🧭 Christ at the Center — A Cousin’s Gentle Compass
🧭 Christ at the Center — A Cousin’s Gentle Compass
🕊 Why Textual Tests Aren’t Enough in the Latter Days
Sometimes the Lord sends you a message right when you need it most.
This week, it came from my cousin — one of the brothers dearest to my heart. His wife walks closely with the Savior, and he does too. They’ve walked their own spiritual road, and they know what it means to keep their eyes fixed on Jesus when groups and movements start swirling around. 🌿
📜 The Spark: A Side-by-Side Textual Test
Recently I ran a structural and vocabulary comparison between two texts:
Nemenhah Records — Book of Tsihohnayah Ahkehkthihm, Chapter 13.
Book of NEM (Shioni Akek 13) — published by Shane Baldwin, who claims he received it via email from John the Revelator.
The result was striking:
Verse for verse, storyline for storyline, the NEM version mirrors the Nemenhah text almost exactly. Names are swapped (Tsimohtl → Timothy, Peacemaker → Lord, Enduring Peace → Zion), the structure is identical, and even the poetic “ashes of a fallen church” line is preserved verbatim.
👉 The evidence points strongly to derivation, not independent origin.
I shared this analysis with my cousin. And instead of debating the data, he wrote something far better. 📝
✨ His Response: Christ Is the Measure
He said this reminded him of what they experienced with the Denver groups.
Then he added:
“The Lord said all this is part of your experience just like Denver’s groups were part of ours. Treasures of wisdom will appear as you measure all things against Jesus. Do the groups bring people to Jesus, do the people focus on Jesus, etc.?”
Then he shared a powerful quote from Pure Revelations:
“To know the true nature of a church, religion, or an ideology, all one needs to do is listen to the speeches, prayers, testimonies of their members to get a sense of what they worship. If more than half of what is spoken is not centered upon Christ, it has likely been adulterated.”
💥 That hit me straight in the heart.
🧭 Groups, Movements, and Measuring Rods
Let’s be honest: the Restoration movement has no shortage of groups, splinters, visions, records, claims, and “new revelations.”
Denver Snuffer’s teachings awakened thousands to Joseph’s original message—but also spawned factions.
The Nemenhah Records preserve ancient covenants and Peacemaker teachings—but even around them, groups and personalities have formed.
Now we have the NEM texts surfacing, claiming a John the Revelator origin.
It’s a lot to sort through. And textual testing does matter. Structural analysis, vocabulary shifts, and historical context can expose derivative writings and help protect against deception.
But my cousin reminded me:
📌 Textual tests alone are not the final plumb line. Jesus is.
🪜 Why This Matters So Much
We are living in a day of many voices. Some sincere, some deceptive, many mixed. The adversary doesn’t usually show up with a pitchfork — he shows up with almost right.
That’s why the Lord gave us a simple spiritual standard:
“By their fruits ye shall know them.” (Matthew 7:20)
“Every thing which inviteth to do good, and to persuade to believe in Christ, is sent forth by the power and gift of Christ.” (Moroni 7:13)
💡 If a movement or record truly comes from God, it will draw people toward the Living Christ — not just toward the group, or the leader, or the special knowledge.
And conversely, if you listen to the testimonies and prayers of a group and Christ’s name is rare or perfunctory… something has gone wrong.
👉 This applies equally to the LDS Church, Denver groups, Nemenhah circles, Baldwin’s NEM project — even scholarly scriptorians. If Jesus isn’t the center, we’ve lost the plot.
🧠 My Cousin’s Wisdom: Treasures in the Journey
He didn’t dismiss what I was studying. He didn’t tell me to walk away.
He simply reminded me that this is part of my personal schooling in the Lord — just as his Denver experience was part of his. God allows us to walk through these tangled groves not to confuse us, but to teach us to discern. 🪄
And the treasures we find along the way will appear as we keep measuring everything against Jesus.
🌿 Final Thought
I love textual analysis. I love scripture. I love digging deep.
But my cousin helped me remember the greatest truth:
👉 Christ is the true North.
👉 The Living Jesus is the standard.
👉 If He’s not at the center, none of this matters.
This blog isn’t really about Nemenhah or NEM.
It’s about how God uses our experiences with groups to teach us to anchor ourselves in His Son.
That is the treasure. 🕊️
📌 Invitation
As you navigate the swirl of teachings, groups, and “new records” in these latter days, ask yourself simple questions:
Does this draw me closer to Jesus?
Do the people involved truly center on Him?
Are the prayers, testimonies, and hearts fixed on Christ more than anything else?
If the answer is yes — follow the Light.
If not — be cautious.
The Shepherd’s voice is still clear to those who will listen. 🐑❤️
✅ This might just be one of my favorite blogs I’ve ever written. Thank you, dear cousin, for the gentle compass back to Christ.
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