The greatest obstacle to friendship in middle age isn't that nobody wants friends. It's that everyone is waiting for someone else to go first. But here's the good news: Christ has already gone first for you. And because He has, you are free to go first for someone else.
Ecclesiastes tells us that there is a time for everything under heaven. But God has also placed eternity in our hearts, and that makes us strange creatures: able to rejoice in this life yet always aching for a life that only Christ can give.
What does it take to draw near to God? It takes a perfect priest, a finished work, and a broken body to open the way. In short, it takes everything, which is exactly what Christ has given for you.

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This is an excerpt from the introduction of Stretched: A Study for Lent and the Entire Christian Life by Christopher Richmann (1517 Publishing, 2026).
The story of your life stretches beyond the dash on the tombstone.
“Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.” That word isn't just for Israel; it's also for you.
It is death that deserves derision, not the disciple who reaches through sorrow for his Lord.
The Christian answer to death is not a disembodied app, but a bodily resurrection.
All Saints’ Day is a war story. And in Christ crucified and risen, it’s also a victory story.
Why reflect on these three men — MacArthur, Ozzy, and Hulk Hogan — in the same breath?
‘Peace’ means “I have forgiven all those sins against me.”
This is the third installment in the 1517 articles series, “What Makes a Saint?”
I always imagined dying a faithful death for Christ would mean burning at the stake. Now, I suspect it will mean dying in my bed of natural causes.
So Christ is risen, but what now?
The ascension is not about Jesus going away. It's about Jesus taking his rightful place so that he might fill the world with his presence and power.