[EDIT – Jan 28, 2018: Chris Rosebrough protested the fact that Brown falsely accused Chris from Grand Rapids of being him and asked Brown to acknowledge his error. As of Jan 30, 2018 there is still no acknowledgment of his error by Dr Brown.]
Chris Rice from ‘ThisIsNotSatire’ blog, recently rang in to the Line of Fire program (this program also uploaded on YouTube). During this call, Michael Brown went out of his way to attack the integrity of his caller by setting him up to fail in each response to the caller’s original question. And that’s not all.
Because Rice kept coming back to his question, it resulted with Michael Brown cutting Rice off and appearing to accuse Chris Rice (from Michigan) of being someone else, and we can safely assume he thought it was Pastor Chris Rosebrough (from North Dakota) who has previously rung in to speak to Brown on his program – Chris Rosebrough had put forward some tough biblical questions to Michael Brown on a previous program. By assuming Chris Rice was Chris Rosebrough, Michael Brown proceeded to very unfairly attack the character of Pastor Rosebrough.
You can see the YouTube video in question here:
“Chris has gone. I put him on hold so he wouldn’t interrupt me on the air. Okay. We’ll see where – I’m not even going to give his website or info. I let him do that in the past. This is a typical critic folks, who you just listened to. I put him on hold because he was talking over me on my own show and not letting me answer. This is the typical stuff we deal with. Now this will be the big campaign, ‘Mike Brown supports the prosperity gospel. Let these folks go on with their fundamental dishonest, unethical practices. Folks, my heart goes out to you because you are spitting into the wind. The smile of God is on those who honour.
So do I believe in generosity? Yes. Do I believe in sowing and reaping? Yes. Do I believe in a prosperity gospel? No! I’ve renounced it for decades! Period! Flat out! Directly! Plainly! Aggressively! Loudly! Clearly! And I continue to do so!”
Before tackling this deceitful statement and hearing what Chris Rice had to say, we take a look at how Brown demonstrated that he not only believes in and supports the prosperity gospel – he also supports those who preach it. We knew he held to a form of this false prosperity gospel even before we saw him do this to offerings:
The discussion opened with Rice reading the scripture of 1 Timothy 6:5 that claims ‘men of depraved mind’ promote the idea that ‘Godliness is a means of gain’. Instead of clarifying the issues and standing with scripture, Brown went after the discerning Christian.
When Rice brought up another difference seen in Word of Faith cults where people ‘declare’ prosperity rather than teach biblically, Brown completely disregarded the bible:
“That could be foolishness, that’s not necessarily the same thing. There are people that are foolish that you try to correct and help, right – that you don’t call people of depraved minds?”
As Brown travelled on this trajectory we see him openly defend, promote and believe in the false prosperity gospel of Health and Wealth (HAW) and Word of Faith (WOF) cults.
The false NAR deception regarding financial gain.
Brown opened up by pushing a bait and switch approach on him, playing on God’s providence and switching it out for the false notion of NAR Missiology:
“Let’s say you are going on the mission field, right. And you have no funds but you feel God’s really called you to go on the mission field with your family. So you’re our best and he will provide for us?”
The reason why Wagner and Wimber were doing classes regarding signs and wonders was because they were attempting to raise up Apostles and Prophets who could pioneer the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR). Wagner acknowledged that Wimber was an apostle and a pioneer of the New Apostolic Reformation and that his Vineyard movement was a prototype of the NAR. If they are raising up guaranteed men who operate under their definition of apostle – what was to accompany them? The supernatural.
This was to confirm their power gospel in their power evangelism exploits so they could establish power ministries. It wasn’t just supernatural church growth that marked such apostles – supernatural prosperity was to also confirm their apostleship as was demonstrated throughout the 70s and 80s with David Yonggi Cho, Morris Cerullo, John Avanzini, Benny Hinn, Creflo Dollar and many more. They were all claiming the same thing, God was prospering them because they were faithful to their apostolic calling. Thus they existed because they were always doing missions. They were capitalizing on the good-will of Christians to give money to missions while they grew ‘fat’ in the process by pumping everyone up with the prosperity gospel. Every single one of these false apostles would have had at some point made the claim that God called them to “the mission field” and then used this calling along with their message of ‘generosity’ to justify their prosperity.
So we see Michael Brown is fundamentally dishonest with his set-up and exposes the fact he operates from an NARpostolic missiological mindset. Rice was right to use the bible when he refuted Brown’s NAR false missiological framework,
“Well, if Abraham would have believed he was going to have a son without God telling him, that- it would have been a presumption.”
Brown: 0 – Rice: 1
So Brown proceeds to discredit Rice by trying to force him to believe what ‘prosperity theology’ proponents believe regarding how God wants us to be rich. So let’s take apart Brown’s earlier statement to see if Brown has demonstrated in his confession whether he is a ‘prosperity theology’ proponent himself, one who operates from a ‘depraved mind’.
“So do I believe in generosity? Yes. Do I believe in sowing and reaping? Yes. Do I believe in a prosperity gospel? No! I’ve renounced it for decades! Period! Flat out! Directly! Plainly! Aggressively! Loudly! Clearly! And I continue to do so!“
“So do I believe in generosity? Yes.”
HAW cult leaders would say the same thing. Why? They use generosity as the guise to smuggle in the lie why God wants you to be rich.
Brian Houston (whom Brown defends) and Joseph Prince (whom Brown supports) are just two out of many who use the phrase ‘blessed to be a blessing’ – to promote this damnable gospel. In fact, both these men who ‘believe in generosity’ go as far as to claim that Jesus Christ died to make you rich and prosperous. It’s also worth noting that Brown’s gospel is the same (see his FIRE Church media statement) plus he emphasizes supernatural healing as well.
So Brown himself is hiding behind ‘I believe in generosity’ to peddle the same prosperity gospel. This is such a deceitful tactic!
And there are other key verses these ‘prosperity hucksters’ use to swindle the body of Christ. Michael Brown seems to know these verses very well and twists these scriptures in support of this false gospel.
“Do I believe in sowing and reaping? Yes”.
This is where Brown’s ‘sheepskin’ starts to loosen as Brown already expanded on the meaning of ‘sowing and reaping’ earlier in the clip above. But look at what he is forcing this caller to do:
“Let’s just take a verse like- um- tell me if you agree with this.” [3:14]
Rule number 1 when dealing with a false teacher – never be in agreement with them. They are always up to something. In this case, Brown is trying to force Rice to agree in doctrinal error with this false prosperity gospel.
“Paul says those who sow liberally will reap liberally. Those who sow generously will reap generously. Do you believe that?” [3:18]
Michael Brown was reading from one of the more favourite texts that prosperity cults use to extract money from their followers. It has been used for decades to get their followers to agree with the heretical notion that God wants them rich and the method of getting rich is to ‘give, give and give’. They hone in on 1 Corinthians 9 and focus on the same verse Brown did – to teach if you ‘give’ abundantly, you will ‘live’ abundantly. Just ask John Avanzini, Benny Hinn, Paula White, Brian Houston, Joyce Meyer, Creflo Dollar, T.D. Jakes, Joel Osteen, Bill Johnson, Mike Bickle or the majority of Michael Brown’s friends. So why is Michael Brown attempting to deceive Chris Rice with this false prosperity gospel and its false theology?
Again, Rice saw straight through this tactic of Brown and avoided this ploy as well:
“I don’t believe that is a blank- I don’t think it’s a blank cheque for ‘I’m going to have a nice condo on the beach’.” [3:19]
Brown claimed,
“I didn’t say that, I didn’t say that. Do you agree with that verse?” [3:35]
Actually – Brown is saying that. This is such a classic ‘prosperity pimp’ manoeuvre and Brown is engaging in the same deception! Every Christian believes in giving. However Michael Brown is forcing a discerning caller to be in agreement with his prosperity gospel rather than what the bible clearly teaches on the topic of giving.
Prosperity heretics preach Christ is rich, Christ died to make you rich, demand your tithe and so you can be “blessed to be a blessing”.
Brown wants Chris Rice, and others listening to him, to be in agreement with his error. Rice refused to play this game and responded very wisely with the following statement,
“I agree with it to the extent that it is congruent with the whole counsel of God in scripture.”
It is refreshing to see a discerning Christian standing on the full council of God to order to silence Michael Brown. Brown proceeds to another passage to try again. This act alone revealed that there is a difference between Michael Brown’s theology on ‘sowing and reaping’ verses and those of someone who holds to the full council of God’s Word regarding ‘sowing and reaping’. Michael Brown revealed he does not hold to these biblical truths.
Brown: 0 – Rice: 2
“Jesus says, ‘Give and it shall be given to you…”
So far the dichotomies Brown gave are false, and the scripture he used could not trap Chris Rice. So what verse does Michael Brown go to next? Do you think he is going to handle the next text correctly? Or do you think he is going to go to another popular ‘prosperity theology’ text to twist its meaning into something about money?
Brown quotes Luke 6:38 out of context,
“Okay. Let’s try this. Jesus says, ‘Give and it shall be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, running over, shall men give into your bosom – the same way you give, will be given back to you.” Do you believe in that? [3:45]
At this point it’s clear Michael Brown holds to, and believes, a false prosperity gospel. The pattern is consistent in his argument. You could say he is the one who is ‘going to have a nice condo on the beach’, not because he is greedy but simply because he believes that if he:
- sows liberally he will reap liberally;
- sows generously he will reap generously; and
- gives so it will be given to him.
This is how prosperity reprobates like Brian Houston, Joseph Prince, Kong Hee, Phil Pringle, David Yonggi Cho, Sunday Adelaja, Alexander Abraham, Creflo Dollar, Joyce Meyer, Benny Hinn and countless others have been able to swindle millions of dollars off their followers. They use the same theology and tactics as Michael Brown does to promote this deceitful prosperity “blessed to be a blessing” gospel. Luke 6:38 is a common mantra thrown around by these cults, the emphasis being on the giving aspects of this verse. You can often hear this ‘pressed down, shaken’ mantra being addressed on Chris Rosebrough’s program ‘Fighting For The Faith’ when he reviews their ‘prosperity pimp’ sermons.
So did Chris Rice agree with Michael Brown’s understanding of this passage? Rice did see it through a biblical lens but once again – Brown would not tolerate his answer when Rice correctly identified how Brown was reading the text.
“But why do you keep jumping? You see here’s what troubles me. I don’t – I don’t find your methodology to be honest.” [4:08]
Brown finally snapped at the caller’s biblical stand and condemned him on public radio. The character assassination starts now simply because Brown’s theology was not consistent with the bible but with the theology of prosperity heretics.
This is Brown’s accusation against the caller:
“You’re going to read exactly what Paul says here. But when I quote Paul or Jesus elsewhere, you’re going to change it to then exaggerate – who said a condo on the beach?” [4:15]
What are we hearing?
Brown is accusing Chris Rice of believing what the bible says because Rice reads ‘exactly what Paul says’. Are you hearing this, Dr James White? Your friend Michael Brown is condemning a discerning caller for reading and believing ‘exactly what Paul says’.
Rice kept bringing up the ‘condo on the beach’ so there was a distinction between what he believed the bible teaches versus what prosperity cults teach. Brown was playing semantics to try and theologically ‘shipwreck’ the caller in order to bring him into agreement with this false theology!
At this stage – Michael Brown moves from repeatedly trying to manipulate Chris Rice and now proceeds to falsely accuse him of being someone else. Who at this point would not have been upset for being attacked publicly? Brown then spoke over him as he smiled and attacked the scriptures repeating, “Men will give to you.”
As wicked as it was to accuse men like Ps Chris Rosebrough and Chris Rice of ‘spitting in the wind’ – it’s another thing to ‘spit’ on Christ’s Word the way Michael Brown did. Let our readers be the judge – is this verse talking about monetary giving as Brown suggests or about judging?
“Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.”
He also told them a parable: “Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit? A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher.Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do notsee the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother’s eye.” Luke 6:37-42
You can go back to verse 27 to see that Jesus was teaching about judging. What Michael Brown gave in his judgments were faulty, flawed and failed to measure up against anything biblically substantial. Brown needs to accept the fact he will be biblically scrutinized because people heard him treat a discerning caller harshly.
Brown: 0 – Rice: 3
TACKLING BROWN’S CENSORSHIP AND DEFAMATION OF CRITICS.
At this point, the discussion is over and Michael Brown appears to lose the plot.
“You asked me a question. It’s my show. Let me talk to you candidly. Of course I know who you are. And in the past, I let you give out your information. I don’t read your stuff. I find you to be not credible.”
Steve Kozar of ‘Messed Up Church’ posted the following under the youtube video:
Dr. Brown thinks that “Chris from Grand Rapids MI” is somebody else and he turns off his mic so he can talk over him. He’s got the wrong person, but he goes on and on about how “dishonest” he is. “This is a typical critic,” says Dr. Brown, “let these folks go on with their fundamental dishonest, unethical practices.” What did Chris from Grand Rapids MI do that was dishonest or unethical?? YOU cut him off as you lied about him!
Source: Steve Kozar, You’ve Got Questions, We’ve Got Answers, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lb8gd7-zAes, Published Jan 26, 2018. (Accessed Jan 26, 2018.)
As a result, it appears that he attacked the integrity of a pastor on his show without any evidence – simply because he wrongly assumed the caller was someone else.
“Chris has gone. I put him on hold so he wouldn’t interrupt me on the air. Okay. We’ll see where – I’m not even going to give his website or info. I let him do that in the past. This is a typical critic folks who you just listened to. I put him on hold because he was talking over me on my own show and not letting me answer. This is the typical stuff we deal with. Now this will be the big campaign, ‘Mike Brown supports the prosperity gospel. Let these folks go on with their fundamental dishonest, unethical practices. Folks, my heart goes out to you because you are spitting into the wind.”
Dr. Brown, Chris Rice was ‘talking over you’ because you were trying to force him to agree with your prosperity gospel heresy. Furthermore, Rice did not know he was ‘put on hold’ as his past experiences when calling in was to be ‘put on hold’ – and you would never came back to him.
We were able to get a statement from Chris Rice trying to figure what happened.
“If I had known that I was just on hold, I would not have hung up. I had called the show before on other days and he had done the same thing where he put me on hold when I didn’t know it. And he would never – he never came back and put me back in the discussion. So I figured he was doing the same thing. I figured he was just done with me and was just going to keep rambling on and on and on. So, there was no need for me to stay on until it was done. Because like before, he’d just go on to the next caller.”
It only goes to show you cannot have an honest discussion with Michael Brown. You cannot expect him to be honest in his handling of the bible. Please be wary of the tactics, schemes and dangerous theology of Michael Brown.
CONCLUSION
When Chris Rosebrough was on the show back in October 2016, Michael Brown let Ps Rosebrough advertise his church and website. So Brown clearly had in his mind the idea he was talking to Chris Rosebrough. Now Brown says, “I don’t read your stuff. I find you to be not credible.”
Let that sink in.
This is the same Michael Brown who praises heretics but then claims he doesn’t know if he can call them heretics or damned because he doesn’t have time to read their books or listen to their sermons. He has given criminals (David Yonggi Cho) and lawless men (Brian Houston) and heretics (Bill Johnson, Benny Hinn, Heidi Baker) and false prophets (Cindy Jacobs, Rick Joyner, Lou Engle) a higher ‘divine’ prerogative and condemns godly shepherds who not only feed God’s sheep but guard them from these wolves.
How can he claim Rosebrough is not credible if he hasn’t ‘read his stuff’ or heard his sermons yet has loud praise for his friends Cindy Jacobs, Mike Bickle, Lou Engle, Heidi Baker, Bill Johnson and other heretics (whose material he claims not to have read either).
Brown supposedly accused Chris Rosebrough of engaging in “fundamental dishonest, unethical practices.” Really Dr. Brown? Your critics are fundamentally dishonest for actually listening to you, reading your books (as you insist they must) and testing what you say against scripture? If you think Ps. Rosebrough has ‘fundamental dishonest, unethical practices’ then why are you not rebuking your friends who engage in blasphemous, heretical, criminal and lawless activity?
This entire scenario reveals the hostility NAR Apostles like Michael Brown have against discerning Christians – they are not tolerated. What was ticking underneath the hood of this conversation between Chris Rice and Michael Brown was Brown’s “touch-not God’s anointed” apostleship.
It seems it’s up to believers, as ‘Bereans’, to search out the biblical Truth – while Brown and others like him, continue to expose their NARpostolic hand by putting pressure on their followers to not question their heresies.
Can we expect Brown to be held accountable to the Word of God? Is he above that accountability? If he is the solid Christian he claims to be, he has sinned against a brother. But do you think he is going to operate from Matthew 18? Do you think he is going to apologize to Chris Rice (and Chris Rosebrough) for treating him worse than a pagan?
The entire segment confirms what is wrong with Michael Brown.
He was wrong with the scriptures he used. He was wrong in the way he used his power to justify his position. He was dishonest in how he set up his questions and answers. And finally, he was unethical in how he used his position to totally discredit the caller, Chris Rice, by wrongfully assuming he was someone else who has previously called the program, that other caller being Ps Chris Rosebrough – now we have two godly men whose tough questions are yet to be answered biblically by Michael Brown.
Email all comments and questions to c3churchwatch@hotmail.com
Categories: Line of Fire