Sterling Griggs

I'm sure that there are lots of people out there who understand this whole $700 billion dollar bailout business, but I'm not one of them. Here's what I do know (and you can correct my ignorance with nice comments, i.e. don't call me stupid): 1. Our financial industry, particularly our lending agencies, are strapped for cash 2. They got this way from making risky loans (adjustable rate mortgages) to people who were screened well enough 3. All of this money that was now in play was thrown around in an effort to make more money (insert the word 'greed' here). 4. When these mortgage rates increased, people couldn't pay their monthly mortgage and many foreclosed on their loans. 5. Now these banks are out of their money and the housing market is in a crisis. 6. All of this - and I know my viewpoint is incredibly simple - trickled down to effect almost all areas of the financial market and, BAM!, we've got a mess. So the solution that the financial industry ga...

I enjoyed the privilege this past weekend of performing the wedding ceremony for my cousin Jessie (used to be Dagenhardt) and her new husband Daniel Crouse. To be totally honest, I'm not the biggest fan of weddings unless they are the ones that I am performing, although a really good choice of meats and fish at a reception can change my tune pretty quickly. My daughter Reynolds was the beautiful flower girl Marriage is a very sacred area to me. I won't quote stats (mainly because I'm too lazy to Google the numbers) but I do believe that about 50% of marriages end in divorce, with the percentage being even higher for second and third marriages. This just isn't how it's supposed to be. So, with those thoughts in mind, I wanted to post my Top 10 thoughts on the institution of marriage. 1. Marriage is God's idea ( Genesis 2:24 ). God's ideas are never a flash in the pan. And neither should your marriage be. 2. Marriage must be built on mutual respect. She...

Did you ever embarrass your parents growing up? If you're still in the process of growing up, are you still embarrassing them today? Most think of this issue in terms of parents embarrassing their kids (i.e., yelling from the car as you drop them off for school, "Bye honey biscuit, have a great and super spectacular day! And don't forget to take your medicine for your diarrhea!"), but parents can be embarrassed by their kids, too. Take God for example. How often has He been ashamed of the way that His children have behaved? What about those people that bomb abortion clinics, sling hate speeches, or outcast whole segments of our society all on behalf of God? Nowhere in the Bible does God condone wanton violence or hate. Nowhere. Sure, some who commit horrific acts may tell the authorities that God commanded them to do so, but if that's the case they aren't speaking of the God of the Bible. You see, when we act in the name of God and our actions are clea...

God often chooses to "hit" me when I'm in my car. That might be the only time that I'm not preoccupied with multiple things (other than driving, of course) and I am very open to listening. He did it to me again this morning after I dropped the kids off at school. I worry about things: finances, ministry, my family. Not so much so that I'm a basket case, but enough that these things among others usually take up a lot of my mental capacities. So as I'm driving home this morning and thinking about things that are causing me to worry a little bit, this song called Yours by Steven Curtis Chapman comes on the radio (yeah, I listen to adult contemporary at times) and these words struck me: I walk the streets of London And notice in the faces passing by Something that makes me stop and listen My heart grows heavy with the cry Where is the hope for London? You whisper and my heart begins to soar As I'm reminded every street in London is Yours Then there's...

I'm not old. Sometimes I feel old, but at 38 I'm still in the prime of my of my life. Yet I would imagine that to kids I look old. Yesterday at church one of the grade school kids referred to me as "baldy" when he passed me in the hall. This kid has started doing this lately and, while it really doesn't bother me - I am bald after all (but I do shave my head so it's a voluntary baldness) - it is disrespectful. If I saw the same kid saying this to another adult in our church I'd probably pull him aside and give him the what for, if you know what I mean. This incident reminded me of a passage in 2 Kings 2:19-25 . Elisha the prophet was moving along on his way minding his own business when some kids (youths as they are called in the story) began to follow him and call him "baldhead." Elisha turned around and pronounced a curse on them, at which point two female bears (don't mess with female bears) came out of the woods and mauled 42 of the...

If you were to ask me what my personal goal in life is, I would tell you that it's to be like Christ. And that truly is my desire, to be like Christ and bring ultimate glory and honor to the Father. Yet I don't think I'm doing that great a job of reaching my goal. In order to be like Christ, one must strive to be like Christ. When I examine all that I'm striving for on a daily basis there are many more things that compete for my heart than just Christ alone. I sometimes get worked up about politics. There are times where I bury myself in a book and, even if it's a book designed to glorify God, I can put more stock in the book than in Christ. Bills need to get paid. My kids need things. If I don't watch my favorite football team then they might lose. None of those things are inherently bad yet none of them necessarily make me more like Christ. As a believer I am alive to Christ and dead to sin. The very God of the universe indwells me, making all my excu...

I love Facebook. In fact, I find myself on it several times a day. Someone once called is "crackbook" and given it's addictive nature I understand why. Why do I enjoy Facebook so much? Primarily because of all of the friends, new and old, that it allows me to connect with. We're talking about friends from way back in high school that I haven't seen in 20 years and we're also talking about the students I work with who I don't see as much during the week as I'd like. But what I enjoy the most is seeing how many of the guys that I hung out with years ago are now followers of Christ. In college I was a bonehead and I hung out with a bunch of great guys who were boneheads too. My life has taken a drastically different path since college and it's cool to see how many of the guys I wasted large amounts of time with are now seeking after godly things as well. Many of the guys from college are doctors now (yikes) so nothing surprises me anymore. If ...

If you're like me, the rise in gas prices today found you reeling. Fortunately, after listening to the morning news, I was able to fill up at $3.59 a gallon after I dropped my daughters off at school. By the time I picked them up the price at that same station was $3.79 for regular and that was the cheapest around. Tonight I decided to drive into Yadkinville and these are the prices that I found: This is at the Exxon station This is a stone's throw away at the Citgo And this is about 1 mile away at another gas station (which, by the way, had gas at $5.35 earlier in the afternoon but apparently felt remorse and lowered it). There is definitely a discrepancy in prices at these local stations but they all have one thing in common: They raised their prices significantly during the day in response to Hurricane Ike. I did some research to find out why that is the case. It seems as if the price for oil rose very little today (up 31 cents to $101.18) yet wholesale gas prices jumped...

I guess there are many bloggers out there who have large followings because their posts are profound or earth shattering. I don't claim to be in that group. If I waited to post until I was struck with some mind numbing revelation, then this page would still be blank. But I do have some stuff going on in my head. Why can't we get rid of the electoral college? I know that it helped Bush win the election of 2000, but I've always thought the candidate with the most votes period should win an election. The summer Olympics is way cooler than the winter Olympics in almost all areas except for one: Curling . That has got to be the coolest (pardon the pun) sport I've ever seen. Team handball comes in a close second. Why is it that as a sports fan I can see every penalty committed in a football game from the remote location of my couch and the 6 or 7 officials on the field seem to miss half of them? I hate sin. I really do. And I can't stand the fact that I find myse...

Wake Forest just did squeak out a nailbiter against Ole Miss today with Sam Swank having to kick a 41 yard field goal with 8 seconds left to give them the win, 30-28. There were some suspect calls in this game (it was an SEC officiating crew) but the Deacons prevailed nonetheless against an Ole Miss team that was very, very impressive. Now just 12 more wins to go for that perfect season. Go Deacs!

Last night Sarah Palin gave her "introductory" speech to the world and now the Republican party has a new heroine for their cause. Most media talking heads gave her rave revues, but at the same time were quick to point out that the speech was written for her. Umm, but aren't most speeches written for politicians? You see, when it comes to politics, you can almost always count on the substance of a candidate but it's the delivery that really turns heads. If you don't believe me turn your TV to CSPAN and watch our senate live in session at 11:32 p.m. and see what I mean (it's a cure for insomnia). And Sarah Palin's delivery was effective and strong. I watched Hillary Clinton's speech last week and I liked it. I also liked Bill Clinton's speech and probably could listen to him speak every day because I believe he's that good. Notice I didn't say that I agree with the Clinton's, I just appreciate their ability to communicate well. And...

2 Timothy 1:13-18 outlines a great message for those who are striving to be loyal to their faith in Jesus Christ. What I mean by "loyal" is that they are striving to maintain their passion for Christ and to deepen their relationship daily with Him. Consider these verses: 13 Hold on to the pattern of sound teaching that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. 14 Guard, through the Holy Spirit who lives in us, that good thing entrusted to you. 15 This you know: all those in Asia have turned away from me, including Phygelus and Hermogenes. 16 May the Lord grant mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, because he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chains. 17 On the contrary, when he was in Rome, he diligently searched for me and found me. 18 May the Lord grant that he obtain mercy from the Lord on that day. And you know how much he ministered at Ephesus. First, we must hold to sound teaching. Whether it's a man in a suit that preache...

I am typing this at 5:00 a.m. but I've been up since 3:30 a.m. Deacon woke up and I got him settled then failed to get myself settled. I tossed and turned and finally decided that there must be a reason I couldn't sleep. I always seem to be a little bit tired with the craziness of our house so I had to figure why now I couldn't sleep. Instead of turning on the TV I asked God if there was anything He was trying to tell me. There was. So for the past hour I've been seeking His guidance and direction. He's shown me some things that I probably wouldn't have "seen" during the daylight hours and this is really the only time the house is quiet enough to really focus on anything. Now I'm hoping I can get a couple of more hours of sleep before the real day begins (and the kids wake up).