What in the Hell Happened? (BOOK REVIEW)
What in the Hell Happened?
An Intimate Look at Love and Relationship with Raw Honesty
by Bishop Alphonso Lee Smith
Foreword by Bishop Aubrey Mullen, Jr.
Dunamis Publishing Associates
Paperback, $16.00
62 pages
ISBN: 978-1-60458-584-1
Book
Review by Kam Williams
“There
is an illusion of marriage created by Hollywood…
that only exists in the movies and on TV… All ‘housewives’ are not ‘desperate,’
and ‘How I Met Your Mother’ is seldom an accurate depiction of a Godly
marriage…
This
book has been written to help couples find fulfillment in marriages and to
provide spiritual release to those who have broken the marital covenant and
bond by divorce. We want to help save marriages and provide a basis to salvage
relationships that may be floundering under the stresses of life or the
pressure of current trends.”
--
Excerpted from the Introduction (pg. 5)
During the traditional
exchange of wedding vows, a bride and groom invariably promise to remain
together “’til death do us part.” Yet, so many marriages end in divorce
nowadays, suggesting that something must be amiss, given the clarity of that unambiguous
pledge.
As pastor
of Destiny Worship
Church in Raleigh, North Carolina,
Bishop Alphonso Lee Smith has pronounced plenty of couples husband and wife
over the years, only to see some of those supposedly-sacred unions ultimately
end in divorce. This has led the good reverend to wonder whether “vow-takers
really know to what they are committing” or if they appreciate “the gravity of
the wedding ceremony.”
In What in
the Hell Happened? An Intimate Look at Love and Relationship with Raw Honesty,
he maintains that “marriage, as a practical consideration, should be entered
into with wisdom… reverently, discreetly, advisedly, soberly, and in the fear
of God.” For he feels that engaged couples ought to be ought to be fully
conscious of the covenant they are about to make with the Almighty.
Still,
there comes a point in a severely strained relationship where one must assess wheter
it can be saved, if it isn’t on the rocks already. That is why the author places
such an emphasis on premarital counseling.
Not being a
hypocrite, Bishop Smith admits that even his own marriage failed, and he devotes
an entire chapter to sharing that painful story. On those pages, he chronicles
the emotional roller coaster ride he experienced as he went through the stages
of denial, anger, guilt and self-confrontation prior to arriving finally at a
peaceful place, by the grace of God.
A practical,
prenuptial primer, written from a faith-based perspective, urging couples to
reflect and really look before you leap.
1 comment:
Now available on Kindle
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