 A daily, Bible-based perspective of hope, encouragement and exhortation. Home · About Us ·  · Podcast · Free emailSee here for more info. Wednesday, October 22, 2008  An early morning view in Lancaster County. (click on photo to enlarge)  Listen to us share this message on your audio player."Increasing Knowledge" "But you, Daniel, close up and seal the words of the scroll until the time of the end. Many will go here and there to increase knowledge" (Daniel 12:4). Let us know, let us pursue the knowledge of the LORD. His going forth is established as the morning; He will come to us like the rain, like the latter and former rain to the earth" (Hosea 6:3). James Martin wrote a book in 1977 titled "The Wired Society". It predicted a planet networked by personal computers with the internet, e-commerce, tele-commuting and other technological breakthroughs. At that time many of his predictions seemed bizarre but we now take much of them for granted and many of us experience them. In 2001 he wrote a book, "After the Internet: Alien Intelligence" which has some stunning predictions about where technology is taking us. If he is as correct in this book as he was in his earlier one we are moving into some frightening territory. He envisions us as entering a brave new world in which alien intelligence can redesign and reinvent itself at electronic speed and without the control of human engineers. Alien intelligence will become so complex that humans will not even be able to understand the computers’ processes. Ultimately the question becomes: Will we control the machines, or will they control us? The last half of Daniel's book deals with prophecies that stretch far beyond his own day. Daniel lived about 600 years before Christ's incarnation or some 2,600 years ago. Of course all through human history knowledge has been increasing. However in our time there has been an exponential increase in the rate of new knowledge and we see that indeed, "Many will go here and there to increase knowledge." Where is all this headed we wonder? Daniel associated this particular increase of knowledge to the "time of the end." But the call to God's chosen people is no different than it's ever been. Today's second verse has a timeless call regarding our primary pursuit of knowledge. "Let us know, Let us pursue the knowledge of the Lord." "His going forth is established as the morning." As I ponder these things, I find great assurance from a faith statement expressed early in the Reformation from the Heidelberg Catechism: "What is my only comfort in life and death? That I, with body and soul, both in life and in death, am not my own, but belong to my faithful Savior Jesus Christ who so preserves me that without the will of my Father in heaven not a hair can fall from my head; yea, that all things work together for my salvation." Let us stay faithful to God and His established plan for our lives and pursue our knowledge of God above all! Be encouraged today, Stephen & Brooksyne Weber Daily prayer: Father, we have seen throughout Biblical and modern history that Your people perish due to lack of knowledge. The treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden in Your heart. So we can be confident that when we seek the heart of our Father we are also increasing in spiritual knowledge that comes from our loving relationship with You. Thank You for the Holy Spirit, our Helper, whom You sent to teach us and to bring to remembrance all things that You have taught us through Scripture. Your knowledge will preserve us through the fiery trials of this life. In Jesus' Name, amen. Of course I am using some of the very technology that James Martin wrote about to communicate Biblical truth through this internet ministry with people all around the world. I am not doing so in some state of the art news studio, but from a typical computer right in our own home in rural Pennsylvania, USA. Technology has been mightily used to spread God's Word through the printing press, radio, the Internet and many other modern inventions. Ministry update For those interested we direct you to a revised update in light of our 12th daily encouragement ministry anniversary.  Today's Suggested Music and Supplemental Resources (Click on the link to open and play) Here's a formative book I read while in Bible College that I highly recommend. It really helped me develop my understanding of God in a systematic way.  Knowing God By J.I. Packer / Inter-varsity PressJ. I. Packer's Knowing God has become a classic of the Christian faith. Why? While it gives us information about God with clarity and grace, it does much more---it aids us in actually knowing Him, in building our relationship with Him, and helps draw us closer to Him in love and worship. "Knowing You" Video "I Want To Know You More" Audio "I'm Amazed" Video Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir Earlier this week I included "TEN PREDICTIONS NO MATTER WHO WINS THE ELECTION" A reader suggested I make this as a stand alone piece to distribute, so here it is. Autumn photo collection - Doris High has posted a collection of beautiful autumn photos on her photo blog. This will give our readers a sense of what the foliage looks like in our part of the world. Info about multi-media files used on daily encouragement. Send a message to Stephen & Brooksyne. |
 Stephen and Brooksyne Weber "We want to encourage you daily in your walk with Christ!" Personal Ministry Update Revised 10/21/08 Each weekday morning Brooksyne and I prepare these messages and distribute them at no cost to you and many others all over the world. Would you please consider a financial offering to support us in this daily encouragement ministry? Donations are tax deductible and will be receipted directly by my chaplaincy endorsing ministry. Thanks! See here for details.(2008 YTD financial offerings to Daily Encouragement Net through 10/21/2008: $15,606.00) SUBSCRIPTION INFO  Were you forwarded this edition of Daily Encouragement Net? To receive these free "Daily Encouragement" devotionals each Monday-Friday through email see this page to subscribe. This newsletter is never sent unsolicited. It was sent to you because you signed up to receive it OR a friend forwarded it to you. You can also subscribe to the rss feed.Cancel: We respect and value your time and privacy. If this newsletter no longer meets your needs we will be happy to remove your address from the list immediately. To remove your address merely use the link automatically inserted by the mailing list software at the very bottom of each message. Weekly Version: The weekly version is designed for those who do not check their email regularly. It is merely the Friday message with a link to previous messages. To receive the free weekly version, send a blank email to this address. (To change addresses cancel your old address and then join again using your new address.) Please feel free to pass these messages on! "A Daily Prayer" - A blog simply posting the daily prayer. We keep this up each day since it's merely the prayer from the Daily Encouragement Net message! "Clear Minded" - New this month. I plan to write and post longer, periodic articles on specific issues impacting the faithful believer and church. "A Little Foolishness" - A humor/satire blog (a great outlet for non-serious writing but at times with a subtle message!) I haven't had time or "inspiration" for this for awhile but it has several stories that get regular page views. "Hymns of Hope" - Brooksyne along with two friends made a CD using classic hymns. Brooksyne tells the background story of the 11 hymns. We are distributing this CD without charge in our ministry. All of these songs are also available for download on the site. If any reader in this series would like a CD merely write us and request one.  Daily Encouragement Net is an affiliate of Christianbook.com. Any orders placed to Christian Book Distributers using this link or any specific product link to a recommended resource in a daily encouragement message will help our Daily Encouragement ministry through a small commission on the sale. Thank you for using these links when purchasing online through CBD!Personal Mission Statement "I am created by God to bring Him glory. Through God's Son Jesus Christ I have been redeemed and I make it my life's goal to please the Lord. My mission in life is to honor God through my faith and obedience and to prepare myself and all whom I may influence for eternity."  How to become a child of God Scripture references are from The Holy Bible: New International Version. © 1984 by International Bible Society; NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, New King James Version (NKJV) Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. and the King James Version. © Copyright 2008 Stephen C. Weber - All Rights Reserved Daily Encouragement Net Stephen & Brooksyne Weber 495 Kraybill Church Road - Mount Joy, PA 17552 Contact us  "Living securely today anchored in God's solid foundation" www.dailyencouragement.net |
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Daily Encouragement (10/22/08) "Increasing Knowledge"
