Andy B loves his kitchen, and he loves kitchen shops, or departments with cooking equipment in them.
For ages now, he has been trying to make Yorkshire Puddings, using his super cheap cupcake baking tray.
In one way it is perfectly functional – it has a number of bowl like shapes, that help Yorkshire Puddings grow into the right shape as they cook. But, on the other hand, it is super cheap, ultra thin metal, and has the non-stick ability of super glue!
Go Deeper with Andy B, as he talks about spiritual food.
He reads a few different Scriptures, including Hebrews 5:11-14, all of which speak of food and sustenance in one way or another.
He talks about the way water travels in a flood, how it will always follow the path of least resistance. Similarly, we often ‘take the path of least resistance’, in many areas of our lives, such when exercising; we might cycle ten miles, but might not be especially fast or focused, thus taking the path of least resistance.
Endurance is your weekly spiritual workout, whether you think of yourself as a beginner, an intermediate, or advanced!
Explore with us as we look at the topic of ‘Spiritual Food’, and what relevance it has in our training for Godliness.
Go Deeper with Andy B, as he talks about self-control.
He touches on 2 Peter 1, Proverbs 25, and Matthew 7.
He explains the idea of supplementation, keeping in mind the words of 2 Peter 1:3-8, which talk about supplementing lots of godly traits with other godly traits, including self-control.
He also talks about road rage as a perfect example of a lack of self-control. When we get angry with others and start raging at other drivers, our witness is awful, and we fail to show others the righteousness of Christ through our actions.
And more…
Matthew 7 verse 16 says that by our fruits we will be known.
This means that our actions are more important than our words because words, while very important, don’t necessarily lead to change, or action. But by their very definition, actions, are the outworking of what we truly believe and think.
Andy took his wife to the dentist and it made him think about what we can, each of us, do every single day to show the love of Jesus Christ to the people we meet, to the people we love, to people who know Jesus again, to people who need to know Jesus for the first time.
The bible clearly teaches us that we should expect to find people in positions of authority in our churches, and church communities, who exist simply to destroy.
Jesus dealt with it and so did Paul, so we shouldn’t be surprised.
We shouldn’t accept it either! But how can we work out who is for Jesus, and who is not?
While making a cup of tea, Andy B added far too much milk to his first cup of tea! And it totally ruined it!
Church can mean lots of different things to different people.
For some it is a place you’d only visit on high days and holidays – Christmas and Easter, and maybe birth and death!
For others it is somewhere we see as the place we go to each Sunday morning to worship God with other believers.
But, far too often it is also better known for everything that is nothing to do with Jesus or the gospel!
Go Deeper with Andy B, as he talks about resisting temptation.
He reads both of our Scriptures for this week: James 4:7 and Matthew 4:1-11.
Jesus faced the same temptations we do when He came to earth as a man, so He understands our struggles against temptation. Andy B relates the story of a wealthy lady who was hiring a new chauffer, and how she asked each of the applicants a very specific question to test them.
Endurance is your weekly spiritual workout, whether you think of yourself as a beginner, an intermediate, or advanced!
Explore with us as we look at ‘Resisting Temptation’, and how and why we do so.
Go Deeper with Andy B, as he looks at Ecclesiastes 12:1-14 and what it all means.
He challenges those of us who are young not to waste our youth; it is short and time flies by.
He also reminds us of the dangers of making decisions based on how many likes we get on social media.
Go Deeper with Andy B, as he looks at Ecclesiastes 12:1-14 and what it all means.
He challenges those of us who are young not to waste our youth; it is short and time flies by.
He also reminds us of the dangers of making decisions based on how many likes we get on social media.
In addition, Andy B draws our attention to the man who had the most pleasure in life, King Solomon himself, and what conclusions he reached on the subject of pleasure.
Parenting can be tough. But, thankfully, there is a instruction manual we can download that will teach us all we ever needed to know.
Our lives on this planet, are not designed to be lived out in isolation. God made us to live in Community.
And in the bible, we find the perfect instructions to live the best lives we can, and see perfect examples of how to parent.
Each day we get to choose what we cultivate in our hearts and minds.
Some people can be great at gardening. Then, there are people like us: I’ve spent time lovingly nurturing and caring for a weed, which I’d thought was actually a flower.
And we can do that in our spiritual lives too – we can spend so much time developing something that doesn’t have good roots or foundation!
As disciples of Jesus Christ we need to be constantly checking in God, and Scripture, to ensure that those things in our lives that we are working on, are flowers not weeds; that they’re good for us, not bad; that we’re building God’s Kingdom, not our own.
Andy and Jo are fasting for a week, because of some big life decisions coming up in the future, and found themselves waiting for these big changes to occur, before they start really enjoying living life to the full.
Can you relate to this? Waiting for something external to improve before you start enjoying life, and experiencing the joy that a relationship with Jesus Christ gives us?
It’s easy waiting for a better moment to start dieting, or going to the gym. We can wait for the perfect moment until we make the move for a better career, or tackling that unloved garden.
But, tomorrow never comes!
Robots can be great ways of saving manpower and time. They can be more efficient, saving both time and money. When it comes to important welds, they do it better than a human can.
But, only if they’ve been told what to do properly.
Andy B finally got his bike working, when he then had to fit a replacement rear wheel.
All good?
Well no! Because he forgot to add a small strip of plastic that protects the inner tube from the holes in the wheel, that allow the spokes to connect to the central point of the wheel.
In his first video of Series 4, this is more of a special Edition Andy B video!
With all that has been happening recently, Andy B has been finding sleep rather elusive!
Afghanistan; vaccination passports; President Biden; forced covid vaccinations for under 12s in Finland; global temperature fluctuations being used for political control and financial gain; China and Taiwan; a forced Home Education register in the UK – there is much to see around us that can easily cause us anxiety and worry.
But, as Christians what is God calling us to do?
I’ve spent most of my adult, working life, wearing a hard hat, glove and steel toe capped boots. Because I love my head and my toes and wish to keep them the way they should be. I banged my head, pretty badly, early on – because I thought hard hats were stupid and annoying and uncomfortable.
I had a very bad head for a while after that encounter! And I also discovered that standing up, underneath the main boom of a lorry mounted crane, is never sensible! I took quite a lot of insults after that, because I was never seen working on my truck without a hard hat. Lifting large, heavy, objects was – for me at least – an obvious clue that boots with steel toe caps was a must…that one I got immediately!
With a hard hat I was fit for purpose.
Without it, I was an accident waiting to happen!
If you think of a spring, they’re fitted everywhere! From DVD players to cars, from bicycle derailleurs to pens and staplers, from watches to door handles!
We can find springs, in one form or another, almost everywhere. And they have a really simple job – to make something move in a predictable way.
On my bike, the part I fitted has a huge spring which forces the derailleur to be pushed away from the centre of the wheel. When you press the gear lever, it allows that spring to relax, jus a littler bit – a very set amount – and your chain is put on a lower gear.
The one I bought does exactly this. But in order to fit (the lazy way) I had to remove a couple of small bolts so I could save myself removing the chain just so I could fit the new part to my bike.
We all have experiences in life which can be super helpful for ourselves, and the people we come into contact with.
One assembly I remember vividly contained this question – would you rather see an older doctor who was covered in blood and muck, but who was very experienced. Or a young doctor, fresh out of college, who was wall presented.
I can’t speak for my peers, but give me the doctor who has been doing it for a while!
Experience counts in so many places. But, as Christians, wisdom that comes from God trumps experience EVERY SINGLE TIME.
How often do we learn to become comfortable with the uncomfortable? Pain is a brilliantly designed tool, that God gave to us for our own protection! It’s been
We all know the game spot the difference. Sometimes those differences can be so subtle, they can appear almost identical.
But look long enough, and you’ll start to see the difference. The longer you look at the two images, the more they can look the same. But if we compare to just one of them, those differences start to stand out!
It’s like with spotting counterfeit money – we check what the genuine stuff looks like, and the fake stuff starts to stand out.
Andy B starts a 6 part series of Andy B 2 Minute Videos, all because he replaced a bike part, and God revealed many ways in which this part can teach all of us about life!
Andy B’s mountain bike came second hand, and happens to have had the wrong part fitted.
For 6 years Andy B struggled with issues, before finally replacing this one little part.
Returning home after a mountain bike ride, Andy B approached a roundabout. We love these in the UK (it seems). Simply put, you come to a junction, with a circle in the middle. You give way to the right, and proceed carefully.
But they’re super simple to use! Indicate on your approach, and as long as nothing comes from your right, you have right of way (and of course, the British drive on the correct side of the road – the left – hence giving way to the right!).
Life is full of ups and downs.
Some days we can fly along, and others it’s like were tasked with stirring treacle, with an oversized paddle, on a cold day! But sometimes, flying isn’t helpful. And sometimes that treacle simply needs stirring!
Heat can do funny things to us.
But so can our memories!
How easily can we forget how good we may have been at something, because our failures always shout louder don’t they?
Modern Christianity has skewed how we see God and the devil. It has skewed God into some sort of best mate or pal. And we absolutely should see God as always approachable. But we should do so, seeing Him with the respect we’d have for an earthly father, than just a mate.
Go Deeper with Andy B, as he talks about how to be flexible.
He looks at the importance of being flexible physically, and how that relates to being flexible spiritually.
Steven introduces our theme this week – Being Flexible
As usual, we have #GoDeeper with Andy B and #GoDo with Steven and Nathan.