Hello, I’m Marty. Welcome to my corner of the internet.
Ephesians 3. Mystery Revealed
When you hear the word “mystery”, what comes to mind? Most people probably think of a murder mystery novel, a crime series, a riddle, a locked-room puzzle, or the missing ice cream from the freezer. As for me, I think of the episode of The Office where Michael Scott runs a murder mystery game. In Savannah.
Ephesians 2:11-22. I Hate, Hate, Hate Being Left Out
Whenever I think about the idea of exclusion or being left out, my mind goes to this clip from The Office:
I hate, hate, hate being left out. Whether it's not being picked for a team...or being picked for a team and then showing up and realising the team doesn't exist. Or that the sport doesn't exist! I should've known. 'Poop ball?'
Michael Scott, The Office
Ephesians 2:1-10. Grace
What do you think the average person would say? Maybe someone who is kind and compassionate. Someone who is honest. Someone who does the right thing. Someone who follows the rules. Someone who is tolerant and non-judgmental. Someone who turns up on time. Most of the time, anyway. And with that final qualification—”most of the time”—most of us feel like we measure up “ok”. Not perfectly. But we do all right.
Ephesians 1:15-23. A Prayer for the Person Who Has Everything
In my previous article, I mentioned that I was once given a Lego train set for my birthday. It was basically the best gift ever, all I could ever have asked for.
A few years later, my mum gave me a cheeky birthday card. On the front, it said, “What do you give the person who has absolutely everything?” I opened the card and it said, “Absolutely nothing.” I was devastated. Thankfully, my mum proceeded to give me a present. In Ephesians 1:3-14, we see that God has given Christians absolutely everything—every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms—adoption to sonship, redemption, forgiveness, and the Holy Spirit sealing our future. This is so much better than a train set, right? In Ephesians 1:15-23, Paul goes on to show us how you pray for the person who has absolutely everything. There are three things in particular we need to pray for.
Ephesians 1:1-14. For His Glory
What’s the greatest imaginable birthday present? For me, nothing tops my eighth birthday back in 1997. My parents bought me a motorised Lego train set. Best. Thing. Ever. It was second-hand, and about twenty years old. Many of the pieces were broken, and some were missing. But I didn’t care. I felt like heaven had poured out the greatest gift imaginable. Consequently, I was very, very thankful to my parents. I can’t entirely remember how well I expressed my thankfulness, but I remember how excited I was. Based on that, they deserved a truckload of praise and glory.
Glory
There’s something in all of us that craves that “mountain top” experience. That feeling of having transcended the humdrum of everyday life and truly feel “alive”. We want to feel a “high”. This is (at least part of) why people take drugs. Or go to concerts. Or go to major sporting events. Or go on fancy holidays. Or climb to the top of a mountain. We want that mountain-top experience. We want that high. We want that sense of transcendence.
It’s Canon Time: Introducing the Canons of Nicaea
Today is 19 June 2025. On this day, 1700 years ago, 250–318 Christian bishops were gathered together by Constantine, Emperor of the recently reunited Roman Empire, for what would come to be known as the Council of Nicaea.[1] We don’t know for sure who chaired this council—it might have been Ossius of Cordova, Eustathius of Antioch, or Alexander of Alexandria. But we know that it was held at Nicaea (modern day İznik in Türkiye), near Constantine’s imperial residence at Nicomedia (modern İzmit), and fairly accessible to people from the East and Western parts of the empire.
Intercession
Intercession isn’t a word we use every day, but it’s an important word to understand. In the Bible, it often means “speaking to God on behalf of someone else, especially in prayer.” It’s similar to the idea of priest and mediation, but also a bit different. A priest has a particular role or office as someone who represents God on behalf of others, especially through making offerings and sacrifices. Mediation tends to focus on the overall restoration of two people or parties. These ideas are connected to the idea of intercession—priests can also intercede, and intercession is often a key part of mediation. But they’re also different.
God Made Man
On Sunday night, one of our pastors preached on Hebrews 4:14-5:10. In 4:14-15 (HCSB), we read:
14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens—Jesus the Son of God—let us hold fast to the confession. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tested in every way as we are, yet without sin.
This led one of our members to ask the following question on her connect slip during the service:
If God is an all-powerful and all-knowing God, wouldn't he be able to be sympathetic or empathetic with humanity anyway? Why did Jesus have to be on earth to be able to understand? Is that undervaluing God's power?
Sacrifice
Last month, one of my kids came home with a set of ANZAC Day flash cards he made at school. As at most Australian schools around April, they’d been learning about the sacrifice the ANZACS made in World War One. When most Australian youth and kids think of sacrifice, I reckon they think of ANZAC Day. The ANZACs endured extreme hardship, facing brutal conditions, disease, and heavy casualties, especially in the battles at Gallipoli and on the Western Front. Their sacrifices helped forge a sense of national identity. The theme of sacrifice would also become a key part of Israel’s national identity, Jesus’ mission, and should be key to how we think about our own lives as Christians. In this article, we’ll have a look at the theme of sacrifice in Exodus—what it was and why it was needed—and then turn to consider how this points to Jesus and what it means for us.
Habakkuk 3
This article contains the study questions and answers I’ve written for a youth Bible study on Habakkuk 3. Feel free to use and adapt as you like. My only request is that you don’t ditch the stuff about Jesus. We need to read the Old Testament through a Christ-focused lens.
Habakkuk 1:12-2:20
This article contains the study questions and answers I’ve written for a youth Bible study on Habakkuk 1:12-20. Feel free to use and adapt as you like. My only request is that you don’t ditch the stuff about Jesus.
Habakkuk 1:1-11
This article contains the study questions and answers I’ve written for a youth Bible study on Habakkuk 1:1-11. Feel free to use and adapt as you like. My only request is that you don’t ditch the stuff about Jesus.
Dealing with Porn
I recently gave a youth talk that touched on the problem of porn. Here are a few follow-up thoughts to what I said in my talk.
On Rewards
I was just writing a study on Matthew 10:32-42. I came across verses 41-42, which talk about receiving rewards.
41 Whoever welcomes a prophet as a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and whoever welcomes a righteous person as a righteous person will receive a righteous person’s reward. 42 And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones who is my disciple, truly I tell you, that person will certainly not lose their reward.
That raised for me the age-old question. What is the reward? Here are a few quick thoughts. Certainly not comprehensive, but hopefully helpful.
Shrewd as Snakes, Innocent as Doves
This morning, I was reading through Matthew 10 in my Bible reading. In verse 16, Jesus delivers one of his premier mixed metaphors: “I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore, be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.” I found the “sheep among wolves” bit fairly easy to wrap my mind around. We are like sheep following our shepherd, Jesus. There are people out there who will oppose the gospel message we’ve been sent by Jesus to preach. These are the wolves. But what about the snakes and doves? I had to pause and think about that.
Priests
In the late 90s, the artist Mýa summarised how many of us today think about life and reality in her song “It’s All About Me”:
It's all about me me me me me
Forget about you you you you you
It’s fairly self-indulgent, right? Though not a particularly well-known song these days, it basically captures the “me-mindset” that we all adopt from time to time (if not all the time).
Tabernacle
If someone asked you, “Where does God live?”, what would you say? It might sound like an unanswerable question, but it’s a question that the Bible actually answers. From the very beginning, God made it clear that he wanted to dwell with his people. He’s not sitting back in some celestial armchair in the Milky Way watching Netflix while history plays out. He’s not hidden away out of reach. He wants to be with his people. To be among them. To walk with them. Even live in them.
Covenant
Most people don’t talk about “covenants”. Lawyers and property developers talk about covenants, but other than that, we normally only hear about them when discussing the Bible. In the Bible, a covenant is a deep and binding agreement between two parties. It’s stronger than a contract, but much more personal than a deal. It’s a key way God chose to relate to his people throughout the Bible.
Who is Marticles?
I'm Martin, an ordained Anglican Minister of the Reformed/Evangelical persuasion, with a passion for Christian theology, ministry, and—somewhat randomly—life hacks.
What can you expect from this blog? A smorgasbord of topics that I felt like writing about.
Stick around, explore, and feel free to reach out with any questions or topics you'd like to see covered. I'm glad you're here, and I hope you find some of this content helpful.