Weird Tract Number 24: "Power For Living" by Jamie Buckingham

Troy Davis writes:

Power for Living is a 1983 come-to-Christ booklet that cribs from Bill Bright's "The Four Spiritual Laws" (previously featured on the museum's website). It was mailed out free as part of a huge boondoggle by the Arthur S. DeMoss Foundation (the foundation had plenty of moola to blow; its endowment in the early '80s was $200 million). The booklet was given away "to celebrate The Year of the Bible." Yes, in 1982, non-Bible-reading President Reagan signed legislation to make 1983 national Year of the Bible in order to curry favor with evangelicals in order to help him with his upward wealth distribution schemes (kind of the way that Trump is calling for Bible literacy classes in the public schools). The offer was heavily promoted in a series of television commercials with celebrity endorsers (here is one with Pat Boone wearing a all-white outfit with a gull-wing collar).

The book starts out with a series of testimonials from early 80's celebs: Dr. J., Roger Staubach, Atlanta Falcons quarterback Steve Bartkowski, skater Janet Lynn, former Watergate conspirator Charles Colson, etc. but the crux of the book is to convert the reader a la Four Spiritual Laws-type evangelism (Bill Bright is quoted in the book).

This booklet is as dated as Jams and stirrup pants.

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