The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1890-04-05

the church, which proved to be very
creditable structure. l was politely re-
ceived and shown seat.
But before giving any detail of this
truly wonderful exposition of Bible doc
trine it may be well to give briefac-
count Of the life of the Preacher. John
Jasper was born in 1912, in Fluvanna
county, Va, of slave parents. As boy
he was noted for his brightness, and was
allowed to work in his masters house as
waiter, etc. When he was thirteen
years old he was sent to Richmond to
work in the tobacco factories, where he
labored until the close of the Mexican
war. though changing masters once or
twice.
In 1889 he became converted, and
soon after claimed that he had been
chosen by God to preach. In 1910 he
began his ministry, although at that time
he had only learned how to spell the
simplest words. Such was the power of
his discourses that his fame extended
all oyer Virginia, and he was often away
on preaching tours lasting two or three
weeks, his master receiving from those
wishing his services the sum of 81 DAY,
except Sundays. During the civil war
he preached to the sick and wounded
soldiers in the Confederate hospitals.
When Richmond surrendered and
Mr.. Jasper became a free man, he had
only 70 cents in his pockets, and was in
debt for house rent to the amount of
$42. 1t may be said here that he is now
worth some thousands of dollars. Until
1867 he did general missionary work,
both in the city and country. during
which time he had great many calls to
different Colored churches, but accepted
none. On the first Sunday in septem-
Der. 1867, Mr.. Jasper organized his pres.
ent church, with nine members, on an
island in the James river, just opposite
the city, in little wooden shanty which
had been used by the government for a
stable. The church grew and prospered
was moved from the shanty to a carpen.
ter's shop and then to it's present quar-
tiers, and now has membership of over
1000. Mr.. Jasper at one time baptized
800 candidates in two hours. .a. .
A member of Mr.. Jasper's church and
a white man few years ago got into
controversy about the rotation of the
sun, and finally decided to ask Mr.. JAS
per to preach sermon on the subject.
He did so and took for his text Exodus
XIV 3: ''The Lord is man of war, the
Lord is his NAME" He spoke briefly of
the suferings of the children of Israel
in the desert, and then came to the time
when Joshua commanded the sun to
stand still, which it accordingly did.
"Now," said the preacher, ''phlloso.
piers say the sun does not move. I
want to make afire of those philoso.
piers books to-day. The Bible said the
sun stood still. Is ANYBODY going to say
that the sun was standing still before
Joshua told it to stand still? DO you
think Joshua would nave asked God TO
stop the sun if she had not been moving?
And yet the philosophers say the sun
stands still and that the world revolves
around it. Where in the name of God
they get their authority from / don't
know. It is nonsense to say that the
sun does not move. David, in, the Both
Psalm, says: The mighty God. even
the Lord, hath. spoken, and called the
earth from the rising Of the sun unto the
going down thereof. is it possible that
this means that the sun does not move?
That man VINO says the sun does not
move, he does not read his Bible
DRLEoN.