Sunday, September 27, 2009

In Righteous Pursuit or (Let Us Come To Know God Intimately)

"So let us know, let us press on to know the LORD His going forth is as certain as the dawn ; and He will come to us like the rain, like the spring rain watering the earth." - Hosea 6:3

Charles Spurgeon writes, in his devotional The Cheque Book of the Bank of Faith, "Not all at once, but by degrees shall we attain to holy knowledge, and our business is to persevere and learn by little and little. We need not despair, though our progress may be slow, for we shall yet know. The Lord, who has become our teacher, will not give us up, however slow of understanding we may be; for it is not for his honour that any degree of human folly should baffle his skill. The Lord delights to make the simple wise. Our duty is to keep to our main topic, and follow on to know, not this peculiar doctrine nor that, but Jehovah himself. To know Father, Son, and Spirit, the Triune God, this is life eternal: let us keep to this, for in this way we shall gain complete instruction. By following on to know the Lord, we learn healing after being torn, binding up after smiting, and life after death. Experience has its perfect work when the heart follows the trackwayof the Almight Lord. My soul, keep thou close to Jesus, follow on to know God in Jesus, and so shalt thou come to the knowledge of Christ, which is the most excellent of all the sciences. The Holy Ghost will lead thee into all truth. Is not this his gracious office? Rely upon him to fulfill it."

I work at Food City. One day at home this summer while I was clearing the parking lot I became consumed by my thoughts. The day was winding down, I had my iPod on listening to some tunes. I was struck by this phrase: In Righteous Pursuit. Now, what do I mean by "In Righteous Pursuit"? Well, lets just pretend for a moment if we all pursued God with the passion and fierceness and desire with which He pursues us! Can you imagine how our relationship with Him would change and how we would treat each other?

I don't know about all you guys, but I have this gut-wretching yearing to be with God! To pursue Him and His righteousness! To have a relationship with Him like King David did! To sit down with Him and just pour my heart out to Him. To walk in the cool of the evening with Him! I yearn for Him! Now, the point behind my writing this little diddy is this: let us not forget what, or shall I say Who, we came here to know! We came here to know God. To seek Him with all our beings. Let us not get wrapped up in theology, doctrine, grades, or anything else we may let be god of our lives. Yes, it is important to learn what we are being tought here. The defending of our faith is important. Our studies are important! But they pale in comparison to God! When we get down to the root of our being here it is to know God personally, initimately and that we may draw near to Him that He may draw near to us! We chose to come to a Bible college because deep down in us is that desire, that passionate fierce yearing, to be intimate with God which lead us to be here! Let us remember that we didn't just come to learn all these things or be prepared, we came to KNOW God better. To develop and cultivate a relationship with our Daddy! So remember we came to seek God! Let us always remember the Main Topic in our lives!

"From the depths of my heart
The chambers of my soul
The essence of my being I yearn for You with a passionate
Affection of fire and fierceness
Elohim I love You, desire You
I’m in righteous pursuit of You
My passion lies with You
Make Yourself known to me" -DJA

Pursue Holiness and Righteousnes and Goodness and Wholesomeness and Perfection guys! Pursue HIM and Him alone!

In Christ,
David Jonathan Anderson (Proverbs 8:17)

Striving to Be Holy Or (Will I Ever Get Where I Want to Be?)

Striving to Be Holy Or (Will I Ever Get Where I Want to Be?)

"Day and night they never stop saying: 'Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come." Revelations 4:8

My main goal in this life is to cultivate my relationship with Christ. To let Him bring growth and maturity and discipline. To became a man and disciple after His own heart. And to truly become holy by becoming wholly His. My main problem is that I struggle with becoming holy as He is holy. I struggle with becoming wholly His, submitting myself fully to Him. I strive to become holy, but at the same time I don't read the Word as I should, I don't pray that often, and I tend to wonder off on my own at times. I ignore the very things that I value. My options for solving my problem of never attaining what I want more than anything are getting someone who could mentor me, someone who lives a life of holiness. I could also find someone who also strives to be holy. Romans 12:1 encourages "to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy, and pleasing to God..." There are many references in the Bible to God's holiness which serve as an example for me to follow. The best way to gather more information about being holy is to read the Bible verse that refer to God's holiness and how men should strive to be holy. I could also read books about holiness. My solution is found in a song by David Crowder*Band called Wholly Yours, which is my favorite song in the whole world and you will see it on my Who Am I paper. The song goes like this: "I am full of earth. You are heaven's worth. I am stained with dirt, prone to depravity. You are everything that is bright and clean, the antonym of me. You are divinity. But a certain sign of grace is this: From the broken earth flowers come up pushing through the dirt. You are holy, holy, holy. All heaven cries, "Holy, holy God." You are holy, holy, holy. I wanna be holy like You are. You are everything that is bright and clean. And You're covering me with Your majesty. And the truest sign of grace was this: from wounded hands redemption fell down, liberating man. But the harder I try the more clearly can I feel the depth of our fall and the weight of it all. And so this might could be the most impossible thing: Your grandness in me making me clean. Glory, hallelujah. Glory, glory, hallelujah. So here I am, all of me. Finally everything. Wholly, wholly, wholly– I am wholly, wholly, wholly– I am wholly, wholly, wholly... Yours. I am full of earth and dirt and You." That song says it all for me. Crowder elaborates by saying, "The paradox of holiness: to desire its attainment yet be deficient in our capability of achieving it. This is our state. The resolution to this impasse is as subtle as the linguistic turn employed in the song. Holiness is only attainable through the capitulation of our whole selves. Through the redemption and rescue of Christ we become covered by His sacrifice and presented before God without blame. At times we may sound the same but to look at us you see nothing but Christ."

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

While I'm Waiting

To my future queen:

Proverbs 19:22 says, " What a man desires is unfailing love..." I have this huge desire in my heart, a desire that the Lord Himself placed within me. I have the desire to share my life with a wonderful young lady and with her build a life together for Christ. I wanna meet a young lady that I can lavish with love, protection, and respect. I wanna meet a young lady that I can adore, who would be my most treasured precious gift on this earth. I've been in 3 relationships in my young life only 1 of them was very serious. I've been single now for over a year. For me, singleness is an oxymoron! I like being single yet I don't like it. I like it because I can do whatever I want, I'm not torn between a relationship and other things in life, I can hang with my boys, and I'm richer by a small margin lol. Yet, I hate it because it can be so lonely even with a lot of people around. I'm just the type of guy that wants to get married. I'm a helpless romantic. I want nothing more then to meet a girl with whom I can start a relationship. I can't wait till I meet the girl that I'll one day marry. I hope I know that she is the one. I've heard it said that God destined you to be with one person He made just for you. I don't know if I believe in "the one". I think there are many "the ones". You just gotta be willing to make it work. Relationships are very hard work and if both aren't on board it is pointless. Yes, there should be some degree of compatability between the two and general attraction. Although I desire all of this I'm still single. Maybe something or someone will come my way soon. I don't know. But what men desire is unfailing love! And there is only One who is unfailing in His love! I love the following lyrics by John Waller:

While I'm Waiting

I'm waiting I'm waiting on You, Lord
And I am hopeful I'm waiting on You, Lord
Though it is painful
But patiently, I will wait I will move ahead, bold and confident
Takeing every step in obedience

While I'm waiting I will serve You
While I'm waiting I will worship
While I'm waiting I will not faint

I'll be running the race
Even while I wait I'm waiting
I'm waiting on You, Lord
And I am peaceful I'm waiting on You, Lord
Though it's not easy
But faithfully, I will wait
Yes, I will wait I will serve You while I'm waiting
I will worship while I'm waiting
I will serve You while I'm waiting
I will worship while I'm waiting
I will serve you while I'm waiting
I will worship while I'm waiting on You, Lord

I know you are out there somewhere my queen I'll continue to serve our Father as one of His sons and my prayer for you is that you do the same as one of His daughters. I hope and pray God continues to shape us to be wonderful spouses that would want to marry each other as we wait patiently to meet one another. Just know that I love you so much already and that you will be treated always respectively and with love! I look forward to meeting you and serving our King together someday. Continue to grow in Christ and love Him more everyday! Find His unfailing love for I will let you down being the mere human I am. In His unfailing love we will learn to love one another!

I Love You,
David Jonathan Anderson

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

THE PRAYER

Last April, at Mountain Mission School, Tommy Oaks came to do a revival. He was there for 3 days to lead this revival. The second night he said something that really struck a chord in me. He started talkin' about these 14 simple words that if you say them your life would be perfect. He asked do you wanna be a great husband? Then prayer these words. Do you wanna be a great wife? Then pray these words. Do you wanna have a awesome relationship with Christ? Then pray these words. He had us all on the edge of our seats for he went on about these 14 words for what seemed forever. We all awaited with great expection in the suspense in which he had us entangled! Finally he said prayer these 14 words: THY KINGDOM COME! THY WILL BE DONE ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN! I was blown away! At the end of that night, Tommy had us all get done on our knees and pray that very prayer! I got to thinking that is all I need in my life is to let GOD'S WILL be done not mine. I played it over it my head and out came the following song:


The Prayer

I’ve fought and fought
I’ve wrestled with You Lord
I’m out of breathI’m spent and wasted
I’m tired of having it my way

My will is on Your throne in my heart
This abomination has brought forth
Only destruction and desolation
I’m here now, I’m Yours now

Jesus, my Lord, Your kingdom come
And let mine perish
Jesus, my King, let Your will be done
Let it be done on earth
As it is done in Heaven
My will is to let You do Yours

I’ve given You my all before
Just to pry control back from Your hands
I’m the lover who is unfaithful
Casting my pearls before swine
I’m tired of having it my way

My will is on Your throne in my heart
This abomination has brought forth
Only destruction and desolation
I’m here now, I’m Yours now

Jesus, my Lord, Your kingdom come
And let mine perish
Jesus, my King, let Your will be done
Let it be done on earth As it is done in Heaven
My will is to let You do Yours

I’m on my knees with tears in my eyes
They are streaming down my face
They hit the floor with an thundering echo
I’m drowning now in my own sorrow
The tears reach the gaping hole
The empty chasm in my chest
Where my heart once beat for me
It lays, covered in tears, at Your feet
Beating for You, beating for You

Let Your kingdom come, let Your will be done
On earth as it is in Heaven
In me as it was in You, Jesus
In me as it was in You, Jesus
Your will be done, oh, Your will be done
Let it be done Lord
Your will let it be doneJesus, my Lord
Your kingdom come
And let mine perish Jesus, my King, let Your will be done
Let it be done on earth
As it is done in Heaven
My will is to let You do Yours

Your kingdom come, Your will be done
On earth as it is in Heaven
On earth as it is in Heaven
On earth...as it is...in Heaven
In Heaven

(Words by Jonathan Anderson)


My prayer is that you read that and were encouraged to surrender to Christ's will! For it is my own prayer as well!

Love and peace in our Lord Jesus Christ,
Jonathan Anderson

The Church and America

"Jesus for President is a project in renewing the imagination of the Church in the United States and of those who would seek to know Jesus. We are seeing more and more that the Church has fallen in love with the state and that this love affair is killing the Church's imagination. The powerful benefits and temptations of running the world's largest superpower have bent the Church's identity. Having power at its fingertips, the Church often finds 'guiding the course of history' a more alluring goal than following the crucified Christ. Too often the patriotic values of pride and strength triumph over the spiritual virtues of humility, gentleness, and sacrificial love."