What is Way of Life Literature - Who is David Cloud?
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TESTIMONY AND FAMILY.
Brother Cloud was born in 1949 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 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. The Clouds have four grown children, two of whom are missionaries, and five grandchildren.
MISSIONARY WORK.
The Clouds have spent 20 years in South Asia as church planting missionaries. Together with their co-laborers they have had the privilege of pioneering Baptist church planting there in the 1980s and they continue this ministry today. They make their home in South Asia.
THE FOUNDING OF WAY OF LIFE LITERATURE.
Within six months after his conversion, Bro. Cloud had printed his first book, a warning about rock & roll music. This burden for writing and the printed page has grown steadily through the years. The name “Way of Life” is 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. The Way of Life preaching and publishing ministry based in Bethel Baptist Church, London, Ontario, of which Wilbert Unger is the founding Pastor. A mail stop is maintained in Port Huron, Michigan.
RESEARCH.
Brother Cloud has spent an average of at least six hours per day in study since his conversion in 1973. He has built a 6,000-volume 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. One of the many jewels in this library is a 1641 Fox’s Martyrology. Brother Cloud travels widely to research his subjects. He has done research at the British Library, Oxford University, Cambridge, and at many other important theological libraries and museums and at the headquarters of various religious organizations. He has visited every state in the Union and 30 countries. He has researched the history of the Bible throughout England and Europe and the apostolic churches in western Turkey and Greece. 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.
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. He has published 200 books and video presentations on Cults, Ecumenicalism, Roman Catholicism, New Evangelicalism, Pentecostalism, Contemporary Christian Music, Church History, the Bible Version-Text issue, the New Age, the Emerging Church, and many other subjects.
BIBLE CONFERENCES.
Brother Cloud has preached in more than 550 churches in every State of the Union except one and in many foreign countries. These days he conducts Bible conferences in various parts of the world three or four months out of the year, while the rest of his time is spent on the mission field.
THE WAY OF LIFE WEB SITE
The Way of LIfe website 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 thousands of books and articles available for anyone anywhere in the world with an Internet connection. The web site address is http://www.wayoflife.org.
PUBLICATIONS
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 error. One of the chief goals is to help protect churches from end-time apostasy through doctrinal preaching and carefully documented research.
In 1994 Way of Life published the first edition of the WAY OF LIFE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF THE BIBLE & CHRISTIANITY. The latest edition contains the equivalent of 800 pages of information, over 4,700 entries and over 5,000 cross references.
In 2000 Way of Life published the first edition of the FUNDAMENTAL BAPTIST DIGITAL LIBRARY. Composed of roughly 3,500 select books and articles, this 1.5 gigabyte pdf library is the largest fundamentalist research database available. It is a contemporary church issues research library, a preacher’s information database, a Baptist history library, a Bible Version library, a library of dispensational Bible commentaries, and much more.
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 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 20 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, James, Job, The New Testament Church, Understanding Bible Prophecy, Acts, The Pastoral Epistles, Psalms, Proverbs, Romans, Revelation.
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 N6P1A6 519-652-2619 (church)
