Listening in the Quiet

I recently left all the distractions of everyday life behind to go and sit in a cabin in the middle of Oklahoma City for four nights. My goal was to be alone to write a new message series. This for me is a once a year ritual…right before the summer camp and festival season begins. I pray for revelation and I gather thoughts, ideas, articles, manuscripts and anything else I can get my hands on. Entering a time of quite where I hope God will shout.

I’ve learned from years of experience that during this kind of sabbatical one never knows what might happen. Sometimes writing begins immediately…as when a dam brakes and ideas flood in. Sometimes nothing happens. You read and you wait and you pray and it all seems like an uphill battle. You take a walk. You take 45-minute showers in an attempt to push some sort of spiritual reset button realizing at the end of it all that God doesn’t want you to have anything new, but to chew on what you know from the past. Probably the hardest for me is when God gives me something new, while at the same time confirming in my spirit that this is not for me to share with anyone but to keep in my own heart.

I wonder how many songs have been written by the Chris Tomlins and the Nichole Nordemans of the world that were just personal prayers for their hearts alone. Songs that God gave them NOT to share. I wonder how many sermons God gave the Spurgeons and the Lewis’s of our time, NOT to preach… sermons that God gives a preacher without permission to preach. All that said, when it comes to a sabbatical, I never really know which scenario I’m walking into. It might even be a mixture of both.

This year I entered my sabbatical with a game plan to write messages based out of the kingdom parables. Most of my research material was directed toward this goal. But as I look back I see God had a different plan. Today, a few weeks have passed since my time in Oklahoma City and I am looking at a four part message series that only contains one message based around a parable.

Although these messages are still in construction mode, I cannot wait to preach what God has put in my heart and on my tongue. I want to give you a small hint of what these messages will be about this summer by letting you know the sermon titles. As of now this four part message series centers on life-changing truths and encounters. I’m using popular TV show titles to connect the points and provide continuity. Here are the four titles: LOST: the prodigal son (and other lost parables); The Apprentice: Nicodemus; American Idol: the rich young ruler; and 24: waging war while serving the prince of peace.

The main two reasons I’m posting this is first to ask for your prayers and second to solicit any ideas that you might have. Feel free to post any ideas on any of these topics. Maybe you’ve heard a sermon or read an article/book recently that connects with these messages. Please know I’d welcome the insight.

Until this summer, David