What do you do if you’re help up at gunpoint and forced to relinquish your possessions? Well, if you’re Jordan Anderson, you write a song and find a way to use that experience to minister to others.
Two years ago in August 2007, Anderson set out for the airport to pick up friend Collin Stoddard, keyboardist for 33 Miles. Stoddard had just wrapped up a tour, and Anderson was bringing him back to his parked car in Anderson’s neighborhood. Their sidewalk conversation was winding down around 1 a.m. when suddenly three men brandishing guns demanded their possessions. Anderson, thinking it was a joke, couldn’t believe he was being held up outside his own home and that their lives were in danger.
Since that night, Anderson, now 24, has replayed the scene in his mind, reflecting on it and developing a new perspective. Not only does he talk about it when ministering to youth, but he has released “Stand Up!” a song filled with conviction and a challenge to listeners to consider what their time on earth really means.
“What are you saving your life for?” is the refrain of the song, but it’s a pointed question he asks uses to challenge people, especially youth, to answer as he reminds them God uses the bad encounters in our lives to further His purposes and Kingdom.
He and his wife, Jessa, whose song “And You Love Me” reached No. 1 in Europe the first week of November 2009, are touring and ministering with Ken Rudolph and his wife Jinner.
Rudolph, a long time family friend and the speaker at the camp Anderson attended during his high school years, later became Anderson’s mentor in college. “He also hugely influenced Jessa,” Anderson said. “I saw a marked turn in her after hearing him speak.”
Joking with Rudolph, Anderson said he would love to join him in Europe, where he has expanded his ministry. Subsequently, the two couples toured and ministered together there for three weeks this past summer. “It definitely strengthened our relationship,” Anderson said of their marriage, explaining the benefits of working, singing and fellowshipping so closely together.
Another advantage they saw was that when Anderson sang “Stand Up!” before Rudolph spoke, people’s hearts were opened and they were more receptive to what they were about to hear. “I don’t even have words to describe what it’s like. The song just came out, and the kids were singing it.”
Anderson went on to say, “God is calling us for such a time as this, just like Esther. I was living such an apathetic life [before being held up]. Even though I grew up in a Christian home, and my father was a minister for a while – even with Christian influences around me I wasn’t translating how that translates to life. “What am I saving my life for? We need to be asking ourselves how to love other people, how to be Jesus’ hands and feet,” he said.
Although not available on his album Popular Tree, “Stand Up!” is available for download at iTunes and Amazon.com. Listen to “Stand Up!” at myspace.com/jandersonmusic. Also, hear Jessa’s offerings at myspace.com/jessaanderson.
