Reviving a Dead Engine

Masuk kunci dalam kereta. Pusing sampai pukul tiga dan dengar suara enjin… eee eee eee eee!! Habis…langsung tak boleh start!!

Don’t know how many times you guys have ever experienced this. I certainly have!! Yeah with my extremely weary body, it’s tough resuscitating a corpse.

The past 2 months have been really hectic with work, family and church commitments and I’ve seen much of my running time take a super slide. Shaking off the ‘hauntings’ from my last race (my most nightmarish running event ever) has taken longer than expected, so my body slipped into ‘mati enjin’ state.

Well.. nothing like a good big race to get you scared, frantic and force a restart to the old motor, the annual Penang Bridge Run 2009.

This year’s organizers seem really pumped up for the event and have gone all out to make some drastic improvements in its format. The scoop is that they will be utilizing ‘timing chips’ for the first time ever and most surprisingly…..taaadahhh..real running vests (Brooks)!! You guys from other states won’t understand why it’s such a big deal. You see, Penangites are sometimes known to be quite….ahem… ‘kiam siap’ (stingy) and they have consistently given every non full marathoner a cotton t-shirt, fit for the entrance to your toilet, for umpteen of years. So this time, we’re really getting something valuably tangible ‘offsetted’ from our registration fees….finally.

You’ll also notice that they have also plastered loads of adverts all over the island and banners along the Penang Bridge to promote the event. The design has improved compared to previous years due to the injection of young blood in the committee. They even have Facebook and e-mail updates (just got another FB alert today).

Anyway, just to inform you guys that training has recently started again after many failed attempts and I feel that I’m slowly getting back to what I used to enjoy a few months back.

I’ve got Bing Hwang (my church buddy) to do runs with me, so it has been a refreshing change to have a training partner whom I can motivate and who like wise motivates me. Oh yeah..if any of you happen to see 2 guys running together around the Minden Heights area, inside USM or near the Sg. Dua region between 6 to 8pm, give us a honk!! J

We get to enjoy our runs because we chat during our runs about work, life and also about our areas of service for the Lord. We know we’re a long way off from giving the performance of our lives at the race and making new PRs but at least we’re rubbing (not quite ‘burning’) asphalt again. We did a 10km run last Sunday and followed up with a 12km on Tuesday, then another 10km yesterday, so I think we’re getting some well needed mileage into our creaky legs.

Sometimes we do really take for granted that God gave us an amazing body for our use and that it is He who allows us to do things with it that we never thought previously possible. He is also able to restore it after we get our needed rest and helps it get ready for another run. I was just reminding Bing that while He still gives us breathe, we can bask in the little joys of knowing we’re so blessed to be even able to walk and run. When we’re old and grey in the future, we can look back and thank Him that He gave us those opportunities to enjoy whatever He graciously handed us.

The upcoming challenge!! Thankfully it’s not gonna be the 25k this year.  :)

Let’s run people!!

Man Utd here we go!!

Warning: This blog entry is rather stale due it sitting in draft mode since 14th August 09. Anyway, I’ll post it to recapture the magic of the entire episode.

When Manchester United Football Club announced they were going to make their pre-season tour in Asia I was really hoping it would include Malaysia. Being such a small country on planet earth does have its set backs because we get overlooked by the worldwide community. They were supposed to come about a year ago but AFC blocked the plans due to it coinciding with the Asian Cup, which Malaysia weren’t really involved in anyway. One small thing that still kinda disappoints me sometimes is the fact that whenever CNN International gives its weather report of Asia.. they conveniently leave out Kuala Lumpur but will never forget to mention Singapore. We recently got into the news because of the Anti-ISA demonstrations where the police came out to battle the rioters. Infamy. Sigh.

Anyway…yes.. Man Utd did include Malaysia as their stop over this time. In fact, we were named as their 1st ‘Pit Stop’!! Not even the transfer news that Ronaldo was leaving the club for Real Madrid would take away the sparkle of the team making its way to play Malaysia’s Selection (mainly under-21 national players). The last time they travelled here to play a Malaysian All-Stars team (kononnya), they trashed our boys 6-0.

After discussing with Laura, we decided that we would get the RM98 tickets for the game scheduled for 19th of July. Bought 4 tickets, 2 for Adrian and Cindy, which included special passes to their training session on the 18th (Saturday). It was gonna be sweet!! I also called up TicketPro to find out whether our little son could come along with us and they were happy to tell me that with 2 adult tickets… my little son below 3 could enter for free!! Yay!! That was a bonus!! Oh yes..Little Ryan would also be added to the happy convoy.

This is where my post gets a little interesting. Out of the blue one night as I was scrolling through Astro’s compulsory channels at night, I decided to stop at 8tv (I hardly watch this channel.. sorry Shelby..it’s true!!). I didn’t recognise anybody from their Quickie programme but came on coincidentally in time to hear them mention about a competition that involed a special pre-order of Man Utd’s latest jersey, in conjunction with their Asian tour.

It was not until a few days later that I remembered the comment and logged on to Nike Malaysia’s website to check for contest details. The site said that we needed to pre-order the new jersey to be in the running for a special viewing of players on tour. The grand prize was a pair of tickets to the grandstand worth RM308 each (USD88) for the game. I called my brother, Adrian to tell him about it and it took some convincing to get him to make a quick decision (it wasn’t cheap). Anyway, we had Cindy go to One Utama shopping centre to help us out in placing our early orders so that we could be in the running for the tickets.

However, the website never said anything about what the contest would be (I thought it would be special draw) and we were soon to find out … a ‘slogan contest‘!! Yikes!! I’d never won a slogan contest in my entire life. I remember winning a free cruise trip and RM500 once on MIX FM’s Love Boat competition by writing a toast to the 2 hosts back then, Richard and Shazmeen… but that was against 10 other couples who were more focused on enjoying the view of the open sea while I cracked my head in poetry. This would be a challenge.

The slogan would start off with, “I want to see Man Utd live because….”. Sounded easy but it gave me the jitters trying to think of the perfect sentence. The time was ticking because Cindy was waiting at the shop for our slogans via sms!! I knew that I wanted it to be ‘hardcore’ Red, so this was what I put down

I want to see Man Utd live because …. the spirit of Charlton, Best, Law, Cantona, Solskjaer and Schmeichel live on in the team!

There you go, 15 words, the maximum count allowed.

Adrian’s was pretty cool too..with a slight tinge of aggression but all in good fun!!

I want to see Man Utd live because… if you cut me, I only bleed RED!!

We sent it off to Cindy and hoped for the best. The results would only come a day before they arrived in Malaysia, so this was nail biting stuff. HEHE!! I actually prayed to the Lord for Him to allow us to win the competition. When we’re close to Him you will find yourself praying to Him for everything and over everything.

I travelled down to KL a few days before the game for work, with  my little family in tow. I got busy with work and soon I forgot about the competition. It was late at night on the 16th of July probably almost close to midnight and I got a call from my brother through Laura’s phone.  ’Hey.. I’ve been trying to get to you on your phone!‘ Adrian said frantically. I quickly said, ‘It’s charging upstairs lah‘. Then my brother said.. ‘You wouldn’t believe this.. Nike just called me and said I’d won the grandprize for the game!!‘. Yahoo!! At least one of us made it….but did I? So I ran up to the room to check my phone…with my heart pounding feverishly. I saw a few missed calls, 3 from Adrian and one from a mystery number in KL at 11:45pm plus. I hanged up on my brother and dialed the number…. “Oh let it be Nike!!”. Yes it was!! I called and identified myself ……… did I win the grandprize too or did I get the consolation prize of RM98 tickets which I already had.

The lady said.. “oh.. Alan Low Chu Beng is it… hmm.. oh.. I would like to inform you that you’ve won yourself the grandprize to see Man Utd.“

I could hardly sleep that night and was just so thankful to the Lord that He allowed us both to win prize together. What were the odds of 2 brothers nailing 2 out of the 10 the grandprizes available in the competition and even getting side by side numbered tickets to the game? We knew it was slim.. but we ultimately knew that it was the Lord’s work. I do believe that the Lord does give us little things in life to be excited and to rejoice about. For example, when we get a new car, a new job, getting free food coupon so that we can save a little cash, etc… He is always in the picture even in the good and bad times in our lives (eg. a tire puncture, a loss of a dear family member).

Before we knew the results, Adrian and I were really trying to figure out the logistics should only one of us win.. which would have made our Red weekend an utter dismay, not getting to enjoy the game together. However, the Lord had His hand in it, and the brothers, their wives and children could all be together!! Simply awesome.

There were other surprises that came along with the prize, as we got special passes to watch 4 United players play a 4 x 5 against the winner of the junior futsal team tournament. We got seats to the grandstand just directly at the courtside and got an up close personal view of Rio Ferdinand, Darren Fletcher, Darren Gibson and Nani. It could have been better if we got their signatures but the security was so tight due to the news of the Indonesian bombings at the hotel they were supposed to stay in on their next stop to play the Indonesian national side. However, still much to be thankful for.

The game was interesting enough for the fans as Malaysia hit 2 the goals through Amri, while the new number 7, Michael Owen netted the winner to save Man Utd. the blushes. The score ended at 3-2 and it meant every Man Utd who was automatically a Malaysian fan went home happy. The press reported that 100,000 came for the game, which meant we surpassed the Old Trafford maximum capacity of 86,000, so the atmosphere was splendid.

Other Highlights of that Weekend

1) Laura saw Giggsy on her birthday! I also bought her the new United kit.

2) Jojo finally got to see Giggsy and Nani!

3) Watching Wang Wang and Jojo play together in the stands.

3) Had a good time with Lawrence, En Hsiang, En Tzu pre-match over lunch.

4) All of us got to see every United player up close (except for Park, Vidic and Alex Ferguson (seated too far))

5) Awesome fellowship with my brothers family. We stayed over at their place for 2 nights. Great meals together!!

5) Breaking bread at Cheras Gospel Centre on Sunday Morning and the fellowship among the saints in Christ.

Just so much to be thankful for!!

Jam 1:17  Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.

Jam 1:17  Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.

* I leave you guys with a snap shot of Giggsy. I’ll see if i can add more in the future…but knowing me..it’s gonna be some time.. ahem.. a long time ahead.

Ryan Giggs - The Welsh Wonder

GLO ‘ganti’ Standard Chartered Run

I’m back!! I have decided not to make any apologies for being the worst blogger in Malaysia. No excuses to redeem myself for not taking the trouble to write anything for ages. This entry was planned over a month ago but it looks like I could never find that spot of time to rattle on about what was happening in my life. To be honest, I did feel a pinch of guilt for those who faithfully clicked on my blog to see if Alan bothered to resuscitate it out of its state of stupor. I have a hunch that some would have popped over from the link through Team Miracle Mile’s website.

June 09 was supposed to be prepatory month for the long awaited Standard Chartered Half Marathon. My training for this event started a few weeks after a very dissapointing showing at Pacesetters 15km run in KL back in the middle of May.  Actually,  I decided not to blog about that run due to the mental torture I endured before and throughout the race. Not recalling the events of that entire weekend would save me some stress. HEHE!!

However, my running plans didn’t material (yes.. again) as I was invited to teach at the Gospel Literature Outreach (GLO) school in Taiping,  Perak for the entire week, starting a day after the supposed run (29th June – 3rd July). After some consideration, I knew that if I wanted to give my best to the Lord as a young lecturer, running would have to take a back seat for the entire month to prepare myself spiritually and also to fully concentrate on studying the Word of God and preparing lecture materials.

It was a lovely experience lecturing for the first time on a subject that I ‘previously thought‘ I knew well due my years of involvement with  ”Youth Ministry“. In fact, this was the very first time I’d ever been approached to do something like this. It was very different from the small youth camps I’d taken in the past…this task was really much more daunting to me personally. I was indeed thankful I had God fearing people such as my twin brother (Adrian) and Chew E.H. (JIC) to go to for consultation and prayer support as I mulled the invitation over. I felt led by the Lord to take up the module in the end and called Uncle Thiran to say ‘yes‘.

In my preparation, the Lord indeed revealed to me the need to re-examine ministries in the light of His Word and to see how one could faithfully apply the New Testament principles to govern ‘youth ministries’. I found myself extensively reading loads of materials that many youth workers in churches currently operate with, purchased from the local Christian bookstores both in Penang and KL. This was to update and examine the many thoughts of others circulating in ‘christendom‘. To my dismay, I found much of these materials based on over pragmatism and seeker friendly concepts instead of using the patterns and standards that were set forth in scripture. One of the findings I came out with, was that ‘youth ministries’ of today were being run like ‘parachurch’ organizations within churches, thus leading to bigger issues of being unable to build scripturally solid and effective New Testament churches for the Lord. A significant problem many churches of today are facing is the inability of young people to communicate or serve alongside older people and vice versa. This led me to direct my study towards seeing how we could trustingly use the scriptures to bring us back to the pattern that the Lord would be most pleased for us to follow, since Christ Jesus is indeed the Head of the Church.

Oh how we need to seek the Lord’s direction from His precious Word, to guide us in our decision making and to trust Him to do His part in adding souls to His fold. I quote unverbatimly Brother Andrew Cowell in one of his famous sayings, ‘Man does the work of man, God does the work of God. Man cannot do the work of God, while God will not do the work of man.‘ This divine partnership between the church and the Lord requires obedience and complete trust on our part in His power and wisdom. Some trust in man-made ideas and embrace marketing concepts and methods  … but we must preach Christ crucified to the ultimate saving of their precious souls from eternal seperation from Him, that is our God mandated duty.

To spare some readers the agony of reading my discoveries, I would not make further comment on the truths I found in scripture. I shall only respond or give insight into what the Lord revealed to me if asked individually.

It was a really lovely opportunity for me to escape the busy schedule at work, in which I sacrificed 5 solid days of my annual leave for this stint in Taiping. Laura and Jojo came along with me and we had a wonderful time together when it wasn’t lecture hour. The little room that we stayed in at the Taiping Gospel Hall church site was really cozy and it was a really cute experience doing everything in there with my little family for a week. Jojo went around telling everyone that the room was our ‘Taiping House‘. HEHE!! Although I was busy re-looking and preparing lessons and notes throughout the week, just listening to the laughter and chatter of my wife and son behind me as I sat at the study table gave me great joy. It’s little moments like these that etch the best of memories in life.

The Lord helped me pull through the entire week together with the 4 very dear students who attended all the lectures. Oh yes.. Laura and Jojo also actually attended almost every single lecture, which made it all the more sweet (so that was an added 2). Jojo came armed with his story books and color pencils. Uncle Kha Kooi, my church elder from Penang drove down to attend Thursday’s morning lectures to give me the encouragement, together with his wife (treating us all to lunch later). To be honest, all the students were older than me except for 1, so I was really thankful to the Lord that I was actually taken seriously and given the humble task of sharing what the Lord had impressed upon my heart for this topic.  A note of thanks to all my family members who were upholding me in prayer, my brethren in Sg.Ara Gospel Hall and a special mention for the following people, Adrian (again), Chew E.H. (again), Laura and Jojo (who is still praying for ‘daddy’s message preparation’), both side of my parents,  Joseph Lim, Bing Hwang, Uncle Alistair King (CGC), Theam Wah, Amar and Sudhir.

All in all, it was a lovely time spent there at GLO Taiping. It was not all lectures, bible study, message and notes preparation alone because I managed to slot in some other outer activities. The most notable one was going out for supper almost every single night with my little family and Bro. Theam Wah, the GLO assistant coordinator. This dear brother was the perfect cheperon to this little town he now knows pretty well. We managed to slot in a visit to the Night Safari for Jojo’s experience and that was a bit sad. When we first arrived there at 8.00pm, we thought the zoo was closed. When we went in.. there were less than 15 people sitting in the train waiting for the only tour tram round for the night. In fact, when we arrived at the ticket counter… we saw a rather furious ‘gentleman’ ranting at the reception demanding for a full refund as he had waited for 15 mins without the train moving. He left the zoo after having paid for his entire family…probably to ’save his face’ of having to apologize for his poor behaviour. The train left once we boarded about 5 minutes later. I really pity the zoo management actually, as its tough on them to finance an entire zoo with income from 15 visitors on weekday nights. There were some really fun animals to see though, such as my favourite Kong Kang (Slow Loris) and the usual nocturnal animals such as owls. I also realised I have aged quite a bit. The driver kept pointing out the animals in their night habitat and I was always asking ..”‘mana, mana encik?“. Laura and Jojo were happily accomodating the low light conditions while their daddy struggled like a bat. HEHE!! I recently heard that carrots don’t improve eye sight but instead spoil our eyes if taken in excess, so don’t pass me any to try and solve this foreseeable long term handicap.

Jojo and mummy at the zoo!

Jojo and daddy

Well, as I slowly edge out of the age category of ‘youth’… (or am I already out of it?), I’m reminded that every juncture of our life is to be lived to the fullest for the Lord. There is so much in life that needs to be done but the only thing that really matters in the end is how we lived it and ran it for Him. As for me…it’s God that gives me the joy to age gracefully and it is He who gives me purpose in service and also real perspective to life.

I’ll put some photos up for you guys to catch a feel of what I did. Most of them were posted on my Facebook account, so this is the story behind those photos.

GLO Administrators, Students and Visitors

Together with Amar & Theam Wah

My cheeky little monkey!

My little sunshine!

Sports Limited or Limited Sports?

I think by now, some of you would have gathered that I do a bit of running. Actually, I have never been one to excel in any actual sport in the past and honestly still don’t boast to till this very day. Here in Malaysia, all of us are expected to at least be able to play a decent game of ‘badminton’ or else you are deemed a bit of a national shame. HEHE!! So yeah.. I do play a reasonable game of badminton, mostly in doubles pairing but not singles.

I went on to pick up ‘ping pong’ in my secondary school days and thought I was pretty good at it until I met some people during my university years who were properly trained and I found it too embarrassing to continue. I have forgotten who creamed me to teach me a real humbling lesson but it definitely brought me to reality that I was indeed only ‘amateurish’ at best. I guess I played against easy prey and equal strength sparring partners during my supposed ‘heydays’.

I did engage in lessons for tennis back in primary school and won a small internal competition amongst other students but could never progress due to big competition days held during weekends. I remember trying out for the school team but got eliminated because I was kinda small at Form 1 with a terribly unrefined serve. I never showed up again after that for selection.

Football (a.k.a. soccer) was by far the only sport that got me most excited during my Penang Free School days. It was awesome teaming up with form mates to challenge other students after Friday’s final bell and trying out our so called ‘Ryan Giggs’ skills. I remember watching a training video of the younger Giggs back then (mind you, the recently crowned PFA Player of the Year) and trying to pull off his stunts the following day on the field. There was one particular afternoon when I actually did score a very pathetic ‘Hat-trick’ (3 goals) while playing on a miniature field. No mates were really keeping score so nobody bothered to give me any credit. HEHE!! Anyway, no achievements were made in that department and I don’t think I ever progressed even beyond the ‘schoolboy error’ stage. Occasional ‘futsal’ during my working years doesn’t count for taking up this sport at all. Sadly, someone stole my Nike futsal boots and since then I haven’t got down to buying another pair.

Cycling became sort of an ‘in thing’ during my secondary school days and I remember cycling from one neighbourhood to the next on my racing bike. This however didn’t last once I stepped into college and got my driving license. As for my outdoor recreation as a whole, it came to a screeching halt.

Oh yes.. I must not forget Captain Ball. It’s a game regularly played in my church circle but honestly doesn’t really count with me as a real sport although it does have its physical elements. I reckon it’s because there are no international guidelines governing this game and there are just way too many loopholes in the interpretation of self made rules. Besides, the mixed gender nature of this game makes it difficult to be a proper ‘contact sport’, making it more suitably a recreational and ‘fellowship’ game. However, this game just like football requires organization and loads of people to build 2 teams for a good workout. Low attendance and poor quality players make for a sad experience if you want it to be interesting. I for one, don’t play this game very competitively and clown around just a bit too much for other peoples liking because of my perception of the game. Still though, I thoroughly recommend it for group integration purposes.

Today, running is kinda like my antidote to rediscovering whatever competitiveness I had in me for sports. Since I’m pressed for free time nowadays, I found that it gave me the flexibility to do it at more random hours. I tried a bit of mountain biking but I found it took too many hours away from home trying to push my heart-rate up and give me a satisfying workout. Running gives me that in almost half the time I spend on the bike because it gets my cardio up even after just a short 10 minutes of continuous running. Nowadays, I try to clock in at least 2 runs per week and run a mixture of 10km or slightly shorter ones per run. I know I should be doing way more if I want to improve in speed and endurance but as for now, that’s all I can afford with my time. I still have a long way to go to achieving my dream of running a full marathon (42km) but I’m slowly trying to progress in building my mileage. My longest run to date was blogged about in my Penang Bridge Run entry. That was approximately 25+ km and I remember I suffered due to poor fitness and training.

I also find running a reasonably affordable sport. Apart from the initial investment of getting proper running shoes, the other equipment can be slowly acquired along the way to make the experience more enjoyable. I have 3 pairs of shoes to date over the period of almost 2 over years to deal with different types of runs or workouts. Here they are in no particular order. 

A light shoe for a not so light guy! Adidas Adizero LT

My comfiest shoe! Eyed the Kayano but settled for this bcos of foot type. Asics Nimbus 9!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My rather rare Saucony Jazz 12!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You may also want to get yourself a digital watch that gives you a reasonable stop watch. Getting one with a 30 lap or 100 lap option is a fun novelty if you are seeking to improve your times. If you have more ‘dosh’ to spare, one can check out the Garmin Forerunner 405 that records your runs using GPS and gives you satellite accurate speed readings. Ooh.. I like.. .but I don’t have it!! Anyway, one could possibly invest in an Ipod Nano or Shuffle to accompany your run with your favourite tunes. I have a few playlists ranging from Christian Contemporary, Country and a little bit of decent alternative music. Whatever gets me moving, as long as its lyrics have been well screened through. HEHE!! You may also add a Nike+ kit to your Nano to record your workout data, of which I do all the time.

However, I also love running because it gives me time to reflect on the day and the week that has gone past. Often times in the busyness of work, family and church life, I find myself gasping for air and getting lost in all its load. I find that the Lord uses much of this ‘not so quiet’ times, to allow me to meditate on His word that I read earlier in the day, think about the areas of my life that needs renovation and quite often just worshipping Him for giving me a living purpose and a life of joy and peace to enjoy. I often run with my Ipod, to help give me status updates on my runs but I prefer to turn down the volume to help make most of the time I have with the Lord on the road.

 Every run is an opportunity to communicate with Him. Every run gives me a reason to return another day. Every run makes me physically stronger to be able to keep this body physically in check. Every run is possible by the grace of God!! 

My first ever photo of me running! * With disclaimer :)

 

 

 

So for all you guys out there who haven’t started running just yet. Pop by at your nearest Asics, New Balance, Nike, Reebok, Adidas store or Royal Sporting House to get yourself a pair of spanking new running shoes. You’ll never know what you’re gonna experience once you take those shoes for a ride!!

Burn asphalt!! Enjoy your run!!

10 Years of Testimony

So many events have zoomed by since the beginning of the year. The biggest event had to be the Chinese New Year celebrations which I spent both in Kota Bharu and then back in Penang. However, this entry is not gonna concern that because nobody wants to see pictures of me tossing ‘yee sang’ and giving ‘ang pows’ since the CNY mood has definitely fizzed out already. Besides that, the economy is stuttering and surely all the money we gave out or received could not possibly have lasted till April.  :)

Sungai Ara Gospel Hall, the little assembly that I fellowship in celebrated its 10th Anniversary by having short retreat up in Batu Ferringhi from the 7th to the 9th of March. It was not held at a swanky hotel or a beach resort but at our trusty Christian Convention Centre (CCC) that sits proudly beside ‘The Ship’ restaurant in all its dilapidated glory.

My little family came along but we were made to be separated due to the dormitory setting of this camp site. Little Jojo followed Laura to stay with the ladies at the upper floor, while I got to ‘male bond’ with the younger ones and also bunk alongside Bing Hwang for the first time at the ground floor dorm. The stay really brought back memories of my Bible Camp days when I was in my secondary school days. Although the dorm was at 30% occupancy, since the ‘older uncles’ chose to take another dorm, it was great to relive my youth. The smell of the musky mattress, the creaking sound of the beds, the sandy floors, the loud chatter and the late night chats that always lasted way past ‘lights out’ into the wee hours of the morning. Thankfully we got the ‘younger’ dorm because you could only start to imagine the horror of sleeping with the choir of snores in the ‘older’ room or being chastened to keep the volume down. HEHE!! Nice.

We had the privilege of having Mr Lian give us 3 challenging sermons on the topic of ‘Grace’ in view of God’s sustaining grace that had led us to this milestone of our existence in Penang. What started out as a small work with only Sunday School meetings progressed to the formation of a testimony of believers regularly Breaking Bread together and worshipping the Lord. Today, we have a regular weekly Lord’s Supper, prayer meeting, a Sunday School children’s work, a Youth Work, bible studies and many other supporting meetings for the purpose of ministry.

I was scheduled to speak on that Sunday morning on Genesis (Chapter 8 ) on the account of ‘Noah and The Flood‘. It was quite an interesting experience standing behind the pulpit to preach instead of sitting down as a teenager at camp, after 10 over years. However, the thoughts I have in my head now are fruition of the challenge from the camp speaker on understanding our roles in our service for the Lord and not on my sermon notes.

How often times do we do things with motives that are totally self seeking and plainly selfish. Regrettably, many of us look to others for approval, seek men’s praise and even try to elevate ourselves above others in our work and even in our supposed service for the Lord.

In the book of Mark, Jesus had this to say to His disciples who were trying to secure positions of power in His future glory.

Mark 10:42-45

(v.42) But Jesus called them to him, and saith unto them, Ye know that they which are accounted to rule over the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and their great ones exercise authority upon them. (v.43) But so shall it not be among you: but whosoever will be great among you, shall be your minister: (v.44) And whosoever of you will be the chiefest shall be servant of all. (v.45) For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.

The Lord taught them a special lesson that day, that to become someone great or honored, one should first become a servant and minister to others. This completely transcends the popular philosophy of worldly thinking that sets ‘self actualization‘ with great such importance, capturing man’s imagination with their hierarchy of needs. Sadly, garnering personal glory and achievements is today’s tonic for self-worth.

The Lord Jesus humbled Himself by taking the form of man to save mankind from their greatest problem…sin. Nobody else could shoulder that task except Him alone when He died on the cross for our sins. He however left behind a work for His followers to carry on, the ministry of helping reconcile men back unto God, through the preaching of the Gospel of Christ. He came to serve then but now lives in glory in heaven with the Father.

I’m reminded of the fact that it’s every servant’s duty to obey the master and be ready to serve regardless of our discomfort or seemingly lack of appreciation. Who are we to demand from God for greater recognition in our work or in our service for Him? We should come to a realization that to serve God is our greatest privilege. Whatever we do will never add value to Him but should be directed to bringing glory to His name. It is my prayer that we never lose sight of that ultimate purpose. May we continue to seek to ‘decrease’ while we allow Him to ‘increase’ in our lives!!

Let’s run with humility!

I leave behind some photos of memories of our time at camp.

 

80% of our assembly members

Every celebration needs a cake!!

 

Happy!!

 

The Young + Younger People

 

Jojo plays frisbee

Handsome little fella

Pre-30 Thoughts

“Wah!! Uncle, you old already lah”

“1 more till the big 3..0 bradder!”

“Don’t worry, you still have many good years ahead”

“Uncle!! I’ve already ordered 2 knee caps for you in advance”

 

I’m quickly moving out of the 20’s zone! One year left before I get more interesting ‘sms’es from my funny friends.

 

Yeah, my birthday came and went on the 12th of December. It was actually a pretty quiet affair back in my place because all I wanted to do was have a nice rest and a good time continuing my preparation for a short sermon for church the coming weekend. Besides that, my Aussie mate was coming down in the afternoon to stay in our place before he started his teaching ministry at the week-long Annual Bible Camp for the youths starting on Sunday afternoon.

My employers have an interesting practice of giving all birthday boys and girls a holiday, so there was I trying to sleep in a little that morning, although my bio-clock woke me up at 6:45am. Headed out slightly later for my favourite holiday meal spot, Zealand Café (Gurney Drive) for Bak Kut Teh and some lovely fish noodles for ‘brunch’. To top the morning off, Laura trained little Jojo to sing “Happy Birthday to you!” and he capped of his performance with a super tight hug and 3 wet kisses. 

Came back home, started my laptop and logged on to my Facebook (with my E-Sword kept in the background..hehe). Wow.. to my surprise I saw my “Wall” inundated with birthday greetings! Call it the Facebook phenomenon, or attribute it to annoying alerts, but I really felt remembered by my family and friends. I was also flooded with e-mails, smses and calls from loved ones throughout the day. Honestly, if I didn’t feel ‘the love’, I think I would have been a 100% certified emotionless brick.

Coincidentally, 12 December seems to be a pretty popular date where people chose to pop into this world. Since I’m a twin, I by default have Adrian, sharing the same birthday as me. However, I also discovered within that day that I had 2 new additions to my already long list.

Not in chronological fashion:

1)      Adrian Low

2)      Rachael Yong (now Rachael Low – my sister in law)

3)      Joseph Lim (from Burmah Road)

4)      Adrian Kam

5)      Aunty Ruth Jeveraj

6)      Uncle Phuah (many of you won’t remember him, I do)

7)      Hong Siah (Laura’s cousin’s hubby) * New Addition

8 )      Brian Norris (Former PFS mate) * New Addition

9)      Alan Low (yes.. yes.. we already know)

Pretty amazing huh? HEHE!! Yeah I thought so too.

 

Birthdays have a way in making me reflect on my life and count my blessings. The first thing I counted was the birthday wishes I received throughout the day and it exceeded 100 by about 8pm that night. Sure I didn’t want to make a statistic out of my friends but I was just ‘counting my blessings, one by one’. It’s wonderful to know that you’re remembered and loved!

The Lord however then drew my thoughts to some important points about ‘love’, which is also ‘charity’ (for those of you who use the King James Version). I had been studying 1 Peter 4 for the entire week and I found myself pondering on verse 8.

And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins. (1 Peter 4:8)

The apostle Peter was reminding believers that a hallmark of a believer in Christ was ‘love’, fervent love amongst each other. It’s sometimes easy to love people whom we are comfortable with or who are basically loveable. However, the real test of genuine love is ‘do we’ and ‘can we’ love the less loveable or the people whom we deem terribly undeserving of any love at all.

Imagine if the Lord Jesus picked and chose whom He wanted to love and whom He wanted to forgive when He gave up His life for us? If He did, then the love He displayed on the cross of Calvary would have been a farce and it would immediately dissolve the value of the amazing love of God for us sinful men, who are invited to put their believe and trust in Him.

The love that was demonstrated to us by Christ was ‘agape’ love. Unconditional love, a love that had no strings attached, a love that looked beyond all barriers of our human frailties and failures, obviously… the perfect love!

The second part of the verse says that ‘charity shall cover the multitude of sins’. This verse was not saying that our love could deal with the penalty of sin because only Christ’s sacrifice could only do that. We are being taught here that with real love, we will be able to look beyond the failures of others, forgive one another, support each other in the difficult times and not hold grudges that so hinder relationships from growing.

The lessons I gathered from that day have led me to draw some points about our relationships with others. Surely, all of us want to feel loved and cared for, with some of us having the great privilege of having lovely friends and family. However, we are called to love without boundaries, to love without looking at color, queer mannerisms, attitudes and ‘lovableness’ (found in the dictionary). Our hearts must be enlarged to allow others into our lives so that they too can be enriched, ministered to and blessed.

One thing I’m doing during this birthday season is to examine my heart to see where I’ve slackened in the area of practicing ‘fervent and deep love’. “Oh Lord may thou aid me in this area of weakness for I look to You for grace and strength!“.

And yes, after being reminded by so many people that I’m indeed nearing the big 3..0 mark, I know that birthdays are appointments that we all can’t avoid. Actually, I’m hardly the person who gets stressed out over these reminders ..and one who still can’t fully comprehend why so many ladies guard their year of birth from others with their lives. HEHE!! So well, while there’s still time, lets live our lives to its fullest for the glory of God, even as we see the Day approaching!

God bless you all!!

Jojo turns 2!

This post comes in a little late actually. Jojo reached his 2 year old milestone on the 3rd of November 08 and had an extended birthday boy ‘privileges week’. Dad and mum gave him a dinner at TGIF’s on the day before his birthday and he had chocolate cake for the first time in his life.

A yummy birthday treat!

Jojo enjoys his strawberry n cake!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This special week would also include extended playhours and tv time, watching his favourite shows (Little Einsteins and Mickey Mouse Playhouse). The actual day was a little bit of a quiet affair since our little one fell sick. He couldn’t enjoy his ‘satay’ during dinner and by the time we got home his temperature picked up. Our poor little darling.

Jojo gets his chicken satay.

Temporarily down.

 

 

 

 

 

 

However it somehow did not affect our plans for him because we had postponed his big birthday party to the following weekend, to accommodate more of his loved ones. That party was a real blast with Josiah having fully recovered and enjoying himself thoroughly. The Lord just made everything click perfectly on that day!  

Back to speed! Fully recharged!

It's cakey time!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I can’t help but notice how time really flies when I look at my little son now. It was 2 years ago that God handed over this tremendous responsibility to us both, Laura and myself, to become parents. I know it’s by the grace of God that I have loved every single moment of ‘daddyhood’, although I’m still learning to be that exemplary role model that my son can fashion himself after, as he grows up in his tender formative years. The Lord will continue to aid me in this regard.  

Josiah is no more small and helpless as before. He now runs instead of walking, talks instead of babbling, eats instead of just drinking, uses more of the toilet as compared to diapers and he plays really hard instead of just staring and poking. We sometimes wish we could have him at this cute innocent age forever but we know that that is plainly entertaining cute, silly thoughts.

This led me to ponder on a portion of scripture that deals with the topic of growing in the Lord, in the light of His precious Word.  

Heb 5:13-14

v.13 For every one that useth milk is unskillfull in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe.

v.14  But strong meat (solid food) belongeth to them that are of full age (matured), even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

Indeed, all of us must grow. When we first trusted in the Lord, all of us became ‘born again’ and received newness of life through Christ Jesus. Therefore, as babes in spiritual matters we fed on milk and the simple truths of scripture initially. Naturally, we should have the desire to progress in our growth and understanding of deeper truths, trying to discover for ourselves the jewels contained in scripture.

However, it’s sad to note that many believers are stagnant and remain contented with the simple understanding of the ‘word of righteousness’ that saved them in the first place. They decide that it would be more convenient feeding on non-solids, with others preparing drinks for them instead of committing themselves to further growth. It is also a real shame that countless of professing saints are content on feeding only on weekly ‘praise and worship’ sessions and quick pulpit sermons to satisfy the small compartment they have set aside for God in their lives.

In actual fact, many people do equate maturity with age. However, if you closely look at the world and adults today, you will find many who have progressed physically (of course we also will deteriorate eventually) but have also failed to grow in real maturity. We see this in acts of irresponsibility, poor decision making and selfish desires, which leads to destroyed relationships, homes, marriages and other people’s lives. We mustn’t allow the digits on our calendar to fool us to think we have morphed into maturity.

With all that said, the Lord has reminded me that just as Laura and myself have been entrusted to take care of Josiah’s physical and mental growth in his early years, we are also responsible in cultivating our own spiritual progress through the aid of the Spirit. If we commit our ways to Him, our decision making, our conduct and our values will radiate Christ and will most definitely have the right influence on our little son. I’m also reminded that I should in fact not solely give my best available time of the day to my family alone but to set aside precious hours before the Lord studying His word and in constant prayer.

This is surely for the long run! It’s a journey that we all must travel. We have the choice to run it easy or run it strong. 

Let us all choose the latter! 

Shalom!

The Penang Bridge 08′ Challenge!

     

Finally, the long awaited race had arrived!! The Penang Bridge Run 07 was the launch pad to my newfound love for running and I was eager to improve on my performance a year ago. It was initially cancelled due to the problems from the volatile political situation before Malaysia’s general elections but somehow made its way back to the running events calender through the determined intervention from our new Penang Chief Minister, Mr Lim Guan Eng.

I started tuning myself up for about 2 months pre-race, realizing I had more to cover with the newly revised route for the half marathon, that would be officially declared as a 25km run. Determined to do better this year, I started clocking more runs with 10k distances whenever possible in my training. Managed to throw in a 16km run and finally a 20km (about 2.5 weeks before race day), breaking my previous LSD (long, slow, distance) records. 

However, calamity struck! I fell extremely sick 2 weeks before the event. This ailment cost me my clean medical slate of ‘ZERO MCs’ for 4 straight years, with me wiped out with a severe flu and cough. My family doctor at Island Clinic saw me and said, “WOW Alan! I haven’t seen you for almost 4 years”, compounding the fact that my medical incentive for 2008 from the company was indeed up in smoke.  Anyway, some friends attributed it to excessive running and possibly also due to my low body resistance after the 20km run. I still beg to differ a little on that because I got sick 4 days after that run, which I believe was way adequate time for recovery.

To cut a long story short, I made it to race day after recovering for about 3 days prior to the event. I decided to throw in a quick tune up ‘tempo run’ on Thursday to gauge my fitness level. Needless to say, it was dissapointing in terms of my stamina but it was a big relief to know I might just make it for my biggest run for 2008. I however picked up my ‘runners knee’ problem on my left again and knew that I would have to run race day with a ‘patella strap’ due to insufficient recovery time.  

Pre-Race

Had terrible insomnia the entire night although I settled into bed at 7pm due to the anticipation of the event. I still remember that last year was way worse with approximately 4 hours sleep due to my tossing and turning. This year’s reporting time was 3:30-4:15am at Queensbay Mall and I set my alarm for 2:30am. It was not surprising that I was wide awake at 1:30am, so I decided not to try to go back to sleep and run the risk of sleeping past the ‘gun off’ time. Laura and Jojo sent me off to the race venue and headed home to continue their severely interrupted sleep.  

The Moment of Truth

Having gobbled up my Powerbar (Cookies and Cream) and downing a Livita (30mins before race), I was now ready!! HEHE!! Mentally probably but physically, that was to be fully discovered later. I had decided to go with my Fuel Belt for this race due to my past experience of poorly manned water stations last year. Met up with my old high school mate, Hafiz, who was enroute in creating his own history of most runs in 3 weeks. 

To my horror, the organizers fired their gun at 4:15am when it was supposed to be 4:30am. I had only managed to throw in 4 stretches and the crowd was already moving behind me. Sigh.. this was certainly starting off wonderfully well.  Hafiz and myself made a deal with each other that we’d stick together (till death do us part) for the entire race. 

We ran the entire stretch continously from the expressway, to the bridge, spun around and went up till the midspan on the return, only pausing for a short while at the final water station. We paced each other and chit-chatted quite a lot throughout the run. Some runners who were exhausted mid-race stared in agony at us when we were joking with each other while passing them. We were doing really well despite already having major hickups at the fueling stations. There was one section of a station that had nobody serving! Picture this ..unfilled cups laid out on a table with 5 liter bottles sitting pretty beside. Seriously, some parts of the organizing was kinda dissapointing. 

All was looking dandy for us throughout the race, even after passing the 21km (half marathon) mark. Both our Ipods congratulated us for finishing that stage in 2hrs20mins. We looked at each other pretty pleased with our reasonable pace (please note that we ain’t elite runners). Still this was not the end, we had more distance to cover!

Sadly, things started to get a bit problematic for me at the 22km. The pain in my left knee suddenly started to intensify and I felt my body losing its endurance. I struggled incredibly to keep pace and wasn’t holding up well. In the end, I managed to make it to the finish line, thanks plenty to Hafiz who pushed me mentally to overwrite my pain threshold. Yeah, our goal of a sub-3hr finish was off by 15mins, no thanks to my ‘breakdown’ but he stuck with me till the end. Actually, on later examination of our Ipods (running on pedometer not GPS), we both recorded distance readings of 28km!! So on hindsight, it was a pretty decent race for me considering all the things that I had gone through for the past few weeks and the increased distance from my actual training. I dedicated my run to Laura in commemoration of our 5th anniversary. 

The Lord’s Day

Well something went according to plan that day, as my other race goal was to finish in time for me to attend the Lord’s Supper at 9am. Laura and Little Jojo picked me up at 8:20am and I managed to make it on time to take my bath at church and get ready for the meeting.  We had two other brave brothers in the Lord who also made it on time, having participated in the 10k Fun Run, which would end slightly earlier. 

All in all, it was a satisfying day! I had the Lord to thank for answering my prayers in allowing me to make it for the race and with me knowing full well that the final outcome could have been so different if not for His preserving power. 

I end my posting with 2 poor quality photos taken from my ailing Sony Ericsson w800 with a 2.0 megapixel camera.  Thanks for reading people!

  

The hard work pays off!

Typical Runners High!

Remember! Remember! The 15th of November 2003!

I can still vividly recall this special day, exactly 5 years ago. Maybe I can’t perfectly remember every single detail because of the sheer volume of things that went on on that very day…but I surely still remember! Coincidentally, today’s also a Saturday! 

Here’s wishing my partner for my entire life, Laura, a very Blessed 5th Anniversary. It’s been an awesome ride babe!! 5 years on, we’re happy together and we now also have a 2 year old son to call us ‘mummy’ and ‘deh deh’. This we can solely attribute to the Heavenly Father’s faithfulness, love, sustaining grace and power.

To all that made that day so very special, my family, my in laws, our relatives, our church mates from Sg.Nibong, Cheras, Sg.Ara and Burmah Road, our friends, we are both grateful till this very day for your love, support and help rendered. 

I’ll see if I can learn how to paste photos of that special milestone in my life for some of you who could not make it back then. I’m still learning to get used to this Blog’s functions.

We got married before the big D-SLR boom, which meant that photographers were less trigger happy due to film based photography (possibly constrained by the bridegrooms financial condition) and we obviously didn’t get 2,500 photos to look through to pick any favourites. Anyway, looking back…we really lacked nothing and have everything to be thankful and grateful to the Lord for!

Here’s to many more years ahead together!! (pending the Lord’s imminent return)  :)

God bless ya all!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

A really soft opening…sshhh!!

Greetings people!

It’s finally here…..after considering the coaxing of friends, reading other peoples blogs, thinking silently over things that engage my interest and yes.. even praying about it. I told myself, “Yeah.. why not?“. Well although it really is ‘just another blog’ in this cyber hemisphere, it may one day actually mean something to me or come in one day to possibly reach out to someone else in wonderful way.

Who knows what to expect when you start writing down your thoughts online, who knows how many people will blast or laugh at your views, who knows when you’ll finally wind up the blog (hehe.. yeah.. I can already see that day coming) and who knows whether anyone would ever bother to visit?

Yes.. I feel like I’ve jumped on the bandwagon. I never was successful in maintaining a diary all my life… so what makes me think that I’ll do well with this one? Answer: Apart from not having to spend any money looking for a nice leatherbound journal, I think I’ll safely say that i definitely would find it easier to sit in front of the computer keyboard as compared to the conventional pen and paper. So the probability of passing page 4 on my old diaries for entries via this blog will be slightly higher. 

Why “Run! Alan! Run!”? That’s for my next posting. HEHE!! See I’m already playing cheat in trying to get to page 5.

Signing off. 

Alan Low the Official Chu Beng

Run! Alan! Run!

I’m back! Yes.. writing all to myself and getting in a few posts before announcing to my family, relatives and friends that I have actually initiated my very first blog. HEHE!! At a pretty ripe age (or over ripe) of 29. Ahem..well it’s kinda like ‘better late than never’ and a ‘been there done that’ thingy.

Anyway, I should get to the point and explain my intention for this blog and set a general direction or else I would go off tangent and get all mixed in the future. Something which I’m totally capable of, knowing full well the sometimes fragmented nature of my thoughts.

Why “Run! Alan! Run!” ?

Well I drew my idea around 2 areas.

The 1st goes directly to the scriptures that often depicts a life of a believer in Christ as running a spiritual race. In this race that God has set before us, He does expect a response from His followers. Focus and discipline! Having the perfect example set before us, Christ Himself, we are told keep our eyes on Him and run this race with perseverance and commitment. He indeed has promised to never test us beyond what we are able.. so we are called to run!

Heb 12:1-2
(v.1) Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
(v.2) Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

The 2nd being that I’ve been bitten by the running bug for about over a year now. When I first started running, my honest motivation was to actually satisfy the hounding of my church mate who took part in a half marathon in the previous year. However after completing the event, I found myself trying to challenge the boundaries that I once set for myself that I could never do any sport well or ever be considered healthy. Today, running has indeed given me an avenue to learn how to discipline myself and to drag my sorry body out of slumber to improve my overall fitness. I’ve not reached my weight goal yet …. let’s just say I’ve got a pretty long way to go. At least I know for now that giving up is not an option.

With all that said… this blog will be somewhat similar to others that it will keep you abreast with the life and thoughts of the blogger. However the difference for this one will be that it goes with a prayer that it’ll be able to encourage and remind others and myself that life is only worth living if Christ is at it’s core and that the race that we’re running (be it spiritual and / or physical) will require sacrifices and a life of faith and commitment.

God bless!

Reviving a Dead Engine

Masuk kunci dalam kereta. Pusing sampai pukul tiga dan dengar suara enjin… eee eee eee eee!! Habis…langsung tak boleh start!!

Don’t know how many times you guys have ever experienced this. I certainly have!! Yeah with my extremely weary body, it’s tough resuscitating a corpse.

The past 2 months have been really hectic with work, family and church commitments and I’ve seen much of my running time take a super slide. Shaking off the ‘ghosts’ from my last race (my most nightmarish running event ever) has taken longer than expected, so my body slipped into ‘mati enjin’ state.

Well.. nothing like a good big race to get you scared, frantic and force a restart to the old motor, the annual Penang Bridge Run 2009.

This year’s organizers seem really pumped up for the event and have gone all out to make some drastic improvements in its format. The scoop is that they will be utilizing ‘timing chips’ for the first time ever and most surprisingly…..taaadahhh..real running vests (Brooks)!! You guys from other states won’t understand why it’s such a big deal. You see, Penangites are sometimes known to be quite….ahem… ‘kiam siap’ (stingy) and they have consistently given every non full marathoner a cotton t-shirt, fit for the entrance to your toilet, for umpteen of years. So this time, we’re really getting something valuably tangible ‘offsetted’ from our registration fees….finally.

You’ll also notice that they have also plastered loads of adverts all over the island and banners along the Penang Bridge to promote the event. The design has improved compared to previous years due to the injection of young blood in the committee. They even have Facebook and e-mail updates (just got another FB alert today).

Anyway, just to inform you guys that training has recently started again after many failed attempts and I feel that I’m slowly getting back to what I used to enjoy a few months back.

I’ve got Bing Hwang (my church buddy) to do runs with me, so it has been a refreshing change to have a training partner whom I can motivate and who like wise motivates me. Oh yeah..if any of you happen to see 2 guys running together around the Minden Heights area, inside USM or near the Sg. Dua region between 6 to 8pm, give us a honk!! J

We get to enjoy our runs because we chat during our runs about work, life and also about our areas of service for the Lord. We know we’re a long way off from giving the performance of our lives at the race and making new PRs but at least we’re rubbing (not quite ‘burning’) asphalt again. We did a 10km run last Sunday and followed up with a 12km on Tuesday, then another 10km yesterday, so I think we’re getting some well needed mileage into our creaky legs.

Sometimes we do really take for granted that God gave us an amazing body for our use and that it is He who allows us to do things with it that we never thought previously possible. He is also able to restore it after we get our needed rest and helps it get ready for another run. I was just reminding Bing that while He still gives us breathe, we can bask in the little joys of knowing we’re so blessed to be even able to walk and run. When we’re old and grey in the future, we can look back and thank Him that He gave us those opportunities to enjoy whatever He graciously handed us.

The upcoming challenge!

They’ve changed the route from last year without us looping at the toll booth. Thankfully it’s not the 25k run and it’s an official halfer.

Let’s run people!!