So all you Trinity students got the "paper" today and saw the article written so wonderfully by my friend Lauren and wonder, "who started this blog revolution?" Well sit right down and hear the story of a man named Kyle. We all thought he was whacked out on boom when he first told us of this thing called a blog, but we managed to see past his antics and realize the big picture. We began to read his blogs and worry that his delusions had become "reality" to him. After one night of serious, sit down discussion with him we realized that he wasn't criminally insane and that his blog was truthful. So we decided to also create blogs. Several of us (Stephanie, Brad, Brandon, myself and others) then created our own blogs. At first we were timid, like frightened school girls, but then we learned to control the HTML and use it against agent Smith, I mean, use it to pour out our souls onto the world wide web. So there it was, just the few of us blogging our hearts out. Since then we have grown into a slightly larger sect (cult) and now have learned to harness our powers for good rather than world domination. We bid you, come and read our blogs, sign our guestbooks, email us, IM us, and call us dopeheads. This is the life we have choosen, for we are... BLOGGERS!

The snow falls lightly, there is no wind to sweep it into my face or limit my sight. And my sight is that of pristine mountains, untainted by the problems that distress me today. The only sound is that of the snow crunching softly beneath my feet. I rise past the foothills and into the mountains that I seek to conquer. I rise so that I might be humbled by the God that created these majestic peaks. I sit with my God and read His Word. Through the stillness I hear praise pouring from my heart. I don't have to return to the stress that awaits me, I don't have make things perfect today, I am with God.

Where did you want to be today? [I miss the Alps]

I love punk rock. I miss the days when I didnt care how good a band sounded I just wanted to hear it loud. Anyway, thanks to my brothers Jon, Jonathan and Josh for the conversations we had in the 24 hours. I love having brothers.

Question of the day: Should wedding ushers get guns? I say YES!

Tonight was dope. Our chapel director shared a video entitled "Mercants of Cool" about how the culture of cool is marketed to people, teens in particular. It was saddening. Really. Seeing 13 year olds bump and grind and talk about fame and fortune. And you can catch her (the 13 year old) say "I want to be noticed." How marketers rob people of identity and make them into numbers and dollar signs. Seeing how the media controls what is cool and how they are out to be your friend while taking your money. These marketers were out there asking the questions to the teens that perhaps the Church should be asking, with far more pure motives. Hearing people talk about the standards churches set for people and the judgment they cast upon people who need so much love. As someone who wants to work in the Church, it was overwhelming. I cannot combat the culture of cool by myself. I cannot battle judgment, when I am part of the problem, and for that I am sorry. But thank God for the hope we have in Jesus, that He will be at our side for all of time, defending us and fighting along side of us. Let the Word of God be our sword, and let the righteousness of Jesus be our shield. With Jesus we, the Church, can defeat the culture of cool.

I took a walk this evening after doing homework in the library, listening to Jimmy Eat World's "Clarity." It was beautiful. I started thinking about my future wife, and how wonderful it would be to be walking with her this very night. I get frustrated sometimes about not having "the one" yet. I felt ready to get married sometime early in high school, and here I am without even a single date under my belt. Its ok though, this isn't a pity blog, it gets better. God, my shield, has given me the amazing strength to be patient in times like these. I trust in God's Word that when it says God will grant the desires of my heart, He will but rather in His timing, not mine. My brothers and sisters have encouraged me in assuring me that my future wife will be an amazing woman. According to them she will be amazingly deep in all facets of her life, a godly woman, a woman of the Holy Spirit, and a woman who loves me for me. And I believe them. Recently I have been wondering about the gift that no one wants, yup, celebecy. I have peace that if that is the gift God grants me by His grace, I will accept and adorn it with pleasure. If God calls me to this, I have faith that He will give me the companionship I need and the peace to make it through to the finish line. It has been a blessing to be single and patient, it has given me the opportunity to be an encouragment to others and has granted me time to get my act together. God is amazing. I pray that my life and His will are inseprable, I pray that this encourages you, amen. Sleep with the stars and find your peace in the arms of God. Vis.

I think buffet places should have a dress code: you have to wear sweatpants just to get in. Yeah! So we are going to Old Country Buffet for Stephanie Moss' 21st birthday dinner. Happy Birthday Steph!! Let me publically say that it has a been a great joy to be your friend Stephanie, I hope God will continue to bless our friendship over the years to come. And that is the first part of a random blog entry. Next: The Evangelical Homiletic Bachalors Society has been born, long live the EHBS!! or until we all get girlfriends. Ryan, Matt M. and I are the core members. Next: We have been playing a lot of PS2 in Brandon's room while listening to Norah Jones. If you haven't heard her new CD yet, you should 'cause if it makes 8 college men seep deep into the seats of their couch and drift off to happy time what will it do to you?!? Next: Its been a busy week of work, school and life. It is a sign of things to come. Next: I met with a girl that I liked on Tuesday afternoon. I decided beforehand that the best thing that could happen is that God would CLEARLY let me know that she is NOT the one. It went perfect, she acquired a boyfriend over break. Next: I have decided to go to Denver over spring break, gonna take the train there after Katie's wedding and visit the seminary and Tabitha and perhaps Todd. Next: I could use a beer. Next: Thinking about a new blog recording an adventure of the 313 family a la "Alive." So it will be a log of our journey in journal format. It began with Adam and I goofing around in Drama class like we used to in philosophy. Next: Trying not to laugh in class while needing to laugh so hard hurts the belly. Next: I cleaned up the blog links and added some, enjoy if the TIU server will let you. Last: We have been talking about community in Stratigies of Discipling Ministries. Two things come to mind when I think of community: 1) Acts chapter 2 and 2) the family known as the 313 family. I would honestly die for these people, I love them so much. Katie, Graham, Zack, Bre, Kyky, Brandon, Andrew, Marcie, Adam, Ann, Brad, Walt, Nate, Rochelle, Josh, Elise, Josh Smith, Ang, Matt, Stephanies, RyJo, Matthew I Van Morrison, Zabba, Bobba, Evan and Krafty. I know there are more, but these are the hardcoreRS!

What inspires me? good question. Tonight it was a variety of things. I watched "Any Given Sunday," it was a good football flick, but too much nudity (of both genders). I don't know what it is but it stirred my heart. Perhaps it is my love of playing football, and how I miss it. I spent my ENTIRE childhood loving that game and all it has given me is two bad knees. I have spent 4 and a half years loving Jesus, He has given me everything. So what inspires me? The Word of God inspires me. The Holy Spirit inspires me. My brothers and sisters in Christ inspire me. My life and the world around me inspire me, even through the sin. Pictures of my mountains and long, sad songs inspire me to dream of days to come. Heaven inspires me to live, and to live in godliness. You, the reader, inspire me to be real, to be transparent. God, inspire me to do great things for your kingdom.

PS New post on life after The Vis.

I like reason. Many times I look at something someone has done that is based purely on emotion and I scoff. I tend to think people should take time to reason and think about the implications that a certain choice would bring. Two of my good friends have recently started dating someone and I was uneasy because of the short time they took to come to that choice. There is certainly some merit to that, but what I am here to say today is groundbreaking. The next sentence I am about to type is fairly amazing if you know me. I am wrong. I just had a realization that God laid on my heart, "Travis, I made emotions. It is okay to act upon them." Well, hot dang, maybe I'm on to something here. I firmly believe we were made in the image of God and that certain traits of humans are similar to traits in God's personality (God is seen as a person and only similar because of our fallen nature and His divine nature). See there goes the reason of The Vis again. So anyhoo, perhaps today my realization will allow me to learn how my reason and my emotions can go into choice making situations hand in hand. I guess we'll see. [Don't worry, no completely brash decisions will be made by The Vis anytime soon.]

Death often opens our eyes to mysteries of God, and help us reflect on what people around us really mean to us. This evening I heard people testify about what Joe Michiels meant to them. Joe was 21, just like me, a senior Biblical studies major. He died on Christmas Eve, he is survived by his mother. Listening to people share memories about him was so amazing. I wondered how awesome it is that he touched so many people's lives. As I sat and thought about it, I realize that however awesome Joe was, what was more amazing is the God that lived in Joe, the same God who Joe now stands in the presence of. God is so powerful and He can work through anyone. How awesome is our God. Thank you Joe for living a life of witness to the grace of God, and for sharing your beautiful smile with us. You will be missed.

Joseph Matthew Michiels
1981-2002

And so this is it, the end of my winter break. I leave in about an hour to go "home" for my next to last smester at Trinity. So since my last update it has been a full 4 days. I have had struggles like anyone else, I am human after all. I have had some fun times, I am The Vis after all. :) I got to hang out with Chad Thursday night after the dinner party at Jason's apartment. We went to Indianola (south about 20 min) to the Wal-Mart there. I don't know why we went there, but we did. I drove through Carslie for the first time ever. That was exciting. I hung out with other friends and had some fun times. I got prayed over at the Norgaard house, you'll have to ask me in person to get that story. So here are some stats on my winter break.

Listened to: old Radiohead, new Jets To Brazil, Stephanie's worship and dance mix, and Jimmy Eat World's Clarity
Wore: gray sweatpants (a lot)
Watched: Castaway, Dude Wheres my Car?, Two Towers, Almost Famous
Ate: 2 frozen pizzas, lots of yogurt, easy mac, lots of cookies
Read: parts of the final quest and classic pastoral care
thought about: 104's spritual legacy, my future, next semester
missed: 104, 209, the stephs, classes (Im a nerd)


Yeah so thats it, I guess its all over now. I am ready for this next semester, God is with me, He is my strength and my shelter, the lamb and lion, He is my savior, He is my Lord.

Peace be with you...
The Vis

Charles Barkley said that he wasn't a role model. Well, he was, he may not have choosen to be, but he was. I didn't really choose to be a role model either, but I have accepted that I am a role model to a lot of guys around me. I never would have expected to be a role model to people until a conversation that Chad and I were having with our friend Sara. We were talking about her brother and she said something along the lines of "he really looks up to you guys." That was a scary thought. I know myself, I know myself really well and there are a lot of things about me that I don't consider "positive traits." These are things God is working out in me and boy do I appreciate that. But by God's grace I try to be a role model to the guys around me. I don't swear anymore (maybe in 104 occasionally) and I don't degrade women anymore either. I never really had troubles with drinking, smoking or drugs and I can attribute that to good parenting. But (theres always a but) I did deal with a lot of sexually impurity that didn't deal with sex, and in this day and age that is a MAJOR stumbling block in the lives of too many Christian guys. This is something that God is working out of my life, and I've drafted the help of Chad and RyJo and others in this battle. Girls, let me tell you, this isn't an easy battle. And it is an important battle, too many of our male leaders in the Church have fallen because of impure lifestyles. Not only do I want to get out of that crap but I want to help other guys in similar situations.

Why do I bring all this up? Well, I was discussing Christian guys on Trinity's campus with Stephanie Pavlakis (affectionatly know as Pavi) and she said that there needs to be more guys who live uncompromising lives. She is totally right, there are so many girls deep in their faith and sometimes it seems like there are so few guys really into their faith. I want to stir the hearts of guys on Trinity's campus so that there are guys in leadership and in ministries that refuse to compromise their lves. I am doing this is through two ways, discipling a freshman, having an accountablity partner. I will also be leading a small group for a class this coming semester and I hope to share this vision with them as well. What I long to see is a bunch of Godly men graduating from TIU and going in to the world and living uncompromising and pure lives. This is something God will help me on, and by His grace and work of His Holy Spirit will it be done. Pray for the men of TIU, the men of 104 and 209, and for me that we would live truely uncompromising lives and seek God all of the days of our lives. Peace..