Chey on Rapture Movie

What is this movie “Final the Rapture” all about? Find out with Director Tim Chey on the show Christ in Prophecy.

Last aired on January 19, 2014.

Video References

Final: The Rapture Official Website

Transcript

Dr. Reagan: A great new movie about the Rapture has been produced and is being released in theaters this month. It is titled, “Final: The Rapture.” The film was shot in Argentina, Japan, Hawaii and Los Angeles. It is hard-hitting and realistic, complete with all sorts of special effects. Stay tuned for scenes from the movie and an interview with its director.

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Part 1

Dr. Reagan: Greetings in the name of Jesus our Blessed Hope and welcome to Christ in Prophecy. My colleague, Nathan Jones and I are very excited about our special guest today. He is Tim Chey, the director of a great new movie about the Rapture. Tim, thanks for coming all the way from Los Angeles to be with us here today.

Tim Chey: Its great being here Dave, with you and Nathan. I absolutely love this show.

Nathan Jones: Oh, good to have you on Tim.

Tim Chey: Thanks, Nathan.

Nathan Jones: Hey we’re talking about your movie, why a movie about the Rapture when some people say the Rapture isn’t even in the Bible?

Tim Chey: You know I can’t tell you how many, I was at a Dairy Queen, Nathan, just yesterday and a guy said, “Sir, Rapture’s not in the Bible. Sorry to tell you that.” I said, “Well if you look in 1 Thessalonians you look at “caught up”, and it is “rapturo” in Latin and “harpazo” in Greek, so unfortunately it is in the Bible.

Nathan Jones: Yeah, you say “rapio” and Rapture.

Tim Chey: Right, exactly. And I think it’s a timely topic to talk about because so many people, especially the young generation don’t even know about the Rapture, let alone that it’s not in the Bible. And I think it is really, really important.

Dr. Reagan: You know that is a very important point because Nathan and I have noticed that when we go to prophecy conferences around the nation to speak we rarely see anybody below the age of 60 even. It is like the whole young generation is being by-passed about any teaching about Bible prophecy.

Tim Chey: Oh, yeah. I mean the latest poll is only 10% of the nation is actually Christian, true Christians. And I just think, “Man, you know, we have fallen so, so far from where it was even 20 years ago in the 1980’s you know during the Reagan administration.”

Dr. Reagan: Well you must personally have some interest in Bible prophecy to produce a film about the Rapture, is that true?

Tim Chey: Oh, yeah, yeah, I’ve been studying Bible prophecy since I first got saved. And I really believe that if we truly believe we are in the last days, we’ve got to act like it. Unfortunately it is like the fire is happening and we’re not even putting it out.

Dr. Reagan: Well you mentioned when you first got saved. Tell us about your background.

Nathan Jones: Yeah.

Tim Chey: Well you know I got saved late in my life, I was like 35 years old and I was in the Philippines when I got saved. And it was an incredible, for Gideon’s cooperation they always contact me because they want to speak because I got saved through a Gideon’s Bible in a hotel.

Nathan Jones: Wow.

Tim Chey: And it sounds so cliché but I actual picked up the Bible, I went through the questions in the beginning and I got down on my knees and I accepted Jesus Christ in a hotel in the Philippines, of all places.

Dr. Reagan: Wonderful.

Tim Chey: And I never turned back and I’ve just been on fire. And Dave when we were having breakfast this morning, and there is a verse in the Bible where Jesus says, “Those who have been forgiven the most, love me the most.” And you know now I just work for the Kingdom of God, just out of gratitude for salvation and not to get any blessings or anything, even though God has blessed us so much.

Dr. Reagan: How in the world did you become a director of movies?

Tim Chey: Well you know I started at USC Film School when I was 18. When I graduated I couldn’t get a job. The biggest misconception is you go to a good film school and you’ll get a directing job, it doesn’t happen. Trust me. In fact out of my class only 1 or 2 really became film directors.

Nathan Jones: Really?

Tim Chey: And the rest just ended up sort of disappearing you know becoming film crew, or not even getting into film. So I couldn’t get a job so I ended up going to Grad school and I worked in a field totally different from what I’m doing. And after I worked for three years I was practicing law, but after that I said, “I don’t have a heart for this.” And was still a secular heathen. So I said you know I want to start making films and that is what sort of propelled me back into the film. And I directed my first film for Universal Studios.

Dr. Reagan: That was before you were saved right?

Tim Chey: Before I was saved. But that brought me no happiness. We were just talking about Corbin Bernsen a good friend of mine who was in my film, “Suing the Devil,” and he had no happiness after “LA Law,” and now he has a giant cross on the front of his door and he’s saved, totally sold out believer.

Nathan Jones: Praise the Lord.

Tim Chey: So, yeah, you see so many things in Hollywood and actors coming to Christ and it is a great time for harvest. But the workers are few, that’s the thing.

Nathan Jones: I love what you said earlier about how all the people, it was like 16,000 people tried out for this and they all read the script, they all got the Gospel message. You have a mission field unheard of to actors.

Tim Chey: Oh, sure. It is an incredible harvest in Hollywood and they are the media influencers, much like you guys are. And if we get them, they can get other people saved. You know much like an actor friend of mine who is good friends with Robert Di Nero and we got him saved on the set, and now she is pitching the Gospel to Robert Di Nero. So we are one hearts beat away from the Gospel to anyone we want.

Dr. Reagan: I was astounded when you told me that you had reviewed 16,000 actors for this wonderful film called, Final: The Rapture there must be a lot of hungry actors in Los Angeles.

Tim Chey: Oh, there are lines. Whenever we cast, I mean you see lines of actors around the entire casting building with them holding the script. And you kind of feel sorry for them because you really want to give them work, especially as a Christian. But there are very few Christian actors believe it or not out there and we want to work with Christian actors, it’s just that there are very few that go onto Hollywood and I think that’s a mistake.

Dr. Reagan: Those interviews were not all in Los Angeles, were they in the other areas where you also filmed?

Tim Chey: Oh, sure.

Dr. Reagan: Because this film is shot in Los Angeles, Hawaii, Argentina, and Japan, right?

Tim Chey: Yup, that’s absolutely right Dave.

Dr. Reagan: Amazing.

Tim Chey: It is amazing, yeah.

Dr. Reagan: We are going to come back to that point in just a few minutes but first of all let’s just pause here and then we will come back and talk about the movie itself. Thanks for the background about you.

Tim Chey: Sure, Dave.

Part 2

Nathan Jones: Welcome back to Christ in Prophecy and our interview of Tim Chey, the director of the new movie, “Final: The Rapture,” which is a film about the Rapture.

Dr. Reagan: Tim, I tell you when I saw this film the first thing that impressed me was the quality of it. The quality of the filming, of the directing, of the script and everything. And the reason that impressed me so much is because over the years I’ve seen many, “Christian” films that were produced with great dedication and with great zeal but they were very, very low budget and they just came across sometimes as totally hokey or whatever. And this one is very different. Now you shot this in Hawaii, Los Angeles, Argentina, and Japan. And I noticed at the end that you had a different film crew in each area. Now that adds up to a lot of money, how in the world were you able to raise the funds for this film?

Tim Chey: Well we were very fortunate, you know David and Nathan that we had Christians who were wealthy Christians and Evangelical Christians.

Nathan Jones: Awesome.

Tim Chey: And that is a very hard combo to get, a wealthy Evangelical Christian, you know.

Dr. Reagan: They are few and far between.

Tim Chey: Yeah.

Dr. Reagan: The Lord must have led you to them.

Tim Chey: He did. It was out of the blue, because we had just gone through a disappointment where this Indian Chief that runs a billion dollar tribe, I flew from Hawaii all the way to Canada and I told the guy, “Are you sure because I am flying all the way from Hawaii to Canada to meet with the tribe.”

Dr. Reagan: Right.

Tim Chey: He said, “Tim we’re going to put 10 million into this movie. We want you to know it’s a done deal.”

Nathan Jones: Wow.

Tim Chey: I fly all the way over there. They pick me up, 2 hours to their tribe and the guy says, “Oh, we just had a meeting we decided to not do your film.”

Nathan Jones: Oh, no.

Tim Chey: So it was very devastating and you know we meet these kind of people all the time. But right two months later we get a phone call and it was one of my friends who had invested in our other film called, “Suing the Devil.” That is the one with Corbin Bernsen is in and Malcolm McDowell and they invested and they did very well with it. And he said, “I want to put some serious cash in.” So they flew my wife and I to Australia. And picked us up in a limo which was a little better than the Indian tribe. And then he said, “We want to put in millions into your movies.”

Nathan Jones: Praise the Lord.

Tim Chey: You know you guys have been doing good. All our films have been in the black to let you guys know.

Nathan Jones: Praise God.

Tim Chey: It is a good way to get the investors their money back.

Dr. Reagan: Sure, sure, if I’m investing I want to know what you’ve done and did you make any money.

Tim Chey: Oh, absolutely. It absolutely beats the stock market.

Dr. Reagan: Well there is no doubt the Lord’s hand is upon you.

Tim Chey: It is, amen.

Dr. Reagan: You’ve shown this movie now in a number of theaters across the nation. In fact you are on your way right now to Florida for the opening of the movie in theaters there in January.

Tim Chey: Yeah, sure.

Dr. Reagan: When this program is going to be shown to the nation. So let me ask you this: what has been the response of people, of the audiences to your movie?

Tim Chey: Well one story in the news was a woman who came out of the theater of Final: The Rapture.” And this is in Houston and she came our shaking. And my wife saw her in the lobby and she pointed a pastor to her and the pastor led her to Christ. And she got on her knees in the middle of the lobby and people thought this was crazy. And this woman came up and said, “What is going on here? You know it is like a Baptist revival?” And I said, “No, it is just a Christian film that the Lord has lead us to do.”

Nathan Jones: Well your website has a video where people can watch and see people’s responses as they are coming out of the theaters which is fantastic. And they are coming out like, “Wow, I didn’t know this.” Or, “It really moved me.” I mean this movie it is changing people’s lives.”

Dr. Reagan: Plus it’s a very hard hitting film.

Tim Chey: Yeah, it is, it is and it is just the Lord because you know 1 Corinthians says, “I become all things to all men to win some to Christ. To the weak I become weak, to the strong I become strong.” And in actuality we are going to the weak, the movie goers. And I think it was a mistake of the Christian church since the 1940’s they should have competed with Hollywood and got in there and mixed it up with them because we are seeing so much fruit, you know altar calls, people using it to bring people to Christ.

Nathan Jones: Wow, praise the Lord.

Dr. Reagan: Well I was impressed with every aspect of the film, the quality, particularly with the acting. I mean you have some really fine actors. Are they all professionals?

Tim Chey: Yeah, they all are we cast in Hollywood which you know is the capital of casting.

Dr. Reagan: And some of these I think are outstanding actors in their countries, like Argentina and Japan.

Tim Chey: Oh, yeah.

Nathan Jones: The woman in Argentina was great.

Tim Chey: She is a big TV actress and it is funny because everywhere we went people were trying to get her autograph. You know it hindered the film making process. We said, “well get the autographs after.”

Dr. Reagan: Well the Japanese actor you have, the lead Japanese actor has been in major Hollywood films.

Tim Chey: Yeah, he plays the general in “Letters from Iwo Jima,” the Clint Eastwood movie.

Dr. Reagan: Oh, ok.

Tim Chey: It is interesting how he talks about Clint Eastwood directed him, it is just amazing. He is a great phenomenal director, he is one of my favorite directors too.

Dr. Reagan: Well you know the actor that impressed me the most in the whole film was the professor from Los Angeles.

Nathan Jones: Oh, because he was a professor.

Dr. Reagan: The arrogant, I got so mad at that guy I wanted to choke him. And that’s when I realized how good an actor he was. Is he a professional actor?

Tim Chey: Yeah, he is a very big actor and we were blessed to have him. He is also a sold out believer. And it is very hard like we were talking about to get a talented sold-out believer to be in your film.

Dr. Reagan: It is hard to believe that he is a believer, really.

Tim Chey: Yeah.

Dr. Reagan: The way he behaves in that film like, I thought I was watching Richard Dawkins the world’s #1 Atheist.

Nathan Jones: He kind of looks like him too.

Tim Chey: Yeah exactly.

Nathan Jones: He reminded me of some of my professors from when I was at Penn State. I mean just totally hostile to the Gospel.

Tim Chey: Oh, yeah.

Dr. Reagan: Did you work him up to be that way?

Tim Chey: Yeah, you know actually we shot at some of the major universities you know to get, and it was incredible we had real students who were on the border line of being an atheist and believers and they saw the movie interaction, the extras and they saw him and they thought was an atheist. And he actually turned around and said, “No, I’m a believer. I am just playing an atheist.”

Dr. Reagan: It’s convincing.

Tim Chey: Oh, he is very convincing.

Dr. Reagan: Well brother, I just praise God for you and for many reasons. But one in particular and that is as I told you earlier in a private conversation I go all over the world in the history of this ministry I have been all over the world and I know that whenever I go to a foreign country whether it is Africa, Asia, Latin America and I turn that TV set on in that hotel room I am going to see the most lewd, blasphemous, sexual, violent films and TV programs all made in USA. We are the moral polluters of planet earth. And I am just glad to see someone who is dedicated to making films that inspire and uplift. Your feelings about Hollywood these days?

Tim Chey: Well I agree with you 100% Dave. In fact on the airplane now they force you to lower your blinds and watch their garbage.

Nathan Jones: Oh, really.

Tim Chey: You know and we try to put our Christian movies on the airplanes and they won’t have anything to do with it. And I think it is very fascinating that this country was founded by believers, the Pilgrims.

Dr. Reagan: Right.

Tim Chey: And yet they take the tradition and they throw it out the door and they say, “No, you are forced to watch our garbage but we can’t have anything.” It’s even in the magazines when you stand at the checkout counter. We are forced to see the National Enquirer. But put a Christian magazine we will be sued by the minority groups.

Dr. Reagan: He took his kids to a Toys R Us about a year ago as they are checking out they walk by a magazine stand. There on the magazine stand was the latest copy of “Archie” comic books and on the cover, on the cover was the drawing of a same-sex marriage, on an Archie Comic book.

Tim Chey: The thing is, you know we were talking about this earlier, you know we are in Sodom and Gomorrah right now and we are in the last days.

Dr. Reagan: That’s right.

Tim Chey: So it is hard to reverse that. I am almost be like, you know we can’t have it both ways right, we can’t have the Rapture happening and it is a glorious world in America.

Dr. Reagan: Amen, sad but true.

Nathan Jones: That’s true.

Tim Chey: The 1950’s would have been a great time for the Rapture to happen but I think the Lord is showing us the degradation of our country.

Dr. Reagan: Let’s just pause here for a moment and let’s let our viewers take a look at the incredible trailer that you have put together for this film.

Trailer for Final: The Rapture

Part 3

Nathan Jones: Wow, Tim that was an intense trailer! I just love seeing that again and again. Especially the professor he sitting on the island and he is yelling, “I can’t believe this is happening!” And I would imagine after the Rapture there will be a lot of people yelling, “I can’t believe this is happening.”

Tim Chey: Oh, yeah. I mean he just heard that from the news segment where they said the Stock Market crashed, you know, all his bank savings, basically they are shutting down the banks and they are allowing only like $25 a day out, you know something crazy like that. But I think that is what is going to happen. I think it is going to be total chaos and the banks are going to be just completely the first to go. And if that happens then people are going to be panicking.

Dr. Reagan: Oh, yeah.

Tim Chey: They are going to be like, well I want to withdraw all my money, right?

Nathan Jones: Oh, yeah a run on the banks.

Dr. Reagan: And I think people will saying that very same thing particularly those who may have heard and taught about the Rapture.

Tim Chey: Oh, yeah.

Dr. Reagan: Maybe their husband, their wife, they heard a preacher on TV or whatever. And they are going to say, “I can’t believe this is really happening.”

Tim Chey: Well the first thing I would do if the Rapture happened and I was a lukewarm believer is I would go in the bank and withdraw everything and get out of the United States. I would try to get to like Fiji, you know I would go to some remote place where I cannot be touched by the evil. And unfortunately that is what happens to the professor he is on this remote island.

Dr. Reagan: Not by choice.

Nathan Jones: That would explain then why the football player was so hot to get out of the country.

Tim Chey: Right.

Nathan Jones: He was trying to escape.

Dr. Reagan: Seriously what kind of explanations do you think will be given for the Rapture? Because the government is going to try to explain this away.

Tim Chey: Oh, I think there is only one explanation I think they are going to say some alien being zapped them, it has to be the only way that can explain disappearances.

Dr. Reagan: I think so too in terms of a logical explanation. Now there are going to be other explanations I’m sure. One that comes to mind was back in the early 1970’s the leaders of the New Age Movement in the United States called a press conference and they announced that the masters of the universe, who are the names for the demons that they channel with. They said, “The master of the universe have revealed to us that a time is coming soon when those who live by faith will be taken off the earth so that those who live by reason can continue in their evolutionary development.” And I remember that so clearly, that was back in the early 70’s. And I have no doubt that when this happens those guys will rush to the microphone and say, “See, we told you, we told you and it has now happened.” But that will appeal to the people who are more spiritually inclined I guess. But the explanation I think the government give will probably be aliens.

Tim Chey: Oh, yeah absolutely. I think though it is going to be a harvest. You know I agree with John MacArthur when he says it is going to be, and also many other pastors that it is going to be the greatest evangelical harvest ever.

Dr. Reagan: Oh, yeah right.

Nathan Jones: There was one lady in particular, there are a lot of lines I thought were really great. But in Argentina there was an older woman walking with the main woman up the stairs and she says, “Well I’m a Christian, and since I am a Christian this couldn’t be the Rapture because I would have gone right?” There is going to be lots of people left behind who think they are Christians, but what’s the difference why aren’t they raptured with the other people even though they say they are Christians?

Tim Chey: Well you know it is interesting that you say that Nathan because you know a lot of pastors are coming to a conclusion, and this is based on even my travels around the world that probably the majority of Christians are going to be left behind. And I thought, “Well you know what that is kind of shocking.”

Dr. Reagan: How about pastors as well?

Tim Chey: Possibly, yeah and we won’t go into which ones but, yeah I agree with you David. And I think I agree with maybe one of the excerpts of the best-selling book that says, “Well lukewarm Christians are an oxymoron you are not going to see lukewarm Christians in heaven.” And that is because of Revelation 3 where it says “I will spit lukewarm Christians out of my mouth.”

Nathan Jones: Yeah.

Tim Chey: And you know then Jesus of course the most shocking thing in Matthew when He says, “I don’t know who you are, you evangelized, you cast out demons but depart from me I don’t know who you are.” Do non-believers cast out demons? Do they evangelize? He is talking to believers who think they are believers.

Dr. Reagan: Well so many people think they are Christians simply because let’s say they’ve gone through baptism, or they go to church maybe once a month, or their names are on the church role, or something like this. And I call these cultural Christians they really have no personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

Tim Chey: That’s right.

Dr. Reagan: And that’s what salvation is all about. A personal relationship with the Savior of this world.

Tim Chey: In fact yeah, that is absolutely right David, in fact they may not even be Christians. So we shouldn’t even say that they are lukewarm because they are not even Christians to begin with. That’s so true.

Dr. Reagan: I mean anybody can claim to be a Christian. It is like standing in the garage and saying, “I’m an automobile.” Well I’m not.

Tim Chey: That is a good point.

Dr. Reagan: I can say that but it doesn’t make me one because I am standing in a garage.

Tim Chey: Yeah, that’s absolutely right.

Dr. Reagan: Any more so than I am standing in a church saying I am a Christian.

Tim Chey: Well I think a lot of them are cultural, they grew up like you said in the movie the character probably just grew up thinking well I was baptized when I was two.

Dr. Reagan: Yeah.

Tim Chey: And I must be a Christian and blah, blah, blah, but they don’t live or have any repentance of their sins. They don’t have a relationship with Jesus.

Dr. Reagan: In fact public opinion polls are now showing that even among evangelicals many say, “Well Jesus sinned. And Satan’s not real. And there are many roads to heaven.” And all this sort of thing. In fact they are showing that only about 9% of all the people in America are true Bible believing Christians.

Tim Chey: Yeah, that is really sad. And it may even be smaller we don’t know. But I know when Jesus says, “I’m coming back and where am I going to find faith.”

Dr. Reagan: Yes.

Tim Chey: I think that is an extremely apropos statement.

Dr. Reagan: Well it certainly makes it apparent that one of the richest evangelistic fields are churches themselves.

Tim Chey: That’s right.

Nathan Jones: At least your movie gave that encouragement; it started off, oh a 100 are missing, then 1,000 then they realize that millions are missing. And I pray that millions will be going to Heaven.

Tim Chey: Oh, yeah we have to be praying for that too. I mean no one wants to be here for the Great Tribulation.

Dr. Reagan: That’s right.

Tim Chey: It’s going to be a mess.

Dr. Reagan: Is this film going to be released in theaters or is it going straight to video?

Tim Chey: Well it has been in theaters and its going platform city by city. We are going to be in Florida next. So as people watch this movie, or watch this TV show right now the movie is in theaters.

Dr. Reagan: But people can get copies of the video, right?

Tim Chey: That’s exactly right. We are making the advance screeners available to the general public, for just a limited time.

Dr. Reagan: Ok.

Tim Chey: So they can see the whole movie as well. And it raises money for us because to be in each city it is about $25,000 in advertising. So we are going to be in Orlando, Melbourne, Ft. Lauderdale, each one is $25,000 in newspaper and TV buys. So it is a great way to sort of generate and you know keep going.

Dr. Reagan: Well folks, you need to go to the website where this movie is featured. What is the website address?

Tim Chey: They can just watchfinal.com, seefinal.com.

Dr. Reagan: Ok, type in Final: The Rapture and you will find the website and you can see where it is going to be screened in your area. So do that. This a film you must see.

Part 4

Dr. Reagan: Welcome back to our interview with Tim Chey the director of an exciting new film called, Final: The Rapture. Tim as we bring our program to a close, first of all I want to thank you again for being with us you have just been a great blessing.

Tim Chey: You’ve been a blessing to me.

Dr. Reagan: And I would like for you to look directly into that camera there and say a few words to those who are watching who may not know Jesus as their Lord and Savior and just sort of summarize the message of your movie to those who do not know Jesus.

Tim Chey: Well thanks a lot David. And first off thank you for having me on this show, it is a great show and I’m a fan of it. I guess to the audience I just want to say this I started as an Atheist and then I became a believer at 36 years old, I am now 48. And I want to let you guys know one thing the next great event of the Church is going to be the Rapture. And it is not a joke, it is something that you have to take very seriously because when the Rapture happens it is going to be chaos and it is going to be tribulation like the world has never known, like in Revelation 1. So this is the time to get serious with God. If you are a lukewarm believer it is a time to say, “You know what I’m I really saved? Do I really have a relationship with Jesus Christ?” If I’m not a believer it is a time to really get serious and say, “You know what I’m going to read the Bible.” And I encourage you to read everything to get closer to God because God promises if you draw closer to Him, He will draw closer to you and get you to the right path. But as David mentioned one of the reasons why we made the film is because we want to have both sides of the issue. God is a God of love, He loves you desperately and He wants to bring you to Him. But He is also a God of judgment. We have to have both, you can’t have one being loving, and let sin go. So this is a movie about God’s coming judgment on the world, and it is a righteous judgment. He is not being mean spirited in anyway because He loves you, He sent His Son Jesus Christ to die for you a horrible death. He is not mean spirited. But He has to be righteous. And this righteousness is the Rapture which will be the Church will vanish and will be taken up in the first stage of the Second Coming. And it is in the Bible because it is “rapturo” in Latin, and “harpazo” in Greek in 1 Thessalonians.

Dr. Reagan: 1 Thessalonians 4.

Tim Chey: Caught up. And so it is biblical and Billy Graham, J. Vernon McGee, John MacArthur, thousands of Bible scholars believe in the Rapture of the Church, so don’t let anyone dissuade you that it is not in the Bible. And it is going to be the next great event of the Bible. So as my friends David and Nathan share every week or day on this program please come to Christ now, don’t wait another day.

Nathan Jones: Thank you so much Tim, it has been a great blessing man.

Tim Chey: Thank you, Nathan, God bless you, too.

Nathan Jones: Thank you so much.

Tim Chey: It’s been an honor being here.

Nathan Jones: Well, folks, that’s our program for this week and I hope it’s been a blessing to you as well. And, I hope you’ll be back with us next week. Until then this is Nathan Jones speaking for Dr. David Reagan and myself saying, “Look up, be watchful, for our redemption is drawing near.”

End of Program

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