Birthday Book Giveaway #3 Winners

Tony Reinke BR > Crossway

Thanks for all the comment entries this past week, and for all the kind and encouraging notes. I appreciate your kindness and your readership of this little blog. The giveaways were a success in my opinion, although my hope is that many more of you will win free books in the future and with that in mind I plan to do this more frequently.

For the Newton biography I received 48 entries. I listed and alphabetized the entries in Excel (by the first letter of the first name) and then went over to the random sequence generator. This time, numbers 35 and 41 were randomly chosen and those numbers represent two winners on the list:

  • Natalie
  • Ricky Alcantar

It’s always fun to see a friend win.

Congratulations, Natalie and Ricky! In the mail you’ll soon be receiving a copy of Jonathan Aitken’s excellent biography, John Newton: From Disgrace to Amazing Grace (Crossway, 2007).

The three giveaways this week we all made possible by our generous friends at Crossway Books. As a blogger I love working with their publicity department, as a reader I love reading their books, and as a writer I’m honored to have my first book coming out under the Crossway label.

Well congratulations to all the winners of the three giveaways. Enjoy the rest of your Sunday (in both senses of the word), and happy birthday John Newton!!

Birthday Book Giveaway #3

Tony Reinke BR > Crossway, John Newton

Tomorrow marks the 286th birthday of John Newton, a blaspheming slave ship captain turned Christian, who would pastor for over 40 years, play a role in the abolition of the British slave trade, and of course author a little hymn we call “Amazing Grace.”

Newton’s life story is an amazing testimony of God’s grace from beginning to end and in my opinion there isn’t a better biography of that life than the one written in 2007 by Jonathan Aitken: John Newton: From Disgrace to Amazing Grace.

I highly recommend it.

This time I have 2 copies to give away to 2 random winners, all thanks to our generous friends at Crossway Books.

Here’s how to enter:

  • This time you can enter only through a comment on this post. Leave a brief comment here and that’s it, you’re entered!
  • Please include your email address in the form field on that comment (which will not be published).
  • Entries will be received until 5 pm EST tomorrow (Sun). Winning entries will be randomly selected and I’ll announce winners at that time.
  • The winning books can be shipped within the continental United States only.

Thanks for entering the contest!

And for an excellent introduction to Newton’s life and ministry, I highly recommend John Piper’s 90-minute biographical message which can be downloaded for free from the DG website here.

Packer: “As I grow old, I want to tell everyone…”

Tony Reinke Atonement, Cross of Christ, J.I. Packer

J.I. Packer, who turns 85-years-old today, wrote these words:

An evangelical theologian, dying, cabled a colleague: “I am so thankful for the active obedience (righteousness) of Christ. No hope without it.” As I grow old, I want to tell everyone who will listen: “I am so thankful for the penal substitutionary death of Christ. No hope without it.”

Birthday Book Giveaway #2 Winners

Tony Reinke BR > Crossway

Over 130 entries were submitted in the J.I. Packer birthday book giveaway. Thanks for all your interest and for all the kind and encouraging comments on the blog.

This morning I gathered up the entries and these four winners were randomly drawn …

Carrie (blog comment)
Kevin Fiske (blog comment)
Timothy Bertolet (blog comment)
@zorbando (Re-tweet)

Congratulations!

The four winners will get to choose one book from these options:

There’s still another chance for you to win. Details tomorrow.

Until then, thank you Crossway Books and happy birthday J.I. Packer!

Our Greatest Need

Tony Reinke Cross of Christ, D.A. Carson

D.A. Carson, A Call to Spiritual Reformation (Baker, 1992), page 109:

If God had perceived that our greatest need was economic, he would have sent an economist. If he had perceived that our greatest need was entertainment, he would have sent us a comedian or an artist. If God had perceived that our greatest need was political stability, he would have sent us a politician. If he had perceived that our greatest need was health, he would have sent us a doctor. But he perceived that our greatest need involved our sin, our alienation from him, our profound rebellion, our death; and he sent us a Savior.

ht: OFI

Birthday Book Giveaway #2

Tony Reinke BR > Crossway, J.I. Packer

Entertainers Andy Griffith, Marilyn Monroe, and Miles Davis entered the world in May and June of 1926. A few weeks later, on July 22, a boy was delivered in England and given the name James Innell Packer. We know him today simply as J.I. Packer, and tomorrow marks his 85th birthday. This birthday — and the many birthdays before it — give us a good reason to pause to thank God for this man’s faithful theological influence and for his many years of fruitful writing.

It seems fitting that we celebrate his birthday and his legacy by giving away a few of his books, all made possible by our generous friends at Crossway Books.

I have four Packer books to give away and now I need four randomly selected winners to give them to. Those four winners will each choose one free book from this list of options:

Here’s how to enter:

  • You can enter through Twitter. Just re-tweet this and you’re entered.
  • You can enter through a comment on this post. Leave a brief, or even a blank, comment (and please include your email address, which will not be published).
  • Entries will be received until 7 am EST tomorrow morning (Fri). Winning entries will be randomly selected and I’ll announce winners at that time.
  • The winning books can be shipped within the continental United States only. Sorry.
  • Canadian readers (one in particular), please keep your snarky comments to a minimum.

Thanks for entering the contest!

Speaking of his books, here’s a brief video of Packer describing his early days as the Lord was confirming his writing gift.