All posts in Money

Worshipping at the Foot of the Money Tree

by Adam Lehman on December 9, 2010 in Church, Leadership, Money with 3 Comments

(Disclaimer: This message was preached to myself. Any resemblance to your own self is coincidental yet should not be ignored.)

Answer: Too many. Too many. Too many.
Question: How many church decisions are made based primarily on dollars & cents?

Sometimes we make decisions based on where money is flowing. We only are passionate about missions when it’s financially affordable. We only get pumped about VBS if there is a full time staff to organize it. We only get REALLY excited about worship when it’s done by a professional. We only care about teens when we can hire a full time-staff to shoulder the burden. We only care about Bible teaching when we’re paying the pastor via our tithes.

If you’d remove money from the whole church life equation & everyone had to operate on a $0 budget, would they still be excited? Would you still have the passion to reach teens? Would you still have the passion to preach every week? Would you still be committed to small groups?

If you wouldn’t be a part of your faith community if there was no budget, maybe you should rethink yourself.

Some Thoughts on the Poor

by Adam Lehman on September 5, 2010 in Faith, Money with 1 Comment

  • We need to experience poverty & need so that we can relate to the poor. Only then can we give dignity to those who are poor.
  • “The poor are Jesus in his distressing disguise.” ~ Mother Teresa ~
  • God doesn’t call us to safety. He calls us to follow.
  • Too often, we are willing to connect with others in ministries, but not in their daily lives. Ministries bring protective boundaries and expectations. Daily life can be messy, scary, depressing & draining.

Questions to ask while interviewing for a church position

by Adam Lehman on July 13, 2010 in Church, Leadership, Money with 5 Comments
Questions to ask a ministry before being hired (these are suggestions peeps gave me via twitter):
  • Five years from now, what would make you say that I was the best hire you’d ever made?
  • Five years from now, what you make you say that I just didn’t really work out?
  • What do you see as some of the weaknesses of your church?
  • What do you see as some of the strongest pieces of your church?
  • What has been going on here in the past year to invest in the local community?
  • What type of training are the leaders in our church participating in? Are you happy with that level of training?
  • What are some ways that the pastors/leaders are cared for in this congregation?
  • What has the history of handling conflict been within the church?
  • What are the budget breakdowns within the entirety of the church?
    • How much is being invested on programs outside of the church walls?
    • How much of the budget is being pumped towards debt?
    • How much is the average weekly or monthly giving?
  • Where do other church staff live?

Got any more? I’ll continuously add to this list as suggestions come.

Bring it!

the importance of your tithe

by Adam Lehman on September 21, 2009 in Church, Faith, Money with 4 Comments

“God’s plans are not dependant upon our giving.” ~Darren Campbell, Pastor of Exit 59~

If you ever feel like you owe your church your tithe, you don’t. If you feel like you owe a tithe to God, you don’t.

God is going to do what God is going to do. From the dawn of time, humanity has always been aware of the pleasure derived from partnering with God. Give your tithe because you want to join with what God is doing. Give your tithe because it is an important/symbolic act of acknowledging that God is King and in control.

Earth Day – Plant with Purpose

by Adam Lehman on April 22, 2009 in Culture, Earth, Faith, Money with No comments

envy of his neighbor

by Adam Lehman on April 13, 2009 in Culture, Money with 1 Comment

Ecclesiates 4:1-8

Again I looked and saw all the oppression that was taking place under the sun: I saw the tears of the oppressed— and they have no comforter; power was on the side of their oppressors— and they have no comforter.

And I declared that the dead, who had already died, are happier than the living, who are still alive. But better than both is he who has not yet been, who has not seen the evil that is done under the sun.

And I saw that all labor and all achievement spring from man’s envy of his neighbor. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind. The fool folds his hands and ruins himself. Better one handful with tranquillity than two handfuls with toil and chasing after the wind.

Again I saw something meaningless under the sun: There was a man all alone; he had neither son nor brother. There was no end to his toil, yet his eyes were not content with his wealth. “For whom am I toiling,” he asked, “and why am I depriving myself of enjoyment?” This too is meaningless— a miserable business!

leaving normal

by Adam Lehman on April 2, 2009 in Church, Faith, Money, Ramblings with No comments

rarely do i read scripture and feel like the wind has been knocked out of my chest. today was an exception. this morning i woke up and did a lot of stuff before opening up the Bible. i made coffee, breakfast, read some blogs, and pretty much forgot about God.

then i grabbed by Bible and started reading Mark 7. I read 1 sentence and closed the Bible.

“You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions!”

Now, normally this would draw my mind to the traditions of churches that seem to keep people from fully experiencing God. These could be a number of things that churches do to keep people from God. Ed Stetzer wrote via Twitter: “If I, as pastor, do for you what God has called you to do, I fail at my task, you fail at yours, & the mission of God suffers.”

But not today.

Today i was smacked in the face with my own hipocracy. You see, i read the verse slightly different. Because in our context, there aren’t a lot of things that are “traditions,” instead we use a different word: culture. There are so many things that are cultural norms that get in the way of knowing and being Christ today.

Here are a few “normals” for Adam Lehman that get in the way of following God’s commands:

  • I have a strong aversion to handling my money poorly.
  • It is normal for me to spend my money on myself instead of others.
  • It is normal for me to spend a lot of money to celebrate Christ’s birthday.
  • It is normal for me to ask “what can I get out of church” instead of “what can i give.”
  • It is normal for me to eat garbage.
  • It is normal for me to talk to those I know and avoid those i do not
  • It is normal for me to be selfish.
  • It is normal for me to play down my relationship with God in public.
  • It is normal for me to try and be cool rather than connecting with God.
  • It is normal for me to quickly pass judgments on others.

God. Help me to leave normal in pursuit of Your normal. Help me to find Your way. May my lifestyle be transformed to look more like Jesus everyday.

What are your “normals” that need to be left behind in order to follow God’s commandments?

The Dark Bailout

by Adam Lehman on January 8, 2009 in Art, Culture, Money, Politics with No comments

This video made me laugh. But also made me a little sad. But then i saw the creativity and innovation that the creator of the video put into it, and he/she didn’t make a dime for it….

thanks to whomever left the gift card on my desk…

by Adam Lehman on December 20, 2008 in Church, Money, Ramblings with No comments

Yesterday I spent some time in the office. I went to lunch with JohnAtk and then went to work out. As i arrived back to the office to do a bit more work, i saw a little box on my desk that wasn’t there when i left. Inside of the box was a visa debit card that was loaded with a significant amount of money. I was floored. I even teared up a bit.

I instantly thought 3 things:

  • It is so humbling when someone helps you out. I think that is why it is hard for us to ask for help these days. It is much easier to try to figure stuff out on our own.
  • I thought of the relief that the money would bring. The sum of money could cover all my christmas presents, or could help in a load of different ways. It is amazing how much burden one person can relieve from another.
  • I so much desire to help other people like this. I’m not saying that I’m going to leave gift cards everywhere, but i’ve got to begin taking the initiative in helping people. People aren’t going to come to me for help, but I can initiate the process. I can start showing love and help lift some burdens.

So if you are the person or if you know the person who left the gift cards, know that I appreciate it greatly. I hope you continue to bless others in the way that you’ve blessed me.

great money advice

by Adam Lehman on December 5, 2008 in Blogs, Money with No comments

ten steps to “escaping the paycheck to paycheck cycle”

~from the nocreditneeded blog~

thought i’d share.

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