Justin Bieber prays over his fans in new gospel EP
Pop star and Christian Justin Bieber released his debut gospel EP over the Easter weekend.
Freedom was released on Easter Sunday, the holiest day in the Christian calendar when Christians celebrate the resurrection of Jesus.
The six-track release follows the recent release of his secular album, Justice, and features collaborations with Beam, Brandon Love, Chandler Moore, Sweat$, Tori Kelly and Lauren Walters.
There's a lot of soul-searching as he talks about having to "learn humility" and take responsibility for his actions.
He also references his troubled past, including his run-in with the law in 2014 after he was accused of egging his neighbor's house.
Some of the songs may not be to everyone's taste as he does use the occasional bad language, like in "We're In This Together", when he sings: "All that to say I'm thankful that's not who I am. And I'm thankful God was with me when s*** hit the fan."
In the same song, he prays over all his fans: "I pray for every single person listening to this song right now. I pray for peace. I pray for joy. I pray for confidence. I pray for reassurance.
"Thank you so much for the person listening to this right now. I pray that you will bless them. Bless their mind, their finances, bless their family, bless their sons, bless their daughters, bless their moms, bless their dads, bless their grandparents.
"God, I just pray for an overwhelming sense of your presence in their home right now, an overwhelming sense of your peace that says everything is going to be alright. In the name of Jesus."
The album features his best friend, Pastor Judah Smith, leader of ChurcHome, who asks "Who is this Jesus?" and tells listeners "there is nobody like Jesus."
The final track, "Afraid to Say", is a plea from Bieber to his fans to know their worth in God's sight in spite of all their flaws.
"God never writes us off, even in our darkest days. Even when we least deserve it. Even when we're doing that stupid thing we wish we weren't doing," he says.
"God never writes us off ever. He's with us in our pain. He's with us in a struggle. He's with us in our bad decisions. He's with us all the time. He never writes us off."