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...