CHAPTER SUMMARIES
APPETIZERS
Hungry
Ramen Noodles, Mac & Cheese, and Tuna Fish Sandwiches are
cheap food items consumed by those struggling to get by. High
school and college do not prepare us for the reality of life on
our own. It is during those times when we have so little that
we feel so alone. Depression and anxiety set in. Does anybody
care? Is it going to be this way for the rest of my life? Am I
always going to be without? It is during those times when we have
to be reminded of what God wants to feed us, and it's found in
two items Jesus referred to and used over and over in His ministry:
loaves and fish.
Stories include the author's success in
college compared to the reality of life in Los Angeles after college,
and economical shopping tips he learned during those times.
Feeding
Despite the physical, relational, and spiritual change that occurred
between Man and God in the bountiful Garden of Eden, one thing
did not alter: God never stopped desiring to provide for us. During
one of the most astounding feats in the New Testament, Jesus produced
an endless supply of bread and fish during a desert convention
to feed thousands. The mass feedings say plenty about God. He
offers us ten items to fill our cupboards when they are empty-not
only our stomachs and our pockets, but our spirits too. That's
what these miracles are about, because face it, when we're at
the end of our ropes, hanging by a thread, barely scraping by,
trying to make ends meet…we need more than Ramen Noodles,
Mac & Cheese and a tuna fish sandwich-we need GOD!
Stories include an examination of poor
ol' Mother Hubbard, an excerpt from a classic Seinfeld episode,
and the author's desperate hunger causing him to take food off
another table in a restaurant.
Location
All six accounts of the mass feedings from the Gospels (four from
the 5,000, two from the 4,000) are presented in their entirety
for future reference.
The author traveled to the areas where
the miracles possibly occurred and offers evidence to their actuality.
THE MENU
1. Attention
Big Brother and Santa Claus, two entities always watching our
every move. We do find security in the fact that someone is watching
over us. We like to know that someone understands what we are
going through. God promises us His full and undivided attention.
When Jesus looked up and saw a great
crowd coming toward him, He said to Philip, "Where shall
we buy bread for these people to eat?" John 6:5
Jesus noticed the needs of those surrounding
him during the feeding of the 5,000. God not only creates, but
He loves what he creates. God's heart, soul, mind, and strength
are focused on the objects of his desire.
Stories include a house sitting incident when the author set off
the alarm, a satellite imagery program called Google Earth, and
the first moment when he realized God cared about him in this
big ol' world.
2. Compassion
Many great love scenes from movies still work today because secretly
we wish to be loved totally, completely, wholeheartedly. The nationality
of the crowd in the feeding of the 4,000 was Gentile, a race hated
by the Jews. Jesus fed them the same way He fed the Jews previously
saying very directly that he loved and served everyone.
Jesus called his disciples to him and
said, "I have compassion for these people; they have already
been with me three days and have nothing to eat. I do not want
to send them away hungry, or they may collapse on the way."
Matthew 15:32
No matter where you are from, what color
your skin, what sin you have committed, what condition your mind,
body or soul is in, God gives you His love.
Stories include the first girl the author
ever loved (in second grade), the long standing feud between Jews
and Gentiles, the conversion of David Berkowitz (Son of Sam),
and the contrast between some Christians the author knew in college
and an evangelist who called everyone fornicators and drunkards.
3. Resources
God's resources during the mass feeding included three very limited
things: fish, bread, and a boy. Doesn't seem like much, but in
God's eyes it was all He needed.
Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon
Peter's brother, spoke up, "Here is a boy with five small
barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among
so many?" John 6:8-9
God's resources transcend time and space.
He sped up time to instantly provide cooked fish and baked bread.
God isn't worried about the steps required to supply your needs.
God's resources are unlimited, but practical. In Matthew 6:25-34,
God promises to provide us with the exact things He promises to
provide to every creature on Earth - food, clothing, shelter -
the necessities of life. God provides our resources when we give
up our resources. By surrendering his resources, the boy watched
as thousands ate. The boy released his assurance and security
and placed them in the hands of Jesus.
Stories include the wonderful smell of
the Merita bread factory on I-4, an encounter with a witch doctor
in Africa, and a missed opportunity to write for a reality show.
4. Nutrition
Junk food is good, but not good for you. That's pretty much the
definition of sin. Sin is anything that fulfills us temporarily,
then leaves us unsatisfied and empty. Sin is the world's diet
plan. If I work to feed my appetite with the menu items of this
world, my soul starves to death. At the mass feedings, God fed
them the healthiest, most nutritious food he could provide.
Taking the five loaves and the two fish
and looking up to heaven…Mark 6:41
Bread and fish have tremendous health qualities.
So do the promises of God. His Bible is full of them-a cookbook
for our soul. Our calendars may be busy, our menus planned, our
bank accounts stuffed, our friends lined up down the block, but
we could still be hungry. If we go to anything else for the things
only God can provide, we are eating junk food.
Stories include an examination of Doritos,
a comparison of obscenity and junk food, and Adam and Eve's (and
the Israelites) failure to stick to the diet plan.
5. Power
If Jesus Christ could perform miracles 2,000 years ago, He still
can today. Jesus has the ability to do the impossible. We need
that power when we feel powerless.
Taking the five loaves and the two fish
and looking up to heaven, He gave thanks and broke the loaves.
Then He gave them to his disciples to set before the people. He
also divided the two fish among them all. Matthew 6:41
God may not display His power when and
how and where we want it, but He can when He wants to. If we ever
forget that, we lose our reason to worship Him. Miracles are not
promises. They are singular showings of God's power leading others
to understand His identity. This doesn't say that God has a hands-off
policy when it comes to Earth today. God still works in our lives,
moving things around, inspiring others miles away, orchestrating
events, touching hearts. Things happen that can't be explained,
in timing that makes us wonder, through people you never expected.
Miracles? Maybe not in the Old or New Testament sense, but clear
indicators of God's power at work in any situation.
Stories include the "amazing"
claims of infomercials, other theories on the feeding of the 5,000,
special effects in movies, and the author's sister's miraculous
healing from leukemia.
6. People
When we are tired and hungry, God serves us the kindness and love
of others that comes from relationships. They may be strangers
or family members or neighbors or politicians or store clerks
or members of our church. God delivers people into our need, who
he has prepared for service.
…But He said to his disciples,
"Have them sit down in groups of about fifty each."
The disciples did so, and everybody sat down. Taking the five
loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, He gave thanks
and broke them. Then He gave them to the disciples to set before
the people. Luke 9:14-16
During the mass feedings, God engaged the
disciples by getting them thinking and problem solving. Then He
humbled them and used them to organize everyone in smaller, more
specialized groups so ministry could happen more effectively.
Then Jesus involved them in the distribution of the nourishment.
Blessed by the event, the disciples were motivated to serve in
other capacities. God still sends people into our lives to feed
us.
Stories include the process of creating
a Hershey Kiss, the author's wife Barbie's days as a waitress
and the time he stopped a purse snatcher at the mall.
7. Fulfillment
Mick Jagger can't get no satisfaction. Neither could Solomon.
But the people at the mass feedings understood satisfaction.
They all ate and were satisfied…Matthew
14:20
Every mention of the miraculous feedings
brings up the same point-everyone who ate was satisfied. Not only
were they full, but fulfilled. God wants us to feel satisfied
and never hungry. God serves us fulfillment on a regular basis.
We receive it by appreciating what we have, trusting for what
we don't have, and focusing on what we need. Paul discovered that
"secret of being content"-the power of Christ. If you
have exactly what you need and appreciate what you have, the "wants"
don't weigh you down. The "wants" make us feel empty.
The power of Christ provides us with what we need and strengthens
us during those times we feel weak.
Stories include Israelites eating quail,
obstacles restaurants must overcome to get food to you and the
process the author goes through with his kid's Christmas lists.
8. Blessing
God does not intend our lives to be wretched. He wants us to be
blessed. To see our way through the days of Ramen Noodles, Mac
& Cheese, and Tuna Fish Sandwiches we must know that God wants
to serve us blessing during those times. Those blessings come
in varying degrees of intensity, based on the way you do the math.
When they had all had enough to eat,
He said to his disciples, "Gather the pieces that are left
over. Let nothing be wasted." So they gathered them and filled
twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left
over by those who had eaten. - John 6:12-13
God likes to add blessing, not subtract.
He likes to multiply the blessing. He also "rounds up"
his numbers, allowing for leftovers and overflow. When it comes
to leftovers, God wants nothing to go to waste. We must pick up
our blessing and do something with it-hand it out, spread it around,
give it other others. God's return policy asks for a return on
his blessing.
Stories include It's the Great Pumpkin
Charlie Brown, the success of Tupperware, and being blessed with
food while on a mission trip to Cuba.
9. Purpose
At the feedings of the 5,000 and 4,000 we find four purposes that
Jesus serves into our purposeless lives. These purposes remind
the author of a restaurant. Every worker there has a specific
job, all of them helping to provide a service to the patrons that
visit. Like a hostess/host in a restaurant, I must be led to a
small group where I can sit. Like a waiter/waitress, I must serve
others. Like a chef, I must feed others God's word. Like a bus
boy, I must clean up my leftovers and give to others.
Jesus knew what they were saying. So
He asked them, "Why are you talking about having no bread?
Why can't you see or understand? Are you stubborn? Do you have
eyes and still don't see? Do you have ears and still don't hear?
And don't you remember? Matthew 8:17-18
When we worry that we don't have enough
to do all that God wants us to do, we are forgetting that God
has it all. These purposes for living can only be accomplished
through us when we know that God has all the power to use even
us.
Stories include a job the author had digging
holes for Jacuzzis in Los Angeles, insight into the Justice League
comic book series, and Jesus feeding Peter on the shoreline.
10. Bread (of life)
Open kitchens and the Food Channel have made chefs more popular.
It appears we all want to meet the men and women who provide us
with the best food. When Jesus saw the hungry looks in the faces
of the 5,000/4,000, he wanted to make dinner for them. Most of
all, He wanted them to know Him. He was actually serving Himself.
"I am the bread of life." John 6:35
In John 6:26-59, Jesus explains that He
is the bread of life. Jesus' bread promises satisfaction, relief,
security, truth, and resurrection. I may be staring at a plate
of Ramen Noodles, Mac & Cheese, and Tuna Fish Sandwiches,
but this is not the meal I will be eating for eternity. No matter
how desperate my life seems, no matter how repetitive it becomes,
no matter how many times I worry about the future, I know this…I
have eternal life. This truth fills me because it says that God
loves me. It says I am forgiven. It says that God will take care
of me. If you want to dine with Jesus, all you have to do is invite
Him. He won't turn down the invitation.
Stories including nearly saving a popular
chef from choking and the chef's table at Victoria & Alberts
at Walt Disney World.
Grace
A final prayer of invitation sums up the message of the book and
leads the reader into a relationship with Jesus Christ.
