Hard Lessons in Discernment

By David Dombrowski

Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ. (Ephesians 4: 13-15)

People often wonder, whether they verbalize it or not, why Lighthouse Trails has taken on the task of “criticizing other ministries.” After all, isn’t unity the most important thing in all of Christianity?

Recently, for example, our office received an e-mail from someone who was very upset over our critiques and concerns of the movie series, The Chosen. Below is a portion of the comments we received from this person:

With all due respect, you’re absolutely wrong, and bearing (in a documented way) false witness against a brother [Dallas Jenkins] and his ministry. Maybe check up on what the word says about those practices, eh? . . . [Lighthouse Trails] is an organization that fashions themselves after the Pharisees of scripture . . . and gatekeeping the faith. . . . It’s sad but true that there will always be that percentage of Christians who relish judging others and being purveyors of gossip and false witness, and you’ve found purpose in providing them fodder for their sinful attitudes. For shame.

It is difficult to read such harsh criticism; but we also know we don’t stand alone; many of our readers have been accused of ungodly behavior when expressing concerns over practices or teachings they felt were unbiblical and spiritually dangerous.

If you have read my booklet, My Journey Out of Catholicism,1 you know that I was raised Catholic and found the Lord after being drafted and sent to Germany as the Vietnam War was just ending. During this era, many young people in the ’60s and ’70s found the Lord as the Gospel was presented to hearts that were searching and hungry for truth. After my military duty ended, and I returned home (now as a born-again believer), I first got involved with a group in the Catholic charismatic movement. One of the great ironies of my Christian walk is that it was the charismatic Catholics who told me I had a “gift of discernment.” I say ironic because it was discernment that led me out of the Catholic Church. As difficult as that time period was, it was also somewhat amusing that the spiritual gift the Catholic charismatics said I had was actually rejected by them as I began questioning practices like “inner healing,” contemplative prayer, “slaying in the Spirit,” and deliverance rituals.

Lessons in Harsh Criticisms

Over the years since then, I’ve given a lot of thought to what biblical discernment is all about and have come to realize that it’s so important to be sensitive to what the Lord wants us to do as a ministry. For one, we know we can’t cover every topic, so we seek the Lord on what He would have us to do.

This may come as a surprise, but some of the harshest criticisms we’ve ever received were not about exposing error in the church but that we weren’t doing enough. In at least two cases, the offended party told us they would do all they could do to destroy Lighthouse Trails and the ministries of some of our authors because we would not post or cover an issue they felt we should cover. At this point, their initial request that we would post their material now became a demand! The argument in each case was basically that because we would not expose a particular person or error, we must be in league with the enemy, and consequently, heretics and deceivers. These threats were brutal in that these parties said they would use whatever means or media they could avail themselves with to destroy Lighthouse Trails. As far as handling such situations, we made the decision many years ago that if an attack was unwarranted, rather than quickly coming to our own defense, we would lean on the Lord’s protection and trust Him to vindicate us as He saw fit.

There were a few reasons why we refused to post these materials on our website: first and foremost, we wanted to be led by the Lord and not by intimidation and threats; second, in these severe cases and in others as well, the materials being presented to us were vehement, poorly researched, and even slanderous and erroneous. Lighthouse Trails has always tried to be careful in our treatment of those who bring false teachings into the church. As much as we can, we try to keep our focus on the false teachings themselves with the hopes that these false teachings might cease—or at least be exposed and avoided. We realize it is not our job or even within our ability to know the heart and motives of those presenting false teachings. But, at the same time, we are not naïve enough as to not see the apostasy that is presently sweeping our world and the church.

One of these individuals who said he would destroy Lighthouse Trails (largely because we wouldn’t post his materials) said that when he exposes someone, he likes to go for the “shock and the awe” as he attempts to destroy someone’s reputation. As we see it, such an attitude goes against the purpose of a biblical discernment ministry, which is to aid and serve the body of Christ by exposing things that are a dangerous hindrance to finding or walking with God and exhorting the church to remain anchored to the truth found in God’s Word.

The Chosen: An Unpleasant Task in Discernment

In First John chapter 4, John distinguishes the spirit of antichrist from the true Christ by using the Gospel itself as the standard for measurement. I have written about this before: It is the idea that anything that tears down the Gospel is not of God, and whatever builds it up is of God. This standard has also been the tool we employ in deciding what subjects to write about. You see, the Gospel has everything to do with our eternal destiny, so it is essential that we defend and protect it. It’s important to remember too that the spirit of antichrist is not always portrayed as hatred of Christ, but it can often come in a much more subtle form as a substitute for Christ or an imitation (i.e., false) Christ.

In this article about difficult lessons in discernment, I decided to use The Chosen as an example. What I said in the previous paragraph is why we took on warning about it. Doing this has not been a pleasant task; we already had friends, family members, and readers who felt, at first, that The Chosen was a wonderful way of presenting the Gospel, and after all, Christian leaders are recommending it.

But there was something amiss; and as we did our research, it became apparent that a subtle (and sometimes not so subtle) dismantling of the Gospel was taking place where Jesus, the Son of God, takes on more and more human qualities to the point that He is just like us. Now, it may seem OK to some to do this since the Gospel teaches us that Jesus is fully God and fully man; but what happens when we see, on the screen, that Jesus is just another one of us? What happens when we see one of Jesus’ disciples helping Him recite His lines for His sermon on the Mount? And what will happen to Derral Eves’ (The Chosen’s Mormon CEO and Executive Producer) teenage son, who rushed to his father in the middle of the night with joyful tears in his eyes, saying “Dad, Jesus really does live, doesn’t he . . . and he’s a real person, right?” His son said this after viewing a scene in The Chosen in season three where “Jesus” was “blowing raspberries” (i.e., making flatulence sounds with his lips) while interacting among children.2

This scene was obviously intended to be funny, but it was clearly an attempt to bring Jesus down to our level which very much lines up with Mormonism (which teaches that Jesus was just a man who attained divinity, just as Mormon believers will attain godhood). As we learn more about Mormonism, we find that Heaven will be a place where Joseph Smith will be seated next to the Father (in as much prominence as Jesus Christ), and Jesus will be further removed sitting among various historical figures.

Then consider John the Baptist who is depicted in The Chosen as “creepy John.”3 At face value, John could have been seen as creepy to his culture; after all, he was out there in the desert eating locusts and honey. But if we search the Scriptures to see what John was really like and how people perceived him, to call him creepy John” is not “plausible”4 as Dallas Jenkins likes to call his version of Bible stories—it is fabrication and slanderous!

As it turns out, John was loved and respected by many—both Jew and Gentile. More importantly, we should note how God perceived him. In Luke, chapter one, an angel spoke these words about John:

For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother’s womb. . . . And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. (Luke 1:15, 17)

Then in Luke, chapter 7, Jesus spoke of John’s ministry as very honorable saying, “Among those that are born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist” (Luke 7:28). With these verses in mind, it is puzzling, then, that The Chosen would depict “creepy John” as someone Jesus felt was going off the deep end and needing correction.5

Reading further in Luke 7, and in light of the depiction of John in The Chosen, it is amazing to see what Jesus said next because, while multitudes of people went to hear and be baptized by John, a small minority would not hear him, and these were “the Pharisees and lawyers [who] rejected the counsel of God against themselves, being not baptized of him” (Luke 7:30). What caught my attention first in this Bible passage is the fact that Jesus addresses the Pharisees and describes what they are like; so I was curious to see what Jesus had to say about them, having been freshly accused of being modern-day Pharisees ourselves. Speaking of these men, Jesus said:

Whereunto then shall I liken the men of this generation? and to what are they like? They are like unto children sitting in the marketplace, and calling one to another, and saying, We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced; we have mourned to you, and ye have not wept. For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine; and ye say, He hath a devil. The Son of man is come eating and drinking; and ye say, Behold a gluttonous man, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners! (Luke 7:31-34)

Now, let’s be careful here in understanding what Jesus is trying to say: Jesus is not authenticating the view that Jesus (or His disciples) are party animals who go out and get drunk, nor is He authenticating the view that John the Baptist is creepy or mad or “hath a devil.” No actually, He is denying it.

Reading these verses reminded me again about The Chosen episode where Jesus has a disciple help recite His lines for the Sermon on the Mount. In Scripture, did Jesus have something to say on that subject? Let’s consider the following words of Jesus:

Then said Jesus unto them, When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself; but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things. (John 8:28)

Does this sound like Jesus practiced His lines with the help of a disciple, where in fact, He only wanted to speak what He received of the Father? Jesus spoke the things He received directly from the Father because Jesus was eternally God with the Father. And He is telling the people here that when they see Him crucified, die, and rise again, they will know who was with them. Again, we see a gradual whittling down of Jesus in The Chosen to being just a man. Dallas Jenkins claims to be presenting the “authentic Jesus”6 in this series while only using five percent of Scripture.7 It seems more like they are trying to present an authentic Jesus while contradicting Scripture (something impossible to do!). Again, the die has been cast, and it appears that the Jesus of The Chosen resembles more that of the Book of Mormon than that of Holy Scripture.

A Lesson in Finding the Truth: The Chosen and the Mormons

Given that the Mormon producers of The Chosen are obligated by their religion to stay true to the Book of Mormon, how can they justify depicting Jesus as revealed in the Holy Bible when their Book of Mormon supersedes the Bible? This is a real predicament as the Mormons have invested heavily into this production. Perhaps for a time, it will be possible to ride the fence of neutrality, but the day will surely come when they will have to abide by their true persuasions. Most likely, by then, the damage will already be done in gradually sizing Jesus down to just a man who eventually became “god” just as all Mormons will one day become gods—that is, as the Book of Mormon teaches.

A while back, Dallas Jenkins made a statement indicating that it is OK to have Mormons involved in the creation of The Chosen series, by saying that Mormons and Christians believe in the same Jesus.8 What he should have said is Christianity and Mormonism have entirely separate views of who Jesus was and who He is. Jesus, according to Mormonism, was never part of the eternal Godhead but attained godhood just as they believe man can attain godhood. Consequently, Jesus can never become one’s Savior under that belief system.

What we see happening in The Chosen series is a subtle and gradual dismantling of Jesus Christ, the disciples, and the Bible itself. This is serious because, while this series may be entertaining, the distortions to Scripture can have eternal consequences. Some argue that The Chosen will stimulate people to read their Bibles; but just like the Book of Mormon, this series may easily supplant the Bible (and probably already has because of its powerful seduction of the senses), and it will be the only “Bible” many viewers will ever know. We have already seen this happen with Jesus Calling, where readers of this book contacted us to admit that they had become so “addicted” to and enamored with the romantic nature of this “Jesus” that they increasingly set their Bibles aside and used this book for their devotional reading.

A Lesson in Knowing Who We Are and Who He Is

In closing, I would like to make a few remarks about distinguishing truth from error. First, in referring back to the e-mail we received from our critic who parenthetically injected a keen observation about our position on The Chosen, I am very thankful. She said we present our information “in a documented way,” which, in and of itself, is a compliment. We research things carefully to get to the truth on any issue. For example, when we said that only five percent of The Chosen is from the Bible, we were quoting Dallas Jenkins himself who said this. The point being, it’s valuable to do the research though it takes much time and effort before making an observation or a criticism. Another point she made was in referring to us as gatekeepers of the faith, which I also take as a compliment, but one that we have neither earned nor deserve. Jesus is the sheepgate. He stated that when He said:

I am the door; by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. (John 10:9).

By this, Jesus was indicating that He is our all in all things. Paul expanded on the various aspects of what Jesus does for us when he said:

But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption. (1 Corinthians 1:30)

In other words, Jesus provides everything we need for salvation and Christian living. Indeed, He is both the gate and the gatekeeper of our faith, enabling us to discern what is good and what is not.

There will come a time when we will meet the Lord, and there will be plenty of surprises when God reveals how much that was done “for God” was actually counter-productive. May we humbly seek Him to help us to build His kingdom and not tear it down. On that day, God will test our lives (and ministries) as with fire to a house—some built with straw and some built with stone.

I find myself described in the same chapter from Paul when he says:

For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: That no flesh should glory in his presence. But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. (1 Corinthians 1: 26-31; emphasis added)

Do you find yourself described in these verses? If so, you are in good company, and God can use you even through the hardest lessons of discernment.


Endnotes

  1. https://www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com/blog/?p=10964.
  2. “So You Still Think The Chosen Is an Accurate Reflection of the “Authentic” Jesus Christ? Really?,” https://www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com/blog/?p=35080.
  3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTh3glbl8s4.
  4. Dallas Jenkins often says that the fictionalized stories he’s created are “plausible.” According to Webster’s Dictionary, the word plausible means “superficially fair, reasonable, or valuable but often specious (i.e., having a “false look of truth or genuineness” and “having deceptive attraction or allure”).
  5. https://www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com/blog/?p=34616.
  6. “A Candid Conversation with Dallas Jenkins, Director of The Chosen” (Melissa Dougherty, 4/27/21, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__-Yyq1FPQI), mm: 67:45-67:55.
  7. Ibid., mm: 25:11.
  8. “Interview with a Mormon and an Evangelical!” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXIiv3NhIhc&t=796s, mm: 9:37-10:55.

David Dombrowski is the co-founder and chief editor of Lighthouse Trails and the author of several booklets and articles.

(painting is from istockphoto.com; used with permission)


29 thoughts on “Hard Lessons in Discernment

  1. As many did, I bought the Season 1 DVD of Chosen and watched it with great anticipation. By the time I reached the end of Season 1, I had an uneasy feeling in my spirit. I couldn’t put my finger on why but I had no desire to watch the 2nd season. My sister, a strong believer, told me when she “thinks of Christ now, she “sees” the actor who portrays Him in Chosen.” That was a HUGE red flag to me. A short time later I sent her a very good article—it could have been one from Lighthouse Trails—and I reminded her of her statement. Praise God, my sister’s eyes were opened and she never watched another episode.

    Thank you for your gift of discernment and your courage to go against the grain. I believe the Chosen series is a cleverly packaged, deceitful attempt to strip Christ of His deity in people’s minds, and to relegate Him to the position of a nice, charismatic guy with some good teachings and funny friends. In my mind that’s heresy at its worst and should be avoided by any true follower of Christ Jesus, our Messiah and God. As he was in the Garden of Eden, Satan is subtle and effective.

    God bless you and protect your ministry from Satan and his minions. Maranatha!

  2. Wow! – After watching about 5 episodes of season 2, I TOO saw fabrication and slander of historical characters in the Bible – Mary’s relapse, and Nathanial being a failed architect… these bothered me, as i had been so excited the series about …. supposedly about.. The Bible and Jesus, was so popular! — So I wrote to the producers and asked the if they had anything at all to support the extra-biblical information they were spreading…. I was met with harsh criticism – I was told if i did not like the show, I should not be in the FB group about it. … — YOU are the FIRST ONE that I have come across that sees, and talks about, what i see. THANK GOD!!! — I wouldn’t know this if I had not been reading through my bible since 2007, so I realize that most Christians and most Americans, have not read the Bible completely through even once.. so they are vulnerable to being fed slanderous information.. misleading stories about the people of the Bible… I even suggested a way for the producer to have a talk AFTER each episode where they could talk about what they ADDED or changed and to direct peo0ple to read the storied, the history, as the Bible recorded it. – they were not interested in doing so.. perhaps some of us could do that.

  3. I’ve never seen The Chosen and wasn’t attracted to it from the beginning, working on the assumption that anything to do with Christ that is overwhelmingly popular cannot be about the real Christ!!!
    Thank God for your ministry! Remain the standard bearers that you are. You are needed more than ever in these ever-darkening days.
    I’m always drawn to the Scripture in Isaiah 59:14,15 “So justice is driven back and righteousness stands at a distance; truth has stumbled in the streets, honesty cannot enter. Truth is nowhere to be found and whoever shuns evil becomes a prey.” We live in such times imho. Blessings.

  4. Thank you for your diligent research about the Chosen. My wife and I watched the very first episode and didn’t seem to think that there was anything necessarily bad about it. Then when we tried to watch the second episode we being to experience a very strong agitation within our spirit. We never watched another episode. Then i came across your article and a few others and I realized why we felt such a resistance to continue to watch the program.
    One other thought. Why do so many people have to have some type of physical image to enhance their relationship with God? If i understand scripture the Ten Commandants are now written on our hearts. then how can we justify violating #2. We are not to make or worship graven images. Scripture clearly states that God is Spirit and we must worship Him in spirit an truth. i can only speak for myself because by both Hebrew and Greek definitions, Spirit it is the movement of air, and i have never seen the air move. i have only seen the effects of the “movement” of the air. So if God is Spirit, then please tell me how i can see Him? I can only see he effect of Him my life as well as others. Thank you for your witness of perseverance, because we all are going to be needing some of that as we move forward.

  5. Thank you for enduring the flack for your faithfulness to exercise your incredible (of course, from God, after all) gifts of discernment for the upbuilding of the rest of us. I am deeply grateful for your posts.

    Speaking of discernment, do you have any information about Lee University in TN? I happened to see a newspaper report about a “happening” in the chapel there.

    Blessings!

  6. Thank you Lighthouse Trails Publishing!
    Every time Dallas Jenkins says “We love the same Jesus” as Mormonism, it makes me sick to my stomach!
    He surely knows better having studied theology.
    I can only assume he has agreed to dance with the Devil for a price.
    I pray for his soul and those of his unsaved partners.

  7. I asked Jesus to give me more discernment as I’ve been viewing several episodes of The Chosen. The next morning I received one of your monthly emails. As I continued searching your website, I found this article. Thank you for the clear clarification to verify my concerns of this popular secular series. Jesus is God’s one and only Son. He wouldn’t need to practice any sermon or teaching.

  8. Rory in the comments here correctly brings up the prohibition to worship images as God. Christians know not to worship a tree, or a statue, but since we are supposed to worship Christ, how can we NOT worship if shown a supposed image of Jesus? Faith comes by hearing not by seeing; the New Testament emphasizes this in several places such as; 1 Peter 1:8 “Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory”. Further, Acts 17:29 “Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man’s device”. Movies like the Chosen (and others) that portray Jesus are by definition a false image of Christ (since we don’t know what he looked like or specifically how he acted) and thus are a clear violation of Scripture. Movies have a powerful influence on us and we need to be very careful in our depiction of God and what false images that may place in our viewers. Thank you Lighthouse Trails for your discernment in this matter.

  9. Thank you for ALL that you do, LHRT! I believe you will hear one day, Well done my good and faithful servant.

  10. jonathan cahn is a false teacher and a sensationalist
    he may sound good from time to time but the majority of times he never uses the bible, yet he tried to reproof lost joe biden calling him an apostate joe biden is a lost man headed for hell and he also exalts mother tersea who had another jesus and another gospel and he also is on sid roth show and jim bakker show very troublin. try the spirits whether they are from GOD. 1ST JOHN4-1, ALSO HE SAYS REVIVAL IS COMMING THATS A LIE TOO.

  11. Well said!! Thank you for standing boldly!!

    It saddens me that so many Christians have become so weak in their faith and not listen to the Holy Spirit that lives in them, to be able to discern the points you have made.

    Even Jesus said many will come in My Name, and to not believe them. The apostasy in the churches, and the same spirit that is in the public school systems is dumbing them down into a carnal spirituality.

    Just so sad.

  12. Years ago (through the 1990’s) I remember reading a statement by one David Meyer (Last Trumpet Ministries) along the lines that the one spiritual gift (which was lacking then) that Christians needed most was discernment.
    You may never know how many you have helped over the years through you at LTR and your writers/contributors ministries.
    I thank our Heavenly Father for you all, your warnings, sharings and teaching of truth under the guidance of His Spirit.
    May the grace, peace and presence of our Lord Jesus remain with you.

  13. Ep. 7 of The Chosen with “Joshua” and “Moses”:

    -Joshua. How many more in the night?
    -Some, sir.
    -Where will you bury them?
    -The men are trying to dig a trench, but the ground is hard and rocky. With respect, Moses, my concern is not for the dead, but for the dying. Hundreds fall by the day. And for every serpent we kill another ten appear.
    -Maybe we should leave the bodies here, in this tent.
    -At the rate people are dying, there would not be enough room, even if we stack them to the top.
    -Then we’ll have to leave and find someplace else.
    -We’re not leaving anytime soon. Too many are sick and cannot walk.
    -After today, the only Hebrews too sick to walk will be those
 who choose to remain so.
    -Is there medicine in that bronze? You told the people that you would ask God to forgive their rebellion, to heal their serpent wounds-
    -I did.
    -Then why are you hiding in a tent.
    -It wasn’t my idea, Joshua!
    -That is a pagan symbol. You did not ask Him if He was sure? Maybe you misunderstood Him.
    -I’ve learned to do what He says without questioning. You remember what happened at Meribah.
    -Just to be sure, we could send a messenger to Ezion-Geber, beg for aid-
    -That pole. Hand me that pole.
    -The people will say it is a cruel joke.
    -Let them say that.
    -Help me understand. None of this makes any sense.
    -How do you explain the Red Sea? The manna and the quail? The pillar of fire? Joshua, any Israelite who looks upon this bronze serpent and believes in the power of Adonai will be healed. It’s an act of faith, not reason. Faith.”

    Comparing Numbers 21:4-9 to the narrative constructed by the “Chosen” writers:

    — Not a word of conversation appears there as occurring between Joshua and Moses; the only recorded verbal communications seem to be the people speaking against God and against Moses, the people acknowledging their sin to Moses and asking Moses to pray to God to take away the serpents that were sent, and God telling Moses to build the bronze serpent and place it on a pole.

    — Was there sufficient time for the TV show narrative to have occurred? Why would writers imagine long lags between the serpent attacks and the people pleading with Moses to pray that the serpents be taken away, for that prayer to be made, for God to answer, and for the bronze serpent to be made and deployed? Why speculate that the people that had just prayed would’ve been on burial detail?

    – Why imagine that Moses would be taking reports on that burial detail while he took a long time to construct a bronze serpent? Might basic line shapes not need weeks of time consuming work to achieve? Also, didn’t God commanded Moses to craft it, not an artisan as in other cases?

    -What warranted inclusion of presumptive, made up dialogue with “Joshua” blanching at the bronze serpent as well as this far into the journey questioning if “Moses” heard right what God commanded, also what’s said about hiding and cruel jokes?

    -Might Moses have tabled dead body logistics or leaving…

  14. I was urged to watch the chosen but I felt that it would be wrong somehow because anything Christian is always wrong somehow on screen.

    Was glad to see Lighthouse Trails article talking about what was wrong with this show, thanks for your discernment!

  15. Thank you, very good article and you are spot on! Which is why you are attacked.
    We love you LHT!

  16. Charles insisting that LTRP is “ignoring the actual script itself and fail to show how there’s anything in this script that contradicts standard Evangelical Biblical theology”…

    while he outright and deliberately ignores the glaring fact that both the production company and Dallas himself proudly state that not even a faction of the Bible applies to the show, which is the very definition of contridictions to standard Evangelical Biblical theology.

    But please, don’t let discernment and reality get in the way of the insatiable need to be entertained by fables.

  17. Charles, we have provided over 20 articles critiquing The Chosen, and most of them have examples of the errors of the script itself. And remember, even Dallas Jenkins says that only 5% of it is from the Bible!

  18. Like all of the other video or written criticisms that I have seen or read criticizing The Chosen, you make the same basic error. You ignore the actual script itself and fail to show how there’s anything in this script that contradicts standard Evangelical Biblical theology. And the script is the backbone of the show; everything revolves around this script. All these other peripheral issues you raise are irrelevant, and it is those issues that you and other critics seem to focus on. And I’ll say it again, they are irrelevant, they are non-issues! Oh, by the way Lynne, The Chosen is not a Hollywood production but an independent crowdfunded project whose three screenplay writers are all Evangelical. No Mormon influence in the script whatsoever.

  19. Another reason to avoid these productions is they place a false image in the mind of our Lord. After it being implanted, how do you not view it when in prayer or communion with Jesus?
    Exo 20:4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:

  20. Thank you so much for your ministry. Your articles have helped me to articulate my concerns to so many about the emergent church movement, mysticism in the church, yoga etc. Currently, I am concerned about the movie ”Jesus Revolution” that is coming out nationwide on 2/24/23. I will be praying for pastors and true Christians to be alert and ready to give a Biblical response to it’s message as I expect it will be powerfully sentimental and unbiblical.
    I am so thankful for your ministry. I am praying for you.
    Your sister in Christ

  21. Excellent article! Right on! I was invited to a church yesterday and we went to the Sunday School first. Well the elderly teacher was way off. Promoting Jonathan Cahn’s new book. Promoting The Way Bible translation and that one only needed to read a few words and then meditate on them and then he was quite happy that he had many people accept Jesus. The lesson was to be on Romans 8 but he never got more than 2 verses read. The main Pastor had a good message in Ephesians about putting on the armour. We do need to know the Word of God so we won’t be deceived. One lady that I went with listened to what I said about the class and asked for more references and books. She felt something wasn’t quite right. I am taking more booklets over to her today. I didn’t speak much to the other lady, yet because she and the teacher have been friends for many years. But that doesn’t mean that I won’t.

  22. Good commentary on this show. I appreciate your use of scriptures in your reasoning. Society seems to be mostly driven now by feelings. This show makes people ‘feel’. I have yet to see or hear a defense of the show based upon scripture. Always based on feelings.

  23. Dear Brethren in the Lord, thank you for covering and exposing the Truth about (The Chosen) I was heading down that slippery slope of watching the chosen and referring the movie. When you posted the truth, it was a confirmation to me that it was not Biblical, but error lots of lies and twisted stories made up, like soap operas. I soon started telling friends and family how wrong I was about the chosen and send them your article exposing the Truth. It’s difficult to find any good movies now days. God bless you all for being the watchmen, your work is edifying and encouraging as it should be for a child of God. May our Heavenly Father Bless your Ministry a Thousand Fold in Jesus Precious Name Amen.
    By His Grace,
    Lina

  24. An interesting encounter happened in my life the other day. I parked by another woman and we laughed about our crooked parking. As we walked together to the store she said she had just been to see The Chosen. I told her she must be careful with that series as it portrays Jesus as a Good ole Boy and takes away His holiness. She replied, ” I wondered why I was not attracted to this movie! We talked further, and I related the Mormon connection. She was so grateful to me and thanked me over and over for telling her the truth. God is moving!! He is using us to glorify Him with total strangers. These encounters are happening more frequently in my life in the last several months.

  25. Whenever somebody tries to make the case that a show which invents its own lores of the Christ event is somehow helping them to read their Bible, I quote back some wise words from a recent Newsletter by The Berean Call:

    “The initial attraction to mysticism is the lie that it will help draw a person to God.” – Excerpt from Flocking to Fables, Berean Call Newsletter Feb 2023.

  26. Thank you for this article. So many people are basing their beliefs on the emotions they feel while watching The Chosen. They disregard any discernment. It seems to almost becoming a cult, maybe it already is. Thank you for your encouragement.

  27. Just commenting to say I totally agree with the article about The Chosen. Anything that comes out of Hollywood should cause true Christians to view it with the utmost discernment. I thank you very much for your ministry. I love Lighthouse Trails.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

 characters available