This is an excerpt from the introduction of Stretched: A Study for Lent and the Entire Christian Life by Christopher Richmann (1517 Publishing, 2026).
We can bring our troubles, griefs, sorrows, and sins to Jesus, who meets us smack dab in the middle of our messy mob.
Confession isn’t a detour in the liturgy. It’s the doorway.

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Last night was one of those nights when I had an unscheduled 3:00 a.m. Life Assessment session.
What on God’s green earth does dynamite, a chemical explosive, have to do with the Gospel of Christ?
Sacrifice is the beating heart of the Scriptures, but also of our Christian faith.
This had been a lonely year, though. She could keep herself busy for a while with friends and she could distract herself for a few weekends by leaving town, but something was definitely missing.
Who was this Jesus, who could do such things?
True faith, saving faith that receives the good news about the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world is a faith created in us by the Holy Spirit through the Gospel (Eph 2:8-9).
Paul’s letter to the Romans is arguably the most masterful piece of writing in the New Testament.
What would be a fitting thing to give up, especially during the season of Lent?
There’s some wild and untamed prayers in the psalms. But they’re fenced in by order, symmetry, predictability. They organize chaos. And they bring order and hope and stability to our chaotic lives.
Whether one believes Jesus to be God or not, His words and actions proclaim that He did not come to be served but to serve.
Some days, people need a touch. Not just any touch, but something that says, "I care about you, and I love you."
I’m still laughing now as hard as I laughed back then. And the salve that he gave me in that moment still works some strange magic on me to this day.