Chalmers' Blog

Saturday Snippets (August 26)

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…

The Decline of the Church: Are you concerned or do you contribute to it?

It doesn’t take long for you to realise that people aren’t happy with the state of the church. Generally speaking, in the Western world you can have a quick google, or speak to a few Christians and very soon you’ll hear complaints about the decline of the church. People say that society has changed which has resulted in fewer people attending church. Some argue that church simply isn’t engaging enough for the younger generations. Others say that the global church needs to change a become more inclusive and take on all sorts of ideologies and beliefs in order to be seen as relevant. Regardless of what people think the solution might be, the reality is that many people are looking at the Western church and seeing a decline.

Saturday Snippets (August 19)

To a Different Drum

There are some books that you read and are grateful for, but they leave little lasting impression on your life and then there are some books that leave a lasting impact on your life and you wish the book just kept on going. This book is the latter!

This book begins with Pauline, a young woman in the USA who was thrown out of medical school, diagnosed with TB, left by her boyfriend, struggling with an overwhelming sense of wanting life to end driving her car towards the edge of a cliff. But God takes a hold of her and she remembers promises that couldn’t let her go.

Saturday Snippets (August 12)

That sports day feeling on God’s team

I wonder if you remember being a child when it came to sports and maybe you were picked last. Those moments can leave an impression on a child. It can make them feel like they’re too small, too tall, too slow or too fast to be used on the team. Or maybe it’s at university or in work, you’re surrounded by ‘experts’ who always seem to have the right answers and you don’t. You can feel left out, you can feel insignificant, inexperienced or stupid.

Busy

When you ask someone “how are you?” One of the most common words that will appear in their response is ‘busy’. We live in a world where it’s all go, go, go. Emails are on our phone and no longer tied to a desktop in the office. Our mobiles are constantly connecting us with the world around us. Our diaries become jam-packed before the month even begins. It can be very stressful! Sound familiar?

Saturday Snippets (August 5)

Sometimes the best gift God can give you is pain

Over the last ten years I’ve read tons of books and blog posts on suffering and devoted countless hours in study and thinking about the topic of suffering and pain. Why? Well, for the last 10 years I have been suffering from constant chronic pain. You can read a little about that here.

Intentional Interruptions

Ever feel that you’re being pulled in 100 different directions because of the little notification nightmare in your pocket?

Our world is full of distractions that can take up all of out time, if we let them. But interruptions aren’t all bad! Jonathan Thomas helps you see that there are interruptions that God can and does use to help His people draw closer to Him.