Casting Crowns

I was extra excited this week because on Tuesday I won tickets to the Casting Crowns concert in Oklahoma City, which happened to be the first show of their spring tour. I am constantly amazed at the music that Mark Hall and crew come up with. I have been a fan since the first CD--there aren't many people that provide lyrics that are not just affirming, but uplifting and incredibly straightforward. I had not purchased the CD before the concert (only because I was out of moolah on my iTunes account) and happened to receive two free copies last night--one from K-LOVE, who gave us the tickets, and one for choosing to sponsor a child through World Vision, but more on that later.

Usually my experience with music has been that either I find a band a few years into the scene and I don't typically like the early years, or that the early stuff is good and they start to lose it as years go by. SO not the case with these guys--each and every song is absolutley amazing, every CD is worth having. Although I love the music, the more important thing is that each song leads back to Scripture and I learn more about and become closer to God by hearing it. I am certain that this is the purpose of Casting Crowns since each one of the songs in the album booklet is accompanied by Scripture that the song stems from.

The purpose of this album and tour is to remind people not to lose God between the altar and the door. Mark reminded us that all too often we feel lifted while surrounded by Christians and worship, but when we leave the presence of those that build us up, we should not leave the presence of God. Our friends and ministers do not follow us home, so we have to rely on our personal relationship with Jesus in order to survive outside of the environment that we are so comfortable in. He mentioned that sometimes we lose sight of who we are when we allow ourselves to be led by men instead of God--we can't rely on others to walk with Jesus for us. This has been something that I have really grasped in the past few years, especially with the music that I listen to. Although others are singing and there are instruments being played, I know that when I sing the lyrics, they are from my own heart. I may not have written them, but they were written so that I personally could connect with God--not the person who wrote them, but with God. I think this is what Casting Crowns is leading people to understand--not that they are the focus of the evening at one of their concerts, but as a whole, we the Body of Christ are each individually lifting our hearts and voices to praise and exalt God with those words.

The Altar and the Door

I don't want to write a review of every song on The Altar and the Door, but I am going to share a few of them so that I can drive home this point:
The first track is called What This World Needs, and Mark cites that the main basis for the song is the book of Galatians. This book was written in order to correct and denounce false teachings in the churches that Paul and Barnabas helped to establish, and then teach how to get back to the basics of the Gospel and apply it to our lives. So the lyrics are "What this world needs is not another one hit wonder with an axe to grind ~ Another two bit politician peddling lies ~ Another three ring circus society ~ What this world needs is not another sign waving super saint that's better than you ~ Another ear pleasing candy man afraid of the truth ~ Another prophet in an Armani suit ~ (Chorus) What this world needs is a Savior who will rescue ~ A Spirit who will lead ~ A Father who will love them in their time of need..." The chorus is longer and there is another verse, but this is the meat of the song: We still tend to look at status or the outward quality of a person and determine what their relationship with God is or should be, but all we need to know is that there is a Savior who HAS rescued us, a Spirit that DOES lead us, and a Father who UNCONDITIONALLY LOVES each and every one of us. It's not about looking the best, worshipping the best, acting the best--it is only about knowing those three principals of Truth and then acting on them to follow where we are led by God and not ourselves or any man.

The Altar and the Door is the sixth track on the album. One of the inspirations is Ephesians 6:7-10 which reads "Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men, because you know that the Lord will reward everyone for whatever good he does, whether he is slave or free..."
The second verse of the song is "Here at the altar, oh my world is so black and white ~ How could I ever falter ~ What You've shown me to be right ~ I'm trying so hard to stop trying so hard ~ Just let You be who You are...(Chorus) Lord, this time I'll make it right, here at the altar I lay my life ~ Your kingdom come but my will was done, my heart is broken as I... ~ Cry, like so many times before ~ But my eyes are dry before I leave the floor, oh Lord ~ I try but this time, Jesus, how can I be sure I will not lose my follow through ~ Between the altar and the door" We tend to leave the presence of God whenever we open our eyes after prayer or confession--we lose that "good feeling" of having been prayed for or worshipping with others. When we have those good feelings, are they for our own glory, or God's? Do we only feel close to God when we are with others in worship or when we have confessed sin? "But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit. Keep yourselves in God's love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you eternal life." Jude 20-21. We are to build ourselves in faith and prayer and wait in God's love for eternal life--all of the time.

Somewhere in the Middle follows the previous song and the title is exactly what the song is--we are often caught in the middle of who we are supposed to be as children of God and who we choose to be in the world. Mark mentions in the tour booklet that a few of his youth group students introduced him to MySpace some months ago and he found the same things that I did--people often can "fake" who they are when typing messages to friends and the world. MySpace is just a new high to kids with the same side effects in my opinion--you become lost to the person that you mean to be because for that moment the feeling is so good. That is why addictions are so incredibly hard to kick--when you are given the chance to let go, it is hard to say no because you remember how good it feels, the worries that it rids you of, the pain that it takes away. We are too often servants to our personal desires and not to that which we are called to serve in Christ.


Lord, I pray that we can stop losing control of ourselves by giving that control to you so that we may be guided by your Spirit, to always know that you are the only constant when we are caught inside ourselves and that only you can lead us back to God and out of our own desires.

Thank you God for loving us so much that you gave us Jesus in order to know you and be alive for you. Thank you allowing this group to spread your love in their music and be near each of them as they travel the country. Help them to remember that you are always with them, and that they are spreading your love to those who know you and those who may not. I pray dear Father that they will continue to believe the words that they sing and that they will cry out to you in times that they feel lost and lonely when away from the families that are not always with them. Lord, thank you for allowing them to remind me to look only to you and to point me back to you through your Word. Thank you for loving each of us as only you do.
In Jesus name, Amen.