Paul W. Powell Legacy Library

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...

William E. Gladstone, the great statesman of England, once said to E. DeWitt Talmage, “Talmage, you talk about the questions of the day. There is only one question, and that’s the question of religion in the home. Settle that and you will settle all questions.” There have been many changes in our world since those words were spoken but they are still...

Victor Frankl, the Swiss psychiatrist and author, said that the primary motivating force in life was not a quest for power but a quest for meaning. Noted philosopher Albert Camus said, “Here is what frightens me. To see the sense of this life dissipated. To see our reason for existence disappear. That is what intolerable. Man cannot live without meaning.”&...

Our young people are growing up in the lap of luxury and leisure, yet they are miserable, empty, and bored. What's happened to make them weary of life so soon? Let me venture the following answers: 1. Too much luxury: We just plain have too much and our affluence is killing us. We would be better off if we were not so well off. People who have everything they want ar...

We have accumulated enough knowledge to conquer outer space and the computer chip, but we lack the wisdom to govern our inner selves. What we are desperately lacking today is not technical know-how but moral and spiritual want-to. Where can we get the true wisdom we need for living in today’s world? The Bible says in James that God will give us the wisdom we se...

All of us are interested in making our nation as strong and as good as possible. But wherein lies the strength of a nation?  The strength of the nation is first of all in the home. The family is recognized by almost everyone as the basic institution of society. It is the foundation of society. When divorce, unfaithfulness, permissiveness, and materialism dominat...

One day a friend told the philosopher Plato that someone had spoken evil of him. “What are you going to do about it?” his friend inquired anxiously. “I shall live in such a way that no one will believe the report,” Plato answered, undisturbed. That’s the advice of scripture. We are to live so that when people speak evil of us, no one wi...

In this day of skepticism and doubt many have lost faith in spiritual things. They wonder things like, “Can there be any certainty of the resurrection?” and “How can we be sure that Jesus was raised from the dead?”  In 1 Corinthians 15:1-11 the Apostle Paul presents three evidences for the reality of the resurrection. 1. The testimony of...

In a few short years, we have gained a material abundance in America that surpasses anyone in history, yet we have become among the most lawless and violent nations among free people. Our cities are torn by riots and violence. Thousands are killed, thousands more injured, and property losses approach billions of dollars. Leaders around the world have long been calling...