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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Due to his self-reliance, King Zedekiah ended his days as a lowly prisoner in Babylon.
In response to the Lord's undeserved love, Manasseh looked to him as the true God.
God’s people get the warm feast of victory, while God’s meal is prepared cold.
Uzziah was showing the most dangerous kind of pride – a pride wrapped up under the guise of religious service.
Lent isn't simply a season. It's the Christian life in microcosm.
This is the third installment in our Lenten series, Through the Tombs of the Kings, where Steve Kruschel explores God’s faithfulness to Judah’s kings—and to us—through life, death, and the burial of his Son.
This is the second installment in our Lenten series, Through the Tombs of the Kings, where Steve Kruschel explores God’s faithfulness to Judah’s kings—and to us—through life, death, and the burial of his Son.
Is there a significant difference between changing your mind and doing penance? Absolutely.
This is the first installment in our Lenten series, Through the Tombs of the Kings, where Steve Kruschel explores God’s faithfulness to Judah’s kings—and to us—through life, death, and the burial of his Son.
The cross traced in ashes isn’t a badge of honor or a mark of our works. It’s a reminder of Christ’s work.
Repentance is not limited to a season.
Despite the mathematical incongruity, the church confesses that Christ is one hundred percent human and one hundred percent divine.