HARMLESS THOUGHTS

I am not quite sure how to begin this post, except to say that I wanted to begin recommending some books that I have found to be quite useful in my own life. And since I am working on compiling some posts on the topic of change, I thought now would be a good time to recommend some books on that same topic. I have also become a believer in saturating your mind with the right stuff. We waste so much of our time with television and movies, that we don't have time to fill it up with good practical teaching on the Word of God. I think that we should treasure the "pastors" of our day, even if they aren't at our church. So, here is my first recommendation: Godliness Through Discipline by Jay E. Adams Summary: With only 25 pages, this is a very short book. It is easy to read, but it is packed with some very practical and useful information. Here is the opening paragraph of the book, that will give you an idea of its purpose: Do you remember the last time that you left...

Christian Living in the Home by Jay E. Adams I finally finished the book, Christian Living in the Home, by Jay E. Adams. So here is my review... Summary: This book covers a full scope of topics relating to the Christian Home. Some of the topics covered are the Christ-centered home, hope, leadership, marriage, parenting, divorce, problem solving, etc. Here is a quote from the book that I think summarizes its purpose: "A truly Christian home is a place where sinners live; but it is also a place where the members of that home admit the fact and understand the problem, know what to do about it, and as a result, grow by grace." 1) Christians admit their sins. 2) Christians know what to do about their sins. 3) Christians progress out of their sins. ----True Christians are set apart by these three things. And it is these three things that should set apart the Truly Christian home. My Thoughts: I would say that this book is a must read. There are some very foundational teach...

Still, I know that God lives the One who gives me back my life and eventually he'll take his stand on earth. And I'll see him-- --even though I get skinned alive! see God myself, with my very own eyes. Oh, how I long for that day! Job 19:25-27

In a Jewish Wedding Ceremony, right after the KETUBAH (or the signing of the marriage contract), there is the reading of the seven blessings . Here are those seven blessings that I would like to pronounce at this time. 1. Baruch Ata HaShem Elokainu Melech HaOlam, SheHakol Barah Lichvodo You are blessed, Lord our G-d, the sovereign of the world, who created everything for his glory. 2. Baruch Ata HaShem Elokainu Melech HaOlam, Yotzer Ha'Adam You are blessed, Lord our G-d, the sovereign of the world, the creator of man. 3. Baruch Ata HaShem Elokainu Melech HaOlam, Asher Yatzar Et Ha'Adam Betzalmo, b'Tzelem Dmut Tavnito, VeHitkon Lo Mimenu Binyan Adei Ad. Baruch Ata HaShem Yotzer Ha'Adam You are blessed, Lord our G-d, the sovereign of the world, who created man in His image, in the pattern of His own likeness, and provided for the perpetuation of his kind. You are blessed, Lord, the creator of man. 4. Sos Tasis VeTagel HaAkarah, BeKibbutz Bane'ha Letocha BeSimchaa. ...

"My name is Matt Harmless, and I am an emotional eater ." *no response* Then I smile to myself because I know where the rest of my support group is. They are out in the hall stealing the coffee and doughnuts from the other support groups table. At least they are happy. Alright, I am just kidding. I don't actually go to an emotional eater support group . (I don't know if that would work anyway. What would you do to celebrate graduating from the class?) But even though I don't actually get together with other emotional eaters, I have to admit that this is exactly what I am. It is embarrassing to admit, but food just makes me happy. My wife was the first one to notice it. Of course I argued with her about it for awhile, but then I started to notice the trend myself. Hard day at work -- Want Food. Argument with wife -- Want Food. Kids acting bad -- Want Food. Car breaks down -- Want Food. Nothing happens at all -- Want Food. And it works too! Anything from frozen ...

I remember a hymn from my childhood that went something like this: "Maybe today, My Lord will come for me. Maybe today, My savior I shall see." I don't remember the rest, of that hymn. But when I see things like this in the Israeli News, then I start to think, "Maybe today..." The Sanhedrin meets for the first time in 1,600 years. The newly re-formed Sanhedrin discusses the rebuilding of the Temple. You know, we talk about this stuff all of the time. We mention how we are in the last of the last days. But when you find something like this, it really snaps you back to reality. And reality is what I am talking about. The end times are going to happen. In fact, there is more of an assurance that the end times are going to happen than there is an assurance that you are going to make it home tonight after work. In Matthew 24:40, Jesus says, "Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left." That day could be today. Two teachers wer...

Alright! Whoever said that 6th graders need to start learning how to use computers is crazy. Do we really want to give them all that knowledge? Will they use their computer powers for good... or for evil?!? I just found the website of one of my 6th graders, and this is the picture that I found... Actually, I have come to enjoy my new genetic enhancements... (Thanks alot Jared !)

My very first car was a 1974 VW Beetle. I loved it. I can still remember the first time that I took it out on the road by myself. I became a permanent Bug fan. Its color could only be described as fluorescent green. It nearly glowed at night, but it was very easy to spot in a full parking lot. I have numerous stories that I could tell about that Bug. Stories to do with the softball-sized hole in the floor, the snow that would blow in through the vent, and the battery under the back seat that burned a hole in a friends shorts. Once I tried to take it up to it's top speed. Believe it or not, I made it up to almost 100 mph. (Kids don't speed... it is very stupid and irresponsible.) But by the time I sold it, at the end of its life, it would barely go 25 mph. Ever since I sold it, I have had the hope that I would one day be able to own another bug. About 7 years that opportunity arose. I purchased a 1969 VW Beetle, that was in fairly decent shape, but still needed some wo...

I have titled this "series" of posts Being Right , because I know that there are many people out there that are concerned with... well, being right . Most people know that they want to be right with God. And even if they are not right with God right now, they know that they eventually want to be. In the first post, I introduced this discussion by talking about the high correlation between Loving God and Loving Others. You can read that first post here: Being Right (part 1) . When I wrote that first post, my intent was to establish some foundational thoughts about being right. The brief version of God's plan for you is to Love God and to Love Others. Or one might say: to Love God by Loving Others. If you have not read that first post, I would like to encourage you to, this post will make more sense if you read the other one first. Now that you have read that previous post (I hope), I will dig in a little bit deeper by taking a look at the flip-side of the coin. If Lov...

Change is hard. And more importantly, change is hard work. If you are reading this, and are thinking in any way that change isn't for you, then don't read any further. If you are reading this and you want to change, then click to read the full post. I am glad that you decided to read a little more... There are many people that want to change. They know that they need to change, and that is what they want to do, but they just don't know how to do it. Maybe they have even tried to change before and have failed. Maybe they have even failed many times. And maybe, they have given up. But don't give up. God's desire for you is to change. I would like to spend some time talking about the shortcomings that most people face when they truly attempt to change, and discuss what the Bible tells us about how to change. And believe it or not, the Bible does have something to say about life change. II Peter 1:3 says, "His divine power has given us everything we need fo...

have had the same valentine for nearly 15 years. We have been through the thick and the thin, the good and the bad, the difficult and the easy, the ugly and the pretty. And through all of these times, the highs and the lows, she has remained my valentine. t is said that St. Valentine defied Claudius, the emperor of Rome. Caludius was forbidding any new marriages to add to the size of the Roman army (married men could not be enlisted). Valentine did not agree with this law forbidding these new marriages and decided to perform marriage ceremonies in secret. When he was found out, he was immediately imprisoned. During his imprisonment, he was befriended by the jailor's daughter, and the two of them began to develop a deep love for each other. nfortunately Valentine was eventualy martyred for his faith. He was martyred February 14, 270 ad. And on the day that he was martyred he sent a note to the jailor's daughter that said, "Love, from your Valentine." Hence the suppose...

Today is my youngest's 3rd birthday. But it seems like I have always known him. Both of my boys are such an integral part of my life. I have been at a Bible Conference for an entire week, and after being gone from my family for such a long time, it was good for my heart to be back with my boys again. My wife's blog has a quote from sophocles that says, "Sons are the anchors of a mother's life." I would say that for a father, sons are the sails. They keep me moving forward. Their lives remind me how to keep my imagination alive, how to play and how to smile at anything. They teach me again how to enjoy the smallest things, like a little toy train on a birthday cake. They dream of life and that presses me on to enjoy the life. Most people know that the Bible speaks of children being a blessing. And it is true. My life is blessed because of them. In the Hebrew language, the word for blessing means happiness. And that is what they are to me. They are a happiness to my...

Need to contact me? Want to ask me a question? Just feel like saying "HI!" Well, now you can. I have signed up with a service called eVoice . They give you a voice mail number, that people can call, and the messages show up as e-mail attachments. And it works , I tried it . Pretty Cool. My eVoice, voice mail number is 1-320-210-1943, and if you would like to drop me a line, feel free. Maybe I will start up my harmless advice , advice column again... If you would like to get your own voicemail number, just check out eVoice.com and they will hook you up. It is totally free, so check it out. The same company does something called eFax too, but I haven't tried it yet.

Psalm 19 is one of my all time favorite Psalms. I currently have this Psalm posted on the back wall of my classroom. I have also posted this Psalm on this blog two other times. You can find those posts here and here . There are so many applications that can be drawn from this passage. It is filled with great insight, from the creation of the world to the living of day to day life. But I have recently learned something new about this verse, and I thought that I would share it with you. If you read through this passage, you may notice, upon closer inspection, that "God" is only mentioned once in the first six verses. Those first verses are all about how creation shouts... screams that there is a creator. After those first six verses you will find that His name is mentioned several more times. This is a fairly interesting fact, that might pose a few questions as to why it is like this, but it gets even more interesting once you look at the actual word usage. That one mention of...

I would like to take a moment to refer all of you to a new blog called The Dad's Group . It is a group blog that is composed of Dads! I don't know how it is going to go, but I am a member of this blog, so check it out!

There have been two new things that I have decided to try on the web. I have enjoyed both of them so much that I decided to share both of them with you. The first one is Gmail. I absolutely love Gmail. I hate to break it to you MSN... But Gmail is much better than Hotmail. (At least that is my opinion.) Gmail has several features that I really love. The first one is the mail search. Very handy. The next one is the "conversation" feature. When you pull up a message, it pulls up all of the messages that were related to that one. It is hard to explain, but once I got used to it, I don't think that I ever want to go back. You are also given an 1gig limit. That is huge! The idea is that you don't need to dicard old mail, you just archive it. My favorite thing is the Gmail notifier. I know that most people don't have to worry about this, but after using hotmail, without a notifier, I have had to continually check to see if I have any new mail. Well, thanks to the people...