You've Got Questions, We've Got Answers

Well let's do it, you've got questions, we've got answers live on the line of fire. Uh 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. Thanks so much, friends, for joining us today on the line of fire. This is Michael Brown.

Delighted to be with you on this Friday. As always, you've got questions. We've got answers. 866. 348.

7884. That's the number to call. 866-34-TRUTH.

Something that is really important for us to remember as followers of Jesus is that it's perfectly fine to have questions. It's perfectly fine to read the Bible and wonder about a passage. It's perfectly fine to say, Lord, I'm confused about things that have happened. It's perfectly fine to be sharing the gospel with someone perhaps from another faith and they. They raise questions to you and you go, hmm, I never thought about that.

That's an interesting question. I'm going to have to study it. That's perfectly fine. It's perfectly fine to experience something in life as a believer, and you wonder. Why did that happen?

That doesn't seem to line up with what I believe, or where was God? And you wonder? That's perfectly fine. We have books like Job and Ecclesiastes in the Bible to raise questions if we haven't raised them. to challenge our faith if life hasn't challenged our faith.

The thing that you can rest secure in is that there are Always answers in God. in the most difficult, pressing, Situations, the most faith-challenging situations, God Himself is the answer. In other words, it's not the information that we get that's so important, it is the transformation. It is the divine encounter. Do you know sometimes you have a friend or a loved one that's grieving?

And you just put your arm around them, and that's all you can do. But that's what they need at that moment.

Well, in a very real way. When spiritually speaking, God puts his arms around us, it's not just human comfort. There's something supernatural that happens. There's God Himself saying to us, I am really with you. There's God Himself saying to us, There are answers to all your questions in me.

And it's really interesting that there are things that I have lived through that seemed like tremendous crises at that moment. and real challenges to my faith. at that moment. But then afterwards, when I look back months later, years later, I can't even believe that this thing ever presented a challenge at all. I can't believe that this ever raised an issue at all.

So, I want to encourage you to not be afraid to ask honest questions. I want to encourage you. To not be afraid to wonder at times or to look at passages that trouble you. Don't be afraid, don't think. Oh no, my whole faith is rising or falling on this.

Instead, Put your trust in the living God who never fails, and you'll see. He brings you out. He will make the rough places smooth in the midst of a difficult time. You won't know how you got through. But you'll see he got you through.

All right. This is a day for questions. A couple things in the news I want to comment on as well. But phone lines are open, 866-348-7884. The number to call.

Hey, friends. There's only one more day to do this today and tomorrow, and that's it. When you order a copy of Breaking the stronghold of food through strongholdoffood.com. Go there, go to the Amazon link and order. You get the e-book free.

It's a special offer from the publisher, but only one more day after today to do it.

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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 so much for joining us on the line of fire, 866-348-7884. The number to call any question of any kind that you want to ask me, any area where you need clarity, reading the Bible theologically, spiritually, practically, if you still have a political issue that you're trying to sort out, would like to talk to me. Phone lines are open. Again, 866-348-7884. I just did an interview before with a Uh religion News group on the web that's putting out a major article before the inauguration of Donald Trump as our president.

And the reporter wanted to know why evangelicals believe that some evangelicals that God has raised Donald Trump up, or what exactly does that mean?

So we had a really interesting talk. It was helpful for her to gain perspective. And hopefully, we can be of help to you. 866-348-7884. The number to call.

Before I go to the phones, let me answer some. Email questions here. Um Let's see. All right, this is from Eddie. Hi, Dr.

Brown. I have quite a few of your books. I've been using quite a few posts. On Facebook, appreciate all you do. I have a question.

How do you respond to a comment like this? If you don't own a bait own a bakery and don't want to bake a cake for a gay couple, you not only paraphrase stink, you're a hypocrite because you probably sold a thousand cakes to adulterers. Seems like they have a point here. I figured you've probably dealt with this question by now. Thanks for your time and consideration.

Yeah, they're asking you a completely bogus question. Because the bakers have baked cakes for gay couples, and they've baked cakes for adulterers, and they've baked cakes for fornicators, and they've baked cakes for alcoholics, and they've baked cakes for gamblers, and they've baked cakes for Muslims, and for atheists, and for Jews, and for Christians, and for hypocritical Christians, and for self-righteous people, and on and on, and on and on. And on. Um That's not the issue. No one's disputing that.

And no Christian baker has had a problem with that. The issue is. baking a cake with a message that they have an issue with.

So here's the question. Would you expect A gay baker. to bake a cake that said on it Marriage, one man, one woman only. Would you expect a Muslim To bake a cake, That said. Jesus is the Son of God.

Would you expect An Orthodox Jew to bake a cake on the Sabbath. For someone. In other words, it's when you're asking for someone to violate their beliefs or their convictions. That's the issue. Would you go to a a a black uh baker and ask them to bake a cake celebrating the KKK?

Obviously not.

So everybody gets served. Everybody is treated equally. But when you're asked to produce a message contrary to what you believe, that's where you can draw a line.

So you go to a Christian photographer. And you ask the Christian photographer, I hear you're the best photographer in town, and we're opening a new magazine, starting a new magazine with porn, and we'd like you to do some of the shoots. You say, No, I'm Christian, I can't do that. It's not that you wouldn't serve a stripper who came in there who said, Hey, I want you to take a picture with me and my husband and my kid, or me and my kid, or whatever, or my boyfriend and I. Sure, he just here, here's my boyfriend.

I would like some pictures taken, sure. Then she comes back in and says, Yeah, I'm auditioning for some porn stuff. I'd like you to take pictures of me. Naked, sorry, I can't do that. That's the difference.

Serve everybody. But if you're being asked to serve someone in a way that now violates your beliefs and your convictions, that's the issue.

So ask your friend, whoever posted this. Should a gay baker be required to bake a cake that says homosexual practice is sinful? Should they be required to do that? Should they be required by law and punished if they don't comply? Should they be required to bake a cake that says marriage is the union of one man and one woman only?

No, I say they shouldn't be. Nor should there be a legal penalty if they choose not to. They're business. That's their choice. Just like some fashion designer said we're not going to design anything for Melania Trump.

That's their choice. That's their call. and let the public respond to it accordingly.

So that's where people have obscured the issue and gone with a false talking point. all the bakers, the florists, the photographers, they all served all people without hesitation. When they were asked to participate in something that violated their religious beliefs, of course they said no. That's why freedom of religion is right at the top of our Bill of Rights and of our fundamental rights as Americans. 866-34TRUTH.

Let us go to Chase in Lake Wiley, South Carolina. Chase, you're on the line of fire. Hey, how you doing today? Doing well, thanks. Hey, good to hear.

Okay, so I have a question uh concerning the Bible. I know that the King James version version is the closest to the, you know, original Bible. But really the Hebrew version is, you know, the original is what the Bible was origin originally uh Brendan. But I know a lot of people who have talked to me about the Bible actually not being the whole Bible. And they people have told me that you know, the Catholic Church has taken a lot of the information out of the Bible, you know, they've said a lot of the secrets You know that.

has been in been written the Catholic Church actually has. Is that true? No, no, no, no, no, no, no. That's 100% myth. That's one of these conspiracy theory myths.

And all of the historical and archaeological evidence, the actual facts, are 100% contrary to that. First, just a few corrections to what you said. When we speak of a version, We're speaking of something that is not the original. We're talking about a translation.

So there's no Hebrew version. There is the Hebrew original of the Old Testament. and the Greek original of the New Testament. And then you have translations, like the King James Version, which is good, but they're they're Modern translations that are even better.

So, there are many translations, excellent translations, be it the King James or the New King James or the New American Standard or the ESV or the there are many, okay, that are excellent translations or versions.

So, you have the Hebrew and Greek original, and we have thousands and thousands of manuscripts of copies of what those original manuscripts said, or something very close to that. All right, thousands of them, and they're ancient. All right, some of them go back to before the time of Jesus. We have manuscripts from then.

So, when you read a Bible like the King James or another Bible, that is a translation of those Hebrew and Greek documents, and we know exactly what they say. We have them, nobody has hidden anything. The Catholic Church has not hidden things, nobody has hidden anything. We have the documents, the Hebrew, the Greek, and we go straight from there and we translate them into English in our Bible. Yeah.

Okay, it's really interesting. Thank you for that information. You're very welcome. Look, Chase, there are lots of myths that circulate. And lots of claims about, you know, the original, oh, the gospels are lost, and oh, we found it.

No, those are later. The weird stuff comes later. The so-called secrets, that's all later stuff, the original stuff that the apostles wrote. Or that Moses or the prophets wrote. That's what we have in our Bibles, and that's completely reliable.

All right, thanks for asking. 86634Truth. Let us go to Adrian in Wyoming. Welcome to the line of fire. Hey, Dr.

Brown, good afternoon. I've been wanting to call you a while about This question, and I know I'm not going to be able to get all my questions answered today, so I'll probably call back in several weeks again. this past Wednesday, you addressed the caller's questions about Hebrew roots type movement stuff, and you you gave What you said was a kind of a sad set of steps you see people go through that will eventually maybe even. say that they they deny Christ, but You know, I I Couple years ago I read the book, Pagan Christianity, and I believe you've had the author on before. Yeah, Frank Viola, yes.

Yeah, and it and it really created something because I'm a pastor's kid from the Methodist Church, and I kind of laughed as I read some of it, but it also struck me It's kind of sad where it looks like there's a lot of stuff we've taken into our Gentile churches that I've often wondered about over the years. I'm 60 years old. And in the past couple of years, I've wondered about stuff. And I used to hate to read the Old Testament, didn't like it. It seemed like most churches I went to kind of steered away from it.

But because of these Hebrew roots, And also understanding the importance of Israel, listening to your show. I've listened to some of Mark Bilt. Uh Bill Cloud. But some of those folks really, I mean, it's interesting because they get into the Hebrew words, they'll dissect them. They'll talk about scriptures and and to me, It has excited me so much about getting into the Old Testament.

I can hardly put it down, but I am cautious about. You know, do I have to eat kosher? No, I don't believe that. You know, just because I celebrate Christmas, I'll stand by. Yep, yep, stay right there.

I appreciate it. Good questions. We'll give you a solid response right here on the line of fire. Age the world O God of Bernie Clinton Single. Flame.

Send the fire. 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.

You know, very commonly on Fridays, we are swamped with calls, and we try to get to as many as we can, but there are many we can't get to. We've got some open lines now, so it's a great time to call in 866-348-7884. You've got questions. We've got answers. Anything under the sun that I can help you with, any area of expertise I have, give me a call.

So Adrian, a few things, and I want to go back to your questions. Number one, when Frank Viola wrote Pagan Christianity and then came out in a new edition, co-authored with George Barna, interestingly, he wasn't even thinking about Jewish roots. That was not a focus of his. He was more focused on just general customs, practices that he felt were added on by the church after the New Testament times that detracted from our mission. Because we all know traditions are going to develop and customs are going to develop, and that's perfectly fine.

The question is: are the traditions, customs neutral? Are they negative? Are they positive? And in Frank's view, many of them would have been detrimental. And then he and I have interacted on that.

Some things I think are neutral that he might have felt were detrimental.

Some things he may have felt didn't have a New Testament basis that I did. But I thought it was great to challenge a lot of this and get us to really look back at scripture. But the whole issue of Jewish roots, that's another issue. on top of this? And to what degree did the church cut itself off from its Jewish roots, from its biblical Israelite foundations that were detrimental and harmful?

And to what extent has it just been positive growth in the new Messianic faith? But what I have seen is many people who get fascinated. with Jewish roots who get fascinated with Jewish identity. who begin to wonder, could I be Jewish? Is there Jewish blood?

or something like that. What happens is that little by little, they get drawn into a Jewish focus rather than a Yeah. A Jesus focus. And they'll get more excited about the latest teaching about Jesus the rabbi and Jewish background to the New Testament, and less concerned with intimacy with God. And the steps I've seen is that first This whole Temptation to be more Jewish as opposed to be closer to God, and there can be a difference.

It will fascinate. Stimulate complicate, suffocate.

So the fascination is wow, I never knew this before. That's amazing. That'd be great. Stimulate. Man, I'm just so interested in reading the Bible now and going to hear my pastor teach or my rabbi teach.

I'm so excited. You know, my messianic rabbi, so fascinating, stimulated. The next complicates, like, you know, I'm Gentile, but I'm required to keep the seventh-day Sabbath. What about wearing the ritual fringes? Oh, my mother, my wife, during a monthly cycle, I mean, do we live out Leviticus 15?

Do we follow the rabbis' traditions there? And, you know, my family eats bacon. Should I not eat with my family anymore? And then suffocate. Before you know it, all spiritual life is gone.

And that's the negative and the dangerous. The positive is a reconnecting with biblical Jewish roots that greatly enhances the faith. makes the whole Bible wonderful and interesting. and deepens one's devotion to the Lord.

So that's the difference. And obviously. uh the fruit will tell which direction someone is going. And I appreciate that, Dr. Brown, because I'm very cautious.

I've heard your warning several times. And I I don't know if you've listened very much to Mark Belts or Bill Clow, but they They often will look at I don't know, I guess tile mode, and they'll bring different things in, they'll look at scriptures. And they'll look at the Hebrew words and they'll into me for me. It really excites me to realize that even God can speak through the Hebrew words. And I just think, man, what kind of a God do we serve And I you know, I don't feel involved that Somebody's not saved if they don't you know, they don't keep the feast and stuff like that.

However, I've heard you say before too, if it if it empowers you or if it blesses you. and you don't condemn the rest of the Gentile church. then it can be a good thing. And that's where I'm really trying to struggle with because you know, I struggle sometimes with And even before I I heard you or others, With Commercialization of Christmas since I was a little boy. Things have changed so much.

And the same thing with Easter, about Easter eggs and that. And it seems like sometimes we lose the genuineness of really what it was meant. And sometimes I wonder if we go back to the Jewish Observances. Isn't that more powerful? I'm not trying to condemn my People that I love in my congregation.

Well, it could be or not. But why make that the alternative, the commercialization of Christianity or Jewish observances? In other words, there are plenty of Christians for whom a celebration of Christmas is a wonderfully devotional thing and centers around Jesus and has nothing to do with commercialization. But let's put that aside. If you just go back and celebrate the Old Testament feasts and holy days, Without a full New Testament incorporation, then no, why is that an improvement?

In other words, if you're gonna celebrate the Passover, Without having as the central point the death and resurrection of the Messiah during the Passover season. then how is that better than an an Easter service where You may have a few forget Easter eggs and those kind of things, but just this is the big weekend when we celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus. Remember his death on a Friday and his resurrection on a Sunday.

So that's the whole thing. Jesus can never be a casualty. The midst of this. Jesus cannot be a casualty or an appendage. He must be the center of it.

Also, be very cautious. A lot of people quote Hebrew and different things, and many of them are not Hebrew scholars. And when they start quoting rabbinic literature, remember, this is the literature of rabbis who lived hundreds of years after Jesus and didn't believe in him.

So you have to use it wisely and rightly, otherwise it can mislead. Have you ever read my book, Our Hands Are Stained with Blood? Oh, yes. Yes. Right.

So there you see my appreciation for Jewish roots and the emphasis there. What about the book Sixty Questions Christians Ask About Jewish Beliefs and Practices? No, I've heard you talk about Dr. Bryan. I will get it.

Yeah, I encourage you to get that, Adrian. I've got to run and get to some other calls, but I strongly encourage you to get that. And as long as you put. devotion to the Messiah, the Son of God, in the middle of everything you do. Intimacy with God in prayer, sharing the gospel with others, walking in the Spirit.

If you do that, then the other things will enhance and deepen and enliven your faith. If they become the focus, That's the danger sign, and that's what I would encourage you to look out for. All right. So, again, the book 60 Questions Christians Ask About Jewish Beliefs and Practices. I do believe you'll find it very, very helpful.

All right, friends, phone lines open. I'm going to get to many more calls in the next 90 minutes: 866-34TRUTH. And remember, even if you're losing me on radio now, you can keep listening online. Just go to the line of fire. Thelineoffire.org and just click on listen.

You can listen anywhere on your cell phone, on your tablet, on your computer, right until the show is over, wherever you are, anywhere in the world for that matter. All right, so we'd love to keep broadcasting for everyone, even if you drive out of radio range. Just you've got a cell phone service, just go to the lineofire.org and click listen to listen to today's broadcast. You can also sign up to receive the podcast absolutely free by doing that as well. Hey, if you've read.

If you have read Breaking the stronghold of food, and it's helped you. Be sure to post a review on Amazon. If you haven't ordered your copy yet, go ahead and order. but post your review on Amazon if you've read the book and it's helped you. This will help others as well.

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 866-34TRUTH. Here again is Dr.

Michael Brown. Thanks so much for joining us on the line of fire. This is Michael Brown. You've got questions. We've got answers.

Hey, JJ, just give me a thumbs up if you've got my message there. 866-348-7884. I'm going to go to the phones in a moment. First, I want to comment on something in. the news before I go to the phones.

Mm-hmm. All right, Rachel Maddow was interviewed recently and made an extremely odd comment about Donald Trump when she was asked what she would say if she interviewed him. Listen to Rachel Maddow's response. If you booked Donald Trump on your show, what would your first question be? Ah, yeah.

Are you going to send me or anybody that I know to a camp?

Okay. There was no explanation for the comment. He's not going to send you to a summer camp like you may have gone to with your friends as kids. But what she must be saying is: Are you going to send me to some type of internment camp, some type of concentration camp? Are you going to lock me up somewhere?

Me or people I know.

Well, is she saying because she's a woman? No. Is she saying because she's white? No. It must be saying because she's lesbian and she must be saying her other lesbian friends.

Now, even if she's being lighthearted, joking about it, even to ask that question is to say that the liberal left is now reaping what it sowed. It has created such hysteria around the presidential run of Donald Trump and now his impending presidency. It has created such extraordinarily exaggerated, stereotypical statements and viewpoints, and literally hysteria. People are wringing their hands, celebrities wringing their hands. What are we going to do?

I understand how Donald Trump can look to some, and I understand the concerns and these misogynists or Concerns that he's anti-immigrant or he's anti-Muslim or things. I understand where the concerns are coming from, but the left has created this hysteria, and now they're reaping what they sow. They're actually believing the reports. It's as if they spread false reports, and now they're believing them. But oh no, he's going to lock us up and put us in a camp.

So. I'm not an advisor to Donald Trump. Donald Trump is not a personal friend and colleague of mine. But I want to say, Rachel Manau, be assured that Donald Trump is not going to put you and your friends in a camp. I.

Assure you. All right, 866-34-TRUTH. Wanted to get that off my chest. And with that, let's go to the phones with Ian in Fort Worth. Welcome to the line of fire.

So I've been a I'm getting a really bad echo, really. Yeah, are you talking right into the phone? Don't want to be on speak or anything like that. All right. Tell you what, we're having you sounded better until you did something.

Howard, check with Ian, find out what's up there, because he sounded fine on our end. And then I started to lose him. Let's go to AJ in Boston. Welcome to the line of fire. Hey, happy New Year, brother.

Hey, happy New Year to you. Thank you. I just felt like I needed some perspective on Uh m my dad and I who who is performed Jewish and following Jesus I've noticed that the things are a little strange in our relationship. And I I want to ask a question about I know that you just saved you when you were sixteen, and I was wondering what in those early days, w was there was it like difficult between you and your dad? Yeah.

How old are you, AJ? I'm 27. I'll be 28 in a couple of weeks. And what's causing the greatest friction? With with your relationship with your dad right now.

Uh one minute I mean uh I mean We get together and it's just that I think that the the the main difference between the two of us is Default. That I because I follow Jesus, and what's amazing is that by following Jesus, I actually feel way more Jewish. Got it. Which is funny. All right, no, no, that's a common experience, right?

AJ, I want to address that on the other side of the break. Thank you so much for calling. Stay right there. It's the line of fire with your host, Dr. Michael Brown.

Get into the line of fire now by calling 866-34TRUTH. Here again is Dr. Michael Brown. Thanks so much for joining us today on the line of fire. You've got questions, we've got answers.

I want to go to AJ and Boston.

So, AJ, you're 27 years old. Jewish and a believer in Jesus with some Tension and your relationship with your dad. I'll gladly explain what happened with my dad and me as a Jewish follower of Jesus. But, AJ, how long has it been now that you've been a believer in Jesus the Messiah? Yeah.

Well, um I mean uh I I was in Born again After high school, but what's interesting is that my my mom's actually Gentile and my my dad's Jewish. But what's amazed is that that bol by believing in Jesus, it's like reconnecting me my Jewish roots, so I actually feel more Jewish. Yes, yeah, the same the same with me. I had no consciousness of Jewish roots when I came to faith at the age of 16, and many of my friends who now live in Israel They've made Aliyah, they've immigrated to Israel, they've lived there for years and years with their families, their kids fought in the IDF, they were totally secular. And it's through faith in Jesus the Messiah that they reconnect it with their Jewish roots and their Jewishness.

So, your experience is my experience, and the same with many, many Jews who follow Jesus as the Messiah. What about your dad? Was he religious at all? Did you convert to Jewish? My dad says reform the the most secular?

But but what's amazing is that uh Um that I I really I it's like it feels like God's using me um uh to to work it through me with him because uh Uh he he's been seeing me out of like I've been doing stuff like lightning the menorah for honket, stuff like that. And he's actually been asking me some questions in conversations we've had. Yeah, so obviously if he's a reformed Jew, very liberal, close to secular, that your Jewish observance is going to be much more Jewish than his and your Jewish consciousness much more than his.

So what happened with me when I came to faith at the age of 16, the big concern my mom and dad had was that I was a heavy drug user.

So the first thing was that they were thrilled to see me off drugs. And then my dad said, okay, we're Jewish. We don't believe in this. And he asked me to talk to the local rabbi. But our relationship remained strong through this time because he loved me in an unconditionally loving way, as my mom did.

They were exceptional in that respect. And they were so deeply concerned about how bad my life was that when they saw this transformation for the good and saw that it stuck and saw how serious and deep it was, they were thrilled. And over a period of time, AJ, my dad began to appreciate that I believed it was Jesus who changed my life, that he was God's agent of salvation in my life. And my mom and dad became very proud of me. And up to my dad's sudden death in 1997 at the age of 63, I was just 22, up to that time.

He would actually come and hear me preach because he was proud of his son and kind of smiled. All right, he's a Christian now, but he was proud of that and actually started to read the New Testament. And was wide open before he left this world. What I would say, though, is two things, AJ. First, Jesus did warn us.

that his coming would bring division within the families. In other words, just as has always happened through the Bible. Following God or not following God. believing the prophets or not believing the prophets, that's brought division right within the home. And Yeshua warned us that this would happen, telling us that we had to love him.

More than son or daughter, or more than father or mother. On the flip side, he also says: Blessed are the peacemakers, they are the children of God. And Paul said that we have the message of reconciliation.

So, the best thing to do. is to build relationship with your dad. And not push things on them, just be a great son, enjoying a great relationship with your father. And then, as he asks questions, Then you pursue things.

Sometimes we can be so excited about our faith. Let me speak for me. I was so excited about my faith in my early days that I definitely was too pushy with people. And even with my dad, he'd ask me a question about why I behaved a certain way or why I acted a certain way, my new beliefs. And I would just quote scripture to him.

And he said, look, we're having a conversation. I want to hear from you. I said, Well, dad, this is what I believe. But it was too religious and too spiritual and not relational enough.

So don't feel pressure to push something on your dad. You want to cherish that relationship that you have with him. If he pushes you away because of your faith, it's painful, but that's the rejection that we experience in the Messiah. We understand that, and we take that and we pray for the people. But when he asks questions, take that as an open door.

And when you see that that he's not Asking anymore that he now feels you're intruding, you step back. Just use wisdom in an interpersonal way to love him and honor him as your dad. And if you feel terribly burdened one day that you've got to reach out to him, do that. Otherwise, just. be a son, enjoying time with his dad.

And when he asks you questions or things come up, then speak freely and honestly and see if the Lord opens a further door from there. Many times it's the children who come to faith and lead their parents to the Lord.

So perhaps the Lord will use you to do that with your own mom and dad as well. One last thing, AJ. Do you have my book, The Real Kosher Jesus? Oh, yeah, I couldn't put it down.

Okay. Do you think your dad would read that? Um I remember I showed it I I I sh I've showed it to him before. Uh-huh. All right, Jacobi, yeah, go ahead.

No, no, go no, go ahead. Yeah, do you think he'd he'd watch a debate of a rabbi and me, an Orthodox rabbi and me? Uh I well I I could I could um I could try to ask. Yeah, I mean do you think uh how did he react when you showed him the real culture Jesus? Um well you looked at the cover, um Uh But but but that was pretty much it.

All right, well we'll tell you what. I'm going to send you A video. It's entitled, Did Jesus Die for Our Sins? And it's me debating an Orthodox rabbi, well-known Orthodox rabbi, about Isaiah 53.

Alright, so the debate I'm going to send you, did Jesus... Die for our sins. It's read by Shmuela Botayach and I debating Isaiah 53. We'll send you that. You can watch it.

You'll enjoy it. And then ask your dad, hey, I just watched a debate with this Jewish rabbi and this Messianic Jew. Maybe you won't watch it. If he says, no, thanks.

Okay, it hasn't hurt. We're glad to send it to you as a gift. But perhaps. He'll be willing to watch it because it gives both sides. And maybe that'll get him to further look at scripture.

And discover who Jesus Yeshua is. Hey, AJ, may the Lord give you grace and may He richly bless your mom and dad that together you can all Worship God with one spirit, one heart. Thanks so much for calling. All right, 866-34TRUTH. Let's try to reconnect with Ian in Fort Worth.

Thanks for holding again. Welcome to the line of fire. Yes, sorry about that. I don't know what happened. Um So I I'm I'm also Jewish.

My my mom's not, my dad is, and um I my grandma passed away. recently Um and at the at the it wasn't like It was the reception thing after the funeral, but there was a name for it that I can't remember. Um but And it wasn't a rabbi, it was someone else I got up. But they start he started talking about you know, that they're waiting for a temple so they can sacrifice again And they're waiting for Mashiach, they're waiting for their Messiah. And I've heard that in the the the Talmud that it talks about a like they have an eschatology where it's there's Mashiach bin Joseph and Mashiach bin David And that Mashiach bin.

Joseph dies and then Mashiach bin David is the same man but comes back to life and like it almost seems like our version of the Antichrist kind of thing. um i've never read the talmud or anything i was wondering uh is that is that accurate is that is that true uh close close Uh they're too d all right. Outside of Reform Judaism and liberal and secular Judaism, Judaism believes in the coming of Messiah, son of David. They believe that he will come and establish the messianic reign on the earth. That he will destroy the enemies of Israel, that he will rebuild the temple, that he will regather the exiles, that he will bring Israel into obedience to God, and the nations will then submit to God.

and you'll have that time that Isaiah 2 and Isaiah 11 speak of. that many Christians look forward to is a millennial reign of the Messiah, where the nations beat their swords into plowshares and there's universal knowledge of the Lord during that period. And that's who they pray for and confess faith in that God would send the Messiah. There are Jews, it's a minority, but still widespread, who believe in two messianic figures: Messiah son of Joseph and Messiah son of David. There's one reference to it in the Talmud, one and one only in the Tractate Sukkah.

There are two different figures, not the same figure, two different figures. One, the Messiah son of Joseph, who will fight the battles of the Lord and then die in the final battle. And then Messiah son of David will raise him from the dead and then will rule and reign afterwards.

So Messiah son of Joseph is a secondary figure, and according to some Jewish traditions, it's only if Jews are unworthy of the coming of Messiah son of David that the Messiah son of Joseph will come first. One more comment on the other side of the break. Yeah.

Us strict to always do what's right. 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 for joining us on the Line of Fire 866-34Truth. You've got questions, we've got answers. So, just one last point, Ian and Fort Worth. If you'll get online. and just type in Jewish encyclopedia.

Jewish Encyclopedia. It's in entirety, in its entirety, available free online. It is a classic work of Jewish scholarship from about 100 years ago. Once you're there, you'll see the subjects. Just type in Messiah, and you'll get a ton of detail about rabbinic views of the Messiah and things like that.

If you'd like it more simplified, In my book, 60 Questions, Christians Ask About Jewish Beliefs and Practices, I have some material in there answering questions about the Messiah. But when a traditional Jew speaks of the Messiah, they are speaking of the Messiah, son of David. But there are those who believe in two Messiahs, especially in the more Orthodox circles. Messiah, son of Joseph, Meshiach ben Yosef, who, as I said, dies in the final great war of liberation for Israel.

So he's a hero. He's a warrior figure. He's not principally seen as an atoning figure or a priestly figure. He's a warring figure, like a general, but who falls short in his mission, who is then. Raised up by Messiah, son of David.

All right. So just wanted to be clear on that. Is it Antichrist type of setup? I mean, Anything's possible except The more you read about Messiah's son of Joseph, it doesn't really fit with a biblical description of Antichrist. All right.

I appreciate it. 866-348-7884. Let's go to Michael in Alexandria, Virginia. Welcome to the line of fire. Yeah, I got well.

Thank you very much. You're welcome. Go ahead. I am able to get it. Yeah.

I have a very good Heterosexual That we're very dear friends with. They currently. are about to be married in less than two months. Um and we have found out that the preacher himself is a gay minister. And we're instructed in the Bible to avoid the appearance of evil.

And I'm not sure. I can participate and a company in a go to the go to the wedding um for this couple because I I really don't Don't uh yeah, I I don't think that lesbians engaged, um, Have that I I I just I would avoid them. Let me ask you this question, Michael. First, you have to be true to your own conscience before the Lord. Does this couple claim to be a Christian couple?

Yes, thank you. Yeah.

All right, then and what kind of Christians? Bible-believing Christians? I'm not sure. They used to attend our church, but now.

Now they attend another church at the lead. Um You know, and and Chris developed Yeah. are generally um The same mine. All right, I'm not sure what you mean. Do they go to a gay affirming church?

Is that what you're saying? Cool up.

Okay. All right, so that's the bigger issue. What if the pastor. was heterosexual, but he was liberal. And didn't believe in the resurrection of Jesus, didn't believe that Jesus was the only way to God, how would you feel about going to that wedding?

Well, I couldn't attend that because you know Got it. Jesus is the only way. Got it. Okay, then it has nothing to do with gay lesbian specifically, it has to do with who's a real Christian or not. And if someone is is practicing homosexuality, obviously they're not a a a a a true disciple following Jesus.

If someone denies the resurrection of Jesus, then uh Then obviously, they're not a true follower of Jesus, and we understand it.

Now, my mom passed away November 18th. And uh My sister wanted a rabbi to preside. at the gravesite ceremony. And so that I said, whatever you want, that's for you and your son that'll be attending, that's fine. You know, I'm gonna I'm gonna give a eulogy, but whatever you want, you know, so my sister asked for that, and the rabbi that the funeral the cemetery provided, and the funeral services there, was actually a gay rabbi.

And it didn't matter to me because this was a service for my sister. Uh as a Jewish person. She said reform, which is very close to, you know, very liberal, close to secular. That's who they provide it. And the rabbi and I have been in touch.

In fact, he just reached out to say hi again today. And I've sent him real kosher Jesus to read. And we both want to know where our differences are and are treating each, you know, but also want to reach out to each other as neighbor Jews.

So again, if it was a secular couple, right? And they said, hey, we're getting married. They didn't claim to be followers of Jesus. And they were getting married. And it was a liberal minister who denied the resurrection, he was performing the service.

It was an atheist judge performing the service. Like, well, whatever. You're just going there for their wedding, and it's a secular thing in your eyes. If they're making it a Christian wedding, then you have to act uh according to your conscience. Uh if if you can follow the the difference there.

So if it's just a secular affair And it so happens it's a gay person presiding, was it matter? If it was a justice of the peace, you know, was it matter? On the on the flip side. If it's claiming to be a Christian wedding and it's in a church and it's of people of different faith, Um, then you have to act according to your conscience. We have to use wisdom because you want to reach out to your friends, and you can either just tell them it won't work for you to be there.

And if they ask why, you can just say, Hey, we love you and we want to be friends and we're glad to take you out for dinner after the you know, once you're married and stuff, but we don't we don't believe in XYZ and you know, we don't want there to be you know anyone to be uncomfortable when we're there. We don't want to be uncomfortable, we don't want you to be uncomfortable. And just approach it in that way. All right? You got it, thank you.

Okay, God bless. 866-34TRUTH. All right. Nancy and Charlotte, you're next. But I'm going to get your call right on the other side of the break because time is short now.

So, just one more reminder. This is. Just today is my last day to remind you on the air. There's one more day. Uh through to morrow, that's it.

that through the publisher you can get a free Ebook. When you order your copy of Breaking the stronghold of food, but you've got to do it by going to strongholderfood.com. All right, strongholdofood.com. Order through Amazon because you get the book like 40% off. The paperback, and then you get the e-book free on top of it.

So it's a great way to do it. And we got a call yesterday on the line of fine art. I don't know if you heard it, but Brian in Virginia just doesn't normally listen to the radio at this time. This station just happened to stumble on it and believed it was God. He had to compose himself.

Breaking down crawling. He said, Food is killing me, man. It's killing me. His overweight, health problems that he's developed, other difficulties. And he knows it's his food and he keeps eating.

And we said, man, this was a divine appointment. And we sent him a free copy of the book. And we know it's going to help people. It's really going to be the difference between life and death for many.

So if you haven't ordered, strongholdoffood.com, just one more day to take advantage of the free e-book offer. And once you've read it, please post a review on amazon.com. My bottom line. Today If you walk really close to the Lord and honor Him, You'll find amazingly he honors you.

Well, let's do it. You've got questions. We've got answers live on the line of fire. 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 866-34TRUTH. Here again is Dr. Michael Brown.

Welcome, welcome to the line of fire. It is Friday. That means you've got questions. We've got answers. This is Michael Brown.

I am absolutely delighted to be with you today. Glad to take your questions. Glad to do my best to sort things out biblically, theologically, spiritually, culturally, politically, whatever we can do to help give you clarity from scripture and from biblical principles and from wisdom we might have. We are thrilled to do it. The earlier you call the broadcast, the better chance we have of getting to your questions.

Again, 866-348-7884. Let's start in. Let's start in Charlotte, North Carolina. Nancy, you're on the air. Welcome to the line of fire.

Hi, Doctor Brown. Thank you for taking my call. You bet. And thank you for what you do for the body of Christ. I just love your program.

I've recently found you and just hardly miss a day of listening to your broadcast.

Well, thank you so much. And I've also recently ordered from Amazon your new book, so I'm anxiously awaiting that to come to my house so I can read it. Oh, terrific. Excellent. I'm eager to hear how it impacts you.

So is my wife, Nancy. Great.

Well, my question today is I'd love to get some feedback from you on Sozo ministries. Uh prayer, sozo prayer. Um, I guess it's from Bill Johnson's church in California. I just recently was doing some reading online about it and And then I heard some negative things about it, so kind of stopped me in my tracks from Pursuing anything and wanted to know what you feel.

Now, when you say pursuing it, what specifically when you refer to Soza prayer, were you pursuing or considering pursuing?

Okay. Finding a person in this area who I could speak with about some some troubling things in my life that I know need addressing. Got it. Uh, anything that comes from Reading, California, and Pastor Bill Johnson, you will see tons of wonderful reports and tons of critical reports. Um, there's always going to be controversy now.

That often happens with good things, okay? Uh, so if you go to my radio website, thelineoffire.org. and just click on digital library. And search for Johnson. You can listen to the interview I did with Bill Johnson, just so you can get to hear the man himself.

Hear him respond to honest questions, hear his viewpoints. and his beliefs, okay?

So that's the lineofire.org. Just click on digital library and search for for Johnson or Bill Johnson, and it'll take you right to a link where I have the full interview with him. We put it up the audio we put on YouTube. That's one thing. Secondly, the Greek word sodzo.

simply does mean to save or deliver. And many would point out it can refer to physical deliverance like physical healing, spiritual deliverance, deliverance from demonic power, spiritual deliverance in terms of salvation. It can even refer to someone being raised from the dead or rescued from drowning. You know, it's save, save in a holistic sense. And that would be the counseling approach, a holistic type of counseling approach that looked for the spiritual as well as the emotional and the psychological.

And that really is going to come down to the individual counselor that you find. And if you find that their approach is hold you responsibility, responsible for your actions, but recognizes that things in your past can bring wounds and bruises that can stay with you over the years. Jesus speaks of the brokenhearted, right? That sometimes we need healing of the inner being. And God to help us deal with things in our past, as long as it's practical and biblical, then I would step forward with it.

But thoroughly talk through things with the local person you'd meet with. That's the key. God of Love Thank you. And hear our cry. 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 for joining us on the Line of Fire. You've got questions, we've got answers 866-266.

348-7884 is the number to call. Whether something you're reading in the Bible you're struggling with, whether it's some theological issue, whether a conversation with another believer you've had, whatever it is, struggling questions, we want to do our best to help you with solid answers. And if you differ with me on something, give me a call: 866-348-7884. I'm going to go back to the calls in a moment. There's something in the news very troubling.

We need to address it together. A Facebook Live video. Where there are four black individuals torturing, abusing a white individual. He happens to be mentally disabled as well. And amazingly, it was posted on Facebook and even stayed up, I think, for a half hour afterwards.

And amazingly, people were foolish enough to post their horrific actions on Facebook. And in the midst of it, they were saying F Donald Trump and F white people and things like that.

So the questions come up: is it a hate crime? How should it be viewed?

So there's dialogue on CNN, and you've got to hear, there's someone speaking, and then Don Lemon is going to come on. You've got to hear what Don Lemon had to say. I mean, it's man's inhumanity to man. It's just, it's brutality, is what it is. And I think the fact that this is a vulnerable person who was probably duped into sort of going along with them, it appears.

Somebody who is mentally disabled, I think makes it even more sickening. But, you know, Don, I mean, at the end of the day, you just try to wrap your head around evil. That's what this is. It's evil, it's brutality, it's man's inhumanity to man. I don't think it's evil.

I don't think it's evil. I think these are young people and I think they have bad home training. John! John Lennon! What Matt Lewis said, commentator right before you, is absolutely right.

This is evil. It is evil. It is man's inhumanity to men. Maybe they did have bad home training. Grandmother of one of the people in the video, young lady, said, I raised her from birth.

That's not who she is. No, no, no. Maybe some of them had bad training. But even with bad training, you make evil choices. That is evil, that is categorical evil, that is man's inhumanity to man.

But what makes me wonder about all of this is: would you have said this in a different context if it wasn't F Donald Trump and F white people and four black people attacking a white person? If it was the reverse and they were saying F Barack Obama and F black people, and it was four white people torturing in a over a 24-hour period, a disabled black young man, would you have said the same thing? This is an extraordinary statement, a shocking statement, a shameful statement, and something that seems far below Don Lemon. Who obviously, sir, you want to present yourself as a caring man. I believe you are caring in many ways.

Why can't you recognize this as just evil? Sir, you need to look in the mirror and ask yourself: if the tables were radically turned, would you have had that same comment?

Now, listen to Donald Trump. Democratic strategist Simone Sanders talking about whether or not this is a hate crime. We cannot callously go about classifying things as a hate crime. Motive here matters.

So, was this for hate of Donald Trump, the president-elect, because of things that he has said, or was this for pure hate of white people? That matters because if we start going around and anytime someone says something or does something really egregious, really bad, and sickening in this instance, in connection with the president-elect or Donald Trump or even President Obama for that matter, because of their political leanings, that is slippery territory. That is not a hate crime. Hate crimes are because of a person's racial ethnicity, their religion, their gender, a disability. It is in your political leanings because someone doesn't like your political leanings and they do something bad to you.

That is not a hate crime. Oh, hang on, hang on Why is it, then? For for so many. For years, for eight years now. The moment we disagree with President Obama as president in respectful terms, we're called racist.

We're told we're we're having an issue 'cause he's black. We're told we're speaking against him because he's a black man, because we don't like a black man in the White House. I mean, I've been, it's a bit a minority who've insulted me with that garbage for years now. It's garbage because it's the last thing on my mind. I was thrilled to see a black couple in the White House.

Just was upset that it was Barack Obama because I thought he was the wrong guy. But I absolutely wanted, I wanted to be able to have the privilege of voting for our first black president. I just couldn't, out of conscience, knowing what his views and positions were on things that were very critically important to me as a follower of Jesus. But that's the whole problem with all respects, Simone Sanders. Yes, you can't jump at everything and call it a hate crime.

Absolutely true. But what have we heard for years? Again, you're telling me if it was white people saying F Barack Obama and F black people and torturing a disabled black person, the whites torturing a disabled black person and saying F black people, F Obama, that you would not just jump up and immediately say that's a hate crime and see that's hatred for Barack Obama as he's being black. And now it's hatred being poured out on that young person, that disabled. Person because they're black, people would jump to that.

Look, there's a whole question about whether the whole hate crime category is constructive or not. It was set in motion for certain reasons. It can be abused. And yes, yes, wherever we could expose racial hatred and ethnic hatred, religious hatred, let us expose it. Let us shout it from the rooftops together.

Absolutely. Let us do that. But this is bogus. This is absolutely bogus to say, well, we have to really make sure.

Okay, if you had been doing that for eight years, I'd go along with it. But we've heard the opposite for eight years. And now, suddenly, when there's more video evidence of black on white crime and things like that, and the knockout game that's been played for several years now, normally black on white, we have video evidence of that.

So let's, yes, hold up the video evidence where a white cop shoots an unarmed black person who wasn't fighting back and was no threat. Let's hold that up for the world to see and let justice be done. And let justice be done here. How about equal balances and scales? And although President Obama now has referred to this in the context of a despicable hate crime, Initially, the White House was slower to address this.

Listen to what Josh Earnest, the White House press secretary, says about the proper way of proceeding with this. I believe it's important for us to defer to the important work that local law enforcement must do in investigating these kinds of incidents.

So I don't want to say a whole lot more than that. But obviously, this is.

Something that's gotten a lot of attention and for good reason. Yeah, and when he was pressed, he would not say it was a hate crime.

Okay, once again. I agree. Let's Local law enforcement. Do its thing. Yeah, we have the video evidence, right?

Fine, but let's get the whole story. Let local law enforcement do its right. Where was that same mentality? When a white policeman Arrest it. a black professor in the Boston area, Professor Henry Gates, who was thought to be breaking into a house happened to be his own house he was trying to get into.

Why did our President immediately say that the police acted stupidly? In point of fact, the officer was exonerated. Later, Barack Obama reached out to him to sit and have a beer together. And the officer did not have a racist bone in his past. And he acted in a way that seemed to be correct based on a neighbor's report and based on the professor's response.

He did what a police officer would do and should do. He did not act stupidly, but the White House weighed in. And over and over over these eight years now, the White House has weighed in without hearing from local law enforcement, with one case after another. The Department of Justice has weighed in, and it has further exacerbated racial tensions in America.

So, what gets me here is the hypocrisy of it. Yes, I'm glad that the concerns of many African Americans about injustice and bad treatment by the legal system, by police, I'm glad more evidence of that is coming out so others can share in the outrage where it needs to be pointed and where justice needs to be done. But the hypocrisy. The double standards here, mind-boggling. Absolutely.

Let's use this as a teachable moment. All right. Wanted to say that and get that off my chest. 86634TRUTH. Let's go to Vesper in New Jersey.

Welcome to the line of fire. Hi, doctor Brown. Thank you for taking my call. I Wanted to just disagree with you for a minute, or not disagree, but Um the caller that called earlier about not being able to um attend a wedding. Uh with a gay pastor.

Yeah, who also said that if the pastor was a liberal pastor who didn't believe in the resurrection of Jesus, then he wouldn't attend for that reason either. Right.

I'm someone who personally would not attend. um a gay wedding because I don't believe that that's actually And biblical Marriage. But I wonder about even if I understood what you were saying about secular marriages being sort of fine to attend because they were Um not claiming to be anything. overtly Christian or whatever. But I just wonder, like, if we start sort of flashing and burning about who's a real Christian and who's not, the issue I take is that marriage is something from the garden and it's not Um, it's not a Christian institution per se.

And if it's a man and woman getting married, I don't see why that's a problem no matter what. Who's officiating? Got it. I have no argument with that whatsoever. Zero.

The problem is that this was the man's own conscience. I totally agree with you. I share that perspective, and I'd have no problem if I didn't consider the people genuine Christians and they were getting married, wherever they get married, wherever this Buddhist, whatever, I'm there to celebrate with them their marriage and hope to lead them to the Lord. But it's because the man had this conviction. That's why he had to be true to his convictions.

Oh God of burning, clean. See It's the line of fire with your host, Dr. Michael Brown. Get into the line of fire now by calling 866-34TRUT. Here again is Dr.

Michael Brown. Thanks so much for joining us on the line of fire, 866-34TRUTH.

So, Vesper, just one last comment. I'm totally with you in terms of my own viewpoint. We had a caller last hour who said that he's got good friends, heterosexual couple. They used to go to their church. They now go to another church that's a gay affirming church.

And they're getting married. And the pastor that'll be performing the ceremony is practicing homosexual. and they didn't feel that they could go. Because of that, and I asked him, What if the pastor was heterosexual, but liberal pastor, and denied the resurrection of Jesus? Would he be able to attend that?

And he said, No, because the man's performing a Christian ceremony, etc.

So I mentioned that the rabbi who presided at my mother's funeral ceremony, and my sister asked to have a rabbi there, was an openly gay man. And I had no problem with that. In fact, I was glad to reach out to him, and he's been very cordial, reaching back out to me. And we're going to continue our dialogue. And that I'm glad that that happened and it was fine with me.

My bigger issues were actually that as a liberal Jew, he would have a very different perspective on God and the Bible than I would. I'd have more in common in that respect with an Orthodox Jew. Although an Orthodox Jew would have much less in common with me because of my faith in Jesus. But all that being said, I would look at a wedding that, unless these people were devoted believers who had now backslid and were now in some other compromised state, that would trouble me. And perhaps that was the perspective of this manhead.

They used to be part of our church.

Now they're in a gay affirming church with a gay minister. It's part of a larger thing that I cannot. Affirm. Um however Um If it's just a general wedding. If some people I knew that I didn't think were believers were getting married, I wouldn't ask anything about it.

Whatever the ceremony was, even if I thought it was a stupid ceremony or didn't like the person's theology, or they were in the name of the mother god of the heaven, whatever. It's their wedding is no different than standing before a judge. And you know, I. I need to see them come to the Lord. I'm just there as a friend.

But if someone has a conviction that they can't do something, they've got to be true to their conviction. Hey, thank you for weighing in. That's an important part of the conversation. 866-348-7884. Let's go to, all right.

I was going to go to Delphine and Raleigh, but I won't. By the way, you can call in to comment on my take on this whole hate crime issue. I think we have to be very careful referring to hate crimes in general. Again, I understand why hate crime laws were put in place. I understand.

The additional heinousness of a crime. If is heinousness a word?

Well, you know what I mean. The additional heinous nature of the crime. That if, for example, you uh some some guy Is indiscriminately targeting people to steal from them, right? And in the midst of it, if he's got a shoot to kill, he does.

Okay, that's evil, that's wrong, that's despicable. He's caught, he goes to jail for his crimes. But if he was specifically targeting someone, Because he's targeting A black person because they're black, or a Hispanic person because they're Hispanic, or a Jew because they're Jewish. It could potentially lead to almost a larger plague, you know, people now attacking a group because of a certain aspect of who they are, their skin color, or their ethnicity, or their religion, or things like that. But we've seen now that hate crime legislation can now be used as a tool.

that muzzles Christians. That if you differ with gay theology or gay practice, If you differ with gay, quote, marriage and things like that, that you're now branded as hateful, and that even certain theological positions or moral positions or lifestyle convictions can be branded as hateful.

So we've seen how the hate crime thing can be bandied about. But look, I I am all for calling out injustice wherever it is. And trust me. Trust me, for years now. when people have called in.

Uh African American callers. And have talked to me about injustice they've experienced. I listen and I learn rather than try to argue. Here, I was flying back from uh Orlando yesterday. Flew in in the morning, flew back at night.

A gentleman gets on the plane. sitting across from me, someone asked if they could switch seats, hands of sitting next to me. And he was African American man. And I first looked at him, he seemed like big, muscular. That's just how he appeared to me.

I thought, I wonder if he's an athlete. I wonder if he's a professional athlete. I was upgraded. He had a free upgrade to first class because I fly so much. He was in first class.

And I wondered that. Um he was absorbed doing some stuff, but towards the end we started chatting. And it turns out he's a university president with a PhD and a JD. And we had a great talk about injustice, about hurdles that African Americans have to overcome. about unfairness in this society.

And he even said, Look, when he's there traveling in first class, people wonder what are you doing in first class? And I said, You wonder if the person was an athlete? I mean, that's the first thing I wondered: is he an athlete?

Now, bear in mind, it wasn't because he's black. But because he was he was The way he looked, he looked like an athlete to me.

Okay. And if I saw a white guy big like that, I might have wondered the same thing. But he's telling me, yeah, people wonder.

Well and he says it's just now here's someone who's a university president. All right. With a PhD and a JD. or college president, university president. And still, He's talking to me about injustice.

About misperceptions. And so he confirmed what so many of you have told me out of your own experience. I said, Look, I have learned so much from my colleagues, I've never been racially profiled. And he understood my assessment. That's a blind spot for whites is we often don't see racism.

when it is there. A blind spot for blacks. Yeah.

they often see racism when it isn't there. Because the white perspective, hey, I didn't grow up with this. I wasn't racially profiled. I don't see it. Look, my criticism of Barack Obama's got nothing to do with race.

How can you where are you seeing race? There's no race there. But there's so many instances where race is involved. And I wouldn't see it. On the flip side.

On the flip side. There's no question that black Americans have been subjected to racism so much through the lives that they'll see it and perceive it when it's not there. Again, they can have we all have blind spots. Don't tell me you don't. Don't tell me I'm the only one with blind spots.

That's a blind spot you have.

So I'm sensitive to that. And I think those of you who have been regular listeners for years, black listeners, you know, I'm a friend and an ally when it comes to justice, when it comes to raising sensitive issues, tackling controversial issues. But when you have people, Who are so reluctant to label something a hate crime when it's white on black? That then strikes us what kind of double standard is that? What what is that?

And trust me, I have not come back with example after example after example of black-on-white crime over the years. or acts of hate, because that's not the issue. When someone's talking about When they got racially profiled and they got pulled over for no good reason, and when they thought their life was threatened simply because they were black, I don't need to talk about the other situation because that doesn't touch on the fact that they were subjected to injustice and racial profiling, and it's wrong. But when you have people, especially in the administration, and especially media people. Who don't immediately call this out as a heinous hate crime?

By the way, good for Montel Williams for blasting this. Yeah, Montel is supposed to join me on the air. Gotta follow up again, we never heard from him. He said he was gone to never heard from him. Talk about North Carolina HB2 and things like that.

Man, he laid into this in strong terms. Why can't Don Lemon? Call it for what it is. All right, we'll be back with your calls. 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 866-34TRU. Here again is Dr. Michael Brown.

It is my joy to be with you today on this Friday on the line of fire. You've got questions, we've got answers. The phone lines are open. 866-348-7884. Any question under the sun that you want to ask me, any question under the sun that I can be of help to you with, by all means, give me a call.

866-34TRUTH is the number to call. And. Please visit our website, askdrbrown.org. Click on the digital library. We've got new videos, new articles, new resources absolutely free for you that will be a real, real blessing.

So make sure you visit askdrbrown.org. I believe as you do and start to take advantage of the free resources there, your life will be enriched, you'll be encouraged, you'll be strengthened in the Lord. 866-348-7884. We'll start in Manhattan with Steve. Welcome to the line of fire.

Good afternoon, Doctor Brown. Good afternoon. I have a question about uh 1 Corinthians 14 verse 2. I'm wondering if the word which is added in some trans before the word tongue is that warranted there? I mean at all?

Yeah, now just a generalization before we look at the specific verse.

Sometimes Uh A word is added. Because the translator is trying to clarify things. And sometimes it's necessary to add the word only or something like that to do so. There are other cases where the issue is. A different text that's being followed, okay?

And in other words, we have different Greek texts, and sometimes it's a manuscript difference.

So, in this case, here. And when you say unknown, if you look at the King James, that's where it has unknown. You'll see if you're reading it from an actual written Bible, maybe not on your cell phone, it has the word unknown in italics. That means it's added. That means it's not in the Greek.

All right. So, in that case, it's telling you we added this word for clarity. The new King James does not have it. The New King James says, For he who speaks in a tongue.

Some translations say another tongue just to explain they're talking about a different language. But no, to put unknown there is adding something in additionally that the Greek does not have.

So for example, New King James for he who speaks in a tongue. ESV for one who speaks in a tongue. NIV for anyone who speaks in a tongue. NET for the one speaking in a tongue.

So as you read the context, it's clearly talking about A non-human language that is by the gift of the Spirit and that requires a translator that is also gifted by the Spirit, an interpreter. In other words, it's not a matter of, okay, I'm going to pray in Hebrew and you don't understand Hebrew, so we need another Hebrew speaker, or you're going to pray in Spanish and I don't understand Spanish, so we need another Spanish speaker. This is obviously speaking of the tongues that Paul referenced in 1 Corinthians 12, the gift of the Spirit to speak in this new language, if you want to call it a heavenly language or a spiritual language. And that's why, if you keep reading in the context here, look at what it says: the person who speaks in a tongue is not speaking to men, but to God, since no one understands him.

However, he speaks mysteries in the spirit, no one understands him because it's not an earthly language.

So the King James is clarifying and explaining. Uh but it is adding something that the Greek text doesn't have, and it's best not to add that.

So interestingly, for those who think that the King James is the perfectly accurate translation that never adds anything, yeah, it does. And in this case, it's telling you it's in italics that it's added, but it's not helpful. It may be accurate, but it shouldn't be part of the translation.

So best to not have it. Simply say one who speaks in a tongue, speaking of that gift of tongues, where one can pray in tongues in the spirit. And that requires, we can be edified by it spiritually, but if it happens in a public assembly where I deliver a message, I shouldn't unless someone is there who has the gift of interpretation. Thank you, sir, for the call. It's fire we want for fire we 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. Hey, I don't know if you saw, heard our live event we did at Charisma Media yesterday in Orlando, Florida from their headquarters.

We posted live on Facebook for two straight hours, the entire broadcast, not in our normal studio, but on the road with our on the road hookup. And we had a live audience there, just a great time together. And we talked about breaking the stronghold of food. We talked practically. We took some great calls.

We talked to folks who edited the book and worked on it.

So it was really enjoyable. If you're on Facebook, you can find it on our Facebook page, ask Dr. Brown, ASKDR Brown. And just want to remind you, today and tomorrow, that's it. The special free e-book offer.

This is the end of it. It's a special offer from the publisher. When you order on strongholdofood.com, strongholdofood.com, it'll take you to Amazon, or you can order there, get the book at about 40% off, and then you follow through on the link, and it'll get you the e-book free.

So the paperback, 40% off, and the e-book free, an extraordinary offer, but it ends tomorrow. All right, so if you haven't ordered yet, or if you have the book and want to get some for others, go to strongholdoffood.com. And remember, as soon as you're done reading the book, if it's been a blessing to you, post a review on Amazon. It doesn't have to be long. But if you've been positively impacted, let others know as well.

866-34Truth. We go to Tim in Arlington, Texas. Thank you, sir, for calling the line of fire. Yes, Tim, go ahead. Yeah, I was wondering if you've best through the Holy Spirit, 'cause sometimes I think I have.

Uh what would it mean to blaspheme the Holy Spirit, sir? Um If Yeah, she Peace pieces of Casual David's fight. div power to the Holy Spirit. Right, but if if you think that you may have blasphemed the Spirit, What would make you think that? What have you done that would make you think that?

Um Have you ever? knowingly when you knew the Holy Spirit was working, That the Holy Spirit was touching lives and working and working miracles, that you knowingly. said that is not the Holy Spirit, that is the work of Satan. And reject it. Have you no okay, then you haven't flashed in the spirit.

No, you haven't blasphemed the spirit, sir. That is talking about such a deep rejection of the spirit that there's no turning back. That is talking about such a deep hardening of heart that the last thing you'd be doing is calling me on the radio to ask about it because you'd have no interest in God, no interest in Jesus, and you could care less what you've done in your heart. That's why it's the unforgivable sin. It crosses a certain line and goes past the point of no return.

But Paul said of himself in 1 Timothy 1 that he was actually a blasphemer. A blasphemer of God. But that God forgave him the blasphemy of Jesus because he acted ignorantly and in unbelief.

So there are many people, they hear tongues and they don't think it's real. They think that's the devil. That's because they don't understand. Maybe they see some guy praying for the sick on TV and they think, ah, man, that's not the spirit. And actually, it was.

They're speaking in ignorance or based on outward appearance. But when Jesus talks about blaspheming the Spirit in Mark 3, the context is: as you said, he was healing the sick and working miracles by the power of the Spirit. And the religious leaders who knew better. who fully knew better, said he's doing it by the power of Satan.

So that's the big issue there. To knowingly attribute the works of the Holy Spirit to Satan and in perhaps even in a public way of rejection, That's going to the A point from which there seems to be no return because of the degree of hardness of heart. Involved in that. Hey, Tim, thank you for the call. Grow in the grace of the Lord.

Recognize His love. Where there's wrong, He lovingly convicts us and we respond to that. If we reject it, we repent and turn back. 866-34 Truth. We go to Sean in Jacksonville, Florida.

Hey, Sean, welcome to the line of fire. Hey, how are you doing, Mr. Brow? Doing well, thank you. Good, good.

Just basically, I was just I just had a simple question, I guess somewhat simple. I've been doing a little bit of research and just trying to figure out exactly what the oral law was. And during my research, It actually pointed instead that Jesus may have giving some type of credence to it or up or upheld the oral law. Yes, let me try to explain as simply as possible. A traditional Jew today believes that when God gave Moses the written law in Sinai, he also gave him an oral law, which included explanations of the written law and principles of interpretation of the written law that could then be passed on through the generations.

So, a traditional Jew believes that many of the things he's doing today, He's doing because he learned it from his father, he learned it from his father all the way back to Moses in an unbroken chain of tradition. That's what a traditional Jew believes today. In point of fact, we know that many traditions developed over the centuries, and that many things traditionally used today may follow would have been unknown In the days of Moses, the days of Ezra, Nehemiah, etc. From best we can tell, beginning in the second century before Jesus, a group called the Pharisees rose up. And they had their distinct traditions, which Jesus refers to as the traditions of the fathers in the New Testament.

For example, Matthew 15 or Mark 7, you'll see him dealing with the traditions of the fathers.

So the Pharisees began to institute these traditions, and some of them were good, and Jesus participated in them. For example, the development of the synagogue. That was a Pharisaical development, because otherwise you had the Temple in Jerusalem. And people would go to the temple in Jerusalem three times a year. They were required to do that.

The males were required to do it. And they'd have their observances in their homes. But they didn't have something local for prayer and teaching of scripture in all the cities. And the Pharisees developed the custom of the synagogues.

Now they had existed. Different meetings in different places, but they really developed that. And we know that Jesus Yeshua went to the synagogues on the Sabbath.

So that's a pharisaical thing. That he participated in, as many Jews did in that day. But there were other aspects of their tradition that he differed with.

Now, remember, The whole concept of an oral law going back to Moses on Sinai was probably unknown at that time. But as the centuries wore on, The traditions that the Pharisees had developed that went back to their founders. It was pushed back as if it went all the way back to Moses. You know, if you do something today, And you don't know why it's like a family tradition. and you can trace it back like two generations well it started somewhere But sometimes we like we have a spiritual practice, we may do it, and yeah, we learned it from our elders.

Where did they learn it from? Oh, that like goes all the way back to God. No, it started a certain point in time.

So, the Pharisees, at a certain point, once this became the teaching of the rabbis, the belief began to circulate. No, no, this didn't just go back to the Pharisees, this went all the way back to Moses, and it's pushed back on him.

So, the traditions that became part of what we know is the oral law today. those traditions that were good and healthy Jesus participated in. and they were part of the life of an ancient Jew. Those that he found unhelpful, he critiqued and spoke against. That's also reflected in a major passage like Matthew chapter 23.

Now, people say, well, look, Matthew 23 starts with saying the scribes and Pharisees sit in Moses' seat, so whatever they teach, do it, but don't do what they say. And some would say that was Jesus acknowledging that the Pharisees were the religious leaders of the people.

Some say that the seat of Moses referred to a special seat in the temple for teaching. And either way, he's saying, do what they say. Don't do what they do. He seemed to acknowledge them as the spiritual leaders of the people. but at the same time saw their hypocrisy, even in some of their teaching.

which he referred to the leaven of the Pharisees elsewhere. And what I understand is that that was the situation then. They were the spiritual leaders of the people, and there was a certain level of submission to their teaching. But Jesus is soon to replace that with his new and better covenant, and rather than the Pharisees, raise up the apostles to be the spiritual leaders of the people.

So their authority was transferred over to the apostles who were the rightful heirs of that. But Sean, it's similar to church tradition. Why do most Christians meet on a Sunday? That's not taught in the New Testament, that's church tradition. Why do we celebrate certain holidays, certain times of the year?

Church tradition. Why do we have a certain order of service? Church tradition. If it's healthy, If it's good and positive, great. If it's negative, bad.

So, it's not the tradition itself, it's the nature of it. And if you want to get into a large study, Sean, of the issue of the oral law. and what traditional Jews believe and why we don't believe in the authority of the oral law today and why we don't accept the teaching of traditional Judaism today. Get volume five of my series. Answering Jewish Objections to Jesus.

Volume five Answering Jewish objections to Jesus. That'll get into it in great depth. If you want a shorter version, a shorter version, get my book 60 Questions. Christians ask about Jewish beliefs and practices. 60 questions Christians ask about Jewish beliefs and practices, where I give more background to what Jews believe about the oral law.

I just don't refute it that I do in volume five of my series. Thank you, sir, for the call. Change the world change the world O God of burning, cleansing flame. Send the fire. 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. Here we are again. Time flies when you're having a blessed time, doesn't it?

866-348-7884Phillip in North Carolina. Welcome to the Line of Fire. Hi, thanks for having me. You bet. Hi, mister Brown.

I had a quick question. I have heard people talk in the church before about having a personal, like a private prayer language. And I was just wondering if you could maybe give me some Bible references to it and maybe just briefly explain it for me. Sure. The concept of a Private prayer language is taken from 1 Corinthians 14, where Paul talks about the proper order of speaking in tongues.

There was no question among the Corinthians that there was a gift of the Spirit whereby people could speak in tongues. And we know in the book of Acts that when the Holy Spirit came upon the 120 in the upper room, that they spoke in tongues. In this case, these were languages that were understood by people there, but supernatural for the speakers themselves to speak. But we also know that Paul teaches in 1 Corinthians 14 that the tongues that the Corinthians are speaking are languages that are not known to man because he says no one can understand them.

So, what is the proper place then of speaking in tongues? Should it be public?

Well, if it's publicly delivered, then there should be interpretation. Otherwise, if, for example, If I started to speak in Hebrew now, if I started to quote from Isaiah 40, etc., well, I might be edified speaking it, but it doesn't help anybody because they don't understand it.

So if I'm going to speak it in Hebrew, then I should say, here's the translation.

So the same way, if a message is given in tongues in a public assembly and there's no interpreter, Then They should keep silent. Don't keep speaking in tongues because it doesn't edify.

However, you are personally edified as you speak in tongues because you're speaking to God.

So here's the way Paul says it: 1 Corinthians 14, 1, beginning there, pursue love and desire spiritual gifts, and above all, that you may prophesy. Why? For the person who speaks in a tongue is not speaking to men, but to God, since no one understands him.

However, he speaks mysteries in the spirit.

So it's not a bad thing. It's a good thing. You're speaking to God. You're speaking mysteries in the spirit. But it's not for the public because they don't understand it.

But the person who prophesies speaks to people for edification, encouragement, and consolation.

So that has the public benefit of helping others. That's why it's preferable. And it seems that the Corinthians were so into tongues that they weren't thinking, wait, wait, this is not edifying people. And then you have someone comes in who's a non-believer who's not familiar with these things. And they're like, what's going on here?

You guys crazy?

Now look at what he says. The person who speaks in a tongue builds himself up. But he who prophesies builds up the church. And then he said, I wish all of you spoke in tongues, but even more that you prophesied. And then he goes on to say later, I speak in tongues more than all of you, and ends the chapter by saying, Don't forbid speaking in tongues, but pursue prophecy.

What does he say? The person who speaks in a tongue Prays to God, speaks to God. Speaks mysteries in the spirit. and edifies himself.

So for many years now, That has been a primary part of my prayer life is to pray in tongues. And I could literally spend hours at times praying in tongues. You say, well, what's your brain doing? Because your mind doesn't understand. Uh sometimes I'm meditating on scripture.

As I'm praying in tongues.

Sometimes I'm meditating on questions. And prayer issues before the Lord, and as I pray in tongues, I begin to get insight. And then from there I begin to pray with my understanding. then I can now pray more effectively.

So many times my praying in tongues has then helped me dramatically as I go to pray in English. And that would be the clearest scriptural reference for it. Thank you. You are very welcome. Much appreciated.

Listen, yes, I've had wonderful experiences in the Spirit. Yes, I speak in tongues since January 24th, 72. But my primary reason for believing things is what Scripture says. Many years ago, I reacted against some of my Pentecostal upbringing in the Lord and questioned it and questioned tongues and read books against tongues and things like that. I just.

Couldn't get away from the fact that the biblical evidence is too strong and the attacks simply do not work. Do I have time for? Let's try this. Hi, Dr. Brown and team.

Big fan of the show. Thank you for your ministry. I'm wondering if you can comment on the biblical Unitarian movement and the angel of the Lord passages. It seems from what I've read that biblical Unitarians say this angel was solely an agent of Yahweh, but was not Yahweh. That is an ontological difference between them.

However, they do concede that this angel is called Yahweh nonetheless. They say this angel has to be an agent and cannot be Yahweh's essence because Yahweh is spirit and he can't be seen. What I don't understand is this: are not regular angels also spirits, hence they can't normally be seen with our senses either. That's why they take physical bodies while they need to be. Seen by humans, and I've not seen any biblical Unitarian arguments that a visible manifestation of a regular angel in scripture means that what the person saw was not essentially what an angel is.

Therefore, why can't the visible angel of the Lord who's called Yahweh be understood to possess Yahweh's essence as well? Yes, your argument is correct. Your reasoning is correct in terms of the why can't I agree with you. Also I would say this: biblical Unitarians should be commended for their emphasis on the oneness of God. Because many Trinitarians can lose sight of God's oneness in their celebration of his triunity.

They can lose sight of the fact that the overwhelming message of Scripture is God's oneness. That being said, this this uh angel this messenger Would not be called God in a direct way as the word is in John 1:1, called deity. And there's the word that is made flesh. And in some of our texts, in John 1:18, is actually referred to as the only begotten God.

So the God who Himself is God and yet comes forth from the Father. He would not be called mighty God in Isaiah 9:6. And all the times where it says they saw the God of Israel, Exodus 24, or Yahweh appeared, it's Yahweh in two angels in visible form in Genesis 18. Yes. That's clearly the Lord and not just an angel.

Isaiah 6, where the Lord is seen there as well. When Thomas says of Jesus, my Lord and my God, he wasn't just saying that to him as a messenger.

So there are many passages that break down. There are passages that refer to Titus 2 and 2 Peter 1, our God and Savior, Jesus Christ.

So he's overtly identified as God. Both the Father and Son are referred to as the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end.

So that means uncreated in Revelation. And in Revelation 5, all creation, everything in creation, worships God and the Lamb, meaning the Lamb himself must be divine, otherwise, there is idolatry in that type of worship.

Now, angels could be seen in different ways that Yahweh, and that He dwells in unapproachable light that would be different from an angel. It's just a spirit. Uh but The Father has never been seen. It's the Son who makes him known. One God.

And Hebrews 1 is not just speaking of some angelic messenger. It's the very radiance of God that's spoken of there. Therefore, divine. Hey, great question. I appreciate it.

My bottom line today: keep digging, keep studying, let the riches of the word unfold before you. Uh