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I Am a Realist
Basilea Schlink

Basilea Schlink (1904 - 2001). German religious leader, writer, and co-founder of the Evangelical Sisterhood of Mary, born Klara Schlink in Darmstadt to a professor of mechanics. Raised Lutheran, she studied at Fröbelseminar in Kassel (1923) and Berlin’s Inner Mission girls’ school (1924), later earning a doctorate in psychology from Hamburg University in 1934 with a thesis on adolescent faith struggles. From 1933 to 1935, she led the Women’s Division of the German Student Christian Movement, resisting Nazi exclusion of Jewish Christians. In 1947, with Erika Madauss, she founded the Sisterhood in Darmstadt, taking the name Mother Basilea, growing it to 209 sisters across 11 global branches by 2001. Schlink authored over 60 books, including My All for Him, translated into 60 languages, and published tracts in 90. Her radio programs aired in 23 languages, emphasizing repentance and reconciliation, especially between Germans and Jews. Unmarried, she dedicated her life to prayer and ministry, shaping interdenominational Christian communities.
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Sermon Summary
The video is a sermon by Basile Schlink on the importance of being a realist and planning for the future. Schlink emphasizes the need to consider our actions and how they align with the teachings of Jesus Christ. He urges listeners to reflect on their behavior in the past 24 hours, questioning if they have been patient, forgiving, truthful, pure, modest, honest, and faithful. Schlink highlights the inevitability of death and the importance of reckoning with eternity and God's judgment. He encourages viewers to surrender their lives to Jesus Christ and seek guidance from fellow Christians.
Sermon Transcription
God lives and works today, and as a loving Father, He has planned a wonderful future for our lives. But do we take His plans into consideration when we make our plans for the future? Listen to the following program by Basilia Schlenk. I am a realist. Are you one too? People who are realistic plan ahead. To be a realist means to plan for the future, taking into consideration everything that may happen. Why do you want to avoid the one irrefutable fact that someday there's going to be a funeral, your own? You can't get around it, or doesn't your realism take you this far? Do you stop at this point? If so, then you're not reckoning with eternity, for eternity awaits us all, at the latest in a few decades. But it could come very soon. Do you always like to know in advance what is going to happen to you? Of one thing we can be certain. Death is awaiting us all, and everything that will come after death. It is not nothingness, as many people pretend. No, after death is a state of existence in which we will all have to live. It is a reality, and more real than everything that makes up our lives here on earth. It is called eternity, which means a kingdom that will never cease to exist, without beginning and without end. It is indestructible. All our earthly possessions can be eaten away by moths and rust, destroyed by fire and hail, or lost through wars and inflation. But destruction threatens us today in quite different proportions. Where will your home be in eternity? Where will you be led in the hour of your death? The answer is determined by how we have lived here on earth. Has Christ been the center of our lives? Has he been our joy? If so, our home will be in his eternal kingdom of joy, in a kingdom without tears, anxiety, or struggles. Are we aware of the fact that we will reap what we have sown? What have you sown in the last 24 hours? Have you been patient and forbearing towards your neighbor, forgiving his mistakes? Have you been truthful in your words and actions? Have your thoughts and deeds been pure, your behavior modest? Have you been honest in business dealings and faithful in your promises? Have you trusted God in times of trouble? If you haven't been a true realist, then now's the time to start. How? By reckoning with the holiness of God and his judgment. Therefore, reckon with Jesus Christ today, who can transform everything in your life. Bring your secret sins into the light and surrender your life completely to him. If possible, go to a person whom you know is a Christian, so that he can advise and help you. Nothing will make you as happy as this change from being foolish to being realistic, that is, to being a true Christian. You will thank God for this in all eternity. So all that I have, I will give him. I'll sacrifice all I hold dear. My whole life to Jesus belonging. My heart seeks my Lord to reveal. You have been listening to a program written by Basile Schlenk of the Little Land of Canaan. To learn more about how God lives and works today, visit us at our website www.canaan.org. If you contact us, we would be happy to send you a free inspirational booklet. If you do not have access to the web, please contact this radio station for our postal address. God bless you.
I Am a Realist
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Basilea Schlink (1904 - 2001). German religious leader, writer, and co-founder of the Evangelical Sisterhood of Mary, born Klara Schlink in Darmstadt to a professor of mechanics. Raised Lutheran, she studied at Fröbelseminar in Kassel (1923) and Berlin’s Inner Mission girls’ school (1924), later earning a doctorate in psychology from Hamburg University in 1934 with a thesis on adolescent faith struggles. From 1933 to 1935, she led the Women’s Division of the German Student Christian Movement, resisting Nazi exclusion of Jewish Christians. In 1947, with Erika Madauss, she founded the Sisterhood in Darmstadt, taking the name Mother Basilea, growing it to 209 sisters across 11 global branches by 2001. Schlink authored over 60 books, including My All for Him, translated into 60 languages, and published tracts in 90. Her radio programs aired in 23 languages, emphasizing repentance and reconciliation, especially between Germans and Jews. Unmarried, she dedicated her life to prayer and ministry, shaping interdenominational Christian communities.