Freedom of Preach Songtext

von Ludacris

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

Ohh, it's testimony time, oh, who is that? Young Chris s
Boy, I'm glad you finally grew into them ears, go on and testify
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

Searchin' so long, I was lost in the clouds
I'm tryna stay strong, and make you proud
It took me some time, but now I see
That He resides, in me yeah, yeah

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 everythin' 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

Searchin' so long, I was lost in the clouds
I'm tryna stay strong, and make you proud
It took me some time, but now I see
That He resides, in me yeah, yeah

Hallelujah, as the choir sings
Searchin' so long, lost in the clouds
Tryna stay strong, and make you proud
Took me some time, now I see
He resides, in me yeah, yeah

Ladies and gentlemen
We have a special guest in the house tonight
Came with some words of encouragement
Bishop Eddie 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've 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 ghettos
In the upper downtown, wherever it was

People around you, the things around you
Calls 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 disrespectin' 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 gettin' 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

Searchin' so long, lost in the clouds
Tryna stay strong, and make you proud
Took me some time, now I see
He resides, in me yeah