Bobby Bickel

to lent or not to lent is the question

noreply@blogger.com (Bobby.Bickel) — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 02:01:00 +0000

So tomorrow starts the season of lent. Lent symbolically represents the forty days that, according to the Bible, Jesus spent in the desert before the beginning of his public ministry, where he endured temptation by Satan.
Matthew 4
1 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.
So the first thing I want to point out is that Jesus was lead by this spirit, not a calendar date or a community of people that have always done it this way on this day.
Second when you read this the Fasting was a part of the leading, it was a preparation for the events to come, the temptation.
So when I see people participating in the 40 days of lent I have to ask why. If it is a time for us to symbolically identify with the time Jesus was in the wilderness and take on temptation why are we not spending time fasting before the test comes. When I use the word fasting, I am referring to more than not eating, like praying and meditation you know stuff that focuses your attention on God.
It is assumable that when Jesus was fasting he did not eat, he did not enjoy his latest worship download, he did not call his buds (the disciples have not come in to the story yet), he did not update his status every hour or play Angry Birds on his Iphone. He was alone in the "wilderness - desert"! he was talking with his father, hearing his father speak the words of approval and strengthening him as a human.
If lent is about what we give up and *itch about it till the 40 days are up then why are we doing it.
But if lent is a time where we purposely focus our time to know the voice of our father so when the temptations of life come, I think that is a better reason to give our your Starbucks, Coke, Facebook, Ipod, or whatever it is. But once again I have to go back to the first verse "Jesus was lead by the spirit" to do this, who is leading you to do this?

wrapping christmas gifts

noreply@blogger.com (Bobby.Bickel) — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 14:43:00 +0000

thought of the day

noreply@blogger.com (Bobby.Bickel) — Sun, 03 Oct 2010 13:40:00 +0000

So i was thinking, if jesus walked in to my church what tables would he flip over

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noreply@blogger.com (Bobby.Bickel) — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 02:36:00 +0000

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number 10

noreply@blogger.com (Bobby.Bickel) — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 20:18:00 +0000

ok so my wife and i have been asking questions about the prosperity "gospel" that has been so freely preached over the last 20 - 30 years. hmm why can you not find it being preached before this.

1st i want to say that yes i want God to bless me. but when you live in America where we are taught that we must have things to achieve this feeling of being blessed i have to raise my eyebrow. we serve a God that was homeless and yet our life of continued "must haves" is some how justifiable.
Prosperity: the condition of being successful or thriving; especially : economic well-being (via Webster) This definition doesn't mention excess. The prosperity camp preaches this but lives out this high wealth lifestyle as an example to what you can have too.

my wife asked a question one Sunday and it has not left me. in the ten commandments number ten it reads Exodus 20:17 "You shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor." So her question was "isn't the prosperity message coveting?" The other questions she has raised a number of times are "what is the true definition of prosper?and, As Americans aren't the poorest of us more prosperous than almost any other countries general population?"

we get caught up on the wife and and maid servant. but what it is saying is why are you looking at the blessings i have given your brother and not noticed the ones i have given you.

People spend so much time asking God for more, this is not a bad thing. But what is the motive of your asking. Is it a need or a want. How are you going to use the BMW you are praying for to serve God? BMWs are not a bad blessing but are you walking past a hungry child thinking "wish I could help but my car payment is due"? But hey everyone I drive past can see that Ive been blessed.

The United States population wastes more then any other country in the world. the low income population is rich compared to the poorest counties.

so when we ask God to bless us is it based on a true need, or do we want the life that God has given some one else.
I have heard the argument that to help people and serve God you need money, if thats why you are praying for God to pour out his blessings on you great! But how much of that excess that you are praying for is being used to help others, and going back to God?
Another argument is "live life abundantly" well, Americans constitute 5% of the world's population but consume 24% of the world's energy and we have more malls than high schools (via http://www.mindfully.org/Sustainability/Americans-Consume-24percent.htm ). I'd say we have gone far beyond "abundant".

my thoughts on changes

noreply@blogger.com (Bobby.Bickel) — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 15:10:00 +0000

i have been thinking about the changes that are happening in today's cutler and watching the Christians getting mad over a lot of them. but most of the Christians are mad because they have been told that the need to be mad about this issues so like sheep we follow with out understanding the "whys". but how many honestly have taken out our bible to see where God stand on issue, and how does God show use love when we make chooses that offend him. many of us don't even think to reach for our bible first but we reach for the latest must read on the current issue. i think if we want to change our county back to a God lead county God needs to lead us. but as it stands God word is the last book that most of us go to first when we are seeking wisdom, instead we reach for the wisdom of man.

noreply@blogger.com (Bobby.Bickel) — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 00:05:00 +0000

A really funny thing happened today. I was walking through Wal-mart with my kids and passed a lady shopping with her teenage daughter and I though that the look she gave me was a little on the tense side. A few min latter we pass again and she starts to walk right at me with the same look. So let me set up why she was looking at me the way she was, I was wherein a t-shirt put out by a ministry call XXXCHURCH.COM out of Vegas that works with people that are addicted to the sex industry and help girls that work in the industry. So my shirt reads Jesus Loves Porn Stars. Not Jesus love porn. So the lady was walking straight to me to set me straight. When I told her that it was a ministry that help… and she cut me off to tell me that I was cheapening the love of Christ. I did not understand how it can be cheapened when his love is free, and I was wondering if she remembered the story of the “working girl” washing Jesus feet. So after she took a breath I told her that Jesus loves every one, and then she had enough air in her lunges for round two. At that point she told me that I did not have a clue. Ok so this is the button where I start to feel like I need to prove myself. it was best to walk away at this point. And I did while telling her she needed to reread the bible. Bad ending! But a few year a go it would not have been this good. It is hard for me to walk away when I see stupid all over someone’s forehead.
How is it that Jesus gives his love away for free to call people closer to him, and we go though and pick and chose who he loves? I always wondered what Craig Gross felt when he started XXXCHURCH.com and a lot of churches turned their back on him and the idea of loving the people and not the sin. This lady at wal-mart gave me a good idea of what it might be like.

learning how to love all over agian

noreply@blogger.com (Bobby.Bickel) — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 21:50:00 +0000

My wife and I were sitting in a class at our church and it was a teaching on “God is Love”. If it was not for a friend telling me to go because he heard the teaching the night before I would have told him cool and walked right past the class. I honestly was not prepared to over 10 years of deeply grounded doctrine to be dismantled in one hour. I guess it was time for God to change some ideas in me.
So here was the text that Kevin Copeland was teaching from
Mark 12:28 And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” 29 Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” 32 And the scribe said to him, “You are right, Teacher. You have truly said that he is one, and there is no other besides him. 33 And to love him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” 34 And when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And after that no one dared to ask him any more questions.
So I have heard that passage taught on many times, but Kevin started to focus in on the word Love.
In the bible there are many forms of Love, 3 of the 5 I know about already. I love a class when I learn something new.
Eros: Desire; Sexual Love.
Philandros: Love of a wife towards her husband.
Philoteknos: Paternal feelings; Love for ones children.
Phileo: to be a friend to (fond of (an individual or an object)), i.e. have affection for (denoting personal attachment, as a matter of sentiment or feeling.
AGAPE: The Love of God; Unconditional Love; Love Feast.
Love Feast? What an image, there are feast spoken of all through the bible and the Jews even practice them today. All of the Jewish feasts have a purpose of telling a story and a projected image of Gods relationship with his people and their relationship with him. So the word Agape has this implied image of a celebration of Love not just Gods unconditional love. So when you read the vs. above with this image of love in mind it changes a few things
30 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
Vs. 30 I can understand, a feast of love with God! But in vs. 31 it took my heart to a place that I don’t go to with everyone. I have to be honest I’m like most Christians when I was growing up I keep to my own, and this carried on into adulthood. But in this vs. Jesus is telling us that we should be having this love feast with the people around us. What is does not say is that we are to only share this kind of with fellow Christians. The vs. uses the word neighbor not brother. We Christians spend a lot of time trying to “keep it in the family”.
So when I read “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” I ask the question how do I love my self? Honestly I want the best in life, I want the promotions, the new cars, the big house, and so on. And yet when we see others blessed by God our response (behind the fake smile) is not out of love, it is out of a heartfelt grief of wanting more then we have been given. Sometimes there is a bitterness that swells up inside of us that hijacks are ability to be a part of the love feast, to love our neighbor as our self. You know as well as I do that if you got the greatest news whether it is a job promotion or the girl of your dreams said yes, you would want to celebrate with people that would be excited with you. It is easy to do this with people that are in your “inner circle” that you probably have a lot in common with, even your love for Christ. But what about doing this with the everyday person that you work with, buy coffee from (this is real to me, I have a hard time loving some one that messes up my drink. I worked for Starbucks and my wife tells me I make it hard on them, I just want to show them how it is done right… sorry God), the person that serves your food. We are asked to have a Love Feast with them also, to fall in love with them that same way God has. And to enjoy, be a part of, celebrate God wooing them to himself.
This crosses some lines that a lot of people are not ready to cross, are we ready to love the people that we are at war with, family, the person across the street, a person of a different color, religion. Are we ready to love the people in Iraq as ourselves (there is someone that just put me on their hate mail for that one) what about people that are gay. How is it that the people that spent most of their time around Jesus we do not see in the churches today, it is not there fault they still don’t know who Jesus is. It is our fault because they do not see us as a whole with the love that God loves them with
The idea of God asking us to Love (agape) is huge. In the New Testament it says that They will know them by their love (agape). They; being the people that are not of the Christian faith. When was the last time you could say that about a person or a church? Most churches focus on being accepting and when they use the word Love (I was a part of a church where the leadership would tell us to turn around and tell someone you love them, I did not feel the love this way) corporately it’s used as Phileo: to be a friend. But that is not the word that Jesus used when telling us to Love our neighbor as ourselves.
I Cor. 13:4 Love (Agape) is patient and kind; love (Agape) does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 7 Love (Agape) bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 8 Love (Agape) never fails.
Do people know that we are Christians by our love for the people we pass every day? Bottom line is, am I willing to love the people I come in contact with. It is easy for me to avoid people so I don’t put myself in a place where I need to worry about loving them, but I think that is part of the issue of people not knowing we are Christians. People are hard to love; I know I’m hard for some people to love and I know I need more of the Heart of God to love people the way he is asking us to love others.
But before we can do this we have to allow God to Love us with his overwhelming life changing love - Agape, then we will know what the Love feast really is and how to share it.

learning how to love all over agian

noreply@blogger.com (Bobby.Bickel) — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 21:50:00 +0000

Is God Far?

noreply@blogger.com (Wanna B. SuperMom) — Mon, 11 May 2009 21:23:00 +0000

When posed the question “Is God really far away, or am I far from him?” it struck me, not just how many times that I have wondered this but how many people have. The answer is easy, okay not really. God is always there, he is always listening, he will always answer, just not as loud as our deaf ears would like. God is there even through the tragedies. God is there through the joy and he is there when all we hear is silence. He is there when we worship him but due to this dry season (or so it seems) we just cannot get into it. You cry out “Lord I need you.” And he replies “I am bringing you closer to me.”

Sometimes there are periods of silence to give us a new perspective. There is an area of our lives that we need to change or that is about to change and we need a different view of it. This quietness lets us see things in a new less emotional sight. It lets us view the world with a certain amount of numbness and without adding our own emotions to it. It seems as though whenever I go through one of these seasons, my relationship with God explodes afterwards. Someone once pointed out that there is the least amount of growth on the peak of the mountain, but rather it is on the slopes and in the valleys. Maybe it is because we are praying even harder and begging for the closeness. Maybe that is the change God wanted us to make, to get out of our routine and back to a passionate prayer to him.

When something bad or hard happens in our lives and we change, we may find it hard to listen again. The things in our lives that make us question, “Why would God allow this?” cloud our minds and block our ears. This is the silence of pain, and it itself is painful. I have to say in recent events this has been my silence and it was out of me saying “where are you God, I need you.” However, at the same time saying “I don’t want to talk to you, why did this happen to me?”

Think about when you take away something from your child. Something they want, maybe they think they need it too, but you know it is not right for them, not right now. They cry and give you their most pitiful face, but you know what is best. Your child still loves you, but they do not want to cuddle with you or talk to you. If you walk out of the room after taking whatever it may be they cry more, the child still needs the parent. This begins at a very young age, and sticks with us through adulthood, we need our Daddy even if he takes what is dear to us, we need him, but maybe we need a time of silence with him nearby whispering ever so softly until we are ready to listen again.

The answer is, He is near us always, He will not leave us, even when we think we have left Him. He is still there. You cannot “fall away from God,” He will follow you wherever you go.

Grace and Peace Cherish

time chages everything

noreply@blogger.com (Bobby.Bickel) — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 13:40:00 +0000

Do you remember the last time you made a choice that put you in a place where you felt like an outcast? Now how is it that we as Christians are the best ones at making people feel like outcasts? Im good at this one also. I know I know you would never do that, you are the one Christian out there that truly loves every one even your mother in law that puts her two cents in to everything and your husband has not emotionally moved out of her house. Nevertheless, we are all put in to place where we stand up and disagree with the powers at hand for whatever reason. And when they disagree also a line is drawn in the sand and a choice has to be made, is the relationship important enough to deal with the disagreement or has it moved past all of this.

This is where my wife and I have been with the church we were going to for some time. The disagreement started out small and was easy to over look but every time I would talk about it to people that could make a change I noticed that they did not feel the same about the issue as I did. So honestly this is was happened I started to sound like I was complaining about what they thought was stupid little things and over time my complaining turned in to me nitpicking how we did church and I was bitter about the whole thing. So here is what most people do they get up and don’t go back they find themselves a new church, but we did not do that at first we tried to stick it out for about a year and a half. We prayed to be the change, this was encouraged by leadership. We prayed that if we where the problem that God would change us. In the end they would never tell us to our face but I know that there are a few that are glad that they don’t have to hear anything more complaining out of our mouth (I have seen the leadership say this when others left).

Now in hindsight I can see how we made it harder for ourselves by pointing out the things that we did not like seeing. When we asked to lead out a ministry or be involved we were not taken seriously, but the whole time with big smiles on their faces they would tell us that they want us involved and plugged in because they need us, they love us. I believe that this is true as long as I exist in the idea of church that they present to the people, but as soon as you step over the line you are no longer in community with this body you have gone rouge. Like the outcast of Jesus day, the unclean ones on the outside of the city gate that could not be a part of the lives of the community because of how people saw them.

Now that I have told you this, I want you to know that God is blessing people through this church but we just needed to do church differently. We are serving the same God just not the same way. I know that there is not a perfect church out there; we are all hurting in some way. we all feel rejected at times but in our case we are not leaving because any of that, we just want to be among people of like minds and like goals. we dealt with the feelings rejection and outcast while we where still their. We are now a part of a church that we fell does share common ideas on how to do church we still are new to it so we have not had the time to really get involved the way we would like. but time changes everything.

the christian icon!

noreply@blogger.com (Bobby.Bickel) — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 13:30:00 +0000

so I had to show this pic, we were driving though Tennessee and I saw this metal Cross that from the freeway looking like it stood a 100 ft tall. Now my first reaction was to laugh because it looked stupid. Then I started to think about it and I was like wow this is how they are telling people that they are Christians and this is how people see them.

The other thing is oh my God how much did that stupid thing cost? Then I was getting pissed off because we were in a pour part of Tennessee and they spent their money on an over sized metal cross. There was enough metal on this to make a storage building to hold something of value… like coats or food

So here is the funny thing, I’m making fun of a church in Tennessee but just south of the woodlands there is a church about to do the same thing. There sign for it reads coming soon 150 ft cross, calming the woodlands for God… Ah Houston we have a problem! God made it so it is already his, so why aren’t the churches getting off there but and taking care of what is already Gods. It is as if the churches are flying to the moon and placing a flag!

Tattoo

noreply@blogger.com (Bobby.Bickel) — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 16:01:00 +0000

So there are a lot of people asking me why I got a tattoo. well it really comes down to i like them and my wife let me do it and i see nothing that will keep God from looking at me any diffrent.. also i wanted to tell people why do to the fact that a few of my friends are very right winged Christians that just flat out think that it is trashy looking but the majority of my friends are like wow where did you get it… I must say that there is an age gap between the two parties and if you wear ink you know what I am speaking of.
So my tattoo in Hebrew it simply reads “here I am Lord send me”. Now I know that there is someone out there that will tell me that I got the Hebrew wrong, the way we got it was from a friend that reads the langue and then I lost the paper where he wrote it out for me, so we found a web site that translate English to Hebrew.
So why did I get what I got. A lot of time and thought went in to it… this is not a lick and stick tattoo, it won’t just rub off. in Isaiah 6 Isaiah was taken up in to the heavens and he was in front of God see and hearing the things of heaven. In the very moment he realizes where he is at he is sees himself in contrast to the glory of God, he sees himself as unclean and sinful. An angle flies down with a cole and touches him and tells him that he is clean and then he hears God asking a question “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” Isaiah’s response was “here I am Lord send me”.
Now if you step away from the American filters and brake the words down in there Hebrew form Isaiah’s reply is very deep. What he is really saying is Lord let me remove anything that tells people who I am and carry your identity to the people… let them only see you when they see me.
So this is in the Old Testament and we do not live in the Old Testament do we, so how does it fit in with the New Testament and Christ? First of all it was Jesus that told the people when they were asking him to show them God he told them when you see me you see the father. And he also told the people that he is doing the work of the father, not his own.
In both cases they where caring out the will of God.
2nd when I was younger I would read the story of Isaiah being in the middle of God presence I would be like wow that is cool I wish that would happen to me. In the New Testament Jesus tells us that we can come boldly to the father… we can have a relationship that Isaiah never had with our God... every min of the day if we want to.
We are commissioned to go in to the entire world and to make disciples. We are given power to heal and set the captives free. God is asking his children to go do for people the way he has done for us.
Here I am Lord, send me!

tattoo

noreply@blogger.com (Bobby.Bickel) — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 06:20:00 +0000

hey i just wanted to show off my new tattoo! so in Hebrew it says - here i am lord send me. i will go in to where i got it at some point. for now i am going to clean it agian.

their love

noreply@blogger.com (Bobby.Bickel) — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 16:12:00 +0000

Now that I am a father of two, I have learned a few things about God’s love, but still not enough. There was a time when I would read the vs. in the Bible where it talked about love covering a multitude of sin, and I would think cool that sounds great but I never really knew what It truly looked like or felt like. You must understand that I grow up among Christians that taught about love but never showed it unless you meet there list of expectations. Now with me growing up in this understanding I thought it was normal to be this judgmental with people. So let us move forward past me being broken down, to me asking God to show me his love for people, as he loves them.

The other day one of my clients walked in to get a haircut and she had a glow about her and this looked pretty normal so far, but this joy started to flood my spirit and I was on the search for what God was doing because I did not want to be left out of it. As I was looking over her hair we start to talk and the joy in my client bust out in to the story that she and her girlfriend are leaving for Las Vegas to have a commitment ceremony. Ok so I was confused for a few moments, where was this joy coming from. I thought that some demon was jacking with me because this relationship goes against everything that I have been taught in my training of the Bible. So I did what I love to do now, I just went with it and enjoyed the joy that I was feeling for this girls.

(Ok so here is a little foot note about me, I see God doing more work out side of the church than I do in the church. The joy I felt is my drug of choice and I very rarely find it this good in the church. As I said this is what I see, if you do not then you might need to look around. Remember the people Jesus hung with where the tax collectors and prostitutes. Show me a church that has there arms open to these people and I will show you a church that the rest of the Christians are tearing down and speaking against. We do it to each other all the time.)

So back to my story. After the day is done, I was telling my wife about the event and that I did not understand it fully but I know that God was in the middle of the moment that I felt all the joy. So I prayed and I heard God speak to me “Love covers a multitude of sin” and I got it. God is not looking at their relationship as many of us are with our judgmental noses up in the air, he showed me that he is looking at them as their father and taking Joy in them as his children. Now I know that this goes against the grain of what has been taught and I know that the girls will have to deal with their choices, but I felt God taking joy in them, the very people that most of the Christians will open the door of hell and kick them in thinking they are helping God.
In every generation, there is a subculture that the church points its finger at and tells them that they are going to hell. For those of you that enjoy the drilling sound of a guitar with a heavy drum kicking you in the head as you drive down the street you might remember stories of pastors preaching against Rock n Roll. This is a common form of worship to people now, but even 20 years ago, you could be on your way to sulfur city for owning a KISS album. Then it was men with long hair and earrings and then on to tattoos and body piercing. Therefore, with this in mind where does it stop, what is the next subculture that the church crucifies?

So my story goes on, I have a childhood friend that found me on facebook and I noticed that he is gay. So I took the opportunity to ask him some questions like how does he feel about God and how does he deal with life as a gay man. I am so glad that he is my friend because there are so many Christians that have done more damage then helped when trying to approach this topic. He spoke of being around people that supported him in his choices and loved his as he is, not how they wanted him to be. He also spoke of the other gay kids he knew growing up that get looked down upon even today, and stories of kids being killed by other men because they were gay. When he spoke of God, it was in a very personal way…like he and God grew up as buddies. However, he does not go to church because he found it hard to hear that he was going to hell for his choice. Maybe we should start telling the fat people of America that and see what happens. Not many pastors would be able to preach any more. He made a point that God created him (he added “as I am” but I think the why we live our lives is a choice), how can the creator hate his own creation?

Please pray for my wife and I, we are praying about where to start a church. We have thought about going up north but that is not settled. I have just received my ordination to do it and now we are just waiting to hear God tell us what he wants us to do. Personally, I would love the opportunity to come under a pastor that is reaching out to people the way we long to. This is not saying that the church that we attend does not reach out to people, what I am saying is that we are on a different road of the same mission. It takes all of us to do the work and I still feel like I do not have a clue when I come to running a church.

Life is everywhere so let joy abound

noreply@blogger.com (Wanna B. SuperMom) — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 16:09:00 +0000

How can someone have overwhelming joy, if one refuses to recognize joy itself? How can someone have an abundant life, if one does not recognize the life that is pulsing around them?
It is not possible to look around and not see life that was created by Gods hand. In your own home look at a bare wall, He created the tree, that grew up with his careful crafting of sun, water and nutrients. He created the man who created the machine, which is operated by another man he created, that cut down the tree, that became your wall.
Outside, the grass that grows way too fast and constantly needs mowed. The neighbor’s cat. The stray dog. Look at woman whose belly is bursting with life, so much that there is a glow in her very presence!
Dare I say go into a wooded area? There is no denying God’s great and busy hand there. From the giant oak, to the too tiny to see bugs, he created them and placed them together, to work for each other, one caring for the next, others making sure that there is not too much of one good thing and nothing is going without its needs. Together they balance and there is harmony.
This circle of life is the picture of how God created us to work….together, balancing each other.
Joy is not having a lot of stuff. If you plant a garden and give it the basic necessities, like water and sun it will grow, fertilize a plant sparingly it will grow up a little faster and if you pour too much fertilizer on it, it will die. How true is this with our lives. Those who have almost nothing, serve God greatly, the ones who have a little more do also. But those of us who have too much, how hard is it to fully embrace the wonder of God?
It amazes me when I hear of tribes in South America and Africa, who have the greatest respect for God, they serve in a way I long too. They worship with their entire beings, and yet they have neither water or food and their children are dying daily. They definitely don’t have too much fertilizer and yet they grow more beautifully than any plant in the garden.

The Elephant Beside Me -By Cherish Bickel

noreply@blogger.com (Wanna B. SuperMom) — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 18:33:00 +0000

A Poem To Piss Off A lot Of People
Okay so I’m not much of a poet, and while this poem may sound silly, there are deep, dark, sad truths I was trying to express. This is how it came out.

This elephant beside me
By Cherish Bickel
There is an elephant sitting beside me,
I try to ignore it but it’s not that easy.
It is dressed in fine clothes,
And tries to suck in its nose.
Though it is covered in wool,
I just don’t think I’m a fool.
It is trying to be a sheep,
But that laugh sure isn’t a bleep.
There are actually a few,
Scattered from pew to pew.
When together they blend,
Still my spirit won’t bend.
Elephants like to trample on others,
While sheep come to be followers.
This elephant could become a sheep,
But to completely follow Christ is quite a leap.

Okay so condemn me if you want for being judgmental. As I was watching someone once I noticed she was completely uncomfortable in her clothes and couldn’t walk right in her shoes. She was trying to fit in though, and this outfit was apparently necessary for that to happen. I asked God for some insight and his reply was along the lines of- those aren’t the shoes I gave her to wear, she didn’t let me teach her to wear the ones I made for her! WOW- What? Then I realized who it was, it was someone I once knew and I realized that the outfit she was wearing was completely prophetic of her life, a square peg in a round hole.
Sometimes we force ourselves into an open position telling ourselves that’s what “God wants”. We don’t take time to ask God to train us or even if it is the right job for us. We begin to shape ourselves, instead of letting God do it for us. When we realize we are walking funny in our shoes, we force ourselves to look a certain way and act a certain way to hide our silly step. Pretty soon the true person God created us to be is lost inside this new plastic version. The problem with plastic is there is no real raw emotion left. You can buy a plastic baby doll at the store, even one that says “I love you”, but it will never love you like the creation that God designed. You can smile while in a state of depression and say “I’m great, halleluiah, praise Jesus!” and fit in on the shelf with the other Wal-Mart brand Christians.
If we can have a felt board Jesus, why can’t we have felt board Christians too?
Even I am guilty of the “I’m great” speech but usually only when someone emptily ask “how ya doin?” and walks off with before I can respond.

Gods peace in my day - by Cherish

noreply@blogger.com (Wanna B. SuperMom) — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 15:27:00 +0000

So today I went to take Bobby lunch, he was outside helping a girl from work file a report against her boyfriend with a police officer. I stopped as he walked up and talked to me for a minute, before I knew what was happening he jumped up and yelled "nonono stop!" and I turned to see the back end of a large truck ram into our car (hehe it was a RAM). I knew everything was okay as Bobby ran around the car to check on Elijah (it was his door that she ran into). The young woman started to defend herself with (I couldn't see you) when Bobby stopped her with "before you start let me check on my son" ,at which point she gasped and began to apologize.
Elijah was fine but afraid of our initial reactions.
The cop called another cop, and there was no argument (apparently when an officer witnesses an accident there aren't many questions), she was found at fault.
Through this ordeal Bobby and I were calm ( though I was shaking) and I was at peace! Complete peace that I don't generally have even while relaxing on the couch. All I can think now is wow too bad there were not more people there to watch Gods hand come down and soften the blow, there wasn't even much damage to the car. As it happened I could sense this "cushion" around us.
And for the could-as... Had it hit harder our car would have hit Bobby, Elijah would have been hit directly, I could have been hurt, (Chloe was at school), Had the truck had those huge (stupid) tires, it would have gone through his window!
I realize people get in little wrecks all the time, but I know that without God's hand, today would have been a really bad day.
Today, I am having a wonderful day.
Thank you father, for loving us enough that you would reach down and protect my family, for not a single sparrow falls that you don't already know about. How great then, is your love for us? I pray that one day you will show me for yourself. Amen

May God's Shalom be with you today, as it was with me.

God has a Funny way of having fun in my day

noreply@blogger.com (Bobby.Bickel) — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 02:22:00 +0000

So my wife and I went to work out and a local Gym and I took my stuff to go to work after we got done. So fast-forward I am in the locker room about to get in the shower and there is a man that walks in to the locker room. Ok so here is a little insight in to a man’s mind, we do not talk to each other when we are in the bathroom, locker room, and so on. So I’m in the shower and he walks in to the shower area this is an area that is open… now walls at all! So for me the room is not big enough, and at this moment the man that is in his 50’s or so wants to talk. What the crap, does he not know the rules! So he starts to ask about how long I have been coming to the gym and stupid stuff like that, and then he asks the death question! (for you that don’t know I am a hair dresser with a wife and two kids) he asks what kind of work do I do? We are in an open shower that maybe 10 x 10 and but naked. Have you ever watched the Seinfeld show and you are like wow I’m glad that does not happen in real life, But this did, I felt like George. So I tell him that I am a hairdresser, and all he could say Oh… with a long pause following. In the following 5 min all I could do is talk about my wife and kids. He turned out to be a real nice guy once we got out of the shower. I think he was really wanting to know why I wear a purple Mohawk.

Next as I am laughing to myself and trying to get out of the locker room I noticed a man with a large amount of racket balls. This is odd, why would someone need so many cans it looks a little OCD, so I had to ask why. I walked right in to this one God was baiting me. The man told me that he fell off a ladder and hurt his hip. So in the locker room I feel God wanting me to Pray for him, it was cool God moved on him. I have no clue about a healing but I know God was there.

So my wife jokes with me about having a locker room ministry.

Image of God

noreply@blogger.com (Bobby.Bickel) — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 16:53:00 +0000

We all – men and woman – were created in the image of God. Fearfully and wonderfully made, fashioned as living icons of the bravest, wisest, and most stunning person who ever lived.

So if this is true and we look at the world around us would you say that people believe this, do you see people walking around thinking that they are made in the image of perfection. I’m not talking about the guy or girl you met at the club over the weekend, I’m talking about an internal knowing of who they are.

music

noreply@blogger.com (Bobby.Bickel) — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 16:52:00 +0000

Father

noreply@blogger.com (Bobby.Bickel) — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 13:03:00 +0000

I was sent a message on my MySpace the other day by a grandmother fighting for her son’s identity as a father because the grandson has started calling his step father dad.

So here is my thought of the day - Insecurity produces unbelief.

So because this dad has not really been a “father” to his son he is feeling Insecure in their relationship. He looks at how the stepfather has naturally assumed the role of father to the son, and the son has embraced his stepfather. So the dad of the son starts to fight to prove his love, but it is out of a heart to prove to himself that there is no need for the stepfather, that he is all his son needs and that he is enough. I wish the dad would just relax and know that he could father his child. Instead out of his own insecurity and lack of understanding of fatherhood, he has pushed himself away making a void that God sees fit to fill.

Now to prove his manhood or I guess fatherhood, the father is demanding that his son does not call his stepfather “dad”, he is telling the son that he is not allowed to emotionally love this man that way.

Here is some simple psychology, there are feelings that are tied to words like father, mother, home, church and so on… so the son looks at the two men and to his understanding of the word father, the step father more closely represents the idea and fulfills the desire. Unfortunately, to the father, title means more to him than the responsibility of meeting the son’s personal needs.

In the bible there are passages that God is telling the men to father the fatherless. I think that the man that has stepped into the son’s life, and loved him and his mother, is doing the very thing that God loves to see.

Like the bumper sticker says “any man can be a dad but it takes a real man to be a father”

Opossum

noreply@blogger.com (Bobby.Bickel) — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 14:15:00 +0000

Death leading to death…

Opossum eating road kill gets hit.

Have you ever been driving in the middle of the country just admiring the raw beauty? We for my family and I this is a normal way of life… we life in the county. I grew up in Houston and went to a 5A high school, the only idea of country that was given to us was the way people dressed and the FFA group. So back home in the middle of God’s creation we have a few pets, a cat, a family of raccoons (there not tame but they love to eat whatever we put out, and a very minutely challenged Opossum (I guessing, but it is not very quick to do the same things that the raccoons are doing). Most nights we will leave something out so we can watch them eat and run around, but my fav is the watching the Opossum trying to do the simple things like climbing up stuff (because it will fall trying).

So if anyone has run across an Opossum they know that it is kinda like a rat (just as mean) and they will dumpster dive also. So most people have little to no feelings for them.

So one day I was driving a long and there was one in the middle of the road, stopped in its tracks just looking at me with all of the anger it can muster up because it know that this car was the one that ran over all of its other family members. So I getting closer and it still is not moving so I aim away to give it room so I won’t hit it and the stupid thing runs right in front of me… bump bump!

So about a month latter my family and I where driving home and there was a Opossum in the middle of the road again picking at the leftovers of something that had been dead for some time and it looked up at me and just stood there.

So God freeze frames this moment and I notice that the choice that the Opossum has made is a bad one. It is attracted to the smell of death and the smell draws it in to a place of death.

So once again I hit it but this time my wife was there to mourn the passing of the Opossum. But I was still on the still frame that God had put in to my head. I started to wonder how many people that I know spend their time chasing the smell of death only to be ran over by life. how many people become “predators” and feed on the issues of people around them and there for the death in one is birthed in another.

The things of death in our lives… the lies the doubt the depression the names that are spoken over us can all be things of death to us as a person killing us from the inside out. And one thing I know is misery loves company, people that have given in to the lies of life will join others in their pain.

So when we look across the faces of emotional and social death do we see a person that is nothing more than an Opossum, a person with little to no value? Or do we see then as a sibling of ours and a hair to the kingdom of God.

I will be honest there are people that I would rather walk by then help up, because it gets messy with these people. But these are the people that Jesus died for also, and I was once one of them and at times I still am.

Street magic

noreply@blogger.com (Bobby.Bickel) — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 18:02:00 +0000

Ok so I have spent my time watching David Blaine and Chris Angel, and two things happened. One I was wowed because I can’t do what they do. And two, I wonder how you can learn to do the things that these men are doing in public with people all around them. Part of me thinks that they have a part of their brain working that mine does not… and the other part of me gets so freaked out that I want to cast a spirits out. I think I might understand the fear that the Jews felt then they saw the power of Christ healing people in front of them. I glad the power that Christ has was used to glorify his father and not himself. All of this makes me think about how I use the “power” God has given me, am I doing street tricks for my own glory or am I using my talents to serve a greater purpose. Now I have great respect for what these men can do, I for one do love an artist that makes people react. And these men make people react right then and there! I also

love their creativity; they have a story line to pull people in to the trick… that is part of the magic! It is all a part of the show.

Now I don’t want to see the church use these men as there model to get the wow from the crowed. But if you look we are on our way there. It is kinda like the church has taken lessons from David Copperfield with the smoke and lights, big production sets, big music that meatloaf should sing to, and a big ending! But I see people that want to get close to the mystery of the magic. I see people like David and Chris moving in and out of the crowed doing their tricks and telling their stories creating a very personal wow moment for the person in front of them.

When I look at this I think we can learn something from David and Chris. You can only use smoke and mirrors when you keep people away from you. People see the real deal when you are with them walking among them. Just like Jesus did.

www.adventconspiracy.org

noreply@blogger.com (Bobby.Bickel) — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 14:36:00 +0000

hey every one, turkey day is over and just one thought that was kicking around my head while i was enjoying the wonderful food and very thankful for my family, I was thinking about the early settlers and the relationship they had with the Indians and the thought popped in to my head... are they as thankful as we are, as I am. They were kicked off their land, so do the Indians that sill live on the reservations see Thanks Giving as a day of Joy or do they pray to be returned to their home like the Jews did. and then my mind went back to the food.

so on to Advent, and the Christmas time... i do love this time of year

I love this site and think it is very cool idea.