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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It's easy to have courage when things go well.
Like the serpent on the pole, God still puts real-life things up for us to look to for salvation.
For Paul, the hope of the resurrection was the ultimate antidote whenever his circumstances tempted him to despair or to "lose heart."
Don’t get in the habit (or, if you already do it, get out of the habit) of saying, “I could never talk about these things the way my pastor does.”
You are the baptized, for in Christ we are all wet. The demographic dividers are washed away.
The love of God in Christ Jesus never changes. That love is for you.
Regardless of background or beliefs, every American I talk to seems on edge, as if the sky were about to fall. But the sky is not falling.
Regularly reading and hearing God’s Word helps us to keep a song in our hearts.
What if the dissonance in this calendrical coincidence can be harmonized into a deeper melody?
One way or another, Rod always found a way to bring whatever story he was telling back to the gospel and God's grace in Christ.
God never delights in seeing his children struggle or suffer. But God does desire that we trust him no matter what the circumstances might look like.
A “good death” and “good life” are not accomplished through personal striving but are grasped by faith in the promises of God.