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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Love is to be the interpreter of law. Where there is no love, these things are meaningless, and law begins to do harm.
Love for our neighbor can be taxing. We may even decide it’s not worth the cost. But in this moment I found a blessed reminder of how different God's love is, and how our value rests in Christ alone.
We already know how the war will conclude. Jesus wins.
Since Jesus has done everything we need for salvation, we can focus our works and efforts on serving our neighbor.
Silence is an important and valuable tool for change and empathy, self-reflection, and learning.
Justice and love are united in God, and we see this most clearly in Jesus on the cross. There, both God's hatred toward sin and compassion for the world come together.
We must also remember that our enemy is a creature of God. He is someone for whom Christ Jesus died. He is a sinner just like any other, no more or less selfish than us.
We know God has a plan to bring forgiveness and salvation and healing to people, but we can’t see how it’s all going to work out.
Jesus’s followers aren’t ostriches who bury their heads in the sand. That’s not helpful or hopeful for anyone. Resting from life’s trials and troubles comes in the remembrance of the One who is with you in the middle of all of them.
This love story goes on and on, from the beginning of time. Every retelling of this incredible story reveals a little more, exposing our inadequacy, producing more devotion, capturing unspoken emotion, inspiring us to a greater love.
"Move or die" is one of those “laws” we don’t like, but we have to admit, as harsh as it sounds, it is good for us. It helps us. Just don’t apply it to my faith.
True strength, wisdom, and understanding come to us from God. His Spirit gives us wisdom and understanding through the preaching of the Gospel of Jesus.