Paul W. Powell Legacy Library

A man I knew when he was just a boy lived near one of those old-timey neighborhood grocery stores. As a boy he was in that grocery store every day. He knew the owner and those working in the store very well. One day he stole some pencils. It didn’t amount to very much—maybe 25 cents. Just three, four, or five pencils, and he didn’t need them. It was...

In the days of the potato famine in Ireland, many Irishmen left the country and came to America seeking a new way of life. And among those thousands of people who came as immigrants to our country there was a young man who couldn’t afford passage on the ship, so he hid himself aboard and became a stowaway. Halfway across the Atlantic their ship hit an iceberg an...

Willie Sutton decided that he would read the gospels as though he had never read them before. With that fresh approach he would see what new revelation, what new understanding he could gain from the gospels. And so, as best he could he washed his mind of all previous ideas, all preconceived conceptions of the Lord. And he went to the gospels and read them as though he...

There are some things in life that are priceless. Money cannot buy them and poverty cannot take them away. One of these is a virtuous woman. Proverbs 31:10-31 describes such a lady. The writer asks, “Who can find a virtuous woman? For her price is far above rubies.” Rich indeed is the man who has a virtuous wife. Fortunate beyond measure is the child who h...

O. Henry, the famous short story writer, was dying. The nurse thought the end had come and began lowering the shades of the windows. Opening his eyes and seeming to understand what was happening, he said, “Let up the shades! I don’t want to go home in the dark!” Since Jesus came, nobody needs to go home in the dark. The Scriptures declare that Jesus...

1 Paul, a servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God’s elect, and the acknowledging of the truth which is after godliness; 2 In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began; 3 But hath in due times manifested his word through preaching, which is committed unto me according t...

11 For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, 12 Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; 13 Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; 14 Who gave himself for us, that h...

1 Put them in mind to be subject to principalities and powers, to obey magistrates, to be ready to every good work, 2 To speak evil of no man, to be no brawlers, but gentle, shewing all meekness unto all men. 3 For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and ha...

On average, there are 123 suicides every day. Although suicide rates are highest in many of the poorer countries in the world, even those countries that have solved most of their economical and social problems still suffer from epidemic levels of this terrible scourge.  Almost everyone agrees that suicide is wrong. But why is it wrong? The Bible gives us the ans...