I’ve been out of town for a while,
hanging out with my boy Frederick at the Wartburg.
and it’s so good to be back in Wittenberg,
but if I’m honest, I’m disappointed.
a faith without love is not enough---it’s a false faith,
like an image reflected in water.
where was the love when you destroyed art depicting Jesus?
I know Carlstadt, Munzter, those so-called prophets from Zwikau…
they’ve gotten y’all excited about change,
and that’s fine---we need to change.
but can’t you see it? it’s no different than Rome.
all that coercion and mob mentality,
it’s no foundation on which to build a church.
when I said, “here I stand,”
I never thought the echos would cause an avalanche.
now let me be clear:
ONLY SCRIPTURE, ONLY FAITH, ONLY GRACE
DON'T TWIST MY WORDS
you will never be safe if you bite the hand that feeds. (did you think about that?)
you will never be free if you feed the band of thieves. (did you think about that?)
I won’t always be around to calm you down.
so take a deep breath, cuz your Daddy’s in town.
ONLY SCRIPTURE…
quick as lightning, my team is taking shape.
Melanchthon---Master Philip---your translation is great.
Nicolaus von Amdsdorf, always quoting Aristotle,
helping me ween these people off the bottle.
Justus Jonas, attorney at canon law, like a cannonball,
I can’t catalogue your work against the demagogue.
and John, my confessor, we went head to head for a while, didn’t we?
but even in our conflict, these words retained our unity,
and they bear repeating.
ONLY SCRIPTURE…
credits
from HERE I STAND: a Lutheran mixtape,
released April 29, 2017
Written, performed, and produced by Andy Pokel, with:
Daniel Greco, vocals
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