Culture - Stone The Preacher

Pastor Steve Got a Tattoo

Jul 6, 2018Steve SanchezABOUT ME & MY BLOG, Culture, Humor, Pastor's P.O.V.atomic tattoo, ink, Leviticus 19:28, piercings, tattoo, tattoos

MY TATTOO WAS GOING TO BE A REALLY SMALL ONE that simply said, “Mat. 6:33,” the abbreviation for my life’s verse: “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (Matthew 6:33).

I wanted to be reminded of it, forever—in ink! It was going to be so very tiny and hidden on the underside of my wrist, that the only way anyone would ever notice was if I gave a high five right above their sight line or smacked them with on the forehead with my hand.

I was never, ever going to get one but my daughter DD convinced me. Yes, I blame her.

On her 17^th birthday she begged me for a tattoo. I said no.

“Please, Dad?”

“No!”

A week later: “Dad?” Please?

“No!”

A week and a half later….

It went on like that for several more months—begging, cajoling, nagging—did I mention that she was a teenager?—until I relented and called the tattoo parlor (do they still call them that?). Much to my delight, the law said you cannot get a tattoo in the great, awesome State of Texas until one is eighteen years of age. Strike a victory for Parental Rights!

Figuring she would eventually forget about it, I let it go with a smile in my heart, thanking God that this body-art desire phase would soon pass, all the while hoping she would not take a secret road trip to Nevada with her ne’er do well high school friends. You know who you are.

She didn’t forget.

On her 18^th birthday I lost my right of refusal; DD was now an adult. She could vote, join the military and even get a…a…dreaded tattoo. “Hey Dad, are you gonna get one with me?”

I’m Out of the Closet Today

Oct 11, 2017Steve Sanchez1 CommentCulture, Gay community, Pastor's P.O.V.gay, lesbian, queer, trans, transexual, transgender

SINCE IT’S NATIONAL COMING OUT DAY, I’VE GOT SOMETHING TO CONFESS….

It’s 2017 so I feel comfortable enough to do so. Those who know me well may not be too surprised when I reveal this very personal truth. But, this is the day that I feel emboldened enough to do it, so, please, accept me for who I am; I cannot turn back.

With all the current talk about trans-people from transgender to transsexuals, I now will also admit something. Please, don’t be shocked. I was born this way and had these feelings since I was very young. I can never change who I really am.

Yes, I’m trans.

The Un-American Religion

Jun 16, 2017Steve SanchezCulture, News, PERSECUTED!, Politicsbernie sanders, Donald Trump, politically correct, russell vought, White House Office of Management and Budget

THE INCONVENIENT TRUTH ABOUT CHRISTIANITY is the fact that not everyone goes to Heaven, not every belief system is correct and millions of people stand condemned already.

This bothers me.

It also bothered Senator Bernie Sanders when he grilled Russell Vought, President Donald Trump’s nominee for deputy director of the White House Office of Management and Budget last week. Here’s an edited excerpt of the exchange:

Sanders: Let me get to this issue that has bothered me and bothered many other people. You wrote, “Muslims do not simply have a deficient theology. They do not know God because they have rejected Jesus Christ, His Son, and they stand condemned.” Do you believe that that statement is Islamophobic?

Vought: Absolutely not, Senator. I’m a Christian, and I believe in a Christian set of principles based on my faith. That post, as I stated in the questionnaire to this committee, was to defend my alma mater, Wheaton College, a Christian school that has a statement of faith that includes the centrality of Jesus Christ for salvation, and . . .

Sanders: I understand that. I don’t know how many Muslims there are in America. Maybe a couple million. Are you suggesting that all those people stand condemned? What about Jews? Do they stand condemned too?

Vought: Senator, I’m a Christian . . .

Sanders: I understand you are a Christian! In your judgment, do you think that people who are not Christians are going to be condemned?

I want to jump in right here and say that it really doesn’t matter what Vought had to say in answer to Sanders’ question, but I am glad that he was straight-forward in explaining his beliefs without denying the facts of what Jesus taught and what the Bible says.

2016 Celebrity Deaths & God

Jan 12, 2017Steve SanchezCulture, Famous Lost Words, SUDDEN DEATH!antonin scalia, carrie fisher, celebrities, celebrity deaths 2016, debbie reynolds Prince, fidel castro, george michael, john glenn, merle haggard, Muhammad Ali, nancy reagan, patty duke, ronald reagan

WHAT DID ALL THOSE CELEBRITIES WHO DIED IN 2016 BELIEVE ABOUT GOD?

Pop star George Michael wrote this in 2005: “As a gay Englishman, should I be more afraid of God? I’ve never had a problem with God, you see. The God that Americans are presented with day after day would, I think, have a few problems with me….”

Every death is a tragedy. Every one of them a great loss. But it really seems to hit home when it’s someone famous, someone you grew up with on TV or the movies, heard on the radio or watched in a sport. Being a Christian pastor, I’m always curious as to what people thought about God. Here are some quotes from the famous before they passed away in 2016.

Carrie Fisher said, “I love the idea of God, but it’s not stylistically in keeping with the way I function. I would describe myself as an enthusiastic agnostic who would be happy to be shown that there is a God.”

Astronaut John Glenn:

Hunting in the Hill Country

Oct 8, 2016Steve Sanchez3 CommentsCommunity Church of the Hills, Culture, Texas Tales!bow hunting, deer hunting, donald trump. national rifle association, dripping springs texas, guns, hunters, hunting, johnson city texas, liberals, nra, texas

AT THE RISK OF BEING OFFENSIVE I want to report on the biggest pastime here in the Hill Country of Texas, even bigger than football: It’s deer hunting. The majority of our congregation at Community Church of the Hills (CCH) in Johnson City owns a guns and uses them.

One of my friends, Aaron Wardlow, gave me permission to post his trophies from the first two opening weekends of 2016 (he’s allowed five white tail). The interesting thing is his philosophy about why he hunts deer. (These have all been shot with a bow and arrow, by the way). Here is his defense:

“That is all the meat that our family eats for the year, so this time of year I am stocking up until next season. We usually only eat all natural non-processed meats that I harvest. So it’s not taken lightly and done for the thrill, I give thanks to the animal and God every time for the food to nourish our bodies.
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