The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1917, Page 28

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_ enjoyed your short visit.
can. Yes, I shall send you pictures of the old and
_ new buildings as soon as I shall be able to get to

28

The Lutheran Pioneer.

good friend hears that we have none, and so will
our Communion service. We have a lot of friends,
you know, and they delight in helping us. These
lamps are not ours. We borrowed them from our
sister congregation at Rose Bud until we shall have
some given to us for our own.

But I must tell you about our children’s Christ-
mas service here in the “Black Belt” of Alabama.
Considering the short time we had to prepare, it
was fine. The children had never before known the
real meaning of Christmas. Never before had they
heard the Christmas story or seen a Christmas tree.
The work of the children was excellent. ‘They told
the story of the Christ-child’s birth as though they
had always known it. ‘To hear them tell of the
prophecies concerning the Messiah, and recite the

story of their fulfilment made one thank God that

the “Black Belt” had been opened to our Lutheran
Church. A year, or even six months ago, these
same little “Black Belters’ knew nothing of the
story which they now told. And the -singing, —
well, you should have heard it! “Come Hither, Ye
Faithful,” “From Heaven Above,” “Silent Night,”
“Let Us All with Gladsome Voice,” and many other
carols they sang as if they had always known them.
And even now one hears the choruses, echoes of
Christmas night, ringing among the hills. Our
Lutheran hymns are rapidly supplanting the old
plantation melodies; the Word is gradually gaining

ground. ‘The people are beginning to learn the
Lord’s Prayer, as well as the Ten Commandments

and the Creed.

But to get back to our Christmas service. We
had a pretty hard time teaching the songs, since
I can’t sing, and my assistant didn’t know the
tunes. But finally we found an old organ, and
then we began to make progress. And we were well
repaid for all our trouble. The people had never
heard or seen anything like it before, and were
simply “carried away.” And when we lighted our
tree, — well, I leave that to your imagination.

. [serve four places in this neighborhood, Vreden-
burgh, Buena Vista, Tinela, and Natchez. Natchez,
a little place ten miles away from here, is a most
promising field, and the people | there are enthusiastic
about our work. - .

But here comes the train to take you back to.

Corduroy. You may board it right here at the
crossing. — Well, so long; I hope you may haye
Come again when you

Selma to buy some kodak films. And, I say, if
you meet any one that wants to send us anything,
tell him to bill it to Corduroy, Ala., as that is our.
nearest shipping-point, and we can then have the
sawmill train bring it here for us. Sometimes it
takes things a long time to get here. I shipped
my books from Greensboro, N. C., on October 2,
and didn’t get them till January 16! But, of
course, that can’t be helped. — Be sure to tell our
friends to send whatever they have for us to Rey.
R. O. L. Lynn, care of Vredenburgh Saw Mill Co.,
Corduroy, Ala. — Good-by ; again!
R. O. Ta T.

——__ + e+ —

come

Thoughts on the Four-Hundredth Anni-
versary of the Reformation.

This year is a great year for Lutherans. Four
hundred years have passed since Martin Luther,
the Augustinian monk, nailed ninety-five theses, or
short sentences, to the door of the Castle Chureh
of Wittenberg, which kindled a fire that lit the
heavens, and which later proved to be the beginning
of the great and stupendous task of reforming the
Church rotten to the core, corrupt “in head and
members,” steeped in all manner of error and super-
stition. In this anniversary year we call to mind
this glorious work done through Luther. We thank
God for Martin Luther, the great Reformer. Our
main purpose is not to make Luther great, but to

“magnify our God by reviewing with grateful hearts

the accomplishments of the Reformation of the six-
teenth century.

The Protestant Reformation brought many bless-
ings with it, the greatest being “the restoration of

the Bible — the root of all the blessings resulting |

from the Reformation.” If we would really appre-
ciate this blessing as we should, we shall have to
bear in mind what a great treasure we possess in
this Book. Paul, in speaking of it as the Scrip-
tures, says: “They are able to make thee wise unto
salvation,” that is to say, they contain that highest
of all wisdom, the greatest knowledge a man can
possess, yea, an education which makes us ac-
quainted with God and His plans for saving us.

If we believe what this Book teaches us, we shall’
be saved; for “they are they which testify of Me,” —

says the Savior, who Himself is Life and Salva-

tion to all who come to Him and accept Him.
This Book, which to us is now an open book,

was a closed book before the year of 1517. It was

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