Life Stories: A Conversation With Mark Hall (Part 1)

By Erin Gieschen / September 22, 2006

Casting Crowns frontman Mark Hall talks about the stories behind the songs.

Mark Hall has too many stories to tell. If you've been to a Casting Crowns concert, you know there isn't one song he writes that doesn't have a story behind it. But there's a backstory to even those stories: every song comes straight out of his life. In his newest gift to fans (and even those who don't yet own the CD) Mark has shared his heart with no punches pulled in a book called Lifestories, which will be released August 29. InTouch recently caught up with Mark at Eagle's Landing First Baptist Church near Atlanta, GA, where he serves as youth pastor to over 400 teens.

InTouch: So, what prompted you to write this book?

Mark: If you think about it—me, a dyslexic, and a book—it's definitely not something that's going to come directly to my mind. It actually started with Tim Luke who is the Minister to Adults here at the church. He came to Refuge [Wednesday night youth meetings] and heard the teaching we were doing. One day at lunch he said, "You know, you really ought to turn some of your lessons into a book." So, we were kicking around that idea when Tim came to a concert and heard the stories behind the songs we tell. (Actually, sometimes we get more emails about the stories than we do the songs!) Afterward, Tim said, "Why don't we just get together and start recording the stories?"

So, we started getting together about 30 minutes a day, and I'd just start talking: This is what was going on at the church at the time; this is what was happening in my life. I talked about the scriptures and the history and everything that came behind the songs. For example, a lot of them used to be different songs I'd written when I was younger. So, that's where we started. I'd just tell Tim the stories on Mondays, and we just let it happen when it happened. It wasn't like I felt we had to write a book. But I knew that if I ever did, I wanted it to be something that could be a ministry tool, not just a book for the sake of being a book.

InTouch: I think it's definitely more than just the songs' stories or how they've touched people. It's as if your heart is on the pages.

Mark: It's amazing—because at first I was a little wary about writing with somebody else—but everyone who's read it says, "I can hear you talking." It's almost verbatim. A lot of times, a song can become a little bigger than life, especially if it's your favorite song. But I'm hoping that when you read these stories, you'll realize, Oh, this was just about trusting God in this area of life, and it's really just ordinary life that turned into a song. I'm trying to turn the reader's attention around to think about their own lives: What's God teaching me through ordinary things? You don't need a finger pointing out of the sky to hear God talk to you.

InTouch: In the intro called "Four Chords," you tell the story of your first day in college as a music major, when you were given a test that everyone else seemed to find easy—and all you could do was turn it in blank and walk out the door. I think everybody can probably see themselves in you as you sat in the chapel plunking out four chords that day after hearing others lead worship, feeling like you'd just failed before you could even try to obey God. That whole feeling of: God, why have You led me this far just to leave me high and dry here? 

Mark: Yeah. At the time I was thinking, What church would ever want me? Because the plan at the end of this road—going to this school—was to end up being in a church doing ministry. I kept thinking, What church in their right mind would ever want me there? I just sing with my Dad sometimes; that's all I've got. I dealt with that a lot my first year.

InTouch: It was interesting to find out that you wrote a song about that whole experience called "Fear," and that it eventually evolved into "Voice of Truth." Do most of your fans know that story?

Mark: No, I would say they probably don't. I've actually got recordings of the original versions of the song and I want to use them some day, so people can see where "Voice of Truth" came from.

InTouch: Is there any particular song you did at a concert lately where you saw God show up in a big way?

Mark: There are two main times. One would be during "Praise You In This Storm." That's always a song where you see people really connecting because everybody's going through stuff. The other would be during "The Voice of Truth" testimony. That's such a big moment.

We lead right into the song called "Stained Glass Masquerade," which really is sort of the sequel to that song. It's basically saying, Now that I can boast of my weaknesses, why am I not boasting in my weaknesses? Why is it that we feel we have to be somebody we're not at church? If people saw your transparency about your weakness, they would start to understand that God is actually working through you. But what we're doing in trying to mask our struggles from people—thinking that's going to make them respect us more—is really making it harder for them to see Jesus. They think, Well, they're perfect—I could never be perfect like that. But if they knew we weren't, they'd say, Wow, there's something else to this.

InTouch: I remember hearing you tell the story of a 7-year-old fan named Erin who died of cancer 2 years ago. You said her story inspired "Praise You In This Storm" right before Lifesong came out. Are you still in touch with Erin's family?

Mark: Yeah, we email back and forth. We visit at concerts every once in a while. Actually, I get so many emails about the song that I'm compiling them, and I want to put them into a little booklet just for Erin's mom and call it Erin's Ministry to let her see what God's doing. Because "God works all things together for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose." I think Erin really was called according to His purpose for this ministry.

InTouch: That's an amazing "legacy" for a 7-year-old. Have you recently heard from anyone about how the song changed something for them?

When a brother or sister steps into your life in that moment and speaks some truth into you—especially through the real story of another person going through a storm—it can be powerful. The Word of God and the word of our testimony is a powerful thing. I think that the song by itself wouldn't have been that big a deal, but the fact that it's about real people dealing with specific struggles makes people really identify with it.

InTouch: Are any of those stories ones you could share specifically?

Mark: Honestly, there are so many. Well, there was one of a mother who lost her 4-year-old in a swimming pool. He got through the gate somehow. I've actually gotten probably three or four of those in the last two years—of swimming pool accidents. Dealing with the guilt, dealing with the hurt—not just from losing your child, but feeling you're responsible. They tell me about just that, those heavy moments of grief and guilt, and then hearing the song. And it's not just the song, but the Scripture in the song pointing them back to God's Word. Songs can be about truth, but the Scripture is truth. So, it's been amazing to see people who are really hurting, especially in cancer situations, find hope in knowing God is still God in the middle of whatever's going on right now.

InTouch: Especially when there are no pat answers that help. Nothing anyone says to try to answer those questions of Why? is going to ease the pain.

Mark: What makes it hard is when people try to fix it for you. We actually have a song about that. "Love Them Like Jesus" is about not thinking you have to fix everybody's problems and have all the answers to what they're going through. Just love them. Just be there and understand that God's the only one who's going to "fix" this for them. When you're in the middle of a storm and people try to comfort you, it can actually turn you bitter if you're not careful. Because in your mind you're thinking, Well, you're not going through this. So how in the world can you encourage me? It's a lonely place to be. You have to be completed by God and encouraged by others—not completed by others.

InTouch: I think it's those times—when someone we love is going through a crazy storm—when we feel the most helpless, that there's nothing we can do. And yet, that's when God wants us to step in and just be there, allowing Him to love them through us.

The first time I heard "Love Them Like Jesus," I think you performed it right after "Praise You in This Storm," and I thought it was like a sequel to the last song… the "B" side. I thought, This one's for the rest of us not knowing how to comfort someone going through a storm.

Mark: Yeah, I guess you're right! When I first wrote it, it was actually the "answer" to "Here I Go Again" [a song on Casting Crowns' first album], which was about dealing with my fear, not wanting to share my faith and be there for somebody. The story about that song is in the book. It's a story I don't ever share in concerts 'cause I'd never get through it. But "Love Them Like Jesus" is about us not needing to be afraid to love someone, because God's the one who's going to save them. You're not there to fix all their problems. You're just there to love them. You don't have to explain their storm away.

Find out about what Mark's been up to lately in Part 2 of Life Stories: A Conversation with Mark Hall.

To purchase Lifestories: Finding God's Voice of Truth in Everyday Life, visit the In Touch Bookstore.