Cold pans can’t cook, can they?
–Too often church services are like a cooking demonstration on an unplugged electric stove. There’s one person talking without any power.
–Perhaps church services could cook up revival and spiritual awakening, by allowing ordinary people to plug into Christ, flow with the power of God, and speak up as they are prompted by the Holy Spirit. Ted Allen said: “People want honest, flavorful food, not some show-off meal that takes days to prepare.” Maybe the same thing is true about church. Learn to go beyond church as usual @http://amzn.to/1UPpnD6

Perhaps it is time for church to stop serving leftovers and serve up the original meal based on the recipe in the book of Acts: “The most remarkable thing about my mother is that for thirty years she served the family nothing but leftovers. The original meal has never been found.” –Calvin Trillin

When church does try to innovate, too often it looks like this: “To make my meal in a box taste better, I decided to tweak the logo, rather than the ingredients.” –Jarod Kintz

Julia Child said: “No one is born a great cook, one learns by doing.” You don’t learn to live for God by hearing a talk about it. You learn by doing! Perhaps church services could allow people to do the message, not just hear it! That one change can release God’s fire! “Don’t just live your life, set it on fire!” –Ginger Sullivan in The Honeymooner’s Cookbook

Instead of making a church service conform to our program, perhaps we could follow the Holy Spirit’s recipe in 1 Corinthians 14:26: “I let myself relax into the pattern of the recipe.” –Jael McHenry

Come and experience what God’s cooking up for the Dones, for the Millennials, and for others who are frustrated with church as usual. Check out The Salvation Army Berry Street, 225 Berry St., Nashville, 37207, on Sunday mornings at 10:45 — where instead of a one man sermon, ordinary people show and tell what God has done.