Stone the Preacher

Another reason why I ask the million $ question everywhere, which is: “If you were to die today, would you go to Heaven or Hell?”

Kurt Cobain was the guitarist, vocalist and songwriter of Nirvana. His last words from a suicide note were:

Frances and Courtney, I’ll be at your altar. Please keep going Courtney, for Frances for her life will be so much happier without me. I LOVE YOU. I LOVE YOU.

It occurred to me today; it wasn’t a huge insight, but still… The exciting interactions I have with people are because I make it a point to interact with people. And with the opportunity to share about Christ each time, it makes for a dynamic mix. Today was Farmer’s Market day. I talked to two Christians, one in fellowship the other somewhat hurt by what his church in Arizona did to him. I encouraged and prayed for him.
The next guy was also a Gospel singer. I asked him to sing me a song. He did. It was a beautiful rendition of “Precious Lord, Take My Hand.” He said he’d be coming to my church on the weekend.
The next guy, Dave, was a “cultural Jew” as he put it. He never lied, stole or lusted. He was busy trying to gather signatures against global warming for Greenpeace. I had to give him the “30 Second Judgment and Hell” sermon, since he wouldn’t acknowledge his own sinfulness. We shook hands.
Lastly, a guy named Aurelius, said he was a born-again Christian too. I was taken by surprise by the Hustler hat he was wearing, though. “If you are a Christian, why are you wearing that hat?” I asked. “Huh? What do you mean?” Well, you represent Christ and you are wearing a hat that doesn’t. I’m a Pastor, but if I wore a hat that had a naked girl on it, what would you think?” “I would think that you aren’t the real deal,” he answered. “Exactly. So you want me to throw it away for you?” “No. It matches my outfit.” “C’mon,” I encouraged lightly, “Let me throw it away.” “Well… it’s my friends’ hat.” He understood the point.
-SS

The night before brain surgery, I thought about death. I searched out my larger values, and I asked myself, if I was going to die, did I want to do it fighting and clawing or in peaceful surrender? What sort of character did I hope to show? Was I content with myself and what I had done with my life so far? I decided that I was essentially a good person, although I could have been better–but at the same time I understood that the cancer didn’t care.
I asked myself what I believed. I had never prayed a lot. I hoped hard, I wished hard, but I didn’t pray. I had developed a certain distrust of organized religion growing up, but I felt I had the capacity to be a spiritual person, and to hold some fervent beliefs. Quite simply, I believed I had a responsiblity to be a good person, and that meant fair, honest, hardworking, and honorable. If I did that, if I was good to my family, true to my friends, if I gave back to my community or to some cause, if I wasn’t a liar, a cheat, or a thief, then I believed that should be enough. At the end of the day, if there was indeed some Body or presence standing there to judge me, I hoped I would be judged on whether I had lived a true life, not on whether I believed in a certain book, or whether I’d been baptized. If there was indeed a God at the end of my days, I hoped he didn’t say, “But you were never a Christian, so you’re going the other way from heaven.” If so, I was going to reply, “You know what? You’re right. Fine.” (more…)

Costco. The returns counter. Slimy carrots and never-ripened Kiwis. Chris the returns taker. A million dollar bill gospel tract.

Chris said that he awoke that morning feeling like he sinned too much. I gave him the bad news and the good news. He repented right at the returns counter! I asked him to pray for forgivness in his own words and he did right there—in front of the customers and everyone in line. I looked around as he was praying—quite a long and heart-felt prayer at that—and no one was paying any attention. It was like we were in a vacuum, a spiritual bubble. I tried to scare Chris out of his commitment by warning him that, “People will betray you and persecute you for your faith; sometimes there is lots of trouble. You have to know that you are coming to Christ for forgivness of sins—nothing else, everything else is just gravy.” He understood and there was no turning back. He even committed to coming to my church on Friday night. The hounds of Heaven got their prey. As we said goodbye, Chris made a wise observation: “God allowed those carrots to get spoiled just so you could be here tonight!”
Amen.
-SS

Wendy DePinto is taking serious the command from Jesus to “preach the good news to all creation,” while using a million dollar bill gospel tract as an “icebreaker.” Of course, after she musters her courage, I fully expect her to preach to humans too…

Photo by Wendy DePinto

This was an encouraging email I just received from a proud Mom, Kyungbin Yi. The timing couldn’t have been more perfect, coming on the heels of two very discouraging emails I got last week.

I just wanted to share with you something very exciting. My 7th grade son, Elijah, lead his friend to Christ by asking the million dollar question yesterday. When he first told me and my husband, we were a little surprised and wanted to know if he really had done it “correctly”. He told us what he did and we were really amazed at the steps he had followed—even down to having his friend follow him in the sinner’s prayer. We had never practiced these steps or even talked about evangelizing in this way and asked him where he had learned it. He just said he heard [how to do it] at church. He was at the service when you shared about leading people to Christ using the million dollar question and he said it just stuck in his head. After hearing his testimony, his little sister commented, “Wow, God really helped you.” It truly was God! It was so exciting that I just had to share with you! Thank you for your commitment to training people in this way of evangelism. It’s so easy that even a 7th grader can do it :). I know that you can get discouraged sometimes, but I wanted my son’s testimony to really encourage you.

This epitaph from ancient Rome reads:

To the spirits of the dead, to Lutatia Secundina, the sweetest baby, lived 4 years, 6 months, and 9 days.

At the Redondo Beach Fair, I stopped a group of three boys about 11-12 years-old and gave them the gospel. After a pleasant exchange, they walked away unchanged. A booth proprieter named Dave heard my presentation and was livid. “How can you prosyletize children like that? You should get their parents permission before you prosyletize their kids! If their parents knew you were doing that, they would be offended!” I calmly agreed with him, “Yes, they probably would be offended.” “You know there is no Hell,” he continued, “that is some Midieval myth. I can’t believe there are 5.8 billion people in Hell, that’s ridiculous!” I listened attentively knowing that I would not get a word in edge-wise until he said his piece. Then I asked him if he had ever lied. Had he ever stolen anything? Before parting ways with a handshake, I warned him that he would be held accountable to God on the Day of Judgment, and if found guilty, he would spend the rest of eternity in Hell whether he believed in it or not.
-SS

Is it right to witness to young kids? I think so. Christians believe in an “age of accountability.” This is supposed to be some God-determined age where God holds people responsible for their sins. My question: Where is this in Scripture? If it can’t be conclusively determined that there is a specified age, should we not tell everyone, regardless of how young that they will also be held accountable for the things done while in the body (using discretion and age-appropiate language, of-course)? My daughter D.D. is really starting to understand Christ’s suffering on the cross in a new way after watching the end of the DVD, “The Gospel of John.” She said that she doesn’t want to go to Hell and we explained to her about sin, repentance, righteous and Judgment—and she’s only seven-years-old. Though she asked Jesus to forgive her at age three, we aren’t taking any chances; we will continue to bring up our children in the training and instruction of the Lord.

What do you think? Read the post below to get fired up about the urgency of spreading the gospel to all ages.

The nightmare returns again and again for Sophia Castillo, even when she’s wide awake in the scorching daylight of a Central Valley summer.
Her crew-cut little boy having fun at the county fair. Her little boy jumping alone aboard the Ferris wheel. Her little boy panicking and bolting from the swinging basket 90 feet high. Hanging for dear life, just six years of it lived.
Reuben Castillo clung there from a steel spoke of the ride, nine stories up, for half a minute before plunging to his death Sunday afternoon. His horrified mother and sister watched from the ground.
-Eric Bailey, L.A. Times June 23, 2006

This is from agape press.org:
…A federal judge in Dallas has rejected a request from a Christian ministry to have thousands of gospel tracts returned after they were confiscated by U.S. Secret Service agents. (more…)

Here’s a comment posted by Jessica Smith on the post below, “Day of Ruin”, about the proper perspective we need to have when reaching out to the lost:

This is an issue I stuggle with most when evangelizing strangers: ruining their day. Last week I approached two men working on an old car, laughing and having a great time in the beautiful sunshine. As I walked toward them I almost stopped myself because they were having such a great time, [and] I knew I would kill that [great time] by telling them they were going to hell. As it turned out, one of them was [going to Hell] and frankly, he didn’t care. I didn’t want to ruin their day or their mood, but I reminded myself this was more serious than a bad day. This was about a bad eternity! The “people-pleaser” in me needs to get over it.

What about the rest of you? How do you feel about ruining someone’s day?

John Wesley told his evangelist trainees that when they preached, people should either get angry or get converted. No doubt, he wasn’t speaking about the “Jesus loves you” gospel, but about sin, Law, righteousness, judgment, and hell. -as cited by Ray Comfort in “How to do open-air preaching.”

John Wesley is the founder of the Methodist movement. Read below to see how far they have back-slidden.

We set-up our covert evangelism booth at the Redondo Summer Fair right next to the Democratic National Party booth. I cautioned my volunteers to not get into any political arguments, but to be gentle and respectful. Right across from us was a New-Age booth, and next to them a liberal United Methodist booth. It was going to be an exciting day…
Actually it was really mellow. An elderly lady from the Methodists was interested in my style of evangelism, but was concerned for the people who came to just shop and enjoy a sunny day at the fair. “You’re going to ruin their day with the way you talk to them.” I agreed with her. It’s a good thing to ruin a persons’ day with the truth. “People need to be warned that they will be found guilty before a Holy God and will spend their eternity in Hell if their sin isn’t forgiven. Wouldn’t you want to be warned?” She replied, “We are here to just show the love of Jesus.” “So am I. I want to tell others how God showed His love by sending His Son to die an a cross for our sins.”
Throughout the day, I noticed secret glances and whispering lips from the Methodists toward the Hope Chapel “fanatics.”

The veteran was mad and sounded like he wanted to take my head off at the Farmer’s Market, where I go each week with my daughters. “Let me ask you a question,” he said through clenched teeth. “Why do you preach to little kids; it just confuses them.” I hadn’t shared my faith with this guy at all, but he does see me each Thursday handing out gospel tracts and talking about Jesus. “I don’t preach to little kids—” “I’VE SEEN YOU!” he interrupted rudely. I thought to myself, hmmm…have I witnessed to little kids? I don’t think so, but it certainly is possible. If I had, the reason would be the same; they are headed for Hell too, if they don’t know the Savior. I tried to explain my motivation. “Well, let me answer—” “THAT’S ENOUGH!” he shouted, “WE’RE DONE!” I tried to explain again, “You don’t want me to answer—” “THAT’S ALL. WE’RE THROUGH!” My daughter D.D. was mad. “I didn’t like the way he talked to you Dad.” “That’s okay, hon,” I reassured her, “he wasn’t mad at me, he was mad at Jesus. We are to love him.” “Love him?” “Yes. Jesus says to love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, pray for those who mistreat you, and bless those who curse you.” “We have to love him?” “Yes.” “I just don’t like anyone talking to my Daddy that way.”
-Steve Sanchez

Same day at the Market. I handed two million dollar bills to an older couple, right after the incident with the angry vet. “May I ask you the million dollar question,” I said to the man while the woman stood back. “Sure” he said cheerfully, as he examined a piece of soldering wire he held in his left hand. “Are you sure you want me to ask you this; you might be offended.” He curled up his hand into a fist. “That’s okay, I’ve got a strong right hook.” “Good. I’ll just turn the other cheek,” I replied with a smile. If you were to die today, would you go to Heaven or Hell?” The man dropped the wire and shouted, “WHOA! WOOO! THERE’S A HELL?” He abruptly ended the conversation and walked away without another word. My daughter D.D. said with a shrug, “That’s two, Daddy.”
-S.S.

Same day at the Farmer’s Market. I said to my two girls, “Let’s pray. There’s some strong opposition today. We did. We spotted a bunch of middle aged people from the inner-city having a BBQ celebrating their sobriety. We handed them some million dollar bill gospel tracts which they took enthusiastically. We chattedand laughed. Three of them were already saved, while one of the guys asked sincere questions. We went to another group. They all agreed that they were going to Hell and listened attentively as I explained the way to be born-again. They thanked me a number of times before we said our good-byes.

I then stopped a group of Developmentally Disabled adults and asked the leaders if I could speak to the group. They said yes and stepped aside. I preached the Law, sin, Judgment, Hell and salvation. They all raised their hands to accept the Lord. The faith of little children.

My girls and I walked back to the car and got churros from the churro lady. Standing beside her was the angry vet, red eyes glaring at me beneath narrowed lids. We’ll meet again next week, I’m sure of that…
-S.S.

His last words were:

“How about this for a headline for tomorrow’s paper? French fries.”

Executed in electric chair in Oklahoma.

I preached a sermon a while back that emphasized why and how to use the 10 Commandments when evangelizing. Here is one response from a man, Bert Rivera, who wants to do something about Jesus’ command to “GO!” To get an opposite response, scroll down and read the next entry.

Steve, I’ve been a member of Hope Chapel since 2001. My daughter and I listened to your sermon this Sunday morning. We laughed, I wept at times and I for maybe the 3rd or 4th time in my Christian life, I feel God is trying to get through to me… He wants me to get off my self-satisfied, middle class
behind and obey him… my daughter and I have been handing out a few million dollar bills since the first time you preached on this (a month ago), but I have only really talked to ONE person about the text on the bill. (more…)

Now here’s an angry response from a person who doesn’t like the way I evangelize.
(To read other angry responses, see E-vangie Tales # 52 )

Steve, Can you take me off the [E-vangie Tales] list please?

Your stories make me sad for the most part. It seems that the “bull in the china shop approach” is what you think is right; when you’re not being effective for the Kingdom at all—it seems you’re “offending for the Kingdom.” You may think this is progress, but I know far too many who evangelize in a different fashion, who lead people to Christ regularly because they are sensitive to God’s Spirit as they share—and people are ministered to, or converted by them.

I think you might be wise to consider other means than “offending” people… People need Jesus badly, and He normally meets people right where they’re at—at their point of need, not in just bashing them. The Heaven and Hell question isn’t always relevant at a first meeting…but then, the Lord needs to speak to you about this. I will continue to pray that He will direct you in your passion to share about Him.
(Name withheld for discretion’s sake)

How much adventure can a person experience in the “wilds” of Hermosa Beach? Quite a lot, frankly, especially if you want to preach the gospel on an Avenue designed for hard-core partying…

I have made a commitment to share my faith for one hour each Friday evening between 5:30-6:30; I call this The Hour of Power. Last week, three guys joined me and we experienced the following after we prayed in the car and put quarters in the meter:

Jumping out of my Nissan we immediately gave million dollar bill gospel tracts to some guys. I like to break the ice as quickly as possible to get into the groove of evangelizing before I succumb to fear. They were walking away so I had to shout, “Hey! Do you want to know the million dollar question?” “Huh?” one them responded as the other ignored me and kept on going. “If you were to die today would you go to Heaven or Hell?” “Hell!” he shouted back and continued on his way.

Two valets were sitting at their station, so we shared our faith with them. One listened, the other walked away.

I saw a lady sitting outside The Mermaid, a watering hole for the older set. She smoked a cigarette and slurred her speech when answering my questions. She admitted to lying and stealing but would not call herself a liar and a thief. With narrowing eyes she asked accusingly, “Is this some type of religious thing?” “No,” I replied. “It’s relationship thing.” “Get the hell out of here!” she spewed. I knew I had about twenty seconds before she bailed, so I warned her, “I want to let you know that you will be found guilty on Judgment Day and will spend the rest of eternity in Hell…” She jumped up and ran into the arms of another man before I could speak of the Man who loved her so much that He died for her.

A black couple was on a stroll. The man said he was a Christian but did not attend a church. We encouraged him to get back into fellowship while his sister smiled with an “I told you so” look aimed at her brother. Right in the middle of the Strand we laid hands on the both of them and prayed a prayer of encouragement.

Four kids on a wall. “I gave up all drugs two weeks ago except marijuana,” said one. The fourth wanted to know how I changed. I gave my testimony about what Jesus had done.

A Mohawked skateboarder sang loudly while thrashing his guitar. “Hey,” I yelled, trying to grab his attention. “Can you play me a song?” “Sure.” “Will you sing this? Unless you repent, you too will perish.” He wheeled off singing, “UNLESS YOU REPENT! YOU TOO WILL PERISH! UNLESS YOUUUUU REPENT, YOU TOOOOO WILLL PERISH!”

Two scantily-clad waitresses listened intently as Richard spoke of God’s Law. One said that she would go to Hell because of the way she was dressed, and then ran away with tears in her eyes crying out, “You’re making me feel so bad. You’re making me feel so bad…”

I challenged the guys. “Let’s go to the baddest dudes on Pier Avenue and witness to them. After some initial reluctance, they agreed. A bunch of skateboarders, ne’er-do-wells, and tattoo-pierced guys were mulling around, vagrant-like. I approached the big, bald-headed guy wearing shades and an attitude. “You look familiar,” I said. “So do you,” he replied. “Do you go to Scully’s?” “No. Hope Chapel.” He removed his sunglasses. I recognized him. “Joe! Where have you been?” Joe used to come regularly to our church but hadn’t been for some time. “Come on back. Please. We’ve missed you.” He nodded.

It was really uncomfortable talking to the next group. As I spoke to a shirtless man with a spider tattooed next to his right eye, he muttered something about wanting to pound a church-boy. His friends closed in around me as my friends watched. I changed the subject and complimented him on the neat tattoo beside his eye and we talked about how cool God’s spiders are. Extracting myself from the conversation with a quick handshake, I then asked my guys what they thought was happening. “He was going to hit you,” they said. I agreed.

Two city workers heard the gospel as they leaned on a parking structure wall. When I finished, one of them protested, “I don’t appreciate being preached to.” I explained that I had to do it because a bridge is out and people are falling into the canyon below. “I’m compelled to stand on the side of the road and warn people to stop and turn around.”

And I’ll continue to do so. Will you join me?

-Steve Sanchez
(Note: I will not be doing the Hour of Power this Friday because my daughter is having a birthday.)

The low prices of course! And all the employees wear a vest that says: How may I help you? So I say to them, “I have a question… if you were to die today, would you go to Heaven or Hell?” Surprisingly, most of them say Heaven. When I ask them why, 90% say because they follow Jesus! Then I ask them what church they attend. They can actually tell me the name and address of the church!!!!!!!!
Hallelujah!

It’s also a great place to hand out million dollar bill gospel tracts while in line. To save money Wal-Mart has one cashier for every 100 customers, so I use the time wisely while waiting.

I did a funeral today for a man who was quite beloved in the city of Santa Monica. He was a political activist (aren’t they all in Samo?) and helped out lots of people. The city Fathers were there including the mayor and councilman Bobby Shriver, (brother of Maria (Shriver) Schwarzenegger). Not knowing the spiritual beliefs of the deceased, I usually end the service with: “He’s in God’s hands now.” This is true, whether saved or unsaved. If a person is saved, then he is in the hands of a loving Father and will dwell with Him forever in a place where there is no more sorrow or pain. If a person rejects Christ, he will face the eternal wrath of God’s justice. Both are the destinies meted out by the hands of a good and loving God. At the gravesite I said, “If [dearly beloved] could speak to you now, he would tell you that Jesus Christ is LORD!”
-Steve Sanchez

His epitaph reads:

A tomb now suffices for him
whom the world was not enough

I get no pleasure in submitting these weekly reports of unexpected loss of life. These are reminders of the brevity of life and the necessity to—”Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.” (Mark 16:15-16)

A woman wielding a 12-inch kitchen knife teerorized a Lakewood family early Friday, stabbing a grandmother to death and wounding her two daughters and a granddaughter, authorities said.
The 22-year-old assailant, climbed through a window of the brick-front house about 3AM, and set upon the four women. Neighbors told authorities that the attacker chased two of the victims out the front door and down the street, continuing to stab them. -L.A. Times, June 17, 2006

“Almost every natural man who hears of Hell, flatters himself that he shall escape it.”

Brief bio: (more…)

Sharkeez was a great place to hand out million dollar bill gospel tracts. It is a total party bar with long lines of people waiting to get inside. I passed tracts to a group of partying women sitting at an outdoor table and they shouted in delight at the currency. I walked away to talk to other people and when I returned to the girls’ table a woman angrily returned this bill, ripped to pieces. She said that I ruined her day and that, “We just came to have fun…”

3 days after this rejection, Sharkeez burned to the ground. Click to see the picture: (more…)

Three friends from the local congregation were asked, “When you’re in your casket, and friends and congregation members are mourning over you, what would you like them to say?”
Artie said, “I would like them to say I was a wonderful husband, a fine spiritual leader, and a great family man.”
Merle commented, “I would like them to say I was a wonderful teacher and servant of God who made a huge difference in people’s lives.”
Don said, “I’d like them to say, ‘Look! He’s moving!’”

At the Farmer’s Market in Redondo I preached to this group of Developmentally Disabled people and their leaders. All chose to repent and commit their lives to Christ. (The big black man in the back with the leather jacket was already saved and gave me the permission to preach to this group). Oh, the two little girls in the front are not part of the DDers and neither is the smily guy in the back, though some may think I belong.