What Real Marriage has going for it, in the end, is the only thing it doesn’t share with scores of other marriage books: Mark Driscoll. Driscoll has preached the book’s content, he tells us, in “England, Ireland, Scotland, South Africa, Australia, India, and Turkey” and has talked personally to “hundreds of thousands of couples.” The author’s bio reminds us that he is “one of the world’s most downloaded and quoted pastors.” He pastors the “2nd most-innovative church in America.” The hype in the press release isn’t, ultimately, about Real Marriage; it’s about Mark Driscoll. […]

If you buy Real Marriage, you can get it signed at one of the stops on the ten-city publicity tour. Or you can join a small group using the Real Marriage video curriculum; or invest in the Real Marriage Study Kit or the Real Marriage Participants Guide.

Or you could just ask for counsel from a couple of ordinary folks who have managed to stay married. They’ll probably suggest that you talk to each other about your emotions, do nice things for each other, cultivate friendship, plan date nights. They’ll likely tell you that sex within marriage is a good thing. They’ll recommend forgiveness, kindness, patience. They’ll give you pretty decent advice.

1. If you’ve ever heard a Jesus story that made your pulse increase or your stomach churn and made you say or think “I could never be a part of that,” then Rob Bell wants to be on your team. You’re right and he’s with you. …

[Rob] Bell is an impressionist. He goes with his gut and his aesthetic finger in the wind. In [Love Wins], he starts his impressions in the preface and he doesn’t look back. Have you heard a story about Jesus that bothered you? As we’ve already seen, Bell’s on your team. Really? Without qualification? What if that sermon bothered me because it was true and because the rule of my idols is still strong?