skinned

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

Mazaltov!

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. Baruch Ata HaShem, Mesame'ach Tzion BeVaneha
Let the barren city be jubilantly happy and joyful at her joyous reunion with her children. You are blessed, Lord, who makes Zion rejoice with her children.

5. Sameach TeSamach Re'im Ahuvim, KeSamechacha Yetzircha BeGan Eden MiKedem. Baruch Ata HaShem, MeSame'ach Chatan VeKalah
Let the loving couple be very happy, just as You made Your creation happy in the garden of Eden, so long ago. You are blessed, Lord, who makes the bridegroom and the bride happy.

6. Baruch Ata HaShem Elokainu Melech HaOlam, Asher Barah Sasson VeSimcha, Chatan VeKalah, Gila Rina, Ditza VeChedva, Ahava VeAchava, VeShalom VeRe'ut. MeHera HaShem Elokeinu Yishama BeArei Yehudah U'Vchutzot Yerushalayim, Kol Sasson V'eKol Simcha, Kol Chatan V'eKol Kalah, Kol Mitzhalot Chatanim MeChupatam, U'Nearim Mimishte Neginatam. Baruch Ata HaShem MeSame'ach Chatan Im Hakalah.
You are blessed, Lord our G-d, the sovereign of the world, who created joy and celebration, bridegroom and bride, rejoicing, jubilation, pleasure and delight, love and brotherhood, peace and friendship. May there soon be heard, Lord our G-d, in the cities of Judea and in the streets of Jerusalem, the sound of joy and the sound of celebration, the voice of a bridegroom and the voice of a bride, the happy shouting of bridegrooms from their weddings and of young men from their feasts of song. You are blessed, Lord, who makes the bridegroom and the bride rejoice together.

7. Baruch Ata HaShem Elokainu Melech HaOlam, Boreh Pri HaGafen.
You are blessed, Lord our G-d, the sovereign of the world, creator of the fruit of the vine.

food makes me happy

"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 pizza to a fancy dinner at Carabba's. It all makes me feel a little bit happier.

The problem comes when we go to our favorite Mexican restaurant and I fill up on the chips (which are making me happy, just thinking about them), and the food comes out and I successfully scarf that entire meal. If you don't know this already, Mexican food expands in the stomach.

The saddest part is that I do the same thing everytime.



What is your favorite "make you happy" kind of food?

maybe today

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 were teaching their classes, one was taken, the other was left.
Two students were sitting in their desks, one was taken, the other was left.
Two doctors were performing operations, one was taken, the other was left.
Two mothers were preparing supper, one was taken, the other was left.
Two ...
Two ...
Two ...

... one was taken, the other was left. [Which one will you be?]




I discovered this information through In that number, who wrote this post. There are several more links that have been compiled there, that are worth checking out.

Ben Harmless?

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!)

The Bug

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 work. I kept hoping that the money would come along that would allow me to fix it up, but that money never came.

Once I became a Christian School Teacher, I started to give up on the Bug dream. If you hadn't noticed, we Christian School Teachers aren't rolling in the dough...

Well the hope had all died out and turned into guilt that this bug was still sitting in my parents garage, taking up valuable space (sorry dad) and offering a habitat to mice (sorry mom).

But this last Christmas that hope sprang to life again. My dad took it to a bug mechanic and told him to make it drivable. I know that it was probably because he was sick of looking at it in his garage, but nevertheless, I am very excited.

It is running very good, but it still needs some body work. It needs a new hood and a new fender. AND a new paint job. I'm thinking something green... What do you think?

If I can find a picture of my original Bug, I will scan it and post it so you can see its amazing color.

Does a "bug fund" sound good too? I wonder if I could set up online donations...

Being Right (part 2)

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 Loving God is so closely tied to Loving Others, then to not be Loving to Others, would be to not be Loving to God. In logic, this is called a contrapositive and is a truthfully equivalent statement.

In the parable of the Sheep and the Goats, which I mentioned in the previous post, Jesus states the same thing. He says to the goats, "I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me." Jesus has equated their neglect of others as a neglect of Himself. (read the whole passage here.)

In the Sermon on the Mount, we can find another reference to this idea. Another passage that talks about this same topic is Matthew 5:23-24.

"Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift."

Did you catch that? It is almost as if God is saying, "Don't come to my altar... Don't bring me your gifts... Go to that brother of yours and get things right FIRST! Then you can come to me."

You cannot be right with God until you are right with others. The problems need to be fixed. Restorations need to be made. And time doesn't solve this problem either. Though that might seem like a nice fix to the wrongs that we have done to others, it just doesn't work that way in the real world. Douglas Wilson puts it this way,

"Sin disrupts relationships. Sin never 'blows over.' If the mere passage of time could deal with the problem of sin, the Son of God died for no reason."

Fellowship is a beautiful thing. When it is disrupted it gets ugly. We cannot separate those ties with God away from those ties with others.

Do you want to Be Right with God?

... then start by getting right with those people around you.