Paul W. Powell Legacy Library

Ancient Sparta was a warlike nation that emphasized discipline and hardship and sacrifice. A king once wrote the Spartans a threatening letter, saying that they had better do what he told them to do, for if he came and took their country he would destroy their city and make them all slaves. The Spartans sent a messenger back with their answer, and when the letter was...

Our Western society has become so obsessed with sex that it seeps from all the pores of our national life. The evidences of this are ample. Sex is front-page copy everywhere. Concerning sexual sins the Bible says: “Can a man take fire in his bosom, and his clothes not be burned? Can one go upon hot coals, and his feet not be burned? So he that goeth in to his...

Many years ago four men accompanied me on a mission trip to the West Indies. While visiting with people about Christ one day, a heckler said, “Practice what you preach!” I later learned what was behind the taunt. A few years earlier a young man had professed Christianity and had become very active in the church. He had even done some preaching. Then he fe...

An article in the Wall Street Journal once stated that the Good Book had hit upon bad times, clearly losing its influence on American life amid declining sales. If the Bible has hit upon hard times, why is that? It is not because of science. Some people feel that modern science has outmoded the Bible. This simply is not true. Dr. Victor Hess, Nobel Prize winner...

There is an old saying that a man is a fool who can’t be angry, but a man is wise who won’t be. Anger is a common emotion that we must all learn to deal with. The Bible says, “Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: neither give place to the devil” (Ephesians 4:26-27). This teaches us that not all anger is sin. There...

The hardest three words to say as they ought to be said are these: “I have sinned.” It is only when a person comes face to face with his own sinfulness and is willing to confess it that he can become right with God. Jesus tells the story about a rebellious teenager who ran away from home and wasted all of his money in wild living. He eventually became tir...

Newscaster Lowell Thomas (1892-1981) told how early in his life his father moved his family to Cripple Creek, Colorado, during the gold rush days. That western town, like many mining communities, was a wild and wicked place. In fact, Thomas made a telling comment when he said, “In this wide open atmosphere, I soon felt right at home with sin.” Many Ch...

Chaucer once said in reference to the low morals of the clergy of his day, “If gold rust, what should iron do?” Rusty saints—that’s one of the tragedies of our day. According to the Bible, saints are followers of Christ, not statues in a corner or exceptionally good people who have gone to heaven. There are too many Christians whose lives are t...

There is one thing that you can rely on—rumors aren’t reliable. People mix stories, tell half-truths, and misunderstand what they hear. The results? A story distorted beyond recognition. Let me illustrate. A number of people in our church once attended a state softball tournament in Wichita Falls. One morning two tables of sponsors were having breakfast i...