By: Joseph Poulos

Muskegon – Suffragan Bishop Theophilus Michael R. Burrell of the Apostolic Church of God in Muskegon and his daughter
Stephanie Farrington have co-authored a Christian devotional.

The new book, titled “Chosen: The Key to Unlocking Your Identity,” consists of 30 days of
reading entries with questions and prompts designed to allow the reader to reflect and discover
more deeply who they are. It seeks to help readers discover the purpose that God has placed
on their lives.

Pastor Burrell is well known for his work in Muskegon, and this is his second book. His daughter,
Stephanie Farrington, lives in Houston, Texas, and is the CEO and founder of Arabella
Counseling, where she works with marginalized, underserved, and oppressed communities. She
has written three other books as well.

“If I could describe the book in one word, I would say ‘honest,’” Farrington said. “It is a book on
honesty and the truth about our lives and our identities.”

Burrell believes the book can also enlighten people.

“It’s about revelation,” Burrell said. “It is a revealing of who you are in God. It is about getting to
know your creator a little better.”

When deciding on what type of book to write together, the duo settled on the idea of a
devotional as something more digestible for the average reader.

“It pushes the reader every single day to do something to meet their goal,” Farrington said. “It’s
incremental. In a traditional book, they can take their time. A devotional is structured so day by
day you are on the right trajectory to change the things you want to change or learn the things
you want to learn in a shorter period of time.”

Burrell believes the devotional genre takes specific inspiration from biblical scripture and can be
utilized by readers to the same general effect.

“It reminds me of The Lord’s Prayer which says ‘Give us this day our daily bread.’ The
devotional deals with our day-to-day,” Burrell said. “You can jump ahead or you can meditate
and absorb that one day a month.”

His ministry experience proved especially useful in writing the book.

“Everyone has challenges and trauma,” he said. “They don’t always realize that God is right
there. He is omnipresent. It weighs heavily on me sometimes that people don’t realize the
benefits. Ignorance is not always bliss. It’s good to know, and then maybe you can kind of
strengthen your relationship and become more of a believer in Him.”

Farrington’s role as a licensed professional counselor allowed her to see faith as not only a
spiritual tool, but a clinical one as well.

“In my profession, we see faith as an anchor,” she said. “Whether someone is religious or not,
we believe that having something to believe in that is greater and more powerful than yourself
has immense benefits.”

Farrington’s clinical approach shows a level of synchronization. She sees faith as a
necessary catalyst to healing.

“When you pull in the faith component alongside the social, emotional and psychological
component, it deals with the person in totality,” she said. “That was my goal when writing, not to
deal with just one specific area in a person’s life, but to kind of intertwine all the different things
that make them who they are and help get them on a course where they are headed in the right
direction.”

Both father and daughter are firm in their belief that the Digital Age comes with its own set of
unique benefits and pitfalls. Each believes Jesus’ message is especially important today.

“We are exposed to far more than our minds were ever meant to conceptualize in a day,”
Farrington said. “Clinically speaking, anxiety, suicide and depression are at an all-time high.”
Burrell pointed out that the technology that was supposed to connect the masses has actually
had a rather unfortunate and ironic effect on society as a whole.

“With all the technology, it almost pushes us into a mode of isolation,” he said. “Since everything
is at our fingertips, we no longer have to go out and socialize. We can get everything at home
and have it mailed to us.”

They became interested in the idea of spreading God’s message together after the COVID-19
pandemic, which pushed people further from each other than ever before.

“The pandemic completely changed the way that all of us exist in the world,” Farrington said.
“And so many people have never recovered from that. Coming out of a global pandemic where
we saw our loved ones passing has caused people to turn inwards and ultimately try to be more
present in their own lives rather than trying to be bystanders.”

Pastor Burrell echoed this sentiment and pointed towards new technological difficulties on the
horizon, including one largely looming threat: artificial intelligence.

“COVID, outside of all the tragedy, revealed to us how important it is to have fellowship,” he
said. “A lot of people stopped going to church and stopped going to work. They asked to work
from home. In 2026, with AI, it has really done a number on people. Technology is not evil in
itself; it is how we use it. We have to use it more diligently and wisely. 2026 is not over yet; it is
still a challenge. I think this 30-day devotional can help a lot of people get through the rest of the
year.”

As far as her approach to writing the book, Farrington noted that the real challenge comes after
the idea, when follow-through leads to production.

“I think it was more challenging than what I initially thought it would be,” she said. “We have
these grand ideas, and we have a hard time finishing them. Once I got immersed in the writing
side, there was another component that I never considered: working with a publisher. You have
to then talk about branding and who the audience is for this book. That caused a couple of hiccups
and delayed the process. I had a lot of zeal and passion for writing, so I just launched out into
the deep.”

Drawing inspiration from his first book, “How Are the Dead Raised,” was vital to Burrell’s writing
process.

“After my father passed in 1995, I really had to work through that with counseling and
journaling,” he said. “What came to me the strongest was the life hereafter.”
Burrell honed in on that loss and tried to find the silver lining. What he discovered was
comforting in his time of need.

“Obviously I won’t see him anymore in this life,” he said. “The former things have passed away. I
can only look forward to what God can give us when our life is over here. That prompted me to
write this type of book. We are all eternal souls, and I believe that it is God’s will that we all
spend eternity with each other and with him. Obviously that is not going to be the case for
everybody, but that does not change God’s desire. It started to flow for me.”

Both described their initial zeal as a shared trait. Each was fueled by this during the writing
of “Chosen.” They shared a vision for this book’s audience.

“I think it’s paramount that the person be passionate about what they are trying to give to others,
whether it’s to encourage, edify or comfort them,” Burrell said. “I think of the scripture that says
the Lord will lead the 99 and go get the one. So one person is that important.”

The collaboration between the two proved not only to be fruitful for the production of the book,
but also in strengthening that father/daughter bond.

“We like the process; we like to see an idea fully blossomed,” Farrington said. “I would leave our
meetings feeling so encouraged and just lead the pen to paper. Our writing process was
cathartic; it was beautiful.”

Spurred on by his daughter’s unwavering belief in his abilities, Burrell felt his focus strengthen
when coming to the end of the book.

“She helped me put my thoughts into a better perspective,” he said. “I was trying to let people
know that God’s love is unconditional. Even though he may not always agree with our behavior,
he does not love us any less. You serve a God that’s holy, but he is a God that can be touched
with our feelings and our infirmities.”

Multiple Amazon reviews have mentioned that the book draws its power from the juxtaposition
of two generations’ views on life: one boomer and one millennial.

“We think quite differently on a lot of things, but what is sweet about our relationship is we
accept one another’s influence,” Farrington said. “We want to hear each other’s perspectives.”
They then played off of each other to reach their full potential as a team. This dual perspective
played a significant role in completing the book.

“It motivated me even more that I could see the truth that she was speaking,” Burrell said. “And
it was truth in her generation. The boomers don’t have it all. We just got what we got when we
got it. It’s coming to all of you now.”

Individuals can purchase “Chosen: The Key to Unlocking Your Identity” via Amazon by going to
https://a.co/d/060oB3gy.

For information on Pastor Burrell’s ministry, visit the Apostolic Church of God in Muskegon at 1163 Center Street.
Service starts at noon, and Thursday night Bible study is at 7:00EST.

The website is www.acogm.org, and Acog Muskegon is on Facebook. You can listen to Pastor Burrell

every Sunday from 3:00 pm EST to 4:00 pm EST on WFFR Muskegon 100.9FM or www.MuskegonRadio.com

Stephanie Farrington’s three previous books can all be purchased via Amazon at the links
below:

My Therapist Told Me to Color: https://a.co/d/0bPscuEP
Chronicles of a Caring God: Healing for Hurting Hearts: https://a.co/d/00ije9En
100 Dates with Jesus: https://a.co/d/0gI0fD8y