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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Instead of a “how-to” manual, the Bible is a “what-you-didn’t-do” story.
One Christ rules over all of it. He is the constant, the root that nourishes every estate and every vocation.
No matter how many times we hear this good news, it never stops being good news.
If we picture the New Testament as a divinely painted masterpiece that hangs in the middle of a museum, then all around it are other works of the period, in different corridors of the museum, in many styles, painted by diverse artists, with variations of color and technique.
Mary looms large in our theology, our liturgy, our confessions and creeds.
To preach Christ and him crucified is to keep the message simple and accessible.
God’s creatures on four legs are some of the greatest storytellers of the Scriptures.
John inspired me to see each sermon as an apologetic opportunity.
In his resurrection, God says "Yes" to Christ, and all those in him.
“Praying the Bible” sounds odd to the ears of most believers today. That’s unfortunate.
Jesus has instituted his living-breathing disciples, his shepherds in his church, to declare the full forgiveness of sins.
He will never leave you nor forsake you. Your faith is not fragile glass.