Newsboys have had a busy year. They released God's Not Dead: The Greatest Hits, appeared in God's Not Dead 2 and were featured on the soundtrack, headlined the Rock and Worship Roadshow, and they capped it all by releasing new album Love Riot, featuring "Guilty," "You Hold it All (Every Mountain)," "Crazy" and a cover of Bethel Music's "No Longer Slaves."

Their songs "God's Not Dead," "Guilty," "That's How You Change the World," "Live with Abandon" and the God's Not Dead movies are great inspirations about standing up for our faith in line with the bold proclamations "let our faith be more than anthems, greater than the songs we sing" from hit song "We Believe." 

The movie God's Not Dead 2 lights a fire in Christians to know and proclaim what you stand for, no matter what the world tells you to do--a message Newsboys as a band embodies. Don't compromise. Don't forsake God or be ashamed of the Gospel. Stand up for what you believe. "You Hold It All (Every Mountain)" shows us the role of having strong faith in that mission. Sometimes we have a tendency to think we can try to know everything. God tells us in the Bible that with faith, we can do anything in Christ. I had the chance to speak with Michael Tait, Duncan Phillips, Jody Davis and Jeff Frankenstein in-person about "You Hold it All (Every Mountain)."

Please tell me the personal story behind this song.

Michael: When you think about what's going on in our country and the safety issues in our world, and all of the uncertainty of the economy, it is just one thing after another. We read in the Bible that "He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world." Sometimes as a believer, as Michael Tait, as Newsboys, you ask God if He's really there, and you start to fear and doubt. 

In our song "We Believe," we know the words and we believe them, but sometimes we need to remember that God's really here with us. We read in the Bible that God holds it all together. He holds it all for us, not from us. What the song talks about, holding the mountains, the orphans, the poor, everything--God is in control. The Bible says that "only a fool would say in his heart, there is no God." What God tells us that if we don't praise Him, the mountains will bow down and the rocks will cry out. 

When we look around us, we know that we have a God who created everything. Our album Love Riot is about how we are living for the day Christ will return, and we need to live in faith, love people as you love yourself and speak the Word of God. God is love. Love is God. Preach the Gospel and when necessary, use words.

Which Bible verses connect to the message of the song?

Matthew 17:20 (NIV): He replied, "Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you." 

Isaiah 40:27-31 (MSG): "Why would you ever complain, O Jacob, or, whine, Israel, saying, 'God has lost track of me. He doesn't care what happens to me'? Don't you know anything? Haven't you been listening? God doesn't come and go. God lasts. He's Creator of all you can see or imagine. He doesn't get tired out, doesn't pause to catch His breath. And He knows everything, inside and out. He energizes those who get tired, gives fresh strength to dropouts. For even young people tire and drop out, young folk in their prime stumble and fall. But those who wait upon God get fresh strength. They spread their wings and soar like eagles, they run and don't get tired, they walk and don't lag behind."

1 John 4:4 (NKJV): "You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world."

Colossians 1:15-18 (NIV): "He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy."

What is the takeaway message?

Duncan: As human beings, like how Satan wanted to become God, in our human natures sometimes we want to reject what God has done and do things in our own power. That's the spirit we see in the world today, out of sheer rebellion. It's nothing new, where we are as a culture right now. It is basically disbelief and rebellion against God and serving someone greater than ourselves. That sin condition is still in our hearts. 

We think we've become more intelligent and don't need God. That's the beauty of faith, and the more we know about science, it supports that we have a Creator, God. Once you acknowledge God, then you have to face that we have an afterlife and we have to bow to Him, which is what our rebellious world is rejecting.

Jeff: I think like Michael said, people are finding themselves asking deep questions about what is going on in our world right now every time something bad happens. We just walked through that same part of the airport in Istanbul, Turkey a week before the bomb went off there. People are looking for answers. We've been given an incredible gift called the Gospel that people need even if they don't know they need it yet. It really can provide people with the answers they are looking for. 

When you read about Satan, he wants to steal, kill and destroy us. As Christians, we don't always think about that. We go about our daily life and pray at meals. When you think about spiritual warfare, you take it more seriously. In our band we feel like since we know what people need, the Gospel, we want to share it with everyone who will listen.

Lyrics:
From the highest of mountains
To the depths of the sea
From the planets in motion
To the breath that we breathe
From the womb of the barren
To the rich and the poor
To the dreams of the orphan
Every heart beat is Yours

You hold it all
(Every mountain, every valley)
You hold it all
(Every tear drop, every heartbeat)
In my weakness
You're my victory
In my sickness
You surround me
I believe that You hold it all

It's in the roar of the lions
It's in the wind and the waves
It's in the glory of sunrise
And the lives that You change

You stand alone in splendor
You reign in majesty
Your hands formed all creation
Your hands are holding me
You are my hope forever
You are the sovereign King
You are my friend and Savior

I believe that...
I believe that You hold us all
(Every mother, every father)
You hold us all
(Every son and every daughter)
You hold us all
(Every saint, every sinner)
(You are sovereign)
(You're forever)
We believe that You hold us all
Yes, You hold us all

Christians are called to display their faith in their words, letting their "faith be more than anthems," and also in their actions once they are changed on the inside and become followers of Jesus. We are challenged in God's Word in Matthew 5:14-16 as believers to not hide the light of Jesus that is in us as His redeemed sons and daughters, remembering that "God is not a secret to be kept." I find Paul's exhortation in 2nd Corinthians 4:5-6 very relevant to us as believers today and a strong reminder of why we all need to live for Jesus.

One of the lessons I've seen about life is that we shouldn't wait to fix ourselves before we step out in faith. We need to fully trust God. The faith statements found in the lyrics, "To the breath that we breathe, from the womb of the barren, to the rich and the poor, to the dreams of the orphan, every heart beat is Yours," has been resonating with me as I realize that Jesus commands us to trust God completely no matter our circumstances or personal distractions or concerns.

This song reminds me that we need to have the type of faith that Jesus describes in the Bible: "Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." Being a Christian means that you walk by faith, not by sight. Remember the definition of faith in Hebrews 11:1: "Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see."

We can't know everything and we are not in control, but trusting God gives us assurance that we don't have to be afraid. God will be there to pick us up when we fall. A challenge for me when I listen to this song is to pick an area of my life that I've been trying to control and instead put all of my hope and trust in God. Lift up your voice and sing "In my weakness, You're my victory, in my sickness, You surround me, I believe that You hold it all." Amen to that!

Listen to the song below.