Chalmers' Blog

Saturday Snippets (June 3)

As well as reading a lot of books, I also read a ton of articles every week. Here are some of the articles that I’ve read recently and have found interesting, helpful, challenging and encouraging. I hope that they will be the same for you, my dear readers…

Saturday Snippets (May 27)

How you treat the ‘least’ and the little matters!

Churches are meant to be welcoming places, places where people of all walks of life can enter the building and be welcomed with a smile and a sincere appreciation that they have walked in. One of the key things that churches seem proud of is them being known as a ‘welcoming church’. Which is great, but that welcome goes beyond the first person they meet at the door.

Evangelism doesn’t need to be scary

There are many books out in the Christian world about the topic of evangelism. I think this is largely because as Christians many of us struggle to share the message of Jesus. So people have taken to write books on how you can practically share Jesus, then there are apologetics books, there are books on engaging with other faiths and then there are books on important things to remember when talking about Jesus. Whilst there are some great books on evangelism out there, not all of them are great. I think that many, in an attempt to be short, miss things out but that’s a more general comment. I’d like to flag two books for you today, in short reviews, on the topic of evangelism.

Saturday Snippets (May 20)

A lack of clarity

We’ve all sat in sermons that weren’t very helpful. The content can be theologically sound, the work of the preacher was put into the text and they’ve tried to bring out the right things, but you’ve still walked away somewhat confused. Ever felt like that?

Holiday reads

For some people their ideal holiday is a lovely city break, walking around viewing the architecture. For others their dream holiday is exploring new places, hiking and doing adventurous things. For me, my ideal holiday is where I get the time and space to sit in the sun and read. When we go on holiday my wife always looks at my book pile with a little bit of despair in her eyes, because there are so many books. However, I don’t always get through them all. But here are short reviews of some of the books that I recently read whilst on holiday, enjoying the sun.

Saturday Snippets (May 13)

How does (or should) a Pastor use his time?

One of the jokes that pops up every now and then, if you’re in ministry, is that Pastors only work one day a week. Most people say it out of humour, some however don’t. I think the reality is that many church members don’t know what Pastors spend their time doing. But also, there is a bigger question of what the priority of a Pastor should be. Let me tell you what I think the priority of every Pastor should be and then say what a normal week (not that there really is such a thing) for me looks like. The second point is just what the first point looks like in my week, I’m not suggesting that every Pastor has to follow my pattern!

Road map to Jesus

Well folks, it’s here, my book is finally available! It’s both exciting and scary. Exciting because my labour of the last couple years has finally taken shape. Scary because people are reading my words and reviews are coming in. I tell you, it’s weird being on the other side of a book review!