Sterling Griggs

Yesterday I had the privilege of  spending some quality time with a good friend and brother in ministry over good coffee and great conversation. As we normally do when we are together we pontificated until we are almost convinced that we had solved the world's problems. Actually, we shared ministry stories with each other, holding each other accountable for the charge that God has given to us and also grieving and rejoicing beside each other over the highs and lows of ministry. During our conversation, my friend was seeking to make a point when he asked me this question: "If you knew of a man who had been married to his wife for 25 years and had never cheated on her, what word would you use to describe him?" Instantly the word "faithful" came to my mind and that's how I responded. Not denying the truth in my answer, my friend brought up a powerful point to me regarding the example he had just shared - if God ordained marriage to be between one man and one...

One of the joys of being involved in student ministry has been the opportunity to engage the parents of my students in regular conversations. Once a month as the students meet in their small groups I gather the parents together for our own small group of sorts. We have spent portions of that time covering the same discipleship material that their students are discussing, but my primary goal is to use this as an opportunity to minister to these parents so that they in turn can minister more effectively to their own children. The other night the topic for our student discussion was "Identity" and how our identities are established by God (Psalm 139) and rooted in Christ. We too often try to mask our identities with other things - relationships, popularity, athletic or academic achievements, humor, etc. - which in turn communicates to God that we are not satisfied with who He has created us to be. As the students broke up into their small groups to discuss the masks that th...

For obvious reasons I stay away from writing or sharing about politics as much as possible. Nobody every seems to agree on anything and I've yet to see a community become politically united over a few pithy social media posts. That being said, I'm gonna touch on politics a little bit today but hopefully not in the way that would label me as "that guy." It's hard to ignore the turmoil in our country right now. We seem to add a new issue everyday to a long list of concerns that has more than enough of us wringing our hands in doubt and confusion over the future. Whether it's the health care crisis, budget concerns, or the fact that in spite of all the talk of the importance of education it still gets underfunded, there are many things which seem to be spiraling out of control. In my teens and 20's, I considered myself a bit of a maverick concerning my political views, ready to debate with the best of them. Now, not so much. I no longer carry a party lab...