Recently our family went to Red Rocks Amphitheater to catch the Avett Brothers in concert…
If you’ve never heard the Avett brothers, man, oh man, do they pack a wallop. Their lyrics seem so real and raw and never fail to bring me to tears. Why?
I think it is their positivity.
From a recent post on Patheos.com…
It is this positivity that has made the Avett Brothers such a shining star in American music today. Their music has a refreshing wholesomeness about it. Not in a forced or cliché way, but in a “this is who I am and this is what gives me joy” sort of way. And when much “positive” music is safe, tame and somewhat stale, the Brothers bring wholesomeness into the real world. They don’t avoid pain, ugliness and brokenness but instead fight against it with a joyful spirit.
When I read that, my heart swelled and I thought, “That’s who Pulpit Rock wants to be.”
We want to be a place that doesn’t avoid pain, ugliness and brokenness but instead fight against it with a joyful spirit.
At Pulpit Rock, our teaching has a tone of positivity. That means we spend more time focused on what is right and good, than what is wrong and bad.
It changes how we talk about our opponents. We don’t attack them. They are loved by God and they’ve embraced a way of thinking that may not be aligned with him … just like we do.
It changes how we talk about ourselves. We believe that people want to do what God wants them to do.
It changes how we talk about issues. We don’t complain about the way the world is. We talk about how the world could be.
At Pulpit Rock, we always want to ask the question: How am I shining a positive light?
Paul said this:
There must be no grumbling and disputing in anything you do. That way, nobody will be able to fault you, and you’ll be pure and spotless children of God in the middle of a twisted and depraved generation. You are to shine among them like lights in the world. (Philippians 2:14-15 NTE)
In other words, the joyful spirit with which we fight the darkness can truly make us be the light.
At Pulpit Rock, we believe it is better to light a candle than curse the darkness.
May we practice that and be as shining stars.
Written by Thomas Thompson