Chalmers' Blog

Saturday Snippets (March 25)

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…

Holiday musings…

My wife and I were recently away for a few days on holiday and I got some much needed time to catch up on some much needed reading, much needed because my ‘to read/review’ shelf has been bursting at the seems. We were only away for a few days and I didn’t do as much reading as I normally would, but here are the five books that I managed to get through and short reviews on each.

Saturday Snippets (March 18)

Saturday Snippets (March 11)

Saturday Snippets (March 4)

3 tips to help you grow in your love for God’s Word…

One of the most famous Christian books is Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan. If you’ve not read it yet, you must! It’s a phenomenal book that takes you on the adventure of the life of a man called Christian, the ups and downs, the highs and lows. Ultimately it is a story about the life of every Christian. John Bunyan was a man so steeped in Scripture that Charles Sturgeon said that he was a living Bible and that if you cut him he’d bleed Scripture.

The Beginning of the Gospel

If you know me personally and know the kind of ministry I’ve been involved in for the last few years, it will be no secret to you that I love Mark’s Gospel. over the years I’ve read it so many times in one-to-one settings, I’ve preached sections of it, I’ve taught it to others and have enjoyed time in it privately. Mark’s Gospel is a gem! So here’s a wee resource that I couldn’t help but read that really intrigued me and got me more excited about Mark’s Gospel than I was before.

Saturday Snippets (February 25)

4 ways to show your love for the Lord

What characterises the life of a Christian? Your answer will largely depend on your experience. You may say that a Christian is characterised by following certain traditions, by obeying certain norms within Christian-culture. You may jump to actions and think about Bible reading, church attendance, prayer and other kinds of Christian disciplines. But at the very core being a Christian means following Jesus and becoming more like Him, it also means being characterised the love that we have been shown by God.

Love is one of the many things that should characterise the life of a Christian. I often speak about four the key ‘loves’ that should be seen in the life of every Christian and that should, we pray, be growing in our lives as individuals and as local churches. The four loves are; love the Lord, love His Word, love His people and love the lost.

Shepherding The Pastor

Being fresh out of seminary or Bible college and heading into full-time ministry is a steep learning curve. That’s possibly one of the reasons for the training model that I was trained in which puts an emphasis on working in the local church whilst studying at seminary to give you the practical outworking of theology on the ground. Even after that training, starting as a Pastor in a church will always be a learning curve. What do you change? How quickly should things change? Where do you focus your attention first? The list of questions could go on. Here’s something that I think will help.