my buddy's new blog

hey everyone, do yourself a favor and check out this new blog !!! Patrick is one of my best friends in the whole world, and i consider him a true revolutionary for the gospel. add him to your favorites, and swing by every now & then! http://patrickmitchell.blogspot.com/

prayed '08

last night there were billions of people staying awake until their timezone stepped into the new year at midnight. i was one. however, mine was probably a little different than most. some had a toast with champagne, some kissed, some shot massive fireworks, some danced, some sang, some rocked out to an unknown indie band. i prayed. i know that sounds like i'm trying to be better than you, but i'm not. i would've loved to have done most of the above. however, i was with some of my dad's church family down here in myrtle, and they did a pretty cool prayer deal. every new year's eve, they get together to hang out and eat food or have a bonfire, and then as midnight nears, they gather in a massive circle, hold hands, and pray it the new year. it was really, really cool. i was moved. i didn't get to kiss a hot girl, but it was still a good time.
i believe God's has awesome things planned for 2008 for His world, His church, & ultimately for His renown.

roadie journal #4

hopefully you enjoyed the info and stats from the last post on Costa Rica. now, lets talk about some crazy huge waves.

if you're not knowledgeable about surfing, thats ok. Costa Rica is known as one of the top surfing destinations on the globe, b/c it consistently produces good (head-high or higher) waves year around and the water temperature stays around 75-80 degrees all year long. so, surfing was definitely a huge item on our agenda for the trip. we (my brother Seth & I) were able to surf 5 straight days on the Northwest coast, just south of Tamarindo and Nosara. the four beaches we surfed were Playa Cameronal, Playa Carillo, Playa Samara & Buena Vista. Carillo and Samara were pretty small b/c they were tucked away in a bay type beaches. Cameronal & Buena Vista were seriously fierce. these waves are so different than what i'm used to on the east coast of North & South Carolina. in Costa Rica, the waves are so powerful and strong. the waves were consistently over head-high, which means over 6ft tall. not only are they tall, but they're really really long. also, the waves break about 250-300 yards away from land, so its extremely hard to paddle all the way out past the breakers. it took us 10-15 minutes just to get to the spot we aimed for. the waves come in as "sets," which means they travel together, so to speak, at different times. so, every 5-8 minutes a set would come in. if you were too close to the beach, you would be demolished by the waves repeatedly crashing on you. if you were too far out, you would miss the waves.

at one point, Seth was caught too far in, so he jumped off his board to dive under a massive wave, but his leash broke. the leash is the chord attached to your ancle that keeps you connected to your surfboard. so, he was a couple hundred yards away from the beach without a board, in deep water, trying to stay afloat and swim in while huge waves were crashing on him, taking him under the water. fortunately, he made it in, but stayed out for the rest of the morning. i can't imagine how those guys on tv surf 40-50ft waves. even the 10-12ft waves we were facing seemed deadly. needless to say, this was a crazy experience that i could talk about all night. to close, nature is fierce and amazingly powerful. God is even more amazing to put it all in motion with the word of His mouth.

our God is awesome!! hope you enjoy the pics.

roadie journal #3

2 days after the Seattle trip, i met my family back home in Myrtle Beach and we flew out to Costa Rica. i don't know what it is about foreign cultures, but i'm really drawn to them. i've only been out of the country 3 times (twice to Costa Rica & once to Nicaragua), but i have a real sensation for traveling and experiencing new and different places.

Costa Rica is a somewhat "3rd World Country" or even "Developing Country," a term used by our missionary there, and it is located right in the middle of Central America, with Nicaragua on the north border and Panama the south. it has a annual income per person of $12k US dollars with a population of approximately 6 million people, 2&1/2 million residing in the San Jose area. also, it is approximately half the size of South Carolina and produces beautiful people, beautiful mountains, over 100 volcanoes (only a hundful are active), beautiful animals, rain forests, beaches and steep cliffs. the common language is Spanish. Most of the younger children and students are learning English in school, but you wont be able to get by without knowing a few Spanish phrases. The food is different, but good if you're not picky. there are some modern conveniences in the metropolis of San Jose, but most of the country living is rural without air conditioning, hot water or internet. all the houses have walls surrounding the property with bars on the windows and sometimes barbed wire on top of the fence. your things will be stolen if they aren't watched or protected. in the city, every house is connected wall to wall, without a yard or trees. it is very different than North America...quite a culture shock.

all in all, i love it. if you've never been outside the States, you need to do yourself a favor to travel and open your eyes to the other countries around the world. you will be humbled and very grateful when you return to your suburbian 2 story house with a 2 car garage, a yard, multiple vehicles, air conditioning, hot water, wireless internet, tvo, theatres, malls, Walmart, and safety.

tomorrow i'll chat about the enormous waves!! Seth and i almost died.

roadie journal #2

so, my visit to seattle washington was really sweet. this was the first time i had been to the west coast and the first time i had been furter west than minnesota. it was quite a venture. first, i went alone, so there was not any company, other than my iPod. the plane ride from detroit was 4&1/2 hours, which is a long time to be on a plane, stuck in a tiny little seat. nonetheless, it was good and safe traveling.

the culture of seattle is quite different than my normal culture of the south. seattle is a "post-christian" culture. it is not normal to "go to church." most people are against any sort of organized religion, so churches and christians are often ridiculed and even hated. this is so different from the south. down here everyone has been to church before or is open to church because there's a church building on every corner. so, in seattle, the "shot in the dark" approach of evangelism (tracts, door to door, street witnessing, etc) is not effective at all. it truly requires christians to be missional in their daily lives and let people experience a relationship with someone who has been radically changed by the gospel.

as far as the nature and climate of seattle go, the evergreen trees are cool like the ones you see in paintings. there's a lot of water and boats around because of the Pugit Sound that surrounds the city. it seems like everyone has a boat. they're everywhere! it's also very mountainous with mountain ranges on every side and Mount Ranier in the distance. every day it was about 35 degrees, and it snowed while i was there too. one afternoon the bottom fell out w/snow and in 2 or three hours there were 3 inches of snow on the ground. it was sweet!

all in all, i loved seattle and the people and the culture and the nature. it was an amazing trip that will be influential for the rest of my life.

roadie journal #1

2 weeks ago, i traveled to the West Coast, across the great USA, for the first time to visit a church and a city in Washington State. the church was Mars Hill Church, and the city was Seattle. The whole trip was a pretty crazy experience, b/c i stayed with people i didn't really know that well (but were really great people), and b/c i was in an environment i didn't know that well either. my best friend on the trip was a Garmin GPS car navigation system. wow. it was amazing...i seriously would've been crazy lost w/out it.

anyways, i've been tracking w/Mars Hill for about 1 year now, and i think they are one of the most biblically solid and culturally relevant churches i know. usually a church will be great at one and pour at the other. why?? many many reasons. however, for ten years mars hill has had an amazing influence and impact in one of the most unchurched, post-christian cities in America. they are truly a missional church that is centered on Jesus. Many churches say they are "centered on Jesus" in their mission statement, but often times "what's on the wall is different than what's happening down the hall." essentially, some churches have crafted a great vision or mission statement, but its nothing more than a cute saying that no-one follows. in contrast, everything at mars hill is about Jesus & the gospel. you wouldn't have to read it on the wall to know it. if you want to know more about truly being missional, check out the book, the Radical reformission by Mark Driscoll, preaching pastor at mars hill. ...more on Seattle tomorrow.

seattle & costa rica

in 2 days i experienced one of the craziest geographical tranistions ever!! last monday i was in snowy seattle for the weekend visiting Mars Hill Church, and on wednesday i flew out of myrtle beach to sunny Costa Rica for a family vacation. right now i'm in this tiny town on the pacific coast named Samara, and i found a small interent cafe in the village. its crazy here!! i love it though. the waves are ginormous. i'll right soon about both experiences when i get back to the States.

"pura vida"
-pure life