The Mission of "The Chosen" with Stan Jantz

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Invested with Purpose, making the most out of your time, talent, and treasure.

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Meet Christians from all walks of life and hear their incredible stories that will both

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motivate and challenge the way you view the world.

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These men and women exemplify Christian values and biblical stewardship in areas of mission,

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finance, entertainment, sports, and more.

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Welcome to Invested with Purpose, making the most out of our time, talent, and treasure.

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I'm Brian.

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And I'm Nathan.

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And today's guest is making a difference for the Kingdom of God by ensuring the gospel

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reaches one billion people through the popular television series, The Chosen.

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We proudly introduce Stan Jantz, CEO of the Come and See Foundation.

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Welcome, Stan, and thank you for joining us on Invested with Purpose.

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Thank you, Brian.

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It's great to be with you.

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It's joyful to be here.

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I was reading your bio earlier, and it's just so impressive.

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And I love this ambition of reaching a billion people.

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We'll talk about that, I'm sure.

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But can you first start by telling us a little bit about your background and how you became

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involved with the Come and See Foundation and some of the books that you've written?

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I know you've sold millions of copies of those as well and anything you might be currently

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writing.

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Thank you.

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Yeah, I grew up around Christian books.

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In fact, I was raised by a set of Bible commentaries, I think.

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So my parents owned a Christian bookstore.

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Remember those?

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Oh, wow.

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I remember the Christian bookstores.

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I remember Zandervans.

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There were several, yeah.

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But I remember going to them because that was where my parents would let me buy CDs.

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I grew up in them.

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My parents owned it, and then later I took it over and managed it and owned it till the

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late 90s.

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We sold them.

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And I got involved in writing books and did that with a writing partner, Bruce Spickle,

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over the next 10, 15 years, and then got involved in publishing.

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So I've really been around books and publishing my whole life.

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I love books.

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I love the process, what it does.

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Of course, the book is the Bible, and I always say God is the bestselling author of all time.

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That's right.

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That's for sure.

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We always enjoyed, in our stores, was just introducing people to the Bible and new versions

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of scripture.

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And then I got involved a little bit with the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association,

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which is a trade group representing publishers worldwide.

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So I really got a picture of the global impact that literature is having around the world.

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Of course, even then, the idea of Bibles and books being translated was so critical, because

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we in the West think that we have the monopoly on Christianity.

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Well, the truth is, the majority of Christians live outside the West, live outside of the

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United States, of North America, and Europe.

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And they live in what's now called the majority world, which would be Latin America, Africa,

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and Asia.

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And so I just realized then how important it was for publishing to be able to go to

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those places, but not just with our American books, but also with those that are done in

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the context of what that culture is all about.

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So when I had a chance then to join Come and See, the foundation that's working to support

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the chosen, it was remarkable.

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And I got to tell you guys, I grew up, as I said, around Christian books, Christian media.

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And I wasn't a fan of Christian media, let me put it that way.

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So it's like, okay, it's good enough, it gets the message of the gospel out there.

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There are a few bright spots, you know, veggie tales, and that came out, right?

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That's creative, inventive, but for the most part, I was not a fan.

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And so when someone suggested about two years ago that I watch this new TV series, The Chosen,

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I resisted.

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I did download the app, this is two years ago, and what impressed me was the number

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of views that The Chosen had.

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This is in the middle of season, probably season three at that time, or even maybe season

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two.

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And I, again, didn't watch it, but I was impressed.

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And within about two weeks, I was invited to an event at Biola University, which is

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a college in the Southern California area.

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I served as a trustee for that university.

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And they had a special Chosen event.

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So I attended and saw episode one of season one, and I completely changed all my perceptions

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of what I thought it might be.

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It was a quality program with deep character resonance.

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And of course, in that first episode, for you and your fans, Jesus doesn't come till

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the last five minutes, right?

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He comes with such tenderness, and he speaks to Mary or Lilith, as she's known to that

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point, who has been just struggling.

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She's possessed as the scriptures tell us by seven demons.

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And she's been reciting this prophecy through her when she was a girl and kind of giving

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up.

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And he calls her by name, Mary, and she's just stunned.

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What's going on here?

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And she drops the drink that she was holding, turns around.

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He says, I have redeemed you.

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You are mine.

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I've called you by name.

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And it just melts, and he just embraces, and she is healed at that moment.

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So that's when I was just, I was like, okay, I'm in.

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But I just became this evangelist for The Chosen, just telling people about it.

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And two months later, I was contacted by a gentleman, Mark Green from the Green family,

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and said, we are working with The Chosen.

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In fact, he flew out, actually, before he even said anything about what it was.

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And we sat for lunch, and I just started gushing about The Chosen.

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Didn't even give him a chance to talk.

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I think I took a breath, and he said, well, that's what I'm here to talk to you about.

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We want to raise up this nonprofit to support The Chosen, to support the production, the

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translation, and distribution, so that a billion people can experience the authentic Jesus.

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And guys, I was all in.

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So that's my journey.

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That was about two years ago when that occurred, and we set up the nonprofit about 18 months

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ago.

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And it's been a wonderful, wonderful experience.

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And we're just getting started.

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That's what's exciting.

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That's quite the journey.

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And I love that you mentioned about the quality of Christian films and things, and it's come

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so far from when I was a kid.

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I remember watching Jesus of Nazareth, the series, when I was younger, and my parents

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had me watching that when I was a kid.

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And of course, you can go back to the Charlton Heston movies and some of those, which are

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interesting as well.

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But yeah, there was always this thought in the industry that, well, it's a, quote, Christian

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movie that means it's in inferior products immediately.

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And as a Christian myself, I'd grown up a Christian, I had that mindset too.

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Like, okay, well, I'll set my expectations as to what I'm about ready to see.

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And I know it's not going to be some Avengers movie that'll be highly produced and well

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done.

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It's going to be a secondary product that preaches to the choir maybe or something.

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And I like how you pointed out how The Chosen kind of elevated that and it's really made

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a difference.

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Absolutely.

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Absolutely.

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Stan, can you walk us through the process of producing the series?

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What challenges that you may have faced and how you've overcome them?

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Well, that's a great question and it really starts with an idea that was birthed in Dallas

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Jenkins who is the originator of the series.

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He's the director and also a co-writer.

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And you probably know the story, but he was a, had his aspirations to be a Hollywood director

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and had a movie called The Resurrection of Gavin Stone, which I think is really ironic.

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That movie bombed and it just set him and Dallas has been very transparent about his

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experience, really set him back and he wondered even for the Lord, should I even do this?

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Should I be a filmmaker?

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His church in Chicago, Harvest Church, he had done a few little films, you know, they

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would use for different occasions and they asked him, would you do a Christmas movie

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for us that we can show?

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And so, they used a member's pasture and went out and made a movie called The Shepherd.

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And you've seen that, it's a little 20 minute, maybe 30 minute film about this shepherd who

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is lame and he gets, you know, this, you know, kind of shunned by his fellow shepherds and

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ends up being the one who is the first one to go see Mary and Joseph in the manger and

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the whole Jesus in his arms.

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And so, just a tender, beautiful movie and it had that personal touch we now see in The

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Chosen.

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And Darrell Eaves, who was one of the co-founders, came to him and said, hey, I think we can

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do a series on, you know, about Jesus, about the life of Jesus, Chosen Father.

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And so, that became the genesis of what became The Chosen.

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And of course, the first season was crowdfunded and one of the most successful, if not the

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most successful for an entertainment piece in history.

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And then the next few seasons were paid forward.

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And they really came, Dallas and the people involved in the production said there wasn't

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enough there to keep the series at the high level they were used to.

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And where he and Mark Green got together, again, it was a God moment, to be together

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and just said, let's form this nonprofit and give people a chance to be a part of the

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experience, to be a part of investing in this kingdom project.

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And so, Come and See was born.

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And so, we took on season four, starting there, and then, of course, it's going to go all

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the way through season seven over the next few years.

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And our job is threefold, the foundation, and that is that we are paying for production

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completely all the way through.

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And it's, as you go to keep quality, as you guys know, it takes investment.

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It's expensive.

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And so, we are there, but you see the results on the screen.

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And then the second, we call these pillars, first is production.

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The second is translation.

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And if you're going to reach a billion people, and that actually came from Dallas, three

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people.

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And so, it wasn't something that we kind of added.

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That was his vision.

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So, we took that on.

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But to reach a billion people with a series like this means it'll have to be translated.

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And what's interesting, the most of a television series that had been translated was about,

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I think it was about 45, 46 languages.

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And guess what TV series it was?

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It was Baywatch.

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Old Hasselhoff.

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That was the one that held the record.

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And so, we were able to actually go past that here in the last few months, which is kind

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of a big achievement.

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But more importantly, the reason for that is that on a commercial level, it just isn't

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viable for a studio or distributor to go beyond those first 30, 40 languages.

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People, it doesn't make economic sense.

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And so, we knew that for us to go in.

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And people ask, well, why 600?

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And 600 really represents 95% of the world will be able to understand one of those 600

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languages.

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Wow.

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There are many more.

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There's I think 6,000 what's called heart languages.

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And of course, there's a movement, as you know, every tribe, every nation, which is

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also the Green family involved with that, that aspires to have every language have a

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portion, at least the New Testament, and 95% have a Bible in their heart language.

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But people understand, as we see in the Olympics, all the nations that are there, they have

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understand the understanding, or they'll understand French, even though that's not their first

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language.

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And so, that's our goal.

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And of course, the vast majority of that group will be able to have it in the language that

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they grew up with.

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And so, and that's a process because you're talking about dubbing.

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Right.

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That was the question I was going to ask, the dubbing versus subtitles, because you

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have dubbing where you can put it into someone's language and they hear a disciple or Mary

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speak the words in their own dialect, I'm assuming, so you're not just getting me trying

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to speak Spanish to dub it.

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You're getting someone from that country that can speak.

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Is it almost like a whole new production?

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Like you're just kind of almost doing it over again?

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Completely.

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Yes.

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I mean, the visual is done, and the actors have spoken their pieces.

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But yes, it's an art form.

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And we are blessed to have one of the major talents of the world in film dubbing.

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His name is Rick Dempsey.

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He worked for Disney for 35 years.

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And it was just, again, a God moment that he was ready to retire from that role.

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He started in his early 20s and to join us at Come and See.

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And so, he directs our dubbing.

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And it is, it's a very, very artistic process.

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So the first step is finding those actors that can then embody both the voice, because

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you want to have a match to what that actor has done.

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So that voice, and then to be able to do the language so that it fits the mouth.

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Right, right.

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You might see those old, you know, like the movies, the Asian movies where the mouse moving

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100 miles an hour and two words come out.

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Yeah, the chronic movies.

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Yeah, that doesn't work.

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And so that is the art form.

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But here's something else that is really important in translation.

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It's been an education for me.

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It's called localization.

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So in other words, and you kind of alluded to there, Brian, that you have to be able

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to then, whether it's an idiom or a word, how it's translated, it has the same meaning

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in that other language that it does in the original language.

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So that the person then, you know, hearing it will not be confused.

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Say, why did they use that word?

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That's kind of weird.

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Right, right.

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For each language, we have subject matter experts.

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And these are pastors or theologians because of this, you know, the nature of the show.

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We want to make sure that the theology and the history, you know, of the context of Jewish

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history and how the church and all of that, of course, later, but in the time that Jesus

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was on the earth, that that is correctly translated.

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And then the dubbing can be done and subtitles as well.

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So our goal is a hundred languages dubbed and then subtitled.

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But here's what's interesting is that when you get to, when we get to languages that

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are probably 200, 300 in terms of the order that we're going for, a lot of people that

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speak those more obscure languages are not literate because I was thinking that same

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thing they probably can't read.

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Yes.

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So the dubbing may extend farther than we have anticipated, but for now you can actually

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go to the app, the chosen app.

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I did and I was scrolling through all the languages that you have it dubbed in.

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It's incredible.

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You can choose.

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And I think for season four, we're up to about 40 languages.

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And for seasons one through three, I think it's over 50 that you can just select from

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a menu and then there it is.

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There's the show, seasons one through three.

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I said about 50 plus languages.

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Season four, we're up to about 45 right now, working on others.

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And again, so we have a ways to go to 600, but these are incredibly large language groups,

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right?

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Because you've got Hindi, Mandarin and Russian and Portuguese and Spanish and all of that.

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But it's kind of, for me, it's kind of fun to go to sometimes watch how that language

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is portrayed and thinking about people who are experiencing the chosen and really this

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beautiful story of Jesus and his chosen followers in their language.

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So Stan, I have a question, what was behind the decision to stream versus be in movie

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theaters?

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That goes to pillar three.

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I'm glad you said that.

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I was curious and I had a feeling I might know the answer, but I want to hear you.

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This production, you make sure the seasons can be completed and then translation.

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The third pillar is free for all.

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We want to make sure that it can be distributed throughout the world and kept free.

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That was a value that Dallas Jenkins had at the beginning.

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He said, the billion people keep it free.

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And so the streaming really is tied to the app.

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So the app is really where people can then, regardless of where they live, and this applies

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not just to smartphones, but feature phones.

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In other words, there are places in the world that may not have iOS or an Android smartphone,

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but they've got what's called a feature phone.

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They can download and get content and be able to watch it in their language.

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So we're really tuned into that technology and we're so desirous that again, that it's

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accessible.

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I guess maybe another word for that is and we are blessed to be able to really partner

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with some just top quality international ministries.

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I'll give you a quick example, U-Version.

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We all know that.

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It's been downloaded on more than 500 million devices and hundreds and hundreds of languages

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are available of the scripture.

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And here's the thing, if our greatest at Come and See, greatest desire is that when people

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watch The Chosen, they are then motivated to go to scripture.

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The show is the show.

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It doesn't claim to be anything else.

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It's not the Bible.

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It is taken from the Bible, the stories and of course the characters and the words of

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Jesus when he's speaking scripture are accurate from scripture.

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Beyond that, it's just a show.

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So we depend upon ministries that would take this then like U-Version or One Hope or Bible

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Project or Alpha, right?

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These Camp Crew, Prison Fellowship, to then take this and again in languages, but take

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it to that application.

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I'll give you a quick story.

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Which of course is on college campuses in the US and the world.

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They've been doing a test since the spring where they will invite students.

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They call them watch parties.

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They say, come in, we're going to show a film.

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They don't tell them what it is.

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We'll feed you.

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And then they start showing The Chosen.

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They'll do it over a period of eight weeks.

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And at the end of each session, they'll have crew staff, some are students, some are staff,

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who will then kind of lead a discussion.

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What did you think?

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What did you think of this and just kind of give them a chance to talk about it?

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What did they experience through that?

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They've been very, very pleased with the results and in many cases surprised with reality.

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By the way, these are secular campuses.

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Right.

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Right.

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One NYU, and I'll give you a quick story.

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Cal, which is up in California here, Cal Berkeley, there was a Chinese student, Chinese national

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who was a student there, Cal.

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She became involved in this watch party, did it for eight weeks.

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At the conclusion, and again, with these discussions and really helping her kind of help answer

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questions, that kind of thing, she accepted Christ in her heart.

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And she made a statement that we, the crew told us, and she says, you know, when I started

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watching Jesus to me was a fairy tale.

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He was real.

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By the end, I realized he was a real person and I need to commit my life to him.

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So that kind of thing we're just seeing happening.

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And it's encouraged crew then to take this on an international scale.

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And again, the translation enables people then, students in other campuses and other

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languages to be able to watch it.

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So we're seeing this kind of thing in other settings as well, including prisons, which

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is a remarkable story in itself.

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Right.

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Prison has been involved with.

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Well, Stan, I like how you point out that The Chosen is a show and it's a good show,

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but it is just a show whereas you want people to go to the scripture to find out what God

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and Jesus and His ministry was all about here on earth.

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And the partnership with you, with the Bible app is really neat.

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But I did want to ask, you know, obviously with creative interpretations, you might get

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some pushback, you know, from the Christian community.

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What kind of, I guess, what kind of pushback, if any, have you received in this area when

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you're dealing with such a sensitive subject like this?

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You know, it is interesting.

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What the show does is that it is based in the writers.

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I know them well, Ryan Swanson, Tyler Thompson, of course, Dallas is a writer.

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They are so desirous.

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They research so carefully.

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Not just from scripture, but they depend on the Holy Spirit to give them, you know, the

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kind of storyline of the story is there, but how do you pull out and develop these characters?

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And that's the thing I think that makes The Chosen relatable are the characters.

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We see ourselves in these followers, these chosen followers, these disciples, and see

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the quirks and the foibles and the doubts that they have.

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And as seasons progress, we're going to see that even more.

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And we know from scripture that even in the upper room, they wonder what's going on here.

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They just didn't get it.

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You know, it's almost like, why aren't you seeing this?

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Well, as we see the characters in The Chosen go through, we kind of say, okay, that helps

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us identify.

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So, to the point of when it's not in scripture.

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In a good example, one of the most watched in terms of views scenes is in season three,

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where Jesus has a conversation with little James about healing.

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And it's just one of those that just has such relevance to people.

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And just for your listeners that are, or to set a context.

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So Jesus, and this is again, right from scripture, he's in a room and he's sending out the disciples

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two by two.

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And they're going to go to witness and testify.

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They're going to cast out demons and heal people.

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And they're going to take nothing with them.

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You go right to scripture and even the pairings are there in scripture.

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So that's what this scene is.

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So that scene is all like, yeah, that's like word for word in scripture.

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Except you see reactions like, I love it.

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There's one disciple goes, so we can't even take a second tunic?

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No, just one.

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And so he's got this look on his face like, wow, that's not easy.

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Well there's that humanity that comes through that who among us would not ask the same question

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or I mean, I've got to go with that guy.

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Now, he wasn't quite the accepted guy yet at this point in the season.

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So anyway, the inclusion, they're walking out of the room where you kind of get on their

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way and little James and he's, if you kind of go back and rewatch some of those, he's

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got a staff and he's got a bit of a limp.

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And even there's a scene earlier in the series where someone asks him, have you ever, have

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you thought about asking the master to heal you?

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And he's bothering him.

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I don't want to, you know, so you kind of get that there's kind of a setup coming.

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So in this scene, they're walking out and little James says to Jesus, Rabbi may have

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a word.

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He says, sure, little James, what is it?

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He says, you've asked us to cast out demons, to heal others.

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Why haven't you healed me?

399
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Well, is that not the question for so many people, for Christians, wondering, I have

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a loved one, I have my daughter, something's happening here and you're in permanently

401
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and yes, God does heal.

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Yes, Jesus, that's what he did when he was on earth, but not all of us.

403
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We don't know that he healed everybody.

404
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We probably assume that he didn't.

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We see in our own life and experience.

406
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And so the dialogue is not from scripture that takes place.

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That scene is scripture, but the principles, the theology is drawn from what we know is

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the work of God in the world when it comes to healing.

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And the last line is kind of the telling one where he says, little James, just think how

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effective someone like you will be healing others.

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And you kind of wipe the tears and he says, oh, and by the way, little James, you will

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be healed.

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It's just a matter of time.

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I mean, people, I don't think you've ever seen, there's some interviews that have been

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done.

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Nick Vujicic, who has, he watched it in Dallas, interviewed him.

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You can go to YouTube and see it.

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And Nick, who's Australian, he lives in California here, but he's Australian.

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He says, I was moved.

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And Johnny Erickson taught us the same thing.

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She watched it and she said tears just came to her eyes.

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So people who have been in those positions, like those two examples who are wonderful,

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wonderful evangelists for the scriptures and for Jesus understand that.

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And I think for us it's helped.

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And that has been a huge help to so many people.

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So I guess that's a long answer to say they want to make sure the writers that it's plausible.

427
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It's possible that this could have happened or it's plausible that Eden, Simon Peter's

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wife had a miscarriage.

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And how many people have been helped by that kind of storyline that took place that gave

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Peter some reason to say, master, I know that you're powerful.

431
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You're the Messiah, but are you good?

432
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I mean, that's my interpretation of it.

433
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And again, how much have we asked about a God?

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We know you're God.

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We know that you love us.

436
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And there's, in fact, C.S. Lewis wrote in Narnia and they come up to ask about Aslan

437
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and to say, you know, is he good?

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And the answer is yes, he is, but he's not faith.

439
00:24:58,400 --> 00:24:59,400
Right.

440
00:24:59,400 --> 00:25:08,640
And that's like, oh, that just, so we're just really just to see how it's relatable so that

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we can relate to what's happening in the humanity of the followers and especially of Jesus is

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00:25:14,320 --> 00:25:19,200
what's just touching people so deeply that he's not just a symbol.

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He's not an icon.

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He's not an object to be studied.

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He is a person who loves us and who wants us to be invested in him and to be a part

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of what he's doing in the world.

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And so I think that's what's coming through.

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And we're finding people of all faith traditions that are responding because of that, especially

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the Catholic, Catholic reviewers are just, we just are so, so grateful that there's a

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huge just response because again, that humanity that's coming through.

451
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Right, right.

452
00:25:48,280 --> 00:25:53,600
So Stan, for our listeners who are inspired by your work, how can they get involved or

453
00:25:53,600 --> 00:25:55,840
support the foundation?

454
00:25:55,840 --> 00:25:56,840
Thank you.

455
00:25:56,840 --> 00:25:57,840
That's a great question.

456
00:25:57,840 --> 00:26:03,560
Of course, comeandsee.net is our address and we have, you can go under get involved.

457
00:26:03,560 --> 00:26:09,000
And here's the number one thing I can ask of your viewers and listeners is to pray.

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And we have established what we call the prayer crew and it takes nothing to sign up for it.

459
00:26:14,120 --> 00:26:17,360
And all you'll get are updates on things that you can be praying for.

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00:26:17,360 --> 00:26:21,920
And we have had over 120,000 people sign up for that.

461
00:26:21,920 --> 00:26:22,920
Oh, wow.

462
00:26:22,920 --> 00:26:23,920
That's amazing.

463
00:26:23,920 --> 00:26:26,320
We're so blessed by it and it's making a difference.

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Prayer is what's making a difference.

465
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The enemy is not like the show.

466
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Anything that is about Jesus, right?

467
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He's going to be against it.

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And so we need to pray against that.

469
00:26:35,800 --> 00:26:40,400
But more importantly, that the people that need to hear this and experience Jesus through

470
00:26:40,400 --> 00:26:46,400
this show will be able to do so and to then begin a journey.

471
00:26:46,400 --> 00:26:48,200
Because it's one thing to meet Jesus.

472
00:26:48,200 --> 00:26:51,080
It's another thing to follow him.

473
00:26:51,080 --> 00:26:55,480
We feel this catalyst, if you will, the show is a catalyst, both for evangelism for people

474
00:26:55,480 --> 00:27:00,760
to meet Jesus, to receive him, but also to follow him, which is where discipleship comes

475
00:27:00,760 --> 00:27:01,760
in.

476
00:27:01,760 --> 00:27:04,240
So you can go there and there to sign up for the prayer crew.

477
00:27:04,240 --> 00:27:06,460
Of course, there's a place for people want to give.

478
00:27:06,460 --> 00:27:11,040
We talk about the loaves and fishes, which is a chosen theme.

479
00:27:11,040 --> 00:27:16,160
You know, we'll get $10 donations and we get those that are much bigger.

480
00:27:16,160 --> 00:27:17,160
And they all matter.

481
00:27:17,160 --> 00:27:19,280
And God uses each one.

482
00:27:19,280 --> 00:27:23,360
And we have just the stories that come through, both for people who have given, but also those,

483
00:27:23,360 --> 00:27:26,360
of course, who have been praying and what is happening in their lives.

484
00:27:26,360 --> 00:27:30,820
So just by going and getting involved both as part of our prayer crew, we would love

485
00:27:30,820 --> 00:27:32,440
it when people sign up for that.

486
00:27:32,440 --> 00:27:39,080
And you'll get information and just what we call prayer crew newsletter, which is just

487
00:27:39,080 --> 00:27:41,880
again, just what you can be praying for.

488
00:27:41,880 --> 00:27:46,640
And of course, all the features that are on the app, such as the theological, the biblical

489
00:27:46,640 --> 00:27:48,280
round table, which I really love.

490
00:27:48,280 --> 00:27:53,680
I want to talk about the chosen and answer the questions really that you've been posing.

491
00:27:53,680 --> 00:27:56,320
That is how do we, you know, what do we do with that scene?

492
00:27:56,320 --> 00:27:57,320
Right.

493
00:27:57,320 --> 00:28:03,680
Talking about in investigating why this is, you know, plausible and why it's effective

494
00:28:03,680 --> 00:28:06,880
in terms of people experiencing who Jesus is.

495
00:28:06,880 --> 00:28:07,960
It's awesome.

496
00:28:07,960 --> 00:28:14,640
Well, Stan, I wanted to ask one more particular question along the line of challenges.

497
00:28:14,640 --> 00:28:16,560
And I've grown up a Christian my whole life.

498
00:28:16,560 --> 00:28:23,920
So I have a lot of experience in biblical study, you know, but that doesn't qualify

499
00:28:23,920 --> 00:28:29,040
me for anything more than just the fact that I've learned a lot as I go.

500
00:28:29,040 --> 00:28:33,160
And our views evolve, you know, over time, as far as you study the scriptures and you

501
00:28:33,160 --> 00:28:36,120
find things that hit you every time you read the scriptures.

502
00:28:36,120 --> 00:28:43,400
And so I know that there are some in the Christian community that view the second commandment

503
00:28:43,400 --> 00:28:48,760
in particular of images of God or Jesus as problematic.

504
00:28:48,760 --> 00:28:52,840
And how would you respond to something like that in particular with something like this

505
00:28:52,840 --> 00:28:53,840
in The Chosen?

506
00:28:53,840 --> 00:28:56,640
I'm going to give an answer that Ed Stetzer gave.

507
00:28:56,640 --> 00:29:01,400
Ed Stetzer is a Dean of Talbot Seminary at Biola, but he's also, he's everywhere.

508
00:29:01,400 --> 00:29:06,360
He ran the Billy Graham Center and I was on a show like this and a listener asked that

509
00:29:06,360 --> 00:29:07,360
exact question.

510
00:29:07,360 --> 00:29:08,360
I bet, yeah.

511
00:29:08,360 --> 00:29:09,360
Yeah.

512
00:29:09,360 --> 00:29:13,560
And so I let, so Ed, who is a, he's got two PhDs, he's a missiologist.

513
00:29:13,560 --> 00:29:17,600
He says, you know what, I would never want to tell something, if that's their conviction,

514
00:29:17,600 --> 00:29:22,000
I would never want to tell somebody, you should not follow your heart in that.

515
00:29:22,000 --> 00:29:23,000
Right.

516
00:29:23,000 --> 00:29:27,600
But the truth is that through the history of the church, visual representations have

517
00:29:27,600 --> 00:29:29,840
actually been a part of what the church has done.

518
00:29:29,840 --> 00:29:33,520
And I know the Reformation was a response to excessiveness.

519
00:29:33,520 --> 00:29:34,520
Absolutely.

520
00:29:34,520 --> 00:29:35,600
You know, I died.

521
00:29:35,600 --> 00:29:40,320
And setting up, you know, just these things to be a way to bring money into the church

522
00:29:40,320 --> 00:29:44,120
and all that and the idolatry of what was happening.

523
00:29:44,120 --> 00:29:48,080
And he said, but he said, but images have been important.

524
00:29:48,080 --> 00:29:53,120
And the fact is, and here's what's interesting, we're seeing, there's a phenomenon that's

525
00:29:53,120 --> 00:29:57,760
happening in the Arab world, especially in Iran, where Jesus comes to people in dreams.

526
00:29:57,760 --> 00:29:59,800
I know you're probably aware of it.

527
00:29:59,800 --> 00:30:01,440
He's documented.

528
00:30:01,440 --> 00:30:06,960
And we're seeing a response in the Arab world that is pretty remarkable, where people are

529
00:30:06,960 --> 00:30:12,680
able to see what they've only experienced in their mind, you know, because it's been

530
00:30:12,680 --> 00:30:13,680
there.

531
00:30:13,680 --> 00:30:14,680
And the same thing is true.

532
00:30:14,680 --> 00:30:19,160
I mentioned in Catholic, and I've talked to many Catholic priests and those that are in

533
00:30:19,160 --> 00:30:21,320
positions where they are in authority.

534
00:30:21,320 --> 00:30:24,360
And I say, what is it about the chosen that draws people in really?

535
00:30:24,360 --> 00:30:29,640
Well, it's being able to experience and visualize the human Jesus.

536
00:30:29,640 --> 00:30:33,080
And there are others that say, well, I don't want to have Jonathan Rumi.

537
00:30:33,080 --> 00:30:36,640
Jonathan is the actor who plays in my head when I pray.

538
00:30:36,640 --> 00:30:39,000
How do we get that?

539
00:30:39,000 --> 00:30:41,920
But I grew up, I told you guys, I grew up in a Christian bookstore environment.

540
00:30:41,920 --> 00:30:45,360
There were these really kind of funny paintings.

541
00:30:45,360 --> 00:30:47,120
Oh, goodness, man.

542
00:30:47,120 --> 00:30:51,200
I grew up in, I think every other household I went into for Friends of Church had a picture

543
00:30:51,200 --> 00:30:53,760
of white Jesus up on the wall.

544
00:30:53,760 --> 00:30:58,600
And I'm like, even at a young age, I was like, is he white?

545
00:30:58,600 --> 00:31:04,680
You know, the other thing, I love that the chosen has taken care and getting actors that

546
00:31:04,680 --> 00:31:07,400
are not just a whole bunch of white guys.

547
00:31:07,400 --> 00:31:13,000
It's actually trying to be representative of the area of the Middle East where they

548
00:31:13,000 --> 00:31:14,000
are.

549
00:31:14,000 --> 00:31:15,000
So that's incredible.

550
00:31:15,000 --> 00:31:20,720
So yeah, they've been careful and to include women in the show.

551
00:31:20,720 --> 00:31:24,040
We know women were a part of the story.

552
00:31:24,040 --> 00:31:28,580
But again, to kind of go back, if that's troublesome to people, we don't, we're not going to put

553
00:31:28,580 --> 00:31:29,580
it in the book, we don't push it.

554
00:31:29,580 --> 00:31:31,760
It's not, but we're seeing it helping so many people.

555
00:31:31,760 --> 00:31:35,120
And again, God has created us as we're visual creatures.

556
00:31:35,120 --> 00:31:39,960
And even we have a version of the Chosen for the Blind where it's a narrated version.

557
00:31:39,960 --> 00:31:40,960
That's interesting.

558
00:31:40,960 --> 00:31:41,960
Yeah.

559
00:31:41,960 --> 00:31:47,040
Or you want to flesh out the description of who the characters are and what they're doing

560
00:31:47,040 --> 00:31:48,400
in the dialogue that's taking place.

561
00:31:48,400 --> 00:31:50,840
Of course, they can hear it.

562
00:31:50,840 --> 00:31:56,080
And there's also versions that are being done for the deaf, which would focus again, subtitles

563
00:31:56,080 --> 00:31:57,080
don't work.

564
00:31:57,080 --> 00:31:58,080
Yeah.

565
00:31:58,080 --> 00:32:01,720
And they can't read because they've never learned like we have to be able to read because

566
00:32:01,720 --> 00:32:05,800
it's all done with audio, right?

567
00:32:05,800 --> 00:32:11,240
And so all these different, it's not just languages, but also people who are, you know,

568
00:32:11,240 --> 00:32:15,400
in other parts of, you know, challenging in terms of being able to receive a message.

569
00:32:15,400 --> 00:32:21,440
But I think it's, we're seeing that people, it's kind of dropping a barrier for people

570
00:32:21,440 --> 00:32:25,120
who don't see Jesus as a person I can relate to.

571
00:32:25,120 --> 00:32:30,680
And I think that this Chinese student at Cal Berkeley said, I thought he was a fairy tale.

572
00:32:30,680 --> 00:32:33,160
And that's probably true of a lot of people in the world.

573
00:32:33,160 --> 00:32:35,600
You know, they thought that he's just a symbol.

574
00:32:35,600 --> 00:32:40,320
And to realize he's a person, he loves me, he relates to me.

575
00:32:40,320 --> 00:32:44,360
And as we see these seasons go on, he will suffer and die for me.

576
00:32:44,360 --> 00:32:49,400
And so it's something that I think is, it's a great question.

577
00:32:49,400 --> 00:32:54,600
We never want to deny that people are troubled sometimes by that.

578
00:32:54,600 --> 00:32:55,720
We see it overwhelmingly.

579
00:32:55,720 --> 00:33:00,960
And I've asked theologians, you know, what is it that troubles other theologians about

580
00:33:00,960 --> 00:33:01,960
it?

581
00:33:01,960 --> 00:33:03,680
It's interesting.

582
00:33:03,680 --> 00:33:09,240
The one scene is the scene where Jesus is practicing for the Sermon on the Mount.

583
00:33:09,240 --> 00:33:12,000
And this one theologian told me, that's what I hear more than any other.

584
00:33:12,000 --> 00:33:14,440
It's just like, why does he have to practice?

585
00:33:14,440 --> 00:33:15,440
Right?

586
00:33:15,440 --> 00:33:16,440
He's perfect.

587
00:33:16,440 --> 00:33:17,440
Yeah.

588
00:33:17,440 --> 00:33:20,800
You start processing it, you go, well, he was a carpenter.

589
00:33:20,800 --> 00:33:22,960
Did he just know naturally how to be a carpenter?

590
00:33:22,960 --> 00:33:26,480
Or did he learn from his father, was he a carpenter?

591
00:33:26,480 --> 00:33:31,280
Because there's that humanity that we sometimes overlook, that that's why he can identify

592
00:33:31,280 --> 00:33:32,280
with us.

593
00:33:32,280 --> 00:33:36,920
And the scripture tells us he's experienced everything we have, including temptation and

594
00:33:36,920 --> 00:33:38,240
yet without sin.

595
00:33:38,240 --> 00:33:40,000
And he's our advocate.

596
00:33:40,000 --> 00:33:42,800
He understands what we've been going through.

597
00:33:42,800 --> 00:33:46,400
And in fact, if you're watching the Olympics, there's a series of ads called, He Gets Us.

598
00:33:46,400 --> 00:33:48,360
I've seen those, yeah.

599
00:33:48,360 --> 00:33:50,400
And it's really Jesus knows.

600
00:33:50,400 --> 00:33:53,800
He's aware of it because he's lived as a human.

601
00:33:53,800 --> 00:33:55,680
And he still is, by the way.

602
00:33:55,680 --> 00:33:59,800
He's in heaven right now as our advocate praying for us.

603
00:33:59,800 --> 00:34:01,400
In the body.

604
00:34:01,400 --> 00:34:04,520
And I think it's the beauty of how God has created us.

605
00:34:04,520 --> 00:34:08,520
And he knows us so intimately and what we will respond to.

606
00:34:08,520 --> 00:34:09,520
And I just love the fact.

607
00:34:09,520 --> 00:34:11,280
And again, great literature will do that too.

608
00:34:11,280 --> 00:34:12,760
It'll paint a mental image.

609
00:34:12,760 --> 00:34:13,760
Right.

610
00:34:13,760 --> 00:34:14,760
And the Bible does that.

611
00:34:14,760 --> 00:34:16,520
Look how many stories Jesus told.

612
00:34:16,520 --> 00:34:17,520
Oh, yeah.

613
00:34:17,520 --> 00:34:21,200
And you can only imagine when he was telling about the lost coin or the lost son or the

614
00:34:21,200 --> 00:34:25,240
prodigal son or the people, their minds were going nuts.

615
00:34:25,240 --> 00:34:27,040
They were picturing this stuff.

616
00:34:27,040 --> 00:34:33,120
So there's that aspect of our faith that is very human and tangible.

617
00:34:33,120 --> 00:34:35,360
And yet Jesus was fully God.

618
00:34:35,360 --> 00:34:37,120
And we've seen him heal.

619
00:34:37,120 --> 00:34:42,240
We've seen him do those miraculous things that Jesus could do for a reason.

620
00:34:42,240 --> 00:34:45,320
You know, would know and would come to him as followers.

621
00:34:45,320 --> 00:34:51,040
Well, I know what we're going to see as the show progresses, we will see more of Jesus'

622
00:34:51,040 --> 00:34:55,120
humanity because of course, you'll have a scene in the Garden of Gethsemane where he's

623
00:34:55,120 --> 00:34:58,640
praying to ask that God not do this.

624
00:34:58,640 --> 00:35:02,120
You know, he is human and he obviously felt pain.

625
00:35:02,120 --> 00:35:09,840
And the human part of him was not really keen on crucifixion and death and God's wrath.

626
00:35:09,840 --> 00:35:12,760
But ultimately, his sacrifice for us is what came through.

627
00:35:12,760 --> 00:35:16,680
So I know as we get down there, we're going to see more of that, I'm sure.

628
00:35:16,680 --> 00:35:17,680
Beautifully done.

629
00:35:17,680 --> 00:35:18,680
Yeah, no, I know.

630
00:35:18,680 --> 00:35:19,680
That's a great comment.

631
00:35:19,680 --> 00:35:20,680
And yes, it's there.

632
00:35:20,680 --> 00:35:22,280
By the way, they're filming that season right now.

633
00:35:22,280 --> 00:35:23,280
Oh, wow.

634
00:35:23,280 --> 00:35:24,280
That'll be interesting.

635
00:35:24,280 --> 00:35:25,280
Yeah.

636
00:35:25,280 --> 00:35:28,200
With that moment in the garden.

637
00:35:28,200 --> 00:35:30,800
And then season six is the crucifixion season.

638
00:35:30,800 --> 00:35:31,800
So that's coming.

639
00:35:31,800 --> 00:35:33,000
They haven't started that yet.

640
00:35:33,000 --> 00:35:37,840
But it's always, you know, right now where season four is available and you can stream

641
00:35:37,840 --> 00:35:45,320
it on Amazon, they're completing the filming of season five and they've been working on

642
00:35:45,320 --> 00:35:46,800
the scripting for season six.

643
00:35:46,800 --> 00:35:48,560
So it's got that cadence to it.

644
00:35:48,560 --> 00:35:49,560
Yeah.

645
00:35:49,560 --> 00:35:56,960
But so, yeah, just pray for all of that because it's a heavy responsibility to really, as

646
00:35:56,960 --> 00:36:02,760
we all do, is we look at scripture and, you know, the Apostle Paul, right, he said, get

647
00:36:02,760 --> 00:36:08,560
good at scripture, you know, study to show yourself approved, right?

648
00:36:08,560 --> 00:36:09,560
Yeah.

649
00:36:09,560 --> 00:36:10,560
It takes work.

650
00:36:10,560 --> 00:36:14,480
And I hope it inspires people to go deeper in the scriptures and to see just the beauty

651
00:36:14,480 --> 00:36:16,960
of what we have in our, you know, that God has given us.

652
00:36:16,960 --> 00:36:19,560
And the book, that is the inspired word of God.

653
00:36:19,560 --> 00:36:20,560
That's the inspiration, right?

654
00:36:20,560 --> 00:36:21,560
Right.

655
00:36:21,560 --> 00:36:26,160
The show is the show to tell us the story, but it's the Bible and the encounter with

656
00:36:26,160 --> 00:36:30,920
Jesus through the Holy Spirit that is going to make the supernatural difference in our

657
00:36:30,920 --> 00:36:33,360
lives for eternity.

658
00:36:33,360 --> 00:36:34,360
But it starts now, right?

659
00:36:34,360 --> 00:36:35,360
Yeah.

660
00:36:35,360 --> 00:36:37,120
To do right here on earth.

661
00:36:37,120 --> 00:36:38,120
Absolutely.

662
00:36:38,120 --> 00:36:43,740
So the chosen, Stan, is no longer listed as Angel Studios content.

663
00:36:43,740 --> 00:36:48,160
Can you explain for our audience the separation and what led to that decision?

664
00:36:48,160 --> 00:36:49,160
Sure.

665
00:36:49,160 --> 00:36:54,280
As I said, the first three seasons, and Dallas has said without Angel, there would be no

666
00:36:54,280 --> 00:36:55,280
chosen.

667
00:36:55,280 --> 00:36:56,280
Right.

668
00:36:56,280 --> 00:36:57,760
So they'll do funding and then it went to pay it forward.

669
00:36:57,760 --> 00:37:01,480
And really the pay it forward model wasn't adequate to keep up with the production and

670
00:37:01,480 --> 00:37:08,160
that's why Dallas, and the foundation was really set up, Come and See, so that there

671
00:37:08,160 --> 00:37:11,640
would be the funding needed to do a quality show.

672
00:37:11,640 --> 00:37:15,280
And so there was an agreement in place for that relationship to end and they did end

673
00:37:15,280 --> 00:37:19,960
just a couple months ago, if not more recently.

674
00:37:19,960 --> 00:37:23,480
And so then Come and See is now the primary.

675
00:37:23,480 --> 00:37:27,400
There was still a little pay it forward money that was going to be chosen, but that's done.

676
00:37:27,400 --> 00:37:34,200
And so the only way to support the chosen financially is through Come and See.

677
00:37:34,200 --> 00:37:41,480
And here's the other good thing, 100% because of some generous families that cover the overhead

678
00:37:41,480 --> 00:37:46,160
of Come and See, and this is unusual in a non-profit, 100% of the dollars that people

679
00:37:46,160 --> 00:37:51,800
give go to the show for translation and distribution through these ministries.

680
00:37:51,800 --> 00:37:58,000
So we're very mindful of that and by God's grace that'll never change.

681
00:37:58,000 --> 00:38:03,080
And so we can always tell people that and we make that very, very clear for people.

682
00:38:03,080 --> 00:38:08,320
So yeah, so it's available in the, as I said, the chosen app, which people can download

683
00:38:08,320 --> 00:38:11,600
for free and they'll watch it.

684
00:38:11,600 --> 00:38:15,560
But it's also streaming if they want to see it on Amazon.

685
00:38:15,560 --> 00:38:21,320
So it's just, yeah, and it's one of those things that it takes a lot of people to bring

686
00:38:21,320 --> 00:38:22,320
the show together.

687
00:38:22,320 --> 00:38:31,520
As I said, it's being filmed in the primary set in Dallas, Midloak, and it's remarkable

688
00:38:31,520 --> 00:38:32,520
to see.

689
00:38:32,520 --> 00:38:36,240
I've never been around a movie set before, but boy, the complexity and the number of

690
00:38:36,240 --> 00:38:39,800
people it takes to do it.

691
00:38:39,800 --> 00:38:43,480
But that professionalism again, what leads to the quality, but there's a heart there.

692
00:38:43,480 --> 00:38:45,240
There's a desire.

693
00:38:45,240 --> 00:38:50,800
It's not lost on the writers and the producers of the chosen that this is a higher purpose

694
00:38:50,800 --> 00:38:56,880
than just making a show, but it's what they're doing.

695
00:38:56,880 --> 00:39:02,000
Their ambition and their calling is to make a high quality TV show by Jesus and his followers.

696
00:39:02,000 --> 00:39:07,840
So the one last question I did have, because you have a lot of ambitious goals and some

697
00:39:07,840 --> 00:39:11,520
of them you're working rapidly towards with reaching a billion people and dubbing all

698
00:39:11,520 --> 00:39:16,560
of the shows and doing subtitles for those that you can't dub and everything else.

699
00:39:16,560 --> 00:39:20,960
Obviously we know that the story of Jesus here on earth has an ending point, which you've

700
00:39:20,960 --> 00:39:24,440
pointed out is coming up in season seven.

701
00:39:24,440 --> 00:39:30,200
Is there something in the future that you all are thinking about doing to move beyond

702
00:39:30,200 --> 00:39:32,800
this or anything else you want to discuss?

703
00:39:32,800 --> 00:39:33,800
Sure.

704
00:39:33,800 --> 00:39:36,480
Well, the chosen and the common see are separate entities.

705
00:39:36,480 --> 00:39:41,800
So the chosen is a profit collection for the chosen.

706
00:39:41,800 --> 00:39:47,200
And the common see is our, again, our mission is to reach a billion people with the authentic

707
00:39:47,200 --> 00:39:50,360
Jesus and that way we're doing it is through the chosen.

708
00:39:50,360 --> 00:39:53,080
And I would say, yes, so that's our focus right now.

709
00:39:53,080 --> 00:40:02,320
But maybe the production company may have other ambitions to do other biblical stories.

710
00:40:02,320 --> 00:40:09,680
And that's something that we certainly know about, but our focus is certainly on the chosen.

711
00:40:09,680 --> 00:40:11,160
We would love for the book of Acts.

712
00:40:11,160 --> 00:40:13,200
Can you see what that would be almost like?

713
00:40:13,200 --> 00:40:15,000
That would be an incredible story.

714
00:40:15,000 --> 00:40:16,000
Yes.

715
00:40:16,000 --> 00:40:19,920
You know, because it's our church that I attend here in Southern California, we're going

716
00:40:19,920 --> 00:40:25,600
through the book of Acts now and I can't help but start visualizing, boy, that was great.

717
00:40:25,600 --> 00:40:30,640
So but but we don't have anything, anything firm on any of that.

718
00:40:30,640 --> 00:40:34,480
But but we do know the cadence of the show itself.

719
00:40:34,480 --> 00:40:41,440
And it said the doing the, you know, the Garden Gethsemane and they're actually, again, involved

720
00:40:41,440 --> 00:40:42,440
with that right now.

721
00:40:42,440 --> 00:40:44,380
And I've been told it's a closed set.

722
00:40:44,380 --> 00:40:46,080
So people aren't really able to go see it.

723
00:40:46,080 --> 00:40:51,640
But by those, it's just it's just a beautiful set that they built for that.

724
00:40:51,640 --> 00:40:55,800
It can only again, I can only imagine what that like when season five is released.

725
00:40:55,800 --> 00:41:04,720
And then, of course, the challenge in the, you know, just the story we know is is so emotional

726
00:41:04,720 --> 00:41:11,320
and cosmic in what's happened in with the crucifixion season, or the resurrection season,

727
00:41:11,320 --> 00:41:12,320
which is season seven.

728
00:41:12,320 --> 00:41:13,320
All right.

729
00:41:13,320 --> 00:41:16,200
The great hope that gives us all.

730
00:41:16,200 --> 00:41:22,680
You know, I love the I love the ambition and the mission that you all have to reach everyone

731
00:41:22,680 --> 00:41:29,680
for the gospel, because obviously, we need to do that in this world for Jesus to return.

732
00:41:29,680 --> 00:41:34,560
And there's ways to do that with with scripture and Bible translations, which we've been doing

733
00:41:34,560 --> 00:41:35,560
so long.

734
00:41:35,560 --> 00:41:40,360
But the film media is a really interesting way to really go about getting a, like you

735
00:41:40,360 --> 00:41:44,100
said, a visual visual representation of what it would be like.

736
00:41:44,100 --> 00:41:46,440
So you've said it multiple times.

737
00:41:46,440 --> 00:41:51,480
But where can people find the app and the information on Come and See Foundation and

738
00:41:51,480 --> 00:41:54,720
everything else that they need to find about you all?

739
00:41:54,720 --> 00:41:55,720
Sure.

740
00:41:55,720 --> 00:41:56,720
Well, the app is easy.

741
00:41:56,720 --> 00:42:01,360
So whether you have Android or iOS, just go to your app store and just put the chosen and

742
00:42:01,360 --> 00:42:03,120
you'll see the three little fish.

743
00:42:03,120 --> 00:42:07,360
You know, the two black ones going one way and the green one going the T1 direction.

744
00:42:07,360 --> 00:42:12,560
And and that is free and has all the seasons one through four available in the multiple

745
00:42:12,560 --> 00:42:14,480
languages that we talked about.

746
00:42:14,480 --> 00:42:16,760
And then all features to the backstory features.

747
00:42:16,760 --> 00:42:21,720
They've got lots of behind the scenes stuff as well as the theological or biblical roundtables,

748
00:42:21,720 --> 00:42:23,880
they call it.

749
00:42:23,880 --> 00:42:26,280
And that's always going to be free.

750
00:42:26,280 --> 00:42:29,900
So that that is something I think that people can do right away.

751
00:42:29,900 --> 00:42:36,280
And then the website, come and see dot net, you access to kind of who we are, what come

752
00:42:36,280 --> 00:42:40,400
and see is and the leadership behind it, what our purpose is.

753
00:42:40,400 --> 00:42:45,000
And but also the prayer, the prayer crew, the prayer component that goes with that.

754
00:42:45,000 --> 00:42:51,400
And then some other features that would be available for for people to look at.

755
00:42:51,400 --> 00:42:52,400
And of course, for donors.

756
00:42:52,400 --> 00:42:57,560
And we just are so grateful for everything that people are willing to do and give towards

757
00:42:57,560 --> 00:42:58,560
this project.

758
00:42:58,560 --> 00:43:03,760
And again, 100 percent thing goes for production, translation and distribution of the chosen

759
00:43:03,760 --> 00:43:05,400
to the uttermost parts of the earth.

760
00:43:05,400 --> 00:43:06,400
Absolutely.

761
00:43:06,400 --> 00:43:09,840
I took a little quick peek and you know, with those charity rakers and you guys rank really

762
00:43:09,840 --> 00:43:13,740
high, which is always a great thing to see, you know, that the money is going towards

763
00:43:13,740 --> 00:43:17,120
what you're giving and not overhead and all this other stuff.

764
00:43:17,120 --> 00:43:18,480
So again, fantastic.

765
00:43:18,480 --> 00:43:21,600
Stan, thank you so much for joining us today.

766
00:43:21,600 --> 00:43:23,600
We truly appreciate it.

767
00:43:23,600 --> 00:43:24,600
Thank you so much, Stan.

768
00:43:24,600 --> 00:43:26,440
Thanks for what you're doing in your ministry.

769
00:43:26,440 --> 00:43:27,440
It's fantastic.

770
00:43:27,440 --> 00:43:28,440
I love it.

771
00:43:28,440 --> 00:43:30,440
And it's been an honor to be a part of it.

772
00:43:30,440 --> 00:43:34,660
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773
00:43:34,660 --> 00:43:35,920
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774
00:43:35,920 --> 00:43:40,680
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775
00:43:40,680 --> 00:43:47,520
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776
00:43:47,520 --> 00:43:51,440
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777
00:43:51,440 --> 00:43:55,040
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778
00:43:55,040 --> 00:43:59,440
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00:43:59,440 --> 00:44:00,440
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782
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