Mark Schultz's new Christmas single - "Different Kind of Christmas" - has reached viral status on Facebook. The live music video has received nearly 4.5 million views, 142,000 shares, and 18,000 likes, all within less than a week. "Different Kind of Christmas" also shot up to the No. 1 spot on the iTunes Christian & Gospel Songs chart. The song was originally inspired by the life of Schultz's father-in-law and his recent passing.
"We tried to write the lyrics that would reflect the honesty of the emotions we were feeling - that Christmas was still hard, even though we have faith that Kate's dad is with Jesus," said Schultz in a message to his fans. "We had no idea how many lives this song would touch, but it only makes sense because there are very few people that haven't experienced a loss that makes life a lot different. There are few times in the year when that difference is felt more powerfully than around the holidays." Tomorrow, CBN's The 700 Club will be airing the live performance.