The Sword: Magnus and the Mystery of Romans

by Marty Machowski, Flavia Sorrentino (Illustrator)

Genres: Childrens, Devotional

176 pages, Hardcover

Published September 8, 2025

About the author

Marty Machowski is a Family Life Pastor at Covenant Fellowship Church, a Sovereign Grace Ministries church in Glen Mills, Pennsylvania, where he has served on the pastoral staff for more than twenty years. As leader of their children’s ministry, Promise Kingdom, he has worked for many years to develop curriculum and devotional material that connect church and home. His passion is equipping families to understand the Bible as one gospel story and help them share that with their children. He is the author of The Gospel Story for Kids series including Long Story Short: Ten-Minute Devotions to Draw Your Family to God (OT); The Gospel Story Bible; and the Gospel Story Curriculum: Finding Jesus in the Old Testament and the forthcoming Old Story New (NT): Ten-Minute Devotions to Draw Your Family to God and Gospel Story Curriculum: Following Jesus in the New Testament. He and his wife Lois and their six children reside in West Chester, Pennsylvania.

Reviews

[Emily Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

📚 The Sword
✍️ @martymachowski
🎨 Flavia Sorrentino
🗞️ @newgrowthpress
➡️ Age 8-12

Marty Machowski has done it again! He has managed to combine a fictional story with a rich, biblically faithful, child friendly explanation of the big truths of Paul’s epistle to the Romans! 😱

The story begins with two children, Katana and Brant, discovering a box containing ancient notes about the book of Romans, which were written by Magnus, a Roman Gladiator turned prison guard who encounters the apostle Paul.
As they pore over the fragile pages, they’re drawn into Magnus’s world — a man torn between duty to Rome and the stirring truth of Paul’s message.

Through his journal, the children uncover Magnus’s transformation from a hardened warrior to a follower of Christ, learning how the gospel reshaped his understanding of strength, freedom, and righteousness. Each entry connects to a passage from Romans, helping Katana and Brant see that the “Sword” isn’t a weapon of steel, but the living Word of God.

There is so much to love about this book:
✨ Biblically faithful
✨ Big Truth made accessible and understandable for little hearts
✨A creative story about Magnus, Gladiator turned Guard, that keeps kids engaged as they discover the truth of Romans together
✨Opportunity to read the Bible passages alongside Magnus’ notes so kids engage with the actual Biblical text.

👉 Discover how one Roman guard’s story brings the book of Romans to life for kids!

[Cover Lover Book Review · Rating 5 out of 5]

Marty Machowski’s book, The Sword, is another captivating choice for young readers. This story brought back fond memories of my own childhood—with its engaging exploration, lively characters, and strong faith-based foundation. These adventures of Katana and Brand offer a fresh perspective as they journey through the book of Romans.

Combining a fictional narrative with Paul’s letter to the Romans is an excellent approach to help children connect with and learn about the Bible, especially the path to salvation.

The illustrations are bright, enjoyable, and highly entertaining—perfect for kids whether they’re reading independently or listening to the story. I particularly value the Epilogue, which explains the way to Salvation in a clear and impactful manner.

First Line: The goal of this book is to introduce grade-school children to Paul’s letter to the Romans.
Genre: Children
Author: Marty Machowski
Page Count: 176
Reading Age: 8-12

#CoverLoverBookReview received a review copy of this book. Opinions are 100% my own.

[Brittany Roberson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Marty Machowski has a wonderful gift to take theological truths and explain them in a tangible way. And this is exactly what he does in “The Sword” - a book that walks through the Biblical book of Romans for elementary age kids. In each section of the book, there are prompts to read the corresponding portions of Romans (a few verses at a time). After you read the Scripture, there is additional commentary, often with a word picture, to further explain the Scripture for the younger reader.

Woven throughout this book is a secondary fictitious storyline about the salvation story of one of Paul’s Roman prison guards as he reads through the book of Romans himself and finds salvation in Jesus.

My 7-year old son found this book on my to-be-read pile and read this book himself cover-to-cover in one day. 😆 It took me a bit longer! But I think it’s perfect for that 7-11 year old age range and would be great for a family devotional time or perfect companion for a child who is beginning personal devotion time.

[Gabrielle Houweling · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read as a devotional with the kids

[Lara Mattingly]

I’m such a Marty fan girl. Incredibly gifted in teaching biblical truths to kids.