Tag Archive for music

He is Here – Gungor (feat. Amena Brown)

Gungor came out with a new live album last week–A Creation Liturgy–and while I’d recommend the whole thing, I especially wanted to share with you this piece  that comes toward the end.

It’s called “He is Here” by spoken word poet Amena Brown, set to Gungor’s “We Will Run.” And I hope it’s as much a blessing to you as it has been to me.

Audio and words below.

He is here

He’s right here

In this room, in your heart

 

He is near

Nearer than breath, heartbeat

Nearer than you are to you

Closer than second chance, or next opportunity

Closer than tonight or yesterday

 

He is real

More real than touch, see, hear, smell, or taste

More real than reality—he is our reality

More real than joy, pain, sorrow, or the love of being in love

 

He is present

Like space, wind, time, silence, night

 

He is waiting

Like creation, like words on the tip of tongue

Like songs that have yet to be sung

 

He is beauty

In oranges, blues, every hue, every shade

Sunset and sunrise whisper his name

 

He is holy

Cannot be touched, explained

Like sweet seconds of prayer

like grandmother on knees, wood floor bare

 

He is old hymns

The extending of limbs stretched across trees

Stripes to heal disease

 

He is Son

Distinctly three, distinctly one

The only one, the only wise, the only resurrector of lives

 

He is king

And no earthly throne can house him

No amount of elegant words can espouse him

He is moment and voice, power of choice

In word and deed, in fruit and seed

Nailed hands, nailed feet

Innocent wounds that bleed

 

He is believe

He is all, he is call and purpose

Everything we can sacrifice—he’s worth it and more, much more

Our good deeds are mere pennies, will never even the score

 

He is behold and wow

He is who, what, when, why, how

He’s the one who puts on the show

He’s the one that we come to see

He is soul’s cry and sinner’s plea

He is the epitome that no one light a candle to

Or come within a million foot pole of

 

He is above

He is a father’s love

Maker of ways, of earth and wind, Ancient of Days

Have no fear, have no fear, have no fear

Our God is here

Mumford & Sons, “I Will Wait” (live at Red Rocks)

I was here.

And it. was. so. good.

The Civil Wars, Live from New Orleans

I got to see The Civil Wars last year in DC. The words “musical perfection” may have passed my lips.

Enjoy this full session from New Orleans. And next time they’re playing near you, go see them.

Mumford & Sons, “I Will Wait”

Only six weeks till the new album, “Babel,” is out. Only three weeks till I see them at Red Rocks.

Until then, “I Will Wait.”

(See what I did there?)

The Announcement(s) (and a prayer request and free music)

Okay, so I wasn’t intending to wait a month before getting back to you, so apologies there! Anyway, on to the news: I originally had just one announcement but I figured I’d throw in another–just for fun.

So without further ado …

Announcement #1: ONLY $1,000 TO GO!
Thanks to all of your amazing support (both regular giving and special gifts) as well as the church’s expanded capacity to pay me a little more, I’ve almost hit 100% of my target for this year, with a third of the year still left to go! I have about $1,000 more to raise in order to meet my budget goal, and so I’m asking if you’ll help with one final push (details below).

Announcement #2: THREE WEEKS IN A ROW!
I’m going to be preaching the next three weeks at The District Church! I’m so excited and honored and thankful to Aaron for giving me this opportunity–I’ve been averaging once a month, but Aaron and I agreed this would be a great challenge and a chance to craft something over consecutive weeks. So I’ll be bringing home our current series on Galatians, entitled “Who’s In?” I’d appreciate your prayers, particularly over the coming weeks.

Prayer Request
Things are getting pretty busy, with the aforementioned preaching, a trip to Madison, WI for a conference, and gearing up for the fall. And perhaps for this reason (and/or for other additional reasons), I haven’t been sleeping well for the last week or so. So if you could pray for me in this too, I’d appreciate it.

Grace and peace to you,
Justin.

P.S. I’ve started doing more music on the side, performing at venues with friends (see previous emails and pic below, taken by my friend Sarah), and I’m sure I’ll have more exciting news soon on this front. But in the meantime, I thought I’d share with you a track I recorded a couple years back. It’s a little different to what I normally do, but I hope you like it nonetheless. Enjoy: Embrace (click to download).


You can join the team and support my work at The District Church in three ways:
  1. By giving financially, whether regularly or with a special gift; details below.
  2. By praying for me, for the work I’m involved in, and for the growing District Church community.
  3. By connecting me with individuals, organizations, or churches, that you think would be interested in supporting what’s going on here in DC.
If you’d like to give financial support, you’re welcome to do so:
  • by check, payable to “The District Church” with “For the Ministry of Justin Fung” in the memo, and mailed to The District Church, PO Box 3116, Washington, DC 20010;
  • online here, selecting ”Ministry of JF” from the dropdown menu.

All gifts are fully tax-deductible.