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 connection between music and the created order is a long lasting one.
In Israel today, it's still possible to witness the same scene the disciples saw 2000 years ago when the Bedouin shepherds bring their flocks home from various pastures at the end of the day.
Regularly reading and hearing God’s Word helps us to keep a song in our hearts.
God gives his church a story that helps to make sense of this life.
C.S. Lewis muses on joy in his spiriutal autobiography
Written in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of J.R.R. Tolkien's death.
As Luther said, “Our Lord has written the promise of the resurrection not in books alone, but in every leaf of spring.”
Jesus cries on the cross for us. He suffers and cries and dies in our place. He is forsaken by his father so we don’t have to be.
We too are God’s baptized, beloved, blood-bought believers. And no one can ever take that away from us.
The good news is that with our God there is always more: more than we deserve, dare, ask, or expect, more than we can see, hear, feel, or think.
For as you pick up the Holy Bible, God’s Word to you and for you in Christ, the words of the prophet Isaiah echo in your ears, "The Word of the Lord Endures Forever."