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Should a Christian consume the same entertainment that everyone else does? How do we know what's appropriate and what's not? In this message, Pastor Jamie Nunnally shares truths and advice to help us make wise entertainment choices. 

Two Biblical truths to consider:

1. Your intake will determine your outcome.

Proverbs 4:23

Who you are right now is the sum total of your physical, emotional and spiritual intake.

Don't like how you feel? Feed your heart different food. The key to changing what you're full of is to change what you feed on.

2. Christians live differently than the world.

Titus 2:12 "And we are instructed to turn from godless living and sinful pleasures. We should live in this evil world with wisdom, righteousness, and devotion to God"

Christians should affect culture, not reflect culture. We are called to walk differently, and if you're not different, you're probably not walking in your calling.

Music is supernatural.

2 Kings 3:15

1 Samuel 16:23

2 Chronicles 5:13-14

If Christian music can usher in the presence of the Holy Spirit, what spirits do you think non-christian music can usher in?

Stories affect you deeply.

Implicit learning happens through stories – that's why Jesus used parables. Every story has a moral.

Mark 7:20-23

What is your TV teaching you? It's called "programming" for a reason.

Sports & hobbies are fun...unless they rob you of your relationships and resources.

1 Corinthians 6:12

God didn't save you just so you could live a life of leisure. He's got a job for you to do!

Ensure that your entertainment doesn't become your enslavement:

1. Protect your time.

Ephesians 5:15-16 "Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise..."

Distraction is destructive to your destiny. You don't need more time; you just need more time management.

Life application #1: Don't binge watch shows or movies.

Life application #2: plan your times of entertainment – not just a start time, but an end time.

2. Protect your mind.

Romans 12:2 "do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind"

Renewing your mind is a lifestyle of practicing repentance – changing your mind so that you can change your actions.

Life application #1: Turn off the TV when you're not actively watching something.

Life application #2: Use filtering programs like Vidangel, and look up movie reviews online. 

3. Protect your family.

Proverbs 22:6 

Some of you are binge watching Netflix when you need to binge watch your children.

Life application #1: Shield kids from inappropriate entertainment.

Life application #2: Teach your children why we don't expose our hearts to harmful things.

We protect what's important, and we hide our valuables. 

Entertainment can be fine. Too much entertainment—or the wrong kind of entertainment—can be fatal. God wants you to enjoy yourself, but He doesn't want you to injure yourself. Protect your heart and use wisdom.

Will you let the Holy Spirit guide your entertainment choices?

The Macademia Nuts finally catch up on the Oscars, and express a lack of enthusiasm for future viewing. Other topics include controversies surrounding superhero actors, Christian re-editing services, The Mandalorian, and the history of Tex-Mex food. This leads to an extended discussion of food, including robot food delivery. The Nuts shamelessly beg Panda Express for a sponsorship.

TV-SHOW DISCUSSION:

Melvin & Dan can finally say "Yes" to the question "Have you watched The Chosen?".

Topics:

• The Chosen's strength lies in its source material, similar to a comic-book movie or book adaption.
• Daniel's felt The Chosen was overhyped for him, and he was waiting for the show to be "amazing" like he'd heard so much about.
• Despite the shows occasional problematic depiction of historical events, The Chosen reveals to us more about who Creator Dallas Jenkins and co. are than Jesus or any of its biblical figures.
• Melvin's ambivalent comfortability with The Chosen is partially based on his media-literacy, his acceptance of the instinctual problematic nature of historical adaptions, and the importance of comparative concepts between the interpretations of source material.
• It may sound strange to some, but the best scenes in The Chosen are typically ones without Jesus.
• As a fictional historical drama, The Chosen works really well.
• As Biblical interpretation, The Chosen becomes increasingly problematic.
• General audiences often aren't reading their bibles, and thus are having their only biblical exposure to second-hand adaptions.
• Simultaneously, not many people have had personal experiences with God (Genesis 32 & 33), and thus often yearn for these experiences through surrogate means (i.e. watching bible films, reading Christian fiction, etc.).
• If you do not have a "mental colander" to sift through The Chosen's biblical inaccuracies (and why they're important), it could be an unhealthy watch.
• The danger of giving "Jesus" extra scenes and lines, as well as restructuring certain biblical scenes, and even omitting sections of dialogue.
• It's important to meditate on why the Gospels don't include Jesus' personality traits and characteristics such as his favorite foods and pass-times.
• Daniel, "Jesus isn't Peter Pan. He's not a public domain character you can just put in anything and do whatever you want with. He's God."
• Christianity already struggles with people either not reading their Bibles or misinterpreting their Bibles. Having biblical adaptions add to that mix is... frustrating.
• The Chosen, in pursuing period accuracy, creates a scriptural uncanny valley effect that otherwise isn't experienced with clearly fictional representations of Jesus as seen in South Park or Joshua.

Recommendations:

• Victor P. Hamilton's Handbook on the Pentateuch, 2nd edition: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy
• Read your Bible and keep an honest journal of your reading
• Dane Ortlund's "Gentle and Lowly: The Heart of Christ for Sinners and Sufferers"

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On the twentieth episode of All Heart with Paul Cardall, Paul is joined by the upbeat, energetic actor Noah James who portrays St. Andrew in the popular crowdfunded biblical series The Chosen. Born and raised in Tempe, Arizona, Noah shares his passion for music and that he even started a band before realizing he had a deeper love for acting. Like thousands of other hopeful thespians, he applied to NYU not realizing how competitive it is to be accepted, which is why he didn't apply to any other theatre programs.  He was accepted and trained at NYU's Tisch School of Art.  His theatre training led to a series of roles on stage in Los Angeles. Since then the kid from Arizona with an infectious smile and good looks landed roles on productions like HBO’s Shameless, La La Land, Gilmore Girls, a list of independent shorts, award winning podcasts like King Falls AM. More recently Noah performed the audio narration for author J.D. Netto's novel, The Broken Miracle - Part One, inspired by the life of Paul Cardall, born with half a heart, who hosts this podcast. Noah’s optimistic spirit and diverse talent is not only producing a fruitful career, but the young actor is inspiring audiences world-wide. The podcast episode is filled with humor as Paul and Noah laugh about diverse musical tastes, ironic scenarios on the set of The Chosen, and filming the biblical series in Paul's home state of Utah. Season Two of the Chosen begins Easter 2021 with 7 seasons planned by creator Dallas Jenkins, who was previously interviewed by Paul Cardall along with Jonathan Roumie (who plays Jesus). Listen to their inspiring and encouraging episodes for more about their lives and role in The Chosen. Noah concludes by sharing with Paul what brings him joy and Noah is All Heart with Paul Cardall. 

This podcast episode is sponsored by BetterHelp, an online portal that provides direct-to-consumer access to mental health services. The online counseling and therapy services are provided through web-based interaction as well as phone and text communication.

All Heart with Paul Cardall is proudly a part of the American Songwriter Podcast Network. For more information on Paul Cardall, please visit https://paulcardall.com/ or find him on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.

Episode artwork 

Episode transcript 

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This week: reviews of Jackie Chan's Who Am I?, The Boys second season, The new(est) version of the Invisible Man, and the new, big, bad, spectacular from Christopher Nolan: Tenet! (It's not bad.) That and news on DCFandome 2, the box office numbers, the Mandalorian, Marina Sirits and Star Trek Day, Mario Kart, and even Troop Beverly Hills (although we can't figure out why they're making a sequel to that particular train wreck).

www.cinemasavants.com

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Host Paul Cardall peels back the heart and purpose of Dallas Jenkins, the creator of the record-breaking, first-ever multi-season series about the life of Jesus. The film and television creator explains how the biblical story of the Feeding of the 5,000 inspired his journey to create what became the largest crowdfunded television project of all time. Dallas gets to the core of his work, as he talks about the making of the show, his life behind the screen, and his fresh approach to telling timeless tales from the Bible. In a heartfelt conversation, Paul and Dallas discuss honoring the women in the Bible, the importance of listening and humility, and allowing yourself to be led by overcoming your own aspirations and goals. All Heart with Paul Cardall is proudly a part of the American Songwriter Podcast Network. For more information on Paul Cardall, please visit or find him on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube. 

Show your support by subscribing to the podcast. Please leave a review. 

"The Chosen" explores the life of Christ through the eyes of those who knew Him. The narrative multi-season show has received high praise from viewers and critics alike, earning a 9.8 out of 10 rating on IMDB. But with the praise, it has also attracted skeptics. Some don’t believe evangelical Christians should be working with Latter-day Saints on a show about Jesus or vice versa, and others believe scripture should only be portrayed exactly as it is written without creative liberties. The show’s writer and director, Dallas Jenkins, believes that exploring faith, especially in relation to the Savior, is something that requires trust. On this week’s episode, he shares the triumphs as well as the challenges of depicting the life of the Son of God.

“Even though He spoke to crowds, He was always talking personally, and He was always seeking that personal relationship. And that's what He wants from your heart. He wants that more than your accomplishments, and He wants that more than any kind of mass movement. He wants the personal.”

Show Notes

1:49- The Same Jesus
10:03- The Humanity of Christ
15:08- The Scriptures Coming to Life
18:37- Capturing Humanity
22:51- Compassion for the Pharisees
27:32- The Personal Ministry of Christ, Then and Now
37:26- Casting Christ
41:29- Three Dimensional
43:48- Season Two
45:37- Inspiration?
49:30- What Does It Mean To Be “All In”?

Find the full episode transcript at ldsliving.com/allin.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dallas Jenkins, the director of The Resurrection of Gavin Stone and the VidAngel series The Chosen, gets in the hot seat to talk to Kevin about his upcoming series, the role of a critic, how God has changed his thinking, and much more!

Watch The Chosen: https://studios.vidangel.com/the-chosen/episode-one

Watch Kevin's Reviews of Dallas' Content:
https://youtu.be/K_jQ-yuKjR8
https://youtu.be/2cgePUUa_wA