It’s Way Past Wake Up Time

The following is a pre-recorded program. It's time for a major Culture Wars update. 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. Hey friends, welcome to The Line of Fire.

Michael Brown delighted to be with you. I'm here to improve your faith, truth and courage to help you stand strong on the front lines. As I mentioned the front lines, if you're not getting our emails, you want to sign up today to get our equipping, inspirational, informative, frontline newsletter. Don't want to miss it. We'll be releasing our first ever a little bit later this month. So go to thelineoffire.org. Thelineoffire.org. You'll be able to sign up right on the home page.

Make sure that you do that. Friends, I'm here to help you be strong and healthy and vibrant and overflowing and confident in the Lord. Those of you who are struggling, we're here to stand by you and hold your hands up and say, come on, God's faithful. Let's put our trust in Him. Let's renew our hope. He's with us.

For those who are going strong, we're here to encourage you on and give you more resources on the front lines because friends, here's the reality. Jesus is Lord. All authority in heaven and earth has been given to Him and in His name we go and make disciples. We don't go in His name and take over and impose our religion on others. We don't go in His name and try to violently overthrow governments or organizations.

We don't go in His name as a mob marching down the street burning buildings. No, we go in His name in the power of the Spirit and we set captives free and we shine light into dark places and we do good deeds and we overcome evil with good. We overcome hatred with love. We overcome lies with truth.

We overcome the power of the flesh of the world with the power of the Holy Spirit. And our greatest weapons are spiritual weapons. Yes, they're weapons.

I'm not afraid to refer to them as weapons, but they are spiritual weapons. Just like we can talk about the war on poverty. You understand that doesn't mean killing poor people. It means the war on poverty itself, right? We can talk about the culture wars, ideological wars. So, we are in a spiritual battle and we have spiritual weapons, friends. And those weapons, 2 Corinthians 10 says, are mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds. Mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds.

And a lot of those strongholds are specifically false ideologies, destructive ideologies, hurtful, misleading ideologies. The great weapons we have, the weapon of prayer. Think of that. We alone, the people of God, can get on our knees, can get on our faces or wherever we are, humble ourselves before Him, and cry out to Him according to His will and He hears and answers. That's the greatest possible resource there could be. Having God accessible to carry out His will on the earth and answer to prayer. We have the weapon of the Word of God, the truth of Scripture. Paul refers to it in Ephesians 6 as the sword of the Spirit.

These are weapons. We have the weapon of the Gospel, which can set the worst sinner free, which can take the most rebellious, hateful person. It could take some terrorist and turn that person into a humble servant and missionary. That is the power of the Gospel. And so many of you listening, just like me, have been radically transformed by the Gospel.

These are just some of the many, many spiritual weapons that we have. So as I give you a Culture Wars update, as I bring some sobering words, it's never in a defeatist mentality. It's never in a hopeless mentality. Look, if we could play back sermons I preached like 50 years ago, you'd hear urgency then.

You'd hear a wake-up call then. And really, when you go through Scripture, there's always a sense of urgency, right? Life here is never just a vacation. Paul at the end of his life in 2 Timothy 4 says, I fought the good fight.

Not, I've enjoyed the vacation, but I fought the good fight. So we are in a battle. We are in a race. There is a sense of urgency.

As our Missions Director Josh Peter said many years ago, I don't know if this is the last generation, but it's our last generation. So even if we had 90 years here on earth to do the will of God, we should have a sense of urgency because decisions made in this world are the difference between heaven and hell. Decisions made in this world are the difference between being with God forever or being cut off forever.

Decisions made in this world have massive implications for this world and for the world to come. And right now, as long as there are people suffering and in pain, we should have a sense of urgency. As long as Satan is working and destroying lives, we should have a sense of urgency.

As long as there's a time limit on our lives, we should have a sense of urgency. Not one that steals our peace or steals our joy or steals our rest or steals our confidence in God, but one for sure that ignites us. One for sure that causes us to go deeper, to dig deeper, to say, Lord, here I am. Send me.

Use me. And remember, whoever you are, if you're a child of God, God has a purpose. He has a purpose for every human being, but if we're not, his children will never step into those purposes. But to every one of you, if you're a member of the body of Christ, if you're a believer, if you've been saved or forgiven, that means you have a function.

That means you have a function. Look, in the last nine, 10 years, I had kidney stones three times. And those times you're actually able to pass the kidney stone and see it. I've had them, a couple of them were too big, and they had to be blasted out. So it's a, what's it called, a lithotripsy, I think. You go through a procedure in the hospital. But when you actually see, if you pass one, it's tiny.

It's really, really little. But it can be absolutely debilitating and cause massive pain. Why? Because God made the body to function in amazing and extraordinary ways.

You can have a toothache, and it totally debilitates you. You could have a broken toe, and you're an athlete, and you're out of the game. You're out of the competition. So every part of the body is important, and that means for you, friends.

That means for you. You have a role to play. You might not be in any shape to play it now, but you need to see that there is a purpose for your life in God, and that your life can make a difference, and that you being in right relationship with God is a threat to the kingdom of darkness and a boon to the kingdom of life.

This is not one of these self-help talks, and by the way, I didn't plan on getting into any of this. I was just going to get into cultural issues, but I just felt, as I started speaking this, pouring out of me to give you these words of encouragement, and part of what we really seek to do here on the line of fire is not just tell you what's happening in the world around us, what's happening in the world around us, and give you a sober awareness of things, but also encourage you in the Lord, not with empty words, not like a carnal life coach. Life coaches have their place, absolutely.

Life coaches can be great, great help to many people, and there are Christian life coaches who combine spiritual principles with natural insights and can do a great, great job. So all of you out there doing it, kudos to you. Keep up the good work.

But when I say carnal life coach, I mean some preachers, they just kind of give you empty words of encouragement. Oh, you can do it. You're a champion. You're this.

You're that. And we don't even get out of bed. We sit there laying in bed thinking, man, I feel better about myself. Well, right now the Holy Spirit may want to convict us. God's conviction is an invitation. Condemnation pushes us away. Conviction draws us near.

Right now the Holy Spirit may be convicting you and say, hey, no time for pity party now. Too many people hurting, too many people dying. You are needed in service. You know, Israel in its war against Hamas called up about 400,000 reservists. So these are men and women in Israel, in particular men that are now called up for service after they've done their military time. And they've come back to Israel from different parts of the world where they may have been. And within Israel, this affects the whole nation, affects the economy and everything because you've got, if you've got seven plus million Jews in Israel and the vast, vast, vast majority of reservists are going to be Jews, Arabs don't have to serve in the military. So you're talking about a massive part of the workforce and husbands away from wives and fathers away from children.

It's a massive, massive call up. But this is what happens in the time of war. And these men willingly give themselves to it. They believe it's part of their sacred task and mission.

But here's the deal. Everybody's needed. Everybody's needed in a time of war. You may not feel like it, but everybody's needed. Paul wrote to Timothy in 2 Timothy 2 and said, endure hardship as a good soldier of Messiah Jesus. And that friend is part of what we are called to. There is hardship.

There is opposition. Jesus said in John 16 33, in this world, you will have trouble. You will have tribulation. You will have pressure.

You will have difficulty, but be encouraged. I have overcome the world. How does that encourage us?

Well, because we're in him because he's overcome the world and therefore in him and through him, we can overcome the world. So I want to say to each one of you, you have a role to play. Your life counts. Your life matters. Don't despise small things.

Don't despise little things. Here, some of you may look at me as someone that God has used and that has a great platform to reach millions of people in America and around the world. And I'm grateful for every opportunity the Lord gives me to serve him and make an impact. Well, who was I when I got saved? I was just a rebel. I was a foolish, heavy drug user.

The nickname is Drug Bear and Iron Man because of the large quantities of drugs I could use shooting heroin at the age of 15. I was in bad shape, full of anger and hatred and anger towards those I didn't like. Otherwise, I enjoyed partying and playing drums with a rock band and going to rock concerts and so on and living my godless life. I enjoyed living in sin. And Hebrews 11 says that there is pleasure in sin for a season.

And I was more in the pleasure part than reaping the horrible rewards of it, the negative payments of it. People shared the gospel with me. Friends shared the gospel with me. Church people shared the gospel with me. I was nobody.

I was a lost sinner. And yet God, by his grace, has used me to touch many people and to help in many areas like Jewish ministry and outreach and things like that. And you don't know who you're witnessing to. You don't know who you're praying for. And conversely, you may be doing something that nobody sees or knows.

It may be the opposite of me. It may be no public platform at all, but you may be 10 times more effective than I'll ever be. And it could be through secret intercession.

You could be shut in your home, literally. You could be 85 years old, shut in in your home, an invalid, too weak to walk around the house, but you know the Lord, and you're a prayer warrior, and all through the day you're lifting up prayers to God. On that day when we stand before him, you may get 10 times the reward that I'll ever get for faithfulness to the Lord and loyalty, and your reach may be 10 times more than mine will ever be. So, whoever you are, whatever the task, large or small, you need it. You need it. Those old posters, Uncle Sam wants you.

God says, I called you, bought you with a price. Let's get on the front lines together and make a difference. 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. Hey, one more reminder, if you're not getting my emails, I know many thousands of you are, but many more thousands of you are not. Sign up today at thelineoffire.org, thelineoffire.org. We want to send you our front line newsletter. First issue, I'm going to tell you an amazing story about a woman who had lost her faith because of listening to some rabbis and others online, and how she came in contact with our material, and how she came back to the Lord, and how the Lord in His grace took an ignorant sinner like me before I knew the Lord, and how He shaped my life in such a way to be able to help. It'll give you insight into what we're doing to reach Jewish people with the gospel. We've also got a Hebrew word of the month. We've got book excerpts, free book excerpts, and other materials and testimonies of those who are being blessed and helped. I think you'll really, really enjoy this. Another edition, we're going to be talking about some of our spiritual sons preaching in mosques, preaching the gospel of Jesus in mosques in the Middle East by invitation.

So there's a whole lot of stuff we'll be telling you, talking about things happening in the culture wars and some amazing fruit that we're seeing, lives being changed. So make sure you're getting our emails. If you are, you'll get the Frontline newsletter automatically. If not, if not, then just go to thelineoffire.org.

Just sign up for the emails and you will get it automatically. Okay, something else in the culture wars though, as on the one hand the Biden administration continues to push hard for so-called transgender rights. And unfortunately, Republican Governor Mike DeWine in Ohio had vetoed the bill that would make it illegal for children to transition, so make it illegal for children to be sterilized by puberty blockers at the age of 10 or have life-altering surgery like a girl at 13, have her breast removed. So a bill that is so essential and so important is being passed in state after state in America. He vetoed it saying there's a better way and he's listening to folks on all sides.

I do understand. You have trans advocates who say this is about saving lives, just like you have those who on the side I am saying this is about saving lives. They say it's about saving lives. We say it's about saving children. They say it's about saving children. We say it's medical malpractice to do these things to kids. They say it's medical malpractice to withhold these things from kids. I get it. I understand the two sides of the argument and I stand 100 percent immovably sure on the side that this is not a decision that children and or parents of children, let alone doctors, can make for children.

That simple. And though it's not a matter of if we don't have it, we'll commit suicide. First, the great, great, great, great majority of kids who identify as trans, the great, great, great majority outgrow it. Could be in some cases over 90 percent will outgrow it once they go through puberty. Many will identify as gay afterwards.

I understand that, right? I'm simply saying the vast majority will no longer identify as trans. In fact, that's why many gay activists oppose the surgery and the hormone treatments and all of that because they're just mutilating and hurting gay kids. That's their perspective. But either way, we agree that the vast majority go through puberty.

The vast, vast majority will outgrow this. And if a child is suicidal, you don't say, okay, we'll cater to your need. You find out why they're suicidal and get to the root of it and help them there.

You know, just like Professor Paul McHugh pointed out many years ago, the famed psychologist pointed out many years ago that you don't give liposuction to an anorexic. In the same way, if a child is deluded into thinking they're trapped in their own body, then you help them from the inside out. That's the compassionate thing to do. Or you help them with suicidal thoughts as opposed to say, well, then, okay, let's cut your breasts off at the age of 13. Or, yeah, let's put you on these hormone blockers at the age of 10 and you'll never be able to have kids in the future.

You're going to be sterilized. No, that's madness. It's cultural madness. So not only are these things going on, but the pushback continues.

The eyes continue to be open. The radical woke agenda, in so many ways, continues to fail. Now, I know, maybe I didn't see the movies, but maybe the wokest movie of last year was Barbie and it was this massive international big seller. So I get that, that it's not always 100% of the time flop and failure, but these things don't work themselves out in real life. As the years go on, we're going to see so many lawsuits against doctors and medical organizations, so many lawsuits against others who participated in the chemical castration and the surgical mutilation of young people, that the thing's just going to collapse under that. But the pushback does continue. And in another area of society where we really are seeing pushback, it's against DEI, diversity, equity, inclusion. It's against this idea of forcing equal outcomes.

And there, with many things, there are good intents. In other words, you see inequality and you want to balance it out. You look at one particular sector of society and say, why is it that they seem to fall shorter educationally? They seem to fall shorter in terms of income.

They seem to fall shorter in these other ways. Is it because they are intrinsically worse? They are intrinsically dumber? They are intrinsically less capable?

No. Then why do we see these things? How can we address them? Those are good righteous thoughts. Those are good, fair thoughts. And these are things that the prophets of Israel were concerned with when the rich would get richer at the expense of the poor and the poor would be oppressed and the rich would break the rules and the poor had to live by the rules. The prophets confronted that. But it was also understood that you are always going to have rich and poor, that you are always going to have certain inequities in the world. That is just the nature of it. One child is born with a disability.

The other child is born as a super athlete. There are always going to be these inequities in that regard. You can't fix everything. Someone raised in a home with wonderful, godly parents versus someone raised in a broken home with abusive, violent, alcoholic parent and in and out other parents. So that is just reality in its world.

We do our best to help administer to everyone. But the DEI system as it is set up produces inequality, produces wrong results. So the biggest case in point now is the former president of Harvard University, Claudine Gay. If you say, how dare you speak against this? That is racist. No, it is racist to assume that a fair critique of a person of color is racist. It is racist to say that only a person of color can criticize a person of color. Otherwise, what about all the people that criticize Jewish people or criticize white people? What if I said, well, you can't criticize a white person unless you are white. You can't criticize a Jewish person unless you are Jewish. No, fair criticism is fair criticism. It is that simple. And there are numerous black scholars, black professors, leading African-American thinkers who called for Professor Gay's resignation and said that she never should have been president of Harvard in the first place. There is insider information that said when Harvard was doing its search for president that people had to.