Martin Wickens
Speaking the Truth in Love
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Famous Phrases: An Eye for an Eye
The Bible has shaped our language, legal system, and much of the world to a degree that even the most fervent of atheists couldn’t deny. Last night, we began a new series looking at some of the phrases that we find in everyday language but have their origins in the Bible. We began with “eye…
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Influence
In the social media world, there exists a phenomenon unique to the digital age – influencers. Like the old Ronseal ad, they do “exactly what it says on the tin.” Influencers influence. They influence others to buy products or buy into ideals and lifestyles. They leverage their position and experience in an industry worth over…
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“You Can’t Let a Young’n Decide for Himself”
We live in a time and culture where choice, and not responsibility receives all the attention, and admiration. This post kind of meanders through several points, and I feel like an entire series is needed to fully expound things. But ultimately I want to focus in on our children. I hope you’ll follow my train…
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Corporate Worship – Book Review
Recently, I finished reading Scott Aniol’s book, “Biblical Foundations of Corporate Worship“. It is a relatively small book at 121 pages, but its conciseness is part of its strength. Across five chapters Scott lays out a Biblical case for what constitutes Biblical, corporate worship. Many today worship in a purely emotional way and then assess…
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Reasons We Gather Often
Why do we gather as a church? The answer to that question will have some bearing on how often we gather. My personal desire is to gather with the church as often as I can. I want to encourage you to do the same. Can there be such a thing as gathering too often? Possibly.…
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Disagreeing Agreeably When Differences are Not Doctrinal (2/2)
In a previous post, I looked at the circumstances that led to Paul and Barnabas parting ways. You can read that here: Now, I want to consider how we can prevent sharp divisions from happening and how we can resolve them when they have occurred. From the wars that have shaped borders and birthed and…
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Disagreeing Agreeably When Differences are Not Doctrinal (1/2)
In Acts 15 the fledging church faced a severe doctrinal challenge that struck at the heart of what it meant to be a follower of Christ. Did a person have to convert to Judaism? Was Jesus’ salvation enough or were works needed in addition to the work of Christ? Leaders in the church met and…
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God’s Word in Possession of Me
The first book I preached through, verse-by-verse, was Ephesians. That was 17 years ago at Faith Baptist Church, Newtownabbey, in Northern Ireland. It has shaped my whole preaching ministry ever since. At that time I found a story and then lost it, until this morning when I found it again. It’s not enough for us…
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The Lamb of God
As the day dawned in Jerusalem the temple servants busied themselves in preparation for another day of sacrifices. Some sincerely. Some just going through the motions. They did what they had always done and what they believed they would always do. Across the city, in the palace and courts, before Pilate, Herod, and the Sanhedrin,…
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How to Pray for the Wicked
Last night we began a new series asking the question of how we ought to pray for different groups or types of need. We kicked it off by asking how we should pray for the wicked. “The world is a dangerous place to live, not because of the people who are evil, but because of…