“I would rather stand with God and be judged by the world, than stand with the world and be judged by God.” -Ms. Wesley

Ms. Wesley is portrayed as the teacher every kid would want. She was a positive, encouraging and creative person that showed through her teaching.  One day at Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial High School, as the bell rang at the end of her History class dismissing her students, she realized one of her students was especially looking overwhelmed.  This student’s name was Brooke, Ms. Wesley asked her if she was ok, to which Brooke replied, “yeah, I’m fine.”  

Later that afternoon Ms. Wesley was at her favorite coffee shop, as she looked up she saw Brooke standing in front of her, “Actually, I’m not fine,” replied Brooke.  As Brooke talked, Ms. Wesley sat and listened.  A few weeks ago, Brooke’s brother got into an accident and passed away.  Her parents, Richard and Catherine had long moved on, they told Brooke to “Get over it, don’t have pity for yourself.”  As Brooke kept repeating, “I wish I had just five more minutes to tell my brother how I really felt.”  A true wish that each of us have experienced at one time or another in our lives.  She asked Ms. Wesley how she always keeps it together, to what she responded, “Jesus.”  

The next morning The Salvation Army truck came to her house to pick up her brother’s last belongings.  Brooke sat on his bed, continuing to wish for those five extra minutes.  One of the Salvation Army’s volunteers came up to give Brooke a Bible that dropped out of her brother’s items, thinking she might like to keep it.  Brooke had never realized that her brother practiced any faith, or that he even owned a Bible.  She opened the Bible to find all different notes and highlighted verses from her brother that pulled her in-to continue reading.

The following day in class, Ms. Wesley was teaching a lesson on Mahatma Gandhi, Brooke raised her hand and asked a question comparing the teachings of Jesus to the practices of Gandhi.  Ms. Wesley paused and answered her question, therefore talking about the faith teachings in a public classroom.  As another student secretly recorded her answer, no one knew how much trouble they would get her in, while in the courtroom.

This PG rated drama film, directed by Harold Cronk, produced by Pure Flix Entertainment is a must see.  It kept the audience intrigued and captivated, holding their breath throughout the Courtroom scenes.  God’s Not Dead 2 came out on April 1st, 2016 and is 120 minutes long.  The main characters include Melissa Joan Hart playing Grace Wesley, Jesse Metcalfe playing Tom Endler, Hayley Orrantia playing Brooke Thawley, and Ray Wise playing Pete Kane.  Three other main characters are Sadie Robertson who plays Marlene, Ernie Hudson who plays Judge Steenis, and Robin Givens who plays Principal Kinny.

It is not a big deal if you have not seen the original God’s Not Dead that came out in 2014, but if you are interested, here is a little background, this movie was about a college student named Josh, played by Shane Harper, who believed in God.  Josh was challenged by his professor, Mr. Radisson’s lessons.  Mr. Radisson stated that “God is dead.”  God’s Not Dead is all about Josh proving his beliefs and in fact proving that, “God’s Not Dead, He’s Surely Alive!”