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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The crucified and risen Christ comes to renew, restore, and build up.
The Lord’s provision doesn’t rest on the strength of our gratitude.
Christ is the beating heart of Christian faith and its only object.
Instead of a “how-to” manual, the Bible is a “what-you-didn’t-do” story.
Christ is always the ultimate for God's children, but we sometimes struggle with things that come before.
The Lord has an answer to your tears, your trouble, your weariness, your enemies, your grief, your shame, your sin.
Show me a sinner, and I’ll write you a story of a God who saves them.
If we picture the New Testament as a divinely painted masterpiece that hangs in the middle of a museum, then all around it are other works of the period, in different corridors of the museum, in many styles, painted by diverse artists, with variations of color and technique.
To preach Christ and him crucified is to keep the message simple and accessible.
The story of Jesus's temptation has much more to offer than merely giving us a "how-to" guide on kicking Satan to the curb.
God’s creatures on four legs are some of the greatest storytellers of the Scriptures.
The sinful nature loves self, and pride is its native tongue.