New Song

Holiness (working title). written with my friend, Eddie Kirkland. Video from North Monroe Baptist Disciple Now Weekend. Thanks, Justin, for the Vimeo.

Brett Younker DNOW @ NMBC 3 from North Monroe on Vimeo.

I’m on a BUS!

We just got home from a great weekend at North Monroe Baptist Church. We had the pleasure of serving alongside Chad Norris. He was such an encouraging guy to us as a band and followers of Jesus.

This weekend, we led a brand new song called, (working title) “Holiness.” I am really excited about how it went over, and I can’t wait to share it with you. It never gets old, seeing students journey towards God. The theme was purity. Chad brought a great point. We will not live pure lives, until we realize how much we are loved by the Father.

This week, I am praying for a better understanding of His love for us.

In other news, we took a tour bus for the first time. We had some issues, but let’s be honest, WE TOOK A BUS!!! We were pretty excited about this. I was excited not to be the one who had to drive for 8 hours. Enjoy the video.

what are you doing tonight?

passion city church talks

hello friends.

last sunday night, passion city church started meeting again. it was such a great night. for me 2 corinthians 3 came alive when it says that where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. we started the whole night by reading Romans 8 out loud! can you picture that?! everyone in the room had the Word of God in their own mouth! by the end of the chapter, the music began to build, you couldn’t have held back our response if you wanted to.

i am so thankful that we are beginning to meet weekly. every sunday night. this next sunday, we will be at the cobb galleria. it starts at 6:00.

i wanted to put up the link to all our talks from last spring and fall. louie has done a great job laying the ground work for our church. in our fall meetings, he did a series, called “grace, the one and only.” it will open your eyes to the beauty and wonder of God’s grace for us.

passion city church talks

Fastbreak 2010

Last weekend, me and the guys went to Ridgecrest, North Carolina with Student Venture.  Student Venture is the high school ministry of Campus Crusade.  This year, groups from Atlanta, Chattanooga, and Raleigh joined the fun.  I have been leading at this retreat for the last 3 years, and I love every bit of it.

The reason why I love this trip, is that Student Venture interacts with so many students who have never been on a retreat like this. Over the course of the weekend, we get to see these students come alive. The transformation that takes place is so inspiring.  It’s a humbling thing to realize that some of these students and leaders have walked with their friends for years, and we get to lead in the moment where the Holy Spirit reveals the love of God to them for the first time.  Watch someone worship God after they have realized they have been saved from their sin by Jesus and God loves them a lot; and you will see some excited and grateful people.  Plus, (added bonus) the Student Venture is so fun to work with.

Here is a clip of us leading Bless Your Name to kick off the last night of camp.

On a side note, our friends, Unhindered, were on the other side of the camp leading at a different retreat. Here are some late night shenanigans.

Cookie Night Video

a couple weeks ago, we had some people over to make cookies.  this is a recap of that night.  props to my friend friend stuart atkins for making this video.

Cookie Party from stuart atkins on Vimeo.

Favorite New Christmas Song

The last few weeks, we have been leading lots of Christmas Songs (obviously). When you go back on read the lyrics of these songs, they are so amazing and so powerful. I love a lot of the classics (O Come All Ye Faithful, Joy the World,…). This year, I was introduced to a new song, and I have been in awe of God every time I sing/lead it. It’s called “Emmanuel (Hallowed Manger Ground)” by Chris Tomlin. It talks about how 400 years of silence were broken by a babies cry. It also talks about the cross.  The chorus says:
Emmanuel, Emmanuel
God incarnate, here to dwell
Emmanuel, Emmanuel
praise his name Emmanuel

It’s a beautiful, big, I-want-to-sing-this-forever kind of chorus. Emmanuel means God with us which is a pretty powerful truth. In Colossians, Paul tells us that Jesus is the image of the invisible God. He was around before the foundations of the earth. Then this beautiful image of grace happens, where the Holy Son takes on the form of man. As John says, the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. That’s grace! That is God, who is Holy, perfect, and set apart, coming down into our world.  He came right in the middle of our problems, our circumstances and our sin. Then I started thinking about the word, “incarnate.” Not an every day word for me. It means taking on human, bodily form. What a great word to describe what Jesus did. Jesus, the Word, became flesh and dwelt among us. He is Emmanuel. He is God with us. I am very thankful for this today.

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