Paul W. Powell Legacy Library

Sin is deadly and should not be treated lightly. The Bible warns, “Fools make a mock at sin” (Proverbs 14:9). How do people mock sin? 1. Some people mock sin by changing its name. W. E. Sangster, the late Methodist preacher, said, “Years ago I attended a joint meeting of doctors, psychiatrists, and ministers to discover ways in which we could w...

Has science outmoded the Bible? Some people think so. But those who know both science and the scriptures know that the answer is obviously no. When properly understood, the Bible has never bowed to any discovery of science. We must remember that the Bible is not a textbook of science. It is a book of God to show us how to be saved. The Bible does not propose to give...

There are times when, in the face of a temptation or an invitation to do evil, there is no substitute for an absolute, resounding “no.” The word no is one of the smallest yet hardest of all words to say. Youth especially have trouble saying it. We have trouble with it because we all want popularity, success, and happiness. To say no increases the poss...

During the last few decades, a small number of “radical” theologians have received worldwide publicity from their announcement that “God is dead.” Some members of the secular press, hungering for headlines, raised these men to a level seldom afforded a philosopher or theologian. While there is nothing new about such claims, we who are Christia...

Drunkenness is one of American’s leading health, moral, and social problems. The Bible warns, “Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging; and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise” (Proverbs 20:1).  The evils of drunkenness can be seen in a story that I found in an old Spanish schoolbook many years ago. On a lonely stretch of mountain road a...

The Bible does not say, “Spare the rod and spoil the child,” but it does say, “He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes [early]” (Proverbs 13:24). Unquestionably, the home is the place for discipline. The God-ordained purpose of parents is to give guidance and training to children. But today many pa...

We are feeling a crisis in belief in America. We have rejected God and the Bible and become so open-minded that our brains have fallen out. In the name of tolerance and intellectual sophistication, we have become mushy-headed. Our godless, materialistic society has created a spiritual vacuum, leaving many lives void of meaning, hope, and stability. Many people...

Psychiatrists say that the vast neurotic misery of the world could be termed a “neurosis of emptiness.” Such emptiness is always dangerous, for human nature like physical nature abhors a vacuum. A person must be filled with something. If his life is not filled with good, then he becomes easy prey for evil. Jesus emphasized this when he told the story of a...

Will Durant, in his book The Story of Civilization, spoke extensively about revolutions. He wrote, “The only real revolution is the revolution of the individual. The only real revolutionists are the philosophers and the saints.” What an insight! He was saying to us that violent revolutions do not redistribute the wealth; they just destroy the wealth. Advoc...