THOUGHTS FOR TODAY: MAR. 8, 2014 HEB. 13:11-13 For the bodies of those beasts, whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin, are burned without the camp. 12 Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate. 13 Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach. QUOTATION FROM THE SPIRIT OF PROPHECY: As Adam and Eve were banished from Eden for transgressing the law of God, so Christ was to suffer without the boundaries of the holy place. He died outside the camp, where felons and murderers were executed. There he trod the winepress alone, bearing the penalty that should have fallen on the sinner. How deep and full of significance are the words, “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us.” He went forth without the camp, thus showing that he gave his life not only for the Jewish nation, but for the whole world.– {YI June 28, 1900 Par. 2} BIOGRAPHY OF E. G.WHITE, PART 27, 2014, MAR.8,2014 A Wholesome Response The days spent in Battle Creek were difficult, crucial, but successful. However, the large building was given up for the present. Hammers, saws, and trowels were laid aside, and church leaders were determined to follow the counsel given. – {WV 141.5} James was put on the board of directors, which helped to establish confidence. To hold things on an even keel, he told of plans that would make it possible for the institute to continue its activities within its resources. He assured everyone that the business was sound and urged them to manifest a gracious attitude toward those responsible for the current problems. – {WV 141.6} Four years later he was happy to report that: – {WV 141.7} We have worked in accordance with our faith, and with the blessing of God, and the cooperation of faithful friends at the institute, and also abroad, it has been gradually rising, and is now enjoying a full tide of prosperity (The Review and Herald, September 12, 1871). – {WV 141.8} It was finally on a sound financial basis, under good management, and with four physicians on the staff. Enlargement of the main building was about finished, and the cottages had been refurbished; it seemed that there should be a rededication of the facilities. This would offer an opportunity to acquaint the city and surrounding community with the institution. A committee was formed to foster such a program, and the back page of the July 18 Review carried an announcement of a health convention to be held Thursday, July 27, with plans for a banquet. James White, as chairman of the committee on arrangements, signed the notice. – {WV 141.9} A Gala Festival The committee chosen to foster the event, chaired by James White, sent out printed invitations to the principal families in the city and community to participate in a “hygienic festival” on the grounds of the institution. The response was excellent, and the dinner was an outstanding success. One of the guests, the Honorable George Willard, editor of the Battle Creek Journal, made the following statement: – {WV 142.1} On Thursday, July 27, on the spacious and beautiful grounds of the Health Institute in this city, there was held a Health Reform Convention or Hygienic Festival, which was attended by about eight hundred persons, chiefly assembled from Battle Creek and the towns in the vicinity. The day was one of the finest of the season, and as the people began arriving about eleven o’clock in the forenoon, they found the amplest preparations made for their reception. – {WV 142.2} On the south side of the grounds were five tables—each 128 feet [39 meters] in length, the total length being 640 feet [195 meters]—all set in the neatest style and appropriately decorated with vases of flowers, while on the north side a large platform had been fitted up for a speaker’s stand, with seats arranged in front of it for accommodation of the guests during the speaking (The Health Reformer, August, 1871; quoted in The Review and Herald, August 22, 1871). – {WV 142.3} Before the guests sat down at the tables, there were some speeches from both James and Ellen White. They were listened to with close attention as they presented with force and clearness the new principles of hygiene. – {WV 142.4} After the invocation of the divine blessing and dinner was announced, the crowd surged toward the five tables. Six hundred seventy-five persons were served with a tempting meal. There were vegetables, of course, tastily prepared: – {WV 142.5} New ripe potatoes, green beans, green corn, beets, squash, green peas, baked beans (Ibid.). – {WV 142.6} There were breads and cakes: – {WV 142.7} Gems, raised bread, hard biscuit, buns, fruit cake (graham), sponge cake (graham), apple pie (graham), oatmeal pudding, manioca pudding with fruit, rice pudding with fruit (Ibid.). – {WV 142.8} As to fruit there were peaches, dried prunes, figs, dates, apples, whortleberries (huckleberries), and blackberries. The editor stated: – {WV 143.1} It is to be noticed that butter, grease of all kinds, tea, coffee, spice, pepper, ginger, and nutmeg were wholly discarded in the cookery and were not in use on the tables. Salt was provided for those who desired it (Ibid.). – {WV 143.2} Going considerably into detail, the editor stated: – {WV 143.3} The dinner was served in a most capital manner, and was relished and universally commended by the vast company of guests, most of whom for the first time sat at a public dinner got up on the hygienic plan (Ibid.). – {WV 143.4} Then there was a visit to the facilities of the institute, and the crowd gathered again to listen further to James and Ellen White. Willard concluded his report: “The institute, it is needless to add, has gained greatly by this convention, in having its aims and objects, as well as its actual condition and prospects, brought more fully before the public at large” (Ibid.). – {WV 143.5} This is precisely what the directors of the institute and the Adventist community had hoped for, and was a prelude to a long and interesting future that really put the name of Battle Creek on the map. – {WV 143.6} The Tenth Annual Session Of The General Conference The tenth annual session of the General Conference opened in Battle Creek, Friday morning, December 29, 1871. It was a meeting that to a degree would see the fruition of James White’s determination to strengthen the base of the work to ensure its future and give him needed relief. It was a meeting of encouraging reports and the laying of long-range plans. The Publishing Association was prospering, having increased its assets by nearly $11,000 during the previous 10 months and erected a new building that was to be dedicated in a few days. The health institute was doing well; it was managed by Ira Abbey, the first of the “picked men” to join the business forces in Battle Creek. But James and Ellen White were spent; it was clear that they must get away from the burdens that inevitably rolled upon them when they were in Battle Creek. – {WV 143.7}
Posted on: Sat, 08 Mar 2014 00:46:43 +0000
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