Good Monday morning, everyone. We have a big week on the podcast for you. And first up,

our inbox is full of emails asking whether or not it's a good idea to dramatize Christ's

life for television. A listener named Jim asks it this way.

Dear Pastor John, hello, and thank you for this podcast. I'm wondering of the dangers and

benefits of watching biblical historical fiction, particularly of television shows and movies

about the life of Christ of him acting and saying dramatized things beyond what we read in

scripture. One anonymous man writes in to say, Dear Pastor John, thank you for the podcast.

It has been used by God to help me and my family here in Kazakhstan. I would like to know your

thoughts on television shows and movies about the life of Christ. Are they helpful or unhelpful?

What are your concerns? And Sam, a church leader wants to know the place of visuals,

particularly screen dramatizations about the life of Christ. One recent show is, quote,

beloved by many, unquote, in his church. And he says, I feel it is in live into my own walk with

God and help me imagine what Jesus' world could have been like. This has the effect of making the

world of the Bible more accessible to me, but imagination can only take you so far. Can we enjoy

shows like this personally, even include them in a teaching context without violating the second

commandment. And finally, another listener, Lisa, is less optimistic. She says, television

dramatizations of Christ, life, quote, don't sit well with me. As she considers Proverbs 30 verse 6

in Revelation 22 18, she wonders if these dramas are adding to or altering scripture,

amounting to heresy. Pastor John, for these listeners, do you have any thoughts?

There is no way that I can avoid this question because it touches on my life,

because for 25 years, and I still do it one way or the other, for 25 years, when I was a pastor at

Bethlehem, every Christmas season, I created and read to the people in worship what we call

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