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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You are the baptized, for in Christ we are all wet. The demographic dividers are washed away.
This is the sound of freedom. The Eternal One died so that we who are dying might live eternally with him.
He declared you what you might not always feel you are, but what you were from the moment he knew you, before you were you, when he foreknew you.
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.
What if the dissonance in this calendrical coincidence can be harmonized into a deeper melody?
It would serve us well to embrace the beauty of our diversity within the unity of the body of Christ.
Do our petitions move God?
How’s your ticker?
Show me your righteousness, we can only point to Jesus
This is an excerpt from Chad Bird’s book, Your God is Too Glorious, 2nd Edition
God sees true beauty