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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Success is emphatically not your primary identity.
God does not give us an undebatable answer to suffering. Instead, God suffers, too.
We know we are made for something great. We humans were created in God’s image and restored through Christ in his perfect image.
Instead of a death sentence, those brothers hear the words of deliverance.
The cross not only stands as the measure of our hatred of God but also as the measure of God’s love for us.
For Paul, the hope of the resurrection was the ultimate antidote whenever his circumstances tempted him to despair or to "lose heart."
You are the baptized, for in Christ we are all wet. The demographic dividers are washed away.
The love of God in Christ Jesus never changes. That love is for you.
The more I got to know Dr. Rosenbladt, the more I saw that he wasn’t a man divided.
He was rooted in his own tradition but gracious with others when they wanted to learn about his faith or their own.
Anyone could tell he enjoyed teaching theology and loved his students.
One way or another, Rod always found a way to bring whatever story he was telling back to the gospel and God's grace in Christ.