The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1927, Page 189

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THE LUTHERAN PIONEER.

189

“We don’t know,’ they say.

“Who made you?

“*Nzam’ or ‘Njambe’; both words are used.

“Then, ‘Did He not write these laws in your
hearts ??

“YTere was a break in their knowledge, but the
moment the missing link is supplied the chain is
made complete in their minds. ‘Yes,’ in a chorus,
‘yes; He gave us these laws in our hearts.’

“Then I am ready to press home the great truth
from which there is now no escape: ‘If God made
this law, He must be angry when it is broken. He
must see when it is broken, for He made the eye;
as He made the ear, He must Himself hear what is
spoken contrary to this law.’

“Yes, that must be so.’

“Then, when death calls you into the presence
of this Being whose laws you have broken, how will
He receive you?’

“They attempt no evasion; they admit that God
will be angry; and when I tell them of heaven and
hell, the excitement becomes intense. Then I lead
them on to the blessed truth that God is a God of
mercy; and often when the strange new story is
finished, trade and greed, all else, seem forgotten.”

Who, when reading this account, is not reminded
of what Paul writes Rom. 1,20? There the apostle
says: “The invisible things of Him from the crea-
tion of the world are clearly seen, being understood
by the things that are made, even His eternal power
and Godhead, so that they are without excuse.”

F.J.L.

An African Witness for Christ.

Alfred R. Tucker relates the following in his
Eighteen Years in Uganda: We asked our guide
whether he had known any of those who had suf-
fered [in the persecution of 1884]. “Yes,” he
Teplied, he “knew most of them, but one was a very
dear friend, almost a brother,” to him.

“Were you a Christian then?” I asked.

“No? was the answer; “but my friend often
talked to me about Jesus Christ and besought me
to become a disciple; however, I hardened my
heart.”

“But what led you to become a Christian at
last ?”

“My friend, it was because my brother died for
what he believed to be true. If he had not died,
I should never have become a Christian. How could
I refuse then?” ; a

“And how did he die?”

“My friend, first they speared him, and then
they burned him,” was the answer.

And who was this that thus endured this two-
fold agony? Was it one who had been trained from
infancy in Christian truth, who had spent his man-
hood in battling for the faith once delivered to the
saints, and who now, in all the fervor of a matured
belief and the power of a lifelong conviction, laid
down his life rather than deny his Savior? Nay,
it was a simple lad, who had lived his short life in
the heart of heathen Africa. But one day there
was unfolded to him the story of the Cross. He
believed it. He accepted Christ as his Savior. With
the faith of a little child he clung to Him and
resolved to die rather than to deny Him. —

We often hear people in our country and in our
Church speak of the fickleness and untrustworthi-
ness of the Negro. Fear is expressed that Negroes
do not make reliable church-members and that
temptation and persecution will cause them to deny
their faith. Our missionaries can refer to not a
few instances where our Lutheran Negro Christians
have shown their reliability and steadfastness
under circumstances that severely tried their faith.
Though none was called upon to give up his life,
not a few were called upon to make great sacrifices
for their faith’s sake, and to their praise be it said
that they stood the test. F. J. L.

The Next Meeting of the Ev. Luth. Synodical Conference

will be held next summer. No invitations for the enter-
tainment of the delegates were extended at the last
meeting. The undersigned would respectfully request
such invitations from congregations affiliated with the
Synodical Conference. The meeting will take place about
the middle of August, and from 75 to 100 delegates are
expected to be present.
L. FUERBRINGER, 801 De Mun Ave., St. Louis, Mo.

BOOK TABLE.

Received from QConcordia Publishing House, St, Louts,
0.5 —

Lutheran Annual, 1928. 141 pages. Price, 15 cts.
Amerikanischer Kalender fuer deutsche Lutheraner
auf das Jahr 1928. 141 pages. Price, 15 cts.

Here are our two old friends with their edifying
reading-matter, lists of educational and benevolent in-
stitutions within the Syn
pastors and teachers, lists of places served by
of the Synodical Conference, and other useful an
esting information.

The Proof Texts of the Catechism with a Practical
Commentary. By Louis Wessel, D.D. 456 pages;
strong cloth binding. Price, $3.50.

Those who have used the first edition of the Proof

Texts will anneal seine y testify to the extremely prac-

tical value of the book. The diligent use of it by the

astors
inter-

odical ‘Conference, rosters of |