The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1882, Page 30

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30

The Lutheran Pioneer.

(For the ‘‘Lutheran Pioneer’’.)

0 God, forsake me not!

e O God, forsake me not,
But lead, full of compassion,
With loving hands Thy child,
That I may gain salvation,
When here my course is run.
Be Thou my Light, my Lot,
My Staff, my Rock, my Shield.
O God, forsake me not!

O God, forsake me not!
Guide me, while here 4 wander;
Grant that in sin and shame
My days I may not squander.
Thy Spirit send to me;
My faith, which Thou hast wrought,
Increase; be Thou my strength;

O God, forsake me not!

O God, forsake me not!
Lord, hear my supplication!
In every evil hour

‘Help me o’ercome temptation;
And when the Prince of hell
My conscience sceks to blot,
Then do not fail me, Lord!

O God, forsake me not!

O God, forsake me not!
Thy mercy I’m addressing.
O Father, God of love,
Grant me Thy richest blessing,
To do the duty which
To me Thou didst allot,
To do what pleaseth Thee.
O God, forsake me not!

O God, forsake me not! .
Lord, I am Thine forever.
Grant me true faith in Thee;
Grant that I leave Thee never;
Grant me a blessed end,
When my good fight is fought;
Help me in life and death.
O God, forsake me not! ;
(Solomon Frank, 1725. Tr. by A. Crull, 1882.)
~~ oo +
(For the ‘‘Lutheran Pioneer.’’)

Death of Thomas Bransford.

It was a sad, sad scene our little mission-
chapel witnessed on the 13th of July. The
low and solemn singing of the congregation,
their sad faces and tearful eyes, the mourning
mother, the coffin strewed with flowers,
preached the powerful sermon of Ps. 103:
‘As for man, his days are as grass; as a flower of
the field, 80 he flowrisheth. For the wind passeth
over it, and it is gone, and the place thereof shall
- know it no more.” And the flower over the
whithering of which so many eyes wept that
day, was not one easily to be forgotten. The
coffin held the remains of one who had been a
widow’s only son, the joy and comfort of her
lonely days, of one upon whom we looked as
one of the best among the younger members
of our little flock. 5

His name was Thomas Bransford, born at
Louisville, Ark., on November 18th, 1864.
His mother was for twenty-six years, in slavery
and in freedom, an inmate of the house of Col.
Johnson of Little Rock. Though well cared
for by his kind master, it was Tom’s ambition

to buy for his mother and himself a little home-
stead, and to gain this he labored without re-
Jaxing. He began by carrying papers for the
two dailies of this city, and after he had won
the love and favor of his employers by his in-
dustry, he was allowed, shortly before his death,
to enter one of the printing-offices to learn the
trade.

Meanwhile his education was not neglected.
He visited our mission-school regularly, and
under the instruction of Rev. Berg and Mr.
Jeske made good progress. Not content, how-
ever, with what he learned in the day-time, he
employed his spare hours at night in visiting
an evening-school.

But not only. worldly knowledge did Tom
seek. Through God’s grace, his heart soon be-
gan to wish for the wisdom that beareth the
fruit of eternal life. By Rev. Berg’s instruc-
tion, he became thoroughly acquainted with our
Lutheran catechism. He soon learned the
truth of what the Gospel says, that sinners
cannot be saved but by faith in Christ Jesus,
and though almost all his comrades thanklessly
and faithlessly left the church where the Word
of God is taught in its purity, Tom remained
faithful to the last day of his life. Every Sun-
day morning he could .be seen reciting his cat-
echism with the children, while at night he was
in his pew, a regular and attentive hearer of
what God had to say to him. Among the
people of his color, he was a most faithful and
earnest missionary, inviting his friends and ac-
quaintances to our chapel, anxious that they
also should enjoy the sweetness of the Gospel.

Need we fear, then, that the sudden call of
death found him unprepared? Is it doubtful
whether or not the soul held sweet communion
with its God, while the body was lying un-
conscious in that last, fatal illness? No, we
doubt not, that Tom was found well prepared to
stand before his Lord, that his sins were found
to be covered up with the blood of Christ, and
that he is now, and forever will be, chanting
the Saviour’s glory and praise with the angelic
choirs.

Space does not permit us to speak fully of
all the kindness Col. Johnson and his family
showed to the poor colored boy during his last
ilJness, and which they continue to show to the
grief-stricken mother. May God bless them
for their kindness! Neither shall we speak of
the grief of the afflicted widow. May the Lord
comfort her with the sweet hope of a resurrec-
tion unto eternal life! But this one question,
kind reader, let us finally ask of you: Do you
not find this one example of a saved soul reason
enough to thank our God, who has shed his
blessings bountifully on our poor work and
shown us such fruits of our labors? Surely,
if angels rejoice over the salvation of one soul,
we must praise the Lord for having used our
weak endeavors to bring this sinner into His
heavenly paradise. May He continue to be
with us as he has been until now, to the eternal
honor and glory of His name.

—ER, Little Rock, Ark.

(For the ‘‘Lutheran Pioncer.’’)
The Latest News from our Colored Mission
at Little Rock.

On the 6th Sunday after Trinity, Rev. E.
Meilaender, the new missionary, was ordained
and introduced to his future hearers. Rey.
Herzberger officiated at the ordination and
preached on Isa. 41, 5., from which text he
showed how God will help those that work in
the field of mission. At night, the regular
services were held at the St. Paul’s.Chapel.
The colored people who had signed a call to
Mr. Meilaender had all assembled, besides a
great number of others, the meeting almost
completely filling the chapel. The sermon
showed from Isa. 40, 1. 2. what comforting
news God wishes to be preached by his minis-
ters to all sinners, also to our colored fellow-
men. After the services, Mr. Meilaender ad-
dressed the assembly in a few words, commit-
ting himself to their earnest prayer. Then
Mr. C. Craemer, a student from St. Louis, who
had labored in the mission with great success
for several months, took his leave from those
who had been his attentive hearers and who
had grown dear to his heart. Altogether, the
day was one not easily to be forgotten by all
who partook in the services. May this short
notice of the event be productive of renewed
warmth wherever the zeal for our colored mis-
sion has waxed cold. 18.

———- <a e a

The World’s Estimate of Preachers.

It is not surprising that the infidels agree to
estimate a preacher's greatness in the precise
ratio of the distance he removes from the Bible,
If he preaches the gospel faithfully, heis noth-
ing at all, and it is well that it is so; for it
-would be a sore temptation and peril to his soul
,to have the secular newspapers, dish out his
sermons, or to excite the admiration of ‘the
children of this world.’”’ If he denies the atone-
ment of Christ, he begins to rise in public re-
gard as ‘‘a deep thinker.’ If he preaches
unitarianism and universalism, he is sure to be
considered ‘‘a man of genius.” If he is
“sweet,” and writes like the novelists, and
dresses up his falsehoods in showy rhetoric, he
is the greatest preacher of the country or the
century. They have their reward now, and a
terrible reckoning hereafter; but how strange)
it is that any true minister of the gospel should
forget the warning of Jesus, ‘‘If the world
hate you, ye know that it hated me before it
hated you. If ye were of the world, the world
would love his own: but because ye are not of
the world, but I have chosen you out of the
world, therefore the world hateth you. Re-
member the word that I said unto you, The
servant is not greater than his lord.’’ (John
15, 18—20.)—J. H. B.

+ +o o>

To love anything more than we love the liv-
ing and true God, is to make that thing our god.