There is a conspericy going on….

The conspericy continues

A Conspiracy?
December, 1993. I was in Bangkok, Thailand, for a ministry trip and decided to have a suit made. Bobby, the favorite tailor of Americans in Bangkok, had crafted many fine suits for US diplomats and military personnel. Those of you who know me know I will do about anything to avoid wearing a suit! If I could, I’d wear camo, sweatshirts and jeans 365 days a year! So what was my reason for a new suit? I had been invited to attend the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, D. C.! I was excited to attend but knew I needed to dress appropriately.

Bobby came through for me! After one week and two fittings I had a very nice black suit along with 5 ties, 2 dress shirts and two pairs of dress pants for under $200! (Remember, it was 1993)

For someone my size, no suit fits like one that is tailor made. Only in Thailand could I afford tailor made clothing. At the prayer breakfast I felt good in that suit as I rubbed shoulders with various dignitaries from around the world.

Fast forward twenty years. I was overseas when I heard the news of my dad’s passing. My family asked me to speak at his memorial service. Delta gave me a bereavement pass to fly home early, and during that long flight I began to prepare what I would say. Many thoughts went through my head as I began searching for the right words. But then another thought hit me…what to wear? I wanted to wear a suit to honor my father. He always liked dressing up in a suit.

Carin usually helps pick out my clothing when I have to dress up, but she wasn’t with me. What should I do? In a rush, I reached in my closet and pulled out the black suit made for me in 1993. I grabbed a couple of white shirts, a couple of ties, dress shoes, socks, belt. About half way to Milwaukee I thought, Oh no, what if those clothes no longer fit?

Plenty of brats, potatoes and various other things have gone down my gullet in the past 20 years. And let’s face it, I am not as active as I was back then! Oh well, I thought, I may have to buy something when I get to Milwaukee.

To my surprise it all fit! The shirt buttoned, the jacket buttoned, the back felt good. What was the deal? Over the years I had graduated from an XL to a 2XL as my chest had migrated south into my belly, so how did a suit from 20 years earlier still fit?

There were a couple of possible explanations:
1. I was larger 20 years ago than I had thought
2. My suit had expanded
3. Or…clothing manufacturers have been gradually changing the sizing to make men feel they are bigger and more muscle bound than they are!

I am confused. Has anyone else experienced this? How about you ladies? I’d love to hear from you!

Yes, I was excited the suit fit, partly because I am too cheap to purchase another suit that would be rarely worn! And I have to admit, it made me feel good I could still wear it after 20 years. But I’m confused. How can that suit still fit if I am really a 2XL?

So what do you think? Is there a conspiracy in the clothing industry?
Not a very deep blog topic today…but good to change it up sometimes!

Breaking the ice.

It was good to be in my home church a few Sunday’s ago. One of the associate pastors at our church spoke on Faith. He asked some very good questions on Faith; What is faith, where does it come from and how is it lived out each day?

I love being stretched to think through my beliefs. Part of the purpose of these blogs is to get us all wrapping our heads around topics. I don’t have all the answers; I’m a fellow learner. With that in mind let’s think about the questions below.

If you feel like posting your thoughts on this blog site I think it could make for some good interaction. If you would rather email me please feel free to do so at troy@upi.org. If you would rather do neither, that is fine as well.

I’m asking that we each wrestle with topics that help us better understand Christ and His Word.

1. Who was the greatest prophet of the Old Covenant?
2. When did the New Covenant begin?
3. How should the previous answer affect how we read the bible?

Here is another area to ponder. I put this one on facebook and received a lot of feedback.
How would you number the following in order of importance?
The Bible, Jesus, The Father, The Holy Spirit, Communion, Church, Pastors.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Have a great week my friends!

COMMUNICATE!

COMMUNICATION

Small groups of friends, meeting on a regular basis, provide a great opportunity for discussing ideas and sharing what is on one’s heart. Sometimes it means sacrificing an evening home in our comfortable chairs to spend time with a group of people, but most often it is worth it. It is beneficial to the group and somehow it ends up being a benefit to us as well.

A small group of guys meets in our home. We call ourselves “The Forum.” This is a group of young men, ages 25-40, that have become friends over the past 3 years. Our intent in meeting is to discuss Christian leadership. I facilitate and hopefully add what the Bible talks about in Psalm 145:4

“One generation shall commend your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts”.

One of our recent topics was Communication. There is much written about this topic and we wanted to discuss the way it affects how we share Jesus with people. The text we used was I Cor. 2.

What we found was that there are three types of audiences as we may have as we communicate our faith in Christ.
1. Young in the faith (vs. 1-5)
2. Mature in the faith (vs. 6-13)
3. Natural Man (vs. 14-15)

The way we communicate has more to do with the audience than with our knowledge. If you will allow a golf analogy, look where the ball lies before you pick your clubs.
How many times have we used Christian terms with people that do not have a relationship with Jesus and can’t relate to what we are saying? Maybe we try to speak about deep truths with young believers. They may nod their heads in agreement but the information goes right over their heads. I Cor. 3 begins with the example of milk and solid food. Infants can only digest milk until they are mature enough for solid food. It’s the same with those new in their faith and those who are more mature.
Here are some points for discussion:

• What we say is important.
• How we say it is important.
• Understand our audience.

Enjoy this video about how we use words that can be a foreign language to others!

Your thoughts?

How old is too old?

I recently read the following interesting information in an email by River Walk:

“Ever use a thesaurus? Odds are it said, “Rogets” on the front of it. The only reason he began working on the first one was because he was forced to retire from the Royal Society at 70. The first thesaurus was published when he was 73 and he kept improving and updating them until he died 17 years later.”

I don’t know about you, but I am 63 and think often lately about what retirement from UPI will look like. Hmmmm….check out some other people who may have stopped doing a “job” but never stopped living life.

One of America’s greatest painters, Grandma Moses, didn’t pick up a paintbrush until she was 76 and told she was too old to continue her career in embroidery.

A traveling salesman sold 10 multimixers to Maurice and Richard McDonald who owned a couple burger joints in California and Arizona. To sell more mixers he tried convincing them they should go national. They said they would if he helped them manage the new stores. At 52 Ray Kroc became the manager and at 59 the sole owner of this little burger joint you might have heard of called McDonalds. Then ended up owner of the San Diego Padres.

Nelson Mandela becoming president at 76.

Moses was 80 when he confronted the greatest power in the world and said, “Let my people go!” 27 million were desperately waiting for him.

Somewhere there is another Caleb who at 85 said, “There is more land to take. There is another battle to fight. There is another victory for God ahead and I’m ready to take it!” Until my last breath exits my body, let me never stop working for God with everything I have in me.

My call…the bones may get old but the person who prays and listens to the Holy Spirit is not finished until buried. My old buddy Norm Wilhemi use to say…”You never know, you just never know.”

Be encouaraged.

Anger issues?

Good day my friends,

This blog is going to be short and sweet. Hopefully it will make us all do some deep thinking about our life situation.

Please meditate on the following thought:

“The root of anger is pride and hurt.”

If we accept this premise, how do we and should we handle our anger?

I would love your thoughts on any of this.

Tension is real….

TENSION

Some people may think the Christian life should not include tension. Some may try to avoid it. But I am pretty sure tension is essential in our lives.

Today I was looking over the following verses written by Paul:

14 In the same way, the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should receive their living from the gospel. 15 But I have not used any of these rights. And I am not writing this in the hope that you will do such things for me, for I would rather die than allow anyone to deprive me of this boast. 16 For when I preach the gospel, I cannot boast, since I am compelled to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! 17 If I preach voluntarily, I have a reward; if not voluntarily, I am simply discharging the trust committed to me. 18 What then is my reward? Just this: that in preaching the gospel I may offer it free of charge, and so not make full use of my rights as a preacher of the gospel. I Corinthians 9:14-18

Some of the teachings in Scripture cause tension. The topic of giving has always caused me tension! But what a privilege to be called to share Jesus!

THANK YOU to each of you who support UPI in prayer, encouragement and giving. We could not do what we do without you. The ministry is HIS and we all get to participate!

You might be interested in the new UPI web page and seeing what some of the players are saying. Feel free to check out the entire updated site! 

http://www.upi.org/players-say/

Interesting story…

From Joe Ehrmann’s book InSideOut Coaching:

“The Syracuse lacrosse team was struggling that day. They had had a long bus trip, the April rain and chill made the field sloppy and the ball slippery, and a flu bug had hit the team, to boot.
the Orangemen were down 7-3 at halftime and their opponents were sensing a huge upset victory. Coach Simmons walked into the locker room and surveyed his team. They were dripping with rain, wiping mud off their uniforms, listless. They grew silent, waiting for his halftime speech. He opened his mouth, paused, and studied them again. Then he went over to the blackboard and wrote the following in big, thick figures: 118-24.
He turned, looked each player in the eye, and suddenly smiled. His players looked shocked for a moment, and then started to smile slightly, too. They didn’t know what to make of it—was this a play or formation that Coach had just come up with? Coach spoke: “Psalm 118. Verse 24. This is the day that the Lord has made, so rejoice and be glad in it. He noticed the players’ shoulders easing, their bouncing legs grow still, and he heard a few exhalations and chuckles. “That’s it, men. Win, lose, or draw; enjoy. Let’s get back out there and play like you love the game and each other.”
After that game, Coach discovered the numbers 118-24 written on the chalkboard before every game for decades. He never knew who started the tradition—or which players continued it year after year.”

How can we set up visuals to remember Jesus in all we do?
Please share any examples from your own life so we can all benefit. Thanks! < Tom