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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Sometimes the old story is the one we need to hear again and again.
The great lie of addiction is that suffering must be fled, must be numbed, must be drowned out by any means necessary.
To be happy is to be the object of God’s love in Christ and to love God and others with the love of Christ.
Luther’s famous treatise contains great consolation for Christians struggling with grace, suffering, and hope.
The wrong god means love remains frail, fickle, or a fiction. The right God means love is the most reliable thing in all the world.
I realized that no matter where I call "home," I won't be able to shake the feeling of homesickness.
Wisdom lurks in the outer places. Rich gratitude sprouts from the impoverished and forgotten.
By the end of this prayer of wrestling, David finally has the strength to claim victory over his lying enemies.
It is impossible to live our lives in a way that would convince God of our value because he already knows our value. He is the one who gave it to us.
Belief at Christmas is neither neat nor safe. It is the path that leads to the manger and, from there, to the cross.
Jesus rests in a manger in the days to come, but don’t be fooled.
The love of God is creative, always giving, always reviving.