I apologize already for the intensity of this post...

BCI has initiated a more intensive congregational prayer schedule, that now occupies my monday evenings, tuesday-thursday mornings (5-6 am) and my friday nights. While attending one of the prayer meetings, the pastor invited the congregation to experience "an outpouring of God's love" over all the congregation...an immersion. While the pastor prayed...and I watched as people seemed overwhelmed by what they were experiencing, I wondered what the love of God looks like? I have no doubt that God's love takes many forms...but for the Church, God's love should take a much more radical, altruistic form...looking for creative ways to show this love that has graciously been given to them for free!

God's love is really what Christian spirituality comes down to...it is what binds us together in community, it is what propels us into the mission field, it can help us through whatever were going through. However, sometimes the Church can get caught up in debates that do nothing to show God's love (gay marriage immediately comes to mind), these debates often expose an ugly, hypocritical side of Christianity. I'm not saying that these issues don't require addressing, I just think that while there are people suffering next door to us, these issues can (and likely will) wait.

In the end, if the world wide church (specifically the North American Church) wants to remain relevant for years to come, it must embrace the love of God, and fully understand that if we (the church) have the love of God within us, we have no choice but to move it outwards towards the rest of the world. This should affect how we do everything from grocery shopping, to politics. We need to start thinking of creative ways to live in a system that has been corrupted by greed, racism, religion (in ways), and selfishness, in order to serve a minority that reaps the benefits. The Church must become a social conscience once again.

Ok, enough of this...lets move on to something a little less deep. Here is a list of songs that I think you must listen to. They are my top 10songs from the year of 2009!

10.) Serpentine - Chris Bathgate
9.) For me, This is Heaven - Foreverinmotion
8.) Gimme Sympathy - Metric
7.) Until Morning - DC
6.) Medisin - The Classic Crime
5.) True Love - Angels and Airwaves
4.) Running up That Hill - Placebo
3.) Desperate Times, Desperate Measures - Underoath
2.) Stolen - DC
1.) Transatlanticism - Death Cab for Cutie

Hope you enjoy!