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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We sinners share a common problem when it comes to Jesus’ parables. We read them with an eye to our own righteousness.
Every age gives cause for both hopefulness and despair.
She heard it before, but looking around she struggles to see how it matters.
What do the events of good stories, like The Lord of the Rings teach us about the rise and fall of civilizations in our own world?
“My Old Man” is the story of a single father, a grossly flawed character, told through the eyes of his son who can’t help but love him.
Yet, just as the Jews had two choices, true God or no God, the Christian has the same, true Jesus or no Jesus.
In a world so wired by law and rules, judgement is everywhere.
I believe it’s no small charge to assert that there’s a massive problem in the majority of America’s pulpits.
I recently began seeing a chiropractor for what turned out to be a compressed disc. He took routine x-rays to facilitate his diagnosis, and on the day he was to go over the results with me, I was placed in a conference room to wait for our consultation.
Many, many people—including many church people—have this asinine idea that Jesus showed up on earth two thousand years ago and loosened everything up.
Some form of the Rule of Benedict will not save or reinvigorate the church. The church already has what the church needs to do her work in the world: she has the Gospel.
Eucatastrophe combines two Greek words: ‘eu’ meaning ‘good’ (as in eulogy or euphoria), and ‘katastrophe’ for destruction.