Andy Talks

We have one of my favorite examples of faith today, Mary.  I heard Rich Mullins say once in an interview, “It’s not that Catholics think too much of Mary, it’s that we Protestants don’t think enough of Mary.”  Mary is a perfect example of faith. God comes and upends her world. And what does she say?  Let it be unto me, according to thy word. She trusts in God, even when it is not the path she had planned. She trusted in God more than any of her plans. She had faith.  She is an example.

Shameless plug: here’s a link to Method(ist) to the Madness, our new, hopefully entertaining podcast about church history. - https://methodisttothemadness.buzzsprout.com/

Join us for our daily reflections with Andy. In 10 short minutes, he'll dig a little deeper into Scripture and help you better understand God's Word.

You can read today’s passage here - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%201%3A%2026-38&version=NRSVUE

Click here if you'd like to join our GroupMe and receive this each morning at 7:00 a.m. CST. - https://groupme.com/join_group/107837407/vtYqtb6C

You can watch this in video form here - https://revandy.org/blog/

Today in Luke, we see the foretelling of the birth of John the Baptist. He was the last of his kind.  His parents were of the line of priests, but he was going to be the last of the Old Testament prophets. He was the one who would be the last of the old covenant and who would point to the keeper of the new covenant, Jesus Christ.  As his parents were living their lives, God showed up, invaded their lives, and gave them great blessings. Today, if we allow, we may not have the same blessings as they did, but God will show up and give us His blessing of grace.

Shameless plug: here’s a link to Method(ist) to the Madness, our new, hopefully entertaining podcast about church history. - https://methodisttothemadness.buzzsprout.com/

Join us for our daily reflections with Andy. In 10 short minutes, he'll dig a little deeper into Scripture and help you better understand God's Word.

You can read today’s passage here - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%201%3A5-25&version=NRSVUE

Click here if you'd like to join our GroupMe and receive this each morning at 7:00 a.m. CST. - https://groupme.com/join_group/107837407/vtYqtb6C

You can watch this in video form here - https://revandy.org/blog/

In our Road Trip Series, we look at Deborah, this great female judge and leader of the people. Her story, and all the book of Judges, shows how God will use unexpected people, like "them" and like us.

Luke’s Gospel begins by telling us why he is doing this.  We see that many gospels (which means “good news”) have already been written by this time.  So, why aren’t they included in the Bible?  Are they trying to hide something out there?  Is the truth really out there, and no one wants to tell us?  No, that’s not it.  There are four marks that every book in the Bible shares, and no book that has these four marks is excluded from the Bible. We take time to talk about these four marks and how we know that we can trust the Bible.

Shameless plug: here’s a link to Method(ist) to the Madness, our new, hopefully entertaining podcast about church history. - https://methodisttothemadness.buzzsprout.com/

Join us for our daily reflections with Andy. In 10 short minutes, he'll dig a little deeper into Scripture and help you better understand God's Word.

You can read today’s passage here - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%201%3A%201-4&version=NRSVUE

Click here if you'd like to join our GroupMe and receive this each morning at 7:00 a.m. CST. - https://groupme.com/join_group/107837407/vtYqtb6C

You can watch this in video form here - https://revandy.org/blog/

We take a break between finishing Judges this week and moving to Luke next week. I always find the Psalms to be a great passage to use as a break between two different books.  Today, we’ll look at Psalm 17. This is a passage that I’ll be preaching from later this year, so I’ve started spending time with it. This is a Psalm of deliverance, a Psalm in which David cries out to God to save him.  God loves him, and God loves us. We are the apple of His eye. He cares for us.  He loves us. He is for us.  Cry out to Him when we need. He is our deliverer! 

Shameless plug: here’s a link to Method(ist) to the Madness, our new, hopefully entertaining podcast about church history. - https://methodisttothemadness.buzzsprout.com/

Join us for our daily reflections with Andy. In 10 short minutes, he'll dig a little deeper into Scripture and help you better understand God's Word.

You can read today’s passage here - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%2017&version=NRSVUE

Click here if you'd like to join our GroupMe and receive this each morning at 7:00 a.m. CST. - https://groupme.com/join_group/107837407/vtYqtb6C

You can watch this in video form here - https://revandy.org/blog/

As Judges ends, we see perhaps the worst story in all the Bible. I have often been told that in ancient days, Rabbis would not allow youths to read the Song of Solomon until they were “of age” because of the themes. I believe the story of the Levite’s concubine is much the same.  It’s a story of sexual assault, of evil, of abuse, of just the very worst of humanity.  Reinhold Niebuhr once wrote that the doctrine of original sin is “the only empirically verifiable doctrine of the Christian faith.”  All you have to do is look around, and you can see it. Judges proves that point to us. And what starts all of this?  Everyone does what is right in their own eyes.

Shameless plug: here’s a link to Method(ist) to the Madness, our new, hopefully entertaining podcast about church history. - https://methodisttothemadness.buzzsprout.com/

Join us for our daily reflections with Andy. In 10 short minutes, he'll dig a little deeper into Scripture and help you better understand God's Word.

You can read today’s passage here - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Judges%2019-21&version=NRSVUE

Click here if you'd like to join our GroupMe and receive this each morning at 7:00 a.m. CST. - https://groupme.com/join_group/107837407/vtYqtb6C

You can watch this in video form here - https://revandy.org/blog/

These last few chapters of Judges can be understood as a commentary on what has happened to the people.  We see this refrain, over and over throughout the book, the people did what was right in their own eyes.  We see in these two chapters how the people are seeking to bend their faith and their religion to their own desires. They are doing things like asking God to bless an idol!  And having a Levite priest lead people in worship, all in the name of God!  The people have lost their way to the point that they are corrupting their religion to their desires, instead of having their religion hold them accountable.  We need to be very careful when there is no one in our lives who will hold us accountable. That is what has happened here.

Shameless plug: here’s a link to Method(ist) to the Madness, our new, hopefully entertaining podcast about church history. - https://methodisttothemadness.buzzsprout.com/

Join us for our daily reflections with Andy. In 10 short minutes, he'll dig a little deeper into Scripture and help you better understand God's Word.

You can read today’s passage here - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Judges%2017-18&version=NRSVUE

Click here if you'd like to join our GroupMe and receive this each morning at 7:00 a.m. CST. - https://groupme.com/join_group/107837407/vtYqtb6C

You can watch this in video form here - https://revandy.org/blog/

We see Samson's death today, a story that many of us are familiar with. But when you read it, you see something perhaps unexpected. Samson asks for strength so that he can be an instrument of revenge. That is not something that we are supposed to be about as Christians, is it?  We are supposed to forgive and not seek vengeance. So, even though Samson doesn’t have the best of intentions, God was still able to use him for justice.  Samson, and really all of Judges, is an embodiment of Romans 8:28; all things work for good. Not all things are good, but God can bring good out of every situation.

Shameless plug: here’s a link to Method(ist) to the Madness, our new, hopefully entertaining podcast about church history. - https://methodisttothemadness.buzzsprout.com/

Join us for our daily reflections with Andy. In 10 short minutes, he'll dig a little deeper into Scripture and help you better understand God's Word.

You can read today’s passage here - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Judges%2016%3A%2023-31&version=NRSVUE

Click here if you'd like to join our GroupMe and receive this each morning at 7:00 a.m. CST. - https://groupme.com/join_group/107837407/vtYqtb6C

You can watch this in video form here - https://revandy.org/blog/

In our Traditional message from June 15, 2025, Andy shares with us from Matthew 2: 13-23.  Joseph had plans for his life, good plans, but God came and upended all of these. Even though Joseph may not have understood it completely at first, he remained faithful. That's our call. Not perfection. Faithfulness.

Today, we are going to take quite the ride. What is the connection between Samson’s hair and baptism? Samson’s hair is symbolic of the connection he has with God; it is the symbol of the covenant that his parents made with God and that he (by and large) kept.  So, the hair was not the “thing,” but it was the outward sign of “thing.”  In the same way, our wedding rings are that visible symbol and reminder of our wedding vows; his hair is that. And for us, as Christians, our baptism is that exact same thing. Remember your baptism.

Shameless plug: here’s a link to Method(ist) to the Madness, our new, hopefully entertaining podcast about church history. - https://methodisttothemadness.buzzsprout.com/

Join us for our daily reflections with Andy. In 10 short minutes, he'll dig a little deeper into Scripture and help you better understand God's Word.

You can read today’s passage here - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Judges%2016%3A%201-22&version=NRSVUE

Click here if you'd like to join our GroupMe and receive this each morning at 7:00 a.m. CST. - https://groupme.com/join_group/107837407/vtYqtb6C

You can watch this in video form here - https://revandy.org/blog/