Being Cautious of an Agenda-Driven Media

Well, thank you again, Mr. Rebar, and again, happy Sabbath to all of you, brethren. Great to see you with us today. The sermon that I have today is kind of, I guess we could call it, part two, to the message that Mr. Lee gave last Sabbath. I thought it was an excellent message. He talked about the importance of critical thinking, of using the Word of God to make sure that we're thinking clearly and in a balanced way. And this week, I was once again reminded of how distorted and agenda-driven our modern media is. Last Wednesday, a gentleman by the name of Robert S. Mueller, a former special counsel, delivered nearly seven hours of testimony before Congress.

And when he was done, if you looked at various news outlets that are in competition with one another, they all had a 180-degree difference on what he said or didn't say. The media absolutely had opposite reporting about what Mr. Mueller said. They blatantly contradicted each other. And why is that? Because they all have a particular agenda. The agenda is so deep that before he opened his mouth, they had already decided how they were going to report the results of his testimony. Now, I can understand people having a difference on something like the Bible. That was written 2,000 years ago in the Old Testament, much older than that.

You take the Gospels, for example. They were originally spoken in Aramaic. They were translated 30-40 years later in Greek. And I'm reading it in English. So I can understand how people would have differences on interpreting scriptures. But on the other hand, it amazes me how diametrically opposite news outlets can interpret a seven-hour event that happened just a few days ago.

And he didn't testify for seven hours. A good part of that was taken up by congressmen babbling and bloviating about the nonsense. So he didn't even speak for seven hours himself. So what's happening here? What's happening in our culture? What's happening in our world? Because we, as God's people, need to be aware that if we're not savvy, if we're not wise, we're being played.

We're being used. We're being manipulated. Let's go to 1 John chapter 3 in verse 8. We're going to look at a couple of scriptures here in 1 John. Because there certainly is an agenda. I'm not one who's into a lot of people's theories of this and theories of that. I know of one major conspiracy theory. And that major conspiracy theory is called Satan the Devil.

Right? And he presently has control of this world. We have protection from him because of our relationship with God. But he is the God of this world, small g. He influences everything that goes on in this earth.

And John reminds us of this. Again, this is 1 John chapter 3 in verse 8. He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose, the Son of God was manifested that he might destroy the works of the devil.

And that's future tense. He says, might destroy the works of the devil still continue today. And they permeate this world and everything that goes on and his influence in this world will continue until Jesus Christ returns as Satan is removed and put him in a bottomless pit as spoken up in the book of Revelation as symbolized by the day of atonement. So that's one scripture. Let's go now to chapter 5 here in 1 John, chapter 5 in verse 19. See what the scripture says.

Again, John was inspired to write for us. We know that we are of God and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one. He is the major influencer. He's the one who influences governments, religions, the media, everything that exists in our world today.

Verse 20, and we know that the Son of God has come and given us an understanding that we may know him who is true. So aside from all the deception and the falsehoods, God sent Jesus Christ so that we may know him. And through that relationship, we can know what is true. I'm going to read that again. Given us an understanding that we may know him who is true, and we are in him who is true in his Son, Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.

John tells us here that we're allowed to know Christ Jesus, and in him comes truth. The entire world is under the influence of Satan. His method is to cause confusion in thought and purpose.

Mr. Fader read earlier in his sermon that God is not the author of confusion. He quoted from the book of Corinthians. Satan is the author of confusion, and his agenda is to create total and complete contradiction and confusion in all the messages that are sent throughout this earth.

The devil likes to broadcast contradictory messages in order to create disorder, in order to create confusion. And after a while, people don't know what to believe. So they stop searching for the truth, and that's exactly what Satan wants.

He wants individuals to get so frustrated you can't know the truth. It's their truth and his truth and her truth that they stop seeking truth.

Remember the situation you made with Pilate when he was interrogating Jesus Christ there in John 18. He said, Are you a king? Your accusers say that you're a king.

And Jesus said, Well, it's for this reason I was born, and it's the reason that I came into this world, and those who follow me and understand me know this truth, that indeed that's what I was born. That's why I'm here.

And Pilate replied, What is the truth? That's exactly where Satan wanted him. That's exactly where Satan wants us to create enough confusion and disorder and contradictory messages in our life that we throw up our hands and we say, What is truth? I don't care anymore. I'm just going to go through the motions, and I'm not going to be concerned about what truth is.

We're surrounded by false and confusing messages trying to manipulate us into having a worldly perspective. Mr. Giddin, Mr. Fader mentioned one of those, and that is the acceptance of same-sex marriage. And of course, there are many other worldly perceptions going on today. But it's important for us as God's people to make sure that we're using God's Spirit to exercise critical thinking, asking the right questions, not being skeptical, but not accepting messages that we hear simply on their face value or because they have the credibility of being on cable television, or being posted on Facebook, or some other source that we may be able to get.

We shouldn't believe everything that we hear or read, particularly in the news and in the news media. We live in a world where major influencers all have an agenda. And again, their agendas contradict each other, and that's on purpose. Their agenda is to get you to support their truth. There are different agendas and different truths, but they want you as a follower. And the first and most powerful influencer is Satan the Devil. And he's the one, he's the puppet master behind the scenes pulling the strings, leading everything that's going on in this secular world that we live in today. There's a reason that Paul refers to him as the prince of the power, of the air. Unseen, but powerful. He refers to him that way in Ephesians 2 and verse 2. One of our major media-driven agendas today that's almost universal is, of course, to denounce Western heritage, to denounce the founders of our civilization, to mock the traditional family and expand and distort what the word family means, and of course, to challenge and mock Christianity as a religion.

So the goal they have is to remove every trace of those things from our culture, and they have an agenda to do that. To give you an idea of how influential and powerful the media is today, I'd like us to take a look at some scriptures. And then I want to give you an example that if Jesus Christ were alive today and those events occurred today, how the news media would report those events? That's what I want to do. Now, I'm attempting to make a serious point, but we'll also have a little bit of humor and perhaps a few chuckles as we go along. My goal is to help you to understand the subtle manipulation, the innuendos that reporting can present on virtually any issue. Any of these reporters will say, hey, I'm independent and I'm unbiased. All I'm doing is reporting the news. That's what they would tell you. That's what they would say. But most so-called unbiased or independent reporting has landmines to get you to buy into a particular agenda. And how susceptible are we to the kind of reporting that we hear in our world today? First, let's take a look at a simple biblical episode of scripture, John 12, beginning in verse 1. We'll take a look at this and then I'm going to provide you what happens here from the perspective of the 21st century media if Jesus Christ were alive and this happened today. John 12, beginning in verse 1. Then six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany where Lazarus, who had been dead, whom he had raised from the dead, there they made him a supper and Martha served, but Lazarus was one of those who sat at the table with him. Then Mary took a pound of very costly oil of spikenard, anointed the feet of Jesus, wiped his feet with her hair, and the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil. Then one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, who would betray him, said, Why was this fragrant oil not sold for 300 denarii and given to the poor? This he said, not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief and he had the money box and he used to take what was put in it. That's the end of the scripture that I wanted to talk about at this time. One of the reasons we get so easily discouraged today is we get a steady diet of suspicion and presumption from all forms of the media about virtually every social, every religious organization and concept out there. In our modern age, we've developed a way to hyperbolize, to become dramatic on every simple news report and everything that's said or done. That's what I would like to do now, is give you an example. I want you to imagine that you're chopping up vegetables in your kitchen or you're working in your workshop and you have a cable news network on in the background and you're listening to the news. So let's see what they would say using today's techniques about the scriptures that we just read. See if you can pick up any landmines, any innuendos in here, from an unbiased, independent reporter.

Jesus, who calls himself the Christ, has been embroiled in yet another controversy. Jesus, the self-proclaimed Messiah, is one who teaches his followers must obey his commands to achieve everlasting life. This time, the uproar occurred in Bethany. It has recently been reported by one of the insiders of the organization that Jesus encouraged one of his female followers to anoint his feet with expensive oil in Bethany.

According to Judas Iscariot, Jesus, the self-proclaimed prophet, selfishly allowed perfumed oil equal to one week's income to be poured on his feet. Said Judas, this kind of extravagance only dissolutions the members and opens the church up to more criticism. Meanwhile, other disciples are questioning Judas' role as treasurer. Sources close to the inside of the cult are rumoring that Judas is a thief. Said one disciple close to the situation, the leadership is allowing misappropriation of funds. I'm concerned, said the inside source, that Jesus is allowing this financial abuse to continue. He claims to be able to read people's hearts and minds. Said another follower who spoke on the condition of not being identified. He's either condoning a misappropriation of funds in the church, or he doesn't have a clue what's going on right under his nose. Another rumor raging outside the organization is the self-proclaimed prophet's relationship with a certain woman. It has been confirmed by the Jerusalem Journal that Jesus' mother was pregnant with Jesus before she married Joseph. Sources close to Mary and Joseph claim they've heard both confirmed that Joseph is not the real father. One friend of Joseph recently said that Joseph struggled for days with the news of Mary's pregnancy before agreeing to marry her. According to this long-time former follower, Jesus seems to have a real attraction to young beautiful females. The woman who anointed his feet at Bethany is reputed to be a local prostitute and one of the group's most devoted and intimate followers. Said one unnamed disciple in Bethany. She even washed the extravagantly purchased oil off his feet with her hair. This shocked me greatly. Another former member who has since started his own group stated privately, he seems to have an unnatural attraction to harlots. About a year ago, I saw him protect a woman about to be stoned for adultery. He made everyone in the crowd feel like they were at fault. Accusations have also been made by local Jewish leaders that Jesus likes to have luncheons with tax collectors and other sinners, including prostitutes and harlots. Peter, the spokesman for the cult, was unavailable for comment. Now, we laugh. We can chuckle. But my point is, as the news that we're fed is rife with landmines and innuendos, did you pick up the techniques used to present a negative image of Jesus in this simple event? Did you sense the gunpowder words to prod you to be critical of everyone in the story? Self-proclaimed prophet, reputed, unnamed sources, former member, cult. That's a real—that's a good gunpowder word there. Unnatural. Did you notice the innuendos about Jesus's parents? An association with prostitutes, extravagant waste, internal corruption going on behind the organization? Did you pick up on the use of a few other scattered events, not just the one there at the time when his feet were washed with the fragrant oil, but picking up a few other scattered events in his ministry to create that agenda to try to prove the point? Can you see how they take a simple event out of context, embellish it, hyperbolize it, exaggerate it, in order to make it seem right and correct? Let's take a look at another example. Let's go to Matthew 20 and verse 20. Matthew 20 and verse 20. This is the episode of Mama Zebedee asking Jesus to allow her sons to sit at his right hand and his left hand in the kingdom of God. In other words, to have the highest ranking positions next to Jesus.

Matthew 20 and verse 20. When the mother of Zebedee's sons came to him with her sons, kneeling down and asking something from him, and he said to her, What do you wish? And she said to him, Grant, that these two sons of mine may sit, one on your right hand and the other on your left, in your kingdom. She said, I'm just asking for a small favor. It's not too much.

Here's 22. Jesus answered and said, You do not know what you ask. Are you able to drink the cup that I'm about to drink? Are you willing to be tortured? Are you willing to be humiliated? Are you willing to be slapped in the face, to be spit upon, to be mocked, to have a crown of thorns jammed in the top of your head and blood coming down? Are you willing to have nails rammed through your hands and feet? Are you willing to be stabbed in the side? Are you willing to literally be tortured for my name's sake? So that's what he means here when he says, Are you willing indeed to pay the price? Are you able to drink the cup that I'm about to drink and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with, that is total commitment? They said to him, We are able... They have no idea what they're talking about.

I have no idea what he's going to go through. So he said to them, You will indeed drink my cup. In other words, you're going to go through persecution just like I am. You're going to go through some of the same struggles. Not exactly, but you're going to go through some of the same tortures and same struggles that I go through and to be baptized with the baptism that I'm baptized with. But to sit on my right hand and on my left is not mine to give, but it is for those whom it has been prepared by my Father. I just want to stop right there and have a little side bar and remind you that the Father is preparing you to serve in his kingdom. You, too, are God's great work, and everything that you experience in this life is for a purpose.

Nothing in your life is wasted. Even the painful things, even the bad things. You are being prepared by the Father of Jesus Christ, by our Father for greatness and for service, for all eternity. Don't ever forget that. Verse 24, And when the ten heard it, they were greatly displeased with the two brothers.

Well, only naturally. There's a little power play going on here. So the other ten of the disciples were a little upset with what they heard and what was attempted. Verse 25, But Jesus called them to himself and said, You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lorded over them. The Gentiles, it's all about power. It's all about who's number one. And those who are great exercise authority over them, yet it shall not be so among you.

But whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave. Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many. So here we see already, before the church is founded, there's problems in the church of God. There's people advancing favoritism. There's politicking going on. There's a quest for power and who would be in charge among the disciples and their families.

We have to acknowledge that they were human just like we are and that those were problems. So again, allow me to read you a proposed article about the events that we just read here out of the Scriptures, written from the perspective of a 21st century investigative journalist. This time it's going to be a magazine article, so pretend like you're just reading something on the internet, or you might have one of those old-fashioned paper magazines.

Do they still make those? Newspapers and magazines and paper? I don't even know that. But anyway, you can pretend that you're reading one of those. It's as if Jesus is ministering on earth today. Here's how it would be reported. Here's the title. Mother knows best. Two heads are better than one. That's the title. Some members of the Jerusalem-based Church of God sect are reporting infighting among the leadership. Even though Jesus Christ, the self-proclaimed prophet of doom, is only 33 years old, many followers believe his days are numbered as leader of the 20-member 4,000-shekel-per-year empire.

The cult began three and a half years ago when the Golden Throw to Jesus, a failed carpenter, left Nazareth to found the organization. It started in Jerusalem after he attended an all-night wine-drinking binge at a local wedding. An unnamed source at the wedding stated that, quote, "...there was so much drinking that wine flowed like water." Said one insider recently, "...Jesus believes he will be assassinated soon, and it's time to think about the future." Sources close to the Tiberius transition report a power play that occurred just one week ago.

Two long-time disciples had their mother lobbying Jesus to appoint them his successors. A long-time follower named Peter was reputed to have said, "...this kind of politicking is sickening. Everyone knows that Jesus called me first. I'm the most likely to be the heir apparent since I've been here longer than anyone else." Jesus caused further confusion in the cult by refusing to name a successor. When asked about the event, the group's treasurer stated bluntly, "...the time to do something, anything, is now." Here we are looking for real leadership, and all we get is some gobbledygoop lecture about being someone's servant.

I'm really getting disillusioned. I thought this man was going to usher in a new world. We are all ready to quit and to go back to our families and our jobs. End of the article. So again, did you pick up on the techniques used to present a negative image of Jesus Christ or other characters in the article? Did you sense the gunpowder words like self-proclaimed prophet, empire, cult, drinking, binge?

One insider. Lobbying? Unnamed disciple? Politicking? Reputed? All of these are buried within the news that we hear every day that supposedly wants to present itself as independent and unbiased, but these gunpowder words are placed within the reporting in order to convert you to their agenda. Did you pick up on the use of a few other scattered events meant to justify the reporter's agenda? The modern media does this kind of manipulation all the time about our social issues, about politics, and about religion. And brethren, we need to be aware of what is going on. And the reason I say that is the emails that I receive from people, you know, hey, take a look at this great YouTube video, the earth is actually shaped like a pyramid.

You know, view this. The kind of emails and things that people send me telling me that people with the right motives, sometimes very godly people, are being suckered, used, manipulated by the media to believe things that are untrue. We have to be aware of what's going on and not allow ourselves to be used and manipulated. All right, one more example. I have to be careful because the public, and that includes us, are constantly being force-fed distortions and lies and innuendos to support a particular agenda of the major influencers of our culture. Let's look again now at just one more example. We'll go to Luke 22, Luke 22, verse 47.

There's a parallel count here in John 18. We won't read that. But John does add the fact that the person who struck off the ear of the high pre-servant was actually Peter. It's not mentioned here in Luke's account. Luke 22, verse 47. And while he was still speaking, behold, a multitude. And he who was called Judas, one of the twelve, went before them and drew near to Jesus to kiss him. But Jesus said to him, Judas, are you betraying the son of man with a kiss? What a contradiction Jesus says. You're showing a sign of affection, of deep love and affection betraying me. Just so unbelievable. Verse 49. Then those around him saw what was going on, and they said to him, Lord, shall we strike with the sword? And one of them struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his right ear. But Jesus answered and said, permit even this, and he touched his ear and healed him. So we see during the arrest of Jesus, the Apostle Peter, again that's confirmed it was Peter in John's account. One of his very own disciples took matters into his own hand, exercised some violence. Jesus here is betrayed by one of his very own disciples. He's bribed with a few pieces of silver. And after this arrest, they all abandoned Jesus Christ. They left him alone to face his trials without a friend in sight. So again, I want to take this simple scripture we read, and for the final time, I would like to give it from the perspective of a 21st century investigative journalist. You're reading a magazine called The Serpent's News, and here's what it says. The headline is, violence breaks out at the arrest of cult leader. That's the headline.

Just when you thought that the Jesus cult couldn't get any more bizarre, the arrest of its leader Tuesday night was the talk of Jerusalem and religious community. Jesus, the self-proclaimed Messiah, was arrested at a local garden by a crowd of Jewish authorities. Jesus was betrayed by his own former treasurer, who sarcastically identified Jesus with a kiss. Jesus seemed calm about his arrest, but some of his long-time followers were not as cool and collected. One witness at the scene saw the cult's most violent disciple grab his own sword and cut off an ear belonging to one of the high priest officials. Said one Jewish witness, I saw the big loud fisherman, Peter, do it. He is always the most volatile, and he just lost it in the large crowd. One insider told The Serpent's News, this Jesus has always claimed his group was peace-loving and God-like.

What a bunch of hypocrites! I thought this was God's church. I don't think I'll ever attend another church again. What added to more confusion is the fact that the high priest's servant still has his ear. In an exclusive interview with The Serpent's News, he told us, All I remember is a thud on the side of my head. And there was my ear in the ground. At least, I think it was my ear. I saw this Jesus pick up my ear and put his hand to the side of my head. It was really weird.

There was blood all over the place, yet my ear looked fine after I washed the blood off the side of my head. I'm sure that was one of the cult's magic tricks to impress the uneducated.

Meanwhile, a former longtime member is alleging unnatural relationships within the sect. Said one reliable source, why did Judas kiss him? I don't think it's normal for twelve men to roam around the countryside together for over three years.

Jesus was available for comment, and the group's official spokesman, Peter, has been avoiding everyone, including, for some unknown reason, all roosters since the event took place.

So again, we can laugh, but this is no different than the typical reporting you will hear on cable news network any night of the week on virtually any topic that is considered controversial. Most articles that you will read in newspapers, did you sense the gunpowder words intended to prod you to be critical of everyone in this story, self-proclaimed a Messiah? The Jesus cult, the most violent disciple, to imply that they're all violent. It's just that he's more violent than the other ones. See, that's the implication with that gunpowder word. Claimed his group was peace-loving.

Bunch of hypocrites, cult magic tricks, impressed the uneducated, unnatural relationships.

Did you pick up on the use of a few other scattered events outside of what we had just read in order for them to try to provide credibility for their agenda?

Brother, this kind of reporting is a common news technique, and it was inside of all three of the examples that we looked at today. There usually appears to be a source, often unnamed, who is called reliable or reputable, to create suspicion or criticism of a simple event.

The reporter quotes these sources to support their own personal agenda while appearing themselves to be unbiased. See, I'm not saying this is a cult. This reputable source called them a cult. Now, you're hearing me, in my article, comment on this source, but I'm independent. I'm unbiased. I'm open-minded as the reporter. Bologna. Hogwash. That's unclean, by the way. Hogwash. But that's done all the time. Again, notice how they had subtle innuendos, gross exaggerations of the truth, and implied corruption was often said within the article, used to promote the reporter's or the writer's personal agenda. There's something else that we need to be aware of that is we are psychologically wired to do that the media does all the time. And, unfortunately, oftentimes God's people fall prey to this trick. Let's read about what it is in Proverbs chapter 18 and verse 17.

In the news media business, they call this creating the narrative. When you get the news, you want to be the first to report it. Because odds are people are so busy, they won't hear another version. They won't hear an alternative view of that event. And if you create the narrative, they're going to bite into it. They're going to seek their teeth into it. They're going to believe what you told them because they neither have the time nor the resources to prove you wrong.

Proverbs chapter 18 and verse 17, the first one, the plea, his cause, seems right until his neighbor comes and examines him. Of course, his neighbor has to have enough desire to even want to come and talk about it. And the neighbor has to be given the resources to ask a number of questions in order to refute what is being said. We are all wired psychologically to believe the first thing we hear about a new event and a new story.

I'm going to read this from the new century version. The person who tells one side of a story seems right until someone else comes and asks questions. Again, in the media business, the first one to report something is called creating the narrative. That's why they all jump, that's why they all have these talking points, that's all why they all run to these talk shows.

That's why they print so quickly on the internet, Twitter, and all of these things. They have instantaneous reporting and information because they want to create the narrative. Most people will not have the desire to challenge the narrative. So if you're first, you've probably got them convinced. When anyone is exposed to new information, they will tend to believe the first information they hear is credible, is valid. It takes a lot of additional narrative to change an opinion once it's established. The media knows and understands that.

What this means is that influencers purposely use psychological techniques to exchange truth or lie. All in an effort to support their own agenda on what is right or wrong, who should even be allowed to have an opinion, who has the right to govern and lead us, and who will decide on the future of our country. That's all part of an agenda that's going out.

This is the same method, by the way, that's being used to influence elections. If you buy space on Facebook or other social media, you can create so-called news articles, and you can accuse of your opponents of some of the most desperately untruthful things. And most people who will take the time to read that article won't have the resources or the desire to see if it's true. I'll never vote for that scoundrel.

Why, he or she did this, or he or she did that. They said this. They did that. So it's even being used to manipulate people to influence our elections. Another technique used is the knowledge that people will believe a big lie sooner than a small lie. And if you repeat a lie frequently enough, people will sooner or later believe it. All you have to do is repeat it. And that's true of every social change that's occurred in my lifetime, is the media pounded it enough times that the resistance was overcome by the constant repetition.

I even lived through a church split once, in which this technique was used. Before the church split happened, one group of people said, ah, well, they won't keep the Sabbath anymore. The lie was said enough times, and here we are. God's people still keep the Sabbath. Some said, well, they're going to go bankrupt. They're not going to have any financing left. They're going to go into bankruptcy. Well, here we are. We exist today.

Oh, they won't have any congregations. The majority of the pastors are going to leave, and the congregations won't have any pastors. All of our congregations have pastors. Another lie. But it was said often enough that a lie became in people's minds something that was credible, and they were all lies. So I've seen that in my own lifetime, socially, in religious organizations. I've seen it in our culture. You know, when you hear something that is just so stupid and audacious, here's what happens as it's repeated.

You go from shock to disgust to avoidance to slight irritance and eventually to acceptance. I mean, I like it, but you accept it. That's exactly what happened with the agenda of same-sex marriage in the United States. It's happened with every cultural change that has occurred. Again, I can't speak before my lifetime, but I know the things that have occurred in my lifetime with removing prayer from schools and the Ten Commandments and an anti-God attitude in our culture. I've seen all of this occur in my very own lifetime. Let's go to Romans chapter 1 and verse 20. I want to come full circle and again emphasize what has happened to this world.

Because they have rejected God, the prince of the power of the air has made people foolish, has distorted their thoughts, has deceived the world in the believing and exchanging the truth for lies. Romans chapter 1 and verse 20. For since the creation of the world, his invisible attributes are clearly seen being understood by the things that are made, even his external power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse. I sit in my back deck and I'm sitting there looking at all of the flowers and seeing the hummingbirds come up and drink a little bit from the hummingbird feeder. You have to be wowed at the beauty of God's creation.

The colors, the sounds, the creatures that God created. That should humble us and it should build our faith in knowing that that certainly didn't evolve from some slime pit somewhere. That it's too complicated, it's far too intricate. This little fitbit I had is nowhere as sophisticated as a hummingbird, but I know this was created. This didn't evolve from some rusty spring sitting in someone's garage. Very smart people created the electronics that exist in this watch. And that's why it's here. And the same is true of creation, as Paul reminds us. Verse 21, because although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were they thankful they became futile, and their thoughts and their foolish hearts were darkened, professing to be wise they became fools.

And that's what's happened to our world today. Some of the silliest, imposilic nonsense that you could imagine is circulated on the internet. Conspiracy theories, weirdo doctrines, it can go on and on that people have. How people can believe that the moon mission never occurred when the Soviets acknowledged it occurred when the Chinese have been up there and the earth is round, and they've put things on the moon, and India's put things on the moon, and all of these things have occurred.

How people could believe that never happened is absolutely beyond me, because it's not rational. It doesn't make sense. And changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man, and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things, therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness in the lust of their hearts, and to dishonor their bodies among themselves. Again, Mr. Fader talked about that. Verse 25, who exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the creator, who was blessed forever.

So instead of worshiping the Creator, we create things that we have created. People worship wealth, they worship their wealth, their homes, their cars, their 401k, their career title. Everything but God people idolize and they worship, and they serve the creature rather than the creator. They serve themselves. Ultimately, people follow themselves, who was blessed forever. Amen. So in conclusion today, we as God's people live in a world that constantly changes the truth of God into a lie. And brethren, we must be on guard.

We must learn to filter what we hear through the Spirit of God, and the truth that is in God's Word, which Mr. Lee talked about last week. And we have to begin demonstrating critical thinking, not just simply accepting the nonsense that's thrown at us from the influencers of the media, who want us to be their followers rather than us following Jesus Christ and God the Father.

We must be vigilant, not to simply accept something as truth, because it's in the news, or it's on Facebook, or it's posted in an anti-Church of God site somewhere. I encourage you to ask questions when you receive information that's unsettling or maybe doesn't make sense. I'm not asking you to be skeptical, but to ask questions, that's okay. I encourage you to look for balance on issues, because most of these things are distorted to lean only one way, and that is towards the agenda that they want you to accept. Seek balance on issues. Compare it with the Scriptures. Understand that most things in life do not require you to have an opinion.

Most things in life do not require you to state your opinion. There's an old saying, It is better to remain quiet and be perceived as a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt. So don't be so anxious to have an opinion on the majority of things in this world that do not require an opinion. That is so important. We live in an age where we feel like we're forced to have an opinion on everything. So, brethren, let's take a look at one final scripture. I'm going to read this from God's Word for today. I encourage you, again, to use prayer and to use the study of God's Word to be on guard, use the Spirit that God has given you, to be very careful of the messages that we receive. Here's the best filter I could possibly recommend. And again, I'm going to quote from the translation of God's Word for today. Finally, brothers and sisters, keep your thoughts in whatever is right or deserves praise, things that are true, honorable, fair, pure, acceptable, or commendable. Practice what you've learned and received from me and what you saw and heard me do, this is Paul speaking.

Then the God who gives this peace will be with you. So, brethren, let's continue, certainly, to watch the news and to be aware of what's going on in the world. But let's be very careful not to be sucked into the agendas that this world has.