About Daily Encouragement Net

Daily Encouragement Net

“Encourage one another daily” (Hebrews 3:13).

Daily Encouragement Net is devoted to encouraging followers of Jesus Christ.

INFORMATION ON DAILY ENCOURAGEMENT NET

What is Daily Encouragement Net? A website and free subscribable email list, blogs, RSS subscription feeds and podcast with a daily message of hope and encouragement based on the Bible. The main feature is a daily devotional perspective, which is written and updated to the site each weekday morning. The site also has an extensive collection of spiritual resources with many original writings and photos.

Who are you? Cyberspace can be mysterious and anonymous, so let me tell you a little about me and my family.

I am a 53-year-old who lives in Lancaster County in rural south-central Pennsylvania, USA. I am very happily married for over 30 years to Brooksyne, with a teenage daughter, Ester. I am a native of Missouri, Brooksyne is from Oklahoma, and Ester is from Guatemala!

We consider ourselves online chaplains and normally spend several hours each weekday morning on this aspect of our ministry. Brooksyne edits my writings and often adds her own thoughts, a prayer and note. We share together on the podcast.

Since our ministry is encouragement we now use this term to describe all phases of our work for Christ.

In addition to this online ministry we serve as corporate chaplains in several local companies. In the last several years we also have served five chuches as interim pastor. We also have ministry opportunities in prisons, hospitals, nursing homes and speaking in various churches.

From 2001-2004 I served with a national EAP agency which provided chaplaincy service to companies. Prior to that I pastored in Massachusetts for seven 1/2 years and in northwest Pennsylvania for nearly sixteen years. I am a graduate of Central Bible College in Springfield, MO and an ordained minister in the Assemblies of God. When not on assignment as an interim pastor or speaking in churches sharing about our ministry we associate with the Mount Pleasant Brethren in Christ Church near Mount Joy Pennsylvania, which was near our rental home when we first moved to Pennsylvania in early 2001 and where we have many friends.

What are your beliefs? We hold to the beliefs of standard historic Christianity.

We believe the Bible to be the inspired, infallible, authoritative Word of God.
We believe that there is one God, eternally existent in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
We believe in the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ, in His virgin birth, in His sinless life, in His miracles, in His vicarious and atoning death through His shed blood, in His bodily resurrection, in His ascension to the right hand of the Father, and in His personal return in power and glory.
We believe that for the salvation of lost and sinful people, regeneration by the Holy Spirit is absolutely essential.
We believe in the present ministry of the Holy Spirit by whose indwelling the Christian is enabled to live a godly life.
We believe in the resurrection of both the saved and the lost; they that are saved unto the resurrection of life and they that are lost unto the resurrection of damnation.
We believe in the spiritual unity of all true believers in our Lord Jesus Christ.

How often are the devotionals published? The daily devotional is written and published each weekday morning. It's real time! You can expect to see it updated to the website and emailed to the subscriber list each weekday morning around 10:00-11:45 AM Eastern time. However if I have an early meeting it may come out much earlier and if I have difficulties it may be later!

What is the typical content of the devotionals? The devotionals consist of a Scripture verse and several paragraphs of comment. In the daily devotional these comments may at times relate to current events of the day or personal experiences I have had which illustrate the Biblical truth. Brooksyne ends the message with a prayer. Often an audio link to a song or worship chorus that has special meaning relative to the daily Scripture verse and subject of the devotional is also included. I enjoy photography so many of the messages will also include photos.

When did the devotional ministry begin? The daily devotional began with a short e-mail to a couple of professional people in the church that I pastored in New England on October 21, 1996 and was slowly developed as an e-mail distribution list based upon voluntary subscribers. It was later incorporated in this separate web site. The vision for the daily devotional began when I preached from Hebrews 3:13 that states that we are to "encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness." At the time I pondered on how we as a body of believers could practically apply this verse in our lives and more specifically how I could! One idea came to me. With so many having e-mail I thought I would develop a mailing to "encourage daily". And hopefully we are fulfilling this mission. There are now thousands of opt-in subscribers on the list from all over the world.

Can I receive the daily devotional via e-mail? Of course! You may subscribe to the daily devotional free by merely filling in our online webform. It is also available by Podcast and RSS Subscription.

What if I want to comment on a particular devotional? If a particular daily devotional is a blessing please let us know by using our comments page. I sure appreciate the input and read each comment. However due to the volume of email I am no longer necessarily able to reply personally to each comment. I regret this since often readers will share a particular need or have a specific question. I certainly do pray when I receive a prayer request and often my wife Brooksyne joins me. Please do not place this or other administrative addresses on any group forward lists. You can imagine how much of this type of e-mail I get!

What is your privacy statement to subscribers? "Your e-mail address is held in strict confidence in a password protected mail list which is not publicly accessible. It will not be used for any other purpose but this daily devotional list and will never be given out or sold to a third party. You may cancel your subscription at any time."

Can I place a link to your site on my website? Certainly, this will give your site a daily update and will give your site fresh, daily content, which is a major reason for return visitors.

Can I forward the devotional? Certainly you may forward and pass along the daily devotional if you think it would be meaningful to the recipient. In fact I encourage you to do so since this is good web ministry. However please place a personal note above it so the devotional is not received as unsolicited "spam". Also you may need to take a few minutes to reformat it since many forwards are full of annoying extra characters.

Can I develop my own list and regularly forward the devotional to my friends? I request that it not be used this way. Group forwarded email is one of the biggest nuisances on the internet in my view. All regular recipients have subscribed (although it's free) and may easily unsubscribe. You are free to forward the devotional but I request that you do so individually and with a personal note above it and then only specific messages that you feel would minister to the recipient. Since the subscribe directions are included they can receive it regularly if they choose.

I subscribed but am not getting the devotional by email. It may be that your email settings are set to screen all group mail (in this case change the settings) or it seems some ISP 's may screen all group mail (attempting to protect their clients from what they assume to be unsolicited mail or SPAM). For subscription problems please see: see: Subscription information

Can I unsubscribe easily? Yes, merely use the unsubscribe link in the bottom footer of each email devotional.

I understand you mail it early in the morning. That's not when I get it. That is "early" in the Eastern time zone in the USA! European subscribers get it later in the day, while Australian subscribers get it late at night. West coast subscribers will probably have it waiting when they open their email early in the morning. There are also unexplained email delays although the control addresses I use normally get it practically immediately. At times it is mailed earlier or later due to my schedule, distractions, equipment malfunction, internet connection issues, etc.

Why do you write it daily? The initial burden for this ministry is based on Hebrews 3:13, which states to "encourage one another daily." Although I am aware that all subscribers don't read everyone (although many do), I feel that any given day the message may touch a fellow believer's heart and encourage them. I also feel there is a segment of the subscriber base that benefits from the stability of a daily publication.

Do you ever use "repeats"? Since 1996 I have prepared and sent out over 2,500 messages. Each message is prepared each morning and I do not schedule them. But I have refreshed and modified messages I used earlier. As I prepare I find I may have already dealt with a matter on my heart and since I keep a dated archive of all the messages I may choose to use material I had previously used as either an illustration or in the Biblical exposition. Normally any refreshed writing is from messages I wrote many years earlier. However most messages are written blank screen original each morning as the Lord lays them on my heart.

Why do you always include so much information in the footers of the email version? Mostly because I feel that this information is valuable to secondary recipients (i.e. forwards). I clearly delineate it so that it is distinct from the daily content, separated by several spaces and a line. Experienced readers know to basically ignore it, although I do periodically change it! I also feel it is important that this administrative information is easily available such as the unsubscribe and contact instructions. When you have a question or problem you don't need to go back and find the intro letter or go to a website.

Do you have a weekly version? A weekly version comprised of the devotionals from the previous week and mailed out in a single email each Friday or Saturday is available. To subscribe to this weekly version send a blank email to this address.

I got it for a while but it stopped. The mailing program automatically removes bounced email after several attempts to deliver. If your internet service was down for a while you may have been removed from the list. It's also possible that someone unsubscribed you by following the unsubscribe directions on a forward. Merely subscribe again.

Periodically your philosophical or political views upset me and I thought you were trying to encourage.

To "encourage" also has the sense of exhortation (In fact the KJV translates "exhort one another daily").
Many standard moral issues such as abortion and sexuality have become very politicized and merely addressing them will be controversial.
Some get on the list due to a forwarded message that may have touched their heart but not realize that this is a Christian site and take offense at the references to Christ and the Bible.

How do you fund this ministry?

The daily mailing and the content of the website are offered as a ministry without any cost whatsoever. We do not use any overt advertising on either medium since in our opinion this would clutter and confuse the message. We merely rely on the Lord to provide for the expenses of this ministry as He leads people to support it. Donations are tax deductible and will be receipted through my chaplaincy endorsing agency. For more information of supporting this ministry see our support page. If you have been blessed by this ministry and would like to provide a financial offering you may donate online or you may make a check payable to: "Daily Encouragement Net"

Daily Encouragement Net

495 Kraybill Church Road

Mount Joy, PA 17552
(717) 492-9743

Thanks for your interest in this ministry!

Stephen & Brooksyne Weber

Practical ways to use this ministry.

Here is a ready-made card template to make business-sized cards that can be distributed promoting this ministry. All you need is business card stock available at any office supply.

Here is a poster that may be printed out and posted.

Any more questions?

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"Living today anchored in God’s solid foundation"

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