The Personal Weblog of Travis Kaiser

Trek-X, an elite journey for the next generation missionary was birthed out of Chris White’s Mobilizing Students. Rather than me trying to explain Trek-X I’ll give you Chris’ words: “If you’ve answered the call to missions and still want to pursue your education, then apply to join a select group of 60 college students from around the globe as they come together to begin an ELITE- 4-YEAR JOURNEY that will change their lives forever. You will pursue your COLLEGE degree at an online university/seminary of your choice, be intentionally DISCIPLED by our staff, and travel the world leading student MISSION teams.”

To learn more about Trek-X click HERE, otherwise check out why as a youth pastor I think Trek-X is a viable option for students!

1. Trek-X uses a strategy that our culture is moving towards – the shift of colleges to provide off-campus degrees (See the link below about the Kaplan video). The church throughout history has always used the latest technology
2. Financial freedom! Students going to college online will pay less and therefore making it more affordable to get their degree. Some colleges will even allow students to clep out of classes they already have knowledge about making a degree less expensive. The more people who are debt free the more money there is to go toward Kingdom work.
3. Students will be on a directed path of discipleship. Sometimes it’s assumed that if a student interested in missions and goes to serve alongside a missionary that discipleship will just naturally occur. This is usually not the case due to the demand on the missionary’s time.
4. Trek-X helps break the mold of the Twixters (the age group of post-college to early 30’s named by Time magazine - http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1018089,00.html ) to take responsibility rather than putting it off. Youth ministries are currently wrestling with how to help students continue in the faith through college and this provides an excellent bridge. This approach will quantum leap students beyond their peers.
5. Trek-X lines up with our high school ministry philosophy to help students have challenging spiritual experiences, to serve the needs of others, to learn and practice the spiritual disciplines, to have significant relationships with role-model adults, and to develop a Christian worldview. We believe these will help students develop into a healthy Christian adult and sell-out to the causes of Christ.
6. Trek-X calls students to a higher standard of living and to dream God-sized dreams as they see God at work here in the U.S. and around the world!
7. Trek-X captures the passion of young people and immediately gives them the opportunity to simultaneously be trained and be mobilized. Too often young people’s dreams and passions are postponed because adult or cultural standards force them to jump through hoops. This generation is geared more towards volunteering and more apt to serve than any previous generation in history (see David Wraight’s book The Next Wave).

Well isn’t this the number one thing every Christian wants to know! I have more conversations about this particular topic during the months of March, April, and May than I do any other time of the year. The reason why - seniors. They are flipping out about looking ahead to college and all of the the unknowns that come with that season of life. So the question is asked - how can I know God’s will for my life? I think the answer is rather simple yet we often try to make it more difficult than it is. The following are some markers of guidance followed with some extra comments.

Here are 5 markers to knowing God’s will -

1. Ask “What does God’s Word say on the topic?” I have expressed multiple times in the last few weeks in our Wednesday night program, River’s Edge, that we flat out don’t know the Word of God. He has expressed MUCH of what He wants us to do but we don’t know the Word well enough to say what they are. For example we know we are to: share the Gospel, love one another, meditate on God’s Word, pray, worship corporately, and all the other “one another” verses.
2. Leading of the Holy Spirit - According to John 16:13 one of the jobs of the Holy Spirit is to guide us in truth. In your own personal study of the Scriptures, how is the Holy Spirit leading you?
3. Godly Council - I love the story of God calling Samuel to ministry. It is one of the greatest examples of how God can use others to help give us clarity to what God is doing in our lives. It was Samuel’s mentor, Eli, that knew what God was doing in Samuel’s life even before Samuel recognized it. Check out Proverbs 12:15 and 19:20 as to the value of having people in your life who love God and love you. The wisdom of those who have more life experience and who have walked with God for decades can bring great clarity. 
4. Open Doors - In Revelation 3:7-8 the Lord had a message to the church at Philadelphia “God opens doors no man can shut and shuts doors no man can open” (this isn’t a quote but the gist of the passage)! I have seen people set their hearts desires in one direction and be convinced that it was God’s leading all because they prayed about it. In the long run there was no opportunity. The door had been shut. Is there a door open where you sense God leading? Maybe 3 or 4 doors open?
5. Personal Preferences and Desires- I love this one! Historically in the church we have disregarded this principle. Yet, in Psalm 37:4 we know that delighting ourselves in the Lord leads to Him giving us the desire of our hearts. Likewise in Proverbs 3:5-6 if we trust in God through faith we will make our paths straight. These verses are not referring to a free pass to anything we want. The understanding is that as we spend time with God we will become more like Him. As we spiritually mature our desires will mimic the desires of our Father. Then He is ready and willing to give us the full desires of our hearts! Related to this is the theological concept that we are the imago Dei. We are crafted in the image of the Creator (Gen 1:26-27). As image-bearers God has given us creativity, reason, personalities, etc., in order to live our lives. God has crafted you with tastes and preferences for a reason. We have been plagued with the broken thinking that if we like something it can’t be Godly. Somewhere in our messed up minds we have equated misery with greater spirituality. This kind of thinking is behind people asking “if I really love God do I have to sell everything and move to Africa?” It is very much related to Luther during the Protestant Reformation. He used to climb stairs on his knees saying prayers and whipping himself thinking that it lead to greater spirituality. Jesus said that “He has come to give life and give it to the full”. I have never seen God push someone begrudgingly to do His work. Instead, as our hearts are made more into His likeness our desires will match with His. Ah - there is so much more to say on this point but I will leave it for another posting.

So… how can you determine God’s will for your life? Through the lining up of God’s Word, the guidance of the Holy Spirit, Godly council, open doors, and your desires I think you can have great confidence in walking through the next season of your life. Individually you can’t take any of these alone aside from God’s Word and the Holy Spirit. However when all five line up in accordance with each other - GO!

I’ve heard all my life that words are powerful. In my favorite book of the Bible, James, there are many warnings about the power the tongue can wield. Yet, one of the biggest parts of my life that gets me into trouble is my mouth - just ask Mary Julia.

In a recent news report, a Wake Forest student has been kicked out of school for a posting he made on the popular website Facebook. In a particular post he stated that the would ‘blow up campus’. Campus security searched his room but did not find any weapons. Luke Caparelli, a running back on the football team, told campus security he had no intentions to hurt the school or anyone on campus. (Click here to read more).

My first reaction to this news was that it seemed like an overreaction by the school. But is it? In recent years our society has come to take threats more seriously due to multiple high school shootings, 9/11, and the most recent attack on Virgina Tech’s campus last fall. Words do matter. It would have been better if his last statement would have been his first. Unfortunately for him - words typed, written, or said mean something.

How are you words? They can either “blow things up” or they can bring restoration.

I’ve talked with a lot of students and adults who desire to help others during this holiday season. I led some people to families within our church who are in need. However, after Happy Birthday Jesus, our children’s ministry provided for the majority of the families we knew about. Way to go guys!

 There are still plenty of people left in need. For some reason the Lord has been stirring my heart toward others’ needs for the past several weeks. It’s more than just the “Christmas is here so you should think of others Travis” feeling. I’m learning more and doing more. Giving can come through money, talents, time, energy, skills, and other resources.

In my conversations with some of you, you said that you wanted to know more about how you can help. Below are some great links to get you started (you can get to any of the websites by clicking on the highlighted words):

Food for the Hungry - This is a great place to start. You can join us in sponsoring a child from the Cochabamba region of Bolivia or you can check out their Christmas catalogue where you can purchase Bibles, food, animals, provide tools for a family business, or education.

Harvest of Hope has a similar Christmas catalogue. If you don’t have that special Christmas gift yet, you can always purchase some goats to help a family create income for themselves. Isn’t that right Gordon?

Vanderbilt’s Children Hospital has a list of toy and supply donations to help families in the Nashville downtown area.

Finally, check out www.kiva.org. I found out about this website from Bill Clinton pushing his “Giving” book (this is on my Christmas list). I don’t care much for all of his politics but he is on to something in this book. At Kiva.org you can help sponsor people to launch their entreprenurial dreams. Kiva gives the people a timeline in which they have to pay the loan back which will then give you “Kiva Credit” to help launch another dream in the world. To date Kiva has loaned over $10 million and 97% of the loans have been paid back in full.

“Let’s Change The World!” Those four words have been a rallying cry for every organization imaginable. Unfortunately for many of those organizations it continues to just be a rallying cry and nothing more. I, on the other hand, am proud to be part of the largest organization on the planet - God’s church. It is the one organization that I know will never be consumed, squandered, or demolished. I believe that from the church we can truly change the world! It is God’s ordained organization created to be the vehicle of the change agent that can truly shake the world - salvation through Christ.

 I think in the last two weeks our high school ministry has taken one more step in changing the world for Christ. Over these past two Sundays we have been in the process of sponsoring a whole community of children in the Cochabamba region (if you click on this link noticed wikipedia’s slogan at the top - “help us change the world”) of Bolivia. Each of our high school Connect Groups are sponsoring a child through our partnership with Food for the Hungry. The $28 a month sponsorship will provide health, agricultural, and child development programs along with water and sanitation development, and natural resource management in the poorest country in South America.

My hope is that our students will be more conscientious of others. It’s amazing that the same $4 for a coffee at Starbucks if combined with a few others can change the life of a Bolivian child. In July we’ll be taking a trip to Bolivia to see our sponsorship come full circle. In the next few months we’ll get to see pictures, write letters, pray, discover, and learn about these precious children long before we get to see them face to face.

What a cool journey! Are you willing to join us? Food for the Hungry has provided us with information on 99 children from the same region. Our high students have adopted 37 children leaving 62 students left. Would you be willing to sponsor a child for $28 a month? Would you be willing to leave your comfort zone of premium coffee or a #1 combo at McDonald’s to change the life of a Bolivian child? What would it do in your family if you put a Bolivian child’s face on your refrigerator? What would happen in your adult Connect Group if you could sponsor a child and then for some of you to go see him/her? If you are interested in sponsoring a child with us send me an email (travis.kaiser@longhollow.com) so we can get started.

The possibilities are limitless… come change the world with us!

Mary Julia and I were having a discussion the other day about our son Will and discipline. God brought to mind one of my favorite passages of Scripture, Psalm 127:3-5a which says, “Sons are a heritage from the Lord, children a reward from him. Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are sons born in one’s youth. Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them.” I’m not sure what a “full quiver” will be for our family but I do know that we would like a lot of kids. Part of raising children is the undeniable fact that they need to be disciplined. When Will disobeys I can guarantee there will be consequences. It’s just a fact of life and sometimes those consequences include discipline from his parents. If I love him enough I will get beyond that cute, adorable face of his and discipline him. It’s tough sometimes but I want to be an arrow maker.

As our conversation carried on, Mary Julia brought up Hebrews 12:5-6, “My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines those the loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son.” When first reading those words they sound kind of painful. However, they are really words of love. I discipline my son out of my love for him. It is my God-given responsibility to make him a sharp arrow for the Kingdom. In order for that to happen I must guide him and discipline him to chip away everything that doesn’t look like an arrow. Remember, crooked arrows don’t fly straight. Our conversation ended with a greater sense of God disciplining us in order to make us more like Him. If He needs to, God will painstakingly chip away from us those things that do not look like Him. Why? Because anything that does not look like Him in our lives is only harmful to us. How mighty is His love that He would love me enough to discipline me!

PS – If you’re wondering – NO scripture does not come up in all our conversations. I’m not as spiritual as she is.

After much consideration I am now joining the blogosphere. I must admit that I have harassed my friends Dustin and Brandon about their blogging for a long time. I have now been sucked into this crazy world of posting my thoughts for everyone to see. It is actually from Dustin’s blog that I want to start my first post, a list he created about actively participating in worship.

For weeks now before Connect Groups our high school students have heard me say “engage today”. By “engage” I mean squeezing out every opportunity of the morning to learn from God’s Word and enjoy spending time with each other. As our pastor blogged a few days ago about being at war, we cannot take too lightly our privilege to be together in worship without fear of persecution.

In Hebrews 10:23-25 it says “Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur on another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another – and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”

Whether you are in a Connect Group, a worship service, River’s Edge, camp, retreat, or conference, here are some tips to help you actively participate in worship.

1. Bring your Bible, a notebook, and a pen – everytime
2. Be consistent in attendance – that means weekly
3. Invite and bring friends and neighbors to corporate worship
4. Sing ENTHUSIASTICALLY - especially the men!
   • Think about the lyrics
   • Focus on worship – don’t get distracted by later activities, work, etc.
   • Feel free to raise your hands or close your eyes while you sing
   • Draw others into corporate worship
5. Do not be a distraction – this includes talking, using the phone, and writing notes
6. Look for visitors around you and make them feel welcome
7. Greet people around you who seem disconnected
8. Take good notes
   • Write down key points and supporting ideas
   • Keep eye contact – except when you’re writing of course!
   • Jot down specific areas of application
   • Focus on your time of prayer
   • Don’t be afraid to respond publicly
   • Take points of impact with you
9. Do not close your Bible and put your things away towards the end of the sermon – it’s distracting
10. Stay until the end – often times great things happen at this point
11. After corporate worship, look to minister to others

You can check out Dustin’s blog here - http://eaststudentministry.wordpress.com/