OUR PASTORS "STANDING FAST" IN GOD'S PEA PATCH:

2 Samuel 23:11-12 ESV And next to him was Shammah, the son of Agee the Hararite. The Philistines gathered together at Lehi, where there was a plot of ground full of lentils, and the men fled from the Philistines. (12) But he took his stand in the midst of the plot and defended it and struck down the Philistines, and the LORD worked a great victory.

I heard a story about a preacher who was always going out of town to do revivals. One day as he was about to leave the church office on his way to another city to preach a revival his secretary ask him for the titles of the Sunday messages so she could put them in the bulletin. The preacher said for the Sunday morning service just put in the bulletin "The Pastor Speaks" because he was still without a message and unsure about what he would preach. But he informed his secretary that on the Sunday night sermon he would be preaching from Ps.14:1, “The fool hath said in his heart there is no God”.

Well, said the secretary, "What title do you want to use for the Sunday night message from Ps.14:1?" The preacher told her to come up with the title herself as he rushed out the office for his travels .

The preacher returned from his preaching engagement early Sunday morning just in time for the preaching service. He rushed in, grabbed a bulletin and sat down. As he read over the bulletin he was shocked at what the secretary placed in it.

Sunday morning sermon "The Pastor Speaks" 
Sunday night "What The Fool Says"

Just a little humor to introduce the issue of Pastors preaching from a dry well and failing to stand fast. They go hand in hand. When the leaders are dry, empty, and no one is listening, instead of falling on their face and seeking God for a fresh anointing of His Spirit, there will be the tendency to go after the new catch words and modern methods of trying to draw in the crowds. We then forget that John the Baptist just preached the Word out in a desert place and the crowds came running out to hear him. John didn't have the fluff and duff, bright lights, flashy praise teams, or a corporate title. All John had was the Word of God and the anointing of the Holy Spirit.

I have seen some of our spiritual leaders get so far away from standing fast in the Word that all they can do is stand and speak foolishness for 30 minutes. We need a fresh Word from God today delivered from our pulpits. We need to stop trying to bring fresh water from a well that has gone dry.

I believe that today more than at any other time in history, preachers need a fresh Word from the Throne Room of Heaven. Not just any word, but one which is rooted and grounded in the Word of God and not from the leaven of the Pharisees. But along with that fresh Word from God our Pastors need to stand for what is right and for what is holy because God calls it right and holy.

A boy with a small horse was asked one day, "Son does your horse run fast?" The boy replied, "No sir, but he stands fast."

Shammah took his stand right in the middle of a pea patch for no other reason than it was God's pea patch. We can't give what we don't have. We as men of God need to preaching from a well of living water that is flowing up and out of our bowels.

Instead of trying to keep up with all the new names, gadgets, apts, and titles the world has introduced to the church, the shepherds of God's sheep should be receiving the roles and titles that God gave us in His Word, like servant and friend. More and more preachers are ridiculed, disrespected and laughed at because they fail to stand fast in God's Word.

Father, help us to stand firm and fast right in the middle of Your pea patch even if we have to stand alone, and only because it is Your pea patch.