Did you hear about the farm boy who always wondered what would happen if he twisted the tail on the mule? One day he tried it. And now they say about him, he's not as pretty as he used to be, but he's a whole lot wiser. When I was a young man, I wondered what my life would be like if I became a pastor in answer to God's call. Now, thirty years later, I'm not as pretty as I used to be, but I am a lot wiser.

Ministry is not for cowards, the lazy, the easily discouraged, the thin-skinned, or those without endurance. It is a tough occupation! And it's getting tougher!

I love the cartoon that shows a man saying, "I don't get America's fascination with the television show 'Survivor.' I've occupied an island of strenuous and dangerous activities with hostile cohorts with a chance of getting vot…