Saints CVs – The Middle Ages
We’ll consider more recent believers in future Saints’ CVs, but for this initial article we will look back at three individuals from the Middle Ages. The problem with medieval times is the difficulty of separating fact from fiction. Any surviving records are unreliable. We have utmost confidence in inspired biblical authors, but we should be […]
Plotting Your Path Through Life – Knowing the Will of God Part 1
How a Christian can know the will of God is both an easy and a difficult question to answer! The easy part is that God’s will is clearly stated on a number of occasions in scripture without ambiguity. The difficult part is when it comes to making specific choices in life in relation to big […]
Mark 16. 15; Acts 5. 41
The Bible is unlike any other book, it is God’s inspired word and is dynamic. A verse that we may have read many times before can suddenly hit us and cut us to the heart, cause our lives to change or suddenly give us the supernatural peace that only comes from God. At other times […]
Fascinating Facts – Part 2
Most will remember ‘The Ugly Duckling’ by HANS Christian Andersen, the tale of the duck foster family that raised an unattractive youth, only for it to transform into a beautiful swan! In biology, this is an example of ‘brood parasitism’ and perhaps the best-known example is the common cuckoo (Cuculus canorus), the only British bird […]
Editor’s Introduction – May 2023
I love reading biographies and so I am looking forward to seeing the different people Jeremy Singer focuses on in this series of Saints’ CVs. The scripture calls us to imitate those who follow the example of the Lord Jesus Christ. There might just be one feature of their life that stands out, but what […]
Saints CVs – Introduction
Introduction In any high street bookstore, the biography section is always popular. We are naturally attracted to stories about other people’s lives; we can relate to them, gaining insight into their successes and, perhaps, their failures. This article introduces a new series covering some believers from history and their circumstances. Since the church is about […]
Numbers 23. 19
Integrity is an admirable quality in the character of any man or woman. It is, however, an intrinsic attribute of deity. The Lord Jesus addressed His Father in John chapter 17 as the ‘only true God’, and as the One whose ‘word is truth’. Paul commended the Thessalonians for their conversion to ‘the living and […]
Fascinating Facts – Part 1
The Hawaiian bobtail squid (Euprymna scolopes) swims in tropical waters, blissfully unaware that it is marvellously designed by God. It has a neat symbiotic’ partnership with a glowing bacterium, Vibrio fischeri, which lives inside it. This gives the squid a built-in torch to help it camouflage, by a crafty technique known as counterillumination’. In the […]
Editor’s Introduction – February 2023
Welcome to the new format of YPS. We have moved to this style of YPS insert as the cost of print and paper has risen significantly over the last 12 months and we are seeking to make sure that we produce our magazine as cost-effectively as possible. As always, this creates some fresh opportunities as […]
About Life
The world we live in is moving away from the truths and principles set out clearly in the word of God with increasing rapidity. The common view is that only you can decide what is right for you’ or what your truth is’: but the Christian is measured by a higher standard. We should always […]
Why Should People Believe the Bible? (Continued)
In our previous article, we looked at experience and agreement as two lines of evidence for the authority of the Bible. Our third proof is Revelation. Revelation One of the things that sets the Bible apart from all the so-called holy books of world religions is that the Bible is a book of prophecy – […]
How To Live as a Christian – Part 2
One of the biggest challenges that every believer faces is their daily walk as a Christian. Our walk, or manner of living, should be consistent and Christlike. When God saved us, He changed us and made us ‘new creatures’, 2 Cor. 5. 17, and this should be reflected in how we live our lives. There […]
Gospel Truth
To bring this short series of articles on some of the doctrines of Christ to a conclusion, I thought I would end with one of the most fundamental truths of the gospel, ‘Jesus is God’. There are several compelling reasons to believe that Jesus is God. I will list some and then focus on one. […]
Eliashib
The last significant Old Testament priest in chronological terms, Eliashib, served in the time of Nehemiah during the 5th century BC. Eliashib’s name has a wonderfully optimistic meaning in Hebrew – ‘God restores’. Appropriate to his name, this high priest lived in a restoration period; there was a civic rebuilding programme in Jerusalem, while at […]
Editor’s Introduction – November 2022
As I write this editorial, it is extremely hot, but I imagine by the time you are reading it we will have left the warmth of summer behind and be heading for colder days. Life has its cycles both in the seasons and in our individual circumstances. I trust that you will find this issue […]
Career Choices – Hospital Pharmacist
Defining what a hospital pharmacist does is probably beyond the scope of this article and will vary significantly depending on the area of work and grade of the position. In essence, every hospital pharmacist will be involved in some aspects of governance to promote and ensure the safe, efficacious, and cost-effective use of medications within […]
Words Are Important
Some of the important distinctions between Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses and Christians come down to the meaning of a word; this is nothing new. In the early days of church history, there was a significant debate about the body of the Lord Jesus. Was it flesh and bone or did it just appear as flesh and […]
Why Should People Believe the Bible?
In a society in which there is so much unbelief and so many other beliefs, we can’t just assume that people view the Bible as reliable or relevant, never mind as God’s word. Often, before we can tell them what the Bible says, we have to make a case for why they should listen. That’s […]
How To Live as a Christian – Part 1
One of the biggest challenges that every believer faces is their daily walk as a Christian. Our walk, or manner of living, should be consistent and Christ-like. When God saved us, He changed us and made us a ‘new creature’, 2 Cor. 5. 17, and this should be reflected in how we live our lives. […]
Esther – Part 3
Author The writer is unknown. He was possibly a Persian Jew who had access to ‘the book of the chronicles of the kings of Media and Persia’, Esther 10. 2. Others suggest it was written by Mordecai. Dates and Time Span There are three specific date markers: Chapter 1 verse 3 – ‘the third year […]
Editor’s Introduction – August 2022
Hopefully, by now you will have had a summer break and some rest and recuperation. I have enjoyed pulling this edition of Young Precious Seed together – not the process but the content of the articles. One of the benefits of being an editor is reading new articles and being challenged by what we are […]
Annas and Caiaphas
Have you noticed how Bible villains often come in pairs? For instance, Ahab and Jezebel menaced Elijah; later, Sanballat and Tobiah interfered with Nehemiah’s building project. In this article, we consider a pair of bad priests, Annas and Caiaphas, who are mentioned in the Gospel narratives and the Acts of the Apostles. Their names and […]
Morphe
If you are a certain age, you will remember ‘morph the plasticine character of a children’s television programme. He is making a comeback on Sky Kids. Staying true to the original format, the new series was shot using clay and traditional stop-frame animation without dialogue at Morph’s original home, the Aardman studios in Bristol. Morph […]
Melchizedek
If we read only the Genesis narrative, we might misclassify Melchizedek as a ‘one page wonder’, a biblical character who turns up for a single event, serves faithfully and then departs unobtrusively. Individuals like Jabez, Naaman’s servant girl and Onesiphorus fit into this category. However, Melchizedek is entirely different since he features in the principal […]
The Key to Conviction
We learned in our last article that, by asking questions, we can open and direct gospel conversations in an inoffensive way. However, we want those conversations to be more than impersonal and intellectual discussions of ideas. We want to be able to present the Lord Jesus Christ to people as the answer to their greatest […]
How To Appreciate Your Saviour – The Character of Christ
One of the most important things any young believer can do is to study passages of scripture concerning the character of Christ. There are many we could look at but the one that we want to consider, briefly in this article, is Philippians chapter 2 verses 1 to 11. A detailed study of these verses […]
Esther – Part 2
The Five Main Characters (in the order they appear) Ahasuerus (means ‘prince’, or ‘lion king’) Ahasuerus was accepted to have been the autocratic ruler of the vast Medo-Persian empire. He was infamous in secular history for his outbursts of senseless anger and outrageous, impossible demands. Like many despots, he probably claimed divine status and expected […]
Editor’s Introduction – May 2022
Welcome to the May issue of Young Precious Seed. I hope that you are enjoying your daily Bible readings and are satisfied as you feed on the word of God. The scriptures are an amazing resource, please take advantage of them. At Precious Seed we have lots of material that will help you in your […]
Editor’s Introduction
Hi, thanks once again for reading Young Precious Seed. I really do appreciate it. We are starting this first issue of 2022 with four new series of articles. I hope that you find them thought provoking, interesting, educational, and challenging. That’s the aim. I have tried to cover a variety of topics that might interest […]
Esther – Part 1
It will take about twenty minutes to read through Esther, and repeated reading will allow you to immerse yourself in the story. These notes, which will be in three parts, are offered to help you in your personal study. Introduction and purpose, and the biblical and historical settings Esther, the seventeenth book of the Bible, […]
How to handle material things – trusting God v covetousness
The handling of material things is a challenge that every believer faces. We should not be lax in our responsibility to provide for ourselves and our families. The scriptures clearly teach the importance of working to meet our own needs, Eph. 4. 28, as well as taking care of those whom the Lord has entrusted […]
Introduction – Thorn bushes and myrtle trees
Perhaps we are lazy or have become accustomed to bite-sized everything, from social media to a YouTube-style news cycle. Whatever the reason, Christian doctrine is sadly neglected. We seem to know very little about our God, our Saviour, and the gospel. We sing songs about people’s experiences, aspirations, emotions and are stirred by the lyrics […]
The key to conversation
As a young Christian, I had a burning desire to make the gospel known to those who had never heard it. What held me back was an equally strong feeling of inadequacy. I was ill-equipped to converse with friends, neighbours, and strangers, about the gospel and I didn’t want to make a fool of myself […]
Zacharias
Between the two testaments, there were ‘four hundred silent years’ without a word from God.1 How would heavenly communication be resumed? Who would hear the first fresh word from the Lord? The answer is that divine revelation came initially to a priest engaged in temple service; his name was Zacharias. Throughout his writing, Luke focuses […]
Be Mindful
The practice of mindfulness has become increasingly popular in society today. However, there is real danger associated with becoming overly focused on self. As an antidote to self-occupation, I would like to consider what the Bible says we should be mindful of – profitable things that we should strive to remember and focus our minds […]
Can sickness be for the glory of God?
When we have a friend or loved one who is unwell and going through a real trial with their health, it’s difficult, isn’t it, to see the purpose behind it or to understand why our God doesn’t seem to intervene immediately despite all our heartfelt prayers? Of course, the simple answer is to say that […]
