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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Merry Christmas, Christ has spoken, and his verdict stands.
Christmas is not for remembering, thinking, pondering, trying to make sure you are really celebrating it properly, or for wondering whether you truly have faith.
To know the cure is not to become immune to sorrow.
What God perceives is not what our eyes see; he is focused on righteousness because his love creates what is righteous.
“The well that washes what it shows” captures the essence of Linebaugh’s project, which aims to give the paradigmatic law-gospel hermeneutic a colloquial and visual language.
If Psalms 1 and 2 reveal the Christ who reigns, Psalms 3 and 4 reveal the Christ who remains.
When we fail, our first impulse is the same as that of our spiritual ancestors: to sprint headlong into the bushes.
Something Reformation Christians ought to do is familiarize themselves with Roman Catholic theology.
The testimony of the Word assures us that God isn’t waiting for us at the top of the stairs, with arms folded and brows furrowed.
The acrostic psalms do not hold because of their perfect structure. Nor do our lives.
The Reformation isn’t just a chapter in church history. It’s a reminder that the gospel remains forever good news.
The Protestant milieu was pervaded with the announcement that God and God alone is the active agent in the salvation of sinners.