Author name: Eric Tiansay

by Eric Tiansay Green Lantern was part of a crowded superhero line-up at the cineplex last summer along the likes of Captain America, Thor and X-Men: First Class. After recently catching the movie on DVD, I would have to say it’s all flash, but no substance. The 3-D special effects are visually stunning and mesmerizing, …

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by Dr. Doug Weiss

Genuine intimacy is the cry of our nation. Many individuals search through multiple marriages trying to find the vital connection their souls long for. Still louder shouts the silence of the man or woman who has been married for decades and feels alone in that partnership.

Many feel they have done everything right at home and with their spouses, yet there is little or no intimacy. Far too many partners feel like roommates—as if they are just getting by emotionally. If fulfillment is promised, then why is it that few couples enjoy that impassioned connection?

I don’t think this is God’s plan for your marriage. He wants you to live the abundant life and to have a marriage full of joy and love—and this is what we’re going to accomplish these next thirty days. We are going to make your marriage over into what God has designed for you and your spouse.

I have lived in the laboratory of other people’s marriages for many years. In addition, I myself have journeyed from the inability to be intimate to a place of deep intimacy and great fulfillment with my wife, Lisa.

Early in my married life I had the feeling that I was surrounded by walls. I desperately wanted to step out from behind those walls but could not find a way to connect to my wife. God in His graciousness drew me into the field of marriage and family counseling, where I gained much understanding. Still, no one explained, These are the steps to intimacy: The mystery of intimacy and the skills required to build and maintain it continued to elude me—as it does for so many others in my field.

by Alan Mowbray

As a father of two, I’m always looking for a teachable moment. If you’re smooth about it, your kids won’t even know that you’re instructing them on life.

Based on a children’s book called The Borrowers, a popular title originally published in 1952 by British author Mary Norton, The Secret World of Arrietty is one of those covert teachable moments—actually, it features several of them.

The movie was the year’s top grossing film when it was released in Japan in 2010, winning the Animation of the Year award. Translated, dubbed by an American cast and distributed stateside by Walt Disney Pictures, The Secret World of Arrietty was made by legendary Studio Ghibli (Spirited Away and Ponyo).

Arrietty (voiced by Disney TV star Bridgit Mendler) is 4 inches tall. She and her family are Borrowers. They live in the recesses of a suburban garden home, unbeknownst to the homeowner and her housekeeper Haru (voiced by Carol Burnett). Like all little people, Arrietty (AIR-ee-ett-ee) remains hidden from view, except during occasional covert ventures beyond the floorboards to “borrow” scrap supplies that their human hosts won’t miss.

Arrietty is 14, and the limitation of her 4-inch stature means nothing to the girl. In Arrietty’s eyes, the whole world is hers to explore, even if her easily agitated mother, Homily (voiced by Amy Poehler), and her father, Pod (voiced by Will Arnett), say otherwise. “Better be careful,” they would warn, relating an oft-repeated story about a long-lost relative eaten by a frog.

One day, a boy arrives at the house. Shawn (voiced by David Henrie) is a sickly 12-year-old with a bad heart who has come to rest at his grandmother’s house. He is supposed to have absolutely no excitement in preparation for a heart operation scheduled the following week or so. The first day, he spots Arrietty during one of her unauthorized forays into the real world and attempts to befriend her. Over the next few days, a secret friendship blossoms between the two—putting the lives of Arrietty and her family in danger.

by Gina Meeks Just in time for Valentine’s Day, a true love story of a couple’s Christ-centered commitment winds up shredded by Hollywood’s moviemaking machine in this sign-of-our-times “chick flick.” Kim and Krickitt Carpenter’s real-life story is one of sadness, true love, and God’s grace and protection. The couple—whose inspirational account was first told in …

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by Robert Ricciardelli

[caption id="attachment_353760" align="alignright" width=""]On Aug. 28, 1963, Martin Luther King Jr., stood before the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., and delivered his iconic [/caption]The last few days I have been waking up thinking about Martin Luther King Jr. I kept hearing his “I Have a Dream” speech as I awoke each of the last few mornings. He is one of my heroes of the faith; a difference-maker, and a catalyst for good and for the generations. I asked the Lord if there was some further meaning to my thoughts about him. He said, “I gave him a dream, and I have given you a dream.”

I decided to write out my dream in honor of one of my hero’s dreams. Thank you, Lord, for Dr. King, who stood for You, stood for freedom and gave his life for the cause of that freedom. I write this in honor of him and the legacy he left for us all:

“I have a dream that one day the kingdom nation of God will rise up and live out the true meaning of Christ’s all-consuming creed that fulfills all laws and prophecies with these words: ‘The Lord our God is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength, and also love your neighbor as yourself.

Guys who have been touched and challenged by the message of the faith-based police drama, Courageous, to become the godly influence in their home that God intended, have an opportunity to share it with others in a low-key way, starting tomorrow.

The hit movie from the makers of Fireproof releases on DVD, providing a great opportunity for men to host a small group viewing or invite non-Christians friends who may have felt uncomfortable going to see it in the theaters to watch together at home.

The makers at Sherwood Pictures—based at Sherwood Baptist Church in Albany, Ga.—have reported hundreds of testimonies of husbands and fathers who have been inspired to turn their lives over to God in a new way through the movie.

Among those who have written to the producers is Aimee, who told them: “I want to thank you for what you have done to my marriage. My husband is a police officer, so the movie particularly struck close to home. Not only has he stepped up to be what God intended him to be, he has given up addictions and vices that were crippling and shattering our marriage and the relationship he had with our kids.”