Kickoff of Casting Crowns concert tour
On September 27, 2007, 4 blocks from the Alamo, the Municipal Auditorium in San Antonio was the location of the first stop on Casting Crowns‘ 80-concert tour, The Altar and the Door.
Mark Hall (lead singer and writer) is amazing! Here he is, a major “celebrity” in the music world, by anyone’s definition - but that is NOT his main thing. Mark is first and foremost the Youth Pastor at Eagle’s Landing Baptist Church near Atlanta, Georgia. I visited him on a Wednesday a few weeks ago in his office, as he was preparing for youth group that night. It was interesting to watch as many youth came up to him with questions and other stuff, just like any other youth pastor.
Mark’s office is decorated in eclectic Star Wars. A life-size Darth Vader stands in the corner, and his desk looks like it’s straight off the set. As you might expect, he’s busy, and fortunately a multi-tasker.
The main question I had for him was, “How do you maintain a worshipful spirit night after night on an 80-concert tour, recognizing that you constantly are singing God’s name?”
His answer was thought-provoking, particularly if you pay attention to the content of his lyrics. He said that “Every time I get up on stage, it is like the Word of God is fresh, and I’m singing it for the first time.”
Well, let me tell you… I was exhausted after one night of concert. And mainly I just sat and stood in the audience. The amount of energy he expended was absolutely incredible… of course, he’s 20 years younger than I am. But nevertheless, he had to get on a bus at midnight, ride to the next concert stop, and do it all over again 24 hours later. I could not do it!
My respect and prayers go out every day to Mark. Now that I’ve been to one of the concerts, I can visualize him up on stage, and even know about when he is singing a particular song. So now, each night of a concert, I do pray for him. And I also pray for the audience, that they would be worshiping, truly worshiping, as they enjoy Casting Crowns lift up the name of God and Jesus Christ!
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