HARRISBURG (NC)
The Roys Report [Chicago IL]
March 6, 2025
By Rebecca Hopkins
Apologist Michael Brown is facing criticism for releasing his autobiography on how God can turn “broken people into world-changers,” despite an ongoing investigation into alleged sexual misconduct.
Brown and his publisher, Destiny Image Books, released Brown’s autobiography, “Living in the Line of Fire,” two days ago. Meanwhile, Firefly, the firm hired by the board of Brown’s ministry, is actively investigating Brown.
“I find it unconscionable, unchristlike, tone-deaf, and extremely hurtful to the victims of clergy sexual abuse and spiritual abuse at the hands of Dr. Michael Brown that Destiny Image Publishers would release Mike’s autobiography while he’s being investigated for clergy sexual abuse,” wrote Shelanu TV President Ron Cantor on X. “Read the room! You could not have waited until the investigation was over?”
Brown has been accused of crossing physical boundaries in the early 2000s with a former secretary, by holding her hand, kissing her on the lips, and slapping her bottom.
Brown has denied any sexual component to the relationship but said he lacked judgment.
Brown also has been accused of engaging in an “inappropriate” relationship with a married congregant.
Brown has denied committing adultery, saying he had an “emotional, not a physical, tie” with her.
“Where your $ is, your heart will be there also,” wrote “Grit in the Wild” podcaster Adam Short on X. “They should add a chapter about his abuse. 100 yrs from now, ppl will praise Brown as a righteous man & will have no clue that he sexually abused ppl. We’re watching how they rewrite history to sanitize it.”
The Roys Report (TRR) emailed Brown to seek comment on the criticism, but Brown didn’t respond.
The board of the Line of Fire, Brown’s speaking ministry, has previously stated that Brown will take time off from public ministry during the investigation.
TRR emailed board spokesperson, Jonathan Bernis, to ask whether the board considers the book launch to violate that condition. But Bernis didn’t immediately respond. Bernis has provided an endorsement for the book, praising Brown’s “whole-hearted commitment to serve the Lord at any cost.”
Destiny Image had promoted Brown’s book on X in late February. But today, the book is not available on its website, though it’s still for sale on Amazon.
It’s also for sale on the website of Brown’s ministry, the Line of Fire.
TRR reached out to Destiny Image for comment, but the publisher did not immediately respond.
In the preface to his book, Brown addressed the question of why he should write a memoir right now.
“Why would someone write their own life story?” Brown’s book begins. “Is that a little self-aggrandizing? In my own case wouldn’t it be better to wait until others chose to write about me?”
Brown wrote in his preface that a few years ago, two friends had told him God wanted Brown to write the book, including Brown’s full conversion story. Brown grew up in a Jewish family in New York but rebelled with drugs and rock and roll until he started attending a church as a 16-year-old with bandmates.
In his book, Brown wrote that when he finally decided to start writing his book, he also believed God wanted him to do it.
“(O)nce I started writing, I was literally shocked by the sense of divine destiny on me, experiencing a powerful sense of His presence as I wrote, with the words pouring out as fast (sic) I could type,” Brown wrote.
Brown wrote next that God has often sent someone at the right time into his life to change him.
“I was also staggered with the realization of how many times He sent just the right person to me at the right time, altering the course of my life, and how many times He intervened to save me from going down the wrong path, at times literally saving my life,” Brown wrote.
However, several whistleblowers have previously said they made multiple attempts to confront Brown’s inappropriate behavior with his secretary. But they said Brown downplayed the matter and verbally attacked them.
Ron Cantor recently posted on X about his own experience confronting Brown in October 2024.
“This situation with Dr. Michael Brown is so sad because all he needed to do was confess to his elders and submit to discipline 23 years ago,” Cantor wrote. “He could’ve even done that in October 2024. It was not a career-ending sin—but the two inappropriate relationships were things you couldn’t move on from without elder involvement.”
Cantor wrote that he emailed back and forth with Brown in October 2024 with a tone of “love and compassion.” But Cantor wrote that Brown then turned on him.
“He told my peer leaders in Tikkun that I was trying to destroy his life and ministry and that I was being used by Satan to keep him from his efforts to bring revival and cultural reformation,” Cantor wrote.
Today Cantor called Brown’s book “narcissistic.”
“Ironically, the first line of the book is: ‘Why would anyone write their own life story? Isn’t that a little self-aggrandizing?’ In a word, YES!” Cantor wrote. “Especially when the person who is writing their own life story has been exposed for evading responsibility for sexual abuse for 23 years at the very time his book comes out . . . So yeah, it’s a bit rich—not to mention narcissistic.”
Other endorsers for the book include James Robison, founder and president of LIFE Outreach International; John Cooper, singer for Christian band Skillet; R.T. Kendall, former minister for Westminster Chapel; Paul Wilbur, songwriter and worship leader, Asher Intrater, president of Tikkun Global ; Randy Clark, overseer of the Apostolic Network of Global Awakening; Pastor Mike Signorelli of V1 Church; and Daniel Kolenda, president of Christ for All Nations.