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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You may be surprised to discover that, rather than changing your theology, these other voices deepen and expand it in ways that never would have happened if you listened only to the “approved” voices.
Jesus didn’t lie. He was called to preach to Israel. He would send His disciples out into the world. But that didn’t mean His message wasn’t for all.
Your church is not healthy. If they were healthy, they wouldn’t need someone to heal them.
Even a sinner who is crushed by the weight of her offenses, who feels in her bones the weight of judgment, shame, and doubt can expect to receive God's good word.
You can talk to me about how Jesus is really forgiving and how you want me around, but what happens when things don’t change in a month?
We pray for God to deliver us from ourselves. To forgive us, for Jesus’s sake, when we do evil.
Week after week, I read through this women’s Bible study for the sake of my friends.
Christianity is not a solo endeavor. Not a private relationship between Jesus and me.
Show me. If I’m going to believe, I need to be convinced—on my terms.
The angriest people I meet are former Christians.
To see faith as a noun in Christianity, one must ask the question of what is faith and whence does it come?
The fact is no one dies with dignity.