Abuse of Power at Church Headquarters
The General Conference is itself becoming corrupted with wrong sentiments and principles.... {LDE 49.2}
Men have taken unfair advantage of those whom they supposed to be under their jurisdiction. They were determined to bring the individuals to their terms; they would rule or ruin.... {LDE 49.3}
The high-handed power that has been developed, as though position has made men gods, makes me afraid, and ought to cause fear. It is a curse wherever and by whomsoever it is exercised.—Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers, 359-361 (1895). {LDE 49.4}
There are altogether too many weighty responsibilities given to a few men, and some do not make God their Counselor. What do these men know of the necessities of the work in foreign countries? How can they know how to decide the questions which come to them asking for information? It would require three months for those in foreign countries to receive a response to their questions, even if there was no delay in writing.—Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers, 321 (1896). {LDE 49.5}
Those living in distant countries will not do that which their judgment tells them is right unless they first send for permission to Battle Creek. Before they will advance they await Yes or No from that place.—Special Testimonies, Series A 9:32 (1896). {LDE 49.6}
It is not wise to choose one man as president of the General Conference. The work of the General Conference has extended, and some things have been made unnecessarily complicated. A want of discernment has been shown. There should be a division of the field, or some other plan should be devised to change the present order of things.—Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers, 342 (1896). [The Seventh-day Adventist Church was organized in 1863 with 3,500 members, half a dozen local conferences, about thirty ministerial laborers, and a General Conference Committee of three. The General Conference president was well able to provide the leadership and counsel required by such a small organization. He could personally attend every important meeting and in addition give personal attention to much of the business connected with the publishing work. However, by 1896 the work of the church had greatly expanded in the United States, and extended to Europe, Australia, and Africa as well. It was no longer possible for one man to give adequate supervision and direction to such a widespreading work. Ellen White urged a division of the field, so that our church members around the world would not look to just one man for counsel. This was accomplished by the creation of union conferences and world divisions.] {LDE 50.1}
Unwise Leaders Do Not Speak for God
The voice from Battle Creek, which has been regarded as authority in counseling how the work should be done, is no longer the voice of God.—Manuscript Releases 17:185 (1896). {LDE 50.2}
It has been some years since I have considered the General Conference as the voice of God.—Manuscript Releases 17:216 (1898). {LDE 50.3}
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.—The General Conference Bulletin, April 3, 1901, p. 25. {LDE 50.4}
A New Denomination Not Needed
You will take passages in the Testimonies that speak of the close of probation, of the shaking among God’s people, and you will talk of a coming out from this people of a purer, holier people that will arise. Now all this pleases the enemy.... Should many accept the views you advance, and talk and act upon them, we would see one of the greatest fanatical excitements that has ever been witnessed among Seventh-day Adventists. This is what Satan wants.—Selected Messages 1:179 (1890). {LDE 51.1}
The Lord has not given you a message to call the Seventh-day Adventists Babylon, and to call the people of God to come out of her. All the reasons you may present cannot have weight with me on this subject, because the Lord has given me decided light that is opposed to such a message.... {LDE 51.2}
I know that the Lord loves His church. It is not to be disorganized or broken up into independent atoms. There is not the least consistency in this; there is not the least evidence that such a thing will be.—Selected Messages 2:63, 68, 69 (1893). {LDE 51.3}
I tell you, my brethren, the Lord has an organized body through whom He will work.... When anyone is drawing apart from the organized body of God’s commandment-keeping people, when he begins to weigh the church in his human scales and begins to pronounce judgment against them, then you may know that God is not leading him. He is on the wrong track.—Selected Messages 3:17, 18 (1893). {LDE 51.4}
God Will Set Everything in Order
There is no need to doubt, to be fearful that the work will not succeed. God is at the head of the work, and He will set everything in order. If matters need adjusting at the head of the work God will attend to that, and work to right every wrong. Let us have faith that God is going to carry the noble ship which bears the people of God safely into port.—Selected Messages 2:390 (1892). {LDE 52.1}
Has God no living church? He has a church, but it is the church militant, not the church triumphant. We are sorry that there are defective members, that there are tares amid the wheat.... Although there are evils existing in the church, and will be until the end of the world, the church in these last days is to be the light of the world that is polluted and demoralized by sin. The church, enfeebled and defective, needing to be reproved, warned, and counseled, is the only object upon earth upon which Christ bestows His supreme regard.—Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers, 45, 49 (1893). {LDE 52.2}
The bulwarks of Satan will never triumph. Victory will attend the third angel’s message. As the Captain of the Lord’s host tore down the walls of Jericho, so will the Lord’s commandment-keeping people triumph, and all opposing elements be defeated.—Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers, 410 (1898). {LDE 52.3}
Arthur | (Paulo Rocha) Saúde
Cláudio | (Ruth) Saúde
Levi | Saúde
Luiz e Alejandro | Saúde
Marcos | Saúde
Pedro | (pastor) Saúde
Laura | (Almir) Saúde
Miguel | (Alex) Saúde
Pr. Ottoni | (pai da Marjorie) Saúde
Thalles | (Juan e Thais) Saúde
Mateus | Saúde
Sandra | (Joezel) Saúde
Isadora | Saúde
Inês | Saúde
Laurete | Saúde
Enock e Túlio | (Silas) Saúde
Nair | (Oliveira) Saúde
Tia Bia | Saúde
Lúcia | (vó Keyse) Saúde
Saul | (família Cruz) Saúde
Elisa | (família Aguiar) Saúde
Jorge | (Ever) Saúde
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