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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God leads us to green pastures. He comforts us with his grace in our darkest valleys.
Christian spirituality is not a flight from the world, but a deep dive into its brokenness.
For those with faith in Christ, there is always a happy ending.
Children are not meant to carry crowns. They are not meant to rule. The burden crushes them in slow, invisible ways.
Instead of offering more details or more information, he does something even better: he promises his very presence.
MacArthur’s courage to speak Scripture’s truth, no matter the audience, should be commended.
‘Peace’ means “I have forgiven all those sins against me.”
Paradoxes hold everything together, not just in Inception’s plot, but in your life and mine.
We don’t flinch at sin. We speak Christ into it.
Wisdom and strength require bootstrap-pulling and the placing of noses to grindstones.
This story is not meant for six-year-olds, but it is meant for us, though we should hardly handle it.
Every time someone is baptized, every time bread is broken and wine poured, every time a sinner hears, “Your sins are forgiven in Christ,” Pentecost happens again.