Extracts From Testimonies

GCB.1903-04-10.001

«It is not wise to choose one man as president of the General Conference;» «Never should one mind, or two minds, or three minds, or four minds, or a few minds, I should say, be considered of sufficient wisdom and power to control and mark out plans, and let it rest upon the minds of only one or two or three in regard to this particular part of the field that we have.»

GCB.1903-04-10.002

«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 to-day, 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.»

GCB.1903-04-10.003

«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 openings 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 house, from our educational institutions, and from our sanitariums, which have life in them, which are constantly working, constantly broadening.

GCB.1903-04-10.004

«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?

GCB.1903-04-10.005

«God desires that His work shall be a rising, broadening, enlarging power. But the management of the work is becoming confused in itself.»

GCB.1903-04-10.006

«Not that any one wishes to be wrong or to do wrong; but the principles are wrong.» «These principles are so foreign to God’s principles that God can not 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 can not entrust to such as these the tremendous responsibilities which are now to be handled.»

GCB.1903-04-10.007

«To the leaders in the medical missionary work I must say that no one is to claim kingly power over God’s heritage in the medical missionary work.»

GCB.1903-04-10.008

«The Lord knows the future. He is the One to lead, and trusted in to guide, to guard, and direct in the future development of the various branches of His work. For several years. I have been warned that there is danger, constant danger, of men looking to men for permission to do this or that, instead of looking to God for themselves.»

GCB.1903-04-10.009

«The Lord can impress minds and consciences to do His work under bonds to God, and in a brotherly fraternity that will be in accordance with His laws.» «Each institution is to stand in its own responsibility.»

GCB.1903-04-10.010

«They will increase in strength and influence if they follow the light God has given. . . . It is best for every sanitarium to stand in its own responsibility.» «The kingly power formerly exhibited in General Conference is not to be perpetuated.»

GCB.1903-04-10.011

«The kingly power formerly exhibited in the General Conference is not to be perpetuated. The publishing work is not to be a kingdom in itself. It is essential that the principles that govern in General Conference affairs should be maintained in the management of the publishing work and the sanitarium work.»

GCB.1903-04-10.012

«The division of the General Conference into District Union Conferences was God’s arrangement. In the work of the Lord in these last days there should be no Jerusalem centers, no kingly power. And the work in the different countries is not to be tied up by contracts to the work centering in Battle Creek, for this is not God’s plan. Brethren are to counsel together; for we are just as much under the control of God in one part of His vineyard as in another. Brethren are to be one in heart and soul, even as Christ and the Father are one.»

GCB.1903-04-10.013

«The kingly power formerly exhibited in the General Conference at Battle Creek is not to be perpetuated. The publishing institution is not to be a kingdom of itself. It is essential that the principles that govern in General Conference affairs shall be maintained in the managements of the publishing work and the sanitarium work. No one is to consider that the branch of the work with which he is connected is of vastly more importance than other branches.»

GCB.1903-04-10.014

«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. The president of the General Conference should have the privilege of deciding who shall stand by his side as counselors.»

GCB.1903-04-10.015

«The system of organization has proved a grand success. Systematic benevolence was entered into according to the Bible plan. The body ‘has been compacted by that which every joint supplieth.’ As we have advanced, our system of organization has still proved effectual. In some parts of the work, it is true, the machinery has been made too complicated.»

GCB.1903-04-10.016

«The business of our Conference sessions has sometimes been burdened down with propositions and resolutions that were not at all essential.»

GCB.1903-04-10.017

«Let none entertain the thought, however, that we can dispense with organization. It has cost us much study, and many prayers for wisdom that we know God has answered, to erect this structure. It has been built up by His direction, through much sacrifice and conflict. Let none of our brethren be so deceived as to attempt to tear it down; for you will thus bring in a condition of things that you do not dream of. In the name of the Lord, I declare to you that it is to stand, strengthened, established, and settled. At God’s command, ‘Go forward,’ we advanced when the difficulties to be surmounted made the advance seem impossible. We know how much it has cost to work out God’s plan in the past, which has made us as a people what we are. Then let every one be exceedingly careful not to unsettle minds in regard to these things that God has ordained for our prosperity and success in advancing His cause.»