Revolution Church

The original plan was to have another talk with Peter Rollins, but it didn’t quite pan out. So, Jay is back in Seattle and hits us with a really great talk. This talk centers around ideas that are not foreign to Revolution: showing grace, having good conversation, not scapegoating. Jay dives into the Gospel of Luke to focus on three of Jesus’s parables–The Lost Sheep, The Lost Coin, and The Prodigal Son. How can we apply the principles of these stories into our lives? To do so so that we have life before death. To figure out how to reclaim Christianity. To be followers of Christ. Jay talks about how Jesus was always seen as hanging out with the wrong crowd, but where else should He be? Shouldn’t we be with the wrong crowd? Shouldn’t we be building bridges? We live in an unfair world, and forgiveness often seems unfair when grace is involved. But sadly, Christians don’t seem to be known for their grace or their love or their compassion anymore. The things Jesus teaches in these parables, and Paul later expands on–they are all wasted if we don’t care for the lost sheep, if we don’t search for that one coin. Can we be the father, the prodigal son, and the brother all at the same time? Have we ever felt like each one of these characters at some point? Jesus tried to share these lessons with the religious people of the time, to teach them the importance of love. Let’s learn these lessons. Let’s be known for our grace and our love again. Let’s stop focusing on looking like we are in God’s favor and let’s actually be in Their favor by living what we were taught.This talk was given on August 28, 2022 in Seattle, Washington.www.facebook.com/revolutionchurchmnwww.revolutionchurch.com/donatewww.youtube.com/revolutionbroadcasting@jaybakker@revolution1994@revolution94 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Feeling under the weather but hyped up on caffeine, Jay talks to us today about the Pharisees of Jesus’s time and how Jesus’s parables are still as relevant today as they were when he gave them. Pharisees were the morality police of the time–who are the moral police today? Is it social media, or influencers? Democrats or Republicans? Politicians? The Church? Are we the Pharisees? Has Christianity failed? Jay thinks maybe. Jesus said they will be known by their love…are Christians known for their love? Or for their judgement? Have we adopted idols? Wake up! Everyone wake up! Wake up Democrats! You’re hypocrites! Wake up Republicans! You’re hypocrites! We’re all hypocrites! Let’s focus on Christ and his teachings. Let that be the basis of our beliefs–not what party we voted for. Christianity is beyond politics. Politics play us against each other, let’s work together instead! As humans! We’ve got to change the church. We have to do this together! Pharisees required impossible standards, do we? Is this what we are becoming? How can we come together and be humble? Let’s show grace to each other in the past and the future! Let’s be the change!This talk was given on August 21, 2022 in Seattle, Washington.www.facebook.com/revolutionchurchmnwww.revolutionchurch.com/donatewww.youtube.com/revolutionbroadcasting@jaybakker@revolution1994@revolution94 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jay had a different talk planned for this one…but then he went into Starbucks and saw a sign that had to explain to the patrons a code of conduct that is expected of their customers. This sign struck Jay in such a way that it derailed his original train of thought and inspired something new. Mostly reformation. How reform can bring about divisiveness, and it can even bring about some chaos. Can we reform without scapegoating? Can we die to ourselves and continue to move forward? We’re called to give answers, but to be humble when we do so. When it comes to Revolution–it’s message, it’s community, it’s desire for reform–we have to remember that if we really do take it seriously then we want serious answers. Navigating this is tricky because reformation also brings out a lot of insecurities. But let’s confront the insecurities and see the good news! Let’s know our enemy and also love our enemy. Let’s make room for nuance, let’s allow for nuance. Legalism doesn’t allow for it, but we can. No one is beyond grace!...except maybe our enemies. But that is where each other comes into play. Let’s try to love each other’s enemies and help each other get to a place where they can love them too. Let’s be the change we want to see. Let’s live in a world where we love each other so much that we don’t even see our theology. Instead we see our love and we see our grace.This talk was given on August 7, 2022 in Seattle, Washington.www.facebook.com/revolutionchurchmnwww.revolutionchurch.com/donatewww.youtube.com/revolutionbroadcasting@jaybakker@revolution1994@revolution94 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jay is back home and doing his best the fight the heat out in Washington. Why are A/Cs so loud? This week Jay wanted to pick up where last week left off. To continue the themes that him and Peter Rollins touched on last week–the importance of listening well. Willing to go into places that have conflict. Often we’re not willing to listen to ‘the other’ or try to understand why we disagree. Hearing others in that way is a lot different than being yelled at and screamed at. So how do we sit down with our ‘enemies’ and listen? What are the snares of counterfeit love? Jay feels that having these conversations is the road less traveled. That the easiest road is just finding the snarkiest meme and snappiest comeback and throwing it in each others faces. So the importance is to listen well. It is also the way that leads to disagreeing well. So what are the enemies of listening? To discover that Jay dives into some of Paul’s writings and some of Peter’s writings. As a society we have forgotten, it seems, how to even agree to disagree, let alone to disagree well. Are we mixing up hating what is evil and hating people? Are we called to hate people? Are we called to fight with love, compassion and purpose? What does that look like? What was Jesus’s response and reaction to John the Baptists death? Did he hate? Did he love? Did he fight? What Did Jesus Do?This talk was given on July 31, 2022 in Seattle, Washington.www.facebook.com/revolutionchurchmnwww.revolutionchurch.com/donatewww.youtube.com/revolutionbroadcasting@jaybakker@revolution1994@revolution94 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jay is on the road this week, but this time with his best mate Peter Rollins. Jay picks Pete’s brain about the idea of not only arguing well, but also listening well–which often leads to arguing well. This is something the country is really struggling with. We always seem to be moving from one crisis to another and we never stop and listen or take any time to disagree well, to argue well. Pete discusses similar themes and solutions he’s observed in Ireland and how they overcame a lot of the same struggles. He talks about the idea of the unconscious, and how it is not just something a person struggles with, but also how groups and societies can also fall victim to it as well. Together they talk about the idea of opening ourselves up to listening to those who critique us, the dangers of patronizing love, what it means to have conflict, what it means to have war, and what it means to see ourselves through the eyes of others. All of this–and of course, as always–giving each other a hard time while doing it.This talk was given on July 24, 2022 in Los Angeles, California.www.facebook.com/revolutionchurchmnwww.revolutionchurch.com/donatewww.youtube.com/revolutionbroadcasting@jaybakker@revolution1994@revolution94 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sorry for the delay this week, it was pretty unavoidable as both Jay and Josh had Covid back-to-back. But now we’re here now! Better late than never. This week’s talk is pretty raw and very honest. Jay is worn out, plain and simple. He’s just worn out, and the Covid recovery wasn’t helping matters. But what do we do when we feel worn out like that? What do we do when our grace seems to be reaching its limits? Jay reads a little bit from the book of James to see if he can find any strength in there for himself and for us. Because everyone is going through stuff. Everyone. And a lot of the struggles we go through, no one else sees. So when we’re struggling and hurting and it feels like we’re sinking, what do we do? Where do we turn? How do we stop from being consumed by others and how do we not consume them as well? What does it mean to be toxic? What does it mean to make the choice of showing grace? How do we not give up on someone that’s hurting us? Can we choose love? Can we choose grace? Can learning to disagree well do more for us and the people around us, and world at large, than always agreeing can? Do people get more growth and change from relationships or from scripture? What do we do when we’re just so so tired? These are some of the things Jay discusses this week that gives us food for thought and challenges us to choose love…if we can.This talk was given on July 17, 2022 in Seattle, Washington.www.facebook.com/revolutionchurchmnwww.revolutionchurch.com/donatewww.youtube.com/revolutionbroadcasting@jaybakker@revolution1994@revolution94 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“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.www.facebook.com/revolutionchurchmnwww.revolutionchurch.com/donatewww.youtube.com/revolutionbroadcasting@jaybakker@revolution1994@revolution94 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“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.www.facebook.com/revolutionchurchmnwww.revolutionchurch.com/donatewww.youtube.com/revolutionbroadcasting@jaybakker@revolution1994@revolution94 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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.www.facebook.com/revolutionchurchmnwww.revolutionchurch.com/donatewww.youtube.com/revolutionbroadcasting@jaybakker@revolution1994@revolution94 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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.www.facebook.com/revolutionchurchmnwww.revolutionchurch.com/donatewww.youtube.com/revolutionbroadcasting@jaybakker@revolution1994@revolution94 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.