The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1927, Page 111

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THE LUTHERAN PIONEER.

111

themselves in the arms of Morpheus. After about
two hours they awaken, yawn and stretch, stir the
fire, make and smoke their cigarets, and then—chew
the betel-nuts! Thus, idle and care-free, they spend
many entire days. As long as the sago-cask is filled
and other provisions are at hand, they do not leave
their dwellings. Sometimes they make arrows or
engage in wood-carving, or in basket-making.
Meanwhile, the women sit apart from the men,
and entertain themselves in much the same manner.
About five o’clock, the mother puts on the pot
and begins preparing the same menu as of the morn-
ing. This meal over, the family assemble for an-
other smoke and chat, chew a few betel-nuts, and
stretch out on the ground to sleep. — Our Missions.

“Always Asking for Money!’’

Money, the equivalent of property, has a vital
relation both to the kingdom of God and the char-
acter of the individual. This fact is often over-
looked as we think of “salvation without money
and without price.” Salvation is free, in that we
cannot buy it. It comes through grace. But once
it is ours, it claims control of all things. It becomes
central.

On a recent Sunday a parishioner said to me,
“You are always asking for money.” Now, as a
matter of fact, money is seldom referred to in our
services. And still he was right; for the logic of
the situation is a constant appeal for support. It
would be a queer sort of Gospel that did not have it.
Hymn-books wear out. Equipment of all sorts must
be replaced. Without missions there can be no
church. It takes resources to build anything, to
conduct any sort of enterprise. The Church cannot
escape from this economic fact. Jesus did not
mean that it should. Most moral questions head
up into the treasury.

A church officer one day asked a friend for a
contribution for his church and received the reply,
“You are always asking for money,” — the identical
works spoken to me. ‘The answer of this church
officer was worthy of the Church. “Yes, that is
so,” he said. “When my son was a lad, he was costly.
He was always needing clothes and shoes and food.
The older and stronger he grew, the more money
he required. But that boy sickened and died. Now
he costs me nothing.” A Church that is alive needs
money. Are we interested enough in our Church
to want it to live?

The difficulty with most of us is that we do

not go about our giving in a systematic way. We
usually give under stress of appeals, and we think
we give more than we do. We remember the pain
of the extraction. A few minutes with pad and
pencil will likely be a revelation to you in this
matter unless you have been keeping books with
God. God has planned large things for the Church,
and He is asking for large support. I have often
wondered at the irritation that seems to be aroused
by the call of the Church for service and funds.
The right way to answer such an appeal is with
real thought first of all and then with such gifts
of time and money as may be within our ability.
I know about the stress of the days through which
we are passing. The temptation is strong to forget
God. But let us remember that our gifts to the
cause of Christ become the basis of our evaluation
of Christ and His Church. It is in every way
profitable to keep books with God.— From the
Calendar of the Ninth Church of Philadelphia.

An Urgent Appeal.

Now that the summer months are here and
a great many people are getting rid of their old
radio sets preparatory to purchasing new ones, we
would ask that those who are discarding their old
sets would remember us here at Alabama Luther
College. We would be “tickled to death” to get even
an old set, since we have none of any kind. Our
boys and girls would like to listen in on some of the

‘wonderful concerts and sermons (from KFUO) that _

fly around through the air during the fall and winter
months. If any one has a set he would like to get
rid of, he may communicate with the writer of these
lines, who will receive mail during the summer at
6400 St. Lawrence Ave., Chicago, IIl., c. o. Rev. M.N.
Carter.

Now, please, don’t everybody write at once, be-
cause the writer will be very busy out at the “U,”
and if he should receive too many letters con-
cerning radio sets, he would not be at leisure to
answer them all. If you wish to send the set on,
ship it to Rev. G. A. Schmidt, Box 683, Selma, Ala.,
who will take good care of it until school opens. We
thank you for the set which we know we are going to
receive. R. 0. L. Lyn.

So
We have shown the Chinese and Japanese how
to do battle in a scientific manner on water and on
land; now let us also show them how to fight Satan
and sin.