom, in other words, if the Messiah son of David in Judaism was ruling and reigning on the earth, and a Jew did not keep the Sabbath, they would be put to death. If a Gentile worshiped idols, they would be put to death. So in other words, in the future Messianic era, when the full revelation of God is known to man, according to Judaism, then Jews who violated the Torah would be put to death. Gentiles who violated basic moral commandments would be put to death.

But that's not the time that we're in. If there were people in positions of authority or power that believed that idol worshipers should be put to death, that could be dangerous. Thankfully, that's not the case, that there are no world leaders who are, well, I mean, there are some fanatical and like leaders of North Korea and things like that, but this is not the position of traditional Judaism.

Traditional Judaism is not advocating putting to death Gentiles who worship idols. And Rabbi Yosef Mizrachi needs our prayers, but his teachings and pronouncements are extreme and dangerous. Thankfully, those that would follow him in a fanatical way are not going to try to kill people, nor is he advocating for that. But again, he's made very ugly statements.

It has brought threats to messianic Jewish friends of mine in Israel. And unfortunately, he's been very cowardly. He debated one Christian leader years ago, who with all his sincerity was not ready to debate a rabbi.

That video went viral. And look at his great triumph. He's refused to debate me and other messianic Jewish leaders that could answer his charges. So we pray for mercy on his soul. But I would not worry about this, that this is some widespread saying there are no Jewish people in power in the world who believe this and have the power to implement it. That does not exist.

And if he asked the vast amount of rabbis around the world to believe that Gentile idol worshippers right now should be put to death, the overwhelming shouting loud answer would be, of course not. So thank you for calling and thank you for your excellent English, which is very common among my German friends. God bless.

866-34-TRUTH, the number to call. Okay, we've got a break coming up momentarily. But let's see, Sean, Jacob, Samuel, I want to do my best to get to your calls and perhaps a few more as well. And thanks all of you who prayed for me when I was out sick. It's just a delight to be with you. And it must be a delight to hear me without coughing and without a weak voice. So glad to be back with you. We'll be right back. Your voice of moral, cultural, and spiritual revolution. Get into the line of fire now by calling 866-34-TRUTH.

Here again is Dr. Michael Brown. Yeah, just want to confirm once more that our giving link is working fine. AskDrBrown.org with either see the link, click donate or AskDrBrown forward slash donate. And again, we appreciate your giving. It enables us to do what we're doing. And to all of you, our Torch Bearers, our monthly supporters, those who support us on Patreon, those who help with one time gifts, thank you for helping us reach more people. If we've helped you, you are helping us touch more people.

And God willing, we have an aggressive plan. We believe from the Lord to expand into many more radio stations across America. We continue to do our best to expand our podcast and our online streams to serve and reach more people. So thank you for standing with us as we've been a blessing to you. Just think of it as you pray for us, as you support us financially, as you share the broadcast, share our articles, share our books with others, you are helping others. If you have been blessed, you in turn are now blessing others. So thank you for the partnership.

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And you get a lot of bang for your buck. A lot of people do get touched. So thank you once again. Let's go over to Jacob in southern Texas. Welcome to the line of fire. Hello, Dr. Brown. Hey. God bless you all. First, I want to start off like everybody else.

I want to thank you for your ministry and all your work you've done. My question was, I'm currently in college right now, and I'm taking a psychology class. And I wanted to know, is there any biblical stance on psychology?

Because I've been searching, and John MacArthur totally rejects psychology that no Christian should be studying that, not in the sense that you shouldn't write, but in the sense that it's very humanistic and it degrades what the Bible says about human nature, right? Yep. Right. So a few things. Yeah, a few things. And thanks for the call.

Thanks for the kind words. Obviously, there's a lot of Pastor MacArthur's perspective that is important that should be considered. I'll just make my comments independent from that. Number one, it is true that secular psychology does not recognize the spiritual dimension of human beings, that we are body, soul, spirit. And it doesn't factor that in, and therefore will miss certain things. So just understand that there's always going to be a lane through which or lens, I should say, through which you see things that'll be different. There's an extra perspective you have.

It may not deny other perspectives, but it's an extra perspective. So that's the first thing. And then with that, human sin, human nature, the power of the gospel to transform. So there's a whole other category of how we would view life, how we would view psychological issues and problems that a secular psychologist will not have.

That's the first thing. The second thing is a lot of secular psychology comes from very worldly and sometimes even perverse thinking. Some, a lot of it going back to Sigmund Freud and other theories that are very humanistic. And then in some cases, as I said, would be perverted, very bizarre sexual theories and things like that. So whenever you see that, you need to have the red light that goes on with the warning sign. On the other hand, there are observations about human nature that people who have studied it have rightly learned, just like someone studying bones and how they break and how they can be repaired.

Right? So in other words, there are secular psychologists who have real insight into human struggles, who have real insight into why people behave the way they do. And then there's the interaction with the human brain so that there are some physiological things. In other words, there are people who have a chemical imbalance. So there is good to be learned. There is bad to be rejected. And there are other perspectives that will be missing.

So it's one of these things. You have to take things with a grain of salt. You have to do your best to separate that which is secular, that which is simply not understanding the spiritual, that which is worldly and that which is accurate. And if it's a field God's calling you into, then at the earliest stage possible, you want to read more from Christian psychologists so that a Christian worldview and spiritual understanding is then factored in to what you're studying. For me, it was like studying Bible with people who didn't believe the Bible. They had some interesting understandings historically.

They had some interesting insights into the language and culture and background, but otherwise had many presuppositions that I rejected. So I always learned with a certain tension. That's the way it would be for you studying psychology in a secular setting.

So is that helpful? Oh, yes. There's this person named Eric Johnson. He's a Christian psychologist.

I was looking at him in YouTube, right? And he stated that all truth is God's truth. Yes. Well, would that be true also in psychology?

Yeah, yeah. In other words, if a psychologist rightly says that human beings, when they are under stress, will respond like this, like this, like this, and here are ways that they can deal with stress or here's a useful way to help with anger management. If it's true, if it's a true observation about human nature and a true way to help people, then yeah, that's God's truth. You know, look, William Booth once said that the devil doesn't own a single note of music, you know, that music itself is from God and then people can use it rightly or wrongly, but the notes, the sounds, right, he made that and then people can use it rightly or wrongly. So it's the same with truth. Look, someone can use mathematical formulas to develop a bomb that kills people. Someone else can use mathematical formulas to help get a rocket into space to save people's lives. You know, so all truth is God's truth.

There is truth within secular psychology, but you have to look for it and sift it. Hey, thank you for the call. Much appreciated.

866-34-TRUTH. Let's go over to Samuel in the UK. Welcome to the line of fire. Hello.

Hello, Dr. Michael Brown. I'm glad to hear that you're on the mend from COVID. That's really encouraging. And may God continue to help him bless you.

Thank you. My question, my question is about John chapter 20 verse 23. That's John chapter 20 verse 23, which says, if you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them. If you retain the sins of any, they are retained when that's when Jesus is addressing the disciples, I believe. So my question about that verse is what does it mean and how does that apply to you today?

Yes, it applies in two primary ways. One is in the preaching of the gospel. When we declare forgiveness of sins through Jesus and tell someone that if they will repent and turn to God and put their faith in Jesus to save them, they will be forgiven. We make that pronouncement and when they do it, they are forgiven. If they reject that message, we tell them you are still in your sins.

That's one basic way this can be applied. The second way would be in church discipline and restoration. You know, for example, the Matthew 18 process that if if someone sins against you and you go to that person and they they don't hear you and then you bring other witnesses and they don't hear and then ultimately they're brought to the church. If they don't repent, then their sins are on them. They are they are responsible and if they come and humble themselves, as Paul discusses in second Corinthians two with the one and two, the man who is disciplined, apparently first Corinthians five repents, then full restoration is offered and that person is assured that your sins are forgiven.

It certainly has nothing to do with the later Catholic teaching, which comes many, many, many generations later, saying that you confess your sins to the priest and when he says your sins are forgiven, they're forgiven. That's certainly not the concept here. So in general, in our preaching of the gospel and the message of forgiveness that we bring and then more specifically when it comes to church discipline issues and things like that, that the church has that power. Thank you. That's helpful. And I really appreciate that clarification. So would that have been the same exact same process when Jesus addresses this to the disciples when they go off to minister in the book of Acts? Would that be the exact same application?

Yeah, yeah. I mean, it's certainly an application of it when he sends them out and he gives this message, you know, they are declaring the message of forgiveness of sins through the cross and water baptism is affirming that you have died to your sins. You have been cleansed that there's even the, the word that Paul has told, you know, arise and be baptized and wash away your sins. So as, as we lead someone to the Lord, as they repent and cry out for mercy, we tell them in Jesus, your sins are forgiven.

You are, you are free, you are cleansed. And then that is symbolized in baptism. And those that refuse, just like where the disciples were told when they were sent out in the gospels, right?

They were told that someone doesn't receive you that then wipe the dust off your feet. So right, your sins are on your own head. You're responsible. You see, Paul does that in acts when his message is rejected by the Jewish community. Your sins are on your own, your, your head. Now you are responsible. We're going to the Gentiles and then they proclaim forgiveness of sins through the gospel.

So those are the broad ways to understand it for sure. Appreciate the call of God's grace to you in the UK. And again, make sure to join us Monday. Be sure to be listening right from the very beginning of the broadcast. You'll know why when we get here and thanks for standing with us. AskDrBrown.org is the place to go. Another program powered by the truth network.