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About the Book


"Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners" is an autobiographical work by John Bunyan in which he recounts his spiritual journey from a life of sin and doubt to finding redemption and salvation through his faith in God. Bunyan describes the struggles and trials he faced, as well as the unwavering grace and mercy he received from God. The book serves as a powerful testament to the transformative power of faith and the boundless love of God.

Lecrae Moore

Lecrae Moore Lecrae Devaughn Moore, or simply Lecrae, is an American Christian rapper, songwriter, and record producer who performs both as a solo artist and as the leader of a group named ‘116 Clique’. He had a troubled beginning in life but all that changed after he found his faith at 19. Heavily influenced by 2Pac Shakur, and motivated by his new found faith, he ventured into a musical career. He and his friend Ben Washer set up their own independent record label ‘Reach Records’ and through it, he released his debut album ‘Real Talk’ in 2004. In the following years, he brought out six more studio albums, three mix tapes, and two EPs as a solo artist and three studio albums, one remix album, and one EP with his group. He has received six ‘GMA Dove Awards’, two Grammys, two ‘BET Awards’ and more. Lecrae is very active in the community and in 2005, he established ‘ReachLife Ministries’, the mission of which was to “bridge the gap between biblical truth and the urban context”. He is a vocal supporter of the preservation of responsibility and believes that fatherhood should be considered as a value to be installed among men in the United States. He has authored several op-ed articles on race relations in the modern-day America which were published by ‘Billboard’. Childhood & Early Life Lecrae Devaughn Moore was born on October 9, 1979, in Houston, Texas, USA. His father had always been absent from his life and later became a drug addict. He was raised by his poor but hardworking mother and grandmother. He attended services with them at their local church but the initial response to religion was indifferent at best. Growing up, he lived in San Diego, Denver, and Dallas. He suffered sexual molestation at the hands of a female baby sitter when he was eight, and according to Lecrae, it left a long-term negative impact on his views on sexuality. In a life full of abuse and violence, hip hop provided him with a refuge. Besides 2Pac who he admired for his rapping skills, he also looked up to his uncle who introduced him to a life of crime. He began doing drugs at 16 and soon started dealing as well. He kept a Bible with him that his grandmother had given him as a good luck charm. The turning point in his life came when he was arrested for drug possession. The officer let him go upon Lecrae’s promising that he would read and follow the Bible. He thus started visiting the church again. Upon an invitation from a friend, he also started attending Bible studies. He was once involved in an accident where he wrecked his car but he himself came out unscathed. This incident further strengthened his belief in Christ and he devoted his life fully to his faith. He returned to his college, the ‘University of North Texas’ and volunteered and sang at a juvenile detention centre. Career Six years after his conversion, Lecrae Moore released the album ‘Real Talk’ (2004) through ‘Reach Records’, a label he had founded with his friend Ben Washer. It reached #29 spot on the ‘Billboard Gospel Album’ chart after being re-released in 2005 by ‘Cross Movement Records’. In 2005, he formed ‘116 Clique’ with other artists who had signed with ‘Reach Records’. The group owes its name to the Bible Verse ‘Romans 1:16’. They debuted with ‘The Compilation Album’ in the same year. They have since released three more albums, ‘The Compilation Album: Chopped & Screwed’ (remix, 2006), ‘13 Letters’ (2007), and ‘Man Up’ (2011), and one EP, ‘Amped’ (2007). He was nominated for a ‘Stellar Award’ for the ‘Rap/Hip-Hop/Gospel CD of the Year’ for his second solo album ‘After the Music Stops’ (2006). In 2008, he put out his third studio album ‘Rebel’. In his fourth studio album, ‘Rehab’ (2010), Lecrae talks about freedom from inhibiting addictions and habits. Both Lecrae and his album received accolades in the 2010 ‘Rapzilla.com staff picks’, being hailed as the ‘Artist of the Year’ and the ‘Album of the Year’, respectively. His fifth studio album, ‘Rehab: The Overdose’ (2011) was a direct follow-up to ‘Rehab’, both being highly conceptual works. While ‘Rehab’ was about the victory over addiction, ‘Rehab: The Overdose’ focused on attaining "grace, love, peace and hope" in Jesus. He won his first two Doves because of this album, one for the ‘Rap/Hip Hop Album of the Year’ and the other for the ‘Rap/Hip Hop Recorded Song of the Year’ for the track, ‘Hallelujah’. ’Gravity’, released on September 4, 2012, was his sixth studio album and had 15 songs with a total runtime of 57 minutes. It peaked on the ‘Rap Albums’, ‘Christian Albums’, ‘Gospel Albums’, and ‘Independent Albums’ charts. Lecrae released his first mixtape ‘Church Clothes’ on May 10, 2012, through digital download for free. It was followed by ‘Church Clothes 2’ (November 7, 2013), and ‘Church Clothes 3’ (January 15, 2016). He has also released two Extended Plays till date, the EP version of ‘Church Clothes’, and ‘Gravity: The Remix EP’, both released in 2012. He has collaborated with the likes of Trip Lee, Tedashii, Canon, Mali Music, and Ty Dolla Sign. ‘Columbia Records’ signed him in May 2016, in a contract between them and his label. His most recent work, a track named ‘Hammer Time’, which is a collaborative effort with 1k Phew, was released on June 23, 2017. On May 3, 2016, he published his memoir titled ‘Unashamed’ through ‘Broadman & Holman Publishers’. It debuted at #19 spot on the ‘New York Times Best Sellers’ list. Philanthropic Works In 2011, Lecrae, through ‘116 Clique’ and the ‘ReachLife Ministries’, instigated the campaign ‘Man Up’, focused on providing guidance to young urban males on fatherhood and Biblical manhood. In March 2015, ReachLife was deactivated and ‘116 Clique’ shifted its attention to contribute to ‘Peace Preparatory Academy’, a Christian school in Atlanta. In May 2013, he worked alongside several other celebrities on a media initiative named ‘This is Fatherhood’. Jay Z, Barack Obama, Joshua DuBois, Lecrae himself, and others have appeared in the initiative’s promotional public service announcement videos. Major Works In a career marked by successful artistic ventures and awards, Lecrae’s greatest musical achievement is unarguably his seventh and the latest studio album ‘Anomaly’, released on September 9, 2014. It was the first album in history to debut at #1 on both ‘Billboard 200’ and ‘Top Gospel Albums’ charts. It was also certified Gold by the RIAA. Awards & Achievements Lecrae Moore received a Grammy in 2013 for the ‘Best Gospel Album’ for his sixth studio album ‘Gravity’. He won his second Grammy in 2015 for the ‘Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song’ for the track ‘Messengers’ which also featured the Christian pop band ‘For King & Country’. He was named the best gospel artist at the ‘2015 BET Awards’. In 2017, he was the recipient of the ‘BET Best Gospel/ Inspirational Award’ for the song ‘Can’t Stop Me Now (Destination)’. On March 14, 2016, he was conferred with an honorary doctorate from ‘Canada Christian College’. Personal Life & Legacy Lecrae Moore met his wife Darragh at a Bible study when they were both teenagers. They have three children together, two sons and a daughter. The family resides in Atlanta, Georgia. In 2002, he was informed by his then girlfriend that she was pregnant with his child. The couple had an abortion, a decision which he has regretted since. The incident was the subject of the song ‘Good, Bad, Ugly’ from ‘Anomaly’. Trivia Lecrae portrayed the character Dr. Darnall Malmquist in the 2014 independent film ‘Believe Me’.

Mercy at the Bottom

Jonah is a fascinating case study in the mercy of God. He is a no-good, rotten man who resents God for his mercy. Jonah would rather see his enemies destroyed and annihilated than forgiven. Nestled within the story of this rotten man, though, is his prayer in the second chapter. The prayer gives insight into Jonah’s inner struggle and plays no small part in the development of the story. It also tells us much about the God to whom we pray. Perhaps you’ve breezed through the prayer in a previous reading of the book, but let’s slow down to see what we can learn from his cry for help from within the belly of the great fish. Most Reluctant Prayer Imagine the flannel graph with me. God sends his prophet to a wicked people to proclaim the judgment of God. Jonah, instead of going to Nineveh, runs from God by sailing in the opposite direction. Jonah — God’s chosen instrument — is a leaky vessel. Despite the futility, he seeks to run “away from the presence of the Lord” (Jonah 1:3). Clearly, he wants no part of Nineveh, but we’re not yet told why. A storm rages on the high seas, and Jonah is reluctantly thrown into the sea by the sailors. These pagan seafarers call out to God for mercy, yet throughout the storm, Jonah opens not his mouth. He will not mutter even one meager word. Jonah would rather die, it seems, than be an instrument of God’s mercy (to others or even himself). We quickly learn that Jonah is not the hero of the story, and frankly, a bit of a rotten fellow. As we’ll see, however, we find good company in Jonah’s character deficiencies. And we can find solace from the fact that God still heard Jonah’s prayer, the desperate cries of a wayward prophet. Chapter 2 records Jonah’s prayer from the belly of the fish. If there is ever a foxhole cry for help recorded in the Bible, this is it. As Jonah gasps for air, covered in darkness and with death at his door, he finally manages to muster a cry for help. What Was Clear in the Dark What, if anything, can we draw out of Jonah’s prayer? Let me trace three themes and then come back to how we might personally be encouraged for our own prayer lives. GOD STILL LISTENS First, Jonah comes to his senses and prays to God. I imagine a cry of help escaped as Jonah was hoisted into the air and as he plunged in the pitch-black sea. Maybe just a singular yelp, or a thought of “save me, Lord,” but that was all it took. Jonah wakes to the overpowering aroma of rotting fish carcasses, thinking that hell resembles a fish market. But then he regains his senses and realizes he’s alive in the belly of a fish. In this dire and desperate situation, Jonah prays: “I called out to the Lord, out of my distress, and he answered me; out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and you heard my voice” (Jonah 2:2). Despite his disobedience and stubbornness, he calls out to the Maker of heaven and earth. Despite attempting to run from God, he now turns to him for deliverance and help. God is always ready to receive the desperate cries of his children. GOD STILL REIGNS Jonah admits that God is in control. He doesn’t say, “Those rotten sailors, I can’t believe they threw me into the sea!” Instead, he sees the sovereign hand of God at work even in his precarious situation. He confesses, “You cast me into the deep; . . . all your waves and your billows passed over me” (Jonah 2:3). Desperate situations are not a result of God falling asleep at the wheel. Jonah admits that God is in control, and reminds us that we can trust him even in dire circumstances. God is still sovereign when our safety is compromised. GOD STILL DELIVERS Lastly, Jonah concludes that God saved him for a purpose. Jonah is incapacitated, but clearly not yet dead, and so he concludes that God saved him for some divine purpose. “God is still sovereign when our safety is compromised.” He prays, “I shall again look upon your holy temple. . . . You brought up my life from the pit. . . . My prayer came to you, into your holy temple” (Jonah 2:4, 6, 7). God did not satisfy Jonah’s death wish (Jonah 1:12). He has been spared to once again worship God in his holy temple. Jonah rightly concludes that his deliverance has some meaning, and he even begins to declare God’s greatness from the belly of the fish: “Salvation belongs to the Lord!” (Jonah 2:9). Ugliest Kind of Grief We know how the story ends. Jonah’s prayer is heard and answered, and he eventually washes ashore. Jonah relents, goes to Nineveh, preaches, and the people heed his message and repent — and then the surprise comes. Jonah does not rejoice over their repentance; he gets angry (Jonah 4:1). We learn that Jonah wasn’t worried that the Ninevites wouldn’t listen or that they would kill the messenger. Rather, he was worried that the Ninevites would repent. He knew God would be gracious and merciful — and now that God has, he grieves. God’s character is stunningly juxtaposed with the most pathetic display of prophetic sulking in Scripture: [Jonah] prayed to the Lord and said, “O Lord, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster. Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.” (Jonah 4:2–3) For all of his sins, at least Jonah is consistent. He would rather die than go preach, he would rather die than pray in the storm, and now he would rather die than see his enemies forgiven. Jonah, however, wasn’t wrong about everything. He wasn’t wrong about God. He knew that God would be gracious and merciful, eager to relent from disaster. The problem was that Jonah didn’t share God’s heart. He was eager for retribution, revenge, and judgment. He wanted to see the people of Nineveh burn for their oppression of Israel. Did Jonah ever become a faithful prophet? Did he ever live up to his task and mission? Did the leaky vessel ever get patched? I’d like to think so, but the author leaves aside any tidy endings. We’re left to ask our own question: Are we like Jonah, or are we like God? Two Lessons for Your Knees How, then, might Jonah’s prayer shape and inspire our prayers today? What might we learn from his cries out of the depths of treacherous seas? See the unrelenting kindness of God. First, we learn that God is still listening. The reality is so simple we might be tempted to overlook it. Even if you just committed a heinous sin — like running away from the living God — he has not decisively closed his ear to you. The intercom to heaven hasn’t been turned off. In the immediate aftermath of sinning against him, we might imagine God exasperated and simmering with anger. We imagine him responding like we would. Jonah, however, reveals that God still waits to receive our desperate and dejected cries, even from the most disobedient among us. He’s eager to receive and welcome our humble and broken prayers for help. As Romans 2:4 reveals, God’s kindness is meant to lead us to repentance. God displays his mercy and forgiveness to Jonah and to the people of Nineveh. We can have confidence, even if we are low-down, dirty, rotten sinners, to come to Jesus with our first or thousandth request for forgiveness — if we humble ourselves and run to him, rather than hiding from him and running away. Resist the urge to run and hide. Second, wherever you are and whatever obedience you’re currently resisting, run to God in prayer. Be persistent in prayer, knowing your God is even more persistent in mercy. Of all the people who shouldn’t have expected their prayers to be answered, it was Jonah. He openly rebelled against God. When God called, he ran in the opposite direction. He jumped aboard a ship and tried to flee the Sovereign of the seas. Even when the storms raged, he refused to pray for deliverance. He would have rather drowned than repented. And yet, out of this watery grave, he comes to his senses and cries out — and wonder of wonders, God listens and answers. “Jonah teaches us that God is more merciful, more patient, and more forgiving than we can now imagine.” If we are in a Jonah-like season of rebellion, we too can pray. Even if we’ve been in a decades-long season of fleeing from God, running from his presence, and resisting his call, we’re invited to come, lay down our rebellion, and be immersed, not in judgment, but in love. God wants to pour out mercy on you, and then through you to other sinners, that they too might repent and be delivered. God is not like us. Where we are quick to anger, slow to forgive, easily frustrated, and prone to hold grudges, God is not like us. Jonah teaches us that God is more merciful, more patient, and more forgiving than we can now imagine. The good news of the gospel is far better than we expect. Through Christ, the better Jonah, we call out to God, with confidence that he will overflow with mercy to no-good, rotten people who come with empty hands — and with confidence that his mercy can change our hearts to be like his. Article by Steven Lee

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