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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Jesus overcame sin, death, and Satan on the cross. His bloody suffering and death marked this sinful world's defeat.
Although theirs is an impressive show of faith, the display of God’s faithfulness to them is far greater. After all, faith is only as strong as the object in which it is placed.
Now more than ever, it's good to take a closer look at the Christian confession about evil, pain, and suffering.
This earth is not the place where your promise is to be found. Rejoice because the kingdom of God comes to you!
Jesus will strengthen and encourage us because he is true life, and life has defeated death.
Satan and the old Adam don't want Jesus to bear our crosses for us because that means we can't claim that we've done anything to merit God's mercy and salvation.
How we define holiness will affect our approach to God.
We are given the peace to know that all our sin is forgiven by our gracious God. We enjoy the comfort of knowing that our ways are watched over and protected by the Lord...
Sin is driven by disordered love, and it is love in this sense that leads to all the pain and suffering in the world.
Luther's signature insight on the sacraments was that God’s word of promise doesn’t just symbolize an absent reality but that it gives and bestows God’s real favor.
The theme of guardianship permeates Christian observances of Michaelmas, unifying this wide variety of celebrations.
Viewing the Bible as literature is an essential and natural way of engaging the text. But there are also ways in which this practice can get lost.