We're in a War

The following program is recorded content created by the Truth Network. Hear me carefully, friends. We are in a war. It's time for The Line of Fire with your host, biblical scholar and cultural commentator, Dr. Michael Brown.

Your voice for moral sanity and spiritual clarity. Call 866-34-TRUTH to get on The Line of Fire. And now, here's your host, Dr. Michael Brown. Welcome to The Line of Fire broadcast.

This is Michael Brown. Today is a tremendously important broadcast. I believe you're going to be stirred.

I will not be taking calls today. This is one of those days. Sit back and get a fresh blast of exhortation, a fresh blast of encouragement, a fresh challenge. I love to be challenged by God.

I don't like being rebuked because that means I've done something wrong and I've dishonored him or let him down, but even his rebuke comes with love and I know it's for good. It's for good. But those challenges tell me there's more of God in you and me than we understand. There's more potential to do the will of God than you or I understand. And as we are in a mode right now, especially those of us especially tied to Israel, it's an agonizing moment. One of my friends wrote from Israel and said we have 23 people either in our congregation or close friends, relatives. Right now, 23 people on the war front in Israel. Everybody's affected.

Israel, the Jewish population total, say roughly 7 million and you've got 300,000 reservists called up, so Israeli men up to like mid 40s. So, I mean, just think of it, everybody's being affected aside from everyone's affected by the tragedies and the funerals and you know someone who was killed or you know the friend of someone who was killed. It's quite overwhelming and still the onslaught and the rockets and the potential of Iran loosing Hezbollah or Iran itself trying to attack directly and then Israel being in what would be the beginning of a world war. It's a very intense time and the ongoing war with Russia's invasion of Ukraine, hardly anyone thinking about that, but the horrific suffering involved and the suffering that the Palestinians are going through in Gaza as Israel seeks to eradicate Hamas, it's a very intense time, but always, always for us as followers of Jesus, it's wartime.

Now, please hear me. In scripture, Ecclesiastes 3, there is a time for war, right? There's a time for killing and war. There's a time of peace. There's a time of restoring. There's a time to mourn.

There's a time to dance. It's very important in our own lives that we have this rhythm and cycle of life. Maybe you are going through a particularly difficult time and it has gone on for several years, but certainly there needs to be a respite that God will help give you a place of refuge. Sometimes things are so intense, it's just so important.

Just get away and have fun and do something, you know, play with the kids, go out to your favorite place and have a fun meal or healthy meal hopefully, but you know what I'm saying, that you need to unwind. Jesus would go away with his disciples, come let's get some rest. So it's very important, Sabbath refreshing in the midst of the war zone, meeting with the Lord, basking his presence, weeping because of his beauty, dancing for joy because of his goodness. This is all part of the cycle of life. At the same time, we have the mentality of warriors. We have the mentality of soldiers.

We have the mentality of athletes competing in the games. We're going to get to scripture about all of this in a moment, but I mean think of the references to fighting. Like 1 Timothy 1 18 where Paul tells Timothy to fight the good fight in keeping with the prophecies that were spoken over him. Something many of us who are charismatic Pentecostals can relate to to this day, prophetic words that God spoke to us or through someone that no, they're not the Bible, but there are things that the Lord is saying as he continues to work and speak.

He's not adding to the Bible, but of course he continues to work and speak in the earth. He has not gone silent in his relationship with us and it may be that their promise is that maybe in the mission field God's going to call us through a difficult nation and it'll seem like there's no hope and that we'll never see any results but to persevere because many will be saved. So in the midst of the trials and the test you remember that word. You're encouraged by it and then you see the fruit, but it's fight the good fight. The fight of faith.

Paul speaking about the course of his own life in 2 Timothy chapter 4 verse 7 says what? I've fought the good fight. That's how he describes his life. I've kept the faith.

I've finished the race. I've kept the faith. So he likens it to a to a fight, to a battle. 2 Timothy 2 writing to Timothy he says what?

Endure hardship as a good soldier of Messiah Jesus. He speaks of a fellow working Colossians as a fellow soldier. So we are not taking up a sword. We're putting down the sword. We're picking up the cross.

I'm not talking about someone that's fighting in the military or someone in the IDF. I'm talking about us as followers of Jesus. We're not taking up the sword against our ideological enemies.

No, we put down the sword and we pick up our cross. So we understand that when we talk about being soldiers, but it's the imagery. He doesn't refer to us as ballerinas. He doesn't refer to us as prima donnas. He doesn't refer to us as you know whatever prissy. He refers to us as soldiers and to live as soldiers. I mean what do we do with Psalm 144? Baruch ha'adonai t'suri. Blessed is the Lord my rock. Hamlamayd yada la'krav who trains my hands for battle.

Ve'etz botal le'mel chamai and my fingers for war. What do we do with those passages? David literally fought physical battles we fight spiritual battles. Is that not what the word says?

Is that not clearly written? Doesn't Jesus in Matthew 11th chapter say that if you're going to dislodge Satan you've got to overcome him? Aren't we called overcomers in scripture? Aren't we called the ends of Romans 8 in the midst of death, in the midst of persecution, in the midst of hardship, more than conquerors?

Isn't that how we're described there? Are we not referred to as overcomers? 1st John 5 4, whatever is born of God overcomes the world and this is the victory by which we overcome the world even our faith. Boom!

There you have it. That we are overcomers and Revelation 2 and 3 the promises to the seven congregations in Asia Minor to him who overcomes to him who overcomes to him who overcomes. Revelation 12 11 they overcame him Satan the righteous God's people overcame Satan how by the blood of the lamb and by the word of their testimony and by not loving their lives even to the point of death it may cost us everything it may cost us our lives we may die following Jesus so be it it's a privilege it's an honor we're soldiers. I was in Missouri been an hour and a quarter ride each way from the airport to the studio where I was shooting for a Christian TV network and the gentleman driving me worked for a security company that worked at that studio and then helped with transportation of guests and things like that and it was a young man maybe in his 30s maybe a little bit older he had served in Afghanistan he was with special forces he was on helicopters he was a gunner I believe if I remember that detail on attack helicopters in in Afghanistan and so we had a lot of time to talk and you know I asked him a lot of questions about his background about his family and things like that so he loves his kids he loves his wife he in that sense loves life he's he's not a jihadist martyr say I'm going to go on the front lines and die and and we love death the way you love life no he wasn't saying that at all he's a regular a regular person but I asked him I said you must have lost a lot of friends in Afghanistan I mean a frontline battle special forces like that you must have lost a lot of friends and colleagues yeah and you know how did you deal with it and his answer was was quite extraordinary he said we're expendable assets oh well you're a human being you have dignity you have purpose you have and maybe he went married I don't know if he did but plenty of men go to fight and they're married and they have kids and you know and they now they facetime with their family everything's okay and yeah you hear the rockets it's it's distant it's distant it's not near us and then they get killed they're regular family people true true but as soldiers the old Alfred Lord Tennyson poem there's not to reason why you obey and die it we're expendable assets he's saying that's the mentality of a soldier we may die but we're fighting the enemy and that's the goal he was terribly frustrated by the way we pulled out of Afghanistan and not just because colleagues were killed unnecessarily but because they were not able to protect the the Americans against the enemy the way they were supposed to in other words we have a job to do and that was to get the Americans out safely and if we die in the process we die in the field of duty wow that's a soldier's mentality but the reality is we're called to be soldiers in the messiah and following Jesus is costly forget this American trash gospel that Jesus died so you can have a better life and just be happy and no problems everything go well for you and you have eternity in heaven if it doesn't feel good you don't do it it's all about me forget that trash that's not the gospel that's not the gospel gospels we're sinners hell-bound because of our defiant rebellion because of our our our our flesh our sin deserving of death and damnation God in his mind-boggling extraordinary love I'm speaking to you alcoholic addict I was shooting heroin when I got saved at 16 in 1971 speaking to you sir you beat your wife at home speaking to you young lady sleeping around with all different guys speaking to you nice churchgoer who's a hypocrite on the inside Jesus died for each of us he died from yeah he took the penalty that we deserve a mind boggling beyond anything we've asked for paid for every one of our sins to wash us clean and give us a new heart to change us and now everything he deserves as son of God because of his perfect righteousness becomes ours we now share in his reward if we will turn from our sin and cry out to God to have mercy and receive his grace it is a complete 100 gift it is by that gift we were able to say no to sin and turn away from it it is a complete gift of his grace and now we're his forever he may call us to be martyrs he may call us and as a result we're in prison for our faith he may call us to be rejected by our community or he may call us to be a president or a billionaire or a famous star whatever his plan is we're here to glorify you we're here to glorify you and be used by you that's not like wow see you are so committed no that's discipleship 101 that's the basic gospel there's one brother who was on my radio show years ago does a lot of muslim outreach works in the middle east and said when we baptize a former muslim at water baptism we ask them after their profession of faith are you willing to suffer for jesus are you willing to die for jesus if they don't say yes we don't baptize them we don't baptize them it's that simple because that's what it means to be a disciple is it not discipleship 101 discipleship 101 if anyone would follow me jesus says if anyone would come after me let him take up his cross let him deny himself take up his cross and follow me is that not not gospel 101 it certainly is let's get back to the basics we are called to be so we are and we are this is michael ellison founder of trivita wellness i want to introduce our trivita alfred libby original patented sublingual b12 b6 and folate formula i had the wonderful opportunity of meeting alfred libby a pioneer in vitamin research i also had the opportunity to obtain the patented formula and the rest is history with over 50 million tablets being taken by our trivita members through the years the amazing testimonies of mental clarity mood enhancement and more energy have been thrilling to me as a founder of trivita wellness not only is it an amazing b12 product but it is loaded with the essential b6 vitamin i call it the workhorse vitamin it is vital for strong immune function and every body system here's what the national center for biotechnology information says and i quote it plays a key role and is crucial to immune function it is a molecule necessary for the proper functioning of the entire body system and its role cannot be overestimated harvard medical school of health says folate is the natural form of vitamin b9 and it plays a key role in breaking down homocysteine an amino acid that can exert harmful effects on the body when it is present in high amounts i encourage you today to try the trivita libby b12 b6 and folate formula to order alfred libby's b12 for yourself call 1-800-771-5584 or online at trivita.com order today and use promo code brown25 to receive 25 off your order as a new customer 100 of your order proceeds from your first order will go to support the line of fire radio broadcast 1-800-771-5584 or online at trivita.com the truth network presents life 101 the basic rules for getting by and moving ahead in life there are thousands of financial books out there yet overall our personal finances are in pretty bad shape that proves one thing the latest advice and the latest book on the newest financial twist is not really working all the really good advice is really nothing new at all in fact some of the best financial advice goes back thousands of years there's a simple but dramatic piece of advice in proverbs 6 and the bible it says go to the ant and consider its ways and be wise it stores its provisions in the summer and gathers its food for the harvest but that is financial advice in the bible that can turn your life around our consumer driven society obsesses about ways to spend money but the bible says like the ants we should instead focus on ways to save money a lesson we can learn from the ants the point is we don't need more financial advice we simply need to apply the old-fashioned advice that's been around for years or even millenniums an aggressive radical savings plan can utterly transform your family's finances you're listening to the truth network it's the line of fire with your host dr michael brown get on the line of fire by calling 866-34-TRUTH here again is dr michael brown welcome back to a special edition of the line of fire where you get to tell me what you think i'm wrong you can do that really any day that the phone lines are open you can call in and differ with me and i love that i love for some that just say dr brown i don't see it the way you do and we we have a friendly discussion and i love it when people are going to call in and tell me i'm ignorant and biased and blind and all that and lay out their argument and then i i get to respond that's the joy of live talk radio i've often said that when people are bold enough to invite me to come on a college campus which is rare sadly but when they do invite me when christian groups do invite me i normally say can you find someone to do a debate with me you want me to talk about a controversial issue about politics or culture or theology or something can you find someone to debate me a professor a qualified spokesperson from the other side so that the students and the faculty that come can hear both sides i love that and if they say we can't find anyone to do it then i say all right can we make sure we have open mic q and a at the end so people can challenge me that is a major reason that we have live radio so you can call in with your differences now if you're unable to call right you listen and it's like your work schedule or whatever it does not permit you to listen live or to call during our live broadcast and you're really mad at me well you can just we've got lots of pictures of me online just search for my name you'll see pictures just take one almost print it up and and put it on the wall make it into a dartboard and you can just get all your anger out there and and maybe once you get the anger out you can just pray that god would bring all of us closer to his heart to his mind all right so following through with a tweet uh interacting with a brother pastor honors me in the lord and the same with him i honor him in the lord here's what i'm not a calvinist as much as i appreciate the the the calvinistic emphasis on god being god and god carrying out his purposes on the earth i see from genesis to revelation the emphasis the call on us to choose choose choose choose and i see god's pleasure when we choose rightly by his grace i see god's grief when we when we reject his free offer of grace this to me does not speak of predestination but of freedom within these parameters that god has given us i also see clearly as i look at scripture that jesus dies to make the salvation of the entire world possible that he clearly sheds his blood for each and every human being on the planet and to infallibly secure the salvation of those who believe that is another reason that i cannot believe in calvinism it's clear he can grieve and quench the spirit who calls us to the lord who calls us to the cross and of course calvinists would agree with some of what i'm saying but here's here's the other point that i want to make with all respect to my my calvinist friends and dr white if you're if you're driving or rowing or just don't you lose your focus adrenaline going here a little bit uh but my my dear calvinist friend with with whom i've had some wonderful debates and then our favorite is when we get to debate together against others which we've only gotten to do a couple of times so far but here's here's the other big issue i have with calvinism that calvinism is the the calvinist gospel calls on people to do what they cannot do and that god will not empower them to do in other words it calls on a cripple to walk without giving power to that cripple to walk it calls on a non-believer to believe without giving that believer the power to believe a calvinist would say you must be born again before you can believe so god is to give you new birth because before you can respond and if he chooses not to give you new birth you cannot respond therefore you're called to believe but you're unable to believe if you're not elect and then even if you did believe it wouldn't apply because jesus didn't die for you if you're not elect you're quoting the calvinism these are just a few of the reasons with all respect i don't believe in calvinism the reason i don't believe in cessationism is because again with no insult intended for my cessationist friends the new testament is explicit that the gifts will continue until jesus returns that the outpouring of the spirit and prophecy and dreams and visions are for the last days that uh that it is not until we see the lord face to face that these things will pass away and on the flip side we are exhorted like first corinthians 14 1 to earnestly desire the gifts especially that we can prophesy so if we're not earnestly desiring them then we're disobeying a divine mandate i tried to become a calvinist late 70s early 80s i distanced myself to become a cessationist excuse me i tried to i i read books against gifts and power the spirit today i i questioned things i but the testament of scripture was too strong and then confirmed by the testimony of the spirit in my own life just check out a book like craig keener's miracles today it's so overwhelming the abundance of documented evidence of miraculous healings i mean overwhelming you can't deny god's supernaturally healing on a regular basis around the world today as for post-millennial the reason i don't believe that that the gospel will triumph over the entire world that the entire world will be called christianized in the best sense of the world before jesus returns is because there's so much in scripture about the end of the age being a time of parallel extremes that the wheat and the tares are there right to the end that the harvest is the end of the age with both good and bad that when jesus returns he's going to destroy an antichrist and destroy the wicked it's just overwhelming testimony of the presence of the wicked on the earth second thessalonians one zechariah 12 zechariah 14 many other passages end time prophecies in the new testament about deception so just as you have end time prophecies about outpouring you have deception as for covenant theology if god's promises to israel are not true if they're not going to be literally fulfilled with a return to the land and with a massive national turning of in faith then how can you trust any promises god's made i mean just jeremiah 31 verse 31 to 37 the new covenants made but look at what follows in verses 35 to 37 this is to me a matter of the integrity of god i but but thanks for for posting that um grace for the prize you believe with the reformers that true faith will always result in obedience but the 600 000 men who cross the red sea hebrews 11 29 notes their faith went on to be unfaithful in the desert true faith is therefore a no true scotsman fallacy first john 219 notwithstanding that namely those who went out from us speaking about the antichrist among us those who went out from us were not really among us if they really were they would have believed well of course you do have to deal with first john 219 with the no true scotsman fallacy that would setting something up that that that can't exist uh but let me just point out something to you in uh in in hebrews since hebrews 11 29 was quoted uh let's just take a look in oh let's see uh hebrews let me get this let me get this up here hebrews there we go let's go to hebrews the third chapter all right hebrews and let's see what's written there so this it's a call for us to to follow jesus the apostle the high priest of our confession today if we hear his voice we don't harden our hearts like the israelites did when they tested god see to it my brothers verse 12 that no evil unbelieving heart is found in any of you is shown by your turning away from the living god hey friends dr michael brown here do you remember when people thought i was crazy when i said it's not too late for america that god can still do something in our country that there is going to be a pushback a gospel-based moral and cultural revolution and you remember when people thought that you were crazy because you felt the same way because you believe what i was saying and already felt it in your heart well friends that pushback is here the the gospel-based moral and cultural revolution we've been talking about for 25 years is unfolding and we are right in the thick of it and the line of fire broadcast is divinely positioned for such a time as this friends you would be so gratified and blessed as as as i hear if you could hear what i hear testimony after testimony as leaders young people old people moms dads students people from all backgrounds come up to me and say dr brown you're providing a template for us you're providing a blueprint for us you're showing us how to do this head of hearts of compassion backbones of steel but friends it's a joint effort we do this together and with your support we can amplify this broadcast around the nation and amplify this voice to shake the nation join our support team today become a torch bearer with a dollar or more per day here's the number to call to sign up 800 538-5275 that's 800-538-5275 or go to askdrbrown.org askdrbrown.org and become a monthly supporter click on donate monthly support i want to immediately give you two classic books compassionate father or consuming fire who is the god of the old testament and revolution which will really show you what it means to be a jesus follower today plus you get free access to our online classes and so much more sign up today ask dr brown it's the line of fire with your host dr michael brown get on the line of fire by calling 866 three four truth here again is dr michael brown i i just want to talk to you from the heart one the heart one moment and then we get back to this critically important subject today we are in a war i want to help equip you strengthen you encourage you as soldiers in the battle and let me say this maybe you are mom and dad and you've got kids who are eight and twelve and sixteen and twenty and three of them are in the public school system that's the situation there are no christian schools where you are you're not able to home school you're both working and your kids are in the public school and you also felt that they're hey they're solid they know the lord your 20-year-old is in a secular university uh you know you're in a battle you know your kids are in a battle you're a young person listening to me right now i talked to a young lady from canada she just graduated high school she said she was in homeschool christian school until ninth grade and the ninth grade she went to public school she said every class she had from ninth to 12th grade not only were they overtly pro-abortion in their ideological positions but you started every class you are required at the beginning of the year to give your preferred gender pronouns meaning buy into this radical trans ideology that you are identified as whatever you perceive yourself to be he she it they etc i don't say that to be derogatory to those who struggle but but it is not reality friends it is not reality so right out of the gate right out of the gate this kid is not going to be ostracized or they're going to go along with the system and compromise that's a challenge yeah i had to stand up for my faith in school high school when i got saved and then college and grad school but it wasn't like that it wasn't the same pressure and when our kids were growing up we didn't have a tv in the house for the most part and that was a way of keeping them away from influences we didn't like if there was a movie they would see it we we agreed on it together or watch it together uh but you know we didn't have to deal with social media we didn't have to deal with smartphones and everything that comes in we didn't have to deal with the extraordinary peer pressure they're under today and you know i was i was using drugs and you know you buy from people that you knew etc but we weren't worried about fentanyl coming in i mean the number one kill the number one killer of americans between 18 and 45 fentanyl overdoses the vast majority accidental we wouldn't have to deal with that we didn't have to deal with people battling literally battling over the idea that there's such a thing as male and female i mean we didn't have to deal with that that you get ostracized when you say no women menstruate men don't menstruate you get ostracized for that this this is craziness and so much of the spiritual pressure the the the attack the when world view a was overturned the the vandalizing and an attack of pro-life centers it brought to the surface a lot of the reality going on and now the worldwide rise i shouldn't say rise worldwide manifestation of jew hatred and the fact that hatred has been there for so long and the pastor called me earlier this week and said don't use anti-semitism as a term a lot of people don't understand it just talk jew hatred i've taken that to heart sir jack i believe your name was from california i've taken that to heart and i will be saying jew hatred even more to make sure everybody gets it but this worldwide manifestation of jew hatred it comes in the name of of hating the israeli occupation it's jew hatred ultimately and and in terms of how it plays out man we're seeing that roaring we're seeing that roaring we are in a war so i i just want to be a straightforward candidate with you anyone that's listened to me for any length of time you know what you see is what you get that's that's the truth i may not give you an answer that you like but i'm going to be honest and when there's two sides to something or i'm not sure and i'll say it could be this could be this could be this i'm just gonna be honest with you all right here here's the deal i have been one of my friends colleague grad from my ministry school has a tremendous ministry loves me respects me in the umteenth degree he introduced me once and said dr brown is the worst fundraiser i've ever met that's what he said but here's the deal we are in urgent times i i just don't have time to play games or get caught up in my silly sensitivities what will people think it's got nothing to do with me do you know friends if my ministry uh if if our ministry if i'm a fire let's say we come up with a new book i come up with a new book and and we talk about it on the air we promote it through our ministry i go out and preach let's just say it was the best seller we ever had we sold several hundred thousand copies all right and it came through our ministry i don't receive a dime from that i'm out preaching people buy the books i don't receive a dime from that you order a book you know signed copy for me or just a through our website i don't receive a dime from that okay there are orders that can come from the outside but for you know for decades i didn't receive royalties from any source until a lawyer friend rebuked me and said mike you didn't have a retirement account what are you doing you have no money nothing because it just went back into ministry all right so i've been so sensitive about these things and i hate the carnal fundraise i hate carnal fundraising and my second book that i wrote the end of the american gospel enterprise i hate the gospel enterprise i i hate people enriching themselves through the gospel or if you'll give to our ministry the lord will prosper you and i end up being the one that end up being the one that prospers i i hate that stuff i hate it i reject it i say i mean the the ministry person putting that message out despise that stuff i've written my book how saved are we i have a whole chapter called the prosperity trap not the wonderful message of god's provision and how god meets our needs and helps us be a blessing to others praise god for that that's helped generate lots of money from missions worldwide and it's helped a lot of believers get out of a poverty mentality that didn't help them at all thank god for that but the carnal prosperity message that you can judge my spirituality by how much money i have or worse still that jesus died to make me rich i repudiate that it's terrible it's terrible it's not the gospel good news is the poor is that jesus wants to make you rich that's not the gospel trash that message preach god's provision preach god's generosity help people have a spirit of generosity absolutely yes the trash that carnal prosperity message i i wrote about it in a whole chapter in 1990 chapter called the prosperity trap and then in 2000 preached against it for decades and then in 2018 my my my book playing with holy fire i have a whole chapter on the pep talk prosperity gospel and in my my recent book uh 2023 book why so many christians have left the faith i have a chapter on defective gospels and this is one of them so i've been all over that for years because of that even though if literally if someone gave us a million dollars it's never happened may it happen may it happen if someone gave us a million dollars today not a dime would go in my pocket not not a dime would go in my staff's pocket it would all go into an account how can we reach more people how can we get on more stations how can we increase our digital output how can we give away more free materials how can we develop new free resources how can we support our missionaries working around the world how can we sell more money into our jewish outreach projects that's where we go but i've just been wimpy about it and something shifted in me recently right my stupid sensitivities that get in the way of getting the gospel message out i gotta trash those because not about me so we are poised right now friends we have never been in this position as healthy as we are as a ministry and as ready as we are with our team we are poised to do a massive expansion on radio digital footprint various other resources to blanket the nation with the line of fire and touch the nations as well and increase our jewish outreach in israel and as we have more partners we can do it it's that simple so some of you have been listening to me for 15 years some of you've followed me for 30 40 years and you've prayed for me and been appreciative but you've never become a partner i'm urging every one of you that can and you'll hear me talking about this a lot because it is a critical moment and i make no apologies we've got over 5 000 free resources for you online i make no apologies taking a few minutes to say it is critical stand with us go to askdrbrown.org askdrbrown.org click donate monthly support we're selling four free books into when you do it we've never done this before including our hands are stained with blood and christian anti-semitism along with revolution and compassionate father consuming for who's the god of the old testament you get free classes you get all kinds of benefits read about it churches put us on your monthly budget whether it's a hundred a month or a thousand a month put us on your monthly budget and together we're going to make a difference we're in war and we are now putting money into the war fund so we can push back come on push back together against the powers of darkness push back against the junk happening in the nation we're not trying to take over but we want to take back moral and we want to take back spiritual ground it's not a matter of making america great again it's a matter of there is a spiritual heritage there are good things that we had that have been lost and there's much that we never had god wants us to have and america is supposed to be a blessing to the nations i believe that every nation has a potential calling and destiny god prospered us in this way to be a world influencer that's the reality is going to be for good or is it going to be for bad is it going to be by exporting porn and exporting carnality and exporting carnal american values or is it going to be by righteousness by justice by setting captives free by sharing the gospel world once come on let's rise up as an army together ask director brown.org donate monthly support join us and together we're making a difference now please hear me i'm about to say it's very very important it's going to be a little stinging for some of us but it's words of love proverbs 27 5 open rebuke is better than secret love proverbs 27 6 the kisses of an enemy are profuse but faithful are the wounds of a friend some of us are being cut short prematurely and our effectiveness because of the way we live because of our diets this is serious business friends i'm not i'm not trying to sell your book i'm not trying to sell your product i'm not telling you now to get the wellness products from travita i'm not telling you any of that right now yeah do all that but that's not what this is about i recently got a scan to just check on certain things heart health related because by god's grace i'm thriving my numbers are wonderful my cholesterol and all the hdl and ldl everything blood pressure wonderful healthy thriving by god's grace thriving thriving by god's grace but when we looked at this we consulted with one doctor who said you were walking time you were a walking time bomb in other words the condition of my arteries from the way i ate my whole life up until i was 59 years old i was a walking time bomb in other words i could have dropped dead any day at any time potentially boom fatal heart attack i'm talking about a major artery majorly clogged fatal heart attack and then found out about an aneurysm this is some years back in another artery it could have been it boom it bursts why because of high blood pressure why because of unhealthy eating and i exercised and i was always disciplined i was disciplined in my unhealthy eating i was disciplined in my unhealthy eating if i was going to have a chocolate extreme blizzard large of course from dairy queen i would skip a meal because that alone was 1500 calories i was disciplined in my unhealthy eating and i was literally killing myself maybe the lord sent me today to tell you that if you're a soldier you've got to get in shape if you are going to be a soldier you've got to get in shape scripture the fact that you come down this is michael ellison founder of trivedo wellness being aware of the dangers of homocysteine is crucial to protecting our health this natural occurring amino acid that the body creates plays a vital role but when elevated in excess it can pose significant risk to our health one of the dangers of elevated homocysteine is the impact on cardiovascular health research has shown that high homocysteine can contribute to heart disease stroke and heart stroke and other cardiovascular conditions another risk factor it has been linked to cognitive decline and neural degenerative conditions one of the best ways to manage homocysteine is to supplement with b12 b6 and folate found in trivetas hc y guard in my own wellness journey i was concerned because of family history my grandfather passed away at 41 years of age with heart failure my father was diagnosed with heart disease at 38 years of age when i was made aware of the dangers of homocysteine i knew i would find a supplement formula to help manage my own health it was with that knowledge that hc y guard was developed at travita wellness it is a favorite supplement for those wanting to manage homocysteine and promote cardiovascular health to order hc y guard for yourself or someone you care about call 1-800-771-5584 or online at triveda.com order today and use promo code brown 25 to receive 25 off your order as a new customer 100 of your order proceeds from your first order will go to support the line of fire radio broadcast 1-800-771-5584 or online at t-r-i-v-i-t-a try vita.com it's the line of fire with your host dr michael brown get on the line of fire by calling 866 3 4 truth here again is dr michael brown my friends yeah i'm passionate i make no excuse for it because i want to help you i want to see you fulfill your calling you know during the school year i teach at three different ministry schools you know sometimes we're broadcasting from dallas from fort worth i teach three days a month at christ for the nations in dallas texas wonderful amazing school with over 50 year heritage students from over 50 nations i teach there three days these are overwhelmingly young people then i go from there to fort worth amazing school spiritual leadership school new school in its third year out of the church mercy culture where i serve as an apostolic elder so boom teach there is every month we go down there and now christ for all nations has a school i i spend one wednesday a month pretty much the entire day four or five hours doing that and then once a year speak at some other major schools extended programs we work it out around my radio show to do live radio and then do the teaching i am commit i am committed to pouring into the next generation i'm committed to pouring in to help raise up and by the way as you support us you help us do all these things and and so our staff and team can do things when i'm not here so you're you're helping us train these people wherever i go if you're one of our monthly supporters or torchbearer or if you've given in other ways in the past as you pray for me we go together wherever i go around the world god willing later this year 29th trip to india you go with me literally and i'm flying and i'm ministering and i'm thinking we're in this together i'm out preaching somewhere friends literally i'm thinking this is going to be a good message for our torchbearers we're in this together it's a joint effort friends it's a joint effort but i'm not and i pour into leaders all the time i'm every day text from this leader question from this leader i'm trying to answer pour in trying to answer pour in find ways to minister to more young leaders and older leaders and be a mentor and be a father day and night but please hear me you and i just you're average believer you're just you're you're you're not a leader you're not a pastor you're a businessman you're a businesswoman you're a mom you're a dad you're a single person you're a student in school you're in sports you're you're you're you're in the stock market you're a computer programmer you're you're playing volleyball and your volleyball team you're homeschooling three kids you're the answer this is how the world's going to be changed but through you through you it's not just going to be the public figure or thank god we've got a platform we can reach millions of people through our ministry wonderful praise god but who are the millions we're reaching you why so that you can stand strong so that you can be energized so that you can have the mentality of a disciple a soldier so so the first thing to do this effectively is we have to realize okay we're all soldiers i don't feel like a soldier that i know but we're all soldiers i can barely get out of bed in the morning i'm so run down yeah but we're all soldiers the kids they're like going crazy i can't even get three minutes free it's got to be challenging remember you're a soldier so right there in the home okay i'm gonna be a soldier i'm gonna get through this day i'm gonna pour into my kids all right the work environment is so oppressive and ugly the people don't know the lord i'm a soldier i'm made for this pastor you're ready to crumble just the financial pressure and you just went through a split and your right-hand person just left you i said that randomly but maybe that's exactly what happened to one of you as you're listening now and oh god i can't do it you're a soldier first thing is to get that mentality we're soldiers we're soldiers get that attitude every one of us every one of us and then the second thing is i'm gonna be disciplined i'm gonna say no to the flesh i'm gonna say no to the pull of the world i'm gonna say no because i'm a soldier in the army and i'm called and i'm called james b taylor said the world may frown satan may rage but go on live for god may i die in the field of battle is a believer talking to other believers in the 1800s the world may frown satan may rage i've quoted this so many times but go on live for god may i die in the field of battle what a mentality look at look at what john wesley said give me 100 men who fear nothing but sin and desire nothing but god and i will shake the world and i'm hoping i'm hoping that each of you as you're hearing this will say lord send me lord use me oh friends when i get up to preach no matter how wonderful i feel no matter how full and energetic i feel you know when i say most of the time with each step as i walk up to the platform strength out of weakness you're a strength out of my weakness i'm constantly reminding myself lord it's your strength i'm constantly reminding myself when i'm tired and run down with difficult schedule it's your strength i'm constantly reminding myself that any good thing that comes out of me lord it's your strength what's the saying joel let the weak say i am strong i'm weak in him eph 6 10 i quoted earlier be strong in the lord be strong in the lord and in the power of his might that's where your strength is found the longer list you give him of all the reasons he can't use you the better he says you are just what i'm looking for you are just what i am looking for listen to to what thomas brooks said period in thomas brooks if god were not my friend satan would not be so much my enemy oh i i could go on with more and more of these quotes one more from moody i would rather have a moderately small meeting of earnest christians than to have it packed with thousands of careless people say lord in my weakness in my struggles in my unfaithfulness at times i'm saying here i am i'm in i'm in lord i want to be a disciple i want to deny myself i want to take up the cross i want to belong to you i want to follow you by life or by death philippians 1 21 we all know it don't we when i say it you'll say yeah we know it for me to live is yeah you can finish the sentence most you can for me to live is christ and to die is gain and we may think of that you know what maybe a loved one godly loved one 85 years old or in the hospital they're getting weak they're nearing death and and they say with a smile it's okay for me to live as christ and to die is gain it's beautiful and it's wonderful but contextually he's not talking about dying of old age he's talking about dying by martyrdom and what does he say in philippians 1 20 the verse before for i eagerly expect and hope that i will in no way be ashamed but will have sufficient courage so that now as always christ will be exalted in my body whether by life or by death for to live is christ and to die is gain that's the mentality that whatever happens whatever i want i want this to be an opportunity to glorify the lord i said i wanted to give you more scripture about being disciplined so i'm saying first thing take on this mentality i'm a soldier i'm a soldier i'm a soldier come on if you're an athlete some of you are in sports right so somewhere in the military you know the attitude you have to have somewhere in sports and you just have to play you're in the nfl coach my arm hurts of course your arm hurts you just got hit in the arm like 19 times by the monstrous guy you know six foot four 320 pounds yeah your arm hurts but you're a football player get back out i remember saw a boxing match once and and between rounds the fighter comes over and tells his coach i think i broke my left hand the coach said so you want to quit he goes no he goes okay let's talk about how to win without your left hand i mean you're a boxer you need both hands but like you're in it we'll cry after we'll we'll talk about the pain after we'll go to the hospital after right now we're gonna fight it's a mentality you're a soldier you're a soldier you're in a battle you're in a war it's one two his strength out of your weakness his strength is your strength be strong in the lord my confidence is not in mike brown my confidence is not my mental ability my speaking ability any other ability my confidence is in the lord every good thing comes from him my strength comes from him the second thing is is have the mentality you overcome in him the mentality of an overcomer it's his strength through your weakness rather than make excuses make confessions rather than make excuses make confessions as to who he is as to what he's doing as to his faithfulness as to who you are in him speak the word speak biblical truths and third thing by his grace live a disciplined life by his grace live a disciplined life just these three principles understanding you're a soldier in the army realizing his strength is made perfect in your weakness and living a disciplined life with his help change everything will change everything look at what paul writes first corinthians nine beginning verse 24 do you not know then in a race all the runners run but only one gets the prize run in such a way as to get the prize everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training right so we're running we're in a race we're running the race and we're running so as to win that's how we should be living our lives now in some cases it's like my race is to make it through the day without collapsing my race is to make it through the day without losing my mind okay that's your race that's your race someone else my race is to raise a million dollars by the end of the year to feed the poor in this country that's your race someone else your race is is to finish writing the song that's going to be sung around the world someone else your race is to persevere on the mission field and disciple that person that's up and down that's your we're each in a race everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training they do it to get a crown that will not last but we do it to get a crown that will last forever so we put the contrast their crown will not last theirs will last forever true but notice they go into strict training in greek they are disciplined in all things so are we so so are we so are we we live like athletes we say no to the lust of the flesh that means not just no to sexual addictions drug addictions drinking addictions gambling addictions also food addictions and most of us are food addicted you say i'm not well then give up your favorite food for a month just tell me how it goes give up your coffee for a month give up your chocolate for a month chocolate was my big addiction for 59 years most part of 59 years yep till nine years ago they go into strict training we go into strict training god help us to be disciplined therefore i do not run like someone running aimlessly i do not fight like a boxer beating the air no i strike a blow to my body and make it my slave i make my body my slave is your body your slave that after i have preached to others i myself will not be disqualified for the prize wow friends it's time for the army to rise up we're here to help equip you strengthen you on the front lines let's do this together let's put fear in the heart of our spiritual enemy let the devil see us coming and realize he's in the trouble another program powered by the truth network