|
|
|
|
WE SOLD EVERYTHING TO PREACH THE BOOK OF MORMON My interest in Mormonism is due to the fact that I was born in a family which belonged to the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (RLDS). This is the historic division of Mormonism which stayed with Joseph Smith's wife, Emma Smith, and his son, Joseph Smith III instead of going to Utah with Brigham Young to practice polygamy. Emma Smith held that her husband had not had other wives and declared that it was Brigham Young, not her husband, who had introduced this doctrine into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) which has its headquarters in Salt Lake City, Utah.1 The Reorganized church has its headquarters in Independence, Missouri. Also it has never accepted as valid Joseph Smith's introduction of Freemasonic practices into the secret ceremonies which take place in the LDS temples. In 2001, it changed its name to the “Community of Christ” in order to distance itself more from the LDS church. My mother was raised in the RLDS from the age of nine. My father was a "Jesus Only Pentecostal" when he read the Book of Mormon and found in it the teaching of the oneness doctrine of the Godhead and joined the RLDS church.2 After they married, they continued in the RLDS for ten more years. However, after coming to the conclusion that it was not following the pure teachings of the Book of Mormon, they left it and joined a splinter group which had left the RLDS precisely to preach "the purity of the teachings of the Book of Mormon." I was five years old when we joined that group which called itself The Church of Christ. The pastor was a woman whose name was Pauline Hancock. We stayed there for four years until I was nine years old. After some problems there, we left it and began attending different Pentecostal churches in Kansas City. Three years later, nearly all my family was baptized in the Holy Spirit, speaking in tongues, seeing visions and even witnessing miraculous healings in answer to prayer. There was the case of a deaf-mute man, for example, who began to hear and speak after we prayed for him. That convinced us that God was calling us to preach the Book of Mormon with signs following. Shortly thereafter, we had visions which showed us that we should go to preach the "gospel" of the Book of Mormon to the American Indians in the state of Arizona. My family believed that we were the only ones in the whole world who preached "pure" Book of Mormon doctrine. That is, we were unlike the Utah Mormons, who believed in polygamy and had secret temple ceremonies with blood oaths; also unlike the Reorganized church which followed the additional revelations of Joseph Smith in the Doctrine and Covenants which added many things to the teachings of the New Testament and the Book of Mormon. No, my family rejected all of Joseph Smith's revelations which he received after the coming forth of the Book of Mormon, believing that he was a fallen prophet just like King Solomon who took many wives and whose heart departed from the Lord (Deuteronomy 17:17; 1 Kings 11:1-6), and that only the Book of Mormon contained the fullness of the restored Gospel. ______________________ 1 Gibson, Margaret Wilson. Emma Smith, The Elect Lady. Independence, MO. Herald Publishing. p. 254-261, 318. 2 Book of Mormon, Mosiah 15:1-5; Alma 11:26-29; Mormon 9:12; Ether 3:14. ______________________
According to the Book of Mormon, its message was going to be preached among the American Indians with great power followed by severe judgment on the Gentiles.3 It was true that the Pentecostals had signs and miracles, but according to the Book of Mormon, all existing churches were corrupt.4 Now that my family had received powerful manifestations of the Holy Spirit, (which are very rare among the other Mormon-related groups), we believed that God was going to use us to restore the true doctrine of Jesus Christ and thus prepare the world for His soon return to Earth. I was twelve years old when my family sold everything we possessed (except our clothes and cooking utensils) and left for the state of Arizona in order to fulfill the "command of God." It is important here to outline briefly exactly what special "gospel" the Book of Mormon contains to preach to the American Indians. It teaches that the Indians will recognize its truth when it is preached to them and that they will realize that they are of Israel. That will result in (1) the removal of the curse on their skin, causing them to become "white and delightful"5 as were their Jewish forefathers, and (2) they will get their land back from the Gentiles, destroying non-believers in the Book of Mormon in the process.6 This was the "gospel" which my family preached among the Indians in the state of Arizona. However, we did not experience the success among them that the Book of Mormon promised. During this time, I attended four years of high school and another four years at Arizona State University in Tempe, receiving a Bachelor of Arts in Education degree in 1966. But I was not satisfied with the poor results of our missionary efforts. So I decided to write a book defending the Book of Mormon before the Christian world. I believed this was needed not only to convince the Indians of its truth, but also the "true sheep" who were scattered about in the different churches, but who did not yet know about the truth of the Book of Mormon. How God Reached Me It is hard to be the only ones in the world with all the spiritual truth and to bear single-handedly the responsibility to win the world for God. It is still more difficult when one feels weak and almost ready to abandon one's faith when a person belongs to the only family which knows all these truths that God wants preached. That was my state of mind when I turned eighteen. I was a freshman at Arizona State University on December 7, 1961. That day, a famous spiritualist medium, Richard Ireland, was demonstrating his extraordinary psychic talents at the university. I went to see him, because I knew that while spiritism was forbidden in the Bible, I was not really living close to the Lord. What I saw take place there shook me to the core. Why? Because I knew that these things were forbidden in the Bible the power of Satan was working through this man who was completely devoted to these forbidden practices. _____________________
3 Ibid., Mormon 5:8-24; 9:19-26; Moroni 10:7-17. 4 Ibid., Mormon 8:36. 5 Ibid., 2 Nephi 30:6; Alma 23:18. 6 Ibid., 3 Nephi 16:11; 20:14-17; 21:11-13.
_____________________
Two days later, I went to Phoenix College to hear a famous Christian evangelist preach named T. L. Osborn. While he was speaking, it struck me that two days before, I had been in the presence of a man who was so dedicated to Satan that he could convince college students to his way of thinking. Now, I was in the presence of another man who was just as consecrated to God. What a difference! While listening to the Word of God being explained so simply from the Bible, I began to hear a voice within me saying, "You can do the same thing that this man of God is doing. You can preach the Gospel and pray for the sick like he does. God can use you the same way He is using him." I took it as the call of God upon my life. Before he finished the sermon, I knew that I was going to serve God with all my heart. That night, I went forward in front of all those people to confess my sins and rededicate my life to Jesus Christ. Right after that, I began searching out people with whom I could share the joy that had come into my life. My Conversations with Christian Workers At the university, there was an organization by the name of Campus Crusade for Christ that worked to bring students to Christ. I began to attend their services and learned how to use their "Four Spiritual Laws." I began to share these laws with other students, and before my very eyes, I saw students become born again. It was a miracle! But I was still convinced that I had the correct doctrine which was contained in the Bible and the Book of Mormon. On several occasions, I challenged Christian workers, saying "I know that the Bible is true because of all the archeological evidence that confirms it. I know the Book of Mormon still lacks that kind of evidence. Nevertheless, I know that it too is the Word of God, and that it restores the truths which have been taken away from the Bible." I also said, "You say that I belong to a cult and that I cannot go to heaven. Show me a single place where the Bible and the Book of Mormon do not agree and I will lay down the Book of Mormon." No one accepted my challenge, I believe, because I doubt that any of them had read the Book of Mormon. "You say that I am lost and that you are a Christian. Then you should love my soul. God is love. Why don't you at least make an effort to try to show me my error and save my soul from hell?" I was convinced that they could not answer my arguments, but I know now that they did something even more important. They prayed for me and asked God to open my eyes. Prayer is the most important step in rescuing souls from Satan! God moved in response to those prayers to prepare me for my complete deliverance. Thank God! Family Crisis I was fascinated by the fact that I was winning people to Christ using only the Bible and not the Book of Mormon. This soon began to cause problems in my family. A study group I began started growing and we soon began having meetings in our home. My father baptized the people I was reaching, but when it became evident that their lives were really changed, and some of them even began to speak in tongues, that strained my relationship with my father. I insisted that the most important thing people needed was a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. After that, we could teach them the Book of Mormon. But my father got very upset with me and said that God had sent us to preach the Book of Mormon, and that by accepting that book, people would know the Lord. Teen Challenge Such was the situation when I graduated, and I shortly thereafter received an invitation from San Francisco to work at a Christian rehabilitation center for drug addicts called Teen Challenge. I decided to accept, aware that they did not know about my faith in the Book of Mormon. They only knew that there were very few Christian young people willing to work with drug addicts and that I was one of them. And they desperately needed workers! I accepted the offer primarily because I wanted to develop the spiritual gifts in my life. I believed that at Teen Challenge, the call of God would be confirmed on my life by signs, wonders and miracles, and I would be able to leave there filled with the power of God to convincingly preach the Truth according to both the Book of Mormon and the Bible. Therefore, I passed myself off as an "independent Pentecostal." When I got there, they put me in charge of the men's dormitory and had me give the morning Bible studies. My Liberation I had a day off each week, and usually spent that day at the public library reading the Book of Mormon. My plan was to write a book showing that no doctrinal contradictions exist between the teachings of the Book of Mormon and those of the Bible. But now that I was teaching the Bible six days a week and reading the Book of Mormon one day a week, I began finding subtle differences between them. During seven months of intensive study, I kept finding more and more of these contradictions between the two books. Nobody showed them to me. I found them myself! And the errors were not in the Bible--they were in the Book of Mormon! If I had learned anything during my upbringing, it was that the Bible was full of errors and an angel had declared that the Book of Mormon had been accurately translated by the power of God! But now through my own studies, I was beginning to appreciate the Bible as never before. I was amazed by its precision, its beauty and the clarity of the teachings it contained. But the Book of Mormon was written only semi-coherently in comparison and had many plagiarisms, often using the identical words as in the King James Version of the Bible, but often with other meanings. To me, it was like comparing a real flower with an artificial one. A real flower only becomes more fascinating when examined under a microscope, while an artificial one, though pretty at a distance, is only made of plastic and becomes plain, even ugly, when closely examined. I was meditating on this when alone one day, and suddenly I had a thought that had never occurred to me before: "The Bible really was inspired by the Holy Spirit, but not the Book of Mormon. It is only a poor imitation of the Bible. Joseph Smith may have been a genius and intelligent enough to write the Book of Mormon, but he certainly was not inspired by the Holy Spirit!" At that moment, I began to get angry at Joseph Smith. I knew that he grew up in a very poor family that had even been evicted for failure to pay the rent, and no doubt he had wondered how to get the money into his own pocket that the well-dressed people in the churches obviously had. I also knew that he organized his church so that its money would be controlled from the top. No doubt, he felt the need to provide for his family in a way his father never had! I thought, "How dare he take advantage of the faith of simple, sincere people like my parents and many members of my family just to get their money! They are good people that really love God and are willing to be persecuted for their beliefs, but he intentionally set about to deceive them to get their money into his own pocket under the pretext that an angel of God had revealed to him that all existing ministers and churches were corrupt!" The very instant I thought these things, I felt an evil presence of darkness lift from me! Then it all came clear to me. Joseph Smith was not a prophet of God at all! The Book of Mormon was indeed inspired, but not by the Holy Spirit! It was Satanically inspired! I was suddenly aware that I need not fear putting my trust in the Bible alone. And suddenly I was afraid of the Book of Mormon. I knew that I would now have to study the Bible alone to find out what it really taught by itself and without other revelations, and then return to study the Book of Mormon once I had been grounded sufficiently in the teachings of the Bible. And I knew that part of my future ministry would always be to show "my people--the Mormons" the errors in the Book of Mormon which no one in the Mormon Church would show them. I realized that I had harbored the same spirit that they had, and had belonged to the same family of faith as all the different groups, by whatever name, that believed the Book of Mormon to be the Word of God! The last thought that had occurred to me before I felt that presence of darkness leave me was an irrational fear that if I ceased to believe in the Book of Mormon, I would lose my soul!7 I suddenly realized that if Jesus had really saved me—and I knew he had—the lack of faith in a book other than the Bible would certainly not send my soul to hell! The Jesus of the Book of Mormon was certainly not the Jesus of the Bible!8 I had seen many miracles of God while at Teen Challenge—sick people instantly healed, drug addicts, alcoholics and homosexuals delivered, etc. But the greatest liberation that took place while I was a counselor there was my own--from a religious spirit! Conclusion Many wonderful things have happened since the Lord delivered me from the grip of the Book of Mormon. These articles on Mormonism are just one of those results. I hope very much that you will share these things with your friends and relatives who have been misplaced their faith in the “other gospel" of the Book of Mormon and Mormonism. And I would hearing reports of their turning to the saving Gospel of Jesus Christ, who died for our sins and was resurrected for the eternal salvation of all who believe on him and follow his ways. If that describes you, please contact me and let me know! ____________________ 7 Ibid., 2 Nephi 33:10-15 8 Holy Bible, 2 Corinthians 11:3-4 Prayer of Salvation: Lord Jesus, I thank you for your Holy Word, the Bible, which reveals the plan of salvation which is so simple. I repent for thinking that a church could save me when you only ask me to come to you in simple faith. Lord, I have heard your knock at the door of my heart. I open that door and ask you to come in. I believe that you lived a sinless life, took my sins upon you when you died on the cross, and are now at the right hand of the Father, praying for me. I renounce Mormonism and everything associated it. I ask for release from all the spirits of deception I have allowed in my life by doubting your holy Word and following the teachings of men. Cleanse me with your shed blood. I believe. I receive you now as my Lord and Savior. I will seek out a church which teaches the Bible as the guide for my life. I will be re-baptized as a testimony of my new-found faith. I give you my life. Do with me what you will. I promise never leave you, with the help of the Holy Spirit. Thank you, Jesus! Amen! If you prayed this prayer sincerely, please contact Dr. Dean at the email address below and let him know about it. He will see that you receive the guidance necessary to keep you in the ways of the Lord. Of course, your name and email address will be kept confidential.
A Talk About the Falkland Islands War Days by a missionary who was in Chile at the time --Given to a Political Science class at Oral Roberts University on October 29, 2010 by Dean Helland (Missionary to Chile 1975-1990) I and my family had gone to Chile as missionaries in 1975, following a military coup of the Communist government of Salvador Allende by the armed forces which resulted in the head of the Army, Augusto Pinochet, becoming president. The coup took place on September 11th, 1973. Our first furlough came in December of 1979 and lasted only two months. We returned to Chile in February of 1980. We lived in Concepción, Chile, the second largest city of Chile, located 325 miles south of the capital city of Santiago. It was the site of a large military guerrison. Historically, the military had marched to Santiago several times and replaced the government with one more to its own liking in the early days of the republic. Concepción is located next to Talcahuano, its port city. Talcahuano is the site of a naval base. The Bay of Talcahuano is the largest in the world, with the San Francisco Bay in California being the second largest in the world. Historical Background Chile had defeated Peru and Bolivia in the War of the Pacific a century earlier, in 1879. Ever since then, both countries had vowed to take back the land annexed from them in northern Chile by the end of the next century. Argentina had not taken part in that war, for Chile had ceded territory to Argentina to keep them out of that war, I was told by Chileans. Meantime, Argentines were being taught in their public schools that Chile had stolen the southern-most territories which had earlier been part of Argentina. Though there was no war up to 1979, there were certainly war sounds made by the neighboring countries, including Argentina. The Beagle Islands off the extreme tip of South America were in dispute between Chile and Argentina. Queen Elizabeth II of England was the arbitrator, and she ruled that the islands belonged to Chile. Argentina rejected this decision and nearly went to war with Chile toward the end of 1978. It seemed that the southern cone countries of South America would soon be embroiled in a war with Peru and Bolivia to the north and Argentina to the south and east. It later came out that had this war taken place, all the main cities of Chile would have been bombed by the Argentine Air Force, and Buenos Aires would have been bombed by the Chilean Air Force which was based in Brazil, resulting in the loss of hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of lives. Another dangerous element in the mix was that all of these countries now had military dictatorships. Due to the pressures of the Soviet Union and terrorist activities instigated by local Communists who had been trained in Castro’s Cuba, each country was under a state of alert and brooked no nonsense from either local citizens or foreigners. It was during this time that an entire generation of young Argentines was basically eliminated by the military in the Argentine “Dirty War”. One night in late 1978, we heard military planes taking off from the nearby military bases. The next day we learned that only skeleton crews remained on the bases. The rest had been flown either north, where the Peruvian and Bolivian forces were concentrated at the border, or to the extreme south, where Argentina had gathered its forces opposite Punta Arenas, near the tip of South America. Shortly thereafter, my family took a vacation at the base of the Andes Mountains in the home of a pastor of a small church in San Fabián de Alico. When we came out to the Pan American highway ten days later, I purchased a newspaper before continuing on, and was stunned to read that the CIA had reported to the Chilean government that the US expected Argentina to attack Chile in the south the next day. I said to my wife that we had better hurry back home in case the US embassy was trying to contact us to leave the country. We heard later that Argentina had sent 5,000 coffins south along with its soldiers to show its seriousness, but this served only to demoralize their troops. Pinochet had warned the citizens of Punta Arenas, where the ground attack was to take place led by Argentine tanks, to stay in their homes, that the military would do what it had to do, and that Chile would not give up a single centimeter of its territory to Argentina. Argentina called off its attack on Chile only one hour before it had planned to attack. At a pastor’s conference, an inside source related to the pastors that the Argentine navy at that time had rounded the tip of South America to attack the Chilean navy, but was amazed to see on its radar that not only the Chilean navy, but also warships from the United States, France and Germany were awaiting its attack on Chile. In reality, those countries had not sent a single warship, but that conclusion was enough to cause Argentina to halt its aggression for the time being. A Chilean naval officer told me later that had Argentina attacked, it would have totally destroyed the Chilean navy, for Chile had no defense against the Exocet missiles which were the heavy-weight weapon of the Argentine navy, freshly purchased from France. Meantime, the Vatican stepped in and continued the negotiation process over the Beagle Islands, forging a treaty in 1984 which was accepted by both countries known as the Friendship and Peace Treaty. The Falkland/Malvinas Islands (1983) The Falkland/Malvinas Islands were in the Atlantic Ocean off the southern coast of Argentina. It was inhabited by British citizens who spoke English, but got their practical needs met through trade with Argentina. It was a remnant of the old British Empire, and England held on to it due to its militarily strategic location in monitoring shipping around the tip of South America. Remember that the cold war was still going on with the Communist bloc countries. Argentina’s military government was in trouble at home. It had nearly gone to war with Chile over the Beagle Islands, but now turned its attention to the Malvinas Islands (as they were known in Spanish) where its claims of sovereignty seemed more defensible. Possession of these islands had long been a sore spot between Argentina and England. Gearing Up for War It was amazing to witness the psychological warfare which preceded the actual war. It took three weeks for Great Britain to send its navy down to the area, and while they were coming, both sides launched a most interesting psychological propaganda warfare. At night, Argentina would turn up the power on its radio stations so that we could hear them clearly in Chile and all the surrounding countries. I remember listening to a prestigious university professor giving all the historic reasons why the United States would back Argentina’s claims against England. I thought he was sure having a pipe-dream. Of course, I was right. Argentina has been unhappy with the United States ever since due to its moral support of England during this conflict. I remember how Argentina radio bragged about their soldier boys from the Pampa. They said that they were raised using machetes as toothpicks, and couldn’t wait to confront the British. Meanwhile, England touted the efficiency of its Gurka warriors contingency. It maintains 800 Gurkas in its armed forces at all times. They are noted for stealth in going behind enemy lines and silently slitting the throats of enemy soldiers. An Argentine soldier I talked to later confided that he and about 30 other soldiers on the Falkland Islands were in an outpost facing the British warships. He and a companion were sent out on a reconnaissance patrol during the night. When they returned, all 30 of their fellow Argentine soldiers had had their throats slit and were all dead. The Exocet Missile vs. Harrier Aircraft These missiles may be fired at a ship from as far as 100 miles away. They skim over the water just below the speed of sound and use radar to hone in on their target. Hundreds of them were used by Iran in their war against Iraq earlier. In the Falkland Islands War, they were used by Argentina to sink the British warship, the HMS Sheffield, and a 15,000 ton British merchant marine ship. A number of them misfired due to being launched too close to the British ships from airplanes. Had Argentina had more experience with them, they could have sunk the entire British fleet and won the war. In essence, these missiles have made surface warships obsolete in modern warfare, and the United States is keenly aware of this. The Harrier aircraft operated by Great Britain from its warships is no doubt responsible for England’s victory over Argentina. It was able to dodge missiles shot at it and was able to operate from land and sea. No Harrier was lost in the battles which lasted 74 days. Officially, 649 Argentine soldiers died and about 257 British soldiers were slain during the war. Chile was officially neutral in this war, but in reality cooperated with Great Britain by providing intelligence it later came out. For this reason, years later Margaret Thatcher insisted that Augusto Pinochet be returned to Chile and not put on trial before the World Court for crimes committed during his term in office. She attributed the British victory in the Falkland/Malvinas War largely to his help. All along, Argentina had claimed that it was winning. When it had to announce defeat, there was an enormous reaction of disillusionment from the Argentine people for having been lied to by the government. Earlier, an entire generation of young people had nearly been wiped out by the military government in its quest to eradicate Communist subversives. Now, it had lost a war and hundreds more of its young people. The result was a soon return to civilian government and the imprisonment of the primary military leaders, including president Galtiere. Previously, Argentina had proudly noted that there was no red in their flag, for they had not shed blood in any war. They had now lost this badge of honor and lost a war in doing it. Currency Fluctuations Before this time, inflation of the US dollar had been at historic highs. Under Jimmy Carter, inflation of the U.S. dollar neared 20%, and its effect on currencies around the world was devastating. Dollars had been used in trade with foreign countries, and businesses were permitted to use them for purchases abroad. While it had been illegal for private citizens to own dollars in 1975, it soon became legal for them to own dollars, but all limits to owning dollars were completely removed because National Banks had become glutted with what seemed to be worthless dollars. Before they were removed from power after losing the war with Great Britain, the Argentine military government went on a weapons-buying frenzy in order to replace the weapons it had lost in the war with Great Britain. Argentina needed dollars to purchase these new weapons. Consequently, it started offering twice the dollar’s value in the local currency in order to get private citizens to turn in the dollars which they had squirreled away. The effect on surrounding countries was dramatic. I knew a Chilean businessman who began travelling back and forth to Argentina twice a week with his suitcase full of US dollars. He would bring back Argentine currency and change it into dollars back in Chile. In that way, he would duplicate their value on every trip. He told me that he made about US$100,000 on every trip he made. The Case of Bolivia Before the Falkland War, Bolivia was experiencing a prosperous economy for the first time in its history. For the first time, Japanese cars were being imported and driven by Bolivian owners. In Chile, car accidents were at an all-time high due to a massive influx of new drivers on the road with their new cars. When Argentina began sucking dollars out of the banks of other South American countries to buy new weapons, from one day to the next, inflation expanded dramatically in Bolivia. Throughout that country, new cars were abandoned by the tens of thousands. The new owners just left them at the side of the road and walked away from them. Not only could they no longer afford to make the monthly payments on their cars, they could no longer afford even to fill the gas tank with their currency. For example, a photocopy of one sheet of paper in Bolivia cost the equivalent of ten cents US money. That was because the paper and the photocopy machine were made of imported materials. However, suddenly that same amount of money (10 cents in U.S. money) could purchase locally-grown food which would feed the average family for a week. I had made a trip to Bolivia in 1976 for a Pastor’s conference. The old currency there had just been replaced by the new peso, which was worth 10 to the dollar at that time. I got a sample of the crisp new bills as a souvenir. On a trip back from the United States to Chile which took me through Bolivia in 1986, just ten years later, I asked a young boy at the airport if he would accept dollars so I could buy a newspaper. I was amazed when he gave me change for a dollar for a 50-cent newspaper which consisted of one bill of a million pesos and three more bills for 100,000 pesos each. Fifty-cents in American money had inflated from five pesos to one million three hundred thousand pesos in ten years! I said that I should frame the million-peso bill in order to show my friends that I was now a millionaire!
___________ NOTE: All other correspondence with Dr. Dean is with the understanding that it may be used in part or in whole on this website or elsewhere unless you specifically request confidentiality. |
Dr. Helland's Articles in English
Other items of interest
Guest Articles
|
|
* This site is frequently updated please return often.....
Send mail to
dr.dean@deanhelland.com with questions or comments about this web site.
| ||||||
