Answers to Your Questions

You've got questions. We've got answers. Let's do it right here on the line of fire. Yeah. It's time for the line of fire with your host, activist, author, international speaker, and theologian, Dr.

Michael Brown, your voice of moral, cultural, and spiritual revolution. Michael Brown is the director of the Coalition of Conscience and president of Fire School of Ministry. Get into the line of fire now by calling 866-34 Truth. That's 866-34 Truth. Here again is Dr.

Michael Brown. Welcome, welcome to the broadcast. It is Friday. You've got questions, we've got answers. Any question under the sun that you want to ask me, anything you want to talk to me about, if you have a difference with me on something, by all means, give me a call.

We'll do our best to clarify. 866-348-7884 is the number to call and through the broadcast. I am going to be having some fun by opening up to the NIV. Cultural backgrounds study Bible, and reading some of the commentary to some of the text that's here.

So let me dive right into the scriptures. Again, 866-34Truth, the number to call. I was reading part of my scripture reading last night. I was in the book of Ezekiel, and I was reading in Exodus chapter 16. Your ancestry and birth were in the land of the Canaanites, your father was an Amorite, your mother a Hittite.

Hmm, your father was an Amorite, your mother a Hittite.

So I look down in the text here. Let's see what it tells me about this. Verse Two confront Jerusalem, and it goes from there. Then it goes through, okay, very, very interesting in depth, goes through the background to the process of caring for a child in verse 4. Oh, let me read that.

on that on the day you were born, your cord was not cut, nor were you washed with water to make you clean, nor were you rubbed with salt or wrapped in cloths. The note here says All of the actions described here would ordinarily be those of the midwife. She would cut and tie off the umbilical cord, rinse the placenta off the newborn, clean the baby's skin with salt water, and finally wrap it in a blanket. The child would then be presented to the parents to be named.

However, in this case, the child is not accepted as a member of the household and instead is left in a field where its faith is left up to God. The role of the midwife in preparing the birthing room and caring for the newborn is often attributed to deity in the ancient world, especially in metaphors. In a segment of the Babylonian Atrahasis epic, the fertility goddess Mami is the midwife of the gods who brings humanity into being. In the Egyptian great hymn to Aten, the sun god presides as a midwife over the lands of Egypt each morning. The midwife rituals involved provide for both the physical needs of the child as well as a symbolic transference from the realm of the womb to the living world.

So what I find fascinating is that Here, God is saying that he was doing this for Israel. And in the ancient Near Eastern world, the different gods would say they were doing that for their lands or for their people. But here, God was the one actually involved. And then, verse 6: I passed by and saw you kicking about in your blood. As you lay there in your blood, I said to you, live.

And here, the note to that in the Cultural Background Study Bible says this expression corresponds to an Akkadian adoption formula in birth fluid and blood.

So and then it goes on further with that. One Neo-Babylonian Akkadian text describes an adoption procedure as abandoning a child still covered in his amniotic fluid and birth blood and giving him to the wet nurse. Interpreted in the light of the ancient Near Eastern texts, the Hebrew expression signifies a formal declaration of adoption. Whoever takes a child while in its blood acquires full legal right to it. The Code of Hammurabi indicates that the child so adopted may never be reclaimed by the birth parents.

And God says, I said to you when I saw you laying there in your own blood, I said to you, live. I made you grow like a plant of the field. Fascinating, isn't it?

Some of the background to the scriptures. We come back, I'm going straight to your calls. Shake the nation. Change the world. Change the world.

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 at 866-34TRUTH.

You've Yeah. Questions, we've got answers. You've got questions about the background to the Bible. We've got the NIV Cultural Backgrounds Bible study Bible. Again, you can get it.

We'll pay the postage on it: 2,350 plus pages, beautifully formatted, laid out, filled with illustrations. We'll also send you free my two-hour interview with Professor Craig Keener on this very subject. He is the New Testament editor. All right, to the phones we go. Starting in Atlanta, Georgia.

Dan, welcome to the line of fire. Hi, doctor Brown. Thank you for taking my call. You're very welcome.

So about a week ago, I was having an online discussion with a gentleman who claims to be a retired seminary professor fluent in Greek and Hebrew. And his claim is that there are uh there is no language in the original text uh Stating that homosexual behavior is wrong. That's probably the best way to summarize it. I don't believe that's true. I believe that all the current translations of the Bible are accurate, but I'm not equipped to have an intellectual discussion at that level.

So I would like you to address that, if you could. What does the original text say? And secondly, how could I better prepare myself in the future to have a more intellectual discussion with people like that. Sure thing. There are plenty of good resources.

Since I've written one of them, I'd recommend you start with my book, Can You Be Gay and Christian? It's written with compassion. It will give you a heart for those who identify as LGBT and will quite explicitly answer the objections and tell you what the Bible does say, and then link you, reference, give you references to other scholarly sources and popular sources.

So you get my book, Can You Be Gay and Christian? And I go through the key texts and examine what the scriptures actually say and give you language background in Hebrew and Greek. That's the first thing. Also, if you just go to my digital library, my website, askdrbrown.org. and just under digital library, just type in homosexuality.

or Bible in homosexuality, you'll find articles that I've written that summarize some of this as well. That being said, no, there's nothing ambiguous about the Bible's prohibition of homosexual practice. Gay theologians and activists will try to say, well, it has to be limited. For example, yes, it's true that the Bible never says anything positive about homosexual relations, and yes, it's true that any mention of homosexual practice is always negative, but they would say, well, it's always in the context of idolatry. or promiscuity.

Or pederisty, but that if it was a loving, committed relationship, it would be fine in God's sight.

Now, what that's saying is that something that is hateful in God's sight when done once now becomes fine when done many times by the same people. Of course, it's a highly absurd argument, but there's no substance to that. The prohibition against a man lying with a man in Leviticus chapter 18 and chapter 20 is blanket and clear. And in Leviticus the 18th chapter, it is explicitly in the context of forbidden practices for pagans as well. That God judged the Canaanites and the Egyptians for incest and adultery and homosexual practice, and he will judge Israel for those things as well.

That's quite explicit. The manifestation of Sodom's decadence is rampant homosexual practice that is mentioned there, but that's not the only reason Sodom was judged. That was just a manifestation of its wickedness. When we come to the New Testament, we see that Jesus said he didn't come to abolish the law or the prophets, but fulfill. And what does he do with the moral and ethical requirements?

He takes them to a higher level. That's in Matthew 5. In Matthew 15, he says that what comes out of our heart defiles us. And one of the things listed is porneia, sexual immorality in the plural. That refers to all sexual acts outside of wedlock, therefore, certainly includes homosexuality.

When you come to Matthew 19, when Jesus is asked about divorce, he explains that that was not God's intent from the beginning. Rather, from the beginning, it was a man and woman coming together as one and the two becoming one for life.

So he describes God's definition. For marriage in Matthew 19, one man, one woman for life. Matthew 15, he says, all sexual acts outside of marriage defile us. And Matthew 5 says he didn't come to abolish the law or prophets, but to fulfill. And therefore, when you read what he has to say about adultery, for example, he takes it even further and makes it a matter of the heart.

When he talks about murder, he takes it even further and makes it a matter of the heart. And then when we get to the writings of Paul in Romans 1. Paul explicitly says that men being with men and women being with women is contrary to nature, by which he does not mean contrary to one's heterosexual nature, but contrary to God's design for males and females, going back to Genesis 1. That's what Romans is pointing to. And then in 1 Corinthians 6 and in 1 Timothy 1, Greek words are used.

There are two that are used in 1 Corinthians 6:9, and then one of them repeated in 1 Timothy 1. And those two words together absolutely speak of homosexual practice, not just pederisty, not just prostitution or promiscuity, certainly not related to idolatry by definition. They speak of homosexual acts. And there are even, as I cite in Can You Be Gay and Christian, gay theologians that say, yeah, no question that Paul was condemning homosexual practice. We just differ with him there.

So it's let's say this, Dan, if not for the counterculture revolution and the sexual revolution and homosexual liberation movement, no one would be questioning what the Bible said, which is why through centuries there were Christians who were same-sex attracted, but they realized it was sin in God's sight and they knew that they were not to act on it.

Now we've made it into a specific category of people, and so you have the right to do what you want to do. Which none of us do as God's people. We have the right to do what He calls us to do, or else we disobey.

So. Yeah, I I just and I just want to be clear too. I I'm I'm Believe completely what the scriptures say. I'm in agreement with you. I just want to equip myself better when I'm talking to people about this subject because I hear this argument so often.

And you go back to Leviticus, and many people will say that, well, yeah, sure, it says that a man should not lie with a man, but it also says you shouldn't wear a garment with two different fabrics, those types of things. Yeah, and the answer to that, sir. And yeah, Dan, I was clear where your heart. And convictions were on this. I gave the answer also for the benefit of our listening audience.

But there were laws that God gave Israel to keep them separate from the nations. But they were not based on intrinsic morality. They were not based on uh Universal right and wrong.

So, for example, don't sow two different types of seeds in your field. Don't wear a garment mixed with two fabrics. There was nothing intrinsically moral or immoral about that commandment. Rather, it was to teach Israel principles of separation, separation from the nations. Even the food laws, although a lot of them are practical in terms of good foods to eat and bad foods to avoid, it was not just based on health.

There were other things there, some we don't even fully understand, but it helped keep Israel separate from the nations, you see. Whereas there are other laws that were based on universal morality, like don't murder. Or don't commit adultery. You say, how can we distinguish between the two? It's actually not that hard.

Easier. the law will be repeated. In the New Testament, re-emphasized in the New Testament, or within the Old Testament, it will say, This is for the nations as well.

So for example, in Leviticus 18, when you read it from beginning to end, you see that everything in that chapter is prohibited for all people worldwide. And God will bring judgment because of people. Committing these sins worldwide.

So, if it's wrong for pagans, all the more is it wrong for God's people. And again, I open all of that up in the book, Can You Begain Christians?

So, you do well to be equipped here. The better equipped you are, the more people you'll set free with the truth. And those that already have their hearts and minds made up, you can only pray that God will bring them to repentance. Yes. Dr.

Brown, do you have time for one more question related to this? Real quick, sure. Real quick.

Well, I was in a situation a few weeks ago where I was across the table from a lesbian couple. And normally, I'm very uh bold in my evangelistic uh outreach. But it was a setting where it was almost like being in a crowded elevator, and I just didn't feel comfortable to say anything. I'm just not. Sure, how to approach people, especially in that type of an environment.

They were being very affectionate with one another. You know, it was just very uncomfortable for me. And really, the only thing that I could Do was just be kind to them. I don't know if I did them a disservice by doing that.

Well, it's Dan, it's first, God bless you for your heart and your sensitivity and your desire to be a witness. We're not called to witness constantly. We're called to witness at the right times. Obviously, if if someone's performing surgery, you don't burst into the the surgical arena there and say, Hey, do you know Jesus? You know, there there are times to share the gospel and times not to.

But Uh two lesbians, those are two people. Two people for whom Jesus died. And it could have been a heterosexual couple being affectionate, lesbians being affectionate. The question is, Lord, do you want me to share anything with them? Is this the right time?

And if not, yeah. Be gracious and then pray that there'll be another opportunity to share the gospel and that God would bring them to repentance and salvation. God bless you. Thanks for calling. We'll be right back with more of your calls.

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.

Welcome back to the line of fire, 866-3487. Eight eight four. Whoa, did we just have a You guys have a Lightning strike or something like that because our board was filled with calls. I look back and it looks like people are trying to reconnect. I'm not sure if we had an incident in our studio.

The weather's getting pretty interesting where we are. But if you got disconnected somehow, my apologies. Give us a call: 866-348-7877. 884 is the number to call. And before I go back to the phones, This is a question from Matt.

Not Matt, my producer. Hello, Dr. Brown. I wanted to know if you could give me some insight on something. Being a Jewish scholar and a former musician, can you tell me what you think of Dennis McCorkle's research on the Davidic cipher?

He has made an attempt to reconstruct the notes of that cipher, which contains the actual melodies for the songs and the psalms. Very interesting, and hearing them on YouTube is really stunning. Can you tell me how accurate his work may perhaps be? The website is here, and it is musicofthebible.com. Matt, I am unfamiliar.

with his work. And I do not have Any expertise in terms of Uh The ancient Israelite music.

Sorry to say, I will check out this website. It is very interesting to me.

So I will check out the website. But all I could give you is an opinion of, ah, that's interesting. Beyond that, I don't have much to say. Because it's something I've never looked into.

Some books have been written about music in ancient Israel, and there have been some attempts to figure out how the songs would have been sung. The psalms, of course, were put to music. They were to be sung. They were chanted in the temple and things like that. But the way that they might be chanted, say, in a synagogue today would presumably be vastly different than the way that they were chanted 3,000 years ago or 2,500 years ago in ancient Israel.

But I will check it out. I just have no expertise in saying... The Yeah, I I'm Jewish. Yes, I've got scholarship in Hebrew Bible. Yes, I was played.

Drums and Percussion was an outstanding musician in my high school. Shared that award with a cellist, I think, as a percussionist. But that's the extent of it. When I started Queensborough Community College as a music major, that didn't last in the second semester, or maybe even the first, I realized, no, I got some skills, but my ear is not good. Anyway, but very interesting.

And folks, check it out: musicofthebible.com. I just can't say yay or nay to it.

Now, let me say this: if I go there and it sounds like heavy metal rock, then obviously I would say, no, that's that's not the way it was, that would not be in keeping with Near Eastern, Middle Eastern music, and history. But beyond that, I I do not know. eight six six three four eight seven eight eight four Greg. says this I find it puzzling that you continue to bang away at if words mean anything in your debate, when at the same time you flat out deny the man Christ Jesus, the only Lord and Master who bought us, and replace it with an impersonal human nature actuated by some kind of deity. Scripture repeatedly, clearly, and formally states that Jesus is a man.

Why do you deny the human person of Jesus Christ and think that is just fine? Sincerely the Lord Jesus Christ, Craig Logan.

Well, Greg, tell you what, I'm going to turn this question around to you and say: is it just fine that you twist what I say? He's fully man and fully God. Fully divine and fully human. That's what I've always said. If it's ever come up in a debate, that's what I've said.

Yeah. This body is a tent. That's true. The body is a tent that he lived in, but he had full human nature, full divine nature, as scriptures teach. I've always affirmed that.

So rather than hammer me for something I don't believe or say, Best To listen more carefully. Fair enough, son. Sir, and I didn't mean to say, son, I meant to say, sir. There was not a Freudian slip. I meant to say, Sure.

866 Three, four, truth. Hey, remember. Brooklyn, New York. This coming Thursday night, six days from now, all my listening friends, we're having a listener rally for you, Brooklyn, New York at the Feinberg Messianic Center. I'll be doing a talk on Isaiah 53, the rabbis and the messiah.

We'll do live audience QA. Get to shake your hand, meet and greet, sign books for you. Yeah, admission is free, but an offering will be received to help with our ministry work, help with our radio and Jewish outreach. And then Saturday night, September 10th in Manhattan, right in the heart of New York City. Yes, I will be doing a talk on Israel and the presidential elections, where the candidates stand.

Again, live audience QA. Shake your hand, meet and greet, sign books for you. Once again, admission is free. A love offering will be received. All the details on my website, ask Dr.

Brown, ASKDRBrown.org. All right, Deborah in Newark, thanks for reconnecting. Welcome to the line of fire. Thank you very much, Dr. Brown.

I want to preface by saying that I'm also born a Jew and raised a Christian, and I had the privilege of studying classical languages as an undergraduate and then did my graduate work in biblical studies, primarily Hebrew Bible. And I just wanted to t uh speak briefly to the man who's struggling what to say to friends who bring up the fact of normalcy of same-sex relationships in the classical era. um in the time of Paul and and such. And first I would say that Hebrew Bible and New Testament are both unambiguous in the rejection of same sex relationships as outside the will of God. But But what I think he may be dealing with fr with his friends Is that in the classical literature of the era, whether you're reading Thucydides?

or much of the Roman literature, there was this normalcy, this everydayness about same sex relationships, so much so that families of wealth Would literally, this is in Thucydides, I've read this in the Greek, the Essays, that families of wealth would contract out their young sons at the age of twelve, thirteen to a wealthy, older man. There'd be a signed contract. The function of the wealthy, learned, older man would be to raise up that young man. in the walks of life, which included same sex relationships. And it was accepted as ordinary, as part of the course of what the upper class did.

And what Paul was doing was being a radical sign of contradiction against the mores of the dominant culture. Yes, exactly. Deborah, you have expressed this with such lucidity and with solid scholastic backing, that the Bible was as countercultural then as it is today. Yeah. I don't know if this is an accurate saying, but the pun was that in the ancient Greek world, a man would have a wife for children, a mistress for romance, and a boy for sex.

And that was the so-called mentoring relationship. And then you even had adult relations. You had, you know, Nero, quote, marrying his male lover. You even had perversions like that. And there was some resistance.

You know, the Stoics and some had. Had a, you know, by nature resistance to homosexuality. But yes, these things were to say these written down contracts. Yeah. They were part of the culture.

They were that ingrained. They were that normalized. And here when Paul's writing to the Corinthians say and saying this is forbidden. Countercultural. Deborah, thank you so much for weighing in.

Much appreciated. 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. Welcome back to the broadcast 866. Three, four, eight, seven. Yeah.

Is the number to call? Let's go right back to the phones and we'll start in New York. Lynn, welcome to the line of fire. Oh, thank you. Uh this is a comment.

My comment is that Although uh And who gets the talk show house? the right to question how a person Should protest their disapproval of an issue. If this young man wants to sit out on the flag, I mean the the national anthem. thus his prerogative No, there we're Where is it in the Bible that states that he cannot do that. Where is it in the where Lynn, hang on for a second?

What gives you the right To tell me what I should or shouldn't do as a radio host. That's you're giving your opinion, correct? I am giving my opinion. Right. Why can't I give my opinion?

Well, it wasn't I'm not talking about you. But but I have I've been outsp I've been outspoken I've been outspoken saying put off as right and wrong. And that's the reason why I'm questioning it. And I'm not talking about you. And to say racism does not exist among the police officers.

because there is no buying and selling of people. That is so absurd. Right, right, but but but hang but hang on, but but I'm not I'm not the one but Lynn, Lynn, I'm not the one, Lynn, Lynn, Lynn, I'm not the one saying that, and you're calling me.

So let me interact with you. I believe racism still exists in our society. I believe there's some of it in the police department. But I don't think there's a lot of it. In terms of what's actually done.

Read Heather MacDonald's book, The War on Police. Is it the War on Cops? Is that that name? Where she supplies ample documentation that black officers are actually quicker to pull the trigger against black suspects than white officers are. that you also have black officers killing whites.

And white office is killing whites. And proportionately, it's not that one is more than the other, although, as I said, black officers are more prone to pull the trigger than Than white officers when it's a black suspect. There are issues of police brutality that need to be examined. But they're the minority of what happens overall. I believe the bigger race issues are Sometimes the way we just see each other.

that there may be prejudices, And that the welfare system.

So promoted by the Democrat Party. is destructive. It creates in an entitled mentality that we're just entitled to get funds. and does not help self-esteem. does not build up an effort to work.

creates a mentality of victimization. All of that is is very, very unhelpful. And when Colin Kaepernick wears socks. To an NFL practice calling cops pigs. That's unacceptable.

The NFL would not let the Dallas Cowboys team put decals, stickers, on their helmets in honor of the police that were assassinated, that were killed in cold blood. All right, would not let them do that as a team. And you're calling Kaepernick in an open practice. with clear video evidence wore these socks referring to cops as pigs. And and then has used his Places NFL player.

Making what $116 million over six years, some outrageous, some like that. And uh And and then to use his position there. To draw attention to police brutalities, if that's the major problem, I think it's erroneous, and I think it's a bad place to do it. But by all means, As an athlete, let him speak out against racial injustice, but not under the influence of a radical Black Lives Matter group. And seems some of his radicalizing has come since he's been romantically involved with a radical Black Lives Matter.

matter A leader. There are better ways he could draw attention to the bigger issue. That's what I encourage. Give 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. Let me just say something very, very plain, very, very direct here. If you cultivate an attitude of hatred for authority, If you cultivate an attitude of disrespect for authority, I don't believe you're doing a good thing.

Now, it's one thing if you had Nazis, say, trying to wipe out a whole part of the population. And we hated what they were doing and stood for their overthrow. That's one thing. It's another thing. When you have law enforcement officers, the great majority of whom are simply trying to keep law and order.

And protect people's lives. That's why they're doing what they're doing.

Okay? I don't mean they're saints. I don't mean they're perfect. I've got folks close to me that have done many ride-alongs with cops or who have served as chaplains for the police department. And these guys, some ladies, but but mainly men, they're they're going about their job.

Try to keep the peace. You don't cultivate a disrespect For law officers, you say where there is racial prejudice or disparity, where there is discrimination or hatred or brutality, we want to expose it. That's what we hate. Yes, and amen. Let us expose it.

Let us shout it to the world and expose it. And as a police officer said earlier on my show to to listen to the interview, just go to thelineofire.org and look for latest videos. We put the audio up on YouTube.

So go to thelineoffire.org and just look for my interview with a policeman who's who's uh Whose open letter to Colin Kaepernick went viral, but he said, nobody hates a bad cop more than the good cop. Nobody hates a bad cop more than the other police officers whose names are now tarnished and whose lives are now potentially threatened.

So Let us point things in the right direction and then we can stand together and work constructively. 866-34TRUTH. Let's go to Michael in Washington, D.C. Thanks for calling the line of fire. Hi, Doctor Brum, how are you doing today?

Doing well, thanks. Thanks for taking my call. Hey, I got a couple of interesting ones for you, doctor Barrels. First, Um Personally, I'm a believer in Jesus Christ. I believe in every single syllable of the Bible.

every sentence in all sixty six books. Here's my point. Uh as a believer in Jesus Christ, Let's say for example, myself or anybody else. uh fails to repent you know, for a particular sin. That sometimes you may do over and over again.

So, even though you're a believer in Jesus Christ, is my first question. and you accept the cross. and what it means, and that he rose on the third day. Can poor repentance or no repentance still keep you out of heaven when you confront Christ. My second question is.

Um I collect Egyptian art or I used to.

So I have a lot of it in my basement, but I collect it only because, you know, I was fascinated on how it looks, the colors, things like that. And I want to know Uh as a believer in Jesus Christ. And he is the only one who I do worship. Is that Egyptian art goes against being a Christian or blocking my prayers with Christ. And my third question is.

If someone is a Mason, which I'm not. But if someone is a Mason at any level, Is that Definitely an entity that's against God. And those are my questions, Dr. Brown. All right, great.

So we'll answer them in reverse. With regard to a Mason, I have zero experience with Mason's Masonry myself. I don't personally know a Practicing committed mason, is there such a word as practicing mason? There's no one in my circle of friends and associates who is actually a mason. But from what I understand, the things that you are swearing to, the secret society that you are belonging to, the views that you would have to espouse would on some level have to compromise your commitment to Jesus.

And therefore, I do not see how someone could be a committed follower of Jesus and a Mason.

Now, someone surely is going to email me or call, well, what about this leader and this famous? I don't know. I don't know about them. And I'm not a Mason myself. But what I do know, I would say that it would require a divided heart and even swearing allegiance to things that are unbiblical.

With regard to Egyptian art, if it's simply art, And it's appreciate you appreciate it as art. And you may look at some of it and think, yeah, that's unfortunate.

Some of that art speaks of the idolatry of ancient Egypt, the various deities that they would worship and things like that. But again, it's just art. Um To me, there's no problem with that whatsoever. For example, in my library, I have lots of ancient Near Eastern literature. And in that literature, there are hymns to different deities.

There are all types of Canaanite myths and things like that. But it's literature to me. It's ancient. It's helping me understand the background to the Bible. I have the Quran in my home and things like that.

If I was studying Satanism, I might have a Satanist Bible in the home, or I've got lots of books by atheists. Uh so if these things don't have sway over us or are negatively influencing over us. then it's it's just what it is. It's external and it's part of history.

So unless the Holy Spirit said to you, you have an idol in your home, you know, and it's defiling things, get rid of it, it's hindering your prayers, honestly, I wouldn't think twice about it. With regard to repentance. If you're a safe person, The way to not be saved is to refuse Jesus. In other words, to say overtly and consistently, I will not have you as my Lord. just like we receive him as Lord and bow down to him as Lord.

We do have the power to reject him. None of us have perfectly repented of our sins. the moment we were saved or since then. None of us have perfectly lived 24 hours loving God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength in our neighbor as ourselves, and done it perfectly to God's level.

So, in that sense, we all fall short. In that sense, every day we're being cleansed by the blood of Jesus. In that sense, a day when you had two hours of wonderful prayer, you're no more saved than on a day when you were so busy with an emergency that you didn't pray at all. In other words, it's not my performance day to day that determines whether I'm saved or lost. Otherwise, I'd be saved one minute, lost the next minute, if that were true.

We're saved by what Jesus has done. We're saved by His grace, by His mercy, by His atoning death. That's what we're saved by.

However, we can reject that.

So if my failure to repent meant a complete rejection of the Lordship of Jesus over my life and a turning back to sin, then I could forfeit my salvation.

Some don't believe that's true, but as I understand scripture, you could choose to forfeit your salvation and reject Jesus as Lord, in which case, yes, we are endangering. Our souls forever. Thank you for the questions. Much appreciated. Hey, were you a former Mason?

Maybe before you were saved, you were a Mason. Uh and you want to fill me in more about masonry? I don't mean give me a whole lecture on it, but tell me why being a Mason is incompatible with being a follower of Jesus. Give me a call. 866-348-7884.

We go to Brooklyn, New York. Paul, welcome to the line of fire. Yes, I had two questions. Quickly. First of all, when are you going to appear in the New York City area?

I'd like to see like to be there in person. Yep, you bet. I will be. In Brooklyn, God willing, this coming Thursday.

So six days from now, September 19th. That's at the Feinberg Messianic Center, 1974 Coney Island Avenue. I got to write that down. Yeah, write it down. It's on the website too, askdrbrown.org, but it's 1974.

Feinberg Messianic Center. Yeah. 1974. Yeah, only on the avenue.

Okay, I got it. What time is Thursday? Thursday at seven in the evening, and then um. Uh I'm going to be in the Bronx preaching Friday night, but then Saturday night in Manhattan. Wait, wait, wait, Friday night in the Bronx?

Yeah. Yeah, it's all on my itinerary at askdrbrown.org. In in the Bronx? Yeah. Yeah, that is Harvest Fields Community Church, twenty six twenty six East Tremont.

2626. East Tremont. Yeah. I live near there. All right.

Wow, okay. And what what what time is that? That is 7.30 in the evening. Is that the 9th of September? That's the 9th.

And then I got one more for you in case you went ahead into Manhattan. Yeah, Manhattan. Uh that's the 10th 730 in the evening at 2 Yep at 2 West 64th Street. Two West 64th Street. Yep.

At what at what time is that? That's 7:30. Seven thirty Saturday night. Yeah. Okay, I'll be there.

Now my question was, I never really got a clear answer. I also want to give you my father's testimony about a Jew who became anew, about how he found the New Testament. In a dresser drawer in Williamsburg when he moved into an apartment. You know, actually, I remember, I believe you called in once and shared that. It was an amazing story.

Yeah. But real quick, your question.

Well, I'm going to see you in person. Shake your hand. Yes. is a Jewish Messiah as foretold by the Jewish prophets. Does it indicate that he, the Messiah, is Deity Yes, I will answer that on the other side of the brake.

Stay right there, Paul. Thank you. And Glenn, hang in there. You're next. Shake the nation, change the world.

Change the world. God of light, hear our cry. 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. Thank you so much for joining us on this Friday. You've got questions. We've got answers here on the line of fire.

So, Paul, back to your question about... About the deity of the Messiah in the Old Testament and the Hebrew scriptures. Traditional Jews say: no, the Messiah is not divine. I believe we can demonstrate from the Hebrew scriptures that the Messiah, in fact, is divine. Isaiah 9:6 remains a strong passage pointing to his deity.

And also Psalm 45:7, well, not as direct, it is speaking of the king of Israel, but really calls him divine one or God. The only way that could be explained is with reference to the Messiah.

So, traditional Judaism sees him as highly exalted, but not divine. But I believe we can use the Hebrew scriptures and, in fact, demonstrate his deity. I do that in volumes 2 and 3. Of answering Jewish objections to Jesus. Hey, thank you, sir, for the call.

Look forward to seeing you face to face. Charles Finney preaching in 1869 on Masonry: All Masons above the third or master's degree are sworn to keep inviolate the secrets of a brother, murder, and treason accepted, up to the seventh or royal arts degree. In the oath of this degree, the candidates we shall see swears to keep all the secrets of the companion of this degree, murder and treason, not accepted. All masons of and above this degree are solemnly bound to do this. The same is true of all the points sworn to in this obligation, which we proceed to examine.

Obviously, you're going to have divided loyalties if you try to follow Jesus and be a mason. A canon, Rockland, Massachusetts. Yes, what can you tell us about Masons? Hi, Doctor Brown.

So um I just have a little bit of history. I know that my grandfather was a mason. And uh we He's long past. And My dad passed away also And he had this It was the Book of Masons, so it was there book or a manual or Bible, whatever you want to call it. And I remember one time that my dad had referred to himself as a Black Baptist.

But he never really elaborated any more on that, and I was really young then.

So I really didn't pay much attention to that, but I remember him saying that. And but I did read a little bit in the book and I don't have it anymore. There was a friend of my son's who whose father was a mason, And he asked me to borrow that book. And I have not seen it since, and it's been several years since I've had that book. But I do remember That when uh there was a part about them swearing an oath to the content and the secrets that go on in the Masons, And if they were ever to reveal those secrets, then they were to cut themselves from throat to navel.

Uh Yeah, I mean, yeah, the degree, sir, of the secrecy and then the loyalty to the group. And as Charles Finney was talking about, the things that you would have to then keep secret, whereas the law would require you to divulge them, or your commitment to the Lord would require you to divulge them. Those are obviously concerns. And then what type of spirituality is involved with it as well? Hey, Ken, I do appreciate the call.

Thank you so much for weighing in. 866. 348-784. It's a pretty serious vow to take, huh? Could could you well Yeah.

Charles Finney again on this, dealing with it. Maybe it was more prominent in his culture than today. He said Freemasons themselves do not pretend that their institution is as revealed in reliable books and by some of their own testimony is compatible with Christianity, so it must follow that first. The Christian Church should have no fellowship. with Freemasonry.

Second, Should the question be asked what shall be done with the great number of professed Christians who are Freemas Masons? I answer, Let them have nothing more to do with it. Let it be distinctly pressed upon their consciences that all Masons above the first two degrees have solemnly sworn to conceal those crimes, dealt with that. Third, if they've taken those degrees where they've sworn to persecute unto death those who violate their Masonic obligations, let them be asked whether they really intend to do any such thing. And I'm just excerpting this.

Fourth, Can a man who is taken and still adheres to the master's oath? To conceal any crime of a brother of that degree, murder and treason excepted, be a safe man with whom to entrust any public office. Fifth, Can a man who has taken and still adheres to the oath of the royal archmason be trusted to public office?

So yes, some strong objections to Freemasonry. 866-34-TRUTH. Let me grab a few more email questions here. This is no name on it. Greetings.

My apologetics Bible says Judas from Creote.

So Judas Iscariot, the Hebrew Ish Creote, a man. of from the village of of Creote. My apologetics Bible says Judas from Creote, K-E-R-I-O-T-H. But my TLV Bible says Judas from Creote, K-R-I-O-T. I can't find much online.

My Dakes Bible also says Creote, K-E-R-I-O-T-H, or Creote and Creote the same place.

So I guess you'd pronounce one Creote. I'm curious to learn more about where Judas the Betrayer was from. Yes, same village, just different spellings. That's all. The TLV is using a a more modernized Hebrew spelling and the your Apologetics Bible and Dakes was using an older form of spelling.

But Creoth and Creote, one in the same place. In fact, I pronounced them as the same place the whole way through, then finally clarified one says Kriothe and the other Kriyote. Same place exactly. And. And Yeah.

Let's just see here as I pick up my Okay. Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible.

Well, where do I want to go? Let's go to Matthew 10, where the disciples are named there. Let's see if I pick the right place to go. Of course, there are a name there, but let's see. And you have Judas Iscariot mentioned by name there.

And yeah, it's it's that's not the first mention. I just knew it would be right there.

So the cultural backgrounds study Bible would tell you where disciples came from, who they were, background like that. Remember, when you order it from us today, let me just flip it some random Matthew 4:17, flipping through some random pages. There's a nice note on the kingdom. A beautiful separate note laid out on the page because Jesus is preaching in Matthew 4, 17, Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. What does that mean?

Craig Keener explains in biblical languages, the term translated into English as kingdom usually meant reign, rule, or authority. Jewish people recognized that God reigned as king over the world he created.

Some believe that they affirm this whenever they recited the Shema, Hero Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is one, acknowledging that there was just one true God.

So there's a nice note: the note on Jesus' baptism and temptation has a nice map with explanation to it.

So. Yeah, and then here's a section right at the beginning: key New Testament terms. Who is Josephus? If there's a reference to him, and who are the Maccabees? And what is Gehanna?

So get your copy of the. Yeah, Matt, good question. We'll do that. Matthew 6, 23. We'll do that.

Get your copy of the Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible. Get it early as a holiday gift. We'll pay the postage and give you free my two-hour interview with Craig Keener on this very subject at askdrbrown.org. My bottom line today: the truth will never mislead you. never hurt you.

You've got questions. We've got answers. Let's do it right here on the line of fire. Yeah. 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. Yeah, I'm like a kid in a candy shop on Friday. I'll come into the studio every day looking forward to the show. And some days I'm burning with stuff I want to share.

Some days I can't wait to hear what you have to say in response to a question on my mind. And some days I can't wait to interview a guest. But Fridays, there's this fun thing. There's this fun thing of, like I said, being like a kid in a candy shop because I love being asked questions. I love being asked questions.

Some difficult questions, probing questions, biblical questions, theological, practical, personal, that are appropriate to be asked in public, discussed in public. Love to.

So phone lines are open on Friday, and we never know. Which way will things go? 866-348-7884. This is Michael Brown, your joyful host. And the earlier you call in, the better chance I have of answering.

Your questions. Anything goes as long as it's appropriate for Christian radio. If you want to differ with me on something, if you've got some issue you want to raise, by all means, do it.

Okay. I encourage that. I have people that get nasty with me online and they want me to respond. I was explaining to someone yesterday who ended up being so hostile and just. Throwing out so much profanity, I just had to block him on Twitter.

But I did try to reach out to him and interact with him. He was mad at me. for not interacting with everyone. And I said, hey. On social media, I've got over 430,000, or just on between Facebook and Twitter, we'd add in YouTube and other things, put it close to half a million.

I said, but I've got. That many friends on social media. I didn't even call them fans. I didn't want to use that term. I can't respond to everyone.

So he then posts: This is the worst, the most unchrist-like pastor of all time. He's boasting about all this and he won't interact. He won't go after the one lost sheep.

So I said, I was trying to be polite and explain why I can't interact with everyone. And of course, they want me to do it during the radio show. It's like, actually, I I have a few breaks along the way, either two minutes or one minute, and I'm normally busy doing other things, but although sometimes I even try to interact during those segments there.

So He said, Well, you won't go after the Jesus left a hundred went after the one lost sheep? I said, I'm actually happy to go after the one lost sheep. And if you're sincerely seeking it, I'm here to help you. And then, of course, he ends up blasting me and cursing me out and all of this in anger.

So I block him like I would anyone else who uses profanity. But. Call me. Colby If if if you've been after me on Facebook and social media why didn't you respond to me on Facebook? 99% of the times because I didn't see your post.

And the other 1% of the time is because it's not time to respond to all the posts. And then, once I do, if I don't keep responding for the next 18 hours, You say, why didn't you keep responding? You know, actually, there's also other stuff to do aside to respond to that one person endlessly on Facebook. Call me. So I always tell people if you got a question, if you want to talk to me directly.

We pay to be on the air.

So that you can call and express your views and we can interact. How's that?

So here we are. Glad to help. Eight six six six six six six six. Three four eight seven eight eight four. And as soon as we come back.

I'm going to go straight to the phones. What does the NIV Cultural Background Study Bible say to Matthew 6:23? If your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness? It's in the context of generosity and covetousness.

Craig Keener explains: Jesus plays in a familiar expression: Jewish people spoke, sometimes spoke of a good or a healthy eye as a generous one, and an evil or unhealthy eye as a stingy one. Yeah, that's why it's in this context here. And then he says, light cannot be darkness. Jesus again used shocking language to hold attention, like salt losing its saltiness in 5:13. And here, if the light within you is darkness, how great is the darkness?

Light can't be darkness. Exactly. He's making it a strong point. God of light, hear our cry, send a 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. Thank you so much for joining us on the Line of Fire 866-34Truth. Oh my, just uh news from the Philippines, twelve dead.

Market blast. That hits very close to home. We have our largest missions team in the world in the Philippines in Davao.

So they have so many friends there and That's our family that's over there. Almost 50 men, women, and children serving over the Philippines, part of our world missions team. And of course, every life precious. Let's pray for God's mercy in the midst of this and for the exposing of radical Islam there. And, Matt, let's be sure we post that on Facebook as well for prayer.

866-34TRUTH. Let's go to Bayshore, Maryland. Tyler, welcome to the line of fire. Hi, how are you doing, Dr. Brown?

Doing well, thanks. Okay. Uh my question is, uh what is your the truth about a woman in authority as a pastor in the church. Yes, sir. I do have a video on this.

If you go to askdrbrown.org. And just type in the word pastor. You'll see in the digital library, you'll see the video comes up where I give a brief teaching on it. I do believe that God can raise up women to be pastors like He raised up Deborah to lead Israel. I don't believe it's the norm.

I believe that pastoral authority is primarily male, and that God has given governmental headship. To men. primarily.

However, God does use women in different capacities. And undeniably so. There have been pioneer missionaries that have won many to the Lord and then raised up men, and they've gone out and planted churches. And those men honored those women as seniors in the Lord. And yet, the normal pattern.

is Is male headship. That's why we see that as the predominant pattern in scripture. That's why it's the predominant pattern in pastoral ministry around the world. That's why it's even the predominant pattern in governmental leadership. There are many things women can do that men can't, and vice versa.

And then it seems that we are just called or made or equipped to do certain things certain ways.

So it's not an equality issue, it's a calling issue. Yeah. So if the person is True, I mean, you know, I mean Yeah, well, here's the deal. If you sir, if your conviction based on scripture. is that it's wrong for a woman to be a pastor.

And that's your biblical conviction. Then, no matter how godly she is, no matter how anointed she is, no matter how effective she is, you would say, Well, it's still not right, and therefore I couldn't go to that church and submit to her authority, right? If you said, Hey, I don't see it as the norm, but it can happen, and God's hand is on this woman, and I respect her as an elder in the Lord, and I can easily go there and submit. Wonderful. If you say, Hey, God raises up women just the same as men, it doesn't matter.

That's fine. Ultimately, I don't mean that it's up to us to make that decision. Ultimately, there is a right and a wrong. But I'm saying, as far as someone's involvement, In a church. If you're in a church with a female pastor and you said, hey, she's a godly leader.

She has the respect of the men around her. The anointing's on her. The church is growing. The lost are getting saved and discipled. And I feel it's a healthy church.

And you can be there. Then submit to that person like you would to a man. I just don't see it as the primary biblical pattern.

Now, look, if I had a female employer. Let's say I was part of the cleaning crew in a building, and the person supervising the. You know, the maintenance in the building was a woman, then I'd submit to that woman the way I would to a man because I'm submitting to authority that God's established. In that respect. And a child, you know, a boy can't tell the mother, well, I'm not listening to you because you're not my father.

No, that's the mother. And if my wife shared something. uh with our congregation or our school, it would carry tremendous weight. because she's my wife and and she's highly respected. Uh And I would expect people to honor her in that regard.

But again, a female pastor and what that entails.

Some claim the scripture is blatantly against it, others claim that. there are the mistakes in how we're interpreting a key verse But we just see the general pattern.

Sometimes women are raised up, and then the evidence will be there, as there was with Deborah. But the general pattern I would still see is male governmental headship and women anointed by God to preach and teach and minister in a thousand different ways, but not primarily in a senior headship role. All right, thank you, sir, for the call in question. 866-34Truth. Let's go to Eric in Boston.

Thanks for calling the line of fire. Hi, Dr. Brown. I just have a question and then a prayer request. Yeah.

Okay, thank you.

So the question is about John chapter 17, verse 5, and sort of relates to Isaiah 42, verse 8. A lot of times this is used, and I believe rightly so, to show that Jesus is. Yahweh, because Isaiah says that Yahweh shares his glory with no one, and in John seventeen, five, Jesus says that He shared a glory with the Father before the world was.

Now a lot of times some Unitarian Christians will You would just John 17, 22 as a way to sort of argue against that because Jesus gives glory to the disciples and so they ask Okay, so are the disciples God as well then using that logic?

So I was just your response on that. And then the prayer request. Actually, uh You've interviewed this brother on your show before Nabil Qureshi on our. It's got a serious issue with stomach cancer. Uh, yes, we we've that notice has been on our Facebook page, and we've been aware of it.

Uh, so we're believing God with him for miraculous healing. Uh, my viewpoint is not that you have to question, well, maybe God wants to take him home with cancer as a young man. No, I pray for healing, uh, assuming that to be the will of God. And um, yeah, we're asking God for a miracle for Nabil. God's used him in some surprising ways.

Uh, you know, his book on seeking Allah and finding Jesus has really had massive distribution and really had the blessing of God in that regard.

So, first, he's he's a man loved by God. And we care for him in that regard. Also, he's been used by the Lord, so we care in that respect as well.

So, with reference to your Uh With reference to the excellent point you're making, The the way that Jesus, Yeshua, shares glory with his Father is different. than the way that we would as believers. We can bear his glory, we are glorified in him. The spirit of glory in God rests on us. First Peter 4, that's through Messiah being revealed.

That's all true. But there is an association of Jesus with Yahweh. In a way that is totally unique and can only be explained by his deity.

So for example, in Philippians the second chapter, Every knee will bow to him. Every tongue will confess that he is Lord.

Now that's to the glory of the Father, right? Which is the way it always is. The Spirit points to the Son, the Son points to the Father, that God is all in all. But that's a quotation from Isaiah 45. That every knee will bow to Yahweh, every tongue will confess to him, that Paul then takes and applies to Jesus.

Every knee is not going to bow to us. Every tongue is not going to confess that we are Lord. But they will bow to Yeshua and they will confess that he is Lord.

So the way that he shares glory with the Father. and the way that glory comes to him is different. Than the way that we would be glorified or share in his glory.

So I appreciate the question very much.

Now, I would also say this: John 17. Three is sometimes used by Unitarians to deny the deity of Jesus. Because it says there, Jesus says, This is eternal life that they may know you. The only true God, and Jesus the Messiah, whom you have sent, as if Jesus is not God. But we understand that Jesus is sent from the Father.

No one argues that he comes from the Father and returns to the Father. He is not saying that he is not deity by referring to his Father as the only true God. In fact, if he comes forth from the Father, from His very essence, then He Himself is deity. But John 17, when he shares his glory with the Father before the worlds began, so he is co-eternal. The Son is co-eternal.

That's another powerful point. We do not have that standing with God.

So thank you for the question, and may God's healing grace be with Nabil either by an outright Miracle, or with even medical intervention, plus God's supernatural grace. 866-348-7884. All right, some great questions on my screen. I'm looking at, as soon as we come back, I'll go right back to your questions on this Friday. You've got questions, we've got answers.

Have you checked out our brand new, completely revamped, I mean, night and day, better than night and day improvement line of fire website? Go to thelineoffire.org, explore it, enjoy it, be blessed by it. Share it with your friends, thelineoffire.org. Shake the new side change the world 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. Thank you so much for joining us on the line of fire. You've got questions, we've got answers.

Again, the earlier you call in the show, the better chance we get of being able to respond on the air 866-348-727. 884. We go to Cleveland, Brandon. Welcome to the line of fire. Hi, Doctor Brown.

I can't imagine anyone better to ask this question to. I have been, I guess, in a disagreement with someone who says who's talking about the purpose of the parables. And it seems to me, like the person has said basically, when you take like Matthew thirteen. Thirteen thirteen that Jesus was using the parables to hide. information or to keep information or keep Uh Uh to keep people blind.

where he says they're seeing they don't see, they'll hearing they don't hear. Although my idea was that he's actually just quoting Isaiah six, where the curse was put on. the people and in fact in Matthew 13:9, it says, Whoever has ears, let them hear, as if he's releasing the curse at that moment.

So, I was just wanting to hear what you had to say about that. Yeah, Isaiah 6, it's a fine question. Thank you. Isaiah 6 is not so much a curse as much as a judgment statement. that the profit would have the effect of hardening the hardened.

and stiffening the stiff. and deafening the deaf. that this is a judgment, that that his words now would be words of judgment on a hardened nation And that, as Jesus is now referring to, that Isaiah was preaching repentance, and yet it had a different effect on the people. And I'll explain directly Matthew 13 in a moment, but I started reaching out to a guy yesterday on Twitter. And he was self-described, anti-fundamentalist, gay, etc.

But I still try to reach out in a civil way. And the more I interacted with him, the more hostile he became until it became just a little bit of a one hostile, profane tweet after another.

So I finally blocked him as I'd block anyone that uses profanity.

So the point was, the more I spoke the truth to him in love, the more hostile he got. It's often been pointed out that the same sun that melts the wax bakes the clay. Uh And that by calling the people to repent, it had the effect of hardening their heart all the more. And that's what was happening as Jesus spoke.

So the parables. had several effects. On the one hand, he was speaking the truth, but in such a way that only the humble could hear. Those who were proud. Those who were religious hypocrites, those who wouldn't recognize their need, would not understand what he said.

What's he talking about? What's that mean? I don't get it. Those that humbled themselves and that asked God for help or that recognized their need or saw that they were outsiders could then receive grace.

So the parables had the effect of hardening the hardened because they would be on the outside and not understand.

So here there's Jesus right in front of them and they're still not getting it. It would also make truth accessible to the humble. And to those who were in Jesus' circle of disciples, they would then get the explanation either directly from him or by the Holy Spirit. And now the words are preserved for us, and we ask the Lord for insight. Many of the parables Jesus explains, or some he explains, those he doesn't, we ask the Holy Spirit for insight.

So, in that sense, it's a dual function. And I think you're right, and your friends are right in that regard. That there is the keeping the outsiders on the outside and exposing them as outsiders. On the one hand, and on the other hand, there is an invitation to humble yourself and learn the truth of the gospel. Um Mm-hmm.

Pretty good explanation. Thank you. All right. You're very welcome.

Hey, let me mention this one other thing. In the Cultural Background Study Bible, I want to open up to the New Testament portion and to see what Craig Keener said. And lo and behold, On page 1692 To Mark chapter 4, verse 2, parables. Craig Keener has, oh, it's like a column and a half. Explanation for the use of parables, their ancient function in the Old Testament, the Jewish world, and then a picture of Sower's Cove, where many believe Jesus taught the parable of the Sower, hence the name.

So In any case, uh Here you have it, right there in the NIV Cultural Background Study Bible. Remember, you're just tuning in all this week. You can order the Bible from us. When you do, you're being a blessing to us, helping us be on these very radio airwaves. And you are, we'll pay the post-ed, which is a lot, it's a 2,350-page hardcover book, and we'll give you a free CD that you can listen to on your MP3 player or your computer where we have the entire two-hour interview with Professor Keener, the New Testament editor for the NIV Cultural Background Study Bible.

All right, let's go to Sylvia. Sylvia in Belmont, North Carolina. Welcome to Line of Fire. Hello, Dr. Brown, and thank you for Taking my call.

You're welcome. Um I wanted to ask Um Is there a chance that in our time, in our day, That Uh there could be like a Nephilim type of individual like there was in Bible days. Right, so some fallen angelic being taking on human form. I see no evidence of that. I can't prove to you that it couldn't happen.

I was Literally wasting time one night on YouTube. You know, I got fascinated by one thing that led me to another, led me to another on YouTube. And next thing I'm looking at, there's proof of giants, you know, and here's like a footprint, you know, 10 times the normal size, and here's a skeleton, 10 times the normal size. And, you know, here's a person. You know, these massive people.

And these are the modern-day Nifilim and things like that. And I, I mean, what can I tell you? Looking at a YouTube video, there's no question that people can be demonized. There's no question that a human being could open themselves up to Satan and be demonized. And come to a point where they lose control because they're under demonic influence, and that demonic power could work through that person.

They could be supernaturally strong. They could know multiple languages. They could know things about past generations and stuff like that because they're spirit beings and have been around. One of my missionary friends from Europe was in India one time, and the brothers, the pastors, pulled him into this tent and they said, Hey, help us pray for this girl. She's demonized.

So he went to come against the power of Satan, holding her captive. And next thing he was unconscious, laying on the ground. And she knocked him out. That's what happened.

So the next day, he was walking outside, and a little girl came riding by in her bicycle. And she said, I'm sorry for knocking you out last night. He realized. He didn't have to be quite as embarrassed, but it was demonic. But are there fallen angels?

that are taking over human beings now and and Populating with women and producing a mixed race, I see no evidence of it. Is it impossible? I can't say, but I see no evidence that such a thing is happening. Thank you very much for asking. 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.

Welcome, welcome to the line of fire. This is your joyful voice of moral, cultural, and spiritual revolution. The number to call with any question under the sun that you want to ask me, as long as it's appropriate for Christian radio, 866-34TRUTH, 866-3487-884. You know, Scripture says that in the presence of God is fullness of joy. It also says the joy of the Lord is our strength.

It also says that we rejoice with an inexpressible and glorious joy in our Lord.

Sometimes we may be heavy because of various trials and tests, but in the Lord, there is a great joy that we experience. It is a fruit of our salvation. It is a fruit of the Spirit. And. when the Galatian believers got caught up in extreme legalism to the point that they thought they had to be circumcised and obey the law of Moses fully in order to be saved, Paul asked them, what happened to all your joy?

Sometimes, absence of joy in the life of a believer is a sign of something wrong. Like a fellowship with God. Uh uh persistent unrepentant sin Lack of trust in God, lack of believing that his forgiveness is real.

Sometimes it's understood. You lost a loved one, you're grieving, there's pain, there's severe trials you're going through. But let me encourage you that in the Lord is joy and even fullness of joy. And in his presence, you can be so refreshed and renewed that nothing and no one can stop you. All right, I am ready for your questions.

The earlier you call, the better chance I've got of getting to your calls. We start in Raleigh, North Carolina. Angel, welcome to the line of fire. Hello, are you there? Hello?

Yes, you're on the air. Oh, sorry. Um my question is How do you know if the Lord is speaking to you through dreams or if it's just something that you're dreaming yourself? Yes. How can one tell the difference between, as they call it, a pepperoni pizza dream and a dream from God?

In other words, something you ate. Versus a dream from God. There are a few ways to work this out. And a lot of it is based on experience. I do not get prophetic dreams.

in my entire life in the Lord, maybe two that I've had. But that could have just been something that was on my mind that I was thinking about and then came to pass accordingly. But I have other friends that for many years have received detailed, accurate dreams. that they have then acted on. With incredible results.

Now, obviously, if something contradicted Scripture, if there was a blatant contradiction of Scripture and that was being conveyed in the dream, then it's not from God. It's either just your own mind or some satanic influence. But here are a few things. If you have the dream. and the dream stays with you.

In a way that it disturbs you or is on your mind. Then you take that to the Lord, and the Lord might give you insight. That's one thing. Man, it stays with me. I dream all the time, but this dream is just, it was vivid.

And it struck me as different, because God has to get your attention on some level through it, otherwise you forget it, right? Another thing is Uh You start to learn how the Lord works.

So if you have a dream. About a friend out of the book, you don't know why, but in the dream, they're in a panic and they're calling, angel, angel, help, help. Think what was that? And then the next day you get an email: hey, did you hear what happened to so-and-so? They were in a bad car accident.

It's like, When did that happen?

Well, that happened such and such a time. Wow, that would have been right after I had that dream. You start to realize, okay. Was that the Lord?

So you ask God, make me sensitive, give me insight. And then the next time it happens, think, wow Was that the Lord, just like Samuel, when the Lord started to speak to him? He just thought it was Eli calling him. After three times, Elias realized, oh, oh, that's the Lord, because Samuel didn't know his voice yet. Stay there one more moment.

I want to just give you another. principal on the other side of the break. We'll be right back. 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. Welcome back friends to the line of fire. You've got questions. We've got answers.

Any way that I can help you answer any question you have, my joy to do so today.

So, Angel, just back to the question about dreams. This has nothing to do with adding to scripture. We're not adding to the Bible. The Bible is God's word, the final authority on life and doctrine and practice, period. End of subject.

Can't be added to or taken away from. A dream is another way that God can speak to us. He can speak to us through, we have a sense in our hearts, he can speak to us through wise counsel from others, he can speak to us through circumstances, he can speak to us in a host of different ways, but it's not the Bible. We understand the distinction. The difference with dreams, though, is that they often have to be interpreted.

And I've never been good at that. You know, people will say, I had this dream. Do you have insight on it? I look at it, it's like, Yeah. No, I really don't.

And then I've sent it to other friends, and they said, Yeah, this represents this, this represents that. And I wonder, how do you get that? And sometimes, yeah, well, the Bible, you know, the Bible uses these images and metaphors, and others just say, over a period of time, I've seen imagery, what it means. But. Uh Growing in experience, recognizing the voice of God, how He speaks, is such an important thing.

When I first started preaching, I would hear myself preaching a message. I'd be praying about preaching at a certain church, and I'd hear myself preaching a message. Certain text and using certain illustrations. And then, maybe at the end of the message, as I'd be praying before the preaching, I'd hear myself calling the people forward and say, We're not gonna have enough room up here. We need to move the chairs out of the way.

And sure enough, when I'd get to the place, there'd be these extra chairs in the front. And the message would go the way I heard it in advance. And then, because I heard it in my spirit, I would say, We're not going to have enough room for the altar call. And sure enough, we had a large response. I learned to realize: oh, that's a way that the Lord will show me things or speak to me.

Sometimes there's an extreme burden I have. I know I've got to stop what I'm doing and pray. And many times out of that, the Lord will lead me in some way.

So, dreams, it's not just going to be a random thing. And if you feel the Lord might be giving you dreams, I would start to journal them. I would journal the dreams and see if I can start to make head or tail out of them. I was with one friend of mine, and he and his team were on an extended fast. And they were spending many hours in prayer together on a regular basis.

And each morning they would start together and say, has the Lord spoken anything to you in a dream? And it was amazing that four or five of them had the identical dream the night before. It was really one of these wow things. And then the insights would start to flow out of that together. My friend Sid Roth.

years ago when I when we both lived in Maryland, came into my office one day and And either called me or came into the office and said, Mike, I'm writing a book. The Lord's instructed me to write a book to have 10 testimonies from different Jewish believers. You're one of them. And the Lord's going to use this book to touch our people. It was as if he had just gotten a memo from heaven.

you know, do it like this, like this, like this, and here are the people to have in it.

Well, um I I I wrote my My chapter, I wrote my testimony in it, and the book has been distributed by the multiplied millions and millions of copies. To my mind, it is the most distributed book in Jewish evangelism in history. in terms of the millions of English-speaking Jews it's reached. uh russian-speaking jews Let's see. Um Israelis in Hebrew.

Spanish-speaking Jews, I was just given a copy of it in Italian. And that was the first prophetic dream Sid ever had. God spoke that to him in a dream. And he just knew what he was supposed to do. Other times it's not as obvious.

So start to journal them. If the thing stays with you more, take it to the Lord, ask him for insight. A lot of what we dream is just what we're thinking about. One prophetic brother with real wisdom in dream interpretation said 90% of it tells you about yourself. And you know, what's going on in you?

But as you journal it. as you start to see patterns, as you start to see things happening. Then you'll learn if God, in fact, is speaking to you through dreams. But it's thoroughly scriptural. Your old men will dream dreams, young men see visions.

This is part of the outpouring of the Spirit in this age.

Okay, well really quickly.

Well, more specifically, the dream that I had was that the Lord showed me my future husband. And with that I was kind of like, uh I don't know about that. But the next day I was reading a Christian blog. And this woman started talking about the Lord revealing to her who her husband was. And it was the exact same name as the guy.

that has been rebuilt in the train. And I know the guy, so it's not just some random person, but um and he has quite an unusual name.

So could I take that as some sort of confirmation? Because I've had three dreams. Thank you. About I mean, two other dreams since then since the initial dream. All right, so here's my big question for you.

If you find That you get to know each other better and you are deeply incompatible. you find that he does not have a heart for God the way you thought he would, right? Then would you even consider marrying him if that was the case? Of course not.

Okay, got it.

So you got your head screwed on right. Perfect. That's what I wanted you to tell me.

So, what this would do for me, if I was in your shoes, then I'd wonder, all right. Could this be? Let's see. And then, if the relationship does in fact develop and you do find, wow, we're compatible, we both love the Lord, we care about each other, then you feel all the more confident, like, wow. Isn't that something?

And God even confirmed it. And maybe it needed like a little more confirmation if it was unusual or you know, a different mix of people outwardly or something like that. But I know a woman. who was a single woman, was uh Met a man and the man was married And God said to her, That is your husband. And she what?

What are you talking about? But she developed a burden to pray for him. And it ended up that not long after that, his wife died of cancer. And she had prayed for him the entire time. And then once he was ready to move on with life, the Lord brought them together in an amazing way.

And she thought, how could this possibly, why would God tell me that? But she became a chief prayer warrior. all through his time of suffering and pain and losing his wife.

So I've heard stranger things.

Now if it turned out that someone said, Yeah, that's why we divorced each other to get married. No, no, no, that's not God. That's not God. But yeah.

So you let things develop. I would say have an open heart towards it. And then use that rightly screwed on head that you have and you'll make the right decisions.

Okay, thank you.

Sure thing. By the way, I sometimes give a detailed answer because I'm answering the caller, but I'm also addressing an issue for all of you listening for whom this may be relevant.

So that's why sometimes I may go into more detail than I'm asked.

So, I can hopefully be of help to more of you. 866-348-7884. We go to Dallas, Texas. Rainey, welcome to the line of fire. Hello, Dr.

Brown. Thanks for having me on. Sure. Uh I I told the gentleman that was speaking to Paul that this was going to be a difficult and or controversial question.

So I hope you're ready. Sure. Mm-hmm. Do you think that there's a possibility that Hillary Clinton could be before Babylon? Uh no.

Yeah. Why is it? Because I don't see the whore of Babylon scripturally as a person. It is either a nation Or it is some type of worldwide movement or institution but certainly not an individual. If you asked me, could Hillary Clinton be the Antichrist?

I would say no because as far as I can tell the Antichrist is a male. and I would have no indication that that she would be this world ruler that could get the whole world to to to turn away from God and follow her. But the the whore of Babylon is is either a nation Or organization, movement, something either that is international in its scope or of international influence and is either a a nation, as I say, or a movement or religion or something like that, but certainly not an individual. But isn't isn't the Antichrist described also as a beast? He's described as a physical being and then also as an animal.

So isn't it possible that it could go both directions? It could be a physical person, but it could also be something deeper.

Now, I appreciate you asking that, but we have, for example, enough other verses about this Antichrist figure as a person. And yet, when you get to, say, Revelation, the 17th chapter, and it says, for example, you know, all the blood of the martyrs. Is in her, or something like that. I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of God's holy people, the blood of those who bore testimony to Jesus, and how she enriched or seduced the whole world with her adulteries or her seductions and things like that. I just don't see, yeah, yeah.

Well, that's let me just say this: I am a staunch opponent of Hillary Clinton for many reasons, but the scope. of Benghazi or other things she may have done with the Clinton Foundation compared to what the book of Revelation says about the horror of Babylon. is like what they've engaged in is child's play compared to worldwide destruction. I'm a staunch opponent of Hillary Clinton, pray for her salvation, utterly reject her as a political candidate and leader in that regard. But not the horror problem, hey, you're right to ask, Randy.

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.

Alright, I wouldn't normally do this, but I will deviate from my normal policy. And a shout out to Levie. As requested. 866-348-788. 884.

Let's go to Sean in Prince Edward Island, Canada. Welcome to the line of fire. Okay, Doctor Brown. Thanks for having me. You bet.

Love the show. That was uh that is actually me who just shouted out to Levy on Twitter. Oh, you serious? Yeah. How funny.

All right. That is really cute.

Well, I guess that's confirmation that it was the right thing to do. All right. Thank you. So I read the full article that Nate Brex has written. And I can say that I'm Disappointed in it, but I am also disappointed in Brandon Robertson.

for throwing jazz at you.

Well I watched the video. in the open form that you had Wasn't a debate in open form and a discussion. He has admitted that he was confused at the time of what he believed. He seems to be in full conviction of what he believed. and affirms that he believes homosexual marriage is completely fine and defend that.

But I'm just confused as to your interaction with each other. And I see pictures. You got your arm around him. He seems so friendly with you.

So what happened in this switch? I'm thinking in his mind that he all of a sudden has this disdain for you all but that's It's just, I don't understand it. Yeah, because these things are being played out publicly, I I guess we can address them by name. There's tons of stuff written against me about me all the time. My team will send it to me Just for my information, but I um videos are put out against me, so I I don't read a lot of the stuff just for time's sake, but I'll often thank the person for taking the time to interact even if I differ, which often surprises them.

So, you know, Nate Sparks, I glanced at someone he wrote, but when I started reading, I thought, you gotta be kidding me. I mean, it was the most convoluted and twisting of scripture and twisting of what I wrote.

So, you know, that was that was that. And, um, you know, even trying to have a little civil interaction. what whatever. That's that's we'll just leave that there. But with Brandon, hey, what can I tell you?

So so here we are at NRB, National Religious Broadcasters, and I'm part of this this forum. Where Justin Lee, who's the leader of Gay Christian Network, Brandon Robertson, who's a young guy, Moody Grad, that's that's Become a voice, you know, a quote gay Christian voice. And then together with Ann Polk. who's a former lesbian, and then moderated by Janet Tarshall. And before, the night before that, I had dinner with Justin Lee.

So we spent time face-to-face together in very cordial, honest interaction. and he's got my personal email. And then the day after. I had a private time with with Brandon at the hotel, got coffee. I don't drink coffee, but whatever, you know, some coffee place.

We sat and talked. And I actually gave him, which I very rarely do, I gave him my cell phone.

So, I mean, here's someone that in that respect just had Complete access. And um Uh you know why When he's reached out to me, it's like, hey, let's talk, man. And texted me, I've texted him back. I asked him an honest question recently, an honest, important question, which I think any believer walking openly before the Lord would be able to answer in a heartbeat. And he took personal offense to the question, but it's again something that every believer I know who loves the Lord would welcome the question, would find it to be a very positive question.

But it's either the Holy Spirit convicting him and he's fighting against it. Or he is so in uh embracing the activist stance that I become this arch enemy. It could also be a guy that he said he's going with now. He wrote an open letter. And then I responded to it.

And then sometime after that, He wrote a follow-up response. I haven't gotten to that yet, but I hope to respond to him. Maybe he's personally offended. I don't know. My heart really goes out to him.

I have a very soft spot in my heart for Brandon, for Justin, as you saw on the video there, the NRB dialogue. You saw my heart for them. And again, I wish the whole world could watch a video, if it existed, of my dinner with Justin and of my time with Brandon. But but I've I've had this Sean many a time in my life that I reach out graciously. that I reach out with kindness.

and that people for some reason turn. But at that point, you know, when it gets to a point where it's ugly, it's okay, I'm not going to allow this on my feet, so I'll just block it. Or in the case of Nate, where I said, hey, tell you what. Just take me out of this thread. Don't keep bombarding me with tweets because I honestly don't like 5, 10, 20, 30 tweets coming in on things that I'm asking someone to.

Drop me out of it's just a distraction when they don't do it, then I'll just block them. That's just a servility issue. But hey, what can you do? You pray for folks as you're burdened to. If they really want the truth, you help them to see it.

I've watched though. With Brandon, a consistent hardening of heart and his embracing a more and more radical position. And I would say you haven't seen anything yet. I would say unless he repents, where his position ends up will even shock him.

So may the Lord grant him mercy and repentance. Yeah, you think to be siding with the Obviously, the secular world. Yeah. in the world, he has to hate what he puts you. Yeah, I I remember dealing with one gal Who has also declined ever meeting with me or speaking to me on the phone or on the radio broadcast?

She was gung-hole, committed Christian, and just sympathetic to the gay side of things, and then end up fully embracing. the full gay activist side to the point that that she suggests there are things Jesus didn't know. And we just have to accept the things he didn't know about homosexuality in order to preserve her position. But hey, as you have opportunity, To challenge what people are saying with love. If they're open to it, great.

Otherwise, you just pray that the Lord would grant them humility and repentance. But bless you, man. Thanks for calling in in conjunction with the shout-out. All right. Let me grab this call quickly.

Ra da in Manhattan. We are short on time, but just wanted to talk with you before the show is out. Are you there? You know? Yes.

Good afternoon, Dr. Brown. Yes. Well, I'm saying to you I heard you say that on the tenth you will be in Manhattan. That's right.

And I am living in Manhattan. Yes. And you know. I want to tell you now ni December I will be 94 years old. Oh, bless your heart.

And I like the word of God because I'm a born-again Christian. And so then I really can't walk because I have arthritis. Yeah. But I will just ask if you take if you can take any any m um, like a speech or something from outside.

Well t t tell you what, and by the way, my dear mom, turns 94 later this month.

So, Radha, may God's grace be with you. We'll do our best to have video or audio of the talks that I do in New York, and then do our best to. To get them out online so others can listen and watch in the privacy of their home. Hey, may the Lord's grace be yours. For information for my New York itinerary, go to ask Dr.

Brown, A-S-K-D-R-Brown.org. My bottom line today: when you walk in the light, no skeletons in your closet. Nothing to fear. Mm-hmm.