Movie Review: Fireproof

Last night my wife and I had the privilege of attending the first public screening of the upcoming move Fireproof. The movie is scheduled for release in theatres September 26, 2008. When we received the invitation I though to myself, "Oh great… Another one of those low budget Christian films that's poorly scripted and acted." After watching the film last night I am pleased to say that I couldn't have been more wrong. I went because the focus of the movie is directed at strengthening marriages and that's my cup-of-tea. I figured I could probably get some value out of it or at least be able to say that I went. Instead, the movie deeply tugged at my heart strings and spoke to me about my own marriage. I was also introduced to something that will undoubtedly become a very powerful tool for ministering to marriages when it is released in the fall. It's the best marriage related video I have ever seen.

I was impressed by how well they portrayed everyday struggles and temptations instead of going out on a limb with plot elements that weren't relevant to the everyday person. It was easy to relate to the characters, to feel their hope and dissapointment. At the same time, they added larger-than-life aspects that created suspense and made for a very entertaining movie experience.

Fireproof stars Kirk Cameron and Erin Bethea. It was produced by Sherwood Pictures who also brought us Facing the Giants and Flywheel. A website named fireproofmyparriage has also been setup to provide additional resources for couples. A study guide will be released in the spring of 2009.

Here is a brief synopsis from the Fireproof website:

At work, inside burning buildings, Capt. Caleb Holt lives by the old firefighter's adage: Never leave your partner behind. At home, in the cooling embers of his marriage, he lives by his own rules.

Growing up, Catherine Holt always dreamed of marrying a loving, brave firefighter...just like her daddy. Now, after seven years of marriage, Catherine wonders when she stopped being "good enough" for her husband.

Regular arguments over jobs, finances, housework, and outside interests have readied them both to move on to something with more sparks.

As the couple prepares to enter divorce proceedings, Caleb's father challenges his son to commit to a 40-day experiment: "The Love Dare." Wondering if it's even worth the effort, Caleb agrees-for his father's sake more than for his marriage. When Caleb discovers the book's daily challenges are tied into his parents' new found faith, his already limited interest is further dampened.

While trying to stay true to his promise, Caleb becomes frustrated time and again. He finally asks his father, "How am I supposed to show love to somebody who constantly rejects me?"

When his father explains that this is the love Christ shows to us, Caleb makes a life-changing commitment to love God. And with God's help he begins to understand what it means to truly love his wife.

But is it too late to fireproof his marriage? His job is to rescue others. Now Caleb Holt is ready to face his toughest job ever ... rescuing his wife's heart.


If you are married, thinking about getting married, or know someone who is married then I would highly recommend this film. If you don't fall into any of those categories please knock on the coffin lid so we can let you out. Bad jokes aside, please do put it on your calendar. You'll be glad you did. Just be sure to take a box of tissues… Or two.

Music Review: Classical Guitars Christmas

During high school I had the privilege of becoming best friends with John Troncoso and we are still friends today. Although we don't get to see each other often, we both enjoy the occasions that we do. Last year my family and John's family got together over Thanksgiving weekend. John's parents dropped by to visit for a while as well and we were privileged to receive our own personal, impromptu concert in John's living room.

John and Jose (John's father) have been playing classical guitar together for over 30 years. They had recently completed a recording project called, you guessed it, "Classical Guitars Christmas". I love Christmas music and I have a pile of such CD's at home. However, I find myself listening to just a couple of them repeatedly and relegate the others to a dusty pile in the back of the cabinet. Last year, I put this one on the top of my short preferred list. Yes, it's even pushed the original, and highly vaunted, Mannheim Steamroller Christmas down a position. In fact, we bought about a dozen of them and gave them always as Christmas gifts to our friends and family last year. I realize that it is expected that I should give high praise to help promote my friend's CD but, seriously, it's really that good.

If you happen to be looking for something new to spice up your Christmas music selection then I'd encourage you to consider getting a copy for yourself if you didn't already get one from us. The title here (Classical Guitars Christmas) is a clickable link to their web site where you can learn more about the CD and even order a copy if you like. Since John and Jose are incredibly accomplished guitarists and have been playing together for so long, they offer a very distinctive musical quality. The CD was also recorded with John in the left channel and Jose in the right so that when it is played it would simulate the sound you would hear if they were sitting in your living room giving you a private concert.

Aside from having a personal relationship with John and Jose and the quality of the music, the thing I most appreciate about this CD is knowing that the two people behind it are committed Christians. I love listening to my Mannheim Steamroller CD at Christmas but for me it adds so much more to know the heart of the artists behind the music. Because Christmas is all about Christ it adds so much more to the music to know that the artist truly engages the music at all levels: Body, mind, and spirit.

Software Review: Mozy

This utility is so fantastic it’s almost too good to be true. Mozy lets you backup up to 2GB of your data absolutely free and it’s very simple to install and use. If you need more storage then you can subscribe to Mozy’s unlimited plan for $4.95/month.

I use it to backup my My Documents folder. The only problem I had was that I had over 2GB of data there and I wanted to use the free plan. So, I had to move my music collection to another location. A little bit of a pain but it’s worth it to know that I’ll never lose any of my critical data. If you have a lot of stuff like pictures and such that you don’t want to worry about losing then the unlimited plan is probably your best bet.

The Mozy software runs every night and creates a backup of any documents that have changed since the previous backup was performed. These are stored on Mozy’s servers so you won’t be using up any disk space. The data transfer is encrypted and access is password protected so it is safe and secure.

If you aren’t doing nightly backups you should be and this is one of the best solutions around.

Book Review: Practicing Greatness

I've read a lot of books on leadership but rarely have I come across one that delves so deeply to the core of what makes a truly great leader. If you're looking for a book that will help you with the mechanics of organization or time management then look elsewhere. If, instead, you want to understand those aspects of a spiritual leader that make them worthy of following then I heartily recommend Reggie McNeal's book, "Practicing Greatness: 7 Disciplines of Extraordinary Spiritual Leaders".

You can read the reviews on Amazon or other sites but to whet your appetite here are the seven disciplines:

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  The discipline of self-awareness—the single most important body of information a leader possesses.


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  The discipline of self-management—handling difficult emotions, expectations, temptations, mental vibrancy, and physical well-being.
  


• The discipline of self-development—a life-long commitment to learning and growing and building on one's strengths.
  


• The discipline of mission—enjoying the permissions of maintaining the sense of God's purpose for your life and leadership.
  


• The discipline of decision-making—knowing the elements of good decisions and learning from failure.
  


• The discipline of belonging—the determination to nurture relationships and to live in community with others, including family, followers, mentors, and friends.
  


• The discipline of aloneness—the intentional practice of soul-making solitude and contemplation.
  

I've also read McNeal's book, "A Work of Heart : Understanding How God Shapes Spiritual Leaders" which I also found great value in. I'm looking forward to reading more books by this author and other books in the J-B Leadership Network Series.