File Name: Gossner, Johannes - Goszner's Treasury.zip
File Submitter: LarryG
File Submitted: 22 Aug 2011
File Category: Devotionals
Author: Johannes Gossnere-Sword Version: 9.x - 10.x
Suggest New Tag:: Daily Devotional, Meditations
Complete Book Title:
"John Goszner's treasury: containing Bible meditations for each day in the year, with devotional songs to the futherance of family prayer and piety"
This is a translation from the original German, which was first written in the mid 1800s. This edition was published in 1906 by Augsberg Press, Minneapolis and is in the PUBLIC DOMAIN. A PDF copy of this book can be found @ http://www.archive.o...znerstrea00goss , along with OCR text copies.
The Author:
When John Gossner studied the words of John Michael Sailer and Martin Boos, they warmed his heart as no other religious teaching had. As a young Catholic priest in Germany late in the 1790s, he longed for a Christianity that would make him alive. Sailer's evangelical movement within Catholicism pointed him toward the spiritual understanding he had craved.
Eventually he wrote that one cannot inherit salvation by birth in a Christian family or a Christian education. Faith must come from God. The natural birth is a natural birth. A new birth is needed, a life from above.
He began to teach others what he had learned. By 1802, his earnest endeavors to show people that they could have new spiritual life directly from God (rather than through the agency of priests and the church) landed him in hot water with his denomination. The Jesuits brought him into a church court. Still unsure of how to reconcile evangelical thought with traditional Catholic teaching, John agreed to toe his church's line. (When he sought to leave his church, a highly-placed Lutheran advised against it.)
The young priest had a real gift for speaking. Soon he was packing assembly halls with listeners. His reputation led to an invitation to come and pastor the Germans who lived in Russia. In St. Petersburg from 1820-1824 he preached evangelical sermons after each mass. Four and five hundred listeners packed the church every time. He invited sincere seekers to his apartment and when that could not hold everyone, he rented assembly halls. He worked closely with Prince Golitsyn, an evangelical.
Because the Dominicans distrusted him, Johannes provided private teaching outside of the church building. This proved so successful that Russia's Orthodox leaders grew alarmed. Metropolitan Serafim of the Orthodox church pleaded for John's expulsion from the country. The Tsar ordered John out; but the evangelical seed had been planted. It spread into neighboring Estonia and Finland, and was strong in St. Petersburg two generations later.
When John returned to Germany, the Catholic church expelled him. He became a Lutheran and pastured Berlin's Bethlehem church. There he continued his successful work, leading large numbers of people to seek a deeper Christian life. He created kindergarten schools, founded a hospital, and started the mission organization which bears his name.
John Gossner died in Berlin on March 20, 1858. His mission work lives on, having converted hundreds of thousands to Christ in India.
Further Information:
http://www.christian...story/11630510/
http://missionaries....ssion-societies
http://www.gossner-mission.de/
http://en.wikipedia....gelista_Gossner
My Observations About This Devotion:
Several times I have been the cook at different rescue missions. I have learned this maxim as true: "The proof of any pudding is in it's taste.". In other words, some food may look good - until it's tasted and spit out as unpalatable. Likewise, some food doesn't look very good at all - until it's tasted. Taste and see that the Lord is good!
Although this brother had an unusual background, his hunger for the Lord is amazing. This is undoubtedly one of the most encouraging devotionals I have ever read. Some of the writings are to build up via chastening, some are to encourage via comfort and many are pure worshipful - what a delight. Brother Gossner points to Jesus - always Jesus. It's easy to see why he was kicked out of the Catholic Church and banned by the Russian Orthodox leaders in St. Petersburg via the Russian Czar. Thousands came to know their Saviour via this brothers ministry. Lastly, the 'proof' of the pudding is that Brother Gossner started a missionary work that still lives, over 150 years after his death in 1858. "May the favor of the Lord our God rest upon us; establish the work of our hands for us— yes, establish the work of our hands." (Psalm 90:17)
I feel that if a person is looking for more of Christ, this is a good devotional.
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