Today is July 5, 2025. A week ago, I wrote this, and I have been wrestling with whether or not to share it because I don’t enjoy challenging the status quo. It is not ever comfortable. But for all of my life my heart has hurt so deeply when I see patterns that persistently rob us of the friendship that God is seeking with us, and also therefore rob us of healthy intimate productive relationship with each other.
Baba Ndiri, Source of Everything:
Dear God of holy disruption,
You do not dwell in temples made by human hands alone.
You dwell in the trembling hearts of those
who mourn corruption
who grieve deception
who refuse to conform when conformity costs us You.
Help me, like Ellen, to speak with fire
and walk with tenderness.
Help me to call Your people home
without returning to what I resist.
Help me remember that the truth
does not need to shout to be known—
it only needs to be spoken in love.
Let my voice echo Yours.
Let my anger flow from mercy.
Let my grief become a well of hope.
Let informed compassion fill my heart.
Amen.
Faith is not synonymous with conformity.
Those who had used Scripture for many generations to maintain control of the people were terrified that Yeshua was freeing the people—not just from Rome, but from the religious authority of the Priests and Pharisees.
Yeshua wasn’t abolishing Scripture—He was fulfilling it.
He wasn’t destroying the law—He was revealing its heart.
He wasn’t rejecting their traditions—He was exposing their misuse, and leaving His light in Word for future generations to use as an introduction to the Way, the Truth, the Son of God.
People may think that I am determined to create confusion and harm to Christianity and especially to the Adventist Church. But no one knows how much I have agonized and struggled from 2007 to now with the huge concerns that have been burdening my heart, as I have watched the Executive Branch of the Church and some of its clergy and associates keep strange fires lit among the Spirit’s light of truth that have deceived and done grave harm to the spiritual, mental, emotional, and fiancial health of its members.
A friend recently mentioned a couple of months ago that the SDA Church had effectively banished Ellen White to Australia in order to silence her.
I had never known that. I had only ever been taught of her approval of all things SDA. I was taught that she was much like the cornerstone of the movement.
This morning as I was asking God how to move forward – mainly how to move past the block that was preventing me from clearly hearing His next step – searching for Ellen’s struggle came to mind.
That was instructive for me. She reminded me to be careful about what I said, and how I said it. She reminded me not to use a sword to cut off the leader’s servant’s ear – as Kefa (Peter) had done.
She reminded me that Yeshua had not directed us to buy a sword to harm anyone, but that we were to use our swords as tools that served the need of the common good.
Did you know that Ellen White was banished to Australia – away from the General Conference so that her voice of caution would no longer be heard because she strongly cautioned against conforming to unhealthy church policies and doctrines?
🧭 What Did She Say?
Throughout her writings, Ellen White warned repeatedly against centralization of power and the dangers of placing trust in human structures rather than the Holy Spirit. A few key points from her concerns:
⚠️ On Institutional Power:
“The church is in the Laodicean state. The presence of God is not in her midst.”
— Manuscript Releases, vol. 1, p. 249 (1898)
“Men have taken unfair advantage of those whom they supposed to be under their jurisdiction. They have taken upon themselves responsibilities that they were never fitted to bear. Their decisions have been relied upon as the voice of God.”
— Testimonies to Ministers, p. 279
💡 On Corporate Control vs. Holy Spirit Leading:
“The General Conference is no longer [relaying messages from] the voice of God.”
— Manuscript 37, 1901
She said this during a time when leadership structures were failing to respond to the Spirit-led movements in different parts of the world, and instead were consolidating authority.
✊🏾 On Mission Drift and Wealth Accumulation:
Ellen White cautioned against the growing tendency to run the church like a business or legal corporation:
“The work of God is not to be carried forward after the world’s plan… Let not the work of reform be hindered by the selfishness of men who hold the truth in unrighteousness.”
— Review and Herald, August 28, 1900
❤️🔥 Her Vision?
Ellen White dreamed of a people shaped not by policies and power structures, but by divine love, humility, and the prophetic call to serve, not rule. She longed for a church in which:
• Decisions were made through prayer and mutual humility.
• Every believer was empowered to follow God’s leading, not just those in positions of leadership.
• The focus was on freedom in Christ, compassion for the oppressed, and readiness to move wherever the Spirit led—not protection of image, wealth, or control.
Here are several insightful quotes from Ellen G. White that reveal her deep concerns about the growing institutionalism and corporatism within Adventism:
❌ “General Conference is no longer [relaying messages from] the voice of God”
• “There is being done in America, by the General Conference, that… the churches in the conferences know nothing about… the General Conference so‑called is no longer the voice of God. It has become a strange voice, and they are building strange fire.” (spoken to W. C. White, 1901)
• “It has been some years since I have considered the General Conference as the voice of God.” (1898)
- “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…” (Testimonies for the Church, vol. 9)
🤝 Re-establishing Biblically Grounded Organization
• “When the judgment of the General Conference… is exercised, private independence and private judgment must not be stubbornly maintained, but surrendered.” (9 T 260.1)
🛑 Institutional Corruption versus Divine Mission
• “And the General Conference is itself becoming corrupted with wrong sentiments and principles… human inventions were made supreme.” (Letter 55, September 19, 1895)
• “The sacred character of the cause of God is no longer realized at the center of the work… the voice from Battle Creek… is no longer the voice of God… maintained by men who should have been disconnected.” (1896)
🤝 Re-establishing Biblically Grounded Organization
• “When the judgment of the General Conference… is exercised, private independence and private judgment must not be stubbornly maintained, but surrendered.” (9 T 260.1)
• She supported broad, representative meetings—not small, isolated councils: “God has ordained that the representatives of His church from all parts of the earth… when assembled in a General Conference… shall have authority.”
⸻
🔄 Why This Matters Today
- Caution Against Power Concentration
She witnessed how a few in central leadership could shape direction away from divine guidance, warning that such structures could become entrenched and impure. - Championing Spirit-led Collaboration
She wasn’t anti-organization—rather, she supported structures that were prayerful, transparent, and representative, not top-down or cloaked in bureaucracy. - Balancing Spiritual Authority
Her vision emphasized a church led by the Holy Spirit through collective counsel, not by institutional hierarchy or vested personal authority.
The Seventh-day Adventist Church never formally excommunicated or publicly condemned Ellen G. White—but they often ignored, resisted, and isolated her, especially when her prophetic voice challenged institutional power, racial injustice, or hierarchical control.
🧭 Here’s What Happened:
- She Was Sent to Australia—Not Just for Mission, but to Remove Her from the Power Centre
In 1891, Ellen White was sent to Australia by General Conference leaders, officially as a missionary. But many historians and insiders recognize that this move effectively distanced her from Battle Creek, the headquarters of the church. At the time, she was a strong voice against centralized control and the spiritual decay at the core of the institution.
“I know not how long my stay will be in this country. I will go forward in the name of the Lord… But I feel greatly distressed as I see what is coming in upon us.”
— Letter 85, 1896
White never outright said she was “banished,” but she clearly felt exiled and sensed that her absence allowed dangerous patterns to deepen unchecked at headquarters.
- Her Letters Were Ignored or Minimally Acted On
Ellen White wrote numerous letters to leaders at Battle Creek warning about pride, wealth accumulation, abuse of authority, and spiritual apathy.
• Her appeals for racial justice (like her 1891 sermon “Our Duty to the Colored People”) were almost entirely ignored.
• Her calls for decentralizing power and letting the Holy Spirit lead were met with minimal structural reform until the 1901 General Conference session—and even that was short-lived.
“You are not definitely doing the will of God. The work of God is not to be fashioned after human devising.”
— Letter 41, 1896
- She Faced Undermining from Within the Leadership
Some church leaders saw her as a prophet when convenient, but dismissed her when she challenged their policies.
• A.T. Jones, one of the 1888 reformers, supported her early on but later drifted into spiritual extremism and undermined her influence.
• Uriah Smith and others resisted her warnings about over-centralization and racial injustice.
Ellen White was deeply grieved by this rejection, and at times even questioned her own usefulness:
“I feel sometimes that I have no place, no home, in this world.”
— Letter 127, 1903
- She Ultimately Withdrew from Organizational Leadership
By 1903–1905, after years of trying to reform the church from within, Ellen White focused primarily on writing and local ministry, stepping back from formal institutional influence.
“Let men beware how they give themselves up to the control of any human being. Let them not dishonor God by placing blind confidence in men and accepting the work of man for the work of God.”
— 8T 78 (Testimonies for the Church, vol. 😎
✝️ Final Years: A Prophet Sidelined, But Not Silenced
• She continued to publish powerful works—Steps to Christ, The Desire of Ages, The Ministry of Healing, and more.
• She never abandoned the Adventist message, but she challenged the system that distorted it.
• At her death in 1915, the church honored her publicly—but many of her most radical warnings were quickly buried, and her legacy was later institutionalized in ways she never intended.
Ellen G. White believed that the Seventh-day Adventist Church had a prophetic calling, a divine mandate to proclaim the three angels’ messages (Revelation 14), and to prepare people for the second coming of Christ. However, she did not believe the Adventist Church was infallible, nor did she teach that belonging to it guaranteed salvation.
In fact, she repeatedly warned that the church could fall, become corrupt, and even be “Babylon” if it betrayed its calling.
✅ YES — She believed Adventists were called by God
• Ellen White clearly saw the Adventist movement as raised up by God for a special purpose:
“God has a church upon the earth, who are His chosen people, who keep His commandments.”
— Letter 12, 1893
“The Seventh-day Adventist Church has been chosen by God as a peculiar people, separate from the world.”
— Testimonies for the Church, vol. 7, p. 138
This calling was missional, not a badge of superiority. It came with a weighty responsibility: to reflect God’s character, uphold truth, and remain faithful to the Spirit’s leading.
❌ BUT — She strongly rebuked the idea that the church was unconditionally “the remnant”
• She did not teach that the Adventist Church was immune to apostasy or above divine judgment:
“We are in danger of becoming a sister to fallen Babylon, of allowing our churches to become corrupted, and filled with every foul spirit, a cage for every unclean and hateful bird.”
— Letter 51, 1886
“The church is in the Laodicean state. The presence of God is not in her midst.”
— Manuscript Releases, vol. 1, p. 249
She consistently emphasized that faithfulness—not affiliation—determines spiritual identity.
⚖️ Her View Was Conditional Faithfulness, Not Institutional Perfection
Ellen White’s vision was not of a denomination being saved, but of a people shaped by truth, mercy, and surrender to Christ:
“Not by name, but by character, will God judge His people.”
— Testimonies to Ministers, p. 422
She also made clear that others outside of Adventism were sincerely following God.
She did not support the othering of Catholics:
“Among the Catholics there are many who are most conscientious Christians, and who walk in all the light that shines upon them…”
— The Great Controversy, p. 565
Nurturing Kindred 