Dallas, TX
Dallas Jenkins says he is the ‘evangelical mascot of the LDS church’ and talks Easter celebrations
In the lead-up to Easter, Dallas Jenkins is encouraging “joyous” celebrations.
Jenkins, the creator of the hit biblical drama, “The Chosen,” appeared on the “followHIM” podcast in an episode released Wednesday. The podcast, hosted by Hank Smith and John Bytheway, explores the weekly lesson in the “Come, Follow Me” study manual from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Every year around Easter, Jenkins said he enjoys focusing on the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
“I really do, especially as a storyteller, think about how this story still impacts us 2,000 years later, and how I never want to take it for granted,” Jenkins said. “‘The Chosen’ is in many ways, my attempt to make sure that we never take it for granted.”
The filmmaker also described how he observes Easter at home and with his congregation, and shared advice on how the religious holiday can be celebrated with greater joy, particularly among members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
While building 5&2 Studios, the film studio that produces “The Chosen,” Jenkins worked alongside his co-founder Derral Eves, a Latter-day Saint. During this time, he realized he would be collaborating with several members of the church and began learning about the theological differences from his own evangelical faith.
“What I admire about (Latter-day Saint) folks is you guys are very well behaved, very tucked in,” Jenkins said. “Now, occasionally I’ll watch a BYU game and I’ll see you cheer like crazy.”
He added that during Easter services with his congregations, they often say, “I’ve seen you cheer during a Bears game. I’ve seen you celebrate multiple sporting events or graduations. What is the most celebratory and joyous and exciting victory in the history of the world that we get to participate in? It’s the resurrection of Christ.”
Though typically more “tucked in” during religious settings, Jenkins encouraged a “most joyous and celebratory” service during Easter.
“I appreciate the reverence of the different people within different faith traditions,” he continued. “But I would say it’s OK to express as much joy or more in the resurrection of your Savior as it is the student that hit a half-court shot that I just saw in the BYU game on Friday.”
“It’s OK to do it in the context of the greatest moment in the history of the world.”
Jenkins then shared that one of his favorite scenes from “The Chosen” is when Jesus tells the disciples to cast their nets on the other side, resulting in heaps of fish and a boisterous celebration.
The scene didn’t turn out as Jenkins had anticipated, but once he saw it come together, he realized the jubilee was exactly what the story needed — and those joyful portrayals have been part of why “The Chosen” has resonated with audiences.
“I’m honored evangelical mascot of the LDS church, so I’ve been granted favor to say certain things that maybe others can’t,” Jenkins said, while discussing the scene.
“There’s such a reverence, and there’s such a genuine respect for Christ (in the Latter-day Saint church), which is great. You guys probably do that better than we evangelicals do it, but sometimes it can lead to a formality, and I’ve seen it in paintings. I’ve seen it in some of the LDS videos. And portrayals of Christ are very formal,” he continued.
“This comes from a good place of honoring scripture, fidelity to scripture, just it feels like a reenactment of a scripture. One of the things that makes a scene … really work is the portrayals — the acting, the fun, the winks, the laughter, some of those moments that aren’t spelled out in scripture but undoubtedly would have happened.”
Reflecting on his BYU devotional
Jenkins also took a moment during his appearance on the podcast to reflect on his 2024 BYU devotional, where he spoke on overcoming failure and surrendering to God.
“I run into so many LDS friends or viewers of the show around the country, so many of them bring up that forum where I got a chance to speak at BYU to the students and community,” Jenkins said.
During the devotional, Jenkins recalled sharing his experience after a failed Hollywood movie, explaining that faith is about focusing on doing your part well rather than controlling the outcome, and that God can work through us in the depths of our failures, not just our accomplishments.
“There’s something especially poignant about whenever God works through failure and works through our lack and our desperation, as opposed to working through success. I think it’s especially wonderful when we see things that have become successful,” he said.
The name of his studio, 5&2, is a reminder that we are responsible for providing our best effort — five loaves and two fish — and the results are up to God.
Even as his projects, including “The Chosen,” became objectively successful, Jenkins believes the goal remains to offer God our best work and trust him with the impact.
“You’re not responsible for the feeding of the 5,000, you’re just responsible for loaves and fish,” he said. “It’s a good and healthy and important reminder.”
Dallas, TX
New video of Lake Dallas explosion draws focus on order decades ago to remove old plastic pipes
The search for the next general manager or president of basketball operations of the Dallas Mavericks has begun. They terminated Nico Harrison in November, which was about nine months too late, and gave any available candidates clear notice that they were open for business.
The plan was always to wait until after the season to start the search. While names popped up as the season reached an end, they didn’t begin turning over the staff until the Monday after the season ended. However, Dallas Mavericks fans are not going to like how the team is going about the search.
Patrick Dumont Leading Search for General Manager
NBA insider Jake Fischer reported that the Mavericks are not hiring a search firm in their hunt for a new lead executive. Instead, team governor Patrick Dumont is “acting as his own point person.”
This is an… interesting decision, to say the least. Dumont is not a basketball person whatsoever, and most organizations usually hire a search firm. The Chicago Bulls hired one as they look for their replacement for Arturas Karnisovas. Just because a firm is hired doesn’t mean a team will listen, though.
The Mavericks hired a firm in their last search for a GM. They let Donnie Nelson go in 2021 after a long tenure with the Mavs. Instead of listening to the firm, though, Mark Cuban ignored it to hire Nico Harrison, who had no previous NBA front office experience. Harrison had been an executive with Nike, which gave him connections with players like Kyrie Irving, Anthony Davis, and plenty of others.
For a while, that seemed to be working out okay. While he still had some questionable transactions, such as trading for Christian Wood and letting Jalen Brunson walk in free agency, they were still able to make a run to the NBA Finals in 2024. Then, he blew it all up, trading away Luka Doncic for an older and injured Anthony Davis, and the team hasn’t been the same since.
It’s imperative that the Mavericks get this hire correct. The interim Co-GM setup with Matt Riccardi and Michael Finley has performed admirably, but the 2026 NBA Draft is important for the Mavs to get right. It’s their best chance to pair Cooper Flagg with another young star, as they don’t own their first-round pick again until 2031 after this.
Hiring the right GM could help bring in more draft capital by bringing in bad contracts or flipping veterans into picks.
Dumont was able to convince Rick Welts, a Hall of Famer, to come out of retirement to be the CEO and lead the charge for a new arena. Maybe Dumont pulls another rabbit out of his hat for the GM.
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For a moment, it looked like FC Dallas was on its way to another statement win at home tonight.
Petar Musa scored two first half goals, to extend his Golden Boot leading tally to nine goals. But after Dallas grabbed control, the Galaxy found a way back before halftime with goals from Lucas Sanabria and Joseph Paintsil.
The second half brought more chances and more frustration for Dallas, which finished the night with 13 shots to LA’s nine. In the end, the point stretched Dallas’ unbeaten run to five games, though just like last week, it felt like another match where Dallas left points on the table.
Key Moments
7’ – GOAL! After a poor pass back by a LA defender, Petar Musa was free to go one-on-one with the LA goalkeeper. After a touch to get ahead of a defender, Musa slotted home his eighth goal of the season from outside the penalty box.
21’ – Offside! Joaquin Valiente sent a floating ball over the Galaxy defense, where Musa was able to get behind the defense and make an easy play for what appeared to be his second goal of the night. The play was called offside despite a fairly lengthy review period.
38’ – GOAL! This one counts! Musa gets his second of the night off a great ball from Chris Cappis. Logan Farrington picked off the ball in the midfield. He then played Cappis wide to the left of the penalty area. Cappis immediately played a ball back across the goal for Musa to slide in and finish for his ninth of the season.
43’ – Goal LA. Lucas Sanabria got the ball near the top of the penalty area. He took a couple of touches to get outside the penalty box before firing a shot that beat Michael Collodi at the near post.
45+4’ – Goal LA. Gabriel Pec got the ball near the top of the penalty area. He pulled the ball back a bit, which caught a pair of Dallas defenders. This allowed Joseph Painstil to get free behind the Dallas defense as Pec played him through inside the penalty area. Pec immediately smashed home a shot above Collodi to tie the game.
75’ – Another offside goal. This time on a corner kick for Dallas, after a scrum in the penalty box, Kaick hammered home what looked to be the go-ahead goal. But after a few seconds the flag was raised due to a deflection on Osaze Urhoghide, who was in an offside position.
Instant Reaction
Yeah, this is another disappointing result for this team. In a real way, it felt like the first half against Houston from last month. Dallas grabbed the lead, looked in control, but some defensive miscues opened the game up for the visitors to climb back.
With a double-game week coming up, this will certainly be another game where Dallas will wonder ‘what if’ more than anything else…especially when you factor in the two goals called off for offside.
About the Subs
Eric Quill went to his bench for the first time in the 66th minute, as he brought on Santiago Moreno for Logan Farrington. Quill went to his bench again 81st minute with Ran Binyamin and Nolan Norris coming on for Sebastien Ibeagha and Deedson. The final sub came during stoppage time with Herman Johansson and Joaquin Valiente coming off for Sam Sarver and rookie Nick Simmonds, who made his MLS debut.
Man of the Match
No question about it tonight, it has to be Musa.
Where does this fit into the season
As of this writing, the draw puts Dallas into a three-way tie for 5th place with Real Salt Lake and Seattle. Both are in action right now and look firmly in control of their games. I’d expect Dallas to be in 7th place by the end of the night.
What’s next for FC Dallas
Dallas wraps up a three-game homestand next Wednesday night as they host Minnesota United.
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