The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1933, Page 41

Transcription machine transcription, uncorrected

⤓ Download .txt · copy text

ren sos i Sve aa oe ae le

THE LUTHERAN PIONEER

And we are reminded of these words of St. Paul:
“T am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ; for IT
IS THE POWER OF GOD unto salvation to every
one that believeth.”

‘“Ye Shall Be Witnesses.’’

‘The new spiritual vitality and energy that was
experienced on the first Pentecost is the need of the
Church to-day. A spiritual dynamic is needed now.
To the early disciples Jesus promised superhuman
power for superhuman tasks when He said, “Ye
shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is
come upon you.” This power was received on the
first Pentecost and was used for immediate and in-
cessant witnessing for Christ.

Tow few in the Church to-day share their per-
sonal spiritual experiences with others! And yet,
that was the basis upon which the whole method of
evangelism was founded in the early Church.
“There is no doubt,” says Harnack, “that the early
Church won all its victories by informal mission-
aries.” They were spiritually contagious. The un-
failing secret of their power was “the Holy Ghost.”
“To-day we find it easier,” Stanley Jones observes,
“to pay the minister to be our proxy. It is easier —
and more deadly.” We need nothing so much as we
need a passionate personal evangelism that will take
men out from behind closed doors and impel “each
one to reach one.”

At Pentecost the early Christians received zeal
and power to discharge their great debt of love by
bearing witness to Him who as the unseen Head of
the Church was with them according to His promise.
It was their being filled with the Holy Spirit which
mightily persuaded them to carry the good news of
salvation into an ever-widening sphere of activity —
first in Jerusalem, then in Judea, then in Samaria.

The early disciples did not get as far “as the
uttermost part of the earth.” The Book of Acts is
only the first chapter of church history. The com-
mand “Ye shall be witnesses unto Me” is ours; the
direction “unto the uttermost part of the earth” is
ours; the unfailing source of strength “Ye shall
receive power” is ours; and the glorious promise
“T am with you alway” is ours.

Southern Chlifornia Intheran.

“Ty a few men of our generation will enter the
- holy place of prayer and become henceforth men
whose hearts God has touched with the prayer pas-
sion, the history of the Church will be changed.”

A Blessed Story.

Some months ago we asked the question: Does
it pay to give religious instruction to children com-
ing from non-Lutheran homes, many of whom do
not become communicant members of our Church?
Basing on the Lord’s general command and on ex-
perience, we answered emphatically in the affirma-
tive. And now from a school in which slightly over
fifty per cent. of the pupils are mission material,
comes this beautiful story. It is evidence of the
blessedness of just this phase of mission endeavor,
and it is a story that deserves to be broadcast far
and wide. Thus writes Pastor Hauer of Perry,
Oklahoma : —

“A boy ten years of age who had attended our
school for two years died this summer. He was a
sadly neglected boy, the parents unchurched — even
worse. The boy had broken his arm, and tetanus
caused his death before I had been advised of the
accident he had met with. However, when he was
told that he could not live, he made a splendid con-
fession. He bore the intense pain most patiently
and said to his frantic and almost raving mother
that he would soon be with his Savior, where he
would be forever happy. Yes, he even mentioned
our school and remarked that there he had learned
to die fearlessly. At the funeral people marveled
that his younger sister, also a pupil of our school,
did not shed a single tear. When directly accosted
about it, the little girl said cheerfully, ‘Why, he is
with Jesus! I am going to meet him again when
I go to heaven.’

“And now,” adds the pastor, “when such a
mother portrays to one this to her inconceivable at-
titude of her dying child, then one suddenly forgets
that the school has ever caused worry and toil. This
event has made a deep impression upon our teacher
and his sister. For they were the ones who had been
privileged, first and last, to break to this child the
Bread of Life. And as we consider the salutary
effect this story has had upon people within and
without our church, we may safely say that he did
not die in vain.”—Wm. Nickel, in Kansas Lutheran.

Death of Dr. L. Wessel.

It has pleased our heavenly Father to take from
among us another true friend of our Colored Mis-
sions. Dr. Louis Wessel passed- from this vale of
tears to the land of pure delight on the last day of
January at the age of sixty-eight years. The im-