I spoke to a group of pastors in Phoenix. Ministry in Phoenix can be difficult. It’s so beautiful in the winter, heaven doesn’t motivate — and it is so hot in the summer, hell won’t scare them.

Church work is hard everywhere. For many pastors, their prayer at banquets should be, “Lord, thank You for preparing a table for me in the presence of my enemies.” One pastor’s church was so small that when he said “Dearly beloved,” his wife was embarrassed. One pastor was so discouraged that he said he felt like his church was the Titanic and the deacons were the iceberg, so he was thinking his latest vision statement should be “Misery loves company.”