Want a real adrenaline rush? Get your preaching stool, set it up in front of a Beer Garden in the heat of the afternoon… and watch what happens!
You’ll see that this crowd at Venice Beach was having a great time mocking me. At the 2:46 mark, right after I mention the 8th Commandment, you’ll see me bear the brunt of a man who emptied his beverage in my face. (It’s a little loud when I start to preach, so turn down your volume a little.)
The weirdest, stupidest things happen down in Huntington Beach when we go down there to visit with Ray Comfort, like we’ll be doing this Saturday afternoon….
For instance, on one fine Saturday this young Mexican man stood right in the middle of an angry anti-immigration protest and…
…unfurled a giant Mexican flag!!! Yow!!! This man needed a Savior—and quick!
And then there are the pro-pot people. They are regularly on the street corner trying to persuade locals that legalization is the only way to go. They even have a mascot, Pot Dog. This makes for quite the distraction as we preach in the open air on the pier because drivers-by honk their horns loudly and longly in support of Mary Jane.
Neveretheless, we’ll be out there preaching the good news in season and out of season!
Meet at Hope Chapel @ 11:30AM to carpool, 2420 Pacific Coast Hwy, Hermosa Beach, Ca. 90254. OR… meet us at the base of the Huntington Pier about 1:30PM.
Do you want to ensure that your little ones remain in the faith and continue to share theirs as well? Then
bring them along with you when you go on your evangelism adventures—and give them an incentive to do so.
My girls, D.D. and Laurel, have been going out with me for at least three years and they are bold and unafraid, earning the nicknames, Little Badger and Little Beaver respectively.
At the recent Michael Jackson Memorial at the Staples Center, D.D. badgered me to get her some Michael memorabilia. “If you hand out 800 Gospel tracts,” I challenged. Guess what happened?
My daughter went to the funeral for the “King of Pop” and all Dad got her was a lousy T-shirt.
And a memory that will last forever.
***Watch my two interviews with “Michael Jackson” here and here.***
I got a rude awakening last Saturday while preaching to the drunken crowd at a beer garden on the boardwalk and you’ll see it as soon as it’s edited. I also got a very strange interview with a very strange man, The Metal Ball Guy, a fixture at Venice Beach. He balances a metal ball while dressed in a G-string. Don’t worry; we shot him above the waist. Stay tuned.
A recent shoulder injury reminded me of the time I first broke this same shoulder twenty years ago at The Wedge, an impossibly steep, cavernous monster wave that doubles in size when bouncing off the jetty in Newport Beach Harbor. This is a world-class bodysurfing/surfing/bodyboard venue, half an hour south of the Huntington Beach Pier, and I was an avid participant—until my cracked shoulder. The unique aspect of this place is that the waves can reach twenty-plus feet, and they crash with the force of a locomotive into shallow water.
The funny thing is, I suffered my injury by bodysurfing a one foot wave that spit me directly onto the sand. I’m now 50 and past those types of shenanigans, with little risk of death by Wedge.
Another 50-year-old was not so fortunate…
L.A. Times, 7/25/09—The explosive Wedge surf break in Newport Beach has left generations of daredevils with broken bones and concussions.On Friday, with waves topping 20 feet, it killed a man — a rare death at a place that would seem to invite it.
The Orange County coroner’s office has identified the man as 50-year-old Monte Kevin Valantin of Lawndale. He was thrown against the rock jetty that produces the Wedge’s outsized waves about 12:30 p.m.Newport Beach lifeguards pulled him aboard their boat and he later died at nearby Hoag Memorial Hospital, authorities said. Read the rest here.
This is a great little organic congregation: The Venice Beach Biergarten!
I look at it as a public service. While everyone is knocking back a cold one, remind them of the place where their thirst will be unquenchable.
If you drink and drive and die, where will you go, Heaven or Hell? CHEERS!!!
I dare ya!
Do you have an interesting, odd, or funny place where you’ve preached? If so, you may want to enter the “DARE YA” Contest. For details on what is required, click here.
After watching the video below, click to read this excellent article “Why did they die? The truth about the early exits of Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett,” by Randy Thomasson, former Hope Chapel member and now director of Campaign for Children and Families.
Then take a trip down memory lane (below the video).
MEMORY LANE #1
Michael Jackson’s “BEAT IT”
Weird Al’s “EAT IT”
You can now listen or watch the sermon I did last weekend on Matthew 7: 21-23, where Jesus says, “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers.” This is a sermon for all those who may think they are saved when they really aren’t; in other words, this is for false converts to Christianity.
Click here to listen online, then scroll down to the sermon dated July 17, 2009.
You can download the printed text here.
(Use whatever you want for free!)
I sure hope you will never hear those horrible words from Jesus, but you better tune into this sermon right away to see if you will one day.! Thankfully, God moved twenty people to make a profession of faith after the sermon.
Here are some of the comments I heard from others after I gave the message:
One man stormed out in the middle of the service saying, “Everyone’s going to Hell! Everyone’s going to Hell!” Then he left. A few minutes later he ran back in and bought some Gospel tracts.
Another person, in the prayer room after the service, made this comment after making a commitment to Christ after the altar call: “I don’t understand why everyone doesn’t come forward.”
This Saturday we will be going to the wacky, wild, and weird Venice Beach. I explained to someone that if God withdrew is Holy Spirit from the earth, Venice Beach would be the result. Seriously! Last time we were there I preached in an unusual area. See it on Friday when I post a “Dare Ya!” contest article…
Meet at Hope Chapel at noon to carpool: 2420 Pacific Coast Hwy, Hermosa Beach Ca. 90254
About a month ago I put out a call for all those who have an evangelism blog or website to leave me a comment telling me about it so I can feature it on my blog; I was happy to get 15 responses!
As you know, all sorts of exciting things happen when we share our faith, and everybody should write something about it so others may be encouraged and exposed to the benefits of evangelistic faithfulness. Unfortunately, as I explored some of these blogs, I could not figure out who authored them, or all I was given was a first name, and I had no picture of the blogger. Also, the mission of some of the blogs was at times unclear.
So let me revise the rules.
If you’d like to have your evangelism blog featured and then placed in the sidebar of StoneThePreacher
(where you will earn “hit credits”), then here’s what you need to do. In the comments section of this post:
Please post this info in the comments section (even if you posted before), and I’ll get to featuring your noble efforts soon.
“Follower or Fooled” was the name of the message I preached at four services over the weekend at my church, Hope Chapel. This was a solemn warning on the dangers of being a false convert taken from Matthew 7:21-23:
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’
I gave altar calls at each service in this way: All the lights were on. No music was playing. All heads looking up and every eye wide open. I gave the congregation about 20 seconds to make a decision to repent and trust in the Savior after a clear presentation of the Law and Gospel.
Twenty did. A few even wept. God was faithful once again.
The funny thing is, I changed the sermon passage three times before deciding to use the Mathew 7 at 9PM Thursday evening. (Since we have a Friday night service, my sermon notes need to be ready by 9AM!) In a panic I called my wife to pray because I had no text, no notes, and no inspiration. She did, and I was done with my sermon at 11PM!
The message will be online sometime this week if you’d care to listen. I’ll even post the teaching notes so you can use what you want when addressing your congregation on the the deception of false conversion.
You can read a chronicle of what happened at each service by going to my wall at www.Facebook.com/stevepsanchez Oh! And if you’d like to be my “friend” I want to be yours, too.
From the CBC News: The Régie du bâtiment and the City of Montreal have launched an investigation into the death of a woman who was struck and instantly killed by a piece of falling concrete Thursday evening.
The 33-year-old was dining with her husband at the Mikasa Sushi Bar when a slab of concrete fell off a hotel on Peel Street, near the corner of De Maisonneuve Boulevard.
A waiter at the restaurant said the couple was celebrating the woman’s birthday, and they requested the table in the corner of the atrium.
A slab of decorative concrete came crashing through the atrium window of the restaurant, located on the ground floor of the Marriott Residence Inn, from 17 storeys above.
Montreal police said the victim’s husband, also 33, lost some fingers and was treated for severe shock.
Read the story here.
(Thanks to Paul Latour for this submission.)
This is the second interview with another Michael Jackson wannabe, taken from the STAPLES Center at the Michael Jackson Memorial.
You just never know about some people….
The man was friendly, kind, and sounded like a Christian. But I detected that something was a little off in his beliefs. I decided to take him through the 10 Commandments, then, POW!
Watch what happened.
(See the first interview with another Michael Jackson wannabe by clicking here.)
I will be on ONE ONE Radio on Sunday afternoon, 2:40PM PST. It will be archived here.
The host, John Chisum, was on my team at the very first Ambassador’s Academy last year. He stood on my preaching stool and broke it. Watch how he got surrounded by security the first time he preached on Hollywood Blvd. here.
After asking a few pointed questions of this “King of Pop,” he got a look at the man in the mirror of the 10 Commandments, hissed, then beat it.
I’m bad.
Now watch another interview with Michael Fatson (his name for himself). He got reeeeealy mad!
(This would be a great link to send to certain friends.)
I’m re-posting this for members of Hope Chapel who wanted to see the video again after it was shown five times at a recent weekend service.
This disturbing video is a call to preach and procreate. If you aren’t married yet, may I encourage you to do the former?
Remember that it is so important to give the Gospel. Here it is:
Will you go to Heaven when you die? Here’s a quick test: Have you ever told a lie, stolen anything, or used God’s name in vain? Jesus said, “Whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” Have you looked with lust? Will you be guilty on Judgment Day? If you have done those things, God sees you as a lying, thieving, blasphemous, adulterer at heart. The Bible warns that if you are guilty you will end up in Hell.
God, who the Bible says is “rich in mercy,” sent His Son to suffer and die on the cross for guilty sinners. We broke God’s Law, but Jesus paid our fine. That means He can legally dismiss our case. He can commute our death sentence: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”
Then He rose from the dead and defeated death. Please, repent (turn from sin) today and God will grant everlasting life to all, who trust in Jesus, then read your Bible daily and obey it.
AVP stands for Association of Volleyball Professionals. The official name of this weekend’s tournament is the
Whew! It’s just easier to say that we will be going to a volleyball game this Saturday where thousands will gather to watch adults play in the sand. But it is an important tournament. According to the AVP website “Manhattan Beach is considered by many as ‘the granddaddy’ of the AVP Crocs Tour. Players say once you win in Manhattan Beach, you really have made it on the AVP Tour.”
Carpool with us from Hope Chapel at noon.
I will be preaching at my church for four services this weekend and would appreciate your prayers. I’ll be speaking out of Matthew 7. You know the passage; it includes the desperate plea of a man who lived foolishly; his first two words being, “Lord, Lord….”
And after thinking and praying more on the subject, I will also be speaking on Matthew 25: 1- 13.
UPDATE!!! After fretting about what passage to teach from, I’ve finally decided to preach from Matthew 8:18-22. “Follower or Fooled” will be the title.
Facebook is an incredibly popular social networking site that has over 200 million active users. Here are some stats:
Facebook can also be incredibly banal and boring with people posting such things like they just ate a cookie, or drank a glass of water, or just woke up. Who cares?
Why not redeem the site by giving the Gospel to people you don’t know?
When you are on Facebook, choose a few names that you’ve never heard of. (Don’t do too many at a time; it’s called site abuse.) Everyone wants to be your friend, even if they don’t know you; then post some messages or posts from evangelistic blogs (like this one). Do a different post everyday and every time you are on Facebook add a few strangers as friends. You’ll never know who you might be reaching.
Jesus did say “Go into all the Web and preach the Gospel….”
If you’d like to be my friend, you can find me at www.Facebook.com/StevePSanchez
From the BBC— “We are shocked and saddened to hear of the tragic accidental death of umpire Alcwyn Jenkins from an injury sustained on the field of play at St Helen’s today. Our thoughts are with his family at this sad time.”
Neil Hobbs, honorary chairman of the South Wales Cricket Association, who was not at the game, said he was told that Mr Jenkins collapsed after being hit by the ball. “I’m led to believe it was one of the most freak accidents you could ever imagine on the cricket field,” he said. “The fielder collected the ball in the outfield and threw it in at the stumps and it hit Alcwyn on the head.” Read the rest here.
(Thanks to Pradeep Chellathurai for this submission.)
