NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)–The 2008 hit movie “Fireproof” may not have had a sequel, but that’s not the case with its companion bestselling book “The Love Dare,” whose authors have written a one-year devotional for married couples with even more “love dares” aimed at strengthening relationships.
“The Love Dare Day by Day” includes 365 devotionals and 52 love dares — one for each week. The original Love Dare book included 40 entries and a love dare for each day and was central to the plot of Fireproof, as the lead character did one “dare” each day — for instance, making his wife a nice meal on Day 18 — in an attempt to salvage his marriage.
The Love Dare is in its 72nd week on The New York Times bestseller list for paperback advice and spent multiple weeks at No. 1. Both books are published by B&H Publishing Group.
“When we were researching all the aspects that we could put in The Love Dare, there were so many more that we couldn’t fit in there,” Alex Kendrick, who co-authored the book with his brother Stephen, told Baptist Press. “There were so many more we were like, ‘What do we do with these?’ Well, as we talked to our publisher, they said, ‘Can you make a devotional out of this?’
“We did not have to look very hard to find stuff. It was there. Now, it took a long time to write. As a matter of fact, we had stuff left over after the 365. Scripture is God’s love letter to us. There is no shortage of God’s principles.”
Each chapter of The Love Dare Day by Day is one page, shorter than the two to three pages of its predecessor. The goal, Kendrick said, is for couples to go through “an entire year and together, one day at a time, research and apply these principles.”
“They’re in doable sections,” he said. “We don’t do a dare every day. We do a dare a week because we know you may not be together every day. In some respects we think it is a stronger book than the first one.”
B&H is planning on releasing in April a gift boxed leather wedding edition of the Love Dare Day by Day.
Fireproof and the original Love Dare have impacted thousands of marriages — so much so that B&H has launched a website, LoveDareStories.com, where couples who are reading The Love Dare or have completed it can post their thoughts, ask questions and encourage others. Couples can even share their stories via video. B&H is the publishing arm of LifeWay Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention.
Alex and Stephen Kendrick, staff members at Sherwood Baptist Church in Sherwood, Ga., are the duo behind not only Fireproof but also “Facing the Giants.” They are working on their next film, “Courageous,” set for release in 2011, and recently finished the script’s first draft.
“We are grateful to report that the first draft of the Courageous script was read last week to the Sherwood Pictures leadership team and our wives,” Stephen Kendrick wrote in an e-mail sent Feb. 10 to subscribers of CourageoustheMovie.com. “The entire team liked it and is feeling good about the direction of the plot and message of the movie. Pray for us as we move forward with the polishing stages of the scriptwriting and the pre-production planning coming up.”
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Michael Foust is an assistant editor of Baptist Press.
