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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What would be a fitting thing to give up, especially during the season of Lent?
If you don’t believe Jesus Christ—that is, God in the man born of the Virgin Mary—died for the sins of the world, then you can’t evangelize.
Some days, people need a touch. Not just any touch, but something that says, "I care about you, and I love you."
If I'm honest, when I survey my life I don't exude much contentment.
Forgiveness of sin, righteousness, and eternal life aren't handed out by God because we deserve it.
Wisdom speaks in proverbs, parables and riddles. And the simple continue to wander right past her words of life.
One of my favorite shows in recent memory is the American law enforcement drama Law & Order.
In other words, they had too much religion and not enough Yahweh. Or, to put it in New Testament terms, they worked so hard at being religious that they put Jesus out of work.
I don't remember the first time I heard the gospel, but I do remember the first time I began to understand it.
One of the common things I see my congregants struggle with is the concept of forgiveness. Contrary to what I had assumed would be the case, I find congregants don’t struggle so much with giving forgiveness as they do living with forgiveness.
We just can't stop ourselves from putting the brakes on the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
God lit within these ashes the fire of a promise: whoever they touched, that person became clean.