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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Some form of the Rule of Benedict will not save or reinvigorate the church. The church already has what the church needs to do her work in the world: she has the Gospel.
You can talk to me about how Jesus is really forgiving and how you want me around, but what happens when things don’t change in a month?
Week after week, I read through this women’s Bible study for the sake of my friends.
Eucatastrophe combines two Greek words: ‘eu’ meaning ‘good’ (as in eulogy or euphoria), and ‘katastrophe’ for destruction.
Quid pro quo, you scratch my back and I will scratch yours. It tends to be the way we humans operate.
There are some things that just go together. Walk through the aisles of a store and see colors harmonize with spring colors that paint the earth.
He reminds them how his love is truly marvelous and unconditional, but then, he looks them in the eyes, and says they ought to do better because of his love.
What is your fight club? Who is your Tyler Durden?
What on God’s green earth does dynamite, a chemical explosive, have to do with the Gospel of Christ?
Who was this Jesus, who could do such things?
They stood on their feet, the Father's host, Alive in the Son and Holy Ghost.
True faith, saving faith that receives the good news about the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world is a faith created in us by the Holy Spirit through the Gospel (Eph 2:8-9).