Cassie and I sat down last night to watch this INCREDIBLE movie. I cannot recommend it enough. It takes an inside look at marriage a must for any couple or engaged couple in my book. I found this review that says it better than I ever could. I will say this much it's no mistake that they used a firefighter for where we grow in the Lord is in those refining fires of our lives. Revelations 3:18 "I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so that you can become rich; and white clothes wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see." (NIV)
Fireproof presents lessons that are worth hearing over and over and that help us move from a stagnant, conflict-ridden season to a season of joy and fulfillment.
by Mitch Temple
A little over a month ago, I wrote about the pain and struggles for which married couples ask Focus on the Family for help and the new movie Fireproof that addressed some of those issues.
Since then, many of you have had the opportunity to see Fireproof and have testified to its powerful messages. Because Focus was a major sponsor of the movie, I needed to review it frequently. And each time I watched it (four times!), the movie also touched me in different ways. It reminded me that:
Marriage without God is just a relationship.
Love and marriage is always worth fighting for.
All marriages will go through tough times.
Tough times can be overcome.
We need other people in our lives to help hold us accountable to our vows (friends, family and church).
These are lessons that are worth hearing over and over. They help realign our perspective and our commitments. They help us move from a stagnant, conflict-ridden season to a season of joy and fulfillment.
On opening weekend, Fireproof was the #4 movie in theatres across the country — producing more than $6 million at the box office. As of October 27, after five weeks in theaters, it sat just outside the box-office top 10 and had grossed over $23.6 million in ticket sales. The companion book Love Dare recently became a #1 New York Times Best Seller.
That is incredible for a movie that was made with a $500,000 budget! But more importantly, Fireproof, with its powerful messages, is transforming marriages dramatically.
We have seen significant increases in people coming to Focus on the Family for counseling help and referrals. And, we are hearing incredible stories of marriages that have been drastically changed – and even restored:
As part of Focus on the Family's efforts to support the movie Fireproof, we aired a radio interview with the film's executives and lead actor in which they talked about the plot's central theme – preserving marriage as God intended it to function. A gentleman called our ministry the following day and commented that he has never really had anything to do with God, but his wife had asked him to listen to that particular Focus broadcast. The studio discussion "hit home" for him, and as a result he is not only looking at the Lord in a different way but has also determined to make his marriage work at all costs. He said that his struggling marriage had been the biggest stumbling block in his life – but now he has hope.
For additional testimonies of how God is using Fireproof, please visit The Line and FireproofTheMovie.com. And if you have a testimony to share, please visit our Marriage Forum.
It is clear that God's hand is in this movie and the outcomes. I hope you will go to see it. If you already have, please go again and take another married couple with you (neighbor, friend, family member or co-worker) who could benefit from seeing this movie. And we ask that you would continue to pray with us that God will overlay this nation with a renewed sense of the beauty of marriage and with revival fueled by blatant determination to have the kind of marriage that He intends for us all.
