{"id":22695,"date":"2026-03-11T13:27:20","date_gmt":"2026-03-11T13:27:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/uncategorized\/the-lesson-cancer-taught-casting-crowns-mark\/"},"modified":"2026-04-10T06:14:46","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T06:14:46","slug":"the-lesson-cancer-taught-casting-crowns-mark","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/positive-living\/health-and-wellness\/living-with-cancer\/the-lesson-cancer-taught-casting-crowns-mark\/","title":{"rendered":"The Lesson Cancer Taught Casting Crowns&#8217; Mark Hall"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Mic in hand, I looked out at the thousands of people standing on their feet, singing at the top of their lungs. I\u2019m the lead singer for Casting Crowns, and the feeling of that many people singing my songs never gets old. That Saturday night, February 28, 2015, we were playing the Carson Center in Paducah, Kentucky, our last show before heading home to Georgia and church the next day.<\/p>\n<p>Almost all of the songs I\u2019ve written over the years have a story behind them, a real-life person or experience, often from leading the youth group at my home church. That night, the opening chords of our song \u201cVoice of Truth\u201d rang out and the crowd responded. I sang, \u201cOh, what I would do to have the kind of faith it takes to climb out of this boat I\u2019m in.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-ada4f91 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"ada4f91\" data-element_type=\"container\" id=\"home-banner-stn\">\n<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-72e6e8eb elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"72e6e8eb\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Community Newsletter<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-261bcec elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"261bcec\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n<h3 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Get More Inspiration Delivered to Your Inbox<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-9787b46 elementor-widget__width-initial elementor-widget-mobile__width-inherit elementor-widget elementor-widget-wp-widget-ninja_forms_widget\" data-id=\"9787b46\" data-element_type=\"widget\" id=\"front-banner-signup\" data-widget_type=\"wp-widget-ninja_forms_widget.default\">\n<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<noscript class=\"ninja-forms-noscript-message\"><br \/>\n\tNotice: JavaScript is required for this content.<\/noscript><\/p>\n<style>\n<p>        \/* FORM STYLES *\/<\/p>\n<p>        #nf-form-5-cont {\n                                    background-color:#ffffff;\n                                                    border-radius:35px;\n-webkit-border-radius:35px;                    }\n    <\/style>\n<style>\n<p>        \/* FIELDS STYLES *\/<\/p>\n<p>        .nf-form-content .nf-field-container #nf-field-27-wrap {\n                                            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Now\",\"type\":\"submit\",\"cellcid\":\"c4725\",\"processing_label\":\"Processing\",\"container_class\":\"\",\"element_class\":\"\",\"key\":\"subscribe_now_1660636976556\",\"wrap_styles_border\":\"\",\"wrap_styles_width\":120,\"wrap_styles_margin\":0,\"wrap_styles_padding\":0,\"wrap_styles_float\":\"\",\"wrap_styles_show_advanced_css\":1,\"element_styles_border\":\"\",\"element_styles_width\":120,\"element_styles_font-size\":\"\",\"element_styles_margin\":0,\"element_styles_padding\":0,\"element_styles_float\":\"\",\"element_styles_show_advanced_css\":0,\"submit_element_hover_styles_border\":\"\",\"submit_element_hover_styles_width\":\"\",\"submit_element_hover_styles_font-size\":\"\",\"submit_element_hover_styles_margin\":\"\",\"submit_element_hover_styles_padding\":\"\",\"submit_element_hover_styles_float\":\"\",\"submit_element_hover_styles_show_advanced_css\":0,\"wrap_styles_advanced\":\"\",\"element_styles_background-color\":\"#00ab84\",\"submit_element_hover_styles_background-color\":\"#00ab84\",\"drawerDisabled\":false,\"id\":28,\"beforeField\":\"\",\"afterField\":\"\",\"value\":\"\",\"label_pos\":\"above\",\"parentType\":\"textbox\",\"element_templates\":[\"submit\",\"button\",\"input\"],\"old_classname\":\"\",\"wrap_template\":\"wrap-no-label\"}];nfForms.push(form);<\/script><br \/>\n                <script id=\"nf-tmpl-cell\" type=\"text\/template\">\n            <nf-fields><\/nf-fields>\n        <\/script><\/p>\n<p>        <script id=\"nf-tmpl-row\" type=\"text\/template\">\n            <nf-cells><\/nf-cells>\n        <\/script><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The audience sang along. It\u2019s why they were there, to be uplifted by our music, and even more, by the message in it. But I wasn\u2019t feeling it. It was like my own lyrics were taunting me: <em>Dude, you don\u2019t have that kind of faith, not to weather this storm.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.shopguideposts.org\/prayer.html?sourcekey=11UN18804A&amp;utm_source=11UN18804A_4_CT_GPS_16-10-00_PXXXX&amp;utm_campaign=GPS\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em><strong>STRENGTHEN YOUR FAITH WITH OUR DEVOTIONALS<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Somehow I got through the song. As the crowd cheered, I stood quietly for a moment, thinking about how my life had been turned upside down just a few weeks earlier.<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019d been near the end of our tour, 80 concerts spread over six months, and I hadn\u2019t been myself. It was like my get-up-and-go got up and went. My back hurt. I was having stomach pains, acid reflux. I felt worn out. I needed a break.<\/p>\n<p>Not that I was going to get it. I work full-time as a youth pastor at Eagles Landing First Baptist Church, just south of Atlanta, part of the reason we only tour Thursday through Saturday. I lead worship for a group of more than 300 middle- and high-school kids. Answer their questions about their faith, about God. Comfort them when they\u2019re feeling down, when someone in their family\u2019s sick or struggling.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s my true calling. It\u2019s the job I was doing before Casting Crowns was even a thing. In the beginning, writing and performing songs was just a way for me to connect with the kids.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019d called my doctor, who\u2019s a good friend, and told him my symptoms.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDude, you\u2019ve gotta lay off the pizza,\u201d he\u2019d said. \u201cLet\u2019s do some tests. I want to make sure that you don\u2019t have a stomach ulcer.\u201d Wednesday, february 11, first thing in the morning, I went in for a CT scan. Right after that, I went to a funeral for a church member. Near the end of the service, I felt my phone buzz. I sneaked it out of my pocket. There was a text from my doctor: <em>Bro, I need you to call me.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>I went out to the parking lot and called him back. \u201cWe found something on the scan,\u201d he said. \u201cThere\u2019s a mass on your kidney. It looks solid. I think it\u2019s cancer.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>What I heard was, \u201cYou\u2019re going to die.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cListen, if you were to lay every type of cancer there is out on a table, this would be the type of cancer you\u2019d want,\u201d my doctor said.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/post\/what-cancer-taught-casting-crowns-mark-hall\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em><strong>READ MORE: WHAT CANCER TAUGHT CASTING CROWNS&#8217; MARK HALL<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n<p>I wondered why I couldn\u2019t just get a whole different table. I hung up and walked to my car in a daze, wondering how I was going to break the news to my wife, Melanie. Our four kids. Our church. The youth group. The band. The idea of telling them all made my head spin.<\/p>\n<p>I thought, <em>Maybe no one besides Melanie needs to know. <\/em>I didn\u2019t want to scare our kids. I definitely didn\u2019t want everyone feeling sorry for me or making a fuss. I didn\u2019t want people sharing inspirational pick-me-ups they saw on Twitter. Telling me everything happens for a reason. All the stuff I\u2019d seen happen to other people who were hurting.<\/p>\n<p>My job, my calling, was to be a comfort for them. To give <em>them <\/em>strength. I wasn\u2019t going to be the guy who needed help and prayers. No way. This was between God and me. A private battle.<\/p>\n<p>I called Melanie, told her about the tumor, that the doctor had said not to stress about it. I avoided using the word&#8230;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIs it cancer?\u201d Melanie asked.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYeah, that\u2019s what they\u2019re saying.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Our youth group Bible study met that night. I tried to joke around, be present for the kids\u2014including my own\u2014act like everything was normal. But all I could think about was that there was something malignant inside of me, trying to kill me. At the end of Bible study, I went to my office and sat down at the keyboard. Started noodling around.<\/p>\n<p>Slowly words came: \u201cNo one would blame you, though, if you cried in private, if you tried to hide it away, so no one knows, no one will see, if you stop believing.\u201d Was that what I was most afraid of? Not dying but, rather, not believing and having people see my faith falter?<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/post\/the-funny-thing-about-cancer\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em><strong>READ MORE: THE FUNNY THING ABOUT CANCER<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The next day, Melanie and I went to see a urologist. He agreed it was likely cancer and ordered a second CT scan for confirmation. We drove home in silence. \u201cHow do you want to tell the kids?\u201d Melanie finally asked.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t want to upset them,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey\u2019ll be okay,\u201d she said. \u201cWe\u2019re going to get through this together.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I talked to each of our kids individually, from youngest to oldest. I tried to be strong, but they saw right through me. What if by being open, I\u2019d made everything worse?<\/p>\n<p>Friday the urologist told me my kidney would have to be removed. I\u2019d be laid up for at least four weeks. \u201cYou won\u2019t feel one hundred percent for a while longer,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>There was no way I could keep this a secret.<\/p>\n<p>I had to let everyone at church know, but I was too chicken to do it. So I told one of the pastors and he announced it at the end of Sunday service. I\u2019d hightailed it out of there before anyone could catch me. I couldn\u2019t take having all eyes on me, the looks of pity. By the time I got home there were, like, 90 texts on my phone.<\/p>\n<p>I told the kids in youth group that Wednesday night. That was hard. \u201cHow could God let this happen to you?\u201d some asked. I tried to explain that faith doesn\u2019t spare us from hardship, but I could tell they were shaken, questioning everything I\u2019d taught them. I told my bandmates the next day. It never got easier. Each time, it felt like the words were being pried out of me.<\/p>\n<p>Now, with less than two weeks till my surgery, I stood onstage at the Carson Center in Paducah, staring out at the crowd. They were moved by our music. Why wasn\u2019t I? Why did God feel so far away?<\/p>\n<p><em><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/post\/fighting-cancer-with-nutrition\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">READ MORE: FIGHTING CANCER WITH NUTRITION<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>The next song on our set list was \u201cJust Be Held,\u201d one of the few that didn\u2019t have a specific story or person behind it. I\u2019d written it two years earlier and had never been entirely sure why. The band started up. There was no time to think. I had to sing.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s freedom in surrender&#8230; when you\u2019re on your knees and answers seem so far away, you\u2019re not alone, stop holding on and just be held&#8230;.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It was as though I was hearing those words for the very first time. Suddenly I knew who this song had been written for, and why. God in his infinite wisdom had given it to me two years earlier, knowing how desperate I would be after my diagnosis. I didn\u2019t need to hold it together. I needed to be held, to accept his love from as many people as wanted to share it with me, to receive their prayers, all the prayers I could get.<\/p>\n<p>I didn\u2019t quite have the nerve to tell the crowd then and there. But back home the next day, I e-mailed the morning-show hosts at The Joy FM in Atlanta. \u201cI wanted you to know I have kidney cancer,\u201d I wrote. \u201cPlease ask your listeners to pray for me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Almost instantly they e-mailed back. Could they come interview me live? I could almost feel the ground shifting under my feet. I\u2019d have to put my cancer, my fears, my hurt, myself, out there. I would have to be vulnerable. Then I remembered the ultimate vulnerability of Jesus when he was nailed to the cross for all mankind to behold. It gave me the strength I needed.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/post\/outlander-star-sam-heughans-biggest-challenge\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em><strong>READ MORE: SAM HEUGHAN&#8217;S BIGGEST CHALLENGE YET<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The interview didn\u2019t take long. That afternoon, on Facebook, I had messages, prayers and love from more than 90,000 people! Someone started a Twitter hashtag, #prayformark. By the next morning, it was trending number three around the world. I wasn\u2019t totally sure what trending even meant. All I knew was I could feel the love coming from all directions. I felt lifted. God was cradling me in his arms, holding me tight.<\/p>\n<p>That love helped me through the surgery and the 11 days I spent in the hospital, recovering from complications. It got me through the next four weeks while I was laid up in bed. Melanie and our kids and I hung out, watching movies, talking and praying. Cards arrived from all over the world. Prayer quilts. Photos of youth groups. It was humbling. Overwhelming.<\/p>\n<p>I carry that love with me even now, two years later. These days I tell my story at every concert, asking cancer survivors to stand and be recognized. I don\u2019t mind being the hurting guy, the vulnerable one, anymore. Because I know we\u2019re all in the same boat, arms outstretched in the storm, just needing to be held.<\/p>\n<p><em>Did you enjoy this story? Subscribe to <\/em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.bit.ly\/guidepostssub\"><strong>Guideposts<\/strong><\/a> <em>magazine<\/em>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Mic in hand, I looked out at the thousands of people standing on their feet, singing at the top of their lungs. I\u2019m the lead singer for Casting Crowns, and the feeling of that many people singing my songs never gets old. That Saturday night, February 28, 2015, we were playing the Carson Center in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":29990,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[270],"tags":[66,203,79],"ppma_author":[827],"class_list":["post-22695","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-living-with-cancer","tag-cancer","tag-community","tag-healing"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.6 (Yoast SEO v27.4) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The Lesson Cancer Taught Casting Crowns&#8217; Mark Hall - Guideposts Articles<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Lesson Cancer Taught Casting Crowns&#8217; Mark Hall\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Mic in hand, I looked out at the thousands of people standing on their feet, singing at the top of their lungs. 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