Chairman’s Notes – November 2025

As Elijah and Elisha took their journey from Gilgal to Bethel, and from Bethel to Jericho, and over the Jordan river, it is interesting to note that the whole journey was set against the background that ‘the Lord would take up Elijah into heaven’, 2 Kgs. 2. 1. Exactly when and where that translation would take place seems unknown. Thus, Elijah says to Elisha, ‘the Lord hath sent me to Bethel’, v. 2, and ‘the Lord hath sent me to Jericho’, v. 4, and, finally, ‘the Lord hath sent me to Jordan’, v. 6. We are taught that for the life of the believer it is one step at a time. We might know that we are bound for glory, but we do not know when and where we will be when the Lord calls us home. Equally, we do not even know the next step of the journey. It is all in the Lord’s hands. We are expected only to trust in the God who holds the future in His hand, confident that we are secure. As Elijah is taken up to glory, it is good to see in Elijah a man who started well, in 1 Kings chapter 17, and who finished well. He may have experienced some challenges in his life and service, but the Lord sustained him. We look to the Lord’s provision that we might run our race and be able to say with Paul, ‘I have finished my course, I have kept the faith’, 2 Tim. 4. 7.

One of the purposes of this page is to express our thanks to Ken Totton who is retiring from the Precious Seed Trust at the end of this year. Ken has served on the Trust for over sixteen years. He took on the role of publications editor and was responsible for some of the biggest books in the Precious Seed portfolio - New Treasury of Bible Doctrine and the reprint of Acts by John Heading being just two of the many that carry his name as editor or author. He has been a prolific writer of articles, one willing to volunteer to write on a variety of topics and he has written with clarity. Finally, when Brian Clatworthy retired, Ken became joint ministry articles editor and brought the same analysis, insight, and dependability to that task. We are sorry to see him leave us, but we are sure that he will continue to write as he is enabled whilst he devotes his time to the work of the Lord in East Anglia and beyond. We wish him well in that work knowing that there is already fruit for his labours.

For those of us who remain in the work of Precious Seed, we would seek your continued prayerful support. Recruiting people to join the work is getting harder and we would ask you to pray specifically for guidance in this and other matters that we face. We are thankful to Jeremy Singer (Bridge of Weir) for his willingness to join us and we continue to be encouraged by the writers that we have in countries across the world and we thank them for their exercise. They give of their time and use the gift that God has given them for the enriching and encouragement of God’s people.

As all of us face financial challenges, we would also ask magazine subscribers to review the number of magazines that they are sent, particularly those who get magazines for the assembly with whom they are in fellowship. Whilst we are happy to supply them to whoever requests, good stewardship of our resources means we ask you to inform us, even if it is a reduction of only one magazine that is being requested.

We would draw your attention to the fact that we are now producing podcasts for those who use online streaming services. Perhaps if you are travelling as part of your work commitments, or on holiday, you could take/download some recordings of YPS material to listen to. The selection is growing, and we trust it will encourage a new generation to pick up the magazine to find similar things of spiritual profit.