5.5 random things: good reading edition

5.5. This post is dedicated to those who were praying for my wife and me as I was sick and had to miss out of one of our summer mission trips. Thank you so much.

5. As someone who is part of the "charismatic" movement (understanding that the term is defined with difficulty), I found this article from Charisma magazine on the Lakeland "Revival" to be instructive, one that everyone ought to read and think about. I have much I could say, but I'm not sure I will. If you want some follow up, let me know.

4. One of my weekly delights is checking out the "Songs, Hymns and Spiritual Songs" posts from Sojourn Community Church in Louisville, KY. These are posted every Monday, and consist of a rundown of the Sunday setlist at the church, with some thoughts given on each song. Here is the setlist from August 10. I highly recommend this blog.

3. In the "I Can't Wait Until This Book Comes Out" category, you'll find Greg Beale's upcoming release, We Become What We Worship. It's a study of the Bible's teachings on idolatry. Looks terrific. In fact, here's the cover, see for yourself.

2. There's been some debate on a couple blogs recently about the TNIV, but I won't link to them largely because they end up in arguments over quasi-related items in the comments section. Instead, I'll link to an article written by Craig Blomberg about the TNIV, one of the best things to read on this subject. I can no longer find the pdf of this article, but if someone has it, I'd love to get it. It's long, but worth the read.

1. Congrats to my good friends, Bruce and Morgan, as they announce that they will be having their second child. These two are dear friends, and their son Elijah is one of my favorite children in the world. I miss them dearly.

welcome to the world....

I'd like to say congrats to my good friends, Matt and Pam, and welcome to the world their baby boy, Gideon Matthew Neave. This little guy is as cute as can be, and I really mean that. I have no problems saying if a baby is ugly (not to their parents, of course), so you can rest assured I am not paying lip service when I say Gideon is absolutely adorable. This makes something like 8 babies born in our church since the beginning of 2006, which is a fairly high number considering we only run about 200 people. And we have a couple more pregnant, too (I just reread that sentence and it sounds like I'm saying we have a couple more babies pregnant, which is obviously not true, but I find the ambiguity funny so I'm leaving it). Exciting times. Blessings to the Neave family.

dealing with writer's block

Well, it's been a while since I've posted anything, even longer since I've posted anything of any substance. Instead, I will direct you to what is now my favorite comic strip. My sister e-mailed me a link a while back to Dinosaur Comics, a comic strip where only the text changes, never the pictures. I find it hilarious, though it is certainly not for everyone. Case in point, read this and decide if you like it or not (this is the particular comic my sister sent to me). If not, Dinosaur Comics might not be for you, though I think you should check out more of them.

While I'm here, check out Elijah Teague's first report card, given to him by his father, Bruce. I think he did pretty well for a newbie. And for more baby stuff, see Matt & Pam's latest post (better check it out, they only come about twice a year) about their baby. This is what happens when your friends are pregnant or new parents, you end up filling your blog with baby stuff. I need a life.

Rebirth & Birth

You may have already noticed, but I've made a couple more changes to the blog of danny. I switched to Blogger Beta, which is a better version of blogger. It allows me to spruce up the old blog without having to learn html, which I appreciate. So, you'll notice a few changes to the right. First, I added a picture with my profile. I'm not necessarily trying to make any statements about myself with that picture, although I'm sure one of you pop psychologists will begin to dig deep into my psyche and find out the truth. I think it's a funny little deal, so I put it up here for your amusement.

Second, the archives list has a new feature, it allows you to see how many posts I throw out every month. Mind you, this is completely useless information, which makes it right up my alley. You'll noticed I popped out only 1 in June. I think this was for two reasons: I was out of the country for part of that month, and my one post that month was fairly involved. I can't be expected to go crazy like that too much.

Third, you'll notice I have added a "What I've Been Reading" section, complete with pictures of the books for you visual folks. At some point I'll get around to commenting on these books, and I could probably add some more, but this will give you the idea. You'll also notice I have added a "What I've Been Hearing" section, complete with pictures of the cds for you visual folks. Again, I could add more, but this is good enough for now.

My hope is that I can make this blog more attractive without having to up the quality of posting. That would be far too much work for me, so I'll settle for appearances instead. Newer is better, right?

Speaking of newer, this rebirth of the blog comes on the heals of making a new friend, Elijah. I had an interesting phone conversation with him on Thursday morning at about 6:20am. It went somethng like this:

me: Hi, Elijah.

Elijah: Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

I guess I can't blame him; after 9 months of floating around in a sac of fluid with plugs up his nose, you can't expect him to be too happy or comfortable in only 1 hour and 20 minutes. Blessings to Bruce & Morgan upon the birth of their first child, who came in screaming on December 14 at 4:59am, a healthy 7lbs 8oz and 21 inches long. May the Lord continue to bless your family.

I Went to a Worship Service and a Wedding Broke Out

On September 16, I had the honor of being best man in the wedding of my best friend, Ryan, and his wife, Amy. In my never-ending effort to steal every creative idea Bill Simmons ever conceived, I decided to keep a running diary (actually, he didn't invent it, but he made it an art form). So, this is my trip from Boston to Wethersfield, CT and back. I hope you read and enjoy.

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Friday, September 15

10:30am: I pull through the toll leaving East Boston and ask the attendant how she was doing. She blew a nice cloud of smoke out of her mouth and cracked "hi" in a voice that would make Joan Rivers sound like a songbird. This is going to be a great trip.

10:43: I walk into Men's Wearhouse to get my tux. There was nothing more than a quick fitting check and a lecture from the salesman about how much better pizza is in Jersey. Why is it that people from Jersey are so proud of it? Anyway, I resisted making fun of Springsteen and was out of the store with tux in hand in 13 minutes.

The tuxedo is classic Ryan: tails that went down to the armpit of the knee, bowtie, suspenders, vest (with a touch of purple), all around classic.

11:23: Stop off at the church to see the world's best church administrator to discuss some details about a class I'm teaching. This has nothing to do the wedding, but it was part of my day, so get over it.

11:46: Quick stop at Quiznos for a Chicken Carbonara toasted sub with no mushrooms and a fountain Pepsi, one of my favorite meals. Let me explain the no mushrooms thing, because it shows you how my father scarred me for life. When I was a kid my dad was fond of saying that mushrooms are the 1st cousin to athletes foot. Now, I can't go near them, it makes me think of nasty feet and dirty locker room shower floors.

Oh yeah, went to Target real quick to buy some white undershirts, can't wear a dark shirt underneath a white one, right?

12:40: Got a call from my friend Sarah as I'm on the road, she just finished raising support for her glamorous life in missions. We talk for a bit, then it's just me and the road. At this point I'm getting worried about the speech I have to make. I don't know anyone at this wedding other than Ryan and Amy, so I have no idea how I will fit in with everyone, and the speech could totally bomb. Carumba.

2:15: I pull into the parking lot of First Church of Christ Wethersfield, a fairly large historic church. I changed in the car, which is always fun, especially when you stupidly stay in the driver's seat and have to maneuver around the steering wheel. The rehearsal doesn't start until 3, so I have some time to kill. I walked around the cemetary connected to the church property and try to think of something for my speech. I'm not sure a cemetary is the most inspiring place for such endeavors, but it worked a bit.

3:30: Rehearsal gets started a little late, and it ran like most rehearsals, so I won't go into details. The church sanctuary set-up was interesting. The main section in the middle (split into two sections) seated 125-150, and lining the walls of the room were penalty boxes, complete with hinged doors and everything. I considered cross-checking a bridesmaid to see if I'd get 2 minutes in the box. Anyway, here's the rundown of the wedding party:

Bridesmaids: Jessica (Ryan's sister), Sarah (Amy's friend), Heather (Amy's sister-in-law), and Matron of Honor Mary (Amy's sister).

Groomsmen: Stephen (Amy's brother), Matthew (Ryan's friend), David (Ryan's friend, he was a last second replacement, see below), me.

5:00: It's dinner time, and I am hungry. We go to some place that supposedly serves great seafood, which ended up being true. I got to talk to some of the wedding party and get to know them better, especially David and his wife, Samara (I think I'm spelling that right). We talked mostly about missions and other ministry related things.

7:25: Groomsman gift time, I got hooked up with the City of Champions: Best of Boston Sports dvd and a hymns cd (Fernando Ortega, quite good). You can see why Ryan is my best friend.

8:20ish: Instead of a bachelor party, we (Ryan, David and I) take a trip to the hospital. You see, 4 days before the wedding, one of the groomsman, Bill, was the victim of a freak accident. He was driving down the road and an object flew off a truck doing the other direction. That object (I believe it was a spider gear) went through Bill's windshield and hit him in the head. He has had some reconstructive surgery, but I think there's still more to come. He just got married 2 months ago, but his wife (Michelle) is staying strong. Her faith is inspiring. We prayed with the family for a bit and left. Not necessarily the ideal bachelor party, but I think it meant a lot to the family for Ryan to go and visit.

9:45: We finally arrive at the hotel. It was raining wicked hard and Ryan and I weren't really looking forward to running from the car to the hotel. So, we took a cue from our friendly neighborhood televangelist Joel Osteen and asked God to give us the best spot available. Sho 'nough we got ourselves a front row spot, forever proving that you can indeed have your best life now.

Remember, this is past my normal bedtime, so I'm tired. Ryan, Matthew and I are sharing a room; we head down to the bar with Jessica and hang out. We saw a guy wearing a funky flannel shirt tucked into his sweatpants that had a racing stripe down the side. Good times (by the way, I hate that Bill Simmons uses "good times" so much because it makes people think I'm copying him by using it when it's been a tried and true phrase for so long).

11:30: Finally, bedtime. Let me gives serious props to the Marriot for having comfortable beds and amazing pillows. I thought about stealing one, or two.

Saturday, September 16

4:30ish am: Some stupid bugs outside the window wake me up. It was so bad that I actually picked up the patterns of their noises. Is that weird? Anyway, I lay there for an hour and a half before I jump in the shower.

7:30: Ryan, Matthew and I head to Dunkin's Donuts. This was one of the most important times of the weekend. Let me explain: Ryan and I through most of seminary would go to Dunkin' Donuts (or Dunka Do, pronounced Dew) every Saturday morning for a couple hours. As we ate our donuts or bagels and drank our coffee we would discuss pretty much every topic under the sun (sports, politics, theology, etc). The most important thing we discussed was ministry, we solved pretty much all of the church's problems during those times. We often referred to ourselves as "The Idealists."

Those times have had a lasting impact on me. I am not an idealist by nature, in fact I've been accused of cynicism on more than one occasion, and I'm certainly prone to my times of depression. Idealism is not something that would describe me at various stages in my life. But those times with Ryan changed my attitude toward ministry and the power that we as children of God have through His grace. I can't point to any one meeting or thing that Ryan said, it was just the general attitude of optimism that came out of being with him that has changed my life. I went from a disposition of doubt to asking the question "why not?". That change is huge. So, while on this particular trip to Dunka Do we didn't get to talk in depth or for very long, it was at least symbolically important.

8:18: We arrive at the church to begin changing into our tuxes. Nothing too exciting here, except for the comedy of watching us try to put our own suspenders on and work the bow tie.

8:50: Ryan father gives me Ryan wedding band. It's my job to make sure these get to the altar.

8:56: Tux is on. Why did it take me so long? Because the wedding doesn't start until 10 and I don't want to be hot. Can you blame me?

9:00: Steve, Amy's brother, gives me her wedding band. The pressure is on.

9:14: After some quick pictures, it's boutonniere time. After a couple broken pins we finally got everybody set up. I think someone had to use a safety pin. I should have brought my duct tape.

9:29: Ryan and I head to the back room with the photographer, who takes some pictures of us lounging around. It's funny how many people know my aversion to my picture being taken, just about everybody who found out I was in a wedding asked me about it. If I'm in someone's wedding I don't fight it, it's just not that important. Even if the camera does steal my soul.

9:37: The photographer leaves and Ryan and I hang out along for a bit. We pray together for a while and share a touching Jonathan and David moment, only without the kissing. I honestly can't tell you how happy I am for Ryan and Amy and honored to have been in this wedding.

9:58: The pastor comes and gets us, the show is on. From here until the end of the wedding I don't have exact times (hey, I wasn't going to bring my cell phone up to the altar). I slip the rings onto my left pinky as we walk out the door.

10:15ish: The wedding gets started a little late. I won't go through the entire wedding, I'll just hit the high points. Everyone made it into position without any major problems, everyone except for the runner. It was Matthew and Steve's job to roll out the runner after the bridesmaids came down the aisle. However, the runner got caught in the rope or something so Steve pulls out his pocketknife and cuts the rope. Why does someone bring a knife to a wedding, let alone up to the altar? I have no idea, but it was serendipitous. Anyway, that issue is resolved and Amy begins to come out, escorted by her father. I have to be honest, I thought she was going to lose it before she ever got up to the altar. But she and Ryan did okay, not that there is anything wrong with bawling at your own wedding.

As the pastor pointed out during the ceremony, Ryan and Amy really took seriously that this was a worship service. I suppose to normal amount of hymns sung at a wedding (if any at all) would be 2-3. Ryan and Amy chose 5, and it was like an all-star cast of hymns. Here you go: To God Be The Glory, Great Is Thy Faithfulness, Crown Him with Many Crowns, How Great Thou Art (the only song that does double duty in my "That Better Be Played at my Funeral" and "That Better Be Played at my Wedding" lists) and Praise to the Lord, the Almighty. It was awesome, what great selection. Honestly, I think we were a Be Thou My Vision away from ushering in Christ's return.

As I stated earlier, my job was to ensure that the wedding rings got to the altar and ended up on the ring fingers of our couple. With only a minor delay to get some soap and warm water to get the rings of my pinky we had no issues. That didn't happen by the way, but it would have been funny if it did (unless Amy is reading this, then it would have been awful).

10:55: I walk out with Mary (Matron of Honor) and Ryan and Amy are officially married. Those two thoughts aren't logically connected by the way (us walking out and them being married), merely temporally. The ceremony was actually much quicker than I thought, only about 40 minutes, not bad considering we sang 5 hymns. The pastor didn't say too much, that helped keep the time down. It really was a worshipful time, moreso than most weddings I've attended. The organist was wicked good, apparently he's a world renouned organist. I haven't been able to keep up with my world class organists since the Pipe Organists Guild booted me out for allegedly playing a Casio keyboard. Bunch of snobs if you ask me.

11:15: The wedding party gathers to pose for some pictures. I really liked the photographers, they kept everything quick and painless. The would get us into position and click a few times and tell us to sit down. They were awesome (a husband and wife team, by the way).

12:10: We pull up to the Simsbury Inn where the reception was held. We posed for some more pictures at a gazebo and eat some little snack things. I was particularly fond of the bacon-wrapped scallops. I could eat those all day, and would have if they kept bringing them out.

1:15: Each member of the wedding party is announced at the reception and come out with their corresponding person. I was quite disappointed that Mary wouldn't strut out with me, especially considering the song was some funk diddy (a touch of Ryan). If you can't strut when you're all dolled up, when can you strut? Ryan and Amy have their first dance.

1:25: It's time for the best man speech, always a fun time if you aren't the one giving the speech. Like I said, I didn't know anyone at the wedding, so I was nervous. I didn't want to ruin it all in front of all these fancy family members and friends.

Coming up with something was difficult, partially because Ryan doesn't open himself up to embarassing stories. So, I opted for a poem. My goal was to write a full sonnet, a la Bill Shakespeare, but had to settle for a partial one (for those who don't know, a sonnet is a 14-line poem with 3 stanzas of 4 lines, known as a quatrain, which have an abab cdcd efef rhyming pattern and a final 2 lines, known as a couplet, that rhyme- raise your hand if you're surpised I knew that). It went fairly well. After a quick toast that got a laugh or two I sat my butt down and considered it an okay speech. Who remembers this stuff anyway?

Dinner was great, a fine job with the food. There were about 6 options for a main dish (actually, I think 4 weren't considered main dishes, but they are in my book, as one who eats cereal for dinner at least twice a week). I couldn't decide which one to have, so I didn't decide and just ate all of them. Good choice. The wedding party also got ice cream cake, my favorite.

3:53: Time to hit the dance floor. That's right, you read that correctly, Danny got out on the dance floor. The electric slide was a little rough (I ran over Sarah, one of the bridesmaids, about 6 times, poor girl, even the DJ made fun of me) but I rocked the Cotton Eyed Joe dance (which may have a name). I can also twist with the best of them.

4:10: Off the dance floor.

4:40: Back on the dance floor, I teach a girl to waltz (not that I'm good or anything).

4:50: Back off the dance floor.

5:00: The reception is now over and it's time to say goodbye. Ryan and I get to talk a few minutes and that's about it. Who am I to hold up a man's honeymoon?

5:30: After changing in the parking lot (I promise, I don't make a habit of this) and giving the tux to Ryan's father for the drop off, I'm on the road. I'm sweaty, I'm tired and I'm full. Sounds like a great wedding.

5:50: Okay, I got lost a little bit, in a neighborhood of Hartford that looked like the kind of neighborhood I didn't want to be lost in.

6:07: On the proper highway and ready to get back to Boston. Good times.

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A couple quick thoughts, one not so important and one more important:

I wrote this post over a 12-day period so it's really uneven. Reading back through it, I noticed my verb tenses change throughout, very poorly written. I'm just too lazy to go back through and fix it. This is why I always wrote papers for school in one long sitting (or two long sittings at most), my brain is better off being used for long periods of time only occasionally, rather than consistently day in and day out. I guess I'm a binge thinker.

Some might not realize it, but I'm a big sap. I get incredibly happy for friends when big things happen, like getting married or having a baby (just ask Bruce about my reaction when he told me Morgan was pregnant, the ensuing mockery has taught me to subdue myself). The way I see it, there is so much that is screwed up about life and this world. It seems that things are always going wrong somewhere. Maybe I'm "overly aware" of how things are not the way they're supposed to be (which is also the title of a great book by Cornelius Plantinga), but I'm not sure it's possible to be too aware of the effects of sin and evil on this world. That's why I get so excited about my friends getting married and having children. It shows us that some things that are good and were intended to be blessing from God are still present in our lives. That's a reason to celebrate.

Pittsfield-up: farewell to the World's Best Cute & Cuddly Usher

This past Sunday we at our church said goodbye to my good friend, Kurt (who comments on this very blog under his Roman name, Kurtius). Kurt graduated from Harvard Law, took (and hopefully passed) the bar and has been assigned by the state to a different part of the state as a public defender (I suppose I'll leave out the actual town name, just in case someone is after Kurt and he's really not a lawyer but in the witness protection program). The Commonwealth of Massachusetts (or, as I prefer, the People's Republic of Massachusetts) has seen fit to use his services far enough away that he can't continue to attend our church. It's our loss.

I first met Kurt a few years back when he was the faithgroup on Harvard's campus. Make sure you read that correctly, he was the faithgroup (for those who don't know, "faithgroups" are what we call "small groups" or "cell groups"). I didn't really know Kurt very well back then, I just knew he was wicked funny. That aspect hasn't changed, but I've gotten to know him a lot better.

I think we became better friends in September '05. We were part of a three man team sent to Mississippi to help with relief efforts after Hurricane Katrina (with our friend Bruce, who also makes appearances in the comment section). I learned a couple things about Kurt: he grows a surprisingly good beard for a baby-faced kid, he has far more stamina than I do, and he is capable of growing quite a bit in a short period of time (not physically, of course). Instead of explaining myself, please read his post about it before you go on: check it out here. Rereading it brings back the memory of how blessed I was for Kurt to be open to the Lord's leading and conviction. If you float around his blog during that general time frame you'll get an idea of what we did. There may even be a rare photo of me in there somewhere.

Back on the homefront, I was coleading a faithgroup with another guy and Kurt was one of our faithful members. This group became known as Man Club, although not officially since the church leadership, though they thought it was funny, didn't really want to put that on our church website. Pansies. Anyway, Man Club soon multiplied (we never use the word "split", in case you were wondering) into two separate groups: Kurt and I led the group that continued to meet on the same night (which became known as Man Club: Original Recipe, a name inspired by Kurt himself) and the other met on a different night (this group became known as Man Club: Variety Bucket, which coincidentally was also the more racially diverse group of the two, that wasn't intended).

Kurt and I would get together every Thursday before faithgroup to talk and pray. We went through a book together, which I talked about here, prayed, laughed, never cried and ate a lot of pizza. We avoided confessing sins, but ultimately got around to most of them anyway. Kurt was always fun and honest, two words that I think characterize him perfectly.

The title of this post comes from one particular Thursday get together that didn't end up quite as well as we had hoped. Shortly before we met up he had gotten word that he was not getting the assignment near the city like he had hoped, instead would be sent 2 hours away. As we ate our food two words became the refrain for the evening: "this sucks." Not poetic, but it does accurately portray our feelings. But as we discussed (I think it was that same night), we remembered the teaching of a pastor in Texas. He likes to mention that we need to adopt a "hell-up" mentality, meaning that we deserve hell, yet God is gracious to us, so we ought to be thankful for anything more than hell, or "hell-up."

Pittsfield, I guess, would be the equivalent of hell in the law system of Massachusetts. Allegedly it has a poor court system, it's in the middle of nowhere, and it is much closer to New York than it is to Boston. In other words, a bit like hell. Kurt didn't get Pittsfield, he got "Pittsfield-up." It could have been worse, it could have been Pittsfield.

Again, I've seen Kurt grow over this time. He has come to embrace the idea of moving away. Instead of attempting to make the trek every Sunday back to Boston for church he (rightly) has decided that since God has placed him in a different community, he will attend church there and plant himself right in the middle of things. He has even thought that maybe he'll stay there longer than the 1-year appointment (I hope he changes his mind and can be reassigned, but we'll worry about that later). This attitude shows a tremendous amount of maturity. I would be whining and considering changing careers. Kurt has a Pittsfield-up mentality. He has been blessed, and he will make the most of it.

At any rate, I know it's not like he's dying or anything. Truth be told, I'm a fairly sentimental guy, when things are going well, I don't want them to change. And good friends can be hard to find. I can think of two instances off the top of my head within the last 6 months where I was going through a rough point and Kurt was there to encourage. He didn't have to write a long e-mail of make an hour-long phone call, in fact, the second time he wrote an e-mail of about 4 words. Kurt understands the art of being there without smothering a person with encouragement, to the point they want to strangle you.

There are plenty of others things to note, like the fact that he is cute and cuddly (ah, that never gets old). He is also the World's Best Usher, or so says the shirt he wears when passing out visitor's cards. And when my roommate and I were planning our move and coming up with our short list of possible roommates, Kurt was the short list. Alas, it wasn't meant to be. But remember- Pittsfield-up.

For those who know Kurt, feel free to share any thoughts or stories. Again, this isn't a eulogy or anything, so remember he'll be reading these. This post doesn't really contain everything, of course, and I wish I were a better writer to get the point across. Like maybe make you cry or something. At any rate, Kurt, we'll see you around, hopefully sooner rather than later.

Now, somebody cue up the old Michael W Smith tape and let's sing Friends.

laundry, guest blogging, mirrors & smoke, blogprops

Laundry
I was supposed to do some laundry tonight, but I really wanted to sit down and write this (not this part, but the upcoming blogprops). So, instead of doing laundry, I went out and bought some more boxers. That's just as good.

Guest Blogging
I had the pleasure of guest blogging over at Oh Me of Little Faith. I was one of a series of guest bloggers on the topic of community, I recommend you check them all out.

Mirrors & Smoke
I posted last week about a music video I saw for the new Jars of Clay song "Mirrors & Smoke" (I would link to it, but I want to make you scroll down and pass my posts in between). What I did not know at that time is that this is not the video the band came up with, but rather a video done by a fan. Whoever this person is, well, he (or she, I shouldn't assume) is possibly the coolest person who has ever lived. By the way, the more I listen to this song, the better it gets. Really well written, in my opinion.

Blogprops
Last week my roommate (Jonathan, aka JP) and I moved across the city, which might as well be across the state (at least when it comes to moving in Boston). This year's move was far more successful and less frustrating than last year's move (maybe someday I'll get Jonathan to write about the living hell that was Moving Day '05). This would not have been possible if not for some wonderful friends, to whom we owe a great debt. I want to thank them publicly, or at least semi-publicly.

Our friend Dave let us borrow one of his work trucks on Thursday night, which enabled us to cut down the number of trips back and forth. It also allowed me the adventure of driving a vehicle that is far bigger than what I am used to (I had no problems, for those wondering). Dave also loaned another truck the following night to a couple damsels in distress (mentioned in my guest blog noted above). Dave is simply a quality guy.

A nice fella named Jeff got far more than he bargained for. He thought that we were moving a mile or two away, he had no idea we were going across the city. Mind you, I figured he knew, but I'm not that smart. I didn't account for the fact that in the past couples months he has planned a wedding, got married and went on his honeymoon. I suppose keeping up with Danny's comings and goings wasn't on the top of his priority list, and I can't blame him at all. Either way, Jeff was awesome, he loaded up some boxes, tied a queen size mattress/box spring (Jonathan's, not mine) to the top of his SUV and helped us out. Thanks, Jeff.

Coming up huge for us was our good friend, Neil. Neil traded vehicles with me for a day and a half, he took my car (broken bumper and all), we took his pickup. Without this there is no way we would have been able to move our stuff. The bottom line is that Neil sacrificed a lot to help us out, and I am eternally grateful (as is Jonathan, I imagine). This is why Neil is one of my favorite people in the world. I apologized and thanked him countless times and he would simply reply "this is what it means to live in community." He has earned the right not to be made fun of for his manpris for at least a week.

I wasn't there, but Steve Holt helped us move some stuff into our apartment. This is no easy task, since we live on the 3rd floor and have a steep, windy staircase (quite common in this old city of ours). We barely know Steve, so him volunteering is greatly appreciated.

Finally, the biggest blogprops go out to Matt and Pam, who have modeled love and patience this past week. Here is a catalog of what they have done for us in the last week (and I hope I'm not leaving anything out): they helped us move items on Wednesday night into the apartment, including our couch, which barely fit up the stairs; they let us move items into their apartment for temporary storage on Thursday afternoon (some of them are still there, unfortunately); they helped us move stuff in on Thursday night (when I was still at our old place); they drove to our old apartment that night and helped us load up two trucks and their car; they went back to our new place and helped us move stuff in (staying up well past midnight, even though Matt had to go to work in the morning); they let us stay at their place starting Thursday night until tonight; they made breakfast for us (Swedish Pancakes, Neave style); Pam made grilled cheese (with bacon) tonight for my dinner, even though I explicitly told her not to, because that's the kind of godly woman she is; they have not uttered a single word of complaint despite the fact that we have mooched off them like leaches, although Pam almost threw up in her mouth when I wore my "lounging around the house" clothes. I think that's most of it, though I'm sure there are things I've left out. There really isn't a way we can say "thank you" strongly enough to Matt & Pam, certainly not with some stupid "blogprop."

Thanks to everyone who helped us move, may God bless you greatly for your sacrifice. You helped make a miserable time more bearable.

free advertisement for friends

I've been privileged to have a few friends give me props and send some traffic my way, so I figured I'd return the favor. But, I ran into a problem- if I plug some blogs I will inevitably leave someone out, and they'll have their feelings hurt and I'll end up having to spring for some singing telegram in order to regain their favor. So, I decided I would dedicate an entire post to my friends' blogs, I encourage you to check them out. If I forgot you, I'm sorry. Get over it.

Sarah is a good friend from seminary. She writes some really great stuff, the problem is that she posts about once every 10 years or so. In fact, she posts most often when she's overseas. So pray she'll go on more mission trips. When she writes, it's the kind of stuff you could read for your morning devotionals. Good stuff.

Kurt can be one of the most entertaining bloggers when he isn't taking the bar (he just graduated from Harvard Law School, hence the "hls" in his address). Unfortunately, he often likes to write about getting a tan, but he's quite capable of pulling out some gems. Exhibit A (see, court room language): his three-part review of season one of Thunder Cats is pure genius. Oh yeah, and there was the time his girlfriend posted a comment referring to him as "cute and cuddly" (paraphrase), which earned him a tremendous amount of public mocking (mostly by yours truly). Good times were had by all.

Matt & Pam Neave are two of my favorite people in the world. You know those couples that never make you feel like the 3rd wheel? That's Matt & Pam. Anyway, their blog has all sorts of pictures, which makes it easy for simple folk like myself to read. I'll soon be neighbors with them, but my picture better not end up posted on the World Wide Web.

Bruce & Morgan are clearly the coolest of my friends, because they have an entire message board. Actually, Bruce has an entire message board, Morgan rarely makes an appearance (apparently being pregnant and a nurse takes up a lot of energy). Here you'll find talk about their coming baby, their first, who will be named Polycarp. Also, you can link to their site and watch the video of Bruce's proposal. WARNING: it's pretty gross, a lot of hugging and kissing. I'm convinced Bruce did this purely to make his kids (the aforementioned Polycarp and, in the future, Perpetua) squirm someday.

Have you ever wondered what a liberal MIT grad from Jersey is thinking? Me neither. But, Andrew is defintely worth a read. I mean, the site's description is "a blog to argue with danny", so that's got to count for something. In fact, the impetus for starting his site was to argue with my assessment of Bruce Springsteen (check out the first sentence of his first post). The best thing to come out of Jersey since toxic fumes and big hair.

I've mentioned him before, but Jeremy, my second cousin, has a high-quality blog. He's one of those philosophy types, so be prepared. A wide variety of topics are covered here: biblical commentaries, racial issues, politics, and so on. And he has more links that anyone would know what to do with. I don't know him as well as the other folks I'm mentioning, but he gets a pass because we're related.

In the college friend category, my old roommate A-Rock is one of those musical-musings types. If you're a big fan of indie music, I'm sure you'll enjoy reading his album reviews. Oh, and I think I'm the only person who still calls him "A-Rock." Anyway, it's been fun checking out his blog, even though I'm not sure he knows I read it. I've realized recently how much I miss this guy.

Winning the prize for fewest posts (currently with a grand total of one) is another college buddy, who evidently has decided to be known purely by his last name, Maston. He and I would discuss exegesis, Biblical languages, theology, etc, for hours in college. In fact, I credit much of my biblical understanding to those conversations working through issues, bouncing ideas off each other. He just started his blog, inspired by his upcoming move to Scotland to work on a PhD in New Testament.

I've recently discovered the blog of Addie, wife of my college friend Greenbow. It almost makes me miss life in Missouri. Not quite, but almost. Apparently their dogs play an important role in their life. But what else should we expect from folks who live in rural Missouri?

I'd like to finish up my mentioning a few folks who really need a blog:

My roommate, Jonathan. Smart. Funny. Lady killer. That's a recipe for success in life and in the blogosphere.

Seminary buddy, Ryan. He should name it "Not Really a Presbyterian" or "Pretend Presbyterian." Anyway, he'll probably be the first pastor turned president (first that I'm aware of, at any rate), so it'd be cool if we could say "hey, I used to read his blog back in the day."

My dad. Actually, I wish I had more time, I'd convince my dad to co-blog with me about sports. Honestly, if you transcribed one of my conversations with my father about sports you'd end up with better stuff than what you hear on sports radio or read on the internet. He's one of the few people I (sometimes) defer to when talking sports.

Anyway, thank you for humoring me. I love my friends, and like to brag about them periodically. Check them out if you get the chance. You know, like when you're bored at work or something (*cough*Matt*cough*).