December 29, 2024 • 20 mins
This episode was released on December 17, 2024.
In a powerful display of transparency and vulnerability, Dr. Michael Brown addresses recent allegations with heartfelt repentance, seeking forgiveness and restoration. This candid testimony explores the redemptive power of grace amidst brokenness and the resilience of the human spirit. With tears of humility, Dr. Brown takes full ownership of past emotional failings, demonstrating the transformative work of the Lord in a leader's life. Viewers are invited to witness this profound journey of confession, accountability, and the healing that can emerge from even the darkest of circumstances. This video offers a compelling glimpse into the complexities of pastoral ministry, the importance of holistic discipleship, and the hope found in a forgiving God. Join us as we unpack this powerful testimony of vulnerability, forgiveness, and the resilience of the human spirit.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
Please forgive me for my actions which caused you so much pain.
(00:05):
I am truly and deeply sorry.
Spouting off before listening to the facts is both shameful and foolish.
That's Proverbs 18 verse 13.
And that wisdom is something that we are often forgetting in our society today.
With me today is Dr. Malachi O'Brien.
And we are going to listen and hear what Dr.
(00:26):
Michael Brown has to say in his statement about the allegations that have been recently reported about him.
Dr. Malachi, you had a chance to listen to this as well.
Before we actually play it for everybody here, we're going to break it up into a couple of different sections.
What is your thoughts about this?
My initial thought is how powerful the whole video is.
(00:50):
And so I really am looking forward to us breaking it down and just the realization that never has there
been a time more needed than now to not give into the spirit of accusation, but actually hear from the heart and not in the head.
What does the spirit tell us?
Not what do we want?
What do we perceive that we want to hear, but rather what is God telling us?
So I really believe this is going to be powerful conversation.
(01:12):
Yeah.
And I want to encourage people to go to Dr.
Michael Brown's YouTube channel to watch the full video in its entirety.
We're going to play the full thing, but broken it up in different clips, but you can watch that full thing uninterrupted.
Right now, we're going to listen to Dr.
Brown explaining what happened.
Thanks so much for taking time to watch the statement.
Since a third party investigation can drag on for months, I want to speak to you today with transparency about recent stories and allegations in the news.
(01:41):
I would have done this days ago, but I've been out of the country with my grandson.
I want to be transparent, take full ownership of any wrongs done on my part.
And as forgiveness for incidents that took place 23 years ago, these incidents occurred in late 2001 and the very beginning of 2002 during a very difficult season of life and ministry.
(02:06):
I've lived for decades with the sobering reality that many people follow my teaching and look to my example.
As Jesus taught in Luke 12 48, everyone to whom much was given of him, much will be required.
I am accountable to a holy God for the ministry entrusted to me.
Yeah, so he's accountable for this ministry that God has entrusted to him and he's taking ownership of of what he's about to say.
(02:35):
What's your thoughts so far?
Well, I think one, you know, people have been crying out for him to say something, say something more.
What I know is some people are going to hear what they want to hear.
For some, this will be enough.
For some, this won't be enough.
But first and foremost, I'm grateful he's actually doing this because it is somewhat rare.
And so again, my hallucination is the critics will tear it apart word by word, but they really need to hear from the heart.
(03:01):
He's taking time. He's telling us the reason why it took time to get to this statement in this moment.
And we need to believe him.
I appreciate that. Let's take a look at the next part.
As a result of recent allegations, many are deeply confused and troubled in the interest of full disclosure and in the sight of the God who knows all.
I will speak to you as plainly and directly as I can.
(03:26):
Well, I have never committed adultery in all our years of marriage.
In late 2001, the beginning of 2002, I developed an emotional, not a physical tie with another individual.
She and her husband were very close friends of ours.
Because of the weight of my conscience, I went and confessed everything to a close friend the first week of 2002.
(03:50):
I then went to Nancy and with agonizing repentance, confessed to her with a broken heart, asked her forgiveness, and she forgave me deeply and totally.
Looking back today, as we approach 49 years of marriage, I remain amazed at the depth of her love.
At that time, in January 2002, I was eager to share all this with my leadership team, as well as with our entire school and church community.
(04:15):
But that was not my decision alone to make.
And both defendant spouses agreed that since we had not committed adultery, the matter would end there, sparing them further shame and dishonor.
That's the reason I've never discussed it with anyone else until recently.
It was not to hide things.
It was to honor my spouse whom I had hurt so deeply.
(04:38):
In the months that followed in 2002, I made radical changes to my schedule and lifestyle, received intensive counseling, and experienced the holy discipline of the Lord.
I am profoundly grateful that our Lord is a forgiving Lord, that he responds to deep heartfelt repentance,
that he does not discard and cast off his children because of their failings when they turn back to him with all their heart.
(05:00):
As Micah said, who is a God like you who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance?
You do not stay angry forever, but delight to show mercy.
I am so glad that God does delight to show mercy and he doesn't stay angry forever.
But I really appreciate that Dr. Brown said that he went through a private restoration.
(05:24):
He went through some counseling, went through just a bit of a restoration behind the scenes because this was not a public thing that happened at that point.
And just even how the spouses were involved in what they needed to do next.
I think that's very appropriate because this was a private matter and the spouses didn't need to be ashamed of what happened.
(05:47):
They weren't the perpetrators of that, but it would have been harmful for them if that would have been talked about at that point.
I agree. And I'll also say that you could sense in his voice there was brokenness,
there was tears both when he talked about the forgiveness and love of his wife and both when he talked about the forgiveness and love of the father, which is moving.
(06:11):
And we all need to remember in these moments that if we're in Christ Jesus, there is no condemnation.
And the enemy wants to make us feel shame and humiliation and cause us to pay for things in our past.
We've got to realize Jesus paid for everything in our past.
And so here is like a sober and reality.
(06:32):
So he admitted to what is pretty much we would all classify as an emotional and affair.
Now, every word carries different connotations and meaning.
I even understand saying that word affair could mean different things to different people.
But I'm reminded of the words of Jesus Christ that if you looked lustfully on a woman,
you've committed adultery in your heart.
(06:53):
If you've ever thought a hateful thought towards a nether person that you have murdered them in your heart.
And so Jesus raises the bar, raises the standard so high to reveal to all of us in the reality of things
that we all are murderers.
We all are adulterers.
That if we've ever loved anyone more than God himself, we've played the harlot.
(07:19):
And so to use Old Testament language.
And I'm not minimizing this instance here, but I'm also not going to maximize this sin.
But the reality is we all need to understand the depth of love that God has for us,
both in his mercy and grace and forgiveness.
And so I hope everyone watching this will put down, if they have stones, put them down.
(07:40):
And just think about how much God loves them and has forgiven them.
We have to run from some sense of self-righteousness that we are better than, we are holier than.
We would never do such things because here is the reality.
Everybody has fallen short.
Everybody and everybody is in need of mercy and forgiveness.
(08:03):
We have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.
And we all need his forgiveness and grace and mercy because without him we are nothing.
We deserve hell.
And we're so grateful that Jesus made a way for us to be reconciled, to be forgiven, to be made right.
(08:23):
Well, let me add to that.
The court of heaven matters way more than the court of public opinion.
People want to try this out on X or Facebook or Instagram or TikTok, what have you.
What matters is what the father says, the father feels, and the father knows what the court of heaven declares,
not the court of public opinion.
(08:47):
Yeah.
So Dr. Braun goes on in this to talk about another person that was hurt.
So let's take a look at this part.
As to the incident with the individual referred to in the allegations as Aaron,
it is not my purpose here to deny or confirm specific allegations.
I'll leave it to the investigation to uncover truth.
(09:11):
The fact is that an offense remains.
And that is what I must address, taking full ownership of my actions and the pain I caused.
Jesus gave us a clear directive when it came to matters like this.
If you are offering your gift at the altar and there, remember that your brother or sister has something against you.
(09:33):
Leave your gift there in front of the altar.
First go and be reconciled to them.
Then come and offer your gift.
In the case at hand, Aaron has something very serious against me,
and it is imperative that I make this right to the best of my ability.
Nancy and I understood the matter had been settled in August 2002 when Aaron expressed to me for the first time
(09:57):
how our interaction months earlier had made her uncomfortable.
I apologize to her and Nancy's presence that same day.
But it is clear now that I failed to understand the depth of what she was experiencing as a result of my actions.
And I never dreamed that she would suffer the effects of that pain in subsequent years.
(10:18):
And so today, in the most public way possible, I want to speak directly to her.
Please forgive me for my actions which caused you so much pain.
Had I more clearly understood the result of those actions in 2002, I would have responded very differently.
(10:38):
Again, from the heart, I ask you to forgive me.
I am truly and deeply sorry.
He's truly and deeply sorry.
I really appreciate that he said that this happened 23 years ago,
and it was brought up at that point by this Aaron.
He and his wife got together with her, and he thought that they had dealt with it at that point.
(11:04):
Unbeknownst to him, she was still dealing with this, and I guess that's where this has come out.
And he is truly, truly sorry for the pain that goes deeper than he originally understood.
Am I understanding that correctly, Micah, Malachi?
A hundred percent.
Now, hey, I go by a lot of things, but here's the truth.
He is. He's doing the best that he can with what's presented to him now.
(11:27):
I mean, I have no reason but not to believe him again.
I mean, we've got to stop acting with suspicion towards everybody and everything.
1 Corinthians 13 tells us, love believes all things.
And so I give Dr. Brown the benefit of the doubt.
He is doing it the best way he can now.
My hallucination is, though, the critics want details.
(11:50):
They want salacious details, whatever that may be.
And honestly, they want him to pay for this in a very visible public way.
And that's concerning to me.
But here's what I know.
This video is not for the critics.
It's for those that Dr. Brown loves and to those that are watching him.
(12:11):
And he has the very best of his ability, taking full ownership of this in every way he can.
And I just, I'm like, I applaud him for this.
And I say, this is the way.
And he says that this is the most public way that he is possibly able to get this message out.
And that's through his YouTube channel.
(12:32):
And I'm sure he's using every venue possible to promote this, to get this as far and as wide as possible.
And that takes humility.
That takes guts, honestly.
You know, humility defeats humiliation.
Sincerity defeats shame.
(12:53):
And vulnerability brings people closer together than our attempts at perfection.
And that's why I applaud this.
Yeah. You know, in this next part, Dr. Brown doesn't leave just asking Aaron for forgiveness.
He goes on to talk to everybody.
Now, if I can speak to all those who were part of the fire community at that time,
(13:16):
to the rest of the leaders, virtually all of whom I've been able to speak with privately already,
to our students and grads, to our church community, and to every fire missionary on the field worldwide,
please forgive me for my failings and poor judgment and any mishandling of these situations during that time 23 years ago.
(13:41):
I fell short of the high standards that we set.
I disappointed you and I hurt you.
Please forgive me.
You were the most important people in my life and I was committed to serving you at any cost.
I literally shed tears of love for all of you and desperately desire to walk worthy of your honor and love as well,
(14:04):
setting a godly example in every way.
Again, I can only ask you to forgive me today.
To the larger body of Christ, I deeply regret my behavior from 23 years ago to the extent that it has caused pain
or been a distraction or caused you to question God, wonder who the real Dr. Brown is, I ask you as well to forgive me.
(14:28):
I know I failed you during that period and will continue to work to regain your trust.
I truly believe that Peter, restored by God's grace after denying the Lord three times and weeping bitterly,
became a far better man through his experiences.
If dredging up this painful time in my life, a time when I also wept bitterly for many days,
(14:51):
deepens my humility and dependence on the Lord, then all the more do I embrace what he has called me to walk through today.
Regardless of the finding of the third party investigation, I do not minimize the wrongness of my past actions.
And in the days ahead, I remain fully submitted to the line of fire board as I've entrusted the process
(15:14):
into their hands and have agreed to walk through it however they see fit.
May his healing grace flow to everyone who is hurting and may God's life outshine the darkness.
And I must say, Dr. Brown, I forgive you.
I don't have those same relationships, but I have really appreciated his ministry and I forgive him with this.
(15:39):
I do the same and I don't feel like he's wronged me, but I accept that.
You know, and I do.
And I remember the phrase of this prayer when people can say, you know, I love you.
I'm sorry. Please forgive me.
Thank you. It's an old ancient Hawaiian prayer.
I love you. I'm sorry. Please forgive me.
(16:01):
Thank you. And I mean, I'm just saying I sense from the soul of Dr. Brown that sincerity and he owed me nothing.
But I take it. And I just think that I really want to emphasize, John, that there is nobody watching this video now
or in the future, whenever they watch it, that if they really think inside,
they have things in their heart that they have done that they're not proud of, regardless of the size and scope.
(16:26):
And I hope that in a moment when somebody needs mercy and grace, they find it.
And there's people of mercy and grace around them.
If you want to receive mercy, you got to give mercy.
But I do know that if we are to receive forgiveness, we must forgive.
That forgiveness does not come with stipulations.
It doesn't come if Dr. Brown says five more things or does 10 more things or takes a 10 year break.
(16:51):
Not that all. We forgive instantly.
Total forgiveness is what's asked of us.
And here's the beauty, because what Jesus did, we have the power to do it and the obligation to do it and hopefully the joy to do it.
Amen. You know, as he was talking about how he is trusting the third party investigation that's going into this,
he is apologized for whatever, but he's trusting.
(17:15):
He's putting his ministry, his future really in the hands of the board and whatever they see fit for him to do.
He's going to do that. That reminds me of King David in Second Samuel chapter 24,
where he was as a king, he's not supposed to take a census of his fighting men, but he does anyway.
And the prophet comes and says, you've sinned against God.
(17:38):
And this is the these are the three choices that you have.
You can be chased around and exile.
You can I forget the other ones, but I forget the third one.
But there was the second one was pestilence and a plague over the land.
And he said, I throw myself at the hands of the Lord.
And now there was a plague that came and it lasted three days and I think killed like 70,000 men.
(18:03):
And it was a horrible thing that affected a lot of people.
But as David went to do what God what God said to do to end this,
which was actually buy a field and make a altar and have a sacrifice there,
he went to the owner of that field and the owner of that field, Aruna, said, I'll just give this to you, King David.
And David said something that has floored me in second Samuel 24, 24.
(18:27):
He said, no, I will surely buy it from you for a price because I will not offer the Lord my God burnt offerings, which cost me nothing.
And that has that verse has really meant a lot to me in my life.
And whenever I see somebody taking that same response and saying, I'm willing to do whatever God says to do,
I'm willing to let my life fall into his hands.
(18:50):
And then he's willing to still pay the price to build the altar even whenever it was going to be given to him.
Now that actually that land actually went on to become the place where the temple then was.
And so there is a beautiful thing that came out of that.
Malachi, what do you think about whenever he's talking about putting his self in those hands?
(19:10):
I mean, he's just trusting the Lord and the redemptive part of this whole story.
He's trusting that the power of the gospel, the beauty of forgiveness, the love of Jesus Christ
is a much stronger narrative and force than what anybody might pull out or discover.
And so, again, I think that's the way forward in a moment like this and to trust.
(19:33):
Again, you know, we're imperfect people doing the best that we can.
Our boards are imperfect. Our processes aren't always the best,
but he's just trusting the Lord and he's trusting the oversight he's put above him, whatever they say.
And so, again, I honor that.
And so, again, I tell people put down your stones and your attempts at perfection to overanalyze things
(19:53):
and just see that this is something for all of us to receive in this moment.
So, again, I honor Dr. Brown.
I'm praying for him and their board and their team.
And personally, John, I'm looking forward to what God's going to do in and through Dr. Brown in the future.
As I am with anybody who's fallen and have sought forgiveness and redemption,
(20:15):
I mean, that's what I look forward to.
They're a stronger, more beautiful human being with the ministry to come out of them.
We've got to get away from our attempts at perfection and fall into,
hey, this is what it looks like in the body of Christ in 20, 24, 25, 26, 27, whatever.
That's what's needed now, not perfection, but vulnerability, repentance, and redemption.
(20:38):
Thank you, Malachi.
In all situations, but especially in sensitive situations like this,
we need to be seeking the Lord and praying for the truth to be made known
and complete healing for everyone that is affected.
Thank you for watching Charisma Media.
Please forgive me for my actions which caused you so much pain.
(00:05):
I am truly and deeply sorry.
Spouting off before listening to the facts is both shameful and foolish.
That's Proverbs 18 verse 13.
And that wisdom is something that we are often forgetting in our society today.
With me today is Dr. Malachi O'Brien.
And we are going to listen and hear what Dr.
(00:26):
Michael Brown has to say in his statement about the allegations that have been recently reported about him.
Dr. Malachi, you had a chance to listen to this as well.
Before we actually play it for everybody here, we're going to break it up into a couple of different sections.
What is your thoughts about this?
My initial thought is how powerful the whole video is.
(00:50):
And so I really am looking forward to us breaking it down and just the realization that never has there
been a time more needed than now to not give into the spirit of accusation, but actually hear from the heart and not in the head.
What does the spirit tell us?
Not what do we want?
What do we perceive that we want to hear, but rather what is God telling us?
So I really believe this is going to be powerful conversation.
(01:12):
Yeah.
And I want to encourage people to go to Dr.
Michael Brown's YouTube channel to watch the full video in its entirety.
We're going to play the full thing, but broken it up in different clips, but you can watch that full thing uninterrupted.
Right now, we're going to listen to Dr.
Brown explaining what happened.
Thanks so much for taking time to watch the statement.
Since a third party investigation can drag on for months, I want to speak to you today with transparency about recent stories and allegations in the news.
(01:41):
I would have done this days ago, but I've been out of the country with my grandson.
I want to be transparent, take full ownership of any wrongs done on my part.
And as forgiveness for incidents that took place 23 years ago, these incidents occurred in late 2001 and the very beginning of 2002 during a very difficult season of life and ministry.
(02:06):
I've lived for decades with the sobering reality that many people follow my teaching and look to my example.
As Jesus taught in Luke 12 48, everyone to whom much was given of him, much will be required.
I am accountable to a holy God for the ministry entrusted to me.
Yeah, so he's accountable for this ministry that God has entrusted to him and he's taking ownership of of what he's about to say.
(02:35):
What's your thoughts so far?
Well, I think one, you know, people have been crying out for him to say something, say something more.
What I know is some people are going to hear what they want to hear.
For some, this will be enough.
For some, this won't be enough.
But first and foremost, I'm grateful he's actually doing this because it is somewhat rare.
And so again, my hallucination is the critics will tear it apart word by word, but they really need to hear from the heart.
(03:01):
He's taking time. He's telling us the reason why it took time to get to this statement in this moment.
And we need to believe him.
I appreciate that. Let's take a look at the next part.
As a result of recent allegations, many are deeply confused and troubled in the interest of full disclosure and in the sight of the God who knows all.
I will speak to you as plainly and directly as I can.
(03:26):
Well, I have never committed adultery in all our years of marriage.
In late 2001, the beginning of 2002, I developed an emotional, not a physical tie with another individual.
She and her husband were very close friends of ours.
Because of the weight of my conscience, I went and confessed everything to a close friend the first week of 2002.
(03:50):
I then went to Nancy and with agonizing repentance, confessed to her with a broken heart, asked her forgiveness, and she forgave me deeply and totally.
Looking back today, as we approach 49 years of marriage, I remain amazed at the depth of her love.
At that time, in January 2002, I was eager to share all this with my leadership team, as well as with our entire school and church community.
(04:15):
But that was not my decision alone to make.
And both defendant spouses agreed that since we had not committed adultery, the matter would end there, sparing them further shame and dishonor.
That's the reason I've never discussed it with anyone else until recently.
It was not to hide things.
It was to honor my spouse whom I had hurt so deeply.
(04:38):
In the months that followed in 2002, I made radical changes to my schedule and lifestyle, received intensive counseling, and experienced the holy discipline of the Lord.
I am profoundly grateful that our Lord is a forgiving Lord, that he responds to deep heartfelt repentance,
that he does not discard and cast off his children because of their failings when they turn back to him with all their heart.
(05:00):
As Micah said, who is a God like you who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance?
You do not stay angry forever, but delight to show mercy.
I am so glad that God does delight to show mercy and he doesn't stay angry forever.
But I really appreciate that Dr. Brown said that he went through a private restoration.
(05:24):
He went through some counseling, went through just a bit of a restoration behind the scenes because this was not a public thing that happened at that point.
And just even how the spouses were involved in what they needed to do next.
I think that's very appropriate because this was a private matter and the spouses didn't need to be ashamed of what happened.
(05:47):
They weren't the perpetrators of that, but it would have been harmful for them if that would have been talked about at that point.
I agree. And I'll also say that you could sense in his voice there was brokenness,
there was tears both when he talked about the forgiveness and love of his wife and both when he talked about the forgiveness and love of the father, which is moving.
(06:11):
And we all need to remember in these moments that if we're in Christ Jesus, there is no condemnation.
And the enemy wants to make us feel shame and humiliation and cause us to pay for things in our past.
We've got to realize Jesus paid for everything in our past.
And so here is like a sober and reality.
(06:32):
So he admitted to what is pretty much we would all classify as an emotional and affair.
Now, every word carries different connotations and meaning.
I even understand saying that word affair could mean different things to different people.
But I'm reminded of the words of Jesus Christ that if you looked lustfully on a woman,
you've committed adultery in your heart.
(06:53):
If you've ever thought a hateful thought towards a nether person that you have murdered them in your heart.
And so Jesus raises the bar, raises the standard so high to reveal to all of us in the reality of things
that we all are murderers.
We all are adulterers.
That if we've ever loved anyone more than God himself, we've played the harlot.
(07:19):
And so to use Old Testament language.
And I'm not minimizing this instance here, but I'm also not going to maximize this sin.
But the reality is we all need to understand the depth of love that God has for us,
both in his mercy and grace and forgiveness.
And so I hope everyone watching this will put down, if they have stones, put them down.
(07:40):
And just think about how much God loves them and has forgiven them.
We have to run from some sense of self-righteousness that we are better than, we are holier than.
We would never do such things because here is the reality.
Everybody has fallen short.
Everybody and everybody is in need of mercy and forgiveness.
(08:03):
We have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.
And we all need his forgiveness and grace and mercy because without him we are nothing.
We deserve hell.
And we're so grateful that Jesus made a way for us to be reconciled, to be forgiven, to be made right.
(08:23):
Well, let me add to that.
The court of heaven matters way more than the court of public opinion.
People want to try this out on X or Facebook or Instagram or TikTok, what have you.
What matters is what the father says, the father feels, and the father knows what the court of heaven declares,
not the court of public opinion.
(08:47):
Yeah.
So Dr. Braun goes on in this to talk about another person that was hurt.
So let's take a look at this part.
As to the incident with the individual referred to in the allegations as Aaron,
it is not my purpose here to deny or confirm specific allegations.
I'll leave it to the investigation to uncover truth.
(09:11):
The fact is that an offense remains.
And that is what I must address, taking full ownership of my actions and the pain I caused.
Jesus gave us a clear directive when it came to matters like this.
If you are offering your gift at the altar and there, remember that your brother or sister has something against you.
(09:33):
Leave your gift there in front of the altar.
First go and be reconciled to them.
Then come and offer your gift.
In the case at hand, Aaron has something very serious against me,
and it is imperative that I make this right to the best of my ability.
Nancy and I understood the matter had been settled in August 2002 when Aaron expressed to me for the first time
(09:57):
how our interaction months earlier had made her uncomfortable.
I apologize to her and Nancy's presence that same day.
But it is clear now that I failed to understand the depth of what she was experiencing as a result of my actions.
And I never dreamed that she would suffer the effects of that pain in subsequent years.
(10:18):
And so today, in the most public way possible, I want to speak directly to her.
Please forgive me for my actions which caused you so much pain.
Had I more clearly understood the result of those actions in 2002, I would have responded very differently.
(10:38):
Again, from the heart, I ask you to forgive me.
I am truly and deeply sorry.
He's truly and deeply sorry.
I really appreciate that he said that this happened 23 years ago,
and it was brought up at that point by this Aaron.
He and his wife got together with her, and he thought that they had dealt with it at that point.
(11:04):
Unbeknownst to him, she was still dealing with this, and I guess that's where this has come out.
And he is truly, truly sorry for the pain that goes deeper than he originally understood.
Am I understanding that correctly, Micah, Malachi?
A hundred percent.
Now, hey, I go by a lot of things, but here's the truth.
He is. He's doing the best that he can with what's presented to him now.
(11:27):
I mean, I have no reason but not to believe him again.
I mean, we've got to stop acting with suspicion towards everybody and everything.
1 Corinthians 13 tells us, love believes all things.
And so I give Dr. Brown the benefit of the doubt.
He is doing it the best way he can now.
My hallucination is, though, the critics want details.
(11:50):
They want salacious details, whatever that may be.
And honestly, they want him to pay for this in a very visible public way.
And that's concerning to me.
But here's what I know.
This video is not for the critics.
It's for those that Dr. Brown loves and to those that are watching him.
(12:11):
And he has the very best of his ability, taking full ownership of this in every way he can.
And I just, I'm like, I applaud him for this.
And I say, this is the way.
And he says that this is the most public way that he is possibly able to get this message out.
And that's through his YouTube channel.
(12:32):
And I'm sure he's using every venue possible to promote this, to get this as far and as wide as possible.
And that takes humility.
That takes guts, honestly.
You know, humility defeats humiliation.
Sincerity defeats shame.
(12:53):
And vulnerability brings people closer together than our attempts at perfection.
And that's why I applaud this.
Yeah. You know, in this next part, Dr. Brown doesn't leave just asking Aaron for forgiveness.
He goes on to talk to everybody.
Now, if I can speak to all those who were part of the fire community at that time,
(13:16):
to the rest of the leaders, virtually all of whom I've been able to speak with privately already,
to our students and grads, to our church community, and to every fire missionary on the field worldwide,
please forgive me for my failings and poor judgment and any mishandling of these situations during that time 23 years ago.
(13:41):
I fell short of the high standards that we set.
I disappointed you and I hurt you.
Please forgive me.
You were the most important people in my life and I was committed to serving you at any cost.
I literally shed tears of love for all of you and desperately desire to walk worthy of your honor and love as well,
(14:04):
setting a godly example in every way.
Again, I can only ask you to forgive me today.
To the larger body of Christ, I deeply regret my behavior from 23 years ago to the extent that it has caused pain
or been a distraction or caused you to question God, wonder who the real Dr. Brown is, I ask you as well to forgive me.
(14:28):
I know I failed you during that period and will continue to work to regain your trust.
I truly believe that Peter, restored by God's grace after denying the Lord three times and weeping bitterly,
became a far better man through his experiences.
If dredging up this painful time in my life, a time when I also wept bitterly for many days,
(14:51):
deepens my humility and dependence on the Lord, then all the more do I embrace what he has called me to walk through today.
Regardless of the finding of the third party investigation, I do not minimize the wrongness of my past actions.
And in the days ahead, I remain fully submitted to the line of fire board as I've entrusted the process
(15:14):
into their hands and have agreed to walk through it however they see fit.
May his healing grace flow to everyone who is hurting and may God's life outshine the darkness.
And I must say, Dr. Brown, I forgive you.
I don't have those same relationships, but I have really appreciated his ministry and I forgive him with this.
(15:39):
I do the same and I don't feel like he's wronged me, but I accept that.
You know, and I do.
And I remember the phrase of this prayer when people can say, you know, I love you.
I'm sorry. Please forgive me.
Thank you. It's an old ancient Hawaiian prayer.
I love you. I'm sorry. Please forgive me.
(16:01):
Thank you. And I mean, I'm just saying I sense from the soul of Dr. Brown that sincerity and he owed me nothing.
But I take it. And I just think that I really want to emphasize, John, that there is nobody watching this video now
or in the future, whenever they watch it, that if they really think inside,
they have things in their heart that they have done that they're not proud of, regardless of the size and scope.
(16:26):
And I hope that in a moment when somebody needs mercy and grace, they find it.
And there's people of mercy and grace around them.
If you want to receive mercy, you got to give mercy.
But I do know that if we are to receive forgiveness, we must forgive.
That forgiveness does not come with stipulations.
It doesn't come if Dr. Brown says five more things or does 10 more things or takes a 10 year break.
(16:51):
Not that all. We forgive instantly.
Total forgiveness is what's asked of us.
And here's the beauty, because what Jesus did, we have the power to do it and the obligation to do it and hopefully the joy to do it.
Amen. You know, as he was talking about how he is trusting the third party investigation that's going into this,
he is apologized for whatever, but he's trusting.
(17:15):
He's putting his ministry, his future really in the hands of the board and whatever they see fit for him to do.
He's going to do that. That reminds me of King David in Second Samuel chapter 24,
where he was as a king, he's not supposed to take a census of his fighting men, but he does anyway.
And the prophet comes and says, you've sinned against God.
(17:38):
And this is the these are the three choices that you have.
You can be chased around and exile.
You can I forget the other ones, but I forget the third one.
But there was the second one was pestilence and a plague over the land.
And he said, I throw myself at the hands of the Lord.
And now there was a plague that came and it lasted three days and I think killed like 70,000 men.
(18:03):
And it was a horrible thing that affected a lot of people.
But as David went to do what God what God said to do to end this,
which was actually buy a field and make a altar and have a sacrifice there,
he went to the owner of that field and the owner of that field, Aruna, said, I'll just give this to you, King David.
And David said something that has floored me in second Samuel 24, 24.
(18:27):
He said, no, I will surely buy it from you for a price because I will not offer the Lord my God burnt offerings, which cost me nothing.
And that has that verse has really meant a lot to me in my life.
And whenever I see somebody taking that same response and saying, I'm willing to do whatever God says to do,
I'm willing to let my life fall into his hands.
(18:50):
And then he's willing to still pay the price to build the altar even whenever it was going to be given to him.
Now that actually that land actually went on to become the place where the temple then was.
And so there is a beautiful thing that came out of that.
Malachi, what do you think about whenever he's talking about putting his self in those hands?
(19:10):
I mean, he's just trusting the Lord and the redemptive part of this whole story.
He's trusting that the power of the gospel, the beauty of forgiveness, the love of Jesus Christ
is a much stronger narrative and force than what anybody might pull out or discover.
And so, again, I think that's the way forward in a moment like this and to trust.
(19:33):
Again, you know, we're imperfect people doing the best that we can.
Our boards are imperfect. Our processes aren't always the best,
but he's just trusting the Lord and he's trusting the oversight he's put above him, whatever they say.
And so, again, I honor that.
And so, again, I tell people put down your stones and your attempts at perfection to overanalyze things
(19:53):
and just see that this is something for all of us to receive in this moment.
So, again, I honor Dr. Brown.
I'm praying for him and their board and their team.
And personally, John, I'm looking forward to what God's going to do in and through Dr. Brown in the future.
As I am with anybody who's fallen and have sought forgiveness and redemption,
(20:15):
I mean, that's what I look forward to.
They're a stronger, more beautiful human being with the ministry to come out of them.
We've got to get away from our attempts at perfection and fall into,
hey, this is what it looks like in the body of Christ in 20, 24, 25, 26, 27, whatever.
That's what's needed now, not perfection, but vulnerability, repentance, and redemption.
(20:38):
Thank you, Malachi.
In all situations, but especially in sensitive situations like this,
we need to be seeking the Lord and praying for the truth to be made known
and complete healing for everyone that is affected.
Thank you for watching Charisma Media.
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