Sending e-Mail to Bernie Gillespie

If you have sent email in the past read this letter by Bernie

• I want to thank you for your emails of encouragement and thanks. They mean so very much to me. I deeply value each and everyone of you who take the time to let me know how much you appreciate our web-site, writings, and ministry. To help you understand our policy about responding to email, I provide the points below:

• I read every email that comes in.

  • However, there is no staff or assistance in the handling of email. I am the only one who reads and answers the email. We plan to make changes in this area in the future. But, for now I am it.

  • The amount of email has increased to the point that I cannot respond to each and everyone while I fulfill my responsibilities to my God, my family, my congregation, and the multitude of ICA! ministry demands.

  • Therefore, even though I read each email, I ask your understanding if I am not able to write back. 

• If you are working on a research project for school or for personal interest, I may not respond unless I have the material readily at hand.

• Requests for quotes, books sources, or other general information may not be answered if I have to research the answer. Employing one of many search engines may be more beneficial, e.g. Google

• Mail that is blatantly offensive and has little or no edifying value will not be answered. "A mind convinced against its will, is of the same opinion still."

• You do not need to email me for permission to link to our sites or pages. You have my permission to link from your site to ours.

  • HOWEVER, I ask that you do not cut and paste any of the material on our pages. This disconnects my writings from their source and thus does not allow people to visit our website. It also lifts the material from its context and may misrepresent or distort what I and others have written. This can be a serious problem.

  • It is considered unethical to cut material from another site and paste it into one's own site as though it belongs to that site. This is not only improper for Christians, IT IS ILLEGAL. (Yes, this has happened)

• A number of emails seek to engage in Scriptural, theological, etc. debate. We believe this is a healthy thing. We encourage it. But, time does not permit me to respond to many of them. We are working on setting up a dialogue thread page or a newsgroup chat to facilitate this purpose. Please check back for this resource.

• I DO NOT WISH TO DISCOURAGE YOU FROM WRITING. PLEASE DO.

  • IT ENCOURAGES AND BLESSES ME.

  •  IT ALSO TELLS ME YOUR NEEDS AND CONCERNS SO THAT WE MAY TAILOR OUR MINISTRY TO ADDRESS THEM.

  • IT HELPS US TO KNOW WHAT SUBJECTS ON WHICH WE NEED TO WRITE.

  • I ONLY WANT TO LET YOU KNOW EXACTLY WHY YOU MAY NOT RECEIVE A RESPONSE. PLEASE, PRAY THAT GOD WILL ENABLES US TO MORE EFFECTIVELY ADDRESS EACH AND EVERYONE ONE OF YOUR CONCERNS.