Revolution Church

https://www.paypal.com/donate/?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=7FXFBB8PSWEEC&source=url

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ethical Temptation

Sun, 16 Nov 2025 17:00:00 GMT

https://www.paypal.com/donate/?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=7FXFBB8PSWEEC&source=url

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Not a Pawn

Tue, 11 Nov 2025 01:10:01 GMT

https://www.paypal.com/donate/?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=7FXFBB8PSWEEC&source=url

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We're Going to Need a Bigger Perspective

Tue, 11 Nov 2025 01:09:12 GMT

https://www.paypal.com/donate/?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=7FXFBB8PSWEEC&source=url

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jay & Ian Jesus, Untamed | Scandalous Grace & Community

Thu, 30 Oct 2025 15:37:39 GMT

This is a special talk between Ian McConnell (Lead Pastor, Fabric) and Jay, from Fabric's podcast series. Thank you, Ian, for sharing this with us!

revolutionchurch.com

instagram.com/revolutionchurch94

x.com/Revolution_199

www.youtube.com/@RevolutionBroadcasting

https://www.paypal.com/donate/?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=7FXFBB8PSWEEC&source=url

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Who is My Neighbor - The Legacy of Jesus

Wed, 22 Oct 2025 17:43:23 GMT

https://www.paypal.com/donate/?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=7FXFBB8PSWEEC&source=url

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Why Revolution

Mon, 13 Oct 2025 16:26:25 GMT

It’s important to talk about good Biblical scholarship. It’s a short step to align the Bible with our views rather than our views with the Bible and its teachings. We create a new gospel that doesn’t reflect what the Bible says.

Is it too late for Christianity? It can feel hopeless but there is HOPE for reconciliation.

https://www.paypal.com/donate/?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=7FXFBB8PSWEEC&source=url

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Context Part 2

Mon, 06 Oct 2025 23:33:41 GMT

https://www.paypal.com/donate/?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=7FXFBB8PSWEEC&source=url

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Context - Part 1

Wed, 01 Oct 2025 22:18:22 GMT

we've been waiting for this talk. Of course, we start with Paul....

The first duty of LOVE is to listen.

revolutionchurch.com

instagram.com/revolutionchurch94

x.com/Revolution_199

www.youtube.com/@RevolutionBroadcasting

https://www.paypal.com/donate/?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=7FXFBB8PSWEEC&source=url

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mon, 25 Aug 2025 23:38:10 GMT

The Bible and Christianity have been used for discrimination for most of the modern times. People are tired and it feels like people are using religion to ignore or, worse, support the horrors that are happening around the world. In Matthew 7, we can easily misinterpret "do not throw your pearls before swine" as an excuse to disregard others, instead of loving others and being able to argue well. How does hate represent the teachings of Jesus? Let's have an honest look and determine if the religion of Christians has made things worst, while missing point.

revolutionchurch.com

instagram.com/revolutionchurch94

x.com/Revolution_1994

www.youtube.com/@RevolutionBroadcasting

https://www.paypal.com/donate/?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=7FXFBB8PSWEEC&source=url

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Paul and Sexism

Sun, 17 Aug 2025 15:50:57 GMT

Jay is taking an honest account of Paul and some of the critiques of the writings that are attributed to him. The hierarchy (Ephesians 5:22 for example) that was set up, by people, waters down the message of equality that is the foundation of Christianity. This only serves to divide us. Rather than negotiating with the Bible, it makes more sense to look deeper into these teachings, who might have actually written these words and the context in which they were written.

revolutionchurch.com

instagram.com/revolutionchurch94

x.com/Revolution_1994

www.youtube.com/@RevolutionBroadcasting

https://www.paypal.com/donate/?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=7FXFBB8PSWEEC&source=url

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

You Are Still Accepted

Tue, 05 Aug 2025 19:24:06 GMT

Jay finishes up Paul Tillich's "You Are Accepted". There's a lot in this talk about religion, community, morality and living a life of inclusion. We are all STILL ACCEPTED and it's the example we can use to accept other (ie. show them grace).

revolutionchurch.com

instagram.com/revolutionchurch94

x.com/Revolution_1994

www.youtube.com/@RevolutionBroadcasting

https://www.paypal.com/donate/?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=7FXFBB8PSWEEC&source=url

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A Sermon About A Sermon

Mon, 28 Jul 2025 16:50:28 GMT

This week, Jay talks about a great message from Paul Tillich's "You Are Accepted" in which he explores inclusion, cynicism, hostility and estrangement. It's a great message from a great message.

revolutionchurch.com

instagram.com/revolutionchurch94

x.com/Revolution_1994

www.youtube.com/@RevolutionBroadcasting

https://www.paypal.com/donate/?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=7FXFBB8PSWEEC&source=url

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

House On Eggshells.

Tue, 22 Jul 2025 13:51:21 GMT

We can't claim to ignore the horrible things around us. It's easy to justify how we treat others because of something that they did or we perceived they did to us. Grace calls us to defy logic and calls us to care, not when it directly impacts us, not when we're threatened and not because someone does something to benefit, or even agree with, us.

This message is NOT fragile. It has the breadth to cover all relationships as well as the specificity to change individual hearts. We're not dealing with an unpredictable god and our perception of god's character is too easily manipulated. That's a tale that has been around as long as religion has been in place. However, if we think more deeply about how grace has always been at the core of christianity, we see that there's nothing to be afraid of and everything to be gained.

revolutionchurch.com

instagram.com/revolutionchurch94

x.com/Revolution_1994

www.youtube.com/@RevolutionBroadcasting

https://www.paypal.com/donate/?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=7FXFBB8PSWEEC&source=url

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Outsider

Tue, 15 Jul 2025 23:13:21 GMT

This is a more philosophical talk from Jay. He also mentions a Todd McGowan book and we have a link below if you want to pick that up.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1915672228?ref=cm_sw_r_ffobk_cso_sms_apin_dp_76KSKQD70GG8CEZF2EXC&ref_=cm_sw_r_ffobk_cso_sms_apin_dp_76KSKQD70GG8CEZF2EXC&social_share=cm_sw_r_ffobk_cso_sms_apin_dp_76KSKQD70GG8CEZF2EXC&bestFormat=true&previewDohEventScheduleTesting=C&csmig=1

Please consider supporting Revolution at any of the links below!

revolutionchurch.com

instagram.com/revolutionchurch94

x.com/Revolution_1994

www.youtube.com/@RevolutionBroadcasting

https://www.paypal.com/donate/?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=7FXFBB8PSWEEC&source=url

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dear Internet

Mon, 07 Jul 2025 13:34:42 GMT

Brian shares a letter to the internet about Grace. Please support Revolution this week, if you are able, and love each other.

revolutionchurch.com

instagram.com/revolutionchurch94

x.com/Revolution_1994

www.youtube.com/@RevolutionBroadcasting

https://www.paypal.com/donate/?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=7FXFBB8PSWEEC&source=url

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Why Grace?

Fri, 04 Jul 2025 00:09:16 GMT

find out why.

revolutionchurch.com

instagram.com/revolutionchurch94

x.com/Revolution_1994

www.youtube.com/@RevolutionBroadcasting

https://www.paypal.com/donate/?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=7FXFBB8PSWEEC&source=url

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What a World We Live In

Wed, 25 Jun 2025 14:22:40 GMT

It gets harder to focus on the reformation we need when it seems like things in the world are too much to digest! We have to remain as honest as possible with what we see, our ability to take action while still taking care of ourselves. It's EXHAUSTING! Christians, in general, have been too willing to compromise our values when it benefits us. Jay visits Matthew 5 to remind us the beatitudes still have a place in how we live. Remember that the message of non-violence, community and empathy is at the heart of Christianity. Keep having the hard conversations and love each other. We can do better. Peace.

revolutionchurch.com

instagram.com/revolutionchurch94

x.com/Revolution_1994

www.youtube.com/@RevolutionBroadcasting

https://www.paypal.com/donate/?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=7FXFBB8PSWEEC&source=url

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Human Dignity

Tue, 17 Jun 2025 00:00:05 GMT

It's important to remind ourselves that dignity matters. Scapegoating and vilifying others doesn't lead to a conversation and continues to divide us. If we love our enemies, as the Bible talks about in Matthew 5:43, we're forced to reconcile the cruelty that others are being shown and decide to do better. We hope that you are able to see others as our community this week and love each other. Peace and Love.

revolutionchurch.com

instagram.com/revolutionchurch94

x.com/Revolution_1994

www.youtube.com/@RevolutionBroadcasting

https://www.paypal.com/donate/?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=7FXFBB8PSWEEC&source=url

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A Follower's Perspective

Mon, 09 Jun 2025 13:16:37 GMT

What happens to the way we view society when we limit our perspective to being a follower of Jesus' teachings? Jay covers what is has meant to "put God first" and how that is radically different than the way that we might have learned.

We hope that you are able to have good conversations with each other this week and find ways to love each other.

revolutionchurch.com

instagram.com/revolutionchurch94

x.com/Revolution_1994

www.youtube.com/@RevolutionBroadcasting

https://www.paypal.com/donate/?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=7FXFBB8PSWEEC&source=url

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's Time For a Reformation.

Wed, 04 Jun 2025 23:44:37 GMT

Seeing ugliness.

Making a shift.

The time for a reformation is now.

"And now that you don't have to be perfect, you can be good" - John Steinbeck

"And you don't have to expect others to be perfect either" - Jay Bakker

It's never too late.

revolutionchurch.com

instagram.com/revolutionchurch94

x.com/Revolution_1994

www.youtube.com/@RevolutionBroadcasting

https://www.paypal.com/donate/?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=7FXFBB8PSWEEC&source=url

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For the Least of These

Mon, 26 May 2025 19:05:07 GMT

Straight from Matthew 25 today. It's too easy to push back on helping others and trying who decides who "deserves" it. The "Least of These" are all of us. It's everyone. Hope everyone has a great week. Love you all.

revolutionchurch.com

instagram.com/revolutionchurch94

x.com/Revolution_1994

www.youtube.com/@RevolutionBroadcasting

https://www.paypal.com/donate/?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=7FXFBB8PSWEEC&source=url

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Galatians 2025: Part 10 - The Finale

Sun, 18 May 2025 22:12:59 GMT

Galatians 2025: Part 10 - THE FINÁLE

How do you inherit "the Kingdom of God"? What even IS "the Kingdom of God"? What are the things that keep us from grace or allow us to live a full life of showing grace to others? Paul clearly describes characteristics for us to follow in order for people to know that we're following the example and teachings of Jesus. He also encourages RESTORATION! Who would have thought that he'd encourage us to promote building relationships and openness to the fact that people can change! You are loved and please help each other this week.

revolutionchurch.com

instagram.com/revolutionchurch94

x.com/Revolution_1994

www.youtube.com/@RevolutionBroadcasting

https://www.paypal.com/donate/?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=7FXFBB8PSWEEC&source=url

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Galatians 2025: Part 9 - Instead of Loving One Another

Wed, 14 May 2025 13:23:57 GMT

"I wish they would castrate themselves". Paul speaks about the contradictions that come together in grace in extreme terms! When we lack compassion, it's even more difficult to com to a place where we can show grace to others. "Justice has to have a bit of love in it, or it becomes cruelty". This is a great talk from Galatians 15 that includes one of the most important reminders "you shall love your neighbor as yourself". Hope you all have a great week. You are loved.

revolutionchurch.com

instagram.com/revolutionchurch94

x.com/Revolution_1994

www.youtube.com/@RevolutionBroadcasting

https://www.paypal.com/donate/?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=7FXFBB8PSWEEC&source=url

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Galatians 2025: Part 8 - Love or Circumcision

Wed, 07 May 2025 14:21:38 GMT

Some people think that grace and faith and forgiveness isn't enough. Paul warns about rebuilding the old laws and putting limitations on receiving these gifts. These "sacred cows" are a waste when we're looking for freedom. Hope you enjoy the latest edition of the Galatians series. We appreciate your support.

revolutionchurch.com

instagram.com/revolutionchurch94

x.com/Revolution_1994

www.youtube.com/@RevolutionBroadcasting

https://www.paypal.com/donate/?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=7FXFBB8PSWEEC&source=url

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Why Revolution? (Brian Yarbrough)

Mon, 28 Apr 2025 12:58:20 GMT

Why Revolution? I'll tell you why! I was fortunate enough to sit in for Jay, tell a little bit of my story and explain why I choose to support Revolution. We'd love to hear your stories of why you choose to support Revolution and how it has impacted your life over the years. This is a beautiful community and we appreciate all of your support.

revolutionchurch.com

instagram.com/revolutionchurch94

x.com/Revolution_1994

www.youtube.com/@RevolutionBroadcasting

https://www.paypal.com/donate/?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=7FXFBB8PSWEEC&source=url

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Love and Grace Is a Broken Record.

Mon, 21 Apr 2025 21:32:39 GMT

It might feel like a broken record but Love and Grace are at the core of where Revolution comes from. The risk is that we think that we hear the message and don't need any reminders. A lot of times it takes seeing the need ourselves in order to take action.

It's the 3rd week reading Galatians 3:28 (hence the broken record) but there was more to explore. Even when we feel like we're divided, we don't have to let our identity (politics, "jew or gentile") allow us to forget that we are ALL ONE.

Please continue to support Revolution through the links below and reach out to share your stories. We love to hear from you!

revolutionchurch.com

instagram.com/revolutionchurch94

x.com/Revolution_1994

www.youtube.com/@RevolutionBroadcasting

https://www.paypal.com/donate/?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=7FXFBB8PSWEEC&source=url

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Galatians - Part 7: The Creative Minority

Mon, 07 Apr 2025 15:30:09 GMT

Jay covers the last part of Galatians 3 this week. It's all about inclusion! Exploring what would happen if our individual identities had no hierarchy over another. It takes a lot of courage to point our inequality, not just right in front of us with also with people that we don't have contact with. Are we really ready to be uncomfortable to reach the "promise land" without becoming bitter about the struggle that is involved? Can we be the creative minority to win the understanding of others without humiliation?

Please reach out and support Revolution's work. It is greatly appreciated. You are all loved.

revolutionchurch.com

instagram.com/revolutionchurch94

x.com/Revolution_1994

www.youtube.com/@RevolutionBroadcasting

https://www.paypal.com/donate/?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=7FXFBB8PSWEEC&source=url

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Galatians 2025 - Part 6: And Justice For All...

Tue, 01 Apr 2025 20:06:34 GMT

It's the next installment if the Galatians series and Jay end with a reminder that we're all one and we all deserve justice and grace. The more that we see each other as one people, the easier it is to extend those attributes to others.

If you are able, please support Revolution this month. It's helps this work continue and it is greatly appreciated!

revolutionchurch.com

instagram.com/revolutionchurch94

x.com/Revolution_1994

www.youtube.com/@RevolutionBroadcasting

https://www.paypal.com/donate/?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=7FXFBB8PSWEEC&source=url

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

No Time For Apathy

Mon, 24 Mar 2025 21:58:21 GMT

A lot of what we experience is complicated. Jay's talk from today is not one of them. It's unacceptable to accept atrocities because it's either convenient or too distant to feel real. It's beautiful that Dr. King provided us a road map long ago that is still applicable today. Let this talk sink in and consider how we can all work towards peace for all our brothers and sisters.

"Procrastination is still the thief of time".

revolutionchurch.com

instagram.com/revolutionchurch94

x.com/Revolution_1994

www.youtube.com/@RevolutionBroadcasting

https://www.paypal.com/donate/?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=7FXFBB8PSWEEC&source=url

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Who Put a Spell On You? Galatians: Part 5

Fri, 21 Mar 2025 23:42:07 GMT

Over many years, grace has been limited, manipulated, conditioned and used but that doesn't mean that it has changed! Jay covers how we can break the spell and return to the beauty of what grace was intended to be in the 5th installment of the Galatians series.

revolutionchurch.com

instagram.com/revolutionchurch94

x.com/Revolution_1994

www.youtube.com/@RevolutionBroadcasting

https://www.paypal.com/donate/?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=7FXFBB8PSWEEC&source=url

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Previously On.

Wed, 12 Mar 2025 22:53:39 GMT

Jay catches us up on Galatians as we try to make it through the rest of the book. That is if the good Lord willing and the creek don't rise.......

revolutionchurch.com

instagram.com/revolutionchurch94

x.com/Revolution_1994

www.youtube.com/@RevolutionBroadcasting

https://www.paypal.com/donate/?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=7FXFBB8PSWEEC&source=url

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Self-Centered vs. Other-Centered

Mon, 03 Mar 2025 21:39:54 GMT

Fresh back from Belfast!

revolutionchurch.com

instagram.com/revolutionchurch94

x.com/Revolution_1994

www.youtube.com/@RevolutionBroadcasting

https://www.paypal.com/donate/?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=7FXFBB8PSWEEC&source=url

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Is Empathy a Sin?

Mon, 17 Feb 2025 14:28:50 GMT

Jay discusses why empathy is the basis of Christianity. Jesus was clear in Luke 10, using the Samaritan who, instead of asking "What would happen to me if I stopped?", asked "What would happen to this person if I don't stop?".

In a current climate that coins phrases such as "toxic empathy" it's difficult to contextualize that compassion to the "least of these" has become counter culture.

The hope is that we can love each other enough to show active compassion to meet the needs of our communities.

revolutionchurch.com

instagram.com/revolutionchurch94

x.com/Revolution_1994

www.youtube.com/@RevolutionBroadcasting

https://www.paypal.com/donate/?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=7FXFBB8PSWEEC&source=url

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

assume nothing, except diversity

Mon, 10 Feb 2025 22:52:45 GMT

“Peace without justice is a false ideal” - Jay Bakker

Celebrating differences and promoting the healing process.

revolutionchurch.com

instagram.com/revolutionchurch94

x.com/Revolution_1994

www.youtube.com/@RevolutionBroadcasting

Mon, 13 Jan 2025 15:31:13 GMT

A lot of this talk was about figuring out how we treat the disease rather than constantly fighting just the symptoms. Paul was able to take critique and often just ignore it and able to stand in his truth. We can lear to not be distracted by and Balme the individual but take it a deeper look at the system to find out what the root cause of an issue is.

How does Grace fit into all how we treat people? The evolution of Grace in our own lives and the universal acceptance of grace teaches us to universally accept it for all people.

revolutionchurch.com

instagram.com/revolutionchurch94

x.com/Revolution_1994

x.com/JayBakker5

paypal.com/donate/?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=7FXFBB8PSWEEC&source=url

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Galatians 2025: Part 1

Mon, 06 Jan 2025 13:31:40 GMT

The perfect way to start off a new year is to revisit Galatians! Jay's talk covers a lot of ground in Galatians 1 and discusses how the writings of Paul can be practically applied in the current times.

The hope is that this message can be used to encourage all of us to argue well, have empathy towards each other and bridge the gap that has been forming between us all.

This talk was given on January 6, 2025 from Seattle, Washington.

www.facebook.com/revolutionchurchmn

www.revolutionchurch.com/donate

www.youtube.com/revolutionbroadcasting

@jaybakker

@revolution1994

@revolution94

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Gentleness and Respect

Fri, 27 Dec 2024 20:14:40 GMT

A happy and merry Christmas from everyone here at Revolution. Jay did a special Christmas Day talk for everyone, and we think it will perk you up more than salt in your coffee! Today Jay talks about the Christmas Spirit…but probably not in the way you’re thinking. He focuses on trying to find a way for us to live the Christmas Spirit all year long—but we don’t mean decking halls and sleigh rides, we’re talking about the spirit of kindness that we almost all unify with for one day of the year. But if it can be done one day, it can be done all days! We just have to get there. Today Jay also discusses the idea of echo chambers. It’s easy for us to see other’s echo chambers and judge them while ignoring our own, but the truth is no one is exempt from echo chambers, we all have them and we’re all part of them—they just look different. But the real paradox and conundrum we face is that even though no one is spared from being a part of an echo chamber…Christianity shouldn’t actually be one…but it is. Jay looks at the letters of Peter and James today in discussing how we can hopefully swap out our personal echo chambers, and instead focus on the humanity of everyone. Because if we focus on that then maybe we can find a path to expand our ‘echo chamber’ rather than be limited by it. If we see ourselves in each other, it makes it easier for us to be kind and gentle to all, and to treat everyone with respect. Unifying together is how we survive! By focusing more on our commonalities than on our differences. And in doing that, we learn how to become “curious, instead of furious” (thanks for great idea, Linda!)

This talk was given on December 25, 2024 from Seattle, Washington.

@jaybakker

@revolution1994

@revolution94

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I Have a Utopian Dream

Wed, 18 Dec 2024 12:18:01 GMT

We’re all tired, and we’re all frustrated—and that shared sentiment can be heard in this talk. Sometimes it all feels like it’s too much. Too much hate. Too much anger. Everything we do seems to come at the expense of someone else, it’s maddening. Today Jay discusses the idea of love and power. Are love and power polar opposites? Can the two ever share a same space? Do churches today speak truth to power? Can we unite in diversity? Because it often feels like the powers that be fear bringing people together. Can we all work together for justice with power that has love in it and embraces diversity? Is this possible or is it just a utopian daydream? God is love. And God without love is no God at all. And power without love is power with no God at all. It’s all starting to be too much. Something has to give! How much more divided can we be, how much more divided can politicians make us? Billionaires make us? It makes us all want to scream. But luckily if it makes us all want to scream, than that means we’re all united in this frustration—and finding any way that we’re all united can be a pretty strong starting point to finding our way to this utopian dream.

This talk was given on December 15, 2024 from Seattle, Washington.

@jaybakker

@revolution1994

@revolution94

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

There are No Saints

Wed, 11 Dec 2024 12:44:16 GMT

Today’s talk so something pretty cool! After years, Jay gives a talk to a live audience! Jay Bakker Live from ECMCC! It’s really fun to listen to Jay speak and hear feedback and reactions, rather than just reading them in chat. But even though the setting has changed, the talk, and spirit of Revolution stays the same! Today Jay talks about peace. He does a deep dive into the Gospel of Matthew and discusses the Beatitudes. He also talks about how the Kingdom of Heaven is now, not off in the sky in some distant future, but here and now! Especially if you’re feeling poor in spirit, which many, many of us are. Even more so these days. Jay discusses living life on life’s terms, but also how we have to be the narrow road walkers! We have to find a way to fight monsters without becoming one ourselves. Because if we all truly believed what we say we do, wouldn’t society and social media look different? Wouldn’t there be more peace and uplifting? Wouldn’t there be a change in mindset and attitude? How can we become that change? How can we do all of this and still stay on the narrow path? This is a great talk, in front of a great group of people! More in person speaking engagements please!

This talk was given on December 8, 2024 from Seattle, Washington.

@jaybakker

@revolution1994

@revolution94

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A Chronology of Change

Wed, 04 Dec 2024 12:34:29 GMT

Today’s talk is a bit different, but also very much in line with Revolution. We’ve often heard Jay talk about Martin Luther King Jr, and the influence he had in his life—in that same vein, today we are going to look at Malcom X, another hero of Jay’s. We know that idea might be strange to some, and alarming to others, especially because today Jay is talking specifically Malcom X’s pilgrimage to Mecca. The reason Jay is focusing on this aspect of his life is because some really beautiful things and revelations happened for Malcom X on this voyage. It had a profound effect on him, which later had a profound effect on Jay. This specific example from Malcom X’s life shows the true strength of grace, kindness, and generosity; the seeds they plant and the fruit they produce. Today Jay talks about love without agenda, and how judging, devouring, and dancing on each other’s graves only yields misery and bitterness. And a lot of the time bitterness and giving up are more contagious than love and compassion on. Bitterness spreads like wildfire! Today, through Malcom X’s words and teachings, Jay discusses the Narrow Path, and what it means. Have we had it backwards this whole time? We really think you’ll enjoy this talk. God can use absolutely anyone to teach us anything Malcom X is no exception. This talk says a lot about the capacity for change, and the incredible blessing that it can be.

This talk was given on December 1, 2024 from Seattle, Washington.

@jaybakker

@revolution1994

@revolution94

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When the Grid Goes Down

Wed, 27 Nov 2024 12:10:36 GMT

Today’s talk isn’t just about disagreeing well, and arguing well—that’s what it might seem like at first glance, but actually, it’s about navigating the reality that we live in. No matter what anyone feels about conservatives, liberals, LGBTQ, or any person they disagree with, the reality is: They exist. Plain and simple. Whether or not someone agrees or disagrees or recognizes them, or not, it doesn’t change the fact that they exist, and this is our shared reality. We need to find a way to all exist together. And learning to disagree and disagree well, is vital to that. And so is arguing well. Often times we might ask ourselves what’s the difference between disagreeing and arguing, and how to navigate in those moments—and that is what today’s talk is truly about. We live in a time of arguments. And many of the disagreements we find ourselves in the middle of are usually based on misinformation. Misinformation that we blindly take as fact. How can we battle this? We need to remember that we have to love each other. Love our neighbors and our enemies as if there was no difference between them. Even when we don’t like them, we have to love them. Especially when we don’t like them. It may not seem it, but arguing and disagreeing is more important than we realize, because leaving no room for disagreements is what leads to war. Freedom is messy! Humanity is messy! Disagreeing is messy! There is pain and conflict that can’t be avoided. But if pain and conflict, and suffering, is something we all go through—doesn’t that just mean it’s our shared experience? And maybe, if approached correctly, instead of dividing us further, it can actually heal us, and bring us all that much closer together.

This talk was given on November 24, 2024 from Seattle, Washington.

@jaybakker

@revolution1994

@revolution94

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What's the Frequency, Jay?

Tue, 19 Nov 2024 21:41:35 GMT

Today we have something a bit different, but it’s awesome and we’re excited to share it. Jay sits down with longtime friend Brian Yarbrough and together they discuss some questions people have submitted. Jay discusses his time in New York at the premier of the Tammy Faye Musical, and all of the people he met along the way. The people that influenced him, and that were influenced by his mom. It was a very special day for Jay and he gives us a real inside look. Together, Jay and Brian also discuss favorite music and bands, favorite comic book characters, how Elton John smells like acceptance and love, what Jay is reading these days, and if Jay could have Revolution anywhere in the world where would it be. They also go into depth on how to work with people we disagree with, people we don’t even particularly like, and how to focus on seeing past the binary thinking. Don’t be fooled by the more fun questions, this talk gets real. Like, real, real. It gets heavy at times—but like everything with Revolution, it’s full of grace, and humanity, and heart.

This talk was given on November 17, 2024 from Seattle, Washington.

@jaybakker

@revolution1994

@revolution94

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Now is the Time

Tue, 12 Nov 2024 15:58:07 GMT

It’s a crazy time with a lot of emotions after the election. A lot of wide-ranging and diverse emotions from everyone. Ranging from despair and quitting, to invigorated and inspired, to celebrating victory. Here at Revolution, we try to respect the entire spectrum of emotions, ideas, and people. Revolution will always fight for equality, on every level we can. If you are in despair, it’s not over—this is what Revolution trained for. If you are celebrating, please do so, while seeing the humanity and others and understanding why they might not be feeling the same way and help them, with love, understand where you are coming from. No more biting and devouring. Let’s all give of ourselves to each other in hopes that it will bring about a truth that is higher than politics and parties. Are we so devoted to politicians that it blinds us to the humanity of each other? Do we want a revolution but not want to have to endure a revolution? We have to all work together and see each other’s humanity—regardless of political leanings, this is the ONLY way forward. Seeing each other as humans. All of us. Because grace is anarchy. It doesn’t hold to one system or leaning. Grace is for everyone, no footnotes or exceptions. MLK says we will remember the silence of our friends. This is what we’re saying, we can’t be self-focused, we need to be others-focused, because we’re not alone in this. If we want change, we have to learn to take the higher ground. How do we live in such a divided world and still find a way to help mend this division? We don’t know, really, we don’t, but we don’t see any path forward, any hope in mending division if we can’t all come together and see each other’s humanity. See each other as human. This is the only way. We can do this!

This talk was given on November 10, 2024 from Seattle, Washington.

@jaybakker

@revolution1994

@revolution94

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Has Christ Been Divided?

Mon, 04 Nov 2024 18:38:51 GMT

The election is here, tomorrow as a matter of fact, so we wanted to get Sunday’s talk out a little ahead of schedule to give people time to listen before everything gets…well, how it’s going to get. This talk isn’t about politics, sort of. It is, and it isn’t. It’s about radical acceptance, about knowing what we can and cannot change and learning to live life on life’s terms. It’s about the smallest things in life meaning the most and helping the most, especially in the darkest times. Are the Beatitudes a small thing that helps us the most? Is it Paul’s letter to the Galatians? Is it each other, and friendship and love? Is it all of the above? It’s uncertain times like this that really emphasize the importance of community. Because when we divide, we stay divided. A lot of us are nervous and on edge, so let’s be kind to others and ourselves. We’ll get through this, one way or another, and we can only do it by helping each other. No matter how this turns out we love you all, and we’ll see you on the other side—in every sense of the phrase.

This talk was given on November 3, 2024 from Seattle, Washington.

@jaybakker

@revolution1994

@revolution94

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Am I Really a Christian?

Wed, 30 Oct 2024 11:34:43 GMT

Jay is super under the weather, but he throws on a hoody to keep the chills away so he can deliver us a really interesting and thought-provoking talk on what it means to be a Christian. The talk came about after Jay received criticism and questioning on his beliefs and when he wasn’t able to be cleanly labeled and divided it gave him the idea for this talk. So in a sense this talk is your basic Revolution ‘grace and love’ talk, but it is needed. It’s a topic that always should be revisited because it is that important. Can the Bible become an idol if we’re not careful? What about grace is so scary to us? Why do we feel it needs to be earned and can be lost? Why do we treat a relationship with Jesus as sand falling through our hands? Making it almost impossible to maintain fully. In the end it comes down to this: Grace is a free gift and there is nothing we can do about it…except to just accept it.

This talk was given on October 27, 2024 from Seattle, Washington.

@jaybakker

@revolution1994

@revolution94

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Beyond Our Particular Desire

Wed, 16 Oct 2024 11:21:11 GMT

One of the perks of doing a pre-recorded talk is that sometimes you’re midway through a talk and you realize things just aren’t clicking how you’d like, and when that happens in a live talk you just have to try to power through and hope it all works out in the end—but when it’s pre-recorded you can just put a pin in that talk and revisit it later. That’s what happened this week. Jay’s original talk turned out to need a bit more tweaking and work, so he put it back on the shelf and recorded a new talk. In this new talk Jay dives into the topic of scapegoating, what it is and why we do it. He also discusses the idea of The Lack. What is The Lack? What does it mean to embrace The Lack? Is embracing The Lack at the core of Paul’s message to the Galatians? There is a lot going on in the world. A lot of suffering. It’s at times like this society tends to do the most scapegoating, because in a strange way it gives us comfort in uncomfortable times, but at what price? Here at Revolution, we discuss disagreeing well, because maybe confrontation is needed for growth. Maybe confrontation can help us? But we have to do it right, we have to do it in a way where we find common ground and a shared humanity. It’s harder to see each other’s shared humanity through a computer or phone screen but that is where we spend the bulk of our time, so we have to find a way to recognize the humanity in others through a screen. Because arguments aren’t the end of the world, and we shouldn’t fear them…we just have to learn how to both argue and disagree well.

This talk was given on October 13, 2024 from Seattle, Washington.

@jaybakker

@revolution1994

@revolution94

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Calculated Justice

Wed, 09 Oct 2024 11:30:49 GMT

Big doings for Jay recently! He fills us in on his trip to NYC to meet with the folks who are producing and performing the Broadway musical about his mom, including Sir Elton John! Crazy! Today talk though is a bit of an audible. It’s a really great talk! It wasn’t, however, the original talk he had planned—that talk got derailed when his plane ride home from NYC lost power and had to make an emergency landing! Scary stuff, but everyone is okay and safe and sound! But with that talk being too much to tackle on no sleep and a nightmare of a plane ride, Jay switched his focus to Paul Tillich and really knocks the talk out of the park. Tillich is an absolute favorite here at Revolution. Jay discusses two of Tillich’s sermons and wow, do they get you thinking! Do non-Christians do a better job of showing love than Christians do? If we’re void of love, are we void of God? Is genuine love the presence of God? What is calculated justice? Are we living a life of passionate grace, and passionate love? Or are we just calculating justice? Does the Golden Rule have limits? Does love have a limit? And maybe the heaviest hitting question of the bunch…Where does God abide?

This talk was given on October 6, 2024 from Seattle, Washington.

@jaybakker

@revolution1994

@revolution94

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Do Good to Those Who Hate You

Wed, 02 Oct 2024 13:34:54 GMT

The world is always suffering, always has been and always will be—so the world needs us to show love and grace to each other constantly, as much as we can. What’s today’s talk about? Jesus and Paul, of course. Two of Revolutions biggest staples! Throw in a touch of Martin Luther King, Jr., John Hume, and Tammy Faye and you can’t go wrong! The only hiccup with getting inspiration from all of these heavy hitters is that the lessons they teach are often easier said than done, and today’s talk is no different. It’s important, but we acknowledge that it is progress over perfection. These lessons are hard. Easy to teach, harder to practice. But we should always try. Doing good today is better than being perfect tomorrow. We need to love each other. Sometimes it’s easy, and sometimes we have to love from afar. Find a new, different way to love someone while still keeping our distance. Luckily loving someone doesn’t equal liking them. Is there a way to hate evil, but not hate the people that do evil? Are they one in the same? Is groupthink our biggest downfall? Do we need more rebels—people to go against the flow. Does that help us more, or is it too scary of an idea? Or is it both? Today Jay tries to tackle some of these hard questions by diving into both Luke and Paul’s letter to the Romans. What does it mean to think like Jesus? To think like Paul? When it comes down to the beliefs of Christianity what is the hardest part? Is it the rules? Or is it loving others?

This talk was given on Sept 29, 2024 from Seattle, Washington.

@jaybakker

@revolution1994

@revolution94

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We Somehow Messed It Up

Tue, 24 Sep 2024 19:04:16 GMT

Why do we do things we don’t want to do? Why can’t we always do what we want to? These are topics that Paul brings up in his letter to the Romans. It is also a concept that Revolution favorite Paul Tillich dives into when he discusses the concept of sin. At Revolution we believe in grace and acceptance over all things, that’s why we put a lot of trust in our two Pauls! The Apostle, and Tillich. Together they make a great team in their exploration of grace, questioning the laws of religion, and what it means to truly feel accepted. At times probably almost everyone has felt that God hates them, or maybe God has left them. Where does this feeling come from? Is it possible that this feeling is also one of the closest ways to be connected to Jesus? Do the rules and laws of religion amplify these feelings? These feelings of a being sinful and useless and unloved, not accepted by God or the church or ourselves? Where does this roadblock come in? How can we get the breakthrough that’s needed to understand grace? What does it mean to have a life above ourselves? This talk doesn’t have all the answers, but it is a great, great, place to start as we try to figure out more about God and ourselves and others.

This talk was given on Sept 22, 2024 from Seattle, Washington.

@jaybakker

@revolution1994

@revolution94

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Community, Alienation, and the Rebel

Wed, 18 Sep 2024 11:37:12 GMT

Today Jay dives into some of the philosophy he’s been reading and shares a lot of the lessons and insights he’s picked up in his studies. In this talk Jay talks about community, but hand in hand with that Jay also discusses the idea of alienation. How the feeling of being alienated is an essential bond that unites all of us. It’s our common ground. Jay also ties that together with some thoughts he has on inclusion. On what true inclusion looks like. How true inclusion involves having different views and backgrounds, this can’t be avoided if we’re seeking to actively practice inclusivity. Jay asks us to look within ourselves and our groups and ask if we have any unseen asterisks next to the grace we show people. Do we see the shared alienated humanity in everyone? Or do we make exceptions on who gets love, grace, and inclusion. How does alienation affect us? How does oppression affect us? How does it affect others? And maybe most importantly, are we becoming all the things we hate by alienating others and forming close exclusive communities that aren’t as inclusive as they appear?

This talk was given on Sept 15, 2024 from Seattle, Washington.

@jaybakker

@revolution1994

@revolution94

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

But What Will Happen to Them…

Wed, 11 Sep 2024 11:36:29 GMT

In today’s talk Jay discussed the Good Samaritan. Like almost all of Jay’s talk, it’s about that…but really about so much more. It’s about the Samaritan, and the man beaten, it’s about Jesus and it’s about Paul and it’s about Gaza. It’s about Martin Luther King, and John Hume and Tammy Faye. It’s about forgiveness and grace! It is about Jay’s compulsion to forgive, or at least trying his hardest to. Today Jay also expands on a principle instilled in him by his mom, and that is we all have a shared common humanity that keeps use connected to each other. We can’t forget that or overlook it. Often, we struggle with the idea of forgiveness, but Jay poses the question that if we reframe forgiveness as mercy rather than sacrifice does it change things? If we see forgiveness as just more than all the adjustments we have to make and overcome, does that reframing help us? Is this how we can find ways to be kinder to everyone and build better bridges? What happens when we think like the Good Samaritan thought? If we see that all people are people and all people matter. What happens if we let grace do what grace does?

This talk was given on Sept 8, 2024 from Seattle, Washington.

www.facebook.com/revolutionchurchmn

www.revolutionchurch.com/donate

www.youtube.com/revolutionbroadcasting

@jaybakker

@revolution1994

@revolution94

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Gospel of Paul

Wed, 04 Sep 2024 11:35:46 GMT

This will be a bit of a shock to our viewers and listeners but today Jay will be talking about the Apostle Paul. I know, we can’t believe it either. Paul is a bit of a troublesome character these days…or is he? That is what Jay is exploring in today’s talk. He’ll be re-examining Paul and his writings. Are we reading Paul’s letters correctly today? In their correct context? Did Paul know he was writing the Bible at the time? Is everything attributed to Paul actually Paul’s writing? These are some of the topics we’ll be exploring today. Because Paul gets a lot of hate…and also Paul is the person a lot of Christians quote when using the Bible to justify their bias…but Paul also is quoted at almost every wedding when talking about love—how can someone with a message of love and grace that echoed Jesus’s same teachings sit on both sides of the spectrum? Maybe we’ve been wrong? Maybe the context of Paul’s letters is the key to everything! The Bible is so complex with so much nuance, let’s not be afraid to take these deep dives so that we can learn more, know more, and so that we can unlock more. And let’s do all of that together.

This talk was given on Sept 1, 2024 from Seattle, Washington.

@jaybakker

@revolution1994

@revolution94

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Eulogy for a Friend

Sun, 25 Aug 2024 18:00:25 GMT

Jay received a text that a dear friend of his, Bobby, had passed away. This news came as a shock and devastation to Jay, so today is a bit of a memorial for Bobby. This talk is hard to summarize, because it’s not just about Bobby, but it’s about grace, and how grace is for us and for others, that there is no asterisk. It’s about telling people you love them, while you can. It’s about letting people know the impact they have on your life while you’re able to tell them. It’s about realizing that grace isn’t too good to be true. It’s about the nuance of life. It's about being there for people when they need you. It’s about the dangers of pushing people away. The dangers of retreating into yourself. It’s about the power of community and love and the impact we can have on each other’s lives. It’s about love, it’s about friendship, it’s about grief, it’s about loss. It’s about togetherness. It’s about Bobby.

This talk was given on August 25, 2024 from Seattle, Washington.

www.facebook.com/revolutionchurchmn

www.revolutionchurch.com/donate

www.youtube.com/revolutionbroadcasting

@jaybakker

@revolution1994

@revolution94

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Grace Without Peace

Wed, 21 Aug 2024 02:54:57 GMT

Lately a lot of our talks seem somber but recently we’ve been living in some tough times, and here at Revolution we try to live life on life’s terms, but as of lately those terms are pretty somber. There is a famous quote about some of the things we’ll remember most in this life will be the silence of our friends when we needed them. We don’t want to stay silent, and we don’t want to make our friends or any loved one feel alone, like they don’t have anyone in their corner—that is for our brothers and sisters both local and abroad. All over the world. Today Jay discusses how all conflict stems from differences, the problem is that difference is the essence of humanity, so there will always be differences. Jay dives into the gospel of Matthew, as well as some letters from Paul to try and see what grace without peace looks like, and what we can do to both show each other grace, and to be peacemakers.

This talk was given on August 18, 2024 from Seattle, Washington.

@jaybakker

@revolution1994

@revolution94

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tomorrow is Today

Sun, 11 Aug 2024 18:00:02 GMT

The world is upside-down and on fire. Everyone is killing each other, being nasty to each other, violence is begetting violence, bombs are falling everywhere…and our tax dollars are footing the bill. It’s making us go mad—and enough is enough. We’re stumped, we’re at a loss, so today we’re going to be leaning on King. Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote a great map on how to approach conflict resolution, and on that map is his speech Beyond Vietnam. We’re going to take a look at this speech, and we’ll be treating it similarly to how we do other scripture and letters in the Bible. Why? Why not! We don’t see any reason why we shouldn’t treat it that way. King refers to speaking up and speaking out, and to peacekeeping as a vocation of agony—and here at Revolution we couldn’t agree more. It’s tiresome, constant, and unceasing. But it’s part of the work and it comes with the territory. Can you have grace without social justice? And can you have social justice without grace? Because this is part of it, right? They go hand in hand and should be talked about equally. We are all accepted as we are, not how we should be. And if we don’t grow to learn that and see that in others than have we arrived at spiritual death? Can this part of the work, speaking out against the dangers of people wielding power without compassion, be the mustard seed of faith and hope that we need? This is a good one folks, and Jay pours his guts into it. Jay is a punk rocker at heart, always has been and always will be, so when he gets to talking about Social Justice and combines it with his calling to show and teach grace, it’s hard hitting and great. Buckle up folks! We’re in this fight together, and we can only win it if we stay together and love each other.

This talk was given on August 11, 2024 from Seattle, Washington.

@jaybakker

@revolution1994

@revolution94

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Let Love Rule

Sun, 04 Aug 2024 18:00:48 GMT

Love is a common thread through all of the talks that come from Revolution. Love and Grace. And this week we continue that thread when Jay looks at 1 John to unpack what the Bible says about love and about loving God, and about how God loves. We seem to live in a time of almost exclusively biting and devouring each other, or as Jay puts it, Dancing on Their Graves. But when we do that, instead of how the Bible calls us to gently and humbly restore one another, then where is the love? Do we leave room for others to make mistakes? Do we demand perfection over progress? The struggle is that some of us have hurt that runs so deeply in us that we can’t help but pay it forward, even if we don’t want to. Even if we try not to. But we always have to keep trying. Again, progress over perfection. Because what if how we love others is how we truly love God? What if how we know God, and God’s place in our lives, is by how we love others. That is how we experience God. So, let’s let love rule. Because if any of us are saints, it’s not through works, it’s not through religion, it’s not through hate—We’re saints because of grace.

This talk was given on August 3, 2024 from Seattle, Washington.

www.facebook.com/revolutionchurchmn

www.revolutionchurch.com/donate

www.youtube.com/revolutionbroadcasting

@jaybakker

@revolution1994

@revolution94

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Pigs & Pearls

Wed, 31 Jul 2024 11:41:46 GMT

Seems like every week life finds new ways to surprise us, and there has been a string of things lately. An attempt on Donald Trump’s life, Joe Biden stepping out of the presidential race, and now everyone being upset over the opening ceremony of the Olympics due to some misunderstandings and projections. It’s always something. Always something that has people clutching their pearls, horrified and disgusted. And often it leads us to scapegoating and othering. All of these things swirl together in todays talk. Jay uses passages from Matthew and Luke to discuss an idea we talk about pretty often here at Revolution—arguing and disagreeing well. Having tough conversations. But in todays talk Jay takes a different approach and wonders if even though we believe in disagreeing well, maybe some disagreements aren’t worth having. Some tough conversations aren’t worth the effort. When do we know when to just drop it and walk away, knowing our efforts will not accomplish anything, that we’re spinning our wheels. When is it okay to call it quits on trying to have these discussions and cut our loses? We believe in arguing well, but we need to do it wisely. When our words fall on deaf ears, we need to find another way. There is nuance in everything, including our daily interactions. When is a disagreement worth having, and when is it just throwing pearls before swine?

This talk was given on July 28, 2024 from Seattle, Washington.

@jaybakker

@revolution1994

@revolution94

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mama Tried

Wed, 24 Jul 2024 11:15:39 GMT

The talk last week was pre-recorded so this is the first live talk since the attempted assassination of Donald Trump. Jay spends some time addressing and discussing that. This talk, however, being live at the time, is when Jay found out about President Biden dropping out of the Presidential Race—strange times, we’re living in. Strange times. But beyond all the political stuff, today’s talk is very special. It’s been 17 years since we lost Tammy Faye. We miss her every day! Today Jay discusses some of Tammy’s favorite Bible verses and some stories about who she was and her legacy. More than that though, Jay also discusses grief and grieving. Personally speaking (This is Josh writing this), when my dad passed in 2020 Jay’s words about grief and the pitfalls of not grieving properly were such a huge, huge, Godsend and helped me navigate those dark times. His words about navigating grief are very helpful, and as good as this talk is, that in itself makes this talk worth the listen. Tammy Faye was a wonderful person, and we can see how well Jay is carrying on her legacy. Life is short, and it’s the only one we’ve got, so show as much love as you can. Show as much grace as you can. And if we all do that, we stand a fighting chance.

This talk was given on July 21, 2024 from Seattle, Washington.

@jaybakker

@revolution1994

@revolution94

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Learn What It Means

Wed, 17 Jul 2024 12:00:09 GMT

Life is strange, and not in a good way. Things make less and less sense as we try and navigate these current times. We all feel it, we all dread what’s coming around the corner…but we’re all in it together. Since the beginning of the year we’ve been diving into the teachings of a few people from history. Unifiers and philosophers. We discussed what Tillich said about grace and inclusion. We discussed what Martin Luther King said about non-violence, grace, and inclusion. We discussed what John Hume said about grace and inclusion. Now let’s dive in and see what Jesus has to say. What he says and what he does. How his actions speak just as loud as his words. For this, Jay looks at Matthew chapter 9—Jesus picking his disciples. Who did Jesus pick? From what walks of life? Were they good and righteous people? Beloved by all? Where did they stand in society, and how did people view them? Did any of this matter to Jesus? Did Jesus follow the pressure to hate who everyone else hated? It’s important to look at passages like this because we are called to follow Christ. Follow his life and his example. We can only do that if we read and learn how he lived. By society’s standards, Matthew shouldn’t have ever been a disciple. But Jesus picked him all the same. What can we learn from that? Who are we in this story? Are we the unifiers? Are we the ones questioning why? Or are we the ones standing on the outside, feeling like outsiders? Jesus changed things, forever. That was the whole goal and the whole point of everything. So, we have to ask ourselves, is Jesus more upset over a sinful life…or is he more upset over a society that excludes others?

This talk was given on July 14, 2024 from Seattle, Washington.

www.facebook.com/revolutionchurchmn

www.revolutionchurch.com/donate

www.youtube.com/revolutionbroadcasting

@jaybakker

@revolution1994

@revolution94

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Doing Tension Well

Wed, 10 Jul 2024 12:06:26 GMT

We know that at Revolution we might have a tendency to beat a dead horse, talking about the same topics again and again, but these topics are important and warrant repeating. The dead horse we’ll be beating today is about arguing well. It’s an important to discuss, especially in these months leading up to the election. Discussing these hard topics sometimes is seen as creating tension, but the tension is already there so all that’s happening is that tension is just being exposed. Not talking about the elephant in the room doesn’t make it go away. There is a difference between causing tension and exposing tension. Conversation can be a much stronger tool for fighting tension than any weapon. Because we can love people we disagree with and talk with people we disagree with—we need to stop this black & white, binary thinking. Whenever we create an echo chamber aren’t we just like all of the people we’re critiquing and their echo chambers? We become what we’re against. So let’s also be careful to not boast about a point of view that took us years to learn and achieve! Not everyone grows and learns at the same rate. We need patience and we need love—because this world isn’t doing so hot without them.

This talk was given on July 7, 2024 from Seattle, Washington.

@jaybakker

@revolution1994

@revolution94

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Our Capacity to Suffer

Wed, 03 Jul 2024 12:00:44 GMT

Here we are with Part 2 of Martin Luther King’s sermon: Love Your Enemies. It goes without saying that just about all of us are fearful, or angry, or confused these days, especially after the recent presidential debates. So, we get it. We get it because we feel the same—we understand why, but we also want love to win out. And who better to guide us than MLK. With this part of the talk Jay dives into the ‘Theoretical Why’ when it comes to loving our enemies. We emphasize love in a time where loving feels impossible because hate multiplies hate, and multiplying hate makes for some very dark nights of the soul. And also, we have to ask ourselves, have Christians just been making bigger divisions? Is there so much anger that we forget just how to have conversations? Does this anger turn our enemies into ‘the least of these?’ and if it does, shouldn’t that spark our love even more? Because after all, doesn’t hate just divide our own personalities and hurt us just as much as it hurts the people we hate?

This talk was given on June 30, 2024 from Seattle, Washington.

@jaybakker

@revolution1994

@revolution94

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Instant Reaction of Love

Wed, 26 Jun 2024 11:34:08 GMT

We have a really great talk for you today. This is part one on a two-part talk on Martin Luther King’s sermon “Loving Your Enemies.” Besides this being a great commentary and discussion on Dr. King’s talk, Jay also speaks pretty candidly, and opens up about his personal struggles with anger and bitterness and times that his grace has failed, no matter how much he tried. We’re all in this together, folks. It’s no easier for us than it is for you, and we fail just as much as anyone else. But it’s not about the failing, it’s about the love. It’s about not quitting when our love and grace fails, but about trying again next time. And the time after. It’s something that becomes part of our daily lives—it’s a continual process. When people hate us, we need to love them. Is it harder to love our friends and family than it is our enemies? Jay argues that it might be. Does love get confused with hypocrisy? Mixing the two up because a lot of us have these impenetrable walls of hate that makes the act of loving ‘the other’ feel like a betrayal? We all have our ‘others’ and our ‘least of these’, the thing is though, that they are all different. We all have different ‘least of these’ and it’s even something that changes, moves, and evolves. There is no clear cut, one-way-to-go-about-it, all we can do is try. Try, and adjust. And we do this continually until our impenetrable walls are torn down and all that’s left is love and grace.

This talk was given on June 23, 2024 from Seattle, Washington.

@jaybakker

@revolution1994

@revolution94

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Grace is the Roots

Wed, 19 Jun 2024 11:34:31 GMT

We’re trying something new today! Instead of going live, we’re doing a Live Premiere of this talk. Streaming the services has been giving us some grief lately so we’re testing this out to see how it goes. A pre-recorded talk but with a live chat! So, let’s give it a shot!

Jay is really excited about today’s talk. More excited than he has been in a while. He’s excited because this is part 3 of the Paul Tillich’s You Are Accepted series, and it’s the best part. It’s the essence of what Revolution is, and what we strive to do. It’s Jay’s hope for the church. In this talk Jay discusses what it means to be ‘struck by grace.’ He talks about the idea of grace being anarchy and asks if it’s possible to work ourselves out of grace. This talk also raises the question of how do we wear our despair? Can we accept God and the Bible without accepting grace? Where does sin get its power from? It’s a really great talk which raises some poignant questions, while talking through others. And above all this talk shows that it doesn’t matter where Revolution is located, what matters is the message. And the message is, and always will be, Grace.

You can hear the sermon in full, read by Peter Rollins, on the Revolution YouTube page, and wherever you listen to your podcasts.

This talk was given on June 16, 2024 from Seattle, Washington.

@jaybakker

@revolution1994

@revolution94

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Abyss of Separation

Wed, 12 Jun 2024 11:19:58 GMT

Today is Part 2 of our dive into Paul Tillich’s sermon You Are Accepted. The sermon in itself is great on its own, but definitely worth the deep dive into it. Tillich’s sermon brings up so many good points about grace and about looking inwardly at ourselves. Do we hurt others because of our feelings about ourselves? Does self-hate keep us from loving others? Do we project our feelings of not feeling accepted? In Corinthians Paul describes to us what love is, and all of the characteristics of love—is it possible that we can’t show that sort of love to others if we can’t show that level of love to ourselves? That is something Jay dives into in this talk, Tillich’s idea of sin being this sort of estrangement to ourselves. Is that what makes us cruel to each other? Because what does that say about us when we are cruel to one another? What does Tillich mean when he mentions ‘being struck by Grace?’ Is that important? Is that something that we need in our lives? To be struck by Grace? In this week’s talk Jay, through the lens of Tillich’s sermon, discusses all of this and more. It’s a real great talk and we’re excited to share it!

You can hear the sermon in full, read by Peter Rollins, on the Revolution YouTube page, and wherever you listen to your podcasts.

This talk was given on June 9, 2024 from Seattle, Washington.

@jaybakker

@revolution1994

@revolution94

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Everything That Has Being

Wed, 05 Jun 2024 11:26:22 GMT

Now that we’re a few weeks removed from our Galatians series, Jay dives into another series of talks, this time he’s talking about Paul Tillich. Tillich was both a theologian and a philosopher, so his thoughts and messages are right up our alley! Of all of Tillich’s talks and teachings, Jay is focusing in on one right now—and that’s Tillich’s talk “You Are Accepted.” Along with Galatians, Jay believes this talk of Tillich’s is one of the best things out there when it comes to grace, and he’s not wrong! Tillich raises a lot of good points and good questions. What does he mean when he is talking about The Ground of Being? Is it possible that our theology is leading us in directions we’re not even aware of? Why are we so fixated on division, and separating ourselves from each other? Are Sin and Grace the strangest words that we know of? Are they useless tools? Tillich talks about all of these things in this sermon—and Jay is diving in and helping us take a closer look at these points and questions in hopes that we all can get the most of Tillich’s thoughts on grace and acceptance.

You can hear the sermon in full, read by Peter Rollins, on the Revolution YouTube page, and wherever you listen to your podcasts.

This talk was given on June 2, 2024 from Seattle, Washington.

@jaybakker

@revolution1994

@revolution94

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Perfectly Symmetrical Violence

Wed, 29 May 2024 11:27:35 GMT

Good news everyone! Josh is back to gave a talk…that references Futurama a surprising amount! Which is easy to understand because it is one of the greatest shows ever. But along with that he also talks about Jesus and forgiveness and the Bible. About not ‘othering’ people, and how we can all help each other survive when life starts to feel vaguely like a prison sentence. He also talks about Paul, Peter and what they have to say about the laws that crush us rather than free us! Josh shares his favorite story of the entire Bible, as well as his thoughts on Jonah, goats and sheep, and the X-men, obviously. In this talk Josh uses examples from all walks of life and pop culture—all coming together to help himself and others try to understand more about grace and forgiveness and love, and what it means to go whistling and fishing into heaven.

Due to some technical difficulties with the video stream, we did a little something different for Youtube to try and minimize the impact of the wonky video. It’s a bit of a workaround but we think it works okay! At least for the week. Enjoy!

This talk was given on May 26, 2024 from Long Island, New York.

Wed, 10 Jan 2024 03:13:16 GMT

It’s a new year, so we’re back at it with our annual Galatians study to kick it off! This year Jay brings new study materials and new scholarship — continuing to unlock more and more that this letter has to offer. There is something unsettling that the issues addressed in this letter by Paul are still so relevant to us today. But that makes it just as timely and just as helpful as ever. The Galatians study continues to teach us more and more about grace, while still asking some really important questions. Is there such a thing as grace, or is it just a scam to justify and excuse our own sins? Is the Bible perfect? What was God’s role in the process of writing and assembling it? Is doubt the opposite of faith? Is doubt an aspect of faith? This letter was written to a community that was completely divided, and it was Paul’s way of reaching out to try and help repair it. That’s why we continue to study it because we still need the help. And each year we learn more and more, helping us all grow more and more. It’s a really great thing.

Note: Apologies for the lower audio quality this week. Even though it’s not too bad, we’re still not sure what happened, and we were unable to fix it. We’re going to try our hardest to pinpoint the problem and hopefully keep it from happening again.

This talk was given on January 7, 2024 from Seattle, Washington.

www.facebook.com/revolutionchurchmn

www.revolutionchurch.com/donate

www.youtube.com/revolutionbroadcasting

@jaybakker

@revolution1994

@revolution94

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Feeding the Monster

Fri, 05 Jan 2024 03:38:47 GMT

Apologies for the brief delay on this week’s talk. Josh has been fighting with Covid all week which made editing the video not the easiest feat. But it’s here now and what a way to close out the year. For the last talk of 2023 Jay is going into the book of James! I know, we couldn’t believe it either. But he is and he knocks it out of the park. James is a tricky book, not really because what it says, but a lot of because of how it’s taught and used. Have almost 100% of pastors—including Jay—gotten this book wrong? Today Jay dives into this particular book to talk about the dangers of showing partiality. Are the rich treated differently? By everyone? Are we just as guilty? The Bible, especially the Gospels, talk about loving people equally…but do we do that? Can we do that? How do we love people the best we can? What we tend to know the most about the book of James is when it talks about ‘faith without works,’ but what does that mean? Do the themes of James and the themes of punk rock share similar roots? Is Ian MacKaye a modern-day Paul? And most importantly, can we make life a little bit less of a hell for people by simply focusing on life before death, before we worry about life after death. I’m telling you, this is a great talk. No better way to finish out the year, and no better talk to lead into our 2024 Galatians Study!!

This talk was given on December 31, 2023 from Seattle, Washington.

@jaybakker

@revolution1994

@revolution94

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Can We All Just Disagree

Thu, 28 Dec 2023 13:50:54 GMT

It’s Christmas Eve and Jay has a great one for us today. This talk is a pretty positive one too, go figure! Our talks don’t always have this much of a positive spin on them, so when it does happen, we try to take full advantage of them. And Jay is excited about this one. Today’s talk is about looking at the difference between arguing well and disagreeing well. What does each of those mean. We used to treat them as being pretty similar but maybe they aren’t. Does learning how to disagree well need to come before learning how to argue well? Is it harder to argue well or disagree well? Maybe learning to disagree well should be our starting point. Jay also gets into the topic of love and the different kinds of love mentioned in the Bible. Have things changed to a point where we find our friends loving us more as family, and family as friends? Is it harder to argue/disagree well with people we love than it is with strangers? How important is learning to let go in the practice of disagreeing well? Jay talks about all of this stuff and more. If I was to write out every gem he hits on in this talk, this description would go on for pages and pages. Enjoy the talk and happy holidays!!

This talk was given on December 24, 2023 from Seattle, Washington.

@jaybakker

@revolution1994

@revolution94

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sleeping Pill Mind

Wed, 20 Dec 2023 12:29:50 GMT

Revolution is coming up on its 30th year!! So Jay reflects a little bit on that, and shares some good news as we catch up on what’s been going on with him. Then he dives into the talk, and Jay is back and more inspired!! So, with feeling so inspired after 30 years, Jay’s talk today is about…inspiration! Has Christianity lost its inspiration? What inspires us to do what we do? How do we inspire others to argue well? Can we even inspire others? Do we use more fear than inspiration? Jesus tried to inspire us to almost live in a different world, to behave differently and to love in a different way and it’s not always easy. The Bible isn’t very often teaching us many easy lessons. The Bible is something we have to wrestle with and negotiate with, something we have to engage with actively. Especially if we want to use it for love and inspiration.

This talk was given on December 17, 2023 from Seattle, Washington.

@jaybakker

@revolution1994

@revolution94

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Frankenstein Mentality

Wed, 06 Dec 2023 02:22:10 GMT

Today’s talk isn’t really a sequel the “The Hell Talk” series that started a few weeks back, but it’s pretty darn close. Today Jay talks a lot about Radical Honesty. Radical Honesty is something we need if we want to have Radical Grace—the two go hand in hand. The church as a whole stopped the practice of Selling Indulgences, but Jay sometimes wonders if the church still it does, but it’s just hidden better. Maybe it takes a different form? But is it all the same? Does our theology have us accidentally creating monsters by how we treat and relate to each other? Jay asks us to look at ourselves and ask: What Have We Become? Is grace amazing? Or have we made it only semi-amazing? Are we showing radical grace to people? Are we relating to them with radical honesty? If we could pluck someone from the tortures of Hell, would we? And if so…does that open up a very messy can of worms for our theology? Today’s talk is a good one! It has some people divided, but that’s okay. We don’t want to push anyone away—but we want the type of hard, honest conversations where sometimes that is unavoidable. Those conversations can be rough, but it’s where the change happens. It’s where the magic happens.

This talk was given on December 3, 2023 from Seattle, Washington.

@jaybakker

@revolution1994

@revolution94

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Buddy You Gotta Go On

Wed, 29 Nov 2023 03:16:30 GMT

Today’s talk is about honesty! About what honesty means in Christianity. What honesty is like when you grow up in the church. Do we have a low regard for honesty? Have we compromised the Truth so we can continue to believe what we believe and to stay comfortable? Would we rather have certainty over honesty? That is at the heart of this talk. All of that. But Jay also shares memories and stories of the impact that his friend Carlton Pearson had on his life. And how Carlton helped Jay see the Fruits of the Spirit even in the midst of extreme darkness. And isn’t that the whole point of it? The whole point of everything? To help us see that. To help us learn that tradition and theology don’t count for much of anything if there are people out there suffering—friends, strangers, and enemies alike. And isn’t that the true point of Christianity? To help those who are in need. To help those who are suffering? Revolution isn’t that concerned with the afterlife. We want to focus on life before death. Because there is a whole lot of living that that needs to be done before we can think of any life beyond it.

This talk was given on November 26, 2023 from Seattle, Washington.

@jaybakker

@revolution1994

@revolution94

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Let it Die

Wed, 22 Nov 2023 23:07:58 GMT

We have a lot to get into today! Yes, today’s talk brings into question a lot of issues with the late stage of capitalism we find ourselves in now, but there is more to it than just that. Today we’re learning more about contradictions, and we’re learning about growth. We all change and grow, and we should! But let’s not be too quick to forget our old selves, because empathy really comes into play when we remember what we used to be like and how we used to think—and we use that memory and the person we were, and we add that to who we are now. That is how we start having good conversations! Today’s talk also deals with both how we “other” people, but also how we tend to “other” ourselves with labels and identities. This talk isn’t real clear cut, it’s about having a nonbinary way of thinking. Seeing more than just our side of an argument or discussion. Because while we’re fighting each other, the whole system is crushing us! But we outnumber the bullies. Together we can do this! It’s our hope that today’s talk will be a good step in starting to liberate us from bondage, liberate us from hate, and liberate us from “othering.” We hope this talk helps us find the Tammy Faye in all of us. We’re all going through enough, we don’t need to keep hurting ourselves or each other on top of it.

This talk was given on November 19, 2023 from Seattle, Washington.

@jaybakker

@revolution1994

@revolution94

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Am I the Archer?

Wed, 08 Nov 2023 03:49:26 GMT

The world is a pretty horrible place right now, so today’s talk going to be a heavy one. And there is almost no Bible in this talk. Today Jay will be talking about love, more specifically Agape Love. Agape Love is a term that makes some of us cringe, we’ve heard it used and abused. So it’s not the most comfortable topic to dive into. Are Love and Grace siblings? What is Agape Love and how is it different than the love we know? Does Love outweigh scripture? Can we love our enemy and still have them remain our enemy? So, as you can see, it is an interesting topic to discuss especially in these times. It’s going to be a tough one and if you don’t want a deep dive into this topic, or if you want to have an asterisk next to Grace then this might not be a talk for you this week, and that’s okay…but we hope you do listen.

This talk was given on November 5, 2023 from Seattle, Washington.

@jaybakker

@revolution1994

@revolution94

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The High Cost of It

Wed, 01 Nov 2023 02:52:46 GMT

The other parts of Jay’s Hell Talk are still being developed and researched, so this week we’re taking a bit of a break from the Hell series and just hear some stuff that has been weighing heavy on Jay recently. No sermon, he’s just sharing his humanity this week. Critics often help feed us, here at Revolution. They fuel us a lot. But the stuff they say still hurts and still sucks. Jay shares some of his experience with that. He reminds us that when we attack people, we hurt people. Plain and simple as that. We can’t forget that we’re all just human beings. Jay also talks about distraction and division, and questions if religion has become too dangerous. He asks us to question why we don’t allow ourselves to hear and to listen. Why are we scared of communication? What is the essence of humanity? And if Jesus was here today, what would he say?

This talk was given on October 29, 2023 from Seattle, Washington.

www.facebook.com/revolutionchurchmn

www.revolutionchurch.com/donate

www.youtube.com/revolutionbroadcasting

@jaybakker

@revolution1994

@revolution94

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Hell Talk, Part 1: It’s All Greek to Me

Wed, 25 Oct 2023 02:46:48 GMT

We got the start of something real interesting going here! A multi-part in-depth study on Hell. Yes, the Hell. But it’s not the study you think. It’s a study where we really dive into the concept, origin, and histories of Hell. Growing up in church, very often asking questions is discouraged. But now we can ask questions, and we should ask questions, and not be afraid to! None of Paul’s writings mention Hell and they were written closer to Jesus’s time than the Gospels were. That offers up some very interesting questions to us, and questions are okay—What does Jesus talk about when he talks about Hell? Jay dives into a little bit of that today as well. Does the concept of Hell fly in the face of the Beatitudes? What do we love when we love God? Is the suffering we witness today Hell on Earth? Why is Hell defended and championed so much? Why does everyone want to send everyone else to Hell all the time? It’s time to reexamine some of the things and theology we’ve turned into golden calves. Revolution has always tried to focus on living before death and living well, more then it ever did on the thought of an After Life. But this is a topic well worth diving into, and that’s what we’re going to do.

Please note: Today’s talk is just the basics. It’s just setting the foundations for the series as a whole and some of the concepts that will be talked about in the future. We’re not going that in-depth today. We understand this is a very complex topic. This talk is just the base work. Some of it may sound too over simplified, we get that, but this is just part 1!

This talk was given on October 22, 2023 from Seattle, Washington.

www.facebook.com/revolutionchurchmn

www.revolutionchurch.com/donate

www.youtube.com/revolutionbroadcasting

@jaybakker

@revolution1994

@revolution94

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Verbally Vulnerable

Wed, 18 Oct 2023 02:45:22 GMT

Alright folks, let’s hit this. Today’s description is going to be short. Why? Because the talk says it all and says it better than I can paraphrase it. Terrible things are happening in the world. We try to encourage people to talk and discuss and even disagree but to do that well. And we get A LOT of pushback for it. We seem to be stuck in a world of binary thinking, where every topic only has two answers or two ways of looking at it. There is no room for complications or nuance. But people are complicated and nuanced. It’s rough. Jay is just letting it rip today, a controlled, but honest and passionate talk. About life, about Revolution, about hurt and trauma, about arguing and disagreeing. Jay lays all the cards out on the table. He covers so much here and it’s really great. Enjoy this talk and embrace the honesty of it. Embrace the rawness of it. And embrace the grace in it.

This talk was given on October 15, 2023 from Seattle, Washington.

@jaybakker

@revolution1994

@revolution94

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jesus Loves You! But...

Wed, 11 Oct 2023 03:15:38 GMT

It was too hard to swing service last week, but we’re back! And this week Jay has a great talk about love. About perfect love, which we can never achieve, but if we try, truly try, we’ll all be better for it. It’s impossible to talk about love and not reference Paul’s letter to the Corinthians. Yes, it’s not just for weddings! But the focus today isn’t on the wedding ceremony or love that we feel at the beginning of a relationship—but rather the love we have for family members…that really, really, difficult love. The love that takes effort and patience and preparation and breathing. Because THAT is a lot closer to what love is. At least that’s how it seems. But the thing about that sort of love, is that Paul says that if we don’t have it, if we don’t try, then everything else we do is useless. Is that true? Are we useless without love? Can we achieve perfect love as human beings? This is where it gets hard to navigate. The anger we have for others, even people we truly care about, we won’t carry around forever—it feels like it, but we won’t always be angry…so how do we navigate these relationships and interactions while we are still stuck in that anger? Can we still feel and practice love in those moments? And everyone, we get it, we do. We know it is a BIG ask when we say to disagree well and to love others. It’s super hard. It’s hard for us just as much as it is for you. It’s a big ask…but that is why we ask it. Because with loving others—and not hating others—the effort is important. Because we will fail, and we’ll kick ourselves and be hard on ourselves. But trying is such a big part. Effort is such a big part. This sort of love isn’t naturally felt, at least we don’t think so. Remember, it's progress, not perfection. Let’s focus on that. Let’s have faith in that. Let’s put our hope in that. Because faith, hope, and love endure.

This talk was given on October 8, 2023 from Seattle, Washington.

@jaybakker

@revolution1994

@revolution94

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Contradictory Revolution

Wed, 27 Sep 2023 02:38:53 GMT

Jay is back from a brief trip to L.A. for the celebration of life memorial for Steve Pieters. He shares some stories about the trip and the service and gives us some extra looks into the life of such an extraordinary person! After that Jay jumps into the topic this week – Reformation! The talk connects to his last talk and we revisit Jesus’s words in the book of Matthew and why the simple phrase of “you’ve heard it said…” is such a big deal. Jay tells us, also, what he feels is vital for a reformation through the church: Grace (always, of course), Biblical Scholarship, Philosophy, and Psychology. This is the space that Revolution Gathering tries to settle in. A cross-section of all of those things. We have a lot of ideas that we think can really help lead to a reformation, and that is what makes us press on! But it’s not always as easy as all that. Grace will, at some point, always piss us off. Why? Because it applies to everyone across the board. Even the people we don’t want it too, just as it covers us when they don’t want it to. Jay dives into a bit of Hegel and discusses, among other things, what do our enemies look like? What does it mean to have enemies? Doesn’t it often seem that when we pull off the mask of our enemy that they usually just turn out to be some variation of ourselves? Is that why we struggle with them? Because they often reflect ourselves back to us? Does this realization change the conditions of our fights and arguments? What is contradiction? Is contradiction the basic fact of all beings? Jay explores these things, and more, through Todd McGowan, who explores these things, and more, through Hegel—and it makes it a lot more accessible to us. Let’s bring these ideas together and go to some place new!

This talk was given on September 24, 2023 from Seattle, Washington.

@jaybakker

@revolution1994

@revolution94

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

DangerNoodle

Wed, 20 Sep 2023 02:47:43 GMT

Today we have a special guest speaker, Zoë! And the talk sure is a good one! Jay is in L.A. this week attending the memorial service for our dear friend Steve Pieters. Zoë was able to step up and help us out! Zoë starts their talk by sharing some memories and stories about Steve and the person he was and the legacy he leaves. Zoë then dives into the topic of Biblical Scholarship—expanding on some of Jay’s most recent talks. What does it mean to look at Biblical Scholarship? What does it mean to think differently about the Bible? What does it mean to consider ourselves a Christian while being willing to look at the Bible or the dogmas of Christianity with a critical eye? Zoë goes onto discuss how the same Bible has been used to both justify, and fight against, various injustices in the world—how can the Bible do both at the same time? Does the Bible speak in one voice? What does it mean to renegotiate? Can we learn challenging things and still be able to walk in our faith? Then Zoë goes on to tell us some parables! To try and sum the stories up seems to defeat the purpose, so I’ll end this here so you all can go listen! Thank you Zoë for a great talk!

This talk was given on September 17, 2023 from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

@jaybakker

@revolution1994

@revolution94

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

D-Attitudes

Wed, 13 Sep 2023 02:54:22 GMT

Seems like recently Jay’s talks have been inspired by memes…and this week is no different. This week a quote from Gary Oldman sparked some online discussion and that discussion sparked this talk. Today Jay addresses our inability to argue well, and our inability to disagree without hating each other. We always want an asterisk when it comes to grace—who it’s for and who it’s not. But what if the people that don’t see us, the people that don’t agree, what if they are the people we should be talking to. What would have happened if someone like Dr. King didn’t talk to people that refused to see his humanity. The Beatitudes talk about a peacemaker. What is the peacemaker’s role in the beatitudes? There is no conflict avoidance for the peacemaker. We need to talk to people we don’t agree with. We need to figure out nuance and boundaries and the doors in those boundaries for communication later on down the road. Because why is it the only thing that brings conservatives and liberals together is an inability to talk to each other and their ability to scapegoat each other? Have we gone crazy? Are we insane?

This talk was given on September 10, 2023 from Seattle, Washington.

@jaybakker

@revolution1994

@revolution94

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Broad Brushes

Tue, 05 Sep 2023 22:13:23 GMT

Today’s talk is a real good one. A bit off the beaten path, maybe—but it’s a discussion worth having. Today Jay really focuses in on statistics. Statistics vs. The Individual. We know maybe “statistics” isn’t the right word, but it’s the best fitting one we could think of. Jay discusses how society, as a whole, seems to want us boiled down to being a number, a statistic. They don’t see anything past that. They want to group us by gender or non-gender, by race, by religion. But we need to go deeper than that. We need to be more than numbers. We need to be diverse in all ways. More nuanced ways. Not just boiled down to some category made so everyone fits into the same molds. The reality that we’re living in is tough, but that’s where the diversity of thought can help. We all don’t have to agree, we all don’t have to see eye to eye. We just need to get to a place where we know that just because someone disagrees with us, they don’t need to be our enemy. Revolution loves nuance and wants to help give everyone, including ourselves, the tools needed to think and to change and to grow. Revolution is compelled by grace—despite success or failure. Let’s go deeper and find what helps us not feel like a statistic! Let’s go deeper!

This talk was given on September 3, 2023 from Seattle, Washington.

@jaybakker

@revolution1994

@revolution94

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I'm Busted

Wed, 30 Aug 2023 02:55:44 GMT

Here at Revolution we are always trying to do our best to live life on life’s terms, but sometimes it’s just tough. We’re feeling weary these days. But we’re honest about our struggles and how it gets hard to keep the faith, how it gets harder to love our neighbors. We still press on, though. And we hope us sharing our struggles might help others to know they aren’t alone. That, together, we can encourage each other to love one another. Even though it seems bleak, and it seems like we’re all getting crushed by impossible standards, and a broken system, we try to keep our focus on seeing everyone as human. To live together as human beings! Isn’t that the simplest form of Christianity? To see each other has human and to care about each other?

This talk was given on August 27, 2023 from Seattle, Washington.

www.facebook.com/revolutionchurchmn

www.revolutionchurch.com/donate

www.youtube.com/revolutionbroadcasting

@jaybakker

@revolution1994

@revolution94

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Living in the Friction

Wed, 16 Aug 2023 03:48:04 GMT

It’s another week where we just jump right into it! Today Jay’s talk is inspired by two memes he saw on Instagram. When you’ve gotten to a place where memes inspire your talks, is that a good thing or a bad thing? We’re not sure but we went for it anyway! The memes referenced the ideas of love and legalism in Christianity. The two things that cause most of the problems, if not all of them. Have we gotten to a place where politicians effect our theology more than theologians and scholarship? Have we veered too far off course as the Church—Capital C Church. Is reformation possible? Can we stop the us/them mentality and scapegoating? We think a modern day reformation is possible—a way to live in the friction. It won’t be easy and it’s a lot of hard work and tough conversations and setting boundaries…but boundaries with doors built into them. A way to disengage but keep the channels open. We need to embrace critical thinking! It’s easier to throw someone away, but we don’t want that. We want love and we want grace. We want to focus on scholarship. Good scholarship is transformative. It's time to destroy our idols and get back to a place of love and acceptance!

This talk was given on August 13, 2023 from Seattle, Washington.

@jaybakker

@revolution1994

@revolution94

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A Point Worth Looking At

Wed, 09 Aug 2023 20:20:25 GMT

Sorry for the delay with this week’s episode, I [Josh] had some pressing family matters that needed to be attended to, and that slowed down me getting this out to everyone, but here we are! And it’s a good one, worth the wait for sure! This week Jay gets right into it! And this week he’s talking about Hegel! Hegel thought that Christianity offered a philosophical insight that other religions did not—mostly due to the idea of a Divine Humiliation. What is Divine Humiliation? What is the difference between humility and humiliation? Can humiliation do anything for us? Help us in anyway? These are some of the issues Jay discusses this week. He also dives into the different ideas of Christian focus, weighing the idea of the Crucified Christ vs the idea of the Risen Christ. This opens up some very interesting avenues of thought—Does only focusing on the Risen Christ take away some of the essence of Christianity? What is the importance of Jesus’ scars? What does it mean for the infinite to show itself to be finite? How can God’s loss on the cross, God’s willing to be divided and humiliated, and the idea of Jesus feeling forsaken help us in our lives and struggles and our will to keep driving forward? Does it help us relate to Jesus more? Jay and Hegel don’t have all the answers—they might not even have most—but together they pose questions that really give us food for thought. Full serving, hefty portions of food for thought. Of course there is always some discomfort in these questions and ideas, but that is okay. It’s okay to feel uncertain, or uncomfortable. That is all part of the journey. Let’s try not to pull back from it, but dive into it and see what helps us. Find what gives us hope and strength in our lives. We can’t get to that point if we’re too scared to venture out of our comfort zone. This talk shows us it’s okay to have questions and a desire to learn more. It’s a good one!

This talk was given on August 6, 2023 from Seattle, Washington.

www.facebook.com/revolutionchurchmn

www.revolutionchurch.com/donate

www.youtube.com/revolutionbroadcasting

@jaybakker

@revolution1994

@revolution94

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I Know You Are But What Am I?

Tue, 01 Aug 2023 17:30:10 GMT

Hard times recently. Hard times. Each talk for the last few weeks, shortly before the talk is given, something big happens that derails it and leaves us bewildered and confused and tired. We had the passing of Steve, and the anniversary of Tammy Faye’s passing. We have the death of Sinead O’Connor, followed up by the death of Paul Rubens. All of these people have had a huge huge role in both Jay’s life and work. And the merging of the two. It’s no wonder that the first words Jay wrote for this talk were ‘Burnt Out.’ Because that is how it feels. Rough week after rough week. That feeling of ‘it’s just one of those weeks,’ but…forever. It’s hard to power through sometimes. But the slight sliver of a silver lining in all of this chaos and tragedy is that it forces us to reflect on the time we have left and how to use it wisely. To look at our behavior and the behavior of those around us and question what fruit it bears. To question if the rat race is worth it. To take the time and figure out our passions and our callings and find what brings us life! Finding our purpose. Grace isn’t an easy thing and just because we try and practice it, doesn’t mean it will be shown to us. But let’s do everything we can to not let that lead us into biting and devouring each other. Of biting back twice as hard as we got bit. Because we ALL fall short. ALL OF US. It’s equal footing—they’re bad, you’re bad, and we’re bad. So let’s try to be humble, let’s try to unlearn and relearn. And let’s try to live and behave with a purpose. A purpose that bears fruit. Fruits of grace and love. If we all fall short, that means we’re all in this together. Let’s keep helping each other.

This talk was given on July 31, 2023 from Seattle, Washington.

@jaybakker

@revolution1994

@revolution94

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Pure Life

Tue, 25 Jul 2023 17:29:16 GMT

This week’s talk wasn’t really planned, but that’s how things go sometimes. With the loss of Steve and the world getting worse and driving all of us a little insane, if not more than a little, Jay got to thinking about his mom and about her favorite verses. Then add on the 16th anniversary of her passing and there was no way Jay could focus on anything else but her, and boy was it needed. It’s great to see some of the innerworkings of the verses and attitude and mindset that drove her to become who she was, and how that made her legacy still continue on to this day. And in revisiting some old notes left by Tammy Faye, we get to see her still encouraging Jay (and all of us) all these years later. Because we could all use a little Tammy in our lives now. Remember, it’s no small thing to be staying afloat in these times, as the world just seems to keep crumbling and getting worse. And everyone is so angry and mean. We need love and grace, and a kind voice to remind us of these things. Jay reads some of Tammy’s favorite verses from some of Paul’s letters and also reminds us that it’s okay to rest in the beauty of the simplicity of these things. We don’t always need to be deconstructing or knocking down everything all the time. Somethings are beautiful and some things are simple. And some things are just beautifully simple. And it’s okay to just rest in that from time to time.

This talk was given on July 23, 2023 from Seattle, Washington.

@jaybakker

@revolution1994

@revolution94

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Outsiders

Tue, 18 Jul 2023 17:31:06 GMT

We lost a good man. Last week we got the news that our dear friend Steve Pieters passed away. Jay wasn’t able to speak that week, so this week he comes with the talk about the life and legacy of Steve. He talks about who Steve was as a person. Who he was as a pastor. Who he was for his community. And who Steve was as a friend. Jay takes us on a bit of a journey through time and we learn about some of the way Jay never felt normal and never felt like himself. How he had struggles embracing his differences, and how in the midst of all this his mom had an interview with a man back in 1985 when Jay was only 9 years old and not only did that interview change Jay’s life but in many many ways it changed the world. That is the way that Steve Pieters ends up in Jay’s life, where he would remain for close to 40 years. A man that was a friend, a parent, a grandparent and a teacher. A man that showed that there exists a love that is beyond fear. There is so much to say about Steve and about this talk, but instead of rambling on and on, let’s let the talk do all of the talking this time. Thank you for everything Steve. You are beyond loved and beyond missed.

This talk was given on July 16, 2023 from Seattle, Washington.

@jaybakker

@revolution1994

@revolution94

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Saint Barts

Tue, 11 Jul 2023 19:15:52 GMT

Did you know that the Gospels all tell the same story as each other, and they aren’t 4 parts of a bigger story? Maybe you did, but a lot of people don’t know that. And that’s what gave Josh the idea for today’s talk of going over the basics of the Bible. It occurred to him just how much he took for granted is common knowledge and what isn’t when it comes to the Bible. So this morning we take some time to really dive in. How many books are there in the Bible, how are they broken down, how are they read, what are all these numbers, what are the different categories of writing. What is the Bible? Is it closer to Game of Thrones than it is to being a book of laws and judgement? What does any of this have to do with 30 Rock and the Rocky movies? This talk might be rudimentary to some but hopefully it’s intriguing and interesting to all. That’s the hope at least. The talk is a little on the longer side today as we spend a few minutes before service starts to talk about the passing of our dear dear dear dear friend Steven Pieters. It was a rough way to wake up to news of that. He was great beyond words and his legacy will far outlive us all. A great man who did great things and helped so many people. To say he’ll be missed is such a tremendous understatement. All of our love to his family and each other. So heartbreaking. It was comforting to be able to talk a bit about him and his impact on our lives and community. Let’s never stop talking about that. Thank you always, Steve.

This talk was given on July 9, 2023 from Long Island, New York.

@jaybakker

@revolution1994

@revolution94

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

WTFJ

Thu, 06 Jul 2023 02:43:58 GMT

Apologies for the delay everyone! Holidays get like that sometimes. But here it is, and it’s a good one! Some people might claim we are overstating this, but sincerely this talk feels like it can be Revolutionary. Or at least close to it. Maybe even the start of something. This talk might make some people uncomfortable, but that is not the intention. If it makes you feel uneasy, please just sit with it a bit. Think on it. And if you still are uncomfortable, please please dive into some scholarship and some studies, and please let us know where we might have missed the mark or help us understand something we might have overlooked or misunderstood. Please try not to throw the baby out with the bathwater. Because Revolution Gathering wants to be a place for different ideas, different studies. It’s why we don’t call ourselves a church anymore, or Jay a pastor—because often times, especially recently it seems, Christians have been acting like a bunch of jerks. Judgmental and scapegoating. We don’t want to be a part of that. Today Jay discusses the book of Revelation. Oh man that’s a rough book, but Jay was up to the challenge. Jay is wondering if maybe the expectations the people had at the time of the coming Messiah were not met. They wanted a more physical, conquering king. A zealot that would overthrow the government and help rise up against their oppressors…but instead they get a man telling them to love and forgive. To treat enemies like friends. Who wants to hear that? I know that sounds like a joke, but seriously, when you’re being crushed by an oppressor who wants to hear that? Especially when you’ve been waiting for a Deliverer. So Jay is looking at the Book of Revelation and trying to find how it lines up with the Christ of the New Testament. It certainly feels like the Old Testament God full of fire and wrath comes back at the end of the New Testament, but is this the case? Is this book a prophecy? Is it a revenge fantasy? Is it a misunderstanding of who God is? Is it wishful writing of how the people of the time wished the Messiah would had acted? What is real? Does the book of Revelation make it harder to love each other? Does it give more fear than love? It’s a struggle, and maybe we’ll never know. But let’s remember to be patient and kind. Let’s remember that some of the more legalistic aspects people hold so tight are things they’ve been taught their whole lives, and that isn’t the easiest to unlearn. It takes time. And it is scary. Remember there is a lot of humanity in our faith! We can’t lose sight of that. Let’s remember what Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “People are not our enemy. Misinformation is our enemy.”

This talk was given on July 3, 2023 from Seattle, WA.

www.facebook.com/revolutionchurchmn

www.revolutionchurch.com/donate

www.youtube.com/revolutionbroadcasting

@jaybakker

@revolution1994

@revolution94

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

More Than a Fraction

Wed, 28 Jun 2023 00:13:04 GMT

This week we just kick right into the talk, no real monologue or catch-up. Jay picks up where the last talk ended…sort of. An unofficial continuation. Today Jay uses the idea from last week of Kierkegaard’s philosophy of the individual and how if we judge people only on the fraction of their lives and personalities that we see then we are in dangerous territory. Judging brings about more judgement. Judging others opens us up for people to judge us based on the fractions of our personalities. Jay then dives into Jesus’s discussion on specks and logs. How we often focus on the splinter in someone else’s eye and ignore the big plank sticking out of our own. We ignore the fraction in our own eye. Love covers a multitude of sins, but does it cover a multitude of specks? A multitude of fractions? Is that what grace really is? Hate is easy. Judging is easy. This is the hard work. This is the going against the grain. To look past these specks in their eye and see the person in front of us, the human being in front of us. It’s very punk rock to love everyone and to show everyone grace. And if you know anything about Revolution you know we love punk rock, so let’s do the hard work.

This talk was given on June 25, 2023 from Seattle, WA.

@jaybakker

@revolution1994

@revolution94

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Faction Fraction

Fri, 23 Jun 2023 01:18:51 GMT

We have a bit of a delayed talk this week. It was a real busy few days with wrapping up some of the loose ends with the big move, Father’s Day, and Juneteenth—but hey, better late than never! Today’s talk is a bit off the beaten path. Today Jay talks a lot about Kierkegaard and what it means to think and act as individuals, rather than fall into scary groupthink. Jay discusses the strange truths we have, and how often we have an assumption that anyone, or any thought, that is in the majority is automatically true. But is that always the case? Can there be a fear or an agenda in the majority that infects its way through the crowd. Is a crowd the untruth? Jay also takes Kierkegaard’s ideas and takes a look at some of Jesus’ teachings, as well as Paul, to see what they say about the individual. Because groupthink keeps us from living our best lives in so many ways. A lot of the division we have these days is because of focusing on whole groups of people, rather than individuals. It can be hard to love a crowd, it’s real easy to hate a crowd. But it’s a bit easier to love an individual. To not turn the individual into a fraction of who they are. Obviously, a group or community can be a very beautiful thing. Very beautiful. But let us remember too that a crowd is composed of individuals. So let’s not turn other people in fractions of who they are. Or as Jay puts it Let’s live a life that confuses the algorithm.

This talk was given on June 20, 2023 from Seattle, WA.

@jaybakker

@revolution1994

@revolution94

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Prisoner of Hope

Wed, 14 Jun 2023 02:57:16 GMT

Jay is all moved and back at it! It was a hell of a move and full of ups and downs…probably mostly downs. But it’s done and it’s good! A sad reality of life is that sometimes life just sucks and sometimes you just have to talk about it. Due to moving around a lot as a kid, moving brings up a lot of past feelings for Jay. Add on today’s current climate and…we’ll it’s been a bit rough recently. Today’s talk has a lot to do with disagreeing well and with arguing well. Grace doesn’t come with an asterisk, but maybe disagreeing/arguing well does. It’s often easier to argue well with a stranger than it is with someone you know and someone you love—a friend or family member. Jay is having his ‘practice what you preach’ skills tested to their limits these last few weeks. Today he talks a bit about a phone call he had with his dad! A call 4-years in the making! Jay talks about other tough conversations he’s had recently as well. He reflects on those conversations and tries to grade himself on how he did. Did he argue well? Did he show grace? Jay also touches on the passing of Pat Robertson and the feelings that brought up in him as well. It’s a high energy, very raw discussion today. Sometimes that’s just needed.

This talk was given on June 11, 2023 from Seattle, WA.

@jaybakker

@revolution1994

@revolution94

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Going Back to My Plow

Tue, 06 Jun 2023 19:56:11 GMT

Jay is up to his eyeballs with his big move, so rather than having to find a way to come up with a talk, Josh is filling in so Jay has room to breathe for a bit! Today’s talk is inspired by a line from Elton John’s song Goodbye Yellow Brick Road. It’s about going back to a simpler time. An easier time. The strange thing about Christianity, though, is that we’ve gotten to a place where ‘progress’ is actually further behind us. It’s back back. Back to Jesus and Peter and Paul talking about grace and equality. So, the way we go forward at Revolution is to go backwards. Back to a time before the corruption set in. To a time where the belief structure was just about loving and accepting people and being aware that the old laws of the Bible are crushing us—just like it crushed everyone that came before us. To help demonstrate the dangers of taking the Bible literally and living in the way of legalism, we take a strange journey to show the complicated path the Bible took to be written in English. And how many links in the chain there were between that and getting the Bible to America. This doesn’t diminish anything, and it doesn’t take away from the Bible. All it shows is how it makes no real sense to take it so literally. There were too many cooks in the kitchen for thousands of years, including misprints and plenty of people being burned at the stake. The Bible is incredible, and we lose a lot of that when we force it to be literal and we force legalism into our lives. Today we also talk about Elijah, Elisha, Shawn Michaels, Final Fantasy 7, and the movie The Darjeeling Limited. It’s a fun one!

This talk was given on June 4, 2023 from Long Island, NY.

@jaybakker

@revolution1994

@revolution94

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Root Problems

Wed, 24 May 2023 15:38:24 GMT

The world is kind of screwy and we’re gonna head there a bit today. The bulk of Jay’s talk today explores some passages in 1 John. Because, besides all of the confusion and anxiety of life these days with politics and hate and fear and war—Jay is adding moving to a new apartment on top of all of that! And in the end, it seems despite our effort and drive to power through, life still seems pointless more often than not. And because of that apathy sneaks its way in more than we’d ever care for it. Today Jay’s real question is “What are we doing to get through this everyday?” That’s why a focus on 1 John today is really helpful. Because it talks a lot of how true love casts out fear and it casts out hate. We learn that to truly love God, we can’t hate our neighbor. It just doesn’t work. So when we’re all in a bit of darkness and we’re all struggling…and our leaders have become so petty and pathetic with each other, things just do not feel safe. It all feels so dark and overwhelming. But if we all help each other, lean on each other, love each other. Then that lets a lot of light into our really dark world.

This talk was given on May 21, 2023 from Seattle, WA.

@jaybakker

@revolution1994

@revolution94

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When My Armor Streaks

Wed, 17 May 2023 03:06:55 GMT

Happy Mother’s Day everyone! Today’s talk is a little weird but that’s okay because Jay’s gotta be Jay. After a brief continuation and further thoughts/developments of last week’s talk, Jay jumps into what our focus is with Revolution—learning to have the tough conversations. Trying to stop ‘othering’ others. We say ‘trying’ because it’s not easy, we all struggle. But sometimes trying goes a lot further than we think. So let’s keep trying. Let’s try to overcome binary thinking. Let’s try to come together. Revolution is trying to bring people together while our politicians and social media try to manipulate and divide. Giving this immense pressure to be something we’re not. It seems that even people who want us to be different and unique…want us to be different and unique just like them—hate who they hate, love who they love, hold sacred what they hold sacred. But we’re all human. And humans are nuanced. When did we lose the nuance? When did we become so legalistic? It’s important to set boundaries, but maybe our boundaries come with a door or window, something that helps us mend relationships in the future. But, hey, let’s not forget it’s Mother’s Day! Let’s see what Tammy Faye has to say about it! Jay reads an excerpt from I Gotta Be Me, and it sums up everything perfectly—as only Tammy Faye can. Happy Mother’s Day!

This talk was given on May 14, 2023 from Seattle, WA.

@jaybakker

@revolution1994

@revolution94

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Politically Unwise

Wed, 10 May 2023 02:31:05 GMT

Like so many of our talks recently, this one wasn’t the one that was planned. But our original plans got derailed once again by a national tragedy. And that tragedy almost always seems to be another mass shooting in America. We are so sick of it. We’re sick and we’re heartbroken. We’re in danger everywhere we go. Jay’s talk this week is short. And it’s raw. Because enough is enough! These shooters don’t care about our politics, at all. They don’t only kill liberals, or adults, or people of color. We’re all equal in our danger. So when all of this is happening, how do we love our neighbor? How does that fit into this? If the book of James says that ‘faith without works is dead,’ then where does only offering up thoughts and prayers fit in? Something more needs to be done. We need to choose people over religion. We need to love each other and not let religion get in the way. We need something, because this can’t go on. This talk is raw and uncensored. Normally, I (Josh) take time to edit out any or the harsher words that might slip out in emotion or frustration. It didn’t seem right with this one. Enough is enough.

This talk was given on May 7, 2023 from Seattle, WA.

@jaybakker

@revolution1994

@revolution94

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Maybe Depeche Mode Got It Right

Wed, 03 May 2023 03:07:03 GMT

Todays talk is a bit heady and philosophy heavy, but it’s a good one! After studying and listening to some Todd McGowan, Jay starts to really break down the idea of separation and what Paul means when he talks about “…for all have sinned.” Often times we’ve heard that as a way to make us feel bad, or to emphasize how much we rely on salvation, but what Jay discusses is: What if what it means is we’re all equal? Similar to what Paul says in Galatians about there being no Jew nor gentile. If sin is separation, and grace is reunion – then by saying ‘for all have sinned,’ really we can look at it that we’re all just as separated. We’re all coming from the same place. We’re all starting on a level playing field. That we’re all outcasts! Together! It gives us a common ground, together. And that’s a start to getting rid of the concept of ‘other.’ If we see that nobody belongs, then it stops us from fighting about who belongs. When Jesus is sharing a meal with Matthew and is questioned about the company he kept, he told them that he came to help the sick, not those who think they aren’t. He came to help the separated, not those who feel they aren’t. Let’s live in the imperfection and the contradiction of it all! And realize that that’s the meat of living.

This talk was given on April 30, 2023 from Seattle, WA.

www.facebook.com/revolutionchurchmn

www.revolutionchurch.com/donate

www.youtube.com/revolutionbroadcasting

@jaybakker

@revolution1994

@revolution94

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

First Academy Material

Wed, 26 Apr 2023 02:27:11 GMT

Jay gets a little serious this week and shares with us his first personal experience with Christianity and how that led him to where we are today and what Revolution is trying to be as a community. Feeling inspired by a punk rock show to stay true to himself, Jay discusses how the Christian legalism he encountered at a young age–the hurt it caused and how it pushed him away from God almost altogether. But eventually that all led him to discovering grace and acceptance and loving radically. How the more he dove into studying and reading, Jay came across the idea that Christianity isn’t the faith of being rigid. Or at least it shouldn’t be. As a society we spend so much time looking for things that separate us, but we have so much in common. And the most important thing we have in common is our humanity. Let’s have a love that reconciles. A love that Jesus said we would be known by. Let us be driven by love and not rules, not separation. Because we’re not different–we’re just people.

This talk was given on April 23, 2023 from Seattle, WA.

@jaybakker

@revolution1994

@revolution94

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Let Him Chew

Wed, 19 Apr 2023 02:50:51 GMT

When it comes to certain topics, such as grace, and having tough conversations, and disagreeing well, we know we can be a bit of a broken record here at Revolution. But then we look at the news, or social media, or society, and we realize we can’t be broken record enough! How has it gotten so bad that we can’t even stand the news we agree with? So, here we are again turning out the hits! Humanity! Grace! Jay has been feeling tired and frustrated lately–trying to live in a world like what we have today, gun violence, politicians, cruelty. It’s too much. Too much suffering and too much negativity. Jay looks a bit into Paul’s letter to the Romans, today, and a bit into James and even dips a toe into Psalms for this talk. Because today’s talk is about endurance, and how suffering, in a strange way, builds the endurance that will eventually lead us to hope! So, let’s learn to be human again. Try and learn how to humanize others, as well–to see the humanity in someone that doesn’t think like we do! To push ourselves to have those difficult conversations, to show grace. To accept others, and accept ourselves!

This talk was given on April 16, 2023 from Seattle, WA.

@jaybakker

@revolution1994

@revolution94

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Alright, Already!

Wed, 12 Apr 2023 02:56:46 GMT

It’s Easter Sunday and this week’s talk is a little off the beaten path. This week, Josh gives a talk that focuses on not only our ability to slay the giants that loom in front of us–but to also remember how many we dealt with along the way. It’s not always the easiest to find good things to talk about when discussing King David, but there is also a lot we can learn from him. A lot about grace and mercy, forgiveness, and hard conversations. How could a man who has done so much wrong be called ‘a man after God’s own heart’? We also talk about music and movies, of course, and about crossing through the valley and the abyss. We’ve all made it this far and we will keep on going! Happy Easter!

This talk was given on April 9, 2023 from Long Island, New York.

@jaybakker

@revolution1994

@revolution94

Wed, 26 Oct 2022 22:03:01 GMT

Jay is getting ready to head to London to see the musical Elton John wrote about Tammy Faye. What a strange life this is. But before he heads across the pond, he gives a lively talk about…

…grace, obviously! This is Revolution we’re talking about. In this talk Jay reflects a bit on being ‘haunted by God’ and how it’s what pulls him to continue his work and to love a religion that has caused him and his family so much pain. “Someone needs to save religion from the harm it’s done.” Enough with the punishment talk and the judgement talk. Enough of Christianity being defined based on all of the things it’s against. Grace is real and it’s something to talk about. Jay also dives into a bit of a philosophical quandary–Grace is a free gift…but what if it is an unwanted gift? What if people don’t want grace for themselves or to give it to others. What if they don’t want to argue well? It’s a question that’s worth diving into. To ask ourselves how a religion based on faith, hope and love and of grace and forgiveness is now the opposite of that. How a belief structure of unconditional love has so many conditions now. It’s a slippery slope because to whom much is given…much is required. And we’ve been given much much grace. So there has to be more than just preaching to the choir! What good does that do? There has to be disagreements and learning in order to grow. So, let’s be ready to give an answer, but let’s make sure it’s covered with love and grace.

This talk was given on October 23, 2022 in Seattle, Washington.

@jaybakker

@revolution1994

@revolution94

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Old Hat New Hat

Wed, 19 Oct 2022 03:57:55 GMT

Jay starts this talk with the heart-breaking news that Steve Pieters has Stage 4 cancer. It’s scary. It’s sad. And we’re giving all of our love and prayers to Steve. If you pray, please pray for Steve. If you don’t pray and praying just feels like talking to the ceiling, please talk to the ceiling for Steve. All prayers and everything you can muster. We love you Steve!! The rest of the talk Jay focuses on Jesus and how he turned everything upside down. Unorganized Religion. Jesus turned the world on its head with the things he said, the love he showed, and the company he kept. He tore the division between us and God. If there is no curtain separating us from God, then why are we forcing naivety onto ourselves and onto others? Shouldn’t we be the least naïve? But if we build a Christianity of naivety–to the point where we can’t think for ourselves–we fall into group think and our convictions stop being our own. If Jesus tore the curtain that separated us from God, why are we so eager to add separation back? How can we separate ourselves from others and cut them off and call it love? God is love! The church isn’t a building, it’s not a tradition. It’s us! The people. If our faith is built around buildings and big communities and traditions, is it really faith? Is it really something that is infinite? If the church is keeping you from loving people…then leave! Go some place where you can love and love radically!

This talk was given on October 16, 2022 in Seattle, Washington.

@jaybakker

@revolution1994

@revolution94

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Oh, Come On!

Wed, 05 Oct 2022 14:06:45 GMT

In this week’s talk Jay asks us to make the decision to risk! To not toe the line. To think differently. To challenge ourselves. The world is a different place now. We’re not the same church found in Acts, found in the New Testament–so where does that leave us? Is it time for a change? To look at things differently, to not be so polarized. Jay dives into the book of 1 John. A book that he wrestles with a bit, and shares some of that with us. But he wanted to toy with the aspect of limiting our magical thinking when it comes to God and Jesus. Not fully, but just to see what is left when we shift the focus. To do this so we don’t get so bogged down in legalism. To test the spirit. To question thing and make sure it all holds up. To live life on life’s terms and see the Bible through that lens. To explore the concept of love and what happens when we love others and when we are loved. To explore Jesus’s message and to see if it was more about what he was against…or was his message about hope? Is our love real or is it counterfeit love? God is love and love gets passed on. As followers of these teachings do we provide a place where love is felt or fear is felt? Can love cast out fear? If we’re in the presence of love are we also in the presence of the infinite? We have to remember that whenever the Bible talks about love, it’s talking about a love we understand and have already experienced in our lives. Let’s focus on that. Let’s share that. And while we do that it couldn’t hurt to also discuss Sinead O’Connor a bit as well!

This talk was given on October 02, 2022 in Seattle, Washington.

@jaybakker

@revolution1994

@revolution94

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This Seems Like Nonsense

Thu, 29 Sep 2022 02:46:56 GMT

Still coming to grips with the passing of our friend Caleb, Jay gives a talk that isn’t really anything new. The talk is more of an echo of a lot of other talks he’s given. At Revolution we want to not only disagree well but listen well too. So, if we listen better than we can disagree better. What if we stripped Christianity down to its core, to its basics? What if we took the idolatry out of Christianity? Christianity has been reshaped. It’s almost unrecognizable. It has gone from a religion of love back to a religion of law–and this legalism is causing strife and grief and it’s causing us to other the others in our lives. Have we gotten to a place where we care more about being right than we care about others? Do we need to stop and reevaluate? Let’s look inward. What are the doubts we have that we never share with people? What are the quiet questions we ask ourselves at night? How can we get back to love? How can we bring Christianity back into a practice of love? Right now, we’re not known for our love, as Jesus said we would be. Instead, we’re known for who we don’t love. We need to fix this. We need to ask the hard questions. We need to dive deep. And we need to find the narrow road. It's not easy but it’s worth it.

This talk was given on September 25, 2022 in Seattle, Washington.

Wed, 06 Jul 2022 11:01:25 GMT

“Don’t put your but in an angry person’s face.” This is the sound advice we get from this week’s guest speaker Zoso Birss. This week Zoso gives a great talk where they dive into the concept of non-violent communication. What is non-violent communication? How can we practice it? Who can we look to as a role model for this approach? What does Jesus have to say about it? Where do Martin Luther King and Malcom X come into play? What does Paul have to say on this? Zoso starts their talk with the concept of a Land Acknowledgement–they discuss what it is and what it means to them as a Canadian living in an occupied land and how we can bring those same principles into our understanding of the Bible. How the issue of occupied land would have been a large factor in Jesus’ life and upbringing and how the deep history of rising and falling empires would be the stories that Jesus grew up with and how those stories and history would ultimately shape the person of Jesus and his ministry. Also was Mary a punk rocker?

Also please stick around at the end for the Afterglow! After the talk Zoso stuck around in chat and addressed various topics ranging from gender and sex to how to live (and at times fail) the practice of non-violent communication…even when someone is using a literal soapbox and microphone to amplify hate speech around you and your family.

This talk was given on July 3, 2022 in Canada.

@jaybakker

@revolution1994

@revolution94

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Kill Your Idols

Wed, 29 Jun 2022 01:13:54 GMT

“I’m not a politician–but my message and work is to help us live in any political climate.” It’s getting tiring to have to say, again, every week, about how crazy life is getting. How everything is falling apart and we’re all hanging on by a thread. But here we are again and it’s the same thing…life is so difficult right now. Everything is upside down. So what are we to do? How do we live a different ethic, one that Jesus teaches and calls upon us to live, how do we leave that in this current political climate? We’re never told by Jesus or Paul to look to Rome…so why should we now? We don’t know the answers, really we don’t. But we know the answers lie in Community–in people, and in tough conversations. We are all sinking! We need people over politics, not the other way around. We need dissenting voices. We need reform. It’s Revolution’s work–to help us with any circumstances that come along. That’s it. That’s really all we can think to say. This talk isn’t very comfortable. People might get mad, or sad, or upset. But it’s a good talk and it gives us a lot to think about. A lot to discuss. And a lot to disagree on…but to disagree well. We need reform.

This talk was given on June 26, 2022 in Seattle, WA.

@jaybakker

@revolution1994

@revolution94

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Blessed are the Peacemakers

Wed, 22 Jun 2022 02:27:13 GMT

What we’re doing isn’t helping–none of it seems to be helping. We still remain so divided. Cancelling each other isn’t helping, not recognizing each other’s humanity isn’t helping. It’s only fueling our anger and clouding our judgement. We’re being consumed by one another. Revenge feels great!...but it doesn’t work. So how do we free ourselves from the gridlock of binary thinking? How can we discover our humanity together? Just imagine what we could do if we recognized the humanity in ‘the other’ to an extent that when they fall, we try to understand them and their pain before we judge each other. It takes patience. To be still. To stop. And to let those thoughts pass you by. To live and let live. We acknowledge it’s not easy. Hell, it’s not easy for us at all. Any of us. We’re right there in the mud with you, trudging down this narrow path. It’s a difficult road but we think it’s the better way.

**Please note there were some recording hiccups, frustratingly both in the video and Audio. We did our best to iron these out but some of it was unable to be fixed. Please bear with us as we try to iron out these hiccups in our continuing journey of YouTube Live. We’re working on it!**

This talk was given on June 19, 2022 in Seattle, WA.

@jaybakker

@revolution1994

@revolution94

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Suspect Device

Wed, 15 Jun 2022 02:27:53 GMT

Because he's the hero Gotham deserves, but not the one it needs right now. So we'll hunt him. Because he can take it. Because he's not our hero. He's a silent guardian, a watchful protector. A dark knight…Okay, that’s from the movie The Dark Knight, I cheated. But honestly, it was the only thing I could think of. I didn’t know what else to write to try and describe this talk. There isn’t much anyone can say. It’s open and honest and raw as hell. Jay questions aspects of his life and beliefs. Wonders if he really was the hero he thought he was. Wonders if he’s really as strong as he thought he was. Especially the more he’s hurting, and the more life keeps knocking him down and bloodying him up. It’s a talk and it’s a conversation and it’s an apology. That’s the best I could do to describe what you’re about to hear. It’s a real good one. And important.

This talk was given on June 12, 2022 from Seattle, WA.

@jaybakker

@revolution1994

@revolution94

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Soft in the Middle

Tue, 07 Jun 2022 17:13:39 GMT

We’ve all been there, all of us—those dark nights of the soul, where we doubt and feel abandoned by everyone, including God. Sometimes especially God. The only problem is that these dark nights seem to be stretching on to dark days, dark weeks, and dark years. Just feeling alone and abandoned. The bad news is I have no answers for you. The good news is you’re not alone. At all. Not even close. Did God abandon us or does it just feel that way? Is there really even a difference? This feeling of abandonment by God is as old as time itself. Quite literally. And it has no ownership. Christians feel abandoned, Atheists, Agnostics, Nihilists, Buddhists, Muslims, Jewish friends and family. You name it and they’ve felt it just like you and I have. This is something that should bring us together. Should keep us free from judgement and belittlement. Sadly that’s not the case and we often feel wrong or embarrassed on top of everything else. For today’s talk Joshua Murray dives into the Bible to look at others who have experienced this. He also looks to Paul…oh sorry, Paul Simon not the apostle, that was a bit misleading. He also looks to alcoholic space robots, binary solar systems, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Silver Surfer and Dr. Manhattan. Team them up with the heroes and prophets of the Bible and we might be able to navigate this all a bit more easily. And navigate it together with love and grace.

This talk was given on June 05, 2022 from Long Island, NY.

@jaybakker

@revolution1994

@revolution94

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Very Surreal. Very Devastating.

Tue, 31 May 2022 22:19:53 GMT

It’s been a horrible week. Last week’s talk was a bit off the rails, coming off the heels of the shooting in Buffalo—and before we could recover from that there was another mass shooting in Texas. A school shooting of young kids. So, this talk, frustratingly, is on the same tracks as the last one. At Revolution we try our best, our absolute best, to practice what we preach. We don’t want to scapegoat, and we encourage others not to scapegoat and we understand truly how hard that is to do. When you’re so upset and so angry and so sad. We just want something concrete. We want a person to blame. We want something bigger than ourselves to put our faith and belief into. It’s confusing when every side of the aisle seems to be trying to give us an easy answer to appease us, all the while pointing their finger in the other direction. Who do we trust? How do we get through the day when we have so much hatred in our hearts? Our job is to love everyone and try to work together, but it’s hard! Very hard. Nothing is black and white. We should be uniting not dividing. We’re a country, not a sports team where our team is better than the other. We should be in this together. We look to the Bible but it's hard. We get that. The Old Testament says one thing, and Jesus says something else. Our strongly worded thoughts and opinions on social media don’t mean anything, we’re just screaming into a void. We must have tough conversations. We must talk with people that say things we don’t want to hear and say things they don’t want to hear. But with love and humanity. We’re more alike than we think, all of us—So what if we share that. If we share our frustrations and our doubts with each other and we are honest about it, we can find common ground. We can see the humanity in each other. It’s not easy but it’s necessary and we can do it.

**Please note there were some recording hiccups, mostly in the video. We did our best to iron these out but some of it was unable to be fixed. Please bear with us as we try to iron out these hiccups in our new switch to YouTube Live**

This talk was given on May 29, 2022 in Seattle, WA.

@jaybakker

@revolution1994

@revolution94

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Barbaric Idea of Othering

Wed, 18 May 2022 00:38:00 GMT

"That talk went completely off the rails…" It's hard not to find ourselves with scattered minds and thoughts and emotions these days. Especially when you need to give a talk shortly after another mass shooting. It's hard to process and certainly hard to keep any talk on the rails—Yes, it might fall off the rails at times, but it's still one hell of a talk. Revolution is focused on doing everything we can to stop scapegoating each other. We want to stop making others "others." We want to have the tough conversations and become all things to all people. We want to live life on life's terms. But sometimes it's such a struggle. Loving your neighbor is tough, loving your enemy is tough. We get it. We struggle with it too! It takes work and it takes time. It's a narrow road and it's not for the feint of heart. Legalism is easier. Scapegoating is easier. Racism is easier. But what fruits do they bring? Do those things lead to peace? Do those things help others? Help ourselves? But finding common ground does. Having tough conversations does. Being accepted and loved as we are does. Let's take that road. Even though it's hard and so often we want to quit and take the wider, easier path. Let's stay the course. Let's love each other. Accept each other. Not shy from hard conversations. Let's lift others up. Let's stop othering the others and get away from such barbaric and ugly ideals. And let's do it together!

This talk was given on May 15, 2022 in Seattle, WA.

@jaybakker

@revolution1994

@revolution94

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Kicking Against The Pricks

Wed, 11 May 2022 00:04:16 GMT

Jay is back from L.A. where's he's been working on a project about his mom. Combined that with Mother's Day and Jay reading his mom's book I Gotta Be Me and we got ourselves a talk! Today's talk isn't just about Tammy Faye, but also diving into the inspiration and impact she's had on Jay's life and his views on Grace—which is the cornerstone of Revolution Gathering. Jay talks about how Tammy Faye was a ruthless lover of people, and a prisoner of hope and love. How she always chose love and how love was her trump card. We know life is hard and life hurts. It's pain and it's suffering, and no one does it perfectly. So, when we try to show others love and Grace, of course we'll fail at it and of course we'll miss the mark. Life is messy! But we try! And we keep on trying and we choose love even when it's uncomfortable and even when it hurts. Because, as Jay ponders in his talk, maybe that's what dying to our flesh really is—maybe it's about just trying and failing and learning who we really are. What makes us who us, and our desires to be who we are. And as Tammy's favorite verse in Philippians points out, we can do all things! We can love and show grace, we can fail and struggle, because we're not doing it on our own. We don't need to walk the Narrow Road alone, that's why we have each other. That's why we have community. To help each other get to a place where we can let our suffering get us to a place of betterment and not bitterness. Because at the end of the day, we only get one life! Let's find out who we are and who we want to be. Let's die to our flesh and become that. In the words of someone far wiser than us…We gotta be us!

This talk was given on May 8, 2022 in Seattle, WA.

@jaybakker

@revolution1994

@revolution94

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Reality of Grace

Tue, 26 Apr 2022 23:45:14 GMT

"The one thing I've found about Christianity, why I think it's really an exceptional faith and religion, is that it's never too late." Jay is back from Missouri, and whoa baby does he have a talk that is right on the nose. Jay's trip had him feeling a mixed bag of emotions that he is still trying to process. Sometimes showing Grace is like pulling teeth – and sometimes your teeth get pulled when you return from Missouri after showing Grace. Only a few days removed from a dental procedure and barely able to eat solid food, Jay gives us a talk on The Prodigal Son. For deeper aspects and insight on the story, Jay turned to Luke…oh, sorry, not the Gospel. I meant Luke Skywalker. No, really. Jay gives a deep dive into both the parable and also dissects the redemption and Grace that is shown in Return of the Jedi. Grace and Star Wars, the two staples of Revolution. What if we aren't in a place where we can show Grace? What if it's too difficult, or even impossible? What if we don't have the bandwidth in ourselves for it? How do we love from afar until we can love up close? What did Tammy Faye mean by 'running into the roar'? What does it mean to take the third way? We all know how complex life is, and how we are often damned if we do and damned if we don't – so why are we trying to paint all lives of all people with the same broad strokes? Having theology and knowing the scriptures and having philosophy is great when it's in our mind – But how does it operate in real life? How do we live these ideas and beliefs? We don't know any better than you do, but we have some ideas! And if we stand together as a community and a gathering we stand the best chance to help ourselves and others in this life, where we are all just blowing around like leaves in the wind.

This talk was given on April 24, 2022 in Seattle, WA.

@jaybakker

@revolution1994

@revolution94

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Not Funny Like Ha Ha

Tue, 19 Apr 2022 20:27:47 GMT

Jay is out of town on family business, practicing what he teaches. He originally planned on giving an Easter Sunday talk live from the road, but plans changed and he was unable to. So guest speaker Joshua Murray stepped in to give the talk instead. Struggling with his own mental health, Josh tried to find a hopeful message that fits into the spirit and meaning of Easter – His talk had more mentions of Dalmatians than one would think an Easter talk would have, but there is a method to his madness…or is it? Did Moses start planting ideas of Jesus setting us free from the law before the law even came to be? Why does God always seem to be passing us by? Can we find common ground with Elijah's crippling depression? What if we are incapable of living out Grace on our own and need people to lean on to remind us how to show grace? Is that why Jesus specifies needing at least two people to be a church? Why is this tree so useless? Why are Talents so much money? Also, why is this rabbit smoking so much? Did Josh mean to use imagery of a rabbit for an Easter talk, or was it something he just realized right now writing this very description you are reading? The world may never know! (But the other answers might just be in the talk.) Enjoy!

This talk was given on April 17, 2022 in Long Island, NY.

@jaybakker

@revolution1994

@revolution94

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How's That Working for You James!

Tue, 05 Apr 2022 19:34:28 GMT

Life's tough, but…that's life. We deal with a lot of suffering, and life in general brings us a lot of it – and since that's something we all have in common, Jay dives in and starts to explore some verses on suffering. Even though the Bible isn't an answer book, we can learn a lot from wresting with not knowing the answers! Jay visits Romans, and James and 1 & 2 Peter to try and find some lessons and questions to wrestle with. What does a community look like? How can we use what we learn in these verses to help others and help ourselves? How badly do you want to slap James for what he says about suffering? There are a few things we know though, besides suffering being universal, and that is that suffering builds endurance…but also, suffering is cunning, and we have to remember this! It will find ways to get you! But can radical acceptance of what we're experiencing be a way of getting through suffering? Why is it easier to endure suffering when others are there? How do we treat 'the others' in our lives when they are in the midst of turmoil? Have we left loving 'the other' up to God? And is it possible to feel the closest to Christ when we're feeling abandoned? These are questions to wrestle with, these are questions that it's okay to not have the answers for – are the answers in the wrestling? It's really amazing just what trying to love one another, be understanding, and being friendly can do to help suffering! Just how much of a difference it can make. So…what can we do to be the difference?

This talk was given on April 3, 2022 in Seattle, Washington.

@jaybakker

@revolution1994

@revolution94

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Don't Blame Me, Blame Jesus

Wed, 30 Mar 2022 01:09:07 GMT

“Talks are always more popular if I mention my mom, so…Tammy Faye, Tammy Faye, Tammy Faye.” Of course we kid, we are not using Tammy Faye to get more views or streams – we’re mentioning her because of her influence on Jay in living a life that demonstrated love and Grace and caring. We’re always inspired by her unsinkable spirit, a spirit that is very much in line with today’s talk. It’s Revolutions least favorite time of the year, and that is the first week after Jay finishes his annual Galatians series. But since Galatians and Grace are at the core of Jay’s work and at the center of Revolution, once we leave one topic of Grace we move onto the next, and that is: Jesus, naturally. We know what Paul said about Grace, but what does Jesus have to say about it? Today we look at Luke 6 and find Jesus’s message of love and Grace and we see how they became the building blocks of Paul’s message. Does the Gospel make us foolish? Is Jesus’s message just as radical as Paul’s? Has the domestication of Christianity taken a message of radical Grace and forced it to become a bad imitation of itself? It sure seems like it, but that is what happens when things get too big and become watered down and family friendly. But the truth is that Christianity is radical and it’s insane and it asks us to do things that are very uncomfortable in order to make a lasting change. The narrow road of Christianity and Christ’s message isn’t about what you can and can’t do, what music to avoid, what shows to boycott, but really the narrow road is loving those who don’t love us. It’s not a natural road, and at times it’s barely possible – but if we help each other and support each other and lift each other up and correct with care, then what was once barely possible just…simply becomes possible.

This talk was given on March 27, 2022 in Seattle, Washington.

@jaybakker

@revolution1994

@revolution94

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

More Grief, More Strife

Wed, 23 Mar 2022 01:49:52 GMT

“I’m preaching today…oops.” Galatians 6! Here we are, we’ve arrived – The final chapter of Galatians. Paul again stresses the importance of Grace, and asks us to help restore each other, but to do it gently. To hold each other accountable, but to do it gently. To be kind, but honest. With love and Grace, because as Jay puts it, Grace is vital to getting us through Hell and back. We have to remember that we are accepted, all of us – even the “theys” in our lives. We are accepted as a community, and we have to learn to live as a community with Grace. Because all of us fall short. We aren’t too important to restore someone or to show them Grace. In this talk, Jay also reminds us of the dangers of legalism, because legalism tries to take over the job of Grace. In this letter, Paul talks a lot about legalism of the law when it came to circumcision, which was causing a big divide in the community – and divided communities are something we are dealing with today. Are politics our circumcision? How can Grace help us navigate this? Let’s be gentle with each other and see how it feels.

This talk was given on March 20, 2022 in Seattle, Washington.

@jaybakker

@revolution1994

@revolution94

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When This Becomes the Escape

Wed, 16 Mar 2022 00:16:46 GMT

Today we are finishing up Galatians 5! The later part of Galatians chapter 5 is the most relevant when it comes to what we’re dealing with as a country and as a divided world. The warnings against biting and devouring each other – about a dire need for community and to not destroy one another, but instead to live with these differences and respect these differences. Think about how hard life is for people, we’re all going through it right now – the horrors on the news, war, gas prices! The list goes on...and on…and on! Relationships are hard enough to have with friends and family these days, let alone our enemies – and in a time of social media and the internet we’ve never had more contact with our enemies. Let us take a moment to look inward and try to figure out why we’re getting so angry at other people’s flaws and failures, let’s ask ourselves why we want them to be destroyed for this. What is Paul talking about when he talks about the Spirit, could it mean our unconscious? Paul takes time to write down a list of vices in this chapter, a list of things to avoid. But in tandem with that he also lists the fruits of the spirit, each virtue listed in response to an individual vice he previously listed. What if we can find a way to marry these contradictions together – if we can find a place for that contradiction to live, it can become a truth and can often lead to a higher truth. What do we have to do to keep these vices from turning into idols? How do we keep them from robbing us of the virtues he’s listed? And maybe most importantly…why is the crab in Moana so funny? Like many things, we don’t have the answers, but we like to discuss it and disagree well.

This talk was given on March 13, 2022 in Seattle, Washington.

@jaybakker

@revolution1994

@revolution94

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I Think God Hates Me

Wed, 09 Mar 2022 01:48:31 GMT

We finally made it to Galatians 5, well Galatians 5, Part 1. This chapter is a bit tricky as it mostly sums up Galatians 4, but that’s okay because the themes there bear repeating. Legalism is like a yoke around our neck. The problem with a yoke is it’s used to steer livestock, so when we wear this yoke around our necks, we’re not doing the steering. We’re being used. Legalism is toxic and has infected the church. An infection that we so often desire breaking free of, but in doing so, a lot of us leave the church fully and want nothing to do with God. This is where Grace comes in! Because God has no favorites! God doesn’t care about your bank account or your genitalia. God is love. All of us fall short, so Grace is for all of us. We all have flaws and faults and contradictions, and that is where we find God. What does it mean to fall from grace? Do we make Christ’s death in vain when we try to earn our salvation? Is perfectionism a form of idolatry? We have to remember what matters most, the only thing that matters, and that is that we are accepted. We are accepted by that which is bigger than ourselves! We can not fall into biting and devouring one another – and that is very hard to avoid these days, with so much division and anger and cancellation, but love never cancels someone – love endures through everything. So, we need to be a community of diversity! Not just diversity of race or gender or sexuality, but a diversity of thought! Let us disagree and let us argue but let us argue well! Let us disagree well! Let’s not go straight to war. Because in the end we all fall short, and people are people – we’re all made of the same ol’ dirt.

This talk was given on March 06, 2022 in Seattle, Washington.

@jaybakker

@revolution1994

@revolution94

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

You're Not You

Wed, 02 Mar 2022 00:20:55 GMT

Ever wonder why tigers have those white spots behind their ears? Can we learn grace from a seagull? What do pool balls and fish have in common? What happens if we put an ox and a donkey together on the same plow? We’re not sure, but we know if anyone can tie these disparate ideas together with some weird mysticism it’s today’s speaker, Joshua Murray. Once again, Josh visits the one topic he cares the most about – Bridging the Division. The country and world are so divided. All the time. About everything. Always. But why? Is it possible that we all have more in common than we think? What if we started to see ourselves in others, rather than just seeing ‘an other’? A big stumbling block in our path of grace, Josh feels, stems from the law and the tight literal and legalistic hold we have on the Bible – and it’s too much to bear for any of us, and it always has been. So how can we get from this unbearable, crushing yoke of the law to one that is easy and light? Who knows!! But Josh has a few ideas he’d like the share on it.

This talk was given on February 27, 2022 in Long Island, New York.

@jaybakker

@revolution1994

@revolution94

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is an Allegory

Thu, 24 Feb 2022 03:55:33 GMT

“Here is the confession: Galatians 4 has always been a bore to me…but I realize now it’s not.” That’s one way to introduce the next chapter in the series, but he wasn’t lying, the new stuff Jay discovered in this chapter is important and indeed not boring. Paul was very sick when he was in Galatia, and it was his time there that he was able to teach and share his message of Grace. He was expressing gratitude to them, and reminding them of how hospitable their community was…now in this letter he’s asking What happened to that Galatia I knew? Jay acknowledges that this letter is harsh, it’s understandable why people, especially in this current political climate, might be scared of Paul and the things he says – but this is also the best letter written on Grace, and without Paul we miss a deeper level of Grace. Jay poses the question: can we fully learn who Christ was or what he was doing if we don’t read Paul? Because we can see Christ in a much deeper way with Paul. Paul is asking us to live in a community and do the hard work – the hard work of loving our neighbors and enemies. He doesn’t want us to go our separate ways, to just take our toys and go home. Revolution is that community, it isn’t a safe place, but it is a place full of Grace and communication and disagreeing well so that we can build up something that is stronger than ourselves.

This talk was given on February 20, 2022 in Seattle, Washington.

@jaybakker

@revolution1994

@revolution94

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's Not Good News

Mon, 14 Feb 2022 23:45:24 GMT

This week we have a Revolution first! Jay is taking a break from continuing forward with the Galatians series so that we can revisit the first three chapters. Some might call it beating a dead horse, we call it an overview! Or a recap. Regardless of what it’s called, it’s important to revisit before moving forward again. The reason it is important is because we have to remember just how timely this letter to the Galatians is – Paul is trying to save a community. A community that is dividing itself rather than uniting. A community that is creating a different gospel by becoming disciplinarians and Kingdom Monitors and gatekeepers. A community that forgot how we’re all the same - that we are all flawed and fall short. Sadly, these themes are still just as present today as they were back when Paul first wrote this. It’s this mindset and division that takes the Good News and makes it not very good at all. That through our legalistic and disciplinarian mindsets we are caught up in another gospel - not a gospel that unifies us through Christ’s teachings. Paul isn’t asking us to do anything he’s not doing himself, he is doing his best to lead by example. We need to see that we can show Grace to each other even if we’re not on the same side. Even if we don’t agree. Going to war over these differences will leave us with nothing left. In Jesus’s time, Rome knew what they were doing – they found ways to divide the community so that they could continue to rule. Keeping the people divided and distracted and fighting amongst themselves so that there was nothing left of them…Yikes, thank goodness that’s not happening anymore, right? Thankfully that is a thing of the past - could you even imagine if that was happening today…

This talk was given on February 13, 2022 in Seattle, Washington.

@jaybakker

@revolution1994

@revolution94

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Drunken Pastor

Tue, 08 Feb 2022 17:59:26 GMT

Jay is back! And he’s here to drink Diet Coke and talk Galatians…and he’s all out of Diet Coke. Well actually, he’s quitting Diet Coke, and we wish him luck – but all the same that just leaves us with Galatians. Who has bewitched you? Do you believe what you’ve heard? These are questions Paul asks right up front in the next installment of Galatians. Paul and Jay pick up right where they left off, with the same themes that weaves its way through this letter from Paul and sets the foundations for Revolution: Doubt, Faith, Contradiction, and Grace. Is doubt the opposite of faith? Or is it an element of faith? If there is no hierarchy and we give up our identity, what does that mean for us today? What do we hold onto after that? What if someone does something great or helpful, but then you learn they aren’t perfect? Does that change what they did? If we all fall short, how can we have room to judge? Are we so focused on our identities and traditions that they’ve become more important than the other people we deal with? Can exploring these questions lead to a higher truth? A God beyond God? We believe it can. These are some tough conversations, but let’s learn to have them. Let’s learn to see that it’s okay to disagree, as long as we disagree well. Jay dives into all of this and more before the caffeine wears off since iced tea can only do so much. This is the part in Paul’s letter where things begin to get a little more dicey, but it’s okay, because we’re not scared of the tough conversations. (Maybe we are, but we do them anyway!)

This talk was given on February 6, 2022 in Seattle, Washington.

@jaybakker

@revolution1994

@revolution94

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Don't You Listen to Him Dan

Tue, 01 Feb 2022 15:39:35 GMT

Due to a last-minute hiccup with daycare for the kiddos, Jay wasn’t able to speak, so we have a guest speaker! This week Joshua Murray gives us a talk about depression, legalism, engaged-Christianity, old school country western songs, Midnight Mass and male pattern baldness. In the book of Ecclesiastes, King Solomon goes on a long depressive rant about the meaningless of life and wisdom, in doing so, however, he stumbles upon some deep truths that Paul later uses as the foundation of his work. We are the same. There is no hierarchy. This is the core realization that leads to Grace, and more importantly anarchist Grace, and maybe even a God beyond God. Josh also discusses the dangers of legalism and how taking the Bible as literal or as law really handcuffs us more than it frees us. And maybe Jesus warns us that we’ll be hated, not because we are Christians, but because people don’t understand Grace, and hate what they don’t understand. Also, what is a miracle? Are we capable of them? What if we are, but they just aren’t what we’re led to believe they are. And can we learn anything about our lives from the army of warriors that served King David? Also, why is a shaved head so freeing? Especially in the day and age of virtual meetings??

This talk was given on January 30, 2022 in Long Island, New York.

@jaybakker

@revolution1994

@revolution94

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Maybe We Can Find a Contradiction

Thu, 27 Jan 2022 01:43:48 GMT

After a slew of technical difficulties, we’re back! Jay’s back at it with Galatians Chapter 2. How can such a harsh letter be about grace? Do your convictions cause fear in others? How do we take each other along this journey? How can radical compromise and radical contradiction make us a better community? How do we work through division? These are all questions that keep popping up when studying Galatians and the Gospels and learning about Grace. Chapter 2 of Galatians is where the rubber starts to hit the road, so let’s buckle up and head on this journey. Jay might pose more questions than he answers in his studies of Galatians, but maybe we’ll find some of the answers together in this series. Imagine, Jesus calls you the rock on which he will build his church…then Paul, a former persecutor, corrects your behavior, how would you take that? This brings up the idea of our issues today with cancel culture, and how our convictions and sacred cows can cause us to separate each other or feel better than each other – but God doesn’t have favorites, he doesn’t prefer any of us over each other. The issues found in this letter to the Galatians are just as relevant today as when Paul first wrote it – a letter written to a divided community back then echoes with us today because Galatians is a book that grows and evolves with us. These concepts are not easy, change is tough and scary. To all of us! To have to question our lifelong beliefs and traditions – It’s really hard, but Jay shows us in this talk that we’re all in this together!

This talk was given on January 23, 2022 in Los Angeles, California.

@jaybakker

@revolution1994

@revolution94

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Apostle's Pet Sounds

Wed, 12 Jan 2022 03:13:53 GMT

Achtung Baby!! Every year at this time Jay takes us on a deep dive into the Book of Galatians. An on-going series about Paul’s letter the Galatians, which might be more timely than ever. Written to a community that was dangerously divided, which is something hitting a bit too close to home these days. Division is everywhere, in religion, in politics, social media, friends, family, pandemics, vaccinations – you name it and we're divided on it these days. People often call the Bible timeless, but Jay teaches how he feels that this letter in particular is more timely than it is timeless. Paul’s letter to the Galatians is the glue at the center of Jay’s talks and at the center of Revolution Gathering itself. It inspired the Reformation and defines the concept of Grace better than any other writing. It teaches us that ‘compromise’ isn’t a bad word, and it helps us get to a place beyond our comfort zones and beyond ourselves. It teaches us that two things that don’t agree with each can often bring together a higher truth! It teaches Grace and the reality of accepting ourselves where we are at and accepting that we are accepted. Grace is willing to lay all the cards on the table and have the hard talks. Not everything in this letter is comfortable, and some concepts will lead to some pretty hard talks. But they are talks worth having, and that’s why Jay dedicates a whole study to it at the start of every year.

This talk was given on January 9, 2022 in Seattle, Washington.

@jaybakker

@revolution1994

@revolution94

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A Faith of Contradiction

Wed, 29 Dec 2021 17:03:50 GMT

After saying “I never do holiday themed talks,” Jay does just that for us this week…sort of, as he lives that contradiction by giving a holiday talk like no other. The subject of this talk? Contradiction and Divine Humiliation. As an unofficial sequel to last weeks talk, Jay dives back into McGowan and Hegel to discuss the contradictions of Christianity and how this contradiction can lead to something higher than truth. It can lead to an essence truth – a God beyond God. So, hold on to your socks as Jay dives into the infinite to show us how the infinite is also finite. To show us a humiliated God and what that means or us. He discusses how Christianity is full of contradictions…but is contradiction bad? Or can it lead to a Higher Truth?

This talk was given on December 26, 2021 in Seattle, Washington.

@jaybakker

@revolution1994

@revolution94

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

McGowan, Hegel, Jesus & Paul

Sun, 19 Dec 2021 16:09:36 GMT

“In Hegel’s hands, Christianity becomes the most revolutionary religion ever conceived.” Todd McGowan writes that in his book ‘Emancipation After Hegel’ – Bouncing back in stark contrast to last week’s discussion, Jay brings us a talk that is more focused on philosophy and theology. This week he is diving into a verse and an idea that we struggle with, and that is the verse in Matthew when Jesus talks about fulfilling the law. Leaning on readings from McGowan, along with interpretations of Hegel, and verses from Jesus and Paul, Jay dives into the concept of love and explores if the fulfilling of the law is referring to loving each other. Loving each other as we love ourselves creates an equality among us. A way to all be equally human. Love is the foundation of this faith – it’s what changes this faith from the others. And Grace is a tough thing that allows us to love in a deeper and different way. But it’s hard work. It’s a complicated idea that splits us into being both ourselves and the other at the same time. We know that Grace is Anarchy…but is love also anarchy?

This talk was given on December 19, 2021 in Seattle, Washington.

@jaybakker

@revolution1994

@revolution94

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We're Not IBM

Wed, 15 Dec 2021 03:06:04 GMT

“I guess today what I wanted to do is come to you and say: ‘These are the things I’m thinking about.’” – Today’s talk is a bit different from Jay’s other talks in many ways, more abstract, but as always it is filled with grace and love and honesty. Jay approaches this talk acknowledging that we are all working with different traumas in our lives that lead us each to learning different lessons, so there is an amount of absurdity in the thought that we should all be on the same page. We don’t have to agree with the other perspective, but the idea is that we get a fuller picture of reality when we come together and learn, even in our disagreements. Jay shares some raw and heartfelt thoughts with us, and lays his own sufferings on the table because there is no hierarchy of pain and suffering – we’re all in this together. And being honest and finding ways to help ourselves also helps others. Helping others is what makes us a church/gathering. Jay reminds us that Revolution Gathering does not take place in the hour that he is giving his talk, but in the 6 days and 23 hours in-between talks. Suffering and hardships make us into people we never thought we could be – but if you’re listening to this talk and reading this description then you’ve already survived everything so far! Keep going. There isn’t always a magical Bible verse to help get us through – but that is why we have each other.

This talk was given on December 12, 2021 in Seattle, Washington.

@jaybakker

@revolution1994

@revolution94

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Shape of Christianity

Mon, 06 Dec 2021 18:33:52 GMT

This week, guest speaker Joshua Murray dives into the difference between deconstruction and destruction. He discusses how an obsessive behavior he develops in his bouts of depression helped him see how Christianity walks a strangely similar path with horror movies, and how misconceptions and projections seemed to have derailed both equally from their humble beginnings. He discusses the important differences between the red letters in the Bible and the black letters. And he also talks about how we can use deconstruction to help us put actions to the lessons we’ve learned in order to bring about the changes we want to see in ourselves, and how to live those changes.

This talk was given on December 5, 2021 in Long Island, New York.

@jaybakker

@revolution1994

@revolution94

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Funny Thing About Grace

Thu, 02 Dec 2021 04:18:05 GMT

Every year Jay likes to revisit some old talks to see how they stand up with his current growth and knowledge and studies. This week he looks back to one of his earliest talks and reworks it. But as always, a central theme even back then, is that of grace. Jay looks at the Gospel of Mark and examines Jesus’s behavior and how it effected his reputation. How Jesus showing love and grace to people who were seen as ‘scum’ made people view him as a drunkard and scum Himself. Jay talks about how not much has changed in this regard and how this is still a problem we have in society as a whole, not just in the church. Jay implores us to not be like the ones who have hurt us, and warns us that any system that excludes people because of their beliefs or religion, or behavior, or friends is a broken system and a mess. We can’t allow ourselves to fall into the same traps that we see the church falling into. We have to remember that Jesus had a diverse group of thinkers as disciples. People who hated each other but learned about love and grace and who recognized the humanity in each other. Jay warns us of the dangers of magical thinking and to be careful of what we look to to fill ‘the lack’ within.

This talk was given on November 28, 2021 in Los Angeles, California.

@jaybakker

@revolution1994

@revolution94

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

"I Like A Little Chaos"

Sun, 21 Nov 2021 17:42:38 GMT

Due to living life on life’s terms Jay had to pre-record todays talk. After receiving some pushback over posting an archived talk a few weeks back, followed up by some challenging responses to a tongue-in-cheek tweet he posted, Jay addresses the deeper issues behind these interactions. He talks about how phrases we use pretty regularly, like “A Higher Calling” can really do damage if they are used without thought. He discusses how a higher calling should be treated as a reality and not just an expectation of the phrase. Playing off of this idea, Jay dives into how leaders are held to a different standard that is not a human standard. And at the core of all of this discussion is Jay’s belief that Revolution Gathering can lead the way to reformation and make a more human church. To get rid of the hierarchy of a community in order for there to be a reformation. Often, we feel like pastors believe on our behalf if we are struggling – but what if our pastors need us to believe on their behalf when they are struggling? We have to ask ourselves what we really want in a community and a church. Do we want transparency or just comfort? Do we want a motivational clubhouse, or do we want to life in its rawest form?

This talk was given on November 21, 2021 in Seattle, Washington.

@jaybakker

@revolution1994

@revolution94

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

"Exclamation Point, Exclamation Point, Question Mark"

Tue, 16 Nov 2021 19:21:34 GMT

Jay gives a raw and heartfelt talk, truly emphasizing just how literal Revolution is when they say “Come as you are!” – no false airs, just truth and honesty. Jay has been going through a tough time and he shares that with us, he explains how depression and trauma go hand in hand. He shares how pain is a part of life, so we need to live life on life’s terms, and just how important it is to recognize the humanity in each other. He shares the struggle of trying to love the impossible people and how sometimes it makes us feel broken. Plain and simple. Revolution is a group of broke people sharing our brokenness with each other. Coming as we are. Jay discusses mourning the living and the blessing and curse that it is. Also we hear that famous ‘love scripture’ from Corinthians like we’ve never heard it before.

This talk was given on November 14, 2021 in Seattle, Washington.

@jaybakker

@revolution1994

@revolution94

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Legalism: Gossip about God

Sun, 07 Nov 2021 18:52:38 GMT

Unlocked! Dug out from deep within the Revolution Archives, we unearthed a talk back from 2009, back from the days of Revolution New York – In this talk Jay draws inspiration from a quote he heard in the movie “Doubt” which compares gossip to feathers scattered in the wind and how it is impossible to clean up the effects of it. Jay looks a bit into where our anger comes from when we talk about legalism and the church and discusses that maybe it’s not the people that make us angry, but more the idea behind it all. We take a look at some verses from Matthew to learn what Jesus had to say about legalism and the dangers of imposing impossible standards on people, even if it is done with seemingly good intentions.

This talk was given on February 09, 2009 in Brooklyn, New York.

@jaybakker

@revolution1994

@revolution94

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

"Don't Kill Them With Kindness..."

Wed, 03 Nov 2021 02:46:45 GMT

Jay is back! He's returned from Belfast and is ready to talk grace and reformation. In this weeks talk Jay dives into Luther, Galatians and the Gospel of Luke to discuss and unpack what it means to deny ourselves and take up our cross. Are we taking up our cross or are we asking other people to take up our crosses for us? Jay discusses our institutions aren’t the only thing in need of reformation but how we need a reformation in our own mind. How do we love our enemies? How do we communicate with people that don’t love us? As Jay puts it: “Grace can’t be taught enough!”

This talk was given on Oct 31, 2021 in Seattle, Washington.

@jaybakker

@revolution1994

@revolution94

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How Can There Be Any Sin in Sincere?

Wed, 27 Oct 2021 04:54:10 GMT

This week guest speaker Joshua Murray gives a talk that started out as three unrelated ideas that he couldn’t shake from his mind: 1.) The importance of sincerity. 2.) The value and intimacy of small groups rather than large gatherings. And 3.) A drive to figure out why learning more about Buddhism has been at the forefront of his mind – Is there any connection between these three ideas? Is there value in a slow burn rather than instant gratification? And what was Jesus up to in those missing years of his life? Did he wander around like in the TV show Kung Fu and walk the Earth collecting wisdom? Is that too far fetched of an idea? And why does Paul seem to understand aspects of Jesus’ teaching more than the people that were actually physically with him? Also, did Josh really find a spiritual connection to the movie Hellraiser? Well, I suppose it is the week before Halloween, so why not?

This talk was given on Oct 24, 2021 in Long Island, New York.

@jaybakker

@revolution1994

@revolution94

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A Community of Outcasts

Fri, 22 Oct 2021 03:03:01 GMT

This week Jay gives his talk from Belfast, Northern Ireland. While spending time there, Jay reflects on experiences he’s gathered while talking with friends about the political history in Ireland and the parallels Jay is seeing in America and in the Church. He discusses the dangerous trap we often fall in when we get too tied up and blinded by our own causes that we scapegoat the other. How this could lead us to being incapable of having conversations, especially if they question our causes. The Church is not a building or a place, but a gathering and collection of people, but being part of a community is always messy. Are we willing to “put our identity to death” if it starts to block the growth of our community? Can we look past our own pain so we can see the pain in each other? Jay uses Jesus’ disciples as an example of how we are called to love our enemies and work with them in order to see past our own issues and ideologies. We see this theme echoed by Paul in his letter to the Galatians. And in a running theme of Revolution, Jay discusses living in the lack and the importance of being able to see opposites views and how they can often come together to move to a Truth that is above truth.

This talk was given on Oct 17, 2021 in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

@jaybakker

@revolution1994

@revolution94

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A Prayer of Doubt and Forsakenness

Sat, 16 Oct 2021 21:07:50 GMT

“There is Nothing Good in Me.” Paul says this in the Book of Romans. On Mental Health Awareness Day, Jay gives one of his most raw and passionate and personal talks about mental health. He opens up about his mental health, and touches on some topics that are universal to everyone struggling with mental health – which shows us we are not alone. He tells us how failing at suicide was the best thing to ever happen to him and he discusses therapy and studying and everything he has done to find the better way to live life on life’s terms. “Depression and mental illness lie to us…we all have those struggles.” Jay also shares how he learned to love the humanity of Jesus and how he never felt closer to Christ, or understood him more, than when he studied Jesus in the garden, and Jesus feeling abandoned on the cross. This illuminating and uplifting talk covers a lot of topics, some light and some heavy, but it leaves us with the most important truth there is – a promise that it gets better. A promise that it is worth it. It’s worth staying alive.

This talk was given on Oct 10, 2021 in Seattle, Washington.

@jaybakker

@revolution1994

@revolution94

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Christie Gee Podcast - Jay Bakker on 'The Eyes of Tammy Faye' movie

Sun, 03 Oct 2021 17:55:08 GMT

In late September of 2021 Jay had a great talk with good pal and podcaster Christie Gee to talk about The Eyes of Tammy Faye. Christie was nice enough to share the interview with us so we could post this special cross-over episode! Enjoy and please be sure to listen, follow and subscribe to Christie too, because she's the best!!

The Christie Gee Podcast:

"In this Episode I welcome back my friend Jay Bakker for the third time!

We talk about the movie made about his family called 'The Eyes Of Tammy Faye' starring Jessica Chastain (who also produces the film) and Andrew Garfield! How wild would that be to have a major motion picture made about YOUR family?! I can't even imagine! Well...we dig into what that’s like for Jay, his thoughts on the film, personal stories about his momma, the influence his mother had on him in, how she felt when he made the decision to become a gay affirming pastor, how therapy has helped him during this time with the movie out in the world and more! I had a lot of fun talking to Jay as always! This movie gave me so many feels and I highly suggest y'all check it out! In theaters nation wide! " - Christie Gee

https://open.spotify.com/show/4jvRKDN6BUj5VZzy53NStP?si=S_HHDYw5SvewAjvajnzL9Q&dl_branch=1

@jaybakker

@revolution1994

@revolution94

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

You Have Heard It Said

Thu, 30 Sep 2021 03:53:52 GMT

In this week’s talk Jay takes us on a bit of a deep dive into the nuances and complex layers of ‘The Church.’ He discusses the problem with living in a culture with such a long tradition of legalism and how that tends makes the Bible into a law book that we often give too much authority. This isn’t a destruction of the church or it’s ideals but an actual deconstruction, one done with love and understanding and a heart for reform and rebuilding – because Christianity as a formula doesn’t work, there is too much nuance to it all. Critical thinking isn’t always bad, critics also love things! We have to live well…because our time is so short. If your enemy died would you weep for them or rejoice? What responsibility do we need to take in our issues with The Church? Does the real world contain movie villains? What does suffering for Jesus really mean?

This talk was given on Sept 26, 2021 in Seattle, Washington.

@jaybakker

@revolution1994

@revolution94

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Haphazardly Human

Fri, 24 Sep 2021 01:52:06 GMT

Back from the New York Premiere of The Eyes of Tammy Faye, Jay gives a brief talk about humanity before answering viewers questions about his experience on the “Pink Carpet.” Before diving into the ups and downs of his premiere experience, Jay visits, as usual, the apostle Paul and discusses what Paul has to say about our humanity and also talks about how we can live a life that is based in reality - where we can recognize the hypocrisy in our own lives and the things we do to fill the ‘lack within us.’ He discusses the idea of “falling short” and how the need for grace is actually good news! - Then after a brief technical hiccup, Jay engages with viewers to discuss the music his sister Tammy made for the movie and how proud he is of her and how it encouraged him to not give up. He gives us the rundown on meeting Vincent D’Onofrio, shares how Jessica Chastain became his Lloyd Dobler, and tells us about a moment where he lived his truth. Also, how he drank a ton of Diet Coke…and maybe might have stolen a prop from the movie, but shhh, don’t say anything.

This talk was given on Sept 19, 2021 in Seattle, Washington.

@jaybakker

@revolution1994

@revolution94

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

"Toxic Grace?"

Thu, 16 Sep 2021 00:22:34 GMT

With The Eyes of Tammy Faye premier just days away, Jay can’t help but notice how much the media seems to pin us against each other. A topic that got him thinking about examining our own biases and how we only tend to like stuff that affirms our own prejudice. As always with Revolution Gathering, Jay dissects the concept of grace and explores the question ‘Can grace be toxic?’ – Do people deserve to be marked and shamed for the rest of their lives? Should Grace be extended to everyone? He discusses the dangers of projecting and returning bad for bad and evil for evil. He uses teachings from Jesus and Paul and James to show us how love is the only thing capable of turning an enemy to a friend, asking us all a very important question: What fruits do our judgements bring?

This talk was given on Sept 12, 2021 in Seattle, Washington.

@jaybakker

@revolution1994

@revolution94

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I Gotta Be Me

Sun, 12 Sep 2021 03:19:46 GMT

As the movie about his parents comes closer, Jay gives an open and honest talk about some of the complications that life brings…because life is complicated! He discusses the idea of Hope and asks, ‘what does hope mean?’ Jay discusses the need to speak our truth, but to do so honestly and not just for the shock value of it. He dives into the idea of non-binary thinking and how two opposite ideas can be true at the same time. It’s so easy to be critical of ‘the other’ – but we also need to be a critic of ourselves. Jay brings up the concept of living in the grey and why we shouldn’t fear it. And discusses how he is a prisoner of hope.

This talk was given on Sept 05, 2021 in Seattle, Washington.

@jaybakker

@revolution1994

@revolution94

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Not Punk Enough

Sun, 29 Aug 2021 16:42:53 GMT

Unlocked! Dug out from deep within the Revolution Archives, we unearthed a talk back from 2009, back from the days of Revolution New York – Have we made God a fragile, insecure, petty god? Does God have mood swings? Does he care more about our sins then the suffering in the world? Why would we ever follow a God like that? “God created us in our image…then we returned the favor.”

This talk was given on June 07, 2009 in Brooklyn, New York.

@jaybakker

@revolution1994

@revolution94

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Narrow Road

Wed, 25 Aug 2021 03:14:40 GMT

In this week’s talk, Jay takes a look at Matthew, chapter 7. He discusses what Jesus, specifically in this chapter, teaches us about loving our enemies, about logs in our eyes and how (no matter how much we want there to be) there is no asterisk on who we should extend love and grace to. Jay also revisits the difference between deconstructing something and destroying it. He discusses the great care and attention we should be exercising when deconstructing our beliefs and the importance and nuance of critical thinking.

This talk was given on August 22, 2021 in Los Angeles, California.

@jaybakker

@revolution1994

@revolution94

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Poetry of the Deed

Tue, 17 Aug 2021 21:20:26 GMT

In this week’s talk, guest speaker Joshua Murray dives into a few ‘controversial’ Jesus movies and discusses the lessons that can be learned from these movies and the principles we can take from by viewing the human side of Jesus, even if it is completely separated from the Divine side. He discusses how these movies shouldn’t be seen as controversial but instead as effective tools as well as just being great movies!

This talk was given on August 15, 2021 in Long Island, New York.

@jaybakker

@revolution1994

@revolution94

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Become Like Water

Tue, 10 Aug 2021 23:45:15 GMT

In this week’s talk, Jay discusses the nuances of love and how maybe there is no such thing as a blanket love that encompasses all situations (and relationships.) Love adapts and evolves. Love is not simple, love is not easy. Love is messy and love is complicated. Love is not for the faint of heart. He also speaks on the dangers of loving without wisdom, and the difference between deconstruction and destruction.

This talk was given on August 8, 2021 in Seattle, Washington.

@jaybakker

@revolution1994

@revolution94

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The God Beyond God: An Introduction

Wed, 04 Aug 2021 16:05:30 GMT

In this week’s talk, Jay discusses the current state of Revolution, the struggles and importance of living life on life’s terms and the need to keep moving forward. Jay also jumps into the book of Philippians, a book of the Bible that Paul wrote from prison, to touch on a theme he’s been exploring a lot in his studies: The God Beyond God. What happens at the death of God? What happens when we kill the god we made in our own image, or in the image of our tribe? He discusses the importance of learning that two opposing things can be true at the same time, and how it is crucial that we learn to live in that grey area. And of course, Jay touches a constant theme throughout all of Revolution and that is: How important grace is, how dangerous it is to cancel each other, and the need for us to learn to disagree well.

This talk was given on August 1, 2021 in Seattle, Washington.