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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The Seed of the woman is he who will crush the head of the evil one and restore man to a right and proper relationship with God.
Ultimately the Christian life isn't about progress, it's about promise--the Pilgrim's Promise.
God interrupts Peter, but not only to quiet him. He also directs Peter to listen to someone else.
Because God makes the rules He is free to break them when He chooses, however, God only breaks His own rules on the side of grace!
Christianity has never been about getting people to clam up and look the part. It’s about Christ calling sinners to himself.
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus establishes a whole new standard for what it means to live as one of His people.
Obviously, the choice is very black and white: good or evil; life or death; blessings or curses...Unfortunately, the actions of the people will speak louder than their words.
They were righteous, but they were righteous because God declared it so. Just like us.
I venture to assert I have never read, in the entire Scriptures, words more beautifully expressive of the grace of God than these two children words.
This is our frontier religion: God is waiting to shower blessings upon us if only we will unlock those blessings with the right kind of works, and a sufficient quantity of the same.
The followers of Jesus have a function to perform. When they do not perform it—that is, when they are not being themselves—the world suffers.
There are good, God-pleasing reasons to attend a Divine Service, but worship attendance can also be an action by which we try to earn or deserve the favor and love of God. This is an ongoing struggle in every worshiping community.