freedom of preach - Ludacris

(feat. Bishop Eddie Lee Long)

[Intro]
Can the church say Amen? (Amen reverend)
We gon' do another off in right now
We gon' do another one in fifteen minutes
And we gon' do one mo', right after that
Yes, women you lookin so very beautiful here today
Some of you with the same thang on from the club last night
The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away
Oh Lord Jesus I wish you'd taketh away Sister Mary's wig
Oh you disrespectin the House of God with that thing
It don't even look real; aww, it's testimony time
Oh who is that? Young Chris Bridges
Boy I'm glad you finally grew into them ears
Go on and testify

[Ludacris]
Lord, please forgive me for the mistakes I've made
And thanks for keepin my momma safe when she wrecked my Escalade
See I could replace a Cadillac but I can't replace my momma
I'm sorry for the hip-hop beefs, we sorry for the drama
But you gotta understand us rappers ain't never had nothin
And one's loss is another's gain so we gotta grab somethin
Lord, got so many questions I need the answers to
And sorry for the thangs I put my baby's mama through
I feel that women are really the strongest human beings
but why do you make 'em so emotional, and other minor things
I guess it's your way of sayin we gotta love 'em and gotta praise 'em
cause without 'em we'd be nothin, plus our kids they gotta raise 'em
while we, out and about and seein what life has to offer
But if you offer a new life then what we need is better fathers
Either I'm smarter cause of my daughter or I'm just too dense
I'm 28 years old, it just now started makin sense
And I've been...

[Chorus One]
Searchin so looooong, I was lost in the clouds
I'm tryna stay strooooong, and make you prouuuuud
It took me some tiiiiime, but now I see
That Heeeee resiiiiides, in me yeahhhhh yeah

[Ludacris]
Lord, forgive me for anytime a fan said I was bein rude
I'm only human, I'm not always in the best of moods
But thanks for givin the gift of rap to write my feelings down
And sorry for cursin sometimes but feelings make me shout 'em out
Forgive the people that wanna blame everything on rap music
If they didn't live it they can't relate or even adapt to it
Forgive those who don't think I'm great and wanna see me go
Forgive Oprah for editin most my comments off her show
Don't get me wrong, I know some people got a image to hold
But those who criticize the youth might just be gettin too old
We still travellin through life, findin what's right or wrong
I know some folks may not agree or even like this song
But I'm just speakin MY truth, cause I heard it sets you free
And my conversation's with God, even though he speaks through me
I'm smarter cause of my daughter, and I'm NOT too dense
I'm 28 years old, it just now started makin sense
And I've been...

[Chorus One]

[Ludacris - over Chorus One]
I've been searchin so long
I admit that I've been lost in them clouds
I'm just tryna stay strong baby
You know I'ma make you proud
I know life is full of contradictions
I'm tryna become a better man
Prayin for redemption, each and every day

(Hallelujah, as the choir sings)

[Chorus Two: sung by choir]
Searchin so looooong (so long) lost in the clouuuuuds (in the clouds)
Tryin to stay strooooong, and make you prouuuuud - make you proud!
Took me some tiiiiime (took me some time) now I seeeee (oh now I see)
Heeeee resiiiides, in me (yeah)

(Ladies and gentlemen, we have a special guest in the house tonight
Came with some words of encouragement, Bishop Eddie Long)

[Chorus Two - repeat 2X, minus ad libs]

[Outro: Bishop Eddie Lee Long]
What you just heard is real life
It's real life for you, it's real life for many
It's about where you been, yet at the same time you
Ay, you find yourself, in the midst of conflict and turmoil
Yes I'm talkin to you, in the midst of conflict and turmoil
Cause you realize HEY - it's, time to change right now
And in the middle of that I wanna say this
The Bible says that when I was a child, I spoke as a child
I understood as a child, I fought as a child
Hey, but when I became a man
I put away those, childish things
Did you not know that your environment has shaped you?
Where you were born, in the projects, in the ghettoes
In the upper downtown, wherever it was
The people around you, the things around you
cause you to do strange things because, you were seeking to learn
But what you learned, was on the streets, and not in the book
God called you a prophet
When you open up your mouth, everything of God comes out
And it commands attention, it commands change
I'm talking about the power, that's inside of you
And in the midst when you're, starting to understand
that I caught the wrong message, and now it's time
I'm hearing from God, what amazing experience, as you hear from God
He said, "Is there forth any man be in Christ, he is a new creation"
Old things are passed away, somebody needs to hear that and behold
Everything becomes new, and when everything becomes new in you
It's time to stop the killing
I said it's time to stop the stealing
It's time to stop disrespecting our women
It's time for us to come home and raise our children
It's time for us, to really mold our communities
It's time for us, not to get hooked up in religion
But to get hooked up in relationship, with God
And the amazing thing about it
is wherever you find yourself right now, you can confess
and you can tell God "I'm sorry;
I had the wrong cue, I was doing the wrong thing
I was going after things that I thought were right, but it wasn't right
And now that I'm getting it right, I'm asking you to forgive me
And I may have done the things, that they said I did
But I'm not, who they say I am; I am who you made me to be
and I'm changing in that, and it takes a few moments
But every time I fall down, I'll get right back up
And every time I make a wrong turn, I'll get myself back in line
Because I recognize, I have been called, for such a time as this!"
You can't resist the change
And you're not condemned by your yesterday
If you can grab hold of your now, and move in your destiny
Move, change, and be, now!

[Chorus Three: sung by choir]
Searchin so looooong, lost in the clouuuuuds
Tryin to stay strooooong, and make you prouuuuud - make you proud!
Took me some tiiiiime (took me some time) now I seeeee
Heeeee resiiiides (Heeee resiiiides) in me (in me yeahhhhh)