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.
Sacrifice is the beating heart of the Scriptures, but also of our Christian faith.
Who was this Jesus, who could do such things?
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?
If you don’t believe Jesus Christ—that is, God in the man born of the Virgin Mary—died for the sins of the world, then you can’t evangelize.
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.
If I'm honest, when I survey my life I don't exude much contentment.
Forgiveness of sin, righteousness, and eternal life aren't handed out by God because we deserve it.
One of my favorite shows in recent memory is the American law enforcement drama Law & Order.
Though they have never left the church, they have been lost all the while.
When I first began to hear that the Bible’s good news was a whole lot less about me and a whole lot more about Christ, I just didn’t get it.