Sterling Griggs

The story of Paul's salvation experience has always intrigued me. Known as Saul for most of his life, Paul was in the business of persecuting the church until Jesus met with him on the road to Damascus and changed his heart. He was struck blind and for three days he remained in an intense fast, apparently waiting on the Lord for His next move. The Lord spoke to a man named Ananias and told him to lay hands on Paul and give to him God's instruction, and when he did Paul's sight was restored and he also had a new vision given to him by God: Paul was to be an apostle and an evangelist. What strikes me at this point in the story is what Paul did next. After fasting from food and water for 3 days, there is no doubt that hunger and dehydration were a factor. But instead of eating a meal right away, Paul chose to be baptized instead so that his salvation could be publicly acknowledged by all. Only then did he choose to sit and eat to regain his strength. There are times when...

Yes, that is my son, Deacon, downing the Red Bull. I couldn't be prouder. He continues to show a desire to be tenacious and determined in life, even if it means that he stays awake for over 33 straight hours. After this picture, we hit the weight room where he beasted on some squats, decline bench press, and some one-armed pull-ups (and that was after miles on the treadmill at 6.5 MPH). Can't wait until he can play football. *by the way, he really didn't drink it

Hebrews 11 , the great "faith chapter" in the New Testament, is an amazing piece of Scripture. From the very first words, "Now faith is the reality (assurance) of what is hoped for, the proof (conviction) of what is not seen" we see that faith serves as a template for all of life. One can read through this chapter and learn much from the great lessons on faith that God's people have exhibited over the centuries. Even though I read their examples in awe, I always go back to that first verse because it causes me to realize that most of the proof that men seeks lies in faith. Christianity is often maligned in the scientific community for being faith-based with no proof to support it. Truth be told, the same could said for much of scientific theory. Yes, you can test the theory of evolution much more than you can test the idea of creation or miracles, yet the results are the same: It takes faith to believe in all of them. When we can honestly admit that there is...

For awhile now I've pondered such phrases as "WWJD" and "Jesus was all about love and peace" and I have seen Christians criticized for being "un-Christian" by those who themselves were not Christians. Through all of this, a picture of Jesus emerges as a touchy-feely hippie-type liberal guy who would probably put flowers into gun barrels and picket for the life of whales. I say all of that because it spurs me to look a lot closer at the life and teachings of Jesus and to attempt in my human finite way to understand Him more. So far, here's what I believe: 1. Jesus was not a wimp . Did He teach us to love our neighbors and to treat others as we want to be treated? Yes, yet He also warned that belief in Him would bring division (Matthew 10:34-39) and could cost one family relationships. He also said that whoever denies Him before men, He'll deny them before His Father in heaven (Matthew 10:33). These are just a few examples of Jesus clearly ...

When I came to my daily Bible reading for today, I learned that the entire book of Nahum was on the agenda (I'm reading through the Bible in a year). My first thought was, "Great, another book on how God is going to judge Israel." Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against what God had in mind for Israel. It's just that reading through the Minor Prophets of the Old Testament hasn't been all that devotional for me. But Nahum dropped a couple of powerful verses on me that have stuck with me during my day (all quotes are from the Holman Christian Standard Bible ): The Lord is slow to anger but great in power; the Lord will never leave the guilty unpunished. (1:3) The Lord is good, a stronghold in a day of distress; He cares for those who take refuge in Him. (1:7) These two verses certainly made it easier to read through this great Old Testament book.

Even if you've been living under a rock for awhile, you've heard the mantra of "change" that has accompanied this presidential campaign. It started with Barack Obama's "It's time for a change" and has been picked up by John McCain in the form of "Change you can believe in." Those sound good, but what exactly is change? I change my clothes when they get dirty. When I'm hankering for something different to eat, I can change my mind when I order at a restaurant. If you look under the cushions of my couch, you'll find some spare change. Of course, our presidential candidates are speaking of a different kind of change, but is change necessarily always a good thing? What if I go to buy a new car only to find out that it's a lemon? What if a man gets tired of his wife and decides he'd rather have a new one? What if the weatherman reports that, instead of tomorrow being sunny and pleasant, it's going to be cold and rainy?...

Yesterday I had the opportunity to preach at my church. I really, really enjoy proclaiming God's truth to our entire congregation and since I am the associate pastor those opportunities only come a few times a year. My text was Revelation 3:1-6 , and it dealt with the church in 1st century Sardis (which is located in what is now modern day Turkey). The words of Jesus to this church are direct: Your works look good, but in truth you are a dying church. He then exhorts them to stand on the truth by which they were founded and to repent of their dead ways. As I was preparing this message, it was too easy for me to think of a few churches that I know of that fit into that mold. Some of the people I spoke to after the service told me that they, too, were mindful of some churches in that position of near death. What we studied yesterday was solemn reminder that, if we grow spiritually complacent, we too could be on the verge of death. I don't know the statistics off hand but I d...

After a ridiculous home loss to Navy 2 weeks ago (6 turnovers will kill you every time) Wake Forest bounced back last night to trounce Clemson 12-7. You're probably thinking, "12-7 doesn't sound like a trounce to me." But when you consider that Wake held Clemson to 21 yards rushing, 10 first downs, and less than 200 yards total offense, it was indeed a lopsided game. Wake Forest was without its all-American kicker Sam Swank because of a leg injury so his backup, untested freshman Shane Popham, had to fill in. He made 2 of 4 field goals but one wasn't his fault due to a bobbled snap. The Deacs need to learn how to punch it in when they get close, but as long as our defense plays this way we're gonna win a lot more games. Go Deacs!

I'm not the biggest fan of reading books. I love reading my Bible, blogs on the internet, my newspaper, ESPN the Magazine, and the comics, but I struggle to sit down with a good book and read it to completion. When it comes to books that I do finish, they are usually fiction books or books about issues (lost children of Sudan, other world issues). But when it comes to theology type books, I just can't seem to do it. I get bored. I get tired. I get bogged down. Don't take this as an ignorant statement, but many of the Christian books that are out there seem to be saying much of the same things, albeit from a different perspective. Of course you have those like Brian McLaren who write to stir things up, but whenever I try to read a new book it seems like nothing "new". And then there are those guys that are just really, really smart and it takes someone really, really smart to understand what they have written. Most of the time, I can't wade through it ...

If you've been even keeping up remotely with this year's election coverage, you probably have heard the criticism (mockery?) of Sarah Palin for her belief in creationism ("Do you really want a VP who believes people walked the earth with dinosaurs only 6000 years ago?"). For those who espouse creationist theory, there is usually much disdain and dismissal. How dare they go against the factual grain of science and all that it has uncovered? I stumbled across an article this morning, and it caused me to pause and consider this whole realm of evolution and its grip on science. Steve Jones, a leading geneticist in his field, believes that human evolution is now over. He states that because the average age of fathers is increasing, the risk of passing along more and more mutations is also increasing and thus the gene pool breaks down for developing a higher species (although he says nothing about the age of mothers). So you and me, we're as good as it gets. I...

So I attended my 20th high school reunion this past weekend and I thought I'd share some of my experiences with the myriad of you who read this blog religiously (thanks, honey). The event itself kicked off Friday night with an informal tailgate before the homecoming football game. I was in charge of the tailgate, which means I got glory for what amounted to doing very little. There were around 75 or so total (this includes spouses and kids) who came to the tailgate and the football game itself. It was nice to be able to sit and catch up with all of these guys and girls I haven't seen in a couple of decades. Plus, RJR won the football game so our being there was good mojo. After the game there was a party at Christopher's in Downtown Winston-Salem (it's a restaurant owned and operated by a classmate), but it was late and Kellie and I didn't get over there. Next on the list was a tour of the school and a BBQ picnic. R.J.Reynolds High School was extensively ren...

I like pork. Bacon, country ham,sausage, mmmmmm. But I don't like political pork. The other day I wrote about my indecision about the $700 billion dollar bailout bill that initially didn't pass the congress. Now that I've seen the "revamped" version that has come through the senate, my opinion is a little less uncertain. The initial bill should have been a few pages long. Now it's 451 pages packed with $1.7 billion in tax breaks for things that are obviously important to our country: * Manufacturers of kids' wooden arrows - $6 million * Puerto Rican and Virgin Is- lands rum producers - $192 million * Wool research * Auto-racing tracks - $128 million * Corporations operating in American Samoa - $33 million * Small- to medium-budget film and television productions - $10 million You can read about some of the other 'critical' additions in the article I linked. What do these have to do about the financial crisis? As I heard a congressman quoted ...

Tomorrow night marks the beginning of my 20th high school reunion. Yes, in 1988 I had hair and dressed like the '80s and listened to '80s music and all of that stuff. Just to prove it to you, check out this picture of me and some friends hanging out a lunch: I've been real excited about this event because, to me, there just wasn't a much better time of life than high school. College was great and lots of fun, but it was also real intense at times and there was much pressure on me to get a clue before I graduated (which still took almost a decade to happen - getting a clue, not graduating). Our RJR Class of 1988 reunion committee started a website months ago that allowed me and all of my classmates the opportunity to reconnect with pictures and updates on our life stories. I check this site many times a day and I've been amazed at what some of my old friends are doing. One thing about high school was that it was fairly innocent. Much of us didn't really ha...

Whenever my wife works her night shift, I have trouble falling asleep and usually wind up watching too much TV. I know I should read, but that takes too much mental energy and might make me tired. Whatever. So tonight I was watching this show on crazy police incidents where the bad guys tried hard to either escape the police or hurt them in the process of being apprehended. There was not one incident in which the bad guy came out on top. Not one. Why are criminals sometimes so dumb? Especially the ones that try to flee the scene after being stopped. Hello, the cop has your license and registration. How far do you think you're going to get? As I write this I'm reminded of how often I try to escape the notice of God. What I mean is, knowing what brings my Lord dishonor, I still choose to do those things in the hopes that maybe I can "get away with it." I like Psalm 69:5, "O God, You know my foolishness; And my sins are not hidden from you." (NKJV) T...