The 1901 General Conference Session opened on April 3 with the usual preliminaries. The role of delegates was called. Four new conferences were presented for membership in the General Conference. These four were voted in. The General Conference president, George Irwin, gave a report on the state of the Church. When Irwin was done he declared in his capacity as meeting chairman that the meeting was officially opened. At this, Ellen White immediately moved forward to speak. Her speech at this time was similar in content (and length) to the one she had given the day before in the college library. We are including only a part of her statements here:
I feel a special interest in the movements and decisions that shall be made at this Conference regarding the things that should have been done years ago, and especially ten years ago, when we were assembled in Conference, and the Spirit and power of God came into our meeting, testifying that God was ready to work for this people if they would come into working order. The brethren assented to the light God had given, but there were those connected with our institutions, especially with the Review and Herald Office and the Conference, who brought in elements of unbelief, so that the light that was given was not acted upon. It was assented to, but no special change was made to bring about such a condition of things that the power of God could be revealed among his people.
The light then given me was that this people should stand higher than any other people on the face of the whole earth, that they should be a loyal people, a people who would rightly represent truth. The sanctifying power of the truth, revealed in their lives, was to distinguish them from the world. They were to stand in moral dignity, having such a close connection with heaven that the Lord God of Israel could give them a place in the earth.
Year after year the same acknowledgment was made, but the principles which exalt a people were not woven into the work. God gave them clear light as to what they should do, and what they should not do, but they departed from that light, and it is a marvel to me that we stand in as much prosperity as we do today. It is because of the great mercy of our God, not because of our righteousness, but that his name should not be dishonored in the world…
It is not for men in any part of the world, in any line of his work, to depart from God's principles in any business transaction. God wants the world to see that business can be carried on in accordance with the principles that mark the character of God in Christ. What are God's commandments?--They are the wall which is built round his people. There is to be no departure from his principles, no bringing in of worldly policy principles. No worldly customs or practices are to be brought in for this people who are to be representatives of Christ to follow. When we keep the commandments of God, we are in touch with God, and he is connected with us.
We read in the first chapter of first Peter: "… Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you." To gain this inheritance, you must be incorruptible and undefiled. You are not to be perverted in any way from the straight lines which God has laid down. …
Every soul in every Conference, in every part of the Lord's vineyard, has the privilege of knowing the truth. But truth is not truth to those who do not practice it. Truth is only truth to you when you live it in the daily life, showing the world what those people must be who are at last saved.
"Wherefore, gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; as obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance."
Why, I ask you, are men who have not brought self into subjection allowed to stand in important positions of truth and handle sacred things? They have grown to the stature of men, but they have brought with them their childish tendencies. God does not want any such thing. He has made provision for all to have in them the grace of Christ. No others will enter heaven. There has been one rebellion there, and there will not be another. We have been given an opportunity to get rid of every kind of rebellion.
"As he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation." When you leave this meeting and go to your homes, be quick to hear and slow to speak. Keep yourselves under subjection to the Spirit of God. At the last Conference which I attended here, there was gossiping and controversy in every house. If the people had prayed instead of gossiping, if they had talked with God, the condition of things would have been very different.
Many of you have been educating yourselves to talk with human beings instead of talking with God. You have built up barriers against the principles which should have been carried into every part of the Lord's vineyard.
Slow to speak, slow to wrath. It only takes a word to fire up a man who has not made a practice of talking with God. This spirit is as contagious as the leprosy. One and another catch it, and thus dissension and strife and commotion are brought in. God is not in any of this work. Brethren, before we have finished, we shall know whether or not God is handling this Conference.
"As he which hath called you is holy, so be holy in all manner of conversation; because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy. And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man's work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear." You may be exalted to heaven as far as position is concerned, but position does not make the man. Do you obey the commandments of God? Are you one with God? Are you sanctified by the Spirit of God? Those who fill positions in the Conference must have the righteousness of Christ. This gives a man a power in his work.
"And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man's work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear." Do not exalt self. Christ has said. "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."
"Pass the time of your sojourning here in fear; forasmuch as ye know that ye are not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold." If you depart from the principles that are to live through the eternal ages, and bring common things into God's service, he will scatter your work to the four winds.
"Ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers." There are those here that have traditions, and they stand just as the Pharisees stood. Notwithstanding they may say that unity and love, compassion and tenderness are correct principles, yet in their own line of practice they cling to the old traditions. "You are to stand by the old traditions," they say. But what we want is God's traditions. We want to have the living principles of heaven brought into our lives.
You are redeemed by the precious blood of Christ, the Lamb without blemish and without spot. And what were you redeemed from? Let me read it again. "Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; but with the precious blood of Christ, as a lamb without blemish and without spot: who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you, who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God. Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth" -- it means everything whether you are bound up with God by the truth, or whether you are not. "Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently." Think of this.
"Being born again." You see, if we do these things, we are born of the Spirit. "Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever." We want you to do all these things. Here are men, sober and right-minded men, who are occupying influential positions on committees, and are handling sacred things, things connected with the service of God. These individuals have been called to bear responsibilities, to carry an influence in the work of God, and the work has been increasing, and ought to increase to fourfold of what it is. Some of those engaged in the work have their intelligence sanctified, and others are unsanctified, but everything will be revealed; for "by their fruits ye shall know them."
Now, whatever the work done by men in responsible positions, its character will be testified to by its fruits. In the office of publication, the light that God has given me for years is that those in positions of responsibility there are to gather in the youth, to talk to them, to train them for the Lord's service. Do not indulge a spirit of combativeness. Keep the unsanctified tongues under control. Do not blame and censure. Act just as you would want the overseers to act toward you were you in the position of these young people. God wants every individual in his service to represent him.
The men who have woven their own human passions into life and character, who have nurtured self all the way along, are not to think that they are qualified to deal with human minds. God wants every person to begin at home, and there live the Christ-life. In the church and in every business transaction a man will be just what he is in his home. If he submits to the Holy Spirit's guidance in the home, if he understands his responsibility to deal with minds there, then when in responsible positions he will pursue the same course. Remembering the tenderness of Christ toward him, he will manifest the same love and tenderness toward others.
… The principles of heaven are to be carried out in every family, in the discipline of every church, in every establishment, in every institution, in every school, and in everything that shall be managed. You have no right to manage, unless you manage in God's order. Are you under the control of God? Do you see your responsibility to him? If you do realize this responsibility, you will realize that you are to mold and fashion minds after the divine similitude; and then those in the different institutions here, who are being trained and educated to become workers, will work for God, to hold up the standard of righteousness.
O, my very soul is drawn out in these things! Men who have not learned to submit themselves to the control and discipline of God, are not competent to train the youth, to deal with human minds. It is just as much an impossibility for them to do this work as it would be for them to make a world. That these men should stand in a sacred place, to be as the voice of God to the people, as we once believed the General Conference to be,--that is past. What we want now is a reorganization. We want to begin at the foundation, and to build upon a different principle.
…We talk of the Holy Ghost; we preach of the Holy Ghost; but we need to understand better what the office of the Holy Ghost is. We need to understand that we must co-operate with God in every sense or God can not co-operate with us. "We are laborers together with God."
According to the light that has been given me--and just how it is to be accomplished I can not say--greater strength must be brought into the managing force of the Conference. But this will not be done by intrusting responsibilities to men who have had light poured upon them year after year for the last ten or fifteen years, and yet have not heeded the light that God has given them. The word of God is to be our guide. Have you given heed to the Word? The Testimonies are not by any means to take the place of the Word. They are to bring you to that neglected Word, that you may eat the words of Christ, that you may feed upon them, that by living faith you may be built up from that upon which you feed. If you live in obedience to Christ and his word, you are eating the leaves of the tree of life, which are for the healing of the nations.
Here are the very words that we want to bring into our life practice. The men that have long stood in positions of trust while disregarding the light that God has given, are not to be depended upon. God wants them to be removed. He wants a new life element brought into the publishing institutions. There are those who have stood as managers and yet have not managed after God's order. Some have served on committees here and committees there, and have felt free to dictate just what the committee should say and do, claiming that those who did not carry out these ideas were sinning against Christ. When the power of God is manifest in the church and in the management of the various departments of his work, when it is evident that the managers are themselves controlled by the Holy Spirit of God, then it is time to consider that you are safe in accepting what they may say, under God. But you must know that you are guided by the principles of the Word of the living God. The Great General of armies, the Captain of the Lord's host, is our leader.
The children of Israel thought that if they should have a king and be like the other nations, they would be a wonderful people. God directed his servant Samuel to tell them what would be the result if their desire were granted. He told them what kings would do. Nevertheless, they said, we will have a king to reign over us. They had a king, and to their sorrow they learned of how little avail was an earthly ruler when God went not forth with their armies.
Now I want to say, God has not put any kingly power in our ranks to control this or that branch of the work. The work has been greatly restricted by the efforts to control it in every line. Here is a vineyard presenting its barren places that have received no labor. And if one should start out to till these places in the name of the Lord, unless he should get the permission of the men in a little circle of authority he would receive no help. But God means that his workers shall have help. If a hundred should start out on a mission to these destitute fields, crying unto God, he would open the way before them. …
The Lord enters into every house, into every office, into every room, where his work is done. Angels of God are passing and repassing through these offices, and there is a record kept of everything that is done in these places. By this record the workers are to be judged. "By thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned;" every word and action. God is watching, and every one will be rewarded according as his works have been.
The time has come when this people are to be born again. Those that have never been born again, and those that have forgotten that they were purged from their old sins, and can not see afar off, and have practiced their old habits of talking, prejudicing others, hindering the work, and being generally in the way of its advancement, would better be converted. God wants you to be converted, and may he help, that this work may go forward. He is a power for his people when they come into order. There must be a renovation, a reorganization; a power and strength must be brought into the committees that are necessary. Let every one of you go home, not to chat, chat, chat, but to pray. Go home and pray. Talk with God. Go home and plead with God to mold and fashion you after the divine similitude. …
In this city there are many in the school, many in the publishing house, and many training for the medical missionary work. And on every hand there is work to be done. There is work in the regions right around us, and a wide field for work in the regions beyond. God help us to stand prepared for the battle, having on the whole armor, and our feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. That is what you need. Be at peace among yourselves. When you do that, you are educating character. You are forming characters for the future, immortal life. I want to have a home with the blessed, and I want you to have a home there. I want to work in harmony with you, and I want that every one who has an impetuous temper, that will flare up and lead him to act like a frantic man--I want him, as he begins to speak in this way, to remember Christ, and sit right down and hold his peace. Say not a word.
God help us to restrain our tongues. The voice is a precious talent, and it is to be used to a purpose. It is not lent to you that you may swear; but every one, who gives way to an unholy temper might just as well swear. God help us to submit to Jesus Christ, and to have his power right here and now.
After Ellen White concluded her statement A. G. Daniells was granted the floor. He told the delegates that after having heard Ellen White’s statements the day before he and some others had discussed the issue of reorganization and prepared a motion for the Session. He then presented the motion, which was that regular Session procedure be suspended and a special committee be appointed to consider the matter of reorganization and bring before the Session whatever items of business it deemed appropriate. This motion was briefly discussed, prayed over, and then passed unanimously. While this committee met the rest of the Session delegates spent the time in Bible study and hearing reports from various territories and auxiliaries.
Next: The Reorganization
Monday, May 30, 2011
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Our Roots, Pt. 31
(The College Library Address, Concluded)
There are to be no kings in our work, no man who will put out his hand and say to God's workmen, "You cannot go there; we will not support you if you go there." "We!" What have they to do with the supporting? Is the means of support theirs? The money comes from the people, and God has instructed me to tell those who are working in destitute fields to go to the people and tell them their necessity. They are to draw from the people means to build up the work in the field where they are.
There is a world to be warned. Are we to have committees which will bind about the work? As we look over the cities of America, where are the monuments for God? Where are the churches to glorify His name? I thank God for the medical missionary work. God will call for every soul who is educated to work in this line in connection with the gospel ministry. He has places for them. Let not one stone be placed in the way of those who are striving to teach our youth how to do this work. The Lord will show that He will work with those who will work. He says, "Ye are laborers together with God."
My heart ached when I was in California. There are there young men laboring among the churches, but where is the power to open new fields? Where are those who will say, "We are not to stay with those who know the truth, but are to go to new fields"? There is a world to be saved, as far as men and women will yield to the claims of truth. The seeds of truth must be sown. "Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields," Christ said, "for they are white already to harvest." He wants us to see the condition of the field. And then you are to feel at ease and travel from place to place visiting the churches? No, no! God help you by giving you the spirit of the message, that you may yearn after souls and not let go until they are converted. This is the work God desires to see done, and till this spirit takes hold of every man and every conference, the work cannot go forward in power. The Lord desires His people to adopt the light on health reform, leading out in paths of self-denial and self-sacrifice.
Oh, how it has hurt me to have blocks thrown in my way in regard to this subject. Some have said, "Sister White eats cheese, and therefore we are at liberty to eat cheese." I have tasted cheese once or twice, but that is a different thing from making it an article of diet. Once when at Minneapolis, I sat down at a table on which there was some cheese. I was quite sick at the time, and some of my brethren told me that they thought if I ate a little cheese, it might do me good. I ate a small piece, and from then it has been reported in large assemblies that Sister White eats cheese.
I have not had meat in my house for years. But do not give up the use of meat because Sister White does not eat it. I would not give a farthing for your health reform if that is what it is based upon. I want you to stand in your individual dignity and in your individual consecration before God, the whole being dedicated to Him. "If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are."
I want you to think of these things. Do not make any human being your criterion. You have a body which is fearfully and wonderfully made. That body should be most carefully dealt with. The physical system must be kept in perfect order, that the brain power may be keen and strong.
Any unnecessary burden placed on the stomach will becloud the brain. Come to a meeting like this, eat a hearty meal, take no exercise, and your ideas are good for nothing. You are sleepy. You do not really understand the propositions to which you assent. Bring your diet into conformity with natural laws, and a great change will be seen.
Do not refer to what Sister White has said. I do not ask you to do this. God has told me that my testimony must be borne to this conference, and that I must not try to make men believe it. My work is to leave the truth with the people, and those who appreciate the light from heaven will accept the truth. God wants you to make straight paths for your feet, lest the lame shall be turned out of the way.
The Lord desires that with the conference shall be connected the ability He has given Dr. Kellogg. He wants His people to make the most of the ability He has bestowed on His servants. He did not wish the medical missionary work to be separated from the gospel work, or the gospel work separated from the medical missionary work. These are to blend. The medical missionary work is to be regarded as the pioneer work. It is to be the means of breaking down prejudice. As the right arm, it is to open doors for the gospel message.
God wants His workers to stand shoulder to shoulder with Dr. Kellogg, who at times has been almost desperate and has almost lost his reason because of the positions taken by some. Many have thrown stones before the car to hinder its advance, when they should have realized that God wants the medical missionary work to go forward.
Before I came to this conference, I was in doubt as to where to stay during the meeting. Dr. Kellogg had courteously invited me to make his house my home. The question arose, "It will be said that Dr. Kellogg has influenced me." But I thought, "Let people say this if they wish to. They have said it before, when there was no more reason for it than there is now." Still, as I wished to remove every possible excuse for talk, I decided not to go to the doctor's. On Friday evening, at our season of worship, [AT HER ELMSHAVEN HOME IN NORTHERN CALIFORNIA.] I was asking the Lord to direct me where to stay. I had been sick, and was still sick. I did not wish to attend the conference at all, because I knew that the exertion would be a terrible strain on me.
As I was praying, a soft light filled the room, bringing with it a fragrance as of beautiful flowers. Then a voice seemed to say, "Accept the invitation of My servant, John Kellogg, to make his house your home. I have appointed him as My physician, and you can be an encouragement to him." This is why I am staying at Dr. Kellogg's house. I wish in every possible way to treat Dr. Kellogg as God's appointed physician. This I am going to do. And I want my brethren to put their unjust sayings far away from them. Inquire, What saith the Lord? Go to Him for help. Depend not on the opinions of human beings, for they are liable to err. Go to the Lord God of Israel. He will give you understanding and knowledge. You are not to lean on any human being.
At our season of prayer that evening the whole family was broken down. Though they knew nothing of what I had seen, yet they realized that the Spirit of the Lord was among us. The blessing of God flowed through the room like a tidal wave. The Spirit took hold upon us, and Brother and Sister Druillard wept and praised the Lord. We did indeed have an outpouring of the Spirit. Such things are more precious to me than gold or silver.
I want to say to you, For Christ's sake, unify. We cannot reform ourselves by putting our fingers on the wrongs of someone else. Christ says that we must love one another, that we must deal honestly, justly, and truly with one another. He says, "I hate your false weights and measures." He knows every one of us, and He wants us to come into close connection with Him. He told Cornelius where to find Peter. He knew just where Peter was to be found. The angel of the Lord could have given Cornelius the message, but this is not God's way. He wished to bring about a connection between Peter and Cornelius. The light He had given Peter was to be given by Peter to Cornelius.
My brethren, let the Lord God of Israel in among you. Give Him room. Instead of manifesting hatred, manifest the love of God. God help us all to take a right position.
I believe that God is here today. If I did not believe this, I would not say what I have said. I believe He can send what I have said home to your hearts.
There is a work to be done, not by standing aloof from one another, but by working on God's principles. The Lord wants you to stand in His strength. He wants you to open the windows of the soul heavenward and close them earthward. He wants to reveal His salvation. He wants the medical missionary work and the gospel to be inseparably bound together. His work is to be a united whole. God wants the talents He has given Dr. Kellogg. He wants the talents that are in our institutions to be connected with the management of His work. Committees are to be formed which will have an interest in every part of the work. Then the work will be managed on a higher grade than it has yet been managed.
Medical missionary work opens the way for the gospel. I wish to say that God has not blessed the work as He would have blessed [it] had there been an appreciation of the work that he is carrying on. I thank God that Dr. Kellogg has not sunk into despair and infidelity, as I was afraid he would. Dr. Kellogg, it may be that I have written to you too strongly, but I felt that I must get hold of you, and hold you with all the power I had. I appreciate the work that is being carried on in medical missionary lines. How anyone can see this work, and not realize that God is working, is a mystery to me.
It is God's design that Dr. Kellogg shall stand in his place to give character to the work by reaching the higher classes. God's people ought to feel honored that He has given them instrumentalities whereby the higher classes may be reached.
I wish to say that I want to take hold of the medical missionary work to the utmost of my ability. We have done the best we could in this line of work in Australia. I thank the Lord that His blessing has accompanied our work. Christ's ministers must stand in an altogether different position. They must be evangelists; they must be medical missionaries. They must take hold of the work intelligently. But it is of no use for them to think that they can do this while they drop the work which God has said should be connected with the gospel. If they drop out the medical missionary work, they need not think that they can carry forward their work successfully, for they have only half the necessary facilities.
The Lord loves us yet. Let us praise Him for this. Let us take hold of the work in a new way, with heart, and mind, and strength. Do not any longer pick flaws in your brethren. I see enough vultures watching for dead bodies. Let us have nothing of this nature in our work. Let there be no picking flaws. Attend to yourselves, and you will have all you can do. When you purify your souls by obeying the truth, you will have something to impart.
May God help you all and help me. I want help and strength and power. But do not quote Sister White till you stand on vantage ground, where you know what you are doing. Take the Word of God. It is full of meat and drink. Study the Bible, and you will know more of God than you do now. You will have something fresh to impart to others. You will not go over the same ground again and again. You will realize that there is a world to save. I ask you to put on the whole armor, and be sure that your feet are shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. --Manuscript 43, 1901. (A talk presented by Ellen White in the Battle Creek College library, April 1, 1901.)
Next: Opening Day, 1901
There are to be no kings in our work, no man who will put out his hand and say to God's workmen, "You cannot go there; we will not support you if you go there." "We!" What have they to do with the supporting? Is the means of support theirs? The money comes from the people, and God has instructed me to tell those who are working in destitute fields to go to the people and tell them their necessity. They are to draw from the people means to build up the work in the field where they are.
There is a world to be warned. Are we to have committees which will bind about the work? As we look over the cities of America, where are the monuments for God? Where are the churches to glorify His name? I thank God for the medical missionary work. God will call for every soul who is educated to work in this line in connection with the gospel ministry. He has places for them. Let not one stone be placed in the way of those who are striving to teach our youth how to do this work. The Lord will show that He will work with those who will work. He says, "Ye are laborers together with God."
My heart ached when I was in California. There are there young men laboring among the churches, but where is the power to open new fields? Where are those who will say, "We are not to stay with those who know the truth, but are to go to new fields"? There is a world to be saved, as far as men and women will yield to the claims of truth. The seeds of truth must be sown. "Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields," Christ said, "for they are white already to harvest." He wants us to see the condition of the field. And then you are to feel at ease and travel from place to place visiting the churches? No, no! God help you by giving you the spirit of the message, that you may yearn after souls and not let go until they are converted. This is the work God desires to see done, and till this spirit takes hold of every man and every conference, the work cannot go forward in power. The Lord desires His people to adopt the light on health reform, leading out in paths of self-denial and self-sacrifice.
Oh, how it has hurt me to have blocks thrown in my way in regard to this subject. Some have said, "Sister White eats cheese, and therefore we are at liberty to eat cheese." I have tasted cheese once or twice, but that is a different thing from making it an article of diet. Once when at Minneapolis, I sat down at a table on which there was some cheese. I was quite sick at the time, and some of my brethren told me that they thought if I ate a little cheese, it might do me good. I ate a small piece, and from then it has been reported in large assemblies that Sister White eats cheese.
I have not had meat in my house for years. But do not give up the use of meat because Sister White does not eat it. I would not give a farthing for your health reform if that is what it is based upon. I want you to stand in your individual dignity and in your individual consecration before God, the whole being dedicated to Him. "If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are."
I want you to think of these things. Do not make any human being your criterion. You have a body which is fearfully and wonderfully made. That body should be most carefully dealt with. The physical system must be kept in perfect order, that the brain power may be keen and strong.
Any unnecessary burden placed on the stomach will becloud the brain. Come to a meeting like this, eat a hearty meal, take no exercise, and your ideas are good for nothing. You are sleepy. You do not really understand the propositions to which you assent. Bring your diet into conformity with natural laws, and a great change will be seen.
Do not refer to what Sister White has said. I do not ask you to do this. God has told me that my testimony must be borne to this conference, and that I must not try to make men believe it. My work is to leave the truth with the people, and those who appreciate the light from heaven will accept the truth. God wants you to make straight paths for your feet, lest the lame shall be turned out of the way.
The Lord desires that with the conference shall be connected the ability He has given Dr. Kellogg. He wants His people to make the most of the ability He has bestowed on His servants. He did not wish the medical missionary work to be separated from the gospel work, or the gospel work separated from the medical missionary work. These are to blend. The medical missionary work is to be regarded as the pioneer work. It is to be the means of breaking down prejudice. As the right arm, it is to open doors for the gospel message.
God wants His workers to stand shoulder to shoulder with Dr. Kellogg, who at times has been almost desperate and has almost lost his reason because of the positions taken by some. Many have thrown stones before the car to hinder its advance, when they should have realized that God wants the medical missionary work to go forward.
Before I came to this conference, I was in doubt as to where to stay during the meeting. Dr. Kellogg had courteously invited me to make his house my home. The question arose, "It will be said that Dr. Kellogg has influenced me." But I thought, "Let people say this if they wish to. They have said it before, when there was no more reason for it than there is now." Still, as I wished to remove every possible excuse for talk, I decided not to go to the doctor's. On Friday evening, at our season of worship, [AT HER ELMSHAVEN HOME IN NORTHERN CALIFORNIA.] I was asking the Lord to direct me where to stay. I had been sick, and was still sick. I did not wish to attend the conference at all, because I knew that the exertion would be a terrible strain on me.
As I was praying, a soft light filled the room, bringing with it a fragrance as of beautiful flowers. Then a voice seemed to say, "Accept the invitation of My servant, John Kellogg, to make his house your home. I have appointed him as My physician, and you can be an encouragement to him." This is why I am staying at Dr. Kellogg's house. I wish in every possible way to treat Dr. Kellogg as God's appointed physician. This I am going to do. And I want my brethren to put their unjust sayings far away from them. Inquire, What saith the Lord? Go to Him for help. Depend not on the opinions of human beings, for they are liable to err. Go to the Lord God of Israel. He will give you understanding and knowledge. You are not to lean on any human being.
At our season of prayer that evening the whole family was broken down. Though they knew nothing of what I had seen, yet they realized that the Spirit of the Lord was among us. The blessing of God flowed through the room like a tidal wave. The Spirit took hold upon us, and Brother and Sister Druillard wept and praised the Lord. We did indeed have an outpouring of the Spirit. Such things are more precious to me than gold or silver.
I want to say to you, For Christ's sake, unify. We cannot reform ourselves by putting our fingers on the wrongs of someone else. Christ says that we must love one another, that we must deal honestly, justly, and truly with one another. He says, "I hate your false weights and measures." He knows every one of us, and He wants us to come into close connection with Him. He told Cornelius where to find Peter. He knew just where Peter was to be found. The angel of the Lord could have given Cornelius the message, but this is not God's way. He wished to bring about a connection between Peter and Cornelius. The light He had given Peter was to be given by Peter to Cornelius.
My brethren, let the Lord God of Israel in among you. Give Him room. Instead of manifesting hatred, manifest the love of God. God help us all to take a right position.
I believe that God is here today. If I did not believe this, I would not say what I have said. I believe He can send what I have said home to your hearts.
There is a work to be done, not by standing aloof from one another, but by working on God's principles. The Lord wants you to stand in His strength. He wants you to open the windows of the soul heavenward and close them earthward. He wants to reveal His salvation. He wants the medical missionary work and the gospel to be inseparably bound together. His work is to be a united whole. God wants the talents He has given Dr. Kellogg. He wants the talents that are in our institutions to be connected with the management of His work. Committees are to be formed which will have an interest in every part of the work. Then the work will be managed on a higher grade than it has yet been managed.
Medical missionary work opens the way for the gospel. I wish to say that God has not blessed the work as He would have blessed [it] had there been an appreciation of the work that he is carrying on. I thank God that Dr. Kellogg has not sunk into despair and infidelity, as I was afraid he would. Dr. Kellogg, it may be that I have written to you too strongly, but I felt that I must get hold of you, and hold you with all the power I had. I appreciate the work that is being carried on in medical missionary lines. How anyone can see this work, and not realize that God is working, is a mystery to me.
It is God's design that Dr. Kellogg shall stand in his place to give character to the work by reaching the higher classes. God's people ought to feel honored that He has given them instrumentalities whereby the higher classes may be reached.
I wish to say that I want to take hold of the medical missionary work to the utmost of my ability. We have done the best we could in this line of work in Australia. I thank the Lord that His blessing has accompanied our work. Christ's ministers must stand in an altogether different position. They must be evangelists; they must be medical missionaries. They must take hold of the work intelligently. But it is of no use for them to think that they can do this while they drop the work which God has said should be connected with the gospel. If they drop out the medical missionary work, they need not think that they can carry forward their work successfully, for they have only half the necessary facilities.
The Lord loves us yet. Let us praise Him for this. Let us take hold of the work in a new way, with heart, and mind, and strength. Do not any longer pick flaws in your brethren. I see enough vultures watching for dead bodies. Let us have nothing of this nature in our work. Let there be no picking flaws. Attend to yourselves, and you will have all you can do. When you purify your souls by obeying the truth, you will have something to impart.
May God help you all and help me. I want help and strength and power. But do not quote Sister White till you stand on vantage ground, where you know what you are doing. Take the Word of God. It is full of meat and drink. Study the Bible, and you will know more of God than you do now. You will have something fresh to impart to others. You will not go over the same ground again and again. You will realize that there is a world to save. I ask you to put on the whole armor, and be sure that your feet are shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. --Manuscript 43, 1901. (A talk presented by Ellen White in the Battle Creek College library, April 1, 1901.)
Next: Opening Day, 1901
Friday, May 20, 2011
Our Roots, Pt. 30
By the time of the 1901 General Conference Ellen White and W. C. White had permanently returned from Australia and were living in California. Ellen White had made this move for the specific purpose of attending the 1901 Session in Battle Creek. The day before the Session was to open a group of leaders gathered in the Battle Creek College library for a somewhat informal meeting to discuss the issue of organizational reform. Ellen White was part of this meeting. She had not planned on making any extensive remarks, but as soon as the meeting began the other leaders turned to her to see what she had to say on the subject. Her impromptu speech was recorded by a stenographer and has become known as the College Library Address. Because of its significance we are going to quote the entire text of the Address, broken up over two posts because of its length.
The College Library Address
I would prefer not to speak today, though not because I have nothing to say. I have something to say. The state of things that has existed in the conference is not clearly understood by some who occupy positions in the conference or by others who bear responsibilities in other lines of the work.
The work has been increasing; it has been growing. The light that I have had from the Lord has been expressed over and over again, not to as many as there are here today, but to different individuals. The plans upon which God wishes us to work have been laid down.
Never should the mind of one man or the minds of a few men be regarded as sufficient in wisdom and power to control the work and say what plans shall be followed. The burden of the work in this broad field should not rest upon two or three men. We are not reaching the high standard which, with the great and important truth we are handling, God expects us to reach.
Over and over again men have said, "The voice of the conference is the voice of God; therefore everything must be referred to the conference. The conference must permit or restrict in the various lines of work." As the matter has been presented to me, there is a narrow compass, and within this narrow compass, all the entrances to which are locked, are those who would like to exercise kingly power. But the work carried on all over the field demands an entirely different course of action. There is need of the laying of a foundation different from the foundation which has been laid in the past.
We have heard much about everything moving in the regular lines. When we see that the "regular lines" are purified and refined, that they bear the mold of the God of heaven, then it will be time to endorse these lines. But when we see that message after message given by God has been received and accepted, yet no change has been made, we know that new power must be brought into the regular lines. The management of the regular lines must be entirely changed, newly organized. There must be a committee, not composed of half a dozen men, but of representatives from all lines of our work, from our publishing houses, from our educational institutions, and from our sanitariums, which have life in them, which are constantly working, constantly broadening.
I have been shown the fields which should have been opened in America. But where in California or Michigan, the two great centers of the work, is aggressive work being done? Where is seen the wrestling in new fields?
God desires that His work shall be a rising, broadening, enlarging power. But the management of the work is becoming confused in itself. Not that anyone wishes to be wrong or to do wrong, but the principles are wrong. These principles are so foreign to God's principles that God cannot bless those who work upon them. What must be done is to bring in other minds. Those who have been at work in the same channels for years have been discouraged and confused. We cannot entrust to such as these the tremendous responsibilities which are now to be handled.
Instruction has constantly been given as to the sacred, elevating, ennobling principles which should control in our institutions. The interests of the General Conference and all that concerns the handling of the work require minds that are controlled by the Holy Spirit. Unless those who have charge of the work give evidence that they are controlled by the Holy Spirit, unless they give evidence that they receive power from God to impart to the responsibilities with which they are connected, a change should be made without delay.
God forbid, brethren, that this conference should close as our conferences have closed in the past, with the same management, the same tone, the same order. The Lord wants those who have a knowledge of the truth to come to their senses. He wants them to arouse. It is time for us to arise and shine because our light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon us. If we are not going to do this, we might just as well close our conference today as later.
From the light God has given me, everything connected with this conference is to be regarded as most sacred. Why? Because at this time the work is to be placed upon a proper basis. Wrong principles have been followed. For the last fifteen years wrong decisions have been made; and now God calls for a change. He wants in His work men of faith and capability, men who realize that there is a ladder for them to climb round by round, and that those who climb this ladder will finally step off it into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Let us move heavenward. Let every thread of selfishness that has been woven into the work be now cut out.
The work should stand 100 percent higher than it stands today. The satanic agencies are working with all their power to weaken and destroy us, and unless there is a waking up among the people of God, the enemy will gain the victory. God calls upon us to arouse, to take hold of His work, and labor for time and for eternity.
Many are treading over and over again in the same ground. Our large churches ought to be turning out men who are educated and trained and disciplined, prepared to enter the Lord's vineyard; but what are they doing? The barren fields, specially in the South, are crying to God for help. These fields have scarcely been touched, notwithstanding the message that God has been giving for a number of years.
It is high time that this came to an end. Let the work be woven after the same pattern that it has in the past and it will finally come to naught. God calls for a decided change. Do not wait until the conference is over and then gather up the forces to see what can be done. Let us see what can be done now. Find out what power and intelligence there is that can be brought into the conference. Let all unite in taking hold of the work intelligently. This is what is needed.
Every institution should have a voice in the working of the cause in which . . . [it has] an interest. God wants us to come to the place where we shall be united in the work, where the whole burden will not be laid on two or three men. Unless a change is made, Brother Irwin will soon be where he cannot work at all. He needs support. He has been in the work of wrestling so long that he must have a change or else he will break down.
We need men who will stand as true to principle as the needle to the pole. God will test the men who are given responsibilities in His work, and unless they show that they have a true idea of what Christlike principles are, He will remove them and put others in their place. God wants us to know what it means to work on the principles of heaven. He wants those in the office to know what it means for everyone to stand in his lot and place obeying the words, "Add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; and to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; and to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity" [2 Peter 1:5-7]. Brethren, let us hang these words in the chambers of the mind. If we live on the plan here outlined, we "shall never fall; for so an entrance shall be ministered unto . . . [us] abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ" [verses 10, 11].
God is in earnest with us. He has seen the close dealing, and it is contemptible in His sight. It leaves men where, if they do not change, they will never see the kingdom of God. They are as destitute of the nobility, the generosity, the tenderness, the compassion, the love of Christ, as the hills of Gilboa were destitute of dew and rain. They cannot be aroused to see their condition. Enough has been said, but it does not lead them to reform. The message from heaven is professedly accepted, but no change is made. This is what alarms me. I see that unless there is more tenderness, more compassion, more of the love of God, the blessing of heaven will be withdrawn. John knew what he was talking about when he said, "Thou hast left thy first love. Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, expect thou repent" [Rev. 2: 4, 5].
We need to study what John has written about the love of God. This love has not been cultivated, and when it is not cultivated, the opposite attribute is developed. The love of God has not been manifested in our publishing houses. Those who have practiced sharp dealings have flattered themselves that they are keen businessmen, but they have been losing instead of gaining, and unless they change, their light will be removed. They fail to realize that it is for the interests of the institution with which they are connected for them to act nobly every time, to come up to the help of the Lord. God will never acquit us till His principles are followed in our institutions.
God means what He says. He calls for a change. The same things are being repeated, the same ideas followed, the same committees appointed. In a small section a king reigns, and all others are secondary, when there are other men who are better able to do the work, because they have not been working on narrow plans.
I feel intensely over this matter. I do not want to talk in this way. If you will melt under the tenderness of God, breaking your hearts before Him and placing yourselves where you will not mislead, you will see that He hates selfishness. When you bring selfishness into the management of His cause, it makes the crime one-hundred-fold greater. It makes God ashamed of you.
You are to be representatives of Jesus Christ, representatives of His character. You are to show that you are carrying out the living principles of heaven in every line of action. God will not accept your common fire. He wants you to use the sacred fire which He has kindled on the divine altar. It is His desire that this fire shall consume all commonness, all selfishness, all cheapness. These things must be purged from the men who are helping to prepare a people to stand in the last great conflict, which is just upon us. Self must be hid in Christ. When this is done, Christ will appear. Christ will be seen as the great Worker.
God desires the committees which have been handling the same things for so long, to be relieved of their command. They should have a chance for life, to see if they cannot get out of the rut into which they have fallen. I have no hope that they will do this without a thorough change, because the Spirit of God has been working with them yet the wrong, unreformed, is still there.
The Lord desires His Holy Spirit to come into this meeting. He declares that every vestige of sharpness in dealing must be removed, for He hates it. No sharpness is to be exercised toward His servants who are working for Him, bringing the tithe into the treasure that His cause may be sustained. God's treasury is to be supplied by the tithe, which is to be regarded as a sacred fund. It is God's, and it is to be liberally given, that the work may be sustained. Those in responsible places are to act in such a way that the people will have firm confidence in them. These men should not be afraid to open to the light of day everything in the management of the work.
When the cause was younger, my husband used to counsel with men who had sound judgment. The work was much smaller [then] than it is now, but he did not feel able to manage it alone. He chose counselors from among those bearing responsibility in all parts of the work. And, after counseling together, these men would go back to their work feeling a still greater responsibility to carry the work forward in right lines, to uplift, to purify, to solidify, so that the cause of God might move forward in strength.
We should be filled with joy and gladness to think that God has given us the privilege of being co-laborers with Him. We may have all the power which God has pledged Himself to give us when we consecrate ourselves to Him. In heaven the pledge was made that all the facilities and riches of heaven would be imparted to every sincere, faithful worker who feels his entire dependence upon God.
When you leave God out of the question, and allow your hereditary and cultivated tendencies to come into your work, you are on very slippery ground. You are not making straight paths for your feet, but crooked paths. We cannot afford to do this. Our redemption cost too much. Christ laid aside His royal robe and kingly crown, and stepped down from His high command, in order that He, divinity and humanity combined, might make Himself a stepping stone whereby man might reach heaven. This He did that men might stand on vantage ground with God. His holiness imbues the life of everyone who eats the bread of life and drinks the water of salvation. He who receives and practices the words of Christ has eternal life. This life is in him, because he is in Christ.
How can the Lord bless those who manifest a spirit of "I don't care," a spirit which leads them to walk contrary to the light which the Lord has given them? But I do not ask you to take my words. Lay Sister White to one side. Do not quote my words again as long as you live until you can obey the Bible. When you make the Bible your food, your meat and your drink, when you make its principles the elements of your character, you will know better how to receive counsel from God. I exalt the precious Word before you today. Do not repeat what I have said, saying, "Sister White said this," and "Sister White said that." Find out what the Lord God of Israel says, and then do what He commands. Christ said, "I must work the works of Him that sent Me."
We are to follow the principles God has laid down in dealing with one another; for we are the purchase of the blood of Christ. Think of it! The purchase of the blood of Christ! We cost His life. He was crucified for us, and yet those whom He desires to see standing next to heaven, giving unmistakable evidence that they are receiving the light of His glory, are walking in darkness.
It is not emotion that we need, but a living faith in the living word of a living Saviour, a Saviour who proclaimed over the rent sepulcher of Joseph, "I am the resurrection and the life." He wants us to live His principles. But there are those in positions of responsibility who do not appreciate these principles. They have been tested and tried. A change must be made. Let them have an opportunity to get out into the field and see what it means to wrestle for the cause as some of God's servants have wrestled. Let them see what it means to build up the work, what it means to establish something out of nothing. Then they will understand that it is God's desire that His servants shall be linked together, that every part of His work shall be connected with every other part, all being joined together by the golden links of heaven.
Next: The College Library Address, Continued
The College Library Address
I would prefer not to speak today, though not because I have nothing to say. I have something to say. The state of things that has existed in the conference is not clearly understood by some who occupy positions in the conference or by others who bear responsibilities in other lines of the work.
The work has been increasing; it has been growing. The light that I have had from the Lord has been expressed over and over again, not to as many as there are here today, but to different individuals. The plans upon which God wishes us to work have been laid down.
Never should the mind of one man or the minds of a few men be regarded as sufficient in wisdom and power to control the work and say what plans shall be followed. The burden of the work in this broad field should not rest upon two or three men. We are not reaching the high standard which, with the great and important truth we are handling, God expects us to reach.
Over and over again men have said, "The voice of the conference is the voice of God; therefore everything must be referred to the conference. The conference must permit or restrict in the various lines of work." As the matter has been presented to me, there is a narrow compass, and within this narrow compass, all the entrances to which are locked, are those who would like to exercise kingly power. But the work carried on all over the field demands an entirely different course of action. There is need of the laying of a foundation different from the foundation which has been laid in the past.
We have heard much about everything moving in the regular lines. When we see that the "regular lines" are purified and refined, that they bear the mold of the God of heaven, then it will be time to endorse these lines. But when we see that message after message given by God has been received and accepted, yet no change has been made, we know that new power must be brought into the regular lines. The management of the regular lines must be entirely changed, newly organized. There must be a committee, not composed of half a dozen men, but of representatives from all lines of our work, from our publishing houses, from our educational institutions, and from our sanitariums, which have life in them, which are constantly working, constantly broadening.
I have been shown the fields which should have been opened in America. But where in California or Michigan, the two great centers of the work, is aggressive work being done? Where is seen the wrestling in new fields?
God desires that His work shall be a rising, broadening, enlarging power. But the management of the work is becoming confused in itself. Not that anyone wishes to be wrong or to do wrong, but the principles are wrong. These principles are so foreign to God's principles that God cannot bless those who work upon them. What must be done is to bring in other minds. Those who have been at work in the same channels for years have been discouraged and confused. We cannot entrust to such as these the tremendous responsibilities which are now to be handled.
Instruction has constantly been given as to the sacred, elevating, ennobling principles which should control in our institutions. The interests of the General Conference and all that concerns the handling of the work require minds that are controlled by the Holy Spirit. Unless those who have charge of the work give evidence that they are controlled by the Holy Spirit, unless they give evidence that they receive power from God to impart to the responsibilities with which they are connected, a change should be made without delay.
God forbid, brethren, that this conference should close as our conferences have closed in the past, with the same management, the same tone, the same order. The Lord wants those who have a knowledge of the truth to come to their senses. He wants them to arouse. It is time for us to arise and shine because our light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon us. If we are not going to do this, we might just as well close our conference today as later.
From the light God has given me, everything connected with this conference is to be regarded as most sacred. Why? Because at this time the work is to be placed upon a proper basis. Wrong principles have been followed. For the last fifteen years wrong decisions have been made; and now God calls for a change. He wants in His work men of faith and capability, men who realize that there is a ladder for them to climb round by round, and that those who climb this ladder will finally step off it into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Let us move heavenward. Let every thread of selfishness that has been woven into the work be now cut out.
The work should stand 100 percent higher than it stands today. The satanic agencies are working with all their power to weaken and destroy us, and unless there is a waking up among the people of God, the enemy will gain the victory. God calls upon us to arouse, to take hold of His work, and labor for time and for eternity.
Many are treading over and over again in the same ground. Our large churches ought to be turning out men who are educated and trained and disciplined, prepared to enter the Lord's vineyard; but what are they doing? The barren fields, specially in the South, are crying to God for help. These fields have scarcely been touched, notwithstanding the message that God has been giving for a number of years.
It is high time that this came to an end. Let the work be woven after the same pattern that it has in the past and it will finally come to naught. God calls for a decided change. Do not wait until the conference is over and then gather up the forces to see what can be done. Let us see what can be done now. Find out what power and intelligence there is that can be brought into the conference. Let all unite in taking hold of the work intelligently. This is what is needed.
Every institution should have a voice in the working of the cause in which . . . [it has] an interest. God wants us to come to the place where we shall be united in the work, where the whole burden will not be laid on two or three men. Unless a change is made, Brother Irwin will soon be where he cannot work at all. He needs support. He has been in the work of wrestling so long that he must have a change or else he will break down.
We need men who will stand as true to principle as the needle to the pole. God will test the men who are given responsibilities in His work, and unless they show that they have a true idea of what Christlike principles are, He will remove them and put others in their place. God wants us to know what it means to work on the principles of heaven. He wants those in the office to know what it means for everyone to stand in his lot and place obeying the words, "Add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; and to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; and to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity" [2 Peter 1:5-7]. Brethren, let us hang these words in the chambers of the mind. If we live on the plan here outlined, we "shall never fall; for so an entrance shall be ministered unto . . . [us] abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ" [verses 10, 11].
God is in earnest with us. He has seen the close dealing, and it is contemptible in His sight. It leaves men where, if they do not change, they will never see the kingdom of God. They are as destitute of the nobility, the generosity, the tenderness, the compassion, the love of Christ, as the hills of Gilboa were destitute of dew and rain. They cannot be aroused to see their condition. Enough has been said, but it does not lead them to reform. The message from heaven is professedly accepted, but no change is made. This is what alarms me. I see that unless there is more tenderness, more compassion, more of the love of God, the blessing of heaven will be withdrawn. John knew what he was talking about when he said, "Thou hast left thy first love. Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, expect thou repent" [Rev. 2: 4, 5].
We need to study what John has written about the love of God. This love has not been cultivated, and when it is not cultivated, the opposite attribute is developed. The love of God has not been manifested in our publishing houses. Those who have practiced sharp dealings have flattered themselves that they are keen businessmen, but they have been losing instead of gaining, and unless they change, their light will be removed. They fail to realize that it is for the interests of the institution with which they are connected for them to act nobly every time, to come up to the help of the Lord. God will never acquit us till His principles are followed in our institutions.
God means what He says. He calls for a change. The same things are being repeated, the same ideas followed, the same committees appointed. In a small section a king reigns, and all others are secondary, when there are other men who are better able to do the work, because they have not been working on narrow plans.
I feel intensely over this matter. I do not want to talk in this way. If you will melt under the tenderness of God, breaking your hearts before Him and placing yourselves where you will not mislead, you will see that He hates selfishness. When you bring selfishness into the management of His cause, it makes the crime one-hundred-fold greater. It makes God ashamed of you.
You are to be representatives of Jesus Christ, representatives of His character. You are to show that you are carrying out the living principles of heaven in every line of action. God will not accept your common fire. He wants you to use the sacred fire which He has kindled on the divine altar. It is His desire that this fire shall consume all commonness, all selfishness, all cheapness. These things must be purged from the men who are helping to prepare a people to stand in the last great conflict, which is just upon us. Self must be hid in Christ. When this is done, Christ will appear. Christ will be seen as the great Worker.
God desires the committees which have been handling the same things for so long, to be relieved of their command. They should have a chance for life, to see if they cannot get out of the rut into which they have fallen. I have no hope that they will do this without a thorough change, because the Spirit of God has been working with them yet the wrong, unreformed, is still there.
The Lord desires His Holy Spirit to come into this meeting. He declares that every vestige of sharpness in dealing must be removed, for He hates it. No sharpness is to be exercised toward His servants who are working for Him, bringing the tithe into the treasure that His cause may be sustained. God's treasury is to be supplied by the tithe, which is to be regarded as a sacred fund. It is God's, and it is to be liberally given, that the work may be sustained. Those in responsible places are to act in such a way that the people will have firm confidence in them. These men should not be afraid to open to the light of day everything in the management of the work.
When the cause was younger, my husband used to counsel with men who had sound judgment. The work was much smaller [then] than it is now, but he did not feel able to manage it alone. He chose counselors from among those bearing responsibility in all parts of the work. And, after counseling together, these men would go back to their work feeling a still greater responsibility to carry the work forward in right lines, to uplift, to purify, to solidify, so that the cause of God might move forward in strength.
We should be filled with joy and gladness to think that God has given us the privilege of being co-laborers with Him. We may have all the power which God has pledged Himself to give us when we consecrate ourselves to Him. In heaven the pledge was made that all the facilities and riches of heaven would be imparted to every sincere, faithful worker who feels his entire dependence upon God.
When you leave God out of the question, and allow your hereditary and cultivated tendencies to come into your work, you are on very slippery ground. You are not making straight paths for your feet, but crooked paths. We cannot afford to do this. Our redemption cost too much. Christ laid aside His royal robe and kingly crown, and stepped down from His high command, in order that He, divinity and humanity combined, might make Himself a stepping stone whereby man might reach heaven. This He did that men might stand on vantage ground with God. His holiness imbues the life of everyone who eats the bread of life and drinks the water of salvation. He who receives and practices the words of Christ has eternal life. This life is in him, because he is in Christ.
How can the Lord bless those who manifest a spirit of "I don't care," a spirit which leads them to walk contrary to the light which the Lord has given them? But I do not ask you to take my words. Lay Sister White to one side. Do not quote my words again as long as you live until you can obey the Bible. When you make the Bible your food, your meat and your drink, when you make its principles the elements of your character, you will know better how to receive counsel from God. I exalt the precious Word before you today. Do not repeat what I have said, saying, "Sister White said this," and "Sister White said that." Find out what the Lord God of Israel says, and then do what He commands. Christ said, "I must work the works of Him that sent Me."
We are to follow the principles God has laid down in dealing with one another; for we are the purchase of the blood of Christ. Think of it! The purchase of the blood of Christ! We cost His life. He was crucified for us, and yet those whom He desires to see standing next to heaven, giving unmistakable evidence that they are receiving the light of His glory, are walking in darkness.
It is not emotion that we need, but a living faith in the living word of a living Saviour, a Saviour who proclaimed over the rent sepulcher of Joseph, "I am the resurrection and the life." He wants us to live His principles. But there are those in positions of responsibility who do not appreciate these principles. They have been tested and tried. A change must be made. Let them have an opportunity to get out into the field and see what it means to wrestle for the cause as some of God's servants have wrestled. Let them see what it means to build up the work, what it means to establish something out of nothing. Then they will understand that it is God's desire that His servants shall be linked together, that every part of His work shall be connected with every other part, all being joined together by the golden links of heaven.
Next: The College Library Address, Continued
Monday, May 16, 2011
Our Roots, Pt. 29
In July of 1898 the General Conference president George Irwin chaired the gathering which created the European Union. The constituency of this new union elected their own five member executive committee, but the president of the union was appointed by the General Conference. The former General Conference president, O. A. Olsen, was chosen for the job. It seems that this was the only union conference that was created in response to the decision of the 1897 General Conference Session that union conferences should be organized in Europe and North America.
There was great talk of the 1899 General Conference Session being an agent of further organizational reform, but that hope fizzled. George Irwin, who as General Conference president was chair of the Session, was too preoccupied with matters of procedure to give any focused leadership to the matter of organizational reform.
W. C. White had not made the trip from Australia to attend this meeting. His three associates in reform at the 1897 Session, Jones, Waggoner, and Prescott, tried to keep the forward motion alive. They made impassioned appeals for reform—and repentance for previous mismanagement. For these three organizational reform had always had a more spiritual and theological slant than a practical function one. Their appeals for repentance and reform bore fruit in that there was extensive praying and talking about reform during the 1899 Session, but there was no actual action taken toward a tangible solution to the organizational problems of the Adventist Church.
No further progress was made between the 1899 and 1901 General Conference Sessions.
Next: In the Library
There was great talk of the 1899 General Conference Session being an agent of further organizational reform, but that hope fizzled. George Irwin, who as General Conference president was chair of the Session, was too preoccupied with matters of procedure to give any focused leadership to the matter of organizational reform.
W. C. White had not made the trip from Australia to attend this meeting. His three associates in reform at the 1897 Session, Jones, Waggoner, and Prescott, tried to keep the forward motion alive. They made impassioned appeals for reform—and repentance for previous mismanagement. For these three organizational reform had always had a more spiritual and theological slant than a practical function one. Their appeals for repentance and reform bore fruit in that there was extensive praying and talking about reform during the 1899 Session, but there was no actual action taken toward a tangible solution to the organizational problems of the Adventist Church.
No further progress was made between the 1899 and 1901 General Conference Sessions.
Next: In the Library
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Advice from the Spirit of Prophesy, Pt. 33
"The education that consists in the training of the memory, tending to discourage independent thought, has a moral bearing which is too little appreciated. As the student sacrifices the power to reason and judge for himself, he becomes incapable of discriminating between truth and error, and falls an easy prey to deception. He is easily led to follow tradition and custom" (Education, p.230).
"I have been shown that the false shepherds were drunk, but not with wine; they stagger, but not with strong drink. The truth of God is sealed up to them; they cannot read it. When they are interrogated as to what the seventh-day Sabbath is, whether or not it is the true Sabbath of the Bible, they lead the mind to fables. I saw that these prophets were like the foxes of the desert. They have not gone up into the gaps, they have not made up the hedge that the people of God may stand in the battle in the day of the Lord. When the minds of any get stirred up, and they begin to inquire of these false shepherds about the truth, they take the easiest and best manner to effect their object and quiet the minds of the inquiring ones, even changing their own position to do it. Light has shone on many of these shepherds, but they would not acknowledge it and have changed their position a number of times to evade the truth and get away from the conclusions that they must come to if they continued in their former position. The power of truth tore up their foundation, but instead of yielding to it they would get up another platform that they were not satisfied with themselves.
"I saw that many of these shepherds had denied the past teachings of God; they had denied and rejected the glorious truths which they once zealously advocated and had covered themselves with mesmerism and all kinds of delusions. I saw that they were drunken with error and were leading on their flock to death. Many of the opposers of God's truth devise mischief in their heads upon their beds, and in the day they carry out their wicked devices to put down the truth and to get something new to interest the people and divert their minds from the precious, all-important truth" (Early Writings, pp.123, 124).
"We want to understand that there are no gods in our Conference. There are to be no kings here, and no kings in any Conference that is formed. 'All ye are brethren.' Let us work on the platform of humility, seeking the Lord earnestly that his light may shine into our hearts, and that the arrangements we make may be after God's order" (General Conference Bulletin, April 5, 1901 par. 12).
"I have been shown that the false shepherds were drunk, but not with wine; they stagger, but not with strong drink. The truth of God is sealed up to them; they cannot read it. When they are interrogated as to what the seventh-day Sabbath is, whether or not it is the true Sabbath of the Bible, they lead the mind to fables. I saw that these prophets were like the foxes of the desert. They have not gone up into the gaps, they have not made up the hedge that the people of God may stand in the battle in the day of the Lord. When the minds of any get stirred up, and they begin to inquire of these false shepherds about the truth, they take the easiest and best manner to effect their object and quiet the minds of the inquiring ones, even changing their own position to do it. Light has shone on many of these shepherds, but they would not acknowledge it and have changed their position a number of times to evade the truth and get away from the conclusions that they must come to if they continued in their former position. The power of truth tore up their foundation, but instead of yielding to it they would get up another platform that they were not satisfied with themselves.
"I saw that many of these shepherds had denied the past teachings of God; they had denied and rejected the glorious truths which they once zealously advocated and had covered themselves with mesmerism and all kinds of delusions. I saw that they were drunken with error and were leading on their flock to death. Many of the opposers of God's truth devise mischief in their heads upon their beds, and in the day they carry out their wicked devices to put down the truth and to get something new to interest the people and divert their minds from the precious, all-important truth" (Early Writings, pp.123, 124).
"We want to understand that there are no gods in our Conference. There are to be no kings here, and no kings in any Conference that is formed. 'All ye are brethren.' Let us work on the platform of humility, seeking the Lord earnestly that his light may shine into our hearts, and that the arrangements we make may be after God's order" (General Conference Bulletin, April 5, 1901 par. 12).
Friday, May 6, 2011
Our Roots, Pt. 28
When it came time to hold the 1897 General Conference Session W. C. White traveled from Australia to attend the meeting. He was determined to urge the Session toward substantial organizational reform. He was joined in this purpose by A. T. Jones, E. J. Waggoner, and W. W. Prescott. These three men had different reasons for wanting organizational reform—they thought it necessary from a theological standpoint while W. C. just wanted a more practical and functional system—but all four agreed on what was needed, whatever the reason. Ellen White remained in Australia.
The efforts of this coalition for change did bear fruit. A new General Conference President, George A. Irwin, was elected. They decided to organize Union Conferences in Europe and North America. The Session also decided to move the headquarters of the mission board to one of the states along the Atlantic coast as a way of physically decentralizing. Some thought that it only needed to move as far as Chicago, but the original proposal of placing the new mission board headquarters along the Atlantic coast won out. Another change was the expansion of the General Conference executive committee to a membership of 13.
There was one other change which was much more dramatic. A plan was devised and approved for dividing the territory of the General Conference into three “divisions.” These were to be North America, Europe, and Australasia. Each of these divisions was to have its own president and be known as a General Conference. All territory not falling within one of these three areas was to be under the supervision of the mission board. The plan called for the mission board, General Conference (the overall one, which theoretically still existed), and the General Conference in North America to each be led by different individuals. In this way there would be a separation in which the three regional General Conferences and the mission board were effectively all separate and equal entities that answered to the overall General Conference.
This theory of separation didn’t work out. The mission board got its own president, but then the Session elected George Irwin to be president of the General Conference in North America as well as being president of the overall General Conference. This functionally merged the overall General Conference and the General Conference in North America and left the other two regional General Conferences and the mission board answering to the General Conference in North America.
These actions by the 1897 General Conference Session demonstrated that there was finally general acceptance of the need for organizational reform and a willingness to embark on that reform. Unfortunately, the changes made during this Session didn’t resolve all the governance issues the organization was facing. And, while it started out as a good idea, the three General Conference divisions ended up adding to the confusion because of the functional merge between the overall General Conference and the General Conference in North America. The movement for organizational reform was underway, but more changes still needed to be made.
Next: Stalled
The efforts of this coalition for change did bear fruit. A new General Conference President, George A. Irwin, was elected. They decided to organize Union Conferences in Europe and North America. The Session also decided to move the headquarters of the mission board to one of the states along the Atlantic coast as a way of physically decentralizing. Some thought that it only needed to move as far as Chicago, but the original proposal of placing the new mission board headquarters along the Atlantic coast won out. Another change was the expansion of the General Conference executive committee to a membership of 13.
There was one other change which was much more dramatic. A plan was devised and approved for dividing the territory of the General Conference into three “divisions.” These were to be North America, Europe, and Australasia. Each of these divisions was to have its own president and be known as a General Conference. All territory not falling within one of these three areas was to be under the supervision of the mission board. The plan called for the mission board, General Conference (the overall one, which theoretically still existed), and the General Conference in North America to each be led by different individuals. In this way there would be a separation in which the three regional General Conferences and the mission board were effectively all separate and equal entities that answered to the overall General Conference.
This theory of separation didn’t work out. The mission board got its own president, but then the Session elected George Irwin to be president of the General Conference in North America as well as being president of the overall General Conference. This functionally merged the overall General Conference and the General Conference in North America and left the other two regional General Conferences and the mission board answering to the General Conference in North America.
These actions by the 1897 General Conference Session demonstrated that there was finally general acceptance of the need for organizational reform and a willingness to embark on that reform. Unfortunately, the changes made during this Session didn’t resolve all the governance issues the organization was facing. And, while it started out as a good idea, the three General Conference divisions ended up adding to the confusion because of the functional merge between the overall General Conference and the General Conference in North America. The movement for organizational reform was underway, but more changes still needed to be made.
Next: Stalled
Monday, May 2, 2011
Our Roots, Pt. 27
During the 1880s and 1890s Ellen White expressed a great deal of dissatisfaction with the state of the leadership in the General Conference. Her rebukes were not directed at the existence of the organization itself or its right to be authoritative; she consistently supported the General Conference as being the collective voice of the whole church body, and as such, the highest earthly authority among Seventh-day Adventists. Rather, her objections were about the way key leaders were using the power of the General Conference. There were eight things Ellen White was particularly objecting to.
1. The General Conference was not an adequately representative body.
“At times, when a small group of men entrusted with the general management of the work have, in the name of the General Conference, sought to carry out unwise plans and to restrict God's work, I have said that I could no longer regard the voice of the General Conference, represented by these few men, as the voice of God. But this is not saying that the decisions of a General Conference composed of an assembly of duly appointed, representative men from all parts of the field should not be respected. God has ordained that the representatives of His church from all parts of the earth, when assembled in a General Conference, shall have authority. The error that some are in danger of committing is in giving to the mind and judgment of one man, or of a small group of men, the full measure of authority and influence that God has vested in His church in the judgment and voice of the General Conference assembled to plan for the prosperity and advancement of His work” (Testimonies to the Church, Vol. 9, pp.260, 261).
2. In the General Conference, decision making authority was too centralized.
“We have reached the time when the work cannot advance while wrong principles are cherished. Two or three voices are not to control everything in the whole field. No, indeed. In every field God has men of capability. He does not mean that these men, when they wish to take advance steps, shall send to Battle Creek in order to find out the best way in which to move. The Lord says, I will break up this plan of working. I will sever these connections. Every field shall bear its own responsibility” (Manuscript 37, 1901).
3. “Kingly power” was being exercised.
“In the work of God no kingly authority is to be exercised by any human being, or by two or three. The representatives of the Conference, as it has been carried with authority for the last 20 years, shall be no longer justified in saying, ‘The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord are we.’ The men in positions of trust have not been carrying the work wisely.
“The Lord calls for wise men to preside over His work, and to be faithful shepherds of His flock. He has a work to be done in every city. The General Conference has fallen into strange ways, and we have reason to marvel that judgment has not fallen, showing ‘by terrible things in righteousness’ that God is not a man that He should lie” (Manuscript 26, 1903).
4. The General Conference had not been following sound principles.
“The blessing of God can attend only the cleanest, purest work between man and his fellow man. But at the very heart of the work wrongs have been glossed over. Strict integrity has been turned aside, and dishonesty has taken its place. Men have not scrupled to conduct the work after their own defective planning. All this bears only too plainly the impress of human, erring wisdom. These men have no completeness of character in Christ, and nothing could be more unwise than to allow such men to be actively engaged in work that God has not demanded of them. Bible principles are not considered of sufficient consequence to demand forethought, earnest prayer in private. Close investigation of the work and its management is not considered needful” (Manuscript 66, 1898).
“It is working upon wrong principles that has brought the cause of God into its present embarrassment. The people have lost confidence in those who have the management of the work. Yet we hear that the voice of the Conference is the voice of God. Every time I have heard this, I have thought it was almost blasphemy. The voice of the Conference ought to be the voice of God, but it is not, because some in connection with it are not men of faith and prayer, they are not men of elevated principle. There is not a seeking of God with the whole heart; there is not a realization of the terrible responsibility that rests upon those in this institution to mold and fashion minds after the divine similitude” (Manuscript 37, 1901).
5. The sacred and the common had been mixed.
“I was alarmed at the state of things [which] now existed, for I knew from the light which the Lord had been pleased to give me, not many were standing in a position before God where they could discern their own soul needs and be a help and a blessing to the church. They professedly believed the truth, but they were far from being sanctified through the truth. Some had been separating their souls from God, and were spiritually blind. Many of our brethren...had been engrossed in business, purchasing and selling real estate, and investing in, and selling shares in mines. This had been a snare to the church with laymen and ministers and was eating out of their hearts the interest in and love for the truth. Speculation swept in a large number of our brethren while the excitement lasted and was becoming a common thing. The practices and customs of worldlings, the feverish ambition, the exciting, absorbing, interest in speculation, was mixed and mingled with the sacred work of the minister. Men carrying credentials from the conference were engaged in such enterprises. God could not bless any such worldly ambition. The condition and evidence of our discipleship is self denial and the cross. Unless these are brought into our experience, we cannot know God; we cannot worship him in spirit and in truth and in the beauty of holiness. But those who ought to have stood in the clear light, that they might present the attractions of Christ before the people, and lift up Jesus before them as soon as out of the desk, were earnestly preaching of buying and selling real estate, and of investing money in mining stock. Their minds absorbed in business affairs could not distinguish between the sacred and the common; discernment was blunted, the deceptive power of the enemy was exercised over their minds” (Ellen G. White 1888 Materials, pp.50, 51).
6. Members of the General Conference executive committee had become entangled in business affairs.
“The voice of the General Conference has been represented as an authority to be heeded as the voice of the Holy Spirit. But when the members of the General Conference Committee become entangled in business affairs and financial perplexities, the sacred, elevated character of their work is in a great degree lost. The temple of God becomes as a place of merchandise, and the ministers of God's house as common businessmen. Their work is brought down on a level with common things. Business cares and perplexities unfit them for the consideration of matters relating to the spiritual interests of the work, which require the keenest perception, the most careful thought, the most delicate tact, and the deepest spiritual insight” (Manuscript 33, 1895).
7. Men were not occupying the correct positions.
“The General Conference Committee has a weighty responsibility in caring for the interests of our people and of the work which is committed to them. As the field of our work widens, this responsibility becomes greater. It is not the will of God that those who are called to this position should so lade themselves down with business cares that they are crippled in the work to which they have been chosen.…
“God does not intend that the General Conference Committee should embrace financial responsibilities that call for a large amount of labor, for the churches are thus deprived of the very help they need. And the decisions of the Conference will come to be regarded as on a level with the opinions of businessmen. The sacred authority with which God has invested His servants is lost.
“The sixth chapter of Acts should be carefully studied by the members of the General Conference Committee, and its instructions should be heeded. Let men be chosen to attend to the business lines of the work, and give counsel in these matters. Let them be devoted men, men of faith and prayer, set apart to do this special work” (Manuscript 33, 1895).
8. There was not sufficient appreciation of the need in foreign fields.
“Brethren in America, I am praying day and night that the Lord may extend your vision, in order that you may see things that are afar off. How can the Lord Jesus approve of your absorbing so much means in increasing facilities whereby to advance the work in America, while foreign fields are destitute of means whereby to begin the work in parts where no beginning has been made? Knowing as we do, how well equipped are our institutions for publishing, for education, and for treating the sick, and what a firm basis the truth has in that field, we wonder that you should think it proper to expend more means there, when these foreign fields are so lacking in that with which you are so well furnished. Here are places all about us that have never been entered, and cannot be worked unless we shall have houses of worship, even though of the humblest character. We cannot call out the people to hear the truth in tents as in America; for in many places, as in Wellington, New Zealand, the wind would strip them to ribbons. We have not a place in these large cities where we can call out the people to hear the truth of God. We cannot unfurl the banner of truth; for we have no standing place. I am looking to the Lord for light, and I shall make appeals again and again, like the importunate widow, until you shall be compelled to hear, and attend to the call…” (Review and Herald, December 5, 1893 par. 4).
These objections to the current state of things added to the cacophony of calls for reform in the way the Adventist Church was doing business.
Next: Concerted Effort
1. The General Conference was not an adequately representative body.
“At times, when a small group of men entrusted with the general management of the work have, in the name of the General Conference, sought to carry out unwise plans and to restrict God's work, I have said that I could no longer regard the voice of the General Conference, represented by these few men, as the voice of God. But this is not saying that the decisions of a General Conference composed of an assembly of duly appointed, representative men from all parts of the field should not be respected. God has ordained that the representatives of His church from all parts of the earth, when assembled in a General Conference, shall have authority. The error that some are in danger of committing is in giving to the mind and judgment of one man, or of a small group of men, the full measure of authority and influence that God has vested in His church in the judgment and voice of the General Conference assembled to plan for the prosperity and advancement of His work” (Testimonies to the Church, Vol. 9, pp.260, 261).
2. In the General Conference, decision making authority was too centralized.
“We have reached the time when the work cannot advance while wrong principles are cherished. Two or three voices are not to control everything in the whole field. No, indeed. In every field God has men of capability. He does not mean that these men, when they wish to take advance steps, shall send to Battle Creek in order to find out the best way in which to move. The Lord says, I will break up this plan of working. I will sever these connections. Every field shall bear its own responsibility” (Manuscript 37, 1901).
3. “Kingly power” was being exercised.
“In the work of God no kingly authority is to be exercised by any human being, or by two or three. The representatives of the Conference, as it has been carried with authority for the last 20 years, shall be no longer justified in saying, ‘The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord are we.’ The men in positions of trust have not been carrying the work wisely.
“The Lord calls for wise men to preside over His work, and to be faithful shepherds of His flock. He has a work to be done in every city. The General Conference has fallen into strange ways, and we have reason to marvel that judgment has not fallen, showing ‘by terrible things in righteousness’ that God is not a man that He should lie” (Manuscript 26, 1903).
4. The General Conference had not been following sound principles.
“The blessing of God can attend only the cleanest, purest work between man and his fellow man. But at the very heart of the work wrongs have been glossed over. Strict integrity has been turned aside, and dishonesty has taken its place. Men have not scrupled to conduct the work after their own defective planning. All this bears only too plainly the impress of human, erring wisdom. These men have no completeness of character in Christ, and nothing could be more unwise than to allow such men to be actively engaged in work that God has not demanded of them. Bible principles are not considered of sufficient consequence to demand forethought, earnest prayer in private. Close investigation of the work and its management is not considered needful” (Manuscript 66, 1898).
“It is working upon wrong principles that has brought the cause of God into its present embarrassment. The people have lost confidence in those who have the management of the work. Yet we hear that the voice of the Conference is the voice of God. Every time I have heard this, I have thought it was almost blasphemy. The voice of the Conference ought to be the voice of God, but it is not, because some in connection with it are not men of faith and prayer, they are not men of elevated principle. There is not a seeking of God with the whole heart; there is not a realization of the terrible responsibility that rests upon those in this institution to mold and fashion minds after the divine similitude” (Manuscript 37, 1901).
5. The sacred and the common had been mixed.
“I was alarmed at the state of things [which] now existed, for I knew from the light which the Lord had been pleased to give me, not many were standing in a position before God where they could discern their own soul needs and be a help and a blessing to the church. They professedly believed the truth, but they were far from being sanctified through the truth. Some had been separating their souls from God, and were spiritually blind. Many of our brethren...had been engrossed in business, purchasing and selling real estate, and investing in, and selling shares in mines. This had been a snare to the church with laymen and ministers and was eating out of their hearts the interest in and love for the truth. Speculation swept in a large number of our brethren while the excitement lasted and was becoming a common thing. The practices and customs of worldlings, the feverish ambition, the exciting, absorbing, interest in speculation, was mixed and mingled with the sacred work of the minister. Men carrying credentials from the conference were engaged in such enterprises. God could not bless any such worldly ambition. The condition and evidence of our discipleship is self denial and the cross. Unless these are brought into our experience, we cannot know God; we cannot worship him in spirit and in truth and in the beauty of holiness. But those who ought to have stood in the clear light, that they might present the attractions of Christ before the people, and lift up Jesus before them as soon as out of the desk, were earnestly preaching of buying and selling real estate, and of investing money in mining stock. Their minds absorbed in business affairs could not distinguish between the sacred and the common; discernment was blunted, the deceptive power of the enemy was exercised over their minds” (Ellen G. White 1888 Materials, pp.50, 51).
6. Members of the General Conference executive committee had become entangled in business affairs.
“The voice of the General Conference has been represented as an authority to be heeded as the voice of the Holy Spirit. But when the members of the General Conference Committee become entangled in business affairs and financial perplexities, the sacred, elevated character of their work is in a great degree lost. The temple of God becomes as a place of merchandise, and the ministers of God's house as common businessmen. Their work is brought down on a level with common things. Business cares and perplexities unfit them for the consideration of matters relating to the spiritual interests of the work, which require the keenest perception, the most careful thought, the most delicate tact, and the deepest spiritual insight” (Manuscript 33, 1895).
7. Men were not occupying the correct positions.
“The General Conference Committee has a weighty responsibility in caring for the interests of our people and of the work which is committed to them. As the field of our work widens, this responsibility becomes greater. It is not the will of God that those who are called to this position should so lade themselves down with business cares that they are crippled in the work to which they have been chosen.…
“God does not intend that the General Conference Committee should embrace financial responsibilities that call for a large amount of labor, for the churches are thus deprived of the very help they need. And the decisions of the Conference will come to be regarded as on a level with the opinions of businessmen. The sacred authority with which God has invested His servants is lost.
“The sixth chapter of Acts should be carefully studied by the members of the General Conference Committee, and its instructions should be heeded. Let men be chosen to attend to the business lines of the work, and give counsel in these matters. Let them be devoted men, men of faith and prayer, set apart to do this special work” (Manuscript 33, 1895).
8. There was not sufficient appreciation of the need in foreign fields.
“Brethren in America, I am praying day and night that the Lord may extend your vision, in order that you may see things that are afar off. How can the Lord Jesus approve of your absorbing so much means in increasing facilities whereby to advance the work in America, while foreign fields are destitute of means whereby to begin the work in parts where no beginning has been made? Knowing as we do, how well equipped are our institutions for publishing, for education, and for treating the sick, and what a firm basis the truth has in that field, we wonder that you should think it proper to expend more means there, when these foreign fields are so lacking in that with which you are so well furnished. Here are places all about us that have never been entered, and cannot be worked unless we shall have houses of worship, even though of the humblest character. We cannot call out the people to hear the truth in tents as in America; for in many places, as in Wellington, New Zealand, the wind would strip them to ribbons. We have not a place in these large cities where we can call out the people to hear the truth of God. We cannot unfurl the banner of truth; for we have no standing place. I am looking to the Lord for light, and I shall make appeals again and again, like the importunate widow, until you shall be compelled to hear, and attend to the call…” (Review and Herald, December 5, 1893 par. 4).
These objections to the current state of things added to the cacophony of calls for reform in the way the Adventist Church was doing business.
Next: Concerted Effort
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