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.

All Articles

If you struggle with doubt, take heart: You are not alone.
It is impossible to live our lives in a way that would convince God of our value because he already knows our value. He is the one who gave it to us.
This is the second article in a special three-part Advent series on how Jesus is our prophet, priest, and king.
The Lord has an answer to your tears, your trouble, your weariness, your enemies, your grief, your shame, your sin.
Below is the Thinking Fellows Essential Reading List with contributions from each of the Thinking Fellows hosts.
“Praying the Bible” sounds odd to the ears of most believers today. That’s unfortunate.
It is your privilege—we may even say “right”—to call upon this Father and to call him Father.
God does not give us an undebatable answer to suffering. Instead, God suffers, too.
You are the baptized, for in Christ we are all wet. The demographic dividers are washed away.
He shows up when we are at our worst to usher us back to his side, lead us to repentance, rescue us, and reclaim us as his own.
Sometimes, we get prayer dementia. We can’t remember what we were going to pray for, we can’t put the words together, and, frustrated, there is nothing we can do but sigh and groan.
Do our petitions move God?