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.

All Articles

Through the means of grace, Christ grants us a share in all the blessings of this ancient hope.
Theology is not to simply adopt the positions and presuppositions of philosophy, nor should it reject philosophy.
Every day, in everything we do and experience, we are busy hearing, seeing, and telling stories.
On this Day Handel Begins Composing Messiah, and 5 Things We Can Learn From It
Here, we read the mystery and majesty of the incarnation of the Son of God wrapped up into a single package
I’d like to offer a short reflection on the theme of “worldliness” as it appears in his later work and how that’s connected to an item of his Lutheran heritage: the theology of the cross.
Because of the ascension, the manger has become the cosmos.
We would rather be God ourselves. But, being God is always beyond our grasp.
Any and all failure is re-written to portray us as either victor or victim.
Our sinful nature is ever present this side of eternity. We need a constant reminder of what a friend of mine once said, “Jesus is the reason. Period."
On Epiphany, we celebrate the day when men, made wise for salvation through the Word, met their righteousness.
When bishops err we must not follow...We must obey God before man.