It's official, we can get going. Well, welcome to this week's gathering as we all come together in fellowship to worship our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Thank you for, again, having the opportunity, the invitation to come and help to lead our worship today and to bring you a word. Most of you, I think, probably know me by this point, but just in case, my name is Troy Skinner. I am the pastor of Household of Faith in Christ. It's a house church that is part of a emerging, growing network of house churches. So started three years ago, it was just us. Now we've got four that are part of the network and a fifth potentially in the offing. So it's fun to see God moving with that. And I'm also possibly known For those who listen to the radio WFMD I've been hosting for going on 19 years now a radio program on Sunday mornings called the faith debate So perhaps you might know me from that or you just know me because I've been here like I don't know 20 times over the last you know 10 to 15 years or whatever it is now, so anyway So I'm going to give you a heads up now when we come time to the prayer time, which will be like maybe 15, 20 minutes from now. We're going to do a popcorn style prayer. So be thinking about whether or not you want to pray aloud. And if you're not sure, screw up your courage. And if you don't want to, there's no pressure or anything like that. But there's not that many of us here. And so I think that's a good way to do it when there's a smaller gathering like this. But anyway, to formally get into our spirit of worship here, let's stand, those who are able, and sing Amazing Grace. It is hymn number 200 in the Blue Hymnix. How sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now am found. For the pride I now I see. T'was grace that taught my heart to fear, and grace my fears relieved. Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave? His grace hath brought me safe thus far, and grace will lead me home. And we've been there ten thousand years, bright shining as the sun. In loneliest days to sing God's praise, You may be seated. That's right. The angelic hosts have arrived to help fill in our gaps in our singing. It's beautiful. Usually there's somebody that's designated as the announcement bringer. So does everybody have announcements? Okay, I'm back. I've got to talk to you as a church, huh? Well, thank you very much for coming. It's my pleasure. We appreciate it so much. And we've got Ashley Garland next week, on the 19th. We've got Patti Robinson from New Market United Methodist Church. And she'll be here on the 26th. And we're at the April now. We've got George Kirk. For Mt. Carville, Knight Methodist Church, and then on the 9th is Paul Leatherman. And that's all I had. I never stopped after that, so... Thank you very much. And as the dates get closer, I'm sure more will fill up. And I've mentioned this before. I kind of lay in the weeds a little bit. And if you guys get about 10 days or two weeks out and there's a spot that's open that doesn't look like it's going to get filled, I don't want you guys to have undue stress. And so I will oftentimes jump in. But I don't want to overstay my welcome. So I try to wait until it seems like I don't think anybody's signing up. I guess I'll jump in. Anyway, and I'm glad to see you guys are still hanging in there. I know that you took a pause this year during the darkest winter months. So hopefully that's a strategy that pays good dividends for you moving forward. So take some of the pressure off during that time. I'm sure there was some concern of whether or not it would disrupt momentum. I don't know if that's been the case. Hopefully not, but anyway. All right, so there's no other announcements in the room? Okay. All right. At this point, we're going to have whoever it is that doesn't need to take up the collection of the offering to support the ministry here at Fairview Chapel. And then after the offering is collected, it'll come forward as we all who are able to stand and sing the doxology. And after that, we'll have our time of prayer. Okay. So who's, I guess that falls to you. Okay. Yeah. Praise God, from whom all blessings flow. Praise Him, all creatures here below. Praise Him, above the heavenly host. praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen. We ask that those that are responsible for stewarding them will be filled with your wisdom, that discernment and discretion would be used in figuring out how to disperse and make use of them, and that the ministry that is represented here by Fairfax Chapel would continue for many, many years to come, and that the name of Christ would be magnified, and that our triune God would be glorified. We love you, Lord. We thank you for your provision. This is just a small token. We know the many blessings you give us. We praise your name for what you have done in our lives and what you're allowing us now to do as participants in this ongoing ministry. We praise you and thank you, Lord, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. Everyone may be seated. And in the past, I've kind of defaulted to Teresa, but I don't want to automatically have it always be Teresa. I'm going to do our popcorn style. Does anybody else feel like they would like to open us in our time of prayer? If not, then I'm sure Teresa would be more than happy to. Or if somebody else would like to go first, somebody else can have that turn. And then whoever goes first, in turn, the next person that feels moved to pray will pray aloud. Those who are not comfortable praying aloud can certainly pray silently. God hears those as well. But I just want to say that there is a blessing to the group when they can hear the prayers of others uttered as well. So give some thought to that. And after it seems that everybody who is led to pray aloud tonight is going to, I will then wrap us up. So does anybody want to steal the pole position from Teresa? She is. She is. She's clearly very comfortable in praying in a public forum. And I'm pretty positive. I haven't talked to her about this, but I'm pretty positive that wasn't always the case. but she is now because she's put herself out there a few times and she's grown comfortable with it. So if you've always felt uncomfortable, this is a small enough group. Of course, we're going to judge you horribly, but seriously, seriously, even if we were to judge you horribly, we're not praying to each other, right? We're praying to God. So his is the opinion that matters. So why would he pray loud at all? Again, because there is something beautiful about hearing the prayers of others with the concerns of the congregation and that sort of thing, the worship attitude. So anyway, it sounds like it's going to be Teresa. So Teresa, if you don't mind getting this started and then again, whoever feels comfortable doing so, I would encourage you to join in afterwards in turn. Father God, we acknowledge that we are in your presence. And you are holy, holy, holy. So we just ask you to pour out your Holy Spirit. And Lord, we've been seeing evidence of that outpouring just with the revival that started in February at Asbury and seems to be spreading to other college campuses. Lord, things like Jesus' revolution, I'm just grateful that my friend Beth and I got to see that together this week. Lord, that was an outpouring in the 70s, and we just want you to do it again. Sweep across our nation, sweep across our world, Lord. We need you desperately. When it just looks like the world is a dark and scary place, Lord, we know that We just need to keep our eyes on you, because ultimately, it's your will that is to be done, your kingdom come. So Lord, we just ask you to bring it. And tonight, Lord, I lift up my dad to you. He's just suffering the effects of aging and getting closer to his homecoming, Lord. Some days that's really hard, so just be with us and bless him and keep him in your care. Thank you, Lord. Dear God in heaven, please take care of Stan and Bruce and Stacey, Bruce, and Brantley with their health conditions. Take care of Todd and Sean. They need your help. Take care of Miss Marianne. Make her well and be back here next week with us. Take care, everybody. I forget to pray for it. Need your help. This whole nation needs your help. This whole world. This gun situation with the young kids in school is stupid. Something has to be done. Please help us, dear God. Please help us. Jesus, Jesus. Jesus, you know, I've been praying for my friend there, Lord Jesus. I've just been lifting her up to you, and she really doesn't want to hear anything about you, and it just breaks my heart, Lord. I just ask you somehow, Lord, to be heard in every word, Lord. Touch her heart, Lord, that she would be softened to hear your truth, Lord. You speak greatly for that, Lord. In any other way, I'd be so grateful, Lord Jesus, because you're better for her than me, Lord. Just thank you for all the opportunities that you've given me to be able to speak to her little by little. And I just ask you to really open up her heart. Just thank you so much, Lord. Dear God, I ask your grace beyond all the military men, the army, and especially our grandson, Nathan. who's stationed in Korea, and he's defending the North Korea, South Korean people from the North Koreans. And it's a very dangerous situation. He's in charge of a large sniper brigade, and he's only 25. He left his wife, his new wife here, to go over there and help the South Koreans. He did so well in his military training that they made him captain of over 100 men. And it's such a responsibility that he has. And it's not safe. But with you guiding these American soldiers, I know they're safe. And I just thank you for bringing him back here. So I just pray you watch over them, keep them safe. And all the people that come through the doors here, I know you're with them. And when they leave, you're with them. And I just thank you for them and the people that are coming. Give them wisdom, Lord, to know where the dangers are, Lord. Give them strength to go out. Father, we come before you acknowledging your greatness. You are our strong tower. You are our rock, the source of our living water. You're the beginning and the end. You are wisdom. You are truth. You are love. You are our savior, our king, our sustainer, our life giver. You are magnificent. And we love you. And we know that we love you because you first loved us and we thank you for that gift. We thank you that you have made us in your image. We thank you for your patience and your forgiveness towards us because we fall short in our sin. Based on our own record, we stand before you guilty and yet we know that we stand righteous in your eyes because of the cross of Christ. By the power of your spirit, you look at us and you see the perfect works of your son as he took upon himself our failed record of disobedience. We ask that you would empower us by your spirit and fill us with a motivation and a heartfelt gratitude for you to live lives that are becoming of a Christ follower, that we would truly be salt and light, that we would season the world around us, preserve the world around us, illuminate the world around us, that we would always be ready to give an answer to those who ask. The reason for our hope. Let us live lives that demonstrate that hope, so that people would ask. A hope for everlasting glory with you, Lord. Where there will be no more crying, sorrow, pain, death. So many of the kinds of things we have looked it up before you today in prayer. Concerns for the well-being and the health and even the spiritual. well-being and health of those that we know. All of that gets resolved perfectly in your sovereign will. You have things under control. Nothing takes you by surprise. And we can trust how it all works out because you are good. Through and through, you are good. And we do pray for the the brokenness, the lostness, the sinfulness of the world around us. We pray for the leaders, not just of this country, but other countries around the world, that they would be filled with wisdom, and they would come to know who you are, and that they would bow the knee before you in worship. We pray for the leaders in this state, in this county, in the towns around here, not just the political leaders, but the business leaders, the thought leaders, the leaders of churches, the leaders of homes, that there would be a renewal and a repentance in the hearts and minds of all of these men and women, that we would see a transformation take place throughout our culture, our entire society, that no one could deny as being anything other than a move of our Lord. And we thank you that you've equipped us to deal with the difficulties in this world that it presents us, that you're growing us through this, you're helping us to see the benefits of patience and steadfastness, as it would keep us busy in doing the work of making our calling and election sure, that we would demonstrate the fruit of the Spirit in our lives, and that we would be a blessing to your people, to the world around us, and a blessing to your name, Lord. It's in your name, the name of your Son, our Savior, our King, Jesus Christ, that we pray. Amen. All right, those who are able, we're gonna stand, and we're gonna sing our next hymn. It's hymn number 215 in the Blue Hymns of Faith hymnal. It's Solid Rock, number 215. Thy hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' love and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest word. All around is sinking sand. All around is sinking sand. When darkness fails, with his lovely face, I rest on his unchanging grace. I am Stormy Dale, I am who holds within the veil. I'm President Sullivan, I'm President Sullivan, I'm President Sullivan, I'm President Sullivan, I'm President Sullivan, I'm President Sullivan, I'm President Sullivan, I'm President Sullivan, I'm President Sullivan, I'm President Sullivan, I'm President Sullivan, I'm President Sullivan, I'm President Sullivan, I'm President Sullivan, I'm President Sullivan, I'm President Sullivan, I'm President Sullivan, I'm President Sullivan, I'm President Sullivan, I'm President Sullivan, I'm President Sullivan, I'm President Sullivan, I'm President Sullivan, I'm President Sullivan, I'm President Sullivan, I'm President Sullivan, I'm President Sullivan, I'm President Sullivan, I'm President Sullivan, I'm President Sullivan, I'm President Sullivan, I'm President Sullivan, I'm President Sullivan, I'm President Sullivan, I'm President Sullivan, I'm President Sullivan, I'm President Sullivan, I'm President Sullivan, I'm President Sullivan, I'm President Sullivan, I'm President Sullivan, I'm President Sullivan, support me O'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming? He shall come with trumpet sound, O may I then in Him be found, Thus in His righteousness alone, Faultless to stand before the throne. Beautiful, once more. Everyone, you may be seated. So we're going to move into the message now. Almost rhetorically, I asked the question, do you remember the Passion of the Christ? That movie from not that many years ago. It was a movie that excited a lot of Christians about the prospects that the cinema scene would have even more high-quality films of that caliber, films that are centered around the Bible, be put out into the marketplace. And in actuality, there actually was an increase in the volume of so-called Christian films anyway. But the quality of some of these films wasn't as biblically faithful, maybe, as they could have been. Some of them were sorely lacking in a biblical center. Well, now here we are, the last few years, and there has been quite a bit of enthusiasm and excitement about something else. Well, I guess, in a sense, it's been in movie theaters a little bit. But I'm talking about a TV show that is called The Chosen. And the plan, apparently, is for this to be made into a seven-season series. I think they've completed, if I'm not mistaken, the first three seasons, so they're approaching the halfway mark in what they're intending to do. And I have watched all of season one, and I've watched some of the other seasons. I haven't been keeping up so much since season one, but I imagine that perhaps you've seen it, too. Maybe you've been watching all of them. I don't know. And if you've been watching it, or if you've been hearing the buzz and talked about it, you might be thinking, well, what are we to think of The Chosen? Is it solid stuff? I'm having this conversation with you because last year, those who were here when I spoke last year, spent some time talking about the shack. And a piece of feedback that I got was, that's interesting. The shack is still relevant. Certainly, some of the issues that were brought up in that book and that movie still resonate today. But boy, it sure would be helpful if something that was actually being consumed en masse now were to address the Chosen. So I said, hmm, that's actually a fair point. So maybe we should talk about that. The reason we should talk about this is because we need some discernment to figure out, okay, is The Chosen another Heaven is for Real? Or Noah, if you've seen either of those movies. Or is it another, you know, The Shack? Well, so far, my opinion, for what it is worth, is that The Chosen is somewhere between being really solid stuff and being another shack. There are some good things, of course, And as you might imagine, there are some significant yellow flags, possibly even some would argue red flags. And I'm going to explain what I mean as we go forward. But first, I want to offer some background in case you're among the uninitiated. The Chosen is a series that is created and executive produced and directed and co-written. So that's a lot of hats to wear by one guy, Dallas Jenkins. You might know his father, by the way, Jerry B. Jenkins. He's the co-author of an immensely popular book series called The Left Behind Series. It was hugely popular about 25 years ago, and that spawned a few movies and things like that as well. Well, the Chosen series, Dallas Jenkins' project, it is distributed by a company called Angel Studios. This is a company that is owned by Mormons, and as a result of this, Dallas Jenkins has found himself being asked during interviews, you know, what he thinks about Mormonism. You might recall Mormonism, it's a group organized, founded back in the 1800s by Joseph Smith. And Dallas Jenkins' response in his interviews has been consistently to say that the Christians and the Latter-day Saints worship the same Jesus. And I gotta say, that's concerning to me as a pastor of the one true faith, and it really should get your attention as a follower of Jesus. Now, I'm not going to spend a lot of time on this, but I do want to attempt to be perfectly clear, so there's no misunderstanding. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints does not worship the Jesus of the Bible. And I understand, they say they do. And they use a lot of the same language that Bible-believing, born-again believers do. And I also understand that they will quote the Bible a lot. And sadly, they will quote the Bible more often than perhaps you and I do. But you know, as I've said before, when I've spoken here, sometimes the most beguiling lies are the lies that are closest to the truth. And so we've got to be careful. Because this is what gives rise to Christian cults, of which the LDS is one. It is a cult. It teaches people that Father God is merely an exalted man. He has a physical body. They teach that the Son of God is not eternal, that he was born into existence, and therefore he is, in a literal sense, our brother. In fact, they teach that Jesus and Satan are brothers. Mormons believe that Father, Son, Holy Spirit are three separate gods, not one triune God. They say to people like you and me, we pre-existed as spirit children before we lived out the lives that we live out now. And because of all these kinds of issues, as one might imagine, they get the gospel wrong, they teach a form of universal salvation, and the list goes on. but this message is mostly gonna be about the chosen, not about Mormonism, so I'm gonna stop the list that I've made there, because I think the point has been made. See, the teachings... of Jesus, the true Jesus Christ of Nazareth, the one that we worship and recognize as the God-man, and the instructions we are to live by in our lives of obedience to his eternal lordship, these things are, in so many cases, diametrically opposed. Diametrically opposed to what Joseph Smith's cultic followers teach. We've got to be clear in our understanding of this. They are completely different religions, completely. One is the true religion of Jesus Christ, and it's gonna sound harsh, but the fact is, the other is a deceptive religion of Antichrist. So Dallas Jenkins, being confused about this, it's a problem. And it could be a problem that maybe could slip into the TV show, possibly. At the very least, we should keep our eyes open and not just be naive. And based on the response I got to the shack talk we had last year, I can almost hear some people in their minds right now thinking, look, I hear what you're saying, Pastor, but let's not get too carried away. It's just a TV show. I get it, but I'm gonna tell you a few more things. This TV show, it has developed study guides to complement the TV series. And you know, this is exactly what happened with The Shack. These study guides, they're used in Bible studies. They're used in Sunday school classes in local churches. And if you're gonna use them as a way to illustrate what the truth of the Bible is, you're using it as a foil, as a backdrop, to point out mistakes and say how the Bible says something different, that might be okay. But to use it as, this is how we can understand the Bible by paying attention to whatever Mr. Rumi, I forget his first name, but the actor who plays Jesus in the series, to say what he's representing there gets us off on the wrong track. We should not be replacing the study of God's word with the study of a Hollywood-style production. It's not an accidental occurrence that the Chosen is doing this. Jenkins has said publicly that he expects, this is him on record, he expects that his creative representations are what people will think of when they think about Jesus and his disciples. So, all these things that I have some concerns about, they're not accidental kinds of things, so I just want us to be aware. Fortisworth Dallas Jenkins, he reportedly consults with a Roman Catholic priest, and if I understand correctly, a rabbi, in order to, as he says, to, quote, make sure the chosen is biblically accurate. Now, evangelical Protestants might raise their eyebrows at that sort of statement, and to be honest, the general viewer might even raise their eyebrows, given that there is nearly no dialogue, practically no scenes, at least in season one, which is the only season I've seen all the way through. that are taken directly from Scripture. More than 95% of Season 1, what we watch in The Chosen, is pure fantasy from the imagination of Dallas Jenkins. Now, this doesn't necessarily mean it's all bad. Okay? It certainly hasn't negatively affected the popularity of the CD series. It's hugely successful. In fact, the entire project is crowdfunded. That means that the fans are paying the bills. It doesn't get made if the fans aren't supporting it. But just because it's not all bad, doesn't mean it's all good either. So we need to exercise some judgment and have a little discernment here. And the fact that it's not all good, that might be news to some people. Because if you've been paying attention to the reviews of the show, almost all of the critics, almost all of the online forums, the chitter-chatter among friends, it's almost all been practically universally positive. Based on what I've taken in, I think we might be lucky to locate like one negative critique for every 10,000 praises for the show. It's overwhelming how much support there is for this TV show. And this... this consensus, the support and love for this show, because this exists, because this is a reality, I'm going to spend the majority of our time in this message today drawing attention to the concerns. Not because I want to be a negative Nelly. Yeah, I don't want you to stick in the mud, a real killjoy. Although if you want to say that's fine, I've been called worse. I can assure you of that. I'm doing this because there needs to be some balance and there's all this weight of the positive over here yet there are these concerns that aren't getting a lot of attention so I'm going to appear to be personally out of balance but that's on purpose because I'm trying to draw some balance to the overall. argument, the overall impression and perception of the show that's being put forward. So if it seems like I'm way over here, it's by design. It doesn't mean that I don't have value for what's way over here, because there are good things. I don't want to be misunderstood. I am not ham-handedly, summarily condemning the series. That is not what I am doing. Okay? There are a lot of things. Truly, there are things to appreciate about this series. One of them is kind of a technical thing, like the cinematography. It's not extravagant, but I think it's beautiful. I think it's a beautifully shot show. It's an enjoyable thing to see in an understated sort of way. The pacing of the show. Some people think it's too slow. They say baseball is too slow, but I like baseball. I think the pacing of the show is actually one of the strengths of the show. It allows the story to breathe. I think that's a good thing. The acting is, for the most part, excellent. Now, some people, they think that one of the characters is a tiny bit theatrical. There's a character named Quintus, a little theatrical, but you know, he's very entertaining. So I think that's good. And the character development in the show is, for the most part, pretty strong. You get engaged with these characters. You're kind of interested in where they're going to go, how their lives are going to unfold before you in the series. That's all really good stuff. Now, speaking of characters, though, and development, some people, they have a problem with the character of Jesus being represented at all on the screen because they're concerned about Second Commandment violations. For what it's worth, I do not share those concerns because of the distinction I make between having some sort of an image of God, deity, and an image of Jesus of Christ of Nazareth in his human form. I make a distinction there. Others don't make that distinction, so they've got different scruples about that than I do. Okay, we could have that discussion. Maybe over time they'll persuade me. Maybe over time I'll persuade them. That's not something I'm getting hung up on with this series, at least not in the moment. Another good thing about the show, I think, in a lot of ways, the script is top-notch. I think it's got a couple of holes in it, but generally, I think the script is good. For example, it wonderfully depicts an ancient Near Eastern wedding, which I think was kind of a neat thing to see. It's one of the highlights of season one. Inner weave scenes that show how people were stomping grapes back then, you know, to make their wine and stuff. These are good things. It's easy to understand the allure of The Chosen. Because the viewers, we feel as though we're watching real people. in real relationships, you know? They're in real life situations, and all of these things, they're so good, they're pluses, they really are. But I don't see a lot of need for me to offer a whole bunch more extensive echoes of all the plaudits that are coming from the pundits of this show, because like I said, the balance is way over here, whether the people who applaud the show are professional or amateur. There's been a chorus of yeas, and not as many on the boo side. And if I was simply gonna add to that chorus of yeas, well then I probably should have to spend our time on something else today, because you can get that anywhere. But I have decided, I felt led that we should talk about this today. And why? Well, I'm struck by the need to offer you an exhortation. and encouragement, if you will, that will hopefully spur all of us to exercise discernment more than we already do, to get more discerning in all of our life, not just in regards to whether we do or don't watch The Chosen. Sorry, for most of the remaining time in this message, I'm gonna point out some things that I think could easily escape the notice of some viewers of The Chosen, because some of them are very subtle, Some of them actually are not quite so subtle. They're quite a bit more obvious. But even the obvious things, they sometimes can just slip right past us because we're so caught up in the artful storytelling, the winsome acting, and the beautiful cinematography, and things like that. And also, I should point out, there's a lot more that could be said than what I'm going to share this evening with you. But I'm going to cover as much as our time together will allow. And you know, some of what I have to offer is observation, but some of it's just questions. You know, I don't know that I have answers to the questions, but they're questions. For instance, in episode three of season one, there's a scene where the Jesus character is, he's tormented, he's shown tormented, sitting in his campground alone. And I'm watching that, I'm thinking, okay, why? What portion of scripture is being represented by that scene? Now, we can make some guesses, but this TV show doesn't tell us the answer. So our guesses might be right. Our guesses might be wrong. Another question I had was, did Jesus really live like a contestant on that CBS television show Survivor? Maybe. Again, maybe not. And why is Matthew depicted as being on the autism spectrum? autism spectrum. Matthew clearly has Asperger's, or at least what used to be called Asperger's until a couple years ago. Asperger's is a label that has fallen into disfavor for whatever reason, but whatever you want to call it. Matthew has some elements of OCD at the very least. And I'm pretty sure this is intended to help us to see Matthew as more real to us, and make him feel more relevant to our contemporary society where autism has just exploded in the last generation or so. I mean, it's become a real issue in contemporary society. However, there is zero, and I mean zero, scriptural reason to think that Matthew was on the autism spectrum. There is no reason at all to think so. And so here's the irony. The Matthew in Chosen that might feel more real is not in fact the real Matthew. To say nothing of kind of an elephant in the room if you ask me, why didn't Jesus just heal Matthew of his autism if he indeed had it? So look, I feel like I'm gonna be repeating myself a little bit here. Enjoy the show. If you want to, it's totally fine. Enjoy the show. But just don't imagine an obsessive compulsive Matthew when you read your Bible. Because the obsessive compulsive Matthew is not the Matthew of the Bible. Now, on the plus side of the show, it does help when we're talking about Matthew. To understand that tax collectors, they were despised by the general public. I mean, we're not big fans of them today. But they were really despised back then. But you know, I'm not really sure that tax collectors would have been treated so rudely, even bullied, as was Matthew in season one of The Chosen. I mean, think about it. The tax collectors, they held some measure of power over these people. We don't tend to bully those that hold power over us. And watching the show, I also wondered, did Jerusalem really have a red district in the first century? Now, I've read some sources in history that do indicate they speak about prostitution in Jerusalem inns, so it's possible maybe that there was a district like this, but we don't know for sure. It could be that there was a red-light district, you know, like we have in many of our cities today. But I gotta say, this whole idea is a recurring, and I would say even an important theme throughout season one. It's part of the storylines throughout season one together. And so if it's historically inaccurate, then what we are given is a very poor mental image. It's gonna be really hard for us to shake. I mean, they even show us a speakeasy for crying out loud. It's like watching one of those 1930s and 40s prohibition era type of movies where they have to open the window and get the secret password and that sort of thing. Those kinds of things are hard to get out of your head once you're exposed to it. And if you think that's what the Bible is teaching you, you're gonna be a little bit, off. So we want to be careful. Now, in this red quarter that I'm talking about, there is a barkeep, and he's very friendly, very protective towards a woman that he calls Lily. And, you know, I'm sure there's always exceptions to the rule, so I'm sure there could have been some exceptions. But we know that in the first century, in that culture, they weren't friendly towards women. And you know, in my opinion, it's kind of unfortunate that the chosen made this creative choice here. And the reason I say that is to show the women being treated with honor, I think accidentally, I don't think this is the aim, but it accidentally ends up diminishing what we see Jesus do in the gospels when he elevates women in stark contrast to the culture around him. Now on a similar issue, throughout season one, all the marriages in the show strike me as being rather, at least egalitarian as opposed to complementarian, or perhaps even more than egalitarian. What I mean by this is the wives seem to be the marriage partners that wield the real power in the relationship and in the household. I specifically have a view of the wives of Simon and Nicodemus as I say this, and especially recalling a moment when Simon's wife They're having a bit of a disagreement and she turns to him and says, you can't tell me what I can or can't do. Back then, I don't think so. There's also a wife, another woman, she's the mother of a little girl who spies on Jesus during season one. And this wife, this mother, the way she's depicted in The Chosen is that she seems to be the head of the house. Not the father. And I'd go so far as to say the husbands in The Chosen, they seem to be a bit contact by their wives. And I do understand, this is how much of our culture behaves today. I get it. But importing this idea from today into a story that represents something that was going on 2,000 years ago, it's anachronistic at best. And it does make you wonder if possibly at worst what's going on here is an attempt by the show to pander to the worst elements of today's present-day feminism. Third and fourth wave feminism. By the way, depending on how you defend it, Jesus Christ was a feminist. But I don't know that he would align himself with the feminist movement of today. And there are other instances of this instinct to possibly be promoting a feminist political agenda that includes episodes that feature this group of young kids. I mentioned the mom of the little girl. This little girl, her name is Abigail. And again, she's a girl. And she's brave. And she has a friend, a boy. His name is Joshua. And he's not brave. He is fearful. Might mean nothing, but it's interesting. The girl is brave, the boy is not. And among this group of kids, there's like six or eight kids in this little group that travels around the countryside together, Abigail, the girl, is a leader. None of the boys is a leader. Again, maybe just a coincidence. At the Cano wedding, there is a woman who trusts that Jesus will somehow make more wine. And there is a man, her co-worker, who does not trust. Again, maybe just a coincidence, but it is interesting how the coincidences always seem to go in one direction throughout season one of The Chosen. I don't know if it goes in a different direction in other seasons. I haven't watched all of those. And here's something that was really interesting to me. Mary Magdalene participates in the telling of one of Christ's parables. Now, it's odd that anyone would participate in one of Jesus' parables, but it is particularly stunning that a woman would do so back then. And another woman, she publicly asks Jesus a question about prayer in front of a big crowd as if it's no big deal for her to have done so. I promise you, it would have been a big deal for her to have done so back then. And Solomon, John's mom, James' mother, she takes charge and she tells these grown men to listen to Jesus and stay by his side. Now, that's good advice. but it positions the society there as being led by a matriarchy. But back then, it would have been more of a patriarchy. So it's just these little things. And again, they keep kind of leaning in this one direction that kind of just, it starts to beg a question after a while. I mentioned that little girl, Abigail. This brings to mind, there are a number of times when a character in the show is called by a nickname. This girl, Abigail, the leader of her gang, she is called Abby. And Nicodemus, he is referred to as Nico by his wife. Now, this is a harmless thing, not a big deal. But I gotta say, given the societal conventions at the turn of the first millennium, this cutesy habit of using nicknames, it seems to be a little bit out of place. So if it's out of place, why would they do it? Well, I wonder if maybe this is evidence that the producers are just trying too hard. You're trying so darn hard to make this show feel familiar and relevant to a contemporary American audience. And sometimes you make compromises when that is your overriding motivation and goal, and if I'm right, that will prove to be an Achilles heel for this show. If I'm not right, well then it's just my opinion and it's worth what it's worth. But nicknames aren't the biggest thing, so let's get back to a more serious matter, the show that makes a conscious choice. to magnify two characters in season one, Mary Magdalene and Nicodemus. They are major, even central characters to the show in season one, dominant characters in season one. And this is very interesting to me because these two people have very small roles in the telling of the gospel story we find in the New Testament. So taking people like this and turning them into major characters, this gives Dallas Jenkins all the excuse he pretty much needs to exercise pretty much all the creative license he wants. Whatever it is he has imagining in his mind, he can place that into the show. Because he's looking at the white space in the Bible. He's looking at the space between the words, the space between the lines. And he's inserting concepts that are created out of whole cloth, out of thin air. And you know what, this can make for a fun story. Indeed, it does make for a fun story and an engaging viewer experience. It's very engaging. Why do you think the shows aren't popular? But it doesn't help us to know our Bibles better. That's kind of the main point here tonight. Because there's a lot of people out there saying, maybe you've heard them. You've heard them say, eh, watching The Chosen has taught me so much about the Bible. No, it hasn't. The Chosen gives a name to Simon's wife. It calls her Eden. She's nameless in the Bible. The show refers to Mary Magdalene as Lilith, with the nickname of Lil. Does the Bible ever call her this? No, it doesn't. The TV show probably gives her this name because of that name, the name Lilith, it has an association with demon possession in Jewish lore. but this demon possession thing, it raises yet another problem. The Chosen depicts Nicodemus trying to do an exorcism on Mary Magdalene, and the people actually think he succeeded, as the way it plays out in season one. But can we find that story in the Bible? No. The Chosen portrays Mary Magdalene as a prostitute, but there is really no biblical reason to think that this was the case. And I do understand, I recognize this is a common misunderstanding, but it's a misunderstanding and the show reinforces it. And Jesus, he has this charming interaction with that group of the boys and girls I mentioned. They appear to be like eight, nine, 10 years old, something like that. And I gotta tell you, it's one of the most enjoyable parts of season one. It's really a magical kind of thing that's going on. I really enjoyed it. But does the Bible tell us anything like that ever happened? Might have, but the Bible doesn't say so, so no. The Chosen tells us that Thaddeus was a construction worker. It tells us that James a choral singer, that Nathanael was an architect, that Thomas was a caterer. Well, that's all very interesting. None of that information is in the Bible. Can I ask you a question? I'm sorry to interrupt. Sure. I haven't seen the show. Is it done back in the biblical times? It's set as though it took place 2000 years ago. And it's well done. And whether you see it or not, people might talk about it and you'll be a little bit more informed to say, oh, well, yeah, I think, I hear it's a really good show and it's got some good things in it, but you know, it's got a lot of things in it that maybe aren't in the Bible. What do you think about that? And get them maybe to open their Bible. That would be a good thing to have happen as a result of that. It's not in the Bible, really? Well, I don't know, read it for yourself. Find out if what I'm saying is true. I know this, an unclehead pastor was saying something about it. I don't know, you read the Bible, you tell me. Anyway, the imaginative extra-biblical additions that we've been talking about so far, they don't end there. There are significant secondary characters in the show, in the chosen. Two of them are Romans, one of them is named Quintus, I've mentioned him already, and one of them is named Gaius. There are no people named Quintus or Gaius in any of the four Gospels. And this story is based on what we read in the four Gospels. I think it's particularly supposed to be representing the Gospel of John as the main thrust, I think, is what they're trying to aim for. A huge storyline in season one revolves around the Jews illegally fishing on the Sabbath. And Simon Peter, he's doing so because of gambling debts that he has incurred, because of failed street fighting schemes that he was involved with, with his partner in crime, his brother Andrew. And this leads to Matthew, the tax collector, giving them a deadline for paying their taxes. And so Simon, he's desperate, so he makes a deal with the Roman Quintus, who I've mentioned a couple of times. So Simon says, I'll go spy on the merchant ships. And this causes all sorts of intrigue with Zebedee, the father of the Sons of Thunder. And things go so poorly that Simon has his ear cut by Roman soldiers. What a whirlwind, huh? Such drama in season one of The Chosen. On what page of the Bible can I read about that? None of them. None of the pages can I read about that. Not one piece of that story is from the pages of Scripture. And adding insult to injury, one of my annoyances with the show, I have a few, One has to do with Simon's cut ear. And it astounds me, a show that has really good production value for the most part. The show shows the soldier wielding his sword. There are a couple of characters later who come up to Simon and say, hey, what happened to your ear? But I got to tell you, for the life of me, I can't see the wound. Not even any blood. It's like, it was really distracting to me. But of course, you know, that's a digression. It's a personal indulgence for me to bring that up. Anyway, these things that I'm mentioning tonight, they are completely extra biblical. They're pure fabrications of the mind from Dallas Jenkins. And here's my overriding concern. If someone doesn't read the Bible, and they watch the show thinking then that it teaches them about what happens in the Bible, They are being misled. If you're gonna watch it as a show, that's fine. If you're gonna watch it as a substitute or even as a compliment to a certain degree for what we learn in scripture, That makes me very, very nervous. So just be judicious about that, be careful. If you're working through a study on it, I would be the voice of reason to make sure that the holes from scripture are pointed out, that the additions are identified as additions, say, that was really cool, that maybe there's a moral lesson we can learn from that, maybe there's some insight aspect into you know, the personality of what a Christian life should look like, that we can glean from that, but it's not necessarily what Jesus did or said, or what his followers did or said. It could be, but we can't prove it from scripture. And the Bible is our authority, right? If it's, there's a phrase in today's younger set, the younger generation, you know, if it's not posted on social media, it didn't happen. You heard this? Or sometimes they'll say, pics or it didn't happen, meaning no pictures posted on social media didn't happen. If it's not in the Bible, we can't be sure that it happened. So that's really what I wanted. Well, you know. That is one of the things that people are concerned about. I read the Book of Mormon and there is one line in the chosen that seems like it might have been taken from the Book of Mormon. but I believe in trying to be as generous a viewer and reader as possible. It's not an exact quote from the Book of Mormon, and so it could just be a coincidence. If it starts to happen consistently, then I might be a little more concerned, but it's one thing, and it's not even exact. So it does beg the question because of the distributor being a Mormon company. So it does, people do ask that question. That's why I'm familiar with that concern. I don't share that concern to be honest with you. So anyway, there's a lot more that could be said, but I'm not going to get into any more now because I think we're up against the clock and so I'm going to draw the message to a close. So let me wrap up with a prayer. Father, we do acknowledge your greatness and we know that we have a fully sufficient word available to us that you have provided for us, preserved for us, your word in written form that we can study, we can learn from, that it is fully sufficient for our faith, what we believe, for our life practice, what we do. It is totally up to the task as a tool for teaching and learning. All that you have revealed about yourself in this special revelation is what we should lean upon for understanding. We do know that in the general understanding, the general revelation of our understanding is that we can glean as well, but we should test any and all ideas from our own minds or the minds of others against the solid surety that we have in your written word. And we thank you for that reminder today. We ask that in spite of potential weaknesses, that a show like The Chosen would be used for your purposes. that people would have their lives transformed and changed, perhaps in some ways because of the show, and otherwise maybe in spite of the show. We know that you are in control of all of these things, and we know that you're working together all things for the good of those that are yours, and we thank you that you've called those of us who are gathered here today to worship you as those who are counted as yours. And so we praise you and thank you for that. We rest fully upon the sufficiency of the blood of Jesus Christ, the cross, knowing that we are not worthy, but he is. And so we bow the knee to him. In Jesus Christ's name that we pray. Amen. All right. If you would, those who are able, let's sing our final hymn of the evening. This one is, He Lives, number 167. 167, He Lives. We call Him Jesus, He came to love, He'll ever give. He lived and died to buy my pardon, and be praised there to prove my Savior lives. I can finish tomorrow, because He lives. Oh, fear is gone. because the future and life is worth living just because he lives. Ask me to know how you or me can feel the pride and joy He gives. For a greater still, a calm assurance. Yes, childhood fears and certain days, in us He lives. Because He lives, I face tomorrow. Because He lives, the fear is gone. Because I know, He holds the fear. And find his birthday just before he leaves. And then one day across the river, His way to victory, I'll see the lights of glory and honor He lives. Because He lives, I face tomorrow. Because He lives, our fear is gone. Because I know, He holds the future. And life is worth the living, just because He lives. So we got thrown off there, my apologies. We ended up singing 169 Because He Lives, but there's another song that has almost the exact same title. It's 167 He Lives. So you know what? I'm gonna use 167 He Lives as our benediction. I serve a risen Savior. He's in the world today. I know that He is living, whatever men may say. I see His hand of mercy. I hear His voice of cheer. And just the time I need Him, He's always near. In all the world around me, I see his loving care. And though my heart grows weary, I never will despair. I know that he is leading through all the stormy blast. The day of his appearing will come at last. Rejoice, rejoice, Christian. Lift up your voice and sing eternal praise. Hallelujah to Jesus Christ, the King, the hope of all who seek him, the help of all who find. None other is so loving, so good and kind. He lives, he lives. Jesus Christ lives today. He walks with me and talks with me along life's narrow way. He lives, he lives. Salvation to impart. You ask me how I know He lives? He lives within my heart. Let's all stand if you're able and sing the parting hallelujah. Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! May you all go in peace as you enter the mission field around you, knowing in your heart that he lives. Amen.