The TRUTH book Volume 1 (PDF) - For My People Ministry

Chapter three - Steve Wohlberg 73withholding from the Lord His own property. "Cursed be he that doeththe work of the Lord deceitfully" or negligently.When persons declare that they will not pay their tithes because themeans is not used as they think it ought to be, will the elder of the churchor the minister sympathize with the sinners? Will he aid the enemy in hiswork? Or will he, as a wise man endued with knowledge, go to work tocorrect the evil and remove the stumblingblocks? Let those who aredissatisfied state plainly their grievances to the ones who they think haveerred instead of talking the matter over with others and thus fanning theflame of discontent.ConclusionThe main point Ellen White was addressing was that people had stoppedpaying tithe completely because of mismanagement. In this situation, EllenWhite taught that under no circumstances are we free to stop returning ourtithe. Supporting gospel workers not employed by the Church is not the issue.Pastor Wohlberg would have us believe that if we support such people, we aresupporting the enemy. Again, if there is misuse of tithes or offerings and we areaware of it or could be made aware of it and we do nothing to correct the evil,God will hold us accountable. However, we are not held accountable for whatwe do not know or cannot know. Then it is just the sin of the erring onemishandling the funds.Again Pastor Wohlberg ignores the issue of removing the “stumblingblocks.”Why does he continue to ignore the issue of doing what we can to correct theevil or stating plainly our grievances to the ones who we think have erred? Weare seeing a theme of “be quiet, sit down, just hand over the money and do notworry about what might be evil in the Church.”Child Guidance, pp. 235-236Those who have too little courage to reprove wrong, or who throughindolence or lack of interest make no earnest effort to purify the family orthe church of God, are held accountable for the evil that may result fromtheir neglect of duty. We are just as responsible for evils that we mighthave checked in others by exercise of parental or pastoral authority, as ifthe acts had been our own.What does God’s Word say about dumb dogs that will not bark? What does itsay about crying aloud, sparing not and showing God’s people theirtransgressions? Yes, there is the factor today that when we do that, we arechastised, ignored, or disfellowshipped. However, that is not an excuse to notdo what God has asked of His faithful watchmen. Why should we care howmankind treats us? We should only care about pleasing God.Isaiah 58:1Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and show mypeople their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins.Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 5, p. 211Here we see that the church--the Lord's sanctuary--was the first to feelthe stroke of the wrath of God. The ancient men, those to whom God had