John “Hannibal” Smith, played by George Peppard of “A-Team” fame, used to say, “I love it when a plan comes together. In similar fashion, I love it when a book idea comes together. Most writers only see the writing side. I see it all, from idea to finished product, boxed and delivered to American Vision’s warehouse and every step in between. We do it all: the writing, editing, proofreading, cover design, typesetting, order entry, shipping, and marketing. There are few if any ministries in the world that do what American Vision does in the area of book publishing.

Every so often I contact book publishers to see if they might be interested in some book titles that we are producing. One big Christian publishing company was offered a book that we now publish. I sat down with the owner and described how important this book was, it’s long and forgotten history, and the impact it could have on thinking Christians and the culture at large. We believed the book needed wide distribution, and thought a major publishing house could help with that distribution. After nearly one year of considering publishing the title, it was sent back: “Not interested.” In less than a year and a half, American Vision has sold 30,000 copies. We didn’t use direct mail. We didn’t go to bookstores. You won’t find it on Amazon. We sold this title one customer at a time. Publishers sell to wholesalers who then sell to retail establishments. Because the profit margins are so small, each new book has to be financial winner.

I received the following email from the president/CEO of a major Christian publishing company that confirms the (mostly) bottom-line approach to publishing based on how well an author’s previous book sold. This restricts publishers from taking risks and almost forces them to publish books regardless of content on popular topics if the author’s notoriety (e.g., large church, radio program, previous books, etc.) can help sell the new product. If it’s an author that can guarantee a certain number of sales, then that book gets published, especially if it’s only a hot topic like Bible prophecy. It doesn’t matter that the position he holds can’t be supported by Scripture if the book will sell enough copies to make a hefty profit.

Just recently I sent a book proposal to this publishing CEO who I’ve known for 20 years. Why the End of the World is Not in Your Future is a thorough critique of the claim that Ezekiel 38 and 39 predict an inevitable end-time war to be led by modern-day Russia against Israel. This failed invasion will lead to Armageddon and the eventual slaughter of millions of Jews and the eventual death of billions of people around the world. He told me that the market was not big enough for my book and that I should instead write a blog post.

He’s right that there isn’t a big enough ready-made market, but he’s wrong that the topic only merits a blog post. A few days after I received this email in response to my book proposal, I saw that his company is publishing a book that claims that we are gearing up for an inevitable end-time holocaust based on Ezekiel 38 and 39 and other frequently used prophetic texts. Here is some of the advertising copy for the soon-to-be published titled:

• OIL: Dr. _________ outlines facts about world oil consumption and the United States’ insatiable desire for crude. “Oil holds the key to the prophetic events of the future. Oil explains why the Bible focuses its end-time attention on the Middle East.”
• ISRAEL, RUSSIA AND THE EU: _________ connects Israel, Russia and the European Union with the Apocalypse. “. . . when the Antichrist and the European Union make a treaty with Israel to guarantee her peace and security . . . [Israel’s] defenses will be down and she will be woefully unprepared for the invasion by the armies of Russia and the coalition.”

This book is nothing more than an updated version of some of the author’s previous books on this subject. In the past year, I’ve received review copies of similar books that are revised editions of books that have been published for the last 40 years. It’s not that this publishing house does not publish contrary views. It does, even in the area of eschatology (I can think of two), but only if they make lots of money. The choice to publish the above prophecy book was a bottom-line decision. Like the author’s other many books, this title will sell 100,000 copies or more, and that’s the problem.

The topic of eschatology is a serious one, especially when calls for war are part of the interpretive system. It’s no accident that John Hagee has been dubbed “Pastor Strangelove” and “Dr. Armageddon because of his prophetic rhetoric regarding an inevitable middle-eastern war led by Russia. While the rhetoric of the above author might not be as inflammatory as Hagee’s, his end-time theology is based on the same prophetic texts and an identical result. Like so many prophecy “experts” before him, the author will declare that we should “pray for the peace of Jerusalem. . .” (Ps. 122:6), but his book will be about the inevitability of another blood bath in the name of God and Bible prophecy. He will tell his readers that this is what really is going on in the world. I wonder if this author will tell his readers that similar prophetic pronouncements have been made numerous times, dozens of them in his own lifetime. Will he remind people how 1988 was thought to be the end-point of prophecy? Will he mention how Hitler was thought to be the antichrist and Mussolini before him? How much real exegesis will go into his study of Ezekiel 38 and 39, or will he quote the usual sources,” the same sources that have been used by other prophecy writers who have been wrong time and time again?

The continued publishing of these end-time books contributes to global unrest, the reduction of the gospel, and cultural malaise, all in the name of the bottom line. When I pointed out that his company was publishing contradictory books on eschatology, my CEO friend told me that as long as authors affirm the statement in the Nicene Creed that states “He shall come again with glory to judge the living and the dead” that his company is OK with publishing these types of end-time books. It doesn’t seem to matter to him how wrong these writers have been or how they’ve become an embarrassment to the Christian faith and a weapon used by liberals to question the authority and integrity of the Bible. Take a look at Bart Ehrman’s best selling Misquoting Jesus. Ehrman points to the failed predictions of prophecy writers like Hal Lindsey and Tim LaHaye as one of the reasons he no longer believes the Bible is reliable (see here). This new book by this mega-publishing house will only contribute to the numbing effect end-time prophecy has had on this nation.

While I understand that publishing houses need to watch the bottom line, I also believe they have the responsibility to tell the truth. Playing both ends against the middle is no way to transform the church and change the world, but it is a way to defeat the church and bring prophetic havoc on the world in the name of God and the Bible.

Many of you have a better idea why the work of American Vision is so important. We believe in the hope of the gospel. We believe the gospel of peace (Eph. 6:15) will have a transforming effect on the world when Christians take it seriously. We will not win the world to Jesus Christ be publishing books that tell people who need the gospel that they are destined to be destroyed because of some manufactured prophetic system that has them in its sights. Until publishing companies refuse to publish end-time fiction in the name of the bottom line, we will continue to see the Church caught up in last days madness.