About the Book
"Unafraid: Mary" by Francine Rivers explores the life of Mary, the mother of Jesus, through a retelling of the biblical story. The book delves into Mary's faith, courage, and unwavering trust in God as she navigates the challenges and trials of her extraordinary life. Through the eyes of Mary, readers gain a deeper understanding of the Christmas story and the profound impact of Mary's obedience and devotion.
Steven Curtis Chapman
Steven Curtis Chapman is an American Christian musician, singer, song writer, record producer, actor, author and social activist. He is the only artist in the history of music to have won 56 Gospel Music Association Dove Awards and is also a proud receiver of 5 Grammy Awards. His music is known for being a unique cross between country music, soft rock and orchestrated pop, which made him a prominent artist in the contemporary Christian music circuit of the 1980s. Chapman grew up in a humble environment where he found his calling for music, owing to his fatherâs inclination towards country music. He learnt to play instruments like guitar and piano just by hanging around in his fatherâs music store, listening to him play along with his friends. He took up music seriously when he moved to Nashville and got recognized by Sparrow Records, a company he stayed with for a long period in his career. He has released 19 studio albums and has sold over 10 million albums until now. Chapman is a family oriented person just like his father and has a big family comprising of his wife Mary Beth and 3 biological and 2 adopted children. He is a vocal advocate for adoption and has worked socially to eradicate the problem of youth violence.
Childhood & Early Life
Steven Curtis Chapman was born on November 21, 1962 in Paducah, Kentucky, to Herb and Judy Chapman. His father was a country singer and songwriter, who turned down opportunities to become a successful singer to concentrate on his family. His mother was a stay-at-home mom.
His father owned a music store, a business he managed from his basement and used to play music with his friends. Such creative environment at home influenced Chapmanâs life from very early on and he bought his first guitar at 6.
Chapman joined as a pre-med student at Georgetown College in Kentucky but after few semesters he moved to Anderson College, Indiana. But he ultimately dropped the idea of studying and went to Nashville to pursue his first love, music.
During 1980s, he wrote a song âBuilt to Lastâ, which gained huge popularity after getting recorded by a gospel group âThe Imperialsâ. The success of the song fetched Chapman a songwriting deal with Sparrow Records.
Career
Chapmanâs first official album âFirst Handâ was released in 1987. The album was an instant hit with singles like âWeak Daysâ and topped at number 2 on the Contemporary Christian Music chart. The album had a mix of country music with soft rock and pop.
In 1988, following the success of his first album, Chapman released âReal Life Conversationsâ. Its hit single âHis Eyesâ received the âContemporary Recorded Song of the Yearâ award from the âGospel Music Associationâ. He co-wrote it with James Isaac Elliot.
After a few years, he made a swift turn to mainstream music with his album âThe Great Adventureâ in 1992. It earned him two Grammy awards for the album and for the title song of the album.
After gaining consistent success with albums like âHeaven in the Real World (1994), âSigns of Life (1996) and âSpeechless (1999), Chapmanâs next great album âDeclarationâ came out in 2001, for which he toured 70 cities.
In 2003, âAll About Loveâ was released and it ranked at Top 15 on the Christian Music charts. It was released under Sparrow Records and Chapman very humbly credited his wife Mary Beth for being the inspiration for his album.
âAll Things Newâ was released in 2004 and the album added another Grammy to Chapmanâs proud award collection. This time he received it in the category of Best Pop/Contemporary Gospel Album. It was also nominated for the Dove Award.
In 2005, âAll I Really Want for Christmasâ was released, which was Chapmanâs another successful Christmas album after âThe Music of Christmasâ. It had traditional holiday tunes and favorites like âGo Tell It on the Mountainâ and Silver Bellsâ.
Chapman took his music to greater levels by taking his concert to South Korea for the U.S. troops who were serving there in 2006. It was the first Christian concert that ever performed for the American army in that country.
In 2007, he released âThis Momentâ which included hit singles like âCinderellaâ, for which he was chosen for WOW Hits 2009. He also went on his âWinter Jamâ tour and took his sonsâ, Caleb and Willâs band along.
âBeauty Will Riseâ, Chapmanâs seventeenth album, was released in 2009. It is said that he wrote the songs of the album after getting inspired by his daughter Maria Sueâs sad and untimely demise. It included songs like âMeant to Beâ and âRe:creationâ.
In 2012, Chapman finally parted ways with Sparrow Records, the record company that he remained loyal to for so many years. He was signed on by Sonyâs Provident Label Group and came out with a Christmas album called âJOYâ.
âThe Glorious Unfoldingâ was released in 2013 under Reunion Records and it peaked on number 27 on the Billboard 200 and was number 1 Top Christian Album. The album was produced by Chapman himself and Brent Milligan.
Major Works
Chapmanâs âThe Great Adventureâ in 1992 was a turning point in his musical career because until now he was making soft and contemporary country music but with âThe Great Adventureâ he targeted the mainstream audience and tasted huge commercial success for the first time.
Awards & Achievements
Chapman is the winner of five Grammy awards for albums like âFor the Sake of the Callâ âThe Great Adventureâ âThe Live Adventureâ, âSpeechlessâ and âAll Things Newâ. He has also received 56 Gospel Music Association Dove Awards, more than any other artist.
Personal Life & Legacy
Chapman got married to Mary Beth in 1984 after they first met at Anderson University in Indiana. They have three biological children: Emily, Caleb and Will and three adopted children: Shaohannah, Stevey and Maria, together.
In 2008, Chapmanâs youngest son Will ran over his car by accident on his adopted daughter Maria Sue Chunxi Chapman. She was running towards him to meet him but he did not see her and she was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital.
Trivia
Chapmanâs wife Mary Beth Chapman has written and released a book about losing her youngest daughter called âChoosing to SEE: A Journey of Struggle and Hopeâ.
Chapman and his wife have written three children's books with adoption themes: âShaoey And Dot: Bug Meets Bundleâ (2004), âShaoey and Dot: The Christmas Miracleâ (2005), and âShaoey and Dot: A Thunder and Lightning Bug Storyâ (2006).
He has received an Honorary Doctorate of Music from Anderson University.
martyr or madman: the unnerving faith of ignatius
âI am afraid of your love,â Bishop Ignatius wrote to the early church in Rome, âlest it should do me an injuryâ ( Epistle to the Romans  1.2). It is hard to imagine more ironic words. Ignatius, a disciple of the apostle John, was nearing seventy years of age when he sent the letter ahead of him on August 24 (somewhere between AD 107 and 110). He told them he remained âafraidâ of the believersâ love â meaning he was afraid that they would keep him from martyrdom, that they would âdo him an injuryâ by keeping him from being torn apart by lions. Ignatius sent a total of seven letters to seven churches en route to the Colosseum. This letter to the church in Rome gave his thoughts on martyrdom and extended a special plea for their non-interference in his. Instead of asking for whatever influence the Roman believers may have had to release him, he bids them stand down. In his own words, For neither shall I ever hereafter have such an opportunity of attaining to God; nor will ye, if ye shall now be silent, ever be entitled to the honor of a better work. For if ye are silent concerning me, I shall become Godâs; but if ye show your love to my flesh, I shall again have to run my race. Pray, then, do not seek to confer any greater favor upon me than that I be sacrificed to God. (2.2) And again, I write to all the Churches, and impress on them all, that I shall willingly die for God, unless ye hinder me. I beseech of you not to show an unseasonable good-will towards me. Suffer me to become food for the wild beasts, through whose instrumentality it will be granted me to attain to God. (4.1) Martyr or Madman? Michael Haykinâs assessment seems conclusive: âIn the seven letters of Ignatius of Antioch we possess one of the richest resources for understanding Christianity in the era immediately following that of the apostlesâ (31). Surveying Ignatiusâs letters to the seven churches on the road to Rome, Haykin summarizes three concerns weighing heavily upon the bishopâs mind: (1) the unity of the local church, (2) her standing firm against heresy, and (3) non-interference in his calling to martyrdom (32). The first and second are unsurprising, but what are we to make of the third? What do you think of a man saying, âMay I enjoy the wild beasts that are prepared for me; and I pray that they may be found eager to rush upon me, which also I will entice to devour me speedily. . . . But if they be unwilling to assail me, I will compel them to do soâ (5.2)? Who is this Daniel praying not for rescue but looking forward to the lionâs den? âChristians had been killed in the past, but few with as much enthusiasm.â Some scholars, Haykin notes, have called him mentally imbalanced, pathologically bent on death (32). Christians had been killed in the past, but few, if any, with such enthusiasm. What right-thinking Christian would write, âIf I shall suffer, ye have loved me; but if I am rejected, ye have hated meâ (8.3)? Was he a madman? âSanityâ to Ignatius Did he have an irrational proclivity for martyrdom? Can his death wish  fit within the bounds of mature Christian life and experience? If you were his fellow bishop and friend â say, Polycarp (later a martyr himself) â what might you say if you desired to dissuade him? You might call his mind to the holy Scripture â for example, Jesusâs prophecy of Peterâs own martyrdom (which happened years earlier in Rome). Jesus foretold, âTruly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go â (John 21:18). The apostle Peter did not want to go  and stretch out his hands in his own crucifixion. He did not want to be dressed by another and âcarriedâ to his death. Granted, he wanted that end more than denying his Master again, but it stands to reason that if he could have ended differently, he would have chosen otherwise. Or you might consider the apostle Paul and his second-to-last letter before he too was likely beheaded in Rome. âFirst of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every wayâ (1 Timothy 2:1â2). He exhorts that prayers be made for rulers that Christians might lead quiet and peaceful  lives. Pray for your leaders, in part, that they might be saved â and thus not given to killing you âall the day longâ for public entertainment (Romans 8:36). Ignatius to âSanityâ âBut,â the well-taught bishop might have responded, âdid not Peter write much of suffering and necessary trials as tests to our faith? Does not God place our faith in the fire (or the Colosseum) that it might be found to result in praise and glory and honor at Christâs revelation (1 Peter 1:7; 4:12)? Or did Peter not put forward the suffering servant, Jesus Christ, as our example to follow? Or is it not a âgracious thing in the sight of Godâ to endure suffering for righteousnessâ sake â something we are âcalled toâ and blessed in (1 Peter 2:20; 3:14)? And further, did Peter not tell the church to âarmâ themselves with this thinking (1 Peter 4:1), and to rejoice insofar as they share in Christâs sufferings, evidence that the Spirit of glory rests upon them (1 Peter 4:13â14)? âAnd what to say of our beloved Paul? Was it not he who was hard pressed to stay, even when fruitful labor awaited him? Did he not inscribe my heart on paper when he said, âTo live is Christ, and to die is gain,â and that to be with Christ is âfar betterâ (Philippians 1:21, 23)? And was it not also the case that, knowing he was walking from one affliction to the next, he walked the martyrâs path â against the behest and weeping of fellow Christians who threatened to break the apostleâs heart (Acts 21:12â13)? ââConstrained by the Spirit,â did he not go forward (Acts 20:22)? He testified that he did not count his life of any value nor as precious to himself, if only he could finish his race and ministry to testify to Godâs grace (Acts 20:24). He assured crying saints along the violent road that he was ready not only to be imprisoned but to die for the name of Jesus (Acts 21:13). They eventually submitted and said, âLet the will of the Lord be doneâ (Acts 21:14). Will you not imitate them, beloved Polycarp?â This imagining is to help us get into the mind of the âmadman,â as well as to warn us from drawing hasty applications. Though most will not consent so insistently and passionately to a martyrâs death, some will pass by other exits on the way to testifying to the ultimate worth of Christ. Messiahâs Madmen What might we, far from the lions of Ignatiusâs day, learn from the martyred bishop of Antioch? I am challenged by his all-consuming love for Jesus, a love that the world â and some in the church â considers crazy. Let fire and the cross; let the crowds of wild beasts; let breakings, tearings, and separations of bones; let cutting off of members; let bruising to pieces of the whole body; and let the very torment of the devil come upon me: only let me attain to Jesus Christ. (5.3) âIf we are madmen, let it be for Christ.â If we are madmen, let it be for Christ. Should not Paulâs words be stated over our entire lives? âIf we are beside ourselves, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for youâ (2 Corinthians 5:13). If we are crazy, it is because of Christ. If we are in our right minds, it is for others to be won to the same madness we have. The love of Christ âcontrols usâ (2 Corinthians 5:14). Oh what a beautiful strangeness, what a provocative otherness, what an unidentifiable oddity is a Christian who loves Christ with his all and considers death to be truly gain. Such a one can see, even behind the teeth of lions, an endless life with him .