Tales of the Resistance

 Last Saturday, July 30, fifteen of Tucson's choicest young people met at the Circle K on the corner of Hardy and Magee to  bless people with a free car wash in Jesus' name!  If course, it was hard to get people to believe it was really free -  just as people try to earn salvation, or wait until they are "good enough." 

The incomparable Steve Johnson made the observation that many school and church groups would be hard pressed to get 15 souls to wash cars on a Saturday AM in the summer, even if were to make money to consume upon their own pleasures! 

Not so the Resistance of Dove Mountain Church, however: 

Delighted to serve,
Delighted to be together, and
Delighted in the Lord!

Special thanks to Maddy Cooney for organizing the pool party afterwards - for those who were not wet enough!

When hearts are united in love...

I have often commented to those who do not live
here, that not only is Tucson a "big smalll town," but

there is a peculiar unity here among Christians that easily transcends church boundaries and denominational lines.  That was particularly evident in the overwhelming response to a local tragedy this week end.

Doctors Brice and Becca Kopas met at U of A medical school in the 1990's.  Becca is a Tucson native and grew up in Casas Church.  Brice is from Phoenix and became a Christian during college years.  By the time I met them in spring of 2010, they were the parents of three lovely girls, ages one through five.  This past year it was my joy to teach science to their oldest, Ella, at Veritas Academy of Tucson.  Because the Kopas's are founding board members of Veritas, they were often the first ones on campus in the mornings, and I would often see the youngest, Olivia, enjoying life on the playground under the sun shade as I prepared for class.

In a tragic accident this past Sunday, Olivia was drowned in a jacuzzi.  Heroic medical efforts kept her alive at TMC until 2:51 AM Monday morning.  As soon as Olivia was rushed to the hospital, prayer requests were being relayed throughout the Tucson Christian community.  By early evening a Facebook page had been created where friends could write their prayers for Olivia on the wall, as well as leave messages for Brice and Becca. In churches the Kopas had never even attended, prayers for Olivia went up from the pulpits in Sunday evening services.  Friends from Phoenix have begun leaving their messages on the Facebook page, as well.    

By Tuesday morning (today),  less than 36 hours after it was initiated, the Facebook page has over 580 responses and messages for the Kopas family.  We are all emotionally jolted by the tremendous grief that such an experience must be for these young parents.  It is clear from the responses that we are all united in our love and support for them.  They are deeply respected in terms of their professional, spiritual, and social impact and leadership here in Tucson.  

As I scanned the wallposts this morning, I saw dozens of faces and names I don't even know, of course.  But just among those I do recognize, I could name more than ten different churches represented.  It is evident that in times of suffering, we are united in our love and support for those who need us.  

...the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.    Job 1:21b

Honor where honor is due...

It's easy to take good (even great!) things for granted when you have nothing to compare it to.  We live in a time when, frankly, most church musical productions have become either silly or (worse) sexy.  Imitating the entertainment standards of the lost world, many churches have thrown out the western cultural heritage that has come to us with centuries of artistic refinement and faithulness to the values of traditional Christendom: truth, beauty, and goodness.

No so with the Catalina Foothills Church Chorale.  Director Joan Ashcraft has gone to great lengths to successully blend:  the best of traditional music and contemporary compositions;  the best of professional musicians and talented volunteers;  the best of vocal styles ranging from Baroque to Black gospel;  the best of music which easily speaks for itself, with selections which elevate and educate the audience's tastes and senstivities.

The concert last Sunday may have been the best one ever at Catalina Foothills.  It shook me out of my Christmas doldrums and fired me up to worship Jesus in spirit and truth this week.    In the future, I am going to be more diligent to promote the concerts and presentations of this group everywhere that I can, including this blog.  Giving honor where honor is due, I thank God for Joan, Jane Brandt (accompanist), and all the vocalists and instrumentalists who gave so generously of their time and talent for the edification of the body of Christ at the Christmas concert, Gloria!

Casting Down Idols

This is the time of year I always have to remind myself that football is only a game.  Just days after Jason Bobo, campus RUF minister at (hold your nose) ASU warned us against making idols out of all sorts of things...like, say, football...my beloved Wildcats lose a squeaker to ASU by the narrowest of margins.  "Things have a way of evening out," lamented Coach Stoops after the game.

Yes, and God has a way of casting down our idols to remind us of what is really important in life.  See you tomorrow at the Pusch Ridge library for canvassing! 

Going the Distance

Right here in our own worship room (Pusch Ridge Cafeteria) Uncharted Waters Sports Ministry of Colorado Springs conducted a wonderful week of Bible-based sports activities (July 12-16) in basketball, soccer, and cheerleading for about forty children in the community, including Dove Mountaineers Henry and Daphne Newman.

UW team staff members are college student athletes, and our team hailed from California, Washington, Oklahoma, and Ohio. The theme was "Go the Distance," and included inspiring stories of contmeporary athletes as well as excerpts from the life of Paul.

Special thanks go to Dove Mountaineers Steve Johnson and Peter Dittiger for their coaching assistance.

Go the Distance!

Tonight Dove Mountaineers Steve Johnson, Peter Dittiger, and I will be meeting with other Tucson volunteers and a team of Christian college athletes to prepare for a great week of evangelistic sports camp. We are expecting about forty kids from five to eight pm each evening at Pusch Ridge Christian Academy, to enjoy learning soccer, basketball, and cheerleading skills, along with inspiring Bible stories, sports hero stories, and songs - all under the theme, "Go the Distance!" Please pray that this will be a spiritually fruitful week for these children!

Charmed Evening #5

When I was keeping a blog called "Issues in Education," I started a series called "Charmed Evenings" to recount the glories of homegrown entertainment (as opposed to Hollywood) and also to highlight the amazing accomplishments of Christian schools.

This past Monday evening a fairly sparse crowd were treated with a sound experience that was exquisite and rare. The instrumental music programs of Pusch Ridge Christian Academy and Desert Christian High School combined talents for an hour of select music under the tensile structure of the amphitheater at Pusch Ridge. This made a spectacular outdoor venue for the concert. And it was the perfect time of year for an evening event in the amphitheater; the six PM hour gave us all the light we needed without any of the usual desert heat. Set against the breathtaking background of Pusch Ridge itself, the hour long concert was a feast for the soul, combing both auditory and visual stimuli in a celebration of God's creative goodness!

Band members from both schools had been rehearsing the same music for some weeks, and then spent Monday afternoon blending together under the direction of PRCA band director Pam Reed and Desert instrumental teacher Cindyrae Stang. The three band selections provided variety and delight, and were skillfully performed. The audience joined in clapping along with some of the spirituals on the first selection, Celebration of Spirituals. Mrs. Stang directed The Mikado, which featured some percussion effects unique to Asian music. The finale for the band, Dragons Fly on the Winds of Time, was simply stunning. Directed by Pam Reed, the piece gave us an imaginative (and musically challenging) trip to a fantasy world where forces of good and evil clash on an epic scale, and virtue triumphs!

The evening concluded with several selections by the Desert Christian Handbells. Fresh from a trip to Disneyland, the bells rang two excellent Disney arrangments, Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King. Their variety of music displayed all the techniques which make bell music so delightful: table damps, shakes, vibrato, malleting, and plucking. My favorite selections were the two hymns: O, the Deep, Deep Love of Jesus and Christ the Lord is Risen Today.

It was a charmed evening that even those who would not normally think of going out to a concert would have enjoyed. We should be thankful to live in a city with two excellent Christian high schools. And it was great to see Dove Mountaineers Cindy Vos, Wade Remer, Mel Melvin, and Cathy Strong in attendance.

Happy Rodeo Days!

One of those unique Tucson oddities that is so hard to explain to outsiders is Rodeo Week. And God has blessed us with another Rodeo Week of great weather this year! I did something I've never done before yesterday. I actually watched the Rodeo Parade on TV!

But Wednesday was even better. I happened to be at one of Tucson's "hidden treasure" Christian Schools, Chapel in the Hills, in Southwest Tucson (Mission Road and Irvington area). This delightful preschool through fifth grade campus is eighteen years old and is under the capable leadership of Michelle Morales. Like many Tucson schools, they celebrated Rodeo Week with outdoor games of their own. Pictured above is a young man getting set to rope a "steer." An experienced cowboy (a grandpa) was on hand to show young cowboys and cowgirls "the ropes" of calf roping.

Like many Christian schools, Chapel in the Hills attracts families with little or no church affiliation. After the outdoor games, I was able to speak briefly to the parents about how to use the tax credit scholarships to keep their children in Christian schooling. They were attentive, asked good questions, and took all my literature! Besides the nuts and bolts of how thr tax credit works, my basic message was: "You have made a thoughtful and self-initiated choice of where to send your child to school. Keep making those choices actively, because they're your kids, not the government's. And the advantage of schools like Chapel in the Hills? They are safe, high-achieving, and inspiring!