Paul W. Powell Legacy Library

How strong is your faith? Can it stand the shock of a “no” answer from God?  I have long been fascinated by the story of the three Hebrew children in the Old Testament. The king of Babylon commanded all people to bow down and worship his golden image. These devout Jewish young men refused. When they were told that they would be thrown in a fiery furn...

45 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: 46 Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it. Introduction Dr. Bill Hinson, the chaplain at Baylor University, told of a salesman friend of his who was driving through the back roads of Missouri some time ago when he came upon a li...

  20 And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said, Blessed be ye poor: for yours is the kingdom of God. 21 Blessed are ye that hunger now: for ye shall be filled. Blessed are ye that weep now: for ye shall laugh. 22 Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your na...

  27 But I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you, 28 Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you. 29 And unto him that smiteth thee on the one cheek offer also the other; and him that taketh away thy cloak forbid not to take thy coat also. 30 Give to every man that asketh of thee; and of him tha...

One of the most disturbing things in our day is the apparent breakdown of law and authority. There is an awful lot of foolish talk by otherwise intelligent people who condone it. Some of them try to condone it under the guise of American tradition by saying, “Our nation was born out of violence and will progress by violence.” How foolish can you get? ...

We must learn to respect those whose views differ with ours and those who want to openly demonstrate against what they feel is evil and injustice. Such dissent has great value in democracy and we need understanding of the other man’s view. Our greatest danger is extremes in either direction. Our problem is illustrated in the German philosopher Arthur Schopenhau...

Benjamin Franklin once remarked, “Nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” Criticism could also be added to this list of life’s certainties. Sooner or later the guns of criticism are leveled at everyone. Jesus was not exempt from the problem of criticism, even though his life was perfect. If the Master could not escape criticism, h...

How do we serve God? Once when Jesus was talking about feeding the hungry, clothing the poor, visiting the sick, and helping those in trouble he said, “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me” (Matthew 25:40). We serve God by helping other people. Feeding the hungry, clothing the poor, and visiting th...

Anthropologist Margaret Mead once said, “We are living in the period of greatest change ever known in the history of the world.” Amid all the changes and decay of life, it is encouraging to know that God is unchanging (Malachi 3:6). How so? First, God is unchanging in his demand for meaningful worship. Cheap sacrifices and empty formalism never have and...