Sterling Griggs

I want to go ahead and put this out there from the very beginning - Lost is the greatest television show that has ever been broadcast in the history of entertainment. If you ever attempted to watch Lost , then you know that it was a thrill ride of twists and turns that often made little sense unless you were able to go back and reevaluate just exactly what it was that you had just seen - if that was even possible. I’ve watched the series all the way through several times and each time I discover some new wrinkle of information that I never noticed the first couple of times. In the sports world, instant replay has allowed officials - and all of those armchair officials at home - to reanalyze ad nauseam every angle of a controversial play to find out exactly what did nor did not happen so that the outcome could be properly employed. Every time that an instant replay cycles over and over again on the TV while the officials hash it out, it’s then that we see all sorts of things that we...

This summer has been a bit of a whirlwind for me and my family. As soon as school let out in June I took my son to soccer camp for a week. When we returned, I had two days to prepare to preach my last sermons at the church I was serving before we packed up all of our belongings and moved to Wilmington, NC. Almost immediately we had family in town all the while trying to adjust to a new environment. From there it was youth camps, another soccer camp, registering our children for their new schools, enrolling our youngest in a new gymnastics program, celebrating a sweet sixteen birthday and then going to get her license, and then serving as the speaker at a week-long high school camp. Somewhere in the midst of all of that my wife and I carved out regular time for each other so that we wouldn't be tempted to wake up one day and ask each other, " Who are you? " Time itself is such a funny thing - we can't actually create any more than we are given in a 24-hour day but ...

This past weekend there was a middle school retreat for the student ministry I oversee. Dozens of middle school students brought their glorious chaos to a weekend filled with fun, very little sleep, and lots of junk food. It was all aimed at helping them grow closer to God. I didn't go to it. On Wednesday night we will have our regular youth ministry time where we will begin with a teaching time before breaking up into our small groups. Well over 100 middle school and high school students will come for pizza, snacks, fellowship, and intentional time talking about God. I won't be leading it. What will I be doing if I am not leading these events? Am I sitting at home watching Sports Center or out on the town eating pizza and wings? No to both.  Instead, I am watching other leaders who have stepped up to the plate and taken the proverbial bull by the horns as they lead and teach our amazing students. These guys and girls aren't leading by accident. They have been plac...

What do you get when you put grace and truth in a blender? A big, beautiful mess! A whole lot of Christians operate as if grace and truth are interchangeable concepts, kind of like jeans in the winter and shorts in the summer. You can wear shorts in the snow but you would freeze, just as you would sweat to death wearing jeans in July. There were moments where grace rules the day while at other times truth is all that matters. Mix them together? Like oil and water, that simply can't be sustained, at least not for long. As a result of this view, many strive to keep grace and truth separate but equal in their way of thinking. When they need to stake their claim in truth, that is no problem. If you don't agree with what they believe to be true then there is really no room for discussion - you would simply have to live with being wrong and would get little to no sympathy from them. Yet there are also those moments where grace is needed to flood a dry and parched land. In those ...

"Do not judge!" This is without a doubt one of the most commonly quoted - I mean misquoted - verses of Scripture in all of the Bible. Believers and unbelievers alike enjoy pulling this one of our their arsenal to throw at anyone who espouses a belief or an opinion contrary to their own. But what does this verse in Matthew 7 really mean? In order to find out, we have to zoom out and take not just this verse but the entire passage in Matthew 7:1-6 in context. "Do not judge, so that you won't be judged." That seems simple enough. If you don't judge others then they won't judge you. If we stop right there then there really is no need to go further with the discussion. Yet this verse is only the beginning of the passage. "For with the judgment you use, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." Did you see that? This verse doesn't condemn judging but instead gives a warning: When - not if - you judge, ...

This past week I enjoyed the incredible privilege of serving alongside high school and college age students on a work related mission project in the foothills of North Carolina. We spent long days assisting those in the community with home improvements needs that they had - everything from building handicap ramps, roofing homes, painting, yard maintenance, and hauling off garbage and debris. During the week I sat down with a student who wanted to share some things that were on his heart. So much had gone wrong in his life the past few years and his story was heart wrenching to say the least. Parents whose marriage was failing, addictions that he was struggling to overcome, broken relationships that caused much pain, and more. As I sat and listened to his heart I realized that, beyond a few words of spiritual encouragement, there was not a whole lot that I could say to him. While I prayerfully attempted to point him in the right direction, I knew that I could not fix his situation. S...

Earlier today I texted someone and within seconds I received a text in response. While trolling Facebook, a message popped up saying that someone had made a comment on a picture that I had just posted. Immediately I responded to their comment and within seconds it appeared on my page. If I ask my kids if they want ice cream, the words are barely out of my mouth before they scream "Yes!" and come running into the kitchen. I don't know that I've ever delayed all that long in filling back up whenever the gas light comes on in my car. But... I've noticed that many people have a love affair with their snooze button on their alarm clocks. When I ask my kids to clean up their rooms or to pick up their things, they move at the speed of molasses running uphill. My car really needs to be washed, but I'm pretty sure I can put it of for another week or month or two. With months in advance to file, it never ceases to amaze me how many people barely meet the deadline f...