Don't Just Read the Menu...Eat the Meal! (Part 1)

I'm thinking of opening a new restaurant to be called "Specialty Menus" - Open on Sundays and Wednesday nights.

Week 1- Italian Week: House specialty is Fettuccini Alfredo. We will learn the origin of pasta as a food source, along with a detailed study of Italian cheeses. But no Italian food will actually e served.

Week 2 - Chinese Week: Our specialty this week is Sweet and Sour Pork. We will also study the differences between the cuisine of Hunan, Mandarin, Cantonese and Szechuan areas of China and how to discern the difference. You will leave an expert in Chinese cuisine. But no Chinese Food will actually be consumed.

Week 3- Mexican Week: Our menu includes a variety of enchiladas and chimichongas, using various meats and cheeses. We will also study the differences in north and south Mexican cooking. However, we must warn you to beware of the Tex-Mex heretics , whose food is not pure. No Mexican food will actually be eaten.

Week 4- Southern Week: Turn in your menu to the First Epistle to Mississippi, chapter 5, verse 3, where we read: “Thou shalt cook thy food in thy grease, until thine arteries clog and thy fat levels rise. And thou shalt include thy cornbread, unless thou substitute with thine homemade biscuits. And thine greens and butter beans shall be added liberally, saith Grandma.” However, no southern food will actually be served.

Did I mention that we are changing the name of the restaurant to First Menu Study Church, Ops I mean Restaurant?

WHAT IS MISSING from my Restaurant? Eating the Meal!

Meanwhile his disciples urged him, “Rabbi, eat something.” But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.” Then his disciples said to each other, “Could someone have brought him food?” “My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. Do you not say, ‘Four months more and then the harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest.” John 4:31-35 (NIV)

John Wimber used to say "The Meat is in the Street!"

“John, convinced now that as a pastor and teacher, he was to train the church to do the works of service, would teach the Scriptures as if they were our instruction manuals. He talked about the Word and works. How we need to be Word-workers. Not just the Word. Not only the works, but also the Word and the works. He held up a menu from a restaurant. ‘This is the menu. It is not the meal.’ He held up his Bible. ‘This is the menu. It describes the meal. It is not the meal.’ He went on, ‘You know about the meal from the menu, but you must order and eat before the transaction is complete! Don’t be satisfied with just studying the menu!’”

Carol Wimber, John Wimber - The Way It Was, page 133