Didn Ellen White contradict her own counsel when she sometimes sent tithe funds directly to needy ministers?
Ellen White’s instruction on the proper application of the tithe funds is clearly presented by her in Testimonies for the Church, vol. 9, pages 245-251. She states that the tithe is to be brought into God’s treasury to sustain gospel laborers (p. 249), and that none should “feel at liberty to retain their tithe, to use according to their own judgment. They are not to use it for themselves in an emergency, nor to apply it as they see fit, even in what they may regard as the Lord’s work” (p. 247). Ellen White’s policy and practice was to follow that model. She wrote in 1890, “I pay my tithes gladly and freely, saying as did David, ‘Of thine own have we given thee'” (Pastoral Ministry, p. 260). At a time when certain denominational workers were being inadequately sustained or deprived outright of legitimate salaries, Ellen White acted upon instruction she received from the Lord that she should assist such workers with her own tithe funds, if necessary. She did not regard her action as eit
