Paul W. Powell Legacy Library

A man came out of church one Sunday and said to me, “Preacher, be good to yourself today.” It was his way of saying, “You are important also.”   It reminded me that I had often been better to other people than I had been to myself. I think a lot of people are that way. They have gone through a divorce, failed in business, had a child...

The subconscious mind is a strange thing. The night before my dad’s birthday I had a dream about him. He died many years ago at the age of 75.   In the dream I was crying and mother asked me why. I said, “Because dad never told me he loved me.” Then suddenly he was present, put out his hand to shake mine like he always did, and said,...

In his book, Trial by Ordeal, Craig Parshall tells of a conversation between Tess and Kevin. A homeless man has died and Kevin felt no responsibility for him. Then Tess reminds him of A Christmas Carol by Dickens where a ghost comes to Scrooge’s door and tells him, “Mankind is your business.” Then she tells Kevin, “This man is a part of your r...

Willy Sutton was a noted bank robber and escape artist. He was a tough Irish kid born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1902. He began his life of crime pilfering small things and then moved to breaking and entering and eventually to robbing banks. In his lifetime he robbed more than 100 banks and served several prison sentences, including a stint in Sing-Sing. He also manage...

Material things can blind us to the true values in life. In the Franklin County Courthouse in Virginia is preserved the will of the man who owned Booker T. Washington as a slave. Since most of his property was in slaves, the owner had listed them by name with his property and set down a price by each one of them. Opposite the name of Booker T. Washington was marked $2...

W.T. Waggoner, a Texas rancher and Deputy Secretary of Defense under President Dwight D. Eisenhower, was one of the richest men in America. Among his assets was the largest fenced ranch in America, covering 535,000 acres of land. He is said to have once took a businessman on a tour of his ranch. He pointed north and said, “You can ride 50 miles in that dire...

We all have certain abilities, and what we have we ought to use to the maximum. Paul “Bear” Bryant was the legendary coach of the University of Alabama and Texas A&M. He said there are four types of players:  those with ability and they know it; those with ability and they don’t know it; those who don’t have ability and they know it;...

3 Then came the word of the LORD by Haggai the prophet, saying, 4 Is it time for you, O ye, to dwell in your cieled houses, and this house lie waste? 5 Now therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts; Consider your ways. 6 Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none...

6 For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. 7 I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: 8 Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing. Introduction &...