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It was a few minutes past seven, and the concert was slated to start at 7:30.

Backstage, Third Day's road manager was frantically punching buttons on her cell phone. Somebody heard her shout, "But where are you now? The show starts in 25 minutes!"

Third Day was not in the building. They weren't even in town.

They were driving back from downtown Chicago—only about 30 miles away, but in the thick of rush-hour traffic—where they'd caught a few innings of a late afternoon White Sox game at Comiskey Park.

The five guys in the band, who grew up going to Braves games in Atlanta, are all nuts about baseball, and they try to catch a game in every major league city.

Well, the guys arrived in time, the show was fantastic, the fans were thrilled, the curtain fell and the band got back on the tour bus. Just another wild day for the hottest band in Christian music.

It's been an incredible year for Third Day. Yes, they were successful before the summer of 2000, selling almost a million copies of their first three CDs. But last summer's release of Offerings: A Worship Album pushed the band into, well, the major leagues.

Then came April's Dove Awards, where Third Day picked up wins in five categories, including Group of the Year and Artist of the Year. Offerings was named Praise & Worship Album of the Year.

As the band finishes up its next CD, Come Together, due November 6, lead singer Mac Powell reflects on what he calls an "incredible" year since the release of Offerings.

"It's been pretty overwhelming," says Mac, who writes most of Third Day's lyrics. "We've always gotten recognition, but now we've taken that next step. I think the hard work we've done over the years has finally caught up with us."

Worship music has always been a part of Third Day albums and concerts, but on Offerings, it was the whole package.

"I don't think people realized before how much worship is a part of who we are and what we do," Mac says. "People are really drawn to that right now, and God is doing some amazing things through worship music."

But why now?

"I don't know," Mac says. "I think it's just a genuine move of God, through his people, to bring us closer to him and to each other."

Bringing people closer to each other is the main theme of the new CD, Come Together. Mac says it's an issue he's been thinking about for some time.

"For the past couple of years, we've really been emphasizing the unity of the body of Christ," Mac says. "We think it's an important message, a message the church needs to hear."

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