Penelope, that is the problem with the homosexual issue today, not to mention all other "grey" issues. People think "as long as it's not hurting anyone, we can't tell people not to do it." Sin always hurts someone. When we sin, the Bible says (and I'm not sure where this passage ...

Ophelia is right, in a Calvinist world view, no one really knows if they are chosen ("elected" is the word generally used) or not. At least, I don't think so. I always wondered about that old hymn "Blessed Assurance,":doze: and whether it was really Biblical or just something tha...

"For the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart." - 1 Samuel 16:7 I think that my Calvinist beliefs, though they seem strange and hard to grasp, help me to love my neighbor and not be intolerant as Christians are stereotype...

Hi, Audrey! I'm new here, too, and I'm also 19. My name is Abigail. I studied German in High School and liked it so much that I thought I'd like to really get into foreign languages, maybe as a career. I only know a very little French, just from movies and books, but I do own a few books written ent...

You can call me Abigail, or shorten my "long name" to evendeath -that sounds emo. The reason I haven't been in for a while is because my computer had a cold and had to go to the computer doctor. But my baby's back now and everything is okay. That's an interesting poem, Penelope, but I'm no...

I think it's important for an artist to destroy a few of his or her own works at some time, or at least lose them or hide them. Our great heroes and role models would not seem quite so magical and wonderful if they didn't have some secrets, some mystery about them. If we ever crack Einstein's coded ...

I know what you mean about the language getting into your mind. Tom Clancy books do that to me. Is it really necessary to drop the f-bomb every two paragraphs? I also don't really like Steven King, but that might be because practically nothing scares me, and he tries to hard to be scary. I could pro...

I'd love to talk about it anytime, Jan. I'm young and certainly don't know everything, even about my own faith, but I'm learning all the time, and I love to learn what other people think about God and the universe in general.

amen to that, constance! I've always been a little afraid of those guys in suits. You can't see what they're really like, and they could be doing anything. I once read a mystery series called the Gil Beckman Mysteries, and it's about a former cop who worked as a security guard at an amusement park. ...

This is not funny, every single one of these is true of me except for 21 (my library's limit is 50 items, and even I couldn't handle that.) and 25. I have never once regretted loving books! I pity people who don't. I feel the same way as MadArchitecht. I won't watch movies based on my favorite books...