How Dallas Jenkins Wanting ‘A New Dad’ Reminded His Father of Gospel’s Power
By Movieguide® Contributor
When 6-year-old Dallas Jenkins told his father, author Jerry B. Jenkins, that he wanted a “new dad,” it stirred up an urge in Jerry to share the gospel with the dad Dallas wanted—the neighbor down the street.
However, that tug would come all too late.
“My wife’s and my eldest son, Dallas Jenkins, grew up to become the creator, director, and co-writer of the international hit TV series THE CHOSEN,” Jerry, co-author of the Left Behind series, wrote for Fox News.
Charisma News reported, “Though many people may recognize the name Jerry B. Jenkins before that of his son, Dallas Jenkins is making waves in the entertainment industry. Jenkins, a producer and director, is behind a series unlike anything to hit screens, big or small. THE CHOSEN is a scripted series about the life of Christ set to span several episodes and seasons.”
Jerry helped Dallas in his filmmaking career when he and Dallas founded Jenkins Entertainment in 2000.
Jerry said, “We should have known he would become a filmmaker when he was six years old after hearing him lecture a STAR WARS action figure. He said, ‘You may die in this mission. You don’t want to go to hell, because Satan’s mean and he won’t give you anything. But if you go to heaven, you can ask Jesus for anything you want. And if it’s all right with your mom, he’ll give it to you.'”
He continued, “But that was also the age Dallas was when he told me, ‘I want a new dad.’ This came at the end of our nightly ritual when I put him to bed, prayed with him, had him recite a few Bible verses, and sang a couple of songs with him.”
Dallas felt this way even though Jerry always prioritized his three sons. The author never wrote while his children were awake so that he could spend time with them.
“I established that policy even before our kids were born,” Jerry said. “When I was in my early twenties, I happened to interview five men about twice my age for disparate magazine stories. At some point in each of the interviews, I asked these men if they had any regrets. To a man, each said he wished he had spent more time with his kids while they were growing up.”
“I practiced that policy religiously, so Dallas’s statement hit hard. But I tried to take it in stride and said, ‘Really? Who would you like for a dad?’ He mentioned the father of his friends down the street.”
Jerry knew Dallas said this because Dallas saw how his friends’ family ran to greet their dad after he got home from work every day.
“That didn’t happen with me, because I was predictable,” the author wrote. “I was there at the same time every day, investing all my time and energy into my family and leaving my writing until late at night when they were asleep.”
In actuality, the unpredictable neighbor struggled with alcohol, maintaining work and debt. His family didn’t know when he would come and go, which is why they always celebrated his return.
“Of course, I couldn’t explain all that to a six-year-old, but that night I did tell Dianna what he had said. It struck us that, as people of faith, we had what this man needed. We had an anchor in the universe who had changed people much worse than he was,” Jerry said. “So we strategized how we would make an effort to get to know this couple better and earn the right to be heard, so that someday we could gently share that with him.”
However, the urge to share the gospel struck Jerry too late.
“The very evening Dallas had said that, and I discussed it with Dianna, and we began making our truly well-intentioned plans, it was already too late,” he continued. “The next morning, the wife ran down to our house and told Dianna she had just found her husband in the car in their garage with the engine running and a suicide note on the seat next to him. She hadn’t seen him pull in the evening before and didn’t even know he was there.”
“All I could think was, why do we always wait? Despite that this happened more than 40 years ago, the stunning impact of it has never left me. I decided I would no longer wait. I doubled down on my urgency to share my faith, both orally and on the page.”
“I’m not going to wait anymore,” Jerry concluded.
Movieguide® previously reported on Jerry’s book that is based on THE CHOSEN series:
Though THE CHOSEN is based on the Bible, the novel will focus on the characters developed in the first season of the hit TV show.
According to the book synopsis, “The Chosen” novel will consider, “What was it like to encounter Jesus face-to-face? How would he have made you feel, changed your way of thinking about God? Would he have turned your world upside down? Journey to Galilee in the first century. See the difference he made in the lives of those he called to follow him and how they were forever transformed. Experience the life and power of the perfect Son of God as never before through the eyes of everyday people just like you.”
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