Sterling Griggs

The Bean There, Done That looks like any other coffee shop near a major college campus. Olive colored walls, dim lights, students hidden behind laptops sucking in the free Wi-Fi, college-style music playing from a worn out radio in the background, stools and rickety tables scattered throughout, a well-worn bulletin board with fliers for the next great social event or call to action plastered all over it. Yet this visual panorama isn’t what captivates the senses. No, it is the smell that draws you in. That rich, almost floral scent of coffee that permeates the place and sticks to your clothes for hours after you leave. This place smells like heaven on earth and that’s why Stewart comes here almost every day. Stewart is a bit of a celebrity at the coffee shop. His stay at the university has been a bit longer than most (six years and counting) but that’s because of the multiple majors and minors that he’s been pursuing. Philosophy, art, psychology, even a little...

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...

When I was a kid the world around me was unique and often intimidating. The mall where my parent's shopped was this huge complex of endless stores and easy places for kids like me to get lost. Fast food restaurants were exotic stops reserved for special occasions where I could peek over the counter as the workers whipped up a milkshake for me while steaming hot fries awaited me beside a fresh made burger. Even my backyard appeared as big as a football field on which I could wear my little self out everyday running and playing with my brothers and my friends. As easy as it is to romanticize about the "good old days," it's also easy to realize that those places and events weren't so exquisite as I once believed. I can now walk from one end of the mall to the other in a matter of minutes and there are virtually no stores in which I would choose to venture, much less get lost in. Those milkshakes, fries, and burgers are certainly not a treat anymore and the older I...

" Help, Lord, for no faithful one remains; the loyal have disappeared from the human race...The wicked wander everywhere, and what is worthless is exalted by the human race. " - Psalm 12:1, 8 I love a good story. For years books have been my go-to if I want to lose myself in a thrilling plot twist or I simply wish to allow my mind to meander through deep wooded areas that are cut off from all civilization. Whoever said that it is easy to get lost in a book was not kidding. I somewhat lament that my kids don't enjoy reading as much as I do, however when they do find a book that captivates their imagination, I love to see how it invigorates their creativity and moves their souls. With all of the technology of today, books have not necessarily become passe - but they have been somewhat replaced by the visual medium of movies and television as the dominant storytellers of our time. This isn't such a bad thing, even though most people will admit that "the book is...

I-40 from Wilmington to Winston-Salem has been a regular companion of mine the past several months. Road trips can be awesome, but I honestly don't enjoy the driving part. I am still trying to figure out how to invent the "Get There Button" that can magically transport me to wherever I want to go with the push of a button. So far, I got nothing. On my recent travels, I have noticed an odd traffic phenomenon that I simply have no explanation for: As soon as I pass into Wake County going west bound, traffic suddenly slows down for a few miles to about 40 mph. There is not a wreck ahead, no traffic cones signaling caution, no speed traps that are making drivers paranoid. Traffic simply slows with no explanation. And this happens any time of day that I hit that same section - it can be morning, afternoon, or late at night. It's the craziest thing and it's especially irritating if I am caught up in it. This got me thinking: Who or what started these kinds of patte...

This is what a broken and dislocated forearm on a 9-year-old girls looks like. Unfortunately this belongs to my youngest daughter, Emme, who accomplished this after trying to catch herself from hitting the floor after falling off the balance beam at gymnastics. Accidents happen - and sometimes they really hurt! - but sometimes they affect more than just your physical well-being. If you watch sports or have a child who plays sports or were an athlete yourself, then you know that injuries are often part of the game. Not everyone experiences bone-crushing fractures or career-ending injuries - most of the time it's knocks and bumps and the occasional bruise. But there are those moments where you watch an athlete's future dissipate before his or her eyes by an injury that prohibits them from coming back. And that is hard to watch. As someone who has never really experienced any of this in the athletic arena, I've often wondered what it's like to receive the crushing...

I am serving as camp pastor at a placed called Laurel Ridge in the NC moutains this week, so today I decided to go hiking on some trails in an effort to keep from gaining 15 pounds from all the camp food I’m going to be consuming. These trails aren’t new to me - I’ve hiked them countless times over the years as I have been up here as a camper, counselor, and pastor, so when I approached the trail head I was more than ready to get my sweat on and burn some calories. There are four different trails and they are labeled according to color. Yellow is the longest, red is the steepest, green is not as challenging, and blue takes you to some scenic overlooks. I decided to start at the red/yellow point and then venture down the red trail. I thought about the yellow trail because it’s the one I remember the best from years past, but I wanted to give myself a bit of a challenge since I am such an outdoorsman (cue the sarcasm). The initial decent on the red trail was pretty steep and I new that w...

Growing up in a Christian home, church on Sundays was not just something that we did. It was something that served to define who we were. I have fond memories of attending Sunday school classes where I learned about Moses crossing the Red Sea, Daniel and the lion's den, and Jesus healing sick people all from the magic of the flannel graph board. The pain of sitting beside my grandfather on those impossibly hard wooden pews was dulled by hearing his rich baritone voice singing those beautiful old hymns. Those were simple, good times, but they served to give me a spiritual foundation that I have never forgotten. As I grew older and eventually left home, going to church shifted from something I had to do as a child under my parents' authority to something I could choose to do. As a young man who was entering the ministry, continuing to attend church was a no-brainer for me - why would I NOT want to go? Yet at the same time, I began to notice traits within me bubbling to the sur...

Throughout my life I have never had much trouble believing in things. The tooth fairy, Santa Claus, and at one point the Easter Bunny were are all factual figures in my life upon whom I knew I could rely. As I grew older and maturity and reality dawned on me, I abandoned belief in those entities because they weren't real. Sure, they are still real to children across the world and I would never dream of breaking one of their hearts by giving up the goods (so don't let them read this!), but I can remember the disappointment mixed with relief when I found out that there were other reasons for all the candy, presents, and money. Why was I relieved to find out these characters were not actually real? I believe it was because I had come to rely on them for so many years for momentary things, not long-term solutions. Once I ran out of teeth then I was out of luck. Santa only came once a year, but what if he somehow forgot? And the Easter Bunny was always very odd to me, nevertheles...

For several years now I've been able to go as an adult leader to the Passion Conferences in Atlanta. Having returned today, my mind is swirling with all sorts of thoughts, images, and mental tiredness that affects old guys like me when they go non-stop for almost three days. I realize that I am probably getting too old to keep doing this but I simply can't help myself. If you have never experienced something like the Passion Conferences, then a brief blog post like this is probably not going to amount to the much more than the first few pieces of a 1,000 piece jigsaw puzzle. But it's just too difficult to not make at least a meager attempt to recap some of the more memorable moments for me. Imagine yourself sitting in a room surrounded by around 60,000 other adults young and old who want one thing - to know God in a more intimate way. And I'm not just talking about experiencing warm and fuzzy "Yes, Jesus loves me" kind of tingles; I'm talking about a ...

Yesterday I had the privilege of preaching James 3:1-12 at my church. Yesterday I also faced the dread of preaching James 3:-12 at my church. Why the dread? Because this passage of Scripture addresses the power of the tongue, i.e. of the words that we use, and just how destructive they can be. As someone whose words have gotten him into hot water time and time again, I felt like I was speaking into a mirror the entire time, hearing words that I desperately needed to hear but so badly wanted to avoid. Take a minute to recall some contentious conversations you may have recently had. Did you get angry and lose your temper, resulting in harsh words and a louder than healthy volume? Or are you the master of the art of sarcasm, cutting into others with your cruel wit and venom? How about gossip? Have you spent a lot of time recently criticizing others, knocking their worth and value down a few pegs? I could go on, but I think that you get the idea. We ALL struggle with the words that w...

This election season is turning out to be a doozy, isn't it? I make it a habit to not write or post about politics in a way that is confrontational or leaning towards the endorsement of a particular candidate, and this will be no different. Most people that I know and speak with are frustrated, and with good reason. Not once in my 46 years here on earth have I seen such an electorate so divided yet also so hesitant to cast a vote. Many of my pastor buddies have turned to social media to express their views and distribute their advice and wisdom to those who would receive it. Honestly, I have more often been disappointed by what I have read than encouraged. It's very apparent that my evangelical friends are taking stances against both presidential candidates, and in doing so they are inviting some pretty ridiculous feedback from their parishioners who feel the need to comment while offering no real direction for them to take. When that happens, things just get down right sill...

When it comes to politics, I typically keep my opinions close to the vest, and that is not really going to change now. As a registered Independent, I love the feeling of not being key holed into one particular party or ideology. I'm a maverick, a renegade who arrives at the voting booth on a Harley wearing a leather vest while the crowds part as I swagger my way to the voting booth. Or at least I like to see myself that way. In reality, I am just like everyone else when it comes to politics. I have to make an informed decision and so do you. This is where it starts to get tricky. This election cycle is unlike any I have witnessed in my 46 years on earth, at least from the years that I can remember. I purposefully don't get too involved in political discussions because I value healthy relationships and a stable blood pressure. Besides, I've never engaged in a political debate where either side has emerged saying, " You're exactly right! Silly me, I see it your ...

Several years ago I became the new youth pastor at a church in Yadkinville, NC. In case you've never heard of Yadkinville or you have no idea how to pronounce it, the "d" is silent and the "i" is more like a hard "u", so it's pronounced "Ya-kun-vull" by those who really know who to speak Yadkin-ese, the local dialect there. Anyhow, the students there were all awesome and a little on the country side, which was cool because it challenged me to be a little less "city" and uptight about certain things. Early on in my time of service there, I realized that I had a group of guys that were gifted at talking junk. You know, the kind where you playfully goad other people verbally to engage in physical challenges, all the while strutting like a peacock and "bowing up" to them. If you don't understand, then you have to accept that it's a guy thing and it's just what we do at times. There was one kid in the group...

I was informed by a student yesterday that there are such things as "Christian cuss words." Did you know about this? Apparently you can call people names such as " butt-monkey " or exclaim " Shut the front door !" and these are acceptable alternatives to those words that we shall not utter, at least while no one from church is around. What a relief to know that we can cuss holy, right? Funny story, I know. " Those crazy things that kids say !" might come to mind. But let's be honest, the concept behind the "Christian cuss word" has oozed its way into our thinking so stealthily that we apply this illogic to so many areas of our lives. Let's consider the issues that many Christians champion, for instance. The entire world is well aware of what Christians are against because we do such a darn (oops, Christian cuss-word, sorry!) good job of vocalizing those very things. We are against abortion, against same-sex marriage, again...

Lately I've been reading a book entitled Toxic Charity: How Churches and Charities Hurt Those Who Help and How to Reverse it . While this book certainly isn't new on the scene, it is for me, and it comes a pretty pivotal point in my life and my way of thinking. Giving to the poor, helping those in need, offering emergency assistance - all of these things are essential and have been amply demonstrated to us by the example of Jesus Himself. Yet all to often churches and other religious groups have turned missions into nothing more than "religious tourism", pouring money into communities where there is no real outlet for sustainable change. In fact, if we were truly honest with ourselves, we often see missions as more for us than it is for those we are going to help. All of that aside, the message of missions got me to thinking about what the world truly needs to see and hear from those who are followers of Jesus. There are several options vying for that top category...

This weekend was a community — a real, true community — coming together in celebration of life. In celebration of music, of friendship, of happiness, of dance — of spirit, peace, and love. With a deep respect for all that came before, a profound acceptance for what’s happening now, and a shared optimism that everything will be okay. When you read that above paragraph, did you think you were perhaps reading about a weekend worship retreat or an incredible youth camp experience from a spiritually moved teenager? If you did, then you are wrong. Dead wrong. That paragraph is actually an excerpt of a blog post written by a Grateful Dead fan and it captures her experience at the Dead's farewell concert series in Chicago July 3-6. Let me go ahead and say that while I appreciate the Grateful Dead's music, I would hardly consider myself much of a fan, let alone a celebrated Deadhead. But reading the entire post by this fan got me thinking: How come Christians aren't this e...

As I child of the 1970's and an teenager in the 1980's, the fads that were so popular then seem so cheesy when viewed from the lens of 2015. I can vividly remember a time when my brothers and I were convinced that our lives would be woefully incomplete if we didn't have a strobe light that our neighbor had put up for sale. Yes, a strobe light. Think disco skating at the roller rink. We devised a plan to make seashell jewelry and sell it in the neighborhood until we had raised enough money to buy this most coveted possession. Our entrepreneurial plan worked to perfection and it wasn't long until we joyfully presented a jar full of change to our neighbor in exchange for the amazing strobe light that would send all of our neighborhood pals into fits of jealous. Excitedly, my brothers set the strobe light up in our garage and we took turns roller skating around on the concrete floor as the intermittent light flashed all around us. What a life-changing experience this w...