Scuppers

A Scupper of the the sunken Wells Burt

Some years ago, I worked in a company that the owner and his son were Yacht racers.  They their named their pet dogs  after a nautical theme.  Scuppers was the name of their dogs.  Jib was the name of the other dog.  Scuppers, was the name of the gutters or holes on the side of a ship that allow water to escape the deck when it was  flooded.

Some time late, I came across a story about a  200 ft. schooner named The Wells Burt.  The Well Burt transported coal from Buffalo New York to Chicago, Illinois, during the 1880s. On the May 21st 1883, The Wells Burt returning from Buffalo met a terrible storm.  Less than five miles from the safety  of the Chicago docks, the ship endured crashing waves that disabled her rudder.  The storm was much too strong, the ship swamped and sank.  All eleven crew members died.

A discovery that not only was the rudder disabled, but there may have also been a design flaw that may have contributed to the sinking of the schooner.  There were only one pair of scuppers  in the front half of the ship.  For that size ship it would have needed much more that just a single pair in the front half.  Enormous waves crashing on the ship and flooding the deck could not drain fast enough with the scupper design of that ship.  With the steering mechanism damaged the ship drifted on the lake and was not able to course correct nor direct the ship correctly into the wave.

There was a lesson in there for me.  We often use words like, “having to vent”, or “needing to escape”, etc.  We use these expressions to express our need to sometimes let it out.  I see those things as “Scuppers” in my life.  I believe the designer placed scuppers in our lives.  Scuppers take the shape  of things; prayer, hobbies, friends, confidants, etc. just to name a few.    It takes some personal inventory to find out what is your scuppers.  It is also absolutely imperative that the scuppers are clear of obstruction or debris.  When the storms of life swarm over.  When fierce winds and flooding waves crash in, sometimes there is not enough tome to clear the scuppers.  You may not have the time to do that work whilst you are trying to find your bearings and navigating your way through it.  Some of my Scuppers are the friends and relationships I have.  Many times those relationships have guided me through the rough waters by allowing me to drain the pressures of the waves crashing in.

I am so thankful for Jesus, the captain of my soul.  I am so thankful for the  people in my life.  I am thankful for my scuppers….  What are your scuppers?

C3 2009 cometh

This is an exciting thing for me. I have wanted to attend and be part of the Creative Church Conference for many, many years. This year I along with the best group of people possible are going to C3. This is going to be BIG. BIG I tell you. More to come.

The Other Part of the Story….

A few days ago, I came across a story of a man who suffered a tragic accident.  On Dec. 20th he broke his back and could not survive without life support.  On December 25th, Christmas Day, the decision to disconnect life support was made and he soon died afterwards.

A memorial service was scheduled a few weeks later.  As I was setting up AV support for the memorial service, I thought to myself, “To be disconnected from life support on Christmas is just a cold thing to do.  How heartless and sad way to say Merry Christmas.”  As the memorial service went on a discovery was made.  The young man who had suffered a terrible demise, was a organ donor.  The decision to disconnect the life support, and therefore giving up his life had in turn changed the lives of 13 people, organ receipients.

Listening to the people affected by this man,  made me realize there is always, the other part of the story…

message, method, movement

We confuse the three M’s (message, method, movement).

Step #1: Know your message (your call to action, your point, your purpose).

Step #2: Define what you want to happen (the movement) as a result of your message being heard/seen/experienced (attendance, action, feeling, etc.)
Step #3: Determine the best method to connect the message with the movement. The method is the bridge.

Do not get these out of order. If the method comes first (as if often does), what we get is a really cool web site that doesn’t do anything except look cool. If the movement comes first, we end up with a bunch of people but no purpose for their assembly.

Hello world!

Although apparently I opened this account in August of 2008, This is the first blog entry I have entered.  The date January 4th, 2009.  I wanted to start a blog for a very long time, and now with the begining of the new year at hand, this was a perfect time to say Hello World.  The blog entries will be of various categories and perspectives.  Again, Hello World!