New Inspirational Bible Study Draws on Two Decades in Ministry to Offer Insight into the Purpose of Marriage
Pastor Mario Villella and WordCrafts Press are pleased to announce the release of his new Bible study, Created for Someone, which released to retail on February 24, 2025. The new book was quickly embraced by readers, debuting on multiple Amazon.com category Hot New Releases charts, including climbing to Number 5 on the Hot New Releases in Christian Marriage category and at Number 7 in the Christian Family & Relationships category. The paperback version also reached the Number 59 position in the Christian Personal Growth category while the ebook version hit Number 26 in the kindle store’s Christian Marriage category and Number 51 in the Christian Families category.
“Many of us have this idea that there is a soulmate out there who we were created for,” author and pastor Mario Villella says. “And, once married, we may become disappointed that our soulmate isn’t always the fulfillment of all of our dreams. What a paradigm shift to realize that you actually are created for someone, but that Someone is God. And knowing that makes all the difference in the world. The person who believes that their marriage exists for God, rather than for themselves, will approach a thousand marriage decisions in a different way than they would otherwise. Additionally, as a pastor I am aware that many of the smaller lessons toward the back of the book (on telling the truth, on not shouting, on forgiveness) are incredibly practical for anyone who wants their marriage to be peaceful because it follows God’s design.
“In fact,” Villella adds, “I just recommended this book to a loved one who is going through a divorce. I’m hoping it will help him avoid the divorce altogether. Lastly, I think this book would be a perfect gift for engaged couples. There are at least four or five important lessons in it that I wish I had known before I was married. I hope this book becomes the customary engagement present for American Christians. Or perhaps it could be the standard gift for churches to give to newlywed couples.”
From the Book
In Ephesians 5, which is possibly the most famous chapter in the Bible regarding the topic of marriage, the Apostle Paul quotes what is perhaps the most well-known Old Testament passage about marriage, Genesis 2:24. It’s the part that says: “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” That verse is definitely about marriage (it was originally found in the middle of the Adam and Eve story) and yet Paul immediately follows it up with a statement about how he is, somehow, talking about the union between Christ and His church.
For now, let me point out that if marriage is supposed to mirror the relationship Jesus Christ has with His people, then, at the very least, this means we don’t just get to make up our own rules about it and govern it however we want. Marriage is something that is supposed to look and be a particular way, as prescribed by the Creator of it.
This is important, as many of us live in a society where it is assumed that marriage is this somewhat malleable thing that can be flexed in order to match our cultural expectations and personal preferences. We both make and remove rules about it. We declare it will be this way or that. But all along, there is a Creator who designed it to be a reflection of a something specific He has in mind.
“I suppose, in a way, I could say that I wrote this book over the past couple of decades,” Villella muses. “I can remember being a 23-year old youth pastor teaching high school students about the importance of avoiding a spiritual mismatch using the imagery of 1 Corinthians 6:14-15. I would hold up a wooden yoke to show them the problem if the two things in it tried to go in two different directions. So that chapter goes back that far. However, the concept that marriage is a co-workership—where we accomplish things for God that we couldn’t accomplish alone—it didn’t dawn on me to say it that way until later in life once I began pastoring adults. This book is a summary of twenty years of pastoral preaching and counsel.”
About the Author
Mario Villella grew up in Ocala, Florida. He spent his early adult years as a youth minister in Rockwall, Texas, and Leesburg, Florida. A graduate of the University of Texas at Dallas with a degree in arts and performance, Mario has been involved in educational and community theater, teaching acting to students, and performing in plays like The Comedy of Errors, The Sound of Music, Oliver!, and Beauty and the Beast.
In 2011, he moved back to Ocala and started Good News Church with his wife, Heidi. They have three children. He has written two other books titled, Working Our Way Through Life and It Takes Two to Tangle.
Mario’s sermons can be viewed at Good News Church Ocala on YouTube.
Recent Comments