The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1914, Page 33

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Che Lutheran Pioneer.

A MISSIONARY MONTHLY.

PuBuisHeD BY THE EVANGELICAL Lurneran SyNopicaL CoNFERENCE oF NortH AMERICA.
REv. F. J. LANKENAU, EDITOR.

Entered at the Post OMice at St. Louis, Mo., as second-class matter.

Vol. XXXVI

ST. LOUIS, MO., MAY; 1914.

No. 5.

—— ———

Prayer for the Negro Mission.

Father of Love, stretch forth Thy hand
Over the freedmen of our land,

And lift them up, for they are down,
Their weal and woe with blessing crown;
Though dark of hue, made so by Thee,
Their blood-bought souls, like us, set free.

Lord Jesus, by Thy holy blood,

O wash them in the sacred flood

Of living water in Thy name

From all their sins, from guilt and shame,
Justify, save them by Thy grace,

And speed them on their heav’nward race.

Holy Ghost, Comforter divine,

Scatter the darkness, arise and shine!
Strengthen the weak, seek Thou the lost,
And gather them to Thy heav’nly host,
That they with us may loud rejoice,

And praise Thy love with heart and voiee.

Eternal God, blest Trinity,
Give to Thy Church true unity;
Preachers more to the freedmen send
Who boldly for the faith contend,
That sinners num’rous, sick-and sore, ,
May reach at last the heav’nly shore.
N. J. BAKKE.

Lift Up Your Hearts.

Of the disciples we are told that when Jesus
was taken up before their eyes, they steadfastly
looked up to heaven. A most beautiful and ex-
pressive scene is here’ presented to us in a few
words. With longing hearts they with their eyes
follow their ascending Lord. So also our eyes
shall be turned to our Savior, who has gone before
to prepare a place for us. Our hearts shall be cen-
tered upon those things which are above, where

Christ sitteth at the right hand of His heavenly
Father.

The natural man cannot but be carnally minded,
his heart can only long for the pleasures, the honors,
and goods of this present world; but we Chris-
tians shall be heavenly-minded, our hearts shall
be lifted up beyond the things of this present world,
and long for the perfect joys and riches of our
heritage in heaven. By faith we have entered
upon a heavenly pilgrimage. We are journeying
through a strange land, and our hearts and minds,
our longings and desires, are centered upon our
true Fatherland, upon the heavenly Canaan, the
Land of Promise. With the disciples we look stead-
fastly upon our ascending Lord, and from our
hearts the fervent prayer wells up:

Draw us to Thee

Unceasingly,

Into Thy kingdom take us;

Let us fore’er

Thy glory share,

Thy saints and joint-heirs make} us.

Pentecostal Thoughts.

On the first day of Pentecost the Holy Ghost
was wonderfully outpoured upon the disciples of
Jesus. But that did not end the work of the Holy
Ghost; on the contrary, that outpouring of the
Holy Ghost on the disciples was but the beginning,
the opening of a fountain from whence a mighty
river has poured itself upon all flesh. Since that
first day of Pentecost the outpouring of the Holy
Ghost has continued till the present day, and will
continue until the end of days.

But the Holy Ghost comes to us and performs
His gracious work in us by certain means, the