Excitement filled the air on the evening of “Who Is the King of the Jungle” Ladies Spring Event. As moms, daughters, and friends entered the campus they sensed the immediate anticipation as they saw the jeep and jungle decor outside. When they entered the lobby, ladies both young and old enjoyed the live wildlife.

History tells us Abraham found shade for his family under a grove of large oak trees known as the “Plains (or the Oaks) of Mamre.” The trees were situated at the top of Mount Hebron as it looked over the area known as Sodom and Gomorrah. This site became known as “Abraham’s Oaks.”

The highest model of leadership is cloaked in the lowest forms of humility. Specifically, servant leadership was set and demonstrated by Christ Himself when He left Heaven’s glory and “took upon him the form of a servant” (Philippians 2:7).

While families that homeschool their children can be a great blessing to a church and pastor (as I have experienced firsthand), many preachers find it difficult to assimilate them into their church. This is due to a variety of reasons, and even some misconceptions on the part of many pastors.

An 8:00 am flight out of Detroit, through Phoenix, to Los Angeles seemed simple enough. The airport was only fifteen minutes from the hotel, and after returning my rental car, I was two and half hours early—just like I had planned.

In early 2011, my health made it necessary to take some medical and rest leave. I knew that the Lord would use this time in my life to help me make significant mid-course adjustments. But far beyond schedule or administrative changes, the Lord gave me a full journal of scriptural insights regarding stewarding my life as a whole.

Walk with God: “Let not thine heart envy sinners: but be thou in the fear of the LORD all the day long.” Proverbs 23:17

It’s staggering to contemplate the demands placed on Jesus’ life. Not only did He come to seek and to save the lost (Luke 19:10), but He was continually sought out by the multitudes. Naturally, once you heal a blind man and cleanse a leper, you’re pretty much in high demand!

President Theodore Roosevelt delivered a speech in 1906 at the dedication of the office building for the House of Representatives in which he stated: “You may recall the description of the Man with the Muck-rake, the man who could look no way but downward with the muck-rake in his hands; who was offered a celestial crown for his muck-rake, but who would neither look up nor regard the crown he was offered, but continued to rake to himself the filth of the floor.”