Archives For Faith

The Bible Miniseries – Must Share TV

March 1, 2013 — 1 Comment

the-bible-miniseries

This Sunday, 3-3-13, the History Channel will broadcast a 10 hour, 5-week miniseries called The Bible. An epic docudrama which will walk viewers through the Bible, from Genesis through Revelations, featuring key IMAX moments from both the Old and New Testaments in a way they have never been visually told before. With the help of the Oscar awarding winning crew from Gladiator and the latest in computer generated imagery epic stories like Noah’s Ark and the Great Flood, Daniel in the lions den, David and Goliath, and Moses parting the Red Sea all come to life before your very eyes.

So why is this must share TV?

When we believe in God and accept Jesus Christ as our Savior we are called to help others join God’s family.

Jesus said, “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28:19-20 NIV).

I believe those who do believe in God are placed in situations where our friendships and working relationships can be leveraged to introduce others to what life looks like when they have a relationship with God. We are not called to preach or to judge, our role is to share the stories which illustrate how our lives are different because we have come to know God in a real and personal way. And I also believe that The Bible – Miniseries has the potential to become one of the greatest evangelical tools we have available to engage those in our communities in a conversation about who God is and how The Bible and the stores shared in the miniseries speak to having a relationship with God. Our subsequent discussions after viewing each episode have the potential to lead friends and co-workers into a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ.

  • Be Open to whom God has placed on your mind and in your heart…the one or two people you feel you need to tell about the Bible miniseries.
  • Be Bold and invite them to watch the Bible miniseries.
  • Be Courageous and open a dialogue on Monday, after the episode airs, to get their thoughts and feedback about the experience.
  • Trust God that He will equip you to begin a dialogue which will engage then to go deeper, and watch the next episode.

Leave the rest to God and be in Awe of what He does! 

Make sure you come back to Leveraging Life with your comments and thoughts after viewing The Bible – Miniseries; and I would love to hear what God is doing in your community of friends and co-workers after you honored Him by being Bold, Courageous, and Trusting!

~Tom

trusting God period

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In Faith, Growth
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Defying the Odds

November 12, 2012 — Leave a comment

Pray

“You’re Not Supposed to Be Here!”

I heard this statement twice in the past ten days.

  • The first time was when I had a follow-up with the doctor who broke the news to me I had cancer three years ago.
  • The second time came while shopping at Costco, when I ran into the Pastor who married Shari and I.

Two statements made in celebration of an outcome which did not match the statistics of the diagnosis.

  • My doctor was celebrating the prescribed treatment, and the role treatment played in an outcome that didn’t match the statistics of the diagnosis.
  • My Pastor was celebrating prayer, and the role prayer played in an outcome that didn’t match the statistics of the diagnosis.

Continue Reading…

In Faith
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Good Friday – When It Got Personal

April 6, 2012 — 1 Comment

iStockphoto © Ricardo Reitmeyer

By most accounts Good Friday is considered to be the most solemn of days for those who consider themselves Christians. Once upon a time, the day set was set aside for prayer and fasting. However, like most traditions, things evolve as time goes on.

Today some countries treat Good Friday as a national holiday.

Decades ago business were closed for the day, or at least idled from noon till 6pm in observance and out of reverence for the time Jesus was on the cross.

Sadly for a lot people, some Christians included, Good Friday is the Friday before Easter Sunday.

I’m not here to judge, nor am I casting stones, because for decades Good Friday was the Friday before Easter for me as well. Sales meetings had to be held, teams had to be motivated, and business had to be managed. Reverence and observance for me was ordering Salmon instead of a Ribeye on Good Friday, hardly the sacrifice on the most solemn of days.

Things changed for me after I transitioned from reading the Bible as if it were a task on a to-do list and began reading it to seek wisdom, guidance, and direction for my life. I was studying the Book of Luke leading up to Easter and I read a verse, a verse I had read often. A verse I was taught while growing up. A verse I had heard recited and preached in church every year. A verse, which when read that day, came to life because Good Friday got personal.

Continue Reading…

In Faith
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4 Components For Personal Growth

March 4, 2012 — 1 Comment

Photo credit iStockphotos © 36clicks

So you find yourself entering into a season of growth. How do you get started? Experience has taught me that there is a principle that must be understood and embraced in order for a desire of growth to take hold and for momentum to build.

Growth Is Gradual and Change Is Immediate

Far too often in my life, and maybe yours as well, this principle was overlooked. You start with a plan; you put your head down and focus on taking careful steps in the direction of your goal. Early success creates momentum, but as the path becomes familiar and comfortable, there is a tendency to question the pace.

In Growth
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ONE WORD 365 – Growth

February 9, 2012 — Leave a comment

iStockphoto © sefaoncul

My One Word for 2011 was pause. 

There would have been no way to tell how this one word could have altered my line of thinking through the most challenging and rewarding year of my life.

~2011 was a year where my dream of being a husband and a father became reality with one single “I Do.”

~2011 was a year where I faced cancer for a third time and battled to the best of my ability through five months of chemo and trusted God period for what I could not control.

~2011 was a year, had I not slowed down and paused through in the midst of every challenge and in every blessing I would have missed seeing God’s handiwork in my life and the lives of those who joined me in this journey.

My One Word for 2012…hmmm? My One Word focus for next 365 days err…325 days?

After much thought and deliberation it has to be Growth, a word that is so appropriate to focus on after the year I had in 2011. I want to take all the life lessons learned…the good, the not-so-good, and the awesome and grow from them. I want to share them with the hope they may help and influence others in a way that they too can grow from my experience.

For me I’m talking about total…across the board growth, both personally and professionally. Growth in the five areas which I feel encompasses a full and complete life. Continue Reading…

In Growth
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Hiatus

January 31, 2012 — Leave a comment
iStockphoto credit © James Driscoll

For those of you who regularly visit Leveraging Life, you have probably noticed a lack of posting since the start of the New Year. Now this wasn’t something I set out to do.  It just evolved as the month of January progressed.

Definition of Hiatus:

  • a break in or as if in a material object.  
  • an interruption in time or continuity – a period when something (as a program or activity) is suspended or interrupted. 

I’m guilty as charged! This past December was busy…plain busy! 

Between the blending of two families holiday traditions, Shari’s and mine, along with the year-end craziness at my Subaru dealership there wasn’t much time for anything other than holding on and enjoying the season. And if the busyness of December wasn’t challenging enough, any thoughts of my annual vision casting for 2012 took a back seat to planning for our upcoming “postponed” honeymoon. 

Shari and I had to skip taking the post-wedding traditional honeymoon and opted for a couple of days in the North Georgia Mountains so I would not have to delay starting chemo. 

After seven magical days at Al Cielo, a place I’ll detail in an upcoming Friday Favorite post, I returned home relaxed, recharged, and lost. 

Continue Reading…

In Growth
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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…

In Faith ,
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Dear cancer

August 25, 2011 — Leave a comment

Today marks the day of my final chemo treatment, round 3 in my 8th cycle. Twenty four individal treatments that span 4 months, from April to August.

My first chemo consultation actually took place as Shari and I returned home from our “brief” North Georgia Mountain three day honeymoon. With the Subaru still packed, and in the bliss that was our four day old marriage, we sat there listening as the oncologist outlined what he thought the upcoming months would look like for us. 

Not just me…US…when cancer enters your world, the entire family is effected especially your spouse!  

Some things the doctor got right and other things he just could not foresee. He promised I would get as much chemo as I could stand with the hope that even if it knocked me down, which it did a time or two, the aggressive treatment would pay dividends in the long run.

Well guess what, I’m still standing!

What Shari & I want everyone to know is that all of YOU have been a huge component of why I can make this statement! Continue Reading…

In Faith
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Inconclusive

August 18, 2011 — 18 Comments
iStockphoto © Jacob Wackerhausen

For those of you who have been following the recent developments in my cancer journey, you know I had a PET scan last week and we were waiting on the results. Unfortunately, as the title of this post suggests, we don’t know much more than before, other than that something appeared on the horizon that warrants further review.

Much like a NFL instant replay, the PET results are under further review as a biopsy was perform yesterday to remove cells from the adrenal gland above my left kidney. While the size of the gland hasn’t changed from previous scans, the uptake during this last PET scan increased, meriting a closer look. Continue Reading…

In Faith, Wellness
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Leveraging Faith

June 24, 2011 — 1 Comment
iStockphotos © Michel de Nijs

Sixteen hours in a car driving to and from Indiana for a wedding last weekend afforded me a good bit of time to reflect on the first six months of 2011. In the moments when my family dozed, one thought emerged almost as often as overpasses appeared on the horizon:

I had not “paused” as often as I hoped to this year.

My first inclination was to go through a long list of excuses why, and those familiar with my story might consider most to be legitimate. Regardless of the excuses, though, one question lingered.

Is there a correlation between pausing and being grateful?

When you live your life at a pace life dictates, you miss what opportunities are present to go deeper, past those surface level observations. At the surface everything is a blur, much like when you lie in bed at night and the day just plays through your head like a movie preview trailer. But if you truly desire to see the real story being written by your life, you need to make an effort to look past the obvious and find the picture God is painting.

Continue Reading…

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