Paul W. Powell Legacy Library

Some startling claims have been made for Jesus Christ. He is acclaimed as the Son of God and the universal Savior of all men. But how do we know that these claims are true and not fairytales or nursery rhymes? How can we be sure Jesus is trustworthy? There are at least three reasons: 1. His universal appeal and magnetism. Jesus is the most fascinating person who ever...

Anyone who has tried to understand human suffering knows that suffering will be a mystery to humankind for as long as people live on this earth. In the face of unexplainable suffering, here are a few suggestions to help you. Believe that God has an answer as to why we suffer and that in his own time he will give it to you. Faith, after all, is assurance of things hop...

This is a day of vast scientific advances. Science has created "test tube" babies and we can now transplant almost all bodily organs. In a day of such spectacular achievements many wonder if science has outmoded religion. The answer is no! It never has and it never will. The reason why is because they deal with two different ways of knowing and two different fields of...

A defendant came forward in the middle of his trial to plead guilty. “Why didn’t you plead guilty at first and save us all a lot of time?” asked the judge. “I thought I was innocent,” replied the defendant, “but that was before I heard the evidence against me.” If any one of us could hear all of God’s evidence against u...

“If Christianity today is losing its influence, the reason may be that the church consists of soft pews, soft music, and soft soap.” So said Pastor John C. Jeske one time in the Presbyterian Journal.  We must never so water down our message as Christians that it loses its cleansing power. We must fight the temptation to be apologetic and even as...

Once we buried a young lady who was only 21 years old. She was killed in a head-on collision while on her way to church. The night before the funeral, my daughter asked why God allows things like this to happen. I wish I knew. Things like this have puzzled saints, wise men, and philosophers since the world began. There is simply no one easy answer as to why tra...

During the last few decades, a small number of “radical” theologians have received worldwide publicity from their announcement that “God is dead.” Some members of the secular press, hungering for headlines, raised these men to a level seldom afforded a philosopher or theologian. While there is nothing new about such claims, we who are Christia...

I believe in the devil! Many people don’t. They think that belief in a personal devil is a part of mankind’s nursery furniture. They put him in the same category as Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny. They relegate him to the superstition and ignorance of the Middle Ages. Granted, the truth about Satan has been greatly distorted by the false notions of the...

Former Australian Prime Minister John Anderson said, “Doubt is a good place to start, but an awful place to stop.” Doubt can be the threshold to new truth or it can be the pitfall to despair. To our skeptical, doubting age God issues a challenge in Malachi 3: “Prove me...” We can prove that God is. We can’t do this by scientific means fo...