Paul W. Powell Legacy Library

Somebody asked Billy Graham about the many converts who came to his revivals, “Will they last?” He replied, “You might as well go to the hospital in the maternity ward and ask that same question about the newborn babies you see behind the glass.” “Will they last?” The answer is “no” unless somebody loves them, feeds them...

In her book One in Seven, Margaret Slattery tells of a young couple who visited the Bay of Fundy in Nova Scotia, and standing on the gorge witnessed the awesome sight of the 50-foot tide, the highest in the world, come swirling in. Watching the water pushing, pouring, pounding in through the Bore, over the low flats, over the banks, over the boulders, they were left b...

There is a magnetism to the cross of Jesus Christ that cannot be explained apart from God. Jesus once said, “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth [on a cross], will draw all men unto me” (John 12:32). What is it that gives the cross such a universal and irresistible appeal? 1. It is the magnetism of love. In the cross of Christ we see the love of God a...

1 But speak thou the things which become sound doctrine: 2 That the aged men be sober, grave, temperate, sound in faith, in charity, in patience. 3 The aged women likewise, that they be in behaviour as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things; 4 That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love the...

If love is to continue in your marriage, it must be kept alive. There are some things that must be tended or else they will die a natural death. Love is like a fire. The Bible says, “Where no wood is, there the fire goeth out” (Proverbs 26:20). A fire left untended will soon die a natural death. Gossip without someone to spread it will also die a natural d...

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...

Several years ago I ran across the phrase “The stormy north side of Jesus.” It stuck in my mind because this is a side of Jesus we so seldom see and so often forget.   We have so long thought of him as “gentle Jesus, meek and mild” that we’ve overlooked the fact that he was capable of anger (Mark 3:5). Jesus has a stormy north sid...

Celebrated English poet John Milton said, “Loneliness is the first thing which God’s eye named not good.” There is a loneliness in us that only God can satisfy. But there is also a type of loneliness—a longing for togetherness—that only another can satisfy. We all need the togetherness that only another human can provide. Ruth expresses t...

I am convinced that commitment, not love, is the basis for marriage. It is the fact that we promised each other before God and not some romantic feeling that keeps us together and keeps us faithful to one another. Our promises, not our feelings, are the foundation of marriage. That’s right! However, it is easier to keep the commitment if you love the pers...