A visitor was found swimming naked at 4AM at my condo. He or she was discovered by some residents the security guards I am not sure whether it was a male or female. It was probably a female as I’ve not seen bottom-less male swimming in public places before. If it was a female, then maybe she was top-less or well maybe both Swimming top-less is not allowed here.

‘Oh My God‘ … I did not know this phrase is a sensitive word until someone from SGRunners forum pointed it out after someone else wrote an ‘OMG‘ word in the forum. I myself use this ‘OMG‘ word from time to time and little did I know that it’s a sensitive word … Did a little google search and I found this article that was written by Marsha West.

Abused: God’s Holy Name
By Marsha West
MichNews.com
Apr 18, 2006

You can run, you can hide, but you can’t get away from it, “God knows I’ve tried.” It seems that wherever you go, whether it’s to the mall, a movie, the golf course, or the hardware store, you hear God’s name being misused. It’s become so common that most people hardly notice it anymore. But some of us do.

It’s rare to watch a TV program without hearing God this, God that….”Oh my God!” Some people punctuate each word, “Oh – my – God.” Others say it as if it’s one word, “OhmyGod!” And there are those that shorten it to “Oh God.” If he or she’s a person of few words, just saying “God!” gets their point across. For a little extra punch, certain people will add a damn. For example, “I hate this G-D rain!”

I don’t mind when someone says, “God bless you,” or “God be with you,” or my mom’s personal favorite, “God love ya.” I take offense when someone uses God’s name as a curse.

It’s disheartening to hear the Lord’s holy name abused, especially by Christians who claim to love Him. The way we use God’s name is an indication of how we feel about Him. And by the way, those who misuse His name are treading on thin ice. “You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name” (Exodus 20:7).

God holds us accountable for every word we utter. Sobering thought, isn’t it?

The Lord loves those who pursue righteousness (Proverbs 15:9). He wants His people who are called by His name to love one another; to be compassionate and sensitive so that we might win others to Christ. I admit that being sensitive isn’t one of my strong suits. Often I’m viewed as insensitive because I say what’s on my mind. But it’s never my intention to hurt someone’s feelings. If I were talking with a Buddhist, or a Muslim, or someone who’s into Native American spirituality, I certainly wouldn’t be so crass as to say, “Swear to Buddha,” or “Oh Allah!” or “Great Spirit damn you!”

So, why aren’t Christians shown the same respect? The politically correct crowd would rather throw themselves in front of moving train than offend anyone, yet they abuse the Lord’s name without the slightest hesitation. And they expect Christians to stand there take the abuse!

The words you use, you choose. A good example of this is John, my neighbor. John’s a nice guy but he’s a notorious potty mouth. The other day he was standing at the local hardware store’s checkout counter. His back was turned when I joined the line so he didn’t know I was there. During his conversation with the clerk I overheard him use Christ’s name as a curse. When he turned to leave our eyes met. He gave me a hi-ho neighbor wave and left the store. My husband was waiting out front in the car so John stopped to chat. He was in the middle of an amusing golf story when I hopped in the car. The conversation went on for a while so I couldn’t help but notice that he didn’t abuse the Lord’s name once! A few times he chose to say, “For cryin’ out loud” and “Holy cow!” He knows my husband and I are Christians so he chose his words carefully. Inside the hardware store was an altogether different story. At the counter he chose to besmirch Christ’s name.

Another thing that gets my goat is all the profanity in movies, TV, music and books. Most Christians I know are watching less and less TV and have pretty much given up on going to see a movie. They’re also become selective about what they read. Believers are striving to live a righteous life. How does having our minds filled with filth contribute to that goal? It doesn’t, so we find entertainment in other ways.

Which brings me to Hollywood. The powers that be (writers, directors, producers, actors) choose to blaspheme God in every way possible. Which is why I choose not to go the movies. First of all, I don’t want to pay to hear my Lord’s Name misused. Secondly, why should I put money into the pockets of God-hating Hollywood mogul’s who use the millions they earn to produce more trash? Sure, there are movies I’ll go to, but they’re usually rated PG. One PG movie that’s worth seeing is “Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.” The film is entertaining, has impressive special effects and an exemplary message — and there’s no vulgarity or abuses of God’s name. Youngsters and oldsters flocked to see it so it was a huge success at the box office. Moviegoers also hastened to theaters to see “Dreamer,” an uplifting story that celebrates the importance of family. Hollywood occasionally comes up with a winner, but regrettably the losers outnumber the winners by a substantial margin. For every fifty vile movies, there’s one good one.

Here’s a good rule of thumb for serious Christians when choosing what to view, read, or listen to. Ask yourself:

Would I invite Jesus to sit down next to me and watch this movie? If the answer is no, grab the remote…click!

Would I want Jesus reading this book over my shoulder? If not, close the book!

Would my choice of music be pleasing to the Lord? No? Off it goes!

“Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things…and the God of peace will be with you” (Philippians 4:8-9).

Copyright: Marsha West, April 2006. All rights reserved.

Been busy doing stuffs but today I decide to reply to my emails and update this blog. I have yet to meet up with some friends too! A few of my ex classmates are gonna have a BBQ reunion at my place in May. I was chatting with Hairol the other night and we were reminiscing about those funny things that happened to him such as the big hole in his trowsers after playing tennis. Speaking of BBQ, the SGRunners is going to have its 1st year BBQ Anniversary in June!

For the past 3 weeks, my weekend (well either my Saturday or Sunday) was spent at Gombak Stadium to watch the National Junior Athletics meet. I enjoyed going there with dar and taking photos of athletes in action. Of course I also felt excited when his students ran! Glad that his students did well. Two medals are better than nothing By the way, I have updated sprintdynamic.com once again.

I was looking at some old photos and guess what I found … a short video that I took at Starbucks two years ago with my good buddies. It was during Innovex time … Hairol, Anu, Siti, Has & Merry: You guys remember!? Ah Innovex days were fun!

Afternoon: Went to Gombak Stadium to watch Day 3 of Singapore Junior Athletics C’ships 2006. Day 3 wasn’t full house (unlike day 1 & 2). It poured (together with thunder and lightning) so much in the late afternoon that some track events were delayed and some field events were postponed to next day (Sunday). More photos and videos at sprintdynamic.com

The sizzling pan (banana crumble) is very sweet but really delicious. Yummy!! After dinner, we watched ‘Firewall’. That’s 2 movies this weekend. Sunday was a rest day for me (slept more than 12 hours) and a home-study day for dar. He’s taking his NCAP Level 3 and there are lots of homework to do. Well I also did a bit of work on Sunday afternoon. I had brought some work home just in case I felt like doing something.

So dear and I watched ‘Tristan and Isolde‘ this evening. This movie is about love and lost, myth and fate based on the Celtic myth of star-crossed passion. It’s an action, drama and romantic flick and I enjoyed watching it. Hmmm the ending was sad … James Franco (Tristan) is hott in that movie

Here’s one of the movie’s soundtracks called ‘We belong together‘ by Gavin DeGraw. View the lyrics there.

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After the movie, we went for a night (romantic) run. We just came back home and had already eaten the tidbits that we’d bought earlier on at the Bukit Batok ‘Pasamalam’ (night market) – Thai Green Mango Salad (dear’s favourite) and Tom Yum noodles. We run so that we can eat more … haa

Mikey playing with one of his favourite toys We were in the living room and the TV was on. They were showing ‘So you think you can dance’ on TV.

This week is a short week. I was on leave on Monday and tomorrow (Good Friday) is a public holiday. I haven’t done much this week. Went to Bedok stadium on Tuesday and did some runnings while dar coached his secondary students. We met and had a short chat with a mexican athlete. Bedok track is one of my favourites because of its soft track. So Tuesday was my only workout day as usual. Will run some more on Saturday. Looking forward to catch a movie during the weekend. I wanna watch ‘Firewall‘. The trailer seems interesting. Sis told me that ‘Inside Man‘ is also nice. I’m also waiting for the movie ‘When a stranger calls‘ ! …

Ah, I love strawberry and cherry home fragrance oils! I can get 6 small bottles for only $6 in Bangkok whereas here in Singapore at The Body Shop, one small bottle costs $8 I think (and if you want to get those mini candles, go to Watson or NTUC or Carefourre because they are way cheaper there than at The Body Shop)