Life

Food Labels: Friend or Foe?

Crystal Durham
2 Jul 2012
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What is the one thing on a food product that is most commonly ignored or misinterpreted? It would be the food label or, more specifically, the nutrition facts. Often times, you glance at it to “check” how many calories you would consume or how much sodium is in an item, but do you really understand what you are reading? The food label in this example has eight servings per container and a single serving is ½ cup (approximately 82 grams). In order to make food more appealing, food companies may lower the serving size so that all the information applies […]

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Renewing the Mind

Jeremy McKeen
1 Jul 2012
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How do you change your life? How do you overcome that habit and break free from that destructive pattern of behavior? Do you know how to become more like Christ? What do you say to your friend who tells you, “I want to change, but I don’t know where to start?” Thankfully, the key to lasting change can be known. The apostle Paul says, “…Be transformed by the renewal of your minds” (Rom.12:2). The secret to all lasting transformation is the renewal of your mind. But what does renewing your mind really mean? Why is it necessary for change? And […]

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Real Men Don’t Buy Girls

Cory Nickols
5 Jun 2012
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The voice of a young girl screams relentlessly as she is being sold into the sex trade industry, “Help…help…please help,” but no one is there to hear her cry. No one is there to speak up on her behalf and be a voice against her injustice. Betrayed by her own mother, she was given over to the owner of a brothel to be exploited, earning money for her family. To escape the hurt and pain, this young girl tries to commit suicide many times but fails. She grows up feeling worthless and devalued because of the trauma she had endured […]

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What Daddies Do Best

Keri Williams
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Laura Numeroff’s What Daddies Do Best is a beloved, whimsical board book with delightful illustrations. A favorite for bedtime reading, young boys and girls cuddle up with this best-selling book and celebrate all the things dad is good at; like playing in the park, reading books and giving piggyback rides. “Daddies can teach you how to ride a bicycle, make a snowman with you, and bake a delicious cake for your birthday,” begins the story. Daddy hippo teaches his son how to ride a bike. Daddy billy goat helps his daughter plant a garden and takes care of her when […]

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Hope for The Fatherless

Jeremy McKeen
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Fatherlessness is the most urgent social problem affecting our society today. According to the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department for Health and Human Services, 40 percent of all children in America will go to bed tonight without a father in the home. The effects of this are staggering, considering that 85 percent of all children with behavioral disorders come from fatherless homes. In fact, fatherless children are at a greater risk of suicide, mental illness, poverty and substance abuse, and are 20 times more likely to end up in prison. However, despite these bleak statistics and the pessimism that […]

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Charlie Sheen vs. Jesus

Justin Young
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Last year, actor Charlie Sheen suffered an infamous, extremely public meltdown. Sheen took the media by storm; flaunting his sexual escapades, self-proclaimed superhuman ability to ingest massive quantities of drugs, and extreme hatred toward those who opposed him. One could barely turn on a television in early 2011 without seeing Sheen’s face on nearly every channel. True to form, Sheen’s antics only further solidified his long-standing image as a bad-boy icon. But during Sheen’s public tirade of self-destruction, a very intriguing thing happened. Rather than pitying, vilifying or rejecting Sheen, the American public fell in love with him. Hanging on […]

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Real Men…

Finley Walker
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“Be a man!” yells the coach to his starting middle linebacker. “Make the play!” Most men have heard it at one time or another, “Be a man!” But what does that even mean? Male-bashing has become a popular past time. Television sitcoms portray men as buffoons and “comic relief.” Our secular world is in a crisis of male arrested development and, sadly, men overall have not done much to make amends for this. Many disregard the responsibility for their lives and actions. One does not have to look very far to find single mothers struggling just to survive and provide […]

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Summer Treats

Crystal Durham
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Summer is upon us! It is a time for picnics, barbeques, sports games, patio lounging and pot lucks. It is easy to fall back on premade supermarket meals when you are bringing a dish to a friend’s pool party, but it is even easier and more affordable to whip something up in your own kitchen. Here are some helpful, fun ideas for you to share with friends and family. Pickled Cucumber Salad (Approximately 4 servings) 2 large cucumbers, peeled, cut in half lengthwise then thinly sliced widthwise 1/2 medium red onion, thinly sliced 1 Teaspoon sugar 1/4 Cup rice vinegar […]

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The Myth of Happily Ever After

Dr. John Hawkins
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Fairy tales, bedtime stories, romance novels and romantic comedies – why are they so popular? It is because they strike a cord in the human heart. We all have the need to be loved, accepted, attached and to belong. For men, it is about being the hero, saving the day and for women it is about having their knight in shining armor rescue them. Myths often have a basis in reality. So the myth starts like this, “Once upon a time,” and it ends with, “They lived happily ever after.” In between is a villain, challenge or conflict to overcome. […]

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The XXX Problem

Justin Young
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In December 1953, Hugh Hefner published the first issue of Playboy magazine from his home kitchen. Approximately 50,000 copies were sold at a price of 50 cents each; the black and white images of Marilyn Monroe inside revealed little more than what can be seen in a grocery store checkout line today. Fast-forward 60 years and the pornography industry has literally exploded into an international moneymaking empire. According to compiled numbers from respected news and research organizations, annual worldwide revenues from pornography amount in the hundreds of billions of dollars, with revenues in the United States alone exceeding those of […]

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