Becoming Better People, An Excerpt from Sinner Saint: A Suprising Primer to the Christian Life

By Luke Kjolhaug

05/13/25

9mins

Becoming Better People, An Excerpt from Sinner Saint: A Suprising Primer to the Christian Life

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.

Sam Leanza Ortiz

05/12/25

The Weathervane of the Eastern Church

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.

Church Attendance Increases in New Study—But Can We Trust It?

Bruce Hillman

05/09/25

Church Attendance Increases in New Study—But Can We Trust It?

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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John Bombaro

02/03/19

The "External Word" Is the Authoritative Word of God, Too

The preached word ensured the work of the Holy Spirit, so long as it was the written word of the Gospel. Gospel preaching was the one domain in which we could be assured of the convicting, saving, and sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit.

Donavon Riley

02/01/19

Am I Inside? - A Pastor’s Confession

God has gifted pastors with a terrible privilege. We’re invited to go inside peoples’ pain. A stranger stands emotionally naked in front of us begging, “I can’t get what he did out of my head. Please, help me!”

David Rufner

01/30/19

Jesus and Pint-Sized Preachers

Jesus is the heart of the Gospel, and the Gospel is Good News. But it is always Good News that comes to us best on the lips of another.

Donavon Riley

01/29/19

Jesus Increases People's Gladness

He comes to fill our old, stony heart with the new wine of his forgiveness.

Chad Bird

01/28/19

Forgiving Others Is Not All About You: When Forgiveness Mutates into Self-Help

Just as we believe ourselves to be forgiven because God sees us in Christ, so to forgive others is to see them as God sees them in Christ. To forgive, in other words, is to put God’s eyes in our eyes and our eyes in God’s eyes.

Robert Kolb

01/27/19

Johann Gerhard's Homiletics

Gerhard's preaching categories ring true of descriptions ring true of the ways in which we attempt to communicate the Gospel in the twenty-first century. His words of advice deserve our attention too.

Donavon Riley

01/21/19

The Old Testament Roots of The Lord's Supper: Part 2

Blood is the thing. In the Scriptures, sin must be covered or "atoned for" as it's called, by blood.

Jacob Corzine

01/20/19

The Law and the Terrified Conscience

Separating the Law from the conscience is not just bad because it makes the Law ineffective. If the Law and the conscience are not brought together, it also means leaving the conscience unaddressed and unassuaged when the Gospel is preached.

Chad Bird

01/17/19

Is it OK for a Former Adult Film Producer to Serve Holy Communion?

Some things, once they are deemed disgusting or contaminated, permanently carry that quality with them. These things are even thought to be “contagious,” negatively affecting whatever they come into contact with.

Donavon Riley

01/15/19

The Old Testament Roots of the Lord's Supper: Part 1

At the Passover, when Jesus said, "Take, eat, this is my body... take, drink, this is the New Testament in my blood, which is given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins," he wasn't inventing a "new" thing.

Chad Bird

01/11/19

Slaying Monsters in Church: Why Baptism Should be Rated R for Violence

When people are baptized, time is transcended. They go back to the Jordan and the Jordan comes forward to them. In a single splash, or a single dunk, they enter the war.

Joel Hess

01/10/19

A Church for Amnesiacs

Even after Jesus made it clear in His actions and commands that God’s grace is for all sinners, the apostles forgot the promises they received from their Savior.

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