The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1911, Page 66

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66 ° The Lutheran Pioneer.

> That Gospel is for all sinners. Therefore the

same Jesus that revealed the Gospel of God's love
commissioned His Christians to make it known
throughout the whole world. How gladly they
should obey their Savior’s conmand: “Preach the
Gospel to evéry creature!”

——_—_—_-2-9

Keeping Books with the Lord.

“Do you keep books?” asked a pastor of a
young man.

“Why, certainly I keep books.
man does that.”

*“What I mean,” said the pastor, “do you keep
books in your business with the Lord? Do you
keep an account, for instance, of the money you
spend on the church here at home, and of the money
you give for the Lord’s work among others, in mis-
sions, for instance, in our own land and in heathen
countries ?”

“No, I do not. I never thought of it,” said the
young man. :

But the pastor’s question set the young man to
thinking. He now keeps books with the Lord. He
has done so for some years. And the result has
been that he gives more for the Lord’s kingdom than
he ever gave before. And another result has been
that he is more concerned for the progress and wel-
fare of the Church and its missions. As his con-
tributions for the mission cause )ave increased,
his interest in missions has also increased. His
moncy being invested in missions, he considers him-
self “part of the concern,” like the boy whom the
preacher, on his way to the mission meeting, over-
took on the road.

The preacher asked the boy about the road, and
where he was going.

“Qh!” said the boy, “I’m going to the meeting
to hear about the missionaries.”

“Missionaries!” said the preacher; “what do
you know about missionaries ?”

“Why,” said the boy, “I’m part of the concern.
I’ve got Q missionary box, and I always go to’ the
missionary meeting. I belong there.”

_ Dear reader, do you keep books in your panies
with the Lord? Do you consider yourself “part of
the concern,” contributing to the mission cause ac-
cording to your ability, and taking a hearty interest
in the spread of the Gospel? “Let us not be weary
in well-doing; for in due season we shall xeeP if
we faint not,” Gal. 6, 9. :

Every business

Heathen Superstition.

The lady superintendent of a Christian Chil-
dren’s Home in China writes: —

Sad is the lot of my smallest pupil, a neat, lively
little girl. The child was bought by a poor old
widow when it was but a few weeks old. When the
woman broughé the child to our school, I asked her
if she was its grandmother.

She replied, “No, the child is my coflin girl.”

[ asked, “ITow so? What do you mean ?”

She then said, “I bought the child only for the
purpose of earning my coflin. As soon as the little
one fetches a price large enough to buy a good coflin,
T shall sell her.”

The poor child is a victim of heathen supersti-
tion. ‘The heathen Chinese here think that no one
can die happy without having his coffin ready.
People are often laid in their coffin before they are
dead, and the greatest care of old people is to have
their coffin standing ready in their home. Jt often
happens that a coffin is given to them as a birthday
present. So this old woman also cares for her coflin ;
but when she’is. told to care for her soul, she will
not listen.

The poor little girl also knows that she is to be
sold as soon as possible, for the old woman always
complains that she is still so small and so weak.

What a happy childhood children of Christian
parents have in comparison with the poor children
in heathen Jands! And how thankful Christian
children should be to God and their parents!

Not in Vain.

A missionary in India writes: —

There are those who doubt whether. the religious
instruction given to heathen children in our mission
schools is of any lasting benefit. There are cases in
which there is good reason for such doubt. When ~
children Jeaye the’ school before they are well
grounded in our Christian doctrine, they soon for-
get in their heathen surroundings and through the
influence of heathenism what they have learned in
school. It is wiped out. A woman recently listen-°
ing to the instruction of her daughter, said laugh-
ingly that she also at one time attended a school.
“Morning and evening,” she said, “there were
prayers, and the stories we also learned. Now that
is all forgotten long ago.”

Still our labor in our mission schools is not in