Have you or someone you love experienced the horrors of sexual abuse? Do you wonder how the shattered pieces of life can be put back together? Then you need to understand God’s grace for our disgrace. You need a compassionate guide for moving from victim to victor. Grace is God’s prescription for our disgrace. Sexual Abuse: Beauty for Ashes provides readers with a Christ-centered, comprehensive, compassionate, and culturally-informed understanding of sexual abuse. It walks with readers through 2 Samuel 13:1-19 on a journey with Tamar. Tamar and the readers journey from a loss of faith, hope, love, and peace to a place of faith in the midst of doubt, hope in the midst of evil, love in the midst of sin, and peace in the midst of shame—all by Christ’s grace.
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What Others Are Saying
“I simply love this booklet! There are many ways Christians may respond to the horror of sexual abuse: they may minimize it, telling sufferers to just get over it; or they may exaggerate it, sending sufferers on a lifelong and futile journey of introspection. Or, they can point them to the good news that there is a Suffering Savior who loves, welcomes, completely understands, and restores victims. Bob Kellemen knows this good news and the Suffering Savior well. He also knows how to bring the brokenhearted into contact with the living Christ who loves and heals. What a wonderful help Beauty for Ashes is!” —Elyse Fitzpatrick, Author of Because He Loves Me
“If you have ever been a victim of sexual abuse, please read this vital booklet. You will experience so much care, so much compassion, so much Scripture, and so much of the good news of the gospel. If you are a pastor or counselor, please read it and learn how to extend that same care, compassion, Scripture, and gospel grace to others. Here is the gospel applied carefully and tenderly to real life.”—Tim Challies, Pastor Grace Fellowship Church, Author of The Next Story
“There is an epidemic of sexual abuse, and victims need the kind of hope and healing that only the gospel of Jesus Christ provides. Tragically, most churches and Christians are woefully unprepared to help those who have been abused sexually. In this booklet, Dr. Kellemen offers clear, accessible, gospel-based help for the many victims of sexual abuse and teaches us all how to face sexual abuse face-to-face with Christ.”—Dr. Justin and Lindsey Holcomb, Authors of Rid of My Disgrace: Hope and Healing for Victims of Sexual Assault
“The path for healing from damage of sexual abuse is murky and often lonely for those who walk that trail. Vistas that reveal progress made are rare. Too often, the spiritual advice and care victims receive ends up being simplistic or absent. Using an extended case study, Dr. Kellemen provides a realistic and hope-filled roadmap to guide pastors, loved ones, and victims as they explore the damage done by sexual abuse and the journey to renewed vitality. Like actual maps, this booklet may be small, but it contains depth rarely seen in Christian treatments of sexual abuse recovery.”—Dr. Philip G. Monroe, Professor of Counseling & Psychology, Biblical Seminary, Director of Global Trauma Recovery Institute
“With biblical wisdom and pastoral sensitivity, Kellemen offers a redemptive vision and pathway in the aftermath of sexual abuse—first by exposing Satan’s attempt to destroy faith, hope, peace, and love through the wickedness of sexual abuse, then by showing how our Redeemer overcomes evil by His transforming grace. Sexual Abuse: Beauty for Ashes is a great resource to help the church care for one another with the compassionate and powerful realities of the gospel.”—Dr. Robert Cheong, Pastor of Care and Counseling, Sojourn Community Church, Author of God Redeeming His Bride
“The booklet you hold in your hand is a wonderfully gentle blend of the grace and truth found only in Jesus Christ. Whether you are the victim of sexual abuse, or a loving friend who wants to minister God’s hope to those who have had hope stolen from them, you will find the biblical counsel here a great help and encouragement.”—Dr. Paul Tautges, Pastor of Immanuel Bible Church, Author, and Founder of the Counseling One Another Blog
“Dr. Kellemen’s gospel insights are for both the sexually abused and the pastor. For the person who was abused, you will find a clear and caring path and you will notice that you are already on it. That will give you hope. For the pastor, the scope of sexual abuse is such that you will be preaching on it, and this booklet opens the story of Tamar in such a way that your sermon series is ready to go with a gospel-centered foundation.”—Dr. Ed Welch, CCEF Faculty and Author of Shame Interrupted
“This booklet will transform heaps of sackcloth and ashes into rows of beautiful garments. Bob skillfully weaves together Tamar’s ancient agony with Ashley’s modern misery to produce a tapestry of suffering and sin ready to receive the precious threads of our Savior’s sympathy, support, and salvation.”—Dr. David Murray, Professor of Old Testament & Practical Theology at Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary, Author ofChristians Get Depressed Too
