Fireproof (29 page)

And it looked like Lieutenant Simmons had added a touch of his own.

Caleb laughed out loud.

Crystal salt and pepper shakers stood atop the confectionary work of art, one wearing a black top hat, and the other a tiny white veil.

God demonstrates his own love for us in this:
While we were still sinners,
Christ died for us.
—Romans 5:8

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

From Eric Wilson

Alex and Stephen Kendrick (directors, producers, and friends)—
may God continue filling your hearts and minds with His artistry, passion, and joy.

Carole Hall Collins and Ron Collins (the Kendricks' aunt and
uncle)—
may the hospitality you showed me continue to spread through others to every continent.

Amanda Bostic (editor and friend)—
may you experience the same grace you extended when I goofed on my deadline. You forgive me?

Allen Arnold, Jennifer Deshler, Deborah Wiseman, and the Thomas
Nelson Crew (publisher, publicist, and editors)—
may you find continued creativity, discernment, and grace under fire. You're my heroes!

David Robie and BigScore Productions (literary agent)—
may your perseverance pay off, and may we have many more projects together.

Cassie and Jackie Wilson (my incredible daughters)—
may you both find husbands who love you as Christ loves His bride, the church. I'm a lucky dad!

Mark Wilson (father)—
may all your patience with my computer ignorance pay off on a trip together, just you and me, through some remote Oregon woods.

Linda Wilson (mother)—
may your never-ending love and support come back to you from others, and may we share more adventures overseas.

The Council of Four and my Nashville Nucleus (writers and friends)—
may you grow in wisdom, skill, and the ability to enjoy life to its fullest. What would I do without you guys?

Captain Kenny Loudenbarger (Albany Fire Department)—
may you stay safe on the job and find the few hours it takes to read a book. Maybe even this one?

Scott Bach, Jake Chism, Laurel Cockrell, Todd Michael Greene, Lauren Howell, Wolfe Moffatt, James Nichols, Pat Porter, and Melissa Willis (bloggers, reviewers, and fans)—
may you be encouraged as you spread the news and wrestle with the written word. You've blessed my socks off!

Warren Barfield, Casting Crowns, Greg Holiday, Leeland, Third
Day, John Waller, Webster County, and Mark Willard (musicians
and artists)—
may the songs you added to this story touch others as they did me while I worked on the manuscript. Keep rockin'!

Dear Readers—
Thank you for joining me on this journey of danger and bravery, of faith, hope, and love.

Feel free to visit my Web site:
www.WilsonWriter.com
or e-mail: [email protected]

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

From Alex and Stephen Kendrick

Eric Wilson (writer)—
once again you've captured the story and presented it in a way that engrossed even our imaginations. You are a gift to us! Well done.

Larry and Rhonwyn Kendrick (Dad and Mom)—
your witness of faith and love continue to minister to so many. You are our godly heritage. We love you!

Christina and Jill (our wives)—
you took a dare to love us and to walk this path with us. Your encouragement and support have fueled our desire to tell these stories. We are more than blessed! We love you and thank God for you.

Joshua, Anna, Catherine, Joy, Caleb, Grant, Cohen, and Karis (our
kids)—
may your growing faith draw you close to Jesus. His love for you is fireproof!

Allen Arnold and Amanda Bostic (publisher and editor)—
thank you for your work, encouragement, and flexibility. We've enjoyed the journey. May God bless you!

Michael Catt and Jim McBride (pastors)—
we are so honored to be on the team with you, in life, in ministry, in friendship. We remain overwhelmed! Keep going!

Albany Fire Department (friends and consultants)—
may God guide and protect you as you protect us. We are grateful and proud of you!

Sherwood Baptist Church (home base)—
thank you for your consistent prayer, support, and amazing heart for the Lord. He shines through you!

A PERSONAL MESSAGE FROM
THE KENDRICK BROTHERS

T
hank you for reading
Fireproof
! We hope you thoroughly enjoyed Caleb and Catherine's journey. Now that you have read the novel, we want to boldly challenge you in your own spiritual journey. How will the story of
Fireproof
influence you? Will you allow the message of faith and love to penetrate beyond the pages of this book?

If you do not have a relationship with Jesus Christ, we want you to know that He is the Real Deal. We're not talking about religion . . . but a
relationship
with Jesus. He alone has proven to be the missing link to God that people are longing for . . . and desperately need. One that you need.

His entire life demonstrates His uniqueness as God in the flesh. His virgin birth, sinless life, powerful teachings, amazing miracles, unconditional love, sacrificial death, miraculous resurrection, and impact on the world are all unique to Jesus Christ alone. Try reading Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John in the Bible and see for yourself what those who were with Him witnessed firsthand. He not only is qualified to forgive your sin, but He can change your heart and make it pleasing toward a holy God. It is foolish to trust in your own goodness to get into heaven. Only God can make us clean through Jesus Christ.

The Scriptures say that all of us have fallen short of God's righteousness (Romans 3).We've all broken His commands. Each of us has lied, lusted, and hated. That's why we could never stand before Him. We are guilty of many sins. He requires righteousness to enter heaven.

That's why He lovingly sent Jesus. His death on the cross was necessary to make things right between us and a holy God. He didn't have to do that. That's just love in action . . . personified.

Regardless of where you are, let us encourage and challenge you, on behalf of Christ, to do what Caleb and Catherine Holt did, and surrender your heart afresh to God. Romans 10:9 says that if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is your Lord (Master or Boss), and you believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, then you will be saved.

If you are already an obedient follower of Christ, then we want to encourage you further in your spiritual journey. We challenge you to let the faith and integrity that Christ brings influence your relationships, children, daily habits, and work environments. Do you model honesty and the golden rule in how you treat others? Have you dedicated your personal ethics and work environment to God? Are there people you need to get right with that you have wronged in the past? Don't wait any longer. Do it!

We encourage you to refocus your passions toward the higher purpose of glorifying God and not living for your own temporary fulfillment in this life. Start your days in the Word of God and in prayer. Pray that people will be “wowed” by the changes that Christ has made in you. And let your commitment be independent of others. People will fail you, reject you, and let you down. But don't be discouraged. Don't let anything or anyone cause you to stop loving Him. Find a group of believers at a local church who share this passion and who will join you in this great adventure! Then let's plan to rejoice together as we watch God glorify Himself through our lives and do more than we can ask or imagine! May your life in Christ be fireproof!

God Bless You!

Alex and Stephen Kendrick

FIREPROOF
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1.What are the multiple meanings of the word “fireproof” in the story?

2. How did Caleb and Catherine fail each other in their marital roles?

3. Could you relate to either Caleb or Catherine? In what ways?

4. In what ways did Caleb's view of marriage change after he accepted Christ?

5. What was holding Caleb back from trusting in God in the first half of the story?

6. What do the salt and pepper shakers represent?

7. What was the eye-opening moment for Caleb when he realized his hypocrisy?

8. How was John an effective mentor to Caleb?

9. How did Caleb resolve to love his wife in the second half of
Fireproof
?

10. Why did Catherine struggle so much to accept Caleb's demonstrations of love?

11. Why did Michael say it was unwise to always follow your heart?

12. How were Michael and Anna an influence on Caleb and Catherine?

13. In what ways did God prepare Catherine's heart to open up to Caleb?

14. What struggles did Caleb have after accepting Christ?

15. What did John mean when he said, “You can't give her what you don't have”?

16. Has there been a time when you came to a point of total surrender to God? If not, what is holding you back?

17. How is the cross a picture of sacrificial love?

18. What lesson impacted you the most in the story?

19. What did you learn about love and marriage from this book?

20. What commitments do you personally need to make in light of what you've read?

THE MAKING OF
FIREPROOF

BY STEPHEN KENDRICK

DECEMBER 2005

My brother, Alex, had just finished jogging and called me outside my house to share the news. “I think I've got the storyline for the next movie,” he said enthusiastically. At that time,
Facing the
Giants
was edited and ramping toward a theatrical release the following September. We didn't know what to expect from it, but had already begun a season of prayer asking God for direction about what should come next.

Lord, what do
You
want the next movie to be about? We've got
multiple ideas, but Yours are always better. We need
Your
wisdom.

We began asking specifically for a story that would impact the culture. We had waited and prayed for several months. Now on my driveway, Alex looked at me and declared, “I just got an idea for a movie about marriage.”

Marriage?

When you think of movie ideas believers long to see, you imagine a Christian time-travel flick or an end-times thriller about the mark of the beast, loaded with chase scenes and explosions. But when was the last time you saw a movie that honored and tried to rescue marriages?
The Parent Trap
?

That day, Alex began to lay out the initial idea of what he called
The Love Dare
. After listening to him, I said, “I believe this is of God. Married couples desperately need this right now. The body of Christ needs it!”We began to pray for the Lord to develop this very unlikely plot into a screenplay that would please Him. So a new season of focused prayer began . . . for marriages to be impacted through the next movie.

FALL 2006

While developing the storyline, God surprised us with the response to
Facing the Giants
. This $100,000 football drama produced by untrained volunteers from our South Georgia church grossed $10 million in theaters and would become the top-selling DVD in Christian bookstores in 2007. Thousands were reportedly coming to Christ through it, and churches were creating effective ways to utilize the movie for ministry. Our Sherwood church family was thrilled!

SPRING 2007

Over the next several months, the Lord graciously allowed
Giants
to be distributed in thirteen languages on DVD to fifty-six countries, resulting in an international ministry. E-mails started pouring in with unbelievable stories of how this little church-made movie (that openly honors Jesus and the Word of God) was spreading to unlikely places.

International retailers were showing clips in their training classes. A cruise ship was playing it continuously in their cabin rooms. A Turkish airline featured it as their in-flight movie. Teens in China were on YouTube, uploading their own versions of the Death Crawl, and NFL players were distributing it to their teams. The amazing stories of God's goodness were overwhelming. He was doing more than we could ask or imagine.

While movie critics scratched their heads and blogged about it, we shared a sense of awe at the Lord as He continued to glorify Himself through our weakness. No one could take the credit but Him!

Countless scripts and books started landing in our offices at Sherwood Baptist Church with notes that said, “God told me that my story needs to be your next movie.” Sports dramas, dark thrillers, and pro-life stories piled up along with my favorite—the kung fu pastor who beats up vampires in Jesus' name.

But our focus shifted to developing “The Love Dare” movie. We believed God was inspiring the idea. Our wives and pastors were supportive and agreed we should move forward. We studied the Scriptures to find that marriage is a huge priority to God. Hebrews 13:4 says that marriage should be honored by all. It was the first human institution established by God, and one that families, children, churches, and governments are built upon. If marriage crumbles, so does everything built on it.

Looking around us, we saw that the need was massive. Our culture has fallen so far from God's design for marriage. It is supposed to be the strongest and safest human relationship. A haven of unconditional love. And most importantly, a picture of Christ and His Bride. (Ephesians 5) We found that 90 percent of Americans get married at some point in their lives, but I'd argue that most of those marriages are not Christ-like.

Statistically, fewer people are valuing marriage. You often hear pop culture stars say statements like, “I don't need a piece of paper to solidify my relationship,” revealing they have totally missed its meaning. In addition, young couples are foolishly getting married with no marriage preparation or counseling. Husbands and wives are not seeking or obeying God's Word concerning their roles and responsibilities. We see pornography and divorce destroying families. However,we're also watching God's Word bring liberty, health, and healing to marriages that obey and seek Him.