Paul W. Powell Legacy Library

Mr. Ezra Duke of the old Duke and Ayres five- and ten-cent variety store chain was a dedicated Christian layman. He once told how he became a success in business. He and his wife saved $700 from farming. They used the money to buy five- and ten-cent dolls and went into business. The day before they opened their first store, they knelt and dedicated their business to...

15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. 16 But shun profane and vain babblings: for they will increase unto more ungodliness. 17 And their word will eat as doth a canker: of whom is Hymenaeus and Philetus; 18 Who concerning the truth have erred, saying that the resurrection is past al...

In a day of easy credit, we must beware of too much debt.  A man and his wife went to a financial advisor for help with their finances.  The man told a friend, “The advisor recommended plastic surgery – that we cut up our credit cards.”  That would solve a lot of financial problems.  By the way, a man told me that his wife’s...

Willy Sutton was a noted bank robber and escape artist. He was a tough Irish kid born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1902. He began his life of crime pilfering small things and then moved to breaking and entering and eventually to robbing banks. In his lifetime he robbed more than 100 banks and served several prison sentences, including a stint in Sing-Sing. He also manage...

We all have certain abilities, and what we have we ought to use to the maximum. Paul “Bear” Bryant was the legendary coach of the University of Alabama and Texas A&M. He said there are four types of players:  those with ability and they know it; those with ability and they don’t know it; those who don’t have ability and they know it;...

Announcing an earlier Dallas Cowboys football game, Brad Sham said as he analyzed the Cowboys’ mistakes, “If they could just keep from slipping in their own drool (nonsense) they would be a pretty good team.” He had referenced the fact that Cowboys kept making foolish mistakes and penalizing themselves. The end result was a losing season up to that p...

A friend told me birthdays are good for you. People who have lots of them usually live a long time. In 2001 I had bypass surgery. I had seven of those suckers – that’s right, seven. That’s all you can have. I wanted to have eight so I could make the Guinness Book of World Records, but my doctor said seven is the maximum. After the surgery the doctor...

Loneliness is one of the most common and most devastating emotions of life. Loneliness is being the new kid at school and nobody knows your name. It’s moving to a new town and leaving all your friends behind. It’s your parents going through a divorce and you don’t know which one you’re going to live with. It’s coming home to an empty hous...

1 How amiable are thy tabernacles, O LORD of hosts! 2 My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the LORD: my heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God. 3 Yea, the sparrow hath found an house, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, even thine altars, O LORD of hosts, my King, and my God. 4 Blessed are they that dwell in t...