I send this matter to you so that you shall not make a mistake. Circumstances alter cases. I would not advise that anyone should make a practice of gathering up tithe money. But for years there have now and then been persons who have lost confidence in the appropriation of the tithe, who have placed their tithe in my hands, and said that if I did not take it they would themselves appropriate it to the families of the most needy ministers they could find. I have taken the money, given a receipt for it, and told them how it was appropriated. {2MR 100.2}
I write this to you so that you shall keep cool and not become stirred up and give publicity to this matter, lest many more shall follow their example. –Letter 267, 1905, pp. 1, 2. (To Elder Watson, Jan. 22, 1905.) {2MR 100.3}
I have seventy-five dollars from Brother _____, tithe money, and we thought that it would be best to send it along to the Southern field to help colored ministers. . . . I want it specially applied to the colored ministers to help
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them in their salaries.–Letter 262, 1902, p. 1. (To Elder and Mrs. J. E. White, Oct. 23, 1902; Biography Vol. 5, p. 396.) {2MR 100.4}
You ask if I will accept tithe from you and use it in the cause of God where most needed. In reply I will say that I shall not refuse to do this, but at the same time I will tell you that there is a better way. It is better to put confidence in the ministers of the conference where you live and in the officers of the church where you worship. Draw nigh to your brethren. Love them with a true heart fervently, and encourage them to bear their responsibilities faithfully in the fear of God. “Be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity” [1 Tim. 4:12].–Letter 96, 1911 (Published in The Early Elmshaven Years, p. 397.) {2MR 101.1}
All the means is not to be handled by one organization or agency
Do not worry lest some means shall go direct to those who are trying to do missionary work in a quiet and effective way. All the means is not to be handled by one agency or organization. There is much business to be done conscientiously for the cause of God. Help is to be sought from every possible source. There are men who can do the work of securing means for the cause, and when these are acting conscientiously and in harmony with the counsels of their fellow-laborers in the field which they represent, the hand of restraint is not to be laid upon them. They are surely laborers together with Him who gave His life for the salvation of souls ( Spaulding and Magan Collection, Paragraph 7, p.421.)
There are those who have means, and who will give large and small sums. Have this money come direct to your destitute portion of the vineyard. The Lord has not specified any regular channel through which means should pass. ( Spaulding and Magan Collection, Paragraph 4, p.498.)
The Lord has blessed the work that J.E. White has tried to do in the South. God grant that the voices which have been so quilckly raised to say that all the money invested in the work must go through the appointed channel at Battle Creek, shall not be heard. The people to whom God has given his means are amenable to him alone. It is their privilege to give direct aid and assistance to missions. It is because of the misappropriation of means that the Southern field has no better showing than it has today. . ( Spaulding and Magan Collection, Paragraph 7, p.176.)
The arrangement that all the moneys must go through Battle Creek and under the control of the few men in that place is a wrong way of managing. 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 Paragraph 1, p.321).
Means should not be withheld even if the institution is not bound to the conference.
And in the matter of the Madison school, there has been a standing off from then because they were not under the ownership and control of some conference. This is a question that should sometimes be considered, but it is not the Lord’s plan that means should be withheld from Madison, because they are not bound to the conference. (Manuscript Release, Vol. 8, paragraph 3, p. 202).
Sharing and Caring by Sister Maria Flemons
power of prayer by ellen g white
Ch. 36 – When and How Will God Answer Prayer? Scripture Text: Matt 7:7,8
“Ask, then; ask, and ye shall receive. Ask for humility, wisdom, courage, increase of faith. To every sincere prayer an answer will come. It may not come just as you desire, or at the time you look for it; but it will come in the way and at the time that will best meet your need. The prayers you offer in loneliness, in weariness, in trial, God answers, not always according to your expectations, but always for your good.” Gospel Workers, p 258
“The lessons that God sends will always, if well learned, bring help in due time. Put your trust in God. Pray much, and believe. Trusting, hoping, believing, holding fast the hand of Infinite Power, you will be more than conquerors.
True workers walk and work by faith. Sometimes they grow weary with watching the slow advance of the work when the battle wages strong between the powers of good and evil. But if they refuse to fail or be discouraged they will see the clouds breaking away and the promise of deliverance fulfilling. Through the mist with which Satan has surrounded them, they will see the shining of the bright beams of the Sun of Righteousness.
Work in faith, and leave results with God. Pray in faith, and the mystery of His providence will bring its answer. At times it may seem that you cannot succeed. But work and believe, putting into your efforts faith, hope, and courage. After doing what you can, wait for the Lord, declaring His faithfulness, and He will bring His word to pass. Wait, not in fretful anxiety, but in undaunted faith and unshaken trust.” Testimonies for the Church, Vol.7, p 245
today’s prayer request
Special Caller – Unspoken requests.
Continued Prayer
Prayer for all to begin the cleansing work of allowing the Lord reveal your true heart condition so that sin can be eradicated from your life and you can then be transformed into His Perfect Image. Do the cleansing prayer work now! Jesus is soon to come!