June 22, 2003 (David Cloud, Fundamental Baptist Information Service, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061, 866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org; for instructions about subscribing and unsubscribing or changing addresses, see the information paragraph at the end of the article) -

From time to time, I publish some of the goodies from my interesting mailbox, and many people have told me that they enjoy reading these things. Following are some items from the last couple of months:

THEY LIKE MY PREACHING

"As for me, I say keep up the good work even if it does hairlip the devil. AMEN!"

"Disregard the dissenters whose eyes are blinded by the 'god of this world.' I think that this verse sums it all up: Gal. 4:16 Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth? Keep on Keepin' on Brother!"

"I want to say again that I appreciate your ministry immensely. It takes courage to stand in the firing line every day. May God continue to bless you with wisdom, discernment, and good health."

"Thank you, Bro. Cloud, for not fearing man, and for not encouraging others to do so. I am more inclined all the time to think that we Independent Baptists are not nearly so independent as we think, but are so often chained tightly to the opinions of our peers, our VERY FALLIBLE peers. And woe betide the man who dares to pray that God will break his chains! Oh, for more preachers to be bondslaves to Christ, and Him alone. Or, to alter the metaphor, to be in His orbit alone! Thank you for your encouragement to do so."

"Brother, let not your light be hid under the bushel. The truth in today's world is more needed than all the gold, diamonds, etc. that man could pile up. Keep on glorifying the Lord in all that you do."

"The day any Christian decides to trust a man unquestioningly is the day that Christian begins to depart from The Faith, Bible Faith! Thank you for a sorely needed article on the FBF compromise. Please keep us up to date as events show further digression from the Bible."

"Thank you for your stand and convictions. Your ministry is greatly appreciated and needed in this day of apostasy."

"I just wanted to let you know that your web site is truly a Godsend. Thank you for your dedication and diligence."

"You are on my prayer list and I pray for you often. We need the Way of Life Literature Ministry."

"My girlfriend just bought me the books Ideas for Evangelism and Things Hard to Be Understood for my birthday, and I wanted to write and say WOW! They are so excellently written, informative, and enjoyable. I've only had them a day, and they've already been a blessing. ... Keep up the excellent work, and may God bless you always."

"Bro. Cloud, just wanted to let you know what a blessing your ministry has been. Our church receives the O Timothy magazine and we have all benefited from the 'naming' of apostates and heretics."

"I think that you carefully document your facts and you make corrections when you are wrong and you say things in a matter of fact, non-inflammatory way and I very much appreciate receiving the benefit of your research and study and your separated stance of preaching the whole counsel of God..."

"Thank you for your strong biblical stand on issues around the world. You are credit to the Christian community with the valuable resources you have made available to fellow Christians. I have enjoyed the Way of Life CD-Rom as a valuable tool in my Christian life as I was saved from a Roman Catholic background."

"May God bless you and supply all your need. We all need to hear the truth about things and you have been a blessing to me. Thank you so much."

"I have only subscribed to your list for about 2 weeks now and I have no idea how many people may reply to your mailings that will bury this one note. I just wanted to quickly say. ... How much of a blessing your news, views, and truths are to my inbox, [and how] I wish there were more leaders that are as balanced and healthy in their views as you seem to be. Praise God for your work!"

"I want to thank you for the wealth of articles that you've written over the years and for your uncompromising separatist Baptist stance. You are a real blessing to a great many people."

"Praise God you are willing to speak out. We love you brother."

"I have found your site and its high time there is someone who stands up for the Word of God and not waiver from it."

"Thank you again, Brother Cloud, for being there. You are God-Send."

"Amen, Amen, Amen!!!! Thank you for standing for righteousness!!!"

"I wanted to express my thanks that you have accepted your direction from the Lord. ... I strongly encourage you to stay the course and finish the race. You are an encouragement through your obedience to earnestly contend for the faith."

"In closing, don't ever stop doing what you do--you are bearing fruit. Your brothers and sisters in Christ know you preach and teach because you care. And we are extremely grateful that you do care!"

"Keep it up, Brother David. Keep preaching the truth!"

"I would like to express my appreciation for your ministry of warning and equipping watchmen on the walls of Zion by which I have been challenged and edified the last few years. May the Lord our Saviour, greatly use and bless this ministry of yours in these confused and faithless days."

"We are receiving your materials via e-mail on a daily basis, and very much enjoy the articles, etc. that you send out. Keep up the good work. We appreciate what you do and the stand you take."

"I wanted to write you a brief word of encouragement for the help and challenge that O Timothy has been to my wife and me over the past couple years."

"I just want to thank you for the literature that you provide to those who have been blessed to come across your website."

"Just a quick 'Thank You' for your work. The information that I have received from your website has helped me with some issues that I have been struggling with. Over the last few years I have found myself being pulled back and forth on the issue of ecumenicalism. I grew up at Temple Baptist Church in Detroit. ... My heart has been broken as I have seen my home church struggle and now turn into a non-denominational New Evangelical church. As it has grown using these strategies I have had to question many of my beliefs. Your articles have helped me stay focused on what the Bible says and not on what men are doing and how they are justifying and rationalizing their actions."

THEY DON'T LIKE MY PREACHING

"It's time that christians get there nose out of God's business, and worry about their self first of all, then concentrate on winning the lost to the Lord. But you can only reach people when you have the Holy Spirit. Or don't you believe in that either. thanks, Donna (preacher)"

"Ok first of all you need to get over the music thing. I mean shouldn't you be focusing on yourself and follow your convictions? Personally i think christian musicians are awesome. Listen to some Blindside, P.O.D., chevelle, and so much more. Would you rather me listen to some Korn, Slipknot, DMX, Ja Rule? The christian artists of today rock! You need to stop crying. Peace."

"You all really need to get back in touch with reality. If God cared even a little bit about rock music, he'd have put something about it in the Bible, and He didn't. I've read it." [Note from Bro. Cloud. 1 John 1:15-17; James 4:4, and many other passages warn about worldly things like rock music.]

"Witches have the right to worship freely without people like you who never even met a real witch or read a wiccan book of taste harassing them."

"I read your above mentioned article ['Elvis Presley: The King of Rock and Roll'] which is simply abominable! It is so filled with anger, evil and cruelty in describing Elvis, who by the way, is no longer around to defend himself, that I doubt your so called Christianity! You should NEVER consider yourself a Christian! And if you do so, your publishing such an article is totally contradictory to what you call himself! How perfect are you? Who are you to judge? Kind reminder: Judgment belongs to God and no one else and if you want my honest opinion about you, I wish you go straight to hell: You have shown to be the devil in disguise! You hypocrite: how dare you preach God and condemn a child of His?" [Note from Bro. Cloud: There is nothing judgmental about this fellow!]

"I am saddened to read your article which criticizes Elisabeth [Elliot] and exposes your self-righteous, censorious attitude toward Christians whose positions differ from yours. This type of attitude cannot be pleasing to our Lord. I know that writing this email message will probably not change your attitude (I have run into people of your ilk before), but as a sister in the Lord I could not ignore this issue. When we get to heaven, brothers, we will not be separated one from another -- the Baptists will be all mixed up with the Methodists, Presbyterians, Alliance, Evangelical Free, and, yes, even the Episcopalians and the Catholics who have a personal relationship with Jesus. That is the criterion, as you know -- not the name of the church that we attend. So please, I urge you, do not continue to produce this kind of critical article about your fellow believers in Christ. We will all live together in heaven some day and we may be surprised when God reveals the truth about all these things. Won't we be surprised, and ashamed, to find that those whom we had written off as hypocrites or liberals are found seated closer to the Throne than we! Only God knows the heart, dear brothers. To put ourselves in His place as judge is not only unwise but very dangerous."

"Kenneth Hagin's ministry has been a great blessing to me and my family. I found your article ["Hagin Drunk in the Spirit"] dumb, misleading and above all things unproductive to the Kingdom of God. Maybe you should get saved and find ways to 'spur one another on toward love and good deeds --Heb 10:24' instead finding ways to make yourself look really stupid when Jesus comes back." [Note from Brother Cloud: I wrote to this gentleman and said, "The truth will make no one 'look really stupid' when Jesus comes, my greatly deluded friend."]

"I was looking for something about Dr. Swindoll and all of sudden found your site. Unfortunately, I must say, for you are warning us against him. What kind of 'fundamentalist' are you? Pharisees? I thought they were dead."

"Get a life, people! You guys sound like hard-core legalists. Swindoll is great and teaches about salvation and Christ's love. What good do you do???"

"Your views on Eternal Security, Justification, Righteousness, Women Preachers and the King James Bible all fall short of any biblical or historical truth."

"I'm not going to tell you the best way to witness because it would do no good because you won't listen to reason. That's ignorance. Not Holiness. Christian Rock is a great way to spread the message of Jesus's Love."

"I came upon your web site while looking for Bible study material. Judgment is the Lord's. Obviously, you have taken His role."

"I have just read your document on the Internet about Branham. Let me tell you something: you are blind leading other blind. I am afraid you are an end-time anointed. This means that the Holy Spirit anoints your spirit that you can preach but your soul is not saved because you cannot believe the manifestation of the Word of GOD."

"I just read this web site on Billy Graham, I guess u made it but it sure sounds to me that ur dissin Billy Graham...I don't know what's up with all that ---- u put up on that website but u totally have it all wrong. ... I don't know what religion u are but if u aren't a christian, u need to get right w/God. And just to let u know, billy has never disobeyed God in preaching."

"You are just another Christian robot stuck in a world of mystical illusions. Are u blind to the true facts of evolution; there is a lot more proof for evolution than ur 'God'."

"I just saw the article on your site about 'the rock group U2' and just wanted to say how sad, blind, pathetic, uninformed, ignorant, and un-Christ-like the article and the mindset that it represents are."

"Whoa! The Catholic Church has plenty of scandal right now, but it's just possible your opinions, attitudes and website might be as scandalous to the Protestant churches. You sound so lacking in love. ... And might I add, two of the greatest Catholics of present times, Pope John Paul II & Mother Teresa, never spoke about you in the way you have spoken about them. There's something about this website that doesn't pass the smell taste." [Note from Brother Cloud: This individual needs to be born again and get a new smeller!]

"I think your very closed minded beliefs lead people astray. You very obviously have never experienced the baptism of the Holy Ghost. You also are very uneducated about It/Him. ... His Holy Spirit can make people do supernatural things: dancing, speaking in tongues, being slain in the Spirit. I pray that you open your mind and stop putting God in a box. I also pray that one day you are baptized in the Holy Ghost and get to experience this amazing wonder of God. If you would like to be more informed about the Holy Ghost you may e-mail me and I will send you some information along with scriptures."

"Fundamentalists are the most pathetic people in the world."

"You are being used by the devil!!!!!"