March 22, 2004 (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) -

The Way of Life Literature articles are published out of a love for the Lord Jesus Christ and His Word and with a desire to be a blessing and challenge to God’s people in the last hours of this church age.

Many times per week we receive requests from people who want to distribute Way of Life Literature materials, whether from the O Timothy magazine, the Way of Life Encyclopedia, or the Fundamental Baptist Information Service.

We are thankful to the Lord for the interest in the materials, because we publish them to be used.

POLICY ON THE DISTRIBUTION OF WAY OF LIFE ARTICLES

The Way of Life Literature articles which are published via the Fundamental Baptist Information Service and O Timothy magazine and which are placed at the web site are intended for free and wide distribution. The reader is welcome to make copies of the articles and to distribute them as he sees fit. They can also be reprinted in magazines (with proper credit), re-published on e-mail lists, etc.

There are only a few restrictions, as follows:

The articles must be kept intact and the full Way of Life address and other information must be reprinted with the article.

The articles cannot be sold.

The articles cannot be included in books that are sold.

Our articles cannot be reproduced together with materials by other people or organizations without our express permission.

The articles cannot be re-posted at other web sites (though you are welcome to make links to the articles which are posted at the Way of Life web site). The reason for this is that we want to retain control over the articles so that we can edit and update them as necessary.

The articles cannot be published even for free in any type of electronic database.

WHY DO WE COPYRIGHT OUR MATERIALS?

We copyright our materials, not to hinder distribution, but to protect distribution and to maintain a reasonable control over the material. I frequently get requests from unsound groups asking to reprint one of my articles. If the material were not copyrighted they could use it however they pleased, in spite of the fact that I don't want to be associated with them.

WHY DO WE SELL MATERIALS?

Some have criticized us for selling material or for having a commercial aspect to our ministry. Others have even complained about our prices. One missionary, for example, wrote to me and said that he had the money to purchase a certain computer software item and he wanted it and felt it would be a help to his ministry, but he refused to pay the price we were asking for it.

This is neither fair nor reasonable. We are partially dependent upon the sale of materials to finance this ministry. Though we praise the Lord for those churches and individuals who help us, the fact remains that very few will support a literature ministry and especially a ministry that is strong on separation.

Some have challenged us with Matthew 10:8, which says, “Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give.” This is not applicable to our literature ministry for the simple fact that we do not freely receive the materials. They cost a lot to create and produce. Matthew 10:8 is talking about the gospel, and we have never charged anyone for the gospel. We have preached the gospel on the mission field and in jails and many other places for 30 years and we have never charged an unsaved person anything to attend our meetings and our gospel tracts have been distributed for free. But when it comes to the distribution of Christian literature, that is a different matter.

The Bible says the workman is worthy of his reward (Lk. 10:7; 1 Tim. 5:18). The Bible also says that those who preach the gospel should live of the gospel (1 Cor. 9:14).

As for the price, those few who complain simply don’t understand the value of such material or the cost of creating and producing it. I have never had this miserly attitude toward the cost of good Christian literature and I have no sympathy with it. Thirty years ago I was a young Christian trying to gain a good grasp of the Bible and prepare for the ministry. Had I seen something like the Way of Life Encyclopedia of the Bible & Christianity, something based solidly on the KJV and explaining the KJV, written from a strict fundamentalist Bible-believing viewpoint, covering as many topics as it does, and as practical as it is, I would gladly have paid $100 for it (The actual price is $29.95). Had it been necessary, I would have done what Spurgeon suggested to his Bible college students; I would have sold my shirt and bought the book. Or if I could have purchased a massive computerized library like the Fundamental Baptist CD-Rom Library, I would gladly have paid $500 for such an extensive and practical tool for the ministry (the actual cost is $89.95). In fact, I have paid as much as $700 for one book and dozens of times have paid $200 and more.

As it stands, we don't make enough from the sale of our software even to afford to hire someone to provide technical support or to help us develop more programs. The reason is that we sell so few copies.

We are simply trying to make enough to finance the ministry and to keep it going year after year.

If we sold popular titles which would have a wide "market" in this "itching ear" generation, we could bring the price of each item down; but there is not a large "market" for the type of materials that we produce. How many bookstores today are going to carry a booklet entitled "Is Mother Teresa a True Christian?" or “Myths about the King James Bible” or "Evangelicals and Rome" or “Contemporary Christian Music Under the Spotlight”?

Also, we are not a one or two-topic ministry. We don't focus solely on the family or on men's needs or on rebuilding America or even on Bible versions or on evolution or on any one or two of a hundred other single themes. Our goal and desire is to help protect New Testament churches with the whole counsel of God. This also tends to greatly limit our "market." Some who like our position on separation, don't appreciate what we believe about King James Bible. Some who agree with us on the King James Bible, don't like our emphasis on repentance and how we warn about “quick prayerism.” Some who like our stand against Roman Catholicism, don't agree with our position against Calvinism or our warnings against Contemporary Christian Music. On and on it goes. This is the nature of this type of ministry.

I praise the Lord that I have the liberty to preach the whole counsel of God, and my earnest prayer is that I will never hold back from preaching what I believe is the truth on any issue for the sake of a wider audience. I can assure you that I have been tempted to do so many times. As a wise pastor once said, though, "You will have a limited message, or you will have a limited fellowship." That is a fact. By not limiting your message, you automatically limit your fellowship -- and your "market"!

If I could give the materials away and somehow finance the ministry and continue producing and publishing things, I would do it. I tried that one time, in fact. Several years ago I was preaching in a pretty large church and had my books laid out on tables in the rear of the auditorium. I determined that evening not to sell the materials but to make them available to the people on a free-will offering basis. I put out "a fleece," asking the Lord that if this was the way He wanted me to distribute the materials, He would show me that night. I have never enjoyed selling materials. Well, the people took a lot of expensive books, but they left very few free-will offerings! I was left holding the bag at a time in my ministry when funds were very tight.

I have found through long experience that if the average person can get something for free, he will take it and will not think about nor care about what it costs to produce. He also will not value it as much as if he paid for it. That is human nature, and born again Christians still have that nature.

It costs a lot to research, write, and publish the things we produce, so we plan to continue to copyright them and to maintain reasonable control over them and to charge a reasonable price.

GUIDELINES FOR THE TRANSLATION OF WAY OF LIFE MATERIALS INTO OTHER LANGUAGES

The articles cannot be translated into other languages without our written permission. We often give such permission, but we want to know the details of such projects. We also have the following simple guidelines:

1. We need to know exactly who will be doing the translation and distribution, including church affiliation and doctrinal position.

2. The translation must be done by a capable translator and reviewed by at least one other capable person fluent both in English and the recipient language.

3. The translation must be exactly what the English text says and made to sound as natural as possible in the native language. There can be no changes in the meaning, unless such changes have been approved beforehand by us.

4. The name of the article or book and the author and the following information must be printed in English in the title page of the book or in the front of the article: “Used by permission of Way of Life Literature, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061, 866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org”

5. Way of Life Literature will hold the copyright for translations and reprints of Way of Life materials.

6. A copy of the completed translation must be sent to us immediately upon publication.

7. If the material is published at an internet site, we need to know the URL.

“For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are THE WAY OF LIFE” (Proverbs 6:23).