CF Devotionals - Author's Guidelines

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Introduction There are some requirements that need to be followed for a number of reasons. We want to keep things consistent whenever possible, to respect the time and efforts of each staff member, to meet legal requirements that affect our work and to properly handle God's Word and represent Him well. There are members of the staff who are considered principals of the group: Geoff Kragen, Jan Moser, David Massey and Mike Hoskins. These are the founding members of the group. Any issues that come up within the staff, or issues surrounding devotions can be raised with one of these principal members who will meet with other principals to settle the dispute. Out of respect for Geoff Kragen's schedule, he is not directly contacted with initial disputes. He is brought in when the dispute can not be settled by the other principals. Geoff Kragen is our Pastoral Counsel and has the final say in any theological points. He is an ordained minister and, therefore, holds the training and credentials required to make an authoritative decision. Any decisions that can not be settled by the other principals, will be taken to the Pastoral Counsel for a final determination. General Rules The mailing lists for any Christian Fellowship Devotionals group are private and may not be distributed in any way. This is an agreement we made with the original founder of the mailing list, and with the subscribers to the lists. It is not a matter for discussion. The material published on the site is not under copyright, but is available in the public domain. We do request that anyone who uses Christian Fellowship Devotionals material reference the website and give credit to the author as a courtesy. New staff members are not given the status of Moderator on the Yahoogroups site for the first six months. Bible Translation Rules The translation used should be indicated either with the verses used in a devotion or in a footnote at the end of the article. The standard translation codes should be used (e.g. KJV = King James Version, NASB = New American Standard Bible). If you are not sure what your translation code is, ask and it can be researched. We are obligated to give credit to the source. This is always true ethically, and often true legally. For example, the NASB requires that an article be less than one quarter NASB text, or royalties can be required. We have a responsibility to our readers, to reference translations to assist them in any research they may want to do in verifying our work. Hopefully, we are making a few Bereans. We want authors to be able to use the translation they are comfortable with, as long as it is a reliable text, and it does not deviate significantly from modern English spelling and grammar. editors will make the final determination since they are responsible for proofing the text prior to publishing. In the event that an author is doing his or her own scripture translation, that should be indicated to the Principle staff before the devotion is begun. The author should be able to present evidence of proper training in translation (e.g. seminary training). Handling the Word of God at this detailed level is not to be taken lightly. Editing/Approving Devotions All material must be proof-read and approved by a staff editor prior to publication. Editors proofing or posting a devotion where they find something questionable in any way in an article should hold that article until the issues are cleared with the author. Whenever possible, a second Principle should be consulted prior to holding an article. The determination to hold an article maybe unilateral if a second Principle can not be found in time to clear the issue. If the problem can not be cleared between the author and the editors involved, the issue will be referred to the Pastoral Counsel. His determination will be final. If an issue can not be resolved prior to the publishing deadline, a substitute author's article or an reprint of a previous article from the submitting author will be used. Submitting Articles & Content This is a closed group, meaning that only approved authors may submit material to be published. Material presented for publication should be original material by the submitting author. It should not be previously published. Outside material may be included, but should not represent a large percentage of the submitted article. Devotions should be delivered to be proofed by an editor by 8:30pm the evening prior to posting. This allows time for the text to be proofed and posted, and the policy also allows some limited time for questions in the event there is an issue in the devotion. Obviously, the earlier an article is submitted, the more likely it is that any potential issues can be settled before the publishing deadline is reached. Articles should not contain references to commercial websites or other retail establishments. We are a non-commercial site. One of our features is the absence of advertisements. It is a promise we make with our readers to keep the content free of distractions. Any references to commercial works, especially current works (e.g. hit songs, books, movies, etc.) should be fragmentary and the fullest possible reference (e.g. singer, author, book/song title, album title, publisher, publishing date, ISBN, etc.) should be referenced. Articles of a purely political nature will not be accepted. Articles representing positions that can not be clearly backed by scripture will not be accepted. An author may have their own icon to be presented on the author's page and devotions. The icon may not be a registered trademark or other image that is legally protected. Changing this image is not a simple matter unless the new image is available in the same format (GIF, JPG, etc.) and is provided in the same aspect ratio (height and width ratio). Written approval should be given by any organization before their image is used. Email from an authoritative source is acceptable. Please limit the number of references to five or six maximum. Beyond that becomes very tedious and time consuming for the Web Editors.

This page is a personal outreach of Webservants Ministries. We are a group of individuals who want only to share the gospel with the lost and equip the body of Christ in growing and reaching a lost world for Jesus Christ. If we can do anything to further assist you, or you have a reference you would like to share, please feel free to drop us a line at Webservants@cfdevotionals.org. Peace.