The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1913, Page 74

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44 The Lutheran Pioneer.

admonish us to guard them most faithfully? We
are indeed rich in all doctrine. The Word of God
is heard in our midst. The open Bible is in our
hands. But do we diligently hear the Word, do
we daily’search the Scriptures, as did the Bereans?
The candlestick of God’s Word we have; let us
carefully guard it, lest it be thrown down. And
when is that done? When we become unfaithful,
negligent, and careless in the use of the Word and
the Sacraments. Many countries and cities, once
rich in doctrine and knowledge, now sit in darkness
because they did not guard the candlestick of truth.
In Western Asia and Northern Africa were once
heard. the voices of many evangelists proclaiming
Christ’s Gospel, but to-day the countries scarcely
hear anything but the dreadful lies of Mohammed.
In Corinth and Athens, where the voices of Paul
and his pupils were heard, now rules supreme the
superstition of the Greek Church. Italy, Spain,
and other countries lie under the yoke of the Romish
Antichrist. Germany, the cradle of the Reforma-
tion, has become the hotbed of unbelief. And, oh,
how many of those who once were rich in Christ
have lost their treasure!
May we, therefore, watch and pray that we en-

dure unto the end! Let our daily prayer be:

Lord Jesus Christ, with us abide, -

For round us falls the eventide;

Let not Thy Word, that heav’nly light,

For us be ever veiled in night.

In these last days of sore distress

Grant us, dear Lord, true steadfastness,

That pure we keep, till life is spent,

Thy holy Word and Sacrament.
But we Christians should not be satisfied to have
these riches in doctrine and knowledge for ourselves,
and give no thought to others. Freely we have re-
ceived these riches of Christ, freely we should give
them to others. And the more liberal we prove our-
selves, the richer shall we grow in them. Yes, let
us help bring the riches of the Gospel ‘to those who
are yet without them. Let us do so out of gratitude
for our own salvation; let us do so out of loyalty
to CRrist, who has asked us to do so; let us do so
out of compassion for the poverty and suffering of
those who know nothing of these riches; let us do
so because we know that the riches of the Gospel
are the only means of satisfying their souls’ eternal
wants.

‘iE person who serves Christ for pay will be-
{ray Him as soon as he can get a better price.

.

A Very Wrong Idea.

Some people are under the wrong impression
that a large portion of the money collected for Mis-
sions is used up by the various Mission Boards for
administration purposes, and that for that reason
only a small part ever reaches the mission field.
I once read that a man in New York paid $2.50
for a barrel of sweet potatoes, and that the farmer
down in Georgia who raised the potatoes only got
50 cents of this money; all the rest went to the
railroad company, the drayman, the wholesale and
retail merchant. Now, some people have an idea
that it is similar with the money they contribute to
missions, that much of the money never reaches the
direct object in the home or foreign field for which
the money was given. This, of course, is by no
means the case, as any one can find out for himself
by examining the accounts of the treasuries of the
different Boards when they are published in the
chureh-papers. ‘The fact is that no business con-
cern is run as inexpensively as is the business of
the Mission Boards. This is true of all Mission
Boards, but especially is it true of the home and
foreign Mission Boards within the Lutheran Syn-
odical Conference.

The Foreign Board of the Baptist Church ex-
pends about 8 per cent. for administration purposes,
including salaries of secretaries, office assistants,
publication and distribution of reports, literature,
postage, ete. The Foreign Board of the Methodist
Church expended 7.15 per cent. and the Foreign
Board of the Episcopal Church about 6 per cent.
The administration expenses of the Board of For-
eign Missions of the Presbyterian Church in the
United States of America were less than 7 per cent.,
and those of the Board of Home Missions of the
same church amounted to 7.08 per cent. In other
words, of every dollar given for foreign missions in
the Episcopal Church, 94 cents goes directly to the
field and the other 6 cents pay all the expenses of
getting, sending, and reporting the gift.

Now, this is certainly a very inexpensive hand-
ling of money, but the administration expenses of
our Colored Mission, for example, is much less.
According to the report of the treasurer for 1910 to
*12, the expense of securing, forwarding, and report-
ting the gifts for this Mission was only 3.6 per cent.
of the total receipts! Of every dollar received;
96.4 cents went directly to the field. The treasurer’s
report also shows that all the money collected for
Colored Missions went to the mission field, and