The women at the tomb were surprised by Easter. Amazed and filled with wonder at Jesus' Easter eucatastrophe. And so are we.
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.

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“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness.” We hear those words on the lips of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount. But, too often we misunderstand what he’s saying.
To keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited.
One of my jobs in high school was helping local ranchers work cattle. We’d vaccinate, cut off horns, castrate, mark their ears, and brand them.
Did the Apostle Paul just say that “he fills up what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ?" That seems a little at odds with Jesus’ statement, "It is finished."
Jesus is the heart of the Gospel, and the Gospel is Good News. But it is always Good News that comes to us best on the lips of another.
Despite the death all around us, the death that is assured us, we know there is a way out.
Even after Jesus made it clear in His actions and commands that God’s grace is for all sinners, the apostles forgot the promises they received from their Savior.
Jesus’ coming and death and resurrection guarantee us the victory over the lies, the desire to be pitied, and the appeal of stuff.
We fail over and over again to tame the sin in our hearts, to guard the doors of our lips and to act like the children of God.
Advent is the season when the Church declares to a world overwhelmed by excuses, lies, and cruelty that their Savior comes.
Zechariah’s prophecy about John’s ministry also comes to us in the fullness of our time.
Often, when we talk about the Old Testament, we talk about God's promises and work for his chosen people, Israel.