This is an excerpt from the third chapter of By Water and the Word: God’s Gift of Baptism for You by Brian Thomas (1517 Publishing, 2026), pgs 52-60.
Even when the bitter places sink down deep into our bones, the Restorer never relinquishes his grip on you.
To Live Well is therefore not a general advice book, but a message suffused with the gospel.

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Ash Wednesday's purpose is not to motivate our resolve to redouble our efforts to do better.
Even as he was dying, the heart of God poured itself out for the sake of sinners.
God gives us the power and authority to proclaim the forgiveness of sins to burdened sinners who entrust us with their pain, guilt, and defeat.
Repentance is meaningless unless we are willing to acknowledge who we are: sinners needing mercy.
It is terribly easy to set up our theology as a buffer against the real coming of the Lord and its consequences.
You are the friend in low places. It’s only from this place that you are free to look outside yourself for the remedy to the issues that plague you and humanity.
Weak faith in a strong Christ is still saving faith.
There is no true life and meaningful community apart from forgiveness.
Jesus is the anti-Cain: a giver, not a taker.
When we cry to the Lord in our trouble, he will send us a preacher with words that deliver us from destruction.
Hope is found precisely while we’re dead.
This is an excerpt from “The Pastoral Prophet: Meditations on the Book of Jeremiah” written by Steve Kruschel (1517 Publishing, 2019).