I'm Hicksited

When we or people we love are victims of evil, it can bring great pain and hurt into our lives. If God loves us and the ones we love, then what is He going to do about this pain? What can we do to overcome it?  The answer is in seeking God, embracing His hope, and embracing his pain-relieving truths.
Scriptures referenced: Psalm 34, John 11:32-35, Romans 8:31-39, Genesis 6:5-8, Psalm 22:24, Luke 3:21-22, John 3:35-36, Hebrews 12:1-3

To see David Hicks on YouTube, click here. 

Many of us have been hurt by sins, wrongs, the evil of others. In a world where there is freedom for us to choose to hurt others, we will get hurt. So what is God going to do about this? If He loves us, shouldn't He just go ahead and get rid of all evil?  

The answers lie in a parable told by Jesus, "the parable of the wheat and the tares" (also known as "the parable of the wheat and the weeds"). In this story we will see how the owner of a field (i.e., Jesus) had his field sabotaged by an enemy (i.e., the devil), who sowed bad seed among the owner's good. Thus the owner had a choice to make - get rid of the tares immediately or let both the wheat and the tares (i.e., the good and bad people) grow together. Fortunately for us, Jesus explains which He chose, why He chose it, and what will ultimately happen to those who follow Satan instead of God.

Scriptures covered: Titus 2:11-14, Matthew 13:24-30, Revelation 21:1-8.

To see David Hicks on YouTube, click here. 

If God loves us, why does He allow evil to happen to us? And did God create evil? The answers lie within why God made people in the first place. You see, we as people are made in God's likeness, God's image. What we will see today is that means we are children of God, children with the capacity to choose between right and wrong, good and evil.

To see David Hicks on YouTube, click here. 

We take a jovial look at an embarrassing work situation that holey matters to me, our odd use of the f-bomb, and then close it out with some clean comedy, literally. And no, despite the title, I do not go all "Eddie Murphy" on you in this routine. It is about as unadult as adult comedy can be. Also, my apologies as certain parts of this only make sense from a video perspective. 

To see David Hicks on YouTube, click here. 

If God loves me, why is life so hard? Why do I have so many problems? In this video we look at six positive reasons as to why God, out of His love for us, might be giving us or allowing us to have hardships in our lives. We will especially look at man born blind and how his trial, despite popular belief, had nothing to do with sin, but everything to do with God's work being revealed through his story and with helping him come to faith in Jesus.
Scriptures covered: John 9, James 1:1-4, Romans 5:1-5, 2 Corinthians 1:3-5, Acts 5:40-42.

To see David Hicks on YouTube, click here. 

Are we loved? It is a question we often ask in times of depression, sadness and hardship. We want to know if someone cares about us or worse, is there any reason someone should care about us. In this video, we begin to answer that question (spoiler alert - the answer is an unequivocal "yes!") by mentioning the three big reasons people do not believe they are loved - their circumstances, evil done to them and evil they did, then by focusing on this question: "Does my difficult life mean I am not loved?"  
Verses covered:
Luke 16:19-31 (the rich man and Lazarus)
1 Timothy 2:1-4 (God wants all to be saved)
John 3:14-21 (Jesus is a gift for all)

To see David Hicks on YouTube, click here. 

Two of the more puzzling questions regarding how we got the Bible, especially the writings of the New Testament, are "who wrote them" and "how did we get the books that we have?"  The answers aren't as straightforward as one would think.  Still, thanks to the evidence within the Scriptures themselves and to the writings of some of the earliest Christians, we can with confidence know most of the true authors of the books of the Bible. More importantly, we can approach with these writings with trust, that they will lead us to eternal life if followed.  
Scriptures covered: Luke 24:44-45.  1 Timothy 5:18.

To see David Hicks on YouTube, click here. 

We continue our look at the writings of the Bible by examining how others viewed and treated them, especially Jesus Himself when He was tempted by Satan. We will consistently see that the Word of God was seen as authoritative, as truth, and even as basis for proof including the proof that Jesus is the Anointed One, i.e., the Son of God.

We will also start looking at which writings should be considered Scripture by first understanding what was Scripture in Jesus' day, then by thinking through Jesus' promise that the Holy Spirit would guide His disciples into all truth. We will also see how Peter referred to Paul's writings as Scripture, and how Paul himself treated them as such. 

One tangent of discussion: The differences between the baptism of John and the baptism of Jesus, and how the forgiveness of sins is not one of those.

Scriptures covered: Matthew 4:1-14.  Acts 18:24-28.  John 16:13-15.  2 Peter 3:14-16.  1 Thessalonians 5:27.  Colossians 4:16.

To see David Hicks on YouTube, click here. 

What are the writings of the Bible? Why are they considered holy? From where did they come?  Today we take a look at how the Scriptures are described as "the word of God", "the word of the Lord". They are writings penned by men who were being guided by the Holy Spirit as they wrote them.  Along the way, we will see how they were treated with absolute respect and authority, how they were regarded as truth even by Jesus Himself. 
Scriptures covered: 2 Timothy 3:16-17.  2 Peter 1:19-20.  Matthew 22:41-46.  John 10:31-38.  Daniel 9:1-2.

To see David Hicks on YouTube, click here. 

One of the biggest values in the kingdom of God is humility, the quality of refusing to think oneself as being greater than others. In contrast is pride, where we believe ourselves to be greater than a person or group.  Today we will see how Jesus repeatedly taught that if we exalt ourselves, we will be humbled, but if we humble ourselves, we will be exalted. We will also look at how Jesus taught that to be the greatest in God's kingdom, we need to have the humility of children and strive to be a servant to all as He was a servant to all, dying for us that we might be saved from the punishment of our wrongdoings.  
Scriptures covered: Matthew 23:1-12.  Luke 14:7-11.  Luke 18:9-14.  Matthew 18:1-6.  Mark 9:33-37.  Mark 10:35-45. 
For further reading: Micah 6:8.  1 Peter 5:5-6. 

To see David Hicks on YouTube, click here.