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.

All Articles

I’m a drug addict. Specifically, a recovering drug addict. More specific, a grateful recovering drug addict.
When we talk about love then, let us not talk about ourselves.
We follow the example of creation and her Creator, wasting our love quite prodigally in fulfilling our callings, whether we’re thanked or spurned, applauded or ignored.
Repentance is not a call to improve. It is a call to die.
God goes to work on us through His Word like a woodcarver chisels a block of wood.
“We all partake of the one cup, the cup of blessing which we bless. This is not seen as a bunch of different cups, but as one cup, the same cup that Jesus blessed at the Last Supper.”
In him, retribution is set aside. Forgiveness comes. A new order begins. Remember that God’s mission will prevail, because grace is in, with, and under the fabric of human history.
Jesus lives amidst the twisted metal and smoking ruins of lives gone bad. It’s where he does his best work. Christ is the ultimate first responder.
In Adam and in us, life has been wrapped in death. But in Jesus, God has wrapped death in life.
A heart that wants nothing that is not from God can only occur by the Holy Spirit speaking the Gospel into our hearts.
But another possible translation for the Greek word we translate as ‘overcome’ and one maybe more consistent with the context is ‘comprehend.’
We are dangerously good at focusing on our exciting, or boring, walk of faith.