How to Discern TRUTH In a World of LIES

And in the middle of his criticisms, which are 100 newsworthy to focus on, that news organization decides to interrupt the announcement in order to cut away from the criticism. How are we supposed to gain understanding when we can't trust the mainstream media to give it to us straight?

There's always some kind of bias, some kind of angle. I'm pointing all of this out to talk about how we as Christians can discern truth in the midst of all this stagecraft. It's coming at us from everywhere.

Did you know that the Bible has some things to say about all this? With a media that's more crooked than a San Francisco street, how do we as Christians understand what is true? How do we understand what is really going on around us?

How do we know how to live our lives in response to all the craziness and the confusion coming from media sources that we can't even trust? Did you know that the Bible has a lot to say about all of this?

I'm going to show you what that is in just a moment, but first, welcome to Wise Disciple. My name is Nate, and I'm helping you become the effective Christian that you were meant to be. I make these videos in keeping with the spirit of Jesus teaching for all of his disciples in Matthew 10, 16, and that includes developing biblical discernment in the age of fake news and corrupt media.

Make sure to like and subscribe, and if you think this video is helpful at all, share this with somebody else. It just helps me to get the word out about this ministry.

All right.

Recently on the PBD podcast, this happened and it caught my eye.

So he starts talking trash about the mainstream media and how corrupt it is, and they're playing this on pretty much everywhere, and then all of a sudden, yeah, yeah, and then they turn down the audio.

You can't hear what he's saying. He's calling out the corruption in media, and you know, he's deciding to endorse Trump and talk about the stuff Trump's got going on the last two weeks. Which clip is this you got here, Rob?

This is where Bobby Kennedy is criticizing both the DNC and the media for covering up the DNC's corruption, and then CNN cuts away from it.

On their capacity to go toe-to-toe with any opponent in the battle over ideas. They would be astonished to learn of a Democratic Party presidential nominee who, like Vice President Harris, has not appeared in a single interview or an unscripted encounter with voters for 35 days.

I've been listening to independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. from Phoenix outlining what led him to his quixotic quest for the White House to now dropping out.

So, RFK Jr. just made headlines recently for announcing that he was dropping out of the presidential race, but in his announcement, he was listing a series of grievances against the Democratic Party. As far as I can tell, these grievances and these criticisms are justified.

He's talking about how all these things are being carefully shaped and curated for the American public in a manner that does not invite scrutiny and critical questioning. And in the middle of his criticisms, which are 100 newsworthy to focus on, that news organization decides to interrupt the announcement in order to cut away from the criticism.

And there's also a little bit of a quick dig into RFK as well, calling his campaign a quixotic.

Effort. Quixotic!

That's not a compliment, ladies and gentlemen, when you use that word.

A moment, he's about to criticize Kamala, they do this, but first of all, what do you think about his message and what he just talked about?

In this particular clip?

Just all of it, everything, because it was 45 minutes to an hour, it wasn't like it was a five minute announcement.

Yeah, it was it was classic. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., you know, he has encyclopedic knowledge on a wide range of subjects and he covered a great many of them. That clip is interesting, not only because of what he said, what he was effectively saying was that the presentation that we all receive is pure stagecraft and he's right.

And then to have CNN cut away, not able to engage in their usual level of stagecraft because they don't know what he's going to say is incredible. They validated exactly what it was he was describing.

Absolutely. Absolutely, they did. That's exactly what's happening. And this is a consistent pattern with not only this one news agency, but man, all of the mainstream media outlets. And I'm talking about the vast majority of their anchors on these platforms and their behavior.

You know, I'm sure you can find some outliers, outliers somewhere, but this is a consistent pattern of behavior. And this stunt they just pulled to cut away from RFK Jr.

It's a perfect example of this, which was a fake world that's presented over our screens by these mega monolith corporations that decide what we get to know and when we get to know.

It.

Now, let me ask you. So when he when he did this, I tweeted it out and I don't know if you have it or not. Here's what I said. I said, Bobby Kennedy, RFK Jr. endorses Trump, well, supports Trump and removed his name from the ballot in 10 swing states.

That's a way of not hurting Trump. That's a very big move. Leaving it on all the other ones. I believe this has a bigger impact on the campaign than the J .D. Vance VP pick, because I think the J .D. Vance VP pick didn't get you anything you didn't already have.

It was a safe pick that you chose him. I think this is going to get the independents. This is going to get the libertarians. This is going to get some of the center left guys. And even more than anything else, the timing of it was monumental.

Why? Because it's a day after the DNC, after they had their event. They're all excited. They're all ecstatic. They're all saying all the stuff that they're saying. And I think even in one of his speeches, he said at the at the RNC, the name Joe Biden was mentioned two times during the entire convention.

But at the DNC, Trump was mentioned 400 times, not because of policies, just trashing him, whether it was from Barack, from Michelle, from Clinton's, from everybody. He says it's no longer about policies.

It's just about bashing. And this is not what the old DNC was about.

So how once again, that's spot on. I don't know if you've been paying attention, but not all Democrats or those who are liberal are happy with the fact that there is no clear policy platform coming out of the Harris campaign, that this somehow looks like it's going to be a referendum against a president who has not held office in over four years.

Somehow, that's the focus, instead of laying out clear policies and agendas from a candidate who actually has been in power in the White House for the last four years. By the way, that's not what this video is about.

OK, I'm going down a rabbit hole. I'm pointing all of this out to talk about how we as Christians can discern truth in the midst of all this stagecraft, as Brett Weinstein put it, that that is the focus of this video.

And let's face it, the stagecraft is like coming from everywhere. It's coming at us from everywhere. Did you know that the Bible has some things to say about all this that are actually going to help us?

As a matter of fact, there are three biblical principles that I want to go over with you in the remainder of this video that will give you a formula of sorts to gain discernment, to know the truth in a world that is so corrupt.

Amen. So let's talk about the first principle. And here it is. You ready? The Bible says, slow down and think. James chapter one, verse 19, says this. Know this, my beloved brothers, let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger, for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.

So right off the bat, there are two important things coming out of this passage. First, we need to slow down. We cannot rush out just to say a bunch of words in the heat of the moment. That right there already is a huge contrast to what our culture and our society tells us to do.

We are taught implicitly right now that we just need to rush out and we need to spit out whatever is on our mind, like verbal diarrhea. And somehow that's actually a good thing, you know, to get immediately angry, to show our immediate frustration and then to cast aspersions at everyone that makes us angry, like little cultural hulks.

We're trained to go find something and just smash. Let's just smash. This is the exact opposite of what God desires for us. Now, there's something else the Bible teaches, which is especially in this passage, but in other places as well, which is that the more righteous and holy you are, the more you can use discernment in situations.

You see that last verse there in verse 20 in James. That's what he's getting at there. And I'm probably going to actually say more about this in a minute. But the reality is it's not just in James, guys.

Take a look at this. Proverbs 14, verse 29 says, whoever is slow to anger has great understanding. But he who has a hasty temper exalts folly. Also, take a look at Ecclesiastes chapter seven. It says, be not quick in your spirit to become angry.

Same thing. For anger lodges in the heart of fools. There is a relationship that the Bible draws between being quick tempered and being a fool. Why? Because hasty anger leads to hasty judgment. And hasty judgment leads to making all kinds of mistakes when it comes to discerning the truth, when it comes to discerning what is happening around you and how you should live your life in response.

So the first biblical principle here is just to slow down. For some of you, it's to slow way the heck down and to think things through. But it doesn't stop there. The Bible also says, listen and contemplate the various sides of an issue.

Take a look at this. Proverbs chapter 18, verse 15 says, an intelligent heart acquires knowledge and the ear of the wise seeks knowledge. So the wise person uses his or her ear to listen to an issue in order to gain knowledge, to gain understanding.

But the Bible links actually wisdom to discernment. So I think it's implicitly understood that the end goal of using the ear in a wise manner is to gain discernment. And so, again, it comes back to listening.

I would propose an active style of listening in order to gain understanding. But wait a second. That's the thing, isn't it? How are we supposed to gain understanding, to gain discernment when we can't trust the mainstream media to give it to us straight?

There's always some kind of bias, some kind of angle, you know, that they're always working because somewhere along the way, journalism became activism. I don't know what year that was when that happened, but that's exactly what's going on with the vast majority of folks in the mainstream space.

Right? By the way, does anybody disagree with this assessment so far? Like, if you do, I'd be curious to get your thoughts on that. I don't see that at all. But this is where the Bible comes in again.

Look at this same chapter, Proverbs, verse 17. The one who states his case first seems right until the other comes and examines him. And in this verse, to examine means to search, to explore. And it's not the man that's being explored, by the way, it's his case, right?

It's the content of his message that he's communicating. That means the Bible is teaching us to lean into the issues and to listen to both sides. If there's more than two sides to listen to all sides in order to gain understanding and then come to a conclusion.

Which brings us right back to slowing down, right? And thinking through what you're hearing. I just cannot state, friends, how countercultural this truly is right now. You know how many times a news story drops, even if it's about the church and immediately it's understood that we have to give our hot take, man, we have to weigh in.

People have to know what we have to say about it. We've got to say something right away or else, like, or else what? I don't, there's going to take away our social media card. Like what, what would actually happen if we slowed down, if we didn't take the first account we hear as gospel, but instead we leaned into the issues, we did our due diligence and then we came to a conclusion.

I honestly, I think what's happened is the 24 hour news cycle, it has its own sort of like centrifugal force, you know what I mean? And then we get sucked into that centrifugal force, oftentimes without even realizing it.

And before we know it, story after story drops at the speed of ratings, right? And then we're just trying to keep up. And so we start reacting to things as fast as the news headlines continue to.

Drop.

This is again, ladies and gentlemen, the opposite of what the Bible teaches. The opposite. The Bible says, listen carefully, lean into the issues. Don't be flip about things, weigh all sides of various issues before coming to a conclusion, be informed.

That's what Proverbs, that's what the Proverbs is telling us right here, which, by the way, that doesn't take one day. That doesn't probably even take two days. It very often means that we have to sit down and we have to think things through for a week, couple of weeks, God forbid a month or more, right?

Oh, but Nate, I can't do that. Like I have to respond right now.

Says who?

Certainly not the Bible. That's not what the Bible teaches us. Finally, and I would, um, I would argue this is probably the most important principle, although this is not what I'm talking about with you today is not an exhaustive list by any stretch because the Bible has a lot more to say about all this, but the Bible absolutely teaches us that your moral development is the key to great discernment.

Did you hear that? The key to being wise, according to the Bible actually trades, not on knowing more things, uh, and being more informed on the issues, but on how well of a moral character you have. By the way, don't hear what I'm not saying.

I'm, you know, obviously you have to stay informed about issues. I mean, being informed and knowing more things about issues, um, that's important to know what these issues are, but that's not what gives you discernment according to the scripture.

The best example of this that I can show you, um, that I think comes from the scripture is the moment when the Pharisees encountered Jesus and they completely missed the fact that he is not only their promised Messiah, but he is also God.

Now this happened in a couple of places, but this is really clear, clear as day in Matthew chapter 12. Take a look. Um, as it turns out the most perfect example, right. Of how we should look and discern what is happening all around us, particularly in the news, in the mainstream media, it comes out of this exchange that Jesus had with the Pharisees in Matthew 12.

Now I expanded on this in a previous video, but I think it bears repeating because the key to discerning truth in a corrupt world, friends in light of a media that is so corrupt that we can't even trust it.

It's right here. If we just pay attention to Jesus in this story, take a look at this chapter 12 verse one. At that time, Jesus went through the grain fields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and they began to pluck heads of grain and to eat.

But when the Pharisees saw it, they said to him, look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on Sabbath. He said to them, if you not read what David did when he was hungry and those who are with him, how he entered the house of God and ate the bread of the presence, which was not lawful for him to eat, nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests.

Or have you not read in the law, how on the Sabbath, the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath and are guilt less. I tell you something greater than the temple is here. And if you had here, it is verse seven.

If you had known what this means, I desire mercy and not sacrifice. You would not have condemned the guiltless for the son of man is Lord of the.

Sabbath.

So many great pieces here to go on a deep dive and study, by the way, I'm using logos, Bible software to read the Bible on YouTube. Logos is a game changer for the serious student of God's word. It's what I use every morning when I study the scriptures.

And I highly encourage you to use logos as well. Logos is partnered with me and are offering some great discounts and resources for you right now. So go to logos .com forward slash wise disciple for more, but here's the question we have to ask as good students of the scripture, how is it possible that Jesus Christ is standing before these very men who, by the way, they should know the old Testament, right?

The Tanakh, they should, uh, they should know that back in front. They should, they should, uh, because they've memorized, uh, the scripture they've, they, they should have taught it to Jews. They should be able to see and to identify the promised Messiah because it's all over the place in the Tanakh, but they don't recognize him.

How is that possible? That when God in human flesh is doing something wonderful in their very midst, these teachers of God's law do not perceive it. And even worse, they get angry because of it. And we know they were angry.

The gospel of Luke says that of the same story, they were filled with fury at Jesus. So you see the anger already, right? And you can think of what we just talked about in the previous scriptural passages, the emotional response, all wrapped up in ruining the Pharisee's ability to discern the activity of God right in front of their very eyes, right?

Also remember, um, if you just move forward a little bit in verse 14, it says down here that the Pharisees are conspiring against Jesus and how to destroy him. So, so where did everything fall apart, right?

Why couldn't they see Jesus for who he really is? The answer isn't Jesus answer because they lack mercy. Look again at verse seven. If you had known what this means, I desire mercy and not sacrifice. You would not have condemned the guiltless.

They lacked mercy. And they did so because they don't truly know God and the love that he has. That's, that's the whole point. That's Jesus point in verse seven. And because of that, they don't even understand what the Sabbath is.

It's a means of mercy. Remember Sabbath was given by God to former slaves of Egypt, right? You remember the story of the Israelites. They were slaves for hundreds of years before God sends Moses to rescue them.

These were people that had been brutally beaten, forced into heavy labor for probably every single day of their lives, generation after generation, right? God brought them out of slavery, gave them Sabbath, which is a full day of rest because he is a merciful God and because he wants to extend mercy to them.

So the spirit that shapes and informs Sabbath is actually mercy guys, but the Pharisees, they just can't see it.

Why?

Well, because Jesus says they don't have mercy in their hearts. If you had known what this means, you would not have condemned the guiltless. God desires a merciful heart and his obedient children. What he does not desire is obedience from unmerciful people.

So the whole, the whole point is lacking mercy made them spiritually blind. They could not discern what was happening in front of them. They missed the activity of God. And then on top of that, they actually got upset with God.

He's standing right in front of them and they scold him. And no amount of miracles that Jesus could perform was ever going to change their minds. They, their lack of mercy made them rigid. It made them inflexible in their understanding.

The whole thing was God was doing something outside the bounds of their understanding. And they just, they just dismissed it. They had their framework. Anything outside their framework doesn't make any sense.

This godly quality of having and giving mercy to others charitably, which, which, by the way, Jesus teaches his disciples to do that in the beatitudes. This is the key. It affects the way that, uh, you discern what is happening right in front of your.

Eyes.

That was the hard lesson for the Pharisees. And that's also a lesson for us today. We've got news organizations. We've got outlets, friends, all the, all of them are biased in some way. They're slanted in various ways to shape a message that now we must discern.

We have to use discernment as Christians. So we know how to respond and to live our lives accordingly. So what's the solution then? What is it? Uh, we have to obey God's word. We have to slow down and we have to think, right?

We have to listen and we have to contemplate various sides of the issues,.

Right?

And most important of all, we have to do the hard work of tending to our own heart and submitting to the sanctification of the Holy spirit and cultivating the kind of godly qualities that God desires in us.

Um, including mercy, because what the Bible is teaching us is when you do that, then you'll know God more. You'll know his word more. And then you'll have the ability to discern the truth in the midst of a corrupt.

World.

You'll also see where God is moving all around you. So you can go join him in his providential activity. By the way, that hasn't stopped. You know, like if you just look with your physical eyes, ladies and gentlemen, the news looks bleak.

Things appear to be falling apart when in actuality, God's providence is taking place all around us. We just need the right eyes to see it and we need to let the scripture shape our vision.

Amen.

All right, well now it's your turn. What do you think? How can Christians develop discernment in the face of a corrupt world and a corrupt media? Is it even possible to know the truth in today's culture?

Let me know. Um, I am curious to get your thoughts on this. As always, if you made it this far, you got to join the Patrion and community. We got a lot of exclusive things happening over there. We've started a book club.

The book club is starting. I'm absolutely excited for that. That's just on the Patrion. But there's also other exclusive features that you can jump into if you support me, which by the way, if you do support me, thank you so much because this is how I'm able to make these videos moving.

Forward.

But the link for the Patrion is below. Hey, I'm going to return soon with more videos, but in the meantime, I'll say bye for now.