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The Christmas Story in Bible

 Long time ago in Bethlehem, so the Holy Bible say

Mary’s boy child, Jesus Christ, was born on Christmas day

Hark, now hear the angels sing, a King is born today
And man will live forevermore, because of Christmas day

While shepherds watched their flocks by night
They saw a brand new shining star
They heard a choir sing, the music seemed to come from afar

Hark, now hear the angels sing, a King is born today
And man will live forevermore, because of Christmas day

Sing na, na, na… Hallelujah
Na, na, na, na, na, na…
Na, na, na…
Sing Hallelujah
Because of Christmas day

Wishing Everyone a Merry Christmas!

~Tom

trusting God period!

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Worship Wednesday is a regular feature on Leveraging Life where I share with you a song and a video. This may be something familiar to you or something entirely new. When possible I will provide the story behind the song so you learn more about the message and what inspired the artist to create this song of worship. My hope is the song and the story behind it leads to or deepens your relationship with God. You can view all the previous Worship Wednesday selections by clicking here

You Are I Am 

Mercy Me

You Are I Am is a single on Mercy Me’s The Hurt and The Healer CD which has been getting a lot of airplay on 104.7 the Fish here in Atlanta. The lyrics speak directly to the promise of a relationship with God, one for which we are not worthy, but one none the less available to through the blood of Jesus Christ.

For me You Are I Am speaks to my own story and the times where God sadly only had a supporting role in my life. But it also speaks to the story God is writing in my life now as I embrace His Spirit which lives in me and guides my path.

I’ve been the one held down in chains
Beneath the weight of all my shame
I’ve been the one to believe
That where I am You cannot reach

Worship Wednesday is a regular feature on Leveraging Life where I share with you a song and a video. This may be something familiar to you or something entirely new. When possible I will provide the story behind the song so you learn more about the message and what inspired the artist to create this song of worship. My hope is the song and the story behind it leads to or deepens your relationship with God. You can view all the previous Worship Wednesday selections by clicking here

Whom Shall I Fear [God of Angel Armies]

Chris Tomlin & Ed Cash

I think the first time I heard Whom Shall I Fear [God of Angel Armies] was about a week ago and I knew I would eventually feature the song as a Leveraging Life Worship Wednesday pick in the future. But as I woke up this morning, the day after the Presidential Election, to discussions about our nation being divided nation I knew without a shadow of doubt Whom Shall I Fear had to be featured today! Regardless of where you stand on the outcome of the election, my hope and your hope for our future rests not in elected officials only God.

I know who goes before me
I know who stands behind
The God of angel armies is always by my side
The One who reigns forever
He is a friend of mine
The God of angel armies is always by my side 

 Listen to Chris discuss the story behind the story

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 Worship Wednesday is a regular feature on Leveraging Life where I share with you a song and a video. This may be something familiar to you or something entirely new. When possible I will provide the story behind the song so you learn more about the message and what inspired the artist to create this song of worship. My hope is the song and the story behind it leads to or deepens your relationship with God. You can view all the previous Worship Wednesday selections by clicking here. 

When Mercy Found Me

Rhett Walker Band

For most of us we have our own “when mercy found me” story, and if we do we can certainly identify with this great song by the Rhett Walker Band.

Living a life that serves only our needs, a life where we feel the need to be in control, a life where we are reckless in our actions, a life where we are unaffected by the outcomes of our poor decisions.

The brokenness which results from a life lived only for ourselves, apart from God, places us in the position for God’s mercy to redeem our lives for His Glory, if we surrender.  This is the place where our weakness becomes strength and a foundation is built…built around a relationship with your Heavenly Father and His Son our Savior.

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Long Election Lines Leveraging Life

iStock photo credit @ George Peters

There are few absolutes in elections, but one you can always count on is when there is heavy turnout there is long lines. With the election only two weeks away, and if early voting is a snapshot of what might be expected on November 6, 2013, the lines will be long and could be of epic proportion.

I voted last week at the Ocee Library in Johns Creek and waited in line 25 minutes to cast my ballot. The workers and volunteers at this Fulton County poling site were organized and efficient in processing voters and helpful answering questions and providing sample ballots for those who requested them. If my wait is any indication of what Election Day will look like the lines will be huge despite having every poling location open on the day of the election.

Your vote is important and so is your time, and one way to leverage both is by voting early.

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Last week I featured Matt Redman’s 10,000 Reason’s – Bless the Lord as the Leveraging Life Worship Wednesday Selection. In the two and half years I’ve written Leveraging Life I have never repeated a song. That was until today as I share with you another version of 10,000 which I recorded last week at the Catalyst Conference here in Atlanta.

Catalyst is a powerful gathering of young leaders, a movement of influencers and world changers who love Jesus, see things differently, and feel a burden for our generation. We seek to learn, worship and create together with a momentous energy passionately pursuing God.

On October 3–5, 2012, 13,000 leaders from across the United States and around the world will converge—a revolution of ideas where you’ll challenge the process and think unconventionally. 

I have attended Catalyst 3 out of the last 4 years, and only missed last year when being treated for cancer. So why would someone who runs a Subaru dealership go to Catalyst? The answer is simple, I want to grow as a leader.

Leading well, a tenet of leveraging one’s life, requires a personal commitment of lifelong learning.

“Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other. “

John F. Kennedy

I filmed this video from my seat on the second day of Catalyst and what the video lacks in production quality is more than made up by what you hear in passion, praise as Chinua, the North Point Church band, and a choir of over 13,000 conference attendees worshiping our Amazing God!

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 Worship Wednesday is a regular feature on Leveraging Life where I share with you a song and a video. This may be something familiar to you or something entirely new. When possible I will provide the story behind the song so you learn more about the message and what inspired the artist to create this song of worship. My hope is the song and the story behind it leads to or deepens your relationship with God. You can view all the previous Worship Wednesday selections by clicking here. 

10,000 Reasons (Bless the Lord)

Matt Redman

 Have you ever heard a song you would classify as timeless?

It’s the kind of song that your great-great grandparents would have been singing as kids a hundred years ago and the kind of song your great-great grandchildren might be singing a hundred years from now. Ten Thousand Reasons – Bless the Lord by Matt Redman is just that song. Ten Thousand Reasons is a modern day hymn with its roots in Psalm 103 which reminds all of us God’s Grace and Mercy.

I love how we are reminded to sing God’s praises like never before; as each new day dawns, through whatever lies ahead, and even when the end is near and our time has come. I hope you enjoy the song and Matt’s story of how this song came together.

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Worship Wednesday is a regular feature on Leveraging Life where I share with you a song and a video. This may be something familiar to you or something entirely new. When possible I will provide the story behind the song so you learn more about the message and what inspired the artist to create this song of worship. My hope is the song and the story behind it leads to or deepens your relationship with God. You can view all the previous Worship Wednesday selections by clicking here

Redeemed

Big Daddy Weave

Have you ever had a week were you keep bumping into a theme that causes you to wonder what God is trying to teach you?

There is far too much for me to share in this one post, but one of the things I bumped into was a song being played on 104.7 The Fish called Redeemed by Big Daddy Weave…specifically this lyric:

But when I hear You whisper, “Child lift up your head”

I remember, oh God, You’re not done with me yet

I am redeemed, You set me free

The story behind the song and song itself are shared in the video below. I apologize upfront if you have to endure 15 seconds of a pre-video commercial, but I promise you the story and the song will be worth the wait!

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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.

Earlier this week I posted Are You Present, where I shared some thoughts on how technology leads us to believe we are more connected, but if left unchecked it could come at the expense of the relationships that should matter the most to us.   Continue Reading…

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

Learning To Be The Light

This past week I had the opportunity to share some of my story and my thoughts about transitioning Faith. This was my story, my successes and failures, and how my Faith that transitioned from decades of passive Faith, into Active Faith, and now what I would classify as ENGAGED Faith.  

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