Finding the Truth
Book: How to Lose Friends & Infuriate People—Leadership In The networked world
SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE: Finding the Truth - A SERIOUS EDUCATION!
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If you know the truth, the truth will set you free. John 8:32. The original New Testament was written in Greek, and the word for truth used in the New Testament is alethia. Alethia has a long definition but boils down to: knowing what is going on around you (facts). So what does that knowing facts) have to do with being set free? With facts one can be confronted and given a choice to change his way of thinking or acting. When a person has believe or acted wrongly or incorrectly and is confronted with facts, he can choose to change or not. God gave man free will, meaning that he can choose to change his way of thinking or acting and, for example, can choose God or not choose God. (It is obvious to Austrians [economics] that the state, the deep-state, and globalists are trying to destroy the God-given free wills and remove choices; and many people who submit to the state, and not God, go along with this destruction.)
One of the primary responsibilities of a pastor is to confront his people with facts so they will be given a choice. Without confrontation there is no choice; and without choice, one cannot change his way of thinking or acting. Hence, if you know the trust, the truth can set you free (if you choose correctly).
An example in the Bible of alethia/truth is the actions of Peter. Peter denied Christ three times, including once to a young girl. From the facts of denying Christ, Peter was confronted: he was not as strong personally or in Christ as he thought. Peter was now given a choice to either do something about it or ignore it. Jesus helped Peter make that choice when he asked him three times “do you love Me”, thereby allowing Peter to nullify the three denials of Christ.
Confrontation leads to choice, and the right choosing correctly can set a person free. Confrontation comes only from facts.
Richard Duke
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FINDING THE TRUTH
Most of this article comes from the book: How to Lose Friends & Infuriate People—Leadership In The networked world, by Jonar C. Nader. I added comments (my paragraphs)—intermixed with the author’s writings in the subject book. I also edited my comments and added a few more comments on May 19, 2022. (Those who have read my writings in this area (truth) will recognize my writing, But—give most of the credit for the below important and invaluable information to the author of the subject book—Jonar C. Nader. I highly recommend that you read this book. Richard Duke
Open link for Jonar C. Nader’s blog
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Knowledge: 2 Corinthians 10:3-6:
A person acting with pretense, a person making arguments, or a person using speculations may result in placing another person in a vice-grip or a fortress or a stronghold—that's what raises itself against the knowledge of God. The ultimate destruction comes from being placed in a prison. When in a prison, a person is unable to move; and the cause or causes of that imprisonment (pretenses, arguments and speculations) take precedence over (raise themselves against) the knowledge of God. God says, in effect: "Don't allow this to happen. Use My spiritual weapons to stop this." Spiritual weapons come from knowledge. Failing to use spiritual weapons to destroy those things that raise themselves against the knowledge of God, results in being held captive—in a vice-grip, a fortress or stronghold [prison]. Those things that must be destroyed so that knowledge (knowing God) is occurring in a person’s life are: pretenses, arguments and speculations.
Motivated by courage versus motivated by fear—The healthy state is a balanced state wherein we work neither out of fear nor out of courage, but out of conviction. When a balanced person understands the consequences and still takes a course of action, that person is said to be acting with conviction. Conviction is fueled by faith, and faith is fueled by belief. Belief comes from KNOWLEDGE. Belief comes from knowledge, and knowledge comes not from logical calculations, but from emotional certainty. Emotional certainty comes from an unshakeable existence—where mind, body, and soul are fueled by the spirit.
I have heard lecturers preface a series of questions with the comforting remark that "there are no right or wrong answers." In mono-thought, there are right and wrong answers [mono-thought is a mental process that analyzes an issue, concept, object or thought, so that one arrives at the single most important element]. In other words, getting to the truth as to what is really going on and not what you are covering up, pretending, making up, etc.—getting to the real truth so that you don't lie.
When situations arise that depend on personal issues, the answers will still demand truth, but that person can only know that truth (in his own life). For such personal issues, or for issues that relate to one’s unique environment, his mono-thought will be right for him if he so believes, understands and accepts. These three stages (believe, understand and accept) are vital in one’s comprehension. A person must believe that what he is saying is true for him [him and not someone else]. A person must understand that what he is saying is true for him. A person must accept that what he is saying is true for him. When a person has tested his environment, and processed his situation via another round of observation, memory and analysis, he will arrive at knowledge. He will then reach the supreme of mono-thought—where he will know that what he is saying is true.
There is nothing wrong with being a private individual. However, the person one can least afford to lie to is himself. A person must use mono-thought to really interrogate why he is making a decision.
Conviction comes from faith; faith comes from belief; belief comes from knowledge; and knowledge comes from emotional certainty. A person cannot have emotional certainty until he has done this breaking it down to one answer as to why he is doing something—mono-thought. That gives you an unshakeable existence—mind, body and soul. A person does not tell the truth until he reaches that point. None of us often tells the truth to ourselves. But, the truth is what emotional certainty comes from. It comes from not lying to oneself as to why one is doing something. This allows one to deal with the truth so that he believes, understands and accepts. A person then believes that what he is saying is true for him. One must understand that what he is saying is true for him. One must accept that what he is saying is true for him. Until a person does that, he himself or someone else, through pretense, speculations, arguments, etc., is putting him in a fortress, vice-grip or a prison; and this raises itself against the knowledge of God. Remember 2 Corinthians 10:3-6. What does that result in? Those pretenses, those arguments, and those speculations cause a person, from those pretenses, arguments, and speculations, to lose the knowledge of God. The knowledge of God does not come to those imprisoned. (Trusting the wrong people brainwashes and imprisons a person’s mind. I see much brainwashing in America.)
Knowledge comes from emotional certainty. Emotional certainty comes from an unshakeable existence—where mind, body and soul are fueled by the spirit. Now we have gotten to the spirit (in our discussions). The knowledge of God comes from that spirit. Where does the spirit come from? Emotional certainty. Where does emotional certainty come from? From telling the truth to yourself. That is the last person one can lie to. Where does that emotional certainty come from? It gives you the unshakeable existence where mind, body and soul are fueled by the spirit. It comes from those three stages where you have a mono-thought and bring it down to one point/one issue as to what the real truth is as to why you are doing something or not doing something. Where you believe, understand and accept. Before a person believes that what he is saying is true for him, he must understand that what he is saying is true for him and he must accept that what he is saying is true for him. He has then tests his environment. What is a person’s environment? Often the environment comes from those pretenses, speculations and arguments. Once a person processes his situation via observation, memory and analysis, he will arrive at knowledge. Then he will know that what he is saying is true. What he is saying to be true cannot come from a fortress, vice-grip or a prison caused by pretenses, speculations and arguments. If a person allows pretenses, speculations and arguments to place him in a fortress, vice-grip or prison, such raises itself against the knowledge of God and emotional certainty cannot result.
Belief is stronger than knowledge. A person can know that if he gets in shape that he can do thus and so. But does he believe that if he does thus and so that he can actually achieve an outcome? A person can know there is a God but can be really believe in God? The scriptures state that no one can please God except through faith: "And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him." Hebrews 11:6. So, faith is required to please God and, for those who come to God, they must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who seek Him. So, even if a person knows there is a God, does he really believe that He will be rewarded if he seeks Him? (Rewards often means spiritually rewarded, not a new car or house, etc.)
Belief is higher than knowledge. Faith (remember, no one can please God except by faith) is fueled from belief. But belief comes from knowledge and there is no knowledge unless there is emotional certainty and that means that a person tells the truth to himself. And, if he cannot tell the truth or deal with the truth because of pretenses, speculations and arguments that places him in a fortress, vice-grip or a prison, then he does not have the knowledge of God. The spirit cannot, then, fuel emotional certainty.
The reasons behind an action or inaction far outweigh the worth of the action itself. In other words, a person may cover up, delude himself or tell people things that hide what is really going on in his life in order to not be embarrassed, make himself feel better, etc. But, no matter what action he takes as a result of all that, the reasons that he is covering up that action far outweigh the action itself. So, if a person deludes himself and lies to himself, then the reasons behind it—if they are exposed--will show the truth behind the action (aletheia/confrontation). The real reason behind the action determines whether the action is wholesome or unwholesome. If a person tells someone that he drinks because he likes to socialize but he is covering up the fact that he is really drinking because he is covering up emotional pain, the truth behind that action is unwholesome and the reasons behind that action far outweigh the worth of the action itself. He is not dealing with the truth—that he is unhappy. The action of covering it up far outweighs how he actually acts in public. Delusions and covering up—not telling the truth to himself or someone else—results primarily when either he or someone else is subject to speculations, arguments or pretensions that result in placing him in a prison, vice-grip or a fortress. That vice-grip, fortress or prison that makes him think that the action that he is doing is more important than the reasons behind what he is doing does not permit him to get to the real reasons behind the action. Thus, he cannot determine the truth—whether the reasons behind my action is wholesome or unwholesome. If, however, he seeks the reason behind the action, he gets to the truth. If he does mono-thought, he gets to the real reason (one single reason) behind the action. The one single reason will tell him whether it is totally unwholesome or totally wholesome. If it is unwholesome, the speculations, pretenses and arguments, destroy knowledge because he is in a prison.
Where does the knowledge of God come from? Truth. The truth will set you free. John 8:31: "If you hold to my teaching (facts and confrontation), you are really my disciples and you will know the truth and the truth will set you free." John 17:17 "Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth." Telling the truth is not the answer here--it is the Word of God—the truth. What is the Word of God? What does it lead to? The knowledge of God, in both Hebrew and Greek, means knowing God. But you cannot know God without knowledge from the Bible. But, ultimately, the knowledge of God means knowing God personally. A person cannot know God through truth if speculations, pretenses and arguments place him in a prison because, in a prison, he cannot deal with real reasons behind an action or inaction. That reason behind an action or inaction far outweighs the worth of the action itself—from truth (aletheia). So, if a person says "but I am supposed to love my mother” even though the mother acts with pretenses, arguments and speculations that place him in a prison, something here is wrong. A person is required (by the Bible) to love his mother but what has happened here is that the mother has abused her authority and placed him in a prison. Within a prison, he cannot get to the root behind why he is allowing himself to be subject to pretenses, speculations and arguments (which raise themselves against the knowledge of God). You cannot respect your mother in an appropriate way because you are not able to look behind for the reasons for why you are in a prison. Once he looks behind for the reasons and sees those pretenses, arguments and speculations causing the prison, he can now deal with reality (the truth). Knowledge (and the ability to really love his mother) cannot appear until he determines why he reacts to his mother as he does. Until he sees that he is allowing himself to be controlled by those pretenses, speculations and arguments, he remains in a prison and knowledge will never appear (with respect to matters involving his mother). If he cannot find the wholesome or unwholesome reason for why there is so much lack of comfort with his mother, then he is not seeking the truth. He is living a lie, with his actions of reacting to his mother’s control. If he is not seeking the truth, then those speculations, arguments and pretensions that place him in a prison are raising itself against the knowledge of God in your life. His actions (reactions to his mother) are more important than the knowledge. The knowledge of God requires truth; and truth is painful. And, if you cannot have knowledge, you cannot have belief. If you cannot have belief, you cannot have faith. And, if you cannot have faith, you cannot have conviction. And, the foundation for knowledge is emotional certainty. Emotional certainty comes from an unshakeable existence—where mind, body, and soul are fueled by the spirit. Fear and conviction are opposites. If one is operating out of fear then he knows the reasons behind his actions or inactions are unwholesome, not wholesome. So, the question for mono-thought is what is the one reason that he is acting out of fear. And, until he answers that one question, he cannot arrive at the truth. No truth (aletheia), no knowledge. And the only way to answer that question of why he is operating out of fear is that he must believe that what is saying is true, for him, and he must understand that what he is saying is true, for him, and he must accept that what he is saying is true for him (from aletheia—confrontation). If the answer, truthfully, is unwholesome, he knows that he is in a prison and he must develop the strength to get out of that prison so that arguments, pretensions and speculations do not control him. Control by another person necessarily puts unwholesome reasons for actions or inactions at issue. Control comes from speculations, arguments and pretensions; and these raise themselves against the knowledge of God. And, a person must know that when he is controlled that he cannot have the knowledge of God. Emotional certainty cannot result when a person is being controlled. The spirit fuels emotional certainty. And if he does not have emotional certainty, then he cannot have knowledge. And if he does not have knowledge, he cannot have belief. And if has no belief, he has no faith. And if has no faith, he does not have conviction.
In order to get the conviction in doing what is right and what one knows is right, one has to go backwards and he has to begin by asking the question: why? What is behind my actions or inactions? Now, you come face-to-face with truth and he asks himself, what are the reasons behind why I am doing something or not doing something (aletheia/confrontaton). The reasons are either wholesome or unwholesome. If they are unwholesome, it is because you are in a prison. If he is in a prison, it is because he believed speculations, arguments and pretensions from others. And those arguments, pretensions and speculations are illegitimate. And illegitimate arguments, speculations and pretenses do not come from a legitimate source. There are only two power sources: God and god. If god is placing, through someone else, illegitimate power (control is the proper word) over him that puts him in a prison (because of speculations, pretensions and arguments,) the knowledge of God is destroyed. The prison does not allow him to ask the question of why and arrive at the truth as to whether the reason behind the action is wholesome or unwholesome.
2 Corinthians 10:3-6: "For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses." What is a fortress? It is a prison. "We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing [lofty thing comes from Satan who convinces a person that the action of the person is more important than the truth behind the action] raised up against the knowledge of God and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ, not to the obedience of another person." He must love and honor his mother but he must be obedient to God. He cannot be obedient to God without knowledge. But he is allowing pretenses, arguments and speculations to put him in a prison that results in the destruction of knowledge. (No truth: aletheia/confrontation.)
PREVIOUS PARAGRAPH DISCUSSED AGAIN:
2 Corinthians 10:3-6: "For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)" [What is a stronghold? It is a vice-grip—one is held and controlled by a vice—no aletheia/truth.] "Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;" Why do we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ? So that arguments and pretensions that do not imprison a person’ mind thus raising themselves (the arguments and pretensions that are fostered on a person) against the knowledge of God. And the knowledge of God means to know God—intimately in the Greek. And if you know God, the Holy Spirit will not tolerate the spirit of an illegitimate power source (satan). If satan is working through another and fostering pretensions, arguments, and speculations on a person, that person does not fight back, against the one using arguments, pretensions and speculations, through psychology (it is useless). A person does not fight back against those using pretensions, arguments and pretensions, with guns (it is useless). A person does not fight by arguing (it is detrimental)—people who use illegitimate power will tear you up if you argue with them. A person does not fight by pleading—this only makes you appear to be weak to one who fosters pretensions, arguments on speculations on you. A person does not fight by reasoning. A person does not fight in any way except through the scriptures. And, when you have the scriptures, you have the Holy Spirit. And then, he stands up tall. And, once he has determined why he is acting—the real reasons behind why he is acting—that will liberate him because the Word of God will set him free. If he arrives at the truth through the Word of God that says: don't let someone put you in a prison because of arguments, pretensions and speculations because that raises itself against the knowledge of God (by allowing it to happen) and, if you follow the Word of God and hold to the teachings under 2 Corinthians 10:3-6, you will be set free. What is freedom? It is the truth. What is truth? It is: (a) not being in a prison; and (b) emotional certainty. Emotional certainty comes from believing what he saying is true for him, understanding that what he is saying is true for him, and accepting that what he is saying is true for him. With the power of the Word of God (the power of 2 Corinthians 10:3-6), an illegitimate power cannot and will not stand up against emotional certainty. The illegitimate power source (Satan) cannot stand up against a legitimate power source (God through the Holy Spirit). It cannot.
Proverbs 24:5: "A wise man is strong and a man of knowledge increases power." A wise woman is strong and a woman of knowledge increases power. A paradigm shift: where one seeks the truth in his own life using facts. Regardless of what other people say to him or what other people have done to him (control) to place him in a fortress, if he seeks the truth in order to achieve emotional certainty, the foundation (the beginning point), which the establishment never discusses, allows him to move from there (the beginning point) to knowledge, then to belief, then to faith, and then to conviction. When conviction arrives, the result is a healthy state and a balanced state where he works and acts neither out of fear nor out of courage. He acts from conviction—he knows God because he is out of any and all prisons. He is one who knows the truth (aletheia) and is set free.
J. Richard Duke—most of the credit to Jonar C. Nader
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How to Lose Friends & Infuriate People: Leadership in the Networked World
SEE the following for some truths: