Sterling Griggs

The conversation was going well with my pastor friend until the topic shifted to another church in his area. Apparently, talking about THAT church hit a nerve. Before I knew it, I was hearing an in depth analysis about THAT church and its pastor and how they are stealing people from all the other churches in the community. Stealing? Well maybe not "stealing" he admitted, but courting them with flashy worship and big events and the "cool factor" that other churches like his own couldn't pull off. And did you know, he asked, that they don't even preach the Bible there? In fact, in their worship services they play "secular" music. The substance in THAT church is about an inch deep and a mile wide, he told me. I wasn't sure how to respond to such a scathing critique about this sister church. Probing a little deeper I found that my friend had never actually been in that church to observe these heretical phenomena nor did he personally know the pa...

There has been a firestorm over the recent posting of a video in which Victoria Osteen literally opens the Pandora's box that all of her and her husband's critics have been anxiously waiting for. Don't get me wrong - what she said from the stage was nauseating and thoroughly unbiblical, yet the glee expressed from the Osteen's opponents was no less horrific. As a conservative evangelical Christian, I get it. Joel Osteen and his wife have been less than forward with the truth of the gospel and have chosen instead to proclaim the merits of living a life where all God wants for you to be is happy. Their ministry is watched and heard by millions of people who in turn simply adore Joel and his wife, hanging on every word that they say. They make people feel important and special and valued by God. And indeed people are. But when any man or woman who claims to be God's mouthpiece speaks for God words that are not found in His word, then Houston, we've ...

The most significant time of the year has arrived: College Football season. Just in case you doubt that claim, consider these facts for a moment: For the 2013 College Football season, the average attendance for FBS games was 45,815 per game. That's more people than live in 98% of towns in America (I don't know if that percentage is actually true, but it sounds pretty good). Almost 50,000,000 people attend College Football games each year. That's 50 million. That doesn't even come close to the number of people who watch the games on TV.  The University of Michigan football stadium has a capacity of 110,000 but you can cram 115,000 in it if you want to. That makes this stadium the 236th largest city in America. Numbers don't lie. Americans love their college football and follow their teams with a passion. Fans will drive long distances to sit on horribly uncomfortable bleachers in horrific weather to shout themselves hoarse for college players who they will nev...

All of us have convictions and values in our lives that cement the belief systems to which we cling. In other words, all of us are pretty convinced we are right about certain areas. I know that I am. From Day 1 I have been a fan of Wake Forest University and am convinced that there is no greater college in the free world (and I wish WFU was free because it's freakin' expensive!). I base my belief on my experience not just a fan of the school but also as a graduate. My experiences have shaped my conviction and values about Wake Forest. Most of the people that I encounter on a daily basis don't share my belief about Wake Forest. I lovingly refer to those people as infidels and heretics. They believe that some other lesser school, such as UNC or Duke, is a better college, although their beliefs are based almost solely on those schools' athletic programs. When I beat my chest about Wake Forest, I never fail to mention how our debate team brought the national title home i...

Dear Christian Friends, Let me first say how much I love each one of you. It's amazing how brothers and sisters can be so different yet united under the banner of Jesus. I treasure all of the insights that you have given to me as we've had civilized discussions and a few healthy debates about various aspects of the Christian faith.I am eternally grateful for the men and women who have poured into and continue to invest in my life. Hugs. But (and you knew that was coming, right?) I believe that we are missing the mark greatly in the area of love. And just to keep the tone of this letter fair, I am going to address all of you as "we" because I am in the same boat. I'm preaching to the choir, if you will, although I never really enjoyed choir and don't really have the voice to pull off anything special beyond the sanctuary of my car. In fact, I would go so far to say that the most comments I hear from those who aren't Christians about those who are belie...

Man, I messed up big time the other day. My words and my actions totally threw my life out of balance and I spent a lot time trying to make amends for my sinfulness. I'm sure you can relate to my dilemma because you've probably recently found yourself in the same spiritual quagmire. You royally blew it and now you feel slightly less worthy than a piece of maggot-infested garbage. Why do we continue to struggle with the same old sins for which Jesus suffered and died? Maybe your issue isn't what you've just recently done but rather what haunts you from your past. There was that time in your life when you were far from God, living a life that now makes you want to retch. Or perhaps you are the product of abuse, whether it was sexual, physical, or emotional. Your view of yourself is so low that you struggle to move on because of the guilt and feelings of inadequacy that you can't seem to shake. But then God stepped in and the miraculous happened. Jesus found you a...

In the spring of 1989 I plunged head first into the Greek system at Wake Forest University by joining a fraternity. True to what you may have been led to believe on TV or in books, many fraternities indeed ARE as crazy as you think, and my fraternity was on that list. Not all the fun that we had was destructive and evil - I have some really great memories and still keep up with some pretty awesome guys - but for the most part debauchery was the primary goal. Now as a kid raised in a conservative Southern Baptist church, hedonism and Sunday school don't mix together too well. I knew all too well the lessons from the Bible and the truth that lay behind them, yet they were not enough to keep me from wanting to run to the dark side for a time and enjoy all of it's guilty pleasures. Was I properly taught the Scriptures? If I were truly saved, would I have gone down this wayward path? What went wrong? You see, the Bible teaching that I received growing up was first rate and I wo...