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Daily
Encouragement
Net
“Encourage
one another daily” (Hebrews 3:13).
Daily Encouragement Net is devoted
to encouraging followers of Jesus Christ all over the
world.
INFORMATION
ON DAILY ENCOURAGEMENT NET
What is Daily Encouragement
Net? A website, free subscribable email lists,
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 us tell you a little about
us and our family.
We are a married couple living Lancaster County in rural south-central Pennsylvania, USA with our daughter, Ester. I am a native of Missouri, Brooksyne is from Oklahoma, and Ester is from Guatemala! (You can click on our photo for a larger picture.) 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 (audio version). Since our ministry is encouragement we now use Daily Encouragement to describe all phases of our work for Christ. In addition to this online ministry we serve as corporate chaplains to about eight local companies here in south central Pennsylvania. We also have ministry opportunities in prisons, hospitals, nursing homes, conferences and speaking in various churches. From 2001-2004 I served with Marketplace Chaplains USA, a national company which provides chaplaincy service to companies. Prior to that I pastored in Massachusetts for seven 1/2 years and in northwest Pennsylvania for nearly sixteen years. What are your beliefs? We hold to the beliefs of standard historic Christianity.
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 edits the message writes the 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 comment 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 prepare it in the morning, that's not when I get it. That is "morning" 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 often 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 in the day 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 we have prepared and sent out nearly 6,000 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. 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 a line and distinct background color. 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 your address 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 here. Periodically your philosophical or political views upset me and I thought you were trying to encourage.
Daily Encouragement Net 495 Kraybill Church Road Mount Joy, PA 17552 (717) 823-0592 Thanks for your interest in our ministry! Stephen & Brooksyne Weber Practical ways to use this ministry. Any more questions? ****************************************
"Living today anchored in God’s solid foundation"
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