I totally loved this week’s Come Follow Christ YouTube video by Jared Halverson of the Unshaken Saints YouTube Channel. This week’s reading involved Doctrine and Covenants section 20, which is known as the constitution of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It also involved section 21 and 22.

First, I loved how he talked about people who say they are spiritual but not religious. He explains why both are needed. That’s at the 5:50 mark. It’s just such a beautiful explanation of truth, with the need to reach out sideways to others and upwards to God.

Second, I love it when he explains that when Jesus uses the bridegroom symbolism, the bridegroom represents Jesus, and the bride is the Church. We are each born into this world as spirit children of Heavenly Parents. We also each have a physical father and mother. When we make a baptismal covenant as we get baptized in the Church, we become children of the covenant, children of Christ. When we become children of Christ, Brother Halverson says that Christ is like our father, and the Church is like our mother. That makes sense since Christ is figuratively married to the Church, since He is the bridegroom and the Church is the bride. Yes, the Church is made of imperfect people but that doesn’t mean we should ask Jesus to divorce the Church. This is all around the 8:41 mark when he starts talking about Paul saying in Ephesians that husbands should love their wives, even as Christ loves the Church. (I have more about the wedding symbolism here.)

Third, I loved how he explained the chart above. You can read the explanation at the 12:23 mark.

Fourth, I loved that he said that April 6th is not necessarily the birthday of Jesus Christ, which many people have been led to believe because of Doctrine and Covenants 20:1. His talking about this is around the 22:05 mark. He explains that some people, like Elder James E. Talmage and Elder David A. Bednar, have interpreted it to mean that day is the Savior’s birthday. Then other people like J. Reuben Clark don’t interpret it that way. I’ve never wanted to either. I don’t think that verse means that 1830 years ago exactly to this day, April 6, 1830, is the day Jesus was born. Ever since I first read that verse in my seminary class in high school I thought, “Well, people say all the time, such-and-such-amount of years ago, this happened, but they usually don’t mean, exactly on this very day that it happened.”

Fifth, I love that he likes to call The Fall of Adam and Eve, The Jump, instead. That’s because he says that Eve did it on purpose, not accident, and it took a leap of faith. He says that Eve had courage and Adam had the wisdom to follow her by partaking of the fruit. That’s at the 41:14 mark. (If you want more about Eve go here and here.) I love this! Yes, it was a jump because it was a leap of faith!

You will have to watch it all, I’m not doing this video complete justice. There is so much more! Enjoy!

Then below is the video for this upcoming week when we study Doctrine and Covenants 23-26. I listen to these videos in the morning as I go about my daily routine, about 30 minutes a day. I do this after I listen to the Book of Mormon for about 5 minutes and then a talk from General Conference, using the suggestions in the Come Follow Christ lesson for the week.

He also has shorter videos that don’t go verse by verse if you don’t want the deep dive. Plus he has daily devotionals. Check out his channel here. He has a theology degree from a divinity school in Tennessee plus a gift for explaining things with stories and analogies, so I just love learning from him.