by Alan Shook
Let me begin by saying that I am writing this response as one who came to Christ in a fundamental, Baptist, non-Calvinist church. I spent the first 28 years of my life in such churches and only finally left the last one after I had wrestled through the issue of “Calvinism” for over a year. I am happy to say that I left that church on good terms and can continue to 
consider the pastor and congregants as my friends and, of course, my brethren in Christ, our serious theological disagreement notwithstanding. Please understand that I believe that there are many, many godly men and women who are not Calvinists. I have known them personally; in fact, two of them are my parents! Likewise, I have no reason to believe that you are anything but a sincere and reasonable man of God, and I plead with you to read my comments as from one who bears no animosity toward you but who seeks to gently correct some misrepresentations and kindly challenge some of your arguments, one brother to another.
