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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And when it was evening, he came with the twelve. And as they were reclining at table and eating, Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me, one who is eating with me.”
To keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited.
Well it's simple really. I don't pray enough. I don't mean "enough" in the chronological sense like there is actually a right amount of prayer.
The other day a prominent Evangelical pastor tweeted, “My life’s commitment is to talk about the Bible in such a way that fake Christians feel fake — so that they can be saved.”
God’s children spent 40 years wandering in the wilderness. Imagine the hopelessness. Imagine the frustration.
Pastors are built from the same stuff as everyone else. That’s good, and that’s bad.
Is there ever a time in a Christian’s life when there is less need for grace? Think about it.
I finally climbed all 109 mountains. My journey began out of desperation, fueled by anger, fear, resentment.
Netflix just recently released a series called The Umbrella Academy, another comic book series adapted for screen.
I was once asked why I thought young people were leaving the church in droves after they graduated high school.
All this disciplined living is to be done in freedom.
All the weight of our sin is lifted by Jesus, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the whole world, past, present, and future.