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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But one key theme that kept surfacing again and again was love: Jesus loved people, the Church showed me genuine love, and above all, God’s love in Christianity is unconditional.
The table is full-laden; feast ye all sumptuously. The calf is fatted; let no one go hungry away.
The story did not end with Jesus' death and resurrection, or even with the Acts of the Apostles.
“It’s bigger on the inside” is not only an evocative literary device, it is also a phrase heavy laden with Good News found in the true story of Christianity, especially at Christmas.
Can the chain of cause and effect extend infinitely?
Recently I’ve met many people that have suffered tragedies in their families. I know this sounds a little selfish, but the ones that stick out the most to me are the ones that affected my own family.
True freedom, Luther discovered, is found in Jesus crucified who sets us free.
Professional historians frequently assert that "miracles" are not a proper subject for historical investigation.
Fairy tales are but one chapter in the book we call storytelling. We may prefer reading other kinds of stories (mystery, science fiction, and so on).
Not long ago I was having a conversation with a friend. She was facing a big decision about her career with a deadline looming for a decision.
The essential Christian claim is that God came to earth in Christ and died for men to take care of their problem of sin and evil.
It is often the case that when dealing Divine, we find ourselves befuddled. For as relatable and surprisingly vulnerable God is as the man Jesus, he seems, at times, to retain a certain aloofness, a type of distance.