AFA Staff
AFA Journal staff reviews movies, books and other resources
September 2020 – Britfield and the Lost Crown
After escaping from their crooked orphanage overseers, Tom and Sarah head to London in search of answers and freedom. But after an action-packed journey full of twists and turns, readers will be left with a shocking revelation. In his novel Britfield and the Lost Crown, C.R. Stewart takes young readers on an adventure to uncover the shocking truth of Tom’s past.
But will Tom and Sarah manage to handle everything their travels throw at them?
The novel is an engaging and gripping story for middle-schoolers, but its best impact occurs when accompanied by Stewart’s study guides, one for public school use and one for home and Christian schools. Each guide is filled with vocabulary words, questions, and other tools to accelerate the child’s learning. In the Christian guide, questions allow readers to connect the story line with scriptural truths.
At britfield.com, readers can find historical information concerning the locations mentioned in the novel. Available for purchase at online and retail booksellers.
Hannah Harrison
When the World Stops
With scholarly, biblical insight, Dr. Michael L. Brown addresses the current crisis of viral pandemic in his latest book, When the World Stops. Brown uses Scripture to answer practical questions surrounding COVID-19, such as: Are we living in the final days described in the book of Revelation? Should Christians submit to government guidelines? How do we demonstrate faith in the face of crisis?
Available at christianbook.com, When the World Stops provides clear direction for staying healthy and living with wisdom, while maintaining faith in this unprecedented situation. Dr. Brown’s radio broadcast Line of Fire can be heard each Sunday from 2:00-4:00 p.m. on American Family Radio. For more details, go to afr.net.
Joy Lucius
Grown Apart
Marriage can be a difficult road for many couples and for some people divorce or separation seem to be the only options. For the Christian, it can be a confusing path that is muddled by what the world preaches.
In Grown Apart: How to Win Back Your Spouse, authors Matt and Pam Loehr walk troubled spouses through Scripture on a journey of forgiveness, prayer, and restoration. Each chapter is designed to be read before beginning each week over the course of a year, and each is a devotional/study concerning different aspects of marriage, relationships, and spiritual growth.
The authors provide practical tips for how to pray for a spouse, acts to show love/respect, things not to do, Scriptures to read, and where to draw the line in an abusive relationship. Each chapter emphasizes dependence on Christ as the center of every marriage and how dependence on Him, leading to personal growth, is the true key to repairing the most broken relationships. Available at online and retail booksellers.
Canada Burns
Finding Quiet
Anxiety was debilitating for professor of philosophy J.P. Moreland. Since childhood, he had struggled with severe anxiety, panic attacks, and depression. But in 2015, the weight of these troubles became more than he could bear. Thus, his search for help began. In Finding Quiet, Moreland tells his story of overcoming anxiety and how others can too.
The book, published by Zondervan, reminds worriers that they can defeat anxiety, and the first step is to acknowledge the problem. In Finding Quiet, Moreland offers tools, methods, and resources used by psychologists, counselors, and mental health care professionals.
Available at christianbook.com and other booksellers.
Hannah Harrison
Salvation: Finding Peace in a Time of Chaos
Written by Lisa Marchant, Salvation: Finding Peace in a Time of Chaos, is a full-color, visually appealing booklet that answers questions about life after death by highlighting God’s character and pointing people to Jesus. It is written on an easy-to-understand level and is intended to provide answers to questions about salvation and the Christian faith.
The booklet is a response to what the writer describes as her “dark night of the soul” – a time of fear and doubt from which the Lord delivered her. She felt the Lord impress upon her heart the words to this booklet that she is striving to get into every household in America by partnering with churches.
“I don’t want anyone in this country to be able to say, ‘I never had a chance to hear the gospel,’” Marchant told AFA Journal.
Booklets can be purchased in bulk and can be edited to include church information on the back cover.
For more information or to purchase, contact Lisa Marchant at 229.848.3565 or questions@compass173.org or visit compass173.org.
Rebecca Davis
Justice Delivered
In this intriguing novel, Carly Smith has a past. But that past might change the course of her young niece’s life. In Justice Delivered, author Patricia Bradley shows how human trafficking and its aftereffects can devastate not only the victim but also an entire family. The fast-paced narrative keeps readers on edge as they seek to see justice delivered to Carly and her family.
While Justice Delivered focuses on human trafficking, Bradley is careful to showcase the severity of the issue without depicting graphic details and the nature of trafficking crimes. Available for purchase at online and retail booksellers.
Hannah Harrison
The Day God Made You
“Your mama and I needed you, and the world needs you too. God knew all these things, the day He made you,” Rory Feek writes in The Day God Made You.
After losing his wife to cancer in 2016, Feek, a country singer/songwriter, was left with his 2-year-old daughter, Indiana, who has Down syndrome. As a follower of Christ, Feek desired to encourage his young daughter with the beautiful promises of the Word. Written with Indiana in mind, The Day God Made You is a beautifully illustrated storybook reiterating how God created all children and knew them before they were born.
Available at christianbook.com and other booksellers.
Hannah Harrison
Scriptures inspire classical sounds
“I’ve found a way to marry classical sounds with Christian music,” says the composer at Humnos Logos Music’s Instrumental Verses 1. The very private pop/classical artist is pioneering a unique delivery of Christian music, evoking emotion without the use of lyrics.
Some would assume that it’s all about the sound. Listen more closely, and the impact becomes deeper. That deeper impact is the goal of this debut album of stirring music interpreting specific Scripture verses.
For example, the composition titled “A Call to Endure (Rev 13:10)” is inspired by Revelation’s end times account of the tribulation. It opens with the sound of trumpets, then interprets the sound of the rapture, and the rest represents the Apocalypse.
The project invites, even urges, the listener to pause, absorb the musical moods, and meditate on the Scriptures. Available at online sites. Hear samples at hlm.hearnow.com.
Randall Murphree
