At present, as in the past, I have been exploring reformed doctrine and, as in the past, I end up in such a quandary over issues that I just back away from the whole thing. What I thought I clearly understood as vital to faith gets very muddied in what appears to be a misconstruing of words taken out of context. I honestly get so confused that I shut down and am overcome by a near despair. I am not even sure I can effectively enunciate what specific doctrines I'm talking about, but I do know I tend to get snagged on some of the five key components of Calvinism that differentiate it from Arminianism (and I never would have called myself an Arminian before).

In the past, I could content myself with the seeming paradox or mystery of God's ways - ie. evangelism and God's sovereignty - but it seems that I have to have everything straight in my mind before becoming truly "reformed".

<img src="/forum/images/graemlins/broke.gif" alt="" />

M Azingrace

[color:"blue"]...how sweet the sound[/color]