Crossroads Music knows what it means to pray for a breakthrough. The Cincinnati, Ohio-based worship collective of Crossroads Church is sharing the heart behind their prayers in their new single, "God of the Breakthrough."
Written as a response to the death of one of Crossroads Church’s senior leaders, and a near-fatal heart attack that struck the Church’s executive pastor, co-writer Austin Livingood says "God of the Breakthrough" is an anthem written out of desperate prayers for God to intervene in impossible situations.
“We have seen people in our community over the past few months going through maddening life matters: cancer treatments, heart attacks, surgeries, and friends passing away,” says Livingood, worship leader for Crossroads Music. “When we have nowhere else to go, we want God near. When we sing ‘God of the breakthrough, Your promises stand true. You haven’t failed us yet,’ it’s a reminder that though we don’t have all the answers in life, we can always depend on His presence being near to us in broken times, and to hold onto his faithfulness. This song is as much an invitation to the miraculous as it is miraculous that we can lean on God in times of hardship.”
The song has special meaning to Pastor Darin Yates, the Church’s executive pastor who survived a heart attack in March caused by a 99% blockage in one of his arteries. Writers, including Livingood, Mosteller and Robbie Reider, learned of Yates’ heart attack in a writing session, which was the catalyst for penning God of the Breakthrough. Less than 24 hours after Yates’ heart attack, Crossroads Church senior leader Kathy Beechem passed away after battling lung cancer.
“Kathy was one of my best friends, was a mentor to me, and a confidant to me. She was literally on her death bed praying for me,” Yates shares. “When I heard 'God of the Breakthrough' for the first time, I quickly connected with it deeply and emotionally. I thought it was because it was written as a prayer for Kathy and me. However, I now realize it was my prayer to Jesus before the cardiologist would come. I identified with the words, ‘We've nowhere else to go. We've nowhere else to turn… We need your Kingdom now. Exchange it for our doubt.’ I had no doubt God saved me in that moment.”
In difficult times, Crossroads Music hopes that people will use the song as a tool to get through their darkest moments.
“There’s a tension that I want people to feel when they listen to the song — to stand confidently in,” says Reider, National Worship Director for Crossroads Church. “The tension of, this hurts, and yet God is still on the throne. Maybe I can’t see your throne from where I’m standing right now, but that doesn’t mean you’re not there. Rather than make it easier, God let me see you and make me stronger.”
God of the Breakthrough - Crossroads Music
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