The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1929, Page 15

Transcription machine transcription, uncorrected

⤓ Download .txt · copy text

THE LUTHERAN PIONEER.

15

called at his house, but he was obliged to leave with-
out a word of thanks. But again and again Pastor
Bongarzone met him, and finally he succeeded in
attracting his attention.

After months of such personal and solicitous
care, Tony and his family began to attend the ser-
vices of the Italian mission. Later, by the gracious
work of the Holy Spirit, he embraced his Savior in
true faith and joined our Church. The family
attends the services regularly. The strength of
Tony’s new devotion to the Lord is shown not only
by his regular attendance at worship, but also by
his completely changed family life and by the fact
that he now contributes one-tenth of his income to
the Lord and that the oldest of his five children is
now studying for the ministry in one of our in-
stitutions.

If all the members of our Church would follow
the example of Tony, we would have an income of
more than thirty million dollars a year larger than
our present receipts, and we could have thousands
of ministerial students more than we now have.

One Girl’s Influence.

A Boston lawyer, who has for forty years been
eminent in his profession and no less eminent in
Christian work and in princely gifts to the cause of
benevolence, tells this story of what fixed his course
in life.

When he was a young man, he once attended
a missionary meeting in Boston. One of the
speakers at that meeting, a plain man, said he had
a girl in his domestic service, at a wage of less
than two dollars a week, who gave one dollar every
month to missions; she also had a class of poor
boys in Bible school who never missed her from her
place. And he said of her: “She is the happiest,
kindest, tidiest girl I ever had in my kitchen.”

The young man went home with these three
broken sentences sticking in his mind: “Class in
Bible school — dollar a month to missions — hap-
piest girl.”

The first result was that he took a class in Bible
school; the second was a resolve that, if that girl
could give one dollar a month to missions, he could,
and he would. These were the immediate effects
of one plain girl’s consecrated life.

But who can count, who can imagine, the sum
total? That lawyer was, for almost half a century
from that time, an increasingly active force in every
good work within his reach.

The War Ory, quoted in Lutheran Missionary.

BOOK TABLE.

Verhandlungen der 31. Versammlung der Ev.-Luth.
Synodalkonferenz von Nordamerika zu Omaha,
Nebr., vom 8. bis zum 13. August 1928. Concordia
Publishing House, St. Louis, Mo. 77 pages. Price,
50 cts.

Contains a German paper on the priestly office of Christ
by Prof. W. Arndt, the biennial report of the Board for
Colored Missions, and resolutions passed by the Conference
in matters pertaining to Colored Missions and other things.

Synodical Reports of Missouri Synod, 1928. Nord-
Illinois-Distrikt. Papers: “Was muss geschehen von
seiten unserer Gemeinden und der Synode, damit
wir auch in dieser eigenartigen Zeit erkenntnisreiche
Christen erzichen?” (Rev. M. Nickel); “Brotherly
Admonition” (Rev. Aug. Burgdorf). 112 pages.
Price, 18 ets.— Kansas District. Paper: “The Im-
portance of Firmly Adhering to the Doctrine of In-
spiration.” — Kansas-Distrikt (German).  Paper:.
“Die Lehre von der Inspiration” (Pastor Th. Juengel) .

ee Kalender fuer deutsche Lutheraner,
1929. s

Lutheran Annual, 1929. Concordia Publishing House,
St. Louis, Mo. Price, 15 cts. each.

Every family of the Missouri Synod should have a copy
of one of these annuals in its possession. Besides the edi-
fying reading-matter to be found in these publications,
they contain information concerning the Missouri Synod
and its various enterprises that should be known to every
member of the body.

The Story of the Catechism. By Th. Graebner. Con-
cordia Publishing House, St. Louis, Mo. Cloth; 147
pages. Price, 75 cts.

This book ought to interest all of us, especially at this
time, when we are getting ready to observe the quadricen-
tennial of Luther’s Small Catechism. The author tells us
how the Catechism came into being and writes of its early
reception and its continued use as the guide for religious
instruction in the Lutheran Church. Thirty-two valuable
cuts illustrate the fourteen chapters of the book.

Four-Hundredth Anniversary of Luther’s Small
Catechism, 1529—1929. By J.7'. Mueller, Ph. D.,
Th. D. Wutheran Literary Board, Burlington, Iowa.
Artistic board cover; 37 pages. Price, 65 cts. Order
from Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis, Mo.
The imitation vellum cover of this booklet gives it
a very artistic appearance: The initial letters of the
eight chapters are illuminated. The illustrations are
copies of the cover, title-pages, illustrations, and pages of
the text of the 1536 edition of the Small Catechism. This
book shows why we should regard Luther’s Small Cate-
chism as a most precious gift of the Reformation. Author
and publisher have succeeded in putting out a fine gift-
book.

Rex Amoris. (The King of Love.) By G.L. Wind. Con-
cordia Publishing House, St. Louis, Mo. .Cloth bind-

ing; 344 pages. Price, $1.75. i

A romance laid in the days of Christ. The author
gives us a vivid picture of the religious, social, and po-
litical conditions obtaining in the Holy Land at the time
of Christ’s coming into the flesh. The haughty Roman
and the impatient Jew suffering under the galling yoke
of Roman tyranny are skilfully drawn. Israel’s false
hope in a Messiah that would free the chosen people from
Gentile political supremacy, the increasing gloom that
gradually settled down upon the remnant of Israel, and
the bitter disappointment felt when the Promised One
came poor and lowly and founded a kingdom that was
not, of this world, —all this is brought out in the mas-
terfully dramatic narrative. No less impressively does

$2