All posts in Ramblings

Turning 26 and Other Things

by Adam Lehman on September 23, 2011 in Ramblings with 1 Comment
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I turned 26 on Monday. Sometimes people try to make the birthday boy pump out a speech. Here are a few thoughts…

  • 40+ of you have participated in the Life Outline Project. Thanks a TON! You can still participate here.
  • Allie organized a surprise dinner for me in the back room of a yummy Thai restaurant with some of my best buds. Nice work Allie! and thanks a ton to those that showed up.
  • Far too many of you wrote happy birthday on my Facebook wall. Far too few of you wrote something original & unique.
  • A “Happy Birthday” on Twitter is far more meaningful than the same on Facebook.
  • On the night of my birthday, I spent 5 hours winning a sand volleyball tournament with my colleagues from my awesome job. Fun times!
25 was a good year. I moved to a sweet apartment. Got a new job that I LOVE! Made some awesome friends and started turning my hobby into a profitable side-hustle. I’m PUMPED to see what happens in my next year.
Bring It!

Working On

by Adam Lehman on July 25, 2011 in Ramblings with 2 Comments

Lately, I’ve been working on a lot of different things. It’s fun. My life is chaotic, in a great way.

Here’s a few things I’ve been toying around with, if any of these things sound interesting to you, let me know. I love working WITH people.

Small Business Growth

I’ve been working with a handful of folks on growing their small businesses. Each of them is operating out of a a very lean, bootstrapping way. I’m at my best when I’m wooing others into God’s dreams for their lives. Helping these people turn their passions into businesses is a blast.

Sales

Ever since moving from a paid-church staff employee and moving into a full-time sales position, a new world has opened up before me. I’m learning how to enlarge the territory of incoming business. Hunting. It’s a blast and I’m using my new skills to help folks who are trying to enlarge their sphere of influence.

Social Media

Working with several organizations to help develop a strategy behind using Twitter, Facebook, email marketing & blog to share their story, turn strangers into fans and fans into customers. The beautiful thing about all of these mediums is that they’re “free.”  A brand new company has the same tools as a global juggernaut.

Website Design

Building websites for pastors, businesses & organizations that want to bring their brand to the internet. Whether refreshing a stale site or adding a blog, I work to turn your passion into something both your loyal fans and Google will love.

Speaking

Sharing messages with youth groups. Developing both discussion-based and more “lecture style” formats.

 

*If you’re interested in talking about any these services, shoot at email to adam@adamlehman.us

5 Sparks

by Adam Lehman on March 30, 2011 in Blogs, Leadership, Media, Ramblings with No comments

I hope these 5 things spark something in your life.

  1. Seth Godin explains why Christians don’t help the homeless, go to Africa, read the Bible or give their money away. It’s called “accepting false limits.”
  2. Over on my new blogging venture: these are the three most popular posts.
  3. This app will transform what you believe to be possible with an iPhone?
  4. 5 weird rules to boost your creativity from ChurchCreate.
  5. Ryan Smith is asking if he should be a human or not.

People Love to Believe

by Adam Lehman on March 28, 2011 in Church, Culture, Faith, Ramblings with No comments

In a post-modern world, we’re told that everything is relative. That words only derive their meaning relative to their context and society as a whole is much more fluid than it was years ago. We’re told that today’s world is no longer persuaded by definitive statements and meaningful verbiage is drowned out in a flood of “like,” “ya know,”  & “I feel.”

People of faith have been told that their choke-hold on society is loosening & that soon they’ll be the minority. It’s been presumed that churches have less & less relevance in society.

Yet I can see that people still love to believe. People love to believe so much they’ll will for Butler to continue to win. People love to believe that that new car will make them happy. People love to believe that purchasing those new workout DVD’s will finally make them want to be healthy. And most importantly of all – :) – people love to believe that Steve Jobs is either a saint or satan.

People love to believe, they just HATE to be coerced into it.

They hate making a decision between turning their brain off and being accepted in a faith community. If I am to be accepted at your church, can I still ask questions? Can I ask deep questions ? Can I voice them openly?

I’m not saying I don’t believe in the atonement, I just want to be able to talk about the atonement without assuming it’s meaning or position in our faith. I’m not saying I think hell isn’t real, I just want to be able to talk about the idea that hell might not last forever (or exist at all).

Many years ago, Christians thought it a good idea to hold swords to the necks of “non-believers” and ask them to believe in Jesus. Today, there is a brand of Christian who thinks it a good idea to hold ask “What do you believe?” while waiting for a reason to judge & label as “heretic,” “

Churches Shouldn’t Be Afraid to Experiment

by Adam Lehman on February 3, 2011 in Ramblings with 2 Comments

I’ve been reading Growing Souls: Experiments in Contemplative Youth Ministry.

In it is a gorgeous little quote that packs a lot of punch.

“We’re going to try a little experiment.”

If – as a church – you believe that you’ve got the power of God, the leading of the Holy Spirit & the grace of Jesus, why the heck would you start being ridiculously creative? Why wouldn’t you start pushing the envelope a bit.

You know how celebrities can get a bit cocky and cavelier with their lives. Their money can cover up a pretty solid amount of garbage. Athletes need to merely return to winning to have the public forget their screw ups.

Well churches have the ultimate hall pass to frolic through the earth. God is behind you (and personally invested in your success), the Holy Spirit is talking to you & Christ has done the work of being “right” with God for you.

So show some guts. Stretch yourself and your people. Ask a lot. Do something that you’ve never seen done. Don’t lay stagnant in your traditions. Don’t settle for mediocrity.

Ungroomed

by Adam Lehman on November 24, 2010 in Church, Ramblings with 1 Comment

This tree is one of many like it in my apartment complex. It has shed it’s nutrient rich leaves onto the ground and dropped berries containing seeds and nutrients enough to start a whole new tree.

Each seed contains within itself all that is needed to become a fully functioning tree someday. The mother tree even provides nutrients (berry) and leaves to nourish the new possibility of that tree.

But because our apartment complex likes to maintain a well groomed appearance, these seedlings, berries and leaves we all professionally disposed of, leaving zero chance for a new tree to grow.

I’m wondering how much our well-groomed churches, staffs & ministry programs do the same. While they help “clean up” appearances and keep boundaries well defined, I wonder if we’re euthanizing the hope of a new, fresh expression of Christianity.

When I’m Not Sure What to Do

by Adam Lehman on October 20, 2010 in Culture, Ramblings with 3 Comments

I use several different tools to catalog tasks I need to accomplish. I use a product for project management, another for calendering, another for my to-do list.

But when I don’t know what to do, I end up sleeping in, checking facebook a lot & watching a lot more TV.

Those are not things that lead to a meaningful life. In fact, they’re things that can get in the way of one.

Some call this natural tendancy toward meaningless pursuits “The Resistance” and others have called it our “Lizardbrain.” Regardless of the name, we all feel it. When we’re not on a mission, we seem to sink into a couch and do very little.

So to keep myself on pace to continually dominate my life, I do this simple activity when I’m unsure of what I should do.

I think, what things are leading me into mediocrity right now? I write down a handful of simple tasks that directly combat those temptations. I do them. After repeating that process for a few days, I find myself tackling bigger issues. I find myself taking on more ambitious projects. A handful of simple tasks aimed at battling mediocrity can build momentum.

Just thought I’d share.

Love Ain’t No Microwave

by Adam Lehman on September 4, 2010 in Faith, Ramblings with No comments

Love isn’t fast.

It isn’t efficient.

It doesn’t matter.

Love doesn’t care.

Love is more like a marinade…

…and less like a microwave.

Today is Important

by Adam Lehman on August 11, 2010 in Ramblings with No comments

Today is an important day.

Nothing is scheduled to be important and if you looked through my calender, you’d find yourself pondering why I’d label the day as “important.”

But the reason I’d call it so is because we find what one is obsessed with when there is no calender. We find what one is made of when there is no direction and freedom allows us to choose one. Today I have every direction to proceed and I get to choose. My choice portrays who I am and what I’m about.

The things I say when I’m not required to say anything speak a great deal of my heart. What do I say when there is no expectation? Will it be love? Will it be gossip? Will is be simply trying to make others laugh?

Today is important.

Dear Church

by Adam Lehman on August 6, 2010 in Church, Faith, Ramblings with 2 Comments

Dear Church,

I’ve missed you.

Not your programs or your events. Not your words or videos or music or your building.

Just you.

As I look back through my history, memories flood my mind of how you took me in, cared for me in tough times & challenged me . I remember strolls along the beach and conversations in the hallway. I remember walking alongside of you as I reluctantly served elderly folks in New York. I remember helping you reroof homes in Kentucky that had been destroyed by a flood. I remember the constant reminder to engage Jesus.

I miss you. I know we see each other often, but it just hasn’t been the same. It’s not entirely (or even mostly) your fault. It’s mine. I find myself searching for you and realizing that it has been me keeping you at arms length. I’m critical of your faults and yet I am the one who created them.

I apologize and hope we can strive through this.

With all sincerity,

Adam Lehman

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