The following list of events is a representative sample lifted from recent headlines and compiled in this format to offer some perspective concerning the current trends in our culture.  Items included were selected at my sole discretion.  Jim Whiddon.

May 2014

Florida State University quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner Jameis Winston was cited for allegedly taking seafood from a Tallahassee grocery store without paying. (CNN)

Researchers found that “divorce is contagious” as 75% of participants were more likely to get divorced if a friend was divorced. Researchers called the phenomenon a “social contagion” through the spread of information through friends, family and social networks. (CBS)

The Hook-Up truck – a conceptual “art” installation consisting of a box truck converted to a sex suite on wheels, including temperature controls, birth control, safe sex accouterments, and a camera option, was open for service the weekend of May 2nd and 3rd in San Francisco. (CBS)

The Pew Research Center found that 74% of Americans born after 1980 believe that homosexuality should be accepted by society.

The Supreme Court has ruled 5-4 that prayers that open town council meetings do not violate the Constitution even if they routinely stress Christianity. (AP)

Broward County Public School (FL) officials banned fifth grader from reading his bible during free reading time. (Breitbart)

When asked “Would you have sex before marriage?” sixty-three percent of single Christian respondents answered “yes” according to ChristianMingle.com, one of the Web’s biggest Christian dating networks.

The United Methodist Church has decided to provide benefits for partners of homosexual employees. (Huffington Post)

After conservative non-profit groups were required to provide donor lists to the IRS, a congressional investigation has found that nearly one in 10 donors were subject to audit. More than five times the normal average. (Wash Times)

A New Hampshire parent who complained about a pornographic book his 14-year-old daughter was required to read in class is arrested for violating an arbitrary “two-minute rule” in a school board meeting. Other parents provided no support in his defense as he was calmly led from the meeting and charged with disorderly conduct. (The Blaze)

Atheist TV will be launching this summer with big plans to reach out to atheists, humanists, freethinkers, and folks who are looking for a way out of faith. (Daily News)

The Benham brothers HDTV cable show “Flip It Forward” was cancelled after complaints were lodged with the network regarding their Christian faith and their stance against homosexuality among other biblical beliefs. [The decision seems to have been based largely on a September 2012 radio interview where David expressed his Christian worldview.] (Deadline)

Health officials say syphilis has reached its highest level since 1995 with the increase all in men including a steady rise in gay and bisexual men catching the disease. They account for most of the recent infectious cases. (AP)

Over 1.4 million cases of Chlamydia were reported to the Centers for Disease Control in 2012, the largest number of reported cases for any notifiable disease in the U.S. More than a third of the entire U.S. population were infected with a sexually transmitted disease as of 2008.  Nearly 20 million new cases of STDs are reports each year. (CNSNews.com)

Arkansas judge strikes down voter-approved 2004 state constitutional amendment banning homosexual marriage. (AP)

Michael Sam of the University of Missouri becomes the first openly homosexual player selected in the NFL draft by the St. Louis Rams. (ESPN)

Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffet has has donated more than $1.2 billion to abortion organizations from 2001 to 2012. (Fox News)

People are sleeping two hours less than in 1960s and risking serious health problems today. (The Telegraph)

A judge in Idaho struck down a 2006 state constitutional amendment banning homosexual marriage. (FOX News)

Education authorities in Nantes, France, launched a ‘Lift the Skirt’ campaign to support gender equality. Male students and teachers were invited to wear skirts on Friday, sparking controversy in the western French city. (Zuma Press)

Gun retailers say the Obama administration is trying to put them out of business with regulations and investigations that bypass Congress and choke off their lines of credit, freeze their assets and prohibit online sales. (Wash Times)

Recent “Pastoral letter” given to patients from Planned Parenthood states, “The truth is abortion is not even mentioned in the scripture…” (Progressives Today)

Proverbs 8:1-11 KJV

“Doth not wisdom cry? and understanding put forth her voice? She standeth in the top of high places, by the way in the places of the paths. She crieth at the gates, at the entry of the city, at the coming in at the doors. Unto you, O men, I call; and my voice is to the sons of man. O ye simple, understand wisdom: and, ye fools, be ye of an understanding heart. Hear; for I will speak of excellent things; and the opening of my lips shall be right things. For my mouth shall speak truth; and wickedness is an abomination to my lips. All the words of my mouth are in righteousness; there is nothing froward or perverse in them. They are all plain to him that understandeth, and right to them that find knowledge. Receive my instruction, and not silver; and knowledge rather than choice gold. For wisdom is better than rubies; and all the things that may be desired are not to be compared to it.”