Unashamed with the Robertson Family - Ep 1420 | From ‘The Chosen’ Set to Baptism: How Jonathan Roumie Helped Change Elijah Alexander’s Life

Episode Date: September 15, 2026

‘The Chosen’ actor Elijah Alexander opens up about the powerful first words fellow actor Jonathan Roumie spoke to him off camera and how they helped launch his journey to Jesus. Raised Jewish, Elijah tells Jase, Al, and Zach how playing the Roman Atticus eventually led him from searching for God to becoming a disciple and getting baptized on set. He also reflects on his lifelong love of biblical storytelling and his role as King Nebuchadnezzar in the upcoming film Daniel and the Fiery Furnace. In this episode: 1 John 4:7; Acts 17:26-27; Matthew 28:19; Romans 8:28; John 1:38 Want to watch the Lost Episodes of Unashamed, only on EKKL? Get 20% off with code UNASHAMED, and watch faith- and family-friendly movies, podcasts, and more: https://ekkl.com/ “Unashamed” Episode 1420 is sponsored by: https://preborn.com/unashamed - Visit the PreBorn! website or dial #250 and use keyword BABY to donate today. https://homechef.com/unashamed - Get 50% off and free shipping on your first box plus free dessert for life! https://duckstamp.com/unashamed - Get your digital duck stamp online and keep it right on your phone! http://unashamedforhillsdale.com/ - Sign up now for free, and join the Unashamed hosts every Friday for Unashamed Academy Powered by Hillsdale College Check out At Home with Phil Robertson, nearly 800 episodes of Phil's unfiltered wisdom, humor, and biblical truth, available for free for the first time! Get it on Apple, Spotify, Amazon, and anywhere you listen to podcasts! https://open.spotify.com/show/3LY8eJ4ZBZHmsImGoDNK2l Listen to Not Yet Now with Zach Dasher on Apple, Spotify, iHeart, or anywhere you get podcasts. Chapters 00:00 Meet ‘The Chosen’ Actor Elijah Alexander 04:18 From Jewish Roots to a Search for God 12:06 The Call That Changed Elijah’s Life 19:28 Jonathan Roumie’s First Message to Elijah 25:48 Finding God in Higher Learning 29:09 Filming the Crucifixion Changes Everything 34:18 Elijah’s Journey to Baptism 41:45 Why Jesus Asked So Many Questions 46:08 The Unforgettable Baptism Request - Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I am unashamed. What about you? So welcome back to Unashamed. We are, Jason, we are super excited. We have a guest on today, and you're going to introduce him and helm this interview. But tell everybody who's here today on Unashamed. All right. This is a, this is going to be good. We have a member of the chosen cast, Elijah Alexander. is with us. And for all of you who watched The Chosen, you would know him. I had to write this down so I'd get this right. And you can correct me a lot if I get it wrong. But you're Atticus Emilius. There's another name in there, but I didn't catch that. But I think I got the those two right. Names. You got the, you got the right ones. Yeah. And so you're like the Roman

special forces character, which is not in the Bible. I think you were created for dramatic purposes, but you're representing Rome in the setting of the life of Jesus. Did I get that right? Absolutely. I'm spot on. The title itself, Cohortis Urbani, is an actual title, but the character Atticus Amelius is fictitional. Yeah, I got you. So how this happened is, you know, we've been big proponents for the chosen. And with a lot of people, when I'm sharing my faith, if they don't want to continue the Bible study, I'm like, well, just go home and read the book of John and watch the chosen.

Because I feel like that's something that they could do to see who Jesus is. And I think it's an asset. So with you, and I heard your story, which is quite fascinating when we want to share that with our viewers. So I guess let's just start off kind of introducing, you know, who you are, where you're from, and how, because a lot of people, you know, when they look at my life and here I am on TV one day, the basic question people ask is, how did this happen?

How does this even, is it possible that you wind up here? So start off where you're from and how this got started. Oh, goodness gracious. I know time is precious, and so I don't want to waste any of it. I'll give you the highlight version. Born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, Egyptian Jewish father, a Lutheran mother who converted to Judaism when she married my father. I was raised as a Jew traditionally, culturally.

I still consider myself a Jew traditionally and culturally. very strong faith as a young person didn't understand what faith meant what it was but I understood the feeling and the experience and you know five or so decades later I end up you know after a 30 year career working as an actor and an artist looking for God and looking to be fathered by God the entire the entirety of that spiritual journey of my young adulthood. I'm presented with, as everyone else was in the world, presented with the opportunity of a pandemic to redefine,

to reassess, to reprioritize my life, as all of us did, undoubtedly. And for the first time in, you know, like I said, a 30-year career, I was without work, without an identity, without a purpose, because I had wrapped everything, all of those things, in being an actor, which of course was, you know, I guess a useful identity, but a false one. So no work, no home, no relationship, no family, no support. out there on my own during the pandemic, literally on the road, during the pandemic for a good part of it, settled in the Vale Valley, taught high school, had to make a living in other ways, started working with young people,

started really developing the art of listening instead of talking so much, you know. and for the first time really listening to God, realizing that I had been sort of waiting on God to show me a sign, to give me a message, to guide my steps. And although he may have been doing that sort of indirectly, I didn't notice any of it. I was too caught up in the things of this world, you know. So let me jump in. But one thing I heard about your story is you said when you were a kid, you took some kind of Hebrew class or whatever. And I just remember you saying you were so fascinated with the stories of the Bible, which was kind of the seed that was planted about being a storyteller.

Yes. So tell us a little bit how that went. Well, I mean, it's interesting. Great, great direction. So, yes, I was in Hebrew school learning for five years. Every young Jew goes through Hebrew school, and then they become Bar Mitzvut or Bat Mitzvut, if you're a girl. And that was when I was first introduced to these amazing, amazingly impactful stories,

the stories of the Old Testament, the five books of Moses. So the story of Abraham and Isaac, the story of Moses, which had a huge impact on me. Elijah, the prophet, Noah. I mean, those are some of the major players. But I mean, also the amazing story of Abraham and Sarah and, you know, Jacob, wrestling with the angel, all of these. So the seed was planted way back then. And it's interesting. I wasn't thinking I want to be a.

actor, I was thinking, I want to, I want to embody and inhabit those spirits. I want to tell, I want to tell those stories. I want to tell epic stories that have impact, epic stories about people living remarkable lives, people having an amazingly personal and intimate relationship, a relationship with God. Here, here's the time when God walked among us, right? So that, that, That's all Abraham talks about, being in constant, open dialogue with God and having him close, you know, that God welled among mankind. And I think that really excited me that I could have that kind of a relationship with God. And I feel like I did, even though he didn't speak directly to me.

But he did through those stories. And then I knew I knew then that eventually, my story would be my ministry and you know five decades later it is and I and I think I think look all of us have that within each of us we have we have a poet we have an artist we have an art we have a creative capacity and telling stories is the way we impact each other with the way we teach each other, the way we learn from each other, the way we express the living spirit and sort of build lives around that. So I think now what we're seeing is God's becoming hugely popular again. Jesus Christ is becoming a celebrated personality. And it's because people are, they're longing,

they're yearning for spiritual awakening, for a closeness with God, for a real relationship with God is at its peak. I mean, think about it. Churches, temples, synagogues, they're filling up with people. You know, people are showing up for faith-based storytelling. Oh, yeah. It's exciting. Yeah. So that's, so I wanted to get that in there because then here you are, you know, life can beat you up. You had all these aspirations as a kid, and you were hooked on those stories. But there was, in the particular faith that you were in, there was no Jesus as not being the son of God.

And so now you're teaching, you know, the COVID is happening. Everybody's, the panic is going on. I was curious of how you, I know one reason is I think the chosen was maybe only one of, four or five productions going on in the world during that time. But I was wondering how you got the call, who set that up? What, what, how did you land on, did you try out? How did that work? Sure.

Again, great questions and great, great direction. You're good at this. You know what you're doing. I do want to go back and just echo something you said for people who are new to the, Bible, new to Bible study, new to these inquiries and these sort of conversations. You said, first John, right, and the chosen. It's an entry point. And I love that because I couldn't agree more. First John is everything and all there is. And in particular, you know, four, seven that we should,

if we want to know God, we have to love, we have to love each other as we love God as God loves us. I mean, it's all of that. If you start there, you really have a strong foundation. Well, today we have Elijah on the episode and we were talking about the movie Daniel that is coming out to theater soon. And if you haven't seen it or bought your ticket shake, go buy them. This movie's actually going to land on the Echo Platform, which we're proud to be a part of. It's eKKKL.com. can sign up. It's more than just a streaming service. It has movies like the movie Daniel, like the blind, like God's Not Dead, a bunch of your favorite faith-based films. Also has series, a ton of podcasts that we're bringing on the platform soon. Daily Devotional's kids content.

Oh, and by the way, all the podcasts on there that are part of the Echo Platform actually have no ads, including this one. So it's the only place you can get this podcast without any ads. Every new episode of Unashamed podcast, ad-free. And the first 12 episodes of the Unashamed podcast that Phil recorded that we never released to the public. They're all living right there on the platform. All you have to do is go to echo.com and check it out. You get 20% off a one-year subscription with the code Unashamed. That's EKK.com code unashamed.

So today, Jay's, I'm headed to Sweet Home Chicago to speak on behalf of the unborn at a pregnancy center. And, you know, it's one of those things that it's always such a great opportunity for me to get that opportunity with Lisa to do it because, man, we're engaged in a fight for people that can't defend themselves. You know, we all have a responsibility to do what we can to save the most precious gift of life, which is life itself. Exactly. An unexpected pregnancy can leave a woman wondering what to do next. It happens every day in America. At pre-born network clinics, mothers are welcome with compassion, practical support, and a free ultrasound.

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Or you can visit preborn.com slash. Unashamed. That's preborn.com slash unashamed. So the pandemic happens. I'm teaching high school. I'm working property management. I'm working construction and demolition. I'm doing everything to stay afloat and stay useful. But I was completely desolate. I was isolated, alone, without any real support. And then I get an audition for the chosen. I don't think much of it. But as an actor, you get an audition. It's an opportunity for you to drop in and share your gift and channel something that's working

that's working for you, hopefully. So I did. I auditioned and then I got called back. And then I got called back again. I did a couple of directors callbacks with Dallas himself over Zoom, all over Zoom. And then I didn't hear for three months. So, so I, and at that point, look, as actors, we have to, we have to, we go through so much rejection and so much, we put ourselves out there time and time again and we can't get it, so we can't get attached to roles, to projects. Unfortunately, I got attached. So I got attached to this role. It was on my mind and on my heart. And the, the circumstances.

sort of the stars aligned and the circumstances provided me an opportunity. I got a call saying that they had hired an actor to play Atticus, but he got COVID and I'm up. So I'm in Vail at this point, the Vale Valley in Colorado, and I get the call and my agent says, can you be in Provo in two days to COVID test and then be on set in three days? And then the rest was history. So three days later, I was on set. And, you know. Okay, I want to, I want to step in here.

So you get on set. It was a little confusing when I heard this story the first time. So we're going to try this again. So you, from what I understand, you're just kind of, your own set and you're kind of taking this all in. It's like you haven't had an official role like to be filmed. yet and you and you didn't even meet the cast. I don't know if that was because or you hadn't met Jonathan Rumi who was playing Jesus, right? So tell me how this introduction happened where you

meet Jonathan and just walk us through that because I really found this to be, I think, a God moment in your life. You probably know where I'm going with that. Yes, absolutely. So again, this is a you know could go on for forever this story because it's a monumental in my life and um so i'll give you the highlight version um the highlight the sizzle reel version but actually i came on season two and i didn't i even though i worked indirectly there were a couple scenes i was in the background with jesus with jonathan rumming who plays jesus i never had an interaction with him and I didn't really meet him. Like, not even a, I mean, maybe it might have been a brief welcome.

Hey, how you doing? Yeah. Yeah. But I didn't, you know, didn't ever shake his hand and tell him my name and, you know, for the whole season. So I wasn't until season three when we were filming the Sermon on the Mount. And actually, many of the, most of the disciples I hadn't met. Because I was basically working with, I was working with Jesse, Simon Z, and the rest of the Romans, right? Quintus, Gaius.

So I didn't have much experience with Jesus or the disciples. Season three comes around. They're filming the sermon on the Mount. They're setting up for the shot. And Jonathan Rumi comes out. And if you recall the scene, it's not about necessarily focused on what he's saying with the sermon, but how it's landing on each of the disciples. So myself in disguise and Gaius are in the back of the crowd, and this big crowd is gathered. And most of the disciples are there to hear his sermon.

And Jonathan comes out, you know, just fully embodying the living spirit and, you know, almost levitating. I mean, anyone who has an experience, you can see it in The Chosen, just watching, you know, you see the presence. So to see him in full command of that coming into the crowd and the cameras aren't rolling, they're still setting up, and he moves from disciple to disciple, and he has an exchange that obviously I can't hear. I'm about, you know, 80 feet away. and but I see him in conversation intimate conversation you know foot away usually some kind of embrace and Jonathan is saying something whispering something to them and then each disciple nods and maybe he says a little blessing or something and moves on so you know he goes to Andrew to Peter to Matthew and then he starts walking toward me and I'm and I'm thinking to my

What could he possibly, first of all, I'm not even supposed to be here. Like, I'm in disguise. She doesn't know me. You know, I haven't even. And you're not even filming, right? No, not filming. Yeah. But as I'm observing, you know, I realize, oh, Jonathan works very similarly to the way I do.

You know, he's just, he's embodying the role. He's also, on top of that, he's imbued with the spirit, like I said, this presence. But this is the way I work too. So I'm over there as Atticus. I'm taking it all in as Atticus. It doesn't matter whether the cameras are rolling or not. But I'm also, of course, Elijah. So Jonathan slash Jesus starts walking toward me.

I'm becoming increasingly more uncomfortable. I can't imagine what he would want to say to me. Like I said, I'm basing it on the text. We don't have an interaction. We don't have a scene together. together. We have, there's, you know, he, I'm supposed to be incognito in disguise in the back of the crowd. So he's walking toward me, stops within two feet of me. He never, his gaze never wavers. He's steadfast as he's walking toward me, very slowly, very, um, um, deliberately. And he looks at me

directly in my eyes and he says, there's something for you here. And I, when I get nervous, I make jokes. So, you know, I'm looking to my right. I'm looking to my left. I'm wondering, you know, what's happening. It's out of time, out of mind. So I started making jokes. Yeah, you know, there's lots for me here.

You know, the craft services, they got a great spread, you know, fresh fruit. The trailers, the accommodations are terrific. Everyone's so nice. Yeah, and I'm blushing. Then he, without a beat, he moves in closer. he grabs my arms and he says, no, there's something for you here also. This is getting powerful.

Wow. And then, and then I was silent. I took it in and I was off and running. That was it. That was the seed that was planted. Wow. So the story actually, the story you don't know is that it has three chapters. That was the beginning of my literal walk with Jesus.

I realize now that he's been walking with me from the get-go. And what we'll get to later is the story of Daniel, the book of Daniel, in particular, it's so interesting, no coincidence, that I've just completed a film in the trilogy of films that we're producing now on the book of Daniel. where Jesus Christ is revealed, where you see the New Testament revealed in the old, and you see all that connective tissue. And I go back to thinking about Abraham, the stories of Abraham and Isaac as a young, young, young child, young boy fascinated with the stories, these remarkable lives, having such an impact on me. And I realize that Jesus was there.

He was. He was very woven into this. that. And wow, I look at the Bible, both old and new, as one grand masterpiece of art. And I see the integrity with which it was written and transmitted and devised and expressed that it's a living, breathing testament. And so, and this all within the last year and a half has been coming to me, has been transmitted and downloaded. Well, that's what I was going to say.

And so you have this moment. So then you start, which I find this so fascinating that here you are from as a kid reading these stories. You know, you go to Yale. which made me think, can anything good come from Yale? But yes. I wonder why you would say something like that. Because he took two courses in college.

He took golf and first aid, and he didn't make it through either one of. Well, you go to these. When the wife's out of town, you start trying to find ways to, you know, look in that freezer and see what's in there. It's our sponsor, Home Chef. that's our partner, guys. When the woman's out of town, that's our partner. This is idiot proof.

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That's homechef.com slash unashamed for 50% off your first box and free dessert for life. Homechef.com slash unashamed. You must be an active subscriber to receive free dessert for life. You go to these institutions though where you see a lack of God is what I was saying. And then COVID. then you have this encounter. But you literally, as your job, you're playing a row, but you're now looking at Jesus in this fresh light through a guy who's actually your co-worker,

which I just found fascinating. And so this continues to where, I guess it's in the making of season six, which is coming out in November. Dallas, he highly stressed that we need to say, I know Elijah made a movie about Daniel and it's awesome, but we need to remember where this got started for him. So November, he wanted to promote that shamelessly. But on the filming of that, it led you to wanting to be baptized.

And I'd like for you to tell that story. You know, connect the tissue of this first encounter. I'm assuming you start taking in, Jesus. not only in what you're going to work every day, but also studying the word. And tell us about that moment that culminated in the filming of Season 6, which is fiction to be shared with humanity in November. So, thank you, Jay. First of all, I would like to say that institutes of higher learning, I wouldn't say that God

isn't there, I would say that we have to find him. Yeah. It doesn't matter where we are. It's up to us to make the choice to be chosen. Right. So it puts, we were given free will for a reason. And this goes back to a way I've been working with God. I thought for 30 years, I was waiting on him, right? Waiting on him to show me, to tell me, give me meaning from my life, give me my purpose. All the while, he's waiting for me. He's waiting on me to make the choice, to be chosen, to decide to be outspoken in my faith and to call to him, right? So you can find it anywhere. In the most godless places on earth, if you're looking for God, he will find you there. That's so good. And so... That's Act 17. He said He determined the exact times and places that all men should live so that they would seek him out and perhaps find him, though he is not far from each one of us.

There you go. There you go. Oh, Elijah, when I heard your story, I thought the same chapter in Act 17 when Paul stood up, I thought, now, if you ever want to see that lived out, there's a cast member of the chosen. Because it really is so good. I'm glad you said that, Zach, because I had the same chapter in mind. So go ahead and connect that tissue because this is amazing. Yeah, I will. So yes, the chosen November 15th, season 6 is going to be shared with the world.

It's going to be heart blowing and mind blowing and life-altering. It was for all of us who were a part of it. It changed my life, just the experience of it, and not just as an actor, not even close, in terms of a list of how I was impacted. first and foremost as a person, you know, just as a human being, as a man, as an instrument of his will. I mean, it just changed everything. And it, I'm very, very excited to share it with the world. It culminates in 2027 Easter with the feature film, the theatrical release of the feature film, The Crucifixion,

which will be shared worldwide, over 60 countries. at the same time simultaneously. And it's going to be a really, really exciting next two years. So we're on the set of the crucifixion, filming the crucifixion in Matera, Italy, the third oldest city in the world. These ancient stones reverberating with that powerful energy of ancestry. And then, you know, you have Jesus on the cross and, you know, the weather turning and his voice. echoing through the gorges and through the canyons, and we're under this extreme heat, and we're having this sanctified experience. It was, I knew it at the time. It was a once-in-a-lifetime

experience, and it's proven to be, you know, to just have that level of awareness and engagement and focus and sanctity was, and you're going to see it in the, the film itself. So after Jesus looks me, you know, reads me and looks me in the eye and in the soul, pierces my soul with, there's something for you here. Flash forward to, what, three years later, and we're in Matera, Italy, and Jonathan is battered and bruised and scourged and cut, and he's got the crown of thorns and he's sitting at the base of the cross and they're setting up for the next shot again, not filming. Sorry, I have to go back one step. There's something that happened before that.

The beginning of filming for season six, this is chapter two. So put that on hold for a second. Bear with me. The first day for me filming, the first week of filming, season three, six, we're in Texas and I have a scene with Jesus. It's not a spoiler alert because you've seen clips from it. But I have my first exchange with Jesus, Atticus and Jesus had their first exchange. So while we're filming it, by the way, the greatest day of my life. And again, that did include me as an actor, but just the greatest day, because it was, there was a revolution of sorts,

certainly revolution of the soul, but a revelation of truth, both for Elijah and for Atticus in that scene, that will stay with me always. And again, this is all leading to me entering into discipleship on 828 of 2025, being baptized. So this is the beginning of the season, the beginning of the year, 2025. I have an exchange. Atticus has an exchange with Jesus. We're in the middle of doing this scene. The camera's not rolling.

The camera turns on me to get my coverage now. So we do, you know, when you're doing a scene, you shoot a medium shot, a wide shot, and then you get coverage of each person's reactions, right? So the camera's on me. Jonathan is in front of me. And before we start the scene, Jonathan looks at me and he says, follow me. Dallas yells action. We do the scene.

We finish the scene. Profound feeling of encouragement, truth. There was just an exchange of truth. of truth that that that doesn't always happen just doesn't always happen yeah um now flash forward so that's chapter two flash forward to golgatha jesus jonathan rumy is sitting at the cross it's it's you know eight hours into a very hot day uh he's taking a break he's taking a breather um he's hunched over i'm i'm feeling for my friend jonathan and who at this point we become very close, very, you know, brothers.

And I'm feeling for him as a human being, what he's going through physically, spiritually, emotionally, mentally. And then also as Jesus, you know, from Atticus watching this happened to another human being and a remarkable human being, you know. And so I'm watching as I, Edikas does and Jonathan looks at me just sort of lifts his head very, very, slowly and not very far. And he just waves me, he waves me over. And I didn't skip a bead.

I start walking toward him. And I kneel down at the cross in front of him. and he grabs my forearm and he sort of brings me in a little closer and he says, I'm doing this for you. And I said, nothing. And I grabbed, you know, sort of,

I put a little more pressure on his arm, you know, gently, of course, but, and he said, looked at me again. And he said, I'm doing this for you also. I love you, Atticus. Wow. That was it.

So I left and that was April of 2025, August 828. I'm on the set of the Chosen. And for a week prior to that, I was compelled to enter into a personal covenant with God and into discipleship and to be baptized on set. So, Jace, you still know where all your past duck stamps. are. Do you have those someplace? I do. I keep them in a little box. They're momentos, not only to remember the season, but to remember what I have invested in conserving all the wetlands for future generations. Which is a great blessing. We're obviously waterfow hunters, and when you buy a federal duck stamp, it's a simple decision, but it has a lasting impact. You're already required

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It's interesting because when I had, I am developing my own podcast and I actually interviewed Jonathan just a few months ago up north and northern Utah. And I recounted this story of what I just shared with you, those three chapters of my walk with Jesus, my journey to the cross, right? And he had no recollection, no memory of them. I knew you were going to say that. That's so amazing. Any of it. I had to remind him each time he had absolutely no memory. And so, look, this is this, I truly believe that Jesus speaks to each of us and the way we need to be spoken to. because he's coming for our hearts.

This just happened to be the way I needed to experience Jesus. It was on set. It was contextual. It was framed in a story. It was framed in what my life's work was, you know, being an actor. And it was, it's interesting that it happened during the pandemic because I'd given up this idea of acting. as career of attaching myself to this identity as actor. So there was an openness.

I was entering into this whole experience of The Chosen with a suppleness of heart, with a susceptibility that this is my life. It's not just an acting gig. This is my life. What am I going to do with my life? and then all those years of waiting for this and that, after I decided that I'm ready to be fathered by God, and this happened during the pandemic,

I made the decision. Then God showed up and said, this is how I'm going to father you. And this is how we need to, you know, I'd been estranged from my heart. And so this was a way to reacquaint myself with my heart, and God did that by sending Jesus Christ, literally sending him to speak to me. Yeah.

And so that's, you know, that's it. You know what I find fascinating, Elijah, is that it's such an amazing story from a man of stories. And I love the idea that as you're being approached, you know, on set talking about this, You're of Jewish descent, but playing a Roman. And yet at the same time, discovering what we all discovered is that Jesus is there for everybody. I mean, the idea of the whole New Testament, this bringing together, first to the Jew, then to the Gentile, I mean, that literally happened in your life. I mean, that's what I find so fascinating about your story, is you experienced all that during this period of time in the bringing together. of exactly why Jesus came to this earth to begin with.

So that's just fascinating. I agree. I agree. Which is why I wanted you on the podcast. But there's a couple of more things I want to bring up. One thing I want to say is because I know you're, I mean, you're relatively new in the faith here. I guess that happened, what, just a few months ago? A year ago.

So it's 828, Jason, which is. Oh, 828. I was 28 of last year, 2025, but get this. So, and this is pastor. So I live in southern Utah and I go to a church here in town, and we're doing an advanced screening of Daniel in the fiery furnace tomorrow night. But I've become very close with a pastor and his family. And we were talking the other day, and I told him this story about me being baptized.

And he said, oh, 828. Romans 828. Oh. We know that all things work together for good, for those who love God, and for them that are the called according to his purpose. Yes. Yeah. And I sat there sort of bewildered, astonished. You know, that, and then I'm reminded of the integrity of the word made flesh.

of the word of God, living and breathing, you know, how we receive it, how we are guided by it, when we ask to be. 828, Romans 828, and now it's a mantra for my life. It's a mantra for my life. I mean, it's... I think that's why God designed this. You know, when he said, go make disciples of all nations, baptizing the man and the father and son, the Holy Spirit.

But there's a joy of being young in the faith that's contagious. I did this same thing over 40 years ago, but hearing your story, you know, there's an excitement and a joy about it. But I wanted to, one, give you some advice because me reading the book of John, which is kind of what led me, you know, to find that Jesus, because I'd seen my dad transformed, who was not a good person. They made a movie about my dad. It's called The Blind. Zach was involved in producing it. Oh. You know, like the very worst to one of the very best people I've ever known.

And I got to see, you know, I just knew something had happened, which I later found out, oh, there's this guy named Jesus that he understood. So when I read it, the book of John for myself, I just, I was enamored. I had the same experience as my point. But later on, by doing this podcast, what I noticed is Jesus asked way more questions than he was asked. There's over 300 questions that Jesus asked. And my advice is to go find those 300 questions because your little moments with Jonathan Rumi as playing Jesus, those little statements, there's over 300 of them in the gospel. You know, the one that the first one in John is, you know, where the disciples were following him.

And he turned around and he was like, what do you want? Which, what do you want? They were, you know, it doesn't seem like that big of a question. But it really is when you think about our life here. And so that happens 300 times. I'd recommend that. Can I respond to that? Sure.

Yeah, yeah. Go ahead. That is incredibly intuitive, and I couldn't agree with you more. This is part of what I, when I talk to, especially young people, but any community, it's one of the revelations I had that that's the reason Jesus was a storyteller. That's why he spoke in parable. He asked questions of people because he wants his disciples, his followers, people new to his message to invest in their own stories, to make their own. own choices and decisions. So yes, absolutely.

I would contend, I would even add to that, that the Old Testament, if you really look beneath the words and the phrases, the chapters and the verses, you will find God asking questions. Question after question after question. Thousands of them. He's asking the same thing. We have to come up with the answers for ourselves. And that empowers us. know, that, that, that, that, that, that include, it allows us the opportunity to be invested in our destiny.

Well, yeah, and I think it's, it's something we talk about on the podcast all the time, which I don't want to go too far down this rabbit hole, because I, there's a couple of the things we have to get to. But I do think some of, like modern day Christianity, spend so much time talking about what we're saved from and very little of what we're saved to. And there is a partnership that was birth in the creation story about he's created humans to partner with them and show, you know, in his image to reflect how good he is. So I do think that's behind all that and why he asked the questions. I mean, through us, God sees, I mean, other people sees that God is real. Because they're like, just like what I told you about my dad, I thought, something happened to this. this man, and I do not think it's earthly, which was true. My dad was now filled with the Holy Spirit, which really got my attention. But one thing I want to, we have to tell, because you may think

this is unique because your baptism story, there was something funny that happened. I wanted to bring it up because we've had a lot of these types of stories. But so this pastor, who I think was giving you some history as your character with Rome, but he developed to be one of your best friends and actually baptize you. You asked him a strange question, which I thought was funny, and I'll let you tell this story. Do you want to just tell this story? I wonder, I'm not 100% sure which question you're talking about. The question is, you said, look, when you baptize me, because you said I'm an older man, and I've done a lot, I want you to hold me down as long as possible. And it created an awkward moment.

I'll let you tell this story, but then I want to follow up, because we've had some of those types of stories happen that I thought you would find comical. But you tell us the story and tell us what happened. Oh, okay. So this was the most amazing day of my life. You know, Mother Olga was there because she's Jonathan Rumi's spiritual mother. She was visiting on set. She spoke the blessing over me. She led me to the water.

I had formed a friendship with Bobby Kenimer, Pastor BJ, who I'd known for three years. He was my right-hand guy, my right-hand Roman soldier, and we'd worked together for three seasons. But I didn't know his story until last year. Season six, we had some time. A lot of time. We spent a lot of time together, and we got to know each other. He invited me to his church. I participated in his ministry.

I got to know him as a dear friend, and I asked him if he would baptize me. He said he'd be honored. He'd even dreamt of baptizing someone on the set of the Chosen. And so it was aligned, and we get out there. And you're saying there, this is the Sea of Galilee. Yeah, it's stand in for all the bodies of water featured in the Chosen. It's a pond at the Salvation Army camp. It's on set.

It's on set. It represents the Sea of Galilee, yeah. Yeah, but it represents the Sea of Galilee. So it seemed very appropriate. And there was a reason I didn't know until later that it was important for me to do it publicly and on the set of the chosen. And everyone was so supportive. It was amazing. I was uncomfortable about it.

It was not an easy decision. I didn't want to be disruptive. I didn't want to make more of it. Draw attention to myself because I knew it be criticized. I was the only one criticizing myself. Everyone thought it was a beautiful thing to do. And I realized now that it was not about me. It was about empowering others and encouraging others.

But, of course, I did benefit. fit from it and it was somewhat, it obviously included me. It was about me entering into a covenant with God and deciding to be loved and fathered by God and devoting my life to him from that moment onward. So it was symbolic, but deeply personal. And anyway, we're out, we're out in the water and I and I we have a moment I'm I asked BJ I was like so how long do you know we we decided this beforehand before we got into the water so I you know I was speaking with him and I said so how long do you normally you know I actually I'd only seen a couple of these performed and they were inside in churches and the tubs and things and and I said so how long typically do you keep someone under

when you're baptizing him and he's like oh it's very quickly just a few seconds it's just you know symbolic and i said hey uh would you mind doing me a favor could you hold me in for just as long as you can without drowning you he wanted you wanted them sense to be washed away yeah daniel in the fiery furnace i'll tell i want our audience to hear what i said to you elijah you brought nebuchadnezzar to life for me in this movie. It's fantastic. It's beautiful.

It's all the the feels that you mentioned having yourself. I felt that when I was watching. I've taught and preached the Book of Daniel many, many times, but you brought it to life, brother. Fantastic. As an actor, you were amazing. I mean, you brought him to life for me. So thank you for that.

You need to watch this movie. Find it. It's going to be out. Do we have a date? I think it's September 18th, if I recall. Yeah, September 18th. September 18th. September 18th.

September 18th. September 18th. 18th, Elijah, you're fantastic. Your story's amazing. Thank you so much for spending some time on our podcast, letting Unashamed Nation know about who you are as a disciple, but also you're a fantastic actor as well. So thank you for being with us today. Well, I really appreciate it. It was an honor to be with you guys, you gentlemen and men of faith and men of God. And I love the idea behind your podcast, the many ideas, but being unashamed, being unapologetic for our faith, being outspoken in it. It's not only a luxury, because it's not. It comes with challenges. It's actually not a luxury at all, but it's a necessity that we do that as living examples in our own lives and encourage others to do it.

And that's what this film does. In particular, young people, we have to remember, these were teenagers when they were sent into exile. And they completely devoted their lives, sacrificed their manhood. Yeah. You know, they had to become eunuchs in order to serve in the king's court. They sacrificed their bodies, their minds, you know, to obey the king, but never compromise their hearts. That's the seed of faith.

And so if anything, if we can take away anything from that movie, it's the bolstering of that feeling that, and look, we don't need to prove anything to other people. The only thing we need to prove is our faithfulness and loyalty to God. How do we do that? Well, from, you know, from John, again, he's all of our favorites here, or one of them. You know, he said, I prove that my heart is his by loving other people the way God loves me. And that's it. And that's it. If we can build a foundation around that, you know, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we, we,

We can be faithful in the wilderness, even in the times of silence and darkness, and encourage others to do the same. I love it. Daniel in the Fire Furn, it's the original unashamed. We'll see you next time. Thanks for listening to The Unashamed podcast. Help us out by leaving a rating and review on Apple Podcast. And don't miss an episode by subscribing on YouTube. And be sure to click the little bell and choose all notifications to watch every episode.