This is an excerpt from Chapter 6 in Sinner Saint: A Surprising Primer to the Christian Life (1517 Publishing, 2025). Sinner Saint is available today from 1517 Publishing.
On its journey from Byzantium to Constantinople to Istanbul, this special place helps us understand the broader arc of Christian history, which goes on until Christ's return.
We needn’t fear statistics and studies as palm readings into a certain future. God is God, and his Spirit is alive through his Word.

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Do it again, God,” rings the psalmist’s appeal.
It's one thing to hope for a new reality; it's quite another to stand before it, no matter how wonderful.
It’s easy to understand the allure of the shroud. In a skeptical age, a physical relic that appears to bear the imprint of the risen Christ seems like proof positive of the faith.
Dave weaves together music, movies, and documentaries to illustrate all the ways we seek relief—and then, full and free, he connects our need to Christ’s gift.
While I disagree with many things Francis did and believed, I think he deserves credit for this: Francis showed us what Christian leadership can look like.
The Psalm now is this: as Christ suffered and then was exalted, so we are also in him.
How intentional will we be about utilizing gospel spaces that already inescapably communicate?
We are called to believe in the church even when we don’t believe in the church.
You cannot sever the saint from the sinner. Christians remain both simultaneously.
Despite the mathematical incongruity, the church confesses that Christ is one hundred percent human and one hundred percent divine.
Jesus refreshes you with the promises of the gospel, wrapped in the words of Scripture, drawn in the pictures of the sacraments.
Polycarp’s faith, life, writings, and even his death revealed the fruit of faith and love grafted into his heart by Christ the Vine.