THE movie

So, I'm sure by now many of you have heard of the movie "Fireproof." Well, about a month ago I noticed a posting about it on a message board I follow and I followed the link to their web page. If you look at the web page you'll find plenty of stuff about the movie (the trailer, clips, materials, books, etc.). The page is http://www.fireproofthemovie.com. I downloaded the movie trailer for our church and it opened up the worship service last Sunday.

The basic jist of the movie is there is a small town fire captain (Kirk Cameron) who is a hero in his town but his marriage is failing. His father challenges him to hold off on the impending divorce for 40 days while he works through a book called "The Love Dare."

So Beverly and I had the opportunity to have a date night last night. We decided we'd see the movie and have some dinner. He got to the theater about 45 minutes early and were the first into the theater. We figured with all the advertising that had been done there would be a decent crowd. We sat alone for about 5 minutes and then couples, families, and small groups started to file in. Beverly and I love people-watching so it was fun to look at some of the pairs that came into the dark theater and searched for the best place to sit. Obviously, we had the best place so they all had to sit somewhere else. Anyway, as I was saying about the pairings - God certainly has a sense of humor - I'll leave it at that.

Anyway, Beverly and I settled in with our $5 Icee, $3 bottle of water and $6 popcorn. As I said before, I watched the trailer. I also watched all the movie clips on-line and read a lot of the materials about the movie. I felt I had a pretty good idea about the plot of the movie and how things were going to work out. About 15 minutes into the movie I realized that pretty much everything I knew about this movie had already happened. I was in for a great surprise. The movie turned out to be so much more than I expected from the trailer and the clips. It was deeper than I expected for a mainstream movie. The message was convicting and the plot had plenty of twists. I was also surprised by the humor. There were plenty of funny little things and the timing was great. As far as Christian films go I give this one a perfect "10." I was thouroughly impressed and the theater erupted in applause at the end.

If you're looking for a date night, or just looking to see a good Christian film with a positive message, some clean humor and some action / adventure - go see "Fireproof"! Their web site has a listing of theaters playing the movie and you can check your local theater listings as well.

He's Back

If you didn't get the e-mail... Jeff and his family are back from their extended educational tour of several Civil War sites along the east coast. If you have sent Jeff anything for the web page you can expect to see the updates soon. If you've been holding off on sending him something please remember that he's got a lot on his plate. If it can wait a week, please let it sit so he can get caught up.

WELCOME BACK JEFF!

Are you living it?

Investing in People
Admonish the unruly, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with everyone.
1 Thessalonians 5:14

"Who are the people that have meant the most to you in your life? Who has had the most influence in your life? Your parents? A coach, a teacher or a Sunday School teacher? Undoubtedly they challenged you to rise above the status quo. I remember people who cared about my character and who inspired me to a solid standard of holiness, devotion and diligence.

The bottom line? They all called me to noble, pure virtues.

Others have also stepped out of the herd and stepped up. Consider the famed scientist and inventor George Washington Carver who once wrote down what he called the "eight cardinal virtues":

1. Be clean both inside and outside.
2. Neither look up to the rich nor down on the poor.
3. Lose, if need be, without squealing.
4. Win without bragging.
5. Always be considerate of women, children and old people.
6. Be too brave to lie.
7. Be too generous to cheat.
8. Take your share of the world and let others take theirs.

Virtuous words. Yet even from a distance of nearly 100 years, they touch us at a deep level of our souls and call us higher than the selfish parts of our natures typically want to go.

I encourage you today to be careful where you look for inspiration--be sure that the people who influence you are those who can be counted on to lead you in the paths of purity and righteousness. And I encourage you to become an influencer, one who has the thick-skinned courage to step out and up and motivate others to be Christ followers. For Christ is the One who truly embodies noble virtue.

Okay, I admit, I totally borrowed this from a daily e-mail I receive from "Family Life - Moments with You." The e-mail is an excerpt from the book, "Moments with You" by Dennis and Barbara Rainey.

Though the advice in that context is directed for husbands and wives I absolutely see how this advice directly applies to GBB boys. The "eight cardinal virtues" are things that we need to follow ourselves and our leaders need to make sure they model them as well.

According to the GBB philosophy of ministry we believe in "demonstration." That means that we must purposely teach and directly model godly character so that our boys see what it means to be a real man. We must also be very aware that even when we do things without purpose, our boys are still learning by watching what we do, how we act and react. Please remember this in your thoughts and prayers today and ask God to help us all to follow and display Christian values.

Awesome God = awesome power

Far from Hurricane Ike at the GBB Headquarters in Rittman, Ohio we felt the wind. The Rittman GBC had a picnic (indoors of course) and as we watched our guests, The Covenant Players, the lights flickered and the winds howled outside. After the players were done with their performance we moved to the windows to survey the storm's action. Immediately we noticed the huge tree branch that fell on a car in the parking lot. We also noticed the trees down both up and down First Street. As it turned out, there were trees and electric lines down all over the region. States to our west flooded and we didn't get much rain at all. They didn't have the wind and we lost trees, spouting, shingles and I'm sure some small pets are still missing... Though we weren't in a hurricane the ordeal was VERY stressful for so many people here. During all of it I couldn't help but say out loud, "Don't we have an awesome God?" Hollywood can create a storm in the movies or on TV. No one, not even scientists can make the wind blow from the Gulf to the Great Lakes! Only God has that awesome power!

Sleepy

Its 6:30 AM and I just rolled in from work - I was supposed to be off at 5 this morning... As I sit here on my computer, killing time before a men's breakfast at church, I wonder, as I often do, what it would be like if the godly men of GBB could spend as much time serving the Lord as they do at their full time jobs. Wouldn't it be great if our careers never got in the way of our real jobs?

Lord, please help us to keep our eyes focused on You rather than all the other things that seem to take up so much of our lives. Please help us to always work to glorify You, not man.

The day we'll always remember

I, like most everyone alive at the time, will never forget where I was or what I was doing on September 11, 2001. I had worked all night and spent the morning golfing with some guys from work. We finished our round and headed to Applebee's for an early lunch (or late night snack as it was for us...) We walked in and everyone was glued to the televisions stationed around the restaurant. We were directed to one of the large corner booths and we filed in. A waitress came over and we asked what was going on. She explained that both towers of the World Trade Center and the Pentagon had all be struck by commercial jets. We sat there for a long time just watching the events unfold, wondering aloud if we may be called back to work.

I hope everyone is spending time today reflecting on the heroes of that day. The service people and seemingly average citizens who put themselves in harms way that day to help others. Right next to those thoughts we should also never forget the evil that caused such destruction. We should never forget that there are people and organizations who want nothing more than to destroy people and disrupt their way of life. Lastly, we must also trust in the sovereignty of our Lord and Savior. Though things seemed so bad on that day - it was all part of God's plan.

On a much lighter and happier note - I must say congrats to my brother Jarrod and his lovely wife Heather on the birth of their first child, Mikayla Scott Gable. She was born very early this morning in Kansas City and everyone is doing great. Praise the Lord!

Check it out!

So here it is! GBB National's very first blog! I know you're as excited as I am.

If you're a long time GBBer or new to GBB the purpose of this blog will be to keep you in tune with GBB's news and events. As I hear about anything new I'll post it here. To keep updated on what's going on - save this blog in your favorites and visit it often. If I don't have anything GBB to post I'll post something else that interests me - so either send me some news or buckle up and hold on!