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Dr. Don Wilson has been told that he sounds more like a coach than a preacher. “For a lot of people, church isn’t very relevant in their lives because it’s boring to them,” says Wilson, a former coach and college basketball player who serves as senior pastor at Christ’s Church of the Valley in Peoria, one of the largest churches in metropolitan Phoenix. “So I try to engage people by what’s relevant to them and try to relate things to their lives.”

As the father of five girls, Derik Hines says with a laugh that he knows all about drama. The youngest of those girls, Ashley, has made it a big part of her life. She’s now a sophomore theatre major at GCU and has been in several productions since the University’s revival of the arts program a year ago. Ashley — and the rest of GCU — can hear her dad speak at Monday’s Chapel in GCU Arena. Derik, the teaching pastor at Community Church of Joy in Glendale for the past two years, will use Luke 15 as his text.

Using the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5 as his text, Dean of Students Pastor Tim Griffin quoted the words of Jesus that “you are the light of the world” at this morning’s Chapel. “Understand how God sees you,” Griffin told those assembled. “He sees you as the light of the world. My prayer is that you would see the platform God has given you. Collectively, we have a wonderful opportunity at Grand Canyon. God might want to raise us up as a burning torch in this part of Phoenix.”

Pastor Justin Anderson of Tempe-based Redemption Church brought a thought-provoking message on prayer to this morning’s Chapel in GCU Arena, insisting, “Almost nobody’s good at prayer.” Using parables from Luke 11 and 18, Anderson said Christians need to be “audacious and annoying” in prayer. “The problem with our prayer life is a fundamental disbelief in the Gospel,” he said. “We don’t believe we’re deeply in need of anything outside ourselves. The heart of the Gospel is admitting we need grace and mercy. Ask (in prayer) out of a heart-level belief that He is God and He is for you and He loves you.”

Justin Anderson is Redemption Church’s lead pastor of preaching and vision. He’s a straight shooter who will bring a message on prayer to Monday’s Chapel in GCU Arena. The Gospel needs no kid-gloves treatment, he says. “Uncompromising truth changes people,” Anderson says. “At Redemption, I guess we’re just Christians who believe the Bible is true. We don’t do crazy stuff. I like to open the Bible and teach it.”

Our CEO, Brian Mueller, spoke on the subject of transition at this morning’s first Chapel of the fall semester — also the first in the new Arena. “Grand Canyon is transitioning from a small, sleepy college to a large university, and a lot of people are paying attention,” Mueller said. “In this period, there’s an opportunity to create momentum. We’re going to start each week with using this building for worshipping God.” The crowd for Chapel filled the horseshoe of the Arena, with the seven-piece band positioned at the north end of the basketball court.

It didn’t have quite the drama of a Cape Canaveral space launch, but Monday afternoon’s “super flush” of GCU Arena’s toilets and urinals qualified as a happening nonetheless. Superintendent Neil Baker of Perini Building Co., the Arena’s contractor, counted down via the building’s public-address system, and a simultaneous flush was conducted to ensure that the plumbing was in working order.

Sixteen Cities will be part of Grand Canyon University’s Welcome Week festivities with a concert in Antelope Gym on August 29 at 8:30 p.m. Free Admission. Doors open at 7:45 p.m.

Meet the dean of the College of Education, Dr. Kimberly LaPrade. Dr. LaPrade knows GCU like no one else, she attended here herself and takes special pride and joy at how the university has grown and changed since she was a student. Her favorite new addition — the sparkling new COE building, where fine future educators will get their teacher education. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=http://youtu.be/UGs9sMRv1Nc

Everyone can use a little help from their friends sometimes. Consider Kevin Thrasher, the head of the Center for Learning Advancement, your friend. Kevin and his team offer tutoring services to make sure you have all the help you need to be successful in your classes. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=http://youtu.be/qSa-BbaYKIo