My Hope is Built on Nothing Less…

Posted in citizenship, prayer | No Comments »--> November 5th, 2008 Posted in citizenship, prayer | No Comments »

… than Jesus’ blood and rightouesness.

While I am greatly disappointed with the outcome of today’s presidential election my hope in the sovereign creator and sustainer remains steadfast.

Romans 13 reminds us of a couple of things that are worth mentioning:

1. “For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God” (v. 1) - God is truly the ultimate authority. Apart from His sovereign will nothing can or ever will take place. While we may question Him and fail to understand we must never think He has surrendered his authority.
2. “[Authority] is a minister of God, …” (v. 4) - A quick survey of the Old Testament reveals that God has never failed to use any and every person, government, or situation to accomplish His purposes. Men such as Job, Joseph, and Jeremiah knew that truth full well. Whether we personally agree or disagree with the one in whom the power is vested we must not lose sight of the fact that God will still be able to accomplish what He wants to accomplish.

My prayers go out tonight to the Obama & Biden families for the task that lays ahead of them. Regardless of the political party or the point in history there is a burden placed upon the shoulders of the President of The United States that we can never even imagine. And so I will respect the Office of President, and I will respect the man who fills that office. I expect that I also, however, will respectfully disagree with him a good portion of the time.

It saddens me that exit polls today showed the greatest concern for votes was the economy and that those taking the polls didn’t even make mention of moralty. As a country we’ve made our pocketbooks number one and left the Good Book out altogether. As an individual, however, I will continue to fight for and preach the position of scripture on issues concerning human life and marriage.

Tomorrow morning when the sun rises, the Son will still be at the right hand of the Father in Heaven with whom “there is no variation or shifting shadow.” (James 1:17)

Tags: authority, money, morality, politics, prayer, priorities, scripture, sovereign

November 5th, 2008 Posted in citizenship, prayer | No Comments »

Numbers from Opening Night

Posted in relationships | No Comments »--> September 27th, 2008 Posted in relationships | No Comments »

The Movie stats site The Numbers reports that Fireproof took in $2,060,000 on Friday. That ranks it fourth in the nation! That’s remarkable  for a movie only playing in 839 locations compared to the average 2,000+ for other movies currently in their first or second week. At that rate had it opened in 2000 locations it would have brought in $4,910,607, which would have made it the number two movie in the nation on Friday, with an average of $2,455 per location. The number one movie barely squeaked past it with $2,829 per location.

As a limited release it took in only slightly less per location that the number one movie which had a reported budget of $80,000,000. That’s 160 times the $500,000 budget for Fireproof.

Add to those numbers the facts that this movie was produced by a church using an all volunteer cast. I can’t wait to see what these numbers look like in the coming weeks!

If you haven’t seen this movie yet, you’re missing out! I’ve seen it twice and wouldn’t mind seeing it a third time! In fact I’d be willing to pay full price at the theater to go see it again.

A website has been set up to provide resources to couples wanting to strengthen their own marriages. You will find more at: FireproofMyMarriage.com.

September 27th, 2008 Posted in relationships | No Comments »

Kirk Cameron talks about Fireproof

Posted in relationships | No Comments »--> September 26th, 2008 Posted in relationships | No Comments »

September 26th, 2008 Posted in relationships | No Comments »

Worth Fighting For

Posted in relationships | No Comments »--> September 23rd, 2008 Posted in relationships | No Comments »

Some things in life just aren’t worth fighting for. Others, however, such as your marriage, are worth every ounce of ambition, effort, and passion you can muster. That’s the message behind Fireproof which hits the big screen this Friday, September 26th. Produced by Sherwood Pictures, the same group that brought us Facing the Giants, Fireproof takes a behind-the-scenes look at a marriage on the verge of failure. The movie follows their story as they give everything they have to bring life back into their marriage.

The characters provide an opportunity for anyone to feel a sense of connection with this movie. Whether you are unmarried, divorced, happily married, or unhappily married there are opportunities for you to connect with the characters involved here. Unlike some "churchy" movies that make you feel out of place if you don’t know the lingo, Fireproof allows anybody to understand and relate to the story.

The script writers did great job of dealing with real-life issues in a tactful yet effective manner. Many of the issues you would expect when dealing with a failing marriage are dealt with in this movie. Despite dealing with such serious and sensitive issues the dialogue stays away from being offensive or crude.

Lastly, God is not left out of this movie and neither is the Gospel. It is clear from watching the movie that before we can have a happy, healthy, marriage we must learn to depend on the author of marriage. While not being overbearing or preachy the movie presents the Gospel as the main character is confronted with his inability to love because he has never met the one who loves the most.

Having seen it once I can’t wait to take my wife this weekend and see it again. I strongly encourage everyone to see this movie. I don’t know of anyone who has seen it and not left feeling challenged by it.