TESTIMONY AND FAMILY. Bro. Cloud was born in 1949 in Florida, and grew up in a Christian home. He made a profession of faith as a child, but there was no evidence of biblical repentance. During high school he stopped attending church and went very far out into the world. He lived the rock & roll lifestyle, hitchhiked across America, and spent time in jail for drug abuse and public drunkenness. By 1973 he had joined a Hindu society and was practicing meditation, but God’s mercy was great toward him and that summer the prayers of his parents and his godly maternal grandmother were answered and he was converted to Jesus Christ at age 23. A year later he began his studies at Tennessee Temple Bible School. Soon after arriving there he met Linda, his wife-to-be, but six weeks later she went to South Asia to be a missionary nurse. They corresponded for a year, got engaged by mail, and she returned to the States for their wedding in August 1976. The Clouds have four grown children, two of whom are missionaries.

MISSIONARY WORK. The Clouds have spent 17 years in South Asia as church planting missionaries. Together with their co-laborers they pioneered a Baptist church in the 1980s and began a new church planting project in 2004.

THE FOUNDING OF WAY OF LITERATURE. When Brother Cloud was saved at age 23, the Lord gave him a burden to communicate the truths of God’s Word via the printed page. Within six months, he had printed my first booklet. It was a book warning about rock & roll music. He had gotten a job working as a commercial printer shortly after his conversion, and his boss allowed him to use the equipment on his lunch breaks to print little sermon booklets that he had written. This burden for writing and the printed page has grown steadily through the years. He began using the name Way of Life Literature on his books in 1978. The name came from Proverbs 6:23: "For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life." The biblical instruction that molds men to God’s will requires reproof. It is not strictly positive. It does not focus on man’s "self-esteem." It does not avoid controversial or unpopular subjects. It warns as well as comforts. It deals with sin and false teaching in a plain manner. It is reproves, rebukes, exhorts with all longsuffering and doctrine (2 Tim. 4:2). This is what we seek to do through Way of Life Literature.

WAY OF LIFE LITERATURE IN FOREIGN LANGUAGES. Way of Life has produced many sound Bible materials in the Nepali language as well as in Spanish, Chinese, Korean, German, Russian, and Czech. Though Way of Life Literature does not maintain supplies of these for distribution, sources for some of them are listed in the Directory of Foreign Language Literature at the Way of Life web site. See http://wayoflife.org/language/languages.htm.

In 1984, Way of Life began publishing O TIMOTHY MAGAZINE, a monthly publication with the aim of urging preachers to stand for the truth and to resist error. The title of O Timothy is taken from 1 Timothy 6:20, and it describes the burden of the magazine -- urging men in these last days to keep the faith once delivered to the saints and to avoid the error which is on every hand. One of the chief goals is to help protect churches from end-time apostasy through doctrinal preaching and carefully documented research. When the magazine started in 1984, we were missionaries in South Asia, and my concern was especially for churches in that part of the world. As we traveled out of Nepal every three months to neighboring countries to renew our visas, we met many preachers and observed the weak condition of churches and Christian institutions firsthand. I knew that the only effective way to change churches is to change the preachers; and I understood the power of the printed page to accomplish this task, because I had witnessed the influence of fundamental Baptist periodicals in the States. Where there is no strong Bible preaching there are no strong Bible churches, because such are the product of the right kind of preaching. I had a burden to use the printed page to exalt the Truth of God’s Word and to preach against apostasy through a magazine in South Asia. I have been doing that ever since, not only in South Asia, but also in North America and in many other parts of the world. In 1992, Pastor Wilbert Unger and the Bethel Baptist Church of London, Ontario, began printing the magazine as well as building its distribution across Canada and sending copies to other parts of the world.

RESEARCH AND TRAVELS. Brother Cloud has spent an average of at least six hours per day in study since his conversion in 1973. He has built a large research library, which is especially strong in the areas of church history, the history of the Bible, ecumenism, theological modernism, New Evangelicalism, Fundamentalism, the Pentecostal-Charismatic movement, contemporary Christian music, and the Roman Catholic Church. The library contains the vast majority of the Baptist and Waldensian histories as well as most of the books that have been published in the last 200 years on the history of the Bible and the Bible version debate. A few of the jewels in this library are a 1641 Fox’s Martyrology, Hallam’s History of Europe During the Middle Ages (1819), McCrie’s History of the Reformation in Spain (1829) and in Italy (1856), M’Gavin’s The Protestant (1846), Smiles’ Huguenots (1876), Backus’ History of Baptists in New England (1871), Cathcart’s Baptist Encyclopedia and his Baptists and the American Revolution (1876), Cramp’s Baptist History (1852), Crosby’s History of the English Baptists (1738), Armitage’s History of the Baptists (1890), Davis’ History of the Welsh Baptists (1835), Goadby’s Bye-paths in Baptist History (1871), Ivimey’s History of the English Baptists (1811), Jones’ History of the Christian Church (1819), Newman’s History of Anti-Pedobaptism (1897), Pike’s Ancient Meeting-Houses of Non-Conformity in Old London (1870), Allix’ Remarks upon the Ecclesiastical History of the Ancient Churches of Piedmont (1821), Arnaud’s Authentic Details of the Valdenses (1827), Braght’s Martyrs Mirror (1886), Faber’s History of the Ancient Vallenses (1838), Gilly’s Narrative of an Excursion to the Mountains of Piemont (1825) and Waldensian Researches (1831), Stockdale’s History of the Inquisition (1810), Lea’s Inquisition of Spain (1890), Milner’s Church History (1819), Morland’s History of the Evangelical Churches of the Piedmont (reprint of the 1658), Mosheim’s Ecclesiastical History (1840), Neander’s General History of the Christian Church (1847), Perrin’s History of the Vaudois (1846), Evans The Early English Baptists (1862), Froude’s History of England (1893), Fuller’s History of Britain (1837), Green’s History of the English People (1880), Macaulay’s History of England (1855), McCrie’s Sketches of Scottish Church History (1842), Neal’s History of the Puritans (1837), Poole’s Wycliffe (1896), Rees’ History of Protestant Nonconformity in Wales (1861), Spence’s Church of England (1898), Strype’s Ecclesiastical Memorials (1816), Todd’s Vindication of Our Authorized Translation and Translators of the Bible (1819), Anderson’s Annals of the English Bible (1845), Bissel’s Origin of the Bible (1873), Conant’s English Bible (1856), Condit’s History of the English Bible (1896), Cotton’s Editions of the Bible in English (1852), Dore’s Account of the Early Versions of the English Bible (1888), Edgar’s Bibles of England (1889), Eadie’s The English Bible (1876), Lewis’ Complete History of the Bible in English (1818), Milligan’s English Bible (1895), Moulton’s History of the English Bible (1878), Pattison’s History of the English Bible (1894), Scott’s Story of Our English Bible (1892), Stoughton’s Our English Bible (1878). Brother Cloud travels widely on preaching engagements and also for research. He has done research at the British Library and at important theological libraries and museums in various parts of the world. He has visited every state in the Union and 24 countries. He has done extensive firsthand research into contemporary Christianity. He has attended many large ecumenical conferences with press credentials and has visited influential churches such as Rick Warren’s Saddleback Community Church in California and Bill Hybels’ Willowcreek Church near Chicago. He has published 16 major books and video presentations on cults, ecumenism, New Evangelicalism, Pentecostalism, Contemporary Christian Music, and such. He has also done extensive research into church history and the Bible version issue. One historical research trip in March-April 2003 covered eight countries in Britain and Europe and traced the history of Bible translation work and the Roman Catholic Church’s persecution of Bible-believers.

THE WAY OF LIFE WEB SITE was one of the first fundamental Baptist sites on the Internet. It was launched in 1993 and has grown rapidly ever since. Today there are roughly thousands of books and articles available for anyone anywhere in the world with an Internet connection. The information is geared primarily to assist church leaders and missionaries. It is consistently one of the top Baptist sites for traffic, and thousands of people from around the world "visit" the site each month and glean from the information. Some have been saved through the material. Many have left unscriptural churches and organizations and have joined sound New Testament congregations through the influence of our literature on the Internet. Many thousands of believers and hundreds of preachers have thanked us for the help we have provided through the well-researched, timely material. The web site address is http://www.wayoflife.org.

In 1994 Way of Life published the first edition of the WAY OF LIFE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF THE BIBLE & CHRISTIANITY. This is the fruit of 20 years of research and is available in hard cover book and computer editions. The latest edition contains the equivalent of 800 pages of information, over 4,700 entries and over 5,000 cross-references. This is a complete dictionary of biblical terminology and also features many other areas of research not often covered in Bible reference volumes. Subjects include Bible versions, Denominations, Cults, Christian Movements, Typology, the Church, Social Issues and Practical Christian Living, Bible Prophecy, and Old English Terminology. The studies in this work are extremely practical, designed especially to be used by preachers, teachers, and parents. It is based strictly upon the Authorized Version. Many preachers have told us that apart from Strong's Concordance, the Way of Life Bible Encyclopedia is their favorite study tool.

Since 1995 Way of Life has published MANY NEW BOOKS, including For Love of the Bible: The Battle for the King James Version and the Received Text from 1800 to Present (460 p.); Rome and the Bible: Tracing the History of the Roman Catholic Church and Its Persecution of the Bible and of Bible Believers (331 p.); Things Hard to Be Understood: A Handbook of Biblical Difficulties (329 p.); Contemporary Christian Music Under the Spotlight (450 p.); Evangelicals and Rome: The Ecumenical One-World Church (371 p.); Myths about the Modern Bible Versions (325 p.); The Concise King James Bible Dictionary (90 p.); Has the Southern Baptist Convention Been Rescued from Liberalism (97 p.); Repentance Is More Than a Sinner's Prayer (177 p.); Ideas for Evangelism (165 p.); and Rock Music vs. the God of the Bible (473 p.).

In 1996 Way of Life established the FUNDAMENTAL BAPTIST INFORMATION SERVICE to send out articles on almost a daily basis by e-mail. The goal in this particular aspect of the ministry is not devotional but is to provide information to assist preachers in the protection of the churches in this apostate hour. Today there are several thousand people on the mailing list and the articles go around the world. Brother Cloud probably preaches to more people in this manner than in any other aspect of his ministry.

In October 2000, Way of Life began publishing the FRIDAY CHURCH NEWS NOTES. These diligently-researched news reports are designed to help keep church members informed of news and events that are relevant to Bible believers and to help God’s people analyze the news scripturally. Many churches distribute these with their bulletins each week.

In 2000 Way of Life published the FUNDAMENTAL BAPTIST CD-ROM LIBRARY. This 100-megabyte, 80,000-page computerized CD-ROM database, which features a powerful commercial search engine, is designed to work on both IBM and Macintosh computers. Composed of roughly 4,000 select books and articles, it is the largest fundamentalist research database available. It is a contemporary church issues research library, a Bible Encyclopedia, a preacher’s information database, a church directory, a Baptist history library, a Bible Version library, and much more. The vast majority of this information is unique to the Fundamental Baptist CD-ROM Library and cannot be obtained from any other source. The following are some of the features: (1) The WAY OF LIFE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF THE BIBLE & CHRISTIANITY. (2) The complete END TIME APOSTASY TOPICAL DATABASE which features roughly 2,000 books and articles arranged into more than 70 categories. (3) Most of the articles from O TIMOTHY MAGAZINE from 1984 to present, and the FUNDAMENTAL BAPTIST INFORMATION SERVICE ARTICLES from 1995 to present. (4) WAY OF LIFE’S ELECTRONIC BAPTIST/WALDENSIAN HISTORY LIBRARY which includes the equivalent of 16,000 printed pages of material. (5) WAY OF LIFE’S ELECTRONIC KJV DEFENSE LIBRARY, which includes many important books and hundreds of articles on this subject; it also includes the Way of Life Literature Question-Answer Bible Version Database.

In 2001, Way of Life began publishing a series of VIDEO PRESENTATIONS ON ISSUES FACING THE CHURCHES. The videos are professionally produced and skillfully incorporate a wide variety of sound and video clips and graphics. Our friend Brian Snider of Huntsville, Alabama, is the producer of these videos. They are designed for use in the home, church, and school. Following are the titles that are currently available: Biblical Separation and Its Neglect Among Fundamental Baptists, The Calvinism Debate: Who Is the Enemy, Dangers in Christian Bookstores, Dangers of Contemporary Worship Music, Errors of Modern Textual Criticism, The History of the English Bible, Is Southern Gospel Music Safe, New Evangelicalism: A Very Great Danger to the Churches, Old Time Fundamentalists Who Stood for the King James Bible, Sound Christian Music vs. Contemporary Christian Music, Why We Hold to the King James Bible, Rome: Past and Present.

In 2002, Way of Life began publishing the ADVANCED BIBLE STUDIES SERIES. These study courses can be used in many ways: as private study guides for the individual Christian; as courses of study in Sunday Schools; as textbooks in Bible colleges; as part of a home schooling curriculum; as study material in jails and prisons; for disciplining new Christians; and as refresher study material for Bible College graduates. Memory verses and review questions are included with each course. Tests and score sheets are available separately. The following 19 titles are currently available: Bible History and Geography, The Bible Version Issue, Defense of the Faith, First Corinthians, The Four Gospels, Genesis, Give Attendance to Doctrine, Hebrews, A History of the Churches, How to Study the Bible, Job, The New Testament Church, Understanding Bible Prophecy, Acts, The Pastoral Epistles, Psalms, Proverbs, Romans, Revelation.

We have published two GOSPEL CORRESPONDENCE COURSES in a South Asian language. The one we operate today has nine lessons. More than 3,000 have taken the new courses since we began publishing them in 2002.

In 2004 Way of Life published THE BIBLE’S AMAZING STORY. This summary of the Bible is designed for evangelism. Beginning in Genesis and going through Revelation it includes excerpts from the Scriptures with 205 headings and 204 explanatory footnotes to enable the reader to see the unfolding story of the Bible and to understand the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The footnotes contain explanations of Bible words and events. The Bible is a large book and to the uninitiated, it is complicated and difficult to understand. A teacher is required, as we see in Acts 8 in the case of the Ethiopian eunuch. He was a highly educated man, the treasurer of Ethiopia, and was reading the book of Isaiah; but when Philip the evangelist asked him if he understood what he read, he replied, “How can I, except some man should guide me?” The Bible’s Amazing Story is designed to assist those who are searching for the truth and who want to know what the Bible is all about. It is also an excellent study book for new converts. It is currently available in English and Nepali.

See the Way of Life online catalog for more information about our materials -- http://www.wayoflife.org/catalog/catalog.htm

Way of Life Literature, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, Michigan 48061-0368. 866-295-4143 (toll free), fbns@wayoflife.org (e-mail).

Canada: Bethel Baptist Church, 4212 Campbell St. N., London, Ontario N6P 1A6
519-652-2619 (church)