The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1904, Page 75

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The: Lutheran Pioneer.

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A Lesson About Money.

A pastor, pleading with his congregation for lib-
eral gifts for the mission cause, said that many war-
nings were given in the Scriptures of the danger
connected with the possession of much money. He
would tell his hearers the best way of meeting the
danger, and tell it by astory. And this is the story:

A cottage at the foot of a hill was once flooded
by a stream which burst its banks, and, rushing
into the cottage, ruined it. The poor old woman
who lived there went to a neighbor to bewail her
loss. Her furniture was all spoiled, her home was
ruined.

‘But, dear me!”’ she said, ‘‘you have had the
flood as well as I, and it does not seem to have done
much harm. How is that?’’

“Oh,” replied her neighbor, ‘‘when the water
came in at the back door I opened the front door,
and it ran through and just washed the floor clean.
Why didn’t you open the door and let it run out?”’

Some people need that lesson about their money.
Often, when it runs in, it works much harm, because
they do not open the front door of giving to Christ’s
cause to let it out. Money hoarded and hugged be-
comes a burden and a curse.

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An Idol-Festival.

A missionary gives the following description of
an Idol-Festival which he witnessed in India:

“T once attended an Idol-Festival at Madras
which was celebrated in a great temple.

*fAt sunrise the roads were already lined with
wagons and people coming from all parts of the
country.

“The first that attracted my attention was an
old woman lying in the dust, her face, which had
been painted, exposed to the burning sun.

‘At a short distance from her lay a man in a
hedge fence calling to his idols. _

‘‘Warther on I saw six little children sitting in
the dust clapping their hands and singing as Hf
praying to a man who stood near them.

‘Then I passed a child, whose eyes had been
pierced out by the mothers lying on the roadside
without any clothing on, also exposed to the burning
sun. Near this lay another child in the same state,
with its arms and legs broken. Another lay bleed-
ing in a brush-pile, crying pitifully. A little boy,
with his feet tied up to his head, was another pitiful
sight. Passing on I saw many whose eyes had been
taken out and their bones broken.

‘*As I neared the temple I saw many sights like
these described, and instead of going on, I took an-
other road and went back to my lodging-place, pray-
ing that the light of the Gospel may soon reach the
hearts of these people.’’

oe

Excellent Advice.

A young man just starting upon his work in the
ministry was one day talking to an aged minister
in London who had spent a lifetime in the service.
The young man said:

“You have had a great deal of experience; you
know many things that I ought to learn. Can’t you
give me some advice to carry with me in my new
duties?”’

“Yes, I can,’’ was the response. ‘‘I will give
you a piece of advice. You know that in every
town in England, no matter how small, in every
village or hamlet, though it be hidden in the folds
of the mountains or wrapped around by the far-off
sea, in every clump of farmhouses, you can find a
road which, if you follow it, will take you to Lon-
don. Just so every text which you shall choose to
preach from in the Bible will have a road which
leads to Jesus. Be sure you find that road and
follow it; be careful not to miss it once. This is
my advice to you.”’

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How to Read the Bible.

Luther says: ‘‘The way to find the hidden treas-
ures that are in the Bible is, first, to read through
one book carefully, then study chapter by'chapter,
and then verse by verse, and, lastly, word by word.
It is like a person shaking a fruit tree. First, shak-
ing the tree and gathering up the fruit hich falls:
to the ground, and then shaking each branch, and
afterwards each twig of the branch, and, last of all,
looking carefully under each leaf to see that no fruit.
remains.’’ ‘

In God’s Care.

One evening when he saw a little bird perched
on a tree, to roost there for the night, Luther said:
“That little bird has had its supper, and now it is
getting ready to go to sleep here, quite secure and
content, never troubling itself what its food will be,
or where its lodging on the morrow. Like Dayid,
it ‘abides under the shadow of the Almighty.’ It
sits on its little twig content, and lets God take
care.’? Naess