Happy 2nd year anniversary!

I distinctly remember exactly two years ago, when I first read the document "The Game with Minutes" by Frank Laubach and was so caught up with the passion/inspiration/vision to dedicate my life towards playing it. Call it a whim, call it juvenile idealism, call it sudden fanatical zeal or whatever you want to call it, I decided to count the cost, persevere, and engage in the journey of attempting to practice God's presence every single minute of my life.

After two years, I have no regrets at all for doing so. Yes, times in the journey have been hard, but there have been insights, revelations, changes in character, experiencing deeper dimensions of reality, resonating with the experiences of the new testament writers on a whole new level just to name a few of the outcomes of this experiment.

There's highs and lows in every life. No doubt about it. Whether it's a non-Christian's life, a lukewarm"Christian"'s life, or a die-hard disciple's life, all lives will have highs and lows. What's the difference then? I would argue the difference would be the depth of the lives. I would have to say that playing this game with minutes for two years has allowed me to enter into a deeper dimension of reality, another "world" so to speak. Not to evade this one, but to live through another world to influence and make effects on this one. It is like the difference between a "2D story" that has highs and lows (a cartoon movies in the 50s, let's say) and an Imax 3D-surround sound story that has highs and lows. There are just deeper dimensions that make the story all the more rich. Just like how a cat cannot understand the "world" of arithmetic or poetry, I believe the person who does not have a grasp on how to practice the presence of God cannot grasp the spiritual dimension of the Kingdom of God in a really tangible manner.

Right now, the best analogy I can use to describe these "two worlds" or "two dimensions of reality" is the Matrix trilogy. I think in the New Testament (and also parts of the Old, like the stories of Elijah and Elisha to name a couple of examples) we see a consistent theme of the die-hard disciples of Jesus "standing in another world and while standing there, having extraordinary effects on this one" in the words of Dallas Willard. It is exactly like the Matrix. Neo, Morpheus, Trinity and others who have "plugged" into the deeper reality of the Matrix by taking the red pill, have extraodinary effects on the "normal" world by being plugged in and operating in a deeper level of existence. For the Christian, this "deeper reality" that has effects on the "normal reality" is the Kingdom of God. With this framework, the Gospels and the book of Acts make a lot more sense and are seen in a whole different light!

"Unfortunately no one can be told what the Matrix is, you have to see it for yourself" - Morpheus

When I took the "red pill" of playing the Game with Minutes, I began to experience the "matrix" of the Kingdom of God in deeper ways than ever before two years ago.

The cool thing is, this journey tends to evolve. Just like how the storyline of Matrix evolves into its sequel Matrix reloaded, after the first "chapter" of my journey into the Matrix of the Kingdom of God a year and a half ago, I feel like a journeyer journeying into the original movie's sequel right now.

The first chapter that spanned a year and a half (lasting roughly until October 2010), revolved around me stepping into this new world/reality. After initially stepping into it, I realized weird things like never before. How certain things seemed to "defy" laws, and wondered how they did that, and just like how Neo had to be trained through Morpheus how to "fight with Kung fu" in the realm of the matrix, I felt that I had training on how to "fight with Kung fu" in the realm of the Matrix of the Kingdom of God, that had extraordinary effects on my physical behaviour in the "normal world" (by the way, I think this is the kind of character change Jesus was talking about by seeing "fruit" of righteousness as a by-product rather than aiming for it directly in the "normal world" absent of the Matrix of the Kingdom of God). So I discovered "agents" in this realm, which I could not overcome before. Afterr some training (although I am still far from perfect), I have learned to fight back, sometimes victorious through grace, sometimes failing. But regardless, I have learned somewhat how to walk, run, jump, kick, punch, do flips in this Matrix of the Kingdom of God. End of chapter 1.

Enter chapter 2 aka Matrix Reloaded. It all started with Andrew introducing me to the charismatics at Lifesprings church. Growing up Baptist, I had no exposure to prophetic stuff. But these guys are so epic in the Spirit! In Matrix Reloaded, Neo and others were on an adventure in pursuing a journey through following people who resembled people who have prophetic giftings in the Holy Spirit. Neo first sees "the seraph", then "the oracle", then "the keymaker", then "the architect". They edify, provide direction, open pathways that could not be opened without them, ask neo deep questions, challenging his secret struggles in his heart, and provide the "next step" for Neo's journey in "saving the world in the realm of the Matrix". This is exactly the "new stuff" that has been happening with me in this journey through the Matrix of the Kingdom of God. These prophetic brothers and sisters have been edifying me, confirming things in my heart, challenging me with secret struggles in my heart, providing mystical guidance, and helping me with the "next step" in redeeming Toronto not through the physical realm, but through the realm of the Matrix of the Kingdom of God. It's been nothing short of an RPG game. I feel like I don't even have to be addicted to drama shows, or RPG video games anymore. I'm in one.

What will happen next? Who knows.

Either way, I have no regrets at all taking the red pill, and wouldn't give it up for 5 million bucks (if I had it). Who knew that the Matrix of the Kingdom of God wasn't only available to the New Testament church/first couple centuries after that, but that it would be equally available to die-hard disciples of Jesus 2 millenia later?

“Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again. ” - John 3:3

"Once, on being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, “The coming of the kingdom of God is not something that can be observed, nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is in your midst.” - John 17:20-21

"For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit" -Romans 14:17

The Kingdom of God is so like the Matrix as well as Matrix Reloaded.