By:  Kevin Cauley

Have you ever been manipulated by someone to such a degree that when the entire thing is over you feel like an old bath towel that has been hung out to dry, just kind of waving back and forth in the wind? I know that I have, and I don’t really care to relive those experiences or recount them. They are quite embarrassing to recall and usually emotionally painful as well. Perhaps, however, one of the biggest manipulations in our culture and society is the philosophies of postmodernism. Whether we realize it or not, and most do not, the way that we think in our society and culture is influenced. Television, advertisements, the evening news, sitcoms, buying products at the grocery store, video games, movies, restaurants, theme parks, religious services even our closest friends are influenced.

By: Mike Riley

A few years back, the Washington Post printed an article that pondered the reluctance of Americans to read the instructions that come with new products. Too often, consumers struggle with (or even end up returning) items they can’t figure out how to use, or that they assume don’t work because they’re using the product incorrectly. Companies’ customer service lines are tied up by people asking routine questions about their purchases, and phone calls that could be avoided if people would take the time to read the manual.

Barbara Hyland Guest Writer

He was a brilliant man. Those who knew him well and those who only knew him by reputation said he had more than merely “raw” intelligence. He had been given a particular gift and of course, it was from God (1 Kings 3:5-15). He was handed the kingdom on a platter. His father had already defeated the principal opponents in the struggle for the land. Now he had to build the temple to God to secure the borders of the kingdom and keep the peace.

In our public prayers, we often thank God for the fact that we live in a country where we can worship Him without fear of reprisal or molestation. Indeed, this kind of prayer is specifically approved in Scripture: “Therefore I exhort first of all those supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence” (1 Timothy 2:1-2).