Bible College
Information
Way of Life Literature
Publisher of Bible Study Materials
Way of Life Literature
Publisher of Bible Study Materials
Way of Life Bible College

From Bro. Cloud's Mailbox - October 2018
Ocotober 17, 2018
David Cloud, Way of Life Literature, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061
866-295-4143,
fbns@wayoflife.org
From time to time, I publish some of the goodies from my mailbox, since many people have told me that they enjoy reading these things.

THEY LIKE THE PREACHING

Thank you again for your ministry, especially in your provision of eBooks. These have been a great benefit to me since I’m blind and cannot read hard copy print materials. When I receive your email digests, I listen to my iPhone read them while I have breakfast in the dorm here at ------. Apple has gotten so good with their VoiceOver technology that the voices almost sound like live human beings. I hope you have a wonderful day.”

“Through the years I have been greatly blessed by the many free books/material you provide but also by many of the books and presentations I have purchased. I wanted to encourage you to continue in the stands you take. As a pastor, your research has helped to save me a ton of time and for that I am grateful! I recently ordered your book ‘The Discipling Church’ and it is probably one of the best books I have read in a long time and I’m only half way through. ... This is a course I will teach in our Bible Institute.”

“We read the book What If There Is No Strong Church and article Keys to Fruitful Church Membership. Thank you for the sound wisdom. A lot of good things to think and pray about. We are praying and examining ourselves/hearts and want to make sure our relationship is right with not only the Lord but our pastor as well. It is not our intension to be overly critical or be a heavy burden to the pastor, or to try to control him, or to harm the body/church in any way. We love the brethren. We are always growing and open to correction. The book taught us to not be too quick and gave us better understanding and practical advise/application. We will continue to pray for direction, our church and our pastor to make sure that whatever the situation that we honor the Lord and follow his word and be blessing to the body.”

“I think that your materials are needed more today than ever before and I am grateful for your ministry.”

“Your ministry was instrumental in educating me about what is and what is not sacred music.  When I was first saved ago, I began listening to CCM music to separate from the secular rock that had before such a hold on me.  After a while though, I asked myself, what’s the difference?  I liked the old better and went back to it.  After much prayer and Bible study, we moved to become members of the IFB church we currently attend and my learning accelerated at an even more rapid pace and soon cast off the rock music for the sacred music. ... We appreciate the work you do for the Lord and it has been and continues to be a great blessing to us. I cannot remember anymore how many times I prayed a prayer at bedtime only to have it answered through your ministry in the morning. Thank you.”

“Thank you for your valuable ministry. Been reading your materials for 4 years and they have been a tremendous help to me and my family.”

“I wanted to let you know that the O Timothy writings have had great influence on many lives that you may not even know until we reach glory.”

“God has truly blessed David Cloud. I appreciate his ministry so much. After I read his article one of the thoughts I had was how many men of God his age, 60's, there are and who is God raising up behind them? Being there is so much apostasy and liberalism in the churches today ... Men of God like this are few and far between and believers need to listen to them and heed what God is telling them through these men. ... Every issue is excellent." (A death row inmate who reads O Timothy magazine)

“We sincerely appreciate Bro. Cloud as a man of God speaking the two-edged Truth of the Lord in generation of perverseness and love of this world, among the many who claim Jesus Christ as Lord.  Keep up the good work, Bro. Cloud, Sister Lisa, and whosoever is involved in the labour.”

“I discovered Way of Life when I was looking to speak more intelligently about CCM. I feel pretty strongly about the issue and find determining to stay away from it is a good decision-making aid. I very much appreciated your articles on it. The major impact your ministry had on me was through the recommended churches page. I was very surprised to see one in my area ... From the start, I could tell it was a good place to be. ... It has had a big impact on my life. ... Of course, I benefit from the bulk of e-mails you send out and the website articles. Lastly, I would like to express my appreciation for The Future According to the Bible. It helped me understand a few things better, and completely enlivened my understanding of the Millennium. I had a vague idea about it before, but am excited about it now. I've been into genealogy of late, and I got to thinking that all the time spent in this life is just the first few pages of our biographies. Every day here is lived in what will one day be shady, ancient days. Thank you for your writing and for your missionary work. It most certainly has an effect. God bless you!”

“Recently I learned that your book about Dressing for the Lord had been translated into the German language and couldn’t find it so I wrote you asking about it. Now I am glad to say that I finally found it and can’t read it fast enough and be able to share it with our church ladies, thank you.  I also appreciate reading some of it in English on ‘Way of Life’ to be able to check the translation The German title is Privatsache Kleidung Gibt es biblische Richtlinien? Thank you so much for this much needed book! Wishing you God’s richest blessings and HIS very best for you.”

A missionary gave the following report about his church: “One of the first converts, a lady, has gone through the 20 book Advanced Bible Studies Series three times and answered all the questions each time. The whole church is also working their way through the series and currently has 40 people handing in the lessons for grading every week. One of the men asked him for some additional reading material, so he gave him a copy of the Way of Life Ency. He came back 2 weeks later and said he had read the whole thing and told him it was a very helpful book.” He attributes the spiritual strength and maturity of the believers to the study materials they weekly work on.

“Read the first chapter of
The Discipling Church. As usual, great material. My preacher boys love your books. So do I. I recommend them to lots of my friends.  I don't know how you do it, but I'm thankful that you do.”

“I have read your professional sports article and it is very convicting. I have been a Cowboys fan for nearly my entire life. Even after reading your article I find myself overly enthused with watching and keeping up with ‘my team.’ I am glad that Trump called for a boycott of the NFL. These players wouldn't be making millions if it were not for the soldiers that fought and died for the freedoms we have (that were given by God). But above and beyond all that is Jehovah God who hates the forsaking of the assembly and all the filth associated with professional sports. What is more convicting is that so many fans including myself are willing to boycott over not standing during the National Anthem but not willing to boycott over all the evil associated with professional sports. The fact is (as you have pointed out so thoroughly) that pro sports for the most part hates the Lord who saved me. God help us!”

“I read the article ‘History of how evangelism was corruped among independent Baptists’ and couldn't agree with you more. I've had hundreds of professions of faith with little or no church growth. I'm very interested in your book on the Discipling Church.”

“Thanks once again for you diligence, vigilance, and faithfulness to the Word. Particular thanks for the book, ‘Contemplative Mysticism,’ and the related articles you've made available on your website. Your ongoing labors are a great benefit and encouragement.”

“Thank you for coming to be with us in the Bible conference. The preaching was powerful and did a work in my own life and my young son’s life, and I know it did a work in others’ ives. Praise the Lord! Thank you for standing firm on the Word of God and living it and preaching it!”

“Greetings from the States! Our family has been signed up to your email newsletter for several years now per the recommendation of our previous pastor. We have ordered the entire Advanced Bible Study series, the Way of Life Encyclopedia, and other materials which have been and continue to be a tremendous blessing to our personal devotions and study of God's Word. Thank you!!

“We have come to grow in appreciation for the Way of Life ministry over the last several years and for all those that stand firm and uncompromising to the evils we face today. Now more than ever before in our nation's history, it is critical to contend for the faith once delivered unto the saints!”

“This [‘A Mixed Multitude Church’] was very, very good and applicable to the current sad situation in churches today, dear brother. So much of what was stated resonated with me, broke me further for our churches, and caused me to cry to GOD that He would change this dire situation amongst us! It does truly motivate me to obtain this book. I've been working on discipleship materials myself and I have been moved more and more toward this type of production in the recent days.”

“It has to be acknowledged that Brother Cloud’s published materials are a treasure trove of Biblically sound teaching. As my children graduate from high school (I have seven children) I purchase a complete set of ‘The Advanced Bible Study Series’ and an ‘Encyclopedia of the Bible and Christianity’ for them as graduation gifts. I do so because it is clear to me that there simply does not exist sounder, more useful and Biblically accurate materials anywhere in the world. I would note that I have a library of several thousand books. ... I have read more than six complete church histories, and the best, by far, was Brother Cloud’s ‘The History of the Churches from a Baptist Perspective.’ (My undergraduate major was in History.) ... I was taught well at Cornerstone Baptist Church, in Belmont, Massachusetts (under Pastor Rolland Starr), to study the Bible and to use good study materials, with a sharp eye on the errors and mistakes of men, to aid in that. I am not perfect but I am a serious, diligent, student of the Bible, and I assert that Brother Cloud’s Bible study materials are simply the best that exist. To ignore this contribution because of a disagreement over the tone, timing, or even Biblical application, of a few articles is truly bewildering to me.”

“For some reason my mind ventured back to several decades ago when I first encountered full gospel businessmen who worshiped Tony Campolo. Just a moment of hearing Campolo told me that this guy was way off. He spoke in a loud, in your face style and I knew that was the reason these men followed him. To even hint that you didn't go along with one of Campolo's ideas was akin to declaring yourself to being Satan's own child! I looked online and found your article warning believers about him. Thank you for having that on your site. I then read that Campolo's son was a youth pastor and now is a atheist/humanist ‘chaplain.’ He says he's agnostic. He seems quite proud of his current position. Wonderful. What about all the youth which he taught? How do they feel when they see a Christian teacher who they respected and learned from teaching atheism? Wow, think of the damage! Like his father he seems to a matter of fact, arrogant delivery. I'm blessed to see on your site a strong article on Campolo. The Scriptures aren't something that you play games with.”

“Keep alarming us, Dear Brother. I need the reminders if no one else does. Some of us out here appreciate the Lord's use of you in this day of compromise.”

“I just wanted to say thank you for the work that you do! Your writings have taught me so much! I was recently ordained and your website was like a goldmine to help me prepare for the questioning process. I have found that the more I learn the more I want to learn. Your writings have given me a resource for learning that I can trust is doctrinally sound (though I still make sure that everything I read lines up with God's Word). Very soon I will be heading toward a pastorate and am so grateful for the discipleship resources that you have provided. One of the things that I love so much about your writings is that I am drawn more to God's Word as a result of your writings. Meaning that every time I read one of your books or articles I find myself reaching for my Bible as soon as I am done. Anyways I could go on and on. I just wanted to say thank you and please keep writing!”

“As always, your emails are filled with spiritual enthusiasm. It increases my faith to see what God is doing through your ministry there. May God continue to bless you. You are a blessing to me and many others that I know.”

“Really do enjoy your materials! I pass on a few of your articles each year to my newsletter list. I also quoted you a few times in my last book! ... I love what you do. Compromise is everywhere as you know. Thanks for standing for good, hard biblical truth in a loving way. It won't impact everyone, but it will impact many.”

“Thank you for your consistently sound presentation of the Word of God - as found only in the Bible.”

“Every serious pastor on the planet should read your book
The Discipling Church – thoroughly.  In my opinion, it is probably the most important collection of relevant material in one place addressing how the church should be run and warning of the current apostasy.”

“Thank you again for another excellent set of Friday notes. It is faith strengthening to see you state so often the things that I hold to be true as well, and it is encouraging and emboldening to see you make such a public stand against error. For the past 12.5 years in my own small church I have preaching and making the same stand, albeit on a smaller scale and with much less knowledge. Thank you for adding to my knowledge, and helping me to be reassured that I am not alone!”

“You have been a tremendous blessing to me over the years. Thank you so much.”

“I am going to have my wife order the book
What If There Is No Strong Church? so we can have it here for the whole family to read. I think this is a book we need right now in our lives and church situation. I don't want my kids to see what is going on and get discouraged with church. Each situation God allows us to go through is to help us grow stronger in the Lord and our faith. I pray God will keep you faithful in your calling. You have helped me so much in Christian growth. God has used you to teach me, also encourage and caution me, and keep me focused. I need the plain, raw truth, explained with godly concern, to help me understand.”

“In ---- Baptist Church, it is not just the young people who are a part of the issue. I have also gotten into the vehicles of some of our elderly church members and heard the raunchiest Southern Gospel bar room music. Southern Gospel music is the Holy Grail in most churches down south where I live. To be critical of Southern Gospel Music is tantamount to not just ‘touching God’s anointed,’ but attacking God’s anointed. Some Southern Gospel Music is beautiful, Godly music, but most of it is of the Devil. ... Contemporary Christian Music is like an abscessed tooth. It will kill a church if it is not pulled from the music program. Once the tooth becomes abscessed, it cannot chew the strong meat of the word of God. ... Most of the preacher’s monthly fellowship meetings and church revival meetings that I attend in Independent Baptist churches are using Contemporary Christian Music even though they preach against it. That tells me that they have neither educated themselves or their congregations to what Contemporary Christian Music actually sounds like. They are sincere, but sincerely wrong. I have heard a lot of Contemporary Christian Music soundtracks with drums in them lately. ... I know of no better source for training material on Contemporary Christian Music than the Way Of Life web site. Thank you Brother David Cloud for being at the forefront of the firefight against Contemporary Christian Music. Thank you for standing in the face of much opposition from the folks who should be your fellow soldiers. I fully support your stand against Contemporary Christian Music. The most poisonous of Satan’s darts come forth from carnal saved folk. We Independent Baptists have become very proficient at attacking our own soldiers and promoting our own enemies: sometimes blindly and sometimes deliberately. One of our greatest enemies in this apostate age is Contemporary Christian Music. We must stand against it or fall into total apostasy. This is the battle we face. To lose the battle, is to witness the destruction of our churches. Thank you again Brother David Cloud. God bless you and God speed.”

“Amen, Bro. Cloud, you are right on this issue [‘Local Church Autonomy and Other Silly Arguments,’ Dec. 13, 2017]. And because IFB pastors refuse to take warning from whoever regarding compromise, these national leaders will pull the house down on all who follow.  I love Pastor Sexton and was there at the first friends meeting. I was disheartened by things i saw. I was also at the Sword conference in 2009 before this where he sounded like George Bush senior on his inauguration speech. After 8 years of Ronald Reagan, where did this thousand points of light come from? Pastor Sexton seemed to be heading way south. With all the soft separatism that brought down his mentors church and university, you would imagine he would become stronger not weaker in his separation. It is very discouraging hearing of great pastors who have done great work be on the Lancaster train and the friends train of compromise. Fellowships that were strong have become weak and diseased like a failing tree. How much longer will good fruit come from that which is dying. Would to God they would remove the disease to save themselves and their posterity the heartbreak of going into captivity of error and judgment.”

“I have been very blessed by your materials over the years. As a pastor they have helped immensely in my studies and feeding the flock of God.”

“Bro Cloud, I thank God for your ministry. I have been following you and using your study material for some time now. I first bought your 2nd edition of the Encyclopedia. God has used your books to help me grow in the LORD.”

“I wanted to write and thank you for your massive effort on virtually every major issue to provide the believer with a divine perspective and overviews. ... Thank you so much for your tireless efforts.”

“I just read your ‘Broken fellowship with God’ commentary to over 100 inmates in a prison Tues morning. That one piece of writing is for me the most encouraging and uplifting I have ever read! And I read a lot. Thank you so much Bro Cloud for your ministry.”

“You are such a blessing to all the true and genuine Bible believing family of God, especially the disabled ones like me!”

“Thank you for standing strong and for being such an encouragement and ensample for us. You truly are a inspiration to us.”

“We daily pray for you as well as daily visit your website and use your many books, especially the Encyclopedia, Dictionary, and FB Digital Library. We also have been praying with you for our government leaders as well as for God to raise up true Christ-honoring preachers.”

“I just wanted to write to tell you thank you for all of your hard work and dedication to Christ your online ministry has helped me more than words can express. I’m a young christian. I was saved march 27, 2016 in the county jail. Before I was saved I was a hardcore meth addict and also abused other drugs and did many other things I would rather not talk about. I made several professions of faith growing up and somehow I had convinced myself that I was saved yet all the while I continued to follow after my own sinful fallen heart. By the age of 19 I found myself in a jail cell for the third time in my life. Living from house to house had spent several weeks or so homeless in the middle of winter had life threatening addictions and was on the fast road to homosexuality among many other things but by Gods grace I reached the point in my life where I lost all hope in myself and all hope in the world. I repented of my sins and turned unto the Lord Jesus Christ and by simple faith I cried out on God to save me. Since I’ve been born again my life has changed so much. I’m going on two years drug and alcohol free. I’m a member of a good bible believing independent baptist church and have felt the call of God on my life to preach. I recently preached my first sermon on the way of salvation. I really appreciate your strong stand on repentance. Looking back repentance was what was always missing in my professions of faith. I don’t think i really understood repentance. So thank you so much for all that you do for the Lord. I hope that reading this will be an encouragement to you.”

“It is with much gratitude of heart that in today’s world of the rejection of our Lord God Jesus Christ to find a brother that can stand strong and certain upon the true Word of God. ... An Unshakable Faith & For The Love of the Bible & The Revision Revised Have been to me like a triple sword in my own study of God’s Word. I thank our Lord Jesus Christ who teaches all who are willing to study and to learn how to use them.”

“I believe when we buy your materials it is a good investment. They are priced very fairly and the teachings are second too none. I am encouraged by your latest prayer letter, it is not very often that we read people have a growing interest to know more about God and are responding more and more to the preaching.”

“Keep up the great work in the Lord (I Corinthians 15:58)! I love your Bible Encyclopedia! You did an excellent job on putting it together. Than You!”

“My husband and I have been following and supporting your ministry for over ten years now.  Your ministry has truly been an anchor in our lives as we continue to try to live our lives in a way that honors and glorifies our Lord.”

“Things are going good in ----- Baptist Church and I want you to know the material you make available I give out to my folks all the time especially on the dangers of CCM but they are a very big help and blessing to my church. I have been the pastor for 17 years now.”

“This report regarding this conference [in the Philippines] blesses my heart to read. God is using you greatly to stem the tide and turn others from the path of compromise and demise. The majority of the good ol boy network of IFB preachers keep marching lockstep along the path of contemporary music. ... I appreciate your ministry, your writings and most of all your stand.”

“I just finished reading your book on evolution. It  was outstanding. You clearly did a ton of research. I learned a lot and appreciate your work for the LORD.”

“I very appreciate your work and ministry, as well as your staedfastness and faitfulness in sending out the warnings of dangers in the face oppostion. Your ministry is very informative and very much needed. ... We enjoy hearing from you through your prayer letters and pray for you regularly.”

“I am writing to you to thank you for the help you and your web site have been to my wife and I.  ...  Thank you for your faithful ministry, and please allow me to encourage you and pray for you. ... I have found your materials very clear, well researched, truthful  and accurate.  They have saved me a lot of heartache in trying to find out what has been happening in the (new) evangelical world. The e-book that really got me started and took my attention was about the Protestant persecution of Anabaptists. One of my ancestors is the Anabaptist Menno Simons,  who was spared from Roman and  Reformer’s persecutions, but many were not.”

“Really love your book on Hebrews. Still teaching through it. Your Bible study books are a gold mine of usefulness. Even if you’d never done anything else, they alone are a massive blessing and aid to anyone who wants to understand the Bible.”

“I think your book on
The Discipling Church is your best yet. I gave my copy to my pastor and ordered two more. Thanks for your efforts. We pray for you every day!”

“In my opinion,
The Discipling Church is the best and most practical book I've read in regards to running/protecting a church. This is absolutely what the majority of IFB churches need.”

“If people would only follow the clear outline of Bible interpretation you make note of in this article [‘A Refutation of Replacement Theology’], multitudes of false doctrines would be cleared up, not only pertaining to Israel and Reformed Theology, but much false teaching in the charismatic movement, roman Catholicism, and even in Protestantism that interprets Revelation 17-18 as solely the Roman Catholic Church.”

“Last March, I read through your Directory of Contemporary Christian Music, as well as Dr. H. T. Spence’s book Confronting Contemporary Christian Music, which Foundations Bible College provided to me as an MP3 audio book. Through these publications, I was convicted for my drift into worldly music. I had a vast collection of Bach, Beethoven, Mozart and others, but I had some other artists mixed in that shouldn’t have been there. It was quite difficult to let some of these albums go as I grew up with some of them, but after they were erased, I felt a slow sense of calm and peace come over me.”

“I just wanted to take a moment and thank you for your ministry. I have purchased many of your books over the years which have been invaluable to me ever since my salvation in 2004. Your clear and thorough examination of the scripture has kept me safe from many false teachers and heretical belief systems. Sadly, I have seen churches which were once good fall into CCM, Calvinism, and Ecumenicism. At times it seems difficult to face down these things and call them out when I see them.”

“I have admired your work now for many years  and pray that you will continue. I pray for you and the spot-on material you have always sent my way.”

“I've read and studied from your material for over 20 years now, and I am so thankful for the Lord working through Way of Life. I've matured much from these materials.”

“I commend you for your courage, David, to stand for truth no matter what the odds or the objections. You are an outstanding researcher and I'm glad for your commitment for the long race to the finish line.”

“I have watched your preaching  DVD  ‘music for good or evil’ and they have been a great help to me.” (age 11)

“Your very thorough provision of innumerable subjects is beyond anything I've see a single person do. I'm sure you've had help, but to know that you, as a journalist with a camera, have done much of the research yourself is to be commended. This is no ‘wood, hay or stubble’ dear friend. May the Lord continue to keep you on the front line in the proclamation of the truth.”

“I greatly appreciate your material and am so thankful for your unwavering stand on the preservation, accuracy and trustworthiness of the AV!”

“Bro. Cloud, you do so much more than just a warning ministry but I just quickly want to thank you for your Scriptural warnings. As a pastor and church planter I really do NEED them and they have been a great help to me! Praise the Lord!”

“Many do not realize their slide towards apostasy. That is the strange thing about deception. Those that are being deceived do not realize it. Keep up the good work, soldier.”

“I’ve been a subscriber to your website for many years now. I have been tremendously blessed by your teachings for many years and I want to say ‘Thank You’ from the bottom of my heart. Your encyclopedia which I bought several years ago is one of the first references I go to whenever I want to know about a particular topic. So thank you for serving the Lord and ministering the believers around the world. Keep blowing the trumpet!”

“It's always good for me to review your teachings and to read through about what true repentance is and what has happened in the corruption of its definition. I was one of those who thought I was a Christian for years because of saying a Billy Graham prayer on TV as a child.  It was probably 30 some years later before I came to repentance and faith in Jesus Christ, in a Biblical way.  I've talked with other people who thought they were saved, I'm talking about fundamental Baptists, who had always attended church and were water Baptized when 12--one wasn't truly saved until 23, another at around 38 (whose dad was an evangelist) and another in her 50's--and her husband was a Bible teacher and they had been in church all their lives!!!  People walked an aisle or whatever when younger and knew it was true about Jesus but had evidently never come to a true repentance.”

“Thank you for Way of Life. The article today (‘
The History of How Evangelism was Corrupted Among Independent Baptists’) was excellent - so true and a great blessing. For many years, I attended a church pastored by a Hyles-Anderson College grad, and it fits so perfectly what was described in the article. There WAS a ‘frenzy for bigness’ - ‘soul winning’ was ALL and the pastor's opinions were placed on the same level as Scripture. We were taught to be good ‘heaven salesmen’ - selling heaven like some cheap reward for saying a prayer. It was always, ‘If you died today, are you 100% sure you'd go to heaven?’ And we didn't take ‘yes’ for an answer. We were basically taught that anyone who didn't attend our church probably really didn't know, so we should go through ‘the plan’ with them. And then the manipulation: we were told not to let our converts drive themselves to church. We were to pick them up. And call them Sat night to remind them, and also call the Sunday morning. We were to sit with them, and, at the invitation, tell them that WE wanted to go forward and ask them to go with us. Then we would tell men at the front that this person was saved last week, and they would be told that they needed to get baptized. Thus, we had good numbers, but very, very few had the results spoken of in Acts 2:42. So few had any real change in their lives, so the next time we went by, they still weren't 100% sure, and they went through ‘the plan’ again. Questioning any of this revealed a rebel's criticizing heart. The so-called spiritual members didn't want to discuss the Bible or blessings from their Bible study -- that was for lazy people -- they wanted to talk about how many hours they put in ‘soul-winning’ or how many they saw ‘saved.’ We also heavily went after children because they were so much easier to manipulate into saying prayers. We had scores of children ‘saved.’ Criticizing this brought sharp rebuke because ‘a child has as much of a soul and needs salvation as much as an adult.’ It is to the Lord's glory and honor that he opened my eyes to the man worship and cult-like atmosphere there. Our family left some years back and are part of a far more Biblical church. It's not perfect, but we don't have the ‘Heil Pastor’ attitude that was so prevalent before. The articles in Way of Life were a big help, so there is some measure of reward for you in this.”

“I love the article about the ‘False Jesus of Fox News’!  I plan to hang onto this one pretty well for the rest of my life. And first chance I get I plan to make a print out of it!  For I want to put into files in order to use in a sermon sometime.”

“Great article [‘Why Not Say Something Positive about Billy Graham,” April 25, 2018]. I don’t feel that your observations and warnings about Billy Graham are offensive at all. If anything, they are somber/sobering. Billy Graham was indeed a compromiser. Dreadfully though, he WAS not and IS not the only individual to whom that unsavory epithet rightfully belongs. It would be in every born again believer’s spiritual best interest who reads your observations and warnings about Billy Graham to do an honest to God “gut-check” and with the Holy Spirit’s help, determine if there are any deep seated compromises that perhaps have been allowed to creep into their own spiritual lives. I myself am no exception. We need to be willing to depart/separate from those compromises once God has revealed them to us. Unfortunately, THIS is where our spiritual walk is most difficult. Proverbs 28:13 says, ‘He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and FORSAKETH them shall have mercy.’ Confessing to God that we’ve done wrong by Him seems to be a lot more easier than promising God that we will ‘never’ do wrong by Him again whether it’s besetting sin or a different offense altogether.”

“I have been reading
The Discipling Church, an it has been a wonderful blessing.”

“It is extremely helpful to understand how we slowly got deceived into the confusing mess most churches are in today regarding the Gospel and how you shone the light of the truth on repentance [‘The History of How Evangelism Was Corrupted among Independent Baptists,’ April 5, 2018]. If we don't get the Gospel right we can forget about the rest.”

"Thanks again for all you do. I appreciate your material. It has helped our church in ———-. It has helped me. I recently read your book about Steve Anderson. I had lunch with a pastor friend of mine and he told me that I needed to know about Anderson. Your book was helpful. Keep up the fight my brother. You are prayed for.”

“I wanted to pass along what a blessing the ‘Plain Clothing’ article was to me. I loved the following: ‘The child of God shouldn’t be odd for odd’s sake, because he has a higher calling than merely to dress as he pleases.’ I started in the computer field over three decades ago, and it was normal to wear a tie and a coat. Over time, the dress standard at work has become far more casual. I see no reason to look oddball by wearing a coat & tie any longer, but I do wear a coat & tie on Wednesdays because I believe the extra effort in being well-dressed indicates the importance I place on God's house.  I occasionally get comments about being dressed up on Wednesdays.”

“[In regard to your article on ‘Plain Clothing’] I think this is happening because people have been abandoned by their churches and have not been taught. They want holiness and to dress in a way that pleases God. And the only role model for ladies are the plainer dressing folks. Just look up modest dress on the net and the mennonite style websites are the only ones that will sell a lady a pattern for a modest dress. Also she will have a very difficult time finding a decent dress in a department store here in America.  … And women can’t turn to the church for help because many of the ladies couldn’t care less about modesty. So the only place for good Christian ladies to turn is to the plain folks. We desperately need good modern dresses and skirts that are ankle length and good blouses and jackets for the ladies. I think ladies business formal wear with the skirt option instead of pant would be modest and up to date. If only they came reasonably priced and in 100% cotton. Or we need an army of mature ladies to teach American women to sew again. Even then they would need inexpensive fabric and Godly patterns. Till fundamentalist leaders repent and get it together we are stuck with the Mennonite style. May God continue to bless you and your work for Him.”

“Your book ‘The Pastor’s Authority and the Church Member’s Responsibility’ is by far one of the best handlings of this subject that I ever read. It is 100% biblical and also is obviously wrapped in agape love. I benefitted greatly from reading it. I am a pastor in ——— and I am struggling right now because our members have never been taught and any attempts to admonish or reprove are met with much rebellion. Most are clear cut behavioral issues but they seem to side with the one in question rather than understanding my place in doing the reproving. It is hard because they don’t see my upset stomach and my worried soul over having to do it because it is not something I enjoy or look to lord over them. Your work on this subject has been very helpful and encouraging. God bless you brother for your biblical insights. May all glory go to God!”

“We ordained two young men this past week. One said that your Encyclopedia got him through his ordination studies. He said he did not know what he would have done without it.”

Bible Times and Ancient Kingdoms is of the most helpful books you’ve ever written. I reference that book all the time. I’m using it now in preparing for my classes.”

“Thank you for this 2014 report [‘Paul Chappell’s Pragmatism and Dangerous Associations’]. I wish every single pastor in the world would read it!”

“Again, I can't say enough about how much your teachings and writings have helped me over the last 25 years. Your faithfulness to God's work and Word have led to the Gospel as well as many Bible truths to be taught to thousands throughout the ministries in which God has mercifully used me.”

“Thank you so much for the opportunity to download these videos. It was super easy. Our high school age boys love them. Sometimes streaming doesn't work so well, so we appreciate the ability to watch a rewatch these on the kindle fire. What a blessing all your materials are to our family and church! We are lovers of TRUTH! May the Lord encourage you all in the good work you do!”

“I just listened to the message on Leadership in the video series ‘Steps to a Stronger Church for the 21st Century.’ Much challenged, Bro. Cloud. Thank you.”

“Thank you for the blessing that the Way of Life website is. I so much enjoyed the 21 Aug article ‘The History of how Evangelism was Corrupted among Independent Baptists.’ Just the section on child evangelism was great; I was saved at 8/9 years old in a vacation Bible School and have never forgotten it. But I remember vividly as a teen being assigned to help a child with salvation; I should not have been given the task; I had no instruction.  But because I was "grown up", the child would have done anything I said -- I could have told him to stand on his head and eat and orange to be saved, and he would have followed what I said. Looking back, I don't think that this child was ready, but the situation was forced on me. As I grew in the Lord and attended various churches, I have noticed that churches that focus on getting children to say prayers make all kinds of excuses - they will say that ‘a little soul is as important to God as a big soul’ -- but does the little soul really know what it's doing when it is ‘saved’ 14 times?  (they always count this as 14 salvations, too, which is deceptive). They will say that the little souls are more tender to Christ -- that may be true, but they are also in awe of grown-ups and believe whatever they say. Anyway, many of the other points resonated as well. Thank you!”

“I am working through a membership course in an Independent Baptist church, which required me to watch your series on contemporary Christian music. I found the series very helpful and am seeing how music impacts the young people around me. This has given me insight and convictions even in my own life, with the churches I’ve visited and CDs I’ve bought in my Christian journey. Thank God, He lead me to the Independent Baptist church.”

“I just wanted to say that I greatly appreciate the excellent, well researched and biblical resources you put together. I find myself going back to your materials time and time again when studying a certain topic or when seeking to help someone answer a question as in my experience to date, it is hard to find a resource that would match them. I often make use of the free ebook section of your website with our church folk to help them on various topics (e.g. the charismatic movement). I have also included several of your resources into our new members course (e.g. music for good and evil series, keys to fruitful church membership). I often tell our folks that the two things I appreciate about your materials are: 1. They are extremely well researched and thorough. 2. At the same time they are simple and straight forward to comprehend and understand. It is rare to find these two qualities in a resource. Often they are too technical for the average church member or they are superficial and don't deal with the subject in a thorough manner. Your materials do both with a good balance in my view. Thank you again for your ministry.”

“I love reading your materials and have recently purchased the Fundamental Baptist Digital Library. I am so excited to receive it! I plan on purchasing your advanced bible courses next as God has filled me with so much passion to learn and study.”

“Recently, I purchased the commentary on the Minor Prophets. I am so very much enjoying studying and reading it. Thank you so much for such an interesting commentary. We are so blessed by your ministry in so many ways.”

“This course on Revelation is blessing me greatly. My what gems are in there. Thank you Mr. Cloud! Excited to start in you Isaiah commentary next.”

“It was so good to finally meet you at the recent meeting.  Your ministry has changed my life and I'm so glad we were able to meet.”

UNLESS I AM MISTAKEN, THESE DON’T AGREE

“You very self-righteously took a strip off of Pastor Steven Anderson because of various doctrinal differences that he has with you - even calling him a false prophet, or something to that effect. I kind of lose interest in your voluminous answers in that regard. I lose you in the fog of your answers. Preachers like him are the only hope of the IFB movement. ... Anyhow, I think that I’ll ditch your books in the recycle bin, and I paid a good buck for them.”

“You are clearly a cult who feels the need to criticize any and all Christian Authors if they dare to write anything that you don’t like, who on earth do you people think you are? In my humble opinion, you are clearly a satanic bunch of fools on a mission to disrupt the work of the holy spirit. Beware, you will have your day in front of the Lord.”

“The law is gone and you know it yet you, for the sake of pragmatism and what men have taught you, put that yoke of slavery [tithing] right back on the necks of your readers who have been freed from those chains by the precious blood of Jesus Christ. You keep the letter but ignore the spirit. It’s tragic really and I think you are too proud to be taught what is obvious. There is no New Testament justification for teaching tithing as law. Circumcision, animal scarification, tithing (all of which preceded the law and were merged into it)...were all nailed to the cross. To teach otherwise is truly heretical in the worst sense. May God and his word be true...and everyman, including me and you, a liar. Repent and correct it publicly while there is still time.” [Note from Bro. Cloud: I don’t teaching teaching as a law. I teach tithing as a practice that began with Abraham before the law of Moses and that is a good example to follow. See the report “Tithing and the Christian” at the Way of Life web site.)

“Take the billy stuff down or I will sue you for all you got.”

“I have read your article about Billy Graham and find it offensive and unChristlike. Who do you think you are to stand in such self righteous condemnation of him? I can agree that he did things that he should not have done. Remember that you also have your blind spots also. You are also a member of Adam's fallen race. Billy Graham has gone home to be with his Lord, and God alone is the only one who has the right to judge him. You also will stand before a holy God someday and will be held accountable for the viscious things that you have said about Billy Graham, as well as Zane Hodges and Arthur Farstad who are Godly men.”

“I purchased the 52 week discipleship program this evening and within the first few pages I realized I was not saved. I have always been a believer, but I didn't understand what repentance was as a whole. I do now. I repented and accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Saviour about 2 hours ago! Thank God for your work and may He continue to bless you!”

“Your downloadable article on cremation should be considered an affront and disgrace to any biblically-focussed Christian. ... I am embarrassed and even ashamed as a Christian to come across such short-sighted, biased, and narrow-thinking articles like the one on Cremation ... It is very sad and tragic when Christians take on positions such as these and it does damage and creates divisiveness within the body of Christ.”

“Jews don't need to be told about ‘Jesus’; they already know who he is: Joshua son of Nun! Question: Why don't modern Jews sacrifice animals to atone for sin? Because they know the OT is just symbolic. Just like the NT. God does not need human sacrifice (or any kind of ‘sacrifice’) to atone for sins. Only idiot Christians believe this!”

“Wow! You are the most uniformed close minded individual I will not debate you but I will say that your type of faith is what keeps non Christians or our young people away from God. I pray that you see with new eyes since your 1987 article [‘Charismatic Confusion’]. I am appalled at your reporting.”

“Oh my word, there's no way in the world I'd EVER want my church to be part of your list. You think you were saved by grace, ‘Brother’ Cloud, you Pharisee? I think you're a hell-bound hypocrite. I think you'll be very surprised when you wake up on the other side of eternity. You blaspheme God's Word with your King James Onlyism...and you are a sorry scholar, despite your 6,000 volume ‘research library.’ Yes, I know you'll view my ‘attack’ as confirmation that you're on the right track. The sooner you and other windbag, self-appointed guardians of Baptist Orthodoxy bust hell wide open the better.”

“I find you despicable. Your critique of the Gaithers is disgusting. They have helped a lot more people than you have and that is obvious. You need to crawl back in your shell and go back under the Rock You crawled out from under. You are a disgrace.”

A LITTLE FARTHER OUT

In the last week we’ve had contact with two people that claim that the earth is actually flat. One of the men who are promoting this is one of the guys that left our church. One lady that used to support Way of Life called and talked for about 15 minutes, claiming that the earth is flat. They believe that the pictures from NASA are all rigged and phony.”

“The profound thing about these days is we as the Hu element can experience God in the observation of Pi/God. The reading of Genesis from the Apollo 11 mission shouldn’t be taken lightly but looked at as the one that is the Brave one, from God and His provision of our triangle blessings. Looking up is essential! There will always be Christians in the flesh! And the astronomers aren’t the first intelligent beings to discover exo-planets. And just as revelations is pliable to every generation, the new Earth is not just in preparation for this present Earth planet to be new but in all the wonderful works of God and the ‘value’ set from an impossible universe; from the value of God and Thee Book of Life of God. Because God and His Home is beyond the universe - in our God and His Third Domain.”

“[In regard to a flat earth] 72% of the world is water, and water does not bend. (Sea Level, not Sea Curvature). In Joshua, did the sun stand still or not?”

“I just read the filth you wrote about Gaithers. Slander is a crime. Violation of their privacy and consitutional rights is a crime.  We do not live in old testament days. We do not live in the middle East . The US is lucky to have any churches at all since many clergy and priests have been sued and incarcerated for raping women and children. You harm Gaithers for singing? Wake up. We have arms dealers and nuclear weapons and a lot more grown up things to worry about. Apologize to them. Go home. And retire. You are burnt out.”