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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When I was about 10, I went on a hike with a boys brigade. We were all racing down this path at lunchtime when I decided to beat everyone to the bottom by deviating from the path.
I’ve always been a very passionate person. Adventure is my favorite thing.
We’re by nature counters. So long as we can add, subtract, multiply and divide something, anything, we have some measure of control and comparison.
My parents will be the first to tell you, I can really put my foot in my mouth. I often don’t say the right thing.
When we are unsure of who God is, it’s to Christ that He tells us to look.
This book tells of my long and brutal journey. From married to divorced. From a seminary professor and pastor to a disgraced, bitter truck driver in the oil fields of Texas. From a man at war with God to a child redeemed by grace.
In the face of all the misunderstandings on the part of the world and all the errors which have arisen within Christendom, let us make this point absolutely clear: the task of the church in the world consists uniquely and alone in the preaching of the Word of God and in administering the Sacrament.
Jesus’ life and work is now ours through faith.
The power and the purpose of the Reformation was to bring the full force of the Law and the Gospel to the ears of sinners.
Samson knew what he wanted when he saw it, and most of the time, living by sight, he walked like a blind man straight into an ambush.
We all desperately need God’s only Son to take our place, to cleanse us by His blood, to wipe away our evil deeds.
If you’re looking for a book of the Bible to blow apart works righteousness and justification by adherence to the Law, Galatians is the book for you.