Chalmers' Blog

Saturday Snippets (January 24)

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…

Can Unbelievers Perform Good Deeds? A Biblical Perspective

If Scripture says that no one does good, are the good deeds of unbelievers really good at all? It is a question that surfaces regularly—sometimes in theological debate, sometimes in pastoral conversations, and often quietly in the conscience of many thoughtful Christians. After all, the Bible seems uncompromising. Psalm 53:3 declares “there is none who does good, not even one.”

Saturday Snippets (January 17)

Genesis vs. Paul: The Truth About Singleness

At first glance, Scripture can appear to speak with two voices on the question of singleness. In Genesis 2, before sin enters the world, God declares, “It is not good that the man should be alone” (Gen. 2:18). Yet in 1 Corinthians 7, the apostle Paul can write, without apology, “I wish that all were as I myself am”, referring to his singleness (1 Cor. 7:7), and later insist that the unmarried person is able to be “anxious about the things of the Lord” in a way that the married person is not (1 Cor. 7:32–35).

Is this a contradiction? Has the Bible changed its mind? Or are we failing to read either text carefully enough?

The answer, I would suggest, is that Genesis and Paul are not in tension at all. Rather, they are addressing different questions, in different redemptive contexts, while sharing a deeper agreement about what it means to be human before God.

Saturday Snippets (January 10)

Responding to Moral Failures in Church Leadership

It has become a sadly familiar pattern. A well-known Christian leader—perhaps a pastor, author, conference speaker, or ministry founder—falls into serious moral sin. The news spreads quickly, reactions follow just as fast, and the Church is left reeling once again.

For many believers, these moments are deeply unsettling. For some, they provoke cynicism or disillusionment. For others, they are seized upon as proof that Christianity itself is hollow or hypocritical. In such moments, how should faithful Christians respond? What must we remember, and what must we do?

Scripture does not leave us without guidance.

Saturday Snippets (January 3)

Faithfulness Over Ambition: Redefining 2026

Every December and January, the same language returns. Best year yet. Personal growth. Goals. Optimisation. Even in Christian circles, we often ‘Christianise’ the same instincts with spiritual language: better habits, bigger impact, clearer vision, greater effectiveness.

None of those things are wrong in and of themselves. But Scripture repeatedly redirects our attention away from making a year about us and towards something far simpler—and far more demanding.

What if we stopped asking whether 2026 will be “our year” and instead asked whether it will be a year of faithfulness to God?

Saturday Snippets (December 27)

Is God Still Angry at Sin After the Cross?

Is God still angry at sin after the cross? Few questions cut closer to the heart of the gospel than this one: If God poured out his wrath on Jesus at the cross, is God still angry at sin today?

Behind the question are pastoral concerns (How does God look at me when I fail?), theological tensions (wrath, justice, love), and even preaching instincts (Should we still warn about God’s anger?). To answer faithfully, we must be precise (biblically and theologically) about what kind of anger we mean, toward whom, and in what covenantal context.