I recently posted about a book award that A New Heaven and a New Earth (Baker Academic, 2014) received from a Canadian organization for Christian writers—the World Guild Award—for best book in the Biblical Studies Category.

But it had previously received a number of other awards from various organizations and websites. This is further affirmation, like icing on the cake.

In roughly chronological order, here are the awards I’m aware of:

Hearts and Minds Bookstore: Best Book of Biblical Studies for 2014. I’ve always appreciated Byron Borger, bookseller extraordinaire, who founded this bookstore back in the days of brick and mortar. Glad to see he has added a significant web presence, and that he resources many major Christian conferences with booktables that are an education in themselves.

Englewood Review of Books: Best Theology Book of 2014. I don’t known too much about these folks, except that they’re based in Englewood Christian Church, Indianapolis (and they take inspiration from Shane Claiborne).

Jesus Creed: 2014 Books of the Year—Theology Category (1 of 2 books). I have got to know Scot McKnight, who runs this website, through a recent conference and our email correspondence. This award comes from nominations by the five bloggers who post at Jesus Creed (Scot McKnight, RJS, John Frye, Jonathan Storment, and Dave Moore).

Nijay Gupta: Best Book Written by a Jamaican-Canadian Living in the USA (2014). I love this one! This is a pretty exclusive category, invented simply because of my friendship with Nijay, who has been reviewing books in biblical studies on his website for many years.

Christian Retailing’s Best Awards (2015)—Finalist in “Eschatology Book” Category (1 of 3 books shortlisted). I don’t know much about this group, or when exactly they will be choosing the winning book.

 I’m grateful to God for these signs of affirmation, but even more grateful for the folks who have benefited from the book and have written to let me know.