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Archives For November 2011

Shake Heaven – Worship Wednesday

November 29, 2011 — Leave a comment

Worship Wednesday is a regular feature on Leveraging Life where I share with you a song and a video. It may be something familiar to you or something entirely new. Whenever possible I will try to provide the story behind the song so you can see what the inspiration was and the message it contains. I hope you enjoy this selection and don’t forget you can view all the previous Worship Wednesday selections by clicking here.

Shake Heaven

Montell Jordan with Beckah Shae

Victory World Church of Norcross recently launched Victory World Music Ministry in a big way with R&B legend and worship pastor Montell Jordan at the helm. The debut project, Shake Heaven, which is also the title tract features the entire worship team along with Montell and Beckah Shae. 

Shake Heaven illustrates how Jordan intends to blend his R&B pedigree with his desire to craft songs which glorify God. Nothing reflects that more than how he incorporated the title to one of his mega R&B hits, This Is How We Do It, into the Shake Heaven lyrics. Continue Reading…

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Who Is Getting Your Leftovers?

November 27, 2011 — Leave a comment
 

No I’m not talking about the distribution of what was left after the Thanksgiving day feast, although that had a lot to do with how this post came together, what I’m talking about is what is left of our lives as we try to cram everything into a 24 hour day. Assuming you sleep 6-8 hours a night, you have the remaining 16-18 hours left to get everything done. That includes our work commitments, family commitments, personal commitments, and those miscellaneous commitments that just find their way into our already busy schedules.

So where does God fit into all this? 

Take a minute or two and reflect back over this past week. A week that was devoted to Thanksgiving, a week where most of us had at least 24 hours off,  

When did you pray? 

Why did you pray? 

How did you pray? 

Our answers to those three questions…our how’s, our why’s, and our when’s illustrate whether or not we’ve been serving God what is leftover in our lives. 

Is pray a priority in your life? 

When you pray is it something you’re intentional in doing or is it something you hope fits in somewhere in your already busy schedule? 

Are your prayers weighted more toward requests and petitions or toward giving thanks and praise to God? 

First and foremost, I don’t want anyone to think I’m sitting here on a soapbox preaching; on the contrary, I’m convicted by MY answers to those questions, as I suspect some of you are as well.  Continue Reading…

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Thanksgiving and Gratitude – One Year Later!

November 22, 2011 — 2 Comments

One year ago today I published Thanksgiving and Gratitude.  As you can see in the popular post list to the right, this post is the second most popular item I shared in the last 12 months. If you have not read it or don’t remember what I wrote, I would highly recommend you take a minute to read it so you will understand the context of what I want to share 365 days later. 

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. (Jeremiah 29:11-13)

Do you believe this?

Seriously, do you believe this?

Or is this something you acknowledge in public then privately keep control of the wheel rather than doing what Carrie Underwood suggests? Continue Reading…

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Rise – Worship Wednesday

November 15, 2011 — 2 Comments

Worship Wednesday is a regular feature on Leveraging Life where I share with you a song and a video. It may be something familiar to you or something entirely new. Whenever possible I will try to provide the story behind the song so you can see what the inspiration was and the message it contains. I hope you enjoy this selection and don’t forget you can view all the previous Worship Wednesday selections by clicking here.

Rise

Shawn McDonald’s Rise is the type of song where the guitar grabs you and the lyrics go straight to your heart. Give this a listen and pay close attention to the place it takes you, reflect on where you were then and where you are now; and if you don’t think your there yet don’t worry because scripture validates God is not done with any of us!  Continue Reading…

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Friday Favorite – Where is God?

November 10, 2011 — Leave a comment

Most Fridays I feature a website, blog, book, or video that for me has become a favorite. It may be a favorite resource, a source of inspiration, or just something I found interesting. Please feel free to comment, and I hope you might share a favorite or two of your own in the comment section. Who knows, maybe I will feature something you shared as a future Friday Favorite.

Sometimes we wonder and there may even be times when we have cause to doubt, but when we take the time to “pause” and look around we will find God…especially when Creation Calls and we are listening!

Continue Reading…

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Furious – Worship Wednesday

November 8, 2011 — Leave a comment

Worship Wednesday is a regular feature on Leveraging Life where I share with you a song and a video. It may be something familiar to you or something entirely new. Whenever possible I will try to provide the story behind the song so you can see what the inspiration was and the message it contains. I hope you enjoy this selection and don’t forget you can view all the previous Worship Wednesday selections by clicking here.

I first heard Furious at North Point Church during last week’s Night Of Worship and then on Sunday during the service I attended. To say I was moved would be an understatement as the lyrics speak to the intensity in which God loves us all and the depth of God’s desire for us to have a personal relationship with Him.

His love is deep, His love is wide
And it covers us
His love is fierce, His love is strong
It’s furious
His love is sweet, His love is wild
And it’s waking hearts to life 

I love how in this live version, Jeremy Riddle, sings:

“wake up, wake up, wake up, wake up…yeah He’s waking hearts to life….Rise and Shine!”

For most of us that is our story. God waited patiently for us to wake up and come to know Who He is, and how His Son’s death provided for all who believe the opportunity for our personal relationship to exist. Furious should not only describe God’s love for us, but also our love for Him! Continue Reading…

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Friday Favorite – Starbucks Card Mobile App

November 3, 2011 — Leave a comment

Most Fridays I feature a website, blog, book, or video that for me has become a favorite. It may be a favorite resource, a source of inspiration, or just something I found interesting. Please feel free to comment, and I hope you might share a favorite or two of your own in the comment section. Who knows, maybe I will feature something you shared as a future Friday Favorite. 

 

-Do you own a smart phone?

-Do you frequent Starbucks?

 

Smart phones and Starbucks, two worlds blended together just like espresso does with the sugar-free vanilla which is my drink of choice, a Skinny Vanilla Latté.  Thanks to some creative folks and some incredible technology there is now a Starbucks app for your phone which can eliminate the need for your Starbucks card, a credit card, or cash when you make your next purchase. All you have to do is download the Starbucks app and you are all set to start enjoying the benefits and rake in those rewards. Here is a video which explains how the process works. Continue Reading…

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Blink – Worship Wednesday

November 1, 2011 — Leave a comment

Worship Wednesday is a regular feature on Leveraging Life where I share with you a song and a video. It may be something familiar to you or something entirely new. Whenever possible I will try to provide the story behind the song so you can see what the inspiration was and the message it contains. I hope you enjoy this selection and don’t forget you can view all the previous Worship Wednesday selections by clicking here.

My two previous posts Scars and 4 Steps to Creating a Better Highlight Reel are unique messages with a central theme that focuses each of us on what finishing well looks like. Scars illustrates how holding onto the past can keep us from reaching our potential in the future, and 4 Steps to Creating a Better Highlight Reel outlines the things you need to do today to create better highlights tomorrow. 

Blink, today’s Worship Wednesday pick, reinforces the simple fact that our lives could end in a blink of a notice, so each day we are blessed with is another opportunity to create a legacy we are proud to call our own! The lesson from the song is the opening, “teach me to number my days and count every moment before it slips away.”

Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. Psalm 90:12

Revive Band 

Blink

Continue Reading…

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