Paul W. Powell Legacy Library

I have said for a long, long time that I would rather wear out than rust out. The reason I feel this way is that life was made for a challenge. Most of us are our best and do our best when we are engaged in a meaningful and worthwhile work. It is too much leisure time that fills the bars and places of amusement. Too much time on our hands produces boredom and robs lif...

St. Augustine wrote, “God had only one Son without sin; he has no sons without suffering.”  Likewise, the Apostle Paul, one of God’s most faithful servants, had to live with intense physical pain. Three times he asked God to relieve it but it was not taken away. However, he does not surrender to a negative attitude of self-pity. There is no not...

The scriptures say, “He that hath pity on the poor lendth unto the Lord; and that which he hath given will he (the Lord) pay him again” (Proverbs 19:17). The Lord has always had a special concern for the poor and so should we. When we help them, it is as if we have made a loan to God, and God always repays his loans with interest. The word of the angel to...

In this season of Thanksgiving, it's good to remember that the greatest American ideas are rooted in a Bible heritage and faith in God. I mean ideas like the dignity of people and equality before the law. I know that our forefathers were not saints. I know that many were not even Christians. However, they were greatly influenced by biblical faith. The repeated mention...

At the turn of the 19th century, when the forces of lawlessness were let loose in England, William Wordsworth paid tribute to John Milton by writing, “Milton! Thou shouldst be living at this hour: England, hath need of thee… Oh! raise us up, return to us again; and give us manners, virtue, freedom, power.” Today this same call could well be sent to...

The diplomacy of the White House in the days of Theodore Roosevelt was “Talk softly but carry a big stick.” In life there are times when it is necessary to carry a big stick—but there are also times when it is good to talk softly. The Bible says, “A soft answer turneth away wrath; but grievous [harsh] words stir up anger” (Proverbs 15:1)...

Philosopher Sidney Harris said, “It is easier to be a ‘humanitarian’ than to render your own country its proper dues; it is easier to be a ‘patriot’ than to make your community a better place to live in; it is easier to be a ‘civic leader’ than to treat your own family with love and understanding: for the smaller the focus of...

Someone said: “God made the country, man made the city, and the devil made the small town.” He could have had in mind your town. Most people at one time or another contribute to the spread of idle gossip and groundless rumors. Rare indeed is the person who will let such information end with his hearing. While most people participate in rumors about others...

Nothing in our lives is more important than our thoughts. Writer Ralph Waldo Emerson once explained, “Sow a thought and you reap an act, sow an act and you reap a habit, sow a habit and you reap a character.” Every person’s character is ultimately shaped by his thoughts. The Bible says the same thing in another way: “For as a man thinketh in hi...