Famous and Not-So - Stone The Preacher

Was Olivia Newton-John a Christian?

Aug 8, 2022Steve Sanchez4 CommentsFamous and Not-So, Famous Lost WordsOlivia Newton-John

The co-star of one of the most popular musicals of all time, Grease, lost her 30-year-long battle to breast cancer this morning.

What were her beliefs? Not much is known specifically, but it appears that she was quite spiritual and a student of many religions.

According to the HollowVerse website “she doesn’t identify with anything–or everything depending on how you look at it. Normally reputable sites claim that she’s a Christian, and that very well could be true, but it seems more that she’s multi-religious, or meta-religious. She has expressed an interest in aspects of Hinduism and Buddhism, but seems to claim neither as a whole.

In an interview with Catholic News she said, “I believe that all human beings are connected, like pearls on a chain. We have in common the search for peace, love and compassion. It is my hope that we can accept and respect each other’s [religious] traditions, no matter what our personal beliefs. This is my intention – to make music that helps to heal the heart and connect us to each other.

“Nature is my church,” she has stated, which belies a hint of pantheism.

Runnin’ With the Devil?

Oct 6, 2020Steve Sanchez9 CommentsFamous and Not-So, Famous Lost Words, Pastor's P.O.V.Eddie Van Halen

Eddie Van Halen died today at age 65. Did he go to Heaven or Hell?

Only God knows. I can never make that determination nor can anyone else; all we can do is look at his life to see if he stood for Christ or lived for himself.

Eddie did give credit to God for his amazing music ability saying, “I just believe that when you play long enough you’re able to execute with your fingers, whatever God gives you… And God’s got a sense of humor, too–sometimes he gives me s—, ’cause not everything I do I like.”¹

Tutti Frutti No More

May 9, 2020Steve Sanchez3 CommentsFamous and Not-So, Gay community, Heaven/Hell, Pastor's P.O.V.gay, Little Richard, tutti frutti

LITTLE RICHARD DIED TODAY. Did he go to Heaven or Hell?

He was one of the fathers of rock ‘n roll and described himself as an “omnisexual” where he gloried in a life of pervert practices that included orgies with men and women. Rolling Stone magazine said that his “fervent shrieks, flamboyant garb, and joyful, gender-bending persona embodied the spirit and sound of that new art form.”

Known for such hits as “Tutti Frutti,” “Long Tall Sally,” “Lucille,” and “Good Golly Miss Molly,” Elton John was even influenced by him: “I heard Little Richard and Jerry Lee Lewis, and that was it. I didn’t ever want to be anything else. I’m more of a Little Richard stylist than a Jerry Lee Lewis, I think.”

The Beatles recorded his songs as did such diverse bands as the Everly Brothers, Creedence Clearwater Revival, the Kinks and Elvis Costello. His style even influenced Prince. As he told Joan Rivers in 1989, “Prince is the Little Richard of his generation. I was wearing purple before you was wearing it,” he said, as he looked straight into the camera.

He gave up rock ‘n roll in 1957 to become an ordained minister after experiencing many signs and a dream about his own damnation and the end of the world.

Is Kirk Douglas in Heaven?

Feb 6, 2020Steve Sanchez2 CommentsFamous and Not-So, Famous Lost Wordseternity, heaven, hell, kirk douglas

KIRK DOUGLAS DIED TODAY AT AGE 103. What did he believe about God? Did he go to Heaven?

In an Esquire interview in 2001 he said this:

“The more I’ve studied the Torah, the less religious I’ve become, the more spiritual. We Jews are taught to read Hebrew, but we don’t know what the hell we’re reading. At Yom Kippur services, I was reading the English translations, and it came to me: There’s so much adoration of God, but God doesn’t need us to sing his praises. He just wants us to be better people.
“Muslims follow Muhammad to reach God. Christians follow Jesus. Jews follow Moses. But it’s all the same God.
“Maybe when you die, you come before a big, bearded man on a big throne, and you say, ‘Is this heaven?’ And he says, ‘Heaven? You just came from there.’
“Religion has killed millions of people. Something must be wrong.”

In an interview with the Jewish Telegraphic Agency in 2017, he explained,

“I grew up praying in the morning and laying tefillin, but I gave up much of the formal aspect of religion. I believe in God and I’m happy to be a Jew. But I think too much religion has not helped civilization. Caring for other people is my religion.”

Caring for people is wonderful, but no amount of good deeds will get anyone to heaven. The only way anyone has a relationship with God is by putting their faith and trust in Jesus Christ for forgiveness of sins.

When I Met Muhammad Ali

Jun 7, 2016Steve Sanchez1 CommentCulture, Famous and Not-So, Pastor's P.O.V.Cassius Clay, Champ, Christianity, Islam, Louisville Lip, Muhammad Ali, Muslim, The Greatest, way of the master

I MET MUHAMMAD ALI LONG AGO in a little restaurant on La Cienega Blvd. in Los Angeles. I walked up to him and said, “Hi Champ!”

He was very slow, muddled, and slurred his speech. Obviously, all the years of fighting in the ring had taken its toll. He weakly stuck out his hand for me to shake. I remember it being very limp. He then shuffled away.

That was it.

I’m not sure if I was a Christian back then, but, if I was, I do remember this: I did NOT tell him about Jesus Christ. Ali died as an outspoken Muslim.