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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Do our petitions move God?
C.S. Lewis, Grief, and the Holiday Season
The following poem was written by Tanner Olson to accompany 1517’s 2023 Advent Resources, The Clothing of the King. Advent begins this Sunday.
An Anglo-Saxon poem gives fresh insight to the cross
How the pumpkin patch has a lot to teach us about the love and work of Christ
Human solutions to problems, important as they are, are inadequate to meet our deepest needs
We have to “remember” that God remembers us. He has not fallen away. For God to remember us means he is working for our good; a restoration.
The issue is not the existence of so-called inner rings, but our desire and willingness to spend our lives in order to gain from an inner ring what is freely promised in Christ: hope, security, and identity.
I’ve experienced firsthand the promise that God never leaves a congregation empty-handed.
God’s published will offers us anchorage, the anchorage of Jesus Christ, in the midst of chaos, reminding us that there is a greater purpose to our lives than the pursuit of worldly success or fleeting pleasures.
While we wait in tribulation for our white robes (or pants) to be washed in the blood of the Lamb, we confess to one another our seen and unseen stains.
The Holy Spirit unleashes his power through us, his vines, and we then get to watch as his fruits blossom and ripen.