A California man who had recently received radiation treatment prompted police to close a roadway in Escondido, CA while they searched for a possible nuclear weapon.

The Rancho Santa Fe Fire Protection District purchased radiation monitors with a Homeland Defense Department grant and uses them 24-hours a day on each fire engine they operate. The monitor sounded an alert when two men walked past the fire crew on their way to fill a gas can. When the men passed the truck on the way back to their car, the alarm sounded again. The monitor sounded a third time when Firefighters drove by the man's vehicle.

Sheriff's deputies immediately stopped the car and detained the man and a passenger for about an hour while they confirmed that they were not carrying a nuclear weapon. Authorities were able to confirm that the man, described as a local resident in his late 40s or early 50s, had received radiation treatment for a medical condition and then released him.

—Associated Press, California Man Sets Off Nuclear Alert Detector, March 2, 2005. Illustration by Jim L. Wilson and Jim Sandell.

This equipment was so sensitive that it was able to detect the trace amounts of radiation residue remaining in the man's body after his medical treatment, but it couldn't differentiate between medical radiation and the type of radiation that a nuclear weapon emits. Detection and discernment are not the same thing, without discernment, knowledge doesn't bring advancement, it creates chaos.

Proverbs 16:21 (ESV) "The wise of heart is called discerning, and sweetness of speech increases persuasiveness."

Robyn Okrant decided she wanted to make some changes in her life, so she turned to self-help guru Oprah Winfrey. In 2008, she followed every piece of advice Oprah gave on her daytime talk show, in her Magazine “O” and on her website. She bought what Oprah told her to buy, she ate what Oprah told her to eat, and she wore the styles Oprah told her to wear.

Following the self-help guru’s every word did her some good—“I actually did get clarity in many areas of my life that I didn’t even know were cloudy.” Okrant said. Overall, Okrant was glad when the year was over. By October, she was “broken down” with “an empty tank.” A couple of months after the project concluded she noticed that she “was at ease in my own skin.”

--USA Today, Section D, Monday January 4, 2010, 1D. Illustration by Jim L. Wilson

One way to look at Okrant’s story is to conclude that Okrant was just following the wrong person and that is why she didn’t find the satisfaction she sought, and I suppose you could make a case for that point of view. But another point of view is that it is unwise to blindly do everything one person advises you to do. Everyone must practice discernment when considering the advice of others. It is like eating peanuts—enjoy the nuts but discard the shells.

Proverbs 9:6 (NASB) "Forsake your folly and live, And proceed in the way of understanding."

The latest diagnosis in the mental health industry is called the “Truman Show Disorder,” and it is defined as the pervasive belief that every aspect of your life is being filmed without your knowledge to be used on a reality television program. Canadian psychiatrists Joel and Ian Gold say the growth of the social media and YouTube have fueled the concerns among some people. They have treated at least five patients, mainly college educated young men, who believed hidden cameras were recording their every move. Speaking in an interview Dr. Joel Gold said the syndrome is named after the 1998 motion picture comedy about a man who slowly becomes aware that his life is being watched by viewers around the world. Since many popular reality programs closely follow the events of the subject’s lives, the premise of the movie is not as far-fetched as it used to be. Gold said, “Typically, the Truman Show Delusion is a combination of paranoia, grandiosity, and the idea that a person believes they are receiving signals meant specifically for them from a newscast or television program.”— Jim L. Wilson and Jim Sandell.

Truman Show Delusion: Is Reality TV Your Reality?, By Buck Wolf, http://weirdnews.about.com/b/2008/07/24/truman-show-delusion-is-reality-tv-your-reality.htm, July 24, 2008, Accessed October 29, 2012.

Proverbs 15:3 (ESV) The eyes of the LORD are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good.

Every year, spring allergies affect more than 50 million people in the United States. Allergies occur when the immune system incorrectly identify pollen as bacteria or viruses and release antibodies to fight against it.– Jim L. Wilson and Yuet S. Flavia Wong

It isn’t enough to combat irritants, we must have discernment to know danger from what is harmless.

Philippians 1:9-10 (ESV) And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, (10) so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ,

During the general election in 2016, Facebook had false news stories trending on their site. Shares and likes of outrageous stories from both sides of the political isle skyrocketed. After the election, Facebook announced they sought to get rid of false stories on their website to keep people from being misinformed but some readers did not want Facebook to block content, even if it is false. —Jim L. Wilson and Jeremiah Cannon

2 Timothy 4:3 (HCSB)“For the time will come when they will not tolerate sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, will multiply teachers for themselves because they have an itch to hear something new.”