Category Archives: Spirituality

Burrows’ Cave Artifacts Authenticity

Spirituality, ,

The Barrows Cave artifacts have been a subject of controversy for some time. There are many sources, such as Wikipedia, that suggest that the artifacts are hoaxes. However, the tide is changing as investigators are digging deeper into the authenticity of Russell Burrows’s claim that a number of artifacts were found in a southern Illinois cave.

A March 4, 2020 article by Frank Joseph in the Atlantis Rising Research Group publications supports that previous researchers could be wrong. The article titled “Burrows Cave’ Controversy” gives some credence to the validity of the Burrows’ artifacts. They pose the question: “Could the Debunkers Have Gotten Ahead of Themselves?”

Russell Burrows and Brian Nettles

Russell Burrows discovered the cave in 1982 and has found some thousands of artifacts in the cave, which he discuses in the interview below.

This month on April 1st, 2023, my good friend and expert on ancient languages Brian Nettles, went to Windsor, CO to interview Russell Burrows. Russell is 87 years old and no longer resides in Illinois. Russell Burrows discovered the cave in 1982 and has pulled some four thousand artifacts from the cavern.

Russell is 87 years old and had a stroke three years ago, so speaking is a challenge for him. I have listed the link to the interview below. For me, it is “Gold,” in terms of uncovering the truth about the authenticity of the Burrows’ Cave Artifacts,

A Burrows Artifact Goes to Russia

In 2015, I was invited to give a lecture, prepare a paper, and chair a panel at an international navigation conference in St. Petersburg, Russia. After learning that I was going to Russia, a friend of ours, Duane Erickson, drove all the way down to Fountain Green from Evanston, WY. to give me a stone from the cave that had been given him by Russell Burrows.

On one side it has the face of Jesus, and on the other side of the stone was depicted the Savior’s hand with a nail mark in the wrist. Duane wanted me to help the Russians, and my colleagues, to know that Christ had been in America.  I took the stone with me and shared it with my Russian colleagues. The response was positive.

The image at the top of this article is a picture of that stone showing the nail mark on the wrist of the Savior’s hand. On the other side of the stone with the image of the face of the Savior are the five nails of the crucifixion. It is called the mystic symbol, which is the Native North American’s name for their God, Yod Hey Vau, which sounds like Jehovah. Below the Savior’s image is a symbol which Wayne May believes denotes, “Son of my Right Hand.”

A little side note: When I was in Russia, I included in the paper, “How to be ONE with God”. However, they kindly asked me to remove the religion part, which I did. The unedited paper can be seen at Allans Time publications and I have also written a blog article about it. 

The Book of Mormon Controversy

Many members of the LDS church—believe in the Mesoamerica model for Book of Mormon geography. Believing that The Book of Mormon location is in South America,  is a factor in labeling Burrow’s artifacts as hoaxes. However, others believe that the Book of Mormon geography is in the “Heartland” of America which includes Illinois and the New York area, where Joseph Smith recovered the plates that he translated. Many artifacts have been found by others besides the Barrows cave artifacts, which support the “Heartland” location for the Book of Mormon.

Brian Nettles

My amazing friend, Brian Nettles, is learning how to read these ancient languages. His website: Book of Mormon Heartland  describes some of his work. The following characters were copied from the small plates that Joseph Smith translated are not “Reformed Egyptian.”  These characters were copied by John Whitmer who occasionally acted as a scribe while Joseph Smith was translating from the small plates in Fayette, New York.

Unlike the Anthon transcript, which was copied and translated by Joseph Smith in Harmony, PA,  the “Caractor” document does not include a translation of the characters.  Brian Nettles has studied Demotic Egyptian and a “translation” of those “Caractors” is now being made.

Brian focused on 1 Nephi 2-3 as John Whitmer’s handwriting is found in the “Original Manuscript” throughout those chapters.  This image is from Brian’s website, and I quote from him. “This document is now mostly translated. It is a mix of early demotic with heratic Egyptian.”  Brian was able to read to me from this “Caraters” set from First Nephi chapters 2 and 3.

I quote from my blog article the following:  “Interestingly, in 600 B.C. the Egyptians were transitioning their writing system from hieratic to demotic Egyptian.”

Archaeologist Wayne May

Another good friend of mine, Wayne May, archaeologist and owner of Ancient American magazine sent me a JPG picture of an artifact that Russell Burrows had given to him. Wayne has started a new magazine this year (2023), LAND OF PROMISE; Uncovering Ancient America. I posted an image of Wayne May’s Burrows artifact in a previous blog article, which I consider to be the most important blog article I have ever written:  Wayne’s artifact by itself disproves the hoax theory for this artifact while validating its authenticity.

The Christian world celebrates Good Friday as the day of Christ’s crucifixion—making only two days that He was in the tomb before His glorious world-changing resurrection on Sunday morning. The artifact shows the three days that he was in the tomb, which is documented in this blog article and was not known by Burrows. In addition, this artifact shows the wound marks on the wrist, which was also the same marking as on the stone I took to Russia and displayed above.

Brian Nettles Interview With Russell Burrows

I consider April 1, 2003, Brian Nettles’s interview with Russell Burrows a Godsend to give validity to the authenticity of Burrows’s four thousand artifacts that he pulled from the cave.

I believe the Lord is in the details with His infinite love in our lives. Russell is an unbiased non-member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He knows nothing of the controversy in this church about the geography of where the Book of Mormon took place. He clears up the controversy. He provides authentication for the thousands of items he found. Here is the link to Brian’s interview with Russell Burrows.

Heartland or Mesoamerica?

As a scientist, I placed on the alter the two theories for the Book of Mormon geography: 1) the Heartland model, and 2) the Mesoamerica model.  In the following article, I prove the Mesoamerica model false and the Heartland model true. 

Having the same writing system in the Michigan artifacts, as in the Burrows’ cave artifacts gives correlation but not proof.  But how could that be? It seems logical and indisputable. To have the Egyptian correlations as well, which gives a significant degree of validation, is fully consistent with the Heartland model for Book of Mormon geography.

For me and with the Spirit to confirm, the strong Book of Mormon story of Christ’s visit to America and the Nephites’ knowledge of the Savior’s three days in the tomb and the infinite atonement gives total authenticity for me for the Burrows’ cave artifacts.

David W. Allan

Two Hundred Names for Jesus

Spirituality, , ,

There are more than two hundred names for Jesus, our Redeemer.  Jesus, Yod Hey Vau, YahShuah, YHVH, Eternal God, and Mashiach are just a few of the large number of names which have been used to describe our Lord. The meaning of names is significant.

So, the various names of Jesus reveal a different characteristic of his divine nature. The more we learn about the names that are attributed to Christ, the more we understand about Him. Eternal life is the greatest gift from God, and Jesus defines Eternal Life as knowing the Father and the Son (John 17:3). As the Savior prayed in this same chapter, being ONE with the Father and the Son is our primary goal. Jesus’ infinite love for each of us makes it a challenge to name this all wise Being who has given us the infinite atonement opening the only path back to the Father (John 14:6). In His infinite love, He has promised to perfect us as we come unto Him. (Moroni 10:32-33)

Since, Jesus perfected Heavenly Father’s Plan of JOY with His Full Infinite Atonement, all people in time and space should praise Him and Honor Him because of what He has done, is doing, and will do to bring us back to the Father. In the End-Times, every knee will bow, and gladly so when they fully know who He is , the significance of all His names, and all He has done, is doing, and will do for us.

We are not only discovering many of Christ’s names, but we are finding artifacts with various names and Christian symbols. My good friend, Wayne May, has the original Burrows artifact—given to him by Russell M. Burrows, who found the artifact in a cave named after him. Wayne sent me a photocopy of this artifact to use in this article.

The Burrows Artifact

The five nails are denoted from the crucifixion at the top. The two nails in His hands, the two nails in his wrists, and a nail pinning his two feet to the cross. These five nails are called the Mystic Symbol, which symbol has been found in thousands of places across North America. It is the symbol for the Native North American’s word for their Deity, which they pronounce: Yod Hey Vau (Sounds like Jehovah). You can see the nail mark in the wrist on the left of the depiction of the crucified Christ.

Over the tomb, you see the three suns denoting the three days He was in the tomb. Coming out of the tomb we see Him shouting Hallelujah, as He has overcome death and hell with His resurrected body, as depicted here. His resurrection is the capstone to the infinite atonement. The eleven vertical lines below Him denote the eleven Apostles rejoicing with Him in His glorious resurrection. To the right is a serpent and a line denoting Judas’ betrayal of our Savior. Under His right Arm is a symbol, which I believe represents “son of my left” hand. This denotes that His infinite atonement overcame Satan. Christ is His “Son of my Right Hand.”

One of His profound names is the “Son of Righteousness”–having completed the perfect and infinite atonement–is titled, “RIGHTEOUSNESS,” by His Father and our Father. The phase “Son of Righteousness” occurs three times and is unique to the Book of Mormon, and ties to the Jaredites, the Nephites, and to our day–denoting the importance of us coming unto Him now.

A Micah Hill Dezert-Owl

I am delighted to have made friends with A. Micah Hill (Dezert-Owl). He is one of the most devoted Christians you will ever know and has spent most of his life bringing forth ancient religious texts—from when he was 22 until now at age 68.

He feels the Lord gave him the name Dezert-Owl, a bird that can see well in the night. In the light of Christ, he has exposed a lot of the evil in the darkness of the world’s history. He has been persecuted greatly for doing so. He uses “YahShuah” for the name of Jesus in his translations. YahShuah means ‘Yah saves’ or ‘The Lord is Salvation. In his “trans-literations,” he uses YHV for the Father–leaving off the H.

The Name YHVH

YHVH means Jehovah–the name of the God of Israel and was used by Christians in the Middle Ages.  Jews reading the Scriptures aloud substituted Adonai (“My Lord) for the sacred name. He is the way and the truth and the life (John 14:6). The early Christians called His Church the Way.

My good friend, Rob Kay, a Jewish convert, recognized the Book of Mormon as a Hebrew document when he was fifteen years old. He has a three-volume set showing those Hebraisms called “Voices from the Dust” which is available on Amazon. He uses YHVH for Jehovah in much of his Hebraisms, and Elohim for God. Rob has given me permission to share his conversion story on our website.

Mashiach – English Rendering of Messiah

Mashiach is the English rendering of Messiah from the Hebrew. In Greek, it is Christ. Jesus the Christ then is the promised Redeemer of all of Father’s children and of the Earth itself. We cannot comprehend His infinite atonement, but the more we pray and ponder its infinite significance the closer we come to Him who accomplished it perfectly.

LDS New Testament Study

This year (2023) the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is focusing us on the New Testament, my hope with this emphasis, we will all of us come closer to our Lord and Savior, and “listen to His voice.” (D&C 29:1-2) I worry that we sometimes get caught up with who said what and where and miss the grand importance of the infinite atonement. We often forget, in our business, the first two laws of heaven, (Mt. 22:36-40). With Satan trying to tempt us at every turn, we need to look to Jesus in every thought, (D&C 6:36). As we meet the challenges life, the Lord counsels us “pray always,” so we can receive direction during our mortal journey. (D&C 14:7)

The Chosen – A Christian Historical Streaming Series

Much of the world has gotten to know the series, THE CHOSEN, based on the gospels in the New Testament and produced by Dallas Jenkins and his team at Angel Studios. With over 300 million streaming views and subtitles in several languages, the series has become an international phenomenon. They just released “SEASON THREE,” and my wife and I watched all the episodes from SEASON THREE. We watched and enjoyed the other two seasons, as well. They have done a great job in their research of Hebrew traditions and how life was under the thumb of the Roman Empire. But then one needs to realize that their story is not what really happened—even though they have tried to base the production on the scriptural account.

In the Book of Mormon, Nephi prophesied of “other books” that would augment the Bible (1 Ne. 13:39). With some help from my friend, Dezert, I have recently learned of several apocryphal books giving additional insights and information on our Savior’s life. I have augmented my scripture studies with some of them, and I have learned a lot of exciting information about our Savior, which I believe is much more factual and useful in drawing closer to Him than the pictures painted in the television series, THE CHOSEN. Facts are better than fiction.

The Apocrypha

The Apocrypha are biblical or related texts that are not part of the accepted canon of Scripture.

The Lord told the Prophet Joseph Smith: “Verily, thus saith the Lord unto you concerning the Apocrypha—There are many things contained therein that are true, and it is mostly translated correctly; There are many things contained therein that are not true, which are interpolations by the hands of men. Verily, I say unto you, that it is not needful that the Apocrypha should be translated. [by Joseph Smith at that time] Therefore, whoso readeth it, let him understand, for the Spirit manifesteth truth; And whoso is enlightened by the Spirit shall obtain benefit therefrom;” (D&C 91:1-5)

I believe reading apocryphal literature with the Spirit—along with the scriptures–can open great-big doors of truth and light about our Redeemer, and how to come to better know the Father and the Son (John 17:3). It is doing that for me, and I am having a great time learning. In fulfillment of Nephi’s prophecy, we are seeing “other books” coming forth to shed light and truth. My personal joke at age 86 is to learn faster than I forget. As I read other books, I measure them against the truths that I know from the restoration, from the Spirit, and from what I have learned otherwise. The Lord has promised that in the last days, “nothing shall be withheld.” (D&C 121:28) When the Lord uses “shall,” that means for sure!

Joseph of Arimathea – Gospel to Britain

Before I got to know Dezert, I had bought a copy of THE GOSPEL OF THE WISE STRANGERS or THE KAILEDY by Joseph of Amamathia—Tranz-Literation by Dezert-Owl. In fact, this is how I got to know him. I was so impressed with what he had done in this book that I listened to a three-and-a-half hour podcast featuring him. At the end of the podcast, he provided a number, so I gave him a call, and we had a wonderful visit. We have become friends and have corresponded and shared information ever since.

As an example, I share two very important and major highlights from the Gospel brought to Britain by Joseph of Arimathea and tranz-literated by Dezert. These are not known in the Christian community.

1) It describes in great detail that Jesus first appeared to His mother, Mary. You can imagine that no heart was heavier than Mary’s with what she saw her Son go through those three days from Gethsemane to the empty tomb and knowing that He was the Son of God. So, this version shares what an enormous blessing it was to see her glorious resurrected Son. That feels right to me Dezert’s tranz-literation shares this most inspiring story in detail.

2) On page 234 of this book we read of “TWO SABBATHS.” In other words, the Lord orchestrated in Hebrew tradition that two Sabbaths would occur in conjunction with the infinite atonement.

Jesus Body Laid for Three Days in the Tomb

The Apostle John alludes to this in John 19:31. Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus needed to take Jesus’ body from the cross for burial before that “Sabbath day was an high day” followed by a regular Sabbath—making the three days for the infinite atonement. Jesus gave the Jews a sign that as Jonah spent three days and three nights in the belly of a whale, so He would spend three days and three nights in the “heart of the earth.” (Mt. 12:40)

Nephi prophecies, “Behold, they will crucify him; and after he is laid in a sepulchre for the space of three days he shall rise from the dead, with healing in his wings; and all those who shall believe on his name shall be saved in the kingdom of God.” (2 Nephi 25:13)

The above North American artifact from Illinois denotes that He was in the tomb for three days. There were three days and three nights in America where it was totally dark while He worked out the infinite atonement, as detailed in the Book of Mormon. The rocks of the earth were broken up and “the God of nature suffers,” was heard in both the eastern and western continents.

In the NEW TESTAMENT IN MODERN ENGLISH translated from Greek by Ferrar Fenton, John 20:1 reads, “Now on the first day following the Sabbaths (footnote 3; Bolding is mine.)” Footnote 3 reads, “This is literally according to the Greek text; and it is important to observe that at that particular period, two Sabbaths, or days of second rest, actually fell together in the Jewish calendar. The Gospel of John 19:31 suggests the possibility of two sabbaths, as it mentions that the coming Sabbath “was an high day.”

“The Crucifixion took place on Thursday, and not on Friday, as is popularly supposed. This allows for the Lord Jesus to be held in the grip of death for three full days and nights.” So, Good Friday should be Good Thursday. Christianity has been celebrating it wrong for how many years? We have direct evidence on both the Eastern and Western continents of this important three day fact–so important to the infinite atonement.

Our good friend, Bob Arbon, told us about the Gospel that Joseph of Arimathea took to England. This started me on this current research journey. The e-book referenced in this article is great, but not nearly as good as the above book and has some mistakes. It leaves out the above two important messages in Desert’s “Tranz-Literation.” The e-book folks, also, allow no copying, which is frustrating for me as a person who wants to share TRUTH at every opportunity, and as I feel the Lord’s Spirit is prompting me.

The Aquarian Gospel of Jesus Christ

The AQUARIAN GOSPEL OF JESUS THE CHRIST By Levi Dowling (1844-1911) is an amazing apocryphal contribution with its 182 chapters telling Christ’s life story and teachings from birth all the way to Pentecost.

Before  Jesus’ three-year ministry in the Holy Land, He had a significant ministry in several countries in Asia. In Chapter 23:3-5 we read, “And Jesus sought to learn the Hindu art of healing, and became the pupil of Udraka, one of the greatest of the Hindu healers. Udraka taught the uses of the waters, plants, and earth; of heat and cold; sunshine and shade; of light and dark. He said, “The laws of nature are the laws of health, and he who lives according to these laws is never sick.”

This is the same message I share in Chapter 5 of my new book, Time & Eternity; The End-Times & Beyond Revealed, where I discuss the virtue of the “Gospel of the good earth” with the same promise of overcoming the diseases of the world.

Jesus visits Seven Sages in Alexandria–during the Sages time together. At the end of their time together, the Seven Sages laid their hands on Jesus’ head and gave him a profound blessing. (Chapter 59:22-24). In the next chapter, Jesus tells them of His crucifixion and how that will bring forth God’s magnificent truth to the whole world.

In Chapter 160 we learn that the Passover meal with the Twelve Apostles was held in Nicodemus’ home. In Chapter 172:15-22 we read a synopsis of Doctrine and Covenants Section 138 where Christ visits the spirit world during the three days His body was in the tomb, as the sixth step in His infinite atonement. The seventh step being His glorious resurrection. The infinite atonement is like a perfect balance between mercy and justice (watch podcast 33, 2021) orchestrated by Father and Mother and their Son’s perfect love for each of us.

The Crucifixion Report

I was deeply touched by THE CRUCIFIXION REPORT OF PONTUS PILOT TO: TIBERIUS CAESAR: ALL BASED UPON THE ORIGINAL THOUGHT By A Micah Hill Dezert-Owl. Pilot’s wife was a very spiritual person and she had warned Pilot to protect Jesus. Pilot did many things to do so, but, of course, failed in the final events as the Savior was on His fore-ordained path to work out the infinite atonement. I was totally fascinated to learn that Pilot shares that the lights came from the heavens with the glorious event of the Savior’s resurrection on that sacred Sunday morning and that when He arose, many others arose in jubilant rejoicings. The same occurred in America as recorded in the Book of Mormon. Pilot and Jesus were friends and Pilot wept when Christ was crucified.

All we have in the New Testament is: “Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, saying, Father, it is finished, thy will is done, yielded up the ghost. And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent, and the graves were opened; and the bodies of the saints which slept, arose, who were many, And came out of the graves after his resurrection, went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.” (KJV Mt. 27:54-57) The NIV has a better translation of verse 52, “The tombs broke open and the bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life.”

Many of the English translations of these verses in the Bible imply the souls sleeping until the resurrection. The Book of Mormon and the some 13 million near death experiences clearly share otherwise. The spirit at death does not sleep but goes to the spirit world and to paradise or to spirit prison depending on the lives we have lived.

Christ’s spirit went to the paradise during the three days His body laid in the tomb. There He completed the sixth step in His infinite atonement.

Sharing Exciting and Inspiring Research

I could go on and on about sharing my exciting and inspiring research, but this blog article is getting too long. I hope you feel the Spirit in what I have shared, and I again hope and pray that all of us will grow closer to our Savior and Redeemer—ever listening to His voice for each of us and to our Beloved Heavenly Parents. We are their offspring. Christ in His infinite love does everything needed to bring us back to our Heavenly home through His infinite atonement. I also did a podcast on this incredible stone shown above.

May we be part of the Bride to meet Him (the Bridegroom) at His Coming and participate in His ideal society, ZION. It will happen, and we can be part of this glorious event! I have a whole chapter in my new book devoted to this. Let us come to know the Father and the Son, which includes Heavenly Mother, and their infinite love for each of us and have eternal life with them. It is a perfect plan of Joy, in the midst of all our imperfections and worldly problems. AN AMAZING AND EXCITING TRUTH!

David W. Allan

PS Dezert has over 30 Tranz-Literations and several supporting dictionaries on Amazon, on LULU.com, and on KOBO.com.

PSS Interview of Russell Burrows – YouTube by my good friend, Brian Nettles, in Russell Burrows home on 1 April 2023 in Windsor, CO. Russell is 87 years old and had a stroke three years ago. Extremely important interview. Thank you, Brian.

PSSS Many believe the Burrows’ Cave artifacts in Illinois are hoaxes because of their strong Christian imagery. They ignore that the Book of Mormon people, who lived in North America were Christians. The above artifact disproves the traditional Christian belief that Good Friday commemorates the day of Christ’s crucifixion, and traditional modern Christians do not know of the nail holes in Christ’s wrists.

Wayne May: Thank you for the image. IT IS GOLD!

 

 

 

 

 

Book of Mormon EXPO Highlights – 2023

Spirituality,

The Book of Mormon Conference and EXPO was held 6-8 April 2023 at the American EXPO Center in Sandy, UT. I was honored to be a speaker at this event and I shared a summary of my new book. You can go to the “Book Of Mormon Evidence” website to see the large variety of fascinating topics that were presented. You can sign up for their streaming service, which will allow you to view all presentations, once they are processed. Below, I share a few highlights from the conference.

Lynn “Doc” Cleland – A  Journey of  nearly 1,400 Miles

I had the opportunity to meet Lynn “Doc” Cleland, a gentleman from the Salt Lake area. He reported that his third great-grandmother, Sarah Goode joined the Church and was widowed in 1854. She was left alone with six children under the age of 12.

Before leaving England in April of 1856 to join the saints in Salt Lake, she was given a blessing and promise she would complete the journey successfully and not lose one of her children on the way. She was also promised that she would be the first handcart to enter the valley.

After they arrived in the States they went by train to Iowa City. On September, 26th she got permission from Captain Ellsworth to leave early, and she and her six children were the first handcart to enter the Salt Lake valley. With her permission, her six children were swept up by horsemen who came to meet them at the mouth of Immigration Canyon. It was a time of great rejoicing.

She is featured in the movie, Seventeen Miracles. Her experience was also featured in a 2006 ENSIGN article: “Some Must Push and Some Must Pull”. The article touched Doc’s heart and Knowing her story through his family history. He decided to honor this brave woman in 2009 by replicating her experience.

Doc built a handcart, ate the same kinds of food Sarah would have eaten, and pulled a handcart nearly 1,400 miles, following the same path as best he could. Over the 110-day journey, he lost 48 pounds, and nearly died three times during his trek and was miraculously healed.

He has written the book, “Faith Greater Than Pain”, which is available on Amazon. A full-length Hollywood level movie is also being made about his experience.

Angelic Experiences

Doc had some major angelic assistance experiences during his trek and learned that Sarah had been with him all the way. The orchestration of the following is a most inspiring example. When he got to Douglas, WY, he noticed that there was an LDS church not far from the trail. So, he went there that evening where he met the Young Men’s President, Martin Harris, who is the third great son of Martin Harris who shares his profound testimony which is in every copy of the Book of Mormon.

Grandfather, Martin Harris, also mortgaged his farm to provide the necessary monies needed to print the first 5,000 copies of the Book of Mormon. Martin is also one of the three witnesses, who heard the voice of God telling them the truth of this most remarkable book. He also is the one who took the characters to Professor Charles Anthon to validate their correctness that Joseph Smith had copied and translated from the gold plates.

A Coincidence?

Doc called the local Bishop and got permission to set up his tent on the lawn of the church. Since this was a Wednesday evening and Brother Harris was at the church with the young people, Doc asked him for a favor. Doc had a replica of the first copy of the Book of Mormon and felt to ask Martin to write in it and share his testimony of the book, and Martin agreed to do that.

After a long evening, at about 10 o’clock Martin gave the book back to Doc. Doc being tired, didn’t read what Martin had written until two days later. He was so touched by his testimony, he decided to make a trip back to Douglas, and have Martin tell him, “the rest of the story.”

When Doc went back, to Douglas, Brother Harris shared that over the course of that Wednesday evening, he couldn’t think what to write; he just stared at a blank page. Finally, after all, his church duties were taken care of and while pondering what to write a phrase came into his mind. He wrote it down. Then waited; another phrase came into his mind. He wrote it down, and this continued until the testimony was completed.

Doc shared with me this testimony, which is most inspiring. It is the original Martin Harris dictating his testimony to his third great grandson. Doc also shared with me a four-minute video he obtained from the grandson telling of this unique angelic experience.

So, we have this unique ministering angel Divine orchestration where Martin’s third great-grandfather, Martin Harris—one of the three witnesses of the gold plates, gets to share his testimony again through his third great-grandson by the same name. In due process, Doc will be sharing that marvelous testimony that is written in his first replica edition of the Book of Mormon.

This is much like Joseph Smith translated the Book of Mormon. He would study the characters on the gold plates through the Urim and Thummim and then a phase would come to mind. The phrase needed to be correct–including the spelling of a lot of unique names– before he could move on. A MARVELOUS WORK AND A WONDER; not a coincidence!

David W. Allan – Highlights of New Book, Time & Eternity; the End-Times & Beyond Revealed

I highlighted the contents of my new book, Time & Eternity; the End-Times & Beyond Revealed. I got a lot of positive feedback on my presentation, and I am pleased that they recorded it to be part of their Streaming Service. We sold a case of books; the book gives hope and significant insights into God’s perfect plan of salvation and exaltation—manifesting God’s infinite love for each of us.

I shared also a very important statistic that I pulled from the last General Conference (1-2 April 2023) that the number of converts per thousand members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints went from 10 in 2021 to 12.5 in 2022. That is a 25% increase in one year. We hope and pray that trend continues even more.

President Russell M. Nelson has asked all young men to serve missions, and the nations of the earth appear to be receptive and preparing for Zion. Over the last four decades or longer that statistic has been seriously declining from 47.5 in the 1980s down to 7.6 with the COVID pandemic in 2020. I did a linear regression on the last four decades of the converts per thousand members. The extrapolation would indicate that we would have no converts in about a decade and a half, if that trend continued.

The Lord as a solution for every problem. That 25% increase from 2021 to 2022 may be the beginning of the Lord bringing about ZION. Let us hope, pray and help bring ZION about.

Tim Ballard – Invoke God’s Covenant On This Land

Tim gave a great presentation calling us all to invoke God’s covenant on this land by keeping the commandments and coming to the God of this land, who is Jesus Christ. He quoted extensively from Abraham Lincoln’s final inaugural address, which was inspired by the Lord and needs to be fully appreciated and implemented today.

“Fondly do we hope, fervently do we pray, that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills that it continue until all the wealth piled by the bondsman’s two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said: “the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.

“With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation’s wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations”

He also shared the exciting news that the movie they have made, about his great success with the underground railroad activities rescuing children from human trafficking, is going to be produced by Angel Studies—the people who have created THE CHOSEN

Did Columbus Discover America?

I have a blog article concerning this question. The next issue of LAND OF PROMISE; Uncovering Ancient America will include my article by the title of this question.

I listened to Tim Ballard’s audio version of The Pilgrim’s Hypothesis while driving back and forth during the three days of the conference. He totally believes that Columbus was the man spoken of in 1 Nephi 13:12 whom the Spirit of God wrought upon to discover America. I believe the Lord often has backups to fulfill His divine purposes because of free will.

The data indicate that it was John Cabot, who actually came to this “Promised Land.” It was Cabot’s voyages that opened up the floodgates for the pilgrims and other European countries to come to America. Columbus didn’t come to the “Promised Land” spoken of in the Book of Mormon.

It is estimated that Columbus and his entourage were responsible for deaths of 12 to 15 million of the indigenous in the Caribbean. Columbus later repented. The Savior says, “By their fruits ye shall know them.” Cabot’s fruits were good; Columbus’ fruits were very bad before he repented.

Was Christ Married to Mary Magdalene?

In rabbinical tradition, most rabbis are married. We read the following:

Since marriage is a central institution of Judaism, it is appropriate that a communal leader lives in accordance with this ideal, and his obligation to marry is thus greater than a layman’s.

Also there is a certain gravitas that comes naturally with the responsibility of being married and caring for a family. Additionally, it is more likely that an unmarried man may find himself in an inappropriate situation with women he encounters in the course of his work. A principle area of a rabbi’s responsibility is guiding couples through the mitzvah of Family Purity, and very personal information is often shared with him. Even if no improper action is taken, the very conversation (and the thoughts it may generate) are inappropriate for a person who does not have a healthy home life to anchor him.

Apocryphal literature shows that Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene. He appeared to her after his resurrection after His resurrection. She went from the depths of despair to the heights of ecstasy as she saw the resurrected Lord and her husband, and some translations read that she ran and embraced Him. Scribes and translators have removed this information from our New Testament and that she was married to Jesus. Most Christians have the false tradition that Mary Magdalene was a prostitute, as in the movie, THE CHOSEN.

It is well documented that Joseph of Arimathea, Mary, the mother of Jesus’ uncle, took the family of Christ and close friends to England. This included Mary, Mary Magdalene, Lazarus and his sisters, Mary and Martha, and the blind man, whose name was Maximum, whose recording healing is in Chapter 9 of the gospel of John, and others totaling twelve.

The Druids, who are Hebrews, were fully expecting them. Joseph of Arimathea was ordained an Apostle, and their Christian outreach to the world was greater than what we have in the New Testament. Mary Magdalene had a beautiful singing voice–praising the Lord and was an amazing missionary–being the first to see the risen Lord.

One of the Apostles in General Conference shared that there are those who have asked is the seed of Jesus found in England. He said, “I can tell you yes, and there are those here who are of His seed.

Our youngest daughter, McKaylee, is our genealogy researcher. She found a line for my wife, Edna, going back to Jesus and Mary Magdalene in Edna’s ancestry. At the conference, Kris Kimball shared a slide showing a mural in England depicting our risen Lord standing with Mary Magdalene holding her hand, and she is pregnant.

The Book of Mormon Evidence Conference was great, and it was so wonderful to reconnect with dear friends and meet several new friends.

David W. Allan

 

Easter – The Most Important Holiday

Spirituality, , , , ,

Easter is the most important holiday for the world to celebrate.  Easter commemorates the completion of the three days and three nights of the infinite atonement, with two Sabbaths back-to-back.He is Risen

“He is Risen” changed the dynamic for the whole world, as the Savior completed the seven steps of His infinite atonement. “He that ascended up on high, as also he descended below all things, in that he comprehended all things, that he might be in all and through all things, the light of truth;” (D&C 88:6) The Father’s infinite love for each of us is manifest in this most important of all gifts of His Beloved Son. The Savior’s infinite atonement perfected Heavenly Father’s Plan of salvation for all of His children. Our praise and gratitude need to extend to the core of our hearts for this gift given by our infinitely loving Heavenly Father.

His Resurrection Miracle

His resurrection is the best-documented miracle in history and the most important miracle. We are all the beneficiaries of His glorious resurrection bringing us all back into the presence of God to be judged. The resurrection also opens the door to the fullness of JOY. (D&C 93:33-34)

The Fifth Gospel

I recently learned of a Fifth Gospel that was actually written before the four gospels. It was taken to England by Joseph of Arimathea, Jesus’ great uncle, who became an Apostle there.  I just got a hard copy last Monday (3 April 2023). It is in old English format and is hard to read, but I found it most fascinating. I have gone through all 288 pages and learned three new and very important things:

1.  After the Savior was resurrected, one of the first things He did was appear to his Mother, Mary, and the book gives a remarkable description of what a great blessing this was to her. I don’t think we can comprehend the trauma in her heart because of what her son had gone through the previous three days. When you think about it, why wouldn’t Jesus do this for her—giving her love for him and knowing who He was, as the Son of God, from the time of her miraculous conception? (Luke 1:35)

2.  The E-book Fifth gospel that I have shared before is clearly a modern translation of the ancient text in the book that I have but using modern English words. They have done a great job from the original but with some errors. None of the gospels are perfect translations. As always, we need to read the scriptures with the Spirit.

3)      The Apostle John talks about a high Sabbath—preceding the regular Sabbath—two Sabbaths in a row, which can happen as is part of Jewish tradition orchestrated by the Lord. (John 19:31) In other words this double Sabbath occurred so that prophecy would be fulfilled, as He lay in the tomb for three days. As the Savior said, it was just as Jonah was three days in the belly of the whale, (Matt. 12:39-40) Jesus earlier declared to the Jews, who asked for a sign. A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh for a sign, but He would give them the sign of the Prophet Jonah.  So, He was crucified on Thursday and was in the tomb Thursday, Friday, and Saturday until Sunday morning–making Thursday the GOOD THURSDAY we should commemorate for the weekday of His crucifixion. On page 234 of this new book I just got, it tells of the “TWO SABBATHS” to complete the three days. So, “Good Friday” should be “GOOD THURSDAY,” but false traditions have changed it over the years.

Three Days and Three Nights

The three days and three nights of darkness here in America correspond exactly with the time he suffered—starting in Gethsemane until he arose from the tomb—completing the seven steps of His perfect and infinite atonement. The resurrection is the capstone of His infinite atonement.

The fall of Adam and Eve brought both spiritual and physical deaths into the world. The infinite atonement overcame both. The Apostle Paul said it well, “But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first fruits of them that slept. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.” (1 Corinthians 15:20-22) The Book of Mormon is very clear on this important doctrinal point. It is Christ’s resurrection that brings us back into the presence of God. (2 Nephi 9:6, 12, 22; Helaman 14:15-16)

The Infinite Atonement

Most Christians look to the cross and the blood of Jesus for salvation. Members and leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints express their gratitude for the “atoning sacrifice.” These views miss the incredible depth of the infinite atonement, which includes both His suffering & sacrifice and His glorious resurrection. The word “infinite” is needed to describe the atonement. As best we can comprehend it we should speak and think of the infinite atonement. As mortals, this is a major challenge for us, but the better we understand the infinite atonement, the closer we come to knowing the Father and the Son, which is eternal life. (John 17:3) Without Christ’s resurrection, we would be “toast.” We would all be damned.

Three Religions Acknowledge The Infinite Atonement

I find it fascinating how the Lord has orchestrated events to focus the Christians, the Jews, and the Muslims on His infinite atonement. The Christians have Easter; the Jews have Passover, which commemorates the Lord saving the House of Israel from Egyptian slavery, and the Muslims have Eid Al-Adha, which means “The Feast of the Sacrifice”.

We witnessed this celebration specifically among our Muslim friends while we were serving a mission in West Africa. This celebration commemorates Abraham’s willingness and obedience to sacrifice his son on Mt. Moriah, which significantly is the same Mt. where Jesus finished the infinite atonement.

Abraham walked from Hebron to Mt. Moriah taking three days. Three days of great emotional pain for Abraham–signifying the three days of infinite atonement. When Isaac asked where is the sacrifice? Abraham responded, “My son, God will provide himself a lamb for the burnt offering…” Genesis 22:8 in the Hebrew language has the meaning God will be the sacrifice—the lamb without blemish.

Join Me In the Celebration

I pray that you will join me in continually expressing gratitude for the infinite atonement. The three pillars of eternity are the creation, the fall, and the atonement which includes Christ’s glorious resurrection.  Have a blessed Easter and also join me in commemorating these three days for the incomprehensible gift of Christ’s infinite atonement from the Father because of His infinite love for each of us.

David W. Allan

Below I share additional information for further study.

The Infinite Atonement of Jesus Christ

What is the most important common holiday for Arabs, Jews, and Gentiles?

The Drama of The Lost Disciples 

The Gospel Before the Four Gospel

Photo Credit: Public Domaine Pictures

 

The Most Important Spiritual Warning in the Book of Mormon

Spirituality, ,

Pride, the most important spiritual warning? What a value judgment. But there are reasons why it might be so. The spiritual warning in the Book of Mormon is as follows:

“They wear stiff necks and high heads; yea, and because of pride, and wickedness, and abominations, and whoredoms, they have all gone astray save it be a few, who are the humble followers of Christ; nevertheless, they are led, that in many instances they do err because they are taught by the precepts of men. Oh, the wise, and the learned, and the rich, that are puffed up in the pride of their hearts, and all those who preach false doctrines, and all those who commit whoredoms, and pervert the right way of the Lord, wo, wo, wo be unto them, saith the Lord God Almighty, for they shall be thrust down to hell.” (2 Nephi 28: 14-15.)”

“Behold, the pride of this nation, or the people of Nephi, hath proven their destruction except they should repent.” (Moroni 8:27)

Pride has Four Great faults

1. Pride does not acknowledge that the advantages one has (health, strength, intelligence, wealth) are all gifts from God. To acknowledge those gifts would be humility, the opposite of pride.
2. Pride keeps us from seeing ourselves as we truly are, in great need of being saved from ourselves.
3. Pride justifies us in trespassing against our neighbor, advancing ourselves at our neighbor’s expense.
4. Pride blocks us from receiving the Holy Spirit, that companionship that is essential to salvation.

Pride Does Not Acknowledge Gifts From God

1. Pride does not acknowledge that the advantages one has (health, strength, intelligence, wealth) are all gifts from God. To acknowledge those as gifts would be humility, the opposite of pride.

The “natural man,” a human being who has not been rescued from spiritual death through faith in Jesus Christ, usually thinks of himself or herself as a product of nature. Blind chance has brought him or her into this world and has given all that the person has, and therefore there is no gratitude due to anyone for any advantages one may have.

Pride Keeps Us From Seeing Ourselves

2. Pride keeps us from seeing ourselves as we truly are, in great need of being saved from ourselves. Our only real enemy is the character weaknesses that allow us to break the commandments of God. One part of Christ’s mission is to direct the Holy Spirit to labor with each of us to give up our weaknesses and gain the strength to become like Jesus Christ. Then we also will only do the will of the Father. Then the world will be at peace and we will have a heaven on earth. If we would each give up our pride in our sinning and become like little children, meek, submissive, and obedient to the Savior, then the millennium would come without the need to cleanse the earth of all pride and arrogance.

Pride Justifies Us Against Our Neighbor

Pride justifies us in trespassing against our neighbor, advancing ourselves at our neighbor’s expense. The proud person thinks to himself “I deserve what I want” and proceeds to take what he wants by any means. This proud person does not know God but does listen to the voice of Satan. Satan assures him that he does indeed deserve what he wants. And Satan always confirms him in his selfish desires, a most desirable companion to those who see themselves as the most important person on the scene.

Pride Blocks Us From Receiving the Holy Spirit

Pride blocks us from receiving the Holy Spirit, that companionship that is essential to salvation. The proud person cannot receive the ministrations of the Holy Spirit because he does not want to do so. He wants to see himself as more, not less, and the Holy Spirit always enjoins one to be humble, as a little child, and to sacrifice to bless others. But the proud person always wants to be more, not less, and to help someone else only if the deed will renown to his own glory.

Remember: The ultimate pride is to reject Jesus Christ and to pretend that we don’t need Him.

Chauncey C. Riddle
“Guest Post”

P.S. Chauncy C. Riddle’s understanding of the gospel of Jesus Christ and his political awareness is unmatched.   Chauncey C Riddle is a Professor Emeritus of Philosophy from Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. He is a religious leader in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He has written many articles for the Ensign, Sunstone Magazine, and BYU Studies. He has also written countless articles and has published the milestone book entitled, “Think Independently,” which can be purchased at Amazon

You may be interested in additional “Guest Posts” by Chauncey C. Riddle.

“Two Hearts and Two Minds”
“The Most Important Verse in the Book of Mormon”
“The Great And Abominable Church”
“The Most Important Temporal Warning In The Book of Mormon”

His website, “Learning To Think”, has several fascinating articles: chaunceyriddle.org

The Gospel Before the Four Gospels

Spirituality, ,

Our Key Player: Joseph of Arimathea

Very few are aware that Joseph of Arimathea, who was a member of the Sanhedrin, assumed responsibility for the burial, of Jesus. He is our key player; he was Jesus’ great uncle, who took the Savior’s body from the cross and laid Him in his own tomb.  Joseph was not only a well-respected member of the Sanhedrin but also a very successful merchant.  He had ships carrying tin from Britain to many places in the known world.  Jesus accompanied him on some of these trips. We will see how he got this gospel to Britain.

Because of the extreme persecution of the Christians by the Jews and the Romans after Christ’s resurrection, the persecutors decided to send Joseph of Arimathea along with the family of Christ and close friends of Jesus to a watery grave by putting them in a boat without oars or sail.  Besides Joseph, these included Jesus’ mother, Mary, Mary Magdalene, Lazurus and his sisters, Mary and Martha, the blind man, whose name was Maximum, who healed in Chapter 9 of the gospel of John, and others totaling twelve. By Divine intervention, they ended up in Britain.

Dr. Robert (Bob) Arbon, a good friend, sent me an e-mail with a link to the Kolbrin New Testament that Joseph of Arimathea carried to Great Britain. Quoting from Bob’s e-mail to me, he said: “I think you will be impressed by its contents as I have been.  When I pick it up, it is very hard for me to put it down, even though I have read it several times.  For me, the statements in it the ring of truth. The copy that I have is found at the following link”  (Here is a pdf version which you can download).

As I have read the Kolbrin New Testament (The Gospel Before the Four Gospels), I agree with Bob; the “Spirit” is in it. I find it fascinating that Joseph of Arimathea carried this gospel to England (Britain) before the four gospels were written in the New Testament. The book consists of 25 chapters and 178 pages. In the front of the book is the following interesting dedication:

Kolbrin New Testament Dedication

This work is dedicated to the forerunners and heralds of The Celestial Age which is the promise lying just over the horizon of the future. It is intended to be accepted as a vehicle for conveying spiritual knowledge and is to be assessed by the overriding concepts it is intended to convey. It is dedicated to those stalwart souls who still honor the precepts, ethics, and traditional values which have been a guiding light down through the civilizing centuries.

It is dedicated also to the concept of True Love and the promotion of family ethics, to the effect that families become more enduring. The contents of this book are copied from a copy of an original held by a closed Arcane Order. It will be published in 1998, two years after The Holy Spirit will manifest on earth in a new phase. To all those who have helped in bringing this work to fruition, the book is dedicated.
Copyright © 1998

The Druid Cross

The cross in the front of the book is the Druid cross with the circle denoting God’s “One Eternal Round.” The Druids are of Hebrew descent and anticipated the coming of Joseph of Arimathea and the family and close friends of Christ.

Two Important Blog Articles

Below are two links to two blog articles that are a book report of “Drama of the Lost Disciples,” giving additional details of the great historical importance of the missionary movement in Britain following the “Passion” of Christ. It is intriguing to learn that the missionary work in England was more widespread and fruitful than what we have in the New Testament. Apparently, this gospel was very helpful in bringing souls to Christ.

Rippling Effects

My research indicates that St. Patrick was a product of the Joseph of Arimathea, who was an ordained Apostle, and the family of Christ and close friends, missionary efforts in England. Then St. Patrick converts Ireland—not to Catholicism—but to true Christianity.

Then looking at history, those in Europe Christianized the Americas. Most do not know that 76% of the King James Bible is William Tyndale’s translation—even though he died at the stake 75 years earlier for translating the Bible into English.

The fifty scholars King James appointed took seven years to bring forth the King James Version of the Bible for all people.  Those scholars recognized the great contribution of Tyndale. He knew eight languages fluently and totally devoted his life to this cause of getting God’s truths out to the common people.

There are ten times more copies of the King James Bible, since its publication in 1611 than any other book in the world. The Bible was more influential than any other book for the framing of the United States of America’s Declaration of Independence, US Constitution, and Bill of Rights.

The enormity of William Tyndale and Joseph Smith’s contributions to religious truths today is most inspiring and mind-blowing. The Lord was with both of them in a significant way. How blessed we are to be the shadows of their enormous contributions.

David W. Allan

Photo:  Joseph of Arimathea -CC Flickr

 

LOGOS – A Very Important Name for Christ

Spirituality, ,

There is an unfamiliar name for Christ of great importance. It is LOGOS.  It is the Greek term for Christ. The translation is: “The Word, Message, Teaching, The News. Christ himself is the Reason and the Grand Creator.” Most Christians are not familiar with this name for Christ.  In the Book of the Gospel of John, in the first verse, Christ is described as the “Word,” or LOGOS; then, John goes on to explain.

Understanding the Name LOGOS

Our son, Nathan, gave me the link for Jordan Pederson’s visit to the Bible Museum in Washington D.C. in a podcast format.   In this podcast, the word LOGOS is explained very well. I was so impressed with this 44-minute podcast that I pulled it up on the big screen for my Sweetheart, who is also my wife of 64 years, to watch with me as well. Jordan paints this profound picture of how this most important book has enlightened the world on God’s literacy and ethics far more than any other book and explains LOGOS.

The Greek word, LOGOS, has a much deeper meaning than its English translation, the WORD.  Along with Jordan Pederson’s podcast, we will see why and how the LOGOS has blest the world so enormously. As a major example for us Americans, the LOGOS gave us our inspired Declaration of Independence, US Constitution, and Bill of Rights. No other book influenced these documents more than God and the Bible. It is the LOGOS that provides the all-encompassing infinite atonement–perfecting Heavenly Father’s Plan of Joy for each of us and the promise of eternal life.

Newton’s Discussion of LOGOS

I share Sir Isaac Newton’s discussion of LOGOS in Chapter 3 of my new book, Time & Eternity; the End-Times & Beyond Revealed. Newton shows why the Gospel of John 1:1-17 is so profound in explaining LOGOS. Satan knows God’s Bible ethics and enlightened literacy is premaramente [Spanish, the first], and helps us to know the LOGOS with the promise of eternal life and a fullness of joy. (Read the Gospel of John, Chapter 17)

That is why Satan is trying so hard to stop the promulgation of God’s Bible ethics and the LOGOS. We see the satanically driven theory of evolution (Darwin’s), theory of social evolution is expressed in Powell’s belief that the American Indians are savages which justified destroying them and taking away their lands, in this the “Promised Land,” of America.  And we see the theory of political evolution (communism and its cousin, socialism) saying that there is no God, no prayer, and no Ten Commandments. The satanically driven LGBTQ+ and Woke movements prevail today.

Importance of Parables in the LOGOS–Deeper Meanings

I had a really interesting conversation with Nate this morning (10 March 2023). He shared a couple of recent insights that he had regarding the scriptures. He believes the parables are much more than being able to help people at all levels of spirituality, but also helping those who have been trapped in delusion in a major way.

A classic example is shared in 2 Samuel Chapter 12: the Prophet Nathan tells King David the parable of the little ewe lamb, which the poor man loved, “and lay in his bosom, and was unto him as a daughter.” The rich man chose not to take from his own flock to feed a guest, but instead took the poor man’s ewe lamb from “his bosom.” David was angry and said, “the man that hath done this thing shall surely die.” Nathan responded, “Thou art the man.” This response cut David to the very core of his heart because he had taken Bathsheba from Uriah.

I believe the scriptures, which are an important part of the LOGOS and are of infinite depth. Peter tells us that the scriptures are given when “they were moved by the Holy Ghost.” (2 Peter 1:19-21) Since we are all different, we will naturally read each scripture differently, and that is why we need the Holy Ghost to know how to apply the scriptures to our needs and for our enlightenment. Because of God’s infinite love for each of us in our mortal journey, as we truly seek Him, we have the great promise that the Holy Ghost will help us know the “truth of all things.” (Moroni 10:5) It is up to us to humbly ask, and God will guide us to those truths best fulfilling our needs and requests for enlightenment, and how to best apply them and share them in our lives and in the lives of others we may be privileged to serve.

Be Ye Therefore Perfect

Nate also shared his insight on the Sermon on the Mount and Matthew 5:48, “Be ye therefore perfect…” His epiphany was that the Savior is saying to us, “these teachings I have given you are the recipe for perfection. This is the model to emulate.” Following His teachings will put you on the path to perfection. The commandment to be perfect is impossible for us mortals and is often discouraging to people. But Christ can and will perfect us, as we come unto Him and internalize His teachings (Moroni 10:31-32).

The Sermon on the Mount

The 3rd season of “The Chosen” does a great job of showing the importance of the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5, 6, and 7). It is these chapters that the Savior gave to the Nephites here in “This Promised Land” of America that moved them into becoming an ideal Zion society for over 200 years. We have the promise that He will do the same in our day, as the LOGOS brings forth the ideal Zion society in our day and time.

That sermon is a major part of LOGOS–providing POWERFUL WORDS: LOGOS. He is the way and the truth and the life (John 14:6)—the Grand Creator. It is fascinating that the early Church after the “Passion” called the church “The Way,” and the LOGOS was and is the way. See Drama of Lost Disciples | It’s About Time (itsabouttimebook.com).I find it particularly interesting that as Jesus sums up the Sermon on the Mount, He says, “Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock.” (Matt. 7:24) I love the French translation of the phrase from this verse, les met en pratique: put these sayings into practice. If you are a true believer, you will be a doer of His word—living and sharing the LOGOS. Helaman’s counsel to his sons is most apropos.

“And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a
sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall.” (Helaman 5:12)

Knowing that Jesus is the LOGOS (the WORD), in Jesus’ great High Priest’s prayer, he proclaims to the Father, “Thy word is truth.” The Father made Jesus LOGOS, as the “Son of Righteousness”–deriving His LOGOS from the Father (2 Nephi 26:9; 3 Nephi 25:2; Ether 9:22). These three scripture references interestingly tie to our day, to the Nephites and to the Jaredites—three major civilizations in the history of the world.

The Druid’s motto, who were descendants of the Hebrews, was, “Truth against the world.” Pilot asked Jesus, “What is truth?” To Pilot’s earlier inquiry, Jesus had told Pilot that His kingdom is not of this world. “Thou sayest I am a king To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Everyone that is of the truth heareth my voice.” What is the truth? We have an excellent explanation by the Savior of “truth” in John Chapter 8:12, 31, 32, 36:

“I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life…

“If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free…

“If the Son, therefore, shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.”

Ultimate freedom and liberty only come from the LOGOS.

Be Humble Recipients of Truth

In 1930, D&C 33: 5 shares that the church was established and called forth out of the wilderness. Later, In September 1831, in the Doctrine and Covenants in Section 1, which is the preface section, the Lord proclaims, “my church” is “the only true and living church upon the face of the whole earth… speaking unto the church collectively and not individually (D&C 1:30).” Notice, the Lord qualifies with the adverb, “collectively.”

Less than a year later after this preface of the Doctrine and Covenants was received, the Lord said that “the whole church [is] under condemnation for treating the message of the Book of Mormon too “lightly.” President Benson said that condemnation remains. Until that condemnation is lifted, members of the Church should not say, “the Church is true.” The Book of Mormon is designed to bring us to Christ (the LOGOS). It can only do that if we have internalized its marvelous message of hope and salvation by truly coming to the LOGOS. Clearly, the members have not done what is needed to remove this condemnation. It is critical that the members move out from under that condemnation by fully coming unto Christ (the LOGOS), as the Book of Mormon message so clearly teaches us to do.

Even though President Benson has given us this poignant and extremely important reminder that because we have treated the message of the Book of Mormon “lightly,” the condemnation remains, however, we know the Lord will set things right in due process, as He brings for Zion and we can be part of it. (Isa. 51:3; 3 Nephi 16:18; D&C 85:7; 103:1-19)

Who Are We To Follow?

As individuals, we are to follow the LOGOS. It is not the Church that saves us. The Church is the Lord’s vehicle to bring us to Christ, who is the “WAY”–the LOGOS.  Notice, again that the Lord qualifies with the adverb, “collectively.” As individuals, we are to follow the LOGOS.  We often hear members of the Church stand up and testify that they know the Church is true. Given that the Church is under condemnation, they should not say that, and also considering the logical implications of this declaration that all other churches are to a degree false because they have doctrines and teachings contrary. Truth cannot contradict truth.

As the humble recipients of the truth, we need to realize, “For behold, the Lord doth grant unto all nations, of their own nation and tongue, to teach his word, yea, in wisdom, all that he seeth fit that they should have; therefore we see that the Lord doth counsel in wisdom, according to that which is just and true (Alma 29:8).” We need to pray for everyone regardless of their religion to grow in light and truth as they come unto Him—“the WAY” and the true LOGOS. God has given them what they need to find the WAY (the LOGOS).

I look at the Church, which has the best choir in the world, which has the biggest and most successful women’s organization in the world, which has a very effective missionary program, and the most effective welfare system, as it readily reaches out across the globe when disasters occur. By their fruits, ye shall know them. We see much good from the nearly 17 million members and the inspired doctrines and teachings that have come forth with the restoration of the fullness of the gospel. Let us embrace the good in it and in all churches and turn from the bad.

As the late, Hugh Nibley has succinctly said, “The Church is not Zion!” One cannot have one toe in Babylon and have Zion, and what do we observe today with Babylon’s massive encroachment on the world, on Christianity, and especially on the Church membership? Satan knows where the truth is and is doing everything he can to subvert it. We know that Babylon the Great will fall (Revelations Chapter 18). Let us not be any part of it.

The Success of the Sermon on the Mount Elsewhere

Outside of the Church, the Sermon on the Mount is having great success as well. Some examples: not only with the Session 3 of “The Chosen,” but some time back, our dear friend, Delta Bement, loaned us a book. It is a must-read: “Blood Brothers” by Elias Chacour. He is Palestinian-Arab and was raised in the little village of Biram in the upper Galilee in Israel. He was blessed with very wise parents, and in his tender years had grown up in peace with his Jewish neighbors. He was raised with a very strong Christian heritage dating back to the first century.

His wonderful Christian upbringing was in stark contrast to the horrible treatment they received under the hands of the Israeli government Zionists as they were driven out of their village. Shortly after this, at the age of 12, he was given the opportunity to study with a Bishop in Haifa, and as his father sent him off, he told him, “If you become a true man of God you will know how to reconcile enemies, how to turn hatred into peace. Only a true servant of God can do that.” And Elias Chacour did that with amazing and miraculous success. Through Him, the Sermon on the Mount touched and changed his whole community where he labored as a Priest.

I hope and pray that we will become humble, Christ-centered people so that the Lord can bring about Zion—a pure in-heart people, who are ONE with Him. We know the Lord will bring a Zion people out of the Church membership, but it will be a subset, who are truly pure in heart. The key is to be Christ-centered and fully embrace the LOGOS, as the “Way, the truth, and the life.” (John 1:1-7, 14:6)

I pray that the LOGOS may become intimate in all our lives, see His smiling face as we hearken to His voice, call upon His holy name, Adonai, keep all His commandments, and fully come unto Him. (D&C 29:1-2; 93:1) His offering is peace, love, and joy in this life, and eternal life and a fullness of joy in the life to come.

David W. Allan

The Most Important Temporal Warning

Spirituality, , ,

What is the most important temporal warning in the Book of Mormon? The most important temporal warning? What a value judgment! But there are reasons why it might be so.

“And now I, Moroni, do not write the manner of their oaths and combinations, for it hath been made known unto me that they are had among all people, and they are had among the Lamanites.

And they have caused the destruction of this people of whom I am now speaking, and also the destruction of the people of Nephi. And whatsoever nation shall uphold such secret combinations, to get power and gain, until they shall spread over the nation, behold they will be destroyed; for the Lord will not suffer that the blood of the saints, which shall be shed by them, shall always cry unto him from the ground for vengeance upon them and yet avenge them not.

Wherefore, O ye Gentiles, it is wisdom in God that these things should be shown unto you, that thereby you may repent of your sins, and suffer not that these murderous combinations shall get above you, which are built up to get power and gain—and the work of destruction come upon you, yea, even the sword of the justice of the Eternal God shall fall upon you, to your overthrow and destruction if ye shall suffer these things to be.

Wherefore, the Lord commandeth you, when ye shall see these things come among you that you shall awake to a sense of your awful situation, because of the secret combinations which shall be among you; or wo be unto it because of the blood of those who have been slain; for they cry from the dust for vengeance upon it, and also upon those who built it up.

For it cometh to pass that whoso buildeth it up seeketh to overthrow the freedom of all lands, nations, and countries; and it bringeth the destruction of all people, for it is built up by the devil, who is the father of all lies; even that same liar who beguiled our first parents, yea, even that same liar who hath caused man to commit murder from the beginning; who hath hardened the hearts of men that they have murdered the prophets, and stoned them, and cast them out from the beginning.” (Ether 8:20-25)

One of the Main Tactics

One of its main ploys is to ridicule conspiracy theories.

The Theosophical Society of America offers this comment on a book about conspiracy theories: “Conspiracy Theories, then, are far from harmless. Such wrongheaded thinking can be pernicious, and ultimately downright destructive. Cassam runs down a list: antivaxxers; anticredentialism in general; “the death of expertise”; Brexit; anti-Semitism on both the left and the right.

“Therefore Conspiracy theories promote symbols and beliefs that have consequences unforeseen by moderates. Furthermore, they “diminish the credibility of legitimate criticisms” and are also a “distraction from big-picture social issues.” Review of Conspiracy Theories by Quassim Cassam, Cambridge, U.K.: Polity Press, 2019.

In other words, public, just believe what you are told.

This Movement is a Religion

This movement is actually a religion, with all the trappings of a religion.

This religion has its temples (universities), priestly vestments (cap and gown), ordinances (graduation ceremonies), a theology (there is no God, all things are natural, there is no right and wrong).

This religion is behind getting rid of public displays of the Ten Commandments. It is behind the LGBT+ movement. It encourages “living together” instead of marriage. It promotes abortion and euthanasia. This movement is the great and abominable church mentioned in the scriptures.

This threat is organized from the Spirit world, inspired and guided by Satan. It will be a major player on the world scene until the Savior comes in his Second Coming. Those who cooperate and participate in this programmed evil are the tares of the earth who will be burned at the Second Coming of Christ.

Control Over All Culture

The humanist movement is the dominant force and idealogy in the world today.

It is the philosophy behind communism and socialism. It has quietly taken control of our education systems, threatens scientific objectivism, controls our media, and is behind the “woke” movement.

Politics in the United States mostly concerns how much socialism we shall allow, with socialism gradually increasing and taking over our politics. Socialism, the governing of the masses by those “most intelligent” human beings, is the antithesis of what the true disciples of Christ seek, which is Zion, a people so pure in heart that they all do only the will of Christ.
They spend their time blessing others in his name and through his power.

Zion is a people who do not take their instructions from any human being unless those instructions are confirmed by the Holy Spirit, which is the will of Christ. The will of Christ is that they become fully honest, true, chaste, and benevolent, having all things in common out of a pure heart.

These latter days are a showdown between the cause of Christ (Zion) and humanism. Humanism seeks to govern all mankind by a socialist world order. Moroni would have us be fully aware of this confrontation and make sure we promote the cause of Christ and do not give power to the cause of Satan.

Chauncey C. Riddle
“Guest Post”

P.S. Chauncy C. Riddle and I have been very good friends for a long time.  His understanding of the gospel of Jesus Christ and his political awareness is unmatched.   Chauncey C Riddle is a Professor Emeritus of Philosophy from Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. He is a religious leader in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He has written many articles for the Ensign, Sunstone Magazine, and BYU Studies. He has also written countless articles and has published the milestone book entitled, “Think Independently,” which everyone should read.

You may be interested in additional “Guest Posts” by Chauncey C. Riddle.

“Two Hearts and Two Minds”
“The Most Important Verse in the Book of Mormon”
“The Great And Abominable Church”

His website has several fascinating articles: chaunceyriddle.org

 

 

The LDS Church and Ensign Peak Investments

Spirituality, ,

This week the Securities Exchange Commission fined the LDS Church and Ensign Peak Investments for apparent misfilings of its holdings.

The Lord has promised those living here in America, “Inasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments ye shall prosper in the land;” (2 Nephi 1:20) The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has become the richest per capita church on the planet. Is this why? Or, is there more to the story—given what just happened with the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) imposing a $5,000,000 fine on the Church and its holdings (Ensign Peak Investments)? Many are now leaving the Church, as the Church’s financial handlings are being revealed. It reminds me of when many of the early saints left the Church with the collapse of the Kirtland Safety Society.

Statement by the LDS Church

The Church released the following statement on Tuesday, February 21, 2023.

“The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its affiliated investment manager, Ensign Peak Advisors, Inc., have settled a matter with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Investment managers who oversee a portfolio of public equities above a certain threshold are required to file Forms 13F with the SEC quarterly. These forms publicly disclose the names of the securities and their values.

Since 2000, Ensign Peak has received and relied upon legal counsel regarding how to comply with its reporting obligations while attempting to maintain the privacy of the portfolio. As a result, Ensign Peak established separate companies (LLCs) that each filed Forms 13F instead of a single aggregated filing. Ensign Peak and the Church believe that all securities required to be reported were included in the filings by the separate companies.

In June 2019, the SEC first expressed concern about Ensign Peak’s reporting approach. Ensign Peak adjusted its approach and began filing a single aggregated report. Since that time, 13 quarterly reports have been filed in full accordance with SEC requirements.

This settlement relates to how the forms were filed previously. Ensign Peak and the Church have cooperated with the government over a period of time as we sought resolution.

We affirm our commitment to comply with the law, regret the mistakes made, and now consider this matter closed.”

As I look at the Church’s portfolio, it appears to be about making money, which they have been very successful in doing, and not about principles. I wonder if they had followed Alma’s counsel to his son Helaman, they would have avoided the problems that have arisen, ” Counsel with the Lord in all thy doings, and he will direct thee for good;” (Alma 37:37) We have the great statement from the Prophet Joseph Smith on how he governed  the Church members, “I teach them correct principles and they govern themselves.”

Two Men of Principle

Nathan Eldon Tanner, who was one of our favorite general authorities—brilliant and with impeccable integrity. He had been a member of the Canadian legislature and had a major impact on their infrastructure helping to bring about many improvements. Our youngest son, Nathan, was named after Nathan Eldon Tanner who also demonstrates impeccable integrity.

Tanner was called an Apostle in 1960 and went on to be a counselor in the First Presidency for four different presidents of the Church. During that time, he helped improve the Church’s financial structure, which he was gifted to do.

Nathan Eldon Tanner is a descendant of John Tanner, who joined the Church in 1832.  John also came with wonderful gifts.  John’s conversion, healing, and perfectly timed contributions saved the Kirtland Temple; he used his wealth to build the kingdom and gave the sum of about $50,000 to the Church.

I highly recommend you watch, The John Tanner story on YouTube. The 22-minute video tells his remarkable and inspiring story of “Coming Unto Christ”: “Treasure in Heaven; the John Tanner Story.” John lost all his wealth with the financial crash of the Kirtland Safety Society (KSS) and he was left to beg for bread for his family.

Rather than being bitter and leaving the organization, he accepted a mission call because of his testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ.  Joseph Smith promised John, “Your children shall never again beg for bread.” We are greatly blessed to this day because of the faithfulness of John Tanner and Nathan Eldon Tanner. Their successes came because of following correct principles and adhering to “The Gospel of Jesus Christ”

What is Happening Now

What is happening now reminds me of what happened when many left the Church after the collapse of the Kirtland Safety Society.  Perhaps we should follow the example of John Tanner, which is to move forward in the gospel of Jesus Christ as he did.  We need to understand the differences between the Church organization and the Kingdom of God, and the gospel of Jesus Christ.

It is Christ, not the Church that saves us. The organization is simply the vehicle to bring us to Christ. Not knowing the differences, I am concerned that many may be “throwing out the baby with the bathwater.” Let us look at the big picture from the Lord’s perspective as best we can and where we are in God’s timetable.

1.  The Church is simply an organized corporation to Interface with the world in its goal to bring souls to Christ.

The organization is an inspired model for all other Christian churches in providing fellowship, a feeling of community, opportunities to serve, learning from one another truths of eternal life, and how to be true Christians.

Because of mortality, the Church is made up of imperfect people helping imperfect people to perfection. And it works, because it is Christ who perfects those who come unto Him (Moroni 10:32-33).

We cannot expect perfection of the Church’s membership or leadership since we are not perfect as well. The only perfect Christian is Christ. Our focus is to trust in the Lord and not the arm of the flesh.

2.  Christ said, His kingdom is not of this world. His kingdom is not the same as the Church. The Lord’s prayer gives us guidance, “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”

The Kingdom of Heaven is perfectly organized. The Lord is asking us to pray so that the Kingdom of God on earth will also be perfect like the Kingdom of Heaven, as we truly come unto Him.

D&C 65:1-6 – Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. The keys of the kingdom of God are committed unto man on the earth, and from thence shall the gospel roll forth unto the ends of the earth, as the stone which is cut out of the mountain without hands shall roll forth, until it has filled the whole earth. Yea, a voice crying—Prepare ye the way of the Lord, prepare ye the supper of the Lamb, make ready for the Bridegroom. Pray unto the Lord, call upon his holy name, and make known his wonderful works among the people. Call upon the Lord, that his kingdom may go forth upon the earth, that the inhabitants thereof may receive it, and be prepared for the days to come, in the which the Son of Man shall come down in heaven, clothed in the brightness of his glory, to meet the kingdom of God which is set up on the earth. Wherefore, may the kingdom of God go forth, that the kingdom of heaven may come, that thou, O God, mayest be glorified in heaven so on earth, that thine enemies may be subdued; for thine is the honor, power and glory, forever and ever. Amen.

The Lord shared through the Prophet Daniel that His Kingdom was to be set up in the latter days, ”and it shall stand forever” “And filled the whole earth.” (Daniel 2:44-45, 33)

Again, the gospel is separate from the Church and from the Kingdom of God, as well. It is best defined in Third Nephi 27:13-22. As Apostle John saw in vision this Everlasting gospel will go to the ends of the earth. (Rev. 14:6-7).

The Lord’s promise is:  For it shall come to pass in that day, that every man shall hear the fulness of the gospel in his own tongue, and in his own language, through those who are ordained unto this power, by the administration of the Comforter, shed forth upon them for the revelation of Jesus Christ. (D&C 90:11)

Mistakes Are Made

Have our Church leaders made some mistakes?  Yes!  They are members of the imperfect human family. I know that while I was serving as a Bishop and Stake President, I made mistakes.  Many wonderful people around me lovingly compensated for errors, and we moved the Lord’s work forward in spite of my weaknesses and mistakes.

It is easy for people to find fault. For us, we should be watchmen on the tower (D&C 101:12) and to treasure up His word that we be not deceived (JS_M 37). It is not our job to fix an imperfect Church. The Lord will do that in His own time (D&C 85:7)

Why I Stay A Member

I enjoy fellowship with the Saints and do my best to use my time and talents to serve Heavenly Father’s children. I cannot do anything about mistakes that may have been made by our Church leaders or their investment advisors. Letting these things bother me, makes me unproductive in things that are much more important—helping to do the work of the Father (Moses 1:39) and helping bring souls to Christ. (John 15:8)

In spite of its imperfections, the Church is the Lord’s. For a person to bail out is short-sighted, because, as I explain in my book, Time & Eternity; the End-Times & Beyond Revealed, the events yet to unfold are greater than anything the world has seen.  A Zion, pure in heart people, will come out of the Church’s membership, who are living celestial lives.
We want to be part of this ideal society that is coming motivated by the pure love of Christ

Our Greatest Opportunity

It is the greatest opportunity in our mortal journey to live and share this “Message of Gladness,” which is the fullness of the gospel. As the Savior so profoundly said, “Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bring for much fruit; then are ye my disciples” (John 15:8) Then are we true disciples of Christ.

Finding fault and creating contention are tools of the devil and are not the way of the Lord. Many are leaving the Church and losing faith because they don’t understand how important their mission is in living and sharing this “message of gladness.”

Circumstances Change Quickly

Regarding the Church, the Lord said to the Prophet Joseph Smith, “lay the foundation of this church, and to bring it forth out of obscurity and out of darkness, the only true and living church upon the face of the whole earth, with which I, the Lord, am well pleased, speaking unto the church collectively and not individually–” (D&C 1:30) Then only ten months later the Lord said,

And your minds in times past have been darkened because of unbelief, and because you have treated lightly the things you have received—Which vanity and unbelief have brought the whole church under condemnation. And this condemnation resteth upon the children of Zion, even all. And they shall remain under this condemnation until they repent and remember the new covenant, even the Book of Mormon and the former commandments which I have given them, not only to say, but to do according to that which I have written—That they may bring forth fruit meet for their Father’s kingdom; otherwise there remaineth a scourge and judgment to be poured out upon the children of Zion. (D&C 84:54-58)

Condemnation Remains

I was in the Tabernacle at General Conference and heard President Benson say that the condemnation has not been lifted. The key then is to do as Moroni counsels the world, as he summarizes the message of “The Everlasting Gospel”.

“Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God. And again, if ye by the grace of God are perfect in Christ, and deny not his power, then are ye sanctified in Christ by the grace of God, through the shedding of the blood of Christ, which is in the covenant of the Father unto the remission of your sins, that ye become holy, without spot.” (Moroni 10:32-33)

We Live in Exciting Times

In looking at the Lord’s timing, as I share in both of my books, we live in that exciting time where the Lord is bringing the FIRST (ISRAEL) to be LAST, as we come to the end of the LAST (GENTILES) becoming first with the restoration.

We will see a ZION—pure in heart people—come forth in this epoch, as the FIRST becomes the LAST. And we can be part of it as we look continually to Christ.

As Zenos shares in his allegory in Jacob Chapter 5:66-67 “For it grieveth me that I should lose the trees of my vineyard; wherefore ye shall clear away the bad according as the good shall grow, that the root and the top may be equal in strength, until the good shall overcome the bad, and the bad be hewn down and cast into the fire, that they cumber not the ground of my vineyard; and thus will I sweep away the bad out of my vineyard. And the branches of the natural tree [true Israelites who have put their hand in the hand of the Lord] will I graft in again into the natural tree;”

Notice, the pruning will be top to bottom. The key is to be Christ-centered — true Israelites–putting our hand in the hand of the Lord! In this epoch, we will see one “Mighty and Strong” “to set in order the house of God.” (D&C 85:7) If things were in order, that would not be needed. Trust in the Lord and not the arm of flesh.

I pray that we may also follow this counsel from Doctrine and Covenants 29:

  • 1 Listen to the voice of Jesus Christ, your Redeemer, the Great I AM, whose arm of mercy hath atoned for your sins;
  • 2 Who will gather his people even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, even as many as will hearken to my voice and humble themselves before me, and call upon me in mighty prayer.

David W. Allan

Photo: CC Investment – Flicker

 

 

There is Enough and to Spare

Spirituality, , ,

Therefore, if any man shall take of the abundance which I have made, and impart not his portion, according to the law of my gospel, unto the poor and the needy, he shall, with the wicked, lift up his eyes in hell, being in torment.”  These two profound verses come from the Doctrine and Covenants, Section 104:17-18.

As we see the world spiraling down in apparent wickedness, we can ask the question, “Is it because the world—given the abundance—has not been taking care of the “poor and the needy?” And we have not been using our God-given “agency” to chose to live the “law of my gospel.” Is the Lord wrong and “there is not enough and to spare?”

Agenda of the Global Elite

Let us compare the lies in the agenda of the global elite with what is really happening based on reliable data to answer that question. You will see some amazing surprises, as the Lord works with His children in spite of the devils’ deceitful ways working through the globalist elite. For my data, I have found two fascinating books: Ten Global Trends every smart person should know by Ronald Bailey and Dr. Marian L. Tupy, and Superabundance: The Story of Population Growth, Innovation, and Human Flourishing on an Infinitely Bountiful Planet by Dr. Marian L. Tupy and Dr. Gale L. Pooley.

Bailey is the author of the book The End of Doom: Environmental Renewal in the Twenty-first Century (Thomas Dunne Books, 2015) and Liberation Biology: The Moral and Scientific Case for the Biotech Revolution (Prometheus, 2005), and his work was featured in The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2004. Dr. Tupy is the editor of HumanProgress.org, a senior fellow at the Center for Global Liberty and Prosperity, and co-author of The Simon Abundance Index. He specializes in globalization and global well‐being and politics and economics of Europe and Southern Africa. Dr. Pooley is an associate professor of business management at Brigham Young University-Hawaii. He has taught economics and statistics at Alfaisal University in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Brigham Young University-Idaho, Boise State University, and the College of Idaho.

The more we can expose the lies of the global elite while sharing the truth the better. Let’s be like the Druids, “Truth against the world.” Mainly because of the global elite’s propaganda, 66% of the world population believes the world is getting worse off, and only 6% believe we are improving. The following data will help you be counted with the optimistic 6%, as we look beyond the devil’s deceitful tactics and look at the ways of the Lord. Consider the following seven  points:

1. Regarding Population

1. A. The global elite are saying there are too many people and we need to decrease the population.
1. B. The data show just the opposite. The Master Creator, created us to be creators. Because of our creative abilities, an increased population brings about more creativity to produce more wealth and abundance along with a decrease—because of creativity—in basic global commodity prices. Between 1980 and 2018 it costs 70% less of a person’s work time to buy the same commodities.

When Jordan Peterson interviewed Dr. Tupy and Dr. Pooley, he said that this was so important it should be “said 50 times!” It seems counterintuitive, but when you take into account the human creativity factor that makes all the difference. They, of course, didn’t talk about the Master Creator. Since I know He is there, I added that, but this is their data.

2. Regarding Carbon Dioxide Emissions

2. A. The global elite are saying we need a carbon tax to get people to decrease their carbon footprint because of too many Carbon Dioxide emissions.
2. B. The data show that any changes we make in carbon-dioxide emissions are masked by that coming from volcanoes and other uncontrollable  sources. Any impact we could make is negligible compared to the natural variations. Plants love CO2 and there has been a significant increase in greening across the planet over the last few decades because of CO2 emissions and reforestation. Between 1982 and 2016 there has been a 35% increase in reforestation across the US and Europe.

3. Wealth

3. A. While the global elite are planning to make of us slaves with them having most of the wealth…,
3. B. From 1820 to 2017 there has been a hundred-fold increase in wealth, as people have moved from farms to creative enterprises and productive activities using our God-given creative abilities.

4. Poverty

4. A. While the global elite are claiming that overpopulation is causing poverty…,

4. B. From 1820 to 2018 poverty across the world has decreased from 84% to 8%.

5. Personal Resource Abundance

5. A. While the global elite are planning to make the state sovereign and take away or personal freedoms because they believe there are too many people,
5. B. In the book, Superabundance, they have a fascinating and extremely insightful chart. On the vertical axis is a measure of “Personal Resource Abundance” and on the horizontal axis is “Population.” Between 1980 and 2018 the chart displays an increase in personal resource abundance of 252% while there was a 71.2% increase in population—giving a 503% global increase in overall personal abundance during that time period for the whole world population.

6. Regarding Food

6. A. While the global elite are creating food shortages,
6. B. In 1961 the global average food consumption was 2,191 calories/day; that increased by 721 to 2,912 calories/day in 2017. And now we have an obesity epidemic.

7. Regarding lighting for our homes and electricity

7. A. The global elite have been putting up these costly big windmill farms, which kill birds and there are 20 times cheaper ways to generate wind energy, as I share in my book, It’s About Time.
7. B. In 1800 it took 5.4 hours of human resources for 1 hour of light in our homes; now it takes less than 1 second. That is a 20,000 times improvement in efficiency for getting electricity into your home. Now with nanotechnology, minuscule electrical currents in electronics are doing amazing things–like in your cell phones–and the end is not in sight.

The Best Time to be Living

We live in the most exciting time in the history of the earth. Let us join with the optimists with faith and trust in the Lord, and share our creativity and what we know to be true, while exposing their lies. Because of the pessimism generated by the global elite’s atheistic propaganda, the heavy veil of atheism is on the increase, and many people are losing hope and suicides are now epidemic.

As we listen to the Spirit, it will help us sort out truth from error. We move into gratitude for the creative abilities the Lord has given us to continue to help make the world a better place and in deep appreciation for the beautiful earth He has given us to live on and make our mortal journey back to Him.

We also have His promise that all things will be revealed in the end times. As described in my new book, Time & Eternity; the End-Times & Beyond Revealed, the transition into the millennial epoch will be marvelous and beyond our mortal comprehension. Imagine what our creativity will do in the millennium and the technology, beyond our imagination, that will come forth, as we seek to do His will and to be ONE with Him.

Doctrine & Covenant’s Message

D&C 101:32-34

  • Yea, verily I say unto you, in that day when the Lord shall come, he shall reveal all things—
  • Things which have passed, and hidden things which no man knew, things of the earth, by which it was made, and the purpose and the end thereof—
  • Things most precious, things that are above, and things that are beneath, things that are in the earth, and upon the earth, and in heaven.

The Lord is Going to Bring Forth the Ideal Society

And we can be part of the creativity process inspired by Him to bring it about. It will happen in spite of the global elite’s massive efforts to stop it:

 And blessed are they who shall seek to bring forth my Zion at that day, for they shall have the gift and the power of the Holy Ghost; and if they endure unto the end they shall be lifted up at the last day, and shall be saved in the everlasting kingdom of the Lamb; and whoso shall publish peace, yea, tidings of great joy, how beautiful upon the mountains shall they be. (1 Nephi 13:37)

The key is:

  •  1 Listen to the voice of Jesus Christ, your Redeemer, the Great I AM, whose arm of mercy hath atoned for your sins;
  • 2 Who will gather his people even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, even as many as will hearken to my voice and humble themselves before me, and call upon me in mighty prayer. (Doctrine and Covenants 29)

Those who will not listen to His voice will be “cut off” at His Coming. That includes all who get caught up in the global elite’s agenda. Great will be the fall there of. (Revelations 18)

He is the way, and the truth, and the life (John 14:6), and HIs Divine invitation is: Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavily laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. (Matt. 11:28-30)  I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. (John 8:12)

I pray that we may be part of the creative optimist’s club as humble followers of Him, and as we hearken to His voice while exposing Satan’s deceitful lies.

David W. Allan

 

Photo:  CC Public Domain Vectors