Sterling Griggs

The stories I hear are gut wrenching. A high school student whose parents are MIA in her life. A young man who has never been told that he was good enough or smart enough. Accounts of students who spend days and nights alone at home while their parents are out drinking and getting high. In other cases there are students who live with relatives or neighbors because their families can't or won't support them. While the individual stories may differ, the results are the same. I see teenagers every day who are hurting because they simply do not know where to turn in their lives. Whether it is their parents who have neglected them, friends who have betrayed them, or relationships that have left them feeling dirty and worthless, there is a generation of young people crying out, and their pain is very real. Yes, I've seen the drama that occurs in the lives of middle and high school students. Many times the bark is where worse than the actual bite. Feelings get hurt all the ti...

In the beginning of time, there was a garden (Genesis 3). In this garden lived a man and a woman, Adam and Eve, both of whom had been designated by God to tend the garden and all that was in it. All the fruits of their labor - which was really not labor at all - were to be enjoyed. All except for the fruit of one tree, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The moment that they should choose to eat of it was the moment they would begin to die. Life was utopia for Adam and Eve. They dwelt with God and enjoyed the bounty of His generosity. They were as free as two humans could be. There were no needs that they could possible have that God would fail to meet. They were naked but unashamed, for they were free of the stigma of being exposed. Their relationship with God was perfect and pure for nothing existed that had tarnished it. Yet. One day, as Eve was tending the garden on her own, the enemy came to her clothed as a serpent. " Did God actually say, 'You shall not eat...

Just in case you just climbed out of a time capsule, I just wanted to let you know that the news lately hasn't been all that good. We can start with the terror attacks in Paris last Friday, where over 100 people were senselessly murdered in a hail of gunfire, bombs, and mayhem. The media has made sure that we know every ounce of information (and disinformation) about this tragedy, and in doing so we have all been made even more aware of the horrific plight that the Syrian refugees are facing in their attempt to escape their homeland in the advance of ISIS plundering and domination. The conundrums that these issues have raised are numerous. There are many who desperately want to help those in need right now - how can we turn away Syrian refugees who are desperately seeking a safe haven in which to raise their families? Others, however, are exercising caution for fear that another country's conflict might be brought to their own backyard. Passions are inflamed, accusations are...

Much has been said and rehashed in the past week about the whole Starbucks red cup fiasco , and it's my turn to express an opinion or two on the whole debacle. Yes, I think that the guy who makes his name "famous" by ranting and offending people with his "Jesus Christ t-shirt" is a bit off his rocker. Telling the barista that your name is "Merry Christmas" so that she will write it on the cup? Juvenile genius, I guess. And I chuckle at the irony of just how much business he is generating for Starbucks with his crusade against the company all because they won't put reindeer or Christmas trees on their cups this year. But if I ran into this guy today and had the chance to tell him how I really feel about his stance against the "Starbucks Antichrist" company, here is what I would tell him to his face: Thank you! Yes, this self-proclaimed advocate for all things Christian has actually done Christianity a favor. He has single-handedly tip...

"Steven" had another bad day. That's what the school administrator told me as I sat in a comfy chair across from her desk. This young man, barely halfway through his elementary education, would be spending the next couple of days at home. Again. And no, she didn't break confidentiality by telling me his name - I actually guessed. I was there to discuss with her ideas about using high school students after school to tutor and mentor elementary students and, before I rose to leave, I told her that if there was an immediate need that I could help with, please let me know. That was when she mentioned a student - whom I guessed to be "Steven" - who was really struggling and was facing yet another suspension from school. She called him a "throw away" kid, not because she didn't see his value (she did and she showed him much love), but rather because the rest of the world around him didn't seem to recognize it.  Hearing this story literally b...

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...

The other weekend my wife and I enjoyed some much needed beach time with our toes in the sand watching the waves crash onto the shore. As we lazily sat in our chairs soaking up the sun and breathing in the salty air, we noticed a girl approaching that we recognized, which is not all that uncommon since we do live beside the beach. She stopped to say hello and we casually asked her how things were going with her. To our surprise, she told us. Everything. I mean, she let us know where she had been so far this summer, who she hung out with, how her parents were doing, etc. She didn't give the typical answers, " Things are good...I'm fine...been busy... " No, she actually answered the question that we asked her. Which was surprising, because normally when we ask people how they are doing we don't really find out how they are doing because they typically don't tell us how they are doing, because that's not really what we want to hear, right? Instead, we exp...