Brad,
I agree that there are many things in God's word that are perplexing. But, 
"by faith" we accept it knowing that He is faithful and cannot lie.
We have done a study at church about predestination and free will. One of 
the things that seems to be  a stumbling point for many is the fact that God 
is omniscient (all knowing) which means He knows everything. God is not, 
like us, limited by time nor space. From where He sits (figurative speech) 
He can see the past, present and future all in a glance. The question then 
is--if God's knows everything before hand does that mean He is responsible 
for it happening?  Does His knowing of an event make Him the cause of the 
event? I think not. If we were predestined, as some teach, none of us would 
have a choice in our salvation. Because God knows who will accept and serve 
Him does not mean we have no choice in the matter. In Romans 8 V29 it says,

"or those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness 
of his
Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.
We are predestined to conform to Jesus for He is the way, the truth and the 
Life.  There are many other Scriptures where it talks about predestination 
and foreknowledge. We know for a certainty by many verses in the Bible that 
God intedns that if anyone is to be saved, he must accept and obey Jesus. 
There is no other way.  The fact that God knows who will accept Jesus does 
not make Him the cause.
It is a difficult subject and I haven't but scratched the surface.  There 
are many questions that we can aks and one day we will understand it all.

Ned
" 30