1 00:00:02,000 --> 00:00:07,000 Downloaded from YTS.MX 2 00:00:08,000 --> 00:00:13,000 Official YIFY movies site: YTS.MX 3 00:00:38,655 --> 00:00:40,689 All right. You guys ready to get on stage? 4 00:00:40,724 --> 00:00:43,068 All right. Here we go guys. We're ready to start. 5 00:00:43,103 --> 00:00:46,034 Three, two, one. Let's go. 6 00:00:55,655 --> 00:00:59,448 Grammy award winning Casting Crowns. 7 00:00:59,482 --> 00:01:02,689 Hearing these songs and their lives are being impacted. 8 00:01:02,724 --> 00:01:07,310 I've been a youth pastor about 20 years at the church I'm in now in Atlanta. 9 00:01:09,068 --> 00:01:13,103 They are, arguably, the most successful artists in the last 25 years. 10 00:01:16,206 --> 00:01:19,689 They're pursuing Christ, and all the success they've had 11 00:01:19,724 --> 00:01:23,827 comes secondary to their relationship with the Lord. 12 00:01:23,862 --> 00:01:26,724 Tonight they've won collectively seven awards. 13 00:01:28,206 --> 00:01:29,724 Casting Crowns! 14 00:01:33,965 --> 00:01:36,965 They've sold over 13 million albums. 15 00:01:37,000 --> 00:01:39,448 Would you please make welcome, Casting Crowns. 16 00:01:42,965 --> 00:01:47,448 We start getting stories and emails from all over the world. 17 00:01:47,482 --> 00:01:48,965 How did we get here? 18 00:01:50,655 --> 00:01:53,793 You always came back home. And you're just still you. 19 00:02:10,862 --> 00:02:15,689 Mark and I worked several jobs together in high school and college. 20 00:02:15,724 --> 00:02:18,241 We worked at a stationary shop together. 21 00:02:18,275 --> 00:02:21,344 We worked at a basket store in the mall, kind of place. 22 00:02:21,379 --> 00:02:24,620 And... he was actually the Easter Bunny. 23 00:02:24,655 --> 00:02:27,586 And I took pictures at the mall while he was Easter Bunny. 24 00:02:27,620 --> 00:02:30,000 We also kept the nursery together 25 00:02:30,034 --> 00:02:32,689 during choir practice on Wednesday nights. 26 00:02:32,724 --> 00:02:36,000 Sometimes we ran the sound system for a choir practice for them. 27 00:02:36,034 --> 00:02:37,620 And so, we were just really good friends 28 00:02:37,655 --> 00:02:40,310 and grew up just doing church together. 29 00:02:44,379 --> 00:02:47,965 I was driving to Bible college and back. 30 00:02:48,000 --> 00:02:52,448 And I took that drive for about six years at that four-year college, 31 00:02:52,482 --> 00:02:54,862 and, uh, it was a tough, tough go. 32 00:02:54,896 --> 00:02:58,275 And I remember, every day it was 45 minutes there, 45 minutes back. 33 00:02:58,310 --> 00:03:03,517 And as I would leave school every day, I would quit school pretty much, 34 00:03:03,551 --> 00:03:04,620 and be done with it. 35 00:03:04,655 --> 00:03:06,655 And I'm never going back to that place. 36 00:03:06,689 --> 00:03:09,034 And on the 45-minute drive home, 37 00:03:09,068 --> 00:03:12,827 God had enough time to get into my thoughts 38 00:03:12,862 --> 00:03:14,137 and let me hand it back to him and say, 39 00:03:14,172 --> 00:03:15,275 "Lord, I'm sorry. I'll go back." 40 00:03:15,310 --> 00:03:18,620 Because I am dyslexic and ADD. 41 00:03:18,655 --> 00:03:22,758 So, school was never good or fun for me. 42 00:03:22,793 --> 00:03:27,344 I was in all the classes you have to go to when you couldn't keep up. 43 00:03:27,379 --> 00:03:33,517 He was in school about a year, and a guy approached him to work with teenagers. 44 00:03:33,551 --> 00:03:36,137 And he... I will never forget, 45 00:03:36,172 --> 00:03:39,448 he said, "I... I don't like teenagers." 46 00:03:39,482 --> 00:03:42,344 And I said, "Well, you know, have you prayed about it?" 47 00:03:42,379 --> 00:03:45,655 And he said, "Well, no, because I don't like teenagers." 48 00:03:45,689 --> 00:03:47,931 He said, "But I guess I will." 49 00:03:47,965 --> 00:03:49,827 And the next day he came to me and he said, 50 00:03:49,862 --> 00:03:52,896 "Well, I think maybe we should at least go talk to the pastor." 51 00:03:57,965 --> 00:04:00,586 I have given you my cell number, email, 52 00:04:00,620 --> 00:04:04,413 everything I can get to you guys to talk to me when you need me, 53 00:04:04,448 --> 00:04:07,758 and, uh, I have talked to so many of you guys. 54 00:04:07,793 --> 00:04:12,344 And one of the things that's always on our minds is friends 55 00:04:12,379 --> 00:04:14,965 and just stuff we're trying to work through. 56 00:04:21,275 --> 00:04:24,931 Hey, gang, cool dads in the house. Squad goals. 57 00:04:26,448 --> 00:04:28,862 Would you say this place is lit? I say it is. 58 00:04:28,896 --> 00:04:31,103 We have to put on our own... 59 00:04:31,137 --> 00:04:32,931 kind of costumes... 60 00:04:32,965 --> 00:04:37,655 So, when I started teaching, I'm still figuring out my friendship with Jesus. 61 00:04:37,689 --> 00:04:42,103 I am not killin' it at life. I'm bumping my head every day. 62 00:04:42,137 --> 00:04:46,482 He started hearing songs, and I think that's when the song-writing part started. 63 00:04:46,517 --> 00:04:48,965 I wrote songs for a long time before anybody ever heard them. 64 00:04:49,000 --> 00:04:51,310 I was scared to death to show anybody. 65 00:04:51,344 --> 00:04:55,241 But my youth group was where I would sing the songs. 66 00:04:55,275 --> 00:04:56,482 And that's how I started writing. 67 00:05:03,275 --> 00:05:07,965 ♪ Maybe this time I'll speak the words of life 68 00:05:08,000 --> 00:05:11,965 ♪ With your fire in my eyes 69 00:05:12,000 --> 00:05:15,517 ♪ But that old familiar fear 70 00:05:15,551 --> 00:05:18,517 ♪ Is tearing at my words 71 00:05:18,551 --> 00:05:20,827 ♪ What am I so afraid of? 72 00:05:20,862 --> 00:05:23,000 ♪ 'Cause here I go again 73 00:05:23,034 --> 00:05:25,620 ♪ Talking 'bout the rain... 74 00:05:25,655 --> 00:05:28,793 This is what they call a cassette tape, 75 00:05:28,827 --> 00:05:31,793 and this is my band, One Voice. 76 00:05:31,827 --> 00:05:34,517 And. uh, man, we played... whew. 77 00:05:34,551 --> 00:05:38,034 We probably played a hundred shows a year 78 00:05:38,068 --> 00:05:42,965 just at churches in our area in North Florida. 79 00:05:43,000 --> 00:05:47,758 And we would head to church, and we'd set up after work on the weekends and play. 80 00:05:47,793 --> 00:05:51,068 So, this is where it first started happening for me. 81 00:05:51,103 --> 00:05:54,103 ♪ If you ask me to... 82 00:05:55,827 --> 00:05:59,620 ♪ Still thought of my God Until the angry waves ♪ 83 00:05:59,655 --> 00:06:02,793 Ooh. I was trying to be Kirk from 4Him right there. 84 00:06:02,827 --> 00:06:04,137 It didn't go well. 85 00:06:05,689 --> 00:06:08,103 Mark? Mark?MARK: What? We're merging. 86 00:06:08,137 --> 00:06:09,172 We're merging. 87 00:06:09,206 --> 00:06:11,586 Melanie's getting a little nervous. 88 00:06:11,620 --> 00:06:14,000 We're filming and driving at the same time.MELANIE: Right. 89 00:06:14,034 --> 00:06:16,931 Okay. Here we are. It's bunch of woods out here. 90 00:06:16,965 --> 00:06:21,862 Mark! Mark! Mark! 91 00:06:36,517 --> 00:06:38,241 We did it all of college. 92 00:06:38,275 --> 00:06:41,344 And he started leading the worship on Wednesdays 93 00:06:41,379 --> 00:06:44,758 um, in the youth group, which was my old youth group. 94 00:06:44,793 --> 00:06:48,103 Shortly after that, I started helping him on Wednesday nights. 95 00:06:48,137 --> 00:06:50,103 We had a couple of kids in the youth group playing. 96 00:06:50,137 --> 00:06:53,310 So, we ended up with a band, like, in no time. 97 00:06:53,344 --> 00:06:55,034 I don't know what happened.So, the rest of college, 98 00:06:55,068 --> 00:06:59,034 we were leading the worship for the youth group. 99 00:06:59,068 --> 00:07:03,310 Started leading worship for our student ministry at the time. 100 00:07:03,344 --> 00:07:08,000 And in that time, Mark Hall came to be the youth pastor of the church I grew up in. 101 00:07:08,034 --> 00:07:09,068 And I was still there. 102 00:07:09,103 --> 00:07:11,137 I had plans to hold it all together 103 00:07:11,172 --> 00:07:15,103 playing my five chords on guitar and lead worship for all these students. 104 00:07:15,137 --> 00:07:17,275 Kind of... Kind of be the glue that held it together 105 00:07:17,310 --> 00:07:19,275 until Mark got there and got in place and then I was gonna be like, 106 00:07:19,310 --> 00:07:23,655 "Bye. I'm going to this other church that all my friends left to go to." 107 00:07:23,689 --> 00:07:26,172 Mark just, kind of... They all sucked me in. 108 00:07:26,206 --> 00:07:29,241 They just, kind of, engulfed me into their ministry. 109 00:07:29,275 --> 00:07:32,344 And I stayed and... here we are. 110 00:07:36,517 --> 00:07:39,137 So, they never had a singing youth pastor before. 111 00:07:39,172 --> 00:07:42,241 And, uh... And I was like, "Hey, man. I wanna sing with you guys." 112 00:07:42,275 --> 00:07:45,310 And we started leading worship for our youth group. 113 00:07:45,344 --> 00:07:47,482 And I just did what I know to do. 114 00:07:47,517 --> 00:07:51,793 And, so that's when we made the first Crowns CD, 115 00:07:51,827 --> 00:07:53,689 was with that group of people. 116 00:07:53,724 --> 00:07:55,931 And we would give those to the students. 117 00:07:55,965 --> 00:07:57,862 It was kind of like a track 118 00:07:57,896 --> 00:08:02,275 that would have the gospel on there and would have Bible verses. 119 00:08:02,310 --> 00:08:05,241 It was really just for the students to give out to their friends 120 00:08:05,275 --> 00:08:06,620 and get them to come to church. 121 00:08:06,655 --> 00:08:10,344 But then, some parents would come on Wednesdays and hear these songs 122 00:08:10,379 --> 00:08:12,310 and they'd ask Mark, "Where can we find the song?" 123 00:08:12,344 --> 00:08:13,482 And then he was like, 124 00:08:13,517 --> 00:08:15,137 "Huh. Right here every Wednesday." 125 00:08:15,172 --> 00:08:17,034 ♪ You're so worthy 126 00:08:17,068 --> 00:08:19,655 ♪ I'll praise you with a dance 127 00:08:19,689 --> 00:08:24,241 ♪ And I'll sing glory hallelujah 128 00:08:24,275 --> 00:08:26,344 ♪ I'll lift your name on high... ♪ 129 00:08:26,379 --> 00:08:29,000 The funny part is, Hector, the first guitar player, 130 00:08:29,034 --> 00:08:32,793 he remembered, like, we did a Disciple Now at our church with other bands. 131 00:08:32,827 --> 00:08:35,758 And he's like, "That's the first time I heard the name Casting Crowns." 132 00:08:35,793 --> 00:08:37,620 I was sitting at the drums. And somebody goes, 133 00:08:37,655 --> 00:08:39,241 "Hey, here's Casting Crowns." 134 00:08:39,275 --> 00:08:41,068 And he's like...MELODEE: Who's that? 135 00:08:41,103 --> 00:08:43,103 "Oh that's us." 136 00:08:43,137 --> 00:08:46,137 Mark had pretty much came up with the name Casting Crowns. 137 00:08:46,172 --> 00:08:49,172 The name comes from Revelation 4. 138 00:08:49,206 --> 00:08:54,000 And if you read, John sees all the elders around the throne of Christ 139 00:08:54,034 --> 00:08:56,137 and their crowns that they were given, 140 00:08:56,172 --> 00:08:58,137 they're laying them at the feet of Jesus. 141 00:08:58,172 --> 00:08:59,758 I didn't know what to think about it. I was like, 142 00:08:59,793 --> 00:09:02,034 "What? We're naming a band? This is crazy." 143 00:09:04,551 --> 00:09:07,172 I was the pastor here at Eagle's Landing for 31 years. 144 00:09:07,206 --> 00:09:10,068 And our church was, um, looking for a student pastor. 145 00:09:10,103 --> 00:09:12,827 And, I... I knew what I was looking for 146 00:09:12,862 --> 00:09:14,689 but I didn't know who I was looking for. 147 00:09:14,724 --> 00:09:17,448 And I don't even remember who gave me Mark's name. 148 00:09:17,482 --> 00:09:20,827 But when I called him to reach out to him, I had a great connection. 149 00:09:20,862 --> 00:09:24,034 There was no pretention, no trying to impress anybody. 150 00:09:24,068 --> 00:09:25,689 It's just, "Hey, this is who I am. 151 00:09:25,724 --> 00:09:27,413 "This is what God has made me to be." 152 00:09:27,448 --> 00:09:28,931 We have a song called "We Are The Body." 153 00:09:28,965 --> 00:09:32,172 And, um, most of the words came from this, um, 154 00:09:32,206 --> 00:09:34,517 or a couple of other places like James 2. 155 00:09:34,551 --> 00:09:38,000 But this is a really special, um, passage. 156 00:09:38,034 --> 00:09:39,965 So, don't get up and go to the bathroom while I'm reading this, 157 00:09:40,000 --> 00:09:41,172 or I will throw a Bible at you. 158 00:09:41,206 --> 00:09:43,068 All right. Kidding, kind of. 159 00:09:43,103 --> 00:09:46,310 Um... 160 00:09:46,344 --> 00:09:49,137 We were actually sitting at the parking lot here at the church. 161 00:09:49,172 --> 00:09:52,344 And, uh, he said, "Hey, Pastor, can you listen to this CD?" 162 00:09:52,379 --> 00:09:55,275 It was a CD that they had made. A home-made CD. 163 00:09:55,310 --> 00:10:00,068 And, uh... So, we popped it in the truck and uh, sat there and listened to it. 164 00:10:00,103 --> 00:10:04,793 And, uh, I can just remember being stunned. 165 00:10:04,827 --> 00:10:09,172 I just looked at him and said, "Mark, if the world ever hears this, 166 00:10:09,206 --> 00:10:11,344 "I mean, you're not gonna be here very long." 167 00:10:11,379 --> 00:10:15,068 So, there's a kid in my youth group, actually a college kid, named Chase. 168 00:10:15,103 --> 00:10:18,620 And Chase Tramont goes off to basketball camp. 169 00:10:18,655 --> 00:10:22,241 He meets Mark Miller, the lead singer of Sawyer Brown. 170 00:10:22,275 --> 00:10:25,068 Welcome to Sawyer Brown Live. 171 00:10:25,103 --> 00:10:28,586 ♪ Six days on the road and I'm gonna make it home ♪ 172 00:10:28,620 --> 00:10:30,448 Oh! 173 00:10:33,896 --> 00:10:36,275 Chase comes up to me, I didn't know him at the time, 174 00:10:36,310 --> 00:10:40,482 and he says, "My coach says you're famous, and I've never heard of you." 175 00:10:40,517 --> 00:10:42,068 And we both started laughing. 176 00:10:42,103 --> 00:10:45,965 And he said, "Well, the best band in the world plays at my church." 177 00:10:46,000 --> 00:10:48,103 And so I say, "Well, you know what, 178 00:10:48,137 --> 00:10:50,103 "I thought I had the best band in the world. 179 00:10:50,137 --> 00:10:54,655 "But I would love to hear what you think is the best band in the world." 180 00:10:54,689 --> 00:10:59,172 So, he went in and pulled out of his gym bag the CD and he gave it to me. 181 00:10:59,206 --> 00:11:04,275 In our business, we get tapes and CDs and stuff all the time. 182 00:11:04,310 --> 00:11:09,827 And for the most part, 99% of the time, they're really not very good. 183 00:11:12,448 --> 00:11:15,517 It's a Sunday night in McDonough, Georgia. 184 00:11:15,551 --> 00:11:19,310 I'm at Johnny's Pizza with a couple of guys from the youth group. 185 00:11:19,344 --> 00:11:21,793 And I get a phone call. 186 00:11:21,827 --> 00:11:24,275 And it's this guy. 187 00:11:24,310 --> 00:11:26,310 He says, "Hey, this is Mark Miller of Swayer Brown. 188 00:11:26,344 --> 00:11:28,586 And I'm like, "Whoa! Okay. Hey, how are you?" 189 00:11:28,620 --> 00:11:30,413 He goes, "Man, I'm listening to your music. 190 00:11:30,448 --> 00:11:32,448 "This kid named Chase gave me your CD." 191 00:11:32,482 --> 00:11:34,655 And I'm like, "Chase!" Right? 192 00:11:34,689 --> 00:11:37,068 And he says, "I'm here with a friend of mine, Steven Curtis Chapman." 193 00:11:37,103 --> 00:11:39,655 And I'm like... 194 00:11:39,689 --> 00:11:42,620 "Yes, yes. I'm familiar. I believe I've heard the name." 195 00:11:42,655 --> 00:11:44,241 You know he's only my hero. 196 00:11:44,275 --> 00:11:46,344 So, I'm just playing it cool. 197 00:11:46,379 --> 00:11:49,275 And, um, he says, "Man, we're listening to your songs." 198 00:11:49,310 --> 00:11:53,034 And, uh, he said, "Man, you got something to say." 199 00:11:53,068 --> 00:11:55,862 And, uh... And I... I'm... I don't even know what to say back. 200 00:11:55,896 --> 00:11:59,413 I am walking to Wednesday-night meal just from the office complex, 201 00:11:59,448 --> 00:12:02,068 and Mark Hall says, "Hey, Pastor Tim." 202 00:12:02,103 --> 00:12:04,103 And he said, "I think somebody's spoofing me." 203 00:12:04,137 --> 00:12:05,655 I was like, "What are you talking about?" 204 00:12:05,689 --> 00:12:08,103 He said, "Somebody just called me 205 00:12:08,137 --> 00:12:10,482 "and said they were Steven Curtis Chapman." 206 00:12:12,206 --> 00:12:15,275 We used to vacation with some very dear friends, 207 00:12:15,310 --> 00:12:18,827 Mark Miller and his brother Frank Miller. 208 00:12:18,862 --> 00:12:21,310 So, we had a lot of fun together and laughed, and, you know, 209 00:12:21,344 --> 00:12:24,758 we talk about music, faith, talk about family all those things. 210 00:12:24,793 --> 00:12:27,655 And at some point, I remember Mark Miller saying, 211 00:12:27,689 --> 00:12:30,931 "Hey, I've got a CD of a group." 212 00:12:30,965 --> 00:12:33,655 There's something really special going on here. 213 00:12:33,689 --> 00:12:40,310 I popped the CD in and... the first song I heard was "If We Are The Body" 214 00:12:40,344 --> 00:12:42,862 ♪ But if we are the body 215 00:12:42,896 --> 00:12:46,034 ♪ Why aren't His arms reaching? 216 00:12:46,068 --> 00:12:49,241 ♪ Why aren't His hands healing? ♪ 217 00:12:49,275 --> 00:12:52,000 It's challenging. It's asking questions. 218 00:12:52,034 --> 00:12:53,482 It's convicting. 219 00:12:53,517 --> 00:12:57,793 But it's not pointing the finger like, "What's wrong with you?" 220 00:12:57,827 --> 00:12:59,482 ♪ Why aren't His feet going? 221 00:12:59,517 --> 00:13:05,344 It was the very first day for Terry Hemmings, the new president of, 222 00:13:05,379 --> 00:13:08,413 what at the time was called, Provident label group or Provident Music. 223 00:13:08,448 --> 00:13:10,965 And I was the General Manager of Reunion Records. 224 00:13:11,000 --> 00:13:14,758 My first day on the job I brought this cassette in, 225 00:13:14,793 --> 00:13:16,965 had a meeting with the executive team, 226 00:13:17,000 --> 00:13:20,275 went into Dean Diehl's office and played him "If We Are The Body." 227 00:13:20,310 --> 00:13:22,172 I was just like "What is this?" 228 00:13:22,206 --> 00:13:24,758 It wasn't just something that just made you feel good. 229 00:13:24,793 --> 00:13:26,827 It was something that shook you up a little bit. 230 00:13:26,862 --> 00:13:29,068 How do we do this? Let's do this now. 231 00:13:29,103 --> 00:13:32,379 ♪ Why aren't His words teaching? 232 00:13:33,793 --> 00:13:35,862 ♪ And if we are the body 233 00:13:35,896 --> 00:13:39,275 ♪ Why aren't His feet going? 234 00:13:39,310 --> 00:13:45,344 ♪ Why is His love not showing them there is a way? ♪ 235 00:13:46,965 --> 00:13:49,413 In this first conversation, I am going through, 236 00:13:49,448 --> 00:13:51,862 like, what the record deal would look like. 237 00:13:51,896 --> 00:13:55,448 'Cause Terry told me to call him up and sign him to a record deal. 238 00:13:55,482 --> 00:13:57,655 So, I am going through the whole thing, 239 00:13:57,689 --> 00:14:00,172 and there's, like, silence on the call. 240 00:14:00,206 --> 00:14:05,137 And he said, "Man, all that sounds great. But I just have one question. 241 00:14:05,172 --> 00:14:09,517 "Am I still gonna be able to be a youth pastor?" 242 00:14:09,551 --> 00:14:12,689 He said to me, "Pastor, listen. You gotta hold me accountable 243 00:14:12,724 --> 00:14:17,482 "through every conversation we have, through all the contracts stuff. 244 00:14:17,517 --> 00:14:21,103 "And if they say you gotta choose between student pastor and a musician, 245 00:14:21,137 --> 00:14:22,275 "it's student pastor. 246 00:14:22,310 --> 00:14:24,586 "I'm not gonna do this." 247 00:14:24,620 --> 00:14:26,931 We had a list of, like, 10 or 12 things, 248 00:14:26,965 --> 00:14:29,344 "This is what it takes to be a successful new artist 249 00:14:29,379 --> 00:14:31,620 "in this business, in this industry." 250 00:14:31,655 --> 00:14:33,517 And we had our checklist. 251 00:14:33,551 --> 00:14:36,448 And so, in my mind, I am talking to Mark Hall and I am asking questions 252 00:14:36,482 --> 00:14:38,344 and Mel's there and we are talking, 253 00:14:38,379 --> 00:14:42,655 and not a lot of the boxes are getting checked. 254 00:14:43,965 --> 00:14:46,620 There's no way. He can't do both of these. 255 00:14:46,655 --> 00:14:48,931 But at the end of the conversation, 256 00:14:48,965 --> 00:14:53,103 Mark said, "Hey, bottom line is I am a student pastor." 257 00:14:53,137 --> 00:14:55,620 And he looked at me and I said, "Hey, he just... he told me 258 00:14:55,655 --> 00:14:58,448 "my job is to hold him accountable for God's calling. 259 00:14:58,482 --> 00:15:02,103 "Whatever you guys gotta do to work this out that's what we need to do." 260 00:15:02,137 --> 00:15:04,517 I don't... I don't know if they thought we were naive 261 00:15:04,551 --> 00:15:06,827 and we probably were. 262 00:15:06,862 --> 00:15:09,862 When I walked over there, I remember driving home thinking to myself, 263 00:15:09,896 --> 00:15:12,862 "Man, we just got 264 00:15:12,896 --> 00:15:15,448 "a great student pastor, and he is doing fantastic, 265 00:15:15,482 --> 00:15:18,034 "and they are gonna... he is gonna be gone." 266 00:15:30,103 --> 00:15:32,620 God, we pray that people fill this place up tonight. 267 00:15:34,344 --> 00:15:39,827 That whatever walls we are building around, whatever it is, 268 00:15:39,862 --> 00:15:42,689 that we would see that you can handle it. 269 00:15:42,724 --> 00:15:48,275 That Lord, you'd... open us up a little bit more tonight. 270 00:15:48,310 --> 00:15:51,344 We know you don't need this whole concert to do that, 271 00:15:51,379 --> 00:15:54,103 but it would be awesome if we could be here 272 00:15:54,137 --> 00:15:56,137 on the night you did that for somebody. 273 00:15:56,827 --> 00:15:59,000 And let it start with us. 274 00:16:00,448 --> 00:16:05,137 Lord, thank you that you are patient with us to wait. 275 00:16:06,517 --> 00:16:08,413 Lord, I thank you that you can do so much more 276 00:16:08,448 --> 00:16:10,482 than we can ask or think or imagine. 277 00:16:10,517 --> 00:16:15,034 I pray that you just start helping us to ask, to think and to imagine. 278 00:16:15,068 --> 00:16:17,862 In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. 279 00:16:27,379 --> 00:16:31,137 Well, I am just anxious to feel the presence of the Lord tonight 280 00:16:31,172 --> 00:16:34,620 'cause these are songs of truth and from the heart, 281 00:16:34,655 --> 00:16:37,413 and when people hear this they hear Jesus. 282 00:16:37,448 --> 00:16:40,965 Their music... if I'm having a bad day at work, I turn their music on, 283 00:16:41,000 --> 00:16:42,965 I've got it downloaded on my phone, 284 00:16:43,000 --> 00:16:44,620 and it just instantly uplifts me. 285 00:16:45,482 --> 00:16:49,517 Casting Crowns and their lyrics just... 286 00:16:49,551 --> 00:16:52,965 it's real life and it reaches your heart. 287 00:16:57,310 --> 00:17:01,310 I was working with Steven Curtis Chapman and... uh, one of my heroes, 288 00:17:01,344 --> 00:17:04,413 and we are working on a song and I remember him saying 289 00:17:04,448 --> 00:17:06,862 there is something that Bill Gaither told him, 290 00:17:06,896 --> 00:17:09,413 "There's the 'So what?' test." 291 00:17:09,448 --> 00:17:13,827 When you finish writing what you're writing, "Okay. So what? 292 00:17:13,862 --> 00:17:16,344 "What are you saying? What's the point of that?" 293 00:17:16,379 --> 00:17:19,344 And that has always stuck with me. 294 00:17:19,379 --> 00:17:25,482 If somebody's gonna give me four minutes of their life, three minutes of their life, um, 295 00:17:25,517 --> 00:17:27,000 what am I telling them? 296 00:17:28,275 --> 00:17:32,482 I was struggling with a lot of mental distress. 297 00:17:32,517 --> 00:17:34,931 I had just given my life back to the Lord 298 00:17:34,965 --> 00:17:38,862 and I just know that the enemy was just trying to almost make me feel like, 299 00:17:38,896 --> 00:17:40,586 "You are doing the wrong thing." 300 00:17:40,620 --> 00:17:43,000 Lot of lies that we're just bombarding my mind, 301 00:17:43,034 --> 00:17:44,931 and it would be hard for me to sleep at night. 302 00:17:44,965 --> 00:17:47,689 I came across this song "The Voice of Truth." 303 00:17:47,724 --> 00:17:50,655 "Tells me a different story. The voice of truth says, 'Do not be afraid.'" 304 00:17:50,689 --> 00:17:53,965 I would listen to that song on repeat all night long, 305 00:17:54,000 --> 00:17:56,482 and that song just buried into my spirit. 306 00:17:56,517 --> 00:17:59,931 ♪ Singing over me 307 00:17:59,965 --> 00:18:05,689 ♪ And the Voice of Truth tells me a different story 308 00:18:05,724 --> 00:18:11,517 ♪ The Voice of Truth says, "Do not be afraid!" 309 00:18:11,551 --> 00:18:17,034 ♪ And the Voice of Truth says, "This is for My glory" 310 00:18:17,068 --> 00:18:21,448 ♪ Out of all the voices calling out to me... ♪ 311 00:18:21,482 --> 00:18:23,758 It taught me that Jesus is the truth, 312 00:18:23,793 --> 00:18:29,103 and there is no lie that is gonna stop Him from being who He is 313 00:18:29,137 --> 00:18:31,827 and Him from being... me from being who I am in Him. 314 00:18:31,862 --> 00:18:34,758 And it revolutionized my relationship with the Lord 315 00:18:34,793 --> 00:18:39,620 and from then, I have not had any more emotional distress at all. 316 00:18:39,655 --> 00:18:42,482 It was a delivering experience. 317 00:18:44,965 --> 00:18:47,862 My husband, he used to attend a lot of meetings, 318 00:18:47,896 --> 00:18:49,793 and he was on his way back. 319 00:18:49,827 --> 00:18:51,620 He... He caught COVID. 320 00:18:52,620 --> 00:18:55,413 And it hit him hard. Um... 321 00:18:55,448 --> 00:19:02,344 He asked me to call 911 because he couldn't breathe. 322 00:19:02,379 --> 00:19:04,965 Um... Paramedics came. 323 00:19:06,206 --> 00:19:08,206 When they let me go into the room, 324 00:19:09,827 --> 00:19:12,517 all I did was play worship music, 325 00:19:12,551 --> 00:19:14,517 you know, the songs that he loved, 326 00:19:14,551 --> 00:19:17,344 you know, all the Casting Crowns. 327 00:19:18,689 --> 00:19:21,517 It was hard for me because... 328 00:19:22,689 --> 00:19:24,448 it was hard for me to let go. 329 00:19:26,793 --> 00:19:28,482 So, "Scars In Heaven." 330 00:19:28,517 --> 00:19:31,862 Who would have thought that I would be playing that song in my husband's service? 331 00:19:31,896 --> 00:19:35,517 And I know that he is with our God. 332 00:19:36,448 --> 00:19:38,965 That song was just so perfect because, 333 00:19:39,000 --> 00:19:41,172 although he is not here with me, 334 00:19:41,206 --> 00:19:43,758 he got spiritual healing completely. 335 00:19:43,793 --> 00:19:46,586 My girls. That's their song with him. 336 00:19:46,620 --> 00:19:50,068 It just rings so close to us 337 00:19:50,103 --> 00:19:54,827 because that's the person who has them, the one who has scars in his hands. 338 00:19:54,862 --> 00:19:58,241 ♪ Until I'm standing with you in the sun 339 00:19:58,275 --> 00:20:01,172 ♪ I'll fight this fight This race I'll run 340 00:20:01,206 --> 00:20:04,965 ♪ Until I finally see what you can see 341 00:20:06,655 --> 00:20:08,655 ♪ Oh-oh 342 00:20:08,689 --> 00:20:13,827 ♪ The only scars in Heaven 343 00:20:13,862 --> 00:20:17,965 ♪ They won't belong to me and you 344 00:20:19,689 --> 00:20:23,689 ♪ There'll be no such thing as broken 345 00:20:24,724 --> 00:20:29,482 ♪ And all the old will be made new 346 00:20:29,517 --> 00:20:33,862 ♪ And the thought that makes me smile now 347 00:20:35,344 --> 00:20:41,758 ♪ Even as the tears fall down 348 00:20:41,793 --> 00:20:45,137 ♪ The only scars in Heaven 349 00:20:47,482 --> 00:20:50,517 ♪ Are on the hands that hold you now ♪ 350 00:21:54,206 --> 00:22:00,172 So, it's 2003 when Crowns, kind of, happened everywhere else. 351 00:22:00,206 --> 00:22:01,965 Everybody here was used to us, you know? 352 00:22:02,000 --> 00:22:09,000 And, so when we got signed, there was a lot of fear, I think, in the church. 353 00:22:09,034 --> 00:22:13,172 You know, it's just like, "What's that mean? Is Mark gonna go off?" 354 00:22:13,206 --> 00:22:14,793 And there were little murmurings. 355 00:22:14,827 --> 00:22:18,344 I think it was a Wednesday night. I just kind of addressed it. 356 00:22:18,379 --> 00:22:21,586 I said, "Guys, I'm hearing a lot of you guys think that, you know, 357 00:22:21,620 --> 00:22:25,137 "we are gonna become these artists and disappear. Just be gone. 358 00:22:25,172 --> 00:22:28,517 "And the church is gonna be left high and dry. 359 00:22:28,551 --> 00:22:31,034 "You know, I think the reason you think that 360 00:22:31,068 --> 00:22:33,482 "is probably because that's what you would do. 361 00:22:33,517 --> 00:22:34,758 "But that's not who we are. 362 00:22:34,793 --> 00:22:38,689 "Casting Crowns was gonna be part of Eagle's Landing. 363 00:22:38,724 --> 00:22:42,758 "Just one more ministry like any other mission's ministry in the church 364 00:22:42,793 --> 00:22:46,689 "that heads out and shares Jesus on the road." 365 00:22:46,724 --> 00:22:51,172 It doesn't make it very financially easy 366 00:22:51,206 --> 00:22:53,275 when you are only gonna do three shows a week 367 00:22:53,310 --> 00:22:55,620 because Mark wanted to be in the office. 368 00:22:55,655 --> 00:22:57,931 He wanted to be at church on Sunday morning. 369 00:22:57,965 --> 00:23:00,758 And the office at church on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, 370 00:23:00,793 --> 00:23:02,965 and then with the youth group on Wednesday night, 371 00:23:03,000 --> 00:23:05,448 it did create its challenges in the beginning. 372 00:23:05,482 --> 00:23:07,931 But there was still always the purpose and the goal. 373 00:23:07,965 --> 00:23:11,586 I would love to say I was the guy that immediately went, 374 00:23:11,620 --> 00:23:14,827 "This is gonna work. This is gonna be awesome. I feel God at work" and stuff. 375 00:23:14,862 --> 00:23:17,413 I am the guy that's gonna actually put together a marketing plan 376 00:23:17,448 --> 00:23:19,275 where I don't have access to the artists. 377 00:23:19,310 --> 00:23:22,931 And touring. Am I gonna be able to get these guys on a tour? 378 00:23:22,965 --> 00:23:28,103 I love this guy, but I have said no to a lot of artists that I love. 379 00:23:28,137 --> 00:23:32,034 It's the first couple of days of tour. 380 00:23:32,068 --> 00:23:33,793 First concert. 381 00:23:33,827 --> 00:23:37,655 Ahhh! 382 00:23:37,689 --> 00:23:39,517 Second concert? 383 00:23:39,551 --> 00:23:42,137 Ahhh! Slightly less. 384 00:23:42,172 --> 00:23:47,137 We didn't really do things the way the industry did them when we first started. 385 00:23:47,172 --> 00:23:51,620 The way we tour is we did Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Came back home. 386 00:23:51,655 --> 00:23:56,931 That's like, "That's a whole another day that you guys can tour on Sunday." 387 00:23:56,965 --> 00:24:00,758 You function in the industry as a touring group. 388 00:24:00,793 --> 00:24:05,448 And touring is kind of difficult because you rent production equipment, 389 00:24:05,482 --> 00:24:09,172 PA, lights, video, buses. 390 00:24:09,206 --> 00:24:12,965 These are semis. We got three of them this year. 391 00:24:13,482 --> 00:24:15,034 One, two, three. 392 00:24:15,965 --> 00:24:18,034 This is our army of buses. 393 00:24:18,068 --> 00:24:23,965 One, two, three, four... five. 394 00:24:25,724 --> 00:24:28,517 Now when we travel, our family travels with us every weekend. 395 00:24:28,551 --> 00:24:30,689 So, the first half of the day is all about me and my kids. 396 00:24:30,724 --> 00:24:32,344 But at night, it gets a little crazy. 397 00:24:32,379 --> 00:24:34,965 So, it's always special when I can slip out and see them. 398 00:24:35,000 --> 00:24:37,034 Let's go see the babies. 399 00:24:38,689 --> 00:24:39,862 Hello? 400 00:24:39,896 --> 00:24:41,103 Daddy! 401 00:24:41,137 --> 00:24:44,172 Hey, who are those people? Do you know? 402 00:24:44,206 --> 00:24:45,413 No.No. 403 00:24:45,448 --> 00:24:49,344 That's not fair! Can you cut out this? 404 00:24:49,379 --> 00:24:51,586 He said, "Can you cut out this?" 405 00:24:51,620 --> 00:24:54,137 My kid is talking about editing already. 406 00:24:54,172 --> 00:24:55,655 Look at his smile. 407 00:24:55,689 --> 00:24:57,103 And cut! 408 00:24:57,137 --> 00:24:59,448 Let's show them what your bunks look like, okay? Come on. 409 00:24:59,482 --> 00:25:01,000 Show them how you get up in there. 410 00:25:01,034 --> 00:25:03,586 Ah-ha. 411 00:25:03,620 --> 00:25:04,655 Show them where you're bunking. 412 00:25:04,689 --> 00:25:07,137 Hello Kitty pillow! 413 00:25:07,172 --> 00:25:12,310 Wednesday night after church, we load up at midnight, 414 00:25:12,344 --> 00:25:14,620 get the kids out of the bed, slide them in here, 415 00:25:14,655 --> 00:25:16,620 and they're gonna wake up in whatever city we're gonna be in. 416 00:25:16,655 --> 00:25:20,862 And we just roll in Sunday morning right before, um, 417 00:25:20,896 --> 00:25:22,344 let's say right before Sunday school. 418 00:25:22,379 --> 00:25:26,827 Right back here, it's our craft area, hang-out wing 419 00:25:26,862 --> 00:25:29,241 of the estate of bus here. 420 00:25:29,275 --> 00:25:31,137 This is our family. This is how we do it. 421 00:25:31,172 --> 00:25:35,517 We decided from the start we're gonna do it together. So, here we be. 422 00:25:35,551 --> 00:25:38,068 God's blessing us. Good stuff. 423 00:25:38,103 --> 00:25:40,620 The first tour I did with him, we knew, "Hey." 424 00:25:40,655 --> 00:25:45,482 Every Sunday I watched them get up at crack of dawn or leave Saturday night. 425 00:25:45,517 --> 00:25:47,103 Get the bus back home. 426 00:25:47,137 --> 00:25:49,103 There were challenges with routing 427 00:25:49,137 --> 00:25:53,620 because there's only so many cities within striking distance of Atlanta 428 00:25:53,655 --> 00:25:56,517 that I can get them back to driving in on buses. 429 00:25:57,655 --> 00:25:59,793 It's definitely not that glamorous. 430 00:25:59,827 --> 00:26:01,965 And you're living in tight quarters. 431 00:26:02,000 --> 00:26:03,344 You're going city to city. 432 00:26:03,379 --> 00:26:05,931 And how cool is that. You're getting to travel around the country. 433 00:26:05,965 --> 00:26:09,206 Many days, I get to see the inside of a venue and that's it. 434 00:26:11,655 --> 00:26:14,517 It was so surreal that I didn't feel like it was real life. 435 00:26:14,551 --> 00:26:17,448 I thought it was this weird thing we do on the weekends 436 00:26:17,482 --> 00:26:19,103 and then we come home to real life. 437 00:26:19,137 --> 00:26:21,344 There would be a clean pile of clothes on the floor 438 00:26:21,379 --> 00:26:23,034 and a dirty pile of clothes on the floor, 439 00:26:23,068 --> 00:26:24,517 and they never made it to any drawers. 440 00:26:24,551 --> 00:26:26,827 We'd just wash them and put them back in the suitcase. 441 00:26:26,862 --> 00:26:32,689 And I would literally come home on Monday and stare at the wall 442 00:26:32,724 --> 00:26:39,172 because I was so, like, mentally, spiritually, like, exhausted. 443 00:26:39,206 --> 00:26:41,137 Where are we? 444 00:26:41,172 --> 00:26:44,275 Um... Arizona. 445 00:26:44,310 --> 00:26:46,241 I knew that.Nice. 446 00:26:46,275 --> 00:26:48,000 I had to think about it for a second. 447 00:26:48,034 --> 00:26:49,758 Hey, Mark, where are we? 448 00:26:49,793 --> 00:26:52,103 We are in Glendale, Arizona.Hey! 449 00:26:52,137 --> 00:26:54,620 -That's a first. -I was gonna say. 450 00:26:54,655 --> 00:26:56,310 Where are we, Melodee? 451 00:27:01,068 --> 00:27:05,310 They're completely oblivious that another member of the band is filming them 452 00:27:05,344 --> 00:27:07,000 when they are gushing over the band. 453 00:27:08,551 --> 00:27:12,241 Andy's on his eighth step. Need an oxygen bottle? 454 00:27:12,275 --> 00:27:15,620 "I might not be able to carry the ring, 455 00:27:15,655 --> 00:27:18,172 ..."but I can carry you." 456 00:27:18,206 --> 00:27:19,517 Mr. Frodo. 457 00:27:19,551 --> 00:27:21,413 There is a certain smell in this area. 458 00:27:21,448 --> 00:27:23,482 There has been livestock in this building before. 459 00:27:23,517 --> 00:27:26,931 Wonder how they clean this.It reeks of a certain odor. 460 00:27:26,965 --> 00:27:29,103 It smells like cow up in here. 461 00:27:29,137 --> 00:27:33,655 They call me tour-mom Mel very often because I play the role of mom. 462 00:27:33,689 --> 00:27:36,689 And I'm doling out the medicines when people are sick, 463 00:27:36,724 --> 00:27:40,000 checking the fever, and checking on the spouse, 464 00:27:40,034 --> 00:27:42,586 and, "How's your wife doing? And how are the kids doing?" 465 00:27:42,620 --> 00:27:46,068 And trying to help encourage wherever I can. 466 00:27:46,103 --> 00:27:49,758 Raising a family on the road is a little bit like home school. 467 00:27:49,793 --> 00:27:54,931 Except that it is home school, and bus school, and plane school, 468 00:27:54,965 --> 00:27:58,965 and boat school, hotel-room school. 469 00:27:59,000 --> 00:28:00,275 We have three kids. 470 00:28:00,310 --> 00:28:03,172 They've been travelling with me since they were newborns. 471 00:28:03,206 --> 00:28:04,620 They have grown up on the road. 472 00:28:04,655 --> 00:28:07,827 Think they have been to 48 continental states. 473 00:28:09,655 --> 00:28:14,172 When you get to a venue, you think it's loud during the concert. 474 00:28:14,206 --> 00:28:18,172 But it's really loud when you got guys yelling at each other. 475 00:28:18,206 --> 00:28:19,793 There is a forklift driving back and forth 476 00:28:19,827 --> 00:28:22,172 and things are clanging and banging. 477 00:28:22,206 --> 00:28:26,517 And Melodee is trying to keep a five-year-old boy's attention. 478 00:28:26,551 --> 00:28:29,620 And there's people, you know, cases going back and forth. 479 00:28:29,655 --> 00:28:31,827 She's like, "I'm right here. I'm right here. Look at me. 480 00:28:31,862 --> 00:28:35,275 "I'm gonna read to you. Okay. Can you do the math? Do your math." 481 00:28:36,448 --> 00:28:40,413 We have four fantastic kids that we love greatly, 482 00:28:40,448 --> 00:28:43,413 and they get to travel and get to meet people. 483 00:28:43,448 --> 00:28:45,137 They get to learn responsibility. 484 00:28:45,172 --> 00:28:49,517 They get to work and learn how to be a responsible member of society, if you will 485 00:28:49,551 --> 00:28:51,482 and life skills and things. 486 00:28:51,517 --> 00:28:56,689 And, um, it's been really great. I feel like it's made them really well-rounded. 487 00:28:56,724 --> 00:29:01,137 Been travelling with Crowns since they started. I was about five years old. 488 00:29:01,172 --> 00:29:04,103 So, that's kind of been... My whole life has been 489 00:29:04,137 --> 00:29:06,689 half a week on a bus and half the week at home. 490 00:29:06,724 --> 00:29:08,793 You got a little bit of mustard right there on your face. 491 00:29:09,827 --> 00:29:11,758 Further. Further. 492 00:29:11,793 --> 00:29:13,655 Your tongue's not gonna reach it. 493 00:29:13,689 --> 00:29:15,137 See? 494 00:29:15,172 --> 00:29:17,931 That's it. Attaboy. That's what I'm talking about. 495 00:29:17,965 --> 00:29:19,517 This is JM on the bass guitar. 496 00:29:22,379 --> 00:29:26,965 By the way, he and his wife just found out they're gonna have a baby and it is a boy. 497 00:29:29,724 --> 00:29:32,068 You can look and see their track record. 498 00:29:32,103 --> 00:29:35,482 They have had family travel with them on the road. 499 00:29:35,517 --> 00:29:37,758 They've stayed integrated with each other. 500 00:29:37,793 --> 00:29:40,068 And I know that's not easy. 501 00:29:40,103 --> 00:29:47,000 ♪ Happy birthday to you ♪ 502 00:29:51,206 --> 00:29:52,689 I have a family at home. 503 00:29:52,724 --> 00:29:55,275 They don't get to come out with me out on the road. 504 00:29:55,310 --> 00:29:58,448 It's hard for me to be out here. But, I... like, I know. 505 00:29:58,482 --> 00:30:00,758 I have told my wife, "If it was music for the sake of music, 506 00:30:00,793 --> 00:30:04,344 "as much as I love music, I'd have to be out." 507 00:30:04,379 --> 00:30:09,965 It has to be something deeper, particularly in Christian music, behind going out and just 508 00:30:10,000 --> 00:30:15,310 hitting the stage every night, and feeling the adrenaline rush from being onstage. 509 00:30:15,344 --> 00:30:19,931 I felt like, in many ways, we were saying hello and goodbye in one night. 510 00:30:19,965 --> 00:30:21,931 I'm like, "What can possibly be done?" 511 00:30:21,965 --> 00:30:24,517 I started realizing that these songs in themselves 512 00:30:24,551 --> 00:30:27,103 are earning the right to tell truth to folks 513 00:30:27,137 --> 00:30:30,172 because we're saying, "I don't have it together either." 514 00:30:30,206 --> 00:30:34,241 So, I started seeing at that one visit of a concert 515 00:30:34,275 --> 00:30:39,068 if we could drop a few little nuggets into their heart. 516 00:30:39,103 --> 00:30:44,137 The first one I remember that landed with people was, "God doesn't need you. 517 00:30:44,172 --> 00:30:45,931 "God wants you." 518 00:30:45,965 --> 00:30:49,172 And just seeing lights come on in the room 519 00:30:49,206 --> 00:30:55,034 has really given us a sense of purpose of why we're out here doing this. 520 00:30:55,068 --> 00:30:59,137 Mark's always encouraging us to lift our eyes up from what we're doing 521 00:30:59,172 --> 00:31:02,034 and look at what God's doing in the crowd. 522 00:31:02,068 --> 00:31:06,448 And it's a good way to constantly remind us that it's not about us. 523 00:31:07,965 --> 00:31:10,758 When I look at it, people are singing our songs back to us, 524 00:31:10,793 --> 00:31:16,000 it's like God is connecting with that person 525 00:31:16,034 --> 00:31:19,275 through a song that He let me write. 526 00:31:19,310 --> 00:31:23,275 And coming back to my own church every week was a reminder of, 527 00:31:23,310 --> 00:31:26,655 "You gotta remember who's who in the zoo here." Right? 528 00:31:26,689 --> 00:31:31,241 The moment I start stepping, that's a very dangerous place to be, on a stage, 529 00:31:31,275 --> 00:31:36,620 'cause you're standing between people in their moment with the Father. 530 00:31:39,172 --> 00:31:43,517 There's this idea that the people up on the stage have got it all together. 531 00:31:43,551 --> 00:31:45,862 And, uh, you never want that to get into your head. 532 00:31:45,896 --> 00:31:47,758 You know, we know we're a bunch of dorks. 533 00:31:50,827 --> 00:31:52,620 It's like reverse coordinate. 534 00:31:52,655 --> 00:31:55,275 It hit the board, It hit the strings and then bounced back in. 535 00:31:55,310 --> 00:32:00,655 Juan. Yeah, baby. Come on now! Get you some of that! 536 00:32:00,689 --> 00:32:03,275 I'm de-tuning your guitar. 537 00:32:03,310 --> 00:32:05,103 What the heck, man? Hey. 538 00:32:12,965 --> 00:32:16,103 I think it's easy for artists to move to Nashville 539 00:32:16,137 --> 00:32:19,310 and get sucked up into all the business. 540 00:32:19,344 --> 00:32:22,275 And everything and everybody just come out of the wood works. 541 00:32:22,310 --> 00:32:24,965 And everybody wants something. Everybody needs something. 542 00:32:25,000 --> 00:32:26,965 Kind of the first Easter that they were around, 543 00:32:27,000 --> 00:32:29,482 the agent called me and he said, "Mike, you're not gonna believe this. 544 00:32:29,517 --> 00:32:35,068 "We have an incredible offer for Casting Crowns to go play at this church in California. 545 00:32:35,103 --> 00:32:37,827 "I'm not gonna say anything more. I'm just gonna send it over to you. 546 00:32:37,862 --> 00:32:39,793 "And, I guess we'll see 547 00:32:39,827 --> 00:32:43,827 "if they're serious about being home for church on Sunday." 548 00:32:43,862 --> 00:32:46,620 He sends the offer, and I couldn't believe it. 549 00:32:46,655 --> 00:32:49,241 And it included airfare, so there's no risk for them. 550 00:32:49,275 --> 00:32:52,344 They can fly from Atlanta to California, play a big Easter service 551 00:32:52,379 --> 00:32:54,103 and fly home. 552 00:32:54,137 --> 00:32:56,655 It was the biggest money that they had ever seen. 553 00:32:56,689 --> 00:33:02,068 And I sent it over. And I got a call almost immediately from Melanie Hall, 554 00:33:02,103 --> 00:33:05,517 and said, "Mike, we're incredibly honored. 555 00:33:05,551 --> 00:33:09,310 "Please tell them thank you, and we would love to come back at another time, 556 00:33:09,344 --> 00:33:11,724 "but we're committed to being at our home church for Easter." 557 00:33:13,137 --> 00:33:16,689 And at that moment I'm like, "I guess they're for real." 558 00:33:16,724 --> 00:33:18,793 He told me at that time, and I didn't believe it. 559 00:33:18,827 --> 00:33:21,758 It took me until the second record to really understand this. 560 00:33:21,793 --> 00:33:27,000 He said, "I'm not a youth pastor who wants to be an artist-- Also an artist. 561 00:33:27,034 --> 00:33:30,344 "I'm not an artist who also wants to be a youth pastor. 562 00:33:30,379 --> 00:33:33,793 "I'm not a dual-career person trying to juggle two things. 563 00:33:33,827 --> 00:33:35,000 "I'm a youth pastor. 564 00:33:36,517 --> 00:33:38,379 "Period." 565 00:33:55,620 --> 00:34:00,931 ♪ Who am I that the Lord of all the earth 566 00:34:00,965 --> 00:34:04,931 ♪ Would care to know my name? 567 00:34:04,965 --> 00:34:08,482 ♪ Would care to feel my hurt? 568 00:34:09,965 --> 00:34:15,655 ♪ Who am I that the bright and morning star 569 00:34:15,689 --> 00:34:18,931 ♪ Would choose to light the way 570 00:34:18,965 --> 00:34:24,310 ♪ For my ever wandering heart? 571 00:34:24,344 --> 00:34:28,068 ♪ Not because of who I am 572 00:34:28,103 --> 00:34:31,448 ♪ But because of what you've done 573 00:34:31,482 --> 00:34:34,000 ♪ Not because of what I've done 574 00:34:35,068 --> 00:34:36,620 ♪ But because of who you are... ♪ 575 00:34:36,655 --> 00:34:40,482 One thing I would want you to know about us before we go tonight is that 576 00:34:40,517 --> 00:34:45,448 I came so, so close to never being a youth pastor. 577 00:34:45,482 --> 00:34:49,758 So, close to never even thinking about writing a song 578 00:34:49,793 --> 00:34:55,655 because I had spent almost all of my life... scared. 579 00:34:55,689 --> 00:35:00,103 I would have never imagined getting up in front of people and singing 580 00:35:00,137 --> 00:35:01,758 much less talking. 581 00:35:01,793 --> 00:35:03,275 That was not my thing. 582 00:35:03,310 --> 00:35:06,655 I'm the kid in the LD classes from school. 583 00:35:06,689 --> 00:35:09,862 You know, everything about life taught me, 584 00:35:09,896 --> 00:35:12,862 "Stay in the back. Blend in as good as you can. 585 00:35:12,896 --> 00:35:18,172 "I'm sure God has a plan, and I'm sure God can do big things to people. 586 00:35:18,206 --> 00:35:20,000 "It's just not gonna be for you, Mark." 587 00:35:20,034 --> 00:35:23,758 And I lived in "scared" for a long time 588 00:35:23,793 --> 00:35:27,517 until I finally started letting God talk to me about "scared." 589 00:35:27,551 --> 00:35:32,620 Then I see God tell Paul. 2 Corinthians 12, 590 00:35:32,655 --> 00:35:35,275 where Paul has a thorn in his flesh. 591 00:35:35,310 --> 00:35:41,827 "My grace is sufficient for you, and my power is gonna be made perfect in your weakness." 592 00:35:43,620 --> 00:35:47,344 I thinks it's the reason there even is a Casting Crowns. 593 00:35:49,344 --> 00:35:51,275 That morning, He started to say to me. 594 00:35:53,379 --> 00:35:54,482 "Mark... 595 00:35:56,965 --> 00:35:58,000 "I don't need you. 596 00:36:00,862 --> 00:36:01,862 "I want you. 597 00:36:03,965 --> 00:36:08,379 "Mark, I don't needyou. 598 00:36:11,068 --> 00:36:12,620 "I want you. 599 00:36:12,655 --> 00:36:16,068 "Do you think that all of these fears and limitations 600 00:36:16,103 --> 00:36:20,931 "and all these things that make you feel so small are worrying me? 601 00:36:20,965 --> 00:36:23,000 "You think that all these little initials you got 602 00:36:23,034 --> 00:36:25,068 "from all these little tests when you were a kid 603 00:36:25,103 --> 00:36:26,724 "are weighing me down? 604 00:36:30,551 --> 00:36:35,551 "Mark, I am gonna do something in the world. 605 00:36:38,517 --> 00:36:41,172 "I just wanna know if you wanna come." 606 00:36:43,689 --> 00:36:46,344 My songs tends to start in the dark. 607 00:36:46,379 --> 00:36:49,379 Art usually starts in the dark. 608 00:36:51,689 --> 00:36:56,172 We were just in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame walking around the other day. 609 00:36:56,206 --> 00:36:59,517 When I walked through there, I saw so much more than just music. 610 00:36:59,551 --> 00:37:03,241 I saw pain, heaviness on people. 611 00:37:03,275 --> 00:37:05,689 There's a hopelessness about people. 612 00:37:05,724 --> 00:37:08,758 And the more loved art is usually the art that's honest 613 00:37:08,793 --> 00:37:11,068 and that's usually the art that's in the dark. 614 00:37:11,103 --> 00:37:14,275 And what I saw is a trend in all these bands 615 00:37:14,310 --> 00:37:17,586 that I listened to as a kid in my darkest days. 616 00:37:17,620 --> 00:37:23,241 All they really did was say, "It's dark. Maybe it'll get better." 617 00:37:23,275 --> 00:37:26,413 Or, "It's dark. What's the use," you know? 618 00:37:26,448 --> 00:37:31,068 And as a believer, I can't live my life that way anymore. 619 00:37:31,103 --> 00:37:36,000 I started looking back on songs and seeing a trend in my writing. 620 00:37:36,034 --> 00:37:41,758 And the trend that I see is that, they start with, "This is how I feel. 621 00:37:41,793 --> 00:37:43,275 "This is what makes sense to me." 622 00:37:45,137 --> 00:37:48,689 So, when I write a song, I'm gonna start with my feelings. 623 00:37:48,724 --> 00:37:52,586 "This is how I feel." But now, I've gotta go to His word and say, 624 00:37:52,620 --> 00:37:55,931 "God, I need you to tell me the truth about my feelings." Right? 625 00:37:55,965 --> 00:38:00,000 "I know my feelings are valid, but I need to know what's true about it." 626 00:38:00,034 --> 00:38:02,310 So, songs like "Voice of Truth," 627 00:38:02,344 --> 00:38:06,448 I'm dealing with... with being dyslexic, having ADD, 628 00:38:06,482 --> 00:38:09,413 flunking classes every semester, you know? 629 00:38:09,448 --> 00:38:11,137 And going, "Why in the world am I here?" 630 00:38:11,172 --> 00:38:13,034 Um, that's where the song starts. 631 00:38:14,482 --> 00:38:20,310 ♪ And Voice of Truth tells me a different story 632 00:38:20,344 --> 00:38:26,137 ♪ The Voice of Truth says "Do not be afraid!" 633 00:38:26,172 --> 00:38:31,448 ♪ And the Voice of Truth says "This is for My glory" 634 00:38:31,482 --> 00:38:35,896 ♪ Out of all the voices calling out to me 635 00:38:37,655 --> 00:38:41,379 ♪ I will choose to listen and believe 636 00:38:43,310 --> 00:38:48,034 ♪ I will choose to listen and believe 637 00:38:49,482 --> 00:38:53,000 ♪ The Voice of Truth 638 00:38:58,310 --> 00:39:04,172 I received a text from Jack, March 2nd. 639 00:39:04,206 --> 00:39:06,965 It was a day before my birthday, 640 00:39:07,000 --> 00:39:09,689 and I was in a meeting in my office. 641 00:39:09,724 --> 00:39:13,172 And when I was reading his text, it said, 642 00:39:15,206 --> 00:39:16,724 "I'm dying." 643 00:39:24,862 --> 00:39:28,620 I grew up in McDonough. I've been there all my life. 644 00:39:28,655 --> 00:39:30,241 Been in church all my life. 645 00:39:30,275 --> 00:39:34,344 My parents have been heavily involved in the church 646 00:39:34,379 --> 00:39:38,241 whether it's my mom working or my dad volunteering. 647 00:39:38,275 --> 00:39:40,655 I met Jack when he was about fifth grade. 648 00:39:40,689 --> 00:39:43,275 He grew up with my son, John Michael. 649 00:39:43,310 --> 00:39:47,379 So, that whole friend group came through the youth group together. 650 00:39:48,517 --> 00:39:53,482 I saw very early on that Jack had a soft heart. 651 00:39:53,517 --> 00:39:59,931 Me being dyslexic and ADD, I can always sense when somebody processes a little different. 652 00:39:59,965 --> 00:40:05,241 And... you know, Jack has some of the same things you struggle with in school 653 00:40:05,275 --> 00:40:06,689 that I struggled with. 654 00:40:06,724 --> 00:40:10,103 And just always had a special place in my heart for Jack. 655 00:40:10,137 --> 00:40:13,275 He and his best friends formed this band in high school. 656 00:40:13,310 --> 00:40:17,586 After graduation, they actually were playing gigs around Atlanta. 657 00:40:17,620 --> 00:40:22,103 Solo Jones was the band and it went farther than I ever though it would. 658 00:40:31,379 --> 00:40:32,965 I was having a hard time 659 00:40:33,000 --> 00:40:38,482 with how I viewed a drummer in a rock band or a rock band in general. 660 00:40:38,517 --> 00:40:45,655 Like, I had this vision of, "Let's party. Let's get drunk. Let's go on the stage buzzing." 661 00:40:45,689 --> 00:40:49,965 I could tell that he was fading. And I would chat with him every once in a while. 662 00:40:50,000 --> 00:40:52,827 And he would be, "All right. Okay. All right." 663 00:40:52,862 --> 00:40:55,413 I was skateboarding, and I was in an accident, 664 00:40:55,448 --> 00:40:57,482 and I broke a couple of ribs. 665 00:40:57,517 --> 00:41:02,965 I had somebody really close to me very innocently gave me painkillers. 666 00:41:04,517 --> 00:41:07,620 When I was taking those pills, I felt more confident, 667 00:41:07,655 --> 00:41:08,965 and I felt like I knew myself. 668 00:41:09,000 --> 00:41:12,310 I wasn't as introverted. I felt more talkative. 669 00:41:12,344 --> 00:41:14,793 I felt like people liked me more. 670 00:41:16,275 --> 00:41:18,724 It's such a sick thing because... 671 00:41:21,862 --> 00:41:23,482 Oh, my gosh. 672 00:41:36,862 --> 00:41:39,034 You know, no one tells you that 673 00:41:39,068 --> 00:41:43,517 as you take these, your tolerance is gonna get higher. 674 00:41:43,551 --> 00:41:46,965 And no one tells you that it's changing, like, 675 00:41:47,000 --> 00:41:49,827 some hard-core chemistry in your brain. 676 00:41:49,862 --> 00:41:54,413 And, I'm not blaming anybody. This is... All of these things were my fault. 677 00:41:54,448 --> 00:41:58,448 I had so hardly rewired my brain 678 00:41:58,482 --> 00:42:03,586 that reward system that's in my mind, that knows nothing that is good or bad. 679 00:42:03,620 --> 00:42:07,000 It just knows that it wants to feel that... that high again. 680 00:42:10,068 --> 00:42:15,448 I remember one night him talking to me when it got a little dark for him. 681 00:42:15,482 --> 00:42:17,586 And it was catching up to him. 682 00:42:17,620 --> 00:42:19,689 So, we sat down in Waffle House. 683 00:42:19,724 --> 00:42:23,103 And probably around midnight, it's the best time to be at Waffle House, 684 00:42:23,137 --> 00:42:24,689 and we just start talking about life. 685 00:42:24,724 --> 00:42:28,172 I really opened up for the first time about what I was thinking 686 00:42:28,206 --> 00:42:30,827 and, like, where I was spiritually. 687 00:42:30,862 --> 00:42:33,172 He was like, "Well, you know, I just... 688 00:42:33,206 --> 00:42:37,827 "I just always heard about Jesus, and it's always been what I've grown up with. 689 00:42:37,862 --> 00:42:41,000 "But what if there's just more out there?" 690 00:42:41,034 --> 00:42:43,655 And I just remember telling him, 691 00:42:43,689 --> 00:42:49,310 "Jack, the love of God is inescapable, 692 00:42:49,344 --> 00:42:54,344 "and you can run Him away, you can party Him away, 693 00:42:54,379 --> 00:42:56,758 "you can try to question Him away. 694 00:42:56,793 --> 00:42:58,620 "But at the end of every day, 695 00:42:58,655 --> 00:43:03,448 "it's just you looking up at your ceiling fan knowing that He's here." 696 00:43:03,482 --> 00:43:06,620 Mark listened to me. He listened to my doubts, 697 00:43:06,655 --> 00:43:11,517 and he made me realize that to come to Christ, like to be surrendered, 698 00:43:11,551 --> 00:43:14,758 you don't have to, like, not doubt. 699 00:43:14,793 --> 00:43:17,586 You don't have to have it all figured out. 700 00:43:17,620 --> 00:43:20,034 There have always been people in my life 701 00:43:21,137 --> 00:43:22,793 that knew what I've done wrong. 702 00:43:24,068 --> 00:43:28,275 But because of Jesus, they didn't burn bridges. 703 00:43:29,448 --> 00:43:31,758 There's always a bridge there. 704 00:43:31,793 --> 00:43:34,551 And one of the things that I always wanted Jack to know 705 00:43:35,724 --> 00:43:37,724 is that this bridge is always here. 706 00:43:38,620 --> 00:43:40,758 So, I'll always tell him the same thing. 707 00:43:40,793 --> 00:43:44,586 I tell him the truth. I tell him what he doesn't wanna hear. 708 00:43:44,620 --> 00:43:48,448 And I'd remind him I'm always in your corner. 709 00:43:48,482 --> 00:43:50,931 You tell me you wanna talk, and I'm right here. 710 00:43:50,965 --> 00:43:52,172 And he would run, 711 00:43:53,793 --> 00:43:55,448 and he would fall off a cliff. 712 00:43:55,482 --> 00:43:58,689 But he knew I'm gonna be here. 713 00:43:58,724 --> 00:44:01,275 And it wasn't just me, it was a lot of people 714 00:44:01,310 --> 00:44:04,551 that were there for him, just like there are people there for me. 715 00:44:10,275 --> 00:44:15,275 In high school, growing up with my best friends, they're still my best friends, 716 00:44:15,310 --> 00:44:19,827 if someone were to tell me, "You're gonna take pictures of their bank account 717 00:44:19,862 --> 00:44:25,103 "so that later you can go and drain it so you can just keep getting high." 718 00:44:25,137 --> 00:44:28,103 You know, I would think that's the most ridiculous thing ever. 719 00:44:29,482 --> 00:44:31,344 It was a few days before Christmas, actually. 720 00:44:31,379 --> 00:44:34,482 I get a call from his best friend and he said, 721 00:44:34,517 --> 00:44:40,000 "You know, uh, Jack has stolen from the band and something has to happen." 722 00:44:40,034 --> 00:44:43,137 He said, "He cannot come back until there is some kind of intervention." 723 00:44:45,551 --> 00:44:51,517 On Christmas Eve is when I texted Mark, I texted my pastor, um, 724 00:44:51,551 --> 00:44:54,344 and I texted my therapist. 725 00:44:54,379 --> 00:44:58,620 I'm like, "Hey, I need help. I don't know what else to do." 726 00:44:58,655 --> 00:45:02,931 We're eating... dinner 727 00:45:02,965 --> 00:45:06,137 and I get a text from Mark saying, "Hi, is Jack okay?" 728 00:45:09,172 --> 00:45:13,586 And I get call right after that text come. It was from Pastor Tim. 729 00:45:13,620 --> 00:45:18,482 Two weeks after that, um, is when I went to a retreat center. 730 00:45:18,517 --> 00:45:21,068 They have an aspect of it called "Colony of Mercy," 731 00:45:21,103 --> 00:45:24,137 and it's for addiction recovery. 732 00:45:24,172 --> 00:45:28,241 It was faith-based, and at the time, I didn't want faith-based at all. 733 00:45:28,275 --> 00:45:32,275 You know, looking back on it, it was because I was really ashamed 734 00:45:32,310 --> 00:45:34,827 and I didn't want Jesus to do anything about it. 735 00:45:34,862 --> 00:45:38,965 I remember standing in the parking lot when he was leaving, 736 00:45:39,000 --> 00:45:43,827 and I told him, "So, Jack, you're not going up there, uh, 737 00:45:45,068 --> 00:45:47,172 "to find out who you are. 738 00:45:47,206 --> 00:45:51,103 "You're going up there for God to remind you who you are." 739 00:45:51,137 --> 00:45:55,344 My parents, and Mark, my friends are a perfect picture 740 00:45:55,379 --> 00:46:01,068 of somebody stepping down to the mess I made and walking with me through it. 741 00:46:01,103 --> 00:46:06,965 I didn't deserve the help that I was being given, but I'm very grateful for it 742 00:46:07,000 --> 00:46:11,517 because a few of my friends that I met at rehab 743 00:46:11,551 --> 00:46:14,137 don't have the support system I have. 744 00:46:14,172 --> 00:46:17,620 They don't have the family, they don't have the friends. 745 00:46:17,655 --> 00:46:19,965 They don't have the pastor. They don't have the church. 746 00:46:22,655 --> 00:46:27,965 We had planned to go and visit Jack at rehab in March. 747 00:46:28,000 --> 00:46:33,793 Casting Crowns was going to be having a concert there at Trenton, New Jersey. 748 00:46:33,827 --> 00:46:38,655 And Melanie said, "Well, why not we give tickets, you know, to the whole rehab?" 749 00:46:38,689 --> 00:46:40,241 So, that's what they did. 750 00:46:40,275 --> 00:46:46,241 And I get a call from Mark, and he said, "Hey, they just closed us down." 751 00:46:46,275 --> 00:46:51,758 That was the day that, you know, most of America closed down because of COVID. 752 00:46:51,793 --> 00:46:56,172 We have a tour meeting, and, uh, we said, "This is not gonna happen. 753 00:46:56,206 --> 00:47:01,413 "We're gonna have to find a way to get home and keep our families safe." 754 00:47:01,448 --> 00:47:05,275 But the first thing I thought was, "Dude, we're an hour from Jack." 755 00:47:05,310 --> 00:47:10,137 So, I looked over at Josh, I looked over at Juan and said, "We're gonna go see Jack." 756 00:47:10,172 --> 00:47:13,310 We brought our acoustics. We're playing songs acoustic to them 757 00:47:13,344 --> 00:47:15,103 just to encourage them 758 00:47:15,137 --> 00:47:18,827 and see our friend and hug his neck. 759 00:47:18,862 --> 00:47:21,793 You know, we don't have TVs. We don't have cell phones there. 760 00:47:21,827 --> 00:47:25,965 But every Friday night, they would let us watch music videos on YouTube. 761 00:47:26,000 --> 00:47:29,068 Somebody, without fail, would always play a Crowns song 762 00:47:29,103 --> 00:47:31,931 whether it was "Nobody," "Oh My Soul." 763 00:47:31,965 --> 00:47:33,827 But they really played "Nobody" every single time. 764 00:47:33,862 --> 00:47:35,965 ♪ ...chose me 765 00:47:36,000 --> 00:47:39,241 ♪ Has always been a mystery 766 00:47:39,275 --> 00:47:42,413 ♪ All my life I've been told I belong 767 00:47:42,448 --> 00:47:44,793 ♪ At the end of the line 768 00:47:44,827 --> 00:47:47,862 ♪ With all the other not-quites 769 00:47:47,896 --> 00:47:51,137 ♪ With all the never-get-it-rights 770 00:47:51,172 --> 00:47:54,586 ♪ But it turns out they're the ones You were looking for 771 00:47:54,620 --> 00:47:56,413 ♪ All this time... 772 00:47:56,448 --> 00:47:59,965 It was gonna be cool for my friends that I had met to go to this concert, 773 00:48:00,000 --> 00:48:02,862 but now it's gonna be even cooler that they're coming here. 774 00:48:02,896 --> 00:48:07,931 This was my youth pastor, and he just happens to be in a famous band now. 775 00:48:07,965 --> 00:48:13,310 Walking into that room and seeing Jack walk through those pews, uh, to get to me 776 00:48:13,344 --> 00:48:17,827 was, uh... I could already see he was different. 777 00:48:17,862 --> 00:48:21,793 We kind of surprised him about half-way through. And uh... 778 00:48:21,827 --> 00:48:25,965 We're playing some songs and we got to the song "Voice of Truth." 779 00:48:26,000 --> 00:48:30,793 "Voice of Truth" is all about laying down some lies 780 00:48:30,827 --> 00:48:35,310 and understanding that what's true about you is what God says about you. 781 00:48:35,344 --> 00:48:37,241 That's what true about you. 782 00:48:37,275 --> 00:48:40,793 And, in my head a million times, it was like, "Don't do this. Don't do this. Don't do this." 783 00:48:41,344 --> 00:48:43,137 I said, "I'm doing it. 784 00:48:43,172 --> 00:48:47,137 "Jack. Come up here, Jack." Everybody's cheering Jack on. Jack gets up on that stage. 785 00:48:47,172 --> 00:48:51,413 That was the first time Jack had played the drums in months and months. 786 00:48:51,448 --> 00:48:55,310 And they did not allow you to play any instrument. It was part of the disciplines. 787 00:48:55,344 --> 00:48:57,758 And so, it was a God moment for him. 788 00:48:57,793 --> 00:49:01,413 What he loves... and his gift. 789 00:49:01,448 --> 00:49:04,275 ♪ ...says, "This is for My glory" 790 00:49:04,310 --> 00:49:08,103 ♪ Out of all the voices calling out to me 791 00:49:10,344 --> 00:49:14,965 ♪ I will choose to listen and believe 792 00:49:16,103 --> 00:49:20,448 ♪ I will choose to listen and believe 793 00:49:21,689 --> 00:49:25,482 ♪ The Voice of Truth 794 00:49:25,517 --> 00:49:31,068 ♪ And I... I will listen and believe 795 00:49:31,103 --> 00:49:35,655 ♪ Jesus you are the voice of truth ♪ 796 00:49:35,689 --> 00:49:37,586 All right. 797 00:49:47,000 --> 00:49:50,413 Ha had resigned himself to... he was cutting grass. 798 00:49:50,448 --> 00:49:53,724 He told me... He says, "I don't care if I ever play drums again." 799 00:49:54,862 --> 00:49:57,413 The dark places that he had been, uh, 800 00:49:57,448 --> 00:50:02,689 he felt like that was, kind of, a place where... that he could just leave behind. 801 00:50:02,724 --> 00:50:06,275 Uh, and he would just be content playing in church is what he told me. 802 00:50:06,310 --> 00:50:11,241 I was just getting to a place of contentment, um, 803 00:50:11,275 --> 00:50:13,862 and starting to grasp the fact that 804 00:50:13,896 --> 00:50:17,965 if my life is not revolved around music, like, it's okay. 805 00:50:18,000 --> 00:50:22,827 It sucked for sure. It was hard. But, you know, I was slowly getting to the point of, 806 00:50:22,862 --> 00:50:24,413 "This isn't for me." 807 00:50:24,448 --> 00:50:28,965 What he didn't know was right about that time, 808 00:50:29,000 --> 00:50:34,137 Brian, our drummer, was deciding it was time for him to come off the road. 809 00:50:34,172 --> 00:50:37,793 His sons were getting about middle school, high school. 810 00:50:37,827 --> 00:50:39,862 He had an opportunity 811 00:50:39,896 --> 00:50:42,068 to work with a non-profit that helps foster families, 812 00:50:42,103 --> 00:50:43,655 and it was just the perfect time for him. 813 00:50:46,206 --> 00:50:49,068 I knew I was gonna need a drummer. 814 00:50:49,103 --> 00:50:55,586 But I knew that I needed Jack to walk with Jesus more than I needed a drummer. 815 00:50:55,620 --> 00:50:57,103 So, I didn't say a word about it. 816 00:50:57,137 --> 00:51:01,517 And every time we met, we talked about Jack we talked about Jesus. 817 00:51:01,551 --> 00:51:06,931 I remember him showing me the tattoos on his arms and how they all had stories. 818 00:51:06,965 --> 00:51:10,655 He was kind of ashamed of some of his ink. 819 00:51:10,689 --> 00:51:14,413 I said, "Man, that's not you anymore." 820 00:51:14,448 --> 00:51:18,034 You got new stories for those. You have a brand-new story now. 821 00:51:18,068 --> 00:51:22,310 And I remember him telling me like, "I really wanna play drums." 822 00:51:22,344 --> 00:51:28,137 He said, "But I'm scared of the places that I have to go to play drums." 823 00:51:28,172 --> 00:51:32,103 He's still haunted by the people that he hurt, people in our church. 824 00:51:32,137 --> 00:51:37,620 And months of him learning to trust Jesus through hard times, 825 00:51:37,655 --> 00:51:43,310 facing his parents again, going back to his house again, dealing with his brothers again, 826 00:51:43,344 --> 00:51:49,758 trying to reform relationships that had been so broken, right? 827 00:51:49,793 --> 00:51:51,689 And I remember the day he was in my office. He said, 828 00:51:51,724 --> 00:51:55,586 "Mark, I think... I don't think I ever would have said this, 829 00:51:55,620 --> 00:51:59,344 "but I think that I'm okay with releasing drumming. 830 00:52:00,655 --> 00:52:04,000 "I need Jesus more than I need drumming." 831 00:52:06,137 --> 00:52:08,103 That's when I knew it was time. 832 00:52:08,137 --> 00:52:10,862 I went to his dad first. 833 00:52:10,896 --> 00:52:13,000 He was saying that, "Hey, how's Jack doing?" 834 00:52:13,034 --> 00:52:15,103 I said, "Man, Jack's doing really good right now." 835 00:52:15,137 --> 00:52:20,517 And I said, "Vic, Brian's stepping down as drummer." 836 00:52:20,551 --> 00:52:25,241 And Vic is a lot like me. Vic cries first and asks questions later. 837 00:52:25,275 --> 00:52:30,103 He said, "How about we just let him come on tour with us and see how it works out." 838 00:52:30,137 --> 00:52:32,862 And at that point I start getting ahold of Jack to talk to him. 839 00:52:32,896 --> 00:52:37,413 I said, "Man, I'm wondering if you're free in the spring." 840 00:52:37,448 --> 00:52:40,862 I'm cutting grass, and I'm pressure-washing houses. That's what I'm doing. 841 00:52:40,896 --> 00:52:45,413 I said, "I'd like for you to sit in and play drums on this tour." 842 00:52:45,448 --> 00:52:49,034 And he looked at me like a kid. 843 00:52:49,068 --> 00:52:53,034 He said, "See if you like it." I'm thinking, "Bro, I'm gonna like it." 844 00:52:53,068 --> 00:52:55,000 I just go ahead and say, "I'm gonna like it." 845 00:52:55,034 --> 00:52:57,793 And he's sitting back and he says, "Is this real?" 846 00:52:57,827 --> 00:53:01,620 I just felt like somebody was gonna come out with a camera and say, "Gotcha!" 847 00:53:03,827 --> 00:53:06,655 Since I was a little kid, that's what I wanted. 848 00:53:06,689 --> 00:53:09,275 I literally cannot believe this is happening. 849 00:53:09,310 --> 00:53:11,344 Here's some of the things that are gonna have to happen. 850 00:53:11,379 --> 00:53:14,448 You know, we're gonna put some safeguards. We're gonna put guard rails. 851 00:53:14,482 --> 00:53:19,862 But I know that I need you. And I know that all of your life has led you to right this... 852 00:53:19,896 --> 00:53:21,034 this moment. 853 00:53:21,068 --> 00:53:23,827 He said, "Does Brian know?" 854 00:53:24,724 --> 00:53:26,931 Talking about our old drummer. 855 00:53:26,965 --> 00:53:31,517 I said, "Yeah, Brian knows." And he said, "Does Brian think I can do it?" 856 00:53:31,551 --> 00:53:32,724 "Jack... 857 00:53:34,620 --> 00:53:37,172 "none of us are good enough to do this. 858 00:53:37,206 --> 00:53:39,724 "That's what makes Casting Crowns what it is. 859 00:53:40,620 --> 00:53:42,620 "We're all in over our heads. 860 00:53:42,655 --> 00:53:46,655 "God's letting us do this. And I think God's gonna let you do this." 861 00:53:46,689 --> 00:53:49,448 ♪ I'm just a nobody 862 00:53:49,482 --> 00:53:52,172 ♪ Trying to tell everybody 863 00:53:52,206 --> 00:53:54,620 ♪ All about Somebody 864 00:53:54,655 --> 00:53:57,068 ♪ Who saved my soul... ♪ 865 00:53:57,103 --> 00:54:00,586 The whole story of "Nobody" is John the Baptist was asked, 866 00:54:00,620 --> 00:54:02,655 you know, "Who are you?" 867 00:54:02,689 --> 00:54:05,103 Um, and that was his moment to kind of shine. 868 00:54:05,137 --> 00:54:07,517 And he's like, "Man, I'm just a voice." 869 00:54:07,551 --> 00:54:12,413 And... because he knew. He saw Jesus for who he was. And he knew... 870 00:54:12,448 --> 00:54:14,103 Every time I sing that song, 871 00:54:14,137 --> 00:54:19,344 I'm gonna hear those guys singing it louder than... louder than Mark was singing it. 872 00:54:19,379 --> 00:54:21,655 ♪ ...nobody 873 00:54:21,689 --> 00:54:24,793 ♪Trying to tell everybody 874 00:54:24,827 --> 00:54:27,448 ♪ All about Somebody 875 00:54:27,482 --> 00:54:29,931 ♪ Who saved my soul 876 00:54:29,965 --> 00:54:33,103 ♪ Ever since You rescued me 877 00:54:33,137 --> 00:54:36,413 ♪ You gave my heart a song to sing 878 00:54:36,448 --> 00:54:39,344 ♪ I'm living for the world to see 879 00:54:39,379 --> 00:54:42,448 ♪ Nobody but Jesus 880 00:54:42,482 --> 00:54:45,241 ♪ I'm living for the world to see 881 00:54:45,275 --> 00:54:48,793 ♪ Nobody but Jesus 882 00:54:48,827 --> 00:54:51,034 ♪ I'm living for the world to see 883 00:54:51,068 --> 00:54:55,137 ♪ Nobody but Jesus 884 00:54:59,655 --> 00:55:04,310 My songs start in the dark, but I've gotta let God speak light into that 885 00:55:04,344 --> 00:55:06,137 and then I gotta follow Him out. 886 00:55:06,172 --> 00:55:09,827 "East to West" it's me struggling with God's forgiveness 887 00:55:09,862 --> 00:55:12,137 and just feeling haunted. 888 00:55:12,172 --> 00:55:16,103 "God, just how far is this East from the West? 889 00:55:16,137 --> 00:55:19,448 "I mean, are you still with me after all of this?" 890 00:55:19,482 --> 00:55:22,965 And I go to his word, and it says, "Yes, he is." Right? 891 00:55:23,000 --> 00:55:27,000 Songs like that, for me, that's where everybody lives. 892 00:55:27,034 --> 00:55:30,068 So, It's easy to write songs where everybody lives 893 00:55:30,103 --> 00:55:33,103 because... we're all a bunch of train wrecks, right? 894 00:55:38,034 --> 00:55:43,172 Having these lyrics set to music where these people are singing scripture over their lives, 895 00:55:43,206 --> 00:55:47,793 they're singing hard truths and good truths and... I think it's a beautiful thing. 896 00:55:50,172 --> 00:55:53,275 People don't walk around with a CD of their favorite preacher. 897 00:55:53,310 --> 00:55:57,931 You don't remember sermons as well as you do a song. 898 00:55:57,965 --> 00:56:01,517 You can say something to me, but if I hear it in, like, a bridge of a song, 899 00:56:01,551 --> 00:56:06,344 it's gonna totally resonate in a different spot in my mind. 900 00:56:06,379 --> 00:56:08,620 I'm not good with putting words together. 901 00:56:08,655 --> 00:56:11,620 I'm not the brightest crayon in the box. 902 00:56:11,655 --> 00:56:13,931 But music was something that always stuck. 903 00:56:13,965 --> 00:56:16,275 When I started playing guitar, it was just like, 904 00:56:16,310 --> 00:56:19,482 "I love this. This is where I can be me." 905 00:56:19,517 --> 00:56:23,827 Um, and then when I realized that I can do that for God 906 00:56:23,862 --> 00:56:27,000 and honor Him and know Him more, 907 00:56:27,034 --> 00:56:28,965 it was just, "I'm sold. I'm done. 908 00:56:29,000 --> 00:56:30,827 "This is what I'm doing for the rest of my life." 909 00:56:33,000 --> 00:56:34,413 You can see hurting, 910 00:56:34,448 --> 00:56:35,655 dealing with their hard stuff, 911 00:56:35,689 --> 00:56:36,931 or they're going through storms, 912 00:56:36,965 --> 00:56:38,448 very easily in the crowd. 913 00:56:38,482 --> 00:56:41,034 I usually try and remember like, "We're here. 914 00:56:41,068 --> 00:56:44,793 "And we get the opportunity to sing these songs 915 00:56:44,827 --> 00:56:47,551 "that God is using in all these people's lives." 916 00:56:49,965 --> 00:56:54,310 Those moments that help me to remember to keep my eyes up, 917 00:56:54,344 --> 00:56:59,172 and to try to gauge whatever the Lord's doing out there because that's what matters. 918 00:56:59,206 --> 00:57:02,275 You know, it might be my five hundredth time playing a song. 919 00:57:02,310 --> 00:57:06,034 I can probably play these songs in my sleep. 920 00:57:06,068 --> 00:57:07,827 It's just muscle memory at this point. 921 00:57:07,862 --> 00:57:12,689 But it might be that person's first time hearing it or hearing it live. 922 00:57:12,724 --> 00:57:14,517 And that matters. 923 00:57:19,517 --> 00:57:23,620 ♪ And I will praise You 924 00:57:25,275 --> 00:57:27,379 ♪ In this storm 925 00:57:29,620 --> 00:57:36,137 ♪ Lord, I will praise You 926 00:57:36,172 --> 00:57:39,310 ♪ In this storm 927 00:57:43,620 --> 00:57:45,620 God bless you guys. Thanks for coming. 928 00:58:10,275 --> 00:58:12,758 You listen to someone's story long enough, 929 00:58:12,793 --> 00:58:16,931 you will hear the moment they needed God to show up a certain way, 930 00:58:16,965 --> 00:58:18,931 and He didn't show up that way. 931 00:58:18,965 --> 00:58:21,034 And when God doesn't show up the way you need Him to, 932 00:58:21,068 --> 00:58:23,827 you gotta figure out what you're gonna do with that. 933 00:58:23,862 --> 00:58:26,275 And in our little minds, we're like, 934 00:58:26,310 --> 00:58:29,034 "Okay, either He doesn't love me, or He's not there." 935 00:58:35,344 --> 00:58:38,758 We were out on the road. I'm dealing with acid reflux, 936 00:58:38,793 --> 00:58:41,103 dealing with throat issues, voice issues. 937 00:58:41,137 --> 00:58:45,413 I've had voice problems just all through Crowns 938 00:58:45,448 --> 00:58:48,862 until having surgery just a few years ago on my chords. 939 00:58:54,379 --> 00:58:56,344 Can you sing it again... again from the top? 940 00:59:00,068 --> 00:59:01,241 That feels really good. 941 00:59:01,275 --> 00:59:03,965 We gotta write a song with that in it. 942 00:59:04,000 --> 00:59:06,793 All right. We're gonna try this.I'll get you some tea. 943 00:59:06,827 --> 00:59:12,275 So, I went to the doctor for acid reflux, and he did a scan. 944 00:59:12,310 --> 00:59:15,172 I left the doctor. The doctor's a friend of mine, Scott. 945 00:59:15,206 --> 00:59:20,241 And, I went to a funeral, and I came out of the funeral 946 00:59:20,275 --> 00:59:22,517 and I was just ready to hear something from him. 947 00:59:22,551 --> 00:59:26,034 And I looked at my phone and I see a text from Scott. 948 00:59:26,068 --> 00:59:28,724 And it just says, "I need you to call me." 949 00:59:30,310 --> 00:59:34,000 And I stood in the foyer of that church. 950 00:59:34,034 --> 00:59:38,827 People just walking by, and it's like everything just slowed down. 951 00:59:38,862 --> 00:59:42,068 And I just read that text over and over and over. 952 00:59:42,103 --> 00:59:46,068 And all I can think was, something's about to happen. 953 00:59:46,103 --> 00:59:48,448 Just something's about to happen. 954 00:59:48,482 --> 00:59:51,793 And I walked out of the parking lot, and I called Scott. 955 00:59:51,827 --> 00:59:56,068 And he said, "You gotta a mass on one of your kidneys. 956 00:59:56,103 --> 01:00:02,000 "And, uh, I don't think we're gonna need to try to test it or anything. 957 01:00:02,034 --> 01:00:06,000 "I think we just need to take the whole thing and test it later. 958 01:00:06,034 --> 01:00:10,827 "It's, like, it's... it's large, and it looks a little aggressive." 959 01:00:10,862 --> 01:00:12,689 And, uh... and I'm sitting... 960 01:00:12,724 --> 01:00:15,482 I'm standing in the parking lot like we're talking about somebody else. 961 01:00:15,517 --> 01:00:22,413 Like... I'm the pastor guy that walks other people through their hard time. 962 01:00:22,448 --> 01:00:26,034 And I'm hearing him talk to me. And I'm this guy... I'm just thinking, 963 01:00:26,068 --> 01:00:28,586 "We need to pray for this guy." 964 01:00:28,620 --> 01:00:31,448 You know, like, "No, this is me. This is happening right now." 965 01:00:31,482 --> 01:00:33,413 I started walking around the parking lot. 966 01:00:33,448 --> 01:00:39,344 And, uh, I remember looking up in the sky, and there wasn't a star anywhere. 967 01:00:39,379 --> 01:00:41,034 It was just gray. 968 01:00:42,379 --> 01:00:46,758 I remember thinking, "God, what are we doing? What is happening?" 969 01:00:46,793 --> 01:00:48,793 You know, "What does this mean?" 970 01:00:50,034 --> 01:00:51,758 It was a really hard day. 971 01:00:51,793 --> 01:00:53,689 Went to the doctor. 972 01:00:53,724 --> 01:00:57,448 Came home. We're in the car. We pull into the driveway. 973 01:00:57,482 --> 01:00:59,862 We just sit there for a minute 974 01:00:59,896 --> 01:01:02,310 knowing that we're the only two people that know. 975 01:01:02,344 --> 01:01:07,275 So, we say, "God, that you that you're not anxious about this, 976 01:01:07,310 --> 01:01:09,034 "and I gotta lean into you." 977 01:01:09,068 --> 01:01:12,517 And I know that He can calm the storm, 978 01:01:12,551 --> 01:01:15,137 or He might just sit down next to me and say, 979 01:01:15,172 --> 01:01:16,793 "I love you, but this is gonna happen. 980 01:01:16,827 --> 01:01:18,344 "And we're gonna walk through it." 981 01:01:18,379 --> 01:01:20,862 And one of the first songs that I wrote like that 982 01:01:20,896 --> 01:01:22,965 was a song called "Praise You In This Storm." 983 01:01:23,000 --> 01:01:27,862 And we walked with a family. They're losing their little girl to cancer. 984 01:01:34,310 --> 01:01:37,344 Erin started to dance when she was about three years old. 985 01:01:37,379 --> 01:01:41,000 She loved ballet, tap, jazz. 986 01:01:41,034 --> 01:01:45,517 She was known for her smile, and people loved being around her. 987 01:01:45,551 --> 01:01:48,620 She wasn't perfect. By no means was Erin perfect. 988 01:01:48,655 --> 01:01:51,448 But she loved the Lord. Oh, my goodness. 989 01:01:52,827 --> 01:01:55,241 The girls were listening to music that we felt, like, 990 01:01:55,275 --> 01:01:58,482 it was inappropriate for young girls to be listening to. 991 01:01:58,517 --> 01:02:02,068 So, he did some research and found Casting Crowns. 992 01:02:02,103 --> 01:02:04,275 We introduced that music to them 993 01:02:04,310 --> 01:02:08,034 and they just started listening to them every day, all the time. 994 01:02:08,068 --> 01:02:10,758 Erin was so excited. Meribeth was too. 995 01:02:10,793 --> 01:02:14,172 They wanted to meet Mark Hall and the band. 996 01:02:15,862 --> 01:02:17,758 We were starting to get emails. Never got any emails. 997 01:02:17,793 --> 01:02:21,413 I'm not used to anyone other than my church hearing the songs, you know? 998 01:02:21,448 --> 01:02:22,965 So, we were just starting to hear from people, 999 01:02:23,000 --> 01:02:25,620 and we connected with a little girl named Erin, 1000 01:02:25,655 --> 01:02:29,827 who had performed a dance at her school to one of our songs. 1001 01:02:29,862 --> 01:02:33,827 And met the family. And right about the time we connected with Erin, 1002 01:02:33,862 --> 01:02:37,241 that's when they discovered that the reason she wasn't getting well, 1003 01:02:37,275 --> 01:02:39,137 and she kind of stayed sick was it was cancer. 1004 01:02:43,551 --> 01:02:48,689 She only had about 2-3% chance of survival. 1005 01:02:48,724 --> 01:02:51,862 And then in about three months we would probably start treating her 1006 01:02:51,896 --> 01:02:57,275 for quality of life instead of quantity of life. 1007 01:02:57,310 --> 01:02:59,965 She came to me and said, "Mom, I had a dream." 1008 01:03:00,000 --> 01:03:05,000 We found out that I had cancer widespread throughout my whole body. 1009 01:03:05,034 --> 01:03:11,517 So, we got down on our knees and then we started praying and praying. 1010 01:03:11,551 --> 01:03:13,862 It was hard. We trusted God. 1011 01:03:13,896 --> 01:03:17,586 We trusted that He was gonna heal me and work a miracle in me. 1012 01:03:17,620 --> 01:03:21,689 And sure enough, He sent an angel to me in a dream. 1013 01:03:21,724 --> 01:03:25,448 And the angel said, "You're gonna be okay." 1014 01:03:25,482 --> 01:03:30,758 Four months later, in January, we went back for a scan. 1015 01:03:30,793 --> 01:03:34,068 And they said, "It's normal." 1016 01:03:34,103 --> 01:03:38,344 We're like, "Normal, as in nothing's changed, 1017 01:03:38,379 --> 01:03:41,586 "or normal, as in there's no cancer?" 1018 01:03:41,620 --> 01:03:45,068 They're like, "Normal, as in there's no cancer." 1019 01:03:45,103 --> 01:03:48,586 So, then they turn to me and they were like, 1020 01:03:48,620 --> 01:03:53,448 "What do you have to say about that, Erin?" And I said, "Well... 1021 01:03:54,344 --> 01:03:56,862 "Am I supposed to be surprised?" 1022 01:03:59,965 --> 01:04:01,586 But they don't like to say cancer-free. 1023 01:04:01,620 --> 01:04:04,655 There's no sign of cancer is what they told us. 1024 01:04:04,689 --> 01:04:09,448 The last year, she couldn't attend class. 1025 01:04:09,482 --> 01:04:13,344 So, we decided that... We thought it would be really special 1026 01:04:13,379 --> 01:04:19,965 to do a private solo dance with just the four of us. 1027 01:04:20,000 --> 01:04:25,068 Erin and Meribeth chose a song and it happened to be a Casting Crowns song 1028 01:04:25,103 --> 01:04:27,034 called "Here I Go Again." 1029 01:04:27,068 --> 01:04:32,068 We practiced all year long, and we danced to that song at the Carolina theatre. 1030 01:04:32,103 --> 01:04:37,068 ♪ Lord, you love him so, you gave your only son 1031 01:04:37,103 --> 01:04:42,241 ♪ If he will just believe he will never die 1032 01:04:42,275 --> 01:04:44,275 ♪ But how then will he know... ♪ 1033 01:04:44,310 --> 01:04:49,241 So, shortly after we met Casting Crowns, Erin started feeling bad. 1034 01:04:49,275 --> 01:04:54,448 So, we called the doctor and moved up the bone scan by about three weeks 1035 01:04:54,482 --> 01:04:58,310 and found out that her cancer had returned to her lungs. 1036 01:05:00,482 --> 01:05:04,000 She had already had 12 months' worth of chemotherapy, 1037 01:05:04,034 --> 01:05:07,482 nine weeks' worth of heavy-duty radiation. 1038 01:05:13,896 --> 01:05:16,241 I talked to Erin, and we prayed about it. 1039 01:05:16,275 --> 01:05:21,551 And she said that she would choose heaven over chemo. 1040 01:05:23,655 --> 01:05:26,931 And we knew, and she knew where she was going when she died. 1041 01:05:26,965 --> 01:05:30,448 But I didn't want her to die. 1042 01:05:30,482 --> 01:05:31,689 I wanted her to live. 1043 01:05:33,034 --> 01:05:35,448 And even though I'm praying for God's will to be done, 1044 01:05:35,482 --> 01:05:37,103 and I wanting God's will to be done, 1045 01:05:37,137 --> 01:05:40,137 I wanting God's will to be my will. 1046 01:05:40,172 --> 01:05:45,551 And He just had a whole bigger view of things than I did. 1047 01:05:47,724 --> 01:05:50,655 I remember talking to Erin one night and telling her 1048 01:05:50,689 --> 01:05:54,103 'cause I was so excited I was like, "I'm writing a song for you." 1049 01:05:54,137 --> 01:05:56,448 She was so excited that she screamed. 1050 01:05:56,482 --> 01:05:59,827 Mark just sat down and talked to Erin like they were best friends, 1051 01:05:59,862 --> 01:06:01,965 and they really did become best friends after that. 1052 01:06:02,000 --> 01:06:07,034 They were phoning each other all the time, you know, emailing constantly. 1053 01:06:10,103 --> 01:06:13,965 At one point, she was having trouble breathing. 1054 01:06:14,000 --> 01:06:17,689 And I said to Erin, "What can I do for you?" 1055 01:06:17,724 --> 01:06:23,068 And she said, "Just read the scriptures." 1056 01:06:23,103 --> 01:06:28,689 So, I sat on her bed, and I read the scriptures that had meant so much to us. 1057 01:06:30,551 --> 01:06:36,620 4:24 a.m. on November 1st, 1058 01:06:36,655 --> 01:06:43,275 at that point I had gotten in her bed, and Joey had helped lay her in my arms. 1059 01:06:43,310 --> 01:06:47,137 And at 4:24 she opened her eyes, and looked up. 1060 01:06:48,689 --> 01:06:54,655 And I said, "Oh, Erin, do you see Jesus?" 1061 01:06:56,862 --> 01:06:59,931 And she took one last breath. 1062 01:06:59,965 --> 01:07:05,620 And we had been warned that her last moments might be terrifying, 1063 01:07:06,344 --> 01:07:07,517 but they weren't. 1064 01:07:08,275 --> 01:07:09,896 She just took one last breath. 1065 01:07:11,344 --> 01:07:16,655 And the peace that I literally felt, like, 1066 01:07:16,689 --> 01:07:19,689 raining down on me at that moment 1067 01:07:19,724 --> 01:07:24,793 was the miracle that was beyond any miracle I had prayed for. 1068 01:07:24,827 --> 01:07:28,655 I knew she was with Jesus. 1069 01:07:28,689 --> 01:07:32,344 And I knew I would see her again. 1070 01:07:43,206 --> 01:07:47,000 We saw what worship looked like in a hard time, 1071 01:07:47,034 --> 01:07:49,827 and I remember it speaking so much to me. 1072 01:07:49,862 --> 01:07:56,172 And I want people to see that we don't worship God because today is good, 1073 01:07:56,206 --> 01:08:00,758 we worship God because God is good today, right? 1074 01:08:00,793 --> 01:08:03,068 So, there's a... there's something that's gotta happen 1075 01:08:03,103 --> 01:08:04,793 that only He can do in your heart. 1076 01:08:04,827 --> 01:08:07,655 So, ever since the Crowns have been a band, 1077 01:08:07,689 --> 01:08:10,517 we've sung the songs like "Praise You In This Storm," 1078 01:08:10,551 --> 01:08:15,344 "Already There," "Just Be Held," "Oh My Soul," "Desert Road" 1079 01:08:15,379 --> 01:08:19,000 because people need to see how to navigate that and trust God through it. 1080 01:08:20,275 --> 01:08:22,448 FedEx drops off a box, and it's from Mark. 1081 01:08:22,482 --> 01:08:24,689 And I'm like, "What could that be?" 1082 01:08:24,724 --> 01:08:28,517 And I cut... went to cut the tape, and I stopped, and I remembered 1083 01:08:28,551 --> 01:08:31,965 I just watched him win a Dove award for this song. 1084 01:08:32,000 --> 01:08:33,931 I wonder if it had something to do with that. 1085 01:08:33,965 --> 01:08:36,689 You know, and we... open the box and there's the Dove Award, 1086 01:08:36,724 --> 01:08:39,724 and I'm like, "Ain't no way he gave that away." 1087 01:08:41,517 --> 01:08:44,689 We received two of these because of a songwriter in the band. 1088 01:08:44,724 --> 01:08:46,862 And we're gonna send one of these to Ms. Laurie 1089 01:08:46,896 --> 01:08:49,931 along with all the letters that we've collected over the two years 1090 01:08:49,965 --> 01:08:53,931 of, just, people all over the country encouraged by Erin's ministry, 1091 01:08:53,965 --> 01:08:55,862 of the storm that they went through. 1092 01:08:55,896 --> 01:09:00,517 And I pray more that this a more special time for them than it is for us. 1093 01:09:00,551 --> 01:09:03,586 While I was up on stage, he gave me the book. 1094 01:09:03,620 --> 01:09:08,482 And it was just full of emails that he had received 1095 01:09:08,517 --> 01:09:13,758 from people who wanted to share what the song had meant to them, 1096 01:09:13,793 --> 01:09:15,793 how it had ministered to them, 1097 01:09:15,827 --> 01:09:18,172 changed their lives, touched their lives. 1098 01:09:18,206 --> 01:09:22,655 We've seen Casting Crowns play in concert many times. 1099 01:09:22,689 --> 01:09:25,344 It'll never be enough because every time I hear that song, 1100 01:09:25,379 --> 01:09:26,896 it's like Erin's back. 1101 01:09:29,034 --> 01:09:34,965 Reading the emails just solidified the miracle 1102 01:09:35,000 --> 01:09:40,586 that I see happening still with that song 1103 01:09:40,620 --> 01:09:45,275 and how Erin was instrumental in being used 1104 01:09:45,310 --> 01:09:50,482 like she wanted to be used by God to touch others. 1105 01:09:50,517 --> 01:09:55,965 And so, it means so much to us as a family. 1106 01:09:56,000 --> 01:09:59,034 ♪ And I'll praise You in this storm 1107 01:09:59,068 --> 01:10:01,758 ♪ And I will lift my hand 1108 01:10:01,793 --> 01:10:04,655 ♪ For You are who You are 1109 01:10:04,689 --> 01:10:07,482 ♪ No matter where I am 1110 01:10:07,517 --> 01:10:10,413 ♪ And every tear I've cried 1111 01:10:10,448 --> 01:10:13,172 ♪ You hold in Your hand 1112 01:10:13,206 --> 01:10:16,275 ♪ You never left my side 1113 01:10:16,310 --> 01:10:18,689 ♪ Though my heart is torn 1114 01:10:19,448 --> 01:10:21,689 ♪ Oh 1115 01:10:21,724 --> 01:10:25,034 ♪ I will praise You in this storm... ♪ 1116 01:10:27,448 --> 01:10:30,344 Just seeing how the impact of what Mark was going through 1117 01:10:30,379 --> 01:10:32,034 impacted other people, 1118 01:10:32,068 --> 01:10:35,137 I knew that whatever it was, that God was gonna walk with us through the storm, 1119 01:10:35,172 --> 01:10:38,862 and we were just gonna have to trust Him in the middle of it. 1120 01:10:38,896 --> 01:10:42,482 At the end of the day, he just saw that as another way 1121 01:10:42,517 --> 01:10:46,482 that God was fashioning him into the image of His son 1122 01:10:46,517 --> 01:10:48,965 so that He might be glorified through his life. 1123 01:10:49,000 --> 01:10:51,137 I think it also let people know 1124 01:10:51,172 --> 01:10:54,620 that, you know, even if you're in the spotlight on the stage, 1125 01:10:54,655 --> 01:10:55,862 you're a real person. 1126 01:10:55,896 --> 01:10:58,000 I think that's an encouragement to everyone, and it has been 1127 01:10:58,034 --> 01:11:02,241 through his songs and even through what he shares at concerts. 1128 01:11:02,275 --> 01:11:04,862 Maybe one of the best ways that he ministers to people, 1129 01:11:04,896 --> 01:11:07,413 that are walking through similar things in their life, 1130 01:11:07,448 --> 01:11:09,862 God can get you through, and he's speaking from experience. 1131 01:11:14,068 --> 01:11:18,172 ♪ Make it count, leave a mark build a name for yourself 1132 01:11:18,206 --> 01:11:23,000 ♪ Dream your dreams chase your heart above all else 1133 01:11:23,034 --> 01:11:26,965 ♪ Make a name the world remembers 1134 01:11:29,379 --> 01:11:33,620 ♪ But all an empty world can sell is empty dreams 1135 01:11:33,655 --> 01:11:38,068 ♪ I got lost in the light when it was up to me 1136 01:11:38,103 --> 01:11:42,103 ♪ To make a name the world remembers 1137 01:11:42,862 --> 01:11:44,413 Sing it. 1138 01:11:44,448 --> 01:11:48,965 ♪ But Jesus is the only name to remember ♪ 1139 01:11:49,000 --> 01:11:50,517 Right? 1140 01:11:50,551 --> 01:11:55,689 They are arguably the most successful artist in the last 20-25 years. 1141 01:11:55,724 --> 01:11:57,931 And they've sold 12 million records, 1142 01:11:57,965 --> 01:12:02,034 18 Dove awards, 15 number one songs. 1143 01:12:02,068 --> 01:12:05,275 There is certainly a success factor, 1144 01:12:05,310 --> 01:12:08,793 but there's an impact that is immeasurable. 1145 01:12:08,827 --> 01:12:11,965 All those awards and accolades are just a reflection 1146 01:12:12,000 --> 01:12:16,241 of a much greater and important component of their career. 1147 01:12:16,275 --> 01:12:19,793 Mark used to say this way back, I can't believe I can remember it, 1148 01:12:19,827 --> 01:12:21,689 that a song can change your day 1149 01:12:21,724 --> 01:12:23,517 but only God can change your life. 1150 01:12:25,068 --> 01:12:28,655 We've been able to visit a number of countries, 1151 01:12:28,689 --> 01:12:31,482 thirty-eight countries I think is where the count is currently 1152 01:12:31,517 --> 01:12:34,310 in the past 18 years. 1153 01:12:35,275 --> 01:12:38,586 Brazil and Kenya, Germany and... 1154 01:12:38,620 --> 01:12:41,482 we've been to Singapore a couple of times, 1155 01:12:41,517 --> 01:12:43,275 we've been to North Korea. 1156 01:12:43,310 --> 01:12:44,551 How did we get here? 1157 01:12:47,827 --> 01:12:50,172 When you start thinking about all the fame 1158 01:12:50,206 --> 01:12:56,275 that comes with a ministry like this just blossoming around the world, 1159 01:12:56,310 --> 01:12:59,793 it's so easy for that to go to your head. 1160 01:12:59,827 --> 01:13:02,517 You're on the stage, and they're in the audience, and there's a distance, 1161 01:13:02,551 --> 01:13:06,172 and this is one of the things I've wrestled with because it's isolating. 1162 01:13:06,206 --> 01:13:07,862 There's a detachment 1163 01:13:07,896 --> 01:13:12,620 from really where the people that you're ministering to and singing to are 1164 01:13:12,655 --> 01:13:14,241 if you allow it to be. 1165 01:13:14,275 --> 01:13:17,344 We see a lot of artists. And they go and give everything that they have. 1166 01:13:17,379 --> 01:13:19,344 And they're on stage every night, and they come off. 1167 01:13:19,379 --> 01:13:22,241 And maybe they're addicted to that adrenaline. 1168 01:13:22,275 --> 01:13:25,793 They're addicted to the rush of being on stage. 1169 01:13:25,827 --> 01:13:27,862 If there's ever a thing that's gonna turn an artist's head, 1170 01:13:27,896 --> 01:13:29,482 it's being at the Grammy Awards. 1171 01:13:29,517 --> 01:13:32,241 He's up in the front seats with all the nominees. 1172 01:13:32,275 --> 01:13:36,034 I'm way up in the back, you know, with the paying customers. 1173 01:13:36,068 --> 01:13:40,310 And I get this text from Mark, and it just said, "They're all here." 1174 01:13:41,068 --> 01:13:42,655 And my initial thought was, 1175 01:13:42,689 --> 01:13:47,000 "Aw, Mark. Don't tell me you're getting your head turned by these guys here. 1176 01:13:47,034 --> 01:13:48,758 "You've won a Grammy. You're sitting down here 1177 01:13:48,793 --> 01:13:51,862 "with all the big stars that you've known your whole life." 1178 01:13:51,896 --> 01:13:55,000 I, kind of, have to confess my first thought was a little disappointment. 1179 01:13:56,034 --> 01:13:57,862 And then he continued to text, 1180 01:13:57,896 --> 01:14:02,689 "These are the people I'm at war with for the minds of my kids. 1181 01:14:04,379 --> 01:14:08,172 "These are the people writing the songs and writing the lyrics 1182 01:14:08,206 --> 01:14:12,689 "that are telling them the lies that are destroying their lives. 1183 01:14:12,724 --> 01:14:15,310 "And I'm sitting down here with them." 1184 01:14:15,344 --> 01:14:18,034 Well, the song that we're nominated for, I wrote... 1185 01:14:18,068 --> 01:14:20,068 I started writing the night that I found out I had cancer. 1186 01:14:20,103 --> 01:14:23,862 I'm good now, but that at time it was a pretty scary word to hear a doctor say to you. 1187 01:14:23,896 --> 01:14:27,586 And, uh, just dealing with fear and having to understand 1188 01:14:27,620 --> 01:14:30,172 that I'm gonna have to, instead of going with the feelings that I'm feeling, 1189 01:14:30,206 --> 01:14:32,827 I gotta go with the God that I know right now. 1190 01:14:32,862 --> 01:14:36,310 He just looked at me, and he said, "I don't belong here." 1191 01:14:36,344 --> 01:14:39,103 And again I misunderstood, like, "You absolutely belong here." 1192 01:14:39,137 --> 01:14:42,551 He goes, "No, no, no, no. I don't belong here." 1193 01:14:44,275 --> 01:14:49,137 And I thought, "Gosh, even here he's a youth pastor." 1194 01:14:50,862 --> 01:14:54,517 They can play in front of huge audiences on Thursday, Friday and Saturday night. 1195 01:14:54,551 --> 01:14:57,689 They roll up on Sunday morning in the church parking lot. 1196 01:14:57,724 --> 01:14:59,241 Mark takes a bird bath in the sink 1197 01:14:59,275 --> 01:15:02,000 to get ready to lead worship on Sunday morning. 1198 01:15:02,034 --> 01:15:06,517 But before he even makes it in, he's met by one of his teenagers, 1199 01:15:06,551 --> 01:15:09,482 who's got no place else to go. Nobody else to talk to. 1200 01:15:09,517 --> 01:15:11,689 And he's the one they're coming to. 1201 01:15:11,724 --> 01:15:16,344 These kids need this. And I think, Mark and the band, they need that too. 1202 01:15:19,448 --> 01:15:20,862 Fame is a big secret. 1203 01:15:20,896 --> 01:15:24,413 And everybody that would be called "famous" knows the secret. 1204 01:15:24,448 --> 01:15:28,034 And it's that there is no such thing as famous, right? 1205 01:15:28,068 --> 01:15:30,310 The only people you are famous to are people that don't know you. 1206 01:15:30,344 --> 01:15:34,413 So, as soon as they know you, they're like, "Oh, you're not famous." Right? 1207 01:15:34,448 --> 01:15:39,241 So, I think the fact that we're grounded in a place, where we are just us, 1208 01:15:39,275 --> 01:15:41,379 it keeps us who we are. 1209 01:15:49,482 --> 01:15:54,172 You can give Crowns, you can give us guys all the awards you want. 1210 01:15:54,206 --> 01:15:56,344 You can rank them whatever you want. 1211 01:15:56,379 --> 01:15:58,586 It's just not gonna stick to them 1212 01:15:58,620 --> 01:16:02,103 because we're still in the same place doing the same thing. 1213 01:16:02,137 --> 01:16:06,344 The Body of Christ right here so... 1214 01:16:09,517 --> 01:16:16,448 Now it's dragging. And so you go to the first line then you got to choose... 1215 01:16:16,482 --> 01:16:19,862 Let us pray. God, thanks for the chance to be in front your people today. 1216 01:16:19,896 --> 01:16:21,965 God, we pray that we lead them always to you. 1217 01:16:22,000 --> 01:16:24,517 Thank you for the chance to be a part of this church. 1218 01:16:24,551 --> 01:16:27,068 Bless us in Jesus' name. Amen.ALL: Amen. 1219 01:16:29,724 --> 01:16:33,827 We're no different than the other people sitting next to us at church. 1220 01:16:33,862 --> 01:16:37,482 They go out every week and they do what God has gifted them to do 1221 01:16:37,517 --> 01:16:41,103 when they use their gifts to reach the world with the gospel in their way. 1222 01:16:41,137 --> 01:16:43,862 Mark always says, "You wanna stay humble, 1223 01:16:43,896 --> 01:16:46,310 "go play in front of thousands of people on Saturday night 1224 01:16:46,344 --> 01:16:48,413 "and then show up on Sunday morning. 1225 01:16:48,448 --> 01:16:50,620 "Get off the bus, walk in for church 1226 01:16:50,655 --> 01:16:52,827 "and get snubbed by a middle schooler who says, 1227 01:16:52,862 --> 01:16:54,517 "'So, why weren't you at my game last night?'" 1228 01:16:54,551 --> 01:16:59,413 Last night, sold out, some city. People having a great time. 1229 01:16:59,448 --> 01:17:02,034 Today, I'm a bus driver. 1230 01:17:03,482 --> 01:17:05,482 But I'm a pretty big deal, right, guys? 1231 01:17:05,517 --> 01:17:07,413 Yeah, yeah. 1232 01:17:07,448 --> 01:17:09,517 Keeps things in perspective. 1233 01:17:09,551 --> 01:17:12,620 And so as otherworldly and awesome as this was, 1234 01:17:12,655 --> 01:17:16,241 you always came back home and you're just still you. 1235 01:17:16,275 --> 01:17:20,137 We wanna pour into the people that we do life with first and foremost 1236 01:17:20,172 --> 01:17:23,931 and then anything beyond that we wanna pour into the big C, church. 1237 01:17:23,965 --> 01:17:27,241 Mark has continued to be involved in the church. 1238 01:17:27,275 --> 01:17:29,655 He's still a youth pastor. 1239 01:17:29,689 --> 01:17:33,241 And I still believe that's why he's able to write 1240 01:17:33,275 --> 01:17:37,344 with the impact on the church that he writes with. 1241 01:17:39,103 --> 01:17:42,689 We love our people. And when you love people, you can speak truth. 1242 01:17:42,724 --> 01:17:48,862 What pastoring has taught me is that you speak hard truth out of your own brokenness. 1243 01:17:48,896 --> 01:17:51,137 You don't tell the world what you've learned, 1244 01:17:51,172 --> 01:17:53,448 you tell the world what you're learning. 1245 01:17:53,482 --> 01:17:56,827 You don't say, "If you're the body, this is what you need to be doing." 1246 01:17:56,862 --> 01:18:00,172 You say, "If we are the body, why aren't we doing this?" 1247 01:18:00,206 --> 01:18:03,344 We had our second kick-off concert for their tour here at the church. 1248 01:18:03,379 --> 01:18:06,827 And all those guys came back from the label. 1249 01:18:06,862 --> 01:18:09,413 I remember Norman walked up to me and he said, 1250 01:18:09,448 --> 01:18:12,965 "Man, I gotta tell you something. I'm so sorry. 1251 01:18:13,000 --> 01:18:17,586 "You guys weren't dumb, we were. 1252 01:18:17,620 --> 01:18:23,793 "We did not understand that all this music comes out of this place." 1253 01:18:26,172 --> 01:18:31,034 Mark's testimony is, "God took a boy 1254 01:18:31,068 --> 01:18:35,103 "that was dyslexic and had school challenges 1255 01:18:35,137 --> 01:18:40,931 "and then chose to write songs that would win American Music Awards 1256 01:18:40,965 --> 01:18:43,413 "and Billboard Awards and Grammy Awards, 1257 01:18:43,448 --> 01:18:47,034 "and he chose to use that boy to do that." 1258 01:18:47,068 --> 01:18:52,620 He could have used the strongest soldier in Saul's army to defeat Goliath, 1259 01:18:52,655 --> 01:18:54,413 but he chose to use David. 1260 01:18:54,448 --> 01:18:57,793 When people saw Goliath on the ground, 1261 01:18:57,827 --> 01:19:00,137 they didn't look and say, "Look what David did." 1262 01:19:00,172 --> 01:19:02,689 They looked and saw, "Look what God did." 1263 01:19:02,724 --> 01:19:07,241 If we'll just let Him use us, He'll accomplish things that people will look at Him 1264 01:19:07,275 --> 01:19:08,862 and say, "Look how good God is." 1265 01:19:11,448 --> 01:19:13,655 As beautiful as art can be 1266 01:19:13,689 --> 01:19:16,034 if it's not pointing to the truth, 1267 01:19:16,068 --> 01:19:18,068 we're steering people in the wrong direction. 1268 01:19:18,103 --> 01:19:22,103 On my best day writing a song, what I'm really writing is an arrow. 1269 01:19:22,137 --> 01:19:24,000 I'm pointing to something. 1270 01:19:24,034 --> 01:19:29,034 So, if you're a little closer to Jesus because of this song, then we did something, right? 1271 01:19:29,068 --> 01:19:30,965 So, that's why I write music. 1272 01:19:31,000 --> 01:19:33,448 That's why music is powerful to me 1273 01:19:33,482 --> 01:19:36,344 because it can point us to the Father. 1274 01:19:37,862 --> 01:19:39,724 Can we give the Lord a shout tonight? 1275 01:19:42,793 --> 01:19:48,620 We are not the point. We are all here to point to the point. 1276 01:19:49,965 --> 01:19:51,310 Raise your hand like this. Sing it with me. 1277 01:19:53,034 --> 01:19:55,310 ♪ Jesus is the only name 1278 01:19:56,862 --> 01:19:59,448 ♪ Jesus is the only name 1279 01:20:00,620 --> 01:20:04,965 ♪ Jesus is the only name to remember 1280 01:20:05,000 --> 01:20:06,655 ♪ Oh 1281 01:20:08,137 --> 01:20:11,000 ♪ Jesus is the only name 1282 01:20:12,275 --> 01:20:14,655 ♪ Jesus is the only name 1283 01:20:16,172 --> 01:20:18,310 ♪ Jesus is the only name 1284 01:20:19,620 --> 01:20:22,413 ♪ And I 1285 01:20:22,448 --> 01:20:26,482 ♪ I don't want to leave a legacy 1286 01:20:26,517 --> 01:20:29,034 ♪ I don't care if they remember me 1287 01:20:30,827 --> 01:20:34,000 ♪ Only Jesus 1288 01:20:35,517 --> 01:20:38,310 ♪ And I 1289 01:20:38,344 --> 01:20:41,758 ♪ I've only got one life to live 1290 01:20:41,793 --> 01:20:44,827 ♪ I'll let every second point to Him 1291 01:20:46,344 --> 01:20:49,000 ♪ Only Jesus 1292 01:20:50,655 --> 01:20:52,310 ♪ And I 1293 01:20:53,482 --> 01:20:56,275 ♪ I don't want to leave a legacy 1294 01:20:57,275 --> 01:21:00,103 ♪ I don't care if they remember me 1295 01:21:02,206 --> 01:21:05,034 ♪ Only Jesus