I'm Thankful For: Leaders

As we come upon Thanksgiving, I am so blessed to be brought up in a Jesus-loving home and that I know the truth by 14 years of age. How blessed I am. I am very thankful for all of the Christ-loving men who follow Him and are role models in my life. They help me stay unashamed of my faith and what I believe in the middle of this evil world. Most notably, Jesus Christ is role model #1. Always. My second is my dad - a man I can look up to and ask advice from. He teaches me how to live like Christ. Thirdly, Lecrae. He stays true to his beliefs and doesn't compromise with the world even while he is at the top of the Billboard charts. After them are all of the Reach Records artists, including Trip Lee - a rapper and pastor. He tweeted this:

Tragic scene in #Ferguson. I go to sleep sad, but hopeful. Because even though this world is messed up, I know how the story ends
— Trip Lee (@TripLee) November 25, 2014

Praise the Lord for this kind of leadership in America. I pray for all of those who need some hope and leadership in their lives. But I will say I am beyond blessed to have that.

Lecrae's view on Ferguson. 

Post by Lecrae.

Music Pleasing to God

Recently, Lecrae’s new album Anomaly trampled Maroon 5’s V and a couple other really big releases. He went to the top of the Billboard Top 200 chart the week after it’s release and it is a big win for the Kingdom – except some disagree.

With the new release of Anomaly, many fans find it a great outreach for the Kingdom and some turn to critics. Many people find that now, with Lecrae going mainstream, he is doing it for the money and really is using God to make money.

Is it true?

I would say no. I can see how some would see the opposite. If I didn’t understand why he is doing what he is doing, I would probably criticize too.

Let me tell you this – Lecrae is trying to be an outreach to places he wouldn’t have reached before. Lecrae is not changing what he believes! He is just rapping about different worldly topics from a strong, firm, Christian perspective. One of his first singles, in 2006, was titled Jesus Muzik. What a great way to get people excited about the gospel! Songs in his early career like Go Hard from the album Rebel. That was a song about not being ashamed of Christ and doing everything you can to share the Good News of Jesus Christ.

Now, Lecrae has songs like Nuthin’ that looks at modern rap music (and even other genres) and how we are now listening to music that talks about “nothing.” Lecrae means that the music industry is not putting out music that has topics that do not matter. It may be good music – but the meaning of it promotes drug use, sex, and money. Is this what we want our world to be focused on.

Lecrae is going mainstream – with the message and worldview of the Gospel. Praise God that he is able to reach more people with his music now and making a positive impact when all we hear around us is negative.

He isn't compromising his beliefs for the fame.

As an end note, here is a couple lines from his song Non-Fiction which deals with this issue of people criticizing his plan to reach out:

            I got a mission that I’m fighting for / I’m writing songs trying to give you substance / I’m writing songs fighting for your soul / We may run a different pace but let’s continue the race / You’re running yours, I’m running mine