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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Jesus is the only answer to the nagging question. He is the only way to make sense of this unsettling story in Exodus 4.
God wants his word of promise to be the only thing we bank on, the only thing we have confidence in.
The testimony of every son and daughter of God is, God has brought us through.
A father's struggle to pray for his child's healing is one of the most difficult experiences he can face.
Paul thinks the consequences of Christ not being raised are worse for those who believe than those who never did if it were to be true Christ was not raised.
If it’s all a fiction spun by disappointed disciples, if it’s a mere symbol for the idea of an inner awakening, if it’s not a fact that Christ has been raised, then our grief and loss have no end, and we have no hope.
This is the message of Lent. We are not called to sacrifice for Jesus in order to earn our salvation. Rather, we are called to remember the sacrifice that Jesus made for us.
Jesus not only healed her daughter, but he also gave himself to her. Wherever she went from then on, he was with her.
In Memory of My Friend, James Arne Nestingen
We will not become hopeless because the Lord is with us.
While the world is full of horizons and endpoints, for Christians, there is always tomorrow, and there are people in that tomorrow waiting for us as we wait for them.
We ache in eager anticipation as we see Christ in action and as we take in the snapshots of his life, death, and resurrection.