Pizza Mountain Style

Kathy and I were tired, exhausted and just not in the mood to drive into town (Eugene/Springfield) to grab a pizza for dinner. I’d just been to a memorial service and lost my zeal to be around people.

So Kathy looked at me and said let’s go to Ike’s Pizza in Leaburg. We stopped there once on the way home from Bend and brought a pizza home. Leaburg is only about 15 miles (East) from our house but it is like visiting another world.

We ordered a beer while we waited for our pizza. Ike’s has a great selection of beer. Local stuff and some brews I’ve never heard of before. Oh, and they also have the staples Coors Light and Bud.

The salad bar looks great and Sweet Potato Fries and Deep Fried Zucchini fly out of the kitchen like you wouldn’t believe so it must be good.

There’s the big stuffed Ike in the room that’s kind of a theme for the place (big foot). A ton of local’s hangout there. It’s just a comfortable place to go on a Friday Night. Right across the road is the McKenzie River and the pizza is great. (We brought ours home)

The atmosphere inside is nice. Lots of wood and kind of a lodge feel. The only problem with Ike’s is the lighting. It’s a little bright inside, especially following a long day when you need dim lights to soften the mood. Lighting is a big deal in a restaurant and a lot of restaurants don’t understand that. Yes, we need to be able to see the menu, but I a candle on the table will do just fine.

Overall I really like Ike’s and the people who work there are great.

What Do You Believe

God’s in the Red Chair

It is still outside. Not a blade of grass or the branch of the tree moves. It’s too early for any cars to be driving along the country road in front of my home. The only sounds come from the ticking of the clocks that fill my living room or the occasional snore that pushes it’s way out of my dogs nose as it sleeps at my feet.
Sitting across from me, in the red chair is God. He says nothing He simply smiles. Next to Him on the table is a book filled with pictures of my past. In each picture I see Him standing near me. I’ve never noticed Him in the photograph before but now that I’m paying attention to Him, His image is clearly there.
I’m not sure what to say to God. I used to rattle off a list of protections and things I thought I needed as His follower. Now I simply stare unable to make God into some top-40 request line designed to make my life sound or feel better.
I want to ask Him how my story is like the story of Jeremiah, Moses or David. I want to know the connection and how what they did might in some way play a part in the point in history that I call my life? I want to know the plans He has for my son’s Jake and Jess? I look into His eyes and get this sense that my wife’s newfound love of painting is more than a hobby but a language between Kathy and God. I want to ask Him if Derrick is about to see his way through to the next level.
As I think His presence in the red chair becomes more real, more definable, and more substantial.
Knowing God is less about doing and more about being, being with Him.
Just me in my chair and God in the red chair.

The Truth: It’s not a lie.

The Truth is a funny thing. We like it when it agrees with our belief system and change it or tweak it when it doesn’t.

But the Truth is, you can’t change the Truth. To do so is a Lie. Some are white lies, some are little lies, some are unknown lies but the fact is a lie is a lie even if you don’t know it’s a lie, not knowing doesn’t make it the truth.

We get so use to untruths that they almost become the truth over time. Time has a way of making a lie sound like the truth. What if a lie is something we practice, something we’ve been taught, something everyone else in our club is doing, does that make it the truth?

What if someone takes the lie, doctors it up, integrates it with things we agree with, does that make it the truth?

When we find out something is a lie and use the old excuse that it doesn’t mean that to me, does that make the lie, less of a lie, and more of the truth?  Or is the real measure of truth what matters to God? Do we ask the question does this matter to God or simply decide for ourselves that how we choose to do things is good enough?

What’s the truth? We are told the truth will set us free but freedom isn’t free. Sometimes you have to fight for it. Sometimes you have to be willing to ask the question, challenge the status quo and get kicked in the shins in the process.

Warning: You won’t make any friends asking the questions.

Easter Marketing: Mixed Emotions

I pick up the paper, get lost in story after story of tragedy in our community, and then turn to a page of ads promoting Easter Services in the area.

I honestly don’t know what to think. Churches want to let people know what they are doing for Easter Sunday and I went looking for some possibilities, but after reading every single ad I just feel sad.

Reading the ads for Easter Services is like reading the ads for a new car. Some come complete with an Easter Brunch, Excellent Child Care, Plays, famous worship leaders, catchy sermons and even Easter Egg Hunts following the services. I’m still not sure what an Easter Egg Hunt has to do with Jesus dying on a cross for my sins, but oh well.

I’m not trying to be all humbug about this but it makes me…..numb. We’ve reduced Jesus’ death to marketing 101. We make great plays and pageants to attract people to church to hear the message and yet what Christ did for us was ugly, messy and difficult to market, really.

I don’t attend a regular church service anymore and am considering going to one tomorrow because I want to. As I look over the graphics and offerings of all the congregations my eyes are drawn not to the “Super Church Services” but I urn for something simple, easy and a place where people come and go and don’t “use” the day to try to lure more membership to their church.

I was asked to speak at a community Easter Service at a cemetery in town but it didn’t work out. That seems pretty real to me. No pageantry or fancy hot cross buns, just death in a cemetery.

What Christ did for me and for you is unexplainable. The anguish He must have felt goes beyond anything you and I can ever understand. Celebrating His death and resurrection is a wonderful thing but after reading the ads I have to wonder if we’ve gone too far.

There is a fine line between informing and marketing and what I saw this morning causes me to wonder if we really understand what the cross was all about.

Disclaimer: These are the thoughts of Rick Dancer and should not be taken in a way that cause anyone think he is anti-Easter Service or in any way believes those who go to an Easter Service are wrong. Rick Dancer is not against Easter Egg Hunts or traditions but only questions such things because he can. Rick Dancer has many weaknesses but one of them is questioning the traditions of man when he feels they may overshadow the message and traditions of God. His reflections in no way speak for the owners of this website, his business or any of his friends, past, present or future. If you see Mr. Dancer at an Easter Service please refrain from attacking him he is covered by the blood of Jesus…..too.

Don’t Look Down

When life becomes difficult the first thing to go is hope. Failure sets off some notion that we are no good, we will never make it and we retreat into our cave.

I’m getting into a lot of “Core” exercise at the gym. I balance on balls and do funny looking movements to improve my core. People often laugh at me or walk by and stare at this tall guy standing on one leg on a Bosu Ball.

What I’ve learned about balance and staying on that ball is not to look down. When I show a new person how to do what I do they often times start by looking at their feet. The result is they fall.

The key to balance is to keep your focus on one thing and don’t let the chaos, the comments or even the jeers tempt your eyes to look away. When you are trying to stay balanced the last thing you want to do is look down.

The other thing I’ve noticed about balance is not to look back at where you’ve been or what you just did. You can’t look to the left or the right you keep your eyes glued to your focal point in front of you.

Next time you find yourself a little off balance or losing hope, find your focus, ignore the world around you, stand still and don’t give in.

Oh, and never look down.