Justin HolcombReseñas

EducatingParents.org rating: Approved

58662

This book is a difficult read, whether you are a victim or not. I am sure you know victims, though, as do I. Too many victims.

This is a powerful, and deep, resource for victims. While it is primarily for sexual assault, I would encourage any victim of abuse, or anyone working with victims of any abuse, to read this book.

I plan on reading this several more times through, as it is too much for me to get in one pass.

Really brief booklet examining the idea of calling/vocation. Holcomb brings a sound perspective on all work having inherent dignity as it is grounded in the creation mandate. While it may be tempting and alluring to seek identity in the 9-5, for good or for ill, Christians should find preeminent identity in being united with Christ.

This book is an excellent tool because of its clarity, brevity, and direct, punchy truthfulness. I picked it up because of a class I'm teaching on the Apostle's Creed. I couldn't stop after reading the chapter on the Apostle's Creed. I wound up blowing though the 192 pages in a couple of days. Holcomb is an excellent author who take what many may see as a boring topic and conveys relevance and importance. I highly recommend this book for pastors, bible study leaders, or curious laity.

The Holcomb's write a very helpful book on the subject of the sin of abuse and the shame it engenders do victims and survivors. It is well written and offers real hope. The stories of survivors show the horror of the subject but also show how the books ideas can change your life. While there are many books on dealing with abuse socially, emotionally Etc, this book deals with the subject theologically. What does God say about abuse? How can faith in God and an awareness of his grace help survivors and perpetrators? I also noticed a newer version has a helpful appendix which gives suggestions on what to say and what not to say to a victim. These can also be found online at the Holcomb's website.

One slight quibble is that the Holcomb's depend heavily on Cornelius Plantinga's "vandalism of shalom" paradigm. As DA Carson has shown, this approach is not wrong but it possibly obscured the Bible's teaching on sin. Carson says, "Human sin in Gen 3 certainly destroys human relationships and brings a curse on the creation, but treating this comprehensive odium as the vandalism of shalom makes it sound both too slight and too detached from God. After all, the fundamental act was disobeying God, and a central ingredient in the temptation of Eve was the incitement to become as God, knowing good and evil."

Besides this, the book is excellent.

What an excellent book for parents to use to teach their children about personal safety. God Made All of Me emphasizes that God made us — all of us — and it was good! It goes on to help children understand good versus bad touching, secrets versus surprises and the child’s power to say NO. The book also helps parents to broach the subject of sexuality — something that may be uncomfortable for them to express. Handled in such a natural manner, children will feel empowered, not scared to speak up. The emphasis of the book is on safety and security for the child. It also contains a parent’s section detailing ways to protect a child from sexual abuse. I was impressed with the insertion of God’s word throughout the book — a good reminder for both parents and children. A final reminder comes from Psalm 28:7 — The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and he helps me.

I whole heartily recommend God Made All of Me. The bold illustrations will appeal to children, the message is straightforward and backed by Biblical principles and it gives parents an easy way to talk to their kids without embarrassment. And what could be more important than protecting our kids, especially in an increasingly scary world. God Made All of Me is perfect for the home or church library.

Highly Recommended.

Audience: for child and parent joint reading.

(Thanks to LitFuse for a review copy. All opinions expressed are mine alone.)

A book anyone could read in an hour or so. It highlights the centrality of grace in God's character and the centrality of the cross to implement God's grace. "Grace is fundamentally a word about God: his un-coerced initiative and pervasive, extravagant demonstrations of care and favor."

This is a fun read and quite informative. A couple of things I picked up. 1) Not every contrary teaching qualifies as heresy. 2) Many of the heresies seemed rooted in an overrraction or a desire to "help" the Scriptures explain things about God.

I was not able to see the significance of chapter 5 on Mani but it was interesting.
The greatest point to see was how pernicious false teachings are. These aberrant "truth"-claims began immediately and rise up time and again. Pelagianism, Arianism, Modalism, etc attack the church relentlessly and the child of God must be diligent in Scripture so that he or she is not tossed to and fro by these winds of deceit.

This is a helpful, easy, interesting work on false teaching throughout the history of the Church.

I received a review copy of this book.

Always good to be reminded of the amazing grace of God. Holcomb brings us face to face with the reality that our salvation is not about what we do for God but what God has done, is doing, and will continue to do for us. A kick-in-the-teeth to any thoughts of works righteousness. The three stars is only because 3/5ths of this book were adapted from Holcomb's previous excellent book, Rid of My Disgrace. That is a bit of a personal pet peeve with me since I have limited funds and try to invest it wisely. So when I get a book and realize that I already have some part of it in another book, it frustrates me. But don't let that keep you from getting this wonderful book on grace.

A good read. It began to feel a bit repetitive at the end, but that's not necessarily a bad thing – the target audience really needs to hear the same things over and over (don't we all?). Still, I think the first 7-8 chapters were much better than the last few, which basically shifted into a more general theology approach, which isn't the authors' strength.

Lengthier review forthcoming elsewhere.

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