Coby Munsey Reviews Every Bible You've Ever Seen & Baptist to Presbyterian on Dead Men Walking

Opening Banter and Show Introduction

Exploring theology, doctrine, and all of the fascinating subjects in between. Broadcasting from an undisclosed location. Dead Men Walking starts now. Oh boy, got a little tickle in my throat there. Welcome back to another episode of Dead Men Walking podcast everyone.

Thanks for listening, thanks for sharing, thanks for telling a friend. We can't do it without you. If you heard a cough there in the intro, that was real professional of me, but I'm getting over something or maybe on day two of it.

So throughout the episode, you might hear me lean back and do my best to try to avoid coughing right into the microphone. But that's what's going on here. The whole family, I think, got it from me, which is backwards.

Generally, they all get it first. The kids get it first. The wife gets it first. I hang in there and I think every time I go, I'm not going to get it. I'm still a young buck. I got an immune system. And then, of course, now I get it and I get it worse than everyone else.

So, you know, that's just typical male thinking, though. I can I can avoid the virus and I just get it last because I'm probably not in the house quite as much as a stay at home mother and homeschool parents.

So that's that's me telling you how I'm sick. So I'm sure it makes for good podcast. But guys, some things coming up really quick. I want to talk to you about. Well, OK, so last year I did a lot of camping and I wasn't able to take any equipment with me.

But this year, when I get to the Great Lakes, like Lake Michigan, Lake Superior, Lake Huron, we're going to be doing some live episodes right from the beach. So be look be on the lookout for that May through September.

We'll have a couple of them sprinkled in there. And for those watching on YouTube, you'll have a very beautiful backdrop of God's glory, which is the Michigan Great Lakes. And it'll be from a couple of different Great Lakes since we're going all around Michigan again this year.

But it's got me, you know, I'm fifty five degrees here right now in Michigan. It's you know, the birds are chirping, stuff starting to bud. Now in Michigan, we're still going to get one more dump of like a foot of snow.

That's just what happens, you know, right about in late March. We think we're clear, but I'm enjoying it right now. And, you know, I'm looking out of my studio window here. I've got my camper sitting right there.

And I can't wait when it starts getting like this. And I start thinking about yard work and cleaning the gutters and doing all painting the fences. Guess what's next? Camping season. And we're going to bring you guys along with us, with my family on that this time because we're going to do a couple episodes from the road.

I got inspired by Dr. James White after watching The Dividing Line. If he could do it from a camper, by golly, I can. But let's get right into it. You probably heard someone laughing there. Yes, I do have someone online and I'm very excited about this.

I say that every week, but I'm always excited about my guests because I like to say I'm particular about our guests. We've had many people say, hey, I want to be on the podcast. Can we talk about this?

And now we're not doing anything that's snooty or highfalutin. OK, but we want to make sure that we bring you guys, the listeners, quality content. I know you guys are busy. I'm busy. I'm a big podcast listener.

And I'll tell you what, if you're not if those other podcasts aren't bringing me something that brings value, I'm probably clicking off and moving on to something else between my audio books, my Bible time, my video time, my podcast time.

And I will you know, I've only got so many hours in the day. We want to make sure we're bringing you good stuff. So this guy, I think you guys are going to like he's been a Christian for 37 years, been married for 24, has two grown children, one granddaughter.

He was raised Baptist and recently became Presbyterian, which I'm interested in. We might have a conversation about that. I've kind of had the same journey. John MacArthur was his gateway to reform theology, which led him down the rabbit trail.

I like that. I did the same thing. I was on a rabbit trail myself for about eight years. He's a hip hop head, which most people would never guess. And he enjoys talking about the Bible and about Bibles.

That's important because that's why he started the rule Bible review channel, which I checked out and I absolutely love on the podcast today. Colby Munsey, how are you, sir? I'm good, ma 'am. Thanks for having me.

I appreciate it. Well, thanks for being here. You know, we met down at the shadows, the substance conference, and we were one of maybe four Presbyterians down there among the Southern Baptists, the Reformed Baptists.

So we we became friends quickly. It was kind of a friendship under fire since they kept saying they were going to baptize us. So we had to stick together. But I got to know you over the course of those three days.

We had some breakfast together and went out for dinners and stuff like that and got to talk to all those guys. And guys, if you haven't listened by now, both part one and part two of the shadow of the substance conference is out where I interviewed each of the speakers.

It was absolutely wonderful. Some young guys, some new guys, some guys that just don't have a real big platform like some of the others, but preach the gospel. And I think you enjoy that. So go back in the catalog and check that out.

But Colby and I met and we hit it right off as Presbyterians down there. And then we start talking about your your your YouTube channel. And I have an obsession with books. I think you can only see behind me here if you're watching this.

This is one of my 12 bookcases that I have. OK, these two bookcases here are for the studio. But my upstairs bedroom is essentially also a library. It's a 400 square foot master bedroom because I converted a duplex home.

So that was the whole living area for a family of five. And now it's my master bedroom that also has a library in it. My wife is obsessed with books. I'm especially obsessed with Bibles and you review Bibles.

You know how many times that I have looked at a Bible online and I went, I'd love to see how that turns. I want to know if I write in it, if the ink's going to go through it. I want to see it in someone's hand.

So it's compare. So I can compare it. I want someone to tell me they touched it and how it feels. How do the ribbons feel? They too long, too short. And I went, there's no one that's doing that. And guess what?

You do that. So, Colby, tell us a little bit about yourself first. I think I covered a little bit of your personal stuff, but tell me where the idea for the channel came from too.

Bible Reviews for Every Budget

Well, I, um, there's other, you know, reviewers out there, but most of them were, they just did like the high end Bibles. Um, and I've got some high end Bibles that I've done reviews on and everything, but like today I recorded one earlier and it's a hardback.

It's an $18 Bible. So, um, I review a little bit of everything. Um, my wife and my daughter actually have a YouTube channel, um, not trying to plug them or anything, but they cross stitch. Um, well they're, they're in this community.

I've learned so much about cross stitching. Um, it's about,.

They call it, yeah, they call it, you look like a guy that cross stitches.

Yeah, but they call it floss tube. So they started doing it and was talking about, you know, their patterns and things like, you know, design and, you know, cross stitch and stuff. And so I was all the time talking to my wife about Bibles and she's not one, if I got her premium Bible, she would appreciate it.

But like she carries a, you know, $20 a crossway purple Bible to church because it's purple. That's her favorite color and the print good and large. And you know, and that's what she likes. But you know, she, you know, of course is interested, but she said, why don't you just do a YouTube channel?

She said, you know, you just never know. And I said, okay, so I started it and slowly, but surely it's, you know, kind of built up today. I've got like 283 subscribers and I'm trying to get to 300. So if you're listening to this, go subscribe.

You could win a Bible, but you got to go watch last week's video to do so. Um, so yeah, that's, that's just kind of how it started. And I just, I do it because I enjoy it. Um, and me like you, you know, used to, you could go to Lifeway and look at a Bible because there was Lifeways everywhere, you know, especially down here in the South.

And now there's no bookstores, you know, you can go to Barnes and Noble, but they don't have a big Bible selection. Um, you know, and I was like you, I was like, well, I want to know how that feels. I want to know what it looks like.

Cause you can, you know, look online at, you know, a, the inside of a Bible, but that doesn't do it justice. You know, you got to see it, you know, because online they're going to make it look as good as possible.

But when you get the Bible and get the paper, you know, get to look at it, it's going to be opaque or it's going to be bright white or, and it's going to look different under different lighting. So you've got to be able to look at it in my opinion.

So that's what I try to provide. So.

Yeah. So just for the people listening and watching, I want to play this little clip. It's 30 seconds, just to give you an idea of what it kind of looks and sounds like here, check this out. This is Colby reviewing an LSB Bible, I believe.

And there you go. And just like all the other LSBs, this is a verse by verse single column format. This is a 10 and a half point font. You do have your book titles, running headers, chapter and page numbers in red and the words of Christ are in red.

So we'll get to that in a minute. So what I love about that is I'm a technical guy. I want to know how much room I.

Have in the margins to write. I know most people think, oh, I don't know if I'm that way, but I'm telling you a lot of people think that way, even if they don't know, they think that way. They might be making that decision based on, you know, when they look at one in person and go, oh, I like how much margin or I like, you know, how the way the paper feels.

But like you said, you can't do that when you just don't have any in-person bookstores, really, anymore, and especially Christian bookstores. I don't have one. I think the nearest one to me is 60 miles and I'm 40 miles south of Detroit for crying out loud.

I'm near major cities, you know, five miles north of Toledo. And there is just not a lot of bookstores, let alone Christian bookstores that hold a lot of Bible. So I found your channel very useful. And I think for anyone listening that is thinking about purchasing a Bible and not necessarily purchasing that, you know, four hundred and fifty dollar rebind with all that right.

Hey, look, I want a daily use Bible. I'm not going to spend too awfully much on it, maybe 40, 50 dollars. And I want to know how it reads, how it looks, how it feels, you know, what it looks like in hand.

And I mean, you've got a lot of videos on there doing that. And do you just stick to one type or one version of Bible or do you do everything? Because I think I saw smaller NIV on there, too, which was pretty cool.

Or yes. Yeah. No, I've done ESB,.

LSB and CSB. And I've actually done a couple of New King James, I think I've done New American. So, no, I do, you know, any and everything. I actually did a really cool we were my wife and I were at a Bass Pro and we were looking like in the little home goods section, you know, where they have like candles and different things like that.

And we were looking at the cookbooks and stuff. And I looked, I was like, is that a Bible? And it's a little camouflage CSB compact Bible that has devotions from a hunter that's a Christian. And I was like, well, that's pretty cool because that's something you could take, you know, put it in your field pack.

And, you know, when you're out waiting on the deer or, you know, whatever you're hurting, you can just open up that little Bible and just read it. And so I did a review on it. I haven't posted as many pictures on my Instagram as I usually do for the channel.

But my wife always takes my pictures for me because like, say, her being a crafty person, she just kind of has an eye for that stuff. Well, she took that one when I gave it to her to take pictures. I said, hey, go take a picture of this, you know, for me, you know, to post.

She goes, OK, well, I heard the door closed and I was like, where's she going? She took it out to a tree out in the yard and put it up on a tree, which was you know, so. So no, I'll review anything and everything.

I will not review the passion translation or the or the message or the Book of Mormon. Yeah, those three are kind of the.

Same category. Yeah. Yeah. Here's sorry for. Oh, I was going to say sorry for any of you message or passion readers out there, but I don't have any of those in my audience. I don't think I hope not. Yeah.

So so do you buy all the Bibles or do you have people send them into you or how do you get.

Ahold of the Bibles? Every Bible I have reviewed except for five, I have bought a friend of mine sent me three to review. So I reviewed history. Another friend sent me one to review. So I reviewed it.

And then the Lockman Foundation sent me a new American 2020 to review. Um, so, but the rest of them are my personal Bibles. Um, and just to give you an idea, you know, he's talking about reviewing just anything and everything.

Our church just recently got, um, ESV pew Bibles. There are 20, you know, the little crossway hardback pew Bibles. I'm going to snake one of those from church Sunday and bring it home and review it.

I like it because you're stealing Bibles from the church for your YouTube channel.

Yeah. Yeah. I'll let my pastor know. So it'll be fine.

I'm just kidding. So are you against people sending you in Bibles? If someone's listening right now and they go, yeah, I have an extra one of those, or I'd like him to review that for other people. Cause I just love this Bible so much because I have a thing where.

If I see a Bible and like I said, if it's more of an entry level Bible and there's a deal on it or something, or I just really seem to like it, I'll buy two or three and I'll give it away or, you know, maybe send it into you or go, Hey, this needs to be reviewed because I think, you know, for a, whatever, a $24 Bible from Ollie's, let's say, uh, you know, Ollie's outlet up here in Michigan, we'll get a lot of, uh, Bibles that maybe weren't too popular in the major bookstores, but still a good Bible.

Um, you're not against people sending those in and, and, uh, you taking a look at them and then you get to add them to your collection.

Yeah, absolutely. If, uh, you know, and if it's one that you, it's your personal Bible and you want it back, but you're like, you know, I got this rebound by, you know, jail for somebody. And I want people to see it, then I'll review it and I'll send it back, you know, and I, um, I try to take care too, because, you know, I've bought Bibles from people online and got it.

It was like, how did this box stay intact? You know, because the postal service isn't exactly, you know, careful, but they didn't pack it well. So I always try to pack things well, you know, wrap it and everything, you know, just try to make sure it gets back and, you know, pristine condition, but, but no, either way, you know, if somebody wants to send me one, I'll gladly take it.

And if I can't use it, um, my pastor and I actually are involved in our local jail ministry. Um, and you've got inmates there that, you know, are looking for Bibles. Now, if it's a hardback or leather, I couldn't give it to them, but once they get out, you know, I'd be more than happy to pass it along and give it to them.

So it will be put to you.

Yeah. So yeah, very cool, man. Um, so let's talk about, uh, let's talk about your journey from, like you said, Baptist to Presbyterian. I found that interesting because I I've just been attending. So I I've been really reviewing.

Let me back up one more step. Let me back up two steps. So I grew up in a non-denominational church, uh, two different churches, one from birth to about 13, the other one from 13 to 18, both were non-denominational, but essentially held to Baptist Baptist.

I mean, that's when you really get down to it, they were, you know, credo Baptist and held to kind of SBC, but not really SBC. They weren't in the denomination. They were just a non-denominational church.

So I grew up going, oh, that's just, that's Christianity. Um, yeah, there's some Methodists out there and Presbyterians and, and, you know, some different types out there, but, um, yeah, I mean, on baptism and in covenants and things, this is just the way you are.

And then I went down the rabbit hole, like you said, in my twenties on reform theology and just, uh, James White and R .C. Sproul were my two big influences. So there's two different ones, uh, you know, one's Baptist and one's obviously Presbyterian.

And I really started thinking for the last probably eight or nine years now, just going, what does covenant theology really look like? I remember I said the sinner's prayer at seven, but I wasn't allowed to get baptized until the age of accountability at 13.

And I went, so what is that five years all about or five or six years in between there? I was, I had enough accountability to repeat a prayer and be saved, but not enough to be bet. Right. So all these things rolled around in my head in just in the last two years.

Um, and I'm a very slow, I worked through things slowly. I don't like to just jump to the next thing. I read about it. I study, I pray, I go back to the word. I think about it. I study some more. I pray.

Right. That's why I said I was a closeted Calvinist for almost eight years, even though I knew that was the route I was going. I just wanted to be sure this wasn't something I'm latching onto. Right. Uh, and the same with, uh, Presbyterian and basically, you know, Pato Baptist as well.

And it just seemed to make sense a little bit. Uh, it just, within the last two years, I've been going to a reformed Presbyterian church and understanding really what baptism signifies and what it means.

And look, we're not going to have a baptism debate here. Cause you and I are on the same side of it, but I was just wondering what your journey was from kind of Baptist and you know, there's differences besides baptism and between Baptist and Presbyterians, but that's the big one that we like to joke about.

Uh, most of the time, if we're friendly about it, what was your journey from Baptist to Presbyterian and how did you get there?

From Baptist to Presbyterian

Well, um, kind of like you, I did grow up Baptist and it was a, um, I really didn't realize it at the time, but looking back, it was a, you know, basically an independent fundamental Baptist. Um, they use the King James, but I don't ever remember them railing against other translations.

So necessarily like a KJV only top church. Um, I'm, I'm 50, I'll be 51 this year to give people a concept of, you know, how I grew up. Um, so I remember one of our deacons, he was an older guy. He encouraged the church to join the SBC because he liked the cooperative program and how they gave to missions and, you know, and things like that.

So our church voted on it and it became an SBC church. Well, um, fast forward, get married, moved to where I am now and, you know, kept going to Baptist churches and everything and discovered John MacArthur, uh, because the church I was attending at the time used the new King James.

And this is when bookstores were readily available. And I bought a MacArthur study Bible in the new King James. And, you know, of course, reading along and then studying the notes, I was like, election, what's, what's the stuff he's talking about here?

You know? So then that started me into it. And, you know, of course, when you discover MacArthur, you're going to discover Sproul because of the friendship. And so then I discovered Sproul and I loved, I just soaked up everything, you know, that Sproul was.

I didn't even realize that he was Presbyterian really, you know, for the longest, um, because I just soaked up all his reformed teaching and I was like, well, I guess I'm a Calvinist or reformed, you know?

Okay. You know, so there you go. Well, where I live, there is, I told the kids, uh, I teach Sunday school at church. I told them, was it this past Sunday or Sunday before last? There's like between here and my church, there's like 11 churches and, you know, and I live like less than five miles from my church.

So, um, you know, literally we have a church on every corner. Um, so, but there's no reformed churches. There's a big Southern Baptist church in this small town and there's, you know, like three church of Christ.

There's, you know, different types of Pentecostal type churches. Uh, there's a Nazarene church or some just non-denom churches. And then there was that little, you know, there's two Presbyterians. There's a Cumberland Presbyterian, which I think is PCUSA maybe, I could be wrong.

Um, and then there is Grace Presbyterian where I go. And our little church is in a storefront. It's not a, there's no stained glass, there's no staple, none of that. It's a little strip mall storefront thing, kind of like Jeff's church.

Um, you know, so we'd go by there and I'd see it and I was like, well, I don't know. Well, we decided we found a reformed Baptist church because at the time we were still Baptist and loved it. I still love the pastor.

I know him, we're friends on Facebook and everything, you know, follow each other on Twitter. And, but where it is up on the mountain, it's a very curvy road and my wife gets corset and she can't handle that drive.

So we were like, well, man, I hate that because we loved it because that was the first time going to a reformed worship service, you know, that was very liturgical and all that. And I was like, man, I love this.

This is awesome. You know, cause you know, growing up Baptist, well, you know, sing three songs, take up a doffer and have a special singing, preaching altar call. And, you know, just the same old, same old, you know, having the call and response and the public confession, you know, reading the confession of sin together, silent confession and more scripture reading and, you know, doing the creeds and just, you know, it's great.

So anyway, I, you know, somehow or another, I forgot exactly how, but I was like, well, let's go try out this little Presbyterian church. So we went in and it's funny. I wore a t-shirt that first Sunday is a wrath and grace t-shirt.

Um, I think it was the one that Claude had on at, um, the conference that had squad goals and it had a Spurgeon and Knox and all those guys, both teaching elders came up to me afterward and they're like, I love that shirt.

We were, we were like, we got to go talk to this guy. So anyway, ended up, we started going there and it took me a while. We went through the, um, they call it an inquirer's class, which is what you go through before you join.

And I was like, I just, I don't know. I'd had my 1689 and the Westminster side by side and I'm reading through both of them. And I just got hung up on baptism. I just could not get past it. And I remember talking to a friend and I was like, you know, I said, I just can't get past that.

And they said, well, are you looking at it through your Baptist lenses or are you looking through it with an open mind? And I was like, hmm. So I prayed and, you know, kept studying and I got the book by Sproul, Truths We Confess.

Love that book. Yep. Well, mine's sitting right over here. And I went straight to the bad, you know, the Baptist part or the baptizing part. And what made me first respect Sproul on it is like he said, if you asked him to pin down a scripture and the new Testament that says to baptize infants, he said, I can't show it to you.

However, it is implied in a lot of places and, you know, and it goes on to talk about it and everything and, you know, and explains it with the covenant, you know, and all that. And I was like, hmm, well, that makes sense.

I was like, yeah, they don't think it's salvific because, you know, I've always been told that like a lot of Lutherans and like Catholics, oh, if you baptize the baby, they think they're saved. And Presby's don't think that way.

And I know people that's met Presbyterians that way will send them my direction because you've met a bad Presbyterian. Right. Yeah. There's not one member of my church that believes that. Not one. You know, so it was, it was a little bit of a journey.

And once I came to grips with it, I told my pastor, I said, look, I'm on board, man. I get it. You know, I don't have an issue with it. I see where it's at. I still see the Baptist side of it too. I see where they get what they get.

Sure. I do too. I don't think that's something that we should divide over because it's, you know, in my opinion, a secondary issue. But, but yeah, once, once I saw it,.

I was like, I can't even see it anymore. You know, you know, and then you can't. And then when you, when you read through the Bible too, and you see how God is such a generational and covenantal God into where he talks about the children and the children's children and things like that.

And obviously baptize you and your family and all those verses. It just makes sense. You know, it's funny. I was having this conversation with someone in a non-denominational church. Oh no, I'm sorry.

Not non, it was an AG church assemblies of God. And they said, that's the pedo baptism. That's just, that's just crazy. I said, well, you know, it's, it's a thing where the children are up front. The congregation is part of it.

We have a part of it in our baptism as well as do, do you do, you know, do you promise and swear, not swear, but promise to God to help these parents raise their child in the way that they should go and be part of that covenant and part of that blessing.

And we're like, yeah, we do, you know, and they go, yeah, that's just crazy. And then he goes, or then I go, so, uh, when'd you guys his next baby dedication. And, uh, he thought for a minute and he goes, well, we do got one coming up in two weeks.

They said, that's what you guys do is as, uh, assemblies of God, you hold up a baby, you tell everyone, I'm dedicating this baby to God. I want it to be part of the covenant, part of the blessings as parents.

We're going to make sure we raise it up. I said, you do it in front of the congregation. I said, now you're not calling it a baptism. And I would say that that's an error. And you do need to specify that sacrament, but you just rip it off.

Presby's is all you're doing there when you're doing a baby dedication. And I said, where's that in the Bible? Tell me where baby dedication is, you know? So we had a pretty good conversation on that.

And I've told that to a few, like nondenoms and in your AGS and you're kind of more charismatic, kind of Baptist light, light, uh, church, uh, members. And they go home and I can just tell it starts to get their, uh, wheels turning and hopefully they look into it and study it.

And like I said, secondary issue, we both know that. But, um, I was just interested in that journey. I do. I did laugh because you said you wore that shirt to the first time you went to your Presbyterian.

I wore this. It was the summertime when I went to the church I'm attending now. Um, and this is the shirt I wore. It's a wine. I'm dying. I'm Roman's not. That's a shirt. That's a shirt we make and it's on our website.

So I ordered one, uh, you can get it shameless plug. You can get it at dmwpodcast .com support the show. But, uh, I had a couple of people come up to me and they go, what does that say? And I told, and they laughed and they go, Oh, you're going to fit in here.

Uh, so we had a, we had a good laugh together, but it's fun. It's funny how you and I both kind of have that same thing. So yeah, Baptist, the Presbyterian, how long have you been attending that church?

Uh, since 2019, uh, we started going there right before. Yep. Right before the pandemic. Um, and we were the Sunday school class, uh, that we were a part of at the time they were going through the Westminster.

Um, and I never will forget that the last Sunday we had Sunday school, um, uh, our pastor wasn't there. So one of the elders was filling in and he was raised on the Heidelberg catechisms and everything.

So he was explaining it and, you know, and was going through it. And I was like, huh. You know, cause there's some, you know, cause some of the stuff I've never heard of, I knew what the Westminster was.

I knew what the 1689 was. Uh, but you know, first time they did the creeds, uh, you know, we said the apostles creed. Yeah. Um, now you got to keep in mind part of my journey to being in this rural area, we went to a, uh, charismatic church or church of God that did not function like a church of God because probably 90 of the congregants weren't Pentecostal.

So, but you still heard, you know, you're, you know, when them talk about Joyce Meyer and Paula White, T .D. Jackson, you know, the typical people. But so when we first said the apostles creed, we're sitting there in church, you know, that first Sunday and I'm reading along and I was like, he descended into hell.

I was like, wait a minute, red flags are going off because I'm thinking Joyce Meyer, you know, and some of her heretical teachings. So I asked the pastor, I think it was like two Sundays later, we had a fellowship meal and he came and sat with us and he said, you got any questions, you know, and everything.

And so I was like, yeah, I said on the apostles creed, I said, explain. And he's well, you know, and of course he goes on to explain that, you know, Jesus took literal hell on earth when God turned his back on him and he had the wrath of God on him with all of her sin.

I said, makes perfect sense. Not a problem. So, um, which I'd studied that and found that out beforehand. I just, when I questioned him, I wanted to make sure, you know, make sure he wasn't a Kenneth Copeland type, huh?

Yep. Yep. Yep. Cause I was going to run, but, uh, but no, um, but yeah, we, we love it. I mean, it's, I tell people all the time. I just, you know, I can't see me ever going back to any other type of church that isn't, um, isn't reformed and isn't liturgical in their service and everything, because it's just.

Totally different. Yeah. The first time, uh, in the church I met now we did a public confession together. I went, why isn't every church every Sunday doing this? And it was something that I had wondered growing up my whole entire life.

Yeah. I mean, Colby Colby, I grew up in church, said the sinner's prayer at seven, got saved at 24. Like I always say, famously say, uh, I went to church up until I was 18 years old, until I decided that I wanted to do what I want to do and rebel and, and, and, you know, put my middle finger up to God for six years.

But up until that point, I'd always heard confess your sins to one another, confess your sins. And he is faithful to forgive. I'd never seen anyone confess a sin ever in my life for the first 18 years of my life.

And I went, when is this confessing going on behind closed doors? Maybe, maybe I got to set up a, you know, uh, an appointment with an elder or a pastor, and then we just kind of say it to each other.

Or the big thing was accountability partner when you're a youth group. Okay. So I confess it to that guy and okay. He doesn't tell like, what good is it to tell one guy who isn't even going to keep me accountable?

And, and then you go, Oh, so probably the biblical reading of that is a corporate and public confession. There should be private confession as well with accountability, but it's such a beautiful thing.

On top of that, our elders, uh, and a different elder each week writes the rights, the, um, the confession. And I'll tell you what, some of those confessions that we pray are just as powerful as the sermon I hear 20 minutes later.

I mean, talk about being convicted because we don't hold back, you know, Presbyterians. Well, we'll let you know how depraved you are. And we are, and we, and we confess those to the Lord and, and we hate sin.

And just because we say we're depraved doesn't mean we get to keep being depraved. I've seen some of those in the reform that like to use it as a crutch and go, Oh, I'm so horrible. I'm so, so that I can keep sending.

Absolutely not. We're not saying that, right. We don't keep sending because grace abounds, but I'll tell you what, there is something powerful just in the couple of years I've been at this church where I've seen a change in my life just because of public confession to say the words and have other people around and, and, and, and understand, yes, we're all fallen and fall short of the glory of God.