Howdy Doody fellow umm... readers!
I am sorry to report... my legs hurt like anything.
Futsol (or Futsal, whichamaeverway you wanna call it) is a killer game.
I fell down twice, got gutted by the ball twice (ok.. so one was more like on my knees or something but hey...), got stepped on countless times, sprinted unnecessarily 5 times i think... got pissed off 6 or 7 times (pissed off more at myself than anything cause i just dont know what to do with the ball when it comes to me and i end up kicking it to the opposing team.. stupid dufus...)..
In short...
I am now in pain.
Not really bad pain... but in enough pain to reconsider playing futsol ever.
Well, reconsideration for at least a week lar, till my leg heals that is...
Oh.. I have two nasty blisters due to inappropriate footwear.
Sigh... what a dufus.
But it was fun! Kinda... I mean, PAINFUL fun.
Tab and Patrina were the only other girls (alongside me) in the game... Pat, hats off to you man.
Umm.. WOman. Quite ganas, your playing...
I was useless kau kau... wondering here, wondering there...
Kane had to tell me to run for the ball... and I was suppose to be on the offense side.
Sigh... sports ain't my thing.
What sports was I good at ah?
Hmm... tug-of-war!

eh, I was really good at that ok.

Wait, wait... there's a spiritual post in here somewhere.
Aiyah.. cannot find lar. Amidst my bruises, spiritual insight has been lost.

Some more this daniel ah... always take my ball.
Super angry ah me... but cant take the ball back also.
No skill.

*sigh*

Hmm.. wait... stalling for my spiritual insight.
Its sandwiched between pei tan choke (lunch) and um... more pei tan choke (dinner).
Hmmm...
*thinking*

FOUND IT!

We watched a pretty cool movie on Saturday for youth... called "Time Changer".
I must say.. the whole film looked suspectingly promising...
till the whole Time Machine thing came in.
It got too HG Wells for me from then on.
But the plot of the movie was pretty good... something I think much needed for a post-modern youth (meaning, MUA).
Morality and Christianity arent synonyms.
Being a person who is upright and just doesnt make you a Christian.
The Devil isn't about making us into bad, mad, insane bunch of amoral people...
Satan is about credit.
He wants God's credit.
And as long as He can omit the name of the Lord from any aspect in our lives, even the good part... he's done what he intended to do.
There were some really cool dialogues (from now on, the movie will be sperated into 2 sections... B.T.M. (Before Time Machine) and A.T.M. (Automated Teller Machi.. no, I'm kidding... After Time Machine.. eer... well, I'm STILL kinda kidding but... oh shucks.)
Ok ok... serious sikit.

I think the whole absolutism approach to our faith is essential in understanding the authority of God.
I know what I now will proceed to say may be rather offensive, bigoted and controversial (not to degree of allowing same sex marriages on the basis of civil rights but nevertheless...) but I have been struggling with this issue for a while now and it is most heartening to know that at least, AT THE LEAST, a movie with a B-grade sci-fi title agrees with me.
Ok.... maybe that last sentence didnt do so much as to add validity to my argument as it did to make my last sentence more of a mockery but nevertheless...

We've heard them before. The ubiquitous bands out there who all sprouted from churches and who now branched out into the secular music industry with the ever so noble task of sending a 'positive message' to the masses with the oh-so-subtly imbued Christian innuendo in their lyrics. 
Yes, yes.. all very noble and kind.
But terribly manipulative and elusive.
This... is the greatest joke I have arguably ever heard:
"Yes, we are Christians in a band... but we are not a Christian band."
Laugh it up people.
 
I always found that statement rather.... weird? strange? fickle?
No.
INSIPID.
I always found that statement rather... INSIPID.
Ah.... so you can be a lawyer who is a Christian, but not a Christian lawyer?
So you can be a student who is a Christian, but not a Christian student?
So you can be a son who is a Christian, but not a Christian son?
So you can have an identity apart from a role?
How individualistic and post-modernistic is that?
No definitions, no guidelines, no nothing?
We live in dangerous times.

Same thing with Clinton. So what if he and Lewinsky were 'not' having sex? He's still a good president. Is a sex scandal enough to impeach a president?
Even in our churches... we excuse so many leaders of their indiscretions because we see that their capabilities outweigh the damage done by their capricious antics.
But in doing so, we seem to be discrediting our Lord's name.
Go on... do this. Go to www.biblegateway.com and type in 'name'.
Read the verses associated with the name of the Lord. There are in abundance.
And see how significant the name of the Lord is.... it is associated with glory, righteousness, power, majesty.
We cannot discredit our Lord. It is an expensive life we are living today, bought with an expensive price.

You cannot separate the identity from the role... because you cannot separate who God is from what God does.

Ok, so far.. all Ive done is talk.
Let us examine why our Lord's name holds such importance.
In the film, you will remember Russell's book carrying the extremely subtle implication that morality can be set aside from the Lord's name.
Examine these scriptures:

Acts 4:12 
¹²Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other NAME under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.

Acts 2:21
²¹And everyone who calls on the NAME of the Lord will be saved.^[a]Acts 2:21 Joel 2:28-32

There quite a number of scriptures... but let's look at a pretty important one that may adequately sum up my point:

John 3:18
Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed  in the NAME of God's one and only Son.

This verse states a most obvious fact that seems to slip past our eyes sometimes. Those who do not believe in the NAME of God's one and only Son, Jesus Christ stands CONDEMNED. Interesting isn't it? His name alone secures salvation... and we ALL know that. We quote the whole our good works are nothing more than filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6) and we go "Oh yeah... I know that one. That's why we ain't going to heaven. We ain't good enough." And that's true. We ain't ever good enough.
But you know the concept of branding? When you see the Nike logo on a shoe, you know that that shoe is 'good enough'. It's never about us you see... it's the fact that we don't carry the mark of Christ. No 'logo' of Christ if you prefer. THAT is why we aint ever good enough. When Adam disobeyed, when Adam went against God's authority, he effectively removed God's authority, God's branding, over his life. And that is what sin is...
Sin isn't so simply as lying or cheating or doing bad things.
Sin is basically, the rejection of God's sovereignity.
When we are OUT of His plan, His will.
And we shouldnt represent sin so simplistically as lying or cheating or fornication.
And why not you ask?
Not that sin doesn't cover any of the above, it does... but those actions are manifestations of sin, not sin itself.
Kinda like the symptoms of a disease... and you know, sometimes, when one cannot diagnose the disease to obtain the cure, one treats the symptoms.
It is a temporal relief but never a cure.
So when we represent sin so simplistically, we are effectively informing people that what makes a person good is what a person does.
As in if sin is this and this and that... it means, if we omit this and this and that.. you basically don't have sin. And people ain't stupid. They see through it, coming to the simple equation and then questioning the necessity of God.
And that may lead to a misinterpretation of the concept of salvation.
And you know the saddest part...
I can't even bring myself to tell people this. That sin isn't about evil and unrighteousness...
Its about their souls not belonging to Christ, who made them.
And why can't I bring myself to do that?
Because I don't want definitions, I don't want to be dogmatic... I don't want to offend.
So I detach WHO God is, from WHAT He does.
How do I do that? Well... I talk about what God can do for you.. remove 'sin' (as in not stealing, not lying, not feeling lonely, no more depression, etc.) without informing you that my God, your God, is sovereign and is your creator whom you belong to.
Salvation isn't about not being made good from bad. Salvation is about who you belong to.

And that is why His name is so important.
It lets the world know who you belong to.

Aha. But now, we must have a disclaimer.
Cause imagine going round shoving Jesus down everyone's throat.
Or asking your Hindu flatmate to move out because he/she does not have the marking of Christ.
That's a little too... whats the word here...
INSIPID.

Lets examine another scripture:
 
Acts 19:13-16 
¹³Some Jews who went around driving out evil spirits tried to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who were demon-possessed. They would say, "In the name of Jesus, whom Paul preaches, I command you to come out." ¹⁴Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this. ¹⁵(One day) the evil spirit answered them, "Jesus I know, and I know about Paul, but who are you?" ¹⁶Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered them all. He gave them such a beating that they ran out of the house naked and bleeding.

Ah... we see some idiots here using the name of the Lord in vain. So here, we have God's name used anyway, but to no avail. Why? Because it says this "Jesus I know, and I know about Paul, but who are you?" They did not have the mark, the branding of our Lord. So before you go out and spit Jesus' name everywhere, or in front of a speeding train to 'exercise' the power of the Lord, remember God's name MUST be held in reverence. And I don't mean those who say 'Oh My God' are going to hell (though I most certainly can't guarantee that they will go to heaven either) but what I mean is that His name, is to be revered.
Why didnt the evil spirits recognise the Jews? Why didn't the Jews have the authority of God in them, the Lord's marking?
Simple... because they dont know Christ.
How can you belong to someone you dont know?
I know it's legally feasible but spiritually? emotionally?
We must know Christ.. to belong to Him, is to know Him.

John 17:3
Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.

And when you know someone, it is easier to talk about him/her.. to invite another to meet him/her. Don't share your faith as if youre in the sales division of a marketing company. Share your faith as it is... faith.
When you know Christ, you will know that kicking out your Hindu neighbour ain't the way to go. Cause Jesus didn't shun the woman at the well.
Nor did He neglect Mary Magdalene.
Nor did He give up on Peter.
Or Joel Wong.
It's hard isnt it? because essentially, what I'm trying to say here...
it is hard to be a Christian.
To get things right to a fundamental core.
It is hard...
But the grace of God is always present...

Now THAT, is the power of his name.

In His name, 
sheryl

 P/S A caveat: I don't intend to diss all bands who are Christians but are not involved in the Christian music industry... hey, we all know from examples that playing outright worship songs doesn't guarantee anything about your spiritual state! But what I am intending to point out is the reluctancy as well as the ambigious nature of bands who obviously worship the Christian God and write about Him, in professing their faith forthrightly. I see and hear the statements about marketing and being cut off from the market but I'm not asking for a 'I Love Jesus' sticker that is handed out with every album you sell nor a in-your-face bible sermon everytime a gig comes up... but I'm asking, if youre asked about your faith.. why the reluctancy for point-blank admission? We're talking about giving credit where credit is due... that's all. Grace.