Real Marriage
The Truth About Sex, Friendship, and Life Together
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4.2 • 42 Ratings
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- $1.99
Publisher Description
Most marriage books assume the author did it right. Most marriage books barely mention friendship. Most marriage books use “intimacy” as code for “sex.” This is not one of those books.
In Real Marriage, Pastor Mark Driscoll and his wife, Grace, share how they have struggled and how they have found healing through the power of the only reliable source: the Bible. They believe friendship is fundamental to marriage but not easy to maintain. So they offer practical advice on how to make your spouse your best friend – and keep it that way. And they know from experience that sex-related issues need to be addressed directly.
Five chapters are dedicated to answering questions like:
Should I confess my pre-marital sexual sin to my spouse?Is it okay to have a “work spouse”?What does the Bible say about masturbation and oral sex?
Stunningly honest and vulnerable, Real Marriage is like a personal counseling session with a couple you cannot surprise, you cannot shock into silence, who will respond to every question with wisdom, humility, and realism.
If you want to have a long-lasting, fulfilling marriage you should read this book. Wrestle with this book. Pray over this book. Share this book. And discover how God can use it to change your life.
Endorsements:
“If you’re married or plan to be someday, do yourself a favor and read every page of this book.” —DRS. LES & LESLIE PARROTT Founders of RealRelationships.com and authors of Love Talk
“Whether engaged, newlywed, or veteran, Real Marriage will serve as an invaluable resource. I highly recommend this book.” —ANDY STANLEY author of The Grace of God and Senior Pastor, North Point Community Church
"One of my greatest concerns is that culture is going to continually define and redefine what marriage is and is not, and the church is going to simply sit on the sidelines and react rather than seeking to actually become proactive by confidently teaching what the Bible has to say about it. That is why I am so thankful that Mark and Grace Driscoll wrote this book. Their approach to marriage, its benefits and challenges are transparent and challenging and I honestly believe that every married couple who will work through what they lead us through in this book will not just merely have a marriage that survives in this world but rather thrives in it." — PERRY NOBLE Senior Pastor, NewSpring Church
"Our thanks to Mark and Grace Driscoll who have served this generation well by tastefully but boldly addressing the real issues facing real marriages. Taking the unchanging truth of God’s word and sprinkling in is the story of God’s mercy in their own marriage they have filled every chapter with real helpfulness. This book is powerful, biblical, practical and healing for marriages that hurt. My wife and our adult children read it to great profit." — DR. JAMES MACDONALD Senior Pastor, Harvest Bible Chapel and Bible teacher for Walk in the Word
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
High-profile pastor Driscoll and his wife, Grace, have not only pulled back the curtain on the condition of marriage but have opened wide the door to their own home, taking readers into arguments, dating life, mistakes, and healing in their own marriage. While written from a theological point of view, they also did their homework in a wide range of therapeutic marriage books and have done thousands of hours of counseling and teaching marriage seminars along with their regular teaching in their Seattle church, Mars Hill. This is a book about married friendship, sexuality, healing broken marriages, and "reverse engineering" a marriage that will last beginning with a vision of the end result and working back toward that. It includes no-holds-barred chapters on sex how Mark held sex as "god" and Grace as "gross" and how they together discovered sex as a "gift" from God. The Driscolls' Neo-Reformed views come shining through, with much emphasis on sin's role in wrecking marriages today and Christ's role in redeeming them. Taken to heart and put into practice, this boldly refreshing approach can change couples across America by letting God do the changing.
Customer Reviews
See AllLOVE IT!
I've been married for three years to the love of my life and of course the longer you are married, the more you must give into the marriage to cultivate it. So many things in this book opened up my eyes on how to better myself and how we "do marriage." I have been telling everyone about this amazing book. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS BOOK! God bless you both.
Very Misleading About Marriage
I bought this book from my local Christian bookstore and after reading this book the information presented in this book is very misleading to the Christian community. As a person in college going to be a Pastor I am shocked by some of the things written in this book that are considered biblical by the author. For example, in the chapter about sex the author talks about different things that married couples should or shouldn’t engage in based on the Bible. It mentioned that sex toys were not considered unbiblical and could be used in a marriage. Also, in purchasing these sex toys they should be bought from a Christian website. As a Christian person this is very far from the truth laid out in the Bible God repeatedly shows throughout his word that lust is evil and not from God. When any person purchases these sex toys they are paying into an industry that is very pornographic and abusive toward women and children. This is not something God wants for us as His people. Women deserve to be treated with honor and respect and not treated as property for a guys needs. Also, in looking up the author and finding out some of the other things he does a lot of it is very cult like, not Christ like. If you are a person who loves God and wants to really learn what “real marriage” is I would not recommend this book as there is a lot of perversion about marriage. There are some points in this book that are not totally bad but reading a little truth along with a lie does not make everything this book is saying biblical or pleasing to God. In reading any Christian book it is important to always line it up with what we are reading with the Bible if it doesn’t line up with God’s truth it shouldn’t be read. I pray that God helps the author of this book to understand this.
Great Book
Really enjoyed this book. It helped my wife and I to communicate better, become more selfless, and function more efficiently as a couple. We read this book as a part of a focus group. We've decided to participate again in another study that's using this book as a refresher.