Paul S. Powers

“Liberty On my notebooks from schoolOn my desk and the treesOn the sand, on the snowI write your name On every page readOn all the white sheetsStone blood paper or ashI write your name On the golden imagesOn the soldier’s weaponsOn the crowns of kingsI write your name On the jungle, the desertThe nests and the bushesOn the echo of childhoodI write your name On the wonder of nightsOn the white bread of daysOn the seasons engagedI write your name On all my blue ragsOn the pond mildewed sunOn the lake living moonI write your name On the fields, the horizonThe wings of the birdsOn the windmill of shadowsI write your name On the foam of the cloudsOn the sweat of the stormOn dark insipid rainI write your name On the glittering formsOn the bells of colourOn physical truthI write your name On the wakened pathsOn the opened waysOn the scattered placesI write your name On the lamp that gives lightOn the lamp that is drownedOn my house reunitedI write your name On the bisected fruitOf my mirror and roomOn my bed’s empty shellI write your name On my dog greedy tenderOn his listening earsOn his awkward pawsI write your name On the sill of my doorOn familiar thingsOn the fire’s sacred streamI write your name On all flesh that’s in tuneOn the brows of my friendsOn each hand that extendsI write your name On the glass of surprisesOn lips that attendHigh over the silenceI write your name On my ravaged refugesOn my fallen lighthousesOn the walls of my boredomI write your name On passionless absenceOn naked solitudeOn the marches of deathI write your name On health that’s regainedOn danger that’s pastOn hope without memoriesI write your name By the power of the wordI regain my lifeI was born to know youAnd to name you LIBERTY””

“There is something worse than holding our silence while the lost of this world run headlong into hell: the crime of preaching to a different gospel than the one passed down to the saints. For this reason, we must shun the gospel of contemporary evangelicalism, for it is a watered-down, culturally carved, truncated gospel that allows men to hold to a form of godliness while denying its power, to profess to know God while denying Him with their deeds, and to call Jesus “Lord, Lord,” while not doing the Father’s will.15 Woe to us if we do not preach the gospel, but even greater woe is due us if we preach it incorrectly!16””

“when two things are contrary or diametrically opposed to one another, to receive the one is to reject the other. Since there is no affinity or friendship between the gospel and the world, to receive the gospel is to reject the world. This demonstrates just how radical the act of receiving the gospel can be. To receive and follow the gospel call is to reject all that can be seen with the eye and held in the hand in exchange for what cannot be seen.1 It is to reject personal autonomy and the right to self-government in order to enslave oneself to a Messiah who died two thousand years ago as an enemy of the state and a blasphemer. It is to reject the majority and its views in order to join oneself to a berated and seemingly insignificant minority called the church. It is to risk everything in this one and only life in the belief that this impaled prophet is the Son of God and the Savior of the world. To receive the gospel is not merely to pray a prayer asking Jesus to come into one’s heart, but it is to put away the world and embrace the fullness of the claims of Christ.””