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So the next question directed to Pastor Charles, are Reformed Baptists more Baptist or more Reformed? Well, if you take Reformed as a corrective that came about at the Reformation, it's a corrective of the perversions of the medieval church, and then also a correction to our cousins, the Lutheran, we're more Reformed.

We're clearly in that stream. So, our sacramentology is Reformed. And in a lot of ways, we're Reformed as a corrective. But then we're Baptist and that we are a further correction. So, like what Dr. Barcelos was saying a little while ago about our confession, our confession really is a full flowering of the Protestant Reformation. And I know how this sounds, but if I didn't believe what I'm about to say, I would be I would be something else.

There is a corrective with what constitutes the local church, who's to be in the local church, how does the local church relate to the magistrate. those are all necessary, and I would say again, it's a necessary trajectory from earlier parts of the Reformation, and it came to a complete, so I, although we can make, we can ask this question, right? Which is more, I guess it depends on what the discussion is at the time, right?

So, right now, it's, and I understand it, I'm very sympathetic to those who want to see something like what they call Christian nationalism. I understand that. But when I have those conversations, I clearly become more Baptist. More Baptist in that context. Because I'm very much aware, and I'm a patriot, I love my country, very much aware of the Baptist influence. on our nation, particularly when it comes to liberty of conscience and distinguishing the church and the state.

Now, we've grown so accustomed to it, but the idea of free churches, you know, could you imagine being in an area where the government is taking tax money from you to support a church that goes against your conscience? We can't even imagine that. Well, the corrective to that was Baptist churches.

So it depends on what the discussion is on the table, which way I tap. And if you were talking to an Arminian Baptist dispensationalist, you'd be more Protestant or more reformed than you would be Baptist. I think that's helpful. I have a question. You love the Bible, and you love your country. Yes, I know that not simply because I know you and I heard you just say it But I'm looking at your Bible and it has three ribbons And they're red one a white one and a blue one. Oh, look at that. I hope that camera shows. Okay, that's a page So should talk about my Bible this Bible I think is nearly 30 years old And I was going to retire it, but there's a man at church, this guy's what they call a polymath.

This guy can do everything, right? Makes good food, makes good beer. Am I allowed to say that on the podcast? Yeah, you can say it. And he saw it and he knew that I was going to, he took it and he rebounded it with leather calfskin, put the ribbons in, did the blue. So now I'm going to get another. Nice. Who did this, though? He did. The red guy and the blue. Yeah, he did that. That was the little patriotic pizzazz. Yeah. Good. No, that's, I think, a very helpful way to look at it.

I typically say, you know, we're Reformed in our understanding of theology or soteriology, Baptistic in our ecclesiology. But I would agree, if I'm dealing in a certain context, I'm going to probably emphasize the Reformed more fully, and then Baptist others. Yeah, you know, again, because labels are important. and I think the ones that we give ourself are more important, because unfortunately, you know, I've been, in the same week, I've been called antinomian and legalist, right? I've been called a hyper-Calvinist.

So using those terms are really important, but I think what's helpful about the term reformed isn't just simply you know, the soteriological recovery, right? It's also, as you know, I mentioned earlier, Rich was at Toledo, what the Reformation didn't change.

So, again, just as a matter of helping people understand who we are, I often will say, we're small-c Catholic and Reformed. with the baptist corrective great so and so i want i want i want to wrap my arms around all that but i want to be the one that uses it in a in a way that's faithful to what those terms actually mean yeah so yeah very helpful what about you are you a reformed baptist are you reformed first then baptist well and i Can I be a Reformed Baptist without red, white, and blue ribbons in the scriptures, the written word of God? Because I would never do that. And if that's a litmus, I'm not a Reformed Baptist. Did you get this from Jerry Falwell's ministry or something? Let's move on from the red, white, and blue ribbons. You know, when you meet my guy Josh, you'll repent of everything you just said.