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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Luther's emphasis on the need for sinners to have preachers who can provide them with the comfort and support they need for their faith in Jesus Christ and life is as relevant today as it was in his time.
Christ's words of exclusive salvation are not just a warning but a sure promise for you.
What greater legacy could you claim than that of Mark? Listen to the Word. Learn from Jesus.
The drama of Scripture is about God renaming us by bringing us into his image-bearing family once again. And it would take “a name above all names” to accomplish it.
A father's struggle to pray for his child's healing is one of the most difficult experiences he can face.
By mandating the promise, Christ states something stronger than just an invitation.
The hardest thing you and I will ever be called to do is to believe that it is done already, that it really and truly is finished.
This is the message of Lent. We are not called to sacrifice for Jesus in order to earn our salvation. Rather, we are called to remember the sacrifice that Jesus made for us.
When I finished this book, I loved the Bible, and the Bible’s author, even more. And I can’t imagine a better endorsement than that.
There is a revival, no less real and even more definitive, taking place in every church, every weekend, where God’s people gather around his gifts.
We too are God’s baptized, beloved, blood-bought believers. And no one can ever take that away from us.
Predestination, Jim knew, is no longer a frightening doctrine of mystery when you understand that God makes his choice about you in the simple word of God, given from one sinner to another.