Dead Men Walking Podcast with Reformed Sage

Dead Men Walking

Subscribe

Download

Share

00

00:13

Hello everyone, welcome back to another episode of Dead Men Walking, I'm Greg, and I'm Jason.

00:19

Jason, how you doing brother? I'm doing awesome. Man, so awesome. We're still in Rapid City live from the

00:26

Fight Laugh Feast. We're here. Rallying. Hanging out. South Dakota. Saying hi to the people.

00:31

Yeah, you can tell the time zone change getting to us a little bit. We're getting a little loopy. A little loopy. But we have someone with us that we definitely want to have on because I have been admiring his

00:42

Facebook page from afar and didn't know who ran it or didn't know what was up with it. And really love the content that he puts out there.

00:49

It's called Reform Sage. I would definitely go check that out. He has a couple other businesses too we're going to talk about.

00:55

But we have Nick on the podcast. Nick, how are you, sir? I'm good. Thanks for having me. Yeah. Listen to all that.

01:02

Oh, yeah. Fake audience. Love it. Clapping and get right up on that mic for us there. Oh, yeah. How's that? Thanks for having me guys.

01:10

Yeah, absolutely. So we're at the Fight Laugh Feast rally. As we said, you've got a exhibit here and you have some of the coolest reformed swag

01:19

I think I've ever seen. First of all, thank you. And like I said, Reform Sage is the

01:25

Facebook group that just you put out so much great content, memes, questions, discussion questions.

01:31

I've learned a lot of theology from you. Yeah, we just go to your page. And then we're like, we should do an episode on that. So you're kind of an ad hoc writer slash producer on our show.

01:42

Oh, okay. Uncredited. Yeah. Yeah. And unpaid. That's great. Just behind the scenes. I love it.

01:48

I love it. Tell us a little bit about Reform Sage. And then also with the roasters that you got going on.

01:53

Oh, yes. Yes. So Reform Sage. So I started that about three years ago. And it's just, just grown.

01:59

And I, for the online media presence, I try to create a space where there's a lot of non reformed folks there.

02:05

And I try to introduce them to the doctrines of grace and God's sovereignty. And so I ask questions in the mornings typically just that are very vague.

02:14

So then a lot of people from different persuasions of the faith can answer and then it creates this huge dialogue.

02:20

And yeah, I think it's really beneficial. Yeah, yeah. So I, you know, the idea is iron sharpening iron, right?

02:26

And so it also helps us get out of our bubble a little bit because we go to reformed churches or we go to, you know, sure reform conferences.

02:33

Yeah, yeah. Exactly. So I think getting somewhat out of our echo chambers is helpful, you know, for us to remember, and just that Romans 14 mantra of loving your neighbor.

02:44

And so how can we do that in a way to edify each other? Yeah. So I try to do that on the Facebook page and on the business aspect.

02:50

So I try to create as detailed and as unique stuff that I can. That's just really well done.

02:56

When I was a kid, I went to conferences in Southern California. They used to call them the California Christian Youth Conventions.

03:02

Okay. And they would have merchandise. And it would be in the font of Coca Cola.

03:09

The real thing. Yeah, yeah, the real deal. I try to tell my wife, okay, if we ever do something, we got to do something that's unique and good.

03:19

And we put out we just obviously try to do it to the glory of the God. Yeah. And if I can create stuff that helps edify people in their homes, whether it's the 10 commandments they get from questions, just stuff you can take home and give to your kids or just put before their eyes, right?

03:34

And we want to be a benefit to you and your family. Oh, yeah, for sure. You've got some really cool stuff over there to those coasters.

03:41

I'm gonna have to pick up a few of those. I leave. But yeah, just so many good products.

03:46

I mean, and you go you have stuff that you engrave, you got t shirts, you got coasters with some other products that you guys sell over there.

03:53

So one of our biggest sellers is the laser engraved wood bookmarks. So that's walnut wood. And I just take theologians we recently released scripture.

04:01

So we have the ESV translation courtesy of the LifeWay folks. So now and if you know folks are interested to email me a verse that you might want, then

04:09

I can throw it on the next wave of bookmarks. But those are far and away probably our best best sellers because you know, in the reform community, a lot of readers, yeah, a lot of homeschoolers.

04:18

So they give them to their kids. And then in there we have the women of faith set which is 15 women from church history that have either been queens or princesses or theologians and then a short description about what they did or the impact they made for the church like Lady Jane Grey, we have one of those set up for her.

04:36

So just something to help the other 50 % of the population. Yeah, we're shoppers, you know, now tell me about the coffee because I'm a coffee drinker.

04:44

What do you what do you do with that? Yeah, so so right now we're online only and when we acquired the company, it had a tulip line.

04:50

So everything goes off of the five points. And then we added a Puritan line. So we have

04:55

Edwards, Watson, we have Owen, it's awesome. Perkins, sibs, you can sip on sibs in the morning if you want to.

05:02

So we just have these really funny roast. We try to give them, you know, humorous name, down the ice.

05:08

And so like for Edwards on the front label, it says simmers in the hands of an angry God. Yeah, I see what you're doing.

05:16

Yeah. And Edwards is flavorful undertones so complex, nobody can understand them.

05:22

You know, because Owen is typically hard to read. And then another thing we did on the back is we added a little description of the theme of the roast, and then as well as the gospel.

05:31

So if you have co workers or family, coffee can be that bridge to get the gospel out to these,

05:37

I was gonna say your stuff over there is a great conversation starters. I mean, it really is.

05:42

If even if you had something in your home, even your the one that really gets me is the the verse taken out of context.

05:52

Yeah, I can do I can do all things. I see that all over. I mean, at some point, haven't we all done something?

06:01

Exactly. Yeah, but it's great. It's cool. Well, so you started this business, and you seem to be doing pretty well at it.

06:08

I mean, you got some quality stuff we want to have you on because we love supporting other businesses to that are that are believers.

06:15

Yeah. Oh, yeah. Thank you. I know you you kind of you know, Righteous Wretch, which is we also like to promote on the cool guys.

06:24

Yes, as well. Yeah, we're gonna we're gonna start making sure we get your name out there as well too. So we can support you.

06:29

Because those products, here's the thing. There are some, okay, a lot of most

06:35

Christian products are kind of cheesy. I hate to say it. Yeah. Within the reform community. There's some that aren't just great.

06:41

And if you want someone to actually wear it or use it or evangelize with it, it needs to be something that they're actually going to wear or use or give.

06:49

You know what I mean? Yeah. And all your stuff is like that. Like you said, it's, it's high quality, has a good look to it.

06:55

It's unique. It's a little different. Well, stylish market. Marcus Pittman said it earlier.

07:01

He was like, you're not gonna go to a burger place that, you know, somebody says, yeah, burgers, you know, they

07:08

Yeah, yeah. Like, well, we try our best. Yeah. It's like, yeah, you're not gonna buy something for sure.

07:14

You know, isn't good quality. Yeah. Oh, man, that's awesome.

07:19

So yeah, so you're just plotting along here. Where can people like find this stuff or get it? Or like, is there?

07:25

Yeah. Yeah. So so we're on social media. We're on all the social media accounts. We're on Facebook, Instagram, Gab, me, we were even on the not to be private social media there as well.

07:36

Okay, you can go to reform sage .com. That's where you can find all of our merchandise, as well as the coffee is at reform roasters .com.

07:44

And we even do wholesale stuff for churches and ministries. We've done, okay, you know, customized things.

07:50

So if you want to get stuff for your elders, you want to, you know, have stuff there with your ministry logo. We do custom engraving for a lot of different ministries and churches.

07:59

Yeah. So all that's available on our website. And you'll do quantity for churches as well. Oh, yeah. Quantity discounts.

08:05

Yeah, for sure. Yeah. Yeah, we're more than happy to partner with you know, that's one of the things we want to do is try to build out the kingdom. And if we can help churches or other ministries find ways to increase what they're able to do, then that's what we want to come alongside them and partner someone who shares our worldview as Christians and as reformed and our values.

08:21

Yeah. Yeah. Here was something too, that I thought was interesting. So you know, when you see those Facebook pages, and it's like 500 ,000, you know, followers, and then they post something and they have three likes and one comment after a week.

08:33

And you go, what's going on? You've got people following this Facebook page, and it is so darn active.

08:39

Like anytime I jump on, there's like 500 comments. There's like 200 shares. And I'm going, this is unbelievable how much traction and action.

08:48

Yeah, there's that many people talking about the kingdom, you know. And it's diverse. It's cool.

08:53

Yeah, it is very diverse. Yeah. So you would think that this Facebook page would just be full of reformed people. But there are a lot there's

08:58

Eastern Orthodox, there's Catholics, there's just broadband evangelicals, independent fundamental

09:04

King James only guys. So, you know, those are probably fun to read. Some of those threads heat up for sure.

09:12

You know, and the way I try to post things or questions is somewhat provocative, because if it's just a simple, hey,

09:18

I agree with that, scroll on. There's really no opportunity for dialogue and dissension and interaction, which

09:24

I think it only helps us if we're able to talk more about theology in a graceful way, if we can.

09:30

Can't always do that, because we're still in sin. But yeah, we can try our best. Right. And that's the thing, because even when you ask a discussion question, you ask it.

09:38

You don't state it and say, this is what it is. You know, what do you guys think about this? And I've noticed it took me a long time to figure this out with my personality is you get a lot farther if you just ask a question and actually listen to someone, then try to hammer them with some bullet points and some proof texts, you know, and shove it down their throat.

09:55

You go, how'd you get it? I love your How would you respond to this? Yeah, it's such a great way to ask a question.

10:00

Because then you do you get this way or that way. And then people and I mean,

10:06

I might see some things on there that you know, it gets a little off the rails. But for the most part, your page is pretty darn respectful.

10:11

And for age, people can just really get rough and gruff when it comes to those.

10:20

I mean, I you know, to how the Facebook page started, how it all started was, you know, I went through this transition becoming a

10:26

Calvinist. And then I started this Facebook page called the reformed cage, because all I wanted to do was make memes that bashed on our minions, because I just,

10:33

I thought free will was ridiculous. And so that was original. And then I realized, I think

10:39

I'm exactly and I was like, they can't handle the glory of God.

10:45

They can't handle the truth. So but then, you know, by God's grace, I came out of that and I thought, well, there's people following this page, what am

10:51

I going to do? Well, let's do something to build up the kingdom. So I switched the C to an S. Yeah, just a simple change like that.

10:57

And it's just kind of grown to be what it is. And then I wanted to run a small business, you know,

11:02

I got out of the military and wanted to do that. And so I thought, well, how can I create really, really cool things to the glory of God.

11:09

So that's kind of the sage thing is it's just supposed to be this really high quality, helpful edifying type of stuff.

11:16

And it is it is Yeah, sure. It's so funny that they actually have a name like cage stage.

11:22

And I've experienced that. Well, let's see. I'm still in it. 14 years ago, man, there's a couple years there was like, you know what

11:31

I mean? Years. Do you still have family after that? Yeah, right. No, no, it was a couple years.

11:40

Let's do this. And I still get it a little bit. But it's, you know, after 14 years of the

11:45

Lord, my eyes and yeah, in seeing the Bible for what it is, letting the text stand on its own through the, you know, the lens of reform theology.

11:55

I mean, it's where someone uses, says something about a verse that you know, is a little bit off.

12:04

Yeah, you know, usually you can say something about the Bible. Where's our drop at?

12:10

Yeah, well, that drop. Well, actually, you're still in this stage, Jason. What's wrong with you? Yeah, exactly. Yeah.

12:16

I love that. Yeah, that's awesome. So I'll tell you a funny story. So I'm in the cage stage, and my cousin is helping me move up to Idaho.

12:24

So it's a 14 -hour drive in a U -Haul. And he, like me, was raised Armenian. And so I'm thinking 14 hours, baby, we're going to convert this guy.

12:32

We're going to bring him into the glories of Calvinism, get him saved. And I'm hitting him, you know,

12:38

I'm in the cage stage. So I'm hitting him, and it's 14 hours. And I actually was playing Edward Sermon, Sinners in the

12:43

Hands of an Angry God. So he listened to that.

12:49

He listened to me for 14 hours. And after that, you know, he's still part of the family. So God bless him, you know.

12:54

And I went back later on and said, hey, I know it's pretty intense. I should apologize. And it's all good now.

13:00

But I look back and think. You were like, look, Ephesians 2, John 6, John 8,

13:05

John 11. Have you ever read David and Goliath? Well, not David. For sure, for sure, yeah.

13:14

Oh, really? Is that what that verse says? Yeah. The Bible has determined.

13:21

Oh, wait, we need that one. You can't preempt my. Oh, wait.

13:27

Oh, wait, wait. Here we go. Ready? And the Bible determined that was a lie. Liar. Liar.

13:34

You're not a liar. That's the cage stage right there. That's the cage stage. We don't want to call people liars.

13:42

You guys should make that a bumper sticker. The Bible determined that was a lie. That's great.

13:47

Right. Oh, my goodness. Oh, yeah. We stayed up late one night. We're just making a bunch of drops just for the fun of it.

13:55

You know, we're just waiting to use this one on someone. You got to get

14:01

Paul Washer's blasphemy scream. Yeah, yeah, that's true. Yeah, we got to get some washing up. When you get our minions on, you just constantly.

14:07

That's all right here for 15 minutes. Were they even on the show? No, we never have those people.

14:16

What do you mean those people?

14:25

Yeah, so we have derailed this episode, but it's fun. Yeah, no, this is great. So he didn't know we were going to say any of this, by the way.

14:33

He just stepped into it. Don't blame the invitation. What's the podcast? Throw out that website one more time, and we're going to link it up to when we post this.

14:46

Okay, so it's reformed sage .com and the coffee is reformed roasters .com. Go support him, guys.

14:51

Great guy. Great family. Brother in the Lord. We can take it out and post.

15:00

We'll make ourselves sound so good, dude. With editing. Nah, we don't edit. We tell all the guests that, and then we do zero editing.

15:07

Gotcha. No, that's not going to be in the end, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay. That's what my agent said.

15:14

All right, guys. Thanks so much for joining us for this, and as always, God bless. Be sure to follow us on Facebook and Instagram at deadmenwalkingpodcast for full video podcast episodes and clips, or email us at deadmenwalkingpodcast at gmail .com.