28 Oct, 2018 The Road to Edmond Falsely Promoted as a Christian Film

Is The Road to Edmond a wholesome Christian film as it claims? Or is it major propaganda, meant to mislead the next generation?

from contributing writer Analia Anderson

Recently, I brought two of my pastors to the screening of the so-called “Christian” film, The Road to Edmond that I saw advertised on Facebook. I really wrestled with writing this review because I always support my fellow Christian filmmakers, no matter what level of quality or stage they’re in… but this was an anti-christ film and work of the devil.

When we arrived, we were greeted by the writer/director/producer, his director of photography, and his lovely wife. They were all kind and welcoming. The director is a former pastor of a church in Orange County whose demographic is the younger generation and still in the world. This film’s purpose is to have that dialogue on the touchy subject of homosexuality that churches don’t want to address. Before the director introduced the film, he warned us we may be offended and leave, but asked us not to protest outside. Because my film has a lot of controversial issues as well, I wanted to see if they pulled it off and how well they executed it.

The Road to Edmond broken down

First off, from a filmmaker’s perspective, they did a great job on the film for a $35,000 budget shot in 12 days. My hang ups are no big deal… just various camera shots needed and a break in monotony from only hearing dialogue from the 2 main characters the entire film. From a biblical perspective, it is absolutely blasphemous. It’s about a youth pastor Cleo who is put on a 2 week leave from his church for supporting a teenage girl in his youth group who has come out as gay, instead of encouraging her to repent and seek counseling. He ends up going on a road trip with a stranger Larry, who accidentally runs over his bike and becomes his confidant during his struggle with the church’s disciplinary action.

We learn of both gentlemen’s background during their travels. Larry tries to loosen up Cleo getting him to drink, curse & smoke marijuana while affirming the notion that loving people in their battle with homosexuality is supporting their decision to come out. I felt like I was watching the Brett Kavanaugh case, with the devil manipulating and deceiving people through emotions rather than the truth. The cursing and drinking in the film didn’t surprise me, but when they tore the page out of the Bible on how homosexuality is an abomination and rolled it up with weed and smoked it, I was rolling in my grave… and I’m not dead yet.

I understand how even we sinners stumble and revert to our old ways or into traps by the devil, but there was no remorse or repentance afterward by Cleo. He was not upset that he stumbled and was duped by the devil through Larry. Instead, he was upset that he was too drunk to know that Larry had texted his pastor cursing him, jeopardizing his job. In fact, there was no mention of the devil or hell in this film. Its doctrine was strictly based on feelings, the emotional struggles of coming out, and the judgment and bad examples of Christians who wounded them in their lives.

There was no mention of kids being molested that caused confusion in their sexual identity. There was no mention of fatherless homes and lack of paternal affection that caused confusion between love and sex. There was no mention of demonic spirits of lust, sexual perversion, or suicide… which are results of demons condemning and tormenting people when they open the door and give legal right to demons to oppress them through sin and lack of knowledge. “My people perish for lack of knowledge.” Hosea 4:6. SPOILER ALERT: At the end of the film it turns out Larry was a former youth pastor himself. Along their road trip, they stop by another church and Larry officiates a lesbian wedding with a male gay choir. A wedding guest chats with Cleo saying Larry was her youth pastor and he “loved them.” This film’s message of God’s love is accepting homosexuality. The love of God is telling people the truth and setting them free from the lies of the devil!

Q & A Controversy

After the film during the Q&A, my pastors stood up and expressed their concern for the encouragement of sin and lack of wise counsel from other pastors. I also asked if the director stopped pastoring 10 years ago because of his “progressive” viewpoint on homosexuality as he described. He said he had various opinions from pastors, but people applauded him for his “bravery” for tackling a touchy subject. Again, I felt like I was watching the Brett Kavanaugh case of people commending Christine Ford for coming forward with no evidence or truth, but appeasing to emotional suffering from holding it in for years…. regardless of whether these feelings are legitimate. The devil is a liar!!!

But if your vision is poor, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness! Matthew 6:23

The director said there were many people in the audience who are gay and love Jesus. If people truly love Jesus and are in the Word daily, the Holy Spirit would convict them of their sin. This director has no spiritual discernment.

This is the problem in the church today. People lack understanding of the spirit realm. People often quote Ephesians 6:12 “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places,” but have no clue what principalities are and how these rulers of darkness operate in the spirit realm. The devil deceives, manipulates, and controls our minds, hearts, and flesh when we give him permission… knowingly or ignorantly.

Deliverance over Deception

One lady in the audience acknowledged she leaned on the conservative side like us. There was a gal who attended the Bible college she worked at who came out as a lesbian and they wrestled with how to deal with her. They let her stay in the school, but she later dropped out. The lady questioned how we show love to homosexuals without judging them. Both my pastor and I wanted to shout out “DELIVERANCE,” but the director immediately shut down my pastor. There was no “dialogue” about this subject. It was blatant permission to live in sin. This deception is plaguing our church and sending people straight to hell.

“Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.” – Isaiah 5:20

This is not about sexual preference, but saving souls. Our lives here on earth is a testing and battleground to make it to heaven’s gate and spend an eternity with our loving Father. The devil knows his time is short, so he will do anything to get us to curse God and live contrary to His commands. The easiest way for the devil to destroy the masses is to take down the leaders, especially in the churches. That’s why we see so many pastors falling to adultery and homosexuality. It leaves distrust in churches and faith in God, so people turn away.

The devil gets them young too! It’s no wonder why we see so many suicides among our youth as young as 8 years old! Satan has polluted entertainment with video games, music, magazines, pornography, and movies such as this to gain access of their minds and control their behaviors. People want to blame Christians and the bible for the struggles and suicides among homosexuals, but it is the torment from the devil that condemns and mocks those who have fallen into sin to take their own lives. Because of the self-destructive behaviors (suicide, homosexuality, promiscuity, drinking, drugs, cutting, etc.), those who love the Lord do not want to see those hurting turn away from God, so they change their doctrine to suit the emotional needs of the weak and prey of the devil.

This is how Satan has deceived the church. People take parts of the bible, including just the New Testament, rather than seeking the FULL counsel of God. They only refer to the words of Jesus, omitting that Jesus is God, and He is the same yesterday as He is today and tomorrow. They want to exclude the Old Testament, or pick and choose which verses to abide by, believing the distortion that Jesus came to abolish the law, when in fact He came to FULFILL it. People mistake Jesus paying the price for sin as Him redefining sin, like the redefining of marriage. Not true!!!

“Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill.”—Matthew 5:17 KJV

“But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel:”—2 Timothy 1:10  KJV

“…my salvation shall be for ever, and my righteousness shall not be abolished.”—Isaiah 51:6  KJV

“That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.”—Romans 8:4 KJV

The Bible clearly states God’s views on homosexuality

“Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is an abomination.”—Leviticus 18:22 KJV

“If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.”—Leviticus 20:13 KJV

In Genesis 13, God destroys Sodom because the men were wicked in their sexual perversions. For those who only refer to the New Testament, Romans 1 is very clear and explicit on homosexuality.

“The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse. For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles. Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen. Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error. Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy. Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.”—Romans 1:18-32. NIV

God is clear on how He views those people who approve of homosexuality

“Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. ‘I have the right to do anything,’ you say—but not everything is beneficial. ‘I have the right to do anything’—but I will not be mastered by anything. You say, ‘Food for the stomach and the stomach for food, and God will destroy them both.’ The body, however, is not meant for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. By his power God raised the Lord from the dead, and he will raise us also. Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ himself? Shall I then take the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute? Never! Do you not know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body? For it is said, “The two will become one flesh.” But whoever is united with the Lord is one with him in spirit. Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body.  Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.”—1 Corinthians 6:9-20. NIV

We need to pray not just for the homosexuals, but those who approve of this lifestyle. We need to pray for leaders, especially in our church and government, and these filmmakers that their eyes be open from the lies of the devil so they may serve the TRUE GOD (the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) and not a false Christ, and spare the souls who are perishing from their sin and lack of knowledge. HELL IS REAL. HELL IS ETERNAL. Our flesh and feelings are TEMPORAL. Be kingdom minded! LOVE IS TRUTH!!!

Analia Anderson is a Christian filmmaker based out of LA. She has worked in every aspect of the entertainment industry in music, film, fashion, fitness, and photography for almost three decades. 

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