Paul W. Powell Legacy Library

The question of the ages was posed by Job when he asked, “But man dieth, and wasteth away: yea, man giveth up the ghost, and where is he?” (Job 14:10) The answer to that question, I believe, is that man lives on after death. Why do I believe in life after death? 1. I believe it instinctively. A well-known atheist in France honestly confessed a deep-seate...

To face grief is difficult, but to face it alone is even worse. In times of grief we all need strength, love, support, and encouragement from others. We all need companionship in distress so that we do not feel alone. Fewer crises in life afford friends an opportunity for more genuine ministry than does the time of grief. What can we do to help our grieving friends?...

The fear of death is one of the greatest fears we face. Saul Bellow, the famous novelist said, “The real problem is the problem of death. If people don’t know how to come to terms with it, souls have no preparation. Then the only thing is to be eternally young and in pursuit of pleasure and further sexual and hedonistic horizons.” English essayi...

George Sanders, the cynical and sinister film star for over 30 years, took his own life in 1972. In his characteristically simple way he explained in his suicide note, “I am leaving because I am bored.” Increasingly, there are people who are either so bored with life or so pressed down by the circumstances of life that they do not find life worth living....

In 1909 Pierre Curie, a man who along with his wife discovered radium, was run over by a wagon and killed instantly. The loss of her husband was a devastating experience to Madam Curie emotionally. Thereafter for months, she wrote personal notes to him daily in her diary. In one of those notes, she described the funeral service and how they gathered by the graveside a...

O. Henry, the famous short-story writer, was dying. His nurse surmised that death was coming very soon, and so as was the custom in that day, she reached up to pull the shades down and leave the room dark. O. Henry opened his eyes as if he were aware of what was going on and he said to her, “Push up the shades. I don’t want to go home in the dark.”&n...

Huey P. Long grew up the son of poor Baptist parents in Northern Louisiana. He got some education in the state and then he went to Oklahoma for a semester and went to law school. Dropped out of law school, came back to the state of Louisiana and by the year of 1935, almost owned the state. He started running for office and eventually became the governor of the state...

Traditionally we think of death as a hostile grim reaper, stalking humanity with a scythe. In the minds of most people, pain and suffering are associated with death. We think of death as a dreadful experience and often wonder, “Does it hurt to die?” The best available evidence is that the actual act of dying is not difficult or painful at all. To the cont...

6 For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. 7 I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: 8 Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing. Introduction &...