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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This is the second installment in the 1517 articles series, “What Makes a Saint?”
This is the first installment in the 1517 articles series, “What Makes a Saint?”
So Christ is risen, but what now?
In Christ, you are bound. Bound to mercy. Bound to grace. Bound to a God who won’t let you go. And because of that, you are free—gloriously, joyfully free.
Forgiveness from Jesus is always surprising to us.
It's one thing to hope for a new reality; it's quite another to stand before it, no matter how wonderful.
While I disagree with many things Francis did and believed, I think he deserves credit for this: Francis showed us what Christian leadership can look like.
The Psalm now is this: as Christ suffered and then was exalted, so we are also in him.
You cannot sever the saint from the sinner. Christians remain both simultaneously.
There is no one — not now, not ever — who cannot be included in the family of God through the efficacy of Christ’s saving power.
What do we do with Katie Luther? What kind of historical character can we paint her to be?
By the end of this prayer of wrestling, David finally has the strength to claim victory over his lying enemies.