Paul W. Powell Legacy Library

God has not put us here just to enjoy the luxury and the wonder and the splendor of this town and this complex. We are here as his missionary people. We must get on with that mission. The Christian army is the only one that trains its justice chaplains and its band directors. The curse of the church is the eternal childhood of believers. Most pastors are little more t...

When God called Moses to lead the children of Israel out of Egyptian bondage, Moses tried to excuse himself by saying that he didn’t know enough to do the job adequately (Exodus 3:13). He pled ignorance in the first degree. Moses was afraid to undertake the challenge God gave to him because he was afraid someone would ask him a question that he couldn’t a...

There was once a group of Bible society trustees who could not decide what material to use to bind a new issue of the Bible they had just printed. Should they bind it in paper? Cloth? Persian leather? Moroccan? One of the trustees rose and said, “Mr. Chairman, I move that we bind these Bibles in shoe leather and walk out their teachings into everyday life.&rdquo...

1 Moreover, brethren, we do you to wit of the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia; 2 How that in a great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded unto the riches of their liberality. 3 For to their power, I bear record, yea, and beyond their power they were willing of themselves; 4 Praying us with much intreaty t...

God’s purpose for our lives involves more than our physical ease. It also involves our spiritual development. His aim is not primarily that we be comfortable on earth but that we be conformed to the image of his dear Son in heaven (Romans 8:29). To this end God uses even the troubles of life for our good. What are some of the good things that can come out of th...

More and more denominations mean less and less to people. There was a time when people fiercely defended their “brand” of Christianity—sometimes to the point of being unchristian. They were often more committed to their church than to Christ. Today most people realize that all denominations are man made—even those who say they aren’t. An...

The apostle Paul evaluated his own life when he wrote, “Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but ... I press toward the mark” (Philippians 3:12,14). “Not perfect, but still pressing.” That should be the attitude of every Christian. We should never be content. We should always be contending. About 400 years before...

1 And it came to pass on the second sabbath after the first, that he went through the corn fields; and his disciples plucked the ears of corn, and did eat, rubbing them in their hands. 2 And certain of the Pharisees said unto them, Why do ye that which is not lawful to do on the sabbath days? 3 And Jesus answering them said, Have ye not read so much as this, what Da...

Two friends chanced to meet on the street one day. One said to the other, “Friend, how is it with your soul?” His friend replied, “You know, I’ve been so busy lately I had almost forgotten that I had a soul.” In the early 18th century, the Church of England was spiritually dead. Thomas Carlyle described the period as “soul extinct,...