Greg, maybe this is of help. Look where Ray 'starts'. Pretty much every article starts with exposing a false doctrine. We have come from every corner of Babylon, and if we were still there, we'd be arguing constantly between ourselves, just as they do in seminaries. I don't know precisely what your religious background is...doesn't really matter. But you haven't been dragged through that for no reason nor at random.
What's helpful to me is to go back into scripture with 'truths' in mind. I'll give you one example. I had a hard time with the fallacy of free-will and the truth of the sovereignty of God. It wasn't until I began to read/meditate/think on all the scripture and 'sermons' I had grown up on WITH the new 'assumption' that God is Sovereign that I began to understand it. The largest part, I believe, for a new believer is to UNLEARN.
I had never heard a sermon on the Gospel of the Kingdom that wasn't just fluffy. I can't remember any sermon on the "Many called/few chosen" that came close to the truth. I can't remember a sermon on the parables of Christ that included the information that He taught in parables so that most of his listeners not only would not understand, but would NOT believe. On the contrary, it was assumed that He taught in parables to make His message MORE understandable to the masses. I actually read the New Testament when I was a teenager, and I could see that the scripture did not say what I was 'learning'. In fact, it often said JUST THE OPPOSITE. You see where I'm going?
I haven't uncovered any truth so far that isn't in opposition to doctrines I either believed or knew about. "Come out of her, my people" isn't just a helpful suggestion.
That said, not everything is about 'doctrine' in the traditional sense of the word. We really 'learn' by living and in obedience. If we're not living, then I don't think we can even ask most of the right questions.
I'm definitely not done yet, but that 'approach' still is working.