Business Time / Marriage Funding / Fireproof on DVD - 1/27/09

Tue Jan 27 14:08:35 EST 2009

- IT'S BUSINESS TIME (EVERY WED NIGHT IF YOU'RE LUCKY)
- MARRIAGE GRANTS ARE NEEDED
- FINALLY, FIREPROOF AVAILABLE ON DVD

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- IT'S BUSINESS TIME (EVERY WED NIGHT IF YOU'RE LUCKY)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGOohBytKTU

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- MARRIAGE FUNDING NEEDED

The Washington Times
Cheryl Wetzstein
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Marriage grants needed

Did you swoon over the presidential inauguration? Many observers in the mar-
riage movement did.

It was hard to miss the genuine electricity flowing between President Obama
and first lady Michelle Obama, especially when they danced at the balls
"like the bride and groom on top of the wedding cake," one marriage leader
said.

Clearly, the first couple understands the value of marriage. But for weeks,
I have been hearing chatter about how the Obama administration and the
Democrat-led Congress are going to kill or divert the funds now flowing to
hundreds of marriage-education programs.

Many of these programs are aimed at helping couples - especially low-income
couples - figure out how to create a stable, secure and faithful
relationship, i.e., marriage.

The funding I am referring to is the $150 million-a-year grants for healthy
marriage and responsible fatherhood, awarded October 2006. If the grants go
their full five years, the outlay would be $750 million.

The rumblings say that Mr. Obama and the Democrats like the funding for
fatherhood but not for marriage. (Marriage, according to critics, is a
patriarchal institution that enslaves women, leads to domestic violence
and/or needlessly privileges some people over others.)

Thus, Congress is rumored to want to pull the plug on the final years of the
marriage funds, or divert it to fatherhood programs.

Serious public discussion about these grants probably won't occur until
later this year, when the House Ways and Means Committee starts preparing
for the 2010 welfare reauthorization.

Meanwhile, Patty Howell, vice president of media relations for the
California Healthy Marriages Coalition (CHMC), is happy to set the record
straight right now about the merit of marriage education.

"I'm a Democrat," she began, "so I know that marriage education and
relationship-skills training totally aligns with Democrats' values and
Democrats' social agenda."

Second, marriage education is a superb cost-effective prevention for social
ills.

Substance abuse, poverty, poor school performance, crime and unwed pregnancy
- "all of these are costly problems to fix when they've happened," said Ms.
Howell. "But if we can empower couples through marriage education and
relationship-skills training, we give them the capacity to prevent these
problems."

"At this time of severe belt-tightening in our country," she added, "it
really makes a lot of sense to take this cost-effective, preventive approach
that will teach couples how to form and sustain healthy marriages."

Ms. Howell represents the nation's largest marriage grantee - the CHMC will
get nearly $12 million if it gets its full five-year grant - so it's
understandable that she is a cheerleader for the cause.

But these marriage grants require evaluations, and early results from the
first 14,000 people who have taken eight hours of classes from one of the 23
CHMC coalition members are promising.

"Couples have more satisfaction in their relationships, more confidence in
the stability of their relationships, and much better feelings about their
partners," said Ms. Howell. Moreover, those results are even stronger six
months later.

These grants are "laying a foundation for cultural change," she said.
Cutting funding "would be so foolish."

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- FINALLY, FIREPROOF AVAILABLE ON DVD

Attend the FREE Fireproof Marriage Ministry Training Institutes at the
Orlando Smart Marriages Conference:

> #117 One Day - Wednesday, July 8 in ORLANDO € FREE € No CEU
> Fireproof Marriage Ministries, Part i
> Julie Baumgardner, MS, Richard Albertson, Rob Harrison, Dennis Stoica, MBA -
> Co-Chairs
> Inspired by the film, Fireproof, churches across America are launching
> marriage and family strengthening ministries.  Learn about the rich variety of
> effective, affordable, mentor-based, easy-to-teach programs, do's-and-don't,
> and roadmaps for success.  Also plan to attend the Awards Lunch: Strengthening
> Marriage One Church at a Time featuring producers Stephen & Alex Kendrick Wed
> July 8:$26 and the Gary Chapman: The Five Languages of Apology banquet,
> co-sponsored by the Fireproof Marriage Ministry, Tues, July 7: $36. (See Part
> II #908) Click for more information:
> http://www.smartmarriages.com/fireproof.minsitries.html

> 908 One Day - Sunday, July 12 in ORLANDO € FREE € No CEU
> Fireproof Marriage Ministries, Part II: Putting the Passion into Practice
> Julie Baumgardner, MS, Richard Albertson, Rob Harrison, Dennis Stoica, MBA
> Gather to sort out what you've learned, brainstorm with colleagues, and
> formulate strategic plans to
> revitalize and strengthen marriage and families in your communities.  (See
> Part I #117)
> http://www.smartmarriages.com/fireproof.minsitry.goals.html

Now on DVD, Fireproof is saving marriages
Baptist Press
Monday, January 26, 2009

RAPID CITY, S.C. (BP)--South Dakota pastor John Little is a fan of Christian
movies, but even he's generally skeptical when he reads stories about how a
particular film is changing peoples' lives.

But after watching "Fireproof" -- and seeing marriages change for the better
-- he's a believer.

"I really think Fireproof is the real deal," the pastor of Rapid Valley
Baptist Church in Rapid City told Baptist Press. "I've seen it happen."

The 2008 hit that made $33 million on a $500,000 budget, Fireproof will be
released on DVD Tuesday. Made by staff and volunteers at Sherwood Baptist
Church in Albany, Ga. -- the same congregation that made the 2006 film
"Facing the Giants" -- Fireproof opened in the Top 5 nationally in total
gross despite playing in fewer than 1,000 theaters and also finished in the
Top 10 its first eight weeks in per-theater average gross.

The DVD release coincides with the release of "The Love Dare" book earlier
in January in a leather-like cover. Rolled out as a paperback last fall, the
book plays a key role in the movie's plot.

Although the DVD is being released to the general public Tuesday, it has
been available for purchase by churches -- along with a necessary screening
license -- since late December. Churches must obtain a license before
showing it to their congregations. (Licenses can be purchased at
http://www.Outreach.com).

Fireproof (PG) stars Kirk Cameron and Erin Bethea and tells the story of how
a firefighter captain works to save his failing marriage. The movie's
website has a list of approximately 2,400 testimonies from people, most of
whom either have seen their marriage change for the better or witnessed
someone else's marriage improve. It also has a few testimonies from people
who are now divorced and regret the movie wasn't released earlier. ("I only
wish it had come out about 6 years ago, when I got divorced. I honestly
believe it could have saved our marriage at that time," one testimony
reads.)

"This movie penetrated the core of what a lot of couples go through and even
a lot of single adults go through; they saw in the movie the past mistakes
they've made in marriages," Little said.

With assistance from the Dakota Baptist Convention, Little's church was one
of dozens nationwide that brought Fireproof to their respective city by
buying a block of 1,000 tickets. The church publicized the movie in part by
having a ticket giveaway on a local Christian station and pop station. The
effort was worth it: The movie stayed in the Rapid City Theater for two
months -- longer than did movies that cost millions to make -- and impacted
countless marriages in the process.

Just the other day the church's lady's prayer group "had a praise report,"
Little said, "from a couple who had just about called it quits but now were
back together after watching the movie. And they were The Love Dare."

Two local businessmen were so impressed by the movie that they bought and
distributed tickets to firefighters, police officers and military personnel.
That, too, had an impact.

"The chaplain at Ellsworth Air Force Base e-mailed me several times telling
me that his counseling load had gone up since Fireproof, with couples who
wanted to restore their marriage," said Little, whose church showed the
movie on Sunday, Jan. 25, and began the Love Dare Bible Study.

Such stories are also common in East Athens, Ala., where pastor Tim Anderson
of Clements Baptist Church has seen the movie change lives. He is preaching
a sermon series titled "Fireproofing Your Marriage" that will cap with a
church-wide viewing of the film Feb. 8 and a launch of couples reading The
Love Dare. One recent sermon had a particular impact on a local couple. On
that Sunday, Anderson told his congregation: "If you're counseling someone
or encouraging someone to divorce, please stop. You're not a friend if
you're doing that." He soon got a call from a lady who had attended the
service that day.

"She said, 'Pastor Š I'm calling to tell you that I called my friend and
apologized, because I had been given her bad counsel.'"

Days later, he got another call from the same woman.

"'Pastor, I want you to know that my friends are now in counseling. They
have viewed Fireproof. It has helped them greatly. And while they still have
a long way to go, divorce is not an option and they're working through their
problems,'" the woman said, according to Anderson.

The movie, Little said, is powerful because it deals with topics --
pornography and money among them -- that often lead to divorce.

"I liked the fact that it was real," the South Dakota pastor said. "It
portrayed real life and issues folks go through. I was glad to see it
approach the subject of pornography in such an open and direct way without
being crude or rude."

Ken Bevel, who plays firefighter Michael Simmons in the movie, said he has
been amazed at how Fireproof influenced people. Although Bevel isn't a
professional actor -- Fireproof was his first acting role -- he at times has
been noticed in public as "the guy from Fireproof," including one time
during a shopping trip the day after Thanksgiving.

"There were thousands of people in Wal-Mart running around," Bevel said,
"and this guy walked up to me and said, 'Hey, you're the guy from
Fireproof.' I said, 'Yeah that's me.' I kept looking for what I went in
there for. But he said, 'That movie really impacted me and it saved my
marriage.' It just stopped me in my tracks right there, because this guy who
doesn't know me just decided to come up to me and say, 'What you did in that
movie really blessed me.'"

Anderson, though, said Fireproof isn't just for people whose marriages are
on the rocks.

"I don't care how good your marriage is. It needs to be better," he said.
"All men and women struggle in relationships. Š has been great for my wife
and me, as well."

Michael Foust is an assistant editor of Baptist Press. For more information
about Fireproof, visit FireprooftheMovie.com.

Copyright (c) 2009 Southern Baptist Convention, Baptist Press www.BPNews.net

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