Paul W. Powell Legacy Library

Religion, the wrong kind of religion, is at the root of many of the problems in our world today. It has always been true that the wrong kind of religion does more harm than good. Even Jesus warned us about this. In fact, Jesus gave us three marks of the wrong kind of religion in Mark 12:38-40.  First, it is wrong for people to use the church to promote themselve...

One of the towering questions of our day is “Are the gospels true?” Without them we would know little more than that Christ existed. Their validity is imperative in the Christian life. How can we be sure they are true? 1. They have the ring of truth. A careful study of the four gospels reveals their amazing nature. Strictly speaking, the gospels are not b...

38 And he said unto them in his doctrine, Beware of the scribes, which love to go in long clothing, and love salutations in the marketplaces, 39 And the chief seats in the synagogues, and the uppermost rooms at feasts: 40 Which devour widows’ houses, and for a pretence make long prayers: these shall receive greater damnation. Introduction  Religion&mdas...

Showing respect of persons is one of the oldest sins in the world. It means to respect one person over another person. It means to accept or reject a person on the basis of some outward standard such as race, wealth, education, or position in life. The Bible warns, “But if ye have respect of persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors&r...

Jeff Ray, former professor at Southwestern Seminary, used to say to his students, “Be kind to everyone because everyone is having a hard time.” He was right. Some burdens are seen. But some of the deepest and most powerful ones aren’t. If we but knew the battles people were fighting, we would be more understanding of them. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow...

A young fellow applied for a job furnishing references from his minister and Sunday school teacher. “These are good,” said the interviewer, “but we’d like a letter from someone who knows you on weekdays too!” What the world wants to know about our Christianity is whether it works on weekdays as well as weekends. Does it affect the way we...

Dale Carnegie once said, “We have only four contacts with the world, you and I. We are evaluated and classified by four things: 1) by what we do; 2) by how we look; 3) by what we say; and 4) by how we say it.” If that be true, and I think it is, then we must all give careful attention to these areas of our life, for through them we either become stepping...

Benjamin Franklin once remarked, “Nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” Criticism could also be added to this list of life’s certainties. Sooner or later the guns of criticism are leveled at everyone. Jesus was not exempt from the problem of criticism, even though his life was perfect. If the Master could not escape criticism, h...

One of the common denominators of all world religions except Christianity is that they do not correlate faith and works. In Christianity there is the closest correlation between them. In fact the Bible says, “For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also” (James 2:26). The Bible is clear: a workless faith is worthless fai...