God is in All the Details in New Streaming Series 'Destination Heaven'
At first glance, it’s easy to say, “Been there, done that,” when considering whether to watch the new original Great American Pure Flix streaming series, Destination Heaven. And why not? It’s a show about people struggling with various difficulties in life, and then God shows up, meets them face to face, and helps guide them through it. Cinematically, think Bruce Almighty. On television shows like God Friended Me, a personal relationship has served as a prime vehicle for the Almighty to dispense divine wisdom via ordinary circumstances.
But there is something different about Destination Heaven. For one, it seems to have a deeply rooted soul that is both authentic and true. Furthermore, it seems quite adept at not being preachy yet still delivering powerful messages of healing, hope, and changing in positive ways through God’s divine help.
Starring Harry Lennix (The Blacklist) as God, Destination Heaven’s six episodes showcase various guest appearances from Hollywood veterans such as Kevin Sorbo (Hercules, God’s Not Dead) and Emily Rose (Haven, ER), as well as rising actors Cozi Zuehlsdorff (Dolphin Tale, Going Home), Carrie Wampler (Strong Fathers, Strong Daughters), and John Michael Finley (I Can Only Imagine).
I recently sat down with Rose and Sorbo to discuss what sets Destination Heaven apart from other shows with similar themes, why this type of program is desperately needed as entertainment today, and how it will encourage someone to strengthen their faith.
On this show, as people grapple with a myriad of difficulties in life, God the Father meets them face-to-face to help guide them through it. We have seen this sort of premise for shows that have been produced in the past. What sets Destination Heaven apart from the others?
Emily Rose: Well, I do think some of those (shows) have been more commercialized and pointed towards mainstream audiences, which may have their own stereotypical views of how they see this relationship going. What I love about it is it was an opportunity for those of us who have a faith walk and are a part of this community as well as have that relationship with the Lord to genuinely depict what this might be like for us. It's not a commentary or a hired hand guessing what something like that might be like. An example would be like on some of these shows, if they were praying before a meal, they would fold their hands and close their eyes and pray. For my character Jenna, it's like at work when she's sitting over her lunch. You just have a prayer and it's just very basic. There's no sort of pomp and circumstance of I'm going to show you that I'm praying to the Lord. And then, also just being able to kind of authentically wrestle with those questions that are depicted in a character, that is authentic to a person of faith. It's not a commentary on what people assume. Somebody who has a deep faith might act like that.
This is a series that brings God’s loving character to life at some of life’s toughest moments. Why is this so desperately needed for people today to see that God is very real and is nearby at all times?
Emily Rose: What's cool about the multifaceted approach to the themes in this series is I think for somebody who doesn't have a deep faith walk or maybe a personal relationship with the Lord, they can view church and religion as this oppressive disciplinary … don't do this, don't do that, rules kind of mentality. This Old Testament God sort of feeling without the understanding of why those things were in place. And then you have the more approachable, conversational, which you usually see in things depicted with Jesus, like we do in The Chosen which is currently popular. But you don't really see that depicted with God the Father as much. Even though He's a father, you kind of get more of the take off of your shoes (mindset). You're standing on holy ground and you need to run for cover. And so, I think that this is really cool because it brings that, ‘Hey God wants you to come as you are’ mindset.
He says, come like a child. That's why He sent his Son. He wants that relationship. But for those of you who may feel super comfortable with the Lord and are very comfortable too, being His friend and Him being your friend, and Him having your ear, you having His ear, He's also calling you to refinement and to go deeper and to challenge you. And are you going to step into that place, or do you just have God, Jesus and a comfortable friend? It’s like a He's my buddy kind of box. I think that it's an important conversation to have on all levels. And that's what's so great about the God we serve. He's a comforter through His spirit. He's relational through His son, He's a provider, a cover, and omniscient through the Father. So, you have all of these aspects to Him and, and let's talk about it.
I think this series touches on some critically important themes. On the show, you cover topics like faith, prayer, marriage, charity, and friendship. Do you see any one of these themes being more important than any of the others?
Kevin Sorbo: I think faith and prayer more than anything else. There's such a dark, dark tunnel that the Earth is living in right now, and there is light out there. People just have to turn around and look for it and follow the light. I did a movie called Let There Be Light that dealt with that same issue. God said, ‘Let there be light, and there was light.’ More and more, shows like this should be made, and I hope Destination Heaven gets another season after this.
Emily Rose: The theme that isn't necessarily listed there is that God cares about these details. And what I'm learning in my own personal walk is, which sounds very basic, but I'm feeling it on a deeper level, I feel like He's talking to me about this. But the personal individual sanctification of yourself cannot happen outside of community and a body of believers because it's sanctification, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, self-control, faithfulness, all of these things we experience. We realize we're lacking or have the fruit of within community and doing well in the world. Impacting the world as a Church and as a community cannot happen if the body of believers is not concerned with personal sanctification. They're interlinked. I think what we're seeing in this series is that God cares about what you do in the world and how the Church is operating in a global sense, but He also cares about it for the individual. And He will meet you. We see it all through the Bible. He will meet a person individually all the time and have a conversation with him. He wants to make that happen.
How will Destination Heaven encourage someone and strengthen their faith?
Kevin Sorbo: Just by the positive messages in there. I bring this up all the time. Walt Disney said movies and television will influence our youth. Well, hello. So does public education, so do universities, and so does our government. I've said this before but our government thinks they're God. That's the problem up there. They want to cradle-grave responsibility for everyone's lives. We need to fight back. People need to stop being fearful. The only person we are supposed to fear is God. It's in Proverbs. Please check it out.
We're at a very shaky point right now, there's a tipping point happening, and not only Americans in the world right now, and we need to find a place where people can be civil to each other and we can have conversations with each other. All this anger and violence doesn't do anything. It makes no difference about anything. So we need people to fight back in a loving way instead of an angry way.
After audiences have had a chance to watch an episode, or hopefully the entire series of Destination Heaven what would you like people to get out of the viewing experience? What is your greatest hope for the show?
Emily Rose: My greatest hope is that it would cause conversations for families to talk about these things. That they would laugh and they would leave, having some joy seeing themselves depicted in an honest way. And then, ultimately, that people would see that this kind of material and working and supporting artists like this to talk about these things is worth the investment, the attention, and the time. There's so much that we should not, or that we dwell on, or that we give our attention to in this culture and media. But yet there's so much that we want to talk about and discuss in the faith space. And I just am praying and hoping for audiences and people to give to that space. Not to just expect it to be there, but to invest in it and to help move this content forward. Because I think it's going to be valuable and it's important that we can talk to our kids and allow them to watch stuff and have these conversations. It's all important.
Kevin Sorbo: Spread the word and tell everybody. That's what we need more than anything. We need people to spread the word on this. Hollywood used to make TV shows and movies like this. There is no more Father Knows Best. There's no My Three Sons. There's no Andy Taylor shows out there anymore, which we still watch in our house. because there were good messages in there. There are good messages about fathers that you do need fathers in the family instead of this emasculation going on over these last decades. I hope that people spread the word because that's what we need, and that's what God tells us, calls us to do.
For More Information on Where to Stream Destination Heaven, Please Visit Great American Pure Flix:
WATCH A TRAILER FOR DESTINATION HEAVEN:
