Paul W. Powell Legacy Library

I was returning from a convention recently and seated next to the late Ramsey Pollard, pastor of the Bellevue Baptist Church in Memphis, Tennessee. He said to me, “Paul, after 47 years in the ministry, it is harder to be the pastor of a Baptist church now than any time in my ministry.” The US News & World Report an article entitled “Why Churches...

We have built several buildings at our church. On every construction project there is a superintendent or an overseer. He doesn’t do the work; he sees that it is done. He doesn’t lay bricks. He sees that bricklayers are present when they are needed and they do the work according to specifications. He does the same with electrical wiring, painting, etc. He...

I think it is significant that the Lord likens his kingdom to a vineyard where there is work that needs to be done. He does not compare his kingdom to a place of idleness where men stand around and twiddle their thumbs and wonder why we are and what we are to do. It is rather a place of work, a place of employment, a place where things need to be done and he suggests...

When I talk about working in God’s vineyard I do not mean that you are necessarily employed directly by the church. I mean in your chosen vocation, as a doctor, as a lawyer, as a merchant, as a teacher, wherever you work and whatever you do in that capacity. In that office, in that place, you have a marvelous opportunity to labor in the vineyard of God and to be...

Juvenile delinquency is a problem in America. This problem may seem far away from us, but it is not. Some time ago a store manager told me about catching 17 shoplifters in his store in one week alone. When you seek for a cause of this youthful lawlessness, you are driven ultimately to the home and to the parents. In fact two Harvard Law School criminologists pinpoint...

There is much talk today about the generation gap—that invisible chasm between parents and their children. While there has always been a gap between one generation and the next, there are many who feel that it is deeper and wider today than ever before. Several factors, like the rapid changes that are occurring all over our world, improved communications throug...

A guest star on a TV show once said, “Two things I’ve had in life, and both ample—good advice and bad example.” This has been the experience of most people. Most of us are careless or just too thoughtless about our influence. Every person’s life is a profession of faith. Every person’s conduct is an unspoken sermon that he is forev...

William E. Gladstone, the great statesman of England, once said to E. DeWitt Talmage, “Talmage, you talk about the questions of the day. There is only one question, and that’s the question of religion in the home. Settle that and you will settle all questions.” There have been many changes in our world since those words were spoken but they are still...

In a few short years, we have gained a material abundance in America that surpasses anyone in history, yet we have become among the most lawless and violent nations among free people. Our cities are torn by riots and violence. Thousands are killed, thousands more injured, and property losses approach billions of dollars. Leaders around the world have long been calling...