Lost and Found

The other day I was walking through our school. Our school is a K-12, small 1A school. I was walking down the hall when I saw an huge pile of clothes hanging out of a box. Upon further investigation there were many different items. Sweatshirts, t-shirts, boots, one glove, a sock, and many other items I was baffled by. Some were heavy, others were really light. Some were really big and others looked very small. In all the confusion I looked down at the box and found my answer. I was looking at the "LOST AND FOUND". As, I thought about this some more, it really struck me. Aren't we all lost or found. Jesus explains this to us in his parable of the lost sheep. In Luke 15: 3-7 3Then Jesus told them this parable: 4"Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? 5And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders 6and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, 'Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.' 7I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent." It doesn't matter how big or small, or heavy and light our problems are. We will all be lost at some point in our lives. It is whether or not we choose to be found by Jesus that will make the difference.

Knitting for a Sunset

The conference was called Rocky Mountain High. One of our main sessions were just finishing up, and I needed to go to the restroom. They were now into the music part and were about 15 minutes from being done. I watched all the young teens jumping and singing, all 3,500 of them. I decided to go out and watch the sunset, since at this point there was no way I was getting back to my seat. There were only two or three of us outside. What caught my eye was a young lady was sitting with her back to the building knitting. She seemed to be very interested in the project she was working on and did not even look up to see me. Worship was going on right behind her back and it looked as if she had her back turned to GOD. The sunset was beautiful. Streaks of color, and clouds. This scenario reminded me personally about how I struggle with looking for God and celebrating and singing with him. Many times work, or projects in school, or even earthly possesions can get into the way of what we do. The bible tells us in these verses to FOLLOW HIM .


Matthew 4:19"Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men."
Matthew 8:22But Jesus told him, "Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead."

Matthew 9:9 As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector's booth. "Follow me," he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him.

Matthew 10:38and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.

Matthew 16:24Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.

Matthew 19:21Jesus answered, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."



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All of these have one thing in common FOLLOW ME. When we are striving for GOD we must pick up our cross and follow him. No project is more important, no sports are more important. and nothing on this Earth is more important. The beauty of all of this is many times we will fail. However, the grace of god will always shine upon your face like the sunset and show you the way to him. Follow his light with your cross, and let the rejoicing begin!

Luggage and Gods Mercy

I have found that with a newborn baby comes luggage. Anyone who has had a baby knows exactly what I am about to tell you. The other day we loaded a: diaper bag, stroller, breast pump, clothes to return to the mall, baby seat, and other gear into our trunk. After looking at the car ( our 05 Nissan Altima) It looked as if we were almost popping a wheelie. The back was weighted down and there was barley enough room for my wife and I to squeeze in and drive away. After the day, we returned home unloaded all of our things and the car seemed to lighten up and now it was several inches off the ground and in a higher position. Its luggage had been lifted. As we unpacked this reminded me of Gods mercy. Gods, knows that many times our life is really just one over stuffed trunk with worries about: kids, jobs, death of the family, our boss, and many other stresses that can add to our day. Many times, we try to take on these problems ourselves, instead of asking the maker of the universe, the person who knew us a million years before we were born to help us. The Lord tells us in the book of Matthew 6:34 "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." The Lord commands us to give him our worries and to allow the lord to pick up our baggage and feel light again. As we do we can relate to the car as our souls will seem lighter and even a few more inches off the ground. We will feel lighter knowing that God has taken our worries from us and we have given it all to him, because he can carry the load.

Touch Football and Childlike Faith?

This will be the last Devotional for a week or so, Until I return from Rocky Mountain High with our Church Youth Group. I hope to recharge the batteries there and spend some GREAT time with the Lord. Thanks to all of you faithful readers, and those who get this delivered right to you inbox. Here is this weeks Devotional

A very good friend of mine Joel, was married this last weekend. The wedding reception was at his now in-laws back yard of their house. With the music playing I took a stroll through the back yard to see how things were going. I couldn't help but notice that the kids, probably ages 4 or 5 to around 12 years old , really didn't care what was going on. Upon further investigation I found out why. They were all playing a game of touch football. As I observed the kids, they allowed each person to take turns as the quarterback. There were kids from all over back there, some from his wife's hometown, others from Joel and I's hometown. What caught me off guard was that there was never an argument from them. They were getting to know each other introducing themselves to each other, and surprisingly all enjoyed each others company. As I watched this I couldn't help but realize that the older we get as Christians the harder it is for us to show this childlike faith. The more research I looked over, I found that Jesus actually commands us to have childlike faith in our lives. In the book of Matthew verses 18: 2-4 he tells us: "2He called a little child and had him stand among them. 3And he said: "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven." The children in this story represent ourselves. Their love for each other represents what we used to have when we were younger. Over the years we have been told by society and our news to not trust people and beware of all things. These young people showed me exactly what childlike faith is. A group of people having fun, no matter race or social economic status. When was the last time a group of us adults started up a game with all complete strangers? So go ahead and turn off that T.V. and newscast and pick up something fun. You never know who you may start the game of life with, but do it in a childlike fashion!

Chapter of the week: Matthew 18:


Prayer: Dear Lord allow me to have childlike faith in my life. Allow me to understand that you are all I need and that you will protect me.

Airplanes and Jesus

Our house is located about 4-5 blocks from the airport. It is a small airport and handles very small planes. Many times this landing strip becomes a practice strip for the small planes as we watch them land and take off again. You can see them slowly fall and touchdown briefly of course, we can't see them through the trees. Then, you see them go back up and soar around. My wife and I usually watch from the deck and enjoy seeing these ups and downs. The last time I saw this however it reminded me of our lives. Not only can this analogy relate to the ups and downs of the plane, but also to the twists and turns that life throws us. I am sure all of us have felt that we are in a barrel roll at one time or another in our daily life. The Lord tells us in the book of Psalms 23:4 "Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me" We must remember that even though others will enjoy watching our ups and downs, as my wife and I enjoy the planes , they may never see us hit rock bottom. The Lord is always our landing gear and helps us as we touchdown to the lowest of our ground landing strip. We must carry on, because we will rise again and be on the top of the clouds soaring through life. Life gives us peaks and valleys and we must focus on the Lord and prove to him that there is no fear in what is to come. As I continue to watch these planes land I find peace in that the Lord is with us, whether we are landing or taking off in the aerodynamics of life.

Is Your GOD Monitor Turned On?

Baby monitors, who thought such a contraption would allow us as parents to have so much freedom? Melissa decided to go for a bike ride through town this week as Reagan was taking a nap. I was out waxing our car as she brought me the the infamous "baby monitor". I turned it on and listened for any sounds, but after 5 to 10 minutes I heard nothing. Being the paranoid father that I am I would sneak into the house and listen... still nothing. Then, I would walk over to his crib to make sure he was still alive... Yes! he was breathing! This story wouldn't be that funny, if you didn't know that I did this THREE times while Melissa was gone for only 20 Minutes. This made me think. Is this how God feels when he doesn't hear us on his GOD monitor? Does HE listen for us to call out to HIM, whether crying helplessly, needing attention, or to be held in HIS hands. The bible tells us in the book of Mark 11: 24 "Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours" We are reminded by this verse, and this simple baby monitor that we need to stay in prayer for the Lord. Even, if we do not pray as we should we can find comfort that he will always be checking on us and waiting for our call to Him. Even if our 5 to 10 minutes turns into 5 to 10 years . He will always be listening for our spiritual breathing and hoping to hear from us with any problems we may have big or small. So go ahead, turn on your GOD monitor its never too late.

Christianity is NOT a Stroll in the Park!

Melissa and I were on a walk the other day and as we turned off the highway we saw a softball game going on. We decided to take a stroll in the park to check it out. This turned out to be an eventful stroll, around the first turn we were attacked by swarming bugs in the summer air. After we swatted them away we noticed that the trail ended in gravel. We had a stroller at the time so we pushed our way through the gravel to finally arrive at the game, which was our actual destination. This seemed like a lot of work just to get to a softball game. In many ways, as believers in Christ, we sometimes feel that being a Christian is a stroll in the park. We feel that we can wake up and everything will go our way. This is simply not the case. Christianity is a tough lifestyle that we choose to live and to lead. In the book of James we find this passage that reassures us that there will be tough times ahead. James 1: 2-6 reads "2Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 5If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. 6But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind." The bugs we encountered were a representation of all the pesky things that can ruin our day, maybe they are children being fussy, rumors about us, or even a bad drive to work. Knowing that these instances will make us strong encourages us to push on until we are past them. Then, as we seem to be in the clear, the road ahead becomes bumpy and we are shaken in our daily lives. Perhaps things have now gone out of control. When this happens remember (even though it is much easier said than done) the road ahead is your destination and we are to take joy in trials and tribulations that we encounter as we work to get there. This truly shows we are on the right path to GOD!

Lightning Bugs and Gods Grace

Melissa's family has been in town this week after her sister was married on Saturday. She has relatives that live all over the United States including: California, Montana, Michigan. It is always nice to catch up and spend time with family. Last night, while siting by the fire outside the kids were out catching lightning bugs. (This was especially exciting for them since they don't have them in Montana). They were catching them and placing them in a large jar where they could look at them and then discovered if they shook the jar the bugs would light up. After about 30 minutes of searching the large jar was filling up and the bugs were making a great glow as we shook them up and laughed at how they acted. One of the kids decided that this was mean and ran off with the jar to let the bugs go. Moments later another one of the kids was carrying the jar, now empty, and dropped it on our concrete patio. SMASH it went and exploded into a million pieces. The analogy I find in this story deals with Satan. Satan loves to see us running around using our light to shine for others. This makes us a target for his plan. In Psalms 118: 27 it tells us "The LORD is God, and he has made his light shine upon us." Satan sees our light from God and grabs a hold of us. Then he puts us in a fast paced society where we seem to be bumping into each other unable to slow down. I am sure Satan looks at us being shaking up in our daily lives and laughs at us not being able to spread the word. Satan loves this crazy world we live in.

How can we be released? How can we have the lid opened on our hectic lives so we can once again shine our light for GOD? It is simple, but very hard for us to do or find "time". A personal relationship with GOD can release the lid and set us free. In the book of John 3:8 it explains to us - "The one who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work." God wants to open the lid on our lives and set us free. Keeping in a daily walk with Him can allow him to do that. Ask for forgiveness and walk with him often, you never know when your (jar) world may SMASH into a million pieces.

Chinese Food and Christs Love

Chinese food has always been a favorite food of mine. I truly enjoy it! I was talking with a friend on my cell phone trying to figure out plans for next week. While I was doing this I was with my father in -law who was already at the register to order at our Chinese restaurant. I said good bye to the person on the other line and there I was faced with a menu of choices, and no idea what to choose. I stumbled through the order and was at the cash register where I was to pay. The lady wrote my order on the ticket just as another worker yelled across the room ' hey, that guy has been paid for he can go on through". I was saved, my father in law had paid the bill. All of us have a father in-law in this story. Actually, we all have a father in Jesus Christ. By dieing on the cross for our sins He has paid our debt, and our time will come when we die and we can hear " hey, that guy has been paid for he can go on through." In the book of Hebrews 9:28 it reminds us that "so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him." Each day we are all faced with a menu of choices, what we choose is up to us. As we stumble through our orders in life, know that a personal relationship with Jesus Christ is always the special of the day. Because hearing HIS voice say "this ones mine, his debt has been paid", that's priceless.

Jason Anderson

A.C.T. and Heaven

Devotional June 18,, 2008

So there I was in charge of the A.C.T. testing room on the top floor of Jordan Hall at Central College. All of the students were lined up in the hall and were nervously waiting with there admission tickets and Identification. The hall was dark and they were trying to peak into the testing room to see what it was like. Finally, after they all seemed to be there and waiting, I asked them to line up and have there admission tickets ready. As they were cleared to go in, each student showed who they were and their ticket. Their eyes were taken back by the lighted room and were allowed to come inside. Some day we will have the chance to have our admission ticket. Only it will not come in the mail and the cost is simply turning your life over to God. Jesus is our admission ticket to heaven. Our nervousness in the dark hallway can be gone. The bible tells us in the book of John 11:25 Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies." Accepting Christ allows us to have an admission ticket to the kingdom of God and to be taken back by the light of his love.

Jason Anderson

WELCOME TO OUR B.L.O.G.

Welcome to our family Blog. We are the Anderson family. We will have a picture coming soon.
Here we will blog about I deas. I would like to use this as an analogies page to talk about Christ in everyday things.