My only suggestion for this author is that she check the facts herself before she begins maligning those who are doing a lot of good work for the Kingdom. First, Driscoll does not advocate women "worship" their husbands, but honour them as leaders in their home. Women who enable their husbands are strongly discouraged, as are men who lord themselves over their wives as little "gods". "Men and Marriage", a sermon from his 1/2 Peter series, is a good place to see this. Second, I actually own and have read Real Marriage, and it amazes me how people bypass nearly the entire book full of solid counsel that has helped both my wife and I, as well as numerous other couples, greatly, and focus solely on the "Can We..." section. All Driscoll says is that AS LONG AS BOTH (heterosexual) PARTNERS WILLINGLY CONSENT AND NEITHER FEEL LIKE IT VIOLATES THEIR CONSCIENCE such things as sodomy and sex toys are not a sin! This is poor journalism and a sad example of over-hype with a current fad.

Jeff Pittman said: "Many of you posting here refer to the value of girls developing into strong, independent women. Where exactly did you get this perspective? Not from the Bible but from your surrounding post modern culture which has fed the reversal of gender roles and the overall weakening of our society." (Hello, Slippery Slope!) My response: Proverbs 31 - "She dresses herself with strength and makes her arms strong (17) . . . Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she laughs at the time to come (25) . . . Give her of the fruit of her hands, and let her works praise her in the gates (31)." Has anyone else noticed in this passage that the husband's place of influence (the city gates) appears to be derived from the prosperity of his family, which is partly due to his wife's business dealings, and that her firm management of the family and family business frees him up to exercise leadership elsewhere? As for independent, I believe it is the clear teaching of Scripture in many places. that we are to be dependent on God, not on man.

I'll preface this by confessing I have never read anything by Driscoll. So I don't have any personal reason to enter that part of the fray, which this comments section has become, much like any other comments section on the Internet. There are some excellently written responses here: logical, candid, and compelling examples of well-formulated opinions. (Eric, Amanda, Terry, Kim are a few of the names I remember after reading the comments above me, but they are not the only ones.) It is disheartening, however, to see the same combative communication on a Christian site, though it is unsurprising. Culturally, we view Internet forums not as places of discussion, but as gladiatorial arenas. Here we have the same hasty generalizations of others into teams (feminism v. fundamentalism, neither of which ought to be four-letter words), ad hominem name-calling (feminazi? Seriously? If you used that portmanteau in a secular forum, you would reap all kinds of anger from people of both genders who take issue with the comparison of Susan B. Anthony and Beth Felker Jones, and Hitler and Goebbels...), and red herrings (this article has nothing to do with gay marriage yet someone threw that into an anti-feminist remark) that mark the atrophy of common courtesy and critical thinking in our society. Twilight is abominably written. Many of its problems stem from Meyer's astounding inability to create realistic, compelling characters with the flaws, struggles, and strengths that make storytelling exciting. It's schlock, but it sells, and sells big. Plenty of girls have adopted bizarre and damaging standards for future mates because of Edward, who is abusive, possessive, obsessive, and whiny, but also spectacularly out of their leagues: hot, rich, handsome, immortal, gorgeous, chaste, glacially beautiful, strong, fast, telepathic, and oh, did I mention that every woman around him finds him irresistibly sexy? (There's a taste of the first book for you, if you've never read it.) I was a teen when these books came out and I made Twilight my pet comedy bit. Bashing it was my thing for a long time, and I became pretty tiresome. To this day, I feel a wannabe standup routine surge in me when Twilight comes up in conversation (it doesn't much among my friends anymore, for which I may be partially responsible). I growl and grump at Barnes and Noble, as I watch the Teen Paranormal Romance section expand from one shelf to two. "This? This is what people want?" I sneer, looking ever so slightly Grinch-y. But isn't that what "people"--what we--have always wanted, to some extent? Fantasy? Something other than this reality? Our longings for another world--or at least, for things that this world cannot offer--are indicative of the desire for heaven, as C. S. Lewis asserts in his argument for the existence of God and heaven. The issue with Twilight (and any other type of fantasy), then, is whether or not it encourages us to long for heaven, or to expect heaven to appear here on Earth. I feel Twilight does the former, and yet I have a wonderful, devout Christian friend who sees an allegory for good and pure love in Twilight. She is certainly not an idiot. She is probably not a heretic. We disagree. I've been kind of a snot about my opinion on Twilight, and she has been kind enough not to punch me when I've been pedantic. My friendship with her has not altered my opinion, which is for the most part aligned with that of Beth Felker Jones. My opinion (thankfully) has not altered our friendship of nearly 12 years. This is because we respect each other more than she loves and I hate Twilight. Should I ever reproduce, my children will probably not want to read Twilight, if only to avoid sending me into annoying-parent-who-thinks-they're-hilarious mode. If they do, I don't know what I'll do about it. Not yet. I hope I'll want to discuss it with my spouse. I hope I'll want to ask trusted fellow Christian parents about it. I imagine I'll stick to my guns and ...

Mr. Driscoll has not gotten everything right in his interpretation of scripture and and preaching, so as with every person who is in the position of teaching and preaching, we should verify that what they are saying (writing) is Biblical. So many people take the words of whatever preacher/teacher they like, and they do not know the Bible well enough to determine whether what they're hearing is true and Biblical. The Bereans in the Bible went and looked up what was being taught to them to verify that it was in line with the scripture. This should be done in regards to every teacher, including Driscoll. Also, the devision in the Body due to denominations and how they emphasize certain parts of scripture is not good. The Bible is the Bible - that should be our guide, not the doctrine of a denomination or church. Teach the young people today to go to the Bible first and along with Mark Driscoll or anyone else who preaches/teaches. How else will they know how to determine if someone is a false teacher unless they compare with the Bible? Also, not just a person's written or verbal words, but also their life.

Amen! Great word Professor Jones.