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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On this day in the year 1093, Anselm was consecrated as the archbishop of Canterbury.
It's not always the giants, the obvious enemies, the clear battlefields that prove most exhausting and dangerous for us. It’s the ongoing, subtle, seductive, soul-gnawing smaller things in life that wear us down. What's a person to do?
Jesus does not seek out Peter to condemn, but to restore his precious lost sheep, His dearly loved prodigal son.
To a world enslaved to time (because it has no future), the Church's disregard for clocks and calendars is ridiculous.
Bearing fruit is wonderful, but you do not stay a Christian through fruit-bearing. You bear fruit and are growing because you are united to Christ.
We at 1517 are utterly committed to keeping the main thing, the main thing.
This advent we will take a closer look at the four names given to Christ by the prophet Isaiah in Isaiah Chapter 9. For Christ is not only Immanuel, or God with us, but he is also Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace. His rule is not what the Israelites of Isaiah's day, the Jews throughout Jesus' life, nor even we today, expect. He comes to us as a servant and as a child and yet more wonderful, mighty, everlasting, and princely than we could imagine.
Freedom is the opposite of woe-dom. We must remind ourselves and teach our children that God's voice is the voice that matters.
Mark makes no effort to impress listeners or win votes. His voice aims only to prepare those who hear it for the coming of the Lord.
Even when you’re praying and you feel like you’re not getting what you want, God loves you. God hears you.
Jesus desires for us to watch. The question, however, is, “How do we watch for the return of Jesus?”
This is an excerpt from Martin Luther’s Commentary on Saint Paul’s Epistle to the Galatians (1535), written by Martin Luther and translated by Haroldo Camacho (1517 Publishing, 2018).