The Chosen and the Bible

0:02 Looking at our world from a theological perspective. This is the Theology Central podcast making Theology Central. Good afternoon everyone. It is Friday, July the fifth. For some weird reason, I was about to say June the fifth. But why would I say June the fifth when it's the July the fourth weekend. I should know it's a holiday weekend. It doesn't feel like that in any way, shape or form. So let me try this again. Let me make sure I say this correctly. Good afternoon everyone. It is Friday, July the fifth, twenty twenty four. It is currently three fifty pm Central time, and I am coming to you live from the Theology Central studio located right here in Abilene, Texas. So you're sitting, let's say, maybe in a coffeehouse. Maybe you're sitting somewhere and you're reading your Bible.

0:59 You have the Bible. You're just reading the Bible and you're enjoying reading, and you're thinking, and you're meditating, and maybe you're writing down some notes. Maybe you're involved in kind of a small study. Maybe you're doing a devotional method study. Maybe you're doing a chapter summary method and you're just reading along, you know, minding your own business and someone walks by and goes, oh, you like reading the Bible? And yeah, I love reading and studying the Bible. Well that's awesome. Let me tell you about a TV show that brings the Bible to life. Now, do you put your Bible down and go ooh, tell me about this. I want to know about this TV show. Do you get excited that someone made a TV show that supposedly brings the Bible to life? Is that like something you really are into? Do you love that? Or do you have a little bit of apprehension? Is there a little part of you going well, okay, well go ahead and tell me about it. But you know, I'm a little skeptical now when it comes to a TV show show that attempts to bring the Bible to life. Do you have kind of a certain standard or a certain you know, kind of a requirement that you want that show to meet in order to bring the Bible to life? Or or you're like, you know what, just do whatever you want, just make it entertaining. Like do you do you have any concerns? Do you do you think the following I'm

2:30 going to give you three Do you think that a TV show that attempts to bring the Bible to life. Should at least adhere to these three things I'm about to give you? Or do you think these three things I'm about to give you is could these are radical ideas? Crazy ideas? And if anyone holds a TV show to this standard, they're just being absolutely ridiculous. Would you tell me what you think? Are you ready? All right? Here's a show they're trying to bring the Bible to life. That's what the attempting to do. They're taking the stories in the Bible and putting them on your television screen or a movie screen, or wherever it's going to be shown. Okay, you get all excited, But do you think what you should expect, what you should demand, is that the TV show adds nothing to the scriptures, takes nothing from the scriptures, and changes nothing in the scriptures.

3:31 What do you think? Do you think that that's crazy talk? Do you think that that's just radical? Do you think that's being phariseical? Do you think that's being judgmental? Do you think that's being arrogant? Again? Let me give it to you. Let me give these three again to you one more time. You may want to write them down that a TV show that attempts to bring the Bible a lot laugh life. They should not add anything to the scriptures. They should take nothing from the scriptures, and they should change nothing within the scriptures, add nothing to them, take nothing from them, and change nothing in them. Do you think that that's at least a decent idea. Now you may say that's just ridiculous. I don't know where you come up with this stuff. Well, some could argue that the three things I gave you may have some kind of a maybe their starting point place would be possibly in the scriptures themselves. Because if you've ever read the Book of Revelation, you probably have read this verse Revelation, chapter twenty two, verse eighteen. Revelation, Chapter twenty two, verse eighteen. For I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book. If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book. And if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the Book of Life.

4:59 Now, at least that lays down specific rules when it comes to the Book of Revelation. Now one could argue, do those rules expand beyond the Book of Revelation because the Book of Revelation is not the only book that we believe is given by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. It's not the only book that we believe is God's word. So would in all of God's word, at least in theory, you should say, you know what, we should not add to it, we should not subtract from it. I think most would agree. But that's those two principles. How about if we turn to the Book of Proverbs, the Book of Proverbs, chapter thirty. What if we read this Proverbs, chapter thirty, verse five. Every word of God is pure. He has a shield to those who put their trust in him. Do not add to his words, lest he rebuke you and you be found a liar. Now, this translation says add I think some have more along the idea changing. So do you think that we have at least some biblical support of not adding, not subtracting, and not changing. I mean, if it's God's word, logic would seem to dictate that's God's word, We're not to add to it, We're not to subtract from it.

6:15 And how dare we attempt to change it. What do you think? Think I'm being fair? Think I'm just being absolutely ridiculous. What do you I mean, you may think I'm ridiculous anyway, But what do you think? What do you think? What do you think? What do you think? What do you think? Well? I feel to some level that I have found myself in conflict with a good portion of Christianity over this very type of scenario. Because it was years ago, you can probably go back to our archives and find that I've addressed this on a number of occasions. I started getting emails have you seen the TV show that Chosen? Have you seen it?

6:59 Look, you can stream it online. You can have the Chosen app. You can use the app. Oh have you seen the Chosen? Have you seen the Chosen? Have you seen the Chosen? And at first I just kind of ignored, ignored, ignored, ignored, because I knew that it was a no win situation. If someone emails you like, can't have you seen this? This is amazing? You know, just delete your email and move away, because it's inevitable that most likely your response is going to be discouraging or disappointment to them, or you're going to have to just say I don't know what's so great about it. I think the thing is completely trash well that that's not going to be very very go very well for anyone. So in many cases I just ignored, ignored, ignored, because and I don't typically do that, but I just or I would just kind of reply with a very like yeah, I've heard about it, you know, thanks for telling me about it, something along those lines, very noncommittal to my opinion. But I was like, oh, man, I know, I know this is that this many people loving it. I mean, I hate to say this to me from a theological perspective when everyone's praising it.

8:05 Now, I got to be careful here because my flesh, my normal personality is everyone loves it. Oh it's got to be trash, right, because I just tend to go against the majority. So I already knew that that was already going to be a little bit of a problem. But I also knew if it's a TV show trying to bring the Bible life, I seriously, I am seriously questioning it because I guarantee you they're going to be adding to and subtracting from because they're making it into a TV show they've got to add dialogue that's nowhere in the Bible. And not only that, the way they capture a scene is they're imposing what they think the emotion was. They're imposing and maybe that's maybe that's you imposing it on the text. But the text itself does not articulate clearly how we should interpret the emotion or the tone of voice or the inflection. Because how you hear someone say something greatly can impact how you understand it. Well, once people start watching the television show, they will now take that and place that onto the scriptures, and that that is problematic. So I was like, oh no, Well, finally I looked at the website the app and immediately started having some issues. And then you know, I kind of criticized here or there, because you know, I would watch some scenes and I'm like, that's nowhere in the Bible that that dialogue never happened. Where where is this coming from? And so I had a little bit of pushback, a little bit of pushback, and

9:39 but I didn't really want to get too much into it. Well then, unfortunately, someone in my church was like the chosen isn't it great? And I'm like, what, No, it's not great. It's not great, and there was, like, you know, there was immediate pushback. They didn't like I push back. Now, ultimately they left the church. So you know, that was probably a pretty good sign, right, if you like the Chosen, I'm probably not the right the right church for you, Okay, so I said, But I said then I was just getting frustrated by the situation. I'm like, okay, whatever. Well, then I started reviewing some sermons from a charismatic church that were supposed to do a one year, one in a year half journey through the Gospel of John. And then their sermons they there was at least two of them, maybe three of them, they played clips from the Chosen, and I'm like, what in the name of bubblegum is going on? No no, no, no, no, no no no no no, no, no, no no.

10:37 And they played these clips and I'm like, that's nowhere in the buck, that entire conversation, everything that just happened there, that is not Why would you play this in church. You're supposed to be teaching from the Gospel of John. Now you're taking from this embellishment, this this dramatization that is not accurate. It is taking away. It is too it's changing, you cannot and you're doing it in church. Oh then I lost my mind. And then okay, well, then at some point I gave up and trying to review those sermons because oh, that was one of the worst series I've ever seen in the history of humankind on the Gospel of John. And I'm not trying to be mean, but I mean I should have known going in.

11:18 Me and me and charismatic world, don't we don't mix very well. So then I was just I'm just then, I've just had it right with the show. I'm just done with the show. Then the next thing, you know, there's controversies because I guess someone did some kind of like filming showing the they were filming the showing the filming of The Chosen. I guess in some of the tents or areas where some of the crew of that that's making The Chosen, they had like a I don't know, a gay Pride flag, and everybody lost their minds. And then so then people were attacking the makers of it. And then I'm kind of like, well, wait a minute, wait a minute, if they're making a show, and then like then it was all going back and forth, but the whole thing, I just wanted to stay out of it. But I know that there are people who have strong, strong filiate feelings about it, and so then it kind of makes me question, why do you have such strong feelings for a TV show? What your strong feelings? Shouldn't it be for the actual scriptures, not a show that's using the scriptures? Like, shouldn't your strong feelings be for the accuracy of God's word, not for whether someone agrees or disagrees with your show? Like it just seemed like misplaced loyalty? How dare you go after the chosen? It's a great show and millions of people are getting saved.

12:37 How dare I whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa. You seem to be more loyal to the show than you are to the actual word of God. Shouldn't your loyalty be like, well, I need them to be more accurate to the actual words. And if you're really accurate to the words, does it really make I mean? Was the Bible ever intended to be turned into a dramatization? Was the Bible ever intended to be turned into a television show or a play? Was it or was it to be studied, to be read, to be memorized. I don't know if there's ever Clearly, I don't think there's a scriptural you know, there's no scriptural mandate. Clearly, no scriptural mandate. I don't think there's a scriptural example, take this and go turn it into a movie. I don't think that. I think it's no to read. I think we're told exactly what to do with it.

13:31 So again, I think at a minimum, you should be like, well, I don't want the TV show to add anything to God's word. I don't want it to take away from God's word, and I definitely don't want them to change it. I think that that's a bare minimum. And it's funny because those things I just read to you, they're found in the latest or the June seventh issue of the sort of the Lord. They have this little section and they just have this like right in the middle of the page, it just says, and coming to the Word of God, we do well to remember that we should add nothing to it, take nothing from it, and change nothing in it. And I just thought that that was like, wow, how appropriate is that for this thing about the Chosen? Now? Why am I talking about The Chosen Well. I received an email and someone pointed me to a resource. The resource is a new booklet on the Chosen The new booklet is entitled The Chosen and the Bible. The Chosen and the Bible Serious Considerations that can't be ignored. It's a new booklet that is entitled The Chosen and the Bible. Serious considerations that cannot be ignored, that can't be ignored. Now, I think you can find this. I'm going to be sending the link out to this booklet. You can purchase physical copies for relatively cheap for a dollar ninety five. If you have like a bunch

15:01 of friends and family or people in your church you want to give these out to. Now, just please note, okay, hang on, let's make this clear. If you know there's a bunch of people in your church who love the show, don't hand them the booklet in the church unless you have your pastor's approval. If you're outside of church. Now, if your church is promoting The Chosen Well, then don't you can give the booklet to your pastor. Don't give it to people in the church. If your church is promoting it, it's not your job to then try to go against what your church is promoting. If you're going to go against what your church is promoting, you give your concerns directly to the pastor. If he disagrees, then you may need to leave the church. But don't sit there and be trying to then contradict what the church is doing kind of behind the scenes. That's not. No, that's not And I know some people say, well, you got a student for the truth, stand for the truth by leaving, By just sitting there trying to tear the church apart and starting World War III, nothing good comes from that. You can go to the pastor and say, hey, I don't know why you're promoting the show. Here is my concern. He may go and I don't really care about your concern. He may say it in a nice way, and then you can say, well, thank you so very much, we'll be leaving now. Okay, so make sure you handle it correctly. Now, if they don't go to your church, and well, then that's okay. You can give the booklet to whomever you want if they go to your church. You just have to at least consider the bigger picture, because the bigger picture is far more important than just the show. It's well the unity and the stability and the possible future

16:32 of your church and not bringing it around church splits over something. You gotta pick and choose those battles. Okay, So I'm gonna tell you about the booklet, and then I'm gonna tell you I'm gonna I'll send out a link to the booklet. If you're using the Church one app Church o n E Church o in E, you can download it from the Google play Store the Apple App store Church o Ine. Once you download the app, do a search for Theology Central. Boom, it becomes our app. I'll send out a notification and a little bit. But hang on, let me. I think you can find it. I have not looked. I got it sent to me via email. All right, hang on, let me look here.

17:14 I could be wrong, all right, Yeah, it's not here. Okay. I thought it was gonna be on this page. It's not here. Okay. So uh, I will try to give you, Yeah I could. I could probably give you. It's from Uh, it's from Lighthouse Trails. Lighthouse Trails, So I think if you go to Lighthousetrails dot com. I think that that's the website, and you should be able to get where you are. But I will send this out and if you if you want a copy of this booklet, you can email me news if at yahoo dot com. That's NEWSI f at yahoo dot com, and I'll just send you a link. I'm not gonna there'll be no other thing. I'll just send the link and there'll be no nothing else in the the email. So don't be offended if I don't say hello, greetings. It's just going to be the link. That's all. There's going to be, okay, right, because just makes it a lot quicker. All right. So here's a little bit about this new booklet, The Chosen and the Bible. Serious Questions that cannot be ignored or can't be ignored. Lighthouse Trails is pleased to announce the release of a new booklet, The Chosen and the Bible, Serious Considerations that Can't be Ignored. This is a Spiritual Research Network publication and has been a collaborative effort of SRN LT and other concerned ministries and individuals. The booklet is eighteen pages long and sells for one dollar ninety five cents for single copies.

18:42 Quantity discounts are available. These booklets are designed to give away to others or for your own personal use. Below is the content of the new booklet. If you would like to order this booklet, click here. You may also check out srn's new The Chosen Resource Center, and they have an entire Chosen Resource Center with things about the show all right now. In many cases, I feel like I don't know when they started putting all these resources together. In some cases, I feel like it's been a long time coming that I think there's been a few voices out there speaking against it, But I think in many cases a lot of the people didn't speak against it until well, like the gay Pride flag showed up on set and all of a sudden, everybody's like, oh no. And it's like, well, you're worried about that. You're not worried about the fact that they're changing or adding or taking away from God's word. You're upset about that. It's just so weird.

19:36 How like, Hey, sometimes the real issue is here, and we'll get caught off on some you know, a separate issue. But they go on to say this, all right, so the Chosen and the Bible serious considerations. They can't be ignored. I know I've said the title now fifteen times. That's okay, that's where you will remember it, all right. And it says introduction. Come now, let us reason together, saith the Lord Isaiah one eighteen. Then they have this paragraph. The Chosen is a hugely popular TV series that purports to present plausible backstories about what creator, director, and co writer Dallas Jenkins calls the authentic Jesus. Please note they purport to present plausible backstories about what creator, director, and co writer Dallas Jenkins calls the authentic Jesus. Well, the authentic Jesus would be found in the pages of God's Word, not plausible backstories. The Chosen was born in twenty seventeen, feels like it was one hundred years ago. Okay, all right, when three Mormon businessmen approach Jenkins with the idea for the series and a crowdfunding deal. Now let's stop right here. This is where some accusations start being made. Right now, as you read this Booklet I beg you, I plead with you. Make sure you fact check to the best of your ability, every accusation and every claim. Use multiple sources, use everything available

21:07 to you to fact check. To make sure any accusation is absolutely confirmed. What I am doing here is pointing you to the resource, but I implore you to do your own research on every claim to ensure that it's right. If it starts off with three Mormon businessmen, I've already got some serious problems if that turns out to be factual. I don't know why all Christians didn't have a problem, because I don't know if you don't know this, Mormonism is not biblical Christianity. Mormonism is not biblical Christianity. It is a false religious system. It is heretical. Right, but three Mormon businessmen approach Jenkins with the idea for the series and a crowdfunding deal. Jenkins said that the project was reaffirmed and endorsed by God in twenty eighteen, when he was visiting Israel, felt God was telling him that the Chosen would become known around the world as the definitive portrayal of God's people. Jinkin recounts in an interview.

22:10 Now I'm going to read here a minute from the interview. But now we have Mormons, and we have someone saying God told them, all right, ladies and gentlemen, like, let's just wash our hands of this and go pick up our bibles and just move on. Everyone else can go watch a show that was originally come up with the idea by three Mormon businessmen and then someone who where God supposedly talked to him that none of that is biblical, historical, Christian, all of that is right there should just be like I'm done. But no, no, no, no, no, no no no, if you dare criticize it, people, I am still shocked that anyone in my church would have ever defended this, Like I don't even know how that would be, even like anyone who's ever listened to me. I think anyone has ever listened to me. We like, well, obviously he's not going to agree with that. But no, no, no, no, no, no no, I'm the bad guy. What okay? All right, But here's the quote. This is from an interview. Now again you need to verify this. Now I do have footnotes for this, so you can check the footnotes and track this down. But I'm quoting. I felt like God was saying, like the Chosen is going to be the definitive betrayal of my people, and this is what people are going to think of around the world when they think of my people, and I'm God not going to let you and I'm just gonna use the words to use screw it up.

23:29 So God, this is what God. This is a God project. God's in it, and God's not gonna let you screw it up, which basically you know what that's saying. See, oh, I hate this game. Pastors play this game all the time. You know what is Jenkins is saying there, Well, you can't criticize it. This is a God thing. God is not gonna let me screw it up. So there's no screw ups. And the Chosen because God himself said he would not let it happen. So you can trust the Chosen as much as you trust your Bible, because God not only told him to make it, God is ensuring that there's no mess ups in it. Ladies and gentlemen should judge if that quote is true, If that is accurate, we have to fact check all of this.

24:11 If that is even remotely true, you should be running for your life. I can. The article continues. In another interview, Jenkin describes his growing brother and sisterhood with people of the LDS Mormon community and how we love the same Jesus ladies and gentlemen, Mormons don't love the same Jesus. It's not the same Jesus. It's completely different. So no, how many problems do you need with this? Show how many? In spite of the fact that this back to the article, In spite of the fact that Mormonism is, by the Bible's definition, a pseudo Christian cult. In regards to The Chosen, Jinkin admits that ninety five percent of the content isn't from the Bible, and in twenty twenty four YouTube posting posting he actually states, I believe it is important to watch the Chosen as though the Bible didn't exist. Now again, if any of that is true, ladies and gentlemen, you should be scared, absolutely to death. You should be scared that anybody you know is telling you the Chosen, the Chosen, the Chosen. No, those people have lost all ability to have any form of discernment. Now again, we'd have to verify every one of those quotes. They have footnotes to these, so we'd have to go find the footnote, find the source, look

25:41 up the source, and see if we can find any verification anything in this booklet that is wrong. You need to contact the publishers of it and say you misquote, you bore false witness, and that's not accurate, and that's not fair. Right, I'm pointing you to this resource, and I'm making sure I'm stating dogmatically that we have to fact checked all of this before we can be dogmatic about any of it. But it's raising concerns that if these things turn out to be true. Come on now, right, all right, here we go now the next paragraph. Author William Paul Young's two thousand and seven novel The Shack was a number one New York Times best seller, selling over twenty million copies worldwide. The book has been read in love by both Christians and the world as well. It eventually became a Hollywood movie and twenty and a twenty week series on Christian television. Now, let me make it very clear. The fact that any part of Christianity accepted the book The Shack. Look, if you want to know the condition of Christianity, the fact that The Shack could find any audience, could find any church that would support it is the is just shows you Christianity is beyond sick. They're like,

27:11 there's an entire segment that's just so lost its ever living mind for years, as any criticism of The Shack was usually countered by Shack fans with hey, it's just a novel. Yet in twenty seventeen, ten years after its original publication and in the midst of his TV series, author William Paul Jung openly declared what many had long suspected that he was a universalist. He had also gone on record stating that The Shack was more than just a novel. He said, The Shack is theology, but it is theology wrapped in story.

27:52 Yeah. I've talked about so many times. I get so irritated with the Christian world because somebody in the Christian world seem to have lack any ability to actually interpret a story like I always talk I talk about film analysis like Christians. This is what Christians do. If someone says the book is good, okay, then the book is good. And if someone says the book is bad, the book is bad. What many Christians lack the ability is to take a book of any kind, a movie, a song, and actually analyze it, actually try to understand what's being said, how it's being mad made, what is the message, what is the story arc, what is the plot development like look and no, no, no, no, it's just like book bad, Book good, Harry Potter bad, Lord of the Rings good. That's about as deep as they can go. Well, well, let's take this story apart. What's the story arc? What do you think the overall message? How did they make this way? No, I don't care about any of that. I don't care good bad, That's all I know. Well, that kind of my And what's said, As many kids are raised in that kind of a Christian home, someone tells them something's good, someone tells them something bad. How about tell them how to process, how to read, how to think, how to analyze. We see Christians were told the Shack is good. So many ars like, well, the Shack is good, and if you criticize it, you're the problem.

29:15 The Chosen good. You criticize it, you're wrong. How about we do a little bit of analysis, research, We try to understand the origin, the formation, the philosophy behind it. Oh no, no, no, no, no, no, no no no, how dare you do that kind of stuff? Today? The Chosen TV series has been viewed by millions of people around the world. It's devoted fans have donated millions of dollars to the series record breaking crowdfunding campaign. Now that's what blows my mind. People have spent millions. People have given their hard earned donations, millions upon millions of dollars to make a stinking TV show, instead of spending all of that millions of dollars to promote the preaching of God's work, or here's more importantly, buying Bibles and giving them to people, but the Chosen millions upon millions of dollars raised. Any biblical criticism of the Chosen is usually countered by Dallas Jenkins and Chosen fans with hey, it's just a TV show. However, Jenkins seems to be already be following William Paul Jung's Shack universalism path, as he uses his highly visible Chosen platform to introduce mystical New Age Catholic universalists like Richard Rohrer Are I guess that's how you would say his name ro o h R and Brother Lawrence to his ever growing fan base. So he's been

30:48 promoting some people that are questionable in their theology. Obviously, the lesson Christians should have learned from the Shack has been lost amidst all the Chosen fanfare, and the lesson is that fictional false Christ can be used by our spiritual adversary to clearly condition and deceive people, and short what seems to be just a novel or a TV show can turn out to be something completely different. Lest Satan should get an advantage of us, we are not ignorant of his devices. Second Corinthians, Chapter two, verse eleven. See if you like something, it's just this? How about we got to think a little deeper than that. Now they propose twenty questions to ask number one, not what it seems? What if the chosen? Here's the question, what if the Chosen is not what it seems? Countless Christians have been subtly drawn in by the shacks cleverly presented arrant theology, but for the pose praying, paying close biblical attention, the Shack was seen for what it was, not for what it seemed to be. The novel was a clever device to introduce unsuspecting readers to a different Jesus and a different theology. And for those taking a deeper look, what becomes very apparent is that the Chosen is like the Shack, It's not what it seems. There is a way which seems right unto a man,

32:20 But the end thereof or the ways of death Proverbs fourteen twelve. What if there's more to it? What if it's not? What if it's leading you in a false direction? Have you even considered that? Now? I think that's a good question. There's second question. I'm a little bit more skeptical about. Their second question is have you ever stopped to pray about the chosen? I hate that question. I hate that question, and the reason why is because people are like, well, I prayed about it, and I think it's okay. Heard, I've heard people say that about many really question the prayer jabez or or the shack or I could go on and well, I prayed about it and I felt a piece in my spear. Oh well, just for crying out, I'll just forget it. Just forget it, Okay, that's the that's the I prayed about it and I felt peace about it. Okay. Well, then, you know, I've heard people use that to justify basically everything on the under the sun. All Right, So they go in about, you know, praying about it, and I'm not I'm not a fan of that concept. I know you're gonna say, well, so what you think it's wrong to pray about it. No, you can pray about it. But my determining, determining of wrong and right is not based off a feeling I get after praying. I determined wrong and right by digging into scripture and then considering what the scriptures say and what how should I view this subject from a scriptural standpoint that requires work, time, effort, and thinking. And I've already given you some I started this with three basic principles. Does it add, does it take away? And does

33:52 it change? If it does any of those things, we got a problem, Ladies and gentlemen. The next question, have you noticed that what the Bible describes as strange slips, snares, tears, and levin have been suddenly and not so subtly inserted into The Chosen's multi season episodes. For example, in the Bible, Jesus says of John the Baptist that no one born of women is greater than him, Yet at times the Chosen refers to him as creepy John. Verily, I say into you, among them that are born of women, there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist. Matthew eleven eleven. Now, the fact that they refer to him as creepy John, that's probably putting the words into people who would have been critical of John.

34:45 But see, it's just putting forth a fictional idea. Unless you've got a scripture where someone says that, now you're just adding to the story. That's my problem. My problem is not what is said. My problem is I take that back. Let me make sure I help explain this. My problem maybe what is said. But my real issue is is it adding? Is it being adding to the scripture or taking away from the scripture? Are you putting something there that doesn't belong there. I don't care that they called him the word creepy. My issue is where did who came up with the idea that anyone said that? That's my issue. I could go find actual criticisms of John and go, this is what was said negative about John?

35:29 All right? In the Bible, Jesus never seeks the counsel of men, because he speaks only what was given to him by the Father, Yet the chosen, Yet the Chosen's. Jesus seeks Matthew's counsel and how to begin his sermon on the Mount. Now, I don't know if I've seen that. But if Jesus is asking someone how he should begin to sermon on the mount, that's utterly insanity, Like, I don't know how any Christian could sit through that. But again, I'm not you can go all of this. I'm just pointing out the things that they're pointing out. You would have to verify. Now again, they give footnotes for all of these. Right they quote some scripture. He says, the Bible is clear that Jesus was not only arrested once, and that was in the garden of Gassetamie. He was okay, The Bible is clear that Jesus was only arrested once, and that it was in the garden. He was not arrested prior to the garden because his time had not yet come yet. The Chosen Jesus is prematurely arrested before the garden. Right now, you can you can. You can look at that and see the Chosen's fictional backstories are filled with many other strange slips.

36:43 Snares, tears, and Levin taken in their totality, they serve to undermine and cast out on the very Bible that warns about them. Right now, they go through. There's there's the rest of the booklet. The point is these backstories, these these incore anything that's incorrect. Now, remember Jenkins made it sound like God said, I'm not gonna let you screw it up. So he's already given the foundational argument that you can't point out any of the criticize any of these things because this is what God wanted. Well, that would have God contradicting his own word. So then we've got a major problem. So I am going to send out a link to this booklet and let me see if I can find you the address so that you don't have to Yeah, you see here, if you go to a hand I'm gonna go light light how Now there you see. I think I can find it really quickly. Here. Oh yep, there we go. Okay, if you go to lighthousetrails dot com, lighthousetrails dot com, lighthousetrails dot com. Once you get there, you just scroll down. You'll see a booklet on romans, on psalms, on global warming as in the days of Noah, the Chosen, and the Bible. There you have it right now. I think if you click on it to read the full content of the book. Click

38:15 here, there we go. They have five hundred and fifty five of them currently in stock, so there's plenty of them to purchase if you want to buy a copy, But you can just read it right there by going to that website, so Lighthouse Trails dot Com then look for the booklet. Now, I'm not saying I agree with everything this ministry puts out, because I guarantee you I will not. What I'm saying is they're raising concerns about the Chosen. You may not agree with all the concerns that they raise. You may think that they get some other information and correct and by all means contact them and tell them that they should correct it, because they should if there's any fraudulent information in it. But every criticism they offer should be great, should be carefully considered by anyone who thinks the Chosen is wonderful or great.

39:02 You don't have a problem with it, or it should be greatly of great interest to you if your church promotes it in any way, shape or form. If your church promotes it or at least or at least and even if they're not promoting it, they seem passive. There's people in the church who loved it and they're not giving a warning against it, Well, then you've got to do something then at that point, but I'm going to send a link out to the booklet. I want you to look at the booklet. I want you to research it for yourself. I want you to consider it. I look, some people may want me. I know I've had people go, well, you should go through each episode of The Chosen and then point out where things are not accurate with the Bible. For crying out loud, like I'm going to dedicate you know, the next fifteen years of my life. You own a Bible, open it up, watch the show and go, wait a minute, that's nowhere to be found. Wait a minute that's nowhere to be Wait a minute that's no. Wait a minute that completely contradicts that. You figure it. You should be able to do that, right. It shouldn't require my spending the rest of my life. I mean, I don't want to spend that one I would have to watch the show, and I don't. I have no desire to watch it. I have zero. And people say, well, when I first say that I have no desire to watch it, people almost always offend it. Why would you not want to watch it, all right, just okay, I'm going to tell you a secret. Why would I want to watch a TV show about

40:32 the Bible when I have it right here. I've got the Bible right here, and I've read it fifty sixties, probably one hundred times. By not I even know how many times I've taken Bible college classes, seminary classes, you name every Bible institute class. I've gone to school, after school, to school, reading the Bible, studying the Bible, taking classes on the Bible, writing papers on the Bible. I don't necessarily want to sit there and watch a show attempting to try to bring it to life, because I've already got and look, here's what I know. Whatever the show does, no matter how good it does or how bad it does, here's what I know. The Bible is supposedly the infallible and errant word of God. It's perfect that the Bible. The Bible is supposedly living and active and sharper than any two inch of sword. The Bible is my spiritual food. The Bible is to be loved more than gold and silver than food. The Bible.

41:30 I have enough issues with just me and the Bible. I don't need to then watch a TV show that may or may not be one hundred percent completely messed up and how it portrayed. Why I just read the Bible. I don't get it. Why do we need something else? So the booklet is called The Chosen of the Bible. Twenty questions to ask yourself. Serious considerations that cannot be ignored and s are in publication Lighthouse Trails dot com. And again, I don't agree with everything at light house Trails dot com. You will not agree with everything at light house Trails dot com. I'm not saying, Hey, everything there we are in complete agreement with. I'm not saying that. What I'm saying is get this booklet for free, because I'm going to send you the link using the Church one app. You look at it, and then you can say, if you're a fan of the show, then you did. Your issue is with the booklet and the show. Just leave me out of it. Okay, if you're a big fan of it, don't get mad at me, all right. My issue is you should think about that show. The origins of the show are massively questionable. Some of the things said about the main person making the show are highly questionable and the well basically made up backstories which are nowhere to be in the Bible which here and I know what people say, Well, so what it's a fictional show. I know it's a fictional show, but it's adding things around the Bible. Here's the thing. You may not do this, but many people will watch that and then they will take that what they've seen, and it

43:05 will it will impact how they interpret certain segments of the Bible based on what they've seen. Even though they know that maybe it's a fictional backstory, it's still going to impact to some level how they read the Bible. From that point on. When they read the Bible, they're going to see in their minds what they saw on the chosen That's not the way it should work. We've got enough problem. Look, two thousand years of church history. Nobody can agree on the Bible as it is. The last thing I need to do is bring in a fictional TV show to even make it more complicated to get right interpretations of the Bible. I got enough problems on my own.

43:46 So the link will be sent out and probably with the next five to ten minutes. So you need to do really quick. Is you need to go download the Church one app churchne Okay. All you do is go to Google Play, Apple App Store, download the church n e app Church one, do a search for Theology Central. Boom, it becomes our app, and then you'll get a notification and you click on the notification, there'll be a hyperlink. Boom, you're at the booklet. You sit there and read the booklet and you can go to town. You can argue with it. You can yell at it, you can scream at it, you can throw it across the room. Well you'll be throwing your phone across the room or your tablet. You can disagree, say this is the most ridiculous thing ever, and that's great. And you may just find a way to prove without a shadow of a doubt, that the Chosen is the greatest thing that's ever been made. In fact, it's as good as the Bible. And that's great.

44:42 If that's what you want, you go do you. But as for me, I wouldn't be a part of a church that has anything to do with the show, and I don't. And if I knew Christians who thought it was the greatest thing in the world, at some point we would have to have a conversation because there's just someone. Someone's got to take a stay and against it and guess what, it doesn't always work. Trust me, I know. But the show's got problems. Now, to be fair, we've all got problems. I'm not. My criticism of the show is not because I'm godly. Criticism of the show is not because I'm sinless. The criticism of the show is because, as a broken down ciner who's got nine hundred problems, the last thing I need is to watch a show that's adding, taking away, or changing the word of God, because I need the word of God as it was given by God, not as it's being reshaped by man. Thank you for listening. You can email me news I F at yahoo dot com. That's news I F at yahoo dot com.