Basil the Great

 

Basil the Great: Address to Young Men on Greek Literature (4th century bishop in Asia minor) 

 “Accordingly, from this point on I shall take up and discuss the pagan writings, and how we are to discriminate among them.” 

“Now this is my counsel, that you should not unqualifiedly give over your minds to these men, as a ship is surrendered to the rudder, to follow whither they list, but that, while receiving whatever of value they have to offer, you yet recognize what it is wise to ignore. 

How To Turn Your Eyes To The Sun: 

“Consequently we must be conversant with poets, with historians, with orators, indeed with all men who may further our soul's salvation. Just as dyers prepare the cloth before they apply the dye, be it purple or any other color, so indeed must we also, if we would preserve indelible the idea of the true virtue, become first initiated in the pagan lore, then at length give special heed to the sacred and divine teachings, even as we first accustom ourselves to the sun's reflection in the water, and then become able to turn our eyes upon the very sun itself…” 

Re: The Poets Emulate the good: 

“...To begin with the poets, since their writings are of all degrees of excellence, you should not study all of their poems without omitting a single word. When they recount the words and deeds of good men, you should both love and imitate them, earnestly emulating such conduct. 

Flee The Bad: 

But when they portray base conduct, you must flee from them and stop up your ears, as Odysseus is said to have fled past the song of the sirens, for familiarity with evil writings paves the way for evil deeds. Therefore the soul must be guarded with great care, lest through our love for letters it receive some contamination unawares, as men drink in poison with honey.

 

When They Praise Vice: 

We shall not praise the poets when they scoff and rail, when they represent fornicators and winebibbers, when they define blissfulness by groaning tables and wanton songs. Least of all shall we listen to them when they tell us of their gods, and especially when they represent them as being many, and not at one among themselves." 

When They Praise Virtue: 

“But on the other hand we shall receive gladly those passages in which they praise virtue or condemn vice. For just as bees know how to extract honey from flowers, which to men are agreeable only for their fragrance and color, even so here also those who look for something more than pleasure and enjoyment in such writers may derive profit for their souls. Now, then, altogether after the manner of bees must we use these writings, for the bees do not visit all the flowers without discrimination, nor indeed do they seek to carry away entire those upon which they light, but rather, having taken so much as is adapted to their needs, they let the rest go. So we, if wise, shall take from heathen books whatever benefits us and is allied to the truth, and shall pass over the rest. And just as in culling roses we avoid the thorns, from such writings as these we will gather everything useful, and guard against the noxious.”

 

Question - "Why would a Christian writer of sermons have any ground for studying a pagan poet?"

Answer - "A sermon is a work which demands regularity of plan as well as a poem. It requires, too, something of the same unity, arrangement, divisions, and lucid order as a tragedy; something of the exordium, and the peroration, which belong to the composition of the orator. I do not mean that he is constantly to exhibit all this, but he should always understand it. 

A writer of verse, it is true, may please to a certain degree by the force of mere genius, and a writer of sermons will instruct by the mere power of his piety; but neither the one nor the other will ever write well, if they do not possess the principles of good writing, and form themselves on the models of good writers.

The Spirit of God can work, and often does work, by feeble instruments; and divine truth by its own omnipotent energy can effect its own purposes. But particular instances do not go to prove that the instrument ought not to be fitted, and polished, and sharpened for its allotted work. " 

 

 

This is a stinging rebuke by one of our early church fathers, and in my opinion the last line is the key --

"To profess to teach others what you yourselves are ignorant of, and publicly pretend to know what you do not know!"

If what we preach doesn't set our souls aflame, and the things we do are not what feeds our soul and devotion to Christ, we have little to say. No person has come to perfection, none are filled with all the graces, but we must preach from true experience.

 

Man Camp 22

 

Man Camp 2022, my experience. 

I joined about fifty men this year for a five-day camping trip. I had no clear understanding what would take place, but I knew there would be about every activity an outdoor loving person could want. Jet skis, motorcycles, quads, shooting firearms, archery, knife and axe throwing, badminton, corn holing, blacksmithing, horseshoes, hiking, fishing, lake and creek swimming, and hearty meals! What more could you want??

This was not exclusively a Christian camp-out; there were some non-believers, some seekers and some new Christians as well as strong Christian men.

I heard about how meaningful the evenings were when all the men would gather around a campfire. 

I expected there to be times with rich and meaningful Bible study, spirited singing and praise. This was where I was most surprised; there was none; no Bible study, no singing nor any praise. 

What I did see were men leaders whose hearts were filled with Word of God, His compassion and love for all, and whose words were Christ like, supportive, earnestly and brutally honest, reaching out to make sure every man felt loved, included and wanted.

I think it's safe to say all men do not share their deep feelings easily, quickly, or honestly; but Pastor Eric has worked with men for thirty years and his experience in reaching the hearts of others is nothing short of masterful. Eric, and the men he surrounds himself with, have varied appearances but the same heart, to see Christ reign within, and to restore what's been lost and strengthen what remains; and that active and earnest spirit soon created a sense of community and connection every person hungers for.

I've been a Christian for over fifty years and I've never seen a large group, many of which were strangers, transform into a true, living church where men opened their hearts, spilled out their deepest hurts and were willing to confess and share so vulnerably; and in such a short time. Tears flowed, prayers poured out, shoulders heaving in the embrace of men with one agenda, to lift a brother up! 

So my deepest thanks, and my sincerest appreciation to my son Pastor Eric, and the true men of God who worked together tirelessly to share the heart of Christ, the warmth of the Spirit and the love of God in ways that left every one of us changed.   

Of course one of the greatest joys was being with my family! 

 "The father of a righteous man has great joy; he who has a wise son delights in him." Pr. 23:24

 

  "Some Christians believe that God does everything and they have absolutely no part of what God is doing here on earth. They say things like, "it's all God and none of me." That sounds good and spiritual except it isn't true. The Bible says God partners with us as fellow workers to expand His Kingdom influence here on earth. It's Christ in us that's the hope of glory, not Christ 'in spite of" us, or Christ "instead of" us. When we partner with God to build the house it won't be in vain. When we partner with God on the assignments He offers us, we will accomplish big things that will make people take notice. When those people recognize you, they recognize the Father because He created you in His image, and you are also His child in Christ. You are part of the body of Christ. When you are recognized, that is a recognition of Jesus Himself. The Holy Spirit resides in you. When you do anything He is right there with you the whole time. As believers, we don't have to worry about stealing glory from Jesus because Jesus already gave us His glory (John 17:22). You can't steal something that already belongs to you. Therefore be bold. Partner with God. Stay in close relationship with Him always. Accomplish big things. And know that it's OK when people recognize you for it." Chris Cree.

For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, you are God's building. — 1 Corinthians 3:9 (NKJV)

 Jesus said, "Preach the gospel"

But that is only one thing He said out of his many commands.

His strongest warnings and divine threatening’s centered on loving our neighbor. Mercy! Matt. 25:31-46  rings out above almost all.

Thankfully we know exactly how Jesus acted, almost every page of the gospels illustrates it in warm, compassionate actions displaying the love of God to sinner and saint.

No doubt the evangelical church emphasizes the Great Commission over all else, but any successful evangelical mission organization, now, or in the past, will explain how the hunger of body must be met before the hunger of the spirit can be reached.

Mark 12:29-31 is where Jesus summarizes the entire Bible, in crystal clear language, and boils it down to two commands, we can't improve on that, and His entire life demonstrated it in vivid detail.

We see in Isaiah 58:6-12 the Lord declares in clear and concise words what His will is for us, and in addition, it is interwoven with His promised blessings if we will simply obey.

 I think many in the church today think they can bring the world to Christ by simply sharing God's word, and that it can be done without personal involvement. But the entire force of Jesus's words and actions were personal, individual, where over and over He commands us to care of the poor and marginalized.

In Luke 14:12-24 he gives this illustration --

"But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

We can see in that one passage how personal and individual Christ's exhortations are. I have to ask myself, do I know any poor, crippled, lame and blind?

Our love must exceed the love the Pharisees showed, but that has a cost associated with it, and many of us act like some who work for pro-life causes, they want to declare the value of life, but fail to advocate for the child once born. It requires little to say we are pro-life, but it requires much to care for the baby once born. Do you see the parallel there?

The church of Christ is not just a humanitarian aid society, but hospitals, orphanages, asylums and schools and colleges were created by Christians for the betterment of all. 

If we err, let us err on the side of compassion; our chastisement on judgment day will be little.

Lastly I'll say that it is important to know what the "Gospel" is, when we say we are to preach it. In my opinion influenced by many, the Gospel is the entire teaching of Christ and the Apostles. For example, if you preach a sermon on holiness, you are preaching the gospel and the same goes for all the teachings of Christ and His apostles.

This is my conclusion after fifty plus years as a Christian and watching the church from 1969 where the Lord poured out His Spirit on America, until today. Today's church, in many ways, has lost its savor I'm sad to say.

Fathers