Announcing the Huge “Issue of Trust” Giveaway

Why do people write blogs? Well unless they are writing for the sheer pleasure of writing itself, people write in hope of being read.

Why would they want to be read?

There could be many motivations. Some write to gain notoriety, others do so to make people laugh, while still others seek to propagate a particular idea or agenda. God communicated His truth to us through the inspired writings of his apostles and prophets. How extremely gracious it was of God to do so. He did not have to.

I write in hope of helping others see the wonders and the beauty of Christ and His gospel of grace, to outline sound theology and to defend the Christian faith, while hoping to have some fun along the way. I write more about my motivations for this blog here.

I have been very gratified by the personal e-mails I have received recently expressing appreciation for this little blog of mine.

Just yesterday someone wrote to say, “I love your blog. I check it out before I leave for work each morning. I am always learning something by what you write John. You often make me laugh too. My only wish is that so many more people would enjoy it as much as I do.” Of course, its really nice when someone writes to give such encouraging feedback.

Later on, something unusual happened – a thought occured to me. Having a thought is a rare event, I know. I remember the last one distinctly. I was laying in bed at the time. That’s usually not a good time to have a thought. Yet this time I was prepared. Remembering that my last previous thought also occured while laying in the same spot. So just in case such a rare thing would ever happen again, I had a pen and notebook handy near my bedside so I could quickly write any new thought down. On this occasion, I did manage to write a few words before drifting off to sleep.

When I woke up some hours later, the words I wrote down were still there in the notebook, which meant, I did not forget the idea I had.

If only I could remember where I put the blinkin’ notebook!!

Oh yes.. I found it.. and here was my thought:

If after 10 or so months of blogging, people feel enough trust to recommend this site to others, why dont I encourage them to do so? Why not have a gigantic giveaway where everyone can share the trust?

Here’s what I mean.

Warning: there are three “IFS” in the following sentence:

IF you believe this is a safe place on the internet both for yourself and your friends, and IF you feel comfortable doing so, IF you then e-mail at least 7 of your friends (you could do more of course, but lets just say a seven person minimum) to let them know about this blog… wait for it … wait for it…

IF you do all that… (isn’t that a fourth “IF”?)

YOU can be entered for the gigantic big trust giveaway drawing on October 19!

Yes, you read that correctly…

And here’s where the other side of the trust comes in. I am NOT (repeat “I AM NOT”) going to ask you to even prove that you have done so.

Yep.. I am NOT going to seek to have you write out the e-mail addresses of your friends and send them to me. I have no desire to collect e-mail addresses or information of any kind. I simply wish to spread awareness out there about the blog, hoping it can be a blessing to others.

So, what this means is, IF you tell me you have contacted at least 7 of your friends, I will TRUST that you have done so and you can enter your name in the comment section for the giveaway.

Just say “I e-mailed my seven – count me in” and you are in the draw. There’s nothing to buy and no strings attached. Of course, you may not believe me, but that’s where this issue of trust comes in.

Should your name be drawn in the giveaway only THEN will I ask you for your contact information so I can send you the stuff you won!

What do you think? I think its a great idea, don’t you?

Why seven people?

Well the spiritual answer is that the number seven is called the perfect number, the number of completion… the honest answer though is because seven is a lot more than say two or three.

What kind of people should be in your seven?

Being totally transparent, I dont want to get annoying or threatening e-mails from people who would hate all I write about here. That usually always stresses me out. Believe it or not, I already get more than my fair share of hate mail each week, even from those who profess to be Christians. So for my sake, please try to think of people who might be open to the things I write about. I am very open about what it is I believe. But having said that, just use your imagination. Look through your e-mail contact list and I think you can come up with a fair few – at least seven anyway.

So here it is then… All you need to do are these three things:

(1) Contact at least seven of your friends and write something like this:

“Look, I’ve known you a while and there’s this guy who has a blog on the internet called John Samson. Its very Christian. He’s always quoting and trying to explain the Bible. John is actually a Pastor in Phoenix, Arizona, but he’s originally from England and definitely has some Monty Python like tendencies when it comes to humor (a clean version anyway). He’s very serious about the Bible though and talks a lot about God’s Sovereignty and the Gospel with a good deal of passion and yet he likes to have fun while he’s at it. I enjoy his stuff, and he’s got this big Giveaway happening right now. Here’s the thing. If I tell at least SEVEN people about his site, I can enter the drawing to win some VERY cool stuff. I hope you dont mind me including you as one of my seven. The blog is www.effectualgrace.com I hope you enjoy checking it out sometime. I would even encourage you to bookmark the blog site so you can return there often. I especially recommend you start with the Fun stuff section which you can find here: https://effectualgrace.com/category/fun-stuff/ – OK that’s it. Have a great day!”

I guess you could even copy and paste this above, and of course, make any changes you like which might suit your personality a little more; but write something like that, and then…

(2) Let me know you have done this by writing to tell me so in the comment section below and…

(3) Nothing else!

That’s right! Dont even think about doing anything else. Once you have done numbers 1 and 2, you have done all you needed to do. You did it! Except maybe to wait until October 19 when I announce the big giveaway drawing winner.

Why October 19? Well its just a few weeks away and it happens to be my birthday. This year, I am going to be the oldest I have ever been. That’s not always the best of news, and so I thought it would be a fun thing to give away some good stuff on my birthday. I love giving stuff away so its something for me to look forward to.

OK – so what’s the big prize?

No, not a vacation in Hawaii. Sorry…

But, a 57 message CD set which is an entire overview of the Bible by Dr. R. C. Sproul. Its called “Dust to Glory.” Its normally $92 retail, but its the big prize in the giveaway drawing. It really is a fabulous series.

Another not so well kept secret: There will also be other winners in the Giveaway – Christian teaching material I think you will enjoy. Other giveaways include a hardback copy of the Reformation Study Bible (NKJV); the book “The Death of death in the death of Christ” by John Owen (a classic) as well as “The Holiness of God” and the “Chosen by God” CD series by R. C. Sproul.

OK, now its over to you and a this little issue of trust.

John

P.S. There’s no truth to the rumor that I am wanting to take over the world. This photo is a complete fake! It all photoshop. Honest!!!

I just want to see if I God can use this little blog of mine to help more people come to know the wonderful love of God, be enriched in their Christian faith, understand and love the gospel and be empowered to share it with others; to know good, sound theology, so that all of us can grow in the knowledge of God and His word and walk closer with Him. My heart is full and I want to share it with as many as I can.

Thats it! Honestly. Trust me!