More than a year ago my husband called me from working out of town to tell me that he’d just seen a movie in the theaters that was all about God. He couldn’t stop talking about the movie called Facing the Giants–a low-budget film produced by a church in Georgia not much larger than our own. Our whole family enjoyed it and gladly overlooked the less-than-Oscar quality acting.
When I heard the church had produced its second film, I knew I would see it, but honestly my expectations weren’t high. I guess I was thinking “The sequel is never as good.” Even when all the emails came pouring in encouraging me to see it, I wasn’t thinking it was going to be great. I was happy when a friend invited me to see the movie through her church for just $5 and happier still when her church provided FREE childcare for all six of my children AND dinner! But again, to be honest, I was thinking that all of that to see a sappy, poorly acted movie would make it that much more disappointing. Sorry! I was just in a mood yesterday. LOL
Then I saw it and I was blown away. Yes, there are still some less-than-Oscar-quality moments. But I would give it more stars than offered on any chart. I hesitate to write that knowing that now your expectations will be TOO high and you WILL be disappointed. So let me say this. It’s funny. It’s touching. It’s real. And to top it off, the church who provided the $5 tickets also gave us a free book to go along with the movie. I won’t elaborate on the book or it will ruin the movie for you. If you are a married Christian or someone who is not a believer who is ready to try anything to save your marriage, you will WANT this book. The church is also offering a Fireproof Bible study for couples–a product that uses the movie to help couples get their marriages on track. I couldn’t be more impressed by the resources that have been put together to help save marriages. As someone who has worked for many years to help married couples, I am very moved by how God has used a little church in Georgia to do a mighty work.
See the movie. Recommend it to your friends. After all, you can offend people by recommending therapy. But who is ever offended by a movie recommendation?
My husband and I saw Fireproof together, and we have a copy of the Love Dare book and the “Couple’s Kit” bible study based on the film. We were struck by the movie’s celebration of covenant marriage and unconditional love. So many movies today just insult marriage, promote affairs or portray marriage as joyless and worthless. Fireproof boldly proclaimed marriage as well-worth the sacrifice, yet didn’t back down from the fact that it’s at times difficult, even agonizing.
The Love Dare book and the bible study materials have made a real difference in our ability to address and improve these areas in our own marriage, and they are probably the most important things we have done for our marriage this year. I found them online at http://www.fireproofresources.com. Hope this helps.
My advice: take your spouse, your fiancée, or someone who might be married someday and go see this film. And thank you for caring so much for us Prov 31 wanna-be’s. 🙂