Heartfelt thanks for your good letter and for the greeting you sent in your letter to Aksel.

God is with us here. The work isn’t going quickly, but things are steadily and surely moving forward. Two recently converted petty officers from the warships were here in our home, together with Mikkelsen, at the meeting last Thursday. Mikkelsen is getting more and more light and is now considering leaving the Salvation Army. Br. Ellefsen is beginning to gather quite a little flock of people around him, who have confidence in him. Yesterday we discussed what a servant in the church must bear in mind concerning those who seek advice and who have gained confidence in Christ Jesus. We must show unwavering firmness toward such people and never show them our own weak sides. We need to show our weaknesses to God and to people who are able to bear them.

Our goal is Col. 1:28: “Him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus.”

The fact that this is not practiced is the reason for the last part of Matt. 5:13 being fulfilled. The salt loses its power [Norw.]; it is good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. Such a person becomes useless among God’s people—their words have no weight because they have no power. They aren’t of any use to the people of the world because they are semi-religious and have no power to put anyone in their place. Such a person is like salt that is trampled underfoot—the most miserable and useless state a person can end up in, in this world. And yet the majority of so-called believers are “salt without power,” and the world despises people in such a state.

If we preach and teach Christ from start to finish, as we read in 1 Thess. 1:5, we have the hope of presenting a pure virgin to Christ. This was the goal in all of Paul’s labors.

Dear brother, God has blessed you richly because you have acknowledged the truth that leads to godliness. May the goal and labor in your ministry always be to present a “chaste virgin to Christ.” Not just a virgin who is chaste due to ignorance, but a “consciously” chaste virgin, filled with God’s knowledge, for this is the enlightened, intelligent virgin Christ desires to marry. There is a desperate need for servants who aim for such high goals. Do not set low goals for yourself; set them high, and you will attain great things. I don’t mean to contradict the verse which says, “Do not set your mind on high things, but keep to what is lowly.” [Norw.] It is precisely by seeking what is lowly that we attain what is great. However, the one who neglects what is lowly will never attain what is great, because God won’t ever permit us to “skip over” anything.

I am looking forward to seeing you and Aksel here before you leave. We are planning to have a little feast for the occasion—God willing—in the Good Templars Hall.

Receive the exhortation in 1 Tim. 4:16 as from the Lord. And for Aksel, what is written in Jer. 1:17.

Warm brotherly greetings.

Yours,

I received Aksel’s letter yesterday afternoon, and it was a blessing to read about the progress down in Denmark—the language of Canaan on the lips of Danes.