A PRACTICAL THEOLOGIAN
Dr. Judson Lake is a distinguished theology professor at one of our Adventist universities. In addition to his D.Min. degree from the Reformed Theological Seminary, he took a Th.D. in Practical Theology (University of South Africa (2003)) http://personal.southern.edu/~jslake/
WITH A TENDER HEART
Our Adventist brother Lake has a keen sense of fairness, and it concerns him to see "Ellen G. White under attack". (Jud Lake, Ellen White Summit 2005 #3, 12 Nov 2005, http://video.google.com
/videoplay?docid=-2730658588415094914, minute 1)
It seems there are some critics, and "They are burned. They are mad. They are relentless. They are ferocious." (Lake, supra)
CHECK THOSE FANGS
Its not just a matter of looking mad. No, these critics are "lashing back at the church, and at Ellen G. White." (Lake, supra)
CONTROLLING THE FLOW OF INFORMATION
Its that internet business again. Back in the old days, books critical of the church could be indexed.
"The Index of Prohibited Books, or simply "Index", is used in a restricted sense to signify the exact list or catalogue of books, the reading of which was once forbidden to Catholics by the highest ecclesiastical authority." ( (1910). Index of Prohibited Books. In The 
Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company)
"A book was prohibited or put on the Index by decree of the Sacred Congregation of the Roman Inquisition, of the Sacred Office". (id.) The inquisition was in charge of suppressing those renegades. Then as now.
WITH RELISH
If Mother Rome was riding a high wave of power, punitive measures didn't just stop at indexing the books! The church had their ways and means of silencing heretics (critics).
STREET PREACHING (1529 - ca. 1995)
"At the stake, Berquin endeavored to address a few words to the people; but the monks, fearing the result, began to shout, and the soldiers to clash their arms, and their clamor drowned the martyr's voice." (Ellen G. White, The Great Controversy, p 218)
Bac
k in the good old days, the Adventist flock was spoon-fed with news and information from quality journals like the Review, Southern Tidings, etc. Branch types would show up at campmeetings and stand on public sidewalks and try to hand out their literature. But they didn't make much headway. Oh, they tried with cassette-tape informational campaigns, but none of this bothered the great remnant church.
WEBQUAKE
But then the earthquake came. "Go to the web, google search engine, you type in Ellen G. White, and fortunately in recent uh in recent years you will get the official White Estate at the top." (Lake, supra)
Well, top of the list is nice, but anywhere on page 1 of the search results is just fine. If its a really popular topic, a placing on page 2 or 3 is not bad. The word still gets around.
"You will find a host of extremely negative websites." (Lake, supra) And for a church with the 
time-honored Catholic mentality:
"In the end it is -- in good catholic fashion -- the church that controls the Scripture and not vice versa." Dr. Ekkehardt Mueller (Adventist Biblical Research Institute)
citation
these "negative websites" are quite an irritant. Put simply, its bad for business.
PROBING HERETICAL PSYCHOLOGY
And so the research professor of practical theology has studied the "ferocious" mad critics. What makes them tick?
APPALLING CASE OF ABUSE
"This misunderstanding of Ellen White's writings, the abuse of those writings has produced many of the critics of Seventh-day Adventism today." (Lake, supra, minutes 0 - 1)
There will always be unpractical people out there. Those folks who need a crew of five to screw in a light bulb.
But not Dr. Lake! He's into practical theology. In an apparent effort to soothe the ruffled feathers of those critics, Dr. Lake is toning down the "misunderstandings" of Ellen White's writings.
ABUSE OF WRITINGS -- OK TO TALK ABOUT THEM, BUT DON'T LIVE IT
Believe it or not, there are some people out there -- fanatics -- who actually believe that White's 
books should not just be read, but that the teachings should be implemented in daily life.
Well, this abuse had to stop!
And at Dr. Lake's academic home, it has!
We consider this gem of inspiration from the pen of Sister Ellen White:
"A view of things was presented before me in which the students were playing games of tennis and cricket. Then I was given instruction regarding the character of these amusements. They were presented to me as a species of idolatry, like the idols of the nations." (Ellen White, Counsels to Parents, Teachers, and Students, p. 350)
Those fanatics actually believe what this says, and stay away from tennis (and idols). And worse (from the 7th day Papist perspective), they even try to share these truths with others.
After his careful researches, Dr. Lake has spoken out "relating to the critics of Ellen White. Everyone of these people were once among us -- the present-day critics -- and they were burned by a "Sister White says". (audience laughter) This legalistic theme that Dr. Newborn enunciated for us, this misunderstanding of Ellen White's writings, this abuse of those writings has produced many of the critics of Seventh-day Adventism today. They come right out of that environment. They are burned. They are mad. They are relentless. They are ferocious. And lashing back at the church, and at Ellen G. White." (Lake, supra, minutes 0 - 1)
Needless to say, Dr. Lake's Adventist University is taking no chances with the youth of today!!
What? Let those college students get a legalistic impression of Sister White and the church?
NO CHANCE OF IT!
And so you won't see "Sister White says" being practiced on Dr. Lake's campus.
Sure you can read plenty of flowery words from Dr. Lake about Sister White and her ministry:
But have no fear out there! Its just talk."Seventh-day Adventists highly value the prophetic ministry of Ellen G. White (1827-19
15). For seventy years she provided counsel, guidance, exhortation, and encouragement to the growing SDA Church and left a legacy of writings still cherished today.
She was a person of great faith who loved the Lord Jesus Christ and honored the Bible as the Word of God. She exercised her prophetic gift with care and discretion, pointing all people to Christ for salvation, as beautifully exemplified in her classic work, Steps to Christ." (Jud Lake, Welcome, http://www.ellenwhiteanswers.org/)
Really? You have seen the Ellen White citation on tennis, and the pictures of the tennis courts at Dr. Lake's institution.
"These people draw near to me with their mouth, and honor me with their lips; but their heart is far from me." (Matthew 15:8, World English Bible)
Graphics:
http://kara.allthingsd.com/files/2008/11/military_dog_barking.jpg
http://www.azfotos.com/countries_worldwide/europe/vatican/alamy-pictures/vatican-picture-by%20night_AJM515.jpg
The 
the home of the Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary.
