Super Bowl XLIV is in the history books, with the New Orleans Saints vanquishing the Indianapolis Colts, 31 to 17.

As with every Super Bowl the commercials are nearly as entertaining as the game itself as marketing professionals seek to outdo one another by offering what they hope is a memorable clip for their product. Indeed, with more than 90 million US viewers tuned in, paying 2.5 million for a thirty-second spot is not as terrible as it sounds.

Today, a lot of people who came out against sponsor Focus on the Family (FOTF) and the Tebow ad have egg on their faces. I am showing a lot of restraint as I write this, but the hype from Planned Parenthood and their ilk proves that some people love to jump to conclusions.

In case you missed the ad, I have included it here for your review. Controversial? Hardly. Inspiring, cute, and fun? Yes, absolutely.

My thoughts? Some people have an ax to grind. Pam and Tim Tebow are certainly not named among them.

It seems that few things escape my attention these days, for better or for worse.

Being that I derive the bulk of my work through online sources, I’m logged onto my computer more than I care to admit.  This allows me to surf the ‘net in between my projects, visiting certain news sites and other carefully chosen web pages to keep pace with what is happening in the world.

Certainly, I don’t find everything of value online, missing the occasional edifying story and learning
about it much later from other sources. A recent example of that was the release of the movie “Fireproof” a truly wonderful Christ-centered story directed by the brothers who produced “Facing the Giants” in 2006. Providence interceded to make sure that I not only learned about the movie, but that my wife and I would see it in the theater together this week.

I’ll explain how God got us to the theater later, after I share with you my review of the movie.

Never Leave Your Partner Behind

Did you know that the flame of marriage can just as easily flicker as it can burn brightly? Likely, if you’ve been married for some time, you understand how marriages have their ups and downs, going through tough times as well as sailing smoothly on placid seas with a gentle wind at the back.

Fireproof addresses those marriages where love has grown cold, the place where couples are taking each other for granted and have forgotten their first love. From the movie’s beginning, we learn that Caleb and Catherine are living in a strained relationship, seven years of a tough marriage that is about to reach the breaking point. Caleb, who is the Captain of the local fire department, lives by the motto — Never leave your partner behind — when coaching his underlings. Unfortunately, he long ago left his wife behind and his marriage is going up in flames.

The Plot

Without revealing too much about the story line, I can tell you that Caleb and Catherine reached a crisis point where she filed for divorce, shortly after he was introduced to a book, The Love Dare, which encouraged him to take a forty day journey to win back the heart of his wife. During the midst of that journey, Caleb surrendered his life to Jesus Christ, but the trials only worsened. Caleb was tested beyond what he could have imagined, finding himself questioning his own motives and wondering if he truly loved Catherine.

Aside from the plot, I was very impressed by the quality of the production. Kirk Cameron, who played Caleb, was the one notable “Hollywood” actor in the film, a devoted Christian who in younger years was in “Full House” and, later, played in three of the “Left Behind” movies. The remaining actors and actresses were mostly local folks, including congregants from Sherwood Baptist Church in Albany, Georgia, the church where brothers and co-producers Alex and Stephen Kendrick serve as associate pastors.

The acting was of a very good quality and the story line was real, not stilted. I remarked to several people after seeing the film that I was glad that it was much more realistic than some of the Billy Graham movies I had seen years ago. In those pictures, the story line wasn’t always very strong with the usual “you need Jesus” theme overtly emphasized. True, we do need Jesus, but lives are not always outwardly changed immediately. We still go through time times, sometimes even more so after we accept the Lord.

Final Showing This Weekend?

Fireproof has had a successful run since being released on September 26th, grossing more than $31 million to date. This is extremely good especially considering that the budget for the film was just $500,000. Facing the Giants was also low budget fare — costing just $100,000 to produce. But, that movie returned 100-fold with receipts topping ten million dollars when all was said and done.

Christians from all backgrounds have been embracing Fireproof, but if you still want to see it on the big screen, then this weekend may be the last one for many movie houses. With new blockbuster hits being released, the squeeze is on and Fireproof may soon be squeezed out. Thankfully, the DVD version should come out in late January just in time for Valentine’s Day.

Simply Providential

So, how did God get my attention about Fireproof? Well, he used someone other than my wife to encourage us to see the movie. Last week, when I was enroute to California on a business trip, one of the last people to board the plane was a man who chose to sit in my row. I was occupying the aisle seat while the other two seats were empty. He took the window position and we had an empty seat between us for our four hour journey westward.

Well, I soon learned that he was a Christian and I affirmed my faith in Jesus with Him. We talked about a number of different matters before he showed me his copy of The Love Dare and explained how the book was related to the movie, Fireproof. Needless to say, when we departed in Phoenix to change planes to our final destinations I knew that Freddie was a new friend who also brought with him an important message from God: see the movie!

The Love Dare

When I mentioned how God had arranged that Freddie and I sat together, and our related conversations, my wife’s face brightened. I agreed that we should see the movie and we did so while our children were in school this past Tuesday. Hey, I may be a cheap date but it was the best opportunity for us to see the movie (matinee, no babysitter fee) and I am glad that we did.

Later, after the movie was over, my wife (Ruthie) and I departed as she went to pick up our children at school while I went to the local Christian bookstore in search of a special gift. I purchased two copies of The Love Dare and I picked up the companion marriage kit with CD which we’ll view at some point together. We’ve already started reading our respective copies of the book, starting what will hopefully be a life changing journey together.

I’m thrilled to know that Fireproof and The Love Dare have impacted the lives of so many people over the last few months and I encourage all married couples to take the time to view the movie, even to do the The Love Dare. Even if your spouse isn’t willing to read the book (or see the movie) go ahead take the dare yourself. Sometimes the heart that needs to be changed the most is our own, but only if you are bold enough to dare yourself to that first.

How about you? Have you seen Fireproof yet? Have you read The Love Dare? If so, please share your thoughts by adding your comment. I would love to get as much feedback as possible.

As a young Christian, one of the first books put in my hand was Mere Christianity, a wonderful defense of the Christian faith penned by C.S. Lewis. The book went very far to help me personally grasp the importance of what I believe, but most importantly of why Jesus Christ is my sure foundation.

Since then, I’ve picked up a handful of Lewis’ books including The Screwtape Letters and have enjoyed the BBC production of Shadowlands, a story that recounts some of Lewis’ later years including his relationship with Joy Davidman. As far as his seven-part The Chronicles of Narnia series, I haven’t read those books yet, but I have seen both of the Disney productions released thus far including Prince Caspian, a movie my wife and I enjoyed this week.

Disney won the right to produce the Narnia series and evidently is planning to release a new movie about every other year until the series has been completed. Production for the third movie, Voyage of the Dawn Treader, has started and is expected to be released in 2010. Douglas Gresham, who is Joy Davidman’s son, is representing the C.S. Lewis foundation to ensure that the stories hold true to Lewis’ story line. So far, both movies have been quite close, at least that is what my wife says who is reading the entire Narnia series to our children.

I don’t plan on spoiling the story line, but I will share some observations about the movie. First of all, it is extremely well done, pulling viewers quickly into the story line as it brings the characters to life. Second of all, director Andrew Adamson (son of Adam?) manages to flesh out the characters without getting silly. Talking mice, squirrels, bear, and badger are retained for the storyline, but their importance, I am told, fades to the background compared to the book. The Pevensie sisters take part in the battle, as do many of the other female characters. Narnia purists may object to this change, but it doesn’t detract from the story line.

Aslan, who is a type of Jesus, is presented wonderfully. Majestic and merciful, the movie took great pains to show how Aslan treats his enemies — sparing the lives of soldiers and forgiving traitors. On a personal level, I connected with Aslan as a figure for Christ, seeing fully how God is quick to forgive and to strengthen those who will believe.

Prince Caspian is rated PG and for good reason — there is plenty of violence in the battle scenes, though there isn’t any of the usual Hollywood, “up close and let me show you a dagger piercing his heart and leaving a gory mess” scenes in the movie. In addition, young children are likely to be disturbed by the demonic encounter at the White Witch’s revelation, a scene that can be embedded in a young child’s mind and come to life in the middle of the night.

Some critics have said that the movie, at 2 hours and 20 minutes, is too long and that the storyline is plodding. The long part for me was the six or seven movie previews which delayed the movie’s start by at least ten minutes. Thankfully, Adamson and Gresham didn’t trim the story to the usual, manageable 100 minute Hollywood flick, retaining virtually all of the storyline as written by Lewis.

When the movie does come out on DVD we will, just like the first one, buy it. One advantage of watching it at home is fast forwarding through the scary parts to allow young children to enjoy the movie without paying for it later in the form of nightmares.

From a production standpoint, Prince Caspian is a raging success, having pulled in $56 million during its first weekend alone. Most importantly, the movie retains Lewis’ message which is a wonderful allegory of the life and love of our Savior, Jesus Christ.