Two old friends paid me a visit last week. The first slipped in without a word, freezing my mind for an instant, like the shock of ice cream gulped down too eagerly on a hot day. As we visited for a while, I noticed the familiar voice is edged with a steely insistence, somehow sharpened rather than blunted by a hunger for news of trouble, and the scent of brewing chaos. By God’s grace and through His perfect timing, there, just in nick of time, was another beloved friend knocking on the door of my heart, gently enfolding me in loving arms. This beloved voice speaks quietly, yet perfectly clearly, sharing a different story, at once both old and fresh. The voice carries words brimming with abundant life, like a lush oasis in an otherwise barren and hostile desert. Such is the power of moments of fear to paralyze our senses, and to leave us feeling isolated and lost. Such is the power of the unparalleled peace found through our faith in Christ Jesus, our Lord, in the comforting words of Scripture.

Jeff Rutledge, a former player and coach in the NFL and NCAA Champion quarterback at the University of Alabama, has been hired as the head football coach at Valley Christian High School.

Principal Shelley Conner said she’ll miss camaraderie the most at St. John Bosco in Ahwatukee.

Bethany Christian School (BCS) in Tempe, students and families participated in an Outreach Project to help and support homeless children from Children’s First Academy.

When Victoria Burton heard about a girl in preschool at St. John Bosco Interparish School in Ahwatukee, she immediately wanted to help.

Desert Vista keeps churning out college athletes as 11 students were recently honored for the spring signing day session.

Getting started with its second session, which lasts through June, newLife Church is offering a series of classes for all ages through its new university.

As we survey the panoply of absurd ideas our legislators, both state and national, face from special interest groups these days, we have to wonder what has become of that rare commodity: common sense.

The Campus Crusade for Christ (CRU) emphasizes the difference between traditional religious practices in the past and how newer Christian clubs, like CRU Downtown, an Arizona State University religious organization, have changed the mentality of worship.

Valley Christian senior and Ahwatukee Foothills resident Tana Kemmer has announced her intent to enroll and play basketball at Cornell College in Mt. Vernon, Iowa. One of the state’s all-time leading three-point shooters and an exceptional student, Kemmer is a four-year letter-winner for the Trojans, a team which went 114-9 during her high school career and won two state championships.

Bethany Christian School in Tempe will be a host site for “Camp Invention” this summer in June, and early registration is ending soon.

Six Valley Christian student-athletes, including three Ahwatukee Foothills residents, earned All-Academic honors from Pros2Preps.

Bethany Christian School, 6304 S. Price Road in Tempe, is enrolling new students for the 2013-14 school year.

I’m tired of reading Don Kennedy’s guest commentaries (“A nation divided,” AFN, March 3) where he rails against “socialism or communism, plus all of the misery which goes with collectivism.” I’m frankly unsure who he is speaking about but those three terms he bandies about are not at all similar and have widely divergent connotations. I’m not sure he fully understands the difference, or perhaps he just doesn’t care. Scare tactics.

Just as students from Kyrene Altadeña Middle School got into the flow of packing boxes of food this week for the Feed My Starving Children organization, a song came blaring from the back of the warehouse that seemed almost divinely planned.

The tale of two Americas. We have the America which is comfortable with the collective government control of production through socialism or communism, plus all of the misery which goes with collectivism. On the other hand, we have the America which wants liberty for the individual to control the means of production and all of the benefits which derive from the spirit of the free man.

In his best-selling book “Outliers,” author Malcolm Gladwell examines the relationship between elite Canadian hockey players and the disproportionate likelihood of their birthdays coming in January, February or March.

In his best-selling book “Outliers,” author Malcolm Gladwell examines the relationship between elite Canadian hockey players and the disproportionate likelihood of their birthdays coming in January, February or March.

Thirty years ago, Valley Christian High School opened its doors to students.

Bethany Christian School in Tempe will be hosting an open house on Feb. 7 from 5:30 to 8 p.m. Classrooms will be open for tours, teachers will be available to discuss curriculum and answer any questions, and several students will give special performances.

At heart Trevor Neider is a teacher.

January is National Mentoring Month, and all around the country organizations and churches are hungry for adults to begin investing in the lives of youth. Being in full-time youth ministry, I’m an obvious supporter of mentoring.

Here we go again? Club soccer vs. high school soccer?

Valley Christian High School students have been spending the last few months collecting items to give back to the community.

Lou and Ginny Kole of Ahwatukee Foothills are celebrating 60 years of marriage. They were married on Dec. 20, 1952 at Trinity Methodist Church in Chicago, Ill. They were high school and college sweethearts. They have lived in the Ahwatukee Foothills area for more than 10 years. They have three adult children and five grandchildren, and will celebrate with them.