Category Archives: Youth

The Call of Jeremiah – A Message for Youth

By Ian D’Souza

Introduction:  After King Solomon’s death, the United Kingdom of Israel split into two parts – the Northern and Southern Kingdom.  The Northern Kingdom was called Israel and the Southern Kingdom was called Judah.  Jeremiah served as a prophet to Judah from 627 BC to 586 BC, that is up to the exile of Judah to Babylon.  He was the last of the pre-exile prophets and prophesied for 40 years in Judah. He preached during a time when the country was deteriorating economically, socially and spiritually.  People had moved away from God and Jeremiah was urging them to repent as he was deeply grieved over the spiritual condition of the people.  He grieved so much that he was called the “weeping prophet”.  He preached not only sin and judgement, but also hope and restoration.  He was also called the “prophet of loneliness” as he was commanded not to marry (Jer 16:2). This command – not to marry was specific to him and is not for everybody. Continue reading →

The Dangers of Boy & Girl Relationships

When I finished school and entered college, one of the first peer pressures to hit me was through the popular line “who’s your chick, man?” or in other words do you have a girlfriend and if so, who is she?  It was kind of customary to have a special girlfriend to generally hang around with so as to be with the “in” crowd.  Be it custom or not, the trend is definitely here to stay with the current generation. Strangely, in previous generations, our parents, grandparents and upwards seemed to have had a far stricter view of boy & girl relationships. One wonders if perhaps they knew something of the dangers involved and therefore used the stricter and wiser approach.  We will never know for sure because correct instruction in these truths were never properly handed down to future generations. However, God in his wisdom and love for His youth is helping us to see the dangers of pre-marital relationships between young people in search of love. Continue reading →