Martin Wickens
Speaking the Truth in Love
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Book Review: Does God Desire All to Be Saved – #2
Part 1 – Introduction In the first chapter of this booklet John Piper explains his aim for the publication, “My aim in this short book is to show from Scripture that the simultaneous existence of God’s will for all people to be saved and his will to choose some people for salvation unconditionally before creation…
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Unsearchable Riches
Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ; Ephesians 3:8 A few weeks ago a Bible reading plan I followed with others at Bedford Bible Church took us through Ephesians 3. Verse 8 hit a chord…
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Shining Lights
In verse 15 of Philippians 2 Paul reaches his conclusion for a series of admonitions and instructions he has given the believers. That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world… Philippians 2:15…
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Past vs Present
Years ago I read the story of a man who preached and taught on the book of Ephesians in a way that struck one of his listeners. Later, when the chance arose, the preacher was asked how he knew the book so well. The preacher explained that he had read the short epistle over, and…
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When Donut Day Turns into Donut Weekend
On Friday, June 7th, we participated in a noble event, National Donut Day. We didn’t realize the day existed until the last minute, so we could only find some lesser quality donuts. The next morning, at the men’s prayer breakfast, they supplied some top quality cinnamon rolls, which continued the donut theme. On Sunday, a…
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Book Review: “Does God Desire All to be Saved?” #1
Recently, I wrote an extensive and somewhat meandering review of Roger Olson’s book, “against Calvinism”. In the interest of fairness, I am going to write a review of a booklet by John Piper titled, “Does God Desire all to be Saved”. While it is significantly shorter, it deals with a single subject and so has…
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Quiet Time Helps – How Can I Understand the Bible?
In a previous post I shared a few thoughts concerning our quiet time, or devotions. But once you’re regularly reading the Bible, it is important to make sure you really understand what you are reading. As with the previous article, this is just a primer and is designed as a starting place for children or…
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Daily Time with God
Whether you call it devotions, quiet time, or something else, Christians need to spend time with God each day. To help my own children and children in the church I put together a leaflet titled “Quiet Time Helps for Children”. It goes through five sections: Motivation Preparation Understanding Application Prayer I want to share them…
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4 Reasons People Read the Bible
How sweet are thy words unto my taste! Yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth! Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips; I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food. Psalm 119:103; Job 23:12 If you struggle to maintain a consistent habit of Bible reading and…
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Abortion – The Consistent Christian Position
For decades the question regarding the morality of abortion has been argued. The tide has almost consistently moved towards approving of abortion. To reach this point activists have utilized massive amounts of misinformation (lies I mean). It was seen as an act of desperation, a last resort, and something approached with sadness and sobriety. Now…