The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1913, Page 58

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The Lutheran Pioneer.

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come when He will break them with a rod of iron,
and dash them in picces like a potter’s vessel.
Abiding, steadfast, firm, and sure,
The teachings of the Word endure.

God has given us His Word to show us and lead
us to salvation. It is to show us the depths of our
sinful depravity, but also the Savior and Redeemer
from sin.
our natural state, but also to turn our eyes to the
crucified Jesus. It is to convince us of our own
utter weakness in spiritual things, but no less is
it to give us strength to grasp the Rock of Salva-
{ion. And God’s Word will remain, despite all
the rage of Satan, until the last one of God’s chosen
people has found the Savior, and the last one of
His elect has safely entered into eternal safety.
Jesus has declared, “Heaven and earth shall pass
away, but my words shall not pass away.” Yes,
these eternal words of Jesus will remain to judge
those that attacked them so vainly, and then will
be fulfilled the prayer:

Destroy their counsels, Lord, our God,
And smite them with an iron rod,

And let them fall into the snare
Which for Thy Christians they prepare.

’ A Miracle in Modern Times.

Once, long ago, a child, a foundling, was picked
up in a street in London. As it was St. Thomas’
Day, the child was called Thomas, and because it
wus found between two bridges, it received the
name of Thomas Bridges.

Many years afterwards, a man of science,

Charles Darwin, renowned in the world, made a
voyage for the purpose of gathering materials for
his scientific work. -When he arrived at Tierra del
Fuego, in South America, he found there people
who were so degraded (cannibals, in fact, without
heart or moral fecling) that he declared that the
creatures stood as far beneath man as, for example,
the monkeys did, and that they were the lowest
among humanity.
_ ‘The account Darwin gave of these creatures was
of such a kind that the naval authorities of the day
gave orders that in future the crews of none of
their ships should land on that coast.

In the meantime, Thomas Bridges had grown
to manhood when Darwin published his ideas about
Tierra del Fuego. When this young man was
asked what he wished to do, he answered: “I was

It is to open our eyes that we may see *

nothing, and by God’s grace I became what I am.
I will devote to Him all I am and have.” “What
will’ you do, then?” “I will go and bring the
Gospel of Jesus Christ to those people in Tierra
del Fuego,” he replied.

Notwithstanding all warnings, he left England
io go and live amongst those wild creatures with
human faces, his only weapon being Christ’s love
for those whom he desired to win for his Master,
and whom he looked upon as brethren, although
they were cannibals.

And what seemed impossible really came to pass.

Some years later there was a shipwreck on the
shores of Tierra del Fuego. ‘The people (the same
who before were cannibals) rushed to the shore,
threw themselves at the peril of their lives into
the waves, saved the people belonging to the sink-
ing ship, and restored to life the exhausted men
by their faithful care. Their conduct was so beau-
tiful that the King of Italy wrote them a letter
—which was also published — to thank them, and
to praise their conduct.

When Darwin, the learned man, who had be-
fore uttered that sharp judgment concerning the
Tierra del Fuegans, excluding them from human-
ity, and declaring that nothing could possibly be
done for such a wild race, heard the news, he did
what all honest men ought to do, he confessed to
having erred, and wrote as follows: “I should never
have believed that all the missionaries in the world
could have effected such a reform.” And, taking
a check, he sent 125 francs ($25.00) for the
mission.

Reader, do you know of any power that is able
tc do such miracles? and have you experienced the
power of the Gospel in your own heart? — Moravian
Missions, quoted in Lutheran Church Visitor.

——- om

Little Rock, Ark.

St. Paul’s Colored Lutheran Church at Little
Rock, Ark., is the oldest of our missionary churches
in the South. Its history dates as far back as
1878. On his tour-of exploration, Rev. J. F. Doc-
scher was instrumental in organizing in this city
the first Lutheran Synday-school among the col-
ored people. In the same year the St. Louis
graduate, Rev. F. Berg, at present President of
Immanuel College at Greensboro, N. C., accepted
the call to Little Rock. A commodious chapel, ar-
ranged for church and school purposes, was erected,