Paul W. Powell Legacy Library

At the turn of the 19th century, when the forces of lawlessness were let loose in England, William Wordsworth paid tribute to John Milton by writing, “Milton! Thou shouldst be living at this hour: England, hath need of thee… Oh! raise us up, return to us again; and give us manners, virtue, freedom, power.” Today this same call could well be sent to...

The song "God Bless America" is also a prayer that God will bless us again. For in spite of all our blessings we still have great needs. I think what Charles Dickens said concerning the French Revolution in A Tale of Two Cities could well be applied to our day. He said, “It was the best of times; it was the worst of times.”  Today is a time of d...

Philosopher Sidney Harris said, “It is easier to be a ‘humanitarian’ than to render your own country its proper dues; it is easier to be a ‘patriot’ than to make your community a better place to live in; it is easier to be a ‘civic leader’ than to treat your own family with love and understanding: for the smaller the focus of...

Advice columnist Ann Landers once wrote, “More marriages are wrecked on the rocks of religious difference than most people can imagine.” It is a fact that religious differences are one of the principal causes of problems in marriages. How could it be otherwise? It could not be, unless our faith were unimportant to us. The only way religious differences can...

What should be the Christian attitude toward war? Is the taking of human life ever justified? The Bible clearly teaches that the biblical ideal is for peace. Unfortunately, our world is not ideal. It is a world filled with greed, lust, hatred, jealousy, and self-interest. Where such sins abound, there will be war. Where there is world sin, there will be world war. Th...

Someone said: “God made the country, man made the city, and the devil made the small town.” He could have had in mind your town. Most people at one time or another contribute to the spread of idle gossip and groundless rumors. Rare indeed is the person who will let such information end with his hearing. While most people participate in rumors about others...

Our young people are growing up in the lap of luxury and leisure, yet they are miserable, empty, and bored. What's happened to make them weary of life so soon? Let me venture the following answers: 1. Too much luxury: We just plain have too much and our affluence is killing us. We would be better off if we were not so well off. People who have everything they want ar...

All of us are interested in making our nation as strong and as good as possible. But wherein lies the strength of a nation?  The strength of the nation is first of all in the home. The family is recognized by almost everyone as the basic institution of society. It is the foundation of society. When divorce, unfaithfulness, permissiveness, and materialism dominat...

One day a friend told the philosopher Plato that someone had spoken evil of him. “What are you going to do about it?” his friend inquired anxiously. “I shall live in such a way that no one will believe the report,” Plato answered, undisturbed. That’s the advice of scripture. We are to live so that when people speak evil of us, no one wi...