A crowd of nearly 30,000 were treated to a rocker’s message against the “absolute lie” that they’ll “never win” when he paused the show to talk faith.
“You’ll always be enough for one reason…”
(Video: Shannon Dusing)
From their breakout “Kryptonite” to performances at the 2012 Republican National Convention and President Donald Trump’s 2017 inaugurations, the music of 3 Doors Down has spanned four decades with six albums. Amid the successes, lead singer Brad Arnold spoke to routine failure and the key to overcoming as he spread the Good News and that “Jesus Christ loves you.”
As they joined Creed and Finger Eleven on the Summer of ’99 Tour for a show at Hersheypark Stadium in Hershey, Pennsylvania, the introduction for “Away From the Sun” was playing as Arnold brought up the personal significance of the song and the one message he felt moved to spread.
“Well, for very good reason, I don’t talk a whole lot at our shows. I’m fine with standing up here singing, but when it comes to talking, not so much,” he explained. “Something was put on my heart two years ago to start speaking about, and I’d like to take one chance during the show to speak with you about it if you’ll give me just a couple of seconds.”
Noting that in a rotating roster of his favorites, the song was more often that not his number one they’d created as he wore a t-shirt that read “YESHUA,” the founding member said, “I feel like I can identify with this song more than most of our songs.”
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“This world surrounds us by a message that we’ll never be good enough, we’ll never be strong enough, we’ll never be beautiful enough, we’ll never be rich enough. Whatever the case may be. And certainly that we’ll never win. You know, social media surrounds us with those messages all the time. It’s driven down our throats every day, that we’ll never be good enough and that nobody really, really loves us,” he expressed. “My friends, I just want to take a second to tell you, that that’s an absolute lie.”
“You are loved! You are loved, and you are enough and you will win. Not only can you win, but you will win. You’ll always be enough for one reason,” declared Arnold. “And that’s because Jesus Christ loves you.”
“Jesus Christ loves you so much that he made you just the way you are, just the way you’re standing there right now,” he continued. “He also loves you enough to let you know that you’re not complete. That’s not all you’ll be.”
“There’s more. I promise you there’s more and you will win,” the singer added.
“Sometimes I think we need to remind ourselves like John the Apostle reminded himself, he always described himself as the one that Jesus loved — not because he was the greatest. He said those things despite all his failures…I failed all day today. You failed today. But you’re still the one that Jesus loves,” he reminded the crowd before having them echo the words, “I am the one that Jesus loves.”
“Amen, my friends. Thank you so much,” praised Arnold before beginning the song in earnest.
Last year, during an interview with Cryptic Rock, he had touched on God’s impact in his life through the highs and lows of alcoholism and in his years of sobriety since.
“I will tell you what, God has brought me through so much that I should not have lived through. It is [Him]; God has brought me through it, [He] is the key to it. He gave me a wonderful family; I’m the youngest of seven kids. My mom and dad recently celebrated their sixty-second wedding anniversary,” Arnold detailed. “Through all those times I always had my brothers and sisters who did not want anything from me, but to be their little brother, and be okay. You hear so many horror stories of people having to deal with things with their family…and I think that is really taxing on someone in every way.”
In May, 3 Doors Down headlined the inaugural Patriot Fest that featured performances from the likes of Ted Nugent and Big & Rich in Aurora, Illinois in 2003 they founded the charity The Better Life Foundation which has contributed to disaster relief efforts and toward the prevention of child abuse among other causes.
“My wife an I have been married for fourteen years,” Arnold told Cryptic Rock. “She has been with me through being sober, and also being incredibly not sober. She has been there for me and she doesn’t want anything from me, but to be her husband, and to be okay as well. To have people around you that you know love you, that’s everything. That’s been the key for me.”
Along with the praise for Jesus during the concert, his personal social media page routinely includes messages of faith.
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Native of Brooklyn, NY, Kevin Haggerty is a graduate of Hunter College where he studied Cultural Anthropology and Geography. An avid reader and truth seeker, he currently resides in Texas with his wife and their dog and, when he isn't researching current events and their impacts, you'll find him spending time with friends and family or working on his next novel.
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