Crosswalk Talk: Celebrity Christian Interviews - Monster Has 4 Billion Streams and John Cooper Is Still Shocked

0:00What happens when faith and mental health meet for real? What's up? I'm Grace Graber. Welcome to Breaking Through with Grace Graber, a podcast for honest conversations about anxiety, trauma, healing, hope, and the God who never backs away when life gets heavy. We are going to talk about everything mental health. No pretending, no perfect answers, just real stories, real faith, and a reminder that you're not alone. Get ready. You're going to be absolutely obsessed. Breaking through with Grace Graber, available now, wherever you get your podcasts. Life audio. Hey, John. Thanks for joining me. Great to be here. Do you like this background? I gave you with my my stinky stage clothes right here by this is pretty good. Man, you could sell those on eBay or something. John, those are nice. Like that. John, just trying to pretty it up. But you did it. John Cooper, lead singer of the band, skillet, which has a new song, scream. It's getting lots of attention right now. Lots of people are enjoying it. You also have a new EP coming up. I think it's called After the Storm.

1:01John, it's my understanding that that the song scream is very personal to you. Give us a story behind the song. Yeah, it is a personal one. You know, probably the most, what do you want to call it, vulnerable? We've been in a while. Probably just because of the season we've been through. But the song screen is really written about suffering. And I think it's something that most people can relate to on some level, different times you go through suffering things in your life. And some people have had the blessing maybe not going through that dark night of the soul yet. But we know you will. We all will. You're going to lose people. My lost my mom to cancer, where I was quite young. Some people go until they're 40, 50 years old before they ever lose somebody, but there's death and their sickness and there's disease or there's all sorts of things that having a child with cancer or something God forbid. You know, and so a lot of times with this stuff, people end up

2:03suffering in all sorts of ways, something that skillet is sung a lot about over the years has been mental health, anxiety, depression, people who suffer with addiction and all sorts of things like that. And that depression, that anxiety, all next up could be what this song is about. And so I think that sometimes people have these literal screams, that's the name of the song scream, where they just break out and they freak out. Most of the time people have sort of what you call a silent scream. It's the it's you're lashing out in some sort of a way and it ends up hurting yourself because you don't know how to cope. Sometimes that's going to be addiction, substance abuse or something like that. Ultimately, a lot of times he's saying it's come into play with people's suicidal thoughts and things like that. People just go, I just don't want to live anymore. My life is worse, nothing. That's what this song is about. And so it's very broad. But on a personal level for me, without getting too into it,

3:05you know, I've been through a very dark night of the soul, the last couple of years dealing with things in my life. So real betrayal and some anger and just being personally being light about, it's flandered. Really feel like the rug was pulled out from under me and my wife's, you know, lives with the church that we are a part of and all sorts of stuff and all the sudden you just, it's all pulled out from under you and you just wonder like what's real and how could people do this? And you're trying to pick up the pieces. And so I wanted to write this on screen. It's not actually about anger. It's about reaching out for, it's like, I need, I need to break through this and there's so many people that feel though, I need to break through this and sort of the climax of the song is reaching out to God. Come pull me out from under the noise and thunder. What have I become? I want to, I want to be different. I need to know that my life matters.

4:06I need to know that you're still listening and I need to know that things are going to be okay. So it's kind of raw. And I hope that people hope that people relate to it, you know? And the new EP is coming out as well in a few months as we record this. Is it, are these things found on the EP as well? Yeah, the EP is called After the Storm and that really is aptly named because we're on the back side of it now. And you know, I think the chorus line of that song, which I've not talked about yet, it's the person you have ever talked about it actually, says picking up the pieces after the storm, how am I still standing? And it was a devastating couple of years to be honest. And you're going to see those themes on really on the whole record of like, man, I was not prepared for that. But that's how suffering is. God does it promises a bit. We're not going to go through suffering or just because you're a Christian. Guess what? Life is amazing every day and everything's hunky-dory.

5:06You are going to suffer. I mean, actually, a promise we haven't scripture, isn't it? You're going to share in his sufferings. Jesus was a man of sorrows as well. The Bible says, you are going to go through suffering. So you're not promised not to go through it, but we are promised that Jesus will walk through it with us and that he knows what we're going through because he is experienced that suffering and humanity when he took on humanity and do his nature to become the God man in our Savior. So that brings me a lot of hope. But that's what after the storm is is a value. Yes. So many so many still songs are kind of like hype songs songs that you work out to and this is a different different song. Comatically, I guess it that's a good thing though. Don't you think John that, you know, people know your Christian and your, you're showing all sides of the Christian faith that that God walks you through storms. I don't know if you have any thoughts on that, but that seems to me a, yeah, a good positive aspect of what you're doing.

6:08Well, that's interesting that you say that. I that's insightful because it is true. A lot of what people know as far as like feeling vegetable legendaries is sort of like nothing can get us down. We're go to the top to the top. I never go to stop as one of our songs, the legendary. I like those songs. I love we have a record called victorious. I love the fact and I've written a lot of songs about the fact. And since this is a Christian channel, I can go into it into more depth. And other times the people that might not necessarily care. But I love singing about the fact that Christ is victorious. And because of his victory, we have victory. And again, that doesn't mean you're not going to suffer. Doesn't mean everything's great, but it's just, it's more like we have a four tastes. We have a four tastes of the victory and a sureness of it. We know for a fact the Christ is victorious. And I find a lot of joy in that. So I sing a lot about not giving up and going the distance.

7:11And it makes you want to work out harder and then all of a sudden it's like, okay, this has been a different couple of years. And it's put my, I'm going to just be dead honest is put my faith to the test in huge ways because I have not, I have not suffered like this since I was a teenager, which is a big part of my testimony about Christ bringing me through that darkness. And I've talked about that. I've written about that. I just didn't expect it to come back like this. And so I think it's like, okay, now let's talk about that other thing. They're both real. So I like those fight songs. This is a different kind of fight song. This is a fight through a song, you know, we need those. We need it. We need it. We need all those songs. You know, we need the song for every aspect of the Christian war kind of changing subjects. I was reading a quote from you and you were talking about, I think you were probably talking about this album and the, I should say the EP and the song screen. But you were saying that today's culture is chaotic and overwhelming at times.

8:15And you were calling social media assess pool. We've all seen that. And I was going to ask you, but I think a lot of times in today's culture, we all want to screen because it seems like wherever we turn, people are just not getting along and people are screaming. I want another. Well, I'm just curious, John, what practical advice would you give Christians and others out there for living in this culture and maybe even practically on social media? Yeah, that is a great question. I mean, specifically I was thinking about social media in certain aspects of the lyrics. I think that I could rule my lyrics. The song starts with the lyric that says inside the silence behind the screen, the light is dying while your sound bites deaf and me. And I was kind of specifically thinking about just all the noise. I mean, it's like everybody is telling you how to live. Even if sometimes it's not even another or some of it can just be benign.

9:15It could just be somebody going, Hey, here's the new secret for weight loss. You've got to stop eating, build the blank. You have to start doing this exercise. You know, for years, everybody told you this, this was going to help you, but it doesn't. It keeps spatter on your gut and they're all everybody's selling something. Everybody has the new secret and that's the, that's like the benign side of the internet. The other side is the, I hate you because you don't agree with me and you are ruining the world. You, you listener, all the things you love are ruining sister and there's so much victory all. And you don't know who to trust. Now, let's just say that you're already living like that. And let's just say you're in a bad home situation. I mean, I don't know what that is, but hypothetically, maybe you're in a broken hope, maybe you're in a home with an abusive parent, you know, shout situ or worse or where you don't feel that you can be yourself or maybe you're

10:16bullied at school as well. All of these things, man, they just beat you down. Now you begin to suffer with depression or now you begin to have violet thoughts or thoughts about some very dangerous things like which voice is going to win? And so social media, it really can be a cesspool. And I think the internet is just like anything else. It can be used for really good stuff. It can be used for really bad stuff. I think it got created so fast, it just became like a beast. You know, and now we're all trying to like tame the beast and try that. How do I make him a good beast? Maybe he can be a nice dragon, you know, a nice lion that won't eat me and it's very difficult. So I would just, my encouragement to people is probably multiple aspects. Number one, don't spend your whole life on social media. Just don't do it. I mean, I hardly ever go on. I hardly ever read. If I say something about something I believe, I'm just not going to read all the comments.

11:18There's no reason to because people find a sick sort of satisfaction in being as rude as they can. I mean, for what we believe is Christians, you go, yeah, that, I mean, that's like proof of the sin nature right there. There's like a sick twisted thing that makes you want to yell at somebody. Not to say that I haven't also done these things on social media. So it's not like I'm perfect and everybody else has messed up. You just see it. So I would just say, limit your time. Maybe don't do it at all. If you're going to do it, limit that time and before you start judging someone else, judge yourself. Have I done this to people? Have I yelled at people that disagree with me? Yeah, I think I have. Let's change the way I am and exhibit a different kind of behavior. I think that could be a really positive thing. And then the last thing I would say about it as just a broader conversation, even with scream, I just would say it would be great for Christians if we could begin to be, and

12:23again, I'm not saying for all the people listening to starts with me. This is what I'm trying to do. If I can just be loving towards people that disagree with me and just disagree well, just say it. That's not what I believe because I'm a Christian. I believe a B and C. And so then I can't support that, but doesn't mean that you and you and I can't be friends. Doesn't mean I hate you. I'm not saying you're ruining the world. I don't want to be that person to you. I want to show the love of Christ to you the best way I can. And sometimes we have to do that. We have to speak the truth. But I know for me, there have been times of, I could have done that nicer. I could have done that more loving and how could I be part of the solution rather than be part of the problem while still speaking what is true. What if everything you love about your faith got deeper? Richard, more rooted, more alive. L. Shadai Ministries exists to take Torah to the nations, restoring the biblical and

13:27historical foundations of the connection between Christians and the Jewish roots of Scripture. Pastor Mark Biltz has taught in 25 nations on five continents and now he's teaching you. Listen free at oneplace.com. Just search L. Shadai Ministries at oneplace.com. You have been to the bottom. You've wondered if God could ever love someone like you. Melchansi has been there and he's not done telling the truth about it. No one is too far gone. No past is too broken. No life is beyond the reach of God's love. Full surrender with Melchansi, a podcast about faith, strength and surrender, real conversations, biblical truth and redemption for anyone who has walked through the dark because your story is not over. And Jesus specializes in redemption. Full surrender with Melchansi. New, unspotted apple, YouTube and most major podcast platforms. Follow and subscribe today.

14:36We're going to do a few positive themes here. Monster recently surpassed four billion global streams. John, I know as a songwriter you hope that every song that you write does that. But has it surprised you that it's been that popular for so long? Did you think it would be a hit when you were writing it? Right. I am shocked. I mean, nobody is more shocked than me of skillet success. The song monster. I mean, so I probably would nuance it like this. I thought that monster was a really good song when we wrote it. Funny thing is, is the label wouldn't let us record it. They wouldn't let us record a record. They're like, we like the song. We don't think it's like a hit. And they can then maybe keep writing for like another year and a half. And I don't think anybody thought it was like a hit like that. I thought it could be a very big rock song. I did not think it would break bigger than rock, which is what it did, which is why it's

15:39so big. We did not think the kids were going to like it. In fact, we kind of felt like skill as audience has always been kind of young. This is a little bit more of an older audience. We did not think that moms would like it. But so many moms, you know, like soccer moms were like, oh my gosh, I love your song monster. That's exactly how I feel. I'm so stressed out with all these kids. I'm going to cook in the dinner. I'm going to work and my kids are freaking out. I had never considered that like a soccer mom would hear mods certain say, yeah, I feel that way too. So it was kind of shocking to me, but I do think that there's something about the lyrics that I think everybody can relate to. It's funny. There have been, there is a segment of Christians who really had a problem with that song. And I was always a little surprised. I mean, I realized it was kind of dark. And as you just said, Twitter displays the sin nature of man or however you just said that, I mean, that's what the song monster is about. And I, to me, I think it's a very Christian message because we are born into sin.

16:42We are born in, I believe, into the, Adam, the guilt of Adam. We're born into it. There's nothing you can do to stop sinning. There's nothing you can do to make yourself perfect. All of sin and fall in shore of the glory of God, even after you become a Christian. And this is why I think some Christians don't like a Christian band singing it. Some Christians feel like after you're a Christian, you should no longer say you're a sinner. You're a saint. And I do understand what they're saying. And I'm not, I'm not saying that that's a ridiculous fault. I do understand, but as I have understood the Bible, we in Christ, we are simultaneously sinners and saints. We are saints in terms of our legal standing before God because the work Jesus did on the cross. But I know for my life, every single day I am sinning. And I need Christ every single day or I'm not going to make it. I'm going to be rude to people. I'm going to be angry. I'm going to want to hurt people.

17:43I'm going to want to lash out to people that don't like me. I'm going to want to go to all the Twitter and yell back at somebody. I'm going to be selfish with my kids. I'm probably going to treat my wife poorly. If I don't have a daily meeting with Jesus to focus myself and say, God, I want you to be reflected in my life. And I want to put myself to death today. I am not going to make it. And I think I just think that's a very biblical message. So I think that's why people can relate to this all. I agree. I agree. Blue leader. You travel. You guys have been traveling through Europe, I believe, I forget all the countries. I was going to ask you, since America is celebrating its 250th birthday anniversary this year, this traveling throughout the world kind of changed your perspective on the US. And of course, you guys have been doing this for years and years. This is not a new tour for you guys. You guys have been through a long time. But I'm just curious, does it change how you view your own country when you travel the world? It does. You know, I usually tell people.

18:43So for people that don't know who I am that are watching this right now, I'm sorry. You don't have time to get into this. But like, I love America. People probably that have followed me a bit probably know that people call me a Christian national. And I get accused of being a Christian nationalist all the time. I'm actually not a Christian nationalist and I've rejected Christian nationalism. A con, but I still get called that. And the reason it is is I do think this is the greatest country in the world. I do not think that America is Israel. I do not think that God has a special covenant with America. I do not think that America is part of God's end time plan for Jesus to return. I just think this is a wonderful country. We have liberty and we are not going to be put to death or put in prison because we worship God or because we don't worship God. And I support, I just love freedom. And when you go overseas, I tell some of my friends who are Christians that are not comfortable with what I just said about America.

19:44I'm like, I'm telling you brother. I wish you could come with me. I've we've toured Russia 11 times. Come with me to Russia. We haven't been in several years because of the war, but this is pre-Ukrain war. Come to Russia. Come to Ukraine with me. Come to Eastern Europe. Come to places like Poland that were so devastated by World War II that in some places it was just never rebuilt in the same way. Go to South America where there was dictators on the left and on the right. I've been to both, like the right wing dictators, fascists and then the left wing communists. Go to other places in the country and I think that you'll see that America with all of this blemishes and all the history that is bad, there's tons of bad history in America. With all of the things that are bad, you're going to kiss the ground and you're going to

20:44come and realize how much we have. I'll just say this, we have freedom of speech and a lot of people that haven't been overseas, even in Western civil society, like Europe and places like that, they don't understand that America is like the bastion of free freedom of speech now. There are things that you cannot say and cannot preach in Europe the way you can in America and hey, I just think it's a really wonderful thing. You can preach the gospel. We are free to preach the gospel. We're free to have a say into the kinds of leaders that we have. Oh, it is just so good. I could go on for a very long time about America, but I'm not a Christian nationalist, but I do believe our form of government as flawed as it is was really built upon the ideas of the reformers, which face their ideas off of Old Testament law and Old Testament civil laws. I think it's just a beautiful thing.

21:46During the last few weeks when we were celebrating the 250th birthday, I really started wondering, okay, how unique is America? We really are unique in terms of, now the rest of the world does have freedom, but at that time when we were founded, nobody else was doing that. It's really, I think we forget that. We get used to it. We forget how unique and special this was. Final question for you. You and your wife and your kids have been in the public eye for a long time. How have you guys been able to stay strong in your faith and stay grounded while being in the public eye and while being quote unquote famous? You know, I think there was always an agreed upon foundation and I do realize this white sound simplistic or trite to some people, but it's true. This isn't my Christian, Christian YouTube answer. This is the truth. We all had a common agreement. Let's say we all mean me and my wife. The Christ is the quarter sort of everything.

22:49This is the foundation and we are going to live our lives to the standard of the Bible. If you want to know who Jesus is, you got to read the Bible. There's a trend happening in Christianity right now that I don't think is great. I say a trend. Probably been going for a long time, but I didn't think it. I would say it's a little more popular the last 20 years, 30 years maybe, with the seeker's sensitive movement and then some more of the experiential movements of this idea that I just want to be close to Jesus. I'm not really into doctrine. It's not about studying the Bible, but I just want to be lit to Jesus, man. I keep telling people like, if you want to live for Jesus, you have to study the Bible. That's how you know who he is. Me and my wife had that agreement and that's how we lived and we raise our kids that way. I do think that that accountability was really important. We're also blessed because my band, my guitar player Seth, my drummer Jen, everybody has this common understanding and this common agreement and we are not unequally yoked in that

23:53way. We are absolutely together for the gospel. And so because of that, it just creates this, this account, not just accountability, but life, you know, exciting life that we get to live for Jesus together. And we believe as I hope that everybody listening believes that we are on mission for Christ, dad's listening to this. You're on mission for Christ to raise your family and teach your kids, raise them in the fear and admonition of the Lord. The Bible says, and moms, you're on mission to raise those kids. You're on mission at your work, young people, you're on mission at your school to live a life that reflects the love of Christ so that some may be saved, always be ready with an answer for the hope that you have. So that's what we've done. And I'm not saying we've done everything perfectly, but I think the thing we did well was we all had that a common agreement and we said, this is what we're about and just like America, we always said the Bible is above everything.

24:56And I the reason I say just like America, I always like that about America that the law is above the king is based what we're saying. It was just why we broke away from England. And the reason we broke away from England was because the king thought he was above the law and the analogy I'm making is that just because I'm the owner of skillet and I'm the frontman and I'm the boss, doesn't mean that I am above the Bible. I am not above the Bible, the Bible is above me. And that's how we run my household and that's how we run the business. If you enjoyed today's interview, please make sure to subscribe and share the episode with a friend. A big thanks to the team at Life Audio for their partnership with us on the podcast. If you go to lifeaudio.com, you will find dozens of other faith-centered podcasts in their network. See you next time. Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for working everything out for my good. Help me trust in your perfect plan, Amen.

25:57Father, thank you for loving and caring for me. With Christian Prayer Meditation, you can pray along to prayers based on specific topics. Go to LifeAudio.com or search your favorite podcast app for Christian Prayer Meditation. You can also download the Abide app for Biblical Meditations at Abide.com.