Original subtitles

MAN: When we get together,

let's never forget

all of the saints in the underground,

going down for their faith in Jesus.

So every single person here,

if you call yourself a Christian,

I want us to join together in prayer

for persecuted church, right now.

Father, right now in the name of Jesus,

we declare breakthrough, breakthrough, breakthrough!

And we say, Jesus, precious in your sight

is the bloodshed of your faithful ones.

When I count to four, I want you to break those chains.

And as a praise of offering to Jesus,

I want you to scream!

We will shake the heavens.

One, two, three, four.

[group screams]

* An army composed of walking dead *

* Of willing hearts

* In this our day of struggle

* We speak with fire

* We break all chains

* The foolish bonds of carnal minds far beneath us *

* We see the leader

* Transfigured light

* He calls us forward in that moment receive... *

JUSTIN: My name is Justin and punk rock has been a serious part

of my life since I was a kid.

As an adolescent, like so many others

in my generation of latchkey kids,

I found bands like AFI,

SNFU,

and Propaghandi, and I was thrilled.

The music challenged and defied everything,

which led me to undoing years of Catholic faith

that had been ingrained in me through school, church,

and a strict religious father.

By age 16 I was an atheist, and I wrote songs and essays

about the horrors of organized religion

and the brainwashed fools who lived by their faith.

As an adult I formed punk and hardcore bands,

along with my brother and close friends,

that also pushed an agenda of resistance,

progressive politics, and blasphemy.

I became heavily immersed in my local scene,

running a punk nightclub in my early 20s,

putting on countless shows for touring bands,

and eventually putting out records

through my own small DIY label, which I still do today.

For me self-reliance, progressiveness,

heresy and hedonism have always been the pillars

of hardcore and punk,

so when I first discovered that there were devout Christians

playing the same music that I loved,

screaming the same screams, I was genuinely crushed.

I couldn't believe that there was actually a movement

of people singing to a God

that I believed this music was created to tear down.

I went as far as to write the song

* Fuck Christian hardcore... This Is hell *

for my band Amour Fou, making very clear

that hardcore belonged to us, the heretics and non-believers.

My current band, Kleins96, has become an atheist beacon

on the Canadian Prairies

and keeps the spirit alive today.

*

*

But my angry songs are a one-way conversation

and I want to explore firsthand the world of Christian hardcore

that touches thousands, if not millions,

of kids in North America.

I want dialogue.

I've set my sights on the American South

and I'm taking off with open ears and an open mind.

My first stop is Plano, a suburb of Dallas, Texas,

where I'm meeting Messengers, a young hardcore band

made up of five spirit-filled friends.

I find them getting ready for a hometown show

that will kick off their first-ever tour,

trekking to California to play Facedown Fest,

an annual mecca of heavy Christian music.

*

[lyrics unclear]

*

All the band members met in the church.

A lot of those guys were either home-schooled--

you know, a couple of them went to secular schools too--

but the other guys were all home-schooled,

kept out of the secular school area.

At my church for a long time I was brought up

into leadership, and I met a lot of these.

I'm a lot older than most of them, the people in the band,

and I was kinda like their mentor.

Hold it out until I'm done sayin' something.

Yeah. Then say something.

Just wait for me to say the words "God bless"

and then everybody hit it.

*

* From a world so cold

* From a world so cold

ROB HOUSTON: It's like a church service, you know.

It's like the hardcore kids

going to their own church service.

And that's the difference between Christian hardcore

and secular hardcore,

is because the Christian hardcore and metal or whatever,

you know, the Christian sub-genres,

there's a lot of it that understands the power

of taking that style of music,

but making it a worship atmosphere,

like these kids would be going to church.

* But I know who carries me

*

WOMAN: This is for me. This is literally my church.

This is where I fellowship with people.

This is where I worship, and it brings a lot more kids

into it because they hear this music

and they identify with that, so it's kinda like luring them in.

*

* I know who carries me

Man, I need to go sleep.

JUSTIN: The upcoming tour will be the longest time

that lead singer Chad has ever been apart

from his two-year-old son.

See my scar? - Yeah, what's that from?

I think it was from a cat. I'm not sure.

[laughter]

You go out to Fort Worth or to like Dallas,

you just go a little bit more south, it's like...

they mosh a lot harder, they hit a lot harder

and it's a lot more intense out there.

But here in Plano you get a lot more of like

younger kids that come out to the shows.

I mean it's cool, it's cool either way.

It's whatever you wanna go to.

I live here with my family. That's my brother Chris

over there and my dad and my mom, and, uh, Noah...

I sorta live here, like I just slowly started moving in.

I didn't wanna move back there.

I mean honestly, uh,

I mean me and my dad don't really get along.

He thinks that it's like demonic.

Like I'm not even kidding.

He thinks that it's like Satan's music

and that he thinks that it just makes kids angry.

JUSTIN: Does he think, you know, that Satan's working in hardcore?

Oh yeah.

The more I looked into it, the more I didn't like, you know?

I'd come to pick up my kids from these shows

and, you know, there's just-- I mean it's my church.

I'm coming to my church and everything,

and there's just F-bombs in the parking lot and cigarettes,

and of course they go back, "Well it's ministry.

You know, we're ministering." And I said, "How is it ministry?

You can't even understand what you guys are saying."

Are you a Messengers fan yourself?

I am a Messengers fan obviously, yeah.

It's not my cup of tea in music,

but you see how the kids react,

and they're pulling in Christian children.

They're pulling in, you know, hardcore children, teenagers.

You know, they had the time to be a testimony to them,

and it's fun to watch.

I love to watch them perform.

This is our bags,

and this is everything basically we're taking on tour.

We got Chef Boyardee.

We'll be eating these cold, which is fine.

They're great cold. We have oranges.

Cheez-Its was a definite. We had to have Cheez-Its.

We got Oatmeal Pies. [laughs]

And we got Pop-Tarts here for the morning.

JUSTIN: Do you guys have a Bible in the van?

Yeah, I'll show you right now.

There we go.

He's got the Bible on the phone?

Yep, modern day, dude.

I guess it takes up less room, hey?

Yeah.

CHAD: We thank you for the opportunity that you've given us, Lord,

to go and have a good time, Father God,

for us to live our dream, Lord.

We thank you for the talents that you've put in our head,

Father God, and the talents that you've put in our hands, Lord.

We lift you up, Lord, and we just ask that you just,

you bless everything that has to do with this tour,

Father God, that you keep our engine running sound, Lord,

that you keep our tires running great, Lord.

*

CHANCE: We were going 47 on a 35, which is stupid.

JUSTIN: How much does it cost?

It's probably a little ticket. It's probably like $150, 200.

So who's paying for it?

It's not coming out of band money?

I ain't paying for it. I didn't do nothing wrong.

*

CHANCE: If I didn't have Christian hardcore,

I would be probably at my house,

like trying to find something to get high off of.

I was very addicted to cocaine,

very addicted to MDMA, ecstasy and stuff like that.

And I smoked a lot of pot and stuff, you know.

JUSTIN: How old were you when you were addicted to coke?

I was about 15, 16.

I decided to wipe all that out by playing hardcore

and taking my anger out on stage.

All the stuff that I've gone through is just like,

you know, I need God. I need that rock, you know.

I need that support.

* So let the sleepless nights begin *

* If that's what it comes to

* Take another look

* At creation's hands

*

* All these hours they feel like days *

* And I struggle to hear you breathe *

* All emotion get jumbled in this place *

* Wake up and smell iron in your veins *

*

[rooster crows]

JUSTIN: So how was it sleeping in the van?

Not so good. It's too small.

We need a bigger van, definitely.

So we're in El Paso and we're going to a Taco Bell right now.

Which is kind of like being in Italy

and going to a Pizza Hut.

But these kids don't seem to eat anything

other than fast food.

CHAD: I miss my family.

She sends me this really great text message

about how my son misses me.

I'm like, "How's he gonna miss me? He's two years old."

She's like, "He's looking at pictures of you and crying."

I'm like, "Oh that's awesome.

Thank you, that makes me feel like incredible."

So I'm sitting here driving down the road

trying not to cry in front of four other dudes.

CHAD: We don't believe in like the worldly economy

is really gonna affect Christianity

because we believe that God's gonna bless us no matter what.

I'm not one of those Christians that's gonna like,

sit here and be like, oh I support the war

because we're doing it in the name of the Lord and whatnot.

JUSTIN: Do people take that attitude in America,

that you guys are fighting those wars?

Yeah. I mean gosh,

especially like the, like the southern Christians, man,

like the ones that have made it a point to be a Republican.

You know, and I'm sure that I'll have a lot of Christians

oppose what I have to say about the whole thing.

But like honestly, I have no problem with gay marriage.

And I have-- I mean I'm not for abortion or anything,

but you know, I mean when it comes to

what the foundation of what America was built on,

it was built on the freedoms to choose.

JUSTIN: The tour isn't always easy or comfortable,

but the shows are well-attended and the response is terrific.

It's a world apart from my first tour, which more often than not

saw my band play to less than ten people.

*

*

If Jesus was here, this is where he'd be at.

He wouldn't be in the-- and there's nothing wrong

with the cathedrals, you know, the crystals and all that.

That's for that generation, and it's still effective.

But you know, there's people here that are hurtin',

and they're not gonna be touched by, you know, Kumbaya.

They're gonna be touched by some real aggression.

*

[lyrics unclear]

*

I've worn this shirt to every show for the past nine years.

Yeah, oh yeah, yeah, it's gross.

You know, coming from playing shows once a week,

you know, and letting my throat heal over time, you know,

it's finally gonna start getting some more scar tissue.

JUSTIN: Getting used to it?

Yeah, probably permanently give me a nice little grungy voice.

Everyone likes our music back home,

and then every show that we've played has been,

has gotten some good feedback on this tour.

JUSTIN: So what are you expecting for Facedown tomorrow?

Everyone's telling me that people are gonna go crazy to us.

So if that holds true at all, then I'm gonna love it.

*

JUSTIN: Facedown Fest is an annual showcase

put on by Facedown Records,

one of the biggest record labels in heavy Christian music.

Fans travel from across the country in droves for the event.

That's what it's about, right there all right, Jesus Christ.

He loves ya.

JUSTIN: Before even making it inside,

I'm stopped on the street for some prayer.

I was praying and I said,

I was like, "God, like what's my mission field?"

And God told me, "You're in your mission field,

like look at the hardcore scene."

Is there anything I-- Have to do?

Yeah. Honestly, like--

You just gotta stand there. Just stand there and accept it.

I thank you for the openness Justin has, Father God,

and I understand the questions that he has...

....opportunity that you've given Justin...

[both talking at once]

So Holy Spirit we invite you... I mean, you created knowledge,

so give him the knowledge he needs...

JUSTIN: I'm not used to this sort of kindness from total strangers,

but I don't feel any touch of the divine.

Inside, Messengers are nervously preparing

for what will be the biggest show of their lives

to this point.

I'd like to lift up every member of the band, Lord,

that every note and every drum pattern, Father God,

just fall on key, Lord.

And to just be right on, Lord, that you be with us

and you calm our nerves down, Father God, even though

this is one of the biggest shows of our career, Jesus.

*

[applause]

Yo, raise your fist.

We're Messengers from Dallas, Texas.

*

* Pale rose saturation screams to be heard *

* Then adulterated truth takes a turn *

* Have your paper bleed the innocence *

* Till there's nothing left

* Be the year of a better man

* Kneeling at an all-cost approach *

* Still you say you're the better man *

* The laws you write are the ones you broke *

* Extend your hand

* Not your pockets

* They tell the lies

* And make the profit

* Extend your hand

* Not your pockets

* They tell the lies

* And make the profit

* We the people need truth

* We the people need leaders

* Not followers of man

* Any leaders amongst the pigs? *

* Pale rose saturation screams to hear *

* Then adulterated truth takes a turn *

* Where does freedom really belong *

* When it's all said and done *

So, how was that? It was fun, man.

That was definitely one of the best shows we've played.

You wanna buy a Messengers CD? I can't afford it.

Come on, man.

This is freaking sick.

I don't know if you guys are like regulars

that come to Facedown Fest.

MAN: The more I read about it Jesus didn't,

he didn't humble himself.

He didn't just humiliate himself.

He embarrassed himself.

He embarrassed himself so he could be like us.

He can make us like Him.

He made himself look like me, look like a liar,

look like a pervert, look like a prideful person.

He made himself look like me, so I could look like him.

And you know what, like,

I so much wanna look like my Father God.

* We're all brothers in blood

* Crawl through these trenches

* Already wounded but chosen to fight *

* Why do these soldiers...

Get those hands in the air!

*

*

No cussin', no smokin',

no drinkin'!

We better make sure we can still get a bottle of whiskey

by the end of this show.

MIKE: Go, you should go.

It's so funny that I actually kinda do feel guilty

about buying whiskey right now. Yeah, I know.

It's just like there's something so weirdly wholesome.

* Oh, take your flame Ignite the world *

* And let the whole world see

*

* Burn

* and let the whole world see

* You were made to burn...

I believe that we can really bring revolution in our time.

I believe that we can be the generation to really fix

some of the issues our parents brought on us

and really turn something in this world.

*

Right now!

* Lord of Glory

* Make us worthy

* To possess

* Your name

MAN: Listen, I believe,

I believe that God is transforming lives right now.

[applause and cheers]

I believe, everybody in here, that if you would take it,

if you would cultivate the seeds sown here,

that people will leave this room forever changed.

JUSTIN: But when the show is done, people don't leave the room.

They stay and huddle together to pray.

MAN: This is a strong tower, Father God,

and I just ask that we lift it all up to you, Lord.

Then it's just gone,

that the blood of Jesus washes over every soul in this place.

*

*

*

*

CHAD: That band, Saving Grace, that played after us,

we got to talking with them, man.

I think in winter we're gonna come to Australia with them.

When you started the band, would you imagine you'd be touring around the world?

No, when we started we didn't think we'd be doing anything.

We were just a jam band. I mean I just had a kid.

That's all we wanted to do was just jam.

Now we're in California.

JUSTIN: The next stop on my journey is a church in Park City, Utah,

where I'm meeting Christian hardcore heroes Sleeping Giant.

* ...uncreated one

* Holy, ancient one

* I'm after your heart

* You are the uncreated one

* Holy, ancient one

* I'm after your heart

CINDY: If you tell the name of Jesus too soon

and God hasn't told you to say it,

it can [snaps fingers]

sabotage the rest of your outreach.

Some of these younger kids, like Ben and Tommy

and all these other guys, they're young.

They can go shout Jesus from the housetops

and people will come flocking to them.

Why? Because they don't look religious.

*

I have a feeling when we start playing,

the vast majority of these older people aren't gonna know

what to do with themselves.

You kids or you young, you people-- you guys,

when the band is finished and the worship is done,

we still want you in here if that's okay.

Can you hang and really give attention to the message?

I know that this kind of music doesn't happen a lot in church,

and so I just want to say thank you for honouring

the sound that God's given us.

* ...Holy

* Holy God

*

* Holy, holy

* Holy God

*

* Holy, holy

* Holy God

*

* Jesus come

* 'Cause you are worthy of every human life *

* Jesus come

* Jesus come

* Jesus come

I just pray that our life is an offering before you, Lord,

that our hearts are towards you in worship, Jesus.

I don't think there's anything that we want more

than really to know you and to bring your heart,

like pleasure, to make you laugh.

And there's no one and nothing like you at all.

You are the awesomest, awesomest, awesomest

in all of awesomeness.

[indiscernible chatter]

[laughter]

[indiscernible chatter]

JUSTIN: While the rest of Sleeping Giant lives in California,

lead singer Tommy lives with his family

in the very Mormon Salt Lake City.

TOMMY: I think it's a God thing. I mean I just don't understand,

'cause I would not, I wouldn't have come back here right away.

I just wouldn't have.

If they said, "Where would you like to live?"

Salt Lake City would not have been on the radar for me.

I wouldn't have gone, "Oh my gosh,

if I could just go to Salt Lake City, Utah."

JUSTIN: You found punk rock before you found Jesus?

TOMMY: Oh yeah. I liked music. I got into drugs.

I ran away a bunch of times and was selling drugs

in junior high so I could make money.

I was really off my rocker a little bit

'cause I was so upset, so angry,

and just didn't know where to put it.

And I think a lot of the hatred of the status quo,

and feeling like injustice and racism and sexism

and like being really like, anti--like homophobic,

just all that stuff.

I just remember feeling like, man, you just pissed off.

So I remember really getting connected,

'cause I felt like there was a bunch of people

and they create this music as a way to express

that there is so much that's wrong.

I was so pissed off about the idea of God.

I was trying to understand God,

and I read the Bhagavad Gita, and I was looking into Hinduism

'cause I had friends that were like into that.

And I was just reading. I just read.

There's a part where a dude comes up to Jesus

and says, what is the point? And he gives him two answers.

He says, "Love God with all your heart, all your soul,

"all your mind, all your strength,

and love your neighbour as yourself."

And I literally freaked out.

And I was like, I shut it and I'm like, that's it?

Like I literally was like, that is it?

I've been fighting you for like 22 years.

That is the reason, that's what I've been fighting about?

Tell me who to love. I'll love people. I love people.

Then having so many of my values from these different subculture

scenes almost get like, uh, reaffirmed in Jesus--

blows my mind.

JUSTIN: Tommy founded Tithemi Outreach Church in Redlands, California,

which is now led by his Sleeping Giant bandmates, Eric and J.R.

What I've come to notice is, I come out of the paradigm of,

hey I'm in a hardcore band,

so that means hardcore kids feel comfortable around me

and hardcore kids would feel comfortable in my church.

But being a hardcore kid, that's not my actual identity.

That's not my identity.

I enjoy hardcore music. I have for years. I just enjoy it.

But my identity is that I'm a son of God, I'm a lover of God.

I worship the Lord, like he's my father. That's my identity,

and so I relate to people out of that identity,

not out of being a hardcore kid.

* God is good

* God is good forever

* And forever

* God is good

* God is good forever

ERIC: All right, let's turn our Bibles to Luke, chapter nine.

I want to continue talking about hosting the presence of God

and ushering his presence and his spirit.

He wants so much more.

He doesn't want you just to believe in him.

He wants you to know him.

He does. He's inviting you to know him.

He's inviting you to know him.

It's much better.

I'm telling you from personal experience.

I've been in a place for a long time where all I did

was believe, and, uh, and knowing him is...

it's awesome.

It's so awesome.

It's great.

JUSTIN: While not on the road, Eric and other members

of Sleeping Giant run a merchandise company

printing gear for other hardcore bands.

Sleeping Giant, as of now, we're doing okay.

You know, we get a little bit of money

so it helps cover our bills when we're gone,

but we don't make a living from it.

Success is defined by interaction

when it comes to hardcore music or punk music.

It's like, if we played in front of a million people,

I'm sure there's a part of us that would be, that's great,

but if there's not people singing along and piling on,

you don't feel successful as a hardcore band.

That's one of the things that defines or drives the music.

JUSTIN: I hit the road with Sleeping Giant for Scream The Prayer,

a package tour of top Christian hardcore bands

en route to the Cornerstone Christian Music Festival

in Illinois.

The song goes like this:

* This ain't my first rodeo

* Ten thousand ten thousand *

* They're walking and shoving

* and marching and pressing on

*

*

* Wake up

* I awake, awake to see the living dead *

* They live in darkness too blind to see the path they've led *

* They search this world to try to find existence... *

[drumming]

With what, our songs?

Just like with the show aspect of it,

do you feel connected when you're playing?

It's a little weird. It's 'cause we're playing stuff no one knows.

I guess that's how, I just feel like-- [shrugs]

Well yeah let's pray over our set.

Just 'cause I just--I wanna have fun. I wanna enjoy it.

I wanna enjoy God a lot, that's for sure, so.

I pray that you would calm and that you'd connect the kids here,

like that there's kids that drove a while to get here.

There's a lot of hungry hearts in the room still, Lord Jesus.

And so whether we're peoples' favourites or not,

I'm just asking, Jesus, that you come

and take over the set tonight.

TOMMY: All right, Father, right now in the name of Jesus,

come and bless every single person here right now.

We love you so, so much. Man!

All right, I really don't want this to be another hardcore show,

God, please touch these peoples' life.

You love them so much.

I know you have a crush on me. I have a crush on you.

Let's have a crush on everyone together.

Thank you, Lord, right now for goodness.

*

Here we go!

*

Here we go, come on. Kingdom come.

*

This is a real hardcore show, come on!

*

Jesus, come!

Kingdom come!

Let's hear it. Come on, come on!

Kingdom come!

Is it okay if I pray for you? - Please.

I'd love to, man. Tell me one or two.

My main issue is my foot.

I've broken it and crushed it so many times.

I've got two toes that the joints are fused together,

and I've actually got two toes that are trying

to knit together now.

So, Father, right now in the name of Jesus, God,

I just bless Donny.

It just seems like it's been a long time,

a prolonged pain for this man,

physically, and that probably gives birth to a lot of other stuff.

And so, Father, right now I'm just asking God for mercy,

just mercy over this man's life right now in the name of Jesus,

and I'm asking for healing.

Okay, the injuries that have been sustained right now,

I'm just declaring right now that all pain,

all pain, you gotta go.

At the command of Jesus, you have to go,

and I just release the healing presence and power of Jesus

right now into Donny's foot.

All right, do me a favour. Just walk around for a second.

What level was your pain at on a scale of one to ten

when you walked in.

About a four. It was at a four?

Walk around for a second

and tell me if it's better, the same, or worse.

And everything is okay. There's no wrong answer.

If you got worse, cool, whatever--better, same, worse.

No, I'd actually rate it about a zero right now.

So amen, right? - Amen.

Cool, if you took ibuprofen and it went away that'd be it.

Let's pray, let's pray real quick and say thank you,

and let's seal it okay?

I'm hanging out with the Canadians.

JUSTIN: I meet back up with Messengers in their hometown

as they also prepare to leave on tour

to the Cornerstone Festival.

So you got a name for it?

Yeah, we're calling it the Red Baron.

The Red Baron? The Red Baron, dude.

We're gonna move this backseat out,

put all the stuff back there so we can have all these seats

to sleep in and all that stuff.

This is definitely a step up from the last tour.

As long as we're all in the van, I guess we're invincible.

JUSTIN: With only days before their tour through the American South,

Chad is feeling under the weather

and needs to see a doctor.

I've always had just kind of a lot of faith in general.

So anything that--if we don't have like health insurance

or something, I know that God's gonna work it out.

I mean I always have, I've been with him since,

God, like nine years now.

And he's always been overweight like this.

And it's always been a concern, but there's--

it's one of those things that you don't really know

how to help him with it, if that makes sense.

That's something they definitely want to change.

They don't want to eat fast food as much as they did anymore.

CHAD: Noah has the hardest time, like opening up to anyone.

And he sat me down about a week ago and was like,

"Dude," he's like, "your weight's scaring me."

and he was like, "you know, if I have to," he's like,

"if I have to go on a diet with you," he's like,

"I'm skinny as can be, but if it means that I have to

"cut out everything bad in my life so that you will,

that's what I'm gonna do."

So what did that mean to you?

It's crazy.

You know, I'm know that, like, you know, not saying

anything about my wife or anything like that but,

you know, it's very rare that anybody, you know,

everybody can tell me, hey you need to lose weight,

hey this is scaring me, but...

for somebody to say that they're willing to make a life change

so that they can back me up...

that's big.

JUSTIN: The first show of the tour, which will see Messengers

play everything from church basements to a laser tag court,

is in a thrift store in Louisiana.

*

Rock it!

* I'm hearing the voices from left and the right singing *

* This is the way This is the way *

* I made my choice and I'm taking my life because *

* This is for me This is for me *

* And I will not stop because you judge me *

*

I think we barely made 50. Barely made 50.

You know, which got us here, you know?

But...

I think we have like $25 left,

like outside of what we have for gas, so we'll see what happens.

JUSTIN: As Sleeping Giant's tour rolls on,

I'm surprised to learn that faith healings

aren't a rare occurrence for the band.

Almost every night they're approached by fans

in some state of pain or suffering.

JUSTIN: Can we talk a little more about the healing,

'cause I think that this is gonna be something, um...

Gonna make us look like total freaks, and I'm okay with that.

Yeah? Yeah, I'm okay with that.

I mean, we get it from other Christians.

I have a video of a kid in El Paso, Texas,

that we prayed for, and his eye was nearly blind,

and he said it was just complete blur,

like he could kinda make out shapes,

couldn't see any features, you know?

If I gave him the finger test, he wouldn't be able to tell me.

I prayed for him and his vision got like healed.

I was partially blind. J.R.: From what?

My retina, I was hit in the eye by a rock.

J.R.: What's your vision like now?

20/20.

J.R.: You can see clearly? How does that make you feel?

Amazing.

I was, cover your good eye. I was testing him.

Cover your friggin' good eye. Don't lie to me.

I ran way over there. "How many fingers?"

And he was just crying, "It's two, two fingers."

He was freaking out, and that night I posted online

about it and a Christian friend was like,

"I don't know, dude. I'm skeptical.

I think the kid just wanted attention."

JUSTIN: Does the person need to be a believer to receive?

Absolutely not.

Nope, the funnest thing ever is for somebody who just

absolutely does not believe in a god,

and they get physically healed.

This song is on our second record.

It's for anybody that believes in the healing power of Jesus.

This song is for you.

If you need a miracle tonight, this is a song for you,

your family, your friends, or whoever you're believing for.

This song is called "No One Leaves This Room Sick."

*

Get up on your feet!

*

Let me ask you something.

*

*

*

JUSTIN: To everyone's surprise, the opportunity to witness

Sleeping Giant's healing power on a nonbeliever

happens that night after my cameraman, Mike,

is hit by a car in downtown Baltimore.

I like flipped up onto his hood,

then the next thing I know

I'm like upside down, my feet are over my head.

I'm like, "oh, I'm being hit by a car right now."

Then it kinda lasted for a second, but it probably

was like super fast, but it slowed down.

I was like, "okay, soon I'm gonna be hitting the ground."

And then the car stopped and I flew and I hit the ground.

Does it hurt?

I fell on my wrist and my wrist is a bit like wonky, but.

You got hit by a car, man.

Like, we'd be dicks if we didn't pray for you.

[laughing]

What hurts? What do I do?

You just stand here for a second. You just hang on.

Thank you, Lord.

God, I just really appreciate

just the willingness to be prayed for.

Lord Jesus, I'm just commanding all pain right now

to leave this man's body in the name of Jesus.

And I just say, God, even the residual effects

that might show up in the morning,

soreness and stiffness, we just say no.

Okay, move your wrist around a little bit,

and let me know if it's the same, better, or worse.

Uh, it's better? - Better, yeah.

JUSTIN: How do you feel?

Not 100 percent, but still better.

Yeah, it's awesome.

JUSTIN: The next morning, Mike's wrist is sore again.

I tried to relax myself and just to like let it happen,

let whatever they were doing happen

and not really judge or think about what they were doing.

So I like really, really tried to do whatever

it was that I needed to do.

I don't know, maybe I tried too hard.

JUSTIN: Did you feel any physical sensation in your wrist?

Warmth, from like...

um...

sweatiness, 'cause his hands were sweaty.

So I know for myself that I think it's for real,

but I don't know

the real explanation for what happened.

I just know what I saw and I know it happened,

and I know it was real 'cause I saw it happen.

CHAD: We can heal the sick and we can make the blind see again.

We just have to believe that God is gonna, you know,

put that through us and use us as the vessel to do that.

JUSTIN: I arrive with Messengers in Jackson, one of so many cities

bruised by the fallen American economy.

Hi, I just--I'm in a band called Messengers,

I just spoke to somebody about getting free food.

Chick-Fil-A has a policy

to like help out touring Christian bands.

But since every Chick-Fil-A's owned

technically by a different person and a different manager,

they can like choose not to.

So it's kind of hit and miss sometimes.

Fifteen free sandwiches.

Same place? - Yeah, this is it.

Okay, cool. And he said, put down reason: random act of kindness.

I was like, man, God bless you.

He was talking about how it's just really nice to see

up-and-coming bands doing what God calls them to do.

So they blessed us extremely well.

Fifteen free sandwiches for all the band.

*

Hey, on an all serious note.

You guys got problems?

I've got problems, so come and talk to me

and I've got someone that you wanna meet.

This song is called "Anthems."

*

NOAH: I told him I was gonna go all the way there.

I said I'm going all the way to Missouri.

JUSTIN: We arrive in the town of Joplin,

which a month earlier was devastated by a massive tornado.

The storm left miles of flattened neighbourhoods

just a few blocks from the concert venue, Solace Church.

It's just crazy that it's like literally right down

the street from where we're playing.

JUSTIN: What are your thoughts, God-wise,

when you see something like this?

Um...

I don't really know where God really plays into it.

I mean hopefully everything's okay

with all the people that had lost their homes or whatever.

JOSHUA: Whether you realize it or not,

whether you think you're good enough,

whether you think you're right enough,

whether you think you're holy enough,

or whether you think that you don't have anything together,

God has put you in that position because

he can do it through you, he wants to do it through you.

Hey, let's move around a little bit.

This song is a fast one.

This song's called "Weight."

*

*

JOSHUA: We became a church last year.

Before that we existed as Solace,

simply as a venue ministry where we would book shows

in buildings around town and around the area

and host concerts in those buildings.

Shows, to us, feel as much a part of our ministry

as Sunday mornings, if not more.

Hardcore is a community.

It is a church, family for people that don't like

most of the stuff that's happening.

Dudes with broken families, like guys without fathers,

like without real leadership in their life.

It's like this is a whole community built on that.

You know, and so within the hardcore scene,

it's like you can't begrudge a bunch of kids

that needed a family.

[indiscernible chatter]

So I wanna jump out on my swing around a couple times,

and then I want--, you take me up,

but then lower me down on to the crowd.

I'm gonna stand on them. Okay.

And then... You'll undo and stuff?

I can let go. He can let go.

The message that we have to the kids that come

to a show like this would probably be more

to like shake them out of the Christian bubble

that they've been kind of like programmed into.

*

* Barely only breathing

* My differences, my fight comes into the light *

* And to shadows, that cannot exist without the light *

* Please refer to the end of the page *

* Stay with us standing alone Come with us *

* Stayed is a lonely ghost

* Or break into death

*

*

*

Should be coming up soon.

That thing said the back gate was over that way.

Weren't we seeing a line of cars?

Dude, the line's already in there.

Like everybody's in now.

Here we go.

JUSTIN: Cornerstone is one of the biggest

Christian music festivals in the world,

with thousands of believers gathering on a cornfield

in Illinois to worship with free spirits.

It's like a Christian Woodstock, except for the fact

that everyone is completely sober all the time.

There is of course a hardcore presence that started small,

but in recent years has grown to become the dominant voice

of the youth, despite still being relegated to side stages.

The festival marks another milestone for Messengers'

first year on the road,

and they're excited to make a name for themselves.

Oh yeah, that's hardcore.

That's perfect that you're walking with me right now.

This song's called "Shipwrecked."

It's the first song... [unclear]

*

*

*

* As I lose my patience

* What good are the faceless faces? *

* Tracking my beaten path

* Simply searching for the places I can't find *

* I sing for better days

*

* Moving past what never came *

*

JUSTIN: This year, For Today have a set on the main stage,

usually reserved for the biggest names in Christian pop,

bringing hardcore right into the mainstream

of the festival.

Cornerstone, this might be new to some of you.

Scripture says that even righteous deeds

are as filthy rags to God.

So even the good things that you do, even things

like feeding the hungry and clothing the poor

and taking in widows and orphans,

as nice as those things are, if not done from the place

of obedience to and a relationship with God,

are completely worthless and disgusting to God.

If you're not daily walking in a place of relationship

to God, then the news that we have to bring you

is that you're on your way to hell right now.

*

*

*

*

JUSTIN: Later that night we find an impromptu show taking place

in a chicken coop on festival grounds

with members or different hardcore bands

playing cover sets.

* Revival

*

* Revival

*

* Revival

*

* Revival

*

* Revival

*

* Revival

*

* Revival

*

JUSTIN: It's July in Illinois

and the heat and humidity are intense.

I feel terrible.

I got probably about three, three and a half hours of sleep.

I woke up and ate a Pop-Tart and that's all I've had.

I've been drinking water pretty crazy,

but it's just, it was insanely hot up there.

If you're like me and you're listening to hardcore

and hardcore was refuge for you,

but you feel like, hey, as I get more into hardcore,

my walk with Jesus is deteriorating.

I know what that's like.

So I mean, if that's you guys, man,

I definitely want to pray with you guys.

I definitely want to get to know you.

You know, we're all growing like babies again,

and accountability and love is how we get through that.

So I'm Chad from Messengers. Thanks for listening.

[applause]

JUSTIN: As Messengers make friends

and establish themselves in the community,

Sleeping Giant arrives and Tommy goes to work.

Jesus, thank you so much for being like the best friend

that some of us have ever had.

Thank you for being the older brother some of us have never known.

Thank you being our father when we didn't have the right kind,

or thank you for being a mom when we needed one.

Thank you, God, that you have taken care of us.

I'm here, and I'm using the word of God,

the promise that Jesus has made me that all sin,

all sickness, all disease, and authority is his.

We lay our hands on people and we utilize the promises

and the word of God, and we speak out the truth

of what he's shown us, and we grab a hold of those promises,

and we say, you be healed in Jesus' name.

And we see it happen.

Cool, so who here wants to pray for the sick with me?

So why don't you guys all join in.

You were born blind, is that what you said?

No, I'm going blind. Oh you're going blind? Cool.

Eyes, you may not be blind, you open now.

Every ounce of what the enemy would do, we break you off.

We cancel your assignment and we say you are finished, now!

So our position is that, regardless of whether

we see it with our own eyes instantaneously,

that we just, we put our rejoicing in him.

I can't see perfectly, but I can't see out of my glasses anymore.

You can't see out of your glasses anymore? Mm-mm.

Hey, wow. So I don't know--

So when you put them on, what happens? It's just all blurry.

I literally, like it's just like blurry.

So when she puts on her glasses, it's all blurry,

so she can't use her glasses.

Yeah, pass them along. That's awesome.

That's so awesome.

It felt like two hands were just like pressing on my face.

And then it kind of got hot, like tingling.

Like, yeah really tingly.

And you can feel like the muscles in your--

Yeah I felt like they were just like,

like I was blinking but my eyes weren't opening.

I'm trying to stay committed to my agnosticism

and embracing the fact that I don't know

how she can see now,

as opposed to trying to rationalize it

or disprove the fact that it was God or whatever.

I can't explain the girl with the no glasses at all,

but I don't think it was Jesus.

I was kind of in shock 'cause I kind of doubted everything.

I didn't think like--I didn't really believe in healing,

so I wasn't like really focused on being healed.

I just thought like the prayer might help.

JUSTIN: How well do you see right now?

I can see pretty well. I can almost read now,

so it's kinda cool, like it's coming back in.

It's been happening slowly? Yeah, like overnight like it got better

and now it's even better. Like I can read your T-shirt.

You can read the words? - Yeah.

Really? - Yeah.

Tell me what it says. Dynasty.

There you go. And then your other thing says North Face.

EMMA: Like this quietness came upon me and I felt this warmth,

and kind of like a pain over here.

But it's more of like a dull ache.

Well this morning when I woke up I covered my eye just to see,

and I was 100 percent blind, but now I can see

a little bit of light out of the corner of my eye.

Like I can't make shapes, but I know there is light present,

which is more than I've ever seen since I was six years old.

I'm getting baptized today and I really think

in my heart, once I come out of that water

from being dunked in, I think I'll be able

to have a little bit more sight at least.

Yeah, you can't really screw up being baptized.

[laughing]

I got baptized at a For Today show on New Year's.

They're like, yeah, well God was telling us that,

you know, he felt we needed to do baptisms.

We've never done this before at a show,

and then people just lined up.

And Mattie, the lead singer, was baptizing people.

It was pretty awesome. I didn't know he was bap--

I thought it was the pastor that was baptizing.

I got up and I was like, oh my gosh, and like freaked out.

Why'd you freak out?

Well 'cause I like Mattie.

MAN: In Hebrews it says that God is real

and he is an earnest rewarder of those who seek him,

and that's by faith

and the faith in your heart that he's real

and he'll reward you when you seek him.

[praying quietly]

Emma, upon your confession of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ,

I now Baptiste you in his name.

I'm gonna pray for you now.

[praying quietly]

[applause]

Yeah, Jesus! Yeah Jesus, right?

Amen.

We'll just pray for you right now.

Everybody lay hands on her.

Father, I just ask right now that you heal her vision, God,

that she is your creation

and you have made her in your image, Father.

MAN: Release healing right now in the name of Jesus.

Into this optic nerve, we just command everything

to go into its proper alignment, into its proper place

right now in the name of Jesus.

WOMAN: Jesus, you are the great physician, Lord.

All things can be done through you.

We all know, Lord, that you made Emma's eye to be able to see.

Thanks.

Do you feel anything different? Yeah.

Your eye looks so different to me because it's straight.

Like it's freaking me out. It's not lazy anymore.

It's not droopy like it was.

I do see a little bit more light.

But you've not seen light in it at all?

For ten years.

That's so crazy. That's so great. Yes, Jesus.

Thank you, guys.

Just keep praying, every half an hour I think.

[laughing]

JUSTIN: After the baptism, we all make our way back to the music tents

where Sleeping Giant is set to close the festival

with the final headlining slot of the night.

I'm here to worship you, Lord. I really am here

to lift up the sound from my heart to you tonight.

Please give us language that's real for tonight,

Lord, even if the songs or whatever, God,

please give us the language to worship you.

I bless the guitars and their tone.

I pray that they prophesy with their instruments, God.

Thank you for [unclear] I pray that you would

prophesy with the drums, God, that there be something

communicated to people in the beat, in the drive,

in everything, God.

That this would be like Biblical worship taking place, God,

that it would transform people in the name of Jesus, Lord.

Let me hear your glory song!

This is our worship.

CROWD: Jesus Christ, God!

It's all you. Raise up your voices!

*

Jesus Christ!

This is our prayer.

This is our graduation!

Jeee-sus Chriiiiist!

Who here is forgiven because of the blood of Jesus?

[cheering]

*

This song is for all of us.

This is our celebration.

*

When I count to four,

*

everybody get up.

One, two, three, four! Jump!

*

* Oh praise him

All right! All right!

* Oh praise him

[unclear]

* Oh praise him

[unclear]

* Oh praise him

We love you, Lord Jesus.

* Oh praise him

* You are glory

There were some kids here...

* You are glory

They wanted to get baptized right here.

* You are glory

This is gonna be insane.

* You are glory

[cheering and applause]

The people that want to get baptized, put your hands up.

Everyone else, put your hands down.

* You are glory

Holy cow.

* You are glory [continues throughout]

*

In the name of Jesus, in the name of Jesus!

*

[cheering and applause]

*

[cheering gets louder]

*

[crowd din]

* Glory, glory, glory

* Lord God Almighty

* Who was and is and is to come *

Praise you, Jesus!

* All creation I see

* Praise to the king of kings *

* You are my everything

* And I will adore you

[din of crowd praying]

We need healing right now for her left eye.

Her left eye.

Oh, just pray out loud, pray out for healing.

[din of crowd praying]

Is there any progress? - Yes.

I can't see, but I can feel it.

Yeah, I'd say there are things attractive about a community

that is really bound by love and respect.

Um...

However, I still cannot...

believe anything other than the fact that

that love and respect is still predicated on an illusion.

So I can't say that I envy someone who is in that position,

no matter how happy it makes them.

JUSTIN: Messengers van died the day after they left Cornerstone,

cutting their tour short.

I would love to see Messengers be

the beacon of faith for the hardcore kids.

I stand for hardcore, but I stand for hardcore

because I want to bring some kind of revival to it.

JUSTIN: They still haven't made it to Australia,

but continue to tour all over America.

What's interesting is like at main stage,

there's like no one there,

but the side tents with all of the kids where there's, I think,

another kind of move happening, they're full.

I just think it's sort of a testament to like God.

I didn't know how much longer

they can keep sustaining this model anyway.

But the stuff that's birthed out of word of mouth

and relationship and like subculture, that's remaining.

JUSTIN: Sleeping Giant's new record was their most successful to date,

and the band's ministry has grown to become one

that reaches thousands of kids worldwide.

As for me, now, I feel okay about sharing hardcore

with different voices and beliefs.

I don't share their faith, but for so many,

this music is a well of hope in a broken world.

I may have returned home with as much doubt and skepticism

as I had when my journey began,

but my faith in people is stronger than ever.

Captioning by Vertical Sync

It's time to wake up!

Wake up!

* Wake up and smell the iron in your veins *

* Wake up and smell the iron in your veins *

* Wake up and smell the iron in your veins *

* Wake up and smell the iron *

* in your veins

* Take a number and have a seat *

* Wait to be seen 'cause it's not over *

* Till I said my piece

* Drops of my blood

* On these pages I write

* I'll be the change with just my pen *

* And free compulsive minds

* I can't be a bitter man

* No, I won't be a bitter man

* It just leaves a taste in my mouth *

* That I can't seem to drown

* That I can't seem to drown

* That I can't seem to drown... *