Today's 11:11, August 14, 2017

This is isolated on George Harrison's lead vocal, with Paul McCartney's harmony, on I Need You. Harrison composed the song and it was included in the Beatles' second feature film, Help.



[Blogger Mark Daniels is pastor of Living Water Lutheran Church in Centerville, Ohio.]

Today's 11:11, August 9, 2017

Today, during the second day of the Braaten-Benne Lectures (part of the North American Lutheran Church's annual Lutheran Week), Dr. Gordon Isaac talked about what Martin Luther said made a person a good theologian.

Isaac emphasized that literally everyone is a theologian. Everyone has to decide what they believe about God. The only question is whether they're good or bad theologians.

Luther said three things makes a person a good theologian:

• Prayer
• Meditation (on God's Word)
• Spiritual trials

Luther insisted that these were the indispensable qualifiers for good theologians, people who know God and can articulate God's truth, not as an abstraction, but out of intimate knowledge of the God, Who when He took on flesh in Jesus said of Himself, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life" (John 14:6).

Luther's qualifiers for good theologians ring true to me. As in any relationship, time is essential. People who say that their relationships are built on quality time, if not on quantity of time, don't know much about relationships. As someone has said, love is spelled T-I-M-E.

Prayer that is more than perfunctory...

Meditation that is attentive consideration of bits and pieces of God's Word, approached as His Word to us...

Facing the trials to our spiritual lives, to our faith in and relationship with God, with God...

These are the ways in which we become good theologians.

Through prayer, meditation, and spiritual trials, we learn that when we come to the ends of ourselves, God is still there.

We learn that when nothing in this world makes sense, God makes sense.

We learn that when we are weak, vulnerable, and incapable of going on, the time we spend with God in prayer, meditation, and spiritual trials, yields deeper faith and good theology.

It's only when we endure Good Friday times with God that we experience Easter Days with Him. And it's how anyone who dares can become a good theologian.

As Luther would say, "This is most certainly true."

[Blogger Mark Daniels is pastor of Living Water Lutheran Church in Centerville, Ohio.]

Today's 11:11, August 7, 2017

Another from the new release, Magic & Bird by Andy Mineo and Wordsplayed.



[Blogger Mark Daniels is pastor of Living Water Lutheran Church in Centerville, Ohio.]

Today's 11:11, August 2, 2017

My favorite dark ride at Disneyworld in Orlando was always Maelstrom, housed in the Norwegian pavilion at Epcot. But Maelstrom is no more. This was its last run on October 5, 2014.

Of course, videos seem never to do these attractions justice. But Maelstrom was a multi-sensory experience. When the boats were cut loose in the North Sea amid the oil rigs, the air turned chilly and the sea mist was in your nostrils. At the ride's end, you really imagined yourself to be in a Norwegian village.

It's understandable that Maelstrom is no more. The Disney parks have always evolved and changed, sometimes to present fantastic new imagineered attractions, sometimes to piggyback on the latest Disney film. I'm not a nostalgist. I don't pine for the "good old days." But it is fun to look back on what was a terrific achievement. Glad that someone took the video.



[Blogger Mark Daniels is pastor of Living Water Lutheran Church in Centerville, Ohio.]

Today's 11:11, July 27, 2017

This is from when the Newsboys were good, Peter Furler on lead vocals and Phil Joel playing guitar. I Surrender All is part of the fun and meaningful Love, Liberty, Disco LP. It was released in 1999.

Favorite lyrics?

He doesn't love us 'cause of who we are
He only loves us 'cause of who he is 

Words by John P. Kee, music by Peter Furler.



[Blogger Mark Daniels is pastor of Living Water Lutheran Church in Centerville, Ohio.]

Belated 11:11 for July 26

Even though it's already July 27, here's this:

“I do the very best I can, I mean to keep going. If the end brings me out all right, then what is said against me won't matter. If I'm wrong, ten angels swearing I was right won't make a difference.”

It's one of my favorite Lincoln quotes. Leaders must take others' opinions into account, but they can't be shackled by the quest to win people over.

Today's 11:11, July 25, 2017

Sometimes you realize that you're where you're supposed to be, even if the reason you went there in the first place didn't pan out.

Earlier today, I went to an area nursing and rehabilitation center to see a member recuperating from recent surgery.

When I walked across the parking lot, a woman, leaving the place after making her own visit, called out from her car, "Hello, Father. Where's your church?"

"Actually," I said, "I serve Living Water Lutheran Church in Centerville."

"Oh!" she told me, "years ago, when I was going through some tough times, I went to talk with a Lutheran pastor. He helped me so much."

We talked for awhile. Our brief conversation reminded me that, while sometimes monstrous things are done in the name of Christ by those who claim to be Christian, the Church, whether laypeople or clergy, also does a world of good in Christ's name. And people like that woman are grateful for it.

When I went to our church member's room, she wasn't there, but in physical therapy. By experience, I know that takes some time and it's not a convenient moment for therapist or patient to be interrupted for a visit that includes prayers and Holy Communion. So, I decided to leave a note.

I asked for a piece of paper from a nurse at the nearest desk. She handed it to me and asked, "Are you a pastor?"

"Yes," I said.

"My parents go to Grace Lutheran Church in Springfield."

"One of my favorite pastors is the senior pastor there," I told her.

"You know Pastor Powell? He's great! I'd go, but we live pretty far away. And my husband likes a more contemporary service. They have one, but it's once a month."

I told her that there are lots of churches, Lutheran and otherwise, that offer varied worship services. "There might be a good one for you and your husband."

I then handed her the note for our Living Water member, asked her for her name so that I could pray for her. She seemed genuinely touched.

Out of the facility and onto the parking lot again, a man with a "Vietnam Veteran" ball cap was getting into his car. "Hi!" he called out. "How are you today? Do you have a loved one here?" I asked.

He explained that his ninety-seven year old father was a resident there. His mind is still sharp, he explained, but he can't hear and he's nearly blind. He's got other health issues and he sometimes says he wishes that he could die. "I tell him he can't feel that way," the vet told me, "but I understand how he does."

He looked down. "We also got some bad news today. My wife's got some sort of heart problem. The doctor says she doesn't necessarily need surgery. They're going to try to use medicine. But it was discouraging for her."

As we talked more, he told me of his own health issues, including diabetes and accompanying neuropathy.

He said all of these things without any discernible self-pity, but I could tell that all of it was weighing on his mind. He expressed gratitude for the care he gets through the Veterans' Administration.

Our conversation covered other topics too. He mentioned having gone on an Honor Flight, something that my dad, a Korean War-era Air Force veteran is going to be doing in September, on his eighty-eighth birthday.

As I got ready to leave, I told the man, "Believe me, I think that I can understand a bit how you feel with your dad's situation, especially with you being pulled in different directions. My own mom just died in April and though my dad is in great shape, you can't help being concerned.

"But, I want to encourage you when it comes to your wife's situation. Seven years ago this past month, I had a serious heart attack. had a 100% blockage of the left anterior descending artery. They call that the widow-maker. I've got a stent and a pacemaker/defibrillator. I lost 40% of my heart muscle. I just saw my cardiologist for my annual check-up yesterday. He still says that he can't understand how I developed a blockage and he doesn't know why I survived the heart attack..."

"I do," the vet said. I agree with him, of course, that God spared me that day in June, 2010. And I chastise myself often for not always remembering that if God saved me, He did so for His purposes not mine, so that I can accomplish the things He has for me to accomplish. Things like going to nursing homes when the person I'm visiting is unavailable.

"You tell your wife, there are all kinds of things the cardiologists can do. I'm living proof of it. And let me pray for your wife and your dad. What are their names?"

"Denise and Martin," he said.

"I'll be praying," I told him. (If you'd pray for Denise and Martin, too, I'd appreciate it. Prayer in Jesus' name is powerful!)

Three people I'll probably never see again. Each of them a divine appointment for this date in God's day planner for me. Each an opportunity, in little ways, to share a reminder that the God we meet in Jesus Christ is around and that He cares and that His people, the Church, care too.

In Hebrews 13:2, Christians are told: "Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it." The verse directly references an incident from Genesis in which Abraham welcomed messengers or angels of God, including the Lord Himself, to His tent. Christians are to be welcoming people, knowing that everyone they meet reflects the God in Whose image they were first created.

But, sometimes we show hospitality--a word related to the word hospital, the name for places of healing--when we meet people out in the world and extend to them the healing compassion, concern, and shelter of the God Who loves them infinitely, the God we can only know through Jesus Christ.

That's why Jesus says that whenever we serve those the world considers to be the least--the elderly, the young, the hurting, the overlooked--we serve Him.

And for that to happen, we have to be in the right places, open to being interrupted by God's plans, willing to trash our own. I sometimes forget that, getting caught up in my own agenda. But living with an openness to God's appointments for me is one of the most fulfilling aspects of following Jesus.

When you get out of God's way long enough, you realize that you're exactly where you're supposed to be, even if the reason you went there in the first place didn't pan out. At least that's what I've experienced.

[Blogger Mark Daniels is pastor of Living Water Lutheran Church in Centerville, Ohio.]

Today's 11:11, July 23, 2017

I posted a link to an installment of Today's 11:11 over on Facebook and someone asked me what the significance of 11:11 was. Here's what I said, with a few more comments.

Since the advent of digital clocks, 11:11 seems to have always been the readout I've noticed whenever I randomly check the time.

Unless I have a meeting, class, or appointment, I generally don't look at clocks. But when I randomly do so, I often see 11:11.

A friend of mine reports the same experience, which is funny. We're both kind of obsessed with it.

I attach no significance to 11:11, really. It would be just as striking if what I frequently saw was 10:10 or 12:12...and just as meaningless.

But I decided it would be a good blogging discipline to daily post about something that I've read or thought about and post it at the same time every day. 11:11 seemed like a good time to do it. It's a writing prompt, a blogging prompt.

Another reason, I suppose, is that we're in the centennial period for World War 1 right now. It's on my mind. I was always taken with the fact the Armistice bringing the war to an end went into effect at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, November 11, 1918. (Originally celebrated as Armistice Day, November 11 is now Veterans' Day.)

One final reason. There's a tradition among some Christians that refers to the moment of Christ's return as midnight, the end of the old creation, the full institution of the new. All time before that moment is the eleventh hour. We need to live life to its fullest and keep following Christ in the eleventh hour.

Yeah, I probably have given this too much thought. 😀 But all this other rationale came to me after I thought, "I'll be sure to post at 11:11 every night."

[Blogger Mark Daniels is pastor of Living Water Lutheran Church in Centerville, Ohio.]

Today's 11:11, July 22, 2017

A year ago, John Kiesewetter presented this photo essay on the history of the soon-to-be-demolished Cincinnati Gardens.

To me, the most interesting item shown is the "Settlement Sheet" from the Beatles' appearance at the Gardens. The band and their manager, Brian Epstein, netted $41K from a $58K gate. A friend who was there says he paid five bucks for his ticket. (Keep in mind that in 1964, a vinyl LP sold for about three bucks and a 45 RPM single went, depending on where you bought it, for anywhere from 79 to 98-cents. I got mine at the local Zayre for the lower price.)

I recall being at the Gardens twice. The first was for a basketball game between Xavier and Marquette in the 1990s.

The other, also in the 90s, was for a concert, the opening act of which was the Newsboys. I was into that band in those days. They would go on to have a steady stream of Christian rock hits, while helping to establish Peter Furler and Phil Joel as solo artists. But it was so early in their careers that when they came out to do an encore, they performed a song they'd already done in their set. It was 'I'm Not Ashamed,' which had sold well as a single. No matter the redundancy, we loved it.

[Blogger Mark Daniels is pastor of Living Water Lutheran Church in Centerville, Ohio.]

Today's 11:11, July 21, 2017

One-hundred years ago, the Harlem Hellfighters, a division composed of African-American soldiers in the segregated United States Army fought with distinction during World War 1, called at the time the Great War.

The global conflict officially ended at the eleventh hour on the eleventh day of the eleventh month, 1918.

That's how November 11, came to be known as Armistice Day, later Veterans' Day in the US. It was a day of joy that seemed to hold so much promise democracy, especially in the countries who fought for that system of government according to the democratic vision of President Woodrow Wilson.

Sadly, after the shooting stopped, Wilson turned a deaf ear to the calls for civil rights from the veterans of the war he had sent them to fight.

Some of the heroes who made up the the Harlem Hellfighters, the 15th New York National Guard Regiment, were, after fighting to make the world safe for democracy, on returning home to this nation, forcibly subjected to racism, segregation, and, in several tragic incidents, murder by frenzied white crowds. The federal government, under Wilson's leadership, countenanced lynchings of black citizens by whites, North and South, threatened by blacks seeking equal treatment under the law.

It had been the hope of African Americans across the country that the bravery in service of liberty exhibited by American black men during the war would legitimize their people's place in the United States and lead to fair treatment. Instead, a white suppression of African-American citizens took place which, in many ways, still exists to this day.

As an American and a Christian, that makes me both sad and angry.

[To learn more about the First World War and its aftermath, watch the excellent series The Great War, from PBS.]

Today's 11:11, July 20, 2017

On July 20, 1969, American astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first and second human beings, respectively, to walk on the surface of the Moon. They were two-thirds of the three-person Apollo 11 crew. While Armstrong and Aldrin descended to the Moon's surface in the Lunar Excursion Module (LEM), astronaut Michael Collins orbited the Moon in the Command Module (CM), which would eventually take the crew back to Earth.

Armstrong was a native of Wapakoneta, Ohio and is part of a distinguished line of Buckeye State aviators, including Dayton's Orville and Wilbur Wright, the inventors of powered flight. Others include John Glenn, the first American to orbit the earth, fighter pilot, and test pilot; Columbus native Eddie Rickebacker, the United States' flying ace of World War I and one-time president of Eastern Airlines; and Columbus West High graduate Donn Eisele, who flew on Apollo 8.

After retiring from the space program, Armstrong was a professor of engineering at the University of Cincinnati.

The American space program and the Moon landing still inspire me and I still hope that one day that I can travel in space.

Today's 11:11, July 19, 2017

In Matthew 18:15-20, Jesus talks about how Christian disciples in His Church are to reconcile if and when they have sinned against each other:

“If your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over. But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’ If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the church; and if they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector. Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.”

No one is more realistic about the reality of human sin than the sinless Son of God, Jesus. And no one  else offers the path to reconciliation with God and among human beings that Jesus offers to all who follow Him.

Today's 11:11, July 18, 2017

Random stuff for 11:11pm.