Brother B, you are not as these men. We would not compare you to them, but we would say: Beware of walking in their footsteps and of having your conversation with covetousness. This desire on the part of ministers to obtain means for selfish purposes is a snare to them, which, if they continue in, will prove their overthrow. As they get their eyes upon self, their interest in the prosperity of God’s cause, and their love for poor souls, become less and less. They do not lose their love for, and interest in, the truth at once. Their departure from the cause of right is so gradual and imperceptible that it is frequently difficult to tell the time when the change in them took place. (2T 626.1) MC VC

I think your course highly dangerous. You have not felt the necessity of heeding the light which God has given you, and arousing yourself to save your family, acquitting yourself as a father and priest of your household. You did not deny the light given, you did not rise up against it; but you neglected to carry it out because it was not convenient and agreeable to your feelings to do this. Therefore you were like Meroz. You came not up to the help of the Lord, although the matter was of so vital consequence as to affect the eternal interests of your children. You neglected your duty. In this respect you were a slothful servant. You have but little sense of how God regards the neglect of parents to discipline their children. Had you reformed here, you would have seen the necessity of the same effort to maintain discipline and order in the church. Your slackness in your family has been seen also in your labors in the church. You cannot build up the church until you are a transformed man. (2T 626.2) MC VC