 It's a new day, a new day to serve God, a new day to love your neighbor, a new day to believe him for a miracle. We're gonna be talking about that in just a minute. And by the way, I'm Tom Hollis. This is Amanda Brocker. Welcome to Hope Today. Happy Tuesday. Amen, it is gonna be a great day. We are gonna be talking about a very special book called Every Day A Miracle, written by our very own Pastor Matt Brown. We are ecstatic to have him with us. And let me just tell you that we're gonna encounter stories. He's gonna unfold some of those in this interview, but it's ultimately gonna draw you into a deeper, more authentic relationship with Jesus. And who doesn't want that? So you might need to give someone a call. Dow them up and say, hey, you need to stay tuned and watch because we are going to hear about a miracle that Jesus has done in Matt's life and done through his life as well. I can't wait for this. I mean, we believe in miracles. We believe in a miracle working God. We believe in the miracles of the Bible. We believe in the miracles that we've seen happen in our own lives and in the lives of the people around us. But there's many times it's a battle too, Amanda. There's times where we have to walk that walk of faith. And I'm sure we're gonna be talking about that today. Absolutely. And you know God doesn't always say yes. Pastor Matt's gonna talk about that. What happens when God says no? I'm like, we still have to trust him. But I am interested of how this program's gonna unfold. You're not gonna wanna miss one second of it. And I want you to know there's so many things that is gonna happen today. We're gonna have this conversation with Pastor Matt. We've got a really unique scripture for you later in the program and I'm gonna be sharing a little bit about what God has shown me related to that. But we're also believing for your miracle as well. If you need prayer, you can call at any time and get ahold of a prayer partner and they will pray with you and they will believe for you to God for a miracle. So you can avail yourself of that as well. Amen. Well, we are gonna get right into it because I know Tom and I, we can hardly wait. Do you believe that God still performs miracles? If not, our next guest may just change your mind. Pastor Matt Brown received a miraculous healing from God and he's written about it in his new book. Every Day, A Miracle. He joins us now to share more about his healing journey and to encourage you that miracles still do happen. Pastor Matt, welcome to Hope Today. Yeah, thank you so much for having me on. Super early here in California, but I'm glad to be with you. We are so glad that you got up early and you're bright eyed and bushy tailed. You're ready for this. Amen. Well, we wanna hear about this amazing healing testimony in your own personal life first. Yeah, so the first miracle I had, Amanda, and you guys both know, you're communicators, but I was having voice issues in my early 30s and things just got worse and worse and worse. And so they did an MRI and they found a tumor in my throat. And it was really, really scary, a scary time. I felt like I was called to preach and I was losing my voice. And so I took a vow of silence for 10 days, went off to Palm Springs to hear from God, panicked, didn't hear from God, but I did get an email from Pastor Rick Warren, which was amazing and challenged me. He said, hey, God is with you. Learn whatever you can during this time. Went and had surgery and I gotta tell you, Amanda and Tom, I had surgery and they found nothing. The tumor was gone. And when I woke up, the doctor said we found nothing. I said, how could that be? And Amanda, I'll never forget. The surgeon said, you tell me, you're the pastor. And so that was just kind of my opening to this whole encounter with this miraculous God that does miracles. And I believed I think like a lot of your listeners that God does miracles in the Bible, but I didn't know if he would do one for me, you know? And that's kind of the tension we all have to wait in. God, what are you gonna do for me as I'm waiting for this? And I've never had a problem. I've never had a growth. I've never had a return. It's been over 20 years and I've been fine. And I've been preaching the gospel out here in California for 20 years. Amen. That is a powerful story. So let's dive in and like talk about every day a miracle. Like why is it important for us to look to the Lord and to believe and expect him for those miracles in our life? Yeah, because God is good. And so one of the things that I talk about in the book so clearly is that Jesus is not just our savior. He is our healer. He's both. And I jump into the Greek word sotso in the book and that word can be translated in our Bibles to save or to heal. And it's all on the context of how it's used. And so Jesus came to do both. And I want the readers to know that God is our healer. That's how he defines himself. And Jesus ultimately came to bring healing not just for us, but ultimately, you know the book of Revelation promises a new heaven and a new earth, total healing everywhere in every way. And we want to trust God in that process. And I got the term every day a miracle from Lamentations 322 that the Lord's mercies are new every day, every morning. And we can trust God in that. And so that's where that idea comes from that God has something new for us each and every day. I love that scripture pastor Matt, one of my favorites. But let me ask you about, I think what may be an elephant in the room here is that anybody that's walked with the Lord for a while, anybody certainly in ministry, you've prayed for people, you've prayed for yourself, you've believed, and it just seems like it doesn't happen. And so we've faced that. I think we need to kind of ask that question. How do you come down as far as what's going on there? Yeah, and so here's a really, really important thing, Tom and Amanda, I think that as Christians we need to redirect our faith. And so a lot of Christians, I hear them say, I'm believing for a miracle, so I wanna pause there. And the book I say over and over and over again, we believe in what God can do, we don't know what he will do. And God is not frustrated if we don't trust the outcome. Jesus gets irritated, and you'll remember in Mark nine when the man with the son, and he says, if you can, and Jesus says, wait, wait, wait, what do you mean if I can? That's where God gets frustrated with us. And so every single prayer, Tom, that we pray is answered yes, no, or wait. There's no such thing as an unanswered prayer. You may not have liked the answer you got, but we have to trust that. And so what I say in the book is, God can say yes to your prayer for a miracle because he's good, but God can say no, Tom, because he's God. And even our Lord Jesus, he got a tough no. The night before he died on the cross for our sins, he said, God, if there's any other way, and God said no, there's no other way. And so sometimes, unfortunately, Tom and Amanda, suffering is the path that God has us on. I don't understand why, but that's not my job. My job is to trust God in that, and know ultimately that he's good, and he's gonna get me through it. You know, one of the things that the publisher pushed back on me on is I talked about when we're praying, I used the analogy of sitting in God's office, and they didn't like that, but you know, we've all sat in the doctor's office for too long, and I think a lot of your listeners, they're waiting, and just remind yourself that you're sitting in God's office, and while you're waiting, God is working. And what I say in chapter one is, I cannot promise you the miracle you want, but I do promise you the miracle you need, and God is gonna move in some miraculous way, and it may be to heal a disease, but it may be to heal your heart as you suffer or work through that disease. So true, and well said. You know, I'm just thinking about, you have so many different stories within your book that so many people would be able to connect with, but I'm thinking of a miraculous story that you shared about the raising of the dead. If you wouldn't mind just telling our audience this. You know, by faith comes, you know, when we hear these powerful testimonies and that one might would believe that today could be their day. Yeah, so the final chapter, and I can't even believe it myself. Amanda, I was there. I can't believe that it happened, but I saw it and I know it. I prayed over this little boy. So we were a part of a medical mission trip to Vietnam, and they did a cleft palate surgery on a young boy. I think he was about 18 months old. Should have been fine. The surgery was fine. Everything went well, but when they took him off anesthesia, he never regained his own breath. And so he was without air for several hours, perhaps up to eight hours, we're not exactly sure. But when I walked into the OR, I had to scrub in for surgery. I walked in, there was a doctor from Texas, and he screamed and he threw the medical pan and he just said, the kid's dead, call it. And so I walked in and I'm not a doctor, but I looked at the kid and I'm like, this kid's gone. And so Dr. Vien Don, who was the head of the medical mission said, we're not calling him dead until Pastor Matt prays. And I mean, I just, Tom, I gotta tell you, I would love to say I was full of faith and I want all your listeners to hear this. I was scared to death because I didn't know what God was gonna do. And I prayed over this little boy and I said, God, I said, we meant to help him, but we hurt him. And I need you to fix this. And I just said in Jesus' name, I want you to heal this little boy. And when I say amen, Tom, not a minute after, not an hour after, when I said in Jesus' name, and by the way, the doctors and some of the nurses in the room were not Christians. You know, they were not Christians. And I prayed in the name of Jesus. And when I said, amen, his eyes opened and he was healed and he was fine. And here's the thing. And I wrote this in the book, the doctor who performed the surgery, he was in the corner crying. So think about it. This is a doctor that volunteered two weeks of his life to go on vacation, to do surgeries for free. And he didn't help this kid, but he took this kid's life. So he's overwhelmed and he's weeping in the corner. And I remember him looking at me and he said, it's just like the stories my mama told me, the stories in the Bible, he said it's a miracle. And it blew me away because the whole thing was just so incredible. And I remember the next day, holding the little boy, no brain damage, nothing was wrong with him, absolutely healed and his mom's holding him in because no one can believe how incredible this was. And I just believe, Amanda and Tom, if we pray more for miracles, we're gonna see more miracles. And I know it because I saw it. Wow. I mean, what a story. I mean, what an amazing thing. Yeah, it was incredible. And one of the things I liked that you shared, Matt, is that you didn't seem like you had this overwhelming faith. You were scared. No. Let me ask you about that because I've been there. And sometimes we think, you know, oh, I can't have any doubt. I don't even know how to do that. I mean, how much faith do we need to have? Jesus said a mustard seed. Sometimes I wonder if I have that much. What do we do about our faith? Yeah. And what I would say again, is focus on what God can do. As soon as I think we focus on what he will do, that's where the devil gets in and he starts causing us doubts. So I just pushed out of the way and I free myself up. I don't know what the Lord's gonna do. I can't heal Tom and Amanda. I don't have the power, but I know the Lord does. And it's just so important to remember what can God do? And that's where our faith is. And we just trust in that and we believe in him. And so, I mean, I must have had a mustard seed of faith, Tom. I mean, it was really small, but that's what I had. And what I said in the book was, I actually was with the doctor this last week and he had a bunch of medical students that he was training and he's making them all read my book which I don't even know if it's legal in California. But what he told him is, he said sometimes as medical professionals, he said, there's nothing we can do. He said, but there's always something God can do. And that's why he's having his students read this book because we witnessed this miracle together. And so that's what I would just say. If you need a miracle, Tom, why not ask? I mean, what do you have to lose? And so that's where I sit. And I've just seen God do so many things and I've seen God move in so many ways. And the more we pray for miracles, the more we see. Amen. That childlike faith, God honors. Amen. Well, there's another chapter. You talk about healing emotional wounds and I just, I love your heart, your wife's heart. And I do believe that you guys have gone out of your way to reach the people who maybe others are not trying to reach. And that blessed my heart when I read this but you really talk about God's timeline. And sometimes those traumatic experiences aren't microwave miracles that happen. If you can give us some encouragement on this when we do have people in our lives or maybe us ourselves have a lot of trauma and what the healing looks like. Yeah, Amanda, I think oftentimes when we pray we all want instant miracles. And so what I say in the book is God does not operate in the instant he operates in the eternal. And it's just a different timeline. And wounds of the heart are wounds that need time to heal. And so in that chapter, my good friend Mackenzie she's been a part of my life for over 10 years but she was a sex worker forced into prostitution at the age of 12. And I just, I don't even have a category for that Amanda. I mean, my parents loved me, cared for me, watched over me and her mother sold her into that at the age of 12. And so she just had so many issues and so many wounds. And I met her and a family in our church, Amanda brought her into their home, moved her in, taught her how to ride a bike. She'd never had a holiday, not drunk. I mean, she just had a lot of wounds. And for her, Amanda touching any kind of touching with a man was just off limits. And I prayed with her, we were in community group together and it was frustrating Amanda. I gotta tell you, I said in the book it was two steps forward, one step back because there were just so many wounds, so many questions. But I watched her as she learned to trust, as she learned to love, as she learned to hope. And the chapter ends at her birthday and all the men in our small group are helping her move into her new apartment and we were celebrating her birthday. And as I'm walking out of her front door she taps me on the shoulder and 10 years, Amanda I turn around and she gives me a hug. And I knew in that moment what it meant. And I said, God's healing you. And I was actually in small group, Amanda this last week in McKinsey that's in the chapter she got to read the book. And I was so nervous because, you know it's my interpretation of her story. And I said, what'd you think? And here's what she said, Amanda. She said, I can tell that you really love me and you really care for me and you wanna protect me. And I just was just like, yes Lord, yes because God's still healing her, Amanda. She's still on a journey. And ultimately I don't think all of her wounds will be healed in this life. I think that there are some things that we're gonna have to wait for heaven for God to heal because there's just so much damage but she's growing and she's healing. And I don't know if you read but part of her healing journey is telling her story. It's why Jesus called the woman out who bled for 12 years. You know, why does he force her to come out and say she was healed? Because a big part of our healing journey is to say, here's what happened to me and here's how Jesus healed me and she's now engaging in that process, sharing her story. That is absolutely beautiful. And I know that the love of God is very involved in every miracle that takes place. And if you could just talk to us about he mentioned small group, but you actually wrote your book specifically so that people could use it as a tool and small group. Yeah, and I want all your listeners. I get it, people are scary. COVID has changed us socially. We're more isolated than we've ever been. But you know, Proverbs says he who seeks isolation seeks his own desire. And that's not good for us. You know, Genesis one, it's not good for man to be alone. We need each other. And what I would just say to all your listeners is Jesus didn't just come and have a TV show. He didn't just come and have a podcast. He didn't just come and preach a sermon. The first thing he did was started a small group and he started it with 12 guys. And so I tell my church this, Amanda, a sermon will inspire you, but relationships will change you. And so I wrote this book so that people could talk about it together. You know, what are you experiencing? What are you seeing? What are you learning? And I gotta tell you Amanda, I was doing an interview with the guy, the first guy that read my book and he started telling me about my book, Tom. And I said, hold on, I gotta write some of this down because he got stuff out of it I didn't get. And I was like, wow, that was good. That was good. And he was speaking to me and it was so incredible. And you know, there's a QR code. I don't know if you noticed Amanda at the end of every chapter so that they can hear from me, the author. I always want to interact with authors and where I give like a little bit extra for them. And so I'm going to kind of lead them along. And so I would just ask your listeners to pray, who's that person that's not going to go to church? Who's that person that's far from God? And say, hey, would you read this book with me? Would you join me on a journey where we paddle out with Jesus into the storm and we say, what do you want to teach me? You know, cause I say this, Amanda, I'm a pastor. I've been preaching God's word for 25 years. There's always more for Jesus for me to learn about him that I know today. There's just more and more and more. Amen, we just have like a minute I would love for you to pray for that one who's on the edge of their seat. They're listening to every word you say and their expectancy has gone up. Would you mind praying for that miracle? Yeah, I just want to say to, you know, every listener, God sees you, God hears you and God loves you. And I want you to know this, God is with you. The miracle in chapter two is Emmanuel, God is with us. And he's no more with me than he is with you. He's with us equally. The Bible says God has no favorites. So let me just pray over you. Father, I just pray for that person that's listening right now, God. And I don't know how they're hurting or where they're hurting or what miracle they need. But Lord, I know that you know them, you see them and you love them. And Lord, I pray for a miracle in their life, whether it's relational or physical, God or spiritual, however it is that they need to be healed, Lord Jesus, I just pray that you would heal them miraculously in Jesus' name, amen. Amen, thank you so much, Pastor Matt. This interview has been awesome and I literally can feel the love of God in our studio. Oh, thank you so much, Amanda. Amen. Wow, God has done an amazing work in Matt and then through Matt's life. And he desires that for each of us. Yeah, you were taking notes there. I know. That was good stuff. That's right. I know. Well, we're gonna take a short break. When we come back, we've got a scripture out of Isaiah. Maybe you have never heard before, but we're gonna share that. We're gonna share some ministry and prayer for you. Discover what God's word has to say about healing and deliverance. Bestselling author John Eckhart makes topical Bible study easy with his new book, scriptures for faith, deliverance and healing. This handy reference is for those who want to have a greater understanding of healing and deliverance to incorporate God's word into their prayers. Eckhart also includes targeting commentary to highlight key scriptures and life application. His spirit-filled perspective will enhance your time in God's word and encourages the spiritual disciplines of memorization and meditation. Request scriptures for faith, deliverance and healing as our thank you gift when you support Cornerstone Television this month. Request your copy today. If you want to strengthen the ministry of CTVN, share your best gift by visiting us online at ctvn.org slash donate or call us at 888-665-4483. Thank you for your partnership. Hope happens here. Well, that was a great conversation, wasn't it? Miracle, every day of miracle. Yes, every day of miracle. The fact that we have this day, the fact that you and I are here and we're serving God, it's a miracle. And God wants to do always new things. In fact, I have a scripture about that. It's something the Lord led me to today. It's Isaiah 65. It starts halfway through verse 16 and then verse 17. And this is what it says. For the past troubles will be forgotten and hidden from my eyes. See, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered nor will they come to mind. Now, I serve a God who created a heaven and earth and he said it is good. He said about that, about his creation. It is good, it is very good. Everything was good. Of course, sin entered in, didn't it? And things got corrupted and he tried every way he could including up to and including destroying the whole world in a flood and still sin crept in afterwards and things did not go the way God intended. C.S. Lewis called living on earth that we live in enemy occupied territory and that's true. We live in a world that is not how God created it to be because sin has entered in and you and I have entered into that sin and we have partaken of the wrong things and we've seen the destruction of that in our own lives and the lives of friends and family. But God has a plan. The God who created the earth and said it was very good he created you and he said it was very good. But when sin entered in, he knew something had to happen and there was an ultimate plan of Jesus Christ on the cross, taking the penalty of that sin and all the evil that entered in and has paid the penalty for that sin and created a new life for each of us. So the God that created heaven and earth said it was very good. He's gonna create a new heaven and a new earth. Well, that's far off in the future, Tom. What's that mean for me today? Well, that means that that same God can create new things in you and for you a new life for you and not let those old things hang on to you that there would be a new life and there would be not a perfect life cause that'll only happen when we go on to be with him. Praise God for that. But it'll be a life where God is right at the center where he always was meant to be. And it'll be eventually a new heaven and a new earth but right now a new life for you. This is something God wants for you today. Maybe that miracle of healing happens. God can do it. We don't know what God's will is in that situation but we do know that God's will for you is to love him, to serve him and to be changed by him. Amanda, God's a God that wants to change our situations. He wants to be very present. Something a few weeks ago that God just really revealed to me was his presence. We were studying this at our Bible study and you talked about the fall of man. So there God was walking in the cool with Adam and Eve but when they were moved from the garden that presence wasn't with them all the time. And even Pastor Matt talked about the power of relationship and when you think about the Israelites they were separated from the Lord and they followed him cloud by day, fire by night but it wasn't this present like how Adam and Eve knew him until Jesus comes into the picture. And now it says he stands at the door of our heart and knocks. He wants to be present in our life again. And this is the opportunity that we have. Cornerstone television that we offer to you hope today. This is it that Jesus might be invited in that you would welcome his spirit to come in and do only what he can do. He is a healing Jesus. He is a saving Jesus, a delivering Jesus. He desires to walk with you and have such a beautiful relationship with you if you will just open the door to him. But I do believe Tom today is their day. Absolutely, you know, you may say, well, wait a minute I've done a lot of things wrong. You know, I've messed up a lot. Hey, we've all done that. We've all done all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God but listen to what that last line in that scripture that I just read to you says and the former things shall not be remembered or come to mind. That is God's promise to you when you open the door of your life. When you say God, I need you in my life forgive me of my sins, come into my life be my Lord and savior. Listen, it's not about praying one magic words prayer. That's important, you know, to pray a prayer and ask the invitation but it's then that he comes in he cleans out the sin in our lives. He forgives that. And then we walk with him day by day. It's a miracle every day because Jesus is there every day leading us and guiding us into that new life in him. So do that today. Don't put that off. He's not gonna recall the former things. You know what, sometimes people throw that up. I remember what you did when you were 20 years old. I remember what you did last week. I remember what you did yesterday. God doesn't do that. He says, I don't call the former things to mind because they're forgiven and you're a new person in Christ. Amen. I think I have received hope today our prayers that you receive that same hope that you can walk out the calling of God on your life. Do you know that he looks at you as just something special he created. You are a masterpiece and he so desires to use your life for his kingdom and glory to reveal himself to all of those around you. And my prayer, our prayer is that you truly have hope.