Hip-hop Christian singer Lecrae shares his personal story of salvation and path to Jesus, painted with many struggles like an abusive childhood and trying to figure out his significance in the world.
In the nine minute I Am Second video, the artist begins by opening up with his first time hearing about Jesus and being saved. Saying, “I remember when I was 17 and a woman asked me, ‘are you saved?'”
Adding, “I didn’t have any idea what she meant. I was like saved ? What the heck is saved?” A statement that he now knows the answer too because he has become a follower of Christ.
In terms of personal value significance, the rapper says he struggled with it as a child.
Stating, “But being able to rap was my source of significance. I grew up wrestling with significance because my father and my mother weren’t together. Never met my father. He became a drug addict and kind of let his life crumble. I felt like my dad was this piece of my life that I needed to have to feel like I am somebody.”
“Having a single mother who worked a lot, she had to entrust me to the care of family members and different people a lot of times.”
“I experienced abuse as a kid, I experienced neglect and different kind of things, and so I was just wanting real significance.”
All of which together, framed Lecrae’s music and helped him speak to people going through trials like getting into drugs and playing with guns.
Originally, “The people I looked up to were gangsters. My uncle, I remember him showing me a gun and I just wanted to be like those guys.”
The moment of change happened slowly. First it was the young man’s mother, who asked the rapper to open his Bible, then there was a Christian conference and a deadly car accident, both events went hand in hand.
At the big city Christian conference, Lecrae stated that, “So I get to the conference, and I see like guys who have been shot from being in gangs. I see girls who were extremely promiscuous in the past. I see rappers. I see dancers…and they still embodied who they were culturally, but they were all in love with Jesus. And I had never seen that before.”
Shortly after, he said, “I remember articulating like, ‘God, get me out of this, just don’t kill me.’ Do what ever you’ve got to do to get me me out of this. Just don’t kill me” when it came to living a new life.
Then after loosing control of the wheel while driving on an undisclosed day that happened. The rapper’s car rolled over several times, the roof caved in and windows were smashed.
But Lecrae left unscathed. He said, “I didn’t have a scratch. That was it. I said, ‘I get it.'”
He decided to “come home” and follow Christ.
Reading Exodus with new lenses. The Nile River is real. pic.twitter.com/AH0mU0pu4I
— Lecrae (@lecrae) December 10, 2016
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