Paul W. Powell Legacy Library

E. Stanley Jones, that great Methodist missionary who spent his life in India, said one day he had planned a trip to the jungle. It was his first, so he hired a guide. The guide had a machete and they came to the edge of the jungle and being unfamiliar with the ways of the jungle, Stanley Jones asked the guide, “Well, where is the trail? Where is the path?&rdquo...

The preacher was told that he had cancer, just a little while to live, and he went back to his cabin and one moonlit night he looked out the window and saw the mountains that he loved so much. And that mountain stream that flowed down. He looked up at the stars so clear and bright in the winter sky, and he said to the mountains, “Mountains, when you are no more...

Once we buried a young lady who was only 21 years old. She was killed in a head-on collision while on her way to church. The night before the funeral, my daughter asked why God allows things like this to happen. I wish I knew. Things like this have puzzled saints, wise men, and philosophers since the world began. There is simply no one easy answer as to why tra...

Once a lady came by my study to ask me about heaven. She wanted to know if there would be degrees of rewards there. I told her that the scriptures teach us that there will be (1 Corinthians 3:11-15). The Bible teaches that our destiny depends on faith (Ephesians 2:8-9), but our rewards depend on works (Revelation 22:12). It is by the grace of God that we are saved; i...

A foreigner, when asked his impression of American people, said, “They impress me as being worried.” Anxiety is part of almost every life. In fact our age has been called “the age of anxiety.” In the midst of the tensions of today's times many are wondering, “How can I overcome worry?” One of the greatest helps is to remember that...

The solution to most of the marital discord in today’s home is found in one line from the Bible. It is, “Take heed to your spirit” (Malachi 2:15). If our attitudes and dispositions are right, then we can live in love and peace in any relationship, including marriage. What kind of spirit do we need to develop and maintain a good marriage? 1. A trust...

There is no greater blessing than to have a true and loyal friend, one in whom we can confide in times of trouble. There is no greater tragedy than to have a friend betray the confidence that you have put in him. The Bible warns: “Confidence in an unfaithful man in time of trouble is like a broken tooth” (Proverbs 25:19). We should all strive to be a loya...

1 To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: 2 A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; 3 A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; 4 A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; 5 A time to cast awa...

1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. 2 For by it the elders obtained a good report. 3 Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear. 4 By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtai...