Frans Hals' depiction of Mark the Evangelist, usually regarded as the same person as John Mark.

John Mark is a character in the New Testament. According to William Lane, an "unbroken tradition" identifies him with Mark the Evangelist.^[1] John Mark is mentioned several times in the Acts of the Apostles. The first mention is in Acts 12:12, when Peter is coming to his mother's house:

When this had dawned on him, he went to the house of Mary the mother of John, also called Mark, where many people had gathered and were praying.

John Mark himself appears a bit later in the same chapter, in Acts 12:25, as the travel companion of Saul (Apostle Paul) and Barnabas:

When Barnabas and Saul had finished their mission, they returned from Jerusalem, taking with them John, also called Mark.

John Mark is mentioned soon after the Council of Jerusalem in Acts 15:37-41. Paul (Saul) does not have a too flattering impression of his former associate, arguing over him with Barnabas in Antioch:

Barnabas wanted to take John, also called Mark, with them, but Paul did not think it wise to take him, because he had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not continued with them in the work. They had such a sharp disagreement that they parted company. Barnabas took Mark and sailed for Cyprus, but Paul chose Silas and left, commended by the believers to the grace of the Lord. He went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.

This is apparently the same occurrence that was earlier mentioned in Acts 13:13, this time referring to John Mark simply as "John":

From Paphos, Paul and his companions sailed to Perga in Pamphylia, where John left them to return to Jerusalem.

This John had joined their mission in Antioch. Acts 13:4-5 says:

The two of them, sent on their way by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia and sailed from there to Cyprus. When they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the Jewish synagogues. John was with them as their helper.

Ultimately John Mark returned to the ministry. This is evidenced by the instruction to Timothy that he should "Get Mark and bring him with you, because he is helpful to me in my ministry." 2 Timothy 4:11

John Mark is also usually identified with Mark the cousin of Barnabas.

References[link]

• Easton's Bible Dictionary, 1897

John Mark McMillan (born November 27, 1979 in Charlotte, North Carolina) is a singer/songwriter within the Christian music industry.

Background[link]

McMillan parents are Robert Agnew McMillan and Donna Boggs Wilson McMillan, and he is the eldest of four siblings two younger brothers Christopher Robert and Andrew Wilson, which the youngest is his only sister Mary Kathryn.^[1]

In 2002, he released his debut album "Hope Anthology, Volume 1". In 2005 he released "The Song Inside the Sounds of Breaking Down", which included the track How He Loves. The song was successful despite the album's independent release, and has been covered by several well-known artists within the Christian music industry (David Crowder Band, Kim Walker, Jared Anderson, Todd Agnew, New Breed, Flyleaf, The Glorious Unseen, Hillsong Music Australia, Kari Jobe). The song has sentimental meaning for McMillan, who wrote it following the death of a dear friend who, during a church staff meeting, prayed out loud "If it would shake the youth of a nation, I will give my life today." McMillan was awakened in the middle of the same night by a phone call; the friend had been killed in a car crash. He wrote How He Loves the next morning as, "a celebration of a God who would want to hang with us...despite who we are".^[2] The song took more than a year to surface in the Christian mainstream, but has gone on to become a commonly played worship song on Christian radio and throughout church organizations.

Discography[link]

Studio Albums

• 2002: Hope Anthology, Volume 1
• 2005: The Song Inside the Sounds of Breaking Down
• 2008: The Medicine (independent)
• 2010: The Medicine (Integrity Media)
• 2011: Economy (Integrity Media)

Live Albums

• 2002: Awake (Various Artists)

Singles

• 5/26/09: I Dreamed There Was a Fountain
• 4/13/10: Skeleton Bones
• 5/11/10: How He Loves: A Story (Single Version)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• How He Loves: A Song Story (John Mark McMillan's Vimeo)

Mark McMillan (born 17 May 1983 in Stirling, Scotland) is a rugby union player for Bath Rugby in the Aviva Premiership.

McMillan's position of choice is as at scrum-half.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Wasps profile
• Glasgow Profile

Mark Simmons may refer to:

• Mark Simmons (American football) (born 1984), American football wide receiver
• Mark Simmons (author), marketer and expert on creativity
• Mark Simmons (cricketer) (born 1955), former English cricketer
• Mark Simmons (boxer)

See also[link]

• Mark Simons, 2002–03 NCAA Division I men's basketball season

This disambiguation page lists articles about people with the same name. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

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David Crowder Band
Background information
Origin	Waco, Texas, United States
Genres	Christian rock, electronic rock, worship, bluegrass, rap
Years active	1996–2012
Labels	Sixstepsrecords, EMI
Website	www.davidcrowderband.com
Past members
David Crowder Jack Parker Jeremy "B-Wack" Bush Mike D Hogan Mark Waldrop Jason Solley Taylor Johnson
Notable instruments
Banjo Turntable Electric violin Keytar Guitar Hero Controller Mandolin Theremin Ukulele Steve 3P0 (drumming robot)

David Crowder Band (stylized as David Crowder*Band and The David Crowder Band) was a six-piece Christian rock and modern worship band from Waco, Texas. Their final album debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Christian and No. 2 on the Billboard 200 charts.^[1]

Name[link]

Prior to the album Church Music, the band preferred not to be referred to as "The David Crowder Band". They explained that they preferred to omit the article, and stated that they "may revisit this issue if other groups named 'David Crowder Band' begin performing," and may in fact, should that eventuality occur, insert "The Original" in front of the band's present appellation. As of the release of Church Music, however, the band has begun referring to themselves using the article, and explained "we’ve been at for a while now without incident, so we felt justified in its formal inclusion."^[2]

The band's name is sometimes rendered with an asterisk, as "David Crowder*Band". In a faux-documentary, while recording Church Music, Crowder joked that the asterisk meant, "David Crowder [is about to go insane because Jack Parker continually tries to sabotage the work of the rest of the] band."^[3]

Band history[link]

The band began when Crowder realized that almost half of the students at Baylor University, a Christian university, were not attending church. Finding this very surprising he and Chris Seay started University Baptist Church (Waco, Texas) in 1995, while he was still a student. Crowder became Pastor of worship at the church and led worship and continued to do so throughout the year. The church's congregation grew, as did the band's lineup.

Crowder began writing songs to incorporate into the worship times at the church and eventually the church released an independent CD, Pour Over Me, followed by All I Can Say in 1999.^{[citation needed]} These CDs brought the band to a wider audience and invitations to festivals and events followed. The band was signed to sixstepsrecords/Sparrow Records when Louie Giglio talked to Crowder about the music and how it could be used more than just at UBC and more world-wide. Although the band toured extensively, they made it a point to be back at their home church UBC in Waco Texas for most Sundays.^{[citation needed]}

Kyle Lake, University Baptist Church's former pastor and also longtime friend of the band, had a strong influence on the band's music in terms of content and inspiration both during his life and after Lake's death.^{[citation needed]}

With their September 2005 release, A Collision, David Crowder Band explored a new realm of musical diversity. The album houses a mix of bluegrass, folk, alternative, and worship, woven together with a touch of electronic ambience. This release landed them the No. 2 spot on the iTunes Music Store and the No. 39 spot on Billboard 200 the second day after its release. The same day as the release of A Collision, their song "Turkish Delight" was released on the Music Inspired by the Chronicles of Narnia compilation CD. This song, which is a reference to the magical Turkish Delight in C. S. Lewis's book The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, has an old-school disco feel.

March 19, 2007, the band officially started recording Remedy; the band also revealed the album's website, http://www.remedyiscoming.com/, which allows fans to follow the band via live webcams, and discover more about the album. Famously controversial rock musician Ted Nugent made a special guest appearance on the album, on the song "We Won't Be Quiet". Remedy was released on September 25, 2007. The day after its release, it reached No. 4 on the iTunes Music Store. When Mark joined the band as the album Remedy was released, his sidekick Rupert came with him. Rupert is a gnome.^[4][5] During the Remedy Tour the band had up a live web feed on Crowder's Xanga account. The feed had a chat room where fans chatted live with the band and their tourmates. It showed more than half of the tour stops live which included their tour bus, live stage feeds of shows, places the band went, etc. Much of the time the video feed would be on Rupert at different stops. On the final night of the tour Phil Wickham and The Myriad came on stage for a hoe down for the song "I Saw the light". The camera for the feed was on the lid of a ball-cap and was wired into a laptop the band had in a backpack; this equipment was provided by Xanga. The band also used the feed for some time after their Remedy Tour. July 16, 2008, the band announced it would releasing a live album and DVD titled Remedy Club Tour - Live,^[6] The DVD was filmed In NYC and GA.

Crowder's Xanga entry from January 31, 2009, mentioned the preproduction of the band's next studio album. Also on Mike Hogan's MySpace entry from March 4, 2009, he confirmed that actual recording and production had commenced and provided directions for getting to the live webcam feed, which is in a page simply titled "Church Music".^[7] The album was titled "Church Music" and was released on September 22, 2009.^[8] The first single off the album was a cover of John Mark McMillan's song "How He Loves". Crowder received permission from McMillan to change the words "So heaven meets earth like a sloppy wet kiss" to "So heaven meets earth like an unforeseen kiss".

The band hosted Crowder's Fantastical Church Music Conference September 30 through October 2, 2010 at Baylor University in Waco, Texas.^[9] Other presenters at the conference included Louie Giglio, Rob Bell, Israel Houghton, Hillsong London, Matt Redman, Jars of Clay, Matt Maher, Leeland, David Dark, Gungor, Derek Webb and others. Mark recorded a Rap song for the band titled "Bwack Be Creepin'" for the band's YouTube channel.^[10]

February 5, 2011 the band announced the official start to recording of Give Us Rest (A Requiem Mass in C [The Happiest of All Keys]).^[11] On May 21, 2011, the band announced through their website that the band will end after the completion of the Fall 2011 "The 7 Tour" and the release of their sixth album. At the same time the band also announced that they planned to disband after the release of their sixth album.^[12]

Later, on July 21, 2011, the band announced that a Christmas album, Oh for Joy, would be released on October 4, 2011.^[13] The band stated that they began to record Give Us Rest and subsequently Oh for Joy came out. Some of the songs in the albums Give Us Rest and Oh for Joy were recorded in greenrooms and restrooms during the band's last tour.^[14]

The band played their final show at the Passion 2012 Conference on January 3, 2012 at the Georgia Dome.^[15]

Crowder has formed a new collective called "Crowder" that will be making its first performance at the Creation East Festival in June.^[16][17] Parker, Dodson, Bush, and Waldrop have formed a new band, called "The Digital Age",^[16] and are opening a recording studio in Waco, Texas.^[18] Many of the members have rejoined UBC's worship team leading worship.^[18]

Unusual instrumentation[link]

The band often incorporated unconventional instruments and elements into their music which were created by the band's drummer Jeremy Bush. He modified a Speak & Spell for the song "I Can Hear the Angels Sing", a guitar-shaped controller for the Guitar Hero game to be used in "...Neverending...", and a robot drummer, named Steve 3PO, for use in "Church Music", a silver box with blue lights and switches for "Can You Feel It?", and a MOTM modular synthesizer used by Hogan. He also manufactured a seven square-foot MPC style-MIDI controller for the band Family Force 5. Hogan often played turntables and played electric violin with guitar effects. A Smule "I Am T-Pain" iPhone app is used on "The Nearness".^{[citation needed]}

The band often recorded their albums in a barn behind Crowder's house.^{[citation needed]}

Members[link]

Current members[link]

David Crowder performing in Lincoln, Nebraska

• David Crowder – vocals, acoustic guitar, piano, programming, theremin, keytar, electric guitar
• Jack Parker – electric guitar, background vocals, Rhodes piano, mandolin, and banjo
• Mike Dodson – bass guitar, keyboard, cello,
• Mike Hogan – violin/strings, turntables, guitar, keyboard
• Jeremy "B-Wack" Bush - drums, percussion, bells, programming
• Mark Waldrop – electric guitar, mandolin, background vocals

Former members[link]

• Jason Solley – electric guitar, background vocals and mandolin (1996–2006)
• Taylor Johnson – electric guitar, mandolin (2006–2007)

Discography[link]

Albums

• Pour Over Me (1998)
• All I Can Say (1999)
• Can You Hear Us? (2002)
• Illuminate (2003) U.S. No. 84^[19]
• A Collision (2005) U.S. No. 39
• Remedy (2007) U.S. No. 22
• Remedy Limited Edition (2008)
• Remedy Club Tour – Live (2008) U.S. No. 88
• Church Music (2009) U.S. No. 11
• Give Us Rest or (A Requiem Mass in C [The Happiest of All Keys]) (2012) U.S. No. 2^[20]

EPs

• The Lime CD (2004)
• Sunsets & Sushi (2005)
• B Collision (2006) U.S. No. 118
• Summer Happiness (2010)^[21]
• Oh for Joy (2011)

Collaboration[link]

• Thoughts of You - Robbie Seay (2000)
• Passion: The Road to One Day - Passion Worship Band (2000)
• Our Love is Loud - Passion Worship Band (live, 2002)
• Sacred Revolution - Passion Worship Band (live, 2003)
• Passion: Hymns Ancient and Modern - Passion Worship Band (2004)
• How Great Is Our God - Passion Worship Band (live, 2005)
• Live from Austin Music Hall - Chris Tomlin (live, 2005)
• Everything Glorious - Passion Worship Band (live, 2006)
• Music Inspired by the Chronicles of Narnia (2005)
• Ultimate Music Makeover: Michael W. Smith (compilation, 2005)
• X Worship 2006 (compilation, 2005)
• X Worship 2007 (compilation, 2006)
• When the Storm Comes - Minister RMB (When the Storm Comes, 2006)
• WOW Christmas: Green (compilation, Christmas)
• Music Inspired By the Motion Picture Amazing Grace (compilation, 2007, Sparrow Records)
• Glory Revealed (compilation by Mac Powell, 2007)
• Passion: Live from Passion07, Part 2 - Passion Worship Band (2007)
• God of This City - Passion Worship Band (2008)
• Passion: Awakening - Passion Worship Band (2010)
• The Shelter - Jars of Clay (2010) – on song "Lay It Down"
• Passion: Here for You - Passion Worship Band (2011)
• Seven Swans Reimagined (compilation, 2011)^[22]
• Passion: White Flag - Passion Worship Band (2012)
• The band also created the theme music for Dr. James MacDonald's radio program Walk in the Word.
• Crowder also wrote the song "Rise Up" for Baylor University football team.
• Mark Waldrop recorded "Bwack Be Creepin'", the band's rap song.^[10]

Awards[link]

GMA Dove Awards

Grammy Awards

David Crowder Band is also featured in other compilation albums that were either nominated or won Dove Awards for Special Event Album of the Year:

• 2006: Special Event Album of the Year - Music Inspired by the Chronicles of Narnia
• 2007: Special Event Album of the Year - Passion: Everything Glorious
• 2009: Special Event Album of the Year - Passion: God of This City

Others[link]

The band was named MSN's Artist of the Month for July 2006, and later won Artist of the Year for 2006.^[24]

Books[link]

David Crowder has authored two books:

• David Crowder, Praise Habit: Finding God in Sunsets and Sushi, NavPress, 2005.
• David Crowder with Mike Hogan, Everybody Wants to Go to Heaven, but Nobody Wants to Die or (The Eschatology of Bluegrass), Relevant Books, 2006.

References[link]

External links[link]

• David Crowder Band official website
• Christian Music Today interview - 11/07
• Christian Music Today interview - 04/06
• Christian Music Today interview - 10/02
• Home.FM Radio interview with David Crowder by Adam & Ben on Mornings at Home
• Gospel Music Channel interview with David Crowder by Alicia Carson