I Now Pronounce You . . . What?!

By Debbie E. Hardy

Be not deceived about how God views marriage. Know the truth, and be made free.

While living in a world where peoples minds are so easily influenced by the opinions of celebrities and even government officials, the truth seems to get lost in the shuffle and made irrelevant.

Therefore, this book is written to give some enlightenment on the institution of marriage according to the King James Version Bible. We understand that the original Bible was written by men inspired by God himself. The truth in this book is simply written with love to be a help to as many as will receive it because Jesus is love.

For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another.
But after that the kindness of the love of God our Saviour toward man appeared.
Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost (Titus 3:35).

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Jun 23, 2016
• ISBN: 9781524508289

Debbie E. Hardy

Debbie E. Hardy, at age twenty-one, in 1979 joined the Greater Emmanuel Apostolic Church in Stamford, Connecticut (under the leadership of the late Bishop Willie Hardy and his wife, evangelist Bessie Hardy), and was born again of the water and the spirit. During her spiritual and ministerial journey, she has served as a local/national president or vice president of many auxiliaries. She has been National Sunday School assistant superintendent and taught Sunday school for all ages both in the local church and in the national convention; state vice president of the Connecticut National Women’s Ministry Inc., choir member, district elder, evangelist, minister, and more. During the late 1980s and the early 1990s, she assisted her pastor in running his Bridgeport, Connecticut, church named Crusade for Christ. She was ordained as pastor by Bishop Willie Hardy in 1992. She founded and was pastor for almost five years of the Rock of Salvation Church in Bridgeport, Connecticut under Bishop Hardy. In 2011 Debbie founded the fledging Transforming Word of Life Ministry under the GEAC. The TWOL Radio Program has aired for several years on the People’s Broadcast, WDJZ radio station, located in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Prior to the Transforming Word of Life radio broadcast was her program called “Another Day’s Journey.” Other than serving in the church, Debbie has also attended the Housatonic Community College located in Bridgeport, Connecticut, and obtained a CDA certificate, early childhood education certificate, a head teacher’s certificate, and an associate degree in early childhood education. She is currently a proprietor of a licensed family home day care, serving in God’s kingdom and spreading the good news of Jesus by teaching and preaching the Word of God to help people transform their lives. This is her passion.

Book preview

I Now Pronounce You …

WHAT?!

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Debbie E. Hardy

Copyright © 2016 by Debbie E. Hardy.

Library of Congress Control Number:   2016909330

ISBN:      Hardcover      978-1-5245-0830-2

                Softcover        978-1-5245-0829-6

                eBook             978-1-5245-0828-9

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Scripture quotations marked KJV (King James Version) and the headings referencing the scriptures in chapter 7 are from the Holy Bible, The Thompson Chain-Reference Bible KJV. Previous Editions Copyright 1908, 1917, 1929, 1934, 1957, 1964, 1982 by Frank Charles Thompson. Copyright 1988 by the B. B. Kirkbride Bible Company, Inc.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Rev. date: 07/13/2016

Xlibris

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CONTENTS

Preface

Acknowledgments

Chapter 1 Insight About Jesus

Definitions For Chapter 1

Chapter 2 Jesus Rules

God

Old Testament Names of God

Jesus is Lord, Even God!

Definitions For Chapter 2

Chapter 3 Christian Conduct

Who Was Esau

Chapter 4 Ignored Elephant in the Church

What Is Fornication

Scriptures Referencing Fornication

The Kingdom of God

Definitions For Chapter 4

Chapter 5 Mankind Made in God’s Divine Image

Chapter 6 God’s Institution of Marriage

Between Male/Man And Female/Woman

Marriage Is Sacred - Male And Female:

What, Not Who

Marriage Is Honorable

Definitions For Chapter 6

Chapter 7 Comparing the Natural to the Spiritual

The Limited Dominion of the Law

Marriage Used as an Illustration of Christ’s Relationship to the Church

Union With Christ

The Advantage of the Law

The Power of Sin

The Inward Struggle With Sinful Desires

The Downward Tendency

Definitions For Chapter 7

Chapter 8 The Head

The Exaltation of Jesus Christ

Chapter 9 Sexual Corruption

Definitions For Chapter 9

Chapter 10 An Exhortation to Holy Living

Chapter 11 Conclusion

Adam and Eve

Marriage of the Lamb of God and the Church

A New Heaven and A New Earth

Fullness of Time At Hand

The Choice is Yours

The Last Invitation

DEDICATION

I n memory of my late brother, Elbert Earl (Nelson) Howard, who struggled most of his life with his sexuality. He never married, and he never fathered any children. But a few years before he succumbed to cancer, he surrendered his life to the Lord Jesus, joined the church, was baptized, and proclaimed his love for Jesus; and one day he declared to me that he was not going