Paul W. Powell Legacy Library

Nothing quenches the work of the Spirit like unbelief. And nothing releases the Spirit like faith. Did you know that you can do almost anything by faith? I mean anything! President Dwight D. Eisenhower once told about the Allied invasion of Europe during World War II, codenamed Operation Overlord. He said, “From the beginning we knew that we were going to win. W...

Bob Lilly, the Hall of Fame defensive tackle for the Dallas Cowboys, in a testimony to our church several years ago said, “On the first day of training camp, Coach Tom Landry said to the squad, ‘My priorities are God, family, and the Dallas Cowboys, and they are in that order.’” Like it is for most of you, my family is near the top of my priori...

Roger Babson, who was for many years America’s foremost statistical expert and adviser on financial affairs, saw parallels between his church and the exchange on Wall Street. He said, "In Trinity Church I can exchange my fears for courage, my worries for faith, my nervousness for patience, and my selfishness for justice, kindness, and the things that really coun...

In 1986 Desmond Tutu, an anti-apartheid and social rights activist and Anglican bishop, recounted the story of the whites coming to South Africa. “When they came,” the bishop said, “the blacks had the land and the whites had the Bible.” Then, he said, the whites wanted to teach the blacks to pray. “So we bowed our heads and closed our eye...

When Robert Burns on his deathbed spoke to his beloved nephew, he patted his well-worn Bible and said, “Read the Book and be a good man and when you come to the place where I am now, you will know that that’s all that’s important.” The Bible is the Magna Carta of human rights. It is the sailor’s compass. It is the shepherd’s staff....

I read with great interest some time ago an article in Texas Monthly about Georgi Vins, that Russian Baptist pastor who spent eight years in a Siberian prison camp because according to the Russians, he had injured the health of Russian people by preaching religious doctrine. His book, Testament from Prison, is characterized by simple joy. There is no word of complaint...

There was a time when I thought that all churches wanted to grow. In fact, I had grown up in a church that was progressive and dynamic. I thought that my church was typical of all churches. Then I went to be the pastor of a church. I was meeting one night with the long-range planning committee, and we were discussing a new building. I said to that committee, “Me...

A lady once wrote to Horace Greeley, the founder of the New York Tribune, to describe the distressing financial straits of her church. She said to him, “We have tried everything that we know to keep our church alive. We have had oyster suppers and grab bags and cakewalks and everything in between. Can you suggest some new idea that can keep our struggling church...

The story is told of a woman who said to the evangelist D.L. Moody after he preached on the thief on the cross, “Do you mean I have to be saved like that poor crook?” “No, you can go on to hell if you want to,” Moody replied. “But if you are going to be saved at all, you come like this fellow came.” The real people of God are those...