Wokeism Is Being Pushed Back

The following program is recorded content created by the Truth Network. Always neat to be interacting with my buddy John Cooper, front man lead singer of Skillet, yeah, and then to hear his voice, interact with him moments before the show, then hear his voice starting off the show. Welcome, welcome to the broadcast. Michael Brown, as always, delighted, blessed to have this time with you. Here's the number to call, 866-342-866-348-7884. Questions on all subjects of all kinds, I will warmly welcome.

Get to them, get your calls a little bit later in the broadcast. For many years, before our new introduction on the show, for many years, I was introduced as your voice for moral, cultural, and spiritual revolution. For many years, I told you that there would be a pushback in our society, that those with other agendas, they might think it's in the best interest in America. They may have an ideology we consider radical, but they consider us to be radical.

They may look at us as destructive. However you want to frame it, those pushing an agenda that many of us have deeply differed with based on biblical and moral and social grounds, I've said for many, many years that those on the left, those with this radical agenda, those with a different spiritual viewpoint would overplay their hand, and that would lead to a pushback in our society. And that would be part of this gospel-based moral, cultural, spiritual revolution of which we have spoken for over 20 years now. And something that is certainly happening in America right now, and on the heels of revival, on the heels of God moving and stirring many hearts, especially young people, we will see by God's grace an acceleration of this. But it must be gospel-based. If it is politically-based or socially-based, it can only go so far. It must be gospel-based because it must come with the changing of heart and mind, with the transformation of lives, and not just with one political party or faction winning out and able to impose their agenda.

There must be changes of hearts, minds, attitudes, perspectives. In fact, I want to share an amazing testimony with you, an amazing story a little bit later in the broadcast. If you don't have time to hear the whole broadcast, be sure to go to my website, AskDrBrown, AskDrBrown.org, click on read about this amazing story of transformation from progressive Christian antagonist to Orthodox Christian advocate. Great story.

I'll share more with you later in the show, but you can read it on the website and share it with others. So, what I want to do is give you some examples of pushback. This is just in the last few days, story after story after story I've been reading and seeing, and some even from other countries, that says people have said enough is enough. Now, please hear me. This is not about bashing other people. This is not about hitting people over the head with a Bible. This is not about saying, well, we in the church have it all together and you in the world, you're filthy sinners. We've had all too many failings in the church. We've had all too many failings that we're aware of that we're close to. And we get on our faces and we say, Lord, forgive us into the world. Forgive us for falling short of the example of Jesus. This is not self-righteousness.

This is not smashing others. This is simply saying there are things that are good, things that are not good, things that are healthy, things that are unhealthy, things that are life giving, things that are not life giving. And we want to talk about it as honestly as possible. As I talk about some things that will intersect with LGBTQ plus issues, I understand that there's some of you listening to me right now who say, hey, I'm same sex attracted or I'm in a same sex relationship and we're just like anybody else. We go to work. We raise a family.

We contribute to our community. Why are you singling us out? I'm not singing you out.

I'm not attacking individuals. My views are very clear based on the Bible that God's plan and the only plan that he ever had for humanity was male female marriage and that those are the unions that he blesses. If that insults you or makes you feel hated, I'm truly sorry, but I understand God's design and purposes is best. And if you say you don't know me, you don't know my life, you don't know the struggles I had for decades with gender identity is finally when I realized I was trapped in the wrong body. I've been happy. Whether you're happy or not is not my personal business. I'm not here to make you unhappy or happy. I'm here to speak the truth with the hope and goal that would bring you into a right relationship with God. And then you and God can work out the issues that you've struggled with over the years.

And I'm sure God's best is for you to be at home in the biological body he gave you, rather than be in hormones for life or radical sex change surgery and all of the negative things that that brings with it. But we're talking about an agenda. And when many Americans said, hey, look, if if people love each other, who am I to say they can't marry it? If it's, hey, you know, my cousin, nicest guy in the world, he met another nice guy. They've always been gay.

And now they're happily married. Who am I to judge? A lot of Americans felt that way. We don't want to be bigoted. We know our past with discrimination and segregation and slavery and treatment of Native Americans and other things. We don't want to repeat errors and mistreat other people. So many Americans said, hey, love is love. Love wins. You have the right to marry the one you love. They didn't sign up for what came in the wake of that. They didn't realize that once you redefine something as fundamental as marriage, you change everything. So here are some recent headlines I want to read to you, share with you.

This one is from February 27th. Christian School forfeits playoff game to avoid playing against transgender opponent. Cites safety and fairness concerns. We read that again. Christian School forfeits playoff game to avoid playing against transgender opponents.

Cites safety and fairness concerns. So this is a Christian school in Vermont. They were going to be playing against another school.

They've already had to take a stand saying, hey, we cannot affirm a lot of the things you want us to affirm because they go against our biblical values. But now they're going to play another team. And on this team is a biological male, bigger, stronger than the girls, identifies as a female. A recent game, he actually blocked seven shots in a single game, which is telling you that this kid has an unfair advantage as a biological male. And they said, we'll forfeit the game because we don't want to risk girls' health, that there could be a physical encounter. You know, basketball can be a rough sport.

It's literally non-contact, right? Basketball can be a rough sport. And that's why you've got boys playing against boys, girls playing against girls, not just because of the physicality, but for fairness. They said, hey, safety and fairness. We're out.

Now, it's a shame they had a four for the game. Of course, it's just a game in a league. But kids take this seriously and coaches take it seriously. We understand that. But you're going to see this happening.

People saying this is madness. Sorry. But don't you care about the boy? Yeah, you care about the kid that struggles with gender identity, but you don't turn the world upside down to accommodate that.

That's what we said for many, many years. You don't change everything to accommodate that. It's just like if you had a deaf child in school, you do your best to accommodate and meet needs, but you don't require everyone to use sign language.

No one's allowed to talk. In other words, you don't impose the one struggle on everybody else. Let's have a disabled student that needs to use a wheelchair, right? So you make sure that you have wheelchair access and you think through things within the school to make sure this student is able to get from class to class, et cetera. Does an elevator need to be installed?

Things like that. You accommodate as much as possible, but you don't now impose that on everyone else, that no one else is allowed to walk or whatever the thing would be. Here you're imposing this one kid's struggles on everybody else and parents saying, no, no, that's not fair. That's a boy, that's a male, and he has an unfair advantage against their girls. That's why they play with other girls, not with other boys. The worst player in the NBA would be the greatest star in the history of the WNBA by far, by far. And it's not a slight on women athletes.

It's simply saying they're made differently, physical advantages. So you're going to see this more and more and more across the country. How about this? This is in Spain. This was also February 27th. Detransitioner takes first legal action in Spain against health provider that transitioned her as a monitor. By the way, Spain is even taking more radical steps to transition more people, even with the judge's approval alone being sufficient at certain ages before 18. So here's the case. A detransition woman is taking the first legal action in Spain against the health care provider that prescribed her hormones as a teenager and later removed her uterus as a young adult.

Susana Dominguez, 24, filed a claim against Galician Health Service, the publicly funded health care system in Spain, that prescribed her cross-sex hormones at 16 and performed a hysterectomy on her at 19, which she now deeply regrets. This is why we've been shouting this out for years. No, it's not a hating game. It's not hating trans. It's hating this. It's hating this happening to people. It's hating people who are impressionable.

And with so much indoctrination and even brainwashing in society and so much glorifying and celebrating of certain things. I mean, you want to be an Internet sensation and you just put your transition journey on there. You want to be like Jazz Jennings in the most influential and famous teenager in America, etc.

Hey, trans is in. Kids get influenced. We get the letters from the parents. We hear from the kids years later, recognizing the terrible mistakes they made. Here's yet another one.

Pushing back. This could put certain parts of the medical profession out of business, because this is, as many have said, the worst modern example of medical malpractice that we've ever seen. Abusive, irresponsible, and much of it motivated by money, because not only is sex change surgery lucrative, but beyond that, you've got lifetime prescription of hormones. So everybody wants to get people in subscription services now. Well, here's a lifetime prescription for hormones.

How much money is involved potentially in this for each person that, quote, transitions? You say, but there are many sincere doctors who believe it's best. Yeah, there are. And many parents who believe it's best.

Yes. And many who say it's the best thing that happened. I understand some some would say that. But it's one of my friends who himself herself transitioned and now deeply regrets some of the things that she did to herself. She said she's talked to hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of people who had sex change surgery. She said she knows a couple. That's what she said. She knows a couple that that are truly happy with the decision they made.

And in many cases, she said it's seven years out before the regret sets in. Oh, let's see. Do I have time for one more headline here? Let's take a look.

This was also February 26th. University of North Carolina bans woke. Board of Governors vote to prevent students and staff from being forced to make diversity, equity and inclusion statements. Now, I understand there's bias that exists in certain places and racism still in certain places wherever it exists.

It should be addressed. But these four statements, diversity, equity and inclusion only go one way. They only push against our biblical values.

They only push against things that that we cannot sign a good conscience. We're all for everyone having equal opportunity. We're all for treating all people, male, female, every ethnicity, every race fairly and equally. And whether it's not being done, let it be addressed. But these statements, this radical woke stuff is terribly destructive. And here, University of North Carolina says, nope, you're not going to impose you are not going to impose that on our people. The pushback is continuing.

Did we not say what happened? All right. We've got an important word from our sponsor TriVita.

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The line of fire, 866-34-TRUTH, 866-34-87884. I'm going to go to the phones shortly and got a bunch more headlines to play, some neat clips to play and a great story to tell you. Just want to give you an update. I've shared this many times, but I'll be walking into a grocery store or I'll be at the airport and someone will come walking up to me with a big smile. Now, I know I don't know who the person is. Right.

I'm sure I've never seen them or to my memory, I've never seen them. But they're smiling at me like an old friend or relative. So I know what they're going to tell me. I know that smile.

Dr. Brown, I listen to you every day. It's one of the sweetest, warmest things because it is family. Even though I'm sitting here behind a mic in a room where I'm the only one, we're all in this together. There's a deep feeling of camaraderie, solidarity, teamwork. So I just want you to know, I can't announce the city yet, but we've got our first major open door into a key city and the expansion of the line of fire broadcast. So be praying with us as we step forward one step at a time to blanket America with the broadcast. And of course, to expand everything that we're doing online. So those of you who support us or torchbearers, thank you.

You are the nucleus, the backbone here. Those who pray, thank you. Because by God's grace, we are going to amplify this message, our message, our voice together across the nation. And our friends at TriVita are really standing with us. So 100% of your first order goes to line of fire expansion and all future orders over a tithe will be given. Number to call, 800-811-9628, talking to one of my key colleagues here in our ministry, co-workers, one of our leaders.

He was telling me just the same supplements that you just heard my buddy share on the radio there, how they energize this whole day. So take advantage of these and as you do, you're helping us expand. OK, another headline or two and then to the phones.

How about this one? This is from England. And this was so egregious. I talked about it in my book, The Sonancing of the Lambs. Reverend Dr. Bernard Randall was was reported as a terrorist. This is in England.

So I gave you an example from America, a couple from America, Spain, England. Chaplain reported as terrorist for questioning LGBTQ activists digs in for legal battle. Reverend Dr. Bernard Randall described the ruling as a, quote, blow for free speech and Christian freedoms. Mm hmm. Yeah, I looked into it. You said now there's got to be more to it. Friends, there wasn't. There was not more to it.

He was investigated as a terrorist by England, by the government. So he's pushing back. This is an extreme we're going to push back. It's not personal vindication or vengeance. It's righteousness. And it's holding the government accountable, especially a country like England that has such a rich Christian heritage and tradition in so so many ways, even as places named Christ Church and stuff like that.

The pushback continues. Here's another example. This one from here in the states. Tennessee legislature legislature passes bill to ban drag shows in front of kids. Right.

This was also February 26. Let me read the headline again for those watching. What a picture. Tennessee legislature passes bill to brand ban drag shows in front of kids. Why are you picking on the transfer? I'm not picking on anyone. I'm just saying do not groom our children.

Do not have vulgar displays and just drag queens general reading to toddlers. If people live their lives, they do what they do. I'm not going into drag queen bars or gay bars or heterosexual bars or just say, what are you doing? And I'm looking to see what you're I'm not your policeman. I'm not your moral conscience.

I'm not your God. That's not the goal. But when you are going to do things in front of little children, but parents think it's fine. Well, others think it's not fine. And it's and it is ultimately abusive to children. When it happens in schools, when it happens in public places, you can just say we don't want.

We have plenty of laws to protect children. This is yet another one. And I know a street preacher, fearless. He's he's gone through a lot for this. He is and others exposing what happens is these events and some really vulgar, gross stuff. Listen, I could almost guarantee that if you just say, hey, I'm gay, lesbian, trying to live my life. You know, that's a radical activist. I'm trying to live my life.

I believe many of you would be mortified by what happens in some of these events or around these little children. The pushback continues. Oh, OK. Let's see.

A couple more. I'll tell you what. Let's take a call and go back to the headlines.

We will start with Mary Kate in Lexington, North Carolina. Welcome to the line of fire. Hi, Dr. Brown.

Thanks for having me. Sure. I've been contemplating calling for a while, but truly my biggest question is how do you feel about pursuing childbearing in the days that we live in? Because I do have a lot of anxiety around it, but I also know that it's a gift from God.

And I just really struggle with that. And, you know, I'll be 30 this year. And so my husband and I are considering it.

I just wanted to know your thoughts. Children are a gift from God. And you and your husband can bring the next generation into the world and raise them right.

And there is no gift like this. Nancy and I have even talked that if if we redid things, we'd have more children, not less. First, the world is always messed up. That's a fact.

Any generation is going to bring kids into a hostile world. That's number one. Number two, we have the truth. We have the knowledge of God. We have wholesome living.

We have something that the world needs. And and so much of the world has a culture of death, a culture that that pushes children away. Doesn't want children, a culture that sees no value for the elderly, a culture that has no problem aborting babies in the womb, et cetera. So by all means, as we have more children, I don't mean that you have some quota that you have to have. But as you, you and your husband and other believers have more kids, it brings more life into the world. And little by little, our view begins to become predominant because we're having kids at a higher rate than others are just on average because we haven't embraced that other mindset. If we were in a situation where where we were under heavy, heavy persecution or fleeing from one city to another for our lives, or the government was cracking down, the government became so anti-God that it was taking children away from us.

That would be one thing. But children are absolutely a gift from God. And as our kids are being raised right, honestly, wherever I turn, I am running into on fire young people.

In fact, later in the show, I'm going to play a clip from a young man pushing back against wokeism within his own school. But I mean kids who love Jesus, kids who are loving the word, kids who are free from drugs and alcohol, who are not sleeping around. Literally everywhere I turn, I'm seeing this and these kids are flocking to the Lord. So it's actually a great time to be bringing kids into the world as long as we will really commit to raise them together. You know, husband and wife commit to raise them together and recognize the sacredness of the responsibility. And then don't feel some outside pressure, but just ask the Lord, Lord, give us peace. Help us to recognize what a gift kids are. Meditate on passages like like Psalm 127 and Psalm 128.

So Psalm 127, Psalm 128. Meditate on those and then embrace whatever the Lord brings into your to your life. And know that that you have everything those kids need in Jesus and his husband and wife who love each other, to raise them in a way that will glorify the Lord, that will bring you incredible joy as the years go on, incredible satisfaction.

And then your legacy continues with them. So by all means, may the Lord put in your heart a joy for having children, desire to have children. And then they give you and your husband wisdom to raise them right and trust them to the Lord. You know, the moment, you know, you begin the process, Lord, and you give your lives over to him in a fresh way.

Boy, it's exciting from that very first moment to fully trust him for blessing. So, Lord, bless Mary Kate, her husband. May they be the joyful parents of children in the days ahead.

And may these children themselves be world changers. Hey, thank you very much for calling. I really appreciate it. You know, first Corinthians seven, Paul talks about the current situation or his persecution was rising, that it's better to be single than to about being married there. Better be single because of what's happening. But friends, that's the exception to the rule. The rule is be blessed, be fruitful, be multiplied. All right, we'll be right back.

Thanks again, friends, for joining us. Eight six six three four. Truth is the number to call. I'm just OK. Let's let's go to another headline here.

How about that? I mean, it's it's a May. It's amazing that this even has to be in the news.

It has to be done. But here we go. Kansas becomes first to pass Women's Bill of Rights.

This is February 24th. Kansas becomes first to pass Women's Bill of Rights. That defines woman as someone who is biologically born a female to preserve single sex areas like public restrooms, schools, sports, prisons and shelters. You know, you have women's prisons now where a man committed a crime can even be murder. Now identifies as a woman is sentenced to jail.

But because he identifies as a woman, he sent to a woman's prison and then rapes and impregnates some of the women. I mean, it's utterly mind boggling. So here in Kansas, they're actually passing, quote, a women's bill of rights, saying a woman is someone who is a biological female, born biologically female.

Mm hmm. Of course, this pushback has to happen because insanity is unfolding in front of us. I have compassion for people who struggle. But when the agenda is pushed on the culture, that is moral insanity. In fact, one more headline, as I illustrate for you how the pushback is continuing.

This is February 24th as well. Transsexuals pen letter asking U.S. based medical organizations to reject ideology in favor of evidence. All right. Transsexuals pen letter asking U.S. based medical organizations to reject ideology in favor of evidence. And in other words, in other words, these are people who themselves have had sex change surgeries somewhere along the line or suffer from what they would describe as gender dysphoria. And they've written to twenty nine major medical organizations saying, listen, based things on evidence, you're dealing with kids and all this. Don't don't just based on ideology. In other words, slow down the transitioning of children.

These are transgender activists writing this. So the pushback continues. And here I want to play a clip or two from a young man, a teenager, and he's in a school that is pushing CRT, critical race theory. Now, what it means in terms of how you understand it, it depends on who's defining it.

I've heard every kind of definition and pro and con about CRT the way it is here. It is something that now makes you guilty just if you're white and now puts people in different classes and identifies the students as such. So the student is pushing back against it. This is this is what's happening in schools. And here you've got a kid speaking to the school board and saying, you've got to stop this stuff. Look at what it's doing to people. And it's not bringing harmony.

It's bringing greater division. This is what he has to say. Hi, my name is Brad Taylor, and I just finished my freshman year at RHS. I've been a part of District 196 schools now for 10 years, and I'm going to give you a glimpse today of what's actually going on inside these schools. Despite the board's attempt to deny it, District 196 schools are quickly becoming a place where promoting activism is actually more important than promoting education.

I'll take I'll take you back to my first day at RHS this fall. The principal came out and gave us a heartfelt speech about equality and standing together. He began to list countless races such as Latino, Asian, expressing how much they matter and how important they are. But never once did he mention a race or identity that reflects me or half the kids that were in the class.

Now, members of the board, I know you haven't been to school in a while, and I know most of the people I know none of you or most of you don't have any kids left in the school district. But you must admit how uncomfortable it will be to be characterized just by your skin color on the first day school and be thought that you were wrong just because of your skin color. So I'll never forget the look one of my friends gave me from across the room as we were sitting there listening to this blatant bias being expressed in the so-called equity statement by the leader of our school.

To be clear, I don't need you to tell me that I matter, but hearing the condolences given to other races and leaving just one race out, it inevitably you'll start to feel like you've done something wrong. And in our principal's attempt to unify us, he instead created unwarranted boundaries and barriers between his students, pitting us against each other based on characteristics that we can't control. In another separate instance, I was told that writing all lives matter on the whiteboard was political and could be seen as offensive.

When I questioned the teacher after class, she told me that she didn't have an answer and she just had to erase it and it was quickly erased. There are political signs all over RHS about specific races that matter, specific sexual orientations that matter, and specific perspectives that matter. But when I questioned the RHS administration about how these signs were political, they told me that they were supporting human rights. So when I questioned why the equity statement couldn't represent all students, they told me that to even ask that question was outlandish and offensive. And when I asked why that was, they told me, quote, whites have a pretty good situation right now, unquote. So is that not racism? Disregarding my question merely because of the color of my skin. To be honest, after enduring a year of the people in charge telling me that I'm a racist and I'm privileged and pointing out our irreversible differences, I've never noticed race more.

And it's becoming the first thing I notice when I meet someone, which has never before been the case. Isn't that interesting that now race is the big thing, constantly looking and feeling divisions and hatred. It's one thing to say, let's learn history rightly. Where we haven't learned history rightly in our schools, let's learn it rightly. Fair enough. And let's look at all systems and everything in our society on an ongoing basis to make sure that we're as equitable and fair and just as we know how to be.

Great, great, great. But you don't do this to kids and you don't impose this agenda on kids and you don't you don't celebrate homosexuality and transgenderism and other things. And then if you happen to be straight, well, something wrong. It's not something wrong with you. You're part of the oppressor class.

If you happen to be white and straight, you are really, really guilty. This stuff is messing with people. It is not helpful.

It is harmful. Let me say it again. Let us teach history accurately. Let us have an accurate judgment of where we are as a nation today. Let us continue to grow and improve where we need to on every level. Let us do that. Let us pursue biblical standards of justice together. Let us pursue biblical standards of truth and equity together. Let us seek to love our neighbor as ourself. Yes, to all of that. And let schools get on with education and stop pushing ideology that is ultimately destructive. That is my heartfelt appeal.

Maybe we'll play a little bit more from this young man, but I think you heard enough. All right. I'm going to switch gears, take a couple of calls and then get back to the story. I really want to share with you that's going to edify you and encourage you. Let us go to Jesse in Twin Cities, Minnesota. Welcome to the line of fire. Hi. Thanks for having me on, Dr. Brown.

Sure thing. So my question is about Joseph's Bible in Genesis. I can't really tell if what he did to his brothers was okay or not. And the reason I say that is because it does sort of seem a little bit vengeful in what he was doing, you know, putting the silver in his brother's bags and things like that. But then in other places it shows that he was doing it with tears and just that whole situation, you know, and God was behind Joseph, you know, being in Egypt. So I'm trying to think through this a little bit more and I'm not really sure how to process, like, whether or not what he was doing was right or not.

Right. It's a very natural reading of the text to wonder, was he being vengeful? Was he inflicting some punishment on them because of what had been done to him? Or was he really testing them to see, okay, have you changed?

Have you grown? What is certain is that he had his family's best interests involved because he does send them back. He tries to give them money back. He doubles things for them. So he's going out of his way to do good to his family and to his father, Jacob, and his brother, Benjamin, who he hasn't seen.

That's one thing. It's also clear that he's using wisdom in terms of how to test them. And now let's see what happens when the life of the young brother is at stake and who will stand up for him and what will happen.

So there's clearly divine wisdom involved in the test as well. And you see he's struggling. He's trying to restrain himself. He wants to reveal himself. So on the one hand, for sure, he has their best interest involved.

And there's divine wisdom in what he puts them through to elicit a response to get full disclosure and honesty from them. And obviously he wants to know about Benjamin. He can't just ask, oh, by the way, you're a younger brother.

You're my kid brother. You can't ask about that. So all of that seems legitimate and perhaps even divinely inspired. However, he's still a human being. And we don't know if there was some vindictiveness in him. If at that point that he had been raised up by Pharaoh, that he forgot about this and maybe recognized, okay, the dreams are coming true.

And God has raised me up. You know, sometimes you struggle with bitterness, anger, and then when good things happen to you, you get more magnanimous and gracious. So I don't know if we can rule out all personal emotion or any sense of just wanting to cause a little pain. But certainly his goal was to ultimately do them good and to do good for his family, especially when he saw the sincerity and the honesty and things like that. But was there some humanity in it?

It could well be, and it's debatable. You know, the text is what it is, and I think those questions are fair to ask in light of that. Oh, thank you so much, Dr. Brown. You are very, very welcome.

Appreciate it. Let's go over to Georgia. Alberto, welcome to the line of fire, sir. Yes, I've got a question. Why do the Pentecostal preachers of churches always teach that, you know, you're obedient and holy living, but that's what gets you into heaven? You put up trust and fooling in the finished work of Christ.

Well, it's both and, Alberto. It's not Pentecostals, it's the Bible. That it's Jesus who saves us and who calls us to live a certain way, and if we refuse to live a certain way, either we were never saved in the first place or we lost our salvation, depending on one's theology. But the Bible is quite explicit on that. Jesus says not everyone who says to the Lord, Lord… It's quite explicit. Paul warns… Here, let me answer your question, Alberto.

And plus, it's real hard to hear you because of the connection. But it's quite explicit. Paul repeatedly warns, don't let anyone deceive you with empty words. He warns in Ephesians 5, he warns in Galatians 5, he warns in Colossians 3, he warns in 1 Corinthians 6, don't be deceived, the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God. So, if people are living in adultery, if they're living in fornication, if they're living in homosexuality, they won't inherit the kingdom of God. Jesus says, Matthew 7, 21, not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only those who do the will of my Father. 2 Timothy 2, 19 says that God's foundation stands sure that the Lord knows those who are his and let everyone who calls on the name of the Lord depart from iniquity. Paul preached in Acts 26, 20 that people should repent and turn to God and prove their repentance by their deeds.

So, it's very simple. If Jesus has truly saved us, we will live differently. If we don't live differently, if we… I don't mean that we slip, everyone slips. But if we do not continue to seek the Lord, if we live in persistent disobedience and refuse to follow the Lord, either we were never saved or we lose our salvation.

So, that's just Bible 101 there. Hey, thanks for the call. It's The Line of Fire with your host, Dr. Michael Brown.

Get on the line of fire by calling 866-34-TRUTH. Here again, it's Dr. Michael Brown. I want to share a really neat, encouraging story with you. I received an email forwarded by our team a few days ago, and it was from Sarah Beth Kaplan. The name rang a bell, but I immediately went to read it since it was forwarded to me by my team.

And it starts off by saying this. Dear Michael, this article recently came up in a Google search when I was trying to find something else I wrote. And it was an article I wrote May 23rd, 2019, titled, Misrepresent and Demonize the Weapon of Progressive Christians.

So, Sarah Beth continued, and I'm sharing all this with her full permission and blessing. It's so funny to read this now, because I no longer recognize the person you're talking about. At the time, I was going through a period of deconstruction. All the downtime in 2020 forced me to re-evaluate everything I believe and why, and I'm happy to say I've returned to biblical orthodoxy, including in matters of sexuality.

I just thought you would be interested to know that. You better believe I was when I clicked on the article and thought, okay, right, right, I remember. So, she's a Jewish believer in Jesus, and she was now Episcopalian and very, quote, progressive, liberal, to the point that she was blogging on an atheist website that regularly attacked me or people of similar values. So, she had gone after me, and it was forwarded to me, I responded, and I responded in an article. And here's the article I'm going to quote to you.

This is from 2019. Last week, I encouraged Christian parents in California who had children in public schools to defy the law and pull their kids from the state's extreme sex ed curriculum. How did the friendly atheist resident Episcopalian blogger respond? According to Sarah Beth Kaplan, I want these parents to teach, quote, teach their kids that transgender people don't exist. Yes, she actually wrote this. She added, again, this is back in 2019, this is just faith-based, hate-fueled, fear-mongering. It's the only subject in which Michael Brown is an expert. And I wrote what it said, commentary on the nature of a liberal illogic, and what a misrepresentation of the facts. And then, here's how I ended the article.

If the state wants to force trash like this on their children, then the righteous, moral, and responsible thing to do is to pull their kids out of the classes. The only thing hateful is the response of progressives like Kaplan. That being said, Sarah Beth, if you read this, let's talk. Join me on the air one day, and we can discuss the differences plainly, but without vitriol.

I'm willing if you are. So that was almost four years ago. So when I got this testimony that she identified as progressive then, but no longer, that she's returned to biblical orthodoxy and in terms of biblical sexuality, well, of course I wanted to find out more. I was thrilled to hear that. So she wrote this to me in response to my question. I'm not sure how the transformation started exactly, except that at some point I started praying for God to reveal the truth to me, no matter how uncomfortable it made me.

Let me interrupt and encourage everyone to do that. Lord, show me your truth in full, that I may follow you in full, no matter how uncomfortable it makes us. She continued, and then I started noticing some inconsistencies within the LGBT movement, like how you're apparently born this way, but at the same time sexuality is also fluid, and for a same-sex attracted person to reject a trans person for a date is apparently transphobic because the parts don't match the gender identity, even though according to a sex-positive philosophy no one is supposed to be shamed for what they are into. That means the logic of gender ideology is actually homophobic, and it sort of spiraled on from there. I realized much of my objections to Christian theology in this area were reactionary rather than based on scripture. She said, so I started studying the clobber verses again with a more open mind, the verses that clearly speak against homosexual practice.

Once I finally understood them, I couldn't go back. Progressive Christianity is entirely built on doubts and questions with little to no foundation of certainty and truth. It was a temporary dwelling place for me to figure some things out, but ultimately not a healthy place to stay, and many of the quote friends I made in that circle dropped me once I started to regain my spiritual footing. They liked me when I questioned things and my faith was struggling, but not when I found it again. She said, at that time I stopped writing for Patheos and the Friendly Atheist website.

I have since joined the Anglican Church affiliated with ACNA, not the Episcopal branch, and have built a healthy spiritual community there. She also said, I reached out to you specifically because I probably sparred with you more than most and definitely went out of my way to misrepresent your views. I was wrong to do that. I apologize for the version of me you had to deal with. First, what a great testimony to personal integrity and humility. Because look, when you're known for a certain thing to have to say, I was wrong about this, or I was misrepresenting people, or my logic was faulty, or whatever, it's not an easy thing to do. You built your reputation, you have an identity caught up with that, so it takes both personal integrity and humility to do that, so I commend Sarah Beth for that.

And then, to come back to where you started now in a deeper way, it can be very, very healthy. In my new book, Why Do So Many Christians Leave the Faith?, I have a whole chapter on can deconstruction be healthy. I just have to question everything I believe. If you've been hit with all kinds of questions, maybe you're in a secular university, maybe you're interacting with people, getting hit with things you never got hit with before, and that leads to lots of questions, and you say, God, are you even there? Is there a God? And you have genuine questions, come with those genuine questions, with humility, and with desire to follow the truth wherever it leads, even if it's uncomfortable, even if it's difficult, even if it means radical lifestyle changes, even if it means loss of reputation, I just have to know the truth. God, if you're really there, I just have to follow you and your truth, whatever the cost or consequence.

I've prayed that prayer of the year. Sure, God was real. I didn't question that.

Others even questioned that. But I knew he was real. I was 100% sure that he was true. I was 100% sure that the Old Testament was God's word. I was equally sure the New Testament was God's word, but his rabbis were challenging me. This is almost 50 years ago. I said, God, I just want to be a faithful Jew and follow you, regardless of cost or consequence, wherever the truth leads.

And of course, that only reinforced in my search, that only reinforced and deepened my absolute certainty that Jesus Yeshua is the Messiah of Israel. But again, you go through changes. It's challenging.

Are you really willing to do this? So there can be a healthy asking of questions, and you'll come to good conclusions. There's an unhealthy deconstruction that comes in with skepticism, cynicism, that's looking for a way out for the flesh, that makes you think you can become an expert after watching three YouTube videos, and so on.

When you come in with that arrogance, it's unhealthy. God gives grace to the humble. You come saying, look, I just want to know the truth, and I'm limited in my understanding, and I'm limited in my experience. I'm just one person, but this is my life and potentially my eternity.

I've got to know the truth. God will lead you, my friend. And maybe you've got some friends or loved ones on a journey like Sarah Beth's, except they're in the heavy progressive stage. They look at you as haters. They look at you as fear mongers.

They look at you as homophobic and transphobic and all these other things simply because with love and grace, you hold to biblical values. Hey, it's not the end of their story. They're going to be many.

I have no doubt about it. Many, just like Sarah Beth, who say, look, the progressive Christianity, it doesn't deliver. To quote her again, it's entirely built on doubts and questions with little to no foundation of certainty and truth.

It was a temporary dwelling place for me to figure some things out, but ultimately not a healthy place to stay. I used to speak about this in certain church circles, especially the so-called emerging church circles, that it was a celebration of ambiguity. I'm not sure no one can be sure that's supposed to be something we celebrate. If you're not sure, then don't lead me. If you're not sure, then step down until you have some certainty rather than leading people into further uncertainty. How is that?

How is that helping them? One thing to ask honest questions and journey together. It's another thing to set yourself as a leader when you're celebrating ambiguity or the other say the destination is not important. It's the journey that's important.

I question that. I would rather have a very, very rough journey to heaven than a wonderful journey to hell. If we grow through the journey, we understand that. But you better believe the destination is important. You better believe the final end results are important and where you end up on your journey in this world and in the world to come.

Those things are very, very important. There's a reason that the Bible is still the world's best selling book. There is a reason that more people come to faith in Jesus every year around the world than any time in history, with each year surpassing the previous year. There's a reason that young people are now flocking afresh to Jesus. And I'm getting reports, not just from America, but other countries, of a fresh move among young people because the pain that so many young people suffer, especially Gen Z, the anxiety, the depression, the isolation, the loneliness, the feeling that this world does not have a lot of hope for them. The further isolation they suffered through COVID, the isolation that social media brings, the peer pressure that comes with all those things. This concern with global warming and things at the end of the world is at hand. Kids are living with a lot of pressure on them and so many come from broken homes where they didn't have the stability.

They come from a mother and father together. This is going to be an amazing season for young people. Let's welcome them with their questions, older people as well, let's welcome them with their questions. My book, Has God Failed You?, I have a whole chapter called Permission to Doubt.

Let's welcome and say, hey, let's meet you where you are and let's go get answers to your questions. And we're not put off, we're not threatened, we're not phased because we're secure in the Lord. And we know that in Him, all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden.

And if I don't have the answer for you, we'll get it for you. And if I can plug you into a healthy relationship with God, that'll be more important than anything else. So, may Sarah Beth's story, as beautiful and wonderful as it is, multiply.

She shares more of her own story on her own website, tells it more in detail in a beautiful way that I think will really draw people in. You realize this is love, this is grace, this is not attacking others, this is the Gospel changing us. Certainty. I know that I know that I know. I live with that. You can live with that in Jesus. Music This is another program powered by the Truth Network.