I Was Done With Christianity Until He Showed Up.

I Was Done With Christianity Until He Showed Up.

July 9, 2026 · 42 min · Season 3 · Episode 129

About this episode

Lecrae reflects on his relationship with Tim Keller and how it shaped his faith journey.

Tim Keller was Lecrae's Michael Jordan. Ten years of sermons, a shared reading list with Kendrick Lamar, and a friendship that started with him shaking like "a stripper in church on Sunday." Then 2016 happened, and Lecrae stopped listening to any theologian who looked like Keller. In week two of his series on the men who shaped his theology, Lecrae gets brutally honest about Doctor Timothy Keller: the missionary sermon that rewired how he saw the city, the years of silence during his own "disorientation," and the moment he came back around to find Keller had been standing in the gap the whole time. He talks about writing a book together, watching Keller invest in Bronx pastors most reformed circles ignored, and the small paperback — The Freedom of Self-Forgetfulness — that became a spiritual anchor. And he tells the story of a breakdown in Mexico, a copy of Prodigal Prophet , and an actual whale outside his window. This one is personal, complicated, and honest about a man Lecrae calls one of the great Western Christian thinkers — flaws included. Struggling with intrusive thoughts around your faith? It could be OCD, and it's highly treatable. Book a free 15-minute call with NOCD…

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