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“Encourage one another daily” (Hebrews 3:13). Daily Encouragement Net is devoted to encouraging followers of Jesus Christ.
Subscription FAQ's
Thankfully for the vast majority of subscribers (the list now numbers in the thousands) there are no problems at all in the way they receive the daily encouragement email devotional. But following are the issues (worded in the form of FAQ's) I periodically deal with as a list administrator.
1) I still am not sure how to subscribe?
To sign up by email for the daily edition merely use our online form.
(You can also subscribe to the RSS feed. Really Simple Syndication (RSS) is an XML-based format for content distribution. (About RSS) Bloglines is a free service to receive this RSS feed. This a great option for any that are weary of email junk and is also is a means of subscribing for those that are unable to get it through email due to filters, etc. that are beyond your control such as some ISP’s and company systems.)
2) I signed up for the daily encouragement but am not receiving it. What did I do wrong?
When you signed up you should have received a welcome email letter with information on this ministry. If you do not begin to receive the devotional perspective regularly it may be that your email settings are set to screen all group mail (in this case change the settings) or it seems some company email systems and perhaps ISP’s may screen all group mail (attempting to protect their clients from what they assume to be unsolicited mail or SPAM).
A specific note to those with work-related email addresses: Some companies have filters that screen out group mail. If you are able you could speak to the IT department and have them "whitelist" this material since it is requested material. I believe a company should either block all listserves (group lists) and possibly all outside email, (since group email can actually masquerade as if from one individual to another), whether it be religious, non-religious, news, sports, hobbies, whatever or allow group mail through using other criteria for acceptability such as work disruption, porn, etc.
I have a real annoyance at the policy of companies which block email that is specifically “religious” in content. By blocking specifically "religious" posts while allowing email through seems to me to say that people that may have a religious interest are forbidden from getting material at work while those with non-religious interests (news, fantasy football, gardening, gaming, etc. etc.) are allowed. Of course I strongly maintain that this material or any other email received at work should not interfere with one’s work. I just believe many people have break-times, lunch time, etc. in which they may enjoy reading their email and if so they should be free to receive email that they desire and that meets other standards such as the absence of pornographic content, etc.
3) I received the messages for awhile but they stopped. How do I get them again?
A) This is normally due to the specific request made by sending a blank email to the unique "leave" address at the very bottom of each devotional. B) If you did not intend to unsubscribe it is possible someone that you had forwarded a message to did so by sending an email to the unique "leave" address. This action unsubscribed your address! That's one of the reasons I discourage careless forwarding. Forwarding is great if sent to a specific address with a personal message. It's a real problem when merely sent to another group list. Some people are unable to detect that it is a forwarded email. If you have thus been removed please subscribe again and be more careful in how you forward! If you desire to continue to receive the daily encouragement devotional please resubscribe. C) Addresses that have bounced excessively are removed automatically to keep the list clean, although no specific unsubscribe request was made by the subscriber. Try subscribing again using the same address or you may have another address you can use that will work better. D. Your company or ISP began blocking email such as this (see above).
4) Why don't I get the message at the same time every day?
These encouragements are written and sent out real time. (Most email lists are prepared ahead and are on a delivery schedule, often set to be delivered at a very specific time.) I prepare the devotional early each morning and delivery is thus subject to how well it comes together, whether or not I have an early appointment (at times I have written them the night before), or technical issues beyond my control. Normally I try to send it around 10:00AM each weekday morning Eastern Time. Of course I can't control how long it floats around the internet although in my control accounts delivery is practically instantaneous.
5) How do I get off this list?
Daily Encouragement Net uses a high quality email list service which has a failsafe unsubscribe method. All a subscriber needs to do is click on the unique unsubscribe link at the footer of each post, verify your desire to unsubscribe and the address will automatically and instantly be removed with an instant email verification. However if a subscriber is unable to use this automatic function merely let me know by using our comment form.
5) I never signed up for this list. Why am I getting it?
I am glad you read this much of this webpage for me to clear my name! If the subscription request is in error or you do not desire to receive the daily mailing please inform me by merely following the removal directions at the very bottom of each post and your address will promptly be removed. I apologize for bothering you, but am merely responding in good faith to the subscribe request. I do not harvest or intentionally send unsolicited email of any sort and do not wish to mail to anyone except those who have specifically requested that I do so. To have your address removed from the list merely send a blank email to the leave address at the bottom of each message. "You are currently subscribed to daily-encouragement-net as: (your email address) To unsubscribe send a blank email to: leave-daily-encouragement-net-(your unique member number)@atomic.sparklist.com
6) So why was my name added? Here's my non-technical observations based on experience.
A) Someone may sign up others on the form on the website that they feel would be interested or that they would like to "witness" to. I disapprove of this practice. B) When someone signed up they may have mistakenly placed your address rather than their own on the form if the two are similar and its a very popular domain like aol. For instance the correct address may be jsmith@domain.com but the subscriber mistakenly typed ksmith@domain.com. Since there is a ksmith at that domain they will be added to the list even thought they didn't request it. Of course jsmith will not be added even thought they did request to be so! C) I have had occasions when one member of a household signs up but another who uses the same address is either not informed or holds different spiritual views. (One time I got an angry "take me off this list" email from a husband whose wife had specifically spoken to me and signed up at a Christian conference.) D) Amazingly some people surfing the web will sign up for free stuff and then forget what they signed up for! When the daily encouragements start to arrive daily they've looked at so much other stuff they wonder, "what's this?" E) Through the years there have been a few spurious requests that I don't technically understand. These generally come in spurts and for that reason I am suspicious when I get a spike in the rate of typical subscriptions. Essentially there must be programs out there that can forge legitimate addresses so that it appears that email comes from a particular address even though the user at that address did not send it. (However I don't believe this is possibe now since I exclusively use the form and exclude attempts to subscribe by email.) F) Finally (and I don't want to insult anyone's intelligence) I periodically get unsubscribe requests from people that aren't subscribed but assume they are due to messages that have been forwarded to them. Legitimate subscribers will see their subscribed email address at the very bottom of each posting.
I hope the devotional continues to encourage believers all over the world in their walk with Christ!
Stephen C. Weber
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"Living today anchored in God’s solid foundation"
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