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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I think the problem with the idea of eternity is that we do not have any direct experience of it, but we encounter enough of its possibility to be unsettling.
Repentance is meaningless unless we are willing to acknowledge who we are: sinners needing mercy.
The answer to our messages is God's "yes," Jesus, who sends his preachers to proclaim that there's no place for us now other than in the grip of our God and Savior.
The usual acclamation when one becomes King is: “Long live the King!” But this King of kings, this son of David, has come to die.
When we pray to Jesus, we pray to the King's right hand. We know one who has the Father's ear, respect and trust. And the one who intercedes for us is still one of us, with nail-pierced hands.
If Jesus shows up and you are a sinner, ‘tis more blessed to receive than to give
God is not calling us to “grow up.” He is calling us to dependence.
It is terribly easy to set up our theology as a buffer against the real coming of the Lord and its consequences.
Our God is a living God and he listens to our cries for help.
Weak faith in a strong Christ is still saving faith.
If a key part of the Reformation was placing God’s Word back into the hands of the people in a clear, understandable way, then John of Ragusa can be called a “Prometheus” in his own right.
When the Reformers read the Bible (especially when studied in the original languages), they found a God who was gracious and merciful for the sake of Christ.