Paul W. Powell Legacy Library

Christians can stand up to life without defeat and accept death without fear. They are ready to live and they are ready to die. The apostle Paul expressed this kind of confidence when he said, “For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand” (2 Timothy 4:6). Here is a man standing on the brink of eternity, shaking hands with deat...

Martin Luther once said that the heart of Christianity lies in its personal pronouns. The apostle Paul believed that and so he wrote, “I know whom [not what] I have believed, and I am persuaded that he [not 'it'] is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day” (2 Timothy 1:12). Paul’s faith was firmly resting on the person of...

A man who belongs to another denomination said to me, “I’d really like to join your church, but it’s the dunking [baptism] business that gets me.” That gets a lot of people! They don’t understand what we believe about baptism or why we do what we do. Let me explain: First, the most important thing is to be a Christian. This is a matter...

Philosopher James Martineau once said, “We do not believe in immortality because we have proved it, but we forever try to prove it because we believe it.” Immortality, like so many things, cannot be proven by the scientific or historical methods. However, belief in it is credible for several reasons. 1. Reason. There are two truths that make immortality r...

23 And Jesus himself began to be about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, which was the son of Heli...   38 Which was the son of Enos, which was the son of Seth, which was the son of Adam, which was the son of God. Introduction There is a story about a painter by the name of Stenberg who was struck with the beauty of a Romani girl...

When Jesus called Matthew the tax collector to be his disciple, he expressed a profound faith in a person’s ability to change. Tax collectors in Jesus’ day were political traitors, notorious crooks, and complete outcasts in respectable circles. Nonetheless, Jesus was a constant friend to them and even called one to be among his apostles. After Matthew beca...

Someone has said that Jesus "died on the cross to save us from our sins; he arose and lives within us to save us from ourselves.” We need to be saved from our sins of the past. We also need to be saved from ourselves in the present. We are our own worst enemies. It is from our own lusts and desires that all temptation and sin arise. In every life there is a spi...

Many of our national leaders sound the alarm that our society is sick. This is evident with all the violence, war, injustice, and immorality. Is there any hope for things to get better? Can we hope to solve these pressing problems on our own? Over one hundred years ago the answer would have been an emphatic “Yes.” We had just fought World War I—&ldqu...

  17 And when he was gone forth into the way, there came one running, and kneeled to him, and asked him, Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life? 18 And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God. 19 Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear fa...