It may be suggested that any minister whose preaching and writing provoked so much opposition that his effigy was carried through the streets of respectable Worthing and burnt on the esplanade, must have been a man whose harshness alienated him from the ‘common people’. But in the case of P.B. Power the reverse was the case. For people wrote of his ‘genial humor…tender sympathy… all-pervading desire to lead men to Christ’. In fact it was because Power understood that man’s greatest need was to become aware of his sinfulness and discover Christ as Saviour and Lord, that his life evoked both admiration and hostility. The ‘I Wills’ of Christ explains the dynamic behind Power’s life, because it points us to Christ and to all that he has promised to do. It is these promises which form the foundation of all true Christian experience and provide hope, encouragement and challenge in Christian living. They are the basis for prayer and evangelism, comfort and joy. P.B. Power’s exposition of them is outstandingly valuable.
