Participants: Aaron Chancy (Host), Jeremy Anderson
Series Code: TNJ
Program Code: TNJ000010
|
00:01 The following program discusses sensitive issues.
00:03 Parents are cautioned that some material 00:05 may be too candid for younger children. 00:11 Welcome to "The New Journey." 00:12 The program where we meet real life people, 00:14 with real life testimonies, 00:16 with real life working ministries for Jesus. 00:18 Today we're gonna talk to a modern day version 00:20 of a Prodigal Son. 00:22 Luke 15:11-32 in the Bible, tell us about a parable 00:26 dealing with the son represents as many of us, 00:28 who straight from the Father's home, 00:30 represent as our Heavenly Father, 00:33 went out into the world to see what it had to offer, 00:35 came to their senses, then return home to God. 00:38 And you know the beauty of it all was 00:40 that God accepted the child back 00:41 even as if had never left at all. 00:44 You won't want to miss this powerful testimony 00:46 of God saving grace. 00:48 I'm your host Aaron Chancy 00:49 come join us on "The New Journey." 01:21 Welcome back, viewers, welcome back. 01:23 We have and exciting, exciting testimony for us today. 01:26 We have Brother Jeremy Anderson. 01:28 Thank you for being on the program, Jeremy. 01:29 Thanks for having me. Amen. Amen. 01:31 Now let's jump right into things. 01:33 You are the author of a book 01:34 entitled "From Prodigal to Prodigy." 01:36 What motivated you to write this book? 01:38 Well, Aaron, you know, my life has been an amazing journey. 01:42 Amen. 01:43 I really had no plans on writing this book. 01:45 Okay. Okay. 01:46 January 22nd, 2011, I woke up one Sabbath morning 01:50 and God was giving me chapter titles and the book title. 01:54 I'm entitled for "From Prodigal to Prodigy" 01:56 and I began to just start writing and typing. 02:01 And after about a few weeks 02:05 the body of the book was written. 02:06 Wow. Yes. And-- 02:08 So you really zoned out 02:09 and you were really just getting it done, right? 02:10 I zoned out man, for weeks at a time 02:13 I was putting hours and hours with the work in typing 02:16 and the Holy Spirit just impressed me 02:18 to share my testimony on a larger scale 02:20 than just traveling and speaking. 02:22 He said to put it in the book for me 02:23 then we can go across the world. 02:25 You know, that's interesting 02:26 that your title is "From Prodigal to Prodigy." 02:29 Now in Luke 15, there's three parables. 02:31 You have the parable of the lost sheep, 02:32 you have the parable of the lost coin 02:34 and you have the parable of the prodigal son. 02:36 Why did you choose to call it 02:38 "From Prodigal to Prodigy" versus using the lost coin 02:41 or the lost sheep as a reference? 02:43 Well, when I look at my life and the experiences 02:45 that I went through I was that prodigal son. 02:47 Amen. Amen. 02:48 I was the one that was home, that had the good, 02:50 that had the truth and wanted to leave. 02:52 I wanted to experience things on my own. 02:53 Okay. 02:54 And I was the one that found myself living there 02:57 that feverous, lustful lifestyle 02:59 just really extravagant, flamboyant 03:02 and then lost everything. 03:03 I found myself literally in that pigsty, 03:06 and I found my way back home. 03:08 But you came to your senses and we'll get to that later on 03:10 how you came to your senses. 03:12 But you know, you story is so similar to mine, 03:14 we grew up in a two parent home 03:16 having worship, things like that. 03:18 Can you talk a little bit about your background 03:19 because it's not that typical background that most, 03:23 I guess, you would say "thugs" 03:25 or outlaws out there grow up with. 03:27 They normally have a single parent home 03:29 and things like that 03:30 but not so with you and not so with me. 03:31 Talk a little bit about your early upbringing. 03:33 Well, my father is an Adventist minister 03:35 as well as my grandfather. 03:36 So you are preacher's kid? 03:38 Preacher's kid, man, I-- 03:39 Now hold on, I got to stop you there. 03:40 Why does that always seem 03:41 that preacher's kids are the worst? 03:42 You know, I don't know. 03:44 I heard it a lot when I was younger, 03:46 I really didn't paid it any mind 03:47 but slowly but surely I looked up 03:49 and I saw what I was and I was in disgust, man. 03:52 I'll say one thing, I believe that the enemy 03:54 attacks ministers and preacher's children 03:57 just to derail them and because it throws off their ministry. 04:01 Okay. 04:02 So I thought myself being in the home, 04:04 went to a church school, grandfather, 04:07 church father, great grandfather-- 04:08 Did you spend a lot of years in church school 04:10 or it was a balance between 04:11 church school and public school? 04:13 I will say about half, after middle school, 04:15 from middle school all the way up to high school 04:17 I was in a church school. 04:18 In church school? Yes. 04:19 You know, now it's interesting to read in your book, 04:21 actually the opening chapter's entitled "Church Boy." 04:23 Yeah. 04:24 And what's interesting is, is that you state that, 04:27 you know, you have family 04:29 worship growing up and things like that. 04:30 Most families don't have that. 04:33 You know, even in my instance it was, 04:34 you know, family worship, yeah, 04:36 Friday night worship to usher in the Sabbath. 04:38 You go to church Sabbath, you go to AY, 04:40 you got to Wednesday night prayer meeting, 04:42 you got pathfinders on Sunday 04:43 and you were going through the same things? 04:44 Right. 04:45 You know, that's very interesting 04:47 that we have the same kind of background, 04:49 both prodigal sons but came to our senses 04:51 and came back home. 04:53 Now another interesting aspect of your story 04:55 is that you graduated high school 04:57 and you graduated college as well. 04:59 You know, I know for myself that, 05:01 you know, I didn't graduate high school, 05:03 I didn't graduate college 05:04 and most people that are out there, 05:06 they tend to go, you know, when they are young, 05:08 at a young age but you didn't. 05:09 What kind of motivated you to keep you in school 05:12 instead of already being out 05:14 in the world at 14, 15 years old? 05:16 Ministry. Ministry. 05:17 I was involved in ministry at a young age. 05:19 Okay. 05:20 I was a part of a Christian acting drama group, 05:23 we traveled around. 05:24 I was chaplain in my senior class, 05:26 religious vice president, I was on fire. 05:28 You were interested in all of things. 05:29 I was in choirs, I was on fire for the Lord. 05:32 When I got to college there was a lack of ministry. 05:35 So when I travel around to speak 05:37 I get strong emphasis to the power of ministry. 05:40 Through the lack of ministries, 05:42 through the lack of void in my life, 05:44 the enemy came in and took up that space. 05:46 And so I found myself caught up 05:49 in a whole lot of foolishness at a late age. 05:51 You know, that's interesting 05:52 that you just say a lack of ministry. 05:54 You know, in most young people's minds 05:56 they're trying to get away from ministry, 05:57 but you at a young age, 05:59 it was because of lack of ministry 06:01 you wanted to be involved in ministry. 06:03 And when things started to change you went to college, 06:05 lack of ministry, you started to stray. 06:08 That's very interesting. 06:09 You know, I find for myself even being an adult now 06:12 that I have that same thing. 06:13 If there's nothing going and no ministry, 06:15 it's easy to stray. 06:17 It's very easy to stray. 06:18 You know, what I want to do now is talk about some main, 06:22 underlying factors, aside from the lack of ministry, 06:24 what was some other things 06:25 that kind of led you to that lifestyle? 06:28 Well, you know the things 06:29 I was caught up in were pretty heavy. 06:32 They were a lot of things I say that I would never do. 06:35 What are some of the things you said you would never do? 06:38 Smoking. Okay. 06:39 Never smoke cigarettes. 06:41 Then I said, I would never do drugs, 06:42 let alone sell drugs. 06:43 Okay. 06:44 I said I would never have sex before marriage. 06:46 I said I would never go to any nightclubs. 06:49 These are all things I said I would never do. 06:50 You would never do. 06:51 Now around what age were you when you were saying, 06:54 you know, I'm not gonna get involved in those things? 06:56 How old were you? 06:57 All throughout junior high and high school. 06:58 For real? 06:59 Yeah, and then when I got into college 07:01 things drastically changed. 07:02 Wow. 07:03 You know, that's so interesting 07:04 because most people that get involved with alcohol 07:07 and drugs and cigarettes things like that, 07:10 they start smoking at 12-years-old, 07:12 13-years-old, even before its legal. 07:14 And for you it wasn't that case though. 07:17 It wasn't that case, that's very interesting. 07:19 Now, you also talk about in your book 07:21 that one thing that you said, 07:23 you weren't gonna get involved in 07:24 but you did was premarital sex. 07:26 Can you talk a little bit about, 07:27 you know, how that came about 07:29 that you starting going towards that road? 07:31 Well, everything I said that I would never do 07:33 I ended up doing. 07:34 But the enemy Satan, he's pretty sharp, 07:37 you know, what happened is 07:39 as he starts off with something small, 07:41 you know, and the next thing 07:43 you know, you're into it really, really heavy. 07:46 And so even with premarital sex, 07:48 I got caught up into that. 07:49 Well, it was extremely promiscuous. 07:51 Okay. 07:52 I said, I'll never smoke cigarettes 07:53 and I was up to a pack a day. 07:55 I said, I'll never do drugs, not only was I doing them 07:58 but I was selling them. 07:59 I said I never go to a clubs, 08:00 not only was I going to clubs and partying 08:02 but I owned and operated it. 08:03 Okay, and we are gonna talk about that information. 08:06 You know, actually I want to get into that now. 08:08 What were some other things 08:09 that you were involved with while you were out there? 08:11 Because you read in your book 08:12 very, very good book of God saving grace 08:15 and what He did in your life. 08:17 But for a while, for some years, you were out there. 08:19 You were involved in a club, club life and things like that. 08:21 Talk about that experience, 08:23 all those things you involved in. 08:24 That's a whole another world there, 08:26 you know, I was so blinded by what the enemy was doing 08:30 and the whole time God had His hands on me. 08:32 Okay. 08:33 I got caught up into a lot of heavy drugs. 08:35 I began the brag about the amounts 08:37 that I would sell to my friends. 08:39 Me being a church boy was-- 08:41 every Friday and Saturday nights 08:43 throwing parties at clubs, champagne, women, 08:46 you know, that was just the lifestyle 08:48 for me for a while. 08:49 For a few years I made my money solely illegally like that 08:54 and I just got so taken away from the way 08:55 that I was brought up. 08:57 Okay. 08:58 But God, in order to save my soul, 09:00 He helped me lose everything. 09:01 Okay, now while you were involved with all these things, 09:05 did you still kind of feel like a void in your life? 09:08 You hear many people say, you know, 09:10 there is like-- there was still this emptiness, 09:12 I've got the cars, I've got the drugs, 09:14 I've got the money, I've got all these different things 09:16 but there's still something lacking 09:19 and even when you look at society today 09:21 and look at a lot of entertainment stars, 09:23 many of them are overdosing on drugs. 09:25 Many of them are hooked on hard drugs. 09:27 Not just you know, cigarette things like, some hard things. 09:30 You know, there is a emptiness inside, 09:32 talk about that feeling. 09:34 You know, I partied first hand with a lot of these rappers 09:37 that you see on a lot of different TV shows. 09:40 Okay. And videos. 09:42 And these guys are empty inside. 09:43 Yeah. They're depressed. 09:45 I was living that same lifestyle. 09:46 When the music stopped playing 09:48 and the champagne stopped flowing 09:49 and the woman weren't around, I was empty and I was trying 09:52 so hard to fill that void in my life, 09:54 a void that only Christ could fill. 09:56 Yeah, okay. 09:57 How do you-- let me ask your opinion, 09:59 how do you help to keep the youth 10:02 from going down that road 10:04 because you said that, you know, 10:05 there was a emptiness out there 10:07 and I stated there is an emptiness out there 10:08 because I've been out there. 10:10 But how can we get that across to the young people that-- 10:13 though the Bible says in Hebrews 11:25, 10:15 that there are pleasures of sin "for a season" 10:19 how do we relate that message to them that, 10:22 you know, you're still gonna feel this emptiness inside? 10:24 What's in your opinion? 10:25 You know, it's one of these things to where, 10:27 you know, they have to really seek, 10:29 they have to really know, they have to really get 10:31 to know the Lord for themselves. 10:32 Yeah. Yeah. Because they try the devil. 10:34 You know, for a while, I said I just went little bit of it. 10:37 Let me just have a little bit of the world. 10:38 Satan's not going for that? Satan's not going for that? 10:39 You think you're gonna love it and next you know 10:41 you have a plate full and you'll get so far 10:43 from where God had wanted you to be. 10:45 And so He has a special calling 10:47 on all of our young people in this world. 10:49 Especially those that have been brought up the right way, 10:52 but the enemy has the way of enticing us 10:55 and making the TV and the videos and the fashion 10:57 and the jewelry and the fame seem real appealing 11:00 when God has something so much sweeter for us. 11:02 Yeah. 11:03 You know, I remember when you say that 11:04 I remember being young 11:06 and watching a lot of these music videos 11:08 and listening to the music and I remember 11:10 when I was young there was a song 11:11 that came out "Bling Bling" 11:13 and you know, everybody's flashing things, 11:14 everybody's shining. 11:15 Now this is actually a word incorporated in the dictionary. 11:18 Wow. Wow. 11:19 And you know, what's interesting is, 11:20 you see all of this and it starts, 11:23 you know, Satan works through the senses. 11:25 He works through the five senses, 11:26 the seeing, the touch, the feel 11:27 all of those things he works through 11:29 and the same way he got Eve in the very beginning of time, 11:32 he's getting us in that same exact way. 11:34 We see these things, we get caught up in it. 11:37 Did that has an affect on you looking 11:39 at the music videos, things like that? 11:41 Yeah, I began to have a thirst and a hunger for more. 11:44 Yeah. I wanted more money. 11:45 I wanted as much money as I can make. 11:46 I wanted as many women in my bed as I could get, 11:49 I wanted to drive the new and nicest cars 11:51 and I did all of this but I was still empty inside. 11:54 And a lot of times television tends to mold us 11:58 just as a people in a society 12:00 and we get caught up into that 12:01 and we end up searching for it 12:03 when God has a whole other calling for our lives. 12:05 Okay. 12:06 You know, we live in such an entertainment society now. 12:08 You know, such an entertainment society. 12:11 In your opinion, how do we even get the young people 12:13 to even pick up a book these days and read? 12:16 I mean, that maybe a deep question 12:17 but if you can provide an answer, 12:19 how do we even get them to start 12:21 being able to read a book? 12:22 I would say put that passion in them early. 12:24 One thing my father did for me-- 12:25 So developing a foundation point? 12:26 Foundation point. 12:28 What my father did for me when I was around 12:30 the elementary middle school area, 12:31 when it was a summer time I got to play 12:33 with my friends out in the neighborhood 12:34 but there were times he had me at home 12:36 reading books and giving book reports. 12:39 And I thought then that he was just being mean 12:41 or he was just-- to punish me 12:43 but he was actually instilling a principle in me 12:45 that was really important. 12:47 And I think what God has done with me 12:49 through this book "From Prodigal to Prodigy" 12:51 is He's allowed me to write it in a way 12:53 where you won't even feel like you're reading. 12:54 Yeah, it does. 12:55 You feel like part of my life and part of my story 12:57 and you're part of the journey 12:59 and next thing to know, you get the word. 13:00 Yes, it's exciting. 13:02 You know, in reading your book there's a instance in there, 13:05 I want you to talk a little bit about it, 13:06 because it happened to you, it happened to me 13:09 where you were standing down the barrel of a gun, 13:11 somebody was pointing a gun 13:12 and your life could have been taken. 13:14 Talk about that feeling that goes 13:16 through the mind at that point. 13:18 It was at the moment I'm just gonna share with you 13:20 how cloudy my judgment was. 13:22 Okay. 13:23 At that moment I had an altercation 13:24 with one of the biggest dope dealers in the city 13:27 that I was living with. 13:28 He had a Uzi put to my head, that's like a baby machine, 13:32 that's not a pistol and so I see here 13:34 and I'm seeing my life flash before my eyes. 13:36 And I should have registered and said, you know, 13:39 what, I need to tone it down 13:40 but actually that built up a passion inside me 13:44 to start wanting to carry guns and knives 13:46 to protect myself and I was just so far out there. 13:49 Okay. 13:50 So I was even thinking in my normal mind 13:52 like I should have been. 13:53 Okay. 13:54 So your life could have been taken 13:55 and instead of changing your life you say, okay, 13:58 well, now I need to go and get some guns. 14:00 You know, did you ever think before that you know, 14:03 I would never really get involved in, 14:05 you know, carrying guns. 14:07 You know, I'm not a violent person. 14:08 I don't, you know, want to harm anybody 14:09 and I just want to make money. 14:11 Did you ever, you know, have that thought growing up? 14:13 Yeah, I was never the type to feel like 14:15 I had to carry a gun 14:16 but after I got out there in the world 14:19 and I saw how real the world was getting-- 14:20 Yeah, it is. 14:21 Instead of just scaring me back home, 14:22 I said, okay, I've got to now adapt. 14:25 And that's the corruption 14:26 that the enemy will have on your mind. 14:27 Oh, yeah. 14:28 You know, it's interesting 14:29 because a lot of young people may say, you know, 14:31 I just want to go out there for few years. 14:33 You know, I don't plan on killing anybody, 14:35 I don't plan on, you know, smoking. 14:38 I don't plan on doing all these things. 14:39 I just want to go out there and have some fun. 14:41 But in reality, once you step foot on a devils playground, 14:45 he's gonna take you on that merry-go-round, 14:47 that slide, the swings 14:48 and he is gonna have his pleasures. 14:50 That's right. And he's had with me and you. 14:51 You know, I know my experience 14:53 when the-- I was standing on the side-- 14:55 other side of the gun, gentleman pulled 14:57 a 25 caliber pistol in my face over, over some marijuana. 15:01 And you know, it was interesting 15:03 that a few weeks later 15:05 it was a same kind of occurrence in these projects 15:07 and a young person was killed over $5 of marijuana 15:11 where here I was, staring down the face of a gun, 15:14 over seven and half ounces of marijuana 15:17 and my life wasn't taken. 15:18 And you know, what's interesting 15:19 out of that whole thing, 15:21 there's a lot of interesting points 15:22 but one thing is, you know, I hadn't prayed for a while. 15:24 But when I'm on the side 15:25 of that gun sticking to my face, 15:27 we always seem to find a prayer, 15:29 is it somewhere in our back pocket or somewhere 15:31 we seem to be able to sending up 15:32 a prayer to the Lord. 15:33 Had you ever had instances out there, 15:36 where you hadn't prayed in years 15:38 but you were in trouble situations 15:39 and you try to, you know, pray to the Lord? 15:41 Yeah, you know, and that's funny 15:43 because that's what happens. 15:44 Yeah. 15:45 Sometimes we find ourselves in sticky situation-- 15:47 And then we want to call on God. 15:49 We will say hey Lord, you know, 15:50 long time no hear, I need You. 15:52 But the good thing about prayer is that God is always there. 15:56 When I sit back and look at those different things 15:58 in the situations I was in, 15:59 He was with me the whole time. 16:01 Amen. 16:02 So I just praise God that we serve a God 16:04 that cares enough that when we do all 16:06 He's still there to pick us up. 16:07 Okay. 16:08 Now in your book you talk about people being abstinent, 16:11 even yourself and you know, others out there. 16:14 There are some that maybe watching 16:16 that are going through, you know, sexual changes, 16:18 wanting to do things out there 16:20 with males or females whatever it maybe, 16:23 how can a person overcome that? 16:25 What can a person do to fight that urge, 16:27 to fight that, almost addiction? 16:28 Well, with the lot of different addictions 16:30 I was going through I had to pray two prayers. 16:32 For two long hours saying, Lord, help overcome this 16:35 but I had the strong asking for the will. 16:38 I had to start saying Lord, 16:39 give me the desire to serve You. 16:41 Give me will to want to do right. 16:42 Yeah, to want to do it, 16:43 because we have a natural inclination towards evil. 16:44 Exactly. Exactly. 16:45 Now that, Lord, that you've put His will inside of me, 16:48 give me the power to overcome, 16:50 but there is a lot of power in music and television. 16:53 If I can just talk about for a sec? 16:55 Yeah, I want you to talk on that, really talk on that. 16:56 A lot of times we tend to watch 16:58 these different television shows 17:00 and we listen to this different music 17:01 and these sitcoms and it does something to our brain, 17:04 it rends to program us, it puts us in certain moods 17:07 and in certain positions that we really shouldn't be in. 17:09 And I think a lot of time we don't realize the power 17:12 that comes from music and television. 17:14 So with me overcoming it, I learnt early on 17:16 there were certain things I couldn't watch on TV. 17:19 Not a certain time of night, 17:20 certain things I could not watch 17:22 because that was putting certain spirits inside of me 17:25 which had me want to do certain things 17:27 that I knew was not pleasing to God. 17:29 Okay. 17:30 So the power of the media, 17:31 television, radio, stuff like that, 17:33 you have to really guard the avenues of your soul. 17:36 We put alcohol within our bodies 17:37 that can deter us, we plain be putting marijuana, 17:39 cigarettes and drugs within our bodies 17:41 but the things that we see, 17:43 the things that we hear can also have an impact 17:46 on our spiritual connection with God. 17:47 Okay, you know what interesting about music is, 17:50 it has the ability to enter into the subconscious 17:53 without you even knowing it. 17:55 I remember when I was younger there was a movie out 17:58 and there was a subliminal message in it 18:00 but you couldn't hear, you couldn't pick it up 18:02 only your subconscious could pick it up. 18:04 And it stated that all good 18:06 little boys and girls take their clothes off. 18:09 And the next thing you know, 18:10 you know, people are doing 18:11 so many different strange things 18:13 not knowing it came from watching 18:15 whatever you were watching or listening 18:17 to whatever you were listening. 18:19 Also you said some key things about hip-hop music. 18:22 It's interesting there was a song 18:23 that came out some years ago and it was called "Hypnotized" 18:25 I'm sure you're familiar with that song and in it, 18:28 it was saying I command you to get money, 18:30 I command you to get money. 18:32 It was like he was almost telling you 18:33 what to do and you know, 18:35 its getting in the body and you find yourself, 18:37 you find yourself doing this. 18:38 Right. 18:39 You know, music is powerful. It is very powerful. 18:41 And in that song, that song was from a rapper 18:44 who was proclaiming to be a big drug dealer, which he was. 18:47 Yeah, that's true. 18:48 And he was telling everyone listening, 18:49 I command you to give money. 18:51 Give money. 18:52 And I remember listening to this, 18:53 caught up in the world myself, 18:55 but still having the spirit in me 18:57 saying something about this doesn't sound right. 18:59 And even when I was sitting in my house 19:01 smoking weed and everything else 19:02 I still felt uneasy playing that song. 19:04 Yeah, wow. Wow. 19:06 You know, I remember listening to a certain rap group 19:09 and they had songs on there like Mr. Ouija, 19:11 Mo Murder, Die, Die, Die, Me Killer, things like this. 19:15 And I knew those things weren't right. 19:17 I grew up in a church, I had that foundation, 19:19 I knew they weren't right 19:21 but as like it's to hypnotizing, 19:23 it has this effect upon you that you know, 19:26 you can almost not break loose of it, 19:28 only by the power of God. 19:29 Well, you know, music, 19:30 you know, if you're in a bad mood 19:32 you can play certain music to get your excited. 19:34 Yeah. Yeah. 19:35 Certain music can get your heart pumping, 19:36 and gets your adrenaline rushing. 19:38 Certain music can put you in a mood for romance. 19:41 Some classical music can kind tend to sooth you. 19:43 Yeah. 19:44 And we can't forget, you know, who Lucifer was in heaven. 19:46 Yeah. 19:47 You know, he was in charge of the music. 19:49 You know, we all know this 19:50 so do we not think that he will use this 19:52 as one of the many ways to separate us from God? 19:55 Yeah. Wow, that's powerful. 19:56 He made music in heaven, now we know 19:58 he's got to be making music down here 20:00 because he didn't lose that power 20:02 when he got kicked out of heaven. 20:03 When he came down here, he didn't lose that power. 20:05 And you know, he's out to destroy the youth, 20:08 he is out to destroy the young people. 20:10 Talk about how, you know, as going around the churches, 20:12 actually before we want to-- before we get there, 20:14 I want to talk to you about 20:16 how you began to change your life? 20:18 Talk about that road trip, 20:19 talk about what started leading to you, 20:21 your connect with-- things just started 20:23 falling out from under you 20:24 and you started to wake up and come to your senses. 20:26 Talk about that. 20:27 Well, I got to a point in my life where I even, 20:30 you know, I just wasn't working. 20:31 You know, everything was drug money 20:33 that I was making from the club. 20:35 And the Lord in order to save my soul, 20:38 allowed me to lose everything. 20:39 Wow. 20:40 And it's funny because I'm glad for it, 20:43 because had I still had all the fancy cars 20:45 and all of the money 20:47 and everything else going for me 20:49 that for some reason was working so good 20:51 because the devil can bless you too now. 20:52 Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. 20:53 So since He'd removed that stuff for me 20:56 I kind of find myself at this stagnant point 20:58 and I took a road trip with my grandfather 21:00 and this year we'll kind of share with you 21:02 the power of influences 21:04 and things that we put inside of our body. 21:05 Here I am with my grandfather, 21:07 who's a pastor, we're taking this road trip. 21:09 For two whole days I didn't have 21:11 any nicotine in my system, I didn't have any alcohol, 21:13 no liquor, no beers, I didn't have any marijuana, 21:16 I wasn't listening to any bad music. 21:18 So you just as sober as a judge. 21:19 Let me tell you something, 21:21 my spiritual receptors were open. 21:24 Now we all have spiritual receptors 21:26 within our bodies that connects us with God. 21:28 We were made in God's image, 21:29 we were made to commune with Him. 21:31 So since my spiritual receptors were open 21:33 and they were all running on all cylinders 21:35 I didn't have anything to put in my body. 21:37 I was able to hear clearly what God had in store for me 21:40 and I had the conversation with my grandmother 21:42 and during that time I talk about in the book 21:45 I call it the "Ride of My Life." 21:46 Yeah. Yeah, the "Ride of My Life." 21:47 Because during that road trip 21:48 was I went through my conversion process 21:50 and at that time through my grandmother, 21:52 the Holy Spirit fell down on me 21:54 and I was able to hear Him clearly, 21:56 I was able to really truly accept Him 21:58 as my personal Savior. 21:59 Amen. 22:00 Talk about that experience after you came back 22:02 from that road trip a little bit after that, 22:04 you tried smoking a little marijuana 22:07 but your body was just rejecting it. 22:08 Talk about it. 22:09 Let me tell you about the power of God. 22:10 When I came back, when I came back to the city 22:13 I was living with in Huntsville, Alabama, 22:15 I came home and I told my then girlfriend 22:17 I said, honey, I'm gonna stop smoking. 22:19 I'm gonna turn my life around. 22:21 Did she believe you? And she was like, okay, yes. 22:24 She wanted to, she's like but I've heard this before. 22:26 So she goes to sleep and now here I am 22:29 with the monkey in the room, the gorilla in the room. 22:31 I've got this weed and I couldn't sleep, 22:34 I couldn't eat, I couldn't wake up in the morning 22:36 without having this in my body and it had been two days. 22:39 So needless to say I was urging for this. 22:42 You were already? Right. 22:43 And so when I told the Lord, I say Lord, 22:45 I'm gonna smoke this one last time 22:47 and after this here, I'm gonna be done for good. 22:50 But you see, the devil was saying, 22:51 hey, okay, you're gonna serve God now 22:53 but just smoke one last blunt. 22:54 And God allowed me to smoke this blunt 22:57 so that He can show me His power. 22:58 Wow. 22:59 Now this is after I said Lord, I' m gonna give You my all 23:00 and I'm gonna turn things around. 23:02 I went in my garage, I poured me some liquor, 23:04 I had my cigarettes and I'm smoking 23:06 and I'm drinking and this is the same room. 23:08 So I say, you know what, 23:09 maybe I need this weed inside of me. 23:11 So I began to smoke and I began to smoke 23:13 and my body begins to reject it 23:15 and at that moment God says, 23:17 son, I have already set you free. 23:19 Wow. And I'm just like, wow. 23:21 I mean, I felt so cloudy within my mind 23:24 which we are connected to God. 23:26 I just felt so cloudy. 23:28 You know the mind is where sin begins. 23:30 You know this is our head of our body, 23:31 this is our communion and I just felt so cloudy 23:34 putting that stuff in me. 23:35 And God says, son, you don't that to sleep anymore. 23:37 I will set you free. You don't need anyone. 23:38 You had been set free and I hadn't picked up 23:40 a pack of cigarettes or weed or any alcohol since them. 23:43 Amen. Amen. 23:44 And so when people say, 23:45 oh, you can't just stop cold turkey-- 23:48 you need the power of God. Yeah. Amen. 23:50 Because He has done this for me 23:52 and I think that He allowed this to be 23:53 so drastic in my life 23:55 so that I could be a testament to people around the world. 23:56 Wow. 23:57 You know, that's interesting, in my experience, 24:00 you know, it was a couple of months 24:01 before I got off the cocaine, the ecstasy, 24:04 the marijuana, things like that. 24:05 But I remember I was-- I challenged myself. 24:08 I said, let me go a day without cigarettes, 24:09 two days without cigarettes. 24:11 And I finally made it to a full week, 24:12 a full seven days and no cigarettes 24:14 and I believe it was the Sunday 24:16 I said, well, you know what, 24:17 let me just try one cigarette just to see, 24:19 to see if I'm over it as yet. 24:21 So I grabbed the cigarette, lit it up and you know, 24:24 I tried it I just couldn't take it. 24:25 You know, I had, I had already got free of it 24:27 for a week and you know, my body just was not taking it 24:30 and now it's been over three years 24:32 and you know, I can't even stand 24:33 the smell of cigarette smoke. 24:35 I know that's the same for you 24:36 because, you know, 24:37 when you are in that environment of a room 24:39 full of people smoking nicotine or weed, 24:41 you don't even realize that it's really going on. 24:44 But then when you stopped 24:45 and you're done for a couple of years 24:47 and you come in a room immediately 24:49 oh, man, it give me a headache. 24:50 Oh, man, I can't stand the smell. 24:51 That's right. 24:52 I want to ask you about October 17th, 2009 24:54 what happen, you know that date. 24:56 Yeah, man, that's the day I got re-baptized. 24:59 Wow. Talk about that a little. 25:00 I remember being at my dad's church 25:03 in South Carolina. 25:04 I remember being with some other guys, 25:06 he met in the community, some ex-convicts, 25:08 some ex-drug dealers 25:09 and we were all in our white robes 25:11 and we went before the church and we proclaimed our faith 25:14 and we went back and I was waiting for him to call me up. 25:17 And I remember just being there crying, 25:19 just thanking God that He saved me 25:21 and here I am with my father. 25:24 My earthly father, 25:26 in the presence of my Heavenly Father, 25:28 as he dips me down in that water, man, 25:30 and I came above the water, man, 25:32 and I just felt refreshed, I felt renewed. 25:35 I could feel the spirit of God around me 25:38 and ever since then Ira 25:39 and I have had peace like none other, man. 25:42 Like no other. A peace like none other. 25:44 Wow. 25:45 The Bible says, you know, 25:46 no peace like what you can get from God. 25:49 You know, not peace that the world gives you 25:52 but peace from God is like nothing else before. 25:54 So I want you to talk into the camera right now, 25:57 real quick because there are some mother's out there, 25:59 there are some father's out there 26:01 that want to experience that same feeling that you had 26:04 but with their son and with their daughter. 26:06 I want you to talk to that mother, 26:07 that father that wants to see 26:09 their son and daughter come home. 26:10 Speak some words of encouragement to them. 26:12 Don't stop praying. Don't give up. 26:15 I'll never forget, when I made my conversion 26:17 I called my dad and said dad, I've got to confess. 26:19 This is what I've been doing. 26:20 I told him all the wicked things I was doing. 26:23 You know, what his response was? 26:24 His response was son, I know. 26:27 I said, dad, what you mean? 26:28 He says, son, I know everything that you are caught with. 26:30 I know about the drugs dealing in the club. 26:32 He was like and I love you, welcome back home. 26:34 And I say, wow, at that time I saw Christ in my father. 26:38 So my advice to you is don't stop praying. 26:39 Yeah. 26:41 You keep on praying, God answers prayers. 26:43 Amen. You keep on praying. 26:44 Amen. 26:45 And God will deliver your children. 26:47 God will deliver your daughter, you son from cocaine, 26:50 from premarital sex, whatever it is they're dealing with, 26:53 God restores. 26:54 He did it for me, 26:55 He would do it for you and your children. 26:57 Amen. 26:58 Now what I want you to do is talk back into the camera, 27:00 talk to the youth, talk to the young people. 27:02 They are leaving the church in droves, 27:04 they don't want a relationship with Jesus. 27:06 Talk to the youth out there, give them some words. 27:09 You know, I believe that God has spared my life 27:12 as well as Aaron's life for such a time as this. 27:14 We are reaching out to you, we are pleading to you. 27:17 The lifestyle that you see on TV and these videos, 27:20 the lifestyle that you may see maybe in the communities 27:22 where you live, this is not the life that God has for you. 27:26 God has called you to do 27:27 something great and something special. 27:29 I can't help but think about 2 Chronicles 7:14, 27:35 it says, "If my people, who are called by my name, 27:38 will humble themselves and pray and seek my face 27:41 and turn from their wicked ways, 27:42 then I will hear from heaven, 27:43 and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land." 27:45 God will do that for you 27:47 but you have to first humble yourself. 27:48 Realize that you've got caught up into a mess. 27:51 Ask God to forgive you and restore you 27:53 and start every single day with the Lord. 27:57 Amen. Amen. 27:58 If you want to get in contact with Jeremy Anderson 28:01 I encourage you to get online, 28:03 Google Spirit Reign Communications. 28:06 Spirit Reign Communications. 28:08 You've been watching this interview 28:09 with Jeremy Anderson. 28:11 God has really changed his life. 28:13 He's put him in active ministry, 28:15 saved to serve. 28:16 Thank you for watching "The New Journey." 28:17 We encourage you to join us next time. 28:19 Be blessed. |
Revised 2015-04-27