Life

#MCM Lecrae: A Blessing in the Good, Bad, Ugly

02 Jul 2015, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA --- Lecrae (Lecrae Devaughn Moore) performs at the 2015 Essence Festival at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana. --- Image by © Amy Harris/Corbis

Lecrae performs at the 2015 Essence Festival at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana. — Image by © Amy Harris/Corbis


In my little life, I have experienced and also witnessed serious growing up struggles. Now add this Faith thing, and it was way out of the box too confusing. With a lot of societal pressure, it was really hard finding my place, and finding it in God. I had one huge barrier. I always felt indebted to God…But I was too poor to even meet the requirements. Thus, I still felt like the odd one out even amongst my fellow Christian peers.

In the bid to find where I can fit in, and belong, and be fully honest and sincere about my growing process, I discovered some group of “special ones” popularly referred to as “Urban Christians”. My deep love for music brought me into an unrecoverable connection with one unique fellow. His name is Lecrae Devaughn Moore.

Let me let you into a brief background about this amazing friend and big brother (in Christ).

Lecrae Devaughn Moore, popularly known in the World of Hip Hop Music as Lecrae, a Grammy Award Winner and a graduate from the University of North Texas, was born on the 9th of October, 1979 (Yeah…Yesterday was his birthday).

He was raised by his single mother in Southern Houston, Texas. He never really enjoyed the luxury of growing up in a neighbourhood when he was younger, because family moved a lot. Constant change of environment during one’s childhood days isn’t so easy, I tell you.

Having a Christian Grandmother take him to church made him consider Church-going for older people, and he deeply felt  it wasn’t for him. Growing up was not easy at all for Lecrae; he never met his father and was sexually molested when he was almost eight years old. This incidence distorted his view about sexuality which influenced his promiscuous lifestyle.

In search of significance, amidst the bitter sting of abuse and neglect, Lecrae discovered his ability to rap and used it as his place of solace and source of significance. He spotted individuals to look up to; in the absence of the likes of Martin Luther King Jnr and Malcolm X, one of the individuals to look up to was Tupac. We all live by influences and examples, whether positive or negative.

After being shown a gun by his uncle, Lecrae began looking up to gangsters and turned to a life of crime. At the age of 16, he started taking drugs, fighting, was arrested in high school for stealing, and eventually ended up on a gang list. Lecrae tried “pretty much every drug there was to try” except for heroin and crack cocaine. He became a drug dealer and used the Bible that his grandmother gave him as a good luck charm.

After being arrested for drug possession, the officer saw the Bible and let Lecrae go on a promise that he would agree to live by it. He turned from drugs to alcohol consumption and a party lifestyle. He was a thrill-seeker so much that he would pull stunts such as jumping from a third-story building, and gained the nickname “Crazy ‘Crae“. His mother was really concerned and tried to encourage him to read his Bible. How could he just start reading the Bible when he couldn’t even wrap his hands around this Book being true or real?

“I remember ripping the pages out of the Bible and throwing it on the floor. I don’t want this Bible. I couldn’t wrap my hands around this being true or real.” Lecrae once narrated.

He began to drink and smoke more and look for more women as this emptiness became more profound. At age 17, his personal, financial, and relationship troubles convinced him that he was at a “dead end”.

Wanting to do what he considered the “mature thing”, through the influence of his grandmother, he desired to start attending church. At age 19Lecrae decided to live for God. Mind you, this wasn’t an overnight thing. He still spent a lot of time making bad decisions. I can go on and on…But unfortunately, or not, (lol) , the purpose of this article is not to do a biography of Lecrae. So back to the focus…

I found Lecrae as someone to look up to and as that big brother that really knows and understand how this struggle thing feels. Remember I mentioned earlier that I felt, and still feel indebted to God, and that I usually thought that I would have to appease God before I can earn His attention, of which the requirements for such only made me even poorer than I am. However, the message undertone in the lyrics of Lecrae’s songs opened my eyes to see that my indebtedness is all that is needed after all.

Christian is a noun; Christian is a person. I function, I live life as a Christian and me living life as a Christian does not mean I’m a sanitized person. It means that I readily admit that I’m a jacked up person and I need a savior,” Lecrae said on a CNN Politics Segment.

Here is the foundation of that my unrecoverable connection with Lecrae. I am realizing that my recognition of how deep I was in sin, gets me to open up in deeper love from, to and in Christ and acceptance of His forgiveness and full-blown attention 24/7. Just as big brother said, being a Christian simply means I readily admit that I’m a jacked up person and I need a Saviour. I am glad I found Him. Now my indebtedness is no more a barrier but has rather become a source of deep reverence for what Jesus did for me, and for you. And thus, I respond to His love for me in this light.

Anyways, all these plenty deep yarns is to tell the world why Lecrae Devaughn Moore, a.k.a, Lecrae is Lifegiva’s first Man Crush Monday #MCM of the week (Yaaaaay) and also to wish him a HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!! 

Lecrae, just as Apostle Paul prayed in Ephesians 3:16-19, the Lifegiva.com Community pray in this line for you that:

“…Out of His glorious riches He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being… And… you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” 

Thanks for being a blessing. I am glad  and privileged that you were born in my generation.

Here are some videos we will like to recommend; they are Lecrae’s Testimony

1. For “I Am Second

2. For “Billy Graham Evangelistic Association”

Thank you for reading. We believe Lecrae’s life will not just be an inspiration, but will reveal to you that there is a blessing in the good, the bad and the ugly.

Follow Lecrae

[wp-svg-icons icon=”twitter-2″ wrap=”i”] @Lecrae   [wp-svg-icons icon=”facebook-2″ wrap=”i”] Lecrae   [wp-svg-icons icon=”instagram” wrap=”i”] @Lecrae   [wp-svg-icons icon=”youtube” wrap=”i”] Reach Records

 Article by Victoria Alli-Johnson

Read also;

Lecrae’s Confession: Good, Bad, Ugly

Thank you for reading. It will be good to read a comment from you.

About author

Articles

Tolulope Oludapo is a young Christian who lends his voice through the media by sharing practical wisdom for everyday living in the most experiential and simplified fashion. This has fetched him the direct followership of over 30,000 users on his blog, lifegiva.com. A blog he founded. He loves to write on varying subjects that affect life, faith, relationship...everyday living.
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