Month Number Three

WOW... almost at the end of month 3. Have not been updating my blog for almost 2 months - was discouraged when I found out that I cannot add pictures to it anymore using "Hello!". Also discovered that the Polar 625X comes with a nice training log software so I have stopped updating my training log here. Sorry!

Been getting dis-illusioned with blogspot and trying to find a better place to host my blog... Besides nto being able to post pictures using "Hello" (the only method I know how to post pictures), I also found that not all my post titles are displayed on the right bar. Perhaps it is time for me to learn HTML. :(

My motivation for pursuing Intentional Discipleship & the Sprint Triathlon has not changed though. So what's new? Well, I have signed up for the Sprint event in the OSIM Triathlon (2-3 July)! This is much earlier than my original target to participate in the Coporate Triathlon scheduled in Oct. I have been joining some friends in their training for the Olympic distance and I decided I might go for the Sprint event after all. I am probably not 100% prepared for the Sprint event, but with all the encouragement (peer pressure?) I am getting, I decided to go for it.

Will post more details on my preparations next time...

GAP Analysis - After The First Month!

Can’t believe it has been more than a month since I started this blog! Progress wise I have not come as far as I would have liked.

Sprint Triathlon GAPs
On the Sprint Tri side, I have been using the “comments” in my post on “Couch to Sprint Triathlon - TRAINING LOG” as a training log, but the short of it is that I am still not confident of being able to complete even one of the 3 events (swim, bike, run) within a reasonable time. The main learning point for me this first month has been the awareness of the GAP between where I am now and where I want to be. I was never the athletic sort to begin with, and it is really a challenge to even get to the fitness levels of some of my peers without even talking about a Tri! After a month, the “shine” of entering a Sprint Tri is wearing off and hence motivation is also getting lower.

1. If I go into the individual events, I am probably most challenged by the swim. I really struggle to swim 800m front crawl non-stop and when I do, even my wife and kids tell me I am slow – to quote my 4 year old “Papa why are you so slow when you swim? The other man is so fast, but you are so slow.” :) The plan here is to try breaking up the swim into 4 “reps” of 200m with overall timing of 8mins per rep – i.e. if I finish in 7 mins, I get to rest 1 min, but if I take 8mins, then no rest between reps.
2. I should be able to finish 20km on the bike in about 30mins, but if I compare myself to my biking buddies, I am still way slow – I am probably consistenly 2-5km/hr slower than these guys overall, and I am also weaker in hill climbs. My trusty old steel bike is working out well so far, despite the jests about the down-tube shifters, the heavy steel frame, and the colour – seems pink and yellow is no longer in season. ;) I am pretty happy riding it and do not foresee myself splurging $3K on my dream bike – Giant TCR Composite 3 – anytime soon.
3. I am getting worried about the run. I can consistently finish my usual route in about 23-24mins, and I had thought it was longer than 4km. Yesterday I went and measured the distance (finally) and found it is was more like 3.9km. :( This means I need to extend my run and get conditioned to running 5km or more. At this point I don’t even know how long it will take me to run 5km!

So overall, I think the challenge now is probably to have a good attitude and keep the training interesting – very important to have fun in the process. :) I also need to set realistic “interim” targets – perhaps to be able to consistently/comfortably complete each individual event in 30mins (i.e. 800m swim, 20km bike, 5km run) by the end of April? Only after that can I even think about combining the events and maybe going for a “mock” sprint tri. I remember seeing some Sprint Tri in July/Aug and the Coporate Tri in Oct, so my objective to COMPLETE a sprint tri this year still looks achieveable.

Intentional Discipleship GAPs
On the Intentional Discipleship side, I am also making slow but steady progress - e.g. I have finally written and posted my testimony. Since receiving the touch of the Holy Spirit in Feb, I can truly see the Spirit working daily in me to give me more wisdom (more understanding/discernment of spiritual things), power (the ability, energy, health, motivation to serve) and love (for my pastors/leaders; fellow brothers/sisters in Christ; and non-believers I encounter at work, in the famly, neighbourhood, etc). Similarly, one of the main learning points has been the awareness of the GAP of where I am currently and where God wants me to be. However, that is where the similarity ends because the Lord has also been teaching me that the means to overcoming that GAP is not my self-effort alone, but through the working of the Holy Spirit that is already in me.
”Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.” 1 Corinthians 1:21-22
“for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.” Philippians 2:13
I have learnt that the key to having an effective ministry (at home, at work, in church, etc.) is to be CONTINUALLY filled (or re-filled) with the Holy Spirit. And in turn the means towards being filled in the Holy Spirit seems to be

1. Submission to God and the authority he has placed over us (e.g. the pastors/leaders in church).
2. Recognizing that the Holy Spirit is a part of the Holy Trinity that lives in us and ministers to us – hence should be treated as a PERSON and not a “feeling” or “attitude” (i.e. just TALK to Him.
3. Maintaining a close walk with the Lord – thru Quiet Time (prayer & reading His Word). In terms of how much of that I have put into practice, I am ashamed to say that I am still not consistently doing my Quiet Time (i.e. both prayer and reading His Word) daily. There has been some improvement, in that ALMOST daily, I either read the bible using the “Cover to Cover” annual plan or do the Masterlife lesson as part of the church’s Intentional Discipleship program. However, I have fallen way short of my commitment to pray for the church at least 30mins a day.

Again, here I recognize the need to set acheiveable targets for April and mine will be to read His Word DAILY (as opposed to ALMOST daily) and to set aside at least 30mins for prayer daily.

My Testimony...

Well, I am at this point in the Masterlife series that I am to practise writing a testimony, so here it is...

My Life Before I Followed Christ
I have been very blessed even before I ever knew about Christ. I was born into a rather traditional Chinese family and have self-sacrificing parents whose only true desire was to make sure me and my sister grew up ok and are happy. As such, I did not lack anything growing up and had a head start in life through my education and confidence in life. I have been exposed to Christianity/Catholism from a young age, but saw it more as a "repent or go to hell" thing so there was abosultely no buy-in from me. :)
Many years later, I had what I thought was the perfect life for a Singaporean - great job, fast car and a air stewardess girlfriend (don't ask me why, but those 3 seemed to be the stuff of dreams back then). But you know what, for some strange reason, I was NOT happy. I was even depressed sometimes, especially when I cannot fill my time with working and being merry - e.g. there were nights when my friends had other engagements and I would be alone at home, and the feelings of depression and nameless anger would start. Needless to say, I was NOT the most pleasant guy to be with, even for my parents, as I was angry with them for not providing me with EVEN BETTER things in life!

What Happened?
Over time, I broke up with the air stewardess girlfriend, and I met someone else - you guessed it, my wonderful wife! :) She was certainly not destitude, but being from a large family, she also did not have a lot of the things that I had. BUT, she had JOY in her life. I could tell that she was genuinely happy and I could not figure it out. We started dating, and I remember one day, she lost a very expensive necklace of her mom's. She was freaking out and praying, and I decided to help pray too. So I literally said one of those "God, if you are really there.." prayers, and lo and behold, she found the necklace shortly. Still, I was not totally convinced - that could have been just a freak incident. I started attending some church services with her (as all good aspiring boy friends do) and while we were visiting churches, we came to Christ Methodist Church. For some reason, the sermons there really spoke to me in the 1st few weeks that we attended them. I can't really recall what the content of the sermons are, just that they really spoke to my heart. I guess that was the turning point for me, when I realised that Christianity was not about "obeying rules or go to hell", but about having a RELATIONSHIP with a loving God. So I commited to attend the services at Christ Methodist Church and even joined a Care Group (basically a small group that meets regularly to pray, study the bible, chit-chat, and have fun). Looking back, the Care Group had significant impact in my decision to stay in church. Having a group of (eventually) close friends with the same faith with whom I can talk about ANYTHING (my fears, desires, mistakes, encouragements), knowing that I will not be judged, but instead have emotional and prayer support is a tremendous thing. (If you are not in a Care Group, you REALLY ought to try it. It will feel kinda weird the 1st few meetings, but once the ice is broken, you will have loads of fun and be blessed tremendously.)

My Conversion
It is actually kinda hard to place a moment in time when it happened, but I gradually understood a few important facts:

1. Christianity is about having a RELATIONSHIP with a loving God, not about obeying rules, giving money, trying to be good, etc...
2. God is good, and so cannot tolerate sin. The very definition of sin is that which displeases (or does not honour) God. So rather than a God who sets rules and punishes us when we break them, I now understand that our God is a very strong and very pure God - that He is not a wishy-washy, whatever-happens kinda God, but a God who has a strong personality/character and one who is true to His principles.
3. When God created us, He chose (out of His love) to give us free will - otherwise we would be like robots. When God made that decision, He knew that He is relinquishing control over us, and literally giving us the option to turn away from Him (i.e. to sin). This concept may be hard to grasp, but I know that as a parent, I would rather give my children the will to decide to how to live their lives, rather than to have children who are not able to think for themselves.
4. So since God hates sin, and He has promised to punish those who sin (to correct us so we live according to His will - which is good, perfect and pleasing), AND at the same time, He loves us too much to let us receive the full result of our sin - DEATH, the only way He can reconcile us to Him is to punish HIMSELF! For who else can pay for all the sins of all people for all time once and for all? Certainly not mortals like us created in His image.
5. That's just what He did - He stepped into time in the form of Jesus and died for each one of us - without having any control over who will actually be saved, because He has also given us free will to chose to accept Him or not. That means it is fair for me to say that God made that sacrifice even if it would result in only me being saved - how's that for a persoanl God?

What Being a Christian Means to Me?
Because He loves me, I want to love Him and honour Him in return. So I

1. Accept Him into my life as Lord and Saviour (latter is so much easier than former, but they come together) . :) Having him as my Lord means literally, putting Him first in EVERYTHING.
2. I seek to deepen my RELATIONSHIP with Him by communicating with Him (via reading His Word and praying).

The two feed each other, because when we communicate with the Lord, He continually shows us areas in our life that may not be right with Him - i.e. not in line with His good, pleasing and perfect will - and so in response we continue to make Him the Lord of our lives by changing these areas to please Him.

Having a BALANCED walk with God

This is the "Disciple's Cross" illustration from the Masterlife series, and to me it is a good summary of the Christian walk.

1. First and foremost, the starting point has to be the willingness to take up our cross DAILY, so as to have a relationship with God.
   "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me." Luke 9:23
2. So how do we have a relationship with God? The vertical axis of the cross reminds us that the two main areas of communication with Him are Prayer and His Word. Experience has shown that if either one of these is missing, we lack the means to communicate with our Lord. It would be like complaining that our best friend or family does not call, when we are not even at the phone to hear it ring.
3. Finally, the horizontal axis points to what overflows from a close walk with the Lord - Fellowship with fellow Christians and Witnessing to non-Christians. This forms the basis of our Ministry or Service for the Lord.

I have found this simple illustration to be very useful in checking my walk with the Lord. Anytime that we find that the 4 elements in the vertical and horizontal axis of the cross - Prayer, Word, Fellowship and Witness - not being in balance in our lives, is an indication that we need to check our walk with God. For example, reading His Word but not praying could be a sign that I am relying too much on my own understanding/interpretation of His Word and may even be playing "Bible lottery" - you know, the dangerous game of flipping the bible to a random page/verse and trying to find a specific answer to our need of the moment. Or, another example is if I am consistently praying and reading His Word, but have no ministry (to Christians or non-Christians) to show for it, I am in danger of reading/knowing His will but not doing it.

"Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says." James 1:22

"What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. " James 2:14-17

So What's the Deal with Intentional Discipleship?

Over the weekend, I felt the Holy Spirit prompting me to do more justice to Intentional Discipleship (instead of jus the few cursory lines I have written so far), so here is a lay man's understanding of what it is all about...

1. I guess the starting point is that our Lord's salvation plan hinges on us KNOWING about His saving grace and ACCEPTING it into our lives.
2. The Great Commission from Jesus gives us a hint of how God intends to do that:
   "Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:18-20
   The Lord intends to use Christians as His predominant means of spreading the good news of His saving grace and bringing fellow brothers and sisters to accept His saving grace. Yes, the Lord's salvation is dependent on the will and actions of Christians! Such is the beauty and love of our Lord that He INVOLVES us in His salvation for the world.
3. Hence there is a responsibility for Christians to (1) grow to become matured Christians, so that (2) we can do the "good works" God prepared for us to do as part of His awesome and perfect salvation plan for the world.
   "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith–and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God– not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. " Ephesians 2:8-10
   "It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ." Ephesians 4:11-13
4. So, salvation is a PROCESS and not just an INSTANCE of accepting Christ. It is a LIFETIME of the following 3 actions on a DAILY (Luke 9:23) basis.
   (a) Repentance & Acceptance of Christ as Lord
   (b) Making a fundermental change to live a Spirit led life (Galatians 5:16-18) , i.e. becoming a Disciple of Christ
   (c) Doing good works - i.e. service in church - among believers (Ministry) and service among non-believers (Evangelism)
5. And... finally, Intentional Discipleship is (as the name implies) a DELIBERATE process to grow into a true Disciple of Christ and to help others become Disciples of Christ, in accordance to the Lord's good, pleasing and perfect will. The actual process itself varies and there is much material on Intentional Discipleship on the Internet, but for me, the functional components are:
   (a) Putting God first in everything, everyday.
   “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me." Luke 9:23
   “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing." John 15:5
   (b) Learning to be a Disciple - being a living sacrifice. Building a RELATIONSHIP with God though the two pillars of studying His Word and prayer.
   "Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God–this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is–his good, pleasing and perfect will." Romans 12:1-2
   (c) Service in church (ministry) and among non-believers (evanglism) - see Ephesians 4:11-13 ab0ve. Checking myself against the fruit of the Spirit.
   "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and selfcontrol. Against such things there is no law. " Galatians 5:22-23
   “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful." John 15:1-2

Informal Training Plan

Ok, looks like some sort of training plan is needed to keep on track. This is what I will shoot for starting Week 3:

• Sunday: Swim
• Monday: Run
• Tuesday: Bike
• Wednesday: Swim
• Thursday: Run OR Bike
• Friday:Swim
• Saturday: Bike/Run

Update: 2 Weeks into the Plan...

So, 2 weeks into my plans to pursue Intentional Discipleship & to complete a Sprint Triathlon, and how are things going? Time for an update on my observations/challenges:

1. The Plan
The intention was to keep the plan simple:

• Intentional Discipleship
  - To keep to my daily Quiet Time with the Lord - to spend at least 30 mins daily on prayer and 30 mins on Bible Study. I believe that a balanced walk with the Lord requires equal focus on both.
  - To continue serving as Care Group leader and in the Toddler's Playgroup every week.
  - To continue to make myself available to the Lord as prompted by the Holy Spirit.
• Training for Sprint Triathlon
  - To commit to the "2 X Weekly Plan" - i.e. bike, run and swim twice a week. Perhaps build to 3 X swim a week since this seems my weakest event.
  - To keep it simple: Will not followed a structured plan as my schedule is kinda hard to predict with business travels and family appointments.

2. Time is a rare commodity
I must admit that I under-estimated how hard it would be to make time for both pursuits. Being a parent of young boys mean that I have time to myself only when they are either napping/sleeping, eating, or otherwise pre-disposed, so finding the extra hour has been very challenging. The "tri" idea being new (and still exciting), I am afraid I have been cutting back on my Quiet Time (prayer or bible study time) to go running, biking or swimming. Have decided that I need to set and KEEP TO some ground rules, and to keep to it SIMPLE:

• Top priority must always be time for the Lord! If something has to "give", then it has to be either training time or time with the kids. If I am not right with God, everything falls apart anyway. "He will dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty." Psalm 91:1 - I can only find rest and peace in Him when I continue to put Him as the Most High in my life.
• Bible Study: Commit to spend at least 30 mins on Bible Study daily either in the mornings before work starts or over lunch-time at work. Weekends/Holidays, I commit to NOT doing any training until my Bible Study is done. If I work out first thing in the morning, there must be a realistic plan for me to make time for Bible Study later in the day.
• Prayer: Commit to spend at least 30 mins in prayer nightly before I sleep. I tried praying while running the other way, and was amazed that it actually helps me to (1) focus on the prayer, and (2) forget about the "pain" of running. :) PRAISE GOD! I guess it works for me because I tend to be easily distracted, but running forces me to concentrate on just one thing, which is perfect for prayer. Will continue to practise this as a way to be more time-efficient and hopefully improve my prayer life as well!
• Training:
  - The swim is probably my weakest event - goal is to move to 3 X swim a week.
  - Run is okay but slow - I should be able to consistently do 2 short runs a week (approx 4 km), but the goal is to go for at least one long run (> 5km) a week.
  - Slow on the bike too. Goal is to go for at least 2 X 30km rides weekly and to build to an average speed of 30km/hr (currently about 26-27km/hr).
• Making better use of time - To try harder to find ways to combine activities. Prayer while running is one example. Another is to bring my kids cycling and run with them. Just got my older boy (4 yr old) a 16" bike and took him biking while I ran at the East Coast. It worked very well, except (1) we have to figure out what to do with my younger boy (2 yr old), and (2) he was too fast for me! :) Just a couple months ago, he was too slow for me on his 12" bike! Kids grow so fast. PRAISE GOD! All said, it was great fun, good for building my son's fitness and confidence, and a great way to motivate me to run faster (otherwise he has to keep waiting for me to catch up). I strongly recommend this to any parent struggling to find time to run.

3. The Finances

I already have a post on Finances and will use the comments to add additional $$$$ spent as I go along, but it sure is easy to get sucked into spending a lot on "tri" stuff. E.g. decent cyling shorts cost SGD$50, but I can't seem to find "tri" shorts for less than SGD$90. There are also many hidden costs - some examples:

1. Bike glasses - I may need them soon as the trucks along Changi Coastal Road kick up a lot of sand when they zoom past. Coolest brands are no doubt Rudy Project and Oakleys, but oh so expensive!
2. Bike Pump - Trying to re-use my old ones but nowadays the road bikes need fearsome pressure in the tyres. The rubber washers on my old pumps are brittle... Wonder if I should get them replaced and if they can hit the high presures even with new washers?
3. Cycling gloves - decided not to get them for now, but they are good protection in case of falls, and probably improve riding comfort.
4. Heart Rate Monitor - Have not gotten one yet but heard a lot about the benefits of using one from my buddies who are more "serious" runners. To me, this is a really very cool toy which can come in handy when motivation gets low. :) Have my eye on the Polar S625X - this baby has got bike monitors (for bike speed, distance, cadence) and can even tell running speed and distance! Some think the bike computer should ideally be seperate form the heart rate monitor, but me being me, combining it means one less device to lose or damage.
5. Tri Gear - Do I really need tri shorts or suits just to do a Sprint Triathlon? Will try to get just one pair of "cheapo" tri shorts from Australia (courtesy of a very kind sis-in-law), and decide after I have tried them.
6. Tri Bike - Probably the single most expensive item will be a decent Tri or Road bike. Been looking at Giant bicycles because it seem to offer the most bang for the buck. But.... Even then we are looking at between SGD$3-4K for a Giant TCR Composite 3 or a TCR Aero 1! This will have to be a very carefully rationalised decision. So far my trusty old (15 yr old) Centrurion Ironman is doing fine and I am having good fun riding it, so this is one investment that I will want to postpone for as long as possible. :)