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

Preaching the inseparability of Jesus and Jerusalem is to proclaim God’s Messiah and the fulfillment of the Scriptures.
All human wisdom, righteousness, and holiness are made futile in that which belongs to God’s kingdom.
The Exodus always remains a continual and present reality for the people of Israel—it is always on their mind. It was and remained the big salvific event of the Old Testament, yet at the same time it points forward to what God will yet/continue to do to save His people.
Paul puts everything he has gained by his religious life and training (verses 4-7) onto the scales opposite life with Christ and finds a real bargain.
Treating preaching as a battle with the Devil keeps a preacher on the offense and prevents him from being caught off guard.
The Word of the Lord is sure. The enemy is defeated. Salvation is waiting for you.
God is often hidden in history, even as we make it now, but He is always manifest where He has promised to be.
In this time of brutal war and divisive conflict, here we have an especially profound word of gospel.
The thrill of God’s grace fades and the slow march toward the cross dulls the heart. At such times, the former life beckons. Temptations to return grow strong. Which makes Lent such an important annual exercise.
In our preaching it is important to decide how to understand this. Are we going to preach the “now” or the “not yet”? As the people of Israel are living in their “now,” are they hearing the words of Isaiah as the “not yet” or, the “not yet of the not yet”?
Belonging to Christ means we have a place where we fit, a resting place where we are at peace because we know our Lord accepts us as His own.
Theologians of glory searched for God everywhere except the Cross of Christ.