Deurty

When I was a kid I told my neighborhood friends that my dad was really David Banner and not David Deur. In other words... my dad was the incredible hulk. This made me the son of the incredible hulk and I could also turn green and make my blue eyes glow in rage... so for heavens sake don't make me angry, you wouldn't like it when I'm angry. I offered proof of this by showing them a picture I colored of my dad. Crazy. But the kids were younger and I enjoyed the fun of feeling connected to the TV show that I loved so much as a kid. My dad still is my hero and he doesn't have to turn green to earn that spot. (He just needs to give the green if you know what I mean! Just kidding - that just popped in my head... dumb.) AWESOME day today. Hung out a bit with Wade and also made good headway on this week's "conversation chat message talk sermon." :) We are assembling camping stuff and the McCammon's have EVERYTHING! Thank you God for friends who know w...

This is a small picture of our campsite at Ft. Desoto. I can't wait to jump in the car with the kids and drive. The drive to Florida is almost as fun as the hanging out in Florida. I love a good twenty hour drive! I am sick and wrong. Some of my best memories growing up was traveling with my family. I think a big trip is a greenhouse for famly growth. Sometimes - most of the time - it comes out of some kind of mini-crisis on the trip or something not going totally as planned. Those shared experiences are awesome and talked about for years. So anyways - that is our campsite. Now we just need to figure out how to camp. :) deurty deeds, sd

Gatherings at 9:30 and 11:00 am @ GHHS. Come as you are (but no speedos) and celebrate. It aint gonna kill ya - it is resurrection day! :) sd

Proof in the bodily resurrection of Jesus. Huh? Just goes to show that how you look on the outside doesn't always match up on what is inside. Went to the easter egg hunt in central park today. I love that. Hanging out - seeing people - getting hardly any eggs - BUT a great tradition and community connection. We then hung out with my hair artist and her husband the dRummer dude at Mancinos. Good to hang out with them. They are a lot of fun and it is easy to relax with them and just chill. Have a happy easter! Resurrection Joe, sd

I CAN SEE SPRING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! For the love come to us oh mighty sun! Bathe us in your golden beams! Fry our skin! Make my skin peel! Peel away the funk that is winter! Well Vicki and I decided to go camping (in a tent) to florida. So - yeah - we'll keep you posted, but the key thing to know is that we don't know what we are doing. To top it off - we don't have any gear. So we will be mooching off friends. (I mean - giving friends an opportunity to serve us.) :) See you on EASTER SUNDAY! The invitation is still open to all you suckas! :) sd

Preparing for Easter Sunday message. I wonder what I will be sharing about.... hmmm.... maybe the FREAKING RESURRECTION?! :) Anyways - can you speak about the resurrection without going into the back story? I mean the way way way back story...? I have thought about it and because we have many people who are green about God's Word and the whole 'Jesus Liberation Movement' (as Rob Lacey calls it) we need to put the resurrection and the cross in context. Otherwise we have no idea why the resurrection and the cross and Jesus for that matter is important and why it matters and how it impacts each person. So - how far back do you go? To Jesus' beginning of his ministry and his teachings and what he said and foreshadowed? To the prophets? To Israel? To the first people and sin entering the world? I'm gonna give a super fast background on Sunday I think to get us all on the same page. I'll start with Adam and Eve and God's original design of life with Him ...

I have been doing some study on the resurrection of Jesus and I have found it interesting on a lot of different levels. I find the historical study fascinating. I also have enjoyed the theological framework of the resurrection and its absolute importance. Paul, in 1 Corinthians 15 shares some thoughts and I leave them briefly with you with minimal commentary from deurty: "...Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas (Peter), then to the twelve." This little statement is a creed repeated by Paul that is placed within three years of Jesus' death and resurrection. This is then one of the first Christian creeds or in other words... this was on the first ever Christian's lips as they shared about Jesus. So often we hear about the substitutionary work of the cross and this is HUGE, but the Christian movement at its heart is a resurrecti...

Can we not come up with our own ideas? Pathetic, but true. :) It seems like making these kind of t-shirt designs produce a good profit... why not jump on the witness wearable band wagon! Any ideas? If we need a t-shirt to show we are a follower of Jesus then it tells me that my life isn't doing the job. Or I am just being silly. I am down with G-O-D and I have a shirt with Jesus on it (or at least a popular picture of him) but I don't wear it for people to make people repent... I just like it. So I am taking clever ideas for t-shirt and bumper sticker designs and phrases! My son has a remarkably quick gag relfex and sensitive stomach. I watched him do his best "exorcist" impersonation after drinking his milk too fast and too furious. huevos, sd

This sign could represent the reality of how "church growth" happens nowadays. I know us pastor types don't mean it, but how much of our "marketing," "programs," "articles," "concerts," and "such" are really directed toward churched people and not people who may be without a faith community and interested in connecting into one? I think it is easy to watch other churches around you and see them more as competition rather than partners. I think it's enjoyable to hear how your church is better than another one or your preaching is better or whatever. 75% of the churches in the USA are taking a nose dive. 25 % of the churches are growing. Of that 25%... 24% are growing because people are moving to another church... (transfer growth). 1% of the churches growing are actually growing because people are joining a faith community for the first time. Anyways - I would like Watermark to be a 1% church. This has implications! ...

Welcome the flying yankee kiwi combination that is Rhys Jones! Congrats! Please begin to seriously pray for this child as it is under the unique influence of the flying kiwi. :) Love you guys and big time congrats! sd

HOPE! I see a forty plus degree day approaching! Time to get out the shorts, the sandals, the sunscreen and my mental patient pills because it aint coming fast enough! I have enjoyed teaching the past few weeks about "Share Your Life." I love talking about the Jesus life. I also did a seminar called, "The Missional Life" which was a lot more in depth and practical compared to our Sunday chats. Anyways the favorite thought that popped in my brain was: MORE IS CAUGHT THAN TAUGHT. But through out the New Testament we see that while the focus was on living the Kingdom - there also was a proclaiming piece to it. So people can be TAUGHT WHAT THEY CAUGHT. anyways - since we are all constantly evangelizing each other (try to change my mind on that and you will be evangelizing) I found this conversation series to breath new life into my role as an ambassador in life and word with Jesus Christ. I just wish I could apologize to all of those people who have been hurt by...

Major league bummer and sadness. Dale Witte passed away. Dale is from Spring Lake and has an awesome family. Praying for them... I am sorry I have not been as regular on this. I will figure out what to do with the computer stuff in the next year I'm sure... Throw up a prayer for the Witte's. sd

I just started reading: "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" to my daughter. We are entering chapter three where we see Edmund meeting the Queen and getting hooked on Turkish Delight. (Which by the way is awful stuff.) (For those in Australia or NZ - I used to hate the Turkish Delight sections of the Cadbury 'Snack' Chocolate bars.) :) Anyways - I am really enjoying reading her this book. I love stories like this that make you imagine. I am reading the same book that my mom read to me. I received the whole "Chronicles of Narnia" for perfect attendance in Sunday School as a kid. Yeah for being the kid with a calendar full of stars! Time to go. This Easter we are looking at inviting people to hang with us at the gathering and then come over for dinner. If you are someone who has no place to go for dinner on Easter - let me know. steve.deur@iamwatermark.com If you can't stomach the gathering (church gig) then just come for food. :) Congrats t...

Sometimes people call guys, "fixers." Yet I seem perfectly fine to make do with things half busted and rigged for working order. I adapt. Sometimes I spend more time adapting than actually fixing it. Examples: > Light bulbs don't get replaced regularly. > Car exhaust goes unfixed. > Shower knobs have been broken from day one and require a pliers. > Remote controls busted for over a year and then realizing I can get a universal remote. > An ugly extension chord solving an electical situation in our kitchen that could be sorted out. > A toilet seat with a crack in it stayed on there for monthes - I just used the other one. > Computer broken still and can't really use... Other computer zapped by power outage and needs fixing. N ow using a make shift monitor with my computer with a busted monitor, but this old Gateway monitor keeps zapping and shutting off. Maybe you are getting the picture. In anycase I am the king of jerryrigging - but the pro...

On my way into the school this morning for our gatherings I hit a pot hole in the parking lot and my tire went flat. Gatherings went smoothly for the most part and I enjoyed my time talking with people. Enjoyed the afternoon with family and a killer meal from my mom. Came home and watched America's Funniest Home Videos as a family on the couch together. Put the kids to bed. Ordered a pizza and hot wings (got an extra medium pizza for free thanks to the Tri-Cities books nexgen is selling.) Watched television and chatted with my honey. She went to bed... I am talking to you. Good night.

Today is Harrison's second birthday. It is also my sister's twenty-ninth birthday. Happy Birthday!

What comes to mind when you see the dice above? For me... I must admit... I think of D&D. (Dungeons and Dragons) When I was in middle school/early high school I found myself working on characters for hours on end and playing the game on weekends with a few buddies. I was truly a D&D geek - but not totally, because I was younger than those dudes playing in their mom's basements in their mid-thirties. :) Anyways - I was told not to play anymore by my loving and concerned parents (thanks dad). I think the biggest issue wasn't the SATANIC themes (because there were none in the way we played.) I think the problem was that all my time was spent on it and all my notes and homework (when I took time to do it) had swords and blood and creatures all over it. Anyways - I still played in secret a little bit, but had to watch my back.... oooooo scary. Anyways - it was a fun game. I could turn this into a spiritual devotional moment and talk about why we want to live lives th...

I will not apologize for not blogging lately... (notice how I kind of apologized without really doing it?) Anyways, briefly, quickly, rapidly... YOU ARE WASTING SPACE STEVE GET ON WITH IT! I went to the "Grow Up" conference with Randy Frazee and Joe Meyers. I knew I needed to be there by the title alone! It was good. It was so good it made me ache. I ached, I longed, I hungered for the vision of life that they spoke about... The life you read in the pages of the Bible... the life of impact and health. I have a renewed desire to be a good neighbor. Not to "target" people for conversion. For example: Going to my neighbors home and giving them a plate of cookies and announcing that they are going to be baking for eternity in hell! :) I found that amusing... not that people will bake in hell, but by the thought of tying that comment to a plate of cookies. Would that statement have less punch if I brought store bought cookies? Anyways - I do want to be in relat...