Sterling Griggs

This blog post will serve as a confessional more than anything else, but it will also be mildly therapeutic. Why do people get mad at stupid things? The very first argument that I engaged in with my now wife (it was completely one-sided because she just looked me like I was stupid, which I was) involved an unshaken container of Papa John's garlic butter sauce. That's right, I got bent out of shape over the fact that she didn't shake the butter before she opened it. Years later I can laugh about it, but it still is one of the dumbest things that I have ever gotten mad about. As a zealous Wake Forest fan, I lap up just about any information about their teams that I can. Since it's football season, I am regularly reading about the team on the internet, scanning for information about injuries and updates. There is a particular message board where most of the diehard fans post sports blather on, and in recent weeks some of the topics have gotten rather heated as the te...

Yesterday was an awesome day of worship and fellowship with other believers here in Yadkin County. It began at 10:30 at Yadkinville Elementary School with the band Revive leading worship and with me having the privilege of preaching God's word. Students and adults from all across Yadkin County gathered for this time of worship and edification. It was a meaningful and worshipful church service. Church? Did I really just call this community worship service a church? Yes I did. The Greek word for church is ekklesia, which means gathering, and can even be translated "mob" (I like that one). In post-resurrection Jerusalem the church was the gathering of all believers in Christ for the purpose of worship, fellowship, biblical teaching, and ministry ( see Acts 2:41-47 ). They gathered together in the temple complex and also in each others' houses. Their identity was wrapped up in who they were and whom they served, not in where they met. They were the church becau...

One day my children are going to dig up some of my blog posts and be really embarrassed that I use them so much for my illustrations, but they are the best living examples that I've got. Plus, I don't ever tell the really juicy stuff. The other day in my house a one-sided argument broke out between two of my kids. One child was applying chap stick that apparently belonged to another one of my children. No big deal, right? Wrong. The owner of said chap stick spotted the lip-balm heist in progress and almost blew a gasket. The words "my chap stick" were repeated (shouted) numerous times and, to make matter worse (or more funny depending on your point of view), the offending child appeared to relish the crime and continued to apply enough chap stick to protect a small African village. Kellie and refereed our way through the incident and calm was soon restored in our home. What stuck with me was how quickly we as people are to claim things as our own, especially t...

What is the usual experience on a given Sunday morning in a typical church in America? Sure, the worship styles will vary as will the size of the church and the age of the congregation, but for the most part a sermon will be central to what we call the worship service. Pulpits command the best seat in the house and for 45 minutes a monologue is delivered by a preacher who (hopefully) has faithfully studied the Word of God and is passionately delivering this truth to open ears. But how much of what we hear on Sunday mornings do we actually remember. I have to confess that I am more prone to remember clever anecdotes and references to food than I am the points of truth that have been harvested from the Scripture. It does help if the points of the message form an acrostic for easy memorization or if they all start with the same letter, but my point is that much of what we hear, we don't remember. In fact, studies show that we remember only about 20% of what we hear and that imme...

This Wednesday I have the privilege of talking to my students about respecting and obeying their parents. Colossians 3:20 puts it pretty plainly: "Children, obey your parents in everything, for this is pleasing to God." No students are exempt. The command is pretty blunt. The scope is rather broad. And the reason is very clear. I can recall plenty of times as a child where I chose to test the disciplinary limits of my parents. Now, I wasn't one of those kids who was out of control or went on crime sprees, but I did have a pretty quick tongue that lashed out with sharp wit and sassy talk back that had me running from certain punishment on a regular basis. My parents would quickly remind me of the pecking order in our house, a ladder whose rungs I had really yet to climb. As I seek to raise my own children to be respectful I am all the more grateful for the lessons (sometimes painful) that I learned about obedience and respect as a child. Sometimes I question whethe...

Those of you who are local to the Winston-Salem area know about the tragic death of police Sgt. Mickey Hutchens. Sgt. Hutchens was gunned down last week by a habitual criminal for reasons that none of us understand. His partner survived the shooting and was able to fatally wound the shooter, and somehow St. Hutchens survived almost a week before succumbing to his injuries. Today was the funeral for Sgt. Hutchens and it was like nothing I had ever seen before. He was from Yadkin County, born and raised, and the entire county felt the effect of his death. Blood drives were held in his honor, news crews crossed the river with regularity, and church and business signs served as constant reminders to pray and remember his family. Wake Forest University was the site for the funeral itself and the graveside was at Forbush Baptist Church. Traffic from Winston-Salem to Yadkin County stretched for miles. I was stuck in traffic in Clemmons, not from cars trying to get on the highway but be...

When we were planning our family, finding the right names for our kids prior to their birth was very important to us. Having some sort of family connection with their names was key, but we also wanted to be very original and we wanted their names to mean something. Here are the names of our children and what they mean: Chandler Elizabeth = One whose light shines for God Reynolds Gray = Wise one who counsels kings Deacon Sindler = Servant of God Emmerson Caroline = Brave one who brings joy I personally think that my children have very cool names, ones that are distinctive and make them stand out. And, for the most part, their names match their personalities and are very fitting for who they are. When I was little, I was identified as the son of Ron and Sharon Griggs. That's not to say that I wasn't capable of doing anything notable or important, it's just that I was primarily identified with my family. Now that I have children of my own, when someone sees them running a...

A little while back I blogged about the excitement and then frustration of finding that "perfect" home and then not being able to close the deal on it. It turns out that this particular house wasn't meant to be for us and we got over it fairly quickly. As of this past weekend there is absolutely no bad taste left in our mouth from that initial failed offer because we were able to move into our new home in Lewisville, NC. The house is perfect for our family and, while we have yet to completely unpack, it already feels like home. Kellie and I sat on the couch last night drinking coffee after the kids went to bed and we looked around in amazement at what God has given to us. We are certainly humbled to be homeowners for the first time (and a little bit nervous) but grateful to have such a great place to raise our kids. The most important task for us is to make this house a home. The Lord will be honored in this house and we desire to use it as a tool for His glory. We ...