Author Archives: Alistair Chalmers

Preaching; Experience and Emotions

I love receiving books to review about preaching, because 1) I preach regularly and 2) because I love preaching. Over the last few days I have read two very different books, one reflects on 50 years of Word ministry and the other focuses on the use of emotions in preaching (kind of). Let me sayContinue reading “Preaching; Experience and Emotions”

Saturday Snippets (July 31)

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…

Do lay-elders have it worse than paid-elders?

Last week I posted a blog titled “Does the Pastor Have it Worse?” I was pondering this question after being asked about it in a conversation I was having with someone on the radio. In the interview Chloe asked if people generally think that the pastor has it worse than the assistant pastor. Generally speaking,Continue reading “Do lay-elders have it worse than paid-elders?”

Understanding Esther, 1 Corinthians and James

One of my great privileges as a pastor is to preach from God’s Word. I spend a lot of time in God’s Word as I prepare sermons, write Bible studies, disciple people and go on pastoral visits, etc. Spending time in the Bible is a precious gift that every Christian should enjoy. And as weContinue reading “Understanding Esther, 1 Corinthians and James”

Does the Pastor Have it Worse?

I was recently interviewed live on UCB2, a Christian radio station in the UK. I was interviewed about my ministry, my life, my blog, my history with depression and my contribution to a book called “The Pastor with a Thorn in his Side“. In the interview the presenter, Chloe Wilson asked a great question; doContinue reading “Does the Pastor Have it Worse?”

Kid’s Corner

Every once in a while I like to review books for little readers. These reviews are much shorter and basically act as a “Yes, I liked it” or “No, I didn’t like it”. I do this because there are so many books out there for kids and I don’t want to add to the confusion.Continue reading “Kid’s Corner”

Saturday Snippets (July 17)

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…

Holiness, Discipleship and IKEA

My wife and I recently moved house. We packed our lives into boxes to move them across the city of Edinburgh, Scotland. I’ll be honest, the same effort goes into moving country as it does moving house! But now we’re a the stage of buying furniture. I spent this evening with my wife and aContinue reading “Holiness, Discipleship and IKEA”