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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God gives his church a story that helps to make sense of this life.
Your justification isn’t a matter of “Jesus plus” anything.
It would serve us well to embrace the beauty of our diversity within the unity of the body of Christ.
Do our petitions move God?
Amy Mantravadi asks if we should forgive others even if they are not repentant
No plot spoilers here just some really Good News
Confession and absolution offer more than assurance, they gift real and genuine Divine promises.
Human solutions to problems, important as they are, are inadequate to meet our deepest needs
Christ reshapes what forgivness means and why it's important
As much as we want the glory, riches, and knowledge of Dantes, what we need is Jean Valjean's candlesticks.
When God remembers his covenant with Noah and causes the flood to subside, he also chooses to forget.
We must also address the stigma surrounding addiction within so many churches.