In the meantime, in California, Ellen White was carrying a heavy burden on her heart for Dr. Kellogg. The disastrous outcome of the course he was following in the rebuilding of the Battle Creek institution had been revealed to her. To Dr. David Paulson, one of Kellogg's close associates, she wrote on July 7, 1902:5BIO 156.3

Brother Paulson, pray most earnestly for Dr. Kellogg. He is going directly contrary to the light that God has given in regard to the building of smaller sanitariums. The evils of erecting a very large sanitarium in any place should be fully understood. The Lord has revealed to me that if, in the place of having one mammoth sanitarium in Battle Creek, smaller sanitariums could be established in several cities, His name would be glorified. The centering of so much in one place is contrary to God's order. Small plants should be started in many places.—Letter 110, 1902.5BIO 156.4

On August 5 she wrote to Kellogg:5BIO 156.5

I received your excellent letter a short time ago. You were not at home when you wrote, but were traveling from place to place, and therefore I did not answer immediately. After I received your letter, my heart was much oppressed. For several nights I could not sleep past one o'clock, but walked the room praying.

The fourth night I said, “Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do? I am willing to do anything that it is duty for me to do.”5BIO 157.1

I was instructed, “I have a message for you to bear to Dr. Kellogg.” I thought, “It will do no good. He does not accept the messages that I bear him, unless these harmonize with his plans and devisings.” Yet I must give the message given to me for you.5BIO 157.2

My brother, you have not heeded the light given you. If you go forward in your own judgment, to carry out your purposes, you will lead other minds astray. Many of the plans that have been laid for our work are not according to the plans and purposes of God.—Letter 123, 1902.5BIO 157.3

But the matter was larger than the construction of sanitariums. Basically it was the expression of the hearts of men that gave her such concern.5BIO 157.4

In her mind she went back to the General Conference session held in April, 1901. She pointed out to Kellogg that if the work had been done there that God designed should be done, the fallow ground of the heart would have been broken up and men bearing responsibilities with humility of soul would have led out in the work of confession and consecration, giving evidence that they had received the counsels of warning sent by the Lord. She laid the responsibility on “men in positions of authority in the medical missionary work” (Letter 173, 1902) and declared:5BIO 157.5

There would have been one of the greatest revivals that there has been since the day of Pentecost.—Letter 123, 1902.5BIO 157.6

Sadly she wrote, 5BIO 157.7

The work that all heaven was waiting to do as soon as men prepared the way was not done, for the leaders closed and bolted the door against the Spirit's entrance. There was a stopping short of entire surrender to God. And hearts that might have been purified from all error were strengthened in wrongdoing.— Ibid.

Near the close of the eight-page letter she urged:5BIO 157.8

The leaders in our medical work should now be considering the testimonies that for years have been coming to them. If they pay no heed to these warnings, the Lord cannot cooperate with them as He desires to. There is danger of your placing yourself and others in harmony with worldly plans.— Ibid.

She reminded him:5BIO 158.1

Faithfulness in duty, trust in God at every step—this is your safety. If you follow your own ambitious projects, you will go where Jesus has given you no liberty to go. Obey the word of God, and you will be safe.— Ibid.

The next day, August 6, 1902, she wrote again to the doctor:5BIO 158.2

My Dear Brother: The Lord is your strength. Take hold of His strength, and make peace with Him. In your human strength, you are as liable as any other man to err in judgment. The Lord is merciful and gracious. He will give you wise counselors.

If ever a man needed wise counselors, you need them—men who will not receive your propositions or representations if they discern that they are not in harmony with the will of God, men who will not make things appear as they are not, who will abide by principles that will stand God's test. The Lord wants you, Dr. Kellogg, to make straight paths for your feet, for the sake of your own soul's salvation, and to save other souls from following in false ways.—Letter 124, 1902.5BIO 158.3

And then followed these words: 5BIO 158.4

You regard too lightly the sacred truth for this time. You are not, in all things, walking in the light that God has sent you. Beware lest you confederate with unbelievers, accepting them as your counselors and following their worldly policy; for this is dishonoring to God.— Ibid. (Testimonies to the Church Regarding our Youth Going to Battle Creek Obtain An Education, 35).

In the meantime, brick was being laid on brick in Battle Creek, and the Sanitarium edifice was rising—an edifice that church leaders were soon to discover would cost between two and three times the amount estimated. What is more, not all the promises for financial help made when the institution was destroyed by fire were kept. Some of the pledges made by the businessmen and citizens of Battle Creek were never honored. The anticipated income from the sale of The Living Temple, Dr. Kellogg's gift book, did not materialize, for church leaders found it permeated with pantheistic, philosophies. There is no indication that the pledge made by the Sanitarium Board or the General Conference Committee that no further debt would be incurred in the rebuilding of the Sanitarium was kept or even remembered.5BIO 158.5

On August 14 a communication from Ellen White, addressed to the General Conference Committee and the Medical Missionary Board, was placed in the mail. The opening paragraph carried these words:5BIO 159.1

I was shown that the Sanitarium there was deteriorating for the want of men of capability and consecration to carry it forward in pure, upward lines, in accordance with Bible principles. Very clearly it has been presented to me that it would be in God's order for the work of the Battle Creek Sanitarium to be divided, and plants made in many other places, in the cities that are in need of sanitariums....5BIO 159.2

I am instructed to say that our people must not be drawn upon for means to erect an immense sanitarium in Battle Creek; the money that would be used in the erection of that one mammoth building should be used in making plants in many places. We must not draw all we can from our people for the establishment of a great sanitarium in one place, to the neglect of other places, which are unworked for the want of means.5BIO 159.3

It is not the Lord's will for His people to erect a mammoth sanitarium in Battle Creek or in any other place. In many places in America, sanitariums are to be established. These sanitariums are not to be large establishments, but are to be of sufficient size to enable the work to be carried forward successfully.—Letter 128, 1902.5BIO 159.4

Plans to Rebuild

Denominational Or Undenominational?