Paul W. Powell Legacy Library

Pat Neff, who was at one time governor of our state and then president of Baylor University, said in all his life he had heard people, preachers in particular, say, “Lay up for yourselves treasure in heaven.” But nobody ever told him how. Until one day he figured it out for himself. If you want to lay up for yourself treasures in heaven, then you must inve...

Some years ago I was preaching on stewardship and there sat in the service two men who had two entirely different responses to the sermon. One of them was angered and incensed. The other one was moved and blessed and helped by it didn’t say anything to me that day, but later pointed to that day and that sermon when he shared his testimony about tithing years lat...

A wealthy member of a small congregation invited the preacher home for lunch. And after lunch they went for a walk through this man’s vast ranch. They saw the lush green meadows, the fat cattle, the fruit trees, and beautiful buildings and after they had looked at all that this man owned, the rancher turned to the preacher and said, “You said today that al...

Let’s just suppose by some stretch of the imagination that you have financial problems and you need some help. It’s not the kind of help that a loan would fix. Most people think that if they are having financial problems, all they need to do is to get a loan and that solves their problems. Sometimes that complicates the problem. The problem started at the...

A lady wrote to Billy Graham sometimes ago and said, “I wonder If God expects us to tithe today as he did in the days of the Old Testament? I personally would find that very difficult to do in these days of inflation.” Graham wrote back to point to this passage of scripture and he pointed out that behind the passage on tithing in Malachi 3:8-10 is a nation...

I started tithing when I was a teenage boy. When I became a Christian I thought that whatever God told you to do you were supposed to do. And I didn’t have a Christian background and I didn’t know any other Christians intimately and so I just thought if God said it you were supposed to do it. Somebody told me shortly after I became a Christian that we were...

Someone who is right about questions of money is likely to be right on every other question of religion. On the other hand, a man wrong about money is likely to be seriously wrong about every other question of religion. What is the right use of money? What does the Bible say about the right use of wealth? Look at 1 Timothy 6.  1. We are to enjoy our wealth (v17...

If we aren’t careful in this materialistic world, we can be misled by appearances and blinded by unseen values. For example, the scriptures say, “How much better it is to get wisdom than gold" (Proverbs 16:16). German philosopher Immanuel Kant said, “Science is organized knowledge. Wisdom is organized life.” A well-ordered life, one that’...

Years ago I heard a man warn, “If you’re outgo exceeds your income, you’re upkeep will be your downfall.” We need to remember that. Unmanageable debt can be deadly, whether you’re talking about Wall Street or Main Street. Whether it’s your house or the White House.   How do we avoid too much debt? Establish a budget an...