Paul W. Powell Legacy Library

One day a tall middle-aged man pushed his way through the Christmas crowd and asked a clerk for a compass. She led him to the counter displaying mechanical drawing sets and laid out several instruments. “Oh, I don’t want one that draws circles,” the customer protested. “I want a compass that gives directions.” “Sorry,” came...

In the old Amos ’n’ Andy show on radio, Amos once asked the Kingfish why he had such good judgment. “Well,” said the Kingfish, “good judgment comes from experience.” “Then, where does experience come from?” asked Amos. “From bad judgment.” Good leaders learn from their own mistakes and from the mistakes of...

There is an old saying, “A pessimist sees a difficulty in every opportunity, and an optimist sees an opportunity in every difficulty.” Good leaders focus on objectives, not obstacles. They are like a good hurdler. The hurdler doesn’t focus on the hurdle, he just sees the finish line. He looks at the destination, not at the obstacles to prevent his ge...

I heard about a young preacher one time who was interviewing for his first church. He had never pastored a church before and the pastor search committee had invited him to come for an interview. As he was being questioned by the committee, the chairman asked, “Son, do you know the Bible?” He replied, “Yes sir, I really know the Bible.” The chai...

In the middle of the great Civil War, Bob Lincoln, the son of Abraham Lincoln came to his mother and dad and said he wanted to join the Union forces and to fight for his country. But his mother refused to allow him to do so and his father supported her because they had already lost two sons and she could not bear the thought of losing a third. When they refused to let...

Some time ago a man just dropped in my office who obviously was despairing of life. It did not take long for me to know that he had virtually come to the end of his rope. He had no meaning, no purpose in existence. I had just been teaching to our church the Roman road of salvation and I decided that I would use that plan of salvation on him. I took that little book of...

I have a preacher friend who tells this story and I’m not sure that it’s true, but it is a good story and preachers don’t always tell the truth when they have a point they want to make. He said that there was a lady in his church who seemed to oppose him on every issue. It didn’t matter what he said, it didn’t matter what he presented to...

When I talk about working in God’s vineyard I do not mean that you are necessarily employed directly by the church. I mean in your chosen vocation, as a doctor, as a lawyer, as a merchant, as a teacher, wherever you work and whatever you do in that capacity. In that office, in that place, you have a marvelous opportunity to labor in the vineyard of God and to be...

How do we know what’s in a person’s heart? We know what’s in a person’s heart by what they do with that which is in their hand. David was not able to build a house of God, but he went as far as he could in building the house of God. He raised the money. He collected the material. He had the plans drawn. He went as far as he could possibly go to...