Daily Encouragement Net
A daily, Bible-based message of hope and encouragement.
A daily, Bible-based message of hope and encouragement.
 The online Bible teaching ministry of Stephen & Brooksyne Weber A daily, Bible-based perspective of hope, encouragement and exhortation. <Previous Message · Archives · Archive edition Tuesday, August 24, 2010  I like the lighting effect of this photo Brooksyne took in our front yard yesterday morning. Butterfly varieties of all types are teeming on her flowers as summer draws to a close.  Listen to this message on your audio player."Loving God's Word" "A good name is more desirable than great riches; to be esteemed is better than silver or gold" (Proverbs 22:1). "Greet Philologus, Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas and all the saints with them" (Romans 16:15). "Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long" (Psalm 119:97). Here in the USA our social security number is a nine number sequence that uniquely identifies us. Can you imagine how different it would be if that's how we were known! For example, I would extend my hand and say "Hello, I'm 672-58-2208." They'd smile and say "Hello, I'm 843-97-4382."* I have a hard enough time with names now, so I can’t imagine a system of memorizing numbers! In recent years memorizing phone numbers has become an extra challenge due to internal phone contact lists and speed dials that come with our phones (besides my aging brain). However I still have my best friend's childhood phone # memorized! I guess that phone number I dialed repeatedly enough that it is forever burned in my memory. Names are important to us. People like to be addressed by their name, they like to see it spelled correctly and hear it pronounced properly. In our pastoral and chaplaincy work we seek to learn names and address people by their proper name. It can be somewhat insulting to be addressed by pal, buddy, or the endearing term "Hon" such as a waitress addressed me several days ago (unless it is from your loving companion). Maybe one of the worst top ten ways to be addressed is, "Hey you!" Our names identify us. Some names bring us good memories. The first daily text reinforces the value of having a good name. "A good name is more desirable than great riches; to be esteemed is better than silver or gold." I am named after the Bible character, Stephen. In my case it was not a family name up to that point but very purposefully the Bible character. Not surprisingly Stephen is one of my favorite Bible characters and his name means "crowned one." Brooksyne's name is a total original originated by her Mom so there's not a special meaning behind it, except that it is a derivative of her father's name, Brooklyn. She assists people with the pronunciation by saying remember, "scene of a brook" but turn it around and say, "Brook scene" with the accent on the second syllable. One advantage (or for some a disadvantage) to such a name is how easy it is to find her using a google search! Very few people can be identified through google just by their first name. The second daily text today is tucked among a long listing of Paul's friends and ministry associates in Romans 16. In fact this chapter has 35 proper names! One of them was Philologus, the only time he is mentioned in the Scriptures. Very little is known about him (I presume he was a male) but he has a neat name, a compound of two words; Philo meaning "love" and logos meaning "word." Perhaps he was known by the abbreviated name, Phil, such as those today who have the name Phillip. We can't do more than conjecture but I wonder if this was a name with a meaning as was often the case in the Bible? If so Philologus means "lover of the word." Or in this case it might have been, like Barnabas, a descriptive nickname based upon what others had observed. Barnabas means "son of encouragement" due to his encouraging characteristics. After he had acquired the nickname he is not referred to by his birth name of Joseph (Acts 4:36). Perhaps in the case of Philologus others had observed that he was a diligent student of God's Word and gave him this nickname! Philologus will be an interesting person to meet in heaven and then we'll find the story behind the name for sure. However, although I am quite sure very few, if any of us are named Philologus, we should all have a lifelong love for God's Word. The Psalmist declared, "Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long" (Psalm 119:97). An interesting glimpse into the Apostle Paul's life is seen in a request made to Timothy in his final letter as his time of departure was near. "When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, and my scrolls, especially the parchments" (2 Timothy 4:13). I still specifically recall one of my Bible School teachers pointing out that this was likely a request for the Scriptures which is also evidence of his love for the Word right up to his death. May we be among those who love the Word of God! Be encouraged today, Stephen and Brooksyne Weber Daily prayer: Jesus, clinging to Your Word is like holding tightly to a brightly lit lantern on a darkened path. I can't see what's ahead but the light shines bright enough for me to proceed step by step. I am strengthened, encouraged, convicted and challenged by the Holy Bible as I faithfully read and meditate upon the inspired words written by believers throughout the generations. I join with the Psalmist who proclaims, "Oh how I love Your Law. I meditate on it all day long. I have kept my feet from every evil path so that I might obey Your Word." Amen. * These aren't real numbers that I know of. I just made them up. (But possibly they are somebody's!) Brooksyne's Note: Before we left the St. Marys, PA area where we pastored almost 16 years I read in our local paper, "Congratulations on your second birthday, Brooksyne". That was a bit shocking to my eyes since I'd never read about another "Brooksyne" in print. Since it was spelled the same as mine I wondered if the child was named after me, but she lived in a town ten miles away and I didn't know how to find out. Only this past year did I come across this name again and followed up since this young lady is on facebook. I wrote her and asked about the origin of her name. She said her grandfather saw the name in a church bulletin over 23 years ago, liked it, and recommended it to his daughter so she named her new baby Brooksyne, but pronounces it, "Brook sin". She was quite pleased by my contact through facebook since she has wanted to find out more about her name over the years. Her grandfather died while she was a child which was her only lead up to that time.  Yesterday my brother Mike and I, along with Ester and one of her friends, went to the Knoebels Amusement Park in northeastern PA. Mike rode several rides, including a roller coaster he later regretted riding! Here he is on a ride made by a German company with our name. Knoebels is a delightful old-fashioned park in the mountains set in a grove of trees which has been run by the same family for 80 years!   Peach colored Dahlia (though the photo makes it look pink) Today's Suggested Music and Supplemental Resources Click on the link to open and play. (In some cases you may also need to click again to start the song.) "Jesus Name Above All Names" Video "Jesus, What A Beautiful Name" Video Knoebels Amusement Resort  Yesterday we shared this photo of our friend Bob standing inside a machined part his company makes. We had some interesting guesses such as a cattle water trough but actually it's the forward fan case for the GE90-115 engine--the largest jet engine in the world. It goes on the Boeing 777.Finally today: Jeff, a reader from Georgia, sent this photo and caption: "I’ve heard you mention how hot it has been this past summer, but you have had it mighty easy. Here is a picture I took, several days ago, at a high school I routinely go by on my way to work. Obviously, the temperature sensor is missing or not properly installed, they didn’t program the sign correctly, or whatever, but it’s been like that for at least three weeks!" Send a message to Stephen & Brooksyne. |
  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.2010 YTD financial offerings as of 8/22/10 $9,193.00 SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION  Were you forwarded this edition of Daily Encouragement Net? If you desire you can receive your own free! To receive these "Daily Encouragement" devotionals each Monday-Friday through email see this page to subscribe. This newsletter is never sent by us unsolicited. It was sent to you because you either signed up to receive it OR a friend forwarded it to you. You can also subscribe to the rss feed or as an email subscription through feedburner.Cancel: We respect and value your time and privacy. If you no longer desire to receive these messages you can remove your address from the list by merely using the link automatically inserted by the mailing list software at the very bottom of each email message. (To change addresses cancel your old address and then join again using your new address.) Weekly Version: The weekly version is intended for those who may not check their email regularly or who may desire less frequent mailings. It is Friday's message with a link to previous messages. To receive the free weekly version, send a blank email to this address. Reader Survey: Please take a few minutes to assist us in improving our ministry effectiveness by filling out this online reader survey. To take the survey click here. 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! "A Little Foolishness" - Humor/satire blog (a great outlet for non-serious writing but at times with a subtle message!) Last updated with the story of Mildred Swanson, who joyfully discovers her "spiritual gift" is sending forwarded emails! (Note: This material is satire!) "Clear Minded" - Longer, periodic articles on specific issues impacting the faithful believer and church. (Actually this is my intent but I haven't done much with it!) "Hymns of Hope" - Brooksyne along with two friends made a CD using classic hymns. Brooksyne tells the background story of the 11 hymns. All of these songs are also available for download on the site.  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 2010 Stephen C. Weber - All Rights Reserved Daily Encouragement Net Stephen & Brooksyne Weber 495 Kraybill Church Road - Mount Joy, PA 17552 Contact us  Endorsed chaplain "Living securely today anchored in God's solid foundation" www.dailyencouragement.net |
Daily Encouragement is issued Monday-Friday. To make sure you continue to receive these e-mails in your Inbox (so they're not sent to a junk folder), please add scweber@dailyencouragement.net to your address book or safe sender list. You are receiving these recurring messages as a subscriber to Daily Encouragement Net because you signed up on our website or otherwise requested it unless someone forwarded the message to you. If you desire to unsubscribe use the link below. However, please do not use this link unless your address is the subscribed address below as you will otherwise unsubscribe the person who forwarded it to you!
| You are currently subscribed to dailyencouragement as: stephencweber.dailyencouragement@blogger.com Add scweber@dailyencouragement.net to your email address book to ensure delivery Forward to a Friend | Manage Subscription | Subscribe | Unsubscribe |  |
