The Christian pop quartet 4Him is traveling to Des Moines this evening behind some important guidance. An accountability board, consisting of three pastors and their wives, meet with the band every three months, or in this case, at the beginning of big tours.

Tim Burke, an all-star pitcher for the Montreal Expos and good friend of the band’s began to notice little things going on between 4Him members that he thought could affect their ministry down the road.

“He said ‘what you need is accountability,'” singer Andy Chrisman said. “They help us lay everything out on the table. Financial decisions, family decisions. They taught us how to love each other and how to dream.”

Chrisman believes 4Him wouldn’t have made it this far without the help of their accountability board. The band has won a number of awards since its birth into the Christian music scene in 1990, including 1993, 1994 and 1995 Dove awards for Group of the Year. Their Christmas record, The Season of Love, won Inspirational Album of the Year in 1994.

4Him has released six records, including their most recent The Message. Their last effort, The Ride, yielded five number one singles on Christian radio, including the 1994 CCM Magazine Song of the Year, “For Future Generations.”

“I think if you listen to each of our records back to back, and this is true or should be of most bands, you’ll see not only growth musically, but spiritually,” Chrisman said. “To be completely honest with you, we didn’t know what we were doing on our first record. It was very difficult. Luckily, God blessed our ignorance.”

According to Chrisman, you can hear how each of their lives have changed and how they have grown personally in their music. “Sacred Hideaway,” from The Message, was written by singer Marty Magehee about his experience with a rare condition of arthritis that confined him to a wheel chair most of their last tour. Magehee experienced a miraculous event, when the condition disappeared one evening on stage.

“Several songs have been born out of pain,” Chrisman said. “‘Love Finds You’ is about being away from our families and about a friend who had died of cancer. We mess up a lot when we’re out on the road. It can be a real struggle.”

The Message was originally created to be a stray from 4Him’s normal sound. The band also took more initiative on the record, co-producing four of the songs. The Message portrays more of an acoustic, edgy side of the band.

“We’re real talkers,” Chrisman explained. “We wanted to make something totally different, but we began to think about our audience. We decided to take it one step at a time.”

Chrisman believes the difference between 4Him and other bands, is that they have the answers to the tough issues. “I’m very proud of that. We try and present a little part of the Gospel in every song,”he said.

Spreading the Gospel is so important to 4Him, the band donates a portion of their income to the American Bible Society, a non-profit organization dedicated to making Bibles and giving them away.

4Him will contribute funds from their current tour with Point of Grace (who support Mercy Ministries of America) to develop special booklets called New Reader Scriptures. The simple word passages are designed to help children and adults who cannot read.

“We really got exited about what they’re about,” Chrisman said about ABS. “Basically, we make money to buy Bibles.” The band, who has been a spokesperson for the organization since 1993, had a chance to hand out the Bibles in Moscow last year.

Chrisman described 4Him’s current tour as 80 percent excitement, 20 percent fear.

“There’s always the fear of the unknown,” he said. “I’m not petrified, it’s just all of your fears come on the first night. You think ‘this is it, I can’t mess up now.’ I am excited to see how people receive the show.”

4Him and opening group Point of Grace began their tour last night in Stillwater, Oklahoma. They play tonight with special guest comedian Steve Geyer at First Federated Church in Des Moines. First Federated is located at 4801 Franklin. Tickets for the 7:30 p.m. performance range from $18.50 to $15.50.