Casting Crowns and the "Thrive Tour"

My wife and I went to the Casting Crowns concert in Kansas City last night and were just blown away. The ministry Mark Hall brings to all his concerts is amazing, and "Thrive" is his and the band's latest effort to step it up a notch.

Here's a blurb from Amazon that describes what the new album and Mark's book by the same name are all about.

[/quote]Mark Hall talked about where the inspiration for the book and the album came from. About six of seven years ago, he took his youth group from Eagle's Landing Baptist Church in McDonough, Georgia to the Constitution Oak in Alabama. He learned from the caretaker that the tree is over 300 years old -- a tree designated a "Constitution Oak" must be older than the country to receive the recognition. It takes eight people holding hands and stretching as far as they can to reach around the base of the tree. It is so large the outer branches brush the ground from their weight during the full leaf of summer.

The caretaker also told him that as much tree as you see above ground, there is as much tree below. That reminded Mark of Psalm 1:3:

"He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water,
Which yields its fruit in its season
And its leaf does not wither;
And in whatever he does, he prospers."

So must a man of God be as fully deep in the word of God. You must have roots, but you must also "leaf out" -- bring what you know to others.

I've always liked Casting Crowns but after last night, I really appreciate not just their music, but their message.

 

For anyone interested before buying the album, the lyric videos have been on you.tube for a couple months.

Casting Crowns: "Thrive"

I really like that album cover, recalling the "Constitution Oak" image.