AFA Staff

AFA Journal staff reviews movies, books and other resources

January 2013 – God’s love for people is the topic of countless sermons, thousands of songs and books, and the central truth of Christianity, and yet, it is often overlooked and oversimplified by Christians and nonbelievers. Dr. David Jeremiah studies God’s love in greater depths in his new book God Loves You: He always has – He always will.

It is a message for the seasoned Christian the questioning seeker and the confirmed atheist. For all three, that message is the same: God loves you and will never quit loving you. God loves you when you turn your back on Him and, while His love will never change, His love changes everything.

Jeremiah reminds readers that God loves everyone else as well. He loves the person who cut you off in traffic and the rude woman in the checkout line. He loves them, and that alone should impact how you see and treat those around you.

God Loves You is written in a style that will disarm readers before hitting them with hard and deep truths. It is written in Jeremiah’s usual style with stories and illustrations that cause the reader to stop reading often and remember: God loves me!
Review by Teddy James

‘The Lamp’ fails to light path to gospel CAUTION
Cameras pan across scenes at a young boy’s burial and friends greeting his family afterward. The story that develops focuses first on the tension between Stanley and Lisa Walters, who have just buried their only child. Stanley, a writer, loses his will to live and his ability to write. He grows bitter and is harsh toward everyone around him.

Everything changes when Lisa comes into possession of a very special lamp inscribed with the words “Just believe.”

“I wish I could,” Lisa murmurs to herself. Then Charles appears at her front door, arriving in response to her wish. He insists he’s real – not a genie. Charles challenges the couple with this self-centered wisdom: “You can have anything in life you want, including happiness and forgiveness if you’re willing to just believe.” That’s the sum total of Charles’ message: “Just believe.” In what? In whom? Christ is certainly not offered.

Unfortunately, this is a cross between a childhood fairy tale and a Christ-less faith that tells readers to believe, but not in Whom we should believe. At best, The Lamp’s philosophy of life can be characterized as a humanistic one.
Review by Randall Murphree