• When Things do not Occur as Promised
  
• Regarding our earlier Support Center (forums)
  
• I filled out the form correctly, but it still won't work. -or- My password won't work!
  
• Downloads: How do I download the PDF file, rather than open it in my browser?
  
• Downloads: When saving to disk, the filename supplied by my browser seems strange.
  
• Downloads: When Adobe Acrobat tries to open the file I get an error message that says, "There was an error opening this document. File does not begin with '%PDF-'.
  
• Downloads: I get an error message saying the file is corrupted.
  
• Downloads: What programs do I need to open/view/print your resources?
  
• Do you ever charge for your resources?
  
• Do I have to pay royalties to use your plays?
  
• Why We Do Not Use (and do not like to hear used) the Word "Skit"
  
• What's with the different editions of your devotionals?
  
• Do you accept donations?
  
• Is there any way to get a hard copy of A Calling to the Stage?
  
• Do you have any scripts for children? Do you have any mime scripts? etc.
  
• Do you have more information about the music literature for your musical ________?
  
• I can't find the music literature or Trax for your musical!
  
• Why did you remove all the options for your Script Search Engine?

First, be patient. The Internet is a profoundly imprecise science, and sometimes it gets confused. Any number of hiccups can occur that are well outside of our power to rectify. Wait a little while, then try again. Chances are very good that things will go smoothly the next time. If you continue to experience problems, by all means visit our Help Desk, spell out the details of your problem, and we will address it right away.

When filling out your Help Desk ticket, you might also keep in mind that while we are not only available, but eager to help you, a polite tone to your request always helps. After all, our resources are entirely free of any charge, and even any mention of donations is usually buried in small print on a back page, so we really do appreciate a civil tongue when problems occasionally arise. (No fawning, please; just good manners.)

We switched to the current Help Desk for two reasons: First, because of that all-pervasive menace: spam. We held out as long as we could, leaving this Support Center as accessible and easy to use as possible. But eventually we began getting spurious registrations and posts. We continued whittling down the accessibility until it seemed that practically no one but the spammers were getting in to use it.

Second, it became clear that while we have always appreciated the kind, affirming comments left at the Support Center, most posts were requesting help with a specific problem. Once that was answered, there was no other communication. Forum scripts are designed for community; a Help Desk script will be more appropriate for our use.

Heaven knows we aren't perfect, and we are grateful when someone informs us that a registration or subscription form is not working. Often, however, there is a simple explanation when a form does not work for a user. Saying something just "doesn't work" gives us little to go on; at our Help Desk give us as many details as you can when reporting a problem. For example,

• What error message, if any, did you receive?
• What browser are you using? (e.g., Internet Explorer v.6, FireFox 1.5)
• What is your ISP? (i.e., AOL, Compuserve, etc.)
• Dial-up, DSL, satellite connection?

Problems with forms can often be traced to the user's connection to the Internet, the age or type of the browser being used, or a security firewall in place. If you are sure that you have entered the data or password correctly, and it still doesn't work, try the procedure using a friend's computer—ideally one with a different connection to the Internet. If it works, then the problem has to do with your computer or connection, and not our web page.

When downloading PDF files, be sure to right-click on the Download icon, then select the appropriate menu item from the pop-up menu. This will usually be something like "Save target as..." or "Save Link target as...". You will then be prompted to specify a filename and folder for saving the file to your hard drive.

If you do open the PDF file in your browser by left-clicking on the Download icon, click on the "Save to disk" icon on the Acrobat toolbar displayed inside your browser window.

When following the procedure outlined above, the correct file name will be automatically supplied for you in IE and Opera browsers. But in Netscape and Firefox, an incorrect file name is supplied—for example, instead of "thetrain.pdf", you will see something like "pafiledb.php" in the File Save dialogue. Netscape and Firefox will download the correct file; only the file name is incorrect. Our advice: If you are using Netscape or Firefox browsers, change the name of the file in the Save File dialogue before downloading, making sure that the file extension is correct (i.e., ".pdf", ".zip" or ".txt"). Alternatively, you could open the PDF file in your browser by left-clicking, then use the "Save a copy" button (in the Adobe Acrobat interface) to save the file to your hard drive. In this instance, the file name provided will be correct.

Did you first unZip the file? You will get that error message if Acrobat is being asked to open a file type other than PDF. So, if the file you are attempting to open with Acrobat is named, for example, calling_d.zip , then the file has not yet been unZipped, and you need to unZip the file with either the WindowsXP Windows Explorer (file manager) or a separate utility (see below).

If, the file is indeed named calling_d.pdf, and still won't open, then it is possible you are using an older version of Adobe Acrobat, or Reader. You must use version 4.0 or later; for more recent versions of our devotionals and drama scripts, use version 6.x. For best results, download the latest (free) version of the Acrobat Reader.

Let me assure you that every resource we offer for download has been tested for file integrity. This means that every file stored at our web site is intact. When an error message reports that a file is "corrupt" it usually means one of the following:

1. The file has somehow become corrupted during the download process. Solution? Try again--or try it using a different computer with a different connection to the Internet.
2. You are using the wrong program to open the file on your computer. Solution? Use the correct program (see below).

We usually list the size of our larger files at our web site, so when the "corrupt file" error message occurs, the first thing to do is compare the size of the file you have just downloaded to the file size listed at our web site. If they are the same, then the file is not corrupted.

• A file with a txt extension can be opened by any word processor, e-mail program, text editor, or file manager client. It is plain, unformatted, ascii text.
• A file with a pdf extension must be opened using Adobe Reader (free download at www.adobe.com) or Adobe Acrobat (commercial). Our PDFs are created using version 4 or 6 of Adobe Acrobat; they require version 4 or later to be opened.
• A file with a zip extension is a compressed archive, and requires a utility such as WinZip or PKUnzip to open and extract the file(s) within. We typically ZIP our larger files, or collections of files, to make downloading easier.

No. The Lord has specifically called us to serve Him without pay.

No. Our scripts are copyrighted, but there is no cost to use them. We ask only that

• all copies made include the script title page with copyright notice.
• the total number of copies per script not exceed number of characters, plus director, plus any necessary technical personnel.
• copies are not made for, nor distributed to, other churches; please suggest that they obtain their own free copy at the His Company web site (http://dlampel.com).
• the script, or copies thereof, are not sold or leased to others.

Webster's defines a "skit" as "a short, comical theatrical sketch". We do not write "skits." Indeed, the word "skit" demeans every legitimate work of drama except those few pieces that actually fit the definition—physical or verbal slapstick performed for the quick and easy laugh. Skits are what school children perform before their class after one quick, thrown-together rehearsal; skits are what Sunday School classes do as a fast read-through to illustrate a point. The "skit" mentality of performance (along with today's jaded concept of "volunteerism") represents everything we at His Company stand against. We stand for (and, yes, preach) the philosophy of excellence: turning in only our very best effort, because it is being done for the Lord.

Our current, subscription-based devotional is Listening. This one- or two-page journal is published in three different formats: pdf, html, and plain text (ascii).

• We encourage everyone to subscribe to the PDF edition, which gives the reader the complete experience of the devotional--in full color, with illustrations, suitable for printing and sharing with others in an attractive format. We also encourage people to subscribe to more than one edition--for example, the subscriber may prefer to read the PDF edition, but store the (considerably smaller) plain text edition for future reference. The format of the PDF edition is that of a magazine article, and it is heartily recommended. It requires the free Adobe Reader.
• We also offer the HTML edition of Listening. This is a small, mostly text version, but has more legible fonts and paragraphs than the bare-bones ascii edition. The HTML edition can be viewed and/or printed using any browser or e-mail client.
• The least among these (and the one we really wish subscribers wouldn't choose) is the plain text edition. This is raw ascii text, without formatting of any kind, and can be read and/or printed by just about any application ever created.

Subscribe to Listening at our Subscription Center.

Yes. We never ask for contributions, but to show our gratitude when someone voluntarily supports this work, we have prepared some "thank-you" gifts. For more information about donating, please visit our contribution page.

No. The Actor's edition is 146 pages, and the Director's edition is 262 pages. We do not charge for any of our resources, and the size and weight of these books make it impossible to print and ship either for free.

No. We don't pretend to be everything to everybody. Our specialty has always been the shorter sketch or one-act that broadens or illuminates a portion of Scripture—or a biblical character. We do have some larger pieces, and we also have some in a contemporary, or timeless setting. But most of our plays are written with biblical settings, for the adult (or at least "non-child") audience.

So while our plays potentially speak to people of any age, you will not find scripts written specifically for children, youth, mime or puppetry, or scripts stridently evangelistic in nature. Put succinctly, most of our scripts have been written to deepen the Christian life for believers.

No. Everything we know about obtaining the music literature, Trax, or musical score for our musical resources is included on the page describing that musical.

When our musical scripts were first written, the choral and accompaniment music for which they were written were current and available. But Christian music literature has a brief shelf life; it goes out of print quickly. Rather than remove our scripts because the associated music literature may no longer be available, we have opted to give our users the opportunity to either locate the original music, replace it with music of their own choosing—or use the scripts for a nonmusical. Do not plan on using one of our musical scripts until you have made this decision.

Because no matter what we did, no matter how much we explained how to use it correctly, visitors insisted on using it incorrectly--which (erroneously) left them with the impression that we didn't have much to offer. We recently changed the Search facility so that, while various options are available for performing a script search, only one can be used at one time.