Lifestories: Finding God's "Voice of Truth" Through Everyday Life

This book is such an awe-inspiring piece of work. Mark Hall is an annointed man with a great gift. Wonderful for a Bible study also!

I thought Casting Crowns' music was profound in the way that it asks Christians some hard questions. The music serves as a mirror into which Christians can look to see whether or not they are living their lives for Christ. Lifestories, Mark Hall's book, takes the music to an entirely new level. Mark, Casting Crowns' lead singer and main songwriter, tells the stories behind each song and gives the scriptures that correspond with each one. Mark provides questions at the end of each selection that can be used for personal growth or discussion purposes. Mark is humble, authentic, and transparent in this book. He shares his own struggles, challenges, frustrations, and triumphs. I use this book with my Youth Group at church, and I also use it for a small group Bible study with about sixteen adults. Both groups absolutely LOVE the book. Lifestories has inspired all of us to allow the Holy Spirit to move more freely in us. It has encouraged us to show Christ to the world by the way we love His people. Finally, I used to serve as one of my church's worship leaders, and I wish we had this book when I served in that capacity. If so, I might have been a much better worship leader and helped to usher our congregation into more authentic worship of the Almighty. Every Christian, worship leader or not, should read this book. It is written for believers of all ages, and it WILL change the way you interact with your Father, Savior, and all of His people!

This is an incredible book. After reading each chapter about a particular song, you have to stop and listen to the song before reading further. When I did this, I found that each song now has faces (that I imagined from the story) to go along with it. Mark Hall has impressed me greatly with his passion for youth ministry....he just happens to play a little music to go along with it.

You are invited into someone's bedroom, and the door is shut behind you. That person takes out his journal and says, "Here. Read this. I want it to encourage you." This is the feeling given by the book Lifestories, written by Mark Hall, lead singer and songwriter for Casting Crowns. Each chapter is the story of how a particular Casting Crown's song was written. At the end are questions to encourage the reader to dig more deeply into the truth Hall is sharing, and to apply it to his or her own life. Hall's frankness and vulnerability with the struggles in his life make the book very relevant. Reading Lifestories feels like having coffee with an accountability partner who is encouraging you and spurring you on in your walk with Christ. It is also a very intimate experience. The main theme of this book is passionate worship of God, not just on Sundays, but on every day of the week, throughout every moment. It challenges readers to pursue God in worship and love as a part of everyday life. Hall speaks of when he comes to church after a week of not pursuing God. He says he feels dried up and needy, like he is sapping life out from the sermon and worship. He then points out that Sunday mornings are a time to come to God with a heart full of worship after walking with God consistently the previous week. Lifestories challenges its reader truly to pursue God -- to pursue loving Him and knowing Him. With its touching stories and open honesty, it points out the hand of God moving in and about everyday life. - Jenni Ritschard, Christian Book [...]

I bought this book for my husband for Christmas and we read it outloud as we traveled on vacation. It made us laugh and cry as Mark Hall recounted stories behind his songs. We were driving through Atlanta as we read the book and were tempted to stop and try to find Mark's church and let him know what an impact his book had on our family. We have always been fans but now we have a different insight to the message behind the lyrics. This is a must read - whether you have been a Casting Crowns fan before or not.