The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1909, Page 71

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The Lutheran Pioneer.

71

The Weeping Savior.

Jesus wept! Those tears are over,
But His heart is still the same;
Kinsman, Friend, and Elder Brother,
Is His everlasting name.

Savior, who ean love like Thee,
Gracious One of Bethany?

When the pangs of trial seize us,
When the waves of trouble roll,

I will lay my head on Jesus,
Pillow of the troubled soul.
Surely none can feel like Thee,
Weeping One of Bethany!

That tear of sorrow
Is a legacy of love;

Yesterday, to-day, to-morrow,

He the same doth ever prove.
Thou art still the same to me,
Living One of Bethany!

Jesus wept!

Selected.

How Pastor Hsi Stopped Idol Worship.

Mrs. Howard Taylor, in her biography of Pastor
Hsi, tells how this eatnest Christian taught the les-
son to his fellow villagers that there is no other
God but the true God of the Bible. Suspicious of
him when he became a Christian, their respect for
him grew as they noted his careful, upright life.
And when they were about to choose a village elder,
the official responsible for the collection of taxes,
the care of the temples, and other public duties,
opinion became unanimous that no one was more
suited to fill the position than the scholar Hsi, now
that he was no longer an opium smoker. He tried

to decline, but the office was forced upon him. Be- -

fore accepting he made two stipulations: that he
should have nothing to do with temple sacrifices,
but should pray only to the true God; and that no
one in the village should, during his term, worship
. the gods in the temple or bring gifts to them. The
_ temple must be closed for a year. ‘There was much
discussion. Finally the citizens agreed to the terms.
The temple was closed, and Hsi prayed to the true
God for the prosperity of the village. At the close
of the year it was found that the affairs of the vil-
lage had never been more prosperous, and the head-
man was re-elected on his own terms. Again har-
vests were good, money matters successfully dealt
with, and peace and contentment prevailed. For
three whole years the temple was closed, and no
public festivals were held in worship of the gods.
At the close of the third year Hsi was once more
unanimously chosen.. But he was too much occu-

pied with his Christian work, and declined. When
congratulated on the service he had rendered, he
smilingly replied that perhaps the village had been
saved some needless expense, adding: “By this time
the idols must be quite starved to death. Spare
yourself now any effort to revive them.” It was a
practical lesson, not easily forgotten.
Foreign Missionary.

OO ee =

Mohammedans.

Mohammedans are people that follow the teach-
ings of the false prophet Mohammed. They reject
the Bible and deny the true God. They are divided
into many sects, which number, according to the
latest statistics, 200,000,000 members in the differ-
ent countries and islands of the East, 250,000 being
found in the Philippine Islands. They have of late
been making strong efforts to spread their false
religion, especially in Africa, so that a Lutheran
missionary in that country, in a recent pamphlet,
sounds the alarm of a “Mohammedan Peril” to the
native church, as well as to many pagan districts
in West Africa.

The Mohammedans are very fanatic, and mis-
sion work among them is very difficult. Still it is
carried on at many points, and not without God’s
blessing. The Bible has been translated into every

‘language of the Mohammedan world, and a large

number of books especially intended for Mohamme-
dans have been prepared in all the chief languages
spoken by them. Less than a century ago there
was not one Protestant worker in any Mohammedan
land. At that time the giving up of the false
religion meant death to the convert. Now there are
converts in every land where Christian missionaries
are laboring. Villages that could not be reached
safely in Arabia ten years ago now welcome the
missionary. ‘Thousands of Mohammedan youth are
receiving a Christian education in Egypt, India,
Java, and Sumatra. In Sumatra and Java there
are over 16,000 converts organized into churches.

‘Tt is a great and difficult task which the Chureh

has to do in the evangelization of the large Moham-
medan world. Sale?

——— 6-9

A Lost Sheep Found.

Writing of joys that sonictimes come to the
laborer in the mission-field quite unexpectedly, a
missionary says: A Hindu girl had been instructed