The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1895, Page 42

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The Lutheran Pioneer.

EEE —————————— EEO

(For the LUTHERAN PIONEER.)

Uncle Bob’s Letter.

So now, wy precious little ones in the far
North, join me in spirit to

Sing praise to God who reign’s above,
The God of all creation,

The God of power, the God of love,
The God of our salvation.

With healing balm my soul He fills,
And every raging tempest stills;

To God all praise and glory!

My pear NerHEews anp Nieces : —

Boom, boom! Boom, boom! That sounds
like the glorious Fourth, don’t it? But so far
as Mount Zion is concerned, it has a quite
different significance.

True, the boom, boom of the cannon, guns,
and crackers, which we hear on the 4th of Ji uly,

is the way the American expresses his joy and
mirthfulness on every recurring Independence
Day; and only in so far as the boom! boom!
now, in these times of peace, is the expression
ofsjoy, should it here, in this letter to my boys
and girls in the far North, signify to them
the happiness and cheerfulness that is taking
the place of the gloom that had settled on
Mount Zion.

Every heart in Mount Zion now makes boom,
boom, in grateful response to the blessings
which the Lord is pouring out over her new
scheol. Such a rush to get in as we are having
now is almost unprecedented! Mount Zion
has not seen the equal of it for seven years.
Uncle Bob has asked for figures, and was in-
formed by his good friend, Teacher Meibohm,
that there were 63 admissions. And still they
come! Itis the intention to transfer the Second
Reader class, numbering about 25 pupils, to
the First Department, so as to make room for
new scholars in the Second Department. As
the Rolls now stand, the I. Dept. has 43, the
II. Dept. 103, quite too many to handle judi-
ciously.

146 on the Roll! Surely, God has poured
out His blessings most abundantly !

There was a time when Uncle Bob’s heart
was sorely grieved within him; for many years
Mount Zion was wanting for’much. She had
no proper school-building, neither a permanent
teacher for the Second Department; and, of
course, she fell behind in the forward: march.
But now his grief has changed to joy. Mount
Zion has a new school, a good school, the best
school in town; and well equipped in most
respects. So, boom, boom!

But look once more at those words which
are at the beginning of this letter, and you
will’see another pair of boom, boom! I must
tell’ you what the second pair mean. So the
first, remember, means joy and happiness in
Mount Zion. Don’t forget it.

When town grows and prospers beyond
expectation, they say the place is booming.
Mount Zion is on the boom! Our school is

_ full and flowing over. God has blessed us
undeserving, miserable sinners. He has raised
us out of the dust, and put our enemies to
sliame. Yes, He will give us a new house of
Worship also; for are not my little friends in
@ North gone to work in Jesus’ name for
this'very purpose? Indeed, out of the mouths
af Uncle Bob’s little nephews and nieces the
shall prepare Himself a praise. Boom,
Onr school is booming!

Your affectionate uncle,

Bos.
—_———~- °<P oe

(For the LUTHERAN PIONEER.)
“Nobody asked me to come.”

Some time ago, in » & minister found
a poor family living in a small but clean room.
From conversation with the father and the
mother, he soon discovered that it was one of
those cases where, from the long illness of the
father, the family had fallen from comparative
comfort to poverty. He was now, however,
better, and had been able for some time to
work a little, so as to keep his family from
destitution but by no means to enable them
to live in comfort. Having learned so much
of their worldly concerns, their visitor next
began to speak of their soul’s interests. He
asked them if they went to any church. ‘‘No,”’
said the father; ‘‘we used to go long ago, be-
fore I took ill; but we went no more after
that.”” ‘But,’’ said the visitor, ‘tyou have
been better for a good while.’ ‘‘O,”? said
the father, ‘‘nobody ever asked us to come.’?
“Well,” said the visitor, ‘‘I’ll ask you now ;’
and he directed him to a church where he
would hear the glad tidings from a faithful
minister.—My dear reader, pause and con-
sider, how many souls are perishing in
and other towns, ‘‘because though all things
are now ready, nobody ever asked them to
come! 1”?

“Therefore to him that knoweth to do good,
and doeth it not, to him it is sin.’ (James
4, 17.) OBE.

——— oo

Katie’s Question.

Katie is a quaint old maiden lady living up
in the part of the country where a city pastor
spends his vacation. She is an intelligent and
devout Christian. Having learned that the pas-
tor’s city congregation supported missionaries
in the foreign field and that the poorest gave
at least fifty cents a year, she desired to help
in the blessed work. She had been saying up
her pennies for such an object for a long time
—she had now about sixty cents in store—
and she hailed with joy this Opportunity to
apply it, as she had long wished, for the ex-
tension of the Master’s kingdom. When the
pastor learned that, although she had saved
this money, poverty had denied her fresh meat
as an article of diet for a whole year, he at first
hesitated about receiving it. At length he
accepted her missionary gift, rejoicing to be
the means for conveying such

tee i @ treasure in

the Lord’s name to those who, in a sadder
sense, were more destitute than she, since they
were without the Gospel.

When the pastor called upon Katie the next
summer, she was again ready with her offering.
Out came the little paste-board box, which,
with one or two scientific shakes, unloaded its
valuable contents upon the wooden chair—
in all sixty-eight cents.

‘*There,’”’ said Katie, ‘‘please give that for
missions.’’

‘*But,’’ objected the pastor, knowing what
a struggle she had to gather so many pennies
together, ‘‘had we not better take only the fifty
cents, and leave you the remaining eighteen
as a kind of nest egg for next year?’

A pause of a few seconds, a very earnest,
thoughtful look, and then, with much solem-
nity, mingled with an ‘‘air of business” that
would have been laughable under different
circumstances, she replied, ‘‘Hadn’t it better
be in circulation ?”’

Touched by the childlikeness and sublimity
of the woman’s faith, the pastor accepted her
missionary gift.

‘‘Hadn’t it better be in circulation?’ This
is the question which, in God’s name, we
would like to lay upon the consciences of all
the wealthy church members in the Synodical
Conference. Our mission work at home and
abroad is in need of money. Our missionaries
and the treasurers of our Mission Boards again
and again make known this need of money.
The poor contribute their small but welcome
gifts. Where, however, are the large gifts of
our wealthy members? This is the time when
they should come to the front and help the
Church in her great mission work. How can
Christians be justified in laying up treasures
upon earth when the cause of Him who made
them and redeemed them, is in need of that
silver and gold which are His? We echo
Katie’s question —‘‘Hadn’t it better be in

circulation ??’
———2 + eae

The Skeptical Shoemaker.

“T have read,’’ said the shoemaker, ‘‘a good
deal about the heathen gods, and I believe the
account of Christ is taken from some of the
heathen writings or other.’’

‘Will you abide by your own decision on
two questions that I will put to you?’’ said
the Bible reader. ‘‘If so, I will freely do the
same. I will abide by your own answers; by
doing so we shall save much time, and arrive
quicker at the truth.’’

“‘Well,”? said he, ‘ont with it, and let us
See if I can answer; there are but few things
but what I can say something about.’’

“Well, my friend,”’ replied the reader, ‘‘my
first question is, Suppose all men were Chris-
tians, according to the account given to us in
the Gospels concerning Christ, what would be
the state of society?”

He remained silent for some time in deep
thought, and then was constrained to say,